In a bid to compete against semi-flagship phones like Oneplus 7T and Redmi K20 Pro, Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 10 Lite in Nepal a few weeks ago exclusively via Daraz. However, it is now available for purchase from offline retail shops all over Nepal, albeit at a higher price.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite Overview
Display
The Note 10 Lite features a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display offering a Full-HD+ resolution. It comes with 1080 x 2400 pixels. The Infinity-O Display will have a fingerprint display sensor (optical) mounted under the screen. It supports HDR as well, meaning you will be able to view HDR rich content on the Note 10 Lite.
Performance
Talking about the processor, Note 10 Lite is powered by the Exynos 9810 chipset which also powered the older Galaxy Note 9. It is a 10nm chipset with a maximum clock speed of 2.7GHz. The phone comes with 6GB or 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB of UFS 2.1 internal storage. However, only the 8GB RAM version is available in Nepal. If the storage seems insufficient you can expand it up to 512GB through the microSD card slot.
Cameras
Getting to the cameras, there’s a 12MP primary camera with f/1.7 aperture and will come with support for dual pixel autofocus. A 12MP telephoto lens is also included that supports optical zoom up to 2x magnification. There’s also a 12MP lens for ultra-wide-angle shots. You will be able to take UHD videos at 60fps frame rate. There’s also a feature that will let you take slow-motion videos. There is a 32MP front camera for selfies.
With our test, we found the Note 10 Lite camera’s to be as good as the Note 10. When compared with the Oneplus 7T, the Note 10 Lite is marginally better.
Others
The phone will feature an S-Pen with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) support. It will also come with support for NFC, and dual-band Wi-Fi. You don’t have to miss out on the 3.5mm headphone jack either. As for the software, it runs on Android 10 with Samsung’s One UI 2.0 on top. It has a big 4,500 mAh battery and will support 25W fast charging. It takes around 1 hour 25 minutes to get fully charged from 0 to 100%.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite Specifications
Body: 6.44 x 3.00 x 0.34 inches; 199 gm
Display: 6.7-inches “Infinity-O” Super AMOLED panel
Resolution: Full-HD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels); 20:9 aspect ratio; 394ppi
The price for the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite in Nepal is Rs. 58,999 for the 8GB RAM, 128GB storage variant. It is available for purchase from mobile retail shops all over Nepal.
Model Variant (8+128GB)
Old Price
New Price in Nepal
Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite
Rs.67,599
Rs. 58,999
Check out our hands-on impressions of the new Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite here:
Back in the day, people would laugh at you if you said you were a smartphone gamer. However, with the advancement of smartphone hardware, gaming smartphones are becoming a thing. Though it may not be as popular as console or PC gaming, it is growing at a rapid rate. The gaming smartphone has now caught the attention of the brands that lead the gaming industry such as Razer and Lenovo Legion. This year, we expect a lot of things to happen in the smartphone gaming segment; the start of which seems to be the launch of Nubia Red Magic 5G.
If you are a smartphone gamer, you would know that the number of options available in Nepal is very limited. In fact, there is only a single gaming smartphone that is officially available in Nepal- Nubia Red Magic 3.
Nubia, which started as a subsidiary brand ZTE, became an independent manufacturer in 2015 following enormous investment from Suning Holding Group and Suning Commerce Group. While it markets the majority of its smartphones as “Mobile Photography Expert“, the Red Magic series is popular among gamers as it brings gaming specs at a reasonable price.
With the new Nubia Red Magic 5G, Nubia is following the recent trends of smartphone brands to announce 5G phones. We have a lot of 5G phones in 2020 – even gaming phones like Black Shark 3 series, and iQOO 3 5G. However, Nubia Red Magic 5G is a different beast altogether with some serious power inside.
Nubia Red Magic 5G comes with a 6.65-inch FullHD+ screen. The AMOLED panel packs in 2340 x 1080 pixels. But what makes headline is the 144Hz refresh rate on the device. You heard it right – even when 90Hz screens on phones are scarce, the device supports a refresh rate of up to 144Hz. The refresh rate is well complemented by the 240Hz response rate. Frankly, what else would you ask if you are a gamer? It is the first among the smartphone to come with the flashy feature. The screen has narrow bezels on the top and the bottom. There is a tiny circular cut out on the top to accommodate the front camera.
