Microsoft’s Surface Studio proves desktops can still be cool
The most interesting computer released this year isn’t an ultrathin laptop. It’s a desktop made by Microsoft. Seriously. The Surface Studio is Microsoft’s bigger and bolder follow-up to its Surface hybrid laptops. And while it might look at first like a typical all-in-one, it hides a unique ability. Give the screen a bit of a nudge and it starts bending — all the way down to a 20-degree angle, in fact. Try doing that with an iMac. Like Microsoft’s previous Surface devices, the $3,000 Studio is an attempt at evolving how we use computers. And together with the new Surface Dial accessory, it might just be the powerful modern rig creative professionals have been waiting for. But of course, there are a few first-gen stumbling blocks to deal with.
Hardware
This is one gorgeous computer. And that’s not just my opinion: Many people who walked by my office desk commented on the the Surface Studio’s good looks. Its design is one of elegant simplicity. The focus is entirely on its 28-inch screen, which is connected to the short aluminum base with a pair of chrome hinges. That’s pretty much it. But what’s really intriguing about this computer isn’t readily apparent at first glance.
Those chrome hinges, for example, house an elaborate 80-spring mechanism that makes bending the Studio’s display up and down practically effortless. The display outputs a sharp 4,500 x 3,000 (13-million-pixel) resolution — 63 percent more than 4K, and 1.2 million fewer pixels than 5K. And all of the Studio’s hardware is located in its slim base, which is basically just a mini-PC with some serious specs. There’s also touchscreen support, as you’d expect, and the Surface Pen once again makes an appearance.
And, just so we can get this out of our systems: Yes, this is a desktop computer that transforms. Yes, it’s more than meets the eye. Let’s move on.
Practically everything about the Surface Studio’s build screams refinement. The aluminum used around the sides and back of the screen, as well as the base, feels smooth to the touch. The chrome hinges reflect their surrounding environment, almost disappearing into your desk. And, despite having a delicate bending mechanism in its hinges, the Studio felt sturdy as I lugged it to different locations in our office. There was no flexing or creaking to be found.
At around 21 pounds, it’s easy to move the Surface Studio around your home. (I wouldn’t call it portable; more like relocatable.) While the base mostly gets out of the way, it might seem a bit chunky if you’re used to all-in-ones that shove their hardware behind their screens.
Around back, there are four USB 3.0 ports (one of which is high-powered), a gigabit Ethernet jack, a Mini DisplayPort connection, a full-size SD card reader and, of course, a headphone jack. I realize Microsoft is basically following in the footsteps of Apple and most other all-in-one PC makers, but it would have been nice to have a few ports along the sides of the Studio’s base. At the very least, I would have liked to connect headphones without blindly fishing around the rear ports. (Though I suppose I should be grateful the 3.5-millimeter jack is there at all.)
There’s a 5-megapixel camera for videoconferencing along the front face, right near an IR camera for fast logins using Windows Hello. You’ll also find volume and power buttons on the right side. Beyond that, the Studio is a pretty minimalist device. The only bit of branding on the machine is a mirrored Windows logo on the back.
Accompanying the Studio are the new Surface Keyboard and Mouse. Both sport the same gray aesthetic as Microsoft’s computers, and they’re basically just minor refreshes of the company’s existing wireless input devices. Microsoft doesn’t really get enough credit as a keyboard and mouse maker, but I’ve been a fan of their hardware for years. These new devices don’t disappoint either: The Surface Keyboard has some satisfying feedback in its island-style keys, and it easily kept up with my angry post-election typing. The mouse curves into your hands well, and it works smoothly across a wide variety of surfaces. Its scroll wheel is also fairly smooth, though I wish it included horizontal scrolling like some of Microsoft’s other mice.
Display
With its PixelSense displays on the Surface Pro 4 and Book, Microsoft proved it could build some truly vibrant LCD screens. For the Studio, the company applied that concept on a larger scale. The result is a 28-inch screen that’s among the sharpest and most colorful I’ve ever seen. It makes just about everything look good, be it 4K video, photos or simple Office documents. Its 3:2 aspect ratio feels a bit awkward now that we’re used to widescreen monitors everywhere, but the display itself is also a mere 12.5 millimeters thick. It’s honestly a bit hard to see from the side.
Artists will likely appreciate the Surface Studio’s ability to switch from SRGB and wider DCI-P3 color gamuts on the fly. Apple made a big deal about the iMac’s support for the P3 gamut last year, and the same benefits apply here. Simply put, it’ll let you view an even wider variety of colors. And since it’s a standard backed by Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI), it’s particularly helpful for editing digital video. Typical consumers will likely just notice that some photos and videos will appear much richer than before.
Mostly, I appreciate the Surface Studio simply for having a big freaking screen. After spending years writing on ultraportables and reading news apps on smartphones and tablets, I sometimes forget how nice it is to use a large screen where you can have a pile of windows thrown about, or simply view a full-size webpage next to a document for note taking. It might just be me, but I’ve found that bigger displays simply let me be more creative.
Surface Dial
On the face of it, the $100 Surface Dial seems like an oddity. We’ve already grown used to keyboards, mice, touchscreens and even styluses like the Surface Pen; who has time for another accessory? Artists, that’s who. Wacom has already gotten plenty of digital illustrators used to the notion of remote accessories, which let them quickly access tools they use often. But those remotes have generally been hard to use, with far too many buttons.
