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iQOO Neo 6 with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, 120Hz AMOLED screen goes official

GadgetByte
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iQOO Neo 6 with Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, 120Hz AMOLED screen goes official

iQOO has launched its new smartphone in China, called the iQOO Neo 6. It’s the successor to last year’s Neo 5 and brings a major improvement in terms of performance. So, let’s get into the specs, features, availability, and expected price of the iQOO Neo 6 in Nepal.

iQOO Neo 6 Overview:

Design and Display

iQOO Neo 6 flaunts a 6.62-inch AMOLED panel that boasts a Full HD+ resolution. The phone features a 120Hz refresh rate and a whopping 1200Hz touch sampling rate. Like the Neo 5, it also has a separate display chip that minimizes the processor’s strain during game rendering.

IQOO Neo 6 Design and Display

At the back, there’s quite a wide rectangular camera module that houses a triple camera setup. The Neo 6 is available in a total of three color options—Orange, Blue, and Black Lord.

Performance

Inside, it packs an octa-core Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor coupled with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. iQOO has installed a 46662mm2 cooling system that incorporates six layers of three-dimensional graphite, a high thermal conductivity rare earth alloy, and a VC soaking plate to improve thermals under severe workloads.

Aside from that, it comes with MEMC technology for added smoothness in the game and there’s also a “Frame Rate Boost” mode that raises the frame rate of select games to up to 120Hz.

Camera

Camera-wise, it sports a triple camera arrangement in the rear, which includes a 64MP primary sensor, a 12MP ultrawide lens, and a 2MP B&W sensor. In addition, the primary camera also supports OIS. For selfies, it has a 16MP sensor on a centrally-aligned punch-hole cutout.

Rest of the specs

Moving on, the phone has a 4700mAh battery with support for 80W fast charging. On the software front, it runs OriginOS Ocean, which is based on Android 12. Likewise, the connectivity option includes WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, USB Type-C, and NFC.

iQOO Neo 6 Specifications:

  • Display: 6.62-inch AMOLED, 107% NTSC color gamut, 1300 nit, HDR10+, 120Hz refresh rate, 91.45% screen ratio
  • Resolution: FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio
  • Chipset: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (4nm)
  • RAM: 8GB/12GB LPDDR5 RAM
  • ROM: 128GB/256GB UFS 3.1 storage
  • OS & UI: OriginOS Ocean based on Android 12
  • Back Cameras:
    – 64MP primary sensor, OIS
    – 12MP ultra-wide sensor
    – 2MP Black and White Sensor
  • Front Cameras: 16MP sensor
  • Sensors: Fingerprint (under-display), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, e-compass, Ambient Light
  • Connectivity: 5G network, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, and NFC
  • Battery: 4,700mAh with 80W charging

iQOO Neo 6 Price in Nepal and Availability

iQOO Neo 6 will retail for CNY 2,799 for the base 8/128GB variant. Likewise, the higher 8/256GB and 12/256GB model costs CNY 2,999 and CNY 3,299, respectively in China. We expect the price of iQOO Neo 6 to start at NPR 60,000, if and when it launches in Nepal.

iQOO Neo 6 Price in China (Official) Price in Nepal (Expected)
8/128GB CNY 2,799 NPR 60,000
8/256GB CNY 2,999 NPR 65,000
12/256GB CNY 3,299 NPR 70,000
  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Vivo T1 (iQOO Z6).

Deal Alert: Huawei Band 6 gets a massive price drop in Nepal

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Deal Alert: Huawei Band 6 gets a massive price drop in Nepal

Huawei launched its latest fitness band-the Huawei Band 6-in Nepal back in May of last year. The band has now available at its lowest price ever. In this post, we will be taking a look at the specs, features, official price, and availability of Huawei Band 6 in Nepal.

Huawei Band 6 Price in Nepal & Availability

Huawei Band 6 was initially launched at the official price of Rs. 9,490 in Nepal. However, with the recent price cut, it is now available for as low as Rs. 6,990.

Fitness Band Price in Nepal
Huawei Band 6 Rs. 9,490 6,990

Huawei Band 6 Overview:

Design and Overview

What separates the Huawei Band 6 from other fitness bands is the design. It looks more like a smartwatch with its 1.47-inch FullView AMOLED display. The display here has a 148% larger viewing area than the Huawei Band 4 Pro.

Similarly, the screen-to-body ratio is 42% larger. The screen has a 194 x 368 resolution that results in a pixel density of 282 PPI. The band also supports 4-way touchscreen controls and users can choose from a variety of watch faces from the Huawei Watch Store.

Huawei Band 6 Color Options Design Display

It weighs just 18 grams and comes with a 5ATM rating against water damage. Because of the FullView display, the button has been shifted to the right. Huawei Band 6 has a UV-treated silicone that the company claims to be skin-friendly and dirt-resistant. It is available in three color options – Graphite Black, Forest Green, and Amber Sunrise.

Connectivity and Compatibility

Huawei Band 6 comes with Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. You can connect it to your device using the Huawei Health app. The app is compatible with devices running Android 6.0/+ or iOS 9.0/+. However, not all features are available on iOS. Some feature even require EMUI to run properly.

Health and Fitness tracking

This fitness band comes with TrueSeen 4.0-based heart rate monitoring. It uses an optical sensor and AI algorithms for 24-hour heart rate monitoring. It can warn you whenever your heartbeat drops below or rises above the safety levels. Similarly, you also get 24-hour blood oxygen (SpO2) monitoring.

To compare, the Honor Band 6 can measure your blood oxygen level but doesn’t support 24-hour SpO2 monitoring. Here, you will also be reminded when your blood oxygen level becomes too low.

Then there’s the TruSleep 2.0-based sleep tracking. It can track deep, light, REM sleep, and even short naps. It can even detect 6 major sleep problems and give you over 200 suggestions to improve the quality of sleep. This is another upgrade on the Huawei Band 6 compared to its Honor counterpart which uses the older TruSleep algorithm.

Other features include TruRelax stress monitoring, menstrual cycle tracking, pedometer, sedentary reminder, and moderate-to-high intensity activities tracking. You can also choose from over 96 different exercise modes while Honor Band 6 can track only 10 exercise modes.

Rest of the features

Huawei has not mentioned the battery capacity explicitly but we expect it to be the same 180mAh battery used in the Honor Band 6. The company is claiming up to 14 days of battery endurance in typical usage and up to 10 days under heavy usage. Charging is done via a magnetic pin charger. You can get up to 2 days of usage with 5 minutes of charging.

Huawei Band 6 Smart Features

The band can remind you of the latest notifications, weather updates, incoming calls, and messages. You can even control music playback if you have an Android device. Similarly, the remote camera shutter is still exclusive to EMUI 8.1/+ running device.

Huawei Band 6 Specifications:

  • Body: 43 x 25.4 x 11.45 mm; 18gm (w/o strap)
  • Strap: Removable silicone rubber straps
  • Display: 1.47″ AMOLED panel, 194 x 368 pixels
  • Connection: Bluetooth 5.0
  • Compatible with: Android 6 and later or iOS 9.0 and later
  • Sensors: 6-axis IMU (accelerometer, gyro), optical heart sensor
  • Water Resistance: 5 ATM water-resistance
  • Functions: Alarm, Calories Burned, DND, Heart Rate Monitor, Notifications, Sleep Tracking, Step Counter, Sports Mode (10), Blood Oxygen
  • Companion App: Huawei Health (Android| iOS)
  • Battery: Up to 14 days endurance, 10 days in heavy usage
  • Charger: Magnetic charger, 2 days of endurance in 5 minutes
  • Colors: Graphite Black, Amber Sunrise, Forest Green
  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Honor Band 6.

iQOO 9 Review: Reaching For The Stars

Nikhil Shrestha
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iQOO 9 Review: Reaching For The Stars

iQOO’s number series has been home to some terrific sub-flagship phones for a couple of years now. We absolutely loved 2021’s iQOO 7, and therefore we were expecting similar results with the new iQOO 9 as well. For this, I have been testing out the iQOO 9 alongside the OnePlus 9RT for this review for almost a month now—especially to find out which is the better gaming and camera phone of the two.

