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POCO F3 GT Review: A Gaming Phone You Can’t Ignore

In this full review of the POCO F3 GT, I’ll be discussing all about this gaming phone. But before that, let me make a proper intro. What was once a niche, the gaming smartphone market has grown quite big over the years—with only a few big names still missing out on the ride. While a typical gaming phone used to be out of the reach of many because of its flagship-tier pricing, that’s slowly changing in 2021.

And I’d like to think MediaTek has had a big hand on this. The company’s Dimensity 1000 series of chipsets has allowed smartphone vendors to come up with high-performance devices at relatively affordable prices. POCO, a name almost synonymous with the very same market practice, recently came up with its first true gaming phone—the POCO F3 GT.

Now, I know that practically every phone in the company’s arsenal has been labeled as a gaming device in one way or the other. But, non of them carried all the bells and whistles as the F3 GT does. From a radical design, top-notch performance, to some handy gaming-oriented features, POCO has delivered a solid device with this one. More on our full review of the POCO F3 GT.

POCO F3 GT Specifications:

  • Body: 76.9 x 161.9 x 8.3mm, 205 gm, Gorilla Glass 5, IP53 certified
  • Display: 6.67-inches Turbo AMOLED, Gorilla Glass 5, 120Hz refresh rate, Up to 480Hz touch sampling rate, 10-bit display, HDR10+
  • Resolution: FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio, 395 PPI
  • Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 1200 5G (6nm Mobile Platform)
  • CPU: Octa-core (1×3.0 GHz Cortex-A78 & 3×2.6 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55)
  • GPU: Arm Mali-G77 MC9
  • Memory: 6/8GB LPDDR4X RAM, 128/256GB UFS 3.1 storage (fixed)
  • Software & UI: Android 11 with Xiaomi’s MIUI 12.5 for POCO on top
  • Rear Camera: Triple (with LED flash);
    – 64MP, f/1.65, 1G + 5P glass-plastic hybrid lens
    – 8MP, f/2.2 ultra-wide camera, 120º FOV
    – 2MP f/2.4 macro camera
  • Front Camera: 16MP camera (punch-hole)
  • Audio: Dual stereo speakers, Hi-Res Audio, No headphone jack
  • Security: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, Face unlock
  • Sensors: Accelerometer, 360º Ambient Light, Proximity, Gyroscope, Electronic Compass, Vibration Motor, IR Blaster
  • Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax (Dual-band), Bluetooth 5.1, GPS / AGPS / Glonass / Galileo / Beidou, USB Type-C, 4G LTE, 5G (dual SIM)
  • Battery: 5065mAh with 67W SonicCharge 3.0 (67W adapter inside the box)
  • Color Options: Gunmetal Silver, Predator Black
  • Extras: Maglev Triggers, GT Switch, 11,540mm2 Vapour Chamber Cooling, Tactical RGB Glow
  • Price in Nepal: Rs. 56,999 (8/256GB)

POCO F3 GT Review:

Yet, before moving forward with the review, it’s crucial to understand that POCO F3 GT is yet another reskinned Redmi phone. Apart from swapping the company logo, POCO hasn’t bothered to shake things up by the slightest from the Redmi K40 Game Enhanced Edition. Since this is a gaming phone, that’s what I’ll be focusing on the most here.

Gaming

  • MediaTek Dimensity 1200 5G SoC (6nm)
  • 11,540mm2 Vapour Chamber Cooling

Starting with the performance itself, powering this phone is MediaTek’s flagship chipset—the Dimensity 1200. While it doesn’t hold a candle against the finest that Qualcomm has to offer, Dimensity 1200 is comparable to the next best Snapdragon chip at the time—the Snapdragon 870. Even though the 870 boasts the highest memory clock of any mobile silicon, it incorporates last-gen Cortex-A77 CPU cores.

MediaTek Dimensity 1200 5G chipset

On the other hand, the Dimensity 1200 opts for the newer, more power-efficient Cortex-A78 CPU and is manufactured under the relatively energy-efficient 6nm process. This has been coupled with either 6 or 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage.

The phone’s base 6/128GB variant goes for INR 26,999 in India—thereby directly undercutting the OnePlus Nord 2 by INR 1,000. Further spicing things up is the Realme X7 Max with the same Dimensity 1200 chipset, whose base 8/128GB configuration now retails for just INR 24,999.

Anyway, being the gaming phone that it is, I played a variety of games on the POCO F3 GT and also compared it against the Dimensity 1200-AI powered OnePlus Nord 2 and the standard POCO F3 with Snapdragon 870 on board.

Genshin Impact

Titles like Genshin Impact which takes a toll on the GPU can run at the utmost settings on all three phones. With motion blur turned off, graphics quality set to Highest, and 60fps mode turned on, the POCO F3 GT delivers an average of 29 – 30fps with 99% stability.

On the contrary, Nord 2 manages a significantly better result with 37 – 41fps on average. While both phones would result in minor stutters every now and then, we found that the Nord 2 remained comparatively cooler than the F3 GT. And this is true for every game we tried.

Similarly, the regular POCO F3 sees quite a bit of fps fluctuation—circling between 48 and 55fps on average. After about 20 minutes of gaming, it got the hottest too, with CPU and battery temperature reading 48ºC and 44ºC, respectively.

PUBG Mobile

Moving to PUBG Mobile, the F3 GT, and Nord 2 cap out at HDR graphics and Ultra frame rate whereas the POCO F3 can further crank the frame rate to Extreme under the same graphics settings. As you can see from this chart, both F3 GT and Nord 2 manage a stable 40fps with slightly better stability on the latter.

Around 20 minutes into the game, the CPU and battery temperature on the F3 GT reads 42º and 41ºC, respectively. With graphics set to Extreme on the POCO F3, it does retain 60fps on average with 100% stability. However, the phone gets rather hot under these settings—especially near the rear camera module.

After 20 minutes or so, I graphed its CPU and temperature at 56ºC and 42ºC. Although I’m impressed with the fps constancy, the heat dissipation is uncomfortable enough to dismiss any notion of an enjoyable gaming experience.

Dialing down the settings to Smooth graphics and Extreme frame rates, all three phones manage to push 60fps on average. Disappointingly, even with relatively lax graphics parameters, the POCO F3 heats up the most.

To compare, the POCO F3 GT keeps it at a respectable 41ºC CPU and 40ºC battery temperature following 20 minutes of gameplay. Whereas, the 7nm-based fairly energy-inefficient Snapdragon 870 on the POCO F3 fares worse in this context too—climbing to 53ºC and 40ºC CPU and battery temperature, respectively.

Call of Duty Mobile

Taking it down a notch to comparatively less GPU-taxing games like Call of Duty Mobile, we got an easy 60fps from all these phones.

Do note that while the F3 GT and Nord 2 max out at Very High graphics/frame rate, the F3 outranks the two by supporting even Max frame rate. Once again, this is the hottest of the three, measuring 48ºC CPU and 38ºC in battery temperature while the F3 GT remains cooler with 41ºC and 40ºC thermals.

