It wasn’t to many’s knowledge that ZTE had taken a bad hit and was on the verge of collapse. The Chinese smartphone manufacturer that we mostly know for ZTE Blade and ZTE Axon series was struggling with a 7-year ban on it by the US Government. The reason was ZTE using US components in their phones in regions it wasn’t supposed to. Plus, there were some international trade violations and such. Further, it went down deeper trying to hide its allegations. Why ZTE did that; we’ll never know. But the result was a 7-year ban which blocked ZTE from buying chips from any American companies. This forced ZTE to stop its production facilities, and halt global smartphone sales.
After going through such an ordeal, ZTE paid a fine of US $ 1 billion to have its ban lifted. This only happened after months long of back-and-forth between the Chinese and American governments. But, that paid off finally, as now, the firm can operate in the US, but will have to re-brand their name in the US. Even so, ZTE is not all in the clear. The US Commerce Department will closely monitor all its actions from now on.
However, for now, ZTE is back. And probably, it is going to bounce back with a bang! Very recently, the company hinted at a new smartphone launch at the IFA – The Global Innovators Show in Berlin. Based on the tweets, the company will be present at the IFA with “Leading 5G innovations” and there were leaked images hinting at a new phone, most probably, the Axon 9! While ZTE needs to rebuild its image, we are looking forward to the new phone.
And if it does bounce back, it also means more affordable smartphones in the Nepali market as well. ZTE has affordable mid-range smartphones in Nepal. And with its comeback, maybe we’ll have even more options to choose from.
According to DisplayMate, an establishment that tests displays with their propriety testing methods, has announced that the Note 9 has one of the best if not the best display on the market. Since the inception of Galaxy Note 4, every Samsung flagship has been awarded this title. And yet again, DisplayMate says Samsung Galaxy Note 9 has the best display ever!
Putting actual facts into the context, the Note 9’s display covers 113% of the DCI-P3 and 142% of the RGB color space. The panel can also reach a maximum brightness of 710 nits in manual and 1050 nits in automatic mode. It also offers just 4.4% reflectance, one of the lowest ever recorded.
Following are the exact records that Samsung’s new flagship either broke or matched:
Highest Absolute Color Accuracy (0.5 JNCD) – Visually indistinguishable from perfect.
Smallest change in Peak Luminance with the Image Content APL (2 percent).
Smallest shift in Color Accuracy and Intensity Scale with the Image Content APL (0.7 JNCD).
Highest peak Display Brightness (1,050 nits with 710 nits at 100% APL).
Largest Native Color Gamut (113% DCI-P3 and 142% sRGB / Rec.709).
Highest Contrast Ratio (Infinite).
Lowest screen Reflectance (4.4 percent).
Highest Contrast Rating in Ambient Light (239).
Smallest brightness Variation with Viewing Angle (27 percent at 30 degrees).
Smallest Color Variation of White with Viewing Angle (1.3 JNCD at 30 degrees).
Highest Screen Resolution 3K (2960×1440) – 4K doesn’t appear visually sharper on a Smartphone.
The Galaxy Note 9 also brings in a lot of other features other than the great display. It also has one of the biggest internal storage options on a smartphone, a full 512GB. Not to mention it’s expandable through a microSD card, with a technical total of up to a full Terabyte.
While we are on the subject of displays, users can now turn the resolutions all the way up to QHD+ without worrying about charging intervals. The 4000mAh battery should easily hold up the Note 9 in its full glory, unlike Samsung’s previous flagships.
The smartphone also comes with a few other features like liquid cooling, up to 8 GB of RAM, slightly better design choices, a slightly better camera, newer colour options and a newer improved S Pen with its own battery. The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is up for pre-orders since August 17th for Rs. 109,900 for the 6 GB RAM / 128 GB ROM version. Sadly, the 8 GB / 512 GB version is not available for Nepal.
Samsung really does have the best of the displays? Don’t you agree? Or do you think there’s something better? Let us know.
The excitement is real!! The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is here in Nepal, too! When it comes to bringing the latest and the best in Nepal, Samsung does quite a job. The Galaxy Note 9 launched shortly in international markets, and it’s already available for purchase in Nepal.
