There are two brands synonymous with desktop processors, Intel and AMD. Both offer a number of great chipsets, some offer good value, some not so much. Intel has always been criticized as overpriced, but better performers. On the other end, AMD has been quoted “bang for your buck” multiple times and is a favorite among content creators. With that said, there is no surprise which one shipped more products in the last couple of years.
Thanks to numerous price cuts on multiple chipsets and Intel’s supply problems, AMD just managed to double market share. First, let’s clear a few things up, Intel CPUs aren’t exactly inferior to that of AMD. Because Intel cannot push out enough of its 14nm based chipsets, which affects both of it’s “Xeon” and “Core” lineup, there has been a few consequences. First of which is a hike in prices.
The already expensive chipsets are now receiving price hikes, and that’s not a good thing. What makes it even worse? AMD has been slicing off the prices from it’s already “value for money” products, and you probably get what I am saying. Increase in demand and decrease in supply will eventually result in price hikes. But when that happens, the demand actually decreases, and everyone moves to the next best thing.
Addressing this issue, Intel has started taking steps in order to fix this current situation. Here is the press release from Intel:
The surprising return to PC TAM growth has put pressure on our factory network. We’re prioritizing the production of Intel Xeon and Intel Core processors so that collectively we can serve the high-performance segments of the market.
That said, supply is undoubtedly tight, particularly at the entry-level of the PC market. We continue to believe we will have at least the supply to meet the full-year revenue outlook we announced in July, which was $4.5 billion higher than our January expectations.
To address this challenge, we’re taking the following actions:
We are investing a record $15 billion in capital expenditures in 2018, up approximately $1 billion from the beginning of the year. We’re putting that $1 billion into our 14nm manufacturing sites in Oregon, Arizona, Ireland, and Israel. This capital along with other efficiencies is increasing our supply to respond to your increased demand.
We’re making progress with 10nm. Yields are improving and we continue to expect volume production in 2019.
We are taking a customer-first approach. We’re working with your teams to align demand with available supply. You can expect us to stay close, listen, partner and keep you informed.
If you’re familiar with laptops, you’re familiar with MSI. The gaming laptops maker has a wide range of laptops. And did you know they make professional laptops too? I mean, those meant for work and editing stuff, rather than just gaming. Many did not, of course. Anyway, they are launching two new laptops from their MSI Prestige PS42 Modern lineup in Nepal, along with another gaming laptop.
Their Prestige lineup is meant primarily for people on the go. And this lineup comprises of slim and elegant devices – not your typical heavy gaming rigs. Ocean Computers, the authorized distributors of MSI products in Nepal have launched two Prestige laptops – PS42 Modern 8RA and Prestige PS42 Modern 8MO.
MSI Prestige PS42 Modern 8RA Overview
The PS42 Modern 8RA has a slim and lightweight chassis in an all silver color that weighs about 1.19 kg. It features a 14-inch Full-HD IPS LCD panel with very narrow bezels. There’s a Full-sized keyboard for better work as well. The laptop runs on 8th-gen Intel Whiskey Lake i7-8565U processor with a boost clock up to 4.6 GHz.
Combined with its 16 GB DDR4 RAM, your daily workflow should get on without a hitch. Plus, you also get MX250 graphics…which might be an entry level card but works for light gaming and editing stuff. And that’s what it is meant for anyway. For storage, you get a 512 GB NVMe SSD, so there’s no questioning its performance either. It also packs a 50 Watt-hour battery, and with its configuration, it should last up to 10 hours.
You get 2 USB-Cs, two USB-As, an SD card slot, and an HDMI port for I / O interfaces. This laptop is priced at Rs.149,000.
MSI Prestige PS42 Modern 8MO Overview
Another variant of the PS42 Modern 8RA is the 8MO. There are only a few differences between these two models. The primary one being the absence of a dedicated graphics card. Also, you only get the i5 variant, here in Nepal even though you can get an i7 version overseas.
