Generation Next or Genxt, the sole authorized distributor of Apple products in Nepal, has opened its official service center at Kumaripati, Lalitpur. Established on 4th November 2021, the service center is offering discounts, macOS/iOS health checkups, and other services for free during the first month of its inauguration.
Genxt Nepal Service Center Overview:
Discounts, Free services
First, let’s talk about the free offers and discounts. Like I mentioned earlier, customers can enjoy a free macOS/iOS health checkup and upgrade/installation of macOS/iOS of their respective Apple devices. You can also enjoy a flat 10% discount on any out-of-warranty product repair.
Moreover, B2B (Business-to-Business) and SMB (Small and Medium-sized Businesses) clients may save 30% by signing on to an annual maintenance contract. The company is also giving a 10% discount on Apple accessories purchased through the store.
Moving on, Genxt Nepal will be providing its customers a “loaner device” while their unit is being repaired. Essentially, a loaner device is a temporary replacement for the product that is currently being serviced or repaired. That means you’ll have to return the lent device after the damaged product has been fixed. Furthermore, you can also enjoy same-day screen replacements on all iPhones.
Here’s a quick summary of all the benefits Genxt Nepal is offering during the first month of its launch:
Free macOS/iOS health checkup
Free macOS/iOS installation/upgrade
Same-day screen replacement for all eligible iPhones
Loaner devices to customers with eligible product repair
10% off on every out-of-warranty repair
10% off on the purchase of accessories
30% off on annual maintenance contracts (B2B/SMB clients only)
Genxt Nepal Service Center: Location
Genxt Nepal’s official service center is located at the company’s Kumaripati, Lalitpur branch. It is Genxt’s second and Nepal’s third authorized Apple service center overall—following EvoStore’s service facility at Durbar Marg.
Location
Contact
Kumaripati, Lalitpur
015420462
Meanwhile, check out our review of the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
Xiaomi has recently announced “Loop LiquidCool Technology” for high-end smartphones. It is inspired by cooling solutions from the aerospace industry and is reportedly twice as capable as a conventional vapor chamber-based cooling system. So, let’s learn more about it here.
Xiaomi Loop LiquidCool Technology Overview:
Over the years, mobile chipsets are getting a substantial performance boost.
But with great power, comes great heat dissipation.
We’ve seen smartphones like OnePlus 9 Pro overheat to a harsh degree. As a result, the demand for improved cooling technologies is more than just a necessity.
Working mechanism
Xiaomi’s new Loop LiquidCool technology includes a heat pipe made of an evaporator, a condenser, a refill chamber, and gas and liquid pipes. The heating solution when placed at the heat source evaporates the liquid (refrigerant) inside the evaporator. The hot gas then flows down the pipe to the condenser, where it condenses back into liquid.
Moving on, the condensed liquid is absorbed and collected by the tiny fibers in the refill chambers and the evaporator is replenished—making it an independent system.
What makes it distinct from the conventional cooling methods is that it does not allow the mixing of hot gas and cool liquid. Similarly, its ring-shaped pump has a specific gas pipe design that minimizes airway resistance by 30%; whereas the heat transfer capacity increases by up to 100%.
Despite the new architecture, the Loop LiquidCool system employs the Tesla Valve structure within the refill chamber. The valve allows the gas to flow to its intended direction and also improves gas/liquid circulation throughout the system.
Xiaomi also claims that this technology can be modified to any sort of interior design in order to accommodate more components. A square-shaped loop, for example, provides extra space for the battery, camera module, and other components.
Test
Furthermore, the company has put the Loop LiquidCool technology to the test in a customized Xiaomi Mix 4. With this, a 30-minute session of Genshin Impact at 60fps (highest video settings) resulted in a maximum temperature reading of 47.4ºC. To compare, the Snapdragon 888 powering this phone was 8.6ºC cooler than on the standard Mix 4.
Xiaomi Loop LiquidCool Technology: Availability
According to Xiaomi, Loop LiquidCool Technology will make its debut in Xiaomi devices in the second half of 2022.
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G.
WhatsApp has released an update that allows users to access the service on multiple devices without requiring your phone to be connected to the internet. Let’s find out more about the WhatsApp multi-device access feature without a smartphone in this article.
WhatsApp Multi-device Access Overview:
Previously, WhatsApp required your primary smartphone to be online even if you wanted to continue the conversation on your web browser or desktop application. However, you can now send and receive messages no matter if your primary device is online or not.
The feature is officially rolling out to all users on both Android and iOS platforms with the new update. With this, users can now use WhatsApp on up to 4 devices at the same time.
Before moving forward, do note that this feature is still in the “beta” phase and may contain some issues for the time being. Nonetheless, linking a new device to your account is pretty easy.
First, click on the three dots on the top-right.
Then, head to the “Linked devices” option and select “Multi-device beta”.
Finally, click on “Join beta” which will enable multi-device access to your WhatsApp account.
WhatsApp Multi-device Access
1 of 2
Link a device
Join Beta
After completing all these steps, you can link the desktop or web version of WhatsApp by clicking on the link a device button and scanning the QR code. Still, you can’t link it to a secondary smartphone or tablet for now.
Furthermore, paired devices will be able to send and receive messages for up to 14 days even after the primary smartphone goes offline. Likewise, the messages and phone calls still remain end-to-end encrypted. But a constraint in iOS devices prevents you from deleting messages from a linked device.
WhatsApp Multi-device Access: Availability
As aforementioned, the feature is now available to WhatsApp users all over the world with the latest update. So, make sure you have the latest version of the app to enjoy this feature.
After the launch of Moto E20 and E40, Motorola has launched yet another budget smartphone in this lineup. The new Moto E40 sits right between the two phones and resembles the E40 in multiple ways. In this article, we will be discussing the specs, key features, expected price, and availability of Moto E30 in Nepal.
Moto E30 Overview:
Design and Display
As expected from a budget phone, the body of the E30 is completely made out of plastic. It has a water repellent design with IP52 certification. The phone weighs around 198g and is 9.1mm thick. Its back has a curvy ridged design and there are two colors to choose from: Digital Blue and Mineral Gray.
Over on the front, the Moto E30 sports a 6.5-inch IPS LCD panel with a center-aligned punch-hole cutout. It’s an HD+ display alongside a 90Hz refresh rate.
Performance and Memory
Under the hood, Moto E30 packs Unisoc T700. It’s the same chipset you’ll find in the Moto E40. Fabricated under TSMC’s 12nm node, the T700 packs two Cortex A75 and six Cortex A55 cores.
As for memory, the phone is available in the sole 2+32GB variant. Because of the limited RAM space, it boots on the Go Edition of Android 11. It’s the main differentiating factor between E30 and E40 since the latter comes with the full-fledged version of Android 11.
At the back, the Moto E30 flaunts a triple camera setup. Leading the line is a 48MP primary sensor that shoots 4-in-1 pixel-binned images. Accompanying it are two 2MP sensors for macros and portrait photos.
