Nikon has launched the successor to the D3400, the Nikon D3500. The new entry-level DSLR offers a few improvements as compared to its predecessor in terms of the design and battery performance. The camera will come with a single AF-P DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR kit lens, for a total price of $499.
You can also opt for a dual kit lens that includes an AF-P DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR and AF-P DX NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED for a bumped up price of $849. The body features of the Nikon D3500 include a 24.2-megapixel DX-format sensor with 11 point AF system and an ISO range of 100-25,600. The DSLR is also capable of 1080p video recording at 60fps.
Talking about the improvements, the D3500 now does 1550 shots on a single charge, against the 1200 shots on the D3400. Weight has also gone down by 30 grams. The newer variant also comes with an inbuilt wireless connection feature.
Apart from these few improvements, it’s mostly similar to its predecessor. The camera still features a built-in flash, RAW support, smartphone remote control, face detection focus, and a 921k dots LCD display. The Nikon D3500 missed out on image stabilization, environmental sealing, articulating screen, and AE bracketing though.
The number of lens support for a DSLR also plays a vital role in a user’s buying decision, and the D3500 boasts a total of 287 native lens support. Out of the 287, 88 lens feature image stabilization for people who want better handheld shots and smoother videos.
The camera will be available for purchase starting this month and will fit a lot of beginner photographers. Click here to purchase the camera.
In the recent days, the rise of the Chinese smartphones has quite challenged the Samsung in term of sales. The Chinese brand with their ever-growing affinity to provide capable hardware in the budget handsets and Samsung’s reluctance to refresh the design somewhat backfired Samsung. So to regain its lead, Samsung started providing a refreshed design in its latest smartphones and the Galaxy J8 is one of such lucky handsets. But how does this gorgeous looking smartphone fares in the real-life usage? Let’s find out in this Samsung Galaxy J8 review.
Samsung Galaxy J8 Specifications
Display: 6.0-inch Super AMOLED display
Resolution: HD+ (720 x 1480 pixels), 18.5:9 ratio, 275 PPI pixel density
Chipset: Snapdragon 450
CPU: Octa-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU: Adreno 506
OS: Android Oreo 8.0
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 64GB, expandable storage up to 256GB via SD card (dedicated slot)
The Samsung Galaxy J8 looks good despite its plastic back. There is a metallic frame and the metallic coating on the back that makes it appear premium. Even while holding and during use, the handset gives the impression of a metallic build.
The phone also has curvy edges on the sides, which adds comfort in usage and offers a firm grip. The phone never slipped from my hands during my usage in the entire review period.
What’s unique here is the location of the speaker which is located in a weird place on the right. The audio quality from the speaker is average and it’s not very loud either. There’s a fingerprint sensor on the back which is a little bit slow to my liking.
Display
On the front, you get a huge 6-inch display. It’s surrounded by narrow bezels on the top and bottom, but there’s no curved glass on the sides.
Samsung likes to call it “Infinity Display” since it comes with an 18.5:9 aspect ratio, but I don’t get this whole Infinity Display concept. I mean, you get the Infinity Display on Galaxy Note 9 and the S9 as well. And you cannot compare the J8’s display to those at all…Maybe Samsung should call the displays on its mid-range phones something else.
Like with every Samsung phones, you get a Super AMOLED panel that has good color reproduction, deeper blacks, and brighter whites. So, I didn’t have any issues related to color accuracy and vibrancy.
However, I was disappointed to find out the resolution to be only HD+. Last year’s J7 Max, J7 Prime, and J7 pro featured Full HD display, so I can’t understand why Samsung is including an HD display in 2018.
Since Samsung uses quality panels, I had no issues whatsoever, while watching videos, playing games and surfing the web. To my surprise, I did not notice any pixelation in the display or any lack in sharpness. However, FullHD panel would have served well especially considering the price tag.
The smartphone offers good brightness levels. I had no problems while viewing the contents even on a bright sunny day. Turning the outdoor mode on amplifies the display illumination to a maximum value so I could easily view the display even in a flooded light situation.
However, the absence of the ambient light sensor is another aspect where Samsung likes to compromise. You need to manually adjust the brightness level every now and then and it could be annoying at times. I mean, come on Samsung, the ambient light sensor is not a feature you should skip on a midrange phone.
Software
Software-wise, the Galaxy J8 runs on Android Oreo 8.0 out of the box. Like always Samsung’s own Experience UI comes with tons of bloatware. I found most of the bloatware flimsy so uninstalling or disabling them was the first thing I did when I got the review unit.
However, I grew quite fond of the S-Health app. Since I don’t have any smartwatch or a fitness tracker to monitor my daily activities, I trusted the S-Health app to monitor the number of steps I walked or the number of calories burned in any given day. It’s not a hardcore exercise regime, but this is good enough.
Samsung Galaxy J8 Software UI
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The inclusion of game launcher, Dual messenger, Blue-light filter, Multi-window feature, Ultra Power Saving and Ultra Data Mode are some other welcome additions in the UI. So, except that cluttered bloatware, I was fairly impressed with the Samsung Experience UI.
I also noticed that all the games installed on the phones stores in the Game launcher Folder. It is an interesting feature as the user can manually make a gaming profile, which gives them an option to mute the notification while playing. In the game launcher, the user will also have the option to play the games by setting the performance to normal or to play the games with the power saving option. And the great thing is that it applies to playing every game inside that folder. Furthermore, while running the games, two special icons add to the navigation bar. Between the two, one locks the gaming screen pausing the game whereas pressing another icon unveils some more features like taking a screenshot of the gaming screen or making a gaming video. I found this feature pretty handy as it allowed me to share the gaming experience with my friends and my siblings.
