Page 538 – GadgetByte Nepal

Samsung’s new Galaxy Chromebook 2 is the first of its kind to feature a QLED display

GadgetByte

-

January 8, 2021

Samsung’s new Galaxy Chromebook 2 is the first of its kind to feature a QLED display

Earlier this year, Samsung announced the Galaxy Chromebook. It was a high-end notebook from the company that ran on Google’s Chrome OS. And now, Samsung has launched the Galaxy Chromebook 2 which is the first of its kind to come with a QLED display. Besides this, it bears a less powerful selection of processors and a slightly smaller battery.

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 Overview:

Samsung has not opted for a major design overhaul in the second generation of its Chromebook. The Galaxy Chromebook 2 has an anodized aluminum build and has some minor differences in the design as its predecessor. For instance, it has made some changes to the port arrangement. It now features 2x USB-C, 1x microSD card reader, and 1x headphone-out/mic-in combo.

But the biggest downgrade that it brings in terms of port selection is that there is no built-in stylus here. While you can still use a USI (Universal Stylus Initiative) Pen for your creative needs, you’re gonna have to buy it separately.

Display

Here, the biggest change can be seen on the display. While the first-gen Galaxy Chromebook features a 13.3″ 4K UHD AMOLED screen, the Chromebook 2 now comes with a 13.3″ FHD QLED panel instead. It still retains touchscreen functionality and thus is a 2-in-1 convertible device.

This shift to Samsung’s revered QLED panel found in the company’s high-end TVs is a double-edged sword seeing how an OLED panel still has a few upper hands in certain scenarios. Still, the toned-down resolution should result in a better battery endurance anyway.

Battery, Performance

Talking about the battery, Galaxy Chromebook 2 packs in a 45.5Wh battery which is slightly smaller than its predecessor that had a 49.2Wh cell. It still comes in the Fiesta Red and the Mercury Gray color options like the one before it, so that’s nice. Getting to performance, you can now choose between Intel Celeron 5205U or Core i3-10110U CPU. If you recall, the first Galaxy Chromebook boasted a beefier i5-10210U processor.

Also Read:
- MediaTek announces two new chipsets for Chromebooks
- AMD extends its lineup of Chromebook processors

Here, depending upon the CPU configuration, you’ll get either 4 or 8GB of RAM and 64 or 128GB of internal storage. Both variants share Intel UHD graphics, by the way. Being a Chromebook, it runs on Google’s Chrome OS (duh). Other highlights of the device include a 720p 1MP webcam, stereo speakers, a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), a backlit keyboard, and WiFi 6 (Gig+) support.

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 Price and Availability

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 will be available from Q1 2021 for a starting price of $549.99. With this, the company is targetting budget Chromebook buyers like students, or other casual users seeing how the first-gen Galaxy Chromebook came with a ridiculous price-tag of $999.

Chromebook Model

Price in the US

Availability

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2

(Intel Celeron, 4/64GB)

$549.99

Q1 2021

In the meanwhile, watch our review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 (2020).

iPhone 12 Pro Max Long-Term Review: Missing The Mark

Yural Maskey

-

January 7, 2021

0

iPhone 12 Pro Max Long-Term Review: Missing The Mark

I’ve loved using my iPhone 12—it’s my favorite phone right now. I have already discussed all about it and why I chose it over the 12 Pro in its full review. Anyway, for the past 4-5 weeks, I have been using the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which is the best iPhone of the year—at least when looking at the spec-sheet of all 4 models. But is it really the one for you? Let’s find out more in this long-term review of the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

iPhone 12 Pro Max Specifications:

Body: Textured matte glass back, Stainless steel frame, 228 grams
Dimensions: 6.33H x 3.07W x 0.29-inches
Display: 6.7-inch (2778 × 1284 pixels) OLED Super Retina XDR display, 458ppi, Ceramic Shield protection
Chipset: Six-core A14 Bionic 64-bit processor, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128 / 256 / 512GB (non-expandable)
Operating System: iOS 14
SIM: Dual SIM (nano + eSIM)
Back Camera: Triple:
• Ultra-wide: 12MP f/2.4, 120° FOV, 5-elements lens, 13mm focal length
• Wide: 12MP f/1.6, 7-elements lens, 26mm focal length, 1.7μm pixels, Sensor-shift OIS
• Telephoto: 12MP 6-elements lens, OIS, f/2.2, 65mm focal length
• LiDAR scanner for AR workloads, night portraits, etc.
Front Camera: 12MP TrueDepth camera with f/2.2 aperture
Security: TrueDepth camera for FaceID facial recognition
Connectivity: 5G (sub-6GHz and mmWave), Gigabit LTE with 4×4 MIMO and LAA, 802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6 with 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, GPS with GLONASS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, and Beidou, Ultra-Wideband chip
Other features: Water and dust-resistant (IP68), Stereo speakers
Color options: Graphite, Silver, Gold, Pacific Blue
Battery: 3687mAh; 20W fast charging, 7.5W Qi Wireless Charging; 15W MagSafe Wireless Charger (No charger included in the box)
Price in Nepal:
- Rs. 185,990 (128GB) | Rs. 202,990 (256GB) | Rs. 235,990 (512GB)

iPhone 12 Pro Max Long-Term Review:

Compared to the regular iPhone 12 or the 12 Pro, it brings a bigger display, a bigger battery, and a better camera sensor. If you want the best-in-class iPhone of the year, this is it. Yet, before I deliver my final verdict about the Pro Max, I was quite disappointed with Apple on how the company failed to effectively differentiate the iPhone 12 lineup.

I mean, there’s really not much to say when talking about the distinct/exclusive features on the iPhone 12, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max. What this all boils down to is that for most people, trust me when I say that the regular iPhone 12 is perfectly fine.

Design & Build

Glass front/back, stainless steel frame
Flat edge on the sides, IP68 dust/water resistance

Throughout my usage of the iPhone 12 Pro Max, its wide, bulky, and heavy build quality resulted in many instances of discomfort. This phone outweighs and out-bulks the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra—a device revered for its boxy design.

Personally, I feel like the iPhone 12 takes the crown for the perfect tactile feel among this year’s iPhones. It is compact and holds a strong grip in the hand. That may be because of how small my hands are too. But the 12 Pro Max, on the other hand, is exactly the opposite. With its wide footprint and slipperiness because of the stainless steel frames, you’re more than likely to drop the phone as well. Not just that, but it’s a fingerprint magnet too.

Design, Buttons, ports

1 of 3

Because of all these reasons, I would highly advise you to put on a decent case, which ironically further takes away the already-non-existent comfortable feel in your hand or pocket.

Ceramic Shield

Moreover, you may have heard about Apple’s Ceramic Shield protection debuting with the iPhone 12 lineup, which promises 4x better drop performance than previous iPhones. While that is a pretty exciting development, it only applies to the front of the phone. So, if you wish to protect your iPhone 12 Pro Max from breakage, a strong case is all the more important.

Likewise, when comparing it to last year’s iPhone 11 Pro Max, it’s evident that the 12 Pro Max is the bigger of the two because of the bigger display. However, what’s unusual is that even though the former has bigger width, the iPhone 12 Pro Max still feels thicker on hand. This is major thanks to Apple’s decision to shy away from the curved edges on earlier generations of iPhones to flat boxy frames like the iPhone 4 from back in the day.

So, if you’re accustomed to lightweight phones and one-hand usage is of priority to you, my suggestion would be to skip the iPhone 12 Pro Max and get the regular iPhone 12 instead.

