How to recover Google contacts
Antonio Guillem / 123RF
If you use Gmail, you may have had a moment of shock as you open your contacts, hoping to write an email to an old friend or coworker, only to see an avalanche of names and addresses pouring down your screen. Where did they all come from? Like the reams of grocery ads that show up in mailboxes every week, Gmail contacts pile up fast, a consequence of the fact that, by default, Gmail adds every person you email to your contacts.
It makes sense that you might want to prune the list from time to time, but what if you accidentally remove an important contact? Restoring lost contacts is an easy process, although it has some limitations. We’ll show you how to do it. And if you need other tips to make the most out of your Gmail account, we’ve got a guide to that, too.
How to restore contacts
The good news is that you can restore contacts you have deleted; the bad news is that you can only undo changes to your contacts up to 30 days after they happen.
First, go to Google Contacts.
Click More, then Undo changes.
You have various options for the time frame you want to roll back to. Select a time, then click Confirm.
Doing this essentially rewinds the clock on your contacts list. This means that contacts you added after that time will not appear. To get around this, Google recommends you export your contacts before you turn back time, so you can add them back later.
Exporting contacts
Go to Google Contacts.
Click More, then Export.
If you only want to export specific contacts, check the boxes next to their names, then click Export.
Choose to save your contacts as a CSV file, depending on if if you want to export to a Google or Microsoft Outlook account, or a vCard (Virtual Contact File) for other services.
Importing contacts
First, go to Contacts.
Click More, then Import.
Click Choose File.
Select the CSV file (if importing from Gmail). If you’re importing the contacts from another email service (like Outlook), select the service you want to import from, then click I Agree, Let’s Go!
Click Import.
Sign in with the appropriate login credentials, then click Agree.
With that, you can restore any contacts lost when you rolled back to your old contacts list.
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Rockstar details Red Dead Redemption 2’s weapons and customization systems
The wild west has never looked this good.
Yes, it’s finally happening my fellow outlaws. Red Dead Redemption II is real and it’s coming to PlayStation 4 this year. After Rockstar Games’ massively successful open-world cowboy game set during the death of the Wild West, fans began clamoring for a follow-up that continued the story of the Marston family or embraced a new gunslinger.
After years of rumors and silence on Rockstar’s end, they finally surprised the world on one random morning in 2016 by announcing a sequel to their critically acclaimed western. It took over a year to get any actual concrete details regarding the game and frankly, it’s still a bit of a mystery but it sounds like it could be a mix of a story of a new outlaw and also fill in a massive gap in John Marston’s story.
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What’s new with Red Dead Redemption 2?
Rockstar Games has been quiet lately regarding the highly anticipated sequel, but with Red Dead Redemption 2’s imminent launch approaching in just a few short months, the studio is starting to discuss the game some more. We’ll keep you up to date with everything you need to know as it’s released.
October 12, 2018
The Wild West was filled to the brim with its own unique weapons for the time period, so Rockstar is ensuring that Red Dead Redemption 2 is full of authentic weaponry as well. The developer recently detailed the game’s weapons and their customization systems.
Red Dead Redemption 2 will feature over 50 unique usable weapons, from classic revolvers to sawed-off shotguns. If you gravitate toward one specific weapon, you’ll be happy to hear that the more a weapon is used, the better it will perform. The drawback to this being that weapons in Red Dead Redemption 2 will degrade over time, so you’ll need to clean your weapons to keep them in pristine condition.
The game boasts “a myriad of customization options ranging from visual upgrades like new metals, woods, varnishes and engravings to performance upgrades like new barrels, grips, sights and scopes.” Performance upgrades can improve your damage output, accuracy, reload speed, and more. It’s best to take the time and consider what’s best for your playstyle, or what suits a particular weapon type the most.
October 10, 2018
Rockstar has clarified some recent news surrounding Red Dead Redemption 2 and how its NPCs will react to players whether they have their mini-maps and HUDs turned on or off. Previous reports stated that if players turned off their mini-maps that NPC dialogue would change, giving them more directions and information about where to go. This appears to have been false. According to Rooster Teeth employee Alanah Pearce, “they’ll always give you directions, people likely just noticed them more when their HUD was off.”
Seeing as NPCs will provide context and dialogue regardless of your mini-map status, it could end up working out similarly to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s exploration mode. Whether you have this mode enabled or not, NPCs can and will give you directions should you ask.
October 1, 2018
Rockstar has released its second Red Dead Redemption 2 gameplay trailer showcasing just a few of the illegal activities that the Van der Linde Gang can commit. What would a Western be without a good old-fashioned train heist? You won’t just be out and about committing crimes all the time though. The world that Rockstar created feels alive, and as Arthur, you can go into taverns, have a nice meal, play some cards, and even decide when to shave or bath.
This trailer also gives us a new look into the game’s revamped Dead Eye system, which will now progress in stages. Players will be able to slow time, mark multiple targets, and view critical or fatal points of their enemies. According to Rockstar, “how and when you use it is up to you.”
Near the end, we even got a better glimpse of Red Dead Redemption 2 in its 1st-person mode, which will launch with the game unlike its later introduction into Grand Theft Auto V.
September 24, 2018
Sony has announced a new PlayStation 4 Pro bundle featuring Rockstar’s upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2. Pre-orders begin today for $400. The console will release alongside the game on October 26.
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September 19, 2018
Rockstar has officially announced Red Dead Online, a multiplayer component for Red Dead Redemption 2 similar to that of Grand Theft Auto Online.
According to the developer, Red Dead Online is “an evolution of the classic multiplayer experience in the original Red Dead Redemption, blending narrative with competitive and cooperative gameplay in fun new ways. Using the gameplay of the upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2 as a foundation, Red Dead Online will be ready to be explored alone or with friends, and will also feature constant updates and adjustments to grow and evolve this experience for all players.”
Though Red Dead Redemption 2 releases in October, players won’t be able to hop into Red Dead Online until the following month, where it is set to initially enter a public beta sometime in November.
September 7, 2018
Rockstar has revealed new plot details surrounding Red Dead Redemption 2 in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter
“Dutch’s presence loomed over the original Red Dead Redemption, and his influence on events was a big inspiration for the setting and direction of Red Dead Redemption 2,” said art director Josh Bass. “We all wanted to know more about him and the gang —what was it like riding in that gang? What led them to the events of the original game? What happened to them along the way?
