The much awaited time of the year for tech savvy’s, the CAN Info-Tech took off today with thousands of enthusiast visitors. It was an overwhelming experience to see all the pretty setups and stalls with people swarming around at every corner. But the Info Tech experience as a whole is getting dull every year. Nothing new is showcased, we see the usual tech stuff we see on the market, it’s just that everything is at one place. But what really drags people towards CAN Info-Tech is the cheap prices of tech stuff offered during the event.
This year the Info Tech is all crowded with ISP providers in the main hall, not to mention Subisu which is standing large and tall at the centre of the event. You could find all the major ISPs of Nepal like Subisu, Otel, Vianet, Classic Tech, WebSurfer and many more. There are many special offers provided by these ISPs during this event which is sort of like the festive offers. As loadshedding hits the country hard, there were a noticeable amount of solar powered stuff, generators and inverters that come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.
This year very few smartphone brands showed up for the event. Notable brands like Samsung, Colors, Gionee were absent on this event. The brand that did show up were Huawei, Sony, Micromax, Karbonn, DTC with nothing new to showcase. Apart from that, we saw few 4K Tv’s and headphones from Sony; few projectors, high-speed WiFi routers, printers, scanners and few laptops, mainly from Dell and Lenovo.
Few new names showed up during the event like Arun(Headphones & Powerbank), AEE(Action Camera & Drones), Netis (WiFi Amplifier and Routers), Pentax (Cameras) and many more. There are also few stalls with electrical scooters that are quite expensive but will do the job at this time of crisis.
And like expected there are a whole lot of stalls that provide computer and smartphone related accessories; USB Flash drives, portable HardDrives and power banks being the top selling products the event.
We really had our hopes high for the CAN event, we expected few drones, new notable hardware, IoT related stuff but could find none. To sum it up, CAN Info-Tech has been just a platform for people to get their hands on all the tech related stuff at one place. But at big events like this, we always expect to see something new and innovative.
In this article, we are going to reveal our top 5 smartphones priced between Rs.25000 to Rs.30000. We have already reviewed our top 5 smartphones under Rs. 15000 segment, Under Rs.20000 & Under 25000, you can read them here:
Under the price segment of Rs.25000 to 30000, we wish to have at lease a Full HD screen, Quad-core processor (Snapdragon is preferred) or a Mediatek Octacore, 2/3 GB of RAM, a decent camera, and a durable battery. Let’s check my top 5 mid-range smartphones priced less than Rs. 30000 that’s now available in Nepalese market. (UPDATED-MARCH,2016)
1. Xiaomi Redmi Note 3
The Redmi Note 3 smartphone is equipped with a 5.5-inch Full HD touchscreen display, is powered by an Octacore Helio X10 processor, 3 GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory. It features a 16-megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus, LED flash and full HD (1080p) video recording, as well as 5-megapixel front camera for video calls and selfies. For connectivity, it includes 4G LTE, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 4.1, and GPS with GLONASS.
The Redmi Note 3 boasts 4000mAh Li-Ion battery and runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system out of the box. You can get the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 in Nepal at around Rs. 25,000.
Full Specs of Redmi Note 3:
5.5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) IPS display
Octa-Core MediaTek Helio X10 SoC with PowerVR G6200 GPU
3GB RAM with 32GB storage
MIUI 7 based on Android Lollipop
Dual SIM
13MP rear camera with PDAF, dual-tone LED Flash, f/2.2 aperture, 1080p video recording, 120fps slow-motion
5MP front-facing camera, f/2.0 aperture, 1080p video recording
Lenovo K4 Note is now available in the Nepalese market. It is a mid-range handsets that won’t unseat any flagships but offer serious bang for the buck. It is powered by an octacore 1.3 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU processor coupled with 3 GB RAM. The device has 16 GB of internal storage that can be further expanded via microSD card up to 128 GB.