Display

6.7-inches OLED Super Retina XDR panel
Dolby Vision compliant, 1200 nits peak brightness
Standard 60Hz refresh rate, Ceramic Shield protection

On to the display, the iPhone 12 Pro Max has a 6.7-inches Super Retina XDR OLED screen. While we’re pretty much used to a big screen like this from various Android smartphones, the problem with this one is that Apple’s iOS isn’t well-optimized for single-handed use. Take Samsung or OnePlus for instance. Both these vendors have heavily curated their Android skin to be easily usable with one hand on a big phone. iOS falling behind Android in terms of software optimization is quite uncharacteristic of Apple.

For example, it’s difficult to access the folders on the side when you are in the Control Center. Likewise, even though Apple has eased unlocking the phone via the PIN code at times when we’re required to wear a mask, typing in the PIN on the iPhone 12 Pro Max is uncomfortable.

Maybe the company should’ve gone with a side-mounted Touch ID. In fact, this was one of the big expectations from this year’s lineup of iPhones seeing how it introduced one in the new iPad Air. So, Apple definitely has some work cut out for itself to improve reachability and usability in its bigger iPhones—and I hope that it brings out an update addressing this very same issue in the coming iOS version.

Great viewing experience

Regardless, because of the big screen, content consumption on the iPhone 12 Pro Max is amazing. Its bright, vibrant, and color-accurate OLED display paired with the stereo speaker setup results is a wonderful viewing experience. Having said that, Apple is still not jumping on the high refresh rate bandwagon as the entire iPhone 12 lineup is still stuck with 60Hz displays.

Don’t call it a conspiracy theory but it’s likely that Cupertino doesn’t want more than one BIG talking point in one generation of iPhone. For this year, it was 5G. So maybe, we’ll see the smooth display tech on an iPhone next year.

Performance

Hexa-core Apple A14 Bionic SoC (5nm)
6GB RAM with up to 512GB storage (fixed)

Let’s talk about the performance now—which honestly could be the most positively boring topic when talking about an iPhone. So, I’m not going to talk much regarding it in this long-term review of the iPhone 12 Pro Max. The new A14 Bionic chipset is, as you’d imagine, one of the best performing mobile chipsets. So much so that it even outperforms some of the newer laptop CPUs.

Besides sheer speed, this silicon also makes an incredible camera feature possible on a smartphone for the first time ever. Let me get back to this in just a minute. If only it had a high refresh rate display, the entire user experience would’ve been something entirely different.

Cameras

Triple camera setup at the back
(12MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, 12MP telephoto)
LiDAR scanner for AR workloads
12MP TrueDepth camera with FaceID

Finally, it’s time to get into the cameras. In a bid to differentiate the 12 Pro and Pro Max, the one area Apple felt was important are the cameras. As a result, the 12 Pro Max has a 47% larger 12MP primary sensor compared to the 12 Pro. With this, the company claims that it can let in 87% more light for superior low-light performance. As anticipated, this doesn’t matter much when shooting in daylight or in any ambient setting with enough lighting.

Nighttime Images

Unlike different Chinese smartphone vendors, Apple chooses not to vary the camera optimization on different phones. Maybe that’s because of the chipset similarity or the company’s principle.

Night Mode

1 of 10

Because of this, there’s not much of a difference between the images among the iPhone 12 series. However, the 12 Pro Max does deliver better lowlight photos and the processing time to take night mode images is also noticeably faster.

Normal, Wideangle Images

Moving on, I also compared its cameras against Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. The results speak for themselves.

Normal

1 of 14

As you can see, images from both phones look incredibly similar.

Wideangle

1 of 10

Photos turn our relatively more natural on the iPhone 12 Pro Max on one occasion, whereas the Note 20 Ultra does the same in different instances. The same can be said for the wide-angle shots.

Portrait Images

Yet, the iPhone’s superiority becomes crystal clear when it comes to portrait images. From the bokeh effect to details to skin tone, I’m fond of the portrait shots on the 12 Pro Max. Hopefully, Samsung has found a way to improve on this aspect in the upcoming Galaxy S21 series.

Portrait

1 of 6

Here, Apple is offering a higher zoom capacity on the 12 Pro Max compared to the 12 Pro. While the former boasts 2.5x optical zoom, the 12 Pro makes do with its 2x lens. Not that big a deal but—it is what it is. Anyway, because of the 2.5x zoom, the portrait images turn out way too zoomed in, so be sure to stay adequately further away when taking one. I’d really like to see multiple zoom lenses with different focal length on future iPhones.

Selfie Images

In terms of selfies, just look at these samples.

Selfie, Portrait Selfie

1 of 8

You can clearly tell that the ones from the iPhone 12 Pro Max are better than the Note 20 Ultra.

Videography

As usual, no other phone compares to an iPhone when it comes to videos. I’ve already praised the video capabilities of the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro. Add the Sensor-Shift OIS technology and the bigger sensor on the 12 Pro Max, you can take even better and properly stabilized videos under day or low-light conditions from this phone.

If you recall, I mentioned that the A14 Bionic chipset enables one groundbreaking feature on the iPhone 12 series—and that’s the ability to record and edit 10-bit Dolby Vision HDR videos in 4K/60fps. Literally no Android phone is capable of this for now—neither recording nor editing Dolby Vision HDR videos.

Apple ProRAW

Additionally, the iPhone 12 Pro series also supports ProRAW photos, which is missing on the smaller iPhone 12 and 12 mini. But throughout my usage, I didn’t feel the need to use it at all. That’s because Apple’s image optimization is more than sufficient for casual photography. Yet, you can make them better in the post by editing the RAW images.

LiDAR scanner

Similarly, the iPhone 12 Pro Max, just like the 12 Pro features a LiDAR scanner too. Although it does help in portrait shots as well, its primary use case is on AR applications. I found this cool app called “Polycam” that can generate a 3D image of your room using the sensor. This might come in handy for engineers, architects, or home renovation professionals.

Despite all this, I do have one issue with its cameras. I often encountered random lens flare whenever trying to take photos with a bright light source like the sun or other indoor lighting equipment in the camera-view. It’s most likely because of how significantly the triple camera lenses at the back protrude. So, to avoid the lens flare, I have to hover my hand above the camera.

Battery

3687mAh battery with 20W fast charging
7.5W Qi Wireless Charging, 15W MagSafe Wireless Charger

Nevertheless, I’m pretty happy with the battery life on this phone. After a full recharge, throughout this long-term review, I managed to net out almost a day and a half of battery life on the iPhone 12 Pro Max; which is quite a lot compared to the iPhone 12. Talking about charging, you might already know that Apple skipped a power adapter and an earphone inside the box on the iPhone 12 series.

While many Android OEMs initially mocked this move, they are sure to follow in on Apple’s footstep eventually. Anyway, besides the unavailability, the bigger problem I have with charging an iPhone is the lightning port.

While every other Apple product has shifted to using a USB Type-C connection, it’s pretty disappointing to see the lightning port on an iPhone. I recently shifted to a MacBook after having used a Windows laptop for so long. And this USB-C/lightning port inconsistency is really frustrating. Watch out for our review of the Apple M1-powered MacBook Pro by the way. However, the company’s rigidity might be an indication of future iPhones going completely portless.

MagSafe

That might also be the reason Apple resurrected the MagSafe charging mechanism. I didn’t buy one because of the price tag and how slow it charges. I thought the charging speed of a 15W MagSafe and a 20W wired charger wouldn’t be that much but it turns out, the former takes almost 3 hours. So, I don’t think it’s worth the money.

For wired charging too, you need to get a separate 20W fast charger, and it takes about 1.5 hours to fully juice up the iPhone 12 Pro Max. It’s not necessary to get an Apple power brick, and you can get a PD-certified fast charger. For instance, you can charge this phone using a 25W PD charger from Google or Samsung.

