MSI, the name that has proven itself in the gaming community, just introduced three new laptops in Nepal. The list includes RTX powered laptops, with either an RTX 2060 or an RTX 2070, all powered by a six-core i7-8750H processor. Now, we have all heard about RTX series laptops being all expensive and not worth the money. But bear with me, as I shall prove you wrong, or at least try to.
GL63 8SE
Processor: Intel 8th Gen Coffee Lake i7 8750H 2.2GHz-4.1GHz
Display: 15.6″ Full HD (1920 x 1080) 60Hz
GPU: GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6
RAM: Dual Channel 16GB DDR4 2666 MHz (Max 32GB)
Storage: 1TB HDD + 256GB NVME SSD
Ports: USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A, SD m-DP, HDMI (4K output @30Hz)
Connectivity: Killer E2400 Gaming LAN + Killer Wireless-AC AC 9560 (2*2 a/c) + BT
These might seem like some really expensive laptops, and they are but first, consider the hardware it comes with. RTX provides a hefty bump over its predecessor, the GTX1060, and is almost as powerful as the GTX 1070. That’s with the Ray-Tracing and DLSS out of the equation. Let’s look at a few pointers as to why buying any of these three laptops is a good deal.
Nepali pricing
Nepali consumers are familiar with paying a premium for laptops if purchased from the official channels. That’s not exactly the case here, the prices are pretty well put together, unlike what the history suggests. There is a slight chance these prices might be unbeatable, combine that with the perks of buying from an official channel, can we argue with that?
The RTX GPU
Now, international pricing aside, RTX GPUs are pretty powerful. They are overpriced for sure, but it’s a well thought out graphics processor that should get better with time. Rumors of the new DLSS update hints at a 50% more in-game fps and that is huge. Even without the update, the RTX 2060 can easily tackle the likes of GTX 1070, while the RTX 2070 takes on the GTX 1080. With more games soon to support ray-tracing and more optimizations, we should see RTX GPUs show their full potential in the coming months.
I looked around the current laptop market in Nepal, and the cheapest laptops with a GTX 1070 I could find was over 2 lakhs. And those laptops only come with 7th gen processors, while this one gets an 8th Gen i7 processor, with more cores, more threads, and a higher clock speeds. Combine both and you get even better frame rates on games, faster renders, and overall better user experience.
Conclusion
These laptops are worth their asking price. Sure, for over 2 lakhs they better be worth it. The compelling factor here remains its prices and the high cost of GTX 1070 equipped laptops in Nepal. If you live somewhere in the US, the same might not apply.
Seemed like it was just a while back that we laid our hands on the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro and now its already time for the successor! The P20 pro had dazzled everyone with a triple camera set up and now Huawei is all set to bring on another P- series device. The Huawei P30 and P30 Pro, as far as the rumors go, are coming in the market at the end of March!
Huawei’s P- lineup smartphones are their flagship that they roll out once a year, focussing primarily on cameras and looks. Last year’s P20 Pro made a lot of buzz in the tech community. And this time, it’s not only going to be two of them but three, which will most likely be named Huawei P30 Lite, P30 and P30 Pro! The light version of the device is said to have mid-range specs whereas, the other two, like usual will be flagships!
Not meaning to be sassy, but sounds to me something already being done by iPhones.
Rumors also confirm that the Huawei will be holding a press meet later in March to announce it’s next P- series smartphone. Like the predecessor models, the devices to launch are going to feature power-packed cameras. Similarly, the devices will also have an additional ToF sensor alongside the triple camera setup. Both the P30 and P30 Pro will have sensors from Sony in their phones. Additionally, the phone is said to feature a periscope for delivering higher optical zoon experience.
Also, we are expecting the Kirin 980 to fuel this device like the Mate series. The P30 and P30 Pro may have different RAM variants though, with the P30 rumored to have 8 GB and P30 Pro having up to 12 GB of RAM. And since the Mate 20 Pro featured an in- display fingerprint sensor, the P30 pro might also have one!
