Just a few days after the announcement of Nokia 7.1, Nokia has announced the Nokia 7.1 Plus. It’s also called the Nokia X7 in China. It shares similar specs to the Nokia 7.1 or the last gen Nokia 6.1 Plus (Nokia X6).
Like the Nokia X6, the Nokia X7 also has the same display size of 6.18-inch FHD+ notched display. However, the display is now HDR 10 complaint with better brightness at 500 nits and 96% NTSC color gamut coverage and DCI-P3 support.
It’s also made up of glass on the back and an aluminum frame. Powering the phone is the latest Snapdragon 710 chipset which is a big upgrade from the SD 636 seen on the X6. There are three memory options: 4GB of RAM with 64GB of storage, 6GB of RAM with 64GB of storage, and 6GB of RAM with 128GB of storage. It’s running on Android 8.1 (Oreo) and will be upgraded to the latest Android Pie later this year.
Cameras are also upgraded on the X7 with the Sony IMX363 primary sensor that comprises of 12MP lens with f/1.8 aperture and 1.4micron pixel. The secondary lens is a 13MP f/2.4 depth sensor. The selfie camera is a new 20MP lens that sits in the notch.
Other features include a 3500mAh battery with quick charge 3.0 support, a 3.5mm headphone jack, rear-facing fingerprint scanner, and a dual hybrid SIM slot.
Color Options: Night Red, Dark Blue, Magic Night Silver, Night Black
Display: 6.18-inch (2246 × 1080 pixels) Full HD+ Pure display with 18.7:9 aspect ratio, 500 nits brightness, 96% NTSC Color gamut, DCI-P3, 1500:1 Contrast ratio
Chipset: Snapdragon 710
Processor: 2 X 2.2GHz Kryo 360 + 6 X 1.7GHz Kryo 360
GPU: Adreno 616
RAM: 4/6GB LPPDDR4x
ROM: 64/128GB (eMMC 5.1) storage, expandable memory up to 400GB with microSD
SIM: Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano / microSD)
OS: Android 8.1 (Oreo), upgradable to Android 9.0 (Pie)
Back Camera: 12MP rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, Sony IMX363 sensor, f/1.8 aperture, 1.4μm pixels, OIS, 13MP secondary rear camera with f/2.4 aperture
Front Camera: 20MP front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture
Security: Fingerprint sensor (rear facing)
Connectivity: 3.5mm audio jack, Dual 4G VoLTE, Dual Band WiFi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 5.0, GPS + GLONASS, USB Type-C
Few smartphones as of date have stepped into the Triple Camera territory. Huawei P20 Pro started the trend, and now some other smartphones are following suit. The LG V40 which was recently unveiled has the triple camera as well. And now, I guess, it’s Samsung’s turn. But while other smartphones are putting those triple cameras on their flagships, Samsung decided to experiment with it on its mid-range device, which is the Samsung Galaxy A7 2018. But let’s also see what else it’s got besides the triple camera setup.
Samsung Galaxy A7 2018 Specifications:
Design: Glass back and front in Aluminum Frame, Corning Gorilla Glass protection
Display: 6.0″ Super AMOLED, Full HD+ resolution (2220 x 1080) pixels, 410 PPI pixel density
Rear Camera: Triple cameras, 24 MP primary lens with f/1.7 aperture & PDAF + 5 MP depth sensor + 8 MP Ultra-Wide Angle lens with f/2.4 aperture, capable of 1080p videos @30 fps with EIS
Front Camera: 24 MP lens with f/2.0 aperture
Chipset: Exynos 7885
CPU: Octa-core 2.2 GHz Cortex A-53
RAM: 4 GB
Storage: 64 GB internal, expandable up to 512 GB via microSD (dedicated slot)
Battery: 3300 mAh
Price: Rs.42,990
Design
Samsung devices have the kind of design that literally scream Samsung. Slightly rounded corners on a sleek looking body, and bezels on the front. So, the A7 2018 sports a similar design. It has glass front and back that sandwiches an aluminum frame in between. The phone, although having a glass back, doesn’t quite have the heft to it, i.e. feels kind of light on the hands. I was surprised due to this, because it’s lighter than the Nokia 6.1 Plus even, which is smaller in size. And it also makes me feel like it’s plastic, but it’s so much glass like, that I think it is a glass back.
