If you are tired of your current daily driver and want to upgrade to a more premium experience, there is a piece of good news for you. Samsung Nepal has announced the Mega Exchange Offer under which you can exchange your old smartphone for a cashback on the purchase of Samsung S20 and S20+.
Samsung Mega Exchange Offer
The Mega Exchange Offer announced by Samsung Nepal is targetted to users who are thinking of upgrading to Samsung’s flagship offering. Under this campaign, users can get instant cashback of up to NPR 22,000 in exchange for their old smartphone. This is applicable for users who are upgrading to the Samsung S20 series.
Potential Samsung Galaxy S20 buyers can get instant cashback of up to 19,000 by trading in their old smartphones. If you are thinking of buying the Samsung S20+, the deal gets even sweeter. Potential buyers of Samsung S20+ can get instant cashback of up to NPR 22,000. They can even ignore the cashback altogether and opt for 32-inch Samsung LED TV instead.
Samsung has not publicly disclosed the terms and conditions of the offer. Also, it has not been open about the specs of the LED TV that it is offering through the campaign other than the screen size.
If the deal looks convincing to you, hurry up as the offer is valid till 31 July.
Samsung Galaxy S20 / S20+ Summary
Samsung Galaxy S20 and S20+ are the latest devices under the Galaxy S lineup of flagship devices (alongside the S20 Ultra). The highlight of these devices is their sleek design, excellent cameras, and 120Hz Super AMOLED display. The devices boast of 30X Space Zoom and 8K video recording capabilities. However, it is be noted that the Samsung Galaxy S20 / S20+ available in Nepal features Samsung’s in-house Exynos 990 instead of Snapdragon 865.
Months after the announcement of Quick Charge 3+ for premium mid-range devices, Qualcomm has announced a quick charging solution for flagship devices – Quick Charge 5. It’s the long-awaited successor to 2017’s Quick Charge 4 and offers a more efficient charging process. Read along to learn more about Qualcomm’s new Quick Charge 5.
Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 Overview
Lately, smartphone companies have gone crazy regarding charging speed. We now have smartphone companies boasting about charging speed of 100W and even higher. Qualcomm has joined the “triple-digit fast charging” bandwagon with the announcement of Quick Charge 5, which supports charging speed greater than 100W. However, Quick Charge 5 will be available for smartphone manufacturers to implement them in their flagship devices, making it the fastest commercial charging technology for Android smartphones.
Performance and Efficiency
Compared to its predecessor, Quick Charge 5 is four times faster. Qualcomm claims its latest quick charging solution can charge a 4,500mAh battery from 0 to 50% in five minutes. Similarly, it can charge the device completely within 15 minutes. Quick Charge 5 is 70% more efficient and up to 10-degree Celcius cooler than QC 4/4+.
The charging speed is true in case of a 2S (or 2SnP) battery configuration in which two cells are stacked in a series combination. The dual battery configuration will help Qualcomm double the voltage and speed. For a single cell battery (1S or 1SnP), the peak power is limited between 45W and 50W.
Qualcomm has announced two new PMICs that support both 1SnP and 2SnP batteries – Qualcomm SMB1396 and Qualcomm SMB1398. The ICs support 20V input voltage for both 1S and 2S batteries. They are also compatible with wired and wireless charging.
QC 5 supports Smart Identification of Adapter Technologies. The company says that accessory manufacturers often misguide consumers with inaccurate ratings. Thus, QC 5 won’t rely on the information provided and will instead identify the capabilities on its own and adjust the charging behavior accordingly. QC 5 compatible devices will also come with 17 different levels of protection (e.g: voltage, current, thermal, timer, etc.).
Quick Charging 5 Accessories
QC 5 accessories will have to provide a minimum output of 20V. These accessories are backward compatible with QC 2.0, 3.2, 4, and 4+. QC 5 chargers can also be used to charge USB-PD compatible devices. Thus, QC 5 adapters can also be used to charge iPhone 7 and newer iPhones.
QC 5 is based on USB PD-PPS protocol, which means you may not need to buy a separate QC 5 charger. Any charger that supports PD-PPS will be enough to charge your QC 5 compatible device at QC 5 speeds, given it comes with voltage and current ratings.
Qualcomm Quick Charge 5 Availability
Qualcomm has announced that we can expect the first phone with Quick Charge 5 capabilities to launch in the Q3 of 2020. Snapdragon 865 / 865+ and future high-end Snapdragon chipsets will be able to make use of this fast charging technology. Xiaomi has also confirmed that devices with QC 5 are in the company’s pipeline.
Nagmani International, the official distributor for ASUS products in Nepal, has launched Asus VivoBook S15 S531FL. This ultrabook features a stylish design and equally appealing internal specs. Let’s take a look at the specs, features, expected price, and availability of Asus VivoBook S15 S531FL in Nepal.
Asus VivoBook S15 S531FL Overview
Design and Display
The first thing that you will notice on the VivoBook S15 is its color scheme. Asus has made use of the color-blocking technique in which contrasting colors are paired for an eye-catching design. The ultrabook is offered in five color options – Transparent Silver, Gun Metal, Cobalt Blue, Moss Green, and Punk Pink. However, the Punk Pink option is not available in Nepal. The VivoBook S15 flaunts a metal chassis with a tactile textured finish on top. The laptop is 18mm thick and weighs around 1.8kg.
It comes with a 15.6-inch LED-backlit display with an FHD resolution of 1920 x 1080. The aspect ratio here is 16:9. Its 5.2mm bezels contribute to the 88% screen to body ratio. Similarly, the viewing angle on this one is advertised at 178-degree.
Performance and Memory
Though Asus still offers the S15 with Intel’s 8th Gen processors, the one launched in Nepal features the 10th Gen Intel Core processors. You can choose between Core i5 10210U and Core i7 10510U. Both processors feature 4 cores and 8 threads, but the Core i7 has better clock speed (1.8 – 4.9 GHz) compared to the Core i5 (1.6 – 4.2GHz). Similarly, Core i7 has an 8MB cache which is better than 6MB cache on the i5.
