Honor is all set to unveil the Honor 50 series of smartphones, which includes the Honor 50, 50 SE, and 50 Pro. Prior to the debut, 91mobiles has disclosed the entire specification of these phones. So, let’s walk through the specs and rumors of Honor 50, 50 SE, and 50 Pro.
Honor 50 5G, Honor 50 Pro Rumors:
Design and Display
Here, the leak reveals that the Honor 50 5G will flaunt a 6.57″ OLED FHD+ display with 32MP front-facing camera. The 50 Pro 5G, on the other hand, will have a slightly larger 6.72″ AMOLED screen with a pill-shaped cutout for the dual-camera arrangement. The primary selfie camera is a 32MP sensor which is accompanied by a 12MP lens.
Moving on, the Honor 50 measures 159.96 x 73.76 x 7.78 mm and has a weight of 175 grams while the 50 Pro has a dimension of 163.46 x 74.66 x 8.05 mm and weighs slightly heavier at 187 grams.
In terms of performance, both smartphones are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G. The vanilla model is fueled by a 4,300mAh battery that supports 66W rapid charging, while the Pro model is powered by a smaller 4,000mAh battery that supports 100W fast charging. Honor says its 100W charging solution only takes 25 minutes to juice up the 4000mAh battery.
Over on the optics, the Honor 50 series has a radical camera design at the back. Here, the 50 and 50 Pro has a quad-camera setup with a 108MP primary, an 8MP ultra-wide, a 2MP macro, and a 2MP depth sensor.
Moving on, the Honor 50 SE is the entry-level device in the lineup. It sports a 6.78″ FHD+ LCD display with a 16MP front-facing camera. The phone is equipped with a triple rear camera configuration and is powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 900 processor.
Likewise, the camera arrangement includes a 100MP f/1.9 primary, an 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide, and a 2MP f/2.4 macro sensor.
Under the hood, it packs a decent 4000mAh battery that juices up via a 66W fast charger. Moreover, it weighs 191 grams and has a thickness of 8 mm.
Last year, Realme launched the X7 series in China. The lineup consisted of the vanilla X7 and X7 Pro—both with MediaTek Dimensity chipsets. Realme re-branded V15 as X7 for the Indian market, while the Pro model launched as is. Now, fresh leaks have revealed that the company is prepping for the launch of its successor. The upcoming Realme X9 series (X9, X9 Pro) will feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors.
Realme X9, X9 Pro Rumors Roundup:
Like the existing X7 series, the Realme X9 lineup will have three devices. The company is adding a “Master Edition” to go with the Realme X9 and X9 Pro. Information about the three phones was scarce, up until now. The Pro variant has now leaked in full, revealing much of its key specifications.
The latest leak suggests that the Realme X9 Pro will be a rebadged Oppo Reno 6 Pro+. The phone is already part of the TENAA listing with the RMX3366 model number.
Design and Display
As for the specs, Realme X9 Pro will feature a 6.55-inch E3 AMOLED panel from Samsung. The curved edges of the display will add to the premium feel of the device. Its 90Hz refresh rate will be a step down from the 120Hz on the Realme X7 Pro.
Realme X9 Pro will have a slim profile with a thickness of just 8mm. An aluminum alloy frame will hold the device together. In addition, the front and the back of the phone will have Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection.
Performance and Memory
Moving on, the Chinese variant of the phone will pack a powerful chipset in the form of Qualcomm Snapdragon 870. Built on a 7nm process, it is the overclocked version of last year’s Snapdragon 865+.
Likewise, X9 Pro’s global variant is expected to feature Dimensity 1200 instead. In related news, OnePlus is rumored to rebrand the global variant of Realme X9 Pro as its upcoming Nord 2. Furthermore, X9 Pro will be available with 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 128/256GB UFS 3.1 storage.
Realme X9 Pro will flaunt a triple camera setup at the back. Sony’s 50MP IMX766 sensor will replace the 64MP IMX686 in its predecessor as the primary camera. Plus, an ultra-wide lens and a 2MP monochrome lens will accompany it. There will be a 32MP selfie shooter on the front.
X9 Pro will get its juice from a 4500mAh battery in a dual-cell configuration. This means that the phone will support 65W Dart Charging. As expected, it will boot on Android 11 with Realme UI 2.0 on top. Unfortunately, it will not inherit features like X-axis linear motor, telephoto camera, and OIS from the Reno 6 Pro+.
Realme X9 Pro Specifications (Rumored):
Display: 6.55-inch AMOLED, 90Hz refresh rate
Resolution: FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio
As for the standard X9, we know that it will feature Snapdragon 778G processor. It is the successor to last year’s Snapdragon 768G. The new chipset is built on TSMC’s 6nm process and comes with a tri-cluster CPU architecture with 1x Cortex-A78 (@ 2.4GHz), 3x Cortex-A78 (@ 2.2GHz), and 4x Cortex-A55 (@ 1.9GHz). Unfortunately, this is all we know about the X9 so far.
Realme X9 and X9 Pro Price & Availability
Realme X9 series could soon launch in China. According to leaks, the X9 Pro will be priced at 2,699 Yuan and 2,999 Yuan for 8/128GB and 8/256GB variants, respectively. Similarly, the standard Realme X9 will have a price between 2,000 and 2,500 Yuan.
Realme X9 series
Expected Price in China
Realme X9 Pro
8/128GB
2,699 Yuan
8/256GB
2,999 Yuan
Realme X9
2,000 – 2,500 Yuan
Meanwhile, check out our unboxing and the first impression of the Realme X7 Max.
Snapdragon 895 and Exynos 2200 will be powering Android flagship smartphones of 2022. While enthusiasts are looking forward to how these chips will fare against each other in terms of performance, the latest leaks have revealed that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 895 will also be manufactured by Samsung.
