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Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro Review: Classy

Nikhil Shrestha
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Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro Review: Classy

Not all smartwatches are built the same. Some prioritize cramming in a horde of features, some favor extensive durability, some prefer a great design, while some achieve to deliver all of these. And Huawei’s latest premium smartwatch almost fits into the last category with its well-rounded qualities. Allow me to discuss more in this review of the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro.

Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro Specifications:

  • Body: 46.7 x 46.7 x 11.4mm, 52 grams (without strap), Titanium case
  • Strap: Black fluoroelastomer, Gray-brown leather
  • Color options: Nebula Grey, Night Black
  • Display: 1.39-inches Always-on AMOLED panel, Sapphire glass
  • Resolution: 454 x 454 pixels, 326 PPI
  • Water resistance: 5ATM waterproof
  • Chipset: Huawei Kirin A1 + STL4R9
  • Software: Huawei LiteOS
  • Sensors: Accelerometer, Gyro, Geomagnetic, Optical heart rate, Air pressure, GPS + GLONASS + Galileo, NFC
  • Storage: 4GB (2GB for music storage), 32MB RAM
  • Phone calls: Built-in microphone, speaker
  • Sports mode: 100+ sports modes (6 automatic detections)
  • Battery: 455mAh cell (Up to 14 days of endurance)
  • Charging: Qi Wireless charging
  • Companion app: Huawei Health (Android | iOS)
  • Price in Nepal: Rs. 34,990

Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro Review:

Design

  • Circular dial face, Titanium case
  • 22mm leather/fluoroelastomer strap
  • 5 ATM (50 meters) water resistance
  • Built-in microphone, speaker grille

Starting with the build quality itself, this is where Huawei has brought the most upgrade compared to the standard Watch GT 2. The measly 3D glass is replaced with sapphire glass instead whereas the plastic back and stainless steel case have been substituted with ceramic back and titanium case, respectively. As a result, this is definitely one of the most premium smartwatches that have been on my wrist so far.

Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro - Leather Strap

Yet, much to my chagrin, Huawei has dumped the smaller 42mm variant for these smartwatches. Therefore, the only option available option—the 46mm—is a little too bulky for my hand. Weighing around 52 grams without the strap, it’s not the most comfortable thing to put on either. But before we get off on the wrong foot, let me just say that this is totally a subjective opinion and someone else could very easily get used to the Watch GT 2 Pro.

Multiple strap options inside the box

Like always, there are a couple of color options to choose from: Nebula Gray and Night Black. Our review unit of the Huawei GT 2 Pro is the latter. The company also ships two watch straps inside the box and while I thought I’d prefer the leather strap, I ended up finding the fluoroelastomer more comfortable instead.

Interestingly, the back of this strap is soft whereas the front is relatively coarse.  Throughout my usage for this review, I haven’t developed any skin irritation, allergy, or similar issues on the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro, which is great news. But if neither option floats your boat, you can easily swap them out since it takes a universal 22mm strap.

On the right are two buttons—where the one on the bottom is customizable. You can set it to launch a built-in system app or other shortcuts. Similarly, there’s the speaker grille underneath as well while the back of the watch holds the sensor module including the new optical heart rate sensor that supposedly consumes less power compared to its predecessor.

All in all, the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro is easily the most affordable smartwatch with a truly premium design you could buy right now. Considering how Samsung and Apple’s alternatives with similar build material easily cost more than double of this, Huawei’s excellent delivery of a similar flagship smartwatch experience at a comparatively digestible asking price is commendable.

Display

  • 1.39-inches AMOLED, Sapphire glass
  • 454 x 454 pixel, 200+ watch faces

On to the display, you have the same 1.39” Always-on AMOLED screen with 454 by 454 resolution as its non-Pro counterpart. But like I mentioned earlier, the company has shifted from the 3D glass material on the Watch GT 2 to sapphire here—making for a pretty durable screen. Likewise, the slightly raised screen has been flattened out too and it’s still void of any Gorilla Glass protection.

Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro - Design

Now, this may invite questions regarding scuffs or scratches over the long run but I wouldn’t worry about it. That’s because sapphire is probably the most durable build material you could have on a smartwatch screen. Ranking 9 on the Mohs hardness scale (out of 10), this sapphire-hardened display will survive even the nastiest of bumps or drops.

Anyway, this AMOLED screen brings pitch-black contrast, excellent colors, and outdoors visibility is of no concern either. Huawei lets you choose from 5 levels of brightness or set it to auto that adjusts illumination level automatically. I found its auto-brightness adjustment to work perfectly fine although the stutter in the switch can be a bit distracting.

For what’s supposedly a premium smartwatch, such inconsistency should’ve been dealt with by now but here we are. But that’s not to say this minor complaint is a dealbreaker in any way.

200+ watch faces

Moving on, Huawei lets you choose from 200+ watch faces here. Thankfully, most of them are pretty well-designed and fitting for GT 2 Pro’s visual aesthetics. The one that spoke to me the most was this BSOD-inspired dial face which might be too nerdy for others. Ever since I discovered this watch face, I’ve been hesitant to switch to something else.

But if you want, you can change the watch face via the companion app or by long-pressing on the homescreen itself. Also, the touch response on this thing is no issue either. The touch and swipe gestures work as they should. Notifications can be accessed with a swipe from the bottom while the top panel holds the basic command center.

Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro - Display

This includes shortcuts to settings, alarms, and a few other menus. Being able to customize them would’ve been great but Huawei doesn’t let you do that yet. Similarly, you can access different apps like heart rate monitoring, stress level, weather, music player with a swipe to the left or right.

Performance

  • Huawei Kirin A1 SoC, Lite OS
  • 32MB RAM, 4GB internal storage

Running the show is Huawei’s homegrown Kirin A1 chipset and Lite OS. We’d complained about its incompetence in our review of the Honor MagicWatch 2 (which is the exact same as Huawei Watch GT 2). Unfortunately, that critique has lived on to the Watch GT 2 Pro as well. Of course, this under-powerful combo of chipset and operating system has its own perks but I believe the cons outweigh the pros by a big margin.

First off is the aforementioned sluggishness in the UI/UX itself. Considering its premium stature, this should never have been an issue in the first place. Compared to the likes of the Apple Watch Series 6 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, it feels almost amateurish.

With 32MB of RAM and 4GB of storage onboard, ultimately, the Watch GT 2 Pro is not able to compete against the best of the best in terms of performance. Additionally, it doesn’t support any third-party apps either which is a big letdown. You’re gonna have to make do with the ones that come pre-installed.

Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro - Wearing

I feel like Huawei could’ve softened the blow a little bit by including Spotify since this smartwatch is capable of a smartphone-free music experience. The thing is, out of the 4GB of internal storage, 2GB has been assigned for offline music storage. Plus, GT 2 Pro can also connect to a pair of Bluetooth earbuds/headphones.

Non-actionable notifications

Moreover, incoming notifications aren’t actionable on this smartwatch either. While their delivery is quick enough, if you need to reply to messages or perform other quick actions, you will have to reach for your phone—with the only exception being phone calls. It lets you pick up or make calls from the watch itself and the call quality itself is fantastic.

The audio output from the speakers is loud enough and impressively clear—some of the best I’ve seen on a smartwatch so far. To configure the watch settings or view your health stats, the Watch GT 2 Pro syncs to the Huawei Health app for which you’ll need to sign in with a Huawei account.

