With the latest smartphone iterations, their displays are getting bigger. It seems that smartphone companies are obsessed with giving us larger displays, and we’re just accepting it. But while displays get bigger, the batteries on our smartphones don’t grow proportionately. However, a team of researchers have successfully introduced a new OLED technology breakthrough, which can make for longer lasting batteries.
The team of researchers belong to Imperial College of London. They discovered a way to make the OLED displays even more power efficient than it already is – by cutting down the present limitations of OLED. The present OLED technology is more power efficient than LCD, that’s a known fact. They can switch off pixels when not in use, giving them deeper blacks, and saving energy too.
But still, OLED displays have to add various filters to counter the glares from external light sources. That is, when you use your phones outside, they have to counter the glares by using various filters to improve readability. The filters can do that very well, but those filters also limit the amount of light that comes out of the display. Hence, the necessity to brighten up your smartphone outdoors. So, even if there is battery saving, it still wastes a significant amount of energy.
And the researchers found a solution for exactly this new OLED technology breakthrough. They found a way to control the chemistry of OLED materials (i.e. the structure) used in the display to bypass the the need for the anti-glare filter, which will extend the battery life.
They discovered that it’s possible to produce OLED displays that emit special type of polarized light, which, is not affected by external glares. So, there would be no necessity of a filter. Hence, phones wouldn’t have to brighten up the displays in external environments, making them more power efficient. In addition, this also makes for a lower carbon footprint.
This breakthrough can, very well, be the way to make screens of all kinds brighter, with better contrast and longer life. Also, this will not only help smartphones, but also TVs and smartwatches as well.
However, real life implications can be different. And we can’t be sure of the display quality just yet. So, we’re waiting for further test results. Still, this is a possible breakthrough for the smartphone world!
Facebook is always under some seize, one way or the other. Granted, they don’t have a great track record when it comes to privacy. Leading up from their 2016 Cambridge Analytica scandal to the one some months ago, when it was spying on people who don’t even use Facebook! And they did try to convince users about how they’re bringing new kinds of security and privacy measures in their Facebook Developer Conference 2019. But then again, there are people who trust them, and there are who don’t. And then, there are people like me who don’t trust them, and yet won’t stop using it! But just recently, Apple Co-founder, Steve Wozniak, advised people to get off of Facebook.
It didn’t happen out of the blue, though. TMZ, the celebrated celebrity online magazine had a run-in with Steve Wozniak at the National Regan Airport in Washington D.C. When questioned about certain privacy-related stuff, Steve Wozniak went on to express his views and finally advised the people to get off Facebook if they could. Steve Wozniak also deleted his own Facebook account last year.
When asked if he was worried about smart devices spying, he said he was. But there was nothing we could do to stop it. And that makes sense. With many of us using features like smart home appliances, things like Google Home and Alexa have an easy way to access our data. In our bid to stay interconnected, we might be exposing our conversations for all of them to hear. And the level of privacy we think we may have is just not there.
Wozniak even went on to say that social networking companies such as this, should give the users options. Meaning, users can pay for using the platform while the platform keeps the data secure and not sell it to advertisers. And according to various researches, the average cost for using such services ads-free would amount to only $15 a year! And in order to save that, we’re selling off our data, through which these companies make millions!
Also, he said it was smart to delete our Facebook and Instagram accounts. Of course, for many, it doesn’t matter if their information leaks. But if you’re anyone with influence or worth something, or just value your privacy, it’s very smart to do so. Of course, Facebook is only one of such sites. But it comes under constant fire, because well, they can’t seem to keep themselves out of scandals. However, Google has more data on you than anyone else. Because, with their tracking code on almost every website you visit, they have a front row seat to what you’re doing!
But getting rid of Facebook is a start, I guess. Yes, we can’t stop Google, but Facebook is a platform we willingly upload our data to. And with all of this, it’s even more difficult to trust Facebook’s cryptocurrency, Libra.
While we cannot stop doing that altogether, we can control what we upload on it. And let’s see if Mark Zuckerberg means to actually resolve such issues as he put it on Facebook Developer Conference 2019. He stated Facebook is implementing end to end encryption on Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram, too, and wants to improve users’ trust in how they store data. But only time will tell if he’ll keep his word.
