The event that gave us the S10 lineup also included a few other devices and one of them was the Samsung Galaxy Buds. These earbuds come with Bixby assistant, charge wirelessly, are tuned by AKG and come with noise filter. They also look a lot better and are cheaper than Apple’s AirPods.
Battery Life
Being a wireless earbud, the first thing one asks about is battery life. The Galaxy Buds run for around 5 hours of talk and 6 hours of music playback. The case adds another 7 hours of music playback and 6 hours of talk to these buds. These numbers are pretty much the best in business, and you get wireless charging.
Charging
And yes, they can be charged through Samsung’s reverse wireless charging feature on the new S10 smartphones. This delivers 5W of charging, so the total time for the battery to from nill to full would be around 1 hour. Alternatively, the cases itself come with a USB-C port, so you can also do it the old fashion way.
The buds itself offer better quality sounds, with more focus on music experience rather than fitness. Personally tuned by AKG (the first wireless earphones from Samsung to be tuned by AKG), we are bound to expect more. Further aided by dual microphones for enhanced noise filter during calls.
Connectivity
As with premium wireless earbuds, this one also comes with Bluetooth 5. Now, they will work with any Bluetooth enabled phone, but Samsung also says it will work seamlessly with non-Samsung wearables. Samsung also introduced “Connect Shift”, a between device connection feature to swap the earbuds between a watch and a phone.
Now the Bixby assistant lets go of the fitness-focused features on this one, but it still gets its fair share of Bixbyness. It’s on by default, let’s you control your phone through voice commands. Tasks like making calls, check the battery, send texts to name a few. But you do have the option to choose from whichever assistant fits you best.
Hardware
The buds get tap sensitive spots for input, although Samsung didn’t specify much on this part. The buds itself is 30% smaller than the Gear Icon X, and the case comes with an in-built battery that can later charge the buds. Color options include the usual Black and White, alongside a striking Yellow alternative.
Pricing and Availability
Samsung is giving away Galaxy Buds to those who pre-order any one of the Galaxy S10 models until March 8. If you wanna buy it without spends on an S10, the earbuds will cost you $130. So, compared to AirPods, of which we are waiting for the second generation, the Samsung Galaxy Buds are cheaper, better and last longer.
It’s here people, it’s here! Samsung’s long-rumored, long- tested, long- conceptualized foldable phone is finally here. And we also have a name to it, Samsung Fold! It’s been seen along with the latest S- series smartphones today and as fancy as it looks, it will be sold as a premium smartphone. In terms of availability, the device will be launched on March 26th this year with a massive price tag of $1980. Wow, now that is a lot of money!
Let’s talk specs now. The device has a huge 7.3- inch Infinity Flex Display. The main display, the unfolded one, has a QXGA+ resolution (4.2:3) and when the display is folded, the smaller one has a 4.6- inch HD+ (12:9) display. The Infinity Flex display makes the phone to have a huge screen that can be folded to fit in your pocket.
Having an over flagship price, this one packs the Snapdragon 855 chipset that is built in a 7nm architecture and has a total of 12 GB RAM and 512 GB of storage. The storage provided here is a UFS 3.0 (eUFS) that aids faster speeds.
Battery wise, it’s not just one inside, but two! The two batteries are separated by the fold but are combined in the Android operating system. So, altogether, the battery is 4,380 mAh.
At the rear of the device, there are three cameras, a 12 MP wide-angle lens, a 16 MP ultra wide lens and a 12 MP telephoto lens along with a 10 MP cover camera for selfies.
So, the huge screen allows for a three app multitasking at once that is being made possible by using an app continuity system to adjust three apps when you move between tablet and phone modes. Similarly, many apps, including popular ones like Youtube, Whatsapp, etc have been made optimized for the new display type and word id, Samsung is working closely with Google to ensure that the Galaxy Fold display supports Android 9 Pie.
Samsung, with the Galaxy Fold, has made sure that the back of the phone is sturdy enough to support all the folding and unfolding. It has a hinge system that has multiple gears that allow the device to transform from phone to tablet and vice-versa.
Yes, it’s nice to see Samsung finally bring out something that it has been trying for so long. However, it’s not just them doing it. Xiaomi has also very recently revealed a foldable smartphone. Similarly, LG has brought foldable OLED TVs. But, we can always look for Samsung and other phone manufacturers to bring more of these in the near future.
After months of leaks, renders and speculations, Samsung have finally launched its first flagship series for 2019, the Samsung Galaxy S10. The phone has been garnering a lot of attention for all the right reasons, and there are a lot of features to be excited about in this year’s Galaxy S10.
Alongside the four new variants of the Galaxy S10, the Korean Giant also showed off the Galaxy Fold, which will go on sale this April 26 for the price of $1,980, and the Galaxy Buds, the company’s new wireless earbuds. Samsung also took the stage to announce the newer variant of the Galaxy watch that can measure blood pressure.
Samsung has focused on a few new features for the Galaxy S10 this year. There’s a new under-display fingerprint scanner, the phones have ditched bottom and top bezels, the camera has received a revamp, and there are lots of other extra features in place.
Samsung Galaxy S10 Series Overview
Display
Samsung makes the best displays, and this time, it’s no different with the new Dynamic AMOLED panel. The company had been taunting other companies for opting for notches, while they stayed traditional with little bezels on the top and bottom. However, this time around the Samsung Galaxy S10 sports the Infinity-O display that has a display hole on the top-right corner of the device. This is certainly a plus as it doesn’t pop-out like other notches. However, it only covers a small area of the display, so, there is no room for the Iris Scanner.
