Elephone was launched back in May last year with some pretty interesting model like the P9000, P9000 Lite, S1 and the M2. Back then the distribution in Nepal was handled by Mobile Planet and now the distribution seems to have shifted to GOENKA Infotech. With, the new distribution, two new phones has been introduced, namely: Elephone C1 and Elephone S7. There’s also the P9000 that was sold earlier. The availability of previous phones other than these new 3 is still uncertain. Let’s look at what these new phones have to offer:
Elephone C1:
5.5 Inch(720*1280) display with 403ppi
Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Mediatek MTK6737 Quad Core Processor
ARM Mali T720MP 650MHz GPU
2GB RAM
16GB Internal Storage, Expandable up to 64G
8MP Rear Camera with F/2.4 aperture
2MP Front Camera with F/2.8 aperture
2850mAh battery
Elephone P9000:
5.5-inch 1920 x 1080pixels Display
Android Marshmallow 6.0
MTK6752 2GHz Octa Core 64bit Chipset
ARM Mali-T860 GPU
Fingerprint Sensor on the back
4GB of RAM
32GB of ROM, Expandable up to 128GB
Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, A-GPS, WiFi b/g/n
Accelerometer / Proximity sensor / Light sensor/ Hall sensor
Dual SIM dual standby, dual micro SIM with 4G LTE
13MP Rear Camera with LED flash, and autofocus
8MP Front Camera
Non-Removable 3000mAh battery with Fast Charging (5V/2A)
Qualcomm released its flagship chipset Snapdragon 835 and Samsung is going to bring new flagship phone Galaxy S8 with Exynos 8895 (also with Snapdragon 835 variant) chipset on it. Both the processors mentioned are designed in 10nm technology. MediaTek is also working with TSMC to bring out a chipset with 7nm fabrication. These are the smartphone processors. The computer chipset maker Intel and AMD are focusing on even smaller nanometer technology than the fore-mentioned sizes. We are often befuddled with the terms explained regarding the processors and the nanometer technology in is one of them to bother us. So without any further ado, let’s focus on it.
What is nanometer technology?
Before jumping straight to the nanometer technology, first of all, it is necessary to know that any chip, IC, processor, memory or GPU is made from the integration of a large number of transistors. Since such chips are made with the integration of a large number of transistors inside it, we call them ICs (Integrated circuits) in general. And according to the number of the transistors integrated to make such chipsets, they are classified as SSI (small scale integration), LSI (Large Scale Integration) or VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration). In the ICs, there are blocks or modules of the transistors with subtle connections between them.
A transistor essentially consists of Drain, Source, and Gate. There is a path to flow electrons (and hence current) between the Source and Drain, which is called channel. Gate is responsible for controlling the width of the channel. Broader the channel, slow will be the speed of electrons flowing in the channel and vice versa. The nanometer technology mentioned in a processor is the measure of average distance between the channels.
Smaller the better. But how?
Smaller the nanometer distance between the channels faster will be the communication between the two transistors. This is a general perception. However, there are additional advantages of it and some of them are discussed below.
Each transistor used on the chipset will have a smaller size. So larger number of transistors can be packed inside the chipset having the same dimension as that of chipset fabricated with larger nanometer distance.
Facility to fabricate a large number of transistors in a small chipset offers more features to be packed into it.
Smaller transistors are faster, which lets them work at higher clock rates. This improves performance.
It also results in the reduction of Gate Oxide thickness, which in turn reduces the transistor capacitance and hence the voltage/current required to charge capacitance. So the overall power consumption decreases. As a result, the efficiency increases.
Possible drawbacks
Keeping the advantages aside, there are also some downsides of smaller nanometer technology. Some of them are discussed below.
Heat dissipation: – With the smaller size, the heat produced from the transistors will have a smaller area to dissipate and hence to cool. This may cause overheating of the chipset inviting accidents.
Quantum Tunneling: – With the smaller size, the size will be comparable to the atomic size. Because of the smaller gaps, some electrons may take a leap from one place to another for no reasons. This phenomenon is known as Quantum Tunneling. This may cause corruption of data and malfunctioning of chipsets.