The Dial simplifies that concept. It’s a small metallic puck that resembles a large volume button on an AV receiver. Give it a spin and you’ll be able to control things like the volume or zoom. You can also click the Dial to select options and move between its functions. But the coolest thing? Plop it on the Surface Studio’s screen and a ring of contextual options immediately appears. It’s up to developers to bake in support for the Dial, but at launch you’ll be able to change tracks in Spotify, zoom and rotate in Microsoft Maps and access a wide variety of settings in Sketchable.
Performance
I tested the top-of-the-line $4,200 Surface Studio, which packs in a 2.7GHz Core i7 6820HQ CPU, 32GB of RAM (!), a hybrid drive consisting of a 128GB SSD and 2TB HDD, and NVIDIA GTX 980M graphics with 4GB of VRAM. As you can imagine, it was one of the most powerful PCs I’ve ever tested. I was able to juggle dozens of browser tabs, 4K video playback and Minecraft running with high-quality settings all at once without breaking a sweat. The massive screen size practically encourages extreme multitasking. The only major downside is the Studio’s slow disk speeds, which stem from its hybrid SSD/mechanical hard drive approach to storage.
| Surface Studio (2.7GHz Core i7-6820HQ, 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M) | 6,762 | 6,168 | E11,338 / X4,302 | 14,306 | 294 MB/s / 299 MB/s |
| Surface Book (2016, 2.6GHz Core i7-6600U, 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M) | 5,452 | 4,041 | E8,083 / P5,980 / X2,228 | 11,362 | 1.71 GB/s / 1.26 GB/s |
| HP Spectre x360 (2016, 2.7GHz Core i7-7500U, Intel HD Graphics 620) | 5,515 | 4,354 | E2,656 / P1,720 / X444 | 3,743 | 1.76 GB/s / 579 MB/s |
| Surface Book (2.4GHz Core i5-6300U, Intel HD 520) | 5,412 | 3,610 |
E2,758 / P1,578 / X429 |
3,623 | 1.6 GB/s / 571 MB/s |
| Surface Book (2.6GHz Core i7-6600U, 1GB NVIDIA GeForce graphics) | 5,740 | 3,850 |
E4,122 / P2,696 |
6,191 | 1.55 GB/s / 608 MB/s |
| ASUS ZenBook 3 (2.7GHz Intel Core-i7-7500U, Intel HD 620) | 5,448 | 3,911 | E2,791 / P1,560 | 3,013 | 1.67 GB/s / 1.44 GB/s |
| HP Spectre 13 (2.5GHz Intel Core i7-6500U, Intel HD 520) | 5,046 | 3,747 | E2,790 / P1,630 / X375 | 3,810 | 1.61 GB/s / 307 MB/s |
| Dell XPS 13 (2.3GHz Core i5-6200U, Intel Graphics 520) | 4,954 | 3,499 | E2,610 / P1,531 | 3,335 | 1.6GB/s / 307 MB/s |
| Razer Blade Stealth (2.5GHz Intel Core i7-6500U, Intel HD 520) | 5,131 | 3,445 | E2,788 / P1,599 / X426 | 3,442 | 1.5 GB/s / 307 MB/s |
| Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (2.4GHz Core i5-6300U, Intel HD 520) | 5,403 | 3,602 |
E2,697/ P1,556/ X422 |
3,614 | 1.6 GB/s / 529 MB/s |
Since it’s limited to notebook graphics cards, though, the Studio doesn’t perform as well in high-end games as larger desktops do. In 3DMark, it scored around 20 percent lower than the $200 Radeon RX 480 GPU on my home rig. Oddly, it also got some weird scores in 3DMark 11’s “Performance” test, which I’m attributing to driver issues. I was able to run Overwatch at around 60 frames per second in 1080p with high settings, and Gears of War 4 around 50 frames per second with medium settings. The latter title, perhaps because it was so new and demanding, sometimes dipped into much lower frame rates during more hectic scenes.
That’s all par for the course for notebook graphics, but I wish Microsoft would have been able to include NVIDIA’s more powerful 10-series GPUs instead. The company says those cards weren’t available as it was developing the Surface Studio, which makes sense given how long it takes to plan and build a whole new product.
Because of the slight underpowered nature of the Studio’s graphics, it’ll likely have trouble with VR. Microsoft says it can handle “light” virtual reality experiences, but since none of the GPUs available for the Studio are considered “VR ready,” I wouldn’t plan on having it run something like Eve: Valkyrie very well. And for a computer that’s so expensive, with no foreseeable upgrade path, that’s a tough pill to swallow.
As a tool for artists
While I’ve been testing the Surface Pen for years now, it really gets to shine on the Studio. Once I pushed the screen down to its flattest orientation, I felt like I was able to “dive” more into drawing with the Pen. The resistance feels as good as it did on the Surface Pro 4, with almost pen-to-paper feedback. Given its size, though, I don’t imagine I would use the Studio to jot down notes as much as I would on the Surface Pro 4 or Book. It’s clearly meant for people who actually need to use a stylus seriously.
So for that reason, I enlisted the help of someone who could actually draw: Alexander Sapountzis, a software engineer at our sister publication The Huffington Post. He’s been illustrating for a while now with the iPad Pro, and he’s also the creator of the web comic Damn Heroes. It didn’t take long for him to adapt to the Studio’s angled orientation, and he particularly enjoyed the resistance of the pen on the screen.
