Gionee M series is for those who are always in for the battery life. Unlike previous M series, the new M7 and M7 Power is packed with all the reasonable specifications you could think of. Both the phone features, now trending 18:9 display with Full HD resolution. Like always, they pack the biggest battery in the game.
Gionee M7
Gionee M7 is the most powerful and feature-rich among the two. It comes with a metal-coated glass back with a brushed finish. The phone offers 6.01 Full HD AMOLED display with 18:9 aspect ratio and 2.5D glass. Gionee M7 is security-oriented with a new encryption chip that helps in secure payment.
The phone comes with a dual rear camera setup in a pair of 16MP and 8MP. The assisting camera is a telephoto lens providing 2x optical zoom. Backing up the phone is a 4,000mAh battery which provides 26 hours of talk time and 671 hours of standby. The best thing is it comes with fast charging at 9V/2A. Powering the device is octa-core Helio P30 chipset clocked at 2.3GHz. It comes coupled with massive 6GB of DDR4X RAM.
6.01-inch FHD (2160 x 1080) AMOLED display with 18:9 aspect ratio, 2.5D Glass
Android 7.1 Nougat with Amigo OS 5.0 on top
Hybrid Dual Nano SIM slots, Dual Standby
Fingerprint Sensor (Rear)
2.3GHz octa-core 64-bit MediaTek Helio P30 processor with ARM Mali-G71 MP2 GPU
6GB LPDDR4X RAM
16MP (F/1.8 Aperture, 6P lens) + 8MP rear camera with LED flash, Digital Zoom
8MP Front Facing Camera
64GB internal storage, expandable up to 256GB
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Bluetooth V4.2, micro USB V2.0, USB OTG
4000 mAh Polymer Lithium-Ion battery with Fast Charging (9V/2A)
Gionee M7 Power:
Gionee M7 Power is also known as the Big Gold Steel 2, a very bold name for a smartphone. It comes with 6-inch HD display with 18:9 aspect ratio and 2.5D glass. The phone sports a bigger 5,000 mAh battery thus the title “Power” in its name. It also supports fast charging at 9V/2A.
Under the hood, Gionee M7 Power is facilitated by octa-core Snapdragon 435 chipset clocked at 1.4GHz. It comes paired with 4GB of RAM. For storage, it offers 64GB of internal storage, expandable up to 256GB. The device, however, is deprived of dual camera setup. The M7 Power comes with a 13MP shooter with f/2.0 and PDAF. Up front, it houses 8MP front camera.
Specifications of Gionee M7 Power:
6-inch HD (1440 x 720) display with 18:9 aspect ratio, 2.5D Glass
Android 7.1 Nougat with Amigo OS 5.0 on top
Hybrid Dual Nano SIM slots, Dual Standby
Fingerprint Sensor (Rear)
1.4GHz octa-core 64-bit Snapdragon 435 processor with Adreno 505 GPU
4GB RAM
13MP Rear Camera with f/2.0 aperture, PDAF, 1080p @30fps
8MP Front Facing Camera
64GB internal storage, expandable up to 256GB
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Bluetooth V4.2, micro USB V2.0, USB OTG
5000 mAh Polymer Lithium-Ion battery with Fast Charging (9V/2A)
The Gionee M7 is priced at $422 and M7 Power is priced at $300. We can expect November launch of these devices in Nepal. Gionee devices are usually cheaper in Nepal compared to other countries. We have speculated the following price for these devices. Gionee M7 Expected Price in Nepal: Rs.35,000 – Rs.40,000 Gionee M7 Power Expected Price in Nepal: Rs.25,000 – Rs.30,000
With the increasing necessity of internet all over the world, the idea of using mobile data to access it has also grown a lot. Whenever you are on-the-go and outside the reach of wi-fi, using data has become a go-to solution. However, data connectivity is not top-notch in everyone’s phone.