The devices are likely to come in March so, we won’t probably be seeing them in MWC this year. Although it’s rumored that Huawei may showcase a foldable phone with 5G connectivity.
Qualcomm has launched a new smartphone SoC – the Snapdragon 712. When the 700-series were announced, they promised 2 times the AI performance and 30% more power efficiency over the existing 600-series. And fast forward to today, we only have a Snapdragon 710 in that category, which we can find in mid-range devices of today. With the Snapdragon 712, we now have one more…but it doesn’t add anything except to what we already have.
The Snapdragon 712 has the same architecture, the same fabrication, and everything. The only difference is that the 712 provides a 100 MHz more clock speed, making it 2.3 GHz from the 710’s 2.2 GHz. Qualcomm says that the 712 is 10% faster than the 710. And I doubt that kind of performance boost is even noticeable. So…not very exciting stuff, is it?
Source: Wikipedia
The only thing that can be considered an upgrade is the support for QuickCharge 4.0+. With this, at least, the charging time on phones will decrease considerably. Besides that, everything is the same.
It is still based on the 10 nm technology, with 8 cores – two 2.3 GHz Kyro 360 Gold Cortex-A75 cores and six 1.7 GHz Kyro 360-Silver Cortex A-55 cores. Also, it features the same Adreno 616 as GPU and Hexagon 685 DSP. Just like it’s predecessor, i.e. the 710, it integrates the Qualcomm X15 LTE modem too. So, this is all the same. There’s nothing new. At all.
But still, with its small added benefits, it will be used in the upcoming mid-range devices. But honestly, I do not see any considerable benefit in this one. So, if the upcoming mid-range devices are going to include this chipset, then, they better provide other compelling features as well. Else, any older phone with a Snapdragon 710 is good enough and there will be no need to upgrade to the 712.
The Snapdragon 712 will be available by the first quarter of 2019.
Motorola has proved to be one of the choices in the budget smartphone segment for quite a while now. The company’s G-series, more specifically, is one of the go-to smartphones for someone looking for top-quality specifications in a budget price tag.
The Lenovo-owned company announced four new smartphones today, all following the same ‘moto’ I mentioned above. The new members of the G-series, the Moto G7 Play, G7 Power, G7, and G7 Plus all add up to Motorola’s answer to the budget segment for 2019.
Moto G7 Play
The Moto G7 Play is the cheapest of the four smartphones that were unveiled today. It has a 5.7-inch HD+ display with a large notch located at the top. The phone is made out of plastic and comes with a little chin up front. For performance, Motorola has included the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 processor coupled with 2 GB of RAM and Adreno 506 GPU.
In terms of optics, the Moto G7 Play features a single 13-megapixel rear-facing camera and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. For storage purpose, this device packs in 32 GB of internal memory with an option to expand. There is a 3,000 mAh battery inside. The Moto G7 Plus will ship with Android v9.0 Pie out of the box.
The Moto G7 Power gets its name due to the 5,000 mAh battery it packs. According to Motorola, this battery will last for about 72 hours on a single charge. It is also supported by the company’s TurboPower charging. The G7 Power sports a 6.2-inch HD+ display with a notch on top. Even though the HD display certainly helps the battery last longer, the fact that the display has such lower resolution is a bummer.
The Moto G7 Power is powered by 3 GB of RAM and the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 chipset. The device has a base storage of 32 GB with support for external memory. For camera purpose, the G7 Power has a single 12-megapixel sensor on the rear with the same 8-megapixel front camera. This phone also runs on Android Pie.
The Moto G7 and G7 Plus, unlike their names, are similar to each other in a lot of aspects. The camera sensor and the choice of the chipset differentiate the two devices.
The Moto G7 has a tall 6.2-inch full HD+ display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass. On top is a water-drop notch with a chin on the bottom. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 chipset powers the smartphone with Motorola claiming the G7 to be 50% faster than the G6. The phone comes with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB internal storage that is expandable with a microSD card. Unlike the G7 Play, the G7 has a glass back making it look and feel more premium than the rest. On the back lie dual 12-megapixel and 5-megapixel cameras that have a couple of AI-capabilities. There is a 3,000 mAh battery on the phone that is fast charging enabled.
