Nothing officially announced the Ear (Stick), its second pair of TWS earbuds after the Ear (1) about a month ago. The announcement follows an official tease at Chet Lo’s SS23 London Fashion Week show. And now, it has made its way to Nepal as well. So, let’s take a look at the official specifications, features, availability, and price of the Nothing Ear (Stick) in Nepal.
Nothing Ear (Stick) Overview:
Design
Visually, the Ear (Stick) is completely different from Ear (1)’s slab design. It is now more cylindrical in shape, like lipstick. The new design is expected to be more pocketable. And since transparency has almost become synonymous with Nothing, it’s fairly obvious that the company has prioritized transparent design in the Ear (Stick) as well.
The case twists open to reveal the earbuds, which are half-in-ear in design, similar to Apple Airpods 3. As a result of this design choice, the Ear (Stick) lacks support for Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). However, you do get Clear Voice Technology, which uses the three microphones on each earbud to make wind and crowd-proof calls.
Each bud weighs only 4.4 grams and is dust and water-resistant to IP54 standards. Similarly, you can use touch gestures to play, pause, and skip music, control volume, and activate voice assistant.
Sound and Connectivity
Nothing claims that the custom 12.6mm driver in the Ear (Stick) provides their most advanced audio experience yet. It produces authentic sound with minimal distortion and amplified fine details as a result of this. The company also asserts that the sound quality remains consistent across a wide range of frequency ranges.
Additionally, Ear (Stick) features Nothing’s Bass Lock technology, which recognizes bass loss as you wear the earbuds and adjusts the equalizer setting to the perfect level to deliver punchy depth.
For connectivity, the TWS buds support Google Fast Pair and Microsft Swift Pair. Nothing has also renamed the Ear (1) app to ‘Nothing X’ to reflect its growing product portfolio.
The app now includes a new equalizer setting to fine-tune the sound to your preferences. Likewise, it allows you to switch to low-latency, Bass mode, and other settings. But for phone (1) users it’s easier to access these settings since everything is baked into the Bluetooth settings.
Rest of the specs
Aside from that, the Nothing Ear (Stick) has a total battery life of 29 hours with the case. Each bud, on the other hand, has a 7-hour playback time. The TWS buds can also be fast-charged, with a 10-minute charge providing up to 90 minutes of listening time. However, unlike the Ear (1), the case does not support wireless charging here.
Nothing Ear (Stick) Specifications:
Driver: Custom 12.6mm audio driver
Diaphragm: PEN (Polyethylene Naphthalate) + PU (Polyurethane)
Connectivity: Wireless (Google Fast Pair, Microsft Swift Pair)
Audio codecs: AAC, SBC
Music time: 7 hours (buds) | 29 hours (with case)
IP rating: Yes, IP54 dust and water resistance
Noise-canceling: N/A
Color: White
Nothing Ear (Stick) Price in Nepal and Availability
The price of Nothing Ear (Stick) in Nepal is NPR 17,500. You can buy this pair of TWS earbuds from authorized stores like Hukut.
TechStudio, the company behind brands like HiFuture, AQFiT, Remax, and more in Nepal, has launched yet another smartwatch. The new HiFuture FutureFit Ultra2 is a budget smartwatch with a modern design and a large display, whereas it also supports Bluetooth calling feature. In this post, we’ll be discussing the features, specifications, availability, and official price in Nepal of the HiFuture FutureFit Ultra2.
HiFuture FutureFit Ultra2 Overview:
This smartwatch draws a lot of inspiration from the Apple Watch Series. Its squarish case is made of aerospace-grade aluminum for greater durability. And it is also IP68 certified, so you don’t need to worry about dust or water damage here. You’ll find a button on the right frame that can take you to the homescreen or open up the app menu. HiFuture has used a silicon strap here, so it shouldn’t result in any sort of skin irritation issue either. The FutureFit Ultra2 is available in a couple of fun color options as well, including black, pink, and blue.
Large display
Coming to the display, this smartwatch boasts a large 1.85″ TFT LCD screen. And thanks to such a big display, everything from navigating through the UI to dialing a number for a call should be quite easy here. Talking about phone calls, the FutureFit Ultra2 is loaded with a dialer app right in the watch; whereas you can also check the call history or saved contacts here.
In terms of health monitoring, this smartwatch comes with HiFuture’s “Healthy Living Management” suite of features. This includes everything from all-day heart rate, to stress, and sleep monitoring. It can even track your blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) levels.
As for fitness tracking, the watch supports 24 workouts in total. When it comes to battery, the FutureFit Ultra2 packs a 300mAh cell inside. And according to HiFuture, you can expect 7 days of endurance with Bluetooth calling, smart notifications, and all the health tracking features turned on. On the other hand, its standby time is rated at 25 days.
HiFuture FutureFit Ultra2 Price in Nepal and Availability
The price of the HiFuture FutureFit Ultra2 smartwatch in Nepal is NPR 8,999. You can buy it from authorized stores like Hukut. And buying it from authorized stores also gets you 1 year of warranty.
Motorola is no stranger to the flagship smartphone category. Last year’s Moto Edge X30 (aka Edge 30 Pro) even managed to secure the “world’s first Snapdragon 8 Gen 1-powered phone” title. And now, we know what its successor will look like and most of the features it’ll come with. So in this post, we’ll be going through the rumored specs, expected price in Nepal, availability, and more of the upcoming Motorola Moto X40 Pro.
Motorola Moto X40 Pro Overview:
To note, this phone is expected to launch as Moto Edge 40 Pro in the global market, including the US and India. Whereas the Moto X40 Pro will debut a bit sooner in China. Most likely within this month.
New camera housing
Anyway, the leaked renders (courtesy of OnLeaks and MySmartPrice) of the Moto X40 Pro point towards a slightly different design language for the camera island. The phone’s triple camera system is now housed inside a solitary squarish camera bump that also encloses the LED flash. Compared to how the Moto X30 Pro As for the camera setup itself, the phone will bring a 50MP primary, a 50MP ultrawide, and a 12MP telephoto lens.
