The battery life of some Apple devices has always been a contentious topic. And although newer devices like the iPhone 15 Pro Max boast excellent battery life, Apple thinks it can still be improved. As such, they seem to be working on new tech to further better the battery life. In this article, we will discuss more about Apple’s plans for a new battery technology.
Apple’s New Battery Tech
Apple has a complex supply chain that includes partnerships with various companies, including battery manufacturers, to produce the components needed for its devices. While Apple designs and develops its custom batteries for its devices, it does rely on a combination of in-house manufacturing and outsourcing to meet the demand for its products.
From CATL, LG Chem, and Samsung SDI, the tech giant relies on numerous other manufacturers for its cutting-edge battery technology. But according to reports from ‘ET News’, Apple is reportedly working on in-house development of a custom cell design
Rumored Battery Composition and Features
The tech giant is expected to be involved in producing this alleged “next-gen battery technology”. The new Apple battery will have various newer materials that would enhance its performance in charging and increase its storage capacities. While also maintaining a longer battery life.
Reportedly, Apple is considering the adoption of a new composition for the cathode materials. Primarily comprised of nickel, cobalt, manganese, and aluminum and incorporating carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as a conductive material. These potential changes hold the promise of enhancing performance in comparison to the battery components currently employed by the company.
In addition, Apple is actively exploring alternative materials for the anode component used in its cells. Apple might use silicon in its battery composition instead of graphite, despite silicon’s known predisposition to expand during charging and discharging cycles. Nevertheless, the company has reportedly made strides in addressing and mitigating the expansion issue associated with silicon anodes.
Apple’s New Battery Tech : Availability
Apple might not integrate its battery technology into its products in the near term. However, the company expects to launch it by the end of 2025. This suggests that the development of these potential battery improvements may not have reached an advanced stage of production.
meanwhile, you can also watch out review of DJI Action 4 vs GoPro Hero 12
It’s no secret that the smartphone accessories market is on the rise here in Nepal. With most people already owning a smartphone, they are looking to complement it with a smartwatch, wireless earbuds, and such. So while most of us expected Indian brands to dominate the accessories market in Nepal as well, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Instead, it’s the Nepali OEM accessories brands that are leading the charge.
What are smartphone accessories, really?
Now, there are different types of electronic gadgets that fall under the “smartphone accessories” umbrella. Including wearables and hearables like smartwatches, smart rings, fitness bands, wired/wireless earbuds, speakers, and more. Whereas things like mobile chargers, cables, powerbanks, and so on also fall into this category.
The global influence of Indian accessories brands
And when it comes to smartwatches and TWS earbuds, Indian brands have been crushing it lately. Mostly in the budget segment, which has helped propel brands like boAt, Noise, and Fire-Boltt to rank among the top brands globally in terms of market share.
Source: Counterpoint
So in a price-sensitive market like ours, it’s only natural to think that these Indian accessories brands could have the same market effect in Nepal as well. However, the few Indian companies that have officially entered the Nepali market — like boAt, Noise, and Mivi — haven’t found similar success here.
Now, research firms like Counterpoint, IDC, and Statista don’t really keep track of wearable shipments in a tiny market like ours.
But from what we’ve gathered after extensive research with multiple retailers and e-commerce platforms, we found that Nepali and Chinese OEMs actually have a much stronger foothold in Nepal’s accessories market. And Nepali brands like Ultima, Purple, Kick, and Gravity have been doing especially well in catering to the needs of the domestic audience.
Why are Nepali OEM brands leading the accessories market?
1. Price
Okay, the main (and the most obvious) reason why Nepali OEM accessories brands have been doing well is because of their super-aggressive pricing. If brand A is offering a similar set of features at a much cheaper price than brand B, that immediately makes a customer’s buying decision easier. And while Nepali and Chinese OEMs have been extremely competitive when it comes to price, I can’t say the same for Indian accessories brands.
Let’s take the newly launched Ultima Nova Watch Pro for instance. It brings an AMOLED screen, IP68 rating, Bluetooth calling, and all the basic health tracking you ask for at just NPR 3,999. Whereas something similar from an Indian brand costs more than twice as much here, like the Noise ColorFit Ultra 2.