Conclusion

To wrap it all up, after using the iPhone 12 Pro Max for a little more than a month, I have mixed feelings. Yes, it’s the best Apple has to offer this year and comes with premium camera features like ProRAW, LiDAR, etc. Plus, it has a really good display, battery life, and best-in-class performance. However, these can be found in the regular iPhone 12 as well.

And personally, I find the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro to have the perfect form factor. Besides the 12 Pro Max being bulky and heavy, the lack of iOS optimization on such a big phone makes for an irritating one-hand usage experience.

Therefore, for most general users, iPhone 12 and 12 Pro is the better option this year, unless you are set on getting a big phone. And this is a problem for Apple. I think they should have given something better to differentiate the iPhone 12 lineup, maybe faster charging, smooth refresh rate, or a UI little different than it is. For now, the iPhone 12 Pro Max just feels like a bigger, more expensive version of 12 Pro—which sacrifices ease of use.

iPhone 12 Pro Max Long-Term Review: Pros & Cons

Pros:

Premium design with a flat edge
Terrific OLED screen with Dolby Vision
A14 Bionic’s top-notch performance
Great cameras, especially for videos
10-bit Dolby Vision HDR recording, ProRAW
Excellent battery life—easily lasts a day

Cons:

Not much of an upgrade from iPhone 12 Pro
Its bulky form-factor might be uncomfortable
iOS isn’t well-optimized for a big screen
No high refresh rate on an iPhone yet
No charger, earpods inside the box

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Review: Big Design, Better Noise Cancellation

Nikhil Shrestha

-

January 7, 2021

0

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Review: Big Design, Better Noise Cancellation

First Sony, now Apple—the company that pioneered it all had been losing its grip in the world of noise-canceling headphones and in-ear earphones. Yes, I’m talking about Bose. These days, Sony’s WF-1000XM3 and Apple’s AirPods Pro rank among the best ANC-enabled wireless earbuds in the market. But Bose isn’t one to sit quietly for long either. So, the company finally made a move into the premium TWS market with the QuietComfort Earbuds, which is also the first wireless earbuds from Bose to feature active noise cancellation. Priced higher than both of its aforementioned competition, these set of earbuds had big shoes to fill. And for what it’s worth, Bose has hit a home run with the QuietComfort Earbuds so let’s learn more about it in this review.

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Specifications:

Body: 1.54H x 1.02W x 1.06D-inches, 8.50 grams each
Charging case: 1.25H x 3.50W x 2.00D-inches, Hard plastic
Material: Plastic / Gold plating / Polymer coating
Eartips: StayHear Max tips (Silicone)
Equalizer: Active EQ
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.1 (Up to 30ft)
Codec: SBC, AAC
Battery backup: Up to 6 hours (additional 12 hours from charging case)
Charging Time: 2 hours (earbuds); 3 hours (charging case)
Noise cancellation: Yes, 11-level Active Noise Cancellation
IP certification: Yes, IPX4
Control: Touch
Companion app: Bose Music (Android | iOS)
Price in Nepal: Rs. 48,000

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Review:

Design & Comfort

Big, bulky earbuds and charging case
Soft, comfortable StayHear ear tips

As usual, let’s start things with design. Right away, one can tell that these earbuds mean business. I mean… just look at its sheer size. Subtlety is definitely not what the engineers at Bose had in mind when designing the QuietComfort Earbuds. These things look absolutely massive and the AirPods Pro that we also have just… fades away in terms of their physical size. Obviously, there’s a method to this madness, which I’ll get into in just a bit.

Weighing 8.5 grams each, these are certainly not the most lightweight earbuds you could buy right now. While Apple’s AirPods Pro scales to 5.4 grams, Bose’s answer reminds me of the Sony WF-1000XM3 instead. However, even though I faced issues with fit and comfort on the latter, Bose has managed to dodge that bullet by a fair margin. Its soft StayHear Max ear tip was surprisingly easy on my ears and throughout my usage, I didn’t face any concerning level of discomfort.

Finding comfort in QuietComfort

Having said that, your ears will express a sigh of relief once you take these earbuds out. For those accustomed to lightweight wireless earbuds, the Bose QuietComfort will be a difficult pill to swallow. I’ll admit I had to change the ear tip to size 1 (of 3) since the pre-installed one was rather big for my ears. Bose also encourages you to swap around different sizes for optimal fit. But thankfully, I found my right fit on a single try.

Anyway, once you get the right fit, these indeed feel quite comfortable in the ears and don’t come off that easy either—plus, the passive noise isolation itself is pretty good as well. Every surface of the earbuds—from the ear tips to the fins are made from soft silicone. I’m personally fond of how you don’t need to jam it further inside the ears for an optimal fit like with other in-ear earbuds. Additionally, these are also IPX4 sweat and water-resistant, allowing you to take it to your exercise, gym sessions with no worry.

Charging case

Likewise, QuietComfort Earbuds’ gargantuan charging case disregards any hint of subtlety or easy-going aesthetics too. For what’s supposed to be a pocketable product, these are definitely not shaped that way. If you don’t mind the bulge, that’s great—although I feel like most of us would be more comfortable with storing it in our backpack when not in use instead.

Regardless, its hard plastic build feels pretty premium. There’s a button on the front of the case that you gotta press to unlock the earbuds themselves. While practically every other pair of earbuds I’ve used up to this point have had a simple magnetic lid, Bose has outdone the competition with something that echoes durability & quality.

Pressing the button firmly releases the latch holding down the case and interestingly, it also has a dedicated Bluetooth button for first-time pairing. Another unusual trait on a premium set of wireless earbuds. Similarly, the front of the case also features a row of LED battery indicators. The top of the case has the Bose logo etched-in, whereas the back houses a USB-C port for charging. As expected from premium wireless earbuds, these support Qi-certified wireless charging too.

Pairing

Bluetooth v5.1 wireless connection
Up to 30 feet of effective range

Moving on to the pairing side of things, Bose QuietComfort Earbuds come with Bluetooth 5.1. Sadly, there’s no NFC connectivity like the Sony WF-1000XM3. Still, I found Bluetooth pairing to be adequately efficient and fast enough so I can discount the lack of NFC option on these earbuds. The company promises a strong connection within 30 feet of your device. While that’s never going to translate perfectly in a real-life scenario, I found their effective range to be more than sufficient.

But I have to mention that for reason(s) unknown, our review unit of the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds failed to pair to my phone on the first try. Only after resetting my phone’s Bluetooth setting, I was able to successfully connect to these earbuds. I didn’t face a similar issue hereon after so that’s great.

Also, it establishes a connection with a device almost instantaneously after opening the lid. Besides NFC, another premium feature that’s missing from these earbuds is a multi-point connection. For instance, while the Jabra Elite 75T can be paired with two devices at the same time for maximum flexibility, you’ll need to manually switch the connection on the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds.

Controls

A touch interface on each earbud
Wear-detection support

Getting to controls, these wireless earbuds feature a touch interface on both sides. From tap, swipe, to long-press—it makes use of all these gestures for different actions. Despite all this, it still lacks the ability to go back to the previous track, which is my only complaint with the onboard control options. Here, you can double-tap the right earbud to play/pause a track or answer a phone call, while the same action on the left earbud toggles between three levels of noise-cancellation presets.

Similarly, long-pressing the right earbuds can trigger your phone’s voice assistant or decline a call. On the other hand, you can customize to either skip a track or check the battery level on the Bose Music app by long-pressing the left earbud. Finally, it lets you change the volume level by swiping up/down the right earbud.

