Connected watches of Baselworld 2017: From hybrid to smart in all shapes and sizes

Baselworld is a politely divided show. On one hand you have the most exquisite watches ever made, you have heritage and tradition, craftsmanship and some very expensive results.

On the other hand, you have a movement to upgrade the watch into something new. This isn’t just a digital revolution – we’ve seen that before – but a connected revolution that’s been rolling on for a couple of years.

Baselworld doesn’t attract all the smartwatch manufacturers however. It’s really a place where existing brands show off their digital moves, or on some cases, come for validation that they’re making watches, rather than just technology toys. 

Here’s a run-down of some of the most interesting connected watches at Baselworld 2017. 

Smartwatches

Pocket-lint

Guess Connect gets a bling ting

Guess has been in the connected watch game for a while. There was the original Martian-powered Guess Connect, but now there’s the Guess Connect Touch, getting the full Android Wear treatment. This is a fashion-first watch, so it’s not overloaded with sensors and wanting to replace your Garmin. No, it’s designed to give you a Guess watch, but with a fully connected experience. Qualcomm Snapdragon, 390 x 390 round AMOLED display and Android Wear 2.0 tells you all you need to know. 

There are six bling models for women and four unisex models, all 41mm and there’s a larger selection of six 44mm watches for guys.

Pocket-lint

Fossil dumps the flat tyre

Fossil is racing through smartwatches faster than you can say update. Not only is the company spreading its skills across the fashion brands it makes watches for, but it’s leading the way with its own devices. The Q Venture and Q Explorist bring something we’ve been waiting for from Fossil: no flat tyre. 

That means a properly round display on this model, giving instant appeal over the previous generation. With a 42mm diameter case, they are only 11.3mm thick, addressing concerns that smartwatches have to be fat. There’s a range of colours and strap choices, in these smart classical designs.

Diesel

Diesel goes big 

Diesel (one of the Fossil brands) has gone big on Android Wear too. In typically brash Diesel style, the Diesel On is a massive smartwatch that not only runs AW2.0, but has some of the most considered customisation on the watch faces that we’ve seen. There are unique dial effects, such as dust gathering if you haven’t moved for a while, or a cracking effect when you get a private message. 

Sadly Diesel wouldn’t let us photograph the Diesel On, so you’ll have to make do with this press photo. It should be hitting store around Christmas 2017, costing about $325.

Michael Kors

Michael Kors goes round, adds Instagram love

We loved the last MK smartwatch. It’s a watch that tech heads don’t understand, but fashion people do. Sometimes it’s fine to buy things because they look good and it’s this mantra that’s seen an MK watch on lots and lots of people. Expanding the Access family, there’s now the Grayson and the Sofie.

As these are Fossil Group watches, you’ll find the display is now round (yay), so no explaining away that flat tyre. That’s only going to make people more enthusiastic about this smartwatch. Another twist that’s been added is called “micro apps”. In the case of Michael Kors, you’ll be able to use an Instagram image as your watch face for a totally unique looks. 

The Sofie and Grayson will be available from $350 and although we saw them, MK wouldn’t let us take any photos.

Pocket-lint

Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45

Not specifically a Baselworld launch, but it dominated the front of Tag’s stand at the Swiss show. The Modular 45 is the follow-up to the original 2016 Connected. Tag is calling that first watch a success, so is pushing customisation and modularity in the new model. You can change the strap, buckle or even the lugs to create a new look, as well as being able to order the watch with a range of coloured bezels and in a range of premium materials. 

It’s as glorious as you’d expect a (from) £1400 smartwatch to be, but interestingly it’s also compatible with analogue watch faces, so if you’re bored of the connected experience, you can disconnect. 

The Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 is available to buy now.

Pocket-lint

MyKronoz has ZeTime and ze smarts

MyKronoz is trying to bust onto the smartwatch scene, combining traditional hands with a full smartwatch face. The secret here has been drilling a hole in the TFT display to enable the mechanical part to poke through. The advantage you get is a month of analogue hand movement, even after the smart part has given up. 

Best of both worlds? Perhaps. MyKronoz is also going it alone on the platform, however, so although you’ll get support for plenty of functions, this isn’t going to be part of the Android Wear movement. The company has just started Kickstarter funding, but says the MyKronoz is going to be available for $199 by September.

