Samsung has announced the arrival of the budget Galaxy Tab A7 Lite in Nepal. Last week the company launched the Tab S7 FE, which is a premium mid-range offering from the brand. The Tab A7 Lite, on the other hand, is a budget offering with a modest set of specs. So, let’s get into the key features of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite, along with its official price in Nepal.
Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite Overview:
Starting with the design, the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite comes with a metal casing. Users can choose from two color options – Gray and Silver. The tablet is 8mm thick and weighs 366 grams for the Wi-Fi model.
On the other hand, the LTE model is a little heavier at 371 grams. Irrespective of connectivity, both of them have an 8.7-inch TFT screen with a 1340 x 800 pixels resolution. The side bezels are minium, but those on the top and bottom are quite thick, especially when compared to the Tab S7 FE.
Under the hood, it packs Helio P22T chipset. It is an octa-core processor with two clusters of Cortex A53 CPU cores clocked at 2.3GHz and 1.8GHz, respectively.
Likewise, the base variant of the tablet comes with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. The other model brings 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage instead. The storage can be expanded up to 1TB using a MicroSD card.
In terms of cameras, the solitary 8MP sensor at the back comes with AutoFocus (AF) while the 2MP front-facing shooter only has Fixed Focus (FF). The dual-speaker supports Dolby Atmos audio for an immersive multimedia experience.
Moving on, Tab A7 Lite has a 5,100mAh battery that supports 15W adaptive fast charging. Unfortunately, users will have to buy a charger separately to make use of it. The tablet ships with Android 11 out-of-the-box with Samsung’s One UI 3.1 on top.
Specifications:
Dimension: 212.5 x 124.7 x 8.0mm, 366g (Wi-Fi only) / 371g (4G LTE)
Display: 8.7 inch TFT panel (800 x 1340 pixels)
Cameras: 8MP, AF (Rear), 2MP (Front)
Processor: MediaTek Helio P22T (12nm)
RAM: 3/4 GB RAM, 32/64GB storage (expandable up to 1TB)
Audio: Dual-speaker, Dolby Atmos
OS: Android 11, One UI
Battery: 5,100 mAh, 15W fast charging
Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite Price in Nepal
The official price of Galaxy Tab A7 Lite in Nepal starts at Rs. 24,499 for the 3/32GB LTE variant. Similarly, the 4/64GB costs Rs. 26,499. The Wi-Fi-only models of the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite have already been discontinued.
Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite
Price in Nepal (Official)
3/32GB LTE
NPR 24,999
4/64GB LTE
NPR 26,999
Check out our review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite.
Xiaomi has just launched its first phone with an under-display camera or camera under panel (CUP) as the company likes to call it. The Mi MIX 4 comes with a “virtually invisible” under-display camera and is currently available in the Chinese market. Here, we will be discussing the key specs, features, expected price of the Xiaomi Mi MIX 4 in Nepal.
Mi MIX Lineup Overview:
Unlike the Mi lineup that is more of a mainstream flagship device, the Mi MIX lineup is more about innovation. Take the Mi MIX Alpha as an example. The device with a one-of-a-kind wrap-around screen was announced in 2019, and only a handful of them reached the public eye.
Mi MIX lineup had commercial flagship, too, the last one being the aforementioned Mi MIX 3 5G from 2019. The regular Mi MIX 3 was launched even earlier in 2018. Here, we are looking at 3 years of gap between the Mi MIX 4 and its immediate predecessor.
Mi MIX 4 Overview:
Camera Under Panel
Camera Under Panel or CUP is the name given by Xiaomi to its under-display camera technology. According to the company, it took five years and $77 million in funds to get to the point where the camera underneath the display is almost invisible.
Xiaomi - Camera Under Panel
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Micro-diamond Pixels
Re-designed circuit array
Transparent subpixel circuits
As with the similar technologies from ZTE and Oppo, Xiaomi has put a pixel-dense screen of 400 PPI above the camera. Thus, it is indistinguishable from the other portions of the screen.
The company has also tweaked the pixel circuitry to increase the light transmittance of the screen. The 20MP selfie camera has a combined pixel of 1.6µm thanks to 4-in-1 pixel binning.
Design and Display
Moving on, Mi MIX 4 boasts a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel with 3D curvature. It is a 10-bit TrueColor panel with support for HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. It also has Gorilla Glass Victus on top for protection.
The phone has a ceramic back, which the company says is 30% lighter. It houses a sizable square-shaped camera module. The phone comes in three colors – White, Gray, and Black.
Performance and Memory
Under the hood, Mi MIX 4 packs the latest Snapdragon 888+ from Qualcomm. To note, it is also the first phone to be powered by this flagship chipset. Xiaomi has coupled it up with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage.
The Mi MIX 4 boasts a 108MP HMX sensor with OIS as its primary camera at the back. This is accompanied by a 13MP ultrawide camera with a free-form lens.
The new lens is said to reduce the distortion from 20% to 1%. Completing the setup is an 8MP periscope camera with 5x optical zoom and OIS.
Rest of the specs
Fueling the phone is a 4,500mAh battery. Xiaomi has included support for 120W wired charging. In the default mode, the phone goes from 0 to 100% in 21 minutes. The boost mode reduces it to just 15 minutes.
The phone also has 50W wireless charging support, which charges it completely in 45 minutes and 28 minutes in default and charge mode, respectively.
Mi MIX 4 is also the first Xiaomi phone to have Ultra-Wideband (WB) connectivity. This inclusion will help the phone pair faster with Xiaomi AIoT products.
Xiaomi Mi MIX 4 Specifications:
Display: 6.67-inches 3D curved AMOLED panel with 10-bit TrueColor, 120Hz Refresh Rate, 480Hz touch sampling rate, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, Gorilla Glass Victus
Resolution: FHD, 2400 x 1080 pixels
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+ (5nm mobile platform)
Rear Camera: Triple (108MP Samsung ISOCELL HMX sensor, 13MP ultrawide with free-form lens, 8MP periscope lens with 5x optical zoom)
Front Camera: 20MP lens (under-display)
Audio: Dual stereo speakers by Harmon Kardon, Hi-Res Audio/Wireless
Battery: 4500mAh with 120W fast charging, 50W Wireless Charging
Xiaomi Mi MIX 4 Price in Nepal and Availability
Mi MIX 4 is China-exclusive and will go on sale starting 16 August. Its price starts at CNY 4,999 for the base 8/128GB model and goes all the way up to CNY 6,299 for the 12/512GB model. If in case Xiaomi Nepal brings Mi MIX 4 here, we expect its price to start at NPR 95,000.
Xiaomi Mi MIX 4
Price in China
Price in Nepal (Expected)
8/128GB
CNY 4,999
NPR 95,000
8/256GB
CNY 5,299
NPR 100,000
12/256GB
CNY 5,799
NPR 110,000
12/512GB
CNY 6,299
NPR 120,000
Also, check out our review of the Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite.
