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Huawei Y9 2018 review: A threat for midrange players?

Pratima Adhikari
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Huawei Y9 2018 review: A threat for midrange players?

If you are familiar with the Huawei Nova 2i, the Huawei Y9 2018 is not something new for you. Like the Nova 2i, this one packs industry’s top features like a bezel-less display with 18:9 aspect ratio, quad cameras, an FHD+ screen, etc. But all these come for a price of just Rs. 25,900 whereas the Nova 2i comes for seven thousand more that too with almost similar specs. So, is this phone really as good as it looks or is there something fishy going on? Let’s find out in on our Huawei Y9 2018 review.

Huawei Y9 2018 Specifications:

  • Display: 5.93-inch FullHD IPS LCD multi-touch capacitive 2D curved glass
  • CPU: Octa-core clocked at 2.36 GHz
  • Chipset: Kirin HiSilicon 659
  • GPU: ARM Mali- T8360 MP2
  • RAM: 3 GB DDR3
  • Internal Storage: 32 GB
  • Operating System: Android Oreo 8.0 with Huawei’s own UI 8.0 on top
  • Rear camera: 16+2 MP with autofocus, continuous shooting, Geo tagging, digital zoom, HDR, panorama, touch focus, face- detection, etc
  • Front camera: 13+2 MP
  • Sensors: Light, Proximity, Compass, Accelerometer, Fingerprint, Gyroscope, etc
  • Battery: 4,000 mAh non-removable

  • Huawei Y9 2018 Price in Nepal: Rs. 25,900

Design

I never had a complaint about Nova 2i’s design, I don’t have a complaint about Y9’s design either. The Y9 2018 looks sleek and stylish with the huge 5.9-inch screen wrapped around an aluminum alloy body with an 18:9 aspect ratio. I am using the blue variant which I have fallen in love with.

huawei y9 2018 display 18:9 nepal price

At the back, you will see a dual horizontal camera set up along with an LED flash and a fingerprint scanner just below it. Everything looks good and in place. I did not use a cover and I was impressed that this one does not attract smudge or fingerprints. The phone is comfortable to hold and looks good on hands.

Huawei Y9 2018 review design

However, one slight concern is that the device is slippery and tends to fall out of hands. It is in such instances that I have felt a need for display protection and as the Y9 provides none, you have to be very careful using it.

Display

The Huawei Y9 2018 has a 5.93-inch IPS LCD touchscreen with FHD+ screen resolution. The display is crisp and viewing content in it is a welcoming experience. If you are suffering from visual fatigue like I am, you will surely find the eye comfort mode useful.

Huawei Y9 2018 review displayOther than that, the viewing angles, color accuracy (slightly bluish tone), and contrast of the display are good and it also provides ample brightness for you even under sunlight.

Performance

Like the Nova 2i, the Huawei Y9 2018 features the Kirin Hi-silicon 659 processor along with the Mali T830 MP2 GPU. The device, I must say has handled all my multitasking needs without breaking a sweat. Never once has it broken down on my use. Although 3GB RAM seems ample for usage, I still would like to have 1GB more on my device because the others are providing it in the same price range.

Similarly, Huawei is providing 32GB of internal storage, which is a lot less! I mean, on today’s date, I would not want to do the hassle of getting a separate memory card. So, if you don’t add an SD card, you are certainly going to fall short on storage with the Huawei Y9 2018. Thankfully, Huawei has provided a dedicated microSD card slot.

Huawei Y9 2018 camera price nepal full specifications

There are a lot of apps onboard that weren’t useful to me, some I had an option to uninstall, some I didn’t. It would have been better if the company had chosen to keep the onboard apps to a minimum considering the low storage it provides, but seems like Huawei has not thought about this.

Gaming was fun in this device, well at low to medium settings. When you go higher on settings, you will feel lags.  When I played Asphalt 8, at very low settings, the game ran well but at the medium to high settings, the game lagged. Low and midrange games ran quite well.

If you ask me about heating, I would say that this device does get warm after gaming. At normal use, I have not felt the temperature rise. However, I don’t mean that the temperature rises to become unbearable, but yes, it gets warm. It’s only common for devices to have that tendency.

Software and UI

The Huawei Y9 2018 comes with Android Oreo 8.0 coupled with EMUI 8.0. I feel like the UI on Huawei devices is very simple and same is the case with this one. There are customizable notification icons when you swipe downwards, you can change sliding transitions. You can get to the smart care feature by Huawei by swiping to the left, which well was not useful to me.

Like the Nova 2i, this one too supports smart gestures like swiping three down to take a screenshot or swiping a finger down the fingerprint sensor to get access to notification icons, tapping twice on the screen to turn it on, etc. I like it when companies include such features, I mean these are not very essential or extraordinary but still, it’s fun using them.

Back Camera

The Huawei Y9 2018 has a dual 13+2 MP camera setup at the back. If you look at the pictures I have clicked on this device, the images have a bit more contrast and the images are darker than normal. Similarly, when you are focusing on an object with a white background, it looks overexposed. So, the images are sharp indeed but come out over slightly exposed in a bright environment.

Something that I wanted to test was the portrait mode of this device. The images from the Nova 2i are very bright and punchy whereas from the Y9, they are bit dark and high in contrast. Similarly, both the phones do not have proper edge detection when it comes to portraits shots.

