The first Realme or the Realme 1 was an exciting smartphone, to say the least. The Realme 2, on the other hand, didn’t receive the same attention its predecessor did, but that is going to change thanks to the new Realme 2 Pro. This one brings in the level of excitement as the first Realme device brought to the smartphone market.
Jumping into the specs, you get a 6.3″ FHD+ display with the same dew-drop notch. Similar types of notch were present in the Oppo F9 and Vivo V11 (and Vivo V11 Pro), which the company called the waterdrop display and halo display respectively. Let’s skip the naming confusion and move ahead. The phone packs the Snapdragon 660 SoC with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of expandable storage internally. You can also find the 4GB/64GB or 6GB/64GB variants as well.
Camera wise it includes a 16MP f/1.7 + 2MP depth sensor with a flash and up to 30fps 4K video recording capabilities. The front gets a 16MP f/2.0 sensor with HDR support and FullHD video recordings of up to 30fps.
The Realme 2 Pro runs on the ColorOS 5.2 based on Android 8.1 Oreo. The design language has also changed while the whole diamond pattern back on previous models has been scrapped. This time, the back gets plain color options with the oval fingerprint sensor, dual rear cameras, and the Realme logo. The smartphone packs a 3500mAh battery, although there were no mentions of fast charging support.
Finally for the exciting news, which is most probably the prices. The base model that comes with 4GB/64GB is priced at Rs 13,990. The slightly larger 6GB/64GB comes in at Rs 15,990 and finally, the full-fledged 8GB/128GB variant will cost you Rs 17,990. Although the more exciting news is that the smartphone will be made available outside India. Global rollout will be announced on October with a possible launch in Nepal as well.
Realme 2 Pro Specifications:
6.3 inch 1080×2340 pixel 19.5:9 aspect ratio IPS LCD display
Aluminium frame, Plastic back
Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC
Adreno 512 GPU
16MP f/1.7 + 2MP dual back camera
16MP f/2.0 selfie camera
4GB, 6GB, 8GB RAM options
64GB and 128GB storage options expandable up to 256GB
3500mAh battery
Black, Deep Blue, Light Blue color options
Price in India: INR 13,990 (4GB+64GB)
INR 15,990 (6GB+64GB)
INR 17,990 (8GB+128GB)
Realme 2 Pro Price in Nepal and its availability
Realme 2 Pro is a really great device at an affordable price. And we do like such devices to come in Nepal. So we had a brief conversation with the Oppo Nepal official regarding the Realme 2 Pro. And the good thing is that they were positive about bringing the product to Nepal. So when the Realme 2 Pro comes to Nepal, it won’t be a surprise.
Although they hesitated to give a solid date, the phone could launch in Nepal with 1-2 weeks. Even if the things do not go as planned, it may not cross the 1-month time frame. Talking about the price, we can expect the handset to come at the price close to the international pricing with the extra added tax. Nonetheless, even at the price, it would offer a great value for money.
Also Watch: Oppo F9 Full Review: After 1 month of use!
Also Watch: Vivo V11 Pro Review: After 48 hours!
Also Watch: Pocophone F1 Full Review: After 1 month of use!
When prime flagships are revolving around the price of some $1000, the Pocophone F1 came out of nowhere and took the smartphone market by storm. A $300 phone having flagship specs got everyone intrigued and even raised a few eyebrows. And then came all the comparisons, even against those smartphones that cost three times its price. And yes, you probably have seen a lot of reviews on the Poco F1. But, here are my impressions on the Xiaomi Pocophone F1 after a month of usage.
Price (Armoured Edition, 8/256GB): INR 29,999 (Rs. 48,000 or $429)
Performance
Well, let’s start by talking about the most intriguing feature of this device, the Snapdragon 845 chipset with the liquid cooling system. With a flagship chipset and more than enough RAM at disposal, I played a lot of games on this phone and the performance was fluid. I did not face any sort of lags or stutter even while playing in high settings.
After my success with PUBG, I tried installing Asphalt 8 and Asphalt 9 as well. However, the phone does not support these games. Although Jai Mani, the head of the product branch of Pocophone announced via tweet that the issue with the Asphalt 9 was resolved, I am still having some problems with it. I couldn’t find Asphalt 9 on the Play Store in the Pococphone. And when I tried to download it through my browser, it redirected to Google Play, which, simply mentioned that the device didn’t support it. So you have that.
I also played other high-end games like Dead Trigger 2, Shadowgun Legends, and Dream League Soccer. And I enjoyed it. One thing that I really liked it how the phone stayed relatively cool during gaming sessions, which was quite great. All thanks to its Liquid Cooling technology, and also the plastic back, which dissipates less heat. This is a really cool feature for a smartphone available at $300.
We pitted the Xiaomi Pocophone F1 against the Galaxy Note 9 and OnePlus 6 for a PUBG session in HDR graphics and Ultra Frame rate settings.
Camera
Another good thing about this device is the camera setup. The Poco F1 offered me a pleasant surprise while capturing the images. I did not have much expectation from the phone since the Xiaomi phones had fairly disappointed us in the past on the camera department. But with the Poco F1, you can get images with plenty of details, decent color accuracy, and respectable dynamic range.
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Under ample lighting conditions, you can get some amazing photos. However, the low light shots were not that impressive. The images contain noises and grains as you can see in these images.
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The pair of camera on the back is meant only for depth sensing. The portrait images do have great edge-detection and intelligent background blurring. And in most of the times, the portrait photos captured from the Poco F1 does look like they are shot from the premium handsets.
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Even on the video side, the Poco F1 is equally great. Although the phone lacks Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), there is an Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) to keep the shakes and vibration in the videos to the minimum. And the captured videos do have quite a stability to them. Subjects in the videos too possess sufficient amount of sharpness in them. So I don’t have complaints here. What I liked among all the features in the phone is the ability to shoot HD and Full-HD videos at 240fps. While this feature really comes handy when capturing slow-motion videos, the slow-motion is not as good as you’d find on other phones.
Talking about selfies, there is a 20MP selfie shooter. Selfies taken from the phone looks really great with abundant details in them. There is also a beauty mode to enhance your selfies for enhancing the skin tone and removing acne and facial blemishes.
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On the Poco F1, you get portrait mode even on the selfies. This does take your mainstream selfies to another level but it is not particularly impressive. Since there is just a single camera on the front, detecting the edges and blurring the background is done entirely through the software. So, the portrait selfies are usually a hit or a miss. But, there are plenty of phones that manage to take better portrait selfies even with a single selfie camera.