Overview:
In Nepal, you can get the Galaxy Note 9 in three different colors: Metallic Copper, Ocean Blue, and Midnight Black! If I were you, I’d go for the copper one, but the blue one seems to appeal to many.
The Galaxy Note 9 features a large 6.4″ Super AMOLED Quad-HD+ display on a premium looking glass and metal body. The phones is built really well, with nicely curved edges and sturdy grip. Aesthetically and a visually pleasing form factor. The fingerprint sensor is at the right place, and it gets the same Dual Camera setup of the Galaxy S9+ – two 12 MP sensors with OIS and variable apertures.
The improvement is the AI-enabled cameras, which Samsung calls Scene Optimization. This detects elements in a scene like flowers or sky and enhances the brightness, color saturation and sharpness. Let’s see how this competes against Huawei’s AI cameras. But there’s also the Flaw Detection feature. This notifies you immediately if there is a problem in the background or some kind of blurs while taking pictures. So, you don’t have to worry about bad pictures now, do you?
Under the hood, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 packs the Exynos 9810 chip with 6 GB and 8 GB RAM options. That is quite the power, isn’t it? Also, Samsung has embedded liquid-cooling on the device to boost gaming performance and minimize thermal throttling while playing high-end games. And with a beefy 4000 mAh battery, this thing is sure to last you a full day!
The S-Pen is one of the most exciting things about this phone and this takes Samsung’s stylus game to a new level. You can even use it as a remote control to do things with your S-Pen. By default, it’s programmed for your camera, but it can be programmed for other things too! In addition, the Samsung Dex is now embedded in the phone itself. So, you no longer need a Dex pad dock. Simply, plug in an external display into the phone with an HDMI adapter, and get the desktop experience.
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 specs:
Display: 6.4″ Super AMOLED Quad HD+ (1440 x 2960)
Main camera: Dual camera setup 2 x 12 MP cameras with variable aperture and OIS
Front camera: 8 MP selfie camera with f/1.7 aperture
Processor: Octa-core Exynos 9810 processor
RAM: 6 GB RAM and 8 GB RAM options
Storage: 128 GB and 512 GB option expandable with microSD
Battery: 4000 mAh battery
S-pen with remote control feature
Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Price in Nepal:Rs. 99,900[Last updated on July 24, 2019]
What do you think guys? Is the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 exciting enough for you? Do let us know.
Xiaomi recently released a set of devices, namely the MI8, the Mi 8 explorer and the Mi 8 SE. Well, today we have with us the Mi8 SE. Now, this device has made headlines because it has quite a list of impressive specifications on paper. But how does it perform in real life? Well, let’s dive into the Mi8 SE review.
Design
When you look at the Mi 8 SE, you can’t help but notice how premium it looks. The device has a glass back that looks quite elegant. The metal frame around the display certainly sets it apart. The phone is slim and lightweight which makes it even more appealing.
It is protected by some sort of Gorilla Glass, but Xiaomi has not revealed exactly which one but the presence of Gorilla Glass is always welcoming. Although the phone looks premium, the glass back, unfortunately, is a fingerprint magnet. I am using the red version which is an eye candy.
There is no Micro SD card slot meaning that you will not be able to expand the storage. There’s also no headphone jack, and the sound for the single speaker is just about average.
But the top of the phone, you get an IR blaster, which I must say, other manufacturers, miss out. Like all the other phones nowadays, you get a notch that is actually a little wider than the others. But like it or not, the notch is there!
Display
Up front, the MI 8 SE features a 5.88-inch AMOLED display with very minimum bezels. As the word AMOLED suggests, you get a display with deep blacks and good color reproduction. The display is also bright and vibrant.
Having said that, the brightness it provides is satisfactory. I mean, outdoors too it gives good visibility. The viewing angles of this device have got me impressed and display wise I have no complaints whatsoever.
Camera
The camera set up on the back of the MI 8 SE is a dual 12+5 MP shooter, where the secondary sensor works for depth sensing only.
The camera app is friendly enough on use, meaning it’s not confusing when trying to tweak some settings. There’s AI mode which detects the scenes and enhances the color and dynamic range.
