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JBL Go 3 portable Bluetooth speaker now available in Nepal

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JBL Go 2 is the company’s cheapest Bluetooth speaker available in Nepal. It boasts JBL’s superior sound quality in a portable form factor and affordable price tag. And now, EvoStore has brought its successor in the Nepali market as well. In this post, we will be taking a look at the specs, features, official price, and availability of JBL Go 3 in Nepal.

JBL Go 3 Overview:

Design

Compared to its predecessor, JBL has made some changes to the design of the Go 3. The JBL Go 2 came with a rectangular design with flat sides, rounded corners, and rubberized housing. On the other hand, Go 3 is mostly covered with fabrics. The sides have been curved giving it the eye-catching edgy look. The speaker is IP67 certified against dust and water splash too.

Internal specs

Here, JBL Go 3 includes a 1.5” transducer. It contributes to an RMS output of 4.2 Watts. The frequency response ranges from 110Hz  to 20kHz. For connectivity, the speaker comes with Bluetooth v5.1 with A2DP 1.3 and AVRCP 1.6 profile. There is also support for multi-point connection that allows the speaker to connect to two devices at the same time.

Controls and Ports

You will also notice that it comes with a loop that wasn’t there on its predecessor. Thus, users will care less about accidentally dropping it when carrying it around. Just below it lies the USB Type-C charging port. Similarly, the power button and the Bluetooth button lie on the opposite side of it, whereas the playback control buttons are on the top of the speaker. Likewise, there are separate buttons for volume up, volume down and play/pause.

Battery

JBL has included a 2.7Whr Li-ion polymer battery in the Go 3. The company claims that it can provide up to 5 hours of music playback on a single charge. Similarly, it takes 2.5 hours to fully charge the speaker using a 5W charger.

JBL Go 3 Specifications:

  • Dimensions: 87.5W x 75H x 41.3D (mm)
  • Weight: 209 grams
  • Connectivity: Bluetooth (v5.1)
  • Controls: Bluetooth pairing, Power Button, Volume up/down
  • Transducer: 1.5”
  • Output Power: 4.2W (RMS)
  • Frequency Response: 110Hz – 20kHz
  • Signal to Noise ratio: ≥85dB
  • Protection: IP67 certified
  • Battery: 2.7Whr Lithium-ion polymer
  • Battery Backup: Up to 5 hours
  • Charging interface: USB Type-C (5V,1A)
  • Recharge Time: 2.5 hours

JBL Go 3 Price in Nepal and Availability

JBL Go 3 is now available in Nepal for the price of NPR 6,900. But right now, you can buy the JBL Go 3 portable Bluetooth speaker in Nepal at just Rs. 6,500 from Hukut.

Portable Bluetooth Speaker Price in Nepal Availability
JBL Go 3 NPR 6,500 Hukut
  • Check out our review of the JBL Pulse 4.

Samsung announces a colossal 110″ 4K MicroLED TV in South Korea

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Earlier this year, Samsung Display announced that it will cease the manufacturing of LCD panels by the end of 2020. It was widely speculated that the company is working on new QNED display technology. Having said that, Samsung hasn’t stopped working on other display technologies. Recently, the South Korean company has now announced a MicroLED TV in its domestic market. The giant 110″ MicroLED TV from Samsung looks to be the ultimate entertainment system in your home.

But, what is MicroLED technology?

Before you jump into the details of the new Samsung TV, let’s start with what MicroLED technology is all about. Just like OLED panels, MicroLED is also an emissive display. That is, these panels can produce their own light and don’t require external backlight apparatus as in the normal LCD/LED TVs. The major difference between the two is the nature of diodes. OLED uses organic diodes thus is expensive and prone to screen burns. It also cannot be scaled to larger screen sizes.

On the other hand, MicroLED technology uses inorganic diodes, avoiding screen burns altogether. It offers all the advantages of an OLED panel while also being brighter and more durable. MicroLED panels also don’t require color filters. It is also said to be less expensive in the longer run.

Samsung and MicroLED TV

Samsung has been avoiding OLED panels on its TV because of the above-mentioned issues. Thus, it makes sense for the company to invest in the MicroLED technology. Samsung and Sony lead the development of MicroLED TV.

The Wall was Samsung’s first MicroLED TV. It was first introduced in CES 2018. It came with a modular design that lets the user choose the size of the panel according to the space and aesthetic of the room. This TV is now on sale but it is not anything a normal consumer can afford.

Samsung 110” MicroLED TV

The upcoming 110” MIcroLED TV will be Samsung’s first commercial TV based on the display technology. It will arrive in a traditional form factor. Thus, it will also be the company’s first non-modular MicroLED TV. It will be a pre-fabricated unit without the need for special installation. The TV will have a 4K resolution and 8 million pixels. It will also cover 100% of DCI and Adobe RGB color gamut. It will be powered by a new Micro AI Processor that can support 4K HDR content.

With a screen-to-body ratio of 99.99%, the TV will be practically bezel-less. It will even ditch the back matrix for an immersive experience. There is a Multi View Feature that will split the 110” screen into four parts with each part displaying contents from a unique source. As for the audio, Samsung has included Majestic Sound System with 5.1 channel sound. It also features Object Tracking Sound Pro that identifies motion on the screen and outputs sound accordingly.

Samsung 110” MicroLED TV Price and Availability

Samsung 110” MicroLED TV is now available for pre-order in South Korea. However, the company has been tight-lipped about the price and availability of the device. But, it is expected that the TV will go on sale in 2021 with an obviously extravagant price tag.

TV Model Price Availability
Samsung 110” MicroLED TBA Q1, 2021 (South Korea)
  • Watch our review of the Samsung 55″ RU7100 4K TV.

Samsung announces Game Driver App under the GameDev Program

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Earlier this year, Qualcomm introduced an upgradable smartphone GPU in select Snapdragon 855-powered smartphones. The new feature under the Android GPU Inspector was a result of the collaboration between Qualcomm and Google. Galaxy S10 and Note 10 were the only two Samsung devices to have this feature at the launch. Samsung has now brought the feature to Galaxy S20 and Note 20. The company launched a separate Game Driver App for Exynos and Snapdragon SoCs. Let’s learn more about the Samsung Game Driver App.

Samsung Game Driver App Overview:

Galaxy GameDev Program

The new Samsung Gamer Driver App is the product of the Galaxy GameDev Program. The program was announced at the Samsung Developer Conference 2016. It is intended to provide support to small game developers. However, it has also been working to improve the existing technologies in Galaxy devices.

Game Driver App

As of now, the Samsung Game Driver App is only available for the smartphones under the Galaxy S20 and Note 20 lineup. One can download the app on compatible devices via the Google Play Store. While the Android GPU Inspector was limited to Adreno GPU that Qualcomm uses in its SoC, there is a separate version of the app for Mali GPU that Samsung uses in its Exynos SoC.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra - S Pen

The major highlight of the app is that flagship phones from Samsung will now be able to receive a GPU update through this app. Earlier, such a thing would only be possible via a software OTA update. And smartphones manufacturer don’t roll out system updates that often. With the new Samsung Game Driver App, the company can optimize and improve the GPU faster and more efficiently.

Supported Games

At the launch, the Game Driver App improves the gaming experience in select gaming titles like Black Desert, Fortnite, and Call of Duty: Mobile. However, there is no information about what these improvements are and how they enhance the gaming experience. Samsung promises to expand the support to other games as well. Similarly, the company is also trying to make the app compatible with more Galaxy smartphones.

