On the occasion of the upcoming Dashain and Tihar (2079), Vivo has announced a promotional offer. Under the “Dashain Tihar Vivo Ko Saathma Dainik Upahar Haatma” campaign, Vivo is offering new users the chance to win exciting gifts.
“Dashain Tihar Vivo Ko Saathma Dainik Upahar Haatma” Offer:
The “Dashain Tihar Vivo Ko Saathma Dainik Upahar Haatma” campaign has already kicked off and will be valid till October 31. During this phase, customers will get sure-shot gifts on the purchase of every Vivo smartphone worth.
In addition, Vivo is offering various daily, weekly, and bumper prizes. To start with, Vivo is offering its TWS 2e earbuds to one lucky winner every day. Then there is the Soundcore Life U2i Bluetooth neckband which will be awarded to three winners each day.
For those unaware, Vivo is also among the official sponsors of the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022. As a result, the company is even giving away four world cup balls daily.
Moving on, one lucky winner will get the chance to take home the Vivo Y15c smartphone each weekly week. Vivo Y15c is a budget phone that was launched just a month ago. It features a 6.51-inch HD+ screen, 13MP dual cameras, a 5000mAh battery, and Android 12 software.
Finally, the bumper prize as part of the Dashain Tihar (2079) offer is the new Vivo V25 5G worth Rs. 52,999 in Nepal. It will be awarded to a lucky winner at the end of the campaign. Talking about the phone, its main selling point is the AG Fluorite glass which changes color when exposed to sunlight and UV rays.
Vivo V25 5G sports a 6.44-inch 90Hz AMOLED panel with an in-display camera. The triple camera at the back has a 64MP OIS camera, accompanied by an 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro lens. There is a 50MP selfie camera with autofocus on the front. Running the show from underneath is the Dimensiy 900 5G chipset. Likewise, there is a 4,5000mAh battery supplying the necessary juice to the phone.
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Vivo V23 Pro.
Bose is not new to the premium wireless earbuds market. The company has just announced the QuietComfort Earbuds II, taking over the original that came two years ago. In this article, we will discuss the specs, features, expected price, and availability of the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II in Nepal.
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II Overview:
QuietComfort (or QC in short) is a popular lineup of Active Noise Cancelling earbuds. Bose even claims the new QuietComfort Earbuds II as the world’s best noise canceling earbuds. The earbuds support varying levels of ANC and even has a dedicated transparency mode called Aware Mode. It is backed by the in-house ActiveSense technology.
For these features to work as intended, Boase QuietComfort Earbuds II packs four microphones on each earbud. One is placed on the inside, where the rest lie outside. These microphones pick up the outside noises, then send them to the internal chip for canceling.
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II also focuses on giving each user the best personalized experience possible. Each time it is worn, the earbuds analyze the shape of the ear and adjust the sound accordingly. Bose calls it the CustomTune technology.
Another addition to this year’s model is the Stability bands that cover the contour of the ear for a tight fit. Bose sends three pairs of these, along with another three pairs of umbrella-shaped in-ear tips.
As for connectivity, you get Bluetooth 5.3 with a wireless range of 30 ft. Moreover, the QC Earbuds II supports SBC and AAC audio codecs for wireless transmission.
On a single charge Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II can last up to 6 hours with the ANC turned on. It can be extended up to 24 hours with the charging case. Plus, you can get up to 2 hours of playback time with just 20 minutes of charging.
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II Specifications:
Body: 1.2″H x 0.68″W x 0.88″D-inches, grams each
Charging case: 2.61″H x 2.34″W x 1.05″D-inches, Hard plastic
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II Price in Nepal and Availability
The QuietComfort Earbuds II is currently up for pre-order from Bose’s official site for $299. If it launches in Nepal, we expect the price of the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II to be NPR 44,999.
Wireless TWS earbuds
Price in the US (Official)
Price in Nepal (Expected)
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II
USD 299
NPR 44,999
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds.
