Samsung Galaxy S8 & S8 Plus Launched: Here’s Everything You Should Know About

GadgetByte

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March 30, 2017

Samsung Galaxy S8 & S8 Plus Launched: Here’s Everything You Should Know About

After months of speculations and leaks, Samsung finally released the Galaxy S8 and S8+ at a launch event in New York. And in short, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is a beautiful looking device featuring an edge-to-edge display and a large screen on a smaller body.

[Note: The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are now available in Nepal for Rs. 76,900 and Rs. 86,900 respectively. You also get a 6-months breakage insurance on the purchase of the phone. Read more about the deal here. ]

Additionally, with every purchase of the S8 and the S8 plus, the customers will be getting Breakage Insurance from Shikhar Insurance and 8GB mobile data from Ncell. The Insurance will be valid for six months from purchase. And, the free mobile data will be available as 1GB each month for 8 months that can be activated on any ncell SIM.

Like I mentioned before, Samsung unveiled two versions of the Galaxy S8: the Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+. The Galaxy S8 is the standard version among the two and sports a 5.8-inch display while the Galaxy S8+, the premium among the two, has a taller 6.2-inch display. On paper, 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch displays might sound a tad bit larger but the limited bezels have made the devices smaller than their predecessors, the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge.

“The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ usher in a new era of smartphone design and fantastic new services, opening up new ways to experience the world,” said DJ Koh, President of Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics. “The Galaxy S8 and S8+ are our testament to regaining your trust by redefining what’s possible in safety and marks a new milestone in Samsung’s smartphone legacy.”

DESIGN AND DISPLAY

The major selling point of the Samsung Galaxy S8 is its design and display. The device features what the Korean company has termed as the ‘Infinity Display’ which makes it looks as though the device has no side bezel at all. The curved display is a cherry on the top as it has made the device look really cool. The top and bottom bezel have been cut down as the display size has increased exponentially.

The standard Galaxy S8 features a 5.8-inch Super AMOLED display with the resolution of 1440 x 2960 pixels (570 ppi) whereas the S8+ variant sports a 6.2-inch display with similar specifications ( the only difference being the 529 ppi).

The display is cloaked by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and the bottom of the display has a pressure-sensitive home button. The four corners of the device have slightly curved edges. On the back of both device sit a camera, a fingerprint sensor, a LED flash and a heart rate sensor. Samsung has opted to include its company branding only at the back. The back is made of up a glass panel. There are a speaker, a USB Type-C connector and a headphone jack at the bottom of the device. Samsung has also included a new physical button on the side which can be used to activate its new AI software Bixby. The device is IP68 water and dust resistant.

CAMERA

Both the S8 and the S8+ are equipped with a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera with f/1.7 aperture and Optical Image Stabilization. At the launch event, the officials from Samsung emphasized on its ability to take excellent night shots.

The front-facing camera of the devices measures 8-megapixel. It has an Auto HDR feature, autofocus, and f/1.7 aperture.

Processor and Hardware

Qualcomm’s all new Snapdragon 835 SoC power the US variants whereas Exynos 8895 will power the international variants including Nepal. Nonetheless, both variants will have an Octa-core CPU that is aided by 4GB of RAM. I wanted Samsung to opt for 6GB of RAM but hey it comes with a 10nm processor that is exponentially better than its predecessor.

Both variants of the S8 will feature 64GB of internal storage which can be expanded up to 256GB via a microSD card slot.

An Iris scanner sits at the front of the device. It provides an extra security for the users. Other features include a super-fast face scanning, a fingerprint sensor, Accelerometer, Gyro, Heart rate and SpO2.

SOFTWARE AND BIXBY

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ will run on Android v7.0 Nougat with Samsung’s own TouchWiz UI on top. While TouchWiz has been notoriously known to be a UI with lots of bloatware, the Korean Giants have done a great job to keep the UI in check.

Samsung is trying to compete with the Google Assistant and Siri with its all new personal virtual assistant named Bixby. Issuing voice commands to complete any objective is what the Bixby does. But unlike Google’s Assistant, the Bixby isn’t that intelligent and if far from an artificial intelligence.

