Honor has announced the toned-down version of its flagship tablet, the Honor Pad V8 Pro. And it’s the first tablet to be powered by MediaTek’s new Dimensity 8020 chip. Let’s check out the full specifications, features, and expected price in Nepal of the new Honor Pad V8.
Honor Pad V8 Overview:
Design and Display
Honor Pad V8 features an 11” 2.5K (2560 x 1600 pixels) IPS LCD screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. Just like its Pro sibling, it’s a pretty slim tablet measuring just 7.3 mm thick. But at 485 gm, Honor has managed to make the Pad V8 significantly more lightweight than Pad V8 Pro (589 gm).
Performance and Battery
Honor Pad V8 is powered by the all-new MediaTek Dimensity 8020 chip, although it seems to be just a rebranded Dimensity 1100. Regardless, it’s a pretty reliable chip for a midrange tablet and should handle most everyday tasks without compromise. Honor has paired this chip with 8GB RAM and 128/256GB of storage. Alongside a microSD slot for further storage expansion.
As for software, the Pad V8 runs on Honor’s MagicUI 6.1 based on Android 12. This tablet gets its juice from a 7250 mAh battery that can charge at 22.5W with the included charger.
Cameras aren’t a top priority on tablets and it’s clearly the case here. Honor Pad V8 has a 5MP front camera, while there’s a 13MP sensor at the back which can be useful for taking quick pictures and scanning documents. There is also a 2MP depth sensor here, but it’s really nothing to talk about.
In terms of connectivity, Honor Pad V8 has WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 support. Unfortunately, it’s not available with LTE connectivity. This tablet has an impressive audio setup though, with quad speakers that support DTS:X Ultra. You can also pair Honor Pad V8 with Magic Pencil 3 stylus and Magic Keyboard—although both of them are sold separately.
Honor Pad V8 Specifications:
Body: 252.10 x 163.64 x 7.35mm, 485 grams
Display: 11″ IPS LCD, 120Hz refresh rate
Resolution: 2.5K (2560 x 1600 pixels), 16:10 aspect ratio, 274 PPI
In China, the Honor Pad sells for CNY 1,900 (~ USD 275 / INR 22,500) for 8/128GB and CNY 2,000 (~ USD 290 / INR 23,600) for the 8/256GB variant. There’s no word on international availability yet but should the Honor Pad V8 make its way to Nepal, we expect its price to start at NPR 41,500.
AMD Radeon RX 7600 is finally here. It’s the newest (and also the most affordable) member of AMD’s Radeon RX 7000 series of desktop graphics cards. Besides performance upgrades over its predecessor, the RX 7600 has a lower asking price as well. Let’s learn more about AMD Radeon RX 7600, including its specs, features, availability, price in Nepal, and more.
AMD Radeon RX 7600: Overview
RDNA 3 architecture
As an RX 7000 series graphics card, the RX 7600 is based on AMD’s latest RDNA 3 architecture. That means it enjoys 2nd gen ray tracing cores, 2nd gen Infinity Cache, AI acceleration, AMD Radiance Display Engine, and a chiplet design for better performance.
Besides that, RX 7600 has 2,048 stream processors with base (or game) and boost frequencies of 2,250 MHz and 2,655 MHz respectively. With newer architecture, higher frequencies, more cores, and larger memory bandwidth, the new RX 7600 boasts a 29% increase in overall performance over its predecessor the RX 6600.
At the heart of AMD Radeon RX 7600 is a Navi 33 GPU with 32 compute units, 2048 stream processors, and 32 raytracing cores. It has 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM with a 128-bit bus, which is the same as its competitor: the NVIDIA RTX 4060.
AMD also claims improved streaming and recording experience thanks to the more advanced encoders and AI. What’s more, RX 7600 also supports full hardware-based AV1 encoding/decoding. According to AMD’s internal testing, this card performs anywhere from 16 to 36% better in applications like Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, and DaVinci Resolve. Moreover, AMD’s Radiance Display Engine enables excellent color accuracy with 12-bit HDR and Rec. 2020 color space support and up to 8K video playback.
As for the gaming performance itself, the Radeon RX 7600 is targeted at 1080p gaming with 60+ fps at high settings. The company says this card manages 29% higher 1080p gaming performance than 2021’s Radeon RX 6600. Or 34% higher versus NVIDIA RTX 3060 (8GB).
