Page 671 – GadgetByte Nepal

Samsung Galaxy A10 Review – Back to the basics!

GadgetByte

-

May 5, 2019

Samsung Galaxy A10 Review – Back to the basics!

When Samsung was revamping its budget and mid-range series, it received a ton of appreciation. And they kind of deserved it too. They came out with phones like Galaxy M20, Galaxy A50, which were great in some markets. And in countries like ours, some of their phones are undisputedly the best in some price categories. But now, in a bid to give their consumers a lot of choices, Samsung is creating a confusing series of phones…again! The previous J-series was confusing, as it is. Now, the A-series is following the same footsteps. The A-series has a whole lot of phones – A20, A30, A50, A70, A80, and A60 and A40s in China, too. And today we have the Galaxy A10 – which is a budget phone. But I thought M10 was supposed to be that. So what’s the real story? Let’s find that out in this Samsung Galaxy A10 Review.

Samsung Galaxy A10 Specifications:

Display: 6.2″ IPS LCD display with HD+ resolution (720 x 1520 pixels), Infinity-V notch, 19:9 aspect ratio
Rear Camera: Single, 13 MP with f/1.9 aperture
Front Camera: 5 MP with f/2.0 aperture
CPU: Octa-core Exynos 7884
GPU: Mali-G71 MP2
RAM: 2 GB
Storage: 32 GB internal, expandable via microSD card up to 512 GB
OS: Android 9.0 (Pie) with One UI
Battery: 3,400 mAh
Colors: Red, Blue, Black
Price: Rs.14,190

Design

The A10 here is a bit more expensive than the Galaxy M10 and is a bit more toned up. Still, you can tell it’s your typical budget phone just by looking at its shiny plastic body. It does seem well-built but feels cheap in the hands. Of course, that is to be expected from a phone that costs so less.

1 of 3

There’s nothing worth mentioning about this phone, though. Nothing really stands out except from the awkward speaker placement at the back. That is a poor design choice in my opinion. Also, with a body such as this, it’s easy to get your finger smudges all over it.

Display

Upfront, its display is no hoot either. You get a standard HD+ display in an IPS LCD panel, but for the price, it’s okay.

Colors are slightly washed out, but it does have a warm tone all over at the same time. Also, the display can go from very low to very bright, but it’s not enough for good sunlight legibility.

There is an adaptive brightness feature but does not work that well. And turning it off just felt better.

Performance and Software

And talking about the performance, let’s just say it won’t let you down. It is smooth enough and it tries its best to run everything you throw at it.

The Exynos 7884 chipset is a lot better than what you get on the M10. Almost everything works…PUBG runs at medium settings with a bit of stutter here and there. At low settings, no such problems occur.

And Samsung’s One UI makes the experience a bit better. One UI, as we’ve talked quite a bit about, is more refined, faster and gives a user-friendly experience.

One thing I like about it, however, is, you still get 32 GB storage onboard. There’s also a dedicated microSD card slot to expand your memory.

The bottleneck, here, is the low 2GB RAM. And it hinders your user experience quite a bit. I mean, you should make sure that you turn off the notifications or alerts while gaming, because if you get a message on messenger while gaming, it cannot handle that! The Exynos 7884 would perform better if it had some more support.

Battery

Speaking of better support, Samsung could have also included a faster-charging feature on this one. It has a 5Watt charger included in the box which takes about 3 hours to charge. However, the 3400mAh battery does last you throughout the day, so, I stick to charging it overnight.

Camera

Now, all we are left to address is the camera on this device. But here, too, there’s nothing worth mentioning. This phone, has, only a single camera at the back which I feel is a step down from the M10 which had a dual camera, remember?

However, the camera is okay and slightly better than the M10. Under good lighting, it captures nice details. The color reproduction is average, there’s less noise and the sharpness are decent. Even so, it could use a bit more vibrancy, because sometimes, photos come a bit washed out. And it tends to lose focus easily while taking some time to focus on a subject.

1 of 19

There’s also the 2X Digital zoom, which, just means regular zoom, and that’s pretty much useless. The same is with low light images. Photos are noisy, lacks sharpness, but at least, the images come out bright…so, there’s that!

1 of 8

And yes, there’s no portrait option in the camera app, which I think Samsung could have done with its software.

Selfies are also only just fine, and that is, under good lighting. Color reproduction is good, although, it could do with a bit more details. And under indoor light settings, the phone fails to capture good selfies. It is mostly blurry and lacks everything but noise.

1 of 5

However, you do get some fun stickers which are kind of fun. There’s also a beauty mode. But if I were you, I’d stay away from it.

For videos, the phone is capable of recording 1080p videos from both the front and back camera, and they’re usable. They’re not good, but not bad either, so…it’s just average.

For high res images, Click here.

Extras

Talking about the extra’s, you get a Bluetooth 5.0 version. But you don’t get a 5 GHz WiFi support and also, no gyroscope. And since this is a budget phone, it also lacks a fingerprint sensor. But there is, a Facial Recognition, which I must say, is pretty slow. Also, it’s not that reliable. So, you’re stuck with the old school patterns and PINs.

Conclusion

So, what do I make of Galaxy A10? Well, I don’t know what to say. This phone is a better version of the M10. But it lacks the extra wide-angle camera which the M10 offered.

And while I think, a price of Rs.14, 190 or some US$130 is a bit too much to ask for some old-school features, there aren’t other offline oriented smartphone brands like Huawei or OPPO or VIVO who can give what Samsung is offering at this price point. So, if you are looking for a budget phone, you just can’t go wrong with the A10.

So is it better than the Redmi 7’s 2 GB variant? Actually, yes. Because both offer the same camera output and more, or less, similar performance. But the A10 offers more storage and a better design compared to the Redmi 7. So, yes.

Samsung Galaxy A10 Pros and Cons

Pros:

Display: Just overall a better viewing experience compared to the M10
Battery Life: Almost 2 days of normal usage under a single charge
Performance: One of the best performance you can get for the price
UI: A lot more refined, reliable, up to date and simple UI

Cons:

Charging time: Takes about 3 hours to fully charge
low RAM: Only 2GB RAM option, which is pretty insufficient by today’s standard
Adaptive brightness: No ambient light sensor

Samsung Galaxy M40 spotted on Geekbench with SD675 and 6GB of RAM

GadgetByte

-

May 5, 2019

0

Samsung Galaxy M40 spotted on Geekbench with SD675 and 6GB of RAM

Samsung commenced its budget and the mid-range lineup of smartphones for 2019 through the announcements of Galaxy M10, M20, and M30. After that, the company focused on the A-series devices and announced almost a dozen of them. With so many smartphones already in the market in the first half of the year, we presumed Samsung is done releasing the smartphones for the year. But looking at the recent progression, Samsung does not seem to be on rest. A new Galaxy device recently appeared on Geekbench and the listing hints the device to be the Samsung Galaxy M40.

