After the revival of Nokia by HMD Global, the brand start to gain its original glory, which seemed lost when it adopted Windows OS on the system. And after the revitalization, Nokia 5 was one of the handsets that gained a lot of affection from the fan base. The same beloved Nokia 5 has received price drop in Nepal ahead of the Nepali New Year. The price drop has been effective from April 4, 2018.
Over the years, Nokia had quite earned goodwill for its sturdy handsets. And the same can be seen when the Nokia 5 is looked into its design and construction. The handset comes with the 5.2-inch display. The size of the display feels just right on the use; neither too big nor too small. And shielded with the Gorilla Glass, the display is quite resistant to cracks and scratches.
Powering the device is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chipset paired along with 2GB of RAM. On the storage front, the smartphone carries 16GB inbuilt memory. In case of insufficiency, the onboard storage can be expanded up to 128GB via SD card.
In terms of software, the Nokia 5 is gifted with a stock version of Android Nougat on its system. This unadulterated Android OS is not just free from bloatwares but also has been promised with the regular software updates from Google. Talking about the camera, the smartphone enjoys a 13MP sensor on the back and there is 8MP sensor up front for the selfies.
The Nokia 5 is also quite rich in terms of sensors. The handset includes all the primary sensors like Fingerprint sensor, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, and compass sensor. The device comes with 3000mAh battery to supply the power juice.
Nokia 5 Specifications:
5.2-inch IPS LCD HD display with Gorilla Glass protection
Rear Camera: 13MP with f/2.0, PDAF Dual-LED (dual-tone) Flash
Front camera: 8MP with f/2.0
Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor
Android v7.1.1 Nougat; Upgradeable to Android Oreo (v8.0)
The major tech companies are now focusing on more and more lightweight and mini-laptops. Apple’s iPad with Pencil support launched around a week ago with its student-friendly features and now, it is Samsung.
Samsung has always been in the front row when it comes to the global electronics market. but, we cannot say so in the case of laptops. They are in the market but not as popular as their smartphones or other electronic equipment.
Maybe Samsung now wants to take hold of this area as well. The laptops are launched under its Notebook series. It unveiled the Notebook 5 and Notebook 3 with the total of three laptops. One under the Notebook 5 version and 2 under the Notebook 3.
The Notebook 5 model comes with a 15.6-inch screen whereas the Notebook 3 models come with 15.6-inch and 14-inch screens respectively.
The Notebook 5 model comes with a 15.6-inch screen whereas the Notebook 3 models come with 15.6-inch and 14-inch screens respectively.
When it comes to the processors, these laptops serve us with quite a variety: 8th generation quad-core Intel processor and 7th generation dual-core Intel processor. The choice is all ours.
The 14-inch Notebook 3 comes with the 720p display. The 15.6-inch Notebook 3 comes with 720p and 1080p display.
The 14-inch Notebook 3 comes with the 720p display with integrated graphics. The 15.6-inch Notebook 3 comes with 720p and 1080p display variants with integrated and Nvidia MX110 graphic variants. Whereas the Notebook 5 comes with the 1080p display and NVidia MX150 graphics.
On the battery front, all of these have a 43WH one which gives an average battery life. The 14-inch Notebook 3 weighs 1.63kgs whereas the 15.6-inch models weigh around 2kgs.
Misty Gray, Night Charcoal, Deep Peach, Pure White
Dimension
336.0 x 232.9 x 19.8 mm
377.4 x 248.6 x 19.6 mm
Weight
1.66kg
1.97kg
Full Specifications of Samsung Notebook 5:
Samsung Notebook 5
15” Display
Processor
8th Generation Intel KBL-RU Quad Core ¦7thGeneration Intel KBL U
Display
15.6” Full HD (Wide Viewing)
Memory
DDR4
Storage
SSD + HDD
Network
ac1x1 LAN (10/100)
Graphics
Shared¦NVIDIA MX150 GDDR5 2G
Battery
43Wh
Camera
VGA
Colors
Light Titan
Height
377.4 x 248.6 x 19.9 mm
Weight
1.97kg
The VP of PC business team said,
“ When developing the Notebook 5 and Notebook 3, we wanted a device that balanced style with powerful functionality. These devices designed for everyday use and premium computing experiences are the result of our on-going commitment to carefully listening to our customers and their needs.”
