Realme has just announced its latest C-series phone in Nepal, Realme C31. It is the successor to last year’s Realme C21. Let’s learn more about the specifications, features, and official price in Nepal of the Realme C31.
Realme C31 Overview:
Display And Design
Realme C31 features a 6.5-inch IPS LCD display with an HD resolution. Moreover, this budget phone expectedly lacks a high refresh rate.
But the phone does feature a new camera bump at the back which resembles more expensive Realme devices like the GT 2 series. Likewise, the C31 has curves on the sides for a more comfortable grip. Still and all, we’re greeted with a teardrop notch on the front for the selfie camera.
Realme C31 is available in two colorways: Dark Green and Light Silver. The phone weighs 197 grams and is 8.4mm thick.
Performance And Memory
Running the show on the Realme C31 is the Unisoc T612 chipset which is an entry-level octa-core processor. The T612 is manufactured under a 12nm node and has two Cortex-A75 (@1.8GHz) and six Cortex-A55 (@1.8GHz) CPU cores. Handling the graphics is Arm’s Mar-G57 GPU.
The base variant of Realme C31 sports 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Besides, Realme also offers a 64GB variant with 4GB RAM.
Realme C31’s new rear camera island boasts a triple camera setup. The 13MP primary camera comes with an f/2.2 aperture. It is accompanied by an f/2.4 macro and an f/2.8 monochrome sensor. The aforementioned teardrop notch on the front houses a single 5MP selfie shooter.
On the other hand, Realme C31 is powered by a 5000mAh Li-Po battery. Unfortunately, it boots on Android 11 with Realme UI R on top. Likewise, this budget phone has a single speaker and a 3.5mm headphone jack. As for biometrics, there’s a fingerprint reader embedded into the home button.
After its launch in India a few days back, Redmi has now launched the Buds 3 Lite in Nepal. It is the company’s latest budget wireless earbuds outside of China. In this article, we will discuss the key specs, features, official price, and availability of the Redmi Buds 3 Lite in Nepal.
Redmi Buds 3 Lite Overview:
Design
Redmi Buds 3 Lite is a cheaper alternative to last year’s AirDots 3 Pro. That being said, its design is nothing like we have seen in past Xiaomi/Redmi TWS earbuds, especially with the earbud hooks. Redmi includes two pairs of hooks in the box in addition to the three different-sized pairs of ear tips.
The earbuds weigh 4.2 grams each and have IP54 dust and water resistance. They come in a color-matching elliptical charging case with an LED indicator on the front. The weight of the case with the earbuds inside is 36 grams.
Control and Connectivity
Redmi Buds 3 Lite comes with Bluetooth 5.2 chip inside for connectivity. In addition, it even supports automatic pairing, so you won’t have to manually pair them over and again.
The outside of the earbuds is touch-sensitive for control input. Redmi Buds 3 can recognize double taps, single taps, and long presses.
Audio Features
Redmi Buds 3 Lite features a 6mm dynamic audio driver tuned by Xiaomi’s own Sound Lab. Since it’s a budget offering, there is no Active Noise Cancellation. But it does have the Environment Noise Reduction feature that uses software algorithms to enhance the clarity of voice during calls.
For gamers, there is a dedicated low-latency mode as well. However, Xiaomi has not mentioned the lowest latency achievable with the Redmi Buds 3.
Battery and Charging
Finally, Redmi Buds 3 Lite can last up to 5 hours on a single charge. The charging case extends it to up to 18 hours. There is a Type-C port on the bottom of the case for charging.
The Buds 3 Lite retails for an asking price of Rs. 3,399 in Nepal and is available for purchase via Hukut store and authorized sellers across the nation.
We have got great news—you can now buy the most hyped phone of the year in Nepal – the Nothing Phone (1), courtesy of Hamrobazar. A phone with such immense market buzz arriving so quickly in Nepal sounds great and all, but when giving it a second thought, the cracks begin to show. Like… how is it possible and how is it legal even? Stick with us as we peel off the layers of this whole “Nothing phone (1) on Hamrobazar” fiasco.
