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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
OnePlus has added a couple of new smart TVs to its portfolio. The new OnePlus TV U1S was launched in India yesterday alongside the Nord CE 5G. Here, we will be discussing the key specifications of the OnePlus TV U1S, along with its expected price in Nepal.
OnePlus TV U1S Overview:
Here, the OnePlus TV U1S is a middle ground between the premium Q1 and the more affordable Y lineup. It has a familiar design and is available in three sizes – 50″, 55″, and 65″. The TV has a 4K LED panel with minimal bezels.
It has a 10-bit color depth and boasts 93% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut. OnePlus is claiming color accuracy of ΔE< 2 under the Movie Preset. As for HDR, it supports HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG formats. Unfortunately, it does not feature Dolby Vision HDR.
OnePlus TV U1S brings 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage and runs on Android 10 out-of-the-box. Thus, you get Google Play Store, Google Assistant, and Chromecast built-in. In addition, it has support for Amazon Alexa, Miracast, DLNA, and Multicast too. The latter lets you cast the content of two smartphones into the TV simultaneously.
Pre-installed applications include OxygenPlay 2.0, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Spotify, and so on. The stereo speakers with 30W total output on the OnePlus TV U1S are tuned by DYNAUDIO. OnePlus has also added Dolby Audio support. In terms of connectivity, it has 3x HDMI 2.1, 3x USB 2.0, 1x Ethernet, analog AV input, and a digital audio output port.
With OnePlus Connect 2.0, you can control your TV using your phone as well. Users can connect up to 5 smartphones here and can switch apps, transfer files, and type using their phones. Additionally, they can even use their phone as a trackpad.
Similarly, the TV U1S also supports OnePlus Buds and the OnePlus Watch. With the latter, you can adjust the volume. For gamers, there is also a dedicated game mode. You can even connect your console to the TV using the HDMI cable.
OnePlus TV U1S Specifications:
Display Size: 50” / 55” / 65”
Display Properties: 4K LED panel, 93% DCI-P3, HDR10, HDR10+, HLG
Picture Engine: Gamma Engine
Sound: 2x 15W output, Dolby Audio
OS: Android 10
Storage: 2GB RAM, 16GB Memory
Power: 140W / 165W / 215W
Wireless Connectivity: Wi-Fi 2.4/5GHz, Bluetooth 5.0
I/O Ports: 3x HDMI 2.1 (one with eARC), 2x USB 2.0, 1x LAN, 1x AV, 1x RF, 1x Digital Audio Output
Control: Remote, Speak Now, OnePlus Connect 2.0
OnePlus TV Camera Overview:
Moreover, the company launched a camera to go with the TV as well. The OnePlus TV camera is compatible with previous OnePlus TVs too.
It is capable of recording FHD videos. Other features include a wide-angle lens, dual microphones, background noise cancellation, and a physical privacy shutter.
One Plus TV U1S Price in Nepal & Availability
Oneplus TV U1S is now available in India, where its price is INR 39,999 for the 50″ model. The 55″ and 65″ models cost INR 47,999 and INR 62,999, respectively. The price of the OnePlus TV Camera is INR 2,499. We expect the price of the OnePlus TV U1S and the TV Camera in Nepal to start at NPR 95,000 and NPR 4,500, respectively if they launch here.
OnePlus Product
Price in India
Price in Nepal (Expected)
OnePlus TV U1S
50”
INR 39,999
NPR 95,000
55”
INR 47,999
NPR 115,000
65”
INR 62,999
NPR 145,000
OnePlus TV Camera
INR 2,499
NPR 4,500
Meanwhile, check out our review of the OnePlus 9 Pro.
Earlier this year, Motorola launched the Moto G Stylus 2021. This Lenovo-owned smartphone brand has now refreshed the device with 5G connectivity. Let us look at the specs, features, expected price, and availability of Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G in Nepal.
Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G Overview:
Design and Display
Moto G Stylus 5G has a 6.8-inch FHD+ display. The panel is still not OLED though. This display has an 89% screen-to-body ratio with a 20:9 aspect ratio.