AMD Radeon RX 7600 Specifications:
Architecture: RDNA 3
GPU: Navi 33
Stream Processors: 2,048
AI Accelerators: 64
Ray Accelerators: 32
Boost Clock: 2,655 MHz
Base Clock: 2,250 MHz
Memory: 8GB GDDR6 VRAM
Memory Interface Width: 128-bit
Memory Bandwidth: Up to 288 GB/s
TBP (Typical Board Power): 165W
AMD Radeon RX 7600 Price in Nepal and Availability
Alongside Radeon RX 7800 XT, AMD has also launched the RX 7700 XT midrange graphics card. Like its more expensive sibling, this one’s targeted at 1440p gaming too. So let’s take a look at the specifications, features, and expected price in Nepal of the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT.
AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT Overview:
Here, the RX 7700 XT competes against Nvidia’s RTX 4060 and 4060 Ti. Its base and boost frequencies are rated at 2171 MHz and 2544 MHz respectively. Whereas it has 12GB of GDDR6 VRAM with a total memory bandwidth of 432 GB/s.
Its 28.1 billion transistor count is about a 6.3% increase from the Radeon RX 6700 XT. The new RX 7700 XT also has more stream processors (3456>2560), ray accelerators (54>40), and compute units (54>40) than its predecessor. Moreover, its peak compute performance for single and half-precision is 35 TFLOPs and 70 TFLOPs respectively.
RDNA 3 microarchitecture
Like all the other cards in the Radeon RX 7000 series, this one is based on the newer RDNA 3 microarchitecture too. The Radeon RX 7700 XT is manufactured using a combination of 5nm (for graphics die) and 6nm (for memory die) process nodes.
The thing is, the Radeon RX 7000 series are the first graphics cards to be built with a chiplet design. In simple terms, a chiplet design lets manufacturers build different compute dies of a chip using different lithography processes. This results in better yield, easier manufacturing, and reduced production costs.
Other than this, RDNA 3 is also the first of its kind to have a dedicated media engine. The AMD Radiance Display Engine features support for 12-bit HDR, full coverage of the REC2020 color space, and up to 8K video playback.
How does it game?
As for the performance itself, the Radeon RX 7700 XT is a 1440p powerhouse. Offering approximately 20% better performance per dollar than competitors like the RTX 4060 Ti. It offers seamless 1440p gaming at 60+ fps. But the one catch is that the RX 7700 XT is less power efficient than its Nvidia counterpart.
Moving on, its 48MB of 2nd-generation Infinity Cache allows faster loading and rendering of game assets, resulting in smoother gameplay with higher frame rates. The RX 7700 XT also supports full hardware-based AV1 encoding/decoding and the upcoming FSR 3 frame generation technology.
AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT Specifications:
RX 7700 XT
Architecture
RDNA 3
Process
TSMC 5/6nm
Transistor count
28.1 billion
Stream processors
3456 units
Compute Units
54
Game Clock
2171 MHz
Boost Clock
2544 MHz
Peak Single Precision Performance
35 TFLOPs
Peak Half Precision Performance
70 TFLOPs
Ray Accelerators
54
VRAM
12GB GDDR6
Memory Bus
192-bit
Memory Bandwidth
432GB/s
Infinity Cache (2nd Gen)
48MB
Power
245W
AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT Price in Nepal and Availability:
The official AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT price in Nepal is NPR 70,000. You can purchase it from an authorized store like Hukut.
AMD Graphics Card
Price in Nepal
Radeon RX 7700 XT
NPR 65,000
Meanwhile, check out our gaming test of the RTX 4090:
ore AMD finally took the wraps off of the Radeon RX 7000 Desktop GPUs. The new GPU family currently consists of only two models: the RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT which are the first cards powered by its new architecture, RDNA 3. So, let’s go over the specifications of AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT Desktop GPUs and their price in Nepal.
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX and 700 XT GPUs Overview:
The Radeon RX 7000 series is built on the new RDNA 3 architecture. That is, they use a chiplet design similar to the company’s Ryzen processor, the world’s first of its kind. AMD CEO Dr. Lisa says “it gives them a modular design that can easily be tweaked down the line.”
This chiplet includes a 5nm GPU compute die and a 6nm memory cache die which results in computing power of up to 61 teraflops (up from a maximum of 23 TFLIOPs in RDNA 2). Also, it can manage up to 24GB of GDDR6 RAM and is made up of 58 billion transistors.
As a result, the top-tier Radeon RX 7900 XTX features 24GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus with 96 compute units clocked at 2.3GHz. AMD touts this card for 4K gaming while also considering efficiency. Compared to Nvidia’s top-tier RTX 4090’s 450W board power, the RX 7900 XTX manages its workflow with only 350W.