The phone (1) costs GBP 399
Back in April, the Government of Nepal (GoN) imposed an import ban on 10 categories of non-essential items, which also included phones over the price of USD 600. The ban was a low-key effort by the government to manage the depleting foreign exchange reserve.
And a couple of months later in July, the government decided to extend the ban with a few changes here and there. The most notable one being the extension of the import ban on phones over USD 300. Considering the current state of Nepal’s economy, the policymakers saw banning said imports as an important way to minimize the outflow of national forex reserve.
But here we are—talking about Nothing phone (1) that costs GBP 399 in the UK for the entry-level model, which roughly translates to USD 480 in today’s market. Nothing is a UK-based company, by the way. And even when referring to its price in India—where the phone (1) is the cheapest—it still converts to a little over USD 400. So it begs the question how is the Nepal government even allowing all this?
How is the government even allowing all this?
Long story short, it is not. At least technically. Nothing, being a new company, has not officially set its foot in a lot of markets including Nepal. In fact, the phone (1) isn’t available in the US and Canada either. So for Nothing to officially enter the Nepali market, it first needs to appoint authorized distributors. But that hasn’t happened so far.
And given the existing import policy, Nothing wouldn’t want to either since the phone (1) costs well above the legal threshold. Therefore, all units of the Nothing phone (1) to arrive in Nepal, including the ones on Hamrobazar, are grey products.
A few of them might be personal imports like from someone who’s returning to Nepal from India; that’s always possible. But the vast majority of these phones have not followed the proper official procedures, which points to tax evasion and whatnot.
Hamrobazar is promoting an illegal product
Now, it’s sad to see that Hamrobazar is providing a platform to sell such illegal products. Not to mention, the company is even promoting them! Hamrobazar’s rules page clearly mentions (in bold) that it does not allow ads that are deemed illegal as per Nepalese law. But the platform doesn’t seem to be doing a great job screening the listings.
We all know that it’s an online classified marketplace with hundreds of sellers uploading products daily. So, one can assume that the illegal listings of the Nothing phone (1) might have flown under the radar of the screening team.
But all that benefit of the doubt goes down the drain when you see Hamrobazar promoting said listings via its official social media handles. Even the company’s CEO Rohit Tiwari has shared the post on his personal timeline.
Once again, it is possible that Hamrobazar’s team, including the CEO, might still be unaware of how the phone (1) got here. This just shows sheer negligence from the team to learn about a particular product before promoting them on their platform.
The incompetence of the system
We know a lot of you will read this and might still go and order the phone (1) from Hamrobazar. After all, as I mentioned earlier, there is no sign of it launching officially in Nepal anytime soon. So what’s wrong with getting a phone that you like?
If you fall in this group, you are directly promoting the grey market, which, you may argue is not something that normal Joe like you and I can control. I mean, if Nepal’s legal system had been competent enough, there would not even be a grey market in the first place.
There have been multiple talks, time and again, about Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) implementing Mobile Device Management System (MDMS) to shut down grey phones and discourage illegal imports. But MDMS has been nothing short of a running joke within the smartphone industry in Nepal as the system is yet to see the light of day—even more than a year after it was slated to go live.
Back to the phone (1)
While MDMS was meant to discourage grey sellers, NTA’s failure to implement it has actually had an inverse impact on the market. No wonder there are multiple sellers importing phones like Nothing phone (1) illegally and selling them on public platforms so casually.
The grey importers are also making huge profits on a per unit basis on the phone, more than what an authorized distributor would normally be allowed. After all, they don’t pay the 13% VAT, 5% excise duty, and all the other variable or fixed costs that an official vendor would bear.
What’s even worse is that it’s not just such a niche/enthusiast phone market that grey importers exploit. They even undercut authorized distributors in high-demand products like the iPhones, thus suffocating legitimate businesses.
What’s it for the general consumer?