Camera
The cameras on the Galaxy S10 have also received few new add-ons this time. There is an ultra-wide camera on the Galaxy S10, S10 Plus, and the Galaxy S10 5G model. Also, the latter will also have 3D depth cameras on the front and back for Augmented Reality (AR).
Fingerprint
In-display fingerprint scanners have been around for a while now. Samsung has taken that to the next level with its ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. While the traditional in-display sensors use excessive light to read fingerprints, the one on the Galaxy S10 will use little-to-none and will also be able to unlock the phone without waking up the display.
Extras
For extras, there are a couple of things to talk about. The Samsung Galaxy S10 will be able to reverse-charge other devices wirelessly like the Huawei Mate 20 Pro. The new devices will be loaded with One UI out of the box. And you can apparently remap that infamous Bixby button this time. So, it will be interesting to see how the phones work in real life usage.
The Phones
The four new smartphones have been targeted towards different consumers. Like Apple came up with the iPhone XR alongside the iPhone XS and XS Max, Samsung has released the cheapest phone of the S10-series, the Galaxy S10E. Just Like the previous years, there are two variants, the normal one and the Plus one. And like I mentioned before, there is also a 5G model which will be officially available in the near future.
Samsung Galaxy S10E
The cheapest of the bunch, the Galaxy S10E is Samsung’s answer to the iPhone XR. This smartphone has donned a 5.8-inch Full HD+ Dynamic AMOLED display with a single 10-megapixel selfie camera cutout on the top. It has dual cameras on the back with the secondary lens working as an ultra-wide camera. The Galaxy S10E powered by the Exynos 9820 will be available a few Asian countries (including Nepal), and in other regions, Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 will power the phone. The processor is aided by 6 GB and 8GB RAM. The Galaxy S10E offers 128 GB and 256 GB storage with an option to expand via a microSD card. There is a 3,100 mAh battery backing up the device. Unlike its siblings, this model does not feature the new in-display fingerprint scanner as it has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor.
Samsung Galaxy S10E Specifications
Display: 5.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED Full HD+ Infinity-O display, HDR10+
The Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus are the successors to last year’s Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus. The Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus come with a 6.1-inch and 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with Quad HD resolution. There is a single selfie camera on the Galaxy S10 while the S10 Plus has dual lenses with the second lens working as a depth sensor.
Unlike the Galaxy S10E, these two devices feature triple cameras on the rear. There is a 12-megapixel primary lens, a 12-megapixel telephoto camera, and a 16-megapixel ultra-wide lens. The devices are powered by the same processor the Galaxy S10E is, with 8 GB and 12 GB RAM variants available for use, according to the models.
For storage purpose, the Galaxy S10 comes with 128 GB and 512 GB versions with the Galaxy S10 Plus featuring 512 GB and 1 TB memory. And all of this is expandable as well. The Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus run on Android v9 Pie with One UI on top. The regular model has 3,400 mAh battery whereas the Plus model comes with a larger 4,100 mAh battery.
Samsung hasn’t really revealed much about the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G. However, we do know a few specifications the phone will carry. The Galaxy S10 5G will sport large 6.7-inch Quad HD Dynamic AMOLED display which is coupled with a large 4,500 mAh battery. It will exclusively launch in the Verizon network before T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint release it in the second quarter. It will be powered by the same internal like its siblings with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage.
The cheapest device unveiled today, the Samsung Galaxy S10E’s pricing starts at $749.99. The Galaxy S10 will go on sale for $899.99 while the Galaxy S10 Plus will cost $999.99 for the respective base models. We are yet unknown about the pricing of the Galaxy S10 5G but expect it to be high due to the 5G support.
We have the Realme 1 and the Realme 2, so what’s next? Well, if 1+2 is 3 then the next phone from OPPO’s spinoff brand will be the Realme 3. Further reports confirm the tweet, claiming the phone will launch early March in India. Take a look at the official tweet from Realme below:
Jumping into the specs, well we have none to share with you. The rumor mill has been a bit on the quiet side with this smartphone. But with the launch date approaching soon, leaks should start to surface soon enough. What we can say for sure, for the time being, there is a Realme 3, and it’s launching soon.
The phone will debut in India, which seems to be the prime target for most smartphone manufacturers. With the growing economy, gigantic population, and an unquenched thirst of “value for money” smartphone, why not.
As for Realme’s presence in Nepal, they currently have two phones up for sale over here. Those being the Realme C1, posing a great value for money, alongside the Realme 2 Pro, a performer with a great set of cameras. Pricing of both smartphones are perfect and are easily two of the best options out here.
Their international presence has also been a pretty great one. With outstanding pricing, great specs, and decent cameras, it’s no wonder they sold over four million smartphones in just seven months. The Realme 3 is also expected to hit the market with the same level of price to performance ratio while adding something new to the table. A 48MP rear camera perhaps?
The much-awaited Xiaomi MI 9 is official, and it’s good. This phone packs the Snapdragon 855 SoC, a Samsung made Super AMOLED display, 48MP primary sensor and one of the fastest wireless charging on a phone. The only thing this phone doesn’t have is water resistance, and maybe the battery, at 3,300mAh, that might not satisfy everyone.
Display
The Mi 9 gets a 6.39-inch AMOLED display with an FHD+ resolution. It covers 103.8% NTSC spectrum, can reach up to 600 nits of brightness and a contrast ratio of 60000:1. Screen to body ratio hovers at around 90.7% and the bottom bezels have been reduced by 40%, which now stands at 3.5mm. And all this is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 6.