The Moto G7 Plus, on the other hand, has a dual 16- and 5-megapixel. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chipset which is similar to the 632.
Moto G7 and G7 Plus Specifications
Display: 6.2-inch IPS LCD HD+
CPU: Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 632
GPU: Adreno 506 on G7 / 509 on G7 Plus
Operating System: Android v9.0 Pie
RAM: 4 GB
Storage: 64 GB expandable up to 512 GB
Rear Primary Camera: 12 MP, f/1.8 aperture on G7; 16 MP, f/1.7 aperture on G7 Plus
Battery: Non-removable 3,000 mAh battery, with fast charging
Price of Moto G7:$300
Price of Moto G7 Plus: $340
Verdict
When Motorola came up with its G-series smartphones a few years ago, the devices that were launched then were groundbreaking. Everyone loved the handsets and no other manufacturer could compete with the phones in their respective price segment.
However, since Lenovo took over Motorola, I have been constantly disappointed with what the Chinese company is offering. While other manufacturers have improved and made amends in the budget segment to launch their flagship killing devices, it seems like Motorola is still living in the shadow of its previously popular G-series smartphones. Even the devices launched today, are far from what the competitors are currently offering. And as a fan of the G-series from Motorola, it is certainly sad to see how Motorola has turned up.
There is so much hype regarding the Samsung Galaxy S10 right now! It seems like there are a lot of expectations from it, hence, all the rumors and renders and stuff. We are hearing new things about it daily. And the latest addition to all of that is the newly leaked information that says the Galaxy S10 has can charge the new Samsung Galaxy Earbuds wirelessly on it’s back.
Image credit: WinFuture
So, this means that it confirms that the rumors about the Galaxy Buds are true and that there is reverse wireless charging on the Galaxy S10. Leaked images from WinFuture shows the Galaxy Buds on top of a variant of the Galaxy S10. The Galaxy buds need to be placed within the charging case and put on the back of the phone with reverse charging feature turned on. Of course, that is not always practical, but the feature is there.
This doesn’t say much about the Galaxy Buds though, except that it will be called the Galaxy Buds. They are, of course, wireless, and might come with full Bixby support and such. But this product already has the FCC certification, so, it will soon be launched. Maybe, along with the Galaxy S10, most probably.
Samsung is a company that used to be quite innovative. But in all these leaks we’ve seen up to now, we’re only seeing things that we’ve already seen somewhere else. Reverse Wireless Charging of the Mate 20 Pro, and the Galaxy Buds remind me of the AirPods. So, yes, this is nothing new, I guess. Let’s see what else the Galaxy S10 will bring.
Although the Indian smartphone maker Lava hasn’t gained that much of popularity in the smartphone bazaar, their bar and feature phones are quite renowned in the market. And at the time when Chinese smartphone companies are tussling to gain the market share especially in the budget and midrange price bracket, Lava brought Lava R5 as a contender in the competition. But has the company bundled enough features to please the smartphone audiences? We tried to find out in this Lava R5 review.
Lava R5 Specifications
Display: 6.22 inches IPS display
Resolution: HD+ (720 x 1520 pixels) with 19:9 aspect ratio
So, Let’s start the things with the design. Although the back is made of plastic, I quite liked the device’s sleek look and feel. It’s also easy to hold and feels comfortable to use. It is equipped with a glossy plastic, which gives the vibe of a glass material. So, the looks of the Lava R5 is somewhat appealing.
The frame on this device is also plastic, so it got me a little bit concerned about its durability. Even in my 1 week of use, it already got some scratches on its back.
But despite the presence of the plastic back and plastic frame, it doesn’t bend and there were no any sorts of creaks. So there is nothing to worry yet.
