Huawei is one of the popular names in the smartphone industry. Huawei’s offerings, like the Nova 2i, Mate 10 pro, P 10 plus, have gathered much hype in recent days. In 2018, Huawei is back with another smartphone in the Y series, notable as the Huawei Y9 2018.
Huawei Y9 2018 Launch Date and Price in Nepal
Huawei Nova 2i was the first smartphone in Nepal with the Quad camera setup. The smartphone received a lot of love especially because of its photography potential. So with the success of the Nova 2i, Huawei Nepal officials are quite optimistic to get the similar success with the Huawei Y9 2018.
And they have finally launched the phone for Rs. 25,900. You can prebook the device from this link (link expired) and get Huawei Fitness Band A1 for free. The device is scheduled to be available from next week.
Huawei Y9 2018 Specifications & Features
In recent time, devices there are fewer devices that don’t flaunt 18:9 aspect ratio. This one is yet another smartphone doing the same. The Huawei Y9 seems inspired a lot by the Mate 10 Lite, for example, the cameras! The phone houses a 16+2 MP primary camera and 13+2 MP selfie shooter.
In the display department, you will see a 5.93 inch IPS LCD panel with 18:9 aspect ratio. The resolution it flaunts is Full-HD+, 1080×2160pixels. The device is backed by a 4,000 mAh non-removable battery which should provide excellent battery life. Interestingly, this one runs on Android Oreo out of the box which is definitely an upgrade over others.
Commanding the phone is the HiSilicon Kirin 659 octa-core processor paired with ARM Mali- T830 M2 GPU. Sadly, the memory department seems to be a little compromised with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage.
Meanwhile, Huawei is also preparing for the launch of other smartphones in its P20 series, which may be Huawei P20, P20 Lite, and P20 Pro. These phones are scheduled to hit the market in April this year. With such devices in their lineup, Huawei is certainly going to entertain the likes of tech enthusiasts.
It hasn’t even been a week since OPPO F7 got released in China and now it is Meizu. Meizu E3 is officially launched now. The time where rumors have become a publicity tactic. Meizu E3 is no exception. There was much hype about the smartphone because of the leaks.
The Meizu E3 like most conventional smartphones of 2018, has 18:9 aspect ratio. It has 5.99-inch tall IPS LCD screen with a full HD+ resolution. On the rear side, it has antenna bands as of that in older iPhones. The dual cameras at back are vertically placed. The fingerprint sensor is side mounted. The phone has a unibody metal design.
The smartphone is powered by Snapdragon 636 processor which the Redmi note 5 Pro sports as well. Redmi turns out to be a top performer on the mid-range segment. So, we can expect smooth processing from this phone as well. 6GB of RAM with 64GB of internal memory and 128GB of expandable memory make an appeal as well.
The Android Nougat 7.1.2 comes across as a bit outdated choice but then, an Oreo update would still make it steal the deal. The OS is heavily customized via with Flyme 7 launcher.
The primary rear camera has a 12MP resolution (Sony IMX362, f/1.9 aperture, 1.4micron pixel size) whereas the secondary one has a 20MP resolution (Sony IMX350, f/2.6). The selfie camera is of 8MP. The dual back cameras are also capable of taking portrait mode pictures, PDAF and DPAF. These also consist of dual-tone flash which makes the pictures with the flash appear better. 2.5X ‘loss-less’ zoom is also claimed.
It has 3,360mAh big battery, which is impressive. It apparently also has cold mCharge technology which offers 20W fast charging without letting the device heat up.
Price, Color Variant, Availability | Meizu E3
The color variants available for this smartphone are gold, black and blue. The 64GB variant costs approximately $284 whereas the 128GB variant costs $315 approximately.
They also have the limited edition Meizu E3 J-20 edition (6GB RAM + 128GB ROM) with zinc alloy chassis which is available for the price of $395 approximately.
All these models have been released only in China, not any international markets. CG Mobiles, the authorized distributor of Meizu smartphones in Nepal, is tight-lipped about launching the Meizu E3 in Nepal as of now.
