Nubia has just announced its latest flagship gaming series in China. As expected, the Red Magic 7 series brings some new innovations, including 135W fast charging and a custom Red Core 1 gaming chip. In this article, we will be discussing the key specs, features, expected price, and availability of the Nubia Red Magic 7 and 7 Pro in Nepal.
Red Magic 7, 7 Pro Overview:
Performance and Cooling
Since these are gaming devices, let’s start with the performance. Here, the Red Magic Series is powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. It’s the latest flagship offering from Qualcomm and also the go-to chip for any flagship in 2022.
Nubia has paired the Snapdragon chipset with its own Red Core 1 chip, which it says will improve the gaming capability of the phones. For instance, it facilitates the 500Hz touch sampling rate of the shoulder trigger button. Likewise, it is also said to improve vibration, lighting, and sound during the games.
Moving on, Nubia has deployed ICE 8.0 cooling system on the Red Magic 7 gaming series for sustained performance. For starters, it also has a nine-layer heat dissipation structure. Like last year, there is also a turbofan capable of spinning at a speed of up to 20,000 RPM.
The new canyon air duct also adds a second air inlet which the company claims will increase airflow by 35%. Likewise, Nubia has also managed to keep the core temperature cooler by 3° Celsius.
Software
Complementing the gaming hardware on the Red Magic 7 Series is Nubia’s custom Red Magic OS 5.0, based on Android 12. The new skin brings an improved scheduler for CPU, GPU, and memory. The Touch Choreographer feature has also seen some improvements. As a result, users can expect more stable fps during games.
Furthermore, the Red Magic 7 series now supports 120Hz wireless projection, direct screen recording, and screencasting. Users can record their gameplay at 120Hz in 1080p H.26 format.
The new improved Game Space allows users to tweak the performance of the phone and also optimize the shoulder buttons.
Battery and Charging
This is where the Redmi Magic 7 and 7 Pro start to differ. The Pro model features a 5,000mAh battery with a whopping 135W wired fast charging. The phone can go from 0 to 100% in just 15 minutes.
On the other hand, the vanilla Red Magic 7 has 120W charging. It can fully charge the device in just 17 minutes. It is not as fast as the Pro model but fast nonetheless.
Nubia will ship 165W GaN chargers with both Red Magic 7 series phones. Users will also be able to charge laptops and other devices with them.
Moving on, the Nubia Red Magic 7 Series comes with a 6.8” FHD+ AMOLED display. The display on the Red Magic 7 refreshes at 165Hz while boasting a 720Hz touch sampling rate.
The Pro model, however, refreshes slower at 120Hz but supports a faster 960Hz sampling rate. It also has higher brightness (700 nits > 600 nits) and boasts additional features such as 100% DCI-P3 coverage, DC Dimming, 10-bit color depth, and more. You can even distinguish the two phones just by looking at their displays. Red Magic 7 Pro offers an uninterrupted display as it hides the selfie camera under the display. This makes it the first gaming phone to have an under-display selfie camera.
On the other hand, Red Magic 7 has the selfie camera on the top bezel.
Rest of the features
Nubia Red Magic 7 comes in three colors options. Cyber Night and Night Knight variants have RGB backlighting and breathing lights on the Red Magic logo. The logo and the lights are on the turbofan on the Deuterium Transparent Edition. The Pro model exchanges the Night Knight for a Polar Black Night option.
Red Magic 7 Series users can also buy an external Turbo Cooler for better cooling. As per the company, the cooling accessory can improve heat dissipation by 17% while also being 3dB quieter than other similar accessories.
Nubia Red Magic 7 Series Price in Nepal (Expected)
Nubia Red Magic 7 Series is now available for pre-order in China, where the price starts at CNY 3,999 for the Red Magic 7 and CNY 4,799 for the Pro variant. If Nubia Red Magic 7 Series launches in Nepal, we expect the price to start at NPR 80,000 and NPR 95,000 for Magic 7 and Magic 7 Pro, respectively.
Nubia Red Magic 7 Series
Configuration
Price in China (Official)
Price in Nepal (Expected)
Red Magic 7
8/128GB
CNY 3,999
NPR 80,000
Red Magic 7 (Transparent Edition)
12/256GB
CNY 4,899
NPR 97,000
Red Magic 7 Pro
12/128GB
CNY 4,799
NPR 95,000
Red Magic 7 Pro (Transparent Edition)
12/256GB
CNY 5,299
NPR 104,000
18/1TB
CNY 7,499
NPR 147,000
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Xiaomi 11T Pro.
Last month, we saw a lot of smartphone launches from various brands and it seems like the launch spree is continuing in February as well. And this is my review of the new Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge after testing it for almost 3 weeks now! If you are not aware, it is Xiaomi’s latest mid-range smartphone for the Indian market and the successor of the incredibly popular Mi 10i from last year.
In China, it goes by “Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G” and the company might even launch this phone with a different name elsewhere. As for the price, it starts at INR 26,999 for the base 6/128GB variant and INR 28,999 for the 8/128GB model. So, yeah—it’s priced way too higher than the Mi 10i.
In Xiaomi’s defense, they have included this 120W charger inside the box, which itself costs 4,000 Indian rupees according to the global VP of Xiaomi, Manu Kumar Jain. Goes on without saying that this charger is insanely fast and can take the phone from 0 to 100% in just about 18 minutes.