Samsung wins bid for Snapdragon 895
Having used TSMC’s process for Snapdragon 865, Qualcomm turned to Samsung for the Snapdragon 888. The two processors are based on 7nm and 5nm nodes, respectively.
Earlier, a tweet from reliable leakster Ice Universe indicated that Qualcomm is leaning towards TSMC’s 4nm process for the Snapdragon 895. Many speculated that the shift was due to the heating issue associated with Snapdragon 888.
However, if Mauri QHD is to be believed, Qualcomm has failed to secure TSMC as its chip maker. As a result, Samsung will be manufacturing Qualcomm’s flagship chipset for the second year straight.
Samsung Foundry makes the next Snapdragon AP (Waipio, maybe 895) and Exynos 2200.
Both are 4nm, not 5nm.
Samsung renamed their 5LPA (3rd Gen 5nm) -> 4LPE (1st Gen 4nm).
Because there is no performance difference between 5LPA and 4LPE.
It looks like TSMC has committed all its 4nm resources, including foundries for Apple. The report also suggests that the California-based company has even secured TSMC’s 3nm foundry. Apple will be using the chips for upcoming Macs, iPhones, and iPads. It could mean that Qualcomm may have to stick to Samsung for longer than it likes.
Problem with Samsung Foundry
The problem here is that Samsung’s process node is known to be inferior to that of TSMC. For reference, AnandTech analyzed Snapdragon 888 and Exynos 2100 and concluded that Samsung’s 5LPE node (5nm) was comparable to TSMC’s N7P (7nm).
In addition, the leakster also claims that there will be no performance difference between Samsung’s 5LPA and 4LPE (4nm) nodes. Thus, Samsung’s first-gen 4nm node will be its third-gen 5nm node at its core, rebranded under a new name.
Doing so will have several benefits for Samsung. To start, the company can utilize its existing 5nm plants for upcoming chipsets without any modifications. In addition, it will ensure better yield than what a newer process node would have otherwise.
Nothing is confirmed yet
Still, all of this is just hearsay for now and it might not even turn out to be true. However, Mauri QHD claims that his source, Hades, has been right 7 out of 8 times.
So what do you think of the rumors? Which foundry would you prefer between Samsung and TSMC for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 895?
Meanwhile, check out our gaming review of the Exynos 2100.
Despite rebranding most of its phones from sister company Redmi, Poco’s products have been met with great market reception thanks to their aggressive pricing. Last year’s mid-range champ, the Poco X2, was likewise a terrific smartphone. However, there have been several issues due to the phone’s service deterioration. These flaws were experienced by the majority of X2 users, and to make matters worse, Poco made some rash comments about the issues.
Poco X2 issues:
Companies like Poco have built their foundation by delivering excellent value-for-money products. They even flaunt this ability in their product launch events by comparing their phones to others in the market to signify self-superiority.
However, many of those brands don’t appear to be concerned with consumer after-sales support. With the recent debacle, Poco is kind of turning to be one such company.
Bugs everywhere
There have been so many flaws with the Poco X2 that I can’t state them all in one breath. The device includes flaky software, failing cameras, an ad-rich user interface, a disappointing Android 11 upgrade, Widevine L1 downgraded to L3, and so on. However, this was not the case when the device was first released.
Display issue
In January 2021, Poco X2 began receiving an upgrade for MIUI 12, as well as numerous other problems. The upgrade caused battery drain and heating problems. The most prevalent issue was poor touch responsiveness and broken animations even while moving from one app to another.
Creepy cameras
Moving on, the X2’s camera has entirely lost its way with the March update for many users. According to them, the camera app either freezes or simply displays a blank screen. When accessing it, there are multiple instances of the “Can’t connect to the camera” error. The situation deteriorated when the problem could not be resolved even with a software flash or a factory reset.
The problem appears to be more software-related in the early days since individuals using the GCam app can use their cameras normally. Furthermore, Poco X3 NFC customers are experiencing similar troubles.
However, several Poco users in India stated that the problems were fixed once the motherboard was replaced. According to Xiaomi/Poco service facilities in India, the issue can only be resolved by replacing the motherboard, which costs INR 10,000. This is one of the strangest responses I’ve ever heard from a brand.
So, it’s fair to say that most value-oriented smartphone buyers who invested a chunk of their money on Poco X2 might not be able to afford that amount.
Likewise, in the same update, users are also complaining that the Widevine L1 support is no longer available. Instead, it has been downgraded to Widevine L3. As a result, the phone no longer supports HD streaming on Netflix, Prime Video, and other platforms.
No brand reply
Despite all of this, Poco has yet to issue an official statement. However, Poco India did tweet about a few measures to follow, addressing the issue.
Poco X2 issues: Conclusion
During its initial release, the Poco X2 was a superb smartphone. Even now, the device compares favorably to the most recent Redmi products. However, the company does not appear to focus on its after-sales service.
As the aforementioned issue arose for multiple consumers, it appears that Poco is either not using quality hardware or isn’t putting sufficient emphasis on stable software upgrades. Or maybe it’s both of these things.
All we can say is that a timely and bug-free software upgrade and the use of better quality hardware would assist to boost the brand’s public image.
Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to our solar system and is presumed to offer the highest possibility of discovering an extraterrestrial being. Nevertheless, with current technology, reaching there is next to impossible. However, scientists have devised a laser-powered sail that they believe will allow unmanned spacecraft to travel 24 trillion miles and visit Alpha Centauri within 20 years.
Laser powered sail for Alpha Centauri:
The Australian National University (ANU) has designed a laser-powered sail as part of an international effort to investigate the planets surrounding Alpha Centauri. Breakthrough Starshot project plans for the development of an ultra-lightweight spacecraft that will function as a light-sail. The sail should reach the triple star system 4.37 light-years away at an incredible pace.
While this distance sounds like a lot (which it is), Alpha Centauri is three times closer than the next closest Sun-like star system. Here, the laser propulsion system would propel the probes into orbit. Similarly, the lights that will power the sail will be released from the Earth’s surface.