From switching watch faces, uploading music files, changing settings, updating firmware, to viewing your workout records in detail—it all happens here.

Surprisingly, the music transfer is way faster here compared to how it was on the Honor MagicWatch 2. Anyway, all the data are presented in an easy-to-understand UI. The dashboard gives you a quick look at your recent health data while selecting individual menus offers more in-depth insight.

Health, Fitness Tracking

  • 100+ workout modes with automatic detection of 6
  • Blood oxygen, built-in GPS, heart-rate monitoring

On to the fitness tracking side of things, the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro comes loaded with over 100 workout modes. The company also says this smartwatch can automatically detect six workouts including walking, running, elliptical, etc. But, I struggled triggering it more than once. Slow-paced walks are a no-go for GT 2 Pro’s automatic workout detection algorithm.

Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro - Ceramic Back

Regardless, the 100+ exercise modes include rowing, surfing, skiing, and even golfing. Besides this, it supports blood oxygen, continuous heart rate, stress, and sleep monitoring too. Even though Huawei had promised continuous SpO2 monitoring with a firmware update, it’s a no show yet which is another disappointment.

Nightly blood oxygen tracking is such a critical and useful feature to have in these trying times. And seeing Huawei let us down on this front is just clumsy on the company’s part.

[Update: Turns out, Huawei hasn’t updated its apps in Google Play Store in a long time. So, after downloading the latest version of Huawei Health from the AppGallery, continuous SpO2 monitoring is available on Watch GT 2 Pro.]

Nevertheless, I’m quite impressed with its sleep monitoring feature. It got my time to bed and time I got up right every time.

Like every other smartwatch, it also rates your sleep quality out of 100. You can check your sleep cycle’s different categories including deep sleep, light sleep, REM sleep, and awake time on the Huawei Health app.

I found its stress monitoring to be pretty accurate too—but only after first calibrating it following a couple of questions.

Define your heart

Before this, the Watch GT 2 Pro continuously graphed my stress levels between medium and high when that was simply not the case. Moving on, its continuous heart rate monitoring feature even lets you send alerts in case of any irregular measurement.

You can also set custom values for different heart-rate zones like aerobics, anaerobic, fat burning, etc. depending on your health condition. Nice. To help you relax, it supports breathing exercises as well.

Here, you can trigger the workout menu by pressing the top button. Its 5 ATM water resistance has been complemented by the ability to track your swimming exercise as well. And just like Samsung’s Galaxy Watch series, there’s a feature to drain water from the watch; although you’re still advised to dry off with a piece of cloth too. Nonetheless, GT 2 Pro’s built-in GPS helps you trail your workout routes without requiring a navigation signal from your smartphone.

Built-in GPS

Yet, it doesn’t work perfectly. First off, even when I was in an open space, the watch took at least a couple of minutes to latch on to a GPS signal almost all the time. Plus, how it doesn’t let you start (almost every) outdoor workouts without first locking to a GPS signal is super annoying. But when it eventually does, I found its navigational skills to be quite accurate.

Yes, it still struggles when you’re in a relatively congested environment, and compared to something like the Amazfit T-Rex or the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, its GPS is relatively unreliable. Huawei has also introduced something called “Route Back”. This feature promises to navigate you your way back to the starting point of the workout.

Yet, that’s been a hit-and-miss during my usage. Even when I was in an open space (as demanded) with the watch locked to a GPS signal, the location pin icon in the watch didn’t shift as much based on my relative position. For instance, although I took a 360-turn, the route back navigation system failed to direct my way back accordingly.

Additionally, its UI is unnecessarily simple too—one that wouldn’t bode well in the streets of Kathmandu. It’s as if this interface doesn’t account for buildings, junctions, and similar small turns on the road. There’s also a voice guide to assist in your workouts. From announcing different milestones throughout your exercise to alerting you of any triggers you’ve set for the workout, I’m pretty fond of this feature.

And like I said earlier, you can listen to music during your workout sessions by connecting to a pair of Bluetooth earbuds too. So, from built-in GPS to offline music playback, the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro delivers a truly smartphone-less exercise experience.

Battery

  • 455mAh battery (Up to 14 days)
  • Qi Wireless charging certified

Featuring the same 455mAh battery as the Watch GT 2, the company promises up to 14 days of battery life here. That is an excellent number for a smartwatch; considering how Apple and Samsung’s best struggle to go on two days without having to juice it up.

Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro - Buttons

But let me once again remind you that the Watch GT 2 Pro is simply not on the same playing field as its prime competition. Anyway, with brightness set to auto, an hour or so of GPS usage, alongside continuous heart rate monitoring turned on, I managed to get about 10 days of battery life here.

Filling up the battery from 0 to 100% takes around 1 hour and 13 minutes. Huawei also says 5 minutes of charge gives you 10 hours of battery life. More importantly, the GT 2 Pro now supports Qi wireless charging, unlike its non-Pro sibling. While you’ll be able to fill up the battery using any Qi-certified wireless charger, in terms of smartphones, it only works on the ones from Huawei that support reverse wireless charging.

Conclusion

Wrapping up this review of the Watch GT 2 Pro, Huawei is offering a luxurious build quality with this smartwatch. The classic circular dial has been molded from high-end materials like titanium, ceramic, and sapphire. So, if you want your smartwatch to double as a fashion accessory that blends into any setting; one that also offers a terrific battery life, this is almost a no-brainer.

Yet, its under-powerful overall performance, lack of third-party app support, and other limitations hesitate us from recommending the GT 2 Pro to those looking for a top-notch full-fledged smartwatch.

Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro Review: Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Premium, luxurious build quality
  • Bright, vibrant AMOLED display
  • Accurate heart rate, sleep tracking
  • Built-in GPS works well enough
  • Terrific phone call quality
  • Offline music storage feature
  • Great battery life, wireless charging

Cons:

  • Only available in 46mm option
  • UI/UX feels quite stuttery
  • Route Back feature needs work
  • Non-actionable notifications
  • No third-party app support

Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 778G: A premium mid-range 5G chipset

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Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 778G: A premium mid-range 5G chipset

Qualcomm has announced its latest entry in the 700 series of mobile chipsets – the Snapdragon 778G. It is the successor to Snapdragon 768G, which debuted around the same time last year. Despite its novelty, smartphone manufacturers have already announced a bunch of phones which will be powered by this chipset.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G Overview:

A true premium mid-range chipset?

Qualcomm has crammed some features on the 778G from the flagship Snapdragon 888, while still retaining some key specs from its higher sibling, the Snapdragon 780G. It is fabricated using TSMC’s 6nm process contrary to the 5nm process of the 780G.

Better image processing

Snapdragon 778G includes Spectra 570L which is a triple image-signal processor (ISP). It is slightly different from the Spectra 570 in Snapdragon 780G. It will allow capturing photos and videos from three different cameras at once. For example, that means one can shoot from primary, ultra-wide, and telephoto sensors simultaneously. Furthermore, the ISP supports Staggered HDR image sensors for HDR10+ video capture, and burst capture at up to 120fps.

Performance

Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G is bringing upgrades in the performance department too. It features a tri-cluster CPU core setup consisting of 1x Kryo 670 (Cortex-A78) @2.4GHz, 3x Kryo 670 (Cortex-A78) @2.2GHz, and 4x Kryo 670 (Cortex-A55) @1.9GHz. Handling the graphics is Adreno 642L.