And just below the camera island lies the circular Motorola branding; although we’re not sure if it embeds a fingerprint reader as well. Most likely not. However, Motorola has confirmed that the phone will feature IP68 dust/water resistance. Coming to the front, the Moto X40 Pro is likely to bring a 6.67″ FHD OLED display with a 165Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ certification. This screen is curved on the sides while there’s a super tiny cutout up top for the selfie shooter (rumors point to a 60MP sensor).
Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip
In terms of performance, the phone will be treated with the all-new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. Alongside up to 12GB of RAM and 512GB of internal storage. As for software, the Moto X40 Pro will boot on Motorola’s MyUX 4.0 based on Android 13. The phone will be fueled by a 5000mAh battery that supports 68W fast charging. Although some rumors say it will have 125W fast charging, just like its predecessor.
Moto X40 Pro Rumored Specifications:
Body: 161.3 x 73.9 x 8.6 mm, 194 gm, IP68 certified
Motorola Moto X40 Pro Price in Nepal and Availability
According to the rumors, the Moto X40 Pro will be launching in China this December. There’s no word on pricing yet, but the phone could start at CNY 3,999 for the base variant. Motorola Moto X40 Pro is unlikely to officially launch in Nepal but if it does, we expect it to cost around NPR 90,000 for the 8/128GB model.
Oppo released the official version of ColorOS 13 in August, along with a rollout plan for the rest of the year. Besides this, it has been releasing a separate update plan every month to make it easier to track down the timeline. Here we will go through the list of devices that are eligible for Android-13-based ColorOS 13.
Oppo ColorOS 13 Update Roadmap
Oppo began rolling out the new Android-based skin refresh to the flagship Find X5 Series in August, the same day ColorOS 13 was made official globally. Since then, the smartphone maker has released the update to more than a dozen devices.
By the end of 2022, the company plans to leverage ColoOS 13 to 35 smartphones in 60 countries and regions. The new UI will make its way to more than 20 other devices beginning in 2023. According to Oppo, “this is the biggest update plan ever in the history of ColorOS.”
However, this is not a stable UI refresh; rather, the company is releasing the beta version of ColorOS 13. As a result, only users who have enrolled in the trial program will be eligible for the update.
But worry not, you’ll get a stable version after the company irons out all of the bugs found during the beta phase. Let’s now take a look at the ColorOS 13 rollout timeline based on Android 13.
This is the complete roll-out roadmap shared by Oppo. But, as mentioned earlier, the company releases a separate timeline at the beginning of each month to notify users about the monthly release schedule, which includes both stable and beta releases.
Monthly Rollout Timeline
November
In November, Oppo rolled out the stable UI update on over a dozen of devices. Whereas there are a host of devices scheduled for the beta builds.
Stable Rollout
Ongoing: Find X5 Pro, Find X5
From 8th Nov: Reno 8 Pro 5G (India, Vietnam)
From 11th Nov: Find X3 Pro (Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia)
From 18th Nov: Reno 8 5G (India), K10 5G (India), A77 5G (the UAE)
From 22nd Nov: Reno 7 (Indonesia), F21 Pro (India)
From 30th Nov: Reno 7 Z 5G (Indonesia), F21 Pro 5G (India), K10 (India), A76 (India), A96 (India)
From 9th Nov: Reno 6 Pro 5G (Indonesia, Saudi Arabia), Reno 5 Pro 5G (India, Saudi Arabia), Reno 5 Pro (Pakistan), F19 Pro+ (India)
From 18th Oct: A74 5G (India, Indonesia)
December
Oppo’s December update schedule is as crowded as the previous month. This month, the older Reno and Find X series will begin receiving the Android 13 beta builds. Along with a bunch of new F, A, and K-series smartphones.
From December 15: Oppo Find X3 Lite (France), Reno7 5G (India), Reno6 Pro 5G (Indonesia, Saudi Arabia), Reno7 5G (India), Reno5 Pro 5G (Saudi Arabia), Reno5 5G (Indonesia)
From December 21: Oppo Find X3 Neo (France)
From December 28: Oppo Reno6 Z (Thailand), Reno 5 Pro 5G (India, Pakistan), Reno5 Z (UAE), F19 Pro+ 5G (India)
From December 29: Oppo Find X5 Lite (France), A74 5G (India, Indonesia)
Beta Rollout
Ongoing: Oppo Find X2 Pro, Find X2, Reno8, Reno7 Pro 5G, Reno7 5G, Reno6 Pro 5G, Reno6 5G, Reno6 Z, Reno5 Pro 5G, F21s Pro, F19 Pro+ 5G, A74
From December 9: Oppo Reno8 Z (Thailand), F21s Pro 5G (India)
From December 23: Oppo F19s (India), F19 (Indonesia), A95 (Indonesia), A77s (India, Indonesia), A74 (Indonesia)
What’s new in Oppo ColorOS 13?
Anamorphic Design
Oppo has introduced an “Aquamorphic Design” with the new skin which is inspired by how water behaves in nature. The new UI design improves the overall system layout with new fonts and typography, which improves readability.
Furthermore, Oppo’s new self-developed Dynamic Computing Engine solution is said to deliver a more smooth and more stable system and all-around improvements to the fundamental user experience.
Smart Always-on Display
The company has also made changes to the Always-on Display feature. The screen can now display information from music and food delivery apps which provides users with easier access to information.
OPPO has also collaborated with service providers such as Bitmoji and Spotify to offer a variety of convenient and personalized experiences on the lock screen. As a result, Oppo is citing it as a “Smart Always-on Display.”
Multi-Screen Connect
Furthermore, one of the most significant updates in the new UI is the Multi-screen connect feature. It basically allows you to connect your smartphone to the OPPO Pad Air or a PC. Thus, you will have the convenience of file transfer without the need for any hardware, which in turn will increase your productivity.