Comparing the camera with the Galaxy Note 9 and the One Plus 6, the Pocophone F1 holds its own against the beast. There are some differences in the pictures, as it falls short of the Galaxy Note 9 and One Plus 6 image quality, but that’s not very noticeable. The difference is justified by the difference in price among these phones.
To check out all the images in high resolution, Click here.
Design and Build
The other thing I am not particularly impressed with on this device is the design and build. The design of this device is nothing exciting. With a thickness of 8.8mm, it really looks bulky and kind of unattractive. And it has a polycarbonate back, which is just a fancy name for plastic. The plastic back has surely cut down the weight and made it lighter, but it feels cheap on the hold and on the use.
Xiaomi is known for providing metal backs even on their budget phones. Yes, it’s technically not Xiaomi, it’s the sub-brand Pocophone, but this compromise on a so-claimed “flagship killer” does not seem like a plausible step for me. But it’s here, if you don’t like it you can apply a case as well.
There are some advantages with the back as it does not attract fingerprints, so, I did not have to clean it like some of the other flagships. Also, flagship phones with glass usually slip through my hands but since it has a sturdy polycarbonate back, even after the falls, damages were pretty minimal. You can see it for yourself, even after I have dropped it a few times, it still looks good as new.
Software
And talking about something that is NOT new here is the software experience. Xiaomi has added its custom skin MIUI 9.6 on top. MIUI has always lacked an app drawer all these years. But this time, they provided an app drawer in this one, due to which, browsing through apps is relatively easier.
But still, it has not given up on the bloatware. Putting the bloatware issues aside, the Poco F1 is also being criticized for having the DRM or the digital right management Security level of L3 and not L1. This means that you can view contents on Amazon Prime and Netflix only at the maximum resolution of 540p. Streaming HD and Full-HD videos is not possible when the security level is at L3.
The reason for the lockout is that these services are protected by digital rights management (DRM) to prevent the copying and unauthorized redistribution of these kinds of video files.
Most of the smartphones like the OPPO F9, VIVO V11 still have that issue and many people are cool with it. On a small screen of the smartphones that is not quite noticeable. And in the countries like Nepal and India, where the internet is not so fast to stream even the 540p videos, users can barely notice the difference. There are also rumors about fixing the issue with a software update, and I really wish it to be true.
However, this phone is also susceptible to advertisements. What I mean by that is, if you’re connected to a Wi-Fi network, you will see various ads even when you open File Manager or settings. As annoying as that can be, these are one of the reasons the Pocophone is cheap. So, this is something you have to get used to if you have the Pocophone.
Speaker
On the Poco F1, there’s a speaker on the right grill and the earpiece forms a stereo speaker setup. With this setup, the sound output from the phone is quite loud and clear. Now it may not have the depth in sound for various genres of music like the flagship phones do but is not that disappointing either. And while playing games, even if the bottom-firing speaker gets obstructed, the sound makes its way to you through the earpiece.
Connectivity
Even on the connectivity side, I have no complaints about the Poco F1. Wi-Fi connectivity and download speed are really great. There was appreciable voice clarity in the phone calls and I did not face any call drops using both the NTC and Ncell SIM cards.
Digging deep into the connectivity side, I found that the phone lacks NFC feature. It might be another aspect where Xiaomi made a cut. Although the absence of the NFC is not a huge deal in the countries like Nepal and India, users in US and European regions may not be able to get along without the feature.
Security
The area where Xiaomi has been generous is in the security. This phone comes with a Fingerprint scanner and Face Unlock feature as a biometric authentication tool. The fingerprint on the phone is really fast. It unlocks the phone almost instantaneously. And for the Face Unlock feature, the front camera and IR sensor come into play. With this setup, the facial mapping is accurate and unlocking the handset with this feature is abrupt as well. Even on the pitch-dark condition, the unlocking speed was somewhat similar. And there was no additional problem whatsoever. So I must say the Infrared sensor has done a really good job here.
Display
On the front, you get a 6.2-inch IPS Panel. Although the IPS display does fail to reproduce pitch black and inky colors like the Super AMOLED displays, I was not disappointed with the color accuracy on the phone. I was fairly impressed with the viewing angle, contrast ratio, and the color saturation. However, the thick bezel at the bottom and a wide notch on the top are definitely something you need to live up with.
Xiaomi has squeezed an earpiece and various sensors including the IR sensor in that notch whereas, the chin houses a notification LED. It is really a weird place to put a notification LED and it took a lot of time for me to get used to it. Whether it be in a weird place, having one is definitely better than having none. So I was ok about it after spending some time with it.
Continuing with the display, the Poco F1 features Full-HD+ resolution and looks sufficiently bright. It has good sunlight visibility. So, even on a bright sunny day, I did not have any problems while viewing the contents on the phone. The phone is also said to come with an old gen Gorilla Glass 3 protection. But since I am absolutely careless with my phone, I put on a tempered glass before I started using it.
Battery
Now, I had mentioned earlier that the phone looks bulkier with a thickness of 8.8mm, and the battery is one of the reasons for it. Poco F1 sports a massive 4000mAh battery, which backed me for more than a day on the normal usage. At the end of the day, I always ended up with 25% to 30% on my phone. So I was fairly satisfied with the backup. Charging the battery is also quite hassle-free on the phone. Unlike the iPhones, the smartphone comes bundled with a quick charger Version 3, with which the battery is refilled in around 1 hour and 45 minutes. The phone does support Quick Charge 4+ but availability is an issue here in Nepal.
Conclusion and Verdict
The Poco F1 has made some compromises to keep the prices low. And the plastic back is one of them. However, it is not a huge deal and users can surely live with it by putting a premium case. Since the phone is targeted to the Asian users, the absence of NFC is not that noticeable as well. And talking about the Digital Right Management, I believe that the Poco F1 was pushed forward as a scapegoat. A lot of popular phones are still running with the DRM Security level of L3. So nitpicking that flaw on Poco F1 might have been intentionally brought to kill the hype of the Poco F1.
