DJI adds a bunch of extras to Mavic 2 for a new search-and-rescue drone

Hot on the heels of DJI’s Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic 2 Zoom comes the Mavic 2 Enterprise, which, as its name cleverly suggests, is geared more toward business than consumers.

Specifically, DJI is targeting smaller businesses and emergency services with the compact Mavic 2 Enterprise, while bigger organizations in need of something more robust will be encouraged to look at the company’s Matrice drone.

The Mavic 2 Enterprise is pretty much a souped up version of the new Mavic 2 drones, coming as it does with a bunch of tools geared toward tasks such as search and rescue missions, as well as inspections of industrial sites.

So, besides its 12-megapixel camera, the machine also boasts 2X and 3X digital zoom capability, enabling the Enterprise “to identify and inspect dangerous or difficult areas, as well as to help emergency services protect life and property,” DJI said in a release announcing the latest addition to its line-up.

It also comes with a mountable dual spotlight with a brightness of 2,400 lumens for improved sight in dark or low-light areas; a 100-decibel speaker that can play as many as 10 custom voice recordings on demand, “providing a communications channel to nearby individuals that can be critical during lifesaving emergency operations”; and a beacon featuring a bright flashing strobe that’s visible up to three miles away to improve safety for other nearby drone operators as well as piloted aircraft in the area.

Further air safety features include the incorporation of DJI’s AirSense technology, which uses an integrated receiver that automatically alerts the drone pilot to nearby airplanes and helicopters via the DJI Pilot mobile app.

“This provides an extra level of safety for professional drone operators who fly in congested airspace or near complicated operations, such as wildfire suppression, disaster recovery, and infrastructure monitoring,” DJI said.

An important extra for a drone of this type is the inclusion of a new self-heating battery developed specifically for the Mavic 2 Enterprise. This enables reliable operation in challenging weather conditions that include temperatures as low as -10 Celsius (14 Fahrenheit).

Like the Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom, the Mavic 2 Enterprise shoots 4K footage at 100 Mbps a second and can stay in the air for up to 31 minutes before a battery change is required. But unlike the consumer versions, the Enterprise can be password protected for added security, and features three times more on-board storage at 24GB.

The Universal Edition of the Mavic 2 Enterprise includes the quadcopter, remote controller, one battery, the aforementioned accessories, and a robust carrying case, and it’s available now for $1,999.

Editors’ Recommendations

• DJI Mavic Air review
• DJI Mavic 2 Pro and Zoom review
• DJI Mavic 2 Zoom review
• Parrot Anafi drone review
• The best drones of 2018

Waze’s new Audio Player aims to make your commute more bearable

Waze

Waze already offers Spotify integration but the popular navigation app has just announced the addition of more streaming services as part of the launch of a new Audio Player.

In a bid to make your commute a little more bearable, Waze is adding support for Pandora, Deezer, iHeartRadio, NPR One, Scribd, Stitcher, and TuneIn, giving you easy access to more music tracks, podcasts, audiobooks, radio shows, and news.

Currently available for Waze’s global beta community, the Audio Player will be landing for the entire Waze community in the coming weeks.

“Built to make sure every Wazer can have the best time possible on the road, the Waze Audio Player seamlessly streams your favorite audio app with your Waze directions and alerts,” the company said in a blog post announcing the new feature.

It’s easy to access the new Audio Player — simply tap on the pink music-note symbol toward the top right of the display, and then select one of the offered services, which will then automatically start to play content. The extra convenience hopefully brings safer driving, too, as you’ll no longer have to fiddle around with your phone so much as you exit Waze, select another app, search for content, and hit play.

You can toggle between the Waze app and the various audio services, and when you do so, directions from Waze will continue to appear in a bar at the top of the display.

Setting it up

To set up the streaming services with Waze’s Audio Player, first make sure that you have the latest version of the third-party audio app installed on your device.

Next, sync Waze with the audio app (just the once) by tapping the icon of the app in the Waze Audio Player and selecting connect.

Beta Wazers should know that not all services are available yet, though they’re on their way. For example, Waze for Android is currently missing Deezer, while iOS is waiting for integration with Pandora, NPR, and TuneIn. This handy chart makes it clear:

If you’re keen to try the new service now, you can apply to join the Waze beta community by clicking here.

Waze’s new audio-based feature comes just weeks after Google announced a similar offering for Maps.

Editors’ Recommendations

• The best CarPlay apps for the iPhone
• Garmin’s fitness wearables now support Deezer music streaming app
• The best music apps for iOS and Android
• Dude, where’s my car? Check out the best Android Auto apps
• The best iPhone apps available right now (October 2018)

The OnePlus Bullets Wireless headphones are now available in red

And the black version is back in stock.

OnePlus is best known for inexpensive flagship phones — the company launched the 6T hours ago — but is increasingly becoming just as well known for high-quality, fairly-priced accessories, too.