More efficiency
This efficiency is also cited as the reason for using GDDR6 memory rather than GDDR6X memory. On the other hand, the less-powerful RX 7900XT has 20GB GGDR6 RAM, 84 compute units running at 2GHz, and a 320-bit bus. The Total Board Power (TBP) is also reduced to 300W.
Moreover, AMD has also confirmed that both cards have two 8-pin connectors, so you won’t need to use any special power connector or adapter. In contrast, Nvidia relies on 12VHPWR connector for the RTX 4090 which is reported for either burning or melting. The GPUs also support DisplayPort 2.1 meaning that they are capable of rendering 4K visual at 480Hz and 8K at 165Hz refresh rate.
In terms of actual performance gains, AMD has provided a few graphs to give a better idea. Team Red promises 62fps in Cyberpunk 2077 at 4K with its 7900 XTX card equipped. The scores are with FiedlityFX SuperResolution (FSR) and ray-tracing enabled—with the latter providing up to a 50% performance boost over previous-generation cards.
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Moreover, in games like Apex Legends and Valorant, 7900 XTX can push the frame rate to 300 and 833, respectively. That’s when it was paired with an AM5 motherboard, a Ryzen 9 7950X processor, and 32GB of RAM. On an unspecified configuration, it was still able to achieve 295fps on Apex Legends and 704fps on Valorant. Despite this, the company hasn’t shown a comparison with the RTX 4090.
After multiple teasers, Xiaomi has unveiled the latest member for the Redmo Note 12 series in China. The newly announced Redmi Note 12R Pro is a budget smartphone with an OLED display and 5G capability. So, let’s get into the specs, features, expected price, and availability of the Redmi Note 12R Pro in Nepal.
Redmi Note 12R Pro Overview:
Design and Display
Redmi Note 12R Pro follows the same design language as the Note 12 5G and Note 12 Pro+. You get a sleek modern look with flat frames which houses the side-mounted fingerprint scanner. The corners and the rear still retain slight curves for ergonomics hands-on feel. Redmi offers the phone in three color options: Black, White, and Gold. The phone measures 8mm thick and weighs around 190 grams. Additionally, it has an IP53 rating for dust and splash resistance.
Over on the front, the Redmi Note 12R Pro sports a 6.67-inch FHD+ screen with a center-aligned punch-hole cutout. The OLED screen boasts 120Hz native refresh rate and 240Hz of touch sampling rate. The phone also has 1200 nits of peak brightness, making it ideal for use in broad day sunlight.
Under the hood, the phone is powered by Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 — the same chip as the vanilla Note 12 5G. It is a 6nm processor with two Cortex-A78 (@2GHz) and six Cortex-A55 (@1.8GHz) cores. The graphics are handled by Adreno 619, and there is also an integrated Snapdragon X51 modem for 5G connectivity.
Redmi has paired this chip with up to 12GB LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB UFS 2.2 storage. This is the single memory configuration that Redmi Note 12R Pro is available in Nepal.
Camera
The rectangular camera island on the back of the Redmi Note 12R Pro is home to two image sensors and an LED flash. As suggested by the branding, the primary camera uses a 48MP image sensor. This is paired with a 2MP depth sensor. Unfortunately, there is no dedicated sensor for ultrawide shots. Coming to the selfie, Redmi has provided a 16MP front-facing shooter.
Rest of the Specs
Fueling the Redmi Note 12R Pro is a 5,000mAh non-removable battery. It supports 33W fast charging, which should enable full recharge in a little over an hour. The phone ships with Android 13 out of the box with Xiaomi’s MIUI 14 on top.
Redmi Note 12R Pro Specifications:
Body: 165.88 x 76.21 x 7.98mm, 188 grams, IP53 dust/water resistant
Redmi Note 12R Pro Price in Nepal & Availability (Expected)
Currently, the Redmi Note 12R Pro is exclusive to the Chinese market, retailing for Rs. 1,999 for the sole 12/256GB variant. Based on this, we expect the price of the Redmi Note 12R Pro to be Rs. 39,999 in Nepal.
Dynamic Island on Android created some buzz amongst Twitter netizens just a while ago. Yeah, I’m talking about the Realme C55 with a Dynamic Island aka Mini Capsule, the company’s latest addition to the C Series. Its pricing starts from NPR 21,999 in Nepal and bears midrange specs like Helio G88 SoC, a Full HD+ 90Hz display, and a dual camera setup. Having used it for more than 10 days, here’s my Realme C55 review where I’ll be sharing my experience. Before that, let’s have a look at the specs of the Realme C55.