Talking about the smartphones first, the Sony Xperia X features a seamless metallic back with a 5.0-inch 1080p IPS LCD display. The device houses Hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 processor. This is paired with 3GB of RAM and 64GB of internal memory. There is an option to expand this onboard storage via a microSD card. The Xperia X runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, and Sony has already confirmed that it will receive Nougat update. This device features a 23-megapixel primary shooter and a 13-megapixel secondary shooter. It, however, is powered by a meager 2,620 mAh battery.
On the other hand, the Sony Xperia XA Ultra is a giant device featuring a 6.0-inch display. The huge 1080p IPS LCD display certainly makes up for a great multimedia and gaming experience in the device. Under the hood, the Xperia XA Ultra is powered by an Octa-core MediaTek MT6755 Helio P10 processor which is coupled with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of onboard storage. Yes, it doesn’t come with an ample internal storage but there is at least an inclusion of a microSD card slot. Camera wise, the device is equipped with a 21.5-megapixel rear-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture and a 16-megapixel front-facing shooter with f/2.0 aperture. Like the Xperia X, the Xperia XA Ultra will also receive the Nougat update in the near future. A non-removable 2,700 mAh battery runs the device.
Now on to the price cuts, Nepa Hima Trade link has slashed the price of the Xperia X to Rs. 38,500 from Rs. 50,500 and of the Xperia XA Ultra to Rs. 34,500 from the previous pricing of Rs. 38,500.
Sony Xperia X in a nutshell:
• 5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) IPS LCD Triluminos Display
• Hexa-Core Snapdragon 650 64-bit processor
• Adreno 510 GPU
• 3GB RAM
• 64GB internal storage, expandable memory available
• Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
• Dual SIM (nano+nano/microSD)
• 23MP rear-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture
• 13MP front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture
• Fingerprint sensor
• 2630mAh Battery with fast charging technology
• Price: Rs. 50,500 Rs. 38,500
Sony Xperia XA Ultra in a nutshell:
• 6-inch (1920 x 1280 pixels) IPS LCD Display
• Octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor
• Mali T860MP2 GPU
• 3GB RAM,
• 16GB internal storage, expandable memory available
• Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow
• Dual SIM (nano+nano)
• 21.5MP Primary Shooter
• 16MP Secondary shooter with LED flash
• 2700 mAh battery
• Price: Rs. 38,500 Rs. 34,500
With the improvements in the phones themselves, even the phone cases are coming with the upgrades. The phone case was originally meant to protect the phones from damages in case of accidental drops. And, then the cases started being a fashion statement giving users the freedom to customize how their phones look and feel. Recently, phone cases started being an additional power source for the phones. Even the Apple itself made such battery cases for the iPhones and it got the warm welcome as well. When it comes to choosing between Apple and Android, it is so hard and many of us end up buying two phones. But Now, you don’t need to. Just buy a case for your iPhone that is not just a case but an android phone itself. Yes, I’m talking about the “Eye”.
Eye – The Smart iPhone Case
The Eye by ESTI is such an amazing idea that started on Kickstarter and is turning into reality much sooner. Keeping up with its thin profile just like any traditional phone case, Eye offers a lot. It is not just a case but the phone itself running on Android 7.1 Nougat. By using this phone case on your iPhone, you can make your already good iPhone even better. Eye currently is being designed for iPhone 6, 6s, 7 and 7plus. The manufacturer claims to make such phone case even for the next iPhone, the iPhone 8, as sooner as within next month from its release.
Highlight offerings from Eye
5inch Full HD AMOLED Display
Pure Android
Wireless Charging
Always On Display
2800mAh Battery
2 Sim Slots (4G)
Up To 256GB of Storage
NFC Enabled
Infrared Sensor
3.5mm Headphone Jack
Selfies using the back camera of iPhone
The Eye is just 90grams heavy and 13.1mm thick. Under the hood, this case (or should I say phone), is powered by Helio P20 OctaCore processor coupled with 3GB LPDDR3 RAM and backed by Mali-T880 MP2 GPU. It has 16GB of onboard storage expandable up to 256GB via microSD card. It comes with Gyro, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, and Ambient light sensor along with Bluetooth 4.2 and IR blaster. For charging, it has lightning port even supports Qi wireless charging. For network connectivity, it has dual hybrid SIM tray. It comes in two different color options of Jet Black and Matt Black. The retail pricing of the product will start from $189 and goes up to $239. However, the backers can get the same product for the price as low as $95. The backers worldwide will get their product shipped in August 2017.