In the figure, we can see millions of laser lights striking at a point to illuminate the sail and push it onto its interstellar journey.
“To cover the vast distances between Alpha Centauri and our own solar system, we must think outside the box and forge a new way for interstellar space travel”, said Dr. Chathura Bandutunga, the study’s lead author.
There are three stars in Alpha Centauri: Centauri A, Centauri B, and Proxima Centauri. Astronomers disclosed in December last year that they were “carefully investigating” a mystery radio signal from Proxima Centauri.
Proxima Centauri is 4.2 light-years away from Earth and features two confirmed planets. The first one is a Jupiter-like gas giant and the next has a rocky world in the habitable zone known as Proxima Centauri b.
Australia’s Parkes radio telescope detected the signal in mid-2020. Meanwhile, the detected signals were not ascribed to any Earth-based or near-Earth human-created source. That means it’s certainly from an unknown source. Or, the signal is likely to have a natural explanation, but that hasn’t stopped alien-hunting scientists from paying more attention.
Sail on journey
Once the sail begins its trip, it will travel for 20 years across the vacuum of space before arriving at its destination. It will record photos and scientific measures as it travels to its destination, which it will transmit back to Earth.
The potential stumbling point, though, is the continued use of lasers to control the sail. The Breakthrough Starshot program calculated that the necessary power would be roughly 100GW (GigaWatt). That is around 100 times the capacity of the biggest battery in the world. Similarly, to attain such great power, around 100 million lasers will be necessary. And of course, other potential dangers in the vacuum of space.
NASA announced in 2017 that they are contemplating a trip to Alpha Centauri. The crew wants to complete the mission in 2069, on the 100th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission.
Journey to date
The only spacecraft to leave our solar system are Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. Because of its speedier trajectory, the former, which was launched 16 days after the latter, was the first to reach interstellar space in 2012. Six years later, the Voyager 1 spacecraft exited our solar system. But not before capturing Earth from a record distance of 3.7 billion miles away—which was so elegantly described by Carl Sagan as “Pale Blue Dot“.
Meanwhile, check out our review of Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 (2021).
Google has now shifted to the artificial intelligence (AI) approach for chip design, claiming that it can design silicons quicker than the traditional human approach. On top of faster chip design, this technique will help save space and power while improving performance.
Google AI chip design:
The news surfaced in this week’s publication of Nature, where they detailed the use of graph placement for chip “floorplanning”. Google has been developing chips using machine learning for years. But this time, the study appears to be rather effective.
The new machine learning technique will be implemented in the next iteration of Google’s own TPU (tensor processing unit) AI chip. Likewise, the chip with such a design will offer better AI computation.
Better chips than humans
The chip construction process includes several tactics and components, but creating a clear floor plan is a difficult endeavor. According to the tech giant, it trained a reinforcement learning algorithm with 10,000 different chip floorplans in order to improve efficiency and performance.
In just 6 hours, the AI was able to design chip “floorplans” better than human engineers could after months of labor.
“Our method has been used in production to design the next generation of Google TPU,” wrote the authors of the paper, led by Google’s co-heads of machine learning for systems, Azalia Mirhoseini and Anna Goldie.
A chip’s floorplan is basically a representation of where components like CPUs, GPUs, memory are located on the silicon die. Their placement on the board is critical since it influences the chip’s power consumption and speed.
According to Google engineers, this has “major implications” for the chip industry. It should allow firms to explore the architectural space for new designs more rapidly and simply tailor processors for specific workloads.
AI has already demonstrated its ability to overcome humans in complicated games such as Go and chess. While gaming, algorithms are well trained to make the right move and win the game. Similarly, in chip design, the system knows how to make it as computationally efficient as possible.
Final words
The new advancement made by Google is notable as the company will be using its machine learning technology in next-generation TPUs. Not just Google, but Nvidia is also seeking to use machine learning to speed up chip design. For now, all we can say is that AI has begun to steadily revolutionize the semiconductor industry. And we can’t wait to see where this goes.
Meanwhile, check out our review of Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 (2021).
Nokia C20 Plus is the latest budget device from HMD Global. As reflected in the moniker, it is a slightly beefed variant of the standard Nokia C20, which is already available in Nepal. Let us look at the specs, features, expected price, and availability of the Nokia C20 Plus in Nepal.
Nokia C20 Plus Overview:
Design and Display
Nokia C20 Plus features the same 6.5-inch HD+ screen as the regular C20. The phone has a waterdrop notch for the selfie camera. The bezels are quite thick, and there is a Nokia branding on the chin.
The phone has a polycarbonate body with series of ridges. Nokia says the corrugated design makes the phone more sturdy and durable.
Performance
C20 Plus comes with Unisoc SC9863A. Manufactured under 28nm process, this chipset features eight Cortex-A55 cores (4×1.6 GHz + 4x 1.2GHz). As for memory, it has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. It runs Android 11 Go out-of-the-box.
At the back, the circular camera module now houses two sensors. Nokia has upgraded the primary camera with an 8MP sensor. There is also a 2MP depth sensor accompanying it.
On the front, Nokia C20 Plus has the same 5MP selfie camera as its non-Plus sibling, but the front-facing flash is missing here.
Rest of the specs
The battery department also sees some improvement. Nokia has included a larger 4,950mAh battery here which supports 10W charging via the MicroUSB port. However, it is not user removable.
Nokia C20 Plus Specifications:
Body: 165.4 x 75.85 x 75.85mm, 204.7 gm
Display: 6.5-inches IPS LCD panel
Resolution: HD+ (1600 x 720 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio
Chipset: Unisoc SC9863A (8x Cortex-A55)
Memory: 3GB RAM, 32GB storage (expandable up to 256GB)
Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS / AGPS, Micro USB 2.0, 4G LTE
Battery: 4,950mAh with 10W charging (5V, 2A)
Colors: Ocean Blue, Graphite Black
Nokia C20 Plus Price in Nepal & Availability
Nokia C20 Plus will go on sale in China starting June 16 for CNY 699. We expect the price of the Nokia C20 Plus in Nepal to be around NPR 13,000 when it launches here shortly.