While the premium computing experience can be experienced once the laptops are out for the world to use, everything other than that is true to the statement.
The laptops are portable well-made and sleek. The best part is that the laptops are said to be mid-ranged, unlike the Notebook 9 pro.
The laptops will be available in Korea later this month and in the second quarter globally.
The smartphone market is competitive than ever. The features we expected on midrange and flagship phones just a year back are being featured on entry-level devices. The newly launched Huawei Honor 7A is a prime example of that. With the recent launch of Huawei P20’s, the company seems to be on a streak to launch impressive devices on each price segments. The Honor 7A is a budget device that has got some splendid features for its price.
The first thing that would catch your attention is the tall 18:9 display. It is somewhat a standard today but very few budget phones have adopted it. Talking about specification, this phone rocks a 5.7-inch 720p display. The build quality of the phone is impressive with a polished plastic back which molds seamlessly with the metal frame of the phone.
Keeping up with the trend, the phone sports dual camera setup on the back. The pair comprises a 13MP main shooter and a 2MP secondary shooter. The secondary camera assists in shooting bokeh/portrait shots.
There’s an 8MP camera up front with f/2.0 aperture and LED flash. The front shooter also enables face unlock which is one of the most exciting features about the Honor 7A. It unlocks the face by identifying 1024 facial features.
The Huawei Honor 7A comes in two variants: A base model with 2GB RAM and a higher-end model comes with 3GB of RAM. Both the model ships with 32GB of storage.
Powering them is a mid tier Snapdragon 430 octa-core chipset clocked at 1.4GHz. The low-end model has some shortcomings of its own. It doesn’t come with a fingerprint sensor and instead of two camera setup on the rear, it comes with a single shooter.
EMUI 8.0 based on Android 8.0 Oreo is giving life to this phone. The device also promises to deliver an excellent audio experience with an extra large speaker and audio amplifier producing 88 decibels audio output. There are more audio features baked in like the Histen 3D audio by Huawei and Party Mode which allows other Honor 7A’s to connect with each other to play the same song.
Talking about connectivity, it offers dual-SIM support and a dedicated microSD card slot, Bluetooth 4.2, micro USB 2.0, 3.5mm headphone jack. Backing up this device is a 3000mAh battery. With arrays of such exciting features, this phone sadly doesn’t support fast charging.
Specifications of Huawei Honor 7A
Display: 5.7 inches (720 x 1440), 18:9 ratio, 285ppi
AndroidVersion: EMIUI 8.0 based on Android 8.0 Oreo
Although Samsung is not generally known for laptops, they have recently launched Notebook Odyssey Z. The Samsung Notebook Odyssey Z is a 17.9mm thin and light laptop having a commendable engineering. Also, it boasts an 8th-generation Intel i7 processor, a GTX1060 Max-P graphics card, and advanced thermal management allowing a delightful gaming experience.
The Samsung Notebook Odyssey Z takes an entirely new approach to gaming sessions. Samsung designed an all-new Z AeroFlow Cooling System, Dynamic Spread Vapor Chamber, and Z Blade Blower. They are the key components to maintain Notebook Odyssey Z’s temperature during heavy gaming. Dynamic Spread Vapor Chamber is cleverly made airflow which covers both GPU and CPU. The Vapor Chamber efficiently replaces the hot air of the heating parts of the device with cold air. Meanwhile, the two built-in Z Blade Blowers adds elegance to the Odyssey Z’s thermal architecture. Since the Two ‘Z Blade’ blower fans keep the heat away from both the top and bottom of the laptop simultaneously, the keyboard and trackpad are crafted together.
The Notebook Odyssey Z boasts 15.6-inch display powered by NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Max-P graphics card. The 1060 Max-P graphics card gives at least 10 percent more graphics power over 1060 Max-Q graphics, ensuring high-resolution visuals. The 6 cores Notebook Odyssey Z, comes with an 8t- generation Intel Core i7 CPU. It is also supported by up to 16 GB of 2,400 MHz DDR4 RAM and 1 TB of SSD storage.