We’ve also compared it against the cheaper iQOO 9 SE to determine whether the regular iQOO 9 is actually worth the extra money or not. Phew, there’s a lot to unpack in this iQOO 9 review, so let’s right to it. Starting with the performance side of things.

iQOO 9 Specifications:

  • Body: 75.1 x 159.1 x 8.6/8.7mm, 200/202 gm, Glass back, Aluminum frames
  • Display: 6.56-inches AMOLED, 120Hz refresh rate, 300/1000Hz touch sampling rate, 10-bit colors, HDR10+, 1200 nits (peak) brightness
  • Resolution: FHD+ (2376 x 1080 pixels), 398 PPI, ~20:9 aspect ratio
  • Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+ 5G (5nm mobile platform)
  • CPU: Octa-core:
    – 1x Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1, 2.99 GHz)
    – 3x Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78, 2.42 GHz)
    – 4x Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55, 1.80 GHz)
  • GPU: Adreno 660
  • Memory: 8/12GB LPDDR5 RAM, 128/256GB UFS 3.1 storage (fixed)
  • Software & UI: Android 12 with Vivo’s Funtouch OS 12 on top
  • Rear Camera: Triple (with LED flash);
    – 48MP, f/1.79 Sony IMX598 primary sensor, Gimbal OIS
    – 13MP, f/2.2 ultrawide sensor, 120º FoV
    – 13MP, f/2.46 portrait sensor (50mm), 2x optical zoom
  • Front Camera: 16MP, f/2.45 sensor (hole-punch cutout)
  • Audio: Dual speaker, Hi-Res Audio, No 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Security: In-display fingerprint sensor (optical), Face unlock
  • Sensors: Accelerometer, Ambient Light, E-compass, Gyro, Proximity
  • Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 5 a/b/g/n/ac (Dual-band), Bluetooth 5.2, GPS / AGPS / Glonass, USB Type-C, 4G LTE (VoLTE), 5G
  • Battery: 4350mAh with 120W wired charging (120W power adapter provided)
  • Color Options: Legend, Alpha, Phoenix
  • What’s inside the box: iQOO 9, SIM ejector, 120W power brick, USB-C to USB-C cable, USB-C to 3.5mm adapter, Silicon case, User manual and other documents
  • Price in Nepal: N/A (INR 42,990 for 8/128GB | INR 46,990 for 12/256GB)

iQOO 9 Review:

Performance

  • Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+ 5G SoC (5nm)
  • 8/12GB LPDDR5 RAM, 128/256GB UFS 3.1 storage (fixed)
  • Android 12 with Vivo’s Funtouch OS 12 on top

A quick look at the spec sheet should already give you a rough idea about the performance standard of this phone. With Snapdragon 888+ onboard, complemented by high-speed DDR5 and UFS 3.1 memory, the iQOO 9 should handle everything you throw at it rather easily. But if all my years of testing and reviewing smartphones have taught me one thing, it’s that the specs tell just half the story.

iQOO 9 - Gaming

Don’t get me wrong—the iQOO 9 is as fast, fluid, and responsive as you’d expect. It’s just that the phone somewhat under-delivers in the area where it should’ve excelled at the most, i.e. gaming. Even though the company says it has used an almost 2.5 times larger vapor chamber cooling sheet on the iQOO 9 compared to the 9 SE, we found that this phone still has an alarming overheating issue.

Gaming experience

For instance, both of them manage a fluid 60 fps on PUBG Mobile under HDR graphics and Extreme frame rates. There are no frame drops or stutters even after 20 minutes into the game either. But they get warm pretty fast and I recorded peak surface temperature on the front and back of these phones at around 41°C!

Setting the game to Ultra HD graphics and Ultra frame rates does result in cooler temperatures, but do note that the iQOO 9 and 9 SE are hitting just 40 fps here.

Long story short, the gaming results of these two phones are almost identical in all the games we tried—although our temperature readings were slightly favorable towards the iQOO 9 by 1 – 3°C on average. Anyway, there’s something weird going on here with Genshin Impact. Even when explicitly setting the game to 60 fps mode, the iQOO 9 settles at a steady 30 fps for some reason.

Some of iQOO’s gaming features are kinda weird

Only after turning on the “Frame Rate Boost” option was I able to get 40-45 fps on average. At both High or Highest graphics settings. And there are still noticeable frame drops every now and then, whereas I also got a “high-temperature warning” on either setting that dropped the game to just 30 fps.

iQOO recently rolled out an update addressing overheating issues on certain games which indeed resulted in moderately better thermals. But at the end of the day, the phone still gets relatively uncomfortable to hold after 10-15 minutes into this game.

To further prevent such overheating mishaps, you can turn on the “Stable Frame Rate” feature but this effectively halves the fps throughput. Say you’ve set the game to 60 fps, the iQOO 9 will only push a stable 30 fps instead. Or 15 fps under the 30 fps mode—you get the idea. Even Call of Duty isn’t well-optimized on this phone. And let me remind you that it’s one of the most optimized FPS games out there.

I tested it multiple times, by turning the “Frame Rate Boost” on and off—and even when shutting off iQOO’s “Ultra Game Mode” entirely.

But I was only getting 30 fps at Very High graphics and Max frame rates. To compare, the OnePlus 9RT outclasses the iQOO 9 in all these games, managing an average of 50 – 55 fps on average on Genshin Impact at the Highest graphics settings. Call of Duty gets an easy 60 fps gameplay on the 9RT as well.

Not optimized well to run high fps games either

However, neither of them could run high-fps-ready games as intended. Both Injustice 2 and Critical Ops max out at 60 fps—even though the gameplay itself is smooth enough.

iQOO 9 - Design 3

On the other hand, the iQOO 9 also brings a few extra features to spice up the gaming experience. Its in-display monster touch lets you assign virtual pressure-sensitive buttons for easier controls in various games.

And I’m especially fond of the dual x-axis linear motor that adds to the game’s impressiveness with near-precise haptic feedback. It’s only supported in a handful of games like PUBG Mobile, BGMI, and Asphalt 9 as of now but yeah… it certainly levels up the realism when you’re gaming.

iQOO 9 Review: Software

Unlike the fairly underwhelming gaming results overall, the iQOO 9 is no slouch when it comes to regular everyday performance though. It handles memory management like a pro and I could easily juggle through a bunch of resource-heavy apps at a time, including games. Compared to the OnePlus 9RT which fails our multitasking quite spectacularly, this guy manages to keep all the apps in memory perfectly fine.

App list:
Phone Genshin Impact
Chrome PUBG Mobile
Messenger Netflix
YouTube Instagram
Facebook Adobe Premiere Rush
iQOO 9 OnePlus 9RT
Cold start 1 minute 37 seconds 1 minute 42.5 seconds
(with multitasking) 2 minutes 0.5 seconds 3 minutes 10 seconds
  • Two tests average (time taken lower is better)

But the way Funtouch OS handles background processes is a bit strict. I’m not talking about app notifications but rather those with silent notifications like a calendar or a performance monitoring tool. In the default settings, I often had to relaunch such apps now and again—although you can easily whitelist them for more lenient memory management.

iQOO 9 Review: Benchmarks

Moreover, the Android 12-based Funtouch OS 12 experience is pretty great for the most part. I’m yet to come across any weird bugs or anything that would break the end-user experience. Having said that, this Android skin is far from perfect. It comes with a bunch of bloatware apps pre-installed—most of which you can remove. And you’ll be greeted with a few “terms and conditions” prompt as you go about the phone as well.

Plus, Android 12’s wallpaper theming feature is also missing on Funtouch OS. As far as updates go, iQOO promises 2 generations of OS and an additional year of security updates for the iQOO 9. Seeing how Samsung and even brands like Xiaomi and OnePlus pledge longer software support, iQOO must revise its software update policy ASAP!

Cameras

  • Triple camera setup at the back
  • (48MP main, 13MP ultrawide, 13MP telephoto / portrait)
  • 16MP selfie camera (hole-punch cutout)

Apart from performance, the iQOO 9 also wishes to impress with its cameras. And pitting it against the OnePlus 9RT, we found that it indeed churns out better-looking photos on most occasions.

Normal Images

In regular, daytime shots, the 9RT goes for a bit punchier, contrasty results while I prefer the comparatively natural-looking photos from the iQOO 9 instead.

It does boost the white levels to some degree, but I’d take it over the 9RT which crushes the blacks any day of the week.

Ultrawide Images

All of this continues in the ultrawide department too.

iQOO 9’s field of view is a little narrower—yes—but it does retain better details and HDR processing in most cases.

Telephoto Images

It also has a telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom whereas the 9RT can only do digital zooms. So naturally, its telephoto images are far sharper and noticeably brighter as well.

Portrait Images

But where this sensor works wonders the most is when taking portraits.

I mean, even the 1x portraits look better from the iQOO 9 over 9RT’s soft photos with low contrast and weird reddish skin tone.

From the 2x portrait lens, the iQOO 9 delivers even more pleasing images with nicer skin tone, subject focus, sharpness, and contrast levels—albeit with slightly saturated colors.

Selfie Images

Same thing with the selfies. OnePlus’ image processing clearly struggles with maintaining good skin tone and contrast levels in human subjects.

Lowlight Images

But under low light conditions, iQOO has embraced the “brighter is better” mantra to a fault. As a result, its photos look unnaturally bright and with low contrast in well-lit environments.