Last month, Motorola launched the world’s first smartphone with a 200MP camera, the X30 Pro. The phone has now been launched in the global market under the Edge 30 Ultra moniker. So, let’s look at the specs, features, expected price, and availability of the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra in Nepal.
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra Overview:
200MP Camera
The main highlight of the Moto Edge 30 Ultra is its 200MP primary camera. It is by far the highest resolution smartphone camera in the global market right now. Here, Moto has used the ISOCELL HP1 image sensor from Samsung. It is a 1/1.22” sensor that can churn out 12.5MP and 50MP images using two levels of pixel binning. Moreover, the primary shooter has Optical Image Stabilization and can record 8K videos and 4K with HDR10+.
Accompanying it is a 50MP ultrawide lens with a 114-degree Field of View. It even doubles as a macro camera. Then there is a 12MP telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom for portraits. Over on the front, Motorola Edge 30 Ultra has a 60MP selfie camera with 4K recording capability.
Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1
Another talking point of the phone is its chipset. Here, Moto has opted for Qualcomm’s latest flagship offering. Motorola Edge 30 Ultra is the first and so far, the only Motorola phone with the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 in the global market. The chip is a mid-year refresh to the vanilla 8 Gen 1 bringing noticeable gains in performance and power efficiency. Motorola has paired it with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage.
Fueling the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra is a 4,700mAh batter that can last over a day in a typical use scenario. The phone supports 125W TurboPower charging, which provides 12 hours of battery life in just 7 minutes. You can even charge the phone wirelessly up to 50W. The phone even reverse wireless charge mobile accessories.
Design and Display
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra sports a 6.67-inch pOLED panel with a center-aligned punch-hole camera cutout. The screen supports a 144Hz refresh rate and DCI-P3 color gamut. It is a 10-bit panel meaning it can produce over a billion colors. The phone can even play HDR10+ videos and can push the brightness up to 1250 nits while doing so.
Both the front and back of the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. Moto has even added an anti-fingerprint coating on the front panel. The device measures 8.39mm thick and weighs around 198.5 grams.
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra Price in Nepal and Availability
The single 12/128GB variant of the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra is now on sale in Europe with a EUR 900 price tag. Moto is yet to launch any Edge series phone in Nepal. But if the Motor Edge 30 Ultra launches in Nepal, we expect the price to be NPR 120,000.
Realme is on a launch spree these days. After smartphones, the company has been focusing on its AIoT products. The Buds Air 3s is a new addition with an interesting wing-tip design. So, let’s get into the Realme Buds Air 3s specifications, features, availability, and expected price in Nepal.
Realme Buds Air 3s Overview:
Design
The Buds Air 3s have a wing-tip design that is made of skin-friendly material. Per Realme, the tips allow the earbuds to provide a secure fit when running outside.
The short stem of the earphones is made of NVCM and is vacuum plated for a shiny finish. To complement this look, the TWS buds are housed inside a transparent lid inspired by a music box. The Buds Air 3s is available in two colors: black and white.
Aside from the design, the Buds Air 3s have an impressive feature set for audio as well. It features an 11mm liquid silicone triple titanium bass driver designed by a European professional acoustic team. Realme says this audio driver delivers deeper bass and better resolution in high and low frequencies.
On compatible devices, the earbuds also support Dolby Atmos. Realme has also included a game mode that reduces latency to 69ms. For clearer calls, the 4 microphones setup are outfitted with AI ENC noise reduction.
Rest of the specs
Moving on, the Buds Air 3S is rated to deliver a battery life of up to 30 hours with the charging case. Also, a quick 10-minute charge can offer 5 hours of music playback time.
You can connect the earbuds to your phone using the Realme Link app. Other feature includes Google fast pair, full touch control, and IPX5 rating.
The Buds Air 3s is priced at INR 2,499 in India and will be available beginning September 14. We expect the price of Realme Buds Air 3s to be NPR 5,000, if and when it launches in Nepal.
Buds
Price in India
Price in Nepal (Expected)
Realme Buds Air 3s
INR 2,499
NPR 5,000
Meanwhile, check out our pick for the best budget wireless earbuds of 2022.