Although the laptop comes with a 54 Wh battery which might not last as long in gaming mode, it includes a 180 W adapter. Additional features consists of 2 stereo 1.5 W speakers, a backlit keyboard, and a silent mode that cuts fan noise to as low as 22 dB. Also, it has USB-C, USB 2 and 3, HDMI ports, and a 720p webcam.
Samsung NotebookOdyssey Z Specifications
Display: 15.6-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) Full HD
Dimensions: 375.6 x 255 x 17.9 mm
Weight: 2.4kg
8th Gen Intel Core i7-8750H processor
6GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Max-P GPU
16GB DDR4 2400MHz RAM
1TB SSD storage
Windows 10
720p camera
Backlit Keyboard, Precision Touchpad
WiFi 802.11ac 2×2 (2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.1
USB-C x 1, USB 3.0 X 2, USB 2.0 X 1, HDMI X1, HP/Mic, DC-in
3.5mm audio jack
1.5W × 2 speakers
54Wh battery
Availability & Launch Date:
At first phase, the Samsung Odyssey Z will be available in select countries including Korea and China in April, with US availability in Q3 2018. The launch date for Nepal has not been revealed yet.
When you search for a laptop with high-end performance, the XPS series from Dell is the unmissable name. XPS (Extreme Performance System), the name says it all. So, lately, if you have been searching for a good laptop with enticing ergonomics and top-tier players in terms of performance then just be happy! We have good news for you. Neoteric, the authorized seller of Dell Laptops in Nepal has recently brought the beautiful and high-end performer, the Dell XPS 15 9560 in Nepal, albeit at an exorbitant price.
The XPS 15 comes with the aluminum base and lids. The presence of the aluminum has not only made the ultrabook all-alluring but has also increased the durability. In its already sleek and thin design, the presence of the display extending edge-to-edge framed with narrow bezels is highly remarkable. Additionally, the glossy display on the device uses Sharp’s signature IGZO panel for very wide colors and extreme clarity with negligible graininess. With this premium display, the Core characteristics like backlight brightness, contrast, and color space remain almost unchanged. This vivid display is also gifted with a maximum brightness of 350 nits, which is really impressive.
The trackpad, carbon fiber palm rests, and black plastic keys all look attractive when the lid is opened. However, on the use, they all attract fingerprints and get grease quite easily. Talking about the webcam, the infamous webcam placement on the lower bezel will continue to nag most of its users.
The ultrabook comes in two notable configurations; one with Intel Core i5 processor and another with the Intel Core i7 variant. Both 7th generation processors are coupled with the remarkable GTX 1050 graphics card. With these components on the device, the laptop performs like a breeze even while playing high-end games or multi-tasking with the numerous applications. Talking about the memory, the base model comes with the 8GB of DDR4 RAM while the premium model enjoys the ample 16GB RAM. Nonetheless, the memory on both the variants can be expanded up to 32GB.
Specifications
Display: 15.6 inch Full HD non-touch/4K-touch (3840 x 2160 pixels) InfinityEdge
Processor: 7th Generation Intel® Core™ i5-7300HQ or i7-7700HQ Quad Core
Memory: 8/16GB DDR4 2400MHz; up to 32GB (additional memory sold separately)
Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 with 4GB GDDR5
Storage: up to 1TB HDD
Audio and Speakers: Stereo Speaker, Dual Microphones, High Definition Audio with Waves MaxxAudio® Pro
Wireless connectivity: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1
Battery: 56Whr built-in battery
A/C Adapter: 130 Watts (19.5 V, 6.67 A)
Camera: Widescreen HD (720p) webcam with dual array digital microphones
Ports: 2 x USB 3.0 with PowerShare, USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 with power delivery, HDMI, Headphone/microphone combo jack, Memory card reader
Dell XPS 15 9560 Price in Nepal
The XPS 15 laptop is undoubtedly one of the best ultrabooks in the market. Along with the stunning build and design, the high-performing components on the system get all the attention. So to call this laptop a beast may not be an exaggeration. However, while buying a laptop, the price is also a major thing that comes to the play while buying from the authorized seller. And the XPS 15 is priced brutally at Rs. 2,45,900 for the i5 variant whereas the i7 variant carries a price of a whopping Rs. 3,12,990. Such a whopping price from the authorized seller is obviously diverting since the other grey sellers are offering at much cheaper rates.