Camera
Samsung always had the best camera on a midrange smartphone. This time, Samsung has included a dual camera setup. The camera pair comprises of 16MP primary lens backed by the 5MP depth sensor. The sole purpose of the two cameras on the back is to capture portrait images. So, I tested the portrait images first. And I was thoroughly impressed by its capability. It has an excellent edge detection, due to which, the Bokeh effect looks more natural than what you’d get from software tweaks. And like always, Samsung has also added the feature to adjust the amount of blur and focus area after taking the shots.
samsung galaxy J8 Rear Portrait camera samples
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In addition, this time, Samsung has included the feature to change the blurred backdrop from normal to Crystal, Pixel, Time Slice and Crumbled options. I found this feature really handy as it adds new taste in the mainstream Bokeh effect. Furthermore, there is also the Portrait Dolly feature, which basically creates the 3 seconds videos from the portrait images where the subject is zoomed in or zoomed out with the segregated background.
Talking about normal shots, the device captures images with substantial details with a good amount of color reproduction. Even on the HDR side, the smartphone does a fine job. It captures HDR shots preserving the details of the highlights and shadows quite well and I have no complaints here. However, low light shots were not that impressive. They invite quite a lot of noise and grains, so, the images do not look so good. But when compared side by side with a more expensive Nova 3i, the J8 does a better job in low light shots.
Samsung Galaxy J8 back camera samples
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The 16MP selfie shooter on ample light come out great with good amount of details and color accuracy. The beauty mode also works quite well by removing the facial blemishes and acne.
Selfie: Normal Vs Beauty
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Normal Mode
Normal Mode
But its Selfie Focus is the most exciting feature. With this feature, it captures the portrait selfies with blurred backgrounds. Although it’s not as good as the rear camera since there’s only one camera at the front, and the background blurring is done with software effects, but it looks fine when captured under ample lighting.
As for videos, the J8 captures Full HD videos at 30fps from both the front and the rear cameras. Videos from the phone look okay at best. Since the phone lacks Image Stabilization, captured videos look kinda shaky. Also, the jittery autofocusing is also really unpleasant.
Check out all the high-resolution camera samples here
Performance
The J8 is powered by Snapdragon 450 chipset backed by 4GB of RAM. The presence of the mediocre chipset bugged me since Day 1. The chipset is usually found in budget phones these days, and Samsung’s decision to opt for this chipset in a midrange phone is not a good choice at all.
However, since the chipset only has to power an HD+ display, the performance of the phone was not that bad. Using multiple apps and multitasking ran smoothly and there were no lags while switching between them. Even while playing low end to mid end games, there were no any stutters and drop in frame rates. I played Asphalt 9, Dead Trigger 2, and Shadow Gun legends, all of which, ran with good frame rates at medium settings. But at high settings, you will notice every now and then. And, when you compare its performance with say the Redmi Note 5 AI or the Oppo F7, its evident that the J8 falls short by a good margin.
On the storage side, the J8 packs an ample 64GB inside. Also, you can expand the storage up to 256 GB with a dedicated microSD card slot as well.
Battery
A generous 3500mAh battery coupled with low power consuming hardware and internals, the J8 easily provided me more than a day under normal usage. So during the review period, I was thoroughly impressed by the battery performance. And since there are various power saving options, I could even prolong the backup. So, with the J8 as my daily driver, I never had to bother about charging the handset very often.
Despite that impressive backup, charging was a pain in the neck. The stock charger of the smartphone is rated 5Volt, 1.5Amp, which takes slightly over three hours to get the battery fully charged. But with the 5Volt, 2Aamp charger, it took just around 2 hours and 15 minutes to refill the battery.
Conclusion
To sum it up, The Galaxy J8 has an impressive camera – both front and back. They’re comparable to those of pricier Huawei Nova 3i and Oppo F9. The battery is good enough and will easily last you for a day. The build quality is sturdy despite a plastic back while the AMOLED display offers great colors and brightness levels.
However, the choice to put in a Snapdragon 450 is just not right. If they’d gone with the Snapdragon 636, or the Exynos 7885, it would’ve been much better. Also, I think a 1080p display is mandatory for the price of the phone.
With all that it packs, I think the phone is mainly focused for general users who want something of everything. As it doesn’t have anything, in particular, to make it stand out, it is just for the average users, and not for someone who wants power performance. So, that was the Samsung Galaxy J8 review. Would you buy it or skip it? Let us know in the comments down below.
Nagmani International, the official distributor of Asus laptops in Nepal announced a new laptop launch through their official Facebook page. The new laptop (ASUS G703GI) runs on a Core i9 at its heart. A full-fledged 45W 8th Gen six-core i9-8950HK boasting a maximum Turbo frequency of 4.8GHz. The same laptop also comes with a GTX 1080 GPU and costs Rs 531,250.
If the Core i9 or the overclocked GTX 1080 didn’t impress you, well you might as well stop here. The price tag won’t help much either, because we ourselves think it’s an overkill anyway. If you invest the same on a desktop, you can get a far better i7-8700k, a 1080Ti, and a 4k display, all for less money. But at the end of the day, if you want a laptop, I can’t help you.
