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Asus Vivobook S16 OLED 2024 review: Large lightweight laptop with lots to love

Aarohan Niraula

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June 3, 2024

Asus Vivobook S16 OLED 2024 review: Large lightweight laptop with lots to love

The Meteor Lake magic has brought on tons of surprises across the laptop space. Not only has it enabled very powerful ultraportables but even larger machines like the Vivobook S16 I am reviewing here have benefitted a lot in terms of efficiency and heat. My Asus S16 OLED (2024) ships with the top-of-the-line Core Ultra 9 185H processor paired with 16GB of soldered memory and a 1TB Gen 4 SSD.

Asus Vivobook S16 OLED (2024) Review: Specifications

Dimensions, Weight: 13.92 x 9.72 x 0.55-inches (W x D x H), 1.5 kg
Display: 16″ 3.2K OLED panel, 120Hz refresh rate, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, 400 nits brightness
Keyboard: Full-size chiclet backlit RGB keyboard, 1.5mm travel
Security: Windows Hello-certified face login, TPM 2.0
Processor: Intel “Meteor Lake” Core Ultra 9 185H (Intel 4 process)
- 16C/22T, 5.1 GHz max turbo frequency, 45W base power
Graphics: Intel Arc (8 Xe-cores)
RAM: 16GB LPDDR5X RAM (non-upgradable)
Storage: 1TB SSD (M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0)
Audio: Down-firing stereo speaker system
Battery: 75 Watt-hours with 90W charging
Webcam: FHD (1080p) camera with privacy shutter
I/O Ports: 2x Thunderbolt 4 (Power Delivery, DisplayPort), 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x HDMI 2.1 TMDS, 1x MicroSD reader, 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack
Price in Nepal: NPR 198,990 (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD)
Check the full specifications of Asus Vivobook S16 OLED (2024) here
Buy Asus Vivobook S16 OLED (2024) here

Asus Vivobook S16 OLED (2024) Review:

Design and Build

13.92 x 9.72 x 0.55-inches (W x D x H)
1.51 kg, Aluminum build material

Asus has revamped the ‘S’ series to look cleaner, and more sophisticated this time around. The new S16 features an all-metal body with a subtle logo on the right and a RGB backlight for the keyboard. Besides the minimal design and overall aesthetic, the thing that really drew me was its dimensions. It’s about as wide and tall as a Macbook Pro 16 but weighs as little as an Air 15. So, what you’re getting with this Vivobook is a very portable 16-inch notebook that’s perfect for everyday carry for work or college. Besides the M2 Macbook Air 15, there aren’t many choices that offer a similar package right now, so the Vivobook S16 might seem very appealing for the right person – especially if you take a look at the display.

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Display

16″ glossy 3.2K OLED display
120Hz refresh rate, 100% DCI P3 color gamut
400 nits brightness, VESA CERTIFIED Display HDR True Black 600, TÜV Rheinland “Low Blue Light” certified

Meet the gorgeous 16″ OLED with punchy colors and superb contrast! The Vivobook doesn’t disappoint when it comes to the viewing experience. Everything from reading text to working on spreadsheets, and indulging in movies feels a joy on this laptop. That’s because it pairs a 16:10 aspect ratio with a crisp 3.2k resolution and a fast 120Hz refresh rate. So, it feels expansive, sharp, and fast to use. An experience fitting for a premium ultrabook. Being an Asus ‘Lumina OLED’, you also get excellent colors at 100% DCI-P3 coverage and Delta E < 1. In our testing, we got around 400 nits of regular brightness while the laptop also supports HDR 600.

Performance

Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU (45W TDP)
Intel Arc graphics (Integrated)
16GB LPDDR5X RAM, 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD

Another strong suit of the Vivobook S16 (2024) is its raw horsepower. The variant that’s launched in Nepal ships with the flagship Core Ultra 9 185H processor. For refreshers, that’s the new Meteor Lake chip based on a chiplet design and more efficient Intel 4 architecture. There isn’t a massive jump when it comes to CPU performance (just the opposite in some cases) but the efficiency and graphic gains are on another level. Running a couple of popular benchmarks, you can see that with the Vivobook S16 (2024), you are getting a plenty powerful machine in a pretty portable package.

CPU/GPU benchmarks

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Everyday usage feels snappy and responsive and you aren’t really going to push the CPU to its limit by opening a few applications here and there. For most folks, it’s going to be smooth sailing browsing through Word documents and Excel sheets, immersing in movies, and editing thumbnails in Photoshop. You can even dabble in a bit of casual gaming and video editing but keep your expectations in check there as the Vivobook doesn’t have a discrete GPU.

Gaming and Productivity

When it comes to gaming, Forza Horizon 5 is playable on High settings (~40-45 fps) but dialing down the graphics will help you hit the 60 fps mark. Counter-Strike 2 has good average fps and 1% low values while Valorant, like always, runs without a hitch.

Plenty for Casual Gaming

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The laptop stays quiet in day-to-day operations but you’ll hear the fans ramp up when running applications like Premiere or loading a game. You’ll also feel a bit of a warm sensation while the laptop is charging or when under full load (like in a benchmark) but other than that, there’s no issue of overheating. On the inside, the CPU does rise close to the 100 degrees Celsius mark in some cases, but the dual fans and vents do a good job of not letting things get out of control.

Photoshop runs very well without any noticeable lag or stutter while you could do away with editing videos on Premiere as well. Working with a couple of 4k footages, I had no trouble seeking through the timeline with the preview on ‘Full’ but adding a couple of effects, layers, and graphic templates slowed the Vivobook down like expected. Exporting 10 minutes of unedited 4k footage at its native resolution and 25 bitrate took 5 minutes and 30 seconds. That’s all to say that the Vivobook can probably handle your editing needs for the most part if you manage your expectations right.

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In terms of memory, you are getting 16GB of fast RAM (7467 MT/s) and a 1 terabyte Gen 4 SSD with a pretty good read (~5000 MB/s) and write speeds (~3500 MB/s). Being an ultrabook, almost everything is soldered down and there’s almost no room for upgrades.

Battery Life and Ports

I must say that I am pretty on the fence with the battery life here. Asus claims up to 16 hours of continuous playback and I too was expecting a full workday on a single charge. But, on the ‘Balanced’ battery setting and 50% brightness, I was getting around 5.5 hours to 6 hours of screen time on average. That’s not a bad record to set but other Meteor Lake laptops like the Swift Go OLED have managed some extra hours (14″ 90Hz OLED, Core Ultra 7, 65Wh battery).

My typical workday consists of a lot of Edge tabs, some Photoshop in the background, and Spotify. You can expect better battery life if heavier applications like Photoshop are taken out of the equation and you don’t use the display at 120Hz all the time like I did.

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As for the ports, you get two Thunderbolt 4s on the left for charging, display output, and data transfers while the right side houses two USB-3 type A ports, and an HDMI. It’d have been such a blessing to get a full-sized card reader as it’s a 16-inch laptop after all, but you’ll have to make do with a micro SD slot here.

Keyboard and Trackpad

Full-size backlit chiclet keyboard (1.7mm travel)
Large trackpad with Glass-like surface

Moving on, I like the keyboard on the Vivobook S16 OLED (2024). It’s got decent depth, good spacing, and the colored backlight adds a hint of a unique flavor to the ultrabook. The trackpad is also super large, like Macbook-large, and feels smooth for everyday use. There’s plenty of space for swipes and gestures and the responsiveness is decent as well. But like always, I will continue to complain about the diving board mechanism used here and how the (bottom) click responses make the whole experience feel cheap and finicky.