“In Red Dead Redemption 2 you get to see that gang, including Marston, at the peak of their notoriety and at the very moment things begin to fall apart,” he continued. “This story focuses on Arthur Morgan, Dutch’s most trusted enforcer. Adopted into the gang by the Dutch when he was a young boy, Arthur considers the gang to be his family — Dutch has given his life some much‐needed purpose, and the gang has served as the one positive and constant in Arthur’s life.”
Since this is the tail end of the Wild West, Dutch’s gang is struggling with their old ways of life coming to an end as they flee through the country.
“We’ve aimed to capture a wide slice of American life in 1899, a rapidly industrializing nation that would soon have its sights on the world’s stage — and would do whatever possible to ‘modernize,’ ” said director of art Aaron Garbut. “It’s a brutal landscape with a sordid history, but also one that’s full of opportunity. One of the most satisfying aspects of creating a world of such scope and scale is the ability to experience a whole range of stories and characters in your journey across that world. The gang’s journey and the game’s epic scope makes room to touch on all aspects of turn of the century America in a meaningful, substantial way.”
Though Rockstar’s previous title, Grand Theft Auto V, switched between the perspectives of a few different characters, Red Dead Redemption 2 is centering all on Arthur Morgan.
“Sticking with a single character felt more appropriate for the structure and narrative of a western,” said Bass. “Arthur lives with and fights alongside the other members of the Van der Linde gang, and they are a group of fully realized characters with relationships to each other and to Arthur, but this is Arthur’s story and we are placing players firmly in Arthur’s boots as he and the gang deal with a rapidly changing world. We think people will really love the feeling of being in the gang. It isn’t like anything we’ve done before.”
Rockstar also revealed the entire Van der Linde gang, all 23 members, along with short character bios for each.
August 15, 2018
Digital Foundry has given us our best look yet at Red Dead Redemption 2 running on a PlayStation 4 Pro. According to the outlet, which analyzed a 68mbps version of the trailer provided by Rockstar, RDR2 appears to run at native 1920×2160 on the PS4 Pro, “halving the pixel count on the horizontal axis from a proper 4K.” This is still a 12.5% increase in pixels over a 1440p image.
They were unable to get a reading on gameplay performance as the game is set to run at 30FPS and the video itself only supported 30FPS.
August 10, 2018 — New Red Dead Redemption 2 gameplay has arrived!
Rockstar today released new gameplay footage for Red Dead Redemption 2, giving us our deepest look at the wild west open world game yet. The 6-minute trailer showed us a great deal of the gameplay mechanics, a bit of the world, and more.
For starters, we got to see the sheer scope of the open world. Red Dead Redemption 2 will be massive in size, and there will be a variety of environments to explore both on foot and on horseback. From mountainous terrain and forested countrysides to those growing towns chock full of saloon-goers and merchants, it appears players will be able to take in the full breadth of the cowboy experience.
Rockstar says it was important for the game to be massive not just in size, but also in depth. That means the player — taking the reigns as Van Der Linde gang member Arthur Morgan — will have a living, breathing society around him to interact with.
Red Dead 2 may set a new standard for open-world gameplay.
You can go into shops and sell the pelts you’ve skinned off the back of your latest game hunting prey. And if you get caught trying to steal or shortchange the shop vendor, well, don’t be surprised if you have to knock him out in the street. That the townspeople gathered around to watch the confrontation as it went down is a testament to the emphasis Rockstar is placing on immersion.
That sort of interaction can be coerced out of the game by your own will, too. You can interact with almost everyone and everything. Meet some passersby on the road with a quick greeting and be on your way, or question someone you think might be doing dirt in the city. These interactions seemingly have the potential to escalate into something more, whether that be a new opportunity for Arthur Morgan and Co. or more fisticuffs to keep people in their place. And yes, that also means you can defuse certain situations.
Should the fighting become so fierce that you resort to weapons, you’ll find a new combat system that makes the deed more fluid and fun. Hand-to-hand combat, especially, seems far more involved than the original game. As far as shooting is concerned, Dead Eye is back, and it’ll be cooler than ever to put bullets into the heads of six of your enemies simultaneously.
At the end of your daily musings, you’ll head back to camp to meet up with your gang. This is likely where you’ll be getting the bulk of your missions, but it’s also a chance for the player to get to know the other characters in the group. They’ll share stories and sing and dance with you as you eat, and you can also play various games to keep morale high. There’s a gameplay benefit to all this, as Rockstar says spending time with these people could unlock new secrets.
As a pillar of the gang, you’ll be tasked with helping keep them afloat by regularly replenishing food, water, and other supplies. We’re not sure what would happen should their morale get too low, but apparently that will play a part in how others in the gang approach you.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is slated for an October 26th release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Head to Amazon and pre-order yours today.
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August 8, 2018
Rockstar has announced that we will see new gameplay for Red Dead Redemption 2 on August 9. This should be our first significant look at gameplay since the game’s announcement. The trailer will air 11AM Eastern, and can be viewed on Rockstar’s website or YouTube channel. We’ll be updating this post with details about the gameplay announcement once it arrives.
August 6, 2018
The big question on everyone’s mind: When are we finally getting gameplay? All signs point to soon. Rockstar has recently sent out Red Dead 2 care packages to members of the press, and with Gamescom taking place in just a few weeks, the developer could be gearing up for a big reveal. Red Dead II was notably absent at E3 2018, so the next biggest gaming convention seems like a good bet for it to make an appearance.
During a recent financial call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick took the chance to hype up Red Dead 2 even more, saying, “My belief is that Red Dead Redemption 2 will shatter expectations and that the online experience also will be extraordinary, but unexpected.”
Its online aspect was a bit contentious when rumors of its existence began floating around since Red Dead’s identity was tied to its single-player, but it looks like Rockstar may have something special they’ve got cooking up if they’re hyping it up so much.
He continued by saying that Red Dead II will “redefine the industry” and “captivate audiences around the world.”
PC release?
Though Rockstar only announced PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game, there’s still hope it could come to PC. It appears that a programmer at Rockstar, who previously worked on GTA V and L.A. Noire, listed Red Dead II on his LinkedIn profile with its platforms being labelled as “PS4/Xbox1/PC.” This was eventually amended once word got out, but it’s unknown if this was a simple mistake or a PC version is indeed in the works.