The Redmi 11 Prime Series was officially announced in India as part of the company’s special “Diwali With Mi” launches. There are two smartphones, the 11 Prime and the 11 Prime 5G, both powered by MediaTek processors. So, without further ado, here are the specifications, features, availability, and expected price of the Redmi 11 Prime Series in Nepal.
Redmi 11 Prime Series Overview:
Design, Display
To begin, the 11 Prime and 11 Prime 5G both feature a 6.58-inch LCD screen with FHD+ resolution. The screen has a high refresh rate of 90Hz as well. The 5G model has Corning Gorilla Glass protection too, though Xiaomi has not specified the generation.
Redmi 11 Prime Series
1 of 2
11 Prime (4G)
11 Prime 5G
Both smartphones have an Evol design with a textured back and a matte finish to keep fingerprints and smudges at bay. The 11 Prime 5G is available in Thunder Black, Chrome Silver, and Meadow Green. The vanilla Redmi 11 Prime comes in Playful Green, Flashy Black, and Peppy Purple colors.
The main distinction between the two smartphones is their chipset. The 11 Prime 5G is packed with a MediaTek Dimensity 700 SoC. And since it enables 5G connectivity, the device has nine 5G bands. The 4G variant, on the other hand, is powered by a MediaTek Helio G99 SoC.
In any case, they include up to 6GB of LPDDR4x RAM and up to 128GB of UFS 2.2 storage. Furthermore, the handsets run MIUI 13, which is based on Android 12.
Camera
Moving on, the 11 Prime 5G has a dual camera setup with a 50MP main sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. The 4G variant configuration is largely similar, but there’s also a 2MP portrait sensor. Both smartphones have an 8MP sensor for selfies.
Rest of the specs
You also get a 5000mAh battery with 18W fast charging, though the company includes a 22.5W charger in the box. There is a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for biometrics. Other features include WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, as well as an IR Blaster.
Redmi 11 Prime Series Specifications:
Display: 6.58-inch, 90Hz, Full HD
Processor:
11 Prime: MediaTek Helio G99
11 Prime 5G: MediaTek Dimensity 700
Memory: Up to 6GB RAM, Up to 128GB storage (expandable)
Rear Cameras:
11 Prime: 50MP primary + 2MP depth + 2MP portrait
11 Prime: 50MP primary + 2MP depth
Front Camera: 8MP
OS: Android 12-based MIUI 13
Battery: 5000mAh, 18W charging
Colors:
11 Prime: Thunder Black, Chrome Silver, Meadow Green
11 Prime 5G: Playful Green, Flashy Black, Peppy Purple
Redmi 11 Prime Series Price in Nepal and Availability
The Redmi 11 Prime (4G) is priced at INR 12,999 for the base 4/64GB variant. In comparison, a similar configuration of the 5G variant costs an additional INR 1,000. If and when the Redmi 11 Prime Series is released in Nepal, we expect the price to start at NPR 23,000.
Smartphones
Configurations
Price in India
Price in Nepal (Expected)
Redmi 11 Prime
4/64GB
INR 12,999
NPR 23,000
6/128GB
INR 14,999
NPR 26,000
Redmi 11 Prime 5G
4/64GB
INR 13,999
NPR 25,000
6/128GB
INR 15,999
NPR 28,000
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Redmi Note 11.
Just a day before Apple’s “Far Out” event, Huawei took the stage in China to unveil the Mate 50 series. The new flagship series consists of the vanilla Mate 50, a Pro model, and a special RS Porsche Design edition. So, let’s quickly look at the specs, features, expected price, and availability of the Huawei Mate 50 series (Mate 50, 50 Pro, 50 Pro RS Porsche Design) in Nepal.
Huawei Mate 50 Pro Overview:
Satellite Communication
Huawei has beaten other smartphone brands by being the first to implement satellite communication in the Mate 50 series. Users can now send short text messages and location information without any cellular connectivity on these phones. This is achieved with direct communication with China’s Beidou satellite system.
