It was Christmas when Samsung decided to roll out Android 9.0 Pie updates for some of its devices. Generally, Samsung always provides updates to its phones later than other phones, but this time, it came a bit quicker. The company has a roadmap of when some of its devices will receive Pie updates, and here is the summary.
The first ones to receive the Pie updates are the Samsung’s flagships – the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9 Plus. The updates have already started rolling out for these devices already, and might be completed by January 2019. Next up, its the Galaxy Note 9 in line, which will receive the update in February.
The mid-rangers of Samsung, The Galaxy J4, Galaxy J4+, Galaxy J6 and Galaxy J6+ are the next in line along with the Galaxy A8 Star to receive the update in May. The older phones, Galaxy J7 (2017) and Galaxy J7 Duo, too, will be blessed with the update in July and August respectively.
Also, the Galaxy J3 (2017) and the Galaxy Tab S3 9.7 will get it in September. In October, it’s tablet territory – the Galaxy Tab A, Galaxy Tab Active 2, and Galaxy Tab A 10.4 will be getting them.
These devices are about it that will receive the Android Pie updates in 2019. Did your device make the list?
Xiaomi has launched its new lineup of smartphones: Xiaomi Mi Play. Well, technically, it is under Mi-series. But this series is similar to the Redmi series in terms of affordability for the Mi lineup. So, it will be affordable, but will be less powerful than the other Mi phones.
Xiaomi Mi Play Overview
The Mi Play has the modern 2018 looks with thin bezels and the water-drop / tear-drop notch at front. That’s actually a first for any Xiaomi phone so far. Also, this phone has a glass body – Gorilla Glass on both sides of the phone. The back has two-tone colors, very similar to the Huawei Nova 3i. Seems like that design is really getting popular, huh?
The display is a 5.84″ IPS LCD with Full HD+ resolution in 19:9 aspect ratio. Like any other phone of 2018, this one has a dual camera setup as well. This phone packs a 12 MP primary sensor with a 2 MP depth sensor. On the front, you will see an 8 MP selfie shooter, which also serves as Face Recognition mechanism.
Inside, you have the new octa-core Helio P35, which is also, a new chipset, and comparable to the likes of Snapdragon 632. The chipset is combined with 4 GB of RAM, to give you a good enough performance for a budget phone. It also has a 64 GB of internal storage. Also it packs a 3000 mAh battery. But the major downside is that it still features a microUSB port while ditching the headphone jack.
Price and Availability
The phone was launched in China on December 25th. And it’s availability to the outer world is yet unknown. This phone is priced at CNY 1099 ($159) and is available in three different colors: Black, Twilight Gold and Fantasy Blue.
Xiaomi Mi Play Specifications:
Design: Gorilla Glass Front and Back
Display: 5.84″ IPS LCD Full HD+ resolution (2280 x 1080 pixels), 19:9 aspect ratio
The Lenovo S5 is Lenovo’s take on the ever competitive mid-range smartphone segment in Nepal. The Chinese company is trying to cover more market share with it and that is seen clearly with the recent price drop the phone received.
Lenovo S5 Overview
The Lenovo S5 is a compact smartphone with a 5.7-inch Full HD+ display. Even though there are bezels on the top and bottom, the device features good looks.
On the performance side, there are dual 13-megapixel cameras with the secondary one serving as a Monochrome sensor. There is a 16-megapixel front-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture.
In terms of performance, the device features last year’s popular mid-range chipset the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 along with 4 GB RAM. The Lenovo S5 features its own take on Android v8.0 Oreo that it runs on.
In terms of storage, the Lenovo S5 comes with 64 GB of internal memory that is expandable up to 128 GB via a hybrid microSD card slot. For lighting up the display, there is a 3,000 mAh battery inside.
Lenovo S5 Specifications
Design: Full Metal design
Display: 5.7″ IPS LCD Full HD+ Max Vision Display (1080 x 2160) resolution
Storage: 64 GB (expandable up to 128 GB via microSD)
Battery: 3000 mAh
Lenovo S5 New Price in Nepal
The Lenovo S5 is a mid-range smartphone like its specifications suggest. It was launched in Nepal around two months ago for the price of Rs. 26,999. This device will now go on sale for Rs. 23,999 after receiving a Rs. 3,000 price drop.
The Huawei Nova 3i ,for me, was a really nice smartphone. It was a great performer,with a nice display, good cameras, and most of all, had a stunning design. The price was also okay for all that you were getting. But with the new year upon us, the midranger is now on sale for just Rs 35,990.