The specifications have got us on this smartphone and for the price the phone is being offered, I feel the phone would definitely be worth a try. So, we hope CG Mobiles will soon launch it in Nepal. What do you think about the Meizu E3? What do you think should be the pricing of Meizu M3 in Nepal to compete against current midrange phones? Let us know in the comments down below.
Vivo has launched its latest midrange smartphone – the Vivo V9 in an event in India. The Vivo V9 is a successor of the Vivo V7 which was announced in Nepal when Vivo officially arrived in Nepal some 4 months ago.
[Update: Vivo Mobiles Nepal has launched Vivo V9 in Nepal for Rs. 37,790]
The Vivo V9 offers a good upgrade over its predecessor V7. It houses a taller 19:9 aspect ratio with 6.3-inch FullHD+ IPS display. The front looks like an iPhone X with a notch on the top side. The back houses an aluminum body.
In terms of performance, the Vivo V9 is powered by a 14nm Snapdragon 626 SoC (8 Cortex A53 cores running at 2.2Ghz). There’s 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. You can expand the storage via dedicated microSD card slot expandable up to 256GB.
The feature highlight of the Vivo V9 has to be its whopping 24MP front camera with AI beauty enhanced mode. On the back, there’s a dual camera setup of 16MP and 5MP, the latter lens for depth sensing.
All this is powered by a 3260mAh battery and Android 8.1 with fun touch OS 4.0 on top. In the connectivity front, the Vivo V9 has a dual SIM with 4G, Dual-band WiFi ac, Bluetooth 4.2, micro-USB 2.0, and GPS.
Vivo V9 Full Specifications:
Display: 6.3-inch (2280 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 IPS display
Software: Funtouch OS 4.0 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo)
CPU: 2.2GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 626
GPU: Adreno 506
RAM: 4GB
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 with soft LED flash
Security: Fingerprint sensor, Face Unlock
Dimensions: 154.81 x 75.03 x 7.89mm
Weight: 150g
Connectivity: 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS
Battery: 3260mAh
Color Options: Pearl Black, Champagne Gold, Sapphire Blue
Vivo V9 Expected Launch Date and Price in Nepal
Vivo V9 is expected to launch in Nepal on 1st of April, 2018. The price is going to be very close to Indian pricing of INR 22,999 (approx. NRs. 36,999).
Xiaomi MI6, the flagship handset from Xiaomi for 2017 has recently received a huge price cut in Nepal. The smartphone is kept on the shelf of Daraz at the price 16% less than its previous price. And there is an additional discount of Rs. 2,000 on the use of Voucher code. With this price drop, the smartphone has become the most affordable flagship handset (of 2017) in the Nepali smartphone market.
Design wise, MI6 looks stunning with the curved glass panels both on the front and on the back. And all thanks to all glass body, the smartphone is splash resistant. The smartphone also has a stainless steel frame, which not only looks premium but also increases durability. Even with the metallic frame and glass panels on both sides, the smartphone weighs just 168 grams. So it does not feel hefty even when carried around.
The device comes with 5.15-inch IPS LCD panel, which favors the Full HD resolution. With the brightness of 600 nits, 94.4% NTSC color gamut, and 1500:1 contrast ratio, users could barely find an issue with the display. In addition, the smartphone has Gorilla Glass 4 on the top to shield the display from minor cracks and scratches.
Powering the device is the Snapdragon 835 chipset. This was the flagship chipset from the Qualcomm last year, which has incorporated 10nm manufacturing architecture. This powerful yet power efficient chipset is backed by 6GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage.
Talking about the camera, the smartphone is pretty dexterous with its dual camera setup on the back. The 12MP twin camera on the back is capable of taking some impressive shots. With the setup provided, Xiaomi MI6 also excels on capturing the images with 2x lossless zooming and some nifty portraits. On the front end, there is an 8MP selfie shooter, which comes with f/2.0 aperture.
On the software side, the smartphone comes with Android Nougat out of the box with Xiaomi’s home-baked MIUI 9 on the top. However, the smartphone is not getting the Oreo update. And in order to fuel the device, there is a 3,350 mAh battery underneath the back panel. The battery is fast charging compliant and supports Quick Charge 3.0.