Okay, let’s begin with the design first. I have this Sunshine color variant of the C55 and it looks quite flashy, to be honest. Plus, its camera module is pretty gigantic for a midrange phone. Personally, I prefer me some minimal colors but those wanting some colors, would definitely love this phone. You get a flat frame design here with a hole punch display on the front. The in-hand feel is good and it doesn’t look cheap either. And the side-mounted fingerprint reader is significantly fast and accurate.
Design
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Rear
Front
Coming to the display, Realme could have treated us with an AMOLED panel but an IPS display with Full HD+ resolution is all you get. It still supports a 90Hz refresh rate which is pretty good, but a 120Hz panel feels much better for the price tag. After all, its rival, Redmi Note 12 4G houses a 120Hz AMOLED panel at a similar price range. You get three options to choose from— 60Hz, 90Hz, and Auto Switch. I’ll advise you to set it at 90Hz only mode to enjoy it fully as the Auto Switch option sometimes fails to switch the refresh rate.
Well, the display quality is average here actually. You will notice some color shifts while viewing from different angles. Besides that, it is just okay for the price tag it carries. And, you won’t get the vibrant and punchy colors of an AMOLED here, but watching content on this 6.72-inch screen is fairly enjoyable, I must say.
Performance
Octa-core Mediatek Helio G88 4G SoC (6nm)
6GB LPDDR4X RAM, 64/128GB UFS 2.2 storage
Android 13 with Realme UI 4.0 on top
Powering the Realme C55 on the core is a MediaTek Helio G88 chipset here. This octa-core processor is not the best in this price range but it does a fair job. Day-to-day tasks like scrolling and switching social media apps, and playing some light games feel okay for the price. Yes, I did face some stutters while switching through apps but it’s normal for a lower-midrange phone. Besides that, the Realme C55 suffices the needs of a normal user in most regards.
How about some gaming?
Talking of some popular titles like PUBG and Call of Duty, you can play up to 40fps on the former and 30fps on the latter. The gameplay is not snappy and smooth as it’s a midrange phone. You’ll notice some frame drops and jitters here and there. Less demanding games like Temple Run, Subway Surfers, and Clash of Clans run without a hiccup though. So, the phone is not for—those wanting a gaming device in the 20k price segment.
Realme UI 4 and Mini Capsule
The Realme UI 4 is a feature-packed UI with tons of customization options. It is based on Android 13 out of the box. But the catch is the several numbers of bloatware Realme has shipped the phone with. Of course, you can disable or uninstall those apps but, the first-hand experience is kinda ruined by unnecessary app recommendations. And to top it all, you also get ads on the phone while installing an app.
UI
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Realme UI
Mini Capsule
Now, let’s talk about the most hyped “Mini Capsule”, Realme’s own Dynamic Island. Currently, it literally does nothing except for showing a fancy capsule animation while plugging in the charger. The company did mention bringing more usability in future updates but for now, the Mini Capsule is more of a marketing stunt and gimmick.
Camera
Dual camera setup
50MP main, 2MP Depth
8MP selfie camera
Let’s move to the camera now. Realme C55 sports a dual camera setup on its rear side: 50MP main + 2MP depth. As the secondary camera is practically useless, the photography aspect solely relies on the 50MP primary lens.
Daylight Imageries
The daylight images from Realme C55 bear superb details and colors. The outputs are mostly on the saturated side though. However, the dynamic range is decent and the shadows also get well maintained. Be it human subjects or architectural monuments, the C55 captures it nicely.
Daylight Shots
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Portrait Mode
Moving to the portrait sides, the main camera captures decent images most of the time with a good amount of background blur. But as it is a budget phone, edge detection gets hit or a miss in some scenarios: mostly with the hair and ear of the subjects. Besides that, the skin tone is also close to natural.
Portrait
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Night Shots
As expected, its nighttime images don’t fancy me. The pictures are not sharp and require more light to get proper output.
Night
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Selfies and Portraits
The phone sports an 8MP selfie snapper on the hole punch cutout. Outputs from the front camera are usually nice with a good amount of details and background blur in portrait mode. But yeah, you do get a pinkish tint on the skin tone.