The PS42 Modern 8MO packs a 14-inch Full-HD display as well. It also has a full sized keyboard and weighs about 1.18 kg. It runs on 8th-gen WhiskeyLake i5-8265U processor with a boost clock up to 3.9 GHz. There’s about 8 GB RAM in it, and the same 512 GB NVMe SSD. It also has the same kind of battery and the same number of I / O ports. The price is Rs.115,000.
In addition, Ocean Computers also launched the RTX variant of the MSI GE63 Raider, for a price of Rs.292,000.
Now we’ve already got a bunch of people asking us when is the Realme 3 Pro due. And the answer to that is…soon. The Realme 3 Pro is the successor to the Realme 2 Pro, which was very well received. And this one, the Realme 3 Pro, comes at just the right time to give the Redmi Note 7 Pro some competition! Who knows? Maybe they launched the phone to do just that?
Realme 3 Pro Rumors
Anyway, the Realme 3 Pro is launching very soon in India. The company is targeting India as its primary market, where the Redmi Note 7 Pro reigns supreme. But for now, the specs of this phone are still in its rumors stages. For a phone that’s launching on April 22, these rumors might very well be the real thing. But hey, since there is no official word about this, let’s call them rumors.
So, according to rumors, the phone features a 6.3″ Full HD+ display, just like its predecessor. It probably will come with the same water-drop notch too. It will also pack dual cameras. And one will be 48 MP – to take on the Redmi Note 7 Pro’s camera. No word on the selfie camera, though…except that it will be somewhere between 12 MP and 25 MP. We’re probably looking at a 16 MP unit.
Underneath, it will be powered by the Snapdragon 710 as compared to SD 675 of the Note 7 Pro. Also, it will have 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. Of course, they won’t miss out on a microSD card. It has already been listed on Geekbench, and it scores 1483 on Single-core tests and 5900 on Multi-core.
In addition, this phone will pack a 3960 mAh battery and run on ColorOS 6 based on Android Pie. No word about any kind of Fast Charging technology, but there will be Bluetooth 5.0 and a 5 GHz WiFi.
So, that’s all about the Realme 3 Pro rumors. No official word on pricing just yet. We can only guess. But since it’s launching in India, we might see it launch very soon in Nepal as well. So, what do you think about this? Will this be exciting enough?
After it’s “e” version hit the international market, the Samsung Galaxy A20 has finally arrived in Nepal. The device offers a slight improvement over the Galaxy M20, more noticeably the AMOLED display. This alone might justify its steeper price tag, but then again, the A20 offers a low res display. There are a few other things to keep in mind as well, which we will get into. But for the price of Rs 19,490, the smartphone goes head to head with the Redmi Note 7 or the Vivo Y91i, one of which poses a serious competition.
Samsung Galaxy A20 Overview
Samsung Galaxy A20 sports a 6.4-inch 720P AMOLED display. It is powered by the Octa-Core Exynos 7884 chipset which is better than the Exynos 7904 found on the Galaxy M20. On the back, you get dual rear cameras like seen on the M20. There’s 4000mAh battery with 15W fast charging done via a USB-Type C port.
The Galaxy A20 sports an 8MP selfie camera. It is running on Android 9.0 Pie with One UI layered on top. There’s Dual SIM slot, 3.5mm headphone jack, and a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. On the memory front, you get 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage.
Should you buy the Galaxy A20? Is it a better option over the M20 or the Redmi Note 7? Well, it’s not really a simple question to answer, and it all depends upon you. If you want performance, Redmi Note 7 is the way to go, but if you want the best display, even with a low res 720P panel, the A20 takes this one. It also enjoys an upper hand when it comes to the software, so what about the cameras?
As for the Redmi Note 7, it’s definitely the strongest competitor to the Galaxy A20. This isn’t a bad thing, you won’t regret buying either of these phones. But what’s better is that competition is back, Samsung is trying to enter a market where Xiaomi has enjoyed dominance for the past few years.