Either way, the laptop does come with a few other features like 32GB of RAM, 2TB of SSHD and 256GB of NVMe SSD. We also haven’t mentioned the 17.3″ FHD display on board. We hope that it’s the same 144Hz 3ms G-Sync enabled display, which the post fails to mention because if it’s not, this is truly an overpriced piece of a laptop. They are giving away a free gaming backpack, a gaming mouse and a headphone which is a nice touch.
As for the performance and in-depth review, check out Austin Evan’s review below as we haven’t had a chance to test out the laptop yet, and we most probably won’t either.
So, what do you think of the ASUS G703GI? For a laptop that costs almost $3699 in the international market, the price difference might be a factor. But more importantly, is spending 5 lakhs on a portable gaming machine worth it? I don’t think so, but feel to buy one, just keep in mind that a desktop PC should deliver much much better horsepower, future upgradability options, and a much better display at a much lower price if you were to spend this level of money.
Launched in the occasion of Xiaomi’s 8th anniversary, the Mi-series did away with Mi 7 and named their flagship Mi 8. This flagship landed quite some time some 2 months but unlike many of its phones, it didn’t quite make news headers. Probably because it’s only available in China for some reason. You can buy it online in other parts of the world, though, which is, again, shipped from China. Even so, we got our hands on the Xiaomi Mi 8 and this is our full review of Xiaomi’s latest flagship.
Xiaomi Mi8 Specifications:
6.21-inch (2248 × 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 18:7:9 AMOLED display, DCI-P3 color gamut
2.8GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 845 64-bit SoC with Adreno 630 GPU
Android 8.1 (Oreo) with MIUI 9, upgradable to MIUI 10
Dual SIM (nano + nano)
12MP rear camera with 26mm wide-angle lens, 1/2.6″ Sony IMX363 sensor, f/1.8 aperture, 1.4µm pixel size, dual-tone LED flash, 4-axis OIS, Optical zoom, 4K video recording, secondary 12MP rear camera with Samsung S5K3M3 sensor, f/2.4 aperture, 1.0µm pixel size, 2X zoom
20MP front-facing camera with real-time AI portraits
IR Face unlock, Fingerprint sensor
Dimensions: 154.9×74.8x 7.6 mm; Weight: 175g
Dual 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11ac dual-band (2×2 MU-MIMO ), Bluetooth 5, Dual-frequency (L1+L5) GPS/GLONASS/Beidou, NFC, USB Type-C
3400mAh battery with Quick Charge 4+ fast charging (Mi 8)
Design
At first look, you’ll immediately know that it resembles the iPhone X uncannily. It is kinda huge, and not really easy to hold. The phone is light and has curvy edges, which helps the grip somewhat, but for someone with small hands, it’s not going to be easy.
The back is Gorilla Glass 5, and as it is with glass, they’ll attract finger smudges. But, it looks and feels quite premium on the hands, as expected of a flagship. I personally loved the design! The only thing is, it lacks is Water or Dust resistance but I’m not complaining. The phone is priced accordingly. It’s well built, better compared to last year’s Mi 6, has some sturdiness to it, while being a bit light at the same time.
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Display
The Xiaomi Mi 8 decided to go with an AMOLED panel this time from IPS LCD, and this has made a huge difference. I really, really liked the display! The AMOLED panel alone makes it a huge improvement over the Mi 6, but there are also some other improvements.
I am against notches, on screens, but you actually start getting used to these after a time. However, the notch is a bit big, while it only sports one front camera, speakers and an Infra-red sensor. I think Mi could’ve shrunk the notch by a bit, though.
The phone’s screen is big at 6.2 inches and the FHD+ display is pretty good as it is! The resolution does the screen justice. Again, you cannot compare it to Samsung’s flagships or even of Huawei’s but at this device’s price point, this is a good display. However, the brightness is not as satisfactory. In the sunlight, it’s just usable – nothing much.
Another good thing about the display is it’s got an always-on feature, which is quite handy. You can easily get the time and notifications on it, and it’s pretty necessary too, as its Facial recognition is quite zippy and will unlock in a fraction of a second, which is a bit troublesome if all you want is to look at the time. But there’s also an option to turn it off to save battery as well.
Performance
The Mi 8 sports the Snapdragon 845 processor that lives up to its name. With 6 GB of RAM, I have no complaints about its performance. It’s zippy fast, and can handle all the multi-tasking you throw at it. My games like Asphalt 9 or the Dead Trigger 2 didn’t even stutter once! No, I’m not kidding, and it didn’t heat up either. You can feel the rise in temperature, but it’s a lot less than other phones! And with an Adreno 630 GPU, the gaming experience is just great.
However, there were times when the phone heats up for some weird reason. And I wasn’t even gaming on it then. In fact, no heavy applications, but it was heating for a while, though. Maybe that is a software problem, but I can’t really say.
Software and UI
On the software front, it runs on Android 8.1.0 Oreo, with MIUI 9.5 skin on top. As with all Xiaomi phones, it does have bloatware and proprietary apps. You can remove almost all bloatware, so, that won’t really stand in your way. I have always been a stock Android person, so, I found the UI and navigation only okay. But yeah, if you have been using Xiaomi’s phones and used to MIUI, then, you’ll like it.
