Page 337 – GadgetByte Nepal

Realme C55 Review: Gimmicky Dynamic Island, Decent Camera

Mintu

-

April 30, 2023

Realme C55 Review: Gimmicky Dynamic Island, Decent Camera

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.

Realme C55 Review: Specifications

Body: 165.6 x 75.9 x 7.89mm, 189.5 grams
Display: 6.72″ IPS LCD, 90Hz refresh rate, 180Hz touch sampling rate, 600 nits peak brightness
Resolution: FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio
Chipset: MediaTek Helio G88 (12nm mobile platform)
Memory: 4/6/8GB LPDDR4X RAM
Storage: 64/128GB eMMC 5.1 storage
Software & UI: Realme UI 4.0 on top of Android 13
Rear Camera: Dual (64MP primary, 2MP depth)
Front Camera: 8MP (punch-hole)
Audio: Single speaker, 3.5mm headphone jack
Security: Fingerprint sensor (side-mounted)
Battery: 5000mAh with 33W SuperVOOC charging
Colors: Sunshower, Rainy Night
Price in Nepal: NPR 21,999 (6/64GB), NPR 25,999 (8/128GB)
Buy Realme C55 here

Realme C55 Review:

Design and Display

6.71-inch IPS LCD (Full HD+)
90Hz refresh rate
Glass front, plastic frame, and plastic back

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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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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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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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.

Realme C55 Review: Pros and Cons

Pros

Decent primary camera
Good performance
Android 13 out of the box
Good battery life

Cons

Bloatware on Realme UI
Gimmicky Mini Capsule
Single speaker
No ultrawide camera

Microsoft’s new AI-powered designing tool could destroy Canva

AI
Microsoft

Aarohan Niraula

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April 30, 2023

1

Microsoft’s new AI-powered designing tool could destroy Canva

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.

How good is Microsoft Designer?

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.

Meanwhile, check out our Xiaomi 13 Lite review

Nothing phone (1) receives first price drop in Nepal

Nothing

GadgetByte

-

April 30, 2023

1

Nothing phone (1) receives first price drop in Nepal

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).

Read our review of Nothing phone (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.

Nothing phone (1) Specifications:

Dimension: 159.2 x 75.8 x 8.3mm, 193.5 grams
Display: 6.55-inch 10-bit OLED, 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling, Gorilla Glass 5, HDR10+, 1200 nits (peak) brightness
Resolution: Full HD+ resolution (1080 x 2400 pixels)
Rear Camera: Dual;
– 50MP 1/1.56′′ Sony IMX766 primary sensor, OIS + EIS
– 50MP Samsung JN1 ultrawide sensor, 114° FoV
Front Camera: 16MP Sony IMX471 (hole-punch)
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ 5G (6nm)
OS: Nothing OS based on Android 12 (upgradeable to Android 13)
Memory: 8/12GB LPDDR5 RAM, 128/256GB UFS 3.1 storage (fixed)
Battery: 4500mAh, 33W fast wired charging
Wireless Charging: Yes (15W), 5W reverse wireless charging
Audio: Stereo speakers
Security: Fingerprint sensor (optical in-display)
IP Rating: Yes (IP53 dust and splash resistant)
Colors: White, Black

Nothing phone (1) Price in Nepal and Availability

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.

Nothing phone (1)	Price in Nepal	Availability
8/128GB	NPR 58,999	Hukut
8/256GB	NPR 61,999	Hukut

Here’s our review of Nothing phone (1)

Redmi Note 12 4G Review: Best Phone Under Rs. 25,000?

GadgetByte

-

April 30, 2023

2

Redmi Note 12 4G Review: Best Phone Under Rs. 25,000?

