Today, smartphone companies aren’t just smartphone companies. Besides smartphones, they offer arrays of products including anything from accessories to IoT devices and whatnot. One such brand which has excelled in doing so is the Chinese giant Xiaomi. However, competition is getting intense on this side of the business too. Brands are now expanding their portfolios beyond smartphones and accessories. One such brand is Realme which is trying really hard to beat Xiaomi in its own game. After battling out in the smartphone and accessories segment, Realme is now planning to overshadow Xiaomi with its own line of TVs. And what excites us the most is the fact that we might see Realme debut its TV within this year.
Realme’s Mission 2020
The company may say otherwise but we firmly believe that Realme was introduced to counter the growth of Xiaomi in South Asian Market especially in India. And we must admit- it is doing well. Realme has settled well in the Indian market and now looks to grow. As per the company’s CEO Madhav Sheth, Realme is now eyeing for the title of “Largest Tech-lifestyle” brand in India. With the slogan of “Realme for Every Indian” Realme will also focus on software and IoT devices this year. We expect the company to launch its first fitness band in the first quarter of this year which will be followed by an announcement of their own lineup of smart TVs.
Realme CMO Francis Wang first teased the Realme TV when asked about it by a fan in one of which tweets. Realme’s official page on Twitter has also teased a product to launch on the 24th of February. We don’t have concrete information but by the looks of it, we believe Realme will be announcing its own TV in the event. What else can you make of Real Sound, Real Design, Real Clarity?
Realme Link
As of now, we don’t know anything about the specifications and features of the device. However, the TV will be compatible with Realme Link. In case you are hearing it for the first time, it is an app designed by Realme to act as a universal remote for upcoming Realme IoT devices.
Though we don’t have a date, we know for sure we will be seeing a TV from Relame within this year. In an online Interview, Madhav Seth has confirmed the TV will launch in India in Q2. If nothing goes wrong, it will land in April. While it’s obvious that it will compete against Xiaomi’s TV, there are other brands to look out for such as OnePlus and Nokia. That’s not all, Honor is also gearing up for the launch of its Vision TV.
If it wasn’t for the outbreak of COVID-19 and its fear, right now we would have been talking about the products in the MWC 2020 event. However, since the event has already been canceled, brands have to deal with it with their own. Realme X50 Pro 5G, which was originally scheduled for launch in the WMC, will now be announced in an online event. Moreover, we expect to hear more about upcoming IoT devices such as the Realme fitness band in the same event.
Don’t forget to check our review of Asus Zenbook Pro Duo!
Quick, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind when hearing the word “laptop”? Let me guess, a screen, underneath a keyboard and a trackpad, a couple of I/Os on the side, that you open to browser your favorite subreddits, or give a one-star rating to that restaurant where they served you milk coffee when you vividly remembering ordering a black coffee. Ah, I may have gone a little off-track there. Anyhoo, the point is, they’re boring to look at since there hasn’t really been an impressive change in the design language of laptops in the past couple of years.
Don’t get me wrong, they do their job just fine. Manufacturers obviously have tried to bring something new with each of their offerings. New processors are always a given, but apart from that, we’ve been blessed with other innovations as well. Displays are getting sharper and more vivid, while their bezels are getting smaller. Moreover, laptops are shrinking in terms of thickness as well, making them more portable than ever. Having said all that, the core template of a laptop as a computing device has remained the same, the one I described before. And thus, the extent of functionality has not taken any leap. Don’t tell me you haven’t suffered from the lack of adequate screen real-estate on your device.
Arranging multiple apps in congestion with each other is always a headache. Not to mention, they’re a pain to navigate as well. But what if you could have an entirely new laptop experience with a large secondary display that complements the main one. A separate USB-C monitor sounds awesome, but that defeats the portability of a laptop. Well, how about a full-on secondary display embedded into the device itself? Does that knock you off of your seat? It certainly should, because multiple display laptops look to be where the industry is headed, as a lot of manufacturers showcased their vision of a dual-display laptop at CES 2020. But today, I have the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo with me, which can arguably be credited for the multi-display revolution in the laptop industry. That’s enough for the intro, let’s finally get into our review of the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo.
ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo Specifications:
Design & Build: All-aluminum body with spun-metal cover; 14.13W x 9.68D x 0.94H-inches; 2.5kg (5.51 pounds)
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 ax (WiFi 6), Bluetooth 5.0
Ports: 1x Thunderbolt 3 USB-C, 2x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x Standard HDMI 2.0, 1x Audio combo jack, 1x DC-in
Price in Nepal: Rs. 359,000 (i7 model) / Rs. 435,000 (i9 model) [both with 32GB RAM & 1TB SSD storage]
Design & Build
Let me start with the design of this glorious feat of engineering. The ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo comes in an all-aluminum body, and yeah, it’s as premium as “premium” can get. Also, heavy. If you were used to carrying around lightweight laptops, this one will give you a tough time, as the ZenBook Pro Duo weighs a hefty 2.5 kilograms.
Besides that, ASUS really went all-in in designing this laptop and I have all the praise for the company. The device is really sturdy and well-built with no flex at all on the lid and the keyboard thanks to the military-grade MIL-STD 810G certification. However, the same cannot be said for the secondary display. It ever-so-slightly flexes, but only with an intentionally strong nudge. Therefore, that’s not an alarming issue at all, even when you’re sketching on it.
The lid borrows the classic spun-metal finish from the company’s ZenBook lineup of laptops, with a subtle reflection going on all around the layer, while the ASUS logo sits atop the center-right side of the lid. ZenBook Pro Duo is a powerful machine with top-end specs, which I’ll delve into in more detail later on, and thus requires an efficient cooling mechanism.
With this in mind, the base of the laptop which features the keyboard, secondary display, and the multi-purpose trackpad don’t lay flat as the traditional laptops do. The “Ergolift” screen hinge we’ve seen in ASUS’ ZenBook laptops makes its presence here as well.
It lifts the entire chassis, thus giving it an inclined layout when opening the device to a normal layout for better heat dissipation, while the rubberized padding runs along the bottom of the laptop.
Thermals
Talking about thermals, the ZenBook Pro Duo has five copper heat pipes that are connected to the two fans. Complementing the thermal performance are the big air vents on the sides and the hidden ones on the hinge of the laptop, which make for better airflow. And if you think that’s now enough to efficiently cool down this beast of a machine, ASUS has included a dedicated “Turbo” button which pushes the fans to the max for their ability.
The ZenBook Pro Duo did heat up mildly in my time of usage when I’d be working on a video editing project, or multitasking with multiple tabs of Chrome opened alongside Photoshop and other programs. But it’s during intense gaming when you’d want to utilize the niceties of the Turbo mode because the laptop gets loud and hot.
Interface & Networking
For a device targeted so heavily to the content creators, the port selection on the ZenBook Pro Duo is kinda abysmal and that’s disappointing. On the left, you get the power adapter (not USB-C), a standard HDMI 2.0, and a USB 3.1 Gen 2 port, while there’s one Thunderbolt 3 USB-C, an audio jack, and another USB 3.1 Gen 2 port on the other side.
