Windows 10 Mixed Reality headsets are coming on October 17th too

In addition to Microsoft debuting Windows Mixed Reality on October 17th, as part of the Fall Creators Update, its hardware partners will also have their VR headsets ready to go on the same day. That’s not a major shock, though it’s a surprise to see that computer makers have moved from the inexpensive, $300 price Microsoft was originally aiming for. Headsets from HP, Lenovo, and Dell will cost $350 on their own, or $450 together with motion controllers. Given just how important motion tracking is in VR, it wouldn’t make sense to go without those controllers, either.

​​​All of the Windows VR headsets feature a 1,440 by 1,440 pixel per eye resolution, as well as a 90Hz refresh rate. Unlike the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, you also don’t need to set up additional sensors to use them, as they feature a variant of the “inside-out” spatial tracking that Microsoft developed for HoloLens. The headsets mainly differ when it comes to their designs. Some models, like HP’s, are a bit hefty. Others like Acer’s, are surprisingly light. Several of them also have the ability to flip their VR visors up, without taking the entire headset off. That makes it much easier to hop between VR and the real world.

While it’s nice to see Windows VR headsets getting closer to reality, it’s a shame that they’re pricing isn’t nearly as disruptive as we originally thought. The Oculus Rift is now available for $499 — and that includes its excellent Touch Controllers. Earlier this year, the Rift bundle was just $399 on sale. HTC, meanwhile, dropped the Vive to $599. For that additional cost, though, you also get true room-scale support.

Follow all the latest news from IFA 2017 here!

Panasonic’s fridge of the future comes when you call it

We don’t know how the kitchens of our future will work, but Panasonic’s vision includes a moving refrigerator that responds to voice commands. The company was showing off a concept for such a device that, if we’re lucky, might make it to our homes in the next few decades.

Essentially, the Movable Fridge is little more than a coolbox glued on top of a robot vacuum cleaner with a voice interface. With its built in LIDAR and depth sensor, the device would — theoretically — scan your home and be able to navigate around on its own. The idea, according to the company, is that the unit would always listen out for your command, such as “Fridge, come here.” Then, it would emerge from its hole in your kitchen wall and scoot over to you without bumping into your household pets.

Panasonic intends this to be used by the elderly and those with mobility issues, saving them from unnecessary trips to the kitchen. The company is also considering adding a warming plate to the top, to move warm meals from room to room.

Of course, we can also imagine this finding plenty of fans with the sort of people who currently have a beer fridge cluttering up their TV room. Imagine the bragging rights when you’re asked for some cold ones, and they make their own way from the kitchen.

Follow all the latest news from IFA 2017 here!

The best personal breathalyzer

By Séamus Bellamy

This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. When readers choose to buy The Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here.

After 65 hours of research—which included getting intoxicated at a police station to test personal breathalyzers alongside law enforcement equipment—we’re sure the BACtrack S80 Pro is the most accurate, reliable, and easiest-to-use personal breathalyzer that you can buy. We reached this conclusion after conducting research over four years, considering 102 models, and trying 15.

Who should get this

In the four years we’ve researched this guide, the best advice we’ve heard on the topic of personal-breathalyzer use came from one of our law enforcement partners: If you’ve been drinking enough to think about using a breathalyzer to see if it’s safe for you to drive, you’re drunk enough that you should call a cab. We want to discourage that kind of use, as well as the idea of using it to see who’s gettin’ drunkest.

We’d also like to note that a breathalyzer’s blood-alcohol content measurement doesn’t always tell the complete story of your intoxication. Such devices estimate the alcohol in your bloodstream based on the amount of ethanol they detect in the air you exhale. But alcohol affects every person differently, and the same BAC number can reflect a very different level of impairment from one person to another. BAC also fluctuates over time, and can increase for 30 to 90 minutes after an individual has stopped drinking and the alcohol has had time to be fully absorbed into the bloodstream. And no matter the results of a personal-breathalyzer test, you can almost never use the data in a court of law.

But a breathalyzer can be useful to have on hand. Arguing with an intoxicated friend, coworker, or family member can be useless. But supporting your concerns with BAC data can be more gracious and less confrontational than offering your own subjective judgment—and, we hope, more useful in persuading someone not to drive.