But what about the other crucial aspects of the device? Is it on par with the competition? Let’s discuss all that in this review of the Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge.
Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge Specifications:
Body: 76.19 x 163.65 x 8.34mm, 204 gm, Glass back, Polycarbonate frame, IP53 dust-and-splash resistance
Display: 6.67-inches AMOLED panel, 120Hz refresh rate, Up to 360Hz touch sampling rate, Gorilla Glass 5, 1200 nits peak brightness
Resolution: FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio, 395 PPI
Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 920 5G (6nm mobile platform)
Battery: 4500mAh with 120W fast charging (power adapter provided)
Color Options: Camo Green, Stealth Black, Purple Mist, Pacific Pearl
Price in Nepal: N/A (INR 26,999 for 6/128GB)
Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge Review:
Design & Build
76.19 x 163.65 x 8.34mm, 204 grams
Glass front/back, polycarbonate frames
IP53 certified against dust/splash damage
So, starting with the design and build quality, it’s quite different from what other Xiaomi phones looked like in the past. It has this boxy-looking form factor, which is reminiscent of the iPhone 13 series. And if you use it without a case, you might have a difficult time holding it because of the sharp edges. But over time, you should get used to it.
The back here is made of glass and feels plenty premium. I have it in this light green color that looks quite refreshing and doesn’t gather too many fingerprints and smudges. There are also no complaints from my side in terms of weight distribution since it has that solid heft I’ve come to expect from a smartphone.
IP53 certified
Still and all, I would have loved it even more if Xiaomi had given metal frames here. But I completely get it since this is a part of the cost-cutting measure. Xiaomi still offers an IP53 rating on the 11i Hypercharge—and is among the few brands to provide such splash-resistant properties on its budget and mid-range phones.
Moreover, you also get an IR blaster and a 3.5mm headphone jack here. The latter, as you know, is pretty rare these days even on mid-range phones, so that’s something we got to admire about Xiaomi.
On the other hand, the volume rockers here aren’t the most tactile ones but get the job done. This power button doubles as a capacitive fingerprint sensor as well, which is fast and accurate. And definitely faster than the one you get on cheaper Xiaomi phones like the Redmi Note 11.
Display
6.67-inches FHD+ AMOLED display
120/360Hz refresh/touch sampling rate
Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection
Over on the front, we are greeted with a 6.67-inch display that ticks all the boxes—at least feature-wise—that you expect from a phone of this price in 2022. This AMOLED screen refreshes at 120Hz and is complemented by a faster 360Hz touch sampling rate, up to 1200 nits of brightness, HDR10 compliance, Widevine L1 certification, and what have you.
For protection, Xiaomi has gone with the good old Gorilla Glass 5 on the 11i Hypercharge. In actual real-world usage, this display is better than last year’s Note 10 Pro and slightly inferior to the one you get on the Mi 11X.
Plus, in the recommended “Vivid” picture profile, the colors are slightly more punchy and vibrant—but it looks really good.
The smaller bezels and a tiny punch hole cutout further improve the overall viewing experience.
As expected from an AMOLED panel, the contrast here is top-level, which is especially noticeable when watching content with a dark ambiance. This display can also get plenty bright and you will have no issue texting or checking your messages even if you are outdoor.
However, the minimum brightness on this thing is a bit higher, meaning not the most comfortable experience if you happen to be a night owl.
HDR playback issue
Top: Xiaomi 11T Pro | Bottom: Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge
Plus, one underlining issue that I faced with this display is that whenever I tried watching HDR videos on Netflix, there’s this weird pale hue and over-sharpening going on which completely ruins the experience.
I don’t know if this is the new MediaTek Dimensity 920’s inability to process HDR videos effectively—or I have Netflix to blame. At the end of the day, the frustrating thing is that despite multiple reports from both the general users as well as a few reviewers, neither Xiaomi nor Netflix have pushed any update addressing this issue.
Performance
Octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 920 5G SoC (6nm)
6/8GB LPDDR4X RAM, 128GB storage (upgradable)
Android 11 with Xiaomi’s MIUI 12.5 Enhanced Edition on top
To make matter worse, we are well familiar with the fact that Xiaomi doesn’t have the best-of reputation when it comes to software.
Apart from the poor dark mode implementation in some apps and some frequent freezes in Messenger, I haven’t faced any major issues with MIUI on this phone. But to be honest, you never know what you will stumble upon in the future. Likewise, I am pretty surprised to see Xiaomi not specifying the number of years of guaranteed software updates for the 11i and 11i Hypercharge.
This is a bit concerning because the company did promise 3 years of OS updates for the 11 Lite NE 5G, which costs the same as this phone. So, I think they need to maintain some level of consistency going forward.
Nonetheless, you will definitely enjoy using the Xiaomi 11i. It’s respectably fast enough, apps open quickly, and multitasking has not been an issue either with the 8GB RAM variant that I have.
But having used so many phones with the Snapdragon 870 or the Dimensity 1200 chip lately, this one feels a tad bit slower. Then again, if you are coming from a budget or mid-range phone, the Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge is going to feel faster—and also smoother—with that 120Hz display.
Another thing where the Dimensity 920 is good at is handling thermals. Be it while gaming or using heavy apps, this thing doesn’t throttle at all. If you recall, MediaTek processors were always a victim of overheating. And to come from that to this is a job well done. I’m also pretty satisfied with its gaming performance.