No LAN connection, and more importantly no dedicated SD card reader.
Ports & Connectivity
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You’d think the majority of the potential customers of such a laptop would be video editors, photographers who deal with SD cards all the time. Of course, you can always use an external card reader, but that means one less port for something else. Moving on, in terms of wireless connectivity, the ZenBook Pro Duo comes with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.
Display
You’re in for a treat right here.
That right there is the display. Now let’s talk about the display; can we talk about the display, please? I’ve been dying to talk about the display with you guys all day, okay? “Dual-display”, this name keeps coming up over and over and over again. Every day dual-display keeps getting talked about. Dual-display, dual-display, I look in the mail, and the whole box is full of questions about dual-display. So I say to myself I gotta talk about it.
First, the primary display. It is a majestic glossy 15.6-inches 4K UHD OLED panel from Samsung and I’m sure this is the best screen I’ve ever laid my eyes on. The contrast and colors, my God; I can praise them all day. Additionally, it is also HDR & touch compatible with 100% DCI-P3 coverage, making it one of the most color-accurate display on any laptop on the market right now.
Well, this thing costs a fortune so anything less wouldn’t be justified either.
Minimal bezels further add to the beauty of the display. You get a clean viewing experience with the 89% screen-to-body ratio it’s got going on. The top also houses the array microphones and the IR webcam which supports Windows Hello login and let me tell you, it works almost every single time (provided that the laptop is inclined optimally of course).
Getting to the secondary display, it’s a 14-inches 4K-ish matte IPS display with touch support. I say 4K-ish because it’s not tall enough to be considered as a true 4K panel. ASUS calls it “ScreenPad Plus” and there are some clever design choices. The matte not only makes for a non-reflective panel, but it’s also simultaneously the better surface of the two to use the pressure-sensitive stylus that comes with the laptop.
With that out of the way, let me answer the burning question about this device –
just how productive is the wide second display?
Short answer: it gets pretty close to perfection, not gonna lie. But to my dismay, the potentials of this magnificent piece of hardware doesn’t feel accompanied by solid software. No, it’s not downright wasted, don’t get your eyes rolling. Nonetheless, I firmly believe ASUS should’ve worked to a greater extent with Microsoft to make the ScreenPad Plus more refined than it is.
First and foremost, there should’ve been some built-in presets for certain software packages like the Adobe suite to work effortlessly on the dual-screen. This thing is designed with such users after all. Secondly, God forbid you put the machine to sleep with multiple apps running simultaneously on both screens! ‘Cause logging back in would mean the ones previously running on the ScreenPad Plus magically shift to the top, making you frantically drag them around again.
Now let me give you a quick rundown of how to get around making use of it, which is pretty easy, to be honest. Dragging around an app would trigger three options to either switch them to the opposing screen, pin it to the launcher on the ScreenPad Plus, or extend an app throughout both displays.
Utilizing the ScreenPad Plus
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Minimizing app to the ScreenPad Plus
Extending an app across both screens
Pinning app to the launcher
The ability to extend across the screens comes in handy the most when you’re using certain apps that require a rather large screen-space. For example: in Adobe Premiere Pro, you can have the second display dedicated to the video’s timeline for a better workflow. But there’s a distinct lag when dragging through the timeline, and that’s the aforementioned janky software at work. Similarly, you can sketch on the ScreenPad Plus for finer editing on the Adobe Photoshop. The web-browsing experience on the ZenBook Pro Duo is also elevated when extended among the two screens.
Obviously, it’s not meant to be used as an extension of one app only. You can concurrently organize up to three apps on the secondary screen. And if there’s a set of them you frequently use, you can group them together and launch ‘em all with one simple click. This too isn’t as fluid and fast as you’d want. Similarly, you can also easily interchange the apps’ position between the screen using the “task swap” option on the launcher below, or a dedicated button. Navigating across the apps opened on the ScreenPad Plus is also made easy through the App Navigator, using which you can view the running apps and then decide to close or open them.
Furthermore, ASUS has implemented features like Quick Key which lets you program macros to run certain apps or actions, Handwriting with text recognition ability, and Number Key, which… launches a number key.
Multitasking
So yeah, an additional screen sure does enhance the scope of productivity on the ZenBook Pro Duo. You can have multiple apps running at a time, without having to bother with congested screen space, or frequently switching between them. But I can’t help but wish ASUS had collaborated with Microsoft to optimize the software end of the machine. At times, the broken software makes you feel like you’re on a low-spec machine, which is simply not the case here.
Performance & Gaming
The top-end Intel processor shouldn’t have, at least in theory, resulted in such performance. At least I was not expecting that. You can choose between Intel’s twoCoffee Lakeprocessors – the Core i7-9750H or the i9-9980HK, and the latter’s the one on my unit.
On to the graphics, you get the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 with 6GB of GDDR6 VRAM. That’s a pretty powerful combo, but for its price, I was hoping for at least RTX 2070. Plus, the fact that the primary screen is 4K and to play triple-A titles on their max settings, 2060 is not the best of choices. But regardless, I put the ZenBook Pro Duo to test.
But before going in, the dual-display presents another possibility for gaming as well. With the primary display occupied by gameplay, you can fill the secondary display with your preferred streaming platform, and Discord or other apps you prefer. Sounds great but you’re greeted with a problem here as well.
Trying to access other apps on ScreenPad Plus when playing games on fullscreen automatically minimized the game.
Yeah, the software to complement the dual-screen really isn’t that great. That’s like the zillionth time I’ve brought that up in this video.
Gaming on the main screen, while simultaneously using Twitch & Discord on the ScreenPad Plus
Don’t lose hope just yet, because we found a workaround. Interacting with apps on the second display is possible when setting the game’s screen mode to either Windowed or Borderless. Phew! Now talking about the gameplay itself, I tried Battlefield V, Apex Legends, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
Here, let’s talk about Battlefield V first. It ran at around 35 to 40fps under 4K resolution at Ultra settings, while that jumped to 60fps on average when lowering the resolution to 1080p. Now since the game can make the use of RTX 2060’s ray-tracing cores, I turned that on as well. With this, the frame rate dropped to an average of 50fps on 1080p. The laptop also got quite loud and hot too, with the temperature rising to around 45ºC even with the Turbo cooling turned on.
Moreover, Apex Legends gave around 30 to 35fps in Ultra settings at 4K resolution and about 90 to 100 fps at 1080p. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, on the other hand, stayed between 30 and 40fps in Ultra settings at 4K and remained at around 60fps in 1080p.
Apart from gaming, the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo handles every other task you throw at it with ease. Editing videos in Adobe Premiere Pro, while simultaneously playing music, opening Photoshop and Google Chrome with multiple tabs didn’t break a sweat either. The laptop does get mildly hot in such scenarios as well.
Memory & Storage
This spectacular multitasking is supplemented by an equally grand memory arrangement as well. This unit has 32GB of DDR4 RAM clocked at 2666MHz, which is the highest one available, while options for 8 and 16GB are also available. But I do have to warn you that the RAM isn’t user upgradeable since the one coming with the laptop is soldered.