On the downside, he noticed that palm rejection was worse than with the iPad Pro, and the software ring around the Dial had the annoying habit of drifting down the screen, even if the Dial was staying in place at the Studio’s lowest angle. Both of those issues ended up disrupting his creative flow, which is exactly the opposite of how Microsoft wants people to see the computer.
The Surface Studio also had difficulty recognizing when he wanted to move an image around, which often led to unwanted brushstrokes from his fingers. Overall, he was impressed with the Surface Studio’s size and form factor, but he wasn’t looking to switch anytime soon. As for the issues mentioned, hopefully it’s the sort of thing Microsoft could fix with a software update. We’ve asked the company to comment on whether it’s working on any fixes.
I couldn’t find any Wacom users to test the Studio before this review, but judging from what I’ve seen across social media and forums, they don’t seem overly excited for it online. For one, plenty of Wacom devices work off of Adobe’s RGB color spectrum, which is more widely supported than P3. That company’s styluses and other hardware also offer more control and fine-tuning than the Surface Pen does.
Configuration options
You can tell Microsoft isn’t aiming the Surface Studio at typical consumers based on its pricing: It costs $3,000 to start. That base build includes a sixth-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, a hybrid drive made up of a 64GB SSD and 1TB HDD, and an NVIDIA 965M GPU with 2GB of memory. That’s certainly a lot of money for a PC with less than 16GB of RAM and a mobile GPU. The mid-range Studio goes for $3,500 with an i7, 16GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD with 1TB of storage. And then at the top end, you have the insanely powerful configuration I tested, which costs $4,200.
The competition
Understandably, you’d probably look to Apple’s 27-inch 5K iMac if you’re considering the Surface Studio. Since that starts at $1,800, you’d still have plenty of cash left over to invest in Wacom hardware before you even reached the Studio’s starting price. Alternatively, you could consider the multitude of PC options out there. The Asus Zen AiO and HP Envy All in One start at around $1,300, while the massive 34-inch ultrawide Digital Storm Aura starts at $2,531, with desktop-grade CPUs and NVIDIA GPUs. And to make up for the lack of digital illustration tools, you can add Wacom’s new Cintiq Pro displays for $1,000 or $1,500.
Basically, you’ve got a lot of options. You could even spec out a normal-size CPU and add Wacom hardware for far less than the Surface Studio’s cost. Of course, you wouldn’t get the same polished, integrated experience with a makeshift setup as you would with Microsoft’s desktop, but if you’re a struggling artist, you’ll likely need to squeeze as much value out of every dollar as you can.
Perhaps a better market for the Surface Studio would be the Apple faithful. With no upgrade for the Mac Pro in sight, and an unfortunate update for the MacBook Pro, I wouldn’t be surprised if plenty of well-to-do creatives were looking closely at Microsoft’s hardware.
Wrap-up
The Surface Studio is both familiar and new. It empowers us to work the way we always have, while also giving us entirely new modes of productivity. Personally, that’s a philosophy I can get behind — especially when compared with Apple’s habit of pushing consumers down new roads that aren’t necessarily improvements (hello, dongle life). But the Surface Studio’s high price and lack of expandability could make it a tough sell for an already niche market, especially for people already devoted to their Wacom tablets.
Xiaomi Mi Mix review – CNET
The Good The edgeless display on Xiaomi’s Mi Mix is simply amazing, and the ceramic rear gives the phone a luxurious feel. The base model has 128GB of storage.
The Bad The phone is only sold in China and in limited quantities, and it’s also Xiaomi’s most expensive yet. The camera’s pretty average at best and taking selfies can be awkward.
The Bottom Line The Xiaomi Mi Mix is a glimpse of the all-screen future of phones. But Xiaomi needs to improve on basics like the camera and find a way to make more of these before we can wholeheartedly recommend it.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix is, I think, what most phones will look like a few years from now. And believe me, it’s awesome. The 6.4-inch screen covers almost the entire face of the phone, and the buttons you’d usually find on the front are now onscreen.
The premium ceramic back gives the phone a luxurious high-end feel with a very good grip, quite unlike glass. But while the material is pretty hard and scratch resistant, you definitely don’t want to drop it.
There are some weird omissions and weaknesses. There’s only one speaker in the traditional sense, which plays music and video. For calls, the phone uses a “cantilever ceramic piezoelectric actuator”, which just means that the phone’s body vibrates to deliver sound. The camera isn’t great, either.
The Mi Mix is only on sale in China, and even there in limited quantities. While you can get it from third-party online resellers, good luck getting it fixed if you break it, as the parts used in the phone are rare as hens’ teeth. Plus its 4G LTE bands are limited, so it may not work properly outside China.
Xiaomi’s Mi Mix is one amazing almost bezel-less…
See full gallery
1 – 5 of 16
Next
Prev
It’s also the most expensive Xiaomi phone so far. Our review model costs 3,499 yuan, which converts to around $510, AU$680 or £420. In China, that’s about half the price of phones like the Google Pixel. There’s also a premium model with 18-carat gold embossing, 6GB 0f RAM (up from 4GB) and 256GB of onboard storage (up from the base model’s 128GB) for 3,999 yuan, which is roughly $590, AU$770 or £480.