To sum it up, Poco F1 is a great phone, which costs one-third the price of iPhone XS or the Galaxy Note 9 and nearly half the price of the “flagship killer” OnePlus 6. So needless to say, the Poco F1 offers a great value for money. Except for a few downsides, Poco F1 is obviously one of the best smartphones on the market for the money. We do not deny that there are plenty of rooms for improvements on the phone. And we hope that Xiaomi will come with all the issues fixed and with better hardware & design on the Poco F2.
Unfortunately, as great as this phone is, its availability is pretty limited. It doesn’t cater to markets like US, Canada, or such. And even though it goes on Flash sales in India, as of now it’s not available in Nepal. For now, we can only rely on Xiaomi Nepal to make it available here soon.
Microsoft recently released Office 2019 for Windows and Mac operating systems. After the Office 2016, this is the first time the company’s flagship software received such a huge update. This new Microsoft Office 2019, however, has been targeted at the consumers, who have not yet chosen the Microsoft Office 365 service with the monthly feature updates.
Over the years, Microsoft seems to be obsessed with luring the consumers to its cloud-based services. However, this time the company stepped up and showed that it has forgotten about those who want a one-and-done purchase. So the company with high hopes and utter generosity has rolled out the Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac and Windows, providing a subset of upgrades that used to be in the Office 365 in the past three years.
“Office 2019 will be a valuable upgrade for customers who feel that they need to keep some or all of their apps on servers on-premises,” the company said in a press release.
It is worth noting that the new software will run only on Windows 10 and not on Windows 7, 8 or 8.1. Also, the software is available for Microsoft’s Commercial volume license (trusted) customers as of now. And for all the consumers who do not fall on that category should have to wait for few weeks to use the software.
Microsoft Office 2019 and Office 365: What are the differences?
Since most of the features in Office 2019 and Office 365 are the same, it has created quite a lot of confusions on the consumers’ side. So let me clear it out for you.
Here is a major difference: MS office 2019 is software, which requires a one-time time purchase. After the purchase, the consumers can use it for eternity without paying further for the same services. And in this kind of purchase, the users won’t receive any sorts of feature updates after making the purchase. You can receive quality updates and security patches, but no new tools or functionality will ever be added into the software.
In contrast, the Office 365 is a subscription-based service. And unlike the Office 2019, the Office 365 is powered by Microsoft cloud. So it includes more up to date and collaborative features than what the regular MS office or the Microsoft’s perpetual software offers.
All or most of the features in the Microsoft Office 2019 will mostly be present in the cloud-based Office 365. The major intentional of bringing the new update with improved features is to lure the customers, who like to pay only for one time for the service and doesn’t really require access to new tools and functionality.
New features in Microsoft Office 2019
1. Advance presentation features
PowerPoint is one of the most popular solutions for the presentations. And still, it has been a go-to feature for most of the people. However, with the development of advanced options for the presentations, PowerPoint seems to be dated in the recent days. So to stay more relevant in the presentation games, Microsoft has brought some advanced features in this new update. The new features added in the software are enhanced Morph and Zoom capabilities to help the users to create a more sophisticated and dynamic presentation.
Although this feature was already existent on the Office 365 ProPlus, it was not available in the Office 2016.
2. More Powerful data analysis
In the matter of data handling and management, Excel is still on the acme. And this time, the company has injected some new features to set a new benchmark for the data management software.
With the new version of the software, users will be able to access new and more powerful features like new formulas, new charts (like funnel charts and 2D maps), the ability to publish from Excel to Power BI (Microsoft’s own business analytics service), and enhancements for PowerPivot and PowerQuery.
3. Improved inking features
We have seen S-pen on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and the Microsoft Surface devices. Such digital pens quite sophisticatedly allow the users to draw, note, and doodle directly onto the device’s screen. This feature not just look fancy, it also gives the opportunity to the users to use the software interactively.
And Microsoft has adopted the feature in Office 2019 to encourage maximum productivity. It has introduced the new inking capabilities across all the apps—such as pressure sensitivity, tilt effects that adjust the ink’s thickness depending on the angle of the pen, and even a roaming pencil case, which allows users to store and organize their favorite pens, pencils, and highlighters to roam with them across their different devices.
4. Easier Email management
Microsoft has not yet forgotten its Outlook users. In this new update, Microsoft has brought several new features to make the email management tasks easier and hassle-free. And Microsoft is quite hopeful that, with the new features, users will now able to manage their emails effectively and efficiently.
According to Microsoft, these include things like:
The OPPO A7 is yet to launch, even after it’s so-called predecessor has been enjoying the sunlight for a few days now. The Oppo A7x is as close to the Oppo F9 as it gets, without the VOOC fast charging support. The Oppo A7 too shares a few similarities with another such smartphone (Oppo A5), although these specs are just rumors for now, no matter how compelling they might seem.
Going by the rumors, the Oppo A7 will feature a 6.2″ display with a resolution of 1520 x 720 pixels. That should go pretty well with the Snapdragon 450 SoC guided by the Adreno 506 GPU. RAM sizes come in at 3GB and 4GB whereas you get only one storage option, which is 32GB but it’s still expandable.
There is going to be a 13MP f/2.2 and 2MP f/2.4 dual camera set up at the back. The front will house a single 16MP f/2.0 camera with the usual AI tricks built in. This front camera is probably one of the only upgrades over the Oppo A5.
The rest of the features will probably surprise no one. Like the 802.11ac Wifi, Bluetooth 4.2, G-Sensor, OTG support or the E-Compass sensor. It does not come with NFC, although it might not be because it’s targeted markets do not really care about this feature. The last piece of information is the color options, which are Glaze Blue and Glaring Gold, which is a factor that OPPO buyers might be interested in.
Specifications of Oppo A7:
Display: 6.2 inch IPS Display
Resolution: HD+ (1520 x 720 pixels)
SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 450
GPU: Adreno 506
Rear camera: 13MP f/2.2 + 2MP f/2.4 dual camera setup w LED flash
Front camera: 16MP f/2.0
RAM: 3GB/4GB
Storage: 32GB (expandable storage up to 256GB)
Operating system: ColorOS 5.2, based on Android 8.1 Oreo
Dimensions: 155.9mm x 75.4mm x 8.1mm; Weight: 158g
SIM: Nano
OTG: Yes
NFC: No
Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, 2.4GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi
Color options: Glaze Blue, Glaring Gold
Sensors: E-Compass, Light sensor, proximity sensor, G sensor, Accelerometer
Companies play clever games to keep the hype going for their products. A similar attempt by Huawei has been noticed in the Nepali market when the company announced that their recent offerings, Huawei Nova 3 and Nova 3i will come in two other color variants, Red and Pearl White. These new variants will be available for sale in the market, starting 26th September! Previously, both Nova 3 and 3i were available in Black and Iris Purple colors and now the company has added Red and Pearl White colors for Nova 3 and 3i respectively.