Xiaomi MI6 Specifications:
Display: 5.15-inch Full HD IPS LCD display @428ppi with Gorilla Glass 4
CPU: Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
OS: Android 7.1 Nougat with MIUI 9 on top
RAM: 6 GB
GPU: Adreno 540
Storage: 64 GB
Rear Camera: Dual (12+12MP) lens with f/1.8 aperture and f/2.6 aperture, PDAF, dual-LED (dual tone) flash
Front Camera: 8 MP front-facing camera, f/2.0 aperture
Additional Features: Splash resistant, stereo speakers, no 3.5mm headphone jack
Price: 54,999 Rs. 46,000 (Available for Rs. 44,000 using the Voucher code VOUMI6) on Daraz.com.np
Verdict
Vatsal Impex Pvt. Ltd. (authorized distributor of Xiaomi Products in Nepal) has always been notorious for keeping the price tag of the device. So the smartphone enthusiast and even the Xiaomi fans used to be disheartened to purchase their beloved products. However, with this price drop, the smartphone has been affordable more than ever. At the new price, the Xiaomi MI 6 has been even cheaper than the fan loved Oneplus 5, which has almost similar specifications. Since this offer continues only till the stock lasts, one should hurry if there are planning to own one.
Mid-range smartphones are quite popular in the Nepali market. And it was not much longer the Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime tussled the crowd of mid-range smartphones and had been selling like hot cakes. Giving attention to the success achieved from the handset, Samsung has brought an upgraded version of the device. Dubbed as Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime 2 (also known as the Samsung Galaxy On 7 Prime in other countries), the newbie inherits the aesthetics and ergonomics of its predecessor with few upgrades in the internals.
Wrapped in a metallic body, Galaxy J7 Prime 2 looks sturdy and feels premium on the hold. Though the device looks sleek and seamless with this design, the design language is not unique in nature and there is nothing different as compared with the J7 Prime. The smartphone also comes with the 5.5-inch Full-HD display with 2.5D curved glass on the top. Despite doing great with the near bezel-less display in Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 plus and the mid-range Galaxy A8+ 2018, the Galaxy J7 Prime 2 still has generous bezels on the top and the bottom. Also, the device comes with the traditional 16:9 aspect ratio.
The Galaxy J7 Prime in its early days was quite popular because of the presence of the fingerprint sensor. The fingerprint sensor is intact in the Galaxy J7 Prime 2 and has been placed on the home button. Powering the J7 Prime 2 is the Exynos 7870 chipset coupled with 4GB of RAM.
In terms of internal storage, the handset seems pretty rich with 64GB of onboard memory. In addition, the smartphone has a dedicated slot for the micro SD card if the user finds the need of an additional memory to store the data and information. Talking about the OS, J7 Prime 2 comes with Android Nougat (v7.1.1) out of the box with Experience UI on the top. On the software side, the smartphone is also enriched with some of the Bixby features.
Talking about the camera, we can see few noticeable upgrades in the Galaxy J7 Prime 2. The handset comes with the 13MP camera both on the front and on the back. Both the cameras have a wide aperture of f/1.9 and also inherit LED flashes for taking clear and sharp images even on low lights.
Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime 2 (Samsung Galaxy On 7 Prime) Specifications
5.5-inch FHD PLS TFT display
1.6GHz Octa-Core Exynos 7870 processor
4GB RAM, 64GB Internal Storage, expandable (up to 256GB) via micro SD slot
Android 7.1.1 (Nougat)
Dual SIM (nano + nano) with 4G LTE
13MP rear camera, f/1.9 Aperture, LED flash
13MP front camera, f/1.9 Aperture, LED flash
Fingerprint Scanner (Front mounted)
3,300mAh non-removable battery
Latest Price: Rs. 26,400 [Last updated on: December 6, 2018]
Oppo is taking the AI camera feature very seriously as all of its recent launches are focusing solely on it. In 2017, Oppo had launched many smartphones with the Oppo F5 being one of the most hyped ones. Along with that, Oppo had also launched a new addition in it’s A series, the Oppo A71. In 2018, Oppo upgraded some of the features in the A71 and brought the Oppo A71 2018 with some alluring specifications. The same smartphone is now available in Nepal at an attractive price.
