Meizu Pro 7 news, rumors, and leaks

Update: Leaked images show a rear-facing display on the Meizu Pro 7.

Meizu will release a follow-up to the Pro 7, and it could be available as early as next month. A series of images have leaked giving insight into the upcoming phone’s design, as well as some of the specs that we can expect from the phone.

Interestingly enough, it’s looking more and more like the phone will have a borderless edge-to-edge design similar to the Xiaomi Mi Mix, which made headlines for having a huge display.

The latest leaks surrounding the Meizu Pro 7 show a very interesting and unique feature — a rear display that will show information like the time, date, and notifications. The leak comes in the form of a series of illustrations, posted on a Chinese social media website Weibo, but its based on previous image leaks that show a cutout for a display on the back under the rear-facing camera.

According to the leaks, which come courtesy of a few Weibo posts, the phone will boast a relatively large 5.62-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2160 x 1080. That’s actually not a very high resolution considering how big it seems the display will be. The ratio also seems a little weird, coming in at almost 2:1.

It also seems like the phone will be extremely thin — it’ll come in at only 6.5mm thick, according to the leaks. When it comes to the battery, it’ll offer mCharge 4.0, which can charge the phone completely in only 40 minutes. It’ll come with 6GB of RAM, which will likely become the standard for flagship phones in 2017, and will come with either 64GB or 128GB of storage.

Interestingly enough, the leaks also show a somewhat odd design for the front-facing camera, which pops out of the top of the phone and has a resolution of 8MP. The main front-facing camera is 5MP, and the rear-facing camera is 12MP. The battery is 3,060mAh.

Early leaks indicate that the phone may launch on December 24, but view that with some skepticism since this is just a leak. There are still a few things to learn about the phone, such as the processor. It’s likely we’ll discover more in the coming weeks.

Translate One2One generates spoken language translation in real time

Why it matters to you

This is one of the first earpieces that can translate languages without an internet connection.

Imagine if understanding a foreign language you have never learned was as easy as just listening. Australian startup Lingmo International has leveraged IBM Watson technology for its Translate One2One, an earpiece that can translate languages in near real-time.

Using IBM Watson’s Natural Language Processor and Language Translation APIs and Lingmo’s machine learning applications, the earpiece-equipped device can translate across English, Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, German, and Chinese. The earpiece has a microphone built-in which picks up spoken words, allowing the earpiece to translate speech in seconds. An iOS app is available which offers speech-to-text and text-to-speech translation for even more languages.

If you find yourself in foreign lands and out of the reach of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, Translate One2One can still work just as well. “As the first device on the market for language translation using AI that does not rely on connectivity to operate, it offers significant potential for its unique application across airlines, foreign government relations and even not-for-profits working in remote areas,” said Danny May, Lingmo’s founder, in a press release.

Translate One2One is not the first to the party. Last year, tech startup Waverly Labs released its Pilot earpiece which also translated multiple languages on the go. Similar to Translate One2One, Pilot can translate languages without internet connection by downloading language packs from a companion app. But, unlike Translate One2One, Pilot requires a cell phone connection to work offline.

The Translate One2One earpiece was unveiled earlier this month at the United Nations Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Good Summit in Geneva, Switzerland. It is available to purchase today at $179 and will ship by July. You can put your order in here at Lingmo’s official website. A travel pack with two earpieces is also available for $229 so you and someone who does not fully understand your language can have a pretty seamless conversation without having to yell “what do you mean?” at each other.

Translate One2One generates spoken language translation in real time

Why it matters to you

This is one of the first earpieces that can translate languages without an internet connection.

Imagine if understanding a foreign language you have never learned was as easy as just listening. Australian startup Lingmo International has leveraged IBM Watson technology for its Translate One2One, an earpiece that can translate languages in near real-time.