Storage, Audio, Sensors
The phone is available in three storage options: 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB. But since there isn’t an expandable memory option, do choose your storage wisely! It has got good speakers…loud and clear, and better than I was actually expecting. Plugging in earphones developed good sound quality too, and the overall audio experience was good.
The fingerprint sensor at the back is quite fast too. Just a tap at it, and it will open up. The fingerprint sensor and the facial recognition feature seem equally fast to me. And both of these sensors are faster than some other phones I’ve tested.
Camera
The Mi 8 packs a dual camera setup at the back; a 12 MP with f/1.8 aperture and OIS and another, a 12 MP telephoto lens with f/2.4 aperture.
Now, the camera setup is basically the same as that of Xiaomi’s Mi Mix 2S. Nothing new, here. I find the cameras decent. Pictures are sharp and detailed, it maintains color accuracy and usually, photos come out great.
Xiaomi Mi8 Back Camera Samples
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The telephoto lens helps in taking good low-light images as well. They sometimes tend to be a bit noisy, but overall, pretty usable. HDR mode, however, does take a second to process. Portrait mode does a good job too, with both faces and objects, as edge detection is pretty decent.
The selfie camera has been bumped to a good 20 MP sensor from 8 MP, which is a welcome change. Selfies are detailed with nice skin colors in good lighting conditions. Even with a single lens, it can take pretty great portrait selfies with that background blurring effect we all seem to want so much.
Xiaomi Mi8 Front Camera Samples
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As for video recording, the Mi 8 can record 1080P and 4K videos @ 30 fps, No 6fps here. The 1080P videos are stabilized and have excellent color, but the 4K videos lack stabilization, so do shoot in 1080P for the best outcome.
Also, you can’t take zoomed in videos very well, as it doesn’t switch to the telephoto lens even in the 2X zoom. Another disappointing factor is the poor audio quality while video recording. Still, whatever videos it takes, it does a great job at it, if you can get around its lack of stabilization in 4K.
Check out all the high-resolution camera samples here
Now, the MI 8 has a score of 99 on DxO Mark’s ratings, but I really have mixed feelings about this. Of course, I am not the camera expert here, but compared to Samsung Galaxy S9+, which has about the same score, I feel like the Mi 8’s camera falls behind.
Battery
With a 3400 mAh battery capacity, the battery capacity is quite good on it. In terms of its display size, it’s not that big of a battery, but in my experience, it is quite good actually. I got above 5 hours of screen-on time during my usage, and is comprised of all kinds of intense gaming, surfing my social media and also watching videos. So, I’d say that is pretty good.
The phone boasts that it supports Quick Charge 4.0, but there aren’t any chargers that support that yet. Even Mi 8 itself comes with a Quick Charge 3.0 charger which says it can get your battery from empty to full in about 1 hrs and 40 minutes, and it actually does that. It is still a bit slower than OnePlus 6’s dash charge, so, I would very much like to see it charge with a Quick Charge 4.0.
Verdict
Overall, after some usage of this phone, I can say that this is a flagship material. Sure, it looks like the iPhone X, it did away with the headphone jack and without Water and Dust resistance, it might not be able to compete with some particular flagships out there. But with its price, it will give them a run for their money! I have no complaints about its build, display, speaker, performance, and battery. They’re all excellent. The camera, however, doesn’t live up to my expectations. Also, the absence of the 3.5 mm headphone jack and lack of an expandable storage is a bit of a letdown.
The Xiaomi Mi 8 starts its international pricing at $490, with a minor difference in price in various online sites, probably because you have to ship them in from China. You can get the best deals from Gearbest right now. If it does make its way here to Nepal, and it the price is around 55000 to 60000, I think it would be a great buy! But that still remains to be seen. What are your thoughts on Xiaomi’s latest flagship? Would you buy it if it were to come here? Or do you think there’s better value for your money? Do let us know.
Pros:
Affordable price for a flagship
Good gaming experience and doesn’t heat up that much
The IFA 2018 in Berlin showcased a lot of tech – from downright crazy to some innovative ones too. And for Huawei, the exhibition was a perfect arena to unveil it’s Smart Home Speaker. Now, we have plenty of smart speakers, but Huawei sets its smart speaker apart with some aspects, including its name. First, Huawei calls it the AI Cube. While you may understand a cube as a 3D block of six square sides, Huawei means a cylinder! And that too, with a broader base narrowing as it moves upwards. It actually resembles the Google Home. But with the smart speaker incorporating the Alexa digital assistant and a 4G Router, the Huawei AI Cube is redefining Smart Home…and geometry too!
I won’t hold anything against Huawei for naming its smart speaker the AI cube. But it kinda eats me a little. Anyway, the “cube” is powered by Amazon Alexa. So, you can access all that the digital assistant has to offer. And with numerous developers working on Alexa to make it better, I guess it will improve continuously. The Chinese giant doesn’t have its own digital assistant, but maybe, that’s all well. It would take quite a lot for a new digital assistant to compete with the likes of Google Home, Apple’s Home Pod or other Amazon Echo devices.
The Huawei AI Cube also serves as a 4G router, which is the very feature that sets it apart from the crowd. This smart speaker has an LTE Cat 6 modem with an 802.11 ac WiFi adapter inside, which makes it a pretty good home router. Also, with Huawei’s expertise in making connection devices, I would believe the router is on point.