Under the hood, Nubia Red Magic 5G comes with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 chipset. The chipset has become a standard for all the flagship smartphones set to launch this year. The chipset is coupled with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X55 modem for 5G connectivity. The base variant comes with an 8GB RAM but you can choose to get up to 16GB of RAM. Talking about internal storage, you can choose from 128GB to 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage. The RAM, here, is based on the latest LPDDR5 technology.
Camera
On the back of the device, we have a three-camera sensor arranged vertically on the top of the device. An LED flash resides just above the camera setup. The primary camera, here, is Sony’s IMX 686 sensor. It is accompanied by an 8MP ultra-wide angle sensor and a 2MP macro sensor. On the front, we have an 8MP selfie camera. The camera isn’t the strongest part of the device but it isn’t designed for photographers.
Others
The Red Magic 5G comes with improved shoulder trigger buttons. The buttons have a 300Hz response rate and a 3milli-second touch delay for a more console-like experience. The 4,500mAh battery on the device supports 55W fast charging technology. It has an “air-cooled fast charging technology solution” to combat the heat generated from the fast charging. The colling system consists of a fan and a heat-sink chamber and is claimed to reduce the temperature around the CPU by almost 18-degrees.
It ships with Red Magic OS layered on top of Android 10. The phone retains the 3.5mm headphone jack and comes with 6 mics. The device supports 5G connectivity and WiFi-6 standards.
Nubia has launched the Nubia Red Magic 5G in China through an online event. The device is now available for pre-orders in China and will go on sale starting from March 19. The price of the Nubia Red Magic is 3,799 Yuan for 8/128GB variant, 4,099Yuan for 12/128GB variant, 4,399Yuan for 12/256GB variant and 4,999Yuan for 16/256GB.
The transparent Edition of the device comes at a price of 4,599Yuan for 12/256GB and 5199Yuan for a 16/256GB variant.
The company is also working on the International launch of the device which is set to occur somewhere in April. We are skeptical of a Nepal launch, however, it could launch in Nepal via online channel just like Nubia Red Magic 3. If the Nubia Red Magic 5G launches here, we expect the price of the Nubia Red Magic 5G in Nepal to be around NPR 65,000 for 8/128GB variant, NPR 70,000 for 12/128GB variant, NPR 75,000 for 12/256GB variant and NPR 85,000 for 16/256GB.
Variant
Expected Price in Nepal
Nubia Red Magic 5G (8/128GB)
~ NPR 65,000
Nubia Red Magic 5G (12/128GB)
~ NPR 70,000
Nubia Red Magic 5G (12/256GB)
~ NPR 75,000
Nubia Red Magic 5G (16/256GB)
~ NPR 85,000
Nubia Red Magic 5G Transparent Edition (12/256GB)
~ NPR 80,000
Nubia Red Magic 5G (16/256GB)
~ NPR 90,000
So are you excited about the Nubia Red Magic 5G? Does it miss out on any features you would want on a gaming smartphone? Let us know about what do you expect in gaming smartphones that will hit the market this year.
The Dell XPS 13 is one of the most popular 13-inch laptops/ultrabooks that you can go out and buy today. Dell currently sells 2 variants of the XPS 13. The first one is the late 2019 edition with Intel 10th generation Comet Lake CPU which goes by the name XPS 13 7390. The second is the latest XPS 13 9300 with Intel 10th generation Ice Lake CPU based on 10nm fabrication and 16:10 aspect ratio display. However, the former has been launched in Nepal.
Dell XPS 13 7390 Overview:
There are currently 2 variants of the Dell XPS 13 7390 in Nepal: i5 Non-touch and i7-Non touch. The i5 variant has 4 cores & 8 threads, whereas the i7 variant has 6 cores & 12 threads. Hence, you get better performance with the i7 variant. Other specifications are identical.
You get either 8 or 16GB of DDR3 RAM coupled with 256 or 512GB of M.2 PCle SSD storage. The display here is a 13.4-inch FullHD panel and it’s a non-touch. In terms of connectivity, there’s 2 USB-Type C port with thunderbolt 3 support on the left side & 1 USB-Type C port, 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microSD card slot.
It has a fingerprint reader on the power button which is fast and accurate. Sadly, there’s no support for Windows Hello face unlock. Battery-wise, it is powered by a 52Wh Lithium-ion 4-cell battery and you get a compact 45W charger out-of-the-box. Battery life is pretty decent as you get more than 8 hours of battery life.
On the design front, it’s typical of what you get with XPS 13 lineups. Premium metal builds with carbon fiber inside. It is very light-weight and easy to carry around. The keyboard is tactile enough and you get a glass trackpad that works fine.