The support for higher RAM speed on the Core i7 has been wasted as both variants come with 8GB of DDR4 RAM (2400MHz). The i5 variant has 512GB of PCIe SSD while the Core i7 enjoys dual-storage of 1TB HDD + 256GB PCIe SSD. For graphics, the VivoBook S15 comes with entry-level NVIDIA GeForce MX250.
VivoBook S15 features a full-size keyboard with a dedicated numeric pad. The ErgoLift hinge that can tilt the keyboard by 3-degree for better typing position. The keys are backlit for better typing experience in a dark environment. Asus has included Smart Pad 2.0 on this laptop, which means the user can also use the trackpad as a secondary screen. It comes with intelligent palm rejection, Precision Touchpad (PTP) technology, and four-finger smart gesture support.
Battery and Others
The VivoBook S15 packs in a 3-cell 42 Watt-hour battery with fast charging support. You get a 65W power adapter which is included in the box, that can charge the device from 0 to 60% inside 50 minutes. The ultrabook comes with two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Ports ( 1 x Type-C and 1X Type-A). Similarly, it includes two USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI port, an audio combo jack, a microSD card reader, and a DC-in port.
Getting to audio, the VivoBook S15 comes with Harmon Kardon certified sound system. The ASUS SonicMaster stereo audio system comes with a surround sound system and a smart amplifier. The array microphone supports Cortona voice-recognition. Similarly, the IR camera supports Windows Hello for facial unlock.
ASUS VivoBook S15 S531FL Specifications:
Dimension: 14.06W x 9.06D x 0.7H-inches; 1.8kg (3.97 pounds)
Ports: 1x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C, 1x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A, 2x USB 2.0, 1x Standard HDMI 2.0, 1x Audio combo jack, 1 x MicroSD card reader, 1x DC-in
Asus VivoBook S15 Price in Nepal and Availability
Asus VivoBook S15 S531FL is now available in Nepal with a price tag of Rs. 116,477 for the Intel Core i5 variant and Rs. 136,364 for the Core i7 variant. These laptops are up for sale on Nagmani International’s official website or different retail outlets throughout Nepal.
Nokia has followed the launch of the 5310 (2020) in Nepal with two new feature phones – Nokia 125 and Nokia 150 (2020). The latter is the refresh of the Nokia 150 that was launched by HMD Global in 2016. Nokia 125, on the other hand, is a slightly inexpensive variant of the Nokia 150 (2020) and comes with some limitation in terms of specs. Let’s take a look at the specs, features, price, and availability of Nokia 125 and Nokia 150 (2020) in Nepal.
Nokia 150 (2020), Nokia 125 Overview
Design and Display
Nokia 150 (2020)
Both Nokia 150 (2020) and Nokia 125 feature a 2.4-inch QVGA screen. The body is made up of polycarbonate material. In spite of similar dimensions, the Nokia 150 2020 (90.54 gm) is lighter than the 125 (91.3 g). According to Nokia, the longer design creates more space for the buttons. The buttons are big and are expected to make navigation and dialing and texting easier.
There are some differences in the design of the two devices. You can notice the keypad in the Nokia 125 pops outwards whereas it is more glued to the body in the 150. Similarly, the rest of the keys are also oriented differently in these two phones.
Features
Nokia has not disclosed the exact SKU, but it has confirmed the processor backing the devices is from MediaTek. As far as memory is concerned, Nokia 125 and 150 (2020) come with 4MB of RAM and 4MB of internal storage.
Nokia 125
The Nokia 150 (2020) is more of a multimedia device as it comes with an in-built MP3 player and expandable storage (via microSD card) of up to 32GB. It also comes with support for Bluetooth 3.0. Both the phones ship with the Series 30+ mobile operating system and you will enjoy classic Snake Xenzia game on both the devices.
Similarly, Nokia 150 (2020) has a camera as well. While the Nokia 125 lacks the VGA rear camera, it retains the LED flash. Users should be able to use it as a flashlight.
Battery and rest of the specs
Both feature phones get their juice from a 1020mAh battery. Nokia claims the battery offers up to 19.4 hours of talk time and up to 23.4 days of standby. The BL-5C battery is user-replaceable. In terms of charging, they will ship with a micro-USB charging cable. These two feature phones are also protected by Nokia’s 365 days replacement guarantee.
Nokia 150 (2020), Nokia 125 Specifications:
Dimension: 132 x 50.5 x 15-mm
Weight: 90.54 g (Nokia 150) / 91.3 g (Nokia 125)
Display: 2.4-inch QVGA screen
Chipset: Unspecified MediaTek processor
OS: Nokia Series 30+
RAM: 4MB
Storage: 4MB, expandable up to 32GB via SD card in Nokia 150 (2020)
Rear Camera: VGA camera (Nokia 150) with LED Flash
Battery: 1040mAh battery (user-replaceable); micro-USB port
Other: Dual-sim (Mini), Bluetooth 3.0 (Nokia 150), GSM 900/1800 bands, 3.5mm jack, Wireless FM, MP3 Player (Nokia 150)
Nokia 150 (2020), Nokia 125 Price in Nepal and Availability
Nokia 150 (2020) and Nokia 125 have been launched in Nepal with the pricetags of Rs. 4,144 and Rs. 3,444 respectively. You can buy these phones from different Nokia retail outlets all around the country.
Samsung launches a lot of smartphones every year, but in doing so, they do bring some overpriced and underpowering phones. The Galaxy M11 we reviewed a while ago was one such example, and since then I have been using the GalaxyA21s alongside my favorite budget phone at the moment, the Galaxy M21. The A21s is slightly costlier than the M21 for the same memory configuration, so which one should you pick? Let’s find out in this review of the Samsung Galaxy A21s.
Samsung Galaxy A21s Specifications:
Body: 6.44 x 2.96 x 0.35 inches; 192 gm
Display: 6.5-inches PLS TFT LCD panel; 270PPI
Resolution: HD+ (1600 x 720 pixels); 20:9 aspect ratio
Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS/AGPS/GLONASS/GALILEO/BDS, USB Type-C
Battery: 5000mAh with 15W fast charging
Colors: Black, White, Blue, Red
Price in Nepal: Rs. 24,999 (4/64GB)
Samsung Galaxy A21s Review:
Design
A stunning and mesmerizing reflective rear panel
Slightly hefty and an all-plastic build
So, the first thing to like about the Galaxy A21s is its design.