Verdict:
This is truly what I call thinking out of the box. This case is really innovative one and is worth the buy. For those who want to have the best of both the Apple and Android, now no longer need to buy two separate phones. The Apple fanboy now can feel proud to have the added features to their iPhone that will make their already good iPhone even better. The best part about this case is functionality to use iPhone’s back camera for selfies. I wish if this was available right away but 6 months of wait for accessories like this is totally worth it.
We are always looking out for the best deals for our readers. And here’s one of the best deals for someone who is looking for an affordable smartphone. Kaymu, one of the leading eCommerce websites in Nepal, on the occasion of “Smartphone Sale Campaign” is offering it’s 3-year-old LG L60 Dual for just Rs. 2999. This makes the LG G60 the most affordable android smartphone you can buy in Nepal.
The LG L60 is an outdated product, that’s the reason behind the price drop; to clear the remaining stock. Having said that, it’s a good buy especially considering the offer. For Rs. 3,000, the LG L60 offers 4.3-inch (800 x 400 pixels) capacitive touchscreen display, 1.3 GHz dual-core processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB onboard memory that is expandable up to 32GB with microSD, 5MP rear camera with LED flash, VGA front-facing camera, Dual SIM with 3G HSPA+, Android Kitkat 4.4, and 1,540 mAh battery.
LG L60 Dual
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The LG L60 is available in black and white colors and comes with 1-year warranty. You can buy the product from this link. This deal could, however, expire soon.
There was a huge hype among one plus fans and tech enthusiasts for the march 15 event. And finally, One plus revealed the new OnePlus 3T Colette edition.
One plus will make 250 units of the exclusive all-black OnePlus 3T featuring the engraved Colette logo. This is to celebrate the acclaimed fashion boutique’s 20th anniversary. The OnePlus 3T Colette edition’s specification remains the same except there is only going to be the 128GB version.
Sadly, if you want to buy this, it’s only available in Paris in the Colette stores. If you happen to be in Paris, the doors to the Colette stores open on the 21st of March at 11 AM. You will also get a OnePlus Bullets (earphones) along with the device. This device will cost you 479 Euros.
“Sale” the word itself is an intriguing one and can be considered to be a second name to “huge discounts”. In the market of Nepal, to go something on sale we’ve to wait for either new year or a major festive season. But things are changing lately and it can be felt in this Kaymu Smartphone Sale. Kaymu has started 3 days long Smartphone Sale that has listed 99 different phones and tablets from 15+ different brands. The discounts one can find in this sale offer ranges from 3% up to 50%.
What and How products are listed in Kaymu Smartphone Sale?
This Smartphone sale from Kaymu includes 99 different products but not all of them are worth buying. Few are even away from considering. However, there are few products that are worth buying. For easy filtering of products, the users can find products in four different product segments: High-End Smartphone, Mid-Range Smartphone, Value-End Smartphone, and Tablets.
High-End Smartphone lists includes iPhone 7 (3%discount), Samsung Galaxy S7/S7 Edge (-21% / -19%) and Xiaomi Mi 5 (-6%).
The options are huge in Mid-Range Smartphones listed in this offer since the listing comprises of 49 different products from brands like Xiaomi, Samsung, Micromax, Leagoo, Obi, Zopo, Lava, Gionee, Oppo, and Others. You can find discounts of around 7% to 9% on phones from Xiaomi, Samsung, Oppo, Gionee, and Obi. Those looking for heavy discounts might be happy to see around 30% of discounts on phones from Micromax.
Someone looking for heavy discounts should check the products in Value-End Smartphone segment that is getting discounts up to 50%.
Verdict:
Well, this is a good initiative from Kaymu and we really want them to come up with such offers every so often. That said, this Smartphone Sale does come with much of room for improvements. For example, they could have come up with an exclusive sale of some product with exclusive pricing. The pricing of products does come with some discounts but that much of discounts we believe can be obtained by bargaining in any offline retail outlets. That said, yes few products did get my attention. But next time smartphones go on sale online, I want them to be as many as possible. And, they should cost as less as possible too.
