The Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) introduced IMEI registering campaign a couple of years back. Lots of users have registered their mobile phones, but there is still a a lack of a technology that could completely stop the phones that aren’t officially registered. So, taking that into account, the NTA recently called for a tender with plans to stop unregistered smartphones from working.
According to NTA, 13 international companies have applied to win the tender with not even a single participation from Nepal. This tender was called for a month ago on Baisakh 28. 13 companies from 10 countries have applied for the tender, among which 6 will now be selected according to their experience, marketing, and working capacity among others.
The companies reside in various countries and are spread all over the world. Among the 13 companies are Sicap Schweiz AG from Switzerland, Vayam Technologies, Spice Digital and Gens Pair International from India, and F1Soft International from Lebanon. Likewise, Malaysia’s Newmera Malaysia, Mobilium Inc. from the USA, and China’s Quality Certification Center have also applied. Similarly, Cites Communication of Singapore, T.T.G. Uluslararasi Telecommunication from Turkey, Belgium’s InfraData, and Simbrela Group and Porting Axes: Are the Huge from the Netherlands make up for the total 13 companies.
The Nepal Telecommunication Authority is hopeful that this step it has taken will completely stop the unauthorized entry of mobile phones into Nepal. The companies will add Mobile Phones management technology into all service providers’ system which will categorize all the phones into a black, grey and whitelist.
In accordance with that list, NTA will decide what to do with the mobile phones. The phones that come under whitelist will work without any issues while the ones on the greylist will be under surveillance. According to NTA, the phones that are stolen or lost will be the ones on the greylist. The ones on the backlist will completely stop working.
The Chinese brand OPPO has confirmed to come back with its innovative Find series packed with numerous new technologies developed by the company itself. Oppo Find X is all set to unveil at an official launch on June 19 at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
With the launch date approaching, Oppo has released many teasers of Find X. According to the latest teaser, Oppo Find X will be coming with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, 8 GB RAM, and 256 GB of internal storage. But that’s not where it stops.
The Oppo Find X will be coming with many other intriguing features. Here is what we know about Find X.
The 5x Zoom
Oppo Find X will feature the 5x Dual camera zoom which was even presented at MWC 2017 (Barcelona). This particular zoom technology especially concerns dual cameras and uses the periscope-style structure. The 5.7mm thick 5x zoom is a telescopic lens which uses a prism to direct light to its sensor at the angle of 90o. This will actually offer 3x optical zoom but an additional 2x software-enhanced zoom is used to obtain 5x magnification. This gives the advantage to give enough space for the zoom without giving up quality and slenderness.
Super VOOC Charging
As innovative as 5x dual camera zoom is, Oppo has also developed a technology which will leave you in awe. VOOC concerns fast recharging of the battery of the smartphone. The Super VOOC is competent to fully charge a 2500 mAh battery in about 15 minutes. Oppo Find x is powered by 3645 mAh battery which can fully charge from 0-100 within 30 minutes.
Design
The Oppo comes to light with a very interesting design for its new Find flagship. According to the rumors, it is equipped with a 6.42-inch Quad HD notch-enabled OLED display. The phone will have a slightly curved outline with dual edge curve as seen on Samsung Galaxy S9 and iPhone X. The phone will feature a glass back panel and 20MP +16 MP dual rear camera.
Oppo proposed 5G network using 3D structured light which focuses on video calls. Briefly, Oppo collaborated with Qualcomm to develop this technology which is capable to create a 3D model of the person using colors and detailed information from the camera and then transmit it on its 5G network. Oppo claims to use this technology furthermore in AR, secure payments and many more.
Also, Oppo Find X will run on the latest top-of-the-range chip, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and run on Android 8.0 Oreo with Colors UI. The phone features 8GB RAM and 256 GB internal memory.
Just like the Vivo NEX, all the sensors of the Find X might come embedded under its display including the fingerprint sensor. Also, the Find X may come with a high-speed facial authentication which can scan a human face within 0.18 seconds. This was also seen on Oppo Find 9. Furthermore, connectivity options include WiFi 802.11ac Bluetooth 5 LE and GPS. The dimensions of Find X measures 156.7×74.3×9.4mm and weighs 186 grams.