Using IBM Watson’s Natural Language Processor and Language Translation APIs and Lingmo’s machine learning applications, the earpiece-equipped device can translate across English, Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, German, and Chinese. The earpiece has a microphone built-in which picks up spoken words, allowing the earpiece to translate speech in seconds. An iOS app is available which offers speech-to-text and text-to-speech translation for even more languages.

If you find yourself in foreign lands and out of the reach of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, Translate One2One can still work just as well. “As the first device on the market for language translation using AI that does not rely on connectivity to operate, it offers significant potential for its unique application across airlines, foreign government relations and even not-for-profits working in remote areas,” said Danny May, Lingmo’s founder, in a press release.

Translate One2One is not the first to the party. Last year, tech startup Waverly Labs released its Pilot earpiece which also translated multiple languages on the go. Similar to Translate One2One, Pilot can translate languages without internet connection by downloading language packs from a companion app. But, unlike Translate One2One, Pilot requires a cell phone connection to work offline.

The Translate One2One earpiece was unveiled earlier this month at the United Nations Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Good Summit in Geneva, Switzerland. It is available to purchase today at $179 and will ship by July. You can put your order in here at Lingmo’s official website. A travel pack with two earpieces is also available for $229 so you and someone who does not fully understand your language can have a pretty seamless conversation without having to yell “what do you mean?” at each other.

Translate One2One generates spoken language translation in real time

Why it matters to you

This is one of the first earpieces that can translate languages without an internet connection.

Imagine if understanding a foreign language you have never learned was as easy as just listening. Australian startup Lingmo International has leveraged IBM Watson technology for its Translate One2One, an earpiece that can translate languages in near real-time.

Using IBM Watson’s Natural Language Processor and Language Translation APIs and Lingmo’s machine learning applications, the earpiece-equipped device can translate across English, Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, German, and Chinese. The earpiece has a microphone built-in which picks up spoken words, allowing the earpiece to translate speech in seconds. An iOS app is available which offers speech-to-text and text-to-speech translation for even more languages.

If you find yourself in foreign lands and out of the reach of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, Translate One2One can still work just as well. “As the first device on the market for language translation using AI that does not rely on connectivity to operate, it offers significant potential for its unique application across airlines, foreign government relations and even not-for-profits working in remote areas,” said Danny May, Lingmo’s founder, in a press release.

Translate One2One is not the first to the party. Last year, tech startup Waverly Labs released its Pilot earpiece which also translated multiple languages on the go. Similar to Translate One2One, Pilot can translate languages without internet connection by downloading language packs from a companion app. But, unlike Translate One2One, Pilot requires a cell phone connection to work offline.

The Translate One2One earpiece was unveiled earlier this month at the United Nations Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Good Summit in Geneva, Switzerland. It is available to purchase today at $179 and will ship by July. You can put your order in here at Lingmo’s official website. A travel pack with two earpieces is also available for $229 so you and someone who does not fully understand your language can have a pretty seamless conversation without having to yell “what do you mean?” at each other.

Robot ‘row bots’ test whether we’ve been rowing wrong all along

Why it matters to you

Robot experiments can be used to hone human efficiency. Even if sometimes it turns out we were doing it right all along!

Robots aren’t merely preparing to steal all our jobs and leave it at that. They’re also keen on informing us how we’re doing all sorts of other things wrong, too — and would really be so much better off if we just handed those leisure pursuits over to automation as well.

The latest example? An article from the journal Physics Today, in which researchers from the Laboratory of Hydrodynamics (LadHyX) at France’s École Polytechnique in Paris used a crew of robots to work out how teams of rowers could row more efficiently. The results came close to upsetting centuries of human-honed rowing know-how.

As you’ll be aware if you’ve ever watched rowing before, pretty much every rowing team rows with every team member rowing in time with one another. The reason for this is that it results in the smoothest possible trajectory for the vessel, resulting in the fastest possible row from point A to point B. Right? Well, almost.

