CordCutters.com is giving away a Mohu Blade and AirTV!

Our friends at CordCutters.com are back with another giveaway, and this time you can win a Mohu Blade antenna and an AirTV!

Want a chance to win? You can hit up their contest page at this link, or just enter below. Good luck!

Enter to win!

THE PRIZE: One reader will receive a Mohu Blade and an AirTV

THE GIVEAWAY: Use the widget at the bottom of this page. There are multiple ways to enter, each with varying point values. Complete all of the tasks for maximum entries and your best shot at winning! Keep in mind that all winning entries are verified and if the task was not completed or cannot be verified, a new winner will be chosen.

The giveaway is open through August 9, 2018, and the winner will be announced right here shortly after the closing date. Good luck!

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HomeKit-Compatible Ecobee Thermostat Trialing ‘Peak Relief’ Money Saving Feature

Smart thermostat company Ecobee has become the focus of a new profile shared online today by CNET, and alongside that article the company has revealed a new money saving feature for select Ecobee users called “Peak Relief.” This feature was created to help users save on energy bills by automatically cutting down on heating and cooling when energy rates are higher, and then using more when rates are lower.

For those in the test, Ecobee says Peak Relief can help customers save an extra 10 percent on heating and cooling bills. Adding in the up to 23 percent of savings that Ecobee already claims from normal use, the company now aims to save customers as much as 33 percent on monthly heating and cooling bills.

Ecobee CEO Stuart Lombard mentioned that the feature was developed over a year and a half and uses artificial intelligence and indoor/outdoor temperature readings to customize settings for each home. This is then combined with time-of-use rates from a utilities provider, which charge customers different prices depending on the time of day versus standard flat rates that go up as users consume more energy.

CNET explains that Peak Relief requires time-of-use utility rates, and while these rates have the potential to cut-down costs it can be difficult to keep track of the higher demand periods, which is where Ecobee’s new feature comes in:

Time-of-use has the potential to save customers money and help utilities avoid spikes in demand. But, many customers have a hard time keeping track of varying time-of-use rates, resulting in less energy savings for utilities and potentially higher costs for customers. Peak Relief may be able to alleviate that problem.

So, how does Peak Relief work? Let’s say you set your thermostat temperature to cool at 74 degrees. With Peak Relief, the thermostat will automatically cool your home to 71 or 72 degrees when rates are lower, then allow the temperature to slowly go back up to 74 when rates increase.

The feature offers two preferences, so your thermostat will either focus more on comfort and stay closer to your temperature settings or focus more on savings and veer a little further away from those settings when rates change.

Peak Relief is rolling out today, but it appears that the test is fairly small and only for “select customers” in California, Arizona, and Ontario, Canada, and again only if those customers are using time-of-use utility rates. However, the company has already said that it plans to roll out Peak Relief to a wide audience “early next year.”

Ecobee’s line of thermostats are part of over two dozen heating and cooling controllers compatible with Apple HomeKit, also including thermostats from Elgato, Honeywell, iDevices, and Netatmo. On Apple.com, customers can buy the Ecobee3 Lite Smart Thermostat, but the company’s latest iteration is the Ecobee4, which includes built-in Alexa support.

Tag: Ecobee
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MIT’s bizarre mask can control your mood, make you feel horny or anxious

We are not in control. In fact, we’re far from it. The digital world is designed to keep us passive yet engaged, insatiable yet entertained, impressionable but sure that our decisions are self-motivated.

Let’s face it — they’re usually not. Algorithms tell us what to watch. News feeds press headlines into our minds. So-called celebrity “influencers” hawk shiny objects and dictate what we desire. Forget religion; cell phones and social media are the opiates of the masses. Nowadays, even tech giants are worried about tech addiction.

Much of this happens on a subconscious level. Stimuli seep through sense organs, tap into our primal side. Ad agencies have used these insidious tricks for years. Facebook’s infamous social experiment illustrated the terrifying potential of this low-key manipulation in the Information Age.

Part of the problem is we consume so much data that it’s practically impossible to process it all. Our brains do their best to filter the noise but we don’t make it easy for them. Fake news, never-ending notifications, subliminal signals hidden in clickbait thumbnail images. The average person’s media diet would glut even Andre the Giant. We’re big and easy targets for propaganda artists.