Performance
Let’s start with the elephant in the room. Huawei Mate 50 Pro is powered by the latest Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chip. But since the US has not lifted its ban on Huawei, the phone lacks an integrated 5G modem. The base variant of the Mate 50 Pro has a single SIM slot, 8GB RAM, and 256GB storage. But the company also offers a dual-SIM model with up to 512GB of storage. The storage can be expanded up to 256GB using Huawei’s proprietary NM card.
Fueling the phone is a 4,7000 battery that supports 66W of wired charging and 50W of wireless fast charging.
Camera
Unlike the recent flagship phones from the company, Huawei Mate 50 smartphones do not have Leica-branded cameras. Their partnership came to an end earlier this year, with Leica forming a new alliance with Xiaomi. Instead of Leica’s tech, Huawei is putting self-developed imaging NPU for “XMAGE software processing” on its phones.
Over on the back, you cannot help but notice the massive circular on the back of the Huawei Mate 50 Pro. Huawei has intentionally designed it to replicate the Clous de Paris pattern usually seen in classic watch dials.
It encloses the quad-camera setup consisting of a 50MP primary, 13MP ultrawide, and a 64MP telephoto lens. Huawei has equipped the primary and the telephoto lens with Optical Image Stabilization.
Unlike the other mainstream flagship, the 50MP RYYB camera on the Mate 50 Pro has 10 variable aperture sizes ranging from f/1.4 and f/4.0. This is made possible due to Huawei’s in-house XMage camera technology.
The latter even allows the camera to capture 24% more light than the camera on the Mate 40 Pro. Making it ideal for night photography. On top of that, Huawei’s XD Fusion Pro maintains the brightness and contrast of the image.
Users can play with different aperture sizes to adjust the bokeh effect and focus on the subject of portrait shots. You can even use optical blur while recording videos. The primary camera even doubles as a macro sensor.
Design and Display
Huawei Mate 50 Pro sports a 6.75-inch curved OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and 300Hz touch sampling rate. The screen packs a total of 2612 x 1212 pixels and boasts 10-bit color depth. Furthermore, it also supports 1440Hz high-frequency PWM dimming.
The screen has a bathtub-like notch for the 13MP ultrawide selfie camera and a 3D depth sensor. Huawei Mate 50 Pro uses the latter for 3D face recognition, which is more secure than 2D face unlock feature in most Android phones.
Huawei offers the phone in three color options: Black, Silver, and Orange. The latter has a Vegan Leather finish and is lighter than its other counterparts. It is also protected by Kunlun Glass and is water resistant up to 6nm. The Black and Silver variant of the Mate 50 Pro miss out on the Kunlun Glass altogether and can only survive up to 2m of water.
Huawei Mate 50 Pro RS Porsche Edition Overview:
As the name suggests, Mate 50 Pro RS Porsche Edition reflects the partnership between the two companies with a sports car-like aerodynamics design. The Ink Blue version even has a ceramic back. Like the orange version of the vanilla Mate 50 Pro, it has an ingress protection of up to 6m. As for the camera, it takes out the 64MP telephoto lens for a 48MP periscope lens. It even doubles as a macro camera.
Huawei Mate 50 Overview:
Talking about the vanilla Mate 50, it also sports a 10-bit OLED panel but with a smaller 6.7-inch dimension and a refresh rate of just 90Hz. It is powered by the same Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 4G chip. The primary and ultrawide camera is the same as the rest of the lineup, except the telephoto lens is downscaled to 12MP.