Yes, this is a good thing under extremely low light situations but I’m not a fan of the way it so aggressively lifts the shadow details.

Due to this, the Night Mode shots sometimes look worse than your regular nighttime shots. On the contrary, the OnePlus 9RT captures much more balanced low-light images with nice exposure and HDR processing.

Videography

In terms of videos, both phones can shoot at up to 4k 60 fps from the main camera. The 9RT does crop in a little for steadier results here, whereas it’s the iQOO 9 with a narrower field of view under the 4k 30 fps mode. Both phones deliver a similar level of stabilization, although the 9RT has worse background noise suppression on all fronts.

iQOO 9’s gimbal stabilization kicks in at 1080p 60 fps mode, but we found that the 9RT’s stabilization is pretty similar to the competition in spite of its wider field of view. It’s the same with 1080p 30 fps videos. Unfortunately, both these phones are limited to 1080p 30 fps selfie videos, where the 9RT retains slightly worse skin tone despite its wider fov and similar stabilization.

vs iQOO 9 SE

All in all, I’m quite impressed with iQOO 9’s camera system. It still has a few things to work on but I’d say this is a pretty reliable camera phone overall.

However, the million-dollar question here is how it compares to the much more affordable iQOO 9 SE. For the most part, the iQOO 9 does capture better photos in broad daylight—but not by much.

While both its wide and ultrawide images have somewhat better color processing and sharper details, I won’t necessarily put the 9 SE that far behind.

These phones go back and forth on the selfie front too. But, the iQOO 9’s telephoto camera takes much better portraits with nice skin tone and background bokeh compared to the 9 SE.

As for videos, we also found that these phones have similar stabilization and color processing across all resolutions—both from back and front cameras. So yeah, if you are conflicted between the iQOO 9 and 9 SE in the camera department, there you go. The 9 SE is indeed reliable enough for casual usage and iQOO hasn’t meddled with the image processing between these phones a whole lot either.

Display

  • 6.56-inches FHD+ AMOLED
  • 120/300Hz refresh/touch sampling rate
  • 10-bit colors, 1200 nits peak brightness

Getting to the display part of the review, the iQOO 9 brings a 6.56” Full HD 10-bit AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, 1200 nits of peak brightness, and a bunch of other high-end features. This flat screen is decorated with slim bezels on all four corners as well. As expected from an AMOLED display, this thing has great colors, contrast, and viewing angles for a top-notch viewing experience.

iQOO 9 - Display 1

Besides, the iQOO 9 also gets plenty bright outdoors—meaning you won’t have to cup your hands over the phone to read your texts or something on these sunny days. Auto-brightness works flawlessly too. As far as media consumption goes, this screen is Widevine L1 and HDR10+ certified for vibrant, high-res streaming.

Nevertheless, the phone doesn’t seem to be that competent in processing HDR videos on Netflix just yet. Especially when there’s an underlit scene playing as the content looks eerie with blown-out contrast. Non-HDR videos play just fine though.

Audio & Haptics

  • Dual stereo speaker setup
  • No 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Dual X-axis Linear Motor

Audio-wise, you get a standard set of stereo speakers here where the bottom speaker unit slightly overpowers the earpiece that doubles as the second speaker. Because of this, it doesn’t deliver the most balanced sound I’ve heard on a smartphone, but it’s more than fine for listening to music or watching shows and stuff.

Moreover, I faced no problem with iQOO 9’s call quality and proximity sensor either. It also supports Carrier Aggregation for faster data speeds but weirdly enough, VoLTE is missing here. But this is most likely a local carrier thing since iQOO phones don’t arrive officially here in Nepal, which means they’re not registered in the carrier’s database.

iQOO 9 - Branding

Back to the display, as I mentioned in my early impressions video, the way Funtouch OS implements dynamic refresh rate is a little too aggressive and inconsistent.

I guess that’s necessary considering the phone’s modest battery and the lack of LTPO 2.0 technology, but even when explicitly turning on the 120Hz mode, some apps still default to 60Hz for some reason. At least there are no micro-stutters, jitters, or anything across the UI, so that’s something I guess. For security, you’ll find an optical in-display fingerprint sensor on the iQOO 9 that’s pretty fast and accurate.

Design

  • 75.1 x 165.4 x 8.6/8.7mm, 200/202 grams
  • Glass front/back, Aluminum frames
  • No IP certification against dust and water damage

In terms of design, this is one good-looking phone! Glass sandwich body with a matte back, a unique visual flair and the right amount of heft is the perfect recipe for an ergonomic phone in my books and the iQOO 9 absolutely nails it. Its button placement feels perfect for my hands and I like how the power button has a distinct textured finish as well.

This “Legend” color option with the BMW M-Power logo also adds a bit of a character to the phone, which would’ve otherwise looked somewhat dull if you ask me. Apart from this, the iQOO 9 is also available in “Alpha Black” and “Phoenix Orange” finishes; both of which have their own distinct visual appeal.

While all this is great and all, the phone is void of any form of IP rating against dust and water damage. This is one of the most common aspects where smartphone makers find a way to cut costs. And unfortunately, iQOO is no exception. Even the flagship iQOO 9 Pro skips an official IP certification! And that phone is about 50% costlier than this, so… the iQOO 9 was never going to have ingress protection from the get-go.

Battery

  • 4350mAh battery with 120W fast charging

Finally, let’s get into the battery portion of this iQOO 9 review. Fueled by a modest 4350mAh cell, I usually got around 5 to 6 hours of screen on time at best under light to medium usage. That’s just about average!

Despite iQOO’s insistent battery optimization techniques, the phone could very easily give up on you mid-day if you’re someone who’s constantly on their phone gaming, taking pictures, attending calls, and using GPS for navigation.

But charging it up is a different story altogether. Using the 120W charger that thankfully ships inside the box itself, the iQOO 9 can go from 1 to 100% in 18% minutes. And yeah, provided that the ambient temperature and the phone itself are cool enough, it can indeed fuel up in under 18 minutes—give or take.

iQOO 9 - 120W Charger

iQOO 9 does get quite warm during the charging process, with CPU and battery temperature reaching 41°C, but the phone cools down pretty fast so it’s not a big deal. And one more thing. Its 120W charging solution uses Vivo’s proprietary tech and therefore isn’t USB PD compatible.

iQOO 9 Review: Conclusion

Wrapping up this review, I’m afraid the iQOO 9 is not the easy recommendation that I thought it would be. I mean… it’s got a powerful processor, a fantastic set of cameras, and other flagship-grade features after all so why not, eh? From everything I discussed earlier in this review, it’s easy to conclude that iQOO has clearly not done enough to optimize games to run well on the iQOO 9, which should’ve been its very highlight.

And despite the company’s best efforts to prevent overheating by limiting fps throughput and all, this phone is still subject to high temperatures. Maybe all this will be optimized with a future update, maybe not. Plus, its battery life is nothing exciting as well which is a great concern for power users.

iQOO 9 - Design 2

Being able to fill up the battery in under 20 minutes sure is a luxury, but it’s a luxury I can (and presumably most other people can) easily live without. In comparison, the OnePlus 9RT has excellent gaming performance and cooling solution, mixed with a much more palatable battery endurance.

Yes, it’s got pretty great cameras but if you can sacrifice a little in this regard, the 9RT still remains one of the most well-balanced phones under INR 40,000 right now. But if it’s pure value-for-money you’re shopping for, then the iQOO 9 SE is an easy choice. Its gaming performance is basically the same as this one. And as we found out a while ago, their cameras aren’t that far off either.

iQOO 9 Review: Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Premium design, build quality
  • Great AMOLED display
  • Great cameras, especially for photos
  • Dual X-axis linear motor
  • 120W charging is ridiculously fast

Cons:

  • The phone is subject to overheating
  • Most games aren’t well-optimized
  • Average battery endurance
  • Not the best software update policy
  • No IP rating against dust and water damage

Budget oriented Infinix Smart 6 launched in Nepal

GadgetByte
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Budget oriented Infinix Smart 6 launched in Nepal

Infinix has recently launched their entry-level smartphone in Nepal called the Infinix Smart 6. The phone brings a 5000mAh battery and an 8MP dual rear camera setup. This article will go through the key specs, features, official price, and availability of Infinix Smart 6 in Nepal.

Infinix Smart 6 Overview:

Design and Display

The Infinix Smart 6 has a relatively generic plastic build. Yet, the back has an S-I antibacterial material that, as per the company, makes the phone “tougher and more resistant against germs.” The phone is available in four color options with funky names— Heart of Ocean, Light Sea Green, Polar Black, and Starry Purple.

Smart 6 - Design, DisplayMoreover, for biometrics, it has a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. On the front, there’s a 6.6-inch screen with a waterdrop style notch, but the resolution is capped out at just HD+. Likewise, the screen on the Infinix Smart 6 can reach a peak brightness of 500nit.