Webcam and Audio

FHD (1080p) camera with privacy shutter
Built-in array microphone

Furthermore, webcams are never the most exciting on a laptop and that’s very true for this Vivobook as well. It houses a 1080p shooter that sits right beside the IR blaster on the relatively thin top bezel. The quality is definitely better than what you get from an HD camera on most Windows laptops both in terms of noise levels and sharpness but in case you’re wondering it’s not on a MacBook’s level yet.

The speakers are loud and will complete your media-watching experience well but since they are down-firing, you’ll need to rest the S16 on a table or a flat surface to get good sound. The highs are bright and you’ll have no trouble making out vocals and dialogues but impactful low frequencies are mostly missing.

Asus Vivobook S16 OLED (2024) Review: Conclusion

To put this short review into a few words: the Asus Vivobook S16 OLED for 2024 is an appealing 16-inch ultrabook for anyone looking for a large-screen portable machine for entertainment, work, and productivity. It is light enough for everyday carry, has an excellent display, a powerful processor, and decent backup with good enough I/O. So, if you were looking for a Macbook Air 15 alternative for around the 2 lakh price point, this Vivobook S16 OLED is worth checking out!

Asus Vivobook S16 OLED (2024) Review: Pros and Cons

Pros:

Lightweight premium design
Gorgeous 120Hz OLED
Powerful Core Ultra 9 processor
Capable Arc graphics
Nice keyboard and lots of ports

Cons:

Average battery life
The trackpad could be better

I found the top 7 features on Android 15 that are super useful

Android

Nikhil Shrestha

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June 3, 2024

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I found the top 7 features on Android 15 that are super useful

So Android 15 — aka Android Vanilla Ice Cream — is here. Sort of. The stable public release of Android 15 will most probably start rolling out from September 2024, but I’ve been testing the beta version of Android 15 on my Pixel 8 for about a week to find out exactly what’s new and what’s improved.

Android 15 release schedule (Image: Google)

I guess it probably goes without saying that Google hasn’t bothered with any major visual changes but you know what? I’ve found 7 amazing features that you’re gonna absolutely love on Android 15. And if you stick around till the end, I’ll share a bunch of bonus features that you’ll love even more! Let’s go.

Android 15 features

1. Private Space

Okay at number 1 is something called “Private Space”. It’s basically this separate, hidden space where you can store all your private, sensitive apps so that they don’t show up in the app drawer. And also the recent menu, notifications, and settings once you lock it up.

What I find especially interesting is that it’s actually a separate user profile on its own. Which means I can use a different Google account for all my apps in the private space and even have two versions of the same app at once.

I really like how it lets me set a separate authentication style — like fingerprint, pin, pattern — to access the private space too. So even though someone may have figured out my phone’s password, I can rest assured that they won’t be able to access my hidden apps at least.

Now I know what you’re thinking. This isn’t a new idea… at all. There are literally dozens of apps on the Play Store that can keep your sensitive apps locked in, while every major smartphone brands like Samsung, OnePlus, and Xiaomi have a similar feature built into their phones as well. Having said that, I definitely appreciate how Google is building such a useful, privacy-focused feature into Android by default.

2. Partial screen recording

On that note, screen recording is getting a lot more private on Android 15 too. You know how when you’re trying to screen record something, you get a notification from some other app? Or you accidentally switch to a different app that you don’t want in the recording? So now you gotta edit those part out or do the whole thing again?

Well, Android 15 has a genius solution for this. Instead of recording the entire screen, you can now choose to record what happens inside one app only.

So when I select screen recording on Android 15, there’s a new option called “a single app”. And once I hit “start recording” and choose the app I want — it doesn’t matter if I jump to another window or get a sudden pop-up from another app — it will only record what happened in the app I selected. That’s it.

3. App pairs

Google is also pushing for easier multitasking on Android 15 with app pairs. And if you’re someone who’s constantly working with two apps in split screen mode, then this is probably the most exciting feature you should look forward to. So instead of separately opening those apps that you use side by side every single time, there’s now an option to save them as a “pair” for much quicker access. Just tap the app pair shortcut and voilà!

Although… like “Private Space”, this one’s nothing new either. I’ve been launching YouTube and Notes with one click on my Samsung phone for as long as I can remember. The way Google has implemented this on Android 15 feels a little undercooked as well since there is no way to switch the app layout like on One UI. Maybe that will change with the final release of Android 15, but let’s see.

4. App archiving

Alright. The next Android 15 feature I wanna talk about is kind of a personal favorite of mine. It’s called “app archiving” and it lets me uninstall an app to save some storage space, while still keeping some of my user data. So… when I reinstall it afterward, it’s like I never got rid of it in the first place. And yeah, it’s exactly like the option to “offload” an app in iOS.

I’m gonna archive Instagram and as you can see, it’s taking up 507MB of storage right now. But once I archive it, that number goes down to just 139MB. And when I need to check my Insta feed later on, I can simply restore the app without ever having to sign in again.

5. Notification cooldown

Moving on, “notification cooldown” is another new feature on Android 15 that I can’t wait for you guys to try out! Especially if you have that one friend who keeps your phone ringing and buzzing with constant notifications in the group chat. Or that one app that spams you with notifications the second you’re connected to the internet.

And you can probably imagine how horrifying this is to someone like me who carries at least a couple of phones at any given time. But thanks to Android 15, I can finally enjoy some peace and quiet by enabling notification cooldown.

Android 15 - Notification cooldown — Image: Android Authority

What it does is gradually lower the volume of all the successive notifications from the same app, and I can either apply this to every type of notification or just for those noisy group texts.

I wish I had even more precise control on specific apps to put into cooldown but let me once again remind you that I’m running a beta version of Android 15 at the moment. So Google has plenty of time to make some changes for the stable version.

6. Audio sharing

Anyway, have you guys heard of Auracast?

It’s this new Bluetooth LE Audio feature that lets you broadcast audio from your smartphones and laptops to multiple devices at once. Unlike how traditional Bluetooth connection can only stream to one device at a time. Samsung was actually the first to bring Auracast support with One UI 6.1, whereas Google wants you to be able to share your phone’s audio or join others’ broadcasts much more easily on Android 15.

Android 15 - Audio sharing — Image: Android Authority

Say I’m somewhere crowded and want to watch the latest episode of One Piece with my buddies. With Android 15, I can start sharing audio from my phone while my friends join in with their wireless earbuds. And the beauty of Auracast is that my friends don’t need to go through the hassle of manually pairing their earbuds to my phone as well.

7. Theft detection lock

Okay. I saved the best Android 15 feature for last because this one can potentially keep your phone’s data safe in case it’s stolen. Google calls it “Theft Detection Lock” and listen to this: it uses data from sensors like accelerometer and gyroscope to figure out if your phone has been snatched away. And with a little help from AI, it will quickly lock the device to prevent thieves from accessing your phone.

Android 15 - Theft detection lock — Image: Google

That’s not all. There’s also this new feature that will automatically lock the phone if the thief puts your device offline, while Google now lets you remotely lock your phone with the help of your phone number and security question too.

But the best part is that all of these are coming to older phones too, running Android 10 or later. Yay! Except for factory reset protection, which prevents the thief from resetting the stolen phone without your Google account credentials.