Huawei Mate 50 Series Specifications:
Mate 50 Pro
Mate 50 Pro RS Porsche Edition
Mate 50
Dimensions (H x W x D)
162.1 x 75.5 x 8.5mm
162.1 x 75.5 x 9.92mm
161.5 76.1 x 7.98mm
Weight
205/209 grams
232 grams
206 grams
Display
6.74” OLED, 120Hz refresh rate
6.7” OLED, 90Hz refresh rate
Resolution
2616 x 1212 pixels
2700 x 1224 pixels
Processor
Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 4G
Software
EMUI 13 with HarmonyOS 3
RAM
8GB RAM
12GB RAM
8GB
Storage
Up to 512GB storage (Expandable)
256GB RAM (Expandable)
Camera
50MP primary (F1.4 – F4.0, OIS)
13MP ultrawide
64MP telephoto (OIS)
50MP primary (F1.4 – F4.0, OIS)
13MP ultrawide
48MP periscope (OIS)
50MP primary (F1.4 – F4.0, OIS)
13MP ultrawide
12MP telephoto (OIS)
Selfie Camera
13MP Ultrawide
3D Depth sensor
13MP ultrawide
Battery
4,700mAh
Charging
66W SuperCharge
50W Wireless SuperCharge
IP rating
IP68
Huawei Mate 50 Series Price in Nepal and Availability
The Mate 50 Series is currently limited to the Chinese market, where the prices start at CNY 4,999 for the vanilla model, CNY 6,799 for the Pro, and CNY 12,999 for the RS Porsche Design. Huawei has not given any time frame for the global launch. If it launches in Nepal, we expect the price of Huawei Mate 50 and Mate 50 Pro to start at NPR 94,999 and NPR 129,999, respectively in Nepal.
After the premium 7 and 8 series, Qualcomm has now taken the wraps off the latest 6 and 4 series of smartphone chips. The newly announced Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 and 4 Gen 1 follow the company’s latest naming convention and are targeted at the mid-range and budget market, respectively. So, let us look at what the new chips from Qualcomm are capable of.
Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 Overview:
We will start with the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 which will power the mid-range phones of 2023. The new chip replaces the Snapdragon 695 5G and is built on a 4nm process. Qualcomm has not specified if it is Samsung or TSMC which is making the chip.
While its predecessor has a 2+6 CPU configuration, Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 shifts to a 4+4 arrangement. It has four Cortex-A78 performance cores paired with four Cortex-A55 efficiency cores. The two are clocked at 2.2GHz and 1.8GHz respectively. Technically, this should result in a higher multi-core performance on the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 with Qualcomm claiming 40% better CPU performance over the 695 5G.
Likewise, the graphics are also said to have been improved by 35%. However, Qualcomm has not spilled much detail about it. For the first time, Qualcomm is now offering LPDDR5 RAM compatibility on its 6 series of chips.
On the photography front, Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 still has a similar triple ISP as its predecessor with support for up to 108MP cameras. That being said, it now supports computational HDR and can process 4K HDR videos at 30fps.
Moving on, Qualcomm has also made changes to the AI engine. The 7th Gen AI Engine boasts three times the performance of the last gen with a special focus on AI-based tasks. Qualcomm has even upgraded the wireless connectivity module on the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1. The chip integrates the Snapdragon X62 modem with support for sub-6 and mmWave 5G bands.
Also, the use of Qualcomm FastConnect 6700 means the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 is the first chip in the series to support tri-band Wi-Fi 6E connectivity.
Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 vs Snapdragon 695
Snapdragon 6 Gen 1
Snapdragon 695
Architecture
4nm
6nm
Performance/ big cores
4x Cortex-A78 (@2.2GHz)
2x Cortex-A78 (@2.2GHz)
Efficiency/ little cores
4x Cortex-A55 (@1.8GHz)
6x Cortex-A55 (@1.7GHz)
GPU
Adreno (Unspecified)
Adreno
Memory
LPDDR5
LPDDR4X
AI Engine
Hexagon
Hexagon 686
Image Signal Processing
Spectra (Triple, up to 108MP)
Spectra 346T (Triple, up to 108MP)
Integrated Modem
Snapdragon X62
Snapdragon X51
Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Subsystem
FastConnect 6700 (Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2)
FastConnect 6100 (Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1)
Fast Charging
Quick Charge 4+
Quick Charge 4+
Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 Availability
Motorola has already confirmed that it will be using the Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 in one of its upcoming mid-range smartphones. However, it is not clear which phone the company is referring to and but it will be launching on Q1 of 2023.