Samsung’s A series has always been in the middle of the J series and the S series with flagship grade design but average hardware specification. The newly launched Galaxy A8 Plus is here to change that with the inclusion of the 18:9 display and 6GB of RAM. However, it comes with a hefty price tag of Rs.60,000. But we all know that this is the price territory where the OnePlus has been so dominant? So let’s find out if the A8 Plus can give the OnePlus run for its money.
Samsung Galaxy A8 Plus 2018 Specifications
Display: 6.0 inches Super AMOLED (1080 x 2220) @411ppi, Always ON Display
The phone on the first glance would easily fool anyone thinking it’s the Galaxy S9. And why wouldn’t it? It has got the same camera and fingerprint placement and the curved Gorilla Glass 4 back makes you think it really is. I wouldn’t hesitate to call it the S9 Lite!
Although, without the curved sides on the display it won’t quite feel like the same as S9. Upon holding the device, it is nothing short than using a high-end Samsung device or any other flagship for that matter. Not just beauty, but the phone doesn’t miss out on essentials like the IP68 water and dust resistance.
Display
One of the standing features of the phone is its tall 6-inch 18.5:9 aspect ratio display with full HD+ resolution. Upfront it almost looks like the new S8’s or the S9’s if the top and bottom bezels weren’t that big.
Being super AMOLED, the blacks are deep and contrasts are high. You will instantly love the display with its punchy color and how fine everything looks in it. Viewing angles are great while playing games and watching movies and under direct sunlight, the display can get bright up to a healthy 590 nits for proper visibility. It is definitely no less than the display on flagship phones.
If you dive into the settings you can change display temperature and other variables to tune the display. But in my use, I had no issues watching photos and videos with the default settings.
Also, the display detects apps that are in 16:9 ratio to convert into 18:9 without any app crashes or visual errors. The addition of Blue light filter is an essential touch and I wish every phone had this feature.
Performance
Unlike last year’s A-series, this year’s A8+ has a fairly powerful 7885 octa-core chipset with powerful cortex a73 cores to deliver better performance compared to last year’s 7880 with Cortex A53s. For day to day tasks, it feels fast and you won’t run into any issues.
But as you load more apps in the background, there are few noticeable hiccups like the scrolling becomes a bit jittery and app switching with double click on the recent tab becomes slow. App openings are fairly fast and the 6GB of RAM onboard keeps plenty of them in the background without having to reopen them. Although Experience UI is pretty minimal for its own good, I feel it is still responsible for the jittery scroll effect and slow app switching.
Coming to the gaming performance, the Mali G71 GPU can very well handle all the mid-tier titles on the play store. But when it comes to the high-end games, the GPU fails to deliver enough power which resulted in sluggish animation on the Asphalt 8 but the Modern Combat 5 was playable.
If performance is what you are after, then paying Rs. 60,000 could get the OnePlus 5T or the Xiaomi Mi6 (available for just Rs. 44,000 on Limited Deal) which comes with the powerful Snapdragon 835 chipset which can very well crush all the high-end games you throw at it, even the new PUBG for mobile at the highest settings.
We put both the phones (A8 Plus and 5T) through Antutu, Geekbench, and Basemark and every time the OnePlus5 outnumbered the score of A8+ by miles which also resulted in the same in real life usage.
Software:
The A8+ is running on Android 7.1.1 with a promised Oreo update on the pipeline. Samsung has promised to keep up with the regular android security patches so it will be getting scheduled Security updates on Android.
With Experience UI 8.5 has every feature that you get on the Samsung’s flagship like the S8’s. It has got Face Unlock – although kind of slow, always on display for a quick glance at time and notifications, wallpaper and theme store, along with that cool on-screen navigation buttons. The inbuilt secure folder comes really handy that allowed to safely keep my data.
There are tiny bits of features here and there that enhances the usability even further. Like scrolling on fingerprint sensor to bring the quick toggles and notification center, gaming mode to restrict notifications while gaming, one-handed mode, cache cleaner and so on.