List of Samsung Smartphone to get Nougat Update

BATTERY

One of the major drawbacks of the newly unveiled Samsung Galaxy S8 and the S8+ has to be the battery. The smaller one of the two, the Galaxy S8 houses a 3000 mAh battery and the Galaxy S8+ houses a 3500 mAh battery. The battery in these devices will have to power up thousands and thousands of pixels every second. I haven’t been impressed with the battery the company went with. Maybe the battery saga of the Note 7 is why they went with a small battery. But on a flagship standard device, a buyer should not have to compromise on anything.

PRICING, RELEASE DATE AND AVAILABILITY

Both of the variants will be available for buying starting April 21. Samsung will start taking preorders from today. Buyers will get to choose from five color options in the international market: black, silver, blue, gold and gray.

In the US market, the pricing will depend on the carriers. It looks like an unlocked version of the S8 and S8 Plus might start from $720 and $840 respectively. As for their availability in Nepal, Samsung Nepal has launched Samsung Galaxy S8 and the S8+ in Nepal on April 19, 2017.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Official Price in Nepal [Updated]: Rs. 76,900

Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus Official Price in Nepal [Updated]: Rs. 86,900

Android co-founder teases a look at a bezelless smartphone

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GadgetByte

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March 29, 2017

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Android co-founder teases a look at a bezelless smartphone

Andy Rubin sure is one of the greats in the world of technology. Rubin made headlines when it was announced that Essential Products, the company the co-founder of Android had created, was working on a new flagship smartphone.

Essential Products was started in 2014 and is rumored to be building a bezelless flagship smartphone. This news had come to light earlier this year. Fast forward a couple months and Rubin has shared a picture of the device on his Twitter. And boy, the end-to-end screen phone does look cool.

Taking a look at the picture, we can see a display and a not so bezelless design. There is a small bezel cloaking the screen. Also, it looks as though the device will feature the rounded edges everyone likes on the LG G6. If the rounded edges are forgotten, the device reminds me of the Xiaomi Mi Mix, which features excellent design and aesthetics.

The specifications of the device are still unknown as there aren’t many rumors floating around. It is, however, known that it will feature a modular system which works with the help of a proprietary magnetic connector. It could ship with a metal frame and a ceramic back for that extra protection every smartphone needs. Also, a rumor has mentioned that the device will feature a pressure-sensitive display, kind of like the recent iPhones.

Andy Rubin probably shared the picture to garner attention and ride the hype train. His attempt seems to have been a success as everyone at the tech world is excited to see the end product of this project.

Essential’s bezelless device won’t be the first smartphone to feature such a design. Sharp had implemented this concept on their Aquos Crystal, a smartphone that was launched nearly 3 years ago. Xiaomi had made headlines when it released the Mi Mix last year. The Mi Mix is already available in Nepal for buying.

Samsung Galaxy A7 2017 Launched in Nepal

GadgetByte

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March 29, 2017

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Samsung Galaxy A7 2017 Launched in Nepal

Samsung, the Korean giant, is one of the best players in Mobile market of Nepal. Samsung phones’ success in Nepal has various determining factors. One of those factors is the timely release of their new products. As far as Nepalese phone customers are concerned, while buying a phone their preference is always towards the latest. Addressing such concern, Samsung is bringing its 2017’s latest releases even in Nepal one after another. Their next big release is the Samsung Galaxy A7 2017 that has just been launched for Rs. 54,900. The company is offering free 10,400mAh Anker powerbank and 32GB microSD card as a part of launch offer.

Is this pricing right? Well, we’ll address it a little later. First, Let’s get the specs of this new release broken down. That’ll help us address if the A7 2017 is worth all your money or not.

Samsung Galaxy A7 2017 (Specs Breakdown)

The Samsung Galaxy A7 2017 comes with a 5.7 inch Super AMOLED Full HD display. It will have a Corning Gorilla Glass protection but which version is yet to be confirmed.

Also Read: Types of Display Technology in Smartphones

The A7 2017 runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and is powered by Exynos 7880 that has 8 Cortex A53 cores clocked at 1.9 GHz. This CPU is coupled with 3GB of RAM and is backed by Mali-T830MP3 GPU. The inbuilt storage of 32GB sounds a little compromised considering its price. However, it is expandable up to 256GB via microSD card.

Coming to the cameras, it has 16MP, f1.9 units both on the front and at the back. Both these shooters can shoot up to 1080p videos at the highest. No 4K video shooting from a phone priced over 50k? Seriously, Samsung??