In an effort to explore how technology can influence us in unseen ways, Xin Liu, an artist and recent graduate of the MIT Media Lab, created a high-tech carnival mask that wraps around a person’s face and changes the way she perceives her own breathing.

Xin Liu, Hongxin Zhang/MIT Media Lab

Using a respiration sensor placed under the nose and bone conduction headphones near the ears, the device, which she’s calls Masque, allows a wearer to hear her own breathing through slightly skewed auditory feedback. The effect of this feedback may surprise you.

In a pair of recent studies described in Liu’s Master’s thesis, Masque caused wearers to feel more stressed and more sexually aroused, despite no registered change in their physiology. The research highlights just how sensitive we can be to the invisible influence of technology.

A different kind of bodyhacking

Liu’s interest in the topic started with an academic focus on introspective observation or, more simply put, how a person perceives themselves.

“It’s a little like how you sometimes hear yourself talking on speaker phone.”

In the digital age, that often amounts to a mosaic of various online profiles, blended with the features and functions of her real-world body. Liu wondered how she could use a person’s own bodily processes to regulate their emotions and even change their behavior — all without the participant’s awareness. Our body is full of functions we can’t easily control. Hunger, heart rate, digestion, etc.

“Respiration is one of the only things people can easily change themselves,” Liu told Digital Tends. So, she set out to develop a device that could pick up on a person’s breathing patterns and relay those sounds back to them.

Drawing inspiration from Italian carnival masks, Liu worked with industrial designer Hongxin Zhang to create the device, which hides all its electronics inside a serpentine frame. A small temperature sensor located just under the nostril is used to detect the wearer’s respiration rate.

Masque then plays that sound back at an adjusted rate, using bone conduction headphones located at the wearer’s cheekbones. The auditory feedback responds in real time, fluctuating as a person’s breath fluctuates.

Xin Liu, Hongxin Zhang/MIT Media Lab

“It’s a little like how you sometimes hear yourself talking on speaker phone,” Liu said. “You know it’s your own voice but it sounds different because it’s coming through other devices. You just suddenly register that as your own voice because it’s synchronizing with you through your actions.”

Masqued men experiment

Through a series of pilot studies, Liu discovered that Masque caused people to experience a change in their psychological state, causing them to feel stressed or sexually aroused depending on their task.

“[Participants] cognitively thought they were more excited or more aroused than they actually were.”

In one of the studies, participants were asked to take a common test used to measure stress before and after completing a short version of the GRE. They were divided into two groups, both wearing Masque but hearing different rates of respiratory feedback. At the end of the study, participants from the group that heard the faster and louder feedback reported experiencing more anxiety.

In a second study, twelve straight men were each shown fourteen photos of women for 30 seconds and asked to rate them according to how attractive, exciting, and friendly they appeared. Liu’s results showed that as participants heard faster and louder feedback of their own breathing, they reported higher levels of attraction to the women in the photos.

These results may seem uncanny, but they aren’t all that peculiar. Faster breathing circulates more oxygen to your brain to help handle high-intensity situations. For our ancestors that meant chasing down prey or escaping predators. For us, it more likely means stressing over an interview or rushing to a meeting.

Xin Liu, Hongxin Zhang/MIT Media Lab

So, even though the participants’ own breathing and physiology didn’t change, it makes sense that they felt more anxious when they heard a higher respiratory rate.

As for the sex study, Liu found an explanation in a psychological term called misattribution of arousal. When put into a stimulating situation (for example, when walking across a rickety rope bridge) people have been shown to mistake the source of their arousal.

In a classic study from the 1970s, psychologists Donald Dutton and Arthur Aron asked straight male participants to walk across either a suspension bridge or a sturdy bridge before speaking to a female experimenter. Men who walked over the suspension bridge reported more sexual content related to the encounter with the female experimenter, which Dutton and Aron attributed to the men mistakenly assuming she was the subject of their arousal, when it was, in fact, the rickety bridge.