Gaming experience
Here, you can play most games at high settings with 100% stability. PUBG Mobile plays smoothly at 60fps with graphics set to Smooth and frame rates to Extreme. If you want better visuals instead, you can set the graphics to HDR and frame rates to Ultra—although the frame rates go down to 40fps here.
Similarly, Call of Duty is another high-end game that takes a toll on the graphics, but the Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge gives a stable 60fps in High graphics and Very High frame rates.
Genshin Impact, however, isn’t enjoyable in the highest of settings. But if you dial down the settings to 30fps, the overall stability jumps from 71% to 94%. Likewise, most 120fps games like Mech Arena and Oddmar can hit 120fps even in the highest of settings, which means Xiaomi has optimized these games well for this phone.
Audio & Haptics
Dual stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos audio
X-axis linear vibration motor
Additionally, the stereo speaker here is quite good. It can get plenty loud with a decent level of mids and vocals. It’s obviously not as good as the premium phones, but you should enjoy listening to music or podcast from this speaker setup.
Unfortunately, Xiaomi hasn’t included an impressive vibration motor on the 11i Hypercharge. It’s certainly good enough for most users, but this is one area where I would love to see companies take things to the next level by including flagship-tier motors. That’s because, from my experience, a high-quality vibration motor makes a big difference if you are typing or receive a phone call while riding a bike.
Cameras
Triple camera setup at the back
(108MP main, 8MP ultrawide, 2MP macro)
16MP selfie camera (punch-hole)
Cameras
1 of 2
Back
Front
Similarly, given the price tag, I believe the camera is one area where Xiaomi’s mid-range phones don’t provide the best possible optimization and the same applies with this phone too. Here, you get a triple-camera setup at the back with a 108MP primary lens, an 8MP ultra-wide, and a useless 2MP macro sensor.
Normal Images
Starting off with the 108MP main camera, I found the daylight images to be pretty average given the price. At times, it can click some good pictures with boosted colors and the right amount of details, while at other times, it oversharpens the images and HDR doesn’t work very well either.
Normal
1 of 4
Plus, because of the big sensor size, it couldn’t focus close-up shots that easily.
Slow shutter speed
1 of 2
Moreover, as expected from a mid-range phone, the Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge doesn’t have the fastest shutter speeds and an excellent image processor to capture well-detailed shots of moving subjects like your pets too.
Portrait Images
What’s even more lackluster from this primary camera is that it oversharpens human subjects, especially under the portrait mode.
Portrait
1 of 6
Normal
Portrait
Normal
Portrait
Normal
Portrait
And it just doesn’t look good. Xiaomi’s product team should’ve addressed this via an update ASAP, but here we are.
Ultrawide Images
As for the secondary 8MP ultra-wide-lens, it’s alright and nothing extra-ordinary.
Ultrawide
1 of 4
Normal
Ultrawide
Normal
Ultrawide
But that’s me lowering my expectations given the average primary lens.
Nighttime Images
Nighttime
1 of 4
Nighttime
Night Mode
Nighttime
Night Mode
During lowlights, the 108MP camera on the Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge does a decent job to minimize noise levels and you can get even better shots with Night Mode turned ON. Then again, there’s a noticeable boost in contrast under this.
Selfie Images
Selfie
1 of 6
Selfie
Portrait Selfie
Selfie
Portrait Selfie
Selfie
Portrait Selfie
On the front, its 20MP camera performs better than the back cameras. The selfies look good and it doesn’t oversharpen the images like with the portrait shots.
Videography
Video-wise, it’s not the best phone for you if you take a lot of videos. It maxes out at 4K 30fps where the output is wobbly and jerky if there’s an insufficient amount of light. It seems they have turned off EIS here for some reason. Even the 1080p 60fps videos lack stabilization.
So, if you want to capture stable videos from this phone, you’ll be restricted to 1080p 30fps mode—both from the primary and ultrawide cameras.
For selfie videos, the Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge lets you capture at up to 1080p 60fps where footages come off a little wobbly—although the results are relatively steadier at 30fps mode. Regardless, the video quality from the front camera is strictly average with quite a narrow field of view as well.
Overall, if you want a good camera experience, you should definitely skip the Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge. At a similar price, you can get Samsung’s Galaxy A52s or the iQOO 7, both of which offer way superior cameras.
Battery
4500mAh with 120W fast charging
Finally, let’s now talk about Xiaomi 11i’s best thing that I’ve saved for last—which is the battery and charging. Especially charging. Here, its battery life is nothing to write home about. If you are a heavy user, it will provide you with around 5 hours of screen-on time, which translates to a day’s worth of usage and nothing more.
But the charging tech that’s embedded here is just extraordinary.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the review, the 120W power brick that comes with the Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge fuels its 4500mAh battery from 0 to 100% in about 17 to 18 minutes in Boost mode, which puts it among the fastest charging phones out there.
Here, the “Boost” mode is a bit susceptible to heat, so I turned it OFF. With this, it takes like 22 minutes for a full charge. Xiaomi also claims that they have taken industry-leading quality measures with the charger by acquiring TUV Rheinland Safe Fast-Charge Certification and over 30 protection features.
On top of this, the company says that the Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge’s battery retains up to 80% capacity even after 800 charge or discharge cycles, whereas other smartphones retain only up to 60% of battery capacity after just 500 cycles.
Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge Review: Conclusion
So, yes—this is pretty high-tech stuff for a midrange phone, which brings me to the end of my review of the Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge. Should you buy this phone? Sadly, the answer for me is a no and I have some valid arguments to back it up.
While I do appreciate Xiaomi bringing such an amazing charging technology to the masses, in doing so, the price of the product has gone too high. If it had a 67W or even a 33W charger, the overall experience would have remained the same. Exactly what the regular Xiaomi 11i delivers for INR 2,000 less.
But, that’s not only the reason why I wouldn’t recommend this phone. What other companies are offering at a similar price range is equally important.
You can get the Galaxy A52s instead that offers a better display and cameras—alongside a very similar performance. On the other hand, you can also pick the good old iQOO 7 for INR 29,999 from Amazon India, which comes with a more capable Snapdragon 870 chipset on top of a good display and camera setup.
Watch our video review of the Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge:
After the mid-rangeNote 11 series last month, Redmi has now launched its first flagship device for 2022—the Redmi K50 Gaming Edition. There’s even a special edition of this phone built in collaboration with the Mercedes-AMG F1 team. Here, we will be discussing the specs and expected price of the Redmi K50 Gaming Edition in Nepal.
Redmi K50 Gaming Edition Overview:
Design
Starting off with the design, the gaming phone has an “X” shaped pattern on the back as well as on the camera module. Like its predecessor, the camera frame has LED strips that light up in case of any notification.
Design
1 of 2
Standard
Mercedes AMG F1 Edition
Furthermore, the device has an AG Glass finish on the back, with metal frames. It also retains the tactile shoulder triggers on the right frame. Xiaomi says the new “Magnetic Shoulder Key 2.0” provides the real strike feel of professional gamepads.
As aforementioned, there’s also an AMG Petronas variant of the K50 Gaming Edition. It has two stripes running through the middle of the rear panel, while there’s also a Mercedes F1 logo in the top-right corner. Otherwise, it’s identical to the standard edition.
The Redmi K50 Gaming Edition will be available in Black, Silver, and Blue color. The exclusive Mercedes AMG F1 edition comes in a grey finish.
Display
The Redmi K50 Gaming Edition sports a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate and 480Hz touch sampling rate. It’s a 10-bit screen with FHD+ resolution,DisplayMate A+ certification, andGorilla Glass Victus protection.
Likewise, the panel has a 1920Hz high-frequency Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) dimming feature that reduces the discomfort caused by strobes on the eyes in low-brightness situations. Other features include MEMC, HDR 10+, and DCI-P3 color gamut.
Performance and Memory
Under the hood, the smartphone is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor. In terms of memory, it comes with 8/12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128/256GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage.
For thermals, the smartphone has dual vapor chambers that cover a 4,860 sq. mm area. The chambers transfer the heat from SoC, battery, and IC to its heat spreaders that, as per the company, are 20% more efficient than the last-gen. Users can also purchase Redmi’s custom metal heat dissipation magnetic shell for even better thermal management.
Redmi K50 Gaming Edition houses a triple camera setup at the back led by a 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor. Accompanying this is an 8MP ultrawide and 2MP macro lens. The module also has a flicker sensor that helps in real-time exposure maintenance. Over on the front, it has a 20MP selfie camera with the Sony IMX596 sensor.
Battery and Audio
Fueling the phone is a 4,700mAh battery that supports 120W fast charging. Xiaomi claims it can fully juice up the device in just 17 minutes.
Moving on, the K50 Gaming edition is the world’s first phone to feature a CyberEngine ultra-wideband X-axis vibration motor. To note, it’s the largest haptics motor on an Android smartphone.
Over on the audio front, the phone has the one-one speaker and tweeter combo on each side, resulting in a quad-speaker setup. It’s tuned by JBL and supports Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res Audio.
Rest of the specs
Apart from this, the smartphone is equipped with three WiFi antennas and supports WiFi 6E. Likewise, the phone boots on Android 12-based MIUI 13. For biometrics, there’s a side-mounted fingerprint scanner.
Redmi K50 Gaming Edition Price in Nepal and Availability
The K50 Gaming Edition starts in China at CNY 3,299 for the 8/128GB variant and goes up to CNY 3,599. We expect the price of the Redmi K50 Gaming Edition to start at NPR 70,000, if and when it launches in Nepal.
Moreover, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Edition is priced at CNY 4199 and is available in sole 12GB+256GB configuration. Xiaomi says this special edition is limited to only 10,000 units and will go on sale on February 18.
Redmi K50 Gaming Edition
Price in China
Price in Nepal (Expected)
8/128GB
CNY 3,299
NPR 70,000
12/128GB
CNY 3,599
NPR 75,000
12/256GB
CNY 3,899
NPR 80,000
Special Edition (12/256GB)
CNY 4,199
NPR 85,000
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Poco F3 GT.
Are you a young programmer or a veteran looking for a platform to showcase your skill or just have fun? Then there is a piece of good news for you — Bhoos Games has announced an AI Bot competition together with LOCUS. Here, we will be discussing the Smart Bots AI Challenge by Bhoos in more detail, including eligibility, and rewards.
Bhoos Smart Bots AI Challenge Overview:
As mentioned earlier, the Smart Bots AI Challenge is an event organized by Bhoos Games in association with LOCUS. The latter is an umbrella organization of undergraduate engineering students from Pulchowk Campus.