How we picked

A previous year’s test group included (from left to right) the AlcoHawk PT500, the BACtrack S80 Pro, the 2045Tech Floome, and the BACtrack Trace. Photo: Michael Hession

The most important feature for any breathalyzer is how accurately it measures BAC samples. Our pick is roughly as accurate as the devices police officers use to perform roadside testing. Beyond that first key detail, you’ll want any breathalyzer you purchase to include the following features.

• Easy-to-use controls: You or a friend may be intoxicated when using a breathalyzer, so ease of use is a must-have.
• A fuel-cell-based sensor: Law enforcement officers prefer this type of device for its portability, dependability, sensitivity, and high degree of accuracy. This type needs occasional calibration and is pricey compared with other types of breathalyzers, but it’s also the only kind that consistently generates accurate readings.
• Readable results: A breathalyzer should make reading and interpreting the results of a BAC test simple. Big, bright, or backlit numbers are best for reading inside a dimly lit bar.
• Recalibration: All hardware eventually loses accuracy, and you should be able to calibrate your breathalyzer by either sending it back to the manufacturer for service or ordering fresh sensor components to recalibrate the hardware yourself.
• Low power requirements: Your breathalyzer should be ready for more than a thousand uses before the batteries need changing.
• Quick performance: The faster a breathalyzer can perform, the better. Our pick is ready to go in roughly 20 seconds, nearly twice as fast as some of the others we tested.
• A way to share: Having replaceable mouthpieces is a great way to remove a friend’s (valid) concerns about germs and make the readings a bit more accurate.

How we tested

Our law enforcement partners provided access to their equipment and expertise. Photo: Rebecca Boniface

Under police supervision, I consumed a controlled amount of alcohol over a 45-minute period. The amount of alcohol—7 ounces of Jameson Irish Whiskey served as seven Jameson and Gingers—was administered according to my sex, height, weight, and age (for the record, I’m a 40-year-old male measuring 5-foot-7 and weighing about 250 pounds). The amount of alcohol was chosen with a specific purpose in mind: to put me over the legal limit, which in the province of British Columbia (and many US states) is a BAC of 0.08 percent. Ideally, we wanted to get a sample at a minimum BAC of 0.10 percent, which is enough to register a “fail” warning on the police department’s portable testing hardware. Cheers!

Once the 45-minute time limit elapsed, we waited 20 minutes to allow my body to absorb the alcohol I’d ingested, then tested my BAC with the police department’s Alco-Sensor IV handheld portable breathalyzer. To confirm that the Alco-Sensor IV’s reading was accurate, I also submitted a breath sample to the department’s Intox EC/IR II tabletop hardware. In both rounds of testing, the breath samples registered a BAC reading of 0.09. We then tested the civilian breathalyzers we’d brought with us, compared their readings with the police equipment’s, and repeated the test after waiting another 20 minutes.

Our pick

With its large display and simple two-button operation, the BACtrack S80 Pro is easy to use, no matter how much you’ve had to drink. Photo: Michael Hession

In three separate tests, the BACtrack S80 Pro stood head and shoulders above everything else we’ve tried, consistently producing the most accurate test results compared with the law enforcement equipment we’ve used during supervised drinking sessions at a police station. Beyond that, this fuel-cell-based tool is simple to use, portable, hygienic, and easy to read and interpret. It takes less than 20 seconds for the device to warm up, and has disposable mouthpieces for hygiene and accuracy.

There’s a lot to like about the S80 Pro, but above all else, it’s the best because it’s the most accurate. BACtrack claims that the S80 Pro can track BAC levels from 0.000 percent to 0.400 percent, and its fuel-cell-based hardware won’t show false positives. In our tests, the BACtrack was within 0.01 percent from the police equipment we compared it with, making it the only breathalyzer we tested to prove nearly as accurate as the police hardware.

The S80 Pro uses disposable mouthpieces, which is important for hygiene and accuracy, as breathing into a clean mouthpiece ensures that a reading won’t be at risk of contamination from a previous user. New disposable mouthpieces aren’t terribly expensive.