The new Galaxy device appeared on Geekbench with the model number SM-M405F. And looking at the naming convention of the Samsung smartphones, it is supposed to be the Galaxy M40. The listing also showed that the phone would have SD6150 processor, which is the code name for the Snapdragon 675 chipset. The phone will also have 6GB of RAM on the board. However, there is no information regarding other RAM variants of the device.

The Geekbench listing also shows that the Galaxy M40 will have the Android Pie on the software front. The software will be flavored by Samsung’s latest custom skin, the One UI on the top.

More details regarding the device are scanty but earlier speculations suggest that the phone will get 128GB of onboard memory. The recent naming convention of the Samsung devices cues that the M40 will be superior to the Galaxy M30. So the display on this device is expected to be bigger than the Galaxy M30. Nonetheless, it has been clearly mentioned that the device will come up with a Super AMOLED display with U-shaped notch on the top. Rumors also highlight that there will be a fingerprint scanner underneath the display.

On to the imaging part, the Samsung Galaxy M40 will have a triple camera setup on its back. However, there is no information regarding the resolution and type of lenses used. On the front, there will be a single selfie shooter residing on the notch. Reports also suggest that the phone will get a 5000mAh battery just like the M30.

A while back, a Samsung smartphone with the same model number was spotted on the websites of Bluetooth SIG and Wi-Fi Alliance. And the sudden listing on the Geekbench suggests that the new phone could make a debut really soon. Since Samsung is fiercely launching smartphones in quick succession, it won’t be a surprise if the South Korean giant unwraps the device next week.

OPPO A1K with a big battery & water-drop notch receives price cut in Nepal

GadgetByte

-

May 3, 2019

0

OPPO A1K with a big battery & water-drop notch receives price cut in Nepal

Entry-level smartphones aren’t the first thing that hits your mind when you hear the brand Oppo. However, Oppo has a wide range of smartphones starting as low as the sub 20,000 price range. And one of them is the Oppo A1K. Now, the company is offering a discount on the Oppo A1K in Nepal and is available at the cheapest price possible.

Oppo A1K Overview

Going by the specifications, we can firstly see a 6.1-inch IPS display, which comes with HD+ resolution. The display also comes with a tiny waterdrop style cutout on the top just like on the recently launched Oppo F11. Oppo A1k also flaunts Gorilla Glass 3 protection on the top, which protects the device from minor cracks and scratches during the falls.

Performance-wise, the phone gets the MediaTek Helio P22 chipset, which comes along with 2GB of RAM. In terms of storage, the phone enjoys 32GB of onboard memory. The storage can be expanded up to 256GB and Oppo has included a dedicated slot for the purpose.

The major highlight on the device has to be its humongous battery. The phone flaunts a sizable 4000mAh. And owing to its low-res HD display, the device promises a prolonged endurance.

Moving on to the camera, there is a single shooter both on the front and on the back. The rear camera comes with an 8MP sensor capped with an f/2.2 lens. A 5MP selfie shooter rests on the notch up top. Apart from capturing selfies, the front shooter also comes into action while unlocking the device via Face Unlock feature. And that’s the only biometric means of unlocking the device. The phone lacks a fingerprint scanner, which is quite a bummer.

Also Read: Top Smartphones Under 15000 in Nepal

In terms of software, the phone gets Android Pie out of the box with ColorOS 6 on the top. Oppo A1k is priced at Rs. 14,790 and comes in Black and Red Color variants.

OPPO A1K Specifications:

Display: 6.1″ HD+ (720x1560px) 19.5:9 aspect ratio panel; 87.4% screen to body ratio
Protection: Gorilla Glass 3
Processor: MediaTek Helio P22 SoC
RAM: 2GB
Storage: 32GB expandable via MicroSD
OS: Android Pie 9 with Color OS 6.0 on top
Rear Camera: 8MP f/2.2 w Dual LED flash
Front Camera: 5MP f/2.0
Battery: 4000mAh
Ports: MicroUSB, 3.5mm headphone jack
Connectivity: FM Radio, Dual SIM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4G VoLTE, GPS
Colors: Black, Red
Dimensions: 154.5 x73.8x 8.4mm

Check out the review of Oppo A1K

Oppo A1K Price in Nepal and Availability

The new price of Oppo A1K in Nepal is NRP 14,790 and it is available through both online and offline retail channels. And at its price, the phone goes head to head against the Galaxy M20 and the Redmi 7.

Model Name	Old Price	New Price in Nepal
Oppo A1K (2/32GB)	NPR. 17,590	NPR 14,790

Huawei P30 Lite Review: P30 Legacy on a Budget!

Pratima Adhikari

-

May 2, 2019

0

Huawei P30 Lite Review: P30 Legacy on a Budget!

It is really a nice concept of smartphone brands bringing a ‘lite version’ of their flagship devices. So, that makes those phones neither flagship nor they have mid-range specs entirely. Same is the case with the Huawei P30 Lite. Some things it borrows from the high-end P-series and some from mid-range Nova phones. And it makes for a really interesting combination! But how much of the features has it borrowed from its flagship sibling? And does it really carry the legacy of the flagship P30? Let’s find that out in this Huawei P30 Lite review.

Huawei P30 Lite Specifications:

Display: 6.15-inch IPS LCD display
Resolution: Full-HD+ (2312×1080 pixels); 19.5:9 aspect ratio @ 415PPI
Chipset: HiSilicon Kirin 710
CPU: Octa-core (4×2.2 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4×1.7 GHz Cortex-A53)
GPU: Mali-G51 MP4
RAM: 6GB
Storage: 128GB; Expandable up to 512GB via SD card slot (Uses SIM2 Slot)
OS & UI: Android Pie (v9.0) with EMUI 9 on the top
Rear Camera: Triple camera – (24 MP, f/1.8, PDAF, wide-angle) + (8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, 120-degree field of view) + (2MP, f/2.4, depth sensor), LED flash
Front Camera: 32MP, f/2.0
Sensors: Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
Battery: 3340mAh non-removable Li-Po battery with 18W fast charging support; Uses USB Type-C
Colors: White, Blue, Black
Price: Rs. 39,999

Design

Let’s start the things with its design! The P30 Lite has a premium looking glass back with gradient finish just like all of Huawei’s phones in 2018! But I am not complaining, it looks really good. But since it has a glass body, it can be a bit slippery but, again, it’s kind of a trade-off you have with a glass body.