Vivo Y73 is the latest mid-range device from the Chinese smartphone maker. Its launch comes a week after the Y70t‘s unveiling in China. Here, we will be discussing the key specifications and features of the Vivo Y73, along with its expected price in Nepal.
Vivo Y73 Overview:
Vivo pays special attention to the look and the feel of its devices. And the Y73 is no exception. Vivo has used AG (Anti-Glare) Glass for the rear panel which is a fingerprint-resistant material. The frame also has a 2.5D curve for a better grip. The phone’s body is just 7.38mm thick. That makes it 6% slimmer than its predecessor. Vivo Y73 weighs around 170 grams only.
On the front, there is a 6.44-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel. It supports HDR10 content and can achieve up to 570 nits of brightness in High Brightness Mode (HBM). This screen also embeds an optical in-display fingerprint sensor.
Performance
Running the show underneath is the MediaTek Helio G95. It is a 12nm chipset with 2x Cortex-A76 (@2.05GHz) and 6x Cortex-A55 (2.0GHz) CPU cores. Then you have MediaTek HyperEngine Technology for smoother gameplay. In addition, Vivo has updated the Multi-Turbo with ART++ Turbo, which it says will speed up app initiation and switching.
The phone arrives with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The latter is expandable up to 1TB. Similarly, users can also leverage 3GB of extended RAM.
Vivo Y73 flaunts a triple camera setup at the back inside an X60-esque module. The primary camera has a 64MP image sensor. Accompanying it are two 2MP sensors for macro and portrait shots. Unfortunately, there is no ultrawide camera.
The rear camera setup supports 4K video recording and has other features like Eye Autofocus (Eye AF), AI Super Night Mode, Ultra Stable Video, and Multi-Style Portraits. On the other hand, the 16MP selfie shooter has a fixed focus and supports Dual-Video recording.
Rest of the specs
Backing the device is a 4000mAh battery with support for 33W Flash Charge. It can take the Y73 from 0 to 61% in just 30 minutes. There is a fingerprint scanner underneath the screen for biometrics. The phone ships with Funtouch OS 11.2 based on Android 11.
Rear Camera: Triple (64MP with AF, 2MP depth, 2MP macro)
Front Camera: 16MP lens
Security: In-display fingerprint scanner
Battery: 4,000mAh with 33W fast charging
Vivo Y73 Price in Nepal & Availability
Vivo Y73 is now available for purchase in India where its price is INR 20,990 for the sole 8/128GB variant. We expect the price of Vivo Y73 in Nepal to be NPR 35,000 when it launches here shortly.
Vivo Y73
Price in India
Price in Nepal (Expected)
8/128GB
INR 20,990
NPR 35,000
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Vivo iQOO 7.
Lenovo recently updated its IdeaPad Flex series of 2-in-1 laptops with the latest processors from AMD. And here I have the 2021 edition of Flex 5 that hosts very few upgrades compared to its predecessor. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Let’s learn more about the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 in this review.
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 Specifications:
Design&Build: All-plastic build, 12.66W x 8.56D x 0.70H-inches, 1.5 kg
Audio: 2x 2W speakers with Dolby Audio, Dual microphone
Battery: 52.5 Watt-hours Li-Ion battery
Power Supply: 65W USB-C AC power adapter
Webcam: 720p HD camera, Privacy Shutter
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 ax (2×2), Bluetooth 5.0
I/O Ports: 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C (with PD charging), 1x HDMI 1.4b, 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack, 1x 4-in-1 card reader, 1x DC port
Pricein Nepal: Rs. 118,000
What’s inside the box: Laptop, power adapter, quick start guide, Lenovo Active Pen, AAAA battery
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 Review:
Design
All-plastic build, 2-in-1 convertible
A relatively flimsy hinge mechanism
Because this is a budget entry in Lenovo’s lineup of convertible laptops, the IdeaPad Flex 5 features an all-plastic build quality. So as far as premium hands-on feel goes, this laptop is not gunning for that title in the first place. The Graphite Grey finish that the device arrives in looks quite good though.
To ensure easy handling, Lenovo has smoothened the bezels all around. Here, the keyboard deck has this relatively rubberized feel contrary to the lid of the laptop. More importantly, neither of them attracts fingerprints or smudges as much. And the ones that do manage to leave a footprint can be easily wiped off.
There are two Lenovo branding inside a metal encasing—one at the back and one on the keyboard chassis. While the rubber feet allow for a pretty firm grip on a flat surface, their height compromises an efficient airflow to the wide intake vents on the bottom. Plus, unlike the “ErgoLift” hinge we see in Asus laptops, Lenovo hasn’t implemented any elevating mechanism either.
Thermals
So, the Flex 5 does get slightly warm mostly on the left half of the chassis with 7-8 Chrome tabs open alongside a couple of other lightweight apps like a word processor and media player running in the background. As far as thermals go, the company has installed a traditional single-fan (right) set up alongside two heatpipes.
I mostly tested the device under the “Intelligent Cooling” profile which is supposedly a middle-ground between max performance and quiet fan noise. Fortunately, under the aforementioned use case (which I’d classify under lightweight – medium), the fan doesn’t kick in as much, thereby delivering a quiet performance. But with keen pair of ears, the faint fan noise is still audible here.
For absolutely inaudible fan noise, there’s the Battery Saving profile which comes at a compromise of CPU performance. Here, the exhaust vent at the back does a fairly good job of blowing the hot air away from the screen as well. However, I have to mention the inconsistency of the thermal performance of this convertible machine.