I tested covering the secondary lenses of both the front and back camera, and yes like the Nova 2i, they properly function to create depth of field. So, you can be ensured that it’s the software that produces the blur, it’s the cameras themselves.

Front Camera

I have quite liked the selfies form this device mainly because it does not make your skin look fairer then it is. Mostly, when you take selfies from smartphones, your skin tends to look brighter, fairer and somewhat beautified. But this one is not at all like that. Again I would say that the images are a bit dark but it preserves the right amount of details. So, I have quite liked them. Not to forget, there is a dual 16+2 MP camera setup at the front too. Again, the images have slightly inaccurate edge detection.

Overall, I would say that I liked the cameras but when you compare it with Nova 2i, I would prefer Nova 2i.

Security

The fingerprint sensor is snappy on use but I have used it only a few times because I got used to using the facial unlock. It works 90% of the times but when its dark, it may not recognize you sometimes. Other times, its swift.

huawei y9 2018 review call quality

Audio & Call Quality

The speakers are positioned in the lower portion and are decently loud. But the fact that they get covered most of the times while playing games ruins the fun, so I had to be careful to avoid covering them. Other than that, call quality and network coverage are good.

Battery

Something that has thoroughly satisfied me about the Y9 2018 is the battery. The device has a huge 4,000 mAh battery that can back you up for a day entire after intense usage like gaming and watching videos. At light usage, like for social media, clicking pictures and the like, you get a life of nearly two days on a single charge.

huawei Y9 2018 review battery

The device took me 2 hours and around 10 minutes to get charged and a screen on time of 8 hours. I know the inclusion of fast charging support is fancy on today’s date but I think the addition of a battery this large in capacity is a balanced effort by Huawei.

Conclusion:

The Huawei Y9 is an affordable version of the Nova 2i which pretty much similar everything except for the cameras and storage option. Summing up, the things I have liked on this device are the display, design, and the most certainly the Battery life.

The cameras, though are not as same as the Nova 2i, but still, perform good enough for the price you are paying. The performance section, like the Nova 2i is decent and will suffice the need of an average user like me.

But if you are a heavy gamer, opting for the Galaxy J7 Duo would suffice the need as it comes with a powerful Exynos 7884 chipset. If storage and stock Android experience is your topmost priority, there’s Mi A1 with 64GB storage and pure android.

So, if you ask me if getting this phone is a good decision, I would say that if storage and gaming performance is not a concern for you, the device pretty much lives up to your expectations.

Pros Cons
Sleek Design Average gaming performance
Good display Low storage options
Commendable battery life No fast charging
Good selfie and back cameras

Who should be the sole distributor of Xiaomi products in Nepal?

GadgetByte
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Who should be the sole distributor of Xiaomi products in Nepal?

There was news flying in the social media about the appointment of Teletalk as the new authorized distributor of Xiaomi in Nepal. Since the news was around in the first week of April, most of the people thought it was a hoax. And it took time for the people to process the information and realize it as a truth. The main reason for the disbelief at first was a huge difference in the price of the smartphone than one set by the Vatsal Impex, which had been around the market as the sole authorized distributor of Xiaomi products in Nepal for almost three years. Probably, that’s the reason why Teletalk has been hailed by the public with higher votes ( 63% over 37% while writing this article) in our poll.

[socialpoll id=”2496255″]

In the early days, there were few smartphone brands in Nepal and Samsung had gained nearly 70% of the smartphone market share. People had few choices back then. During that time the brand Xiaomi emerged, which used to deliver products offering a good value for money: bang for the buck we would like to call it.

However, the smartphone from Xiaomi was not available in Nepal during that time. Despite the unavailability, the features packed in the smartphones lured people so much that they owned Xiaomi smartphone buying from the gray market. And a little later, when Vatsal Impex Pvt. Ltd. was designated as the authorized distributor of Xiaomi products in Nepal, everyone was excited.

Also Read: Xiaomi Mobiles Price in Nepal

But the things didn’t go as the way the customers expected. Soon After taking the job, Vatsal launched outdated smartphones like the Xiaomi MI 4 and the Redmi Note 2, which were priced exorbitantly. The smartphone launched thereafter were not cheap either. Vatsal Impex used to mark the price at 30-40% higher on every other smartphone that followed next. Sometimes the price was as high as 1.5 times the price in the India/China market.

Deals: Grab Xiaomi Redmi 4A at Cheapest Price along with Free Offers

Xiaomi smartphones are renowned for providing remarkable specs at the affordable prices. However, that hadn’t been the case in Nepal. Even in the long journey of three years, the pricing attitude of Vatsal Impex had not changed a bit. Probably that the reason why the officials find a new way to sort out the problem; by appointing a new distributor. When Teletalk was appointed as the new distributor, the price of the smartphone became really affordable. Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (3/32GB) priced around Rs. 23,000 back then is now available for Rs. 18,999 and Xiaomi MI A1 priced at Rs. 29,999 (4/64GB) can now be purchased at Rs. 24,999 via Teletalk.

When Teletalk was delegated as the added as a distributor, the selling territory was also well defined. Teletalk was allowed to make sales outside the valley whereas Vatsal would do the sales inside the valley. For the sales coverage inside the valley, Teletalk was also permitted to make use of an online platform. So Teletalk partnered with SastoDeal to make sales inside the valley. Similar privileges were there for Vatsal too for selling its smartphones outside the valley. And for the process, Vatsal wooed Daraz for online transactions outside the valley.