Daraz, the leading e-commerce website of Nepal is bringing offers one after another. For the New Year 2076, Daraz is offering discounts on various products, which extends up to 60%. This offer already sounds lucrative. On top of that, there is the Shake That A** offer, where it’s showering the vouchers. These offers are definitely tempting. However, these offers were valid only for electronics devices, fashion items, sports items, and accessories. But Daraz stepped up its game and brought offers on automobiles as well. This is the first time Daraz has introduced any sort of deals on the automobile front. The deal is already live and users can grab this offer while purchasing two-wheelers from TVS and NIU.
Daraz Offer on NIU’s two-wheelers
For those of you who are unaware, NIU is one of the manufacturers of electric two-wheeled vehicles. Their electric scooters are quite popular. And because of their research and innovation on the electric vehicles, they have also garnered a fair number of awards and accolades. It’s been a few years since NIU stepped its foot on Nepal. With their eco-friendly tech and pollution-less scooters, they have also made quite a mark amongst the environmentalists and environment-conscious individuals.
So if you were making a resolution to make an effort to save the environment and planning to buy an electric scooter, the deal on NIU scooters can please you. Daraz is offering free accessories worth Rs. 15,000 on the purchase of any of the NIU scooters. Currently, there are N-series, M-series, and U-series electric scooters available for the purchase. The N-series and U-series are double seater scooters whereas the M-series is a single seater scooter.
This New Year deal on the electric scooters sounds quite interesting. And any users dwelling inside the Kathmandu valley can order it for themselves.
Daraz Offer on TVS’ two-wheelers
In the case of TVS, Daraz is offering a flat discount of Rs. 10,000 on all of the listed two-wheelers. Daraz has enlisted various models of Apache, Phoenix, and Stryker motorbikes. On the scooter side, Ntorq, Jupiter Classic, and Wego are kept on the shelf of Daraz’s online store. Apart from the discount, Daraz is also giving away a helmet for free on the purchase of any of the TVS’ wheelers. Although the deal sounds interesting, it is limited only for users inside the Kathmandu Valley.
TVS is also running “Saat Cha Hamro” Scheme for offline users. The offers grant a hassle-free discount of Rs. 7,000 on the purchase of any of the TVS’ motorbike or scooter. So the initiation of the Daraz on bringing a better deal for the online users looks quite commendable.
Daraz’s Payment System
Purchasing goods from Daraz is easy and hassle-free. However, the payment is the part where it gets complicated. Despite being an online shopping platform, it used to accept payments via cash on delivery. But starting the new year, Daraz is accepting payments from Visa Debit/Credit cards.
Samsung is really looking forward to completing its A-series of smartphones. We have all A-something phones except for an A60 and an A90. And while that is already an overwhelming number of phones, we also have a Samsung Galaxy A20e. What drove Samsung to make a smaller version of an already affordable mid-range phone? We don’t know. But it’s here.
The Samsung Galaxy A20e is a slightly toned down variant of the Galaxy A20. The A20e is smaller in size, meaning, it has a smaller display, but the same resolution. And that it has a smaller battery because of its small size. But other than that, there are no differences. Which leads to the same question: Why did they make it?
Samsung Galaxy A20e packs a 5.8″ IPS LCD display, but with HD+ resolution, and an aspect ratio of 19.5:9, just like the bigger model. Also, the dual rear camera setup at the back comprises of the same 13 MP primary lens and a 5 MP ultra-wide angle lens. Also, its selfie camera is the same 8 MP.
More similarities include the use of the same chipset, the Exynos 7884. It also sees the same amount of RAM, i.e. 3 GB. In addition, even the storage is the same at 32 GB! Both make use of a micro USB port. The only other noticeable difference is the size of the battery which is 3000 mAh, due to its small size. But it still features the 15W Fast Charging.
Battery: 4,000mAh battery with 15-Watt Fast Charging
So, that was the Galaxy A20e. A smaller variant of phones makes sense for flagships. Just like the Galaxy S10e made of the Galaxy S10. There are quite a few differences. This, to me, does not make sense at all! Why did they make it? I just hope, they don’t make another one like this too soon. It’s going to get pretty confusing.