An easy choice
As you can see, these two are very comparable smartwatches. And the Nova Pro also has a few standout features like Bluetooth calling and newer Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity. Obviously, the spec sheet alone can’t paint the complete picture of a product. But if you look at their prices, the ColorFit Ultra 2 is at a clear disadvantage.
Even if it was priced with a direct conversion from Indian to Nepali rupees, it still ends up being costlier than the Watch Nova Pro. Whereas the Noise ColorFit Ultra 2 is expensive by more than 60% here in Nepal, which is just ridiculous.
2. Channel margins
Another part of the equation is the margin these brands give to the retailers. Even though online shopping has been booming in Nepal in recent years, brick-and-mortar stores still make up a big majority of the market. And here, channel margin refers to the difference between the price to the seller and the price to the customer. AKA the profit margin for the retailers.
So if brand X provides higher margins than brand Y, retailers have more incentive to push their products over the competition. It’s a delicate balance to master though as giving higher margins might result in inflated prices or minimal profit to the manufacturer.
Luckily, most Nepali OEM brands don’t have to deal with expenses like RND, factory maintenance, and so on. As a result, they can be more “generous” in this regard. And because of this, they have a good rapport with Nepali retailers.
Wait a minute…
When you think about it though, it’s almost odd that such massive Indian OEM brands would have a hard time maintaining competitive prices and keeping the retailers happy. After all, they have all the experience and resources in the world to make it happen.
But instead of incompetence, it’s more like such Indian brands neglecting the Nepali market. They’ve got a much bigger fish to fry in their home country itself, so why waste resources on such a small market like ours? And this is also evident with the product launches from Indian OEMs here in Nepal.
Take boAt’s “Wave Lite” for example. This affordable smartwatch was launched back in March 2022 in India but wanna guess when it made its way here? Nepali customers had to wait a full year till March 2023 before they could get their hands on it. Not only does such a delayed launch kill any hype for the product, but it also negatively affects the buyer’s perception of the brand in the long run.
What about Chinese OEM brands?
And like I said before, a few Chinese OEM brands like MyPower have amassed quite a popularity in the Nepali mobile accessories market. The company sells everything from wired/wireless earbuds to speakers, powerbanks, data cables, and more. And like most Nepali OEM brands, MyPower has been able to maintain aggressive pricing alongside good channel margins too.
Final words
In conclusion, Nepali OEM brands are seeing huge growth in sales and dominating the domestic mobile accessories market. Whereas despite their grand success in India, brands like boAt, Noise, and Mivi haven’t found much success here. And on the current trajectory, the future for Nepali brands like Ultima, Josh, Kick, Gravity, and Purple looks plenty bright.
Xiaomi has decided to add a new keyboard to its portfolio, the Mechanical Keyboard TKL. For those of you wondering, TKL means TenKeyLess, which is a way of saying “keyboard without numpad”. The company goes for a compact mechanical keyboard at a very competitive price. Without further ado, let’s get into what the Xiaomi Mechanical Keyboard TKL brings to the way of typing, as well as its expected price in Nepal.
Xiaomi Mechanical Keyboard TKL Overview:
Mechanical keys
As the name implies, the Xiaomi TKL offers mechanical switches. There are two types of switches here: the linear VC-Pro for typing and the tactile VB-Pro for gaming. There is also a “satellite axis technology” that delivers full-key anti-ghosting so that every keyboard press is registered. Further, according to Xiaomi, this keyboard can last up to around 50 million key presses easily.
Xiaomi Mechanical Keyboard TKL
1 of 2
With keycaps
Without keycaps
The characters on the key caps are transparent thanks to the dual-color injection molding process. This allows the white backlight to light up the keyboard and make it visible in low-lighting conditions. Additionally, you can adjust the lighting using the FN keys to have one of the six different cool effects, including constant light, breathing, starlight, and more.
Xiaomi’s TKL mechanical keyboard has several features fine-tuned for the user experience. For starters, the keyboards offer three different angles to decrease the amount of pressure on your wrist. Moreover, the switches have better curves for stability. And for consistency, the keyboard features a scientific layout.