The story so far…
Rockstar Games appears to be returning to the traditional one playable character route after successfully experimenting with three playable protagonists in Grand Theft Auto V but he’s not John or Jack Marston. Players will travel back to 1899 (12 years before the first game) to fill the boots and don the hat of a much less noble man that goes by the name of Arthur Morgan, a brute that’s running with Dutch van der Linde’s gang during their prime. While little is known about Arthur, we know he’s a much more sinister cowboy who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. In the second trailer, we see him interrogating and roughing up several people who appear to owe money to Dutch’s Gang, perhaps for protection. He’s a brutal force that is loyal to Dutch and likely only Dutch.
It’s likely we’re going to see the rise and fall of the gang, with Arthur Morgan playing a pivotal role.
The story will see Morgan and Van der Linde’s gang stealing, running, and fighting to survive the rugged and cruel world that is the Wild West. Order has not yet been established, technology is slowly beginning to evolve into something far more advanced, and people like Dutch believe it’s important that things stay the way they are. The Van der Linde gang was always viewed as a Robin Hood-type of bandits, stealing from the rich to give to the poor and resisting the government in favor of a structure where it was an “every man for himself” situation.
The gang eventually evolved into something far more dangerous and unhinged according to an anecdote provided by John Marston, leading him to realize their Robin Hood act was all a front for their evil actions and crimes. The event that likely leads to the start of the downfall of the gang seems to be a heist in Blackwater which later became known as the Blackwater Massacre. In the plot synopsis for the game provided by Rockstar, it’s revealed that the gang is being hunted after they botch a robbery in the wealthy town that is seen toward the end of the first RDR.
Within the lore of the series, the Blackwater Massacre was a massive shootout that took the lives of over 30 people. Civilians, cops, and criminals were among the casualties of the bloody shootout, actual details of why the battle took place remain a mystery to the residents of Blackwater because the officials went to great lengths to cover it up. Why? Well, we’ll likely find out in Red Dead II.
Most people involved died or were criminals who escaped but one of the few survivors was the legendary lawman, Landon Ricketts. Ricketts is in the first game and Marston teams up with him in Mexico, Marston knows him for his status but the two don’t seem to know each other. It’s entirely possible that Marston was uninvolved in the heist or was playing coy and using him to further his quest for redemption.
How does it connect to the original Red Dead Redemption?
So, what’s the connection to the first Red Dead Redemption? Well, Rockstar is being very, very careful not to say much about this game and how it connects to the first game but it will shed light on the stories John told in the first game as well as provide more depth to the men we hunt down in that same game.
John Marston is indeed in the game but Rockstar has noted that this is Arthur Morgan’s story, not John’s.
Given this game takes place long before the events of the original game and has a direct link to it via Dutch van der Linde and his gang, it’s hard to imagine Rockstar isn’t trying to expand John Marston’s story in some way. With games like Grand Theft Auto, there have been very subtle connections tying the games together but none of them are direct sequels or relate to each other in any way. With Red Dead Redemption II, Rockstar had the chance to name the game something like Red Dead Revolution, Red Dead Retribution, or something along those lines given that the series so far has gone Red Dead Revolver and then Red Dead Redemption. They purposely named it in a way that links the two games.
Marston was also a substantial part of Dutch’s Gang, he was taken in by Dutch when he ran away from the orphanage he lived in. He was raised by this gang and lived with them for a large majority of his life and in the fallout of him abandoning the gang, it all went to hell and it was more or less disbanded. John Marston is indeed the game, he’s heavily featured in new screenshots and is seen in the newest trailer once or twice but Rockstar says this is Arthur’s story, not John’s. That doesn’t mean that we can’t expand on the character, it just means he will not be the focal point of the narrative.
Major gameplay innovations are coming in the western sequel
Since Rockstar has been pretty prude about Red Dead Redemption II, we only have the word of the press who have seen the game in action to understand how the game plays. There will be more details in the future regarding what the gameplay will look like but for right now we’ll just give you the basic rundown of what we know. For starters, Rockstar seems to be creating their most realisitic world yet and abandoning some of the most video game-y aspects in their formula for something with more depth.
According to Rockstar, they’ve been developing Red Dead Redemption II for eight years, starting as they were wrapping up the first game. In that time, they’ve been handcrafting a world with lots of detail and creating systems that may be fairly unexpected from them. A large portion of the game is centered around managing the gang, Arthur is Dutch’s right-hand man and he helps keep everything running smoothly. This means you’ll help perform odd jobs for gang members, go hunting to get food for the camp or get money to line their pockets with, and so on.
Rockstar has been very clear that you don’t have to do this and you won’t be severely punished if you don’t but the gang will make comments if you leave them hanging for days on end. If you do choose to take care of your gang, you’ll be rewarded in ways that have not yet been revealed and your gang will grow stronger.
Also on tap is a new dialog system that allows you to approach situations with more options than just shoot and kill. Each NPC has their own set of branching dialog, with the player able to talk niceties or show a degree of impatience in any given encounter. And this isn’t just a black and white morality system either. Some choices will be gray areas, some will be lore-advancing, some will lead to friendships, and others will most certainly erupt into bloodbaths. It’s unclear if there will be any more to this system – such as a relationship mechanic that gauges each NPC’s level of warmth toward you – but it’s something.
If you do choose to go off and do things like hunting, you’ll be able to see the amount of depth that Rockstar has added to its hunting system since the original game and Grand Theft Auto V. You’ll find yourself stalking animals, choosing your weapon carefully so you don’t damage pelts/meat, and tracking an animal by following blood trails after you’ve hit it. Once you’ve tracked the animal down, you may find it still alive, bleeding out and yelping. Arthur will then take out his knife and stab the animal in the heart to end its suffering and take what you want from it.
You can then string up your kill on the back of your horse and take it back to camp to feed your people or sell it in town and take the money for yourself. Regardless of what you choose, your hunt will rot and decay over time so the longer you have it on the back of your horse (yes, it’s literally on your horse, not in an invisible pouch), the less valuable it’ll be. If you were to kill an animal (or even a person) behind and let it sit in the wild, vultures, coyotes, and other creatures would come and munch on the remains.
It looks as if Rockstar will be carrying over the heists from GTA V as we see Arthur Morgan robbing a bank and holding up a train in the second trailer. It’s unclear how much of a focal point these will be in the game since it was the core of GTA V’s campaign but one has to imagine it plays a similar role given you’re a gang of notorious western criminals.