So these were the known specs of Find X. Tell us what you think about Oppo Find X in the comment section below.
Vivo launched its concept smartphone, the Apex as a commercial product, under the name Vivo Nex. The major highlight of this smartphone is certainly its 91.24% screen-to-body ratio.
Vivo Nex Specifications
The Vivo Nex is available in three different variants, two high-end models, and one mid-range model. The high-end model, the Nex S, is powered by Snapdragon 845 chipset and is available with 8 GB of RAM and 256 or 128 GB of storage variants. The mid-range Nex A comes with Snapdragon 710 chipset and 6 GB of RAM which works alongside Adreno 616 GPU. The Nex runs on Android v8.1 Oreo out of the box with an AI-enabled Energy UI on top.
But the major talking point is certainly the display. This bezel-less beauty has screen spread all over its top making up for the 91.24% screen-body ratio. This 6.59-inch display with 1080 x 2316 pixels resolution is a Super AMOLED panel which is certainly an icing on the cake.
Now you might wonder how the buyers will make a call via this smartphone. Well, the Chinese company has embedded a Screen SoundCasting Technology on the device where the screen acts as an earpiece itself.
For capturing selfies, Vivo has included a mechanical camera which pops up when a user opens the front-facing camera. This 8-megapixel camera can automatically open when whenever someone wants to take a selfie. I am still skeptic about this camera, as anything mechanical might stop working somewhere in the near future.
Like a couple of new Vivo smartphones, the Nex also features an in-display fingerprint scanner. There is, however, no facial unlock as it would make no sense to just pop up the camera for unlocking the smartphone.
Vivo has also managed to include its very own assistant, Jovi. There is a separate physical button on the side just to trigger it. This assistant, according to Vivo, works with intelligence as it can learn what the user wants from it over time.
Talking about the rear-facing camera, well its vertical setup is similar to the one on the Vivo V9. The device has dual lenses on the back measuring 12- and 5-megapixel with f/1.8 and f/2.4 aperture respectively. The former also has an Optical Image Stabilization feature. There is a 4,000 mAh battery on Nex which with the full HD+ display, should last for a day.
Vivo Nex Pricing and Availability
Vivo has priced the high-end Nex S at 4998 Yuan for the 256 GB variant, while the 128 GB version goes on sale for 4498 Yuan which convert to $780 and $702 approximately. The variant with Snapdragon 710 chipset inside will run for 3898 Yuan which translates to $609. The pre-order for the devices start from today in China, its international availability, however, hasn’t been mentioned by Vivo.
Xiaomi’s Redmi series has always been one of the best budget smartphones. The Redmi 4A is currently our pick for the best phones under Rs. 10,000 and the Redmi 5 Plus & Redmi 5 are our picks for the best phones under Rs. 20,000. The Xiaomi Redmi 6 and 6A could follow the same fate as they now offer trendy 18:9 aspect ratio display, improved cameras, latest OS, to name a few.
Xiaomi Redmi 6
The Xiaomi Redmi 6 features a 5.45-inch HD+ (720×1440 pixels) IPS display. With narrow bezels, it now has 80.7% screen to body ratio. We have always seen Xiaomi phones with Snapdragon chipset, but Xiaomi has opted for recently announced MediaTek Helio P22 chipset. It’s a smart move from Xiaomi since Helio P22 is a capable SoC. It is based on 12nm, so the battery performance is going to be stellar. The 2Ghz Cortex A53 octa-core processor should provide enough horse-power for the normal task and midtier games.
Another key area where the Xiaomi Redmi 6 has improved over its predecessor is the camera. It now features a Dual camera of 12MP and 5MP. The secondary lens is there for that portrait shots. The primary 12MP has a pixel size of 1.25micron which should provide good enough low light photography experience.