Connections & Compatibility
Here, Xiaomi has provided three different options for connections for the TKL mechanical keyboard. You get the usual cable for a wired connection, while there is Bluetooth (3.0 & 5.0) and 2.4G for wireless connectivity. The device can memorize up to three devices for a quick switch. Talking about the switch, there is a switch located at the top chassis that lets you swap between three connection modes.
Next to that is another switch that lets you shift from a Windows keyboard layout to a macOS one and vice versa. Further, the Bluetooth 3.0 protocol lets it connect to Windows 7 and below—pretty handy.
Rest of the specs
This TKL keyboard has a metal frame and a plastic cover for a total weight of 670 grams. The device itself is 355mm long, 128mm wide, and 31mm high. In addition to that, the 2000mAh battery inside lasts approximately 10 hours without wires.
Xiaomi Mechanical Keyboard TKL Price in Nepal
This Xiaomi keyboard is only available in China and is priced at CNY 199 for the crowdfunding period. After the campaign ends, it will be available for CNY 249. We expect the price of the Xiaomi Mechanical Keyboard TKL to be NPR 5,500 whenever they decide to bring it to Nepal.
iQOO, the Vivo subbrand has unveiled its flagship iQOO 12 and iQOO 12 Pro with top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC and flagship specs. In this article, we’ll go through the iQOO 12 Pro, its specs, features, and expected price in Nepal.
iQOO 12 Pro Overview:
Design and Display
In terms of design, the iQOO 12 Pro shares an identical visual aesthetic with its vanilla iQOO 12 sibling. The square camera module and Black, White, and Red color options follow here as well. While it doesn’t get a boxy frame factor, iQOO has gone with a curved frame design instead. As for the ingress protection, this flagship phone is sorted with an IP68 rating against dust and water drips.
On the display side, you get a 6.7-inch curved E7 AMOLED panel. This 2K res screen boasts a 144Hz refresh rate, 3000nits peak brightness, 1440Hz PWM dimming, and HDR 10 support.
Performance
Under the hood, the iQOO 12 Pro gets the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powering the core. This latest and greatest offering from Qualcomm is fabbed on TSMC’s 4nm process. It features a prime Cortex-X4 CPU core clocked at 3.3GHz, five Cortex-A720 cores at 3.2GHz, and two Cortex-A520 cores running at 2.3GHz. Accompanying the CPU is an Adreno 750 GPU. Memory-wise, the iQOO 12 Pro is available with up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage.
To make the performance game strong, iQOO has also provided a dedicated Q1 e-sports chip with a performance boost, low latency frame insertion, superframe, and super-resolution (DLSS-like supersampling) features. And for keeping the thermals in check, you get a 5,705mm² vapor chamber.
Talking of the optics, the iQOO 12 Pro rocks a triple camera setup. The primary sensor is a 50MP 1/1.3-inch OmniVision OV50H sensor with OIS. It is followed by a 64MP telephoto unit with 3X optical zoom and up to 100X digital zoom. This 70-230mm camera is also capable of telephoto macro photography as well. Last but not least is a 50MP ultrawide shooter.
Over on the front, the punch hole cutout houses a 16MP snapper for selfies and video calls.
Battery and the Rest
Moving on, fueling the smartphone is a 5100mAh Li-Po battery with 120W wired, 50W wireless charging and 10W reverse wireless support. Connectivity options include 5G, WiFi 7, NFC, GPS, Bluetooth 5.4, and a USB Type-C 2.0 port. Likewise for biometric security, you get an indisplay fingerprint scanner.
In China, the official price of the iQOO 12 Pro begins at CNY 4,999 for the base 16/256GB version. We expect the iQOO 12 Pro price in Nepal to start from 119,999 if and when it launches here.
iQOO 12 Pro
Price in China (Official)
Price in Nepal (Expected)
16/256GB
CNY 4,999
NPR 119,999
16/512GB
CNY 5,499
NPR 131,999
16GB/1TB
CNY 5,999
NPR 142,999
Meanwhile, you can check our iQOO Z7 Pro vs Moto Edge 40 Neo comparison.