But I still like the design especially because it’s ergonomic. I really liked the Galaxy S10 as it fits in my hands like it’s made for me and the P30 Lite gives me a similar feeling. And it has that right amount of heft to it and feels premium which, I think it has inherited from its flagship brothers.

I have used it without a cover because I like it that way and it has held up pretty well. Not major noticeable scratches have appeared. You get the phone with a screen protector already there, so Huawei has saved me the hassle of getting one.

Moving on, the buttons are placed in the right spot and you get that good tactile click on pressing them. The back of the phone looks minimal. While we are talking about the back, the fingerprint sensor is easily reachable and fast to my liking. So, I have to say that Huawei has done a pretty good job in the design aspect.

Display

Moving up front, the P30 Lite has a modest 6.1 inches display and I think it’s a good size. With all the phones growing to the size of tablets, this one’s a breath of fresh air. It’s an FHD+ screen that has enough brightness and good colors.

It’s an IPS LCD, so you won’t get those deep AMOLED blacks, but for a display this one is, you will have no complaints, I have had none.

Also, I am not known about Huawei including any gorilla glass protection on the screen though! So, do yourself a favor and slap on a protector on it.

Likewise, you cannot notice the notch on top. It’s a regular U-shaped notch with a speaker grill above it that has a tiny LED notification. It’s a bit dim, but I am just happy that it’s still there. You do have an option to hide it, but I guess I have finally accepted notches, so I used it like that. So, nothing to complain about the display either.

Camera

Now, the cameras. Don’t get me wrong when I said you get some flagship features in the P30 Lite, I was not talking about the cameras. Of course, we cannot expect P30’s cameras here! This one has what other mid-rangers offer at a similar price. It’s a triple camera setup consisting of a 24 MP primary camera, an 8 MP ultra-wide-angle lens and a 2MP depth sensor.

And judging by the pictures, it follows what other Huawei smartphones tend to do, oversaturate images a little bit! But that does not necessarily mean the images are bad. They look good. Take the below-attached samples as a reference. These pictures look good. And the pictures don’t miss out on details, they are sharp and on point!

1 of 10

And if you are wondering about the wide- angle pictures, here are some samples of it too. They have good colors and look vibrant. Of course, the primary sensor has managed to pack in a lot of details, but if you look closely, colors are better reproduced in the wide-angle shots.

Normal Vs Wide Angle Mode

1 of 14

Anyways, while we’re at it, let’s talk about portrait shots. Umm, they are not the best seen in a device of this price. The edge detection seems off and the blur is not very natural looking. Maybe Huawei should improve it by a software update. You also get different types of blurs, which are getting more popular on smartphones these days.

1 of 6

However, I used to ponder why there are two modes for portrait images, the aperture and the portrait mode. But it so happens that in pictures taken from the portrait mode you cannot change the depth of field and focus point but in the aperture mode, you can! Huawei could have included both in the same place as to make it simpler though.

Similarly, you get tones of camera features that need some serious digging in. They are not the most useful normally, but good to play with sometimes. However, what I liked is the night mode here. It’s not as good as the P30, but helps preserve details well and also makes the images brighter.

Huawei P30 Lite Night Mode

1 of 6

The AI mode is less aggressive than what we previously got on Huawei phones. However, it does oversaturate pictures like you can see in this flower, but in this image, the AI works really well.

1 of 6

Selfies, on the other hand, from the 32 MP camera are impressive. Although, not the most natural, but not bad either. They are colorful and bright and will not disappoint you in any way.

Portrait selfies are an outcome of software but good enough to like them overall. There are also various portrait lighting effects which are fun to play around with.

Also, I like to keep the beauty mode off all the times because I like my pictures to look natural. However, I have seen some of my friends to have a liking for it. So, here are some samples of beautified selfies I clicked to check how it works. Do, let me know in the comments below if you like it.

Different Selfie Modes

1 of 10

One thing I seriously love about the cameras is the videos it can take. The phone has Gyro- EIS that makes the videos very stable. You have options of shooting in different resolutions, but I suggest you do it in 1080p@30 fps for the best quality and stabilization. And if you are into vlogging on a budget, this one might be for you!

So, summing up the camera part, except for the portraits, you are getting a very good deal here!

For high res images, Click here.

Performance

The P30 Lite runs on the same Kirin 710 chipset that we saw on last year’s Nova 3i and Honor 8X. In a similar price range, you do get better chipset for sure. Just look at these benchmark scores we compared against similarly priced Galaxy A50 and Poco F1.

Seems like Huawei needs to bring another mid-range chipset to compete in this segment or they could have just given the Kirin 970.

Having said that, we know how that Kirin 710 performs, it’s not bad by any means. It can handle almost everything you throw at it from multitasking to high-end gaming. Although you won’t get to play PUBG in the highest of settings like the A50 or Poco F1, since the Nepali government has put a ban on it, there are very limited days of playing it anyways! I have tested playing Asphalt 9 too and it runs well so nothing major to worry about.

Here are some benchmark scores:

Geekbench 4:
- Single-Core: 1526
- Multi-core: 5346
- Compute: 2596
AnTuTu:
- 127833
3DMark Sling Shot Extreme
- OpenGL ES 3.1: 945
- Vulka: 1354
PC Mark
- Work Performance 2.0: 6532
AndroBench
- Sequential Read: 292.39 MB/s
- Sequential Write: 154.3 MB/s

So, if performance is your topmost priority, you do have an option to get the Pocophone F1, which is unbeatable for the price but if you feel your needs are not very comprehensive, the Kirin 710 will do just fine. Plus, you are getting 6GB of RAM and 128 GB storage inside, which is good to see on a midrange phone.

Software and UI

The phone runs on Android 9 Pie with EMUI 9.0.1. And I love how EMUI has evolved over the years. The experience is now smoother and better than before and I have very less problems with it. And I also like how Huawei lets users make customizations as per their liking which is good to have.

You do get a fair share of bloatware in it but most of them can be uninstalled, so no worries here. And although EMUI has its perks, One UI feels lighter and easier to operate.

And Huawei is getting better with updates these days, so think this one will receive Android Q update as well. Having said that, I haven’t received a system update on my use, just hope that it’s on the way! However, the latest security patch is dated February 2019!

Battery

The Huawei P30 Lite has a decent 3,340 mAh battery packed inside which is good enough. And as compact the phone is, the battery size does nothing but compliment to it.