For some reason, the device starts getting hot even under low CPU-intensive tasks like the one mentioned earlier, with fans failing to bring down the temperature. To reiterate, this is not a routine occurrence and I experienced this in a couple of instances only. Seems to me that this is purely a software issue and Lenovo could easily roll out an update addressing the problem—although that’s yet to arrive.
Moving on, for a 14” laptop, the Flex 5 is quite heavy. At 1.5 kg, it is bulkier than some other 14” laptops we’ve reviewed recently like MSI’s Prestige 14 Evo. This is not to say that you’ll have a hard time carrying it around, absolutely not.
Port selection
Ports
1 of 2
Left
Right
Anyway, IdeaPad Flex 5 has a pretty impressive selection of I/O. The left frame houses a DC port, a full-sized HDMI 1.4b, one USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. The Type-C port also supports PowerDelivery and depending on the region, Lenovo ships this laptop with either a barrel charger or a USB-C adapter. In our case, we got the latter
Similarly, the right frame hosts two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A, a 4-in-1 card reader, and the power button. Interestingly, both Type-A ports also support “Always on USB”, meaning you can charge your phones or tablets via the Flex 5 even when it is in sleep mode or completely turned off. But if you find this feature unnecessary, you can simply turn it off on the Lenovo Vantage app.
As we know by now, the display is one of the key areas where laptop manufacturers find a way to cut costs on their fairly affordable offerings. And unfortunately, that’s what’s happened here as well. Simply put, IdeaPad Flex 5’s 14” screen is disappointing and below average.
Lenovo lets you choose from two equally underwhelming options: an IPS panel with 250 nits brightness, or a TN panel with 220 nits brightness. On paper, the latter sounds unpassable for everyday usage but the 250 nits option that I have with me isn’t any better either. Even indoors, I’ve had to set its brightness level at around 70% during my everyday usage.
Sub-par brightness
Suffice it to say, you will struggle with outdoor visibility on this laptop. There is a 15” version as the Flex 5 as well but that one maxes out at 250 nits too. I’m getting this déjà vu when I say how it lacks sufficient brightness levels as well.
You see, like the Yoga 7i that we reviewed a couple of months ago, this one’s illumination level fluctuates by quite a big margin with a minimal switch in brightness settings. Unlike me, if you’re someone who favors auto brightness adjustment, it could be a headache.
Besides the sub-par brightness, this is not a vibrant, color-rich display either. No matter which of the three configurations you pick, Lenovo has made things super simple with a uniform 45% NTSC (or around 62% sRGB) color gamut on all options. The colors look pretty flat, especially red and yellow.
In the default color calibration, the screen has a nominal greenish tint too. Moreover, I noticed mild backlight bleed around the top edge of the display as well. But because this is a 2-in-1 laptop, you can transform it into a tablet at your whim. The touch response is pretty good and more importantly, the company throws a Lenovo Digital Pen inside the box too. This generous combo makes the Flex 5 an appealing choice for students and similar demographics.
Unreliable hinge?
Yet, the hinge isn’t as sturdy all-around since it is noticeably flimsy in the 60-90º ballpark. Apart from tablet and laptop mode, you can use it under Tent and Stand formation as well. Inside the built-in Alexa app, there’s also something called “Show Mode” which effectively turns the laptop into an Amazon Echo Show device although the functionalities are quite limited.
Anyway, this glossy screen isn’t ideal when you’re in a room with multiple light sources either. The Lenovo Flex 5 still adheres to the 16:9 aspect ratio with a big bottom chin while the bezels on the remaining three sides are fairly minimal. Plus, it attracts dust particles quite easily too.
Keyboard
Backlit chiclet-style keyboard (single-color)
Moving on, its keyboard is just good enough for a starter laptop. These concave-shaped keys with plastic keycaps feel quite cheap while still being a decent typer. They have a fairly silent audio profile yet the Shift, Enter, and Backspace keys rattle by quite a bit.
Regardless, the keys are well spaced out and I’ve had no trouble maintaining my usual typing speed here. It is also backlit with two levels of illumination to choose from. I found the lowest brightness setting to be inadequate under dimly lit rooms.
Also, I did notice the keyboard backlight bleed mostly from the number keys which is a little distracting when looking at the laptop by positioning it at eye level. Thankfully, the keyboard deck doesn’t flex as much and the Function keys hold handy shortcuts. Still, the microphone toggle and the user-programmable ‘S’ key don’t seem to work.
You can lock the Function key as well—which has a dedicated LED indicator to denote its status. The up/down keys share one standard keyspace while the entire directional keys integrate Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn shortcuts too. In terms of security, the Lenovo Flex 5 has a Windows Hello-certified fingerprint reader down the right arrow key which is fairly responsive and fast.
Trackpad
Plastic trackpad with integrated left/right keys
Likewise, this plastic trackpad is nothing to write home about either. I would’ve preferred a centered layout but Lenovo has favored placing it slightly to the left instead. Despite this, I’ve had no issue regarding accidental touches here.
As expected, it comes with Windows Precision drivers so gestures work perfectly fine too. The integrated left/right keys are quite loud and the trackpad itself is prone to mild flex upon press as well. Thankfully, it doesn’t attract many fingerprints or smudges.
Webcam
720p HD webcam, Privacy Shutter
A physical privacy shutter has become a staple of Lenovo laptops and fortunately, the IdeaPad Flex 5 keeps this tradition alive. You can push the switch to either side to block or unblock the camera. When disabled, you’ll see a small red dot over the camera. Anyway, the camera quality itself is pretty decent although, at times, it fails to lock focus.
The subjects look soft with muted colors but that’s passable for your video calling needs. For a budget laptop, I can’t complain about the audio pickup from the array microphone either. To note, the laptop doesn’t have IR cameras—meaning it doesn’t support Windows Hello face authentication.