The 5MP front camera doubles up as a face unlock. There’s a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner too. The battery capacity is of 3300mAh which is a tad lower than the Redmi 5. There are 2 storage option: 3GB RAM/32GB ROM and 4GB RAM/64GB ROM. Both variants have a dedicated microSD card slot for memory expansion. It is currently running on Android 8.1 with MiUI 10 UI.
Xiaomi Redmi 6A
The Redmi 6A is the cheaper option here, although it shares the same design and display size of 5.45-inch HD+. There’s no dual camera and fingerprint sensor. The back houses a 13MP snapper with LED flash, while there’s a 5MP front-facing camera. Powering the phone is an Helio A22 SoC with a 2Ghz octa-core processor based on 16nm process. Other specs include 3000mAh battery, Android 8.1 Oreo with MiUI 10, 2GB RAM, and 16GB of expandable storage.
Xiaomi Redmi 6 & Redmi 6A Pricing
The base version of Redmi 6 (3GB+32GB) is priced at USD125, while the 4GB + 64GB version will cost USD155. The Redmi 6A is priced at USD93. Both the Redmi 6 and 6A will be available in China starting June 15 in 4 color options: Platinum Silver Gray, Rose Gold, Bali Blue and Quicksand Gold.
Computex 2018 saw some of the most mind-boggling announcements. Among which, there were four particular processors related events that caught our attention. The first was Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 850, then AMD’s new processor which we get to after this, the third is Intel’s 28 core 56 thread mammoth, and lastly the new Intel Core i7-8086k limited edition processor.
The 8086k isn’t a mass production processor for an everyday PC user. It is more Intel’s way of celebrating their 50 years in the industry. Although the main reason remains their 40th anniversary of the 8086 microprocessor. The same processor that gave rise to Intel’s wildly successful x86 architecture, still in use till this day.
Talking about its technical specifications, you get a six-core CPU with 12 threads. The base clocks remain at a mere 4 GHz but will boost up-to 5 GHz without overclocking. The processor will run on any Intel 300 series motherboards (LGA 1151). Though if you plan to overclock it, you will specifically need the Z370 motherboard.
The processor is based on the Coffee Lake 14nm architecture, still no canon lake. It has 12MB of L3 cache size and a TDP of 95W. It even comes with Intel UHD graphics 630 integrated GPU solution.
The processor will need some serious cooling, yet don’t expect a cooler out of the box. More so if you want to actually overclock the unlocked beast. Finally, the processor supports DDR4 RAM, weights about 12 ounces and has a dimension of 4.6 x 4 x 2.8 inches, in case you were wondering.
The CPU is already up for grabs in several online websites across the US. Sadly, their availability is questionable outside America. Sources claim Intel will only produce a total of just 50,000 units, out of which 8086 units will be given away to 8086 lucky winners. The processor is listed for a price of $424.99 if you feel like upgrading.
Motorola has been trying to penetrate the higher mid-range smartphone category with its Z-series. The first smartphone from that series, the Z1 gained popularity mostly due to a support for Moto mod, a magnetic accessory that provides the smartphone with an extra feature. And continuing that trend, the Chinese company has launched the Z3 Play, a mid-range smartphone with flagships like features and a $500 price tag.
The Moto Z3 Play comes with a 6.01-inch Super AMOLED display with full HD+ resolution that speaks 2018 with the minimal bezels on the top and bottom. This display has an aspect ratio of 18:9 and a 402 ppi density. For protection, Motorola has covered the display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Inside lies an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor with 1.8 GHz of clock speed. For the graphical purpose, there is the Adreno 509 alongside it. We have seen Xiaomi use the same processor on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI which is already available in Nepal. This processor is supported by 4 GB of RAM. However, the storage option Motorola has included on the Z3 Play is quite strange, as the $500 smartphone features 32 and 64 GB of onboard memory. There is, however, an option to expand it via a microSD card slot. As for the operating system, the Moto Z3 Play runs on a near stock Android 8.1 (Oreo).