CPU: 10th Generation Intel i5-10210U or i7-10710U processor
Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics
RAM: 8 or 16 GB DDR3 2133MHz RAM (Dual-Channel)
Storage: 256/512GB M.2 PCIe SSD
Connectivity: 2 USB-Type C Thunderbolt 3 ports, 1 USB-Type C, 3.5 mm jack, MicroSD slot
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64 Bit Operating System
Battery: 4-Cell 52WHr
Dell XPS 13 Price in Nepal (7390 Late 2019)
The base variant of the Dell XPS 13 7390 with i5 10th gen CPU, 256GB RAM, 8GB storage in Nepal has a price of Rs. 140,000. Similarly, the i7 Dell XPS 13 price in Nepal is Rs. 170,000.
Since entering Nepal, Realme has only been launching budget phones like Realme C2 and Realme 5. However, that has finally changed last month when Planet Realme (a separate entity under Realme Nepal) started selling Realme 5 Pro via Daraz. Now, you can purchase the Realme 5 Pro in Nepal via offline retail shops, albeit at a slightly higher price.
Realme 5 Pro Overview
The Realme 5 Pro is a mid-range smartphone and competes against the Redmi Note 8 Pro. It comes with a 6.3” FHD+ IPS LCD display with a mini-drop notch. The device is powered by the Snapdragon 712 which is a decent chipset at this price range. Moreover, you also get USF 2.1 storage and DDR4X RAM.
Here the main attraction is the Quad-Camera setup. The primary lens in this one is 48MP with a Sony IMX586 sensor. Moreover, the secondary sensor in this device too supports an Ultra Wide-Angle 119-degree FOV. The tertiary sensor is a Super Macro Lens with a focal length of 4cm and the fourth is a portrait lens.
On the front, there’s a 16MP selfie shooter with a Sony IMX471 sensor. It is powered by a 4035mAh battery. However, the thing to be noted is that the device comes with VOOC Flash charge 3.0. Meaning, it supports 20W fast charging.
There’s a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor that’s fast and accurate. You also get face-unlock which is done with the help of a front camera. The Realme 5 Pro runs on Android 9 with ColorOS, and Realme has promised it to receive Android 10 with its own Realme OS in the future.
Realme 5 Pro is currently available in Nepal in two memory. The price of 4/128GB variant of the Realme 5 Pro in Nepal is Rs. 26,990, whereas the 8+128GB variant carries a price tag of Rs. 31,500.
Vivo Nex 3 5G was the first-ever device to incorporate Vivo’s breakthrough waterfall display. The waterfall display helped the device to attain an insane 99.6% screen to body ratio which made the device stand out against other flagship devices. However, after a year, flagship devices have got more advanced and Vivo has finally realized a need to match them with the all-new Vivo Nex 3S 5G. Though Vivo doesn’t plan on launching the device in Nepal you might still get your hands on the Vivo Nex 3s through unofficial channels at an extravagant price.
Vivo Nex 3S 5G Overview
Vivo Nex 3 5G was a capable device in itself so there isn’t much to change in the new Vivo Nex 3S. So, the latter comes only with some minor upgrades. The upgrades are an attempt to increase the appeal of the device according to recent trends in the smartphone industry.
Display and Design
Vivo Nex 3S comes with the same 6.89-inch Super AMOLED waterfall display. To minimize the bezels, the edges of the display have been curved to nearly 90-degrees. There are no physical buttons on the device and Vivo has included Touch Sense as the replacement. The display here is a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2256 pixels and comes with support for HDR10+.
Chipset
The biggest upgrade in the device comes in the form of the chipset. Vivo Nex 3S comes with the latest flagship chipset from Qualcomm – Snapdragon 865 chipset. The chipset is bundled with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X55 modem. With this, the device supports both SA and NSA bands of 5G. The Vivo Nex 3 came with Snapdragon 855 Plus coupled with 8GB or 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. The memory configurations have stayed the same but Vivo has upgraded the LPDDR4X RAM to LPDDR5 RAM and the internal storage are now based on UFS 3.1 compared to last year’s UFS 3.0 storage. Just like the Nex 3, the Nex 3S doesn’t come with an option to expand the memory.