The issue of global warming has been bugging the international community for a long time now — decades even. Many efforts have been made to counter this problem, but, they haven’t been very fruitful per se. Now, Silicon Valley scientists may have discovered a real-life cheat code — mutated trees! Let’s get into what these “Super Trees” do and how they help to “chill down” the climate.
Super Trees Overview:
Problem: Global warming
Global warming is the increase in Earth’s average surface temperature due to the buildup of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere. It has been worsening since the early 1980s, grabbing everybody’s attention. Hence, every company is now trying to minimize emissions, be it by using alternative/recycled materials for their products or by planting trees to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint.
Solution: Photosynthesis
If you don’t know, plants use sunlight, water, and, most importantly, carbon dioxide to produce glucose for themselves. Plants consume some of this glucose as energy, while they use the remaining glucose to build more plant matter, like bark. Hence, afforestation is one of the crucial ways to decrease carbon dioxide in the environment.
Researchers from Living Carbon, a start-up in Silicon Valley, have uncovered a plant, namely, the aquatic Azolla ferns. These plants were found fossilized inside the Arctic mud and can grow very fast, getting up to 20 meters thick.
Among the technologists, Patric Mellor is trying to genetically mutate the plant so that it can bind more CO2 and is more resilient to decay. They have theorized that if these plants coated the ocean, they could absorb a large chunk of greenhouse gases.
The paleobiologist and Chief Technology Officer, Patrick Mellor, thinks photosynthesis can save the world. The plantation of “photosynthesis-enhanced” poplars has already been started in Georgia’s forest since February 2023. I think we will get the biggest breakthrough on the global warming problem if this works.
The output of the “Super Trees” is still not guaranteed, as the project is still in a test phase. While some experts trust this process, some professionals are still a bit unsure about its overall effectiveness. The burning questions are, if the trees will have an inverse effect on the rest of the forest and if this plantation can decrease carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at all.
Even Steve Strauss, a prominent tree geneticist at Oregon State University, has conflicting thoughts about the “Super Trees”. He says:
I’m kind of a little conflicted that they’re going ahead with this—all the public relations and the financing—on something that we don’t know if it works.
Verdict: Future of “Super Trees”
Yes, the tests for the viability of these super trees (azolla ferns) are still going on. The company Living Carbon is selling credits for the carbon their trees absorb, like a subscription-based purchase to fund the entire project. They are also working with larger companies and plan to deliver credits to them later on. Development like this fills me with hope that someday we will find a proper counter to this global environmental problem.
OpenAI just unveiled custom chatbots called GPTs and multiple other exciting upgrades including the latest version of ChatGPT, GPT-4 Turbo, GPT store, and more. In this article, we will discuss more about the custom GPTs and GPT Store.
OpenAI GPTs and GPT Store: Overview
Custom Chatbots
GPTs are a new way for anyone to create a tailored version of ChatGPT to be more helpful in their daily life, at specific tasks, at work, or at home — and then share that creation with others. No code required. https://t.co/SPV4TcMiQwpic.twitter.com/PcmorZwtMF
ChatGPT was already an insanely powerful chatbot, but its creator, OpenAI, will now let you make your custom chatbots. Namely GPTs, it is a new way to create a personal chatbot of your liking. For instance, it can help you create your science tutor, help you learn chess, or become your event planner, it’s all up to your preference.
Tailor-made GPTs
Interestingly, this is made with accessibility in mind. As such, even people who have never written a single line of code in their life can create their own chatbots. Creating your own GPT is easier than you might think. All you need to do is, start a chat with Chatgpt, and provide all the necessary content. They could be of incredible help to all sets of demographics, from gardening to becoming your business advisor.
Business and Revenue Sharing
OpenAI also announced it will be sharing revenues with the best custom GPTs, and they will be exclusively available on the GPT store. However, OpenAI has also promised to safeguard your data and privacy with utmost care, and they won’t share them with other third parties.
In addition, they can also be integrated with other applications. Just like a plugin, GPTs can become your shopping assistant, it can help you email, analyze your database, and more.
