HTC’s new wireless adapter for the Vive arrives in September for $300

If you’re sick of tripping over the HTC Vive’s cord when you’re moving blindly across physical space, the company’s new wireless adapter is here to help. The good news is that you can eliminate that long, pesky tripwire and feel secure that you will remain on your two feet. The bad news is that the adapter will set you back an additional $300. Have the Vive Pro? You’ll need another $60 on top of that.

According to HTC, the Vive Wireless Adapter will be made available to pre-purchase on September 5 through Amazon, Best Buy, Microsoft, Newegg, and the company’s website. It won’t actually hit store shelves until September 24.

If you’re not familiar with the HTC Vive, it relies on a single 3-in-1 “combo” cable consisting of the HDMI input, the power input, and the USB output. It’s extremely long, allowing you to freely move about in your physical play space. But it has the tendency to wrap around you like a python, forcing you to untangle yourself and resume your experience.

This cable doesn’t connect to your PC, but instead to a “link box” provided in the kit. This box plugs into your wall outlet to feed power to the headset while also connecting to your PC to serve as a powered “pass thru” for the video and sound outputs, and the movement inputs.

But if you can’t break into your PC, then this adapter won’t work. It aims to replace the 3-in-1 cable and link box altogether, but in turn, you need to install an add-in PCI Express card within your desktop. That means if you’re using a beefy gaming laptop to power the HTC Vive, you’re stuck with the cable. This adapter also requires you to connect a sensor to your PC that broadcasts the wireless signal.

As for the adapter itself, it’s positioned toward the back of your head sporting antennas that resembles an annoyed Pikachu’s flattened ears. Three cables are grouped together and connect the adapter to the headset on the original HTC Vive. A single cable appears to run from the bottom of the adapter to the Vive Pro.

Another big issue here is that given you’re cutting the cord and link box out of the picture, you’re not getting a constant flow of power. That means your playtime only lasts up to 2.5 hours. The specifications list the HTC QC 3.0 PowerBank, meaning it has a quick-charge feature, but the company doesn’t state the total recharge duration. This PowerBank can charge your smartphone, so that is a plus.

“The adapter has a broadcast range of 6 meters with a 150-degree field of view from the sensor and runs in the interference-free 60Ghz band using Intel’s WiGig specification, which, combined with DisplayLink’s XR codec, means low latency and high performance with hours of battery life,” the company says in a blog.

The HTC Vive currently sells for $500 and includes the headset, two controllers, the link box, two base stations, and accessories. The Vive Pro provides a higher-quality experience for $800.

Editors’ Recommendations

• HTC Vive review
• HTC U12 Plus review
• Say hello to the U12 Plus: Everything you need to know about HTC’s latest phone
• HTC U12 Plus tips and tricks
• HTC U12 Plus vs. OnePlus 6: The new kids battle for supremacy

Here are all the games that support Nvidia’s RTX ray tracing

Nvidia

Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2000-series graphics cards may be mighty powerful in their own right, but they are squarely aimed at delivering a feature long desired by developers and gamers alike: Real-time ray tracing. The lighting technique is the closest approximation we have for modeling the way light behaves in the real world, and it looks beautiful. But which games support it? The list isn’t long but it’s going to keep growing.

Here are all of the upcoming games that support Nvidia’s new RTX-driven ray tracing technology.

Assetto Corsa

The 2014 release of Assetto Corsa has always been a beautiful game, but developer Kunos Simulazioni is looking to take Assetto Corsa Competizione visuals to a new level with the introduction of ray tracing technology. The game will launch as soon as September 12, so will be one of the first games to be able to take advantage of the RT cores inside Nvidia’s new 2000-series GPUs.

Atomic Heart

Atomic Heart is described as an “alt universe” shooter set at the height of the Soviet Union but with a rather different interpretation of how the world might have turned out. While its universe might be strange and hard to pin down though, its graphics technology won’t be. It’s beautiful, and ray tracing will only enhance that. Atomic Heart is expected to release sometime in 2019.

Battlefield V

Arguably the most established series to adopt the new ray tracing technology, Battlefield V was showcased right alongside Nvidia’s new cards at Gamescom with reflections of explosions in everything from car doors to eyeballs. It’s slated for release on October 11.

Control

Control would be a striking game with or without ray tracing, but its lighting and reflections look hauntingly otherworldly in the Nvidia RTX demonstration. The third-person action-adventure title will have a number of PC-only graphical improvements. Look out for more from Control in 2019.

Enlisted

Enlisted is a World War II squad shooter MMO that looks to recreate some of the most expansive battles of the war. You may not have time to take in all of the pretty ray tracing effects, but when it debuts in late 2018 you’ll get your chance.

Justice

Weibo/一只日常小号/AbacusNews

Justice is Chinese developer NetEase’s attempt at a WoW-killer with a martial arts flair. It might not get the most traction in the west, but the already pretty game should look even better with a dose of ray-traced lighting.

JX3

Steparu/Youtube

JX3 is an HD remake of the original JX3 from 2009. It’s another martial-arts themed MMO straight out of China, and although it’s unlikely to generate a huge player base here, it’s still one of the first to adopt the new ray tracing technology.

Mechwarrior V: Mercenaries

The next entry in the iconic Mechwarrior series, Mechwarrior V: Mercenaries will feature plenty of raw and scraped metal for ray-traced lighting to reflect off of, making it a great example of the technology’s early implementation. It’s slated for a Q1 2019 release.

Metro Exodus

The Metro series has always been at the forefront of new graphical technology and Exodus is no different. We saw a ray tracing demo using the Exodus engine earlier this year and the latest demonstration of its graphical chops is no less impressive. Metro Exodus is slated to launch on February 22, 2019.