Alongside the OnePlus 6 in May, the company unveiled its first pair of wireless headphones, the $69 Bullets Wireless, and over the past few months, they’ve proven indispensable to my daily routine. The wrap-around “neckbuds” fit comfortably in my ears when I’m wearing them and connect magnetically when I’m not, shutting off and saving battery in the process. Battery life is great, too, and they charge with USB-C. What else do you need?

The only thing that’s irked me is their lack of availability; whenever OnePlus gets new stock in, it sells out in minutes. So I’m happy to report that alongside the OnePlus 6T, the company is refreshing stock of the Bullets Wireless, and is introducing a new red color variant that’s sure to please fans of the red-and-black combination the company has become known for over the past few years.

There’s nothing new other than the color — and it’s still coming soon, but I’m told the launch shouldn’t take too long. Still, if you’ve been holding off buying the Bullets Wireless headphones for any reason, now’s as good as time as any. And if these are too rich for your blood, OnePlus now has a USB-C version of its popular Bullets wired headphones for $20.

See at OnePlus

OnePlus 6T and OnePlus 6

• OnePlus 6T review
• Latest OnePlus 6T news
• OnePlus 6 vs. OnePlus 5T: How much changes in six months?
• Join the discussion in the forums

Huawei Mate 20 Pro Initial Review: This camera is a phone, too

A very promising smartphone

The Huawei P20 Pro was a bold statement for a smartphone, featuring the world’s first triple camera system, and it helped Huawei stand out earlier this year. Fast forward six months, and the company’s next flagship looks to build on the success of the P20 Pro. The Mate 20 Pro brings an updated triple camera system, but also a range of features we’re likely to see on flagships next year.

About this initial review

While we wait for the final software update, which is expected to address some of the software issues and camera processing we’ve seen with this weeks-old B113 update, we wanted to share our initial impressions. Features such as battery life, camera, performance and software will likely change so we’ll be leaving them out of this initial review, and instead focusing on the areas that are unlikely to change such as hardware and design. Of course, the triple camera is one of the things that makes the Mate 20 Pro stand out so we’ll be looking at our experience so far, with the caveat that final camera performance may change.

Moving pictures

Huawei Mate 20 Pro 5 Things

Alongside our first impressions below, Alex has shared his five things to know about the Mate 20 Pro after a week with the device. You can check out that video above. You’ll also find MrMobile’s impressions of the Mate 20 Pro at the bottom of this initial review.

Simply gorgeous

Huawei Mate 20 Pro Hardware

The Mate 20 Pro is the smaller of Huawei’s Mate-series flagships. The regular Mate 20 offers a 6.53-inch LCD display with 18.7:9 aspect ratio, while the Mate 20 Pro gives you a 6.39-inch curved OLED display with 19.5:9 aspect ratio. Quite surprisingly, there’s also a third device for select markets – the monster Mate 20 X has a 7.2-inch AMOLED display with 18.7:9 aspect ratio. Smaller and more comfortable in the hand, the Mate 20 Pro also brings a new feature to Android devices — a 3D face detection system that’s similar to Face ID on the iPhone (more on that below).

The display houses the new in-display fingerprint sensor, which is significantly better than the one in the Porsche Design Mate RS earlier this year. Before you get excited, however, you should know about a few quirks. We’ve all grown so accustomed to one-touch capacitive sensors that the in-display sensor does require some adjustment — it’s just a bit slower. That is largely down to the way it works; you need to press firmly on the display in the exact center and if you just try to tap it, you’ll trigger a failed read. That said, it does work really well most of the time and it’s a sign of things to come from all smartphones in the very near future.

Fortunately, you won’t need to use the fingerprint sensor most of the time as Huawei’s face unlock is just that good. I’ve used the iPhone X for the past year, and the iPhone XS for the past few weeks, and Huawei’s face unlock is significantly faster than Apple’s Face ID. It features its own infrared projector, meaning it works well even in dark conditions and, unlike the iPhone, it works when your phone is in landscape mode. For the past two weeks, I’ve found the face detection unlocks the phone before you can try to register your fingerprint and combined, they represent one of the most complete biometric solutions on a smartphone.

Turn the Mate 20 Pro over and you’ll get a familiar, yet unique experience. The Mate 20 Pro features a very similar twilight gradient as the Morpho Aurora P20 Pro with a gradient shift from blue to black. Let me just say this — this is an incredibly beautiful smartphone, especially when the color shifts depending on how the light hits it.

The twilight gradient shifts in the light and makes for one of the most beautiful smartphones ever.

The design has been slightly updated from the P20 Pro with the addition of a matching gradient pattern to the metal trim, and the symmetry and curves make it incredibly ergonomic and comfortable to use. There’s also a new Hyper Optic Patterned version of the Mate 20 which drops the gradient for a subtle patterned etched into the surface. This version provides extra grip and also detracts from fingerprints, but I think the twilight version is the one you’ll want to buy.