In fact, the researchers found something a bit different when they built a tenth-scale racing boat with eight tiny Arduino-controlled robotic rowers. What their analysis showed was that when rowers row together it results in significant acceleration and deceleration periods — with the point between strokes, at which no-one is rowing, causing deceleration of around 20 percent. If, however, rowing is carried out asynchronously — or out of time — then there is 5 percent less friction on a boat’s hull.

When you consider Olympic rowing, that 5 percent could theoretically be the difference between a gold and silver medal. In fact, speed variance with asynchronous rowing is just 2 percent, down from the whopping 12 percent with regular synchronized rowing.

Don’t panic, though: As it turns out, despite this being the smoothest (and most robot-approved) way to row, it’s actually slower than the way that we do things. As the researchers explain:

“In our initial thinking, we failed to take into account that the rowers are not stationary. Indeed, the speed in the synchronized configuration keeps increasing at the beginning of the recovery stroke — that is, after the oars have been lifted from the water. If the velocity keeps increasing when the oars are out of the water, there must be an additional propulsive force that does not depend on oars. In fact, the force results from the motion of the rowers on the boat. When the rowers return together to the stern of the boat during the recovery stroke, they pull the hull beneath them and accelerate the boat. Since the crew of a coxed eight weighs several times what the boat does, the rowers generate a significant force. When they are desynchronized, that inertial boost is reduced.”

So to take all of this wildly out of context, when we all row together we can beat the robots. There’s probably a lesson for Skynet hidden in there somewhere!

Nokia 6, Nokia 5, and Nokia 3: Our first take

Why it matters to you

Nokia’s back … sort of. HMD is taking the reins, and the company is highlighting durability and battery life as highlights of its new phones.

Update: All three Nokia phones are now available in India.

HMD Global, the company licensing Nokia’s name, unveiled two new smartphones, as well as a feature phone to drum up the nostalgia factor for the iconic brand.

The Nokia 6, which first launched in China last year, will be available globally. It will be followed by two lower-performing and smaller devices — the Nokia 5 and the Nokia 3. HMD said it’s committed to keeping up with the monthly security updates from Google for the operating system, as well as being timely with new Android version updates.

Speaking of Android, all of these devices will have the Google Assistant now that Google is bringing its artificially intelligent bot to all Android phones running Android 6.0 or higher.

All in all, the entire lineup seemed to be the best-built budget phones we’ve seen. Let’s take a closer look.

Nokia 5

The sequence of names really don’t make much sense, but it’s not hard to figure out that the Nokia 5 is the middle child of the group. The 2.5d glass on the 5.2-inch display offers a 720-pixel resolution, and it feels durable thanks to its aluminum unibody. The screen offers extra visibility in direct sunlight thanks to a polarizer.

The power button and volume rocker sits on the top right, and the bottom-front features capacitive navigation buttons. The middle button, however, doubles as a fingerprint sensor. The aluminum unibody really helps make this phone feel like a premium device — and you’ll certainly be surprised that it costs 189 euros (or about $200 U.S.).

Powering the smartphone is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 430 with 2GB RAM, which seemed to keep the phone running smoothly in our brief time with it. What likely helps is how the Nokia 5 runs stock Android 7.1.1 Nougat, but don’t expect to do any intensive multitasking or play graphics-heavy games.

It sadly only comes with 16GB of internal storage, which is much lower than the standard offerings from phones in this price range. Thankfully, there’s a MicroSD card slot that supports up to 128GB of extra storage. It surprisingly has a massive 3,000mAH battery, which should keep this low-resolution device chugging along for quite a while.

There’s only a single speaker (but thankfully a headphone jack), and at the bottom sits a MicroUSB charging port. It’s unclear why Nokia went with MicroUSB over USB Type-C, which a lot of other budget phones have adopted. At least there’s an NFC sensor, meaning you can use Android Pay.

The rear camera packs 13 megapixels, and the front has 8 megapixels and a wide-angle lens. There didn’t seem to be much shutter lag, but we’ll have to explore the camera more when we get a review unit.