After 1,000 uses, you need to send the S80 Pro and $20 to the manufacturer for calibration, which isn’t that hard to do—but it isn’t as easy as the recalibration procedure for some other fuel-cell-based breathalyzers, which you can perform yourself simply by switching out the fuel cell. Some people will send theirs in right on time, but not everyone who needs this product will be the most responsible type of person—and they’ll end up relying on inaccurate readings from the device, which can put them (and others) at risk.

This guide may have been updated by The Wirecutter. To see the current recommendation, please go here.

Note from The Wirecutter: When readers choose to buy our independently chosen editorial picks, we may earn affiliate commissions that support our work.

Apple is reportedly planning to set up shop in Hollywood

In June, Apple announced that it had hired Sony bigshots Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg to head its video programming division. The move signaled that Apple might be more serious about its TV and film aspirations than its currently small offerings would suggest. Now, the Financial Times is reporting that the company has its eye on a major Hollywood studio.

The Culver Studios has been the set for films like Gone with the Wind, Carrie and Rocky. It’s also hosted TV shows like The Andy Griffith Show, Arrested Development and Pee-wee’s Playhouse. The location has 32,000 square feet of space and 13 soundstages.

Another sign that it’s amping up its game are reports that Apple is trying to snag a Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon drama that Netflix also has its eye one. The company is planning to spend over a $1 billion per year on original content in a push to start competing with companies like Amazon, Netflix and even YouTube that are currently well outpacing it in regards to original TV and film content.

Source: Financial Times

Sharp is ready to sell 8K consumer TVs now that we all have 4K

While other electronics companies are just getting to consumer 4K screens, Sharp is once again focusing on the next resolution milestone. Today, Sharp announced its 8K AQUOS televisions will be coming to Japan and China in December, with releases in Taiwan and Europe planned for early 2018.

Sharp has been pushing near-8K screens (7,680 x 4,320) since 2015, though its first models later that year boasting true 8K had a consumer-unfriendly $130,000 price tag. But the issue wasn’t accuracy — it was lack of content recorded at such a high resolution to actually enjoy on the fancy screens. Watching 4K content isn’t much different whether you’re watching on a 4K or an 8K screen.

Ergo, Sharp’s announcement blitz today also introduced a company initiative called “8K Ecosystem” dedicated to refining the process and tech of shooting, editing, storing and broadcasting content in 8K. Sharp’s new TVs won’t make much of a splash if there isn’t material that only their screens can show off, and there’s very little 8K content in the wild.

It’s the same chicken-egg problem that 4K faced at first, though some pressure from outside the industry could nudge 8K along. Japan’s telecommunications ministry is pushing for production and broadcasting of 8K technology by next year to ensure systems are ready for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, according to The Japan Times.

Sharp will start selling its 8K AQUOS TVs in China and Japan later this year. Then it will release AQUOS models as 8K monitors for release in Taiwan in February 2018 and Europe in March — but no official plans for a US release. Sharp hasn’t listed a price for these screens, but a source told the Nikkei Asian Review that they may start at 1 million yen (or about $9,000).

Source: PR Newswire

Samsung’s 43-inch Frame TV is like a fancy art piece for your wall

When Samsung announced The Frame TV earlier this year, it quickly became a product of interest for people with minimalist taste. That’s because it’s essentially designed to double as an art piece, and its aesthetics can easily blend in with any paintings you may have on your wall. It launched in June in both 55- and 65-inch size, but at IFA 2017, Samsung unveiled a new 43-inch model. This may be a good option for those of you who, maybe, liked the looks of the TV but would prefer it in a smaller size.

Naturally, as you might expect from a TV in 2017, the Frame features a 4K screen and smart apps. Where the device stands out though, aside from the design, is with the Samsung Collection, a library of 1,000 pieces of art work that you can set as your background when you’re not using it in TV mode. As part of yesterday’s announcement in Berlin, Samsung also revealed that it will soon be adding exclusive content from Spain’s Prado museum.

The Frame is only the latest in experimental television designs for Samsung. If you recall, the company last year introduced the Serif TV, which looks more like piece of furniture than an actual TV. Perhaps in the near future we’ll get one that blends in with our floor, couch or… something else in our home.

Unfortunately, Samsung hasn’t said how much The Frame TV is or when it’ll hit stores, but don’t expect it to be cheap. The 55- and 65-inch versions, for context, are priced respectively at $2,000 and $2,800.

Follow all the latest news from IFA 2017 here!