That’s gonna be exclusive to Android 15.

Android 15 features: What else?

Alright, so those were the 7 incredible new features I found on Android 15. And as promised, I’ll now go through a bunch of other changes and upgrades you can expect from Google’s next major Android release. It’s gonna be rapid-fire so… brace yourself.

So I know I said there aren’t any major visual changes this time but Google has made a couple of refreshes to the UI here and there.

For example, the volume panel has been completely redesigned with big, bubbly controls that look a lot nicer.
The Bluetooth tile now opens a pop-up menu on a single press instead of just turning on/off.
And if you dig a little deeper inside the settings, you’ll find that Android 15 now has the option to automatically turn on Bluetooth the next day. Just like on iOS.
Google is finally bringing “predictive back” gestures into Android as well, which gives this nice preview of where you’re returning to.
- This feature was already there in Android 14 — buried deep inside developer options — but it’s now going to be enabled by default on Android 15.
Android 15 can also stop you from making calls and messages in an unencrypted network to prevent data theft and surveillance.
Then there’s the new “High Quality” mode when using your phone as a USB webcam. Although I should warn you that enabling it could mean the phone gets hotter and loses battery more quickly.
Whereas Android 15 has a ton of under-the-hood optimizations like better standby battery life and a built-in AV1 decoder for an even better user experience.

How to download and install Android 15 beta?

So yeah, with Android 15, it’s clear that Google was mainly focused on productivity, security, and stability side of things more than anything else. And if you can’t wait for the final release, you can actually install the Android 15 beta right away if you have one of these phones.

Brand	Smartphone model
Google	Pixel 6a, Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro
	Pixel 7a, Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro
	Pixel 8a, Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro
	Pixel Fold, Pixel Tablet
Honor	Honor Magic 6 Pro, Honor Magic V2
iQOO	iQOO 12
Lenovo	Lenovo Tab Extreme
Nothing	Nothing phone (2), Nothing phone (2a)
OnePlus	OnePlus 12, OnePlus Open
OPPO	OPPO Find N3
Realme	Realme 12 Pro+
Sharp	Sharp Aquos sense8
Tecno	Tecno Camon 30 Pro 5G
Vivo	Vivo X100
Xiaomi	Xiaomi 13T Pro, Xiaomi 14, Xiaomi Pad 6S Pro

You can download the Android 15 beta build for these phones from Android Developer’s website. The actual installation method is different for every brand — which you can find from the same link — so I won’t be diving deep into that here. Although I won’t running beta software on your daily driver since… well… it’s beta software. But if you wanna try it out on your secondary phone, why not?

Asus refreshes the ROG Ally and ups the price

Raizel Tandukar

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June 3, 2024

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Asus refreshes the ROG Ally and ups the price

Last year, Asus launched its first-ever handheld gaming device — the ROG Ally. The company has now launched another handheld under the same name. However, it’s not the successor to the original one, more of a refresh. Let’s discuss the new Asus ROG Ally X in further detail including its price in Nepal.

Asus ROG Ally X Overview

Design and Display

The updated edition of the Asus ROG Ally comes with slight changes in design. Its edges have been curved out in comparison to the original one. Similarly, the joystick and controls have been repositioned while the D-pad gets a redesign. Meanwhile, the fingerprint sensor now sits inside a cavity. The colour option has also shifted from a single white option to a single black one. Not only has the exterior of the Asus ROG Ally X been updated, but the internal design has also gone through remodelling.

Firstly, the internal cooling system has been updated with slimmer fans which increases the airflow by 10 percent. Now, the air moves towards the display as well. Other than that, the company also relocated the microSD card slot away from the exhausts. In the meantime, the display on this thing remains unchanged with the 7-inch IPS panel with Gorilla Glass Victus protecting. On top of the glass, it has a DXC coating that reduces reflection and increases the hardness of the glass. Besides, the display stretches FHD in resolution and offers a brightness and refresh rate of 500 nits and 120Hz respectively.

Performance

The primary driver on this thing is the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip. It was available as one of the options in the original handheld. However, this was the more powerful of the two, so the Asus ROG Ally X coming with only this one shouldn’t be much of an issue. The processor comes with Zen4 architecture, eight cores, 16 threads, and a 5.10 GHz peak frequency. Additionally, it packs the 12-core Radeon 780M GPU with RDNA 3 architecture.

Moving on, Asus updates the other aspects of the ROG Ally X’s performance. Starting with the memory, it’s now 24GB LPDDR5-7500 RAM coming from 16GB LPDDR5-6500 on the previous iteration. Likewise, the storage department also gets an upgrade doubling in capacity from 512GB. Furthermore, the SSD type has also been updated to M.2 2280 from the rather rare M.2 2242 on the OG Ally. The battery on the latest edition of the handheld has also doubled to 80Wh while the charging speed remains unchanged.

Asus ROG Ally X Specifications

Design: Standard console-like
Dimensions: 280.00 mm x 111.00 mm x 24.70–36.90 mm
Weight: 678 grams
Display: 7-inch, 16:9 aspect ratio, IPS LCD, Glossy finish, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, 10-point multi-touch, 120Hz refresh rate, 7ms response time, 500 nits brightness, 100% sRGB and 75.35% Adobe colour gamut
Resolution: 1,920 x 1,080 pixels
Processor: AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme
Graphics: AMD Radeon Graphics
RAM: 24GB, dual-channel LPDDR5-7500
Storage: 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 SSD
Operating System: Windows 11 Home
Ports: 1x Thunderbolt 4 (supports DisplayPort and PD), 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (supports DisplayPort and PD), 1x UHS-II microSD card reader, 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack
Connectivity: Tri-band WiFi 6E (802.11ax) 2×2 + Bluetooth v5.2
Battery: 80Wh 4S1P Li-ion cell with 65W charging

Asus ROG Ally X Price in Nepal and Availability

The company announced the latest handheld on 02 June 2024 and is available for pre-order on its official website. It goes at the price tag of USD 799.99 and comes bundled with 3 months of Xbox Game Pass. If and when it arrives here, we expect the Asus ROG Ally X price in Nepal to be NPR 129,999.

Asus Handheld	Price in the USA (Official)	Price in Nepal (Expected)
ROG Ally X	USD 799.99	NPR 129,999

Meanwhile, check out our AYANEO Pocket Air review video:

Fantech WS311 and WS414 Adjustable Rising Desk launched in Nepal

Fantech

Mintu

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June 3, 2024

0

Fantech WS311 and WS414 Adjustable Rising Desk launched in Nepal

Fantech, a leading name in PC accessories, has brought new products to the Nepalese market. Well, it’s not a headphone this time, but instead, we have two new adjustable rising desks that go by the names: WS311 and WS414. Without further ado, let’s get into the features and official price of the Fantech Adjustable Rising Desk price in Nepal.

Fantech Adjustable Rising Desk Overview:

Fantech WS311

First up, let’s talk about the WS311 model. This working desk’s board has a width of 60cm and a length of 110cm. You get a carbon texture on top while the bottom stand is made up of a steel frame. Fantech claims that this rising desk can hold up to 60kg max load capacity, which should be enough for your PC gears. Likewise, you also get a cup holder and a headset holder on this desk. Talking of the height adjustments, it can stretch up to 118cm while the normal resting position is 73cm.