On the optics side, the Moto Z3 Play is equipped with a 12- and 5-megapixel rear-facing cameras. The 12MP camera has f/1.7 aperture and has dual pixel phase detection autofocus enabled. This camera is supported by a dual-tone dual-LED flash system. In front lies an 8-megapixel selfie shooter with f/2.0 aperture which is capable of shooting 1080p videos.
The Moto Z3 Play houses a 3,000 mAh battery which is fast charging enabled. If a user wishes to increase the battery life, they can, of course, the Moto Mod meant for increasing the battery life. This battery is chargeable via a USB Type C connector.
With the $499 price tag, Moto Z3 Play has entered the OnePlus territory as the company has priced its new phone, the OnePlus 6 at $529. It will be interesting to see how the Z3 Play holds up against the so-called flagship killer.
Moto Z3 Play Specifications:
Display: 6.01-inch FullHD+ Super AMOLED (1080*2160), 18:9 aspect ratio
Samsung has been violently announcing and launching the smartphones these days. The smartphone giant has already launched a lot of handsets in the J-series lineup: Galaxy J2 2018, Galaxy J4, Galaxy J6, Galaxy J7 Duo, Galaxy J8 are the few new names in the lineup. After all these launches, many of us were thinking Samsung has been all done in the mid-range section this year. Now, proving all of us wrong, Samsung announced two new handsets (again). The new handsets to be launched are the Samsung Galaxy J3 2018 and the Galaxy J7 2018, the successor to the J3 2017 and the Galaxy J7 2017 respectively.
Samsung announced these handsets vaguely on its website. Samsung, via its website, has promised sharp displays, great low-light cameras, expandable memory and a dependable battery life. However, when looked at the specs, the features on the handsets are not much of an upgrade over its predecessors.
Samsung Galaxy J3 2018
The Samsung Galaxy J3 2018 comes with a 5.0-inch display, which features the HD resolution. Samsung has not quite spoken anything about the aspect ratio. So we might guess it to possess the traditional 16:9 aspect ratio. And the generous bezels on the forehead and the chin cues the same. J7 2018 also comes with the similar story: HD display and rich on bezels. But the distinguishing thing on the J7 2018 is the tall 5.5-inch display. Samsung has not divulged anything regarding the display material, but we can expect it to be Super AMOLED panels as the last generation J3 and J7 had Super AMOLED displays.
Samsung Galaxy J7 2018 Display
In terms of camera, the J3 2018 comes with an 8MP (f/1.9) camera at the back and 5MP (f/2.2) up front. The rear camera is low on megapixel count when compared to its predecessor as the J3 2017 had a 13MP rear camera with the same size of the aperture (f/1.9). But Samsung has promised crispier images and great low light shots from this new handset. So we can expect something positive from this newbie.
And talking about the camera on the J7 2018, it is the same setup when looked at the number. The rear camera on the device comes with the 13MP sensor and f/1.7 aperture. And there is another 13MP camera on the front. The selfie shooter comes with f/1.9 aperture. Both of these handsets will come with the Samsung Knox, the feature, which with Samsung boasts to provide defense-grade, multilayered protection.
“When it comes to smartphones, we know that one size doesn’t fit all. The Galaxy lineup is designed to give consumers the flexibility to choose the phone that best fits their needs,” said Justin Denison, senior vice president, Mobile Product Strategy and Marketing at Samsung Electronics America. “The J3 delivers high-quality features at a great price, and the J7 with its huge HD screen and amazing, advanced camera, is built for users who want more.”
When looked at the specs, there is nothing to get excited about the Samsung Galaxy J3 2018 and the J7 2018. It vaguely looks like the last year’s J3 and J7 just with the 2018 suffix. But since most of the features of the handsets are still under the veil, we cannot yet make a remark. Let’s hope the hooded features will cheer the Samsung fanbase and save us from disappointment.
The Huawei Nova 3e, also named as the P20 Lite, is Huawei’s latest mid-range offering. In the specs sheet, it has everything you can ask for, a great camera, a shiny glass back design, fast charging support, and a trendy display. So, how do these specifications emulate in real life? I have used the Nova 3e for around a month now and here is my full review.