How Masque works. Xin Liu, Hongxin Zhang/MIT

In the MIT study, “people’s physiological activity did not actually change but they perceived it,” Liu said. “They heard a heavier breathing sound and cognitively thought they were more excited or more aroused than they actually were. Then they started to behave differently.”

Warning signs

It’s probably comforting to hear that Liu has no plans to commercialize her tantalizing device, and sees the project as more critical research than product testing. She does, however, think that the concept could be applied to help people meditate by adjusting to a slower respiratory rate or to get people more engaged in movies, virtual reality, and video games.

More importantly, Liu hopes her work helps illuminate how easily we can be influenced without our awareness and be more cognizant of the manipulative forces around us.

Xin Liu, Hongxin Zhang/MIT Media Lab

“It’s fascinating to think about how the sense of self is constructed,” she said. “Our image of who we are is in flux, it’s always changing, which is good and bad at the same time. The good thing is that means we’re more flexible and we’re growing constantly and adapting to the world. The problematic part is we’re able to be manipulated. We really need to learn how to be more sensitive, to feel our body signals and make decisions consciously rather than live with the flow. We’re actually very easily manipulated.”

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Pixel Stand may turn your phone into an Assistant-powered smart screen

Google may release an accessory called the Pixel Stand when it announces the Pixel 3 smartphone range later this year, according to code discovered inside a beta version of Google’s app. The stand may allow a docked Pixel phone to work in a similar way to Google Assistant-powered smart screens, such as Lenovo’s recently released Smart Display.

However, the product is far from official, and we have not seen any leaked images showing the device, or have firm details on its features. The Pixel Stand’s existence, so far, comes from references to it hidden inside a be a version of Google’s own app. The device’s primary feature maybe as a wireless charging dock, but with additional Assistant-related functionality.

The code states that when the phone is docked, Google Assistant will operate as it would do normally, providing answers to questions, giving suggestions, and following commands even when locked. It also adds the phone will give personalized help when docked on the Pixel Stand. All this is provided the dock is added as a trusted device on the phone, indicating it may need to be connected by Bluetooth at some point.

Lenovo’s Smart Display adds a visual element to Google Home with a choice of two different screen sizes, but costs either $200 or $250, making it considerably more expensive than a standard Google Home or Google Home Mini. Depending on how much Google charges for the Pixel Stand, it may end up being a handy middle-ground for anyone wanting to see Assistant’s advice and suggestions after providing voice commands. While the screen won’t be as large as the Smart Display — which is either 8 inches or 10.1 inches — it could be ideal for desktop use, which is where we’d most want a wireless charger anyway.

While the code inside the Google app reveals the company is certainly testing a Pixel Stand-like device, it’s not absolute evidence that it will ever be released, or that it will retain this functionality even if it does. We’re expecting the Pixel 3 range to launch later this year, potentially around October, and we should find out more then. At the same time, look out for a new Pixel Watch too.

We’ll keep you updated with Pixel Stand news here.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Here’s how and where to buy the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL
• Everything we know about the upcoming Google Pixel Watch
• LG G7 ThinQ vs. Google Pixel 2 XL: A brains-versus-brawn comparison
• Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL: Everything we know
• Google Pixel Buds review

How do I claim a warranty repair or replacement with an Amazon Prime Exclusive phone?

It’s not quite as streamlined as you might hope.

Amazon’s Prime Exclusive program is a great way of getting a new phone at a discount. As long as you’re an existing Prime member, you can choose from a wide range of phones that Amazon sells for anywhere from 5 to 10 or even 20% cheaper than their usual retail value.

The catch? You’ll have to put up with a handful of Amazon services pre-installed on your phone, ranging from Kindle and Alexa to Amazon subsidiaries like Goodreads, IMDb, and Audible. This is a pretty small price to pay for a cheaper upfront cost, though — in the past, Amazon forced lock screen ads onto its Prime Exclusive phones, which were a much bigger nuisance than a few removable apps. Luckily, those days are long gone.

Not their phone, not their problem.

You can get some pretty great phones through the Prime Exclusive program, like the modular Moto Z3 Play and the LG V35+, but even the best phones are susceptible to failure, whether in the form of software glitches or hardware malfunctions. Sometimes you just need to file a warranty exchange, and in the case of Amazon’s Prime Exclusive range, that’s not as straightforward as you might think.