Audio
2x 2W front-firing speaker setup
Dolby Atmos, dual microphones
Coming to the audio side of things, there’s a front-firing Dolby Audio stereo speaker setup that pumps out sufficiently good sound quality through the grills on either side of the keyboard deck. Weirdly enough, the audio output radius isn’t as wide as the speaker grill itself. Instead, (roughly) the upper half solely serves as symmetric design choice only.
Even at max volume, there is no distortion here and the mids and highs sound crisp with plenty of details. The audio is loud enough to fill up an average-sized room with ease too. Still and all, there’s almost no bass reproduction from these speakers with lows sounding almost entirely flat. You can also choose from different sound profiles inside the Lenovo Vantage app including movie, music, game, and voice.
Performance
AMD “Zen 2” Ryzen 5 5500U CPU (25W TDP)
Radeon 7 integrated graphics, No discrete GPU
16GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
Finally, let’s jump into the performance side of things. Powering the IdeaPad Flex 5 is AMD’s latest Ryzen 5000-series mobile processor. The CPU (or rather APU) choices range between Ryzen 3 5300U, Ryzen 5 5500U, and Ryzen 7 5700U.
This can be paired with either 8 or 16GB of DDR4 RAM and up to 512GB SSD. Our review unit of Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 comes with AMD’s Ryzen 5 5500U, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and 256GB SSD storage. In the US, this model costs around $790 while its price in Nepal is NPR 118,000 (~ $1,020).
Here, the Ryzen 5000 series was supposed to incorporate AMD’s Zen 3 architecture which promises a 19% IPC uplift over Zen 2. While it ultimately accomplishes this, Team Red was in hot water because of its weird decision to stick with the older Zen 2 architecture on some of the new 5000-series mobile processors.
Unfortunately, neither of the CPU choices for the Flex 5 are based on Zen 3 architecture.
Despite being based on the older architecture, AMD says it has made some improvements on the Zen 2-based Ryzen 5000 series chips—mostly in terms of voltage control, performance levels, and integrated graphics performance.
No Zen 3 CPU
And even though last year’s 4000 series “Renoir” and these 5000 series “Lucienne” silicons conform to the same transistor layout, the company has made improvements in the manufacturing and firmware stage to enable superior performance on the newer silicons. At the end of the day, all of this feels like an unnecessarily convoluted ploy from AMD which ultimately confuses buyers of Ryzen 5000-series powered laptops.
Moving on to the core performance itself, the Ryzen 5500U handles pretty much everything you throw at it. Not high-end editing or 3D rendering workloads, but you know what I mean. Throughout my usage, the IdeaPad Flex 5 has kept up with all my requirements.
Like I mentioned earlier, I mostly used the laptop under Intelligent Cooling mode and it was pretty smooth sailing throughout all my workloads. I clocked apps like Adobe PhotoShop and LibreOffice Writer to start at 10 and 1.4 seconds on average, respectively.
All in all, the Ryzen 5500U is a pretty competent processor even though it doesn’t enjoy the perks of Zen 3 architecture. This hexa-core CPU is the successor to Ryzen 5 4500U and there are a couple of notable head-on upgrades here. First, AMD has bumped the number of threads from 6 to 12 on the newer silicon although the base clock sees a 200MHz downgrade.
Upgraded integrated graphics
More importantly, the integrated graphics have undergone a major bump this time around. We haven’t quite been satisfied with the performance of the integrated Radeon graphics from the Ryzen 4000-powered laptops we’ve tested so far. But, things have changed. Compared to its predecessor with 6 GPU cores, the Ryzen 5500U has one more—and their clock speed has been upped to 1800MHz from 1500MHz as well.
So, relatively less demanding games like CS: GO and Valorant result in smooth gameplay with adjusted settings. By the way, I tested the games under the Extreme Performance profile that cranks the fan speed to the max.
High
Medium
Low
CS: GO
48-50 fps
56-58 fps
65-68 fps
Valorant
72-76 fps
77-80 fps
83-85 fps
Comparatively more demanding titles like the new Knockout City Block Party gave a fairly smooth 43-45 fps gameplay under High shadow quality. While these scores read good enough for integrated graphics, the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 is by no means a gaming laptop.
Can’t handle games well
After mere 10 minutes into the game, I clocked the CPU core temperature around 77ºC degrees which goes on to hit 83ºC when further pushing this silicon. And of course, the single fan setup simply can’t keep up with the rising temperature. All of this translates to an uncomfortably hot keyboard deck, especially in the left half.
Lenovo Vantage
1 of 5
Dashboard
Device
Toolbar
Performance Profile
Battery
So, if you wish to game on the Flex 5, hooking up a separate keyboard is almost essential. Multitasking on this laptop has been no problem either. It manages to keep things in memory quite well.
However, the RAM stick is soldered into the motherboard. So, if you decide on getting this laptop, be sure to consider your performance requirements and then carefully choose between the 8/16GB RAM variant. If 256GB of base storage isn’t sufficient, you will be able to switch it with a higher capacity M.2 PCIe SSD though. Let’s now take a look at few other benchmarks scores:
CrystalDiskMark
Read (MB/s)
Write (MB/s)
SEQ1M Q8T1
2479.67
965.89
SEQ1M Q1T1
1748.20
964.51
RND4K Q32T1
411.75
284.10
RNK4K Q1T1
43.24
81.80
Cinebench R23
CPU: Multi-Core
7238
CPU: Single Core
1164
MP Ratio
6.22x
Geekbench 5
CPU: Single Core
1094
CPU: Multi-Core
5505
Compute (OpenCL)
13296
Unigine Heaven
(FPS: 14.9, Score: 375, Min FPS: 5.6, Max FPS: 32.2)
API: OpenGL
Multi-monitor: Disabled
Quality: High
Anti-aliasing: x2
Tessellation: Extreme
Fullscreen: Yes
Stereo 3D: Disabled
Resolution: System
GFXBench
1440p Aztec Ruins OpenGL (High Tier) Offscreen
21.2291 fps
1080p Car Chase Offscreen
50.1327 fps
1080p Manhattan 3.1 Offscreen
60.2856 fps
1080p ALU 2 Offscreen
281.772 fps
1080p Driver Overhead 2 Offscreen
80.6699 fps
1080p Texturing Offscreen
39.1182 fps
3DMark
Overall
Graphics
Physics
Combined
Fire Strike v1.1
2882
3190
16885
972
Total
Graphics
CPU
Night Raid v1.1
12735
13554
9489
Time Spy v1.2
1091
959
5012
Battery
52.5 Watt-hour Li-Po battery
65W USB-C adapter inside the box
Besides the impressive performance, the Flex 5 is a clear winner in terms of battery endurance too. Fueled by a 52.5 Whr battery, I managed to get a little over 9 hours of screen-on time at best. My usage comprised of 6-7 Chrome tabs open with brightness set at 77% and Intelligent Cooling performance profile. So, if you want a laptop that can last throughout the day, this is a great option.