Internals
The device is powered by a Snapdragon 855 SoC, paired with 6GB of RAM and 64/128GB of storage. Xiaomi also included the Game Turbo mode, which tunes the CPU and GPU for better gaming performance. The device has a 3,300mAh battery, with support for up to 27W wired charging, and up to 20W wireless charging (fastest on a smartphone).
Cameras
The phone has three cameras on the back. The first is a 48MP sensor (Sony IMX586) with a Quad Bayer filter. Aperture stays at f/1.8 and the pixel size is a large 1.6um Superpixels. The second 16MP f/2.2 sensor is an ultra-wide lens with a 117-degree FOV. The last 12MP telephoto camera works as a depth sensor with support for 2x optical zoom.
The whole back is guarded by Gorilla Glass 5, apart from those camera lenses, those are protected by a scratch-resistant Sapphire glass for extra protection. Video capabilities cap out at 4k@60fps, with support for 4k@30fps, 1080p@30/120/240fps, and 720p@960fps. As for selfies, a 20MP f/2.0 selfie camera with 0.9um lens takes the responsibilities.
The same front camera is also in charge of unlocking the phone, aided by AI. The AI also helps out to reduce distortions on photos produced by the ultra-wide camera. Apart from the face unlock, you also get an in-display fingerprint reader. That and the NFC chip allows you to use Google Pay for secure transactions. Furthermore, the phone also features a dual-frequency GPS and an IR Blaster.
Price
Like the last time, there will be a transparent variant of the device. That one will come with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and will cost you CNY 3,999 or about $595. The normal 6/64GB variant costs CNY 3,300 (approx $495), the 8/128GB costs CNY 3,500 ($525) and the 8/256GB is priced at CNY 3,700 ($550). The phones are available in Lavender Violet, Ocean Blue, and Piano Black colors.
Xiaomi MI 9 Specifications:
Display: 6.39-inch AMOLED 19:9 aspect ratio (1080 x 2280px) panel, HDR10, DCI-P3
Vivo started the trend of a pop-up camera with the Vivo X21 UD and Vivo NEX. We didn’t get to see any of the devices in Nepal. What we got was the Vivo V15 Pro which landed here with a 32MP motorized pop-up camera. Let’s check out the specs, price, and availability of Vivo V15 Pro in Nepal.
Vivo V15 Pro Overview
Design and Display
The Vivo V15 Pro comes in a gradient blue color. The back of the device also features subtle patterns, which seem to exist right beneath the glossy finish. The front panel comes with an almost bezel-less display with just a 1.75mm thick bezel on the side and 2.2mm bezel on the top. Although Vivo has not spoken on the thickness of the chin, the company remarked that the V15 Pro rocks with a whopping 91.64% of the screen to body ratio.
And talking about the front panel, the screen on the front houses a 6.39-inch display, which features Full-HD+ resolution. And there is no any sort of punched-hole or any other sort of ugly notches. So the screen truly looks immersive. And to achieve that, Vivo has employed a pop-up selfie camera and hid the ambient light sensor and the proximity sensor under the display.
That’s not all, Vivo also squeezed a fingerprint sensor beneath the display. The smartphone maker claims the fingerprint sensor on this device to be of fifth-generation. And as the generation passes by, the Vivo V15 Pro promises to unlock the device just in 0.37 seconds. Seems like the gap in the unlocking speed between this new type and conventional type is getting really close.
Camera
Over the years, Vivo has gained quite a popularity, especially in the camera front. And continuing the tradition, the Chinese tech titan has packed a 32MP selfie shooter. It also happens to be the world’s first 32MP pop-up selfie shooter. In addition to taking selfies, this front snapper also doubles as an authentication tool in the Face Unlock feature.
Even on the rear panel, the V15 Pro is rich in terms of cameras. The rear panel houses a triple camera setup at the back, which is a combination of 48MP main camera (wide-angle), 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 5MP depth sensor.
Although the primary shooter has a 48MP resolution, it only captures 12MP images. The camera does 4-in-1 pixel binning to get bright and sharp images. It is also said that the sensor used here is a Samsung’s ISOCELL GM1 sensor, which we saw on the Redmi Note 7. So when the whole tech world has been hyped about this whopping 48MP camera, we really have to perform the Vivo V15 Pro review to see its performance in the real-life.
Similarly, the 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera can capture up to the 120-degree field of view. Lastly, the third 5MP depth sensor comes to action on capturing the portrait images. So the triple camera setup on this device seems to do plenty of jobs.
Performance and Memory
Performance-wise, the phone has got Snapdragon 675 chipset paired with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM. On the storage side, the phone has got 128GB of native memory. It can be further expanded up to 256GB via a dedicated SD card slot. Although the SD675 is not the top of the line processor, it’s still better than the SD660 on the last year’s Vivo V11 Pro. It is also a relatively newer chipset and can handle some Triple-A games without a fuss.
Talking about the horsepower, the phone rocks with a 3700mAh non-removable battery. Although it supports dual-engine fast charging technology, the presence of the Micro USB port looks rather antiquated.
Vivo V15 Pro specifications:
Display: 6.39-inch Super AMOLED display; 91.64% screen to body ratio; 2.5D curved glass on the top
Resolution: Full-HD+ (2340×1080 pixels); 19.5:9 aspect ratio
Connectivity: Dual SIM (Nano + Nano), Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.0, Micro USB 2.0, USB OTG support, 3.5mm headphone jack
Battery: 3700mAh with dual engine fast charging technology
Colors: Topaz Blue, Ruby Red
Vivo V15 Pro Price in Nepal [Updated 2020]
There are two variants of Vivo V15 Pro but only the 6/128GB variant is available in Nepal. The new updated price of the Vivo V15 Pro in Nepal is NPR. 37,350 in Nepal.