And the phone is a fingerprint magnet, and it’s slippery too. The glossy finish at the back looks premium, but due to its light weight, it doesn’t feel that way.
The back houses the triple cameras on the side, which protrudes out ever so slightly. The speaker is on the bottom right, which is quite easy to muffle out while gaming or watching media. So, it’s a good thing that there’s also a secondary speaker on the ear-piece. Also, there’s no fingerprint sensor at the back. And that’s because it’s embedded in the power button, which is on the right. The volume rockers are also right above it, so, all buttons are on the right.
In addition, this time, Samsung seems to have skipped the dedicated Bixby button, which, I think is a good decision actually.
Display
Upfront, the display seems to be the best part about this phone. It has a large 6” Super AMOLED Full HD+ display with an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. There’s about 410 PPI pixel density, which makes for a sharp and crisp display. Colors are vibrant, and punchy and the pictures come out quite detailed. You can also view the contents pretty well even in bright sunlight. The touch sensitivity is also better than one found on midrange phones.
And Samsung is one of the very few smartphones to not include the notch on their displays. And due to this reason, even though the A7 2018 has a chin down below, I can live with it. But what I don’t like is that even with a bezel on top, there is no LED notification light. When you have a bezel up top, is it so hard to put a tiny notification light? Plus, the side bezels are also not as minimal as it could’ve been.
But besides that, I have no complaints. There’s also the Always On display option, that, when turned on, can make up for the absence of LED lights. But that will drain your battery, however. Other aspects of the display did impress me. And that’s why, I think that the display is the best thing about this phone.
Cameras
So, there are 3 cameras at the back, which is the major focus of this phone. The triple camera setup consists of a 24 MP primary lens with f/1.7 aperture, a 5 MP depth sensor and an 8 MP ultra-wide sensor with f/2.4 aperture. With these three cameras, I expected quite a lot from this phone. But, I think, I had too high of expectations from this one. I was thoroughly impressed by the triple cameras on the Huawei P20 Pro and expected similar results, but it doesn’t nearly meet those standards. Of course, it is unfair of me to compare this mid-range with an expensive flagship, but Samsung is also known for great cameras.
Regular Camera Samples
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Image quality from the main camera is good, and really good in some good lighting conditions. There’s good contrast and colors seem accurate enough. Details are well preserved and there’s vibrancy in the images. However, the pictures didn’t impress me as much as I thought it would. In low light, it’s even worse. There’s noticeable loss in details, quite the amount of noise and images are jittery. But images in well-lit indoor conditions are good enough.
Low Light Samples
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Samsung’s Scene Optimizer that makes colors pop in some scenarios makes its appearance here as well, but it doesn’t seem as good as on the Galaxy Note 9. The Portrait mode, which Samsung calls Live Focus, is again, typically Samsung. Edge detection on human subjects can produce good results most times. Whereas, on other objects, it’s a hit or a miss condition. When they do work, they can produce excellent results, but this is an aspect Samsung really needs to work on.
Regular vs Wide Angle
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Regular
Wide Angle
Low Light
Low Light Wide Angle
The Ultra Wide lens is the extra sensor on this phone. The new addition is definitely welcome, but the pictures from this camera, are again, not that great. Its 120-degree field of view helps you capture sceneries easily. An 8 MP resolution means you won’t be able to zoom in really well, but if you’re taking a wide angle shot, you won’t need to zoom, would you? Also, the f/2.4 aperture makes it more or less, unusable in low light, which is a downer. But hey, ultra wide images of natural landscapes do look great. Again, since ultra wide images are processed differently, there will be some color shifts in the pictures, but it won’t be anything to fret over about.
Selfie Camera samples
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Regular selfie
Portrait selfie
Regular selfie
Regular selfie
Portrait selfie
The selfie camera does a really good job. As usual, it is the same story, well lit conditions equals impressive shots, but low light images…not so much. Your facial details are well represented but the absence of backlit HDR causes blown out lights in sunny environments. Portrait selfies are purely software here, but to my surprise, it did a better job than the back camera. There’s also a Wide Selfie option that enables you to include more people in your selfies, which is a good touch.