In terms of gaming, the chipset offers few features from Snapdragon Elite Gaming, like Variable Rate Shading (VRS) that helps game developers offer higher visual fidelity while reducing the GPU workload. Then there’s Qualcomm Game Quick Touch, which offers up to a 20% faster touch response rate in games.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G Performance

Memory and Connectivity

Moving on, the new chipset supports LPDDR5 memory, while its more powerful sibling (780G) only supports LPDDR4 RAM. The chip can be coupled with up to 16 GB of memory.

Furthermore, the 778G supports the FastConnect 6700 system, which includes WiFi 6/6E, 8×8 MU-MIMO, Bluetooth 5.2, and the Snapdragon Sound suite. On the other hand, it integrates the Snapdragon X53 5G modem for multi-5G connectivity.

This modem delivers a maximum download speed of 3.7Gbps and allows Dynamic Spectrum Sharing. Similarly, it outperforms its more powerful sibling because it supports both mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G spectrum. To note, Snapdragon 780G doesn’t support the faster mmWave 5G.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G Availability

Like I mentioned earlier, a slew of companies have already announced their phones with this chipset. Motorola, Realme, iQOO, Xiaomi, Honor, and OPPO are among them. We can expect Snapdragon 778G-powered phones to launch in Q2 2021.

Though many companies have not announced the exact model that will use this silicon yet, Honor says 778G will power its upcoming Honor 50 series. Similarly, Realme will use Snapdragon 778G in the next X series device.

  • Watch our long-term review of the OnePlus 9 Pro.

Samsung Galaxy F52 5G with Snapdragon 750G goes official in China

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Samsung Galaxy F52 5G with Snapdragon 750G goes official in China

Samsung’s Galaxy F series was supposed to be exclusive to India but it seems there’s been a slight change in plans. Here, Galaxy F52 is the first 5G smartphone in the company’s ‘F’ lineup which was just released in China. Let’s go through the specifications, features, and expected price of the Samsung Galaxy F52 5G in Nepal.

Samsung Galaxy F52 5G Overview:

Design and Display

Galaxy F52 has a 6.6-inch FHD TFT display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The back of the device has a glossy look and a rectangular camera cutout. This time, Samsung has chosen a top-right punch-hole cutout for the selfie shooter.

Samsung Galaxy F52 5G Display

The handset is 8.7mm thick and weighs 199 grams, so it surely is a bulky phone. Furthermore, it has a dedicated eye protection mode and for biometrics, it uses a side-mounted fingerprint scanner.

Performance

Under the hood, the Galaxy F52 5G is powered by Snapdragon 750G chipset coupled with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. You can expand the storage up to 1TB via a microSD card. In terms of software, it runs One UI 3.1 on top of Android 11. There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack. Moreover, the device gets its fuel from a 4500mAh battery which supports 25W fast charging.

Camera

Galaxy F52 gets a quad-camera configuration at the back, installed in a rectangular cutout. This consists of a 64MP f/1.8 main camera followed by an 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide sensor and two 2MP lenses for macro and portrait shots.

Samsung Galaxy F52 5G Camera Design

On the front, it houses a 16MP f/2.0 selfie camera. It can shoot 4K videos at 30fps and 1080p videos at 120 frames per second.

Rest of the specs

Besides that, the connectivity options include 5G (sub-6GHz), 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS (with A-GPS), and a USB Type-C port. The handset is available in two-color configurations: Dusky Black and Magic White.

Samsung Galaxy F52 5G Specifications:

  • Body: 164.6 x 76.3 x 8.7mm, 199 grams
  • Display: 6.5-inches TFT panel, 120Hz refresh rate
  • Resolution: FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels)
  • Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G 5G (8nm)
  • Memory: 8GB RAM, 128GB storage (expandable up to 1TB)
  • Software & UI: One UI 3.1 on top of Android 11
  • Rear Camera: Quad (64MP main, 8MP ultrawide, 2MP macro, 2MP depth)
  • Front Camera: 16MP sensor (punch-hole)
  • Security: Physical fingerprint sensor (side-mounted)
  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (dual-band), Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C
  • Battery: 4500mAh with 25W fast charging
  • Colors: Dusky Black, Magic White

Samsung Galaxy F52 5G Price in Nepal and Availability

Samsung Galaxy F52 5G is now available for pre-order in China where its price is CNY 1,999 for the lone 8+128GB variant. We expect the price of the Samsung Galaxy F52 5G in Nepal to be around NPR 40,000 if it launches here.

Samsung Galaxy F52 5G  Price in China  Price in Nepal (Expected)
8/128GB CNY 1,999 NPR 40,000
  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Samsung Galaxy A52.

Asus TUF Dash F15 with RTX 3060 already available at a discounted price in Nepal

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Asus TUF Dash F15 with RTX 3060 already available at a discounted price in Nepal

The latest ASUS TUF Dash F15 gaming laptop is finally available in the Nepali market. It arrives with the 11th gen Intel Core processor and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series mobile GPU. The cherry on top here is that it is are already available at a discounted price in Nepal. Here, we will be discussing the complete specs and key features of the Asus TUF Dash F15 2021 along with its price and availability in Nepal.

Asus TUF Dash F15 2021 Overview:

Design and Display

Asus has made some changes to the looks of the laptop in this latest iteration. The most noticeable difference has to be the absence of the brushed-metal finish. The lid is still made of metal but everything else is plastic. The chassis meets the military-grade MIL-STD standard. The laptop is 19.9mm thick and is available in two color options – Silver Gray and Moonlight White.

Asus TUF Dash F15 2021 Design

Coming to the display, the TUF Dash F15 features a 15.6-inch FHD IPS panel. Out of three models that are available in the Nepali market, two feature a 144Hz refresh rate while the other has a 240Hz refresh rate. All three come with Adaptive Sync support. Also, these panels are Pantone validated and cover 100% of the sRGB color gamut.

Performance and Memory

On the performance side, you get the latest 11th Gen Intel Tiger Lake-H35 processors. There is no AMD’s Ryzen 5000-series option here. Users can choose between Core i5-11300H and i7-11370H CPU. The Core i7 variant comes with RTX 3070 while the Core i5 variants have RTX 3060 GPU. Here, both GPUs can consume up to 80W of power (or up to 85W with Dynamic Boost).

Asus has included a self-cleaning cooling setup on the TUF Dash 15. The setup consists of five heatpipes that transfer heat from CPU, GPU, VRM, and VRAM to four heatsinks and finally to the fans. The two fans consist of resilient liquid-crystal polymer blades.

In terms of memory, you can choose between 8GB and 16GB of DDR4 RAM. You get 512GB and 1TB of PCIe SSD. Both the RAM and SSD are user-upgradeable. The 8GB RAM is soldered into the motherboard but users can configure the second SO-DIMM slot for a cumulative capacity of 32GB. Similarly, there is an additional M.2 NVMe slot for additional storage.

Rest of the features

Getting to I/O, TUF Dash F15 is equipped with one Thunderbolt 4 (DisplayPort 1.4 and Power Delivery), three USB 3.2 Type-A, one HDMI 2.0b, an Ethernet, a Kensington lock, one DC-in, and an audio combo jack. Connectivity-wise, it is Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1 ready.