Talking about the quality of images, for the price, I must say they look nice and vibrant. The colors are good and punchy, but I found it to be a little bit oversaturated to my liking.
Xiaomi Mi8 SE Camera Samples
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Taking still Portrait shots, they are satisfactory if not the best. Low light images have noise with limited dynamic range, but for the price, it’s not that bad. Selfies are great with good dynamic range, color accuracy, and details.
Something I am, well a little disappointed with is the video recording of this device. There’s no OIS or 60fps, but Xiaomi has included EIS which helps to get stabilization to some extent. There is native shakiness in 4K videos. The videos in 1080p are stabilized in comparison so, I recommend you use the latter for best outcomes.
Check out all the high-resolution camera samples here
Battery
The Xiaomi Mi 8 SE offers you a 3,120 mAh battery with USB Type C port for fast charging and data syncing. The fact that this device packs an energy efficient SD 710 processor and an AMOLED display has also helped it have a good battery life.
The battery lasts for almost a day at normal usage like for social media usage, surfing the internet, occasional gaming, etc. I had to put this device on charge every morning and return home with around 15% juice in it.
So, I would say that the battery life not so great but keeps you going for at least a day’s use. To balance it out, the device supports fast charging, so I had very less to whine about in the battery department.
Performance
The insides of the device are handled by one of the fresh lineups of Qualcomm’s chipsets, the Snapdragon 710 along with 4GB of RAM. This is also one of the reasons the device is getting so much attention and I was very eager to test it. The chipset comes with AI capabilities and supports Quick charge 4+.
On use, the performance is no less impressive. The device handles all your multitasking needs and gaming needs very efficiently. I played the Asphalt 9, which ran smooth as a breeze. Similarly, everyone’s favorite PUBG also ran with minimum hiccups. Talking about app opening, it does a commendable job here too.
Software
Moving on to the Software, you get the latest Android Oreo 8.1 coupled with MIUI 9.5 and the MI8 SE is waiting to get the MIUI10 update. I reviewed the Chinese version as the Global version is not there yet in my part of the world. Due to that reason, the absence of Google apps is evident here, so I had to download them by myself but that is a not a major issue.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI Software UI
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Other than that, you get a nice clean feel in the UI. Likewise, the fingerprint sensor is swift and accurate. I usually prefer the fingerprint sensor to be located in front, but the sensor on this one is located at the back. However, it is in a comfortable distance at the back so I didn’t have any problem, but it totally depends upon your choice. The facial unlock is fast too but in low lighting conditions, it took a relatively longer to recognize me.
Conclusion:
The MI 8 SE seems to beat most of the other mid-range devices. It’s not officially available in Nepal, but you can get it from Gear Best. With the new SD 710 onboard, you get power-packed performance, a good if not best cameras, decent enough battery life with fast charging, stunning premium looks and an excellent AMOLED display. There are very few reasons why I should not recommend this device to anyone. I think Xiaomi has got another winner here with the Mi8 SE.
Motorola is not the one to get spotlights frequently, but when it does, it does become exciting news. Motorola is known for manufacturing a durable phone that provides a good value for your money. And with a similar vision, Motorola unveiled a new phone. The Motorola Moto P30 is official!
However, there are certain uninteresting aspects to it. For instance, the Moto P30 comes in a very familiar design. We cannot blame smartphones these days for sporting all the same looks. But, the P30 comes with an iPhone X like notch and camera setup, while its color will remind you of some Huawei phones. It comes in three different colors: Ice White, Bright Black and what Motorola calls Aurora Blue, Huawei calls it Iris Purple! And Lenovo states that this phone has been “made for China“, for now, but we certainly hope to see it in other markets.
Motorola Moto P30 Features & Specifications:
Meanwhile, the Motorola Moto P30 features a 6.2″ IPS LCD display with Full HD+ resolution. The bezels are tiny, but it has a notch, that resembles the iPhone X uncannily. Even the dual camera set up at the back reminds you of that. It has a fingerprint sensor at the back, which doubles as the Motorola logo at the back. Clever use of space, right? The Moto P30 retains the headphone jack, which is nice, and has two speaker grills. So, the sound must be great!