See Moto Z3 Play at Amazon
Contact Motorola’s customer support

While you can submit a return request through the Orders page of your Amazon account, warranty exchanges work a little differently. You won’t find a separate button for filing a service ticket; instead, Amazon’s Prime Exclusive FAQ instructs you to contact the phone’s manufacturer directly for any kind of troubleshooting or warranty issues.

This isn’t entirely unreasonable — Amazon can’t repair a device it doesn’t make, after all — but it’s still inconvenient when compared to filing warranty exchanges through your carrier. Typically, your carrier handles the backend operations for you and even lets you hold onto your phone until the replacement arrives, at which point you can do an exchange directly in store with sales reps available to help move over your data.

Amazon’s solution of sending you directly to the manufacturer with any issues is problematic because it leads to an inconsistent experience. Depending on who makes your phone, the process of filing a warranty exchange could be wildly different . Some manufacturers may let you hang onto your device while you await its replacement, while others will wait until they’ve received your defective unit before shipping a new one out — that process could potentially leave you without a working phone for weeks.

See LG V35 at Amazon
Contact LG’s customer support

At the very least, it’s good that Prime Exclusive phones come with a warranty at all. Because Amazon sells international and unlocked devices along with U.S. models, a lot of phones sell without a warranty at all.

Do you own a Prime Exclusive phone? Have you ever had to file a warranty exchange on it, and if so, what was your experience like? Let us know in the comments!

Google Pixel 3: News, Rumors, Release Date, Specs, and more!

Everything we know about what’ll likely be one of the year’s best phones.

Google first introduced its Pixel series in 2016, and since then, has been hard at work to establish itself as a serious player in the smartphone market. Google may be one of the most powerful and iconic companies in the world, but when it comes to hardware, is still very much a newcomer.

We saw vast improvements with the Pixel 2 compared to the original Pixel line, and we’re expecting to get that again with the Pixel 3. Google’s quickly learning what it takes to compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple, and seeing as how the Pixel 2 was one of 2017’s best phones, there’s a lot riding on this year’s entry.

Ladies and gentlemen, here’s everything we know so far about the Google Pixel 3.

The latest Pixel 3 news

July 30, 2018 — Clearly White Google Pixel 3 XL shows up in new leak

We just got our best look at the Google Pixel 3 XL courtesy of XDA. The images in question show off the Clearly White color option, and the live photos confirm a cutout at the front and a single rear camera. We can also make out a single speaker located below the display.

The XDA leak once again reaffirms the presence of a glass back on the Pixel 3 XL, with the finish alternating between glossy and matte. A glass back opens up the possibility for wireless charging, but for now there’s no further information as to whether the feature will make its way to the device.

July 28, 2018 — ‘Pixel Stand’ could be a wireless charger for the upcoming Pixels

A teardown of the Google app by the folks at XDA has served up interesting information. The code references something called a Pixel Stand, leading to suggestions that it will be a wireless charging dock for the upcoming Pixels.

According to XDA, the Pixel Stand will feature Assistant integration, and will be able to offer personalized suggestions and answer queries when the phone is docked.

June 27, 2018 — Pixel 3 and 3 XL renders show the phones from every possible angle

As if previous leaks of the Pixel 3 and 3 XL haven’t been revealing enough, MySmartPrice teamed up with OnLeaks to share a boatload of both photo and video renders of the two phones.

These renders confirm a lot of what we’ve previously seen, including things like an all-glass back for both phones, single rear cameras, and a notch on the larger Pixel 3 XL.

However, while earlier rumors suggested that only the 3 XL would have two front-facing cameras, these renders show that the regular Pixel 3 will have them, too.

The Pixel 3’s display is said to measure in at 5.4-inches with an 18:9 aspect ratio, whereas the Pixel 3 XL will have a 6.2-inch screen and 19:9 setup. As for the dimensions, we’re looking at 145.6 x 68.2 x 7.9mm for the Pixel 3 and 158 x 76.6 x 7.9mm for the 3 XL.