In addition to GPTs, OpenAI has also announced numerous other products. The emerging startup announced the new GPT-4 Turbo model that is more capable, cheaper, and will also support an incredible 128k context window. In other words, you’ll be able to input more than 300 pages of text, almost as long as a standard novel by Albert Camus. To add on top, it also announced other features like TTS (text-to-speech), image vision(dalle-3), and other multimodal capabilities.
Open AI GPTs and GPT Store: Availability
According to Sam Altman, it will be accessible through the GPT store in the upcoming weeks. In addition, GPTs will be made available to paying ChatGPT Plus subscribers and other OpenAI enterprise customers as well. we’ll keep you updated with the latest developments regarding OpenAI and ChatGPT.
The Qualcomm 8 Gen 3 made its debut a while ago. And its counterpart, the Dimensity 9300 from Mediatek has also arrived with all big core configurations and boosted GPU. Without further ado, let’s get headed to the specs, features, availability, and other info of the Mediatek Dimensity 9300 SoC in this article.
MediaTek Dimensity 9300 Overview:
Performance
The Dimensity 9300 chipset boasts an interesting layout with a prime Cortex-X4 core at 3.25GHz, three Cortex-X4 cores running at 2.85GHz, followed by four Cortex-A720 cores clocking at 2.0GHz. Mediatek has gone for a ‘beast mode’ structure with four X4 cores for the very first time.
Fabbed under TSMC’s 3rd gen 4nm+ process, the silicon is determined for increased power and efficiency. The earlier leak showcased a whopping 2,055,084 Antutu score. It is 40% more powerful in peak performance than Dimensity 9200 while consuming 33% less power. As for the memory, there is support for LPDDR5T RAM with 9,600 Mbps speed, making it the first smartphone chip to do so.
Powerful Graphics
Mediatek has also not left the GPU side behind. The Dimensity 9300 gets a 12-core Immortalis-G720 GPU with some serious gaming power. It supports hardware-based ray tracing with a whopping 46% boost over its predecessor at 40% less power consumption. Following the AI bandwagon, there is the APU 790 which is capable of Generative AI with Stable Defusion generation in less than a second. Likewise, you get support for Large Language Models (LLM) with up to 33 billion parameters.
Imagiq 990 ISP, R16 5G Modem, Up to 180Hz refresh rate
As the latest and greatest offering from Mediatek, the Dimensity 9300 brings more goodies to the table. The chip integrates the Imagiq 990 ISP with support for up to 320MP camera, 8K res videos at 30fps, and 4K at 30/60fps. On top of that, you also get cinematic mode and real-time bokeh for some mobile filmmaking.
It supports WQHD display with up to 180Hz and 4K res panels at 120Hz. Likewise, the connectivity options include the R16 5G modem with support for sub-6GHz/mmWave (7.9Gbps), WiFi 7, and Bluetooth 5.4.
Dimensity 9200
Dimensity 9300
Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
CPU Prime
1x Cortex-X3 @ 3.05GHz
1x Cortex-X4 @ 3.25GHz
1x Cortex-X4 @ 3.3GHz
CPU Big
3x Cortex-A715 @ 2.85GHz
3x Cortex-X4 @ 2.85GHz + 4x Cortex-A720 @ 2.0GHz
3x Cortex-A720 @ 3.2GHz + 2x A720 @ 3.0Ghz
CPU Little
4x Cortex-A510 @ 1.8GHz
–
2x Cortex-A520 @ 2.3Ghz
GPU
Immortalis G715
Immortalis G720
Adreno 740
RAM
LPDDR5X
LPDDR5T
LPDDR5X
5G
sub-6GHz/mmWave (7.9Gbps)
sub-6GHz/mmWave (7.9Gbps)
sub-6GHz/mmWave (10Gbps)
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi 7 (6.5Gbps)
Wi-Fi 7 (6.5Gbps)
Wi-Fi 7 (5.8Gbps)
Bluetooth
BT 5.3
BT 5.4
BT 5.4
Camera
320MP, 18-bit ISP
320MP, 18-bit ISP
200MP, 18-bit ISP
Video
8K @ 30fps, 4K @ 60fps
8K @ 30fps, 4K @ 60fps
8K @ 30fps, 4K @ 120fps
MediaTek Dimensity 9300 Availability
The Dimensity 9300 is making its debut with the Vivo X100 series which is launching tomorrow: the 8th of November, 2023. We’ll see more flagship phones featuring the chip in the coming days.