The dual camera setup is a combination of 16 MP sensor with f/1.8 aperture and a 5 MP sensor with f/2.2 aperture. It supports 1080p video recording with background blur and certain other effects while the front camera is a 12 MP lens with f/2.0 aperture.
Under the hood, an octa-core Snapdragon 636 powers the phone with 6 GB of RAM. It sports 3000 mAh battery, that also comes with Fast Charging support. There are 2 variants in terms of storage options: a 64 GB model and a 128 GB model. But there is a microSD card slot for the expandable option.
Motorola used to be known for providing a close to stock Android experience, but the Motorola Moto P30 runs on Lenovo’s ZUI 4.0 on top of Android 8.0 Oreo. That certainly comes as a bit of disappointment. But the Moto P30 will also receive Android Pie update later this year! Anyways, for now, the phone is only available in China. The Chinese Yuan price roughly converts to $289 for 64 GB model or $303 for the 128 GB one. We might see some price changes if it makes it to international markets.
For the price, it certainly is a good mid-range device. If it comes to Nepal, would you consider buying it? Share your thoughts.
Oppo has launched its new Selfie Expert — the Oppo F9 in Philippines and Vietnam today. Images with full specifications of Oppo F9 has already been listed in Oppo’s official Vietnamese website. The Oppo F9 bears the company’s new water-drop notch design, an eye-capturing design, new AI features and other updates. So what are these updates? Let’s find out.
Oppo F9 Display and Design
Starting from the display, the F9 comes with a 6.3-inch LTPS IPS LCD captive display. It also comes with the latest corning gorilla glass 6 protection which can survive up to 15 drops from a meter height. And with 19.5:9 body ratio & 90.4% screen to body ratio, the Oppo F9 delivers Full HD 1080p screen.
The design of the F9 is similar to that of Oppo R17. It has a slim body with a thickness of 8mm (~0.31 inch) and weighs about 169 grams. Bearing the company’s new water-drop notch design, the Oppo F9 looks less intrusive and tidy. The notch looks a lot smaller and condensed than a most notched bearing smartphone.
Also, the back of the phone sports a diamond-like pattern which is similar to Oppo F7. The fingerprint sensor is on the rear and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom along with micro USB.
Oppo F9 Camera
As Oppo itself is a camera phone, we can be assured that the camera specification in the Oppo F7 successor with being better. The Oppo F9 features a 25MP Selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture. It also supports AI features like AI beautification, AI HDR and more. AI HDR mode allows you to click beautiful and sharp selfies in good as well as in poor lighting conditions.
On the rear, the Oppo offers a dual camera with the horizontal setup. There is a 16MP primary camera & 2MP secondary camera with a f/1.85 aperture on both the lenses. F9’s camera can detect and recognize 16 scenes and objects like grass, dog, sunset and more. It also enables PDAF, LED flash and, depth sensor. The F9 can also record video of 1080p @30fps.
Oppo F9 Software and Battery
Oppo F9 runs on Android Oreo 8.1 with Colors OS 5.2 on top. It is powered by Octa-core MediaTek Helio P60 chipset clocked at 2.0 Hz. The MediaTek P60 chipset is mainly responsible for managing AI processes. Another upgrade of the Oppo F9 is its RAM. It sports 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage which can be expandable up to 256GB.
Concerning the battery, the Oppo F9 is backed up with a 3500mAh battery. One of the major features of Oppo F9 is it supports VOOC flash charge with 5V/4A 20W. VOOC not only maintains the phone temperature but also provides 5 level protection to the internals. This prevents damage of internals the high current from adapter can cause. And that’s not quite it. Oppo also promises up to 2Hours of talk time with only 5 minute of charge which is truly amazing.
As for connectivity, Oppo F9 offers 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, dual-SIM support, microUSB, USB OTG, fingerprint and standard 3.5mm audio jack. The Oppo F9 comes in 2 variants: 4GB RAM with 64GB internal storage and 6GB RAM with 64 GB internal.