Front Camera
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Normal
Portrait
Normal
Portrait
Normal
Portrait
Normal
Portrait
Battery Life
5000mAh Battery
33W Fast charging
Moving on, Realme C55 packs a 5000 mAh battery. I got around 7 hours of screen-on time (SOT) on my usage which includes, a bit of gaming, social media, and watching YouTube. So, it’s fair to say that, the battery lasts for a day easily with moderate usage. Accompanying it is a 33W SuperVOOC charger which Realme ships inside the box. It can fill the juice from 0 to 100% in 1 hour and 10 minutes.
Realme C55 Review: Conclusion
Overall, Realme C55 is an “okayish” device for the price point. Realme UI is feature packed and smooth while its bloatware and ads kinda become annoying. The main camera is capable except for slightly boosted colors while I definitely missed an inclusion of an ultrawide camera. Besides that, an AMOLED display and a stereo speaker would have been very favorable.
Microsoft has finally launched its AI-powered designing tool “Microsoft Designer” for public preview. This Canva alternative was announced way back in October 2022 with closed beta access. Let’s learn more.
Microsoft Designer: Overview
This is an AI-charged web app like Canva, which helps you design posters, presentations, pamphlets, or social media posts with the help of AI. It leverages OpenAI’s image-generating tool DALL-E 2 to generate matching visuals. And it can even auto-suggest captions and headings for your social media posts. Microsoft Designer was in closed beta until Friday but now it’s finally available for public preview.
AI-powered quirks and features
You start with a text prompt like “A poster about the impacts of climate change”. Then, you can select from multiple available designs, which could be still images or animated visuals. And the great thing about this is that you can customize each and every element of the design as you’d like.
From text color to opacity, every single aspect can be tinkered to your needs. Microsoft Designer can make suggestions for color palettes, text fonts, and visual shapes too. But that’s not all. It will also be getting more AI features like “erase” and “replace background” in the coming future. With these features, you will be able to remove any unwanted objects (not just backgrounds) and replace them accordingly.
Having tested it firsthand, we can say it’s not perfect yet (obviously). But it seems to be on the right track. We don’t know about stealing all Canva users away but it’ll definitely pull in the curious ones. The AI suggestions work well but the editing features are limited as of now. And we hope Microsoft continues to upgrade this tool with additional features so it can get more reliable, and hopefully even give Canva a run for its money.
Microsoft Designer Price and Availability
In the current public preview phase, Microsoft Designer is free to use. And once it is ready for final launch, Microsoft says Designer will be available both as a free app and embedded into Microsoft 365 subscription with more premium features. Other than the web app, you can also access it via the Edge browser’s sidebar.
After a long wait, Nothing’s first smartphone, phone (1) finally arrived a couple of weeks ago here in Nepal. While it launched at a frankly outrageous price, phone (1) has now received its first price drop. So let’s walk through the specs and features of the Nothing phone (1), alongside its official price in Nepal, availability, and more.
Nothing phone (1) Overview:
Transparent back design
Nothing phone (1) is a breath of fresh air in an age when smartphone designs have become quite generic. With its first phone, the brand is continuing the transparent design approach that it introduced with its first product, the Nothing ear (1).
While the transparent cover for the ear (1) was quite unconventional, it is not as unique in the smartphone arena since companies like Xiaomi and Nubia have already tried this formula.
It’s all about the presentation
Then again, such design choices haven’t really wooed the mainstream audience, which is why manufacturers come out with only a small batch of transparent phones.
So it’s not surprising that much of Nothing’s success depends upon the presentation of the phone (1) transparent back. Nothing experimented with a bunch of designs as shared by Carl Pei via his Twitter before going with the final form.
Singularity-focused design
Previously, in an interview with The Verge, Carl Pei stated that Nothing will try to emulate Dyson’s singularity-focused design. He has even convinced Dyson’s former design head, Adam Bates, to lead the design at Nothing. He will be working together with Jesper Kouthoofd and Tom Howard.
Meanwhile, read all the prices and specs of Nothing products here
Glyph Interface
The main highlight of the Nothing phone (1)’s design is something called the “Glyph Interface”. Nothing has included a total of five lightning strips with around 900 LEDs that can work both together and as individuals to notify you of notifications, incoming calls, and the charging process.
You can even customize the lighting pattern for certain contacts or notifications. Additionally, the entire back panel can be illuminated at once to serve as a fill light for the cameras.
There’s more—one can even set those backlights to flash in tandem with the built-in ringtones. Users will also have the option to turn off the Glyph interface completely at a certain time of day.
It’s sustainable too
phone (1)—in addition to its cool-looking transparent form—takes a sustainable design approach, with the frames made of recycled aluminum. Its front and back likewise have Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Aside from that, more than half of the plastic used in smartphones is recycled; and the company has used recycled tin for the soldering of the device’s components. The smartphone is IP53 rated for dust and splash resistance as well.