Also Read: Smartphone Camera Terminology

This phone with USB Type-C connector houses a 3600mAh battery inside. This water resistant phone also supports fast charging technology.

The phone with front mounted fingerprint sensor packs in every essential sensor we look forward to having in a phone. To mention them all, it has Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v4.2, A-GPS, NFC, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass and barometer sensors.

Mr. Pranaya Ratna Sthapit, Deputy General Manager, Mobile Business, Samsung Nepal said, “At Samsung, we are always committed to innovate as per the need of our consumers to ensure that they have the most advanced and modern products in the market today.” The latest Galaxy A7 (2017) is a testament to our commitment. We have integrated our consumers’ feedback on our previous models along with our unique design approach and features, to give an added performance and premium experience to the users.”

Coming back to is this phone worth the price? We thought the best would be let you decide it for yourself. To help you decide, we’ve listed a specs comparison between OnePlus 3T and Samsung Galaxy A7 2017:

Samsung Galaxy A7 2017 Vs. OnePlus 3T (Specs Comparison)

	Samsung Galaxy A7 2017	OnePlus 3T
Display	5.7 inches Super AMOLED, Full HD, 386ppi	5.5 inches Super AMOLED, Full HD, 401 ppi
Processor	Samsung Exynos 7880, octa-core, 1.9GHz, 64-bit	Qualcomm Snapdragon 821, quad-core, 2.35 GHz, 64-bit (Note: Snapdragon 821 is 1.5 times faster than Exynos 7880)
GPU	Mali-T830 MP3	Adreno 530
RAM	3GB	6GB
Inbuilt storage	32GB (expandable upto 256GB)	64/128GB (Non-expandable)
Primary Camera	16 MP, f/1.9, 27mm, 1080p@30fps	16 MP, f/2.0, OIS, 4k@30fps
Secondary Camera	16 MP, f/1.9, 1080p	16 MP, f/2.0, 1080p
Battery	3600 mAh	3400 mAh
Water Resistance	IP68	No

I think this specs comparison might have given you an overview of which phone you should buy. Well, it’s a hard one to answer and is kind of subjective. If it’s the performance then you can never go wrong with OnePlus 3T but the A7 2017 comes with it’s better perks as well. That’s why, the A7 2017 with water resistance, bigger battery, better cameras and expandable memory stands strong with its rival.

Official: NTC Introduces Loan for Pre-Paid Users

GadgetByte

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March 28, 2017

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Official: NTC Introduces Loan for Pre-Paid Users

Nepal Telecom(NTC) seems to have made a commitment to provide better service to its users. Recently they initiated the 4G service and now they are on to something more convenient. Today NTC has made an agreement with the Hongkong based company, Hemant Trade Center to provide the loan service for its users. Loan service will be available to Pre-Paid GSM and CDMA users.

Loan Service was introduced way back in 2012 by Ncell as Ncell Sapati of Rs. 20 which has proved to be one of the most beneficial services for the customers. I use Ncell Sapati almost all the time. Air Time Credit Services come in really handy when you’re in middle of something important or unfeasible and can’t manage to get a recharge. Five years after Ncell have introduced the loan service, NTC is finally stepping up to provide the similar service to its costumers.

NTC hasn’t revealed how much money can be taken as a loan but they have stated that there won’t be any additional charges to pay off the loan while recharging which sound pretty great already. This service will be in action within 5months from now. It’ll truly be a convenient feature for the users.

Official: Back from the dead; Samsung Galaxy Note 7 to go on sale again

GadgetByte

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March 28, 2017

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Official: Back from the dead; Samsung Galaxy Note 7 to go on sale again

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 was arguably the best Android smartphone when it was launched last year. It constituted some of the beastly specs and was supposed to be the perfect rival to the iPhone 7 and Google pixel, devices that were not released at that time.

But it quickly became a burning sensation – literally. Problems with the batteries made the Korean giants recall the device not once but twice. In the end, the company had to kill everything associated with the Galaxy Note 7, a move that cost them a whopping 3 billion dollars. They also lost their bragging rights to other smartphone manufacturers.

And fans were, of course, disappointed.

Read More: Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fire fiasco

Samsung explained why the Galaxy Note 7 exploded, a few months ago. And before their investigation had concluded, an official at the company had mentioned that they would be “Reviewing possible options that can minimize the environmental impact of the recall.”

