Deals: Colors P32, P50, and P85 Gets a Price Drop

Colors

GadgetByte

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March 21, 2017

Deals: Colors P32, P50, and P85 Gets a Price Drop

Nepalese smartphone brand Colors has dropped the price on their Pride Series of smartphones. It hasn’t been while since they did the same with its Elite Series. Pride Series is focused on the first time Smartphone users who are coming from Bar phones or other non-smart devices. It can also be a great phone to use as a secondary device if you’re not into Bar phones. Colors Pride P32, P50 and the latest P85 are among the Pride Series to get the price drop.

Colors Pride P32:

Colors Pride P32 is the most affordable phone among the bunch. For Rs.5,495 (Previously Rs.7,000), the phone comes with 4.5-inch(854×480) display, 1GB RAM, MT6580M 1.3Ghz Quad-Core Processor, 8GB onboard storage which can be expandable up to 32GB, Android 6.0 Marshmallow and is backed up by 2200mAh battery which should be enough for a day of usage considering the specs. It is a dual SIM phone(3G+2G). Optics wise it comes with 5MP Rear shooter along with a VGA front shooter.

Colors Pride P50:

Colors P50 is pretty much similar to the Pride P32 in terms of specs. It comes with a 5inch (854×480) display, 1GB RAM, MT6580M 1.3Ghz Quad-Core Processor, 8GB onboard storage which can be expandable up to 32GB, it is also running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and comes with Colors Lite for data saving. Optics wise it comes with 5MP Rear Camera and 2MP Front Facing Camera.It is a dual SIM phone(3G+2G). Pride P50 is backed up by 2200mAh battery. Colors P50 is priced at Rs.6,695 (Previously Rs.7,495)

Colors Pride P85:

Colors Pride P85 is one of the most affordable phone that comes with a fingerprint sensor in Nepal. The phone looks pretty good design-wise, with the iPhone like aesthetics. P85 comes with a 5inch 720p display, MT6580 1.3Ghz Quad-Core processor, 1GB RAM, 16GB Storage which can be expanded up to 32GB. Optics wise, it comes with an 8MP Rear camera with Triple LED Flash which is gonna give pretty decent images during low light and up front comes with 5MP Camera. It is also running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and is backed by 2,500mAh battery. The best part about the phone is definitely the fingerprint sensor which can do more than just unlocking the phone.

Uses of Colors P85 Fingerprint Sensor:

Quick Launch: Press the home button to launch the apps quickly
Quick Dial: Press the home button to quickly call even the phone is locked or the screen is off.
App Lock: Lock apps in order to protect privacy. Use your fingers to unlock these apps.
Message Encryption: Press the home button to unlock your encrypted message.

The phone is priced at Rs.9,995 (Previously Rs.11,495).

5 Reasons NOT to Buy Oppo F1s

OPPO

GadgetByte

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March 21, 2017

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When it comes to buying a phone, it is always the hardest to choose the right one. What happens with many of us is we buy first and think later. Usually, we buy a phone after seeing its advertisements on daily newspapers and ask the salesperson about the phone. He or she’s the salesperson, they are there to sell so just avoid them. That’s the reason, we end up regretting and asking ourselves “Why did I even buy this phone?”. There are different ways of finding a right phone and the safest way is to first filter out the wrong ones. So, if you have a budget of around 30K and thinking about buying your next phone, here’s why you should buy any other phones but not the Oppo F1s.

5 Reasons NOT to buy Oppo F1s at Rs. 32,000

Though recently the Oppo F1s (4GB/64GB) is available at the same price the 3GB/32GB variant was available few months back, it still doesn’t make the device worth buying. Here are the 5 reasons you should not buy Oppo F1s in Nepal:

1. Lesser Display Resolution

Oppo F1s is a 5.5inch screen phone that comes with only 720p(HD) display giving the 267ppi which is not so impressive for a device in this price range. It’s the only device with HD screen in this price range. Yes, the display is pretty vibrant and everything but 30 thousand for just an HD screen phone? Well, that doesn’t just sound right.