For the price, you are getting a 6.3-inch FHD+ display with an aspect ratio of 19.5:9 with a 2.5D curved glass on top. It’s a great display paired with an Octa-Core Kirin 710 processor and Mali-G51 MP4 GPU. However, most people will be interested in that gorgeous glass design of the smartphone. Personally, this is one of the best-looking devices in the category.
To summarize the experience, it comes with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage. A 3340mAh battery powers the device. You get Android 8.1 Oreo with EMUI 8.2 on top and a fingerprint sensor + face unlock for security. Finally, there is the headphone jack and a micro USB port at the bottom.
Cameras are another huge factor when if you had a mind set on buying this phone. It’s a 24+2MP setup at the front and 16+2MP at the back, a total of four sensors. Pictures come out decent, colors were vibrant with good details while portrait mode could use an update. The AI performs decent as well.
Videos come out fine, it doesn’t record 4k videos, but it does shoot at 1080p@60fps. Selfie cameras were also pretty good, with detailed shots, satisfying colors and an overall great pictures. It also gets a long-lasting battery, if you thinking of upgrading from a Nova 2i, this will last longer. Although it does lack any fast charging support.
Display: 6.3-inch (2340 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:5:9 2.5D curved glass display
CPU: Octa-Core Kirin 710 (4×2.2GHz Cortex-A73 + 4×1.7GHz Cortex-A53) CPU
GPU: Mali-G51 MP4 GPU
Memory: 4GB RAM with 128GB storage, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD
OS: Android 8.1 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.2
SIM: Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano / microSD)
Rear Camera: 16MP rear camera with LED flash, secondary 2MP rear camera
Front Camera: 24MP front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture, secondary 2MP camera
Dimensions: 157.6×75.2×7.6mm; Weight: 169g
Security: Fingerprint sensor, Face unlock
Connectivity: Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, GPS + GLONASS
Battery: 3340mAh
Price in Nepal: Rs. 35,990 (New Year offer price)
Conclusion
Overall it’s a great smartphone and as always, Huawei has been at the top of their game in the mid-range territory. Check out the full review of the smartphone down below.
For the past couple of years, we have complained about Samsung not updating its flagship devices fast enough. However, this year, the Korean Giant promised to roll out Android Pie (v9.0) update on the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus in January next year. That itself was a good thing, but to our surprise, Samsung has already started rolling out the Android Pie update to the two smartphones.
Users from various countries and regions have reported receiving the latest from Google. So, it could be only a matter of time before the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus users from Nepal get to experience Android Pie on the devices.
With this update, the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus will also feature One UI as Android Pie has ditched the company’s Experience UI for a faster and user-friendly UI.
The update file is itself a pretty large measuring at 1744.24 MB. The Android Pie upgrade also brings in various updates to the system and applications residing on the device.
Apart from One UI and Android Pie features, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus will also come with a wide range of other improvements. They will now need just an HDMI cable for DeX while Bixby has some of the latest features. Likewise, the Camera will intelligently detect the scenario to apply the perfect settings. There are also other new and improved features which you can view in the changelog below.
The new update makes Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus the first smartphones from Samsung to receive Android v9.0 Pie update. Its second flagship of 2018, the Galaxy Note 9, is still running Pie’s beta version, and will probably receive the new software next month. Samsung recently earned praise for updating even the older phones to Android Oreo.
Choosing a laptop is a lot harder than choosing a smartphone. Everyone could just get an iPhone and be done with it if the price wasn’t a factor. But for a laptop, you will still need to look at your needs and what you plan to do with it.
What’s more confusing is there is no laptop that’s just perfect or the best. Most might blame all the RnD that goes into laptops, which is a lot less than compared to smartphone technologies. So, to make it easy for you let’s look at the best laptops in every category. Or at least all of the once we can think of.
The portable guy – Dell XPS 13
Yes, the Dell XPS 13 is the best out there if you want a light and portable, yet a capable laptop. It gets decent specs, but what matter’s more is that form factor. The laptop barely weights a kilogram. It also packs a 13″ display on a 12″ form factor while built like a tank.
Highlighted features include great battery life, a stunning display (or a decent one if you choose FHD), and ThunderBolt 3 support. Finally, considering the design, this laptop spares nothing to complain about. The laptop starts at $949 for the base model configurable up to $1,900.
The Editor’s Choice – MacBook Pro
By editing we mean actual editing of photos, videos, or even music, this one is where it’s all at. Starting off with the display, MacBook Pro 2018 probably has one of the best panels in the business. The performance is also something no one is going to complain about and with MacOS it’s just better.