Xiaomi Phones too Pricey in Nepal? Check out this Deal at Daraz

Was it out of the shame or just to maintain the competition, we don’t know, but Vatsal Impex dropped the price as well. And the thing to note here is that Vatsal Impex dropped the price on the smartphones which are also being sold by the Teletalk. Vatsal Impex found it useless to slash the price on the smartphones that are not available through Teletalk. Probably that has been the reason, why people seem to go against Vatsal so fiercely. Their main rage for Vatsal is that if the things could be sold at such affordable prices then why such a loot? And why is there not a price drop on other phones?

Another main weakness seen from the Vatsal over the years is the late launches of phones in Nepal. Xiaomi Redmi 5 Pro, the most loved and most awaited phone is the fan base is still not available in Nepal. Probably these are the reasons that obliged the users to dislike Vatsal and opt for Teletalk among the two. Our followers have voted against Vatsal and preferred Teletalk in the poll. However, on contrary to our followers’ vote, our vote would be for the presence of both the distributors like now. So that there would not be a monopoly and each distributor would mark the price on their product competitively. And we (the customers/users) can own the Xiaomi smartphones at an affordable price.

Google I/O 2018: Everything you need to know

GadgetByte
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Google I/O 2018: Everything you need to know

Google wants to become the leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) company and the Californian company proved its determination in its annual I/O conference. The event started from May 8 and will run till May 10, 2018, in California. The Google CEO Sundar Pichai hosted the conference and many announcements on Android P, Google Home and WearOS among others have been made.

Highlights of Google I/O 2018:

1. Gmail will write your emails for you

Google I/O 2018

Google announced a huge renovation of Gmail just a couple of weeks ago. It added the abilities to snooze emails and messages and make payments within Gmail iOS application. Yesterday and a new feature called ‘smart compose’ was introduced. Using AI, Gmail can now automatically complete writing emails. Additionally, it predicts and suggests phrases to be added to the email as we write.

2. Android P updates

Google I/O 2018

Google has made many updates regarding Android P. The updates are set to make Android P more efficient and smarter than Android Oreo. The first feature is ‘adaptive battery’ which will help in the reduction of CPU usage by 30%. It will automatically close the apps that are not going to be used for the rest of the day.

‘Adaptive brightness’ will gain knowledge about the personal preferences through Artificial Intelligence and automatically adjust the brightness you prefer. Also ‘App action’ predicts what you want to do next. It stores the actions you usually do at the same time every day. So, if you always call your friend/ family at a specific time, it will remind you to do so at that exact time.

It is also launching a new Dashboard to Android which will let users monitor the time they consume using their phone. It keeps the record number of times the user unlocks their phone in a day, how long has been spent using specific apps and so on. Android P will also let people set timers on how long they want to use specific apps each day to control usage of the phone. This will be quite helpful for many people. And a new feature ‘Shush’ will be added which will put the phone in ‘do not disturb’ when it is placed face down on a desk.

3. Google Duplex has Assistant to handle your calls

Google I/O 2018

The most astonishing highlight of Google I/O 2018 is the Google Duplex. It has made the Assistant very lifelike. The Google Duplex has no hint of a robotic voice. Duplex has made the conversation with your assistant more interactive and more human-like than any other AI has ever made. The company also is adding a new feature that allows you to ask multiple questions within the same request. In other words, you don’t have to say “hey Google” or “Ok Google” every single time making the interaction more unnatural.

Google Assistant is now smarter with a natural sounding voice which makes phone calls to book reservations and make appointments. And it doesn’t stop there. It can even handle back and forth Q&A.

4. Google Map will use your camera to display data

Google I/O 2018

With this feature, Google Map will pair with your camera and computer vision technology with Streer View to navigate you to your destination. Here, Google will pair up with Street View data and AR, and turn-by-turn experience will be provided. Google Lens can identify buildings, texts, or even dog breeds, just by pointing your camera at the object.

Google has also introduced a new shortlist feature. It shows you new restaurants and firms that are trending among other users. However, Google hasn’t confirmed whether this feature will come in Google Maps.

5.New Assistant Voices

Google I/O 2018

Google now has six new virtual assistant voices – including singer John Legend’s. And thanks to Duplex, it might speak like we do. It can train kids, customize Google Routines, and order carries outs. Amazon Echo will face some tough competition now with similar devices running on Google’s software. Smart Display with Google Assistant will be launched in July.

6. Android P beta is now available

Google I/O 2018

Android P beta has now been made accessible by Google. Google is launching its public beta to 8 manufactures. So, the new beta is available to handsets like Pixel, OnePlus, Nokia, Sony, Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo and the Essential phones.

7. Google News will be curated by AI

Google I/O 2018

Yes, it’s true. Google news app is renovated and is being powered by AI. The firm’s AI analyzes all the contents published on the internet and organized all the data, articles, images, videos and storylines. It looks for data that is interesting and puts them for your briefing. Among the thousands of true as well as fake headlines and news, Google News lists out the news that is written and shot by award-winning national reporters, journalists, and insightful bloggers.

8. Smarter Lens

Google I/O 2018

Google lens has also received a long-awaited update. The Lens includes smart text selection which will help the camera to understand words. In other words, it can copy text from the real world like books, menus, tags, and then paste it into the text field on the smartphone. Another feature of Lens is that it can identify price of clothing, food, landmarks, and fashion as well. Although it isn’t perfect yet, it does the job.