However, you’ll need to specifically turn this feature on inside the app before being able to use it. That’s because, as it turns out, this feature wasn’t available at launch. On a couple of occasions, the swipe gesture did give up on me (rather erratically) and there would be a sudden burst or fall in volume level. Besides this, I don’t have anything else to complain about its controls.

Furthermore, it also supports wear-detection and will automatically adjust playback depending on whether you have them on your ears or not. To complement this feature, on top of pausing the music, Bose also automatically dials down the ANC level to 0 on one earbud in case you take the other one out.

Noise Cancellation

11-levels of Active Noise Cancellation
Transparency/ambient mode

With all the nitty-gritty details aside, let us finally get into the noise-canceling properties of the QuietComfort Earbuds. Because Bose is almost synonymous with this tech, I had high hopes from these wireless earbuds; and I’m glad to report that it holds its ground. To further test its noise-canceling capabilities, I compared it against Apple’s AirPods Pro.

And yes, this one definitely does a better job at concealing your ears from the ambient noise. Featuring 4 microphones in total, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds manages to deliver an impressive (if not, the best) noise-cancellation I’ve ever heard from a pair of wireless earbuds.

On occasions where certain white noises like the TV playing or people talking manages to lightly pass through the AirPods Pro, the one from Bose remains effectively silent. And there’s a distinct property to the noise that ultimately manages to slip inside these two earbuds too. While the QuietComfort Earbuds sounds natural and lively, noise on the AirPods Pro comes off relatively distant and at times, tinny.

Maybe I’m painting out the difference between the two to be incredibly vast—but when using them side-by-side, it certainly feels that way. Still, I don’t mean to say that the AirPods Pro’s ANC is downright ineligible.

ANC champion

During my test, I also took them down the rowdy streets of Kathmandu to find out which one’s better. Unsurprisingly, Bose seems to have figured out how to handle noise-cancellation in all types of scenarios. From the noise of the incoming traffic to other street noises, it’s marginally, yet significantly quieter on the QuietComfort Earbuds. But when you want to hear the outside world, you can toggle the ANC level to 0, just like the Transparency Mode on the AirPods Pro.

In this case, things are neck-and-neck between these wireless earbuds. I kinda prefer AirPods Pro’s transparency mode simply because it sounds a little louder and maybe even a tad bit more natural. Regardless, QuietComfort Earbuds’ ambient mode is a step above just on/off like on the AirPods Pro’s. You can save three “favorite” presets of noise-cancellation level, ranging from 0 to 10 (with 0 being the transparent mode and 10 being the highest level of ANC).

By default, the 3 presets feature 0, 5, and 10 levels of ANC and I left it be since that is pretty much what I’d want. Like I mentioned earlier, you can switch between these by double-tapping the left earbud. With each switch, there is an aural clue signaling you’ve toggled between the options. Nevertheless, I wish Bose went a step further to also denote what preset I’ve toggled to as well.

Audio, Call Quality

SBC, AAC audio codecs
4 microphones in total

Stellar noise-cancellation aside, the QuietComfort Earbuds are no slouch when it comes to the audio quality either. Despite only supporting SBC and AAC codecs, it offers a rich, vibrant sound that you’d expect from a premium pair of wireless earbuds. There is no onboard equalizer in the Bose Music app. So, if the default sound profile is not up to your mark, you’re gonna have to look for third-party apps. In my case, I enjoyed the music as is and didn’t feel the need to tweak around the EQ.

When talking about audio, Bose boldly claims that the QuietComfort Earbuds brings unmatched listening experience. More specifically, the Active EQ technology, which dynamically adjusts the audio frequency range depending upon your volume level, is something of a head-turner. Thanks to this, even in the low volume, I could enjoy the music in its full glory—but not all the time.

For instance, in Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain”, even the bass notes starting at the 3:05 mark are noticeable on these earbuds; while the same song sounds almost flat on the AirPods Pro on low volume. In “I Love You Like An Alcoholic” by The Taxpayers, a similar level of detail is marginally missed and at times, the bass can get muddy.

No spatial audio

Cranking up the loudness, the sound quality is natural, spacious, and not-at-all piercing—even though it doesn’t have any form of 360º or spatial audio algorithm. Listening to the same song on maximum volume, these two earbuds sound almost identical. But on certain occasions throughout the review period, I could notice that the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds sounded slightly punchier. Instrumental separation is fantastic as well and so are the mids and highs.

Bass fanatics will come to love these earbuds too. Blade Runner 2049’s “Sea Wall” which starts off with mild synth bass and ghastly drum beats to epic bass notes and other details, these earbuds manage to pull-off rumbling low frequencies with great detail.

On to acoustic songs like “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” by Bob Dylan, I found the audio output to be slightly warmer and more natural on the QuietComfort Earbuds than the AirPods Pro. Also, at full volume, the occasional high-frequency harmonica comes off a-bit shrieky on the AirPods Pro and somewhat shadows the strings. All in all, Bose has nailed the sound profile on these earbuds on top of excellent noise-cancellation. Watching movies or other similar content is bliss as well and there is no latency; the audio and video sync up perfectly.

Call Quality

Moving on, QuietComfort Earbuds handles phone calls pretty well too. Thanks to the aforementioned microphone setup and the top-notch ANC, I received no complaint when calling different people. They’d describe my voice as clear, audible, and noise-free. There’s also this neat option inside the Bose Music app that allows you to switch how loudly you’d like to hear your voice—therefore preventing you from speaking too loud when unnecessary.

Battery Life

Up to 6 hours playback (with ANC)
USB-C, Qi wireless charging

Finally, let’s get into the battery life. And this might be the one area that Bose left me wanting for more. Even though 6 hours of claimed battery endurance is fairly common on wireless earbuds with ANC, considering its physical size, I wished it lasted a couple of hours more. Listening to music at 80-100% volume with ANC at level 10 (most of the time) and taking a couple of calls, I managed to get 5 – 5 and a half hours of juice. And if you’re in a hurry, 15-minutes of charge can get you 2 hours of playtime.

Charging up the QuietComfort Earbuds takes rather long though. Via the USB-C cable, it takes 2 hours to get the earbuds to 100%; whereas the case requires an hour more. The charging case adds 2 more cycles of charge time (i.e. 12 hours) so that’s nice. In addition to wired charging, you can also juice it up using a Qi-certified wireless charger.

Conclusion

To wrap it all up, as I’ve discussed throughout this review, the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds cements itself as the new champion in the premium noise-canceling wireless earbuds industry. Although the company was uncharacteristically late to enter this market, the excellence of the product more than makes up for the delay. Still and all, its bulky design could be an instant turn-off to many.

While its direct competition like Apple’s AirPods Pro offers a much sleeker build quality with a greater degree of comfort (and might I add, a cheaper asking price), the QuietComfort Earbuds has some work cut out for it. In a bid to provide first-class audio and ANC, Bose’s sacrifice of portability might not rub off on everyone the same way.

Songs referenced in the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds review:

Bose QuietComfort Earbuds Review: Pros & Cons

Pros:

Best-in-class noise-cancellation
Terrific audio even in low volumes
Noise-free, clear, loud call quality
Soft, comfortable earbuds design
Intuitive, responsive touch controls
IPX4 certified against water splashes

Cons:

The bulky design might be off-putting
No multi-point connection support
No high bitrate audio codecs like LDAC
Battery life could’ve been a little better

Samsung announces new Neo QLED TVs at CES 2021

GadgetByte

-

January 7, 2021

0

Samsung announces new Neo QLED TVs at CES 2021

Samsung unveiled three new lineups of TV as part of “The First Look 2021” event before the CES 2021. It will be promoting its new Neo QLED, Micro LED, and Lifestyle TV lineup in 2021. The company has said in its official press release that it is committed to making these new innovations more accessible and sustainable while still redefining the role of TV in consumer homes. Let us look at the 2021 lineup of Samsung TV and the company’s Going Green initiative.