Everything you could want

Huawei Mate 20 Pro Battery and Charging

If you’ve used Huawei’s Mate series in the past, you’ll be familiar with the premise of the Mate 20 Pro’s battery; a big cell and software optimizations result in excellent battery life. Due to nature of pre-release software, I’ve experienced screen-on times ranging from three hours to six, but Alex averages around six hours of screen-on time.

Using the camera heavily proves to be quite taxing on the battery, too, and on days when I’ve taken lots of photos and videos, I’ve found it can drain much faster, but only once in almost two weeks have I had to top it up before the end of the day. More often than not, the battery lasts for at least a day and a half, if not more.

It’s fast and efficient and I wish every phone had Huawei’s 40W supercharging.

The Mate 20 Pro adds Qi wireless charging, making it a breeze to top up overnight. I’ve been using the Pixel Stand to charge it overnight and it works just as well as you’d expect. And in case you forget, the in-box Supercharge 2.0 adapter adds 40 watt charging. By way of comparison, the regular Mate 20 and previous Mate devices offer 22W charging, but this updated SuperCharger can add up to 70% battery in just 30 minutes. It’s fast, efficient and I wish every phone had it.

Triple the cameras, triple the fun

Huawei Mate 20 Pro Camera

Since the P20 Pro was announced, I used it as my daily driver — until it met an untimely death in a river — for one reason: its amazing triple camera. The P20 Pro made taking photos fun again, and the Mate 20 Pro does this but with one key difference; it drops the monochrome sensor in favor of a a regular sensor with an ultra-wide lens, and it’s proven to be an excellent decision.

This means you have the excellent standard and zoomed shots of the P20 Pro but with the addition of an amazing ultra-wide option. Both Alex and I agree that the ultra-wide is the best we’ve ever seen in a smartphone, as it has autofocus meaning it’s more versatile and you can use it to take macro shots.

I’ve never had this much fun with a smartphone camera

I used the Mate 20 Pro camera over the course of a few days in London, as well as at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Austin last weekend, and I can safely say I’ve never had this much fun with a smartphone camera. Between the ultra-wide camera — which the software reports as 0.6x focal length — and the 5x hybrid zoom, there’s so much you can do with it as you can see from the four images below (0.6x, 1x, 3x and 5x zoom):

Or focusing on the race track itself:

The ultra-wide camera can take some simply breathtaking images and while we’ve seen some issues with the software processing across all of the cameras, we’re going to reserve our final judgement on the camera until the final software update.

The camera brings the excellent handheld long exposure mode from the P20 Pro but it’s now supported across all of the cameras, included the 3X and 5X zoom modes offering a lot of versatility. For the ultra-wide angle camera, it provides a great counter to the fact the lens doesn’t let in as much light as the main sensor, so it isn’t quite as capable in full-auto mode.

There are some software quirks in the camera right now, including the phone being slow to switch between the three lenses, and taking a noticeable amount of time for the camera to stabilize in the 3x and 5x zoom modes. However, we’re reserving final judgement until the upcoming update which is expected to solve many of these issues and improve overall performance. In the meantime, here’s some more images we’ve taken on the Mate 20 Pro:

A very promising start

Huawei Mate 20 Pro Initial Conclusion

It’s hard to pass full judgement on a phone when we’re waiting for a software update that will fix some of the quirks we’ve noticed, so we’re not really digging into the software right now. However, I will say that EMUI 9 is vastly improved and, having just used a Pixel 3 for a couple of weeks, it offers a very familiar experience. It takes the best of Android 9 Pie, and brings a few changes.

To enhance the full-display experience, Huawei has added a new gesture navigation that is slick and well-animated, but needs a little work. Rather than the three button nav at the bottom of the screen, the gesture nav lets you swipe in from either side to go back, swipe up from the bottom to go home and swipe up and hold from the bottom to access recent apps. However, I’ve been using the regular three button nav (with the addition of a button to easily drop the notification drawer) mainly because the gesture nav isn’t quite as polished as I’d like. It breaks the picture-in-picture on YouTube and doesn’t let you swipe in to access the hamburger menu in apps, and these are two features I use frequently. The option is there if you’d rather use it, but I’ll likely be sticking with the regular navigation for the foreseeable future.

Overall, our first couple of weeks with the Mate 20 Pro have been very promising, Huawei has taken one of the most exciting cameras on a smartphone, and improved it, while also offering a range of features we weren’t expecting on a flagship until next year. We’ll wait for the final software to give you our final verdict but I’ll say this – the Mate 20 Pro is a very promising phone, and potentially one of the best phones of 2018.

See at Amazon UK

How to measure home energy use

Home energy management is all about tracking how much electricity your house or apartment uses, then finding ways to save. Monitoring your home energy consumption, however, isn’t always easy. How are you supposed to measure the electricity any of your appliances use, let alone your whole home? Fortunately, a rising number of green and eco-friendly solutions have appeared on the market for those who want to save both energy and money. Here’s a look at some of the most reliable options, what they’re best suited for, and where you can find them.

