Why do some games take up so much storage space? We asked developers

Modern game systems sport huge hard drives, but they don’t have unlimited capacities – and with the size of many modern games, it can become a real problem. That’s doubly true for those who live under ISP download limits, as AAA titles can take up huge portions of your monthly bandwidth allowance.

Although the recent news of a 170 gigabyte install size for the upcoming PC port of Final Fantasy XV turned out to be just rumor, few gamers were incredulous about it. Games that need over 100 gigabytes are now reality, and install sizes are going up with alarming speed.

Why is that? Most gamers may have assumptions about the answer — but we wanted to get the real story straight from the developer’s mouth.

Video games are art, man

Most of the game that’s filling up your hard drive is art. Turn10, developer of the upcoming Forza Motorsport 7 — which weighs in at just shy of 100GB — claims that models, lighting, and textures all play a big part in leading its mammoth storage footprint.

“For Forza, the largest contributors to install size are the improved quality and quantity of the experience provided in the game,” said a Turn10 representative in a statement to DigitalTrends. “Improved materials, textures, and lighting quality at 60 frames per second.”

With more than 700 cars in the game, it’s not hard to see how this could become an issue. No two cars are alike. Yet it’s not just visual art that consumes space. Audio also gobbles storage, and sometimes more so. In some cases, that’s because it’s uncompressed.

“You have to understand what is in those files that are taking up all that space,” Zach Barth of indie developer Zachtronics told Digital Trends. “Titanfall for PC required 48 GB [to install], but 35 GB of that was just the game’s audio files.”

“[Respawn] made the choice to store them on disk uncompressed because low-end computers couldn’t decompress that audio on the fly without killing the framerate,” Barth explained. “This wasn’t a problem [on consoles] because they tend to have dedicated hardware for decompressing audio.”

He also cited in-game cinematics as one of the worst offenders for filling up your hard drive, though he said that with the kind of games Zachtronics puts out, game install size is not something he’s concerned with. “Our games are small because their files are small” he said, pointing to recent releases like Schnzhen I/O.

“Our games are small because their files are small.”

Cliff Harris of Positech Games feels much the same way about the titles he puts out. His games are tiny compared to the AAA monsters. Texture size plays a big part in that, as Positech Games doesn’t rely on cutting-edge graphics for appeal.

“Textures can get out of hand really quickly,” he told Digital Trends. “1,280 x 1,280 textures are around 3.6MB, while 2,560 x 2,560 becomes 14.7MB. A 4K texture could be as much as 64MB. That isn’t compressed for downloading, though.”

Compression is something that Harris has a strong belief in, suggesting it didn’t happen anywhere near enough in larger studios. He was quite scathing of the developmental practices that can lead to the larger footprints of AAA games. Having spent time working at such developers, he’s had a close-up view of the inefficiencies present in the gaming industry’s biggest developers.

“In a big studio, a team of 100, maybe even 300 people work on the game — but one person puts the installer together,” he said. “Literally 99 percent of the people developing content don’t even know how big it is, let alone care. Also, the final file size will only really become apparent towards the end of development, and when there is crunch, everyone is firefighting, and nobody has time to worry about it.”

When big games meet limited bandwidth

While the lack of oversight is a major contributor to game install sizes, Harris suggests the current situation of monster games is partly a generational and locational problem. While older developers have a pedigree of working on systems which had to be constrained by the likes of compact physical media, younger developers don’t understand those limitations.

“Even consoles have huge hard drives now,” he pointed out. “They have forgotten how to develop smaller assets.”

There’s also a disconnect between developers and their audience. “Games are developed in big cities, by young people in tech-hubs where the studio has fiber, everyone has fiber, and the idea of download size mattering is laughable,” Harris said. “It’s not a concern they can identify with in any way. Plus, there are still some idiots who mock a game for being a small download size. Yes, that actually happens.”

This, he claims, leads to complacency and wastefulness, something that just wasn’t possible when developers were worried about cramming an entire game into a few megabytes of space on a cartridge or disc.

“If you sell on three stores on three different operating system versions, one gigabyte becomes nine.”

“That means leaving sound as Wav files instead of (way smaller) OGG files, using HD textures even for tiny elements that are never seen at full size…” lamented Harris. “[They also] leave mip-maps on when they won’t be used, always use 32-bit color when some textures are greyscale, and even ship audio for 10 different languages to everyone, regardless of region.”

“There is just not that automatic background process that occurred in the heads of older developers like me,” he said. “It’s a lost art.”

Living outside of one of the world’s major tech hubs can make living with large install sizes much more difficult. Harris, who lives well away from the nearest fiber line, struggles with that problem – just like the millions of gamers who live in rural areas.

“I work from home surrounded by farmland. My internet is ADSL copper cable run over about thirty wooden telegraph poles before it hits the nearest cabinet. Upload speed in perfect weather is 1Mbps. Uploading a one gigabyte file would take me forever. If you sell on three stores on three different operating system versions, one gigabyte becomes nine gigabytes.”

Beyond his struggles as a developer, Harris’ physical location and lack of connectivity gives him an uncommon perspective in game development — a true insight into what it’s like to be a rural gamer, where special technology is often required for high-speed internet.

“As a rural broadband user, a lot of us have download caps. There are games that I wouldn’t install if they were free, because the time and data cost to me is way, way too high.”

Big games mean big installs

As games become more detailed, art assets will only take up more space, further widening divides between those who can and can’t tolerate massive install sizes.

We could place the blame at the feet of developers and demand that they opt for more optimization in the process. As Harris described before, there is a lot of inefficiencies in putting all the pieces of a game together. Addressing those would be a good place to start.

“The biggest win by far [would be in shipping] only localized content, especially when it is a game with a lot of recorded audio,” Harris said on the topic of optimizations. “Also, it’s amazing how many games ship with content that is not even in the game, like old placeholder user interface graphics, or content that was removed and replaced, but the art assets are left in.”