Meanwhile, check out our iPhone 15 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comparison.
After co-founding OpenAI (and cutting ties with it), Elon Musk launched his own AI company that goes by the name of “xAI”. And recently, xAI announced one of its first projects: an LLM called “Grok”. In this article, I will explain more about the alleged “ better than chatGPT “ chatbot. Let’s dive in.
xAI’s Grok: Overview
A bit of background
After months of anticipation, the first product from Elon Musk’s xAI might be closer than we expected. However, right after leaving the board of OpenAI, Musk had become increasingly critical of AI and its emergence. He even went on to claim that AI possessed the biggest existential threat known to humanity. Despite, all of that, Musk went on the record to speak about how the prototype of Grok had already surpassed ChatGPT.
Furthermore, the success of this new company might not be as promising as his previous ventures. The primary reason for this is that Elon Musk has been losing his charm since he acquired X. Musk has garnered more criticism than ever before due to his controversial political remarks, and the spread of misinformation at times. Additionally, his decision to lay off thousands of people from their jobs doesn’t help either.
Leaving his outside interests aside, let’s understand what this ‘Grok’ is really about.
Grok Chatbot
Elon Musk’s xAI has introduced Grok, a new witty chatbot with a very edgy sense of humor. Grok self-describes as having a ‘rebellious streak’ and takes inspiration from the popular comedy science fiction franchise ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy’. The images that surfaced online make it well evident as well.
“By the way, ‘Grok’ lacks a precise definition, but the Oxford dictionary defines it as ‘to intuitively understand or to empathize’. So, I guess the name does make sense with its definition as well. In addition, Grok will have real-time knowledge of the world via the X platform. It will also answer certain types of questions that are usually rejected by most chatbots.
What influenced Elon Musk?
Musk had previously criticized ChatGPT for being too rigid and stuck within the boundaries of modern political correctness. His fundamental concerns were that the popular chatbot held an overtly tamed moral position and that this so-called intelligent agent lacked features resembling sentience. This could be one of those reasons, which influenced Mr. Musk.
The chatbot will improve with user feedback as it has direct access to user posts in the X platform. The Beta model is currently available to a select few groups. And the results show a remarkable prowess. The bot has the unusual ability to throw some quick banters and responses are full of sarcasm and wits as well.
What model does Grok use?
Grok-1, like other large language models, operates on a deep neural network architecture known as a transformer. Furthermore, it is trained on an extensive dataset of text from the internet. And it learns to predict and generate human-like text by fine-tuning its vast number of parameters. What sets Grok-1 apart is its contextual understanding, enabling it to comprehend the context in which words are used in sentences. With its large parameter size, Grok-1 can capture intricate patterns in a wide range of languages.
While Grok’s wit and Twitter insights are impressive, they raise some important ethical concerns. Critiques argue access to personal social media posts is disrespecting one’s privacy. In addition, some added that the use of humor by AI chatbots might even perpetuate gross stereotypes.
Other projects of xAI
While in July, Musk announced that, the main goal of xAI would be to understand the “true nature of the universe” through AI. It’s a problem that has perplexed philosophers and scientists for centuries. However, for now, it seems a little bit far-fetched to jump right into a metaphysical domain. As the nature of reality and consciousness are untestable stuff. And they are simply not in the scope of our understanding with the current knowledge of the established field of sciences.
Elon Musk’s xAi Grok: Availability
The @xAI Grok AI assistant will be provided as part of 𝕏 Premium+, so I recommend signing up for that.
As mentioned above, only a select few groups in the United States have been made access to the beta version. Likewise, Once Grok AI exits beta, it will be available for all X Premium+ users. Hence, subscribing will be the only option to access Grok.
Not long ago, washing machines were considered a luxury item reserved for wealthy folks. But now, it’s seen as a necessity that saves you valuable time and energy. Given we will soon be in the middle of winter, and, washing clothes will be torture. We figured you’d consider getting a washing machine, and a buying guide would sure be helpful. So here are the basics!