If you’re thinking of getting one, bear in mind that Chinese phones don’t come with Google services installed (like Google Maps and even Google Play), and you’ll have work to do to get those integrated properly. Big screen phones like the Google Pixel XL or the iPhone 7 Plus are much more easily procured — you’ll just have to accept a smaller screen than the Mi Mix’s mammoth 6.4-inch display.
Crazy-beautiful edgeless display is incredible
I kid you not. While our photos and video might be enough to convince you, it’s when you pick up the phone, hold it in your hand and watch the 6.4-inch screen come to life that the whole idea of a magical bezel-less phone sinks in. I’ve been using the phone for around a week now, and I still can’t help but feel amazed every time I turn it on.
Now, I’m really not a fan of big-screen phones. I personally feel anything above 6 inches is unusable, and I didn’t really like the Xiaomi Mi Max (the company’s other super large 6.4-inch phone). Strangely, I found myself learning to like and use the Mix a lot more. The screen is still pretty big, but it doesn’t feel it compared to the Max, which is bigger in size thanks to its bezels. The palm rejection system on the Mix is a lot better too, which means you don’t tap as many things by accident.
View full gallery
Look ma, (almost) no bezels!
Aloysius Low/CNET
An edge-to-edge screen means my palms were almost always touching the display, but despite that I didn’t accidentally press buttons I shouldn’t have or move the home screen while holding the phone in my hand. This is great, particularly compared with my experiences with phones that don’t properly implement this feature.
Big screen phones tend to feel unwieldy, but not so with the Mix. While it’s a little on the heavy side at 209 grams (7.37 ounces), it’s perfectly balanced in your hand. I’ve been able to use it one handed at times, though it’s obviously a lot easier with both hands depending on what you want to do with it, like typing long messages.
To get a phone that’s mostly all screen, with a 2,080×1,080-pixel display, Xiaomi had to do some pretty nifty engineering. The phone’s selfie camera got moved to the bottom of the phone — not necessarily a good thing, as I’ll explain below — and underneath the display is the piezoelectric actuator that replaces your front speaker. The actuator converts digital signals into analog vibrations, using the body of the phone to deliver sound to your ears. It works, though you can feel the whole phone rumbling in time to your voice call.
There’s only one thing about the phone I don’t really like — well, apart from how much of a fingerprint magnet it is. It’s that the ambient light sensor, located at the bottom chin of the phone, is easily blocked if you’re resting the phone on say, a pillow, while using it, leading to a dimmer screen which can make things hard to see in normal light. You can turn off auto-brightness as a solution, so it’s a minor irritant in the grand scheme of things.
View full gallery
While it lacks bezels at the top and sides, the bottom is where you’ll find a chin as well as a 5-megapixel selfie camera.
Aloysius Low/CNET
Android-powered…somewhat
Like most Chinese smartphones, the Mi Mix is powered by Android — in this case, Android 6.0, but a heavily customised version of it called MIUI. This is Xiaomi’s version of Android, and it has features taken from both iOS and Google’s software.
Kenmore 65132 dryer review – CNET
The Good The Kenmore 65132 dryer powers through wet clothes quickly and has controls that are simple to use. The appliance also has a very low sticker price.
The Bad The basic design and boring exterior of the Kenmore 65132 dryer won’t excite anyone. Outside of automatic drying cycles, this Kenmore dryer is devoid of fancy extras. Also, it has a lint screen that’s awkward to manipulate.
The Bottom Line The plain Kenmore 65132 dryer offers swift performance for not much cash but no extras either.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
Clad in a very basic design, and sporting simple mechanical controls, the $600 Kenmore 65132 dryer won’t win any points for style or sophistication. Neither will the laundry appliance wow you with extra features. But despite its modest appearance, hidden within this unassuming Kenmore machine you’ll find a surprising amount of clothes-drying power.
The Kenmore 65132 dryer is affordably priced especially when you consider how well it performs. Its old fashioned interface means it can be cantankerous to operate at times too Still, it’s hard to find a dryer this powerful at any price let alone one this affordable. Another penny-pinching option is the $650 GEGTD45EASJWS dryer which offers similar performance yet is a little easier to use.
This budget Kenmore dryer has freakish speed
See full gallery
1 – 5 of 6
Next
Prev
Design and features
All white and almost completely unadorned, there’s no escaping that this cube-shaped appliance is essentially a bland rectangular box. The only mildly interesting element is the Kenmore dryer’s back-mounted control panel. Specifically, the panel’s top edge slopes gently upwards at its center, then softly drops back down again — exciting stuff.
The Kenmore 665132 dryer looks boring and basic.
Chris Monroe/CNET
Measuring 43 inches tall by 29 inches wide and 28 inches deep, the Kenmore 65132 is relatively compact and offers a smallish 7-cubic-foot-capacity drum. It’s similar in size, shape and capacity to the $1,000 LG DLEY 1701V (7.3 cubic feet), another laundry appliance meant to squeeze into cramped laundry rooms. Of course, LG’s machine costs close to double the Kenmore’s asking price, is packed with features, and flaunts a beautifully designed exterior.
The only design flair to speak of is a curving control panel.
Chris Monroe/CNET
This Kenmore dryer’s controls are just as sparse as its appearance. There are just four dials on the machine and no screen or display whatsoever. Moving from left to right, the first knob sets cycle temperature according to fabric type; Low (delicates), Medium (casual), High (cotton). Next is the main control, the cycle knob, which selects whether the dryer operates automatically using its moisture sensors, dries by timer, or just runs cool air through the drum.