ProjectDH

Not much is known about ProjectDH other than its been under development at Nexon for a couple of years. Early test footage suggests it’s a little like a horseback Monster Hunter with ranged weaponry, but at this stage, it’s anyone’s guess. How it will implement ray tracing is equally nebulous.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Shown off on stage during the original Nvidia 2000-series unveiling, Shadow of the Tomb Raider might have run into a few frame rate issues on the show floor, but it proved a great example of just how pretty ray-traced lighting can be. Look for it to launch on September 14.

Editors’ Recommendations

• What is ray tracing, and how will it change games?
• Nvidia’s new GPUs look amazing, but that doesn’t mean you should buy one
• Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 20 Series starts at $500 and features real-time ray tracing
• GTX 1080 graphics card prices plunge following Nvidia’s RTX announcement
• Microsoft came to E3 2018 with a new vision for Xbox and a ‘Halo’ teaser

This is an artificial brain. This is an artificial brain on meth

What would be the first thing you’d do with an artificial brain? If you’re a researcher at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, the answer is simple: You dose it with meth.

Okay, so that may be sensationalizing some serious work, but it accurately describes research recently published in the journal Nature Biotechnology. And it’s helped reveal details about the brain never known before.

“One of the more complex parts of the brain’s structure is the vasculature that brings blood with nutrients and oxygen into the brain and takes waste products away,” Kit Parker, professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics, told Digital Trends. “The blood vessels are selectively permeable as a means of protecting the brain. The adverse effect is the difficulty with which you can get drugs into the brain through that same protective barrier. To mimic this, we built a model of the blood vessels (BBB) in the brain on two chips, and built a piece of brain on another chip. We daisy-chained the chips so that one BBB chip represented nutrients going to the brain chip, and the second BBB chip took waste products away from the brain chip.”

The meth came into play because they needed a way to test that the BBB chip was working. To prove it, they had to show that it would mimic the real neurological effects caused by the drug. “Just like in the brains of people who choose to smoke meth, the BBB chips started to leak,” Parker continued. “That’s exactly what happens when you smoke meth — and why you shouldn’t.”

Once the researchers had proven their creation worked, they used it to examine the ways that the cells on the BBB chips and brain chips communicate. This helped reveal previously unknown details about what Parker describes as a “dark web” of communication scientists haven’t previously known about. In the future, this might reveal new targets for medicinal therapeutics.

“The novelty relating to organ chips is that they enable us to carry out what is essentially a ‘synthetic biology’ approach at the cell, tissue, and organ level,” Donald Ingber, director of the Wyss Institute, told DT. “They also provide a window on molecular-scale activities inside human living cells within a physiologically relevant tissue and organ context. In this study, we could use this synthetic approach to break down a complex organ – in this case, the human brain – into individual sub-compartments of the brain microvasculature and normally tightly intertwined neuronal networks. Because we can separate out each compartment and control ‘ins and outs,’ while analyzing them with state-of-the-art analytical technologies, we were able to gain insights into how cells within these different compartments communicate with each other.”

Everything you can do with the S Pen on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

The Galaxy Note 9 has arrived with a splash: You can read our full Note 9 review for all the details, but one of the more interesting updates is the addition of Bluetooth in the phone’s S Pen.

The S Pen stylus can still do all of the note-taking, transcribing, and scribbling that you could want across a wide range of apps, but now it has a whole new suite of functions too. This promotes the S Pen to a surprisingly useful tool for an active Note 9 user, which is why we’re taking a look at everything it can do now — and why you may want to keep it close at hand.

Customize the remote function

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

The S Pen’s Bluetooth capabilities let you control the Note 9 up to 30 feet away. Out of the box, you can hold down the button on the S Pen and it will open the camera app. Tap the button once to snap a photo, and double tap it to swap to the rear or front camera. That’s pretty intuitive and may be enough for some, but you can do much more. Head to the S Pen Remote settings by going to Settings > Advanced features > S Pen > S Pen remote. Tap on Hold down Pen button to if you want to change the default app. You can set it to open your favorite app, though only a handful of apps like the camera, Google Chrome, and the Gallery app can truly make use of the extra single and double press actions.

Snapping photos at a distance

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Once you get into the camera app, the S Pen will act as a remote control for the camera. With the app open, you can simply press the button to take a photo at any time. This is great for group shots and selfies, while avoiding awkward angles. Double tap the button and you can swap between the front and rear camera. The S Pen’s button works in a variety of different modes as well — press it in AR Emojis and you can snap a photo of yourself as another character; or you can use it to start a hyperlapse, or slow-motion video.

If you want to record video, you will need to replace one of the default actions for the button, and you can do this by heading to Settings > Advanced features > S Pen > S Pen remote > App actions > Camera.

Control media playback

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

The new S Pen is very intuitive about play and stop controls. Start music or video on a service – such as YouTube – and you can pause or resume play by pressing the S Pen button at any time. This is particularly handy when you are casting a video for a group or playing music over a Bluetooth speaker…and maybe just when you’re feeling a little lazy.

Cycle through presentation slides

The S Pen button can also act as a handy presentation remote. If you are streaming the presentation from your phone, click the button to move forward, and double click it to go back. We can confirm this works with Microsoft’s PowerPoint app, and it doesn’t work with Google’s Slides.

Jot down notes with Screen-off Memos

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Need to take some quick notes? Screen-off Memo is a handy feature that lets you write on the Note 9’s always-on display without turning the screen on. When the display is off, just take out the S Pen and Screen-off Memo will turn on, so you’ll be able to write on the display right away. Tap the eraser icon to clear scribbles away; and tap the pin icon to attach notes to your Always-on Display. If you run out of space, simply swipe up to keep writing, and when you’re done tap the Save in Notes option at the top right. You can find what you’ve written or drawn in the Samsung Notes app in the App Drawer.