In terms of storage, the laptop comes with either 256, 512, or 1TB of PCIe Gen3 SSD, which thankfully is user-upgradeable, unlike RAM. With such great read/write speeds, installing heavy apps or games was completed within just a couple of minutes.
You might have seen this raw strength only once before.
Keyboard & Trackpad
The keyboard’s really nice as well with the minimal 1.4mm key travel. It is backlit with three levels of brightness but not RGB, though that’s not an issue for me as I’m really not into the RGB cult. The typing experience here is terrific and it’s easy to get to the keys without any trouble.
However, since the top portion of the laptop’s base is consumed by the additional screen, there is no wrist-rest. Well, ASUS has compensated that by including a separate wrist-rest, which also reflects the notification LED that’s located beneath the keyboard. Another sacrifice to portability.
A separate wrist-rest on the ZenBook Pro Duo
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Wrist-rest
Wrist-rest attached
The trackpad on the right side of the keyboard is just as difficult to get used to as you can imagine. I am not a fan of requiring a shift in hand position to access it in the middle of typing. Keeping that aside, this glass trackpad is really well built and uses Windows Precision drivers.
The left/right buttons are clicky and responsive too. What’s interesting is that this trackpad also doubles as Numpad, and you can also set its brightness level. Don’t worry, scrolling is still possible with Numpad turned on.
Audio
Audio on the ZenBook Pro Duo is another thing that impressed me. It features a bottom-firing stereo audio system, which is certified by Harman Kardon. Though it’s definitely not the loudest I’ve heard in a laptop, the audio is crisp and clear with rich bass and nice surround-sound feel.
Battery
Finally, let’s get into the battery. Despite a big 8-cell 71Wh battery, its endurance didn’t sit well with me no matter how much I tried to convince myself about the fact that laptop’s got dual 4K display. The battery life would range between 3 to 5 hours during normal usage, which consisted of a lot of web browsing, photo editing, and running a couple of other small apps on the side. I usually kept the brightness of the primary and the secondary display at about 50%. You can also minimize the resolution of the ScreenPad Plus to save battery, or disable it all together via the dedicated button.
On the charging front, the 230W power adapter is big and heavy too, which takes about 2 hours to go from 0 to 100. More disappointingly, it doesn’t support USB-C charging.
Conclusion
I don’t quite know how to feel about the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo. It’s exciting, innovating, bold, and expensive, let’s not forget that. Its dual display really brings something new to the laptop industry, while amplifying the level of productivity as well. The performance and the fantabulous primary display are so darn stellar, that it hurts me to shift back to my old laptop. Having said all that, I’d once again like to beat a dead horse and complain about the lack of polished software.
The dual-display experience and productivity could’ve been so much better, but we’re left unattended, wanting for more. Cramming in a secondary display has hurt the laptop’s portability too. An uncomfortable trackpad, a separate wrist-rest, and a massive power-adapter for a laptop that already weighs about 2 and a half kilograms (or 5.5 pounds) mean that you’ll have a hard time carrying them around.
In the end, I believe it depends on who you ask. This definitely is not for a value-oriented buyer, no sir. But the innovation that it brings with it, I’m sure many will fall in love with it right away. So will the amused crowd buy this thing? Well, I have my doubts but you can quote me when I say the ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo will remain in the hearts of many for ages.
ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo – Pros & Cons
Pros:
A new laptop experience with enhanced productivity
Eased multitasking with swift switching among the apps
Powerful hardware resulting in a powerful performance
Amazingly color-accurate display with a great viewing experience
Great typing experience with minimum key-travel keyboard
Cons:
Very poor battery life despite a high-capacity cell
Software complementing the dual-display should’ve been a lot better
Price doesn’t justify the performance, not in Nepal
Reduced portability because of the need for extra accessories
JBL is among the best options if you are looking for a Bluetooth speaker in Nepal since there is hardly anyone better in the game. And the best part about it is that it has something to offer at almost every price range. You can buy its products through the official channel in Nepal and don’t worry – the official stores keep updating their inventory so that you won’t have to wait for too long to get your hands on the latest products. The latest JBL product to hit the Nepalese market is the JBL Pulse 4. Let’s look at what the speaker has to offer.
JBL Pulse 4
The speakers under the JBL Pulse series not only promise astonishing sound quality but put on a colorful show with its dazzling LED light. And JBL Pulse 4 is no exception. The LEDs cover a greater section of JBL Pulse 4 in comparison to its predecessor. So you may say that the 360-degree light show got better with Pulse 4. You can control the lights using JBL Connect App & choose between the available light themes or customize them based on your preference. You can also enjoy the light show even when it isn’t playing any music.
Though the light show is promising, it is there to complement the sound that the speaker produces. JBL Pulse 4 comes with a 360-degree speaker arrangement. So no matter where you are from the speaker, you can enjoy the JBL signature 360-degree sound. You can pair it with other JBL PartyBoost compatible speakers to enhance the experience. It comes with a battery of 7,260mAh capacity which the company claims will provide up to 12hours of music playback time. And if you ever run out of juice you can charge it using the USB Type-C charger provided in the box. You can get it fully charged in about 4 hours.
You won’t have to worry about taking it outdoors with you as it comes with an IPX7 waterproof rating. What that means is that it can theoretically withstand water up to the depth of 1m. Unlike Pulse 3, Pulse 4 doesn’t come with any speakerphone. While the former came with noise and echo-canceling speakerphone, it has been dropped in the latter. So you won’t be able to receive calls or call your voice assistant. There’s no place for 3.5mm headphone jack too.
JBL Pulse 4 is priced at NPR. 29,000 and you can buy it from Evo Store. Considering the fact that it goes for about $250 in the international market, that’s a damn good price if you ask me.
So is it worth the price? We will let you know once we are done with the review. Until then, share what you think of the speaker.
Don’t forget to check out our review of ASUS Zenbook Pro Duo!
The competition among smartphones in the entry-level segment is the crunch. And the likes of Xiaomi and Realme rule it. However, where there’s a ruler there’s gonna be a contender who’ll try to overthrow the leader. Sony is trying that with the launch of the new Sony Xperia L4.
Sony’s smartphones might be unheard of these days, however, it hasn’t stopped Sony from launching new smartphones in the market. For instance, both Xperia 1 and Xperia 5 are on course for a refresh. Similarly, Xperia 1.1 and Xperia 5 Plus too will launch very soon. And for the entry-level segment, Sony has got its Xperia L series.
The Sony Xperia L4 too is Sony’s latest offering in the entry-level market. This device comes as a successor to the Xperia L3 that released last year.
Sony Xperia L4 overview
This device offers a 6.2-inch HD+ IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1680 x 720 pixels. Furthermore, the screen is long and narrow, giving it an aspect ratio of 21:9.
Under the hood, the Xperia L4 runs on MediaTek Helio P22 chipset. Now, a similar chipset was there in last year’s model too. So, I cannot really comprehend why they have decided to go with the same processor. I mean you’ll not receive any upgrade in performance. For comparison, the Helio P22 was used in Xiaomi Redmi 6 and that phone released a long time ago.