We do know there will be some depth to those heists, though. Players can go loud or quiet, create distractions, choose who you bring with you (some can be done solo but isn’t recommended), and use a bunch of other different variables to create different outcomes throughout the heists. All of this will result on if and when law enforcement shows up amongst other things. It’s unclear if you can have gang members die or get critically wounded in these heists like in Grand Theft Auto V or just how dynamic these systems are. Grand Theft Auto V’s heists were heavily scripted, if you chose a certain crew member to come with, they’d always die on the same mission in the same spot because it was coordinated by Rockstar’s writing. It was more of the illusion of choices having consequences rather than them actually having any meaning at all.
Some major changes are also coming in combat with the ability to dual wield weapons like Max Payne, bows and arrows used for hunting and maybe even some stealth combat as we see Arthur Morgan taking a knife to someone’s back in the dead of night. We also see Arthur brutally beating people up in the third trailer, suggesting Rockstar has refined their melee combat to create more intense and fun brawls.
A cowboy’s best friend
A cowboy’s best friend isn’t his fellow outlaws/lawmen, it’s his horse. In the original Red Dead Redemption, your horse was almost supernatural in the sense it teleported to you and was basically immortal. You didn’t have much of a connection to it because outside of its speed and stamina, there was nothing too special about the horses. In Red Dead Redemption II, Rockstar plans on changing that.
Your horse in the sequel will be very special. Perhaps the most significant change from the first game or any Rockstar game for that matter is that you won’t be able to carry every single weapon with you. The joke of pulling an RPG out of your rear end in GTA wouldn’t apply in this game as you’ll only be carrying small weapons such as handguns on your person, rifles and other gear will travel via your horse. We’re not sure if you can sling at least one rifle over your shoulder while walking around but you can expect most of your guns to be unavailable if your horse isn’t nearby.
Your horse won’t be disposable in this game, it’ll mean a lot more to you because it has lots of value. You’ll grow a bond that effects how scared it gets when put in danger, how far it gets from you, and more. Rockstar hopes that this bond won’t just serve a gameplay effect but a personal and emotional one to. If your horse gets critically wounded, you can attempt to heal it with medical supplies, if you don’t have any you can try and run into town quickly and gather some and run back. You may come back to your horse dead, making you realize that you left that poor animal that loved you to die thinking you abandoned it in its final moments. Brutal stuff, I know. Should it die, you’ll have to start that bond all over with a new horse and presumably any gear you can’t carry off of that horse’s corpse is lost.
It adds a whole new layer to an aspect that’s iconic to westerns but doesn’t have a lot of attention paid to it.
When you can play it and when we’ll know more
The only questions remaining are when we can play the game and when we can expect more firm details from Rockstar. The game is currently scheduled to release on October 26th, 2018 for PlayStation 4 as well as Xbox One, and we can likely expect some news regarding the game in June or July via a Game Informer cover story or a new breakdown directly from Rockstar. As of right now, we’ll just have to hold our breaths and keep waiting to saddle up again.
Where to buy Red Dead Redemption 2
You can now pre-order Red Dead Redemption 2 ahead of its October 27th release date. You’re in for some nice goodies if you decide to give Rockstar your cash early. All pre-orders for Red Dead Redemption 2 come with the War Horse mount and the Outlaw Survival Kit. The former is a grey-colored steed that has better courage and stamina than others, while the Outlaw Survival Kit gives you extra health kits, Dead Eye replenishment, and more.
If you pre-order the digital copy on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, you’ll also get some extra in-game cash to start your game, as well as a treasure map, though you’ll need to pre-order the game by July 31st to get those.
There’s also a special edition of the game available. It comes with 2 extra side missions, a black thoroughbred horse, gameplay bonuses through medllian and talisman charms, in-game cash bonuses, gameplay boosts, and discounts, a gunslinger outfit, and three additional weapons. You’ll also get a real map of the game world.
If that’s not enough, the Ultimate Edition comes with everything that the Deluxe Edition does, but you can add two more in-game outfits, another black thoroughbred with an exclusive saddle, a Survivor camp theme for the game’s online mode, three additional free weapons, and XP bonuses for online play up to rank 25.
As an added bonus for Grand Theft Auto 5 players, all digital pre-orders also come with in-game currency for GTA Online. Standard Edition gets $500,000, Special Edition gets $1,000,000, and Ultimate Edition gets $2,000,000.
Then there’s the big kahuna reserved for the most die-hard Red Dead fans. It’s a full-blown Collector’s Box, a red-tinted metal tithing box with a lock and key that comes with an assortment of real world goodies. There’s a collectible coin, a double-sized puzzle, a red bandana, a treasure map, a pin set, commemorative playing cards, a real 150-page Wheeler, Rawson and Co. catalogue, and 12 collectible cigarette cards.
You can pre-order your preferred digital edition of Red Dead Redemption 2 at the PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, or direct from the Rockstar Warehouse. Those opting for the Collector’s Box, however, can only get it through the Rockstar Warehouse.
Wanting to catch up and play through the original Red Dead Redemption before the sequel drops? You can find the Game of the Year Edition for $20 at Amazon
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Updated October 2018: Rockstar detailed the game’s weapons and customization systems.
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How to Enter DFU Mode on iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR When Recovery Mode Doesn’t Work
With the launch of the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X last year, Apple made some changes to the way a forced restart is performed and also to the way the devices are put into DFU mode. These changes remain in place for Apple’s latest iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR devices.
A forced restart can be used if an iPhone is freezing, throwing up errors, or has stopped responding completely. DFU mode (standing for Device Firmware Update) on the other hand restores an iPhone if a restart or standard Recovery Mode doesn’t solve the problem you’re experiencing.
- How to Enter DFU Mode on iPhone 6s and iPhone 7
DFU mode lets the device interface with iTunes, update the firmware, and restore the OS without automatically installing the last downloaded version. It’s useful for installing older versions of iOS if a beta persistently hangs your phone, or if a jailbreak goes bad.
How to Enable DFU Mode
Before following the steps below, make sure you have the latest version of iTunes installed on your computer.
Turn on your iPhone if it isn’t already.
Connect it to your computer using a Lightning to USB cable.
Launch iTunes on your computer, and check that your iPhone appears in the list of devices.
On your iPhone, press the Volume Up button immediately followed by the Volume Down button.
Next, press and hold the Side button (or power button) until your iPhone’s screen turns black.
Release the Side button and then hold down both the Side button and Volume Down button together for approximately five seconds.
Now release the Side button, but continue to press the Volume Down button.
