DJI Spark review

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DJI Spark

Last month, DJI pulled the curtain back on its newest drone — a pint-sized powerhouse called the Spark — during a press event in New York City. It’s the company’s most compact drone yet, so we stuffed one in a backpack, brought it back to Portland, and have been flying it nonstop for the past two weeks. Here’s how it went:

A lot of features for a Twinkie-sized drone

If there’s one thing DJI is good at, it’s stuffing a ton of features and functionality into increasingly small drones — and nothing showcases this talent more than the Spark. Despite the fact that the drone’s hull is roughly the size of a Twinkie, DJI somehow managed to cram in many of the same goodies you’d find under the hood of the Spark’s bigger, bulkier, and more expensive brothers.

Aside from its tiny and hyper-portable design, the Spark’s biggest feature is arguably its plethora of intelligent flying modes. In addition to DJI’s standard stuff, the Spark sports a handful of brand-new modes, including Rocket, Dronie, Circle, and Helix (more on those in a moment). The drone also comes with gesture recognition abilities, which allow it to be operated without a smartphone or controller.

Spark is one of the hardiest drones we’ve ever encountered.

Another big addition is Spark’s obstacle avoidance system. While the ability to sense and avoid objects is usually a feature reserved for larger drones, DJI went ahead and built one into the hull of the Spark. It’s not quite as robust as what you’ll find on the Phantom 4, or even the Mavic Pro, but it still serves its purpose, and helps you avoid crashes.

Oh, and let’s not forget about the camera. In addition to a 12-megapixel camera that shoots video in 1080p at 30 frames per second, the Spark also sports a two-axis gimbal. This lets it mechanically stabilize the camera and cancel out any jarring, shaky movements — resulting in smoother, better-looking footage. This also gives it a leg up on the competition; most selfie drones only feature single-axis mechanical stabilization.

A sturdy, colorful little drone

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: DJI makes some of the sturdiest, most well-designed drones in the game — and the Spark is no exception. It might actually be the toughest drone the company has ever produced. With short arms, no legs, and a tucked away camera, there’s not much on this drone that’s likely to break in the event of a crash. We wouldn’t trust it to survive a big plummet onto a hard surface, but if you’re flying over grass or carpeting, this little guy could probably drop two-dozen feet without suffering any serious damage. The most likely items to break are the props, and those are cheap and easy to replace. All in all, Spark is one of the hardiest drones we’ve ever encountered, and the build quality is top notch.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

The overall design isn’t particularly remarkable, though. Sure, it’s small and compact — but not so tiny that it’s a game-changer. Truth be told, it’s not really much smaller than the competition. Yuneec’s Breeze drone is only slightly larger than the Spark, and drones like the Hover Camera Passport and ZeroTech Dobby are actually more compact and portable. Don’t get us wrong — the Spark is extremely well designed and impressively small considering the tech it carries, but it’s definitely in the middle of the pack when it comes to portability.

There is one design element that really helps the Spark stand out from the crowd — both literally and figuratively. Unlike any other drone we’ve seen, this little bugger comes in a rainbow of different colors. The swappable top plate is currently available in white, red, yellow, blue, and green — and we’re willing to bet other colors/patterns/designs are on the way. It’s not a groundbreaking addition, but it’s certainly nice to have color options.

DJI Spark Compared To

DJI Inspire 2

Parrot Bebop 2 FPV

Hover Camera Passport

DJI Mavic Pro

3DR Solo Drone

DJI Phantom 4 Pro

Yuneec Breeze

Parrot DISCO FPV

eHang Ghostdrone 2.0

HEXO+

Horizon Hobby Chroma

Yuneec Typhoon H drone

Yuneec Typhoon Q500 4K

Parrot BeBop Drone

dji Phantom 2 Vision+

Average fly time and recharge speed

DJI’s official specs say the Spark’s battery is good for 16 minutes of flight time with a full charge and optimal flying conditions. Real-world performance is usually a different story — so we grabbed a stopwatch, sent the Spark into the air, and let it hover in place until it had to come down for an emergency landing. From takeoff to touchdown, the drone managed 14 minutes and 10 seconds of airtime. During normal flight — while making full use of the drone’s motors, sensors, and processing power — we averaged about 13 minutes of flight time.