Take a look at this thing, absolutely stunning. This glossy and reflective real panel could mesmerize you for days, I know it did for me so. Thanks to its curved body, the phone has an excellent grip as well with a little bit of heft too, though I would’ve preferred something lighter. Surprisingly, the A21s is slightly heavier than the Galaxy M21 which comes with a 20% larger battery.
Design
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Rear Panel
Volume Rockers, Power Button
Speaker Grille, Type-C port, 3.5mm headphone jack
SIM Tray
As expected, Samsung has gone with an all-out plastic build and the glossy finish definitely aids in some smudges and fingerprints sticking to the phone. Yet, I am happy to report that it’s not what you call a “fingerprint magnet”. Therefore, you can retain the gorgeous look for long without breaking any sweat.
Ergonomic button placement
Both the power & volume rockers reside on the right while a SIM tray sits on the left side of the phone. The buttons click just fine and are positioned well enough to be at reach. The top portion of A21s remains mostly barren except for the microphone, while a 3.5mm headphone jack, a Type-C data/charging port, and a speaker grille can be found at the bottom.
Once again getting to the back of the phone, it borrows the L-shaped camera module from other phones like the Galaxy M31 with a slight but inconsiderable bump. Adjacent to the cameras is a traditional fingerprint sensor we’ve typically seen in many budget-oriented and mid-range Samsung smartphones. Anyway, A21s has an outstanding design for an affordable phone even though the company could’ve worked the weight a bit. Therefore, this is one of the only two things that I absolutely am fond of about this phone.
Display
6.5-inches PLS TFT LCD panel with HD+ resolution
Mediocre sharpness & color reproduction, plus screen flickering issue
Moving on, the display is usually where Samsung phones shine the brightest but sadly it’s not the case here. It’s just bad, so bad. Even the trendier punch-hole cutout for the front-facing camera isn’t able to save grace for the phone’s display quality. I mean, have a peek for yourself. This undersaturated panel has a terrible color reproduction and you could instantly recognize the mediocrity.
Getting to the nitty-gritty details, the Galaxy A21s has a 6.5” Infinity-O PLS TFT LCD panel with an HD+ resolution and a 20:9 aspect ratio. So yeah, the viewing experience on this phone wasn’t great at all. The sharpness isn’t quite there and I’ve already talked about the inferior colors.
Punch-hole cutout can’t save the averageness
The punch hole on the left corner does add to the modern-ness of the phone and all, but it is still a victim to mild screen bleed around the outline of the cutout. Brightness is okay for indoors although the A21s will make you work in terms of visibility when you’re directly under the sun.
Adding further insult to the injury is how the display flickers. What?! That, in no way, should be happening on a 2020 phone. When sliding down the brightness of the phone to the minimum or turning on the “Medium Power Saving” mode, I could clearly notice how the Samsung Galaxy A21s fails to close-in on the set level of brightness during my review. This is most noticeable when you’ve turned off dark mode and are using light-themed applications like Facebook, or just browsing through the settings.
Talking about the dark mode, I must admit it is well implemented even though it lacks the Always-on Display feature found on AMOLED-boasting Samsung mid-rangers like the Galaxy M21. All in all, A21s has a less-than-average display with forgettable colors, average sharpness, and a daunting screen-flicker issue. The standard Galaxy A20 of last year had a stunning AMOLED panel and I cannot fathom why the company is going with a menial one on its successors.
13MP front-facing camera inside a punch-hole cutout
Cameras
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Back
Front
Camera-wise, the Galaxy A21s has a quad-lens system at the back with a 48MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultrawide lens, a 2MP macro lens, and a 2MP depth sensor.
Macro Images
As usual, the 2MP macro lens is pretty much useless as shots come out void of any detail.
Macro
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And you’ll need to put in a lot of work for just a mediocre shot.
Normal Images
The other three lenses are actually very good. But comparing the primary 48MP sensor with the M21, it’s almost identical except for the minute difference in color tone.
Normal - Comparison
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A21s
M21
A21s
M21
A21s
M21
A21s
M21
Both these phones are capable of capturing good daylight images, with good colors, contrast, and dynamic range. Likewise, they are also on par when it comes to details and sharpness.
Wideangle Images
Wide-angle photos share a similar story. That is, it’s identical to that of the M21 images. In day times, you will get good colors, sufficient dynamic range, and wide field of view.
Wideangle - Comparison
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A21s
M21
A21s
M21
A21s
M21
Overall, the A21s wide-angle images are better than your typical budget phones like Realme 6i or the Redmi Note 9.
Portrait Images
In terms of portraits too, its good for the price with good subject focus, decent bokeh, and background colors.
Portrait - Comparison
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A21s
M21
A21s
M21
It is almost identical to that of the M21’s portrait as you can see in this image here.
Selfie Images
Selfie-wise, you get a 13MP sensor whose images look almost as good as the selfies from the 20MP sensor of the Galaxy M21. There is just a slight difference in skin color, otherwise, images from both the devices look almost identical.
Selfie & Portrait Selfie - Comparison
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A21s - Selfie
M21 - Selfie
A21s - Portrait Selfie
M21 - Portrait Selfie
A21s - Selfie
M21 - Selfie
A21s - Portrait Selfie
M21 - Portrait Selfie
The portrait selfies share the same fate where both have good colors but average edge detection.
Nighttime Images
Nighttime images on the A21s wildly vary between the normal and wide-angle mode, with the latter resulting in much warmer shots. Details aren’t quite there either. And the most disappointing part is, you don’t get night mode here.
Nighttime
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Nighttime
Wideangle Nighttime
Nighttime
Wideangle Nighttime
Nighttime
Wideangle Nighttime
Finally, videos are maxed out to FHD resolution at 30fps on both front and rear cameras of Galaxy A21s; both of which lack any sort of stabilization. Recordings from the back camera are good enough for regular usage as it has good color reproduction and a little wide field of view. On the contrary, selfie videos are riddled with overexposure and a terrible dynamic range.
But, overall, I’ve liked the cameras of the A21s, It’s almost identical to that of M21, and is better than say its competitors like the Redmi Note 9 or the Realme 6i.