Washing Machine Buying Guide
The washing machine is rather simple to understand. And buying one shouldn’t be complex either. So, before getting one, you can only consider two aspects: its type, and, its capacity. Easy! Now, let’s get into it in more detail, shall we?
Types of Washing Machines
There are many types of washing machines available in the market. And, like everything else, the choices are rather limited here in Nepal. However, this isn’t to say that the available choices aren’t enough! Here in Nepal, we get two types of washing machines: semi-automatic, and automatic a.k.a fully-automatic.
Semi-automatic
These are usually the entry-level goodies, that take a lot of labour off of your shoulders. They come with two separate compartments in them. One for the washer, where you wash your clothes, and the other for rinsing and drying. Firstly, you load your clothes into the washer, put some detergent, then press some buttons, and let it be. It then takes some time and does the washing.
After it’s done, you’ll then have to manually shift the washed clothes to the other compartment to do the rinsing and drying. Here, first, it will rinse the clothes off then it will do the drying. Thus, a semi-automatic washing machine requires some manual labour along with quite a bit of your attention. However, they are pretty water-efficient and budget-friendly. Finally, talking of the price tag, this type of washing machine costs you anywhere between NPR 12,000 to NPR 40,000.
Pros
Affordable
More control over the laundry process
Cons
Separate compartments for washing, and rinsing and drying
Requires manual labour and attention
Fully-automatic
Now, the fully-automatic washing machines are a few steps ahead of their semi-automatic counterparts. This is to say, that these machines cut out almost all the labour from your laundry process. Here, with the automatic washing machines, you just have to load the clothes, add in your detergent, and press some buttons. THAT’S IT! It does the rest, all the way from washing to drying. Now, fully automatic washing machines are available in two types: Top load, and front load.
As the name suggests, with this type of washing machine you load the clothes from the top. They have a single compartment with a vertically placed tube, which does all the washing and drying. Due to this vertical alignment of the tube, the design of the entire machine gets to be rather slim. As a result, top-load washing machines are quite space-friendly. However, top loads usually require more detergent while offering lesser stain-removing prowess than the front loads. Furthermore, it is also known for not being very water efficient.
Nevertheless, you can work around this problem, thanks to its unique feature. The said feature allows you to pause the laundry process. As a result, you can pause the machine midway and manually add water, giving you much more control over the water usage. You can also add more clothes to wash, using this same feature. Meanwhile, they are more electricity efficient and offer faster laundry cycles. The top-load washing machines are available to purchase at a price range of NPR 30,000 to NPR 180,000. Besides, you can also get a mini version of these at around NPR 4,000 to NPR 7,000.
Pros
Relatively affordable
Requires less work
Electricity efficient
Space-friendly
Faster laundry cycles
Added flexibility with pausing feature
Cons
Consumes more water and detergent
Less stain-removing capability
Front Load
Similarly, front-load washing machines also have a single compartment, however, it is horizontally placed. Such that, they have a door on the front, from where you load your clothes to do the laundry. This is the main differentiating factor from its top-loading counterpart. As a result of this horizontal tube alignment, the front-load washing machines are a bit bulky in size and need more space. These washing machines are more advanced than the top loads and, hence, are more water efficient.
Moreover, they also offer a cleaner wash with less detergent, thanks to the faster torque and added range of motion. On the other hand, the front-load washing machine consumes more electricity and has a longer wash cycle compared to its other companions. You also miss out on the pausing feature that you get on the top-load washing machines. In terms of cost, these washing machines start from NPR 40,000 and can go up to NPR 250,000.
Pros
Water efficient
Better cleaning of clothes
More advanced
Cons
On the expensive end
Bulkier
Consumes more electricity
Less flexible
Requires timely maintenance (cleaning)
Capacity of Washing Machines
Now, that we’ve covered the types of washing machines, let’s look into the other major aspect — capacity! Understanding the capacity of a washing machine is fairly simple. You can see a certain weight assigned to the washing machine like 6 Kg, 7.5 Kg, 8.2 Kg, and so on. This number represents the capacity of the washing machine, i.e. the weight of dry clothes you can safely load into your machine at once. Simply put, the higher the number, the more clothes you can wash at the same time.