Wait for at least five seconds for iTunes to recognize DFU recovery mode has been enabled.You should see a message dialog saying “iTunes has detected an iPhone in recovery mode. You must restore this iPhone before it can be used with iTunes”. If you don’t see the message, repeat the steps above.
Once you’ve closed the iTunes recovery prompt you can go ahead and restore your iPhone back to factory settings by selecting Restore iPhone on the iPhone Recovery Mode screen. Once restored, your iPhone will automatically exit out of DFU mode and boot up to its activation screen.
How to Exit DFU Mode
If you enabled DFU mode and want to manually exit out of it, here’s how it’s done.
Press the Volume Up button on your iPhone and quickly release it.
Press the Volume Down button and release it.
Press and hold the Side button until the Apple logo appears on your iPhone’s screen. Your iPhone should now have exited DFU recovery mode.
Related Roundups: iPhone 8, iPhone XS, iPhone XRBuyer’s Guide: iPhone XS (Buy Now), iPhone XR (Caution)
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First Impressions: What does the Sony Xperia XZ3 offer in 2018
Before getting started, it’s important to note that I have never owned or used a Sony smartphone for more than just a few minutes. Those times have been limited to seeing the display units in my local Best Buy and putting around with those for just a few moments before moving on.
Now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about the Sony Xperia XZ3. This is just our first impressions of the device, as we have had it for just less than a week.
Sony Xperia XZ3 Specs
As a precursor, let’s give everyone a quick breakdown of the specs for the XZ3:
- 6-inch 18:9 QHD+ (2880 x 1440) Display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Processor
- 4GB RAM
- 64GB of Expandable Storage
- 13MP wide-angle selfie camera
- 19MP Motion Eye Camera
- 3,330mAh Battery
So as you can see, Sony has pretty much packed all of the expected specs into the XZ3. There’s not too much that is really surprising or head-turning, at least at first glance.
Hardware
When I took the XZ3 out of the box, I was instantly surprised. While the handset felt great in the hand in terms of materials, I also felt like I had just picked up a brick.
Sony’s website state that the device weighs in at 6.8 ounces. Considering that I was coming from a combination of the iPhone X and LG G7 ThinQ, the weight was immediately a concern.
In fact, it was such a concern that I was worried about dropping the device. I ended up quickly ordering a case from Amazon just to avoid any accidental drops that could occur.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s take a look at the design itself. Gone are the days of the squared, box-like smartphone and now we have rounded edges and a smooth build.
The back is curved quite nicely so that it fits better in your hand. But there is major quirk that I am continuing to struggle with – fingerprint scanner placement.
Before the case arrived I was still using the XZ3, just extremely carefully. The rear-mounted fingerprint scanner is placed just slightly above the middle of the device.
Since the camera module rests vertically and quite low, I found myself touching the camera instead of the scanner. I would brush my finger across the lens and then wonder why the XZ3 didn’t unlock.
Now that I have the case, it’s a bit easier, but there still have been some times where I miss the target. You will get used to it, but it’s going to be an annoyance in the beginning.
There are no more sharp edges to worry about digging into your hand as the display just melts into the frame.
Speaking of that display, Sony knocked it out of the park here in our early testing. Admittedly, I’m not someone who is overly-critical of displays, but the Xperia XZ3’s OLED HDR display pops much more than others.
There are some software adjustments that can be made in the Settings panel, but I haven’t touched any of those. Instead, I just switched the “Display Size” and “Font Size” to get more information on the screen.
We have not had enough time to put the camera through its paces and pushed it to its limits. However, we have taken a few quick shots and things seem to be doing quite fine for the most part.
While LG and Samsung have added additional hardware buttons for digital assistants, Sony added one for the camera. On the right frame, near the bottom, there is a camera button that allows you to quickly take pictures.
There is a bit of a feeling of using an old point and shoot, which is a nice feeling. Plus, the button is placed low enough where accidental presses aren’t really a thing.
Software
Whenever a new version of Android is announced, there’s usually a party or two. The first is to celebrate the final release, while the second is for the first OEM to launch a device with the latest version.
Well, Sony didn’t really get to have a great party despite being the first phone from 2018 to be released with Android Pie on board. Of course, Pixel, Essential Phone, and OnePlus owners had this already, but those are devices with last year’s hardware.
Starting off with the launcher, Sony has done a pretty good job emulating a near-stock experience. You have your shortcuts that appear with a long-press of the app icon.
Sony also included the Google News Feed when swiping to the right from your home screen. Plus, the on-screen navigation buttons are also “borrowed” from the Pixel devices which is a nice touch.
We have noticed a few smaller features here and there that we will cover in the full review. So stay tuned for that.
Bottom Line
In our limited time with the Xperia XZ3, there are some great features that improve the experience. And I, for one, am excited to continue this adventure and get even more acclimated with Sony’s latest and greatest.
Despite its heft, the XZ3 is definitely a sleek handset and will turn some heads thanks to its gorgeous display. If you have any questions about the device, please sound off in the comments below and we’ll try to cover them in the review.
Nokia 5.1 Plus review: The new budget superstar
With the Nokia 6.1 Plus, HMD Global finally offered a well-rounded mid-range smartphone where, unlike the company’s 2017 portfolio, the specifications sheet didn’t look dated and the pricing didn’t evoke, to put it mildly, a mixed reaction.
The Nokia 5.1 Plus is the step in the same direction and shares a similar design language as well as the overall ethos. At first glance, one can easily mistake it for a lower spec’d sibling of the Nokia 6.1 Plus, but looks only tell half the story.
With the Nokia 5.1 Plus, HMD Global aims for a balance of design and performance, at probably the most competitive price in markets like India. Let’s take a deep dive in this Nokia 5.1 Plus review and see if it delivers.
Nokia 5.1 Plus review notes: For the purpose of this review, I used the Indian variant of the Nokia 5.1 Plus that was provided to AndroidAuthority a few days before the official launch. During the period of testing, there was an update for improved system stability and some UI enhancements which also delivered the Google Security Patch for September.Show More
Design
See also
Nokia 6.1 Plus review: The one that just works
Less than two years after it resuscitated Nokia, HMD Global finally looks like it’s at home. The 2017 portfolio’s middle-of-the-road devices didn’t fare well against the competition, but they were hardly shoddy.
This year’s seen a fantastic mid-ranger, …
The Nokia 5.1 Plus almost looks like a Nokia 6.1 Plus. There’s no getting around it, but it’s not a bad thing. The 6.1 Plus, and by extension the 5.1 Plus, upped the ante for the design of budget smartphones. The finesse in design and the reassuring build quality makes the 5.1 Plus seem like it should be more expensive.