Pocket-lint

Casio Pro Trek Smart, but with added sapphire 

Casio unveiled the Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20 at CES 2017, appearing at Baselworld to remind people that it’s launching on 21 April costing £450. But that’s not all. Not content with having one version of the Pro Trek Smart, there’s a very special WSD-F20S too.

This version of the Casio smartwatch is limited to 500 pieces, it gets a sapphire crystal face and ion body plating for extra protection in its rugged but muted finish. It offers all the connectivity of the regular version, including Android Wear 2.0, GPS with offline mapping and that clever dual-layer display. 

There’s no word on pricing on this model, however.

Pocket-lint

Misfit bites the Android Wear bullet 

The Misfit Vapor surfaced at CES 2017, showing off a custom user interface and an simple industrial design. Fuss free, with fitness tracking and that impressive virtual bezel. 

Misfit has made a slight about turn on this model, however, as it’s now going to be powered by Android Wear 2.0 and we get the feeling that Google’s move to a rotational interface has something to do with it. The exciting thing, however, is that the Misfit Vapor is going to be landing at $199. Exciting times.

Pocket-lint

Gc offers connected luxe

Gc is the Swiss Made luxury arm of Guess and like its sister company, it too is offering an Android Wear device. In this case you’re looking at ceramics, with a ceramic strap and bezel option. There are eight different models, presented in 44mm and 41mm sizes, for men and women respectively. There’s a range of straps – leather, stainless steel, silicone – and the specs are very much the same as the Guess Connect. Snapdragon 2100, Android Wear 2.0, and so on.

Pocket-lint

This Samsung Gear S3 by Arik Levy 

Samsung brought its particular blend of smartwatch technology to Baselworld’s halls, with a showcase for the Gear S3. Not content to just show the Gear S3, it held a press conference to talk about making watches, working with designers and lots of other self-affirming stuff. 

But it did show off a selection of Arik Levy concept models which we rather like. So this is just the Gear S3 that you know and love and we think it looks rather sweet. 

Oh, you’d rather know about the other Samsung stuff?

Pocket-lint

Not this Samsung Gear S3 inspired pocket watch

Well fine. Samsung turned up at Baselworld having got Yvan Arpa to stuff mechanical innards into the body of the Gear S3. The result is a range of concept models that have a Swiss heart with a hint of Samsung about them, which is altogether rather weird and admittedly, not a smartwatch at all.

Concept watches we can appreciate, they look rather nice, even with the massive 3 on the face. But a pocket watch? Come now, it’s a thing of beauty, even if it is rather pointless – unlike the compass version, which points north. Who says that wearables lack direction? 

Hybrids 

Hybrid watches are coming on in a big way, with some manufacturers throwing a lot at this segments of the market. The distinct advantage here is that you can wear something that looks like a conventional watch, with the time and date, but get some secret extras along the way.

Pocket-lint

Marc Jacobs goes ultra cute

You’d probably buy the Marc Jacobs Riley just because it looks cute. It has simple stylings and great use of colours to make a distinctive timepiece, but there’s a connected secret lying within. This is one of the Fossil Group’s new hybrid devices, so it will track your steps and give you discreet notifications.

Those side buttons are programmable too, so you get to choose what they do thanks to the app. Best of all, you don’t need to constantly charge this watch, it will offer these functions without needed a charge every night.

Pocket-lint

Fossil gets slimmer, again

Ok let’s cut to the chase: Fossil is going big on hybrid watches again. It did the same in 2016, offering a wide range of connected features to a range of watches that just look normal. So, if you were thinking of buying a watch, Fossil will do a little more, like alert you to incoming calls.

There’s a full range of models for chaps or gals, loads of styles and choices and they all offer the same functionality. Like that Marc Jacobs watch, programmable buttons means you get to choose what the watch does when you poke it.

Pocket-lint

Guess gets a boost

Guess isn’t just about embracing Android Wear, the company has also adapted the Timex IQ model to add tracking smarts to its own hybrid watch. These watches will track activity, sleep and give you an app to control a lot of what’s happening on your watch, all with no charging required.

There are a choice of 37mm and 41mm models, with stainless steels and leathers for a traditional look, or nylon and silicones for something more sporty.

Pocket-lint

Casio Edifice goes to the races

You might not think the Edifice isn’t a hybrid, but it fuses traditional styling with smart features when connected to the smartphone app via Bluetooth. As Edifice is a sponsor of the Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 team, it’s completely appropriate that the EQB-800 gets a race lap chronograph. 

