The Xiaomi Mi A1 was one of the most sought-after smartphones of 2017. The smartphone is faring quite well in the mid-range price segment right now where competition is getting tougher and tougher each day. And to attract more customers, Vatsal Impex, the official distributor of Xiaomi products in Nepal, has launched a red colored special edition variant of the smartphone here.
This special edition variant of the Mi A1 was launched a while back in December, last year. This device follows the trend of a lot of mobile companies launching a red colored variant of their smartphones. And if the looks are considered, the Xiaomi Mi A1 with its dual cameras and a fingerprint scanner on the rear side resembles OnePlus 5T’s Lava Red variant.
The Xiaomi Mi A1 Red edition features the same architecture as its regular version. The device comes with the same Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor with 4 GB of RAM. Storage wise, the device has 64 GB of onboard memory which is expandable as well. Likewise, the display stands 5.5-inch tall and has a full HD resolution. Xiaomi has included dual rear-facing lenses on the Mi A1. Both lenses measure 12-megapixels and are capable of taking portrait images with a shallow depth of field.
The Xiaomi Mi A1 is the Chinese manufacturer’s first smartphone running Google’s Android One program. It recently received Android Oreo update and will also be upgradable to Android P in the near future.
The red variant of the smartphone is available for the same price tag as that of the normal one, i.e. Rs. 29,999. The smartphone is available at Mi showrooms located at LABIM Mall and Pako. They can also be purchased online on Mi Nepal’s official website and the company’s authorized retail stores.
Xiaomi Mi A1 Specifications:
Display: 5.5-inch full HD LTPS display, Gorilla Glass, 2.5D curved glass
Who could forget the iconic Nokia 3310 mobile, which is one of the bestselling mobiles of all times? Last year, HMD Global revamped the mobile and brought it to the mobile world as Nokia 3310 2017. The same sturdy design and the inbuilt snake game brought nostalgia to its users. However, the mobile failed to please its users since it lacked the features that are considered indispensable these days. Reconsidering the concept, the HMD Global has now brought the Nokia 3310 4G. As the name suggests, the device will be able to function on a 4G bandwidth. The compatibility for 4G connectivity has been the major upgrade in the phone. And there are few other enhanced parameters in terms of specifications.
With the 4G connectivity (VoLTE & LTE) prevailing all around the globe, different countries had discontinued the older 2G connectivity. Last year, when HMD Global brought the modern Nokia 3310, everyone got perplexed because the cellular connectivity in the device was limited to 2G. The absence of Wi-Fi connectivity option was another letdown. So, this time around, the brand has stepped up with some praiseworthy upgrades that would fit in the crowd of smartphone lovers to some extent.
Wrapped in a polycarbonate body, the phone comes with the same design language. The presence of polycarbonate body has made the device remarkably light; however, it has not compromised with the sturdiness. In terms of display, Nokia 3310 4G possesses a screen size of 2.4-inch embracing 240 x 320 pixels resolution.
Nokia 3310 2017 had 16MB of internal storage and performing the tasks in the device was pretty hectic. Running out of memory space was the major issue in the device and the use of SD card was mandatory. But in the 4G variant, there is onboard storage of 512MB and 256MB RAM. So playing with the device does not require worrying about the storage in quick succession.
New Nokia 3310 vs Old Nokia 3310
And talking about the operating system, the new 4G variant is injected with the YunOS, which is a forked version of Android built by China’s Alibaba. Along with the inbuilt snake game, the Nokia 3310 4G is also supposed to come preloaded with an MP3 player.
In terms of connectivity, Nokia 3310 4G has received loads of upgrades to its predecessor. 4G connectivity is the most remarkable addition to the device. On the top of that, there is Wi-Fi connectivity option. So unlike the 2017 variant, the users do not need to spend the SIM card balance to surf the internet in the Wi-Fi zone. Furthermore, the newbie has welcomed Bluetooth 4.0 bidding farewell to the older Bluetooth 3.0.