The Huawei Nova 3 is available in the market for Rs. 59,900 whereas the Nova 3i comes with Rs. 38,900 price tag. Both phones feature a quad- camera setup and attractive glass design.
The Nova 3 comes with the Kirin 970 chipset, which was, featured in Huawei’s latest flagship device, the P20 Pro. Similarly, the Nova 3i is Huawei’s first device to come bearing Huawei’s new Kirin 710 chip.
TECNO might be one of those lesser-known brands in the mobile world but they do make decent smartphones. One of which is the Tecno Camon i2, a new smartphone with a most probably nice set of cameras, acceptable hardware, and decent pricing.
Starting off with the display, the Camon i2 comes with a 6.2 inch IPS (720×1500) HD+ 18:9 display at the front. You get a Quad-Core MT6739 processor (4 X 1.5Ghz Cortex A53 cores) paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The battery size comes in at 3,750mAH which should deliver some impressive screen on time going by the specs.
The smartphone runs on Android 8.1 Oreo with their own custom UI on top. It also gets the face-unlock feature, gyro sensor, ambient light sensor, USB OTG support, and a fingerprint sensor. Oh, and did we mention it has a notch?
The Camon i2 shows off a nice set of cameras, at least on paper. They have been marketing this phone as a camera-centric smartphone, so maybe wait for our review for a more comprehensive conclusion. Till then, all we know is it comes with a set of 13MP+2MP dual camera set up at the back with a quad LED flash. It also has a 16MP front camera with video chat flash.
The smartphone is priced at Rs 22,995 (USD 200), for which you do get the “BEST ANY LIGHT CAMERA”, a fairly new-ish design, and a few other features here and there. The MT6739 is a definite bummer, so is the HD+ resolution, a plastic body and for the same reasons, most buyers might be disappointed.
The competition among mid-range smartphones is intriguing. These phones are trying their best to come add something new. Some bring out 4 cameras while others give us an in-display fingerprint scanner. And some give us top-notch specs in a small price tag. And there still seems to be a lot to see. These smartphones companies are battling it out, but as long as we, consumers get new and interesting stuff, it’s quite alright. We have the OPPO F9 in for review. This phone features something called a water- drop display. Does the OPPO F9 surpass its competition? Let’s find out in this review!
OPPO F9 specifications:
Display: 6.3-inch Full HD+ LTPS IPS LCD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 6
CPU: Octa-core MediaTek Helio P60
OS: Android 8.1 Oreo with ColorOS 5.2 on top
RAM: 4/6 GB
GPU: Mali-G72 MP3
Storage: 64 GB
Expandable Memory: Up to 256 GB (dedicated)
Rear Camera: Dual 16 + 2 MP lens with f/1.8 aperture and f/2.4 aperture, PDAF, LED flash
Front Camera: 25 MP front-facing camera, f/2.0 aperture
The F9 is quite an appealing device. The design is such that it gives off a shiny appearance of a glass body. At first glance, you might not even notice its plastic construction, but you will certainly feel the difference in your hands. The Huawei Nova 3i (Read review) takes the lead when it comes to premium feel, but I like what OPPO has done with the gradient back color and the diamond patterns. If only this was a glass body, I wouldn’t have wished for any improvement on the design front. I have the red version which is named ‘Sunrise Red’ by OPPO, but if you are not a fan of this color, there are other options available too.
As for aesthetics, the power button is placed at the right with the volume rockers as well as the SIM/memory card slot just above it. The button placement is quite convenient and though the device is large, it’s very comfortable to reach all of them. Similarly, at the bottom, there’s a single speaker grill with the Micro USB port beside it, a noise cancellation mic and not to miss, the headphone jack. The back houses nothing but the dual cameras, an LED flash, a fingerprint sensor, which is easily reachable, and the OPPO branding just below the sensor.
The OPPO F9 feels very light on hands and is also very comfortable to hold. While the Nova 3i felt slippery, this one gives you quite a grip. But since the device is huge, one-handed use is a struggle, especially for someone with small hands like me.
Display:
A water drop display. Sounds fancy? Well, actually, it’s called so, because the tiny notch on top looks like a drop of water. And it is the smallest notch we’ve seen since the Essential phone. The small notch houses nothing but the selfie camera and very cleverly hides the speaker grills right above it. Well, there is no fancy Dual cameras on this one, but again, the question is, do you really need one?
Moving on, the device has a 6.3 inch IPS LCD FHD+ display panel. And as I already said in my hands-on review, it’s quite vibrant, has nice colors, and good viewing angles which pretty much accounts for a good display experience overall. The sunlight legibility is also excellent as the display is very bright. Also, While watching videos or playing games, the small notch is less obstructive and same is the case with Instagram stories. The F9 gives you a 19.5:9 aspect ratio with very thin bezels. So, viewing content on this one has been a pleasing experience. Another welcoming trait of this device is it’s one of the very first to feature Gorilla Glass 6, which in my opinion, is very ambitious for a mid-range device.
Cameras:
OPPO claims itself as the ‘Selfie Expert and Leader’, which is why we have to do a thorough camera test. The selfie camera definitely impresses you. It’s a 25 MP shooter with f/2.0 aperture. The selfies are bright, vibrant and pack in a good amount of colors.
You have a lot of effects for selfies too, like, Selfie Portrait effect, which is purely software. The result is however of average quality with slightly inaccurate depth sensing.
Having said that, I liked the HDR feature which makes the pictures look good in bright environments too. There’s also a super Vivid mode which helps make the pictures more colorful, but sometimes, makes photos look a little too over-saturated.
OPPO F9 Selfie Camera Samples
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There is a beauty mode which functions okay in the first levels, but after that, you start looking like a doll.
OPPO F9 Selfies| Normal Vs Beauty
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Beauty Level: OFF
Beauty Level: 1
Beauty Level: 2
Beauty Level: 3
Night selfies are surprisingly well if there is enough light, but as the surroundings get darker, you will notice grains and loss in detail. The AR stickers are there too, like its predecessor OPPO F7. But this time there are a lot more choices among stickers and they are quite fun to use. I compared the selfies of the F9 with that of the Nova 3i and found the F9’s selfies to be better in aspects like color and vibrancy. But details are slightly better preserved on the Nova 3i. However, pictures on the 3i look a bit pale when put side by side with OPPO F9. Overall, I must say that I quite like the selfie experience on this device.