You can choose from blue, copper, black, and silver for the Nokia 5.

Nokia 3

The Nokia 3 is the most affordable of the lineup and also the smallest. An aluminum frame protects the 5-inch screen from accidental drops, but the back is made of polycarbonate. What’s remarkable is how Nokia makes this phone feel like it’s made of metal, as there’s a nice weight to it.

Like the others in the series, the Nokia 3 follows a minimalist design. The back is plain, save the camera; the buttons are on the right, and you’ll find capacitive navigation buttons on the front.

Like the Nokia 5, the device only has a 720-pixel resolution. It has a MediaTek 6737 processor with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage that again can be expanded up to 128GB by using the MicroSD card slot. It has a slightly smaller 2,650mAh battery, which charges via the MicroUSB port on the bottom. It also comes with an NFC sensor.

The front and rear cameras both pack 8 megapixels, though the primary one has an LED flash.

This Nokia 3 runs Android 7.0 Nougat, and it’s likely to get upgraded to 7.1.1, as the company said it would be committed to timely version updates from Google. There are white, black, blue, and silver color options, and the phone will only cost 139 euros, or about $147.

Nokia 6

The Nokia 6 debuted last year in China, but it will finally be available globally. If you need a refresher on the specs, the 5.5-inch device is the only one of the trio to feature a Full HD display. The phone’s immersive sound comes via dual speakers and a dedicated amplifier with Dolby Atmos certification.

The extra metal protection along the sides of the phone make it feel very durable, and the Nokia 6 truly does feel like a high-end phone, both hardware- and software-wise.

Running Android 7.1.1 Nougat, the Nokia 6 is powered by the same processor in the Nokia 5 — the Snapdragon 430 — but it has an extra gigabyte of RAM. It also has more storage — 32GB to be exact, and MicroSD card support. It also carries the same 3,000mAh battery. You get a primary 16 megapixel camera with dual-tone flash, along with an 8 megapixel front-facing camera.

There are five colors to choose from, but the the glossy Arte Black was specially made for the phone’s global release. It’s quite the fingerprint magnet, though. Other available colors are black, blue, silver, and copper.

The Nokia 6 will cost 229 euros ($242), but if you want the fancy Arte Black special edition, you’ll have to shell out 299 euros, or $316.

All three devices seemed to perform well, but what’s unique is their build quality. HMD seems to have gone extra lengths to make sure Nokia devices are still known for their durability. The devices also seem to have big batteries — when paired with low-end specs, that usually means you’ll see great battery life. We’ll have to dig deep when we get our review units.

All three phones have launched in India, and are expected to launch in other countries in the near future, though we don’t yet know where. The Nokia 3 is available in India for 9,499 rupees, or $148, while the Nokia 5 is available for 12,899 rupees, or $200, and the Nokia 6 for 14,999 rupees, or $233.

Highs

• Excellent build quality
• Stock Android
• Promise of monthly security updates, timely version updates
• Snappy performance

Lows

• Design can be a little plain
• Poor internal storage capacity

eero 2nd-gen mesh Wi-Fi system: Everything you need to know

Mesh Wi-Fi used to be complicated, but eero made it simple. Now it wants to make it faster.

A little more than a year ago, eero burst onto the consumer market with a propitious offer: to solve the problem of messy, unreliable and dumb Wi-Fi routers that most people have in their homes. It would take a well-worn idea — mesh routing — and bring it down to an accessible, customer-friendly level.

Not only did eero make it relatively easy to set up multiple access points, but the small base station and accompanying pucks were understated enough to fit into any environment. eero also inspired competition, as we’ve seen from the likes of Netgear, Google and others.

Now, the company is back with its second-generation model, claiming double the power and tri-band support (the original was dual-band). At the same time, eero is debuting a new Beacon product meant to subtly bolster Wi-Fi signals using any power outlet in the home, and a subscription-based network security software service called eero Plus.

What’s new in the second-gen eero?