Now the company has issued a statement that they will be relaunching the Galaxy Note 7

this year. To make this happen, Samsung will establish three principles to ensure that Galaxy Note 7 devices are recycled and processed in an environmentally-friendly manner. Here are the 3 principles:

Save salvageable components (ie. camera and semiconductors)
Obtain metal parts (Copper, nickel, gold and silver) through an “eco-friendly” method
devices shall be considered to be used as refurbished phones or rental phones “where applicable.”

Well, since the Note 7’s production has been already ceased, Samsung might sell refurbished devices that will be equipped with a smaller-than-before battery. And it might also come with other tweaks. We will be reporting on this matter once other rumors surface on the internet.

Samsung surely wants to make up for the 3 billion dollars it lost due to the note 7 fiasco. It could also be facing penalties in relation to the disposal of the huge number of the devices. So, it is necessary for the company to take care of the 2.5 million units of the Galaxy Note 7 it has been left with.

Here’s everything you need to know about the (original) Samsung Galaxy Note 7:

• Super AMOLED 5.7 inches (1440 x 2560) Display
• TouchWiz UI skin on top of Android 6.0 Marshmallow
• 64 GB ROM with microSD card (up to 256 GB)
• 4GB RAM
• 12MP, f/1.7, 26mm, Phase Detection Autofocus Rear Facing Camera
• 5MP Front Facing Camera
• Corning Gorilla Glass 5
• Octa-core (4×2.3 GHz Mongoose and 4×1.6 GHz Cortex-A53) CPU
• Exynos 8890 Octa Chipset
• Mali-T880 MP12 GPU
• IP68 certified – dust proof and water resistant over 1.5 meters and 30 minutes
• USB Type-C 1.0 reversible connector
• Fast charging with Qi wireless charging
• Non-removable Li-ion 3500 mAh battery

Things to consider before you get iOS 10.3 update for your iPhone or iPad

Apple
iOS

GadgetByte

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March 28, 2017

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Things to consider before you get iOS 10.3 update for your iPhone or iPad

The Apple’s latest iOS 10.3 update is now out for the iPhones and iPads. Before you start doing the update, here are few things you need to consider. It’s because iOS 10.3 isn’t a mere update. This update is going to change the iOS file system from more than 30years old HFS+ to the new Apple File System (APFS).

List of the devices getting iOS 10.3

Here’s the list of the devices that will get iOS 10.3 update. But if your device already has iOS 10 then you needn’t check the list, your device will surely get the update.

iPhone 7/7 Plus
iPhone 6s/6s Plus
iPhone 6/6 Plus
iPhone SE
iPhone 5s
iPhone 5c
iPhone 5
iPad 4th gen
iPad Air
iPad Air 2
iPad Pro (12.9- and 9.7-inch)
iPad mini 2
iPad mini 3
iPad mini 4
iPod touch 6th

Things to Consider before the update:

Backup your data

Since with this update, Apple is changing the filesystem in the iPhones and iPads so there are chances for things to go wrong and you may end up losing your crucial data. So, it is wiser to create a back of the data in your phone before the update.

This new Apple File System brings a lot of improvements such as optimization for solid state storage, strong encryption and better file time stamping along with some storage saving features.

You can back up your data in two ways: using iCloud backup or iTunes backup. Just choose the one that you find handy.

Throw away “not used apps” and Update the “most used ones”

There are many apps on our phones that we don’t really use much. So, this is the right time to throw them away that will help to create more free spaces and there will be fewer data to be backed up.

If you haven’t updated your apps in a while, you should better do it now if they haven’t been automatically updated in the background. Many of the apps are now made compatible with the iOS 10 and later.

Make sure you still remember your iCloud password

After the update, you’ll need to log in to your iCloud account. So, it is better to make sure you remember your password. If you don’t just remember the password, just create a new one before the update.

FAQ

1. Is backing up the data mandatory?

No, it’s just for staying on the safe side. If you don’t prioritize your data much and don’t want the hassle of backing them up. Just go with the update with your finger crossed. Hopefully, things won’t go wrong and you’ll have the latest iOS on your device without losing any of your previous data.

2. Should I really clean my phone?

You shouldn’t bother much on cleaning the phone if it has iOS 9 or later. After iOS 9, the operating system will itself make the space needed, even by deleting apps and re-installing them afterward.