Moving on to the rear cameras, there is a 16 MP primary sensor and a 2 MP depth sensor on the dual camera setup. Apart from the pictures having slightly inaccurate color reproduction, other aspects seem covered quite well by OPPO. The pictures appear to be full of life. Details are well preserved too.
OPPO F9 Back Camera Samples
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However, in the portrait images, you cannot turn off beautification which sets me off a bit. You do have various lighting options for portrait, which sounds fancy but are not very impressive. Most of the times, portrait images loose details and the edge detection is not very proper either.
OPPO F9 Portrait Samples
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The camera does identify various objects, which, again is a form of AI that almost all the smartphones seem to have these days. Upon recognizing the objects and scenery, a small icon appears on the top-right corner, indicating that the AI has successfully identified the object. It will, then, tweak some settings thereafter, adjusting the colors and so. It is not very accurate though.
OPPO F9 | Normal Vs Super Vivid Mode
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Normal Mode
Super Vivid Mode
Like with the front camera, there’s a Super Vivid mode on the back that acts to add saturation to pictures, but I liked the normal images better. The HDR feature does work but I didn’t find a lot of difference with the HDR on. Similarly, like the Vivo V11 Pro, there is Google Lens built in the cameras which is an added feature. Likewise, night time shots are okay at best.
OPPO F9 | Non-HDR VS HDR
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Non-HDR
HDR
Like the Nova 3i, there is a Pro mode, which is here called the ‘expert mode’. This gives you options to change things like ISO levels, White Balance, etc. Talking about other features, the output from the Slow- Mo feature is just average and results in loss of quality.
Also, you don’t have a 4K recording feature and videos can be recorded either in 1080p or 720p only at 30fps and there isn’t any kind of stabilization in them as well which is, very disappointing to say the least.
All in all, the pictures from the F9 are pretty good but there’s a lot of room for improvement, especially in the portrait department and video recording.
To check out all the images in high resolution, click here
Performance:
Moving on to the performance, the Helio P60 chipset underneath, impressed us in the OPPO F7 (Read review) and the same has been used in the F9 as well. So, the performance is about the same. I did not experience any stutters while navigating, multitasking or gameplay for that matter. But, what I did, is compared the gameplay between the Huawei Nova 3i and OPPO F9 and found the F9 to have a slight edge over its rival. Regular performance between these devices is more or less similar.
However, the storage department is where the Nova 3i beats the F9 as you get 4+64 GB version here and the 3i offers you 4+128 GB version for a lesser price tag. Sure, you can expand the memory using the dedicated micro SD card slot too.
Adding on to the performance side, there is something in-built called the “Game Space” feature, which comes in handy while gaming. With this feature, you can choose to play games without any disturbances from calls and notifications. OPPO also claims that it boosts the gaming performance, but, I didn’t feel anything of that sort.
It’s fair to say that OPPO phones always have good and fast facial recognition, but, since there is no IR sensor, it’s not as reliable. But you can always rely on the Fingerprint sensor which is also one of the fastest and it’s really nice to see that it’s in a comfortable position.
The single speaker at the bottom is decent with fewer distortions, but, at loud volumes, you can feel the distortions. The audio from the 3.5mm headphone jack has an average dynamic range and response. As for call quality, I used the NTC and Ncell SIM during my review period and had no problems. Similarly, Wi-Fi connectivity is not an issue in this device and it supports 5 GHz network too.
Software:
Software-wise, you get the Android Oreo 8.1 topped with heavily customized ColorOS 5.2. I have said it already and will say it again, I am not a fan of the UI in OPPO phones or even Vivo phones for that matter. The most annoying is having to slide and delete the notifications. I mean, you either have to erase them all at once, or go one by one sliding and deleting. But unlike Vivo phones, at least, you have the search option in the settings menu.
Also, there is no app drawer and you have all your apps lying on the home screen. As for the large icons, you have different themes that you can set for your preference.
Similarly, you have an option to enable or disable navigation keys. I like it when companies provide options and let us be in control. But, the absence of LED notification lights is disappointing. It is something that I need and sadly, the F9 doesn’t have it. I guess the water drop display has its own shortcomings. There are also gesture features like many phones have, so nothing new in that department.
OPPO F9 | Software & UI
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Battery:
The OPPO F9 has a 3500 mAh battery paired with its own custom VOOC charging support. You get a 5V 4A charger that helps you gain a charge of 55% in around 30 minutes. The battery endures pretty well. There are various power saving modes that help you make your battery life better but I haven’t had the necessity to use one as the battery is very enduring in itself.
During my normal usage, which includes social media and gameplay along with work stuff and a lot of making calls, the battery gave me a full day’s support with some charge left even after. So, for normal use, the battery lasts for a little more than a day. The presence of a Micro USB is definitely a bummer here, but I think fast charging support covers for it anyway. Although a USB-C would have felt nicer.
Conclusion:
The OPPO F9 is definitely a good value for money, at least for Nepal. In India and other parts of the world, you should, however, get the Poco F1 or the Honor Play for less price. But since none of these devices are available in Nepal, the Oppo F9 is a nice package overall with good performance, excellent battery life, a decent set of cameras, good enough design and trendy notch display. Yes, the UI is something I didn’t like but I think it’s a small sacrifice you have to make.
If you are looking for a better design option, or maybe one with a more storage capacity, you may also consider the Nova 3i. Otherwise, what you get more in the F9 is faster charging, Gorilla Glass 6 protection and 5GHz Wi-Fi connectivity. Other aspects are more or less the same.
If you were planning to buy the Sony Xperia L1, you just got immensely lucky. This budget smartphone has just received a whopping discount. The phone now lies on the shelf of Sastodeal with a 40% off in its original price.
In terms of display, the Sony Xperia L1 comes with the 5.5-inch display. The display on the handset features HD (1280 x 720 pixels) resolutions packing 267 PPI in every inch. To shield the display from the scratches, the display has also been provided with the scratch-resistant glass on the top.