Last are dials to engage the Wrinkle Guard function, a final fluff cycle to stop wrinkles from setting in, and a Cycle Signal toggle that sounds an alarm when the dryer has reached the end of its cycle. This knob also doubles as the dryer’s start button. There are certainly no bells and whistles on this machine, such as fancy steam modes or specialized garment cycles. The upside, though, is that the dryer’s uncluttered controls are simple and straightforward.
The dryer door is small and doesn’t open all the way.
Chris Monroe/CNET
There are aspects of this machine’s basic construction, however, that I’d rather do without. For instance the drum door’s exposed metal hinges give the appliance a shoddy and unfinished feel. I also don’t like shape of the door, which is wider than it is tall and swings downward instead of left or right. The door doesn’t open all the way either but instead stops at a 90 degree angle (parallel to the floor). All this makes the door’s opening feel small and much too narrow.
LeEco LePro 3 review – CNET
The Good The LeEco LePro 3 has a long battery life, is both fast and competitively priced.
The Bad The phone is heavy, has an unrefined interface and its video streaming service has no compelling content right now.
The Bottom Line The extremely affordable LeEco Pro 3 is a satisfactory phone, but its unpolished UI makes the OnePlus 3 the better, safer bet.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
If the LeEco LePro 3 were the only $400 (or about £320 and AU$530, converted) phone in town, I’d say you should buy it, no problem. At that price, many of the qualms I have with it would be offset by its lightning-fast speed and long battery life.
Unfortunately for LeEco, it isn’t the only game in town. Though it’s certainly a capable handset for the company to court its new US market with, its problematic interface and underwhelming camera keep it from besting the OnePlus 3 (and the upcoming 3T), or even the Motorola Moto Z Play — all of which hit that sub-$450 price range. The LePro 3’s streaming video platform, which is tied to LeEco’s overall media ecosystem, is also nothing to be too excited about.
That’s not to say that these other companies shouldn’t be worried. For some countries, this is LeEco first high-end phone and if it continues to push out low-priced, high-end devices to market, it could soon become a top contender for the budget market. But for now, the LePro 3 is not the standout choice.
The LePro 3’s polished but hefty design
See full gallery
1 – 5 of 10
Next
Prev
It’s well-made, but heavy
The LePro 3 has a solid, unibody construction, a sharp display and its angled edges keep it from falling out of my hand. The edges also have a different finish than the rest of the phone, so it catches the light in interesting ways.
But despite being solidly made (it certainly doesn’t feel cheap), it looks uninspiring. The brushed-metal finish feels outdated, and it’s heavy. Also, don’t expect it to fit comfortably in your pants pocket. Even if it does, it will weigh you down. The camera also has a noticeable, unsightly bump. And finally, there’s no headphone jack. Just like the Apple iPhone 7 and the Motorola Moto Z (excluding the aforementioned Z Play), you’ll have to listen to music using either a headphone dongle or wireless Bluetooth headphones. Ugh.
Phones with big screens are no problem, but it’s the LePro’s 3 weight that’s the issue.
Josh Miller/CNET
It’s super fast
The LePro 3 has a Snapdragon 821 processor, one of the most advanced mobile processors available right now (it’s the same used in the Google Pixel and the OnePlus 3T). Day to day tasks like launching the camera, quitting apps and calling up the keyboard were smooth and fast, and I didn’t experience any stuttering or lag. On paper, the LePro3 edged out its other Android competitors — even the OnePlus 3, which has been leading the scores in these tests. (Keep in mind that the OnePlus 3 has an 820 processor, and we have yet to test out the upcoming 3T’s 821 chipset).
LeEco LePro 3 Benchmark Scores
LeEco LePro 3
1,878
4,372
32,304
OnePlus 3
1,752
4,159
30,337
Motorola Moto Z Play
810
2,640
14,168
Alcatel Idol 4S
1,459
3,415
17,627
Google Pixel XL
1,556
5,201
28,256
Legend:
Geekbench 4 Single-Core
Geekbench 4 Multi-Core
3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
As for its big nonremovable battery, during our lab test for continuous video playback on Airplane mode, it lasted 16 hours and 25 minutes. Though I expected it to last even longer than that (the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, for example, lasted 19 hours with an even smaller battery and the Moto Z Play’s 3,510mAh battery lasted more than 23 hours). Still, 16 hours is nothing to shake a stick at, and it gives you time to watch a whole downloaded TV season or so.
The camera is good, but not amazing
The back camera works quickly, and for your casual photo needs,takes good, steady shots. I also like how whenever you turn on a certain setting (like HDR or Night Mode), a small onscreen dialogue pops up that’ll let you turn off the mode if you decide you actually didn’t want it. It also does 4K recording, slow-mo video, photo filters and burst shots.
Closeups and low-light shots weren’t really impressive though. Images weren’t as focused or well defined compared to the OnePlus 3. Night shots looked muddier and grainier. However, if I was in a well-lit environment, the LePro 3 took sharp bright photos with accurate colors. For more on photo quality, check out our photos below and be sure to click on each image to see it at its full resolution.
In this sunny outdoor scene, colors are bright and true-to-life. The sky though, is blown out.