The phone has plastic construction with a water repellant design. It’s not a compact device as it measures 9.35mm in terms of thickness. Similarly, Moto G Stylus 5G weighs 217.5g. This relatively bulky form factor is largely due to the big screen and stylus being built into the phone.
Performance and 5G
Motorola has replaced the Snapdragon 678 on the standard Moto G Stylus 2021 with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 480. It is a more recent chipset built on top of a smaller process node. It has slower CPU cores (2x Cortex-A76 @2.0GHz + 6x Cortex-A55 @1.8GHz), but a better GPU.
Snapdragon 480 is 5G-ready too with an integrated X51 5G modem, the same as that of Snapdragon 690. The phone supports nine 5G bands in the US, including the most implemented n77 band (3.7GHz).
At the back, Motorola has redesigned the camera bump. The new module is in line with what we saw in Moto G100.
The bump encloses four camera sensors. Motorola has gone with a 48MP primary lens followed by an 8MP camera with a wider Field of View. In addition, there is a 5MP macro (4cm focus) and a 2MP depth sensor.
You can shoot FHD videos from the primary and ultrawide cameras at 60 and 30 fps, respectively. The 16MP selfie shooter residing in the punch-hole cutout is capable of recording FHD videos at 30 fps.
Rest of the specs
Fueling the Moto G Stylus 5G is a massive 5,000mAh battery, but it only supports 10W charging. The phone comes with 6GB RAM and 256GB internal storage. The latter can be expanded up to 1TB by utilizing the hybrid card slot. It has a Type-C port, 3.5mm headphone jack, and is available in a single Cosmic Emerald color option. Running the show is Motorola’s My UX on top of Android 11.
Motorola Moto G 5G Stylus Specifications:
Display: 6.8-inch LTPS Max Vision display, 1080 x 2400 px, 20:9 aspect ratio
Connectivity: 5G, WiFi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5, GPS + GLONASS, USB Type-C
Battery: 5000mAh battery with 10W charging
Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G Price in Nepal
Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G will go on sale in the US for USD 399 from June 14. We expect the price of Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G in Nepal to be NPR 45,000 if and when it launches here.
Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G
Price (US)
Price in Nepal (Expected)
6/256GB
USD 399
NPR 45,000
Meanwhile, check out our unboxing and review of the Realme X7 Max 5G.
According to Counterpoint Research, the global smartphone shipment volume in Q1 2021 saw a 20% year-on-year (YoY) growth. Here, Samsung led the worldwide smartphone shipment with a 22% market share in Q1 2021. To compare, the company had lost its global smartphone shipment dominance to Apple in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Samsung leads smartphone shipment in Q1 2021:
The worldwide smartphone market recorded approximately 355 million shipments in Q1 2021, according to Counterpoint Research. Samsung is at the top with a 22% market share, followed by Apple‘s 17%. Meanwhile, Xiaomi takes the bronze medal with 14% market share while Oppo, Vivo, and Huawei have 11%, 10%, and 4% market share, respectively.
Image: Counterpoint
Surprisingly, even after being enlisted in USA’s Entity List, Huawei has still managed to be on the list with 4% of the global smartphone shipment. Samsung was able to regain its number one status, due to low iPhone shipments in North America and Europe.
In North America, nevertheless, Apple is still leading by 55% market volume, while Samsung covers just 28%. Global smartphone shipments decreased by 10% on a quarterly basis compared to Q4-2020 but grew by 20% on a year-over-year basis. The increment in smartphone shipment could largely be due to an increase in remote working and online education.
Xiaomi continues to be at the forefront in the Indian market with a 26% share of total smartphone shipments, while the Asian region is dominated by Vivo with 18% market coverage. As per Counterpoint, Xiaomi has seen an 8% YoY increase which is driven by the Redmi 9 series. The market share for Apple and Samsung in Asia is just 12%.