Sony smartphones are greatly renowned for their cameras. And the Sony Xperia L1 is one of the capable camera phones at its price. The phone boasts a 13MP camera at the back with f/2.2 aperture. And up front, there is a 5MP, f/2.2 selfie shooter. Both the cameras promise to deliver some amazing photos with a great amount of details.
The Xperia L1 is powered by the MediaTek MT6737T chipset. There is also 2GB of RAM and 16GB of onboard storage. The storage on the phone can be further expanded up to 256GB via SD card. On the software side of things, the phone features Android Nougat out of the box.
In terms of battery, the phone is equipped with a 2620mAh non-removable battery. But given the specs, we can expect a decent battery life from the smartphone.
Sony Xperia L1 Specifications
Dimension: 151 x 74 x 8.7 mm; Weight: 180g
Display: 5.5 inches IPS LCD display with scratch-resistant glass for protection
Resolution: HD (720 x 1280) @267PPI, 16:9 aspect ratio
OS: Android 7.0 Nougat
Chipset: MediaTek MT6737T
CPU: Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53
RAM: 2GB
Storage: 16GB Internal Storage, Expandable up to 256GB
Rear Camera: 13MP with f/2.2 aperture, LED Flash, 1080p @30fps
Front Camera: 5MP with f/2.2 aperture
Sensors: Accelerometer, proximity, compass
Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, 3.5 mm headphone jack, A-GPS, NFC, FM Radio, USB Type C 1.0
At the similar price, users can get Nokia 2, Huawei Y3 2018, or the Motorola Moto C. Although the Nokia 2 (price Rs.11,499) comes with the whopping 4100mAh battery, it comes with a mediocre chipset, less storage, and below-par cameras. The Huawei Y3 2018 (price Rs.11,400), on the other hand, features a low-res (480 x 854 pixels) display, less storage, very average cameras, and a smaller battery. Similarly, the Moto C (price Rs. 10,900) also have low-res (480 x 854 pixels) display, less RAM, very average cameras and a smaller battery. So the Sony Xperia L1 at the price of Rs. 11,000 is a very good deal.
The first thing that you will want to do when you get your Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is pop out the S-Pen and start scribbling on the screen. At least, that’s what I did. This is a device that is a lot more fun to use than your regular phones. With the S-Pen, you will start to become the artist you never were, or start to jot down things you never thought necessary.
But, the Note 9 is not just a toy! It is a powerful beast of a phone for power users. And yes, the best phone that money…well, a lot of money can buy right now. But the thing on everyone’s mind is “Is it worth a $1000”? And after full month of usage, I say, yes. Yes, it is worth every penny.
Specs Overview:
Display:6.4-inch QHD+ (1440 x 2960) Infinity display with 18.5:9 aspect ratio and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection
Build: Aluminum Frame and Glass Body with IP-68 Water and Dust Resistance
Processor: Octa-Core Exynos 9810 processor with Mali-G72 MP18 GPU
RAM: 6 GB RAM with 128 GB storage, expandable memory up to 512 GB with microSD
OS: Samsung Experience UI based on Android 8.1 (Oreo)
SIM: Dual SIM (nano + Hybrid slot)
Back Camera: 12 MP primary camera with variable aperture (f/1.5 + f/2.4) and secondary 12 MP telephoto lens with f/2.4 aperture with Optical Image Stabilization and Dual Pixel PDAF
Front Camera: 8 MP front-facing camera f/1.7 aperture and Auto Focus
Security: Fingerprint Sensor, Face Unlock and Iris Scanner
The design of the Galaxy Note 9 is pretty much the same to last year’s Note 8. It is a very well-crafted but not much has changed except the placement of the fingerprint sensor, which is now at a more convenient spot. The phone is quite large, and for those with small hands, it’s going to get quite a lot of getting used to. I am just stating what it is, but, if you’re going to get a Galaxy Note device, you shouldn’t complain about the size!
Other than that, nothing much has changed. You still get a headphone jack, which is good. And this is the first Galaxy Note device to have stereo speakers. It is IP68 Water and Dust Resistant, but that is not new for Samsung. The glass back looks pretty good, but it catches fingerprints very easily. There’s also the infamous Boxby button on the right, which was pretty much useless, but it’s very easy to mistake it for the volume down button. I don’t know about you guys, but I think Samsung should consider removing that…and by that, I mean the whole Bixby, not just the button.
Overall, the phone is tall, muscular and has got that premium factor to it – a classic Galaxy Note trait!
Display
A 6.4” Quad-HD+ resolution on a Super AMOLED display makes for stunning visuals. The Infinity display with 18.5:9 aspect ratio and sloping edges make everything appear superb! With OLED displays, you get perfect blacks and better colors. So, from pictures, to videos, to texts, everything is vibrant and punchy and colors are very accurate. There is no argument that Samsung’s displays are one of the best. And while everyone is giving their own version of notches to their phones, respect to Samsung for not jumping on the hype train.
The brightness levels are also pretty good, allowing good sunlight legibility overall. However, a small issue is that the edges reflect light and interrupt the display slightly. And this is actually a design trait on all curved Samsung phones. But, you will get used to it after sometime.
Also, you can adjust whether to use the QHD+ resolution or switch to Full HD+. Keeping it in Full HD+ will help you save battery, while the QHD is all about your viewing experiences.
However, the phone doesn’t have the latest Gorilla Glass 6 Protection. Instead, it settles for the Gorilla Glass 5, which works pretty well too! And that is a much needed element, as finding a good tempered glass on a Note 9 is a bit of a problem.
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 inherits the same cameras from the Galaxy S9 Plus, with a few tweaks. The dual camera setup at the back combines a 12 MP lens with variable apertures (f/1.5 + f/2.4) and another 12 MP telephoto zooming lens. The biggest feature, here, is the dual aperture. It lets the camera change depending on the environment to adjust to the amount of light in your surroundings to get good pictures in all kinds of lighting conditions.
The primary lens is able to give you stunning photo quality! It maintains color accuracy, focus, sharpness and the details. The only concern is Samsung uses its Live Focus for the Portrait mode and bokeh mode. And Live Focus really needs to work on its edge detection. Sure, you can manually adjust the background blur too, but this won’t be the best bokeh mode you will see on a smartphone.
Samsung Galaxy Live Focus Portrait Samples
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The secondary rear camera allows for a 2x Optical Zoom, which means that even if you zoom up to two times, your pictures will still come out as sharp as the original ones. However, lowlight telephoto images do get considerable noise.