Emulator game

For this review, I also tried playing an emulator game on the POCO F3 GT. Setting both the display and render resolution to 5x, it managed to give an average of 52 – 55fps with noticeable stutters now and then on God of War: Ghost of Sparta.

Half an hour into the game, the back of the phone got pretty hot as well—with the CPU and battery temperature reading 45ºC and 44ºC, respectively.

120fps-optimized titles

Trying out a couple of high-fps optimized games, I got mixed results on the POCO F3 GT. Critical Ops gives a stable 120fps even under Ultra graphics settings whereas another 120fps-capable game Injustice 2 is restricted to 60fps only.

Seeing how OnePlus is promising 90fps modes in a handful of titles on the Nord 2, it’s a blaring reminder that POCO should be doing the same—especially in its gaming phones like the F3 GT. What this all boils down to is the fact that this is an absolute beast of a gaming phone in its price bracket.

POCO F3 GT - Gaming

Granted it doesn’t manage to crank the visual fidelity as high as the POCO F3, but it does maintain fairly honorable thermals and fps stability. I also ran a CPU throttling test between the two phones and found the F3 GT to be performing marginally better.

Maglev Triggers

  • Mechanical shoulder buttons, GT Switch

Now, allow me to talk about one of the highlighting features of the phones, which is the onboard mechanical shoulder buttons. Called “Maglev Triggers”, these magnetically levitating buttons can be summoned with a quick flick of a switch on the phone’s right frame.

For added gaming aesthetics, you can select from a variety of audio alerts or even enable on-screen lighting upon pressing these triggers. Regardless, remapping these triggers is as easy as they come. Simply launching the customization menu over any game’s control settings lets you position the L and R buttons to your liking.

For games like PUBG and COD, I set the L button to scope and the R button as the trigger—while I naturally assigned them as the L and R buttons on the aforementioned PSP emulator game.

What’s even more interesting is that sliding the toggles shut keeps the triggers flush on the frame for a seamless look. No weird bump or anything. Additionally, F3 GT’s 480Hz touch sampling rate comes into action with the Maglev Trigger turned on as well.

POCO F3 GT - Maglev Triggers 1

As a result, the touch response is noticeably superior here, since the on-screen touch input is mostly limited to two/three fingers when using the shoulder buttons. To compare, I found the touch response to be significantly more instantaneous on this phone compared to the POCO F3 with 360Hz touch sampling.

Any discomfort?

Still, while I didn’t face a problem with the positioning of the Maglev Triggers and the GT Switches, a few of my colleagues complained about mild discomfort about the placement of the triggers and suggested they should’ve been arranged the other way instead. Anyway, the tactile feedback of these physical triggers definitely added to the immersiveness of my gaming sessions too.

Admittedly, I haven’t had the opportunity to play around with air trigger-enabled gaming phones but it feels like an easy deduction when I say that physical shoulder buttons outclass the ultrasonic gesture controls by a long shot—at least in terms of the tactile feedback.

Furthermore, POCO says the Maglev triggers have been tested for 1.5 million presses, so their durability is of no concern either. To put that into context, averaging a thousand clicks per day, these should last you at least four years.

Performance

  • 6/8GB LPDDR4X RAM, 128/256GB UFS 3.1 storage (fixed)
  • Android 11 with Xiaomi’s MIUI 12.5 for POCO on top

Apart from gaming, POCO F3 GT performs with flying colors under regular everyday usage as well. Our 8/128GB variant has rendered no trouble with multitasking either. Apps install, load quick enough and the Dimensity 1200 simply whooshes past anything you throw at it.

I am absolutely floored with its RAM management too. To note, I have the 8/128GB variant of the phone and I ran my multitasking test between a bunch of lightweight and resource-heavy apps, and compared it against the POCO F3—whose 6/128GB RAM configuration was available with us. Frankly, I had no idea just how much of a difference 2GB of additional RAM makes on the POCO F3 GT.

POCO F3 GT - vs - POCO F3
Left: POCO F3 | Right: POCO F3 GT

While both phones finished the first round of opening the 10 apps in around 1 minute and 10 seconds (with a couple of seconds more on the POCO F3), the F3 GT’s impressive RAM management allowed the phone to complete the entire lap in just 1 minute and 30 seconds.

On the contrary, the regular POCO F3 failed to keep most apps in memory and as a result, took 2 minutes and 32 seconds to complete its multitasking cycle.

Resource management

Because of its gaming heritage, this phone naturally prioritizes system resources to facilitate smooth gameplay above everything else. In a couple of instances, I noticed that the system terminated a bunch of background processes during the gaming session. To avoid this, I had to whitelist the desired apps in the “Memory Exceptions” menu under the Game Turbo.

OnePlus Nord 2 POCO F3 GT POCO F3
AnTuTu v8.5 Total 512076 530183 593248
CPU 153940 152078 173606
GPU 178581 195223 241802
Memory 101635 94440 83277
UX 77920 88442 94563

Here, running the show is Xiaomi’s Android 11-based MIUI 12.5 for POCO. Apart from a bunch of system apps, our unit didn’t arrive with any bloatware pre-installed—whereas the ad-free UI/UX experience has been an absolute bliss so far. Having said that, MIUI’s lack of adequate optimization is still a drab.

Complaining about the broken dark mode almost feels like beating a dead horse at this point—while I noticed an unusual bug with the notification control as well. The thing is, I tend to disable lockscreen notifications for privacy reasons.

POCO F3 GT - Maglev Triggers 2

And apparently, this was causing music player apps to avoid showing notifications, even with the phone unlocked. At first, I thought it was a Spotify-exclusive issue so I tried playing local music files from other apps to no avail. So, I had to hesitantly enable lockscreen notifications for this supposed privilege.

Design & Build

  • 76.9 x 161.9 x 8.3mm, 205 gm
  • Glass back/front, metal frames
  • IP53 dust and splash resistance

Getting to the design side of things, the POCO F3 GT walks a fine line between a regular smartphone and your typical gaming phone. That’s to say that it doesn’t have an aggressive visual flair that we usually associate with a traditional gaming phone—but it ultimately doesn’t end up looking like a boring slab either.

Its stripey aesthetics sure is a head-turner, although the premium build material is what steals the show for me. You see, while this phone does associate itself with the more powerful POCO F3, the company has delivered a comparatively more premium device here.

The F3 GT arrives in a dual-glass body, protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back. Topping it off is an elegant matte finish that delivers quite a premium hands-on feel. Additionally, it brings a metal frame and IP53 dust/splash resistance—both of which are absent on the regular F3.

Uneven weight distribution

My only gripe with POCO F3 GT’s design is that its weight distribution could’ve been more even. At 205 grams, it feels considerably heavier on the bottom than on the top. Even though I had no trouble handling the phone because of the heft, especially when gaming, it could take some getting used to for many.

