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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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 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:
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.
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
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
Pricein 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”.
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.
Ports
1 of 3
Left
Back
Keystone
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.
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.
SpyderX Pro - Color Profile
1 of 4
AdobeRGB
DCI-P3
NTSC
sRGB
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
On the front, Narzo 30 brings a 16MP Sony IMX471 sensor for selfies. It is capable of recording 1080p 30fps videos.
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.
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.
Apple’s AirPods lineup of TWS earbuds ranks among the best of its type. However, the company also owns Beats – an audio venture founded by Dr. Dre and later acquired by Apple in 2014. After the takeover, Beats has launched a slew of new products. Now, a new pair of Beats Studio Buds has appeared on the developer release of tvOS 14.6 and iOS 14.6, hinting it could launch anytime soon.
Beats Studio Buds Overview:
The new pair of earbuds have a completely different design language compared to other earbuds in Beats’ portfolio. Studio Buds is smaller in design and similar to in-ear TWS earbuds from companies like Samsung and Google. This is in contrast to AirPods that generally feature a long stem or Beats’ earbuds that include ear-wrap.
But this time, the upcoming TWS has a compact build with silicone ear tips. And what’s interesting is, Apple may ditch its stem design with the second-generation AirPods Pro too in favor of the new design as upcoming Studio Buds. However, this is just a rumor for now.
The buds, alongside the oval-charging case will debut in multiple color options as confirmed in the leaked image.
Launch Date
There is no official word on when Beats Studio Buds might go official. But since it appeared in the beta releases of iOS 14.6 and tvOS 14.6, we can expect it after Apple releases the respective software updates.
Watch: Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro vs Apple AirPods Pro
The second wave of COVID-19 has birthed a grim situation in Nepal, with the number of cases and deaths steadily rising. The country’s healthcare system is suffering from a lack of hospital beds, oxygen, medications, vaccines, and other resources. To assist Nepal in such dire straits, National Innovation Center (NIC) is doing its best to help fight the COVID pandemic.
National Innovation Center Overview:
NIC is a non-profit organization formally established on 9 November 2012 by Mahabir Pun. He is a teacher, activist, internet hall of fame inductee, and Chairperson of NIC. The organization contributes to research, innovation, and technological development—with works on multiple disciplines of science.
Here, National Innovation Center is also an open hub for creative ideas and their support for growth. The organization has been working on numerous projects in different sectors (agriculture, healthcare, Artificial Intelligence (AI), software, and IT). And in these trying times, NIC is doing all it can to aid Nepal’s healthcare system.
During the pandemic, National Innovation Center was soon informed about the situation of different hospitals with a demand for medical equipment to prevent the spread of the virus. Soon after lockdown, a team at NIC started working on different ideas to generate as many medical equipments as they can in a productive and fast way. The firstmost priority was PPEs (Personal Protective Equipment) for doctors, nurses, and others in need.
The ideas to develop necessary medical equipment were not new but its actual production was uncharted territory for the NIC team. Now, in a time where oxygen has become such a scarce commodity, it is also supporting hospitals with repairing and developing emergency ventilators, repairing oxygen concentrators, oxygen plants, and kidney dialysis machines.
NIC is also distributing CPAP, BiPAP, Pneumasks, and viral filters. Furthermore, it has collaborated with professionals at TU Delft University (Netherlands), Stanford University (USA) to support and help engineers at NIC with their work on ventilators, masks, reusable PPEs, and UVC Disinfection Chamber.
Moving on, the organization has created a conceptual design for a mini oxygen plant with a prototype development currently underway. Similarly, 63 3D printed Y-splitters and 55 brass Y-splitters of oxygen supply pipe have been prepared and distributed to various hospitals. Here, Y-splitters help divide oxygen between patients from a single cylinder.
Those were the major publicized contributions made by NIC during the pandemic we’ve managed to compile. If you’re aware of some more, feel free to drop a comment down below and we’ll update the article accordingly.
Donate to NIC
NIC is helping hospitals and locals with their expertise and medical equipment free of cost. Moreover, they have been working selflessly without any greed or expectation of monetary benefit to help the country overcome this pandemic. NIC gets its financial support from several organizations, individuals, and Nepalese all around the world in the form of donations.
Moving forward, if you want to support NIC’s noble cause and help out in any way you can, feel free to personally contact Mr. Mahabir Pun at:
Plus, you can also contribute by assisting in different projects or with your own innovative ideas. You can assist National Innovation Center in its fight against COVID financially too. One can choose to donate via bank deposit, mobile wallets, or other available options. To know more about the ways to contribute, click here.
Meanwhile, check out our review of Mi 11X (Poco F3).
Sharp isn’t a well-known name in the smartphone industry—at least in this part of the world. However, its latest device, the Sharp Aquos R6, is making waves in the smartphone industry. This phone is the world’s first to use a 1-inch camera sensor.
Sharp Aquos R6 Overview:
Display and Design
Aquos R6 is a high-end smartphone with a 6.6-inch WUXGA+ Pro IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) OLED panel. The display features a resolution of 1,260 x 2,730 pixels and a 240Hz variable refresh rate. It can toggle between 1Hz to 240Hz depending on the content, which is yet another “world’s first” title for Sharp Aquos R6. Furthermore, this screen can reach a peak brightness of 2000 nits, supports HDR, and has a contrast ratio of 20,000,000:1.
Similarly, the panel has a small punch-hole in the middle for the selfie camera. In terms of the back panel, it features a massive 1-inch camera sensor in a rectangular cutout and has Aquos branding in the center.
Moving on, the device is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 chipset. This has been coupled with 12GB of RAM, and 128GB of UFS 3.1 storage. You can also slot in an SD card of up to 1TB here. Furthermore, it ships with a huge 5000mAh battery that supports Intelligent Charge 2.0, but not wireless charging. It runs Android 11 out-of-the-box and has IP65/68 certification for dust and water resistance.
Camera
As expected, the camera is the star of the show here. Sharp has partnered with Leica to engineer a 20MP 1-inch image CMOS sensor into the Aquos R6. According to the company, this sensor is five times larger than the predecessor and performs exceptionally in low-light environments.
In addition, a ToF sensor and a single flash are located next to the main camera. It only supports image stabilization via EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization). On the front, it has a 12.6MP selfie camera in the aforementioned punch-hole cutout. For biometrics, Aquos R6 comes with Qualcomm’s 3D Sonic Max ultrasonic fingerprint sensor.
Rest of the specs
In terms of wireless connectivity, it features Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, and Wi-Fi 6. Sharp has retained the 3.5mm headphone jack on this phone too.
Memory: 12GB LPDDR5 RAM, 128GB UFS 3.1 storage (expandable up to 1TB)
Operating System: Android 11
Battery: 5,000mAh with Intelligent Charge 2.0
Security: Qualcomm 3D Sonic Max under-display fingerprint sensor
Sharp Aquos R6 Price and Availability
Sharp Aquos R6 will go on sale in Japan in June, with black and white color configurations. However, the company has not provided the phone’s pricing details or any information on international availability yet.
Meanwhile, check out our review of the Mi 11X (POCO F3).