Buying a TV that perfectly matches your needs isn’t easy in 2021. While TV size, contrast ratio, backlighting are some common domains one looks into, there’s a ton of space left to consider before spending the cash for your living room set. The television industry, like the GPU biz, is experiencing worldwide raw material and chipset shortages. It led to the price increase in television, which did affect Nepal’s market as well. In the midst of all this, Panasonic has launched two new 4K TVs under its HX750 series. And, in this review, I’ll be talking about the Panasonic TH-55HX750 55″ 4K TV to find out if it’s a perfect choice to liven up your living space.
Panasonic TH-55HX750 55″ Specifications:
Display: 55/65-inches, HDR 10+, Hexa Chroma Drive, 4K color engine
Resolution: 4K Ultra-HD (3840 x 2160 pixels)
Dimensions: 1227 x 280 x 770 mm (w/ pedestal) | 1227 x 75 x 7143 mm (w/o pedestal)
Weight: 10.62 kg (w/ pedestal); 10.52 kg (w/o pedestal)
Wireless Connectivity: WiFi (dual-band), Bluetooth 4.2
I/O Ports: 3x HDMI (including one HDMI ARC), 2x USB 2.0, 1x Ethernet (LAN), 1x DTV, 1x S/PDIF, 1 x RF, 1x AV input
Price: NPR 112,390
Panasonic TH-55HX750 55″ Review:
Design and Build
Plastic back, minimal bezels on all four sides
Comes with metal pedestal or can be wall-mounted
Starting with the design, the Panasonic HX750 has a kind of visual appeal that we find on premium televisions. The TV has a slim profile and sports narrow bezels on the front, giving it a classy look. The back panel is made of plastic and has a standard black color finish. However, no one would notice it, as it sits opposite the brick wall in your living room, and neither does it affect the viewing experience.
Design
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Back
Screen Bezels
The TV sits on two V-shaped legs colored a similar black as the frame. But, Pansonic is ensuring better robustness with its metal pedestals, which none of the other brands offer, even in the TV that cost two-folds of HX750. While the stands are sturdy, the TV can also be wall-mounted, however, you didn’t get a wall-mounting bracket on the box. So, you need to purchase it separately, if you opt to mount it.
The TV is lightweight, weighing only 10.62 kg, making it easy to relocate from one room to another. Despite its slim profile, one can notice a slight bump on the back, which houses all the I/O ports. There’s one AV in, one Antenna, two USB 2.0, one digital audio out, and a LAN port. Similarly, there are three HDMI connectors, one of which supports ARC.
Ports and Cable
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Ports
AV Cable
HDMI ARC eliminates the need for an optical cable by allowing audio to be sent from a suitable HDMI socket on your TV to a compatible soundbar or AV receiver. Not to forget, Panasonic has delivered the TV with an AV converter cable as well.
Display
55″ 4K UHD LCD
HDR content compatible
60Hz refresh rate, great viewing angle
Heading to the display, it is a 55-inch 4K panel with HDR support for deeper darks and brighter brights. And it’s fairly obvious, in this price range, you didn’t get Dolby Vision support here. We conducted our set of tests, which included numerous 4K and 1080p videos, brighter/darker contents, HDR processing, and others to see how much the HX750 could wow me. And, at first glance, the visual quality was adequate from our vantage point. The 4K content looks fantastic, and it creates images that are rather detailed.
Moving on, a straightaway notice for me was the contrast level of the TV, which was considerably high on the default presets the TV wakes with. Thanks to the picture mode available on the TV, you can customize it as your necessity. There are five modes for your contextual viewing — Vivid, Standard, User, Movie, and Sport. In addition, it supports a 4K color engine that scales up HD/FHD content to offer detailed pictures.
The color engine also enhances the viewing experience by optimizing dark and bright areas to offer realistic scenes. So, if you’re wondering how it works, it performs better than I thought. There were no occasions when the TV’s algorithm exaggerated the color and temperature of the 720p/1080p content, which ultimately preserves picture details in the 4K screen. While we’re on the subject of viewing, the Panel’s viewing angle is also worth discussing. The colors are sharp from any angle on my sofa, and you don’t have to sacrifice on details of the pictures.
Now, getting into pictures modes, in Vivid, the contrast level, and picture saturation was a little high. Consequently, on default presets, the Vivid and Standard mode delivers over-darken content on Netflix. Moreover, Sports modes add a bit more sharpness to the pictures while the Movie mode has a warm effect.
However, there is a custom mode dubbed User that allows experimenting with the backlight, brightness, contrast, gamma, and other display settings to achieve the ideal result. In my usage, the backlight was set to maximum, while the brightness and contrast levels were kept at 55 and 45, respectively.
This is not to say that the Picture modes are nothing to give attention to. I enjoyed watching Ric and Morty on the default Movie mode; it’s quite an immersive experience. So, you should play with the settings according to the content playing on the panel. To note, while watching HDR material, the TV displays an HDR label on the top-left.
Fast-pace content
Now, if we talk about fast-paced content like cricket or football, the TV delivers a fairly good picture quality. However, there are only a few times when I noticed slight ghosting effects. Though, that’s not much of a big deal, as it’s unnoticeable most of the time.
Moreover, the wireless connectivity on the TV works well. I was taken aback when the TV played 4K material without any buffering over Wi-Fi (most of the time). However, I did notice some slight buffering at times, so for consistent video play, I would recommend using a direct LAN connection. It will also make it easier to watch live cricket, football, or other sports tournaments without missing a beat.
The major downside – Backlight bleeding
Despite its many strengths, the TV falls short in one major area, which is backlight bleeding. The panel bleeds majorly on top, bottom, and left, however, one can notice it when you are watching content that is black around the corners but bright in the center. Even if you gaze straight at it, you won’t see it if you don’t know where it is. However, if you know where it is, it will always grab your attention.
Software
Android 10
H.264 video compression
When it comes to the UI, it’s quite familiar, simple, and easy to use. The TV boots on Android 10, which isn’t that much different from Android 9. In Nepal, however, most companies ship their TVs with Android 9, and Panasonic delivering the most latest OS is a step forward for everyone. It comes preloaded with Netflix, Prime Video, and YouTube, and you can get just about any other streaming app your heart desires on the Google Play store.
The Android OS is a full-screen OS, as opposed to Samsung and LG’s bottom bar interface. Thus, in order to select installed apps, you’ll need to go to the home screen or use Google Assistant, which works well for opening apps. The settings menu, though, opens as a banner on the right side of the screen, which kind of takes the full-screen, or at the very least to a context where you’ll have to pause the video.
Since Panasonic has well optimized the TV OS, there are no observable shutters when swiping over the widgets or shuffling between the HD channels. Regardless, the most substantial improvement Google has made in Android TV 10 is support for AV1 coding; nonetheless, the TV continues to use H.264 video compression. This might lead to an inefficient data compression capacity which might be a setback for many who relies on a volume-based data connection.