Upfront, the punch-hole cutout encloses an 8MP selfie camera, capable of shooting FHD videos at 30fps.
Rest of the specs
Fueling the Moto E30 is a 5,000mAh battery with support for 10W charging over the Type-C port. As for connectivity, you get a triple card slot, 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth 5.0. Moto E30 has a dedicated Google Assistant button too.
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g (2.4GHz), Bluetooth 5.0
Moto E30 Price in Nepal and Availability
Moto E30 is currently listed on Aldi Belgium for EUR 100. You can also find the phone in Lenovo UK and Moto Slovakia, but they do not mention the price. We expect the price of the Motorola Moto E30 in Nepal to be NPR 13,000 when it launches here.
Back in August, Xiaomi re-entered the tablet market after over 3 years of hiatus. And among the two new tablets, the Xiaomi Pad 5 is here in Nepal. Here, we will be discussing the new Xiaomi Pad 5, along with its key specs, features, official price, and availability in Nepal.
Xiaomi Pad 5 series feature an 11-inch IPS LCD panel with support for a 120Hz refresh rate and 10-bit TrueTone technology. You can even enjoy Dolby Vision and HDR10 content on the Xiaomi Pad 5 and Pad 5 Pro.
At the back, we get to see the Mi 11 series-like camera module. Despite having the same dimension of 254.69 x 166.25 x 6.86mm, the Pro variant is heavier (515gm) than the vanilla Pad 5. Additionally, the Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro 5G is even heavier at 518gm.
Stylus and Keyboard
The Xiaomi Pad 5 series supports a magnetic keyboard and stylus. The latter boasts a 240Hz touch sampling rate. It weighs around 12.2 grams and features two buttons.
The keyboard also doubles as a protective cover. It has a dedicated button for exiting full-screen mode. However, neither of the two come included inside the box and you’re gonna have to buy them separately.
Meanwhile, check out all the prices and specs of Xiaomi tablets here
Performance and Memory
The main differentiating factor between the two models is the processor. The Pro model is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 870 5G, whereas the Xiaomi Pad 5 is powered by a relatively less powerful Snapdragon 860.
These tablets come with 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM and users can choose between 128 and 256GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. On the other hand, Xiaomi Pad Pro 5G comes in a single variant of 8/256GB memory configuration.
Software and UI
Xiaomi Pad 5 series runs on a special version of MIUI designed for tablets. The company claims to have optimized 300 different mainstream apps to run on the platform with plans to add even more in the future.
The UI supports input from an external keyboard and stylus, split-screen mode, multiple windows, and other features for a desktop-like experience.
Rest of the specs
Fueling the vanilla Pad 5 is an 8,720mAh battery with support for 33W fast charging. The battery on the Pro Model has a smaller capacity of 8,600mAh but supports faster 67W charging.
In terms of cameras, the vanilla Xiaomi Pad 5 features a single camera setup of 13MP at the back. There is an additional 5MP depth sensor on the Pro model. On the other hand, the Xiaomi Pad 5 Pro 5G features a 50MP primary camera accompanied by a 5MP depth sensor.
All the models across the lineup feature an 8MP front-facing camera. In terms of audio, while the standard Xiaomi Pad 5 has a quad-speaker system, the Pro models boast eight speakers in total. There’s Dolby Atmos audio support in all three of them.
Xiaomi Pad 5 Series Specifications:
Dimension: 254.69 x 166.25 x 6.85mm, 511g (Pad 5) / 515g (5 Pro) / 518g (5 Pro 5G)
The price of the Xiaomi Pad 5 in Nepal is NPR 44,999 for the 6/128GB and NPR 49,999 for the 6/256GB variant. You can buy the Xiaomi Pad 5 from Hukut Store and get Rs. 1000 discount.
Xiaomi Pad 5
Price in Nepal (Official)
6/128GB
NPR 44,999
6/256GB
NPR 49,999
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Xiaomi Pad 5.
While Android is the most popular mobile operating system in the world, Android tablets haven’t quite hit the home run for a lot of users—one of the primary reasons being the lack of proper software optimization for the larger form-factor. On that note, I’ve got the new Vastking Kingpad M10 tablet in for review which I have been using for about a month now.
Manufacturers such as Samsung, Lenovo, Xiaomi, and others have been trying to keep the Android tablet market at a good pace. So, does Vastking’s new tablet provide this space a strong push? Let’s find out in this review.
Vastking Kingpad M10 Specifications:
Dimensions: 246.38 x 154.94 x 7.62mm, 450 grams
Display: 10.36″ IPS, 2K resolution (2000 x 1200), 60Hz
Memory: 4GB RAM, 128GB internal storage (expandable up to 2TB)
Rear Camera: 13MP
Front Camera: 8MP
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0, Dual-band WiFi, 4G LTE, USB-C, SIM/microSD (Hybrid)
Audio: Quad-speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack
Security: Face unlock
Battery: 6000 mAh, 10W charging
Extras: Compatible keyboard
Price in Nepal: N/A (USD 229)
Vastking Kingpad M10 Review:
Performance
Octa-core Unisoc T618 4G (12nm)
4GB RAM, 128GB storage (expandable)
Android 11
The M10 is available in a sole configuration with 4GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage. Thankfully, if 128 gigs of storage aren’t sufficient, you can upgrade it to 2TB with a microSD card. That reminds me, this tablet has a hybrid SIM slot, meaning you get to use either two nano-SIMs or configure it with a SIM and a microSD card.
Despite this, the Kingpad M10 is certainly not looking to be a laptop replacement. It is powered by the entry-level Unisoc T618 octa-core chipset—which is pretty much the same as MediaTek’s Helio G88. And it delivers respectable performance for everyday use.
Now, getting into its real-time performance, as I mentioned earlier, it can handle everyday lightweight tasks with ease and is well-optimized for multitasking as well—despite the minor hiccups every now and then.
Moreover, Vastking ships the M10 with stock Android 11 out of the box, which means no custom skin or bloatware apps on top. And the entire UI/UX seems quite streamlined as well. Also, I am delighted to report that the app load time on this thing is never unbearably slow like other budget tablets while its RAM management is excellent too. So, good job Vastking!
Gaming
With decent typical usage, I also tried playing a few games such as PUBG, Call of Duty Mobile, and Pokémon Unite here to test its gaming capability. Here, Pokémon Unite managed to provide consistent performance in Medium graphics, whereas PUBG Mobile yielded better results at Smooth graphics and High frame rates.
Likewise, the Call of Duty Mobile renders stable gameplay under Medium graphics and Low frame rate settings. To note, continuous gaming for about an hour or so gets it warm around the camera module at the back.
Overall, this tablet is a safe bet for folks whose primary requirements consist of watching videos, browsing the web, attending Zoom meetings, taking notes, and performing other basic everyday tasks. Still, I feel like its performance could’ve been noticeably better—especially in multitasking scenarios—if Vastking also had a 6GB RAM variant to offer. Unfortunately, you’ll have to make do with just 4GB.