On the speaker front, the AI cube has four microphones for input but only a 15W mono speaker. That won’t make for any crazy stereo sound, but with Huawei’s own proprietary tech, Histen, the sound quality should be actually pretty good. Histen features things like virtual bass, adaptive gain control, and linear phaseequalizer, which should make for a pretty good speaker.
Huawei hasn’t revealed any other specs like the battery, nor is there any word on pricing. But the smart speaker is set to release into European markets at the end of 2018. It won’t make it to the US, and not even China itself. So, I doubt its availability on Asian markets too. However, the Huawei AI Cube, although not a cube, seems to be a pretty compelling smart speaker.
Samsung is launching two more smartphones soon. According to sources, the phones so launching are the Prime models of the Galaxy J4 and J6 launched some time back in 2018. So, we may be expecting the Samsung Galaxy J4 Prime and the Galaxy J6 Prime to be launched very soon.
The J4 and J6 featured Samsung’s own Exynos chipsets but the upcoming Prime models is expected to feature processors from Qualcomm. Similarly, the phones will come with Android Oreo 8.1 out of the box, unlike their predecessors that came with Android Oreo 8.0. News of the devices coming to the market soon has been released on the company’s Vietnamese website.
Sources also reveal that these prime models of the J4 and J6 will most likely be released this fall in Vietnam and Netherlands before other markets. As far as other specifications go, we are currently unclear about what the devices will be like and how much they will cost.
The Samsung Galaxy J4 featured a 5.5- inch SuperAMOLED display and the Exynos 7570 chipset. Similarly, it came with a combination of 2+16 GB storage alongside having a 3,000 mAh battery capacity. In terms of cameras, we had 13 and 5 MP shooters at the back and front respectively. It did not have a fingerprint sensor though!
The Galaxy J6, on the other hand, had a 5.6- inch SuperAMOLED screen with the internals being handled by Samsung’s Exynos 7870 chipset. It came in two memory variants, 3 or 4 GB with 32 or 64 GB internal storage. Similarly, it came with a similar 3,000 mAh battery like the J4. The cameras were 13 MP shooter at the back and an 8 MP camera at the front. The J6 did come with a fingerprint sensor at the back.
Both the J6 and J4 had average performance when we put it to test. With the prime versions of both the phones, we have put our hopes for better performance.
Gone are the days when the bulky and high power-devouring speakers used to be installed for amplifying sound. These days, speakers are available in small form factor, which intensifies the sound level to a great extent without major compromises on the sound quality. And adding to the list, there is the JBL Go 2 Speaker, which comes at a portable size and promises a superior audio quality. But how does this device fares in real life? Let’s find out in this review.
JBL Go 2 Specifications
Dimensions: 71.2 x 86.0 x 31.6 (mm)
Weight: 184 grams
Connectivity Options: wireless (Bluetooth), 3.5mm headphone jack
Bluetooth Version: Bluetooth 4.1
Controls: activate Bluetooth, power on/off, volume
Battery: Lithium-ion polymer (3.7V, 730mAh)
Recharge Time: 2.5 hours
Battery Backup (Up To): 5 hours
Frequency Response: 180Hz – 20kHz
Output Power: 3W
Transducer: 1 x 40mm
Signal to Noise ratio: ≥80dB
Protection: Waterproof (IPX7 certified), water resistant up to 3.3 ft
Speaker Channel Type: Mono
Intelligent Assistant Compatible: Google Assistant, Siri
On the design front, the JBL Go 2 may not look all fancy and eye-catching but it definitely looks sophisticated in its rectangular shape and rounded corners. Wrapped with the rubberized housing and with only the speaker grills on the front, the speaker surely looks sturdy and durable. On the top, the rubberized wrapping with an IPX7 certification also acts as a waterproof jacket, which prevents the speaker from getting damaged or destroyed in the time of drizzle and downpour. So even in this rainy season, I didn’t have to worry about carrying the speaker outdoors to listen to music.
And as you can see, we have the Deep Sea Blue color variant of the speaker as our review unit, which definitely looks stunning. But even if you don’t like this color, you don’t have to worry about. Since the speaker comes in a staggering 12 colors, so you can surely pick one that best represents your tastes.
In its miniature size and with its punchy sound, the speaker looks perfect. It is also light in terms of weight. It just weighs 184 grams, just as heavy as my phone. In addition, it fits perfectly on my palm and carrying around in my pocket haven’t been a problem for me at all. However, there are no any sorts of straps or clips to hang it on the backpack or on the belt loops. I definitely prefer a strap like on the Bose soundlink micro or a clip like that on the JBL Clip 2. So I did find this absence disappointing since it is not fun to walk around listening to music with a speaker stuffed in a pocket or inside a backpack.
Buttons and Controls
Talking about the buttons, all the buttons on the speaker is placed on the top. And on the right of the speaker is a rubber door that hides the micro USB charging port and 3.5mm auxiliary jack for legacy devices. You could see power button, pairing button, volume rockers, and a multifunctional button aligned meticulously on the top. The multifunctional button works as a playback controller and it can also be employed to access the voice assistant on the phone and managing the phone calls.
The speaker also has a mic embedded to it In order to command the voice assistant and to use it as a speakerphone. However, I was not quite pleased with the performance of the mic as it is not particularly sensitive. And during the review period, I ended up using my phone most of the times to complete the tasks, especially while using the Google Assistant.