Having a good camera is not just enough for photography and videography. Although your camera determines the capability of the camera system, it is the lenses, which determines the perspective. The lens also determines the attributes (field of view, depth of field, etc.) of a subject you will get in an image. So without a good lens, you cannot just yet sit back and relax despite owning a flagship camera. Hence, having a good lens is equally important here. And in order to help you make a purchase, here I have tried to compile some of the popular camera lenses available in Nepal listing out their latest price as well.
Sony Lenses Price in Nepal
Since Sony has an official presence in Nepal, you can buy a genuine Sony lens through the authorized channel. Nepa Hima Trade Link is the authorized distributor of Sony products in Nepal and it has various official showrooms spread in the Kathmandu valley.
In addition to selling genuine products, Nepa Hima Trade Link also provides one year of warranty on every purchase of Sony products in Nepal. And since there are service centers as well, you don’t have to worry even if your lens stops functioning well. Below is the list of all the Sony Lenses available in Nepal along with their latest price.
There is an authorized distributor for Canon products as well. Primax International is the designated official to handle the sales of genuine Canon Products in Nepal. Primax International has a complete lineup of Canon’s DSLRs and mirrorless cameras in Nepal. And it has introduced various lenses that would fit into the cameras it’s been selling.
Currently, there are two showrooms of Canon camera and lenses in Nepal. They sell genuine products and offer 1-year of warranty on every product you buy from them. There is also a service center to fix all the mishaps you have on your Canon Camera or the lenses. Below is the list of all the Canon lenses available in Nepal along with their price.
Sigma lenses are not officially available in Nepal. But if you want one, you can make a purchase through the gray channel (however, we do not recommend it). And there are various shops in Nepal, which sale the Sigma lenses. In order to write this article, I visited various camera shops in the New Road area and I compiled a list of some popular Sigma lenses and their price in Nepal.
Below is the list of some of the lenses that came into my mind while doing the research. If you want a lens different from the types I mentioned below, you can visit a camera store and make an order. They will surely make it available to you. And talking about the pricing, the rate for each lens tend to differ from shop to shop. But on studying the pattern, I found the prices to be somewhat close to international pricing.
Tamron lenses are also quite popular. However, there is no authorized distributor of Tamron products in Nepal. So, they are not available for purchase in Nepal through an official channel. Nonetheless, you can buy a Tamron lens if you need one. There are various shops from where you can buy a Tamron lens, which obviously would be through a gray channel (we don’t intend to promote gray markets by the way).
To research the Tamron lenses price in Nepal, I visited some shops in New Road (just like I did for the price of Sigma lenses). And below is the list of Tamron lenses, which I managed to get the price of.
Apple is a company that interests even those who don’t really like Apple products. And rumors surrounding Apple are also the most interesting ones! Rumors for the iPhone XI started quite some time ago, but now the rumor mill is kicking into high gear! There are a lot of interesting insights. And while we can’t say for sure if all of them will be true, Apple products rumors have good credibility, generally speaking. So, here are the latest iPhone XI leaks and rumors.
New features
The new iPhones will ship with iOS 13, that’s for sure. After all, they announced that back in the WWDC 2019, and it might have been for this very purpose, primarily. Of course, we’re calling them iPhone 11s for now, because we don’t have official names for them, yet. But the iPhone 11’s will most likely have the same product lineup as the iPhone XS series – an XS, an XS Max, and an XR. Hence, the name confusion thing.
Source: Slash Leaks
The new iPhone leaks actually go all the way up to their logic boards, actually. A couple of trusted leaksters have leaked the images and blueprints of the new logic boards. So, it looks like Apple is switching their internals as well, to make some changes. And since leaks from multiple sources gave the same result, we can have an extra amount of confidence in these leaks. Of course, Apple is very serious about its security measures and leaks, and they claim to be chasing down each leakster. But, they’re not doing a good job, apparently. Anyway, it means more tech tidbits for us!
Another leak that we have is the battery capacity of the new iPhones. Now, iPhones never really pack big batteries, compared to the Android World. But iOS has a pretty neat battery optimization. However, the iPhone XI Max is going to have a 3650 mAh battery over the XS Max’s 3174 mAh, which is like a 10 – 13% increment. That’s not much, but given the new iOS 13, and with the new Apple A13 chip, it will make great changes! Also, the same source claims that the iPhone XI will have a 3320 mAh battery. And since there were rumors that they will also support Reverse Wireless Charging like the Huawei P30 Pro and the Galaxy S10, the bigger batteries are a must!