2. Outdated OS

We have been hearing a lot about Oppo F1s getting an update but it never did and we think, it never will. So, Oppo F1s boots on pretty outdated Android 5.1 Lollipop. So buying this phone you’ll be missing quite some tricks like “doze” mode and “Google Now on Tap”. If latest android is what you want on your phone, then you should check Android One GM 5plus that runs on pure Android Nougat and comes at just 25,000.

3. Not so powerful Chipset

A Phone is all about performance and performance is defined by the processor used in it. So, can you expect powerful performance from a chipset like MediaTek MT6750 that falls short when compared to processors like Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 and Qualcomm SnapDragon 652 that power OnePlus 2 and Coolpad Cool 1 Dual.

4. Really a Camera Phone?

The cameras look pretty good in numbers and on paper but when used they are not so exceptional. The 16megapixel selfie unit on the front doesn’t have an autofocus but a fixed focus. If you’re giving a phone the title “Selfie Expert” but don’t use a unit with autofocus then that will just not gonna work out. Coming to the rear camera, it’s a 13MP unit with no OIS that doesn’t even shoot a 4K video. So for a phone to be true Camera Phone we want it to offer something more, something extra and Oppo F1s failed to impress us here too.

5. Lesser Value for Money

Now, when choosing the best phone what we do is compare and comparing Oppo F1s with phones in similar price range, the phone is found offering less and asking more. Oppo F1s doesn’t have a gyro sensor and dual band WiFi module. Even just on doing Specs-to-Specs comparison the phone is far away from good value for money. The phone with lower display resolution, lesser powerful chipset and outdated OS with not so innovative UI is simply a “lesser value for your money”.

Disclaimer:

We made this decision after using the phone for 15days. And, it is truly our personal opinion. You may anytime agree to disagree. But, the facts are always there to stay.

Samsung’s new AI assistant “Bixby” will debut on its next Galaxy (S8/S8+)

Featured

GadgetByte

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March 21, 2017

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Samsung’s new AI assistant “Bixby” will debut on its next Galaxy (S8/S8+)

Right from the rise of smartphones, users adapted the touch interface as the primary way of interacting with a phone. Things started to change after big names in phone industry introduced their own AI-powered assistants one after another. Now, Google’s Assitant, Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana are doing good already. The voice-powered Samsung’s S-voice was seriously lagging far behind in the competition and who could realize that more than the Samsung itself. Finally, Samsung has made its new AI-assistant “Bixby” now official. It will make its debut on the next Galaxy and that’s Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 plus. However, Bixby will come pre-installed on future Samsung phones and home appliances as well.

What makes Bixby different than its competitors?

On a blog post, Samsung made its new AI-powered agent the Bixby official and mentioned how it differs from its competitors. To release a whole new voice-assistant on a phone, Samsung certainly needed to offer more than what are currently available. Looking at the blog post, Samsung does seem to deliver more on its new AI assistant that has three key properties:

1. Completeness

In any Bixby-enabled apps, the user will be able to perform any tasks, one could do using the touch interface, just by using his/her voice.

2. Context Awareness

Just like Now on Tap, Bixby can read what’s on your screen and will help you carry out your current work-in-progress. Plus, Bixby can be called any time just with a click of a button and it will let the user switch between voice or touch seamlessly.

3. Cognitive Tolerance

Unlike current AI assistants that need users to use specific voice commands in preset formats, Bixby is intelligent enough to understand the user’s intention even in incomplete voice commands. It will try to make the best out of the spoken words and will make further queries as and per needed.

According to Samsung, Bixby is capable of doing much more than its competitors. It will just not facilitate searches and answer fact-based questions. Rather, it will learn and adapt to the user and his/her intentions. It will redefine the way one interacts with the phone. Having an assistant that is capable of performing any tasks that are only possible with touch is truly praiseworthy.