Lynn La/CNET
In this textured image, you can see the details in the different kinds of wood and panels.
Lynn La/CNET
In this closeup shot, the center of the flower isn’t as sharp as it could be.
Lynn La/CNET
Almond 3 Smart Home Wi-Fi system review – CNET
The Good As a single Wi-Fi router and smart-home hub, the Almond 3 succeeds with easy setup and decent speeds. It works with a ton of smart devices and includes voice-activation via Amazon Alexa.
The Bad As a Wi-Fi mesh system, the Almond 3 is unreliable, buggy and expensive.
The Bottom Line The Almond 3 is a good router and smart-home hub, but we couldn’t get our unit to work as a mesh network solution. We recommend the Eero or Netgear Orbi instead.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
Let me be straight up: As a single router or smart-home hub, the Securifi Almond 3 is isn’t bad. It has decent speeds, is easy to use and set up, it’s reasonably priced at $150, and it has seamless voice activation, thanks to its Amazon Alexa integration. The problem is, Securifi wants it to be more than just a good router/smart-home hub combo.
If you purchase the Almond as a Wi-Fi system or mesh network, it comes with three identical router units for $400. The first unit serves as your main router while the other two extend the first router’s signal, blanketing your large home with Wi-Fi. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work.
View full gallery
The Almond 3 system includes three identical units.
James Martin/CNET
Wi-Fi systems like the Eero and Netgear Orbi promise expansive Wi-Fi coverage with simple setup and maintenance. And while both the Eero and Orbi deliver on this promise, the mesh network features on the Almond 3 feel tacked on and are buggy as hell.
The Almond 3 is trying to be many things. It’s perfectly fine as a single router or smarthome hub, but utterly fails as a mesh network with too high a price tag, an unreliable connection and an antiquated and buggy interface.
So what’s the Almond 3?
As a router and smarthome hub, this is a midlevel 802.11ac Wi-Fi router. It doesn’t offer the fastest Wi-Fi speed but it’s more than fast enough to deliver any residential internet connection. What makes it different from other routers, however, is the fact it comes with a touch screen — similar to the Starry — and a built-in one-volume-level speaker that works as an alarm (like a digital alarm clock). Apart from Wi-Fi, it can also work with other smart-home devices such as security sensors via a popular wireless standard for home automation called called ZigBee 1.2 and is compatible with hundreds of web-connected devices .
The device is small, but in my trial it’s still powerful enough to cover a small home, say, about 1,500 square feet, with a strong Wi-Fi signal as long as it’s placed in the middle of the living space.
As a Wi-Fi system, one of the three units works as a router and the other two as extenders, effectively extending the range of the Wi-Fi network. When all three are used together and placed at optimal distances from one another, they create a mesh network that can cover up to 4,000 square feet with a Wi-Fi signal.
View full gallery
The Amond 3’s touch screen remain the same, whether or not it’s working as a router or an extender.
James Martin/CNET
Archaic touchscreen, a messy mix of interfaces
You can control the Almond 3 from three different platforms: the touchscreen on the device, a separate mobile app that you’ll need a phone or tablet to access, and a web interface via your home computer. The problem is, no single platform gives you complete control. Instead, you need to use all three to customize the system.
That would be bad enough, but it’s compounded by a device that appears to be using the same touchscreen technology as the original Almond released four years ago. So don’t expect a modern phone-like experience here. It’s more like a Palm Treo and is as archaic as the product shots you can see at the previous link. In fact, Securifi included a stylus with the Almond 3, because your fingers just aren’t the best tool for this product.
So yeah — this is not the kind of touchscreen you’d expect from a modern device. But since some features can only be accessed from the screen, you unfortunately won’t be able to avoid it.
Buggy setup and management for a mesh network
While most routers take about 30 seconds to boot up, the Almond 3 takes a full three minutes. With the multiple restarts required to complete the setup process, you’ll easily spend about half an hour before you can start using a single unit of the Almond 3, which is not too bad.
Adding additional units to create a Wi-Fi system proved to be frustratingly time consuming, however, simply because it just didn’t work most of the time. There’s a wizard on the touchscreen to enable this process, and everything happened as intended — until the last step where it was supposed to take “up to three minutes” for the two units to connect. Five minutes went by and nothing happened, and then it timed out, prompting me to reset the satellite unit to its factory default settings and start from beginning. The second time I tried it, the same thing happened. Finally, on my third try, it worked. But I had no idea what I did wrong on the first two attempts.
Other annoying oddities
The router’s screen is supposed turn itself off after being idle for a couple of minutes. But that only happens if you leave it at the the Home screen. If you go to the Status screen, for example, it will stay on forever, even if I have set a password to lock it.
When one of the Almond 3 units is being used as a satellite, clearly it’s not functioning as a router. However, all of the router function icons still appear onscreen. When you tap on one of them, you get a message telling you the feature isn’t available.
LeEco’s first phone for the US nails the basics but fails on software
LeEco is a name you’ve probably never heard of, but the Chinese electronics company has been popping up everywhere over the past year. It’s well-known in China for its TVs and phones, and also has subsidiaries in the music, film and even bicycle-making businesses. Like many other Chinese phone makers before it, LeEco is eyeing the US market, with its first offering being the Le Pro3. This $400 Android phone covers the basics, delivering excellent hardware, respectable performance and all-day battery life, though it misses the mark with its heavily skinned software.