Asus TUF Dash F15 2021 Ports

Its dual speakers support DTS:X Ultra. Asus has also included two-way AI noise cancellation that works with any input device. It runs on the CPU, thereby keeping the GPU free for other tasks.

The whole setup is fueled by a 4-cell 76WHrs Li-ion battery. Asus is claiming up to 16.6 hours of video playback on a full charge. Its fast charging support means that the laptop can go from 0 to 50% in just 30 minutes.

Asus TUF Dash F15 2021 Specifications:

  • Design & Build: Metal Cover, Plastic, 36.0 x 25.2 x 1.99cm, 2kg
  • Color Option: Silver Gray, Moonlight White
  • Display: 15.6 Anti-glare IPS panel, 144Hz/240Hz with Adaptive Sync, 100% sRGB, Pantone Validated
  • Resolution: FHD (1920×1080); 16:9
  • Keyboard: Backlit Chiclet
  • Processor: 11th gen Intel Core i5-11300H / Core i7-11370H
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (80W) / RTX 3070 (80W)
  • RAM: 8/16GB DDR4, dual SO-DIMM slot, 8GB onboard (Max: 32GB)
  • Storage: 512GB /1TB NVMe SSD
  • Audio: 2x2W speaker with DTS:X Ultra
  • Battery: 4-cell 76 Watt-hours Li-ion
  • Connectivity: WiFi 6 802.11 ax, Bluetooth 5.1
  • I/O Ports: 1x Thunderbolt 4 (DisplayPort/Power Delivery), 3x USB 3.2 Type-A, 1x combo audio jack, 1x security slot, 1x RJ45, 1x HDMI 2.0b
  • Extras: Free TUF Gaming Backpack + TUF Gaming M5 mouse, 2 years of warranty

Asus TUF Dash F15 2021 Price in Nepal and Availability

The price of Asus TUF Dash F15 2021 in Nepal starts at NPR 183,000 for the i5 model. Likewise, Zozo Hub (a laptop store) has discounted the i7, RTX 3060 model to just NPR 195,000. With the purchase of Asus TUF Dash F15 2021 in Nepal, you will get a TUF Gaming backpack, Gaming M5 mouse for free, including 2 years of warranty.

Asus TUF Dash F15 2021 Price in Nepal
i5-11300H, RTX 3060, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD (Free mouse + Bag) NPR 183,000 172,000
i7-11370H, RTX 3060, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD NPR 215,000 195,000
i7-11370H, RTX 3070, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD (Free mouse + Bag) NPR 278,000

  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Asus TUF A15.

Google’s Project Starline hopes to make your video calls feel more real

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Google’s Project Starline hopes to make your video calls feel more real

Google has been working tirelessly to bring about a revolution in the world of video-conferencing platforms. And it seems that the company is one step closer to achieving that. Announced yesterday at the I/O 2021 event, Google Project Starline looks to make two-way conversations more interesting by providing an immersive and realistic video call experience.

Google Project Starline: What is it?

At this year’s Google I/O developer conference, Google showed off a glimpse of Project Starline. The project, which started a few years ago, integrates hardware and software advancements to enable friends, family, and colleagues to stay connected realistically even when they are apart.

Google Project Starline Demo

The company defines it as a sort of “Magic Window” through which you can see another person in three dimensions. That’s pretty fascinating, to be real. Google notes that the final product is the result of “deep research in computer vision, machine learning, spatial audio, and real-time compression”.

The company also claims to have developed a light field display that creates a sense of volume and depth without the use of additional glasses or headsets.

How does it work?

Google hasn’t really shared many details about how it works or how much it will cost to build one. However, Lauren Goode from Wired has shared her experience with the system. She explains the whole system as a “video booth”, in its current form. Furthermore, the system includes a 65-inch display surrounded by dozens of depth sensors and cameras. These sensors capture 3D-image which the system compresses and transmits to another screen on the receiver end. 

Project Starline 3D Imaging

Lauren describes it as a hyper-real portrayal of your colleagues on calls, with very little latency, making it more realistic. The collected data is sent to WebRTC, the same infrastructure that Google uses for Meets. It implies that the technology does not necessitate any special networking equipment to work.

Availability

According to Google, Project Starline is currently available in only a handful of its offices. Additionally, it relies on custom-built hardware and highly specialized equipment. Google also showed interest in making this technology more affordable and accessible. 

However, since it needs a specific piece of hardware and a whole lot of setup, the machine might end up costing more than a few thousand bucks. Furthermore, Google has stated that more information about the project will be shared later this year.

  • Meanwhile, check out our review of Mi 11X (POCO F3).

The merger of Tizen and Wear OS is big news for Android smartwatches

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The merger of Tizen and Wear OS is big news for Android smartwatches

It has long been rumored that Samsung will be switching to Google’s Wear OS in its upcoming Galaxy Watch 4 instead of the company’s revered Tizen OS. Well, that news was in a way confirmed in yesterday’s Google I/O 2021 event. Google and Samsung have agreed to merge Wear OS and Tizen OS to develop a more competitive rival to Apple’s watchOS.

Google Wear OS x Samsung Tizen OS:

Samsung and Google are taking wearables seriously, so the merger of Tizen and Wear OS is set to come with a slew of new features. The collaboration of both wearable platforms is simply named “Wear” for now. But the final name could be something else entirely.

Prior to Google’s confirmation, Samsung’s Senior Vice President Mr. Janghyun Yoon released a statement revealing that upcoming Galaxy Watches will run Google’s Wear OS.

Features

The Samsung official did not reveal much about the company’s forthcoming smartwatches. But he did state that the existing Tizen OS-based smartwatches will have three years of software updates from their date of launch.

Google, on the other hand, stated that the joint initiative would lead to significant improvements. Better battery life, 30% faster app loading times, and smoother animations are among a few promises made. The search giant further added that the platform isn’t strictly for Google and Samsung, implying that other brands can also add a customized skin on top of this.

It will also provide a unified platform for Android smartwatch OS, making the process easy for developers. Google further confirms that the merge of Wear OS and Samsung Tizen OS will bring a wider selection of apps and watch faces than ever before.

New apps for Wear smartwatch OS

Besides that, with an emphasis on wellness and health, the next Wear update will include Fitbit expertise health features. It will bring features like tracking your health progress throughout your day and on-wrist goal celebrations. Google hopes this will keep you motivated on your journey to good health.

Launch

Google shared in its blog that the Wear update will begin rolling out later this year. We expect Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 series to be the first smartwatch to run on the new Wear OS platform out-of-the-box.

  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3.

Honor Play 5 is a thin-and-light 5G phone with some obvious compromises

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Honor Play 5 is a thin-and-light 5G phone with some obvious compromises

After all the leaks and rumors, Honor has finally announced the Play 5 in its home market of China. It’s a thin-and-light 5G device that Honor is advertising as a “smartphone for all”. Let’s take a look at the specifications, features, expected price, and availability of Honor Play 5 in Nepal.

Honor Play 5 Overview:

Design and Display

Honor Play 5 sports a 6.53-inch FHD+ OLED panel. It covers DCI-P3 wide color gamut and is HDR10-compatible as well. This screen has TÜV Rheinland’s low light certification and even supports DC Dimming. The fingerprint scanner is placed underneath the screen.

However, Honor has opted for a teardrop notch for the selfie camera at a time when other devices in this price range now come with a sleek punch-hole cutout instead. The bezels and the chin look minimal, at least on the official renders.