Talking about the battery life, you get a day of use. And my usage is above an average person. It will give you 5 hours of screen on time with 2 hours of watching videos, an hour of gaming, and 2hours of social media.

And although the phone has a relatively smaller battery, you get an 18-watt fast charging adapter inside the box along with a Type-C cable. It takes around 1 hour 45 minutes to charge from 0 to 100%.

Extras:

Moving on to the extras, the single firing speaker at the bottom is a good one and is moderately loud. There’s a headphone jack too, which I am thankful to see.

But you have to sacrifice on a SIM slot to expand the memory if need be because this one has a hybrid SIM slot. Although 128 GB will be enough for most, I guess.

As already mentioned, the fingerprint sensor at the back is swift and gets it correct all the time, except for when your hands are greasy. The facial unlock is fast as well and is done by the primary camera so might not be the most secure!

Conclusion:

The Huawei P30 Lite seems to offer good stuff to the table overall. The main competition to it right now is the Galaxy A50 especially because of its superior AMOLED display and slightly better performance. But other than that, you are getting a very appealing design, more storage and an impressive set of cameras with the P30 Lite.

If you ask me, personally I have liked using the P30 Lite as my daily driver these last 2 weeks. And as I said earlier I love how it is a breath of fresh air in the world of large smartphones. So, buying the P30 Lite is not going to be a regret, that I can tell you for sure!

Google Pixel 3a and 3a XL leaks again: This time with the color options and price

GadgetByte

-

May 2, 2019

0

Google Pixel 3a and 3a XL leaks again: This time with the color options and price

Ahead of the launch of Google Pixel 3 and 3XL, there have been too much of leaks. And its midrange sibling is going through the same fate. The upcoming Google Pixel 3a and 3a XL are slated to launch on 7^th of May. But a week ahead of its launch, there has been quite a big leak. And this recent leak has divulged the color options, storage variants and the price as well.

The renders came through Droid-Life, which spilled the color options of the device. The renders show the Pixel 3a/3a XL devices in White, Purple, and Black color variants. And alongside that, there were some promotional images confirming some of the specs and features of the devices.

Color Options

1 of 3

The website primarily confirms that the smaller of the two will get a 5.6-inch display. And the Pixel 3a XL is said to come with the 6.0-inch panel. On the battery side, Pixel 3a will have a 3000mAh battery and the ‘XL’ variant will feature a 3700mAh one. Apart from that, both of these devices are said to come with similar features. Both of them will flaunt a 12.2MP Dual Pixel rear camera, an 8MP selfie shooter, which might be similar to what we saw on the flagship Pixel 3 Duo. Furthermore, these phones will support the infamous Night Sight mode in the camera app. These phones will also come aboard with portrait mode, Motion Auto Focus, and unlimited Google Photos storage.

Even on the midrange device, Google seems to be generous this time. Both of these devices will come with fast charging support, which is said to inject the power to in such a speed that it will back the device up for “7 hours with 15 minutes of charge”. Evidently, the phone will come with Android 9 Pie out of the box with a promise of security and OS upgrades for 3 years.

Additionally, the phone will come with 4GB RAM and 64GB of onboard memory. But a new leak from a tech YouTube channel named “This is Tech Today” has highlighted that there will be 128GB storage options as well.

The YouTuber also went ahead with the information about the devices and revealed the prices of the devices as well. According to This is Tech Today, the base variant of the Pixel 3a will cost $399. The ‘XL’ variant will be $80 more expensive than the smaller version at $479. The presenter, Brandon Lee also mentioned that there will be Snapdragon 670 chipset on the board. However, he did not quite explicitly say that it will be on Pixel 3a or 3a XL or both. Earlier leaks suggest that the 3a will have Snapdragon 670 and Snapdragon 710 on the Google Pixel 3a XL. But we probably have to wait till May 7 for the official confirmation of the specifications.

Facebook Developer Conference 2019 – Facebook is changing for better or worse

GadgetByte

-

May 2, 2019

0

Facebook Developer Conference 2019 – Facebook is changing for better or worse

Facebook‘s largest annual event, Facebook Developer Conference or Facebook F8 2019 went by. And this year, they had quite a lot of announcements to make. To sum it all up, Facebook is changing – for better, or worse! Some changes might be welcome, while some…we’ll take some time getting used to. So, here are some of the announcements that matter in the event.

“The Future is Private” or is it?

For a company that people, these days, look upon with distrust, this is a bold announcement to make. From the Cambridge Analytica scandal to other frequent allegations related to privacy, the company is not really doing well in the privacy department. But, Mark Zuckerberg seems to know all about it. He claimed that things were going to change.

Facebook will be making major changes in its policies. The social media platform will, apparently, now be more privacy-focused and secure service. It will highlight 6 major components – private interactions, encryption, reduced permanence, safety, interoperability, and secure data storage. The company is also going lengths to provide end to end encryption to Messenger’s, Instagram’s and WhatsApp’s video and audio calls. However, this version of Facebook won’t roll out soon…could take almost a year.

Facebook gets a make-over

This might be a mixed bag of emotions for some. The Facebook we’ve come to use and, maybe love, will soon be no more. It’s getting a massive redesign – both in the desktop browser version and the mobile app. It will be a more “cleaner” design, with the layout having a more white look. But it will have a dark mode too.

The “cleaner” look means not only the color but your News Feed will take a hit, too. The new Facebook, or, FB5, will emphasize more on Groups and Events and less on the News Feed. This is supposed to help people expand their social circles. I, for one, don’t really like this approach (not a social butterfly), but some might like it, though.

Messenger at Lightspeed!

For a messaging app, Facebook’s messenger seems a bit too, heavy, doesn’t it? And you’ll notice it more so when you’re maybe playing a heavy game, and a message pops up. Then, your phone will become somewhat unresponsive for a second. It’s not the same for all phones, but many struggle. And so, the company is taking steps to re-build the messenger app entirely, so that it’s size is reduced to less than 30 MB! This means the app will open and run faster.

Also, a standalone desktop Messenger app is in the works. So, if you don’t want to open Facebook on your browser every time you want to check your messages, this is good news. But you can also use the Opera Browser, with messenger built in! (Just saying!)

Another addition to the messenger app is that you can also directly interact with your “Close Friends”. This feature will be there, both on Messenger and Instagram, but it’s not yet clear how it’ll work exactly. But the idea is similar to that we have on Instagram, share your status messages and such in a more private and tighter friend circle.