That’s not the full 16 minutes that DJI printed on the box, but it’s still decent — and puts the Spark well ahead of competitors like the Yuneec breeze (~11 minutes) and Hover camera Passport (~9 minutes). That said, all these mini drones come with two batteries, which means the Spark can get about 26 minutes of flight time per outing, as compared to the Breeze’s 22 or the Passport’s 18. DJI has an edge when it comes to stamina.

You can expect to spend about 45 minutes on the cradle to juice it back up to 100 percent. This will vary depending on how much you drain the battery, but if you go until the Spark performs a low-power emergency landing, that’s about how long it’ll take. If you land after the first low battery warning, it will only take about 30-35 minutes.

Nimble, stable, and packed with intelligence

On paper, the Spark doesn’t really stand out from the competition all that much — but you can feel the difference once you get it in the air. In terms of raw flight performance, DJI leaves everyone else in the dust.

Just like the company’s Mavic, Phantom, and Inspire drones, the Spark provides a very tight and responsive flying experience. It’s quick, nimble, and impressively stable for a drone of its size. Even in windy conditions, it does a fantastic job of mitigating drift and holding its position. When you let off the control sticks, Spark stops dead in its tracks and stays there until you command it to do otherwise. Usually, smaller drones are squirrelly and unstable, but nothing could be further from the truth in this case.

Dan Baker/Digital Trends

Another big plus is the Spark’s built-in obstacle avoidance system. This is something you simply won’t find on other portable drones, and it adds to the flying experience in a big way. With a maximum sensing distance of just 16 feet, it’s not nearly as robust as the sense-and-avoid systems built into DJI’s more expensive drones, but it’s still pretty damn decent, and saved us from crashing on more than one occasion. Even if you’re not an experienced pilot, the Spark’s sensing system helps you fly with confidence and vigor.

What really makes Spark special, though, is its wide range of intelligent flight modes. This thing was designed from the ground up to be super easy to fly. In addition to DJI’s standard offerings like TapFly and Active Track, it sports a handful of brand-new modes that allow anybody to capture really good-looking, cinematic footage without any piloting skills whatsoever.

Aside from the standard stuff that’s included in every new DJI drone, the Spark has four new flight options. There’s Rocket (in which the drone will quickly ascend with camera pointing down), Dronie (where it will fly up and backward while staying locked on subject), Circle (orbit while staying locked on), and Helix (orbit outward in a spiral pattern). All of these can be executed with just a few taps on your smartphone, which is pretty cool. Thanks to DJI, you don’t need to be a seasoned drone pilot to capture professional-looking shots.

Sadly, it lacks 4K shooting

Perhaps the only downside to the Spark is the fact that it doesn’t have a 4K camera, or the ability to shoot raw photos. The drone’s shooter boasts a 1/2.3” CMOS sensor that can shoot 12 megapixel stills and capture video in 1080p at 30 frames per second. That isn’t necessarily bad, it just isn’t 4K, which is something that a lot of other portable drones offer — including the Yuneec Breeze, Hover Camera Passport, and ZeroTech Dobby.

You don’t need to be a seasoned drone pilot to capture professional-looking shots.

Since DJI was late to the game and had every opportunity to outdo the competition here, it’s puzzling why the company chose not to include a 4K camera. Everything else on the Spark is at the top of its class, so why not the camera? We don’t have any proof, but our theory is that DJI was worried about cannibalizing Mavic Pro sales. The Spark has a very similar set of features and abilities, but costs just half of what the Mavic does, so if DJI gave the Spark a 4K camera, suddenly there wouldn’t be much reason to choose the Mavic anymore.

The lack of 4K is definitely a bummer, but the Spark’s camera does have a bunch of other features that the competition doesn’t, like a two-axis gimbal for stabilizing your video, and a variety of different shooting modes for still photography — like burst shooting and auto exposure bracketing. It also has a new feature called Shallow Focus, which uses the drone’s vision system to blur the background and create an artificial (but convincingly realistic) depth-of-field effect.

All things considered, it’s definitely not a bad camera. It might not have the resolution that other portable selfie drones have, but what it lacks in pixels it (mostly) makes up for with other features.