Neo QLED display technology for flagship TVs

Neo QLED is an all-new TV display technology that will be reserved for Samsung’s flagship 8K and 4K TVs. This innovative technology uses a new backlight material, Quantum Matrix, and Neo Quantum processors.

Technologies involved

Samsung claims the Quantum Mini LED technology to be 1/40th the height of a traditional LED light source. It is composed of several thin micro-layer filled with densely-packed LEDs. The Quantum Matrix Technology controls the LEDs in a precise manner to prevent screen bleeding.

Likewise, the Neo Quantum Processor will come with up to 16 different neural network models. Each model uses deep learning technology for advanced upscaling techniques in upcoming flagship TVs. Similarly, Samsung claims that the processor will be available to output 4K and 8K content regardless of the quality of the input.

Neo QLED 8K TV

Samsung has also announced that the Neo QLED 8K TV will sport a new Infinity One Design with a nearly bezel-less screen. The TV will come with a Slim One Box that can be attached to the back of the TV. It will help in cable management and improve the aesthetics of the room you set it up in. Similarly, technologies like ObjectTracking Sound Pro and SpaceFit Sound will be exclusive to the 8K TV.

Common features

New features like Caption Moving, Sign Language Zoom, and Multi-Output Audio will be available on all the upcoming QLED and Neo QLED TV. There are features that the 8K TV will share with the 4K TV. For instance, both TVs will feature the new Smart Trainer feature under Samsung Health.

Gaming features

Both TVs will be able to take advantage of the Samsung Ultrawide GameView. This will allow users to game at an ultrawide ratio of 32:9 in addition to the 21:9 ratio. The Game Bar will make intelligent adjustments to improve the gaming experience like switching to an appropriate aspect ratio, connecting a headset, and monitoring input lag. The 2021 Samsung flagship TV lineup will also support AMD’s FreeSync Premium Pro for minimal shuttering during gameplay.

Samsung’s first commercial Micro LED TVs

Samsung will launch its first commercial Micro LED TV in 2021. The company has already announced one in its home country. Prior to this, it had launched the modular TV called “The Wall” back in CES 2018 as a B2B product.

The commercial Micro LED TVs from Samsung will be available in three different display sizes – 88″, 99”, and 110”. These will make use of up to 24 million emissive micrometer-sized Micro LEDs as a backlight material. They also make use of color filters as other traditional TVs.

The upcoming Micro LED TV will have up to 99% screen to body ratio. Samsung’s 4Vue (Quad View) technology will partition the large screen into four areas with users being able to view different content on each partition. Other feature includes Majestic Sound for 5.1 sound channel.

Upgrade to Samsung Lifestyle TV lineup

Along with the two new TV lineup, Samsung will also be continuing its Lifestyle TV with some changes made to the TVs. The 2021 lifestyle TV lineup from Samsung will consist of The Frame, The Serif, The Sero, The Terrace, and The Premier.

Here, the 2021 edition of the Frame will 50% slimmer than the original Frame. Its attachable bezels will be available in five distinct color options and users will be able to style it in two ways – Modern and Beveled.

Samsung “Going Green” initiative

As part of Samsung’s commitment to sustainable technology, the company has announced three long-term programs under the “Going Green” initiative.

Reducing carbon footprint

To reduce its carbon footprint, Samsung will be promoting the use of recycled materials for its TV. It will also optimize its TV components to run on lower power to make its TVs more energy efficient.

Eco-Packaging

Samsung will be using its Eco-packaging on the entire 2021 Lifestyle and on the majority of the 2021 Neo QLED lineup of TVs. The company plans to upcycle up to 200,000 tons of boxes each year with the use of Eco-Packaging. These boxes will also minimize the use of oil-based ink for texts and graphics.

Solar-powered remote controls

Samsung is also planning to bring remote controls powered by solar energy. These upcoming remotes will recharge themselves from indoor light in addition to the USB charging. Samsung estimates it will prevent 99 million AAA batteries from contributing to waste over a duration of 7 years.

Are you excited about the upcoming Neo QLED flagship TVs from Samsung? Let us know what you think of the Samsung 2021 TV lineup with your comments below.

Check out our review of the Samsung RU7100 55″ 4K TV.

LG announces 2021 lineup of Gram Ultrabook ahead of virtual CES 2021

GadgetByte

-

January 7, 2021

0

LG announces 2021 lineup of Gram Ultrabook ahead of virtual CES 2021

LG has refreshed its Gram lineup of ultra-portable laptops as a part of their CES 2021 unveiling. The company has announced five new Ultrabooks at the all-virtual CES. The new Gram laptops feature a stylish new design and a 16:10 aspect ratio. Let’s learn more about the new LG Gram lineup of laptops 2021 along with their specs, features, price, and availability.

LG Gram Laptops 2021 Overview:

As the name suggests, LG Gram is home to the company’s lightweight Ultrabooks with powerful performance and long battery life. The 2021 edition of the lineup consists of five laptops with three screen sizes to choose from – 17”, 16” and 14”. 2-in-1 convertible option is also available with the 14” and 16” screen sizes.

Display

The traditional Ultrabooks under the new Gram lineup all feature an IPS panel with varying screen sizes. The 14-inch model has 1920 x 1200 resolutions whereas the 17-inch and the 16-inch models have a higher resolution of 2650 x 1600 pixels. All three laptops have a tall aspect ratio of 16:10 and they cover 99% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. Among the three, the 14-inch model is the lightest weighing around just 999 grams. Similarly, the 16-inch and the 14-inch models weigh 1190 grams and 1350 grams, respectively.

Similarly, the 2-in-1 convertibles laptops are like their traditional counterpart except for the touchscreen and the Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection. They come with a 180-degree hinge. The 14-inch and 16-inch 2-in-1 convertible LG Gram laptops weigh 1250 grams and 1480 grams respectively. These laptops are compatible with Wacom AES 2.0 stylus pen for better writing and drawing experience.

Also Read:
- MSI Prestige laptops with Tiger Lake CPUs launched in Nepal
- HP Envy x360, Pavilion x360 (2020) now available in Nepal

Performance

All these laptops are powered by the latest 11th-gen Intel Tiger Lake Core processors. It will come paired with either Intel UHD graphics or the newer Iris Xe graphics. Either way, you won’t get a dedicated graphics card. Each of the five new LG Gram models (2021) will have 8GB and 16GB RAM variants. Similarly, they will also have dual M.2 SSD slots.

Each laptop is backed by an 80Wh battery except for the 14-inch models which come with a slightly smaller 72Wh battery. Other than that, all the laptops have a fingerprint reader, DTS X Ultra, and support for Wi-Fi 6.