Despite the numerous enhancements, the newbie didn’t receive any upgrades and enrichment in the camera department. The phone comes with the same 2MP camera on the back with LED flash on its proximity. The device comes in two color variants: Fresh Blue and Deep Black. Further, it is packed with a 1200mAh removable battery, which promises 8 hours of talk time. The device has only been announced in China as of now. The pricing and the global availability of the device will probably be disclosed in Mobile World Congress (MWC 2018).
Nokia 3310 4G Key specs
2.4-inch display, QVGA resolution (240 x 320 pixels)
Rear-facing Camera: 2MP, LED flash
OS: YunOS
RAM: 256MB
Internal Memory: 512 MB
Expandable Memory: Up to 64 GB
FM Radio, Bluetooth 4.0, MP3 Player, 4G, Wi-Fi b/g/n
If you’re looking for a budget smartphone under the range of Rs 15,000, Huawei has brought a new smartphone from the ‘Y’ series notable as Huawei Y7. Huawei is well known for its refined specs even at a mid-range or lower budget which is why Huawei trends in Nepal.
This smartphone is more or less made for the people who especially look for a long-lasting battery life. Huawei Y7 offers a massive a battery of 4000 mAh. But except the massive battery what other highlights do Huawei Y7 have? Let’s find out in this review.
Specifications:
Display: 5.5-inch HD IPS LCD Display with 267 PPI Pixel density
Dimensions: 153.6 x 76.4 x 8.4 mm
Weight: 165 gram
OS: Android 7.1 Nougat with EMUI 5.1 on the top
Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 (1.4GHz Octa-core) CPU
Connectivity: Dual-SIM (micro+nano), 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, FM Radio
Sensors: accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass and ambient light sensors
Battery: Non-removable Li-Ion 4000 mAh battery
Design & Build
Huawei Y7 has a very stylish design with a plastic back enclosed in a metallic frame. However, it has been smoothly designed and colored giving it a metallic look and feel. The phone is a pleasure to hold but it frequently slipped from my hands due to the metallic edges. The 16:9 ratio display makes the phone hard to handle with one hand. However, the shape of the phone does make it somewhat easier to handle.
Display
It has an 8.4mm thickness and weighs about 165 gms. It comes with a 5.5-inch HD display which is bigger than phones of same pricing range like Samsung J2 Pro and Redmi 4A. It has an IPS LCD display giving it a captative and clear display. And since the resolution is just HD, I found watching movies wasn’t really delightful.
Hardware
The standby volume key is easily felt on the right-hand side. The regular micro USB port is located at the bottom along with the speaker. There is only one speaker on the left side while the other is noise cancellation. Although the speaker isn’t very loud, I would say it is pretty decent in this pricing range. While the 3.5mm headphone jack and a noise-canceling sensor are located at the top. On the left side, you get a dual nanohybrid sim card slot which means you can insert 2 SIM cards or a SIM card and a micro SD. Also, there is a small LED on top, which blinks to alert if there is any notification.
Talking about the sensors, it has an accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass and ambient light sensor. Since it bears ambient light sensor, it saves the trouble of altering the brightness under different lighting conditions. However, it lacks fingerprint sensor.
Performance
Huawei Y7 runs on Snapdragon 435 octa-core chipset along with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. The performance, however, hasn’t been an exception. It performed well with light apps and games. As expected in this price range, while playing high-end games like ‘Into the death’, froze and started heating up within 10 mins or less. Even while using apps like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat and light games simultaneously, it tends to heat up within 45 mins.
Software
Moving on to the software department, it runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat with EMUI version 5.1. The UI has evolved over the years. There is no app drawer by default but you can add app drawer later. It has even added notification panel and other improvements giving a more stock Android experience.
The phone also has many fascinating features in the settings. It has integrated new ‘eye comfort’ mode which helps to filter out blue light to protect from visual fatigue. It also has glove mode which enables you to operate the smartphone with thin gloves. Besides that, it also comes with one-handed UI enabling easy operation with one hand. The phone comes with a built-in step counter so you can keep track of your health.