The types of games being made also has a big impact on install size. Harris points out that even factoring in his own optimizations – he informs us that he always “sets the installer compression to maximum” –his latest game, Production Lines, comes in at a minuscule 117MB. AAA titles aren’t going to be able to reduce to that sort of install size, but that’s not to say more studios couldn’t try out more optimization.

That’s something Turn10 said it employed with its upcoming Forza title.

It’s amazing how many games ship with content that is not even in the game.

“All of our heavy assets, including image and geometry data, as well as all audio and video assets, are compressed with the leading compression technologies in the industry, and many are compressed with multiple techniques to minimize their size on disc, all the while balancing size and overall quality,” Turn10 told Digital Trends in a statement.

Even with that compression in place, perhaps no surprise that Forza Motorsport 7 ended up as big as it is. The game is a flagship launch title for Xbox One X, Microsoft’s new 4K game console, and the fastest game console ever made. It’s all about stunning visual quality, and that demands extremely detailed art assets.

“We built Forza Motorsport 7 with the goal to deliver the most comprehensive, visually stunning and most technically advanced racing game ever made – and the footprint size is evidence of this. We use various technologies to reduce the size of the footprint, while balancing the importance of preserving the highest-quality experience,” Turn10 told us.

Turn10’s statement shows the balancing act of crafting games which are sold partly on their visuals. Even if developers are willing to compress their game down to make its distribution easier, and keep its install footprint reasonable, there are limits to what’s possible.

The rise of 4K-optimized consoles will only accelerate the problem, and that’s bad news for gamers like Harris, or those with smaller drive sizes. It begs the question – is there a point where gamers will say enough is enough? So far, large install sizes haven’t had any noticeable impact on sales or popularity of games, but rapidly ballooning games are test the limits. Would you download a game that’s 200GB in size? 500GB? More? You may have to ask yourself that question within just a few years.

Samsung is the latest tech giant to open an AI lab in Canada

Why it matters to you

Canada’s investment in AI is paying off now that yet another tech company is opening up an AI lab in the country.

As smart as Samsung’s artificially intelligent assistant Bixby may be, it can’t exactly develop itself. That task, of course, falls to a team of Samsung specialists who are continually working to not only improve Bixby, but find new applications for AI as well. And now, they’ll be able to do so in a new home. The Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) has opened up a new AI Lab in Canada’s University of Montreal. The lab is said to be focused on strengthening collaborative research with “world-leading scholars in the AI field.”

Samsung has quite the history of collaboration with academics, having worked previously with Professor Yoshua Bengio of University of Montreal, one of the world’s foremost experts on deep learning, machine learning, and AI. The South Korean company has also worked with partners in the University of Toronto, McGill University, and New York University.

The lab will focus on a number of initiatives, including voice and image recognition, translation, autonomous driving, and of course, robots. Korean researchers will be sent to Canada to work alongside local professors and students in order to develop the algorithms and further technology needed to ensure that Samsung stays ahead of the curve when it comes to modernization.

“There is a long-standing and fruitful research collaboration between us and Samsung and we are glad to see Samsung open a research lab here and join the amazing momentum which is turning Montreal into an international hub for AI, both academically and industrially,” Professor Bengio noted in a statement.

Canada has recently become a hotbed for all things AI, having recently set aside $125 million in federal funding for research related to the field. Indeed, a number of tech giants have already set up shop in the northern nation — Google’s DeepMind office is centered in Edmonton, while Apple’s self-driving force calls Ottawa home. Facebook, Google, and Microsoft also have offices in Montreal.

Eunsoo Shim, VP and Head of S/W Solution Lab at SAIT, said, “The joint research with Professor Bengio has been a foundation for the development of artificial intelligence in Samsung Electronics, and Samsung AI Lab will be a momentous step for us to leap forward.”

Best new songs to stream: Chance The Rapper, Ty Segall, and more

Every week, there are thousands of new songs hitting the airwaves — and it’s just too much for your two ears to handle. With all those options, you can’t be wasting your time on tracks that deserve a thumbs-down click — you want the best new songs to stream right now.

But don’t worry, we’re going to save you the hassle. We listen to some of the most-hyped and interesting songs each week, and tell you which are worthy of your precious listening time.

Here are our five best new songs to stream this week. And don’t forget to subscribe to our Spotify page for a playlist of our weekly picks, which can also be found at the bottom of this post. Not sure which streaming service is best for you? Check out our post about the best music streaming services, or go in depth and learn the differences between Apple Music and Spotify to better weigh your options.

Chance The Rapper — Untitled

Chance The Rapper appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert recently to debut this as-yet unnamed track, a gentle and deeply personal song filled with softly spoken words. It offers an intimate glance into his post-fame career, with powerful lyrics that put his life in real-world perspective. “It ain’t really fun to hang out with me no more,” he raps midway through the song, “We can’t go to the River East and hang at the beach no more/It’s messed up I made it this way and my feet so sore/But it’s all downhill from here I could teach snowboards.”

Ty Segall — Alta

Alta by Ty Segall

Indie rock icon Ty Segall continues his string of shredding guitar jams with his latest single, Alta, which treats fans to an outright radical solo about halfway through the harmony-fueled banger. The stand-alone release further expands Segall’s extremely prolific output this year, following a new LP, a charity EP, with proceeds benefiting the American Civil Liberties Union, and a special 7-inch record.

Glen Hansard — Time Will Be The Healer

“One day when you’re long past this, you’ll laugh about it,” sings Irish songwriter Glen Hansard — who many will recognize from the critically beloved indie film Once — on his latest song, Time Will Be The Healer. The cathartic new single proudly wears its positive outlook without ever veering into all-out corny territory.

LIV — Hurts To Liv

The award for most beautiful pop ballad of the year so far goes to this recent release from Swedish supergroup LIV, made up of Lykki Li and members of acclaimed bands Miike Snow and Peter Bjorn and John. The powerful lyrics are sung in perfect harmony by the excellent musicians, who join together in a simple and elegant arrangement with acoustic guitars, a Fender Rhodes piano, and a deep drum beat.