Wireless charging
Another thing the company is really focusing on is showing off its charging coil. Yes, Nothing phone (1) supports 15W wireless charging, and it is a major part of the phone’s design as well. The phone even has 5W reverse wireless charging for your TWS earbuds and other accessories.
In terms of battery, phone (1) is fueled by a 4500mAh battery bundled along with 33W fast charging. But the company has not included a compatible charger inside the box.
Performance
Nothing has gone to great lengths to include wireless and reverse wireless charging in the device. The phone (1) is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ chipset, which does not allow wireless or reverse wireless charging by default. As a result, Qualcomm has to expressly design the chipset for the phone (1) to include this feature.
Besides a few new additions, the Snapdragon 778G+ stays the same in terms of the core architecture. It features an eight-core CPU with four performance (Cortex-A78) and four efficiency (Cortex-A55) cores. Similarly, for graphics, an Adreno 642L GPU is used, as is an X53 5G modem for connectivity.
Users were expecting the phone (1) to feature the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor. But according to Carl Pei, they chose a mid-range chipset because it offers a better balance of price, performance, and power consumption.
Nothing OS
As for the software, Nothing phone (1) boots on the company’s own Android skin known as “Nothing OS”. The company describes its custom skin as a pure form of Android with only the “essentials”. The OS focuses on delivering a fast, smooth, and personal experience. Nothing OS even incorporates the dot-matrix design that you see on the company’s logo.
Nothing has promised 3 major OS updates and an additional year of security patches which nearly matches Google’s current commitment to the Pixel 6 lineup. A beta version of the Nothing OS Launcher is also available in the Play Store to give users a glimpse of the Nothing OS.
Nothing ecosystem
The Nothing OS also immerses you in the Nothing ecosystem, which includes products from its own company and those of other prominent brands. The ecosystem will allow you to control the products directly from your phone (1).
So it’s hardly surprising to see that it is well-suited to their own product portfolio which currently only includes the Ear (1). In this case, the quick setting toggle on the phone (1) lets you choose between ANC modes, connectivity, and other features. Aside from that, Nothing has optimized its ecosystem for Tesla cars, allowing you to connect your phone to the car and do actions like turning on the AC and lights.
We expect the company to grow its product portfolio in the future to align with its vision of the Nothing ecosystem that it plans to rival Apple. Carl Pei has also expressed his desire to blur the boundary between Nothing and its consumers.
Cameras
Moving on, Nothing is trying to keep things simple when it comes to cameras, which is why it isn’t just going after the numbers. The phone (1) features dual rear cameras headlined by a 50MP 1/1.56′′ Sony IMX766 sensor with f/1.88 aperture and support for OIS and EIS dual stabilization.
The secondary sensor is a 50MP Samsung JN1 ultrawide lens with a 114° field of view. The smartphone can shoot 4K videos, and the ultrawide lens can also function as a macro sensor. Over on the front, there is another 16MP Sony IMX471 sensor for selfies.
Display
Over on the front, the phone (1) flaunts a 6.55-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rate. This is a 10-bit color depth panel, it has HDR 10+ certification and it features 1200 nits of peak brightness.
Moreover, the company has used a flexible OLED display to accomplish the symmetrical bezel design in the device. The screen also has an optical fingerprint sensor for security.
The latest official Nothing phone (1) price in Nepal is NPR 58,999 for 8/128GB and NPR 61,999 for 8/256GB variant. To compare, the original price of Nothing phone (1) in Nepal was NPR 71,999 for the 8/256GB configuration. You can buy it in Nepal from authorized stores like Hukut.
Redmi Note 12 was among the most anticipated phone of 2023, and it is finally here in Nepal. Xiaomi has launched the 4G version here, which seems fair since 5G is yet to be implemented here. Last year’s Note 11 was a decent budget phone in itself, and its successor tries to build on it. The pricing is also quite aggressive since it starts at Rs. 23,000 for the 4/128GB variant — even cheaper than last year. In this review, I will share my experience of using the Redmi Note 12 4G for a month, along with the pros and cons. Before we begin, let’s quickly glance at what the phone offers regarding specifications.
Redmi Note 12 4G Specifications:
Body: 165.66 x 75.96 x 7.85mm, 183.5gm, IP53 dust/water resistant
Let’s start with the design of the phone. Xiaomi has made some noticeable changes here. Firstly, with a bigger screen, the size has increased. Redmi Note 12 feels quite large and much bigger than its predecessor from last year. Plus, the rear panel is completely flat, which gives it a sleek look and feel.