Tri-band. That’s the main improvement here, the ability to broadcast at 2.4Ghz, 5.2Ghz and 5.8Ghz at the same time, with 2×2 MU-MIMO beamforming antennas. eero claims that the new system is twice as powerful as the previous one, meaning using the same setup in the same house you’ll theoretically get twice the speed and twice the distance.

Of course, there are caveats there: the first-generation eero was only dual-band, and didn’t support the less-used 5.8Ghz frequency in the new system. At the same time, the extra distance is only accessible on the lower, noisier, 2.4Ghz band, which will likely encounter considerably more interference than the other two.

The other piece of hardware improvement is the addition of Thread support, which was originally a Nest-built smart device solution meant to simultaneously simplify and compete with Z-Wave and Zigby. Right now, there are few, if any, products that support Thread, but eero says that it is working with dozens of companies to help develop and promote them. Expect connected lights, doorbells, cameras and more to support Thread in the coming months. We hope.

What’s the Beacon?

Beacon is interesting. It’s an eero hub, miniaturized, meant to plug into a two-prong AC outlet in the home. eero says that there’s no limit to the number of Beacons that can be installed and connected to the main hub, since its software is designed to intelligently route data.

Beacons are smaller than the traditional eero hubs, and also include a 10 Lumen LED nightlight with automated dimming, which is perfect for dark passageways. Two birds, one stone.

By default, eero ships its base package with one eero hub and one Beacon, for $299. It’s only when you get to the $499 eero Pro bundle that you get three eero hubs, which is important since the Beacon is only dual-band and doesn’t support the faster 5.8Ghz standard.

eero Plus — Amazon Prime for routers

eero is also launching a new software bundle called eero Plus, which touts itself as “premium protection for your network.” That includes things like protection against malware and botnets, but also offers built-in, easy-to-use parental controls for your entire network.

Here’s what it offers:

• Anti-malware
• Anti-virus
• Anti-phishing
• Anti-ransomware
• Protection from Distributed Denial of Service (DDos) attacks
• Protection from botnets
• Parental controls
• Priority support

The service costs $9.99/month or $99 for a full year, and the company says it will keep the price stable while continuing to add features.

How does it compare to Google Wifi?

Well, first of all, Google Wifi is much cheaper — a 3-pack of eeros goes for $499, whereas Google Wifi’s three-puck offering costs $299. Even if eero is slightly faster (and it likely is with its tri-band support) it’s probably not worth spending the extra money on eero.

That is, unless you have a really big house. eero promises better connectivity and faster speeds than Google Wifi, and with support for Beacon, you can have far more than just two additional access points. You can have five or six spread out throughout the home and blanket your house with high-quality Wi-Fi. Google Wifi is good, but it’s not that flexible.

Then it comes down to software. Both eero and Google claim to constantly update their routers with new features, but eero says it expends considerable effort monitoring the way people use their devices and pushing performance and feature updates to accommodate those new products. At the same time, Google pushed out numerous sizeable updates for OnHub during its first year on the market, and there’s no reason to believe it won’t do the same with Wifi.

A Canadian launch

eero says it will launch its second-generation system in Canada in August, which is nice for me, and for others who have been waiting for a good mesh Wi-Fi solution in the country. Google recently launched its own Google Wifi system in Canada, too.

It will be available at Amazon, Best Buy and eero.com.

U.S. pricing and availability

eero’s second-gen solution is available for pre-order now and will be shipping in the next few weeks online at Amazon and Best Buy. It will also be available in store at Best Buy and many Walmart stores.

• 1 eero + 1 Beacon – $299
• 1 eero + 2 Beacons – $399
• 3 eeros – $499

That’s a steep price to pay for good Wi-Fi, but according to our Jerry Hildenbrand, who loved the first-generation model, it’s worth it.

What do you think? Are you jumping on the mesh Wi-Fi train? Let us know in the comments below!