OPPO F9/F9 Pro Specifications
• Display: 6.3-inch 19.5:9 aspect ratio Full HD+ LTPS IPS display
• Resolution: 2280 x 1080 pixels (90.4% screen to body ratio)
• Dimension: 156.7 x 74 x 8 mm
• Weight: 169 g
• SIM: Dual SIM
• Chipset: Mediatek MT6771 Helio P60
• CPU: Helio P60 SoC
• OS: Android Oreo 8.1 (ColorOS 5.2)
• GPU: Mali-G72 MP3
• RAM: 4 GB /6 GB
• Internal Storage: 64GB (expandable up to 256GB)
• Front Camera: 25 MP with f/2.0 aperture
• Rear Camera: 16 MP + 2 MP with f/1.85 aperture and LED flash
• Connectivity: 4G VoLTE, GPS, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi, USB OTG
• Other: Fingerprint Scanner
• Battery: 3500 mAh with VOOC Flash Charge
• Available Colors: Sunrise Red, Twilight Blue, Starry Purple
• Price: $329(~Rs 37000) for 4GB variant; $340(~Rs 39000) for 6GB variant
OPPO F9/F9 Pro Launch Date in Nepal
Oppo F9 is expected to launch before the end of August in Nepal. Pricing is expected to be below Rs. 40,000 and is set to compete with Huawei Nova 3i and Xiaomi Mi A2.
If you have been waiting for the Huawei’s new phones to be available in the market, your wait is finally over! You can now purchase the Huawei Nova 3 and Nova 3i from retail stores starting today, i.e. the 15th Of August. The phones were launched in Nepal around 2 weeks ago and were available for pre-booking via Daraz and retail outlets. But now you can get your hands on these devices from the market itself.
Also, On the first day of sales, the company claims to have sold 2000 pcs of Nova 3 & 3i in 2 hours which is kind of a huge deal for a niche market like Nepal.
The Huawei Nova 3i (Rs.38,900) is the latest mid-range offering from Huawei. The Nova 3i is the successor of the Nova 2i (Read long term review) that was a very popular device a few months ago.
It sports a 6.3 inch IPS LCD display with a trendy 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The feature highlight of this phone is the Hisilicon Kirin 710 processor. If there was one thing the Nova 2i was criticized for, it’s the fact that it featured a slightly underpowering processor. But with the upgrade of this latest device, we have expectations of a very good performance. Like it’s predecessor, the 3i also features 4 a quad camera setup, meaning it could be a good option for photography enthusiasts. Likewise, you are greeted with a combination of 4GB RAM and 128 GB ROM, which is huge.
Alongside the Nova 3i, we can also see the Nova 3 (Rs.59,900) in stores now. The device, with its specifications, seems like a near flagship device. It packs some really interesting features like the Kirin 970 processor seen in Huawei’s triple camera flagship, the P20 pro, so we can expect similar performance.
Design wise, its similar to the Nova 3i. But what you get more is the camera pixels. Although this one too is a quad camera phone, you get a 24+16 MP cameras at the back accompanied with 24+2 camera set up at the front. The cameras are equipped with AI in both of the devices.
You can get the Nova 3i and the Nova 3 in two color variants as of now, the Black version and the Iris Purple. The devices have hit the market today, so make sure you get yours!
The Razer phone which was launched last year in November had trended as the first gaming phone for past six months. After that many Android gaming smartphones were launched in 2018 to follow the trend like the Xiaomi Black Shark, Asus ROG gaming phone including Huawei Honor Play which was recently launched. And now the next successor of the Razer Phone- the Razer Phone 2 is soon to arrive.
So what to expect from the new Razer Phone 2? The standards set by the Razer phone is simply amazing. With a top-end chipset, 120Hz Display and flagship features, the phone really stands out.
The Razer phone had 5.7-inch QHD IGZO LCD display, 8GB RAM paired with 128GB internal storage & dual front-facing stereo speakers which provides better gaming experience. Also, it was powered by Android 7.1.1 Nougat (upgradeable to Oreo). And it featured a 12MP + 12MP dual-camera along with 8MP for its front-facing shooter. However, we can expect better specs for the upcoming Razer phone 2 and better effort in the advertisement.
