Daraz has, without a doubt, created a shift in the lifestyle for both businesses and customers alike. Buying anything without the hassle of a salesperson and getting it delivered to your doorsteps, I mean what’s there not to love? From customizing user experience by incorporating AI, creating jobs, launching card pre-payment – Daraz has been covering all the milestones that lead Nepal to a digital era.
Their statistic really show how much we as a country have become accustomed to the world of e-commerce.
Daraz 2019 – Statistics
This year alone the site had 339,069 visitors and about 1,239,940 total orders. Moreover, 3,062 sellers successfully sold their items. The majority of these figures can be seen owing to the recent 11.11 campaign. The second rendition of this shopping spree took place on November 11 as the previous year. Not only that, the 2nd Daraz 11.11 saw more than 3.5 Lakh users registered in a single day. Now that’s more than double of what it was in 2018’s 11.11.
Daraz’s Managing Director, Lino Alhering said that the campaign broke all records for Sale Day. They received almost 50,000 orders within those 24 hours. The team even went on to organize another campaign named “12.12” after the modest success of the former.
The Future
The statistics clearly show the meteoric rise of Daraz in the past couple of years. This is mainly due to the fact that the company has always looked forward towards improvement.
In 2019 alone multiple upgrades were introduced in Daraz. These upgrades include pre-payment options through Debit/Credit card; better review and rating system including a feature that allows direct chat with the seller in real time called instant messaging; in-app games and much more.
In addition to all these, Daraz has also invested in improving its infrastructures. By establishing its own logistics unit called Daraz Express (DEX), along with employing more than 300 personnel, the company really hopes for good days in the future too.
Not only that, multiple new brands have also joined Daraz this term. THe new faces include the likes of Samsung, Casio, Adidas, Titan, Xiaomi, Sonam Gears, TVS, and more.
With such a huge upgrade since 2018, it’s no wonder that the company’s number of sellers and orders have increased by 200% and 270% respectively.
As per their data, Daraz currently hosts 100,00 plus users daily. And along with that, delivers more than 1.6 Lakh packages all over Nepal each month. The upgrades that Daraz made last year will certainly help them achieve their aim of increasing these figures in 2020.
Most of us witnessed the improvement in Daraz app this year, and the company hopes to keep doing so in the future as well. Currently, they are working on introducing new payment methods such as digital wallets and more entertainment features for its consumers in 2020. Furthermore, the company is also looking to further digitize the logistical ecosystem.
Nevertheless, the company will need to continue working on educating buyers through social media, video ads, and other outreaches. They clearly still have a long way to go to earn the buyers’ trust in Nepal. But with more and more people opting for virtual service these days, as depicted by the Daraz year-end data, I reckon it won’t be long before the company becomes a household name for online shopping.
“The company has had its fair share of success as well as criticism. This is acknowledged by Daraz’s MD himself saying feedback and criticism are what help them improve and be better.” But other than that, their business model and the kind of revolution that they have brought into the Nepalese market is really amazing. Everything is now at your fingertips. I really hope that sites such as Daraz really hit off in the market in the coming days.
Everyone has heard of Facebook Messenger. Most of us even use it in our daily life to reach out to our friends, family, local businesses, and whatnot. Those who have at least tried Facebook’s messaging platform must have signed up for the service. Until now, there were two ways to sign up for Facebook Messenger; one through your Facebook account and the other through your phone number. Facebook has quietly ditched the latter, and now everyone will be forced to create a Facebook account to use the Messenger app.
Facebook Messenger: The story so far…
Before Messenger became a thing, there was Facebook Chat. It was developed in 2008 to help people connect to their Facebook friends. Facebook overhauled the service in 2010 and about a year later released Messenger as a standalone app.
In 2014, Facebook acquired WhatsApp. Facebook couldn’t resist bidding for the app as it showed a phenomenal user growth rate at that time. A year later, Facebook introduced the feature to sign up for messenger using phone number; a trick they learned from WhatsApp.
Facebook Messenger Sign up: The Current Scenario
If you try to sign up for Messenger as a new user you will notice that the feature to sign up using the phone number is no longer available. You will be forced to create a Facebook account to use the messaging platform.
Facebook confirmed the change in an email sent to VentureBeat. The feature was removed to simplify the process of signing up as the majority of the Messenger user had already signed in using their Facebook account. It was also clarified in the email that all the Messenger users who had signed up for the app through their mobile number before the change will not be affected.
Unlike the claim by Facebook, the transition hasn’t been smooth for all of its users. Some users, who had used their phone numbers to sign up for Messenger before the change, have reported that they are receiving messages that say that their account has been restricted. Some have even taken to Reddit to share the problem.
Other Changes…
Facebook has also stepped back from using the data provided for two-factor authentication for its “People you may know” feature. The decision was made following the revelation of the fact that Facebook had been using the contact numbers provided for the 2FA for advertisement purposes.
The Bigger Picture
The recent move to remove the sign-up using mobile number aligns with the company’s attempt to unify WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. Facebook plans to bring all of its messaging platforms under an integrated infrastructure. The plan for unification was announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the start of 2019.
Chinese manufacturers take pride in their custom skins. For many of the brands, their custom UI is a part of their identity. They even update their custom UI every year. These updates not only refresh the look of the OS but also add many new features. And there have been talks about Vivo adding an “Earthquake Alert” feature in their new FuntouchOS 10.
Jovi OS vs FuntouchOS 10
Back in November, there were talks of Vivo displacing their FuntouchOS with new Jovi OS. But since then, it has been discarded and the FuntouchOS 10 has gone official with the release of Vivo X30 and X30 Pro.