Performance
The speaker has a grille on the front through which the sound projects outward. There is also the JBL logo on the grille and right on the top of the logo, you can see a tiny LED indicator, which glows white when the speaker is on. The indicator starts glowing red in the case of low battery and in the time of charging.
On the performance front, I didn’t have much expectations from the Go 2 given its small size. But to our surprise, it turned out to be a great performer when it comes to sound. The speaker filled my room with crisp and balanced sound and my mood with euphoria. The speaker can crank any kind of music, from jingles and tunes to metal and rock songs. The treble and mids sound perfect with absolute frequency response and smooth amplification. However, Bass is just ok. When it comes to bass, the speaker couldn’t produce sufficient beats to rock my room. And Deep bass….. Deep Bass seems to be non-existent as the speaker only amplifies sound from 180Hz frequency onwards.
Also when I tuned the volume up to higher values, I noticed the increase in distortions with the upsurge in volume. The harsh audio output at higher volumes is quite fatiguing. So I don’t suggest amplifying the sound to higher volumes. And since there is just a single speaker facing forward, you won’t be getting any stereo output or a 360-degree sound. The absence of the multidirectional audio can be felt as any shift from the speaker’s path results in the muddier and less intense sound. This had been absolutely displeasing when I played songs through the speaker in a group hangout.
Despite the minor displeasures, I did find the device as a decent speaker for music listening. Not just on listening to music, the device is also a great companion speaker for watching movies and streaming any sorts of video content. I watched a few of the How I met your mother’s episodes and the experience had been legendary. The audio sounded smooth and clear and I didn’t encounter any audio/video syncing problems.
Battery
In terms of battery, the device comes with the 730mAh battery, which provided me four hours of back up when I listened to music with my phone’s and speaker’s volume at maximum. But on the lower volumes, the battery backup tends to increase. I also tried listening to the music at around 60% volume and the battery accompanied me for slightly over six hours. Frankly, I was not satisfied with the backup the battery provided and wished for more. But given the size and price of the speaker, that was understandable.
Verdict
Even in its small stature, the JBL Go 2 packs plenty of punch. With the amplification it provides and the audio quality it delivers, the JBL Go 2 is certainly one of the best portable Bluetooth speakers at its size and price. Yes, the device cannot produce 360-degree audio and battery backup is not so satisfactory. But that’s the compromise you have to make while buying small and inexpensive speakers.
If you are strictly into the audio quality, Bose Soundlink micro will be an ideal choice for you. The amplification is amazing and the quality of sound it delivers is really soothing. However, the speaker costs four times more than the JBL Go 2 on the purchase. For a multidirectional sound, Alloccacoc Audio Cube portable is a fine choice, which offers 360-degree sound and delivers a punchy 30-watt output. However, the speaker is rather big in size than the JBL Go 2 and is twice as much as expensive.
IFA 2018 is going on in Berlin and there are loads of mind-boggling tech gadgets showcased in the event. And in that eye-catching tech event, Huawei is surely one of the show stoppers. The Chinese tech giant, which has already stunned us with its three-camera setup in the Huawei P20 Pro this year has something different on its shelf this time around. This time, the tech titan has showcased its brand new Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 980 chipset, which is the world’s first SoC (System-on-Chip) to feature a 7nm architecture. And this is not the only area, where the chipset has pioneered. There are plentiful of sectors, where the SoC flagged to be the first but we will get into that later.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset was adopted by most of the Android smartphone manufacturers in the year 2018. And this chipset was better than Huawei’s last year’s chipset HiSilicon Kirin 970. So, Huawei seems earnestly rivaling against the SD845 chipset this time. And the keynote on the IFA 218 seriously cues that. When the advancement introduced in the chipset is properly acknowledged, one can certainly find its superiority over the SD845.
On the memory front, the Kirin 980 has 20 percent better bandwidth and has 22 percent lower latency when looked side by side with the SD845. This implies that apps can now launch faster and users will not have to experience any sorts of sluggishness. In terms of gaming, the Kirin 980 promises to produce 22 percent higher frame rates than the SD845 but keeping the power consumption level 32 percent lower.
In the photography arena too, the chipset has got some handsome upgrades. The chipset features Dual ISP (Image Signal Processor), making use of which, the chipset delivers 46 percent faster camera processing over its predecessor, maintaining a 23 percent improvement in power efficiency while recording. There is also an improvement in latency by 33 percent.
Since Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used as a buzzword lately in every technological scenario, Huawei has given quite serious attention towards it. The tech giant had already provided the NPU (Neural Processing Unit) for the AI processing in the last year’s Kirin 970 chipset. And this time, Huawei doubled its AI processing aspirations has taken a huge leap by providing dual NPU in its newest chipset. This made the Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 980 chipset the first of its kind to feature Dual NPU inside it. With this setup, the SoC can perform an AI-assisted image recognition at the rate of 4500 images per minute. Huawei also showed that, by the same measure, the Snapdragon 845 could only reach up to 2,371 whereas the Apple’s A11, which enjoys performance leads in other categories, trailing far behind with only 1,458.
In terms of architecture, the Kirin 980 uses a new octa-core architecture (4 x Cortex A-76 + 4 x Cortex A-55) that mixes big, little and medium cores for more efficiency. The two big cores run at 2.6GHz and get triggered when demanding tasks like gaming is on the progress. The two middles cores are clocked at 1.92GHz, which comes into play when less-intensive processes are going on. Browsing, texting, etc. can be taken for an instance. The four little cores, which are clocked at 1.8GHz kicks in when there is not much of a task. These cores are best used for the background processes or playing music since they demand less energy juice.
