The best gear for your living room home theater
By Grant Clauser
This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. Read the full article here.
Everyone loves watching a great movie on a big screen with a kickass speaker system, but few would complain about losing the sticky floors, uncomfortable seats, and kids with smartphones (unless they’re your own kids). We spent thousands of hours on research and testing to find the best-looking and -sounding home theater equipment to upgrade your living-room movie-watching experience from simply functional to highly enjoyable. (We have recommendations for a dedicated theater space as well in our full review).
TV
The Samsung UN55JU7100 offers the best overall picture for LCDs.
After more than 120 hours of research and testing, the 55-inch Samsung UN55JU7100 is our recommendation for the best overall TV. There are lots of very good LCD TVs for reasonable prices on the market today, but the JU7100 stood out with its excellent black levels, good colors out of the box, high contrast ratios, and video processing that improves the look of streaming video and doesn’t turn moving images into a soap-opera-style mess. It’s also a 4K Ultra HD display. Anything that looks better is going to cost a lot more money.
Flat-panel TV mount
The Sanus mount allows post-installation leveling, which lets you easily correct for minor errors you might make while drilling holes.
After researching TV mounts for 10 hours online and visiting local retailers to identify the best ones, we keep coming back to the Sanus VMPL50A-B1 flat-panel TV mount. It’s easy to install, fully adjustable, and compatible with 22 different VESA patterns and TVs up to 70 inches and 150 pounds. While not exactly bargain-priced, it’s less expensive than other mounts with similar feature sets and the features you’d miss out on by going cheaper are worth the cost.
Compact speakers for living room theaters
The Paradigm Cinema 100 CT 5.1 is good for smaller spaces and punches above its weight class.
If you want your living room to still look like a living room but sound like a home theater when you press play, the Paradigm Cinema 100 CT 5.1 Home Theater System is the package to buy. After nearly 20 hours of research and nearly 50 hours of calibration and testing, the Paradigm was the clear favorite in terms of performance. Though not as powerful as the NHT Absolute 5.1 Surround System, which we recommend if you have a dedicated theater room, the Paradigm’s more compact footprint makes it a better choice for smaller rooms that aren’t all about watching movies. The system—which includes five satellite speakers just taller than 8 inches high and a compact subwoofer 13 inches high—sounds much bigger than its size would suggest, and it also performed well in dialogue clarity. Don’t forget that you’ll also need a receiver and some speaker cable to drive the system.
Soundbar for living rooms
The Paradigm Soundscape offers the best audio quality you can expect from a soundbar.
For people who want the best TV audio out of a simple package with no receiver or additional speaker cables required, the Paradigm Soundscape is our pick for the best soundbar. It offers the best combination of audio performance and connectivity features—including Bluetooth—of any soundbar we tested. Although the Soundscape costs more than many receiver-and-speaker combinations, you’ll get a very large and clear soundstage with good bass and crisp dialogue and vocals in return.
In testing, the Soundscape demonstrated a flatter frequency response than any soundbar we listened to, which contributes to the rich midrange of the speakers. The speaker’s digital signal processing does a decent job filling the room for a surround-like experience, but it’s not an artificial-sounding faux surround. It connects to your TV’s optical audio output, rather than HDMI, but that isn’t something we think most people will hold against it.
Streaming media player
The Roku 2 has the largest selection of streaming content for the money.
After researching and testing every major streaming media player, we think the Roku 2 is the best streaming media player for most people, with the largest content selection for the money and the most customization options. Few TVs, AV receivers, or Blu-ray players will offer near the number of streaming media services as an outboard box, especially the Roku 2, which currently features more than 2,500 channels plus the ability to access your own media stored on a computer or NAS drive. And it’s easy to use: The menu is smartly organized, the remote includes only a few buttons, it has a universal search feature that’s more universal than similar features on Apple TV or Amazon’s Fire TV, and you can customize the interface to display your most-used channels at the top where you can easily access them.
Blu-ray player for most living rooms
The Sony BDP-S3500 (top) offers the best user interface and pixel-perfect Blu-ray playback.
After spending nearly 25 hours testing the best new Blu-ray players for 2015, we recommend the Sony BDP-S3500 for most living rooms. The Sony offers flawless disc playback, integrated Wi-Fi, and the most popular streaming apps (including Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, MLB.TV, YouTube, and Pandora), plus an easier-to-use onscreen interface for operation than the other players we tested. It also leaves off features that most people don’t really need or care about, such as 4K upconversion and 3D playback.
HD antenna
The Antennas Direct ClearStream Eclipse pulled in our target channels with high signal quality.
After testing 10 leading indoor TV antennas, we recommend the Antennas Direct ClearStream Eclipse as the best indoor antenna for most people who live within 20 miles of their broadcast towers. The Eclipse should give most urban and suburban TV viewers solid reception. In our new tests—which included reception locations both in a suburb of Philadelphia and within New York City—the ClearStream Eclipse pulled in all of our target channels easily. And its “Sure Grip” system lets you attach it to a wall without any hardware. The Eclipse is available in both amplified and non-amplified versions, and while we had good results with both, we think you should try the non-amplified version first and then add the amplifier if you can’t get all the channels you’re looking for.
Surge protector
The Tripp Lite stops power delivery once the protection wears out, so you know your electronics are protected as long as they’re working.
One of the least fun (but potentially most important) devices for your home theater is the surge protector. We spent 30 hours testing leading models to determine that the Tripp Lite TLP1008TEL is the best surge protector for most people. It includes 10 well-spaced outlets (four big enough for large wall-warts), which should cover all but the most extreme home theater setups. It performed very well in our tests, plus it has a feature that makes a lot of sense—instead of telling you that the protection circuit is worn out with an indicator light, the Tripp Lite simply shuts off and won’t deliver power.