Create and send Live Messages

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Want to spruce up your texting game? With the S Pen, you can create Live Messages, which are animated GIFs based on whatever you write or draw. Simply tap Live Message, which will pop up as an option when you take the S Pen out of the Note 9, and start writing. You can choose different pen styles and effects, as well as color and thickness, at the top left corner. On the top right, you can choose pre-made Live Messages, or on the bottom left is a paint icon where you can select your preferred color for the background. Alternatively, tap the middle gallery icon to add a photo from your own gallery, in case you want to write over it. Finally, on the bottom right, you can add your own AR Emoji and draw over it as well. Tap the Done icon in the top right when you’re finished, and the Live Message will be saved in your gallery. You’re able to share it on any platform that accepts GIFs.

Channel your inner artist

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

One of the biggest reasons to use the S Pen is to draw, and while it may not be as comfortable as drawing on a large-screen tablet, it’s handy being able to sketch at a moment’s notice on the move. On the Note 9, the Penup app is pre-installed and it’s a great choice to sketch with, but you can always head to the Google Play Store and download any third-party app. The S Pen is pressure sensitive just like a pencil, which greatly helps when drawing.

Get handy shortcuts

Air Command

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

As soon as you take out the S Pen, Air Command will kick in. It’s a selection of up to 10 apps you can have at the ready for quick access. If the S Pen is already out of the Note 9, hover the stylus over the screen and press the button for Air Command, or just tap on the floating icon. If you want to edit the apps in Air Command or add more, head to Settings > Advanced features > S Pen > Shortcuts. You can also turn off the floating icon, or prevent Air Command from launching when you take out the S Pen in the same settings menu.

Translate text

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

If you’re reading an article and want to know the translation of a particular word, tap the Translate button in Air Command. At the top, you can choose which language you want to translate the text to, then simply hover the S Pen over the word to select it and see the translation (which is powered by Google Translate). If you tap on the translated word, you’ll be taken to the Google Translate app if you have it installed.

Activate “Bixby Vision”

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Bixby Vision is a feature you can access in the camera app, but also through Air Command. It works a little differently with the S Pen. Hover the S Pen over a part of the screen, and Bixby will allow you to scan the area for shopping results, extract text, find similar images, or scan QR codes. You can tap the floating Settings icons to disable some of those options.

Use Glance to peek at other apps

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Glance is another service available through Air Command that’s handy if you find yourself constantly switching between two apps. When you turn on Glance, it will downsize your current app into a little square at the bottom-right corner of your screen (like picture-in-picture mode). Hover over it with the S Pen, and the app will open in full-screen mode, and when you stop hovering, you will see the second app you were in. Click and drag the floating app screen to the Remove icon at the top center to turn off Glance. It’s a handy feature if you’re copying notes between two apps, or you want to look at a reference when drawing.

Get creative with screen captures

Smart Select returns to the Note series, allowing you to outline a portion of your screen (including a portion of a playing video) to create a tailored screenshot in whatever shape you want, or to create a unique GIF. You can then scribble or decorate your creation with the S Pen, and share or save it as you desire. There’s also Screen Write, which is also available through Air Command, and you can use it to capture a screenshot and scribble on it.

Magnify the screen

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Need to see something closer? Magnify in Air Command lets you magnify any part of the screen up to 300 percent when you hover the S Pen over. It’s a good way to view high-res images on your phone, or see text for sites that aren’t mobile-friendly.

Pop the S Pen back in for a recharge

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

With the added Bluetooth features, you may be a little worried about how long the slim S Pen can retain a charge. Fortunately, the S Pen comes with an excellent recharge system: Pop it back into the Note 9 and it will immediately start recharging. The time to full recharge is only 40 seconds, which will give you 30 minutes of use. You’ll have plenty of time to recharge before a presentation, even if you forget until the literal last minute.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Samsung Galaxy Note 9: Everything you need to know
• What’s the point of the Note’s S Pen? Samsung needs to find one or kill it
• Samsung Galaxy Note 9 review
• How to take a screenshot on a Galaxy S9 and other Android phones
• Common Galaxy Note 8 problems, and how to fix them

Asus Zenfone 5Z review

Research Center:

Asus Zenfone 5Z

In the age of thousand-dollar smartphones it’s nice to have more affordable options. The Asus Zenfone 5Z offers an impressive array of features and flagship specs but costs half the price of Apple’s iPhone X or Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9.

Naturally there are compromises lurking here, beyond the derivative design, but there’s enough going on to make this a compelling prospect for anyone shopping for a new smartphone. If you’re the kind of person who insists off-brand cereal tastes just as good, then the Asus Zenfone 5Z is for you.

Attractive, but derivative design

At first glance, you can easily mistake this phone for the iPhone X — that’s no accident. When the Zenfone 5 was unveiled at Mobile World Congress earlier this year, it prompted us to ask why are Android phone makers embracing the notch? They’re aping Apple’s design, but as soon as you look a little closer, you’ll see some important differences.

For starters, the notch — which carves into the 6.2-inch display — is slightly smaller. There’s also a noticeable bezel at the bottom of the screen. Flip the phone over and there’s a fingerprint sensor in the middle of the rear. The dual camera sensor sits at the top left, but the flash module is just below instead of inside it. The bottom edge is home to a USB Type-C port and a headphone jack, while the right edge houses the power button with a volume rocker above it.

If you’re not familiar with the minutiae of smartphone design, you could easily mistake the Zenfone 5Z for an iPhone X, and more than one person asked us if it was Apple’s flagship during the first week we were using it.

It’s quite a big phone, but we found it comfortable to use one-handed. The glass sandwich design is common, but it does mean falls are heart-stopping if you don’t have a case. Thankfully, Asus provides a clear case in the box with the Zenfone 5Z.

At first glance, you could easily mistake this phone for Apple’s iPhone X — that’s no accident.

With a resolution of 2,246 x 1,080 pixels and an unusual 19:9 aspect ratio, this isn’t the greatest display around, but we found it bright and readable in most circumstances. As an IPS LCD screen, it lacks the deep blacks of leading OLED screens, and colors can appear washed out at times. It’s not a bad display by any stretch of the imagination, but it can’t match the AMOLED in perhaps its closest competitor – the OnePlus 6.