Performance & Memory
Octa-core Exynos 850 SoC (8nm)
Either 3, 4, or 6GB of RAM with up to 64GB of internal storage
The performance on this phone isn’t one for the books either. Well, Samsung has been consistently notorious regarding indecent chipset selection but this one takes the cake for the most out-of-place SoC put on a midrange phone. And yeah, it’s a homegrown Exynos silicon from the company. To be fair, it is manufactured under a much efficient 8nm process node and therefore is very energy-friendly.
This new Exynos 850 has octa-core Cortex-A55 CPU, all clocked at 2.0GHz. We’re already familiar with this Arm design and know that it’s a power-efficient CPU. Because of this, the performance of A21s is below an acceptable level. In terms of memory, you can choose between 3, 4, or 6GB of RAM with up to 64GB of internal storage depending on the market. It runs on OneUI Core instead of the standard OneUI and thus is void of certain features like a dedicated night mode on the camera, Secure Folder, etc.
But it didn’t really bother me as the core experience was pretty much what I’ve come to look for from OneUI. My review unit has a 4/64GB configuration and my experience with the phone was as abysmal as you can imagine. I’m sure memory management could get a little better in higher RAM variants but I can guarantee that paying for more memory won’t result in a faster, swifter workflow on the A21s.
Lightweight apps work fine though
Yet, the Exynos 850 can handle lightweight apps and multitasking between them pretty well. But if they’re joined by some other heavy apps or games, then the equation becomes entirely different. Memory management isn’t great (a reminder once again that the unit I’m using has 4GB RAM) and the phone misbehaves when it goes to sleep with RAM-intensive applications still in the memory and you try to wake it up.
Gaming
Likewise, don’t expect any outlandishly extravagant gaming experience on the A21s either. Popular titles like PUBG Mobile, PUBG Lite, and Call of Duty: Mobile is playable but there is a catch with each of them. PUBGm was almost entirely unplayable with noticeable lag & stutter under “Smooth” graphics and “Low” frame rate, even under “Deathmatch” mode.
So, I tried out its lite version instead which ran comparatively well under “Smooth” graphics and “Medium” frame rate. Shockingly, I witnessed smooth gameplay in CoD under “Medium” graphics and “High” frame rate. Besides these, other undemanding games like Injustice 2, Mobile Legends are well within the playable boundary too.
Battery
5000mAh battery with 15W fast charging
Easily a two-day phone with light to medium usage
Do you remember how I said that the design of the Galaxy A21s is one of the only two things I like about the phone? Well, the other thing is the battery. It has a big 5000mAh cell albeit some “M” series phones from Samsung come with a larger 6000mAh battery. Nevertheless, I can honestly say it has a better endurance than those phones which is mainly thanks to the following factors:
1
An energy-efficient 8nm Exynos 850 chipset
2
A less battery-hungry PLS TFT display
3
An HD+ (720p) resolution
The phone easily lasted me two days which consisted of hours of web browsing, YouTube binging, and a little bit of gaming now and then. What’s more impressive is how the phone is prone to excessive heating even after a prolonged session of gaming. So, good job on the battery front, Samsung! Still, charging it is a pain as I clocked in 2 hours and 26 minutes to fully charge the phone from nil to full.
In the middle of praising the phone for its excellent battery, I must share a rather unfortunate incident. My review unit of the A21s suddenly went to the boot menu and got stuck there once when it was running low on battery. I remember it had about 14% charge left and just as I was about to plug-in the cable, all I could see was the Samsung logo on the startup screen. Thus, I had to force restart the device by long-pressing the power and volume-down button at once. However, this didn’t reoccur next time the phone was running low on battery.
Others
What else? Yes, let’s discuss the fingerprint sensor. The registration process was a little weird, to begin with. Usually, a phone would prompt you to scan the front of the finger, then its edges separately to get a good read of the entire finger. But on this phone, all you need to do is scan the finger in the same position (if you feel like it) and that’s about it.
As a result, the phone would only recognize my fingerprint, like 3 out of 5 times. A21s also features face-unlock which isn’t the fastest and only works with sufficient ambient light around you.
The audio output from the single bottom-firing speaker is okay, but only at low to medium volume. Cranking up the loudness will result in lossy and distorted audio. It supports Dolby Atmos too but that only works on wired earphones or Bluetooth headsets. Here, the wired output is considerably better than the speakers.
Final Words
In conclusion, the Samsung Galaxy A21s is an honestly worse-than-average smartphone for the price as I discovered during my review. Featuring an HD+ TFT panel, a processor with only power-efficient CPU cores, etc. speak volumes. The only things in its favor are the design, and battery endurance.
But ultimately, these are like putting lipstick on a pig. The end-user experience is just not worth the price and we strongly recommend you go for the Galaxy M21 instead, which has an AMOLED display, powerful Exynos 9611 SoC, and better cameras at a more or less the same price.
Watch our video review of the Samsung Galaxy A21s!
Samsung Galaxy A21s Review: Pros & Cons
Pros:
Excellent design with a fashionable reflective rear panel
Great battery endurance (a proper two-day phone)
Decent camera performance
Cons:
Terrible value for money
Forgettable display with unsaturated colors & minimal sharpness
Exynos 850 is power-efficient but not that powerful
After the success of the Redmi Note 9 Pro and Pro Max, Xiaomi had added an even more affordable device in the lineup, which is the new Redmi Note 9. It is the true successor to last year’s Redmi Note 8, which is still a decent budget phone. And here in Nepal, Note 9 directly competes against Samsung’s Galaxy M21 as it is price exactly the same at Rs. 22,999. So, can the Redmi Note 9 ruffle some feathers in this price point against the reigning champ? Do I recommend this phone above the Galaxy M21? Let’s find out in this review of the Redmi Note 9.
Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS/AGPS/GLONASS/GALILEO/BDS, USB Type-C
Battery: 5020mAh with 18W fast charging (22.5W charger inside the box)
Colors: Forest Green, Midnight Grey, Polar White
Price in Nepal: Rs. 22,999 (4/128GB)
Redmi Note 9 Review:
Design
A downgraded plastic-back compared to its predecessor
Has a glossy finish and the punch-hole cutout looks nice
In terms of design, the phone borrows its looks from the “Pro” sibling as it has a similar camera layout and the overall shiny looks. Similarly, the Redmi Note 9 brings some curves at the back for a better grip.