Being a gaming phone, any sort of compactness if out of the question as F3 GT is 76.9 mm wide. However, I must say that the company has done a stellar job of limiting the phone’s thickness to just 8.3 mm.

Nevertheless, POCO offers two color options for the F3 GT: Gunmetal Silver and Predator Black. The Gunmetal Silver variant that’s with me is the flashier of the two—while the other one goes for a stealthy look instead.

Thanks to the matte finish I mentioned earlier, this phone is impervious to fingerprints and smudges too. I would’ve loved to let it loose without slapping on a case/wrap, its mild yet slippery nature ultimately foiled my plan.

Tactical RGB Glow

Moving on, POCO F3 GT’s back is home to an oblong-shaped camera module and a flash-shaped LED flash. Yep. The camera bump isn’t wide enough to cause wobbles when placing the phone on a flat level but the “Freezing” and “Speediest” engraving on either side of the module has been a turn-off for me.

POCO F3 GT - Tactical RGB Glow

Thankfully, these engravings are small enough to go undetected upon a glance. Nevertheless, there’s a couple of additional design wins I gotta talk about. POCO has highlighted the craftsmanship that went on this phone—specifically the triple bevel/curvature approach.

I didn’t think it would be that big a deal but the level of comfort it brings is palpable, mostly when you’re gaming or taking photos. Also, the camera module incorporates RGB lighting on the top and bottom—substituting the lack of a notification LED on the front.

Its pulsating glow notifies you of incoming calls, notifications, and the phone’s estimate battery level when it’s charging. This is even compatible with Game Turbo, although I didn’t find this use case particularly practical.

POCO even lets you customize the colors for incoming calls and notifications, but it doesn’t let you set per-app colorways, and neither can it choose them automatically based on the app’s icon.

Side-mounted fingerprint reader

Like most other premium mid-range phones from Xiaomi, the F3 GT opts for a side-mounted fingerprint sensor despite featuring an OLED screen. Its placement is ideal for your fingers to naturally reach out to while it unlocks the phone in a flash.

POCO F3 GT - Design 1

There’s 2D face unlock onboard too but the relatively lax security and delay meant I never really got around using it. Talking about buttons, since the phone’s right frame is pretty jam-packed with the triggers and all, POCO has shifted the volume rockers on the opposite side.

Triple microphone array

Anyhow, for better audio pickup during your gaming sessions, the F3 GT brings a triple mic array too—one on the top, one on the side, and one on the bottom. The top frame also hosts an IR blaster and a speaker grille in this unique layout.

Completing the phone’s stereo audio setup, you’ll find an additional speaker grille on the bottom, alongside a USB-C port and a SIM tray. The latter includes a rubber gasket as well but you should know that there’s no micro SD card support here.

Display

  • 6.67-inches FHD+ Turbo AMOLED display
  • 120/480Hz refresh/touch sampling rate
  • Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, HDR10+

Okay, let’s now talk about POCO F3 GT’s display quality. You’re getting a 6.67” Turbo AMOLED screen with a Full HD resolution, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, 120Hz refresh rate, and up to 480Hz touch sampling rate. Furthermore, this is an HDR10+ certified 10-bit display, meaning it can produce over 1 billion colors.

That is quite the spec sheet for a phone that costs less than what the flagship devices typically go for. As a result, laying eyes on this screen has been a great experience. It delivers excellent contrast with blacker blacks and brighter whites.

POCO F3 GT - Display 1

Under the Vivid color scheme, everything looks colorful and vibrant. Because of its wide color gamut, POCO lets you switch between different color profiles including P3 and sRGB. In their recommended display settings, I noticed colors to be slightly punchier on the F3 GT while it also had a mild greenish tint.

HDR playback in Netflix

Contrary to the Nord 2, the POCO F3 GT supports HDR playback in Netflix as well, which is great. And of course, it is Widevine L1 certified for HD streaming on different OTT platforms. Outdoor visibility isn’t much of an issue on this screen either with its 500 nits of peak brightness.

Plus, the ambient light sensor kicks in fast enough to adjust the illumination level. On top of this, the phone also supports DC dimming which reduces eye strain when looking at it under low light. But turning it on does restrict the phone’s refresh rate to 60Hz.

Talking about refresh rate, unlike the more affordable POCO phones that I’ve tested so far like the X3 Pro, there’s no micro stutters or lags when scrolling through the UI either. Just smooth transitions through and through.

Half-baked adaptive refresh rate

Similarly, the F3 GT implements an adaptive refresh rate—but it’s half-baked here. First off, you can only select between 120 and 60Hz mode under the display settings, with an auto-switch mode unavailable. But selecting the 120Hz option, the screen doesn’t revert to 60Hz when keeping the screen idle or viewing static content.

POCO F3 GT - Display 2

Instead, it seems that POCO has taken an app-specific practice where the display dials down to 60Hz under games and apps like YouTube, Instagram, and Netflix—while blasting off the power-hungry 120Hz mode on most apps. Because this is an OLED panel, F3 GT enjoys Always on Display (AoD) too.

POCO also lets you set a custom image or text to display under AoD. More importantly, as opposed to mid-range Redmi phones like the Note 10 series, this phone supports true AoD. For battery-saving reasons, you can select the 10 seconds visibility option as well, whereas MIUI even lets you schedule it.

Cameras

  • Triple camera setup at the back
  • (64MP primary, 8MP ultrawide, 2MP macro)
  • 16MP selfie camera in the punch-hole cutout

If we’ve come to one universal conclusion about gaming phones is that their weakest aspect has to be the cameras. Sad to say, the POCO F3 GT does little to break this tradition. It’s got a triple camera setup at the back consisting of a 64MP primary, an 8MP ultrawide, and a 2MP macro shooter.

Here, the company says it has used Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) optical hybrid lens for reduced glare, sharper images, and better light transmission. Before moving forward with the camera comparison—are you thinking what I’m thinking? With the mechanical triggers onboard, can they be used as camera shutter buttons?

Sadly, POCO doesn’t let you assign either of the Maglev triggers as a shutter on the native camera app. But you can do so on third-party apps like Manual Cam. So, here’s to hoping that POCO pushes an update letting you use the shoulder buttons to take photos/videos.

Normal Images

For this review, I compared the cameras of the POCO F3 GT with the OnePlus Nord 2. Compared to the Nord 2, the daytime images from the F3 GT have excessive contrast, sharpness.

And they are subject to chromatic aberration too—going directly against POCO’s claims. On the other hand, photos come off with superior dynamic range and exposure control on the Nord 2.

Wideangle Images

Similarly, ultrawide pictures look brighter on the Nord 2 although it doesn’t retain details as much. Contrary to the normal photos, its wideangle shots introduce darker contrast as well.

POCO F3 GT goes the opposite route with relatively toned-down contrast—although it still looks excessive compared to the Nord 2. Also, F3 GT shoots slightly yellowish ultrawide photos.