To test how data connectivity works on smartphones in the Philippines, BASS PH (Bandwidth and Signal Strength) mobile app has been specifically monitoring the strength of the cellular signal and the speed of the mobile internet in the Philippines by collecting test results made by users. The BASS PH app was designed by volunteers for volunteers in order to accumulate data related to signal strengths and location-based bandwidth to improve the state of local internet quality in the Philippines.
According to data gathered by the BASS app, Huawei smartphones registered the fastest mobile internet speeds among all devices running the BASS app.
The chart published by the app clearly shows the device MHA-AL000 (Huawei Mate9) at the highest scale in terms of the highest average speed among all devices used in measuring mobile internet in the Philippines. The chart features phones from Asus, Apple, Sony, Jiayu, Oppo, One Plus and Samsung among others on lower co-ordinates in the graph. Other Huawei devices like the P10, P10 Plus and the Nexus 6P also showed strong results.
The Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is a leading global ICT solutions provider that has been innovating customer-centric technologies and ideas. The fact that the company has been establishing end-to-end capabilities and strengths to raise benchmarks in terms of ICT solutions and services. And, in the Philippines, Huawei has a good foothold as they run almost 100% of Globe’s network and around 50% of Smart’s network. As Huawei has set up cellular radio towers with the support of their expertise in engineering, it has helped them maximize the mobile internet speed.
The chart released by the BASS app might let the customers make a good pick if they are looking for the best option in terms of mobile internet. And as the performance and other features of the smartphones from Huawei are satisfactory, this speed test might actually be a boon for the market outreach of the company.
The tech news portal Android Hits has come up with a few new details about the new Nokia 2. Most interestingly, we can phone could release this November. Nokia 2 has been in the news for a while now. Judging by its name, the smartphone is definitely an entry-level device. Previously, the device’s we were at mystery regarding its launch date, but Nokia Myanmar says the phone is expected for launch this November.
Expected features of Nokia 2
4.7 inch HD LCD Display
Snapdragon 210/410
1GB of RAM
16GB storage
8MP back
5MP front
4000mAh battery
Nokia 2 is going to be HMD Global‘s first entry-level smartphone. The phone will probably feature captive navigation buttons, which will help users take full advantage of the already small 4.7-inch screen. But we will have to wait until November to be completely sure about that.
There are also talks of the new Nokia 9 releasing alongside Nokia 2, which might come with on-screen navigation buttons and a bezel-less form factor. Unlike the Nokia 2, this phone will feature the top of the line 5.5-inch quad-HD bezel-less display. According to some rumors, the Nokia 9 will run on Android v8.0 Oreo with Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and 4 GB of RAM powering the device. All of these specifications will make the Nokia 9 HMD Global’s new flagship phone.
Some of the key features of Nokia’s next flagship could be the AMOLED display, waterproof, an always-on display, Bluetooth 5.0, dual camera setup and a front mounted fingerprint sensor.
Nokia recently launched the Nokia 8 which came under criticism due to HMD Global not opting for a bezel-less display. This could, however, change with the Nokia 9.
Paramount Electronics is currently selling the revamped Nokia smartphones in Nepal. Nokia 6, Nokia 5, Nokia 3 and Nokia 3310 have made their way into the Nepali smartphone market.
According to DxOMark, iPhone 8 Plus has the best camera in any smartphone right now. For those of you who are unaware, DxOMark is one of the trusted websites owned by DxO Labs. They provide image quality ratings for standalone cameras, lenses, and mobile devices that include cameras.
Basically, the best smartphone camera according to DxOMark until now was the HTC U11 and the Google Pixel. But that has changed with the launch of iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. The previous highest DxOMark score of was 90, and the iPhone 8 beats that with a staggering score of 92. And to top it all, the bigger iPhone 8 Plus beats its own sibling with a higher score of 94.
This website hasn’t tested Samsung’s newest flagship the Note 8 yet. But we are very interested to see how the best from Samsung fairs against the competition. And also the upcoming new Pixel 2 from Google will surely be the one to watch out for.
This test is sure to let potential buyers know how good their phone’s cameras really are. Now let’s zoom in on the new leader of the smartphone camera, the iPhone 8 Plus.