Hardware
For a phone that costs just $400, the Le Pro3 is seriously well-constructed. Everyone I’ve shown the device to has been instantly impressed by how premium it feels. It’s just dense enough to feel expensive, but not so much that it’s heavy. Still, LeEco won’t score points for creativity here. This phone’s rectangular silhouette and slightly curved rear is reminiscent of other Android phones like the HTC 10, OnePlus 3 and Huawei Mate 9. Its brushed metal back has a glossy coating, and is home to both a fingerprint sensor and a slightly protruding camera. My review unit is silver, though an equally attractive gold version is also available.
There aren’t any physical buttons on the Pro3’s front (the volume rocker and power button are on the right edge); instead, capacitive navigation keys sit below the screen. These light up when touched, but otherwise disappear into the background, making them hard for new users to find. Over time, though, I remembered where they were and found myself poking at them instinctively, without having to look.
LeEco made some odd choices with the Pro3’s design that have proved unpopular on other phones. It has left out a headphone jack and a microSD card slot for expandable storage, so you’re stuck with the 64GB of onboard space (and 5TB of cloud storage through LeCloud, which is nice). For audio, you’ll have to use the USB-C port at the bottom of the phone, and plug in either the USB-C headphones or USB-C-to-3.5mm adapter that are included. What was LeEco thinking? Surely it can’t believe it has as much cachet as say Apple, which itself has caught flack for doing away with such a common port.
Oh, and if you were thinking that the reason for removing this jack was to enable water resistance, you’d be mistaken — the Pro3 will not survive dips. According to LeEco, removing the headphone jack is feasible now because USB-C tech, together with a customized chip on its earphones, have improved audio quality “to such an extent that we believe now is the perfect time to make the shift.” It cited its sales numbers in China and India as an indication that “users are adopting well to USB-C based audio,” and said it is the first company in the world to remove the port. Still, you’ll be frustrated when you lose your included earphones or adapter and can’t find a compatible set at a moment’s notice.
Display and sound
I was initially quite taken with the Le Pro3’s nearly bezel-less, 5.5-inch full HD LCD display. Icons and text scattered across a starry wallpaper looked crisp, and pictures were vibrant. But when I watched an episode of Friends on Netflix, I noticed that image quality was a bit flat compared to what I’m used to on Apple and Samsung devices. In short, this screen lacks the deep blacks and punchy, saturated colors of its AMOLED counterparts.
Still, it’s bright with generous viewing angles, so I’m not really complaining. Plus, you can choose from one of four color profiles (LeEco, Vivid, Natural and Soft), although I found all of them fall short of AMOLED screens.
Complementing the screens are two powerful bottom-mounted speakers that pump out decent audio. It is typically loud enough to hear from a room away, but music tracks, including my current favorite, Starboy by The Weeknd, tend to get slightly tinny at top volume.
Software
Like most other Chinese phones in the US, the Le Pro3 runs a modified version of the latest available version of Android (in this case, 6.0.1 Marshmallow). The company calls its skin “Ecosystem User Interface,” or EUI (those familiar with obscure details like interface names will catch that this is similar to Huawei’s EMUI). But the differences LeEco made are more noticeable than on other manufacturers’ skins, to the point where I had to unlearn some old habits.
Instead of swiping down from the top of the screen to find settings shortcuts such as display brightness and WiFi connectivity, you’ll have to tap the All Apps button instead. Here, the top two thirds of the display are dominated by a panel of options, as well as stuff like flashlight and Do Not Disturb mode. This section’s layout looks kind of like the Control Center on an iPhone, except that you can swipe horizontally to see more options in the top row of shortcut symbols.
Not only does this large block reduce the amount of space available to show all your open apps, which are laid out side by side in the bottom third, but it’s also an unnecessary change. The space left behind by what would ordinarily be a quick settings panel in the notifications drawer is delegated to a Notifications Management page, which lets you decide precisely what apps from which you want to allow or block alerts.
Another difference between EUI and stock Android is the page of curated content you’ll find when you swipe all the way to the left. It’s called LeView, and is quite similar to HTC’s Blinkfeed and OnePlus’ Shelf, putting a slew of what it calls “entertainment” that it thinks you’ll like in one easily accessed place. The material here is generally videos pulled from YouTube and LeEco’s own library, and I found most of these pretty obscure and irrelevant to my tastes. I’m not entirely sure why the system thought “Juicy Lucy Meatballs” and “Mega Gummy Bear” were good suggestions for me, considering I never looked up food or candy while reviewing the phone.
Through its subsidiaries, LeEco has a hand in the music and film industries, making it a content company in addition to a device maker. Perhaps because of this, the Pro3 offers multiple ways to access new, relatively unknown multimedia. In addition to LeView, you’ll also find the Live app, which lets you watch movies such as Hostel and House of the Rising Sun, as well as TV shows like The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and Soul Mates. Most of the available titles are pretty obscure, though; you won’t find the latest movies or most popular programs here. Bummer.
Cameras
The Le Pro3 is also a letdown when it comes to imaging performance: Its 16-megapixel rear camera is hit or miss. In bright daylight, it takes crisp, stunning pictures, and I was happy to show off the gorgeous landscapes I shot with it. But in low light, my sample shots turned out muddy and dark, while my colleagues’ faces looked splotchy in a dimly lit bar. Turning on the flash helped reclaim the lost detail, and because the flash’s light is a slightly warm, orangey tone, skin tones look particularly rich — not overexposed and blue, like what you tend to see with cooler bulbs.