Portrait Images

Moving to portraits, edge detection is flawed and similar on both phones. While POCO settles for a reddish tint, the Nord 2 opts for a yellowish hue instead.

Additionally, subjects look darker, oversharpened on the F3 GT with worse background exposure whereas the Nord 2 has a better dynamic range.

Selfie Images

On to the selfies, F3 GT’s oversharpening streak continues here too, with excess contrast and reddish color tone as well.

Nord 2 shoots comparatively softer-looking selfies with less contrast—with a hint of beautification.

Portrait selfies share a similar story as well.

Videography

Getting to videos, 4k/30fps come off fairly steadier on the Nord 2 although it retains low contrast—while the ones from F3 GT go overboard in terms of contrast levels. Dialing it down to 1080p/60fps, the Nord 2 pretty much gives up in terms of exposure control and white balance although both of them are similar in terms of stabilization.

You can also shoot 1080p/30fps videos from their ultra-wide camera. As you can tell, from details to stabilization, the POCO F3 GT comes off victorious here. Selfie videos are capped to 1080p/30fps on both these phones. Here, Nord 2 has a wider field of view although its footage comes off relatively shakier. Still, it retains better exposure control compared to the competition.

Nighttime Images

In terms of low-light photography, the F3 GT maintains decent highlight control although its overall photos tend to look dark.

With night mode turned on, images look oversharpened but with better exposure control here. You can even shoot nighttime shots from their ultrawide camera.

As evident from these samples, the F3 GT manages impressive exposure control. Still, photos come out quite soft and lacking in details under extreme low-light conditions. Turning on the night mode does help things a lot though.

Battery

  • 5,065mAh battery with 67W fast charging

Fueling the phone is a big 5065mAh battery. Even with the 120Hz refresh rate turned on, I managed to get 6 – 7 hours of screen-on time. To note, I’d turned off Always-on Display and set the brightness level to auto on the POCO F3 GT throughout the review period.

My usage mostly consisted of a couple of hours of gaming, streaming videos off YouTube and Netflix, scrolling through social media apps, and such. Apart from the impressive battery endurance, the F3 GT juices up pretty fast too.

Using the 67W charger, the phone goes from 0 to 100% in an average of 50 minutes. It does get slightly warm during the charging process but I’d say it’s nothing alarming. Interestingly, the power cable also gets an L-shaped layout so that you can comfortably play your games while the phone is charging.

But be sure to not overdo it since the heat generated by performance load added with the rise in phone temperature in its charging state could degrade the battery health rapidly—or worse.

Audio

  • Dual stereo speaker setup
  • No 3.5mm headphone jack

Getting to the audio section of this review, the POCO F3 GT brings a dual stereo speaker setup with Hi-Res Audio and Dolby Atmos support. Compared to the regular F3, it sounds comparatively fuller, louder, and the stereo effect is more pronounced on the F3 GT as well.

Unfortunately, there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack onboard, but POCO has compensated for this omission by providing a Type-C to 3.5mm adapter inside the box. Moving on, I prefer the stronger haptics on the F3 GT too. There’s no problem with the speakerphone either and also, the proximity sensor works perfectly fine.

Additionally, network connectivity remains solid as I didn’t encounter any call drop issues when using the phone under the VoLTE network. With Dimensity 1200 inside, POCO F3 GT also supports 5G connectivity, although the company has cheaped out by enabling only two 5G bands: n77 and n78.

POCO F3 GT Review: Conclusion

To wrap up this review, the POCO F3 GT has presented itself as the uncontested value-for-money gaming phone. From its powerful performance, mechanical shoulder buttons, and a couple of standout design practices, if you’re looking for the best gaming phone under INR 30,000, it simply doesn’t get better than this.

Plus, it boasts a splendid AMOLED screen, formidable battery endurance, and 67W fast charging. Having said that, the F3 GT still struggles to deliver a respectable camera performance—while its fairly bulky form factor won’t be everyone’s cup of tea either.

And here in Nepal, the phone is quite overpriced. Even though POCO Nepal is usually known for its competitive pricing strategies, we’re immensely let down this time. Plus, the company has only brought the maxed-out 8/256GB variant of the phone for now. As a result, the standard POCO F3 makes for a better value—although it lacks all the gaming perks of the F3 GT.

  • Watch our video review of the POCO F3 GT.

POCO F3 GT Review: Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Dual Gorilla Glass 5 design
  • Maglev Triggers, GT Switches
  • Impressive gaming performance
  • IP53 dust/splash resistance
  • Vibrant 120Hz AMOLED display
  • Decent battery endurance
  • Great stereo audio quality

Cons:

  • Comparatively wide form-factor
  • Uneven weight distribution
  • Unreliable camera performance
  • No 3.5mm jack in a gaming phone

OnePlus Watch with over 110 workout modes finally arrives in Nepal

After years of waiting, OnePlus finally launched a smartwatch back in March—alongside the OnePlus 9 series. And now, the smartwatch has made its way to Nepal as well. In this post, we will be taking a look at all the specifications, and the official price in Nepal of the OnePlus Watch.

OnePlus Watch Overview:

The story of the OnePlus smartwatch is similar to that of the Pixel Watch. We had heard about them for a while now but neither was launched yet. In fact, rumors of the OnePlus smartwatch were even older than that of the Pixel Watch.

The company even confirmed that they were once working on a smartwatch. CEO Pete Lau hinted in 2016 that they had to stop the work as the final design was not satisfactory.

Thankfully though, OnePlus have finally found a satisfactory design. And thus we got to see the OnePlus watch today. They have decided on a 46mm round dial in the end. It comes with a 1.39″ 2.5D curved glass AMOLED screen. And instead of Google’s Wear OS, the OnePlus Watch runs on an RTOS-based OS.

oneplus watch design looks

There are two variants of the watch: Standard and Cobalt. The Standard one comes with a stainless steel case and in Midnight Steel and Midnight Black colors. However, the Cobalt one comes with a cobalt alloy case and in a golden color. But no matter the variant you go for, both of them have two buttons on the side.

Health tracking

Talking about its features, the smartwatch comes with a total of 110 workout modes. These include walking, jogging, marathon, freestyle training, and more.

Additional features include SpO2 monitoring, stress detection, heart rate alert, and sedentary reminder. The health data gets uploaded in the OnePlus Health app. So, you can check out your health data in the app itself.

One can use the OnePlus Watch to make calls, check app notifications, control camera shutter, and more. Furthermore, you can also connect the watch to your OnePlus TV. Thus, it doubles down as a TV controller too. Moreover, the watch detects if the person has fallen asleep and turns off the TV after 30 mins.

Battery life

OnePlus Watch - Charging

As for the battery, OnePlus claims that this smartwatch can go two weeks on a full charge. Furthermore, it comes with Warp Charge too. Therefore, by charging the watch for just 20 mins, you can get seven days’ worth of use.