9. Smarter editing powers in Google Photos

Google Photos has added a major AI-powered feature that can B&W photo colour correction, brightness correction and suggested rotations. It has powerful tools to edit, modify and sort photos.

Huawei Nova 2i receives Android Oreo update!

Pratima Adhikari
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Huawei Nova 2i receives Android Oreo update!

Huawei has rolled out almost all of its recent smartphones with the Oreo version of Android. However, if you take a look at the devices launched around a year ago (like the Huawei Nova 2i), the smartphones were still waiting for the Oreo update.

Also Read: Huawei Nova 2i Review – Mid-range Segment has a new challenger

Well, the wait is over now because the Huawei Nova 2i has just received the Android v8.0 Oreo update. The device now runs on Oreo with EMUI 8.0 on top. Previously, it featured Android Nougat 7.0 with EMUI 5.1 version before the update.

With the Android Oreo 8.0 and EMUI 8.0 update, there are subtle changes in the UI, that might not be noticeable. For instance, you now get an option to snooze notifications in the notification bar as per your liking. Similarly, you get an enhanced notification bar. Likewise, the device supports better app launching with the new Oreo 8.0 update.

Apart from that, there is a new Picture-in-Picture mode that helps you create a picture-in-picture window while the app is open or after you leave it so that you can continue with your tasks. The device, with this update, is also said to have a better and optimized battery life and a quicker app opening time. Also, there is a smart text detection mode that Huawei has included in its latest update.

Although there are not many changes that have happened with this update, it’s good to know that your device runs on the latest version of Android considering some devices in the same price range are still running on stale versions.

However, all of your Huawei Nova 2is may not get the update all at once. The time of the update is different in different places. So, if you have not received an update, its most likely that you will receive in very soon.

Alibaba Group Acquires Daraz to expand its E-commerce Empire in South Asia

GadgetByte
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Alibaba Group Acquires Daraz to expand its E-commerce Empire in South Asia

Daraz is the leading e-commerce company in South Asia, which was showering the people in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Nepal with its lucrative online services. These days, the e-commerce website had created quite a buzz with the mouth-watering deals on the smartphone likes Xiaomi Redmi 4A and the Nokia 8 and also the laptop deals. The same website has now been acquired by the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. This step is heavily remarked by the Tech pundits as Alibaba Group’s plan to expand its e-commerce business in South Asia. Those pundits have also predicted that this step would subject to revolutionize the online business scenario in the developing countries like Nepal.

With this acquisition, Daraz will now present itself in the market with high hopes and would look forward to leveraging Alibaba’s leadership and experience in technology, online commerce, mobile payment, and logistics to drive further growth in the five South Asian markets. And the most interesting thing is that this market has a combined population of over 460 million in which 60% of are under the age of 35. So Alibaba has great potential to succeed in the South Asian market too.

Founded in 2012 in Pakistan, the e-commerce portal had been the online marketplace in South East Asia expanding its territory in the countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal. And it also had garnered substantial goodwill and growth over the years. Spreading the awareness regarding the online sales and purchases, the e-commerce had been able to serve 5 million customers. Over the years, the company started to sell the products ranging from consumer electronics to household goods, beauty, fashion, sports equipment, and groceries. And during that period, it has also able to create an e-commerce empire consisting of 30,000 resellers making the sales of over 500 brand products.

Despite the press release of the acquisition, the amount of money spent by Alibaba Group to acquire Daraz has not been divulged yet. Nonetheless, with so much of goodwill and penetration of Daraz in the market, we can assume that the e-commerce titan will find it easy to grow and deliver its services in the constituent countries. We can also expect that the presence of Alibaba in the countries like Nepal would ensure cheap and easy shipping of the foreign products. With the presence of Alibaba in Nepal, we can expect things, services, and products to be cheaper than they used to be. However, the company’s further plans have not been revealed yet, so nothing much can be said yet.

OPPO A83 2018 launched in Nepal with more RAM and storage

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OPPO A83 2018 launched in Nepal with more RAM and storage

Oppo A83 launched in Nepal back in January this year. Was is a worthy phone for Rs 24,990? Not really, but it just received a price drop of Rs 2,000. Is it worth it now? maybe. Following the price drop, OPPO has launched the new OPPO A83 2018 in Nepal as well.

Also Read: Oppo Mobiles price in Nepal

The 2018 version of the OPPO A83 brings three major changes. The first is a bump in the RAM department from 3GB to 4GB. The storage has also been doubled from 32GB to 64GB, which should attract a few new buyers.oppo a83 2018 price drop

The third is a bump in price, the newer OPPO A83 2018 will now cost you Rs 27,490. Following the price drop for the previous model, the price difference between last year’s model and the newer one is Rs 5,000.

Other specs include a 5.7-inch 18:9 HD+ display powered by a MediaTek Helio P23 processor and Mali G71 MP2 GPU. The software also remains unchanged, with ColorOS 3.2 on top of Android Nougat out of the box. Considering it’s a newly launched device, Android Oreo would have been a better option.oppo a83 2018 launched price specs coloros

There is a 13MP camera at the back and 8MP camera at the front, which also supports speedy face unlocks. The back camera also features an “Ultra HD” mode that supposedly takes multiple shots to create a 50MP photo which isn’t available on the 2GB/16GB variant.