Samsung also promises to keep improving the gaming experience in its smartphones. The brand is promoting the inclusion of technologies like multi-thread rendering and Vulkan API in smartphones. Samsung is currently working with 50 different partners for the same. The list includes game studios, tool developers, game engine companies, and GPU vendors. Popular names in the list include Qualcomm, Google, ARM, Epic Games, Square Enix, Nexon, and Microsoft.

Samsung Game Driver App Availability

Users of the Galaxy S20 and Note 20 lineup can now download Game Driver App from the Google Play Store.

Galaxy Feature Compatibility Availability (variant)
Game Driver App Galaxy S20, Note 20 series Exynos | Qualcomm
  • Watch our review of the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

Moto E7 Plus with 48MP camera and 5,000mAh battery launched in Nepal

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Motorola launched the Moto E7 Plus in the global market back in September. And now, the device has officially made its way to Nepal as well, while going head-to-head against the likes of POCO C3 and Nokia 3.4. In this post, I’ll be discussing the Motorola Moto E7 Plus and its features, specs, official price, and availability in Nepal.

Motorola Moto E7 Plus Overview

Design and Display

Moto E7 Plus features an LCD panel with a diagonal length of 6.5-inch. The display features a waterdrop style notch to house the front-facing camera. The phone has a rather heavy chin at the bottom. Sadly, Motorola is still using an HD+ panel and it has a 20:9 aspect ratio. Thus, the company is calling this a Max Vision screen.

Moto E7 Plus Design

At the back, one can notice the square camera bump with rounded corners and edges. It houses the dual camera setup along with an LED flash. Just below the bump, is the iconic Motorola branding with a physical fingerprint scanner integrated onto it.

Performance and Memory

Moto E7 Plus packs Snapdragon 460 under its hood. It is an entry-level octa-core chipset from Qualcomm with a clock speed of up to 1.8GHz. So, there is nothing exciting about the performance of the device. However, Motorola has paired it with 4GB of RAM so we can expect it to perform decently in day to day usage. The 64GB internal storage can further be expanded by slotting in an external microSD card. It also has a dedicated Google Assistant button.

Camera

Moto E7 Plus flaunts a dual-camera setup on the back. Here, the primary camera makes use of a 48MP f/1.7 sensor, which is actually great given the rest of the specs. Motorola claims that it can capture sharp and bright capture in different lighting conditions. Users can also add the bokeh effect to their portraits using the 2MP depth sensor. The two sensors are arranged horizontally inside the bump. Above them is a flash that completes the triangular shape.

Moto E7 Plus Camera Setup

Rest of the specs

Motorola has fitted in a huge 5,000mAh battery which supports 10W charging via the micro USB port. There is a capacitive fingerprint sensor on the rear panel of the device. It is available in two color options – Misty Blue, Twilight Orange.

Motorola Moto E7 Plus Specifications:

  • Body: 6.50 x 2.98 x 0.36 inches, 200 gm, Water-repellent design
  • Display: 6.5-inches IPS LCD panel, 269PPI, 86% screen-to-body ratio
  • Resolution: HD+ (1600 x 720 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio
  • Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 460 (11nm Mobile Platform)
  • CPU: Octa-core (4×1.8 GHz Kryo 240 & 4×1.6 GHz Kryo 240)
  • GPU: Adreno 610
  • RAM: 4GB
  • Storage: 64GB internal storage (expandable up to 512GB)
  • Software & UI: Android 10
  • Rear Camera: Dual-camera;
    – 48MP primary sensor with f/1.7 aperture, PDAF
    – 2MP depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture
    – LED flash
  • Front Camera: 8MP sensor with f/2.2 aperture
  • Security: Physical fingerprint sensor (rear-mounted)
  • Audio: 3.5mm headphone jack, loudspeaker
  • Connectivity: Hybrid Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS / AGPS / Glonass / Galileo / LTEPP / SUPL, Micro USB, 4G LTE
  • Sensors: Accelerometer, Proximity, Ambient Light
  • Battery: 5000mAh with 10W charging
  • Colors: Misty Blue, Twilight Orange

Motorola Moto E7 Plus Price in Nepal and Availability

Motorola Moto E7 Plus is now available in Nepal for the price of NPR 16,590. You can buy Moto E7 Plus in Nepal exclusively at Daraz.

Smartphone Model Price in Nepal
Motorola Moto E7 Plus NPR 16,590 (4/64GB)

  • Check out our review of Nokia 2.4.

Moto G9 Play launched in Nepal: Decent entry in the sub-20k market?

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After weeks of teasers, Motorola officially bounced back in the Nepalese market and launched two phones during the Daraz 12.12 campaign. One of them is the Moto G9 Play, which looks to be a decent contender in the best phone under 20K market in Nepal. So, let’s take a look at the specs, features, official price, and availability of Motorola Moto G9 Play in Nepal.

Motorola Moto G9 Play Overview:

Design and Display 

Moto G9 design

Moto G9 Play features a 6.5-inch Max Vision display. The display is based on IPS LCD technology and sports an HD+ resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels. There is a waterdrop style notch on the top that houses the front camera. The aspect ratio on this is 20:9.

The body of the Moto G9 Play is entirely made up of plastic. One can notice the square camera bump on the rear panel. The rear panel also houses a physical fingerprint sensor. Motorola has opted for a water repellent design to keep the device safe from minor spills and splashes.

Performance and Memory

Likewise, Moto G9 Play is one of the first devices to sport the Snapdragon 662 SoC. This chipset is based on the 11nm node and features eight Kryo 260 cores clocked at 2GHz. The graphics are handled by Adreno 610 GPU clocked at 950MHz. Similarly, the phone comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. With this, Moto G9 Play goes head-to-head against the likes of POCO M2 and Redmi 9/Prime. Users can expand the latter by up to 512GB using a microSD card. The device ships with near-stock Android 10 with default Google apps.

Camera 

Moto G9 camera placement

The G9 Play flaunts a triple camera setup on the back. Its 48MP primary sensor has a pixel size of 1.6micron and supports Quad Pixel technology. It is joined by a portrait and a macro lens; both featuring 2MP sensors. For videos, it can capture 1080P footage at 60fps. Similarly, slow mode, timelapse, and hyper-lapse videos are also supported. The waterdrop style notch houses the 8MP front-facing camera.

Rest of the specs

Motorola is claiming a battery life of up to 2 days with the 5,000mAh battery. A 20W USB Type-C fast charger is also included in the box. However, the phone only supports 15W charging. The device features a hybrid dual SIM slot. For connectivity, G9 supports dual-band Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth v5.0, and NFC.

Motorola Moto G9 Play Specifications:

  • Body: 6.50 x 2.98 x 0.36 inches, 200 gm, Water-repellent design
  • Display: 6.5-inches IPS LCD panel, 269PPI, 87% screen-to-body ratio
  • Resolution: HD+ (1600 x 720 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio
  • Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 (11nm Mobile Platform)
  • CPU: Octa-core (4×2.0 GHz Kryo 260 Gold & 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver)
  • GPU: Adreno 610
  • RAM: 4GB
  • Storage: 64/128GB internal storage (expandable up to 512GB)
  • Software & UI: Android 10
  • Rear Camera: Triple-camera;
    – 48MP primary sensor with f/1.7 aperture, PDAF
    – 2MP macro lens with f/2.4 aperture
    – 2MP depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture
    – LED flash
  • Front Camera: 8MP sensor with f/2.2 aperture
  • Security: Physical fingerprint sensor (rear-mounted)
  • Audio: 3.5mm headphone jack, loudspeaker
  • Connectivity: Hybrid Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (dual-band), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS / AGPS / Glonass / Galileo / LTEPP / SUPL, USB Type-C, NFC, 4G LTE
  • Sensors: Accelerometer, Gyro, Proximity, Ambient Light, Sar
  • Battery: 5000mAh with 15W charging
  • Colors: Forest Green, Sapphire Blue, Spring Pink

Motorola Moto G9 Play Price in Nepal and Availability

Motorola Nepal has launched the 4/128GB variant of Moto G9 Play for the price of NPR 19,990. You can buy Moto G9 Play in Nepal exclusively at Daraz.