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On the other hand, the Fantech WS414 is an upgraded form of the WS311. As such, this adjustable table comes with a touchpad to adjust the height. You can also set two preset memory choices for quick and convenient adjustments. And the desk will also send sedimentary reminders for a healthy lifestyle.

The build quality is also pretty solid here with a steel frame body. Meanwhile, the maximum load capacity is now bumped to 80kg. And the cup holder and headset holder as on the WS311 are also present here for added convenience.

Also Read:

Fantech Adjustable Rising Desk Specifications:

	WS311	WS414
Build Material	Steel Frame	Steel Frame
Height Adjustments	73cm to 118cm	74cm to 118cm
Maximum Load Capacity	60kg	80kg
Control	Buttons	Touchpad
Color Options	Black and White	Black
Extra	Cup Holder, Headset Holder	Cup Holder, Headset Holder, Sedimentary Reminder

Fantech Adjustable Rising Desk Price in Nepal and Availability:

The Fantech Adjustable Rising Desk price in Nepal is NPR 24,999 and NPR 34,999 for the WS311 and WS414 models respectively. You can buy these products from Matechi.

Desks	Price in Nepal (Official)	Availability
Fantech WS311	NPR 24,999	Matechi
Fantech WS414	NPR 34,999	Matechi

Meanwhile, you can check our Fantech RS1 Racing Wheel video.

AMD Ryzen AI 300 series Strix Point CPUs are here with Zen 5!

Aarohan Niraula

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June 3, 2024

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AMD Ryzen AI 300 series Strix Point CPUs are here with Zen 5!

AMD recently announced its Strix Point CPUs at Computex alongside the Ryzen 9000 series desktop processors with brand new Zen 5 architecture, improved graphics, and powerful AI. In this article, let’s take a quick look at the new AMD “Ryzen AI 300” mobile processor and what they have to offer in terms of performance and value.

AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series Processors

AI goodness

Since AMD has decided to stick “AI” directly into the names of its processors, I couldn’t help but start by talking about the new XDNA 2 Neural processing unit (NPU). This time around, the NPU in the Strix Point CPUs can push up to 50 TOPS which is a lot higher than the current Meteor Lake and Ryzen 8040 offerings. While Apple’s M4 chip and Intel’s upcoming Lunar Lake come close, AMD is surely banking on getting the crown for the most powerful NPU on a mobile chip.

Not many applications make use of the feature right now, but Microsoft’s Copilot+ program should bring about interesting stuff like Live Captions with real-time transcription and translation, image Cocreator with text-to-image abilities, and Recall with the power to memorize EVERYTHING – yeah that one’s scary!

Moreover, manufacturers are also adding their own flares for a tailored experience with Asus Story Cube, Acer Live Art, and HP AI companion.

New Zen 5 CPU architecture

AMD has improved the overall CPU performance in Strix Point by tweaking a few things on the new architecture. The Zen 5 Ryzen processors have higher instructions per cycle (IPC), better integer execution capabilities, a larger execution window, and more memory bandwidth. Moreover, they now feature Zen 5 full-size cores (based on TSMC 4nm) alongside more compact Zen 5c cores (based on TSMC 3nm) for improved efficiency as well. In terms of TDP, the two SKUs currently available can be configured from 15-54W. That means we are likely going to see these chips in a wide range of laptops from slim ultrabooks to gaming giants.

Model	Cores / Threads	Boost / Base Frequency	Total Cache	Graphics Model	TDP	NPU
AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370	12 / 24	5.1 GHz / 2.0 GHz	36MB	AMD Radeon 890M Graphics	15-54W	Yes (50 TOPs)
AMD Ryzen AI 9 365	10 / 20	5.0 GHz / 2.0GHz	34MB	AMD Radeon 880M Graphics	15-54W	Yes (50 TOPs)

An improved GPU too

The Ryzen AI 300 chips also bring improvement in the GPU side of things with their newer RDNA 3.5 architecture. At the time of writing, the AMD AI chips: Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and Ryzen AI 9 365, feature Radeon 880M and Radeon 890 integrated GPUs with 12 CUs (computing units) and 16 CUs respectively. In terms of gaming, the new chipsets should offer superior frame rates than current competitors from Intel or Qualcomm. According to the company, you can expect an average of 36% bump in power. Moreover, the graphics are more efficient and hence have higher performance per watt (up to 32%) than 7000 series chips.

Ryzen Strix Point CPUs and Availability

Laptops with the new Ryzen AI 300 chips have already started shipping around the globe. They boast better efficiency, faster performance, and improved graphical prowess. Moreover, they are also better at productivity stuff and have better app support (relative to ARM chips).

Some of the recent launches include the HP Omnibook Ultra 14 and the Asus Pro Art P16 with more laptops joining the parade soon.

Meanwhile, check out our video on all the AI features that you can play with here:

iPad Pro M4 review: A super powerful beast tamed by iPadOS limitations

iPad
Reviews

Yural Maskey

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June 3, 2024

0

iPad Pro M4 review: A super powerful beast tamed by iPadOS limitations

This is the New 11-inch iPad Pro and I have been using it for the past 2 weeks now. It’s the first time that I bought myself the Pro lineup of iPad. I had the iPad Air before. And to this day, it has been a perfect multimedia device. But after using this device, I have been loving it so far! Although, this thing is quite expensive. I had to pay exactly 1 lakh and sixty thousand Nepali Rupees for the base 256GB variant and an additional 48,000 rupees for the keyboard which felt like a thousand needles stabbing my heart!

By the way, this combo is even more expensive than the latest Macbook M3 Air. And I didn’t get the new Apple Pencil Pro, otherwise, the cost would have gone even higher. Since I am not an artist, this cheaper Apple Pencil (USB-C) does the job for me while taking notes and making simple art like this.

Apple iPad Pro M4 (2024) Specifications:

Body:
- 11-inch: 9.74 x 7.02 x 0.23-inches, 444gm (WiFi), 46gm (+ Cellular)
- 13-inch: 11.04 x 8.46 x 0.25-inches, 579gm (WiFi), 582gm (+ Cellular)
Display: 10Hz-120Hz ProMotion technology, True Tone display, Fully laminated, Antireflective
- 11-inch: Ultra Retina XDR panel, Tandem OLED
- 13-inch: Ultra Retina XDR panel, Tandem OLED
Resolution: 2420 x 1668 (11-inch), 2752 x 2064 pixels (13-inch)
Chipset: Apple M4 chip (9-core CPU, 10-core GPU for 256/512GB storage, 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU for 1/2TB storage)
Memory: 8/16GB RAM, 256GB to 2TB storage
Software: iPadOS 17
Rear Camera: 12MP wide camera, f/1.8 aperture, Smart HDR 4
Front Camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.0 aperture
Audio: Four-speaker system
Sensors: 3-axis gyro, Accelerometer, Ambient Light, LiDAR scanner, Barometer, FaceID
Battery: 20W power adapter in the box
- 11-inch: 31.29 Wh
- 13-inch: 38.99 Wh
Color Options: Silver, Space Black

iPhone Pro M4 Review:

It’s quite very thin

249.7 x 177.5 x 5.3mm
444gm (WiFi), 446gm (Cellular)
Aluminum unibody design

Ok…, let me start my experience with the first thing I truly liked about this year’s iPad Pro — it’s the thickness. Apple made a big deal during the keynote about how THIN this thing is, measuring just 5mm, but was it worth it?