OnePlus Watch Specifications:

  • Body: 46.4 x 46.4 x 10.9mm (46mm), 45/76 gm (with/out strap)
  • Display: 1.39-inches AMOLED, 454 x 454 pixels, 326 PPI
  • Watch Case: 316L Stainless steel, Cobalt Alloy
  • Watch Strap: Fluoroelastomer strap
  • Sensors: Acceleration, Gyro, Geomagnetic, Optical heart rate, Blood oxygen, Ambient light, Air pressure, Capacitance
  • Positioning: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou
  • Water Resistance: Yes (5ATM, IP68 dust/water resistant)
  • Workout Modes: 110+ (including swim, treadmill, parkour, etc.)
  • Storage: 4GB internal (only 2GB available for storing music)
  • Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0 (Android 6.0 or later, no iOS support)
  • Battery: 402mAh cell (Up to 14 days for typical use)
  • Other Features: Phone call support, OnePlus TV integration
  • Companion App: OnePlus Health (Android)

OnePlus Watch Price in Nepal & Availability

The price of the OnePlus Watch in Nepal is NPR 23,990. You can buy the OnePlus Watch from the company’s authorized stores across Nepal.

OnePlus Watch Price in Nepal Availability
Standard Edition NPR 23,990 OnePlus authorized stores
  • Meanwhile, check out our impressions of the Galaxy Watch 4 series.

Vianet teams with Ncell to provide free mobile data with its internet plans

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Last month, Nepal Telecom announced the Double Mazza offer, under which the company bundled mobile data with fiber internet. And now, Vianet has brought a similar package in partnership with Ncell. Here, we will be discussing the different packages, their pricing, terms and conditions, and availability of the Vianet Purple Pack.

Vianet Purple Pack Overview:

Vianet is offering two internet plans under the Purple Pack offer. Users can choose between Purple Pack 80 and Purple Pack 100. As you may have guessed, these plans offer bandwidth of 80Mbps and 100Mbps, respectively. While Vianet has already been providing 100Mbps plans under the Guna Sampanna package, the 80Mbps plan is entirely new.

Perks

When subscribing to either of the Purple Pack, users will get a Ncell SIM for free. With it, they can use Vianet Mobile App for free (up to 1GB per month). In addition, Ncell is providing 4GB of data, 50 mins of voice call (Ncell-Ncell), and 50 SMS (Ncell-Ncell) every month for free.

Ncell SIM Offer
Free mobile data 4GB per month
Free voice (within Ncell network) 50 minutes per month
Free SMS (within Ncell network) 50 SMS per month
Free mobile data for Vianet mobile app Up to 1GB per month
Free voice call to Vianet call center Up to 50 minutes per month

You also get options like ViaTV (up to 3 connections), viaSecure, and Ultraboost as you get with the standard plans.

Pricing

Unfortunately, this offer is only valid for annual subscriptions. The annual price for Purple Pack is Rs. 19,200 for the 80Mbps and Rs. 21,600 for the 100Mbps package.

Plan Bandwidth Annual Price
(Without 13% VAT)
Purple Pack 80 80Mbps Rs. 19,200
Purple Pack 100 100Mbps Rs. 21,600
Other features Free Ncell SIM, ViaTV (up to 3 connections), viaSecure, Ultraboost

While the installation is free, you will have to pay Rs. 500 for the Wi-Fi device. If you go for the 5GHz router, you will have to pay an extra Rs. 3,500.

One Time Charges Price (Without VAT)
Internet Installation charge Free
Fiber Wi-Fi device deposit Rs. 500
5GHz Wi-Fi add-on (Optional) Rs. 3,500
ViaTV STB activation Free
STB deposit Rs. 500

In addition, more than one STB connections are subject to additional costs.

Multi-ViaTV Connection Price (Without VAT)
Secondary STB activation Rs. 2,000
Secondary STB deposit Rs. 500

As for availability, the Vianet Purple Pack is currently available in the Kathmandu Valley only. Plus, the company has not mentioned any plans for future expansion either.

Vianet Purple Pack: Opinion

Here, Vianet has partnered with Ncell to provide added benefits to its consumer. Both companies are big in their respective sector.

That being said, the Purple Pack isn’t likely to make people cancel their current ISP and switch to Vianet. But it definitely adds value to existing Vianet users and those who are already considering Vianet.

  • Meanwhile, check out our hands-on review of CG Net.

Lenovo Ideapad Slim 9i with a premium leather design launched in Nepal

Lenovo’s expanding lineup of a 14-inch laptop has a new member in the town—the Ideapad Slim 9i. This one is particularly unique due to its leather-coated aesthetics. So, let’s get into the specs, features, price, and availability of the Lenovo Ideapad Slim 9i in Nepal.

Lenovo Ideapad Slim 9i Overview:

Design and Display

The Ideapad Slim 9i boasts a 14-inch 4K UHD panel with 500 nits of brightness. The panel reserves 90% DCI-P3 color space, supports Dolby Vision, and is HDR 400-certified. The latter signifies that this screen has a minimum peak brightness of 400 nits for HDR consumption.

For extra productivity, this 360° touchscreen has stylus support as well. However, you will have to buy it separately as it is not included in the box.

Lenovo Ideapad Slim 9i Display & Design

In terms of design, the laptop comes in an aluminum casing on the bottom. The lid, on the other hand, has a leather finish on top, which sets it apart from rival Ultrabooks while also repelling fingerprints. IdeaPad Slim 9i weighs just 1.27 kg and is built on a thickness of 0.57-inches.

Performance

Under the hood, the Slim 9i packs the Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU. It’s a quad-core processor that has 2.8GHz base and up to 4.7GHz of single-core turbo boost. Unfortunately, there is no discrete graphics option available here. Thus, the graphics are handled by integrated Intel Iris Xe GPU.

Memory-wise, the laptop is available with 16GB LPDDR4x RAM and up to 512GB of M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD storage. The RAM is non-expandable, but you can expand the storage up to 2TB. Fueling the laptop is a 63.5Wh battery that charges via a 65W USB-C adapter.

Rest of the specs

Lenovo Ideapad Slim 9i Ports

Furthermore, the laptop comes with a backlit keyboard. Wireless connectivity options include WiFi 6 (2×2) and Bluetooth 5.1. Moreover, the I/O options onboard are one 3.5mm jack, and three Thunderbolt 4 (Power Delivery 3.0 and DisplayPort 1.4a) ports. For biometrics, there’s an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor.

Over on the audio, Slim 9i has a stereo speaker setup with Dolby Atmos support. In addition, there’s a camera kill switch on the right, that cuts off power to the front-facing camera in case you don’t need it.