Display
On the display side, the Lava R5 comes with a tall 6.2-inch IPS panel with a 19:9 aspect ratio. And yes, there is a notch, which is wide and very obtrusive. So I didn’t quite like the notch on it. If you also hate wide notches like I do, you can always go through the settings and hide the notch.
So, coming back to what I didn’t like about this display is the resolution. Now, this phone costs some Rs.23000 and it has got an HD+ display. This might partially be due to the fact that the chipset that’s running on this phone supports only HD+ display.
And with all the HD+ display on a big 6.2-inch panel, one can see some pixelation on close inspection. So, the sharpness is just okay at best. Having said that, all the other aspects of the display are quite good.
I quite like the color accuracy; the viewing angle is decent and the brightness is ample with good sunlight legibility. Even on the broad light, I was able to easily view the contents on the screen. Since the phone also has an ambient light sensor on the board, you don’t have to adjust the brightness on the screen every now and then. Also, you get a gorilla glass 3 which is good to see on budget phones.
Performance
Performance has never been the strong suit of Lava phones. And the Lava R5 is no exception on that respect. The phone comes with MediaTek Helio P22 chipset, which is an average processor for the price. But Lava has shown its generosity by providing 4GB of LPDDR4X RAM. Since the budget smartphones usually come with a relatively sluggish DDR3 RAM, the LPDDR4X RAM adds quite a fluidity on the performance. And talking about the storage, the device boasts 64GB of onboard memory, which can be further expanded with a dedicated SD card slot.
So, with a combination of an average chipset and DDR4 RAM, the device performed accordingly. It ran smoothly while performing day to day tasks. Minor apps and games ran smoothly without any hiccups. Multitasking and switching between the apps hadn’t been a problem either. The performance, however, was not the same while playing graphics-intensive games. PUBG was playable only at low settings, and when changed to medium settings, I faced some lags and stutters. So, I can say that if you are more into the heavy games, the Lava R5 may not please you much.
Software
On the software side, you get Android Oreo 8.1 out of the box with a Lava’s Star OS skin on top. Lava has promised a Pie update sometime in Q2 of this year. On to the UI, you get a lot of bloatware on first boot, but you can delete it hassle-free.
Other than that, There is nothing to talk much about the software here. The UI is clean and functional just like any other android phones out there.
Camera
Now let’s move on to the camera. The Lava R5 features a dual camera setup with a 13MP primary shooter backed by a 5MP depth sensor. With the dual camera on the board, the device can capture the portrait images.
And if you ask me, I was quite impressed with what Lava R5 had to offer on the portrait front. The phone captured some amazing portrait images with proper edge detection. And the blurs look natural. Even if you are not yet satisfied with the intensity of blur, you can readjust it quite easily even after taking the pictures. However, the portraits are inconsistency while capturing in the low light. It quite lacked the sharpness along with proper edge detection. So, if you are taking a portrait image, make sure there is enough light at the disposal. Normal images were rather more impressive. They pack a substantial amount of details and reproduces a fair amount of color accuracy. But you may notice a warm tone in some images, which is nothing serious though. However, low light images were quite lacked that punch. I noticed a substantial amount of loss in details in the low light images. Noises and grains, however, were quite minimal.
HDR off
HDR on
Low light sample
Low light sample
Low light sample
Rear camera sample
Rear camera sample
Rear camera sample
Portrait image
Portrait image
Portrait image
Portrait image
Moving on to the selfie part, the phone hides a 16MP front shooter in its notch, which is by far one of the best selfie cameras I have ever seen on any budget phones. The large 2-micrometer pixel size of the selfie shooter captures sufficient light so the selfie on the whole packs great amount of details with an absolute vibrancy.
Lava R5 Selfie Samples
1 of 7
Normal Selfie
Normal Selfie
Normal Selfie
Normal Selfie
Portrait Selfie
Portrait Selfie
Portrait Selfie
The selfie camera on the Lava R5 is also capable of shooting portrait selfies. Since it’s all due to the software intelligence, results are not always great. And it also takes some time to process and save the images, which can be frustrating at times. But if you capture selfies in ample light with steady hands, you have good chances to capture some decent portrait selfies.