Vivo Earthquake Alert System
Vivo is working on an Earthquake Alert system to add to their FuntouchOS 10’s list of features. It was announced by Xiao Zhuge, who heads the company’s Funtouch projects. He took to Chinese microblogging site-Weibo to announce the new feature. It will notify you of an earthquake a few seconds before the disaster. The feature isn’t live yet as it is still in its infancy period. If everything goes as planned, the new earthquake alert system will be ready for testing in the next few weeks. We don’t have any sort of information about the official release date for the feature, but we expect it to go live soon after it passes the tests successfully. It will be a new addition to FuntouchOS’s weather-related functions.
Vivo FuntouchOS 10’s Weather Feature
Further additions to FuntouchOS
It isn’t the only weather-related feature coming to Vivo’s custom Android skin. The company is set to introduce positioning areas. With this, we can know the forecast for the next 2 hours. The new Distant Love feature can display the weather of two areas at the same time.
Vivo Earthquake Alert System: Our Doubts
We told you about the discarded idea of the Jovi OS, which came to news due to a post by Xiao Zhuge. He later announced the plans for the new edition of Funtouch OS and apologized for all the confusion. And now, we can’t help but be a little skeptical about the new features that he has announced. We are doubtful of the progress status of the features and believe that it will take more time than anticipated for the features to be ready. We can’t fully rely on the claims after the Jovi OS saga. And we will have to wait a little longer for the features to go live. Moreover, the Funtouch OS 10 is scheduled to go live in select devices from February 2020 in China, while the rest of the world will get it a couple of months later.
Earthquake alert system can be a lifesaver in earthquake-prone countries like Nepal. But we still have concerns about its efficiency. So what do you think? Can this feature truly make an impact on the lives of people? Do let us know.
So, I have been using the Vivo V17 Pro for quite a while now. I know it’s not just a late review, it’s a “late” late review but I am here with it anyways. To be very honest, I had been having mixed feelings about whether I should make a review out of it or not.
And that’s not only because I don’t see it as a worthy upgrade from the Vivo V15 Pro, but in the last 6 months, Xiaomi has launched the Redmi K20 Pro, Realme recently launched the X2 Pro, so on and so forth. Therefore, the competition has gotten even fiercer! Let’s find out more about the V17 Pro in this review.
Vivo V17 Pro Specifications
Display: 6.44-inch (2400 × 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 20:9 Super AMOLED with 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, Schott Xensation UP glass protection
Back Cameras:
– 48MP primary camera with f/1.78 aperture, Sony IMX582 sensor, 0.8μm pixel size, 6P lens, dual-LED flash
– 8MP 120° ultra-wide sensor with f/2.2 aperture with 2.5cm Super Macro
– 13MP Telephoto lens for 2X optical zoom, 10X digital zoom, f/2.5 aperture
– 2MP depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture
Front Cameras:
– 32MP wide-angle front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture, LED flash
– 8MP 105° ultra-wide sensor with f/2.2 aperture
Security: In-display fingerprint sensor
Dimensions: 74.7x159x9.8mm
Weight: 201.8gms
Connectivity: Dual 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 ac dual-band, Bluetooth 5, GPS/GLONASS, USB Type-C port, 3.5 mm audio jack, FM Radio
Battery: 4100mAh with 18W Dual-Engine Fast charging
Price in Nepal: Rs. 52,490
Performance
Now, what I have always liked about V-series in the past is how they bring some new stuff with every new phone.
The V11 Pro was the first mid-range phone to have an in-display fingerprint sensor, the V15 Pro was the first to introduce a pop-up camera. And not just that, all of the V-series had a good camera and a good design. The V15 Pro was even India’s highest-selling phone under 30,000 IC.
But I feel the Vivo V17 Pro, on the other hand, could have been much better overall. The first thing to talk about here is the choice of chipset. It’s the same Snapdragon 675 seen on the older V15. And this is one area I think Vivo made a big, big compromise.
In comparison, you get a much faster Snapdragon 855 on the K20 Pro and 730G on the OPPO Reno 2. And if you are buying a phone upwards of $400, the SD675 doesn’t make sense anymore.
The day to day performance like browsing, messaging, and playing light games is good. But its when playing high-end games, the Vivo V17 Pro takes a serious hit. You can only play PUBG smoothly in medium settings and HD graphics. Whereas, in the similarly priced K20 Pro, you can play it in the highest of settings.
Design
Also, I might be nitpicking, but I didn’t quite like the design of the V17 Pro. Although Vivo uses a glass back, it feels way too heavy for a phone of this size. One reason could be its chunkier and wider pop-up camera that makes the phone non-ergonomic.
I also would find a lot of dust to be accumulated in the notch, so I had to constantly clean it before taking a selfie. Interestingly, there’s a dedicated Smart Button to activate Google Assistant or Vivo’s own “Jovi” AI assistant.
Ports & Buttons
1 of 4
3.5mm Headphone Jack
Speaker, USB Type-C port
Volume Rockers & Power Button
Smart Button for Google Assistant
Display & Battery
However, the front of the Vivo V17 Pro is really good. It is one of the best things about the phone. It uses Samsung’s E2 AMOLED panel and the quality of it is just so amazing. It’s definitely better than the K20 Pro.
While we are talking about nice things, the battery is also good. This time, there is a 4100 mAh battery on the V17 Pro.