Huawei Nova 3e Specifications:
Display: 5.84-inch FullHD+ IPS (1080*2160), 19:9 aspect ratio
Front Camera: 16MP, f/2.0 aperture, Stickers, Beauty Mode, 1080p @30fps
Connectivity: Dual Hybrid SIM (4G) Bluetooth 4.2, USB Type C
Battery: 3000mAh
Price: Rs. 35,900
Camera
Let’s talk about the cameras on this device first. Being the lite variant of the P20, I had a lot of expectations from this device. And the pictures did meet my expectations. There were ample saturations on images and the sharpening was kind of on point as well. However, it sometimes couldn’t determine the necessary exposure level due to which the pictures were a bit overexposed at times, like the one with my dog.
Huawei Nova 3e | Portrait Samples
1 of 3
Talking about the pictures of the portrait mode, well, it’s a mixed bag. Sometimes, the device was capable of producing images such as this where it was intelligent enough to notice even the thread of the t-shirt in this picture while sometimes, it couldn’t determine where the depth was necessary like in this picture. Like with every midrange phone, portrait, as well as the normal shorts, were noisy and grainy. So, overall, the Nova 3e is a great camera that does wonders during the daytime, but at night, you might not like the outcomes.
Huawei Nova 3e Camera Sample
1 of 4
In front lies a 16MP camera, which does a great job. Outdoors, the selfies are pleasing to the eyes with the right skin tone and sharpness. Oh, and there’s this feature which Huawei calls the AR lens which basically applies various filters on your face and in the background.
Huawei Nova 3e | Selfie Sample
1 of 3
Check out all the high-resolution camera samples here.
Display
And the other major talking point of this device is the notched display. Huawei has included an option to black out the top of the display. This display is bright and sharp, and the contrast ratio is quite respectable. But I would have liked a little more saturation just to see the colors pop, but that’s just me. Unlike the iPhone X, the videos played on this display isn’t obstructed by the notch which is nice to see. And with the 5.8 display that has minimal bezels, the Nova 3e feels quite compact on hands which is a boon in the day of taller smartphones.
Performance and Software
The major area where the Nova 3e has fallen short is on the performance front. The device is powered by an octa-core Kirin 659 chipset which we have already seen Huawei use in quite a lot of smartphones. Now, I am not saying that this chipset is bad. It tends to warm up sometimes around the fingerprint sensor, but there is nothing to worry about.
The 3e has handled light usage nicely, but once you try to do some heavy tasks or run heavy games like, say, PubG, you will feel the need of a better processor right away, even in the graphical side, the frame rates drop as the smartphone kind of has issues handling the graphical necessities.
Huawei Nova 3e | Software UI
1 of 6
The software you see on this device is the EMUI 8 on top of Android Oreo 8.0. Huawei’s skin is getting better every year and we see that example on this device. It has only a few bloatware, and you can remove some of the pre-installed applications as per your liking. The software also has a few features up its sleeve like lift to wake, motion control and face unlock to name a few.
Even on the graphical side, the cheaper Nokia 6.1 clearly comes out as the winner here.
Design
Now just because the performance is average, doesn’t necessarily mean that the Nova 3e is a bad device. This display is connected with the back panel by a metallic rail that’s in between the glass front and glass back. Now Huawei is probably the only manufacturer in this price range to offer a glass on the back of its smartphone, and when I held the phone, it felt quite premium for its price tag. And if you are looking forward to buying this smartphone, I will certainly suggest the blue color variant as it looks shiny and quite a bit attractive. And like the P20 and P20 Pro, the emblems have been moved to the side as well, probably to make the phone look like a camera when you hold it in landscape orientation. Overall, with the glass back and the notched design, the Nova 3e is a proper 2018 smartphone.
Hardware and Security
In terms of storage, the Huawei Nova 3e has 64 GB of onboard memory which is expandable up to 256 GB. It would be really exciting if Huawei launches the 128 GB storage variant in the near future.