Design
246.38 x 154.94 x 7.62mm, 450 grams
Metal-plastic hybrid build material
Compatible with keyboard, case accessory
Anyway, let’s now focus on the design. The Kingpad M10 is a sleek device with squared-off edges and 7.62mm of thickness that weighs 450 grams. While the company claims to have a full metal body design, the back panel does have a plastic-made portion that catches fingerprints rather easily.
That might be to conceal the antenna line since you can’t spot them at any other place in the tablet. Moreover, you can change this thing into a portable workstation by adding a keyboard deck which is obviously going to cost you extra pennies.
For further durability, you may also buy a screen protector, case, and other stuff directly from their site. In my case—pun intended—I have the case and keyboard, which really adds up to the overall experience.
The M10, when closed with a case and a keyboard resembles a small clamshell laptop. The outer top and bottom lids have a grey matte texture to them, while the interior holds and connects the tablet and the keyboard via a 5-pin magnetic connector.
Easy-to-do
Despite its compact body, this keyboard pretty much fits all the essential keys, including a row of specialized Function keys at the very top. As a result, I can alter the brightness and volume levels here the same way I would on a Windows PC.
The buttons on this keyboard are obviously smaller than those on a laptop or a standalone keyboard, but they aren’t necessarily that difficult to get used to. Personally, it took me a few hours of office work to adjust to this layout. The keys aren’t backlit either, although they have excellent feedback and a good keystroke.
The touchpad, on the other hand, is rather small and is tough to get accustomed to—especially for someone like me who rarely uses one even on a laptop. Nevertheless, you can use it to scroll through web pages or over your social media feeds.
Display
10.36-inches IPS, 60Hz refresh rate
2K resolution (2000 x 1200 pixels)
Over on the display, you get a big 10.36-inch IPS panel with 2K resolution here. This touchscreen delivers clear and easy-to-read text and graphics although it isn’t as vibrant as an OLED panel.
Plus, it does not support a higher refresh rate either, so if you’re coming from a 90Hz or a 120Hz panel, you’ll feel the difference right away. There’s also a noticeable delay in the app load time or when scrolling through the UI. Similarly, the screen’s brightness is adequate for indoor usage or on an overcast day, although the colors appear somewhat subdued under direct sunlight.
Moreover, like with other Android tablets, there are minimal options for customizing the home screen. But things are bound to change with the launch of Android 12L—a new operating system designed exclusively for tablets, foldable, and ChromeOS devices.
Anyway, this display has good viewing angles, so there’s no drop in image quality when looking at it from the sides. Unfortunately, because it is just Widevine L3 certified, you can only stream videos at SD resolution on OTT platforms like Netflix.
Audio
Quad-speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack
On the audio front, the Kingpad M10 has a quad-speaker configuration. While the specification seems appealing enough, the audio doesn’t get particularly loud, and neither can you enjoy deep bass here.
Despite this, the mids and vocals sound pretty clear—although it gets slightly murky when turning up the volume to the max. Similarly, it has a 3.5mm headphone socket on the rounded corner whose audio output is adequate too.
Camera
Single 13MP rear camera
8MP selfie camera (landscape layout)
Cameras
1 of 2
Front
Back
Now, let’s talk about the cameras, which certainly aren’t the best aspect of this tablet—or any other budget tablet for that matter. To be clear, you won’t be getting Insta-worthy photos but the M10 is capable enough to capture a few moments here and there.
Daytime Images
1 of 5
Here, the images from the 13MP camera at the back have a reddish tint. And when zoomed in, their lack of detail doesn’t come as a surprise either. Similarly, it also struggles with exposure control, whereas its dynamic range is also among the worst on a budget tablet.
Selfie
1 of 2
It’s the same with the selfie camera as well. The images from this 8MP sensor come off quite hazy along with an uneven contrast level. However, for indoor usages like online classes and meetings, it works just fine and the videos have boosted black levels.
This front-facing camera also supports face unlocks. For the most part, it works wonderfully during the day. Nevertheless, in a dimly lit environment, the camera expectedly has difficulty identifying your face.
Battery
6000mAh battery with 10W charging
Moving on to the battery, the Kingpad M10 is fueled by a 6,000mAh cell, which is just about modest considering you can find Android tablets with a massive 10,000mAh unit as well.
With a full charge, I got about 6-7 hours of screen-on time here—where my usage consisted of attending 2-3 hours of online meetings, a few gaming sessions, browsing through social media, and other regular tasks.
On the contrary, its 10W charging is quite a disappointment as it takes almost three and a half hours to fully juice up the battery to 100%. Given the tablet’s big size, Vastking should have managed to fit in a 7,000mAh or bigger battery—or at the very least offered 15/25W fast charging capability. However, it falls short in both these areas.
Vastking Kingpad M10 Review: Conclusion
So wrapping up this review, the Vastking Kingpad M10 ticks most of the boxes for a decent budget Android tablet. True, it would have been even better if the company had included a larger battery and better cameras.
But for the most part, it’s a good go-to tablet—while the detachable keyboard accessory is sure to assist students or business owners to turn it into a portable workstation as well.
MSI sells all kinds of gaming laptops; from the lightweight ones under the “GF” lineup to the might powerful devices in the high-end “GP” and “GE” series. I have been using the new GP66 Leopard for almost a month now. And in this review, I’ll be sharing all my experiences with the MSI GP66 Leopard (11UG).
MSI GP66 Leopard (11UG) Specifications:
Design&Build: Plastic-aluminum hybrid build, 14.13W x 10.51D x 0.92H-inches, 2.38 kg
Color Options: Core Black (Matte cover lid with MSI Dragon logo)
What’s inside the box: Laptop, power adapter, quick start guide
MSI GP66 Leopard 11UG Review:
Design
14.13W x 10.51D x 0.92H-inches, 2.38 kg
Plastic-aluminum hybrid build quality
Starting with the design, as you can see, it’s quite a chonky unit. But thankfully, MSI has used a plastic-aluminum hybrid material to keep the weight to a minimum. At 2.38 kg—despite its aggressive look—the GP66 is actually lighter than the Omen 15 that I reviewed recently.
Still, coming from the M1 MacBook Pro, this is a far cry from an easily portable laptop for me. Regardless of its bold design, the GP66 doesn’t get the RGB encasement as the more expensive MSI GE76 Raider, but that’s fine by me. I’m a bigger fan of the subtlety anyway.
Its hinge is fairly sturdy for the most part but I did notice a considerable flex near the middle of the chassis. Also, while the company embraced a modern-looking 16:10 aspect ratio in its 2021 lineup of Creator laptops, this one still hosts a traditional 16:9 display. The side bezels don’t bother me as much but this chin is certainly distracting.
Ports
1 of 3
Left
Back
Right
Oh, and before I forget—this hinge can’t lay 180º flat either. Thankfully, its beveled edges all around—complemented by a fairly blunt edge at the bottom of the keyboard deck means I’ve had zero discomforts when typing on this laptop for hours. Moving on to ports, MSI certainly could’ve done better though.
