Google introduces six-second previews to video search results

Why it matters to you

If you have trouble finding the exact video content you’re looking for, Google’s new video preview feature could be what you’ve been waiting for.

It’s not just ads that Google wants to be six seconds long. The search giant is introducing the short and sweet video format to another medium — search results. Now, if you conduct a search on one of Google’s mobile apps, Google will let you watch a silent six-second clip of a video to help you determine if you need to see more. As it stands, any video that lives on the internet should be eligible for inclusion, although there may not be six-second clips available for some of the newest videos that are online.

While Google-owned YouTube videos are obviously included in this new video preview feature, Google notes that content from other video hosts should also have these little clips available. The feature is debuting first on Android, where you can find it in both the Chrome and Google apps. Initially, English will be the only language supported, but as Google rolls it out worldwide, it will also add more languages. The company also said that it plans to expand previews to further platforms, which likely means iOS in the near future.

Hopefully, this will help folks find what they’re looking for more efficiently, and without having to waste time watching irrelevant content. And don’t worry — Google won’t just show you six random seconds of a video. Rather, Google employed some of its machine learning capabilities, analyzing the entirety of the video before selecting which six seconds are most representative. The company hasn’t revealed too much about the algorithm behind this magic, but it seems to work quite well.

We should point out that the video preview feature will only work if you’re on Wi-Fi, as it takes up a lot of data (after all, you’re just playing tons and tons of video content, even if it’s only for six seconds at a time). If you really want to, of course, you can enable video previews when you’re on mobile networks. And similarly, you can opt out of them altogether — just navigate over to the settings for both the Google app and Google Chrome for Android. Happy video browsing, friends!

Need a current events update? You can now get it from YouTube’s Breaking News

Why it matters to you

Need to know what’s happening in the world? YouTube’s breaking news section can tell you.

You may use YouTube for nothing more than cat videos and old NASA footage, but rest assured, you can do a lot more than simply waste time on the video streaming platform. As initially reported by Android Police, YouTube now has a “Breaking News” section that, as the name might suggest, contains a collection of videos that share breaking news from around the world.

The news videos can be seen in a horizontally scrollable format, and while they’re not unique to you, they are unique to your region. So sure, you may not be seeing the same thing in the U.S. as you would in the U.K., but your fellow Americans are being served the same breaking news. If, for some reason, you don’t want to see the news, you can either hit the “x” on your desktop version or tap the “Not interested” option in the three-dot menu on your mobile device.

As it stands, the feature is live on both iOS and Android, as well as on desktop. But it doesn’t look like everyone has the feature quite yet. Nor is it clear as to whether this Breaking News section will only exist when there is, in fact, breaking news, such as a natural disaster or national emergency, or if it will be a constant addition to the YouTube platform.

Although it may seem odd for YouTube to be delving into the breaking news arena — after all, YouTube clips seem to be how folks escape the news, not consume it — it does make sense that the platform would at least try to bring some current events into the content reel. In June, YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki announced that 1.5 billion people watched an hour of video on mobile alone.

Currently, for those who are seeing the new section, it looks as though they’re being served information from traditional networks. However, if the section finds a surer footing, it may be an opportunity for YouTube celebrities and personalities to give their viewers their own take on daily happenings. After all, if Snapchat is serving its viewers daily news, why not YouTube?

Aslan is a 3D-printed robotic arm that wants to help translate for the deaf

Why it matters to you

Aslan could help us communicate with the 70 million people around the world whose mother tongue is ASL.

Around 70 million people today claim sign language as their mother tongue, and now, we can add one more to their ranks. But the latest entity to be fluent in ASL isn’t a person — it’s a robotic arm. Meet Aslan, a new 3D-printed structure meant to “minimize the communication barrier between the hearing and the deaf.”

Intended to serve as a translator, Aslan can hear spoken language, then turn it into sign language. By means of a robotic set-up, spoken language will be immediately translated to sign language. And thanks to its 3D-printed design along with its easily attainable components, the team behind the project (sponsored by the European Institute for Otorhinolaryngology) believes that “the Aslan robot can remain available at a low-cost and more accessible to the world.”

Initially conceptualized in 2014, the robot is the brainchild of three Masters students, Guy Fierens, Stijn Huys, and Jasper Slaets. As Huys explained in a video about the project, “I was talking to friends about the shortage of sign language interpreters in Belgium, especially in Flanders for the Flemish sign language. We wanted to do something about it. I also wanted to work on robotics for my Masters, so we combined the two.”