New Design
This year too, we’ll probably not see refreshed designs on the new iPhones. Sure, there are leaked and rendered images, that show what the new iPhones will look like. And sure enough, the form factor remains the same. The only changes are in the rear camera module, which shows a more square-shaped camera bump.
Since we’re expecting a similar iPhone lineup to the XS lineup, we’ll get a 5.8″ and 6.5″ OLED iPhones along with a 6.1″ LCD iPhone. These are most likely the successors of the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and the iPhone XR. And according to the images, the 2019 iPhone XR will have a dual camera set up while the other two will have triple cameras. The two cameras on the 2019 XR will be a wide-angle lens and a telephoto one. As for the triple camera setup, we’re not quite sure what they will pack.
In addition, more prototypes leaks show various colors of the 2019 iPhone XR. As usual, it will offer more color options than the other iPhones. But what legitimizes the leaked designs, even more, is the arrival of the iPhone clones like that from the Gu Phone – which has been making iPhone clones since a long time ago!
But I guess, those are the final designs that Jony Ive made before he left Apple.
What’s more, is that Apple is making a special edition iPhones for the Chinese market with TouchID on the display itself. Apple sales are already down in China, and the Huawei-US scandal hasn’t helped them any. So, to attract more Chinese customers, they’re taking a few extra steps.
Also, the new iPhones will be releasing this fall of 2019.
Other new Apple Products
Now, there are also rumors of other Apple devices in the works. There are claims that Apple is working on a foldable iPad. With every other big company making their own foldable devices, Apple would have to start, too. So, maybe they chose to make a foldable iPad instead of a foldable iPhone. That’s interesting, but given that Apple likes to implement new technologies on their iPads first, it’s not surprising.
In addition, Apple is also working on future AirPods. The current AirPod 2 is already great, but the latest patents show that they’ve improved sound leaks on the new AirPod. But the most exciting part about that is that they might also be available in black color!
Final news about Apple is that they’ll solve their keyboard issues with their MacBook Air by going back to their Scissor switch style keyboard layout. This will be a relief for anyone wanting to get the new MacBook Airs in 2020.
So, that’s all about the iPhone XI Leaks and Rumors. What do you think about them? Do let us know.
I think smartphone companies are still in the denial stage that tablets are not a popular demand anymore. Tablet sales are going down, and the market just doesn’t demand them anymore. Maybe because smartphones are getting bigger and better, or tablets just don’t deliver as per expectations. Yet, companies are launching new tablets. And Samsung is one of them. They very recently launched their Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 2019, an entry-level tablet.
Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 2019 Overview
Being an entry-level tablet, you cannot expect a lot from it, that’s a given. Just like the name, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 2019 features an 8″ display. Sadly, the display is not Full-HD, which is a bummer for a screen of that size. It’s just an HD+ screen, and not an AMOLED panel, either. Also, the screen has a 16:10 aspect ratio, and comes surrounded by bezels everywhere. So, this is like an old-school tablet, making it all the more pointless in 2019.
People don’t really care about the cameras on tablets, but nevertheless, there is an 8 MP rear camera with a 2 MP selfie camera. There’s about 32 GB onboard storage, and you can expand it up to 512 GB via a microSD card. That might be okay, but this tablet is powered by a Snapdragon 429 processor and supported by 2 GB RAM. And this makes it even more difficult to recommend.
However, the best thing about this is a massive 5100 mAh battery, so, it can go on and on, but I don’t see much use for such an underwhelming device. But maybe, it can be a great media consumption device, as it features stereo speakers, too. In addition, it comes with a 2-month free YouTube Premium and 3-month Spotify Premium subscriptions.
There is no word on the pricing or availability yet. But it will be available in two colors: Black and Silver.
When you get to build a PC, you have the freedom to choose each and every component that goes into it. My favorite, among all of those, is the motherboard. It’s where every other component connects to, so, it’s like the Spinal cord of your computer. Also, the motherboard is responsible for powering, communicating, and commanding all of them. Therefore, choosing the right one is the key to build your PC right. However, there are literally 100s of motherboards out in the wild. And choosing one is not an easy task.
Asus, the brand you know so well, is kind of a big player in the motherboard market. They also manufacture all types of chipsets from Intel’s latest Z390 to AMD’s latest X570. In addition, their product range in the international market is undoubtedly huge. But that doesn’t end there, Nagmani International, the authorized distributor of all Asus components in Nepal has made a wide selection of motherboards available in the country as well.