The most popular mobile game, PUBG (Players Unknown’s Battle Grounds) just now, saw a ban imposed on it! Yes, you read that right… The Central Investigation Bureau directed the Nepal Telecommunications Authority to impose a ban on the game. And that has come into action.
This widely popular mobile game recently came under siege due to some events and accidents. The world saw some quite bizarre actions from the players. More so, in India. And it seems that has followed its way to Nepal as well. Concerned guardians of some players sought the police for help after seeing their children developing disorders due to the game. They claimed that apart from not being able to concentrate on anything else other than the game, the children also faced sleeping disorders like shouting “maar maar” while sleeping!
The game can be, honestly, quite addicting. And many who got addicted became victims of unfortunate circumstances. If you google “Most bizarre PUBG related accidents, you’ll find some really unpleasant stuff. Some have gone through divorces, while some have left their family. As for others, less severe cases, they’ve become so addicted to the game – staying late in the night, and sometimes, until wee hours of the morning playing the game, and neglecting studies or jobs.
The game is now banned in China and sees a partial ban in India. It is not playable for more than 6 hours in India, and police there have arrested quite a few youths for playing the game. And there were instances like a youth losing consciousness after continuously playing the game as well. And after a case lodged at the Kathmandu District Court, the game is now banned in Nepal as well.
Right now, NTA has currently directed all the ISPs to ban the game on their networks. The ban, once live, will not let you download or play the game. While this can be revised in the days to come, is this really the solution?
Many argue that the game destroys mental health, and introduces addiction never before known. I, however, do not believe this. And many of you might share the same perspective. While there are arguments on whether video game addiction is even real, a certain study found this to be a real problem among very few people. But then again, most people who are into gaming don’t exhibit such behavior.
Here’s an interesting take regarding the ban of the game. Gaming addiction, are most likely, a result of some other underlying mental or social problems – as aDutch study suggested. And a ban is not really a solution to these problems. There are things like VPN, and even if they ban the servers, there are plenty of other video games.
PuBG is addictive, yes. I, too, have found myself, playing the game continuously. However, one should learn to keep oneself in check. To get addicted to a point where you can no longer socially function, is not a fault of the game, but maybe the player? Of course, it’s not his / her “fault”… but there must be an underlying cause. So, instead of banning the game so that a whole lot of healthy players suffer, maybe monitoring your child’s health or keeping yourself in check could be the solution?
What are your thoughts on this? We get that this could be a sensitive topic for some, and controversial for others. But do let us know your thoughts on this.
By now, it is no news that Samsung is revamping its mid-range and budget segment. While the budget segment capped out at the Galaxy M10, M20, and M30, the A-series is seeing quite a few phones. Looks like they’re seeking to fully complete the A-series. Because, this lineup has the Galaxy A10, A20, A30, A40, A50, A70, and Samsung Galaxy A80. The only ones missing are the A60 and the A90, which, may or may not come out. But that’s a lot of phones!
The Galaxy A80 is the latest addition to the A-series. And this phone takes the Infinity Display to a whole new level! Well, not technically. It is a pop-up camera after all. But the pop-up camera is also slightly modified to use it as the selfie camera as well. So, basically, you have a rotating camera module.
The Samsung Galaxy A80 features a triple camera setup. That, however, is not new. But what’s new here, is when you trigger the selfie camera, the rear camera module slides up, and the sensors rotate frontward. That’s a double sliding mechanism in action.
Its triple camera setup comprises of a 48 MP primary camera with f/2.0 aperture, and an 8 MP ultrawide sensor. However, contrary to our expectations, the 3rd lens is a 3D TOF (Time of Flight Sensor) for better portrait shots and Augmented Reality applications. While augmented reality application is not fully fledged yet, it can help take portrait videos as well. Speaking of videos, this phone can do some fancy stuff like take 4K videos as well.