But once again, the IdeaPad Flex 5 shows its inconsistency in the battery department too. In rare instances when the laptop abruptly starts getting warm with the fan unable to cool it down, the battery life drops to below 5 hours. Anyway, the 65W power adapter takes a little over 1.5 hours to fully juice up the laptop.
Under the Lenovo Vantage app, you can also select how fast or how efficiently to fill up the battery. By enabling the “Rapid Charge” mode, Lenovo says the Flex 5 can get 2 hours of screen-on time with just 15 minutes of charge. With stable battery health in the long run in mind, there’s the “Conservation Mode” that restricts power input once the battery hits 55-60% charge level.
Conclusion
To sum up this review, the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 is a perfect definition of a mixed bag. Powered by the Ryzen 5 5500U, its performance is stellar for the price and is, therefore, a great option to those who value raw power over everything else.
Plus, its battery is no slouch either. Add this to the fact that it is a 2-in-1 laptop, then the Flex 5’s potential utility shoots through the roof. However, its dim screen with sub-par color reproduction makes for an unappealing value proposition to those with content creation in mind. Ultimately, I’ll still recommend it to students, teachers, or business professionals who can make do with the average display.
Watch our video review of Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14.
We recently came up with the review of Honor Band 6 which was a fantastic fitness tracker for the price. Well, there is a similar—almost a carbon copy—product in the market called the Huawei Band 6. Retailing at a little higher asking price than Honor’s alternative, is it worth the extra cash or not? Let’s find out more in this review of Huawei Band 6.
Like how Honor upgraded to a bigger design in its latest wearable, the Huawei Band 6 follows the same route compared to its predecessor. The slender form factor has seen a massive overhaul and I’m loving this new look. Call me old-fashioned but I still prefer the traditional loop/buckle watch strap and the Band 6 has given me zero reasons for complaint in that regard.
It is soft, lightweight, and fits practically every wrist size. Throughout my usage, I haven’t developed any skin irritation or allergy from putting it on either. Just like the Honor Band 6, this one weighs 18 grams only without the straps so the weight isn’t an issue either.
Somewhat premium design
While sharing the same design language, Huawei has tried to differentiate its fitness tracker in a couple of ways. First, the side button here doesn’t have a red accent like on the Honor Band 6. Likewise, the opposing frame doesn’t include a “Huawei” branding either—contrary to Honor’s choice to do so with its logo.
But more importantly, Huawei Band 6’s polymer fiber watch frame has a metallic texture to it which looks and feels more premium in contrast to the usual plastic body on Honor Band 6. Additionally, the Amber Sunrise variant that I have with me looks quite attractive too, with Forest Green, Graphite Black, and Sakura Pink color options available as well.
But I will say that Huawei could’ve delivered a more symmetrical look simply by matching the watch buckle with the strap. This black-colored buckle just looks out-of-place on this soft orange strap in my opinion.
Display
1.47-inches AMOLED panel, 283 PPI
100+ watch faces, 192 x 368 pixels
Upfront, it houses the same 1.47” AMOLED display with 194 by 368 pixels. For the most part, this screen is identical to the one on Honor Band 6. Yet, upon closer inspection, I found the colors to look slightly more natural on the Huawei Band 6—with better contrast and black levels too.
But let me reiterate, the difference is extremely nominal and under regular usage, they’re almost one and the same. For instance, the control panel is where one can notice the most visible difference in their supposed color calibration.
Yet, since that’s not the case elsewhere, this can be simply dismissed as two companies, adopting two (marginally) different design choices. I also installed the same watch faces in both wearables to see their difference.
And in this one called “Thai Temple”, the brownish background has better contrast on the Huawei Band 6 compared to the competition. Talking about watch faces, you can store up to 32 of them on the watch itself, with more to choose from via the Huawei Health app. Some let you customize what info to display too.
Additional SpO2 widget
Anyway, just like Honor Band 6, you can install up to 5 widgets on the homescreen here. But unlike the competition, Huawei’s offering has a SpO2 widget too. Regardless, the font size throughout the UI is readable and easy to make out. This sharp screen with 283 PPI pixel density makes sure you don’t notice any pixelation either.
Moreover, thanks to the subtle curves on all four edges of the display, using swipe and touch gestures is no problem either. Huawei’s custom OS running the show is incredibly well-optimized and the animations look pretty smooth as well.
All the incoming notifications get stored at the bottom of the UI—and of course, they’re non-actionable. While it does support Unicode fonts, unfortunately, the Huawei Band 6 can’t display emojis. Plus, it would’ve been a little more helpful if the notifications were timestamped too.
Moving on, with 5 levels of brightness to choose from, outdoor visibility on this fitness tracker is no issue either. But like with the Honor Band 6, it doesn’t support auto-brightness. So at night, the screen doesn’t get nearly as dim as you’d want it to.