You can check out their catalog of products here, alongside their laptop price in Nepal here, and the prices of their motherboards below. We have listed them into two categories, one for Intel and other for AMD.
If we remember correctly, Lenovo launched the Z6 pro back in April. After that, we also saw the Z6 Youth. And now, the company has come up with another one in the same list, the Lenovo Z6.
Okay, the first thing that caught my attention is the use of Snapdragon 730 processor which is also there on the Redmi K20. Additionally, the phone is offered in three memory variants, 6GB/64GB, 6GB/128GB, and 8GB/128GB. The phone also comes with a microSD card slot which lets you expand the storage up to 512 GB.
As for the display, it has a 6.30″ OLED screen with 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Interestingly, the display here has a 120 Hz refresh rate and also supports HDR10 and DCI-P3 wide color gamut. The display is also home for an in-display fingerprint sensor.
The camera setup at the back consists of a triple camera set up at the back, a 24 MP primary lens, an 8MP telephoto lens with 2x optical zoom & 8x Hybrid zoom and a 5 MP depth sensor. The selfie camera resides at the notch which is a 16 MP shooter.
As far as the battery goes. it has a 4,000 mAh battery inside to support which, you get an 18-watt Fast charger inside the box. You also get a Type-C port, a 3.5mm headphone jack and Bluetooth 5.0.
The Lenovo Z6 comes with Android 9 Pie out of the box with its own ZUI 11 custom skin on top.
Lenovo Z6 Specifications:
Design: Roll cage magnesium alloy body
Display: 6.39″ OLED display (2340×1080 pixels) with 19:9 aspect ratio
Battery: 4,000 mAh battery with 15-Watt Fast charging support
SIM (s): Dual nano-SIMs (Hybrid)
Lenovo Z6 Price and availability:
The Lenovo Z6 has been launched in China and is yet to come to other markets. In China, it costs CNY 1,899 ($275/€245) for the 6GB/64GB variant, ($305/€270) for the 6GB/128GB model and CNY2,499 ($365/€320) for the 8GB/128GB version.
Xiaomi, probably, has the widest range of smartphones. And in its sea of products, some of the devices look almost identical to each other, in terms of specs. Take the Redmi Y3 and Redmi 7 for an instance. On top, the Chinese smartphone maker differentiates its products for various markets such as Chinese, Indian, and global variants causing even more confusion amongst the users. And Xiaomi has done it again! The company launched budget-oriented Xiaomi Redmi 7A in India, which simply features minor tweaks on the Chinese variant of Redmi 7A launched back in May.
Overview:
With an “A” attached to its name, the handset is basically an entry-level device. And like most of the entry-level devices out there, the Redmi 7A also comes with a plastic back. Durability has always been a major concern in smartphones with a plastic body. However, Xiaomi claims that its build is sturdy enough to even sustain drops from shoulder heights. The phone is also said to be splash proof. That means the device can resist occasional sweat or drizzles, too, or even accidental spills.
And in this monsoon season, it seems Xiaomi is highly accentuating on its splash-proof nature. Also, to give credibility to its durable build, Xiaomi is offering a notable 2 years of warranty. And owing to its sturdy construction and budget-oriented nature, Xiaomi India is also remarking it to be “smart desh ka smartphone“.
But when it comes to other specs, the handset highly resembles with the Xiaomi Redmi 6A launched last year. It features a 5.45-inch HD+ display in 18:9 aspect ratio. However, there are no notches or cutouts, just the regular old-fashioned bezels top, and bottom. Still, the 5 MP selfie camera follows the AI-trend. And it also features Face Unlock security feature which works via the selfie camera.
Powering the device is Snapdragon 439 chipset coupled with 2 GB of RAM. And the phone comes with either 16 GB or 32 GB of onboard memory. Since it’s a phone of 2019, as you would expect, you get Android Pie on the software front. There is also Xiaomi’s MIUI 9 software skin on top.
All the aforementioned features are identical with the Chinese variant. But what differentiates the Indian and Chinese variants is the rear camera. The Chinese variant had a 13MP sensor on the rear camera while the Indian variant comes with a notable 12MP Sony IMX486 sensor. It’s the same sensor used on last year’s fan-favorite Xiaomi MI A2 and Redmi Note 7 (Indian variant). So, I guess that means slightly better pictures. Talking about the battery, there is a 4000mAh unit, which comes with 10-watt charging support.