Apart from the camera, the phone packs a massive 6.7″ display with Full HD+ resolution. The body is a glass construction with an aluminum frame in between. That is the making of most premium looking handsets. Under the glass, it runs on the new Snapdragon 730 chipsetbased on 8 nm fabrication process. Combined with 8 GB RAM, that should mean plenty of power at your hands! There’s also 128 GB storage on-board, a decent 3700 mAh battery, and 25-Watt Fast Charging. For now, the fast charging here is better than what we get in the flagships, Galaxy S10 and Galaxy 10+.
Samsung Galaxy A80 Specifications:
Design: Glass body front and back, Aluminum frame
Display: 6.7″ Super AMOLED display with Full HD+ resolution (1080 x 2400 pixels)
Rear Camera: Triple, 48 MP primary lens with f/2.0 aperture & PDAF + 8 MP Ultra-wide-angle lens with f/2.2 aperture + 3D TOF sensor
Front Camera: Rotating rear camera (48 MP primary lens with f/2.0 aperture & PDAF + 8 MP Ultra-wide-angle lens with f/2.2 aperture + 3D TOF sensor)
The Samsung Galaxy A80 is priced very close to the semi-flagship, Samsung Galaxy S10e. It’s up to you to decide which one’s a better value for money. But what is more concerning than that, is having two motorized parts – which is not really convincing on the durability front. Whether it will live up to the hype, time will tell. The phone will be officially available for purchase starting May 29.
With so many smartphones swarming the market these days, what do you do to stand out? Maybe, focus on a specific feature? Well, some smartphone companies are doing just that. As you can tell, Huawei’s P30 and P30 Pro look like smartphones on camera rather than the other way around. And at the same time, we have the new Oppo F11 Pro that puts a focus on its camera prowess as well. Also, what could be a better way to advertise that than let a professional photographer shoot stunning pictures with the Oppo F11 Pro?
Oppo did just that. In the first-ever such collaboration, they got together with mountaineer Dr. Nima Namgyal Sherpa, and professional photographer, Adam Neng. They trekked the Everest Base Camp to capture some of the majestic landscapes that the heavenly place has to offer. And brought some pictures back for us to see. So, yes, this is about the first ever pictures of Mt.Everest taken by the Oppo F11 Pro. Here they are for you to see.
Oppo F11 Pro on Everest
1 of 9
Night Mode shot
Oppo F11 Pro in action
The Oppo F11 Pro features a 48 MP primary camera with f/1.8 aperture and a 5 MP depth sensor. The 48 MP camera, however, is most likely a Samsung’s Bright GM1 sensor as the camera has a Quad-Bayer filter, meaning it uses pixel binning to take 12 MP resolution pictures, but that makes for less noise and more details, too. However, when every other smartphone company is going for a triple camera setup, this one still caps out at two. Of course, we would have loved to see a dedicated Ultra-wide angle sensor, but it misses out on that.
The AI scene recognition is there, which may have been responsible for such majestic photos. Oppo’s Ultra Night Mode also makes its way here, which gives us more balanced pictures at night time. There is definitely some image stacking involved, but the image processing power is definitely there.
Oppo F11 Pro Specifications:
Design: Plastic body with an aluminum frame, pop-up camera
Display: 6.53″ IPS LCD display with Full HD+ resolution (1080 x 2340 pixels), 19.5″9 aspect ratio, Edge-to-edge screen, no notch
I got the Galaxy S10 and S10+ after a week of their launch and since there were so many reviews of them already, I decided to use it for a little longer and give you guys more than just my initial impressions. I bought the S10 with my own money to use it as my daily driver and also took the S10+ in for review so that I can take a better look at both of them. So, let’s get into it!
A couple of years ago, lots of people complained about the placement of the fingerprint scanner on a couple of Samsung flagship phones. And while that has changed last year, Samsung has been generous enough to add another nuisance this year in the form of the placement of the power button. It is placed way too high, and even people with large hands will have a hard time handling it. Come on Samsung, this is a schoolboy error. You just brought yourselves a problem that isn’t even supposed to happen.
But Samsung has added an option to remap its extra button, the infamous Bixby button, which is a nice thing. I use it to open the camera app, but it’s up to you to choose for yourself.