Camera:
The camera is always the most looked upon feature of the Samsung phones. And the 16MP f/1.7 camera does a good job to hold on to your expectation. It comes with phase detection autofocus but no optical image stabilization. The images it produces has a pretty good sharpness and saturation which is typical of Samsung. It offers a decent dynamic range which often brought details in the shadows. You typically won’t need to turn on the HDR mode because of this and plus the option is hidden inside the settings.
The phone does come with Pro mode but it’s an overstatement to think of it as something extraordinary as it only provides options for exposure, ISO, and white balance. It clearly lacks manual focus and shutter speed which I would have to love to have.
With wide f/1.7 aperture, it performed well on low lighted conditions. The images certainly had some grains but the details are certainly there. But the inclusion of OIS would have improved the night photography to some extent.
We put the A8+’s camera to the test against the OnePlus 5. When compared side by side, the images produced by A8 has better highlights as the objects are lit well. And typical of Samsung the subjects are well saturated but when it came to details I found the OnePlus 5 preserved more details in the images. OnePlus tends to boost of the red highlights more while the A8+ saturated the overall image in a balanced manner.
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When it comes to videos, it can shoot full HD at 30fps but has no 4k recording. The video comes out with good details, contrast and is very clear.
Coming to the front with the dual 16MP+8MP camera, I had very high expectations with the secondary wide-angle lens. But upon using it – it has very less field of view than what I would normally call a wide-angle. The wide-angle camera is surely a disappointment on this device.
Although the images are commendable at good lighting conditions with adequate details, colors, and sharpness. Although when the beauty mode is turned off the image processing tends to smoothen the skin a bit.
Normal Mode
Beauty Mode
Not to forget the dual lens offers live Focus Mode which will shoot bokeh images. The edge detection around the head is particularly good but other areas remain without blur or the blur moves into the subject itself. It is a hit or miss feature but when it works you definitely get quality images.
Overall you will shoot plenty sharp photos with all the three cameras on this phone without any complaints whatsoever.
Battery:
The Samsung A8+ comes packing a 3500mAh battery which provides around 5 hours of screen ON time on average that will easily last you a day of moderate usage.
The plus side on the battery front is, it comes with adaptive fast charging which will charge the device up to 40% within 30 minutes and full charge within 1 and a half hours.
Connectivity
Coming to connectivity, it offers dual Nano SIM slots and both offer excellent network strength. When it comes to calling quality, the earpiece was loud enough to produce clear sound and I had no problems making calls even in a crowded environment.
Talking about audio, the loudspeaker mounted on the right side is loud and the audio is crisp for listening to music and while playing games.
Also, the audio output from the 3.5mm headphone jack is one of the best in this price segment. It produces one of the cleanest audio through headphones with no audio distortion and every other aspect like the bass, treble, and the mids are balanced well.
It offers Bluetooth 5.0, dual-band ac wifi, and USB C for charging and data syncing.
Verdict
In conclusion, the Galaxy A8+ is a Samsung flagship wannabe that that almost made it – if it wasn’t for its price. For 60k you get an amazing design, sharp and vibrant display, neat audio experience, good cameras and a day-long battery life, but where A8+ was outclassed by its competitors was with the performance. If you are not a heavy gamer, the A8+ is a good buy, but with the same price, you can get the OnePlus 5T that offers better processor, faster software updates, and slightly better camera performance.
Also if you have few extra cash to spare, you should definitely think about getting the S8 or even the S9.
Vivo Mobiles Nepal has officially launched its mid-range flagship, the Vivo V9, in an event in Kathmandu. The Vivo V9 is the successor of the Vivo V7 (Rs. 29,990) and is priced at Rs. 37,790. The phone is available for purchase all over Nepal starting April 2, 2018.
Latest Price: Rs. 34, 640 [Price Last Updated on July 27, 2019]
Overview:
The Vivo V9 offers a big 6.3-inch display with a tall 19:9 aspect ratio and Full HD+ resolution. With the ‘near’ bezel-less display, Vivo has managed to keep the screen to body ratio at a staggering 90%. However, there is a notch in the front making it the first Android smartphone in Nepal to have so. It looks similar to the iPhone X from the front.