Lenovo Ideapad Slim 9i Specifications:

  • Dimension and Weight: 12.52 x 7.91 x 0.55-0.57 inches, 1.2 kg
  • Body: Aluminium with leather covering (top), Aluminium (bottom)
  • Display: 14-inch IPS display, 500 nits brightness, 90% DCI-P3, HDR 400, Dolby Vision, 360° touchscreen with stylus support
  • Resolution: 4K Ultra-HD (3840 x 2160 pixels)
  • Processor: Intel Core i7-1165G7 (4C/8T, Up to 4.7GHz)
  • Graphics: Integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics
  • Memory: 16GB Soldered LPDDR4x-4266
  • Storage: 512GB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0×4 NVMe, Up to 2TB SSD support
  • Webcam: 720p with IR and TOF sensor
  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi 11ax (2×2), Bluetooth v5.1
  • Ports: 1x 3.5mm jack, 3x Thunderbolt 4 ports (Power Delivery 3.0 and DisplayPort 1.4a)
  • Keyboard: Backlit
  • Audio: 2x 2W Speakers with Dolby Atmos
  • Security: Fingerprint scanner (ultrasonic)
  • Battery: 63.5Wh, 65W adapter

Lenovo Ideapad Slim 9i Price in Nepal and Availability

Lenovo Ideapad Slim 9i now available in Nepal at an asking price of NPR 220,000. You can buy Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 9i from stores like ITTI, where you’ll also get a sleeve case and a mouse for free, on top of one year of warranty.

Lenovo Ideapad Slim 9i  Price in Nepal
Intel i7-1165G7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD NPR 220,000

  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Asus Zephrus G14 2021.

Motorola Moto G50 5G goes official with MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset

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Motorola has been on a roll with new smartphone launches—particularly the 5G capable ones. The company recently launched Edge 20 and Edge 20 Fusion, both with a 5G-ready chipset. Now, Motorola has launched the Moto G50 5G in Australia. So, let’s get into the specs, features, expected price, and availability of the Motorola Moto G50 5G in Nepal. 

Motorola Moto G50 5G Overview:

Here, the Moto G50 5G builds on the Moto G50 that was announced earlier this year. What’s interesting is that the G50 was already a 5G-capable device. Thus, the new Moto G50 5G is a refresh of the original Moto G50.

Design and Display

Starting with the display, the phone flaunts a 6.5-inch IPS panel with a 90Hz refresh rate. It is an HD+ display with a resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels. The front also has a waterdrop notch for the selfie camera. Overall, the phone is 9.26mm thick and weighs around 206 grams.  

Motorola Moto G50 5G Design and Display

Moreover, the back of the phone has three cameras enclosed in a square-shaped module alongside the iconic Motorola “M” logo in the center. For biometrics, it has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. The Moto G50 5G is available in two color options: Meteorite Gray, and Green.

Performance

Under the hood, the device packs a MediaTek Dimensity 700 processor. The chipset is coupled with up 4GB of RAM and 128GB internal storage. The latter is expandable up to 1TB via a microSD card. Moto G50 5G comes pre-installed with My UX based on Android 11. Likewise, the smartphone packs a 5000mAh battery that supports 10W fast charging via a Type-C port.

Camera

In terms of optics, it has a triple camera setup on the back. The 48MP main sensor is followed by a 2MP macro and a 2MP depth of field sensor. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have an ultrawide camera.

Over on the front, Moto G50 5G houses a 13MP selfie camera. The rear camera is capable of shooting FHD videos at up to 30fps and HD videos up to 120fps. 

Rest of the specs

For audio, the handset boasts a mono speaker. There’s a 3.5mm audio jack as well. Similarly, wireless connectivity options include Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 5, and NFC. 

Motorola Moto G50 5G Specifications:

  • Dimension: 167 x 76.4 x 9.26 mm, 206 grams
  • Display: 6.5-inch IPS panel, 90Hz refresh rate
  • Resolution: HD+ (720 x 1600 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio
  • Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G
  • Memory: 4GB RAM, 128GB storage (expandable up to 1TB)
  • Software & UI: Android 11 with My UX on top
  • Rear Camera: Triple (48MP main, 2MP macro, 2MP depth)
  • Front Camera: 13MP f/1.12 (notch)
  • Security: Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
  • Connectivity: Hybrid dual SIM, Dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, USB Type-C, NFC
  • Battery: 5000mAh, 10W Charging
  • Color Options: Meteorite Grey, Green

Motorola Moto G50 5G Price in Nepal and Availability

Moto G50 5G is now available in Australia at an asking price of AUD 399. We expect the price of Motorola Moto G50 5G in Nepal to be around NPR 33,000 if and when it launches here.

Motorola Moto G50 5G Price in Australia Price in Nepal (Expected)
4/128GB AUD 399 NPR 33,000
  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the OnePlus Nord 2.

Samsung Galaxy M32 5G launched with Dimensity 720 and a 5000mAh battery

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South Korean smartphone giant, Samsung recently launched the 5G variant of the Galaxy M32 in India. The new smartphone comes with 5G connectivity and a new processor compared to its 4G counterpart that was launched back in June. So, let’s get into the specifications, features, expected price, and availability of the Samsung Galaxy M32 5G in Nepal.

Samsung Galaxy M32 5G Overview:

We’ve been noticing a disappointing trend in the smartphone market recently where companies have been trading off crucial specifications in order to deliver 5G connectivity in their mid-range phones. The new Galaxy M32 5G is no exception in this regard since it lacks the majority of the bells and whistles from the regular Galaxy M32.

Design and Display

Samsung Galaxy M32 5G boasts a 6.5-inch TFT LCD panel with just HD+ resolution and a 20:9 aspect ratio. On the front, it has an Infinity-V notch. The company has even downgraded the refresh rate of display from 90Hz on the regular M32 to 60Hz on the 5G model. To compare, the LTE variant of Galaxy M32 has a 6.4-inch Full HD Super AMOLED screen.

Samsung Galaxy M32 5G Design and Display

In terms of design, this smartphone bears no resemblance to the vanilla M32. As a matter of fact, it has a design language and specifications comparable to Galaxy A32 5G. It is available in two color options: Slate Black and Sky Blue.

Performance

Powering the phone is the MediaTek Dimensity 720 chipset coupled with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It boots on One UI 3.1 based on Android 11. Samsung is promising two years of major OS updates, while the device supports twelve 5G bands.

Fueling the smartphone is a 5,000mAh battery that charges via a 15W fast charger. The global variant, however, enjoys a 25W charging support.

Camera

Samsung Galaxy M32 5G Cameras

Getting to the cameras, Galaxy M32 5G features a quad-camera setup at the back led by a 48MP primary lens. This is accompanied by an 8MP ultra-wide lens (123º FOV), 5MP macro, and 2MP portrait sensor. Similarly, the Infinity-V cutout on the front houses a 13MP lens for selfies.

Rest of the specs

Furthermore, it comes with a Samsung’s Knox Security suite and the Alt Z mode. The latter is a feature that allows users to go back and forth between the main and private modes by double-pressing the power button. For biometric, there’s a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.