Honor Play 5 Color Options

At the back, there is a square-shaped camera module to the left. The phone is 7.46mm thick and weighs just 179 grams. Honor Play 5 is available in three color options – Icelandic Illusion, Titanium Silver, and Magic Mid Night Black.

Performance and Memory

Under the hood, we have MediaTek’s Dimensity 800U chipset running the show. It’s a 5G-chipset that was announced last year. Based on TSMC’s 7nm process, it features Cortex-A76 and Cortex-A55 cores in a 2+6 cluster.

Graphic rendering is handled by Mali G57 GPU. Honor Play 5 comes with 8GB of RAM which can be paired with either 128GB and 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage.

Camera

There is a 64MP sensor leading the quad-camera setup on the back. The primary camera has an aperture of f/1.9 and can record 4K videos. It is accompanied by an 8MP f/2.4 ultrawide sensor alongside two additional 2MP sensors for macro and portrait shots. On the front, there is a 16MP f/2.0 selfie shooter inside the aforementioned notch.

Honor Play 5 Camera Setup

Rest of the specs

Honor Play 5 packs a 3,800mAh battery with 66W fast charging. The battery size is a downgrade from the 4300mAh cell on Honor Play 4. But this compromise helps keep the device thin and lightweight. Small battery and faster-charging speed mean the phone can go from 0 to 100% in just 35 minutes.

There is no 3.5mm headphone jack here so you will have to use a Type-C to 3.5mm audio connector. Unfortunately, it’s not included in the box.

Also, the phone ships with Android 10 which is disappointing given that the Android 12 developer preview is already live. On top of that, the Magic UI 4.0 doesn’t come with Google Mobile Services (GMS). It will be a problem if it launches globally but for the moment it is exclusive to China.

Honor Play 5 Specifications:

  • Display: 6.53-inches FHD+ OLED, DCI-P3, HDR10
  • Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 800U (7nm Mobile Platform)
  • Memory: 8GB LPDDR4X RAM, 128/256GB UFS 2.2
  • Software & UI: Android 10 with Magic UI 4.0
  • Rear Camera: Quad (64MP main, 8MP ultrawide, 2MP macro, 2MP depth)
  • Front Camera: 16MP sensor (notch)
  • Fingerprint sensor: Physical (in-display)
  • Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, USB 2.0 Type-C, 5G
  • Battery: 3800mAh battery with 66W charging

Honor Play 5 Price in Nepal & Availability

Honor Play 5 will be available in China from May 26 where its price starts at 2,099 Yuan for the 8/128GB variant while the 8/256 model costs 2,299 Yuan. The company has not hinted at a global launch but if it launches here, we expect the price of Honor Play 5 in Nepal to start at NPR 42,000.

Honor Play 5 Price in China Price in Nepal (Expected)
8/128GB 2,099 Yuan NPR 42,000
8/256GB 2,299 Yuan NPR 45,000
  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Mi 11X (POCO F3).

Nepal Telecom’s VoLTE will work in “Made in India” phones: Here’s why

GadgetByte
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Nepal Telecom’s VoLTE will work in “Made in India” phones: Here’s why

Nepal Telecom has officially launched VoLTE service in the country. However, we found some false news circulating on the internet claiming that “Made in India” phones do not support VoLTE service. So, what exactly is the situation, and are the rumors circulating true or false? Let’s find out.

VoLTE support in Made in India phones:

After NTC launched VoLTE, only a handful of subscribers have been able to use the service. In this regard, rumors abound that “Made in India” phones do not allow VoLTE. However, this is not the case.

The first and foremost reason your smartphone(s) isn’t accepting 4G voice-over service is that your handset might not be on the VoLTE supported list. Right now, NTC says the following phones support VoLTE in Nepal:

Samsung
Galaxy M series M01s, M02, M02s, M11, M12, M21, M30s, M31
Galaxy A series A12, A51, A52, A70, A70s, A71, A72
Galaxy S series S10, S10+, S10e, S20, S20+, S20 Ultra, S20 FE, S21, S21+, S21 Ultra
Galaxy Note series Note 10 Lite, Note 10, Note 10+, Note 20, Note 20 Ultra
Galaxy Z series Z Fold 2
Xiaomi
Redmi series 8A, 9 Prime, 9C
Redmi Note series Note 9 Pro
Mi series Mi 10
Nokia
Number series 3.4, 5.3, 7.2

NTC is testing this service for public use for the first time, and the initial round of support is exclusive to specific handsets. But don’t worry, the service will shortly be available on other smartphones as well. Similarly, even if your smartphone was purchased or imported from India, you can use the VoLTE service without giving it a second thought. 

The thing is, Nepal Telecom uses two bands to distribute 4G connectivity in Nepal. They are Band 20 (800MHz) and Band 3 (1800MHz). On the contrary, Indian smartphones (specifically, the smartphones manufactured for the Indian market) do not support the 800MHz frequency band.

The battle of the “Bands”

That means, they can not utilize Band 20. Likewise, as aforementioned, NTC also employs Band 3 (1800MHz), which is assisted by Indian handsets. This means that smartphones imported from India endorse the frequency of 1800 MHz, allowing you to experience VoLTE service without fear.

Note that, to use VoLTE, your smartphone should accept either Band 20 or Band 3. You don’t need both frequencies to work at the same time but it’s a plus for you if your smartphone supports both bands.

  • Meanwhile, check out our impressions of the first Nepali Gaming Laptop – Ripple Artifact Pro.

Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 (2021) Review: Gaming Beast!

Nikhil Shrestha
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Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 (2021) Review: Gaming Beast!

The gaming laptop market right now is WILD. That’s mainly because they’ve finally got some of the most awaited updates in recent times—the new Zen 3-based AMD processors and the NVIDIA RTX 30-series GPUs. Manufacturers have been quick enough to pump out their refresh of gaming laptops with the latest and greatest chips. And here, we’re bringing you our review of the 2021 rendition of the ROG Strix Scar 15 (G533WS) from Asus which brings the top-of-the-line silicons from Team Red and Team Green.

Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 (2021) Specifications:

  • Design & Build: Aluminum build, 13.94W x 10.20D x 0.89H-inches, 2.30 kg, Aura Sync (Light Bar, Logo, Bezel Glow)
  • Display: 15.6-inches IPS LCD panel, Non-touch, 300 nits brightness, 75.35% AdobeRGB, 100% sRGB color gamut, 3ms response time, Adaptive-Sync, Anti-glare, 85% screen-to-body ratio
  • Resolution: FHD (1920×1080) resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio
  • Keyboard: Optical switch mechanical keyboard, 1.9mm travel, Per-key RGB
  • Trackpad: Glass-covered multi-touch trackpad, Windows Precision drivers
  • Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU, Zen 3, 8C/16T, 4.6GHz Max Boost Frequency, 16MB L3 Cache, 7nm FinFET, 45W+ TDP
  • RAM: 16GB DDR4 RAM @3200MHz (2x SO-DIMM slots, Up to 64GB)
  • Storage: 1TB M.2 PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD
  • Graphics: AMD Radeon Graphics (integrated), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 8GB GDDR6 VRAM (115W, up to 130W with Dynamic Boost)
  • Audio: 2x 4W smart amp woofers, 2x 2W tweeter, Built-in array microphone
  • Battery: 90 Watt-hours 4S1P Li-Ion battery
  • Power Supply: 240W AC power adapter
  • Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 ax (2×2), Bluetooth 5.1
  • I/O Ports: 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (DisplayPort, Power Delivery compatible), 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x LAN (RJ45), 1x DC power in, 1x Keystone
  • Price in Nepal: Rs. 410,000
  • What’s inside the box: Laptop, power adapter, quick start guide, Keystone, customizable Armor Caps, marketing giveaway

Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 (2021) Review:

Design

  • Aura Sync-infused Lightbar, logo, bezel glow
  • Aluminum build, translucent keyboard deck

Like its predecessor, it’s a big and bulky machine with all the bells and whistles we’ve come to expect from an Asus high-end gaming laptop. With all the components that the company has managed to fit inside this 15” chassis, the Scar 15 ends up weighing around 2.3 kg.