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Back Camera Samples
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Both lenses have Optical Image Stabilization to deal with your shaky hands. The camera is already an excellent one overall. The additional tweaks you will see is Samsung’s version of the AI cameras. Samsung calls it Scene Optimizer. The scene optimizer can identify about 20 subjects and supposedly, alters settings depending on what you are shooting. But it’s unlikely that you will notice that much of a difference in your photos. But no matter what, you will be getting good photos, and that’s what matters in the end, isn’t it?
Normal Vs Scene Optimizer
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Normal mode
AI Scene Optimizer Mode
Also, the scene optimizer is nothing new or groundbreaking. We’ve seen plenty of cameras with those features. But, this one also has the Flaw Detection feature, which comes quite handy. If the photo is ruined in any way, it will warn you about the scenario. For example, if someone blinks, or something disturbs the background, or if the lenses get dirty, the phone will prompt you to take the photo again. Now, this is a good way to make absolutely sure that your moments are captured quite well.
The front camera is an 8 MP shooter, and while we’ve seen pretty heavy front cameras, Samsung does just great with its 8 MP lens. You can also get the bokeh mode on your selfies with Selfie Focus. Also, many Samsung phones don’t have HDR pro feature in front cameras, but this one does. And it lets you take good selfies even in very bright conditions.
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Selfie Samples
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Samsung also likes to fill its camera app with a lot of modes and options. You can also shoot Super Slow Motion videos at 960 frames per second @ 720p resolution. There’s AR Emoji (a gimmick, just like the others), and a lot of filters in the camera itself. It’s one of the best camera apps in the business – with lots of features and still easy enough to use.
The videos on this one are also pretty great. You can record up to 4K videos in 60 fps with good sound recording too. However, one thing it cannot do is record 4K HDR videos, as the Exynos 9810 chipset doesn’t support HDR video recording. Maybe the Galaxy S10 will support this feature.
To check out all the images in high resolution, click here
In addition, you might also know that the S-Pen remote allows you to open the camera app and take pictures pretty easily. It is very handy when you have to take a group selfie and fit everyone in.
Performance
The Galaxy Note 9 features the Snapdragon 845 in US and China, and the Exynos 9810 in other regions. Now, it is true that the Exynos 9810 is faster than the Snapdragon counterpart. So, the chip is very fast and delivers super performance in almost everything – from multi-tasking to gaming. You can play high-end games like Fortnite and PUBG in Ultra settings and get no lags whatsoever. Everything you throw at it, the phone can handle it. Even playing those games with the Power Saver mode on didn’t get any lags or stutters. That should give you an idea of its prowess.
Samsung may not have the fastest chip in the industry as the latest iPhones manage to get the highest Geekbench scores, but that doesn’t matter as long as it runs everything flawlessly and smoothly. Also, we only have the 6 GB RAM variant here, in Nepal, and the 8 GB RAM variant may be a bit faster. But sadly, that is not available here.
The phone also has a Water Cooling System. However, despite that, the phone does heat up considerably. While playing PUBG at Ultra Settings, the phone reached very close to 40-degree centigrade. That is normal for regular phones, but for something with a Water Cooler inside, it is concerning.
The Fingerprint Scanner at the back is a tad-bit slower than in other phones, which is pretty much noticeable. The Face Recognition and the IRIS Scanner face similar traits. And it won’t work very accurately in the dark either.
Software wise, the Galaxy Note 9 comes with Android 8.1 Oreo with Samsung Experience UI on top. Now, this UI is pretty refined and is much better optimized than the old TouchWiz. This UI has helpful cues to navigate the deep and seemingly complex operating system as well. And yes, there are plenty of Samsung bloat-ware you can’t let go, but we’ve all learnt to ignore them anyway. One thing I could do without is Bixby. It’s not as good as Google Assistant, and never will be. Which is why, I say, they should remove the whole thing.
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 UI
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Notification shade
Samsung Bloatware
S-Pen Air View
Multitasking
Samsung Themes
Battery and Storage
This absolute beast of a phone also comes with a beastly battery of 4000 mAh. And while it will last you the whole day on your Full HD+ display settings, you might be looking for the charger by the end of the day in QHD+ display mode. I did expect more life from the battery, but maybe because the display is big and the phone has so many features, it didn’t live to my expectations. The Fast Charge 2.0 can charge your phone in about 1 hour 45 minutes, which is fast, but, not as fast as the Oneplus 6.
It’s battery saver mode can help extend battery life considerably. There’s also this Maximum Power Saving mode that can also extend your battery life by a day and half, but it tones down the display to HD+, disables biometric and also turns the phone dark. This feature will come handy when you’re away on a trip or so.
As for storage, the Note 9 has 2 options: 128 GB, which is the baseline model, and a whopping 512 GB that also has 8 GB RAM. Both these models have a microSD card slot which can support up to 512 GB. Now, the concept of being able to get a massive 1 TB storage on your phone is intriguing, but that option is not available in Nepal. Even so, 128 GB is ample storage space, don’t you think?
S-Pen
A Galaxy Note 9 review wouldn’t be complete without talking about the S-Pen. The S-Pen is what makes the Note 9 a Note device! And with the added Bluetooth Remote Control feature, there’s quite a lot you can do with it. Sketching and writing notes aside, the remote control function comes handy sometimes. But for the most part, its use feels forced in everyday life.
You can use the remote control to open the camera, and take pictures, which is the most you’ll use it for. It can also be used to scroll up or down in the web browsers. You can use it to play or pause media, or use it during Power Point presentations, too, and some others. But these things aren’t exactly difficult with your hand either.
However, the Air View feature in the S-Pen proves to be useful. When you take the pen out, you get quite a lot of options, which, by default are limited to Samsung’s own, but you can add or remove them according to preference.
Apart from letting you create and view your notes, there’s the Smart Select feature which can help you select require elements from the screen and use it as per your needs. The Translate function can help translate texts on the phone to many languages. There’s also this Live Message feature which can help create interesting doodled messages, but that’s too gimmicky, and hasn’t got much usage. Besides that, if you want some childhood nostalgia, you can also paint some pictures with the Coloring option.
Samsung DeX
The Samsung Dex, which enables you to use your phone as a desktop, is very much improved. Samsung has simplified the DeX experience in the Note 9. Now, you can get this “PC like experience” a lot easily, with just the HDMI to USB-C adapter. No need to get the Dex pod or anything else. Simply connect the cable, and you’re good to go!
