On the first day of the WWDC 2021 virtual event, Apple announced watchOS 8 for its smartwatches. It is the follow-up to last year’s watchOS 7 and adds “mindfulness features” to the Apple Watch lineup.
Apple watchOS 8 Overview:
This operating system will include improved messaging and photo sharing, new HomeKit integrations, and minor changes to health and fitness functions.
Breathe and Mindfulness
Apple is updating the animations in the Breathe app and adding a “reflect” mode that prompts users to think about something specific in order to improve mindfulness. These functions are available in the new Mindfulness app.
Fitness
The Fitness app is getting two additional workouts: Tai Chi and Pilates. To offer users reliable measurements, these new modes are powered by custom-developed heart rate and motion algorithms. Fitness+ is getting a new HIIT (high-intensity interval training)-focused feature that recommends music for workout sessions as well.
Furthermore, watchOS 8 will now track your respiratory rate as you sleep and notify you if it deviates from regular patterns. However, this function is not available during workouts.
With every new iteration, smartwatch makers release new watch faces. And Apple is no exception. watchOS 8 has new dial faces that will allow you to set a photo captured with your iPhone’s portrait mode and overlay text and other information behind it. According to the company, you can customize the text and how it appears on the image.
Similarly, the Photos app on the smartwatch can now send photos straight through Messages or Apple’s Mail app. Text selection and a cursor have also been included. Now, you can alter the text by moving the cursor with the crown and tapping and selecting with your finger.
Rest of the features
Moving on, watchOS 8 also includes several features released in iOS 15, such as the focus mode. Apple Watch Series 6 will also utilize UWB technology for car key support. Likewise, new HomeKit integrations allow you to operate smart home equipment directly from the watch, as well as check the security cameras.
Apple watchOS 8 Availability
watchOS 8’s developer beta is already available, and the public beta will start rolling out in July. Apple has scheduled its final release later this fall. The company says Watch Series 3 or newer versions will be getting this update.
Meanwhile, check out our top picks for smartwatches.
Apple has officially announced iOS 15, the latest iteration of the iPhone operating system on the first day of WWDC 2021. iOS 15 brings multiple quality of life changes and is built on three design principles: focus, connect and explore.
Apple iOS 15 announced:
Immersive FaceTime changes
FaceTime is Apple’s alternative to Zoom and Google Meet—and the go-to video calling platform for most iOS users. The company announced at WWDC 2021 that it is bringing a natural, intuitive, and life-like experience to the app.
The video-calling app now supports Spatial Audio, which makes discussions feel more realistic by making participant’s audio come from the appropriate location on the screen.
Apple has also introduced Voice Isolation, a setting that prioritizes human voice by reducing ambient noise using machine learning to improve audio clarity. Nonetheless, you may enable Wide Spectrum audio to intentionally retain background noise.
The app gets a fresh new look as well. A grid view may now be used to observe each participant in a tile-like block, or a portrait mode may be used to focus on the speaker rather than the background.
FaceTime for Android and Windows
But the biggest update to FaceTime has to be its availability on Android and Windows. Yet, it won’t available as a standalone app. Android, Windows users will be able to join in on a FaceTime call via a web browser through a shareable link.
SharePlay
Next up, FaceTime has new SharePlay support, allowing you and everyone else on the conversion to enjoy songs, shows, and videos together. You can now go to the Music app (without leaving the chat), select a song, and play it with everyone.
Likewise, this also works with streaming platforms such as HBO Max, Disney+, Hulu, Twitch, and TikTok. SharePlay can share your screen on the app too. Apple is also providing SharePlay API, so we’ll have to wait and see what modifications third-party app developers bring with it.
Notification Summary
Moving on, Notification Summary will give the seemingly unending list of notifications a fresh look. This feature will transform alerts from a jumbled mess into a tailored bundle of notifications that look organized and take up less space.
Meanwhile, it will not include important notifications in the summary, so you will not miss them. Furthermore, the app icons, avatars of contacts have been enlarged for better readability.
Focus
Assisting the notification summary is the new feature called “Focus”. It allows you to customize your notification preferences and restrict your exposure to them and applications based on your choices.
For instance, if you enable the “Do Not Disturb” mode, your contacts will see that status on the Messages app. However, if the sender requires something critical from you, he or she can overrule the DND request.
Photos takes cues from Google
Although Android users have long enjoyed OCR (Optical Character Recognition) through Google Lens, Apple is now introducing it to the Photos app with the Live Text feature. It allows you to select text from your gallery’s photographs, screenshots, and other images.
At its debut, an Apple spokesperson stated that the Live Text can recognize seven languages. The isolated text is saved on the device itself, which is beneficial for privacy.
Wallet
Apple Wallet is the next best thing to have your house, workplace, and hotel keys in one place. That is, you can use your phone to open compatible door locks. This autumn, Wallet users will be able to get digital keys for certain businesses and hotels. Furthermore, you may now keep an encrypted replica of your identity card, which will be accepted at airports too.
Apple Maps
Likewise, Apple Maps has undergone a 3D design makeover that looks fantastic. The app can now utilize the camera to scan nearby buildings to precisely orient the phone and assist you in determining the direction.
AirPods update
Last but not least, iOS 15 introduces new functionality for AirPods known as “Conversation Boost”. It assists individuals in hearing who they are speaking to better in real-time, in a relatively crowded environment. To optimize the audio experience, users may also alter the volume of ambient noise too.