Similarly, in terms of storage, you get a 3GB/64GB configuration. And that’s the least they have to provide in an entry-level smartphone.
As for the camera, on the back, there’s a triple camera setup with a 13MP primary sensor. The setup is completed by a 5MP ultra-wide-angle lens and a 2MP depth sensor. And upfront, you get an 8MP selfie shooter. Similarly, the device is powered by a 3,580mAh battery that supports fast charging.
Specifications
Display: 6.2″ IPS LCD display with HD+ resolution (1680 x 720 pixels)
Rear Camera: Triple, 13 MP with f/2.0 aperture + 5MP ultra-wide lens with f/2.2 aperture + 2MP depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture
The speculation is that the Sony Xperia L4 will be available only in selected markets from Spring 2020. And as for the pricing, it’s still not known how much the device will cost. However, as the day for the launch nears, we’re bound to hear more about it.
With iffy chipset and mediocre overall specs, the Xperia L4 will fall behind its competitors like the Redmi 8A Dual or the Realme C3. Hence, Xperia L4 might not launch here in south asia.
Fed-up of your old Samsung smartphone? Most probably you will go out and get a new one. But what about your old device then, pass it down to a younger sibling? That’s one way to utilize it. However, what if your old device could be somehow used to purchase the fancy-new Samsung mobile that you’re craving for. You might have already guessed but allow me to explicitly mention it. I am talking about exchanging your current device for a new one. And the IMS group has introduced an exciting Exchange Facility for Samsung smartphones.
IMS group is a huge conglomerate focused on improving the technological and economic aspects of the nation. They have over three decades of experience in providing quality service and in fact, are the first company in Nepal that officially began importing mobile phones.
Coming back to the topic, from Jan 2020, the IMS group commenced its Exchange Facility program. It is actually quite difficult to get the best valuation for a smartphone from a random XYZ shop. Most often than not, you’ll walk away with what might be the worst deal.
Now, I know there are some e-commerce sites that claim to provide good value for older devices. However, it has not really taken off and thus, no one can guarantee its pricing. Thus, it really seems like a great opportunity to be able to get your old smartphones exchanged for a new one directly from the official source itself.
Currently, this Exchange Facility, by the IMS group claims to give the best valuation for your old Samsung devices and also guarantees spot exchange. For now, you can visit IMS smart showrooms, inside Kathmandu to take the benefit of this program.
Every year we wait eagerly for smartphone brands to drop their latest smartphones. Most of the time its the hardware part that grabs the headline. Besides that, we also expect phones to come with the latest software available. If software excites you as munch hardware excites most of the people, we have a piece of good news for you. Google has already launched the first developer preview of the upcoming Android 11. So, let’s have a look at what can be expected of the forthcoming iteration of the beloved mobile OS.
Android 11 Developer Preview: What we know so far
Better 5G experiences
It’s 2020, and this year belongs to 5G smartphones. While several 5G-capable devices have already hit the market, many are yet to come. Google has decided to enhance its APIs to suit the 5G consumer. The Dynamic Meteredness API offers higher quality content if an unmetered connection is recognized. This time around, it will also include cellular networks to identify unmetered 5G connection. Google has also enhanced the bandwidth estimator API. The API can now estimate the downstream/upstream bandwidth on its own without having to depend on the network.
Smartphone screens have been the subject of interest as of late. Brands are coming up with newer and never-before-seen screens types. Android 11 comes with a new API for better interaction with the waterfall screen that was first teased by Oppo last year.
Messages to be a lot more fun
Messaging in Android 11 will be easier and more exciting than ever. Google is introducing a conversation section in the notification shade to help you keep better track of the conversation you are having. That’s not all, Bubble API will make it easier to text while muli-tasking. It reminds me of the Chat head feature of Messenger. However, with the Bubble API, other apps will also be able to use it.
With Android 11, Google claims users will have more control over their privacy. We loved the while-app-is-in-use permission option in the Android 10. This year, Google has gone a step ahead with one-time permission. The permission granted this way will be applicable only until the user shifts away from the app. If the user decides to come back again to the same app, they will have to grant permission once again. Furthermore, apps won’t be able to irritate you with permission requests for particular permission if you have denied the request twice already.
Image & Graphics
The phones running Android 11 will now be able to decode and render HEIF files. HEIF files offer greater file-size reductions for image sequence than the animated GIFs. This change is supposed to keep both network data and app size small. Thanks to NDK APIs, apps will no longer rely on external libraries for graphics.
Android 11 to debut Screen Recording?
Google ditched the screen recording feature in Android 10 though it was included in the betas. However, it could now debut in Android 11 with an overhauled user interface.
Control Dark Theme Timing
Dark Theme is on trends and that is why it was officially included in Android 10. Now you can schedule it based on your preferences. The settings, for now, looks identical to that of Night Light.
Getting started with Android 11 Developer Preview
As of now, you can get started with Android 11 if you have a Pixel 2/XL or newer Pixel device. However, this preview release is strictly for the developers. Developers can have their hands on Android 11 by manually flashing the Android 11 device system image to their Pixel device. Further information is provided in the Android 11 developer site.
Google will frequently be updating the preview system images and SDK. Google will announce invitations for Android Beta for consumers during the final stage of the development.
So tell us about the feature that excited you the most as seen in the developer preview of the Android 11. What more would you add to this list of features?
Don’t forget to check our comparison between Oneplus 7t and Samsung Note 10 Lite!
Samsung’s take on a big notch-less & hole-less display with the Samsung Galaxy A80, was a bit different, to say the least. Although it looks flawless in terms of screen and quite innovative on the flip-up module, the phone was quite overpriced, especially, considering its caliber. Yeah, futuristic and expensive! But now, the Samsung Galaxy A80 is available for so much less than the original price, that we can’t help but be impressed by it.
Galaxy A80 Overview:
Samsung Galaxy A80 is, truly, bezel-less, has no notches, no punch holes. It’s just a big clean screen. Certainly, the type of phone that almost every smartphone lover wants to have in their pocket. To achieve the bezel-less characteristic, Samsung Galaxy A80 uses a camera that flips around, so basically, we’re looking at a rear camera, that’s also your front camera.
The triple rear cameras are a 48MP primary lens, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, and a TOF sensor. The wide-angle lens and the TOF sensor works while taking selfies as well as portraits. The cameras are great for the price and on par with Samsung’s flagship like the S10. It’s not quite there when it comes to video recording as the A80 lacks OIS and 4K@60fps feature. Having said that, the camera performance definitely better than the Redmi K20 Pro (Rs.49,000) and Oneplus 7 (Rs.66,999).
The Galaxy A80’s weak link has to be its chipset. It is powered by a Snapdragon 730, which isn’t the fastest chipset you can find. You can get the K20 Pro and Oneplus 7 that comes with the Snapdragon 855 which performs 30-40% better than the 730.
The Galaxy A80 also houses an optical in-display fingerprint sensor, which is not as fast as K20 Pro and Oneplus 7 but does a satisfactory job. It is backed by a 3700mAh battery with 25W fast charging.