You’ll get a range of stopwatch functions and all the data can be transferred to your phone and viewed on a graph, with units down to 1/1000sec. There’s also automatic timezones as you travel around the world, and yes, there’s a solar panel to keep the thing powered up.

Samsung quietly announces Gear S3 Classic watch with LTE connectivity

Samsung has given 4G LTE connectivity to its Gear S3 Classic.

The original S3 Classic only offered Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, leaving LTE just for the S3 Frontier model. Samsung hasn’t announced pricing or a release date, but it did confirm you will be able to pick up the new model from US carriers AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless.

Like the standard S3 Classic, the LTE model has a polished silver design, rotating bezel, and 1.3-inch circular AMOLED display. And it runs Tizen OS, Samsung’s alternative to Android Wear. Keep in mind you can now pick up the S3 Classic and S3 Frontier for around $350 (about £280), so we expect the new model to cost around this much (or maybe $399, which was the original price of the S3 Frontier with LTE).

• These are the Samsung Gear S3 smartwatches you’ll never own

You will be able to answer or reject calls, read messages, and access apps with the new S3 Classic. It’s unclear if the added LTE will impact the smartwatch’s size, but the S3 Classic isn’t much smaller than the S3 Frontier, a more ruggedized version with a rubber strap.

We’ve contacted Samsung to find out if the Gear S3 Classic with LTE is coming to the UK and will update when you know more.

• Samsung Gear S3 review: Android Wear, beware, this is the watch to beat
• Watches of Baselworld 2017: From hybrid to smart in all shapes and sizes

Google and Howard University partner for more diversity in tech

Diversity (or the lack thereof) at Silicon Valley companies like Google has been a hot topic in the tech industry of late — just about every major tech company out there now is publishing diversity numbers and pledging to make their workforces more than just white men. Google today has just announced a new partnership with Howard University to help improve its own diversity. As Google VP Bonita Stewart (herself a Howard alum) writes, the new “Howard West” program is a residency at Google’s Mountain View campus for black computer science majors.

The goal is to give those students more exposure and opportunities out in Silicon Valley. “The lack of exposure, access to mentors and role models are critical gaps that Howard West will solve,” Stewart writes. She says that Google has also found “systematic barriers lead to low engagement and enrollment in CS, low retention in CS programs and a lack of proximity and strong relationships between Silicon Valley, HBCUs [Historically Black Colleges and Universities] and the larger African American Community.”

The program will kick off this summer and is open to juniors and seniors in Howard’s CS program. It’ll involve attending Howard West for three months at a time, with students under the instruction of both senior Google engineers and Howard University faculty. This is only the first step for the program — Stewart says that the plan is to scale it up to accommodate students from other HBCUs in the future.

Source: Google

German researchers built a molecule-splitting artificial sun

Scientists from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are testing a novel way to generate hydrogen, a potential green energy source, by using a massive array of lights normally found in movie theaters.

It’s part of the “Synlight” project, which aims to split water molecules into its component hydrogen and oxygen atoms using the power of the sun. Hydrogen can be used as a green fuel source since burning it doesn’t release any greenhouse gasses. But the problem is that hydrogen doesn’t occur naturally here on Earth, you’ve got to break water to get to it.

The Synlight array consists of 149 xenon short-arc lamps, typically used as cinematic spotlights, setup in a honeycomb pattern and all focused on a single 8-inch by 8-inch patch. The amount of energy hitting that space is roughly 10,000 times as intense as natural sunlight and generate temperatures as high as 3,500C. “If you went in the room when it was switched on, you’d burn directly,” Professor Bernard Hoffschmidt, research director at the DLR, told The Guardian.

The point of all this is to figure out how to concentrate natural sunlight to most efficiently split H2O. We obviously can’t use huge bulb arrays like the Synlight — it cost $3.8 million to build and sucks down as much power in 4 minutes as an average German household consumes in a year. But the Sun generates a nearly unlimited supply of energy that just needs to be harnessed. It’s a similar concept to modern solar thermal power plants, though instead of superheating molten salt mixtures to drive steam turbines, this process would produce hydrogen fuel.