Camera specifications of the iPhone 8 Plus:
12MP main wide-angle camera with BSI sensor, f/1.8 aperture lens
12MP telephoto camera with f/2.8 aperture lens
Optical Zoom
Digital Zoom of up to 10x
Portrait mode
OIS (main camera only)
Quad-LED True Tone flash with Slow sync
Autofocus with focus pixels
Wide-gamut color capture
Body and face detection
Auto HDR
Photos captured on the iPhone 8 Plus:
Bokeh
ZOOM
sky
low light and flash
Colors
Brightlight HDR
You can check the uncompressed versions of these photos here.
What do you think of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus? Are you looking forward to buying one of these devices? Let us know in the comments down below.
The distinction between a mid-range and few flagships is marginal these days. Most of the mid-range phones are getting the flagship treatment with unibody metal construct, great display, and other well-curated features. Today we have the Galaxy J7 Pro which by its looks and feel, is no less than a flagship. In this review, we’ll see how the J7 Pro stacks up against a flagship as a midrange device.
Specifications of Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
5.5-inch full HD (1080p) Super AMOLED 2.5D curved glass display with 401ppi
Exynos 7870 System on a chip
1.6 GHz Octa-core CPU (14nm, Cortex A53)
3GB RAM, 64GB Internal memory, expandable memory up to 128GB with micro SD
Android 7.0 (Nougat) with Samsung’s custom UI on top
Dual SIM
Water-resistant
13MP rear camera with LED flash, f/1.9 aperture, and 1080p video recording capability
13MP front-facing camera with LED flash, f/1.9 aperture.
Augmented Reality (AR), Social Camera, Samsung Pay
Metal unibody
4G Cat 6 connectivity, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS
3600mAh battery
Color variants: Black and Gold
Latest Price: Rs. 25,900 [Last updated on: December 6, 2018]
Build and Design:
Samsung has left no room to spare when it comes to build and design of the phone. J7 Pro comes with a metal clad unibody which has a minimalist approach. The back of the phone is kept clean with unique antenna lines which gives an alienating vibe to the phone.
With a curved body and metal finish, it sure is slippery on the hand but the feel is nothing short from a flagship. The curved rounded edges also contribute to better handling of the device.
Display:
The attempt to carry the flagship specs continues with its 5.5inch full HD super AMOLED display. For me, the best thing about the phone is the display itself. The display stretches from side to side almost making it bezel-less which also contributes to its handy form factor. As an AMOLED display, there are deep blacks and the icons look as if they’re floating when you apply a dark wallpaper. In addition to that, utilizing the AMOLED panel is the always on display which I wish every phone had. It is so much easier to check the time and basic notifications without unlocking the device.
In general, the screen is bright and vibrant, contents are presented with high details and sharpness. Viewing angles from almost anywhere is good and the sunlight visibility is on point. Watching movies and playing games is a joy on this display. For a mid-range phone, the display experience of the J7 Pro is exceptional.
Hardware:
Continuing the trend of awkward speaker placement, the J7 Pro comes with a loudspeaker on the right side along with the power button. The volume rocker rests on the left side. This side also comprises of Hybrid SIM tray (SIM 2+Micro SD card) and a single SIM tray (SIM 1). Samsung still hasn’t opted for USB Type C port, the J7 Pro comes with micro USB 2.0 port for charging and data syncing.
Talking about sensors, the phone comes with fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, and compass. Up front, the phone holds a fingerprint sensor which acts as a home button. It is really fast to set up and unlocks the device in no time. With a sharp display and gyro sensor, you can use the device for VR experience.