Camera
Vivo hasn’t made any changes in the camera department either. The device flaunts the same 64MP triple camera setup of the Nex 3. Samsung GW1‘s primary lens has an aperture of f/1.8 and is accompanied by a 13MP telephoto lens and a 13MP ultra wide-angle sensor. These cameras are arranged in an invisible triangle inside a circular module. An LED flash resides to the outside of the camera module.
On the front, there is a 16MP front camera for your selfie needs. To increase the screen to body ratio, the front camera is motorized that only pops-out when you want it to. The selfie camera is accompanied by a LED flash to help you take selfies in dark.
Others
The device ships with Android 10 with Vivo’s Funtouch OS on top. The whole setup is powered by a 4,500mAh battery which is the same as in the Vivo Nex 3S. The battery comes with support for 44W fast charging technology. For better gaming experience, the device comes with an X-Axis Haptic for better vibrations and a soaking plate that is said to reduce the temperature at the surface of the phone by 4-degrees and the chipset by about 10-degrees. The phone comes with Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS and Type-C port. There is an in-display fingerprint sensor but the 3.5mm headphone jack has been discarded.
WIfi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, Bluetooth 5.1, Type-C, dual-band 5G
Battery
4,350mAh with 44W Flash Charge
Sensors
Accelerometer, Light, Proximity, Gyro, Compass
Color Options
Capri Blue, White Prism
Vivo Nex 3S Price In Nepal, and Availability
Vivo Nex 3S comes with a price of 4,998 Yuan for 8GB/256B variant and 5,298 Yuan for the 12/256GB variant. The device will be available for purchase for the Chinese audience from the 14th of March. As of now, the company hasn’t dropped any hint about the international launch of the device. The price of Vivo Nex 3S 5G in Nepal is expected to be around NRP 85,000 for 8/256GB variant and NRP 90,000 for 12/256GB.
Today, Redmi is a household name in Nepal. The sub-brand by Xiaomi successfully reigns as the king in the entry and budget segment of the smartphone market – not only in Nepal but in the whole of South Asia. It has been the case as Redmi lets budget-oriented users have the taste of some premium features seen only in more expensive devices. But Redmi might have outdone themselves as the brand showcased a Redmi device with a working in-display fingerprint sensor integrated inside an LCD panel.
Drawbacks of an in-display fingerprint sensor
Vivo showcased the first in-display fingerprint technology back in CES 2018. Back then, it was a feat that even the big names like Samsung and Apple were struggling to accomplish. Later, Vivo launched the Vivo X20 Plus UHD which became the first phone to come with an in-display fingerprint sensor.
An in-display fingerprint sensor, like any other ordinary fingerprint sensor, works by matching the scanned fingerprint with the one in its database. But for that to work with a sensor lying below the screen, there needs to be an efficient way to transmit the scanned fingerprint through the screen. Most of the sensors are optical which captures the image of the finger’s pattern by flashing a light. This doesn’t work with the LCD display as the LCD’s backlight module interferes with the flash of the sensor. So to this day, the technology has only been used with OLED panels.
Redmi’s solution to the problem is having an infrared technology carry the fingerprint patterns as signals through the LCD panel. This requires a high-transmittance film which improves the transmittance of the signal through the LCD panel. The signals transmitted this way do not interfere with the LCD’s notice backlight arrangement thus making the in-display fingerprint sensor a reality.
Lu Weibin, General Manager, explains that an infrared transmitter is placed under the display along with the fingerprint sensor. The signal emitted by the transmitter passes through the LCD panel because of the high-transmittance film and then bounces off the finger. The reflected signal then passes the LCD to shine on the sensor which completes the verification process. The model has been implemented on a Redmi Note 8 Pro device.
The Future
Redmi hints that the technology is ready for mass production. But it hasn’t confirmed if any upcoming device will be using it. However, the possibility of seeing the in-display fingerprint sensor in LCD panels sounds pretty interesting. We might soon see budget phones with an in-display fingerprint sensor.
Do Redmi devices with in-display fingerprint sensors excite you? Do you think its a game-changing technology when it comes to budget devices? Let us know with your comments.
Pashupati Tradeline, the authorized distributor of Realme mobiles in Nepal, launched the Realme 5 in Nepal in Jan of 2020. You can purchase the phone from 100+ offline shops as well as from Daraz. Realme 5 is the latest budget smartphone of 2020 to launch in Nepal. It is popular and one of the highest-selling budget phone in Nepal because of its pocket-friendly price tag.