Apple iOS 15 compatibility
The new iOS 15 upgrade is available for all iPhones that support iOS 14. This includes:
Xiaomi Nepal is on a roll. The company has been bringing bang-on smartphones in the country recently, including the POCO X3 Pro, POCO F3, and Mi 11. And now, Mi 11X Pro (rebranded Redmi K40 Pro+) has been launched in Nepal as well. Let’s learn more about the Xiaomi Mi 11X Pro including its features, specs, official price in Nepal, and availability.
Xiaomi Mi 11X Pro Overview:
Here, Mi 11X Pro brings highlighting features like Snapdragon 888, a 108MP camera, and more at a sub-flagship price. Compared to its price in India (INR 39,999), Xiaomi Nepal has priced the phone pretty aggressively.
Design and Display
Mi 11X Pro has a 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with support for a 120Hz refresh rate. Similarly, the touch sampling rate is listed at 360Hz. This is an E4 panel manufactured by Samsung and boasts a peak brightness level of up to 1300 nits. Similarly, it delivers a 100% DCI-P3 color gamut and can play HDR10+ content.
Both the front and the back of the device are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The phone is 7.8mm thick and weighs around 196 grams. It also has an IP53 rating against dust and spraying water.
Performance and Memory
Powering the device is the Snapdragon 888. It is the latest flagship chipset from Qualcomm that is based on Samsung’s 5nm process. The graphics are rendered by Adreno 650 GPU.
The device features 8GB LPDDR5 RAM that is faster (6400Mbps > 5500Mbps) than the ones used in its cheaper sibling Mi 11X. Xiaomi has used UFS 3.1 technology for the phone’s 128/256GB of internal storage. Mi 11X Pro also has liquid cooling technology to keep the temperature down.
Camera
The highlight of the triple camera setup at the back is the 108MP primary lens. It’s the third generation of the Samsung ISOCELL HM2 sensor with 9-in-1 pixel binning that results in 2.1µm individual pixels.
Similarly, the sensor has a dual-native ISO to click good photos under-lit conditions. Accompanying the primary camera is an 8MP ultrawide lens with 119˚ Field of View. You also get a 5MP telephoto-macro lens with a 50mm equivalent focal length.
The rear camera setup can shoot 8K videos at 30fps. Similarly, it supports slow-motion videos at up to 1080p/960 fps. On the front, there is a 20MP selfie camera within the punch-hole that supports 1080p/30fps videos and 720p/120fps slow-motion videos.
Rest of the specs
Fueling the whole setup is a 4,520mAh Li-Po battery. Xiaomi includes a 33W fast charger in the box. The phone has support for Quick Charge 3+ and Power Delivery 3.0 protocol. There is a side-mounted fingerprint scanner for biometrics.
In terms of connectivity, the phone has support for 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, and an IR blaster. Mi 11X Pro also features a stereo speaker with Hi-Res Audio, Dolby Atmos, and an X-linear haptics motor.
Xiaomi Mi 11X Pro Specifications:
Body: 76.4 x 163.7 x 7.8mm, 196 gm, Gorilla Glass 5, IP53 rated
Battery: 4520mAh with 33W fast charging (33W adapter provided)
Color options: Celestial Silver, Lunar White, Cosmic Black
Xiaomi Mi 11X Pro Price in Nepal & Availability
The price of the Xiaomi Mi 11X Pro in Nepal is NPR 64,999 for the 8/128GB variant while the 8/256GB model costs NPR 67,999. Xiaomi Nepal is also providing one-year breakage insurance if you purchase it before June 30. You will be able to buy Mi 11X Pro from different Xiaomi authorized retail stores across Nepal pretty soon.
Xiaomi Mi 11X Pro
Price Nepal
8/128GB
NPR 64,999
8/256GB
NPR 67,999
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Xiaomi Mi 11X.
Xiaomi’s Mi Band lineup of fitness trackers is undoubtedly the most successful of its kind. Packing in plenty of features at an affordable price, it has been the go-to budget wearable for many people. However, its past couple of iterations have been uninspiring—which is to say just how little upgrades Xiaomi introduced with each new version. Thankfully, the new Mi Smart Band 6 (or Mi Band 6) brings literally the biggest touch up in the history of the lineup. And this is our review of the Xiaomi Mi Band 6.
Xiaomi Mi Band 6 Specifications:
Body: 47.4 x 18.6 x 12.7 mm, 12.8gm (without strap)
Strap: Removable TPU straps
Display: 1.56″ AMOLED panel, 450 nits
Resolution: 152 x 486 pixels resolution, 326 PPI
Control: Touch, swipe
Connection: Bluetooth 5.0
Compatible with: Android 5.0, iOS 10.0 and above
IP Rating: 5 ATM water-resistance
Functions: Alarm, Camera Shutter, DND, Heart Rate Monitor, Notifications, Sleep Tracking, Step Counter, Sports Mode (30), Blood Oxygen, Women’s Health
Here, the said big upgrade is the screen itself. Compared to the measly 1.1” display on its predecessor, the company has elongated it vertically to fit a taller 1.56” AMOLED screen on the new Mi Band 6. With this comes a sharper console for you to work with—and one that is more pleasing to look at as well.
Packing in 152 by 486 resolution and a pixel density, everything from texts to animations looks crisp here. Even the smallest fonts aren’t haunted by pixelation issues. Still and all, my biggest gripe with this display is Xiaomi’s choice of design principle to deliver a larger footprint. Sure the stretched screen doesn’t look half bad but I’m doubtful about what more it brings to the table—or better yet, what it should’ve brought to the table instead.
You see, besides a more attractive watch face and more breathing space for a few apps like Weather, this 1.56” screen doesn’t solve the prime issues that Mi Band 5’s smaller 1.1” display had. The narrow horizontal space means texts and other contents are still squeezed between this unnatural form factor. Compared to this, I’ll take the squarish resolution of the Honor Band 6 any day.