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
Display: 6.67 AMOLED DotDisplay panel, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, 1200 nits (peak), 120Hz refresh rate
Resolution: FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels), 395 PPI
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 685 4G (6nm Mobile Platform)
CPU: Octa-core (2×2.8 GHz Kryo 265 Gold & 6×1.9 GHz Kryo 265 Silver)
GPU: Adreno 610
Memory: 4/6/8GB LPDDR4X RAM, 64/128GB UFS 2.2 storage (expandable)
Software & UI: MIUI 14 on top of Android 13
Rear Camera: Triple-camera;
– 50MP Samsung ISOCELL JN1, f/1.8 primary lens
– 8MP, f/2.2 ultrawide lens
– 2MP, f/2.4 macro sensor
– LED flash
Front Camera: 13MP, f/2.45 lens (punch-hole)
Security: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor
Battery: 5000mAh with 33W charging (33W charger inside the box)
Color options: Ice Blue, Onyx Grey, Mint Green
Price in Nepal: NPR 22,999 (4/128GB) | NPR 24,999 (6/128GB) | NPR 26,999 (8/128GB)

Buy Redmi Note 12 4G here

Redmi Note 12 4G Review:

Design and Display

Glass Front, Plastic Back
6.67-inches FHD+ AMOLED
Gorilla Glass 3 protection

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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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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Selfies

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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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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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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.

Watch our video review of the Redmi Note 12 4G.

Redmi Note 12 4G Review: Pros and Cons

Pros

Sleek and stylish design
120Hz OLED screen
Andoird 13 out of the box
Good battery life

Cons

Performance is not the greatest
No stereo speakers
Cameras could have been better

Motorola’s latest budget phone, the Moto E13 launched in Nepal

Motorola

GadgetByte

-

April 28, 2023

4

Motorola’s latest budget phone, the Moto E13 launched in Nepal

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.

Also Read:

Camera

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.

Motorola Moto E13 Specifications:

Dimensions: 164.19 x 74.95 x 8.47mm
Weight: 179.5 gm
Display: 6.5″ IPS LCD, HD+ resolution
Chipset: Unisoc T606 (12nm)
Memory: 2GB RAM, 64GB eMMC 5.1 storage (expandable)
OS: Android 13 (Go Edition) with Motorola’s My UX on top
Camera: 13MP f/2.2 (rear), 5MP f/2.2 (front), 1080p @ 30 fps videos
Battery: 5000mAh with 10W charging
Network + Bands:
- LTE: B1 / 3 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 20 / 28 / 38 / 40 / 41
- 3G: B1 / 5 / 8
- 2G: GSM 3 / 5 / 8
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.

Motorola Moto E13	Price in Nepal (Official)
2/64GB	Rs. 11,999

Meanwhile, check our full review of the Moto G52.

NVIDIA launches safety toolkit to keep AI chatbots more secure

AI
NVIDIA

Aarohan Niraula

-

April 27, 2023

3

NVIDIA launches safety toolkit to keep AI chatbots more secure

NVIDIA just released an open-source toolkit called “NeMo Guardrails” to help generative AI programs like ChatGPT stay on track and answer queries securely. NVIDIA’s Senior Director for AI Software, Jonathan Cohen, says this is a move to make text-generating AI tools and chatbots safer and non-toxic.

NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails and AI:

According to the company, this “AI safety toolkit” has easy-to-implement features that anyone can use to guide their chatbots to act professionally. Since Large Language Models (LLMs) are prone to bias and “hallucinations”, they aren’t always ideal. Sometimes they might even become toxic or manipulative.

As a result, the need for a mechanism that can guide chat interactions as intended has been emerging in this space for quite some time.

Companies like OpenAI use multiple layers of filters and human moderators to prevent unintended responses. But smaller organizations might not be able to do the same. It’s getting increasingly easier to create an LLM that is trained on your very own dataset and answers queries on that domain.

So the safety concern may not be the top priority—or rather out of technical reach—for small businesses. They might also choose to implement their own safety protocols that are either too broad and vague or too uptight and narrow for their use case. Hence, an open-source tool like NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails would make it accessible to everyone.

What is NeMo Guardrails?

Basically, NeMo Guardrails contains code constraint examples and documentation using which developers can easily guide their chatbots to behave in the intended manner. “These guardrails monitor, affect, and dictate a user’s interactions, like guardrails on a highway that define the width of a road and keep vehicles from veering off into unwanted territory”, says NVIDIA.

What can NeMo Guardrails do?

When implemented, it can have noticeable impacts on the user experience with text-based AI tools. As of now, NeMo Guardrails support these 3 categories of boundaries:

Topical guardrails, to prevent the bot from veering out of topic and going rogue.
Safety guardrails, to prevent misinformation, toxic responses, and biases.
Security guardrails, to prevent chatbots from executing malicious code and scripts.

NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails: Conclusion

NVIDIA says they have been working on NeMo Guardrails for years and acknowledge that its model isn’t perfect. That being said, this is definitely a step in the right direction.

A lot of businesses are looking to capitalize on the superhuman capabilities of text-generating chatbots and LLMs. This enables the need for a lot of these businesses to implement their bots safely. Hence, NVIDIA’s move toward AI safety is a huge stepping stone for the future.

Meanwhile, check out our Xiaomi 13 Lite review:

TikTok will soon let you create AI-generated profile pictures

AI
TikTok

Aarohan Niraula

-

April 27, 2023

1

As per a recent leak on Twitter, AI avatars may soon be coming to TikTok. Matt Navarra, who is a social media consultant, spoke with The Verge about his findings. There are a lot of interesting things about TikTok AI avatars, so let’s get right into it.

TikTok AI avatars: Overview

According to the leak, TikTok is testing the ability to create AI avatars within the app in a few regions. These avatars resemble the art style of the popular “Lensa” app, which was all the rage a couple of months back. The leakster mentions that users will be able to create more than 30 AI avatars by uploading 3 – 10 photos of themselves. Users can then select from 5 different styles after uploading.

TikTok has a NEW generative AI avatar creator! 🤖🎨📷

View thread to see what it can do 👇 pic.twitter.com/TDBbwok6bt

— Matt Navarra – Exiting X… Follow me on Threads (@MattNavarra) April 25, 2023

Some limitation

Matt Navarra also mentions that TikTok will let users create AI avatars only once a day. This will give you about 30 of them that you can discard or save some or all in your gallery.

It’s unclear if this feature is going to sit behind a paywall, but it’s likely going to be free for everyone. So what can you do with the AI avatars? Well, you can set them as your profile pictures or directly post them in your TikTok stories. The entire image generation process takes a few minutes to complete and the art styles are limited to TikTok’s offerings only.

What about data security?

Naturally, some people voiced their concern over data privacy and security here. And rightly so. TikTok has to collect your facial information and process it to create these avatars, after all. But TikTok promises to delete all of the user photos shortly after generating the AI avatars.

TikTok AI avatars - data security — Image: Matt Navarra

Looking at the screenshot above, we can also see something called “TikTok Plus”. It is likely going to be a subscription-based service of some kind, with one of its perks being that the users will have their images removed immediately after AI avatars are created.

TikTok AI avatars are going to be fun

All in all, it’s going to be fun to see how people use this feature. 30 images per day is a “healthy” offering, and I can see a lot of people leaning towards a particular style and forming huge communities or birthing new AI trends. TikTok may not be the first in this race, but it surely is an early adopter of AI art which may benefit it in the long run.

Meanwhile, check out our Xiaomi 13 Lite review

Samsung finally inaugurates its TV manufacturing factory in Nepal

Samsung
TV

GadgetByte

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April 26, 2023

3

Samsung finally inaugurates its TV manufacturing factory in Nepal

Samsung is pretty much a household name in Nepal’s electronics sector. And in collaboration with Him Electronics, Samsung has inaugurated its very own television (TV) manufacturing factory in Nawalparasi, Nepal today. Let’s learn more.

Samsung TV factory in Nepal: Overview

To mark this milestone, Nawalparasi’s Samsung TV factory in Nepal was inaugurated by Mr. Ramesh Rijal (Minister of Industries, Commerce, and Supplies) and Mr. JB Park (President & CEO, Samsung Southwest Asia).

Moreover, Mr. Shekhar Golchha (Chairman & MD, Golchha Group), Mr. Park Chong-Suk (Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Nepal), Mr. Sung June Park (Nepal Branch Head, Samsung Electronics), along with other local dignitaries were also present at the said event.

Speaking at the function, Mr. JB Park said, “Samsung has had a long-standing relation with the people of Nepal, having been in the country for over two decades. This new television factory with our partners Him Electronics will further deepen our bond with Nepal and underline the work we are doing to strengthen local industry and provide employment opportunities to people here. It will also facilitate development of skilled manpower. We thank the Nepal Government and local authorities for their strong vision and continued support.”