Via: The Guardian

Source: AP

Jaguar follows Chevy with unlimited LTE for your car

In-car WiFi is only worth having if you’ve got enough mobile data to make use of it. Following Chevy’s lead, Jaguar Land Rover will offer a pre-paid, unlimited AT&T data plan for $20 a month. The luxury automaker says that you can connect as many as eight devices to the LTE network via the InControl feature on certain models, including the Jaguar XE. If that car sounds familiar, that’s because it’s one of the few that you can make in-car, cashless gas payments from. Would you pony up for the mobile data service? Let us know in the comments.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Jaguar Land Rover

Bloody, meatless Impossible Burger will soon be easier to find

The so-called Impossible Burger debuted last year, but it’s still pretty difficult to get you hands on one. Although it looks, smells and even bleeds like the real thing, the burger’s patty contains no beef, but rather “meat” that’s made from plant proteins. Unfortunately, you can only get one at 10 restaurants in the US — and that’s after more were added this week. Impossible Foods, the company that makes the lab-developed beef substitute, is in the middle of a big expansion that should make the burger more accessible.

The company says that it will expand availability of the Impossible Burger to 1,000 restaurants before the end of the year. It’s able to do so thanks to a massive new factory in Oakland, California with the goal of producing a million pounds of the meat over the course of each month. Impossible Foods says the new facility will reach peak production status before 2018 rolls around.

Today we announced the news of our Oakland facility getting closer to bringing more Impossible Burger to the world. pic.twitter.com/SlPfXFgAc9

— Impossible Foods (@ImpossibleFoods) March 22, 2017

The concept isn’t meant to just give vegans and vegetarians an option that’s more like the real thing. Impossible Foods is also hoping that its burger will entice carnivores as well due to added health benefits and the fact that it’s more environmentally friendly to produce. The company explains that not only does the process use less water and land, but it also cuts down on overall greenhouse gas emissions.

Impossible Foods adds heme, a substance that makes animal blood red, to its vegan items to replicate the characteristics of real beef. Heme is also found in plants, so the company can use it to make its patties smell and sizzle like meat while it’s cooking and bleed like a rare burger, if that’s how you like ’em. Of course, Impossible Foods isn’t the only company coming up with meat alternatives these days. Beyond Meat has the Beyond Burger, for example. There’s also a startup using algae to grow faux shrimp in a lab and another company in San Francisco making “real” cheese without the milk. For all the ways companies are finding to engineer more realistic food substitutes, the only question now is whether or not you’re adventurous enough to eat them.

Source: CNET

Samsung finally has an LTE model of the Gear S3 Classic

If you’re in the market for a new wearable with a retro look, Samsung today announced that its Gear S3 Classic smartwatch is getting 4G LTE connectivity. The original Classic lacked this feature, opting for WiFi instead. S3 fans had to go with the Frontier version if they wanted LTE.

There’s no word yet on how much it will cost or when it will be available, but we do know AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon will offer it. Both the S3 Classic and Frontier currently cost around $350, so it’s likely the new model will be in that range. Like its predecessor, the new S3 Classic will have the same minimalist look and silver rotating bezel, which lets users answer or reject calls, read messages and access apps. It also comes with a 1.3-inch circular display that’s always on so you can check the time, built-in GPS, Tizen OS and Samsung Pay. We don’t know if adding LTE will change the watch’s size, but it’s unlikely, since the original Classic isn’t much smaller than the Frontier.

Via: 9to5Google

Source: BusinessWire

The Wirecutter’s best deals: Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Pro drops to $2,070

This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. When readers choose to buy The Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, they may earn affiliate commissions that support their work. Read their continuously updated list of deals here.

You may have already seen Engadget posting reviews from our friends at The Wirecutter. Now, from time to time, we’ll also be publishing their recommended deals on some of their top picks. Read on, and strike while the iron is hot — some of these sales could expire mighty soon.

Eufy RoboVac 11 robot vacuum

Street price: $220; MSRP: $500; Deal price: $187

This is a new low on our new top pick for best robot vacuum. While this robot vacuum hasn’t been on the market long, this is the best price we’ve seen, a good bit below the $220 street price. Since we don’t have a lot of data on the RoboVac, it’s hard to say how long this sale will last.