Now, just a few years later, Aslan is a working prototype. The robot’s name is actually an acronym for “Antwerp’s Sign Language Actuating Node,” and is comprised of 25 3D-printed parts, and 16 servos controlled by an Arduino board. While Aslan is currently just a single hand, the hope is that the team will soon be able to add another arm to accommodate two-handed gestures. There’s also talk of an “emotive robotic face” so that the robot can also mimic facial expressions.

Once the design of Aslan is finalized, its creators say that the plans will be open sourced so that more people can make use of the clever tool. While the robotic arm is not meant to entirely replace human translators, it can certainly help to fill in some gaps. After all, ASL translators are not always readily available, but the hope is that with the help of these robotic arms, communication barriers can be overcome.

What would it be like to watch the solar eclipse from the moon?

Why it matters to you

Artistic imagination has always been one of the driving forces behind technological innovations.

Have you ever wondered what it would look like to view the upcoming solar eclipse from the moon? This artist did — all the way back in 1989. Space illustrator Pat Rawlings created the above acrylic painting nearly 30 years ago, depicting the view of the upcoming eclipse from the lunar surface.

Rawlings sent out the image via a rather rueful Twitter post on August 15:

Painting I did in '89 titled August 21st, 2017.I actually thought 28 yrs in the future tourists might watch the eclipse from the Moon.Sigh.. pic.twitter.com/AFABanLuqf

— Pat Rawlings (@Patnspace) August 16, 2017

Rawlings has spent decades creating illustrations and paintings depicting space exploration, and his artwork has been featured on the cover of Aviation Week and Space Technology nine times. The hundreds of illustrations at his site feature asteroids, comets, lunar colonization, Mars exploration, and many more subjects.

The original painting, titled August 21, 2017, was sold to a private collector 15 years ago. It was originally created as an illustration for a children’s book written by Isaac Asimov. However, Rawlings’ tweet has gotten such attention from space enthusiasts that he’s made prints of the paining available in a number of different sizes and formats.

Rawlings goes to great pains to make his illustrations as authentic as possible. “Whenever I do paintings or any sort of art like this, I try to create almost a daydream of what it would be like,” Rawlings said in an interview with The Atlantic. “I imagine, in three dimensions, what the craters look like and then I start mentally walking around in that scene thinking, where would someone go to see it?”

If you’re going to enjoy the solar eclipse from the surface of planet Earth, don’t miss these six apps that will enhance your experience. If you plan to capture images of the event, you can always check out our solar eclipse photography guide.

Even though we don’t yet have a lunar base to document the eclipse, we do know what solar eclipses look like from orbit. In fact, Space.com has a very cool new gallery featuring a dozen photographs from 50 years of solar eclipses as seen from space, including one taken in 1966 by Buzz Aldrin and Jim Lovell aboard Gemini 12.

“I optimistically thought we’d be able to watch the eclipse from the moon,” Rawlings said about his 1989 painting. “A lot of things were going on that made you feel like the future was accelerating at a pretty rapid pace.” Unfortunately, there will be no lunar explorers to witness the event this time around, so we must rely on artistic conceptions to imagine what it might be like.

What would it be like to watch the solar eclipse from the moon?

Why it matters to you

Artistic imagination has always been one of the driving forces behind technological innovations.

Have you ever wondered what it would look like to view the upcoming solar eclipse from the moon? This artist did — all the way back in 1989. Space illustrator Pat Rawlings created the above acrylic painting nearly 30 years ago, depicting the view of the upcoming eclipse from the lunar surface.

Rawlings sent out the image via a rather rueful Twitter post on August 15:

Painting I did in '89 titled August 21st, 2017.I actually thought 28 yrs in the future tourists might watch the eclipse from the Moon.Sigh.. pic.twitter.com/AFABanLuqf

— Pat Rawlings (@Patnspace) August 16, 2017

Rawlings has spent decades creating illustrations and paintings depicting space exploration, and his artwork has been featured on the cover of Aviation Week and Space Technology nine times. The hundreds of illustrations at his site feature asteroids, comets, lunar colonization, Mars exploration, and many more subjects.

The original painting, titled August 21, 2017, was sold to a private collector 15 years ago. It was originally created as an illustration for a children’s book written by Isaac Asimov. However, Rawlings’ tweet has gotten such attention from space enthusiasts that he’s made prints of the paining available in a number of different sizes and formats.

Rawlings goes to great pains to make his illustrations as authentic as possible. “Whenever I do paintings or any sort of art like this, I try to create almost a daydream of what it would be like,” Rawlings said in an interview with The Atlantic. “I imagine, in three dimensions, what the craters look like and then I start mentally walking around in that scene thinking, where would someone go to see it?”