Our Take

The Spark is easily one of the best portable drones available right now. Despite the fact that it can’t shoot 4K video like some of its competitors, it outshines the competition in just about every other regard. It’s faster, smarter, can fly for longer periods of time, and is definitely the most reliable in its class — so if you don’t mind shooting in 1080p, this drone would make a fantastic companion on your next adventure.

Are there better options available?

That depends entirely on what you’re after.

If you want high-resolution video, then no. You’d be better off with a Yuneec Breeze or Hover Camera Passport. If you don’t mind dropping a bit more moolah, DJI’s Mavic Pro also offers 4K video in a compact and portable form factor, but it costs $1,000.

If what you’re after is bang for your buck, then go with the Breeze. It’s been around for nearly a year at this point, so its price has dropped from $500 down to under $400 — yet it offers many of the same features that the Spark does.

If you’re a beginner looking for something affordable and fun to fly, then Spark is your best bet. It’s durable, reliable, and has sensors that will help you avoid crashing. It also has upgrade options that allow you to scale up and grow your skills as you progress as a pilot — such as a physical controller that boosts responsiveness and extends the drone’s range up to 1.2 miles. For more thoughts, read up on our favorite drones, favorite cheap drones, and favorite drones for beginners.

How long will it last?

DJI has a pretty solid track record for pushing out regular firmware updates for its drones, and there’s no reason to think Spark would be an exception. Barring any catastrophic crashes, this drone will probably last for upwards of five years.

Should you buy it?

Yes. This is a damn fine little drone, and definitely one of the best in its class.

Airstream’s Interstate Grand Tour EXT is the ultimate self-contained luxury van

Why it matters to you

Before you put money down on a condo, consider another way to both live and travel in style.

Van travel and van camping have always been popular, but Airstream’s Interstate Grand Tour EXT sets a high bar for over-the-road luxury travel without jumping way up in size to a much larger Class-A motor home. The only compromise you’ll have to make with the Grand Tour EXT is when you end your journey to stay someplace else. Maybe you’ll decide not to switch.

Airstream’s touring coaches are the most upscale production Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Class B recreation vehicles you can buy, short of having one custom made. Other companies such as RoadTrek and PleasureWay have admirable Sprinter-based campers, including RoadTrek’s flagship E-Trek with a 470-watt rooftop solar panel, but Airstream checks off more boxes on the “don’t-you-wish-you-had-it?” list.

Airstream’s Sprinter-based vans come standard with every Mercedes-Benz safety feature available for the Sprinter including front and rear parking assist, lane keeping assist, blind spot assist, collision prevention assist, and more. There are cameras on the rear and each side of the vehicle — the rear camera view is always displayed on a monitor in the driver’s cockpit when the engine is turned on.

The Sprinter 3500 Extended chassis drives like a much smaller vehicle. The 185-horsepower, 3.0-liter V6 BlueTEC turbo diesel engine provides ample acceleration and 325 pound-feet of torque while still delivering an estimated 18 plus miles to the gallon — almost twice the mileage of many class A motor homes.

The Airstream Interstate Grand Tour EXT is 24 feet, 4.5 inches long. Interior height is just shy of 6 feet, 8 inches. It carries 24.5 gallons of fuel and is rated to tow up to 5,000 pounds.

To help with driving and towing the Interstate has a load-adaptive electronic stability program (ESP) and trailer stability assist. For the greatest comfort and driveability in motion, choose the optional air ride suspension with automatic electronically controlled ride height. The air ride suspension and optional four-wheel drive are available in limited quantities so you may have to look further to find these additional enhancements.

The Grand Tour EXT model has seats in front for the driver and co-pilot. The Lounge EXT model has four seats up front, but the Grand Tour version allows a larger galley with more counter space, larger refrigerator and freezer, a workspace desk directly behind the swivel driver’s seat, and extra storage.

In the rear of the vehicle, the Grand Tour EXT is available with twin beds or a power sofa that converts to a queen-size bed. Both versions provide extra seating while on the road. There’s also a bathroom with a sink and mirror, toilet, shower, and retractable clothes line.