We’re not big fans of the notch, but it can be hidden if you prefer. Asus is far from the only manufacturer pursuing this kind of design, and the Zenfone 5Z surprised us by drawing admiring glances and comments from people.

Asus has packed in dual speakers, which are impressively loud for a phone. The Zenfone 5Z is also Hi-Res Audio (HRA) certified, and we’re glad to see a headphone jack. Audiophiles can dig into the custom equalizer to tweak the sound if they so desire.

Silky performance

Just like nearly every other flagship Android phone released this year, the Asus Zenfone 5Z relies on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 processor, which is backed by an ample 6GB of RAM. This is a blazing fast smartphone as the benchmark results suggest:

• AnTuTu 3DBench: 269,332
• Geekbench 4 CPU: 2,448 single-core; 8,995 multi-core
• 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme: 3,779 (Vulkan)

Samsung’s productivity powerhouse — the Galaxy Note 9 — scored 273,992 in AnTuTu, but it costs literally double the price of the Zenfone 5Z. A closer competitor at just $30 more is the OnePlus 6, which scored 269,191 in AnTuTu. All three of these phones pack the same processor, so the comparable performance shouldn’t be a big surprise. Although impressive, the Asus Zenfone 5Z isn’t the cheapest phone we’ve used recently that offers this kind of power – the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S got very similar scores and can be imported for $400.

Asus Zenfone 5Z Compared To

Vivo Nex S

Moto Z3 Play

LG G7 ThinQ

Alcatel 1X

LG Fortune 2

Cat S61

HTC U12 Plus

Moto E5 Plus

Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus

Samsung Galaxy S9

Nokia 7 Plus

Alcatel 3V

Motorola Moto G6

Nuu G3

Huawei Mate 10 Pro

There’s a lot more to a phone than the raw power it packs. While scrolling around and jumping in and out of apps and games was generally smooth with the Zenfone 5Z — and it ran everything we tried without breaking a sweat — there were occasional hiccups that stopped it from shining.

The Zenfone 5Z had no trouble with games like Tiny Tower and PUBG: Mobile, but Shadowgun: Legends was a little choppy at times. It ran well once it got going, but we did also notice the back of the Zenfone 5Z got hot to the touch after 10 minutes of blasting aliens.

Shaky software

Our Zenfone 5Z review unit crashed during setup, which would be more understandable if it was supplied well in advance of release, but this phone is on sale now and sports the final software. We thought we might be in for some trouble, but thankfully, that was the only crash we’ve encountered so far.

It runs Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box and the latest security patch is from June 5 this year. We have an old S7 Edge that has already been updated to the same Android version, but has a newer security patch, so we can’t help feeling a little disappointed in Asus. Maybe Android 9.0 Pie would be too much to expect, but the OnePlus 6 is running Android 8.1 and came out months before the 5Z. This doesn’t bode well for future updates, though Asus has promised the Zenfone 5Z will get Android 9.0 Pie.

You’ll find ZenUI 5.0 on top of the Android platform, and it’s fairly attractive. It has been scaled down compared to previous versions, but there are still quite a few extra apps of dubious usefulness like Mobile Manager and Selfie Master. There are also some tweaks in the settings, which look a lot like Samsung’s Experience UI with wireframe color icons over white.

Two things repeatedly annoyed us about the Asus software: Firstly, the battery icon is too close to the time at the top right of the notification bar. It may sound trivial, but it’s something you can’t unsee and it really annoyed us, especially since it’s so unnecessary.

If you’re looking for the compromises that allow this phone to cost half what the iPhone X does, then software is where you find them.

The other issue was the constant pop-ups about Page Marker. We weren’t sure what Page Marker was, and a search in the app drawer revealed no results. Turns out it’s a Chrome add-on for saving web pages to read offline, and we were able to locate it in the settings and toggle it off, but before we did there were frequent notifications about it running in the background.

Asus also offers Twin Apps, which is handy if you have more than one account for something like Facebook as it allows you to use both simultaneously. There also a BeautyLive option in case you want to apply one of those skin-smoothing, eye-widening beauty filters over your face and stream in real-time.

If you’re looking for the compromises that allow this phone to cost half what the iPhone X does, then software is where you find them. It’s little things. Sometimes the rounded notification cards would be squared off, or an overlay would pop up when it shouldn’t and conflict with what was underneath. There’s just a lack of polish and the odd visual glitches feel like a slip of the mask that reveal the cheaper phone beneath.

There is a face unlock option that uses the selfie camera to unlock the phone. It works swiftly if there’s enough light, and it’s convenient. But there were occasions it inexplicably didn’t work at all, even in good light, and Asus admits it’s not the most secure method of unlocking your phone. There is a perfectly good fingerprint sensor on the back if you don’t want to use the face unlock, so it’s not a big issue.

Accessible and capable camera

The camera has become an important battleground for high-end smartphones in recent years and it’s one of the main areas where the gap between a $1,000 phone and something half the price, like the Zenfone 5Z, can often be felt.

Asus is ticking all the boxes here with a dual-lens main camera that combines a 12-megapixel lens with an f/1.8 aperture and a wide-angle 8-megapixel lens with an f/2.2 aperture.

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The main lens features Sony’s flagship IMX363 sensor with optical image stabilization, and we know it’s capable of great things, but much depends on the tuning and software. We were pleased with the results the Zenfone 5Z camera garnered, particularly outdoors in good lighting.

Details are captured in all their glory, and the HDR really kicks in on some shots to show the complex light in the sky contrasting with glinting waves in the sea. The color correction also works well, as most shots captured the natural colors we were seeing.

We were also impressed with the low-light performance, though there’s inevitably more noise. The Zenfone 5Z is generally fast to snap a shot, but the shutter speed drops in low light to wring the best results out of your environment. It means there’s more of a pause and you must try to keep still, or you’ll get some blurring, but photos in dark environments are better than we expected.