Memory
2GB RAM, 8GB storage
Fast boot
Over on the memory front, the Panasonic TH-55HX750 55-inch TV packs 2GB of RAM and 8GB of storage, thus on review, it provided me with a snappy UI/UX experience. Further, you can customize the default home screen layout and as it has Android OS, it comes pre-installed with features like Play Store, Google Home, and Chromecast. The latter helps to easily stream content from your phone, tablet, or computer right to the TV. Surprisingly, the Play Store for the TV lacks a Spotify app, which may be a detriment to music fans.
It also has a Fast Boot option, which allows the TV to be opened in less than 2 seconds. When this mode is disabled, the TV takes approximately 38 seconds to boot up. The Fast Boot, on the other hand, is a power-hungry alternative to the normal mode, as it uses power in the background as well.
Remote
Built-in Chromecast, Voice Assistant
The Panasonic TH-55HX750’s remote isn’t as thin and light as those seen on Samsung, LG, and Mi TVs. However, this creates space for squeezing all of the essential buttons into the remote. However, expect a separate Netflix button; there are no buttons for YouTube, Amazon Prime, or other video streaming providers. So, settling on such a little thing isn’t the best decision for the company, at least not for me.
Furthermore, the remote also houses a Google Assistant button, indicating that the TV supports the Assistant as well. However, the Assistant did not function beyond simple toggles and searches throughout my testing. It means that you cannot modify any of the control settings of the TV from it.
Also, the assistant didn’t always work well for me, as she frequently failed to recognize my voice. However, following a hard reboot, everything gets back on track. But, as it does not permanently resolve the difficulties, you must repeat the process whenever you experience such problems. The TV also includes a built-in Chromecast, which functioned well most of the time but occasionally experienced connection difficulties. This isn’t a major deal because it can be easily rectified in future updates.
Audio
20W bottom-firing speaker
DTS Audio
In terms of Audio, it comes with 20W bottom-firing speakers. Just as the different Picture modes, it has four Sound modes to choose from — Standard, Music, Sports, and Movie. Additionally, you get DTS Audio support as well.
Speaking about its quality, the Standard mode delivers a balanced output while Music mode tries to accentuate human voice while dimming the instrumental noise. On the other hand, if you want overall good quality audio, I would recommend turning on the DTS option. In this mode, you get clear audio, while the bass level is maintained too.
However, if you are a music enthusiast who appreciates rich sound quality, I would recommend using an external home theater system or soundbar. For this, you can connect the sound systems to the aforementioned HDMI ARC port.
Panasonic TH-55HX750 55″ Review: Conclusion
Summing up this review, the Panasonic TH-55HX750 55″ 4K TV is an excellent choice for anyone seeking a premium TV experience. From design to snappy UI experience and wide viewing angles, everything is well maintained here. However, the screen suffers from considerable backlight bleeding. If it isn’t a big deal to you, I would certainly recommend this TV to liven up your living space.
In total, the TV’s test results are a mixed bag compared to other models we have tested, but the average viewer won’t pick up on the shortfalls. However, if you’re purchasing the TV for fantastic picture quality, OLED should be the way to go.
After a gap of two years, Poco made a comeback in Nepal in November 2020. Back then, the company launched the Poco M2, while its “Reloaded” edition has finally arrived in the country. So, let’s take a look at the specifications, official price, and availability of Poco M2 and M2 Reloaded in Nepal.
Poco M2, M2 Reloaded Overview:
To note, the standard Poco M2 offers the same specs as the Redmi 9 with an additional 2GB of RAM for an extra thousand rupee. On the other hand, the M2 Reloaded is the exact same as the M2, except that it arrives in a single 4GB RAM and 64GB memory option.
Design and Overview
Anyway, since the spin-off, most of Poco’s releases have been a rebranded Redmi device. The same is the case with Poco M2. It is based on the Redmi 9 which was launched back in July in Nepal. It can also be found listed as Redmi 9 Prime in some other markets.
To begin with, the device comes with a 6.53-inch IPS display with FHD+ resolution. The panel has Low Blue light certification from TUV Rheinland. There is a waterdrop notch on top of the screen that houses the selfie camera.
The display is protected by a layer of Gorilla Glass 3. At the back, Poco has gone with a dual-tone finish. It has an anti-fingerprint texture. Similarly, the device has P2i certification against minor splash and rust.
Talking about the performance, the Poco M2 packs in MediaTek’s gaming-centric Helio G80 chipset. The chipset comes with two Cortex-A75 cores (@ 2.0GHz) paired with six Cortex-A55 cores (@1.8GHz). MediaTek’s HyperEngine Technology manages connectivity, power, and memory resources to improve the gaming experience.
The graphics are handled by Mali G52 GPU. On the memory front, it is available in two memory configurations of 6/64GB and 6/128GB—while M2 Reloaded arrives in a solitary 4/64GB option. Poco M2 is the only device in the Nepali market that offers 6GB of RAM for a price tag that is under Rs. 20,000. The device ships with MIUI 11 based on Android 10.
Camera
Poco M2 features a quad-camera setup at the back with the camera arranged vertically. The 13MP primary camera is accompanied by an 8MP ultra-wide sensor. There is also a 5MP macro sensor. The setup is completed by a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, Poco has included an 8MP camera sensor.
The device gets its juice from a beefy 5,000mAh battery. There is also support for 18W fast charging via the USB Type-C. For biometrics, there is a physical fingerprint sensor just below the rear-camera setup. Poco M2 also comes with Bluetooth 5.0, IR Blaster, and Wireless FM Radio.
Poco M2, M2 Reloaded Price in Nepal and Availability
The official price of Poco M2 (6/64GB) in Nepal is NPR 18,999 while the 6/128GB variant costs NPR 19,999. With the regular Poco M2 out-of-stock, the company recently launched the M2 Reloaded in Nepal for the price of NPR 17,999. You can buy Poco M2 Reloaded from its authorized retail stores and online partners (Daraz, Sastodeal) across Nepal.
Smartphone Model
Price in Nepal (Official)
Poco M2 (6/64GB)
NPR 18,999
Poco M2 (6/128GB)
NPR 19,999
Poco M2 Reloaded (4/64GB)
NPR 17,999
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Poco M3 Pro 5G.
Imilab is a brand that is mostly known for its budget smartwatch lineup. The brand is a part of Xiaomi’s ecosystem. A few months ago, it launched W12 as its latest budget smartwatch, which has now officially made its way to Nepal. Here, we will be discussing the key specs, features, price, and availability of the Imilab Smart Watch W12 in Nepal.
Imilab Smart Watch W12 Overview:
Design and Display
Imilab Smart Watch W12 sports a circular dial of 1.32-inch diameter. It has an HD resolution of 360 x 360 pixels. The frame is made from Zinc alloy, whereas the base has a smooth plastic finish.