The lengthy standard equipment list includes combination electric and LP water heating, a 12-volt and 110-volt refrigerator, microwave, cooktop, Corian counters and backsplash, LPG generator, two 12-volt deep cycle coach batteries, a 50-amp charge, 1,000-watt inverter, 30-amp/110-volt shore power, and even a 100-watt solar panel on the roof.

Windshield wipers and headlamps function automatically. Each Airstream is equipped with smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, an LP gas detector, and a fire extinguisher.

A footless 19-foot powered awning with adjustable LED lights is standard as is a power entry step. The exterior has additional LED patio lighting, an LP grill hookup, and cable or satellite outlets.

The Airstream Interstate Grand Tour EXT starts at $156,611. Additional options including the $7,500 air ride suspension can push the list price close to $170,000.

That’s a lot of money, to be sure, but this highly driveable and desirable van combines Airstream and Mercedes-Benz luxury and quality for adventurous travel. With the right trailer to haul a two-door Wrangler and two smallish, dual-sport motorcycles (keeping under 5,000 pounds), you might find it hard to justify any other residence.

Livemap brings improved design and more integration to its AR helmet

Why it matters to you

Using Livemap’s AR helmet, you could have a better idea of where your going and even live-stream your trip.

Augmented reality is on its way, but until we have AR devices that look like normal glasses, we are unlikely to see real consumer adoption. But that does not mean we will not start seeing AR applied to certain specific situations — like, for example, inside your next motorcycle helmet.

One company trying to bring the motorcycle into the 21st century is Livemap, which recently showed off its third prototype at the Augmented World Expo show in Santa Clara, California. But what’s new in the helmet? We first checked out the Livemap helmet last year, and it seems like there are some serious improvements this time around.

The helmet basically makes use of a small display, which acts as a surface for a projector, which is located at the bottom of the helmet. Inside, you will also find a microphone, built-in camera, and even small speakers that act as headphones when the helmet is on.

The obvious use for this system is Maps, but Livemap wants to go far beyond simply mapping the road ahead. According to Russian entrepreneur Andrew Artishchev, who is behind the Livemap helmet, the company is shooting to implement your phone and even social media through integration with YouTube and Facebook Live. In other words, thanks to the built-in camera you could stream your motorcycle trip to your Facebook friends.

This particular prototype is largely aimed at making small refinements over the previous one — and one of the main ways it does this is by being much lighter. That’s thanks to its carbon-fiber build. The new prototype also has a better optical system, ensuring a slightly clearer display, making sure you can see where you are going.

The software inside the helmet is based on Android, and Livemap hopes that third-party developers will build apps for it in the long run.

Livemap is set to demo another prototype at CES next year, but it is shooting on a wider consumer release for next summer. In the meantime, it is looking for funding to get the helmet out to the public and hopefully take over where the likes of Skully, a tech-based motorcycle helmet that failed, left off. You can keep up with Livemap’s offerings through its website.

Want a PC gamepad, but don’t like the Xbox controller? Use one for the PS3

Update: Copy revised for accuracy and additional clarity. 

Nearly four years into a new console generation, the PlayStation 3 is all but extinct. Gamers have few reasons to break out their PS3 (unless they need an oversized paperweight). Still, if you’ve got a game-worthy PC, those old PlayStation controllers can be put to good use. All you’ll need is a few minutes and a Mini USB cable –which currently runs less than $2 on Amazon — and you can sync your controller with your PC. If that interests you, we’ve thrown together the guide below, so you can ditch the mouse and keyboard for something a bit more traditional.

Update Drivers and .NET Framework

First, connect your PS3 controller to your PC via USB, and Windows should begin installing an initial set of drivers. Some of these are likely already installed on your system, but just in case, make sure you’ve got the official Xbox 360 PC driver, .NET Framework 4.0, and Visual C++ (2010 or later should work). If you’re running Windows 10, the Xbox driver should install automatically, but you may need to download it manually if you’re running an older operating system.

You can check your currently installed drivers by opening Command Prompt and typing in “driverquery,” before hitting the Enter key. Once you’ve installed all the relevant drivers, it’s time to download the third-party software that will enable your DualShock 3 controller to work with your PC.