The larger font spread across a wider screen here means I don’t have to squint my eyes to make out the content on the screen, unlike on the Mi Band 6. This is especially true when you’re out on a stroll or exercise, and the natural distance between the band and your eyes when you raise your wrist isn’t close enough so that you can easily read what’s on the display.
Not how you do a large screen fitness tracker
But hey, if you do prefer the elongated layout, then my complaints won’t apply to you. Featuring 450 nits of brightness (like the Mi Band 5), this screen gets bright enough for a walk in the sun. There’s no auto-brightness option here though. You can choose from 5 illumination levels and most of the time, I set mine at 3 or 4—while bringing it down to 1 at night.
And I like how dim this screen gets as well. I can’t complain about the vibrancy of this AMOLED panel either. The colors look punchy with excellent contrast levels. Here, it can hold up to 7 widgets (including the homescreen) for easy access to your favorite apps. To configure this, you’ll need to refer to the companion app as Mi Band 6’s customization options are pretty limited on the fitness tracker itself.
Watch Faces
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Moving on, you can choose from over 130 watch faces to customize their look. But unfortunately, most of them are pretty cartoonish—with some bordering in the childish category as well. Yet, anime fanatics will certainly appreciate this selection. And I’ll be lying when I say the Evangelion-inspired ones don’t look cool. Plus, you can configure the exact info to display on some dial faces too.
Moreover, you can also personalize it with a custom photo on top of the 5 available templates. But if none of the options work for you, there’s always the alternative to look for third-party watch faces that are abundantly available for the Mi Band 6. However, if you’d like to frequently juggle between multiple dial faces, disappointment awaits as the band can only store up to 6 watch faces at once.
Emoji support
This includes the 3 that are pre-installed and can’t be deleted. To compare, the Honor Band 6 can hoard up to 32 watch faces on the band itself. Regardless, unlike the competition, Mi Band 6 supports a handful of emojis too—smileys, mostly. Nevertheless, I was bummed to find out that Nepali Unicode font appears as unreadable blocks instead.
Getting to the UI, since there’s no dedicated physical or capacitive button, touch and swipe are all you have here. The subtle curves around the edges of the screen make swipe gestures simpler while raise/tap to wake functions work perfectly fine. Contrary to Honor’s latest fitness tracker, this one doesn’t have a dedicated tab for the control center, and the swipe up or down gestures trigger the same list of menus from opposing ends.
Like I mentioned earlier, you can set up to 6 widgets here that can be accessed by swiping to the left/right. Be sure to set notifications as one of them otherwise you’ll have a hard time keeping track of the incoming alerts. As expected from a budget fitness tracker, they are non-actionable.
Design
Elongated squarish body, lightweight
Removable TPU strap, 5 ATM certified
The stretched display means Xiaomi has made little to zero changes on the design front here. As a result, the Mi Band 6 is visually indistinguishable from its predecessor in terms of how it looks and how much it weighs. Also, if you already own Mi Band 5, then you’ll be able to swap its strap onto the new one.
The default Black-colored strap doesn’t particularly inspire an attractive look but you can choose from Blue, Orange, Yellow, Olive, and Ivory options as well. Additionally, third-party alternative straps for the Mi Band 6 are readily available in the market too. Anyway, the classic pin-hole design of Xiaomi’s budget wearables has never really been my cup of tea but that’s just me.
Comfortable fit
It fits perfectly fine on my wrist and the strap is soft enough to dismiss any issues concerning comfort either. Throughout my usage, the band hasn’t caused skin irritation/allergy problems to me either. Having said all that, the only reason I favor a traditional look/buckle design over this is how the pin here can accidentally come off when running it over something or someone. Happened to me a couple of times.
The indentation at the back is still prone to dust accumulation over time. So, you’ll have to wipe it off every now and then. Anyhow, I am a fan of how the Mi Band 6 lacks any Xiaomi branding, thereby offering a clean, uncluttered visual aesthetics.
It is also 5 ATM waterproof meaning this fitness tracker can survive under up to 50 meters of water for up to 10 minutes. So, having it on your wrist when it’s raining or when you’re swimming isn’t going to be an issue. All in all, the Mi Band 6 adheres to the classic design we’ve seen over the years in this lineup. It is lightweight and comfortable to wear—although I believe this pin-hole design is long due for an overhaul.
Companion App
Mi Fit (Android/iOS)
Moving on, the Mi Band 6 syncs with the Mi Fit app. For this, you’ll need to sign up for a Xiaomi account (if you don’t already have one) or sign in using a third-party account. The app’s UI/UX has pretty much remained the same from the days of Mi Band 4. The dashboard displays your latest health stats including steps taken, stress, SpO2 levels, and more.
Mi Fit
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Dashboard
Device
Health Dashboard
Health Monitoring
All the data are presented in a fairly easy-to-read layout, which is complemented by helpful tips or FAQs under certain sections. But it’s 2021 and seeing how the app doesn’t have a dark mode is a little frustrating. This sounds like such a petty protest but if you think about it, lacking such a basic feature is quite disappointing in the first place.
Weirdly enough, only the workout overview UI implements the dark more for some reason. Here, you can view your workout trail, pace, heart rate, and other details in well-documented graphs. The Mi Fit app is also where you’ll be able to play with the band’s settings—from switching watch faces to customizing notifications, display settings, and more.
Interestingly, Mi Band 6 also doubles as your phone’s camera shutter button although it can’t give a preview of the frame. This feature isn’t enabled by default and you’ll have to manually activate it under the “Lab” menu.