Continuing with the design, the Galaxy S10 is curved on the back, giving us a better feel on hands. However, due to the glass back, it is a lot slippery, so you should probably use a case at all times. I also like the color options these phones have. I am not into white phones, but this here, I liked. It has a white color that shows off subtle change in color according to its reflection. It’s really cool. But my pick of the bunch is the blue one, 100%. However, having used the Galaxy Note 9 for several months, the Samsung Galaxy S10 doesn’t feel as premium as its predecessor. Don’t get me wrong, it is premium, but it isn’t up there at the top. It actually feels more like the back on Samsung’s A-series smartphones.
We are all aware that both the S10 and the S10+ are more or less the same device. S10+ has the bigger display, bigger battery, and that twin notches with dual camera. The S10 is for those who want smaller form factor and minimalism.
Display
What Samsung has nailed is the display quality. When I used the Note 9 for a while, I never thought Samsung could actually better it. And to my surprise, the Dynamic AMOLED panel is just great, the colors, the vibrancy, the sharpness, everything is just too good. And the screen bleeding over the edge makes this the best-designed phone for me. But the same infinity display brings in accidental touches. Even with the Accidental Touch Protection setting enabled, you will register a few unwanted touches, especially with one hand usage.
The Galaxy S10 has a 6.1-inch screen while the Plus model comes with a 6.4-inch screen. And me, personally, I like the larger displays as you get to see a lot of content on it. But most of the people I know have leaned towards the Galaxy S10 due to its “compact” design as it fits comfortably on the hand.
Also, the Blue light filter here is improved. What Samsung did is shift the “eye straining” blue light of the 450mm wavelength to a safer 465mm wavelength, which means my eyes are less stressed and I am less fatigued.
Performance
Talking about the processor, the units we reviewed are powered by the Exynos 9820. It excels all the benchmark tests and as far as the performance is concerned, initially I faced this PubG issue on the phone. See at first when I started playing the game, I had no problem at all. But reading all the posts about it lagging, I reinstalled it and that brought in the lags. And those lags were crazy, I start walking from somewhere and a few seconds later, I end up in the same place. This was obviously fixable through software updates, and Samsung has looked into it yet. I recently received an update on the phone which seems to have fixed the issue completely. Other than that, I have had no problem with the S10 as far as the performance is concerned. It easily handles all other games, and its RAM helps with the multi-tasking effectively. There have been no stutters anywhere, and you will get the almost perfect flagship experience with the phone.
Other than these two issues, I have had no problem with the Galaxy S10 as far as the performance is concerned. It easily handles all other games, and its RAM helps with the multi-tasking effectively. There have been no stutters anywhere, and you will get the almost perfect flagship experience with the phone.
Samsung Galaxy S10 Benchmark Tests
Geekbench v4.3.2
Single-core: 4460
Multi-core: 10046
AnTuTu v7:
329680
3D Mark
Slingshot Extreme OpenGL ES 3.1: 4340
Slingshot Extreme Vulkan: 4297
PC Mark
Work 2.0: 7861
Andro Bench
Sequential Read: 794.35 MB/s
Sequential Write: 191.02 MB/s
Software
And part of this is also due to One UI, Samsung’s new and improved user interface. The software is really light, and even with a lot of customizations in its bag, it is really smooth. Gone are the days of laggy Samsung phones. Samsung has also made this UI by keeping tall phones in mind. If you have small hands, you will really like how the whole interface tries to bring most of the things down for the ease of use. However, I think that this UI’s icons are quite cartoonish and also the notification shade is too big for my taste.
Like always, though, Samsung has added in a few of its own applications with some being useful. The Samsung Password app saves you the hassle of saving your password every time, and Samsung health is helpful in keeping track of your health status. The heart rate sensor at the back, which is something essential and something we don’t get on any other smartphone. I have also seen people complaining about bloatware’s on Samsung phones, but there are very few that cannot be uninstalled. This includes the LinkedIn, Office mobile, galaxy store, and one drive. On the positive side, you get 100GB of cloud storage with Onedrive, which is a great complement to the internal memory. Oh, I completely forgot about Bixby. Actually, Bixby was the first thing I disabled and I even remapped the button to the camera app. So, let’s not just talk about Bixby.