That is if you like MacOS, which includes Final Cut Pro X to edit all your vlogs. It gets a super fast SSD, up to 4TB of really really fast storage. The dedicated GPU options are also pretty decent as well. Prices start at $2,399, and who knows how much the highest specs model costs.
The Knowledge collector – Microsoft Surface Go
If you are a student, I will just assume you are broke and have very less money to spend. But the pursuit of knowledge should not be limited by your bank account and Microsoft knows it best. The Microsoft Surface Go starts at a staggering $399, which can be considered cheap but not substandard.
If you are an actual student, you also get special discounts on the product. As for the features don’t expect much, it’s get’s a detachable keyboard and a workable processor. Storage options are also not that exciting, while the display is just 10-inches. On the upside battery life and portability is great.
For $399 however, you are basically get nothing. It’s still usable but you will need to shell out a bit more for a type cover. It gets a touch display, so you can probably live without a keyboard until you can save up for one later. Did I mention the Surface Pen support? Sold separately of course.
Is that a tablet? – Apple iPad Pro 2018
No, it’s not a tablet, it’s an iPad Pro 2018, with even smaller bezels and a keyboard. Most people might feel that an iPad just isn’t enough to replace a laptop, and we agree. But it also very much depends on what type of a person you are.
I can see a lot of people who would benefit from an iPad rather than a laptop. If all you are buying a laptop for is emails, media consumption, creating presentations, or just editing docs, then by all means. But the main reason could be the ease of use.
Apple has been heavily marketing it as a laptop replacement. Rightfully so, they are a lot faster than most laptops with a better display. They are also a lot simpler and saves so much time off of troubleshooting. Just think of what you need a laptop for before you spend that $799 or more.
The LAN party expert – Gigabyte Aero 15
We all have that group of friends that meet once every week for a night of drinking and gaming. If you are in one of those groups, well you might have faced one severe problem, taking your gaming rig to your friend’s house. A desktop is out of the question, a bulky Alienware just seems stupid and a Razer Blade stealth is, well it’s the desktop problem all over again.
Answer? The Gigabyte Aero 15, the perfect blend of portability and power. It gets great internals as one gaming laptop should. Add a 144Hz display to the equation and judging by the types of games you will be playing at a LAN party, you will land at an advantage more often than not.
Plus, since it’s a LAN party, a dedicated LAN port never hurt anyone. This laptop also has a relatively big battery too. The only problem you might face is its availability and after sales service. Pricing starts at around $1600 for models with Intel’s 8th Gen CPUs.
The best of both worlds: Razer Blade Stealth 2018
Gaming laptops aren’t always huge and bulky. Sometimes, they come in a small, thin & portable package, and the Razer Blade Stealth is just that. The 2018 version just improves on it more making it a more complete package.
The recently released model gets the latest gen specs as well as a design overhaul. The laptop is a bit pricey but you are getting native support for external GPUs which unlocks all of its gaming capabilities. The laptop gets a four core i7-8565U processor which, in theory, should handle up to a GTX 1060 without bottlenecks.
The other compelling factor is the design, with its new boxy design update, the same as on all other 2018 Razer laptops. But what’s even more impressive is it’s a lot more stealthy now, “office-friendly” if you can call it that.
The delightful design-overhaul means people can use it for gaming and take it to office presentations without a second thought. Gone are the days when you had to cover up that green three-headed snake, those unbearable display bezels, and it’s just so uninspiring curved edges. This is the new Razer Blade Stealth and it starts at $1,399.99.
60fps? PFF!! – Alienware 17
Believe it or not, there are people who don’t think 60fps is enough. They live for higher refresh rates and anything over 7ms is a joke. You guys are probably better off with a desktop but if you want a laptop, the Alienware 17 should do you justice.
The name should be enough for anyone who wants an overkill sort-of portable gaming machine. But let’s jump into the specs. Starting things off with an 8th Gen Core i9-8950HK processor, this beast of a laptop does 4.8GHz on a laptop, with room for overclocking.
With an overclockable Nvidia GTX 1080 with 8GB of GDDR5X GPU, the laptop is a metaphorical beast. The display includes a 4k 17-inch panel with G-Sync enabled and low latency figures. This laptop comes with a maximum of 32GB of dual channel memory.
As for storage, you get three storage devices, two PCIe SSD slots and one spinning hard drive. Add a Killer 1550 Wi-Fi card and RGB lighting sprinkled everywhere you are just ready for gaming. Few final touches include a great selection of I/O, including a proprietary external GPU.
Equipped with a battery that barely fits the legal flying norms, you still can’t expect decent battery life form this one. Finally, it also gets the Tobi Eye tracking feature, probably a gimmick but hey, we get it. A fully specs out version of this laptop will cost you just under $6000.