June 18, 2018 — Case render confirms Pixel 3 XL design

Ice Universe on Twitter has built up a reputation for being pretty accurate about leaks/rumors in the mobile space, and on June 18, they shared a case render that further confirms the Pixel 3 XL’s design.

Like we saw with the hands-on photos on June 7 and 8, the Pixel 3 XL will have a notch in its screen, dual front-facing cameras, stereo speakers, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and a single rear camera.

It’s peculiar that Google’s choosing to use two cameras on the front while keeping just one on the back, but based on how excellent the Pixel 2’s single rear camera is, I don’t expect this will be a downside at all.

When will the Pixel 3 be released?

In 2016 and 2017, Google held its hardware event on October 4. We don’t have a concrete date for this year’s event quite yet, but there’s no reason to believe Google will deter from this pattern.

Another October 4 event isn’t out of the question seeing as how that falls on a Thursday this year, but at the very least, we should be looking at some point in early October.

Pre-orders for the Pixel 3 will likely open shortly after it’s announced that same day with shipments going out at least a couple of weeks later.

How much will the Pixel 3 cost?

Over the past couple years, pricing for Google’s Pixel phones has remained mostly the same. The MSRP for the Pixel and Pixel 2 series is as follows:

• Pixel w/ 32GB — $649
• Pixel w/ 128GB — $749
• Pixel 2 w/ 64GB — $649
• Pixel 2 w/ 128GB — $749
• Pixel XL w/ 32GB — $769
• Pixel XL w/ 128GB — $869
• Pixel 2 XL w/ 64GB —$849
• Pixel 2 XL w/ 128GB — $949

I imagine we’ll see similar numbers with the Pixel 3, but don’t be too surprised if we get a Pixel 3 XL variant that crosses the $1000 threshold.

Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL

• Pixel 2 FAQ: Everything you need to know!
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• Join our Pixel 2 forums

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Which 2018 flagship phone battery lasts longest? Our test reveals the answer

Battery life is one of the most important things to consider when buying a new phone. But how will you know how each phone’s battery stacks up against another? Lucky for you, we’ve put the best phones currently on the market — specifically the OnePlus 6, LG G7, Galaxy S9 Plus, iPhone X, Google Pixel 2 XL, and Huawei P20 Pro — to the ultimate test.

Each phone was set to the same brightness, connected to the same Wi-Fi network, and ran the same social media accounts. Instead of using the Nyan Cat video like we typically do when testing, however, we decided to introduce different variables to reflect how we actually use our phones.

Phone
Display Technology
Battery Capacity

Huawei P20 Pro
AMOLED
4,000 mAh

OnePlus 6
Optic AMOLED
3,300 mAh

Galaxy S9 Plus
Super AMOLED
3,500 mAh

iPhone X
Super AMOLED
2,716 mAh

Google Pixel 2 XL
P-OLED
3,520 mAh

LG G7
IPS LCD
3,000 mAh

We started by running a video game for 30 minutes, which left each phone with at least 91-percent battery life (the P20 Pro came in the lead with 94 percent). Next, we brought up the “Explore” section of Instagram for an hour, which features constant video. The iPhone X snagged the lead with 87 percent, while the LG G7 quickly dropped to 77 percent. Since we often use our phones for getting around and snapping video, we also ran Google Maps on each phone for 30 minutes and recorded a 30-minute, 1080p video. Each device was still above 50 percent after two and a half hours of testing, however, the LG G7 remained in last with 52 percent.

After streaming two hours of video on YouTube, Huawei reclaimed the lead with 56 percent and the LG G7 dropped to a mere 25-percent battery life. It took another hour of web browsing, an hour of viewing Facebook’s auto-play watch page, and an additional two hours of streaming on SoundCloud for the first phone to die. Six hours and 45 minutes in, the LG G7 was the first to fall. Once out, we decided to stick to YouTube for the remainder of our testing.

Battery test results

1st: Huawei P20 Pro

2nd: OnePlus 6

3rd: Galaxy S9 Plus

4th: iPhone X

5th: Google Pixel 2 XL

6th: LG G7

Next to go was the Pixel 2 XL, which lasted roughly nine hours and 5 minutes. This makes sense since all of the phones — except the iPhone X and P20 Pro — utilize the Snapdragon 845 processor, while the Pixel runs the 835, making the other phones 30-percent more efficient with power use.