As already mentioned, the Oppo A71 2018 is a slight upgrade to the to the existing version of the A71. The Oppo A71 2018 is equipped with an upgraded AI beauty technology and a much powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor. Similarly, the new Oppo A71 will feature the same core selfie technology on the front camera along with showcasing a gorgeous slim metallic uni-body design.
The newbie is expected to enable smoother multitasking and app switching to deliver faster and more convenient experience for tasks like taking photos, watching videos, playing games and the like.
Available in the color variants of Gold and Black, the new Oppo A71 is priced competitively at Rs. 15,990. The pricing of this new device is quite noteworthy since the older version or the Oppo A71 2017, which had mediocre MediaTek chipset used to come with the price tag of Rs. 21,990, which is unconvincingly expensive on the comparison.
Oppo A71 2018 specifications:
Display: 5.2-inches IPS LCD Captivative touchscreen, 16:9 aspect ratio (282 PPI pixel density)
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 450
CPU: Octa-core 1.8 GHz Cortex- A53
GPU: Adreno 506
OS: Android Nougat 7.1
Battery: 3,000 mAh non-removable Li-ion battery
USB: Micro USB 2.0
Front camera: 5 MP f/2.4
Rear camera:13 MP f/2.2 with phase detection autofocus, LED flash, geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, panorama, etc. Video: 1080p@30 fps
RAM:2 or 3 GB
ROM: 16 GB expandable up to 256 GB
SIM: Dual SIM (nano SIMs, dual standby)
Sensors: Accelerometer, proximity, Compass
Colors: Gold and Black (for Nepal)
Price: Rs. 17,250
Early Verdict
Budget smartphones often come with the compromises. To keep the prices low, manufacturers go with the mediocre components and the users have to face several issues in the long run. However, with the performance boost with the Snapdragon 450 chipset in the A71 2018, users can barely find issues even while playing high-end games. Similarly, Oppo has also gifted this newbie with the sensational AI beauty feature, which debuted in its home-manufactured Oppo F5 smartphone.
The absence of the fingerprint sensor might bother some users since the feature is available with the smartphones like Colors S11, Moto E4, and Gionee X1, which are available at similar price. But nonetheless, the smartphone is remarkably good in terms of performance and camera and seems to justify the price. These are our early verdict regarding the smartphone. We will come with the detailed review to offer broader insights regarding the Oppo A71 2018. So don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and make sure you check it regularly.
This time around the company has introduced Colors P50 Plus which is the cheapest 4G smartphone with a 5-inch display. With 4G connectivity expanding nationwide, Colors wants to equip citizen in every nook and cranny of the country with a 4G smartphone in their pocket. That is clearly explained by their motto of “गोजी गोजिमा 4G.”
The Colors P50 Plus is equipped with a 5-inch display with 2.5D glass which is a rarity on a sub 10k smartphone. The resolution is 854×480 – a standard at this price range. The users will be able to get the feel of a big phone with this display if they are making a switch from a bar phone or a 4-inch device. The display doesn’t come with any protection.
The phone is powered by a Quadcore Spreadtrum SC9832 chipset clocked at 1.3GHz. It offers 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. Normal navigation and app usage should be very decent for general operation. Colors have also included a dedicated microSD card slot to expand the memory up to 32GB.
It comes with Android 7.0 Nougat. Colors have been adopting stock Android for their phone and it is the same here. So even the low hardware configuration should result in a decent experience.
On the camera front, the phone packs a 5MP camera on the rear accompanied by an LED flash. Colors claim that the phone can shoot full HD video at 30fps. Up front, it sports a 2MP Camera with fixed focus.
The phone is backed by a 2200mAh removable battery and given the specifications, it should easily last you a day of usage.
Colors P50 Plus Full Specifications:
Display: 5-inch (854*480) with 2.5D glass
Android Version: 7.0 Nougat
Chipset: Spreadtrum SC9832 quadcore Cortex A7 clocked at 1.3GHz
RAM: 1GB DDR3
Storage: 8GB, expandable up to 32GB
RearCamera: 5MP with flash, full HD at 30fps
FrontCamera: 2MP, fixed focus
Connectivity: Dual SIM, 4G, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, G-sensor, micro USB port
Battery: 2200mAh
Price: Rs.6,995
4G connectivity is almost 10 times faster than 3G those who are on the lookout for a cheap 4G smartphone can benefit with this offering from Colors. Even to use it as a secondary device, the screen size and the 4G connectivity will complement well for any lightweight usage. But mostly with such competitive pricing, people in a rural will be able to surf the internet faster with 4G.