The Jack of all trades – Dell XPS 15
No matter if you are a designer, editor, light-weight gamer or just an average user who just wants to Netflix and chill, the Dell XPS 15 can do it all. It features one of the best display in the market, the performance is nothing to complain about, and it’s built like it could take a beating.
The GTX 1050 Ti is a great graphics card but if you are a more serious gamer, you might want to look at something with a better thermal performance. But that’s the only thing this XPS falls at, apart from that it leaves nothing to be desired.
If you do not fall under any of the above categories, then this is it, granted you have the budget. The XPS 15 does everything well, for a price. It starts at $999 for the most basic configuration, but if you can splash in the cash, you are definitely in for a great experience. There is an option for an XPS 15 with a 360-degree high if you are into that as well.
The budget-conscious – Acer Aspire 3
If you look at all of the laptops in this list till now, most of them are pretty expensive. Apart from the one for students, most are pretty much at the top of their game, and for good reasons too, if you choose the one for your needs, you won’t be regreting much. But since we are considering all of the categories, it would have been incomplete without a budget laptop.
While the word “budget” means different to different people, we will look at one that you can buy just under $400. That’s the Acer Aspire 3, with it’s 8th Gen Core i3 processor, a full 1TB hard drive, 6GB of DDR3 RAM and a 15.6″ FHD display. This laptop is one of the best laptops you can buy for a lot of reasons other than the specs.
For a budget conscious buyer, you will be looking at good specs for sure, but reliability matters as well. Since it’s an Acer laptop it’s service centers should be available, in the vaugest terms, everywhere. Most of my friends own this laptop and they have never had any problems with it.
That might sound like an obvious statement but I have heard most of my colleagues complain about their XPS more than I have heard about this laptop. The display is also pretty great since you are getting an FHD panel. So, if you want a laptop on a budget that actually performs decent and is reliable to an extent, well this is it.
Samsung seems to be on a roll recently. It has been launching phone like a thirsty man chugs water. After launching the Galaxy A9, then the Galaxy A8s, the company is now hinting at a Galaxy A10. And Samsung was revamping its A-series with mid-range and low-end smartphones too, but the phone that’s coming up is to sport a flagship processor.
Yes, that’s right. The Galaxy A10 will sport the Snapdragon 845 chipset. Which, we now, find in the best of Samsung phones like the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and Samsung Galaxy S9+. So, this makes it a flagship device, but, there should be a catch as the A-series are never about being flagships. Maybe there will be compromises on other aspects of the phone, just like the Pocophone F1.
Besides that, there’s not much information about the phone. Except that this phone will be Samsung’s first phone with an in-display fingerprint sensor. Yes, we all thought the Galaxy S10 would be that phone, but it seems Samsung had other plans. Well, there is a lot of competition and it’s a jungle out there! So, well, this could be a good move.
With very less information, most of the other things are based on speculation. Since the A9 and A8s feature 6 GB RAM to 8 GB RAM, the A10 will probably have the same too. And since the triple camera setup is taking the smartphone world by storm, we might see it on the A10. This phone might launch by the end of January 2019.
While it is to be a mid-range phone with high-end specs…knowing Samsung, their mid-rage phones’ price can be steep. But let’s hope for the best.
Samsung has reached a new horizon on its endeavor of bringing the Galaxy smartphones. And this time, with all new Infinity-O display. Namely known as the Samsung Galaxy A8s, the new smartphone comes with an in-display camera and a capable Snapdragon 710 chipset on the board.
Samsung Galaxy A8s Overview
The major highlight of this phone is the camera. The phone flaunts a 24MP selfie shooter on the front. And to place the selfie camera on the front, Samsung has neither included bezel on the top of the display nor incorporated a notch. Samsung rather punched a hole of 6.7mm on its display to house the selfie camera and all other necessary sensors inside.
On the rear panel, the smartphone giant has been quite generous in terms of camera counts. The Samsung Galaxy A8s comes with a triple camera setup on its back just like its sibling, the Galaxy A7 2018. This time, the smartphone giant has included a 24MP main sensor, which comes with a wide f/1.7 lens. Additional 10MP telephoto camera and a 5MP depth camera complete the triple camera setup.
As mentioned earlier, the phone comes with Snapdragon 710 chipset. Although the SD710 is not a flagship-grade processor, it is fairly capable to run and handle even some high-end games. Samsung has also incorporated 6GB/8GB of RAM alongside to add fluidity on multitasking and app switching. In terms of memory too, the phone has been generous with 128GB of onboard storage. And to expand to storage further, Samsung has also included an SD card slot. Users can expand the storage up to 512GB making use of the SD card.
