Top 5 smartphones in Nepal 2017

We are at the end of 2017. 2017 was a great year for the smartphone market.  So far, some of the phones get hyped but some phones couldn’t capture customers interest.  We have selected 5 smartphones that were tremendously successful in Nepali smartphone market and pulled a lot of customers interest.  Most importantly, we have selected smartphones that offer excellent “value for money” with good performance and better design.

Samsung J7 Pro

Samsung J7 pro became most famous Samsung smartphone from J-series. J7 pro has the sleek design which comes with super AMOLED display that fits so firmly with its near bezel-less sides. The device performs very well with very minimal lag and the plus point is its huge battery that lasts nearly about 2 days with the average usage. J7 pro has a price tag of Rs. 30,000 and gives performs like high-end phones. The phone comes with the great camera which performs very good even in low light.

Technical Specification:

• Display: 5.5-inch  Full HD Super AMOLED touchscreen display
• Processor: Exynos 7870, 64-bit octa-core processor
• Front Camera: 13 – megapixel f/1.9 with LED flash
• Resolution: 1080×1920 (401 PPI)
• RAM: 3GB
• OS: Android 7.0(Nougat), upgradable to 8.0
• Storage: 64GB(expandable up to 256 GB)
• Rear Camera: 13 – megapixel f/1.9 with LED flash
• Battery Capacity: 3600mAh (Non-removable)
• Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), 4G, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, A-GPS, USB-OTG
• Sensors: Fingerprint, Accelerometer, Proximity, Ambient light, Compass

Xiaomi MI A1

Xiaomi gives a pure feel for Android to the users. It has a stock Android which was produced under Android One project. The phone sports stunning dual camera on the back which performs absolutely great. The portrait photographer can depend upon this phone because of its overwhelming performance. The phone runs on Android Nougat and has guaranteed update of Android 8.0(Oreo) which is rolling soon. A1 comes with 5.5-inch full HD display and is powered by Snapdragon 625 SoC. The phone comes at Rs. 30,000 which we feel a bit overpriced compared to the international market. Even though, A1 is good value for money.

Technical Specification:

• Display: 5.5-inch  Full HD IPS LCD touchscreen display | Gorilla Glass 3
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core
• Front Camera: 5 – megapixel f/2.0
• Resolution: 1080×1920 (401 PPI)
• RAM: 4GB
• OS: Android 7.0(Nougat), upgradable to 8.0
• Storage: 64GB(expandable up to 128 GB , uses SIM 2 slot)
• Rear Camera: 12 – megapixel dual camera, f/1.9 with LED flash
• Battery Capacity: 3080mAh (Non-removable)
• Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), 4G, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, A-GPS, USB-OTG
• Sensors: Fingerprint, Accelerometer, Proximity, Ambient light, Compass

One Plus 3T

The power packed phone which is known to be a flagship killer is obviously one of the best smartphones of 2017 here in Nepal. 3T comes with Full HD AMOLED display of 5.5 inches which runs on top of Snapdragon 821 quad-core processor. The best part of the phone is its ultra-fast charging known as dash charging which charges the phone to 50 % in less than half hour. 3T was originally priced at Rs. 49,990 but is now available at Rs. 39,990 in the market. It is equipped with all top of the line specs.

Technical Specification:

• Display: 5.5-inch  Full HD optic AMOLED  display | Gorilla Glass 4
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 64-bit octa-core processor
• Front Camera: 16 – megapixel f/2.0
• Resolution: 1080×1920 (401 PPI)
• RAM: 6GB LPDDR4
• OS: Android 7.1.1(Nougat), upgradable to 8.0
• Storage: 64GB (UFS2.0)
• Rear Camera: 16 – megapixel Sony IMX298 sensor | f/1.9 with LED flash (Supports 4K video recording)
• Battery Capacity: 3400mAh (Non-removable) | Dash Charging
• Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), 4G, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, A-GPS, USB-OTG
• Sensors: Fingerprint, Accelerometer, Proximity, Ambient light, Compass

Huawei Nova 2i

Nova 2i was launched in the Q4 of 2017 in Nepal and is gaining a lot of popularity from the first. Huawei’s Nova 2i comes with near bezel-less display of 18:9 aspect ratio and has 4 smartphone camera, the first of its kind in Nepal.  Camera performance of the phone is stellar and is very good at portrait photography. Large 5.9-inch bear bezel-less display feels too good on the hand with its crisp HD display of 409 PPI.  The phone is available in Nepal at the competitive price of Rs. 33,900.

Technical Specification:

• Display: 5.9 inches IPS LCD capacitive
• touchscreen
• Resolution:1080 x 2160 pixels (~409 PPI pixel density)
• Chipset: HiSilicon Kirin 659
• CPU: Octa-core (4×2.36 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.7 GHz Cortex-A53)
• GPU: Mali-T830 MP2
• OS: Android 7.0(Nougat)
• Memory: 64 GB, 4 GB RAM
• Primary Camera: Dual(16 MP + 2 MP), phase detection autofocus, LED flash
• Secondary Camera:Dual(13 MP, f/2.0 + 2 MP)
• Battery: Non-removable Li-Ion 3340 mAh battery

Gionee A1

The mid-range phone which is priced at Rs. 29,999 comes with full HD IPS display of 5.5 inches.  Gionee A1 gained a lot of popularity in Nepali smartphone market due to the tagline ” Super Selfie Super Battery” and of course, have a huge battery of 4010mAh. The phone comes with the 16-megapixel front facing camera which performs very good job in terms of selfies.  The phone comes with fast charging which company says, is capable to charge phone form 0 to 100% just in 2 hours.  It runs on top of Android 7.0 with Gionee’s custom UI Amigo OS 3.5. Dual 4G + 4G sim compatibility is its positive aspect in addition to the fingerprint sensor which is embedded in the home button.

Technical Specification:

• Display: 5.5-inch  Full HD IPS 2.5D curved glass display | Gorilla Glass 3
• Processor: MediaTek Helio P10 64-bit octa-core processor | Mali T860 GPU
• Front Camera: 16 – megapixel f/2.0  with LED flash(1/3.0+” sensor)
• Resolution: 1080×1920 (401 PPI)
• RAM: 4GB
• OS: Android 7.0(Nougat) with Amigo 3.5
• Storage: 64GB (upgradable up to 128 GB)
• Rear Camera: 13- megapixel  | f/1.2 with LED flash
• Battery Capacity: 4010mAh (Non-removable)| Fast Charging
• Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), 4G, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, A-GPS, USB-OTG
• Sensors: Fingerprint, Accelerometer, Proximity, Ambient light, Compass

The Final Verdict

The number of smartphones users are rising in Nepal day by day. The advancement in technology leaves no one behind. Deployment of 4G services and the availability of the huge range of smartphone in the market is the main reason behind the rise of smartphone users in Nepal.  We had very few options and few brands were only available but now the time has changed. We have official distributors of almost all major brands which provide us the latest and the best product.

The top 5 smartphones we have selected are based on the customer interest and popularity it gained in Nepali Smartphone market. Here, In Nepal, most of the people prefer smartphone which gives good value for money. There are many customers who cannot afford high-end flagships like Samsung Galaxy S8 or iPhone X. The phones mentioned above are really great value for money and offers great performance. There might be some cons but they really have more positive aspect.

There are even better smartphones available in the market with heavy performance. If you are interested in performance and you don’t care about the price then, there are more phones for you. What do you say about our picks? Are you satisfied with the phone that you are using? Can we do improvements in choosing better phones? You can comment down below.