Privacy and Security
In terms of security, ColorsOS 13 from Oppo incorporates Android 13‘s underlying privacy feature. For example, the system will automatically delete the clipboard history after a short period of time, preventing information breaches or leaks. And the Nearby Wi-Fi feature allows users to connect to Wi-Fi without revealing their exact location.
Oppo Auto Pixelate
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Likewise, there’s a new Oppo self-developed technology, called Auto Pixelate which can automatically recognize and blur out profile photos and names in chat screenshots with a single tap.
Bhoos Game, in collaboration with LOCUS, has announced the second edition of its “Smart Bots Coding Challenge”. So if you’re a programmer looking for some challenge, to meet like-minded coders, or to share ideas, then this might be exactly what you need. And in this post, we’ll be going through all the details of the Bhoos Smart Bots Coding Challenge 2023, including its eligibility criteria, event roadmap, prizes, and more.
Bhoos Smart Bots Coding Challenge 2023:
In case you didn’t know, Bhoos is a Nepali mobile gaming company that has published games like “Call Break Premier League” and “Marriage Card Game” on Play Store and App Store. Whereas LOCUS is an umbrella organization led by undergraduate students of Electrical, Electronics, and Computer Engineering departments from IOE, Pulchowk Campus.
Anyway, the Bhoos Smart Bots Coding Challenge 2023 is a 4-month-long event (or 3 months without the registration period). And this time, the challenge is to build a “29 Points” game bot from scratch.
This 4-player (2 teams) game is quite popular in South Asia. In this, Jack (J) is the highest-ranking card, followed by Nine (9), Ace (A), Ten (10), King (K), Queen (Q), and then eights (8) and sevens (7). On the other hand, the remaining cards (2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, and 6s) are discarded from the game. You can learn more about the rules and objectives of the 29 Points game here.
To participate in this coding festival, you must meet the following conditions:
The contestant must be a Nepali citizen
The contestant can’t be an employee (or a relative of an employee) at Bhoos Games
Contest Timeline
1. Registration
Bhoos Games had begun taking registrations for the contest on October 20, 2023. But don’t worry, you can still sign-up for this coding festival.
2. Preparation and League
(November 5, 2022 – January 15, 2023)
Under this, Bhoos Games will provide the necessary resources to the participants to get started. And once a contestant finishes building a bot, it will play a series of games against other bots from Bhoos and competitors alike.
3. Screening Sudo
(January 20, 2023 – January 21, 2023)
Once the contest is over, the top 8 players on the leaderboard will then present how they built the bot to the judging committee. This is to prevent any sort of fraudulent activities from the participants.
4. The Finale
(January 24, 2023)
In the finale, the top 8 players will battle it out once more for the top three spots. As for the prize pool, the second runner-up of the Bhoos Smart Bots Coding Challenge 2023 will be awarded Rs. 1 lakh, while the runner-up and the winner will get Rs. 2 lakhs and Rs. 5 lakhs, respectively.
Bhoos Smart Bots Coding Challenge: Contact
To keep up with all the developments in this contest, you can join the Smart Bots Discord server. You can also contact Bhoos Games by phone or email:
Like clockwork, Vivo Nepal is back with its annual sales carnival. The fifth edition of Vivo’s sales carnival will span from December 1 to December 31. And under this, customers get a chance to win big prizes including a 43″ Videocon Smart TV, discounts on Vivo phones, and more.
Vivo’s Journey In Nepal
The Chinese smartphone company entered the Nepalese market in 2017. And in its four years here in Nepal, the company has been enjoying a decent market share. Vivo introduced the first in-display fingerprint sensor device in Nepal with its Vivo V11 Pro. Similarly, the Vivo V15 brought the first-ever pop-up camera phone in Nepal.
Furthermore, its affordable Y-series and stylish S-series have also been a hit among customers. The company serves its customers through 1000+ retail stores and 4 service centers. And through their official online partner, Daraz.
Vivo Annual Sales Carnival 2022
Vivo’s 5th annual sales carnival has kicked off today (December 1) and will be valid till December 31, 2022. In this month-long sales carnival, customers can benefit from heavy discounts on selected handsets alongside a chance to win different prizes.
Besides this, on the purchase of each Vivo phone, customers will also get a chance to win some big prizes. On all Vivo smartphones that cost above Rs. 30,000 (like Vivo Y35, Vivo Y55, Vivo V23 Series, and Vivo V25 series), the company is offering 6 months of additional warranty. Likewise, two lucky customers will win a pair of Noise TWS earbuds. As for the weekly prize, Vivo Nepal is offering a Zeblaze smartwatch for two buyers throughout the sales carnival—while one winner will get a brand new Vivo Y15C for free. Finally, as the grand prize, two lucky customers will take home a 43″ Videocon Smart TV each.
To participate, you must register your phone at “vivodashain.com” or simply scan the QR code in the image above. As always, winners will be decided via a lucky draw. You can keep up with the Vivo Sales Carnival through the company’s social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram) or through Vivo-authorized retail stores across Nepal.
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Vivo V25 and V25e
Corning Gorilla Glass is a name that smartphone enthusiasts look for to ensure durability on a smartphone. There have been many iterations of Gorilla Glass protection, but the toughest you can find on any smartphone is Victus. That will change soon, as the company has unveiled the Gorilla Glass Victus 2—its next generation of display protection. Read along to know more about Corning’s latest breakthrough in glass technology.
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Overview:
Smartphones have grown in size over time, resulting in more screen real estate. While a larger screen diagonal may provide a better experience, it also puts your phone at greater risk of damage if dropped on a hard surface.
Strength and durability
That’s what Corning hopes to improve with the Gorilla Glass Victus 2—increased drop resistance, particularly on surfaces like concrete. The latter is the mixture of cement, sand, and rocks and is, by definition, not a smooth structure. And when your smartphone falls into it, a piece of gravel sticking out can concentrate all of the force in one spot. That simply means more harm to your beloved device.
To combat this, Corning has reformulated its aluminosilicate solution to withstand drops of up to 1 metre (waist height) on concrete. And on a pitch road made of asphalt, the Victus 2 is claimed to survive drops of up to 2 metres (head height).