Finally, the battery remains the same at 3,180mAh and color options include gold and blue. So, is the 4GB/64GB Oppo A83, now known as the Oppo A83 2018 worth the asking price of Rs 27,490. You decide through the poll below:

[socialpoll id=”2501309″]

Oppo A83 2018 Specifications:

  • Display: 5.7 inches IPS LCD HD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio
  • OS: Android v7.1 Nougat with ColorOS 3.2 on top
  • Chipset: MediaTek MT6763T Helio P23
  • CPU: Octa-core 2.5 GHz Cortex- A53
  • GPU: Mali G71 MP2
  • RAM: 4GB
  • Storage: 64GB extendable up to 256 GB (dedicated microSD card slot)
  • Front camera: 8MP, f/2.2 aperture
  • Rear camera: 13MP, f/2.2 aperture with LED flash
  • Battery: 3,180 mAh Non- removable Li-ion battery
  • Oppo A83 2018 Price in Nepal: Rs. 27,490

Deals: UMIDIGI London with Octacore Processor, 3GB RAM for Rs. 8888

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Deals: UMIDIGI London with Octacore Processor, 3GB RAM for Rs. 8888

It has been sometime now since UMIDIGI Nepal launched the UMIDIGI London here in Nepal. The device was launched for Rs. 9,800 then and had some basic entry-level specifications like 1 GB RAM and 8 GB internal storage. However, after a few months of its launch, Vividtec Impex Pvt. Ltd., the authorized distributor of UMIDIGI devices in Nepal, has come up with a fresher variant of the London. The device is now also available for Rs.8888 with octa-core processor, 3 GB RAM and 16 GB of onboard memory. Besides the storage and performance upgrade, the device is similar to the older version.

Get this Deal Here

Also Read: UMIDIGI Mobiles Price in Nepal

The newer variant UMDIGI London has the MediaTek MT6753 processor powering the device. It has a compact body with a 5-inch HD Sharp IPS display that is covered with DG Twin-Shield Dual T2X-1 Glass protection. The London runs on Android Marshmallow out of the box, though. So, if you want the updated Android version on your smartphone, you might want to look somewhere else.

On the optics side, the UMIDIGI London has an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. The rear camera is accompanied by a LED flash while the front camera supports beautify mode if you are into beautifying your selfies. All of this is backed by a 2,050 mAh Li-Po battery.

Talking about the price, the new 3 GB RAM variant is currently priced at Rs. 11,530. However, as a promotional offer, UMIDIGI is currently offering the smartphone for the price of Rs. 9,800 for the first 10 customers. Interested ones can call UMIDIGI at +977-9801154447 to exercise this offer.

UMDIGI London Specifications:

  • 5.0-inch (720 x 1280 pixels) HD SHARP IPS 2.5D curved display
  • DG Twin-Shield with Dual Glass protection
  • 1.3GHz Octa-core MediaTek MT6753 processor
  • 1/3 GB RAM; 8/16 GB internal memory, expandable with microSD up to 32GB
  • Android v6.0 (Marshmallow)
  • 8MP rear camera with LED flash (Sony IMX149)
  • 2MP front camera
  • Dual Hybrid SIM
  • 4G support
  • 2050 mAh battery

UMIDIGI London Price in Nepal: Rs.8888

Vivo V9 Youth Launched in Nepal with Dual Rear Cameras

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Vivo V9 Youth Launched in Nepal with Dual Rear Cameras

Vivo has launched yet another smartphone in Nepal. Vivo has come up with another smartphone in its V9 series and this time it is called ‘Vivo V9 youth’, a toned down version of the Vivo V9. Let’s see if the specifications are interesting as well.

vivo v9 youth display

The Vivo V9 youth has an aluminum body and a glass front. It packs with it an IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen and stands 6.3 inches tall. It contains a full-HD+ resolution. The smartphone also allows multi-touch and the front is built of corning gorilla glass 3.

vivo v9 youth software ui

The Vivo V9 youth runs on Android Oreo 8.1 and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 octa-core processor. Which we can refer to as being capable of smooth functioning of the smartphone.

Also Read: Vivo Mobiles Price in Nepal

It has 4GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. Most of the smartphones available in the similar price tag are offering 64GB of onboard storage. So Vivo should have opted for 64GB of onboard storage at the least. And along with that 32GB of internal memory, Vivo is offering a dedicated microSD slot expand the memory up to 256GB.

On the camera front, it has a dual camera setup of 16+2 MP each with dual-tone LED flash while the front camera is of 16MP. This is not that bad of a deal after all. The camera also has features like Geo-tagging, panorama, touch-focus, HDR etc.

vivo v9 youth dual camera

One good aspect of the Vivo V9 youth is, it still consists of the 3.5mm headphone jack and this screams convenience. As we can charge the phone and listen to music at the same time.

It is powered by 3260 mAh Li-ion Non-removable battery with this we can expect decent battery-life.

The Vivo V9 youth is available in two color variations i.e. champagne gold and pearl black.

We will tell you more about this phone in our full review. So please subscribe our YouTube Channel to get the in-depth analysis regarding its performance and the quality of the photos it takes.