Right on its tail was the iPhone X, which features the smallest battery and lasted nine hours and 30 minutes. The Galaxy S9 Plus died at about 10 hours in, followed by the OnePlus 6 roughly 40 minutes later.

The winner — unsurprisingly — was the Huawei P20 Pro, which lasted 11 hours. Sadly, this phone is not available for sale in the United States yet, but if you “know a guy,” maybe you’ll be lucky enough to get your hands on one. Of course, our tests are not the end all be all, and each of these phones has unique qualities that make them excellent choices.

David Cogen — a regular contributor here at Digital Trends — runs TheUnlockr.com, a popular tech blog that focuses on tech news, tips and tricks, and the latest tech. You can also find him over at Twitter discussing the latest tech trends.

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Have I been pwned is a rhetorical question [#acpodcast]

Daniel Bader, Andrew Martonik, and Jerry Hildenbrand receive a visit from the Modern Dad, Phil Nickinson! Android P has reached release candidate status and should be dropping to Pixel users soon. Next up, Phil has reviewed the Lenovo Smart Display and shares his thoughts. It does a lot already, and will have even greater functionality in the future.

Last, but certainly not least, the crew discuss Titan Key — Google’s security dongle. And, yes, you almost certainly have been pwned. But you should visit the website haveibeenpwned.com to find out the details.

Listen now

• Subscribe in iTunes: Audio
• Subscribe in RSS: Audio
• Download directly: Audio

Show Notes and Links:

• Android P Beta 4 ‘release candidate’ now available for Pixels, making way for public launch soon
• Android P: Everything you need to know about Android 9
• Lenovo Smart Display review: Google Assistant’s best face
• Modern Dad does the Lenovo Smart Display
• These New Smart Displays include Google Assistant
• Lenovo’s Smart Display single-handedly sold MrMobile on Google Home
• Google made the Titan Key to toughen up your online security
• Have I been pwned?

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Hear everything: Get the best from the LG G7 ThinQ’s brilliant audio system

Andy Boxall/Digitaltrends.com

Do you have LG’s latest G7 ThinQ smartphone in your hand? Then you likely bought it because of the great internal speaker, the camera, and the sleek design. However, did you know it’s a great device to use with headphones too? LG has been a smartphone audio master for a while, and the G7 continues the tradition.

Want to hear the difference between a G7 and other, lesser smartphones? You need the right equipment and our guide on how to find all the correct settings so it sounds its best.

What makes the G7 so good?

We’ve already talked about the phone in our in-depth review, but here are the key audio specs again. Inside is a 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC, a rarity in the smartphone world,  which is what gives the G7 ThinQ its stunning ability. The Bluetooth 5.0 connection supports AptX HD, and there is DTS:X Virtual Surround tuning installed as well. The G7 is one of the few phones available that will play MQA-certified music, some of which is available through Tidal.

Even though the phone has slim bezels, a notch, and an 18:9 aspect ratio screen, there’s still a 3.5mm headphone jack. Finally, there’s a MicroSD card slot in the hybrid SIM tray to store music files.

Bluetooth headphones

Andy Boxall/Digitaltrends.com

You can use any Bluetooth headphones with the LG G7 ThinQ, but if you’re thinking of buying a new set to go with your new phone, we’d recommend choosing a pair that supports Qualcomm’s AptX HD codec — even if it doesn’t benefit you now, it may do in the future as you build up a hi-res music collection.

Qualcomm’s AptX HD codec plays streaming music at 24bit/48kHz resolution, higher than the 16bit/44.1kHz resolution of a CD or Tidal stream, meaning you’ll get amazing sound quality over a wireless connection. All the pieces of the puzzle have to support AptX HD — the phone, the headphones, and the music file should be hi-res and uncompressed. A complete list of headphones that support AptX HD can be found here, but we recommend the Sony WH-1000xM2, the Bowers & Wilkins PX, and the superb Audio-Technica ATH-DSR9BT.