Technics’ SP-10R is its latest high-end throwback turntable

If you thought Technic’s SL-1200 reissue was expensive, you haven’t seen anything yet. Meet the SP-10R. Technics calls the throwback deck its “most premium turntable ever” and its 7kg (almost 15.5 pounds) brass, rubber and aluminum platter drives that claim home even further. “By optimizing the natural frequency of each ayer, external vibrations are thoroughly suppressed resulting in a beautifully clear and crisp audio experience,” a very technically-worded press release says.

You might be wondering what that separate box is next to the deck in the photo above. Well, it’s an external power supply. Technics says that keeping the ultra-low-noise switching power supply apart from the platter helps suppress humming sounds and vibrations. Technics first introduced the SP10MK2 in 1975; back then it was the first direct-drive professional turntable on the pro market.

Like the SL-1200 reissue, this features a coreless direct-drive motor and will likely command an absurdly high price once it’s released next summer. How much it’ll cost wasn’t revealed, but the SL-1200 was $4,000, and with all the boasting Technics is doing about sound quality you can expect the SP-10R to top that.

Follow all the latest news from IFA 2017 here!

Apple Store in Simi Valley Permanently Closing Later This Month, Possibly Due to Lower Sales [Updated]

Apple has announced that its retail store at the Simi Valley Town Center in Simi Valley, California, located approximately 30 miles from downtown Los Angeles, will permanently close later this month.

Apple Store at Simi Valley Town Center
Friday, September 15 is the last day the store will be open. Apple provided thanks for “over 10 great years” and advised customers to visit its retail store list to find a nearby location. Apple Simi Valley originally opened in May 2006.

Apple hasn’t publicly commented on the reason for the store’s closure, but multiple tipsters have informed MacRumors that the location may have suffered from low sales and customer traffic — a rarity for an Apple Store.

At a minimum, the closure doesn’t appear to be related to Apple’s ongoing store renovation process across the United States.

There were high hopes for Simi Valley Town Center when it opened in 2005, but the outdoor shopping mall hasn’t been as bustling as envisioned. The less-than-expected customer traffic may be partially due to an expansion of The Oaks Shopping Center in nearby Thousand Oaks, California in 2008.

Apple itself has a retail store at The Oaks that opened in October 2005, and several other locations in the greater Los Angeles area.

Over the years, Simi Valley Town Center has lost several retailers, including Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, Coach, American Eagle, Cache, Forever 21, and PacSun, according to the Simi Valley Acorn. Macy’s also merged its standalone menswear store into its main location at the shopping center earlier this year.

A tipster informed us that Simi Valley Town Center may eventually be repurposed as an outlet mall, which could explain Apple’s departure.

MacRumors has yet to learn whether the store’s employees will be laid off or offered the opportunity to transfer to another location.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Update: In related news, Apple said its Westfield Topanga store in the Canoga Park neighborhood of Los Angeles reopens Saturday, September 16 at 10:00 a.m. local time. (Thanks, Storeteller!)

Related Roundup: Apple Stores
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Moto Z2 Force review: A force to be reckoned with?

Last year Lenovo and Motorola introduced two flagship phones with Moto Z and Moto Z Force, but this year they’ve consolidated their lineup. There’s no Moto Z2, and instead we only have the Z2 Force as their main 2017 flagship. The Moto Z2 Force brings back the shatterproof display and some key changes that include a thinner body, dual cameras, new Moto Mod accessories and availability on all U.S. carriers in order to better compete with the likes of Samsung and LG.

However, not all of these changes are without compromises and the thinner body means the Z2 Force has a significantly smaller battery than last year’s model. Does Lenovo’s choice of form over function shatter the experience, or is the Z2 Force still a force to be reckoned with? Find out in our full Moto Z2 Force review!

Design

Due to compatibility with the Moto Mods, it’s no surprise that the overall design and shape of the Z2 Force has remained the same, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any notable changes. Motorola’s gotten rid of the rear glass inserts of last year’s Z Force in favor of an all metal unibody design that’s made from 7,000-series aluminum for extra toughness and durability. The rear panel has a hairline finish which doesn’t add any texture to the device, but it is an attractive look and a big improvement over the rear panel of the original Z Force.