The Eufy RoboVac 11 is our new top pick in our guide to the best robot vacuums. Liam McCabe wrote, “The Eufy RoboVac 11 is the smart-money pick for most people who want a robot vacuum cleaner. In our testing and research, the RoboVac 11 was the most likely to complete a cleaning cycle on its own, without getting stuck and waiting for a human to rescue it. That’s the most important part of a robot vacuum’s job, and the Eufy 11 does it better than almost any other model we’ve seen, even those that cost hundreds more. It’s also quieter than most other bots, is one of the lower-cost models to come with a remote control, and the brand (an offshoot of Anker) has a good track record for customer service. Its cleaning power is not particularly strong, and its semi-random navigation system may miss patches of floor. But the 2.5-hour battery life (among the longest we’ve seen) helps to offset those limitations. Overall, it’s good enough to keep the floors tidy in just about any home if you run it at a few times per week, yet costs much less and comes with fewer caveats than any other robot vacuums that can say the same.”

Kryptonite Kryptolok Series 2 U-Lock

Street price: $36; MSRP: $50; Deal price: $26

An excellent price on this Kryptonite bike lock, matching a low we first saw last month. This is nearly always $30 or more, so at $26, this deal represents a great opportunity to save as bike season gets properly geared up. While our guide has been updated to reflect a new top pick, this one is still a great value at this price. Standard shipping is free. This deal ends 3.24.

The Kryptonite Series 2 was our former top pick in our guide for the best bike locks. Eric Hansen wrote, “This isn’t an exciting, novel pick for the best U-lock but it is savvy. Experts, users, and the bike thieves that we interviewed agree that the Series 2 U-lock is strong enough to foil all foilable thieves. It’s also light and comes with a stable, easy-to-mount carrying bracket that fits on virtually all bikes. Kryptonite’s accompanying “insurance”—costing $20 for three years—is the easiest to purchase, thanks to their rare online form. And it pays okay, too. In the event that some jerk destroys the U-lock and makes off with a bike, then Kryptonite pays the homeowners’ or renter’s insurance deductible or the replacement cost of the bike. The cable is just one more layer of security discouraging opportunists from nabbing a wheel or seat.”

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016) with Touch Bar

Street price: $2,400; MSRP: $2,400; Deal price: $2,070

Another nice deal on the 15-inch MacBook Pro, which is continuing to see periodic sales. This $330 drop lowers the price to match the lowest we’ve seen, and for the new 15-inch (2.6GHz i7, 16GB 2133MHz memory, 256SSD) MacBook Pro, it’s a solid deal. It’s available in Space Gray and Silver, but in limited quantities. Shipping is free, but a restocking fee of up to 15 percent may apply for returns.

The MacBook Pro 15-inch is our absolute performance pick in our guide to which MacBook Pro you should buy. Dan Frakes wrote, “The 15-inch MacBook Pro is Apple’s flagship laptop, designed specifically for people who need the best possible performance: In addition to its 2880×1800, 15-inch Retina display—which has the same increased brightness and color gamut as the 13-inch 2016 models—the 15-inch MacBook Pro is the only Mac laptop with a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, and it has faster graphics processors (including both integrated and discrete GPUs), faster RAM, and faster storage.”

August Smart Lock

Street price: $215; MSRP: $230; Deal price: $183

A solid deal on this rarely discounted smart lock. While we’ve seen the August Smart Lock lower during the holiday season of last year, this is the first worthwhile drop since. Both the dark gray and silver colors are available.

The August Smart Lock is our renter/aesthetic pick in our Best Smart Lock guide. Jon Chase writes, “Maybe you’re a renter, and you don’t want to replace your whole lock only to have to move it again later. Or maybe you’re a homeowner, and you like the appearance of your existing setup. In either case, the August Smart Lock is our pick if you want to keep your existing deadbolt. It’s also our pick for Apple HomeKit users. The August hardware replaces only the inside plate and lever of your deadbolt, so the exterior of your door remains unchanged. On its own, the August lock lets you control it with a Bluetooth connection through August’s app, which isn’t as fast as just tapping the Kevo. Similar to the Kevo Plus upgrade, an optional Internet gateway called the August Connect (about $70 extra at this writing) lets you monitor or control the lock remotely from anywhere. Alternatively, you can use an iPad or Apple TV to achieve that same connectivity. When the August lock is integrated with HomeKit, you can open it with Siri or the Home app (if you have iOS 10).”

Because great deals don’t just happen on Thursdays, sign up for our daily deals email and we’ll send you the best deals we find every weekday. Also, deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go to The Wirecutter.com.