Now talking about the speaker, well, there’s nothing new here. Huawei has gone with the same bottom firing speaker, which gets covered easily. Also, this speaker can only fill a small quiet room.
Talking about the face unlock, the Nova 3e just takes a bit more time to unlock. Well, the face unlock aren’t to be trusted, but hey, they work 100% of the time. And if you are not that into face unlock, there is a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner on the device, which also works all the time.
Connectivity
In terms of connectivity, let’s talk about call quality first. I used the Huawei Nova 3e as my primary driver for a few weeks and I have no issues with it. The person on the other end also didn’t face any problem. However, the issue here lies with the dual hybrid SIM slot. As the user of SIMs of two telecommunication companies, I had to give up on expandable memory just to use the two cards which were kind of a bummer.
Battery
On the battery department, Huawei has included a 3,000mAh battery inside which lasted me for around 4 hours 30 minutes to 5 hours depending on my usage. I would have certainly liked a bigger battery here like the one in the Nova 2i, but Huawei has compensated that with the inclusion of the company’s fast charging technology. The charger that comes with the box can fully charge the phone in around 2 hours which is faster than what its competitors offer. So, if you can ignore the battery size, the Nova 3e has the upper hand.
Conclusion
Smartphone distributors have now penetrated into a new mid-range price segment which starts from Rs. 30,000. The devices that fall in this price range have tried to emulate a few flagship features.
The Huawei Nova 3e falls under the same category. But even with only a couple of competitors right now, the device is under a lot of pressure. And for what it’s worth, I think the Nova 3e is a good device. It has one of the best designs on a mid-range smartphone, and its cameras are good. However, it has a dated chipset that has slightly hampered the performance front and maybe the battery size could have been bigger.
So, in the end, it all comes down to whether or not I would suggest this smartphone to someone? Well, that depends. If you want a smartphone with a sophisticated design and reliable camera, then Nova 3e is the one for you. However, if you are into heavy games and want a bigger battery size then you might want to look elsewhere.
Nowadays, mid-range smartphones come with remarkable cameras, capable processor, and many other interesting features inside. Such promising features have obviously been thinning the gap between the mid-range and flagship smartphones and leaving people fewer choices to opt for a flagship device. And in the tangled mess of feature-packed mid-range smartphones, Samsung has made an attempt to stay in the competition with its recently launched Galaxy J7 Duo. Samsung has praised highly of the processor and cameras on the phone and promised to deliver impressive performance in the respective areas. With such features, can the J7 duo untangle itself from the crowded mess of mid-range handsets and supersede in the competition? Let’s find in this review.
Samsung Galaxy J7 Duo specifications:
OS: Android Oreo 8.0
Body: Plastic Back
Chipset: Exynos 7885
CPU: Octa-core (4 X 1.56Ghz Cortex A53 + 4 X 1.6Ghz Cortex A73)
GPU: Mali-G71
Display: 5.5 inches Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, multitouch
Screen resolution: 720×1280 pixels with 16:9 aspect ratio (267 ppi density)
RAM: 4 GB
ROM: 32 GB extendable up to 256 GB (dedicated microSD card slot)
Selfie camera: 8 MP f/1.9, LED flash
Rear camera: 13+5 MP dual f/1.9 with autofocus, LED flash, live focus, Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, panorama, etc.
we have seen quite awe-inspiring upgrades in the J7 series over the years. The last year’s J7 Max and J7 Pro smartphones had a metallic body and they felt quite premium on the hold and on the use. However, in the J7 Duo, Samsung downgraded from metallic unibody to the removable plastic back.
Also, in the smartphone market, we can also see a numerous handsets boasting narrow bezels and the display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. Well, the Galaxy J7 Duo is certainly not one of them. The smartphone comes with generous bezels on the top and the bottom and a display befitted between the bezels in a conventional 16:9 aspect ratio. So when I looked at the design on the J7 Duo, I find it really unconvincing of Samsung to provide such outdated design in its popular smartphone series.