Chinese smartphone maker Gionee recently announced their flagship phones, Gionee A1 & A1 Plus, at MWC 2017. The Gionee A1 is expected to launch in Nepal before the end of this month and the A1 Plus later next month. The Gionee A1 is the company’s first phone in A-series lineup. According to the company, A-series is a merger between M-series and S-series that focuses on battery and camera respectively.
Gionee organized the bloggers meet in Nepal to showcase the A1 and I had around 2 hours to play with the device. The company expects the price of the Gionee A1 in Nepal to be around Rs. 35,000 which is commendable considering the international pricing of €349. Before I jump into the review, you can check out the specs overview of the Gionee A1:
5.5-inch (1920× 1080 pixels) Full HD IPS 2.5D curved glass display
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
4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 /a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS
Gyro Sensor
4010mAh battery with fast charging
Color Option: Black, Gold, and White
Design:
As soon as I hold the Gionee A1 in my hands, it felt premium and similar to One Plus 3. The back features a metal body and the front houses a gorilla glass 3 for protection against scratches. Despite featuring a huge 4010mAh battery, the phone didn’t feel heavy and indeed felt ergonomic. Job Well Done in terms of weight distribution. The buttons are located on the right side and provide good feedback. Below the screen on the Gionee A1 is a fingerprint reader/home button. It’s blazing fast and snappy and unlocks the phone in less than a second.
The Gionee A1 features a 5.5-inch 1080P display with 2.5D curved glass and 401 ppi. It’s an IPS panel so the color is accurate and the viewing experience is excellent. Since I didn’t get the chance to use the phone during sunlight, I couldn’t comment on its sunlight legibility yet, but while using indoor, the brightness seems ample. I will be able to tell you more after I use the phone for few days.
Camera:
The Gionee A1 comes with a 13MP Sony Rear camera (IMX 258). It’s the same sensor found on the Gionee S6s and Lava A3. The rear camera is good, but nothing extraordinary. There’s enough detail, colors are nicely saturated, but the dynamic range is average. Up front, it gets interesting as it features a whopping 16MP selfie camera. It’s the phone biggest asset. Even in the indoor lighting condition, the 16MP camera shows good promise.
Performance:
Gionee has also upgraded the chipset on the A1, going from a 1.3Ghz MediaTek MT6753 on the Gionee S6s to a MediaTek Helio P10. That one still uses an octa-core Cortex-A53 processor, but at a higher clock speed of 1.8Ghz. You also get more RAM – 4GB – and the storage doubled to 64GB ( and yes there’s a microSD card on the side).
This configuration yields in a good performance if you are not a heavy user. Having said that, it’s a missed opportunity for Gionee in this department. The competitors offer more powerful SoCs at this price range. Bottomline, better-performing phones can be found for the same amount of money, or even less, so if ultimate gaming performance for all your money is top on your list perhaps you should be looking elsewhere.
Connectivity and Sensors
The Android 7.0 running Gionee A1 features a dual hybrid SIM slot and both the SIM slot supports 4G (VOLTE). There is also dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth v4.2 (but no detail on aptX for high-quality audio), microUSB 2.0, USB OTG, and an FM radio receiver. It also includes all the sensors like proximity, accelerometer, barometer, and gyro.
Read More BEST 4G LTE SMARTPHONES IN NEPAL FOR EVERY PRICE SEGMENT
Gionee A1 comes with Android Nougat 7.0 and Amigo OS 3.5.
Battery:
Speaking of the battery capacity, the Gionee A1 has a big 4010mAh battery. It also comes with fast charging (18 Watts) that the company claims will charge the phone from 0 to 100% in 2 hours. It also features a dual chip charging technology that keeps the battery cool and safe when the phone is being charged. We expect the 4010mAh battery to provide 2 days backup and maybe the new Helio P10 chipset running Android Nougat will even surprise me.
Read More TOP SMARTPHONES WITH THE BEST BATTERY LIFE
Early Impression on Gionee A1:
If you accept that high-end performance isn’t really your need and you want a phone with excellent build quality, great selfie experience, and a big battery, then you should closely follow the Gionee A1.
The reason that keeps us on hold from buying a drone is they are simply destructible. One crash and puff, it’s gone. But things are about to change with this new drone that survives any crashes and drops like nothing happened. This insect-inspired drone is so flexible that it easily absorbs shocks when it crashes and automatically reforms itself making it flight ready within another second.