And we know that Snapdragon chipsets are power efficient and the huge battery paired with an AMOLED display is sure to give you good battery life and it certainly does. On normal usage, I got over a day while on medium usage, it gave me around a day’s worth of juice.
Camera
About the cameras, you get a total of 6 of them. The back houses 4 cameras: a primary 48MP lens with Sony IMX 582 sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, a 13MP telephoto 2X zoom lens, and a 2MP depth sensor.
You can also do macro photography with its ultra-wide-angle lens. And this one is better than what we have been seeing lately on phones like Realme XT or the Redmi Note 8 Pro.
Macro Lens Sample Images
1 of 2
At the front, there’s dual camera setup: A primary 32MP lens and an additional 8MPultra-wide-angle lens which I would not say is completely unique but certainly better than what we have been seeing.
That being said, the 48MP primary lens performs well. You get good details in the images and the colors look nice and punchy too. The color tone isn’t very accurate as the images shift between warmer and cooler hues, thus giving you inconsistent results at times. However, it’s not a big issue.
Primary Lens Sample Images
1 of 6
I also liked the portrait images from the Vivo V17 Pro. You get good subject focus and background blur. Edge detection, however, isn’t very accurate but is only visible if you zoom in the images.
Portrait Lens Sample Images
1 of 5
The third lens for the wide-angle images produces good color and the images are fairly detailed as well.
Normal v Wide Angle Sample Images
1 of 4
Normal
Wide-angle
Normal
Wide-angle
The images from the 2X telephoto lens didn’t wow me a bit as I found them to be okay at best. The details aren’t that great so I didn’t find myself making use of the telephoto lens.
Normal v 2X Telephoto Zoom Sample Images
1 of 4
Normal
2X Zoom
Normal
2X Zoom
Selfies are super nice too. It’s Vivo, so we cannot expect the most natural of selfies, but they do look good regardless. The HDR feature in selfies works very well. Even when the background is exposed, the cameras work to balance it out.
Normal Selfie Sample Images
1 of 6
Portrait selfies share the same story in terms of quality but the edge detection is not that proper.
1 of 5
You get wide-angle selfies here as well, which comes in really handy while taking group images.
Normal v Wide-angle Sample Images
1 of 6
Normal
Wide-angle
Normal
Wide-angle
Normal
Wide-angle
And, comparing the cameras of the Vivo V17 Pro with the Reno 2 and the K20 Pro, I would say there’s a slight advantage in V17 Pro camera in its HDR capability, but the cameras are nothing extraordinary or at least they don’t stand out among the others in several other aspects. Like, say portraits, where I think K20 Pro does a better job overall.
Vivo has also introduced a new camera interface here, which is a bit confusing. There is a dedicated portrait mode but you can also click portrait images from the photo option too.
Similarly, there is a beauty mode, which you can only find inside portrait mode and it just warps your face at random to make it more “beautiful”. You get an ultra-wide-angle option in the portrait mode, but you cannot click wide-angle portraits.
Beauty Mode Images
1 of 3
So, the new camera app isn’t refined as I would’ve liked. And, add that to the Funtouch OS which, I think Vivo has to, like seriously, revamp its UI/UX in its upcoming products.
Conclusion
Okay, by now it’s evident that I wouldn’t recommend the Vivo V17 Pro. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad phone, but it’s just that the competition has gone better, a lot better and Vivo isn’t catching up. Also, they made a huge compromise in the form of performance, whereas other smartphones are providing better SoCs at this price range.
On a different note, I feel like there isn’t any WOW factor with the phone too, which Vivo V-series used to have. And this really reflected with the sales V17 Pro has managed to generate in comparison with V15 Pro that launched 6-months ago.
OPPO’s F-series had this same issue earlier, and they have now abandoned the F-series and brought the Reno series in the mid-range segment with a cleaner design and premium features. So, maybe Vivo could do the same with its “Nex” series or maybe improve the next iteration of V-series by providing competitive specs.
Vivo S1 was one of the most well-received mid-range devices of 2019 in Nepal. That is why Vivo topped it up with a Pro variant. Vivo S1 Pro is a device battling for the mid-range crown in Nepal but how does it fare against the mid-rangers in the same price segment from other companies. Let’s find more about it.
Vivo S1 Pro Overview
Running the show is the Snapdragon 665 chipset backed by 8GB of RAM. It’s the same configuration found on Mi A3 and Oppo A9 2020. But since both Mi A3 and A9 had HD+ and the S1 Pro has a fullHD+ panel, the Snapdragon 665 chipset’s performance wouldn’t be as good as those phones. For storage, there’s 128GB with a dedicated microSD card slot.
Unlike V17 Pro, the S1 won’t have a mechanical pop-up selfie camera and instead features a notch. The notch holds a 32MP selfie camera. The back of the phone has a diamond-shaped quad camera setup. There’s a 48MP primary lens, am 8MP ultra-wide lens, a 2MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro lens.
The Vivo S1 Pro gets the power from a 4500mAh battery, the same as the Vivo S1. However, Vivo has finally included a Type C port for charging. You also get an 18W Dual engine fast charging. Running the show is Funtouch OS 9.2 based on Android 9.0.
Connectivity: Dual 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 ac dual-band, Bluetooth 5, GPS/GLONASS, Type C-port, 3.5 mm audio jack, FM Radio
Battery: 4500mAh with fast charging
Watch our Review of the Vivo S1 Pro here:
VIVO S1 Pro Price in Nepal & Availability [2020]
The official price of Vivo S1 Pro in Nepal is Rs. 36,790 for the 8/128GB variant. It is available in two color options: Fancy Sky and Knight Black. At this price, the Vivo S1 Pro offers a Super AMOLED display with a fast in-display fingerprint sensor and a big battery. However, the Snapdragon 665 isn’t the best performing chipset at this price.