This guide may have been updated by The Wirecutter. To see the current recommendations, please go here.
Christian college says mandatory Fitbits won’t track sex
Can a Fitbit distinguish between cross-fit and carnal knowledge? It doesn’t matter, says Oral Roberts University (ORU) officials, because they won’t be scanning data for signs of student coitus anyway. The school now requires that all of its incoming students use (and pay for) Fitbit trackers during the spring semester. That caused some speculation that the devices could invade students’ privacy, particularly since they can be used to monitor sexual activity. However, the school says it isn’t using the devices to enforce its code of conduct forbidding pre-marital sex.
Rather, the reasons are more prosaic, though still slightly Orwellian. ORU gives students a pass/fail grade for doing exercise during the term and will use the trackers to monitor students’ steps and heart rate. Chief information officer Mike Matthews told Motherboard that “this is just for their grades so they pass the class, like it always has been … wearable technology is here to stay and we are leveraging it in the best way we can in a simplistic manner.” He added that the device’s GPS data won’t be recorded.
Matthews also clarified that the Fitbit trackers are optional, even if the exercise isn’t. If they prefer, students can enter the number of steps they completed manually, though nobody has opted to do that. “Not one parent complained, not one student has. It saves them numerous hours of inputting data,” he said. We’re curious though — since sex within marriage is presumably okay, does that count toward your exercise quota? If so, you may need a different type of tracker.
Source: Motherboard
The best gear for your living room home theater
By Grant Clauser
This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. Read the full article here.
Everyone loves watching a great movie on a big screen with a kickass speaker system, but few would complain about losing the sticky floors, uncomfortable seats, and kids with smartphones (unless they’re your own kids). We spent thousands of hours on research and testing to find the best-looking and -sounding home theater equipment to upgrade your living-room movie-watching experience from simply functional to highly enjoyable. (We have recommendations for a dedicated theater space as well in our full review).
TV
The Samsung UN55JU7100 offers the best overall picture for LCDs.
After more than 120 hours of research and testing, the 55-inch Samsung UN55JU7100 is our recommendation for the best overall TV. There are lots of very good LCD TVs for reasonable prices on the market today, but the JU7100 stood out with its excellent black levels, good colors out of the box, high contrast ratios, and video processing that improves the look of streaming video and doesn’t turn moving images into a soap-opera-style mess. It’s also a 4K Ultra HD display. Anything that looks better is going to cost a lot more money.
Flat-panel TV mount
The Sanus mount allows post-installation leveling, which lets you easily correct for minor errors you might make while drilling holes.
After researching TV mounts for 10 hours online and visiting local retailers to identify the best ones, we keep coming back to the Sanus VMPL50A-B1 flat-panel TV mount. It’s easy to install, fully adjustable, and compatible with 22 different VESA patterns and TVs up to 70 inches and 150 pounds. While not exactly bargain-priced, it’s less expensive than other mounts with similar feature sets and the features you’d miss out on by going cheaper are worth the cost.
Compact speakers for living room theaters
The Paradigm Cinema 100 CT 5.1 is good for smaller spaces and punches above its weight class.
If you want your living room to still look like a living room but sound like a home theater when you press play, the Paradigm Cinema 100 CT 5.1 Home Theater System is the package to buy. After nearly 20 hours of research and nearly 50 hours of calibration and testing, the Paradigm was the clear favorite in terms of performance. Though not as powerful as the NHT Absolute 5.1 Surround System, which we recommend if you have a dedicated theater room, the Paradigm’s more compact footprint makes it a better choice for smaller rooms that aren’t all about watching movies. The system—which includes five satellite speakers just taller than 8 inches high and a compact subwoofer 13 inches high—sounds much bigger than its size would suggest, and it also performed well in dialogue clarity. Don’t forget that you’ll also need a receiver and some speaker cable to drive the system.
Soundbar for living rooms
The Paradigm Soundscape offers the best audio quality you can expect from a soundbar.
For people who want the best TV audio out of a simple package with no receiver or additional speaker cables required, the Paradigm Soundscape is our pick for the best soundbar. It offers the best combination of audio performance and connectivity features—including Bluetooth—of any soundbar we tested. Although the Soundscape costs more than many receiver-and-speaker combinations, you’ll get a very large and clear soundstage with good bass and crisp dialogue and vocals in return.
In testing, the Soundscape demonstrated a flatter frequency response than any soundbar we listened to, which contributes to the rich midrange of the speakers. The speaker’s digital signal processing does a decent job filling the room for a surround-like experience, but it’s not an artificial-sounding faux surround. It connects to your TV’s optical audio output, rather than HDMI, but that isn’t something we think most people will hold against it.
Streaming media player
The Roku 2 has the largest selection of streaming content for the money.
After researching and testing every major streaming media player, we think the Roku 2 is the best streaming media player for most people, with the largest content selection for the money and the most customization options. Few TVs, AV receivers, or Blu-ray players will offer near the number of streaming media services as an outboard box, especially the Roku 2, which currently features more than 2,500 channels plus the ability to access your own media stored on a computer or NAS drive. And it’s easy to use: The menu is smartly organized, the remote includes only a few buttons, it has a universal search feature that’s more universal than similar features on Apple TV or Amazon’s Fire TV, and you can customize the interface to display your most-used channels at the top where you can easily access them.
Blu-ray player for most living rooms
The Sony BDP-S3500 (top) offers the best user interface and pixel-perfect Blu-ray playback.