Performance and Memory

As for the performance, Infinix has gone with the 12nm Helio A22 chipset. The entry-level SoC features four Cortex-A55 cores with a maximum clock speed of up to 2.0GHz. The phone is available in a sole 2/32GB configuration. Talking about the OS, it boots on XOS 7.6 over Android 11 (Go Edition).

Camera

The cameras on the Infinix Smart 6, as one would expect from a budget phone, are quite basic. The back houses an 8MP primary sensor and a 0.8MP sensor for the depth. This is accompanied by a dual flash for a brighter image. Here, a front 5MP sensor handles selfies and video calls.

Rest of the Specs

For audio, the Smart 6 has a loudspeaker that features DTS audio processing to enhance the listening experience. Besides, the smartphone packs a non-removable 500omAh battery which is rated to have a talk time of 31 hours. In terms of connectivity, it supports 4G LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 5.0.

Infinix Smart 6 Specifications:

  • Display: 6.6-inch TFT LCD, 60Hz refresh rate, 500nits peak brightness
  • Resolution: HD+ (720*1600 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio
  • Chipset: Helio A22 (12nm Mobile Platform)
  • Memory: 2GB RAM
  • Storage: 32GB storage (expandable up to 512GB)
  • Software & UI: XOS 7.6 on top of Android 11 (Go Edition)
  • Rear Camera: Dual (8MP primary, 0.8MP depth)
  • Front Camera: 5MP (water-drop)
  • Audio: Mono-speaker, 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Security: Back-mounted fingerprint sensor, Facial Unlock
  • Battery: 5000mAh

Infinix Smart 6 Price in Nepal and Availability

The official price of the Infinix Smart 6 in Nepal is NPR 12,999 for the sole 2/32GB variant. You can purchase the phone from retail stores across Nepal.

Infinix Smart 6 Price in Nepal (Official)
2/32GB NPR 12,999
  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Infinix Hot 10 Play.

Redmibook 15 Pro launched in Nepal with Intel’s Tiger Lake CPU

GadgetByte
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Redmibook 15 Pro launched in Nepal with Intel’s Tiger Lake CPU

Along with new Mi-branded laptops, Xiaomi has also brought the RedmiBook series to the Nepalese market with the RedmiBook 15 Pro and 15 e-learning edition. Both are powered by Intel’s Tiger Lake processor. Here, we will be looking at the specs, features, expected price, and availability RedmiBook 15 Pro and RedmiBook 15 e-Learning Edition in Nepal.

RedmiBook 15 Pro Overview:

RedmiBook series is the first notebook under the Redmi brand that made its way to the South Asian market. To note, this is different from the RedmiBook 13 available in China.

Design and Display

RedmiBook 15 Pro features a 15.6-inch FHD panel. Unlike the Mi Notebook 14 series, it has an HD webcam embedded in the top bezel. The bottom chin is also huge and encloses the Redmi branding.

RedmiBook Pro Design and Display

Its chassis looks to be made up of plastic. The laptop is 19.9mm thick and weighs around 1.8kg. Redmi has topped it up with a Charcoal Grey finish.

CPU and Performance

Inside, RedmiBook 15 Pro is powered by the latest Intel Core i5-11300H processor. This Tiger Lake CPU features 4 cores/8 threads and boasts a maximum clock frequency of 4.4GHz.

There is no option for discrete GPU here. Thus, you will have to be content with the integrated Irix Xe graphics. The iGPU, with its 80 execution units, trades blows with NVIDIA‘s entry-level discrete solutions like MX350 and MX330. As for memory, the RedmoBook Pro features 8GB of DDR4 RAM clocked at 3200 MHz. It is paired with 512GB of NVMe SSD storage.

Keyboard, Trackpad, Audio

The keyboard on the RedmiBook 15 Pro has a scissor-switch mechanism and a key travel distance of 1.5mm. Alongside it is a Windows Precision trackpad with support for multiple gestures. Moving on, the two speakers on this laptop are each capable of 2W of output and support DTS Audio for stereo effect.

Rest of the specs

Here, Redmi is claiming battery endurance of up to 10 hours on a single charge. As for I/O, you get two USB 3.2 Type-A, one USB 2.0 Type-A, one Gigabit Ethernet, an SD card reader, and a 3.5mm audio combo jack. It supports Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless connectivity.

RedmiBook 15 e-Learning Edition Overview:

It is the toned-down version of the RedmiBook 15 Pro. It comes with Intel’s dual-core i3-1115G4 Tiger Lake-U processor. The memory option includes 256GB and 512GB NVMe SSD. However, Xiaomi Nepal has launched it in a sole 8/256GB memory configuration. Like the Pro model, it boots on Windows 10 Home edition and comes with Microsoft Office Student Edition pre-installed. 

In addition, Redmi has assured users that they can upgrade the RedmiBook 15 series to Windows 11 for free when it releases later this year.  

RedmiBook 15 Pro, e-Learning Edition Key Specifications:

  • Design and Build: Polycarbonate body, Charcoal Grey
  • Display: 15.6-inch LCD panel
  • Resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels, 16:9 aspect ratio
  • CPU: 11th Gen Intel Core i5-11300H (Pro) / i3-1115G4 (e-Learning Edition)
  • GPU: Integrated Intel Iris Xe (Pro) / UHD Graphics (e-Learning Edition)
  • RAM: 8GB DDR4-3200
  • Storage: 256GB / 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
  • Battery: 46Wh cell, Up to 10 hours (65W AC adapter)
  • Webcam: Yes, 720p
  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0
  • Ports: 2x USB 3.2 Type-A, 1x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1x Gigabit Ethernet, 1x SD card reader, 1x 3.5mm audio combo jack

RedmiBook 15 Pro, e-Learning Edition Price in Nepal and Launch

Moving on to the pricing, RedmiBook 15 Pro will retail in Nepal at NPR 89,999 whereas the RedmiBook 15 e-learning edition costs NPR 74,999. It’s available for purchase via Xiaomi authorized stores like Hukut. 

RedmiBook series Price in Nepal (Official)
RedmiBook 15 Pro i5-11300H, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD NPR 89,999
RedmiBook 15 e-Learning Edition i3-1115G4, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD NPR 74,999
  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Alldocube GT Book.

Mi Notebook Pro, Notebook Ultra with Intel’s 11th Gen H-CPU launched in Nepal

GadgetByte
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0
Mi Notebook Pro, Notebook Ultra with Intel’s 11th Gen H-CPU launched in Nepal

Xiaomi is on a launch spree in Nepal. Following the debut of two new members of the flagship Xiaomi 12 series a few days ago, the firm has now introduced two new ultrabooks in Nepal under ‘Mi’ branding—the Mi Notebook Pro, and Notebook Ultra. Here, we will walk through the specs, features, availability, and official price of the Mi Notebook Pro and Mi Notebook Ultra in Nepal.

Mi Notebook Pro, Ultra Overview:

Design and Display

To begin with, the Mi Notebook Pro and Ultra both feature a 6-series aerospace aluminum alloy body with a grey color finish. The latter weighs 1.79kg while the former is a comparatively lightweight machine that weighs 1.46kg.

In terms of display, the Pro variant flaunts a 14-inch TrueLife screen with a 2.5K resolution. Whereas, the non-Pro variant has a 15.6-inch Mi TrueLife+ display with 3K resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. Likewise, both devices have a 16:10 aspect ratio, 100% sRGB color gamut, DC dimming, and TÜV Rheinland low blue light emission certification.

Performance

On the performance side of things, the Notebook Pro is coupled with an Intel Core i5-11300H CPU while the Notebook Ultra comes with an Intel Core i7-11370H processor. Moreover, the memory options include 16GB of DDR4 RAM and 512GB NVMe SSD storage. The graphics tasks are handled by the integrated Intel’s Iris Xe GPU as both of them lack discrete graphics.

Rest of the specs

Furthermore, they feature a 3-level backlit keyboard with a scissor mechanism and a dedicated macro key. For audio, there are 2x 2W stereo speakers with support for DTS Audio. You’re also getting a 720p HD webcam and a fingerprint sensor with support for Windows Hello.

Here, the Mi Notebook Pro has a 56Wh battery contrary to a 70Wh cell on the Ultra. Both of them support 65W fast charging.

Mi Notebook Ultra Ports

Moving on, the port option includes a USB Type-C, a Thunderbolt 4, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, and a USB 2.0 Type-A connection. The Pro variant, however, also ships with an HDMI, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. Both laptops utilize WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 for wireless connectivity.