Model name
Price in Nepal
Vivo S1 Pro (8/128GB)
Rs.36,790
The Vivo S1 Pro’s competitors are the Redmi Note 8 Pro that offers top-quality performance and good cameras and the Galaxy A51 with a thin and lightweight design, a Super AMOLED display, and a great camera performance.
Alright, today I have the Samsung Galaxy A70s. It has been my primary phone for more than a month now. At first, I was a little put off by the fact that there is a minimal upgrade in the A70s from the Galaxy A70. But now that I have used this phone, I have a slight change in my opinion. What changed? Let’s talk about it in this review!
Samsung Galaxy A70s Specifications
Display: 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display, FHD+ resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio
Connectivity: Dual SIM (nano + nano), Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS + GLONASS, USB Type-C
Battery: 4,500mAh with 25W Fast Charging (included inside the box)
Color Options: Prism Crush Red, Prism Crush White, Prism Crush Black
Price in Nepal: Rs. 43,799
Display
Okay, above all, the first thing I look for in a phone is the quality of the display. Because you interact with it at all times, it needs to be good.
The Samsung Galaxy A70s with its 6.7 inches Super AMOLED screen has given me an unforgettable display experience. This is among the best displays I have seen in a phone of this price range.
And because this is an AMOLED panel, its contrast is simply amazing. I’ve had the best time watching videos on YouTube and even reading e-books on it. The large screen expands the gaming experience as well. The phone also has Widevine L1 certification, so if you are someone who watches Netflix and Amazon Prime videos on your phone, you can watch it in HD resolution.
Additionally, the A70s gives you the option to go full screen with navigation gestures, which makes the already big-screen look even bigger.
Battery
What’s also big on this phone is the battery size. Its large screen definitely needs a lot of power which the phone generously provides with its 4500 mAh battery. On a full charge, I got over a day with moderate usage, which I think is pretty good.
Before the Samsung Galaxy A70s, I used the Redmi Note 8 Pro as my daily driver which has the same 4500 mah battery capacity. However, the A70s performs better because of three reasons:
The energy-efficient AMOLED display
MediaTek processor on the Note 8 Pro isn’t as power-efficient as the ones from Qualcomm
Excellent Software optimization of the A70s.
So, with a big display and excellent battery life at the helm, I think the A70s is definitely one of the best mid-range smartphones for a multimedia experience.
The charging on the A70s is quite fast too. You get a 25W charger inside the box that charges the battery in about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Also, it’s not your normal charger that has a USB A to USB C plugins. This one, like the Galaxy Note 10 Plus, has a Type C to Type C outlet which makes the power delivery faster than the USB A outlets.
Design
Now, with the huge battery, you might think that the phone is all bulky and heavy. However, you get a slim and light form factor on the A70s.
I don’t know how Samsung has managed to achieve this, because I recently reviewed the Galaxy A50s and it was thin and light as well despite featuring a big battery, and the same is the case with the A70s.
On the contrary, phones from other manufacturers with 4000 mAh battery in the same price range have a have significantly bulky design, so kudos to Samsung!
Similarly, the precious 3.5mm headphone jack still lives on and the audio output from the speaker is also good, if not great.
Buttons & Port placement
1 of 3
Speaker, Mic, Type-C, 3.5mm port
SIM Slot
Volume rockers & Power button
More about the design, the back of the A70s is plastic which is slightly disappointing because the competing smartphones like the Redmi K20 Pro and Vivo V17 Pro are giving a glass design. Still, the A70s’ back looks good with its gradient pattern.
Nevertheless, since it’s plastic, it bears higher chances of getting scratched up. So if you are planning on getting this phone, you’d better case it up. By the way, you get a clear case inside the box, which for me has lasted well and I think it will go on for 2 months or so.
Performance
Okay, now let’s get to the performance. The A70s uses the same chipset as the Galaxy A70, the Snapdragon 675. And though it is an excellent mid-range chipset, for the price the phone asks, I had expected more; considering the K20 Pro offers the best-in-class processor for a more or less similar price. When comparing the benchmarks, you can see by just how much the K20 Pro trumps over the Samsung Galaxy A70s.
Take PUBG gameplay for example. In the K20 Pro, you can have a smooth experience even in Ultra frame rate and HD graphics but here the maximum you can go is High frame rates and HD graphics. And even in the recommended settings, you will experience some lags here and there. So, I would advise you to play PUBG in medium settings to get a smoother gameplay experience.
Having said that, normal performance is very good and will not disappoint you in any way. The UI here does not feel slow or laggy, which was the case with Samsung M30s and A50s which feature Exynos 9611.
With Samsung, the design and display are almost always satisfactory if not praiseworthy. But what it’s pathetic at is the implementation of a fingerprint sensor. The optical fingerprint reader on the A70s is slow and not that reliable either. There have been instances when it has refused to accept my fingerprint.
It was the same on the Galaxy A50, the A50s, the A70. And the “legacy” continues on with the A70s. I really hope Samsung looks into this in their future offerings.
The Face Unlock too is nothing to write home about. It is relatively slower than the Chinese phones out there. But since it’s software-based and not very reliable, I kept it shut altogether!
And because One UI is one of my favorite Android skins, I have been waiting for the One UI 2.0 to come on the A70s which is said to arrive sometime in April.