Besides getting the phones of your choice even at cheaper-than-normal prices, there is no other reason to get products from the grey market. First, you won’t get a VAT bill for your purchase. After-sales service for such phones is pretty much absent too.
And don’t fall for their promised warranties as there is no guarantee that these stores will even be in business tomorrow! Even if they are, don’t expect company-level after-sale service on your phone since they simply don’t have the same access to repair parts as the authorized distributors.
If you use the phone where it’s not officially available, it won’t receive timely software updates either. It’s no secret that smartphone companies prioritize OTA upgrades in regions based on the user base.
And by some miracle, if MDMS actually goes live somehow, the system can simply shut your device out of all network providers in Nepal—which means you won’t be able to use your SIM card on such phones.
Realme’s “first 5G-Led AIoT Launch” just went live with a bunch of new products from the company including its first-ever monitor. So, let’s have a look at the specifications, features, availability, and expected price of the Realme Flat Monitor in Nepal.
Realme Flat Monitor Overview:
Display, Design
The Realme Flat Monitor features a 23.8-inch VA panel with Full HD resolution and an anti-glare coating. It features a 75Hz refresh rate and a low 8ms response time for a smooth viewing experience.
It can display 16.7 million colors and has a maximum brightness of 250 nits. Likewise, the panel has a viewing angle of 178° and an aspect ratio of 16:9.
Furthermore, Realme Flat Monitor also has a nearly bezel-less design and a thin metal stand, which makes the monitor look modern. The ultra-slim 6.9mm profile adds to the aesthetics of Realme’s first monitor.
Unfortunately, it skips out on height and swivel adjustments.
The Realme Flat Monitor misses out on additional features like in-built speakers and auto brightness. For connectivity, it has an HDMI 1.4, a VGA, and a Type-C port. Additionally, it has a DC power input.
Realme Flat Monitor Specification:
Screen Size: 23.8-inch
Panel Type: VA
Resolution: FHD (1920 x 1080 pixels); 16:09 aspect ratio
Refresh rate: 75Hz refresh rate
Response Time: 8ms
Brightness: 250 nits (Peak)
Color Gamut: sRGB
Ports: 1x HDMI 1.4, 1x VGA, 1x USB Type-C port, 1x DC power input
Realme Flat Monitor Price in Nepal and Availability
Realme’s first Flat Monitor is now available in India via Flipkart for INR 12,999 and it comes with 3 years of warranty. You can even get it for Rs. 10,999 as part of Realme’s introductory offer. We expect the Realme Flat Monitor to cost around NPR 30,000 when it launches in Nepal.
After its initial launch in China, Realme has introduced the successor to last year’s Buds Air 2 Neo in India. It is a less expensive alternative to the recently released Buds Air 3. In this article, we will look into the specs, features, availability, and expected price of the Realme Buds Air 3 Neo in Nepal.
Realme Buds Air 3 Neo Overview:
Design
The Buds Air 3 Neo comes with an oval-shaped case and the same stem style as the Buds Air 3. These are in-ear earphones with a metal-like finish on the bud’s stem and support touch controls. The buds are water-resistant to IPX5 standards and come in White and Blue color variants.
Each bud has a 10mm Bass Boost driver and also supports Dolby Atmos. Interestingly, it lacks active noise cancellation (ANC) which was present in its predecessor. But it does support AI environment noise cancellation (ENC) to suppress outside noise to some extent. For calls and meetings, it has a dual microphone setup.
Furthermore, the TWS buds offer an 88ms low latency option for gaming. You can link it to your smartphone using the Realme Link app, and it also supports quick pairing with smartphones/tablets running Realme UI.
The buds can last up to 7 hours on a single charge and can deliver up to 30 hours of music playback time with the charging case. Finally, the case charges via a USB Type-C port.