Smartphone Model Price in Nepal
Motorola Moto G9 Play NPR 19,990 (4/128GB)

  • Check out our review of the Redmi 9 (Prime).

Daraz 12.12 Sale is now live: Great offers and a chance to win Galaxy S20 FE!

With the year coming to an end most of the shops are beginning their year-end sales. And it is no different for e-commerce platforms either. One such sale event that’s been making rounds on the internet is the Daraz 12.12 year-end sales. As with other sales events, 12.12 year-end sales offer customers a chance to get discounted items and win exciting gifts too. As the name suggests, Daraz’s 12.12 starts on 12th December and will end on 18th December. Let’s take a look at some of the exclusive launches and offers that are on the table during the Daraz 12.12 sales this year.

Daraz 12.12 Sale: Exclusive Phone Launches

This year’s 12.12 sales include some exclusive online launches of smartphones. In total, there are six smartphones to look out for. Customers can purchase them at a discounted price using collectible vouchers. Furthermore, bank discounts of up to 12% (Rs. 1,212) are also available if purchased through one of the partner banks. Smartphones that are receiving online launch during Daraz 12.12 include iPhone 12, Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, and many more.

1. iPhone 12

iPhone 12 - Design

iPhone 12 is the latest flagship from Apple. It comes with a 6.1-inch (2532×1170 pixels) OLED Super Retina XDR display. There are two 12MP sensors on the back, one of them is the ultra-wide lens. Moreover, the front camera is also a 12MP sensor. It runs on A14 Bionic SoC which delivers a beast of a performance. You can check out our review of the iPhone 12 to get a better rundown about the device. Pre-booking of the device is available on Daraz and its shipping will start from 13 December. The 64GB variant of the iPhone 12 is priced at NPR 133,900.

2. OnePlus Nord N10 5G

oneplus nord n10 5g Midnight Ice

OnePlus Nord N10 5G is a slightly cheaper version of the original OnePlus Nord. It features a 6.49-inch FHD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It runs on Snapdragon 690, which is a 5G-capable chipset from Qualcomm. Similarly, the phone features a quad camera setup on the back with a 64MP primary sensor. The device with a 6/128GB configuration is available for NPR 39,499. Currently, it’s only available for pre-booking. However, its delivery will start on December 14.

3. OnePlus Nord 5G

OnePlus Nord - Design [2]

The OnePlus Nord is a low-cost premium midrange alternative to the high-end OnePlus 8 series. The screen size of the device is of 6.44-inches. It is a Fluid AMOLED panel with a 90Hz refresh rate. Furthermore, it is the first phone from the company to sport a dual selfie camera. It has an excellent quad-camera setup on the back with a 48MP primary sensor. You can check out our review of the OnePlus Nord 5G for more detailed information about the device. Its 12/256GB variant will be available during Daraz 12.12 sales for NPR 63,999.

4. Motorola Moto G9 Play

Moto G9 camera placement

Moto G9 Play features a 6.5-inch Max Vision display. It is based on IPS TFT LCD technology and sports an HD+ resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels. It runs on Snapdragon 662 SoC. Its 5000mAh battery with support for 15W fast charging is clearly the selling point. The device is priced at NPR 19,990 on Daraz.

5. Motorola Moto E7 Plus

Moto E7 Plus

The Motorola Moto E7 Plus is more of a budget offering from the company. It has a 6.5-inch LCD panel with HD+ resolution. It runs on the entry-level Snapdragon 460 SoC and flaunts a dual-camera setup on the back. However, it does have a big 5000mAh battery that supports 10W fast charging. The 4/64GB variant of the phone is priced at NPR 16,590 on Daraz.

6. Samsung Galaxy S20 FE

Galaxy S20 FE - Display [1]

Galaxy S20 FE is an affordable take at the flagship from Samsung with most of the essential specs intact. It has a flat 6.5-inch AMOLED display, FHD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling, and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It is the 4G variant that’s available in Nepal. Thus, it runs on the Exynos 990 chipset. 

Now, the device was already available on Daraz previously, so it’s not much of an exclusive launch. However, during 12.12 sales, you do get free shipping on a purchase of the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE. Furthermore, you also get a chance to win the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE for free as a part of the Mega Giveaway. All you got to do is make a purchase of any item during Daraz 12.12 Sale and you get registered as a participant for the giveaway. The checkout price of the 8/128GB variant during Daraz 12.12 is NPR 69,999, and that of the 8/256GB variant is NPR 74,999.

Tech Deals During Daraz 12.12 Sale

Tech deals, other than that of the aforementioned smartphones during Daraz 12.12 sales mostly include earphones, speakers, and power banks. Most of them are available at a discounted price. However, you can also make use of the Daraz collectible vouchers to slash down the price by a fair amount. Furthermore, a 12% card discount (max NPR 1,212) is also available. Some of the best tech deals of the Daraz 12.12 sales include:

  • X-AGE ConvE Stereo 6W Wireless Bluetooth Speaker – (XBS02): NPR 1,075
  • Digicom Flex 3 Bluetooth Neck Band In-Ear Earphone: NPR 1,575
  • X-AGE ConvE Flash 10000 Fast Charging Power Bank – (XPB01): NPR 1,400
  • Digicom K8 Bluetooth Stereo Over-Ear Headphone: NPR 2,327
  • X-AGE ConvE Twins Bluetooth Wireless Earbuds (XTW01): NPR 2,400
  • Anker 10000Mah PowerBank: NPR 1,999
  • Digicom Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard DG-IK8500: NPR 4,950
  • Anker Soundcore Spirit X2: NPR 9,999
  • Anker Soundcore Flare+ Speaker: NPR 13,990

Daraz Mission 12.12

As always, the Daraz app (Android | iOS) tends to include various games through which buyers can win exciting gift hampers. For the 12.12 sales, Daraz has introduced mission 12.12 alongside the One Rupee game. So, what is this mission 12.12?

Basically, buyers will have to complete 12 different missions before the Daraz 12.12 ends i.e before 18th December. After the completion of the missions, users become eligible for a lucky draw that includes gift vouchers from some top brands. However, you also become eligible for a guaranteed reward once you complete 11 of the 12 missions.