After spending nearly 25 hours testing the best new Blu-ray players for 2015, we recommend the Sony BDP-S3500 for most living rooms. The Sony offers flawless disc playback, integrated Wi-Fi, and the most popular streaming apps (including Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, MLB.TV, YouTube, and Pandora), plus an easier-to-use onscreen interface for operation than the other players we tested. It also leaves off features that most people don’t really need or care about, such as 4K upconversion and 3D playback.
HD antenna
The Antennas Direct ClearStream Eclipse pulled in our target channels with high signal quality.
After testing 10 leading indoor TV antennas, we recommend the Antennas Direct ClearStream Eclipse as the best indoor antenna for most people who live within 20 miles of their broadcast towers. The Eclipse should give most urban and suburban TV viewers solid reception. In our new tests—which included reception locations both in a suburb of Philadelphia and within New York City—the ClearStream Eclipse pulled in all of our target channels easily. And its “Sure Grip” system lets you attach it to a wall without any hardware. The Eclipse is available in both amplified and non-amplified versions, and while we had good results with both, we think you should try the non-amplified version first and then add the amplifier if you can’t get all the channels you’re looking for.
Surge protector
The Tripp Lite stops power delivery once the protection wears out, so you know your electronics are protected as long as they’re working.
One of the least fun (but potentially most important) devices for your home theater is the surge protector. We spent 30 hours testing leading models to determine that the Tripp Lite TLP1008TEL is the best surge protector for most people. It includes 10 well-spaced outlets (four big enough for large wall-warts), which should cover all but the most extreme home theater setups. It performed very well in our tests, plus it has a feature that makes a lot of sense—instead of telling you that the protection circuit is worn out with an indicator light, the Tripp Lite simply shuts off and won’t deliver power.
This guide may have been updated by The Wirecutter. To see the current recommendations, please go here.
Taylor Swift is getting her own mobile game
The company that’s famous for making Kim Kardashian: Hollywood has announced that it’s making a mobile game inspired by Taylor Swift. Gu Mobile has revealed that it’ll craft a title based around the singer’s life that’s expected to arrive for iOS and Android by the end of 2016. The firm has something of a thing for celebrity-endorsed mobile titles, previously producing games with Jason Statham and… uh… Katy Perry. According to BuzzFeed, the Perry game was such a flop that Glu was forced to turn its attentions towards another global pop sensation.
If you’re not aware, Perry and Swift aren’t friends, to the point where it’s believed that the Swift song Bad Blood is about Perry. An investigation over at Gawker believes the feud began over a trio of backup dancers who had worked for the I Kissed a Girl singer. They’d subsequently gone to work for Swift, but quit soon after to join Perry’s Prism world tour — hinting that Swift wasn’t much fun to work with. There’s also the fact that both artists have previously dated John Mayer, although at this point, who hasn’t?
It looks as if celebrity feuds are now going to be carried out exclusively through the medium of technology, and we couldn’t be happier. Perry and Swift’s mobile-app civil war will help cheer us up when the memory of Twitter’s week of beef has finally left our minds. After all, last week saw epic arguments break out between Kanye West and Wiz Khalifa over their mutual friend Amber Rose — not to mention what Kayne likes having done to his butt. If that wasn’t enough, Neil deGrasse-Tyson got into a fight with B.o.B. after the latter outed himself as a fan of the flat earth myth.
Via: BuzzFeed
Source: Glu
Taylor Swift is getting her own mobile game
The company that’s famous for making Kim Kardashian: Hollywood has announced that it’s making a mobile game inspired by Taylor Swift. Gu Mobile has revealed that it’ll craft a title based around the singer’s life that’s expected to arrive for iOS and Android by the end of 2016. The firm has something of a thing for celebrity-endorsed mobile titles, previously producing games with Jason Statham and… uh… Katy Perry. According to BuzzFeed, the Perry game was such a flop that Glu was forced to turn its attentions towards another global pop sensation.
If you’re not aware, Perry and Swift aren’t friends, to the point where it’s believed that the Swift song Bad Blood is about Perry. An investigation over at Gawker believes the feud began over a trio of backup dancers who had worked for the I Kissed a Girl singer. They’d subsequently gone to work for Swift, but quit soon after to join Perry’s Prism world tour — hinting that Swift wasn’t much fun to work with. There’s also the fact that both artists have previously dated John Mayer, although at this point, who hasn’t?
It looks as if celebrity feuds are now going to be carried out exclusively through the medium of technology, and we couldn’t be happier. Perry and Swift’s mobile-app civil war will help cheer us up when the memory of Twitter’s week of beef has finally left our minds. After all, last week saw epic arguments break out between Kanye West and Wiz Khalifa over their mutual friend Amber Rose — not to mention what Kayne likes having done to his butt. If that wasn’t enough, Neil deGrasse-Tyson got into a fight with B.o.B. after the latter outed himself as a fan of the flat earth myth.
Via: BuzzFeed
Source: Glu
Taylor Swift is getting her own mobile game
The company that’s famous for making Kim Kardashian: Hollywood has announced that it’s making a mobile game inspired by Taylor Swift. Gu Mobile has revealed that it’ll craft a title based around the singer’s life that’s expected to arrive for iOS and Android by the end of 2016. The firm has something of a thing for celebrity-endorsed mobile titles, previously producing games with Jason Statham and… uh… Katy Perry. According to BuzzFeed, the Perry game was such a flop that Glu was forced to turn its attentions towards another global pop sensation.