Camera
Okay, now other things aside, what I have really-really liked about the Samsung Galaxy A70s is the camera. Although the only difference in camera specs from last time is a jump from 32MP to 64MP primary camera, the cameras here on the A70s is totally praiseworthy.
Spec-wise, you get the triple cameras in a horizontal fashion here. There is a 64MP primary lens with Samsung’s own GW1 sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 5MP depth sensor.
Talking about the primary lens, the images produced have the right balance of saturation and contrast and so the photos from the A70s look pleasing. However, if you want an extra pop in colors, you can use the scene optimizer feature, which you will have to manually turn on by going into the settings.
Primary Lens Sample Images
1 of 6
Galaxy A70s
Redmi Note 8 Pro
Realme XT
Galaxy A70s
Redmi Note 8 Pro
Realme XT
Though Redmi Note 8 Pro and Realme XT use the same GW1 sensor, the images on the A70s are far livelier in comparison. Hence, Samsung’s software optimization is spot on.
The ultra-wide images too have the same kind of color reproduction as the main lens. This is certainly the kind of camera that you’ll like to capture landscapes with. Check out these samples I took and do let me know in the comments if you like them!
Normal v Wide Angle Sample Images
1 of 8
Normal
Wide-angle
Normal
Wide-angle
Normal
Wide-angle
Normal
Wide-angle
Portrait images are not the best when it comes to edge-detection though. But they certainly do look nice with good colors and natural-looking bokeh! And you can also change the background effect and blur amount before and after taking pictures, so you can choose by yourself the amount of bokeh you like!
Portrait Sample Images
1 of 4
However, Samsung has skipped the 2X telephoto zoom lens on the A70s, while the market’s flooding with smartphones with one.
Moving on to low-light performance, I think this is one area where the Samsung Galaxy A70s shines as compared to its predecessor A70. The night time images, while a little noisy, are surprisingly brighter and better after the camera processes it.
Normal v Night Mode Sample Images
1 of 6
Night Mode Off
Night Mode On
Night Mode Off
Night Mode On
Night Mode Off
Night Mode On
The night mode images are substantially brighter than the normal night time images. The camera seems to do a lot of processing which makes the end result bright and slightly more detailed. So, the night mode in here does a better job than what I found on A50s or the M30s.
Video-wise, you get options of shooting in HD, FHD and UHD among which the videos in FHD are stabilized, thanks to EIS. And the video quality I must say is up to the mark. The UHD videos lack stabilization despite having a good amount of colors and details. You also have an option to shoot wide-angle videos or the super steady mode which are again, pretty stabilized.
But still, Samsung doesn’t provide you the option to switch from normal to wide-angle in the same video. Maybe it’s because of the hardware limitation because the Note 10 comes equipped with it. Also, there’s no 60fps video recording under any resolution on the A70s which seems unusual for a camera of this potential.
Now let’s get to the selfies. You get a 32MP sensor and looking at these images, you be the judge. The photos have pleasing colors with okay-ish details. More importantly, the skin tone looks really good.
Selfie Sample Images
1 of 5
Selfie portraits look equally pleasing though it’s the software that’s producing the bokeh. There’s a negligible degree of inaccuracy in edge-detection here and there, but I am willing to give it the benefit of doubt because the end result isn’t downright miserable.
Portrait Selfie Sample Images
1 of 5
And as it is with other Samsung phones, you get slow-mo, super slow-mo and hyper-lapse features on the A70s as well.
Conclusion
So, as I said in the beginning, I don’t hold the same opinion about this phone after getting to use it. Though there is no significant upgrade from its predecessor, especially in the performance department, the Samsung Galaxy A70s is still a good phone, especially for the multimedia fanatics out there. Its huge AMOLED display paired with a large battery makes it the holy grail for people who indulge in YouTube or other content streaming platforms a lot.
And with the recent price drop, A70s does manage to make its mark as a viable mid-range smartphone. But again, if Samsung had gone with a better SoC like the SD 730G or even last-gen flagship Exynos chipset, it would have catered every audience, including the gamers. So, yes, if you are a hard-core gamer, I would still advise you to go with the K20 Pro, otherwise, the A70s ticks all the boxes for a good mid-ranger!
Samsung Galaxy A70s Pros & Cons
Pros:
Beautiful design and gorgeous display
Commendable battery life
Great camera performance
Cons:
The chipset could’ve been better
Optical fingerprint scanner and face unlock are considerably slow
Believe me or not, gaming smartphones are a thing now. Though, not as popular as other gaming platforms, it still is a market segment with great potential. That is why it has caught the attention of many leading brands. Companies like Razer, Xiaomi, ZTE, and Asus all have tried their luck at gaming smartphones. With Lenovo joining the bandwagon as well, soon, there’s going to be a Lenovo Legion gaming smartphone in the market! Are you excited?
Lenovo Legion and its Gaming Connection
Lenovo has been in the gaming industry for quite a while now. It all started in 2015 with a partnership with Razer. The two brands together introduced a lineup of Razer edition Lenovo PCs. The first PC under this line up debuted at CES 2016. With the name as big as Razer tied to its PCs, Lenovo did well in the market.
Later, Lenovo launched a brand called “Legion” to look after the gaming segment. It started with the announcement of two gaming-focused PCs – Y720 and Y520 at the CES 2017. Since then, the Lenovo Legion series has been pretty successful with its lineup of gaming laptops and PCs.