Chronixx — Skankin Sweet (and more)

Jamaican reggae band Chronixx made a special appearance at NPR’s Tiny Desk recently, performing wonderfully groovy — and shockingly tight — renditions of some of their most popular tunes. On Skankin Sweet, perfect harmonies intersect with layers of guitar and percussion, forming exactly the kind of song you want to sit back and relax to.

That’s it for now, but tune in next week for more songs to stream, and check out the playlist loaded with our recent selections below:

The 10 best exoplanets we’ve discovered so far, ranked

Are you tired of the same old scenery? Do you look up at the sky and think, “Man I’m tired of all this blue!” ? Has your wanderlust exhausted Earth’s options? Or maybe you’re feeling a little Farnsworth and you just don’t want to live on this planet anymore?

Well if any of those situations sound like you, then this list is worth checking out. So grab your space suit, fuel up the shuttle, and strap in for an intergalactic tour of the best exoplanets that humanity has discovered so far.

#10: TrES-2b — The Dracula Planet

Our first stop is the pitch black planet TrES-2b. This gas giant’s atmosphere is less reflective than coal, but as hot as the hottest Earth-born lava. These two odd properties give the planet an eerie red glow, so if you’re a fan of horror stories and Lovecraftian lore, then this might be the perfect stop for you.

Pros: It’s the perfect setting for any of your spooky Halloween parties or vampire cult get-togethers.Cons: While the red glow may deliver the spooky vibe you’re after, it will also reduce your party to ash as soon as you arrive.

#9: Kepler-36c/b — That’s no moon!

Second on this journey are the two planets Kepler-36 C and B. These celestial bodies pass by each other at a distance that’s roughly four times the distance between Earth and the Moon — thereby providing a remarkable view of either planet from the other’s surface.

Pros: A beautiful view of either planet as they pass each other like ships in the night.Cons: This view will likely be your last, as neither planet is anywhere near hospitable.

#8: OGLE-2005-BLG-390 — Love the snow? This one is nicknamed ‘Hoth’

Are you a fan of the snow, always looking for the freshest slope? Then OGLE-2005-BLG-390, nicknamed ‘Hoth’, is the exoplanet for you! At negative 220 degrees Celsius, this planet is in a perpetual deep freeze — presumably creating endless slopes for you to carve up.

Pros: It’s an entire planet of slopes for you and your crew to cruise down on your space skis.Cons: On the other hand, the lack of atmosphere an precipitation means it’s likely solid ice — just like you’d be shortly after arrival.

#7: PSR B1257+12 system — A light show to die for

The Aurora Borealis is one of Earth’s greatest sights, but it’s a firefly in the night compared to the light shows caused by PSR B1257+12. This pulsar is the remnants of a star gone supernova, which constantly whips the planets around it with tendrils of radiation — causing planet-wide lights in the sky.

Pros: This place boasts the most impressive auroras you’ll ever see.Cons: Your DNA would immediately be scrambled and fried by the astronomical levels of radiation.

#6: 55 Cancri e — An intergalactic prospector’s dream

Are you a more adventurous type, lusting for the days of old when you could make your fortune on the frontier? Then get your gear together and head to 55 Cancri e, a planet whose composition is largely carbon. This makeup results in the planet being almost entirely made of precious metals, both inside and out.

Pros: The potential to become a space mining tycoon with zillions of blemflarcks (or whatever currency we use in the future)Cons: All those precious metals are hot as hell and currently in liquid form, so good luck with that!

#5: Kepler-16b — Where your shadow will never be lonely

Kepler-16b itself is not especially interesting, but what it’s orbiting definitely is. This exoplanet orbits two stars. That’s right folks, not one, but TWO stars. Look forward to never before seen sunsets and sunrises, and a pal for your shadow.

Pros: A one in a million sky. Woo any potential partner with a romantic picnic beneath a double sunset.Cons: Unfortunately the planet itself is VERY cold, even with two stars. Let’s just say you’re going to need a LOT of picnic blankets.

#4: Wasp 12 b — A crumbling planet being eaten by its sun

For those of you looking for a bit more of an extreme sightseeing experience, Wasp 12 b is everything you could ask for. This planet is slowly being “eaten” by its star, and the side facing the star is crumbling and forming a ring of debris along its orbit. If you’re into those high budget scenes in apocalypse movies, you’re going to LOVE this.

Pros: Probably the most metal thing you will ever see in your life.Cons: This should be obvious, but if the planet is dissolving, you’re not going to do too well yourself.

#3: Kepler-452b — Earth’s bigger, older cousin

So death defying sights and experiences aren’t your thing, and you’re looking for a new place or a summer home? Welcome to Kepler-452b: Earth’s bigger, older cousin. With a 385 day orbit, a rocky exterior, and 60% more mass than Earth; it’s a new frontier that’s both vast and vaguely familiar.

Pros: Finding your own special place won’t be hard with all this space, and the years are just about the same length as Earth’s.Cons: Aside from that, the place is pretty boring. As far as we know, it’s the only planet orbiting this star, and has no moons. It’s also 1400 light years away, so say goodbye to your fam here on Earth.

#2: Proxima B — Only a hop, skip, and four light years away

Unlike our last home away from home, Proxima B orbits Proxima Centauri: the closest star to our Sun, which sits just a few short light years away. With a rocky red exterior like our neighbor Mars and a member of the infamous Alpha Centauri system, this could be your summer getaway to your own red skied paradise.

Pros: It’s only four light years away, making it the best candidate for potential colonization. There’s also a red landscape that gives it that homey Mars feel, and multiple nearby stars in the sky,.Cons: Unfortunately, signs for this planet being habitable are slim. Its star is old and radioactive, and its orbit takes only 11 days. Not to mention that it is likely tidally locked like our moon. Bummer.