Instagram Camera Redesign and new Mode

Instagram stories are one of the most used features of the app. But Instagram’s own camera is not as good as your real one. Granted, it won’t ever be…but the company’s trying to improve the camera on it so that you can improve the quality of your stories and posts.

Also, the camera redesign means the filters and camera modes appear in a wheel, making it easier to navigate and look for. There will also be dedicated buttons for broadcasting and such. In addition, there’ll be a new Create Mode which will allow users to create posts without adding images or videos to it.

Furthermore, they’re adding Shopping Tags feature which enables influencers to add tags related to various products on their posts. And people can click on the tags to directly buy the products if they like it. This feature is only open to influencers like artists, athletes, creators, publishers, and other public figures.

Facebook Dating enhanced

Facebook’s online dating feature – Facebook Dating, introduced last year, is seeing some upgrades. Now, it has a feature called “Secret Crush“, which allows you to create a secret list of friends you have a crush on. And if your crush thinks the same of you, and has you on their list, you’ll match! So, dating is more within your circle now…

Unfortunately, this is not available everywhere. This feature is now extended to 14 more countries, bringing the total to 19. It’s a shame this feature is not available here… I sure could use it!

Other Features

Besides these, there were a lot of other announcements made at the event.

In summary, Facebook is also trying to compete with Amazon – by improving its marketplace. It will be adding buying and shipping features allowing users to purchase goods directly from Facebook. But that feature is only in the U.S. right now.

Facebook’s online video calling through smart displays service, Portal, has been available in the U.S. since launch. And now, it will also be available internationally. The Smart Displays will also support WhatsApp calling with end-to-end encryption as well.

In addition, Facebook also launched two new products – two new VR headsets – Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S. These headsets will both go for sale starting May 21, will ship to 22 different countries for some $400 each!

Apart from all these, Facebook is also improving it’s AI and machine learning to recognize Hate Speech and effectively filter them out. It’s a nice step from the company to minimize online bullying and shaming. Furthermore, Facebook is also training it’s AI to recognize images of things – i.e. it might soon be able to tell if you’re selling marijuana or vegetables using its services. The only problem with that is it might also be able to recognize you almost instantly. So much for privacy, right?

So, that was all the major stuff the social media giant announced at this year’s Facebook F8 2019. Yes, Facebook is changing, for better or worse. While some features mentioned above might not make it to our country just yet, it will soon be there. What do you think about these? Do let us know.

Full specs sheet of the OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro are out

GadgetByte

-

May 2, 2019

0

Full specs sheet of the OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro are out

OnePlus’s upcoming flagship phones, OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro are launching on May 14. DisplayMate also said that the OnePlus 7 Pro would have one of the best displays on any smartphones out there. Apart from that, most of the specs were under the veil. But thanks to the leakers, some of the major specs of the device have recently come into the limelight ahead of its launch.

OnePlus 7 specifications (Leaked)

The leaks went far ahead so we now have the exact dimension of the device as well. The phone measures 157.7 x 74.8 x 8.1mm. So the device will have a similar form factor of the OnePlus 6T. However, this time the phone will get a 6.2-inch display. So we can expect a slight increase in the size of the bezel. The phone will bring the reminiscence of the 6T, as it will have a tiny water-drop style notch on the top. The screen here will have Full-HD+ resolution and 60Hz refresh rate. OnePlus 7 will also have a fingerprint scanner under the display.

As expected, the phone will get the latest Snapdragon 855 chipset with 6GB of RAM. On the software front, OnePlus 7 will flaunt Android Pie (v9) out of the box with its custom skin OxygenOS on the top. One of the major highlights on this device will be its big battery. While the major smartphone players like Samsung and Huawei are being parsimonious on the battery front on the lower flagship variant, OnePlus went all out and provided a sizable 4150mAh battery on the standard OnePlus 7. Plus, the phone will have 30-watt Warp Charge technology to refill the battery really fast.

Higher megapixel count in the smartphone cameras is being the new trend of 2019. And like most of the Chinese phones, the OnePlus 7 will also come with a 48MP primary camera. However, the leak hasn’t specified the type of lens and resolution of secondary camera. Likewise, we do not yet know the resolution of the front camera. But as far as the rumors go, the front camera will reside on the notch.

The leaks went further unveiling the price of the device. Giztop, a Chinese e-commerce website has listed the OnePlus 7 in its website with the price tag of $569. If the phone launches at this price, there are high chances that the device will clench the title of the best flagship killer once again.

OnePlus 7 Pro specifications (Leaked)

Measuring at 162.6 x 76 x 8.8mm, the Pro variant will be slightly bigger and thicker when it comes to the size. Unlike the regular OnePlus 7, the Pro variant gets 6.64-inch notch-less AMOLED display, which refreshes at 90Hz. OnePlus has also upped its game this time by including Quad-HD+ resolution, which is quite an upgrade over the Full-HD+ resolution on the OnePlus 6T. With curvy edges on the sides, the display on this device will house a fingerprint scanner underneath it.

On the camera front, OnePlus has segregated the pro version from normal one by including an extra camera on the back. That means, just like the Samsung Galaxy S10/S10+ and Huawei P30, the OnePlus 7 Pro will come with camera triplets on the back. The primary 48MP shooter will be accompanied by an ultra-wide-angle camera and a telephoto camera. On the front, the phone will have a pop-up style selfie camera just like the Vivo V15 Pro and Oppo F11 Pro. However, there is no information regarding its resolution.

Powering the device will be snapdragon 855 with 8GB of RAM. The device is also expected to come with 10GB of RAM and we have seen benchmark leaks of the device with 12GB RAM. So we can expect three variants of the device in terms of RAM amount. The Pro version will get a slightly smaller 4000mAh battery and like the regular one, it will have support for 30-watt Warp Charging.

MSI PS42 Modern 8RA Review – A regular ultrabook…but from MSI!

MSI
Reviews

GadgetByte

-

May 2, 2019

0

MSI PS42 Modern 8RA Review – A regular ultrabook…but from MSI!

When you see a dragon logo on a laptop, it’s mostly meant for hard-core gaming. But this one, with the same kind of dragon logo ventures quite a different territory. MSI is a household name when it comes to gaming, and it’s not been very long since the company charted to the ultra-book territory. This is a line that’s mostly dominated by the likes of Apple and Dell XPS, or HP and stuff. But they have their Prestige lineup comprises of ultra-books, and there are quite a few laptops in there now. Among them, the MSI PS42 Modern 8RA is the latest – a refreshment to last year’s PS42 8RB.