Talks about Lenovo’s gaming smartphone started as early as April 2019. The Vice President of the Chinese firm, Chang Cheng, hinted that the launch of the company’s first gaming smartphone could take place in 2020. He didn’t mention anything about the device regarding its specs. With 2019 coming to an end, Lenovo has now set up a new page dedicated to gaming smartphones on Chinese microblogging site Weibo.
A rough translation of one of the page reads “Did you Know?? A gaming smartphone is on the way“.
The words from the Vice President, together with the new Weibo page makes us believe that a new gaming smartphone from the company is underway.
Legion is a well-known name in the gaming industry. And if Lenovo launches a gaming smartphone, it only makes sense for the company to do it under the Legion brand taking advantage of the market the Legion has a grip of; a strategy that the company used in its partnership with Razer.
Last year, Samsung came up with the all-new M-series and revamped A-series. It was an effort from the Korean giant to regain its market share in the budget and mid-range segment. The M-series enjoyed much-needed success in the market. And now with the start of the new year, Samsung is planning to build on that success. Recently a phone has surfaced online which is thought to be the Samsung Galaxy M31.
Samsung Galaxy M31 first grabbed the attention of the world when it passed through the Geekbench test. The SM-M315F modeled device scored 348 points in Geekbench’s single-core test and managed to score 1,214 points in the multi-core test.
Samsung Galaxy M30
What we had thought…
It isn’t the first time the Samsung Galaxy M31 has hit the news. Previously, a rumor about the device’s specifications created anticipation among fans. We even informed you about the rumored specifications. Rumor had it that the Galaxy M31 would come with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 665 packed in. It was also set to feature a triple camera setup on the back which included a 48MP primary camera along with a 12MP wide-angle camera and a 5MP depth sensor. It was also said to come with 6GB of RAM in the basic variant.
Geekbench Database Reveals…
The test didn’t reveal just scores. It also pointed towards some key specifications of the Samsung Galaxy M31; most notably the processor. The database from the test revealed that the phone is powered by Samsung’s Exynos 9611 chipset; the one we also saw in the Samsung Galaxy M30s. The chipset has 8 cores (4 x 2.3Ghz Cortex-A73 + 4 x 1.7Ghz Cortex- A53). The phone will come with Mali- G72 MP3 to handle the graphics. It will ship with Android 10 with Samsung’s One UI on top. As for the memory, the device will come with the previously rumored 6GB of RAM.
We would love to learn more about the specification of the device but sadly, the Geekbench test doesn’t reveal much. So we can’t do anything but wait until the full specification of the device is revealed.
Samsung Galaxy M31 Price and Availability
Samsung Galaxy M31 is expected to launch in early 2020. It will be a mid-range device and will face stiff competition from other mid-range devices from brands like Xiaomi.
Just roll back like a year ago, Samsung J-series and A-series were not performing well, and hence we saw Samsung dominance fall. In India, Xiaomi dethroned Samsung for the number 1 spot and Realme, a relatively new name back then, emerged in the smartphone battle. The phone that I’ll be talking about today, the Samsung Galaxy A50s, will not help the company’s cause, I’ll tell you that!
But Samsung is not a brand that would sit silently watching its market share dip. So, they launched the M-series intended to challenge the online phones from Xiaomi and Realme. And they also revamped the A-series for the offline markets.
And to be honest, Samsung did well with its first wave of M and A-series in the first and second quarter of 2019. We’ve reviewed almost every Samsung phone since then and honestly, they were quite refreshing.
Now, coming back to the present context, Samsung has released the ‘s’ variants of its new A-series. And looking at the specs of all of these phones, they don’t deserve to be called as “an upgrade”. Also, the competing smartphones from Xiaomi and Realme are getting better with each iteration. This further puts Samsung in a dreadful misery.
However, Samsung has dropped the prices of all of these S-variants in Nepal. Because the original price was just not competitive enough.
The Galaxy A50s, that I have with me today, originally retailed for Rs. 42,000 which has since been dropped to Rs. 33,599 and I think this should have been the launch price of this phone, to begin with. Anyways, the question is, should you get the A50s? And how does it fare against the competition? Let’s dig into it.
Samsung Galaxy A50s Specifications
Body: 6.24 x 2.93 x 0.30 inches; 169 gm (5.96 oz)
Display: 6.4 inches Super AMOLED Infinity-U
Resolution: Full-HD+ (1080 x 2340 pixels), 19.5:9 ratio
So, the first thing that remains more or less unchanged from the Galaxy A50 is the design.
You get the same plastic back which evidently will get scratches after prolonged usage, so better case it up! One minor change is this one has this gradient back, which is more pleasing to the eyes than the regular A50.
Samsung Galaxy A50s Side View
1 of 2
Power Button & Volume Rockers on the right
SIM Tray on the left
However, one thing I’ve really liked about this phone is how slim it is! It measures 7.7mm in thickness and when comparing it with other popular midrange phones like the Redmi Note 8 Pro or the Realme XT, the difference can easily be realized.
Moreover, the sleekness is achieved without compromising on the phone’s battery as the A50s comes with a 4000 mAh battery as well. Add this to the lightweight build, I can see people liking the overall design of the A50s.
What’s equally good here is the display. You get a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED Full-HD panel whose quality, as expected from a Samsung phone’s, is top-notch. And BTW there’s a tiny U-shaped notch on the top. The display produces excellent contrast, good colors, and is fairly bright. So using it outdoors should not be any problem.
Camera
On the subject of liking things about the A50s, its cameras are impressive as well.