Download and Install SCP Driver Package

Head to the official SCP Toolkit download thread and click the green link to download the latest stable release. If you’re using an older version of Windows, you will need a tool like 7-Zip to extract the files; Windows 10 has a native decompression tool. Once downloaded and extracted, launch the executable file — “ScToolkit_Setup.exe” — as an administrator to install the software.

Once installed, you’ll be prompted to open the program, which will actually install additional drivers (it sounds more complicated than it is). If you don’t see this prompt, search for “Scp” and select ScpToolkit Driver Installer.

Go ahead and run the installer, and a new window will open. Be sure all the boxes are checked, including Force Driver Installation. From the Choose DualShock 3 drop-down menu, find and select your DualShock 3 controller. If you also plan to use either a DualShock 4 or a Bluetooth dongle to enable wireless play, select those as well. Finally, click Install. All the necessary files will install and be automatically configured. Once complete, your DualShock 3 will now be plug-and-play, meaning you can plug it in at any time and it should work automatically.

Something to keep in mind: Since you’re technically using the Xbox 360 drivers to interact with the PS3 controller, games will likely display an Xbox control scheme. So when a game wants you to “press X,” you’ll want to hit the Circle button instead.

Step 3: Creating a Profile

At this point, your DualShock 3 is ready to go. However, if you’re so inclined, you can fine-tune your controller through various applications included with the ScpToolkit.

By using the ScpToolkit Profile Manager and the ScpToolkit Settings Manager, you can customize your controller experience to suit your needs and individual play style. With the Profile manager, you can create custom button mappings that you can then swap between on the fly. You can also create mapping for your keyboard and mouse as well. The Settings Manager will even allow you to fine-tune your thumbstick sensitivity, rumble, controller latency, and LED display, among a lot of other advanced settings.

Troubleshooting for Windows 10

Windows 10 can be picky with controllers. Microsoft’s operating system is, unsurprisingly, designed to work with Xbox One accessories and the Xbox Live ecosystem: It isn’t naturally suited for a Sony device, especially an outdated one. While the ScpToolkit circumvents most of the issues users may face when using the DualShock 3 on their PC, there may be errors during the installation process. Thankfully, there is a workaround to enable driver installation. It may be wise, however, to back up important files before proceeding, even if the procedure isn’t necessarily dangerous. You will be changing Windows startup settings, after all.

Begin by pressing the Start button, or the Windows key.
Go to Settings.
Click on Update and Security.
Select Recovery from the list on the left.
Click Advanced Restart.

Now wait. Your system will restart and boot in a mode that will allow you to alter your firmware and startup settings, thus allowing you to bypass the driver signature enforcement.
Select Troubleshoot from the resulting list of options.
Click Advanced Settings, then Startup Settings. This will initiate another restart.
After your system boots again, you will have another set of options to choose from. Find Disable Driver Signature Enforcement, then press the F7 Key to reboot your PC one last time.
When your PC finishes rebooting, follow the procedures outlined above to reinstall and configure ScpToolkit.

Google will punish developers who incentivize reviews to boost app visibility

Why it matters to you

If you’re downloading apps from the Google Play Store, it’s important to be aware that some of the reviews and installs might not be completely credible.

Google has added a new developer policy to make sure the Google Play Store reviews remain unbiased. The new policy prohibits developers from using “incentivized ratings, reviews, and installs” to yet again, manipulate the ratings of their apps.

Last year, Google announced improvements in fighting spam and fraudulent installs by rolling out improved detection and filtering systems to monitor manipulated app rankings through third-party services. But developers found another way to cheat the system by bribing people instead.

Developers are increasingly incorporating tactics like giving away free goods or money in exchange for users to provide positive reviews of their app. This boosts the app visibility on featured lists or top charts, regardless of how many people are using or installing it. These incentivized strategies give developers a head start on revenue as soon as the app is released rather than gambling on whether or not it will reach top charts organically.

Higher visibility increases the chances of consumers downloading the app once they see it’s highly-ranked, along with a stream of consistently good reviews and a large number of downloads. Once reviews come in from genuine users, the false reviews eventually disappear among the new ones — making it seem as though all users downloaded the app solely based on it’s popularity. If developers do violate the policy, their app gets filtered out of the top lists or their library of apps are deleted off the store completely.