The sides and back of the phone are made of plastic, while the front has Gorilla Glass 3. Redmi has given the back a frosted finish, except for the camera module, which is glossy. The phone does catch smudges easily, so it’s best to use the clear case that comes with it. The sides have a matte finish, and you’ll find the fingerprint scanner there, which is quite snappy for its price. And with a peak brightness of 1200 nits, you won’t have any trouble using the Redmi Note 12 4G even in broad daylight.
Smooth 120Hz refresh it, or is it?
Still, the main selling point of this display is the 120Hz refresh rate. As for now, it is the only phone under Rs. 30000 to offer a 120Hz OLED display in Nepal. You can definitely feel the smoothness brought by the high refresh rate while navigating through MIUI and settings. That said, the experience is not completely stutter-free. Redmi Note 12 4G fails to maintain the same level of fluidity while switching between apps as well as in some third-party apps.
I feel this is because of the limitation the Snapdragon 685 chip possesses. It is not as powerful as one might expect from a budget processor in 2023. It can still handle YouTube videos up to 1080p. If you watch a lot of series and movies on Netflix and similar platforms, you will be happy to know that there is Widevinew L1 certification for HD streaming.
No stereo speakers this year
The only thing missing is the stereo audio of a dual-speaker setup. If you recall, it was in the Redmi Note 11 but fails to make an appearance here. I don’t like this change as Xiaomi has improved the performance drastically, and with the stereo speakers, Redmi Note 12 would have been a complete multimedia phone.
Performance
Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 685 4G SoC (6nm)
4/6/8GB LPDDR4X RAM, 64/128GB UFS 2.2 storage
Android 13 with Xiaomi’s MIUI 14 on top
Now turn our focus on the performance. Redmi Note 12 is the first phone to come powered by Snapdragon 685. It is the latest budget smartphone processor to come out of Qualcomm, but it’s not entirely a new chip. The Snapdragon 685 is basically the Snapdragon 680 with a higher clock speed of 2.8GHz. Having used numerous Snapdragon 680-powered last year, I can say that it’s not made for gaming, and unfortunately, the higher clock speed does little to change it.
Even with the graphics set to Smooth, Redmi Note 12 4G can’t run PUBG: Mobile beyond 30 fps. You can play COD: Mobile at 40 fps at low graphics, but there will be frame drops here and there. Less demanding games like Mobile Legends Bang Bang and Mecharena do support 60 fps, but the phone heats up if you play for longer sessions. So I would not recommend this phone for gaming.
You won’t have any significant problems during normal usage, though. There is a noticeable delay when launching the app for the first time and switching apps, but this RAM management issue exists in all phones in this segment. I also didn’t find any major bugs in the software department. Here, you get Android 13 out of the box with MIUI 14 on top. There aren’t many pre-installed apps except for a few.
Camera
Triple-camera setup at the back
50MP main, 8MP ultrawide, 2MP macro
13MP selfie camera
Let’s talk about the camera now. Redmi Note 12 4G sports a triple camera setup at the back, consisting of a 50MP primary, 8MP ultrawide, and 2MP macro lens. I compared its images with Samsung’s Galaxy A14 5G as both feature a 50MP primary camera and compete in the same price segment.
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As you can see in these pictures, the photos from Galaxy A14 5G have poppy colors, and they look more vibrant compared to Redmi Note 12’s pictures, which are comparatively dull. Overall, you will get livelier photos with better dynamic range and exposure control with the Galaxy A14 5G. It’s not that the camera on Redmi Note 12 4G is not, but it’s not as consistent as the Galaxy A14’s photos.
Daylight Photos
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Redmi Note 12 4G
Galaxy A14 5G
Redmi Note 12 4G
Galaxy A14 5G
Galaxy A14 5G
Redmi Note 12 4G
Redmi Note 12 4G
Galaxy A14 5G
Redmi Note 12 4G
Galaxy A14 5G
Redmi Note 12 4G
Galaxy A14 5G
While taking photos of human subjects with Note 12, the skin color looks unnatural because of all the smoothening going on. Edge detection in portraits is also not perfect. The same can be said for the selfie camera.