You get an improved 48MP lens and Samsung has done a very good job with software optimization. The picture quality is definitely better than what you get from the Galaxy M30s or the Redmi Note 8 Pro or the Realme XT.
Samsung Galaxy A50s Normal Image Samples
1 of 4
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
Sample 4
Mind you, all of these phones are cheaper than the A50s. So with this, you get what you pay for.
The second 8MP wide-angle lens is above average! Detail wise it’s okay, but the colors are generally lively and pleasing.
Samsung Galaxy A50s Wide Angle Images
1 of 3
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
The portrait shots too are commendable with good subject focus, colors, background blur, and edge detection. Another point in the bank to Samsung for its awesome software optimization!
Samsung Galaxy A50s Portrait Images
1 of 3
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
On the front, there’s a 32MP selfie camera residing inside the notch. And like the ones on the back, I’m a fan of these as well. From dynamic range to colors to details, the selfies from the A50s will not disappoint you.
Samsung Galaxy A50s Selfie Images
1 of 3
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
The selfie portraits also work really well, with a good focus on the subject and background blur. However, its edge detection resides in the grey area with lots of room for improvement.
Samsung Galaxy A50s Portrait Selfie Images
1 of 3
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
The videos are okay for the price. You don’t get the OIS, but the Gyro EIS does a good job for 1080P videos. And as expected, there is no option for 60fps here, but Samsung has included videography features like Slow-Mo, Super Slo-Mo, and Super Steady Mode here.
The only aspect I didn’t like about the A50s camera is the night mode. It overexposes the night time images making it unusual.
Samsung Galaxy A50s Normal vs Night Mode Images
1 of 6
Normal - Sample 1
Night Mode - Sample 1
Normal - Sample 2
Night Mode - Sample 2
Normal - Sample 3
Night Mode - Sample 3
And Samsung had the exact same issue with the M30s. So, frankly, I am really disappointed that they haven’t yet rolled out an update to fix this issue.
Battery
As I’ve already mentioned before, there’s a 4000mAh battery powering this device, which will provide you with good battery life.
On the charging front, Samsung is still using a 15W charger, and I think this is another area where the company has compromised as they should have gone with 25W charger like in its bigger sibling Galaxy A70s.
Performance & Gaming
Though I can live up with the 15W charger, what I can’t understand is the decision from Samsung to pack the Exynos 9611 chipset on the A50s. If you don’t know, it’s basically the same as the Exynos 9610 on the A50.
Thus, the performance of 6-month old A50 and the A50s is near-identical, which I think is a big letdown. The Exynos 9611 is based on 10nm, so it’s comparatively energy-efficient although its CPU and GPU performance aren’t comparable to that of the Snapdragon 730G or the Helio G90T.
And I have also told this in my M30s review, about One UI not being very optimized for midrange chipset, and the same is the case with the A50s. So, you will obviously not feel the UI as smooth as say the Note 10 or the S10. Hopefully, that will get solved when Samsung releases the One UI 2.0.
I know it sounds unfair, but I believe that shouldn’t be the case. You are paying top dollars for the A50s and the UI/UX just shouldn’t be the way it is.
Anyways, if you are coming from a budget phone, A50s will serve you well. The multitasking is great, browsing and chatting are swift and you will not have any problem playing high-end games like PUBG in high graphics and High Frame rates.
So, yah, the performance isn’t bad. However, it’s just that competition is providing better SoC at this price and Samsung seems to ignore the fact that many consumers here in South Asia look for better performance in the midrange segment.
Another thing that Samsung is hopelessly pathetic at is its slow optical fingerprint sensor. Even if I forgave its delay, I cannot stand the fact that it just doesn’t read my fingerprint sometimes. The A50 had the same issue, and I was expecting the new version to have faster ones. After all, an optical fingerprint scanner is not a new tech anymore.
Conclusion
So, overall, I have mixed feelings about the A50s. Actually, this entire video would have been a rant if Samsung hadn’t dropped the price. But since they did, it’s not a bad phone entirely. You get a Super AMOLED display whose quality is hard to find at this price range, the cameras are good and as I said earlier, I can see people liking the design because of its thin and light form factor.
However, the overall performance, especially the UI/UX part, is just about average, and you will get a much faster performance at a lesser price. So, if you are one of those who value performance more, you should be looking somewhere else. Otherwise, with the recent price drop, the Samsung Galaxy A50s does make sense.
Samsung Galaxy A50s Pros & Cons
Pros:
Slim and sleek design
Great Super AMOLED display
Excellent camera performance
Cons:
The chipset could’ve been better
The optical fingerprint scanner is a hit or miss
One UI doesn’t feel optimized for a mid-range phone
Marry in haste and repent in leisure. We are well aware of this proverb yet due to our carelessness and hasty nature, we make mistakes on time and often. And one of such mistakes is deleting the files off of the computer. Most of such deleted files can be retrieved from the recycle bin if they’ve have deleted with the simple “Delete” button. But if you’ve permanently deleted the files, you are doomed. But in recent times, many data recovery software is coming up in the market. They come with their own quirks and helps the users restore the deleted files. However, not all of them are consistent when it comes to recovering the removed files. But promising better features and luring recovery characteristics, iBoysoft Data Recovery software has surfaced in the market. So we thought why not give it a try. So after over a week of testing, here is our iBoysoft Data Recovery Review.
How to get it?
You can easily get the software on their website. They have software both for Windows data recovery and Mac data recovery. So based on the operating system of your computer, you can get it for yourself. The software comes in two options: Free and Premium. As the name implies, the free variant won’t cost you anything to install the software and to recover the files. However, as the free version comes with just a limited set of features, you won’t be able to make full use of its potential.