Add the 720 grams power adapter into the mix and you’re looking at a setup that weighs a little over 3 kg on your backpack. You know what they say, “with great power, comes a great necessity for heavy-lifting”.

ROG Strix Scar 15 2021 - Design 1

No, people but don’t say that, not really. Anyway, the Strix Scar 15 proudly flaunts its gaming heritage on the outside too. The lid contains the classic ROG branding with a mirrored finish. And yes, it is RGB compliant. Right on its side are squarish perforations with subtle inscriptions that only come to light when looking at it from a certain angle.

Initially, I was under the impression that this was the AniMe Matrix display found in the company’s other laptops like the Zephyrus G14 we reviewed last year but that’s not the case. Opening up the laptop with one hand is as easy as it could be. Here, you’ll notice the design switch between this and the Scar 15 from last year right away.

Translucent keyboard deck

While the one before it employed some funky texts on the right edge of the keyboard chassis, Asus has substituted that with a translucent layout instead. I thought it looked pretty cool only to be pointed out by my colleagues that the gray finish of the translucent back looks… dirty. What do you think?

Regardless, this see-through layout extends to the back, leading you to the customizable Armor Cap. The company ships three of these inside the box, including the one pre-installed. It doesn’t really come off as a visually striking component of the laptop so I didn’t bother switching between them.

Moving on, the palm rest area is comfortable to touch and the bottom panel isn’t sharp enough to cause any discomfort. Even though the keyboard chassis attracts its fair share of smudges like the aluminum lid, cleaning it up is quite easy. Getting to the RGB side of things, the Scar 15 brags the Aura Lightbar on the front panel that casually extends to the bottom left and bottom right. Although this time around, it doesn’t extend as wide on the sides.

Contrary to its predecessor, Asus has installed an additional LED strip on the bottom right portion of the display panel as well, because why not. By default, all these (including the ROG logo) sync with the keyboard’s RGB configuration while Asus lets you customize them via the Aura Creator software.

I/O ports

Now, let’s talk I/O. Scar 15’s right frame stays mostly clean except for the bright red Keystone. It’s an NFC-powered key that magnetically attaches to the laptop, and can launch a few shortcuts whenever you take it out or put it in.

Asus requires you to bind the Keystone with your Asus account to use it. You can customize what actions to trigger when you insert or remove the Keystone via the Armoury Crate software.

Its macros are pretty limited though. When inserted, it can switch between fan modes and launch one app whereas the “remove keystone” action is restricted to hiding all windows and muting the audio, or locking the Windows account.

Interestingly, there’s also something called “Shadow Drive” that offers a hidden storage partition to store your private data. I tried to see it in action but couldn’t get it to work. Turns out, Shadow Drive is only compatible with devices running on Windows 10 Pro while Asus ships the Scar 15 with Windows 10 Home. *sigh*

But I digress. Here, you’ll find two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports alongside a 3.5mm combo audio jack on the left, while the back of the laptop holds an additional USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (with DisplayPort and Power Delivery compatibility), one HDMI 2.0b, one RJ45 port, and one DC-in port. Wireless connectivity options include Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1. Throughout my usage, neither of them has posed any trouble so far.

Display

  • 15.6″ anti-glare non-touch IPS LCD panel
  • 300Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time
  • 100% sRGB, 75.35% AdobeRGB color gamut

Upfront, you’re greeted with a 15.6” non-touch matte screen with minimal bezels on the top and side, whereas the bottom chin is still as noticeably big as ever. You can choose between two panels here: one with FHD resolution and 300Hz refresh rate, and the other with a QHD resolution and a 165Hz refresh rate.

Scar 15 2021 - Display 1

Our review unit of Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 2021 is the former, which has 100% sRGB and 75.35% Adobe RGB color coverage. Asus says the QHD option gets 100% DCI-P3 color gamut instead. Both of them boast 3ms response time and Adaptive-Sync technology.

So, the choice is pretty clear here. If you’re mostly into FPS titles like Apex Legend, Overwatch, or any other games that can benefit from the ultra-smooth 300Hz refresh rate, go for the FHD panel. After all, it’s got more-than-competent hardware inside to push those titles for the maximum FPS. On the contrary, if 300Hz is overkill for your use case and you want a portable workstation for photo/video editing as well, then the QHD screen with better color accuracy is the way to go.

Pretty good color accuracy

Talking about color accuracy, I measured Scar 15’s display gamut with the SpyderX Pro. And it pretty much corroborated what Asus claims. This FHD screen covers 100% sRGB, 75% AdobeRGB, 77% DCI-P3, and 70% NTSC color space. For a gaming laptop, I can’t complain about these numbers.

Still, the factory color calibration here was slightly off, with the screen looking a tad bit reddish. But, our trusty SpyderX Pro came to the rescue for calibrating accurate colors. Moreover, it achieves a gamma value of 2.0 which is a little below the commonly accepted standard of 2.2.

In theory, that means this screen will tend to make the shadows look brighter than normal but I couldn’t really notice it. When it comes to brightness, it’s a bit of a disappointment here since this 300 nits display can’t get bright enough for outdoor usage or even a room with enough ambient lighting.

In the middle of the screen, I measured Scar 15’s max brightness to be 306.2 cd/m2 with the minimum brightness settling in at 14.7 cd/m2. Similarly, the contrast at max brightness was 1010:1 with black levels rounding out to 0.30 cd/m2. Finally, the white point at 100% brightness was 6800K.

Brightness could’ve been better

Despite the marginally underwhelming screen brightness, I wouldn’t consider it to be a deal-breaker since a gaming laptop isn’t intended for outdoor usage anyway. Plus, I’ve had little to zero trouble in regards to visibility for the duration of my time with this machine. Apart from this, Scar 15’s display leaves little room for complaint.

Post calibration, colors look saturated enough and streaming videos on YouTube or Netflix has been an enjoyable experience. Yet, I did notice a faint fall in viewing angles as the contents tend to lose contrast when looking at the display from the side. Furthermore, I also observed slight backlight bleeding on the bottom left corner of the screen. But unless you’re exclusively playing dark content in a dimly lit room, this shouldn’t be of concern whatsoever.

Keyboard

  • RGB-backlit optical switch mechanical keyboard
  • 1.9mm key travel distance, Per-key RGB control

This year’s Scar 15 sees a bit of an upgrade on the keyboard department too. Well, that’s a major understatement because Asus has impressively worked on the shortcomings from the keyboard in last year’s iteration. First off, although its chiclet-style keys were good enough to type on, it felt, dare I say “out-of-place” considering the laptop’s ultra-premium stature.