Switching to the wide-angle lens dramatically drops the quality of your photos. It’s a nice option to have, but everything looks blurry by comparison with the main lens and it can’t cope with strong contrast between light and dark areas.

There’s also a portrait mode with a simple slider that lets you control the focal length. It’s not perfect, but if you’re keen on portrait shots with that blurred background, bokeh effect, the Zenfone 5Z delivers more often than not and it’s easy to use.

With Pro mode, you can delve into the camera capabilities and finetune everything to suit your needs, which is a nice option. Asus also says that there is artificial intelligence scene detection at work in the automatic mode behind the scenes here, but since it doesn’t show its workings, it’s hard to tell what difference it makes.

The front-facing camera is an 8-megapixel affair with an f/2.0 aperture and it’s perfectly adequate for selfies and video calls. It does also have a software-based portrait mode, but it’s not good, often blurring the wrong spots.  Asus also offers ZeniMoji, which pops up during video calls or when you’re streaming. It allows you to talk as a character, like an owl or cat, but it doesn’t work anywhere near as well as Apple’s Animoji or even Samsung’s AR Emoji.

The Zenfone 5Z camera is a major step up from most mid-range phones.

The Zenfone 5Z camera is a major step up from most mid-range phones. In a shootout with the iPhone X or Huawei P20 Pro, you might see why those devices are more expensive, but this camera delivers a lot for the price and we think it will please most people.

Average battery

Asus has packed a 3,300mAh battery into the Zenfone 5Z, and it generally saw us through the day with a little left in the tank.

With normal use, which is likely quite heavy by average standards, we generally had somewhere around 20 or 30 percent left at 10 p.m. and so nightly charging was a necessity. We use scheduled Do Not Disturb and found the Zenfone 5Z only lost 4 percent overnight.

There’s no support for wireless charging, which is a bit disappointing as the glass design would accommodate it. It thankfully supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 technology, and can charge up quickly when plugged in with the provided charger — it went from zero to full in less than two hours.

Price, Availability, and Warranty information

The Asus Zenfone 5Z costs $500 and you can buy it from Amazon right now. It will work on GSM networks like AT&T and T-Mobile, but not on CDMA networks like Verizon or Sprint.

Asus offers a standard 12-month warranty for the Asus Zenfone 5Z which covers manufacturing defects and faults.

Our Take

The Asus Zenfone 5Z packs in a lot for the money. It’s fast and features a capable camera, but there are compromises lurking in the software.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes. The most obvious competitor for the Asus Zenfone 5Z is the OnePlus 6 which offers an OLED screen and a higher level of polish, for just $30 more. It’s a slightly better phone.

If money is tight, take a look at the Nokia 6.1 or the Moto G6, both of which can be had for less than $300. You can learn more in our best cheap phones guide. If you’re willing to spend a bit more, then take a look at the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus or the Google Pixel 2.

How long will it last?

You should be able to get two to three years out of the Zenfone 5Z if you look after it. Asus has promised it will at least be updated to Android 9.0 Pie, but we’re uncertain how long that will take and what, if any, updates it will get beyond that. The phone is wrapped in glass, so a case is necessary to ensure drop protection, and there’s no IP-rated water resistance.

Should you buy it?

Yes, but only if you have a hard limit of $500 for your next phone and you do not want to buy the OnePlus 6. The Zenfone 5Z is a good alternative.

‘Tomb Raider’ devs respond to RTX 2080 Ti, ray tracing performance concerns

The developers behind Shadow of the Tomb Raider responded to concerns about the game running poorly on Nvidia’s just-revealed GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics card with ray tracing enabled. While we were dazzled by the ray tracing support in the upcoming game during a demo showcased on Monday, August 20, the developers say it’s still a work in progress and the feature will be made available in a post-launch update.

“The Nvidia Ray Tracing technology currently being shown in Shadow of the Tomb Raider is an early work in progress version,” the developers state via Twitter. “As a result, different areas of the game have received different levels of polish while we work toward complete implementation of this new technology.”

During Nvidia’s big GeForce RTX 20 Series reveal, we viewed one specific crowded environment pulled from the game to show how ray tracing effects the way Nvidia’s hardware handles the area. The developers merely toggled the feature on and off to illustrate how ray tracing renders shadows, reflections and area illumination in real time differently than current rendering techniques.

Naturally, Nvidia and Eidos provided demos for the press to view after the presentation. The machine running the Tomb Raider demo included the just-revealed RTX 2080 TI while the game itself was only set to a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. With FRAPS running in the background, ray tracing turned on and the game set to its highest detail settings, the framerate would fluctuate between 30 and 70 frames per second. You can view an off-screen video capture of the gameplay right here.

That fluctuating framerate for a game running in Full HD apparently generated concern. After all, the RTX 2080 Ti will have a starting price of $1,000 when it arrives later this month. It packs 4,352 CUDA cores with a maximum speed of 1,545MHz and 11GB of onboard GDDR6 memory clocked at 14Gbps. The framerate should be way higher than that, right?

In this case, no. As the developer points out, there is still work that needs to be done to get the ray tracing portion running on all cylinders. Despite the underlying hardware support from the card’s dedicated RT Cores and AI-focused Tensor Cores, optimizations still need to be made on the software side, hence the demo’s current framerate.

The big selling point with Nvidia’s new RTX 20 Series cards is the real-time ray tracing aspect. Typically, this rendering process takes high amounts of computing power and long wait times to render each frame, but the resulting scene can be photo-realistic. While a single graphics card still can’t produce that level of output in real time, Nvidia provides a “cheat” that involves artificial intelligence so we’re not waiting another 10 years.