Victus 2 Durability
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Drop Test
Scratch Test
On the other hand, the Victus 2 matches the scratch threshold number of the original Victus from 2020, that is 8 Newtons. It’s still better than the competition which can only survive half the force.
The improvements have had no effect on the size of new glass. The Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is 0.14-1.2mm thick, just like Victus. Corning, on the other hand, can also tailor the thickness to the manufacturer’s specifications.
Furthermore, the softening point of Victus 2 has been raised slightly from 827 to 878 degrees Celsius. The core glass’s refractive index remains unchanged at 1.51 and 1.52 for the compression layer.
Overall, the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 offers significant improvements in drop resistance. While other properties of the glass remain pretty similar to the last generation. As said by Gorilla Glass division VP Scott Forester to The Verge, it is because smartphone OEMs wanted better drop protection on concrete because “30% of the drops they were having were on concrete, more than any other surface.”
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 Availability
Corning says smartphone OEMs are currently evaluating Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and it is expected to hit the market within a few months. Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S23 series (S23 Ultra, S23/S23+) could be the first to debut with it.
Before jumping into this review of the Asus Vivobook Pro 14 OLED (M6400), a quick confession. I love my MacBook, I really do. But as someone who was in the Windows ecosystem not too long ago, I do miss a couple of things here.
Like the ability to easily snap windows for example, or play thousands of games both new and old. Because of this, I’m on the lookout for a Windows laptop that can do all this stuff every once in a while. One that’s also thin, lightweight, and has a long-lasting battery life. The MacBook has thoroughly spoiled me with its portability and battery endurance after all. So when I stumbled upon the 2022 edition of the Vivobook Pro 14 OLED from Asus, I knew I had to test it out.
Asus Vivobook Pro 14 OLED (M6400) Review: Specifications
Design & Build: Aluminum / plastic build material, 12.50 x 9.0 x 0.74-inches (W x D x H), 1.45 kg, Asus Antibacterial Guard
Color Options: Solar Silver, Quiet Blue, Cool Silver
Webcam: 720p HD camera, Privacy shutter, Built-in array microphone (with Cortana and Alexa voice-recognition support)
Connectivity: WiFi 6E (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax), Bluetooth 5.0
I/O Ports: 1x USB 4 Type-C, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 2x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x Micro SD card reader, 1x 3.5mm audio jack
Price in Nepal: Rs. 200,000 (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD)
What’s Inside The Box: Laptop, 150W power adapter, Asus backpack, User manual and other documents
Asus Vivobook Pro 14 OLED (M6400) Review:
Just listen to some of its specs. From the latest Ryzen 6000 processor to RTX 3050 graphics, and a frickin’ OLED display, it’s got it all.
That too on a fairly compact chassis, weighing less than 1.5 kg! And at USD 1,200 for the 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD configuration, it’s not crazy expensive either. At least in the international market. Here in Nepal, it is fairly costly at NPR 2 lakhs! So… is it the perfect Windows alternative to the M2 MacBook Air? Let me discuss all that in this Asus Vivobook Pro 14 OLED (M6400) review.
Design and Build
12.50 x 9.0 x 0.74-inches (W x D x H)
1.45 kg, Asus Antibacterial Guard
Aluminum / plastic hybrid build material
The Vivobook Pro’s design is equal parts subtle and equal parts elegant. Available in either silver or blue color options, it has an anodized metallic lid with a not-so-subtle branding on the side, for somewhat unique visual aesthetics. And I must say that this “Quiet Blue” finish looks especially gorgeous in person. The only thing is though, it catches fingerprint smudges rather easily.
Apart from the lid, the rest of the body here is plastic-made. But thanks to this nice matte finish, it doesn’t feel too cheap or anything. And Asus says this laptop’s surface has also been treated with an anti-bacterial coating; which apparently prevents bacterial growth by up to 99%. I have no way of verifying if that’s true or not, so I guess I’m gonna have to take their word on this one. The Vivobook Pro is also military-standard 810H certified for greater durability even though it’s not a big fat gaming laptop like those under the TUF series from Asus. Nice!
So whether you’re a germaphobe or a generally clumsy person, these things should give you some peace of mind.
Okay, it probably goes without saying that I’ve absolutely loved handling this laptop! Besides the sleek and lightweight design that makes traveling with the Vivobook Pro so incredibly comfortable, its grippy rubber feet do a great job of keeping the laptop firmly on a desk as well. And the ability to open it up with just a finger is also a nice touch.
You’ve been… Thunder(bolt) struck
Now, AMD notebooks have historically fallen behind those with an Intel CPU when it comes to I/O choices. Mostly because Intel’s Thunderbolt interface wasn’t available on AMD processors. But that kinda changes with the Ryzen 6000 series. While Thunderbolt is still very much proprietary to Intel, the company has open-sourced Thunderbolt 3 to be used under the USB4 specification. As a result, this USB4 port on the Vivobook Pro is capable of a lot of things. Like connecting an external GPU, an 8K 60Hz display, or up to 40 Gbps data transfers!
Ports
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Left
Right
Other than this, you’ll also find one HDMI 2.1, one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, one micro SD card reader, and one 3.5mm headphone jack on the right, whereas the left side is home to a couple of USB 2.0 Type-A ports.
That’s a pretty congested port placement, right? So if you’re right-handed like me, having to run basically all the important cables from this side is going to be hectic when using a mouse—especially when you’re working with a dual-monitor setup. Talking about multiple monitors, I’m quite fond of this “ScreenXpert” feature which lets me effortlessly control my app windows between different screens. It works so well that I can’t believe this is something that’s not built into Windows itself!
Display
14″ glossy non-touch 2.8K OLED panel
90Hz refresh rate, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut
Pantone validated, SGS Eye Care display
If it wasn’t obvious from the name already, one of the—no, the biggest highlight of the Vivobook Pro 14 OLED is definitely its display. This 14” OLED panel with a sharp 2.8K resolution and a modern 16:10 aspect ratio is an absolute feast for the eyes! Asus has been consistently knocking it out of the park with OLED laptops in recent years, and I’m happy to see that tradition is well and alive with this Vivobook Pro as well.
