Entertainment

New dawn

The smartphone market is flooded with comparable products from various brands and the competition is at an all-time high. If you are someone who loves to keep an eye on what’s new and trending, here are the top smartphones that were recently launched in the Nepali market. New dawn

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Bivek Khatiwada

Published at : July 31, 2018

Updated at : July 31, 2018 09:27

Huawei Nova 3i

Nova 3i was one of the most anticipated handsets to be launched in Nepal. It is the successor to the Nova 2i, which garnered a lot of attention with its quad camera setup—two cameras upfront and two at the back. Much like its predecessor, 3i also comes with four cameras attached.

The handset comes with an in built pair of cameras, which include a 24MP and 2MP sensors up front. The secondary 2MP camera is specialised for gathering depth information so that the subject is distinguishable in any background. Similarly, there are 16MP and 2MP sensor cameras attached to the back of this phone. The 16MP is the primary camera, suited to most purposes while the 2MP secondary camera is good for taking portrait shots.

Nova 3i has a tall and sharp display that is easily recognisable. The phone has a 6.3-inch display with full HD resolution. With a pixel density of 409PPI, users can view contents on this phone with vivid and crisp details.

Powering the device is Huawei’s Kirin 710 processor backed by a 4GB of RAM along with 128GB of onboard storage. The handset is able to perform fluidly even while playing graphics-intensive games and while running cumbersome apps. The 3i comes with the latest Android Oreo 8.1 OS and uses a 3340mAh battery.

Huawei Nova 3i Specifications

Display: 6.3 inches IPS display
Resolution: Full-HD (1080 x 2340 pixels), 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 409PPI Pixel density
Chipset: Huawei Kirin 710
CPU: 4×2.2 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4×1.7 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU: Mali-G51 MP4
OS: Android Oreo 8.1 with EMUI 8.2 on top
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 128GB internal storage; Expandable up to 256GB (uses SIM 2 slot)
Front camera: 24 2 MP
Rear camera: 16 MP f/2.2 2MP with Gyro EIS, HDR, panorama, face detection, geo-tagging, touch focus etc
Video: 1080p@30fps
Sensors: Fingerprint (rear), Accelerometer, Proximity, Gyro, proximity, compass
SIM: Dual SIM (4G 4G)
Colour Options: Iris Purple, Black, Pearl White
Battery: Li-Po 3340 mAh battery
Price: Rs 38,900

Samsung Galaxy J8

At a time when all the popular brands were favouring the infinity display with an 18:9 aspect ratio, Samsung does not seem interested in following suit. Eventually, the Korean company did so by testing the concept on some of its flagship phones. Perhaps encouraged by the success of these phones, Samsung has launched a new mid-range handset with an infinity display made up of a 6.0-inch Super AMOLED panel.

Another highlight on the phone is its cameras. The phone has a dual camera at the back with 16MP and 5MP sensors. The 16MP camera captures most of the details while the secondary camera specialises on reading depth information. The information from both sensors is then merged to produce the Bokeh effect. Samsung also has a special feature that lets the user adjust the blur intensity and focus area even after taking the images so that users can adjust pictures to their liking.

The phone is furnished with a Snapdragon 450 chipset with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The Snapdragon 450 is not the best performer in this price range but it works perfectly fine while playing light games and running light programs. Though the chipset is an underpowered one, it is highly efficient when it comes to preserving power. On a phone with an already low-resolution HD Super AMOLED display and a power-efficient chipset, Samsung is offering a whopping 3500mAh battery. So with such a setup, users can enjoy around two days of battery backup with normal usage!

Samsung Galaxy J8 Specifications

Display: 6.0-inch Super AMOLED display
Resolution: HD (720 x 1480 pixels), 18.5:9 ratio, 275 PPI pixel density
Chipset: Snapdragon 450
CPU: Octa-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A53
GPU: Adreno 506
OS: Android Oreo 8.0
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 64GBInternal storage, expandable storage up to 256GB via SD card (dedicated slot)
Rear Camera: Dual cameras: (16 MP, f/1.9) (5MP, f/1.9), LED flash
Front Camera: 16MP, f/1.9 with LED flash
Sensors: Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, proximity
Battery: 3,500mAh non-removable battery
Price:Rs. 33,490

Vivo Y81

Vivo Y81 is the least expensive handset on the list. This smartphone flaunts the latest designs along with a decent processor, all for a very affordable price.

The Vivo Y81 has a 6.22-inch display with full HD resolution. To protect it from falls and scratches, the handset has Corning Gorilla glass shielding the display.

Similar in design to the iPhone X, Y81 comes with a notch on its display to accommodate the front camera, earpiece,and other necessary sensors.

The device is powered by Media Tek Helio P22 chipset. The chipset includes tons of AI features including on the cameras which now have plenty of advanced connectivity options. The device has a 3GB RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. The RAM and internal storage is slightly lower than what other smartphones in the same price bracket are offering but at least users can avail themselves to the SD card slot if they should find the internal memory insufficient.

The phone has a 13MP camera at the back and a 5MP selfie shooter up front. As far as the OS on the handset is concerned, the Vivo Y81 comes with an Android Oreo (v8.1) that is modified slightly by Vivo’s own FunTouch OS.

The phone is equipped with all the basic sensors like Accelerometer, proximity sensor, and a compass. The biggest disappointment with the Vivo Y81 was the absence of the fingerprint sensor. However as consolation maybe and in a move mimicking the iPhone X, Vivo has added a face unlock feature to this phone.