Participants will have to create an AI bot to play Call Break from scratch. Don’t worry, you won’t have to share your source code with the organizers. These bots will then compete against Bhoos bots and will be ranked accordingly.
The top 8 bots will then move on to the next round, where the participants will face questions regarding the algorithm and development. The organizers believe this will help detect any foul play.
At the last stage of the Smart Bots AI Challenge, the bots will challenge each other for the ultimate title.
The winner of the challenge will receive a cash reward of 5 lakhs. Likewise, the first runner-up will get 3 lakhs in cash. There is also a 2 lakhs cash prize for the second runner-up.
How to participate?
Bhoos Games is currently accepting entries for the Smart Bots AI Challenge. You can register using this link. Registration closes on March 20, so hurry up if you are interested.
It is an inclusive event, and you can take part as long as you are a Nepali citizen. However, people working at Bhoos and their relatives are not eligible for fair play.
For more information, you can join the event’s official discord server. Alternatively, you can even contact Bhoos Games via phone and email.
Motorola, in collaboration with American operator Verizon, has introduced a neckband-style device to power Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) glasses. It packs all the necessary hardware required to operate these headsets. Keep reading the article to know more about the Motorola-Verizon 5G neckband.
Motorola-Verizon 5G Neckband Overview:
One of a kind
Motorola announced the development of its neckband in a blog post. However, the company is yet to reveal the name of the device.
The actual device, as seen in the image above, is a credit card-sized module that hangs from a lanyard-style wire. It packs a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor and is 5G ready—allowing it to provide high bandwidth, ultra-low latency connection, and power to AR and VR goggles.
According to Engadget, it also has a 5000mAh battery, a touchpad, a SIM card port, and a charging indicator. Likewise, it comes with a slew of sensors like a gyroscope, accelerometer, barometer, GPS and has a speaker along with USB Type-C and DP 1.4 port at the back of the device.
VR and AR headsets in general are heavy and can be difficult to use for extended periods of time. Thus, Motorola and Verizon devised the notion of offloading the majority of the components of such headsets to a dedicated device, allowing them to be lighter and more comfortable to wear.
The company showed the use of a neckband in the Lenovo ThinkReality A3 headset. As per Brian Mecum, VP of Device Technology at Verizon, “this solution will deliver an immersive technology in many fields such as sports training and fan experiences, as well as making VR theatres scalable”.
Furthermore, the neckband is also compatible with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon VR platform and Microsoft’s Remote Network Driver Interface Specification (RNDIS).
Motorola-Verizon 5G Neckband Price and Availability
For the time being, officials haven’t shared the pricing and availability details of the neckband. Nonetheless, Verizon and Motorola are working on exciting AR and VR applications, the details of which will be shared in the coming months.
Meanwhile, check out our review of the OnePlus 9RT.
Alongside the G21, Nokia has also launched the G11 smartphone in Europe. It comes as the successor to last year’s Nokia G10. So, let’s walk through the specs, features, availability, and expected price of the Nokia G11 in Nepal.
Nokia G11 Overview:
Design and Display
The Nokia G11 features a 6.5-inch IPS LCD screen with an HD+ resolution. It’s a 20:9 aspect ratio panel with 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling rate.
In terms of design, it skips the circular camera cutout of its predecessor in favor of a rectangular camera bump. The back of the device has a textured finish that comes in Charcoal and Ice colors.
Under the hood, Nokia G11 is powered by a Unisoc T606 chipset. It’s an octa-core chipset with two Cortex-A75 cores and six Cortex-A55 cores and is fabricated on a 12nm process. It is coupled with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. You can expand the storage up to 512GB via a microSD card.
Moreover, the device boots on clean stock Android 11 out-of-the-box. The company also promises 2 years of Android upgrades and 3 years of security patches.
Cameras
Although the G11 gets a design refresh for the camera module, the sensors remain unchanged. That means, it still has a 13MP primary sensor with two 2MP lenses for macro and portrait—as its predecessor. The front has a teardrop-notch that houses an 8MP sensor for selfies and video calls.
Rest of the specs
Aside from this, the Nokia G11 gets its juice from a 5,050mAh battery that supports 18W of fast charging. However, the company only ships a 10W adapter inside the box. There’s also a Google Assistant button, while the fingerprint sensor is infused in the power key.
Similarly, it retains the 3.5mm headphone jack. The wireless connectivity option includes Bluetooth 5.0 and WiFi 802.11 ac.
Last year, Infinix showed that it is ready to expand into a more premium mobile market segment with phones like the Zero X series and Concept Phone 2021. Now, it has just done that with Zero 5G. It is the first Infinix phone to have 5G connectivity. Here, we will be discussing the key specs, features, expected price, and availability of Infinix Zero 5G in Nepal.
Infinix Zero 5G Overview:
Design and Display
Looking at the phone, it is not hard to tell where Infinix got the inspiration for the design. Zero 5G sports an Oppo Find X3 Pro-like camera island, which it calls the Uni-Curve design. It is quite different from what Infinix is really known for.
Over on the front, there is a 6.78” IPS LCD screen with an FHD+ resolution. It refreshes at 120Hz and boasts a touch sampling rate of 240Hz. Likewise, it can also get as bright as 500 nits.
Performance
Most of Infinix’s phones so far have come with Helio G series chipsets. Zero 5G, on the other hand, packs the Dimensity 900. Built on a 6nm process, the chipset features two Cortex-A78 cores clocked at 2.4GHz and six Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2GHz. The chip is paired with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB UFS 3.1 storage.