Not the best port selection
First off, there’s no USB-C connection at all—and all three Type-A connections are of the USB 3.2 Gen 1 protocol. And considering the content creation possibility of this machine, I would’ve liked to see a full-sized SD card reader as well.
Nevertheless, there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack and a Kensington lock slot over on the left while the back of the GP66 houses a Mini-DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.1, an RJ45, and a power-in port.
Display
15.6″ anti-glare non-touch FHD IPS panel
240Hz refresh rate, close to 100% sRGB gamut
Getting to the display, MSI sells this laptop in three configurations: a 165Hz QHD panel, a 144Hz FHD panel, or a 240Hz FHD option, which is the one I have. And let me just tell you, I don’t know how I’m going to adjust to the MacBook Pro’s 60Hz refresh rate when I eventually get back to it.
Everything is just so smooth on this thing that you’ll feel spoiled in a matter of hours. But if you’d rather have a sharper screen, I doubt the 165Hz refresh rate is going to feel significantly sluggish.
As expected, the sharper variant also boasts a better color coverage with 100% DCI-P3 gamut—while MSI promises 72% DCI-P3 and “close-to 100% sRGB” color space on the FHD models. And throughout my usage, this screen has fared me just fine. The colors look fairly saturated whereas thanks to its 291 nits of peak brightness, the laptop doesn’t struggle with maintaining visibility either.
However, the GP66 does suffer from a mild dip in color saturation levels when looking at it from extreme angles. I also noticed minimal screen bleeding on the bottom left edge of the display but it’s absolutely nothing to worry about.
Display Properties
1 of 3
Color Gamut
Gamma
Brightness
More importantly, MSI has used an anti-glare coating to make sure the ambient light reflections don’t get too distracting. And because this is a gaming laptop, it boasts a minimal response time of 3.5ms only—which is something eSports players will certainly appreciate.
Keyboard
Full-size keys (by SteelSeries)
Per-key RGB lighting
Moving on, MSI has partnered up with SteelSeries to bring a per-key RGB keyboard on the GP66 Leopard. Customizing the lighting is also super easy—you can select from a bunch of pre-loaded RGB presets or tweak the individual keys the way you want.
Yet, the backlighting isn’t as well-implemented as I’d hoped for. You can clearly see that the secondary shortcut engravings aren’t as illuminating.
Ineffective backlighting
Plus, when setting its lighting to steady “White”, the keys look noticeably pinkish instead. But I feel like this could be solved with an update to the SteelSeries GG app. Anyway, I have nothing to complain about the keyboard feedback.
The keys are full-sized, well spaced-out, offer a decent travel distance, and there’s minimal flex on the keyboard deck. I also like the soft and silent sound profile upon their press which is a crucial thing to consider when using the laptop in a professional setting.
But as you can see, despite being housed inside a 15.6” chassis, there’s a dedicated Numpad missing here. On the contrary, MSI’s design language involves a wide flank on either side—on top of a subtle trough to prevent key-presses onto the display.
The Function and Control keys fused together has been a bit of a challenge to get used to—although I am thankful for these large arrow keys. All in all, I’m pretty fond of this keyboard in spite of a couple of dismissable flaws.
Trackpad
Glass trackpad with integrated left/right keys
The trackpad, on the other hand, could’ve been better. Feels like MSI should’ve pushed the keyboard deck a little higher to make space for a larger trackpad, but here we are. Also, while I’ve faced no trouble with palm rejection, I wished it was centrally aligned.
As a result, this glass-made trackpad has further strengthened my habit of sticking to a dedicated mouse. In addition, I find its feedback quite noisy. And it’s especially audible when I’m using multi-finger gestures. But that’s not to say there’s any issue with the gestures’ responses themselves.
Audio
2x 2W side-firing speakers
Hi-Res Audio, Nahimic app
For audio, the GP66 Leopard brings dual stereo speakers with the driver units located on the lowermost portion on the sides. Therefore, the audio output doesn’t get as muffled here. But disregarding the supposed clarity, these stereo speakers still disappoint. Bass reproduction is completely absent while I find its instrument separation lackluster too.
After playing around with equalizers inside the Nahimic app, I did manage to get a slightly better sound quality from these speakers. But at the end of the day, it’s pretty clear that MSI has installed a mediocre sound setup here. Even its loudness doesn’t get up to the mark.
Webcam
720p HD camera
No privacy shutter
And of course—this gaming laptop’s webcam isn’t that great. To note, the onboard 720p camera isn’t complemented by an IR sensor for Windows Hello login. But more importantly, the video quality from this webcam is below average. Subjects look way too grainy and it doesn’t handle exposure or dynamic range very well.
I guess it’s fine for casual video calls. But I would suggest getting a decent external camera if you frequently attend Zoom meetings or online classes. Additionally, the audio pickup from its array microphones didn’t wow me as well.
Performance
Intel Core i7-11800H CPU (45W TDP)
NVIDIA RTX 3070 140W (discrete GPU)
16GB DDR4 RAM, 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
Okay, allow me to talk about the performance side of things now. I’ve been reviewing a bunch of gaming laptops recently—most of which were powered by an AMD processor. So the MSI GP66 Leopard with Intel’s 11th gen CPU has been a nice change of pace.
Here, my review unit has the Core i7-11800H CPU and RTX 3070 GPU with 140W TGP and 8GB GDDR6 VRAM. In terms of memory, it features 16GB DDR4 RAM in dual channel and 512GB M.2 SSD. This particular configuration goes for NPR 299,000 here in Nepal, some INR 180,000 in India, or some USD 1,700 in the US.
Different GPU configurations
While i7-11800H is the most powerful processor you can find for this laptop, MSI also sells it with RTX 3080 and RTX 3060 GPU. Luckily, both RAM and storage are easily upgradeable here. It hosts two SO-DIMM slots that can take up to 64GB DDR4 RAM, alongside two M.2 NVMe slots—one PCIe Gen 3 and one Gen 4. As for wireless connectivity, there’s Killer ax Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2.
Before moving forward, I’d like to discuss the new “MSI Center”—which is a redesigned MSI Dragon Center that we’ve been familiar with over the years. From the looks of it, its UI/UX is inspired by the company’s own “MSI Center for Business & Productivity” app found in the Prestige and Summit lineup. And to be honest, I fail to understand this whole redesign shenanigan.
I mean, why would MSI want to strip away the gaming aesthetics of the app for a gaming laptop? Adding insult to injury is its ineffective and sometimes redundant layout as well. So I can only hope MSI pushes an update fixing all the issues at once.
Smooth sailing
Anyway, thanks to such powerful hardware underneath, it’s fair to say that the GP66 has simply sailed through my everyday chores. Even when using it under Silent profile that dials down CPU performance in favor of quiet fan profile, this beast has managed to keep up with all my office workloads.
This includes running a bunch of tabs on Chrome, attending a couple of Zoom meetings every now and then, typing up documents on LibreOffice, and light photo editing on Adobe Photoshop.