However, the Bixby will be limited to Bixby-enabled apps that will come pre-installed with the next galaxy. However, as Samsung is planning to release the SDK for the third-party developers. The number of Bixby-enabled apps will certainly increase with time. The Galaxy S8/S8 plus will have a dedicated button on the left side of the device to wake this assistant.

Verdict

Well, this AI assistant from Samsung, or should I say the agent as that’s what Samsung wants us to say, looks promising. The best part is Bixby to be integrated with every future Samsung products. So, I would love to see Samsung Home appliances coming with such powerful AI agent like the Bixby. Such integration is certainly going to redefine the way human interacts with a machine. We, no longer, will have to rely on touch interfaces for controlling our appliances. Plus, if things go as planned, you can ask your phone to change the channel on your Samsung TV. And, you can ask your Samsung Fridge to add milk to your shopping list on your phone when you realize your fridge ran out of milk.

Apple launches an all-new 9.7-inch iPad named ‘iPad’

Apple
iOS

GadgetByte

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March 21, 2017

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Apple launches an all-new 9.7-inch iPad named ‘iPad’

Apple has just announced a new 9.7-inch iPad silently. Titled iPad, a pretty common name if you ask me, the pricing of the device starts at $329 in US. The price of these new iPads, however, is priced exorbitantly here in Nepal starting at NRs. 49,000.

Price of iPad 2017 in Nepal

Variant	Price
Apple iPad \| 9.7-inch \| Wi-Fi Only \| 32 GB	Rs. 49,000
Apple iPad \| 9.7-inch \| Wi-Fi Only \| 128 GB	Rs. 59,000
Apple iPad \| 9.7-inch \| Wi-Fi + Cellular \| 32 GB	Rs. 65,000
Apple iPad \| 9.7-inch \| Wi-Fi + Cellular \| 128 GB	Rs. 78,000

Talking about the device, the Apple iPad is a successor to the old iPad Air 2. It basically features some older components – the reason for its low pricing.

The all new iPad is powered by Apple’s very own 64-bit A9 chip. Apple had included the chipset in the iPhone 6s and the iPhone SE. And except for the fact that it is thicker and has a larger battery, almost all the specs of the iPad and the iPad Air 2 is similar.

The device features the same 9.7-inch Retina display with the resolution of 1536 x 2048 pixels. The company has, however, claimed it to be brighter than that of its predecessor. Software wise, the iPad comes with iOS 10 out of the box.

Camera wise, the iPad will be equipped with an 8-megapixel rear-facing shooter with f/2.4 aperture and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing shooter. The primary camera is able to shoot videos up to 1080p while the secondary camera is capable of shooting videos up to 720p.

The iPad comes with features such as Touch ID, a SIM tray in the cellular versions, Wi-Fi and the beloved split-screen multitasking mode. Battery wise, the device is backed up by a 32.4Wh battery which Apple has claimed to last for up to 10 hours.

Read More: iPad Price in Nepal

Talking about the newly launched iPad, Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said, “iPad is the world’s most popular tablet. Customers love the large, 9.7-inch display for everything from watching TV and movies, to surfing the web, making FaceTime calls, and enjoying photos, and now it is even more affordable.”

“New customers and anyone looking to upgrade will love this new iPad for use at home, in school, and for work, with its gorgeous Retina display, our powerful A9 chip, and access to the more than 1.3 million apps designed specifically for it.”

Sony Announced Xperia L1 Mid-Range Phone

Sony Xperia

GadgetByte

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March 20, 2017

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Sony Announced Xperia L1 Mid-Range Phone

Sony has recently released 4 new phones at the MWC, one of them, the Xperia XZ Premium was the winner of Best Smartphone Award. Similarly, other phones like Xperia XZs, XA1, and XA1 Ultra were also announced. It hasn’t been a month since these phones were announced and Sony already has another one in the pipeline, the Xperia L1 which is the successor of Xperia L launched way back in 2013.