Battery
Like I mentioned before, the battery is very astonishing. I tried my best to drain the battery life but it seems that the battery is pretty efficient and long-lasting. The 4000 mAh battery is plenty for an average user. The phone can go on for about 2 days if you are a light user. But it can last for a whole day even if you are an intense user. The screen-on time was about 7 hours. It lacks Quick Charging but boasts a Huawei-developed power-saving solution intended to bridge that gap.
Camera
Y7 features 12 MP rear camera with LED-flash on the back followed by an 8-megapixel front camera which is decent for a phone at this price. The pictures are clear and it records decent videos too. What I admire is that the focus of the rear camera is very quick and accurate. It also offers many features like pro photo and video mode, beautify, time lapse, slow-mo, HDR, etc which is nice to see in phones falling under this range.
Phase Detection Auto Focus allows you to focus on your subject in just 0.3s, making sure you capture pictures with clear and sharp details.
The 8 MP front camera features face recognition technology and beauty mode, which helps remove blemishes and improves brightness. The low-light shots turned out to be quite clear as well. In short, both the camera, front, and back are indeed pretty decent.
Check out all the high-resolution image samples here in this link.
Connectivity
Huawei Y7 Prime packs 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, FM Radio, Bluetooth v4.1, GPS and micro USB 2.0. The phone supports 2 Sim cards. However, since it is hybrid you can use either 2 SIM card or 1 SIM card and micro SD at a time.
CONCLUSION
In a nutshell, the Huawei Y7 is a fascinating phone having a long lasting and efficient battery, sharp and clear display and a decent pair of cameras at a low budget. This brings a tough competition for other phones within this range. So, if you are looking for a phone with good specs but have a tight budget, I would definitely recommend Huawei Y7 to be befitting.
The Samsung Galaxy S9 is just a month away from being official. Samsung has already sent out invites to the press for the unveiling at Mobile World Congress next month. Although the company didn’t say much about the phone, one of the phone’s rumored features is a variable aperture camera.
As per the rumors, the front of Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 plus will look identical to Samsung Galaxy S8. Which seems to be fair as Galaxy S8 and S8 plus are one of the best-looking smartphones around. Leaks suggest that the Galaxy S9 will include a 5.8-inch display while the larger S9 plus will have a 6.2-inch display with near bezel-less display. The smartphones will have a Super AMOLED curved display. Both the S9 and S9 plus will embrace the Quad-HD+ resolution (1440 x 2960 pixels) with a resulting pixel density of 570 PPI and 529 PPI respectively. The phones will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Chipset/Exynos 9810 and will run on Android Oreo out of the box.
While the S9 will have 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, S9+ will have 6GB RAM and 128GB storage that can be expanded up to 256GB via a microSD card. According to the rumors, both the phones appear to be repetitive hardware updates of the existing phone S8. In terms of camera, S9 is going to get a 12MP rear camera whereas the S9 plus will 12 MP dual camera setup on the back. However, both of them are going to get the variable aperture feature allowing it to switch between f/2.4 and f/1.5. Upfront, there will be 8MP selfie shooter on both the devices.
The rumors also report that the fingerprint scanner will be placed below the rear camera. This is gonna be a noticeable change as there were many complaints of the fingerprint sensor being on the right-side in S8. But the on-screen fingerprint sensor has already been showcased at CES 2018 by Vivo. Under display fingerprint sensor would still be a great thing but S9 and S9 plus do not seem to get it. A new rumor suggests that the Samsung will place the fingerprint sensor just below the camera just like the Samsung A8 Plus 2018. And to pose threat to the widely remarked Face ID on the iPhone X, the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 plus are rumored to incorporate intelligent scan technology. As the rumors claim, the intelligent scan technology will use the combination of Iris scanner and the face recognition as a way to securely unlock the device.
The Samsung Galaxy S9 will have a dual (nano) SIM cards. The connectivity options will contain dual-band ac Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth 5.0, and faster LTE with Snapdragon 845. Luckily, it is predicted that there will be a 3.5mm standard headphone jack, built-in radio, wireless charging and again the controversial Bixby AI assistant with a dedicated button and 3D face detection. The phones will be IP68 certified making it resistant to the water and dust. As for the battery, S9 and S9 plus will have 3000 mAh battery which is a similar size to the battery of S8.
Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus Specifications
5.8inch / 6.2inch display with QHD resolution (1440 x 2960 pixels), 18.5:9 aspect ratio @ 570PPI / 529PPI
12MP Dual Pixel camera on the back with a variable aperture of f/1.5 to f/2.4 (S9)
Dual 12MP Dual Pixel camera on the back with a variable aperture of f/1.5 to f/2.4 (S9 Plus)
8MP front camera
3.5mm standard headphone jack
Bixby AI assistant with dedicated button
IP68 Certified; Water and dust resistant
Connectivity: Dual-Band Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth 5.0
Sensors: Compass, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor and Gyroscope
The estimated price of S9 is £689 and S9 plus is £779 approximately Rs 1,12,100/- and Rs 1,26,775 in Nepal. The price is close to the Note 8 territory which suggests, the Note 9 will be even more expensive.
A new variant of the Samsung Galaxy J7 Nxt has just landed the Nepali smartphone market. Priced at Rs. 21,990, the new variant of the Samsung Galaxy J7 Nxt has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage as the noticeable upgrades. The newbie also has some refined touch on the camera side but we will get into that later.
The smartphone possesses the same design language of the Samsung Galaxy J7. The screen size, form factor, and the speaker are barely distinguishable. The major difference that breaks the tie between the design language of the J7 and the J7 Nxt is the patterned back in the J7 Nxt. This change might be useful to the ones, who has a bad record and slipping the smartphones from hands and breaking it. In terms of display, the J7 Nxt is enriched with the vibrant Super AMOLED display. Sized at 5.5-inch, the display offers HD resolution (1280 x 720 pixels) at the pixel density of 267PPI.
In terms of storage, there is 3GB of RAM and 32GB of RAM with the device. This is the major upgrade from the original Galaxy J7 Nxt, which had 2GB RAM coupled with 16GB of onboard storage. So this newbie may fit the requirement, who had issues with the earlier variant because of the insufficient RAM and ROM. And to add more, there is a privilege for the storage expansion up to 256GB via SD card. Powering the device is the Exynos 7870 chipset. And there is Mali-T830 MP1 GPU to look after the graphics department. The whole device is fueled by the 3000mAh removable battery buried under the patterned back cover. Samsung boasts that the battery is capable of providing up to 13 hours of internet usage time (Wi-Fi), 17 Hours of continuous Video playback, 80 hours of audio playback and up to 21 hours of talk time.
Samsung Galaxy J7 Nxt comes with Android Nougat out of the box with no mention of the future updates. On the photography side, the smartphone comes with a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP camera up front. Both of the cameras come with LED flashes to assist during the low light situations. The setup on both the cameras has the same configuration as that of the older variant. However, Samsung has claimed that the front camera on the device can shoot Portrait Selfies with the blurred background (Bokeh effect).
Samsung Galaxy J7 Nxt Specifications
Display: 5.5 inch Super AMOLED Display (720 x 1280 pixels @ 267ppi pixel density)
Chipset: Exynos 7870 chipset
CPU: Octa-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A53 processor
GPU: Mali-T830 MP1 GPU
OS: Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box
RAM: 3GB
Internal Storage: 32GB; Expandable up to 256GB via MicroSD card
Rear Camera: 13 MP, f/1.9, 28mm, autofocus, LED flash
Front Camera: 5 MP, f/2.2, 23mm, LED flash, features Portrait Selfie
Connectivity: Dual-SIM (nano + nano), 3.5mm audio jack, 4G LTE, micro USB 2.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, FM Radio and A-GPS, GLONASS.
It was only last year that I got to experience CAN Infotech to the fullest as GadgetByte itself was a part of the event. The hustle of tech enthusiasts was a sight to see as a huge number of people thronged into the event area every day. However, people who had been to CAN Infotech over the years shared that the event was distasteful. And they were somewhat true. Last year there were only a few stalls that actually caught my eye and intrigued me with their innovative products. So, this year, I was all excited to see how officials would rectify their errors that have prevailed over the years and conduct an event that would be innovative, to say the least.