Realme 5 Overview
Realme 5 has a 6.5” HD+ display with a mini-drop upfront. Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 powers the Realme 5, which is pretty standard at this price point. However, the main attraction of this phone is probably its quad-camera setup on the back. The AI Quad Camera features a 12MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP setup. The secondary sensor has an Ultra Wide-Angle Lens provide a huge 119-degree field-of-view.
Furthermore, the tertiary sensor has a super macro lens with a focal length of 4cm. The fourth and final lens acts as a portrait lens. Talking about the front camera, it will house a 13MP selfie shooter in the notch. And to top it all up, it will run on a huge 5000mAh battery. However, it lacks fast charging and has a micro-USB port.
Unlike the Realme 5 Pro, the Realme 5 has an inferior build quality. Moreover, the HD+ display is not as sharp as you want on the phone of this price range. On the contrary, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 offers a full HD panel at a similar price range.
The Realme 5 runs on Android 9 with Color OS. However, Realme has promised Android 10 updates with Realme UI in the coming days. In terms of memory, there’s either 3 or 4GB RAM with 32/64/128GB storage options.
You can buy Realme 5 in Nepal in two memory variants. The price of the 3+64GB variant of the Realme 5 is Rs. 20,990, and the higher-end 4+128GB is priced at Rs. 23,990. It is available in 2 color options: Crystal Purple and Crystal Blue.
Infinix has launched the Infinix S5 Pro in India which happens to be the cheapest smartphone with the pop-up selfie camera. It is available in India for INR. 9,999 and is expected to launch in Nepal too for a similar price.
Infinix S5 Pro Overview
Design and Display
Thanks to the pop-up camera, Infinix S5 Pro really stands out among other rivals in its price range. It comes with a 6.53-inch display and a 19:5:9 aspect ratio. The FullHD+ panel packs in 394 pixels per inch. The display looks clean without any notch or punch-hole and the only things noticeable are the headpiece frill on the top and the bezels surrounding the screen.
On the back, there is a camera module that houses the triple camera setup. The module, here, looks like an extension of the top frame from where the front camera pops up, so when the front camera pops out all the camera aligns along the same vertical line. There is also a fingerprint sensor mounted on the back. It lies above the Infinix branding.
Chipset
Infinix S5 Pro is powered by MediaTek’s Helio P35 which seems popular among budget-oriented devices these days. Recent launches like the Oppo A31, Huawei Y6s, and Honor 8A Lite also featured the same chipset. The chipset is coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The storage can be further expanded up to 256GB using the dedicated MicroSD slot provided.
As for the camera, the 48MP primary camera on the back is accompanied by a 2MP depth sensor and a low-light sensor. The camera comes with a Pro mode and AI auto scene detection. The dual-LED flash is also included inside the camera module. On the front is a 16MP pop-up camera. The company claims the pop-up camera is resistant to both dust and splash. The life span of the pop-up mechanism is about 1,50,000 cycles.
Others
The device comes with a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and face-unlock feature as security options. The device relies on a 4,000mAh battery for the juice. It ships with XOS 6.0 on top of Android 10. Other notable features include Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, 4G connectivity and DTS Surround-sound.
Infinix S5 Pro Specifications
Display
6.53-inch IPS LCD Display
Resolution
FHD+(2220 x 1080 pixels)
Chipset
MediaTek Helio P35
CPU
Octa-core (8x 2.3Ghz Cortex-A53)
GPU
IMG PowerVR GE8320
RAM
4GB
Memory Configuration
64GB
Software & UI
XOS 6.0 on top of Android 10
Rear Camera
48MP primary sensor, f/1.79
2MP Macro lens, f/2.2
Low light sensor
Front camera
16MP sensor, f/2.0
Security
Fingerprint (rear-mounted), Face-unlock
Audio
3.5mm jack
Connectivity
Wifi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, micro USB port,
Battery
4,000mAH with 10W Flash Charge
Sensors
g-sensor, ambient light, proximity, gyro,
Color Options
Forest Green, Violet
Infinix S5 Pro Price in Nepal and Availability
As of now, Inifinix S5 Pro is available only in India for the price of INR 9,999 (~ NPR 16,000). Infinix S5 Pro could launch in Nepal next month in April, and we can expect the price to be around NRs. 18,000 if it’s available via Daraz.
Back when TCL refused to extend its license agreement with BlackBerry, many speculated that TCL will now run the business under its own name. We weren’t surprised though, as TCL had been working on its own smartphone lately. However, it looks like the company is more serious about taking on the smartphone market. TCL concept foldable phones have created quite a stir in the smartphone industry because of their radical designs. One of the phones comes with a screen that can be folded thrice while the other showcases a secondary screen that slides out of the primary screen for your need of an extended screen.