See at eero

Save $50 on two Sonos Play:1’s, $14 on LIFX Smart Bulbs and more with these Father’s Day tech deals

Our friends at Thrifter are back with some tech deals that your dad is sure to love!

We know. Father’s Day is right around the corner and you haven’t bought your dad anything yet, right? Don’t worry, there are some really great deals going on right now that make it even more affordable to buy your dad some awesome tech gear. From popular Bluetooth headphones from Jaybird to wireless speakers for the home by Sonos, you’ll want to look through the list below and see if anything here would help make Father’s Day even more special for your loved one.

• Jaybird Bluetooth Headphones – $99.99 (Normally $129.99+)
• Apple Watch Series 1 & Series 2 – Starting at $199 (Normally $269.99+)
• Emerson Sensi Smart Thermostat – $99 (Normally $129)
• Aukey Dual USB Car Charger – $6.99 (Normally $9.99)
• Status Audio Wired Headphones – $24.64 (Normally $44)
• Logitech Circle Security Camera – $128.73 (Normally $199.99)
• LIFX Smart Light Bulbs – $45.99 (Normally $59.99)
• 27-inch HP 1080p Monitor – $139.99 (Normally $249.99)
• Sonos Speakers & Sub – $50 off 2 Play:1 and $100 off Sub

There are tons of great deals going on right now that can certainly help make your Father’s Day purchase an epic one. Be sure to grab something for yourself while you’re at it, too. (You deserve it!)

For more great deals be sure to check out our friends at Thrifter now!

Router vs. Mesh Networking: What’s best for your home Wi-Fi network?

Don’t just replace a working home Wi-Fi network because Google Wi-Fi is new, but if you need a change here are some tips to get you started.

Google Wifi isn’t the first consumer-focused mesh networking product. Offerings from eero and Luma have been around for a while and offer a mesh networking solution very much the same as what Google is selling. The difference is that Google Wi-Fi is a good bit cheaper and comes from a company everyone knows. Google will do whatever it can so you know that their Wi-Fi product exists, and so that people interested in things like mesh networks know that it’s an inexpensive way to get started.

That leads to the obvious question — should anyone switch to a mesh-based Wi-Fi network in their house?

Like most things, the answer isn’t a simple yes or no. There are a couple things you should consider before you dust off your credit card.

Do you need to upgrade your Wi-Fi network?

This is the first thing you should ask yourself. Ideally, a Wi-Fi network is something you should set up once and then never have to think about it until it’s time to replace it. When properly planned, a Wi-Fi router or a mesh client device should run unattended for several years — at least until it’s time to upgrade to a newer wireless standard for increased speeds and bandwidth.

Ideally, a Wi-Fi network is something you should set up once and then never have to think about it until it’s time to replace it.

Of course, that’s often not the case and many of us know our router needs that weekly reboot or things will get wonky. Or even worse, we aren’t particularly savvy when it comes to network issues and gear and have to call Comcast or AT&T for help. Waiting for a technician to arrive sometime between 8 am and 5 pm is never fun.

If you have a solid Wi-Fi network that doesn’t demand you fiddle with it enough to become frustrating, you should probably hold off on doing anything until we see 802.11 ad technology become more mainstream. On the other hand, if you are tired of pulling plugs and counting to 10 or any of the other silly things we do to fix bad Wi-Fi , or if your home network is just too slow you shouldn’t wait any longer than you have to. Don’t try to fix what isn’t broken!

Are you just trying to fix a dead spot?

This is a pretty common issue. You have great Wi-Fi in the kitchen or living room, but when you go downstairs or to the bedroom things are just slow or intermittent. If everything is working well in parts of your home that are close to the router or that aren’t blocked by things not Wi-Fi friendly — the walls of your bathroom are notorious Wi-Fi signal blockers because of the special drywall used and all the copper pipes inside them — you could be the perfect candidate for a wireless repeater instead of setting up a whole new network.