The Samsung Galaxy A80 is now available in Nepal for the price of Rs. 49,999. With this price cut, it is an excellent choice for someone looking to buy a mid-range flagship under Rs. 50,000.
Model Name
Price in Nepal
Availability
Samsung Galaxy A80 (8/128GB)
NPR. 49,999
Mobile Retail Shops
Mind you, the Galaxy A80 was originally launched in Nepal for a whopping price of Rs. 79,990 and now it is available for Rs. 49,999. See how they fall! If you don’t have the budget to get the Oneplus 7 Pro or the Galaxy S10, the A80 would serve well for the price. The Galaxy A80 lacks the top of the line performance but it does come with an excellent AMOLED display, unique rotating cameras, and a great design.
From what we have seen and heard till now, we can safely label 2020 as the year of foldable smartphones. Samsung Galaxy Fold, Motorola Razr, the more recent Galaxy Z Flip; yeah, the list goes on. These designs certainly have their flaws. However, smartphone makers are hell-bent on coming up with extended-screen smartphones. And that is where this “mysterious” TCL smartphone with slide-out screen jumps in.
TCL had previously shown its under $500 foldable smartphones at CES 2020. However, the one we are discussing today would have been on display at MWC 2020. With that out of the window, multiple leaks about the rumored phone are now surfacing on the internet.
Leaked images of the new TCL dual-screen smartphone by CNET showcase the unique design of this phone. From outside, one will not find any difference between a flagship phone and the aforementioned device.
There’s a punch-hole cutout in the screen, which most probably will house dual-selfie cameras. It is turning into a trend these days, as we’ve seen them in Poco X2 and Galaxy Note 10+ among others. However, that’s a discussion for some other day.
Coming back to the topic, on the back you’ll see vertically arranged quad-camera setup. Till now, it doesn’t seem like the device offers something out of ordinary. That’s because the real magic happens once you slide the display. Yup, that’s the method they have opted to provide the “extra” screen.
Now, this device does something that I believe was the primary aim of the Galaxy Fold. However, it manages to do so by remaining slimmer and there’s no second screen on the back of the smartphone.
But how?
Right now we can’t really say how this functionality is achieved by this mysterious smartphone. The only source of our info is the leaked images. Thus, it would certainly be interesting to see this product in real.
After all, one can’t really say from the images what the actual product will look like. Yes, I’m looking at you “crease-less” Galaxy Fold!
Maybe they have gone with OLED display. I mean, they are extremely thin and thus the layer can be kept very close to one another. Still, there will be a distinct gap visible once the second screen tucks in.
Another speculation is that the display curls up underneath the primary screen. But this too would place the secondary display under some serious pressure and as a result it might break.
Thus, I was really excited to find out, how on earth have they achieved it. However, with MWC 2020 canceled, we do not know when this concept phone will actually be on display. I guess, we have no option other than to wait for a separate event to see this phone.
So what do you think of this TCL concept phone with a slide-out screen? Comment down below!
Sharp is not a brand that we hear about a lot in our part of the world. It is a corporation that designs and manufactures handsets for the Japanese domestic market and for a few overseas customers. Sharp is one of the top runners in the Android-based smartphone market in Japan and recently has come in the news for announcing the first 5G based phone in the Japanese market. The company has announced the Sharp Aquos R5G ahead of the network service that is due to launch in March.
Sharp Aquos RG5 Overview
The Aquos R5G is the latest flagship offering from the company in Japan and boasts the powerful Snapdragon 865 handling its performance. Furthermore, it also has an interesting spec-sheet that consists of a display with two notches. The display is an IPS 6.5-inch QHD+ screen that has a waterdrop cutout for the 16MP selfie camera and another bottom chin notch for the capacitive fingerprint sensor. Additionally, the screen boasts a 120Hz refresh rate among other flagship features.
Around the back, the phone has a quad-camera setup with a 12MP primary lens with support for OIS, a 48MP ultra-wide-angle lens that supports 8K video recording, a 12MP Telephoto module with OIS and the fourth is a ToF module.
The Snapdragon 865 comes paired with a whopping 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 storage which is further expandable up to 1TB via the microSD slot. Software-wise, you get the latest Android 10. The phone is IP68 compliant and also features stereo speakers for audio. For juice, the phone comes with a decent 3,730 mAh battery.
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 865
• Display: 6.5-inch QHD+ display with two notch cutouts
• Memory: 12GB LPDDR5 RAM; 256 GB storage (Expandable up to 1TB)
• Rear Camera: 12MP f/1.7 primary camera, 12MP f/2.7 telephoto camera, 48MP f/2.9 ultra-wide-angle lens with support for 8K videos and a ToF module
• Front Camera: 16.4MP f/2.0
• Battery: 3,730 mAh battery
• Platform: Android 10
• Others: IP68 Rating, Bluetooth 5.1, WiFi 6, Dolby Atmos support, Front-mounted fingerprint sensor, etc
Sharp Aquos R5G Price and Availability:
The price of the Sharp Aquos R5G has not been announced yet and the details regarding availability are not final too. But rumors are that the phone’s launch is delayed due to the outbreak of the Corona Virus.
Check out our comparison of the OnePlus 7T & Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite!
After the invention of the television, the craze for the radio had significantly declined. And seeing a pattern from that fact, it was predicted that television would turn obsolete with the conception of the internet. It’s been almost 35 years or so since the world was introduced to this heavenly invention, yet we still run towards the television to watch our favorite shows and sporting events. In addition to being an entertainment unit, TV also sits as a decorative piece inside a room. As a result, a house without a television looks quite incomplete these days. So, if you are thinking the same and are looking to buy a new TV, there are a few things to keep in mind. And we hope this article will be a helpful guide for our audience before buying a TV. Let the show begin!
Display Size & Resolution
The first thing to consider before buying a TV is its size and resolution. And on determining the size, you need to be clear about the room in which you are going to install it and also the purpose. A simple rule of thumb is – bigger the room, bigger the TV.
When it comes to determining the resolution, the purpose of the TV should be well defined. If your primary use case of the TV is limited to watching regular TV shows only, then an HD or a Full-HD TV would do just fine. This is because the TV channels broadcasted at high quality usually come in an HD resolution. Therefore, in this case, it’s better not to go with high-res TVs as they do not usually go easy on the wallet.
But what doesn’t mix, is a big TV with a low-resolution display.
Though you won’t find such practice from esteemed manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, LG, etc. some dishonest brands do fool an unsuspecting buyer by advertising their TV for having a big display at a low-low price.
Similarly, if you are into streaming videos and watching high-res movies, you’ll need to upscale the resolution. In such cases, Full-HD or 4K TVs usually make your TV viewing experience better.
Retina Distance
But whatever the resolution and size of the TV, you will ultimately start to notice some pixelation if you watch the screen from a close distance. For that reason, make sure you maintain a proper distance (or retina distance) with the TV. Here, the need for properly determining the TV size according to the room comes into factor as well. There’s a commonly accepted standard viewing distance for different sizes of the TV with different resolutions.