So the Realme C1is a phone that launched quite some time ago. And the Realme brand is known for providing good specs at affordable prices. This one is a budget phone that seems to have pretty decent specs on paper. Which also led to many asking for it, even before it arrived in Nepal. And it did, some two weeks ago. But, it came at a time when there is competition in the market. So, how does it fare with the competition?
Realme C1 Specifications:
Display: 6.2- inches IPS LCD Capacitive Touchscreen with 19:9 aspect ratio
Protection: Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Resolution: 720 x 1520 pixels
CPU: Octa-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 450
GPU: Adreno 506
RAM: 2 GB
Storage: 16 GB, expandable up to 256 GB (dedicated slot)
OS & UI: Android Oreo 8.1 with ColorOS 5.1
Rear Camera: 13 MP f/2.2 camera and 2 MP f/2.4 depth sensor dual cameras with LED flash, HDR and panorama
Front Camera: 5 MP f/2.2 sensor with HDR
Video: 1080p@30 fps
SIM (s): Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
Battery: Non-removable Li-Ion 4,230 mAh battery (Micro USB 2.0), USB On-The-Go
Being in the budget segment, this phone has a plastic build with an aluminum frame. It is big and makes its presence known in the hands. The plastic back has a glossy finish, making it look premium but leaving it prone to fingerprint smudges and scratches. So, I recommend using it with the transparent case that comes inside the box.
The back has nothing but the dual camera setup. No fingerprint sensor, here. So, basically, this looks like the Oppo A3s, but in a different color. The left side has the volume rockers and the SIM slot, and the right has the power button. The micro USB port, 3.5 mm headphone jack and the speaker grill rest at the bottom.
Ports and Buttons
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Power Button
Ports
Volume Rockers
With a plastic construction, the phone is light and has a good grip. But might be a bit too big for some people. The look and feel of the phone is pretty nice, and I feel like there are very fewer phones like this at this price.
Display
On the display front, something worth mentioning right up front is that even though it’s a budget phone, you do get a Gorilla Glass 3 protection. That was an option not available on the Oppo A3s, which is more expensive than this. There is also a notch up top housing a selfie camera, earpiece, and some sensors. The notch seems to have an okay size. It also has a considerable chin and bezels, too.
The screen is a 6.2″ IPS LCD panel with HD+ resolution and 19:9 aspect ratio. So, yes, this is the Oppo A3s back and front. Only cheaper.
It’s a good display – with quite the punchiness, but some may find the colors too vibrant. It could do with a bit of calibration. The brightness is also fine…you can use it okay in the sunlight, but not without some adjustment, though. It comes with Auto-Brightness features, so, it’s all well. There are also various display modes. A night shield built into the software of the device with a ‘Blue-light filter’, ‘black-n-white’ mode and a ‘comfortable night-time reading’ mode.
For the price, I really liked the display overall. There’s nothing you have to complain about, except that it could have some balanced colors rather than all over your face.
Camera
As for the camera, it packs a dual camera setup at the back with 13 MP primary lens and a 2 MP depth sensor.
And for a budget phone, the photos actually come out great…but only in good lighting conditions. In good lighting, the colors come out close to natural, the level of exposure is balanced, and the white balance is good too. The details are there…and you won’t be complaining about the camera very often.
Rear Camera Samples
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The portrait mode seems one of the best edge detection for the price point. The subject gets a nice focus while there is enough blur in the background.
As for low light images…well, this is the part where most budget cameras tend to struggle. And this is no exception. Images lack sharpness, and there are very less details to go on. In artificial indoor lighting, the amount of details can be acceptable, but for night shots, the photos are not usable at all.
The front camera is a single 8 MP camera. And the pictures from it are not that great. They’re actually okay, packing enough details and fairly accurate color reproduction, but not as expected. If you want a strong social media game, then, this selfie camera might not be for you. Low light selfies are also not worth mentioning anything about.
And of course, there is the beauty mode which you can choose various levels of. But they look pretty aggressive. You can use up to level 3 of beauty levels, but nothing beyond that – if you take my advice.
Selfie samples
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Normal selfie
Normal selfie
Normal selfie
Portrait selfie
Normal selfie
Normal selfie
Overall, the rear camera setup is a good one, but the selfie camera can do with some improvement.
In this department, the Realme C1 features a Snapdragon 450 chipset, which to me, looks like the de-facto processor for budget phones, i.e. if they want to be good enough. And it does not disappoint for the most part. I did get some lags every now and then while navigating through the UI, but it didn’t freeze or anything.
It also appeared as if the touch was not responsive enough, but that might have been due to the sluggishness in the UI too. And while the benchmark scores for this device show a lot of potentials, gaming on it is not exactly a “walk-in-the-park”. It is more like a tired walking kind of thing, where you rest quite frequently. What I mean is, it suffers from frequent stutters and lags.
You can play Asphalt 9 or PUBG, at low settings. And they run okay at low frame rates. But normal games like Clash of Clans, Clash Royale, Golf Battle, etc, run smooth enough, though.
With 2 GB of RAM, multitasking is also not very good. The apps won’t stay open in the background for too long, and switching between them is not seamless. And opening a lot of tabs in your browser or messenger app can take a toll on your user experience. But at the end of the day, if you’re not using the device heavily, it’ll work just fine.
Also, the phone doesn’t heat up as much. You can feel it getting hot while gaming, but it’s nothing too extreme.