Xiaomi Redmi 7A Specifications:
Display: 5.45″ IPS LCD display
Resolution: HD+ (720 x 1440), 18:9 aspect ratio @ 295PPI
The phone is going on sale in India starting from 11th of June. It will first be available for purchase through online channels like Mi.com, Flipkart, etc. And will be available even on the retail stores shortly after.
The price of the device is INR 5,999 for 2/16GB and INR 6,199 for the 3/32GB variant. But if the users buy the device within July, they will get a discount of INR 200. That means the early buyers can get the handset for as low as INR 5,799.
Every year, OnePlus releases a very compelling flagship phone that’s unpolished in a few areas. But that’s made alright by the prices of these phones! And it was this business model that got the small company the attention of the world. But OnePlus decided that it can do more than provide killer specs at a very affordable price. Thus, the OnePlus 7 Pro was created.
With a considerable set of improvements over the OnePlus 6T, the OnePlus 7 Pro brings a lot of new things to the table, at least for OnePlus. But this also means a major change in pricing. So, does this still make the OnePlus 7 Pro a flagship killer?
Color Variant(s): Almond, Nebula Blue, Mirror Gray
Battery: 4000 mAh with 30-Watt Warp Charge
Design
The OnePlus 7 Pro design is fantastic, there’s no doubt on that front. Its glass back and curved edges, combined with the heft give it a prime look and feel. The curved edges make the frame thinner, which is easier to grip, despite its large size. And it’s almost what you’d want from a flagship in 2019…almost. Because while the big hefty design makes it premium, it is also too big for many. In addition, even though it is water-proof (which is good), it’s still not IP-rated. So, the assurance is not quite there.
OnePlus 7 Pro Design
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Ports
Speaker Grill
Buttons
Volume rockers
The ever-so-useful Alert slider is at the right above the power button with the volume rockers on the left. And they’re a bit too far up to reach. As I mentioned, the phone is too big for most. Audio is made better by the Dual Stereo speakers – one at the bottom and one on the earpiece, but having no headphone jack is a bummer.
And yes, the pop-up selfie camera does give the phone more screen real-estate. But motorized parts are not everyone’s taste, either. It does have the safety measure to retract the camera back in, in case it drops, but it’s still a motorized part. And while I got used to its pop-up camera easily, it might not be the same for everybody. So, overall – the design of the OnePlus 7 Pro is a mixed bag. Sure, it looks good but takes a lot of getting used to for daily usage.
Display
Samsung’s Dynamic AMOLED display sure was the best when it featured on the Galaxy S10. But this time, they’ve got themselves a fierce contender with the OnePlus 7 Pro. A large 6.71″ no-notch, no-nonsense display Fluid AMOLED display with QHD resolution is sure to give the S10 a run for its money. There are quite a few things to love about the display.
First, is the large screen with no notch or cutouts of any kind. It’s all screen! Second is the QHD resolution for the sharpest of picture quality. And third…maybe the most exciting of all, is the 90 Hz refresh rate, making it the fastest phone screen there is. Everything feels super smooth on the screen, from transitions to animations. And if you can’t tell the difference in there, playing fast-paced games makes the screen really come alive. Gaming on the screen is so addictive that you don’t want to put it down.
However, to save the battery, you can tone the display down to 60 Hz and also Full HD+ as well. In addition, if you face eye strains, there’s also DC Dimming option that lets you calibrate the colors to minimize the “flicker effect” seen n high-end smartphones, like the Galaxy S10 itself.
Cameras
The cameras on the OnePlus 7 Pro are not the most exciting features on it, to say the least. Because compared to other flagship cameras, it lacks quite a few things. The triple camera setup comprises of a 48 MP primary camera, a 16 MP Ultra-wide and an 8 MP Telephoto lens. And while this is the standard flagship camera setup of 2019, it doesn’t go all the way to the flagship standard.
OnePlus 7 Pro Normal Camera Samples
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Focus
Colors / Details
HDR, Saturation
Indoor normal lighting
Painting Colors
Details
While the primary sensor on it, the Sony IMX586, is the same as the Redmi Note 7 Pro, image processing makes a lot of difference. Image quality is decent, pretty good actually. Pictures come out sharp, detailed and hold textures. Colors are true to life as well. Although the pictures are not as vibrant, it’s not disappointing either. The level of exposure, dynamic range and saturation are all well balanced. Therefore, the end result is good looking photos.