#1: Trappist-1 System — A fistfull of Earths

Welcome to the Trappist-1 system, seven tightly bundled planets orbiting an ultra-cool dwarf star, and are all suspected to harbor rocky surfaces. Due to the nature of this system’s sun, it’s possible that the majority of these planets harbor liquid water as well — making this system a treasure trove of habitable planets.

If that isn’t enough to wet your whistle, these planets are also VERY close to each other. Close enough that while standing on any of them, other planets would be near enough that you could see clouds and large geological features with your naked eyes.

As most of these planets are potentially habitable, you’d get your pick of the litter when it comes time to settle down and build a colony. For these reasons, the Trappist-1 system comes thundering into first place on our list of Top Ten Exoplanets.

Pros: Multiple planets to settle, liquid water, non gaseous planets, and close interplanetary proximity. It also has a really neat sky, and isn’t near anything that’s going to kill you — like a black hole or a radiation-spewing pulsar.

Cons: Two big things: this system is 39 light years away, and it’s suspected that all of these planets are tidally locked due to their proximity to their star — meaning the weather on each planet would be wildly unlike Earth’s.

After four decades, the Voyager Golden Record can now be heard by Earthlings

Why it matters to you

It may never be discovered by anyone, but the Voyager Golden Record is a gift from humanity to the cosmos.

More than 40 years ago, humans launched a mixtape into the vast reaches of space, in the form of a pair of Golden Records. The two Voyager spacecraft were launched within days of each other in 1977, and each one carried a message from Earth to any alien civilization they might encounter in the form of a 90-minute recording containing some of the sounds, messages, and pictures from our planet.

Voyager 1 is now 13 billion miles from Earth, and Voyager 2 is some 11 billion miles distant. Neither will come remotely close to another star for 40,000 years, yet they each carry a message from humanity in the form of the Voyager Interstellar Record. It was engraved in copper and plated in gold.

And very few people on Earth had ever heard it, until now.

The recording itself is an eclectic mixture, containing everything from Bach and Beethoven to Chuck Berry and Blind Willie Johnson. The “Songs of Earth” track features sounds from our planet and our civilization – whales, chimpanzees, thunder, and lots more. It also includes greetings from around the world in 55 languages and more than 100 images etched in analog form.

Several years ago, David Pescovitz, an editor at Boing Boing and a research director at the nonprofit Institute for the Future, joined up with Tim Daly, a record store manager. With the blessings of Timothy Perry, producer of the original recording, they set out to release the Golden Record to the people of Earth.

After finding the master recordings in Sony’s music archives and securing the rights to the music and images, they set up a Kickstarter campaign to finance the release. Although they thought it would appeal only to a niche audience, the project caught the attention of people around the globe.

“The internet was just on fire, talking about this thing,” Daly told NPR. They obliterated their original funding goal in just two days and eventually raised more than a million dollars for the project, the most successful Kickstarter campaign in history. Family members of the original NASA Voyager mission team were among the initial 11,000 contributors.

The Voyager Interstellar Record is now available from Ozma Records, both on vinyl and CD format. The beautiful collection also includes the images from the recording and a print of the original cover diagram.

“None of us knew, when we launched 40 years ago, that anything would still be working, and continuing on this pioneering journey,” said Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist. “The most exciting thing they find in the next five years is likely to be something that we didn’t know was out there to be discovered.”

Even after they run out of power, the Voyager spacecraft could still last for billions of years, silently drifting through space. One day, the Golden Records may be the only traces left of human civilization.

Go wireless with 1Voice earbuds for only $32

Smartphones are ditching the headphone jack, which means we’ll all be relying on Bluetooth headphones in the near future. Wired earbuds can be cumbersome anyway, especially if you’re working out or want to listen to something on the go. Why be tethered to a device when you can have complete freedom of movement, while still listening to your favorite tunes, podcasts, or video audio.

A great pair of Bluetooth headphones is now a must-have accessory for music lovers, and it’s a great investment anyway since you’ll be able to connect to virtually any Bluetooth device that produces audio. Over-ear headphones, however, can be heavy and probably aren’t ideal in every situation, like working out or traveling, so a solid pair of earbuds can go a long way.

The 1Voice Bluetooth earbuds are designed to fit comfortably in your ears and offer a minimalist design that’s unassuming and functional. Many Bluetooth earbuds have enormous receivers that look quite odd, but the 1Voice earbuds are merely little cylinders that don’t look much different from regular earbuds. Were you to buy these ‘buds in-store, you’d end up spending $120, but through Android Central Digital Offers, they’re just $32, a savings of 73%.

These earbuds can work individually or as a pair, each featuring its own battery and microphone, so you can take calls and activate Google Assistant on the go. You’ll get four hours of playback on a single charge playing in stereo or five to six hours of mono playback. Included in the box is a charging carrying case that lets you recharge your earbuds up to 6 or 7 times before the pack itself needs to be recharged. Invest in a decent set of wireless earbuds, but don’t pay through the nose and don’t settle for big, awkward receivers. Spend only $32 at Android Central Digital Offers and save big.

See at Android Central Digital Offers

After Math: Fly me to the Moon (and then on to Mars)

This was a stellar week for space exploration. Elon Musk showed off a new rocket and announced plans to colonize Mars by 2022. Lockheed Martin showed of its prototype all-in-one rocket-spacecraft design. And the US and Russia agreed to go live on the moon together — because science, of course. Numbers because how else are you going to calculate gravitational exit velocity?

The best foam mattresses you can buy online

By Kevin Purdy

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

We’ve researched more than 40 of the top online mattress companies, surveyed hundreds of Wirecutter readers about their mattresses, interviewed experts on sleeping and mattress design, and spent more than six months sleeping on and assessing foam mattresses. All of that leads us to recommend the Leesa as a mattress that will work well for most people who sleep on their side or stomach.

How we picked and tested

The mattresses for this guide’s first test, as they would arrive at your door. From left: Tuft & Needle, BedInABox, Casper, Leesa, Signature Sleep Contour 8, IKEA Matrand. Photo: Jeremy Pavia

We focused on an increasingly popular subset of mattresses: those that come in only one model, cost less than $1,000, arrive within a week in a vacuum-packed roll inside a box, and come with a free trial of at least 100 days.