This brings us to Snapdragon 4 Gen 1. This chip succeeds the Snapdragon 480 from last year and brings some notable changes. For starters, the new Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 is based on a more power efficient 6nm process from TSMC. It brings newer Cortex-A78 (@2.0GHz) cores along with Cortex-A75 cores in a 2+6 configuration. As per Qualcomm, this is enough to give the chip a 15% improvement over the Snapdragon 480.
There are no details about the new GPU but Qualcomm says it is 10% better than its predecessor. There is no change in the memory controller so budget smartphones in 2023 will still be shipping LPDDR4X RAM. Moving on, the triple ISP can now support a maximum resolution of up to 108MP, almost twice what its predecessor is capable of.
Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 Vs Snapdragon 480
Snapdragon 4 Gen 1
Snapdragon 480
Architecture
6nm
8nm
Performance/ big cores
2x Cortex-A78 (@2.0GHz)
2x Cortex-A76 (@2.0GHz)
Efficiency/ little cores
6x Cortex-A55 (@1.8GHz)
6x Cortex-A55 (@1.8GHz)
GPU
Adreno
Adreno 619
Memory
LPDDR4X
LPDDR4X
AI Engine
Hexagon
Hexagon 686
Image Signal Processing
Spectra (Triple, up to 108MP)
Spectra 345 (Triple, up to 64MP)
Integrated Modem
Snapdragon X51
Snapdragon X51
Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Subsystem
FastConnect 6200 (Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.2)
FastConnect 6200 (Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1)
Fast Charging
Quick Charge 4+
Quick Charge 4+
Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 Availability
The upcoming iQOO Z6 Lite will be the first commercial smartphone with the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 chip. It is expected to go official three weeks from now.
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Legion 5 Pro (2022).
AQFiT has introduced the W16 smartwatch in Nepal. It’s a budget wearable with basic health tracking features. So, let’s look at the specifications, features, availability, and expected price of the AQFiT W16 in Nepal.
AQFiT W16 Overview:
Design, Display
The W16 has a 1.69-inch 2.5D curved Full HD display with a resolution of 240 x 280 pixels. Users can personalize the smartwatch with over 100 different watch faces.
It’s ingress protection includes IP68 water resistance. So you won’t have to be concerned if you take it outside in the rain. The band is made of silicone and can be replaced.
The Real Tek RTL8762DK chipset powers the W16. It has dual sensors on the back for health tracking, which can monitor basic health metrics such as heart rate, SpO2, and sleep. Girls can also use it to track their menstrual cycle.
Furthermore, there’s also support for multi-sports mode, and the battery life is rated for up to 10 days. The wearable can also sync notifications from your smartphone. It must be paired with your phone via the AQFiT Pro app.
Poco launched the M5 yesterday in India, but the company also released Poco M5s for the global market. This is yet another mid-range smartphone powered by an Helio G95 processor. So, let’s take a look at the Poco M5s specs, features, availability, and expected price in Nepal.
Poco M5s Overview:
Design, Display
Unlike the M5, which has a leather-textured back, the Poco M5s has a plain back panel. Its camera module is also visually similar to the Redmi Note 10 series. It’s because it is a rebranded Redmi Note 10S. As a result, the feature set is quite similar here.
The display is a 6.43-inch AMOLED panel with Full HD+ resolution. It is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 and has a peak brightness of 1100 nits. You also get Widevine L1 certification to watch Netflix content. Unfortunately, there is no higher refresh rate available here. Similarly, a fingerprint scanner for biometrics is located on the phone’s side.
Inside, it is powered by the MediaTek Helio G96 chip, which comes with up to 6GB of RAM and up to 128GB of storage. The device is powered by a 5,000mAh battery that supports 33W fast charging. On the software front, it runs the most recent Android 12-based MIUI 13.
Cameras
In terms of cameras, the 64MP primary sensor is paired with an 8MP ultrawide and a couple of 2MP macro and depth sensors. This setup can record at up to 4K@30fps resolution. Similarly, there is a 13MP selfie camera on the front.