If you’re not aware, Perry and Swift aren’t friends, to the point where it’s believed that the Swift song Bad Blood is about Perry. An investigation over at Gawker believes the feud began over a trio of backup dancers who had worked for the I Kissed a Girl singer. They’d subsequently gone to work for Swift, but quit soon after to join Perry’s Prism world tour — hinting that Swift wasn’t much fun to work with. There’s also the fact that both artists have previously dated John Mayer, although at this point, who hasn’t?
It looks as if celebrity feuds are now going to be carried out exclusively through the medium of technology, and we couldn’t be happier. Perry and Swift’s mobile-app civil war will help cheer us up when the memory of Twitter’s week of beef has finally left our minds. After all, last week saw epic arguments break out between Kanye West and Wiz Khalifa over their mutual friend Amber Rose — not to mention what Kayne likes having done to his butt. If that wasn’t enough, Neil deGrasse-Tyson got into a fight with B.o.B. after the latter outed himself as a fan of the flat earth myth.
Via: BuzzFeed
Source: Glu
Taylor Swift is getting her own mobile game
The company that’s famous for making Kim Kardashian: Hollywood has announced that it’s making a mobile game inspired by Taylor Swift. Gu Mobile has revealed that it’ll craft a title based around the singer’s life that’s expected to arrive for iOS and Android by the end of 2016. The firm has something of a thing for celebrity-endorsed mobile titles, previously producing games with Jason Statham and… uh… Katy Perry. According to BuzzFeed, the Perry game was such a flop that Glu was forced to turn its attentions towards another global pop sensation.
If you’re not aware, Perry and Swift aren’t friends, to the point where it’s believed that the Swift song Bad Blood is about Perry. An investigation over at Gawker believes the feud began over a trio of backup dancers who had worked for the I Kissed a Girl singer. They’d subsequently gone to work for Swift, but quit soon after to join Perry’s Prism world tour — hinting that Swift wasn’t much fun to work with. There’s also the fact that both artists have previously dated John Mayer, although at this point, who hasn’t?
It looks as if celebrity feuds are now going to be carried out exclusively through the medium of technology, and we couldn’t be happier. Perry and Swift’s mobile-app civil war will help cheer us up when the memory of Twitter’s week of beef has finally left our minds. After all, last week saw epic arguments break out between Kanye West and Wiz Khalifa over their mutual friend Amber Rose — not to mention what Kayne likes having done to his butt. If that wasn’t enough, Neil deGrasse-Tyson got into a fight with B.o.B. after the latter outed himself as a fan of the flat earth myth.
Via: BuzzFeed
Source: Glu
Qualcomm Quick Charge vs Oppo VOOC vs MediaTek PumpExpress+ vs Motorola TurboPower vs the others
When it comes to naming fast charging systems it seems that the marketing departments of the world’s smartphone makers have all been thumbing through a thesaurus to find suitable terms. Among the various names used are “fast”, “quick”, “rapid”, and “turbo.” There are a few fast charging systems with more exotic names including VOOC Flash charging and PumpExpress+. If you work for a marketing department then just let me tell you that “brisk”, “warp” and “lickety-split” are still free!
So what does all these names mean and which one is the best? To answer those questions I tested several different fast charging systems from the world’s leading OEMs to see which ones really live up to their monikers!
The first stage can be performed with a high amount of power and takes the battery up to around 80%.
Probably the best known fast charging system is Qualcomm’s Quick Charge (QC), versions 2.0 and 3.0. However it isn’t the only fast charging system. Samsung also has one called “Adaptive Fast Charging” and it is basically a re-brand of Qualcomm’s technology, as it seems from my testing to be fully compatible with QC 2.0. Motorola has its TurboPower system (which is probably also a rebrand of QC 2.0), while Oppo has VOOC Flash charging. Probably the least well known system is PumpExpress+ from MediaTek. It is also worth mentioning Huawei’s SmartPower fast charging tech that is in the Mate 8. One of the claims that Huawei make about the Mate 8 is that you can get a full day’s use out of a 30 minute charge.
How does it all work?
The basic principle of charging systems is simple. There is a re-chargeable battery which delivers energy to a smartphone over time. When the battery is depleted it needs to be re-charged. To do this the smartphone is connected to a charger. The charger puts energy back into the battery. The rate at which that energy is supplied to the battery is measured in watts. The more watts, the more power. The higher the power the quicker the battery can charge. Simple!
There is one other twist to this tale. Smartphone batteries are charged in two stages. The first stage can be performed with a high amount of power and takes the battery up to around 80%. Then the second stage kicks in where the power is reduced as the battery is topped up to full. This is why smartphone makers talk about how quickly the phone can be charged to 80%, or that just 30 minutes of charge will be enough for another 8 hours of usage, etc. This is because they are talking about charging in stage 1, up to the 80% level. Sometimes the last 20% can be as much as 50% of the total charging time, but we will look at that in more detail later on.
One final thing. Power is measured in watts and we calculate watts by multiplying the current (measured in amps) by the voltage (measured in volts). This means when you look at the small print on a charger you will see a line that says something like: “5V – 2A or 9V – 2A”. The line is actually the symbol for direct current (DC).