Color Switch: If this doesn’t entertain you, then nothing will (Review)

Most of the time, Google Play Store games are not renowned for bringing a lot of content to the table. Sure, there are many games like Clash of Clans and Candy Crush Saga that can keep you playing for ages, but normally games are pretty small and, while providing lots of fun, are lacking in replay value. That’s not the case with Color Switch, developed by Fortafy Games. How does 36 different game modes sound? Good? Great! Let’s explore what Color Switch has in store for us.

Developer: Fortafy Games
Price: Free

Setup

A quick tutorial for a simple gameplay mechanic.

Color Switch will kindly ask you to connect it to Google Play Games. This will in turn enable 20 achievements for your enjoyment, as well as provide leaderboards. When starting a game for the first time, it will show you a small tutorial indicating how to play the game. Controls for Color Switch are extremely simple: you control a ball and need to move it across different obstacles.

These obstacles move, however, so it is trickier than it sounds. Also, your orb has a color, and it is your mission to pass it through the obstacles when the ball is facing an edge with the same color. If you try to pass your orb through another color, then it’s game over.

Overview

As previously said, the main game mode has you going through different obstacles trying to beat your previous high score. The beauty of it is that obstacles change all the time. First you will encounter rotating circles. Then you will find triangles, crosses, lines, and a plethora of different stuff aimed at interrupting your progress.

Each time you clear an obstacle, the color of your orb will change (or switch, if you go by the name), making matters more interesting. This also ramps up the difficulty and means that no two games are ever the same.

Obstacles vary from session to session, so the game never gets repetitive.

If you think that this is all there is to Color Switch, then you are terribly mistaken. There’s a total of 36 different modes. You read that right: 36 modes than vary from each other. Some are themed around a specific event, such as Christmas and Valentine’s day. In others you play a variation of the core gameplay. Either way, they all have different levels you can unlock, providing unparallaled replay value and possibly hours of fun.

There’s also something called Daily Challenge, which lets you perform a quick activity that will earn you a decent amount of stars. These can be used to buy new orbs to control. They don’t change the handling or physics of your token, they just give it a new form. Nevertheless, it’s a nice addition.

General Impressions

A huge amount of game modes are at your disposal.

I know that the next phrase is going to sound cliché. This game is very easy to pickup but very hard to master, and I mean really hard. Like trying to race a Formula 1 with a bicycle hard. Like programming in assembler hard. Like trying to not disappoint your mom hard.

I don’t know if I’ve gotten more incompetent at gaming or something, but I had such a hard time playing the main game mode. I just never got the hang of it. I’m not trying to blame the game, but I just felt incompetent.

Other than that, the multiple game modes are a nice addition, and most of them are fun. Some of them are rather boring, although the constant difficulty increase make up for it. There is so much to do in this game: so many game modes, levels to unlock, and skills to hone. This huge amount of content is something that is very rarely seen on mobile games, so kudos to Fortafy Games for that.

However, I did encounter some problems with stability. Although the game performed flawlessly in the Performance department, I did suffer at least four crashes while testing it.

Graphics

As you might expect from a game called Color Switch, this game is full of colorful items, combined with nice, fluid animations. There’s an animation almost everywhere you see, even when you die. The Game Modes screen is particularly interesting, with each different game mode listed performing its own animation.

Feeling romantic? There is still a Valentine’s Day mode.

In-game, graphics are pretty simple but there’s no need to make them more complicated than that. All of the obstacles move in a fluid way, and the four colors normally used are very distinct from each other, so that there’s absolutely no way of you mixing one for another.

Sound

There are very few sound effects throughout the game (and if there are more, probably I wasn’t worthy of hearing them). Instead, a background song accompanies you throughout the game. Everywhere you go, you will hear this electronic-inspired song. It is pretty good but you may get bored of it as the time progresses.

Ads and In-App Purchases

Hope you do better than me.

A word of warning: while this game is pretty enjoyable, there’s A LOT of ads. There’s a banner ad at the bottom, full-screen static ads, and I even got a video ad once.

The full screen ads appear after several sessions, while the banner ad is there with you at absolutely all moments.

Thankfully, there’s a $2.99 in-app purchase to remove them. There’s also a $7.99 combo that removes the ads, unlocks all levels throughout the game modes, and gives you double stars.

If you buy these items separately, you will spend $10, so think thoroughly before buying stuff and you could save a few bucks.