Health, Fitness Tracking
30 workout modes, SpO2 monitoring
Auto workout detection, PAI index
Time to talk about the health tracking features of this fitness tracker. Xiaomi has bumped the total number of sports modes from 11 in the Mi Band 5 to 30 on its successor. More importantly, the Mi Band 6 finally adds blood oxygen saturation monitoring to the company’s lineup of budget wearables.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t support all-day SpO2 tracking like on the slightly more expensive Huawei Band 6. I compared its SpO2 data against the Huawei and Honor Band 6 and found that all three deliver a similar result with a 1-2% deviation between them. Throughout the review, I noticed the Xiaomi Mi Band 6 to be a little faster at recording your blood oxygen level on most occasions as well.
Half-baked overnight blood oxygen monitoring
Even though the on-request nature of its SpO2 monitoring is quite impressive, Xiaomi has further tried to add to the appeal by adding the sleep breathing quality feature. Under this, the band monitors your blood oxygen saturation level overnight and then rates your breathing quality between 0 and 100. Mind you, this is different from sleep score.
Sad to say, this feature is still in the beta stage for now and doesn’t offer deeper insights into your SpO2 levels throughout the night. All you get is last night’s breathing quality score and that’s it. Xiaomi should improve it over time, but in the immortal words of MKBHD, “Never. Ever. Buy a tech product based on the promise of future software updates.”
Sleep Breathing Quality
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Anyway, let’s now get into the sports tracking side of things. As I mentioned earlier, the Mi Band 6 can now track up to 30 workout modes including automatic detection of 6 of them. The auto workout detection is turned off by default as well. And you can specify which exercises you want the Mi Band 6 to recognize by itself.
Auto workout detection
For me, I turned on auto-detection for walking and outdoor running modes while the remaining options include treadmill, cycling, elliptical, and rowing machine. I must say that Mi Band 6 managed to detect my walking exercises fairly well. There’s also the “auto-pause” feature that halts your workout once it notices that you’ve taken a break.
Because it’s a budget fitness tracker, there’s no built-in GPS here so you’re gonna have to take your phone along the ride in case you want to trail your route. Here, I compared it against the Huawei Band 6 to find out the difference between the two wearables’ fitness tracking ability.
Workout data difference
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Mi Band 6 - Workout Overview
Huawei Band 6 - Workout Overview
Mi Band 6 - Average Pace
Huawei Band 6 - Average Pace
Mi Band 6 - Heart Rate
Huawei Band 6 - Heart Rate
Mi Band 6 - Pace, Cadence
Huawei Band 6 - Pace, Cadence
And what I found is that the Mi Band 6 tends to over-record almost every facet of the exercise by a small margin. As you can see from these screenshots, both bands accounted for my heart levels pretty much the same. However, the Huawei Band 6 managed to accurately detect the pace of my walk.
I was simply walking to the pharmacy at a constant speed which is reflected well by this fitness band. On the contrary, the Mi Band 6 shows big spikes throughout the session. This is visualized by the cadence graph as well which is a measure of steps/minute.
11 professional workout modes
Moving on, the Mi Band 6 lets you set different alerts during your workouts like heart rate levels, distance, and speed. It also supports pool swimming tracking where you can specify the pool length as well. Here, besides the 11 professional exercise modes, it can also record other workouts like pilates, HIIT, basketball, Zumba, etc.
But like on the Huawei Band 6’s miscellaneous exercise, the 19 workout modes record your heart rate levels and nothing more. Besides this, the Mi Band 6 can monitor your sleep, heart rate, stress levels, and more. I found that it was pretty spot on when it comes to recording my time to sleep and the time I got up.
Health Monitoring
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Heart Rate
Resting Heart Rate
Stress Level
Daily Sleep
Weekly Sleep
You also get a deeper insight in terms of deep, light, and REM sleep as well. Based on all these factors, it also generates a score between 0 and 100 to give you a brief overview of your sleep quality. In terms of heart rate monitoring, this fitness tracker supports all-day heart and stress monitoring. Xiaomi lets you customize the frequency of all-day monitoring between different intervals and all through my usage, I set it to “every 1 minute” for the best insight.
Heart rate alert works fine
On the other hand, stress monitoring defaults to every 5 minutes with no option to customize it. Mi Band 6 can also send alerts if it detects your heart rate level go over the pre-defined value. The vibration motor is strong enough so that you don’t miss the alert too. Moreover, it brings PAI (Personal Activity Intelligence) index as well which generates a score, based on your heart-rate intensive workouts throughout the day.
It embeds breathing exercises and menstruation cycle tracking features as well. Other assorted features of the Mi Band 6 include incoming call alerts, music playback control, weather forecasts, and even bypassing your phone’s unlock mechanism. However, the latter is restricted to devices running on Xiaomi’s MIUI only.
Battery Life
125mAh, Up to 14 days battery life
With that out of the way, allow me to talk about its battery life. By adding more health tracking features on the identical form-factor as its predecessor, Xiaomi couldn’t upgrade the battery size on its newest fitness tracker. As a result, this 125mAh cell still promises up to 14 days of battery life on regular use.
With all-day stress monitoring, sleep breathing quality, and continuous heart rate monitoring (every 1 minute) turned on, the Mi Band 6 lasted me for 7 days exactly. This usage also consisted of an all-day connection to my phone with a couple of dozens of incoming notifications. And like I mentioned in the beginning, I’d set its brightness to level 3.
All things considered, it delivers a pretty impressive battery endurance. But to squeeze out even more, you can bring down the frequency of heart-rate monitoring to 30 minutes. And maybe even disable sleep breathing quality altogether; since it isn’t all that helpful in its current state. In terms of juicing it up, the Mi Band 6 goes from 0 to 100% in about 1 hour and 43 minutes.