Plus, it didn’t help that the competition was offering an optical-mechanical keyboard at the time, like the Razer Blade 15. Thankfully, the new Strix Scar 15 catches up to the competition as it brings optical-mechanical keyboard switches for a premium gaming experience.

Scar 15 2021 - Keyboard

Now, to be perfectly candid, I have never been a fan of mechanical keyboards because of their noise and wide key travel distance. Despite this, I’ve actually come to like Scar 15’s keyboard. The keys feel clicky and their 1.9mm key travel distance is right in the wheelhouse of what I prefer: 1.5mm. Additionally, it isn’t disturbingly loud to type on either.

Sweet, sweet typing experience

As a result, I’ve had no problem maintaining my 70-80 WPM typing speed on this keyboard with very few mistypes. But what I’m worried about is that I’ll now end up being disappointed by the chiclet keys on my regular laptop when I switch back to it.

Beyond this, the keys are well structured this time around too. Asus has parted ways with the unparalleled layout to something more digestible. The arrow keys are now of the standard size and integrate Page Up/Down, Home, and End keys. I’m surprised to see dedicated playback control keys even though it’s a gaming laptop.

Up top, you’ll find 5 hotkeys for volume control, performance profile, and launching the Armoury Crate. The redundant performance profile key is still here, with one residing in the F5 key as well. On top of this, the power button still glows red, while the notification LEDs are a bit subdued in this edition—albeit being visible even when closing the lid.

More importantly, you can customize RGB lighting for each key via the aforementioned Aura Creator software, or select from multiple available presets on the Armoury Crate. Finally, the keyboard deck is extremely well-built and doesn’t flex as much even with a considerable amount of pressure.

Trackpad

  • Glass trackpad, NumberPad integrated

Moving on, 2021’s Scar 15 comes with an upgraded trackpad too. This glass-covered trackpad is now larger and features integrated left/right keys. And let me just tell you, it’s the best one I’ve used all this year. Gestures work perfectly fine, there are no accidental touches, and the keys click well too. Moreover, Asus has also brought the NumberPad integration into the trackpad on the Scar 15.

Scar 15 2021 - Trackpad

Simply pressing the NumLK inscription for a second or so triggers it and you have a full-fledged NumPad at your disposal. However, there are a few complaints to be made here. The first is that I would’ve liked haptic feedback upon key press. Secondly, this doesn’t let you use the cursor when using the trackpad either. To compare, this is entirely possible on the ZenBook Flip 13 that we recently reviewed.

Audio

  • 2x 4W smart amp woofers, 2x 2W tweeters
  • Dolby Atmos 5.1.2-channel surround sound

Anyway, Scar 15 has a pretty sweet audio setup though. You get a dynamic speaker system comprising of two 4W smart amp woofers on the bottom and two 2W front-firing tweeters. It is also rated to deliver 5.1.2-channel Dolby Atmos surround sound experience.

Talking about their performance, color me impressed. The rubber feet ensure that the audio doesn’t get muffled and even at full volume, the audio doesn’t distort as much. There’s plenty of bass to enjoy and the sound is loud enough to fill an average-sized room.

Scar 15 2021 - Intake Vents

Having said that, don’t expect rumbling bass here, although the mids and highs sound fairly well balanced. Listening to something like Blade Runner 2049’s “Sea Wall”, the woofers fail to adequately pump out bass. Still and all, I’m more than happy with the speakers on this laptop.

Performance

  • AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX (45W+ TDP) processor
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 discrete graphics
  • 8GB GDDR6 VRAM, 115W TGP (up to 130W)
  • 16GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB M.2 PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD

With all that out of the way, let’s get into the performance of Strix Scar 15. Like I mentioned in the beginning, the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 is powered by the latest and greatest mobile chips.

Our unit has the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU, coupled with NVIDIA’s RTX 3080 GPU. These have been complemented by 16GB of DDR4 RAM (@3200MHz) and 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen3 SSD. A similar configuration goes for around INR 230,000 (~ $3100) while it costs NPR 410,000 (~ $3400) in Nepal.

I do have to mention one thing. While almost all the global variants of this laptop I’ve seen carry RTX 3080 with 16GB GDDR6 VRAM, our review unit of Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 2021 only has 8GB video memory. I didn’t think this would be much of a problem but I did encounter multiple instances when games would abruptly crash, mainly citing memory insufficiency. Mind you, this mostly happened with the game setting cranked to their absolute limit.

Insufficient VRAM?

I tested all the games under Turbo Mode with the power adapter plugged in, Vsync turned off, and the GeForce Game Ready Driver v465.89 which introduced Resizable BAR support among other updates. The latest driver version installed on this laptop is v466.27 but I’m still witnessing game crashes now and then.

Scar 15 2021 - Display 2

So I searched the web to see if anyone else is facing the same issue but couldn’t find it. However, there were multiple complaints regarding the desktop version of RTX 3080 with its 10GB VRAM.

Oh, I almost forgot. With NVIDIA ditching the “Max-Q” label for its relatively weaker configurations in favor of classifying its mobile GPUs with varying wattage, buying a gaming laptop had gotten a little tricky—or simpler, depends on who you ask. However, the company recently mandated all OEMs to specify max power a GPU can consume and its clock speed on the product page to simplify things by a bit.

115W RTX 3080 GPU

To compare, RTX 3080 mobile GPUs are available in configurations that can take 150+ watt of power. Our review unit’s RTX 3080 seems to be placed slightly above the Max-Q standard with its 115W power that can take up to 130W with Dynamic Boost. But monitoring its performance in Armoury Crate or NVIDIA’s performance overlay, I couldn’t notice a single instance when the TGP (Total Graphics Power) hit the advertised 130W level.

So, with a lot of retries, I was able to test out the gaming capabilities of the Strix Scar 15. And here are the results:

Ultra (DXR: On) Ultra (DXR: Off) High (DXR: On) High (DXR: Off)
Battlefield V 75 fps 85 fps 77 fps 87 fps
(Tirailleur campaign)
Cyberpunk 2077 36 fps 53 fps 52 fps 76 fps
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 62 fps 49 fps 66 fps 52 fps
(In-game benchmark)
Star Wars Battlefront II 46 fps 92 fps 47 fps 100 fps
(Single player, Ajan Kloss map)
Ultra (Anti-aliasing: On) High (Anti-aliasing: On)
The Witcher 3 60 fps 63 fps
High (MSAA 4X) Medium (MSAA 4X)
Valorant 134 fps 136 fps

As you can tell, the gaming performance of Scar 15 is pretty impressive although it falls a little short of my expectation—which is due to the comparatively lower wattage GPU on our unit.

Plus, I’m quite impressed with the cooling system on this laptop. The Turbo mode maxes out all three aspects: CPU performance, GPU performance, and cooling. So needless to say, you’d want to game under this profile only. Even after about an hour of continuous gaming, the keyboard deck manages to stay surprisingly cool enough to prevent any sort of discomfort.

Cooling solution

Talking about cooling, there are six heat pipes inside, while the intake vents are on the bottom surrounded by various rubberized layers of ROG brandings. On the other hand, the 4 exhaust vents are located on the sides and the back. Scar 15 uses a liquid metal thermal compound for CPU cooling that promises up to a 16-degree cooler CPU. Likewise, the four “Arc Flow” fans have 84 blades, each 0.2mm thick.