The similarity extends with the Software too. Although the V9 is an Android smartphone running the latest Oreo 8.1 version, but with Vivo’s custom Funtouch 4.0 OS layered on top, everything from icons to interface looks inspired from Apple’s iOS.
[socialpoll id=”2495656″]
The Vivo V9 is a lightweight phone (150g) – thanks to its plastic back. The build is ordinary and the use of a glass or metal body would have been a better choice. There are two color options: Pearl black and gold and both are a fingerprint magnet. Despite featuring a plastic body, the phone feels great in hands thanks to the sides that curve towards the edges. The display is protected by a gorilla glass 3 and a 2.5D curved glass.
In terms of performance, Vivo V9 is powered by a Snapdragon 626 SoC. It is based on 14nm architecture and has 8 Cortex A53 64 bit cores running at 2.2Ghz. You can expect the performance to be similar to the Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus and better than the OPPO F5, Huawei Nova 2i, and Galaxy J7 Pro.
There’s 4GB of DDR3 RAM and 64GB of storage. You can expand the storage via a dedicated microSD card slot up to 256GB. Connectivity option include Dual SIM with 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS. The battery is sealed in and has a capacity of 3260mAh. It is rated to provide 5 hours of onscreen time which translates to a day of moderate usage. It lacks fast charging support and takes roughly around 2.5 hours to charge from 0 to 100%.
The feature highlight of the phone is the camera. The 24MP front camera is now AI-powered. Vivo claims its AI face beauty mode is trained using a comprehensive database of million face images which allows detecting the age, sex, skin texture and skin tone of the subject and lighting environment.
The back houses a 16MP primary camera and a 5MP secondary camera for depth sensing (bokeh effect). There’s an LED flash on the back. One cool feature I liked about the back camera is you can even shoot first and focus later.
VIVO V9 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: 2.2GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 626
GPU: Adreno 506
RAM: 4GB DDR3
Storage: 64GB, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD
SIM: Dual Dedicated SIM (nano + nano)
Rear Camera: Dual (16MP + 5MP) with LED flash
Front Camera: 24MP f/2.0 aperture with soft LED flash
Security: Fingerprint sensor, Face Unlock
Dimensions: 154.81 x 75.03 x 7.89mm
Weight: 150gms
Connectivity: 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS
Sensors: Proximity, Accelerometer, Gyro, Compass
Battery: 3260mAh
Color Options: Pearl Black, Champagne Gold
Latest Price: Rs. 34, 640 [Price Last Updated on July 27, 2019]
Dell has been updating their Inspiron 7000 gaming series 3 years in a row now. And this year is no different, thanks to Nvidia’s Max Q design, Dell has managed to fit a GTX 1060 alongside a 7th gen Intel quad-core processor, a really fast SSD and a Thunderbolt 3 port on its latest Dell 7577 gaming laptop.
If you are in the gaming laptop market with a budget of around Rs.150,000, this laptop offers amazing specs which seem to be Dell’s ongoing trend as well. Since we are talking about a gaming laptop, let’s start off with its GPU.
Graphics
Previously the Dell 7567 offered the 1050 TI that delivered ample horsepower to run AAA titles smoothly. The latest in 7000 series, the Dell 7577 sports the GTX 1060 with Max-Q design that provides 30% more power than the 1050Ti.
This laptop basically crushes it in the 1080p segment. The GTX 1060 MAX-Q clocked at 1063Mhz with 1280 CUDA cores takes care of the high-end gaming needs along with 6GB of GDDR5 RAM. Putting these numbers into context, it can do 60fps in any game you throw at it either in Ultra or high settings and in some pretty rare cases, medium too.
The Max Q design does affect your performance. For instance, the desktop 1060 will give you 118fps in final fantasy XV on low settings. Under the same configurations, the GTX 1060 laptop variant will deliver around 110fps. Now compare them with the GTX 1060 MAX Q design and you will get around 73 fps. It’s still a healthy upgrade over the 1050Ti, but not as good as the regular 1060s out there.
If you are worried how much the MaxQ design affects your performance, we have a graph below to illustrate just that with FPS counts of Final Fantasy on low setting on each GPU system.