With the right pair of headphones ready, go to the Settings menu on the G7, then Bluetooth, and ensure it’s switched on using the toggle at the top right of the screen. Ensure your headphones are in pairing mode, and select them from the list. Normally, that would be it; but if you’re connecting a pair of AptX HD supporting headphones, you’ll get another alert.

Andy Boxall/Digitaltrends.com

It tells you to tap the Settings cog next to the paired headphones, then tap Connection Type. To get AptX HD sound, you must select Best Sound Quality under this menu. It’s a permanent change, so you won’t have to do it each time you reconnect the headphones, unless you unpair them.

Now all that’s left is to play some music. We recommend playing your own hi-res files or tracks from Tidal or Spotify Hi-Fi. It’s possible to change the listening experience using the DTS:X Virtual Surround feature.

Andy Boxall/Digitaltrends.com

To find it go to Settings on the phone, select the Sound tab along the top, then look for Sound Quality and Effects. Tap this and find DTS:X 3D Surround and toggle the switch to on. Tap it to open a menu screen, where you can choose between three sound stages — wide, front, and side to side. Try each one out to see how it sounds, and remember that a single setting won’t work for each song, so you’ll need to experiment.

Wired headphones

Andy Boxall/Digitaltrends.com

There’s plenty of tech to enhance the Bluetooth listening experience on the LG G7 ThinQ, but don’t dismiss the good, old 3.5mm headphone jack. It’s the only way you’ll get to experience the Quad DAC in all its glory, as it can’t be used with a Bluetooth connection.

We don’t think you need help on plugging the headphones in, so we’ll skip that part. To activate the Quad DAC, go to Settings, then the Sound tab, and Sound Quality and Effects. Look for the Hi-Fi Quad DAC option and toggle the switch to on.

From here, you can play with the Sound Presets, listed in the menu underneath. Have a track playing when you do, as the alterations are quite dramatic. There are five available: Normal, Enhanced, Detailed, Live, and Bass. Tap each one to change it. When you’re happy with your selection — we find Normal is perfectly tuned for most music — go back a step and choose Digital Filter.

There are three Digital Filter options: Short, Sharp, and Slow. LG provides a description of what each one does, and again, the change is immediately noticeable. Play around with both the Sound Presets and the Digital Filters to tailor the sound exactly to your liking. Return to the Sound Quality and Effects menu and find the Equalizer option. Tap it and you’ll find a long list of different sound presets, and if you scroll to the bottom of the list, a Custom option allows manual alteration of the equalizer. Using this wide variety of tools, it’s amazing just how much control you have.

Using our guide, you’re sure to get the most out of the LG G7’s brilliant audio system. Happy listening!

Editors’ Recommendations

• Take control of your LG G7 ThinQ with these helpful tips and tricks
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• LG V35 ThinQ hands-on review
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How to transfer files from Android to your PC

anyaberkut/123RF

It’s an age-old story. File meets computer, computer wants to introduce file to its smartphone, computer can’t find the right feature for that. Transferring files (even things like high-res photos) between PC and mobile devices is often a pain, yes, but it’s not impossible. In fact there are a few different ways to do it.

In this guide, we’ll teach you exactly how to transfer files from Android to your PC, whether you want to use a software or more traditional hardware solution.

Wi-Fi transfer app

If your computer is connected to a nearby wireless network, one of the easiest ways to transfer files to a mobile device is to set up wireless transfer. These services specialize in porting information through your wireless network and onto a mobile device. Once set up, these services are quick, simple, and reliable, so long as your wireless internet connection is stable.

In fact, there are so many transfer services available, one of the hardest parts may be finding the right one for your PC. If you use an Android or iOS device, you will want to take a look at Portal, an app from Pushbullet. Once you download the app from your device’s respective app store and scan the website’s QR Code, you can push pictures, videos, and other files through the site and onto your mobile phone. It’s especially easy with Google Chrome because you can just drag and drop files to instantly transfer them from one device to another.

Another common solution is Filedrop, which is free for all systems except iOS (where it costs $3). Like Portal, Filedrop pairs with Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android devices, and then lets you quickly transfer files with a simple drag-and-drop method.