Scar 15 2021 - Design 2

The fan noise does get quite loud though, but that’s nothing once you put on a headphone. There’s also the Performance mode that dials down CPU, GPU power in favor of a relatively quieter gaming experience. For the quietest performance, you can switch to the Silent profile but as expected, this setting will come at the cost of compromised performance.

Armoury Crate lets you over/underclock the GPU as well. In terms of upgrades, Scar 15 has two SODIMM and two M.2 PCIe slots. It supports up to 64GB DDR4 RAM in dual-channel. I also ran a few benchmarks, testing these top-of-the-line chips from AMD and NVIDIA.

CrystalDiskMark
Read (MB/s) Write (MB/s)
SEQ1M Q8T1 3617.60 1398.50
SEQ1M Q1T1 1968.69 2282.45
RNK4K Q32T1 399.37 514.40
RNK4K Q1T1 66.00 152.76
Cinebench R23
CPU: Multi-Core 12582
CPU: Single Core 1429
MP Ratio 8.80x
Geekbench 5
CPU: Single Core 1403
CPU: Multi-Core 6007
Compute (OpenCL) 137615
Unigine Heaven

(FPS: 164, Score: 4132, Min FPS: 10.3, Max FPS: 299.1)

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 248.817 fps
1080p Car Chase (Offscreen) 486.502 fps
1080p Manhattan 3.1 (Offscreen) 627.673 fps
1080p ALU 2 (Offscreen) 3275.14 fps
1080p Driver Overhead 2 (Overhead) 164.509 fps
1080p Texturing (Offscreen) 275.28 fps

Battery

  • 90 Watt-hour Lithium-Ion battery
  • 240W AC adapter inside the box

Fueling this beast is a big 90 Watt-hour battery. Now that’s one upgrade I really appreciate compared to last year’s Scar 15 which had a smaller 66 Watt-hour battery. Using the laptop in Performance mode with brightness set at ~55% for my regular office work, I managed to get up to 5-5.5hours of screen-on time.

Scar 15 2021 - Charger

To squeeze even more endurance, you can turn on the iGPU mode that disables the RTX 3080 GPU in favor of the integrated Radeon Vega graphics. One important thing to note here is that you can’t turn on the Turbo mode when the laptop’s running on battery.

When it comes to juicing up the Scar 15, you get a 240W power adapter inside the box. You can also connect a 100W Type-C adapter on the USB-C port but that won’t allow you to turn on the Turbo mode either.

But hey, it’s still a nice option to have, right? Its 240W power adapter also has a mirrored ROG logo and with all the RGB extravaganza that this laptop has, I’m surprised the charger doesn’t light up. Jokes aside, this 240W power brick can fully juice up the battery in a little under 2 hours.

Conclusion

To sum up this review, the 2021 edition of Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 solves almost all the imperfections of its predecessor. It enjoys a beefier cooling solution, optical-mechanical keyboard, a bigger battery, and last but not the least, new-gen silicons. I would’ve liked Asus to include a webcam this time around as well, but that’s still missing here.

Of course, the Scar 15 is not for everyone which is reflected in its hefty price tag. So, if you’re looking for a premium gaming laptop, this should definitely be on your radar. But be sure to get the 16GB VRAM variant with possibly a higher wattage GPU.

  • Watch our video review of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 (2021).

Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 (2021) Review: Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Excellent gaming performance
  • Upgraded heat management system
  • Impressive design with RGB lighting
  • Vibrant display, 300Hz refresh rate
  • Optical switch mechanical keyboard
  • Trackpad with NumberPad integration
  • Bigger battery with 240W charging

Cons:

  • Hefty design, expensive price tag
  • The display can’t get bright enough
  • Still doesn’t have a built-in webcam
  • No Thunderbolt 4 connectivity option

Realme Narzo 30 brings performance upgrade at the expense of cameras

GadgetByte
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Realme Narzo 30 brings performance upgrade at the expense of cameras

Realme has completed the Narzo 30 series with the launch of Narzo 30. The new device slots in between the Narzo 30A and Narzo 30 Pro, which were launched back in February. Let’s check the key specifications and features of the Realme Narzo 30 along with its expected price in Nepal.

Realme Narzo 30 Overview:

Design and Display

Realme Narzo 30 comes with a 6.5-inch FHD+ IPS panel. It also supports a 90Hz refresh rate. There is a left-aligned punch-hole for the selfie camera. The phone has a 90.5% screen-to-body ratio while its peak brightness is listed at 580 nits. But it’s possible only with Sunlight Mode enabled.

Realme Narzo 30 Racing Blue Design Display

At the back, there is an elongated pill-shaped camera bump. It’s within the racetrack-inspired Chevron stripe. Realme has even named the colors to reflect the aesthetics – Racing Blue and Racing Silver.

Performance and Memory

Under the hood, the Realme Narzo 30 packs in Helio G95 chipset. It’s based on a 12nm process and has MediaTek’s HyperEngine technology that promises better resource management during gameplay. G95’s clock frequency can hit up to 2.05GHz and it houses Mali-G76 GPU for rendering graphics.

MediaTek Helio G95

The phone comes with 6GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 128GB of UFS 2.1 internal storage. There is a dedicated microSD card slot that you can use to expand the storage.

Camera

Coming to the cameras, there is one major downgrade. Realme has replaced the ultrawide sensor with a 2MP monochrome lens instead. The rest of the setup is pretty similar to that on Narzo 20. The primary camera here is a 48MP f/1.8 sensor. You can record up to 4K 30fps videos with this one. There is also a 2MP sensor for macro shots.

Realme Narzo 30 Camera Setup

On the front, Narzo 30 brings a 16MP Sony IMX471 sensor for selfies. It is capable of recording 1080p 30fps videos.

Rest of the specs

Realme Narzo 30 gets its juice from a 5000mAh battery which is smaller than the 6000mAh cell in Narzo 20. But it supports a faster 30W Dart Charge technology and a compatible charger comes in the box.

It can take the device from 0 to 100% in just 65 minutes. Connectivity-wise, the phone supports dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, and NFC. There is a side-mounted fingerprint scanner for biometrics. The device ships with Realme UI 2.0 based on Android 11.

Realme Narzo 30 Specifications:

  • Display: 6.5-inches FHD+ IPS LCD, 405 PPI, 90Hz refresh rate
  • Chipset: MediaTek Helio G95 (12nm Mobile Platform)
  • Memory: 6GB LPDDR4X RAM, 128GB UFS 2.1 storage (expandable)
  • Software & UI: Android 11 with Realme UI 2.0
  • Rear Camera: Triple (48MP main, 2MP B&W, 2MP macro)
  • Front Camera: 16MP sensor (punch-hole)
  • Fingerprint sensor: Physical (side-mounted)
  • Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS / A-GPS / Glonass / Beidou, NFC, USB-C
  • Sensors: Accelerometer, Proximity, Gyro, Light, Magnetic Induction
  • Battery: 5000mAh battery with 30W charging

Realme Narzo 30 Price in Nepal & Availability

Realme Narzo 30 is now available in Malaysia where its price is MYR 799. However, one can get it for MYR 699 as part of the first sale offer. Realme has not brought a single Narzo device to Nepal. Still, if Realme Narzo 30 launches in Nepal, we expect its price to be NPR 25,000.

Realme Narzo 30 Price in Malaysia Price in Nepal (Expected)
6/128GB MYR 799 NPR 25,000
  • Meanwhile, check out our review of the Realme Narzo 30A.

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