The thinner body gives it a much sleeker feel in the hand but it doesn’t come without sacrifice.

The most significant change to the Z2 Force’s design is that it’s roughly one millimeter thinner than its predecessor. If this story sounds familiar it’s because Lenovo did the same thing with the Z2 Play. The thinner body gives it a much sleeker feel in the hand but it doesn’t come without a sacrifice. That sacrifice, of course, is the battery, which we will get into, and we have to question if Lenovo’s obsession with making their devices thinner is a decision of form over function or if it’s merely just a ploy to sell more Moto Mods.

The release of the Z2 Force has also brought along some new Moto Mod accessories, with a new 360 degree camera and a gamepad that will add physical controls and buttons to your mobile gaming experience. Like all Moto Mods, these will fit Moto Z devices old and new for at least a few years, and the previous generation of Moto Mods are perfectly compatible with the Z2 Force.

Display

On the front, the Z2 Force comes with a 5.5-inch AMOLED display boasting a resolution of 2560 x 1440 that results in a pixel density of 535 ppi. The AMOLED screen brings all of the usual characteristics that you would expect like vibrant colors, deep dark blacks, and excellent contrast. The display works wonderfully for browsing the web, playing games, and watching videos. In most situations it looks fantastic, but it does become tough to read under direct sunlight.

In comparison to screens from the Galaxy S8 or LG G6, the Z2 Force’s display may not be nearly as eye catching, being surrounded by thicker bezels all around, but what makes this screen special is the Shattershield technology. This makes the screen completely shatterproof, which is great, but the technology behind it isn’t exactly as magically as you would hope.

The biggest downside to the shatterproof screen is it’s no longer user replaceable.

The screen is essentially protected by a thick layer, or “lens” as Motorola likes to call it, of plastic. While it does do its job of preventing the screen from shattering, it’s much more prone to scratches, nicks, and dents, and during the week that I’ve had the Z2 Force the screen has already become filled with scratches. It’s not noticeable when the display is on but it’s fairly easy to see every little imperfection when the screen is turned off. The biggest downside to the shatterproof screen is it’s no longer user replaceable. You’ll either have to live with the scratches or resort to adding a screen protector since Motorola has discontinued the replacement service

.

Performance

Inside, the Z2 Force is powered by your typical set of 2017 flagship specs. You’ll find the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 running the show along with the Adreno 540 GPU, and four gigabytes of RAM.

Everyday performance is nothing short of expectation. The Z2 Force is fluid and responsive with fast app load times, smooth scrolling, and a seamless multitasking experience. Checking emails, browsing the web, and watching videos are all handled with ease and graphic intensive gaming is also an enjoyably smooth experience. Much of the phone’s snappiness and fluidity can be attributed to a combination of the fast processor and Motorola’s close to stock experience. The true test will be how the phone performs months down the road but for now the Z2 Force operates without any noticeable stutters or slowdowns.

Hardware

The Z2 Force comes in only one storage option at 64 GB but a microSD slot is available with support of up to 2 TB in case you need more than what the phone is able to offer internally. 4×4 MIMO is also on board for faster gigabit LTE speeds across carriers.

With such a hefty price tag and no official IP certification, it’s only going to make it harder for the Z2 Force to compete.

Water and dust resistance has become a fairly common feature on flagship phones but that is one thing you will not find on the Z2 Force. It does however carry a water-repellent nano coating that makes the phone resistant to the occasional splash without being designed to survive submersion. With such a hefty price tag and no official IP certification, it’s only going to make it harder for the Z2 Force to compete.

As far as audio is concerned, the Z2 Force only comes with a single speaker embedded in the ear piece. The fact that it’s a front facing speaker is certainly a positive and the audio quality sounds good without any distortion even at max volume. However, due to there only being one speaker the audio experience sounds just as lopsided as it did on the Z2 Play, which featured the same speaker setup. Of course this is one of the Z2 Force’s shortcomings that could easily be remedied by using the JBL SoundBoost Moto Mod.

One problem that a Moto Mod can not solve (at least for now) is the Z2 Force’s lack of a headphone jack, which most people might still find annoying. There is a USB type C adapter to 3.5 mm jack included in the box of the Z2 Force so at the very least you are still able to use your favorite pair of earbuds or over the ear cans.