Design
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Volume Rockers, Power Button
Rear Panel
Speaker Grille, Type-C port, 3.5mm headphone jack
However, as it is with every glossy phone, this one is prone to smudges too and I had to clean it up way too often. Surprisingly, the build material here is plastic, this time. And if you recall, Xiaomi had gone with a much more premium glass back on its predecessor, the Redmi Note 8. So, if you ask me, I prefer the hand feel of the expensive Redmi Note 9 Pro better compared to this.
The standard Note 9 also doesn’t provide a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and rather features a traditional one at the bottom of the rear cameras. And about its performance, it is as fast and accurate as expected. All the buttons have been placed on the right side of the phone but disappointingly aren’t tactile enough and they were even unresponsive at times.
Display
6.5-inch IPS LCD panel with FHD+ resolution
Protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5
A rather inferior color reproduction ability
Getting to the display, Redmi Note 9 retains the punch-hole cutout for the front-facing camera. But here, it has been shifted to the left side compared to one on the center like the Note 9 Pro. Yet, I don’t mind this change at all, and the looks of Redmi Note 9 eventually grew on me during the review period.
Having said that, this 6.5-inches IPS display with FHD+ resolution is just about average; although you won’t notice this inferiority when browsing through regular apps like Facebook, Instagram, and such.
But it is when watching videos on YouTube that you can differentiate the quality compared to say, the Galaxy M21 with its AMOLED panel. For instance, here you can see how the color tone of my face is abnormally cooler while the comparatively warmer tone on the M21 is way better than this.
Brightness is surprisingly sufficient for both indoors and sunny outdoors which is great. The display has been protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 5. However, I am a little disappointed with the quality of the panel itself, as it is inferior to the Note 9 Pro and its direct competitor the Galaxy M21.
Performance
World’s first phone to be powered by Helio G85 SoC
4GB of RAM with 128GB of internal storage
Talking about the internals, well, we’ve always come to expect a stellar performance from Xiaomi phones and this one is powered by the new gaming-focused Helio G85 chipset from MediaTek. Being the first phone to feature this SoC, I was really eager to test out the gaming capability of this thing. Yet, my excitement was very short-lived as the Redmi Note 9 showed pretty average results in my gaming tests.
I tried out PUBG Mobile under Smooth graphics and Ultra frame rate and got a weirdly inconsistent performance. So, I tweaked the settings to “HD” graphics and “High” frame rate instead which worked well; but at an expense of frame rates. In comparison, the Galaxy M21 with its Exynos 9611 is much more optimized and I could easily play the game under “HD” graphics and “Ultra” frame rates with no hiccup.
Call of Duty: Mobile is maxed out at “Medium” graphics and “High” frame rate whereas M21 lets you play under “High” graphics too. Moreover, the touch response on the Redmi Note 9 isn’t great either. Therefore, I have been little let down by Xiaomi on the gaming promises of this phone.
However, the regular day-to-day tasks are well handled by the on-board SoC. Multitasking is swift and using everyday apps like Facebook, Instagram resulted in no trouble of any sort.
Well-optimized MIUI!
MIUI runs good enough too with swift transitions and good resource management. It also offers you tons of customization and battery-saving features, that I have always liked. Having said that, I still think the Helio G85 isn’t as optimized as its closest Snapdragon counterpart. That’s because, at times, there’s a bit of lag and choppy animation while navigating through the UI.
One more thing, most of you guys may be already familiar with the in-built “Cleaner” app on the device. First pointed out by Beebom on their review of the Poco M2 Pro, this app requires permission for location, microphone, contacts, etc. which is pretty weird for a service that should only require storage usage rights.
What’s even more worrisome for the Indian audience especially is that the Cleaner app sends its data to Clean Master’s servers which is one of the 59 Chinese apps recently banned by the Indian government. Similarly, the Redmi Note 9 also comes with tons of bloatware pre-installed including some outlandish games like “Bubble Story”, “Crazy Juicer”.
13MP front-facing camera inside a punch-hole cutout
Cameras
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Back
Front
Moving on to the cameras, the phone comes with a quad-camera setup. You get a 48MP primary sensor alongside an 8MP ultra-wide lens, a 2MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro lens with autofocus.
Macro Images
And you guys might be tired of hearing this and I’m tired of saying this but a mediocre 2MP macro lens on a phone solely to justify the “quad-camera” title is ridiculous.
Macro
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The macro images from Redmi Note 9 are void of any innovation and the images look washed out, with low details, and are pretty much useless.
Normal Images
Let’s talk about the primary 48MP lens now. Even though it is good for the price, I would only rate it as average when comparing it against Samsung’s Galaxy M21. You can see how Note 9 lacks in terms of colors and details while looking a bit hazy as well
Normal - Comparison
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Redmi Note 9
Galaxy M21
Redmi Note 9
Galaxy M21
Redmi Note 9
Galaxy M21
On the contrary, images from M21 look livelier. Just check out this image of a leaf I took. The one from M21 has more details, saturation, and vibrancy whereas Note 9’s shot looks washed out with poor dynamic range.
Portrait Images
Portraits, on the other hand, look decent with good enough edge detection.
Portrait
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Redmi Note 9
Redmi Note 9
M21
But bringing the M21 into the mix, you will instantly notice how the background exposure isn’t done properly on Note 9 with inconsistent bokeh effect at times.
Nighttime Images
Likewise, the quality of the image degrades as you move to an environment with lesser light.
Nighttime
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Redmi Note 9 - Normal Nighttime
Galaxy M21 - Normal Nighttime
Redmi Note 9 - Night Mode
Galaxy M21 - Night Mode
And the nighttime images are grainy with very little details. The dedicated night mode does improve them by a bit.
Wideangle Images
Photos from the 8MP ultra-wide lens are nothing to write home about either as they tend to have limited dynamic range, details, and colors. In comparison, M21’s wide-angle images are much better with a wider field of view too.