To find the mattresses people wanted, we spoke to a number of experts, surveyed nearly 650 people about the last mattress they bought, and read a lot about how mattresses are made and sold. We sought mattresses that would work best for the primary sleep positions: side, stomach, and back, based on results from multiple surveys and our own quick Twitter poll, and eventually settled on six mattresses to test. We then spent a week sleeping on each model, and took notes on their performance. Since our first test, we’ve continued to test month by month by trying a number of mattresses readers have asked about, sleeping on each for a minimum of 30 days.

How you feel sleeping on each mattress is obviously the key feature, but we considered other points of comparison. Those factors, in order of importance:

• How each mattress breathes as you sink into it
• Support at the edges of the mattress
• “Motion transfer,” or if someone on one side of a mattress can feel movement by someone on the other side
• How well sheets fit
• The ease of picking up and rotating the mattress

No mattress works for everybody

Unpacking a BedInABox mattress, from the initial roll to the mostly inflated state. Like our picks, it comes folded in half, rolled up, and placed inside a tall box. Video: Kyle Fitzgerald

Here is the core truth of the mattress market: You won’t find one mattress that works for everybody. The best any mattress can do, our experts told us, is work great for a small group of people, feel pretty good for some, and do okay for a majority of people. This might explain why single-model mattresses you can try out for about 100 days are gaining in market share: Finding the perfect mattress is tricky, but making a mistake shouldn’t be a 10-year disappointment.

Our pick: Leesa

The Leesa mattress, our top pick for how most people sleep. Photo: Jeremy Pavia

The Leesa is our top pick among online-purchase mattresses because for side- and stomach-sleepers in our tests, it feels the best overall. It breathes better than all but one of the mattresses we tested, allowing for a cooler sleep. The Leesa also handles better at its edges than most other picks, providing acceptable support for entering, exiting, or rolling over on the bed. Consumer Reports’s simulated wear-and-tear testing (subscription required) found the Leesa to be excellent. It has a surface that feels good under thin sheets, and it looks good in its gray and white stripes.

Compared with other foam beds, the Leesa allowed side-sleepers’ shoulders and hips to sink in more comfortably, but still maintains a proper spinal curve. The Leesa’s “hug”—the way it envelops your body as you lower into the memory-foam layer—did not create heat or a “muddy” feeling. Instead, the Leesa felt cooler than other mattresses we’ve slept on, possibly due to the egg-crate-style top layer of Avena foam (a type of synthetic latex), combined with a breathable cover.

Runner-up: Casper

The newest Casper mattress looks identical to the prior version (pictured) but has an additional foam layer inside. Photo: Jeremy Pavia

The newest mattress from Casper, released in mid-2017, feels softer for side-sleeping than previous versions, and yet has more support around the hips and head to make back-sleeping feel better than before. It’s not quite as ideal as the Leesa for the majority of side-sleeping adults, and it felt a bit more warm to our testers. But for those who switch a lot, or share a bed with a back-sleeper, it might be a better pick than the Leesa.

Casper’s mattress is made of four layers of foam consisting of 1½ inches of “open-cell” foam, 1½ inches of memory foam, 1½ inches of proprietary “transition” foam, and 5 inches of support foam. The result, according to Casper’s head of product, Jeff Chapin, should be a mattress that’s essentially medium-firm across most of your body but more supportive where your shoulders, butt, and other pressure points sink in.

Also great: Tuft & Needle

The Tuft & Needle mattress, with its two layers visible (3 inches of hybrid comfort/contour foam, 7 inches of support). Photo: Jeremy Pavia

The Tuft & Needle mattress is firm, about as firm as foam can get before it becomes uncomfortable. For back-sleepers, or for people who prefer floating on a firm mattress instead of sinking into a soft mattress, the Tuft & Needle works fine. It isn’t ideal for most side-sleepers or stomach-sleepers, though some of our side-sleeping survey respondents loved it. The two-layer Tuft & Needle mattress’ stated weight limit is also the most of any mattress we tested, at 1,000 pounds for couples.

The Tuft & Needle has some other drawbacks beyond its particular firmness. For example, we noticed that this mattress offers notably less edge support than the Leesa or the newest Casper, so some fitted sheets might slip off the corners.

Budget pick: Zinus 12 Inch Green Tea

The Zinus Green Tea Mattress has more of a squishy top and a stiff center, but overall we think it’s a surprisingly comfortable mattress for the price. Photo: Zinus

Although it’s around a third of the price—or less—of our other picks, we found the Zinus Memory Foam Green Tea Mattress (12-inch version) was far more comfortable than expected. It has a softer memory-foam-type feel on top, and it’s quite firm as you sink into it. In its smaller twin, twin XL, and full sizes, the price makes it a good bed for a growing child, for anyone on a tight budget, or for a guest bedroom.

The Green Tea Mattress doesn’t breathe as easily as our other picks, and it’s not as supportive as the Casper or Leesa (though it’s far more giving than the Tuft & Needle). That said, a handful of testers (including four Wirecutter writers) have told us that they or their child sleep well on this mattress. “More than I expected for the price” sums up the comments we received from staff and on social network posts.

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

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

Apple iPhone X vs. LG V30: Battle of the bezel-less beauties

Alongside Samsung, LG was one of the first major manufacturers to jump on the “bezel-less” bandwagon. Barring some minor niggles about audio quality and storage space, we loved the LG G6 (check out our full impressions in our LG G6 review), so we’re understandably excited about the impending U.S. release of the LG V30. There are plenty of reasons why we’re excited — the V30 is bringing improved audio, a stunning 6-inch bezel-less OLED screen, and the raw power of the Snapdragon 835.