Camera
The cameras on the Samsung top of the line phones always have one of the best, it still not the best out there. The S10 is simply not as good as the Google Pixel 3. But maybe it lies somewhere in the top 4 list.
If you go by the specs, there’s the same primary lens as the S9 and Note 9, the same 2X telephoto lens, but we’ve got a new ultra-wide lens. So, you really get a complete package in the optics department.
When I got my hands on the Galaxy S10 a few weeks ago, I really wanted to see what Samsung had in mind with the camera. So, I went to a few places just to test out the triple cameras on the back. If you go by the specs, the phone has a primary lens, a wide-angle camera, and a telephoto lens. So, apart from the depth sensor, you really get a complete package in the optics department.
Until the Huawei P30 came out a few days ago, the Samsung Galaxy S10+ was the joint top on DxOMark’s camera rating, and after using the cameras in real life, well I think they are one of the best around. And here are the pictures to prove them.
1 of 2
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus Details 1
Huawei Mate 20 Pro Details 1
There are ample details on the pictures, and even if you zoom into the image, you will still see a lot.
1 of 2
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus Dynamic Range 1
Huawei Mate 20 Pro Dynamic Range 1
The dynamic range is great as well. The shadow details are well pronounced on the image, and there are no over-exposed highlight details. And all of these pictures have a natural color tone with a good level of saturation that looks natural to the eyes.
1 of 2
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus Wide-angle
Huawei Mate 20 Pro wide-angle
Due to the telephoto lens, even when you zoom into the shots, you will notice no loss in terms of the quality, and this is really helpful. The wide-angle lens is of good quality as well. When I compared it against the Mate 20 Pro, the pictures from the Galaxy S10 had better colors and details. Take a look at the sky on these two images, the Galaxy S10 definitely has the better quality.
1 of 2
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus Portrait
Huawei Mate 20 Pro Portrait
The Galaxy S10 doesn’t have a dedicated depth sensor, and even without it, the software does a good job in blurring out the background of the subjects effectively. Take a look at this shot, the colors are natural, and the background has been blurred out well.
1 of 1
But there were times, where the subjects went a little soft like this statue here.
1 of 1
Like the other flagship devices, Samsung has added in its own effects for its Live focus mode, I really like the Color Point mode that only applies colors to the subject. There is also the zoom and spin effect which is fun to play around with.
One thing Samsung should add to its camera app is a dedicated night mode. Now the night mode on phones may not be 100% great, but they are slowly getting there, and with software updates, they can really improve. So, Samsung should definitely keep this in mind and release a night mode for the S10 series.
1 of 2
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus Night details
Huawei Mate 20 Pro Night details
As per the night shots, well, Samsung’s flagship devices have been doing well and the Samsung Galaxy S10 is no slouch. All the shots are well detailed and natural to the taste. The Mate 20 Pro did overexpose dark shots, but the Galaxy S10 remained all natural. Even the colors are reproduced well, and just like day time, the color tone is natural too. I know I have been saying natural far too often, but the cameras have really done well.
1 of 2
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus Normal Selfie
Huawei Mate 20 Pro Normal Selfie
In the previous years, I had bashed Samsung for not including a good selfie camera on its flagship phone. But that has changed over the years, and this time, the company has included a good selfie shooter. In ample lighting, the selfies are well detailed and have an abundance of colors to them. They are of great quality.
1 of 2
Indoor Selfie
Indoor Selfie Portrait
But if you are indoors under artificial lighting, the skin tone is quite weird, and the quality is not up there.
As for the selfie portraits, the Galaxy S10+ is the pick of the bunch with its depth-sensing camera. But I think it would have been better if Samsung had included the wide-angle selfie camera like Pixel’s in place of the depth sensing lens. The Galaxy S10 has this option to widen selfies, but that’s just dropping in and out of the same shot. This feature has resulted in an issue, though. When you video call someone from the Galaxy S10, the selfie video is zoomed into, and I don’t like this thing at all. Samsung if you’re reading this, please check into it.