If you’re going to enjoy the solar eclipse from the surface of planet Earth, don’t miss these six apps that will enhance your experience. If you plan to capture images of the event, you can always check out our solar eclipse photography guide.

Even though we don’t yet have a lunar base to document the eclipse, we do know what solar eclipses look like from orbit. In fact, Space.com has a very cool new gallery featuring a dozen photographs from 50 years of solar eclipses as seen from space, including one taken in 1966 by Buzz Aldrin and Jim Lovell aboard Gemini 12.

“I optimistically thought we’d be able to watch the eclipse from the moon,” Rawlings said about his 1989 painting. “A lot of things were going on that made you feel like the future was accelerating at a pretty rapid pace.” Unfortunately, there will be no lunar explorers to witness the event this time around, so we must rely on artistic conceptions to imagine what it might be like.

‘Mass Effect: Andromeda’ won’t get more single-player content

BioWare vowed to fix Mass Effect: Andromeda’s numerous teething troubles shortly after launch, but there’s apparently only so much it can do. The studio has revealed that its 1.10 patch is the last single-player update for the game — in a confirmation of rumors, there won’t be any solo-focused patches or (more importantly) downloadable content. The game was meant to expand on the Pathfinder story though multiplayer missions, BioWare says, and other stories will be told through comics and novels.

The company will talk about multiplayer add-ons, support and N7 Day (November 7th)in the “coming weeks.”

While the decision against DLC wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment choice (EA previously shot down a rumor that it had cancelled extra content), the halt to single-player patches says a lot about the state of Andromeda. BioWare and EA aren’t happy with the game, and they aren’t about to sink more time into the solo side of it. That doesn’t mean Mass Effect on its way out, though. While BioWare is shy about what will happen next (it only “hope[s] to see you again in the Mass Effect universe), the franchise’s Casey Hudson is returning. That, to us, suggests that BioWare wants to do whatever it takes to restore the series’ good name.

Source: BioWare

Nest’s sub-$200 thermostat might swap metal for plastic

The Nest thermostat’s premium looks match its pretty hefty price tag, but if you’re cool with a simpler version that can still do the job, you may want to wait it out. Evan Blass, a notable gadget leaker known as evleaks, has tweeted an image of what looks like an unadorned version of the Nest thermostat. Based on its no-frills appearance, it seems to be the sub-$200 version Bloomberg said the Google-owned company is working on. Mark Gurman, the journalist who wrote the piece, even confirmed that it’s the cheaper Nest he reported in March.

Unlike the current models, the thermostat in the image doesn’t have a metal body or even a traditional LCD — it’s all plastic. The temperatures are displayed as colorful numbers on the white plastic screen, which might or might not be touch-enabled. Bloomberg said the more affordable Nest will (understandably) be equipped with less expensive components and could be available sometime in 2018. We’ll just have to wait for more info on what the sub-$200 thermostat can and can’t do compared to its more expensive siblings.

I might just move on from phones altogether… pic.twitter.com/6WyLEeUD6A

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 19, 2017

Here’s the cheaper, sub-$200 Nest Thermostat we wrote about in March https://t.co/NcIyrIJ3zK https://t.co/kXBqMxxHnp

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) August 19, 2017

Source: evleaks (Twitter)

VW’s electric microbus will become a reality in 2022

When Volkswagen unveiled the ID Buzz, the assumption was that it would meet the same fate as many concept cars: it’d look good at an auto show, and promptly disappear when cold economic realities set in. Thankfully, the Buzz won’t suffer that fate. VW has announced that it will put the Microbus-inspired EV into production, with a launch expected by 2022. We wouldn’t expect everything about the Buzz to remain intact (those large wheels are likely the first things to go), but the ’60s-inspired styling, semi-autonomous driving and all-wheel drive option will carry over. VW is even teasing a cargo variant, so couriers may have a clean (and slightly kitschy) alternative to the usual vans.

The EV is primarily targeted at China, Europe and North America.

The melding of a nostalgic vibe with electric transportation is the primary allure, of course, but VW notes that going electric should make it very practical. As it doesn’t need a giant gas engine, there’s a tremendous amount of space. You’d get as much passenger room as a big SUV in the size of a compact commercial van, VW says. It’s also practical for the automaker. If prior leaks are accurate, VW is producing the Buzz precisely because it’s based on the same platform as other ID cars, making it far less expensive to develop than the previous Microbus concept (which had a one-off platform).