Given real-time ray tracing is new to PC gaming, it’s a work in progress. The cards aren’t available nor is the content to support their ray tracing aspect. The best way to gauge performance is to wait and see both in action when they’re actually available rather than jump to conclusions based on pre-release demos.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 20 Series starts at $500 and features real-time ray tracing
• What is ray tracing, and how will it change games?
• Nvidia’s Turing chip reinvents computer graphics (but not for gaming)
• Nvidia’s new GPUs look amazing, but that doesn’t mean you should buy one
• Here’s how to watch Nvidia’s GeForce event at Gamescom

The best Android phones under $300 right now!

We’re a virtual company made up of tech experts from across the globe. We live and breathe Android phones, and use nearly every one to find the best sub-$300 picks.

The Moto G6 offers the best bang for your buck around with great build quality, surprisingly decent dual cameras, and a super-clean build of Android Oreo. With support for all major U.S. carriers, it’s also one of the most widely compatible phones you’ll find in its price range.

Our Pick

Moto G6

$235 from Amazon

Well-rounded and afforable.

The Moto G6 has just about everything you could ask of a phone at this price. The software is clean yet clever with the addition of Moto Actions and Moto Display, and it’s quick to recharge with Motorola’s TurboPower charging.

Who should buy this phone?

Shoppers on any carrier looking for a clean software experience. The Moto G6 runs a virtually stock build of Android Oreo, with a few added conveniences from Motorola. It also has decent specs, including a Snapdragon 450, 32GB of expandable storage, and 3GB of RAM, and you can even upgrade to 64GB and 4GB of RAM without going over $300.

Is it a good time to buy this phone?

Definitely. The Moto G6 was just announced back in April, so we shouldn’t expect to see another model for about eight months.

Reasons to buy

• Clean, convenient software
• Great build quality for the specs
• Supports all major carriers
• Upgraded model still costs less than $300
• Large 18:9 display

Reasons not to buy

• No NFC
• Occasional software hiccups
• Motorola has a terrible track record with software updates

There are other great sub-$300 options

The Moto G series is always a great value, but that doesn’t mean the G6 is a perfect phone. It isn’t likely to receive any major software updates in the near future, and its design still features a giant camera dome that makes the phone rock back and forth on a table like no other. Luckily, it isn’t the only good deal around.

Modern chic

Huawei P20 Lite

$280 from Amazon

Taking design cues from 2018 flagships.

The P20 Lite has a gorgeous reflective glass-and-metal design with a high screen-to-body ratio and, yes, a notch. It won’t work on CDMA carriers, but AT&T and T-Mobile customers can enjoy its speedy performance and eye-catching looks.

The P20 Lite certainly doesn’t look like a phone that costs just $280, but here it is, available in four great colors. The Kirin 659 chipset is speedy and powerful, and the 3000mAh battery provides excellent longevity. Stock Android purists may not love its EMUI software, but it’s at least running on top of Android 8.0 Oreo.

Android One

Nokia 6.1

$257 from Amazon

Motorola isn’t the only one doing stock Android.

Nokia is back in the game with a refreshed Nokia 6 that offers far better performance and battery life. Because it runs Android One, the Nokia 6.1 runs delightfully barebones software with the promise of timely updates.

You can’t ask for much more from a sub-$300 phone than the Nokia 6.1. The 5.5-inch 1080p LCD display looks fantastic, and it has one of the better cameras in its segment. On top of that, Nokia releases monthly security updates to keep its phones protected — a rarity for low-cost phones.

Bottom line

Phones are getting better for cheaper than ever before, and these three are some of the best you’ll find under $300. The P20 Lite is designed like a 2018 flagship, and the Nokia 6.1 arguably offers the best experience of the bunch, though it’s only available on GSM carriers.

For a great Android experience that will work on virtually any carrier, look no further than the long-lasting, widely available Moto G6.

Updated August 2018: Replaced the Moto G5S Plus with the Moto G6, and added the Huawei P20 Lite and Nokia 6.1.

Top things you need to know about the Galaxy Note 9’s SD card slot

Here’s how you can make the most of your SD card slot.

One of Samsung’s pillar features is the inclusion of a microSD card slot, which has stuck around as just about every other company eschewed the expansion slot. Those that have stuck with microSD card expansion have primarily only done so on low-end phones. So the fact that the Galaxy Note 9 still has a place for removable storage is extra-rare.

Yes you can get a Note 9 with up to 512GB of storage, but most people will be getting the base model with 128GB — and somewhere down the road they’ll need more. That’s where the SD card comes in. But before you go buy one, there are some basics you need to know in order to set your expectations for what the card can offer.

It’s time to expand your knowledge about expandable storage.

Adoptable storage isn’t here — and that’s OK for most people

Samsung continues to use the SD card as removable storage only, rather than “adoptable storage” found on other phones. That means that instead of integrating the SD card as part of the internal storage, it operates as its own separate volume. You have to choose to put a file on the SD card or the internal storage — it won’t be able to span the two seamlessly, which takes a little more management.

In practice, this has the benefit of being more familiar to those who used SD cards in previous Samsung phones or have used them typically with computers or cameras. You can remove the SD card from a Galaxy Note 9 without worrying about how it will affect the system, because you only lose the data files on the card. You can pop out the card, put it in your computer and transfer files to and from it, then put it back in the phone with no issues.

If you plan on keeping your SD card in the phone 100% of the time, you won’t really know the difference. But if you take it out from time to time, it will be worth managing which files go on it.

Most apps can’t be moved to the SD card

One downside of using the SD card as removable storage is that there are limitations on what files can be moved to it. For the most part, you can think of the SD card as a place to store big chunks of data, not live applications or high-performance data that you need to access quickly and regularly.

You can have photos, music, videos, podcasts, and documents all stored on your SD card without issue, and moving those files is a great way to free up space on the faster, more versatile internal storage. But you won’t be able to move most apps or games to the SD card, as they need to be on the internal storage in order to run. You may find that some simple apps or assets for apps that don’t need to be run on demand can be stored on the card — but as a rule, you shouldn’t count on being able to move apps to the SD card.