OnePlus 7 Pro Camera Portrait Samples
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Portrait images are taken by the telephoto lens, so, you’ll have to adjust the distance to get the right framing, but as for other aspects like background blurring and edge detection, it does a good job.
OnePlus 7 Pro Camera Sample Ultra-wide
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Normal
Ultra-wide
Pictures from the Ultra-wide angle are not as good, though. Upon first glance, they do look pleasing enough, but a side-by-side comparison with the main lens reveals that the ultra-wide images are a bit washed out, and the field-of-view is not as wide as on some other phones.
OnePlus 7 Pro 3X Zoom Samples
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Normal
3X Zoom
Normal
3X Zoom
Normal
3X Zoom
The telephoto lens claims a 3X Optical Zoom. But technically, it’s actually a 2.2X Optical Zoom. However, it still does its fair share of capturing good images, even when compared to the Galaxy S10.
The 16 MP pop-up selfie camera is also superb. There are details in the selfies, the skin texture and tones come out quite natural and balanced. Also, the dynamic range is decent, too, but the HDR doesn’t seem to help the selfies much. In addition, there’s a beauty mode, too, which is not very useful. Portrait selfies come out satisfyingly good too, even though it’s all software.
OnePlus 7 Selfie Sample
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Normal selfie
Beauty Mode Off
Beauty Mode On
Portrait Group Selife
Normal
Portrait selfie OP7
But if you compare the pictures with the Galaxy S10, the S10 wins in most settings. The HDR and vibrancy in the S10 are better, and on Ultra-wide images, the S10 outperforms the OnePlus 7. In terms of portraits, i liked the OnePlus 7 Pro better, but the S10, with its option to adjust background blurs and effects, has an edge. So, overall, the S10 has the better camera. Here are a few comparisons.
OnePlus 7 Pro vs Galaxy S10 Camera
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OnePlus 7 Pro
S10
OnePlus 7 Pro
Galaxy S10
OnePlus 7 Pro
Galaxy S10
OnePlus 7 Pro
Galaxy S10
Ultrawide OnePluls 7 Pro
Ultrawide Galaxy S10
Portrait OP7
Portrait S10
In terms of videos, the OnePlus 7 Pro is capable of shooting 4K videos @60 fps. And the video quality is superb, too. Colors are accurate, dynamic range is balanced and the details are present. You might notice a loss of details in the shadows, but the overall video is nice. Optical Stabilization is also pretty good, but not as good as on the Galaxy S10. So, if you talk overall video quality, the S10 wins again.
OnePlus 7 Pro Nightscape sample
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Nightscape Sample
Normal
NightScape Mode
Normal
NightScape Mode
And of course, there is the NightScape feature, which is the Night Mode in here. It does its job well enough, brightening the images, reducing the noise and sharpening the images at low settings. But it’s not that impressive…there are better night mode camera phones out there.
For Hi-Res images of these camera samples, click here
Performance
OnePlus devices have always advertised their phones’ speed. And so, the OnePlus 7 Pro is no exception. With the Snapdragon 855 running the show, you can expect it to be swift…and swift it is. Also, what helps the performance further, is the UFS 3.0 storage. It helps load the apps faster than on other phones. Conducting a speed test to load all the apps proved the OnePlus 7 Pro is faster than others. Even in the AnTuTu benchmark scores, this phone won over the Galaxy S10 and the new Oppo Reno 10X Zoom.
However, RAM management is not that good. It reloads heavy apps and games like PUBG, Subway Surfers, etc. in a relatively short amount of time. And Geekbench scores also revealed that it was inferior to the Galaxy S10. That might be because we tested the base model with 6 GB RAM, but I doubt an extra 2 GB makes a lot of difference.
Still, it handles all other forms of multi-tasking quite easily. Because apart from games, it can keep other kinds of apps open in the background.
Software and UI
I don’t think there’s a lot to be said about the software. Because the Oxygen OS is the closest you’ll get to Stock Android! Everything works seamlessly. You get all kinds of features that is available on Stock Android, not to mention the fastest security patches and updates. So, it will also be among the first phones to get the Android Q software when it launches.