As for videos, this phone is not able to take 4K videos, but only 1080p videos @30fps. Videos have EIS, but the Auto Focus is quite slow. It can be annoying, but having said that, the videos are better than some of the phones at this price range. There’s also Slo-Mo, and Samsung’s Slow-Mo are always good enough.
The triple cameras on the Samsung A7 2018 are not very impressive, but it certainly is interesting. After all, it’s not always that you get three cameras on a mid-range device.
Performance
We mostly criticize Samsung for their poor choice of processors on their mid-range smartphones. The J6, J8, and A6+ we recently reviewed all had an average chipset, but that’s not the case with the A7 2018. It is powered by Exynos 7885 chipset which offers powerful Cortex A73 cores. Combined with its 4 GB RAM, the phone performs accordingly. Transitions are quite smooth, and multi-tasking is breezy. Regular web browsing and app usage work pretty well.
Light gaming works pretty well too. As for PUBG, you can play it good enough in Medium settings, but there will be slight stutters. But, the jitters stayed even in Low settings while I was playing it. Other games like Dead Trigger 2 work good enough. Thermals are pretty good, as even with a couple sessions of PUBG, the phone didn’t go over 38-degrees.
The phone runs on Android 8.0 Oreo with Samsung Experience 9.0. Now, Samsung phones get updates quite late, but the fact that it’s still running on Android 8.0 and not 8.1, or even Samsung Experience 9.0 and not 9.5 bothers me a little. Yes, that doesn’t make that much of a difference, but the latest is always better.
OS Screenshots
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lockscren
homescreen
notification shade
app drawer
bloatware
finder
my files
settings
about device
gallery
Samsung’s UI also comes with quite the bloatware, and the very first one that comes to mind is Bixby. Yes, there’s no Bixby button, but if you swipe left on the home screen it’ll sneak up on you. There are some nifty additions like swiping down anywhere on the home screen to drag down the notification shade. And for someone with small hands, it’s a good quirk to have.
The fingerprint sensor on the side works well enough, but having one on the side has its own set of inconveniences. For example, if you are left-handed, then, you’ll probably have to think about which finger to unlock it with. Plus, a sensor on the side means the position of your finger has to be just right to unlock it. There’s also Face Recognition, but as it is with Samsung devices, it’s not the fastest we’ll see.
Overall, the performance on this phone is just good, no more than that. If you’re into high end gaming, maybe you should pick something else, but it does a commendable job on other fronts.
Battery and Storage
As for storage, it comes in options of 128 GB with 6 GB RAM and 64 GB with 4 GB RAM options, but in Nepal, we only have the 4 GB variant available in Nepal. 64 GB option is quite enough, and there’s also a dedicated microSD card slot to expand your memory up to 512 GB.
As for battery, the A7 2018 has a 3300 mAh battery. Now, that is like the standard battery capacity in 2018. And it is also enough to last you through the day in regular usage. Heavy users, however, will need to carry around a charger with them. Also, if you’re a heavy user, you would be better off turning off the Always on Display, but with the absence of those notification lights, you’ll be in a dilemma.
It’s sad to see Samsung still employing a microUSB port. And the absence of Fast Charging adds more to its woe. The phone will take well over two and half hours to fully charge.
Conclusion and Verdict
I feel like the Samsung Galaxy A7 2018 is an ambitious mid-ranger. The three cameras at the back is the major focus of this device, but the areas it has cut corners are clearly visible. Despite having 3 cameras, the image quality is nothing extra ordinary and it fails to keep par with Samsung’s flagship cameras even..
Also, it cuts corners in design with the thick bezels. Plus, the absence of LED lights despite having a bezel up top bothers me. Also, the older Android version and Samsung’s own UI is something to think about. Furthermore, lack of fast charging is also something you need to live with.