CrystalDiskMark
Read (MB/s)
Write (MB/s)
SEQ1M Q8T1
1964.69
704.06
SEQ1M Q1T1
1275.59
166.46
RND4K Q32T1
299.73
184.16
RNK4K Q1T1
52.23
179.70
Cinebench R23
MSI GP66 Leopard (11UG)
HP Omen 15 (2021)
CPU: Multi-Core
10811
11255
CPU: Single Core
1457
1343
MP Ratio
7.42x
8.38x
Geekbench 5
MSI GP66 Leopard (11UG)
HP Omen 15 (2021)
CPU: Single Core
1515
1257
CPU: Multi-Core
8901
6971
Compute (OpenCL)
125139
108059
Unigine Heaven
(FPS: 169.1, Score: 4259, Min FPS: 9.8, Max FPS: 350.6)
API: OpenGL
Multi-monitor: Disabled
Quality: High
Anti-aliasing: x2
Tessellation: Extreme
Fullscreen: Yes
Stereo 3D: Disabled
Resolution: System
3DMark
Overall
Graphics
Physics
Combined
Fire Strike Extreme v1.1
13156
13804
24816
6398
Fire Strike Ultra v1.1
6916
6798
24638
3549
Total
Graphics
CPU
Time Spy v1.2
10585
10724
9864
Blender (CPU)
MSI GP66 Leopard (11UG)
HP Omen 15 (2021)
bmw27
3m38s
3m42s
classroom
10m4s
9m39s
fishy_cat
4m56s
4m50s
koro
7m12s
7m22s
pavillon_barcelona
10m20s
10m1s
victor
17m25s
16m14s
Intel processors have always been known for their superior single-core performance and the 11th gen H-series CPUs seem to have kept up this legacy. For this review of the MSI GP66 Leopard 11UG, I tried comparing its benchmark results with the closest AMD counterpart—the Ryzen 7 5800H. Here, we can see the i7-11800H posting better single-core numbers.
However, the AMD CPU boasts better multi-core performance in most instances including Cinebench R23 and synthetic benchmarks like Blender.
Gaming experience
The MSI GP66 also keeps up its reputation when it comes to gaming—and it’s quite a capable 1080p gaming machine. Playing Cyberpunk 2077 at the highest settings with ray tracing set to Ultra, I graphed about 38-42 fps on average here.
Dialing ray tracing down to Medium gets you 46-51 fps instead. Likewise, Control is playable at its max graphics settings at around 60 fps on average while you can expect a stable 90 fps on GTA V.
1080p Gaming Benchmarks
Extreme Performance mode, Cooler Boost thermal control
Game
Settings
Average FPS
Cyberpunk 2077
Texture quality: High
38-42fps
Ray Tracing: Ultra
Texture quality: High
46-51fps
Ray Tracing: Medium
Control
Texture resolution: Ultra
60fps
Ray Tracing: High
GTA V
Texture Quality: Very High
90fps
Reflection Quality: Ultra
CS: GO
Texture Detail: High
257-270fps
Anti-Aliasing: 8X MSAA
Valorant
Texture Quality: High
180fps
Anti-Aliasing: 4X MSAA
Comparatively less taxing games like CS: GO fully utilize this 240Hz display since I got somewhere between 257 to 270 fps on average even at the highest settings. But it’s important to note that the frame rate would drop to as low as 203 sometimes. Similarly, Valorant manages roughly 180 fps on average at the highest graphics settings.
Impressive thermals
Apart from the stellar gaming performance, I’m thoroughly impressed with its cooling mechanism as well. Granted this laptop gets quite loud when tweaking its power drive to “Extreme Performance” and fan speed to “Cooler Boost”, that’s more than worth it considering the GP66’s comfortable gaming experience.
I mean, you’re likely to put on a pair of headsets when gaming anyway—that’ll ultimately drown out the fan noise. Throughout my experience, I noticed that the area above the keyboard deck gets the hottest while the keyboard itself doesn’t get that hot. To be fair, the middle portion is relatively warmer than the rest but I’d still label it under the “comfortable” category.
To achieve this, the GP66 Leopard has large air intake vents on the bottom. Complementing this are the exhausts are located on the sides and the back of the laptop. There are also 6 heatpipes in total drawing heat away from the CPU and GPU to make sure you have the most comfortable gaming experience.
Battery
65 Watt-hour 4-cell battery
280W AC power adapter
On the battery front, the GP66 delivers a pretty average result. Fueled by a modest 65Wh battery, I managed to get about 4-4.5 hours of screen-on time during my regular office chores, when using this laptop under Silent performance profile with brightness set to about 50-60%.
For running all the benchmarks and games, I had to set it to Extreme Performance mode which dramatically reduces the battery endurance. Besides, the GP66 Leopard fuels up via a massive 280W power adapter that takes about 2 hours to fill up the battery from 0 to 100%.
MSI GP66 Leopard 11UG Review: Conclusion
Summing up this review, the MSI GP66 Leopard 11UG pretty much nails all the primary aspects of an incredible 1080p gaming laptop. It quite literally has the most powerful mobile RTX 3070 GPU with 140W graphics power. Plus, the 11th gen Intel H-series CPU still slaps in terms of its gaming results.
Moreover, I’m quite amazed by the thermal solution on this thing as well since even prolonged gaming sessions aren’t thermally uncomfortable here. Having said that, there’s a definite bit of compromise on the tier-two features like audio, trackpad, and webcam quality on this laptop.
Watch our review video of the MSI GP66 Leopard 11UG.
iQOO’s phones have mostly been known for their terrific performance and excellent value-for-money. And the new iQOO Z5 that I have with me is currently the most affordable Snapdragon 778G-powered phone available right now. Apart from the chipset upgrade, the company hasn’t really brought any other significant improvement compared to the iQOO Z3 from earlier this year. Allow me to discuss more on this review of the iQOO Z5.
Battery: 5000mAh with 44W FlashCharge (44W adapter provided)
Color Options: Mystic Space, Arctic Dawn
Price in Nepal: N/A (not launched yet)
INR 23,990 (8/128GB) | INR 26,990 (12/256GB)
iQOO Z5 Review:
Design & Build
76.7 x 164.7 x 8.5mm, 193 grams
Glass front, polycarbonate back/frame
Starting this review with the design, the iQOO Z5 is a little beefier—which is primarily because of the bigger battery beneath. At 193 grams, it’s certainly not the bulkiest phone to have in your pockets but I wish it had a more even weight distribution to even things out. Anyway, there are some subtle visual glow-ups that I gotta talk about.
While iQOO went with a Vivo X60-inspired camera module for the Z3, its successor brings one inspired by the new Vivo X70. I’m not particularly thrilled about this design—but to each their own, I guess.
Besides the Arctic Dawn colorway that I have with me, iQOO also ships the Z5 in the Mystic Space option that infused black and blue hues. On the contrary, this one appears to have a plain white finish at a glance but upon a closer look, you’ll notice subtle prismatic reflections—complemented by tiny starry patterns across the board.