Although not many specifications have been revealed, we can expect an improvement in the chipset and camera. The current Razer phone sports a Snapdragon 835 while, the new iteration will have Snapdragon 845 or 855 chipset. According to the rumors, the phone might come with 10GB of RAM and 256GB internal storage. Also, the phone might come with a battery up to 4000 mAh or larger.
When will the Razer Phone 2 launch?
With the recent rumors of the Razer Phone 2, we can expect the phone to unveil in September 2018.
How much will the Razer Phone 2 cost?
It could end up costing more than the original Razer Phone, which currently goes for $699(~Rs 77000).
The original model- Razer phone was extremely impressive. However, will the Razer Phone 2 be impressive enough to become worthy successor than the original mode? Tell us what you think about the Razer Phone 2 in the comment section below.
Are tablets dead? Well, Xiaomi doesn’t think so, and nor does a few other big players in the industry. So, following the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S4, today we get the Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 Plus, a 10-inch tablet which packs a Snapdragon 660 and an 8,620mAh battery inside.
The Mi Pad 4 Plus is basically a bigger version of the Mi Pad 4, with a larger 10.1-inch display at the front. It’s a 1920×1200 pixel resolution display with an aspect ratio of 16:10, resulting in a mediocre 224 pixel per inch display.
Internally, the device gets a Snapdragon 660 processor with 4GB of RAM and either 64 or 128GB of internal storage. You also get a 13MP f/2.0 camera at the back and 5MP f/2.0 camera at the front. The back is capable of 1080p video recording as well.
Other features include Bluetooth 5.0, Type C connector, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and 5V/2A 10W charger. It has a body dimension of 9.7″x5.9″x0.3″ with a total weight of about 1.1 pounds. The battery capacity, as you already know is 8,620mAh. It comes with Android 8.1 Oreo with MIUI 10 out of the box.
You get two color options, Black and Rose Gold. Pricing starts at $276 for the 64GB variant, whereas the 128GB one will cost you $305. Pre-orders have already started with no further information as to when the products will start the shipment process.
The OPPO Find X was a pretty nice smartphone, a true flagship if I might add. But it’s not really what OPPO is all about, especially with the “F” series still in the running. So, following the success of the Oppo F7, Oppo has already started to tease their next selfie-centric smartphone, the Oppo F9.
The OPPO F9 will be a mid-tier smartphone, with similar specs as it’s predecessor. The things that are changing, going by a tweet from Oppo Malaysia, is the notch and waterproofing. No, the notch is here to stay, but it’s a small one, just like on that Essential phone.
A drop of rain falls on the leaf will shine they say, but how if it falls on the screen?
Again, judging by the notch, we can also confirm that there is going to be one camera at the front, which will be a 25MP unit with f/2.0 aperture. The back of the phone gets dual 16MP+2MP cameras with portrait mode and slow-mo video recording support. It also gets the AI 2.1 which provides HDR and vivid mode for better more eye-pleasing photos.
The smartphone is set to launch on August 21, and we are expecting three variants as usual. According to OPPO Malaysia, they want you to “Get ready to welcome the OPPO F9 with new waterdrop screen, a breaking new vision experience for you!” with the hashtag “#Waterdrop screen”. Here are two leaked sales pitch from OPPO themselves, courtesy of “Slashleaks”.
OPPO F9 leaked sales pitch
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The Pro variant will, for a fact come with VOOC fast charging support which OPPO claims will deliver 2 hours of talk time in just 5-minute charge. This same variant will also come in a gradient back design and dual cameras (16MP+2MP) at the rear. Don’t believe it? Watch the official video below.
As for the technical part, you get a MediaTek Helio P60 SoC inside, with the same Mali G72 MP3 GPU. RAM size depends on the variant you get, but it’s going to be either 4GB or 6GB. Battery capacity comes in at 3500mAh and storage caps out at 64GB. The phone will come with Gorilla Glass 6 protection and a waterproof body.
It’s also a 6.3″ 2280×1080 pixel display with a waterdrop notch and a maximum brightness of just 450nits. The phone will be 7.99mm thick and 169g heavy. There are also a few new colour options like the Starry purple colour, Sunrise Red, and Twilight Blue. But all this are just rumours so maybe not take it too seriously.