There’s glass on the rear, and the black one I used looked great, though a glass back of course attracts fingerprints and smudges, so bear that in mind. It’s also quite slippery as expected, and I think a lot of people would prefer to snap a protective case on it.
Along with the Nokia 6.1 Plus, the Nokia 5.1 Plus is among the most compact smartphones in the market right now. There’s only the moderately large 5.8-inch display on the front (with a notch and minimum bezels, that is). It’s not exactly bezel-less since the phone’s frame peeks from around the edges of the display along with a proper chin at the bottom.
The Nokia 5.1 Plus sports nicely rounded corners, which make the phone nice to hold and use with one hand.
Nokia 5.1 Plus impresses with its striking chassis and build quality and overall ergonomics.
At the back, the dual cameras and the fingerprint sensor along with the Nokia branding are stacked right in the center giving the device symmetrical aesthetics. The cameras protrude a little, so the phone doesn’t rest flat on surfaces. There’re no silver accents around the camera module, the fingerprint sensor, and the buttons like on the 6.1 Plus which added a nice premium touch.
Overall, the Nokia 5.1 Plus impresses with its striking chassis and build quality and overall ergonomics — all in a sub-$200 smartphone.
Display
On the front side, there’s a 5.8-inch HD+ display with a 19:9 aspect ratio. The tall display is almost the perfect size for most people. There’s a considerably wider notch that leaves little space for status indicator icons.
It’s a pretty good display for a budget smartphone. The color reproduction is just right with enough punch, and the viewing angles are great.
While the screen brightness is decent for usage in bright sunlight outdoors, at some angle, the display can get very reflective. The adaptive brightness is iffy though.
Performance
Powered by the MediaTek Helio P60 chipset with Mali-G72 MP3 GPU, the Nokia 5.1 Plus packs in 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage.
The Nokia 5.1 Plus chugs along nicely in everyday usage and didn’t fail at anything I threw at it. Much of it is because vanilla Android requires few resources and the memory management on the phone is terrific.
I did not face any stutters while multitasking with about half a dozen apps in the background or switching between games. Web browsing with a bunch of tabs open was a breeze and it manages to hold up nice while playing graphic-intensive games like the Asphalt 9: Legends. There’s of course some slight lag here and there, like when items in an app take a second to populate the screen, or a noticeable delay before the keyboard appears when you tap in a text input area, or just launching an odd app. These are expected in a budget smartphone, and not really a showstopper.
The Helio P60 chipset offers a good mix of performance and power efficiency. In real world usage, the phone easily lasts for an entire day with its 3,060mAh battery. Fast charging allows the phone to go from zero to 100 percent with the bundled charger in just over two hours, which is pretty good. Using a third-party Quick Charge 3.0-compatible charger, this only takes 90 minutes.
Hardware
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HMD Global deserves big props for offering a USB Type-C port on the Nokia 5.1 Plus, instead of a MicroUSB port. Most budget and mid-range smartphones still go with the MicroUSB port and the Type-C port has hitherto been the preserve of more expensive phones.
The smartphone includes a hybrid dual-SIM tray, so you can use two nano SIMs or one SIM and a microSD card up to 400GB if memory expansion is important for you.
Camera
The Nokia 5.1 Plus sports a dual camera setup at the back with a 13MP primary sensor with an f/2.0 aperture combined with a 5MP secondary depth sensor. For a budget smartphone, the Nokia 5.1 Plus manages to capture quite agreeable shots outdoors. The color reproduction is accurate, and the sharpness is on track with a good amount of detail.
In low-light conditions, a little noise creeps in and the lack of detail is noticeable. Some of the shots are quite grainy too.
The 8MP front camera with f/2.2 aperture takes serviceable selfies in good lighting conditions but struggles a bit at night. It’s wide enough for those group selfies, but there’s no depth of field.
While the camera app is good enough, there’s a definite lag in capturing a photo after pressing the shutter button. It’s noticeable if you’re coming from a better spec’d smartphone, but otherwise no big deal. The app is fast enough to lock the focus, but it’s hit or miss.
The Live Bokeh mode allows you to alter the depth of field, adjusting the level of bokeh effect. Most of the photos I captured in the mode came out quite well, with decent edge detection and a nice background blur.
All things considered, the camera setup on the Nokia 5.1 Plus is pretty good. Go in with modest expectations, and it will serve you quite well — except the lazy reaction time while clicking photos. Here are all the photos in high resolution if you want to do some pixel peeping.
Software
Like other phones in HMD Global’s portfolio, the Nokia 5.1 Plus is an Android One smartphone. Out of the box, it ships with Android 8.1 Oreo and offers a clean, stock Android experience.
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Android One certification means the smartphone will receive two years of guaranteed Android “letter” upgrades and three years of monthly security updates. It’s likely to receive Android Pie soon and will also get Android Q, whenever that happens.
There’s no bloatware or duplicate apps, but the Nokia 5.1 Plus comes with the Google Pay app pre-installed which you can uninstall if you don’t need.
The implementation of the notch could be better. In landscape mode while playing games or watching videos, the area on either side of it is wasted.
Specifications
| Display | 5.9-inch HD+ (720 x 1520) 19:9 aspect ratio 2.5D Cover Glass |
| SoC | MediaTek HelioP60 MT6771 Octa Core; up to 1.8Ghz |
| RAM | 3GB LPDDR3 |
| Storage | 32GB Expandable with MicroSD card up to 400GB |
| Cameras | Rear: 13MP PDAF f/2 + 5MP depth sense LED flash Front: 8MP FF |
| Audio | Single speaker AMP+ 2 mics |
| Battery | 3060mAh 5V/2A charging |
| IP rating | None |
| Sensors | Gyroscope, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Fingerprint |
| Network | GSM Quad band WCDMA 1, 5, 8 LTE 1, 3, 5, 8, 40, 41 (120MHz) |
| Connectivity | USB type-C 3.5mm audio jack Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, BT 4.2, GPS/AGPS/GLONASS/BDS/Galileo FM radio |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Software | Android 8.1 Oreo (Android One) |
| Dimensions and weight | 149.51 x 71.98 x 8.096mm |
| Colors | Gloss Black / Gloss White / Gloss Midnight Blue |
Gallery
Pricing and final thoughts
The Nokia 5.1 Plus is a pretty well-rounded budget smartphone, with a good balance of performance, camera, and battery life all packed in an upmarket chic-looking chassis with progressive choices like a USB Type-C port.