Security wise, the phone has packed a Fingerprint sensor and Face Unlock feature as a biometric authentication tool in addition to all the basic forms of security. The fingerprint on the device is really fast and accurate. It unlocks the device almost instantly. But the Face Unlock feature is not really that fast. It also fails to detect the face and to unlock the device in dark scenarios. So fingerprint sensor basically had been my primary tool to unlock the device since it was more reliable.
Battery
Now, let’s talk about the battery. Lava has equipped a 3260mAh battery on this device, which doesn’t sound so great when compared with Samsung Galaxy M20’s 5000mAh battery and 4000mAh batteries on the Redmi phones. But despite the relatively smaller capacity of the battery, the backup on the device was rather appreciable.
The phone backed me for more than a day on the normal use. Since the phone has a low-res display and a power-efficient chipset, the device didn’t consume much battery. That’s why I always had 25% or more juice left on my phone at the end of the day. So I am fairly pleased with the backup. Charging the phone was not that bad either. The phone comes with a 10-Watt micro USB charger on the box, which takes around 1 and half hour to get the device fully charged.
Conclusion
In the present context, the Redmi Note 5 AI is definitely the budget king in Nepal. It has got a Full-HD+ display, a big battery, and more importantly a capable SD 636 chipset, which is lacking on the Lava R5.
However, on our test, the Lava R5 outperformed the Note 5 AI on the camera department. We found images from both the front and back cameras to be better on the R5. So, if you want a better camera, especially the selfie one, the Lava R5 would probably be a good choice.
But there is still more work to do. We hope Lava will come with better smartphones in the future with a capable chipset, high-res display, and maybe a bigger battery?
Realme smartphones are quite popular these days. They are known for offering phones with top specs in an affordable price tag. The company looks like it’s at its work right now as rumors suggest a launch of two new devices this quarter. The phones are expected to be named the Realme 3 and the Realme A1.
Realme 3
The Realme 3 will be a successor to the already-popular Realme 2 Pro. The 3 could be a good buy for anyone looking for a decent mid-range smartphone. The Realme 3 is rumored to pack in the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 processor. It will probably house dual 16 and 2-megapixel rear-facing cameras with a 25-megapixel selfie snapper up front. The Realme 3 will have some design improvements over the Realme 2 Pro. The major talking point about this phone might be VOOC charging, as it could be the first Realme smartphone to come with Oppo’s fast-charging enabled.
Realme A1
There are a few rumors stating that the Realme 3 will launch alongside the Realme A1. This device will start a new A-series for the company. The A1 will definitely feature a tall display that surrounds a water drop notch. It will be powered by an octa-core processor clocked at 1.8 GHz. This processor will be aided by 2 or 3 GB of RAM. The phone will be available in a 32 GB storage variant with support for external memory. On the optics side of things, the Realme A1 will probably equip dual 13- and 2-megapixel cameras on the rear, with an 8-megapixel selfie shooter. All of this could be backed up by a large 4,200 mAh battery. We are yet to see how Realme plans to run its smartphone market this year, as the to-be-launched A1 is somewhat similar to the Realme C1.
Realme 3 and Realme A1 Availability in Nepal
While the Realme 2 Pro and C1 took a while to come here in the Nepali market, but we have been promised that Realme will be launching new smartphones here within a month of their international release. So, once these new handsets are available in India, you won’t have to wait long.
Lenovo is one of the brands that in recent times had lost its charm in Nepal. But the company has made a comeback now. Today, the company, in it’s Facebook page has revealed that they have launched the Lenovo A5s, a budget phone in Nepal. The company seems to market the device in regards to the display and cameras using hashtags like #CatchTheMoment and #MaxVisionDisplay.
In accordance with the hashtags, we see an 18:9 display, that Lenovo calls Max View Display with HD+ Screenresolution. Likewise, at the back, the design is made of plastic with a glossy finish. The back is removable, so there is a battery inside which is pretty uncommon these days. And as it used to be before, we have two SIM slots and an SD card inside.