Display
In terms of display, the J7 Duo comes with a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED panel up front. However, the resolution is only HD. Since almost all the smartphones at the similar price are opting for a Full-HD display, the presence of merely an HD display on the device got me disheartened when I first looked into the specs. However, on the use, I did not find the lack of sharpness on the phone. With the Super AMOLED panel, the display looked vivid with darker blacks, brighter whites and with the impressive color reproduction. And I was pretty satisfied with the display on the J7 Duo during the course of the review period.
Furthermore, the smartphone also comes with a decent amount of brightness. I didn’t find any trouble on viewing and reading the content on the screen even in the bright daylight But it was really sad to see the lack of Ambient light sensor on the smartphone. I find it really annoying to adjust the brightness every now and then. Come on Samsung, at least, be generous on providing the necessary sensors.
Performance
Samsung had been quite obsessed with the Exynos 7870 chipset in the past. And almost all the previous version of the J7 smartphones were provided with the same chipset. But things have changed in the J7 Duo. Samsung has provided a capable Exynos 7885 chipset in the handset, which was previously provided only in the premium mid-range smartphones like the Galaxy A8 & A8 Plus. However, the cores in the J7 Duo are under-clocked as compared to the A8 smartphones. Underclocking has made the processor power efficient without a compromise in the performance.
Since the Samsung has shown high hopes regarding the Exynos 7885 chipset, we tried to unveil the features and to find its true potential. Fabricated with the 14nm architecture, the chipset possesses all the latest features. And counting on its potential, the performance of the chipset lies somewhere between the Snapdragon 630 and 636 chipsets. When the benchmark scores of the J7 Duo was compared with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI, the J7 Duo was not far behind the Note 5 AI.
Not just in benchmarks, the Exynos 7885 is also a capable performer in the real world. It does the tasks assigned to it quite smoothly and gracefully. Graphics-intensive games like PUBG, Dead Trigger 2, and Asphalt 8 were playable with a remarkable fluidity. Multitasking was also a delightful experience on the phone. All thanks to its ample 4GB of RAM. But considering the memory provided, the J7 Duo is quite low on storage as compared to the competition. It merely has 32GB of onboard storage. Nonetheless, the storage can be expanded up to 256GB and a dedicated SD card slot has been provided for the purpose.
Software
On the software side, J7 Duo comes with Android Oreo out of the box. And to spice the user experience, Samsung has added its home-baked Experience UI on the top. The UI comes with numerous bloatware. But not to worry, most of them can be uninstalled quite easily. The pre-installed apps are not so unique in terms of feature and their presence did not seem much important to me. Some of the pre-installed apps are even redundant and seems like they are there only to challenge the Google ecosystem. So I find most of the pre-installed apps clunky and I uninstalled or disabled almost all of such apps.
Samsung J7 Duo Software
1 of 6
But among all, I find myself using the S health app the most. The app is really handy for the users, who are conscious about the health. This health app basically focuses on tracking the wellness of the users by estimating the calorie intake, water intake, calorie burned, etc. on any given day.
Camera
Samsung has always been a remarkable performer in the photography department. And the tradition continued in the J7 Duo. It is the first Samsung smartphone in Nepal with a dual camera setup at the back. The camera pair at the back comprises the 13MP and 5MP camera, both of which are gifted with a wide f/1.9 aperture. The rear camera on the J7 Duo packs in abundant details in the images with decent color accuracy. The shutter speed on the device is also really snappy so I did not find any issues regarding the shutter lags. Also, the smartphone is quite deliberate on capturing images with high dynamic ranges.
Samsung Galaxy J7 Duo Rear Camera samples
1 of 8
Since there is a dual camera setup at the back, the first thing the setup cues is the portrait shots. The portrait images can be taken from the phone by selecting the Live Focus option. When I tested Live Focus feature, I was impressed by the way it performed. The setup blends in the subject details and depth information so sophisticatedly to provide impressive Bokeh effect. I found edge detection issues only on rare occasions. And such issues was not much of a problem since Samsung has provided the feature to readjust focus area and blur intensity in the portrait images even after taking the shots.