Design

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I would say YES. With such a thin and lightweight form factor, I can finally hold such a large device for long hours even while gaming. I particularly enjoyed playing eFootball on such a big screen.

Magic Keyboard

Plus, even with this magic keyboard, the iPad Pro isn’t very thick and is comparable to the Macbook Air. This has been such a nice combo for me whenever I have to take a device out for a meeting or when I am on an airplane. It’s a pretty decent way to compute comfortably while flying.

This keyboard also has, as good of a typing experience, as my MacBook with good travel distance. It now has all the shortcut keys on the top, and although the trackpad is not very big, it’s super responsive and feels smooth.

Gorgeous OLED panel

11-inches Ultra Retina Tandem OLED, 120Hz
1600nits brightness, TrueTone support, HDR 10, Dolby Vision
Apple Pencil Pro support

Likewise, when I am back home at night and want to watch some videos, I can just take out the tablet like this, and enjoy watching content.

And this display here is easily the best I have used so far. It’s better than any smartphone or tablet display in 2024. Apple calls it a Tandem OLED and it’s the most advanced and exclusive technology you can find on a device of this size.

The Tandem OLED here uses two stacked OLED layers, letting each run on super lower power. This allows for higher brightness without causing the screen to wear out faster due to high voltage. And Apple says it can not only get really bright, but you will also have a durable screen that lasts for years to come.

It’s super bright

I don’t know about the latter, but this display here can get so bright that I have had to dial it down to 75% most of the time. And I am super impressed with the overall quality of this screen. I am currently binge-watching “Panchayat Season 3” and the details, and color retention here are superb. Compared to my older iPad Air, you can easily see how deep the black levels are, plus how smooth the UI is!

The iPad Pro supports both HDR10 and Dolby Vision, as expected. But its speakers.. its speakers are remarkably good; actually comparable to those on my 14-inch MacBook Pro.

Speaker

Quad speaker setup

It delivers a loud, crisp sound with noticeable bass and a wide soundstage, making the iPad Pro the ultimate device for watching YouTube and Netflix videos. It simply doesn’t get any better than this.

The minimum brightness is also exceptional here at just 1 nit. The 120Hz refresh rate is also super responsive and it has just 5ms of response time, hence I didn’t notice any kind of ghosting or latency issues here.

You can also use this screen as a secondary display like this and because this display is one of the most color-accurate ones, I used it in reference mode for color grading.

The only thing I have to nitpick about this display is that the bezels could have been trimmed down. By the way, this bezel houses a Face ID, and I like how it works in both orientations.

Battery and Charging

8160mAh Li-Po battery, 20W charger
USB Type-C 4

Battery life on this year’s iPad Pro is also great. With the OLED panel and an efficient processor, I was easily getting 10 hours of backup when I was not playing games.

Apple also provides a 20W charger inside the box, which is cool, but it’s quite slow to charge! So, I feel like if they are giving a charger, maybe they could have given a 30 or 35W brick at least, as they do with their Macbook Air!

M4’s superior performance

Apple M4 chip
Up to 16GB RAM, 2TB storage
iPadOS 17.5.1 (upgradable)

Now for performance, we get the new 3 nm-based M4 chip. And if you look at this Geekbench score, it even outperforms my i9-14900K Desktop PC CPU in single-core performance. It is also a huge upgrade from the previous iPads – be it in CPU or GPU.

I edited one of my friend’s podcast videos using multicam on Final Cut Pro, and the timeline as you can see is smooth, with no lags or stutters. And the render time was also similar to my M1 Macbook Pro.

But despite its impressive hardware, the new iPad Pro is yet again held back by the limitation of the iPad OS. It’s like having a supercar engine on an old Toyota chassis.

So in its current state, for most users, it still is an overpowered device.. primarily for media consumption, basic level of editing, and taking notes.

iPad OS Limitations

And what I really don’t understand about the iPad OS is, that I simply can’t use Visual Studio Code, terminal, or Xcode here, and the Finalcut Pro app or Photoshop has so many limited features as compared to the one you get on the Macbook.

So, for someone like a coder, graphic designer, or video editor, this year’s iPad Pro is still not a reliable machine despite being so powerful.

Hopefully, with the upcoming WWDC and iPadOS 18 update, Apple will make the iPad more useful. It would be fantastic if Apple could offer exclusive features in iPadOS specifically for iPad Pro models, like maybe allowing the installation of Mac Store apps that I just mentioned?!

I would also like to see a better file management system and also better-split screens. They could seriously take inspiration from the OnePlus Open’s Canvas feature. That device has a much much better multitasking feature.

iPad Pro M4 Review: Conclusion

So, overall, I truly believe iPad Pro and iPad OS need an “identity”. Except for this gorgeous screen, everything that an iPad Pro does, you can do more or less the same with the cheaper iPad Air. I feel sorry for the Apple engineers here – they are providing such top-class hardware, but the software is not living up to the expectations.

However, If you are an artist, this is a great device to have. There are a lot of crazy good apps for your creative workflow. Or if you are someone like me, who travels a lot and wants a portable machine for multimedia, light editing, writing scripts, and taking Zoom meetings from this wide-angle front camera, you will love this device.

Buttt…That’s a pretty small demographic of people. But since I fall in that demographic, I love it and got this over the iPad Air, whose display now feels so inferior!

iPad Pro M4 Review: Pros and Cons

Pros

Unmatched performance
Great display experience
Super thin body
Amazing speakers

Cons

iPadOS’s limitations
Only 20W power brick in the box

Vivo Y03 gets a new 4/128GB storage variant in Nepal

Vivo

Dip Khatiwada

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June 2, 2024

0

Vivo Y03 gets a new 4/128GB storage variant in Nepal

Vivo has just launched one of its latest affordable smartphone, the Vivo Y03 in Nepal. This budget smartphone arrives with a 90Hz LCD display and a Helio G85 chipset. In this article, let’s dive into discussing the latest Vivo Y03, including official price in Nepal, specifications, and more.

Vivo Y03 Overview

Display and Design

The Vivo Y03 boasts a 6.56-inch 720×1612 pixels LCD touchscreen display with a smooth 90 Hz refresh rate. It also comes in two sleek colors: Space Black and Gem Green.

Performance and Storage

Under the hood, the Vivo Y03 is powered by MediaTek’s Helio G85 SoC, promising decent performance for everyday tasks. While it doesn’t support 5G connectivity, it should handle your regular smartphone needs just fine. Additionally, it runs on Android 14 with Funtouch OS 14 on top, providing the latest features and optimizations.

Meanwhile, check out the latest prices and specs of vivo devices here

With 4GB of LPDDR4x RAM and storage options of 64GB or 128GB, you’ll have enough space for your apps and media. Plus, it supports a 4GB RAM extension as well. Currently only the 4/64GB trim is available in Nepal.

Also, read

Cameras

The Vivo Y03 features a 13 MP main rear camera along with a QVGA decorative camera for extra creative shots. In addition, for the selfies, there is a 5 MP front camera for snapping quick selfies or video calls.