3. Should I update right now or wait few weeks?

Well, the best would be to wait a few weeks if you want to have the bugfree version of the iOS 10.3. The Apple releases bug fixes in few weeks following every release. So, the choice is all yours.

Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime Review: Balance And Style on a Budget

GadgetByte

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March 26, 2017

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Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime Review: Balance And Style on a Budget

With numerous mid-range phones stacking up in the market, Xiaomi has made a comfortable spot for its products. Summing up to its pile of mid-range phones, today we have the Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime which is priced at Rs.23,500. Let’s find out if Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime could be your next phone.

Key Specs of Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime:

5″ IPS display of 1080p resolution; 443ppi
Snapdragon 625 chipset; 14nm process, 2.0GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU
Adreno 506 GPU
13MP f/2.2 main camera with hybrid PDAF; 1080p video capture at 30fps
5MP f/2.2 front-facing camera; 1080p at 30fps video recording
MIUI 8 based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
32GB of built-in storage, 3GB of RAM
Hybrid DualSIM/microSD card slot (up to 128GB)
4G LTE Cat.7/13 (300Mbps down/ 150Mbps up); Wi-Fi a/b/g/n; Bluetooth 4.2; GPS, GLONASS and Beidou; FM radio
IR port
Dual-microphone active noise canceling
Rear-mounted fingerprint reader
4,100mAh non-removable battery, fast charging

Design:

The first thing that impressed me about the Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime is its metal body. Although a mid range device, the phone feels premium with full metal body and chamfered edges on sides. The phone comes in a compact form factor and has a typical Xiaomi design. Sporting just 5-inch display, it is comfortable to hold and I could reach almost anywhere on the phone with one hand.

If you are a minimalist, you’ll love the design of the phone as the back holds only the Mi branding, left is clean with an incognito SIM tray and the right holds volume and power button. Up front, it has capacitive navigation keys which have pretty wide sensing surface, so you won’t miss those touches even if you slightly miss the buttons marking, and this is important because the buttons aren’t backlit.

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Display:

The Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime comes with a 5-inch Full HD display with the pixel density of 441ppi, that’s a lot of pixels for a 5-inch screen thus resulting in a sharp display. The screen is bright and saturated resulting in punchy colors. The viewing angles are great and I didn’t notice any color shifting.

The outdoor visibility is good as I could use the phone in direct sunlight without any issues. But when you open the camera on direct sunlight, you can hardly see anything on the screen, as it becomes really reflective at that time. But that’s not the issue here, the one and the only issue I had with the display are those thick black borders. These are pretty distracting at first, but with time you’ll forget about it, but, it’s still there. An edge-to-edge display would have made this device a whole lot better for the eyes.

Also, Xiaomi hasn’t included any kind of scratch protection in the display, so we suggest you snap a tempered glass once you buy the device.

Performance:

Coming down to performance, the Redmi 4 Prime is powered by Snapdragon 625 Octa-Core processor (Octa-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53, 14nm Process) and coupled with that comes the Adreno 506 GPU. For normal daily usage, there’s nothing it can’t handle. Even with heavy usage, there were no hiccups with its performance. I was able to push the device per my usage without any issues. With 3GB of RAM, I was able to multitask between 5-6 apps without app restart and if you are concerned about the memory, there’s usually around 600MB of RAM free with loads of app open and 1.3 GB when cleared all of those.

On the Gaming Front, I could play high-end games like the Asphalt 8 and Modern Combat 5 at reasonable frame rates with no frame drops and lags anytime soon. Having said that, the phone does get warm on the back, but it’s nothing serious.

Software/UI:

The phone is running on MIUI 8.2 which is based on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. I have favored stock android for a long time over any skinned UI, even MIUI before. But the new MIUI 8.2 seems completely refreshing, it is pleasing to the eyes, colors and icons look playful and there are just bunch of interactive animations which makes using the phone a whole lot fun.

Software Walk Though

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But what makes MIUI fun is those little details incorporated all around the UI, like the Reading mode to cut off blue lights, double tap to wake up screen, app lock with fingerprint unlock, dual apps where you can use two same apps with different accounts, junk cleaner to clean cache and junk files, quick ball: an assistive touch that provides you with options of navigation & screenshot, three finger swipe for screenshot, and notification light customization where you can assign different colored light for different types of notification, lite mode to make things way too easy and to save the battery life, and the list goes on and on.