The smartwatch is IP68 rated against dust and water damage.
As with most budget smartwatches, Imilab Smart Watch W12 supports 24-hour heart rate monitoring, sleep monitoring, step and calorie counter. In addition, it can even track your blood oxygen saturation level.
On the other hand, there are a total of 12 different sports modes. It includes running, cycling, climbing, and more.
Rest of the specs
Other features include smart notification, activity reminders, Find My Phone, and more. Moving on, Imilab has included a 330mAh battery on the W12 with a maximum endurance of up to 14 days. A magnetic charger is included in the box.
Imilab Smart Watch W12 Specifications:
Body: 260 x 22 x 11 mm, 18gm (with strap)
Strap: Removable silicone straps
Display: 1.32″ TFT panel
Resolution: 360 x 360 pixels
Control: Touch, side button
Connection: Bluetooth 5.0 (BLE)
Compatibilty: Android 5.1 or iOS 9.0 and above
IP Rating: IP68 certified
Battery: 330mAh, Up to 14 days endurance
Charger: Magnetic charger
Imilab Smart Watch W12 Price in Nepal and Availability
The price of the Imilab Smart Watch W12 in Nepal is NPR 6,399. You can buy it from Imilab Nepal’s official store on Daraz. At this price range, Imilab Smart Watch W12 is competing against the likes of Mi Watch Lite, AQFIT W11, and Mi Band 6.
Acer’s Spin lineup is home to the company’s 2-in-1 convertible laptops. You can use them as traditional laptops or flip them to use them as a tablet. The latest iteration of Spin laptops is now making its way into the Nepali market, starting with the Spin 3. Here, we will be looking at the specs, features, price, and availability of Acer Spin 3 2021 in Nepal.
Acer Spin 3 2021 Overview:
Design and Display
Acer Spin 3 2021 is built around a 13.3-inch IPS display. The LED-backlit panel boasts a WUXGA resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. The 360-degree hinge allows users to flip it and use it as a tablet.
You can take notes and even draw on the tablet using the pressure-sensitive (4096-levels) Acer Active Stylus that comes with it. It supports Wacom‘s Active Electrostatic (AES) technology for precise and power-efficient input.
Performance and Memory
Under the hood, the Acer Spin 3 2021 comes with the latest Tiger lake mobile processors. Unfortunately, only the Intel Core i5-1135G7 is available in Nepal for now. The CPU features 4 cores and 8 threads with a maximum clock frequency of 4.2GHz. It comes with Iris Xe integrated graphics.
Moving on, you get 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 512GB of NVMe SSD.
Fueling the laptop is a 3-cell 48Wh battery that the company claims can last up to 15 hours of continuous video playback.
As for I/O, you get two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with one Thunderbolt 4 Type-C port, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, and an HDMI 2.0 port.
You get a chicklet-style keyboard with a white backlight. There is no dedicated number pad. Similarly, you get a moderate-sized touchpad with a fingerprint scanner integrated into it.
Acer Spin 3 2021 Specifications:
Design & Build: 11.90 x 8.8 x 0.63-inch; 3.3 lbs
Display: 13.3-inch IPS panel, Multi-touch support, AES Pen Support (rechargeable)
Resolution: WUXGA (2560×1600); 16:10 aspect ratio
Processor: 11th gen Intel Core i5-1135G7
Graphics: Intel Iris Xe
RAM: 8GB DDR4 SDRAM
Storage: 512GB NVME SSD
Connectivity: WiFi 6 AX201, Bluetooth 5.0
I/O Ports: 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C ( 1x Thunderbolt 4), 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x USB Gen 1 Type-A, 1x HDMI
Security: Fingerprint scanner
Battery: 3-cell 48Wh battery
Acer Spin 3 2021 Price in Nepal and Availability
The price of Acer Spin 3 2021 starts at NPR 118,000 for the Core i5-1135G7 model with 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD. You can buy it from trusted stores like ITTI.
Acer Spin 3 2021
Price in Nepal
i5-1135G7, Iris Xe graphics, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD
NPR 118,000
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Acer Swift 3 2020.
Samsung has launched three eerily similar midrange phones this summer – the Galaxy F22, Galaxy M32, and the Galaxy A22 which has 2 variants: 4G and 5G. In this review, I’ll be discussing the Samsung Galaxy A22 (4G) at length. This phone belongs to the company’s A-series of devices, so it’s a better-looking of the three—and emphasizes better camera performance too.
On the other hand, Galaxy F22 is the most affordable among them and is probably a better value for money as well. Likewise, the Galaxy M32 is your typical M-series phone from Samsung with a big battery.
Battery: 5000mAh with 15W fast charge (15W adapter inside the box)
Color options: Awesome Black, Violet, Mint, White
Price in Nepal: Rs. 27,999 (6/128GB)
Samsung Galaxy A22 Review:
Design & Build
73.6 x 159.3 x 8.4mm, 186 grams
Polycarbonate back/frame, Glass front
I had the Violet color option during my hands-on review which looks stunning. There’s also a Mint variant that looks equally good. Likewise, Galaxy A22 comes in a Black finish too, which I’ve been testing. As you could tell, this one’s probably the safest option of the three, although it does attract a lot of fingerprints and smudges.
Design
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Buttons
Ports
Regardless, the design is something that you will like about the A22. It looks and feels much better than the boring-looking F22 and M32. Its build quality is also pretty rigid, despite the plastic back and frames.
Over time, our unit has suffered some scratches at the back, so you’ll have to be extra careful when using the phone—or just slap on a case to be safe. Moreover, Galaxy A22 is also incredibly light at just 168gms and we’re fond of its even weight distribution as well.
So, one-handed usage is actually very good on this device, especially since it’s complemented by Samsung’s One UI, which is extremely one-hand friendly. Here, the fingerprint sensor, which doubles as a home button, is embedded on the right frame of the phone. It is located just in the right position for your fingers to reach to and unlocks the phone swiftly.
Display
6.4-inches HD+ Super AMOLED display
90Hz refresh rate, 600 nits brightness
Moving to the front, A22 doesn’t boast an impressive spec-sheet in terms of its display. It comes with an outdated teardrop notch and on top of that, features an HD resolution. So, if you compare it side-by-side with the Full HD panel of the M32, you will definitely notice the lack of sharpness in the texts and app logos.
But I think most of us wouldn’t find it to be much of a dealbreaker since this is a quality AMOLED screen. The colors look good, the touch sensitivity is great, and with the 90Hz refresh rate that’s well-optimized for the most part, it’s not a terrible display to look at—despite the spec-sheet painting a different picture.
Brightness-wise, it is obviously sufficient indoors although we found it to be struggling to maintain visibility while using the phone outdoors on a bright sunny day. In comparison, the M32’s display is slightly brighter. However, the ambient light sensor works quite slowly here. So, whenever I’m outdoors and I want to check for a message, it has been somewhat of a frustrating experience.