Samsung Galaxy M32 5G Specifications:

  • Body: 164.2 x 76.1 x 9.1mm
  • Display: 6.5-inches TFT LCD Infinity-V panel
  • Resolution: HD+ (720 x 1600 pixels)
  • Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 720 5G (7nm)
  • Memory: 6/8GB RAM, 128GB storage (expandable up to 1TB)
  • Rear Camera: Quad;
    – 48MP primary shooter
    – 8MP ultra-wide lens, 123º FOV
    – 5MP macro sensor
    – 2MP portrait sensor
  • Front Camera: 13MP (teardrop notch)
  • Security: Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
  • Battery: 5000mAh with 15W fast charging (25W charging on global variant)
  • Colors: Slate Black, Sky Blue

Samsung Galaxy M32 5G Price in Nepal and Availability

In India, the Samsung Galaxy M32 5G is priced at INR 20,999 for the 6+128GB and INR 22,999 for the 8+128GB variant. It will go on sale from September 2 via Amazon. We expect the price of the Samsung Galaxy M32 5G to start at NPR 37,000, if and when it launches in Nepal.

Samsung Galaxy M32 5G Price in India Price in Nepal (Expected)
6+128GB INR 20,999 NPR 37,000
8+128GB INR 22,999 NPR 40,000
  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Samsung Galaxy M32.

Coolpad Cool 12A with Unisoc chip, triple camera setup now available in Nepal

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Coolpad has launched yet another budget smartphone in the Nepali market. Despite its budget origin, the Cool 12A features a big display, big battery, and triple camera setup. Here, we will be discussing the Coolpad Cool 12A in more detail, including its specs, features, official price, and availability in Nepal.

Coolpad Cool 12A Overview:

Design and Display

Cool 12A sports a big 6.217-inches LCD panel with an HD+ resolution. It has a waterdrop notch to house the selfie camera. Coolpad is claiming a screen-to-body ratio of 93% here. Even the official renders of the phones show very minimal bezels. On top of this, the phone has a plastic glass, topped with a glossy finish.

Coolpad 12A Design and Display

Performance and Memory

Under the hood, the phone packs a Unisoc Tiger T310 SoC. It’s an entry-level chipset that was announced back in 2019. Based on TSMC’s 12nm process, it features 1x Cortex-A75 and 3x Cortex-A55 CPU cores.

This has been paired with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. The higher 4/64GB variant is not available in Nepal yet.

Camera

Cool 12A flaunts a triple-camera setup at the back. It consists of a 13MP primary camera accompanied by a 2MP depth sensor. There is also a 0.3MP sensor whose purpose is not quite clear. Upfront, you get a 5MP selfie camera with AI face beauty feature.

Rest of the specs

Fueling the phone is a 4,000mAh battery, which supports 10W charging over the Type-C port. Coolpad has mounted a physical fingerprint scanner on the side for biometrics. You can choose between two colors – Dream Blue and Fantasy Silver.

Coolpad Cool 12A Specifications:

  • Body: 156.2 x 79.2 x 8.9mm, 202.5g
  • Display: 6.217-inches HD+ LCD panel, 720 x 1560 pixels
  • Chipset: Unisoc Tiger T310 (12nm mobile platform)
  • Processor: Quad-core (1x 2.0GHz Cortex-A75 + 3x Cortex-A55)
  • GPU: IMG PowerVR GT7200
  • Memory: 3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage (expandable via a microSD card)
  • Software & UI: Android 11
  • Rear Camera: Triple (13MP primary, 2MP depth, 0.3MP auxiliary), LED flash
  • Front Camera: 5MP sensor (teardrop notch)
  • Security: Face-unlock, Fingerprint scanner (side-mounted)
  • Battery: 4000mAh, 10W (5V/2A)

Coolpad Cool 12A Price in Nepal and Availability

The official price of Coolpad Cool 12A in Nepal is NPR 13,495 for the 3/32GB variant. You can buy Cool 12A from Daraz or authorized Coolpad stores across Nepal.

Coolpad Cool 12A  Price in Nepal   Availability 
3/32GB NPR 13,495
  • Authorized Stores
  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Samsung Galaxy F22.

Influencer marketing is bad news for Nepal’s smartphone industry—and it’s getting worse

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The rise of social media platforms has drastically altered the way businesses promote their products. And “influencers” play a significant role in this. The influencer marketing trend has also been adopted by different smartphone brands in Nepal.

While this isn’t inherently a bad thing, we’ve recently seen smartphone companies and influencers purposefully overselling their products and misleading the end consumers. The idea of a genuine personal opinion is completely lost while influencer marketers simply read off the pre-approved script.

Influencer smartphone marketing in Nepal:

The smartphone market is heavily saturated in Nepal. Thus, a simple product launch, press releases, and product reviews no longer create as much hype as companies would want. To reach a broader range of consumers, brands partner with different on-screen and social media influencers these days.

Thus, users perceive this type of marketing from their favorites influencer to be genuine and get attracted to the product he/she is advertising. Furthermore, such behavior gradually narrows consumer choices in the sense that they don’t end up even considering other available options in the market.

As a result, many customers wind up making hasty purchases. But in reality, what most people don’t realize is that influencer marketing is nowhere near as authentic as they’re painted out to be. In fact, it’s just a glorified form of paid advertisement.

What makes this matter worse is that there are no proper guidelines or regulations set by the Nepal government against such acts of deceptive marketing. On the contrary, European Union (EU), India, and other markets have set strict directives where an influencer has to explicitly mention/label the paid promotion on such content.

It’s the brand speaking behind the influencer

Falling for the brand trap due to such marketing can be risky for users. Samsung recently posted a promotional video of Galaxy M32 in partnership with Nero Gaming, where he describes it as a gaming phone—thanks to the phone’s 90Hz refresh rate.

However, 90Hz is not the only thing that improves your gaming experience. What’s laughable is that PUBG Mobile doesn’t even have 90fps mode on M32. Even high refresh rate-optimized games with 90fps support like Critical Ops, Mortal Kombat can’t go higher than 70-75fps on average.

In addition, the Samsung Galaxy M32 is a budget phone powered by Helio G80, whose better selling points are its Super AMOLED display, cameras, and battery. Thus, marketing it on such factors suits better than the gaming phone.

Some more examples

Likewise, Xiaomi Nepal is promoting the Mi 11 Lite as a camera phone. Nonetheless, a side-by-side comparison with the Redmi Note 10 Pro clearly uncovers a disappointing fact.

Despite being more affordable, the Note 10 Pro shoots better photos than the Mi 11 Lite. Better ones even, when it comes to nighttime photography.

In fact, the Redmi Note 10 Pro brings a 108MP quad-camera array instead of the 64MP quad-camera configuration on the Mi 11 Lite. These are only a few examples and other brands have been practicing such marketing ploys as well.

Moving on, 4K gaming, a well-known gaming video creator in Nepal, exaggerated (official video taken down) Infinix Zero 8 and Infinix Hot 9 Play‘s performance as “खतरा gaming phones”, which is quite misleading. Likewise, companies like OPPO and Vivo have built their entire marketing foundation based on influencer marketing strategies.