Everything just… looks super crisp, super vibrant, super lively, and with a super rich contrast; I love it! Outdoor visibility isn’t an issue either, with 408 nits of peak brightness as we measured. But since this is a glossy, reflective panel to let all that burst of color out, finding a proper shade is important if you don’t want all the ambient light sources bouncing off of your screen.
Anyway, it had been a while since the last time I used a laptop with an OLED display and wow, I had forgotten just how much I was missing out on all this time! And the reason this display looks so good is also because of its rich color palette. With an incredible 100% DCI-P3 color gamut that’s Pantone validated for accuracy, this is a great work monitor for graphic designers, video editors, and basically anyone who needs a color-accurate screen.
A++++++ display
The factory color calibration on our unit was also spot-on with almost no major difference when trying to re-tune it with a professional colorimeter. As for the color space, we found that the Vivobook Pro covers 100% sRGB, 100% DCI-P3, and 95% AdobeRGB gamut. So yeah, no false advertising there.
Display Properties
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Color Gamut
Gamma
Brightness
If all that wasn’t enough, Asus has also installed multiple color profiles—including sRGB, DCI-P3, and Display P3—so that you can get started right away. And you can continue to work on this laptop for long hours without risking dry eyes or other similar issues since it is also TUV Rheinland certified against low blue light emission.
Really, it’s got everything you could possibly ask for in a flagship display.
That 90Hz refresh rate might not sound like a lot, and yes, many people argue that they can’t tell the difference between a 60Hz and a 90Hz display on a smartphone. But on a substantially larger screen like this one, 90Hz is definitely a big deal. And one last thing. Burn-in has always been a concern with OLED displays but in 2022 machines like this one, there are a bunch of features like pixel shifting and pixel refresh to prevent OLED burn-in, so I wouldn’t worry about it.
Keyboard
Full-size backlit keyboard
1.4mm travel distance
Like the display, the keyboard on the Vivobook Pro is fantastic as well. The “Enter” key gets a special shoutout with its stripey… thing but overall, this keyboard means business. The keys are well laid out and they have a nice rubbery, spongy feedback that makes me want to just keep typing whatever. And thanks to the short 1.4mm travel distance and a fairly quiet sound profile, this is easily one of the best laptop keyboards I’ve used in 2022 so far.
Of course, it’s also backlit but this is where things could’ve been a little better. That’s because the keyboard backlight bleed here can be distracting when you’re working in a somewhat dark room. Almost forgot to mention, this power button also integrates a fingerprint reader for a snappy Windows Hello login.
Trackpad
Glass trackpad
NumberPad support
I don’t have any major complaints with this trackpad too. It’s certainly not as good as the one on the M2 MacBook Air, but this glass trackpad is decent in itself.
It lets me glide my fingers smoothly and it is also large enough for different gestures and stuff. Plus, if you’re someone who uses a lot of number-crunching softwares like spreadsheets, for example, then I’m sure you’re gonna find this NumberPad a lot more useful than I do. To me, it does come in handy every now and then but I don’t like how often I accidentally trigger it, and there’s no way to disable it without messing with the driver itself.
But more importantly, the trackpad on our unit randomly decides to lag sometimes. I’ve checked, I’ve double-checked its sensitivity settings, updated to the latest drivers, performed a clean Windows reinstall, and still nothing. I even tried switching to the built-in Windows trackpad driver instead of the one from Asus, but that didn’t do the trick either.
Audio
Down-firing stereo speakers
Smart Amp, Dolby Atmos support
Let’s move on.
The Vivobook Pro attempts to be a proper entertainment unit with its down-firing stereo speakers. Asus is especially proud of how loud they can get and yeah, it is indeed pretty loud at full volume. But compared to the M2 MacBook Air, I’m not too thrilled about the details here—especially in low frequencies like bass. And none of the default equalizer presets sound that good, but with a little bit of patience, I was able to create a custom EQ that sounds good enough to my ears.
Webcam
720p HD camera
Built-in privacy shutter
The usual 720p webcam on this laptop isn’t gonna blow you away either. I do like this privacy shutter but as far as the camera quality is concerned, it’s fine for casual video calls. Just not as impressive as the MacBook Air’s 1080p camera.
And full disclosure, I’ve never cared too much about AI noise-cancellation technology on laptops simply because they turn out to be a gimmick most of the time. But the Vivobook Pro has genuinely impressed me with how effectively it can cut out the background noise. It’s so good!
Performance
AMD Ryzen 7 6800H CPU (45W TDP)
NVIDIA RTX 3050 graphics (4GB GDDR6)
16GB LPDDR5 RAM, 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD
Let’s now move to the performance side of this Asus Vivobook Pro 14 OLED (M6400) review. Our unit carries AMD’s Ryzen 7 6800H processor and RTX 3050 graphics. And that’s the only AMD configuration for this laptop, by the way. On the Intel side of the fence though, you can choose between a 12th Gen i5 or i7 CPU—with the same graphics option. But it seems that Asus hasn’t launched the Intel version of this laptop globally because I can’t find it available anywhere except Taiwan where it sells for roughly USD 1,350.
Anyway, although you can choose from multiple storage options, Asus only ships the Vivobook Pro with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM. And you can’t upgrade it down the line either; on both Intel and AMD models. But despite this, it has handled my casual everyday usage just fine. Editing 4K video projects on Premiere Pro with multiple layers has also not been a problem. I even edited a few After Effects projects with simple text animations and it handled all that without breaking a sweat.
Vivobook Pro 14 OLED vs M2 MacBook Air
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Adobe Premiere Pro
Blender
Cinebench R23
While this is something the M2 MacBook Air doesn’t struggle with either, I found the Vivobook Pro to deliver much faster rendering times in tools like Blender and Premiere Pro since it has a much more powerful dedicated graphics unit.