But Having said that, the price of the phone is around $400 internationally or Rs.43000 in Nepal. When it comes to international and local pricing, Samsung does a commendable job. For this price, you are getting a AMOLED display, a good enough design, good enough set of cameras, and a full day battery life. Also, on the performance front, Samsung has added some improvements compared to its other predecessors.
If you’re looking for better cameras, there are options like Oppo F9, and Huawei Nova 3i is still the winner in terms of design. But this phone provides some unique quirks, and that additional camera is interesting. It’s not really a killer by any means, but is certainly a good buy…especially with the brand value that Samsung provides.
Huawei launches two flagships a year. The P-series during Spring and the Mate series in the fall. As promised, Huawei has launched the Mate 20 & Mate 20 Pro in an event in London. Both these phones offer an upgrade over the P20 Pro with new Leica cameras, faster charging, and a 7-nm Kirin 980 SoC.
Huawei Mate 20 Pro:
The Mate 20 pro offers a 6.39-inch curved OLED display with a 1440 x 3120 px resolution (539ppi). There’s a huge notch on the top where sits a 24MP Leica lens and an IR sensor for 3D Face Unlock. If you don’t like the face unlock, you have the option to either choose the trendy in-display fingerprint sensor.
Under the hood, the Mate 20 Pro is powered by the latest Kirin 980 SoC. It’s the first 7nm SoC seen on an Android smartphone (yes, Apple did it first on its new iPhones). It has an Octa-Core processor in a tri-cluster combination: two powerful Cortex A76 cores @2.6GHz, two medium Cortex A76 cores @1.92GHz and four energy efficient Cortex A55 @1.8GHz. There’s Mali-G76 MP10 10 core GPU for graphics-intensive tasks. According to Huawei, the Kirin 980’s Cortex A76 cores offers a 75% boost in performance and 58% improved power efficiency over the A73 cores in the Kirin 970. We’ll see how it stacks up with the 10nm Snapdragon 845 that’s currently powering the other flagship phones.
kirin 980 Vs Kirin 970
There’s also a new dual NPU (AI Chip) for memory optimization and camera improvements. In terms of memory, you get 6GB of 2133MHz LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB of storage. The storage can be expanded via a nano-memory card format which is a new standard for storage expansion.
Now, the cameras. The P20 Pro is currently one of the best smartphone cameras and has the highest DXoMark rating. The Mate 20 Pro is an upgrade over the P20 Pro with a triple Leica branded camera on the back in a new square pattern. The main lens here is a 40MP sensor with f/1.8 aperture. The secondary lens are a 20MP sensor with f/2.2 ultra-wide lens and an 8MP f/2.2 telephoto camera. With the new AI chip and Kirin 980 doing all the processing, we can expect it to perform better than the P20 Pro.
Other specs include a 4200mAh battery with the new 40W “SuperCharge” fast charging, a 15W Wireless fast Charge, a stereo speaker with a secondary speaker on the USB type-C port, and finally a IP68 water & dust proofing. There’s also a new tech called “Wireless Reverse Charging” that lets you charge other phones wirelessly, although the other phone should support wireless charging.
Huawei Mate 20:
The Mate 20 is a cheaper variant of the Mate 20 pro. It features an inferior 6.53-inch IPS LCD display. There’s no IR sensor and hence sports a water drop notch just like the OPPO F9. There’s no in-display fingerprint sensor as well, and you need to opt for the traditional rear facing fingerprint scanner instead.
It is however powered by the same Kirin 980 and 4/6GB of RAM, 128GB storage combo. The camera sensors are changed too. There’s a primary 12MP f/1.8 lens and two secondary lenses of 8MP f/2.4 telephoto and 16MP f/2.2 ultra-wide. A smaller 4000mAh battery powers the Mate 20 with last gen 22.5W SuperCharge tech.