Battery and Extras

With a robust 5,000 mAh battery, the Vivo Y03 promises to keep you powered throughout the day. The Vivo Y03 can be charged with a 15W wired charging support. Moreover, It’s also IP54 certified for dust and splash resistance

Vivo Y03 Specifications

Display: 6.56-inch 720×1612 LCD touchscreen display, 90Hz
Chipset: MediaTek’s Helio G85 SoC (12nm)
OS: Android 14 with Funtouch OS 14 on top
Battery: 5000mAh
Charging: 15W
Storage: 4GB + 64GB
Ingress Protection: IP54
Rear Camera: 13 MP f/2.2
Selfie Camera: 5 MP f/2.2
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0
Location: GPS, Beidou, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS

Vivo Y03 Price in Nepal and Availability

The Vivo Y03 price in Nepal is NPR 13,499 for the 4/64GB variant and NPR 14,499 for the new 4/128GB cue. You can buy this smartphone from Hukut.

Vivo Y03	Price in Nepal (Official)	Availability
4/64GB	NPR 13,499	Hukut
4/128GB	NPR 14,499	Hukut

Meanwhile, watch our review of Vivo X100 Pro

Vivo changes things up with its new ‘Watch GT’ smartwatch!

Aarohan Niraula

-

June 2, 2024

0

Vivo changes things up with its new ‘Watch GT’ smartwatch!

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has decided to switch things up with a new boxy smartwatch in its home country. The Vivo Watch GT is the first of its kind to feature a rectangular screen instead of a circular face and also features e-SIM support. In this article, let’s take a quick peek at the Vivo Watch GT, its features, expected price in Nepal, and availability details.

Vivo Watch GT Overview

Design and Display

As said earlier, the Watch GT is the only one in Vivo’s smartwatch catalog to feature an Apple Watch-like design (for now). The company has opted for a boxier form factor that is roughly 40 cm in width and weighs about 33 grams. It is compatible with standard 20mm straps and arrives in ‘Black’ and ‘White’ color options. The former ships with a rubber band while you get a more premium-feeling leather strap on the second option.

The display is a 1.85-inch AMOLED panel with a resolution of 390×450 pixels. It is slightly curved on all sides and housed in an aluminum alloy casing with a stainless steel crown to the right.

Health and Fitness

Like most smartwatches, the Vivo Watch GT is filled to the brim with health-tracking features and fitness modes. Firstly, it’s packed with sensors: SPO2, accelerometer, gyroscope, geomagnetic sensor, and ambient light sensor, and secondly, BlueOS, the watch’s operating system, integrates AI into a lot of the experiences out of the box. You get your typical heart rate tracking, sleep and stress measurements, and blood oxygen tracking alongside over 100 sports modes with professional coaches and courses.

E-Sim support and More

Another highlight feature of the vivo Watch GT is the support for cellular connectivity using an e-SIM. However, we are not sure if this feature will work outside the Republic of China or if the watch itself will be available elsewhere. That being said, there are a number of other interesting things you can do like NFC and QR payments, taking notes using AI, and getting real-time updates on things like food delivery, and commutes.

Also Read:

The promised endurance is up to 21 days on power saving mode with e-sim disabled but you’ll get about 3 without those constraints. If you opt out of using e-SIM and use it regularly, Vivo says the watch will likely last you 10 whole days without a refill.

Vivo Watch GT Specifications

Material: Aluminium alloy case, Stainless steel crown, Rubber/Leather strap
Display: 1.85″ AMOLED, 390 x 450 pixels, 322 ppi
Sensors: SPO2, accelerometer, Gyroscope, Geomagnetic sensor, Ambient light sensor
Health and Fitness Features: Wrist heart rate monitor, Pulse Ox blood oxygen saturation monitor, Sleep and Stress Monitoring, Female Health Tracking, more than 100 sports modes
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, eSIM
Compatibility: Android 4.4+ and iOS 8.0+
Battery: 505 mAh Lithium-Polymer, up to 21 days (Low power mode + eSIM disabled)

Vivo Watch GT Price in Nepal and Availability

The Vivo Watch GT was announced alongside the Vivo S19 series of smartphones and will go on sale from the 14th in China. When and if it arrives here, we expect the Vivo Watch GT price in Nepal to be around NPR 24,999.

Vivo Watch GT	Price in China (Official)	Price in Nepal (Expected)
Black (with rubber strap)	CNY 799	NPR 24,999
White (with leather strap)	CNY 899	NPR 29,999

Meanwhile, check out our video on the best smartwatches of 2024:

Moondrop MIAD01 review: What was I made for?

Nikhil Shrestha

-

June 2, 2024

0

Moondrop MIAD01 review: What was I made for?

So today I’ve brought you guys my review of the Moondrop MIAD01, which might just be the most unique smartphone in the world right. I know you might be thinking what’s so special about it except this… sorta funky design but trust me, this is not another one of those phones trying to stand out with its design and nothing else. Just look what we have here… two headphone jacks!

I absolutely love how good wireless earbuds have gotten lately but if someone asked me to choose between a wired and a wireless earphone, I’d still go with the wired ones. Easy.

There’s just… something about the reliability of wired earphones that I haven’t been able to move on from even after all these years. So when I found out that Moondrop was launching its very first smartphone (with an obvious attention on the audio experience) I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.

Moondrop MIAD01 Review: Specifications

Display: 6.7-inch AMOLED screen, FHD+, 120Hz refresh rate
Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 7050 5G (6nm mobile platform)
Memory: 12GB RAM, 256GB storage (expandable)
Software & UI: Android 13
Rear Camera: Dual (64MP primary, 8MP ultrawide)
Front Camera: 32MP sensor (hole-punch)
Security: Fingerprint sensor (optical in-display)
Connectivity: Hybrid Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5, GPS, USB Type-C, NFC
Network Bands:
- GSM: B2 / 3 / 5 / 8
- WCDMA: B1 / 2 / 4 / 5 / 8
- LTE: B1 / 2 / 3 /4 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 12 / 17 / 20 / 28 / 38 / 40 / 41 / 66
- 5G: N1 / 3 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 20 / 28 / 41 / 77 / 78
Battery: 5000mAh with 33W fast charging (power adapter not provided)
Price in Nepal: N/A (USD 399 internationally)

Moondrop MIAD01 Review:

Okay — before I start going on about the phone — I feel like I need to talk a little about Moondrop itself first. Because even though it’s a pretty well-known name in the audiophile community, Moondrop isn’t exactly a household name in the audio world like Sony and JBL. The company is especially known for its affordable in-ear monitors (IEMs) and headphones, and perhaps also the anime art you’ll find on most of its packaging.

Like the one on this phone. I don’t care for it at all, and I must say the unboxing experience of the MIAD01 is nothing extraordinary either. You open up to the phone itself, a nice, braided USB-C cable, and a user manual. Which… I have no idea what it says since it’s all in Chinese.

Design and Build

Glass front, plastic back/frames
No IP rating

But I gotta give props to Moondrop for this design.

I mean, at a time when smartphones have started to look and feel so utterly dull, the MIAD01’s bold aesthetics is refreshing, to say the least. That sharp, serious look topped off with a playful orange accent for the buttons certainly adds a lot to the phone’s personality.

Although when I actually hold this guy in my hand, I’m immediately turned off by how it feels. I’m perfectly okay with the plastic build that Moondrop decided to go with but the MIAD01 is just so awkwardly sharp hold. I really don’t see why they couldn’t have curved the edges at the back a bit to make it more comfortable yet here we are. And it sucks that you don’t get a protective case inside the box or that you can’t buy one off the shelf either.