The Lenovo K4 note features a 5.5-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with a full HD resolution. It has a 13MP rear camera and 5MP front camera. The phone supports Wifi ac, NFC, GPS, 3G and 4G LTE. It packs in a non-removable Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery and runs on Android OS, v5.1 (Lollipop).
If you’re on a budget and seeking a decent smartphone that doesn’t require more of a commitment beyond the asking price, then K4 Note is worth a look.
Full Specs of K4 Note:
5.5” IPS LCD Display (1920 x 1080 pixels)
1.3GHz Octacore MediaTek MT6753 SoC
3GB of RAM || 32GB internal storage
MicroSD card slot upto 200GB
Android Lollipop 5.1
13 MP Rear Camera with LED flash
5MP Front Camera
Fingerprint sensor
Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery
3. Asus Zenfone 2
Asus Zenfone 2 was one of the best midrange phones of 2015, but arriving in 2016, it still punches well above its weight. The Zenfone 2 boasts a good full high definition screen, plenty storage and handles day-to-day tasks in a timely fashion thanks to intel powered processor. The phone feels strong and well-built too. It comes with Gorilla Glass 3 protection on the front with a strong plastic casing covering the sides and back.
The Zenfone 2 comes with a 5.5-inch FHD screen with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. Under the hood is a quad-core Intel 64bit processor with powerful power VR GPU for graphics. The Zenfone 2 also comes with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage with expandable microSD slot so you can boost the storage by a further 128GB should you want to.
It has two pretty good cameras – primary is a 13MP camera with an LED flash, the secondary is a front facing 5MP selfie shooter. With the 3000 mAh non-removable battery and fast charging technology, it should be enough for the daily usage. For connectivity, there is 4G LTE support, Bluetooth, Wifi ac, GPS, and NFC.
Full Specs of ZenFone 2:
5.5” IPS LCD Display (1280 x 1920 pixels)
Intel AtomZ3560 Chipset
2GB of RAM ||16GB internal storage
MicroSD card slot
Android Lollipop 5.0.2
13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels Rear Camera with LED flash
5MP Front Camera
Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery
4. Samsung Galaxy J7
The Samsung Galaxy J7 is available for purchase now for a price of Rs.22000. This midrange smartphone from Samsung offers 5.5-inch AMOLED screen, Octa-core processor, 13MP shooter and a 5MP front camera with LED flash. You can buy the phone from different Samsung outlets located all across the nation.
Full Specs of Samsung Galaxy J7:
5.5” AMOLED Display (1280 x 720 pixels)
1.5Ghz Octacore Snapdragon 615 SoC
1.5GB of RAM ||16GB internal storage
MicroSD card slot
Android Lollipop 5.1 with TouchWiz UI
13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels Rear Camera with LED flash
5MP Front Camera with LED flash
Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery
5. Xiaomi Mi4
The Xiaomi Mi4, although a 2-year-old smartphone, comes with superior hardware specs. Priced at Rs. 24,500, the phone offers 5-inch Full HD IPS panel and is powered by Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor clocked at 2.5GHz. With 3GB of RAM and Adreno 330 GPU, the device is capable of running high-end games. On the rear side, we have a 13MP Sony IMX214 shooter and on the back, we have an 8MP camera.
The Huawei’s Flagship smartphone, Huawei Mate 8 already launched in CES 2016 few weeks back. Now the phone has been exclusively launched for the South East Asian market at the recent Huawei event held in Paragon Hall@Siam Paragon, Bangkok, Thailand.
Like the Nexus 6P from Huawei, the Mate 8 is a super impressive device. The All-metal Build Mate 8 designs to be 157.1 mm × 80.6 mm × 7.9 mm and weighs 185 grams. It will come in champagne gold, moonlight silver, space gray and mocha brown.
The Huawei Mate 8 sports a 6-inch Full HD IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels resulting out a pixel density of 367 ppi. The display panel covers 95% of NTSC gamut providing excellent color reproduction and is covered by 2.5D curved diamond-cut glass. Like other high-end Huawei smartphones, the screen-to-body ratio is a stupendous 83%.