The technology sector in Nepal is booming like never before, and people from every nook and corner of the country are being attracted towards this field. And CAN Infotech, being the holy grail of displaying some amazing tech-related ideas or gadgets, attracts a lot of audiences. I got to visit CAN Infotech 2018 yesterday, and I have to say I wasn’t impressed with what I saw. Now please note that I am not in anyway against CAN or the event it organizes, and I have the utmost respect for all the exhibitioners who put in a lot of effort to make the event a success. However, the Infotech I visited yesterday was boring and looked more like a business expo with only a few stalls with interesting products and innovations.
Let’s start with the positives. I got to see a lot of startup companies at CAN Infotech this year. These startups have turned over a lot of heads with their new ideas and inventions. The visitors seemed interested in these companies and their aims. Companies like BeeCreative, Foodmario, Sarathi Cab, Sagoon, Khalti, Sajilo Marmat Sewa, etc. are using the event’s platform to pitch their product to the audience, so, make sure you visit their respective stalls.
Huawei finally launched the Mate 10 Pro here in Nepal making use of the CAN platform. The company has priced the device at Rs. 103,900 which means that it will directly go up against the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. The company is also advertising the Huawei Nova 2i in the event. There was no Matebook X in their stall, though.
Sony is offering discounts on its products at the CAN Infotech. The Xperia XA, Xperia L1 Dual, and Xperia X are my pick of the bunch. Also, be sure to check the discounts on the company’s TVs.
There are also some notable products like My Lockey which is a USB dongle that encrypts data via a fingerprint scanner, and Texas College’s e-library. The organizers of Locus 2018 were also at the CAN, advertising their event which is starting from February 2. Also, companies like Growth Sellers and PUM are pitching their ideas to the visitors in the event.
Last year’s CAN Infotech included lots of multinational companies and some of the heavy hitters of the Nepali tech industry. However, this year, lots of popular brands didn’t invest on CAN Infotech, and that’s probably due to the decreasing quality of the event. Companies like Samsung, Vianet, and Oppo, are not present and that’s probably because they think their investment isn’t bearing fruits. And personally, I think other companies should follow. CAN Infotech is meant to showcase the on-going technological advancement in the country. But these days, it is turning out to be a business expo. If companies just want to sell their products, why don’t they do it in New Road? And why is a leather bag manufacturer exhibiting its products at CAN Infotech? I don’t see the connection between a leather bag and a tech event.
I was also disappointed with the mobile companies as they only showed off their older products. Ocean Computers (Importer of MSI in Nepal) and Nagmani International (Importer of ASUS in Nepal) are selling their products with a huge margin in the event.
Now let’s talk about ISPs. Worldlink and Subisu are luring consumers with discounts on annual packages. That’s great for the new customers but what about the old ones? Shouldn’t they also be focusing on the customers who are already there?
There are lots of exhibitioners at CAN Infotech this year. And from what I saw, there are only a few stalls that are actually interesting. Even though some products that have caught the visitors’ eyes, there is not one single stall with a ‘wow’ factor.
Three years ago, we had written an article on CAN Infotech 2015. Fast-forward three years, the shortcomings that were mentioned in the article still prevail. Even though it was the second day of the event yesterday, the stalls were still under construction. Likewise, the loud blaring speakers are distracting as ever. I had a hard time figuring out where the respective stalls were located at. It would have been much better if the stalls were organized according to their category. For example stalls that showcase smartphones can be placed at one end of the venue while stalls related to computers and laptops can be placed at the other end. This will certainly help the visitors and make the event more managed.
So, all-in-all, CAN Infotech 2018 was a disappointing event for me. CAN has yet to rectify the mistakes it has been making for the last few years. The event had made a name for itself due to the tech it showcased, not because of leather bags or by selling laptops from unauthorized sellers. CAN Infotech these days is like a business expo more than an event regarding technological advancement in Nepal. Hopefully, next year when the 2019 edition starts, the association will focus more on what it actually stands for rather than how much it can earn!