Also, check out our exclusive hands-on review of the device here.
In the camera department, we see a single 13 MP camera at the back and a 13 MP camera at the front as well. The performance front the Lenovo A5s is backed by an entry-level MediaTek A22 processor clocked at 2.0 GHz. Similarly, we get 2GB RAM with 16 GB storage and as mentioned earlier, there are dedicated slots for SIMs and memory expansion.
In the battery side of things, this one packs a 3,000 mAh battery, which is well a slight downgrade over the previously launched Lenovo A5!
Lenovo A5s Specifications:
Design: Plastic body with a glossy back cover and aluminum frame
Display: 5.72″ IPS LCD with HD+ resolution (1440 x 720)
Rear Camera: Single, 13 MP
Front Camera: 13 MP
CPU: 2.0 GHz Quad-core MT6761 / Helio A22
GPU: PowerVR GE8300
RAM: 2 GB
Storage: 16 GB, expandable via microSD
Battery: 3000 mAh
OS: Android 9.0 (Pie)
The Lenovo A5s has been launched at a price of Rs.12,499 in Nepal. The previous iteration of the device, the Lenovo K5 was well received in the market. Nonetheless, we will have to see how this one comes out.
It has been almost a year that we saw a phone from Coolpad in Nepal. The last time we checked, it was the Coolpad Cool Play 6 and since then, we have heard no more. While the company has been launching new handsets internationally, we have not seen one for a long time in Nepal and rumors were that the company was selling products at a liquidated price in the country. But lately, there is news that a new device from Coolpad may launch very soon. It’s called Coolpad Cool 3, which is an entry-level smartphone.
In terms of specifications, the device is 5.7 inches tall and comes with a dewdrop notch, like the ones in OPPO and Vivo phones.
The display is an IPS LCD with 1520 x 720 pixels screen resolution. And this might be one of the cheapest phones with a dewdrop notch. Performance wise, we see something unusual here. The device has an octa-core entry-level processor from Unisoc, which was previously known as Spreadturn. It packs 2 GB of RAM and a total of 16 GB internal storage and you can expand the capacity further via a microSD card.
Now, moving on to the cameras, we see an 8MP primary sensor at the back along with a depth sensor of 0.3MP. So, basically, you see dual cameras at the back! At the front, we see a single 5 MP camera for selfies with fixed focus.
But the good thing here is that the upcoming device runs on a slightly customized version of Android 9 Pie out of the box. Android Pie is by far the latest we have seen, so getting it in an entry-level device is a good thing.
As far as the pricing of the Coolpad Cool 3 is concerned, in India, it has been launched for Rs. 5,999. But the company has not specified when the actual availability will start. In the case of Nepal, we are not sure if it will arrive.
Oppo has officially launched the OPPO K1 smartphone in India. The Oppo K1 isn’t exactly a new smartphone, as it launched back in October in China. What makes this an interesting device is its in-display fingerprint sensor for the price of just INR 16,990.
The specs play a huge role here too. It features a 6.41″ AMOLED FHD+ display with a 91% screen to body ratio and 19.5:9 aspect ratio. There is also a Gorilla Glass 5 protection on top. The SoC might be a bit disappointing as the Snapdragon 660 is an aging chipset, although a good one.
In addition, it has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. You can expand the storage via a dedicated microSD card slot. Also, the phone packs a good enough 3600 mAh battery, with a 10W charger, so no fast charging.
The phone still has a Micro USB port, which is most likely a cost-cutting decision. Given an in-display fingerprint sensor, an AMOLED display and what OPPO claimed to be a really nice set of cameras. The dual rear camera setup at the back confines of a 16MP f/1.7 sensor, along with a 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor.
Aided by an LED flash, it can do 4k video recordings at 30fps. The front 25MP f/2.0 lens, however, can only do 1080p@30fps, with HDR capabilities. Connectivity is as good as it gets, with the 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0 and a complete range of sensors at your disposal. The phone will be available in Red, Blue and Silver Green.