MSI PS42 Modern 8RA Specifications:

Design: Aluminum body, brushed metal texture, subtle white Dragon logo on the lid, 1.2 kg
Display: 14″ Full-HD matte display (1920 x 1080), 72% NTSC Color Gamut
Keyboard: Island-style full-size keyboard, 4-level back-lighting, No num-pad
Trackpad: Glass surface trackpad, Windows Precision Drivers, Fingerprint sensor with Windows Hello
Ports: 2 x Type-C USB 3.1 Gen 1, 2 x Type-A USB 3.1, 1 x HDMI, 1 x audio jack, 1 x SD card reader
Wireless connectivity: 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth V4.2
Processor: 1.8 GHz 8^th-gen Intel i7-8565U WhiskeyLake
RAM: 16 GB DDR4 @ 2400 MHz (single channel, dual slot)
Graphics: NVIDIA MX250 graphics, 2 GB VRAM
Battery: 4-cell 50 Watt-hour
Storage: 512 GB NVMe SSD
Price: Rs.149,000

Buy Here

Design

This laptop really gives a good first impression. Packed in a very sleek and compact box, it’s very different from what we’re used to seeing from MSI. But of course, it doesn’t really stand out from other ultra-books. Still, the fact that this one is an MSI ultra-book is enough excitement.

With an all-metal build and a subtle white MSI logo up top, it looks like your typical ultra-book too. Except that this one looks somewhat more elegant and classier. Maybe it’s the brash look or the brushed texture on the outer aluminum lid, or even the color, I can’t really say. But it just looks kinda different from other such ultraportables. Also, the brushed metal texture on it doesn’t really attract fingerprints, which is another plus for this laptop.

This laptop also weighs very less, about 1.2 kg, and is pretty comfortable to carry around. Build quality, though, takes a slight hit. The keyboard deck area is pretty sturdy, but the lid flexes quite a bit.

The back has air vents on each side, so even if this is an ultrabook, they did consider including a good cooling system. And yes, it does have dual fans inside that does the job well.

When you open the laptop, the first thing you’ll notice is this vent or grills up top that surrounds the circular power button, that appears to be the speakers. I, too, mistook it for the speaker, but they’re actually located underneath on both sides. This just seems to be some kind of an air vent, or a strange design choice, hard to tell which.

Ports and Connectivity

The port selection is, pretty standard. You get two USB As, an HDMI, an audio jack, and an SD card slot. What’s noteworthy is you get two USB-Cs. But it’s a shame that none of them supports Thunderbolt 3 or can be used to charge the laptop with. However, there are these LED indicators for battery, WiFi and power.

MSI PS42 Modern 8RA Ports

1 of 2

As for WiFi, you get the standard 802.11 ac WiFi, and there’s Bluetooth 4.2.

Keyboard and Trackpad

Being an ultrabook, this laptop misses out on the number pad. But otherwise, you have a full-sized keyboard. Of course, I mean that in the sense the keys are larger and well-spaced than some other ultrabooks. The keys, however, are a bit mushy for taste, and with very less key travel (0.9 mm), typing doesn’t feel very good. But since the keys do give off that clicky feedback, it makes up for some of its shortcomings.

But one good thing is that you get full-sized arrow keys, which are rare for ultra-books. Another good thing is the backlighting. It’s only white, but there are 4-levels to it, and so, this helps immensely. However, this is not a new feature by any means.

The trackpad, here, too small for taste. And that is made even smaller by the curved edges of the top. There just isn’t enough room to move around. The only good thing about this is that it has Windows Precision Drivers, so tracking and gestures are fairly accurate. Plus, you do get a fingerprint scanner, which is a nice addition. And that works pretty well, too.

Display

The Prestige lineup boasts about good displays. And upon first look, it does appear so. There are minimal bezels around the sides, making the display almost edge to edge. But with small bezels comes the awkwardly placed web-cam, which points straight to your nose. And as usual, the webcam quality is nothing to go on about.

Anyways, back to the display, the Full HD panel looks good. I mean, with the IPS LCD, it is your de-facto display for ultra-books and does not look anything extraordinary, but it is good nonetheless. Brightness is good enough at about 300 nits, and dark scenes in movies (for instance, Game Of Thrones Season 8 Episode 3) are visible enough that you don’t have to squint to see them.

And since it’s a matte display, it’s pretty visible outdoors too. The 14-inch display has enough crispiness for good video and multimedia experience, and the color range is also another plus point about the display here.

With an acclaimed 100% sRGB and about 72% NTSC Color Gamut Coverage, this can be a suitable machine for content creators as well. But of course, this is not the most ideal laptop for that. You get other laptops with much more color accuracy than this one. Still, this, for an ultra-book is pretty good. And since it enables you to change the color modes right from the desktop itself, that’s another plus point.

Performance

The MSI PS42 Modern 8RA is a great performer. It packs the latest 8^th-gen Intel i7-8565U Whiskey Lake processor. And these new Whiskey Lake processors are capable of getting more performance on demand. The base clock remains the same about 1.8 GHz but the boost clocks can go up to 4.6 GHz, which is actually higher than some other gaming laptops can go.

And that, apparently, helps during heavy workloads. However, all of that is on paper. In real usage, I never felt a lot of difference. Also, even though this is a U-series processor, made for power efficiency, it seems to handle everything fine. Light 1080P Video editing and stuff run quite well, while a whole lotta tabs on Google Chrome is also not enough to slow it down. There are slight instances of lags, here and there, but that is nothing beyond expectations.

Maybe it’s partly due to its 16 GB DDR4 RAM – which is quite a good amount for an ultra-book. Also, it’s got two RAM slots but only a single stick inside, so, if you want to upgrade it, you can. But, again, if they had made it a dual channel with 8GB RAM on each slot, that would’ve offered better performance.

A dedicated graphics card helps gaming and video editing. It’s nothing high end – just an Nvidia MX250 graphics with 2 GB Video Memory. And when I say gaming, do not expect anything high end. You’ll be able to play CS: GO or Dota 2 or FIFA 19 on high settings and still get good frame rates. Games like Fortnite do run at medium and you’ll be able to play games like Assassin’s Creed Unity, but that’s about it. But even so, this is actually good enough for a non-gaming laptop.

Storage wise, you have a 512 GB of NVMe SSD, which is pretty good. Most ultra-books shy out at 256 GB. However, this doesn’t, and that helps a lot for content creation. The storage speeds are also decent enough, so, yes, these are the makings of a laptop for content creators.