Camera:

Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime comes with 13MP Rear Camera with Phase Detection Auto Focus for faster autofocus, F2.2 aperture lens, and Dual tone Dual LED flash. The Camera UI is similar to other Xiaomi phones and comes with shooting options like panorama, scene, tilt-shift, Manual Mode and HHT or Hand-Held Twilight Mode for low light.

Images throughout the daytime were pretty okay and looked natural for the most part, but typically the images look warm, lacks sharpness and details and this was resolved to some extent by turning on HDR mode.

Camera Samples (Daylight)

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Dynamic range is fine, but not excellent. During twilight, you can adjust the exposure by sliding up or down to get suitable lighting on your photos. At night time, the images come out all right with plenty of grains but turning on HHT mode helps to some extent. It can shoot Full HD videos at 30fps and it was terribly bad. With no image stabilization, you get really shaky videos with constant exposure shifts and they pretty much lacked details.

Camera Samples (Low Light)

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The front facing 5MP Camera is okay, you get clean and clear photos in daylight and indoors but at night time it’s just full of grains.

Connectivity:

For Connectivity, the phone comes with dual SIM slot, where the 2nd slot supports Micro SD Card extendibility. Wi-Fi networks and data was stable and I had no problems while calling. And on top, it also comes with an IR-Blaster and a supporting Mi Remote App which is pretty handy simple and straight forward. The call quality was excellent, so was the audio coming out from 3.5mm headphone jack.

Fingerprint Sensor:

Redmi 4 Prime has a fingerprint sensor on the back which is very fast, it instantaneously unlocks the phone. Besides unlocking the phone, the fingerprint sensor can also assist in taking photos and app lock. I typically like fingerprint sensor up front, as it is easier to unlock the phone while it’s on the table but when held on hand, the back is where your fingers normally rest enabling easier access.

Battery:

The battery on the Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime is one of the best feature. The 4100mAh battery lasted for 2 days of heavy usage. From taking photos & videos to playing games and chatting all day long, the Redmi 4 Prime can go on and on.

Talking about the screen on time, I got somewhere around 7 to 8 hours, as the battery optimization is great on the MIUI and the phone uses a power efficient 14nm Snapdragon 625 SoC. If you want to extend the life further you can either turn on battery saver or the lite mode.

It took almost 3 hours to completely charge the device even though it has fast charging capabilities.

Verdict:

It isn’t often that a midrange comes with a short list of flaws and Redmi 4 Prime is one of those phones. So during my period of review, these are the things I liked and disliked about the Redmi 4 Prime.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT XIAOMI REDMI 4 PRIME:

The first and foremost thing is undoubtedly the battery life. It feels amazing to be carefree about your battery life when it lasts for two whole days.
Then comes the premium design. Although I was carrying a sub 25k phone, I never doubted for a second it was any less premium than the flagship phones. Also, the compact size of the phone makes it really portable and easy to use.
The display is sharp, bright, and has good contrast.
The performance, even with SD 625, I wasn’t limited to just basic use and could go overboard and do some high-end power use with it. The addition of fingerprint sensor is a boon and the MIUI has pretty great ways to make more use of it.

WHAT I DISLIKED ABOUT XIAOMI REDMI 4 PRIME:

Loudspeaker is average
The display has black borders which could be really distracting.
The display lacks scratch resistant glass and hence scratches easily.
Poor video quality along with average image quality (considering the price)

IF YOU WEREN’T IMPRESSED BY THE XIAOMI REDMI 4 PRIME, HERE ARE SOME OTHER OPTIONS YOU CAN CONSIDER:

ZTE Axon Mini

Priced at Rs. 25,999, the Axon Mini sports a 5.2-inch 1080P AMOLED display with Gorilla Glass 3 protection and forced touched display. It houses a 13MP rear and 8MP front cameras. It is powered by an older octacore Snapdragon 616 processor, 3GB RAM, and 2800mAh battery. It is running on an outdated Android 5.1 Lollipop.

SAMSUNG GALAXY J5 PRIME

Another great device in Redmi 4 Prime’s price range, the Samsung Galaxy J5 Prime comes with a better 13MP shooter. It is currently available at Rs. 22,990 and sports a lower resolution 720P display, quad-core CPU, and only 2GB of RAM.