But with 128GB (or more) of storage on the Note 9, this shouldn’t be an issue for most people.

Buy a fast enough card so you don’t have to worry about performance

One great thing that’s happened in the world of SD cards is the proliferation of amazingly fast cards at reasonable prices that anyone can buy. Earlier on in the life of Android phones, it was rather hit or miss as to whether or not the card you bought was fast enough to consistently be used inside an Android phone, and now that’s rarely the case.

Stick to big brands and look at ratings online before buying, but chances are if you find a modern card out there it’s going to do what you need it to do in a Galaxy Note 9. As a rule of thumb, you shouldn’t buy anything lower than a “Class 10” rated card. If you plan on running apps off of the card, making big file transfers or recording lots of video, you want to get a UHS-rated card — at least a U1, but ideally U3. There are also SD cards rated specifically for performance with apps, but as we covered above that isn’t all that important on the Note 9.

Everything you need to know about SD card speeds and your phone

Where to find good SD cards

SD cards have improved dramatically across the board, but that doesn’t mean every card is the same. You still want to make a well-educated decision about the SD card you buy, balancing speed, reliability, capacity and price. There are so many available and many places to buy, but we’ve narrowed down a few for you to choose from if you want to let us do some of the hard work for you.

Samsung’s 256GB EVO microSD is under under $100, and offers fantastic speed and storage. Samsung’s EVO Select microSD card is under $40 for a 128GB card, which is great if you’re on a budget but still need that extra space. We also maintain a list of our favorite SD cards for Android phones so you’ll never be left guessing.

Best microSD Card for Android in 2018

Pictures and video save to the card by default

Because the types of data you can put on an SD card are limited, the Galaxy Note 9 wants to take advantage of it right away for types of data it knows it can move there. The best example is the camera, which automatically starts saving photos and videos to the SD card. High-bandwidth capture like burst photos, high resolution video or high frame rate video are going to be saved directly to the internal storage rather than the SD card, but that’s what you want in order to get the best possible performance.

If for whatever reason you don’t want photos and videos to save to the SD card, you can head into the camera’s settings, then storage location, and tap it to change back to device storage. You’ll notice that the Gallery app will show photos on the SD card as being saved in a separate folder — this makes it completely clear which photos will be inaccessible when the card is removed.

You can encrypt your SD card for security

One of the problems with an easily removable SD card that’s formatted as removable storage is the data on there can be easily accessed by anyone with a SIM tray tool — they don’t have to unlock your phone to get it. Of course the best way to secure your phone is to not let anyone have it in the first place, but accidents happen — and the best way to secure the data is to encrypt the SD card. With encryption enabled, the data is only readable by the Galaxy Note 9 that encrypted it.

To encrypt your SD card, head into the phone’s settings, biometrics and security, and encrypt SD card. The process will take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes, depending on how much data is on the card.

Now, there’s one big downside to this: when you encrypt the SD card, it also can’t be read by any other devices you have. That means that if you pop out the SD card and put it in your computer, it won’t be able to read the data. It also means if you break your phone beyond repair, you will lose the SD card data forever. If your intention is to use the SD card in your Galaxy Note 9 as a quick way to transfer large amounts of data between devices, you’ll have to use a USB cable from your phone or decrypt the card first.

Removing your SD card also removes the SIM

It’s a relatively trivial thing, but remember that your SD card lives in the same tray as your SIM card. So if you plan on using the removable storage capabilities of your SD card for transferring files back and forth with a computer, you’re going to knock out your cellular service while you do it.

In some cases, removing the SIM card and reinserting it will require a full device reboot to get your mobile data back up and running. If you can’t manage to wait a few minutes without data, wait to pull out your SD card until you’re done with your mobile data usage.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9

• Samsung Galaxy Note 9 review
• Galaxy Note 9 vs. Note 8
• Where to buy the Galaxy Note 9
• Galaxy Note 9 specifications
• Is the Note 8 still a good buy?
• Join our Galaxy Note 9 forums

AT&T
Verizon
T-Mobile
Samsung

Security cameras, Amazon tablets, and more are discounted today

Whether you’re looking for new tech gear or household items, we’ve got you covered.

We found plenty of great deals today that include big discounts on three generations of Netgear’s Arlo security cameras, Amazon Fire HD tablets, the PlayStation headset, and more!

View the rest of the deals

If you want to know about the deals as soon as they are happening, you’ll want to follow Thrifter on Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter, because missing out on a great deal stinks!

Every PlayStation 4 title announced at Gamescom 2018

Get ready for all the exciting news

Gamescom is a massive gaming event held in Europe every year since about 2009. It’s back now in 2018 and boy do they have quite a few titles waiting for us. If you’re just as hype for this as I am, and you’re just as much of a PlayStation fan, you probably want to know all the titles that are being announced at Gamescom this year.

Good news. We’ve got a few hands on deck at the event and this means we can get you information about announced titles as soon as they come out. Make sure you bookmark this page on your phone or computer and keep checking in during the Gamescom event! As soon as we hear something, I’ll make sure it’s updated here ASAP!

The Exhibitors

There are more than quite a few large names coming to Gamescom this year. If you want to narrow your search down to what games have been announced by just them, no worries. All the titles have been separated by who’s making them so you can get right down to your favorites. Here we will list all the big exhibitors we know are going to be there in advance. But, with so many Indie companies going as well we will definitely make sure you are kept in the loop for the PS4 games announced through them as well!

• Bethesda
• Epic Games
• Valve
• Mimimi
• Bandai Namco
• Square Enix
• Ubisoft

Bethesda

This year it’s been confirmed that attendees at Gamescom will be able to get their paws on some Rage 2 gameplay, but what else is going on? Well, The Elder Scrolls: Blades will be debuting in Europe for the first time along with Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset.

When it comes to your PlayStation VR, Bethesda is even bringing some gameplay of Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot! We’ll make sure to report back with all our thoughts and juicy details!