Realme Buds Air 3 Neo Specifications:
Color options: Streamer White, Starry Night Blue
Sound driver: 10mm Bass Boost driver
Noise cancellation: AI ENC, Dual-mic
Connectivity: Bluetooth v5.2
Water resistance: Yes, IPX5 waterproof (earbuds only)
Realme Buds Air 3 Neo Price in Nepal and Availability
The Buds Air 3 Neo will be available for purchase in India from July 27 for INR 1,999. We expect the price of Realme Buds Air 3 Neo to be NPR 3,500 when it will launch in Nepal.
TWS Earbuds
Price in India
Price in Nepal (Expected)
Realme Buds Air 3 Neo
CNY 1,999
NPR 3,700
Meanwhile, take a look at our pick of the best budget wireless earbuds of 2022.
Realme introduced a host of goods today at its 5G-Led AIoT launch event. Among them is the Realme Watch 3, the company’s most recent wearable and the successor to last year’s Watch 2. Here, we will go through the specifications, features, availability, and expected price of the Realme Watch 3 in Nepal.
Realme Watch 3 Overview:
Design, Display
The Watch 3 has a 35% bigger screen than its predecessor, measuring 1.8-inch. This is still an IPS display, but Realme has trimmed the bezel all around for premium looks. Remember that the Watch 2 has a large bezel on the top and bottom, thus this is unquestionably a favorable deployment.
Similarly, the screen can achieve 500 nits of brightness, which is actually 100 nits less than the Watch 2. The wearable supports over 100+ watch faces and is available in grey and black color variants.
The Watch 3’s most notable feature is that it now allows Bluetooth calling. It has a built-in speaker, complemented by AI environmental noise cancellation (ENC), and a built-in power amplifier for improved call quality. You can pair the smartwatch with your phone via the Realme Link app.
In terms of health and fitness features, the Watch comes with 24/7 heart-rate monitoring. You can also continuously record blood-oxygen levels, and the watch can track other health indicators like sleep and steps. There is also support for over 110+ sports modes like yoga, hiking, and walking. However, it doesn’t a built-in GPS so route tracking should be dependent on your smartphone’s location.
Rest of the specs
Moving on, the Watch 3 gets its juice from a 340mAh battery that is rated to deliver up to 7 days of up-time. It charges via proprietary magnetic charging.
Extras: Built-in speaker, AI ENC, Built-in power amplifier
Color options: Grey, Black
Realme Watch 3 Price in Nepal and Availability
The Watch 3 carries a price tag of INR 3,499 in India. It is available to purchase through Flipkart.com and the company’s official site from August 2, 2022. We expect the price of the Realme Watch 3 to be NPR 6,500 when it launches in Nepal.
Smartwatch
Price in India
Price in Nepal (Expected)
Realme Watch 3
INR 3,499
NPR 6,500
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Realme Pad Mini.
Last month, Realme launched the Pad X in China. The tablet has now been introduced in India as the company’s premium choice within the Pad series. Here, we will go through the key specs, features, expected price, and availability of the Realme Pad X in Nepal.
Realme Pad X Overview:
Design, Display
Realme Pad X’s design language is nothing like the previous tablet from the brand. It sports an iPad Air and Xiaomi Pad 5-like flat frame design. The tablet is relatively thin at 7.1mm and weighs approximately 499 grams. Three color options are available: Star Grey, Sea Salt Blue, and Bright Chessboard Green flashier.
Moreover, you can find the power button on top, whereas the volume rockers lie on the right side of the frame.
As for the display, Realme offers an 11-inch LCD panel with a 2K resolution and a peak brightness of up to 450 nits. It also supports DC dimming and has TÜV Rheinland-certified hardware-level blue light filter.
The screen supports stylus input as well. Optionally, one can purchase the newly introduced Realme stylus that magnetically attaches to the tablet’s frame. There is also a folio case and a smart keyboard up for grabs.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 chipset handles the performance on the Realme Pad X. Although the processor supports 5G, the tablet is available in a sole Wi-Fi-only variant. Likewise, the tablet is available in two storage options: 4/64GB and 6/128GB.