HTC Desire lineup has been popular for its unique design language and playful shell colors. These phones always used to have something different in them which made them desirable compared to the rest. This time HTC has announced the Desire 12 and 12 Plus that packs a ceramic glass back with a glossy finish similar to that of the HTC U11.
HTC Desire 12
The Desire 12 is the small phone among the two with the display size of 5.5-inches. It comes with the tall 18:9 ratio with HD+ resolution (720×1440). With minimal bezels on the top and the bottom, the device sure looks appealing. MediaTek MT6739 chipset – an upgrade over the popular MT6737 powers this device coupled with either 2 or 3GB of RAM. Also, the storage option includes 16GB and 32GB depending on your preference of RAM. But fortunately, the storage is expandable up to 2TB. The device is powered by Android 8.0 Oreo with Sense UI on top.
Diving into the camera, the Desire 12 sports a single 13MP camera on the back and 5MP front-facing camera on the front. The camera specifications of both the phones haven’t been announced. Backing it up is a 2730mAh battery.
HTC Desire 12+
HTC Desire 12+ comes with a slightly large 6-inch display with 18:9 aspect ratio and same resolution as the small Desire 12. But the display is not the only significant upgrade on the plus mode. The phone also carries a pair of 13MP + 2MP rear camera where the secondary camera is for depth sensing to create the bokeh effect.
HTC was one of the first smartphone brands to introduce the concept of dual cameras with the launch of HTC One M8 back in 2014. Up front, there’s an 8MP camera. The device is powered by Snapdragon 450 chipset coupled with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. It is expandable up to 2TB as well. It is running on Android 8.0 Oreo with HTC Sense UI on top. The best design element of both these phones is the use of ceramic glass which was used in HTC U11. It is packing a 2965mAh battery for backup.
Although these phones have been unveiled the availability and the price is yet to be disclosed. Looking at the history of HTC they’ll definitely price higher than the other mid-rangers out there on the market.
At a time when most of the smartphones launched in Nepal are focusing on the ergonomics, Coolpad has launched a device that aims to fulfill the performance needs of a user. The Coolpad Cool Play 6 is a new member of the Coolpad family that has 6 GB RAM, a huge battery and dual cameras at helm. Do these features, and the device as a whole suffice the needs of its users? Let’s find out in this full review!
Coolpad Cool Play 6 Specifications:
5.5-inch full HD display (1080 x 1980 pixels)
Android 7.1.1 Marshmallow with Journey UI (Planned upgrade to Android Oreo)
64GB ROM (expandable)
6GB RAM
13 MP Dual Rear-facing Camera with f/2.0 aperture, dual-tone LED flash, 6P Lens, 4K Video Recording
8 MP Front Facing Camera with f/2.2 aperture
Qualcomm Snapdragon 653 64-bit SoC
Octa-core CPU(4x ARM Cortex A72 & x ARM Cortex A53)
Adreno 510 GPU
Fingerprint Sensor (rear-mounted)
USB Type-C connectivity
Non-removable 4,060 mAh battery
Performance
Before talking about any other aspect of the Cool Play 6, let’s jump right into the performance setting of the device. The Coolpad Cool Play 6 houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 653 chipset alongside 6 GB of RAM and Adreno 510 GPU. All these specifications do sound pleasing to the ear. And at a time when a couple of smartphones focus on advertising features that they can’t accomplish in real life, the Coolpad Cool Play 6 actually delivers what it promises. With the whopping 6 GB of RAM and the octa-core CPU, the device never let me down. Never once did the “Your app has crashed” window popped up, nor were there stutters. However, I did notice a couple of rare lags while opening applications, but that lasted only for a few milliseconds!
The Coolpad Cool Play 6 outperforms every other mid-range smartphone currently available in Nepal. Even though the device gave me unreliable results on Antutu that ranged all the way from 80000 to 90000 it still scores higher than the Xiaomi Mi A1 and the Oppo F5 which are the nearest competitors of the Cool Play 6.