Samsung Galaxy J7 Duo portait selfies
1 of 4
Up front, there is an 8MP camera for video calling and for the selfies. The selfie shooter does not possess the beauty mode but images seem beautified with enriched skin tones and smoothened facial skin. Despite the beautification, the sharpness remains intact, so the images remain pleasing most of the times. Despite the presence of a single camera, the selfie shooter also captures portrait selfies. The Bokeh selfies look really great, but since the feature is a result of the software tweaks, the edge detection is not entirely accurate. After taking numerous portrait selfies, I found a greater accuracy in the close-up selfies with few faces on it.
Check out all the high-resolution camera samples here.
Battery
The fuel the processes inside the phone, the J7 Duo is provided with a 3000mAh battery. With the HD Super AMOLED display and a power-efficient processor, I had a lot of expectation regarding the battery backup on the phone. But the battery did not back me the way I expected. With a Screen-on-Time of 4.5 hours and backup for less than a day on the normal usage, the battery falls on the average standard. It is implausible of Samsung to downgrade the battery size of 3600mAh on J7 Pro and 3300mAh on the J7 2016 to 3000mAh on the J7 Duo.
But smaller battery also has an advantage. With the smaller battery capacity, a smartphone requires relatively less time to charge the battery. In case of J7 Duo, it takes around 2 hours to charge the device from 0 to 100% with the stock charger of 5V and 2A. Since the smartphone comes with a removable battery, users can buy an extra battery and swap them in need if they are impatient to charge their device continuously for 2 hours.
Conclusion
To sum it up, the J7 Duo is surely not an all-rounder phone and we cannot expect it to please every kind of users. The outdated design, HD resolution, and smaller battery may not be the justifying features in the price point. However, the smartphone packs in a capable processor and impressive cameras, which is really praise-worthy. These days, due to the users’ engagement in the graphics intensive games and indulgence in the social media, they are often found seeking smartphones with a good processor and capable cameras. And we believe, J7 Duo can easily fall in the choice of such users.
The Xiaomi Redmi Y2 is basically an affordable smartphone which takes great selfies. The device launched alongside MIUI 10 in an event today. Xiaomi hasn’t really shaken up the budget market for a while now and seems like this phone could be sort of a comeback for the China-based device maker.
The Redmi Y2 sports a 6-inch 18:9 ratio IPS display with resolutions of 1440×720 pixels. It has a plastic unibody design with antenna lines on the back. Internally, the device gets the Snapdragon 625 processor with either 3GB/32GB or 4GB/64GB of RAM and storage.
Xiaomi has highlighted the 16MP f/2.0 front camera with HDR support. The camera uses pixel binning to produce more detailed photos and it also supports face recognition. The camera is accompanied by an LED flash, along with other features that include AI Beautify, facial enhancements, and recognition of bindi, nose pins and facial hair.
On the back, you get a 12MP+5MP dual camera setup with features like phase detection, autofocus and HDR with the Xiaomi Redmi Y2. It’s has a larger 1.25um pixel which helps with better photos in daylight conditions. There is also a dedicated portrait mode thanks to the secondary camera.
The phone runs on Android 8.1 Oreo with MIUI 9.5 on top. You also get dedicated dual SIM card slots with a separate SD card slot. The battery is a 3,080mAh unit which supports fast charging via MicroUSB port.
The Xiaomi Redmi Y2 is available in Dark Grey, Gold and Rose Gold colour. Pricing starts at INR 9,999 for the 3GB, 32GB variant whereas the 4GB, 64GB will cost you INR 12,999. You will need quick hands if you want to grab one of these phones as you have to register the product in advance. The device will go on sale starting June 12 through Amazon.
A similar variant of the smartphone dubbed the Xiaomi Redmi S2 was released in Nepal a few days ago. The same smartphone is priced Rs 26,999 on Daraz right now, which supposedly costs INR 12,999, or Rs 20,800 in India.