Wideangle
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Regular
Wideangle
Redmi Note 9 - Wideangle
Galaxy M21 - Wideangle
What’s left? Oh, yes… video. Here, the highest resolution Note 9 can go is 1080p/30fps. That too without any kind of stabilization. The recordings are wobbly but more importantly, its colors and dynamic range are way worse compared to M21.
Selfie Images
The front camera shares a contrasting story for the first time in our camera test as the selfies are very good.
Selfie
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Redmi Note 9
Galaxy M21
Redmi Note 9
Galaxy M21
Even though the images from M21 have that pleasing reddish-tone to them, photos from Note 9 are a visual treat as well.
Portrait Selfie Images
Portrait selfies are handled through software and therefore the edge detection isn’t that good but gets the job done. However, like regular selfies, it struggles when there is a light source directly at the back and therefore gets overexposed. Here too, the M21 seems to do a better job.
Portrait Selfie
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I’m gonna quickly dismiss the vlogging capabilities of Redmi Note 9 from the selfie camera as it is just terrible.
In summation, Note 9’s cameras are only average and the M21 easily wins out against it. My big concern is for the average non-tech buyer, who may judge the Note 9 and the costlier Note 9 Pro as equals because of the similar 48MP quad-camera setup, but in reality, that is far from the truth.
Battery
5020mAh battery with 18W fast charging support
22.5W fast charger inside the box
Talking about the battery, the 5020mAh cell on the Redmi Note 9 gives great endurance, which is further supported by efficient memory management that I talked about earlier. During my test, I used it as my secondary device with a Ncell SIM and got about 7 hours of screen-on time which comprised of watching videos for 2 hours or more, about an hour of gaming, and chatting on WhatsApp and Messenger for 2 hours or so.
You also get a fast 22.5W charger inside the box, which surprisingly isn’t that fast. It takes the phone from 0 to 90% in under 2 hours although filling up the final 10% took me more than 30 minutes.
Extras
Getting to the extras, the speakers on the Redmi Note 9 as average too. And Like with every Xiaomi phones, this one gets an IR blaster as well. In terms of call quality and network signal strength, I have zero complaints.
Conclusion
To conclude, the Redmi Note 9 is a pretty average offering as we’ve discovered during our review; especially considering how last year’s Redmi Note 8 was such a great value proposition. Discounting the design and battery, I don’t see any significant improvement the Note 9 brings over the Redmi Note 8. But that’s not even the biggest issue this phone faces. Samsung’s Galaxy M21 is a much better phone for the same price.
You might’ve picked up on how it outclasses the Note 9 in aspects like display, performance, and camera, which are like the 3 prime pillars for an excellent budget smartphone.
I’d also wanna go a little off-topic and point out how the post-lockdown smartphone market has resulted in a price hike and some off-putting releases. We saw Samsung launch the Galaxy M11 and Galaxy A21s which fell into this category and unfortunately, Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 9 follows the same bandwagon.
Watch our video review of the Redmi Note 9!
Redmi Note 9 Review: Pros & Cons
Pros:
Good-looking and modern design
Feature-rich and well-optimized MIUI
Excellent battery endurance and a fast charger inside the box
The Galaxy M21 and M31 that we reviewed a while back were excellent value-for-money smartphones; both equipped with an excellent Super AMOLED display, awesome cameras, and a big 6,000mAh battery. These devices lived up to the legacy of Samsung’s ‘M’ series of smartphones. And now, the company has added a new entry to the lineup in the form of Galaxy M11, which is slightly cheaper than the M21. Unfortunately, it is not a great addition to the “M” series as I’ll explain it all in this review of the Samsung Galaxy M11.
Samsung Galaxy M11 Specifications:
Body: 6.35 x 3.00 x 0.35 inches; 197 gm
Display: 6.4-inches PLS TFT LCD panel; 268PPI
Resolution: HD+ (1560 x 720 pixels); 19.5:9 aspect ratio
Chipset: Snapdragon 450; 14nm Mobile Platform
CPU: Octa-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU: Adreno 506
RAM: 3/4GB
Storage: 32/64GB eMMC 5.1 (expandable via a Micro SD card)
Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS/AGPS/GLONASS/BDS, USB Type-C
Battery: 5000mAh with 15W fast charging
Colors: Black, Metallic Blue, Violet
Price in Nepal: Rs. 18,999 (3/32GB)
Samsung Galaxy M11 Review:
Thanks to its entry-level pricing, you might expect the M11 to be an equally great value-oriented phone like its expensive siblings. But that’s far from the truth. Frankly, I am quite disappointed with Samsung as they could’ve easily capitalized on the anti-China sentiment in India by packing in a good set of specs inside the phone. Launched at Rs. 19,000 in Nepal and for Rs. 11,000 in India, I simply don’t recommend anyone buy this phone; and there are a bunch of reasons for that.
Design
Has an all-plastic build
Is lightweight and comfortable to hold
Starting with the design, the Galaxy M11 has a matte plastic back. And honestly, I have no problem with it. The phone is lightweight with an ergonomic design featuring curved edges that helps for a comfortable grip. Similarly, the fingerprint sensor is located at the back and is positioned perfectly in terms of reach and unlocking.
Design
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Metallic Blue
Black
3.5mm headphone jack
Speaker grille, Type-C port
It is pretty fast and accurate too. You can opt for the software-based face unlock as well but this only works when you are in an environment with enough lighting. All the buttons are placed on the right side and are fairly tactile and responsive to click as well.
Display
A mediocre 6.4-inch PLS TFT LCD panel with HD+ resolution
Modern punch-hole cutout for the front-facing camera
Moving on to the display, you get a 6.4-inches HD+ TFT panel with a punch-hole cutout on the top left side for the front-facing camera. Even though it’s a TFT panel, Galaxy M11 isn’t terrible to look at.
It has an acceptable color spectrum with good enough viewing angle and a moderate level of brightness. Yet, the problem lies in what a few extra bucks can get you. For instance, the Galaxy M21 offers a much superior FHD+ Super AMOLED panel plus a whole lot more, and costs just about Rs. 4,000 for this upgrade in Nepal.