Huawei Technologies Nepal Co. Pvt. Ltd has officially unveiled the Mate 10 Pro at the ongoing CAN infotech 2018. The Mate 10 Pro is company’s flagship smartphone and hence comes with a sumptuous price tag of NRs. 1,03,900.
Mate series is traditionally known for its big phablet size with a top of the line specs and huge battery size. Well, the Mate 10 Pro has all that but now in a more compact and appealing form factor thanks to its new 18:9 aspect ratio display.
The phone comes with a 6.0 inch Full HD display with AMOLED panel. The display is HDR10 compliant meaning you can enjoy HDR content natively on its display. Ditching the habitual aluminum build, Mate 10 Pro has opted for glass body with Gorilla Glass 5 on both front and back. It is now IP67 water and dust resistant.
The Mate 10 Pro is all about its new AI-based Kirin 970 processor with a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU). Use of an AI on the SoC is going to be conventional as big players like Apple and Google have already incorporated them into their devices. Apple with its A11 Bionic and Pixel 2 with a dedicated image processing unit, we ought to see more AI integrations in the future as well. Machine learning and Deep learning could be done using software but with the use of dedicated hardware (NPU), Huawei has the fastest processing time making it much more efficient.
Now talking about the CPU it is an octa-core CPU clocked at 2.4GHz. Coupled with that, it comes with 6GB of DDR4 RAM. In terms of performance, it shouldn’t be less than any other flagships out there. It also offers 128GB storage on board with no option for expansion. The NPU also learns the user’s usage patterns and optimizes the performance accordingly.
The phone comes with dual camera setup with 12MP RGB sensor and 20MP Monochrome sensor. Both the sensors come with a wide f/1.6 aperture which should help a lot in the low light shooting. Huawei has always favored the monochrome sensor to pull in more details from the scene. The use of deep learning also prevails in shooting department with different scene detection. The NPU escort image processing based on the scene so the pictures are optimized for that very scene. It can shoot portrait shots as well. The phone has phase detection autofocus for faster focus shifts. It can shoot 4K videos at 30fps with OIS at play. Up front, the phone holds an 8MP camera with f/2.0.
In terms of connectivity, the Huawei Mate 10 Pro offers dual-band ac WiFi, dual SIM support, IR blaster and USB Type C. The phone, however, lacks a lot of features like the Bluetooth 5.0, headphone jack and a dedicated SD card slot. The Kirin 970 carries the fastest LTE band as of now. The battery has been forte of Mate series and the Mate 10 Pro offers huge 4,000mAH battery. Huawei claims a battery life of 2 days even with heavy usage. As in cherry on top, the phone comes with Huawei’s Supercharge technology that charges your phone from 0 to 50 percent within 30 minutes.
Specifications of Huawei Mate 10 Pro
Display: 6.0 inches Full HD+ (1080 x 2160) AMOLED display
Battery: Non-removable Li-Po 4000 mAh battery with Fast charge (0 to 50% in 30minutes)
Color: Mocha Gold
The Huawei Mate 10 Pro is priced at Rs. 103,900 making it a direct competitor of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. The phone has been heavily advertised with the focus on its AI-powered Kirin 970 processor but how will it stack against the Note 8? Well, we’ll be testing that in our video soon.
Vivo had us awe-struck when it showcased the smartphone with an In-display fingerprint sensor at the CES 2018. Numerous attempts had also been done by Apple to get credited for the innovation of the technology. But all those endeavors had gone in vain. The Chinese smartphone maker thrived, where the biggest tech giant Apple failed. So for this remarkable innovation, Vivo had been hailed throughout the show. In the show, many tech enthusiasts assumed it to be a prototype, which would take quite some time for the implementation. Proving all wrong, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer gave life to the innovative under display fingerprint sensor in its new smartphone, the Vivo X20 Plus UD.
The new smartphone has most of the specs cloned from the Vivo X20 Plus. With the ‘UD’ adhered in its name, the newbie implies for the all-hailed under display fingerprint sensor. The Vivo X20 Plus UD has narrow bezels across the border and the impressive 6.43-inch Super AMOLED display. With the bezel-less display and the 18:9 aspect ratio, the smartphone possesses the trendy design language.