Benchmark Scores
AnTuTu V7: 74125
AndroBench Sequential Read: 291.45 MB/s
AndroBench Sequential Write: 51.05 MB/s
GeekBench 4 (Single-Core): 627
GeekBench 4 (Multi-Core): 3105
3D Mark (Sling Shot Extreme – OpenGL ES 3.1): 282
3D Mark (Sling Shot Extreme – Vulkan): 332
PC Mark for Android (Work 2.0 Performance): 4242
Software and UI
The phone currently runs on Android 8.1 Oreo with ColorsOS 5.2.1 on top. And this is the same operating system as any OPPO phone in the market, which we didn’t like anyway.
The UI is one of the major shortcomings of smartphones, including its optimizations. The UI, as a whole, is a bit too colorful, and not in a good way. It isn’t pleasing to look at, and neither is the functions. Everything appears like a big mess! On top of the bad optimizations, the UI itself is a bit laggy. There’s bloatware everywhere, and of course, they aren’t useful.
Realme needs to put in a lot of work into this device…but if you’re not comparing it with other phones, or if you’ve been using other Oppo devices, you might not even care about it.
Battery and Storage
As for the storage, you get a 16 GB storage on board, which of course, is not enough. But there is a dedicated microSD card slot, with which, you can expand the memory up to 256 GB.
The battery on this device is stellar. It has a 4230 mAh battery, with which, it lasts for about 1 and a half days in normal usage. Even with heavy usage, it will easily last throughout the day.
The only problem? With a large battery and no Fast Charging, the charging time shoots up to like 4 hours! If you use a 2A / 5V charger, you can get done in 2.5 hours.
Extras
To talk about the extra features, there is not much to say though. Its speaker is fairly loud with decent, clear sound quality. And even though it has no fingerprint sensor, it’s got a pretty fast Facial Recognition. It uses the front camera for that, and not an IR sensor, but like most Oppo phones, this is good.
Conclusion and Verdict
The Realme C1 is a good phone, no doubt. And for a price Rs. 15,500, this is one of the best contenders at this price. The battery life is phenomenal and the display is pretty great. I like cameras as well, and most of the stuff is good.
And I can’t stress this enough, but this is just the Oppo A3s but cheaper. And we were not fond of the Oppo A3s as much as this one, because of the price. That phone cost close to Rs.20000 when it launched, and now, it costs some Rs.18000. But the same phone with another name costs considerably less. So, this one looks much better.
The problem? It’s got quite the competitor. The recently launched Samsung Galaxy M10 looks like a much better performer. It’s got a better display, smaller notch, and a better look and feels, except the camera. And that, too, for Rs.2000 less.
There are so many phones in the mid-range segment right now that it is hard selecting one for yourself. All of them give you similar features and come at a similar price. Amidst all this, Realme has launched two phones in Nepal, The Realme 2 Pro and the Realme C1.
So, today, we will be talking about the Realme 2 Pro. It has been my daily driver for the last three months and here is my full and detailed review about it.
The Realme 2 Pro came after the era of gradient designs and I must say, this simple touch of a plane colorful back still catches my eye. I chose this Blue variant, which is sort of a light icy Blue, which I still think is very appealing.
But as eye-catching as it is, most of the times, I used it with the Silicon case that came along in the box because the entire phone is made of plastic. As careless as I am, I didn’t want to destroy my daily driver. And after this long usage, my phone still looks good as new. There are minor scratches at the back but the shiny back has compensated to hide it very well.
At the front too, I got a built-in screen guard that took up many scratches but it started to wear off a little bit near the notch, so I took it off altogether. And impressive is that the Gorilla Glass 3 protection has held up pretty well-preventing scratches on the display.
But I think this phone is a little too thick for my liking and other users of this device also may have felt the same.
It’s weird that the battery is not too huge and still the phone is thick and relatively heavy. Plus, with the cover on, it looks thicker than ever. But does not matter in usage though, so it’s okay.
Display:
Keeping the Realme 2 pro as a daily driver, I have also reviewed quite a few devices and looking at all of them, I think the V-shaped notch and the minimal bottom bezel accounts for a good full view screen on this one.
But through all this time, I have wished for more brightness, which is just moderately bright outside. Nothing that has affected my usability but I have wished for more sometimes.
Other than that, I have quite liked other aspects such as the colors are bright and vibrant and playing games or watching videos or simply browsing has been a good experience.
The notch on the top is not very obtrusive so I kept in on all the times. You do have an option to hide it for some apps but it was okay for me.
But through all this time, I have missed the LED notification light. You can turn on notifications on the lock screen and even clear it from there which has somehow made it easier for me but again a notification LED is always welcome.
Cameras:
Now we’ve come to the part where the Realme 2 pro has shone with all its potential, the cameras. Honestly, I thought that the cameras will be okay, nothing much to fuss about, but this one has exceeded my expectation, except in one aspect, which I will talk about later.
So, starting off with the back cameras, the pictures are very colorful and look pleasing to the eye. The details are on point, the saturation is on point and I have loved the images. Look at this picture of the Bouddha Stupa here, what do you think about it? Nice isn’t it?
Realme 2 Pro back camera samples
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The fact is that this one uses the same Sony IMX sensor at the back previously used on the more expensive OnePlus 5T and the results are awesome. I get the same impressive images every time I go around shooting with this phone.
But something that has bugged me a lot since day one is, you cannot change the settings from the camera app itself! And finally, when I dug deeper, the settings could be changed from inside the settings menu. I mean you have to individually go there, search and change whatever settings you want to alter. As good as the cameras are, this has been a big hassle for me.
But in the camera app, the icons tell you clearly, which is what function, so it is not a difficulty finding the portrait mode or HDR mode, etc.