Conclusion

Color Switch brings almost unparalleled replay value and enticing gameplay with cheerful, vibrant graphics. Even though the difficulty is pretty unforgiving, the abundance of game modes means that you’ll be entertained with this game for ages. The ads problem can be resolved with a simple in-app purchase, leaving very few stuff to complain about. If you’re looking for an easy-to-play game but are not satisfied with the lack of content that Play Store games normally provide, then your search has finally reached its conclusion.

Download and install Color Switch from the Google Play Store.

Steelseries Rival 500 review

Research Center:
Steelseries Rival 500

Buying a gaming mouse is a bit harder than it used to be. Do you go for a simple four button pro model with lightning-fast response times and super-high DPI sensors, or do you go for a more specialized MMO model with dozens of buttons? It’s a difficult choice, but don’t lose hope. You have more options than you think.

The Steelseries Rival 500 is a pro-grade mouse with MMO and MOBA-inspired design. It’s built to be lightweight, fast, and functional, capable of amplifying your performance no matter what game you’re playing. With 15 buttons and a best-in-class optical sensor, it seems like the Rival 500 would be up to the task, but let’s take a closer look and find out for sure.

Wide, but comfortable

The Rival 500 works hard to bridge the gap between MMO and eSports mice, and for the most part it succeeds, providing the best of both worlds in its intuitive design. But there’s still a question you’ll have to ask yourself to find out if this mouse is for you. Do you prefer a wide mouse, or a narrow mouse?

The additional buttons never feel like they’re in the way.

This is a very wide mouse. Your fingers rest comfortably within reach of all the Rival’s 15 buttons, but the body of the mouse will fill up your palm, and there isn’t a hollow on the right side of the mouse for your pinky to rest in.

Looking at the Logitech G403 Prodigy, or the Razer DeathAdder Elite, you can see the difference in overall body shape. The G403 and DeathAdder Elite are slender, and your thumb and pinky rest in contours on either side of the body. The Rival 500 has one contour for your thumb, flanked by buttons above and below, but your pinky and ring finger just drape over the right side of the mouse.

It’s a design that some users will love, and others will hate. If you generally prefer narrow mice, the Rival 500 is not for you. However, if you like a fuller mouse, something that fills your hand when you’re using it, the Rival’s design will be a pleasant surprise.

Feels worse than it looks

The soft-touch materials covering the Rival 500’s exterior feel chalky to the touch, but in use you don’t notice it too much. That said, the material has a bad habit of attracting smudges and oils. Even right out of the box, the powdery-feeling soft-touch material looks a little dirty, and it only gets worse with use.  Compared to the Razer DeathAdder Elite and Logitech G403, the Rival feels similar, but not quite as slick, and it’s a magnet for smudges.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

What would a gaming mouse be without lights? The Steelseries Rival 500 has built-in RGB lighting in two lighting zones — the logo on the back of the mouse, and the accent lighting on the scroll wheel. Both zones can be changed independently, or set to cycle a pattern of colors using the Steelseries Engine software.

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The lights are surprisingly bright, almost too bright, as the internal lighting can leak out between the mouse buttons and be a little overbearing in a dark room. Compared to the Razer DeathAdder Elite, the Rival 500’s LED lighting is much brighter, if a bit less vibrant.

Thoughtful design

Button placement is a big deal for gaming mice, and all too often a good mouse is spoiled by poor placement of extraneous buttons. Thankfully, the button placement on the Rival 500 is superb. Just placing your hand on it, in a resting position, your fingers are only on the two main buttons, while all the others are within reach with minor adjustments.Hitting the six thumb-side buttons is easy and doesn’t require any major repositioning — just a little shift up, down, left, or right. Accidentally hitting buttons is actually pretty hard.

There’s one other feature that the Rival 500 has that, um, rivals, might not: haptic feedback. This mouse has built-in vibration functionality, and you can customize vibration pattern and delay.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

To be clear, it’s not typical gamepad-style vibration. You’re not going to feel the mouse buck every time you fire a gun in Overwatch. Instead, using the included Steelseries Engine software, you can set the vibration to fire every time one of your abilities goes off cooldown, by telling the software how long to wait after a certain trigger (like the press of a key) to fire the vibration.