Conclusion
All in all, as I’ve discussed throughout the review, despite the big upgrades, I’m not quite impressed with the Xiaomi Mi Band 6. Its taller display sounds impressive but pales in comparison to similarly priced alternatives like the Honor Band 6.
The half-baked overnight SpO2 monitoring isn’t exciting either although its on-demand blood oxygen saturation tracking pretty impressive. Still, if the elongated screen isn’t bothersome and you want to upgrade from Mi Band 5, this is more than a handsome fitness tracker on a budget.
If you ask me, the fitness band market is currently undergoing a renaissance. From bigger displays to cramming in as many smartwatch-grade features as possible, fitness bands these days have a lot to offer, on quite frankly a bargain. Here, the Honor Band 6 fits the description quite well and looks like a solid wearable on a budget and I’ll be discussing all about it in this review.
But before moving forward with the review, I have to mention how similar the Honor Band 6 is to the Huawei Band 6. Both fitness trackers are almost the same although Huawei’s alternative packs more features while being a little expensive as well.
Design
Squarish design with a lightweight body
Removable silicone strap, 5 ATM certified
Anyway, let’s start with the design. Compared to the Honor Band 5 from back in 2019, its successor comes in a bigger form factor because of its larger display. Still, the silicone strap isn’t as wide to comply with the dimensions of the watch. Unlike other fitness bands, it still employs a traditional loop-buckle design. The strap also holds sufficient adjustment holes so that it fits every wrist.
And that applies to my hand as well. Honor Band 6 is incredibly lightweight too, weighing just 18 grams discounting the strap. As a result, I’ve had no issue putting it on—and don’t mind having it on when going to sleep either. More importantly, the silicone strap is very comfortable and hasn’t resulted in any skin irritation issues throughout my usage.
With a couple of colorful strap choices to choose from, this fitness tracker can blend as a fashion accessory too—although the Meteorite Black variant that I have with doesn’t necessarily reflect that. Looks classy enough, but that’s about it. Additionally, Honor Band 6 uses the company’s proprietary strap and finding a replacement has been an unfruitful adventure.
Adding a bit of flair is the home button on the right frame with a nifty red accent. Similarly, there’s an “Honor” branding etched on the opposite side. In terms of ingress protection, this fitness tracker gets 5 ATM certification that promises water resistance in up to 50 meters depth for a maximum of 10 minutes. Complemented by this, the Honor Band 6 can track your swimming sessions as well.
Display
1.47-inches AMOLED panel, 283 PPI
100+ watch faces, 192 x 368 pixels
Like I mentioned earlier, the biggest upgrade from its predecessor can be seen on the display front. Coming from the 0.95-inches screen on the Honor Band 5, this one now boasts a larger 1.47-inches AMOLED panel. And right off the bat, this is one of the best things about this fitness tracker.
The spacious screen real-estate means the content gets more room to breath—although Honor’s software implementation leaves me wanting for more. For instance, the band lets you set up to 5 widgets on the home screen and you can choose from options like heart rate, stress monitoring, weather, sleep, activity records, etc. These are accessible with a simple left/right swipe.
Even though you can perfectly view their detail at length by selecting their respective option from the menu, the widgets are unscrollable and only let you see the basic info. Granted these are widgets and they’re doing what they’re supposed to, having to go through a bunch of menus for something that’s possible on the home screen feels like an unnecessary setback.
Moving on. This display packs a 194 by 368 resolution and a 283-pixel density. As a result, the content looks plenty sharp here and I was surprised to see it support Nepali Unicode font as well. Anyhoo, let’s take a look at the screen layout. All the notifications are neatly arranged and can be accessed by swiping up from the bottom. And yeah, these are non-actionable considering it’s a fitness band.
Gets bright enough
Likewise, swiping down gets you to the control center where you can launch settings, turn on DND (Do Not Disturb) mode, and so on. I would’ve preferred these menus to be customizable too but sadly that’s not the case. Outdoor visibility is no problem for the Honor Band 6 either. Plus, the “raise to wake” feature works like a charm.
With 5 levels of illumination to choose from, I had no problem operating it under direct sunlight. Having said that, I do wish it supported auto-brightness adjustment. The thing is, I usually set the brightness level to 4 which is perfectly fine for daytime usage. But when I’d hit the bed, its illumination is almost blindingly bright, forcing me to re-adjust the brightness level. Maybe the next iteration sees this upgrade.
Thanks to the slight curves on all four edges, navigating through Honor Band 6 has been pretty easy and I have no complaint regarding the touch response either. Yet, I will say things could’ve looked much better if the company had trimmed the bezels by a bit. Getting to watch faces, Honor says there are over 100 of them to choose from, although I didn’t bother verifying that claim.
Watch Faces
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Though that’s a big number, I hardly found one that I really liked. For me, most of the available watch dials look too childish or amateurish. A couple of them also allow you to customize what detail is actually displayed on the homescreen.
Companion App
Huawei Health (Android/iOS)
Before jumping into the health tracking side of things, I’d like to briefly discuss its companion app. As you may know, Not so long ago, Honor used to be a part of Huawei. However, with the growing restrictions and losses incurred because the company enlisted in the “Entity List”, Huawei had to sell Honor. This was right around the Chinese launch of the Honor Band 6.
Huawei Health
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Dashboard
Health
Exercise
Devices
Therefore, even though Honor is a separate entity now, this fitness band still relies on Huawei’s technologies for almost everything—including its companion app. To sync it with your smartphone, you’ll have to download the Huawei Health app and log in using or sign up with a Huawei account.