As of Tuesday, we haven’t heard anything from Bethesda, but make sure to stay tuned!

Epic Games

Epic games have been all the craze in the world lately. This company brought you Fortnite, one of the extremely popular online games circulating right now. With a whole lot of ups and downs with the politics of Epic Games who knows what they’re going to be bringing to the table when it comes to Gamescom. Perhaps they’ll announce they’re working on something new, or that Fortnite is going to finally be cross-compatible with PlayStation 4 (we wish). Who knows, keep your self in the loop by following this post!

As of Tuesday, we haven’t heard anything from Epic Games, but make sure to stay tuned!

Valve

These are the people who brought your games like Dota 2 and all of the Portal collections. While Valve has been rather quiet about what they’re going to be showing off this year at Gamescom, we have a lot of excitement. Could this be the time we’re finally told about a new Portal game, a new update for Dota or another Half-Life? Stay tuned and find out!

As of Tuesday, we haven’t heard anything from Valve, but make sure to stay tuned!

Mimimi

Mimimi is a studio that has brought you games like Shadow Tactics and The Last Tinker. They’re a German based software development company with a home base over there in Munich. One of the biggest things they are known for is the intense story arcs that are put into their games. If you’re playing something by Mimimi, there’s a pretty good chance you’re invested deeply into the story.

Desperados

Partnering with THQ Nordic, they’re coming to bring you an all-new Desperados! Mimimi representative, Dominik, came on stage to let us know the reason we have been waiting so long for another Desperados is that there was “no market for it.” Everyone was so trapped in futuristic games they didn’t want to try bringing back old Westerns just yet. But, the bandits are back in town and ready to test your quick thinking skills!

Bandai Namco

Most of you might not recognize the name because most people don’t pay attention to title screens when playing, but you’ll surely recognize their games. Bandi Namco has worked on some massive titles, including Dark Souls, Pac-Man, the Naruto fighting games and the Dragon Ball fighting games. These are the titles you pop into your PlayStation when you’ve got a few friends over, share some laughs and see who can make it to the top of your skill tree in 1v1 combat!

One Piece World Seeker

Teaming up with Supermassive, Bandai Namco is working to bring you another One Piece selection that’s coming to you sometime in 2018. I don’t know about you, but One Piece has always been one of my favorite animes that have always been easy to lose myself in. Not only do you get just enough silly to keep you laughing and entertained, but the story actually does a wonderful job of teaching you real life lessons without you even realizing. I, for one, am very excited to add this title to my gaming collection.

The Dark Pictures – Anthology

Another horror game to add to your collection of you’re another one who loves all things spoopy that go bump in the night. The anthology will be a series of games where each will have their own unique story and cast. Think of this as an “American Horror Story” except the game version and they don’t have to refilter the same cast over and over again. The first of the series, The Man of Medan, will be coming to us sometime in 2019. The story focuses on a group of divers looking to explore the deep depths of the ocean. Something I’m already terrified of, so I’m more than excited to play this in a game.

Square Enix

Square Enix has been a popular name you’ve probably been hearing ever since you were younger. They’re responsible for bringing you games like Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, the Fullmetal Alchemist game series, Octopath Traveler and so much more. With a waterfall of so many great titles falling from their belt I am beyond stoked they are making their way to Gamescom this year. If they’ve got something to announce I’m willing to bet it’s gonna be good.

Life is Strange 2

Lose yourself in another Life is Strange with this sequel. This time we’ll be following a male lead and his little brother who is just trying to survive in the wild. But, what would cause their life to be in such disarray? Seems like the big brother has more than a few secrets he’s keeping. Develop your own feelings on him during gameplay when it releases on September 27, 2018.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is getting some new DLC coming soon. The Amorous Adventures of the Bold Sir Hans Capon is coming to you soon, and it proceeds both Band of Bastards and A Woman’s Lot. While we haven’t been given much on what this DLC is even going to cover, we do know that it will be here in the early fall. So, regardless I guess we’re going to find out soon!

Outward

This time Square Enix is going to be working with Nine Dots to bring you Outward, a revolutionary roleplaying game for you to jump into. Not only will this game have a multiplayer option, but you can play on a split screen! The launch date is set for February 12, 2019, and I’m more than excited to check it out. Open world roleplay adventures will always have the keys to my heart. Always.

Pathfinder Kingmaker

Our well-loved Pathfinder Kingmaker is coming to both PlayStation 4 and Xbox sometime next year! This is based on a roleplaying system we’ve all come to know and love in our tabletop games. Well, now you can play the game in some highly immersive gameplay where you can build a kingdom, find love, kill your enemies and take over the world. Are you ready to bring your fantasy to reality?

Shenmue 3

There have always been a thousand words to describe the Shenmue series, and most of them revolve around “gorgeous,” “addicting,” and “breathtaking.” Trust me, it’s all for a reason too. This title was first announced to us during E3 in 2015, and we’ve been waiting with the highest anticipation ever since. Well, here at Gamescom we’ve finally been given the details we’ve been looking for. The next of the series is coming to you on August 27, 2019! So, if you haven’t started playing this series yet, you absolutely should.

Ubisoft

Ubisoft is another one of those massive gaming companies that have brought you huge titles like Far Cry, Assassin’s Creed, For Honor, and more. With them making an appearance at Gamescom I’m rather interested to see what kind of news they might have for us regarding future releases of games or even DLC.

The Settlers

Partnering with Blue Byte, they are celebrating 25 years of the game Settlers with this wonderful new piece. The History Collection contains all 7 modernized games and will be available November 15, 2018. So get ready to take a walk through history! This may not be the news we were hoping for when it came to massive Gamescom announcements, but we’ve still go the rest of the week to go so let’s see where it takes us!

What are you most excited for when it comes to Gamescom 2018?

What games are you hoping you get an update for? What games do you hope to get announced? Tell me all about it in the comment section below, or shoot me a Tweet @OriginalSluggo!