And then here is the fps count of the top 5 games we tried out on the Dell 7577
Thermals
With more power comes more heat and the GTX 1060 on this relatively compact laptop does just that. The laptop heats up a lot more, a lot faster.
After 3 hours of continuous PUBG, the laptop throttle a lot with fps dropping below the 40fps playable mark even at the lowest settings. The same thing repeated with all the other games I tested as well.
Build and Design
The laptop features a sturdy build with sharp edges and is reasonably heavy. Put them into numbers, you get a 2.7kg laptop with a thickness less than an inch. The MAX Q design also helped with the thickness a lot.
The design itself is identical to the Dell 7567. As a gaming laptop, portability won’t be an issue if you manage to get a bag big enough. The laptop will not fit on your average 15″ laptop bag or a protective case for that matter. Basically, the laptop features a 15.6″ inch display with the footprints of an average 17″ laptop.
Performance
The laptop runs on a 45-watt Quad Core i7 7700HQ processor that can reach speeds of up to 3.8GHz. The RAM is handled by a 2400mHz single channel 16GB stick. At the time of its release, this is the best configuration one could hope to find in its respective price range.
The laptop was snappy, responsive and seems to do everything you throw at it. Basic multitasking was a breeze, I did try multitasking while gaming as well, and got mixed results. All in all, the laptop was one of the best performers out there.
Display
The IPS panel is identical to it predecessor, with 71% of sRGB and 53% of Adobe RGB color coverage. It’s a pretty good IPS panel if you ask me, just not the one for those who do color intensive work (Photoshop, Lightroom, After effects). Other than that the display has a wide viewing angle and non-reflective matte finish.
The max brightness of just 250 nits might seem low but you just cannot complain. It is a 1080p 60Hz panel, which goes very well with the laptop’s specifications. There’s a 4K version of this laptop with better color accuracy but unfortunately, it’s not available in Nepal. So, overall the display is decent for gamers, but if you are a content creator, it’s not the laptop for you.
Storage
Storage is where the laptop shines. The Dell 7577 laptop features a really good SSD with read and write speeds of 2812Mbps and 1293Mbps respectively. Just for comparison, it’s predecessor Dell 7567 featured an SSD with speeds of 500Mbps down and 300Mbps up.
Numbers aside, the SSD will fail to show any difference in basic tasks. However, games load a lot faster and file transfers are a breeze. The SSD this laptop features is one of the fastest we have seen in its price range. It also has a 1TB 5400RPM hard disk for cheaper storage.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The keyboard is good but will need some getting used to. The laptop features a very minimalistic keyboard with no extra programmable keys, to begin with. First timers might even have trouble using it, thanks to its low key travel and a cheap feeling when you press hard. The good thing here is it offers literally no flex resulting in a durable and long-lasting feeling.
The trackpad is ok, but it’s made out of cheap plastic, although I must say it offers good tracking and gestures that work perfectly. Dell did opt for windows precision drivers, which is how I feel every laptop should come with, in the first place.
Battery
The 75Whr battery on the 7567 has shrunken down to a 56Whr capacity, which will be one of the biggest disappointments of all. I got an average of around 3 hours of battery life versus the 5 and a half hours on its predecessor.
It is a gaming laptop, so most people might not care much about the battery. But given that its sibling puts out almost 6 hours of battery life on a single charge, the 3 hours just seems disappointing. Also, if you want to game on battery, expect about an hour or less.
Connectivity
Ports selection remains one of the most satisfactory aspec of the Dell 7577. It consists of almost every port you could think of. On the left are a memory card slot, a USB 3.0 port, Ethernet, and a charger port. On the right is an audio port, a pair of USB 3.0, an HDMI port and finally a USB 3.1 Type C port with Thunderbolt 3 support with 4 lanes of PCI-E meaning you can connect external GPU to get maximum bandwidth. Not like you really need it but it’s there for some extra boost. There is also the usual Intel dual-band Wi-Fi ac and Bluetooth 4.2 for connectivity which works well, as expected.
So, for the price, you get a quad-core i7 processor, 16GB of DDR 4 RAM, a very fast SSD, a good IPS display, and a very capable GTX 1060 with MAX Q design. The question is, is it the best laptop for gaming under 150k? Probably Yes.