As a result, I really wish Samsung had gone with an FHD IPS panel, or even a 720p Super AMOLED one instead. Having praised the company’s display technologies for so long, it is weird to see Samsung cut corners on the display department.
Performance
Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 SoC (14nm)
Either 3 or 4GB of RAM with up to 64GB of expandable storage
Next up is performance and this is where I am truly, truly disappointed.
While its direct competitors like Realme and Redmi are opting for the latest gaming-centric Helio chipsets from MediaTek, Samsung is still stuck with the 2-year old Snapdragon 450 on the Galaxy M11.
Pair this outdated chipset with a mere 3GB of RAM, the performance on this phone isn’t that good. But casual tasks like web browsing, chatting, or light multitasking are well handled by the M11. However, that’s about it. The inferiority of the phone becomes vivid once you bring slightly heavier apps into the mix, or try to relaunch an app after keeping it in the memory for a while.
To compare, I have also been using the Redmi Note 9 which comes at a similar price. And here, the Note 9 performs far better with greater fluidity and responsiveness compared to the Galaxy M11, thanks to the Helio G85 SoC.
Gaming
Getting to gaming, well… you can already imagine how my experience went and you’d be right. I couldn’t even play the standard PUBG Mobile in the lowest of settings. Therefore, I had to resort to PUBG Lite for a playable experience instead. Surprisingly, Call of Duty Mobile is smooth enough under medium settings.
Moreover, while playing games, it was also quite disappointing to witness the terrible touch latency which totally ruined my gaming experience altogether.
Now, packing in a good chipset on a budget or mid-range phone has never been Samsung’s strongest suits. But seeing this sudden this surge in demand for MediaTek’s affordable SoCs should be an eye-opener for the company at least. I mean, I’ve already made the point clear regarding just how the Snapdragon 450 on the Galaxy M11 lags behind the ones with Helio G70 or G80.
Additionally, because of the Snapdragon 450, Samsung has had to install the “Core” version of its regular One UI 2.0 based on Android 10. What this means is that you don’t get all the features you’d typically find in other Samsung mid-range smartphones, like a dedicated night mode in camera, Knox security, etc. Yeah, this phone is full of compromises!
Cameras
Triple cameras at the back
(13MP primary, 5MP ultrawide, 2MP depth sensor)
8MP front-facing camera inside a punch-hole
Cameras
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Back
Front
Now moving on to the cameras, disappointments follow once again. The Galaxy M11 has a triple camera setup at the back which consists of a 13MP primary lens, a 5MP ultra-wide-angle lens, and finally a 2MP depth sensor.
Primary Images
Honestly, the images from the primary sensor do a pretty good job under well-lit environments.
Normal
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However, the overall color-calibration algorithm is simply not on the same level as that of the M21. Due to this, the shots don’t look as livelier as I’d want
Normal - Comparison
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M11
M21
M11
M21
M11
M21
M11
M21
And I’m not even expecting anything extraordinary out of this thing considering the price!
Low-light Images
Similarly, the low light images are pretty unusable since they tend to be flooded with grains and unless your hands are steady as a rock, you’ll always be getting a blurry image.
Low-light
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As I said earlier, there is no dedicated night mode on this phone either which further complicates the situation.
Wideangle Images
Talking about the ultra-wide lens, it’s no good either.
Wideangle
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The resulting shots have less-than-vibrant colors, lack any sort of detail, and are therefore subpar only.
Portrait Images
Here, the portrait images from Samsung Galaxy M11 are pretty average too as we came to discover during our review.
Portrait
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You can see how inaccurate and inadequate the background blur is which goes on to show their budget roots.
Selfie Images
And like the rear cameras, the 8MP selfie camera produces just average results too. The skin tone looks damningly pale and unlike anything you’d expect from a Samsung smartphone.
Selfie & Portrait Selfie
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Selfie
Selfie
Portrait Selfie
Likewise, let’s not talk about the videos in general as it is limited to 1080p resolution at 30fps with average colors, zero stabilization, plus the limited dynamic range.
So overall, the Galaxy M11 is slightly below what I’d call average. On the contrary, the slightly costlier Galaxy M21 captures much better-looking images in practically every aspect of photo or videography.
Battery
5000mAh battery with 15W fast charging
Tired of hearing me complain about the phone? Well, a small piece of good news comes in the form of battery endurance.
The phone has a massive 5000mAh cell which easily lasted me a day and a half. Samsung has also included a decent 15W fast charger inside the phone that takes about 2 and 15 minutes to juice up the Galaxy M11 from nil to full charge.
Conclusion
Let’s wrap it all up! Now, look, I am fond of Samsung’s products. I’m using the Galaxy S20+ as my primary phone, the Watch Active 2 as my smartwatch and I’ve openly praised the Galaxy M21 and M31.
Having said that, the M11 on the other hand is just an average offering; and that’s putting it nicely. Samsung definitely could have or rather, should have given much better specs, especially in the performance and the camera department.
Thus, if you ask me, I would strongly recommend that you skip M11 with the M21 by cashing in an additional couple of thousand rupees. With the M21, you’ll be getting a much better device in general. Or yet, if you are in a really tight budget and cannot afford to spend more, I suggest you should go for last year’s midrange phones like the Redmi Note 8 or the Realme 5.
Watch our video review of the Samsung Galaxy M11!
Samsung Galaxy M11 Review: Pros & Cons
Pros:
Decent design, lightweight and ergonomic build quality
Great battery endurance
Cons:
Terrible value for money
Mediocre PLS TFT display, therefore unacceptable color reproduction
The current pandemic has brought a huge change in our shopping habits. Online shopping has become the norm. Even those who were skeptical about this way of shopping had to resort to it. After all, it was the only way one could purchase something during the lockdown. Daraz, an already big player in the e-commerce market, was able to further grow its customer segment during this period. Now, as a way of rewarding its customers and also to attract new ones, Daraz is bringing its first major shopping campaign post lockdown. Sticking to its core values, Daraz is organizing the Daraz Mahabachat Bazar.
Daraz Mahabachat Bazar – What is it?
The Daraz Mahabachat Bazar offers customers a way to save huge bucks on their purchase. Through this campaign, the company is attempting to “make shopping fun again”. It is an 8-day sales campaign. And it offers deals such as Bachat Offer, Bacha Vouchers, Free Shipping, Hot Picks, and more.