Mi Notebook Pro, Mi Notebook Ultra Specifications:

  • Display:
    • Pro: 14-inch TrueLife display, 2.5K (2560 x 1600), 215 PPI, 16:10 aspect ratio, 100% sRGB
    • Ultra: 15.6-inch Mi TrueLife+ display, 3.2K (3200 x 2000), 242 PPI, 16:10 aspect ratio, 100% sRGB, 90Hz
  • Display Feature: DC dimming, TÜV Rheinland certification for low-light
  • Keyboard: 3-level backlit, scissor mechanism
  • Processor:
    • Pro: Intel Core i5-11300H
    • Ultra: Intel Core i7-11370H
  • RAM: 16GB DDR4@3200 RAM, 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
  • Graphics: Integrated Intel Iris Xe
  • Webcam: 720p webcam
  • Audio: 2x 2W speakers with DTS Audio
  • Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 ax, Bluetooth 5.1
  • Ports:
    • Pro: 1x USB Type-C, 1x Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x USB 2.0 Type-A
    • Ultra: 1x USB Type-C, 1x Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1x HDMI, 1x 3.5mm audio jack
  • Battery:
    • Pro: 56Wh
    • Ultra: 70Wh
  • Charging: 65W AC adapter
  • Biometrics: Fingerprint sensor with Windows Hello

Mi Notebook Pro, Mi Notebook Ultra Price in Nepal

The Mi Notebook Pro is launched in Nepal for an asking price of NPR 109,999. Whereas, the Mi Notebook Ultra will retail for NPR 136,999. It’s available for purchase via Xiaomi authorized stores and official e-commerce stores like Hukut.

Laptop Configuration Price in Nepal (Official)
Mi Notebook Pro Core i5, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD NPR 109,999
Mi Notebook Ultra Core i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD NPR 136,999
  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Asus Zephyrus G14 2021.

Motorola Moto G52 launched with 90Hz AMOLED screen, 50MP camera

GadgetByte
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Motorola Moto G52 launched with 90Hz AMOLED screen, 50MP camera

Motorola has announced a new smartphone in Europe, called the Motorola Moto G52. It’s the follow-up to last year’s Moto G51, with upgrades to the display and charging support. Here, we will be discussing the specs, features, availability, and expected price of the Motorola Moto G52 in Nepal. 

Motorola Moto G52 Overview:

Design and Display

To begin, the Moto G52’s back boasts a matte finish with an oval-shaped camera module. The biggest gain, though, is in the phone’s total weight, which has been reduced to 169 grams from 208 grams in its predecessor. Similarly, the fingerprint reader is embedded in the power button and the device is water and dust resistant, thanks to the IP52 rating.

Motorola Moto G52 Design and Display

The front sports a 6.6-inch AMOLED display with Full HD resolution, as opposed to the G51’s IPS LCD. Also, the screen has a refresh rate of 90Hz for a fairly fluid navigation experience. The Moto G52 is available in Charcoal Grey and Porcelain White colors.

Performance

Under the hood, the phone is powered by a Snapdragon 680 chipset. It’s energy-efficient mobile silicon with a 6nm fabrication node and features four Cortex-A73 and four Cortex-A53 cores. On the other hand, the graphics are handled by an integrated Adreno 610 GPU.

Similarly, the memory configuration includes either 4GB or 6GB of RAM, paired with 128GB of internal storage. The latter can be expanded up to 1TB via a microSD card. In terms of software, the Moto G52 boots on the latest Android 12 based My UX custom skin. 

Camera

Camera-wise, it boasts a similar triple camera configuration as its predecessor—headlined by a 50MP primary sensor. This is accompanied by an 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro lens. For selfies, there’s a 16MP camera on the front. Both the front and back cameras are capable of recording 1080p@30fps footage.

Rest of the specifications

Fueling the smartphone is a 5000mAh battery that supports 30W fast charging. The connectivity option includes WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, and a USB Type-C port. There is a stereo speaker setup for audio, and the phone also has a 3.5mm jack.

Motorola Moto G52 Specifications:

  • Body: 160.98 x 74.46 x 7.99 mm, 168 gm
  • Display: 6.6-inch AMOLED panel, 90Hz refresh rate
  • Resolution: FHD+ resolution (2400 x 1080), 20:9 aspect ratio
  • Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 (6nm Mobile Platform)
  • Memory: 4/6GB RAM, 128GB storage (expandable up to 1TB)
  • Software & UI: Android 12 with My UX on top
  • Rear Camera: Triple (50MP primary, 8MP ultra-wide, 2MP macro)
  • Front Camera: 13MP sensor (punch-hole cutout)
  • Security: Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
  • Battery: 5,000mAh, 30W charging
  • Connectivity: Dual-band Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 ac), Bluetooth 5.0, NFC
  • Color Options: Charcoal Grey, Porcelain White

Motorola Moto G52 Price in Nepal and Availability

As for the pricing, the Moto G52 is available for purchase in Europe in a sole 4/128GB variant for EUR 249. We expect the price of Motorola Moto G52 to be around NPR 37,000, if and when it launches in Nepal. 

Motorola Moto G52 Price in Europe (Official) Price in Nepal (Expected)
4/128GB EUR 249 NPR 37,000
  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Poco X4 Pro.

Samsung Galaxy A23 Review: This Ain’t It, Chief

Nikhil Shrestha
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0
Samsung Galaxy A23 Review: This Ain’t It, Chief

We’re into the second quarter of 2022 and Samsung has already launched a bunch of smartphones ranging from budget to the flagship category. Some of the 2022 refreshes so far have been fairly impressive like the Galaxy A53 and even the A33 to some extent. We’ve already published our early impressions of both these phones, by the way. And today, I’m here with my full review of the Samsung Galaxy A23.

Samsung Galaxy A23 Specifications:

  • Body: 76.9 x 165.4 x 8.4mm, 195 gm
  • Display: 6.6-inches “Infinity-V” PLS TFT LCD, 90Hz refresh rate, Gorilla Glass 5
  • Resolution: FHD+ (2408 x 1080 pixels), 411 PPI, 20:9 aspect ratio
  • Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 4G (6nm mobile platform)
  • CPU: Octa-core:
    – 4x Cortex-A73 (2.4 GHz)
    – 4x Cortex-A55 (1.9 GHz)
  • GPU: Adreno 610
  • Memory: 4/6/8GB LPDDR4X RAM, 64/128GB storage (expandable)
  • Software & UI: Android 12 with Samsung’s One UI 4.1 on top
  • Rear Camera: Quad (with LED flash);
    – 50MP, f/1.8 primary sensor, OIS
    – 5MP, f/2.2 ultrawide sensor, 123º FoV
    – 2MP, f/2.4 depth sensor
    – 2MP, f/2.4 macro shooter
  • Front Camera: 8MP, f/2.2 sensor (teardrop notch)
  • Audio: Mono speaker, Dolby Atmos audio, 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Security: Physical fingerprint sensor (side-mounted), Face unlock, Knox
  • Sensors: Accelerometer, Gyro, Geomagnetic, Virtual Light, Proximity
  • Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 5 a/b/g/n/ac (Dual-band), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS / AGPS / Glonass / Beidou / Galileo / QZSS, USB Type-C, 4G LTE (VoLTE)
  • Battery: 5000mAh with 25W wired charging (15W power adapter provided)
  • Color Options: Awesome: Black, Blue, Peach, White
  • What’s inside the box: Galaxy A23, SIM ejector, 15W power brick, USB-A to USB-C cable, User manual and other documents
  • Price in Nepal:
    • Rs. 27,999 25,999 (4/64GB)
    • Rs. 31,999 29,999 (6/128GB)

Samsung Galaxy A23 Review:

But even without anyone’s proper review, you could probably tell that the Samsung Galaxy A23 is not a good phone for the price. Samsung has never been price-competitive with its non-flagship devices but this one just takes the cake—mostly because it belongs to the ‘A’ series.

Samsung Galaxy A23 - Design 1

In case you didn’t know, the Galaxy ‘A’ series is home to the company’s sub-flagship smartphones and they are naturally priced a bit on the higher end. Therefore, while the more expensive entries in this lineup can get pretty impressive overall, the cheaper ones don’t share the same fate.

Price in Nepal Price in India
Galaxy A22 4G (6/128GB) NPR 27,999 INR 18,499
Galaxy F22 (6/128GB) NPR 23,999 INR 14,499

Take last year’s Galaxy A22 4G for example. It was almost identical to Galaxy F22, but the A22 was a little too expensive simply because it’s an ‘A’ series phone with a couple of “standout” features like OIS-ready primary camera and slim build quality.

Unfortunately, 2022’s Galaxy A23 does nothing to break that sad tradition. At NPR 31,999 here in Nepal or INR 19,499 in India for the 6/128GB variant, this is easily one of the most overpriced phones in its price bracket right now. I mean… there are so many better alternatives available that I find it to be an entirely unnecessary product.