TCL concept foldable phones: Tri-fold mechanism
Until now, the foldable concept has all been about making a phone even more portable. Most of the time we see a phablet that folds in half so that it can fit in your pocket. Contrary to that, TCL has now developed a tablet that folds thrice to take the form factor of a smartphone. You heard it right – it is a smartphone that unfolds thrice to reveal a full-sized tablet.
What’s more interesting is that TCL has combined the concepts of the big players in the game to make an interesting concept of its own. The tri-folding device is sort Samsung’s Galaxy Fold and Huawei’s Mate X combined into one. It has a DragonHinge that lets a part of the screen fold inside as in the Galaxy Fold while the other part folds outside like the Mate X using the Butterfly hinge. The phone can also stand on its own with the screen folded for the support – a feature that Samsung highlighted in Samsung Galaxy Z-flip.
The device uses a flexible 3K AMOLED panel developed inside the company’s screen division. The 6.5-inch screen unfolds to a 10-inch tablet. The device runs Android, however, since it is a new concept it needs a lot of modification to run smoothly on the device. Though it is quite slim for a full-sized tablet when folded it looks way too bulky for a phone. And initial reports suggest that the phone comes with different batteries to power each screen so don’t expect it to be light.
The second TCL concept foldable phone, here, first caught our attention back in February – it is a phone with screen sliding out for that extended surface area. However, TCL calls it a rollable screen and on a closer look, the screen does curve on the side. The curve is straightened out when the screen is slid out.
However, unlike the former, it isn’t functional – at least for now. The units showcased by the company are all plastic prototypes for the concept of the rollable phone. The screen is a mere plastic cutout and the only thing that is working on the device is the rolling mechanism.
TCL’s vision for the phone looks interesting. TCL plans to make the rolling mechanism fully motorized that can be activated using swipe or a gesture. If TCL manages to implement it on a functional device, it will be a major breakthrough in the foldable market as it results in a creaseless device. Creases have been raising a lot of questions about durability if the present foldable devices.
Is it the future?
The concept by TCL does look promising, however, these TCL foldable concepts are not going to hit the market very soon. A lot has to be done to make the concept a reality. To begin with – the rollable phone isn’t even functional and the one that is functional needs a lot of refining on the software end. TCL also needs to find out a way to spread the overall weight of the device uniformly throughout the phone’s surface as the present design will require the company to accommodate all of the hardware at one end.
Other doubts arise from the foundation of the two concepts – hinges. The concepts will require a lot of moving parts, especially for the fully motorized rolling mechanism. A possibility of anything going wrong increases with the number of these parts. And with all the foldable devices we will have to ask if it is going to durable enough.
So what do you think of the designs? Is this the future of smartphones? Let us know with your comments.
Before kicking off this review of the Honor MagicWatch 2, allow me to make a proper intro. From having to rely on separate accessories for a variety of functions to cramming them all into a pocketable gadget, humanity sure has come a long way when it boils down to making lives easier.
But we are a creature of curiosity as we strive upon improving our cumulative achievements. Wow, that got philosophical! Anyhoo, with phones getting consistently bigger, wearables, especially smartwatches are where it’s at in terms of fitness tracking and other variety of functionalities. What was once a niche, is now a multi-billion-dollar industry.
Sure, the Fitbits & Apple Watches rule the market, but they aren’t the only ones manufacturing quality smartwatches, no sir. And bringing on the heat is the Honor MagicWatch 2 with its bigger display, bigger battery, & better processor than its predecessor. Let’s discover more about this device in our review.
Honor MagicWatch 2 Specifications (46mm)
Body: 1.81 x 1.81 x 0.42 inches; 41 gm; Glass front, ceramic back
Starting off, this smartwatch is available in two sizes: 46mm and 42mm. The 42mm variant comes with a few visual differences than its larger 46mm counterpart, which, besides the smaller watch case, is also reflected on the dial as it doesn’t have a tachymeter.
Apart from that, the smaller size also brings about sacrifice in terms battery and thus, the 42mm variant only promises a week’s battery as opposed to 46mm’s two weeks. More on that later. The unit I’m reviewing is the bigger 46mm “Charcoal Black” variant.
Hold on, there’s another key difference I have to point out; though not between two configs of the same product. Rather, you might’ve noticed how identical it is with the Huawei Watch GT 2 that launched a month earlier, which they are.