Software/UI:
Galaxy J7 Pro is running on Android 7.1 with Experience UI 8.0 on top. Unlike in the past, Samsung’s UI has evolved and now takes a more functional and minimal approach. I like how swift and smooth the UI is. ON the surface, it might look pretty basic but once you dig deep enough, there are a plethora of functionalities. To start with, we have the standard double tap on the home button to launch the camera app, which I found myself using the most. For someone who spends a lot of time looking at a display, the inbuilt blue light filter is a bliss. And if you are an audiophile, the inbuilt equalizer does justice to your ears. For privacy, you can lock and mask apps and along with that, there’s secure folder, where all your private photos, videos, and other information gets securely locked. For customization, there’s theme store for a variety of themes, icon packs, and wallpaper. You’ve also got device maintenance, which shows a complete overview of how the device is functioning. It provides options to optimize phone by cleaning cache, freeing up storage and lets you choose power saving modes.
To start with, we have the standard double tap on the home button to launch the camera app, which I found myself using the most. For someone who spends a lot of time looking at a display, the inbuilt blue light filter is a bliss. And if you are an audiophile, the inbuilt equalizer does justice to your ears. For privacy, you can lock and mask apps and along with that, there’s secure folder, where all your private photos, videos, and other information gets securely locked. For customization, there’s theme store for a variety of themes, icon packs, and wallpaper. You’ve also got device maintenance, which shows a complete overview of how the device is functioning. It provides options to optimize phone by cleaning cache, freeing up storage and lets you choose power saving modes.
And Samsung still walks on the trail of default apps conflict, you’ve got two apps for email, cloud storage, browser and so on. But fortunately, the ones you don’t need can be disabled.
Performance:
Galaxy J7 Pro hasn’t upgraded much in terms of performance power. Powering the device is the 14nm based Exynos 7870 octa-core chipset clocked at 1.6Ghz which we saw on last year’s J7 Prime. As most of the devices at similar price range still haven’t boarded the 14nm wagon, the last year’s chipset still has an upper hand this year. The performance is similar to that of the J7 Prime. General navigation around the UI, the opening of apps, scrolling and everything is effortless.
When it comes to gaming, the processor can handle high-end games at medium settings and there is little to no frame drops while gaming for hours. Sporting a metal body, the device obviously heats to some extent, but it is bearable and won’t bother you much. The J7 Pro comes with 3GB of RAM and is good enough to cycle between few apps with ease. The performance overall is not that bad, but I wished for a more upgraded and powerful chipset that could go head to head with Snapdragon 625 chipset.
Samsung phones mark the standard when it comes to mobile cameras and it is true even for the mid-range series. The Galaxy J7 Pro comes with the 13MP camera both on the front and the back.
Let’s talk about the primary camera first. It comes with a larger f/1.7 aperture which takes in more light into its sensors capturing images with higher details. Photos come out sharp and colors are finely saturated which is typical of Samsung. The dynamic range is adequately met. The camera is snappy and offers a manual mode for exposure, white balance, and ISO control.
On extreme low light conditions, the image quality suffers a lot but with enough light, the camera can do wonders with its wider aperture. The full HD video recording at 30fps is also good. Videos maintain the sharpness and colors like in the photos and there are no constant exposure shifts.
Now coming onto the front camera, the selfie flash remains in the J7 series. Images from selfie camera are well lit, colors are close to natural and the details are fine. This camera will be a good companion for those who adore taking selfie except for in the low light conditions as its front-facing flash doesn’t contribute well in those situations.
Overall, the camera experience on this phone is really amazing.
Connectivity and Storage:
J7 Pro is a dual SIM phone and comes with a dedicated microSD card slot. Phone calls and internet connectivity is great on the device. It supports dual-band ac Wi-Fi so the stability and performance of wireless networks are fast and reliable. J7 also makes use of the NFC with Samsung Pay which to our disadvantage cannot be utilized.
For storage, the phone comes with 64GB memory which I managed to utilize up to 21 GB till the time of this review and there’s still much more room left. If it’s inadequate you can slide in a microSD card up to 256GB.
Battery:
J7 Pro comes with a 3600mAh battery which gives around 6 hours of screen on time. For my day to day usage, the battery would last easily for a day and sometimes even till midday the day after. With different power saving modes, the battery life can be further elongated. J7 Pro, on the contrary, doesn’t offer any fast charging, so you have to stick your charger up to 2 and a half hours to fully get it charged.