It has a 16-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front facing camera. It also has an accurate fingerprint sensor which has been said to be better than the Nexus 6P. Also, the 4GB RAM makes the device even with other android flagships available today but the new Kirin 950 chipset makes this phone a complete beast.The Mate 8 has Android 6.0 Marshmallow on-board. The battery here is a monster with 4000mAh of non-removable battery with charging time of 2.5 Hrs.
The Mate 8 will be launching in Nepal sometime around February, which will be a 4GB variant with 64GB internal storage and the price is expected to be around Rs.85,000.
Main camera
16MP, F2.0
OIS (optical image stabilization)
BSI CMOS
Dual-tone flash
PDAF+CAF auto focus
Digital zoom, up to 4x
Timelapse recording
Photos: max 4608 x 3456 pixels
Video recording: 1080p, 60 fps
support 720P 120FPS Slo-Mo recording Front camera
8MP, F2.4
Photos: max 3264 x 2448 pixels
Video recording: 1080p, 30 fps
Today at the launch event of Huawei Mate 8 for South East Asia, we witnessed a surprise unveiling of the new Huawei GR5, a mid-range phone with a metal build which is quite identical to the Huawei Honor 5x launched last year.
Huawei GR5 sports a same 5.5-inch display like the Honor 5x with Full HD 1080P resolution. It has a Qualcomm’s latest mid end chipset, the Snapdragon 616, that comes with a two 64 bit quad core processor (1.7Ghz quad core Cortex A53+ 1.2Ghz quad core Cortex A53). The processor is supplemented by an Adreno 405 for graphics. In terms of storage, the Huawei GR5 has 16GB of inbuilt storage with a provision of microSD card expansion slot that is upgraded upto 64GB.
The Huawei GR5 comes in a metal build construction and should feel premium. It has a 13MP rear shooter with smart image 3.0 image processor and a 5MP snapper up front with f/2.2 aperture, 22mm wide-angle, 4P Lens, Blue Glass filter and an 88 degrees wide angle lens. The back is non-removable and inside there is a 3000mAh battery which supports quick charging 3.0. And also features a fingerprint sensor on the back. The addition of three different card slot each for a micro sim, nano sim, and Micro SD card is a long awaited feature on handsets.
Huawei GR5 will be launched in Nepal next month. The price is still unknown but being identical to the Honor 5x it might fall under the same price category.
Huawei GR5
1 of 13
Huawei GR5 Factsheets:
Model
GR5
System
Android 5.1
Processor Model
Snapdragon 616 4×1.5Ghz+4×1.2Ghz
Design
Full metal 0.8mm aluminum uni-body
High-speed zircon sand-blast finish
5.5” full high definition screen
3D curved back
Metal line drawings on the back of phone create a tactile surface
Screen
5.5” full high definition screen
Assertive technology adjusts colour saturation and contrast in real time
Fingerprint Features
100% improved second generation fingerprint identification technology
Quick unlock; 0.5 seconds
360-degree identification
Wet and dry finger access
Multifunction:
Unlocks screen
Accepts calls
Silences alarm
Shows and clears notifications
Takes photos
Smarter functionality – swipe down and double tap to show and clear notification bar
Safer- fingerprint information store in chipset which protect your privacy in safer way.
Knowing that the market in South Asia is going strong, Huawei continues to plan to increase up their investment in brand building in South Asia. Bringing new smartphones with quality and better pricing. Even though the price of Huawei smartphones has not been that impressive, Huawei seem to have justified the market of its brand internationally.
Huawei Prepares Mate 8 Launch in South East Asia
Huawei have organized an event which is will feature of the 1st Huawei flagship product in year of 2016. The Huawei Southeast Asia Mate 8 Launch Event will have representatives from Nepal. The Event is taking place at Royal Paragon Hall @Siam Paragon. Bangkok, Thailand. The launch venue is also shopping district downtown of Bangkok. GadgetByte is travelling to Bangkok to provide you all the latest update and overall news from the Event.