Read: Recycling batteries in an eco-friendly way is really easy

Smart meters

Flickr | Portland General Electric
Flickr | Portland General Electric

Smart meters are highly adept energy trackers but are also outside of your control. These are digital utility meters that are installed by power companies, house by house. They send wireless signals (or sometimes power line signals) to show how much electricity the house is using as a whole. This makes it really easy for power companies to check your energy usage from a distance and often gives you access to regular reports on how much energy your home is using.

As part of upgrades to smarter grids, power companies around North America have switched to these smart meters. It’s taken some longer than others, some companies still balk at the change, and homeowners can refuse the new installation if they want. (There are a lot of very odd conspiracy theories out there about smart meters spying on people or poisoning homeowners.) In other words, there’s no guarantee that you have or can have a smart meter. The best way to find out is to either look on your power company’s website or call up your power company and talk about it.

If you have a new-looking electricity meter with a digital readout, you probably have a smart meter. Some of them even handily say “smart meter” somewhere on the box. If that’s the case, head to your power company websites, log in, and see how you can use that particular monitoring option to watch your total energy usage, typically from day to day. Many companies also provide guides on how to lower these numbers.

Read: Start a smart home for under $50 with these inexpensive upgrades

Home monitoring systems

If you don’t have a smart meter or want a more customized look at your energy consumption around the home, you need a home monitoring system. These systems require a significant amount of setup, using a series of components that you install in your breaker box or around your house. A little bit of wiring experience is very useful here, but these are designed to be DIY projects for all types of homeowners, as long as you are careful. You’ll likely have to pay more for this solution than other options — prices are typically well above $100. Here are a few options:

• TED Pro Home ($300): TED Pro Home connects to your electrical panel and gauges how much electricity is entering your house. Expansions allow you to monitor individual circuits, alternative energy systems, and more. It can connect with current smart home protocols, and you can view individual appliances with the Spyder device. There are also several display options, including a wired display and a portable option.
• Sense Energy Monitor ($300): Sense lets you monitor your energy use in real-time through iOS, Android, and web apps. It integrates with Amazon Alexa and IFTTT, and it allows you to see the amount of electricity your household is using. You can also see what time people in your household arrive home, check whether or not your sump pump is on, and more.
• Neurio Home Energy Monitor ($220): This device includes the ability to train your system to recognize particularly large devices (though results have been mixed on this, according to reviewers). However, even without the learning functions, after a little breaker work, the Neurio can still measure the electricity that your house use, letting you watch your electricity usage on apps in real time. It also works with IFTTT, all at a price lower than many monitors.
• Eyedro ($119 for wired or $169 for wireless): This affordable device lets you monitor your electricity use in real-time. There’s a wired or wireless version, and many customers say the installation process is pretty painless.

Smart plugs/outlets

These are single-appliance energy monitoring and control devices. It’s important to note that not all smart plugs offer energy tracking — their focus is more on device control and setting schedules. However, many also monitor electricity. The advantage is that you can just plug them into a normal outlet, plug in your appliance, and see how much energy it uses without any extra work. You also have the option to turn the appliance on and off based on a schedule designed to save energy. However, this solution works best if you have only a few energy-hungry appliances you want to track, instead of whole house monitoring. It’s ideal for people who rent and can’t exactly rewire their breaker boxes for a full system. However, smart plugs aren’t much good outside of normal NA-style outlets, so your washing machine, oven, and other big appliances probably won’t be compatible.

• WeMo Insight Switch ($35): From creating rules and schedules for your devices to monitoring energy use and changes over time, Insight does a little bit of everything. It’s useful not only for its relatively low price, but for its ease of use. Plug it in, download the Wemo app, and you’re basically done.
• Elgato Eve ($50 for single pack): Designed to work with Apple HomeKit, Eve is a suite of smart devices that are do several security and monitoring tasks. The Energy device in particular is a handy smart plug that even provides graphs that chart out just how an appliance is being used from day to day and season to season. Siri voice controls are also enabled.
• D-Link Wi-Fi Smart Plug ($40): D-Link’s smart plug offering is a full-service device designed for protection and monitoring. This includes the ability to schedule an appliance to turn on and off, remote management, and protection against overheating. It’s ideal for managing a home office or similar types of electronic setups.

Smart energy apps

Smarts apps attempt to measure home energy usage without all the separate components that home monitoring systems require. Some require you to measure and record individual appliances, some try to tap into local smart meter readings, and some estimate home energy use based on available local data.