Rest of the specs
Aside from that, the Poco M5s offer IP53 dust and water resistance rating. Similarly, stereo speakers handle audio, and there is also a 3.5mm headphone jack. WiFi 5 (802.11 ac), Bluetooth 5.0, and a Type-C port are available as connectivity options.
Poco M5s Specifications:
Body: 160.5 x 74.5 x 8.3 mm, 178.8 gm, IP53 dust/water resistant
Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS / Glonass / Beidou, USB Type-C, 4G LTE
Sensors: Ambient Light, Proximity, E-compass, Accelerometer, Gyro, IR Blaster
Battery: 5000mAh with 33W charging (33W charger inside the box)
Color Options: Onyx Gray, Pebble White, Ocean Blue
Poco M5s Price in Nepal and Availability
The M5s start at EUR 209 for the base 4/64GB model. The 4/128GB and 6/128GB models are priced at EUR 229 and EUR 249, respectively. If and when the Poco M5s will be released in Nepal, we expect the price to start at NPR 28,000.
Poco M5s
Price (Official)
Price in Nepal (Expected)
4/64GB
EUR 209
NPR 28,000
4/128GB
EUR 229
NPR 30,000
6/128GB
EUR 249
NPR 32,000
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Redmi K50i.
Ncell has finally started VoLTE service in Nepal, almost a year later the government-owned Nepal Telecom did the same. In this article, we will be discussing more about Ncell’s VoLTE operation, including what it is and how to activate it.
Ncell VoLTE Overview:
What is VoLTE?
VoLTE (or Voice over LTE) refers to the cellular calls made over the 4G LTE network. Since the 4G network is capable of transferring larger data, calls made via VoLTE is usually of higher quality than the traditional 2G and 3G network. The technology is not new and has been used around the globe for quite some time. However, it was only last year it was available to the Nepali user when Nepali Telecom introduced it on its network.
Supported Smartphones
After a series of beta testing, Ncell VoLTE is now available for all users over 900MHz and 1800MHz frequencies. These are the same bands over which the company operates its 4G service. For the initial launch, Ncell has launched its VoLTE service on a total of 7 smartphones from Samsung, Vivo, and Huawei.
How to activate VoLTE service on the Ncell network?
In order to use Ncell’s VoLTE service, you must have a compatible smartphone. You can check this by dialing *17201#. If your smartphone has support for VoLTE, you should then enable it from within the SIM card and Mobile Network setting.
After confirming, you can then proceed to activate VoLTE service by dialing *17201#. Upon activation, you will even receive 100 minutes of free talk time for making VoLTE calls within Ncell’s network.
In order to bolster its 4G coverage inside the country, Ncell started operation on the 900MHz band last year. As 900MHz is a low-frequency band, it has better penetration power. Thus, it is suited for cities where there are buildings and similar infrastructures everywhere.
Better coverage and penetration
In addition, with all other variables being equal, the lower frequency can cover more distance than higher frequencies. When compared to 1800MHz, 900MHz is known to have 30% to 40% better coverage. As a result, the latter needs fewer base stations than the former to cover the exact same region.
It also has less chance of interfering with higher frequencies of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices. On the other hand, the components used for 900MHz are expensive and thus are available mostly in higher-end devices.
900MHz is Tech Neutral
Tech Neutrality refers to the freedom given to organizations or individuals to choose the technology most appropriate for their needs. 900MHz is a tech-neutral band, which means Ncell can re-purpose it in the future. As a result, Ncell, which is currently operating 4G LTE on 900MHz, can later use it for 5G too.
Ncell’s plans for 4G LTE on 900MHz
As of now, Ncell has used 900MHz for 30% of its coverage site. It is looking to have a nationwide rollout within a year.
Carrier Aggregation (CA)
Once 900MHz has nationwide coverage, Ncell can enable Carrier Aggregation between it and 1800MHz. CA increases the data rate by combining multiple frequencies. Currently, Nepal Telecom is the only operator providing this service in the country.
Meanwhile, check out our hands-on review of the CG Net (Nepali).