The Event is will mainly focused on the Mate 8 Launch in South East Asia and also will feature talks from Brand Ambassadors. The Tech Guru Talk Workshop for Media (GadgetByte Included) will have a get hands on with the device. We will provide you with video Hands On from the event about the Huawei Mate 8.
Follow us on GadgetByte Facebook for latest updates and Images from the Event.
The Huawei’s Flagship smartphone, Mate 8 was already Launched in CES 2016, just weeks after the launch of Google’s Nexus 6P. Like the Nexus 6P, the Mate 8 is a super impressive device. The All-metal Build Mate 8 designs to be 157.1 mm × 80.6 mm × 7.9 mm and weighs 185 grams. It will come in champagne gold, moonlight silver, space gray and mocha brown. It has 16-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It also has an accurate fingerprint sensor which has been said to be better than the Nexus 6P.
The Mate 8 has Android 6.0 Marshmallow on-board. The battery here is a monster with 4000mAh of battery with charging time of 2.5 Hrs. The overall performance will be presented during the Mate 8 Launch Event. We will present you with depth look at mate 8 from the event.
Gionee has launched the successor of Marathon M5 and M5 Plus with the M6 and M6 Plus today at an event in China. The Marathon M5 is scheduled to launch in Nepal on March.
The Gionee Marathon M-series always had an enormous battery, and the new iteration follows the same trend. The M6 boasts a 5000mAh battery and the M6 Plus comes equipped with a 6020mAh battery. Both these handset offers 9V/2A dual charge chips that offer “faster, safer, cooler” charging capabilities. In terms of other hardware specs, the M6 comes with a 5.5-inch 1080P display and the M6 Plus has a slightly bigger 6-inch 1080P display. The displays are of AMOLED technology so you can expect vibrant colors. Both these phone is powered by a Mediatek MT6755 SoC with eight cortex A53 cores running at a higher frequency of 2.0 GHz.
In terms of memory, the M6 and M6 Plus offers 4GB of RAM and either 64 or 128GB onboard storage. Both these handset offers dual SIM support with 4G LTE and has dedicated microSD slot that is expandable upto 128GB. Camera wise, both the M6 and M6 Plus sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with Sony IMX 258 sensor and an 8-megapixel selfie camera. They are currently running on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with Gionee’s inhouse Amigo 3.2 UI layered on top. You also get the taste of USB Type-C connector for charging and data syncing.
The main highlight of the M6 and M6 Plus is the added Security Features, apart from a Fingerprint Scanner that’s located in the home button. It has a unique security chip that the company claims will keep the phone’s data encrypted. Working with the fingerprint sensor, the chip will keep the call logs, documents, data, photos etc. stored safely and is unhackable and hence will remain confidential to the owner. However, the international version, including the one that will launch in Nepal, won’t have this security feature. Available in Gold and Latte Gold color variants, both the M5 and M5 Plus offers metal unibody design. In terms of connectivity, these phones offer WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, and IR blaster.
Gionee M6 Specs
Gionee M6 Plus Specs
5.5-inch (1920× 1080 pixels) Full HD AMOLED 2.5D curved glass display
6-inch (1920× 1080 pixels) Full HD AMOLED 2.5D curved glass display
Octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 (MT6755) processor with Mali T860MP2 GPU
Octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 (MT6755) processor with Mali T860MP2 GPU
4GB RAM, 64/128GB Internal memory,
expandable memory up to 128GB with micro SD
4GB RAM, 64/128GB Internal memory, expandable memory up to 128GB with micro SD
Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
with Amigo OS 3.2
Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
with Amigo OS 3.2
13MP rear camera with LED flash, f/2.0 aperture,
PDAF, Sony IMX258 sensor, 5P lens, 1.12um pixel size
13MP rear camera with LED flash, f/2.0 aperture,
PDAF, Sony IMX258 sensor, 5P lens, 1.12um pixel size
The CAN infotech 2016 kickstarts this Friday, and some report suggests smartphone powerhouse Samsung, Nepalese smartphone brand Colors, and Chinese brand Gionee will not be involved in Nepal’s biggest tech event.