LG Gram 2021 Lineup (Specifications):

	17″ (17Z90P)	16″ (16Z90P)	14″ (14Z90P)	16″ 2-in-1 (16T90P)	14″ 2-in-1 (14T90P)
Size	380.2 x 260.1 x 17.8mm (14.97 x 10.24 x 0.70 inches)	355.9 x 243.4 x 16.8mm (14.01 x 9.58 x 0.66 inches)	313.4 x 215.2 x 16.8mm (12.34 x 8.47 x 0.66 inches)	356.6 x 248.3 x 16.95mm (14.04 x 9.78 x 0.67 inches)	314 x 219.5 x 16.75mm (12.36 x 8.64 x 0.66 inches)
Weight	1350g (2.98lbs)	1190g (2.62lbs)	999g (2.2lbs)	1480g (3.26lbs)	1250g (2.76lbs)
Durability	US Military Standard 810G Compliance
Display	17-inch IPS, DCI-P3 99 percent	16-inch IPS, DCI-P3 99 percent	14-inch IPS, DCI-P3 99 percent	16-inch Touch IPS Display, Corning Gorilla Glass 6, Stylus Pen (Wacom AES 2.0),	14-inch Touch IPS Display, Corning Gorilla Glass 6, Stylus Pen (Wacom AES 2.0),
Resolution	2560 x 1600, 16:10		1920 x 1200, 16:10	2560 x 1600), 16:10	1920 x 1200, 16:10
Battery	80Wh		72Wh	80Wh	72Wh
CPU	11th-gen Intel Core Processor
GPU	Intel Iris Xe/UHD Graphics
Memory	8/16GB (LPDDR4x)
Storage	M.2 Dual SSD slots (NVMe)
Color	White, Silver, Black			Silver, Black, Green
Keyboard	Backlit
I/O Port	USB 4 Gen3x2 (x2, USB PD, Thunderbolt 4), USB 3.2 Gen2x1 (x2), HDMI, microSD/UFS, HP-Out
Extras	Fingerprint Reader, DTS X Ultra, Wi-Fi 6

LG Gram Ultrabooks 2021 Price and Availability

The details about the pricing and availability of LG Gram 2021 Ultrabooks is yet to be made public. We expect LG to announce the pricing & availability information within the next few weeks.

Laptops	Price	Availability
LG Gram Ultrabooks (2021)	TBA	TBA

Check out our review of the Acer Swift 3 2020 (Intel).

Deal alert: Nokia 3.4 gets a price cut in Nepal

Nokia

GadgetByte

-

January 6, 2021

0

Deal alert: Nokia 3.4 gets a price cut in Nepal

Nokia has been refreshing its entry and budget-oriented offerings lately in the Nepali market. Before 2020, the company unveiled the Nokia C3, Nokia 2.4, and Nokia 3.4. And today they have slashed the price of Nokia 3.4, which is a follow up to last year’s Nokia 3.2.

Nokia 3.4 Overview

Design and Display

Nokia has changed some of the visual aspects of the device. While the Nokia 3.2 had a notched display, Nokia 3.4 now sports a punch-hole cutout instead. The circular cutout for the front-facing camera is located on the top right corner of the screen. Nokia has also added a bigger screen of 6.39-inches. The HD+ display has an aspect ratio here of 19.5:9.

At the back, HMD Global has gone with a circular camera module instead of a pill-shaped one that is on the Nokia 3.2. A physical fingerprint scanner resides just below the camera module.

Performance and Memory

On the performance front, Nokia 3.4 features the Snapdragon 460 chipset. It is an octa-core processor with Kryo 240 cores clocked at 1.8 GHz. The Nokia 3.2 featured a quad-core Snapdragon 429. The phone is available in three memory configurations – 3+32GB, 3+64GB, and 4+64GB variants. Nokia 3.4 ships with Android 10 and it will soon be receiving the Android 11 update. Thanks to the Android One program, it is guaranteed to receive an Android 12 update along with an additional year of security updates.

Camera

While the primary camera has remained the same, HMD Global has added two more sensors at the back. The 13MP primary camera is accompanied by a 5MP ultra-wide sensor. Completing the triple-camera setup is the 2MP depth sensor. Like the new Nokia 2.4, it also comes with Nokia’s new AI image processing. Thus, you will also be able to use dedicated Night mode and Portrait Editor on the Nokia 3.4. On the front, there is a 5MP camera to quench your thirst for selfies.

Rest of the specs

The device is backed by a 4,000mAh battery with support for 10W charging (5V, 2A). It features a USB-C port instead of the micro USB on the Nokia 2.4. It also comes with a dedicated Google Assistant button. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, and Bluetooth 4.2. The NFC option is restricted to limited regions.

Nokia 3.4 Specifications:

Body: 160.97 x 75.99 x 8.7mm; 180 gm
Display: 6.39-inches punch-hole display
Resolution: HD+ (1560 x 720 pixels); 19.5:9 aspect ratio
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 460; 11nm Mobile Platform
CPU: Octa-core (1.8 GHz Kryo 240)
GPU: Adreno 610
RAM: 3GB
Storage: 64GB (expandable up to 512 via a microSD card)
Software & UI: Android 10
Rear Camera: Triple-camera;
– 13MP, f/2.2 primary shooter
– 5MP ultra-wide sensor
– 2MP depth sensor
– Single LED flash
Front Camera: 5MP, f/2.4 aperture
Security: Face-unlock
Audio: 5mm headphone jack, FM Radio, aptX
Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), MicroSD card, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS/AGPS/GLONASS/Beidou, USB Type-C
Battery: 4000 mAh, 10W (5V, 2A) charging
Colors: Fjord, Dusk, Charcoal

Nokia 3.4 Price in Nepal and Availability

Nokia 3.4 is now available in Nepal for a price of Rs. 15,999 (previously: Rs. 18,699). This price is for the 3GB RAM, 64GB storage variant. You can purchase the phone from various mobile retail shops all over Nepal.

Smartphone model	Old Price	New Price in Nepal
Nokia 3.4 (3/64GB)	NPR 18,699	NPR 15,999

Check out our review of the Nokia 3.4:

ByzKit HR: A perfect HR management tool for Nepali businesses

GadgetByte

-

January 6, 2021

0

ByzKit HR: A perfect HR management tool for Nepali businesses

Any company—big or small, needs to aptly manage its biggest resource, i.e employees. Thus, HRM (Human Resource Management) is one of the most integral activities for an organization. So, what software does your company currently use for this task? Or which one are you planning to use for your startup? Well, there are multiple softwares available to do that. And one such software that was launched in July last year is the ByzKit HR. In this post, I’ll be discussing what ByzKit HR has to offer and how it might be of help to your organization.

ByzKit HR Overview:

Byzkit HR is one of the subdomains of ByzKit. Basically, ByzKit is a brand focused on providing software for department management in organizations. The IT “brain” behind the software is actually from Cloudy Fox Technology.

Byzkit HR

Website

Android

iOS

In a single year, the company has been able to launch its web app and mobile app for both iOS and Android. However, the system is not available offline. But you can add unlimited employees in the company’s ByzKit provided domain.

Easy Signup & Setup Process

The signup process on this software is pretty straightforward. All you got to do is go to their website and enter some basic information about your company on the signup page. During this process itself, you’ll be asked to enter a domain for your company which you and your employees will be logging in. It’s basically like setting up a workspace in Slack.

The domain is provided by ByzKit itself. However, you also have the option to host this system in your own domain. And for that, you’ll have to pay extra cost. Oh, and before I forget, the app provides various packages. The Start-Up package that supports up to 10 users is absolutely free of cost. Then there are the Business and Enterprise packages. These two are part of their pay-as-your-need policy rather than the pay per system concept.

Okay, so after you signup and enter the system, you then have to enter details regarding working days, leaves, and working hours. That’s it, now you are good to go.

Byzkit HR Dashboard

The dashboard for the employer summarizes some vital information. You can checkout your check-in/out time, total work time, etc. Furthermore, you can also look at the staff on leave, staff checked-in, pending leave requests, notices, calendar view with leave requests and company holidays, and much more. The information is pretty well laid out in the dashboard.