Credit: RTINGS.com
For example, the minimum recommended distance is 7 feet (2.13 meter) for a 55-inch Full-HD TV, while it goes to half at 3.5 feet (1.07 meter) for the same 55-inch but with 4K UHD resolution. Following this, you will be able to enjoy your TV on the resolution it natively comes on.
Resolution
Let’s talk more about resolutions, which is the physical number of pixels on the screen. You have:
HD (1280 x 720pixels)
Full-HD (1920 x 1080pixels)
4K UHD (3840 x 2160pixels)
8K UHD (7680 x 4320pixels)
resolutions and more. And yeah, higher the resolution, sharper the picture quality, and better the viewing experience. But sadly, the resolutions on themselves don’t mean squat, unless the content on the TV is of the same resolution as well. A 720p video will not magically transform into 4K on a 4K TV. Yes, there are technologies like content upscaling but the end result is never better than the real deal. Additionally, higher resolutions like 4K and 8K contents aren’t as widely available as HD or FHD. But with manufacturers pushing for 8K certification in their TVs in 2020, expect a lot of ultra-high-res contents in the coming days.
Screen resolution – size comparison
So keeping that in mind, be confident in what you’ll be using your TV for and choose the size and resolution accordingly. General viewing would be just fine in HD or FHD resolution, but you’ll need to move up to 4K or even 8K for streaming, watching high-quality content, or just overall luxurious experience.
Display Quality & Display Technology
Yes, contents on TVs with high-res display look sharp. However, the display also needs to have better colors to offer a good viewing experience while watching them. The display panel used on the TV plays a huge role in determining the quality of display and the color it reproduces. As a result, while buying a new TV, you also need to keep an eye on the display panel used. Talking about the display panel, most of the TVs in the market come with LCD and LED panels, while high-end TVs generally use advanced display panels like OLED, QLED, or MicroLED (mLED) which is all the rage in 2020.
But how do they work? And which one is better? You might be wondering. Well, let me explain it to you.
LCD
The LCD panels have small liquid crystals in them. These kinds of crystals rotate the polarized light, which appears on the screen. As LCD is incapable of producing its own light, a backlight is used to light each pixel, which is switched on and off electronically for each new frame. As an external light source is used to light the pixel, you can notice uneven brightness on some occasions. Unless you are really, and I mean really tight on budget, going for an LCD TV in 2019 is not a good idea since it comes bearing problems like poor contrast ratio, constrained viewing angle, limited response rate, and many more.
LCD screen working principle [Credit: electroSome.com]TVs in the past used to come with Cold Cathode Fluorescent or CCF Lamp as the backlight source. But these days, new TVs employ LED backlight. And these kinds of televisions are called LED TVs.
LED
Here, the LEDs may be arranged in clusters either behind the panel (full-array) or on the outer edges (edge-lit). LED TVs are the most common and inexpensive types of TV you’ll find in the market today. It produces a decent level of color saturation, contrast ratio, and motion blur, but ultimately falls behind the expensive QLED or OLED TVs.
OLED
To improve the picture quality and to solve the issues with the LED televisions, LG brought the OLED technology, in which all the pixels on the screen individually turn on and off. If there is white/bright content, the pixel glows with full brightness and it completely turns off if there is anything black. And because of this property, OLED televisions have the perfect contrast ratio. This kind of expensive display technology also has amazing colors and saturation, while simultaneously offering a wider viewing angle. OLED also boasts a faster response rate thus making it perfect for high-frame-rate contents like gaming. However, it’s not all bells and whistles as OLED TVs have their disadvantages as well.
LG C9 Series 65-inch 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED TV
First and foremost, it just cannot get as bright as the high-end LED or QLED counterparts as it doesn’t use any backlighting mechanism. This, in return, crumbles the HDR experience. And there’s the dreaded screen burn-in and image retention issue with OLED! For general TV viewing use-case with minimal static frames, these shouldn’t be bothersome. It is also worth mentioning that the subjectively premium OLED TVs do not have a wider range of options when it comes to the size. The smallest one you can find will be of 48-inches, which was introduced by LG and Sony at CES 2020. Before that, the record belonged to 55-inch OLED TV.
QLED
Samsung, on the other hand, uses QLED panels on its high-end TVs. The working principle of QLED is similar to the regular LED. But what sets them apart is that the QLED panel uses quantum dots instead of liquid crystals. Quantum dots are the tiny particles, which work similar to the liquid crystals but offer enhanced colors, contrast and brightness. QLED is the industry leader when it comes to color saturation and brightness in displays, & you can enjoy rich and vibrant colors, which can further be complemented by HDR. That’s the reason why the QLED panel looks better and far more superior to LED panels.
Samsung Q900R 8K Smart QLED TV
Therefore, many TV brands have done a licensing partnership with Samsung to use such high-end QLED panels to their TVs. For a quick example, the all-hyped OnePlus TV 55 Q1 and Q1 Pro use the same display technology. But it’s not perfect either, as QLED TVs have worse contrast ratio, viewing angle, and motion blur than OLED.
MicroLED (mLED)
And then there is MicroLED. This seemingly new display technology builds on the principle of OLED, such that it uses tiny self-emissive non-organic LEDs (three per pixel), which can be individually turned on and off, with an additional benefit of color correction. In other words, a pixel can glow differently than its neighboring pixels. And how it differs from traditional OLED is with its higher peak brightness, increased lifespan, and cost-effective production.
Expectedly, MicroLED has its disadvantages as well, which mainly revolves around manufacturing. It is comparably difficult to produce and therefore may cost extremely high this early on. You may have heard about Samsung’s The Wall, which is a modular MicroLED display, meaning you can rearrange the pieces as you like.
Samsun’s “The Wall” Modular MicroLED TV
All in all, as you can tell,
each type of display technology comes with its own pros and cons.
LEDs are cheap and easily available, but they have comparatively poor color gamut, contrast ratio, and overall performance. On the other hand, Samsung’s QLED gives you the best color performance and brightness, while it lags behind the OLED in terms of contrast ratio and motion blur. Similarly, OLEDs will not be a good choice for a well-lit room/environment since it just can’t get bright enough, while MicroLEDs are only fit for enterprises at this point. Therefore, match your requirement from a TV with the gains and losses from various display quality& technology for the most ideal purchase decision.
HDR10 vs HDR10+ vs HLG vs Dolby Vision
The display panel does give some ideas about the colors that can be portrayed on the screen. But apart from that, you need to make sure if the TV is HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, or Dolby Vision compliant or not.
HDR & WCG
Before going into detail about these standards, let’s get to know HDR a little better. High Dynamic Range (HDR), as the name implies improves the dynamic range of the TV by expanding its contrast ratio and color palette. HDR contents, when watched on an HDR-enabled device, will give you more realistic and natural-looking images. Usually, HDR and Wide Color Gamut (WCG) come in side-by-side, but this may not always be the case. That’s another thing to be careful about. WCG basically offers a wider range of colors, meaning redder reds, bluer blues, greener greens, and so on.