Cameras

  • Quad camera setup at the back
  • (50MP main, 5MP ultrawide, 2MP macro, 2MP depth)
  • 8MP selfie camera (teardrop notch)

Even Samsung’s own Galaxy F23 5G looks like a much superior phone while being a couple of bucks cheaper! The one aspect where the A23 might seem like the better of the two—at least on paper—is the cameras. But when I compared the camera system of these two phones, I found that the F23 delivers better results in most cases.

Normal Images

Starting with the normal daytime shots, the F23 captures sharper images with much better color processing in almost every instance.

Be it HDR optimization, contrast levels, or white balance, the F23 does it better! Maybe it’s Snapdragon 680’s inferior ISP but the Galaxy A23’s photos often look a bit unpleasantly flat.

Ultrawide Images

It’s the same with ultra-wide shots as well. Although its 5MP sensor surprisingly delivers similar details as F23’s 8MP ultrawide camera, the overall image looks much more pleasing from the F23.

Portrait Images

As for portraits, I’m more fond of how the F23 handles background bokeh too.

Skin tone looks a bit washed out from the Galaxy A23 with a hint of reddish tint—whereas the F23’s slightly warmer color does look somewhat better.

Selfie Images

But when it comes to selfies, there’s no clear winner between these phones.

Sometimes the A23 takes better selfies with nicer skin tone, while the F23 captures more pleasant images with better sharpness and dynamic range in some cases.

Nighttime Images

Then again, Galaxy A23’s OIS does come in handy under low-light conditions. As you can see, the phone captures sharper nighttime images with noticeably less noise in most cases.

The overall image also looks brighter from the A23—even though I still prefer F23’s color optimization more.

When turning on Night Mode, the F23 turns up exposure to some degree but they’re relatively grainier in comparison.

Videography

In terms of videos, Samsung’s official product page for the Galaxy A23 mentions that the phone can record at up to 4K 30 fps.

Samsung Galaxy A23 - 4K Recording Specs

But there’s no 4K recording option in our unit, whereas we also know that the Snapdragon 680 caps out at 1080p 60fps videos. So… it’s most likely a typo on Samsung’s part. Or maybe 4K recording is arriving with a future update somehow—I can’t really tell.

As of now, the A23 can’t record beyond 1080p 30 fps, where the video comes off too wobbly compared to the F23. To make matters worse, the F23 also has “Super Steady Mode” for even steadier videos.

Upfront, both phones max out at 1080p 30 fps selfie videos and I’ll just… let the samples speak for themselves. Subjects have this really eerie skin tone from both phones even though Galaxy F23 crops in on the frame for somewhat stable results.

Display

  • 6.6-inches FHD+ PLS TFT LCD
  • 90Hz refresh rate, Gorilla Glass 5

Next up, the Galaxy A23 disappoints in the display department as well. While its predecessor featured a 90Hz Super AMOLED screen, this one has a 90Hz TFT LCD panel for some reason.

Yes, Samsung has bumped the resolution from HD to Full HD this time, but… that’s nothing!

Other brands have been offering a 120Hz FHD Super AMOLED display in this price category since last year—that too with a modern hole-punch cutout instead of a teardrop notch. And seeing Samsung—of all smartphone makers—stoop this low is honestly quite embarrassing.

Samsung Galaxy A23 - Display 1

Anyway, the Galaxy A23’s screen looks as dull as you’d expect. Its narrow color gamut means contents don’t look nearly as vibrant or lively as they would on an OLED panel. And I’m not sure if it’s exclusively because of the TFT panel but the way Samsung’s blue light filter is implemented on this phone looks pretty unnatural—especially under dark mode.

As someone who prefers using this feature all day long, it’s fair to say that the A23’s display hasn’t exactly been a feast for my eyes.

Can’t get bright enough outdoors

I’ve thoroughly struggled with outdoor visibility on this thing as well since it simply can’t get bright enough under harsh lighting conditions. Another thing, its viewing angle isn’t the widest either and the A23 easily has one of the worst cases of grayscale inversion I’ve come across in a smartphone recently. It’s like it has a pre-applied privacy screen protector, but one that doesn’t really work.

At least there’s a proper Gorilla Glass 5 protection here, so that’s… something I guess. Samsung has optimized the adaptive 90Hz refresh rate on the A23 quite aggressively well, so there’s that too. And it’s Widevine L1 certified, which means you can enjoy high-res streaming on Netflix and Prime Video without any trouble.

Audio & Haptics

  • Single mono speaker setup
  • 3.5mm headphone jack

Adding to the media consumption experience is a single down-firing speaker. While it can get fairly loud enough, a mono speaker for a phone at this price is clearly not right. As a result, listening to anything with a wide soundstage is not an enjoyable experience here, whereas it also sounds a bit shrill and distorted at full volume.

Samsung Galaxy A23 - Ports

Oh, and its Dolby Atmos audio only works with wireless earbuds, stereo headsets, and Bluetooth speakers by the way. And its soft, buzzy haptics is equally underwhelming, to say the least.

Performance

  • Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 4G SoC (6nm)
  • 4/6/8GB LPDDR4X RAM, 64/128GB storage (expandable)
  • Android 12 with Samsung’s One UI 4.1 on top

On to performance, Samsung has used Snapdragon 680 in the Galaxy A23—the same chip we saw on the Redmi Note 11 and the Realme 9i. So, we already have a good idea about what to expect here.

I’m using the base 4/64GB variant of the phone and it has handled most of my regular everyday chores quite alright. It’s just that 4GB of RAM isn’t enough to deliver efficient multitasking on the full-fledged One UI 4.1 that it’s running so you will encounter a few stutters here and there.

Samsung Galaxy A23 - UI

Based on Android 12, this Android skin is an absolute delight to use though. From its excellent optimization to all the available customization options, the software of things is pretty solid on the A23.

Samsung Galaxy A23 Review: Benchmarks

And while the more expensive entries in this lineup will get 4 years of platform and 5 years of security updates, Samsung has promised 2 years of Android and 4 years of security updates for this one—which is still commendable.

Gaming experience

As for gaming, the Galaxy A23 maxes out at just Smooth graphics and High frame rate on PUBG Mobile. Under this, the phone manages a fairly stable 30 fps with minor frame drops every now and then. You can push it to Balanced graphics and Medium frame rates but the overall gameplay is noticeably worse under these settings.

Likewise, COD Mobile maxes out at Low graphics and High frame rates where the A23 swings between 40-50 fps in general, but the game dips to as low as 28 fps sometimes. I noticed the phone getting mildly warm next to the camera module after 6-8 minutes into the game as well.

Samsung Galaxy A23 - Gaming

Relatively less demanding titles like Mobile Legends give a pretty smooth 60 fps gameplay alongside cooler temperatures though. Samsung has also optimized the Galaxy A23 to run high-fps games like Mech Arena and Injustice 2. But because of such an under-powerful processor, the phone doesn’t hit the 90 fps mark in either game—and hovers around 60-70 fps instead.

Design & Build

  • 76.9 x 165.4 x 8.4mm, 195 grams
  • Glass front, Plastic back/frames
  • No official IP certification

Moving on, Samsung has tried to emulate a premium design on the A23. Everything from its camera module to the color options is similar to the rest of the ‘A’ series phones this year. But while the Galaxy A33 5G has a matte back and matte frames, this one’s glossy all over. Needless to say, it invites fingerprint smudges way too easily.

Samsung Galaxy A23 - Design 2

And unlike the higher-end models, there’s no IP certification of any sort here, whereas its SIM tray also stays without a protective rubber gasket. Still and all, the phone is pretty well-built with the right amount of heft. The weight distribution could’ve been more even, but it wasn’t that big a deal to me. For biometrics, there’s a fingerprint reader mounted into the power button on the side which is admirably fast enough.

Battery

  • 5000mAh battery with 25W charging

Finally, the battery life on this thing is great. Samsung says this is a 2-day battery phone and that’s 100% true. Under medium to heavy usage consisting of browsing social media apps, gaming, and even running some power-hungry benchmarks, I was getting 7-8 hours of screen on time on average.

Just take a look at this PCMark battery endurance benchmark! On the other hand, the phone supports up to 25W fast charging although you only get a 15W power brick inside the box. When using a compatible 25W charger, I was able to fuel its 5000mAh battery from 1 to 100% in around 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Samsung Galaxy A23 Review: Conclusion

Okay, so let’s wrap up this review. Like I spoiled it at the very beginning, the Galaxy A23 is a… travesty. I guess you can argue that it has a few notable qualities like the attractive design, optimized software, and solid battery life, but they are heavily outweighed by the overall value of the phone in regards to its price.

If you want a well-rounded phone in general, then the Redmi Note 11S and Realme’s Narzo 50 are a couple of great options in Nepal. And in the Indian market, the POCO X4 Pro 5G, Galaxy F23, Moto G71, and Realme 9 SE all offer a much better value than the Galaxy A23.