An alternative for Apple users is Airdrop, a proprietary piece of software that works between all Macs and iOS devices without requiring you to download any additional software — here’s how to use it.

Cloud storage service

Most of the best cloud storage providers offer a reasonable alternative to Wi-Fi transfer apps. You also don’t actually need Wi-Fi for every step when using a cloud sharing service. Simply fire up your favorite browser, register for a cloud service such as Google Drive or Dropbox (but which is best?) and then upload your files. Afterward, you can download the app for your phone and — as long as you have a Wi-Fi or data connection — access the same information.

The information will remain floating in the cloud, but it’s accessible from either destination. This is useful for when you need to transfer data between different platforms, and it makes it easy to share said info with friends and coworkers.

However, both drag-and-drop transfers and cloud services have some security issues. If you’re not using a secure wireless network, then data theft is a possibility. Be smart about your transfers and sensitive information — we recommend enabling two-step verification and using a unique password (store it in a password manager) on all your cloud storage accounts.

Pair via Bluetooth

Bluetooth still has a lot of benefits in a Wi-Fi dominated age, and though pairing isn’t as quick or easy as using cloud storage, you can do it without the need of Wi-Fi. Turn on Bluetooth on your PC and mobile device, then look on your computer to see if it detects any nearby device. Try checking the “Devices and Printers” panel if there’s no automatic connection.

Most PCs will then move onto a confirmation task, where you have to type in a code or compare numbers. This will allow the computer to pair with your mobile device. The device should then appear in your list of connected drives when you look at your menu or file browser. On many PCs, you can select “Send a File” from the Bluetooth menu by clicking on the Bluetooth logo in the bottom-right corner of your screen. You can also manage Bluetooth devices more directly from the Devices and Printers panel, if necessary.

Bluetooth is a reliable method because most devices offer Bluetooth connectivity, and once paired, it’s easy to automatically pair again. If you have a very old computer and a newer mobile device, however, there may be some trouble with matching protocols — there’s also the possibility that your computer may not have Bluetooth. Although you could purchase a Bluetooth adaptor, that doesn’t exactly help you transfer those files right now.

Try an NFC connection

NFC stands for near field communication. It’s a data transfer technology that many phones and some computers now possess. With Android Beam, look into enabling NFC transfers. This protocol requires your devices to be physically close — hence the frequent “bump” and “tap” apps — but it’s still safer when compared to wireless transfers.

That said, it’s a bit more time-consuming and often limited. Apple, for example, only uses NFC for payment purposes.

Even if you can’t establish an NFC connection directly with your PC, take a look at external hard drives and similar devices that can use NFC. This may be an easy way to quickly transfer data to and from your PC using an intermediary device. Plus, you get an external hard drive to use in other situations — these are our favorites.

Stick with email

Ahh, email. Solid, dependable, sensible, and not at all exciting. Nonetheless, it’s often handy when you need to transfer files from your desktop to a nearby tablet or smartphone. Not everyone has the fancy apps, services, and connectivity listed above. That’s where email can be a lifesaver. You’ll need to login to your email account on both devices, but that’s not much of a hardship for a relatively quick and painless way of transferring files.

It’s easier than a lot of other options, and most mobile devices are now smart enough to open attachments in a readable form, especially if you use a PDF. Thanks to OneDrive and Office 365, you may also be able to open and edit Word docs directly within your email client.

There are ways to use Office for free too.

When all else fails, try a USB drive

While the commonplace USB drive has recently fallen out of favor due to wireless functionality and the aforementioned cloud, sometimes the best option is still using a flash drive or an external hard drive to move your files. Not only is setting up a USB connection safer than transferring your data wirelessly, it’s ideal when you want to save a lot of content and transfer it all at once to multiple devices without weighing down your wireless network.

The key is picking out the right USB device to use. Many Android devices, for example, use USB On-The-Go, which can pair with compatible USB storage devices and allows for quick transfers between your PC and Android device.

Another alternative to consider is a wireless media reader. These are external hard drives that use SD cards or USB drives that can create their own hotspot, thus giving you a plethora of connection options for both your PC and mobile devices. You won’t even need a wireless network nearby — just think of them as a jack-of-all-trades for moving content around.

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