The Premium version will cost you $69.95, $199, and S299 for the Home, Professional, and Technician edition respectively. But for the academic users (teachers, students, educational staff, etc.), government departments, charity, and non-profit organizations, iBoysoft is providing a noteworthy 20% discount in the purchase of the software.
With the Home edition, you will get a lifetime license key of the software, which you can use it just for one PC. Similarly, with some added features, Professional edition lets you use the license key for up to two PCs. The Technician Edition is the richest of all when it comes to features. If you have the Technician edition, you will be able to recover files from five different PCs.
Ease of use
iBoysoft is fairly easy to use. When you run the software, you will see a window with various drives (both internals and externals), just like the window you see while pressing the “My Computer” or “This PC” button on Windows PCs. Due to the familiar UI, it’s really easy to navigate.
You can press any of the drives, from which you have to recover the deleted files and press next. The software will then take some time to scan through the drive. It involves processes like Rebuilding Partition structure, Reading NTFS File record, Building Virtual File System and Saving Scan results. And these processes concludes, a new window pops up, which shows the files inside the drive selected.
Since the deleted files are marked with a red crossmark [x], they are easier to find. But if you have too many files and folders on your drive, it can be cumbersome to locate the deleted file/folder you wished to recover. For such cases, you can go near the bottom-left corner, where you can get to select “Only show deleted files”. That way, you can save a lot of time from coping with the crowd of files and folders and locate the deleted files/folders really quick.
If that didn’t help, you can use the search tool inside the software. This could be the most convenient way to locate files if you know the deleted file name.
iBoysoft Data Recovery Tool Features
Since it’s a data recovery tool, the primary and essential feature of it is to recover your lost and deleted files. And the tool has its own quirks when it comes to recovering such files.
As I mentioned earlier, the preliminary step to recovering the files is to scan the drive. And there are two ways you can scan a drive. The Quick Scan option prioritizes new and big files. The “Deep Scan Mode”, on the other hand, tries to find more files inside the drive. So with the “Deep Scan” feature turned on, you will have a better chance of finding your lost/deleted files and recovering it successfully.
Although it’s a useful feature and most of the time full-proof, it takes a considerate amount of time to scan through the drive. So make sure you have plenty of time before starting the recovery process. On my use, deep scanning of a 200GB drive took me over 3 hours and that was really frustrating. So to cope up with the issue, developers have included the “Save Session” feature, which you can access through the Hamburger Button near the top left corner. With the “Save Session” feature, you can save the scan results to your PC and access the drive whenever you feel like recovering the deleted. It saves the files in .sr format and the good thing is you can rename those files as well. This helps to easily find the files and scan up the drive really quick.
In the new session, you can access these scan results simply going through the same Hamburger Button on the top left corner and clicking the “Load Sessions” feature.
Once you scan through the drive and get inside, you can see files and folders inside it. As the non-existing (deleted or lost) files are marked with red crossmarks, it’s easy to identify them. Furthermore, you get to preview the deleted files. So before recovering the files, you can be sure that it’s the same file you wanted to recover. However, during my use, I achieved success only with small-sized images and text files. So there is that.
You also get the Bitlocker Data Recovery feature with the software. But since the version I used was Home edition, it was not available by default. If you want to use that feature, you should go with a Professional edition.
Recovery
The process to recover the files is really easy. Firstly, you need to select the file to be recovered, secondly, press the “Recover” button and select the location, where you want to save the file. Then bam, you’ll have the file restored to your computer. But if you are using the Free version, you can only restore the files and folders up to 1GB. So keep that in mind while starting the recovery process.
Although the recovery process sounds fairly simple, the process is not all sunshine and roses. In multiple scenarios, the software showed files with the file size of 0KB, which were barely any good to recover. And some of the files had correct file size, however, they didn’t function well after they got recovered.
So I presented concerns about this issue and asked personnel from iBoysoft. I got a reply that the success rate in recovering the data depends on various factors like storage device type, how data got lost, if new and big files have been added to the system, etc. Even on their website, it has been mentioned that the software doesn’t offer any guarantee that the lost/deleted files are 100% recoverable. Even if recovered, the files could get corrupted and may not work as expected.
But clarifying the statement, the personnel from iBoysoft explained that if a new file has been added to the drive, it would take up the memory location used by the previous or the deleted files. And that makes it hard it recover a fully functional file. He also pointed out that it was the reason why most of the files didn’t work during my use.
The statement implied that the success rate hugely depends on how freshly it had been deleted. So I deleted multiple files from my laptop and tried to recover them. And this time, I had a better success rate. The success rate further improved while recovering the files from removable flash drives. And that offered me some consolation.
Memory Consumption
Since the software is fairly light (3.36MB for Windows PC), it doesn’t use up much space on your computer. Even while scanning the drive (the process at which it uses maximum resources), the memory usage and CPU usage reach up to 70% and 25% respectively. So even for the non-powerful computers, running the software shouldn’t be that alarming.
Conclusion
As the need for data recovery is at a peaking phase, the iBoysoft made a good attempt to fill the gap. It has user-friendly UI so navigating the features is hassle-free. And since most of the features can be accessed in the free version, you don’t essentially have to pay for the tool unless you need to store bulk files. But despite these niceties, there are still a lot of things to improve. I would’ve totally loved and fully recommend the software if it had been a little more consistent with the restored files. So I hope the iBoysoft team will work on the flaws I mentioned and release a software update to make it even better.