Xperia L1 is a mid-ranger which comes with a 5.5inch 720p display which could be a bummer for many users. On the bright side, it has got the design of Xperia XA and XA Ultra making it look premium. Although the bezels on top and bottom are something to watch out for, the side bezels look pretty small giving that edge to edge look. The phone is powered by Mediatek MT6737T Quad-Core Chipset with 4x 1.45GHz Cortex-A53 CPU and Mali-T720 MP2 GPU and comes with 2GB of RAM. By the looks of the specs, it doesn’t seem like a performer. For storage, it has got 16GB internal storage and comes with MicroSD expandability option.

Optics wise, Xperia L1 comes with a 13MP rear camera with f/2.2 aperture and on the front 5MP f/2.2 camera. For connectivity, it comes with Dual SIM support, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC and USB Type C for charging and data syncing. The phone will be running Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. Backing up the phone is a 2620mAh battery.

Sony Xperia L1 Specifications:

5.5 inches(720 x 1280 ) @267ppi
Android 7.0 Nougat
Mediatek MT6737T Chipset
Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU
2GB RAM
16GB Internal Storage, Expandable up to 256GB
13MP Rear Camera with f/2.2 aperture, 1080p @30fps
5MP Front Camera with f/2.2 aperture
USB Type C 1.0
Non-removable Li-Ion 2620 mAh battery

Xperia L1 seems to have nothing much to offer despite its good looks, although if priced aggressively this could be a proper buy. The price of the phone hasn’t been announced yet, it is expected to launch in the European, African, Asian, Latin American and North American markets very soon.

Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform: new low-end chip with 4G support

Featured

GadgetByte

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March 20, 2017

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Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform: new low-end chip with 4G support

In an event in New Delhi, Qualcomm has unveiled a new entry-level SOC aimed at feature phones. As Qualcomm announced earlier to take back “Snapdragon” title from its low-end processors, this new chipset is named accordingly as Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform. This new SOC houses X5 Category 4 LTE modem and hence will have download and upload speed of 150Mbps and 50Mbps, respectively.

More on Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform

The Qualcomm 205 Mobile Platform, high-efficiency and low-cost SOC, consists of a dual-core CPU clocked at 1.1GHz and will be coupled with Adreno 304 GPU. This chipset will support LPDDR2/LPDDR3 RAM. Furthermore, it will work with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, Dual SIMs, and location services (GPS, GLONASS). This new mobile processor can support VGA selfie camera and up to 3MP back Camera. The device based on this processor can support 480p displays.

Looking at its specs support, It is simply not designed for a smartphone phone but rather a feature phone.

Verdict

In a country like ours, feature phone is still a thing. Yes, the smartphone will start to replace them some days in the future but when is still not certain. Feature phone users do rely on mobile data for the internet. After the launch of Qualcomm 205 Mobile platform, even the feature phone users will get connected with the faster 4G network. It certainly is a good news. Therefore, we can be hopeful to see some cheap yet powerful feature phones in the year 2017.

JBL E45BT and JBL E55BT: Your Next Wireless Headphones?

Reviews

GadgetByte

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March 20, 2017

0

JBL E45BT and JBL E55BT: Your Next Wireless Headphones?

We looked for premium yet affordable wireless headphones in the market of Nepal and found these two JBL headphones: JBL E45BT and JBL E55BT. After using those headphones for a couple of weeks, here’s what we think about these two headphones. Let’s find out if they are worth buying or not.

Design

Being from the same E-series headphones from JBL, they share a similar design and pretty similar specs. Where they differ is the E45BT is an on-ear headphone whereas E55BT is an over-ear one. So, E55BT is little bigger and obviously a little heavier and packs the bigger 50mm dynamic driver and a bigger battery. They differ in pricing as well since you can grab the E45BT at 12,500 and the E55BT is priced a little higher at 15,800.