While these apps may be cost effective compared to home monitoring systems, they otherwise struggle. Their data is rarely as accurate as other options, and many require intense efforts to record electricity minutiae around your entire house before they can even start working. That being said, here are a few smart apps to check out if you prefer going this route in energy measurement:

• Energy Consumption Analyzer: This analyzer is available across a number of platforms and allows you to program in meters for gas, electricity, and water into a database. Record your meter readings regularly, and the app guesses at your energy consumption with a few statistical tricks. It’s a nice, free app for those who don’t mind obsessing over the details.
• Home Energy Saver: This is a government-sponsored web app that allows you to estimate your residential energy use and create a plan for upgrading your efficiency. If everything else on this list sounds like too much work but you still want to save, this is a good app to start with.
• Smappee Energy Monitor ($250): Smappee blurs the line a little between app and home energy monitoring system. However, instead of rewiring your breaks or fuses, all you have to do is snap the sensor onto the electrical box and let it work its magic. It’s also supposed to be able to offer other smart home benefits, like identifying particular appliances and setting up management schedules. Unfortunately, the price is more like a monitor than an app.

Editors’ Recommendations

• I call it ‘The Robot’: Why I chose the Wink Hub 2 to run my smart apartment
• Smart security cameras are creepy, but the Nest Cam gave me some peace of mind
• Hey Siri, lock my door! How the ‘August’ secured my smart apartment
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Apple’s October 2018 Media Event: Spoiler-Free Video Stream

Apple’s “There’s more in the making” media event will be kicking off at 10:00 AM Eastern / 7:00 AM Pacific tomorrow, and some MacRumors readers who can’t follow the event live are interested in avoiding all of the announcements and waiting until Apple posts the recorded video of the event so as to experience it without already knowing the outcome.

For those individuals, we’ve posted this news story, which will be updated with a direct link to the presentation once it becomes available from Apple. No other news stories or announcements will be displayed alongside this story.

Apple has become quicker about making event videos available for replay over the past several years, and videos are now frequently available within an hour of an event’s conclusion.

Users waiting for the video to be posted are welcome to gather in the thread associated with this news story, and we ask that those who follow the events refrain from making any posts in the thread about Apple’s announcements.
Discuss this article in our forums

A look back at the first Android phone, 10 years later

Jane Goodall Institute

It’s strange to think that only 10 years ago, the concept of an Android phone was still brand new. At the time, the mobile industry was dominated by three main operating systems. The largest player was Apple, which was selling the iPhone 3GS. Its iPhone OS (the name at the time) ran on 50 percent of mobile devices on the market. Following behind was BlackBerry, with 22 percent of the market and its shiny new Bold 9000 on offer. Windows lagged behind, even then, but was far from dead. Phones like the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 ran Microsoft’s operating system, giving it 11 percent market share.

Into this environment came a brave new operating system, one that had been in development for several years already and had the heft of Google behind it, thanks to a 2005 acquisition. Not only did Android benefit from the depth of Google’s pockets, but it also benefitted from the tie-in with Google’s most popular services, like Gmail and YouTube. Looking back, it seems obvious that Android would end up becoming the biggest mobile operating system in the world, but in 2008 it wasn’t even clear how much that title would come to mean.

Michael Oryl/Flickr

Still, even at that time, Google making its first foray into mobile operating systems was a major event. It came in the form of HTC’s T-Mobile G1, or HTC Dream as it’s known outside the U.S. The G1 was priced at $179 — which was pretty affordable even in those days — and featured top-of-the-line specs including a Qualcomm MSM7201A processor, 192MB of RAM, and 256MB of internal storage (expandable up to 16GB). It also stocked a 3.15MP rear camera, a 1,150mAh battery, and much more — see the full list below.

HTC G1 specs:

• 3.2-inch display with 320 x 480 resolution
• Qualcomm MSM 7201A processor
• Adreno 130 GPU
• 192MB RAM
• 256MB internal storage, expandable up to 16GB
• 1,150mAh battery
• 3.15MP rear camera
• 158 grams
• Around 17mm thick
• Android 1.0 (supported up to Android 1.6 Donut)
• Proprietary ExtUSB port
• No 3.5mm headphone jack

As for design, it was plastic and cheap-looking, a far cry from the sophistication of Apple’s iPhone 3G. It did feature a pretty nifty slider though, which pushed up to reveal a keyboard — a design tactic frequently used at the time. Also typical of mobile phones of that era: It was heavy and thick. Weighing in at 158 grams, it was only 19 grams less than the modern-day iPhone XS, a larger and much more technically complex device. At two-thirds of an inch thick, it was also much thicker than anything on the market today.

One last knock on the design: It didn’t have a 3.5mm headphone jack, instead providing an adapter to use with its proprietary ExtUSB port — though that may be one of the traits that’s closest to modern Android devices.

Reviews were mixed when it came to the hardware. In particular, the G1’s design and battery life (5 hours of talk time) weren’t earning it any popularity. When it came to software, however, most agreed that this was an operating system that held immense potential.