I didn’t really feel this laptop struggle in the thermals department, either. During gaming and heavy workloads, it does kinda get warm, but heat management is really good – thanks to the dual fans and this ventilation on top. When it does get hot, it is concentrated towards the top vents, so, the keyboard area remains cool enough.

Battery

Moving on to the battery, you get a 4-cell 50 Watt-hour battery, and they claim up to 10 hours of battery life. However, as these claims by laptop companies go, this is not true at all. During office workloads, when your usage consists of normal spreadsheet and occasional web browsing, it will last slightly over 7.5 hours.

With vigorous browsing and media consumption, you’ll get close to 6. And if you’re doing some heavy editing and stuff, expect no more than 3 hours. But still, it will last a typical work day for you, so, that’s still good enough.

Conclusion

To sum up, MSI’s venture into ultrabook territory looks somewhat promising. With this PS42 Modern 8RA, it has improved from the 8RB. Yet, there is a lot of room for improvements. The build quality still needs work, while the keyboard and trackpad need to see improvements as well. I’d like this laptop better if it had a dual channel RAM. And the speaker quality needs more improvement than anything else.

Good things about it include performance, display, battery life, and overall design. So, you can say this is a pretty good laptop. Maybe, I had high expectations from this one, because, it’s an MSI laptop after all. But after using it, all I can say is MSI has not done as good a job as it does with its gaming rigs. But, I’m still positive that MSI will improve in this sector as well.

The MSI PS42 Modern 8RA is priced at some $1300 for the base model, which comes with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage. There are quite a few configurations available, so, prices are set accordingly. Our particular model costs about Rs.149000 in Nepal, and as far as ultrabooks go, this one seems priced well enough.

However, if this is too much money to spend, there’s also a smaller sibling – the PS42 Modern 8 MO. That one doesn’t have a dedicated GPU and is an i5 model. But most of the things remain the same. And that comes at a price of Rs.115,000.

So, strictly speaking, the MSI PS42 Modern 8RA is not the best one out there. But it certainly gets the work done.

Samsung’s summer offer – Instant Cashback on their hottest flagships!

GadgetByte

-

May 2, 2019

0

Samsung’s summer offer – Instant Cashback on their hottest flagships!

We all know Samsung to offer their customers discounts from time to time on various of their devices. They regularly conduct cash back offers on their phones, mostly those, which have been in the market for some time. However, this time around, the company is offering cash backs on their latest hottest flagships! This Samsung’s summer offer, get instant cash back on the Galaxy S10 or Galaxy S10 Plus!

Samsung Galaxy S10 Price

The Galaxy S10 is the primary flagship device from the company. It features a premium glass body, protected by Gorilla Glass 5. Also, it’s 6.1″ Dynamic AMOLED display is protected by a Gorilla Glass 6. As for the camera, you get a triple camera set up at the back – a 12 MP primary camera, another 12 MP 2X telephoto camera, and a 16 MP ultra-wide camera. Also, the selfie camera is a 10 MP shooter. The phone runs on the Exynos 9820 and has 8 GB of RAM. This phone comes only in 128 GB in Nepal but does have expandable memory. With One UI running the show, it’s a pretty great phone, with its major drawback being the small 3400 mAh battery.

This phone, whose initial price was Rs.110,900 is now up for grabs for Rs. 8000 less! That means you can get this phone for Rs.102,900 at MRP (Maximum Retail Price). Maybe if you’re lucky, you can get it for even less in some places!

Samsung Galaxy S10+ Price

Also, the Galaxy S10 Plus is a slightly buffed up version of the Galaxy S10. It’s got a slightly larger 6.4″ Dynamic AMOLED display and has similar Gorilla Glass configuration. It’s got the same rear camera set up while there are dual cameras in the front – the same 10 MP primary camera and an 8 MP depth sensor. You get the same processor and the same amount of RAM. But the battery is larger at 4100 mAh, and so, overcomes the drawbacks of the regular S10. It comes in two variants – a 128 GB variant and a 512 GB one.

When introduced, this phone cost Rs. 123,500 for the base variant and Rs. 154,500 for the 512 GB model. And now, with Rs.8000 cash back on both, the base variant is available at Rs. 115,500 while the other costs Rs.146,500!

In addition, the semi-flagship Galaxy S10e is available for Rs. 74,000 from its original price of Rs.94,000! If you ask me, all of these seem a pretty good deal. But maybe, if we wait for some more, there might be a chance of another price drop! We can only hope…

Samsung Galaxy A20 Review: Samsung’s New A-Lister?

GadgetByte

-

April 30, 2019

0

Samsung Galaxy A20 Review: Samsung’s New A-Lister?

If you don’t know by now, Samsung is in line to create a football team of its own. No, it’s not for the Premier League or any other league. It’s a team to tackle the likes of Redmi, Realme, and Honor. Up until last year, Samsung was constantly criticized for its lack of answer to the budget-oriented Chinese brands, however, 2019 seems to be its year, as the Korean giants have already come up with quite a lot of ‘winners’. Hoping to clinch that same title is the Galaxy A20, a budget phone, that costs Rs. 20,500 in Nepal.

Samsung Galaxy A20 Specifications

Display: 6.4-inch (1560 × 720 pixels) HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-V display
Processor: Octa-Core Exynos 7884 (Dual 1.6 GHz + Hexa 1.35 GHz) processor
RAM: 3GB
Storage: 32GB, expandable up to 512GB via micro SD card
OS: Android 9.0 (Pie) with Samsung One UI
Rear Camera: 13MP with LED flash, f/1.9 aperture, 5MP secondary camera with f/2.2 aperture
Front Camera: 8MP, f/2.0 aperture
Dimension: 158.4 x 74.7 x 7.8mm
Others: 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio, fingerprint sensor
Connectivity: Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5, GPS + GLONASS
Battery: 4,000mAh
Price: Rs. 20,500

Design

Now from the time I have been holding the Galaxy A20, I have always wanted to talk about its feel on hands. Yes, this is built from plastic. And well, if you still think budget phones cut cost on the build quality, think again.

This phone is light, yet is sturdy, I didn’t bend it like Jack from JerryRig would, but still, it can definitely take a hit! There is no hollow feel, you know, the one that a couple of devices have. It’s not glass like the one on its closest competitor the Redmi Note 7, but it still holds its own ground.

However, the back material catches a lot of fingerprints. Even the blue colored A20 I reviewed is quite a magnet. You will definitely need to carry a cloth to clean it as Samsung hasn’t included a case inside the box. And that has added in another problem, as I didn’t invest in a case. This glastic body is prone to scratches. Even when I kept the phone nowhere near keys or any hard objects, the back has developed a lot, a lot of scratches.