Also Read: Top Phones Under Rs. 30,000

Intel’s new computer memory is 1000 times faster than the traditional ones

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GadgetByte

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March 26, 2017

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Intel’s new computer memory is 1000 times faster than the traditional ones

The technology that Intel teased around one and a half year ago, is now a finished product. The Intel’s new computer memory has hit the market with the name “Optane SSD DC P4800X”. The first product of such kind has the memory capacity of 375GB that is priced at $1520. But this is currently limited in numbers and the availability is kind of limited as well. But the availability and the storage capacity is expected to go bigger with time.

Intel 3D XPoint Technology: What is known so far

This new computer memory from Intel is based on Intel’s 3D XPoint – pronounced as “Three-Dee-Cross-Point” technology. Intel has been keeping secrets on the 3D XPoint technology as they don’t want others to duplicate their innovation. So, there’s so less to share about how the system is made and how it works.

To give an overview, this computer memory comprises the best of both the memory types: the SSD and the DRAM. So, it can be used as both the memory and the storage. According to Intel, this memory is 1000 times faster than traditional hard drives and can pack data 10 times more densely than traditional DRAMs.

However, to unleash its real power, such computer memory is calling for the new computer architecture. Intel says it is already working with Big companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft to help them design new computer architecture and operating system that works the best with Intel 3D XPoint.

Verdict

Intel’s betting big with this new breakthrough in computer memory technology. But it’s not us, the general users, that Intel’s targeting at. It’s the big cloud-based companies like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. So, this might be the memory type today’s data centers are looking forward to. That said, we can expect some powerful gaming PCs that’ll be based on such computer memory.

Opinion: Why buying smartphones through official channels matter

Opinion

GadgetByte

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March 26, 2017

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Opinion: Why buying smartphones through official channels matter

One of the frequent questions we are asked is why we don’t include brands like Le, Motorola, Nexus/Pixel or flagship LG phones in our list of the best smartphones available in Nepal. Followers of our page text us asking about smartphones of these brands. But we usually don’t suggest them to buy smartphones from those brands. We don’t have any hatred against Google, Motorola or LG. It’s just that these smartphones aren’t officially available here in Nepal.

Read More: Price of all smartphones in Nepal

Why should that matter, you ask? Well, simply because you can’t claim any warranty if you buy these products. Drop your phone once and you will have to empty your pocket in an instant.

Take Huawei and Samsung as examples. These companies have a broad presence in the Nepali smartphone market. Their smartphones are available for buying through official channels. So, if you buy a defective smartphone or have any software issues, the service centers of these companies will happily repair your unit through official technicians, or even replace it with a new one.

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Take this as an example: a friend of mine had to pay over Rs, 15,000 for replacing her Xiaomi Mi3 display a while back. Note that this was the time when the smartphone wasn’t officially available in Nepal.

Buying smartphones from the grey market should be avoided as well. Smartphone manufacturers never honor warranty offers of devices that have been brought into a country via illegal means or via unofficial channels. So, you’ll end up having to pay loads of money for a simple repair of your device. Some service centers even refuse to mend devices if the fact that a smartphone was bought illegally comes into light.

[Note: Please stop buying anything from the grey market. While it might seem like you have saved a few bucks, on a long run it could haunt you. Grey marketers sell refurbished or previously used smartphones claiming they are new.]

Yes, sometimes we face a bit of a hustle when the phone we just bought gives up on us. But hey, at least we have a void warranty that covers the cost of its repair.

CG Blaze 4G Review: A Budget 4G Phone That Fails to Impress

CG
Reviews

GadgetByte

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March 26, 2017

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CG Blaze 4G Review: A Budget 4G Phone That Fails to Impress

It’s been a while since NTC launched the 4G service in selected cities of Nepal. Now, while buying your new phone you should also consider if it supports 4G network or not. Past few days, we searched in the market for the cheapest 4G phone to buy. And, what we found is the CG Blaze 4G that is priced at Rs.11,111. So, let’s get to know what the phone offers and should you buy it or skip it?

Design

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CG Blaze 4G does come in premium packaging but the phone looks and feels cheap. The design looks to be inspired from the phones that were released like 5 years ago. So, this plastic build phone failed to impress us with its outdated design.