Vivo V9 Youth Specifications

  • Display: 6.3-inch (2280 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 IPS display
  • Display Protection: Gorilla Glass 3
  • Body: Plastic
  • Software: Funtouch OS 4.0 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo)
  • CPU: 1.8GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 450
  • GPU: Adreno 506
  • RAM: 4GB DDR3
  • Storage: 32GB, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD
  • SIM: Dual Dedicated SIM (nano + nano)
  • Rear Camera: Dual (16MP + 2MP) with LED flash
  • Front Camera: 16MP, f/2.0 aperture
  • Security: Fingerprint sensor, Face Unlock
  • Dimensions: 154.8 x 75.1 x 7.9 mm
  • Weight: 150gms
  • Connectivity: 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, USB OTG
  • Sensors: Proximity, Accelerometer, Gyro, Compass
  • Battery: 3260mAh
  • Color Options: Pearl Black, Champagne Gold
  • Latest Price: Rs. 28,340 [Last Updated on July 27, 2019]

Vivo V9 Review: Stuck in Mediocrity

Pratima Adhikari
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Vivo V9 Review: Stuck in Mediocrity

In 2016, Google reported 24 Billion selfies uploaded in its photo application. In the same year, some people were reported taking as many as 20, 50 or even 100 selfies in a week. It’s no surprise that in 2018, the hype has only increased. After knowing this, I have come to the realization that selfies are a bigger deal than anyone has ever imagined! And information as such has been very cleverly used by smartphone companies to create camera-centric smartphones.

One of such smartphones is the recently launched Vivo V9. Cameras are of course the selling point of Vivo smartphones but apart from that what else does this phone offer? That question will be answered in this review!

Vivo V9 Specifications:

  • OS: Android Oreo 8.1 with FunTouch UI
  • Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 626
  • CPU: Octa-core (2.2 GHz Cortex-A53)
  • GPU: Adreno 506
  • Display: 6.3 inches IPS LCD with capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, multitouch with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection
  • Screen resolution: 2,280×1,080 pixels with 19:9 aspect ratio (400ppi density)
  • RAM: 4 GB
  • ROM: 64 GB extendable up to 256 GB (dedicated microSD card slot)
  • Selfie camera: 24 MP f/2.0
  • Rear camera: Dual 16+5 MP f/2.0 with phase detection auto-focus, Dual LED flash, Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, panorama, etc.
  • Video: 720p, 1080p, 4K
  • Battery: 3,260 mAh non-removable Li-Ion battery
  • USB: Micro-USB 2.0, USB On-The-Go
  • Bluetooth: 4.2, A2DP LE
  • Sensors: Fingerprint (rear-mounted), Accelerometer, Gyro, Proximity, Compass
  • WLAN: WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi direct, hotspot
  • Price: Rs, 37,790

Selfie Camera

First up, let me talk about something that I have liked very much about this device. Yes, it’s the selfie camera. The Vivo V9 sports a massive 24-megapixel selfie camera equipped with AI capabilities. It comes with features like portrait mode, gender and face detection along with AR stickers. I took a lot of selfies from this device and I must say I had very few areas to complain. In the normal mode, the pictures come out sharp and vibrant. The selfies clicked with the V9 come out very accurate and especially outdoors, you will love what you see. The autofocus works quite well. I didn’t find the portrait mode in the selfie camera very useful, but still works good enough.

What I would like to acknowledge is that the beauty mode is not bad in functioning. Unlike most camera smartphones, this does not create fake looking images. The beauty mode works to make your skin look smooth. You can increase or decrease the level of beautification but I would recommend you use the AI option for best results. Also, the AI distinguishes the face in accordance with gender, which I think is good news for boys!

vivo v9 normal vs beauty mode
Left: Normal Mode / Right: Beauty Mode

While we are still talking about beautification, like the Oppo F5, the V9 also makes moles disappear magically from the second beauty level!  Oppo and Vivo both seem to have a huge problem with moles.

The AR sticker feature works like Snapchat, but since Snapchat is not my kind of thing, I didn’t find it very fascinating. But for those who do, you can use a lot of stickers on your selfies. You may quite like it.

vivo v9 AR stickers

Rear Camera

The Vivo V9 has a 16+5 MP dual camera at the rear portion. As I tested the rear camera, I would certainly say that it performs really well. The best part is the fact that the camera is very color accurate. I mean, it has the right amount of punch, vibrancy, contrast, and saturation to them. The images are not over or underexposed and have the right amount of detailing to them.

All of the above-mentioned things is, well, for the fairly lit environment. The low light performance is, however, not as good as the daylight performance. It’s not bad, but it’s not good either as the images are not very sharp in low light.

Talking about the cameras, we cannot miss the Portrait mode, can we? I clicked pictures in the portrait mode and the fact that we can adjust the blur before and after taking pictures was good to know.  The portrait images do appear bright and sharp. What I found to be a tiny problem was that when focusing on a person, the camera only seems to blur out the upper portion while the lower portion was as it is. It’s sad that such good camera suffers slightly inaccurate depth sensing.However, this did not seem to be a problem while the subjects were placed close to the camera. Only at objects far away, the concern arose. Also, you can notice in the pictures that the cameras have poor edge detection.

Vivo V9 portraits

You have an option to record videos at 4k, 1080p and 720p. The videos at all three resolutions have good stabilization. Also, something that set me off was that autofocus in the video mode did not work very well. Similarly, the slow-motion videos suffer bad quality.