A normal USB 2.0 port works at 5V and 0.5A which is 2.5W. A charger running at 5V and 2A generates 10W, a fast charger using 9V and 1.67A creates 15W, and so on. Therefore the key to understanding fast charging is to see how many watts are produced by the charger, in terms of its voltage and current output, during the different charging stages.
| Charging Technology | USB 2.0 port | Typical Modern Adaptor | Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 | Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 | Oppo VOOC Flash Charge | MediaTek PumpExpress+ | Motorola TurboPower | Samsung Adaptive Fast Charger | Huawei SmartPower |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voltage | 5V | 5V | 5V / 9V / 12V | 3.2v – 20v dynamic | 5V | 5V / 9V | 5V / 9V | 5V / 9V | 5V / 9V |
| Current | 0.5A | 2A | 3A / 1.67A / 1.25A | 5A | 4A | 2A | 1.2A / 1.67A | 2A / 1.67A | 2A |
| Power | 2.5W | 10W | 15W | 18W | 20W | 18W | 15W | 15W | 18W |
The phones
To test the different charging technologies I am using the following phones:
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (QC 2.0)
- Samsung Galaxy Note 5 (Samsung Adaptive Fast Charge)
- Moto X Force (TurboPower)
- Oppo R7s (VOOC)
- Vivo X6D (PumpExpress+ which the X6D calls “dual-engine quick charging”)
- Huawei Mate 8 (Huawei SmartPower)
| Charging System | Battery Size | SoC | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Galaxy Note 4 | QC 2.0 | 3220 mAh | Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 |
| Samsung Galaxy Note 5 | Samsung Adaptive Fast Charging | 3000 mAh | Samsung Exynos 7420 |
| Oppo R7s | VOOC Flash Charging | 3070 mAh | Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 |
| Vivo X6D | MediaTek PumpExpress+ | 2400 mAh | MediaTek MT6752 |
| Moto X Force | Motorola TurboPower | 3760 mAh | Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 |
| Huawei Mate 8 | Huawei SmartPower | 4000 mAh | HiSilicon Kirin 950 |
The tests
To conduct the tests I ran each phone until it had 1% battery left. I then activated a battery log app which records the battery level along with the time, the charging status, and so on. I then charged the phone up to full. During the charging I also tested the temperature on the back of the device to see how much the handset heats up during charging. I then collated all this data into the results below!
The results
First let’s look at the charging graphs. Each graph shows the battery level over time. This enables us to see how long the phone takes to charge and how quickly it reaches 50%, 80% and 100%. Also on the graph, using the right axis, is the temperature difference during the charging cycle. You will notice that during phase 1 of charging the temperature goes up and then once the battery reaches 80% the temperature starts to fall as less and less power is pumped into the battery.
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- Galaxy Samsung Note 4
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- Huawei Mate 8
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- Moto X Force
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- Oppo R7s
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- Samsung Galaxy Note 5
As with all results, it is the interpretation of the data that is key to understanding what is happening. Here are a few important metrics:
| Device | Total charge time (mins) | Charge rate (mAh/minute) | Percentage of total charge time to reach 50% | Percentage of total charge time to reach 80% | Temperature change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Note 4 | 83 | 38.8 | 33.3 | 58.6 | 11.7 |
| Samsung Note 5 | 96.78 | 30.99 | 34.17 | 60.95 | 8.5 |
| Oppo R7s | 81.23 | 37.80 | 31.68 | 52.91 | 3.3 |
| Vivo X6D | 78.5 | 30.6 | 30.40 | 54.39 | 8.1 |
| Moto X Force | 84.78 | 44.35 | 29.0 | 53.1 | 19.9 |
| Huawei Mate 8 | 130.17 | 30.72 | 30.1 | 50.7 | 8.4 |
So what does this all mean. The device which charged the fastest was the Vivo X6D, but that isn’t surprising as it only has a 2400 mAh battery. The Huawei Mate 8 was the slowest to charge, but again that isn’t a surprise as it has a 4000 mAh battery. To level the playing field we need to see which device adds the most charge to the battery in one minute. This is calculated by dividing the battery size by the charging time. Using this metric we can see that the Moto X Force is charged the quickest, relative to its battery size, next comes the Note 4 and then the Oppo R7s.
In terms of which phone gets to 50% the quickest, that prize goes to the Vivo X6D, again because it has the smallest battery. However if we measure the time to 50% as a percentage of the overall charge time (working on the assumption that the charge time is longer for bigger batteries) then the Moto X Force is the fastest as it takes just 29% of the overall charge time. Close behind the Moto X Force is the Vivo X6D (at 30.6%) and the Huawei Mate 8 (at 30.72%).
The R7s only heated up 3 C during the testing, quite a phenomenal achievement.
The fastest to 80% is a close call between the Vivo X6D (which managed it in 42.72 minutes) and the Oppo R7s (which got there in 42.98 minutes). However, again, the battery size is paramount as the Oppo R7s has a 3070 mAh battery compared to the X6D’s 2400 mAh unit. Using percentage of total charge time we can see that the Huawei Mate 8 is actually the fastest as it gets to 80% in just 50.7% of its charge time. Next is the Oppo R7s, followed by the Moto X Force.
As for temperature changes, it seems that around 8 C is the median with the Mate 8, Vivo X6D and the Note 5 all registering temperature differences of between 8.1 and 8.5 degrees. The exceptions are the Note 4, the Moto X Force and the Oppo R7s. The first two register higher temperatures with the Moto X Force showing a 19.9 degree temperature difference during the charge cycle. At the other end of the scale is the Oppo R7s which heated up by just 3.3 C!
See also: Which Android phones charge the fastest?
Wrap-up
Picking an overall winner is hard. None of the devices (and their charging systems) stood out as exceptional. If you are looking for raw charging power then it seems that the Moto X Force is the clear winner. However that raw power comes with a price, namely the near 20 degree temperature rise. If that concerns you at all, then at the other end of the spectrum is VOOC from Oppo. The R7s only heated up 3 C during the testing, quite a phenomenal achievement consider that it charging speed is similar (if not better in some circumstances) with the other systems.
If you are the kind of person that is always charging your phone for short period just to top it up then the Moto X Force (TurboPower), the Huawei Mate 8 (SmartPower) and the Oppo R7s (VOOC) look like your best option.