They pack the same specs underneath and discounting the “red” accent on the top button on the MagicWatch 2, you wouldn’t be able to tell one from the other. Despite this, the Watch GT 2 is slightly costlier among the two. Well, since both Huawei and Honor are two sides of the same coin, this may be a strategy to establish Honor as an affordable brand? I don’t know for sure. Regardless, the whole thing feels very uninspiring.
A compromised product?
But does that indicate any sort of inferiority on the MagicWatch 2? Absolutely not.
It looks and feels as well built as any other smartwatch out there.
With stainless steel & plastic build materials used, the watch is very light on the hand and you’ll easily get used to it. There are two buttons on the right and a speaker grille beneath the two of them. Looking at the bottom, you’ll find the big heart-rate sensor, which is also where you would fit in the magnetically attaching circular charging disc.
Design
1 of 5
Watch Face 1
Design
Charging disc
Thickness
Watch Face 2
Moreover, the 22mm rubber-made strap is also really comfortable on the hands. The watch is guaranteed to fit comfortably in hands of almost every size because of the numerous adjustment holes present in the strap. You put it on like you would an ordinary watch, though Honor has thrown in an extra band retainer for a more secure and tighter fit.
Display & Control
Getting to the display, you get a 1.39-inches AMOLED panel that gets plenty bright even in bright sunny outdoors, so I didn’t have any issue with its visibility. There are 6 different levels of brightness to choose from and I set my unit to “Auto”. The colors are vivid and overall, the display is nice to look at.
Similarly, there are a bunch of watch faces to choose from too. Albeit limited in number, Honor is frequently updating the selections, so I’m sure you’ll find one that’ll match your preference. Matter of fact, I’ve come to like this watch face in particular, which shows all the info you’ll need, like time, date, battery level, heart rate, temperature, and others in a very neatly organized setting.
Controls
Moving to the controls, it’s pretty easy getting around on the Honor MagicWatch 2. First, let’s talk about the buttons. The top button with the red accent lists out all the apps installed including the settings, and also functions as the home button. Similarly, the bottom button can be customized to launch any installed app/setting you’d like. In my case, I’ve configured it to launch my daily activity records.
The buttons do rotate as well but don’t serve any purpose in the process. Weird.
The MagicWatch 2 also supports touch & swipe controls. A swipe to either left or right from the home screen takes you to menus like heart rate, stress, weather, music, and the activity ring. Likewise, a swipe from the top launches the basic command center, while a swipe from the bottom shows you the notifications. What’s interesting & ultimately disappointing here, is that the watch can only hold a few notifications in its memory. If you don’t clear the notifications, you won’t be alerted to new ones.
Moving on, you can go back from a certain screen by swiping to the right, while the “raise to wake screen” works like a charm every single time.
Fitness & Health Tracking
Well, this thing is designed with athletes in mind and thus, has a wide array of fitness tracking features. There are 15 goal-based workout modes like run, walk, cycle (both indoor & outdoor), cycling, hiking, triathlon, etc. You can set personal goals in each of them with regard to distance, time & calories.
The MagicWatch 2 also comes with voice-over guidance, which leads you throughout your fitness mode and also informs you of any milestone you may have achieved during it. And for any outdoor workouts, the watch also makes use of its dual-positioning GPS. I was really eager to test that out but was met with a minor level of disappointment when I got to.
Maybe it’s the geography of Kathmandu, but the watch wouldn’t latch on to GPS signal as frequently as you’d want. It wouldn’t work in my neighborhood, which is a pretty congested area. So I did a little digging to find if this was an underlying issue with the watch itself and checked out a couple of other reviews.
However, most of them vouched words of praise and how quick & accurate its GPS was. I did manage to lock-in the watch’s GPS during my walk to work and it was pretty darn accurate. This led me to the conclusion that it’s a regional issue and not something inherently wrong with the device itself.
Health-oriented features
Aside from these, the Honor MagicWatch 2 also comes with heart-rate monitoring. We didn’t have an analog stethoscope lying around, so the absolute accuracy of it couldn’t be verified. Yet, I did compare it against Mi Band 4, which is known to give quite a reliable reading. In this test, both devices gave similar results, though I would lean a little heavier onto the MagicWatch 2.