On the bottom chin or directly below the display is where Motorola typically likes to place their fingerprint sensors and the Z2 Force is no exception. Just like the G5 Plus or Z2 Play the fingerprint sensor features the same redesigned oval shape that better matches the design aesthetics of the Moto lineup over the previous squared shape sensor. The fingerprint sensor works well, with great accuracy and speed, and it’s fantastic that it can also be used to put the phone back to sleep. In addition to that, the fingerprint sensor can be used for all of your Android navigation needs in place of the Android soft keys, through various different gestures. This was first introduced on the G5 Plus and it’s a great way to maximize the entire screen of the Z2 Force but using one button for all navigation can take some getting used to.

With the Z2 Force being thinner than its predecessor, this resulted in a significantly smaller battery which has been a big point of concern since the phone’s announcement. It’s a move by Lenovo that is quite the head-scratcher, as the drop in battery capacity is drastic. The Z2 Force features a 2,730 mAh battery which is a 22% decrease over the 3,500 mAh cell of last year’s Z Force.

This smaller battery has resulted in less than desirable battery life especially for a flagship. Getting through a full day on the Z2 Force is certainly possible with light usage, but moderate to heavy use will definitely require at least one charge up midway through the day. Screen on-time never went beyond four hours regardless of how heavy or light my usage was and that’s just well below average when compared to most current flagships. Of course the battery pack Moto Mod could make this a non-issue but you shouldn’t have to rely on an extra accessory in order to get great battery life.

Camera

Dual cameras on flagships are becoming the norm and Motorola has become the latest OEM to join the club. The Z2 Force features two 12 megapixel cameras with PDAF and f/2.0 aperture. The main sensor is your standard RGB, while the secondary lens shoots monochrome and this provides the Z2 Force with a few new tricks.

These two cameras combine to create better quality images and the monochrome sensor allows you to take true black and white photos. Motorola also leverages the second sensor with a new depth effect or portrait mode for a blurred background effect similar to the iPhone 7 Plus, OnePlus 5 or Huawei P10.

The camera app is largely unchanged from previous Moto devices. The only difference is you now have options for a black and white mode and the new depth effect. For video recording, the Z2 Force can record up to 4K at 30 fps and 1080p slow motion video at 120 fps. Unfortunately, without optical image stabilization video footage isn’t very smooth and shakes and jitters can be easily noticed even from the casual walk.

Black and white photography doesn’t necessarily appeal to me, but in the right situation in can make your shot look more dramatic. The depth effect or portrait mode on the other hand is no better or worse than what we’ve seen from other smartphones that can do the same thing. It can look convincing in some cases but when the subject has more complex edges, like in the case of flowers or a person’s hair, that’s when it starts to look artificial.

General picture quality on the Z2 Force has been pleasant. Color reproduction is nice and accurate with just a tad amount of saturation to make the images pop. There’s plenty of detail in daytime photography and the camera handles shadows and highlights fairly well leading to overall good dynamic range. In low light is where the camera struggles the most. The lack of OIS means the camera is much slower to capture, resulting in a lot of out of focus shots and a noticeable lack of sharpness and detail.

The front facing camera is a 5 megapixel shooter at f/2.2 with a front facing LED flash that’s sufficient for taking selfies. The LED flash is great for illuminating your face in dark situations without being overly harsh but it has a tendency to crush details in the background that you may prefer the results with it turned off.

Software

Motorola’s software experience has always been one of the best in Android and the story is no different on the Z2 Force. It’s running Android 7.1.1 and of course what makes the experience so great is how close it is to stock Android. Motorola’s usual suite of useful software additions are also on board, which includes the double chop for turning on the flashlight, wrist twist to launch the camera, and battery friendly notifications with Moto display just to name a few.

It’s the cleanest software experience you’ll find outside of a Pixel or a OnePlus 5 but carrier versions inevitably come with pre-installed bloatware. The amount of bloatware will vary from carrier to carrier but the Verizon version that I’ve been using comes with Verizon’s entire suite of applications and other third party apps like Slacker Radio and NFL Mobile. An unlocked version was briefly available during the phone’s launch, which most likely would have been free of carrier bloat, but that since has been given the axe, and you’re now forced to pick a carrier when buying it direct from Motorola.