Likewise, Mr. Shekhar Golchha said “The cooperation with Samsung exhibits the potential the sector has in Nepal. The largest global electronics company has shown its deep-rooted interest in the Nepali market. This is a big indicator for us. With suitable policies to promote the sector, we can see many positive contributions to the national economy in terms of employment, value addition and opportunities beyond national boundaries.”

A little bit of history

To note, the foundation for this Samsung TV factory in Nawalparasi, Nepal was laid back in August 2022, in the presence of former Industry Minister Mr. Dilendra Prasad Badu. And according to the original plans, Samsung said that TV production from this factory would begin in the first week of March 2023.

Additionally, Mr. Sung June Park had also stated that the company had planned to “produce as many as 30,000 television sets in 2023.” Whereas the capacity of this assembly plant is said to be around 300,000 units per year. Besides TV, we all know that Samsung has its hands in other consumer electronics products. Like smartphones, monitors, refrigerators, microwaves, washing machines, air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, and more.

And speaking at the factory’s foundation laying ceremony last year, Mr. Park Seung-Hee (President and Head of Corporate Relations, Samsung Electronics) said “We will conduct a feasibility study about the possibility of Samsung mobile phones and other electronic goods as well.” That’s pretty exciting!

Samsung TV factory in Nepal: Conclusion

Needless to say, Samsung establishing its TV factory in Nepal has huge implications for the country’s economy. Besides creating job opportunities, skilled human resources, and a stronger manufacturing ecosystem in Nepal, it could also open doors for other electronics giants to set up their factories in the country. By the way, CG Electronics also set up an LG TV assembly plant at Satungal, Kathmandu in September 2022.

Meanwhile, check out our Samsung Galaxy A34 5G review

Vivo Y78+ goes official with a curved 120Hz AMOLED panel & Snapdragon 695 SoC

Vivo

Mintu

-

April 26, 2023

1

Vivo Y78+ goes official with a curved 120Hz AMOLED panel & Snapdragon 695 SoC

Vivo’s Y Series is a popular midrange lineup of phones. Now, the company has added a new member to the lineup, the Vivo Y78+. This mid-range device arrives with a Snapdragon 695 chip and a curved 120Hz AMOLED display. In this article, we’ll walk through the specs, features, and expected price of Vivo Y78+ in Nepal.

Vivo Y78+ Overview:

Design and Display

The key USP of the Vivo Y78 Plus is its design. The smartphone sports a premium outlook with a curved display and curved frame. The company calls it a 3D arc design with a 2.43mm narrow middle frame. Likewise, the rear panel is made up of a seven-layer nano-level coating to create a jade porcelain texture. Vivo flaunts this phone in three colors— Azure, Warm Sun Gold, and Moon Shadow.

Upfront, you get a curved 6.78-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate. This Full HD+ screen supports 1300nits peak brightness, 100% P3 color gamut, and 105% NTSC color gamut. On top of that, there is an in-display fingerprint sensor as well.

Performance

Under the hood, the Vivo Y78+ packs a Snapdragon 695 chipset. This 5G silicon from 2021 is based on a 6nm fabrication process and still packs a punch for a 2023 midrange phone. It features two Cortex-A78 performance cores clocked at 2.2GHz with six 1.7GHz Cortex-A55 performance cores backing them. For handling graphics, there is an Adreno 619 GPU.

Moreover, the chip is coupled with up to 12GB RAM and 256GB of UFS 2.2 internal storage. On the software side, the phone boots on OriginOS 3 based on Android 13 which also allows virtual RAM expansion by up to 8GB.

Also Read:

Camera

Coming to the optics, you’re looking at a dual camera setup, headlined by a 50MP primary shooter with OIS and a 2MP depth sensing unit. For videos, it can only shoot up to 1080p videos due to the chipset’s limitation—no 4K recording here. Meanwhile, you get an 8MP selfie snapper on the punch hole cutout of the display upfront.

Rest of the Specs

Moving on, the smartphone gets its juice from a 5000mAh battery, accompanied by a 44W fast charger. The connectivity options include 5G, WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS, and a USB Type-C port.