Employee On-boarding

Integrating new employees or current employees is pretty easy on this app. There’s an Employee menu available in the dashboard. When you first setup your account, you’ll need to invite other employees into the system. You can add an employee by sending them an email or import the employee list from a CSV file. Other than that, you can view the information about every employee in a card view. And you also get the option to deactivate a user, in case they have left the organization.

Leave Management

To manage leaves, you can go to the Manage Leave option on your menu. There, you can apply for leave and check out the leave reports. You can apply for leave by filling up the required information and submit your request. Then, the HR manager can look at the request and either approve or disapprove it. Notification about the action will be sent to the appropriate personnel.

Attendance Management

Likewise, you can look at the attendance summary of employees in a calendar view. It shows when a particular employee checked in and checked out on what day. And we can also add the break in the calendar.

Notice Board

You can add a new notice that will show up in other’s dashboards and you can also take a look at all the other notices that have been added.

Reports and Customized Settings

You can view two reports in the Start-Up package of the app, namely – attendance and leave. You also get some quick filter options to filter through the report. Customized settings include customizing your company profile, leave types, working days, departments, and user roles.

Drive

You also get access to a cloud drive to upload your work-related documents.

Data and Privacy

The data about your employees are pretty important and thus companies will be worried about its privacy. The ByzKit HR team assures that the data is stored securely and privately. However, they do collect some information such as log data, device data, business data (analytics, transaction records). You can read more about it here on their Privacy Policy page.

No Payroll Management

There’s no option for payroll management in the start-up package. So, that’s one glaring omission. But, the company is working to bring this feature alongside others like recruitment, document storage, and Slack integration in future releases.

Byzkit HR Pricing

Like I mentioned earlier, the startup version of ByzKit HR is free. However, it only has support for up to 10 employees. So, if you have more than 10 employees in your office, you will need to upgrade your HRM package. The table below summarizes the pricing of various packages of the ByzKit HR software.

Package	Number of Users	Email/Telephone Support	Monthly Cost	Annual Cost
ByzKit Start Up’s	0-10	3 Business Days	Free	Free
ByzKit Business	11-99	2 Business Days	NPR 250 per user	NPR 200 per user
ByzKit Enterprise	100+	Same Day	Fill in the form requesting a quotation based on the number of users

ByzKit HR: Conclusion

Overall, the ByzKit HR software looks pretty good. Whether you are a startup or a well-established business, ByzKit HR has the tools and all the features that you’ll require to manage the human resource side of your company conveniently.

MobiKin Assistant for Android Review

GadgetByte

-

January 6, 2021

0

Smartphones have become an integral part of our lives, therefore it’s not surprising that it contains a sizable amount of important data. We obviously don’t want to lose them. However, sometimes we inadvertently end up deleting them. Thus, it is always a good option to keep a backup of our data. There are plenty of cloud services that offer such a service. However, data backed up in the cloud are online. So, if you are someone who likes to keep a backup locally. And synchronize your Android device with your PC, you’ll need a good third-party solution. That’s where apps like MobiKin Assistant for Android. This third-party solution claims to help you to organize every aspect of your Android device. But how good is it? Let’s find out in this review of the MobiKin Assistant for Android.

MobiKin Assistant for Android Review

As mentioned above, this is a third-party app that helps you to achieve two-way synchronization between your smartphone and your PC. It supports Windows 10/8/7/XP/Vista and your Android device should have Android 4 or above. Additionally, there’s a macOS version of this app too.

DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL

Simply visit their website and download the MobiKin Assistant for Android (Windows Version). The file size is about 20MB, so you’ll not require a lot of time to download it. The installation is pretty straight forward too. After downloading the file, you can open the installer and within a few minutes, you’ll be good to go. Similarly, you can also download the apk of this app to connect your device wirelessly with your PC while using this app.

PRICING

This app has both a free version and a paid version. The trial version is pretty limited as all you can do with it is scan and preview your data. So, if you want to get the best out of this application, you’ll have to fork out $29.95 for a 1-year subscription. And $39.95 for a lifetime subscription. It is not a cheap application by any means; however, it does do its job perfectly.

UI

The app dashboard is minimalistic. You’ll find the list of things that you can do on the left-hand side of the screen under the My Device tab. The Home option will display the device overview (once you connect your smartphone), and you can browse through things such as:

Installed Apps
Contacts
Call Logs
SMS
Music
Photos
Videos
Books

The application shows everything that’s in the internal as well as the external memory of your device.

Similarly, there’s a Super Toolkit tab just beside the My Device option. Here you can choose to back up all the data from your device at one go or restore data from your previous backup.

Once your device is connected you can simply go through the various available menu items. As I said, the UI is minimalistic and if you are a regular smartphone or PC user, you should get a hang of this app in no time.

CONNECTING YOUR DEVICE

MobiKin Assistant for Android offers you two ways to connect your smartphone. You go for the old school connectivity via a USB cable or connect your device using Wi-Fi. However, to connect your device using Wi-Fi, you’ll need to install the MobiKin Assistant for Android (smartphone version). When you choose the connect via Wi-Fi option, you’ll be presented with a QR code that you’ll need to scan using the QR scanner in the smartphone version of the app. Also, both your PC and smartphone should be in the same network to connect via Wi-Fi.

Oh, and before I forget, you’ll need to toggle on the USB debugging mode from the Developer Options in your device to start using the app’s features. Don’t worry if you do not know how to do that. Because as soon as you connect the device, the app will show you how to do just that via helper cards.

The initial setup takes some time, but after the first-time pairing is complete, your device will be recognized by the app quickly each time you connect. One problem that I noticed was that if I initially connect my device USB, disconnect it after a while. And then attempt to connect it using Wi-Fi, the app repeatedly shows error. It will not recognize my device unless I restart the whole application. So, that’s a bugger.

USING THE APP

Once everything is set up, you can go through the various options available. For instance, if you want to export your contacts, then go to the Contacts menu, select the contacts that you want to export, and click on the export button. The app allows you to export contact files in a multitude of formats such as CSV, BAK, VCF, and more. Similarly, you can import contact files or any other files for that matter from your PC to your smartphone.

Your files show up in a managed way, so that’s neat. Furthermore, there’s a search bar on the right-hand side of the screen, where you can search for the file that you are looking for.

The app is pretty fast too. I tried backing up my entire device, which is about 1.6GB of data and it did that in under 3 minutes. However, the speed does depend upon your smartphone too. I mean, if it’s a new one, then the transfer rate will be much faster.

MobiKin Assistant for Android Review: Verdict

Overall, I felt that the MobiKin Assistant for Android is a solid option for those who are looking for a third-party app to manage their smartphone from a PC. It delivers what it says, so no complaints there. However, the trial version offers next to nothing. And to do anything beyond just looking at your data, you’ll need to purchase a subscription. That too is not cheap at all.

So, if you are just going to back up your photos, contact, etc, using the cloud options might be the best. However, if you are looking for a PC app to do that seamlessly and store your data locally, and most importantly if you don’t mind splashing some cash for that, I would certainly recommend you to use the MobiKin Assistant for Android.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 will bring 5G connectivity to budget phones

GadgetByte

-

January 5, 2021

1

Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 will bring 5G connectivity to budget phones

5G connectivity was among the top trends in the smartphone world in the past couple of years. We see the price of flagship smartphones soar up because of this new feature. However, several efforts have since been made to bring the feature to low-cost smartphones. Last year, we saw Qualcomm introduce Snapdragon 690 SoC with 5G connectivity. In a bid to make 5G more accessible, Qualcomm has now introduced Snapdragon 480 5G chipset for budget smartphones.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 5G Chipset Overview:

Connectivity

First, let’s talk about the elephant in the room – the 5G connectivity. Snapdragon 480 SoC is the first chip in the budget 400 series to come with the technology. It features an integrated X51 5G Modem-RF system that supports both Sub-6 GHz and mmWave 5G and Standalone (SA) and Non-Standalone modes. Other features include Time Division Duplexing (TDD), Frequent Division Duplexing, and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS).