Specifications

Gallery

Pricing and final thoughts

The Moto Z2 Force is available now directly from Motorola and through all U.S. carriers, and for a limited time you can get last year’s Moto Insta-share projector mod included for free. Pricing will vary from carrier to carrier, but directly from Motorola the phone will run you $720 which is already down 80 bucks from the initially announced release price.

With the Z2 Force’s availability on all major U.S. carriers, it’s clear that Motorola/Lenovo is making a big attempt in competing with other big name flagships and it certainly has all the raw power and specs in order to do so. But, in 2017, it takes more than a great spec sheet to grab consumers’ attention. Motorola made a few steps forward in differentiating their product by adding dual cameras and more unique Moto Mods, but they arguably took many more steps back.

There’s still no headphone jack despite the more mid-range Z2 Play carrying one, the Z2 Force is not water resistant like most flagships, and Motorola sacrificed the phone’s once hefty battery in favor of a thinner design. All of these are questionable decisions that prevents the Z2 Force from being an even better phone. There’s no doubt that the Z2 Force is a good phone, but it had the potential to be a great phone and when you’re pricing your phone to compete with the best, “good” just isn’t enough.

Sony Xperia XA1 Plus hands on

Sony took the wraps off of a slew of new smartphone offerings here at IFA 2017, and while the flagship Xperia XZ1 and Xperia XZ1 Compact definitely stole the limelight, the new addition to their mid-range line is definitely deserving of some attention as well. We go hands on and take a quick look at the Sony Xperia XA1 Plus!

Sony launched the Xperia XA1 and Xperia XA1 Ultra back during MWC earlier this year, and as far as specifications and features go, the new Xperia XA1 Plus falls right in the middle of the two. Sony’s signature design returns here, with the XA1 Plus featuring a metal build with rounded corners and a flat top and bottom.

The bezels are impressively thin along the sides of the display, but the top and bottom chin are really thick and feel almost unnecessarily at this point. While Sony may be keeping them in order to maintain its signature design, at a time when the industry as a whole is moving on to higher and higher screen-to-body ratios they look incredibly dated. At the very least, the extra space isn’t entirely a waste and is home to a dual front-facing speaker setup.

As mentioned, the XA1 Plus falls smack in the middle of its older siblings, and that starts with the size. While the XA1 and XA1 Ultra featured 5-inch and 6-inch displays respectively, the XA1 Plus comes with a 5.5-inch IPS LCD screen with a Full HD resolution. As was the case with the other two, this display also hits 100% of the sRGB color gamut.

Like the other two devices in the series, the XA1 Plus is also powered by a Mediatek Helio P20 processor, and comes with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of built-in storage that is further expandable via microSD card up to an additional 256 GB. As has always been the case with Sony’s smartphones, the US version of the XA1 Plus will not feature a fingerprint scanner, but it will be available in the European edition of the phone. You do get to take advantage of an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance however.

Things also remain identical in the camera department, with the XA1 Plus featuring a 23 MP rear shooter with a f/2.0 aperture. Up front is an 8 MP shooter though, which is better than what was available with the XA1, but not as good as the one found with the XA1 Ultra. Given that the main camera is the same, the camera performance of the XA1 Plus should impress the same way the others did, but we’ll definitely need to test it more before drawing any conclusions.

The one department that has received a much needed boost is in the battery, with the XA1 Plus packing in a battery that is larger than both of its siblings with its 3,430 mAh unit. With Qnovo Adaptive Charging and the Pump Express 2.0 fast charging technology on-board, you shouldn’t have a lot of trouble getting that large battery back to a full charge either.

On the software side of things, the Xperia XA1 Plus is running Android 7.1.2 Nougat, with Sony’s minimalistic UI on top. Sony has always done a great job of keeping the software experience as close to and as fast as stock Android, while still being aesthetically different enough to be its own thing. And of course, you do get Sony’s own set of apps on-board that help further enhance the experience.

So, there you have it for this quick hands on with the Sony Xperia XA1 Plus! While there are minor differences between the three smartphones in the XA1 series, what it essentially boils down to is your size preference. If you found the 5-inch XA1 to be too small and the 6-inch XA1 Ultra to be too big, the middle of the ground XA1 Plus may be the one that is best suited for you.