What do you think? Do you have a favorite fast charging system? Any experiences you want to share?
honor 5X vs honor 7 quick look
Chinese OEM honor may have only been around for a couple of years, but the Huawei subsidiary has recently been trying to make a splash in global markets. Last month, it introduced the new honor 5X to the US market at CES and today at an event in Germany, the honor 5X made its Western European bow.
It’s been a year since honor released the honor 6 and honor 6 plus and last August, we saw the first switch to metal with the honor 7. Now, the honor 5X aims to offer a premium experience at a very affordable price, but how does it compare to honor’s flagship and which one should you buy? Join us below for a quick look.
Specs
Before we dig into our first look, let’s take a look at the specs of each of these smartphones:
| honor 5X | honor 7 | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 resolution, 401ppi TP & LCD full lamination |
5.2-inch IPS LCD Full HD, 424 ppi |
| Processor | Octa-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 Adreno 405 GPU |
2.2 GHz octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 935 processor Mali-T628 GPU |
| Memory | 2GB | 3 GB |
| Internal Storage | 16GB expandable up to 128GB via microSD |
16/64 GB expandable up to 128GB |
| Software | Android 5.1.1 Lollipop EMUI v3.1 Planned upgrade to Android Marshmallow |
Android 5.1.1 Lollipop EMUI v3.1 Planned upgrade to Android Marshmallow |
| Dual SIM | Yes, 2 SIM cards and microSD card | Yes, 2 SIM cards or 1 SIM + micro SD |
| Camera | 13MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, SmartImage 3.0 image processor, 28mm wide angle lens with flash 5MP front camera with f/2.4 aperture, 22mm wide angle dual LED flash 5MP front, no flash |
20 MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, 1/2.4″ sensor size, phase detection autofocus dual LED flash 8 MP front,with flash |
| Connectivity | WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, 2.4QG Bluetooth 4.1 microUSB 2.0 GPS, AGPS, Glonass |
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Bluetooth 4.0 GPS+GLONASS NFC IR blaster USB 2.0 |
| Sensors | Fingerprint sensor, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, Digital compass | Fingerprint sensor, Accelerometer, Gyrometer, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, Digital compass |
| Battery | 3000mAh, non-removable | 3100mAh, non-removable |
| Dimensions | 151.3 x 76.3 x 8.15mm 158g |
143.2 x 71.9 x 8.5 mm 157 grams |
| Colors | Dark Grey, Daybreak Silver, Sunset Gold | Gray, Silver, Gold |
Design
Both handsets adopt a similar design with large displays and equally large bezels dominating the front of the handset. As you might expect, they adopt a similar design to Huawei’s own smartphones, albeit with enough tweaks to have their own identity. Put close together, you might struggle to distinguish them apart, however, as you might expect from two similar yet unique smartphones, there are certain things that can help you tell them apart.
On the front is the most noticeable difference: the display. The honor 5X has a 5.5-inch 1080p IPS display while the honor 7 sports a smaller 5.2-inch IPS-Neo display of the same resolution, but crucially, this comes with Gorilla Glass 3 protection. In actual usage, the honor 7 display is noticeably more vibrant with colours and while the honor 5X display is definitely inferior, it still provides a good experience. Each handset comes with a screen protector applied out of the box, and while you’ll have few issues if you remove the protector on the honor 7, the honor 5X display does scratch quite easily.
One of the most noticeable differences is the Smart Key on the left of the Honor 7, which lets you set customisable shortcuts to launch certain apps or features but has been left out of the honor 5X. Given the lower price of the 5X, certain sacrifices are to be expected and as useful as the Smart Key can prove to be, it’s an acceptable sacrifice.
Each phone sports a metal frame, where on the bottom, you’ll find the speakers – a mono speaker in the honor 7 and stereo speakers in the honor 5X – and microUSB ports. On the left, you’ll find the SIM card tray and a key difference: the honor 7 has two independent trays, with the first used for SIM cards and the second for a microSD card or a second SIM card. In comparison, the honor 5X has just one tray but gains an extra slot; while many handsets do offer dual SIM support, only a handful allow you to use two SIM cards and a microSD card at the same time.
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Both handsets offer metal unibody designs, with the honor 7 sporting a matte finish, and the honor 5X a brushed design. While the honor 7 feels premium in every sense of the word, the honor 5x… doesn’t. It’s difficult to explain why, but despite being very well built, the honor 5x doesn’t feel like a premium metal smartphone. That being said, it’s still a very nice design and more than solid in the hand.
Underneath the camera, each device has a square fingerprint sensor and this is an area that Huawei – like we saw with the Nexus 6P – and subsequently, honor, definitely excel in the smartphone market. The honor 7 bought a range of features to the fingerprint sensor including being able to launch a call or app and the honor 5X also has a few tricks up its own sleeve. Different taps and swipes on the sensor can be used to navigate back to the home screen, access recent apps, dismiss your alarm, answer calls, take a photo and much more.
It’s worth noting though that while both fingerprint sensors do offer a lot of features, and are exceptionally fast at unlocking your phone, you won’t be able to use them for Android Pay. As both devices also run Android 5.1.1 at their core – although, the honor 7 is expected to get the Marshmallow update in the coming weeks – you won’t be able to access any apps that use Marshmallow’s built-in fingerprint API.
Overall, hardware has been a strength for Huawei for a few years now and as we’ve seen with the honor 7, and now the honor 5x, the company can offer great hardware at an affordable price.
Software
An issue that’s faced both honor and Huawei devices, is the interface with EMUI proving to provide polarized opinions. Both devices run on EMUI v3.1 atop Android 5.1.1 Lollipop but is it any better than previous interface and have some glaring issues been fixed?