On the display front, we will be seeing a 6.4-inch (6.2-inch when curved) IPS LCD display on the handset. The display will feature Full-HD+ resolution in a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. So we can expect the contents to look fairly sharp on its display.
In terms of battery, the phone flaunts a 3400mAh battery, which uses USB Type-C port to gulp the power juice. And since the phone supports Adaptive fast charging support, the phone won’t cling to the wall charger for a long time to get itself fully charged.
Samsung Galaxy A8s specifications
Dimension: 158.4×74.9×7.4mm; Weight: 173g
Display: 6.4-inch IPS display with 2.5D curved glass on the top
Resolution: Full HD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels), 19:5:9 aspect ratio
Storage: 128GB onboard Storage, expandable up to 512GB via micro SD card
OS & UI: Android Pie (v9.0) with Samsung’s UI on the top
Rear Camera: Triple Camera- (24MP, f/1.7 aperture) + (10MP telephoto lens withf/2.4 aperture) + (5MP depth camera with f/2.2), LED flash
Front Camera: 24MP, f/2.0
Connectivity: Dual SIM, Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2.4/5GHz), VHT80, Bluetooth 5, GPS +GLONASS, USB Type-C, NFC
Battery: 3400mAh battery with adaptive fast charging support
Color: Elf Blue, Aurora Black, and Allen Silver
Samsung Galaxy A8s Price & Availability
Although the phone was launched on December 10, the pricing of the device was still under the veil. The pre-order for the device was said to start from December 21. And as today is the date, as the tech giant promised, the phone is now available for pre-order from the Chinese e-commerce website JD.com. The device now lies on the shelf of the e-commerce platform tagged along with the price of CNY 2,999 (equivalent to $435 or NRs. 48,500) for the base variant. The handset is available in Elf Blue, Aurora Black, and Allen Silver color options. So the interested ones will have an ample number of alternatives to choose from.
Although the pricing of the base variant looks attractive considering the specs, we still don’t have any information regarding the higher-end variant (8/128GB). But we can expect that there may not be a significant difference between the two variants when it comes to the pricing. Also, the device is available for pre-order only in China as of now. And the availability of the device outside of the PRC is still uncertain. So there is nothing much for us to be excited now.
These days, Nepali customers are more and more interested in uplifting their audio gadgets. To suffice their needs, brands have lots of devices in their arsenal. Among those brands is the American company Skullcandy that currently offers a wide range of products here in Nepal.
Futureworld is the authorized reseller of Skullcandy products in Nepal. The company has been at its work for a few years now, and around a month ago, it released three new products for the Nepali consumers. That added up to a total of eight products that includes earphones and headphones.
Futureworld has two stores, and both of them are located in Kathmandu. The company also sells the devices online on their official website. Futureworld sells Apple and Beats products on the stores as well.
Apple launched its new lineup of iPad Pros only in October. There were two iPad Pros – an 11″ one and a 12.9″ model. The iPad Pros’ price start at $749 and can go all the way up to $1899 for the beefiest storage. But there’s something off about these latest iPad. They bend over time with pressure.
After many users complained that their iPad Pros were bent out of the box, while others had their iPad Pro bending after some time; Apple admitted that some of their products have a slightly bent chassis. And that is, apparently, a slight deformity in their manufacturing process which won’t affect their performance.
Apple also went on to say that the bending wouldn’t worsen than that. So, it’s not a defect. The bend occurs because of the cooling processes required in the aluminum and plastic components of the iPad Pro. And even though there are a lot of questions on the structural rigidity of the iPad Pro, Apple claims it still stands by the product. Meaning, the company says, there is nothing wrong with the product.
And this is even after there are so many users who posted videos online about how easily it bends. The complaints are there in YouTube, MacRumors forum, Twitter, and just all over. And even with all of this, Apple is “standing by” its product. And so, it’s not sure if Apple will replace the bent products of customers. We don’t know about all market. But, in the European market, Apple will have to replace them under the EU Consumer Laws.
Now, this doesn’t seem like anything new from Apple, does it? We all know of the 2014 Apple’s “Bend Gate” when iPhone 6 Plus bending issues surfaced. Also, Apple standing by all this isn’t new either. It seems like Apple is trying to say that “Real iPads have curves…they bend a little, that’s how you know it’s an Apple product, right?”
And these iPad Pros are also available in Nepal as well. If any of you have bought it and faced any such issues, do let us know. Also, what do you think about this new issue from Apple? Classic Apple, am I right? Or are you, too, standing by Apple?