It’s time to play some games!
Besides content creation, this laptop also lets you play games. Including a few modern ray-traced titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Control at 1080p medium to low settings. And guess what, even to this day, gaming is something macOS simply sucks at. Out of 7 games I tested, only CS: GO was available on the MacBook without having to use any virtualization tools like Parallels.
Not just average fps, but the Vivobook Pro also manages a far smoother gaming experience overall. You can also enjoy popular games like GTA V, Forza Horizon 5, FIFA 23, and Overwatch 2 with above 70 fps on average at medium to high graphics settings here. But make sure you’re using a Game Ready driver instead of a Studio driver when you’re gaming. Not only does it bring game-specific optimizations, but I’m also getting slightly higher fps with the Game Ready driver.
Vivobook Pro 14 OLED – Gaming
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Cyberpunk 2077 (RTX Medium)
Cyberpunk 2077 (RTX off)
Control (RTX Medium)
Control (RTX off)
GTA V (Normal)
Forza Horizon 5 (High)
FIFA 23 (High)
Overwatch 2 (High)
For cooling, this laptop’s dual-fan “IceCool Plus” thermal technology is only meant to handle up to 60W of heat; from the CPU and the GPU combined! So since the Ryzen 7 6800H alone has a TDP of 45W, expect some major thermal throttling when pushing the settings or when playing some graphics-intensive games.
On top of this, since its screen isn’t G-SYNC or FreeSync certified, you will also notice screen tearing when playing some fast-paced titles like Overwatch 2. Having said that, you can avoid all this for a pretty decent gaming experience by assigning a max frame rate inside the game (or NVIDIA Control Panel) or turning on VSync.
RTX 3050 TDP?
Side note, Asus hasn’t specified RTX 3050’s TDP on the Vivobook Pro anywhere on its product page. And looking it up on the NVIDIA Control Panel, we found that it’s rated at 65W. But that’s literally impossible here since as I mentioned before, its cooling system is designed to dissipate no more than 60W of heat. And when playing heavy games or running some graphics-intensive benchmarks, I found that it maxes out at 45W most of the time. Just like the CPU.
Benchmarks
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Fire Strike Extreme 1.1
Fire Strike Ultra 1.1
Time Spy 1.2
PugetBench for Photoshop
PugetBench for Premiere Pro
All things considered, the Vivobook Pro’s fans do a decent job of keeping the temperature in check. It gets the hottest in the middle of the keyboard deck where I measured a peak temperature of just 42 – 43°C. Not bad. However, since its exhaust vent is sandwiched between the hinge and the display, some of the hot air gets routed directly to the screen. That would be concerning if this laptop had relatively more power-hungry processors that would dissipate more heat, but as things stand, it’s not a big deal at all.
Battery
63 Watt-hour 3-cell battery
150W AC power adapter
Finally, let’s talk about battery life. Powered by a modest 63Wh cell, the Vivobook Pro consistently gave me about four and a half hours of screen-on time under regular usage. That’s nowhere near MacBook Air level but I guess it’s not terrible either. But what is impressive is that under the “Standard” fan profile, the laptop stays whisper quiet and the keyboard deck also rarely gets warm; making it perfect for taking it to your college or office.
To juice it up, Asus ships this rather clunky 150W AC adapter. I would’ve given the Vivobook Pro a perfect ten in terms of portability but I must deduct a point because of this. And I don’t think it needs a 150W power supply anyway. We know that the laptop maxes out at 60W TDP, which means even 100W charging is more than sufficient. And that’s exactly what its USB4 port can handle, by the way. So if you’ve got a USB4 cable and a USB-PD charger that can push at least 100W of power, you can ditch the AC adapter.
Asus Vivobook Pro 14 OLED (M6400) Review: Conclusion
Okay, let’s wrap up this review of the Asus Vivobook Pro 14 OLED (M6400) now. So is this the perfect Windows alternative to the M2 MacBook Air? Maybe not a “perfect” alternative but it’s certainly a close one. Look, there are some things it does better than the MacBook; like the spectacular OLED display, extensive port selection, and all its gaming possibilities.
Or at the very least, it comes toe-to-toe with what Apple is offering in terms of portable build quality, clean design, and a killer keyboard.
So if you don’t want to switch to macOS (or can’t because of its limitations) and are looking to buy a capable 14” Ultrabook without spending too much, the Vivobook Pro is easily one of the best options out there. I’m certainly not gonna recommend it to content creators with a demanding workflow, but casual users who want a little bit of gaming and light editing can definitely consider this.
And I think just how much you value an OLED display will also have a big say on whether the Vivobook Pro is going to be worth it to you or not. If you answered yes, then great. And if you answered no, then there are a few alternatives you can consider. The Lenovo Slim 7 Pro X, for example, brings a similar set of CPU and GPU. But with a touchscreen and up to 32GB memory option. Or, last year’s ROG Zephyrus G14 is another stunning 14” Ultrabook that is currently available at really attractive prices.
Watch our video review of the Asus Vivobook Pro 14 OLED (M6400)
Asus Vivobook Pro 14 OLED (M6400) Review: Pros and Cons
So, I have been using the Google Pixel 7 for a month now and I took a little bit of time to bring this review because when it comes to Pixel phones, there are always a lot of bugs to deal with in the first month or so. And a lot of things still needed polishing. So after receiving a couple of updates, I am absolutely loving my Pixel 7!
Just like last year’s Pixel 6, I think Google has once again struck the right balance between awesome experience and good value this year as well. I still think Google could have done more, possibly, and totally killed the semi-flagship lineup from OnePlus, Vivo, and even Samsung’s lower flagship models like the Galaxy S22! But still, given everything this phone offers, I think Pixel 7 could well be “the phone of the year!”