Security
The OnePlus 7 Pro, like any other flagship in 2019, features an in-display fingerprint scanner. And while the fingerprint scanner on the OnePlus 6T was not very good, the one on this is a game changer!
It’s still an Optical scanner, not the fancy Ultra-sonic like on the S10 but with the speed, it unlocks your phone, it doesn’t need to be. It might just be the fastest in-display fingerprint scanner on the market right now, with an unlock speed of 0.21 seconds. Because, it is definitely faster than the S10, and slightly better than the Huawei P30 Pro.
You also get the Face Unlock Feature on the pop-up camera, and the unlocking speed is surprisingly fast here, too. The only problem is that without an IR sensor, it won’t be as accurate in low light conditions.
Battery
The OnePlus 7 Pro packs a sizeable 4000 mAh battery…again a flagship standard for 2019. The battery can last a whole day easily on the QHD resolution. But if you choose to turn it down to Full-HD, then, you can get a day and a half of battery life on normal usage.
Another great thing about the battery is its improved charging. With a 30-Watt Warp Charging standard, the OnePlus 7 Pro can charge from 0% to 50% in 20 minutes! How cool is that?
Conclusion
Overall, the OnePlus 7 Pro looks like an outstanding device, doesn’t it? It has made a lot of improvements over its predecessors and added some pretty fascinating features too. Also, it has paid a lot of attention to fine details – DC Dimming, faster fingerprint scanner, faster charging, and water-proofing (albeit no IP rating). In addition, that 90 Hz refresh rate is a game changer in smartphone displays.
But, with that, it feels like OnePlus 7 Pro left out the major things unpolished. For example, the camera. If you take away the Ultra-wide and Telephoto lens, the camera quality is not much of an upgrade over the OnePlus 6T. So, if you’re using a OnePlus 6T right now, I don’t see a very good reason to upgrade to this one.
Don’t get me wrong. OnePlus 7 Pro is still an amazing phone. But, it’s just not as compelling as its previous devices used to be. I have used most OnePlus devices, from the OnePlus 2 upwards. I remember getting my OnePlus 3T and being full of excitement. OnePlus 6 was also a game changer. However, I didn’t feel the same with this.
Furthermore, with its price increasing relatively over the years, I don’t think it still retains the Flagship Killer title anymore. That title may very well go to the likes of Redmi K20 Pro now. That remains to be seen yet…
OnePlus 7 Pro Pros and Cons
Pros:
Premium design and good build quality with waterproof construction
We don’t hear about Lava smartphones quite often. However, they usually refresh their product lineups in roughly three months or so. This time Lava has unveiled the budget-oriented Lava R5v to Nepal, which like other phones in their offering list caters to the price conscious audience.
The Lava R5v, as mentioned earlier is a budget device. It features a 6.22-inches display with HD+ resolution and dragon-trail glass protection. The display features a dew-drop style notch. The notch is home for an 8 MP selfie camera.
At the back, you see dual cameras of 13+2 MP with a bright f/1.8 aperture and a fingerprint sensor. In terms of memory, you get 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.
Color-wise, there are two options, a bright Blue color or a Dark Chrome color. The processor of the device has not been specified yet, but what we know is, it’s an Octa-core processor clocked at 2GHz. The phone comes with a decent sized 3,500 mAh battery. Charging is done via a micro-USB and comes with a 10W charger out of the box.
Likewise, the R5v comes bearing the latest Android 9 Pie with their Star OS 5.1 on top. Other features include GPS, Bluetooth 4.2, FM radio, Wi-Fi b/g/n, and a single firing speaker.
Lava R5v Specifications:
Design: Plastic body with plastic frames
Display: 6.2 inches with a water drop notch
OS: Android 9.0 Pie (Star OS)
Rear Camera: Dual 13 MP f/1.8 + 2 MP depth sensor
Front Camera: 8 MP f/2.0
Processor: 2.0 GHz Octa-core processor
RAM: 2GB
Storage: 32GB
Battery: 3,500 mAh non-removable Lithium Polymer battery
Colors: Bright Blue or Dark Chrome
Price: Rs. 14,499
Price and availability:
The Lava R5V is priced at Rs. 14,499. At this price, the phone goes head to head against the Redmi 7, Realme C2, and Samsung Galaxy A10. It is available for purchase at various mobile retail shops all over Nepal.