Conclusion and Verdict
So, to conclude, the Galaxy Note 9, as I already said, is, right now, the best phone money can buy. Unfortunately, you will have to spend quite a lot of it, if you want this device.
The specs are top-notch. The design and build is close to perfection. Samsung displays are the best. The cameras need some more improvements, while the biometrics could have been a tad faster. A truckload of storage is another good point. This is a phone that offers you everything, and then some. And it will carry you easily for the next 2 or 3 years.
However, is there a reason not to get the Note 9? Actually, yes. This phone, no matter how many features it has, still lacks a “wow” factor. This is particularly more noticeable if you have a Galaxy Note 8 or Galaxy S9 Plus. If you’re coming from those phones, then, this phone will not provide you anything new. It is not worth a $1000 or Rs.110000.
But if you’re using anything below that, like the S7 Edge or Galaxy Note 5, then, this phone will appeal to you. It has a lot of improvements over those, and a lot of power. The ideal user for this kind of phone is someone who wants the best of everything and at their fingertips. You get a phone, a PC or a TV in your pocket, and if you’re a devout S-Pen user, that’s a bonus. You’re not likely to get anything better, until maybe the next Pixel arrives, or the S10 probably.
But it all depends on you. If you absolutely want everything that it offers right now, then, go for it. But, if you can do without an S-Pen, or all those bells and whistles, or on a budget, there are quite a lot of great options available.
Pros:
Top-notch specs
Stunning AMOLED QHD+ display
Bigger battery
S-Pen Remote
Great camera with Flaw Detection mechanism
Cons:
Very few innovations over Note 8 or S9 Plus
Old design to the Note 8
Camera’s Live Focus is not comparable to the Portrait mode
Xiaomi is officially here in Nepal, and the company held its first event today. It shared its plans and strategies from here onwards and also launched four new devices.
The Xiaomi Mi A2, Mi A2 Lite, Redmi 6 and Redmi 6A, are the company’s new mid-rangers of various price ranges that were unveiled today. All these devices enter the saturated mid-range mobile phone market looking to emulate the success of their predecessor but with quite a competitive pricing.
From the event, we got to know that Xiaomi has opened an office here in Nepal to control the selling, and marketing of the Xiaomi phones and products. Beforehand, two different distributors had the sole authority to sell the company’s devices here.
With the new business model and strategies, we can expect Xiaomi to focus more on the customers by providing high-grade devices at a cheaper price tag. And we got to see the first demo of those strategies through the new smartphones.
We got to interview Mr. Sanket Agrawal and Mr. Saurabh Kothari, officials from Xiaomi, regarding the company’s arrival in Nepal and their future plans. They stated on how the company follows the customer-first model and how they will do the same here starting with the four new Mi and Redmi devices.
The officials also stated that Xiaomi will now be more aggressive with the pricing and is working to bring in new devices according to the needs of the customers. And for those waiting for the Poco F1, well the device is launching soon, probably after Dashain
Here are the four new devices that were launched today:
Xiaomi Mi A2
The Xiaomi Mi A2 is the direct successor to the widely popular Mi A1. The A-series of Xiaomi comes under Google’s Android One project out of the box. This device is 5.99-inch tall and has an 18:9 aspect ratio. It features a metallic unibody design with a vertical camera compartment. The dual rear cameras measure 12- and 20-megapixel and are capable of capturing 4K videos. On the front sits a 20-megapixel selfie camera.
The Xiaomi Mi A2 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset and has 4 GB of RAM. It has a 3,000 mAh battery that is supported with Quick Charge. However, it lacks the headphone jack due to its slim design.
The Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite, like its name suggests, is the lite variant of the Mi A2. Unlike the Mi A2, this device has followed the trend of sporting a notch on the IPS LCD display that is 5.84-inch tall. It has a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor aided by 3 or 4 GB of RAM which has 64 and 32 GB storage respectively.
On the optics front, this device comes with dual 12- and 5-megapixel cameras. There is a 5-megapixel selfie shooter on the front. Like the Mi A2 and the older Mi A1, this smartphone is also an Android One device. It has a large 4,000 mAh battery with no fast charging technology.
Xiaomi Redmi 6 and Redmi 6A
The Xiaomi Redmi 6 and Redmi 6A are the cheapest phones launched today by Xiaomi. Both the devices come with a 5.45-inch HD+ IPS LCD display. The Redmi 6 is powered by the MediaTek Helio P22 chipset whereas the Redmi 6A has the MediaTek Helio A22 chipset. Both the devices have a 3000 mAh battery.
The Xiaomi Redmi 6 is more expensive among the two and features a dual camera setup. It has more storage than the Redmi 6 and comes with 3 and 4 GB of RAM.
The Redmi 6A is the successor to the Redmi 5A and the Redmi 4A. It is the cheapest device launched today. This device has a single 13-megapixel rear camera with a 5-megapixel selfie camera.
Xiaomi Mi A2, Mi A2 Lite, Redmi 6 & Redmi 6A Price in Nepal
The Xiaomi Mi A2 was expected to be priced above Rs. 35,000. However, Xiaomi has priced the 4 GB + 64 GB variant at Rs. 30,999. Likewise, the 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage variant of the Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite is priced at Rs. 20,999. The higher-end 4 GB and 64 GB version will sell for Rs. 24,499.
The Xiaomi Redmi 6’s 32 GB and 64 GB variants are priced at Rs. 16,499 and Rs, 18,499, respectively. The cheapest of the devices launched today, the Redmi 6A will be priced at Rs. 12,999. All these devices will go on sale starting 30th September 2018.
Verdict
For a couple of years now, the Nepali consumers have asked for well-performing smartphones in a cheaper price tag. But that has not been the case for a long time. Even the smartphones that are available for cheap in the international market come at a costlier price. Due to the profit margins, the marketing and business model for selling products, and tax, the prices of phones skyrocket.
However, Xiaomi looks to change all of that with its new business model. A lot of Nepali customers had expected the Chinese giants to take this step in the past. But better late than never right?
According to Xiaomi Nepal, the company will receive only 5% profit margin on its devices just to make the price competitive. This is the perfect example of a company thinking only about the customers.
Today’s event was an example of how Xiaomi is going to do its selling here in Nepal. And it has definitely set an example for other smartphone companies in terms of pricing!