The HTC G1’s international model was known as the HTC Dream and some models even featured a AZERTY keyboard. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ma-vie-mon-oeuvre/

The G1 ran Android version 1.0 (no dessert theme yet) and came with features like custom home screens, widgets, app multitasking (even for third-party apps) a notification drawer, and the Android Market, which had 50 or so apps and games at launch. A lot of those things were new an interesting ideas that put a much higher priority on an open ecosystem than any other OS on the market — not to mention the fact that Android was openly available for other device manufacturers to use (and customize) as they saw fit.

That would ultimately be the key to Android’s longevity and success, leading it to more than 85 percent market share 10 years later in 2018. It wasn’t just the use of the OS by other manufacturers that led to its popularity and position as Apple’s main competitor, but the open and collaborative ecosystem it fostered around apps and customization.

For enthusiasts, Android became the platform for people who wanted their device to be unique and individualized. At first, that advantage came at some expense — Android was rough around the edges, with a lot more bugs and issues — but over the years, it has delivered a smooth and reliable experience.

It’s not perfect, of course. Fragmentation is still a major issue (the rate of iOS users on the latest software versus Android will always be abysmal), and there’s a whole lot of user data collection going on by Google. Still, it remains one of the most interesting parts of the mobile industry, even now that it’s a much more mature, stable, and, to some extent, staid market. From live wallpapers to Google Duplex, Android continues to push boundaries.

Here’s to the 10th anniversary of an operating system that has grown to encompass so much of the mobile world — not to mention its evolution to new platforms including cars, wearables, and more. One can only manage how it will transform the world in the next 10 years.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Google brings its high-accuracy emergency location tracking to the U.S.
• What is Android? All your questions about the operating system answered
• Essential PH-1 Phone: Everything you need to know
• When is your phone getting Android 8.0 Oreo? We asked every major manufacturer
• Google Pixel 3 review

The OnePlus 6T has a secret weapon, and it’s not what you think

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Amazing tech isn’t the killer feature of the brand new OnePlus 6T, such as the in-display fingerprint sensor or the new Gorilla Glass 6 protection, which should survive multiple bumbles and fumbles. Neither are this fantastic smartphone’s drool-worthy good looks, nor a price tag that will make you do a double take, the real breakthrough here.

No, that would be a partnership OnePlus announced with T-Mobile, as well as support for Verizon’s network – both of which make the OnePlus 6T the most accessible phone for U.S. consumers ever for the company. That’s a big deal, because it means the brand can finally stream through the public consciousness. Yes, within the tech world, OnePlus has become an established, reputable brand in a relatively short period of time. But ask most Americans if they’ve heard about it and you’ll see shrugs.

It’s something we’ve asked OnePlus almost every time the company has launched a phone: When will you get a U.S. carrier on board?

OnePlus smartphones have previously supported only the GSM network, which meant they were compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile, and not Verizon or Sprint. Even then, you couldn’t go to a store to see these phones in action; the company has never sold them through a carrier, just on its site.

You need carrier support to break through the duopoly that is Samsung and Apple, especially because most Americans buy their phones this way or through retail stores.

“Brick and mortar stores will still be one of the main channels for smartphone sales,” Jeff Fieldhack said in a Counterpoint Research report on smartphone sales in the second quarter of 2018. “Physically touching and testing high-end devices is still important for the consumer as flagship [average selling prices] continue to climb. … While Amazon is doing well, carriers still have the upper hand. Online sales will continue to grab small amounts of market share, but it will not spike outside of key flagship launches, holidays, and special online sale days.”

Increased carrier support means more people will be conscious of the OnePlus brand.

OnePlus is putting its latest phone into 5,600 T-Mobile stores around the country. And the T-Mob won’t just be displaying and advertising the phone; it’s also offering to shave $300 off the price if you trade-in a select device (the supported list is long), bringing an already affordable flagship phone to a truly unbeatable price.

Better yet, T-Mobile is offering financing so you can pay the phone off in easy, monthly payments. (The only trade off with the T-Mobile deal? It’s for the mirror gloss variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB of storage, and it lacks dual-SIM support.)

Then there’s Verizon support. Verizon has more than 150 million subscribers in the U.S., allowing OnePlus to reach millions more it couldn’t before — and grow from there. The OnePlus 6T will still need to be bought from OnePlus’ site, but it’s not a barrier anymore as you can simply throw in a Verizon SIM card for cellular service to kick in. The phone supports Verizon’s LTE band, including support for VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling.

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Increased carrier support means more people will be conscious of the brand, and the T-Mobile partnership will allow those interested to try the phones in stores before they buy. This doesn’t just impact the U.S., as OnePlus has added more carriers around the world. It now supports 233 carriers in 74 countries. In the U.K., the phone will be available in EE and Vodafone stores alongside the O2 network.