However, these incentivized reviews and installations still interrupt the flow of the rest of the app rankings throughout the Play Store. They bump down apps that earned their spot on the featured lists or top charts from real user experiences, and take their place instead.

It’s always a good idea to take a look at app reviews before downloading an app, as too many positive reviews can be a potential sign the app developer uses incentivized strategies.

Biosensing tattoos could soon clue you in on your health status with a glance

Why it matters to you

Smart tattoos that act as health trackers would take wearable tech to the next level.

Tattoos can make for interesting skin decoration, but could they also be made to act like wearable devices by offering up health-related or other biometric insights, through the use of biosensing ink? A new project called the Dermal Abyss certainly believes so — and it’s got the proof-of-concept to back it up.

A collaboration between MIT researchers Katia Vega, Xin Liu, Viirj Kan and Nick Barry and Harvard Medical School researchers Ali Yetisen and Nan Jiang, the Dermal Abyss demonstrates the enormous potential of culturally and medically integrated biosensing tattoos, which change color to signal changes in the body’s metabolism. Part tech demo and part philosophical inquiry, the work raises questions like whether we might be willing to publicly display protected health information in exchange for easier access to knowledge of our own bodies.

“The utilization of tattooed biosensors can provide measurements of biomolecules for continuous monitoring,” Vega told Digital Trends “We replace traditional inks with biosensors that colorimetrically index the concentration of sodium, glucose, and H+ ions (pH) in the interstitial fluid of the skin: the pH sensor changes between purple and pink and the glucose sensor between blue and brown; the sodium and a second pH sensor fluoresce at a higher intensity under UV light. Some examples would be for diabetes, dehydration or controlling a pH levels. This work shows the potential of tattooing biosensors in the skin for applications in medical diagnostics, quantified self, and data encoding in the body.”

At present, the biosensing inks have been limited to tests on pig skin, although Vega says that response from the general public has been extremely favorable — suggesting that there is a definite market here, should someone be willing to capitalize on it.

“We are glad to have a positive response from the public to this project,” she said. “In the same way that the wearables industry is integrating fashion practices in their development, we envision new partnerships between the biotech companies and skin professionals such as prosthesis experts and tattooists in order to embrace the idea of human-device symbiosis. The purpose of the work is to highlight a novel possibility for biosensors rather than bring a medical device to market. As such, there are currently no plans to develop The Dermal Abyss as a product or to pursue clinical trials.”

Best microSD Cards for Amazon Fire Tablet

The Amazon Fire Tablet is a great investment, but it tends to run out of space quickly. Here are some ways to expand it without breaking the bank.

Updated June, 2017: Updated some pricing and added note of new models beginning to ship. These are still the best microSD cards for your Fire tablet!

Whether you have a Fire Tablet for yourself or your kids, you’ve probably noticed that the internal storage doesn’t go very far. You can easily fill it up with some games, a few apps, and media, which is a bit disappointing. Instead of trying to figure out what to delete, and how to better manage the storage, why not make things easier and add a microSD card so it can hold more?

There are tons of great microSD cards out there, and not all of them are expensive. Depending on your needs, you can get cards with as little as 8GB or as much as 200GB. Whether you are waiting for your brand new Amazon Fire tablet to arrive, or are using the previous generation, here are some great options you will want to consider.

• SanDisk 64GB microSD
• Samsung 32GB microSD
• Kingston Digital 64GB microSD
• PNY Elite 128GB microSD
• SanDisk 200GB microSD

SanDisk 64GB microSD

SanDisk is a well-known brand when it comes to portable storage, and its cards are almost always highly recommended. The company offers a bunch of different cards in different storage capacities, and this one is specifically made for the Fire Tablets and Fire TV. For most of what you will do with your Fire Tablet, the microSDXC UHS-I will be fast enough to meet your needs. It may take a few minutes longer for the initial transfer of information to the card, but after that, you won’t notice much of a difference.

With 64GB of extra storage, you’ll easily be able to install a ton of new apps, save music and movies locally to access whenever you want, and much more. Priced at around $20, it’s hard to find a much better value than this microSD card.