The notification relay is almost instantaneous and switching between watch faces doesn’t take ages either. You can customize different parameters for the Honor Band 6 via the Huawei Health app like de/activating notifications from select apps, customizing dial faces, and turning different attributes on/off.
Health, Fitness Tracking
10 professional workout modes
SpO2, heart-level monitoring
Let’s get into the health tracking side of things now. And this is where the superiority of the newer Huawei Band 6 shines. Even though both of them have blood oxygen (SpO2) monitor, a heart rate sensor, an accelerometer, and a gyroscope, the Honor Band 6 lags behind in a couple of instances. First and foremost, it doesn’t support all-day SpO2 monitoring like the Huawei Band 6.
While we know that the accumulated health data from neither of them holds up against a dedicated medical device, I strongly feel like continuous SpO2 monitoring is a valuable feature in this COVID-stricken scenario. Besides this, the Huawei Band 6 also trumps the competition when it comes to total workout modes (96 > 10). Finally, it also embeds the improved TruSleep 2.0 sleep tracking algorithm.
Sleep Monitoring
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Weekly
Insight - 1
Insight - 2
Still and all, I’ve found the Honor Band 6 to be spot on when it comes to monitoring my sleep cycles. Powered by Huawei’s TruSleep algorithm, it can track 4 stages of sleep including deep, light, REM, and awake time. Interestingly, it can even recognize short naps and record them accurately. Nice.
When cross-examining my sleep performance with the recorded data, I’m yet to find any flaws. It also rates your sleep quality between 0 and 100 to give a rough idea about how well you’re sleeping. On top of this, there are 10 workout modes to choose from here. This includes indoor/outdoor walk, run, cycle, pool swim, elliptical, rower, and hula hoop.
Automatic workout detection
More essentially, it can automatically detect 6 workouts—running, walking, rowing, and elliptical machine. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work quite as well as advertised. Throughout my 2 weeks of usage, the Honor Band 6 triggered automatic workout detection only 2 times. And in both instances, I was walking at a brisk pace with the band classifying my heart rate in the aerobic zone.
Workout
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Summary
Average Pace
Heart Rate
Pace
Additionally, even though I was walking outdoors, it filed one of those detections as an indoor run. In the very same workout, I also encountered a bug when trying to end the workout greeted me with a Polish text out of the blue. So far, I haven’t received a firmware update addressing any of these issues.
Moving on, the Honor Band 6 doesn’t have a built-in GPS either so you’ll have to use your phone’s location data to trail your workouts. You can also monitor your steps taken, calories burnt, stress levels, or take breathing exercises here. Plus, it can even notify you of high or low heart rate levels or when you’ve been sitting idly for a considerable amount of time.
Health tracking
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Blood Oxygen
Heart Rate
Stress Level
In each of the aforementioned workout modes, you can set specific goals and reminders based on factors like heart rate, duration, calories burnt, etc too. Other assorted features of the Honor Band 6 include music playback control, weather reports, Find My Phone, and even payments in the NFC edition. It can also double as a shutter button for your camera but this is restricted to Honor phones running on Magic UI 2.0 or later only.
Battery Life
180mAh, Up to 14 days of battery life
Magnetic charger, Fast charging support
At last, it’s time to talk about battery life. Packing a 180mAh cell, the company claims up to 14 days of endurance under typical usage. And up to 10 days under heavy usage. Since the Honor Band 6 was able to maintain a strong connection with my phone thanks to Bluetooth 5.0, I didn’t bother disconnecting it at any time.
Therefore, the band was subject to notifications every now and then, and I’d turned on continuous heart rate and stress monitoring as well. With all this, I managed to net out about 9 and a half days’ worth of battery life. I’d say my usage pattern falls under the “heavy” category and I’m pretty impressed with its endurance.
While the Honor Band 5 had a bulky proprietary clip-on charger, its successor gets a minimal magnetic one with two POGO pins. What’s even more impressive is that it charges super fast. I had to charge it up twice during the review period and in both instances, Honor Band 6 went from 0 – 100% in under 50 minutes.
Conclusion
Summing it all up, the Honor Band 6 ups the ante with its bigger display and impressive battery life. Even though the company has some work cut out for it (especially in terms of optimizing the auto workout detection) I believe it’s worth the money. And considering its prime competition, the Mi Band 6, the Honor Band 6 is absolutely worth the extra Rs.500. So if you’re looking for a no-nonsense fitness tracker, Honor Band 6 is the best fitness band in Nepal.
Over the years, Realme has expanded its portfolio of smartphones from budget to flagship devices. Now, Realme India and Europe CEO Madhav Sheth indicated during the firm’s recent 5G summit that the company is now aiming to launch 5G phones under USD 100 in the coming months.
Realme 5G phones under USD 100:
Realme’s CEO announced that the company will invest over USD 300 million in 5G research and development, as well as establish seven R&D facilities in various regions, including India.
5G under 100 bucks, really?
The company aims to grow the number of 5G devices in its portfolio to over 20—ensuring that 70% of its devices on the market will be 5G ready. Realme’s first step on the 5G market debuted with the Realme X50 Pro, which was also the first 5G smartphone in India.
Similarly, the company recently announced Realme 8 5G as its most affordable 5G device yet. And, the new goal is to deliver 5G phones for less than USD 100.
Furthermore, the CEO has officially confirmed that the Realme GT 5G will be launched globally this month. To diversify its portfolio, the brand will also introduce 5G in the existing number series, Narzo, and GT lineup.
Any specific timeline?
Right now, it is unclear when such phones will launch and how much they’ll cost exactly. Furthermore, it is unknown which series of Realme 5G phones will be available for less than USD 100. However, given that the C-series is the company’s budget lineup retailing under a few hundred dollars, that might be where Realme plans to introduce the said 5G phones.