Plus, although the phone is Widevine L1 certified, the Netflix app only shows L3 certification, and videos are played in 580p SD resolution only. I hope Samsung solves this nuisance via a software update pretty soon.
Audio quality
Additionally, the mono speaker on the Galaxy A22 isn’t that good either. It is okay for watching YouTube videos and such, but if you are a serious audiophile, you will miss the depth and details that we usually see on upper midrange and premium phones these days.
Then again, we have to factor in what Samsung’s asking for this phone before expecting too much.
Anyway, I was also expecting its performance to be subpar just like with the M32 since it’s the same Helio G80 chipset and eMMC storage running the show. Surprisingly enough, I found the A22 to be comparatively more fluid and faster than the M32. It’s probably because the G80 is more efficient to run on an HD display than a Full HD one.
Here, multitasking between a few light apps is great too, and Samsung seems to have optimized apps to load a bit faster than the M32 on most occasions. Plus, the 90Hz refresh rate works like a charm and you will not notice any micro lags or such either.
Still, like the M32, the A22 also comes with eMMC storage, so loading up apps in memory or installing them isn’t as fast as you would expect from a phone in this price range. Also, if you play a lot of games, you should be staying away from Samsung’s mid-range phones including the A22.
Gaming experience
In our test, we were only able to get like 30fps in PUBG Mobile under HD graphics and High frame rates. This result is the worst fps-per-rupees on a smartphone, to be honest. Dialing down the settings to Smooth graphics and Ultra frame rate does result in a slightly better 38fps average though.
Still, it goes without saying that Samsung should have included a more capable chipset here. Talking more about gaming, as you can see from this chart, relatively less demanding games like COD run at 60fps with 98% stability, whereas higher fps-optimized games like Critical Ops and Mortal Kombat do not hit the 90fps mark and rather max out at 80fps.
The reason this phone can’t high a higher fps mark is most definitely a hardware limitation. Moreover, Galaxy A22 simply doesn’t stand a chance when playing even more graphically demanding games like Genshin Impact. It struggles to deliver the slightest hint of playability even when tuning down the graphics quality to its lowest and turning off other visual enhancements.
Okay, let’s now move to the cameras. As we know, this is where Samsung‘s midrange phones usually have an edge over the ones from other brands. And the A22 is no exception.
Normal Images
But for this review, we tested it out against the company’s own Galaxy M32 and found that A22 shoots sharper photos in most scenarios thanks to OIS.
Normal
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A22
M32
A22
M32
A22
M32
However, after the recent update, both of them produce nearly identical colors and contrast levels.
Wideangle Images
Galaxy A22
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Normal
Ultrawide
Normal
Ultrawide
Regardless, ultra-wide-angle images aren’t that good as they’re lacking in details and come out relatively darker when compared to the primary images.
Portrait Images
We also found A22’s portrait photos to be slightly better than those from M32, although the difference is marginal only.
Galaxy A22
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Overall, portrait images are quite good on both these phones.
Selfie Images
Yet, there’s some issue with A22’s selfie images as they are not as sharp as the M32’s and come out looking soft.
Selfie
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A22
M32
A22
M32
But, I think this is more of a software issue because it happened only after a software update.
Nighttime Images
Nighttime
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A22 - Nighttime
M32 - Nighttime
A22 - Night Mode
M32 - Night Mode
Likewise, thanks to the OIS, nighttime images have better sharpness and details on the A22, and it also does a better job with the Night mode turned ON.
Videography
Plus, the videos come out much stable on the A22 while M32 shoots jerky and wobbly footages. But, because of the Helio G80’s limitation, you can’t capture 60fps or 4K videos here either.
Battery
5000mAh battery with 15W fast charging
Lastly, the battery life on the Galaxy A22 is excellent. Its endurance is almost as good as the M32—maybe still slightly better on the M32. We constantly managed to get around 7 to 8 hours of screen-on time under heavy usage that involved at least an hour of gaming, watching YouTube videos, and using mobile data whenever we were out. So, it’s easily a day-and-a-half worth’s of endurance.
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Charging
Charger
Additionally, even in this summer heat, we didn’t notice the phone get warm, which is something I really like about Samsung’s mid-range phones. You see, the company’s S-series is quite toastier, but the mid-range phones are not—and that’s most likely because of the low-powered SoC underneath.
Anyway, charging this phone is fairly fast. While we’ve been accustomed to crazy high-speed charging, sadly, the Galaxy A22 only supports up to 15W of power. Unlike the cheaper F22, it doesn’t support 25W super-fast charging either.
As a result, this 15W charger takes like 2 hours and 15 minutes to fill up the phone’s 5000mAh battery from 0 to 100%, while it takes like an hour to get from 0 to 50%, which is pretty slow by today’s standard.
Samsung Galaxy A22 Review: Conclusion
So, let’s wrap up this review of the Samsung Galaxy A22. Should you buy it? I think the answer is region-specific. That’s because the A22 costs the same as the M32 here in Nepal, so in this case, my recommendation would be to go with the A22 because it’s better-optimized, has a better camera, and more importantly, it feels like you are holding a premium phone.
Left: Galaxy A22 | Right: Galaxy M32
However, if you are living in India, the A22 at INR 18,500 is a bit on the expensive side which makes it an easy no for me. Plus, Samsung has also launched the costlier 5G variant of A22, which is even more ridiculously priced.
And like I said in my Poco M3 Pro review, the sad truth with almost every mid-range 5G phone right now is that they are priced quite absurdly and you might want to skip them until and unless you absolutely want 5G.
LG Nepal has expanded its offering in the TV segment. This time around, the company has brought the latest LG UN7300 4K UHD LED TV to the Nepali audience. It is part of the 2020 lineup of LG’s UHD LED TV and the successor to 2019’s popular LG UM7300. Let’s check out the specifications, features, official price, and availability of LG UN7300 UHD LED TV in Nepal.
LG UN7300 4K UHD LED TV Overview
The LG UN7300 comes with an LED-backlit display with a UHD resolution of 3840 x 2160. The screen size starts from 43-inch and goes up to 75-inch. The display supports popular HDR formats including HDR 10 and HLG 10.
The TV is powered by a quad-core 4K processor, which reduces video noise, and is capable of producing more vibrant colors and contrast. Using an upscaling algorithm, it can convert low-resolution video to 4K. The TV supports 10 different picture modes. There is a separate Filmmaker Mode that turns off motion smoothing for a more cinematic experience.
Besides this, videos under Filmmaker Mode disables other post-processing like image sharpening, preserves the original aspect ratio, color, and frame rates. There is a separate HGiG Mode that one can use to activate while playing HDR games via consoles on the TV.