HDR10
All these technologies basically focus on bringing true-to-life colors on the television screen. HDR10 is an open-source HDR standard, which does so by sending static metadata to the video stream. The metadata is actually the encoded information on color calibration settings required to make a picture look real.
SDR vs HDR display
In other words, the metadata tells the screen what the lightest and darkest points on the content is. The TV then utilizes this data to set one level of brightness for the entire content. Talking about brightness, HDR10 aims to produce a peak brightness of 1000 nits to achieve that.
HDR10+
The HDR10+ developed by Samsung and Amazon, on the other hand, sends dynamic metadata. It means that the brightness levels of HDR content can vary between shots, which gives filmmakers finer control over how the image looks. So, the HDR10+ tuned contents look more seamless and livelier on the screen. Both HDR10 and HDR10+ support 10-bit color depth. However, HDR10+ differs from HDR10 in terms of peak brightness as HDR10+ supports a maximum brightness of 4000 nits.
As of now, HDR10 and HDR10+ are usually associated with streaming contents and they haven’t been used much in the broadcasting system. To bridge that gap, BBC and Japanese broadcaster, NHK developed Hybrid Log Gamma or the HLG format.
HLG
It’s a type of high dynamic range that specializes in broadcast cable, satellite, and live TV. In other words, it helps to enrich our regular TV content with a higher dynamic range. This standard primarily uses SDR (or Standard Dynamic Range) signals and adds HDR information as an extra signal. So, while playing it on old SDR TVs, you’ll see normal SDR content with algorithmic HDR enhancements. And on HDR-enabled TVs, you’ll see HDR content. In other words, HLG is backward compatible.
As HLG doesn’t use metadata, it is also said that the colors can dynamically alter based on your environment. Due to the additional information in the signal, it may also improve color reproduction on SDR displays. But I didn’t tell you about the color depth or brightness, did I? Yeah, right. Well, it actually has a color depth of 10-bits and supports peak brightness of 4,000 nits.
Dolby Vision
Apart from these three, there’s another standard of HDR, which is also the superior of them all. Dolby Vision is the HDR standard from Dolby, and its working process is similar to HDR10+. It also sends dynamic metadata to TV. But unlike HDR10+, Dolby Vision supports 12-bit color depth and aims at reproducing 10,000 nits of peak brightness. Frankly, there are not many TVs with the brightness that high. Nonetheless, this chosen standard of HDR by Netflix, HBO, and other content providers does a great job even on TVs with brightness lower than 10K nits.
Dolby Vision vs Conventional SDR display
Dolby Vision is the most advanced and sophisticated cinema technology and many high-end TVs are implementing it. Therefore, if everything favors, I recommend you to go with a TV with the Dolby Vision standard. But you’ll only find Dolby Vision in the most premium of TVs, as this standard isn’t open-source and the manufacturers have to pay a royalty to Dolby, to incorporate this HDR standard on their product.
But all these things are complicated right? So, making things simpler is Samsung’s PQI (Picture Quality Index). Of course, it only applies to Samsung TVs but if you’re one hundred percent leaning into the Samsung territory, the PQI value should more or less help you make a choice. It ranges between 100 to 3000 and as you might have already guessed – higher PQI means a better picture. It is an aggregate value of a TV, which is determined based on factors like resolution, color support, refresh rate, contrast ratio, noise reduction, and immersiveness.
Smart & non-smart TV
When it comes to features, TVs are broadly classified into smart and non-smart TVs.
Non-smart TV
The ones in which we can just watch TV channels by connecting a Set Top Box are called non-smart TVs and it doesn’t natively support internet connectivity. Therefore, you cannot stream online videos in non-smart TVs. To cope with this tradeoff, Smart TVs come into existence.
Smart TV
You can connect your smart TV with the internet and can watch videos and movies from platforms like YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, and Hulu effortlessly. Apart from that, Smart TVs also come with several other amazing features.
But not every Smart TV comes bearing the same set of “smart” functionalities.
So, you also need to give extra attention to what’s inside on the software front. For a quick idea, some of the TVs in the market come with Screen Casting technology with which you can cast the images and movies inside your smartphone directly to a big screen of the TV. Similarly, by pairing your phone to the TV via Bluetooth, you can also make your TV work as an audio system.
Screen Casting
To handle all the processing inside, Smart TVs come with their own processor, RAM, and internal storage. To navigate the UI and to access the feature, the processor and RAM plays a big role. That being the case, you need to make sure the TV you are buying has a capable set of internal hardware. With more storage, you can save more videos and movies, which saves you from the hassle of connecting thumb-drive every now and then.
Similarly, all smart TVs don’t operate on the same platform. While most of them run on Android, brands like Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Xiaomi use their own software named Tizen OS, webOS, my Home Screen, and PatchWall respectively. All of these offer distinct UI and set of functionalities. As a result, your user experience across TVs from different brands will be unique.
Now you might have a clear idea that a Smart TV offers quite a lot of benefits over its non-smart counterpart. But did you know that you can also add some of those features and make your non-smart TV to work as a smart one? It’s possible by simply connecting a Smart TV Box to the regular TV.
Amazon Fire TV Stick
At the price of some $25 to $200, you can find some amazing Smart TV boxes, which makes your non-smart TV work like a smart one. So if you are short on budget, you can go for the non-smart TV and separately buy a smart TV box. This combination usually costs less than a native smart TV.
Connectivity
In a TV, connectivity is definitely one of the most important aspects. While buying a TV, it is always advised that you go for one with more connectivity options. Modern-day TVs come with HDMI port, Digital Audio Out (Optical), USB port, S/PDIF port, LAN port, 3.5mm headphone jack, etc. On the wireless side, you get Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
HDMI lets you connect your TV with your PC so that you can use your TV as a monitor. It also lets you connect your TV with the Set-Top Box. Apart from that, you can make use of the HDMI ports to connect your television with gaming consoles like PlayStation, Xbox, etc. and play games at ease. An HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) connection gives you the option to use HDMI both as audio input and output.
high-quality Dolby Atmos sound can only be achieved by connecting your audio output source into an HDMI ARC port.
Getting a true Dolby Atmos experience is a tricky job, which I’ll get into in greater detail later on.
Making use of connectivity options
Similarly, you can connect thumb drives on the USB ports to play movies and videos effortlessly. As some of the TVs comes with a conventional type of remote with no smart features, you can also connect a mouse and a keyboard to help to search the contents. Likewise, through an S/PDIF port and 3.5mm headphone jack, you can connect your TV to a speaker system or soundbar to amplify the audio output.
Connectivity options on the Samsung RU7100 4K LED TV
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The best part about smart TV is the feature to use the internet. But how good can a smart TV be without internet connectivity? Therefore, a good TV not just needs to have an internet feature but also needs to have better connectivity. Having good Wi-Fi connectivity would always be an advantage but if your TV is far from the router, there may occasionally be some lags.
For this, you can improve the quality by connecting the internet to the TV via a LAN cable. Apart from that, it is always better that your TV has Bluetooth connectivity with the latest version. In some cases, you might notice TVs with BLE standard, which is an acronym for Bluetooth Low Energy. As the name implies, it is a version of Bluetooth which is low on energy consumption for connection and data transfer between devices like the TV remote.