What made this drone “Indestructible”?
The main property lies in its design that is insect-inspired. Just like a wasp’s wing is rigid and flexible at the same time. The researchers from Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) worked on this idea and came with this research product that looks so promising.
This drone prototype is made of a central case and a thin fiberglass external frame with four arms held together by four magnetic joints. This soft and flexible fiberglass helps to make the drone withstand crashes without having permanent damages. The circular magnet is placed at the middle making the magnetic connection to all those four magnetic joints. That is how the drone now becomes rigid and ready to fly. At the time of crashing, the drone flexes and deforms as the holding magnet gets out-of-place but doesn’t split away. To avoid magnet from splitting away a rubber band is attached to the magnet from all four arms. That way, right after few seconds from the crash, the drone reforms and becomes flight ready as you can see it from the video above.
Verdict:
Well, this research is hinting towards more durable commercial drones in the future. But, is this drone really that indestructible? Honestly, the answer is “Not really”. It is because this drone did survive 50 drops but from the height of 2 meters only. So, it’s not the regular height for flying drones. The real question now is can this drone survive drops from like say 50-100m? Only when it can survive such drops then we could confidently say that it’s an indestructible one. However, it is so good to see that not just the consumers but even the designers and manufacturers are also interested in making durable and crash-resistant drones.
Android One from Google was targetted at the budget-oriented segment of people who wanted to enjoy the sweetness of pure android. But previously, Google and the manufacturers focused on making the phone as cheap as possible. But cheap Android One couldn’t get the hit as expected since the manufacturers cut different edges while making the phone cheaper. So, though the software was never an issue, Android One happened to be far from someone’s buying option because of it’s below par offering in the specs.
But things changed after Google and General Mobile started making the Android One phones. Yes, the Android Ones are no longer sub-$100 phones but are surely worth the buy even in the price range of around $300. One of the Android One offerings from General Mobile is the GM 5 Plus which is now available for preorder in Nepal. It is priced at Rs. 25,000 in Nepal. The phone will be on sale from 4th April 2017 and the first one to preorder will be the first one to get the phone.
The GM 5Plus comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protected 5.5inch Full HD display with 2.5D glass up top. This phone, with metal frame and textured plastic back, is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 Octacore 64-bit Processor coupled with 3GB of RAM. It has 32GB of Storage and is expandable up to 128GB. On Cameras, it has 13MP unit both on the front and the back. Inside the device is the 3100mAh battery. The phone with USB Type C even supports QuickCharge 3.0. Well, the software will always be the latest since it’s an Android One device. So, the device comes with Android 7 Nougat and will be getting timely updates right after the Google releases them.
Specs Highlight:
5.5″ IPS LTPS Full HD (1080×1920 pixels) Display
Corning Gorilla Glass 4
Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 Octa-Core 64 Bit
3GB LPDDR3 RAM
32GB Storage (expandable up to 128GB)
Rear Camera: 13MP AF with Dual Led Flash
Selfie Camera: 13MP AF with Front Flash
Li-Po 3100mAh Battery,
Type-C connecter, GM Turbo Charger
Android 7 Nougat (completely stock)
Verdict:
The availability of a phone with pure Android is always welcome. The device looks appealing and worth the price. Previously, I had made up my mind that I would never buy an Android One device but with this release, I’m reconsidering my last decision. If you wanted to enjoy the pure Android then this device is the right one for you. One of the perks of buying this device is you don’t have to cry out for the updates. The updates come as quickly as they’ll be announced. But few things still make this device far from the best buy and that is not necessarily because this device is giving less but because devices in the similar price range are giving more. Yes, I was talking about the fingerprint sensor. Had it had a fingerprint sensor, it would probably have been the best phone to buy in its price range.
The Gionee A1 comes with a 13MP Sony Rear camera (IMX 258). It’s the same sensor found on the 
Gionee has also upgraded the chipset on the A1, going from a 1.3Ghz MediaTek MT6753 on the Gionee S6s to a MediaTek Helio P10. That one still uses an octa-core Cortex-A53 processor, but at a higher clock speed of 1.8Ghz. You also get more RAM – 4GB – and the storage doubled to 64GB ( and yes there’s a microSD card on the side).