Talking about the HDR mode, it helps improve detail from bright and dark areas on images very well. But, when you take a picture with an exposed background, it does help preserve details but the pictures come out slightly unnatural. Not saying the images are not good though!
Realme 2 Pro back camera samples HDR on vs HDR off
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Okay, there is a beauty mode, which I didn’t use very often, but here are some samples for you to check out.
Realme 2 Pro back camera sample beauty mode off vs beauty mode on
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Similarly, videos are very impressive. There is EIS to make your videos stable, you won’t notice the stabilization while shooting videos but the outcome is good I must say. Among the 4k, 1080p and 720p options, I liked the FHD resolution more in terms of quality.
Autofocus in both videos and photos is good, nothing to complain about.
Okay, now let’s talk about the aspect I have disliked, the portrait mode. I might sound very harsh when I say this, but the 2 MP depth sensor is not soo good in functioning. The edge detection is poor, blur intensity is poor and inconsistent! But, you do have studio various studio lighting effects, among which I like the RIM lighting effect.
realme 2 pro back camera samples portrait mode
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The night shots are what you would expect. They are nothing to be excited about, yet not that bad either. But certainly, the cameras find it a bit hard to focus during the night.
Realme 2 Pro night time back camera samples
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Pictures in artificial lighting are good though! They are detailed and bright and basically, I have loved clicking pictures with this one!
realme 2 pro back camera sample artificial lighting
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Selfies are nice too! They are colorful, natural and detailed. The HDR option helps when the background is exposed. Also, there is stickers option which has been very fun for me as well as my friends. The beauty option again, I didn’t use it too much.
Realme 2 Pro selfie samples
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The portrait option the selfie cameras does an okay job. But there are no studio lighting effects in selfie portraits, which I would have loved to have! Never mind, Realme, you can put it there in the upcoming device of yours!
Talking about the performance, it has the Snapdragon 660 SoC which we have seen in many phones lately, but I was a bit skeptical about the Color OS affecting the full potential of the chipset but it has actually not been that way.
I have had no complaints about the performance of this device whatsoever! I have not felt lags and stutters on this device while multitasking or gaming and the like. Coming to gaming, the Adreno 512 GPU is quite a performer. I play PUBG very often in medium settings without any major stutters. Also, Asphalt runs pretty smooth but F1 racing goes through some stutters sometimes. Not to the extent of frustration though!
But, the speakers at the bottom get distorted at highest volumes and has spoiled my gaming experiences a lot. But with earphones, it is not that bad. Also, the speakers tend to cover up with fingers, which again adds up to not so good gaming experience. So, even though games run pretty well, I’ve had issues.
I have been using the 4 GB RAM 64 GB storage variant that has EMMC storage, which may be the reason why games or apps take a while to install.
The fingerprint sensor at the back has been working fine, it is fast and gets the job done 100% of the times. And facial unlock is swift too during the daytime. Since it’s the front camera doing the job here, it does not perform well during night time.
Also, like other Chinese phones, this one does not certify DRM L1 certification, but since I don’t use Netflix or Amazon prime contents on my phone, it wasn’t a dealbreaker!
Benchmark Scores
AnTuTu V7: 128703
AndroBench Sequential Read: 291.18 MB/s
AndroBench Sequential Write: 173.76 MB/s
GeekBench 4 (Single-Core): 1468
GeekBench 4 (Multi-Core): 5506
3D Mark (Sling Shot Extreme – OpenGL ES 3.1): 1229
3D Mark (Sling Shot Extreme – Vulkan): 1184
PC Mark for Android (Work 2.0 Performance): 5778
Software:
Now the software, and you know I am not a huge fan of the Color OS, especially because the app icons are not very good looking and surprisingly there is no theme center to change one either! So, unless, you download another launcher, you are stuck with it.
Things can change and the CEO of Realme has also promised the Pie update in the next few months so maybe the latest Color OS based on Pie will have something refreshing. And one more thing, since my use, I have gotten a couple of updates, the latest security patch dated January 5.
Realme 2 Pro UI screenshots
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And some two months ago, I got the update that made the notifications clear up from one direction! Previously, it was so annoying that you had to swipe once and click delete but to some extent, it has been corrected. I say to some extent, because, it can only be cleared from one direction, the story is the same if you try from the other side!
Battery:
In the Realme 2 pro, you get a modest 3,500 mAh battery, that will last you for a day. It has been the same since day one up until now, I mean, the battery life has not degraded.
The area where Realme could have done better here was by including its very own VOOC Fast charging tech. It doesn’t cost too much to borrow its own tech, right? But, they haven’t, so charging will take around 2.5-3 hours to get fully juiced up. And yes, it uses Micro USB port.
Conclusion:
So, as I said earlier, I have used this device for so long and even though I don’t like the UI so much, I have gotten used to it. But then again, I would like to suggest the company to focus more on the UI part. Also, though the phone looks good, I don’t think plastic backs are here to stay. For long time use me as well as other people would like to have better material on their phones.
SD 660, no doubt is a good processor, but as an intense user, maybe for the next one, Realme should go with a more powerful processor like the SD 675 or the SD 710! I would also like to see Realme adding the USB type C port, maybe a bigger battery, and VOOC charging. Also, the portrait mode needs attention, I mean for such a good camera, why compromise on any aspect?
So, my verdict would be, yes, the device has some shortcomings, but in my opinion, they are not that big of a deal. I have loved using this phone and will continue using it as my daily driver for the next few months.
So, if you are thinking of getting this one, for the price it asks, especially the discounts you get right now, this device is still a very good choice!