Portraits
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Redmi Note 12 4G
Galaxy A14 5G
Redmi Note 12 4G
Galaxy A14 5G
Redmi Note 12 4G
Galaxy A14 5G
Selfies
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Redmi Note 12 4G
Galaxy A14 5G
Redmi Note 12 4G
Galaxy A14 5G
Redmi Note 12 4G
Galaxy A14 5G
Nighttime photos are soft and noisy. The night mode tries to maintain the exposure by increasing brightness but doesn’t give impressive results. Here too, A14’s photos look better, although the detail retention isn’t that good.
Low Light Photos
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Redmi Note 12 — Night Time
Galaxy A14 5G — Night Time
Redmi Note 12 — Night Mode
Galaxy A14 5G — Night Mode
Redmi Note 12 — Night Time
Galaxy A14 5G — Night Time
Redmi Note 12 — Night Mode
Galaxy A14 5G — Night Mode
Redmi Note 12 — Night Time
Galaxy A14 5G — Night Time
Redmi Note 12 — Night Mode
Galaxy A14 5G —Night Mode
The videos aren’t praiseworthy, either. It can only be recorded up to 1080p 30 fps, and the output is shaky.
One good aspect of the phone is that Redmi has included an ultrawide camera, which other companies have omitted from their phones in this price range. Although ultrawide shots lack details, you can use them to take photos of buildings and landscapes when you need them.
Redmi Note 12 4G - Primary vs Ultrawide
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Primary
Ultrawide
Primary
Primary
Ultrawide
Primary
Ultrawide
Battery
5000mAh Battery
33W Fast charging
Lastly, Redmi Note 12 4G packs a 5,000mAh battery that easily lasts for a day. But, it falls short when compared to the likes of Galaxy A14 and Redmi Note 11. The main reason for this is the 120Hz display and overclocked CPU. The charging is quick. It gets fully charged in 1 hour and 15 minutes with the 33W charger included in the box.
Redmi Note 12 4G Review: Conclusion
Despite its few shortcomings in the performance and camera department, I still believe Redmi Note 12 4G is currently the best budget phone you can get under Rs. 25,000 in Nepal.
The competitor for this phone is the new Galaxy A14 5G, which brings a better camera but compromises in almost all other aspects. It doesn’t even feature a charger in the phone.
If you are a gamer, you can also consider Poco M5, which equips a more capable CPU. But it misses out on an OLED screen, an ultrawide camera, and a hardware-based gyroscope and charges slower at 18W.
The new Moto E13 bears a barebone spec sheet and has now launched in Nepal. So let’s see what Motorola has packed on the Moto E13, including its specs, features, official price in Nepal, and more.
Motorola Moto E13 overview:
Design and Display
Motorola is marketing the Moto E13 with the “best designed smartphone” tag. It has a pretty minimalistic look, whereas the phone weighs just 179.5 grams.
Its entire body and frames are made of PMMA plastic. Despite being a budget phone, Moto E13 is IP52 rated against dust and water drips. It is available in three color options: Aurora Green, Creamy White, and Cosmic Black. Up front, the phone comes with a 6.5″ HD+ IPS LCD display. Like other budget phones, it has a standard 60Hz refresh rate and a V-shaped notch for the front camera.
Performance
Motorola has chosen the Unisoc T606 to power this phone which is a 12nm-based mobile chip. It is an octa-core processor with two Cortex-A75 cores (@ 1.6 GHz) and six Cortex-A55 cores (@ 1.6 GHz).
Likewise, the Unisoc T606 has Mali-G57 MP1 GPU. This chipset is good enough for day-to-day tasks and casual gaming, but Motorola could’ve offered a more powerful processor in this price range. In terms of memory, the Moto E13 is available in two variants; 2/64GB and 4/64GB storage variant. You can also expand the storage via a dedicated microSD card.
This phone comes with a single 13MP f/2.2 camera at the back. It supports shooting modes like portrait, AI, panorama, etc. Furthermore, it has a 5MP f/2.2 front camera. You can shoot videos at up to 1080p at 30 fps from the rear as well as the front camera.
Others
As for the battery, the Moto E13 has a massive 5000mAh cell that supports 10W charging via the USB-C port. This phone comes with a single speaker setup with Dolby Atmos audio. In terms of wireless connectivity, this 4G phone has dual-band Wi-Fi. It ships with Android 13 Go Edition with Motorola’s My UX skin.
Wireless Connectivity: WiFi 5 (ac), Dual-band, Bluetooth 5.0
3.5mm Jack: Yes
Motorola Moto E13 Price in Nepal and Availability
The price of Moto E13 in Nepal is Rs. 11,999 for the 2/64GB variant. Motorola has not launched the 4GB model here. You can buy the Moto E13 from authorized online and offline stores starting April 30.
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