Huawei Mate 20 Pro & Mate 20 Specs Overview:
Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Huawei Mate 20
Design: glass body with metal frame
Design: glass body with metal frame
Rating: IP68 Dust & Water resistance
Rating: IP53 Dust & Splash resistance
Display: 6.39″ curved OLED, HDR 10, 1440 x 3120 px resolution (539ppi); big notch
Memory: 6GB 2133MHz LPDDR4X RAM, 128GB storage (expandable via Nano Memory card via hybrid slot)
Memory: 4/6GB 2133MHz LPDDR4X RAM, 128GB storage (expandable via Nano Memory card via hybrid slot)
OS: Android 9 Pie with EMUI 9
OS: Android 9 Pie with EMUI 9
Back Camera: 40MP f/1.8 + 8MP f/2.4 OIS telephoto (80mm) + 20MP f/2.2 ultra-wide (17mm); 4K video capture, 720P@960fps slow-mo, dual-LED flash, 5x optical zoom, OIS + EIS
Back Camera: 12MP f/1.8 + 8MP f/2.4 telephoto (52mm) + 16MP f/2.2 ultra-wide (17mm); 4K video capture, 720P@960fps slow-mo, dual-LED flash, 3x optical zoom, EIS
Front Camera: 24MP, f/2.0
Front Camera: 24MP, f/2.0
Battery: 4,200mAh, Super Charge 40W; 15W wireless charging
Battery: 4,000mAh, Super Charge 22.5W
Security: In-display Fingerprint sensor 3D Face Unlock (IR camera and flood illuminator)
Security: Rear Facing Fingerprint
Connectivity: Dual SIM, 1.4Gbps Cat 21 LTE modem, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5 + LE, NFC, USB Type-C
Connectivity: Dual SIM, 1.4Gbps Cat 21 LTE modem, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5 + LE, NFC, USB Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack
Price: €1,050
(available starting Oct 16)
Price: €800 (4GB); €850 (6GB)
(available starting Oct 16)
Huawei Mate 20 & Mate 20 Pro Price & Availability in Nepal
According to Huawei Nepal officials, the phones will be made available in a month or two. Both these phones will be priced according to international pricing.
#YouDontNeedADSLR has been the mantra of Nubia for quite some time now. Following the same tagline, the Nubia Z17 lite has launched in Nepal. Originally launched back in September of 2017, the smartphone features somewhat of an outdated specifications for the present time.
Starting off with the display, there’s a 5.5″ FHD IPS LCD panel with a 16:9 aspect ratio. It comes with a 28nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 653 SoC inside, paired with Adreno 510 GPU, 6GB of RAM and 64GB of non-expandable storage. Powering the device is a 3200mAh non-removable battery.
On the camera side, it comes with a single 16MP f/2.0 sensor at the front. There resides a set of two 13MP cameras with dual tone flash capable of 4k video recordings at 30fps on the rear side. Nubia claims that it produces some good quality photos but we will have to see that for ourselves.
There is a rear mounted fingerprint sensor on the back. You also get a headphone jack with active noise cancellation and DTS sound support. On the software side, all you get is Android Nougat 7.1 with Nubia UI 5.0 on top. Rest of the spec sheet include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2, USB Type C, proximity sensor and Gyro Sensor among others.
The Snapdragon 653 is a bit dated by today’s standards and while it is still a great performer, it will suck up a huge percentage of your battery. Pairing the 28nm processor with a 3200mAh battery will not deliver on some exceptional battery life, but you do get Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0.
The software and design itself might also feel a bit old looking at what other players are bringing to the table these days. However, for the price of Rs 31,995, we might be able to justify its features. There are obviously better options than this one especially with newer software, longer battery life and a much better & taller display.
As a part of its mid-range series expansion, Samsung has expanded its J-series lineup. Most recently with the Samsung Galaxy J6 Plus, and now with the J4 Plus. Of course, Samsung’s mid-range phones are not that impressive. And similar is the story with the Galaxy J4 Plus, which just launched in Nepal.
The Samsung Galaxy J4 Plus has very fewer improvements over the J4. The “Plus” in the name only means a bigger display and a bigger battery. Everything else is, more or less, the same.
Overview
Samsung Galaxy J4 Plus features a 6.0″ IPS LCD HD+ display. Even with a bigger screen size, which Samsung calls the Infinity Display, the resolution stays the same, which doesn’t seem appropriate. Also, while the J4 had an AMOLED panel, the J4 Plus moves down to IPS LCD. And this is something that bothers me a little. The phone, however, is slightly slimmer in terms of design than the J4. Camera remains the same at 13 MP with f/1.9 aperture, and it can record up to 1080p videos @30fps. The front camera is a 5 MP lens with f/2.2 aperture.