Overall, if I had to judge the cameras, I would say that am very impressed with the kind of images it produces.

Display

The Vivo V9 sports a tall 6.23-inch 1080P display with 19:9 aspect ratio. It is a treat watching videos on the huge display. The content appears sharp, crisp and clear, but the pinkish tint is evident when compared side by side with other smartphones. Also, the good news is that it comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.

VIVO V9 display review

The contents are fairly visible under sunlight, so I would say that you will certainly love the kind of display you get on this device.

Design

Talking about the design, when I first carried the Vivo V9 out with me, people asked me if this was the iPhone X.  Sadly, I could not hide it for too long that it was not! But seriously, this phone has a good resemblance to the iPhone X which begs a question, how can anything be so “inspired” that it looks alike? But other things kept aside, the iPhone X inspired design looks good on the device.Commendable is the fact that the notch is actually shorter than the iPhone X incorporating only the selfie camera and the speaker. What’s impressive is that Vivo has managed to keep the screen to body ratio at 90% implying that only 10% is what we call ‘bezels’.

Vivo V9 Notch

Unlike most of the smartphones in the market, this one has a glossy finish which looks good. But what comes with good looks is a smudge-prone device as this one is a complete fingerprint magnet. But I used the cover that came along, so it did not bother me much.

Vivo V9 back plastic

Other than that, the device is unbelievably lightweight, which is, of course, the result of its plastic build. Now here is what I have a slight complaint about. Only if that amazing display would have come wrapped around a metallic build, it would have done so much justice to the price and to the display itself. Another thing is that the buttons are all located on the right side, so it does not create a confusion but I felt that the buttons are not tactile enough.

Performance

The Vivo V9 houses the Snapdragon 626 SoC along with 4GB of DDR3 RAM. Even though this is a very good combination, but for the price, I expected more.  The phone shows good enough results during normal usage. I mean for surfing the internet, for social networking and other routine tasks, you can entrust yourself with the Vivo V9.

Initially, the device failed to perform accordingly while multitasking and switching between apps!  The performance, in my experience, had been slightly unpredictable at first as some apps crashed now and then. However, with a recent software update, those bugs were fixed and the device performed considerably well. Multitasking and switching through apps were lag free and smooth later with the update.

Moving on, the device features the Adreno 506 GPU which seems to produce satisfactory results while gaming.  I have played low to high-end games and all of them seem to work fine in the V9. Although, while playing Beat Racer I felt minor lags twice, that didn’t happen anytime again, so, I guess that’s negligible! Other games like The Modern Combat 5, Dead trigger 2 ran well in medium settings. I went on playing games for a considerable long time and while doing so, the temperature never rose to more than 38 degrees. However, for the price, the performance could have been so much better with a better choice of processor, maybe the Snapdragon 636.

Software UI

Moving on, The Vivo V9 comes with Android Oreo 8.0 out of the box coupled with Funtouch OS. The UI will certainly give you an IOS feel as you have to swipe upwards to get access to the notification icons, change the brightness, etc.  Initially, it took me some time to get used to this but eventually I did get accustomed. The app and system notifications still appear at the top.

Vivo V9 software UI

Talking about the interface again, I loved the animation options this phone provides. It is quite fun and refreshing to see and use them. Apart from that, there are a lot of pre-loaded pointless apps that come along which cannot be deleted. They just sit there watching and eating up your space which is very annoying.

There are some interesting features that thankfully make the user experience fun. Like swiping three fingers up to take a screenshot or swiping three fingers down to create a split screen. It seems amusing when you just shake your phone to turn the flashlight on.

Security & Others

The fingerprint sensor is one of the snappiest and same goes with the facial unlock. It takes around a second to unlock the device with face recognition, which is quite impressive. Under low light conditions, it may take more than one second to recognize you though! The speaker is at the bottom and does a very good job indeed. The call quality and network connection are good too.

Talking about the call quality, I would say that it is good. Similarly, the device supports WiFi dual-band a/b/g/n/ac, so wifi connectivity, I must acknowledge is decent too!

Battery

The battery is another aspect I have a complaint about. I understand that this is a camera-centric smartphone, but the inclusion of a larger battery would not have hurt considering it has to support such huge screen. For normal usage that is for calling and a good amount of social media, the device runs for a day.

Vivo V9 battery life

It gave me a screen on time of around 4 hours. Heavy usage like watching videos, gaming, etc. drains the device of its life very easily. Again, it’s 2018 but the device still does not have USB type C. Well, I am not going to talk about fast charging support, as it has none.

Conclusion:

Midrange phones have become more competitive than ever. Although the Vivo V9 has a great selfie camera, a reliable dual camera on the back and a big gorgeous display, it’s in the performance, the battery life and build quality where competitors have easily outperformed the V9 by a good margin.

There are more cons than pros in this device for me to recommend this phone to you. So, maybe Vivo should consider decreasing the price to Rs. 33-34,000.

Right now, I would rather wait for the new A or J-series from Samsung, Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro and Huawei P20 Lite which are all set to launch in Nepal in a similar price range.