The device is powered by the Snapdragon 660 Chipset backed by 4GB of RAM. The powerful and efficient chipset is boon for the buttery smooth performance on the device. And the ample 4GB of RAM provides a stronger assist. The onboard storage on the Vivo X20 Plus was 64GB. The enhanced UD variant got a little upgrade with 128GB of internal storage. There is also a privilege for the expansion up to 256GB via SD card but it uses the SIM 2 slot.
In terms of camera, the Vivo X20 Plus UD comes with the dual camera setup on the back. There is a secondary sensor of 5MP to assist the 12MP primary camera. Up front, there is 12MP camera dedicated for the selfies. To keep the things running, the smartphone inherits an impressive 3900mAh battery. And to accelerate the charging process, the Vivo X20 Plus UD is also gifted with the fast charging compatibility. With the charging setup of 5V, 4.5A, the smartphone does not require a long time for the replenishment.
And talking about the under display fingerprint sensor, Vivo partnered with Synaptics for the development. Dubbed as the Synaptics Clear ID sensor, this new scanner uses CMOS image sensor. Implanted under the display, this new sensor will be water resistant and will also be safe from scratches. The fingerprint unlocks the device without an issue. However, with the scanner under the display, the sensor is little slow and take a little more time for fingerprint registration (2 seconds) and unlocking the device (0.7 seconds).
The smartphone will be available in China from February 1 at the price of CNY 3,598 (Rs.58,000 approx). Launch in the global market has not been announced. So the availability of the Vivo X20 Plus UD in Nepal cannot be said yet. What do you think of the phone? Would you buy it, if it comes to Nepal? Let us know in the comment section.
Another Week and Another Giveaway to our beloved followers. Like last week, we will be giving away the Colors S11 — Nepal’s first online exclusive smartphone available at daraz online shopping.
The Colors S11 was made available at daraz starting 20th Jan and is priced very competitively at Rs. 12,495. For the offered price, you get a 5.2-inch 720P IPS display with 2.5D curved glass and dragon trail protection. It is powered by a modest 1.3Ghz MediaTek processor, but you get 3GB of RAM. The highlight of the device is a dual camera setup with a dedicated lens for wide angle selfies. Other specs include 16GB ROM, dedicated microSD slot, 4G support, 8MP back camera, Android Nougat 7.0, and 3000mAh battery.
To enter this giveaway, this time we have partnered with Gleam which will take care of submission and winner drawing process.
2017 was the year of Chinese smartphones in Nepal. Even though a certain manufacturer still has more market share, the growth they had was rapid. We were also introduced to some of the new players last year which included UMIDIGI. UMIDIGI launched a few devices the previous year in which the C Note and the Crystal stood out. So, I put the C note through a series of test, and here is my full review of the device.
5.5-inch (1080 x 1920 pixels) full HD SHARP 2.5D curved display
Gorilla Glass protection
1.5GHz Quad-core MediaTek MT6737T processor
3GB RAM; 32GB internal memory, expandable with microSD up to 256GB
Android v7.0 (Nougat)
13MP rear camera with Samsung S5K3L8 sensor, PDAF, dual LED flash
5MP front camera
Dual Hybrid SIM (Nano+Nano/TF Card) with 4G LTE
Front-mounted fingerprint sensor
Full Metal Body
3800 mAh non-removable battery
UMIDIGI C Note Price in Nepal: Rs. 20,900
Display and Design
If its price is considered, the UMIDIGI C Note is the only device to come with a full HD display in its price range. Even with a low price tag, the display is vibrant, full of happening and has an adequate brightness that does well under the brightest of lights. However, the first thing you notice about the screen how unnatural the text look while watching videos. They lack sharpness and look pixelated. I didn’t face this issue when I read a couple of articles on the device, though. And if you do a lot of reading, the device also has an option to toggle the screen’s color temperature according to a user’s necessity.