Conclusion:
Galaxy J7 Pro is one of the few phones in the market which holds the premium standard as a midrange device. The device looks and feels up class and has left no room to spare when it comes to its build.
What do I like about the Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro?
The Super AMOLED display makes the consuming contents more enjoyable.
The camera obviously is a great joy to play around with, which delivers awesome quality.
What I disliked about the Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro?
The 14nm chipset delivers good performance and ensures great battery life but other phones at similar price range have better performance.
It takes 2 and a half hour to fully charge the device.
Nepal Telecom (NTC) and Ncell are the leading telecommunication corporations of Nepal. These companies go head-to-head whatever the occasion is.
NTC Dashain Tihar and Chhat Offer 2017
Nepal Telecom is lately coming up with different offers for its customers. So why would the government-owned telecommunication company not come up with a scheme targeting the ongoing and upcoming festive season?
NTC has already started its Dashain, Tihar, and Chhath Offers for the year 2017. These offers will run in two different time frames.
Bonus on Recharge
NTC customers will now receive 10% bonus while recharging their SIM card via a recharge card or MPoS recharge. This offer will run from 21st September until 26th September for Dashain and from 18th October until 20th October for Tihar and Chhath.
Via Recharge Card
Recharge Amount
Bonus Percentage on recharge
50
10%
100
200
500
1000
Via MPoS Recharge
Recharge Amount
Bonus Percentage on recharge
Rs. 10 and above
10%
2. Free Exchange of 4G SIM cards
Some of you might have faced ‘Upgrade to USIM’ issue while enabling 4G. If that’s the case, NTC has got you covered. Nepal Telecom is providing free 4G SIM exchange for NTC customers from Kathmandu valley and Pokhara.
3. YouTube Data Pack for GSM users
The offer on YouTube Data Pack will run from 21st September to 5th October in regards to Dashain, and 18th October to 1st November for Tihar.
Data Volume
Price Rs. (Inc. Taxes)
Subscription Method
Package Validity
Time Band
1GB
99.99
Type YT1GB & Send to 1415
21 Days
All Time
500MB
60.00
Type YT500MB & Send to 1415
14 Days
4. Validity extension on ADSL/FTTH/WiMax
As always, NTC will also increase the validity period of all ADSL users and some FTTH/WiMax users. Only the volume based FTTH/WiMax users whose validity has expired will get to exercise this offer.
Validity Expires During
Validity Extend Upto
Dashain Offer
2074/06/11 – 2074/06/18
2074/06/19
Tihar and Chatth offer
2074/07/02 – 2074/07/08
2074/07/09
5. 50% discount on SMS
This offer from NTC is an “on-net” service. Starting from 21st September to 5th October and 18th October to 1st November, NT users will be able to send SMS for Rs. 0.50 (excluding tax).
Ncell Dashain and Tihar Offer 2017
Ncell, on the other hand, has started its “Festive Magic Quiz” scheme as its Dashain and Tihar offer. As per the offer, users will have to dial *17135# and choose Magic Quiz option (number 5) from the menu. You will then be asked a simple quiz regarding Dashain and Tihar.
10 lucky winners will win Rs. 100 worth of recharge card every day. The winners for the recharge card will be announced on Monday.
Likewise, two monthly winners will get a chance of winning a brand new iPhone 7 Plus at the end of each month.
Ncell’s Festive Magic Quiz scheme started from 22nd September and will run until 21st October.
The once flagship phone form Gionee for the Nepali market, the Gionee A1 has received a sizable price drop. With an initial release price of Rs. 29,999, you can now buy the smartphone for Rs. 26,999. So, is the new price tag worth your attention?
The phone was released in April this year, so it’s safe to say it’s a relatively new smartphone. With an up par 5.5″ 1080p AMOLED touchscreen on the front, this device is no slouch in the display department. It also runs on a relatively new version of Android OS, i.e Android Nougat with Amigo OS 4.0 on top.