 Pros  Cons
Good Display Average Battery
Good Design Plastic Build
Good Cameras (both front and back) Mediocre performance

LG announces LG G7 ThinQ with the brightest display and the loudest speaker

GadgetByte
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LG announces LG G7 ThinQ with the brightest display and the loudest speaker

In the MWC 2018, LG unveiled most of its products geared up for 2018. That lineup included a number of home appliances, which were all AI-injected and the term ThinQ came after that. In that event, LG had also announced a new LG V30 Raspberry Rose smartphone, which was basically the same LG V30 in a new suit color. With the launch of the V30 Raspberry Rose variant, critics remarked the smartphone nothing but a consolation to LG fans. They also stated the move as the LG’s way to buy the time for a new and great flagship. As predicted, LG G7 ThinQ, the latest flagship offering from the LG comprises of note-worthy and seems all suited to battle other flagships like Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, iPhone X, etc.

Brightest Display

The G7 ThinQ comes with a tall 6.1-inch display, which is high in resolutions, 1440 x 3120 pixels to be precise. The display, on the top, contains a notch just like the iPhone X, Vivo V9, Oppo F7, etc. The notch on the top can be also masked with the black patch as of now. We might be able to see some noteworthy ways to manage that ugly notch in the Android P. And that won’t be impossible as the smartphone maker has already promised to manage Android P to its users when the new OS version is released.

lg g7 thinq display

The material used on the display is IPS LCD. Despite the use of IPS panel on the display, it is substantially bright with 1000 nits of brightness. With this display, LG G7 ThinQ is the brightest smartphone with the IPS LCD till date. LG boasted that the display possesses Red, Green, Blue and White pixels to improve enhance the display quality.

Powerful Performance

Powering the device is a Snapdragon 845 chipset. Previously, LG G6 had suffered quite significantly because of the use of the old processor. Now with a new and capable processor at play, LG G7 ThinQ can make strong impressions in the smartphone market. On the storage side, there are two variants: one with 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage whereas the premium one carries an ample 6GB RAM and 128 GB of onboard storage. The premium variant or the variant rich in memory is also remarked as the LG G7 plus ThinQ.

ThinQ Powered AI-Camera

G7 carries Dual 16 MP cameras at the back. Most of the flagship smartphones use the telephoto lens for the secondary sensor. However, LG had always been an exception and the trend continued here too. The secondary camera used on the G7 comprises of the wide-angle lens, which increases the field of view (FOV) while taking the images. With the dual cameras at play, users can squeeze in more content in the frame without a hassle. The camera setup on this smartphone helps the users capture images with up to 107-degrees of the field of view. And talking about the selfie camera, the smartphone is enriched with an 8MP sensor.

The cameras on the device are powered by LG’s home-baked AI platform, specifically used as ThinQ. These AI-powered intelligent cameras use onboard machine learning and recognize the objects in the frame. The camera brilliantly recognizes 18 categories of scene information on the G7: person, flower, pet, food, sunset, sunrise, landscape, city, baby, animal, beverage, fruit, sky, beach, snow, people, low-light and “basic.” It switches to what’s needed.

Dedicated AI Button

Just like the Samsung Galaxy S8, S9, and Note 8, LG has added a dedicated button on its device for the digital assistant. However, instead of putting its self-developed digital assistant like the Samsung smartphone, LG added the dedicated button for the Google assistant. Google Assistant is obviously the top digital assistant and a dedicated button to seek help from is obviously a bold move from LG. However, the sad part is that the button is not remappable.

A Booming Speaker

The G7 doesn’t have stereo speakers, just a single louder one. And it uses a weird new trick to amplify the sound. Cleverly, the Korean giant managed to turn the insides of the smartphone into a giant resonating chamber for its onboard speaker. With this technique, the G7 can produce up to 100 decibels of sound, which is three times more than the LG G6.

High-end Lossless Music Playback

LG has always been conscious about the audio quality in its smartphones. So it has kept the 32-bit quad-DAC from the G6 and V series alive in the G7. The company claimed that the quad-DAC will be able to provide a clearer sound for wired headphones. Probably this could be the reason for the LG G7 to include the 3.5mm headphone jack with the handset. The physical connector also allows LG to incorporate DTS:X virtual surround sound. This is the first time the technology, which virtually creates 7.1-channel audio, has been incorporated into a phone. However, the users need wired headphones or a speaker to get the full benefit of its object-oriented positional sound.

LG G7 ThinQ Specifications

  • Display: 6.1 inches IPS LCD with Gorilla glass 5 (front and back) protection
  • Resolution: 1440 x 3120 pixels, 19.5:9 aspect ratio @ 564PPI pixel density
  • OS: Android Oreo (v8.0; Planned upgrade to Android P (v9.0)
  • Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
  • RAM: 4/6GB
  • Storage: 64/128 internal storage, Expandable up to 400GB (Uses SIM2 slot)
  • Rear Camera: Dual: 16 MP (f/1.6, OIS) + 16 MP (f/1.9), laser & phase detection autofocus, LED flash
  • Front Camera: 8 MP, f/1.9
  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, A-GPS, 3G, 4G LTE, USB Type C 3.1, USB OTG
  • Sensors: Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer
  • Battery:3000mAh non-removable battery with Quick Charge 3.0
  • Other Features: 100% DCI-P3 coverage and HDR 10 compliant display,3.5mm Headphone Jack, DTS-X Sound, IP68 Certified (Water and Dust resistant), Fast Charging (QC 3.0), Wireless charging
  • Color Variants: New Platinum Gray, New Aurora Black, New Moroccan Blue, Raspberry Rose
  • Price: Not announced yet
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