It is also the first Realme tablet to run Android 12-based Realme UI 3.0 out of the box. The UI has been optimized for tablets and supports features like PC connect, split-view, and a brand new portrait centering function.
Camera and Battery
The rectangular rear camera bump on the Realme Pad X houses a single 13MP sensor with an aperture of f/2.2. Over on the front, a 105° 8MP shooter is housed in the bezel.
Moving on, the Realme Pad X has a large 8,340mAh battery with support for 33W fast charging. In addition, Realme claims 19 hours of video playback, 11 hours of video calls, and 138 hours of music listening.
The Realme Pad X starts at INR 19,999 for the base 4/64GB, WiFi-only variant in India. Besides that, customers can additionally purchase a magnetic stylus for INR 5,499 and a smart keyboard for INR 4,999. We expect the Realme Pad X to retail at a starting price of NPR 37,000 if and when it launches in Nepal.
Realme Pad X
Price in India
Price in Nepal (Expected)
4/64GB, WiFi
INR 19,999
NPR 37,000
4/64GB, 5G
INR 25,999
NPR 47,000
6/128GB, 5G
INR 27,999
NPR 49,000
Meanwhile, check our review of the Realme Pad Mini.
Alongside the Spark 8, Tecno has launched another entry-level smartphone in Nepal called the Tecno Pop 5 LTE. As implied by the name, this is a 4G handset powered by MediaTek Helio A22 chipset. In this article, we will go over the main specifications, features, expected price, and availability of the Tecno Pop 5 LTE in Nepal.
Tecno Pop 5 LTE Overview:
Design and Display
The rear plastic panel of the Tecno Pop 5 LTE has a dual-tone finish. Similarly, the back has a rectangular camera bump as well as a fingerprint sensor. Ice Blue, Deepsea Luster, and Turquoise Cyan are the three color options available from Tecno for the Pop 5 LTE.
For the display, you get a 6.52-inch HD+ LCD panel with a 60Hz refresh rate. A selfie camera is housed in the dot notch.
Performance and Memory
As aforementioned, Tecno Pop 5 LTE is powered by a budget Helio A22 chipset, paired with 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The phone runs on Android 11 Go Edition.
It has a single 8MP primary camera on the back and a 5MP front selfie camera. The Tecno Pop 5 LTE gets its fuel from a 5,000mAh battery that charges via micro-USB.
The sole 3/32GB variant of the Tecno Pop 5 LTE costs NPR 13,990 in Nepal. Additionally, the company offers 100 days replacement and 13 months warranty. The phone is available in Tecno retail stores across Nepal.
Big Digital, Nepal’s only and largest multi-brand electronic retail chain, has opened its first store at Gwarko, Lalitpur. Swastima Khadka, the company’s brand ambassador, officially inaugurated the store on July 20. Continue reading to learn more about Big Digital.
Big Digital Overview:
Big Digital is the country’s first retail chain of consumer electronics brands. It is a part of Triveni Group, which is the retail business arm of many national and international companies in the country, including Yasuda and Samsung.
The new retail chain is being launched with the intention of assisting customers in their purchasing decisions. The promise will be fulfilled through a diverse choice of brands and products, as well as a refined and quality shopping experience.
Currently Big Digital offers products from over 90 brands under a single roof. This includes household appliances, mobile phones, laptops, televisions, air conditioners, refrigerators, and even musical instruments.
Besides covering a range of brands, Big Digital is committed to selling only genuine products that are imported into the country through authorized distributors. That means, the consumers will receive products at genuine prices, with VAT bills as well as warranty assurances.
As previously stated, Big Digital opened its first store in Gwarko Complex, Gwarko, Lalitpur. It spans three floors and 6,000 square feet. However, according to them, this is not the largest store, but rather one of the smallest, and they are already planning on expansion.