Moondrop MIAD01 case

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To be fair, Moondrop does have this file you can download to 3D print a case by yourself but that’s simply not a feasible solution for most folks. There’s also no mention of IP rating so I’ve had to be super careful with it during these rainy Kathmandu days. But perhaps the thing I’m most disappointed with the MIAD01 — as far as the design is concerned — is that it doesn’t have any additional mechanical buttons for playback control and whatnot.

For a phone that’s purpose-built for high-quality audio playback, that’s the least I was expecting to be honest. So all in all, the Moondrop MIAD01’s design gets top points from me for the way it looks but the actual execution leaves a lo…t to be desired.

Display

6.7-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel
120Hz refresh rate, 120Hz touch sampling rate

And it’s kinda the same story with the display too. You’re looking at a big 6.7” AMOLED panel with a Full HD resolution and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate which looks pretty dang nice. The colors are vibrant and punchy — and while it’s not the brightest display I’ve seen on a midrange phone — I can’t complain much in terms of outdoor visibility either.

This pre-applied screen protector is surprisingly good too but the thing is, interacting with this display is a total pain in the butt because the MIAD01 has the slowest touch response I’ve used on a phone in a long, long time.

Just a 120Hz touch sampling rate is simply not quick enough in 2024, so it’s no wonder my friends have been questioning my typing skills as I’ve been daily driving this guy. And its haptic feedback is way too weak to make that awful typing experience any better as well.

As you can see this is also a curved screen which is… not something I’m fond of. Then again, the Moondrop MIAD01 isn’t that good at media consumption. It only has Widevine L3 certification so it can’t stream high-res videos and it also has trouble playing HDR videos. At least its stereo speakers don’t sound all too bad — with decent loudness and clarity — so there you go.

Performance

MediaTek Dimensity 7050 5G chip (6nm)
12GB LPDDR4x RAM, 256GB UFS 3.1 storage (expandable)
Android 13 (near stock)

Alright, let’s talk about the performance now. So for its very first smartphone, Moondrop went with MediaTek’s Dimensity 7050 processor, helped by 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage. While you can add up to 2 terabytes of storage via a microSD card too.

I’ve used and tested this MediaTek chip in a bu…nch of budget and midrange phones so I already knew what I should be expecting here.

And for what it’s worth, I didn’t have any trouble going through my everyday work on the Moondrop MIAD01. It has clean, near stock Android software, and unlike what I’ve seen from most Chinese smartphone vendors, it’s not overly aggressive with memory management. That means I can rest assured that Moondrop isn’t going to kill my background app just to save battery.

And that also means multitasking is an absolute cakewalk on the MIAD01.

How’s the battery life?

On that note, its battery life is a strict B+ only. Moondrop has fitted in a big 5000mAh battery here but under my regular usage — which now includes listening to a lot of high-res music via the headphone jack as well — I’ve only been getting like 6 hours of screen time on average. And with a power brick that supports 33W PD charging, the MIAD01 can go from 0 to 100% in around 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Okay, gaming on this thing is not too bad though.

It definitely doesn’t have the best cooling system to handle all the heat but I was getting decent fps numbers in almost all the games I tried. Including a near 60 fps average on PUBG Mobile. But I did notice frame drop issues in some graphically demanding titles like Genshin Impact and Mech Arena after like 10 – 15 minutes into the game.

You might also be wondering if it has any trouble running Google apps since this is running a China ROM after all, right? Don’t worry, they all work perfectly fine. Just turn on “Google Basic Services” from the settings, enable Play Store, and you’re good to go.

Having said that, I can’t get most apps that require location services like Google Maps or ride-hailing apps to work well on the MIAD01 for some reason.

And I really don’t like how Moondrop has essentially forced me to use its default launcher as well. Because no matter what third-party launcher I try, they all mess with the system stability in one way or the other. The navigation gesture doesn’t work sometimes, while other times, the control center becomes unresponsive all of a sudden.

No update on updates

I think Moondrop could solve this with a software update but “software update” is one of the things that worries me about the MIAD01, actually.

First of all, Moondrop hasn’t said anything about how long it plans to offer software support for this thing. Both in terms of version upgrades and security patches. And as much as I love that stock Android experience, the fact that it’s still on Android 13 is rather disappointing. So if timely software updates is important to you, then Moondrop is gonna disappoint big time here.

Cameras

Dual camera setup at the back
(64MP main, 8MP ultrawide)
32MP selfie camera (hole-punch cutout)

As for the cameras, the MIAD01 brings a 64MP primary, an 8MP ultrawide, and a 32MP selfie shooter. And yeah… the camera is easily the weakest aspect of this phone. Even if I absolutely love how Moondrop has been so refreshingly honest about the camera capabilities of the MIAD01. Saying things like “it’s not good, but it works” on the official product page itself.

With that in mind, I went out to take some photos with this guy and you know what?

Moondrop MIAD01 - Daytime

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When there’s ample lighting, you can actually get some pretty good-looking photos here. And when it works, its HDR processing is also not that bad. But as I started to dig a little deeper into the shots, I immediately noticed the one thing its cameras thoroughly struggle with. Details.

Moondrop MIAD01 - Ultrawide

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Even the images from that 64MP main camera are soft and noisy during the day, so you can already imagine how things are with the ultrawide shooter. Or how horrible things are when it gets dark. It also fails to properly focus on the subject time and again, and I found its post-processing and shutter speed to be rather slow too.

Moondrop MIAD01 - Selfies

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But when it comes to human subjects, its selfie and portrait game definitely deserves some credit at least. The way it handles details can be a hit or miss, but yeah.

Moondrop MIAD01 - Portraits

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Although there’s this weird bug with the 2x portraits where the images occasionally turn out way too underexposed somehow.

What about videos?

You can shoot up to 4K 30 fps from the primary and 1080 / 30 fps videos from the ultrawide and the selfie camera, and the MIAD01’s videography capabilities are nothing too exciting either. With decent stabilization but poor exposure control, details, and audio pickup. I don’t know what’s going on but in a couple of videos I shot outside, there’s also this really weird, swirly artifact that I’ve never seen before from any phone as well.

So it goes without saying that I definitely don’t trust the Moondrop MIAD01 for its cameras. Even though it has pretty capable camera hardware and anything, the software side of things is the one to blame here. No doubt.

Audio

3.5mm + 4.4mm “balanced” headphone jack
Dual Cirrus Logic MasterHiFi DAC

And that brings me to the audio section of the Moondrop MIAD01 review. And this is where the mystery about its cryptic name gets resolved as well. So MIAD is short for “Mobile Internet Audio Device” while “01” is an obvious nod to the fact that this is Moondrop’s first ever smartphone. Aka “MIAD01”.

Anyway, like I said before, the only reason the Moondrop MIAD01 exists is to offer a hi-fi audio experience with the versatility of a smartphone, right? Since a headphone jack is pretty rare in modern smartphones. And even on the handful of phones that do have a 3.5mm plug, you don’t get a high-quality audio processor. Aka DAC (Digital Analog Converter).

Now, using an external perfectly fine solution, don’t get me wrong. But you can see how it isn’t exactly an elegant one since you now need to plug in an external device to the phone. Although that hassle goes away with the MIAD01 since it has a couple of flagship DACs built in.

And besides a regular 3.5mm headphone jack, the MIAD01 also has a 4.4mm “balanced” plug, making it the first smartphone ever with a 4.4mm output.