But it’s not just Samsung and LG in the bezel-less game now. Other companies are starting to catch on, and bezel-less concepts are popping up left, right, and center. Apple recently threw its hat into the ring with the iPhone X — its vision of a bezel-free future. With Apple’s newest and most powerful A11 Bionic processor, a 5.8-inch Super Retina OLED screen, and all the usual iOS polish, the iPhone X is a serious contender looking to rule the roost for the Cupertino, California giant. But who has the edge in this battle of the titanic screens? Which phone should you put your money behind? We take a look at both the LG V30 and the iPhone X in this head-to-head, and see how they fare when trading blows.

Specs

iPhone X

LG V30
Size
143.6 x 70.9 x 7.7 mm (5.65 x 2.79 x 0.30 inches)
151.7 x 75.4 x 7.4 mm (5.97 x 2.97 x 0.29 inches)
Weight
174 grams (6.14 ounces)
158 grams (5.57 ounces)
Screen
5.8-inch Super Retina OLED display
6-inch P-OLED display
Resolution
2,436 x 1,125 pixels (458 ppi)
2,880 x 1,440 pixels (537 ppi)
OS
iOS 11
Android 7.1.2
Storage
64GB, 256GB
64GB, 128GB (on the V30+)
MicroSD card slot
No
Yes, up to 256 GB
NFC support
Yes (Apple Pay only)
Yes
Processor
A11 Bionic with 64-bit architecture, M11 motion co-processor
Snapdragon 835, with Adreno 540
RAM
3GB
4GB
Connectivity
4G LTE, GSM, CDMA, HSPA+, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi
GSM, CDMA, HSPA, EVDO, LTE, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi
Camera
Dual 12 MP rear, 7MP FaceTime HD front
Dual 16MP and 13MP wide angle rear, 5MP wide angle front
Video
Up to 4K at 60fps, 1080p at 240fps
Up to 4K at 30fps, 1080p at 30fps, 720p at 120fps
Bluetooth
Yes, version 5.0
Yes, version 5.0
Fingerprint sensor
No, has Face ID instead
Yes
Other sensors
Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer
Gyroscope, accelerometer, compass, proximity sensor
Water resistant
Yes, IP67 rated
Yes, IP68 rated
Battery
2,716mAh

21 hours of talk time, 13 hours of internet, 14 hours of video playback, and up to 60 hours of audio playback

Fast charging – 50 percent charge in 30 minutes, wireless charging (Qi standard)

3,300mAh

QuickCharge 3.0 fast charging, wireless charging (Qi standard)

Charging port
Lightning
USB-C
Marketplace
Apple App Store
Google Play Store
Colors
Space Gray, Silver
Cloud Silver, Moroccan Blue
Availability

AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Apple

AT&T, LG

Price
$999
$750
DT review
Hands-on review
Hands-on review

Apple’s A10 Fusion processor, which powered the iPhone 7, was still capable of showing the door to the Galaxy S8’s Snapdragon 835, so it comes as no surprise that the upgraded A11 Bionic is capable of thoroughly wiping the floor with the competition. The Snapdragon 835 in the LG V30 is going to put up a good fight but, based on tests of the A11, the iPhone X is far superior to the V30 in terms of pure power. That doesn’t mean that the V30 is a slow phone. On the contrary — the Snapdragon 835 is a very respectable processor, packing tons of power and scoring highly on Geekbench’s tests. So, while the iPhone X is the more powerful handset, that should be seen as a salute to the power of the A11 Bionic chip, rather than a black mark against the Snapdragon 835 in the V30.

In terms of RAM, the V30 hosts a whole extra gigabyte of RAM compared to the iPhone X, which is currently rumored to have only 3GB of RAM. That being said, it’s hard to say whether you’ll actually be able to feel the difference between the two. Android and iOS deal with memory management differently, so pure numbers can’t dictate real-life performance when comparing iPhones to Androids.

It’s a similar story when it comes to hard drive capacity. Apple offers models with 64GB and 256GB hard drives, while LG only offers 64GB, with 128GB being available in certain markets with the LG V30+. But, while that’s all you’re ever going to get with the iPhone X, you can boost the LG V30’s available memory by up to 256GB, thanks to a MicroSD slot. While iPhone users may become annoyed with their eventual lack of storage, and be forced to invest in something like a Leef iBridge, or rely on the iCloud for storage, V30 owners will be able to swap out MicroSD cards whenever they run out of storage. That said, both models do offer a significant amount of space, and diligent users are likely to have plenty of storage for some time to come.

It’s a tough call between the two phones where pure specs are concerned. While the V30 offers slightly more RAM, and the option of expandable storage, it’s hard to beat the iPhone X in terms of raw power.

Winner: iPhone X

Display, design, and durability

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Here’s the big category for both of these smartphones; those who live by the screen, die by the screen. Neither phone has anything to be ashamed of in regards to display fidelity. The LG V30 has an always-on, 18:9, 6-inch P-OLED display with a 2,880 x 1,440-pixel resolution. OLED screens are able to display much deeper blacks than LCD or LED screens, because OLED screens can shut down individual pixels that aren’t needed. Thanks to this, media consumption on the V30 looks amazing, especially on videos that can handle the 18:9 aspect ratio — Daredevil on Netflix looks incredible. However, on videos that don’t support such a weird aspect ratio, you’re stuck with massive black bars on either side of your screen, and as of yet, LG has not included a Samsung-like crop to fit option on YouTube videos.

The iPhone X is also packing a massive screen. It’s 5.8-inches in size, with a resolution of 2,436 x 1,125 pixels. The display fills the whole front of the phone, save the distinctive “notch” at the top. This screen is an AMOLED display (don’t be fooled by the “Super Retina” name), and comes with all the same advantages that the V30’s screen offers, with the ability to show blacker-than-black blacks, and deep, vibrant colors. Apple’s new True Tone technology also shifts the color temperature of the display to match the light in your surrounding area — a plus for activities like reading from the screen, but a nice touch nonetheless. Because of the notch, you’re going to have bars at the sides or a section cut-out if you go full screen with videos and other content.