One of the biggest differences between EMUI and a more traditional Android approach is the home-screen and launcher, where Huawei has opted to ditch the traditional app drawer and place all your app icons on your home screens. While some of you may find this disconcerting, it does become usable after you get used to it and you can always install a launcher to change some of these elements.
EMUI also heavily customises the notification menu, with it adopting a dark opaque colour that also takes on the colours from the home screen in the background. The notification menu comes with two tabs, one for Notifications and the other for Shortcuts, and a particularly neat feature is that it will automatically open the shortcuts tab if you swipe down and have no notifications.
See also: Huawei, I love your phones — just fix your software, please
The differences are minimal between the two on the software front, but the honor 7 does come with a range of software features that are – oddly – missing on the honor 5X. These include the Knuckle Sense feature that let you capture a screenshot or launching an app by drawing a letter or tapping with your knuckle on the display.
Also absent is the voice command feature that allowed you to locate your phone from a distance, and while missing features are always worth mentioning, it’s worth noting that these features aren’t the most reliable. Instead, the honor 5X offers a more simplified experience that is actually more pleasing to use than EMUI on the honor 7.
Overall, EMUI is certainly not stock Android, but Huawei’s approach does have its fans and the software experience from the honor 7 to the honor 5X has definitely been improved. The latter offers a more refined interface and while both do still have their issues, it’s good to see that Huawei is making progress in the software department. Neither smartphone runs the latest Marshmallow OS, but the update is already available as a beta for the honor 7 and is expected to launch for the honor 5X in the coming months.
Hardware & Performance
Under the hood is where you’ll find a major change from the honor 7 to the honor 5x; the processor. With the former, honor opted to use Huawei’s own HiSilicon Kirin processor, while the latter is powered by a Qualcomm processor.
The Kirin 935 inside the honor 7 features eight Cortex-A53 cores, with four clocked at 2.2GHz and four at 1.5GHz, while the Snapdragon 616 inside the honor 5X has the same amount of cores at lower clock speeds of 1.5GHz and 1.2GHz respectively. The honor 7 sports 3GB RAM under the hood while the honor 5X has just 2GB but a crucial difference is also the GPU; the Kirin 935 has a Mali-T628 GPU while the honor 5X has an Adreno 405 GPU, which should, in theory, offer better graphics performance.
Both smartphones also come with expandable storage and the honor 7 has either 16GB, 32GB or 64GB storage depending on which model you go for. The honor 5X meanwhile offers 16GB storage across all models, meaning you’ll most likely need a microSD card to expand the measly storage.
See also: Best cheap Android phones (January 2016)
Given the price differences between the two devices, some concessions were to be expected, and under the hood is where honor has attempted to scale back some of the features. The honor 7 offers Wi-Fi n/ac, a wide range of Bluetooth profiles, NFC, infrared and LTE Cat 6, which offers download speeds of 300Mbps on the go. In comparison, the honor 5X offers just Wi-Fi n and doesn’t come with support for 5GHz wireless, has no NFC or infrared capability and supports the slower, yet still very fast, LTE Cat 4.
Where both smartphones certainly excel is the battery, with the honor 5X offering a large 3000 mAh battery, and the honor 7, a 3100mAh battery. Compared to other devices at the same price point as these devices, the battery capacity is definitely on the larger side of the market and each smartphone should easily last you a full day’s usage.
Camera
On the back, each handset has a square camera sensor and the honor 5X follows on from the honor 7’s camera fantastic camera, albeit not without some compromises. Budget smartphones aren’t known for having fantastic cameras, but honor has sought to break the mould by equipping the honor 5X with a 13MP shooter with f/2.0 aperture, 28mm wide-angle lens, blue glass infrared filter, anti-reflective coating and Huawei’s SmartImage 3.0 image processor for low light shots.
In comparison, the honor 7 comes with a 20MP 27mm wide-angle lens with f/2.0 aperture, 1/2.4” sensor size, phase detection autofocus and a range of software features including the super-night and light-trail modes. Both handsets offer dual LED flash and Full HD video recording but only the honor 7 offers HDR in video.
honor 5X camera samples
On the front, the honor 5X has a 5MP sensor with 22mm wide angle lens, f/2.4 aperture while the honor 7 has an 8MP sensor with 26mm wide angle lens, f/2.4 and an LED flash. Both devices also come with Huawei’s Beauty Mode feature that lets you apply effects and filters to your selfies to bring out your face’s natural features.
honor 7 camera samples
Overall, both cameras are certainly impressive for their respective price points and there’s no doubt that the honor 7 camera is one of the best at the price point. Where honor have done exceptionally well however, is in the camera on the honor 5X; it’s rare that budget smartphones have cameras worth talking about, but, despite its shortcomings, the honor 5X camera definitely breaks the theory that budget smartphones should have poor cameras.
Verdict
There’s no doubt that the honor 7 is a smartphone that’s helped honor capture the mid-range market and to follow it up, the company has attempted to take on the budget segment. With a 5.5-inch 1080p display, metal build, excellent fingerprint sensor and impressive camera, there’s a lot to like about the honor 5X before you even see its price point.
Throughout this quick look, we’ve been talking about the price without mentioning it and there’s a very good reason for that; the honor 5X feature set may seem like it should cost $300 or more for an unlocked device, honor’s latest smartphone costs just $199 unlocked, direct from the Chinese OEM. In comparison, the honor 7 isn’t officially available to buy in the USA – not least from honor directly – but can be had for approximately $350 to $450 depending on where you choose to buy from.