Under the hood, the phone is powered by a Quad-core Snapdragon 425. We always have been disappointed with the choice of chipset on their mid-range Samsung devices. And apparently, that’s not going to change. There are two RAM options 2 GB or 3 GB, but only the 2 GB variant is available in Nepal. Also, this phone has 32 GB of internal storage. But you also have the option to expand the storage up to 512 GB with a microSD card. In addition, as stated, this features a larger battery of 3300 mAh.
Samsung Galaxy J4 Plus Specifications
Design: 161.4mm x 76.9mm x 7.9mm
Display: 6.0″ IPS LCD, HD+ resolution (1480 x 720)
Rear Camera: 13 MP lens, f/1.9 aperture, up to 1080p videos @30fps
Front Camera: 5 MP lens, f/2.2 aperture
Processor: Quad-core 1.4 GHz Snapdragon 425
RAM: 2 GB
Storage: 32 GB, expandable up to 512 GB via microSD
Battery: 3300 mAh
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Hotspot, Wi Fi Direct
Latest Price: Rs. 15,990 [Last updated on: June 3, 2019]
Samsung Galaxy J4 Plus Price in Nepal
There doesn’t seem to be any sort of Fast Charging either. All this for a price of Rs.23490 (Update: Rs. 15,990) seems like a very average deal to me. Especially because of the choice of the chipset. When will Samsung start listening?
So, what do you think of the Samsung Galaxy J4 Plus? Does it justify being called the “plus” version? Do let us know.
The sub-brand of Huawei, the Honor 8C, was unveiled as at an event in China yesterday. The device is making headlines for being the first ever smartphone that houses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 chipset.
The Honor 8C is a budget-oriented smartphone that comes in a plastic body. It sports a tall 6.23-inch IPS LCD display with a notch on top. This display is of HD+ resolution and has a pixel density of 269 PPI. The major talking point here is definitely what’s inside. The Honor 8C is among the few smartphones from Huawei not to come with the company’s own Kirin chipset. It is powered by the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 processor. In terms of memory and storage, the device has 4 GB of RAM with 32 or 64 GB of internal memory.
The Honor 8C runs on Android v8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.2 on top as a skin. In terms of camera, it is equipped with dual 13-megapixel and 2-megapixel rear-facing cameras with f/1.8 and f/2.4 aperture respectively. The secondary camera here has been used for applying depth effect. For capturing selfies, there is an 8-megapixel camera up front that has a f/2.0 aperture.
The Honor 8C has a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner but lacks a gyro sensor. There is a large 4,000 mAh battery inside backing up the whole device. It, however, lacks fast charging technology.
Color(s) available: Platinum Gold, Midnight Black, Aurora Blue
Honor 8C Price and Availability:
The Honor 8C is available for pre-order right now in China and will be available starting next week. It is priced at CNY 1,100 (~$160) for the 32 GB storage variant while the 64 GB version is priced at CNY 1,400 (~$202).
When Huawei introduced triple camera setup on a smartphone in the Huawei P20 Pro, it filled the smartphone world with awe. Even after several months of the launch of that phone, only a few brands embraced the concept of triple cameras. And the Samsung Galaxy A7 2018 is among such few numbers of handsets. The smartphone was launched a while back in the international market. And in less than a month of time, the smartphone is available for purchase in Nepal.
Overview
The Galaxy A7 2018 comes in Black, blue, gold or pink colors. The phone inherits a glass both on the front and on the back and a metallic frame is sandwiched in between. Because of the glass back, A7 2018 is definitely appealing when it comes to looks. Since Samsung always provide a praise-worthy build to its smartphones, we can expect it to feel premium even on the hold and on the use.
On the display front, the A7 2018 comes with a tall 6-inch Super AMOLED display. The phone has narrow bezels on the top and on the bottom so Samsung likes to call it an infinity display. In terms of resolution, the phone features Full-HD+. So with the pixel density of 411PPI, the contents of the screen look absolutely sharp.