The Helio P10 inside might be a bummer, but considering the price, it’s not a big deal. Pair that with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, that’s a configuration most high-end flagships hold.
Coming to the camera setup, a 13MP on the front and a 16MP at the back will be more than enough for most people. And that statement isn’t just going by the numbers, the Gionee A1 has a really good camera setup. It is a decent performer in our books.
The battery was also pretty decent with around 5 hours of screen-on-time during our use. What does disappoint are the mediocre connectivity such as Wi-Fi and the lack of USB C which won’t be an issue for most people.
The Gionee A1’s top competitors are the OnePlus 3 and the Coolpad Cool1 Dual. The former now costs a hefty Rs. 8,000 more while the latter with its 64GB of storage costs a good Rs. 4,000 extra. The main competitor for this device now is Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 which is about the same price as the Gionee A1. But considering everything it’s still a pretty decent smartphone to buy, especially after the price drop.
Gionee A1 Specifications:
5.5-inch (1920× 1080 pixels) Full HD in-cell display with 2.5D curved glass
Gorilla Glass 3 on the front; Full Metal body on the back
1.8 GHz Octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor with Mali T860 GPU
4GB RAM, 64GB Internal memory, expandable memory up to 128GB with micro SD
Android 7.0 (Nougat) with Amigo OS 3.5
Dual Hybrid SIM (4G + 4G)
13MP rear camera with LED flash, PDAF, f/2.0 aperture, 1/3.0+” sensor, 5P lens
Huawei today unveiled its first phone with the trending 18:9 display, the Huawei Maimang 6 (Also Known as Honor 9i and Nova 2i in other markets). The phone will be known as Huawei Mate 10 Lite outside of Asian market. We also recently saw the launch of vivo X20 and x20+ in China which featured the similar 18:9 display. The Maimang 6 is a mid-range phone which also has 4 cameras as its feature focus.
It is equipped with 5.9 inches full HD display with 2.5D glass offering a seamless look. As conventional, the side bezels are really minimal making it easier for proper grip. The protection used on the display is not mentioned. Powering the phone is Huawei’s in-house Kirin 659 octa-core processor clocked at 2.36GHz. It is coupled with 4GB of RAM. The phone offers 64GB internal memory, expandable up to 256GB. It houses a fingerprint sensor on the back.
Huawei Maimang 6 comes with quad-camera setup; two on the front and two on the back. We have seen phones with only dual rear cameras or front cameras, but the Huawei Maimang 6 has both. Up front, it comes with 13MP + 2MP combo with soft LED flash. On the back, it offers 16MP + 2MP camera with dual tone LED flash. Huawei hasn’t mentioned what the dual camera setup is for on both the sides. We assume the back offers bokeh effect while the front comprises of wide angle lens.
On the downside, it is running on Android 7.0 Nougat with EMUI 5.1 on top. Huawei phones usually don’t get updates. The phone is stuck with what it comes out with. Backing up the phone is a decent 3,340mAh battery. Huawei Maimang 6 is available in 3 shades: Obsidian Black, Streamer Gold, and Aurora Blue. It is priced at $365 and shipments will begin on September 30.
Huawei Maimang 6 / Nova 2i Specifications
5.9 inches (2160*1080) full HD display with 2.5D glass
EMUI 5.1 based on Android 7.0 Nougat
Fingerprint Sensor
Octa-core Kirin 659 ((4 xA53 at 2.36GHz + 4 x A53 at 1.7GHz) with MaliT830-MP2 GPU
4GB RAM
64GB Storage, expandable up to 256GB
Dual Hybrid SIM Slot (nano+nano)
16MP rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, secondary 2MP camera
13MP front-facing camera with soft LED flash, secondary 2MP camera
3,340 mAh battery
Expected Launch date of Huawei Nova 2i in Nepal:
The Huawei Nova 2i is expected to launch in Nepal before the end of 2017, with a price tag or around Rs.35,000.