The Huawei P20 lineup was a collection of capable smartphones, and now, is time for its successor, the P30 series. Although yet to go official, going by its predecessor, the new lineup should be great, if not the best. Expectations are high for the new lineup, and going by the numerous leaks and rumors, they should deliver. With the month of March coming close, let’s look at what we could expect, and everything we know so far.
Pricing
Pricing for the P20 Lite was $450, the regular P20 was roughly $780, while the Pro version costs a little over $1000. With that, we do not expect Huawei to lower the price for it’s newer models. A $50 premium for the P30 and $100 more for the P30 Pro would be a safe assumption.
As for the P30 Lite, that should not cross the $500 threshold. However, with Samsung’s next flagships launching soon, that could also affect the cost of Huawei’s upcoming flagships.
Design
A small teardrop notch, in-display fingerprint sensor, glass back and a headphone jack. Yes, the headphone jack is making a comeback, if rumors are to be believed. The same rumors point out four cameras for the Pro model, rounding up a total of five. As for the non-pro version, renders only show three cameras on the back.
The sensors are placed horizontally while the flash sits beside the cameras instead of the bottom, make of it what you will. Further leaks, especially from the case makers place the phone’s footprint at 149.1 x 71.4 x 7.5mm for the regular P30.
Internal Specs
The Kirin 980 will be in charge of the performance, as it’s still Huawei’s best and brightest SoC. We are expecting a 5G variant for the phone, which will use Huawei’s own Balong 5000 modem designed for the Kirin 980 itself. The P30 lite will get a humble Kirin 710.
Reports hint at a 12GB RAM variant but don’t specify if it’s the base or the top of the line variant. As for the software, all phone will come with Android 9.0 out of the box. We have no information regarding their battery life, but the P30 will have a 22.5W fast charging support while the P30 Pro bumps it up to a 40W.
Display
The smallest of the bunch will possess a 6-inch IPS LCD display, and this one will also not feature any in-display fingerprint sensor. As for the P30, it will offer a 6.1-inch screen while the P30 Pro bumps the size to 6.5-inches. Both models will come with in-display fingerprint sensors and OLED displays.
As for resolutions, we hope it’s a bit higher that FHD+, at least for the Pro model. But according to new found information, both phones will be stuck at 1080 x 2340px. Except for the P30 Lite, that one gets a 1080x2312px panel. The Mate 20 did bring a 1440p display resolution, and there is still a chance the “new found information” turns out false.
Camera
With up to four cameras on a single smartphone, they should and mostly do perform excellently, if history stands as an example. With chart-topping DxOMark ratings, can we even expect anything less? As of now, their camera setup sits as follows:
Huawei P30 Lite
20 MP, f/2.2, PDAF
16 MP, f/2.2, 1.0µm, PDAF
2 MP, f/2.4, depth sensor
24 MP, f/2.0 (Selfie)
Huawei P30
40 MP, f/1.8, 27mm (wide), 1/1.7″, PDAF/Laser AF
20 MP, f/2.2, 16mm (ultrawide), 1/2.7″, PDAF/Laser AF
To add up, a few rumors suggest a 10x optical zoom lens will also make an appearance. While the 38MP sensor rumored to debut on the P30 Pro remains uncertain, the rest of the specs still look pretty impressive as it is. And it should, this is the same company that bought us the excellent quad-cameras on the Mate 20 Pro.
Huawei P30, P30 Lite & P30 Pro Launch Dates
Huawei just confirmed the phones will launch on March 26 in Paris, France.
So, what do you think of Huawei’s P30 series, which has the potential to be the best smartphone of 2019? Tell us in the comments section below.
With the new RTX gaming laptops launching every week or so, the prices of GTX 10 series laptops are getting some decent price cut and today I have with me is the HP Pavilion Power 15 laptop that’s available for an insane deal at $650 or Rs. 95,000 here in Nepal. So, is this the best budget gaming laptop right now? We are going to answer that in this HP Pavilion 15 Power Review!
HP Pavilion 15 Power Specifications:
CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-8300H (2.3 GHz, up to 4 GHz, 8 MB cache, 4 cores)
Ports: 1 HDMI 1.4; 1 headphone/microphone combo; 1 RJ-45; 1 USB 3.1 Type-C™ Gen 1 (Data Transfer up to 5 Gb/s); 2 USB 3.1 Gen 1 (Data transfer only)
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n/ac (2×2) and Bluetooth 4.2
Battery: 52Whr
OS: Windows 10 Home
Price: Rs. 98,000
Design & Build
So, starting off with how it looks, it is somewhere between a typical gaming laptop, and a regular notebook. It’s not your typical rectangular laptop. Just because it doesn’t cost as much as high-end gaming laptops don’t mean it can’t look like one.
With sharp edges and uneven looking exhaust grills, it gives a bit of an OMEN vibe here, but of course, it doesn’t go all out. It doesn’t scream gaming, just subtly says so. After all, there has to some difference between affordable and more expensive models.
In terms of looks, there is this green accent going around all over. From the keyboard backlighting to the HP logo on top, everything is green. Maybe they’re taking the “Go Green” thing too seriously.
But the green accent looks pretty good on the laptop. It is a welcome refreshing touch from the invasive red color or the RGB lighting, although it might look cool. There aren’t many laptops that look like these. The Dell G7 with its blue accent looked great as well. And this one has this “Matrix” vibe going on for it.
The build quality looks pretty solid. There is a minimal amount of flex on the lid and on the keyboard deck when pressed. It seems it can take a fair amount of abuse even though most of it is plastic. But due to that very reason, it is pretty light for a gaming laptop. At 2.2 kilograms, this is not your lightest gaming laptop, but for a 15” gaming laptop, there are only a few of these. The hinge, on it, seems tight and you can’t open it with a single hand. But that’s not something that many will be bothered by.