Both the headphones have soft and well-fitting leather padding on the earcups. The adjustable headband covered with fabric is as comfortable as it looks. The ear-cups can have 90 degrees of the rotation making it lay flat over the chest while wearing around the neck. And for easy carrying around, the headphones are foldable. However, the carrying pouch is not included in the box and needs to be bought separately.

Controls

Coming to the controls, the right earcup has all the controls and the buttons give satisfying click sound. The controls include power button, music control buttons and the Bluetooth button. These music control buttons are multi-functional ones as you can switch to the next or previous song by long pressing the volume up or volume down button. And in the case of incoming calls, you can answer it by pressing the play/pause button. I answered few calls through the headphone and the experience was pretty neat.

Connectivity

The Bluetooth connection was pretty decent. I left my phone on charge in one room and walked around another listening to music and I didn’t notice any skipping at all.

Performance

Coming to the performance, these JBL headphones didn’t let me down in their overall performances. Since they are from JBL, they have pretty dope bass and the vocals sound crisp with much clarity. They do handle mids and lows well enough. But the headphones crack a little when on full volume. But wait, who’s gonna put their headphones to the maximum, right? So, in overall, the headphone can be said to be a good performer for the music of any genre.

Battery

I’ve become a crazy fan of these headphones for their battery backup. You know what, I listened to the E55BT for a whole week with an average listening time of 3 hours each day before I plugged the headphone to the power for the first time. Again, after two hours of charging, the headphone gave me 19-20hours of music playback, which is simply awesome. And, the smaller E45BT has a lesser playback time of around 15-16hours. The box doesn’t include charging brick but only the charging cable that will work with your phone’s charging adapter. The box also comes with 3.5mm aux cable for wired use. That’ll come handy when the device loses its battery completely or when your music playback device doesn’t support Bluetooth.

JBL Wireless Headphones 2017

1 of 5

Conclusion

To conclude, if you have a budget of around 15,000 and wanna buy some premium headphones then you won’t regret buying any of these headphones. As far as my preference is concerned, I think the best would be to buy the JBL E55BT which is an over-ear headphone that is more comfortable to ears and it has lesser music leak. And going with the bigger headphone, you’ll get to enjoy longer and a little better music playback as well.

ZTE Blade S6 and V7 Lite Receives a price cut in Nepal

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Yural Maskey

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March 19, 2017

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ZTE Blade S6 and V7 Lite Receives a price cut in Nepal

Evolution Enterprises, the authorized distributor of ZTE smartphones in Nepal, has slashed the price of two of its older handsets — the Blade S6 and V7 Lite. The Blade S6, previously priced at Rs. 15,990, is now available for Rs. 14,490 & the V7Lite, previously priced at Rs. 18,990, is now available for Rs. 17,390.

Should You Buy the ZTE Blade S6?

The Blade S6 is one of my favorite phones under Rs. 15,000. It sports a decent 720P IPS display and is powered by a commendable Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 Octacore processor and 2GB of RAM. The phone houses a faux metal body that feels premium and well built. The 13MP camera on the back is also reliable for taking good photos. The 5MP front camera is good for social media uploads. Backing up the phone is a 2400mAh battery that provides 1 day of moderate usage. The only downside of the Blade S6 is its running on dated version of Android 5.0.2 lollipop. If you are looking for a good looking device with excellent performance and camera, you should take the advantage of this deal.

ZTE Blade S6 specifications

5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) IPS display based on in-cell technology
1.5GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 615 processor with Adreno 405 GPU
2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD
Android 5.0 (Lollipop) with MiFavor 3.0 UI
Dual Nano SIM
13MP rear camera with LED Flash (Sony IMX214 sensor)
5MP front-facing camera (wide-angle lens)
Dimensions: 144×70.7×7.7mm
4G LTE, 3G HSPA+, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
2400mAh battery

Should You Buy the ZTE V7 Lite?