More importantly, it’s got a matte finish, thereby keeping fingerprints and smudges at bay. I just wish it weren’t this slippery because I would’ve loved to rock it without a case. Overall, the phone’s hands-on feel is further eased up by the 3D curved sides. Still and all, I’m not a fan of how the grooves on the side house the power and the volume buttons.
Buttons could’ve been placed better
This shallow indentation means my finger struggles to naturally find its way to the power button. The tactile feedback of the button itself is fine for a mid-range phone, but this is certainly an area where iQOO could’ve done better.
Yet, this fingerprint scanner-infused button unlocks the phone ridiculously fast—whereas I’m impressed with the face unlock’s response time too. Besides the buttons on the right, you’ll find a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microphone at the top while the left frame stays entirely clean.
Buttons, Ports
1 of 3
Headphone Jack
Buttons
Speaker Grill, USB-C, SIM Tray
The SIM tray that now can’t take a microSD card is located at the bottom alongside the USB-C port, a speaker grille, and an additional mic. And while the phone expectedly skips an IP rating, iQOO has accompanied the SIM tray with a rubber gasket.
Moving on, expecting a compact mid-range phone in 2021 is pretty much pointless so I can’t single out iQOO for delivering a rather wide device. However, the Z5 is an all-plastic phone—so it definitely lags behind in terms of a premium feel compared to similarly-priced phones with a glass back.
Display
6.67-inches FHD+ IPS LCD screen
120/240Hz refresh/touch sampling rate
Panda Glass protection, HDR10
Now, getting to the display section of the review, iQOO Z5 does bring some upgrades on this front—but it isn’t entirely what I was looking forward to. The teardrop notch is gone for good this time but the company is still sticking with an IPS LCD panel here. As a result, this is definitely where most of the criticisms surrounding the phone revolve—and rightfully so.
The competition is readily offering a vibrant AMOLED screen on phones that cost almost half as much as the Z5, while iQOO’s stance against AMOLED on its mid-range devices is questionable. In all fairness, this IPS panel is of decent quality. Measuring 6.67” tall, the colors on this display look well-saturated—with a hint of a pinkish tint all-around.
This is noticeable in practically every color profile available, and shifting through the temperature settings didn’t do the trick either. On the other hand, iQOO has retained Widevine L1 certification here—whereas its HDR10 compatibility is still half-baked. You can play HDR videos off of YouTube but not on OTT platforms like Netflix.
Not the most competitive display
Pair it with the IPS nature of this screen, I’ve sorely missed the saturation, contrast levels of an OLED display here. This is especially true when watching something bright like the Cowboy Bebop anime that I’ve been rewatching before jumping to its live-action Netflix series.
At 480 nits, the iQOO Z5 gets plenty bright although it does struggle under direct sunlight. Considering the overall fluid performance of the phone, the ambient sensor takes a while to kick in, but it’s nothing to worry about. There was even an update addressing this issue but to no avail.
Update
1 of 1
I’m not a big fan of its viewing angles either as there’s an observable dip in saturation levels when looking at it from the sides. Nevertheless, the 120Hz refresh rate here is quite well-optimized. I did notice micro-stutters when scrolling through the app drawer or triggering the global search on a couple of occasions, but it’s not frequent enough to warrant any immediate concern.
This 120Hz implementation is also a smart one—meaning the display can automatically switch between refresh rates to save battery. Like on the iQOO Z3, this one toggles between 60 and 120Hz only. Complementing this is a 240Hz touch sampling rate. For the most part, it’s handled my gaming sessions admirably fine, while I also can’t complain about the typing accuracy.
Android 11 with Vivo’s Funtouch OS 12 on top (upgradeable)
Allow me to get to the performance side of things now. Powering the Z5 is the hottest mid-range Qualcomm chip in town—the Snapdragon 778G 5G. Not literally the “hottest”, but the most preferred sub-flagship mobile silicon; you know what I mean.
While I initially thought that iterative upgrade from the 768G on the iQOO Z3 wouldn’t be that big a-deal, I was pleasantly surprised to find out the opposite. And most of this has to do with the faster memory protocols as well.
To note, the Z3 featured LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.2 storage. On the contrary, iQOO has packed the respective fastest memory solutions here, which means you’re getting 8/12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128/256GB of UFS 3.1 storage on the Z5. If I had to boil down its performance into one word, it’d be “snappy”.
I mean, everything feels so quick and responsive here. There’s also iQOO’s “Extended RAM 2.0” feature that can swap in 4GB of storage as RAM whenever necessary.
When I say snappy, I mean snappy!
As usual, I ran my app opening and multitasking test on this phone and I’m amazed by its results. The 8GB variant that I have was able to keep all 10 apps in memory—completing the test in 2 minutes and 35 seconds. To note, the iQOO Z5 managed to outpace the Dimensity 1200-powered OnePlus Nord 2 in this regard. Most impressive!
App list:
Phone
Genshin Impact
Chrome
PUBG Mobile
Messenger
Netflix
Instagram
YouTube
Facebook
Adobe Premiere Rush
Speed Test:
iQOO Z5
OnePlus Nord 2
1st lap (app opening)
2 minutes 8 seconds
2 minutes 17 seconds
Full lap (multitasking)
2 minutes 35 seconds
2 minutes 45 seconds
Unfortunately, the memory management issue with small background processes that I mentioned in my review of the iQOO Z3 is still persistent with Funtouch OS 12.
Talking about Funtouch OS 12, its stock Android-inspired design sits right by me, and iQOO has listened to the criticism of Funtouch OS 11 as I didn’t find as many terms & conditions prompts here. It has gotten rid of the Jovi Home feed on the homescreen as well—leaving you with only the Google Discover card. However, the phone still comes with a bunch of bloatware apps pre-installed—all of which are thankfully uninstallable.
How’s the gaming experience?
Moving to gaming, the phone has fared significantly better compared to other Snapdragon 778G-powered phones I’ve tested so far. Genshin Impact is well inside the playable boundary under High graphics, 60fps mode, and with motion blur turned off.
iQOO Z3
iQOO Z5
(Snapdragon 768G)
(Snapdragon 778G)
Androbench
Sequential Read
998.96 MB/s
1500.04 MB/s
Sequential Write
463.49 MB/s
939.79 MB/s
AnTuTu v8.5
Total
375542
492724
CPU
120274
160310
GPU
106404
150960
Memory
71474
97169
UX
77390
84285
Geekbench 5
CPU (Single Core)
708
797
CPU (Multi-Core)
2014
2981
Compute (OpenCL)
1504
2318
PCMark (Work 3.0 Performance)
8361
11538
3DMark (Wild Life)
1949
2529
But I know most of us would rather have an even smoother gameplay, so dialing the graphics down to medium does the trick. There are still some minor frame drops every now and then, but I can’t complain much. After 30-35 minutes into the game, I graphed the CPU and GPU temperatures climb to 42ºC and 38ºC, respectively.