The on-board 5G modem on the Dimensity supports dual SIM 5G. As previously teased by Infinix, the phone supports a total of 13 5G bands. It is actually a respectable number, given most “affordable” 5G phones support only a handful of 5G bands.
Infinix has gone with a 48MP triple camera setup on the back. The 48MP primary camera is accompanied by a 13MP 2x telephoto lens. Completing the setup is a 2MP depth sensor. Moving on, there is a 16MP selfie shooter on the front, enclosed inside the center-aligned punch-hole cutout.
Rest of the specs
Infinix Zero 5G gets its juice from a 5,000mAh battery and supports charging speeds of up to 33W. It boots on Android 11 out of the box with XOS 10 on top. It is available in three colors, Cosmic Black, Horizon Blue, and Skylight Orange.
Connectivity: 5G Dual-SIM, WiFi 6, Bluetooth, USB Type-C,
Battery: 5000mAh with 33W fast charging
Infinix Zero 5G Price in Nepal and Availability (Expected)
The Zero 5G is launched in India at a price tag of INR 19,999 for the sole 8/128GB variant. It’s available for purchase via Flipkart. We expect the price of Infinix Zero 5G in Nepal to be NPR 35,000, if and when it launches here.
Infinix Zero 5G
Price in India (Official)
Price in Nepal (Expected)
8/128GB
INR 19,999
NPR 35,000
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Infinix Zero 8.
When we think of Intel, we usually think of CPU—desktops, mobile, and the ones that power data centers. However, the company has been now officially joined the Bitcoin harvesting market with the new chips that will be available later this year. Keep reading to learn more about the Bitcoin mining “Bonanza” chip from Intel.
Intel Bonanza Mine Procesor Overvew:
Official confirmation
Raja M. Koduri, the Senior Vice President at Intel, recently shared a press release confirming that Team Blue is working on a bitcoin mining chip. He states, “We at Intel are declaring our intent to contribute to the development of blockchain technologies, with a roadmap of energy-efficient accelerators”.
As crypto mining and blockchain demand a massive amount of computing power, Intel is aiming to build the most energy-efficient computing technologies to tackle this issue.
For this, Team Blue has formed a new Custom Compute Group within Intel’s Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics business unit. This unit will work on building custom silicon for crypto-mining and other custom accelerated supercomputing tasks.
Intel Bonanza Chips
These new chips have already surfaced online with the codename “Bonanza”. While the moniker is not yet confirmed, Team Blue has stated that it will share details about the chip at the upcoming International Solid State Circuit Conference (ISSCC).
As per reports, the new chip is an ultra-low-voltage energy-efficient Bitcoin mining ASIC. In case you are not aware, unlike Ethereum, miners don’t use GPUs for Bitcoin mining. It requires specialized chips, usually referred to as ASIC, which stands for Application-Specific Integrated Circut. These chips are exclusively designed for a single task and are not as useful outside of their main domain.
As a result, if you want to mine Bitcoins, you will need an ASIC designed to carry out the SHA-256 algorithm in a fast and efficient manner. As per Intel, the new silicon “has over 1000x better performance per watt than mainstream GPUs for SHA-256 based mining”. Currently, Bitmain provides Bitcoin-specific ASIC for miners.
For many, the news of Intel Bonanza Mine chips can come out as a surprise. However, the signs have been there all along. Intel first introduced SHA extensions for hardware-accelerated hashing operations in 2013. It has been part of Ice Lake and newer processors.
Back in December, Raja Koduri, the Senior Vice President, and GM of Intel AXG hinted at an upcoming efficient low-cost blockchain validation device in an exclusive interview with the popular streamer DrLupo. He was referring to Intel Bonanza Mine chips then. He further clarified that Intel won’t implement any hash rate limiters in its discrete GPUs.
Intel Bonanza Mine Chip Availability
While we are still waiting for further information on the new Bitcoin-specific ASIC chip, Intel has stated that these accelerators will be available later this year. Argo Blockchain, BLOCK (previously Square), and GRIID Infrastructure are among the first clients for this new offering.
Meanwhile, check out our comparison between Galaxy S21 FE and Pixel 6.
Realme has been on a spree of adding devices in its GT lineup ever since its debut. After the launch of the GT 2 series a while back, the company is now said to be working on a gaming phone called the Realme GT Neo 3 Gaming Edition. In this article, we will go through the leaks and rumors surrounding the upcoming Realme GT Neo 3 Gaming Edition.
Realme GT Neo 3 Gaming Edition Rumors:
Design
The early renders of the GT Neo 3 were posted on Twitter by a leakster named Alex. The image reveals the device’s back panel with a dual-tone design. While the majority of the panel has a grey finish, there’s also a stripe—as on the Realme GT—running edge-to-edge of the device.
Moreover, it has a rectangular camera module with rounded corners that houses a triple camera setup. The design also shows additional buttons on the frame with a yellow accent which is likely to be the triggers to utilize during the gameplay.
Alongside the design, the tipster also shared a few specifications of the device. As per him, the Neo 3 Gaming Edition will be powered by MediaTek Dimensity 9000 processor. If the claims are true, it might be among the first few phones to feature this chipset. Likewise, the smartphone is said to have a 5,000mAh battery with 125W fast charging support.