Rebranding the Galaxy J7 (2015), Samsung has come up with a budget smartphone — Galaxy J7 Nxt. Priced at Rs. 20,000, the smartphone is the least expensive one from Samsung to run on Android 7.0 Nougat. After using the smartphone for over a week, I have had a chance to explore most of its marketed specifications and features. Now, I would like to walk you through the highs and lows.
Key Specification of Samsung Galaxy J7 Nxt:
Dimensions: 152.4 x 78.6 x 7.6 mm (6.00 x 3.09 x 0.30 in)
5.5 inch Super AMOLED Display (720 x 1280 pixels ~267ppi pixel density)
3GB RAM, 32GB Internal Storage: 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
3.5mm audio jack
Connectivity: Dual-SIM (nano+nano), G LTE, microUSB, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, FM Radio and A-GPS, GLONASS.
Sensors: Accelerometer, Proximity
Plastic build, removable back
3000 mAh removable battery
Latest Price: Rs. 18,990 [Last updated on: December 6, 2018]
Build and Design
The first thing that I noticed as soon as I took hold of the J7 Nxt is the feel of the patterned back which also made it a lot easier to prevent the phone from slipping out of hands. Alos, the device did not heat up much on use which was a given plus-point.
The placement of the buttons on the phone is an ultimate wow. The phone falls on the lighter scale side and hence is really efficient. Though it does not have much to offer with respect to the previous J7, there is not really much to complain.
Display
The J7 Nxt comes with a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display. As compared with other budget phones, the incredible details and true colors that this phone offers is really commendable.
The Super AMOLED display (720 x 1280 pixels) with 267 PPI Pixel density display was never a let down for me. However, as the phone lacks an ambient light sensor, there is no auto-brightness feature in the phone which was a turndown. I had to make sure I turned on the “Outdoor Mode” on before heading out somewhere.
Hardware
The phone features volume button on the left and the power button on the right with the home button at the bottom. The phone features a 3.5mm slot for a headphone jack at the bottom. For charging, the device has micro USB 2.0 port at the bottom and features a speaker at the back side which did not really perform as well as I had expected it to.
One let down in terms of the hardware of the phone is that it lacked a fingerprint sensor! The whole time that I spent with the phone, the lack of the sensor was felt almost every time I had to unlock the phone.
Software
On the software side, the J7 Nxt features the Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. I really loved the UI and the design that the phone offered. While being minimalist, the design and the UI both were equally amazing and attractive.
Performance
The smartphone is powered by an octa-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A53 processor and comes with an Exynos 7870 chipset and a Mali-T830 MP1 GPU.
To see how the phone actually performed, I had tried running multiple heavy games and apps simultaneously. During the earlier days, however, certain apps crashed often and raised disappointment by displaying the message: “The app has stopped working.”. But with time, these messages were minimized. All in all, though, it was a really nice experience to play games and watch videos with amazing vibrancy and smoothness.
Camera
To speak of the 13MP rear and the 5MP front cameras, the pictures taken came out decent enough. However, most of them felt pretty washed out losing the actual essence of the scenario. I personally took a lot of pictures on various settings with the 13MP rear camera at various settings such as a birthday party, a rainy afternoon, a late night street view among others. For most of these occasions, I used the “double press the home button to open the camera” feature to take the pictures and hence I found that feature really useful.
Moreover, most of the pictures I took were during the afternoon and the evening hours and all of the pictures had utmost vibrancy, making the experience more memorable.
Connectivity
The Galaxy J7 Nxt comes with Dual-SIM (nano+nano), G LTE, microUSB, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, FM Radio and A-GPS, GLONASS. During the ten days that I used the phone, I had to travel to a lot of places within the city. For this, I had utilized the A-GPS feature which helped me reach places on time and hence I personally really liked this feature of the phone.
Battery
The major plus point about the phone is its 3000mAh battery which did not only perform fully to its power but also charged pretty quick. As I continuously used the phone throughout the day, I also carried my charger with me. But, thankfully, I did not have to use it as much because the battery did not run out of juice as quickly as I thought it would.