Under this, you’ll find the phone getting the hottest near the camera module although I didn’t notice any significant discomfort. iQOO Z5’s vapor chamber cooling seems to have done its job just fine. Likewise, PUBG Mobile can hit up to HDR graphics and Ultra frame rates where I noticed minimal frame drops on a couple of occasions. So I had to switch to Smooth graphics and Extreme frame rates for a stable 60fps gameplay.
Besides these, the Z5 sails past COD Mobile at its highest of settings with minimal lag/stutters. Even after a little over 40 minutes into the game, the phone doesn’t get that hot. A relatively less-demanding title like MLBB is well playable with HD and HFR turned on.
High fps gaming is absent
Despite all this, you won’t be able to enjoy high-fps games at their best on this phone. Critical Ops is restricted to 60fps where it plays smoothly at Ultra graphics, but the missing 120fps mode makes a big difference.
Similarly, playing Injustice 2 capped out at 60fps was a fairly enjoyable experience although I did notice infrequent frame drops here and there. Amidst this review, I also ran a CPU throttle test on the iQOO Z5 to verify its impressive enduring performance. And as you can see from this chart, the 778G on the iQOO Z5 throttled to just 89% after an hour.
CPU Throttle Test
1 of 2
30 minutes
60 minutes
So, if you’re looking for a reliable performer in the mid-range category, the iQOO Z5 is definitely a top contender. Further sweetening the pot is the fact that this phone is also guaranteed to get 2 years of platform and 3 years of security updates.
Cameras
Triple-camera setup at the back
(64MP main, 8MP ultrawide, 2MP macro)
16MP selfie camera (punch-hole cutout)
Cameras
1 of 2
Back
Front
On to the cameras, there’s not much to be excited by since the company has borrowed the same camera array from the iQOO Z3. In fact, there’s a downgrade in the video department since it can’t shoot 4K/60fps videos, unlike its predecessor. Anyway, this setup includes a 64MP Samsung GW3 primary sensor followed by an 8MP ultrawide and a hopeless 2MP macro lens.
For this review, I compared the cameras on iQOO Z5 against the Samsung Galaxy M52, and here are the results.
Normal Images
Normal daytime images from both phones are well-detailed but I noticed that images from the M52 retain greater contrast. Therefore, Z5’s photos look relatively flatter and the colors don’t pop as much either.
Normal
1 of 10
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
But as you can see from these samples, there’s a noticeable reddish tint from M52’s photos too. And in some cases, I found iQOO to be doing a better job in terms of dynamic range as well.
Wideangle Images
There’s a similar progression on ultrawide shots too. Low contrast and therefore brighter shadow details from the Z5, but I like M52’s images more as it manages to retain the punchy contrast that I expect from an image.
Ultrawide
1 of 10
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
Compared to the primary camera, the color shift in the ultrawide lens is more pronounced on the M52 though.
Portrait Images
Getting to the portrait images, neither of them has a dedicated depth sensor.
Portrait
1 of 4
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
I find images from iQOO better in terms of dynamic range although its detail level isn’t up to the mark most of the time. Both phones are similar when it comes to edge detection though.
Macro Images
Macro
1 of 4
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
Macro shots, on the other hand, are pretty useless from either of them while Z5’s close-up photos are relatively softer.
Nighttime Images
Under low-light conditions, even though Galaxy M52 struggles with maintaining exposure sometimes, its sharper, brighter photos are ultimately superior to the softer results from the iQOO Z5.
Nighttime
1 of 4
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
There’s not much to expect in the ultrawide nighttime shots of either phone where Z5 produces rabidly greenish tint in extremely low-light conditions.
Night Mode
1 of 6
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
Turning on night mode, the results are still muddy and with a greenish hue on the iQOO Z5 whereas M52’s shots have a more natural white balance and are sharper with finer details. Shifting to the ultrawide camera, iQOO softens the details while M52 shoots relatively sharper but often times grainier photos.
Selfie Images
Selfie
1 of 6
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
Although M52’s selfies have better contrast, they tend to look a little dark and sometimes even oversharpened. On the contrary, the iQOO Z5 shoots warm and a bit greenish selfies.
Portrait Selfie
1 of 6
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
iQOO Z5
Galaxy M52
Moreover, the Z5 also oversharpens the selfie portraits but pretty much matches the M52 in terms of edge detection.
Videography
Moving to videos, 4k/30fps footages are jittery from both phones although I like the contrast and color balance from the M52 more. Unlike Samsung, iQOO has enabled stabilization at 1080p/60fps mode too—but it crops way too much to achieve a steady result. As you can tell, even the videos from the iQOO Z5 have the aforementioned greenish tint.
Weirdly enough, the level of stabilization on this phone is downgraded when shooting at 1080p/30fps. Here, the steadiness is comparable from both phones but Samsung wins out in terms of contrast levels—despite its warm hue. I also like the 1080p/30fps ultrawide videos more from the M52 for its wider field of view, balanced black levels, and contrast.
Samsung wins in the selfie video department as well, since it can shoot up to 4k/30fps resolution compared to the 1080p/30fps cap on the Z5. Under this, videos from both phones have a similar level of stabilization but M52’s recordings are richer in contrast.
Battery
5000mAh battery with 44W FlashCharge
iQOO Z5 gets its juice from a larger 5000mAh battery—compared to the 4400mAh cell on its predecessor. Under my regular usage with hours of streaming Netflix, browsing through my social media feeds, and playing a couple of games every now and then, I got about 5.5 hours of screen-on time. To note, I’d set the brightness to auto while setting the refresh rate to a steady 120Hz.
Battery
1 of 2
Charger
Charging
There’s no overnight battery drain issue either, so that’s great. With the bigger battery at the helm, iQOO has had to reduce the charging speed. Using the 44W power brick that comes inside the box, it takes about one hour and 12 minutes to fully juice it up.
Audio
Stereo speaker setup
3.5mm headphone jack
Moving to the audio portion of this review, the iQOO Z5 brings a stereo speaker setup contrary to the mono speaker on its predecessor. These are not dedicated dual speakers since the earpiece serves as the secondary unit to deliver stereo audio instead. Regardless, the audio output is quite loud and is suitable for watching shows/movies.
But listening to dynamic music—especially one that favors high frequencies like Radiohead’s “You and Whose Army?”—I noticed that vocals and other instruments are overpowered by treble.
Call quality is more than satisfactory though. I got no complaint from people on the receiving end about the loudness or clarity of my voice. There’s no trouble with the proximity sensor either. Additionally, the haptic feedback of the iQOO Z5 is pretty nice. It’s not as weak on the Galaxy M52 but I would’ve liked it more if it had a quieter noise profile.
iQOO Z5 Review: Conclusion
Wrapping up this review, the iQOO Z5 is a decent mid-range phone with snappy performance. But the fact that it still hosts an IPS display is kind of a major letdown, especially considering how other brands are offering a superior AMOLED screen at a similar price range. And compared to the competition, its cameras aren’t exactly on par either.