Audio
Having good audio quality is equally important on a TV. It’s another aspect, which makes or ruins the TV viewing experience. Usually, all the TVs these days come with two built-in speakers and almost all the TVs specify their audio output in the specs-sheet.
More the wattage of the audio output, louder the sound it produces.
For example, the 4CH (40W) speaker on the Samsung UA43N5300 will sound superior to LG 43UK6320’s 2CH (20W) speaker.
Similarly, the speakers also need to have a stereo output. In the stereo audio system, two speakers work independently to give an impression of sound coming from different directions. So, with stereo audio output at play, the audio becomes as natural as it can get, and TV viewing experience thus becomes immersive.
But only having a stereo system doesn’t mean it will have impressive audio quality. There are other things to keep in mind. Generally, knowing audio technology makes things somewhat easy. In the audio industry, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Audio, and DTS Virtual:X are mostly popular.
Dolby Audio
Dolby Audio is basically targeted for personal entertainment. It provides a more realistic view of the scene with audio control and dialogue enhancement. As our learning is sensitive to volume changes in speech, it gives true-to-life audio experience. Also, volume leveling in Dolby Audio helps to eliminate the annoying noise from the sound output.
Dolby Atmos
Dolby Atmos, on the other hand, provides a 360-degree surround sound. It technically is just metadata and not the actual soundtrack itself. The Dolby Atmos receiver then uses this information to separate the subject’s sound from background sounds giving the listener an immersive experience. Essentially, it creates an atmosphere of music all around you. In Dolby Atmos, audio usually circulates around us in a three-dimensional space, which consequently injects a feeling that we are in the action.
As I said, Dolby Atmos is just information about a subject’s sound, which lays on top of the existing surround sound signals. The Dolby Surround 7.1 that you’ll find in movie theatres these days are impressive. But because of the comparatively low processing power and bandwidth limitation,
The Dolby Atmos implementation on a consumer-grade TV isn’t on par with the Dolby Atmos in theatres.
Therefore, you are likely to get Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby TrueHD sub-stream on your TV which is still spectacular nevertheless.
Dolby TrueHD is the superior high-bandwidth platform that is only available in Blu-Ray discs and is transmitted through an HDMI cable. Similarly, the compressed low-bandwidthDolby Digital Plus is optimal for streaming services like Netflix and is compatible with HDMI-ARC.
If you recall, I had mentioned earlier that getting a true Dolby Atmos experience on a TV is a convoluted job. Every single component involved has to be Dolby Atmos compliant. Let me elaborate on what I mean.
Getting Dolby Atmos to work!
For it to work perfectly,
The video must be encoded with Dolby Atmos no matter its state (physical, download, stream).
The hardware playing the content must be able to decode Dolby Atmos and in turn, pass it to a Dolby Atmos compatible sound system.
Additionally, if you are playing the video through an app, it also must be able to carry the metadata to the device you’re playing it on.
Though it may seem like Dolby has a monopoly when it comes to audio in the field of entertainment, it’s got some competition as well.
DTS Virtual:X
The most notable of them is DTS, with its DTS Virtual:X “phantom” surround sound technology, which is available in a variety of devices like TV, soundbars, and more. It is a post-processing audio technology, which creates an immersive and bass-rich audio experience by adding height and surround audio. It also works in all forms of speaker driver orientation on a TV, meaning it doesn’t matter if your TV’s speakers are upfront, on the bottom, or at the rear end – you’ll be able to enjoy the DTS audio.
But despite having these technologies, audio from television may still not be good. Since modern-day televisions come with a slim form factor, they deploy small audio drivers for audio output. And because such small drivers are incapable of replicating depth in the music or to produce louder audio, you might need a separate audio system. A high-end quality soundbar or a surround system can be used to enhance your TV viewing experience.
This is the present context of television on the audio front. But that may change really soon. When OnePlus released its TV, we got to see a dynamic audio system with a 50-watt 2.1 channel output. This audio system comprises of eight speakers in total – four of them are full-range front-facing speakers, two front-facing tweeters, and two rear sub-woofers for the bass. It’s like replacing the old-school speakers with an attached soundbar. Should such an audio system go mainstream, you don’t need to spend more on the audio system at all.
Refresh Rate
While not the most crucial factor when it comes to selecting a TV, the refresh rate is also worth considering, especially if you wish to use the TV as a gaming monitor as well. It is the number of times the image on the display is refreshed per second (or frames per second – fps) and is measured in Hertz (Hz). For instance, a 60Hz display means it shows 60 images every second. Thus, a higher refresh rate = smoother display.
The difference in refresh rate
However, refresh rates in TVs aren’t the same as refresh rates in other displays like monitors. Manufacturers aren’t even straightforward with their TV’s refresh rate and different brands have a different name for it.
“Motion Rate” from Samsung, “MotionFlow XR” from Sony, “TruMotion” from LG, and “Clear Motion Index” from TCL all refer to their TV’s refresh rate. But, a Motion Rate (or whatever other manufacturers call it) of 120 doesn’t mean it has a native 120Hz panel.
Rather, it means that the TV has a 60Hz panel which then simulates 120fps content.
Everything higher than 120 would then usually mean that the TV has a 120Hz native panel. Therefore, your game won’t necessarily run on 120Hz on if the TV claims it has a 120Hz Motion Rate.
Nevertheless, this will not be a problem if you’ll only be using your TV for general purpose because contents like movies, TV shows range between 24 to 30fps only. And let me tell you, you’ll regret watching such low-fps content upscaled to higher fps, especially in terms of action movies. Also known as “motion smoothing” or the “soap opera effect“, it turns the entire scene into something so unnaturally smooth that you’ll have a hard time getting in on the action.
In short, a higher refresh rate is useful in case of gaming, live-events like sports, etc. but not quite so in case of TV shows & movies.
Considering all the aforementioned points, you need to go for a TV that best suits your budget. Additionally, while buying a TV, there are also a few other small but important points to consider like brand, aftersales services, warranty and breakage insurance.
Make sure the TV you are buying has better brand value, offers good after-sale services, & has a long warranty period. And as the TV screens are usually fragile, having screen breakage insurance would be another noteworthy advantage. After all, they are a long-term investment and the availability of such services only add to the longevity.
Final words
After all is said and done, it mainly comes down to your budget and use-case. For a budget buyer, an HD LED TV would do just fine and it also gives the best price-to-performance ratio. On the other hand, jumping to a Full-HD or 4K TV would be best if you’re into streaming or extreme gaming. Similarly, while an LED or QLED is best advised for such a scenario if you wish for the ultimate TV viewing experience, OLED is the way to go. However, its performance in a well-lit environment will be less than satisfactory. Aside from these, make sure the TV you are about buy has a decent set of speakers, ports, and other functionalities as well.
![LCD screen working principle [Credit: electroSome.com]](https://cdn.gadgetbytenepal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/How-an-LCD-screen-works.jpg)