It’s an interesting feature, and once you get it working it’s nice to have. But setting up the macros can take a bit of trial and error, and it’s more of an MMO feature than a MOBA or FPS feature. Using it in Heroes of the Storm or Overwatch, you’d have to set up different macros for different heroes, as everyone’s cooldowns are different.

Poorly executed

Before we start discussing build quality, it’s important to point out that the Steelseries Rival 500 is an $80 mouse. That’s not a bad price point, but for that price you can afford to be a little picky about overall quality.

While the design is innovative, the build quality leaves much to be desired.

Unfortuantely, the Steelseries Rival 500 doesn’t feel like an $80 mouse. The body feels empty and hollow, the plastic on the side-buttons has a troubling amount of flex, and the soft-touch material feels almost chalky.

The quality of the cord isn’t what you’d expect at this price point, either. When straightening out the kinks which naturally occur in any wired mouse’s cord, the sheath starts to wrinkle, and sharp kinks cause the internal wires to flex.

By comparison, the Logitech G403 has a solid, if standard, cord. Its simple plastic sheath is thick and durable, comparable to a standard smartphone charging cord in thickness and weight. Looking at the Steelseries Rival 500’s cord, it’s similar to the kind of cord you’d find on a cheap pair of earbuds.

Robust and full-featured

Steelseries manufactures a lot of different peripherals, and they all work well with its Steelseries Engine software. The Rival 500 is no exception. The attractive UI lays out the options and capabilities of the Rival 500 in simple, approachable terms, lighting options and macros are easily accessible.

Steelseries Rival 500 Compared To

Razer Turret

Evoluent VerticalMouse C Right

Cougar 450M gaming mouse

Razer Diamondback (2015)

Razer Mamba (2015)

Mionix Castor

Razer Mamba Tournament Edition

Cougar 300M

Cougar 550M

Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic Desktop

Genius Gila GX

Logitech G600 MMO

Roccat Isku and Kone+

Apple Magic Trackpad

Motormouse 2.4G

The software functions well on Windows 10 and Mac OS, and if you sign in and save your profiles, your macros and custom lighting can follow you even if you from one device to another.

You can set up multiple profiles for each device, re-map every button, change the lighting, and change DPI settings all from within the Steelseries Engine software. It’s not as troublesome or finicky as the Razer Synapse platform can be, and it has a much more robust UI than you’ll typically find on Logitech’s offerings.

Warranty information

The Steelseries Rival 500 is covered by a one year warranty against manufacturer defects, which explicitly excludes coverage for damage caused by wear and tear.

Our Take

The Steelseries Rival 500 is a decent gaming mouse with some interesting and unique features, but it’s not without a few faults. While the overall design is innovative and intuitive, the build quality leaves much to be desired, and the cord doesn’t inspire confidence.

How long will it last?

As a dedicated wired mouse, the cord is of vital importance. Over its lifetime, it will be tugged on, creased, crushed — and we’re just not sure this cord would survive even half as long as the actual mouse would. It feels cheap, and even during early testing it started to display creases and fatigue.

The mouse itself feels solid, generally. The body doesn’t have much flex, banging it around on a desk doesn’t reveal any unusual rattling, but the side-fin buttons have a bit too much flex, and the soft-touch material coating the body is a magnet for oils.

The DT Accessory Pack

Razer DeathAdder Elite

$65.90

SteelSeries Arctis 5 Gaming Headset

$99.99

Razer BlackWidow Chroma Clicky Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

$135.56

Is there a better alternative?

Here’s the problem the Steelseries Rival 500 faces. The $80 gaming mouse market is fiercely competitive. Search Amazon for “gaming mouse,” set your price max at $80, and you’ll find dozens of competitors that would perform as well, or nearly as well, as the Rival 500.

The Razer Deathadder Elite offers similar functionality in a sleek and high-quality package, with a durable braided cord. The Logitech MX Master provides dozens of power-user options in an attractive, wireless, package. Cougar’s 550M is a solid all-rounder.

The Logitech G403 Prodigy offers better overall build quality with similar levels of functionality — though it doesn’t vibrate or have nearly as many buttons.

Should you buy it?

Only if you absolutely need a mouse with more than 10 buttons. The Steelseries Rival 500 features a superb button layout. Just be sure to invest in a good microfiber cloth to keep this thing clean, and treat the cord gingerly.

If you want a general gaming mouse, though, you’re better off with a competitor that offers more features, and better build quality, for the same price.