This won’t be the first ID model to hit the streets. The compact car is reportedly arriving around 2020, while the US would likely get the Crozz in a similar time frame. Still, the 2022 target is welcome when there was talk of the EV not arriving until closer to 2025, or at all. It also shows just how determined VW is to embrace electric transportation and put its diesel scandals in the past — it’s willing to take a chance on a design that could easily have been consigned to the history books.

Via: Autoblog

Source: Volkswagen

Got a new TV? Save some money with our guide on how to wall mount a TV

If you’re finally replacing that 70-pound CRT TV you bought back in the go-go 90s, then you’re probably getting excited about wall-mounting your TV. We’ve talked about why you shouldn’t mount your TV over your fireplace (if you’re considering it, stop now, step away from the TV, and call a professional installer!), but there’s nothing wrong with standard wall mounting. Mounting a TV on the wall makes a lot of sense for most people, as it frees up space in the home and, generally speaking, is a practical move. But the practice can be intimidating for some. How do you wall mount a TV, anyway?

Mounting a TV can be as quick and easy as a cup of joe, but make one mistake and it can feel as complex as a triple mochacchino. The process involves putting four bolts in the wall to hold a bracket, hanging the TV on it, and … well, that’s it. Voilà, you’re done. Simple, right?

To help you out, we’ve put together this list of expert tips. We’ll help you avoid common mistakes and overcome the silly obstacles.

Your stud finder is a liar

Electric stud finders are tricky little tools. They can be one of the most helpful tools in the box or the reason you put a dozen extra holes in the wall. Simply put, they’re liars. But here are four tips that help ensure they never trick you again.

Go slow – To be effective, stud finders need to be properly calibrated. First, place yours on the wall and turn it on, often by holding in a button. Let the stud finder read the density of the material (this will only take a second or two), then slowly move it from side to side. Go back and forth over the wall a few times, starting from a different spot with each pass. Mark each stud you discover with a piece of painter’s tape. We recommend finding three and using a tape measure to make sure they are the same distance apart. This will help you avoid false positives.

Popcorn ceilings defeated – Have you ever tried to run a stud finder across a ceiling with popcorn texturing? Not only do you ruin the texture, the stud finder doesn’t work well. An easy way to overcome this problem is to place a piece of cardboard over the area you want to scan. The cardboard gives the stud finder a smooth surface to slide across and will allow you to easily find the joists.

Don’t forget fire blocks – Before drilling any holes, run your stud finder vertically up and down the wall to ensure there are no fire blocks running horizontally between the stud bays. Fire blocks can make fishing wires down the wall very difficult, even for experienced installers.

Always double check – Stud finders can be fooled fairly easily. They’ll often read a seam in the drywall as a stud. After you have marked your studs and where you want to drill your holes, you should use something to poke into the wall to ensure you actually marked a stud. We normally use a small precision screwdriver, but a cut-off coat hanger or piano wire will work fine. We would recommend doing this by hand, rather than using a power tool, as you will have a better feel for what’s inside the wall. You can also tap a small nail into the wall; get past the drywall without the nail “falling in” and you’ve found a stud. The last thing you should do before drilling is poke a little hole to the left and right of where you want to drill and make sure you are still on the stud. This will ensure you are centered on a stud, and not just clipping its side (and possibly hitting something electrical).

We’re doomed, the studs are in the wrong spot … or there aren’t any

You found the perfect spot to mount a TV in your home. You’ve read all of our tips on using a stud finder, and are ready to go. But after twenty minutes of scanning for studs you can’t find any, or the results are inconsistent, or they don’t line up with the holes on your wall mount. There are a number of solutions that don’t require much, if any, extra work, to fix your little problem.

Take off covers – If you can’t locate the studs with a stud finder, locate an outlet on the wall (or any other fixture, like a cold air return). All outlets are attached to studs, unless they were added after the wall was up (not common). By taking off the wall plate, you can stick a thin tool into the gap between the side of the electrical box and the drywall, and then feel which side the stud is on. From there, measure over 16 inches and you should find another stud. Keep going 16 inches at a time until you are in the area where you want to mount the TV. Then use a small tool to poke a hole in the wall to see if a stud is actually there.

Make your own holes – What if you found studs, but they don’t lineup with the holes on your bracket? Easy: make extra holes on the wall bracket. The best way to do this is to use a stepped drill bit (like an Irwin UniBit) and a powerful drill. A good stepped drill bit will quickly cut through a steel wall mount.