Google Pixel 7 Review: Specifications
Body: 73.2 x 155.6 x 8.7mm, 197gm, Aluminum frames, Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, IP68 dust/water resistant
Battery: 4355mAh with up to 20W fast charging (no power adapter provided), Qi wireless charging support, Battery Share
Color Options: Obsidian (Black), Snow (Silver), Lemongrass (Light Green)
What’s Inside The Box: Google Pixel 7, USB-C to USB-C cable, SIM ejector tool, Quick Switch Adapter, User manual and other documents
Price in Nepal: N/A
Starts at USD 599 (US) or INR 59,999 (India)
Google Pixel 7 Review:
If you look at their specs side by side, Google hasn’t made any drastic changes from last year’s Pixel 6. You still get a very similar design, similar display, same camera hardware (besides the selfie camera), and the same Google experience we know and love. But I still think Google has done a decent job to make the Pixel 7 a proper phone for someone who wants to upgrade from a mid-range device!
Trust me, you are going to love it if you are currently using a mid-range phone!
Cameras
Dual camera setup at the back
(50MP main, 12MP ultrawide)
10.8MP selfie camera (hole-punch cutout)
Cameras
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Back
Front
And the first thing you will really fall in love with it—just like me—is undoubtedly its cameras. If you look at other similarly-priced phones like the OnePlus 10T or the Asus Zenfone 9, they are not very consistent in different situations.
Pixel 7 - Daytime
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But with the Pixel 7, you are going to get the best photography experience with incredibly natural color science in most of the images. It delivers an excellent dynamic range and the white balance is consistently on point as well.
Normal Images
Before the Pixel 7, I was using the iPhone 14 Pro Max as my daily driver, which you might know has one of the best cameras in the world right now.
Daytime
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Pixel 7
iPhone 14 Pro Max
Pixel 7
iPhone 14 Pro Max
It also costs you a fortune though. However, for almost half the price, you are going to get as good—if not better—results from the Pixel 7 versus the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Portrait Images
Just look at these portrait shots; they are simply amazing!
Portrait
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Pixel 7
iPhone 14 Pro Max
Pixel 7
iPhone 14 Pro Max
Pixel 7
iPhone 14 Pro Max
Pixel 7
iPhone 14 Pro Max
I think with every iteration of Pixel phones, we are seeing improvements in terms of software optimization and I feel like other smartphone brands are just not doing enough!
Selfie Images
Selfie
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Pixel 7
iPhone 14 Pro Max
Pixel 7
iPhone 14 Pro Max
Having said that, I still think that Google needs to up its game when it comes to selfies since it’s not as good as what the primary camera manages.
Ultrawide Images
Ultrawide
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Pixel 7
iPhone 14 Pro Max
Pixel 7
iPhone 14 Pro Max
The same goes for the ultra-wide angle shots as I found the field of view to be a little narrow compared to iPhones and Samsung.
Lowlight Images
Plus, the sensor size is pretty small on this ultra-wide angle camera compared to the main lens, so it does struggle at times, while also taking a tad more processing time.
Ultrawide lowlight
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Pixel 7
iPhone 14 Pro Max
Pixel 7
iPhone 14 Pro Max
Pixel 7
iPhone 14 Pro Max
Pixel 7
iPhone 14 Pro Max
Pixel 7
iPhone 14 Pro Max
Especially during low light conditions. Yes, Google’s computational algorithm is great, but if they used better, bigger sensors for the ultra-wide camera, I am 100% sure the quality will get even better.
Videography
I also think Pixel 7’s videos are alright given the price tag as I found them to have good colors with nice stability. Even so, it’s nowhere near what Apple offers.
So if you are someone who likes filming Instagram reels of your pet or you are an aspiring content creator, iPhones still offer better videography in most lighting conditions. But if you are a casual user like me, the ones from the Pixel 7 are decent as well.
The only thing I don’t like about it is the low-light ultra-wide shots. It’s just terrible!
The new Cinematic Mode could also use some work, given how good the portrait photos were that we saw earlier. When the subject is still, it can capture decent cinematic shots, but once there is any sort of movement, it loses focus. Maybe this could improve with updates, let’s hope.
Design and Build
73.2 x 155.6 x 8.7mm, 197 grams
Gorilla Glass Victus front/back, Aluminum frames
IP68 certified against dust/water damage
Now just like the cameras, Google also hasn’t made any drastic changes in terms of design on the Pixel 7 either. But I guess I am completely fine with it. They have upgraded the robustness by offering Gorilla Glass Victus on both the front and the back this time, whereas the camera module now gets a metallic build.
And as expected, it is IP68 as well. So yeah, it’s quite a well-built phone. Actually, I accidentally dropped it a few times from about a meter or so, and it was able to survive it all without any damage. Great! And about that new camera module, I have seen quite a few people dislike it. But I like it, and I think it makes it unique and recognizable if someone is holding a Pixel phone.
The thing I’m most fond of about this new camera module the most is that it doesn’t wobble when putting the phone face down on a flat surface. But like with last year’s Pixel 6, it accumulates a lot of dust, so I have to clean it up every now and then. Likewise, because of all the heavy materials like Gorilla Glass Victus, metal frames, and a metallic camera module squeezed inside a relatively smaller body, the Pixel 7 is a bit dense and heavy! So it took some time for me to get used to its heft.
Button placement could’ve been better
But I still haven’t gotten used to this weird button placement. The power button here is placed slightly higher than where my thumb usually rests, which means I always keep hitting the volume-up button instead. Maybe they could have placed the volume buttons on the left or gone with a different texture or tactile feedback here!
Display
6.3-inches FHD+ OLED panel
“Smooth Display” 90Hz refresh rate
Gorilla Glass Victus protection
Okay, this is something you should eventually get used to, but I feel like the Pixel 7 could have definitely done better in the display department. As you can see, its bezels are still quite prominent, which makes it look a bit generic like a mid-range phone. Moreover, the thing that’s kinda a miss is that it only refreshes at 90Hz. And because of this, I didn’t find the Pixel 7 to be as smooth as I had hoped.
So yeah, Google should have given a 120Hz refresh rate here just like the Pro model for that added fluidity.
The overall quality of the display is good though, if not flagship-level good. The peak brightness is now at 1,400 nits, so it’s plenty bright. HDR10+ works really well on all streaming platforms, and the color accuracy is also appreciable!