To play Mission 12.12, all you got to do is log in to your Daraz app and click on the Mission 12.12 banner. Then you’ll be able to start your missions. The missions include:

  • Open Daraz App for 7 days till the 18th of December
  • Search for 12 products in your shopping list
  • Add 5 products to your cart
  • Follow 5 Daraz Mall stores
  • Share a product review on Daraz
  • Click on any 5 Daraz app notification
  • Place an order for any dMart/dFresh product
  • Play any 5 different games on Daraz First Games
  • Participate in the One Rupee Game
  • Collect 5 Vouchers
  • Place an order of NPR 1212 or more
  • Share 3 mega-deals with your friends

Bank Discounts

daraz 12.12 Sales Banks

As mentioned earlier, you can get up to 12% (max NPR 1212) off when you make payments from one of the partner banks. The partner banks include:

  • Sanima Bank
  • NIC Asia – Credit card only
  • Machhapuchhre Bank
  • Citizens Bank
  • HBL Bank – Credit and prepaid cards only

So, are you excited about the Daraz 12.12 end of year sale 2020? And will you be purchasing anything? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Samsung looking to make things right with the upcoming Exynos 2100

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Earlier this month, Qualcomm introduced its latest flagship processor – the Snapdragon 888 SoC. And it looks like it’s Samsung’s turn to unveil its premium SoC. Yesterday, Samsung Exynos thanked its fans via a tweet. The message was paired with a YouTube video titled Thank You (Trailer). This could be a hint for the launch of the much-anticipated Exynos 2100 SoC. Keep reading to learn more about Samsung Exynos 2100 SoC including its launch date.

Samsung Exynos Thank You Message

As mentioned earlier, the official Twitter handle of Samsung Exynos uploaded a video to thank its fans. It has been mentioned in the video that Samsung has created something small for its fans who have been supporting it through this tough year. This year has been tough for everyone because of the outbreak of COVID-19.

But there is more to it. Throughout this year, Samsung’s Exynos chipset has faced harsh criticism from fans and enthusiasts alike. Numerous tests conducted between Exynos 990 and Snapdragon 865 showed the former was behind its rival in almost every aspect. Thus, through this video, Samsung Exynos team are apologizing for all the shortcoming of the company’s recent chips.

Exynos 2100 Snapdragon 888 Core Setup

The animated video shows a rather depressed-looking cartoon character going through stuff at his house until he finds something of interest. It is only at the end that the character is shown smiling, after making the discovery. Samsung Exynos may be hinting that the upcoming SoC will re-ignite interest in our products.

Also Read: Samsung announces 5nm Exynos 1080 5G SoC with Cortex-A78 cores.

Rumored specs

Throughout this year, several sources have claimed that Exynos 2100 will be as capable as its Snapdragon counterpart. We also saw different leaked benchmark tests showing close competition. Still, all these tests were conducted on prototype models. And as Ice Universe puts it – Geekbench results are not usually accurate before the official release. He rather encourages comparison based on the architecture.

The Exynos 2100 is expected to be based on Samsung’s 5nm process on which its rival SD 888 is also based on. Like the SD 888, it will have a three-tier core architecture with Cortex X1 as a prime core, three Cortex A78 cores for performance, and three Cortex A55 cores for efficiency. However, the cores on the Exynos 2100 will have a higher clock speed. The comparison graph below was published before the announcement of SD 888.

Exynos 2100 Snapdragon 888 Core Setup

Samsung Exynos 2100 Launch Date

If the date in the description is any clue, Samsung will unveil the Exynos 2100 on 15th December. Samsung Galaxy S21 series powered by Exynos 2100 is most likely to launch in January 2021.

Samsung Mobile SoC Launch Date
Exynos 2021 December 15
  • Watch our review of the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 10.4 (2020).

iPhone 12 and 12 Pro Review: So Much To Love

If you’ve been following us on Instagram, you would know that I’ve had the new iPhone 12 with me for almost a month now. With this, everyone’s been asking me for my review of the phone. To be completely honest with you, because it’s my first iPhone in ages, I wanted to use it for at least a month or so—instead of rushing to come up with a review. And finally, here I am with my full review of the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro.

iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro Specifications:

  • Dimension: 146.7 x 7.4 x 71.5mm | iPhone 12: 164gm | 12 Pro: 189gm
  • Display: 6.1-inch (2532×1170 pixels) OLED Super Retina XDR display, 460ppi
  • Chipset: Six-core A14 Bionic 64-bit processor, 16-core Neural Engine
  • Storage:
    • iPhone 12: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB
    • iPhone 12 Pro: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB
  • Operating System: iOS 14
  • SIM: Dual SIM (nano + eSIM)
  • Back Camera:
    – 12MP wide-angle f/1.7 primary camera, 7-elements lens, OIS, True Tone flash with Slow Sync, 4K Dolby Vision video recording at 60 fps,
    – 12MP 120° Ultra Wide f/2.4 camera, 7-elements lens|
    – (only 12 Pro) 12MP f/2.0 telephoto lens, 2x optical zoom, 52mm focal length, 6-elements lens, OIS
    – (only 12 Pro) LiDAR scanner for AR workloads, night portraits, etc.
  • Front Camera: 12MP front camera with f/2.2 aperture, 1080p video recording, Retina Flash, Dolby Vision HDR recording up to 30 fps, 4K video recording at 60 fps, Slo‑mo 1080p at 120 fps
  • 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
  • Other features: Water and dust resistance (IP68), Stereo speakers
  • Color options:
    • iPhone 12: White, Black, Green, Blue, (PRODUCT)RED
    • iPhone 12 Pro: Graphite, Silver, Gold, Pacific Blue
  • Battery: 2815mAh; 20W fast charging, 7.5W Qi Wireless Charging; 15W MagSafe Wireless Charger (No charger included in the box)

iPhone 12, 12 Pro Review:

Before moving ahead, I must tell you the reason why I skipped the 12 Pro and got the standard iPhone 12 instead. The thing is, here in Nepal (and even in India for that matter) the iPhone 12 Pro is ridiculously overpriced.

iPhone 12 Price
Storage US Nepal India
64GB $829 NPR 134,000 INR 79,900
128GB $879 NPR 142,000 INR 84,900
256GB $979 NPR 158,000 INR 94,900
iPhone 12 Pro Price
Storage US Nepal India
128GB $999 NPR 170,000 INR 119,900
256GB $1099 NPR 187,000 INR 129,900
512GB $1299 NPR 220,000 INR 149,900

As you can see from the table here, in the US, the 128GB variant of the iPhone 12 Pro is only $120 more than that of the iPhone 12. However, the difference in this part of the world is a staggering 28K (~$238). And surprisingly in India, the deviation is an outrageous INR 35K (~$475), which I simply don’t understand. The launch of Apple’s official website was supposed to be a step in a positive direction, but here we are.

Anyway, because of that, I got myself the iPhone 12 (128GB) variant. I also tested it against the iPhone 12 Pro that my friend bought to come with this review. And to be honest, there aren’t too many differences between them, at least for me. Another reason I didn’t go with the Pro. Both of them come in this new boxy flat design that reminds me of my first iPhone. This “new” aesthetics makes it different and visibly unique from practically every other smartphone you see in 2020.

Design & Build

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

Having said that, the 12 Pro has a slightly premium design than that of the iPhone 12, with a matte finish at the back and a stainless steel frame. This frame also makes for an overall heavier device. While many of you might like your phone to have that heft, for me, the iPhone 12 feels just right, despite both phones sharing the same dimension

iPhone 12 and 12 Pro - Design

Regardless, in my usage, the iPhone 12 successfully managed to survive a couple of accidental drops from about 2 feet—major thanks to the Ceramic Shield on the front of the glass. But, you need to be aware of the fact that the ceramic protection is exclusive to the front of the phone, and not the back.

Scratch resistance?