The prospect of new technologies in low-cost phones is definitely alluring. However, companies often tend to forgo some useful features just to offer 5G in their smartphones. As a result, a parallel approach should be taken to increase 5G’s reach, while making no compromises in terms of functionality.
Today, Realme Nepal launched three new products in the domestic market, including two new TWS earbuds. The cheaper of the two is the Buds Air Neo 2 which is a toned-down version of the Buds Air Neo from last year. More importantly, it now inherits ANC technology like its pricier sibling. In this post, we will be taking a looking at the specs, features, official price, and availability of Realme Buds Air 2 Neo in Nepal.
Realme Buds Air 2 Neo Overview:
Above all, it is the cheapest TWS in the Nepali market to come with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). With that out of the way, let’s learn more about the Buds Air 2 Neo.
Design
The first thing that caught our attention is the design. While the original Buds Air Neo resembled Buds Air, its successor looks a lot like the Buds Q instead. That is, it comes with a pebble-shaped charging case and Galaxy Buds-like earbuds. The charging case has an LED on the front and a button on the inside which is for first-time pairing with a phone.
Talking about the buds, they now come with ear tips and thus, should offer a better seal around the ear. Unlike Buds Q, the Buds Air 2 Neo doesn’t have the company’s logo on the touch-sensitive area. It is replaced with a rainbow-like design, which looks a lot cooler if you ask me. The earbuds are also IPX5 certified and thus should overcome sweat and minor splashes.
Coming to the features, the highlight here is the inclusion of Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). Upon enabling, Realme claims that it can reduce the voice by up to 25dB. There is also dual-mic Environment Noise Cancelling (ENC) that kicks in when you are on a call with someone. Plus, the Transparency Mode lets you talk to someone without having to take the earbuds off.
In terms of audio, the Realme Buds Air 2 Neo features a 10mm Liquid Crystal Polymer driver. Together with the Bass Boost+ algorithm, it tries to deliver deeper bass and clearer stereo. However, you may need to manually turn on the AAC HD audio codec for the algorithm to work.
Powering these earbuds is the custom Realme R2 chip. It is the same chipset powering the more expensive Realme Buds Air 2, and also the reason the cheaper Air 2 Neo also gets the same ANC and 88ms latency mode. The earbuds come with the latest Bluetooth 5.2 and also supports quick pairing.
There is also a gaming mode that promises latency as low as 88ms. Users can enable it from the Realme Link app.
Battery
Each earbud features a 40mAh battery that can last up to 5 hours on a single charge. The number is on par with the more expensive Realme Buds Air 2. Together with the 480mAh battery of the charging case, Realme is claiming up to 20 hours of runtime with ANC on. Turning off the feature results in an even better battery backup of up to 28 hours.
Checking the remaining battery is also easy. Realme says whenever you connect the earphone with a phone, battery information will appear as a pop-up on the screen.
Realme Buds Air 2 Neo Price in Nepal & Availability
The price of Realme Buds Air 2 Neo in Nepal is NPR 5,499. It’s actually cheaper here than in Pakistan, where it is available for PKR 7,999 (~ NPR 6,000). Realme Buds Air 2 Neo is already available in authorized stores across Nepal while it’ll launch on the company’s e-commerce partner Daraz pretty soon.
TWS Earbuds
Price in Nepal
Realme Buds Air 2 Neo
NPR 5,499
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro.
More than a year after the launch of Buds Air, Realme launched the new Buds Air 2 TWS earbuds back in February. And in today’s AIoT launch event, Realme Nepal has brought these earbuds to the country as well. Let’s check out what the Realme Buds Air 2 TWS earbuds offer, including the official price in Nepal.
Realme Buds Air 2 TWS Overview:
First of all, let’s talk about the R2 chip that powers the Realme Buds Air 2. The chipset offers stellar computing performance and offers more stable connections. Moreover, in contrast to the R1 chip in the first-gen Buds Air, it is energy efficient, too.
Per Realme, the R2 chip offers up to 80% increased battery life. It also introduces new features like Active Noise Cancellation (ANC).
Buds Air 2
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Also, the company claims that these earbuds can offer 25 hours of total battery life. However, that’s with ANC turned off and volume set to 50%. With ANC on, the claimed battery life is about 22.5 hours.
Mind you, this figure combines battery life from both charging case and earbuds. The earbuds alone will last you up to 4 hours with ANC turned on and volume at 50%. It can last an additional hour with ANC turned off.
ANC and ENC
While on the topic of ANC, Buds Air 2 offers noise cancellation of up to 25dB. These earbuds are capable of filtering low-frequency sounds like airplane noises during takeoff and landings. Moreover, it features Environment Noise Cancellation (ENC) too. The ENC algorithm along with the dual-mic setup helps to achieve clarity during calls.
As mentioned earlier, the Buds Air 2’s 10mm driver comes with a Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) coating on the diaphragm. It helps to achieve better sound and offers better frequency responses. Moreover, the Buds Air 2 also equips the new Bass Boost+ Mode. This mode allows the users to turn up the bass level in any sort of music they listen to.
Other than that, the Realme Link app has also received two new presets: Dynamic and Bright. Dynamic Mode helps to balance bass, treble, and mid-frequency sounds. Similarly, the Bright Mode enhances human voices in podcasts, audiobooks, and such.
Other notable features of the Buds Air 2 include open-up auto-connection, Google Fast Pair (GFP), IPX5 waterproof, and smart wear detection. Here, the latter means that these earbuds will automatically pause the music when you take one off your ear and resume after you put it back in.