Which smartphone should you buy? It’s a rather straight forward decision; at its price point, the honor 7 has a lot of competition from a lot of more established devices, including last year’s flagships and becomes a lot harder to recommend. However, at its $199 price point, there’s very few devices that can compete with the honor 5X’s feature list and none that offer the same metal build and ultrafast fingerprint sensor.
Read more:
For more on each handset, be sure to head over to our honor 7 and honor 5X reviews. Let us know what you think about each smartphone and which you’d buy in the comments below and over in our honor forum, where you’ll find more discussions around honor and the company’s devices.
ARM announces new 28nm POP IP for Cortex-A53 and A7 processors
ARM has just announced a new POP IP, short for Processor Optimization Pack, for its popular Cortex-A53 and A7 processors. These latest packages are designed for United Microelectronics Corporation’s 28nm HPC process technology.
ARM’s POP IP offers its chip customers a comprehensive package of tools to develop new SoCs, and is designed to expedite development of its most popular products. For example, the package includes pre-designed core transistor and wiring layouts for manufacturing, in this case on UMC’s 28nm technology, optimized for performance, energy efficiency, and area. This is particularly useful for mid-sized companies that don’t want to spend a fortune on designing entire chips from scratch.
UMC’s 28HPC technology is the foundry’s second-generation High-K/Metal Gate (HKMG) 28nm process, offering power and performance improvements over the company’s volume production 28HPM. By using a tighter process control, UMC is also looking to decrease the total die area too, which helps to save on costs.
“Together, UMC and ARM are delivering a comprehensive 28nm platform including POP IP for two of the most successful ARM processor cores. This will enable optimized SoC implementations and keep pace with innovations in mobile, IoT and embedded markets.” – Will Abbey, ARM
While leading smartphone SoCs are pushing down to 20nm and 16nm, 28nm still remains a cost effective and mature process to quickly develop lower cost, energy efficient processors. The Cortex-A53 is now the go-to choice for most low power smartphone processors and the older A7 is also a useful low power core for products will a limited battery. We will likely see some of this POP IP utilized in SoCs designed for low power wearables and internet-of-things applications.
See also: ARM’s James Bruce talks about the future of mobile tech at CES 2016
POP IP has become an increasingly important part of the semiconductor business, as it can drastically shorten the time to bring chips to market. ARM now offers POP IP for a wide range of its CPU and GPU technologies at various manufacturing nodes from the likes of TSMC, Samsung and Global Foundries, to name just a few.
ARM Extends 28nm IP Leadership With Latest UMC 28HPC POPs
04 February 2016
Cambridge, UK, Feb. 4, 2016 – ARM has announced the immediate availability of the ARM® Artisan® physical IP platform and ARM POP™ IP for United Microelectronics Corporation’s UMC 28HPCU, an enhanced 28nm process technology.This extends ARM’s 28nm IP leadership, giving the ARM ecosystem the broadest availability for 28nm foundation IP across all of the major foundries. The comprehensive platform includes standard cell libraries and memory compilers and POP technology for the ARM Cortex®-A53 processor, one of the industry’s most widely-adopted 64-bit cores, and ARM Cortex-A7, the highly energy-efficient core which has powered more than a billion smartphones.
“The 28nm process node technology continues to be viewed as the right solution for an increasing number of power-constrained applications,” said Will Abbey, general manager, physical design group, ARM. “Together, UMC and ARM are delivering a comprehensive 28nm platform including POP IP for two of the most successful ARM processor cores. This will enable optimized SoC implementations to keep pace with innovations in mobile, IoT and embedded markets.”
The wide adoption of ARM foundation 28nm IP delivers consistent logic architecture across all leading foundries and enables greater flexibility for multi-sourcing. The benefits enable current and new SoC designs on 28nm to quickly meet the needs of billions of connected devices. By utilizing POP IP at UMC 28HPCU, UMC customers will be able to respond faster as market demands change and new opportunities emerge.
UMC is capitalizing on the long-node characteristics of 28nm as an increasing number of applications take advantage of its favorable cost and performance benefits. UMC 28HPCU is the foundry’s second-generation High-K/Metal Gate (HKMG) 28nm process, which exhibits power and performance improvements relative to UMC’s volume production 28HPM technology. Using tighter process control and SPICE models, UMC 28HPCU reduces power consumption and area at any given performance threshold.
“As one of the world’s only foundries capable of 28nm gate-last HKMG production, UMC is well-positioned to capitalize on our 28nm experience to bring 28HPCU into high volume manufacturing,” said S.C. Chien, vice president, corporate marketing, UMC. “Multiple customers from a variety of applications have engaged with UMC to design their products on 28HPCU. Our collaboration with long-time partner ARM enables UMC to offer a comprehensive design platform with POP IP for two of the most efficient ARM processor cores.”
Ends
Contacts:
Phil Hughes
Director of tech PR, ARM
+1 512-694-7382
phil.hughes@arm.com
About ARM
ARM (LSE: ARM, NASDAQ: ARMH.US) designs technology at the heart of the world’s most advanced digital products. We are enabling the development of new markets and transformation of industries and society, invisibly creating opportunity for a globally connected population. Our scalable, energy-efficient processor designs and related technologies deliver intelligence wherever computing happens, ranging from sensors to servers, including smartphones, tablets, digital TVs, enterprise infrastructure and the Internet of Things.
Our innovative technology is licensed by ARM Partners who have shipped more than 75 billion System on Chip (SoCs) containing our intellectual property. Together with our Connected Community, we are breaking down barriers to innovation for developers, designers and engineers, ensuring a fast, reliable route to market for leading electronics companies. Learn more and join the conversation at http://community.arm.com.
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