But one thing that bugged me a lot was the heating issue of the device. The Cool Play 6 heated up after 15 minutes of gaming, which is not that much of an issue, but is still noticeable. This may be partly because of the processor at helm. Coolpad’s newest smartphone could have done much better had it featured a Snapdragon 636 chipset.
The gaming performance this device showed was quite good. While playing midrange to low end games, the performance was commendable. Only at times, with high end games, there were minor, very minor lags. That happened only a few times, and went unnoticed. The graphics, while playing games look very satisfying.
Talking about the software, the Coolpad Cool Play 6 runs on Android v7.1.1 out of the box. The company had promised an Oreo update last December, but the update is still on beta testing right now. So, users who are after software updates can rely on Coolpad to provide the device the Oreo upgrade.
The user-interface of the device is where Coolpad has improved, and that too a lot. Take the notification shade for an example, in last year’s Cool1, we had to one of the capacitive buttons to access the notification shade, but with the Cool Play 6, everything seems to be “normal” and in place. So, software wise, the improved Journey UI is now better and much improved.
Design and Display
The Coolpad Cool Play 6 is a device enclosed in a metallic body. There is plastic border at the top and bottom on the rear side that helps with the antennae. And talking about the design, this device lacks a uniqueness as there is nothing new that we haven’t seen. It looks like a design from last year, I must admit that the unibody design of Samsung J7 Pro, Huawei Nova 2i, and Mi A1 are superior compared to the Cool Play 6.
The dual camera at the back is accompanied by dual flash and a fingerprint scanner at the bottom. But still, the Cool Play 6 feels premium on hands but like every other metallic smartphone, I would suggest you to case it up!
And at the front lies a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display that comes in the traditional 16:9 aspect ratio. I would have really liked it if Coolpad had opted for the trendy near bezel-less display or with the 18:9 aspect ratio, but oh well!
The display panel, however, is quite bright and colorful. Viewing contents and playing games on this full HD display feel amazing and there is even an option in the UI that lets users change the display calibration which I think all smartphones should have. However, this display comes a little short of the Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro which has a well-saturation Super AMOLED display.
Battery
Backing up this 5.5-inch display is a 4,060 mAh battery. In my usage, this battery really delivered. Under heavy usage which included browsing through a list of applications, browsing through the internet and playing a lot of games, I got around 5 – 5 and a half hours of screen-on-time which goes up to 6 hours if you are into “normal usage”. So, basically, your device will not die for around a day and a half.
One thing that really bugged me was the time this battery took to go from 0 to a hundred percent. Even though Snapdragon 653 chipset supports quick charge 3.0, the Coolpad Cool Play 6 lacks any quick charge support as the device took me more than 2 hours to fully charge the device. For a battery focused smartphone, Coolpad has sure fallen short as the lack of quick charge is a disappointment.
Camera
Now on to the camera, like with its predecessor Cool 1, there is a dual rear-facing camera setup on the Cool Play 6. This setup is capable of talking pictures with shallow depth of field which Coolpad calls “SLR” mode. And we compared this feature with the Portrait Mode of Xiaomi Mi A1 in bright light. And while we have to say that the pictures from the Cool Play 6 are great and nearly perfect for its price, the Mi A1 still comes out on top as you can see from the samples.
Portrait Pictures: Xiaomi Mi A1 vs Coolpad Cool Play 6
While most reviewers from other countries had slagged off the camera of the Cool Play 6, I actually quite liked it. The color reproduction is quite good and there is ample saturation in the pictures. The smartphone doesn’t expose images, which is quite nice and the level of details is high as well. There is enough brightness and contrast in the pictures and the detailing is quite good too.
Talking about the dual cameras, the Cool Play 6 needs a bit of improvement. It produces the blur quite well but somehow fails to focus the subject entirely. If you take a look at this image, the device has blurred out the backgound well in the upper half, but in the lower half, there is very less distinction between the blur and the subject. The portrait mode I think, is better in the Mi A1.
However, under night light, the pictures are a bit noisy and there are grains here and there. But then again, the pictures are still pleasing to the eye, and the SLR mode in this light definitely better than the one on the Mi A1.