As TechAltar brilliantly uncovered the marketing strategies of BBK Electronics (parent company of OPPO, Vivo, and OnePlus), the former two brands’ primary tactics to promote their products are celebrity endorsement and influencer marketing.

Our opinion

Here in Nepal, Xiaomi and Samsung are the two biggest smartphone brands—while companies like OPPO, Vivo, Realme enjoy a decent market share as well. And of course, influencer marketing has a big hand in how that’s come to be.

Once again, we’re not implying that influencer marketing is fundamentally a bad thing. But the bigger picture we’re trying to paint is that rather than pushing for a misleading feature, such marketing practices should highlight the product’s superior strengths instead.

In addition, the influencers should stray away from misguiding their followers—rather than parroting some scripted nonsense for personal profit. Also, the Nepal government must come up with strict guidelines to prevent such acts of disloyal advertisements.

Moreover, we want our readers to be more aware of such marketing traps. One should make his/her purchase decision after watching or reading reviews from multiple credible media sources. Remember folks, as Abraham Lincoln once said “Don’t believe everything you see on the internet.”

  • Watch: What are authorized, grey, and refurbished laptops?

Xiaomi finally takes action to solve faulty proximity sensor in its phones

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Lately, users have complained a lot about the proximity sensor in recent Xiaomi phones. While the company has not officially admitted the issue, Xiaomi has opened up a survey to investigate it. In this post, we’re taking a look at the proximity sensor issue in Xiaomi phones, the factors causing it, and how Xiaomi plans to solve it.

What is a proximity sensor?

In case you don’t know, a proximity sensor is a component that turns off the screen during phone calls to prevent accidental touches. Most phones come with an optical sensor that uses infrared waves to determine the proximity.

However, smartphone brands have started using digital alternatives for a dedicated sensor to keep the costs down. This looks to be the root of the problem that many Xiaomi users are facing on their phones.

Proximity sensor issue in Xiaomi phones

Here, the said problem is not limited to specific phones or a brand under the Xiaomi umbrella. In fact, it is prevalent in Redmi and Poco smartphones as well. 

Usually, this issue would be a result of faulty proximity sensors. As aforementioned, many of the Xiaomi phones these days do not come with dedicated hardware for proximity sensing. Instead, the company uses a virtual proximity sensor.

Elliptic Labs Virtual Proximity Sensor on Xiaomi Phones

This virtual sensor uses data from the microphone and speaker, which is fed into an algorithm to figure out the user’s proximity. As you may have guessed, this approach isn’t always accurate. 

It’s fully understandable to use these solutions in budget and mid-range phones. Even Samsung has done it in its mid-range phones like the Galaxy A22 and A52. However, Xiaomi has used it even for its flagship phones, such as the Mi 11.

Other recent devices that use similar techniques are Redmi Note 10, Redmi Note 10s, Mi 11 Lite (4G/5G), Redmi Note 10 Pro 5G, and Redmi K40 Game Enhanced Edition.

Xiaomi’s solution for proximity issue

Xiaomi has started rolling out OTA updates to affected phones to re-calibrate the sensor. If it’s a software issue, this should probably fix it. However, if the problem is related to hardware, users have no option but to live with it until the company takes further action.

Still, the update is limited to Europe and there is no news about when it will come to Asia and other markets.

To avoid such issues on future phones, Xiaomi has broken ties with Elliptic Labs. It was the main distributor of proximity sensors for Xiaomi, including its flagship offering like the Mi 11. Future Xiaomi phones will now use sensors from Minghao Sensing. However, we will have to wait to see if it makes any difference.

  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Poco F3 GT.

Asus VivoBook 15 K513 with the latest 11th gen Intel CPU launched in Nepal

Asus has launched the VivoBook 15 K513 powered by the latest 11th Gen Intel Core i5 processor in Nepal. Let’s take a quick look at the specs, features, availability, and official price of Asus VivoBook 15 K513EA in Nepal.

Asus VivoBook 15 K513EA Overview:

Design and Display

To begin with, the VivoBook K513EA flaunts a 15.6-inch LED-backlit panel with Full-HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution and 45% NTSC color space. It’s an anti-glare display with a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Asus Vivobook 15 K513EA Design and Display

In terms of design, it has slender bezels on the sides while the top and bottom have relatively thick borders. Likewise, you get a full-size backlit keyboard with a dedicated Numpad. The laptop weighs 1.7kg and is 17.9mm thick. VivoBook 15 is available in two color options in Nepal: Black and Gold. There’s a Silver variant available in the international market as well.

Performance

Moreover, as aforementioned, the Asus VivoBook 15 is powered by the 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor which boasts a base frequency of 2.40GHz and up to 4.20GHz of turbo frequency. Now, since this laptop doesn’t have a discrete GPU, the graphics rendering is handled by the integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics.

Memory-wise, the VivoBook 15 comes with 8GB of DDR4 RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. Fueling the device is a 3-cell 42 Wh battery. There’s also a fingerprint scanner for biometrics.

Rest of the specs

Furthermore, the I/O options here include a headphone jack, one USB 3.2 (Gen 1) Type-C, one USB 3.2 (Gen 1) Type-A, two USB 2.0 Type-A, an HDMI, and a microSD card slot. It utilizes Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) and Bluetooth 5 for wireless connectivity. Over on the audio, it has stereo speakers and a built-in microphone.

Asus Vivobook 15 K513EA Specifications:

  • Build: 35.90 x 23.50 x 1.79cm, 1.7kg
  • Display: 15.6-inch LED-backlit, 60Hz, Anti-glare panel, 45% NTSC
  • Resolution: Full-HD (1920 x 1080 pixels), 16:9 aspect ratio
  • Keyboard: Full-sized backlit keyboard
  • Processor: Intel Core i5-1135G7, 4C/8T, 4.2GHz Max Turbo
  • Graphics: Intel Iris Xe (Integrated)
  • RAM: 8GB DDR4 SDRAM (Max: 16GB)
  • Storage: 512GB PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD
  • Audio: Dual speakers tuned by Harmon Kardon
  • Security: Fingerprint scanner
  • Ports: 1x USB 3.2 (Gen 1) Type-C, 1x USB 3.2 (Gen 1) Type-A, 2x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1x HDMI, 1x micro SD card, 1x audio jack
  • Battery: 3-cell 42Wh battery, 65W AC power adapter
  • Colors: Indie Back, Hearty Gold, Transparent Silver
  • Extras (free): Backpack, Mouse

Asus VivoBook 15 K513EA Price in Nepal and Availability

Asus VivoBook 15 K513EA is available in Nepal at an asking price of NPR 105,556 for the 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD variant. Buying it from official stores like Nagmani gets you 2 years of international warranty, a backpack, and a mouse for free as well.

Asus VivoBook 15 K513EA Price in Nepal Availability
Intel Core i5-1135G7, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD NPR 105,556 Hukut
  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Asus TUF Dash F15 2021.