LG UN7300 ships with webOS Smart TV OS. It also comes with LG Ai ThinQ that lets the TV be the center of your smart home sewing Home Dashboard and Google Home Connection. It also supports intelligent voice recognition, LG voice search, and Speech to Text recognition.
In terms of connectivity, there are 2 HDMI cables on the side and one more on the rear portion. Similarly, LG has included two USB ports, a LAN port, a Composite in (AV) port, an RF IN, and optical digital audio out. Also, the TV supports Wi-Fi ac and Bluetooth 5.0.
Specifications:
Display: 43–75” LED-backlit panel
Resolution: 4K (3840 x 2160)
Sound: 20W Down Firing speakers, Ultra Sound, LG Sound Sync
OS: webOS Smart TV
Processor: Quad-core processor 4K
Power: 125W
Wireless Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0
LG Nepal has launched the UN7300 UHD LED TV in 4 sizes: 43-inch, 49-inch, 55-inch, and 65-inch. The 43-inch variant price of LG UN7300 is Rs.91,490. Similarly, the 49-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch costs Rs. 116,190, Rs. 127,690, and Rs. 190,290 respectively.
LG UN7300 UHD LED TV Variants
Price in Nepal
43-inch
Rs. 91,490
49-inch
Rs. 116,190
55-inch
Rs. 127,690
65-inch
Rs. 190,290
Also, check out our review of the LG 55UM7300 4K LED TV:
In this review, I’ll be discussing what’s probably the best budget laptop you could buy right now, which is the Alldocube GT Book. After the pandemic, it was not just the GPU market that saw soaring prices. The laptop industry took a significant hit as well. An entry-level laptop that retailed for around USD 400 now costs upwards of USD 500, at least in markets like India and Nepal.
And at a time when everyone is either working or studying from home, it is kinda frustrating to see this price hike. However, today I have a USD 350 Windows laptop with me from a company you might not have even heard of. And to be honest with you, it is probably the best USD 350 I have spent on a gadget this year.
Alldocube GT Book Specifications:
Design& Build: All-metal build, 12.72W x 8.15D x 0.67H-inches, 1.35 kg
Display: 14.1″ IPS panel, FHD (1920×1080) resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio
Keyboard: Chiclet-style backlit keyboard (White)
Trackpad: Plastic multi-touch trackpad, Windows Precision drivers
Processor: Intel Celeron N5100 CPU (Jasper Lake), 4C/4T, 2.8GHz Max Turbo Frequency, 4MB L3 Cache, 10nm process, 6W TDP
RAM: 12GB LPDDR4x RAM (2933MHz)
Storage: 256GB SSD
Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics (Integrated)
Audio: Dual speaker setup, Dual Microphone
Battery: 7.6V/5000mAh cell
PowerSupply: DC 3.55mm, 12V/3A (or Type-C PD charging)
Webcam: 1.0MP front-facing camera
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 6 (ax), Bluetooth 5.1
I/O Ports: 1x USB 3.0 Type-A, 1x USB Type-C, 1x 3.5mm audio jack, 1x DC 3.5mm charge jack
The company in question is Alldocube, which is based in Shenzhen, China. They make affordable tablets and laptops and sell them online through Aliexpress and Amazon. And because they sell their products exclusively online, maybe that’s why they are able to keep the prices low.
Nevertheless, the laptop that I have with me for review is the Alldocube GT Book. And for the price, its specs are amazing. You get a 14.1-inch Full HD IPS display, 12GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, WiFi 6, and Intel’s latest Celeron N5100 processor.
Design
All-metal build quality
12.72 x 8.15 x 0.67″, 1.35 kg
Specs aside, its design is something you don’t see on a budget laptop of 2021. It has quite minimal bezels on the screen, which even to this date, brands like Dell and Lenovo are not offering in their budget laptops. Plus, it comes with an all-metal body and the laptop is pretty thin and light too.
Overall, on my usage, I have liked its compact body. From the inside, it might look like an M1 MacBook Pro knock-off. Despite all this, the good stuff about the Alldocube GT Book is that it’s a well-built device. From the hinge to keyboard deck to display flex, everything is impressively sturdy.
Design
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DC power-in, USB-C, 3.5mm jack
Webcam
SD card reader, USB 3.0 Type-A
The only flaw with its design is the location of the webcam as you’ll find it on the bottom of the hinge right here.
So, since this doesn’t deliver a direct line of sight, attending video calls or Zoom meetings could be a little awkward. About the video quality, this camera performs perfectly fine for regular video calls and such, while the microphone quality is okay too.
Display
14.1″ non-touch IPS LCD panel
FHD resolution, 96% sRGB color
Now, what really surprised me was its display quality. Usually, manufacturers compromise in terms of resolution and color coverage on their budget laptops. But here, Alldocube is offering a really good panel.
It brings a sharp Full HD resolution, but more importantly, this screen has 96% of sRGB coverage, which means it is not a bad option to just edit some RAW photos or create thumbnails.
I also enjoyed watching movies and YouTube videos on this thing, but its speaker quality is pretty average—although still usable. Plus, its display isn’t bright, so using it outdoors isn’t a pleasant experience. However, it’s completely fine for indoor usage.
Keyboard, Trackpad
Backlit chiclet-style keyboard (single-color)
Plastic trackpad with integrated left/right keys
As for the keyboard, it’s a pretty basic one. It has good tactile feedback, the keys are well spaced out, and I didn’t have any issues while writing scripts and such. Plus, it offers 3 levels of backlight, which again, isn’t something you get on budget laptops.
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Keyboard
Trackpad
The trackpad is pretty basic too. It doesn’t have a smooth surface like a glass one, but it’s fully functional. Gestures and buttons work fine but if you want the best experience, you’ll want to use a mouse.
Performance
Intel Jasper Lake Celeron N5100 CPU (6W TDP)
12GB LPDDR4x RAM, 256GB onboard M.2 SSD
Anyway, let’s finally talk about its performance and this is where budget laptops typically struggle. Here, the Alldocube GT Book comes with the latest Intel Celeron N5100 processor paired with 12GB of DDR4 RAM running at a respectable 2933MHz and 256GB of M.2 SSD.
This Intel N5100 CPU isn’t a high-performing one and is slower compared to its i3 counterpart. Yet, if you look into the market, considerably more expensive Windows laptops and Chromebooks still come with the older N4010 processor.
This configuration was more than powerful enough for my daily usage, which includes opening 6 to 7 tabs in Chrome, listening to music on Spotify, and launching a few LibreOffice apps. As a result, if you are a light user, who works with the MS Office suite or attends Zoom meetings and such, you will not notice any hint of lag.
How about gaming?
Plus, this is a fanless system so noise isn’t an issue either. It does get warm when using demanding heavy apps like Photoshop for a long time though. Likewise, gaming is a no-go with this machine.
I tried to play FIFA 21 and CS: GO in their respective lowest settings and the gameplay wasn’t enjoyable. The CPU throttles by quite a bit and the performance degrades after 10 minutes or so.
But, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a limitation because this laptop isn’t geared towards gaming in the first place. Still, I wished Alldocube provided an i3 CPU and 8GB RAM, instead of this Celeron CPU and 12GB of RAM combo. Also, the 256GB SSD is not NVMe, so the read/write speed is quite low. Thankfully, you can easily replace the SSD.
Battery
5000mAh battery, 3.5mm DC power-in jack
About the battery life, the Alldocube GT Book comes with a 5000mAh battery. On my regular usage, it provided me with 3 to 4 hours of backup, which is a bit on the lower end for me.
In terms of charging, you get a 36W 3.5mm charger inside the box. But the good thing is that it supports Type-C charging with any PD charger. Most of the time, I used the 65W PD charger from OnePlus and it gets the laptop fully charged from 0 to 100% in about 2 and a half hours.
Alldocube GT Book Review: Conclusion
So, overall, I am really thrilled to see a relatively small brand like Alldocube make such a decent budget laptop. I think they have included the right set of specs and made the right compromises. The only thing I wished it had was an extra Type-A port since the only one available here is insufficient. Also, I had some issues while using a mouse and I had to insert a flash drive to solve it.
Nevertheless, if you are looking for a terrific value Windows laptop under 350 dollars, you won’t find a better option than this. And if you ask me, I would rather go for a Windows laptop over Chromebooks at this price range.
Today, I’ll be talking about the Xiaomi Mi 11 in this long-term review. Just a year ago, the company was nowhere to be seen when looking at the list of best flagship phone makers. Sure, they made some good premium phones but Xiaomi ultimately lagged behind the competition in one way or the other. But 2021 has changed that!
In today’s date, Xiaomi’s top-of-the-line phones like the Mi 11 Ultra have received good reviews from top reviewers like MKBHD and Mrwhosetheboss, which has officially marked Xiaomi as a prominent name in the flagship territory.
Xiaomi Mi 11 Specifications:
Body: 74.6 x 164.3 x 8.06mm, 196 gm, Gorilla Glass 5
Display: 6.81-inches AMOLED DotDisplay, 120Hz refresh rate, 480Hz touch sampling rate, Gorilla Glass Victus, SGS Eye Care, 10-bit color
Resolution: WQHD+ (3200 x 1440 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio, 515 PPI
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G (5nm Mobile Platform)
As for the Mi 11, I have been using it as our primary device and comparing it side-by-side with other high-end phones for the better part of 3 months and we’ve had some interesting findings.
Sadly, Xiaomi didn’t choose to launch Mi 11 in a lot of markets, including India. If you ask me, I think it’s a killer competition to the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy S21 and the OnePlus 9. Anyway, I will be sharing our long-term experience with the Xiaomi Mi 11 in this review, so let’s get straight into it!
Design & Build
74.6 x 164.3 x 8.06mm, 196 grams
Glass back/front, Aluminum frames
No IP rating, No 3.5mm headphone jack
Okay, starting with the design, after all this time, one of the things that we’ve really come to appreciate about this device is its form factor. Contrary to other Xiaomi phones like the Mi 11X Pro, it has an even weight distribution and throughout my usage, I’ve only had good things to say about its ergonomics.
Plus, the slight curves add to the comfortable grip while the aluminum frames give it a lightweight yet premium touch. So, holding the phone for long hours won’t be a muscle exercise here.
But yes, if I had to compare, Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra feels more premium than the Mi 11—although it’s also heavier and a little less comfortable, so the phone scores good marks on this front.
Slippin’ Jimmy
Despite this, there are some flaws in its design. For instance, Mi 11 is quite slippery because of which it has fallen off my hands a couple of times when shootings photos/videos. Thankfully, it’s survived them all while we did get this visible scratch at the back.
Design
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Buttons
Ports
So, it would certainly have been a lot better if Xiaomi had included Gorilla Glass Victus or at least Gorilla Glass 6 instead of the older Gorilla Glass 5 at the back. The company has installed Gorilla Glass Victus on the front though, which, I would say has been incredibly useful throughout our usage.
Yet, the biggest design compromise here remains that Xiaomi has only included the most basic ingress protection and the Mi 11 does not have an official IP rating—making it vulnerable to water and dust damage. So, this past month, we’ve had to be extra careful to not expose it to the rain since it’s been raining like cats and dogs here in Kathmandu.
Display
6.81-inches WQHD+ AMOLED display
120/480Hz refresh/touch sampling rate
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection
While Xiaomi has cut some corners in the design aspect, the display is where this phone truly shines. Its 6.81-inch WQHD screen is a delight to look at. And because it supports HDR10 in Netflix too, the content consumption experience is further elevated.
Also, I like the fact that Xiaomi has not left out important features like SGS Eye Care and DC dimming in order to prevent eye strain due to blue light emissions and display flickering. On top of that, with the 1500 nits peak and 800 nits of normal brightness, the company has made sure to leave no room for complaints regarding visibility either.
Even the touch response on this display is great. Likewise, apart from the visual treat of Mi 11’s display, the speakers on this thing are great too.
Balanced audio from the dual speaker
Now, when you compare it side-by-side with the S21 Ultra, it does sound a little less immersive. But these Harman Kardon tuned stereo speakers are loud, sound really balanced, and are definitely better than what Xiaomi offers in its mid-range devices. Do note that the secondary speaker sounds a little weird, but together, the stereo output is respectable.
Okay, back to the display, it is also home to an in-display fingerprint sensor. In my usage, I found it to be a little slow. Over time with the updates, the sensor has gotten a bit swift, but it is still slower than the likes of the OnePlus 9 or the Galaxy S21 Ultra for that matter.
I was hoping to be able to scale down or remove the fingerprint animation altogether, but Xiaomi sadly has not included that option in the settings. About the haptic feedback, while unlocking via fingerprint and typing, it feels incredibly premium and satisfactory.
Android 11 with Xiaomi’s MIUI 12 on top (upgradeable)
Alright, let’s now get to how the performance of this phone has been. And it won’t come as a surprise when I say that the Mi 11 is one of the best performing phones of 2021. Being one of the first smartphones to feature the Snapdragon 888 chipset alongside UFS 3.1 storage and LPDDR5 RAM, it has handled multitasking and switching between the heaviest of apps with a breeze.
Also, thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate, UI transitions are smooth, and with zero lags or micro stutters—just a smooth sailing through and through.
Gaming experience
Likewise, gaming is another facet that this phone nails, almost. Extremely demanding games like Genshin Impact are well playable in their default settings. However, once you dial up the settings to higher fps modes, the Snapdragon 888 doesn’t remain cool and that’s a common issue we have been facing with almost all the phones with this chip.
Hence, after prolonged gameplay sessions, it will result in quite a few stutters, a drop in fps, stability, and excessive heating near the camera module. As for other demanding games like PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile, they run quite well with impressively stable average fps count.