So, instead of driving up costs with advertisements on IPL, iQOO, a brand that launched the iQOO 7, which is still the best phone under INR 35,000 in India, could’ve definitely done a better job by bringing more competitive phones.
As of now, I’m sorry to say that the iQOO Z5 simply doesn’t strike the right note. I would rather recommend you the Galaxy M52 or the Xiaomi 11 Lite NE or the Mi 11X that are currently on sale at under INR 25,000 on Flipkart.
A couple of months ago, the Managing Director of Nepal Telecom teased that the company was working on cheap unlimited data packs. The said packs are here, but they are not exactly what we made them out to be. So, let’s walk through the pricing and availability of the new Sajilo Unlimited Packs from Nepal Telecom.
Nepal Telecom Sajilo Unlimited Packs
The Sajilo Unlimited Packs from Nepal Telecom bring unlimited monthly mobile/voice data, along with the option to buy add-on packs in the future. It’s a part of the company’s latest Autumn offer.
To note, these unlimited packs have their limitations. Based on your subscription, you can only enjoy full-speed internet for a pre-determined volume (1GB/2GB/4GB). After the consumption of the target bandwidth, the speed will be reduced to 64Kbps.
In addition, they are mainly for postpaid customers, with only the basic pack available for prepaid users. These packs can be activated by dialing *1415# or via the Nepal Telecom mobile app.
Sajilo Unlimited Pack – Rs. 599
At Rs. 599, this is the cheapest of the Sajilo Unlimited data packs. Here, users can choose between unlimited data or unlimited voice calls for 30 days.
If you choose the former, you will get 1GB of data per day for the total validity period. You can also buy an add-on voice pack for Rs. 299.
If you go with the voice option, you will get unlimited voice calls within the Nepal Telecom network. You can also buy an add-on data pack for Rs. 299. This offer is valid for both prepaid and post-paid users.
Plan
Voice
Data
SMS
Validity Period
Beneficiary
Price
Unlimited Data
–
1GB per Day (fallback speed of 64Kbps)
–
30 days (postpaid)
28 days (prepaid)
Prepaid users
Postpaid users
Rs. 599
Rs. 299 for data/voice add-on
Unlimited Voice
Unlimited calls within NT network
–
–
Sajilo Unlimited Pack – Rs. 799
Under this, you will get unlimited voice calls (NT-NT) and 200 free SMS (NT-NT) in addition to 30GB of data. It includes 50 minutes of voice calls and 50 SMS valid outside of NT’s network as well. This pack is valid only for post-paid users.
If you subscribe to this pack, you will get 2GB of mobile data per day. It is bundled with unlimited voice calls and 400 SMS within the NT network. Then there are 100 minutes of voice calls and 100 SMS for other networks.
Plan
Voice
Data
SMS
Validity Period
Beneficiary
Price
Unlimited Data + Voice + SMS
Unlimited calls within NT network
100 minutes talk time (NT-Others)
2GB per day (fallback speed of 64Kbps)
400 SMS (NT-NT)
100 SMS (NT-Others)
30 days
Postpaid users
Rs. 999
Sajilo Pack – Rs. 1,499
As you could tell, this is the most expensive pack of all. With this, you get 4GB of mobile data per day, unlimited voice calls, and 1000 SMS within the NT network. You also get additional 200 minutes of talk-time and 200 SMS valid outside of the company’s network.
Honestly, I was quite excited when the initial news broke about Nepal Telecom working on a monthly unlimited pack. Starting at Rs. 599, it is not as cheap as we expected it to be. Similarly, the throttled speed of just 64Kbps reduces the appeal as well. Moving on, most of these packs are not even available for prepaid customers that form the majority of users.
Meanwhile, check out our review of Worldlink’s 300Mbps Mesh WiFi.
Acer’s Swift lineup is famous for the thin and light Ultrabooks suitable for homes and offices. However, the company has lately added some devices targeting content creators as well. One of them is the new Swift X Pro, which has just hit the Nepali market. In this post, we will be discussing the Acer Swift X Pro in more detail, including its specs, features, price, and availability in Nepal.
Acer Swift X Pro Overview:
Design and Display
Acer Swift X Pro follows the thin and lightweight design of previous Swift laptops. It sports a metal chassis with options for Gold, Pink, and Black color variants for the lid. This laptop weighs around 1.39 kg and is 17.9mm thick.
Opening the lid, you are greeted with a 14″ IPS panel with FHD resolution. Its thin bezels contribute to an 85.73% screen-to-body ratio. The panel has 99% sRGB coverage and can get as bright as 300 nits.
Performance and Memory
Although the Swift X Pro is available with processors from both Intel and AMD, only the latter is available in Nepal as of now. In particular, it has the Ryzen 7 5800U. This CPU is based on the latest Zen 3 architecture and features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a maximum clock speed listed at 4.4GHz.
This has been paired with NVIDIA’s RTX 3050 Ti GPU, which should get you through tasks like light video editing and even casual gaming. It features 4GB of GDDR6 VRAM and has a maximum wattage of 40W. As for memory, you get 16GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 512GB of SSD storage.
Acer Swift X Pro has a full-size backlit keyboard. Interestingly, this keyboard also allows cool air to pass through to help with heat dissipation. It is accompanied by a Windows Precision trackpad. There is also a physical fingerprint scanner for biometrics.
Over on the audio, there are stereo speakers with DTS Audio. Acer has even included its proprietary AI Noise reduction technology that helps suppress ambient noise at both ends of a video call.
Rest of the specs
Fueling the laptop is a 3815mAh battery that Acer claims can provide up to 7 hours of endurance. The laptop ships with a 90W power brick for charging.
The ports selection is also decent here. You’re getting two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (with DisplayPort and USB charging), one HDMI, and a DC-in port. It misses out on a microSD card slot but features a Kensington lock.
Acer Swift X Pro Specifications:
Design &Build: Metal body, 12.7W x 8.4D x 0.71H-inches, 1.39 kg
Graphics: NVIDIA RTX 3050 Ti (4GB GDDR6 VRAM, 40W)
Audio: Stereo speaker with DTS: Audio
Battery: 3815mAh 4-cell Li-Ion battery
Power Supply: 65W barrel-pin power connector
Webcam: 720p HD camera, No privacy shutter
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 ax), Bluetooth 5.0
I/O Ports: 1x 3.5mm jack, 1x Thunderbolt 4 (with DisplayPort and USB charging), 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (one with power-off charging), 1x HDMI 2.0
Acer Swift X Pro Price in Nepal and Availability
The price of Acer Swift X Pro in Nepal is Rs. 168,000. It is for the Ryzen 7 5800U variant with RTX 3050 Ti GPU, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD. You can buy Acer Swift X Pro in Nepal from ITTI and other authorized stores.
Acer Swift X Pro
Price in Nepal
Availability
Ryzen 7 5800U, RTX 3050 Ti, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD
Rs. 168,000
Authorized Stores
Meanwhile, check out our review of Acer Aspire 5 2021.