A Wi-Fi Extender is a cheap way to fix a single dead spot in your Wi-Fi coverage, but there are drawbacks.

Also known as Wi-Fi Extenders, wireless repeaters do exactly what their name implies — they take your existing Wi-Fi signal and repeat the signal to extend the range. Usually very easy to setup using a network cable or an online settings page, Wi-Fi Extenders are also compact and only need a power connection. One thing to be aware of is that you usually can’t connect a consumer-grade Wi-Fi Extender to an existing extender, so daisy-chaining them to reach your garage or the neighbor’s house isn’t very practical.

You also will have a new network name (known as an SSID) to use when connecting to the extender instead of the router itself. This can be a bit of a pain if you move in and out of a room that needs an extender very often. Quality Wi-Fi Extenders run between $30 and $150 dollars depending on the network type, so if you need multiple fast ac extenders it might be more practical to set up a mesh network using Google Wifi. These drawbacks aside, a simple Wi-Fi Extender is an easy way to fix a single dead spot and a great idea if the rest of your Wi-Fi network is working well. If you’re in the market for one, we can recommend Netgear’s simple extender that plugs directly into a wall socket for home use.

See at Amazon

When to choose a mesh network

If you’ve decided you need to get rid of the gear you have and set up a new network or are setting things up in a new place, the choice between a mesh network and a traditional linear router based network comes down to one thing — money.

For some, a simple Wi-Fi router and an extender is perfect.

A Wi-Fi router that will service a normal sized single floor home plus one extender for hard-to-reach spots can be had for around $100. You can also lease them from your internet service provider. While the more inexpensive models aren’t quite as easy to install as something like a Google OnHub router, they’re not too ornery, and as long as you have a phone you can use to Google the answers to any questions you have most of us can do it without any issues. And we understand that wireless networking equipment is something that doesn’t have the appeal that other tech does. If you only want a Wi-Fi network so you can use the internet from your laptop or phone or tablet, don’t have any special needs like a home office or a favorite online video game, there’s nothing wrong with keeping things simple. We do recommend at least an 802.11 n or faster network, though. The internet is too media-rich to go any slower. Netgear also makes a simple and reliable router that pairs well with the extender above.

See at Amazon

If you need anything more robust than a simple router solution, mesh networking makes the most sense.

The cost of a high-speed router with the tools for quality of service scheduling or port forwarding starts at about $120 — about the same as a single Google Wifi unit. When you add extras like long range antennas or multiple access points it doesn’t take very long to hit the $299 price for a three-pack of Google Wi-Fi units. Either method should last the lifetime of the technology they’re using and offer trouble-free use during that time, but you’ll miss out on some key advantages of having a mesh network, like not having any single point of failure and the better traffic handling mesh networks offer. If you need Wi-Fi in a multi-story home or one that’s bigger than 1,500 square feet or so, mesh networking is simply a better choice most of the time. The only case I would hesitate to use wireless mesh network in favor of a linear router based setup would be if you have equipment that requires a physical wired network connection. Even then the addition of Google OnHub and a simple switch could be added to a Google Wifi powered mesh network. If you have those sort of networking needs, you’re probably not looking for basic networking advice and you understand exactly what we’re talking about here.

If you want or need a router-based solution that can handle more traffic or offers the power-user bells and whistles, you can’t go wrong building it around a Netgear Nighthawk router. Sticker-shock trigger warnings apply.

See at Amazon

For the rest of us, Google Wifi seems to be exactly what we’re looking for.

Two of the biggest drawbacks to wireless mesh networking are no longer an issue when using Google Wifi — needing an advanced networking education to set things up and maintain them, and a pocket full of money.

Google Wifi tackles the biggest problems with home mesh networking — administration and cost.