Use a toggle – If there simply aren’t any studs where you want to mount the TV, then you need to use some sort of hollow wall anchor. These can be extremely strong, but as a general rule should not be used with full-motion, or articulating, mounts. The ¼” SNAPTOGGLE is hands down the best hollow wall anchor on the market, and a few of them can comfortably hold new 55-inch TVs on a single sheet of drywall. Mounting a TV on drywall or plaster without attaching to a stud can be a very safe and reliable solution IF you know the limits of the wall and the toggles. As a professional home theater installer, we used toggles many times and never had a TV fall off the wall. We know of other installers who over-estimated the strength of the wall and ended up with a TV on the ground. In the end, if you aren’t comfortable performing the install, consider hiring a professional.

Please, hide ALL of the cords in the wall

Nothing ruins the look of a nice TV mounted on the wall quicker than a tangle of exposed wires. Luckily, hiding cables inside the wall is fairly cheap and easy. The simplest way to achieve this is with an IWPE (in-wall power extension) or power bridge kit. These kits come with everything you need to run power up to your TV — and hide all of your signal wires as well (some even come with a cutting tool). You might be thinking: “Why not just drop an extension cord in the wall instead of installing an outlet?” Well, it’s actually against National Electric Code (NEC) to drop a power cord or extension cord inside the wall. It’s also not legal to put low-voltage cables like HDMI inside the wall unless they’re CL3 rated for in-wall use — one reason expensive HDMI cables are worth buying.

You may not need the extra HDMI ports on your TV now, but you may want to add components to your home theater system in the future. Put in extra HDMI cables and run them through the wall so that you have them when you need them.

An IWPE is exactly like it sounds, an extension cord rated to go inside the wall. In the end, you will have an outlet behind your TV, and what’s called an inlet down by the floor (at the same height as your other outlets). In order to provide power to the kit, you connect an extension cord from an existing outlet to the inlet. Confusing? Check out these diagrams.

Before you begin installation, ensure your low-voltage cables are rated for in-wall use. The next thing to know about IWPE kits is that they come with a pre-determined length of electrical wire, typically 6-8 feet. Also note that they should be used only in a single stud bay, and they are not designated for use above a fireplace. Of course, these limitations can be overcome or ignored, but we don’t recommend bending the rules (some good old CYA).

If you can’t hide cables inside the wall, then try installing a paintable wire channel. Most of these simply stick to the wall, and allow you to hide all of your cables inside, providing for a clean look. Just know that when you remove the wire channel you will likely also remove the paint.

Maybe if I pull harder the cable will reach

Always buy longer cables than your think you need. This is the most often ignored piece of advice we give people. It doesn’t matter if your TV is going on a wall or sitting on a stand, buy longer cables than you think you need. Extra wire can be wrapped up, stuffed in a wall, or otherwise hidden. If the cables are too short you risk them falling out, simply not reaching, breaking, or worse yet, damaging your equipment.

For a typical flat panel installation, with a tilting wall mount and equipment located directly below the TV, 8-foot cables will work nicely. Twelve-foot cables will allow you to make connections before the TV is on the wall, or pull out the equipment once it is hooked up. If you’re mounting a TV higher than normal (the bottom of the average TV is between 36 inches and 46 inches from the floor), or using a full-motion mount, you’ll need 12-foot cabling. If that seems excessive, consider this: on a typical full-motion mount with a 20-inch arm, you will use 3 to 4 feet of cable before even reaching the wall; that is, if it’s properly routed to allow safe movement of the TV on the arm.

A final note on cables: Try to avoid those with bulky connectors. These types of cables might not fit properly behind a slim LED or even plug in for that matter.

Wait, that doesn’t look level

Everything is cut, drilled, assembled, tightened, and otherwise wrapped up. You step back to take a look at your newly wall mounted TV, but something isn’t right. The TV isn’t level. What do you do? Do you need to pull it down? Drill new holes in the wall? Cry? Cry really hard? Probably none of the above. There is almost always a way to level an un-level TV. Just know that sometimes a TV will never look level if the ceiling, floor, or mantle isn’t level. Check these other areas before you go mad trying to level the TV.

• Put your back into it – Walk up to the TV as it hangs on the wall, grab onto the sides, and then try to force it into being level. No, really. Your success here depends on how snug the bolts are that hold the wall mount arms on the back of the TV. If they aren’t over tightened, you should have a little wiggle room to help level the TV. As a side note, if you do this and the TV comes off the wall, you did something wrong … so be careful.
• Loosen, push, tighten – Take the TV off the wall, loosen the bolts holding the arms on the back of the TV, then push up/down on the arms as you tighten them back down. Put the TV back on the wall and see if it’s level. If it isn’t, then do the same thing with the wall plate.
• Improvise – If you used up all of the wiggle room available and it still isn’t level, make more wiggle room. You can use the stepped drill bit we talked about earlier to round out the holes in the arms or wall plate. This may give you the little extra space needed; just don’t go too crazy and make the holes unusable. If you accidentally make the holes so big that bolts slip through, you can always buy larger washers.