The Nokia 5.1 Plus offers an uncompromised smartphone experience for those who don’t pick up smartphones based on specifications sheet.
Android One is the icing on the cake, delivering a seamless stock Android experience. HMD Global has done well this year delivering regular updates for existing Nokia phones. So far the company’s kept up with its pitch of pure and up-to-date Android.
At 10,999 rupees (~$149) in India, the Nokia 5.1 Plus is definitely worth the money. It’s now my automatic recommendation for someone looking for a sub-$150 smartphone.
There’s something reassuring about a Nokia phone, and HMD Global has done quite well to offer an uncompromised experience for those who don’t pick up smartphones based on specifications sheets.
Spoof Adobe Flash updaters are inserting cryptocurrency mining malware
Cryptocurrency mining malware could be hiding in your Adobe Flash Update, according to new research from cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks. Although not a new hacking tactic, the latest analysis shows a significant spike in Adobe Flash updaters which can go on and hide in the background and do damage to Windows systems.
Per the research in the study, there were a total of 113 fake updaters discovered on the web, none of which are hosted on official Adobe servers. A spike in these URLs appeared as early as June 2018, and then again in September 2018. The research doesn’t make it clear how one can arrive at these, but it shows that spoof URLs are the likely root cause.
In a test of one of these URLs on August 24, Palo Alto Networks revealed that the bogus Adobe updaters go on to legitimately update Flash Player and throw an unsuspecting user to an official Adobe website on completion. Unfortunately, it also ends up embedding an “XMRig” mining bot in the process. That bot then runs in the background, making a CPU go 100-percent full force, mining “Monero” cryptocurrencies for hackers. There’s no warning, and the only way to tell where connections were going was by analyzing the networking traffic.
“This campaign uses legitimate activity to hide distribution of cryptocurrency miners and other unwanted programs. Organizations with decent web filtering and educated users have a much lower risk of infection by these fake updates,” explains Palo Alto Networks.
Cryptocurrency malware is not a new phenomenon and has sometimes proven tough to remove from infected systems. Back in May, one strain of this type of malware crashed the PCs of those who manually tried to kill off the mining process from the task manager.
Adobe is actually ending support for Flash Player in 2020 and wants content creators and consumers to move to the much more secure HTML 5 platform. The firm cited browser plugins in that decision, noting that these can disrupt secure environments, cause browser instability issues, and open up browsers to hacking. Flash is mainly obsolete anyway, and many browsers are already blocking the plugin from starting automatically. It’s all one step toward a safer internet for us all.
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With VR dinosaurs and ‘Minecraft,’ one hospital is making medicine less scary
Going to the hospital can be pretty traumatic for kids. That’s something a new high tech overhaul of one of the world’s most famous children’s hospitals hopes to help with. How is it doing this? With cutting-edge technology, of course.
The result of a collaboration between the U.K.’s National Health Service, University College London, Microsoft, Samsung, and chipmaker Arm, London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital is becoming a veritable Disneyland of cool gadgetry. Who knows? Soon your kids may be begging to go to the hospital to get their tonsils out!
Called DRIVE (Digital, Research, Informatics, and Virtual Environments), the initiative is designed to explore how new technologies can help with the medical treatment of young kids. What makes the project especially innovative is the breadth of its ambitions — which frequently include technologies you might not expect to find in a hospital. For example, kids using an augmented reality app to look around will see a big blue whale and hopping rabbits moving around the building.
There’s also a research project designed to examine whether a dinosaur-themed VR experience can help keep children’s minds occupied while they are being treated, as well as a gamification platform which lets patients control video games by doing chest physiotherapy exercises. Not enough? Heck, there’s even a painstaking replica of the entire hospital, built in Minecraft, so that kids can look around it to make the whole experience less daunting.
“The DRIVE unit is a way of bringing together clinical staff, academics from computer science, and technology industry partners to work on common projects and provide a common space to bring these to life,” Neil Sebire, a Consultant Pediatric Pathologist at GOSH, told Digital Trends. “In addition, the DRIVE unit itself acts as a healthcare ‘sandpit’ or ‘living lab’ in which to develop and evaluate new technology for potential healthcare use before bringing this into the real world clinical environment.”
Given Great Ormond Street’s reputation for pioneering research, hopefully it won’t be long before similar technologies — once their efficacy is proven — roll out to other hospitals around the world. And, hey, let’s get a few grown-up hospitals in there, too. That dino VR simulation sounds pretty good to this 33-year-old!
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Check out the British Army’s beefy new bomb-disposal robot
The British Army is about to get an impressive new explosive ordnance disposal robot that’s able to climb stairs, negotiate slopes of more than 40 degrees, and … oh, yes, diffuse bombs, too.
The T7 robot is not autonomous, but is rather radio controlled by a human operator. One of its most promising features is its haptic feedback capabilities, which allows the operator to accurately feel what they are doing when they use the T7’s robotic arm to unpick a bomb fuse.
The Harris Corporation’s T7 robot reportedly passed the initial qualifying tests in July. This “all-encompassing battery” of challenges, included coping with extreme temperatures and working in situations involving blowing sand and rain, humidity, vibration, and electromagnetic interference. It is now set to carry out more advanced trials later this year, as part of the U.K. Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) Project Starter program. Harris revealed the news at the annual Association of the United States Army (AUSA) exhibition in Washington, D.C. this week.
“T7’s selection by the MoD represents the first of many opportunities for Harris to deliver lifesaving technology to warfighters and law enforcement personnel worldwide,” Ed Zoiss, president of Harris Electronic Systems, said in a statement.
The T7 robot tips the scales at 710 pounds, making it a heavy piece of machinery. The MoD has reportedly agreed to acquire 56 of the robots as part of a contract valued at $73 million. The goal is to find technology that can assist service personnel and first responders by taking away some of the most dangerous tasks — such as bomb disposal — from human operators. The MoD hopes to get the robots out in the field as soon as 2020. In the future, the Harris Corporation aims to also sell the T7 robots to the U.S. Army for its U.S. Army’s Common Robotic System-Heavy requirement.
From snake robots designed to help decommission nuclear power plants to robots capable of assisting firefighters in blazes, there are plenty of robot projects we have covered that are designed to wade into risky scenarios that most would be afraid to. T7 is a reminder that there is plenty more innovation to come.