Realme GT Neo 3 Gaming Edition Launch (Expected)
Aside from that, there are no further details on the Neo 3 Gaming Edition’s specifications or launch date. It is likely to compete with the Redmi K50 Gaming Edition, which is also stated to have a Dimensity 9000 SoC and is launching on February 16.
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Realme GT Neo 2.
We recently came up with our picks for the best budget wired earphones you could buy in Nepal right now. And here, we’re discussing the best budget Bluetooth neckbands under NPR 5,000 in Nepal.
As we all know by now, not every phone comes with a headphone jack these days—and not many people want to deal with the tangles of wired earphones either. To cut down the thickness and enhance the visual appeal of a smartphone, manufacturers have started ditching 3.5mm audio jacks even in the mid-range segment these days.
Therefore, you can go 100% wire-free with a pair of TWS earbuds—although their budget options aren’t that great. Enter, wireless neckbands. This is a hybrid of wired and wireless earbuds that connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth.
Because of their bigger form factor, wireless neckbands offer relatively better battery life, bigger audio drivers, better Bluetooth modules, and more—that is, if manufacturers actively choose to include such superiorities.
Our take
Before we begin, let me give you a brief insight into how we have ranked our picks for the best budget Bluetooth neckbands available in Nepal. Being the audio products that they are, the biggest priority for us has been good sound quality and comfortable fit.
Battery life is not that big a deal since most wireless neckbands manage 4-5 days of endurance under light usage with ease. That being said, some of them do offer faster-charging solutions which will come in handy if you are frequently on the move. Some neckbands even offer a few additional features like Game Mode, ANC, and such.
Yet, since they’re not that effective on budget products, it’s wise not to fall for such marketing gimmicks. Lastly, I want to say that mics on these wireless neckbands will be just about average, although they’ll get you through phone calls with no trouble—but not when you’re in a rowdy environment, obviously. Okay, let’s begin.
Best Budget Bluetooth Neckbands in Nepal:
OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z Bass Edition
The first entry in our list is the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z Bass Edition. Disappointingly, it doesn’t offer much in the bass department despite suggesting so in the name. Soundstage is also rather restricted here. Thus, the instrument separation is not the greatest on Bullets Wireless Z, and at times, you will get muddy feedback from instruments too.
The latter was especially evident when listening to guitar riffs on “Cult of Personality” by Living Colors. Anyway, it supports up to 10 hours of music playback with just 10 minutes of charge. There’s also quick-pair support on OnePlus 6 or newer OnePlus smartphones.
OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z Bass Edition Specifications:
Weight: 26-28gm
Driver: 9.2mm Dynamic driver
Controls: Physical buttons
Battery Life: Up to 20 hours
Charging: Type-C port with support for Warp Charge
Water Resistance: IP55 dust-water resistance
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth Range: Up to 33ft (10m)
Color Options: Blue, Black, Mint, Oat
Price in Nepal: NPR 4,990
JBL Tune 110BT: Flat, but not entirely
Next up is the JBL Tune 110BT, which is a bit different than other entries on our list thanks to its flat wire. As a result, the Tune doesn’t tangle as much, which is fantastic since the magnets on the driver unit of this thing aren’t that strong.
As far as the sound quality goes, it’s not that bad. But I must say that I expected more from a company that makes some of the best portable Bluetooth speakers. JBL Tune 110BT has a boosted bass profile, making it fit for listening to hip-hop and EDM tracks. However, if you aren’t into these genres of music, you will find its bass overpowering and the overall sound quality to be muddy.
JBL Tune 110BT Specifications:
Weight: 16.2 grams
Sound driver: 8.6mm Full Range drivers
Impedance: 16 Ohms
Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0
Response Frequency: 20Hz – 20kHz
Playback Times: Up to 6 hours
Charging Interface: Micro USB (5V, 1A)
Charging Time: 2.0 hours
Control: Physical Buttons
Waterproof rating: No
Price in Nepal: NPR 4,500
Redmi SonicBass Wireless Earphones: Bass on a budget
Here, the Redmi SonicBass Wireless earphones is the cheapest of the bunch, even though it gives some of the higher-priced ones a run for their money. Like most earbuds in this price range, it caters to the bassheads. So, you should not be buying this if you mostly listen to acoustic songs.
Talking about bass, it’s quite good for the price. Yet, its sound stage is not the widest, which is not at all surprising given its price point. In addition, this one also supports a two-way connection. As a result, if you have to keep switching between two devices, you are going to love this. Anyway, its design is pretty average, but you do get IPX4 splash resistance here. On top of this, there’s magnetic cable management present as well.
Moving on, we have the Realme Buds Wireless 2, which is the only neckband on this list to feature ANC. That being said, don’t expect much from its noise cancellation abilities since we are talking about budget earphones after all.
Regardless, the sound quality from its 13.6mm “bass boost” driver isn’t that great either, even when switching to the Hi-Res LDAC codec. The thumpy bass that I look for in earphones just isn’t there. Switching to bass mode also doesn’t help. On the contrary, things sound better on the bright preset as it sharpens the instrument and vocals when listening to songs with an emphasis on high frequencies.
Other than that, the Buds Wireless 2 has a fashionable design and I love this black-and-yellow color scheme. In addition, it is also among the few entries in our list of best budget Bluetooth neckbands in Nepal to feature both magnetic instant connection and fast charging.