Conclusion

All of the tips listed come from years of firsthand experience mounting hundreds of TVs on wood studs, steel studs, plaster, brick, from the ceiling, you name it.  Some of them are common sense, but almost none will be found in an instruction manual. If you have the right tools, a few hours, and patience, then you can mount your own TV. Do be sure to budget your time appropriately. A simple wall mount (tiling mount, drywall, exposed wiring) might take a professional only 20 minutes from unboxing to finished install. A novice should plan to read the instructions, proceed cautiously, and free up an afternoon. After all, it’s never fun to break a TV.

Bargain laptop battle: Acer Swift 3 versus Asus ZenBook UX330UA

Why it matters to you

If you’re looking for a good value laptop, then you’ll want to check out these two. Make sure to check out our conclusion to see which gives the most bang for your buck.

There was a time when “value laptop” meant an underpowered Black Friday special at Walmart built from cheap plastic, with a barely-visible display. Those days are over. Today, “value laptop” means a machine with a solid chassis and decent components for a much more affordable price. In our Acer Swift 3 versus Asus ZenBook UX330UA showdown, we pit two recent value machines against each other to see which is the affordable champion.

We reviewed the 13.3-inch ZenBook UX330UA in a configuration that includes a seventh-generation Intel Core i5-7200U CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB SSD, for $730. Our review Acer Swift 3 was identically equipped for $650. We found them both to offer solid value for the money, with a bunch of great qualities that make them well-suited for buyers who need a workhorse productivity machine that won’t weigh them down, nor make their wallets feel too much lighter. Yet there are enough differences between the two machines to make for a clear winner.

Specs

Acer Swift 3

Asus ZenBook UX330UA

Size
13.43 x 9.31 x 0.71 inches
12.7 x 8.7 x 0.53 inches
Weight
3.31 pounds
2.64 pounds
Display
14-inch IPS non-touch display
13.3-inch IPS non-touch display
Resolution
1,920 x 1,080 pixels (157 ppi)
3,200 x 1,800 (276 PPI)
1,920 x 1,080 (165 PPI)
Operating System
Windows 10
Windows 10
Storage
128GB, 256GB, 512GB PCIe SSD
256GB or 512GB SATA SSD
Processor
7th generation Intel Core i3, i5, i7
7th generation Intel Core i5, i7
RAM
4GB or 8GB LPDDR3
4GB or 8GB LPDDR3
Camera/Webcam
Front HD webcam
Front HD webcam
Keyboard
Backlit chiclet
Backlit chiclet
Connectivity
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1
Biometrics
Windows Hello fingerprint scanner
Windows Hello fingerprint scanner
Battery
49 watt-hour lithium polymer
57 watt-hour lithium polymer
Ports
1 x USB 3.0 Type-A, 2 x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1 X USB 3.1 Type-C, 1 x HDMI, SD card reader, combo audio jack
2 x USB 3.0 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.1 Type C, 1 x micro-HDMI, microSDXC card reader, combo audio jack
Price
$500 to $850
 $700-780
Availability

Newegg, Amazon

Amazon
DT review
4 out of 5
4.5 out of 5

Build quality adds value, but one is just a bit better

There was a time not too long ago when buying a machine close to the $500 price point meant accepting cheap plastic and a creaky design. Those days are over, and we’ll begin by talking about design and build quality — both the Acer Swift 3 and the Asus ZenBook UX330UA sport a metal chassis and solid builds that belie their relatively budget prices.

As a 14-inch machine, the Acer Swift 3 is naturally a bit larger than the ZenBook. It weighs in at 3.31 pounds and is a tiny bit chunky at 0.71 inches, with metal used in both the display lid and the lower half giving it a build that we described at robust and premium. We noticed some flexing in the chassis when we really pressed the issue (no pun intended) but in normal use, the Swift 3 felt plenty solid.

The ZenBook UX330UA was thinner at 0.53 inches, and lighter at 2.6 pounds, given its smaller display and overall chassis size. It also benefits from a generous helping of metal in its chassis, and the “spun metal concentric circle” pattern that’s common to the Asus line added a bit of design flair. The build quality was also solid, with no more flex than Acer’s value-oriented machine.

While the competition is close here, we give the nod to the ZenBook. It’s quite a bit more portable, feels a bit more luxurious, and stands out more than the Acer Swift 3 because of the concentric circle pattern etched into the lid.