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Was your Facebook account hacked in the latest breach? Here’s how to find out
After revealing that a security vulnerability discovered in late September allowed hackers to gain access to an estimated 50 million accounts, Facebook’s current report suggests that the number of impacted users is closer to 30 million.
“We now know that fewer people were impacted than we originally thought,” Facebook said in a blog post. “Of the 50 million people whose access tokens we believed were affected, about 30 million actually had their tokens stolen.”
The company revealed, as part of its ongoing investigation with the FBI, that hackers gained access to personal data, such as name, contact information, demographic details, hometown, birthdate, and details of other friends found on a user’s profile. Facebook has also set up a Help Center to check if you’re a victim of the hack.
Find out if you’re a victim?
To check to see if your account was impacted by the hack, you’ll need to navigate to the Help Center and log into your Facebook account.
Once you’re in the Help Center, you’ll want to scroll down. Toward the bottom of the page, there is a section titled “Is my Facebook account impacted by this security issue.”
Facebook will give you a quick yes or no response, along with any added details. “In the coming days, we’ll send customized messages to the 30 million people affected to explain what information the attackers might have accessed, as well as steps they can take to help protect themselves, including from suspicious emails, text messages, or calls,” Facebook said.
If the response was yes, then Facebook will tell you what kinds of information hackers had access to as part of the hack. The types of access are broken down into three categories. The first is that hackers stole name and contact information. This impacted 15 million people of the 30 million impacted account. The second category is more serious, affecting 14 million Facebook users. In addition to names and contact information, Facebook revealed that hackers may have had access to “username, gender, locale/language, relationship status, religion, hometown, self-reported current city, birthdate, device types used to access Facebook, education, work, the last 10 places they checked into or were tagged in, website, people or Pages they follow, and the 15 most recent searches.” Finally, Facebook found that hackers did not obtain any information in the third category of 1 million users.
Facebook passwords were not compromised as part of the hack. However, if you’re one of the 14 million users affected in the second category, you may want to keep an eye on banking, financial, and other sites. Given that they already have access to a lot of personal information, hackers can use complex social engineering techniques to pretend to be you, TechCrunch cautioned.
Facebook has not revealed the identity of the hacker or hackers behind this recent attack because of the ongoing investigation. The social network noted that hackers were not able to access data on other platforms that it owns, including Messenger, Messenger Kids, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, Workplace, Pages, payments, third-party apps, or advertising or developer accounts. Private messages were also not impacted.
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4K streaming doesn’t get much easier than this for $39
Roku now does 4K streaming for less than $50. That’s pretty much all you need to know.
This is going to be one of those reviews where we spoil everything from the jump. Roku Premiere (and the Walmart-exclusive Premiere+) bring 4K streaming down to under $50.
That’s it. That’s the important part. Everything else is secondary.
The Roku user experience? Same as it ever was. All those streaming “channels”? (What Roku calls “apps,” really.) Still there. Easy-to-use remote control? Yep.
This is a Roku streaming player that does 4K resolution and Dolby Atmos audio. And it’s relatively inexpensive.
Streaming TV
Roku Premiere (and Premiere+)
Roku’s entry-level 4K streamer sports ultra-high definition video and Dolby Atmos support.
You can now get a Roku streaming player with 4K resolution for less than $50. Roku Premiere lands at just $39, and the Premiere+ (an exclusive at Walmart) adds a voice remote for just $10 more. Both work great and don’t break the bank.
$39 at Amazon
The Good
- Great price, with a small footprint
- Roku’s excellent ease of use
- All the streaming services Roku supports
The Bad
- Wifi limited to 802.11n (aka Wifi 4)
- Wireless only — no ethernet port
So good, so inexpensive
Roku Premiere: What I like
The story of the Roku Premiere pretty much starts and ends with the price. The Premiere is a mere $39. The Premiere+ — again, which is exclusive to Walmart and is the model I’m reviewing here — comes in at $49. The only real differences between the two are that Premiere+ comes with a voice remote, and it has a shortcut on the remote to Vudu — which is owned by Walmart.
It’s the same Roku experience you’ve come to know and love.
Otherwise, we’re looking at the same specs here. 4K resolution. Wifi 4, which until early October 2018 had been known as 802.11n. Dolby Atmos support for Audio. All the usual caveats apply of course. To take advantage of 4K streaming, you’ll need a 4K-capable television. To use Dolby Atmos, you’ll need a speaker setup that uses Atmos.
Assuming you’ve handled all that, what you end up with is your usual rock-solid Roku experience. Same user interface. Same menus. Same setup process. In fact, sign in with an existing Roku login and it’ll automatically add all your channels. (You’ll still have to sign back in, though.)
That’s Roku’s strength. It’s simple to use, and it doesn’t cost a whole lot.
Limited network
Roku Premiere: What I don’t like
Here’s all you need to know about the difference between the Roku Premiere and the Roku Streaming Stick+. It’s all about the networking.
Roku Premiere tops out at Wifi 4 — aka 802.11n. Roku Streaming Stick Plus can do Wifi 5, heretofore known as 802.11ac. Wifi 5 is better than Wifi 4. Better range. Better connection.
Let’s just hope your network is up to snuff.
Do you need Wifi 5 to properly stream 4K video? Not necessarily. It’s going to depend on the strength of your wireless network as much as anything. So I can’t tell you if you’re going to need to spend $59 to get the Streaming Stick+ instead of Roku Premiere. I can’t tell you if $39 for the Premiere will be good enough. It might well be.
I had occasional hiccups streaming 4K video. Nothing consistent, and nothing I wouldn’t call ordinary hiccups in my home — I’ve got a lot of people streaming a lot of things a lot of the time. (Kids, ya know.)
The only other compliant would be that because of the form factor of the Premiere+ (it’s what I call a “mini box”), there’s no Ethernet port. Just HDMI, and power. So be it.
It’s just a great box
Roku Premiere: The bottom line
4.5
out of 5
Roku Premiere (and Premiere+, too) is a simple product. It’s 4K video, with HDR and Dolby Atmos, tucked into a small box. I wouldn’t go so far to say it’s hobbled by only having Wifi 4, but that’s definitely a limiting factor when it comes to network performance.
Maybe that’ll be a problem for you. Or maybe it won’t.
What most certainly won’t be an issue is the Roku end of things. It’s the same excellent experience you’ll find in every other Roku device. And it’s going to get better.
$39 at Amazon
AIVAnet 