1 of 2
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus Portrait Selfie
Huawei Mate 20 Pro Portrait Selfie
Talking about the video, both the front and back of the S10 now can capture 4K video and the quality and the overall stabilization is just great. If you want to start vlogging, the S10 is a good way to get started. Also, there’s this super steady mode that’s really impressive as well.
Ultrasonic Fingerprint Scanner
Up front, the Samsung Galaxy S10 comes with an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. Now if you get the angle right, you can even see the sensor under bright sunlight. But this sensor is completely different from Huawei’s or OnePlus’ optic sensor as it takes a 3D map of the fingerprint by projecting out sound waves. Pretty cool right?
It’s fast and will also work when you have wet fingers. But I would say a couple of the phones with optic sensors can match the speed. And, it’s not accurate like all the other in-display sensors. It gets the readings right most of the time, but still, there are a lot of times throughout the day it doesn’t get them right. But this is the first generation of the technology, and I can wait to see its development.
What I found weird was when you get the angle right, you can even see the sensor under bright sunlight. I freaked out that day because I thought I had a faulty unit, but it is how it is.
Extras
Also, cool on the Samsung Galaxy S10 are the dual speakers. It’s the best I have seen on a phone and actually, I don’t need to carry a portable Bluetooth speaker. The Samsung Galaxy S10 is IP68 rated like most of the flagship devices so you can use it underwater too.
Like the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, the Galaxy S10 also has power sharing feature, so you can definitely charge up other wirelessly enabled products through the phone. And it’s a bit faster than Huawei’s take. It will especially come in handy while charging accessories. You won’t be able to charge up another device if the Galaxy S10 has less than 30% battery remaining, though.
The Samsung Galaxy S10 has ample memory with the storage going up to 1TB on the Galaxy S10+, although Nepali buyers will find 512 GB as the highest they can opt for. You also have a memory card slot along the dual SIM slots. And if the call quality is concerned, it is great, Samsung has actually included a tiny bezel for adding in the earpiece as well. So, yeah, you could take this as an advantage or the ugly point of its design!
Battery
Now, the battery is where the Galaxy S10+ has a big edge over the S10. While the S10 lasts for a typical day, the bigger battery of the S10+ will give you a little bit more. But that completely depends on your usage. To endure the battery life, I toned down the resolution of the display to 1080P, because, with QHD+ resolution, the battery life is really low, especially on the S10.
Also, like with the PubG issue, there were a lot of people complaining about battery life. Apparently, if you make VOIP calls like from messenger or WhatsApp, it won’t go into deep sleep and will remain active until you restart the whole device. So, the battery isn’t that efficient on this Exynos variant compared to the Snapdragon version. But again Samsung has solved this issue with the software update. Yaay!!
As for the charging time though, the Galaxy S10 takes about 2 hours to go from 0 to 100% which is slow for a flagship phone. It’s because Samsung is still using the 15Watt charging tech that was first used on the Galaxy S7.
Huawei has a 40Watt charger, OPPO has got a 50Watt charger and Xiaomi is coming with the whooping 100Watt charger, and even S10’s 5G version has a 25Watt charger, so the 15 Watt charging speed on a flagship phone is something not very fancy.
Conclusion
So, the Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10+ are great devices for sure. But I feel like the updates that Samsung has brought are incremental and not worth upgrading if you’re already an S8, S9, Note 8 or Note 9 user. However, if you are using the S7 or its predecessors this is the right time for you to upgrade. Or even if you are coming from a midrange phone like I did, the S10 would be a great upgrade.
And talking about the S10 and S10+, since, S10 is cheaper among the two and does not miss out on essentials, I feel that it is the better deal of the two. But, again, it completely depends on your preference.
So, here’s my final conclusion: if you’re looking for a flagship phone right now, go for the S10 or S10+. You won’t regret it, I haven’t!