Long-time iPhone users may be put off by the lack of Apple’s iconic home button, and only time (and the efficiency of FaceID) will tell whether this decision was the right one — though one suspects this will be a minor issue. Perhaps Apple intends the top notch to become the iPhone’s new icon? This small design choice has made waves in the Apple community, with some decrying it as ugly and invasive. It’s hard to disagree — at the moment, the notch is a blight on the front of a very pretty phone, but a necessary one that packs a host of sensors, a speaker, microphone, and the front-facing camera. Will we get used to it? Maybe. But for now, it’s a design choice that certainly makes the iPhone X stand out from the rest of the bezel-less crowd.

It’s a different story in terms of build quality. Both phones are a blend of metal and glass, as expected of flagship phones in 2017. The iPhone X is part of Apple’s first range of glass-backed phones — so Apple can finally introduce wireless charging. It’s a welcome change. The iPhone X is weighty without being cumbersome. After the almost wraith-like weightlessness of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, the addition of a little extra heft is welcome.

By contrast, the V30 suffers the opposite problem, feeling too lightweight for a phone in its price range. During our hands-on review of the V30, it also suffered significant damage from a low drop of three feet — not quite the durability you want, even for a glass-covered smartphone. That said, the V30 is also IP68-rated, compared to the iPhone’s IP67 rating. So the LG phone should stand up to more abuse from water and dust than the iPhone, but we wouldn’t recommend putting them to the test.

Otherwise, the V30 looks great, with a similar design to the LG G6 with slight borders at the top and the bottom of the phone, neatly framing the massive display. It has the fingerprint sensor on the back and also supports wireless charging.

As glass-covered phones, you’ll want to consider covering both the V30 and the iPhone X with a protective case (check out our favorite options for V30 cases and iPhone X cases), since neither are likely to fare well with drops. With that said, the iPhone X is significantly smaller, making it easier to use one-handed, yet it feels more substantial. While “hand-feel” isn’t really something to buy a phone for, it certainly helps make you feel better about a purchase. The iPhone X may not be perfect — the jury’s still out on that notch — but Apple has to take it over LG in this category.

Winner: iPhone X

Battery life and charging

In a time where flagship battery numbers always seem to start with a “3”, Apple’s insistence on the oddly numbered 2,716mAh battery on the iPhone X could put a few power users off. However, Apple has stated that the upgraded efficiency of the A11 Bionic core should mean that the 2,716mAh battery lasts for longer than the numbers would suggest — and given Apple’s record with batteries, this isn’t too hard to believe.

However, it’s hard to see how Apple’s iPhone X could stand up against the raw battery power of the LG V30. In our hands-on review, we noted that the V30 had serious staying power thanks to the 3,300mAh non-removable battery. After taking the phone off the charger at 8 a.m., the V30 made it to 7 p.m. with 50 percent battery, after medium usage. Further heavy usage saw that battery fall to 15 percent by around 11:30 p.m., but that still makes it one of the best performing flagships for battery life, by quite a big margin. Apple’s record on battery life is good (with some blips), but it’s hard to see how the Cupertino, California giant could top that performance.

Both smartphones come with fast charging and wireless charging capabilities, and boast some seriously good fast charging numbers (Apple claim that their new iPhones can charge from 0 – 50 percent in 30 minutes). However, you’ll have to pay extra to get the cable and adapter required to fast-charge the iPhone X, whereas LG provides them in the box with the V30. While more rigorous testing will be needed to validate which of the phones is truly better over time, our money is on the LG V30.

Winner: LG V30

Cameras

The ability to take good snaps has become an increasingly vital part of a flagship over the last few years. Gone are the days when fuzzy, blurred shots were the norm — we now expect so much more from our cameras, and they’re rising to meet the mark. The increase in the number of dual-camera phones is also on the rise, and it’s two of those we’re dealing with here. The LG V30 is packing two lenses on the rear of the phone; a 16-megapixel lens, coupled with a 13-megapixel wide angle lens.

While most manufacturers are now including a telephoto lens as the second in the set-up, LG have instead gone for a wide angle lens. Whether you’d prefer that or the telephoto lens is a purely personal choice, but you can get some stunning photos from the wide angle lens that are completely different from what other smartphone cameras can provide. The images are clear in good lighting, but are let down somewhat by the low light performance. But LG’s real focus isn’t on stills — it’s on video — and it shows. LG’s new Cine Video allows you to shoot in various colored filters, and the Point and Zoom function lets you zoom in on a specific point in the video — rather than always zooming into the center of the frame. It’s a handy little feature, and a nice touch.

The camera on the iPhone X is somewhat harder to grade since we haven’t had much time to play with it properly yet. But the camera on the iPhone X is likely to be a tweaked version of the twin-snappers on the iPhone 8 Plus — which in turn, is a slightly upgraded version of the iPhone 7 Plus’s camera. While it may sound as if Apple is resting on its laurels, it’s worth pointing out that the iPhone 7 Plus had one of the best cameras we’ve ever seen on a smartphone, and the 8 Plus’s camera was similarly impressive in our iPhone 8 Plus review, and won the top spot on our list of the best smartphone cameras. You don’t have to take our word on it, DxOMark has also given the iPhone 8 Plus the highest score ever for a smartphone camera, and since the iPhone X is Apple’s flagship, we think it’s safe to assume that it will be at least as good.

While we have to speculate a bit on the iPhone X’s part, we know that it shoots 4K video at 60 frames-per-second (compared to the V30’s 30fps), and can capture slow-motion 240fps video at 1080p. By comparison, the V30 can shoot slow-motion at 120fps, and only at 720p. Another plus is that the iPhone X also comes with Apple’s new Face ID recognition system, replacing Touch ID. While the LG V30 also comes with face recognition as a unlocking method, Apple’s Face ID takes that so much further with a system of infra-red 3D-sensing cameras that detect depth and can reportedly work in the dark. Add to this Apple’s new ARKit and Portrait Modes, and the iPhone X comes out on top by a country mile.