Also debuting in the new Kirin chipset is the Mali G76 GPU, which promises 30 percent more efficiency and lets the devices run high-end and graphics-demanding games with maximum fluidity. Also, there is chipset enjoys 1.4Gbps Cat 21 LTE modem, which promises to deliver faster cellular data transfers. In addition, the chipset supports ultra-fast 2133MHz LPDDR4X RAM, which will ensure speedier performance while multitasking. Furthermore, the Kirin 980 will offer the world’s fastest smartphone Wi-Fi speed, clocking in at 1,732Mbps. With this speed, this newbie has surpassed the SD845 by huge margins since the best speed of SD845 is 866Mbps with a Qualcomm modem and 1083Mbps with a third-party modem.
Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 980 chipset pioneered as:
World’s first 7nm SoC
The world’s first Cortex-A76 based CPU
World’s first Dual NPU
The world’s first Mali-G76 GPU
World’s first 1.4Gbps Cat 21 Modem
The world’s first SoC supporting 2133MHz LPDDR4X RAM
Vespa is one of the famous scooter brands has unveiled its first electric scooter – the Vespa Electtrica. The production of Vespa Electtrica will start this September and will go on sale in Europe in October. However, it will be available in the US and Asia from early 2019.
According to Piaggio, the initial sales will be limited, and later expanded in November to coincide with EICMA 2018, also known as the Milan Motorcycle Show.
Features of Vespa Electtrica
The new Vespa Electtrica has a retro Vespa design similar to the first one released back in 1946. Vespa claims that it has a maximum range of 62 miles (100km) and performance like that of a standard 50cc scooter. It takes about 4 hours for the silent, battery-powered scooter to fully charge. Maintaining the 4hr session charge every time will serve 100 percent of the battery capacity up to 10 years of use.
The top speed of the Vespa Electtrica has not been confirmed. The scooter has an Eco mode which limits the speed to 19mph for battery preservation. The Vespa Electtrica will feature a DC motor having a power of 2 kW (2.7 hp) continuous and 4 kW (5.4 hp) peak power.
The Vespa will also have an advanced AI functions that Piaggio Group is developing for its robot Gita. Piaggio claims that the artificial intelligence system will enable the vehicle to sense potential risks or accidents. It will also be able to recognize their operators and provide an alternate route if there is a bad traffic and use navigation services.
With the AI functions, the scooter can also detect pedestrian and vehicles near a certain radar. It allows the riders to access the digital dashboard, and connect phones with the scooter using Bluetooth.
The Electtrica X, a hybrid version, is also in work. It will have a total range of 124 miles. However, it will have a shorter battery life with the power of 31 miles. And when the battery levels get low, it uses the gas-powered generator.
Price of Vespa Electtrica
Although pricing hasn’t been announced yet, Piaggio Groups will line with high-end models. So we can assume the price of Vespa Electtrica to be around $7000.
Oppo is known for its affordable smartphone product range. Staying in the mid-range section, it’s mostly known for its affordability in Nepal. And so, another one in the lower-mid-range category is the Oppo A3s. Costing about Rs.19,490, this phone is really an affordable option. But is it really worth the price? Find out on our Oppo A3s review.
Latest Price: Rs. 19, 490 (2/16GB) | Rs. 24,590 (3/32GB) [Last updated on December 6, 2018]
Specs Overview:
6.2-inch (1520 x 720 pixels) 18:9 FullView 2.5D curved glass display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection
1.8GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 450 14nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 506 GPU
2GB RAM with 16GB storage, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD
ColorOS 5.1 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo)
Dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD)
13MP rear camera with LED flash, f/2.2 aperture, secondary 2MP camera with f/2.4 aperture
Dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS + GLONASS, USB OTG
4230mAh battery
Design and Build
Upon first look, the phone appears quite attractive. Its big, bright and glossy design catches your eye instantly. It has a plastic build but it appears premium due to its glossy finish and sturdy construction.
The glossy finish means it’s prone to finger smudges, but it comes with a soft rubber case in the box. And the phone is big, and quite so, which might be due to its large battery. It sometimes bothers you that you can feel it in your pocket while walking or sitting down. And if you snap on the case, it becomes even bigger!
However, since the phone’s curvy edges give it some grip, it is easy to hold despite it’s size. The location of the speaker is a bummer, though. It’s located in a place where you can very easily muffle it while gaming or watching videos. I had to hold it very awkwardly to prevent muffling the speakers while gaming, which is very unsettling. Also, the lack of a fingerprint sensor is another downer. Plus, there is no LED notification light, which invites its own set of inconveniences.
On the design front, it has its bright color, glossy design and its sturdy construction going for it which is good enough.
Display
The large 6.2” IPS LCD display with a 19:9 aspect ratio looks good too. The HD+ resolution (720 x 1520) can produce good vibrancy and accurate colors without much pixilation. It also has good brightness levels allowing you to use your phone quite well in the sun. But for a large screen such as this, I felt like the resolution wasn’t enough. Pictures aren’t that sharp or detailed, but I guess that’s what we get for the price. And if you can get over that, watching multimedia on the large screen is actually fun!