Display

Let’s talk about the display now. The Samsung Galaxy A20 has a tall 6.4-inch display bordering a small v-shaped notch on the top. This display is a Super AMOLED panel and the bezels aren’t that pronounced as well. While all of this is impressive and everything, the thing that Samsung hasn’t included here is full HD resolution. But with the Super AMOLED panel, that hasn’t really been an issue at all.

Apart from the issue of searching for that perfect sharpness while viewing videos or reading articles, this display is quite bright and quite colorful. The default wallpaper looks great and I haven’t yet changed it. Weird, I know.

Software and UI

What you will use most on the Samsung Galaxy A20 are the customizations the software offers. While the Galaxy M10 and M20 came with the older Android Oreo out of the box, the A20 runs on Pie with Samsung’s kind of new One UI on top. I recently reviewed the Galaxy S10, and the A20 has almost the same software experience as the flagship.

Although Samsung has the double tap to wake, I still think it has to include double tap to lock. I know, I’m nitpicking. What’s nice is the 100 GB of storage you get with OneDrive. The Microsoft apps obviously can’t be uninstalled, but I think I will take that for the extra cloud storage.

If this was a few years ago, reviewing a budget phone meant bashing about the software from Samsung. However, that has changed a little. The One UI, as I said, is light, but still, the apps take a little bit of time to open and the scrolling could have been a lot smoother on the phone.

Performance

The raw performance on the Galaxy A20 is smooth. The phone has the Exynos 7884 chipset inside. This is the mini version of the Exynos 7885 chipset that was used in a few Samsung phones like the Galaxy A8+ last year. And like its elder brother, it is a capable processor.

Even gaming on it is not that bad. I played PUBG on a medium setting, and there is only a couple of instances of lags on a single game. Once, a match did start with lags here and there, but once I got to the game, there were one or two minor stutters.

Also, while we are talking about performance, just like the A30, this device too has the messenger issue while gaming. If you’re playing something and you get a text message, the whole thing just slows down.

Except for these issues, there aren’t any. The RAM management is good, as I have had no issues with running 6-7 applications at the same time.

But still, for similar pricing, you get the Redmi Note 7 with a more powerful SD660 which is around 1.5 times better in terms of performance than what the A20 offers. So, if you are after performance, I won’t wait for the conclusion part to say this, the Redmi Note 7 is better than the A20, and if you are into performance, get the former!

Camera

The front-facing camera on the Galaxy A20 rests on the water drop notch up front. It measures 8-megapixel, and if we talk about the selfies, well they look great, that is if you don’t zoom into them as the photos will lose a lot of details. But still, the overall color is great and not overpowering.

1 of 3

If you are in a bright area indoors, the selfies are good too but say the light isn’t that bright, then the above photo is what you get.

The front camera is also capable of capturing portrait selfies. It’s all the software that’s doing the work, and it isn’t doing that work well. The blurring is not on point, so I stayed away from the live focus of the selfie camera.

1 of 3

Let’s talk about the rear cameras now. Like the M20 and A30, you get dual cameras: A 13MP primary lens and a 5MP wide-angle lens.

The best use of the camera, at least for me, has been while capturing wide shots from the smallest of the angles and to capture the scenery. The colors we get here is accurate when compared to the primary camera.

1 of 4

Talking about the primary camera, the first thing you will notice is that it lacks details. The colors are great and everything but it lacks sufficient details. And if you take pictures that have bright colors, you will notice oversaturation. Samsung and oversaturation go a long way and it’s no different this time too.

1 of 4

The images also are not that good in terms of dynamic range. But I do like how the photos are brightened up a little bit making the whole thing pop.

1 of 2

Like the front camera, the rear camera also does software blur. And just like the front camera, the background blur is not that good, as the cutouts look unnatural. It misses the strands of the hair of the subject too. The same goes for the portraits shot on indoor lighting.

1 of 2

However, one thing that bugged me with this phone is that the live focus mode has only worked on people. Anything else, it just shows up a tab with Finding Face written on it.

During night time, the photos have a lot of noise on them. You will also notice grains. While the day time shots have a warmer color tone to them, the night shots have a colder tone. And they are exposed if there is a source of light hitting on them. The shots also lack details, just like during day time but the saturation makes the photos pop if there are shades of colors on them.

1 of 3

And finally, the videos. This device shoots full HD videos at 30 fps. And those videos are a bit wobbly as they lack any kind of stabilization. The colors are natural though.

Security

For security purpose, the Samsung Galaxy A20 has both the fingerprint and face unlock option. The fingerprint sensor is placed on the back of the phone and it is easily reachable. With the screen locked, the phone unlocks in around one second. However, with the screen on, the sensor can unlock the device in a snap. I have seen this issue on a couple of other devices too, and I think Samsung can improve this with a software update. For Face unlock, the A20 uses its front-facing camera. The option works great but takes a bit of time.

Extras

On the bottom of the phone lies a headphone jack along with the speaker grill. The sound from this mono speaker is clear but it’s not very loud. For storage purpose, the Galaxy A20 packs 32 GB of internal memory with an option to expand it via a dedicated microSD card slot.

Battery

The best part about this phone right here is its battery. The A20 has a large 4,000 mAh battery inside which has become a trademark on almost all the Samsung phones. At the very first, I talked about the A20 sporting HD display. And that couples well with the battery.

In my use of gaming for a while, watching videos on Youtube, going through a lot of websites, and using social media applications, I got a screen on time of around 6 hours and 30 minutes. How does that reflect on real life and the real day? Well, if you are a heavy user, who does a lot of things on their phone, the A20 will last you for a day, and if you are a moderate user who doesn’t do heavy tasks and doesn’t play games constantly, the phone will run for a day and a half easily. So, in terms of battery life, Samsung has definitely a winner on the Galaxy A20.

This battery takes around 1 hour and 40 minutes to go from 0 to 100% with its included 15W fast charger.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy A20 is a member of Samsung’s huge lineup of the A-series. While it is more budget oriented, the device is definitely good at doing what it does although Samsung has cut a couple of corners for that. But still, it has a sturdy build and a vibrant display. The battery life is great and the camera, for that price is quite decent.

However, if we talk about performance, if you can add some money, you get the Redmi Note 7 which definitely performs better than the A20. So, if you are performance-centric users, you might want to take a look at that phone, otherwise, the A20 will handle your day-to-day usage quite easily.

Pros	Cons
– Good build quality	– Performance could be better
– Vibrant display	– Glastic back scratches easily
– Great battery life	– Lack of details on photos