Excellent haptics
I am also enjoying typing on this thing, which is partly because of how good the haptic feedback is. The speaker quality is also okay-ish for the price. It’s not that loud, but I like the overall soundstage. Clear vocals, decent treble, and slightly pronounced bass. So I’m not complaining! The optical in-display fingerprint sensor has also gotten a bit faster with the latest November update, but still, the competition has it beat—both in terms of speed and reliability. So I do hope Google will get a better fingerprint sensor supplier next year!
Performance
Octa-core Google Tensor G2 5G SoC (5nm)
8GB LPDDR5 RAM, 128/256GB UFS 3.1 storage (fixed)
Android 13 (stock)
Now, getting to performance, this is the one area where Google received a lot of bashing last year because of mediocre gaming results and bad heat management. It did improve with a few updates eventually, but the performance was still nowhere near the competition!
This year, we have the new 2nd gen Tensor chip co-developed with Samsung, called Tensor G2. But its performance leap isn’t that significant. Sadly, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and even the last-gen A15 Bionic are still faster and will yield better performance say in 2 to 3 years compared to Google’s custom processor.
But for now, this Tensor chip is plenty powerful for everyday tasks. Even for gaming, I found that the Pixel 7 does a better job than the Pixel 6. You can now play games at higher graphics settings and achieve better-sustained stability as well. Still, Tensor has a long way to go to match the raw performance of Apple or Qualcomm chips.
Pixel 6 vs Pixel 7 – Gaming
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PUBG Mobile
Genshin Impact
Injustice 2
It’s just a second-gen product after all, so I hope Google catches up soon! Maybe collaborating with TSMC instead of Samsung will do the trick because you know, Samsung isn’t particularly doing that well in the silicon industry right now. All the high-end chips from Apple and Qualcomm are now manufactured by TSMC.
Some helpful Pixel-exclusive features
Anyway, what the Tensor G2 does better is with AI-related tasks. Many of the standout Google-exclusive features like fixing blurry photos, extracting text and images on the go, and removing the background noise while you are on a call, all of these are only possible with the new and improved Neural Processing Unit (NPU).
Google also promises 3 years of OS and 5 years of security updates for the Pixel 7. Call me greedy but I think they could have given 4 years of OS upgrades since Samsung’s out here offering exactly that. Even on some of its mid-range phones!
Battery
4355mAh with 20W charging
Lastly, as for the battery life, it’s pretty average. But this is me speaking, who is used to the incredible battery endurance of the iPhone 14 Pro Max. On my typical usage with mobile data turned on all through the day, I always have to charge the phone at around 8 PM, whereas my iPhone 14 Pro Max still had like 40% battery left.
So coming from that, I can’t say I’m a big fan of the Pixel 7’s battery endurance.
Google has also gone with a conservative approach to charging, just like Apple and Samsung. The Pixel 7 only supports 20W PD charging, which rapidly charges the phone from 0 to 50% in 30 minutes and takes it up to 80% in an hour. After that, the charging is very slow to conserve the phone’s battery health, and it takes an additional 40-45 minutes to hit 100%.
Google Pixel 7 Review: Conclusion
Wrapping up this review, despite some obvious downsides, the Google Pixel 7 is an outstanding semi-flagship phone! And if you are someone who wants to upgrade from a mid-range device to the Pixel 7, it is going to be a great upgrade. Trust me!
One crucial thing that I forgot to mention is that if you are living in India, the Pixel 7 is slightly overpriced right now at Rs. 60,000. During the first sale, I got around Rs. 6,000 off using bank offers, although that offer is no longer available. But I am pretty sure that there are going to be similar offers in the coming days, so watch out for that!
Watch our video review of the Google Pixel 7
Google Pixel 7 Review: Pros & Cons
Pros:
Excellent primary camera
Sturdy build quality
Great OLED display
Nice haptics
Reliable everyday performance
Helpful Pixel-exclusive features
Cons:
Ultrawide camera not as impressive
Just 90Hz refresh rate
Tensor G2 isn’t as powerful as other flagship chips
Xiaomi recently released six new TVs in Nepal including the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A. It’s the company’s entry-level Android TV which has now received a price drop in Nepal. So, let us go through the specifications, features, availability, and official price of the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A in Nepal.
Xiaomi Smart TV 5A Overview:
Display
While only the 43-inch variant of the Xiaomi Smart TV 5A is available in Nepal, the company also offers the TV in 32-inch and 40-inch sizes. Irrespective of the screen size, Xiaomi Smart TV 5A features an LED-backlit LCD panel, 60Hz refresh rate, and 178° viewing angle. The 43-inch and 40-inch variants have FHD resolution while the 32-inch one settles for an HD resolution.
The Xiaomi Smart TV 5A also uses the proprietary Vivid Picture Engine to tune colors. contrast and depth. It sports a metal frame with thin bezels which give it a premium look.
Processor and Software
The Xiaomi Smart TV 5A (43) is powered by a quad-core ARM Cortex-A55 CPU, which is paired with 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. In terms of software, it ships with Android TV 11 with Xiaomi’s PatchWall. In addition, features like Chromecast and Google Assistant come built-in with the TV.
The TV has two 12W speakers outputting a total of 24W. They also support DTS: X and Dolby Audio. Unfortunately, the 32-inch variant lacks DTS: X audio.
The I/O selection is also quite decent with two HDMI, two USBs, an AV, an ethernet port, and a headphone jack. One of the HDMI ports also features Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM). Besides, it also has Bluetooth 5.0 and Dual-band Wi-Fi.
Xiaomi Smart TV 5A Price in Nepal and Availability
The 43-inch Mi TV 5A was initially launched at Rs. 52,999. But as a part of the #WorldCup2022 offer, you can get it at a discounted price of Rs. 47,999. The offer is valid from November 20 to December 18, 2022, only. The TV is available for purchase from Hukut and other authorized Xiaomi stores across Nepal.