Dell Inspiron 7577 Pros:
Built
Performance
Fast SSD
Connectivity
Dell Inspiron 7577 Cons:
Display
Battery
Alternatives
Its competitors include Lenovo Y720, the MSI GE 62VR 7RF, and the Helios 300 with all of them sharing almost identical specs on paper. But the Lenovo Y720 and MSI Ge62VR are a bit on the expensive side and the Helios 300 compromises on a few features but manages to stay the cheapest of the bunch. However, if you are on a tight budget, you can opt for the Dell 7567 and not miss out on much.
Apple is known for being a high-end brand in the tech field. It produces varieties of gadgets and iPad is one of Apple’s most prized possessions. Apple has recently launched the successor of its cheapest iPad 2017 with the iPad 2018.
The new iPad is no different from the previous ones from the outlook perspective. It stands 9.7-inch tall and this times supports Apple pencil. The most part is similar except for some alterations in hardware to enable tilt and pressure recognition.
Apple has targeted the students with the new release. This might be a competitor for the very popular Google’s Chromebook.
Last year’s iPad was powered by A9 chipset whereas it is an upgrade in the new iPad as it is powered by A10 chipset. Even though it is an upgrade from the older version, it still stays stale with A11 already available in other gadgets.
The pencil stylus part makes it more education-friendly that it is easier to draw and write with the help of Apple pencil. But, Apple pencil does not come with the package.
Apple has increased the cloud storage to 200GB from 5GB. That’s quite an increment and for feasible for students as well.
Timothy D Cook, Apple’s CEO said,“Our place at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts makes it possible for us to create powerful products and tools that amplify learning and creativity.” Creativity and learning added together is definitely a strong blend.
The new software was also introduced which helps teachers to keep track of the assignments and improvements. The academics part is essential when the schools are being targeted. This new iPad also comes with the software that helps students learn musical instruments, art, videography and photography skills. This makes the iPad more interesting.
iPad 2018 Pricing
Apple seems to have understood the marketplace for lower-end gadgets when it comes to schools. This time, the iPad comes at affordable price i.e. $299 (32GB) for schools. While the actual starting price for it is $329 and the price increases with the larger memory variants. Apple Pencil is available for purchase separately for $99.
This portrays how Apple is once again keen on getting back its top position on sales and even more so with the development of student and teacher-friendly software along with discounts in the prices. Are schools ready to try the iPad once again? We will figure out in the days to come.
These days, out of the blue, smartphone manufacturers tend to show off their camera abilities with the help of DxOMark scores. Since the camera is considered as one of the essential features of a smartphone, OEM’s proudly advertise the DxO score their camera has scored in order to lure the consumers towards their product.
DxO puts the camera hardware to test on different lab controlled environment to truly test the ability of the camera. Well, lab tested conditions and real-life usage have varied so relying completely on a DxO mark would not be a safe call to make your purchasing decision.
The Huawei P20 boasts a dual 12 +20 MP rear cameras and the Huawei P20 Pro a triple 40+20+8 MP cameras branded with Leica optics.
The newly launched Huawei P20 and P20 Plus score the highest ever rating on DxO Mark for a smartphone. The P20 Plus is on the top of the list with the score of 109 and only second to that is the Huawei P20 with the score of 102. Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus (99), Pixel 2XL (98), and the iPhone X (97) are on the list respectively right after the P20’s.
Huawei P20 Plus has definitely given a lot of thought to its camera system. It is one of the first phones to sport a 3-camera setup. The main camera comes with a 40MP sensor, accompanied by a 20MP monochrome sensor and lastly an 8MP sensor for 3X optical zoom. If this isn’t the ultimate camera setup for a smartphone then I don’t know what is.
Similarly, the P20 comes with dual camera setup with a 12MP primary sensor and a 20MP monochrome sensor. It also has 2X optical zoom. Both of these phones can shoot 4K at 30 fps and 720p superslow at 960fps. Also, both of the phones comes with AI feature baked in that helps to identify scenes and adjust the image processing accordingly. A 24MP high-end camera resides on the front of these phones.
DxO Mark has been accused of favoring scores of brands if they are paid well. It may not always be the case but we definitely have to see how the camera performs in real life usage.