Companion App
Huawei Health (Android/iOS)
Here, the Huawei Band 6 pairs with the company’s Huawei Health app. You know how Huawei was put into the Entity List by the US thereby banning it from working with any US-owned companies like Google?
Huawei Health
1 of 4
Dashboard
Health
Device
Watch Faces
Yeah, because of this, Huawei hasn’t updated any of its apps in the Play Store for a long time—including Huawei Health. Strangely, the company seems to have no problem updating apps on Apple’s App Store. So, unbeknownst to me, I was initially using the Play Store version of Huawei Health.
On top of being void of features like continuous blood oxygen monitoring, I also encountered multiple instances where the watch data didn’t sync well with the outdated app. But after updating to the latest version from Huawei’s AppGallery, things are as sound as a bell here. The data synchronization is fast and the app doesn’t crash every now and then either.
Apart from this, tasks like syncing watch faces, updating firmware are also quite swift now. Yet, there’s not much of a visual change here but I don’t mind. Still, features like menstrual cycle tracking are only possible with HMS Core 4.0 or a newer version installed. In any case, all your health-related data are organized in an easy-to-understand layout which is great.
Now, when it comes to fitness tracking, Huawei promises big numbers on the Band 6. 96 workout modes sure sound like a lot—and it sure is. But the reality couldn’t be more disappointing. The thing is, besides the 10 professional workout modes, the remaining ones are pretty much the same.
You can access it by selecting the Widgets option under the Workout menu. The slim silver lining on this grand letdown is that the miscellaneous workout modes are well-organized under different categories. From yoga, pilates, karate, dance, football, to even bungee jumping, it’s all here.
Yet, all it records throughout the workout is your heart rate, calories burnt on top of classifying the stress of the training under aerobic or anaerobic state. For this review, I went on a couple of workouts to compare the health tracking ability of Huawei and Honor’s Band 6. Here, both fitness trackers recorded similar BPM which is great news.
Spacious screen for all your health data
Moving on, you can also view your workout details in the watch itself—at length, might I add. This includes heart rate zones, pace, cadence, and practically everything else that’s available on the Huawei Health app.
Workout
1 of 4
Summary
Average Pace
Heart Rate
Pace
Weirdly enough, although I had turned on the high heart rate alert in both of them, neither triggered the said alert under an intensive workout—carrying a 25 kg sack up three flights of stairs. I could practically hear my heartbeat pounding but both of them failed to map it so. But under relatively easier workouts or casual usage, the Huawei Band 6 does push high heart rate alerts in a timely fashion.
In addition to the 86 miscellaneous exercise modes, there are 10 professional ones to choose from here, just like on the Honor Band 6. This includes running, walking, jump rope, elliptical, and others. Because the watch is 5 ATM certified, Huawei has complemented that with the ability to track your pool swimming sessions too.
Auto workout detection
Moreover, the company has embedded the auto workout detection which worked surprisingly better here compared to the Honor Band 6. And on each professional workout mode, you can define certain goals like time, calorie, distance—and have a reminder when you reach different milestones like heart zones and training stress.
Heart Rate
1 of 3
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Aside from that, it can track your stress levels, calories burnt, and sleep records as well. While the Huawei Band 6 boasts the newer, improved TruSleep 2.0 algorithm, I graphed both wearables sleep monitoring to be practically the same. The Honor Band 6 recorded the time I got up 5-10 minutes off in a couple of instances but I can’t complain.
Sleep
1 of 3
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
However, what’s unique to the Huawei Band 6 is that it sends you a notification every morning about your sleep score of the night before. But this is quite inconsistent and sometimes arrives hours after you’ve woken up.
All-day SpO2 monitoring
Besides all these, the biggest highlight of this fitness tracker has to be continuous blood oxygen level monitoring. While most budget wearables at this price point simply settle at on-request SpO2 tracking, Huawei has taken things a step further here. But Huawei’s implementation of all-day blood oxygen monitoring is pretty relaxed.
Blood Oxygen Monitoring
1 of 3
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
It can only record your SpO2 level every 30 minutes and if you dare take off the watch even for a moment between any 30-minute interval, it doesn’t record your blood oxygen level for that duration. Still and all, it’s a great feature to have on an affordable fitness band.
You can see your daily progress on the watch itself or the aforementioned companion app. Anyway, since it doesn’t have a built-in GPS, you will need to take your smartphone out on your workout sessions if you plan on trailing it.
Stress
1 of 3
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Other assorted features on the Huawei Band 6 include weather reports, breathing exercises, music playback control, alarm, stopwatch, find phone, etc. To give you a brief overview of your day’s health records, it includes the “Activity Records” section too. This includes parameters like steps taken, activity time, and hours active.
Battery Life
180mAh, Up to 14 days of battery life
Magnetic charger, Fast charging support
Finally, let’s talk about the battery endurance of the Huawei Band 6. Just like Honor’s alternative, this one promises a 2 week of battery life as well. With 24-hour blood oxygen monitoring turned on, I was expecting this thing to last no more than 5-6 days. Remarkably, I managed to go 7-8 days without having to charge it up.
On top of all-day SpO2 tracking, my use case consisted of at least a couple of dozens of notifications every day. And I’d set the brightness level to 4 throughout the day while dialing it down to 1 at night—you know since it doesn’t support auto brightness adjustment. Charging it up is fast and hassle-free too. It uses a 2-pin POGO connector that takes the watch from 0 to 100% in under an hour.
Conclusion
Okay, let’s wrap up this review of the Huawei Band 6. After all is said and done, the question remains—is spending a couple of more bucks on this worth it? Seeing its familiarity with the cheaper Honor Band 6, it certainly doesn’t seem so. And that’s where I’m leaning on as well. The only real value in getting the more expensive of the two is its continuous blood oxygen monitoring ability. So, if you can justify the extra money for this feature, the Huawei Band 6 is definitely worth your money.