But here as well, the Snapdragon 888 tends to heat up the device and you might want to cool it down after one gaming session, and then resume again.
Less GPU-hungry titles with 120fps optimizations like VainGlory and Oddmar are well playable in 120fps too. Luckily, these games aren’t privy to the heating standards of the ones I discussed earlier. But for some weird reason, Critical Ops is not optimized for 120fps gameplay even though the game supports it.
How’s MIUI on a flagship phone?
Overall, we have been quite satisfied with the performance of the Mi 11. Xiaomi has optimized the 120Hz refresh rate well too, so as mentioned earlier, UI transitions and animations are really smooth here. That being said, during all our usage, the major complaint about this phone has to be the unrefined software experience.
Unlike Apple, OnePlus, and Samsung, Xiaomi’s dark mode implementation is still broken. Take the invisible play/pause button on Spotify for example or the fact that with dark mode on, messages on Messenger appear like this. Previously, I thought that this issue was only prevalent in Xiaomi’s mid-range and budget offerings.
But evidently, the company hasn’t bothered to fix these teeny-tiny bugs even for its top-of-the-line products. Likewise, for the longest time, there was this annoying problem when trying to reach for notifications while watching Netflix, where the screen would act like all jittery and something you’d see from a broken CRT TV.
Thankfully, the recent MIUI 12.5.5 update has fixed this issue. All in all, even though the performance of the Mi 11 is commendable, such petty software bugs truly make the experience bitter.
This, added with the fact that Xiaomi has literally not made any commitment as to how many years of Android and security updates this phone or any other Xiaomi phone for that matter will receive, is really frustrating. In contrast, Apple, Samsung, OnePlus, and even brands like OPPO and Vivo have committed to certain years of software updates.
Cameras
Triple camera setup at the back
(108MP main, 13MP ultrawide, 5MP telemacro)
20MP selfie camera in the punch-hole cutout
Cameras
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Back
Front
Okay, let’s now shift our gear towards the cameras. And honestly, for the most part, there’s not much to complain about. Of course, when you look at the specs, it’s nothing extravagant compared to the likes of the Mi 11 Ultra or the S21 Ultra. But these cameras hold their ground steady.
Normal Images
During our use, it has proven to be an impressive point-to-shoot camera.
Normal
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Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Mi 11
S21 Ultra
The color optimization part is still better on the S21 Ultra, but have a look at these samples, Mi 11’s images are not bad. We’re actually fond of the natural-ish color reproduction from its cameras.
Wideangle Images
The same thing applies for the ultra-wide images as well where the S21 Ultra has marginally better color optimization and a wider field of view.
Wideangle
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Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Mi 11
S21 Ultra
But for what it’s worth, the Mi 11 competes handsomely.
Portrait Images
The subtle and natural color reproduction continues with the portrait images too. S21 Ultra zooms in for better subject focus while the Mi 11 doesn’t.
Portrait
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Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Mi 11
S21 Ultra
In any case, both of them are good camera phones for portraits. Edge detection, however, is not excellent in either of them.
Selfie Images
These phones pack an impressive selfie camera as well.
Selfie
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Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Mi 11
S21 Ultra
It’s just that portrait selfies from the S21 Ultra have a better-looking background.
Portrait Selfie
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Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Otherwise, both phones do a similar job.
Telephoto Images
Now, since the Mi 11 does not have a telephoto lens, as expected, it falls behind the S21 Ultra when zooming to 10x, 5x, or even 3x.
Telephoto
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Mi 11 - 3x
S21 Ultra - 3x
Mi 11 - 3x
S21 Ultra - 3x
Mi 11 - 10x
S21 Ultra - 10x
Mi 11 - 10x
S21 Ultra - 10x
But what we have come to realize is that we don’t really use the telephoto lens in our everyday life that much. All this time, the only instances when we had to switch to the telephoto camera were for taking photo samples for the review.
Nighttime Images
Xiaomi has also been a little cheeky with nighttime photography on the Mi 11 as it makes you wait for a few seconds to shoot even normal nighttime pictures. And because of that, its low-light photos appear to be brighter and more detailed.
Nighttime
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Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Mi 11
S21 Ultra
This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Despite the well-detailed shots, the delay ultimately makes Mi 11 a not-so-ideal point-to-shoot camera during the night, while the S21 Ultra only takes like a second to take the shot.
Night Mode
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Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Mi 11
S21 Ultra
About the night mode images, well, S21 Ultra takes the cake right away with better exposure maintenance, details, and colors under both normal and ultra-wide modes.
Ultrawide Night Mode
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Mi 11
S21 Ultra
Videography
For video stabilization, both of them feature gyro-EIS. Even so, we found 8K videos to be more stable from the Mi 11. This is also because the phone crops the footage by a lot to maintain steadiness. On the other hand, S21 Ultra gives you a wider frame without much stabilization in videos.
If you ask me, I don’t think 8K recording in smartphones is all that useful, at least right now, so I am going to let this one slide. On to the more realistic recording options, 4k 60 fps footage looks good from both phones, but the S21 Ultra definitely has better dynamic range and color processing.
When it comes to ultra-wide videos, you will get consistent recording options across all resolutions on the S21 Ultra which is something I really appreciate. Meanwhile, the Mi 11 only lets you shoot up to 1080p 60 fps from its ultra-wide and selfie camera.
Overall, during our use, we found the primary and ultra-wide cameras on the Mi 11 to be good, if not better than the S21 Ultra. And that’s a big compliment for the Mi 11. Likewise, I also compared its photos with the OnePlus 9 and found Mi 11 to be doing a better job in most of the scenarios.
Battery
4600mAh with 55W wired/50W wireless charging
Additionally, battery endurance has never been a problem with the Mi 11 either. Even under the WQHD resolution, it will give you 5.5 hours of Screen-on Time (SoT). Scaling it down to Full HD, you will be able to achieve up to 6.5 hours of SoT on a medium kind of usage.
Plus, Xiaomi provides a 55-watt GaN charger inside the box, which if you’ve noticed, is comparatively smaller than other 65-watt chargers as it is made of Gallium Nitride instead of silicon. It is Power Delivery (PD) compliant too. As a result, we could charge our PD-compatible laptops and accessories with this charger.
Xiaomi Mi 11 Long-Term Review: Conclusion
Okay, as evident from the review, our time with the Xiaomi Mi 11 has been terrific. The company has effectively nailed the basics for a true flagship experience. The only thing that’s somewhat bugged us is the unpolished software experience. Plus, I am a little let down by the fact that the Mi 11 didn’t launch in as many markets as it should have.
Maybe it’s because of the global chipset shortage or Xiaomi’s strategy of pushing the sales of Mi 11 Ultra… I am not quite sure. Regardless, looking at the bigger picture, the future of Xiaomi flagships looks promising, and I can’t wait to see what the Mi 12 has in store for us.