Samsung Galaxy A23 - Display 2

What I’m trying to say is there’s simply no justifying this travesty of a phone. Maybe Samsung already has a cheaper ‘M’ or ‘F’ series rebrand ready for the A23. But even then I doubt it’ll be able to match the competition with its price-to-performance ratio.

  • Watch our review video of the Samsung Galaxy A23

Samsung Galaxy A23 Review: Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Fairly modern looks
  • One UI is well-optimized, feature-rich
  • Will get periodic software updates
  • Easy 2-day battery endurance

Cons:

  • Terrible value for money
  • Inconsistent cameras
  • TFT display is thoroughly underwhelming
  • No stereo speakers
  • Snapdragon 680 is not that powerful
  • Just a 15W charger inside the box

Redmi Watch 2 Lite Review: A Good Upgrade But …

Nikhil Shrestha
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Redmi Watch 2 Lite Review: A Good Upgrade But …

If there’s one company that can be accredited for making health and fitness tracking affordable to the masses, it’s Xiaomi. Aside from the beloved “Mi Band” lineup, it has been slowly expanding to the budget smartwatch segment as well. The Mi Watch Lite that we reviewed last year was a great smartwatch for its price, which was a rebranded Redmi Watch by the way. And in this review, I’ll be discussing its successor, the Redmi Watch 2 Lite.

It brings a bunch of features missing from the Mi Watch Lite but all those upgrades come at a price, quite literally. Compared to last year, the competition is pretty intense in the budget smartwatch segment in 2022. So it begs the question if that price jump is worth all the said upgrades at all. Let me answer that question in this full review of the Redmi Watch 2 Lite.

Redmi Watch 2 Lite Specifications:

  • Body: 41.2 x 35.3 x 10.7mm, 35 grams (with strap)
  • Strap: TPU material, 140-210mm adjustable length
  • Display: 1.55″ TFT LCD screen, 450 nits (typ)
  • Resolution: 320 x 360 pixels, 311 PPI
  • Water Resistance: 5 ATM waterproof (up to 50m)
  • Sensors: Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Electronic compass, Optical heart rate
  • Health Tracking: 24-hour heart rate, SpO2 monitoring, Sleep, Stress tracking, Women’s health
  • Sports Mode: 100+ sports modes in total
  • Navigation: GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BDS
  • Battery: 262mAh cell (Up to 10 days of endurance)
  • Companion App: Mi Fitness (Android | iOS)
  • Price in Nepal: Rs. 7,999

Buy Redmi Watch 2 Lite here

Redmi Watch 2 Lite Review:

Redmi Watch 2 Lite - Display 1

Like its predecessor, one of the biggest selling points of the Watch 2 Lite is its built-in GPS. And this time around, it’s only gotten better.

Navigation

  • 4-system navigation
  • GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BDS

I vividly remember getting the “GPS signal is weak” error message on the Mi Watch Lite when I’d be indoors or in a relatively dense part of this city. Although the GPS lock is still not as instantaneous as you’d like, especially when you’re indoors, I find the Watch 2 Lite to be more than reliable enough to trail my workouts.

Cross-checking my route on the companion app, both the roadmap and satellite map recorded by the watch turned out to be quite accurate. Well, “accurate” would be putting it a bit generously because the watch sometimes suggests I leaped through buildings like Matt Murdock. I do wish I was though—dammit!

Companion App

  • Mi Fitness (formerly Xiaomi Wear)
  • Available for both Android and iOS devices

But the way Xiaomi has configured app distribution for this smartwatch is messy, confusing, bizarre, and ultimately counter-intuitive. As prompted, I initially paired it with my Realme 9 Pro+ by scanning the QR code for the link to the app.

Instead of opening up the Play Store, Xiaomi wants you to manually install the Mi Fitness apk file. Fine, I sighed; that’s no trouble at all. By this time, the app was still called “Xiaomi Wear” by the way, whereas the company decided to rename it to “Mi Fitness” and the “Mi Fit” app to “Zepp Life” just a couple of weeks ago.

So far so good, right? But as you all know, switching between phones is pretty common for someone in my line of work. And when I shifted to iQOO 9 from the Realme 9 Pro+, I noticed some weird bugs on the companion app—that I once again downloaded from Xiaomi’s own server instead of the Play Store.

What’s… happening?

Most noticeably, this version of the app fails to show the actual trail of my workout and there are also Chinese texts in some sections. Even Strava integration is missing from this supposed Chinese fork of Mi Fitness.

Xiaomi and bugs pretty much go hand-in-hand and this is yet another fine example of that tradition. You could make a religion out of this. So the lesson here is that you should download the Mi Fitness app from the Play Store instead of Xiaomi’s website.

Regardless, the redesigned app presents all your data in a clean layout that’s easy to read and understand. The “Device” tab is where you’ll find all the settings for the watch, which includes everything from customizing watch faces, widget layout, app notifications, and all those stuff. In case you’re wondering, the Redmi Watch 2 Lite works with iPhones too.

Health, Fitness Tracking

  • 24-hour heart rate, SpO2 monitoring, Sleep tracking
  • 100+ sports modes, Auto workout detection supported

With that out of the way, let’s get into the health and fitness tracking side of things now. Like the Mi Watch Lite, it supports all-day heart rate monitoring besides sleep tracking and breathing exercises. I wore it alongside my Galaxy Watch 4 Classic and found that its sleep monitoring isn’t the most accurate.

On multiple occasions, the Watch 2 Lite failed to identify times I abruptly woke up in the middle of the night and log it as such.

As you can see from these charts, apart from my awake state, the watch also misses out on recording the REM sleep stage every now and then—on top of its inaccurate deep sleep logs. Moving on, you can also enable heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring overnight but be warned that this comes at the expense of battery life.

Unlike its sleep tracking ability, the Watch 2 Lite posted quite similar heart rate readings compared to Samsung’s 7 times more expensive Watch 4 Classic. Impressive!

Say hello to SpO2 tracking

Now, if you haven’t noticed already, blood oxygen saturation—aka SpO2 monitoring—is a new addition to this budget smartwatch. To be honest, this was a pretty stupid omission in the Mi Watch Lite, to begin with. So it’s nice to see Xiaomi not repeat its past mistakes. While it can record your heart rate throughout the day, it can automatically measure SpO2 levels during sleep only.

A couple of other health monitoring features making their debut on the Redmi Watch 2 Lite include stress and women’s health tracking.

The Watch 4 Classic has been quite spot-on with logging my stress levels all through the day so I was eager to see how this guy performs. And I’d say “decent” best describes its stress tracking ability. Yes, it under-records my stress levels most of the time but at the end of the day, I can’t hold that against the Watch 2 Lite really.

What about workouts?

On the other hand, Xiaomi says this smartwatch supports 100+ fitness modes—which is a LOT compared to just 11 sports modes on the Mi Watch Lite. But hold on just a minute, there’s no reason to get excited about anything here since just 17 of them are professional modes.

What this means is that the remaining 83 options available don’t have custom metrics of measurement and all they track is your heart rate and calories burnt during the workout.

For example, under pool swimming, the Watch 2 Lite lets you set pool length and keeps track of your pace and length covered. But similar water sports like “diving” or “finswimming” are restricted to logging heart rate and calorie levels only. At least you can set goals for every individual exercise, while they are also categorically organized. That’s… something I guess!

Oh, this thing is 5 ATM water-resistant, so you don’t need to worry about damaging the watch underwater.

Anyway, the Watch 2 Lite can auto-detect running and walking exercises and they work perfectly fine. On average, I noticed that it kicks in after 5 minutes or so—whereas I can’t complain about its auto-pause feature either.

I also like how you can view practically every stat of your workouts like heart rate zone, cadence, and such in the watch itself. Because of the limited screen real estate, you’re gonna have to refer to the companion app for checking out the workout route though. Perfectly understandable!

Display

  • 1.55-inches TFT LCD panel, 311 PPI
  • 120+ watch faces, 450 nits brightness

Talking about the display, Xiaomi has bumped the screen size from 1.4” on the Redmi Watch to 1.55” this time. Yet, it’s still a TFT panel with chunky bezels on all four sides. Don’t trust those misleading official renders! The company has also upped the brightness level from 350 nits to 450 nits here but I just can’t understand why Xiaomi would skip automatic brightness adjustment on the Watch 2 Lite.

Redmi Watch 2 Lite - Display 2

As a result, I’d have to manually toggle through brightness levels under normal usage, when going out in the sun, or during nighttime.

At max brightness level, the watch stays legible enough on a bright sunny day as well, and the contents don’t look pixelated too. Weirdly enough, waking up this screen takes quite a toll on the watch. Whether you raise it, tap it, click it, bop it, twist it, pull it, or… there’s a one-second delay before the screen wakes up. Feels like this is something Xiaomi could easily fix with a firmware update, but we’ll see.