See at Amazon

Samsung 32GB microSD

Samsung has been making storage products for quite some time and has been offering extremely affordable microSD cards as well. You won’t find the smaller sizes, like 8GB or 16GB from Samsung, but from 32GB all the way up to 256GB, you’ll find great deals. This high-performance card offers transfer speeds of up to 80MB/s, and they’re built to last. These cards are water-, temperature-, magnetic-, and even X-ray-proof.

All of these good things must mean that it is on the pricey side, right? Wrong. A 32GB card will only set you back around $18, which is less than many people pay to go see a movie.

See at Amazon

Kingston Digital 64GB microSD

Kingston’s 64GB microSD offers slightly higher read speeds than the others, at around 90MBps, and read speeds of 45MB per second. While these differences may be small, and only a few seconds each time, that can add up over the months and years that you use the tablet. Another great feature of the cards is the included SD adapter which allows you to put the microSD card in your computer, camera or anything else that takes a full sized SD card.

Coming in at just over $30 it is more expensive than some of the competition, but the included adapter and faster speeds help make up for the price difference.

See at Amazon

PNY Elite 128GB microSD

If you are looking for more storage, PNY may make the card for you. The company makes a variety of different sizes at different price points, and the 128GB sits at a pretty sweet spot. It may be more than you need initially, but having extra space is never really a bad thing. With it you can load tons of movies, endless amounts of apps and pictures, and have to worry very little about filling it up.

Of course, the more storage you get the more it will cost. PNY is quite reasonable with pricing, having this card listed at around $70 right now.

See at Amazon

SanDisk 200GB microSD

200GB is the largest capacity that the Fire Tablet is meant to use, and you may just want to purchase a microSD of that size to put in and forget that it is there. Sure, 200GB is a lot of space to have, but do you want to have to worry about storage ever again? A few years ago it would have cost a fortune to put that much storage inside your tablet, but now it is totally affordable.

You can usually find a pretty good deal on this card, making it run anywhere from $65 to $80, which is a great price for how much it can hold. If you don’t want to worry about what you have on the tablet or deleting one thing to install another, you’ll want to get one of these right now!

See at Amazon

Your favorite?

Do you have a favorite microSD card that isn’t listed here? If so, be sure to drop a link and brief description of why you like that one so others can check it out as well!

Best Buy already offering open-box unlocked Galaxy S8 for $638, GS8+ for $726

A nice discount on a great phone.

There are legitimate questions surrounding whether or not you should go with a U.S. unlocked Galaxy S8, but for those who are all-in on the unlocked bandwagon this is a great deal. Just a week after the U.S. unlocked Galaxy S8 and S8+ went on sale, Best Buy is already offering “open-box excellent” condition Galaxy S8s for nearly $100 off — setting you back just $637.99. The open-box Galaxy S8+ is $725.99, also nearly $100 off.

See at Best Buy

What does “open-box excellent” mean? Well, Best Buy describes it as “Product looks brand new and includes all original parts and accessories.” That means we’re basically talking about phones that were purchased (perhaps as a gift), and then returned within their return window. Since Best Buy can’t technically sell it as “new” anymore, it has to drop the price and sell as an open-box deal — even though the phone shows no signs of use.

This is effectively a brand new phone for nearly $100 off.

There are apparently enough of these open-box models that Best Buy is even selling them online, so you don’t have to go to a local store and hunt down the deal. Rather than the free two-day shipping that Best Buy offers on its new products, these open-box units are free “standard” shipping — but hey, you’re also saving a good chunk of change on the phone.

Is anyone tempted by the thought of saving $100 on the U.S. unlocked Galaxy S8 or S8+ just by snagging an open-box unit? Let us know in the comments!

Where to buy the HTC Vive Deluxe Audio Strap

Can I buy the Vive Deluxe Audio Strap?

The HTC Vive’s Deluxe Audio strap delivers a significantly different VR experience, both in how the Vive fits on your head and how everything connects together to deliver sound. Now that the new strap has hit the market, you might be wondering exactly where you can pick one up.

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These are the Chromebooks that can run Android apps from Google Play

Android — and 1,000,000+ apps — on your Chromebook is awesome.

Updated June 2017: The method to enable unofficial server-side support for certain Chromebooks has been changed and updated.

But not every Chromebook is going to get updated to have Google Play and Android apps. And most of the ones that will are in a long testing process.