This also couldn’t be a more perfect time for OnePlus. Smartphone prices are rising. Even the OnePlus 6T costs a little more than the OnePlus 6, but it’s still a fraction of what you’d pay for an iPhone XS or a Galaxy Note 9. U.S. consumers hold onto their phones for an average of 2.83 years before they decide to upgrade, according to HYLA Mobile Inc., reported by the Wall Street Journal, and it’s partly due to rising prices. Wider network support means OnePlus can show consumers they do not need to pay upwards of $700 for a good phone.

In our review, we described the OnePlus 6T as “everything you want at half the price,” and it’s true. You get the same processor that powers the Galaxy Note 9; there’s a big battery that will easily get you through a full day; and the 6.4-inch screen covers almost the entire front of the phone. The downsides are it only has a decent camera, there’s no headphone jack, no proper water resistance, and the new under-glass fingerprint sensor isn’t as reliable. These are minor problems, though … because everything else about the OnePlus 6T makes this one of the best value phones you can buy right now.

Editors’ Recommendations

• The flagship-quality OnePlus 6T is here: Now here’s where to buy it
• OnePlus 6T vs. OnePlus 6 vs. OnePlus 5T vs. OnePlus 5: Should you upgrade?
• OnePlus 6T: Absolutely everything you need to know
• OnePlus 6T vs. Galaxy S9: Can the Flagship Killer claim another victim?
• OnePlus 6T review

Camera Comparison: iPhone XR vs. iPhone XS Max

The iPhone XR and the iPhone XS models share many similarities, but one major difference is the rear camera setup. While the iPhone XS features a dual-lens camera system with both wide-angle and telephoto lenses, the iPhone XR has a single wide-angle camera lens.

In our latest YouTube video, we compared the cameras of the iPhone XR and the iPhone XS Max to see how much of a difference you’re really going to see with the single lens camera vs. the dual-lens camera.

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Though the iPhone XR doesn’t have two lenses to work with, it still has many of the same features that are available in the iPhone XS, enabled through a bit of software magic.

Smart HDR, the feature that combines multiple images to bring out more detail in the shadows and highlights of photographs, is available on both the iPhone XS and iPhone XR, as are Portrait Mode, Portrait Lighting, and Depth Control, which is an option that lets you adjust the amount of background blur in an image.

iPhone XR vs. iPhone XS Portrait Mode
On the iPhone XR, Portrait Mode, which blurs the background of an image while keeping the foreground sharp, only works when a person is in the frame. That means you can’t get Portrait Mode shots of pets, flowers, food, or other objects.

You can do non-person Portrait Mode photos on the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max because two cameras are used together to calculate depth information. The single camera on the iPhone XR provides less detailed depth information for photographs, so it needs to use person detection to separate the foreground from the background.

On the plus side, because the iPhone XR exclusively uses the f/1.8 wide-angle lens for Portrait Mode photos and does not need to rely on the smaller aperture f/2.4 telephoto lens that’s in the iPhone XS, Portrait Mode images taken in low light can turn out better than Portrait Mode photos on the XS because the wider lens lets in more ambient light.

iPhone XR vs. iPhone XS Portrait Mode in low light
With Portrait Mode photos, the iPhone XR struggles a bit with edge detection and the images can be softer than those captured with the iPhone XS due to the lack of a telephoto lens and less depth information to work with. Portrait Mode photos on both devices can be edited with different Depth Control and Portrait Lighting features, though there are two less Portrait Lighting options on the XR.

When taking standard non-Portrait Mode photos, there are few differences between the iPhone XS models and the iPhone XR because the two smartphones are both using the same f/1.8 wide-angle lens. Images taken in standard zoom mode, for example, look the same.

You will, however, see some differences using the iPhone XS telephoto lens for 2x optical zoom in conditions where lighting is good, because this feature isn’t available on the iPhone XR. With no second lens, the iPhone XR ls limited to digital zoom that maxes out at 5x. The iPhone XS can do 2x optical zoom and up to 10x digital zoom, but it’s only going to be using the optical zoom in ideal lighting conditions.

If you take a 2x photo in a low lighting situation on the iPhone XS, there’s a good chance it will look identical to the same photo taken on the iPhone XR because the iPhone XS defaults to digital zoom over optical zoom when the wider lens will produce a better picture. If you take a 2x photo with bright lighting on the iPhone XS, it’s going to be sharper than the same 2x photo on the iPhone XR because of the difference between true optical zoom and digital zoom.

4K video using the wide-angle lens looks identical on both the iPhone XS and the iPhone XR, and both phones feature the same video capabilities like 1080p 240fps slo-mo, optical image stabilization, and stereo sound recording. You are, however, limited to 3x digital zoom on the iPhone XR vs. 2x optical zoom or 6x digital zoom on the iPhone XS.

When it comes to the front-facing camera, you won’t see differences between the iPhone XR and the iPhone XS models because all three of the smartphones use the same TrueDepth camera system with a 7-megapixel front-facing camera and full support for Portrait Mode images, Portrait Lighting, Depth Control, Memoji, and Animoji.