Winner: Asus Zenbook UX330UA

Two solid mid-range performers, but better thermals and faster storage wins out

As noted earlier, we reviewed identically equipped machines. Both came with workhorse Intel Core i5-7200U processors and 8GB of RAM. The main difference in terms of performance was the choice of solid-state drive (SSD) technology. Acer went with the faster and more modern PCIe version, while Asus saved some money by going with the older — and slower — SATA version.

Unsurprisingly, performance in the Geekbench benchmark was nearly identical, with the Acer Swift 3 scoring 3,809 in the single-core test and 7,515 in the multi-core test, and the ZenBook UX 330UA scoring 3,711 and 7,075. Those are close enough to be a wash.

On the other hand, in our more intensive Handbrake test that encodes a 420GB video to H.265 format, the Acer Swift 3 took 1,084 seconds and the Asus ZenBook UX 330UA took a significantly longer 1,445 seconds — that is significant. It’s possible that the ZenBook’s thinner chassis wasn’t as good at dissipating heat, and so the CPU was throttled.

Next, the Acer Swift 3’s PCIe SSD scored 1,169 MB/s on the CrystalDiskMark read test and 512 MB/s on the write test. That compares to the Asus ZenBook UX330UA’s slower SATA SSD, that could garner only 489 MB/s in the read test and 422 MB/s in the write test. While both machines were plenty fast in terms of booting, opening apps, and accessing and saving data, the Swift 3 promises to avoid slowdowns when working with lots of stored data compared to the ZenBook UX330UA.

In the end, both machines are solid performers, particularly for the price. But when it comes to heavier workloads, the Acer Swift 3’s thicker chassis helps it maintain higher speeds and its faster SSD gets a performance assist as well.

Winner: Acer Swift 3

Backlighting and Windows Hello bring some real value to low-priced laptops

One area where manufacturers sometimes cut down on costs in value laptops is the keyboard and touchpad. It’s not uncommon to receive a mushy keyboard and unresponsive touchpad if you’re not willing to pay considerably more money. We’re happy to report that both Asus and Acer spent some time getting their respective input mechanism in order.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

The keyboard on the Acer Swift 3 offers a solid typing experience, and the keys are backlit with two brightness levels and, unfortunately, some uneven lighting. The expansive touchpad supports Microsoft’s Precision Touchpad protocol and so worked without issue across the full complement of Windows 10 gestures. Windows Hello support is provided by a fingerprint reader to the right of the touchpad.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

The Asus ZenBook UX330UA’s keyboard is similarly comfortable, with good spacing, a generous palm rest, and a respectable 1.5mm of key travel. The ZenBook’s backlighting offers three brightness levels, but we found all of them to be too dim, and lighting was also uneven. The touchpad also provides Microsoft Precision Touchpad gesture support, and was adequately sized, but we found the surface to be too slick for comfort. Finally, the Windows Hello fingerprint scanner was a welcome addition, but we found its placement in the upper-right corner of the touchpad to be distracting — it doesn’t support touch, so it takes away from the overall swiping area.

It’s a close call here, but the Acer Swift 3 seemed just that tiniest bit more pleasant for typing and gesturing, and we preferred the location of its fingerprint scanner. Therefore, it earned the win by the narrowest of margins.

Winner: Acer Swift 3

Plenty of ports, but one machine is just a little more connected

More expensive newer systems (outside of Microsoft’s Surface line) are likely to include the newest USB Type-C port. Value laptops haven’t all caught on to the new standard yet, but don’t tell that to Acer and Asus. Both of the machines include USB Type-C connections and so are relatively future-proof when it comes to connecting to newer accessories. Neither machine added in Thunderbolt 3 support, which is a bummer, but not surprising at this price point. Also, both machines disallow charging via USB Type-C, and so require proprietary power adapters.

The Acer Swift 3 is the thicker machine, as we’ve noted, and another area where some extra girth can come in handy is in connectivity. Acer took full advantage of that fact, packing in two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a USB 2.0 Type-A port, and the USB Type-C port, to go with a full-size HDMI connection, an SD card reader, and a combo audio jack. That’s a solid selection of ports that ensure you can plug in a full complement of peripherals.

The Asus ZenBook UX330A also offers two USB 3.0 Type-A ports to go with the USB Type-C port, but it eschews USB. 2.0. It slips in a micro-HDMI port a, a microSDXC card reader, and a combo audio port. That’s a fair complement of ports for a thin-and-light machine.

Both machines offer good connectivity and are future-proof given the support for USB Type-C. The ZenBook UX330UA has one fewer port, it requires an adapter to connect to full-size HDMI, and it doesn’t support full-size SD cards. Overall, this category has a clear winner.