Unfortunately, I got this nasty scratch on the front despite being really careful with it. So, while the ceramic shield most definitely offers a better drop resistance, it’s still not big on scratch immunity. In the end, I felt obligated to put on tempered glass. The only thing I dislike about the updated design is how the camera module attracts so much dirt… all the time. Every time I open up the camera to take a picture, I would first have to wipe off the dirt. And as you could figure, things got really annoying, really fast.

Overall, in terms of design, yes, the iPhone 12 Pro is more premium of the two. But for the majority of us, it isn’t going to even matter because let’s face it, at the end of the day, we are going to a back cover for added protection and grip anyway. And that’s especially true in the case of the iPhone 12 Pro since the stainless steel is really slippery.

Display

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

The similarities between the two phones extend to their displays as well. Here, both the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro have the same OLED panel. Now this one’s a really positive development because historically speaking, the non-Pro iPhone would have an LCD panel while the superior OLED display would be reserved for the expensive variants only. In fact, even the cheapest iPhone of this year—the 12 Mini features an OLED screen.

iPhone 12, 12 Pro - Display

Despite all this, the OLED panel is not minded blogging in any way; considering just how far the industry has come when it comes to smartphone displays. Apple is still sticking to the good-old’ 60Hz refresh rate. If you have used a flagship Android device of the past year, like the OnePlus 8 Pro or the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro feel ordinary, at least that’s my finding from this review. But again, this display is more than good enough with excellent sharpness and color accuracy. Although the vibrancy is not as punchy as premium Samsung phones, I am not complaining.

The touch response has been great too—no accidental touches or unresponsive inputs throughout my usage. Furthermore, I also had no problems regarding its brightness even when using it outdoor, especially during winter when I often tend to sun bask outside my office. The iPhone 12 Pro does have a slight edge here as it can go up to 800 nits of brightness as compared to 625 on the regular iPhone 12. But trust me when I say that 625 nits on the iPhone 12 is plenty enough.

Cameras

  • 12MP wide, 12MP ultrawide cameras (iPhone 12)
  • Plus 12MP telephoto lens, LiDAR scanner (only 12 Pro)
  • 12MP TrueDepth camera with FaceID

Okay, while things between the two phones sound incredibly similar up until now—almost to the point that you’d question the validity of the expensive 12 Pro entirely, the reason you might want to spend a little extra cash is the cameras. While the iPhone 12 comes with a measly dual-camera setup, you get an extra telephoto lens and a LiDAR scanner.

Normal Images

Before going on about the additional sensors, let’s talk about the common lenses first. Both the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro have exactly the same wide and ultra-wide-angle lens.

On my camera tests too, I found the quality to be identical—as expected.

Wideangle Images

From regular day time to wide-angle to low-light to portrait shots, it’s like clicking photos from the same phone.

Nighttime Images

And as you’d expect from an iPhone, the image quality is stellar. The images have great details, exposure, dynamic range, and aren’t oversaturated either.

Selfie Images

The selfies from the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro are incredibly similar as well.

It can capture plenty of detail with great background exposure, while fairly maintaining the color tone of the subject as well.

Telephoto Images

The only uptick with the 12 Pro is when taking photos of faraway objects since it has a dedicated 2x telephoto zoom lens. But for me, the digital zoom on the iPhone 12 works perfectly fine.

Yes, the quality on the iPhone 12 Pro is obviously a tad bit better; especially while taking 2x zoom videos as well as in 2x portraits, but that’s about it. Plus, we’ve already seen far superior telephoto lenses from the likes of Huawei and Samsung. So it’s not too surprising to come to the conclusion that the telephoto lens on the iPhone 12 Pro isn’t revolutionary by any means.

LiDAR scanner

As I mentioned earlier, iPhone 12 Pro also has a LiDAR sensor and throughout my review, I didn’t find it to be a game-changer as Apple would want you to believe. Of course, it has its benefits, but that, unfortunately, didn’t resonate with my use case. Let me briefly explain what LiDAR actually is.

Short for Light Detection and Ranging, LiDAR is more like the TOF (Time Of Flight) sensor we saw on Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Ultra. While TOF works by shooting a single beam of laser/infrared light and measuring the time it takes to return, LiDAR takes things to next level with multiple beams of laser all around for depth-sensing. Apple claims that the LiDAR scanner on the iPhone 12 Pro series can effectively measure object depth up to 5 meters away.

D = (speed of light X time taken by LASER to hit the subject and come back) / 2

Because of this, the LiDAR scanner brings two improvements in terms of photography:

  • Good portraits in low-light conditions
  • Better, faster focusing

Nighttime Portrait Images

Having said that, I did try comparing the nighttime portrait images from the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro for this review.

To my dismay, I found little to none difference between the actual quality of the two photos. Same with focusing.

Despite photography, the LiDAR scanner comes useful in other areas like augmented reality (AR), 3D scanning, and such. You might’ve seen some videos floating around the internet on how people are measuring someone’s height with the iPhone 12 Pro. Yep, thank LiDAR for that. It also lets you measure the dimensions of other objects. While these do sound fun and kinda-sorta useful, I wasn’t particularly excited with the sensor during my time with the phone.

Dolby Vision HDR recording

Moving on, the new iPhone 12 series are also the first devices to support shooting and editing 10-bit Dolby Vision HDR videos. Even though we’ve seen HDR recording capability from other smartphones in the past, all of them use open source metadata platform like HDR10. The reason Dolby Vision is superior to the other standards is because of its use of dynamic metadata. What this means is that all the enriched colors, contrast info is dynamically adjusted on a frame-by-frame basis—instead of how HDR10 sends static metadata. A one-for-all kind of deal.

iPhone 12 - Display

This achievement has been made entirely possible because of the new A14 Bionic chip and its ISP. While all phones in the iPhone 12 series share the same silicon, the iPhone 12 can only shoot Dolby Vision videos at 30fps, whereas the 12 Pro can go up to 60fps.

Memory configuration

That’s because of the difference in their RAM capacity since the iPhone 12 only has 4GB of RAM whereas the Pro has 2GB more. Like I mentioned before, if you wish to edit the footage in post, you can enable it in the settings too. But not everyone needs or can make use of Dolby Vision recording. And for them, regular videos from the 12 or 12 Pro will do just fine.

Anyhow, just being able to shoot in Dolby Vision is just half the battle since watching it requires a Dolby Vision-capable display itself. And unless you’re fine with the relatively small display of an iPhone, I’m willing to bet that many of us might not have a compatible TV/monitor. Likewise, even YouTube doesn’t support it for now—just the standard HDR. But, this could change in the future with more people making videos in Dolby Vision format.

ProRAW for pros

Similarly, the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max now support the ProRAW image format since the iOS 14.3 beta update. Allowing you to manually adjust settings like white balance, exposure, contrast, etc. in the post without introducing a drop in picture quality is something especially alluring to professional photographers.

iOS 14 - App Library

But what bugs me is Apple’s decision to not include this “software feature” on the non-Pro iPhone 12 models. So typical. Obviously, the iPhone 12 is more than capable to capture RAW images as it has the same A14 Bionic chipset and a similar camera setup as the 12 Pro. So hopefully, Apple will have a change of heart in the future, but if it doesn’t—I won’t be surprised.

Performance

  • Hexa-core Apple A14 Bionic SoC (5nm)
  • 4/6GB RAM with up to 512GB storage (fixed)

Speaking of the A14 Bionic, Apple has once again proved that they are the best when it comes to performance. I’ve been using Samsung flagships for the past couple of years and switching to the iPhone 12, I could almost instantly notice the jump in performance. The A14 is so powerful that even in like 3-4 years, it will still be able to power through your everyday needs without a hiccup. The same, I cannot say about the Android flagships like the OnePlus 8T or the Galaxy S20 FE. That has always been one of the strongest feats of an iPhone and with the 12 series, the legacy continues.