There’s also a stress reading on the watch, which is an added feature compared to its predecessor. To get started & calibrate your stress level, the watch uses heart rate sensor data & a couple of option-based questionnaires. Furthermore, it has step count and sleep-tracking too, which are fairly accurate. And if you’re a devoted runner, the MagicWatch 2 also has 13 different running courses to track and improve your performance.
And it doesn’t end there; I told you this had a bunch of fitness tracking features! Because it is also 5ATM water-resistant, the watch makes full use it by allowing you to monitor your swimming performance in depth. This includes heart rate, SWOLF analysis, and more during your swimming session.
What’s more, the MagicWatch 2 is also capable of VO2 Max calculation, but I wouldn’t put my money on it for its precision. You can view all of your workout records on the watch itself, though it can be analyzed in greater detail on the app, which is the “Huawei Health”.
Honor MagicWatch 2 App: Huawei Health
Full disclosure, though the app is available on both Android and iOS platforms, there’s an important warning that I have to deliver:
If you’re planning to use the Honor MagicWatch 2 alongside an iphone, don’t.
That’s because features like stress monitoring & personalized watch faces aren’t available on iOS devices.
With that out of the way, you’re still prompted to install “Huawei Mobile Services” in order to be able to use the Huawei Health app. The home screen shows you the basic info about your fitness records including sleep, heart rate, stress, and more. There’s a dedicated “Exercise” tab where you can initiate different workouts. I made use of it when the watch’s GPS wouldn’t latch in, and had to use the phone’s GPS.
Huawei Health - UI
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Homescreen
Exercise tab
Devices tab
Profile tab
Exercise records
Using the phone's GPS
Using the watch's GPS
Connected to Google Fit
Manually syncing data to Google Fit
Viewing the data in Google Fit
Watch faces tab
Device setting
Music from a watch?
More on the right, you can view the list of Huawei/Honor watches added to the phone and change their settings as you’d like. Remember how I said the MagicWatch 2 has a speaker? That’s for playing music or using it as a speakerphone.
Using the app, you can transfer music to the watch itself for playing them online, and Honor has set aside 2GB of the total 4GB for that purpose. Felt like I somehow teleported to 2012 while transferring music from my phone to the watch! If that’s not your jam, you can control the playback of music playing on your phone too.
You can also link the Huawei Health’s data to Google Fit and it works pretty well. Be that as it may, the automatic synchronization of data between the two apps was quite dawdling, so I would frequently perform a manual data-sync. Besides these, you can view/edit your personal info, review weekly/monthly performances, etc. too.
Battery
If you were ever on the fence about battery life on smartwatches, the Honor MagicWatch 2 will surprise you. It’s got a big 455mAh battery, which the company promises will last two full weeks. And in my testing, the watch absolutely delivered on that promise.
I had turned on active heart rate & stress monitoring, sleep analysis and even played music a couple of times just for the heck of it, and the watch managed to last me exactly two weeks, which is impressive.
Charging the MagicWatch 2
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The splendid battery life may also be thanks to Huawei’s custom energy-efficient Kirin A1 chip and the LiteOS powering the MagicWatch 2. Despite LiteOS aiding in better battery endurance, it also leads to the eventual downfall of the experience on the device.
Honor MagicWatch 2’s LiteOS is not so great, to put it gently.
The UI is pretty well designed and all, but it’s just not fluent enough. You’re bound to come across a noticeable level of stutter here and there while operating the watch. But I wish that was the end of it. The problem is, the MagicWatch 2 doesn’t run on WearOS from Google. This means:
No third-party app support
Limited watch faces
Non-actionable notifications
You can only view and clear the notifications received in terms of actions to perform on them. So much for a “smart” watch!
Others
What’s left? Yes, you can also make and receive calls directly from the watch, as it has a microphone and a built-in speaker. The call quality is great (both on receiver & caller’s end) with voices being heard clearly.
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Speaker grille
Receiving call
Playing music
However, that was not the case in a noisy outdoor situation. Also, the speaker is quite easy to block, especially if you wear the watch on your left hand.
Final words
All in all, the Honor MagicWatch 2 is a great fitness tracker with a horde of workout modes to record and revise. Apart from that, it is very well built and feels comfortable on the hands, while also looking fashionable. That’s not all, the battery on it also lasts way longer than what we’ve come to expect from a smartwatch.
With so much going for it, the MagicWatch 2 is sadly not a perfect alternative. In fact, the watch skimps so much on “smart” features because of its LiteOS. But if you’re someone who doesn’t care about that and are just looking for a great fitness tracker, then this one’s for you.