However, unlike the Buds Air, this one does not have wireless charging. But, that probably is not necessary as they offer two hours of playback with just a 10-minute charge. Talking about charging, it takes 1 hour to completely juice up the earbuds only, while it takes an hour more with including the case.
Realme Buds Air 2 Specifications:
Weight: 4.1 grams (each earbud)
Color options: Closer Black, Closer White
Sound driver: 10mm Diamond-like Carbon (DLC)
Audio codecs: AAC, SBC
Noise cancellation: Yes (ANC up to 25dB), Dual-mic ENC
Connectivity: Bluetooth v5.2, 10mm effective range
Water resistance: Yes, IPX5 waterproof (earbuds only)
The price of Realme Buds Air 2 in Nepal is NPR 6,699. Realme Buds Air 2 TWS earbuds are already available to buy from different Realme authorized stores across Nepal, while they’ll be up in the company’s e-commerce partner Daraz pretty soon.
TWS Earbuds
Price in Nepal
Realme Buds Air 2
NPR 6,699
In the meanwhile, check out our review of the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro.
At its current price, Samsung’s Galaxy S21 remains one of the greatest flagship phones of 2021. However, if you’re not considering Android smartphones owing to their privacy concerns, you should look into this. Sirin Labs, a cybersecurity firm based in Israel, has launched the Sirin V3, which is Galaxy S21 but with enhanced security features. So, let’s go into the specifications, features, price, and availability of Sirin V3.
Sirin V3 Overview:
As aforementioned, the V3 is equivalent to the Galaxy S21. So I’ll keep things short and sweet when it comes to its design, display, and other hardware details.
Design and Display
To begin with, the display is a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with a centered punch-hole cutout for the selfie-shooter. The screen features an FHD+ resolution and is protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus.
At the back, the camera bump housing the triple camera extends from the metal frame of the device.
Performance
Under the hood, the device is available in two chipset configurations depending on the region: Snapdragon 888 (US) and Exynos 2100 (Global). Over on the memory side of things, Sirin V3 is offered in a single variant with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
According to the company’s press release, Sirin V3 has a Dual-Persona mode that allows users to seamlessly switch between a personal mode and a work mode. The personal mode provides “complete user autonomy and strong baseline security,” and the workplace mode “keeps user data and professional communications safe from bad actors”. Moreover, these modes are built on the Samsung Knox security platform.
In its entirety, the personal mode allows users to download apps (only from the Play Store) with improved virus and malware security. It can also prohibit, whitelist, and blacklist apps, as well as numerous possibly harmful features. Some of these include USB debugging, Safe Mode, Factory Reset, and Download-Mode.
Work Space mode, on the other hand, provides military-grade encrypted calls and messaging services as well as end-to-end encryption of applications and data. Furthermore, under this, one cannot install any additional app. Instead, it comes pre-loaded with a selection of applications and that’s it. Similarly, neither mode allows you to take screenshots.
Sirin V3 Specifications:
Body: 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm, 169g, IP68 certification, Glastic Back
Rear Camera: Triple (12MP primary with OS, 12MP ultra-wide, 64MP telephoto with OIS)
Front Camera: 10MP f/2.2 with DPAF (punch-hole)
Security: Samsung Knox, Personal mode, Work Space mode
Audio: Stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital/Plus
Battery: 4000mAh with 25W fast charging
Sirin V3 Price and Availability
Sirin V3 will undoubtedly need you to dig deep into your wallet, as it costs USD 2,650. To compare, that is USD 800 more than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 foldable phone. To order the device, you can head to the company’s official website.
Sirin V3
Price in the US
8/128GB
USD 2,650
Meanwhile, check out our review of Samsung Galaxy S21 and S21+.
Samsung has launched its latest wireless vacuum cleaner in its home country of South Korea. The new Bespoke Slim comes a month after the comapny launched the Bespoke lineup, including the Jet AI Robot Vacuum in the global market. In this post, we will be looking at the specs, features, expected price in Nepal, and availability of the Samsung Bespoke Slim wireless vacuum cleaner.
Samsung Bespoke Slim Overview:
From a distance, the Bespoke Slim looks like a fancy broomstick because of its long yet slender form factor. Samsung says that the slim design will put less strain on the user’s wrist. Bespoke Slim can stand on its own and can fit even in a limited space.
Contributing to the lightweight design is the new digital inverter motor. Samsung is offering a lifetime warranty on the motor. Thus, in case it breaks, users do not need to worry about the cost of the repair. The Bespoke Slim vacuum cleaner is available in three distinct colors – Misty White, Greenery, and Sun Yellow.
It comes with a soft floor brush that is capable of 1,500 revolutions per minute. The cleaner has 28 air holes that can achieve suction power of up to 150W. You can empty the bin with a simple “Pop and Shoot” method. Pressing the bottom of the cleaner with your foot will separate the bin from the rest of the body.
Bespoke Slim features a 2,200mAh battery, which can last for 50 minutes of normal cleaning. It reduces to 25 and 5 minutes under Strong and Max mode, respectively. It takes 4 hours to go from 0% to 100%. The LED light on the front displays the battery level.
Samsung Bespoke Slim Price in Nepal & Availability
Samsung Bespoke Slim is available in South Korea for 549,000 Won. It is not widely available in the global market yet. Still, if it launches in Nepal, we expect the price of the Samsung Bespoke Slim vacuum cleaner in Nepal to be NPR 65,000.
Smart Vacuum Cleaner
Price in South Korea
Price in Nepal (Expected)
Samsung Bespoke Slim
549,000 Won
NPR 65,000
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Mi 11x (Poco F3).