Still and all, it does leave a few things to be desired. Like, I miss a smooth refresh rate experience transitioning from my Android phone. Just imagine, the A14 + 120Hz would’ve been a killer combo. But, Apple is still holding on to the smooth tech for now.

iPhone 12 - Speaker, Lightning Port

Besides the cameras, everything else on the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro are the same. You get the same stereo speaker which produces balanced sound. It’s not the best speakers you can find on a smartphone as I think the ASUS ROG Phone 3 and the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra are better for that matter. Still, the audio from the iPhone 12’s speaker setup is acceptable as well.

Swift iOS

Moreover, the vibration motor and its haptic feedback have been really good and I like how iOS complements the hardware to provide a better overall experience. The Face ID is still here, although the rumors of Apple resurrecting the Touch ID on iPhones had me excited. It is really fast, secure, and accurate. But during these trying times when everyone is wearing a mask, I would’ve had to use the passcode almost all the time.

Battery

  • 2815mAh battery with 20W fast charging
  • 7.5W Qi Wireless Charging, 15W MagSafe Wireless Charger

Finally, let’s get into the battery life. Both iPhone 12 and 12 Pro are powered by the same 2815mAh cell. That’s not a big battery compared to Android flagships, or is it? During my usage, I was able to get a decent, if not great battery life out of it. Playing games for like an hour or two every day resulted in like 5 hours of SOT, whereas on a day when I didn’t play games, I got around 6 to 7 hours screen-on-time. I just wished that Apple would’ve gone with a slightly bigger battery. For now, I give iPhone 12, 12 Pro’s battery life a B+.

iPhone 12 - Design

There are also a lot of users complaining about battery drain issues and network signal drop, but I haven’t encountered such issues yet—so that’s nice.

And yeah, as you might’ve heard by now, Apple is revolutionizing the way phones are sold by excluding a charging brick, or wired earbuds inside the box. This move hasn’t been immune to controversies though. On the one hand, yes, it does help with reducing carbon emissions. But on the other hand, people now have to pay extra for something so elementary to a smartphone experience.

Overruled

Interestingly, the company has been forced to ship iPhone 12 series with earpods in France citing radiation laws; while buyers in Brazil will still enjoy a power adapter inside the box—thanks to a government mandate.

So, I got myself an 18W charger from last year instead of the new 20W charger since they’re not that different, to begin with. The 20W adapter can push up to 15W of power to a MagSafe charger but as things stand, MagSafe is just too slow for me as it takes like 3 hours to charge the iPhone 12. Maybe next year it will be faster—we will have to wait and see.

Conclusion

Overall, after using the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro for almost a month now for review, I think I will keep using it as my primary phone for a while. Apple has been clever enough to properly differentiate the iPhone 12 from its Pro siblings. Therefore, in the end, it isn’t too difficult for people to choose between the two.

Still, if you are someone from in the US or other countries where the difference between the 12 and 12 Pro isn’t significant, you might want to get the 12 Pro instead without giving too much thought. But if you are someone from Nepal or especially India, you should definitely get the iPhone 12 over 12 Pro unless the 12 Pro’s price drops in the next few days. That’s because even though the 12 Pro is objectively superior between the two, the regional price difference makes it unappealing compared to the standard iPhone 12.

  • Watch our video review of iPhone 12 and 12 Pro.

iPhone 12, 12 Pro Review: Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Premium, durable design with a flat edge
  • Excellent OLED display with Dolby Vision
  • Best-in-class performance thanks to A14
  • iOS is as optimized, well-designed as ever
  • Excellent cameras, especially for videos
  • 10-bit Dolby Vision HDR recording, ProRAW

Cons:

  • As usual, iPhones’ global pricing is inconsistent
  • No high refresh rate on an iPhone yet
  • 12 Pro’s telephoto lens not as impressive
  • No charger, earpods inside the box
  • Battery life could’ve been slightly better

OPPO Watch Review: Emulating Apple (But Not Quite)

Apple has this, sort of, unparalleled triumph in the world of smartwatches. While Samsung’s alternatives are pretty good in themselves, ultimately, they don’t compare. Recently, OPPO joined the smartwatch market with something that’s almost a carbon copy of the last-gen Apple Watch. This Wear OS-powered OPPO Watch made headlines throughout the world about how it looks exactly like an Apple Watch, while not being an Apple Watch, thus tempting us for a review.

Well, having your product’s identity defined by a rival product wouldn’t exactly be the first objective off the top of my head when designing something new. But hey, OPPO went on to do exactly that, so the comparison is 100% warranted. And I was quite intrigued to see the product receive high remarks from so many tech blogs. Allow me to discuss my findings of the OPPO Watch in this review.

OPPO Watch Specifications:

Specifications 41mm 46mm
Dimension, Weight 1.63 x 1.43 x 0.45”, 30.1gm 1.81 x 1.54 x 0.45”, 39.3gm
Color options Black, Pink Gold, Silver Mist Black, Glossy Gold
Bottom case Plastic Ceramic + Plastic
Water resistance 3ATM (30 meters) 5ATM (50 meters)
Display 1.6” Rigid AMOLED panel 1.91” AMOLED Flexible Dual-Curved panel
Resolution 320 x 360 pixels 402 x 476 pixels
Battery 300mAh (Up to 24 hours) 430mAh (Up to 36 hours)
Watch frame Aluminum alloy
Strap Fluororubber (proprietary)
Power input 5V/1.5A (Watch VOOC Flash Charging)
Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 (28nm), Ambiq Micro Apollo3 Wireless
CPU, GPU Quad-core 1.09 GHz Cortex-A7, Adreno 304
Operating system Google’s Wear OS (International)
Memory 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage
Connectivity WiFi (2.4GHz), Bluetooth 4.2 (BLE), NFC, GPS (with A-GPS, Glonass)
Sensors Tri-axial acceleration, Gyroscope, Geomagnetic, Barometer, Optical heartbeat, Capacitance, Ambient light
Companion app Wear OS (Android | iOS), HeyTap Health (Android | iOS)
Price in Nepal Rs. 24,990 Rs. 34,990

OPPO Watch Review:

Design & Build

  • Apple Watch-like squarish design
  • Comfortable rubber straps
  • 3/5ATM water resistance

Starting with the design, as I mentioned earlier, it bears a striking resemblance to an Apple Watch. From its square-ish screen to a similar strap mechanism, this thing is a definite head-turner. My review unit is the OPPO Watch 46mm (WiFi-only) version, whereas it is available in 41mm and 46mm (WiFi + LTE) models as well. While the larger 46mm option is available in either Black or Glossy Gold colors, the 41mm OPPO Watch can be found in Black, Pink Gold, and Silver Mist variants.

Personally, the larger of the two looks quite big on my hands—although comfort is not an issue. Besides the obvious difference in screen real-estate and battery size, the 41 & 46mm OPPO Watch differs in terms of build quality too. While both variants’ frame is made from aluminum alloy, the rear panel is all plastic on the smaller 41mm option, whereas the heart-rate sensor module is protected with ceramic on the other. Likewise, the water resistance level is downgraded from 5ATM in 46mm to 3ATM in the smaller alternative.