Like the Blade S6, the Zte V7 Lite also houses a premium metal body. It is powered by a 1Ghz quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM. However, the best thing about the V7 Lite is its blazingly fast fingerprint scanner. The 13MP back and 5MP front camera is also decent considering the reduced price of Rs. 17,390. So, if you are looking for a metal body phone with a fingerprint scanner and you are on a tight budget of Rs. 17,000, then ZTE V7 Lite won’t disappoint you. Check out our review of the V7 Lite here.

ZTE Blade V7 Lite specifications

5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) IPS 2.5D curved glass display
1 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735P 64-bit processor with Mali-T720 GPU
2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, expandable memory with microSD
Dual Hybrid SIM
Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
8MP rear camera with LED Flash
8MP front-facing camera with LED Flash
Dimensions: 146 × 72.5 × 7.5mm
4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS
2500mAh battery

Five paid games are now free on Google Play!

Featured

GadgetByte

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March 19, 2017

0

Five paid games are now free on Google Play!

When it comes to Android Games, the good games aren’t free and free games aren’t that good. Well, things started to change lately with Google letting app developers to temporarily offer their apps for free. Recently, five paid games are now titled as free for short period of time. These games have regular pricing ranging from $0.99 to $6.99. Here’s the list of those games that are free right now on Google Play.

List of Paid Games that are FREE right now

Game Title	Regular Pricing	Current Pricing	Download Link
True Skate	$1.99	FREE	Download True Skate Here
Shadow Blade	$1.84	FREE	Download Shadow Blade Here
2-bit Cowboy	$0.99	FREE	Download 2-bit Cowboy Here
Exiles	$6.99	FREE	Download Exiles Here
Ultimate Guitar Tabs and Chords	$2.99	FREE	Download Ultimate Guitar Tabs and Chords Here

So, don’t think much, just download and try them when they are free. The offer won’t be for long. So, if you are bored of playing games that were in your mobile for quite some time then now you’ve some considerable replacements. I tried few of them. And, I liked the Shadow Blade and True Skate the most. However, Exiles wasn’t as good as I expected.

What happened in tech this week

GadgetByte

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March 18, 2017

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This is a new category where we will discuss the top 5 things that happened in the tech world. These topics were probably too small for their individual articles so we will round them up in one article so that you guys can be on top of everything that happened within the week every Friday.

Samsung will invest $7 Billion in 10nm and 7nm processor architecture

Samsung has already started producing the Snapdragon 835 and the Exynos 8895 in the 10nm architecture. And they are investing an additional $7 billion to achieve the 7nm architecture. They expect this technology to arrive by 2018. Know about Nanometer Technology here.

AMD announces Ryzen 5 CPU lineup

After the high-end Ryzen 7, AMD has announced Ryzen 5 which will be the mid-ranger gaming CPU. There are 4 versions announced, namely the Ryzen 5 1600X at the top, Ryzen 5 1600, Ryzen 5 1500X, and Ryzen 5 1400 at the bottom. You can find the prices of these in the picture above.

Nokia promises monthly security updates for its smartphones

Nokia revealed in a tweet that their new android smartphones will receive updates and monthly security updates. This is a good news as it will assure Nokia buyers peace if mind from both hardware and software level.

Nokia rumored to announce more phones

After announcing the Nokia 3, 5, and 6now Nokia is rumored to announce more phones. Upgrading to the more mid-ranger flaunting a Snapdragon 660 and a high end with snapdragon 835 namely Nokia 8 and 9.

Samsung Galaxy S8 leaks

Samsung Galaxy S8 is set to be revealed on March 29, but we already know a lot about the phone. Talking about all the leaks, Samsung is confirmed to release a new AI virtual assistant named Bixby with the S8. There will also be a Snapdragon 835 and an Exynos 8895 version of the device. There is also rumored to be a 6GB RAM version of the device but only for the Chinese market.