A wireless mesh network is designed to handle high volumes of traffic in a big area with no downtime due to equipment failures. A three pack of Google Wifi units will be easy to set up using the Google Home app and only cost $299. New stations are easy to add using the same app, and all traffic shaping and route handling are automatic so you’ll have no need for QoS scheduling when you want to play Call of Duty without lag glitching or when you want to work while the kids are watching Netflix. They’re small, don’t look like leftover robot parts, and everything you need to connect to your modem is in the package. And anytime you need to expand your network, adding a station only makes the rest of the network better by offering another node to handle traffic from all points.

We’re excited to see Wi-Fi mesh networking offered by a more mainstream company like Google. Based on the performance of their OnHub products, we expect things to be simple and robust as well. The easy administration and relatively low cost make adding a mesh network to your home (or place of business, where it can be even more important) something any of us can do. Whether you’re upgrading your existing equipment or building a network in your new house, there are very few reason not to go with Google Wifi.

See at Google

Samsung’s vision for the smart home is that it should be easy to set up

Samsung’s Connect Home isn’t out yet, but you might want to consider stocking up on companion SmartThings when it’s on sale.

The idea of the smart home isn’t anything new. Technology companies have been attempting to sell us on the idea for quite a few years, though it’s only recently that the idea of a souped-up home has become the norm. And even though the idea of converting your house into something less dumb can seem cost-prohibitive, Samsung hopes it can convince you that it’s not.

Last week, I had the opportunity to take a glimpse inside Samsung’s vision for the smart home. The company outfitted a three-story dwelling in San Francisco with the yet-to-be-release Connect Home Wi-Fi mesh networking system, in addition to various SmartThings sensors placed throughout. Obviously, its vision of the future is outfitted with Samsung-branded stuff, but that wasn’t the point of the demonstration. Rather, it was to show that Samsung is positioning itself in the connected home sphere as the attractive, easy-to-use alternative to everything else.

Starting with routers that blend in

The Samsung Connect Home router as seen in the home.

If you ask almost anyone what they think about routers, the answer is typically meh. For the most part, home networking gadgets are designed in a utilitarian, almost brutalist matter, which is why they’re often hidden away or tucked behind other things or walls. This contributes to bad connections, however, thus keeping the router from doing what it was intended for in the first place.

To avoid being behind placed behind a door, Samsung designed the Connect Home networking system so that each node blends in with your things, regardless of which design era they’re destined for. Granted, the Connect Home isn’t the first attractive Wi-Fi mesh network on the market — we already have Google WiFi and Eero. But those two mesh routing systems also don’t have Samsung SmartThings compatibility baked in.

SmartThings compatibility

Samsung’s SmartThings, as seen in the mail slot.

More Samsung SmartThings placed around the house.

Samsung is also hawking the Connect Home Wi-Fi system as the powerhouse behind its SmartThings ecosystem, essentially small sensors and plugs you can buy to convert things like the light fixtures or the TV into connected products.

The inclusion of SmartThings in the Connect Home router were obviously added in an effort to increase SmartThings adoption, but is that so bad? SmartThings aren’t as well known in the mainstream as some other smart home gadgets, like the Philips Hue Lightbulbs or Ring Doorbell. But by baking it into the mesh routers, users might be more inclined to try them out. After all, who doesn’t like the idea of making the light come on when you step into a room? The SmartThings sensors and plug-ins aren’t too expensive either, as most retail between $20 to $50.

An easy app

Once you’ve connected things to the SmartThings, you can automate them all with the Samsung Connect app. The app works right now with all of the available SmartThings sensors and plugs, but it will also help connect the Connect Home router to any respective sensors placed throughout the home — this also means you won’t need a seperate SmartThings Hub to make things work. You’ll be able to easily set up formulas as you see fit from the app and all they require is a bit of “if this then that” configuration.

We won’t know the true range or performance of the Connect Home and Connect Home Pro (intended for larger setups) until they officially debut on July 2. But for now, we know Samsung has lofty goals for the smart home space. Perhaps the inclusion of SmartThings in its Wi-Fi mesh networking router could even help increase awareness of the fact that the “Internet of Things” exist in the first place.

See at BestBuy