Talking about the selfies, the 8-megapixel front-facing camera is probably one of the best selfie camera on a mid-range smartphone as my selfies even we well-detailed and sharp under low-light setting. And in broad day light, the lenses do a good job to maintain the color accuracy of the pictures.
Hardware
On the storage side of things, the Coolpad Cool Play 6 comes with 64 GB of storage with no option to expand, which is a real bummer since all its competitors have expandable memory. For a device that is focused on gaming and photography, I really think Coolpad should have included an option to expand the memory.
There are dual speaker grills on the device among which only one works as a speaker. At a time when smartphone manufacturers are forgetting about speaker on their smartphones, the Coolpad Cool Play 6 seems to be following the same trend as well.
Conclusion
Coolpad has come up with the Cool Play 6 after a year of launching the Cool1. With the new smartphone, the company has high hopes of penetrating the smartphone market of Nepal. And I have to say, the Cool Play 6 actually has the capability to achieve that as there are on a few departments where I had complaints. I won’t be wrong if I say that the device is a powerhouse that suffices your day to day needs be it performance-wise or camera-wise. Yes, it gets warm while playing games and the design is just average, but for Rs. 30,000 you can hardly complain.
Enough of the speculations and presumptions. OPPO has finally launched its most awaited OPPO R15 and R15 dream mirror smartphones. OPPO was to launch these smartphones on the 31st of March. But who doesn’t like surprises right?
Let’s start with the outlook first. All the rumors and the leak have turned out to be true. It does have the iPhone X like a notch. The 19:9 aspect ratio and 6.2- inch OLED screen.
Let’s dive into the full specifications of these smartphones.
OPPO R15
The phone looks like the iPhone X with the notch on top and a 19.9 aspect ratio. The back is similar in a way that it has a glass back but not everything in the rear looks the same. It has a rear fingerprint sensor and the dual cameras are horizontally aligned. The glass panel on this one is of 2.5D and the display at the front is full HD+.
Many of the phones have opted for a dual camera at the back for 2018. The same goes with the Oppo F15 as there are rear cameras are of 16MP f/1.7 and 5MP f/2.2 respectively. Oppo R15 makes use of the Sony IMX519 lens which Oppo claims can automatically recognize up to 120 scenes.
OPPO smartphones are always known for being selfie-experts. The manufacturer does not surprise us here with the 20MP for a selfie camera which is apparently AI smart beauty and AI wisdom smart beauty driven.
The smartphone is powered by MediaTek Helio P60 chipset coupled with 6GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage, which is quite impressive. With a dual hybrid SIM slot, an additional 256GB of expandable memory gives us the convenient vibe. Not having to transfer the files time and again or delete for that matter.
The phone runs on the Android Oreo 8.1 which is the latest as of when the phone was in the making. OPPO is time and again accused of not sending updates so we’ve to see if OPPO changes for better or stays the same.
This smartphone costs $473 approximately making it a premium mid-range smartphone.
OPPO R15 dream mirror edition
The phone is pretty much same as the earlier one. The same glass back, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and the dual camera. But the glass at the back of this one is a 3D one.
On the camera part, there is a combination of 16 MP and 20 MP dual cameras at the rear and a 20MP camera for the selfie as it has the ‘selfie-expert’ criteria to meet as per its claim. The software enhanced bokeh effect and AI smart beauty and AI wisdom smart beauty feature also for the selfies.
The smartphone is powered by a Snapdragon 660 chipset which is a recent one from the manufacturer. Supported by a 14nm chip, it is claimed to be battery saving, efficient and to deliver the high-end performance compared to its predecessor Snapdragon 653. This particular SoC is the one that supports AI (artificial intelligence) in the mid-range smartphones.
The smartphone costs approximately $552 for the ceramic black variant while the red variant will cost $520 approximately.
Looking at the specifications and comparing them with the cost of these smartphones, these seem promising. The AI feature, class back and VOOC charging are the ones that impress us the most. The specifications are of a top notch for any mid-range smartphone.
We can settle for the fact that it looks like iPhone X. The outlook of which we are not much impressed with but we can settle on this for the features it consists of. Let’s hope OPPO comes up with some original ideas for the outlook as well.