Front-facing camera on iPhone XR and iPhone XS
All in all, when it comes to camera performance, unless you’re someone who takes a lot of Portrait Mode photos or often uses the optical zoom feature on the iPhone, you may not notice much of a difference if you choose the iPhone XR over the iPhone XS.

To get a clearer look at the camera quality of the iPhone XR compared to the iPhone XS Max, make sure to check out our Imgur album, which features full-resolution versions of the photographs that we shared in this article and in the video above.

What do you think of the iPhone XR camera? Do you prefer the iPhone XS camera? Let us know your thoughts on the comparison images in the comments.

Related Roundups: iPhone XS, iPhone XRBuyer’s Guide: iPhone XS (Buy Now), iPhone XR (Buy Now)
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Google Pixel USB-C earbuds review

One of the first things we noticed upon opening up our Pixel 3 XL was the inclusion of the Pixel USB-C earbuds. Odd, right? There was no mention of them in the phone announcement and they weren’t brought up in any of the press chatter immediately following the introduction.

Priced $30 separately, they’re white, simple, and somewhat basic — perhaps a smidge uninspired. They plug into the USB Type C port, naturally, and give Pixel 3 owners a little something for music, podcasts, and audiobooks.

We get why a lot of companies prefer to use the USB C port instead of the 3.5mm jack. We don’t really like it, but we get it. But, we really don’t appreciate being directed to go with wireless headphones or use a dongle attachment. To that end, we’re glad to see Google including some earphones.

Dig around the house or office and we bet you can find a pair or two of cheap headphones that you’ve used over and over. Whether for your phone, game controllers, or something else, your trusty, generic headphone are there for you and always pull through.

Chances are good that you don’t have the same thing in USB C. There are not a lot of options out there that that provide the same experience cheaply. Google’s new USB-C earbuds bridge that gap.

Design

Save for the “G” logos, there’s nothing overtly Google about these earphones. If you’ve ever looked at Amazon Basics for cables or accessories, you know that the products work as required but they eschew fancy features or design elements. That’s what we have here.

These are comfortable to wear, offer a simple design, and work with an increasing number of devices. The best part? They’re affordably priced.

The exterior of the buds have a flat matte finish while the inner part is glossy. The tandem call to mind how Google treats the back of the Pixel phones.

Halfway down the cord you locate the controller. At a glance you only see one button but when you press or squeeze it you feel the tactile feedback. And, if you look closely, you can make out the microphone.

Similar to the Pixel Buds, the Pixel USB-C earbuds employ a looped cable to help ensure they fit in your ear. Think of earhooks that you can attach to your earbuds for running or more active lifestyles. It’s a design choice that we figured we’d see make its way to other OEMs but for now it’s definitely “Google”.

Out of the box we found them to fit nice and secure. Should you need to make an adjustment you may struggle a little bit; they’re a little slippery and require some effort to push into place.

Sound

For $30 we really like what we get here. It’s a price point we can work with and thus far the quality is commensurate, if not better.

Audio is even, smooth, and doesn’t have any distortion, even at higher levels. Spoken word from audiobooks and podcasts come across nicely with a crisp but warm sound.

You won’t get any anything piercing or chest thumping, but that’s partially due to them being earbuds and not over the ear headphones. Along those lines, we detected a bit of outside sound bleeding into the audio.This largely depended on the environment and the level of music.

If you’re listening to a couple of people chit chat over an NPR podcast, you might hear the sound of traffic outside of a coffee shop. But, punchier music or something that’s a little more “exciting” drowns out the world well enough to satisfy us.

Google Assistant

For many, the signature reason to purchase a set of Pixel Buds is the ability to translate language on the fly. But, at $160 that doesn’t come cheap. No more, though, as the $30 Pixel USB-C earbuds offer the same functionality.

If you’ve ever used it, there’s something really cool about the experience. It’s almost like being a member of the United Nations and having a translator in your ear. We’re really excited to see that these earphones are included in the box.

With that in mind, there will surely be other models to offer that same feature down the road. Google has promised that the tech is coming so we don’t know what price range we’ll have to work with. We suspect, though, that these will be somewhere in the middle or lower end.

We tested the Pixel USB-C earbuds with a variety of phones and found they worked as expected. The same goes for plugging into Chromebooks, too. Despite being the same port for charging or data transfer there’s no setup or or configuration.

Conclusion

If you’re at all in the market for a pair of USB Type-C headphones or earphones, these ought to be at the top of your list. The cost is right in line with the features and functions, plus the Google Assistant smarts add something you, for the most part, can’t get elsewhere.

We’re glad to see these were included in the box with the Pixel 3XL and hope they stick around for successors. There’s nothing we’d want to see evolved at this point as they’re a no-frills pair to get by. Anything more and we don’t think Google would throw them in.