Also, even though the phone has no quick charge functionality, the lack was not felt at all. The battery charged pretty quickly on its own and also provided a really good backup under regular usage.
Verdict
Finally, to speak of what I felt about the Galaxy J7 Nxt, I must say that I had a really good experience with the phone. It did not let me get lost in the alleys and corners of Kathmandu and also helped me capture moments with its quick functioning camera. Carrying the light phone and going to places while testing the new fonts and having a good time playing multiple games on the phone will always be my favorite experiences.
The phone is an example in terms of budget smartphones within Rs.20,000. And a possible heart-winner Samsung budget phone. If you are low on budget and are looking forward to get yourself or gift someone else a Samsung smartphone, that provides good battery backup and camera performance, your search might end here!
Pros: What I liked about the J7 Nxt?
The Super AMOLED display (720 x 1280 pixels)
The 14nm processor.
The remarkable 3000mAh battery.
The low-light camera performance.
The split-window feature.
Cons: What could have been better in the J7 Nxt?
No fingerprint sensor, gyro-sensor, and auto-brightness feature.
Vivo has launched two mid-range phones under its X-series, namely, vivo X20 and vivo X20 Plus. The Plus model obligatorily carries a bigger display and larger battery capacity. Aside from that, most of the internal specifications are practically the same.
To start with, both phone embraces Super AMOLED display with 18:9 aspect ratio which is the new standard for smartphone displays. With this aspect ratio, the display is elongated top to bottom and the sides are relatively smaller, making the device easier to grip on hand. Vivo x20 shoulders a 6.01-inch display while the bigger Vivo x20 Plus has a 6.43-inch display sharing the common 1080*2160 resolution. With Super AMOLED display, you will be getting high contrast, better sharpness and deeper blacks for an exceptional viewing experience. However, no protection is mentioned for the display.
Under the hood, vivo x20 and x20 Plus are powered by Snapdragon 660 chipset with Octa-core 2.2GHz CPU. The Snapdragon 660 is based on 14nm process technology making the phone both power efficient and enables faster processing. Both phones come with 4GB of RAM for multitasking. It offers 64GB onboard storage which can be further expanded up to 256GB using the micro SD card.
Vivo x20’s are running on FunTouch OS 3.0 based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat. The phone offers few notable features like Face Wake, which like Face ID on new iPhone X, uses face to unlock the device. It identifies up to 128 different facial details before unlocking the device within 0.1sec as claimed by the company. It also offers its own AI assistant which detects your usage patterns and devotes more processing power to those tasks. Vivo has also incorporated a similar feature to Game Mode offered by Samsung called Vivo Game Engine. It enhances gameplay for high-end titles and blocks incoming notifications and calls that hinder your gaming. The phones even offer Hi-Fi audio for a quality audio experience.
On the camera department, x20’s offer dual camera in a pair of 12MP and 5MP shooters. The 12MP camera comes with f/1.8 aperture. Optical Image Stabilization, however, is offered only on the x20 Plus. The dual Camera helps the phone to calculate depth and add bokeh to the photos. It can shoot full HD videos at 30fps. For selfies, it offers 12MP dual pixel camera with f/2.0 aperture.
On connectivity side of things, vivo x20’s offer dual-SIM support, Bluetooth 5.0, Dual Band ac Wi-Fi, and out of all the great things, micro USB port instead of USB C. The port does support OTG however. Vivo X20 is backed by 3,250mAh battery and the X20 Plus by 3,900mAh battery.
Vivo X20 and X20 Plus Specifications
Display: 6.01 inches/6.43 inches (1080 x 2160), 402ppi
Dimensions: 155.9 x 75.2 x 7.2 mm / 165.3 x 80.1 x 7.5 mm
These phones come with the tint of Matte Black, Gold, and Rose Gold. Vivo X20 and X20 plus will start selling on September 30. The X20 is priced at $454 while the X20 Plus at $530.