Also, say hello to… choppy animations!

If you recall our review of the Mi Watch Lite, one of the biggest complaints we had about its display—or rather its UI/UX element—was the lacking animation. Well… the Watch 2 Lite has it. And I’m not gonna lie, it’s not great.

Animations are slow, they look choppy, and you can even notice jelly-scrolling here and there. Now I can totally see why Xiaomi was skeptical about adding animations on the first-gen Redmi Watch. More about its UI/UX, well… nothing’s changed from last year.

Swiping left or right from the homescreen lets you go through the widgets, whereas a swipe up triggers the control menu, and a quick swipe down is how you access the incoming notifications. As expected, the Watch 2 Lite’s notifications are non-actionable except for phone calls. Although you can’t pick up a call because there’s no microphone onboard, you can silence or reject them here.

One more thing—Xiaomi has also optimized how notifications appear on this watch. Instead of center-aligning the text and breaking up words with hyphens, they’re now left-aligned and look much, much better. Emojis and support for Nepali, Hindi Unicode fonts are still lacking, but I digress.

And how could I finish talking about Watch 2 Lite’s display without discussing its watch faces? According to Xiaomi, it supports over 100 of them and I gotta say, most of them are incredibly well-designed and look absolutely stunning! Whether you’re a fan of digital or analog watch faces, I’m sure you’ll find the one you like after browsing through the options for a while.

Design & Build

  • All plastic build material
  • 41.2 x 35.3 x 10.7mm, 35 grams
  • TPU strap, 5 ATM water resistance

As far as design goes, you won’t find any upgrades here either. Everything from its dimension, weight, to color options, is almost the same as last year.

  • Xiaomi still prefers using a custom design strap which is pretty difficult to find in the aftermarket.
  • The home button still feels plasticky and doesn’t double as a back button.
  • Its TPU strap is still soft, comfortable, and fits all wrists without resulting in any issues like skin irritation or allergies.

Probably the only notable design difference you’ll notice on the Redmi Watch 2 Lite is when you plug it in.

Battery

  • 262mAh battery
  • Up to 10 days of battery life

Contrary to the bulky charging dock of the Mi Watch Lite, Xiaomi has gone with a svelte, non-obtrusive magnetic charger to fill up the 262mAh battery inside. You can expect it to go from 0 to 100% in a little under 2 hours. In terms of battery life itself, the Watch 2 Lite is rated to last up to 10 days under “typical usage”.

Redmi Watch 2 Lite - Charging

Xiaomi’s battery life test excludes overnight SpO2 monitoring on top of just 35 minutes of GPS usage in a week, by the way. But when keeping all the features turned on and using GPS for roughly 10-15 minutes every day, I was able to burn out its battery in just 4-5 days. It’s not the greatest thing in the world, but certainly a lot better than what the high-end WearOS smartwatches manage.

Redmi Watch 2 Lite Review: Conclusion

All in all, the Redmi Watch 2 Lite is a terrific update over its predecessor—no doubt about that. But does that mean it’s a worthy smartwatch for the price in 2022? I have my doubts. Apart from the built-in GPS—which isn’t 100% reliable, to begin with—there’s not a lot going on here. So if you can make do without the built-in GPS, I strongly feel like the Redmi Smart Band Pro—that’s straight-up INR 1,000 cheaper is the better value for money.

Yes, it doesn’t have a squarish form factor but look on the plus side: an AMOLED screen… with an always-on display… and auto-brightness adjustment. And it has a longer battery life as well. Besides that, these two share similar health and fitness tracking feature too so you won’t be missing out on anything either.

Redmi Watch 2 Lite - Display 3

But if you’re married to a traditional smartwatch look, Dizo Watch R is also something you can consider. Like the Smart Band Pro, this one’s also INR 1,000 cheaper and it has an AMOLED display. It did suffer from some rather troubling issues during the initial launch but the company has since fixed the said issues via a firmware update.

These two aren’t available in the Nepali market for now, but the Amazfit Bip U Pro, Honor Band 6, or even the Huawei Band 6 which you can currently find at an insane deal under Daraz’s new year sale are great options. I could go on and on. At the end of the day, even though the Redmi Watch 2 Lite isn’t necessarily a bad budget smartwatch, I don’t find it that appealing because of all the existing alternatives.

  • Watch our review video of the Redmi Watch 2 Lite

Redmi Watch 2 Lite Review: Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Comfortable, lightweight design
  • Fairly reliable built-in GPS
  • Multiple health tracking features
  • The display gets bright enough outdoors
  • Well-designed watch faces
  • Great battery endurance

Cons:

  • Not the most accurate sleep tracking
  • Slow, choppy animations
  • Mi Fitness app could be more optimized
  • Skips auto-brightness adjustment

Vivo’s first tablet, the “Vivo Pad” is here with Snapdragon 870, 2.5K display

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Vivo’s first tablet, the “Vivo Pad” is here with Snapdragon 870, 2.5K display

After weeks of rumors and teasers, Vivo has finally launched its first tablet—the Vivo Pad. It brings some pretty compelling hardware and is currently exclusive to China. In this article, we will go through the specs, features, availability, and expected price of the Vivo Pad in Nepal.

Vivo Pad Overview:

Design and Display

The displays on the Oppo Pad and the Vivo Pad are pretty similar. Moreover, their CNC aluminum body designs share many similarities as well, which is likely because both brands fall under the BBK umbrella. Here, you get an 11″ 2.5K display with 10-bit colors and Dolby Vision support. Additionally, its 120Hz high refresh rate makes the viewing experience pretty smooth on such a large screen.

Vivo Pad Side View

The back of the tablet sports a circular camera bump embedded in a squarish module. The tablet is 8.5mm thick but maintains a weight of 489 grams which is comparatively lesser than similarly priced tablets like the Xiaomi Pad 5. As per Vivo, it has a screen-to-body ratio of 84.46%.

Performance and Memory

Powering the Vivo Pad is the Snapdragon 870, which is quite a powerful processor. Its octa-core CPU consists of a single Kryo 585 Prime (@3.2 GHz), three Kryo 585 Gold (@2.42 GHz), and four Kryo 585 Silver (@1.8 GHz) cores, while the graphics are handled by Adreno 650.

  • Meanwhile, check out all the prices and specs of Vivo tablets here

As for memory, this tablet comes with a single 8GB LPDDR4X RAM option, but users can choose between 128GB and 256GB of fast UFS 3.1 internal storage. Note that the storage is not expandable due to the absence of an SD card slot.

Camera and Audio

Moving on, the Vivo Pad has a dual-camera setup comprising a 13MP primary sensor and an 8MP ultrawide sensor on the back. Besides, the front camera uses an 8MP sensor. Compared to the Oppo Pad which has a single rear camera, this one feels like a more premium option even though they’re similarly priced.

Moreover, the Vivo Pad is equipped with four speakers that support Dolby Atmos audio. But it lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack like other tablets in this price range.

Rest of the specs

Vivo Pad with keyboard

On the other hand, this tablet also supports a magnetic keyboard and a stylus which are sold separately. Vivo Pad boots “OriginOS HD”, which is a slightly modified version of OriginOS (based on Android) optimized for tablets. The company has heavily promoted the ability to cast the screen of a compatible phone on the tablet’s display as well. Finally, the Vivo Pad has an 8,040mAh battery that supports 44W fast charging.

Vivo Pad Specifications:

  • Dimensions: 253.1 x 164.7 x 6.5mm, 489 gm
  • Display: 11-inches IPS LCD, 120Hz refresh rate, DCI-P3, HDR 10, 16:10 aspect ratio
  • Resolution: 2560 x 1600 pixels, 20:9 aspect ratio
  • Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 (7nm)
  • Memory: 8GB LPDDR4X RAM, 128/256GB UFS 3.1 storage (not expandable)
  • Software & UI: OriginOS HD
  • Rear Camera: Dual (13MP f/2.2 primary, 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide)
  • Front Camera: 8MP f/2.0 sensor
  • Audio: Quad-stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos, No 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Security: No fingerprint sensor, Face unlock
  • Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (Dual-band), Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
  • Battery: 8040mAh with 44W fast charge
  • Color Options: Sky Blue, Space Gray

Vivo Pad Price in Nepal and Availability

Vivo Pad is now official in China where it costs CNY 2,499 for the 8/128GB model and CNY 2,999 for the 8/256GB variant. We expect the price of the Vivo Pad in Nepal to start at NPR 55,999 if and when it launches here.

Vivo Pad   Price in China Price in Nepal (Expected)
8/128GB CNY 2499 NPR 55,999
8/256GB CNY 2999 NPR 65,999
  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Xiaomi Pad 5.
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