We all hate waiting. And we all hate updates that break things. Google and the people who made your Chromebook are trying to make sure everything is good and keep the wait time to a minimum, but still — we all hate waiting!

Things are progressing. Here’s the current state of Android on Chromebooks and Chromeboxes.

Chromebooks with Android apps available in the stable channel

Make sure you have the latest version of Chrome and look in your settings if you don’t have a Play Store app. You can enable it there by checking the box.

• Acer Chromebook R11
• AOpen Chromebok Mini
• AOpen Chromebase Mini
• ASUS Chromebook Flip C100PA
• Google Chromebook Pixel (2015)
• Samsung Chromebook Plus

Chromebooks with Android support in the beta channel

You’ll need to switch to the beta channel to enable Android support. Further instructions on switching channels can be found here.

• Acer Chromebook R13
• ASUS Chromebook Flip C302

Chromebooks with Android support in the developer channel

You’ll need to switch to the beta channel to enable Android support. Further instructions on switching channels can be found here. Be aware that the developer channel may be unstable and the opposite of what you’re used to from your Chromebook.

• ASUS C301SA
• HP Chromebook 13 G1
• Samsung Chromebook 3
• Samsung Chromebook Pro

Chromebooks with server-side support

These are the “special cases.” It appears that Google has signed off and they can use Google Play as far as the store is concerned, but the setting has not yet been unlocked through an update. You can easily enable Android apps and Play Store support through Chrome’s built-in terminal after you’ve switched to the Beta or Dev channel and enabled developer mode.

Reece Gale has full instructions here

• Acer Chromebook 14
• Acer Chromebook 15 (not all models)
• Acer Chromebook 11 c740
• ASUS C201
• ASUS C202SA
• ASUS C300SA
• Dell Chromebook 13
• Edugear CMT Chromebook
• HP Chromebook 11 G5
• Lenovo ThinkPad 13
• Toshiba Chromebook 2 (2015)

Chrome devices that will be supported sometime in 2017

These are the devices that will officially be updated to use Google Play. There is no word on when to expect the update, only that they will be supported.

Acer

• Chromebook 11 CB3-111 / C730 / C730E / CB3-131
• Chromebook 14 for Work
• Chromebook 15 CB5-571 / C910
• Chromebox CXI2
• Chromebase 24

Asus

• Chromebook C200
• Chromebook C300SA
• Chromebook C300
• Chromebox CN62
• Chromebit CS10

AOpen

• Chromebox Commercial
• Chromebase Commercial 22″

Bobicus

• Chromebook 11

CDI

• eduGear Chromebook M Series
• eduGear Chromebook K Series
• eduGear Chromebook R Series

CTL

• Chromebook J2 / J4
• N6 Education Chromebook
• J5 Convertible Chromebook

Dell

• Chromebook 11 3120

Edxis

• Chromebook
• Education Chromebook

Haier

• Chromebook 11
• Chromebook 11e
• Chromebook 11 G2

Hexa

• Chromebook Pi

HiSense

• Chromebook 11

Lava

• Xolo Chromebook

HP

• Chromebook 11 G3 / G4 / G4 EE
• Chromebook 14 G4

Lenovo

• 100S Chromebook
• N20 / N20P Chromebook
• N21 Chromebook
• ThinkCentre Chromebox
• ThinkPad 11e Chromebook
• N22 Chromebook
• Thinkpad 11e Chromebook Gen 2 / Gen 3

Medion

• Akoya S2013
• Chromebook S2015

M&A

• Chromebook

NComputing

• Chromebook CX100

Nexian

• Chromebook 11.6″

PCMerge

• Chromebook PCM-116E

Poin2

• Chromebook 11

Samsung

• Chromebook 2 11″ – XE500C12

Sector 5

• E1 Rugged Chromebook

Senkatel

• C1101 Chromebook

Toshiba

• Chromebook 2

True IDC

• Chromebook 11

Viglen

• Viglen Chromebook 11

We will continue to monitor the list and add any new Chromebooks that Google notes will support the feature.

Chromebooks

• The best Chromebooks
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• Google Play is coming to Chromebooks
• Acer Chromebook 14 review
• Join our Chromebook forums