Although there is no concrete reason on why they won’t be participating in the largest gathering for the mobile industry in Nepal, but it’s a big blow for visitors and tech enthusiasts who were looking forward to seeing new products, discounts, and offers.
Samsung Mobile Nepal, the oldest and number one smartphone brand in Nepal, has always been an active participant in such tech events. Last year at the CAN infotech 2015, they launched the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5— Samsung’s first metal-clad smartphone under a budget category. We were hoping to see the latest 2015 version of Galaxy A3, A5, and A7 at the CAN infotech, but it’s strange to see the CAN infotech without Samsung.
LifeCom Pvt. Ltd., the authorised distributor of Lenovo smartphones in Nepal, is set to launch a midrange smartphone–K3 Note. Although there is no fixed date on when it’s going to launch, but it is expected to enter the Nepali market before the end of February.
Lenovo K3 note was launched in India 8 months ago for INR. 9,999, and since then Lenovo has already launched its successor, Vibe K4 Note, for INR. 12,000. It’s strange decision from LifeCom to launch the K3 Note when the K4 Note is already on sale in India.
Lenovo K3 Note Full Specs:
5.5-inch FullHD display
1.7 GHz Octa-core MediaTek MT6752 processor with Mali-T760 MP2 GPU
2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, expandable memory up to 32GB with microSD
If you don’t want to play the waiting game, you can grab the K3 note in Nepal from Apple World Pvt. Ltd for Rs.19,000 and the handset comes with 1 year of retailer warranty.
Huawei Mobile Nepal have slashed the price of Honor 4x in Nepal from Rs. 26,999 to Rs.22,999. The 5.5-inch phablet sized smartphone is one of the good smartphones to buy under Rs. 25,000 and offers some interesting sheet of specs.
The phone offers a big 5.5-inch display with 720P resolution and is powered by 1.2 GHz Huawei Kirin 620 64-bit A53 Octa-core processor and runs on Android 4.4 (Kitkat) with Emotion UI 3.0. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It has dual SIM support and 4G connectivity and packs a 3000 mAh battery.
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0
BATTERY
Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery (non-removable)
DIMENSIONS
152.9mm × 77.2mm × 8.65mm
WEIGHT
165 grams
PRICE
Rs.22,999
Huawei Mobile Nepal is also offering Huawei Y6 for Rs. 16,500 (previously priced at Rs.16,999), Huawei Gplay Mini for Rs.18,899 (previously priced at Rs. 19,999), Huawei P8Lite for Rs. 26,999 (previously priced at Rs. 28,999), and Huawei Y5C for Rs.8,999 (previously priced at Rs. 9,999)
Huawei Mobiles Nepal has officially slashed the prices of Gplay mini and P8 Lite smartphones in Nepal. Both these phones were launched last year and is now outdated.
The Huawei Gplay mini, which was priced at Rs. 19,999, is now available for purchase for Rs. 18,899 (Update June 2017: The Gplay Mini is available in Nepal right now for Rs. 15,000). The phone features a 5 inch 720P IPS panel, 1.2 Ghz octa-core Kirin 620 processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, 8GB of expandable storage, 13MP rear camera with LED flash, 5MP front camera, and 2550mAh non-removable battery.
Read our full Review of the Huawei Gplay mini here
The Huawei P8 Lite, which was launched in Nepal for Rs.28,999, is now available for Rs. 26,999.Huawei P8 lite is the smaller and affordable version of the flagship device P8. It features a 5-inch HD display and is powered by a 64-bit Octacore HiSilicon Kirin 620 chipset coupled with 2GB of RAM. It comes with 16GB of expandable storage and a dual SIM hybrid model–the second SIM slot can be used as a microSD slot. The phone sports a 13MP camera is on the back and a 5MP front-facing snapper for selfies and video chats. The 2200mAh battery powers the whole device. Like the Gplay mini, it also runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop with Emotion UI 3.1.