Of course, like every other phone of today, there is a notch. But the apps are not optimized for the notch experience. If you play games in full screen, it will cut out some parts of it, making it somewhat inconvenient to play. And it’s similar with the videos. You will get an option to watch them in either 16:9 or 19:9 aspect ratios, but choosing the latter intrudes the content quite a bit. If the apps were optimized for the notch, like the OnePlus 6, then, it wouldn’t be as bad. Oppo should consider this in their other upcoming phones.
Cameras
Following the industry trends, Oppo A3s, too, put dual cameras at the back. A 13 MP primary sensor with a 2 MP depth sensor is what you get for that Bokeh effect in your pictures. While the phone does a decent job with the portrait mode, its edge-detection needs some work. It’s not the best depth capture, sometimes, feeling like its more software than the hardware at work. But most times, it will do a good job.
As for regular images, the cameras are capable of capturing good photos in well-lit conditions. There are enough details but colors come out a bit off, and aren’t accurate enough to make it true-to-life. It mostly over-saturates colors, which sometimes can look pleasant and other times, not so much. And even the Auto-focus is quite slow, making the objects blurry with even the slightest movement. And as for low-light photos, it’s even worse. Photos get quite muddy with a considerable amount of noise, highlights are blown, shutter speed lags, and a bunch of other issues. The cameras are just not good at all!
OPPO A3s Back Camera Samples
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The 8 MP selfie camera is also not something to be proud of for Oppo. The selfie camera can take artificial portrait shots, which is better than expected. Similar to the rear cameras, selfies come out decent in good lighting conditions, but in low-light, it’s the same story. Also, there’s beauty mode in there as well, which can do a pretty good job of beautifying your face.
Normal Mode Vs Beauty Mode
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Normal Mode
Beauty Mode
As for videos, the phone is capable of capturing 1080p videos @ 30 fps. Still shooting can produce good results, but with no Image Stabilization, they tend to shake a lot even with the slightest amount of movement. Focusing, too, is very slow in videos.
Ironically, for a “selfie leader”, cameras, on this thing, are actually a hit and a miss!
Check out all the high-resolution camera samples here
Performance
With the Snapdragon 450 chip powering the phone, the phone should be powerful enough, but there are things holding it back. It can handle some heavy applications well enough. Playing Asphalt 9 was smooth enough, after some good amount of loading time. Also, PUBG is playable smoothly in low graphics and low frame rates. But multi-tasking on it is a bit stuttery as the 2GB RAM on the device is just not enough, considering the heavy ColorOS 5.1 skin on top of the Android 8.1.
Out of 2GB, only about 800 MB is usable for multi-tasking, which is enough for small apps. But if you try doing that while playing games, you will start noticing the lags between transitions. Even launching YouTube with some apps open in the background takes a while.
OPPO A3s Software UI
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I mostly blame the heavy ColorOS skin for this. There’s a lot squeezed in the software and also plenty of bloatware on it. It runs deep into the UI and you will need a lot of getting used to with it.
Multi-tasking tray shows only the icons of the app running in the background and not their windows. But the thing that annoyed me most was not being able to swipe and remove the notifications. You have to swipe left and delete them, which is very unsettling. Now, Oppo users must be used to this, but for me, it made for a not-so-good user experience.
However, the software does have some noteworthy features. Take Game Space for example, which is very useful while playing games. It tweaks the graphics and offloads memory wherever it can, so that you can play heavy games like PUBG on it without much glitches. But even so, some stutters can occur, as the small RAM can only do so much.
Storage
As for the storage, Oppo A3s only has a 16 GB memory onboard. But there is a dedicated microSD card slot through which you can add up to 256 GB of storage, which you will need. Because if you just add a few games on it, you’ll begin to get low storage notifications. And moving those apps to your SD card is another hassle too.
Battery
This phone packs a huge battery – a humongous 4230 mAh unit! It is probably the highlight of the device. With normal usage, I was even able to get two days of usage on it with a full charge. And with heavy usage, the battery still lasted the whole day and then some. Not having to keep peeking at the battery percentage while playing is actually great.
However, with the micro USB and no Fast Charging feature, the phone takes over 3 hours to fully charge! With a huge battery such as this, there should have been a Fast Charging feature, but then again, it is unfair of me to ask all that for the price of this phone. So, I just stuck to charging it overnight.
Conclusion and Verdict
All in all, I have mixed feelings about this phone. It is well built with good design and features a satisfactory display. There’s Face Recognition, which, even though it’s software, does a pretty good job, even in low-light. Although, I would’ve preferred a fingerprint sensor over that.
The big battery is the major highlight of the phone. Everything else is either just average or even lower. The Snapdragon 450 processor is held back by the small RAM, considering its heavy skin on top. Gaming is okay, but multi-tasking is satisfactory at best. The cameras are also nothing worth mentioning. And it may be just me talking, but I really didn’t like the UI. Also, while the display looks attractive, the lack of optimization of the apps for the notch kind of bugs you. Yes, many aspects of the phone are only average, but then again, I get reminded of its price!
If only they could’ve included 3 GB of RAM, the performance would’ve been commendable, but it might also have increased the price as well. However, due to the lack of good competition for this phone in the price segment, the Oppo A3s might be a good deal.
The phone’s screen is big at 6.2 inches and the FHD+ display is pretty good as it is! The resolution does the screen justice. Again, you cannot compare it to Samsung’s flagships or even of Huawei’s but at this device’s price point, this is a good display. However, the brightness is not as satisfactory. In the sunlight, it’s just usable – nothing much.