This display is cloaked by a pretty-looking metallic body on the back. The aluminum body is premium, and it makes the device feel like it’s worth more than its actual price. There is a camera accompanied by a LED flash sitting on the rear side. Although there is only a single primary camera, UMIDIGI has made it look as if there is a dual camera setup on the phone. A fingerprint sensor bottom bezel at the front with an earpiece and sensors on the top. The bottom bezel also houses capacitive keys.
Software
The capacitive keys are one of the features I didn’t like on the device. To check the recently used apps, I had to long press the home button, which is an outdated Android feature that takes up a lot of time and is really annoying. But I later found out that the keys can be toggled to the virtual ones. Another feature that’s outdated, software wise, is the icons and the menu. But one of the best thing about Android is customization. So, of course, I changed both of them.
These are the only issues I had with the software front of the UMIDIGI C Note. One of the unique traits of this device is that there were no applications from Google installed right out of the box, excluding the Play Store. I had to download the ones I needed. All in all, the C Note is free of unnecessary bloatware and provides a near-stock experience.
Performance
The software also helps boost the performance due to the lack of bloatware in the device. The UMIDIGI C Note with its MediaTek processor and 3GB RAM handles almost everything thrown at it. There were, however, rare stutters while gaming. Also, a few minutes after playing games like Asphalt and Dream Soccer League, the area right below the primary camera started to warm up. I was really worried, but after gaming for a couple of hours, the heat didn’t actually increase. Other than this issue, the device didn’t give up on me. Multitasking was good too, except for the time some apps took to load up.
The UMIDIGI C Note scored 39665 on Antutu which is a little bit less than what Nokia 5 (45274), Xiaomi Redmi 4X (43431), and Samsung Galaxy J7 Nxt (41777).
Now I know a 3,800 mAh battery sounds very really great. But that was not the case in real life usage. Its battery has this unusual bug due to which once its charge decreased to 20%, the battery died a couple of minutes later. I thought this was just an issue in my review unit, but the same has been mentioned in a couple of other reviews of the C Note.
The device gave me a screen-on-time of 3 and half hours – 4 hours under heavy usage. I gamed, browsed through the internet, took a few pictures, and watched a couple of videos. Even my primary smartphone that has a 3,000 mAh battery gives me 4 hours of screen-on-time. And that’s not the only disappointing fact about the battery. Due to a lack of any kind of fast charging support, it took me around 3 hours just to juice up the battery. I know we can’t really expect that feature in a device worth 20,000, but 3-hours is a long time.
Camera
On the camera side, the C Note houses a 13-megapixel lens that is nothing to be home about. It takes decent pictures at its best, and when you zoom into them, they lose details. The pictures I took lacked good sharpness, accurate colors, and saturation. And like most of the device of its price range, it fails to shine under low-light settings. The pictures come off way too noisy and grainy. They are washed out and lack the proper colors. The same goes for the selfie camera.
UMIDIGI C Note Selfie Sample
The 5-megapixel lens takes washed out images. But since the camera is not the USP of the device, you are good to go if you only take a few pictures every day and are okay with posting decent selfies on your social media accounts.
Sensors and Hardware
On the front glass panel of the UMIDIGI C Note sits a fingerprint scanner that can unlock the smartphone in around 0.50 seconds. The scanner never gave up on me once, so, it is completely reliable. The bottom of the device has dual mono speakers which are loud and don’t get covered up easily. Between these speakers is a microUSB port for connectivity purpose. To make way for the speakers, UMIDIGI has placed the headphone jack on top of the device. The UMIDIGI C Note comes equipped with 32 GB of internal memory which can be expanded up to 256 GB via a microSD card. However, you will have to choose between a microSD card and an extra SIM card as it has a hybrid SIM slot.
Conclusion
So, to round off this review, the UMIDIGI C Note is a device that has a great display and a premium build quality. The Chinese company has included a near-stock software in a device that performs really well. However, even though it houses a big battery, the battery life is unsatisfactory and the bug it has is a huge-huge let off. Also, the camera lenses are only decent. But if you can oversee the battery issue and want a smartphone that feels premium and has a crisp display, you should get the UMIDIGI C Note.