So without getting into too much detail, a 4.4mm balanced connection is basically less open to electromagnetic interference noise and has better signal strength compared to the “unbalanced” 3.5mm plug. It’s mostly useful when your audio gear needs to be routed through long cables or something like that but some people swear by superior audio quality from a 4.4mm connection itself.

Despite all this — I gotta say — Moondrop wasn’t messing about its audio quality at all.

I tested a bunch of IEMs and headphones here, including the Moondrop Blessing 3, Letshuoer S15, 7Hz Salnotes Zero, Kiwi Ears Quintet, Simgot EM6L, Truthear x Crinacle Zero, Arctis Nova Pro, and even the Sony MDR-7506 studio headphone.

Great sound

And after shuffling it through my Spotify playlists and a bunch of my local high-bitrate music, I found its audio to be exactly as I expected.

Just clean, neutral sound with no noise or distortion, a wide soundstage, excellent clarity, and a playfully slight extension in the mid-bass region. It sounded a bit smeared, a bit muddy at first but after I disabled the spatial audio thing from Moondrop’s “Audio Console” app, the MIAD01 sounds absolutely wonderful.

Now, some of those IEMs and headphones I just mentioned also have relatively high impedance. Meaning a sub-par DAC wouldn’t be able to play or “drive” them properly, but that wasn’t a problem at all for the MIAD01. And I never even dared to push the volume higher than 70 – 80% here.

Which reminds me, I really like the super granular 100-step volume control on this thing as well. Compared to how most Android phones have 15 – 20 step volume adjustment only. Some sort of numerical indicator on the UI itself would’ve been even better, but I can live with the way things are right now.

Moondrop MIAD01 Review: Conclusion

Al…right.

I guess I better wrap up my Moondrop MIAD01 review now. So after testing this guy for all this time, the one thing I can confidently tell you is that if you plan on buying it as your primary phone, don’t. I won’t suggest that at all. No matter how impressive its audio quality is because, above all, the MIAD01 is not a reliable smartphone that I’d be comfortable daily driving in the first place.

From the mediocre cameras to that slow display, questionable software support, and all the quality control issues I mentioned before, its shortcomings significantly outweigh its strengths. And what about the after-sales service? That’s definitely a big question mark as well considering Moondrop is a total noob in the smartphone industry.

Having said that, if you really, really care about that audio experience and are willing to take a gamble on Moondrop’s first smartphone, then the MIAD01 might be exactly what you’ve been looking for. Maybe you plan on using it as a secondary phone solely for listening to music, that makes perfect sense.

Just make sure that this thing supports all the network bands your carrier uses, and then you’ve got a portable hi-fi music player… that can also make phone calls and all.

Moondrop MIAD01 Review: Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
• Great wired audio experience	• Forgettable cameras
• Unique design	• No IP rating
• Decent everyday performance	• Frustratingly slow touch response
	• Runs on Android 13
	• No word on software updates

Watch our video review of Moondrop MIAD01

iQOO Pad 2 and Pad 2 Pro duo arrives with flagship chips and 144Hz displays

iQOO
Tablet

Mintu

-

June 2, 2024

0

iQOO Pad 2 and Pad 2 Pro duo arrives with flagship chips and 144Hz displays

iQOO, the Vivo subsidiary company has brought two new tablets in China: the iQOO Pad 2 and iQOO Pad 2 Pro. This duo boasts an identical design with differences in chipsets and screen sizes. Without further ado, let’s get straight into the specs, features, and expected price of iQOO Pad 2 and Pad 2 Pro in Nepal.

iQOO Pad 2 and iQOO Pad 2 Pro Overview

Design and Display

Starting off with the design side of things, both the iQOO Pad 2 and iQOO Pad 2 Pro boast the same rectangular body design. As if it was not obvious, the Pro model sports a bigger 13-inch IPS LCD panel with a 3:2 aspect ratio and 3096 x 2064 pixels resolution. Meanwhile, the vanilla model opts for a 12.1-inch IPS panel with a 7:5 aspect ratio and 2800 x 1968 pixel resolution. Both displays here support up to 144Hz of fast refresh rate.

Performance

Under the hood, the iQOO Pad 2 houses a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC. This tone-downed version of the flagship SD 8 Gen 3 chip features one Cortex-X4 core at 3.0GHz, four Cortex-A720 cores at 2.0GHz, and three Cortex-A520 cores at 2.0GHz. It is paired with up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage.

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On the other hand, the Pad 2 Pro goes for a powerhouse Mediatek chip, the Dimensity 9300+ 4nm fabbed processor, which features one Cortex-X4 core at 3.4GHz, three Cortex-X4 cores at 2.85GHz, and four Cortex-A720 cores at 2.0GHz. Memory options on this tab are available up to 16GB RAM and 512GB of internal storage.

Also Read:

Camera and Battery

Moving to the optics, the iQOO Pad 2 Pro has a 13MP rear camera while the Pad 2 houses an 8MP main camera. Likewise, an 8MP selfie camera is present on the Pro sibling and a 5MP one on the vanilla version. Fueling the Pro version is an 11,500mAh battery with 66W charging support. On the other hand, the Pad 2 relies on a 10,000mAh cell battery with 44W charging speed.

In terms of accessories, both tablets have the support for iQOO Smart Touch Keyboard 2 and iQOO Pencil Air stylus pen, which are sold separately.

iQOO Pad 2 and iQOO Pad 2 Pro Specifications:

Display:
- iQOO Pad 2: 12.1-inches IPS LCD, 144Hz refresh rate, DCI-P3, HDR 10, 7:5 aspect ratio
- iQOO Pad 2 Pro: 2.1-inches IPS LCD, 144Hz refresh rate, DCI-P3, HDR 10, 7:5 aspect ratio
Resolution:
- iQOO Pad 2: 2.8K (2800 × 1968 pixels)
- iQOO Pad 2 Pro: 3K (3096 x 2064 pixels)
Chipset:
- iQOO Pad 2: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 (4nm)
- iQOO Pad 2 Pro: MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ (4nm)
Memory:
- iQOO Pad 2: 8/128GB, 8/256GB, 12/256GB, 12/512GB
- iQOO Pad 2 Pro: 8/256GB, 12/256GB, 16/512GB
Software & UI: OriginOS 4, Android 14
Rear Camera:
- iQOO Pad 2: 8MP
- iQOO Pad 2 Pro: 13MP
Front Camera:
- iQOO Pad 2: 5MP
- iQOO Pad 2 Pro: 8MP
Audio:
- iQOO Pad 2: six-speaker setup
- iQOO Pad 2 Pro: eight-speaker setup
Battery:
- iQOO Pad 2: 10000mAh with 44W fast charge
- iQOO Pad 2 Pro: 11500mah with 66W fast charge
Color Options: Gray Crystal, Lan Ting, Silver Wing

iQOO Pad 2 and iQOO Pad 2 Pro Price in Nepal and Availability

In China, the iQOO Pad 2 and iQOO Pad 2 Pro are priced at CNY 2,499 and CNY 3,399 respectively. We expect the iQOO Pad 2 and iQOO Pad 2 Pro price in Nepal to start from NPR 55,999 and NPR 75,999 if these tabs ever launch here.

Tablets	Price in China (Starts From)	Price in Nepal (Expected)
iQOO Pad 2	CNY 2,499	NPR 55,999
iQOO Pad 2 Pro	CNY 3,399	NPR 75,999

Meanwhile, you can check our iQOO 12 vs OnePlus 12 video,