Overall, this is a machine that does not scream gaming, but only subtly says so. As much as you can game on it, you can also take this to work.
Ports and Connectivity
As for the ports and connectivity, this laptop has a great choice of those. A Bluetooth 4.2 may not be one among them, but it’s hard to expect anything better on a budget gaming laptop. But it does have a stable 2 x 2 ac Wi-Fi, though.
HP Pavilion 15 Power Ports
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Also, it gets enough ports. Three USB-As, a USB-C which does not have Thunderbolt 3 support, an Ethernet port, an HDMI port, an SD card slot, and a headphone jack make for a good selection of ports.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The keyboard seems fine. It’s not perfect, but better than you can expect on a budget gaming laptop. Keys are clicky and provide good tactile feedback. They are also well-spaced and with 1.5 mm key travel, typing on it is pretty comfortable. The only problem is the uncomfortably squeezed arrow keys, which is a bit annoying while navigating.
Overall, the keyboard is good. Of course, there are a lot better keyboards out there, but most users should have a good time with it.
The same can’t be said for the trackpad. The trackpad is wide, but not long enough. Tracking is also not as smooth as I’d like. And with ELAN drivers, gestures are not as accurate either. I wish they’d included Windows Precision Drivers, but they haven’t. This makes the trackpad usable, but you’d want to get a mouse, even for non-gaming purposes.
Display
The display on it is as good as it gets, for a budget gaming laptop. It’s a Full-HD IPS panel, and the viewing angles are pretty good. The resolution goes fairly well for games, as well as movies. The color accuracy takes a hit with around 60% of the sRGB and 40% of Adobe RGB covered. So, not something you’d want to use for content creation.
If you put it side by side with another laptop with a better display, you get an actual difference in colors for the same photo, or video. Along with the contrast, the display is good enough for gaming, and that’s all.
Brightness maxes out at 250 nits. That makes it okay for indoors, that too, under proper lighting. It’s not something you can use under harsh lighting conditions or outdoors. Dark scenes in movies can be difficult to make out too, which you might have to get used to.
What makes this display great, though, is the slim bezels around the side. This is not XPS level thin, but it is thin enough to make it even more appealing. This also makes the laptop looks like a premium device, even though it’s not.
Performance
In terms of performance, there’s nothing to complain about. The 8th gen Intel i5-8300H is a stellar performer. You can boost it up to 4 GHz, and that’s quite a lot compared to the 7th gen i7-7700HQ, which, maxed out at 3.8 GHz.
Combined with an 8 GB of RAM, this is good enough for all kinds of tasks. It can handle any kind of usage for day to day work. If you have over 20 tabs in Google Chrome, and still want to do a bit of Photoshop or such, you can. You can even game with all that open in the background. So, performance is not an issue.
As for gaming, you get two variants on this laptop – one with GTX 1050 and another with a 1050 Ti. And as any sane person would, I suggest you pay the extra premium and get the Ti version, as it is slightly better than the regular one.
Our unit was also the same, and the performance was as expected from other laptops with the same Graphics. It can run most games at Full HD with settings at medium. Even so, many games cannot reach 60 frames per second. For that, you’d have to turn them down to low.
Of course, games like DOTA and CS:GO can give you quite the frames, but for games like PUBG, Battlefield, and Fortnite, I’d recommend you go no higher than medium.
Thermals
The thermals on it are good. It’s not exactly a very powerful CPU and GPU combination, so, thermals are not really a concern with this laptop. But you can expect smooth gameplay without thermal throttling even after 2 hours of continuous gaming. The fans can act even if you’re doing nothing intensive, but they’re not really loud.
Cooling Vents
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Storage
The laptop, by default, comes with a 1 TB Hard drive at 7400 rpm. And as hard drives go, they tend to be sluggish…if you’re used to SSDs. But since this laptop has an M.2 SSD slot, I don’t see any reason you should not install an SSD.
I did it on this laptop, and the performance improved by a lot! Boot times decreased by over 20 seconds, although it might vary depending on the SSD you choose. Apart from the added cost, there’s no reason that you should not get an SSD. Even a 128 GB SSD stick will do, and you can use it for the OS and the HDD for the storage.
Battery
With a 52 Watt-hour battery and the fact that it is a gaming laptop, you cannot expect much from it. After slightly more than 2.5 hours of using it to browse the web, stream, and some office tasks, it ran out of juice. So, for gaming, you’ll definitely need to plug it in.
Conclusion
The HP Pavilion Power 15 is a laptop, put together really well. This is a great choice for anyone who doesn’t want quite a dent in their pockets. At $650 for the 1050 Ti version, this looks like a great value for money. Add a small cost for an SSD, and it is still a great buy. Even in the Nepali market, you get the Ti version for Rs.98000, and the regular 1050 variant for Rs.92000. So, this laptop is an ideal choice for anyone looking for a good budget gaming laptop.
Plus, this laptop has quite the room for upgradeability. You get two RAM slots but only one slot is used. So, this can go up to 32 GB. And of course, there is the M.2 SSD slot. Pretty good, if you want to upgrade your device later on.
It has got the power, the style, and just the right price. Everything looks pretty good to me. This is a perfect example of when a laptop does just the right things.
Good things about the HP Pavilion 15 Power
Design: It suttle, unique, fresh and the green accent helps
Performance: It’s fast, fluid and no bottlenecks
Gaming Performance: Almost any games are playable at FHD under the right settings
Thermals: Very less thermal throttling
Price: I mean, for the price, these specs are pretty great