Similarly, the SD 480 has support for Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, and dual-frequency GPS.

Architecture

Compared to its predecessor, the Snapdragon 480 5G chipset is based on a newer 8nm process so expect the Snapdragon 480 to be more power-efficient.

Qualcomm has opted for a 2+6 core setup instead of the 4+4 arrangement on the SD 460. The Snapdragon 480 has two Cortex-A76 high-performance cores. While the A76 is not the fastest performing cores available today, it is still a huge improvement over the Cortex-A73. The A76 cores are even clocked higher at 2.0GHz. Similarly, Cortex-A55 cores have been favored over the Cortex-A53. Qualcomm is claiming a CPU performance of up to 100%.

The company has made similar claims about the GPU in the new processor as well. Its Adreno 619 promises up to a 100% performance leap compared to the Adreno 610 in Snapdragon 460.

Camera

The image signal processor in the Snapdragon 480 is the Qualcomm Spectra 345. Because of it, smartphones with Snapdragon 480 can have a 12MP triple camera setup. It’s a triple ISP. That is, it can capture images or record 720p videos from all three cameras simultaneously. Such a feature was introduced in the Snapdragon 888 and is a first for the 400 series.

Rest of the features

Moving on, Snapdragon 480 can support FHD+ displays with up to 120Hz refresh rate. Qualcomm Sensing Hub supports multiple always-on voice assistants too. It is also the first time technologies like AI-based echo-cancellation and background-noise cancellation have been included in the Snapdragon 400 series. Similarly, the Snapdragon 480 chip is also the first of its kind to come with Quick Charge 4+ technology.

	Snapdragon 480	Snapdragon 460
Process	8nm	11nm
Performance/ big Cores	2x 2.0 GHz Cortex-A76	4x 1.8 GHz Cortex-A73
Efficiency / little Cores	6 x 1.8 GHz Cortex-A55	4x 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU	Adreno 619	Adreno 610
DSP	Hexagon 686	Hexagon 683
Fast Charging	Quick Charge 4+	Quick Charge 3
Modem	Snapdragon X51 (5G)	Snapdragon X11
Image Signal Processor	Spectra 345	Spectra 340
Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Subsystem	FastConnect 6200	FastConnect 6100

Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 5G Chipset Availability

Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 5G chipset is expected to power budget smartphones from early 2021. Brands like Oppo, Nokia, and OnePlus are expected to use the new chipset in their upcoming smartphones.

5G smartphone chipset	Availability
Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 5G	Q1, 2021

In the meanwhile, check out our review of the Vivo V20 SE.

Xiaomi Mi 10i with 108MP camera launched: Likely to arrive in Nepal too

Xiaomi

GadgetByte

-

January 5, 2021

0

Xiaomi Mi 10i with 108MP camera launched: Likely to arrive in Nepal too

Today, Xiaomi hosted an online event to launch the much-anticipated Mi 10i in India. It is the fourth device in the Mi 10 series to launch in India. Mi 10i has been promoted as an India-exclusive device with the company claiming to have designed and customized the device specifically for the country. However, the phone is likely to launch in Nepal as well. So, let’s take a look at the specs, features, expected price, and availability of Xiaomi Mi 10i in Nepal.

Xiaomi Mi 10i Overview:

Before the launch, the device was said to be an extension of the Mi 10T Lite. However, the device is more of a rebranded version of the Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G that was launched earlier in China. The main difference between the Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G and the Mi 10T Lite is the primary camera. Mi 10i will feature a 108MP camera sensor that was first used in the Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G.

Design and Display

Moving on, Xiaomi Mi 10i features a 6.67-inch IPS LCD panel with an FHD resolution. It has a center-placed punch-hole cut–out for the 16MP front-facing camera. The screen is protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The six-interval adaptive sync display supports a variable refresh rate of 30-120Hz. Similarly, the display is compatible with HDR 10 and HDR10+. The device features a 360-degree ambient light sensor and the brightness level can be scaled down to just 1 nit.

The phone is available in three color options. The Pacific sunrise variant has a matte back whereas the Atlantic Blue has a glossy back. There is also a Midnight Black option if you are fond of the color. Xiaomi has included Corning Gorilla Glass 5 both on the front and back of the device. Mi 10i is also IP53 splash-proof.

Also Read:
- Redmi Note 9 5G with Dimensity 800U goes official in China
- Redmi Note 9 4G unveiled with a new design & a 6000mAh battery

Performance and Memory

Mi 10i is powered by the latest Snapdragon 750G 5G SoC which comes with Adreno 619 GPU. The chipset is based on the 8nm process and comes with an integrated 5G modem. With the Cortex-A77 core, Xiaomi is claiming performance comparable to the 765G which features Cortex A76 cores.

The phone features 11 different sensors on the back of the phone in addition to the cooling system for better temperature management. Users can choose between two LPDDR4x RAM variants – 6GB and 8GB. The former is available with 64GB and 128GB internal storage whereas the 8GB variant is available with 128GB storage only.

Camera

The quad-camera setup will be led by the 108MP Samsung HM2 sensor. The new sensor from Samsung uses 9-in-1 pixel binning (nona-binning) and was introduced during the launch of the Redmi Note 9 Pro 5G. The sensor is slimmer than its predecessor and results in a 10% smaller camera bump. It is accompanied by an 8MP ultrawide sensor, a 2MP macro sensor, and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, there is a 16MP primary camera.

Rest of the specs

Moving on, Mi 10i will feature a 4,820mAh battery with support for 33W fast charging. The 33W charger can take the phone from 0 to 100% in just 58 minutes. Thankfully, the charger is shipped with the box. Xiaomi also claims the new vibration motor in the Mi 10i will improve the user experience. There is a physical fingerprint sensor on the side of the device.

Xiaomi Mi 10i Specifications:

Display: 6.67-inches IPS panel; Corning Gorilla Glass 5, six-interval variable refresh rate (30-120Hz)
Resolution: FHD+ (2400 x 1080); 19.5:9
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G; 8nm Mobile Platform
CPU: Octa-core (2×2.2 GHz Cortex-A77 & 6×1.8 GHz Cortex-A55)
GPU: Adreno 619
RAM: 6/8GB
Storage: 64/128GB UFS 2.2
Software & UI: MIUI 12
Rear Camera: Quad-camera;
– 108MP primary shooter
– 8MP ultra-wide lens
– 2MP macro lens
– 2MP depth sensor
Front Camera: 16MP
Security: Fingerprint Scanner (side-mounted)
IP53 Rating: Yes
Audio: 3.5mm headphone jack, dual-stereo speakers
Battery: 4820mAh with 33W fast charging

Xiaomi Mi 10i Price in Nepal and Availability

The starting price of Xiaomi Mi 10i in India is INR 20,999 for the 6/64GB storage. It will go on sale from January 8th in the country. We can expect the price of Xiaomi Mi 10i in Nepal to start at NPR 36,000 when it launches here.

[su_table]

Mi 10i Model	Price in India	Price in Nepal (Expected)
6GB+64GB	INR 20,999	NPR 36,000
6GB+128GB	INR 21,999	NPR 38,000
8GB+128GB	INR 23,999	NPR 42,000

[/su_table]

In the meanwhile, check out our long-term review of Xiaomi Mi 10.