On the performance front, the phone comes with an octa-core processor with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage at its disposal. There is also a dedicated SD card slot to expand the storage further to 512GB.
The camera is the USP of the phone. And as mentioned earlier, the phone comes with three cameras on the back. There is a 24MP primary camera, which is said to excel even in the low light settings. Alongside the primary sensor, there is an 8MP sensor with a wide-angle lens and a 5MP depth sensor. The wide-angle lens can be used to expand the field of view while capturing the images where is the depth sensor comes into action while taking portrait images.
The phone packs all the primary sensors like accelerometer, gyro, proximity, and compass sensors. There is also a fingerprint sensor for the security, which is mounted on its power button. On the software front, the phone comes with Android Oreo (v8.0) with Experience UI on the top.
In terms of cost, the phone is tagged with the price of Rs. 42,990. And at the moment, the phone is available only for pre-booking. And the pre-bookers will be getting either a bottle speaker or a Level U Flex headphones for free. That’s not all, all the buyers of the phone will get six months breakage insurance from Shikhar Insurance. The inclusion of breakage insurance on the midrange handsets is very rare and this initiative from Samsung is really praise-worthy.
Budget phones always have lots of compromises when it comes to the features. To cut down the price, we can see smartphone manufacturers cutting the corners on every aspect possible. But among such a crowd of smartphones, Nokia 2.1 AKA Nokia 2 2018 stands there to inspire other smartphones with its massive battery. But what more features and specifications does the smartphone packs inside? Let’s have a look!
Nokia 2.1 (Nokia 2 2018) Overview
In terms of display, the Nokia 2.1 comes with a 5.5-inch display, which is quite unusual for a budget smartphone since the budget phone comes with smaller displays. So the presence of 5.5-inch display on this handset is really praise-worthy. The phone also comes with HD resolution packing 267PPI pixel density.
The phone comes with Snapdragon 425 chipset with 1GB RAM and 8GB of storage alongside. The storage can be further expanded to 128GB via SD card. And the phone has incorporated a dedicated SD card slot for that very purpose. On the software side of things, the Nokia 2 2018 comes with Android Go version of Android Oreo. So with Android Go OS at the disposal, the apps on the phone consume less amount of RAM and ROM and users won’t be getting the messages like “insufficient memory” so often.
Talking about the camera, the Nokia 2 2018 features an 8MP camera at the back. And on the front, the phone enjoys a 5MP Selfie shooter. In terms of regular connectivity options like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS, the phone also comes with an FM Radio.
As I mentioned earlier, the phone with a battery of big capacity, of 4000mAh to be precise. Since the phone has a low power consuming chipset and light version of Android OS, the phone can easily provide back up for more than two days on the normal usage. So this smartphone can really be handy for the people who seek a big-time battery boost on a budget.
While the world is figuring out what triple cameras on the rear side of the smartphones do, Samsung has launched the Samsung Galaxy A9 2018, a smartphone that has four different cameras on the back. The launch comes after numerous leaks and rumors that had suggested about the Korean Giants’ plans to release a new smartphone with quadruple cameras.
The Samsung Galaxy A9 2018’s rear-facing four cameras are meant for a few different purposes – four in total. There is the primary 24-megapixel camera with f/1.7 aperture that is accompanied by a 5-megapixel lens with f/2.2 aperture meant solely for applying depth.
Likewise, there is a telephoto lens measuring 8-megapixel with f/2.4 aperture while the final lens is meant for capturing wide-angle shots with the 10-megapixel f/2.4 lens.
The Samsung Galaxy A9 2018 has followed the Galaxy A7 2018 which features three cameras in total.
The camera setup on the Galaxy A9 2018 is something that we haven’t seen before. It has tried to cover up all the necessities while taking a picture with a single device.
The device has a tall 6.3-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display. It has an 18:9 aspect ratio screen that is clad by minimal bezels on the top and the bottom. It is powered by the popular the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor that is coupled with 6 GB or 8 GB of RAM according to a user’s preference.