Image: Counterpoint (edited)
Samsung reclaimed the title of most shipments with the highest market share in Europe, Latin America (LATAM), and the Middle East, and Africa (MEA). The company has 37% share in Europe, 42% in LATAM, and a 26% market share in the MEA region. While Apple didn’t crack into the top 5 position in LATAM or MEA, the brand maintained a 24% market share in Europe.
Interestingly, India remains the largest feature phone market, with Transsion’s Itel owning 21% of the market.
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Vivo iQOO 7.
Samsung has released its latest image sensor for smartphones. The new Samsung ISOCELL JN1 is the smallest 50MP smartphone image sensor to date. Here, we will be discussing its key specifications and features.
Samsung ISOCELL JN1 Overview:
The ISCOELL JN1 uses a 1/2.76″ sensor, which makes it the smallest 50MP smartphone camera sensor. Thus, it can fit in slimmer phones. Samsung says that it can reduce camera bumps by about 10%.
The sensor is compatible with the existing 1/2.7″ optical format. Thus, brands can implement it as an ultra-wide, selfie, or even a telephoto camera. The sensor is capable of recording 4K videos at 60 fps. It comes with several new technologies such as ISOCELL 2.0, Smart ISO, and Double Super PD Autofocus.
ISOCELL 2.0
ISOCELL 2.0 on the JN1 results in a 16% better light sensitivity. Samsung is using four-to-one pixel binning. Here, four 0.64μm pixels combine into a Tetrapixel of 1.28μm. It will allow the camera to take brighter 12.5MP images.
Smart ISO adjusts the image conversion gain according to the environment illumination. Low ISO retains more detail in brighter surroundings, while High ISO reduces noise in low-light conditions.
Inter-scene HDR in mixed-light condition promises maximum exposure levels extracted from two images with Low ISO and High ISO, respectively.
Double Super PD
Samsung has doubled the phase detecting pixels on JN1 compared to Super PD technology. Hence the Double PD name. As a result, the JN1 maintains the same Autofocus performance even in 60% less illumination.
Samsung says the new 50MP ISOCELL JN1 sensor is versatile enough to fit in devices ranging from mid-range to flagship level. The sensor is already in mass production. Thus, we might see it in smartphones soon.
Watch: Galaxy S21 Ultra vs iPhone 12 Pro Max camera comparison
A microscopic multi-cell organism known as “bdelloid” has regained its life after being frozen for 24,000 years in Siberia. Russian scientists discovered the bdelloid rotifer in the Alayeza river in the Russian Arctic.
Bdelloid rotifer: back to life after 24,000 years
The multi-cell organism, which usually lives in freshwater habitats can survive in extremely cold conditions. A previous study indicates that bdelloid rotifer can survive in -20º Celsius temperature for around a decade.
Long live creature
According to new research published in Current Biology, the organism can survive for thousands of years. Researchers unearthed the bdelloid rotifer in a soil sample taken at a depth of 3.5 meters below the ground.
Similarly, to take the sample, scientists used core extraction and sample processing technique that prevents contamination from top layers of soil. Surprisingly, despite living tens of thousands of years in a frozen land, it was able to reproduce asexually. Bdelloid rotifers are also known for their resistance to radiation and other inhospitable living environments.
Stas Malavin, of Russia’s Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, says “The takeaway is that a multicellular organism can be frozen and stored as such for thousands of years and then return back to life – a dream of many fiction writers”.
For years, land encased in permafrost—where the Earth is frozen all year—has brought startling scientific discoveries. After carbon dating, scientists revealed the organism’s age between 23,960 and 24,485 years old. According to them, it was previously thought to be impossible for a multicellular creature to remain frozen for thousands of years and then regain its life.
Malavin says further study is necessary to discover the true nature of the organism. There are also other multi-cell creatures, plants, and mosses that came back to life after thousands of years.
How they can actually survive?
Bdelloids are capable of maintaining such long existence with “cryptobiosis”. In this process, microscopic creatures don’t need oxygen, water, or even food. You can take a sneak peek of the bdelloid rotifer from here.
Meanwhile, check out our review of Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 (2021).