Rubber Strap

Moving on, the fluororubber strap on the OPPO Watch is reminiscent of a regular silicon material but feels slightly less flexible. The Apple Watch-like mechanism has been tweaked with a band retainer/loop, so as to avoid a potential design lawsuit, possibly. This “compromise” does have its flaws as I’ve already lost one of the two loops that come inside the box. Now that’s because of how easy it is for the loop to come off the strap, if not handled with finesse.

OPPO Watch - Design

Despite all these, make no mistake, the watch is very comfortable to wear—even when you’re walking or running. I didn’t experience any skin irritation or allergy from putting it on, which is fantastic. The durability does remain a matter of concern though. Because the company has prioritized fashionable aesthetics, it is not the most enduring of smartwatches. Even without any significant impact, I’ve managed to get a couple of dents on the top frame of my unit—and I can’t help but wonder what would happen to it upon a heavy-impact collision or fall.

Display

  • 1.6/1.91″ AMOLED panel (curved/rigid)
  • Gorilla Glass/SCHOTT Xensation protection

Getting to the display, the 46mm variant of the OPPO Watch comes with a bigger 1.91” AMOLED screen that has a subtle curve on the side. Similarly, it is protected by SCHOTT Xensation 3D glass. On the other hand, the smaller 41mm option has a flat AMOLED panel with Gorilla Glass protection.

OPPO Watch - Display

With a 402×476 resolution and a 326ppi, everything looks absolutely incredible on this watch. There is no noticeable pixelation of any kind and the content on the screen looks sharp. Plus, the colors, contrast are excellent as well. With 5 levels of brightness to choose from, I had no visibility issue with the watch even under direct sunlight.

Here, the device also comes with an ambient light sensor. During my review, I set the brightness level on OPPO Watch to “automatic”, where it would automatically switch the illumination level depending upon the surrounding lighting condition. While this feature does work pretty well, the time it takes to switch between the brightness level is abnormally long—compared to how we’ve been conditioned to the same functionality on our smartphones.

Watch face

In terms of watch faces, it comes with very few selections by default, but one can always more download from the Play Store.

Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t find one that vibed with me so I ultimately decided to go with custom images as the watch face, which switch upon each screen wake-up (or I can change them with a single tap). You can also change the watch face by long-pressing the home screen, or via the HeyTap Health app.

Performance, Wear OS

  • Quad-core Snapdragon Wear 3100 SoC (28nm)
  • Plus, Ambiq Micro Apollo3 Wireless processor
  • 1GB RAM plus 8GB internal storage

Powering the international variant of the OPPO Watch is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 3100, alongside the Ambiq Micro Apollo3 Wireless SoC. Here, while the Wear 3100 handles regular functionalities, the Ambiq Micro is a secondary processor to support low-power threads and aid in power saver mode. This setup is fortified with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage.

Now, there’s also a Chinese variant of the OPPO Watch, which swaps the Snapdragon Wear 3100 with Wear 2500 and runs on ColorOS Watch instead of Wear OS.

Anyway, as much as I would’ve preferred the newer Wear 4100 silicon (found in recent smartwatches like Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3), I don’t have any complaint regarding the performance on this watch. From UI animations to transitions, everything is very smooth, and apps open up pretty quickly as well. On rare occasions, the UI would also freeze for a bit when updating the apps, but I wouldn’t entirely hold that against the terrific cumulative performance. The navigation though is a bit of a hassle.

Navigation

OPPO Watch perfectly demonstrated how spoiled I’d become with Samsung Galaxy Watch3’s rotating bezel. Since the former solely relies on taps and swipes, getting from one menu to the other feels like forever. It does come with two buttons on the right for navigation—a home (which also doubles as an app drawer), and a customizable button with an emerald green accent. By default, it triggers the workout app and I left it be since I found the setting perfect for my use case.

OPPO Watch - Buttons

Swiping to the left gets you to the Google Assistant page, and I don’t understand why but it also includes “inspirational quotations” for some reason. And while there is an option to trigger the assistant with the “Ok, Google” command, I couldn’t get it to work—not even once. Not sure what’s going on there. By swiping down from the top, you can toggle various controls like settings, power saver mode, etc. However, you can’t add to or change the layout in any way and weirdly, the command center can only be accessed when you’re on the home screen—further complicating the process.

Notifications

Similarly, all the notifications are neatly arranged at the bottom. Being a smartwatch, it also supports actionable notifications, and one can reply to messages from the watch itself. You can choose to dictate, type, or draw up an emoji reply. The default keyboard’s layout is quite cramped, but I was quite surprised to find out how accurately I could type on this tiny thing. Swipe-typing is even easier if you’re familiar with the format.

While you can go back from a screen via a swipe to the left, it doesn’t work when you’re using the keyboard. Additionally, choosing which apps display notification can be customized from the aforementioned app, or the watch itself.

A limiting experience

Likewise, all the widgets (called Tiles) are organized on the right side of the screen. But what’s annoying is that the OPPO Watch can only store up to 5 tiles at a time. This feels really limiting for a smartwatch, especially one of this stature. I mean, it’s a pretty damning limitation, wouldn’t you agree? Besides all these, the watch also supports gesture navigation. By flicking your wrist, you can pull up the command center, notification panel, app drawer, or jump to the home screen. Though not perfect, I would say that it works better than expected.

OPPO Watch - Thickness

Moving on, the watch includes two layouts for the app drawer. Personally, I’m fond of the traditional list view, but there’s also a 3×3 grid layout with circular icons that I’m sure many would prefer instead. There’s also this neat shortcut on the Play Store, that lets you install select apps from your phone, that are available on the Wear OS platform—eliminating the need to separately search them. Talking about apps, since Spotify doesn’t officially work in Nepal, I couldn’t install it on the watch. I would’ve been grateful if it came pre-installed, but unfortunately, that’s not the case.

You can make and receive calls on the OPPO Watch too, although I was quite disappointed with it throughout my review period. The call quality leaves much to be desired. I constantly got a complaint about how my voice sounded muffled, unclear from the receiver’s end even when I was indoors—all the while I could hear them quite well from the watch’s speaker. The sound quality is fairly decent and is actually quite useful when interacting with the Google Assistant.

Health, Fitness, Sleep Tracking

  • 5 workout modes, no automatic detection
  • Over 5 dozen workout modes under “Fit Workout”
  • No SpO2 monitoring, women’s health recording

Okay, let’s talk about the fitness tracking features now. The Watch comes with OPPO’s own 5 workout modes, which consist of fitness run, fat burn run, outdoor walk, outdoor cycling, and swimming. Regrettably, it can’t automatically detect a workout—a feature I dearly miss, coming from the Galaxy Watch 3.

OPPO Watch - Heart Rate Sensor

Moreover, under “Fit Workout”, you’ll find more than 5 dozen workout modes. Some of them include: yoga, treadmill running, biking, dancing, golf, pilates, and… flossing? What?! Yeah, I suppose it can be considered as a workout but now way would I want to see an adult floss. I found the 5-min workouts particularly more useful than all these. It includes a range of activities, which are tailored for a different purpose, or a different time of the day.

There are five 5-min workouts altogether: morning energizer, get moving, full-body workout, fat blaster, and bedtime stretches—while each of them is comprised of 8-9 distinct exercises. This is really ingenious of OPPO considering how most of us can’t dedicate hours of our day to get fit. A sad reality of our concrete civilization.