For selfies, the Samsung Galaxy A9 2018 has a 24-megapixel selfie shooter with f/2.0 aperture which we have already seen being used with the Galaxy A8 Star and the A7 2018. For storing all your selfies, this device features 128 GB of internal memory that is expandable up to 512 GB via a microSD card slot.
For lighting up the display and powering the CPU, Samsung has included a 3,800 mAh battery inside. There is a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner on the device above the Samsung emblem.
The Samsung Galaxy A9 2018 is priced at €599 which roughly translates to $725 which is a bit expensive for the internals of the device. The pricing makes it a bit more expensive than the OnePlus 6 and the newly launched Razer Phone 2. It will be available internationally starting the first week of November.
So with the rising popularity of games like PUBG and Fortnite on mobile, the rise of Gaming centric phones was inevitable. And so, gaming computer companies like ASUS and Razer stepped into this zone. The Razer Phone from last year, as many said, was a mixed bag. But this time around, the Razer phone 2 seems to fulfill all the shortcomings. And while it stands, is it the perfect gaming phone?
The Razer phone 2 comes with a very identical design to last years. It sports the same boxed design and thickness. But this time, it’s a glass back which is for the wireless charging, that the phone supports. And the glass back makes it look even more premium. Plus, it has Gorilla Glass 5 protection and IP67 Water Resistance. The fingerprint sensor rests on the power button, too. The identical design also means it has the same front-facing giant speakers that support Dolby Atmos sound. But even with the IP67 rating, the speakers keep up their great audio quality.
What’s more? The Razer logo at the back glows! That too, with customizable RGB chroma colors! You can change it to the way you want it, and the company claims that they even double as notification lights. How cool is that? For some, that may be a gimmick but it’s a gimmick I like.
This phone has a 5.7″ IGZO IPS LCD Quad-HD display with 16:9 aspect ratio and 1440 x 2560 resolution. The world may be moving to larger 18:9 aspect ratios, but Razer stands its ground. But it has the large speakers and no notch to speak for it. Plus, with its QHD display and 120 Hz refresh rate, the display is very smooth. That is more than enough for some of the best gaming experience. Also, the screen is now 50% brighter, which maxes out at 580 nits. In addition, the IGZO display type consumes less power while allowing smoother transitions.
The cameras on last year’s Razer Phone weren’t anything to mention. But the Razer Phone 2 has significantly improved the cameras. Its dual cameras consist of a 12 MP regular lens with OIS and another 12 MP sensor with 2x Optical Zoom. The selfie camera is an 8 MP shooter that is capable of taking Full HD videos at 30fps.
As for performance, being a gaming phone, it has all the flagship specs. It comes with the Snapdragon 845 chipset, with the Adreno 630 GPU. Combined with its 8 GB RAM, you can bet that it is a powerhouse. One that’s just right for all that heavy mobile gaming. Also, it has 64 GB internal storage but also has a microSD slot which allows you to expand it up to 1 TB. Plus, this phone has a Vapor Chamber cooling system for better thermals. This should keep the phone relatively cool during your intense gaming sessions. Furthermore, a large 4000 mAh battery should last you for quite some time for your gaming.
This phone runs the stock Android 8.1 still. The Razer Phone 2 has no headphone jack, just like last year, but that’s the only off-putting factor I can see on this smartphone. But it comes with a USB-C dongle. Overall, this phone is built to be a powerhouse for gaming, but it also has all the necessary features for the average joe as well. And with a crisp 4K display, and those speakers, media consuming is also going to be a treat. What’s more? This phone costs $800 only, and I say only because that’s less than most of today’s flagships!
Razer Phone 2 Specifications:
Design & Build: Aluminum Body with Glass Back, RGB illuminated Chroma lighting on the back, IP67 Water and Dust resistant
Display: 5.7″ IGZO IPS LCD QHD display (1440 x 2560) with 16:9 aspect ratio, Gorilla Glass 5 protected
Like the Nokia X6, the Nokia X7 also has the same display size of 6.18-inch FHD+ notched display. However, the display is now HDR 10 complaint with better brightness at 500 nits and 96% NTSC color gamut coverage and DCI-P3 support.