Winner: Acer Swift 3

One display was clearly superior

Both of our the Acer Swift 3 and ZenBook UX330UA review units came equipped with Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) displays. That’s more common for value laptops, but not yet ubiquitous. Yet it doesn’t mean that we found the displays to be identical.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

To begin with, the Acer Swift 3 is a 14-inch machine, and so a Full HD display is a bit less sharp at 157 PPI compared to the 13.3-inch ZenBook’s 165 PPI. That’s not enough to tell a huge difference, but pixel peepers might discern a few more pixels on the Swift 3. Beyond that, Acer chose a decent but not great display that offered only average contrast at 540:1, below-average color gamut at 67 percent of sRGB and 50 percent of AdobeRGB, and low brightness at only 242 nits. Color accuracy was average at 2.34 (1.o or less is considered excellent).

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

The Asus ZenBook UX330UA, on the other hand, didn’t only rely on its slightly sharper display to be superior here. It also enjoyed almost twice the contrast at 940:1, covered a much more dynamic 98 percent of sRGB and 74 percent of AdobeRGB, and was much brighter at 315 nits. Color accuracy was also average at 2.56. The display was anti-glare, and so performed better in bright lighting than the Swift 3’s glossy display.

Simply put, the Asus ZenBook UX330U scores big here. Its display is sharper, brighter, enjoys better color, and has significantly better contrast. It’s also more comfortable to use in bright environments. For its first win, the ZenBook’s much superior display is significant.

Winner: Asus ZenBook UX330UA

One lasts a lot longer than the other, and which one might surprise you

As mentioned earlier, the ZenBook UX330UA is a bit lighter and a bit thinner than the Acer Swift 3, due in part to its smaller display. That makes the ZenBook easier to slip into a backpack and head out for work.

When it comes to how long each machine will last away from a plug, the dichotomy is a little more clear cut. Whereas Acer made use of the Swift 3’s thicker chassis to squeeze in better connectivity, it left some space unused when it came to packing in the battery. The Swift 3 had to make due with a 49 watt-hour battery, which resulted in respectable but not outstanding battery life. In our video loop test that replays an Avengers trailer from local storage until the battery gives out, the Swift 3 lasted for 10 hours and 22 minutes. In our web browsing loop test, it lasted for six hours and 14 minutes.

Asus was a little more aggressive in making room for a battery with the ZenBook UX330UA, managing to cram in 57 watt-hours of battery capacity. That resulted in a machine that lasted considerably longer in our battery tests. The ZenBook UX330UA lasted almost three hours long when looping our test video, at 13 hours and three minutes. Our web browsing test told a similar story, with the ZenBook lasting an impressive 10 hours and 25 minutes — more than four hours longer than the Acer Swift 3.

Clearly, the Asus ZenBook UX330UA is going to let you get more work done when you can’t plug in. And it’s lighter to boot.

Winner: Asus ZenBook UX330UA

Availability and price

Acer has a number of configurations listed for the Swift 3, ranging from $500 for a machine with a Core i3-7100U CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB SSD all the way up to $850 for a Core i7-7500U CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 5126GB SSD. Our review unit was priced at $650 for a Core i5-7200U, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB SSD. All Swift 3 machines come with Full HD displays.

Currently, although Asus plans for more configurations, the ZenBook UX330UA is basically available in two configurations. Our review unit with a Full HD display, Core i5-7200U, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB SSD cost $730, and the same configuration with QHD+ (3,200 x 1,800) resolution is available for $780.

While the Acer Swift 3 is a bit less expensive and comes in more configurations (some of them quite pricey), the Asus ZenBook UX330UA wins us over for offering a higher resolution display. They both are well-priced value laptops, but we give a slight edge to the ZenBook.

Winner: Asus ZenBook UX330UA

Conclusion

Two value laptops entered this battle, and the Acer Swift 3 took home some early wins. Its performance was better than the Asus ZenBook UX330UA could muster, at least in terms of storage speeds and when the CPU was being pushed to the max. It also has slightly better connectivity and input, with one additional port, full-size connections, slightly better keyboard backlighting, and superior fingerprint scanner placement.

The Asus ZenBook UX330UA came on strong, however. It enjoys a superior display that’s more usable in all light conditions and just looks so much better. And, it lasts considerably longer away from a plug. Display quality and battery life are two very important laptop characteristics, and the ZenBook scored some huge wins here. Toss in the availability of a higher resolution display for not too much more, and we’re convinced that the ZenBook UX330UA is the superior value laptop.