Shortly, Big Digital will launch its stores in Pulchowk and Sitapaila, which will have a larger of roughly 12,000 square feet. Vikramesh Ojha, the CEO of Big Digital, said,” The prime objective behind establishing the store is to offer the international brands of superior quality to Nepali consumers in an exceedingly easy manner.”
What is Big Digital aiming at?
It is very obvious that Big Digital wants to improve customers’ offline purchasing experiences in Nepal. It is following in the footsteps of other well-known retail chains in the global market like Walmart in the US and Reliance Digital in India.
With this, customers will be able to enjoy the convenience of buying all electronic items under one roof. Add to that, the purchasing decision gets much easier as you can choose the product based on your personal experience; meaning can physically touch, feel, and understand the nature of that particular item.
This has always been the perk of offline stores and Big Digital hopes to further improve the experience with its well-facilitated infrastructure and service. So for the convenience of users, each gadget in the Big Digital store will have a QR code placed nearby. With only a scan, you may learn all there is to know about the item.
Not only this, but the company is also providing deals and offers on purchases made through the store to attract customers. They are currently giving away gift cards worth Rs. 5000, Rs. 2,000, and 100% cashback to three lucky customers. Similar to that, they were also giving away a free laptop with the purchase of a 75″ UHD TV, albeit the promotion was only good through July 24. But you can keep checking out their official handles to stay up-to-date with new offers.
Future ambitions
Big Digital’s future plans include opening stores in 25 different locations in the next three years. Likewise, the company is planning to launch over 50 stores in the next five years. And in the long term, it seeks to open stores in all 7 provinces across Nepal.
Additionally, they aim to exclusively introduce different products and services through their platform in the near future. As they expand, it would be advantageous for companies to partner with them. And this would also benefit customers as they will be able to buy the product easily at their nearby Big Digital stores.
All of this is still up in the air since the business needs to make strides to establish itself in the market. This comprises everything from maintaining an overall positive shopping experience to exciting deals and discounts.
Meanwhile, check out our pick for the best phones under INR 25,000 or NPR 45,000.
On June 30, Samsung Foundry began mass production of the first-generation 3nm chip. Fast forward to a month, the company held a ceremony in South Korea to celebrate the first batch of its Multi-Bridge-Channel FET (MBCFET)-based chips. Let’s take a look at what Samsung’s new 3nm chips have to offer.
Samsung 3nm Chip Overview:
While TSMC’s 3nm process will not go into mass production until the second half of 2022, Samsung has already shipped its first batch. A Chinese crypto mining firm is the first to receive the new chips from Samsung.
The company plans to use the 3nm GAA technology for high-end smart devices in the future. But for the time being, the chips will mine Bitcoin.
According to Dr. Siyoung Choi, President of Samsung Foundry, the 3nm mining chips are 23% to 45% more energy-efficient than previous node-based chips.
GAA Technology
The new 3nm chips from Samsung employ GAA technology in the form of Multi-Bridge-Channel FETs (MBCFET). The 3nm GAA transistor architecture overcomes the limitations of FinFET, resulting in higher power efficiency and faster performance.
Samsung is launching its first nanosheet transistor application with chips for high-performance, low-power computing applications. However, it plans to expand to mobile processors.
The proprietary technology uses nanosheets to create wider channels. In comparison to GAA transistors with nanowires, this allows for higher performance and energy efficiency, according to Samsung.
Samsung will be able to optimize the 3nm chips to meet the needs of its customers by adjusting the width of the nanosheet channels.
Comparing the first-gen 3nm chip from Samsung to the older 5nm process, up to a 45% reduction in power consumption can be observed. Moreover, it offers a performance boost of 23%, all while having a 16% reduction in area.
The second generation Samsung 3nm chips are expected to reduce the power consumption by up to 50%, improve performance by 30% and reduce the area by 35%.
2nm chipset by the end of 2025
According to Samsung’s roadmap, the company will be ready to mass produce the second generation of 3nm chipsets in 2023. Furthermore, the 2nm process node is being developed, and Samsung expects to mass produce 2nm chips in 2025.