Realme Buds Wireless 2 Specifications:
Weight: 29 grams
Sound Driver: 13.6mm
Battery: 18 hours playback with ANC on
Water Resistance: IPX5 certification
Charging Port: USB Type-C
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0
Noise Cancellation: Active Noise Cancellation, Vocplus AI Noise Cancellation for calls
Color options: Bass Gray, Bass Yellow
Other features: Game mode (88ms low-latency)
Price in Nepal: NPR 4,400
Skullcandy Jib+: Don’t fall for the looks
Truth be told, the Skullcandy Jib+ was a tricky one. That’s because I wasn’t a fan of its sound stage in the early days of testing it out. And there’s nothing flashy about its design as well—especially the blue color variant which can easily be mistaken for a children’s toy.
Nevertheless, after thorough testing, I would say that the sound quality of Jib+ is more on the balanced side. Its bass is booming than thumpy, and the vocals are subtle yet effective. Songs like Cult of Personality (by Living Colors) and Feeling This (by blink-182) sounded good overall, despite some muddy instruments.
Yet, I love how these earbuds are tiny and fit snuggly in my ears. It also has a rubber ear hook that helps keep the earbuds securely tucked into the ears. While there is no magnetic pairing, SkullCandy has included a clipper to manage the wire.
Skullcandy Jib+ Specifications:
Weight: 17 grams
Sound driver: 9mm Dynamic drivers
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0
Wireless Range: 10m (33ft)
Playback Times: Up to 6 hours
Charging Interface: Micro USB
Control: Physical Buttons
Waterproof rating: No
Price in Nepal: NPR 2,399
Soundcore Rise: For the fitness freaks
The third pick in our list of best budget Bluetooth neckbands in Nepal is the Soundcore Rise. This one features ear wings to help you obtain a tight fit, and there’s a plastic clip for wire management too. All this, combined with IPX5 certification makes Soundcore Rise a good option for anyone looking for a pair of workout earbuds.
More on the design, it is pretty compact and thus, comfortable to wear for quite a long time. In terms of the sound quality, I would say it’s passable. The bass reproduction is there, but I don’t quite like the way it handles the highs as they come out too sharp at times. Occasionally, even drum snares and vocals come out screeching. Still, I find its overall sound quality to be better compared to other neckbands I’ve talked about so far.
Moving on, we have the Sony WI-XB400. This particular wireless neckband boasts a 4.4 out of 5 rating from over 26,000 global reviews, and deservedly so. Despite the relatively weird-looking design, these earbuds bring a comfortable fit. As far as sound quality goes, they are second to none in this price range.
The Extra Bass technology from Sony results in punchy bass as well. It doesn’t sound muddy, meaning the bass won’t get in the way of vocals and other instruments. Its sound stage is also quite impressive.
That being said, the XB400 is far from flawless. For instance, it doesn’t have any IP rating. Additionally, the magnets in the driver units don’t do a good job of holding the neckband in place either.
Sony WI-XB400 Specifications:
Weight: 21 grams
Sound driver: 12mm Full Range drivers
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0
Wireless Range: 10m (33ft)
Response Frequency: 20Hz – 20kHz
Playback Times: Up to 15 hours
Charging Interface: USB-C
Charging Time: 3 hours
Control: Physical Buttons
Waterproof rating: No
Price in Nepal: NPR 5,500*
OPPO Enco M32: The best Bluetooth neckband there is
Holding the first position on this list of best budget Bluetooth neckbands in Nepal is the Oppo Enco M32. It is the successor to the Enco M31, which also held the title last year but is not widely available now.
The sound of Enco M32 has layers to it, but it is the bass that is on the forefront. The design is a lot more durable now, and it even has an IP55 certification against dust and water. If you love to use earphones during workouts, you will also love the wingtips.
Likewise, the battery life is also exceptional. Oppo claims 28 hours of backup on a single charge. In my test, it lasted a week with 2-3 hours of usage each day. It has fast charging support as well. That being said, it does not have a companion app and misses out on ANC on other cool features you may find on other neckbands on this list.
Best Budget Bluetooth Neckbands in Nepal [Summary]
Rank
Best Budget Bluetooth Neckbands in Nepal
Price
8
OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z Bass Edition
NPR 4,990
7
JBL Tune 110BT
NPR 4,500
6
Redmi SonicBass Wireless Earphones
NPR 2,199
5
Realme Buds Wireless 2
NPR 4,400
4
Skullcandy Jib+
NPR 2,399
3
Soundcore Rise
NPR 3,999
2
Sony WI-XB400
NPR 5,500*
(available for NPR 5,000)
1
OPPO Enco M32
NPR 3,499
Conclusion
So that was all for our picks of the best budget Bluetooth neckbands you could buy in Nepal right now. If you want the complete package, I will definitely recommend you go with the OPPO Enco M32.
You can even distinguish the two phones just by looking at their displays. Red Magic 7 Pro offers an uninterrupted display as it hides the selfie camera under the display. This makes it the first gaming phone to have an under-display selfie camera.
![Best Budget Bluetooth Neckbands Under Rs. 5,000 in Nepal [2022]](https://cdn.gadgetbytenepal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Best-budget-bluetooth-neckbands-Nepal-2022.jpg "Best Budget Bluetooth Neckbands Under Rs. 5,000 in Nepal [2022]")
![Anker Soundcore Rise - Design [1]](https://cdn.gadgetbytenepal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Anker-Soundcore-Rise-Design-1.jpg)