Customers will be able to cash in on discounts and price cuts between the time period of July 27 – August 4, 2020. Furthermore, customers willing to pay via credit/debit card and eSewa can enjoy further discounts. By paying through eSewa, customers will get 20% off (up to Rs. 1000). Similarly, by making prepayments via a partner bank debit/credit card, customers can enjoy a 15% discount (up to Rs. 2000).
[Update: The last date for eSewa discount is on 29th July 2020]
In addition to these discounts, you can use a voucher code to get a further discount. However, this is applicable if you shop from Daraz’s app only. Here are some of them:
Voucher Code
Discount Amount
BACHAT4000
Rs 4,000 Off | Min Order Value: Rs. 50,000
BACHAT2500
Rs 2,500 Off | Min Order Value: Rs. 30,000
BACHAT1500X
Rs 1,500 Off | Min Order Value: Rs. 20,000
BACHAT1000X
Rs 1,000 Off | Min Order Value: Rs. 10,000
BACHAT400X
Rs 400 Off | Min Order Value: Rs. 5,000
However, the offers don’t end here. There are some exclusive giveaways too. And the most eye-catching of the lot is the Suzuki Burgman Street 125cc. It comes as part of the Maha Bumper prize. Also, the winner of the 1 Rupee Game will also be announced during the Daraz Mahabachat Bazar. Furthermore, customers can win loads of exciting prizes through in-app games.
Daraz has predicted that over 100 thousand customers will partake in this campaign. All of them competing with each other to grab hold of the best deals. Thus, it would be better if you keep the Daraz push notifications on.
Intel has now admitted that its 7nm process will be delayed by at least 6 months. The announcement came via an official press release where the company reported its 2020 second-quarter revenue at $19.7 billion (20% YoY growth).
Intel’s 7nm delay
Over the years, Intel has been widely criticized for sticking to its 14nm processor node. Intel’s 10nm process was delayed twice. The 10nm process was first expected to land in 2016. However, it was only last year that Intel launched it with the Ice Lake lineup. Still, Intel’s 10nm process is still not a polished product. Thus, it is still relying heavily on the refinements of its 14nm process.
We will have to wait for at least 2022 for the debut of the Intel 7nm process. It could even stretch to up to 2023. The problem here is the yield of the 7nm process. Intel says there is a defect mode in the process. The company has also clarified that the root cause of the issue has been identified and there are no further roadblocks. Intel might even reach out to third-party fabricators for the production of their chips.
The Way Ahead
Back in March, the company admitted that it will be focusing the upcoming 7nm process in order to stay on track with its initial roadmap. Intel was planning to limit the production cycle of the 10nm process to concentrate on the 7nm process. However, the recent delay has changed the scenario altogether. Intel will instead be accelerating its transition into the 10nm process. Intel is planning to increase the shipments of the 10nm-based products by 20%. Tiger Lake processors will be launched in the third quarter of the year. The company is also expecting the Ice Lake server processor at the end of this year. Similarly, 10nm-based Alder Lake mobile and desktop processors are scheduled for the second half of 2021.
Competitors
Intel’s competitor in the processor market, AMD has already launched Renoir 4000 desktop processors based on 7nm Zen 2 architecture. Similarly, AMD will be launching its first product based on 7nm+ Zen 3 later this year. TSMC, Intel’s rival fabricator, is soon expected to announce its plan for the 2nm process.
Oppo first unveiled the A72 back in April and now the company has announced a 5G variant of the device. The Oppo A72 5G features MediaTek’s latest Dimensity 720 chipset. Learn more about the specs, features, expected price, and availability of Oppo A72 5G in Nepal.
Oppo A72 5G Overview
Design and Display
The Oppo A72 5G features the same 6.5-inch LCD panel as the non-5G variant. The device retains the FullHD+ resolution. Similarly, the circular cutout housing the front camera is placed at the exact same place in the Oppo A72 5G. For a change, Oppo has included support for the 90Hz refresh rate in the 5G variant.
At the back, Oppo has included a square camera module. The non-5G variant had a rectangular camera bump. A72 5G is available in three different color options – Black, Oxygen Purple, and Neon. The Neon variant differs from the other two as it features a strip running along the length of the device right through the middle of the camera module.
Performance and Memory
The Oppo A72 featured a rather outdated Snapdragon 665 chipset. Since it didn’t support 5G, it was logical for Oppo to switch to a more recent chipset. And by recent, I mean the latest Dimensity 720 chipset from MediaTek. The chipset was announced a few days ago and was expected to debut next month. This SoC has 2x Cortex A76 cores and 6x Cortex A55 cores, all clocked at 2GHz. It has an integrated 5G modem that supports both SA and NSA sub-6GHz 5G networks. The A72 5G will be available in a single memory configuration with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.
Camera
The A72 5G comes with fewer cameras than its predecessor. However, it is the 2MP macro module that has been excluded here. The primary camera has also been downgraded from 48MP to 16MP. This may be because of the chipset’s restriction has the chipset cannot support senor bigger than 20MP in dual-camera setup.
Its 8MP ultra-wide-angle sensor has a FOV of 119-degree. The triple camera setup is completed with the 2MP macro sensor. The three cameras, along with an LED flash, are enclosed inside the square module. Similarly, the front camera inside the punch-hole is an 8MP sensor.
Battery and Others
The size of the battery has also been reduced from 5,000mAh to 4,040mAh battery. It is indeed a strange decision as 5G and 90Hz display will both require additional power. At least, the 18W charging support is still there. Other features include Dirac 2.0 audio and side-mounted physical fingerprint sensor.
Oppo A72 5G Specifications:
Display: 6.5-inches LCD, FHD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio
Oppo A72 5G is available for pre-order in China where its price is 1,899 Yuan for 8/128GB memory configuration. The company will start delivering the smartphone starting from July 31. We expect the price of Oppo A72 5G in Nepal to be around Rs. 35,000.
Model Name
Expected Price in Nepal
Availability
Oppo A72 5G (8/128GB)
~NPR 35,000
July 31 (China)
Check out our comparison between Oppo F15 and Galaxy A51