Display

Coming to the display, the phone has a 5inch 720p display. On paper, that sounds pretty good but in real life use, the display is truly disappointing. Though the phone comes with display tuning options but no settings can make the display look pleasing to the eyes. The more you tilt, the more color shifting you can notice. It’s not just the colors but even the touch is not so sensitive. Be it swiping on the home screen or dragging the notification bar, the touch seemed to have issues every so often. And, when it comes to display’s visibility under direct sunlight, the phone is better in your pocket. This diplay just can’t take the sunlight at all.

Performance

This phone is powered by MediaTek MT6735 quad-core processor coupled with 2GB of RAM. So, if there’s anything that I didn’t have the issue with this phone then that’s the performance. The app loading and switching time were fast enough. During the time of my review, I played True Skate on it and the gaming performance was satisfactory. Moreover, Had it had a dedicated app switching button, the multitasking experience would have been even better.

On the memory side, it has 16GB of storage and along with two SIM slots, it has dedicated microSD card slot that will accept cards of up to 64GB.

Camera

In the back, it has 8 Megapixel auto focus primary unit with LED flash. The primary shooter can shoot videos of up to 720p at 30fps. The camera performance seems to be on par with its pricing. What I liked the most about its camera is the option to lock the object. The photos taken in HDR mode seemed to stand out from those taken in regular mode.

CG Blaze 4G Camera Samples

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The 5 Megapixel selfie camera isn’t any good. However with beauty mode on and in good lighting condition you can manage to get few considerable selfies. Most of the time, the selfies come with lots of grains and lack in details.

Software

The phone boots on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with CG’s UI layered on top of it. The UI isn’t that far off from the stock android. But the touch issues are there which I’m pretty sure are due to the display but that makes you feel if the UI isn’t responsive or something. There are different gesture functions available but they are better turned off or you’ll notice the battery draining much faster than it should.

CG Blaze 4G UI (Screenshots)

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Battery

The phone houses a removable 2000mAh battery which had a hard time giving me the battery life worth a full day. The average screen on time I could manage to get from this phone is of 2 to 3 hours. However, the phone does have a good stand-by, though. But charging the device is super slow. It took me around 3hours to charge the phone from 0 to 100%.

CG Blaze 4G Battery Performance

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Connectivity

Now coming to the connectivity, it has a 4G right on its name and after inserting a 4G SIM, it displays the 4G right along the network bar. The phone has stable and fast internet connectivity while using mobile data. So, if it’s just the 4G connectivity that you prioritize the most then you can never go wrong with this phone.

Verdict

To conclude, the CG Blaze 4G does do justice to the tag “4G” in its name. However, the phone cannot be considered to be a good buy. It’s all because of its ugly design language and terrible display. The display on a smartphone is what matters the most. So, a phone with a bad display can never be considered a good phone.

DESIGN AND DISPLAY

CAMERA

Processor and Hardware

SOFTWARE AND BIXBY

BATTERY

PRICING, RELEASE DATE AND AVAILABILITY

Andy Rubin probably shared the picture to garner attention and ride the hype train. His attempt seems to have been a success as everyone at the tech world is excited to see the end product of this project.

Samsung Galaxy A7 2017 (Specs Breakdown)

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Here’s everything you need to know about the (original) Samsung Galaxy Note 7:

List of the devices getting iOS 10.3

Things to Consider before the update:

Backup your data

Throw away “not used apps” and Update the “most used ones”

Make sure you still remember your iCloud password

FAQ

1. Is backing up the data mandatory?

2. Should I really clean my phone?

3. Should I update right now or wait few weeks?

Key Specs of Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime:

Design:

Display:

Performance:

Software/UI:

Camera:

Connectivity:

Fingerprint Sensor:

Battery:

Verdict:

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT XIAOMI REDMI 4 PRIME:

WHAT I DISLIKED ABOUT XIAOMI REDMI 4 PRIME:

Also Read: Top Phones Under Rs. 30,000

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Verdict

[Note: Please stop buying anything from the grey market. While it might seem like you have saved a few bucks, on a long run it could haunt you. Grey marketers sell refurbished or previously used smartphones claiming they are new.]

Design

Display

Performance

Camera

Software

Battery

Connectivity

Verdict