Vivo Y78 Plus Specifications:

Display: 6.78″ FHD+ Curved AMOLED, 120Hz refresh rate
Chipset: Snapdragon 695 (6nm)
Memory: 8/12GB LPDDR4x RAM, 128/256GB UFS 2.2
Software & UI: Android 13 with OriginOS 3 on top
Rear Camera: Dual (50MP main with OIS, 2MP depth)
Front Camera: 8MP (hole-punch cutout)
Security: Face-unlock, Fingerprint sensor (under display)
Battery: 5000mAh with 44W charging

Vivo Y78 Plus Price in Nepal and Availability

In China, the price of Vivo Y78+ begins from CNY 1599. We can expect the Vivo Y78 Plus price in Nepal to start from NPR 36,999 if and when it launches here.

Vivo Y78+	Price in China (Official)	Price in Nepal (Expected)
8/128GB	CNY 1599	NPR 36,999
8/256GB	CNY 1799	NPR 40,999
12/256GB	CNY 1999	NPR 45,999

Meanwhile, you can check our Samsung Galaxy A54 Review.

Tecno Spark 10 4G launched with Helio G37 and 90Hz display

Tecno

Mintu

-

April 26, 2023

2

Tecno Spark 10 4G launched with Helio G37 and 90Hz display

Not long after launching the Tecno Spark 5G, the company has introduced a 4G variant of the smartphone. Dubbed as Tecno Spark 10 4G, the budget smartphone arrives with a 90Hz display, Helio G37 SoC, 5000mAH battery, and more. Let’s get into the specs, features, and expected price of Tecno Spark 10 4G in this article.

Tecno Spark 10 4G Overview:

Design and Display

To begin with, the Tecno Spark 10 4G takes some cues from its Spark 10C sibling. You get the same flat frame design with a waterdrop notch on the front. On the backside, there is an iPhone-inspired camera module too. Even the button placements are identical. And Tecno ships this phone in three color options: META Black, META Blue, and META White.

Moving to the front, the smartphone sports a 6.6-inch IPS LCD display with a 90Hz refresh rate. This HD+ screen has a 1612 x 720 pixels resolution, 267PPI, and 84.7% screen-to-body ratio.

Performance

The Spark 10 4G is powered by a Mediatek Helio G37 chipset. This entry-level 4G silicon boasts four Cortex-A53 cores at 2.3GHz and four Cortex-A53 cores at 1.7GHz. Handling the graphics is a PowerVR GE8320 GPU. Likewise, the chip is paired with up to 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. As for the software, the phone boots on Hi OS 12 built on top of Android 13.

Camera

On the optics side, you get a dual camera setup on the Spark 10 4G. The primary lens is a 50MP shooter with PDAF while the secondary camera is an unspecified AI lens. Upfront, there is an 8MP snapper for selfies and video calls.

Also Read:

Battery and Others

The smartphone gets its juice from a 5000mAh battery which is accompanied by 18W charging. For connectivity, you get 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, a USB Type-C port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Likewise, there is a side-mounted fingerprint reader and 2D face unlocking for biometrics as well.

Tecno Spark 10 4G Specifications:

Dimensions: 163.89 x 75.39 x 8.40mm
Display: 6.6″ IPS LCD, 90Hz, HD+ resolution
Chipset: Mediatek Helio G37 (12nm)
Memory: 4/8GB RAM, 128GB storage (expandable)
OS: Android 13 with HiOS 12 on top
Rear Cameras: Dual (with LED flash)
– 50MP primary
– Unspecified secondary sensor
– Up to 1080p 30 fps videos
Front Camera: 8MP (Up to 1080p 30 fps videos)
Battery: 5000mAh with 18W Fast Charging
Sensors: G-Sensor, E-compass, Ambient light, Proximity
Biometrics: Side-mounted fingerprint reader
Wireless Connectivity: WiFi 5, Dual-band, Bluetooth
3.5mm Jack: Yes

Tecno Spark 10 4G Price in Nepal and Availability

The Spark 10 4G is priced at around PHP 4,999 (~USD 90) in the Philippines. We can expect the Tecno Spark 10 4G price in Nepal to start from NPR 12,999 when it makes its way here.

Tecno Spark 10C	Price in the Philippines (Official)	Price in Nepal (Expected)
4/128GB	PHP 4,999	NPR 12,999

Meanwhile, you can check our Redmi 12C Review.