Audio-visual guide

In addition, OPPO Watch also gives an audio-visual guide to usher you through the workout, which was a feature I was quite curious about going into the review. But in my unit, I only got audio feedback under the “get moving” and “bedtime stretches” workouts. I can’t speak with 100% certainty if that’s how it’s supposed to be or not—although it definitely feels like it should.

Likewise, the watch also periodically reminds you to get up and exercise a little, if it senses you sitting still for about an hour. If you find the reminder annoying, you can set it off altogether. Other notable exercise includes breathing, which is really useful when you feel like you’re stressed out. Besides, like every other smartwatch, the OPPO Watch lets you set a per-day target for various activities like steps, workout, calories burnt, etc. And if you meet them at any point in the day, it gives you a swift reminder as well.

On top of all this, it also supports 24-hour heart rate monitoring and sleep monitoring. Seeing it miss out on such important fitness tracking as blood oxygen, women’s health is incredibly disheartening, seeing how it is priced as a premium smartwatch. I did find its sleep tracking to be pretty accurate as it managed to record my time to sleep, awake time, and wake up time almost precisely. Every morning, you also get a notification about your sleep cycle, but it is delivered way too late—almost an hour or more after you’ve woken up.

Built-in GPS

OPPO Watch also has a built-in GPS and I found its location tracking to be fairly correct. There is a flaw in the GPS-locking mechanism though, but not in the way you’re probably imagining. The thing is, whenever I started any workout, I would get a “Searching for GPS” marquee for quite some time, suggesting that the watch is taking too long to lock-in GPS.

But when my impatience would get the best of me and I would hit start on the workout anyway, turns out, the GPS reading had already set-in. So, at this point, I’m just waiting for an update to fix this issue, I’m afraid.

All this data can be viewed to their full extent using the HeyTap Health app. But you’d be surprised to know that you are required to download a separate “WearOS” app at first to pair the two devices. While the app works fine and all, having used smartwatches from Samsung and Huawei, this one takes particularly long to sync data between the phone and the watch. Additionally, I would’ve liked the ability to zoom in on my trail on the app as well. 

Battery Life

  • Either 300/430mAh battery
  • 5V/1.5A Watch VOOC Flash Charging

OPPO Watch - Charging

Getting to the battery, the 46mm OPPO Watch comes with a 430mAh cell. The company advertises that it can get you up to 21 days of battery life, and that could very possibly be the most misleading statement I’ve heard in a while. Yes, technically it might get you that much juice but the thing to note here is that the claimed battery life is strictly under power saver mode the entire time. And who in their right mind would buy a smartwatch, only to wear it devoid of almost 99% of functionality.

Even under the power saver mode, it can track your heart rate and step, so that’s nice I guess. I obviously used it normally and didn’t turn on Always-on Display (AoD) either. Under this “smart mode”, OPPO says the battery should last about 30 hours, but I struggled to get it throughout the day and clocked in about 21 hours almost every day. Turning on the battery saving mode at say 20% (you also get an automatic notification when the juice is low, btw) can go on to last a full day, which is amazing. 

OPPO Watch - Charger

In terms of charging, the OPPO Watch supports 5V/1.5A Watch VOOC Flash Charging that can fully juice up the battery in about an hour. It uses a proprietary charger that clasps the watch magnetically. Unlike other company’s smartwatches, this fast charging mechanism is a breath of fresh air, although I’m not sure what level of impact it’ll have on the battery health in the long run.

Conclusion

To conclude this review, the OPPO Watch is—like most other OPPO products, a fashion-first smartwatch. Its Apple Watch resemblance may be an attractive aspect to many, but when it comes to Apple’s level of health tracking and fitness monitoring, the company still has a long way to go. The display is excellent and WearOS plays pretty nice, but sadly, it emulates the worst part of its inspiration too, which is the battery life. So, while I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to those looking for an absolute premium smartwatch experience, it will more than suffice the needs of an average user.

  • Check out our video review of the OPPO Watch.

OPPO Watch Review: Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • The squarish design looks fashionable
  • Excellent display with rich colors & sharpness
  • Wear OS performs fairly smooth
  • Audio-visual guidance on certain workouts
  • Step, sleep tracking is fairly accurate
  • Watch VOOC Flash Charging

Cons:

  • The design makes for a less durable build quality
  • Tap, swipe navigation isn’t convenient
  • “Ok Google” command simply doesn’t work
  • Can’t add more than 5 widgets on the home screen
  • No automatic workout detection
  • The battery struggles to last throughout the day

OnePlus Nord N10 5G Launched in Nepal: Best phone under 40k?

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With the success of Oneplus Nord in a premium midrange segment, Oneplus Nepal has also launched another mid-range phone in the form of Oneplus Nord N10 5G. It is a slightly cheaper version of the original Oneplus Nord. Let’s learn more about the Oneplus Nord N10 5G along with its price and availability in Nepal.

OnePlus Nord N10 5G Overview

The OnePlus Nord N10 5G features a 6.49-inch FHD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The display panel is an IPS LCD instead of an AMOLED we saw on the Oneplus Nord. Hence, don’t expect the same level of contrast and colors on the N10.

As for performance, the device is powered by Snapdragon 690. It is currently the cheapest 5G chipset in the Snapdragon lineup. It features two cores based on Cortex A77. The rest of the cores are based on Cortex A55. The graphics will be handled by Adreno 619L, which is slightly inferior to that of Adreno 620 used on the Snapdragon 765G of the Oneplus Nord. The integrated X51 modem supports the sub-6Hz 5G band but misses out on the faster mmWave band.

oneplus nord n10 5g Midnight Ice

At the back, the device will flaunt a quad-camera setup. There’s a new 64MP primary camera which is accompanied by an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera. Completing the setup is a gimmicky 2MP monochrome sensor and a 2MP macro camera. The main 64MP lacks OIS but can shoot videos in 4K 30fps and 1080P 60fps with EIS.

In terms of looks, the Nord N10 looks similar to that of the cheaper N100. The back is made of polycarbonate with a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. There’s a punch hole at the left side of the display that houses a 16MP selfie camera. Finally, fueling the device is a 4,300mAh battery with Warp Charge 30T charging.

OnePlus Nord N10 5G Specifications:

  • Display: 6.49” IPS LCD (1080 x 2400 pixels) FHD+ panel; 90Hz refresh rate
  • Protection: Gorilla Glass 3
  • Dimensions: 163 x 74.7 x 8.95mm; Weight: 190g
  • Software: Android 10 with Oxygen OS 10.5
  • Rear Camera: Quad, 64MP primary lens, 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, 2 MP lens, 2MP lens
  • Front Camera: 16MP
  • Chipset: Octa-core 8nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 690
  • CPU: 2GHz x 2 Cortex A77+1.8GHz x 6 Cortex A55
  • GPU: Adreno 619L
  • RAM: 6GB LPDDR4X
  • Storage: 128GB UFS 2.1, expandable memory up to 512GB with microSD
  • Audio: Stereo Speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack
  • Battery: 4300mAh, Warp Charge 30T charging (Type C)
  • Color Option: Midnight Ice

OnePlus Nord N10 5G Price and Availability in Nepal

OnePlus Nord N10 5G Price in Nepal is set at Rs. 39,490. It is currently available for pre-order from sastodeal and Daraz and select retail shops all over Nepal. At this price, it will go head-to-head against the likes of Vivo V20 SE and Samsung Galaxy M51.

Smartphone Model Price in Nepal
Oneplus Nord N10 5G NPR 39,490