Winner: iPhone X

Software

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Comparing Android and iOS is like comparing apples and oranges — you likely know if you prefer one over the other by now, and swapping between the two isn’t generally something that happens on a whim, and without some major soul-searching. With that in mind, we’re going to take a quick look at the various elements of each smartphone that make them stand out from the usual in their crowd.

The V30 will be launching with Android Nougat 7.1.2 at launch, but LG has confirmed that they will be working on getting Android Oreo on the device shortly after launch. LG’s spin on Android is fairly light, and we enjoyed playing with the customization options. Of particular note is the Floating Bar — an expandable bar that sits on the edge of your screen and allows quick access to a few apps, screen capture, audio recording, and more. It’s somewhat similar to the Edge Bar on the Galaxy S8 and the Note 8, and it’s something we appreciated during our time with the V30, but it’s easily switched off if you don’t like it. Also added is the ability to choose a different color theme, and various Smart settings that turn off functions like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth when you leave your house. These are all things that were previously available via third-party apps, but it’s always nice to see a manufacturer embracing customizable options. And if you want more, you can always access third-party customization apps via the Google Play Store. The V30 also supports Google’s new VR standard, Daydream.

The iPhone X will ship with Apple’s new iOS 11, much like the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. Outside of some small changes to the way that various options are accessed, there isn’t much that the iPhone X does that isn’t also available on the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus. While this is good for parity, it really does mean that the iPhone X doesn’t have much special going for it outside of its physical changes. With that said, iOS 11 is as smooth and responsive as ever, and if you’re a fan (and even if you’re not), you’ll find a lot to love here regardless of a lack of individuality. One thing it does offer, that the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus don’t, is support for Animoji — cute animal masks that can be animated with your facial expressions via the same camera system that enables FaceID.

As always, picking between the two operating systems is a matter of personal choice. If you’re a fan of one OS or the other, neither phone’s software is going to do much to sway you the other way. In the time we’ve had to play with these phones, both have been fast, responsive, and great to use.

Winner: Tie

Pricing and availability

Neither phone is currently available, but the LG V30 will be available from October 5 from AT&T, and will be available from T-Mobile from October 13, after pre-orders open on the 5th. We’re not likely to see the iPhone X until November at the earliest, with pre-orders from Apple opening at the end of October. With that sort of small difference between the two, it’s not really enough to insist that prospective upgraders should buy the V30 instead of wait for the iPhone X.

However, only AT&T and T-Mobile have currently confirmed that they will be stocking the LG V30, restricting buyers to those particular networks for LG’s latest. On the other hand, the iPhone X will be coming to every network, with everyone wanting a cut of the newest Apple pie. So if you’re stuck between these two phones, but aren’t on T-Mobile or AT&T (or don’t want to switch), then you’ve really only got one choice.

The iPhone X is likely to cost north of $1,000 for any model other than the base one — which will set you back $999. Not really much of a difference there. Pricing for the LG V30 hasn’t been confirmed, but if history is anything to go by, it’s likely to cost around $750 on launch. The V30 may also come with Google’s Daydream headset when purchased on AT&T. The difference in price between the two is pretty hefty, despite the V30 not exactly being a budget device, so LG’s phone has to win this round.

Winner: LG V30

Overall winner: iPhone X

While the LG V30 put up a great fight with improvements to the camera, video, battery life, and Google’s new VR system, the day could only ever be carried by Apple’s iPhone X. It’s big, it’s expensive, and it’s Apple finally catching up to the status quo, but it’s just that damn good. Despite the notch at the top of the screen, it looks incredible, too.

In this battle between these two titans, your personal answer may not be that simple. In a direct comparison between the two phones, it’s clear that the iPhone X is the superior smartphone. But what does having Android or iOS mean to you? Your personal thoughts and leanings matter a lot, and anyone wedded to the Android ecosystem shouldn’t be put off the LG V30 by this verdict. It’s still a fantastic phone, and looks to be well worth the investment. But if you’re torn between the two, and OS doesn’t really matter to you, then you should definitely hold out for the iPhone X.

If you want to know how the iPhone X holds up against the rest of Apple’s latest, check out our iPhone X vs. iPhone 8 vs. iPhone 8 Plus breakdown.

How to change your language in Google Chrome for easier international browsing

Just because Google’s Chrome browser thinks it knows what language you want to browse the web in, doesn’t mean it’s right. Fortunately, you don’t need to put up with its presumptions any longer, as this guide will take you through the quick and easy steps of how to change your language in Google Chrome.

The list of available options is quite extensive, too. While we can’t promise that every webpage will display correctly in your chosen language, making the web more personal has been a major driver of most browser makers in recent years. Google’s Chrome is no different. Read on to find out how to change its language to cater more to you.

How to change your language in Google Chrome

Step 1: Open a Chrome browser window and click the three dotted menu icon in the top right-hand corner.

Step 2: Click “Settings” from the drop-down menu.

Step 3: Scroll to the bottom of the list of menu items and click “Advanced”.

Step 4: Scroll about half-way down, or use the “Ctrl+F” find-on-page function to search for Languages. Under that heading, click the arrow on the right-hand side of the “Language” section.

Step 5: If the language you want to have as your default is already listed, continue to Step 7. If not, click “Add languages” and continue to Step 6.

Step 6: Either scroll to your preferred language or search for it using the search box. When you’ve found the one you want, tick the box next to it, and click the blue “Add” button.

Step 7: Click the three dots on the right-hand side of your chosen language and click “Display Google Chrome in this language.” Following a browser restart, your web browsing experience should now be displayed in your chosen language.

For web pages that don’t support your preferred language, you can try Google’s Input Tools extension, or have the browser automatically translate them. To do that, use the same three-dot menu on the side and tick the “Offer to translate pages in this language” box.

Another option is to have Chrome attempt to display pages in a second choice language. Do that, and click “Move up” in the three-dotted menu, so that your second language option is in second place on the list.

Now that Chrome reads just how you want it, make sure you’re not wasting your time reading adverts. Here’s our guide on the best way to block those annoying pop-ups.