Here, I will be listing out the capacity of the washing machine and also the size of the family it is ideal for:
Washing Machine Capacity
Ideal for
Under 5 Kg
(Mini Washing machine)
Individual
(can only wash a couple of shirts at a time)
5 Kg
Individual
6 Kg
Couple
7 Kg
Small family (3 individuals)
8 Kg
Medium family (4 individuals)
9 Kg
Large Family (5 individuals)
10 Kg
Large Family (6 individuals)
11 Kg
Very Large Family (7 individuals)
12 Kg
Very Large Family (8 individuals)
Now that we have covered both the main aspects of a “washer”, you are well-equipped to find the one of your dreams! Nevertheless, here are some curated “pro tips” bundled with this washing machine buying guide to further help you out!
Pro Tips
It’s better to get a washing machine from a well-known brand as they offer a better quality product as well as a superior after-sales service.
The above-explained aspects cover most of what you need when choosing a suitable machine for you. However, you should take a deeper look into the features and nuances like the warranty of the machine to better suit your needs.
You need a dedicated tap for water intake as well as proper drainage when setting up your machine. However, you can work around the necessity of a dedicated tap with the semi-automatic, and the top-load washing machine.
Washing machines are ideal for moderately dirty clothes. With this in mind, if your clothes have a deep stain, it’s recommended to manually deal with it.
Don’t overload laundry into your machine, in order to ensure better cleaning and longevity of your machine. Such that, getting a scale for weighing the laundry is a good idea.
Separate your laundry according to the type of fabric, and colour so that you can avoid lint and colour contamination.
And finally, the clothes aren’t ready to wear dry when you take them out from the washing machine. They are about 80% of the way there and need a little more time to fully dry.
Conclusion
I hope that this washing machine buying guide was helpful to you. And you will choose one that’s best for you, saving yourself a lot of time and effort. Also, do let us know if you’d like more buying guides like these! Till then, stay warm, and stay tidy! CHEERS!
Meanwhile, check out these best budget washing machines to buy in Nepal
POCO has unleashed its brand new smartphone- the POCO C65. Similar to its predecessor, the new C65 remains a budget smart-set. However, it comes with a few upgrades over its predecessor. In this article, we will discuss the new POCO C65 in detail, including its expected price in Nepal, features, and specifications.
POCO C65 Overview
Design and Display
POCO C65 is a regular rectangular phone with soft corners. In addition, It comes in three colors, each providing a distinct feel to it despite having a plain design, namely blue, black, and purple. Interestingly, it also features relatively minimal bezels with a waterdrop notch design.
In addition, it features an IPS LCD with a screen size of 6.74 inches (17.1196 cm). It offers a Full HD resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels with a pixel density of 330 pixels per inch. This 90Hz display can reach up to 600 nits of peak brightness.
Meanwhile, check out all the prices and specs of Poco products here
Processor and Performance
POCO C65 is powered by the same MediaTek Helio G85 chipset as its predecessor. Built on the TSMC N12 (12nm-class) production process and featuring eight total cores (2x Cortex-A75 cores @ 2.0GHz + 6x Cortex-A55 cores @1.8GHz), this chipset should suffice for running your everyday applications without too many compromises.
Similarly, the smartphone is offered in two choices in terms of memory. A base 6/128 GB variant (compared to the 4/64GB base on the C55) and a pricier 8/256GB one. In addition, both support expansion up to 1TB via an external SD card.
Camera
The main camera setup on the POCO C65 features a triple-camera configuration, consisting of a 50 MP primary camera, an 8MP ultrawide, and a 2 MP depth sensor. In addition, the camera is capable of recording 720p and 1080p videos at 30 frames per second.
Similarly, for the front camera, it has a single 8 MP shooter that can record 1080p videos at 30 frames per second.
Battery and Extras
Moving on, the POCO C65 has a battery capacity of 5000 mAh- the same as its predecessor. It runs on Android 13 with Xiaomi’s MIUI 14 skin on top.
It now features USB-C which is an upgrade over its predecessor’s Micro USB port. The newer C65 also supports NFC which the C55 didn’t. Lastly, the charging speed gets a bump too—from 10W to 18W.