It’s mostly a same story with the 8-megapixel camera up front, which captures sharp, vibrant selfies in bright light, but yields muted colors in poorly lit environments. Too bad there isn’t a flash here to save your nighttime portraits.
You can play around with the camera app’s various modes to try and improve your shots, but they’re a bit hard to find. Four main options are available right below the viewfinder — Video, Photo, Pano and Slo-mo. Other tools, like Night mode or HDR, are somewhat hidden. You need to tap the gear icon on the top right of the app, which displays two different panels — a grid to tweak things like ISO, white balance, shutter sound and timer, and a row of five additional settings below it. That second section is where you’ll find HDR, Night, Beauty and Square modes, and it’s easy to miss because the eye goes straight to the first set of options.
Performance and battery life
The Pro3’s cameras may be disappointing, but its performance exceeded my expectations. Thanks to its 2.35GHz quad-core Snapdragon 821 chip and 4GB of RAM, the Pro3 was generally responsive as I jumped from open app to open app without delay. The phone also kept up with my somewhat maniacal scrolling up and down on Engadget’s home page in Chrome, pausing occasionally to load images and GIFs. However, there were some small hiccups. The Live app crashed on me the first time I tried to launch it, although that hasn’t happened since.
Alcatel Idol 4S
Google Pixel
AndEBench Pro
13,354
13,841
9,742
14,941
Vellamo 3.0
6,559
5,202
4,831
5,343
3DMark IS Unlimited
31,753
30,058
18,051
28,645
GFXBench 3.0 1080p Manhattan Offscreen (fps)
30
48
15
46
CF-Bench
42,572
41,653
75,760
30,997
The Pro3’s benchmark results generally paint a similar picture. It beat other phones in its class like the OnePlus 3 and the Alcatel Idol 4S on most performance tests. It’s worth noting, too, that these devices offer older, slower processors for the same price as the Le Pro3.
OnePlus took the lead on ANDEbench, but lost to LeEco in every other round, including the graphics test 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited. In that, the Le Pro 3 trashed even top-tier devices like the HTC 10, Galaxy S7 and Google Pixel. The latter uses the same Snapdragon 821 chipset as the Le Pro3, and delivered stronger results in overall performance.
The Pro3’s large 4,070mAh battery squeezed out an impressive ten hours and 44 minutes on Engadget’s rundown test, which involves looping a high-definition video at 50 percent brightness. That’s longer than the Idol 4S and OnePlus 3 lasted in the same test. Plus, it retains its power when idle. Indeed, I was impressed to find that after a couple days of languishing in my purse, the Le Pro3 was still alive.
Since the Le Pro3 supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0, it’s supposed to charge 38 percent more efficiently than Quick Charge 2.0, which got most phones to 50 percent in 30 minutes. In general, plugging the phone in for 15 minutes got me to about 30 percent power, which, considering the size of the battery, is pretty decent.
The competition
The Le Pro3 goes up against the OnePlus 3, the Alcatel Idol 4S and the ZTE Axon 7, all of which cost about $400. They all have pleasing designs too, though none of them feel as expensive as the Le Pro3.
Android purists may want to stick with the OnePlus 3 or the Idol 4S, both of which run skinned versions of Android, but mostly stick to Google’s basic navigational features. Fans of virtual reality in particular should consider the Alcatel phone, which comes with its own headset and immersive VR content. The Axon 7 is also a good VR choice, as ZTE promises it will eventually be compatible with Google’s Daydream VR platform. It also has a sharper quad HD screen, to boot.
If you need a phone that can handle your intense multitasking, the OnePlus 3 is a slightly better option than the Pro3, beating it in most performance tests. But the Pro3 is no slouch either, coming in faster than the Alcatel and ZTE options.
Finally, if you can’t live without your favorite wired headphones, you’re better off with any of the other three, all of which sport traditional headphone jacks.
Wrap-up
The Le Pro3 feels like it cost hundreds more than its $400 asking price, and it performs well for the money too. However, as LeEco’s first offering in the US, the Le Pro3 gets some important things wrong. Users here aren’t likely to unlearn old habits for a phone that’s not much better than similarly priced handsets, so the different software and missing headphone jack are missteps that will cost LeEco customers. I also wish the camera performed better in low light. In spite of all this, the Le Pro3 is a capable phone that punches above its weight, at least as far as design and performance go.
Chromecast Ultra review: Better video quality comes at a cost
Google’s first Chromecast was a cheap and ugly little stick that nonetheless served a very important purpose. At $35, it was about the cheapest way to make a plain old TV “smart,” letting people get Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and movies from Google Play right on their televisions with zero fuss.
But things have changed since the first Chromecast arrived in mid-2013. 4K TVs are becoming more and more commonplace, while companies like Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and, yes, Google are battling to bring video to your living room. Also, if nothing else, just about every TV these days has built-in Netflix and YouTube apps. Into this crowded market comes the Chromecast Ultra, an update to the 2015 version that adds support for 4K high dynamic range (HDR) streaming.
The thing is, that extra feature doubles the price: The Chromecast Ultra comes in at $69. It’s no longer in impulse buy territory for most people, so the question is: Does this improved video quality warrant a purchase?
Setup and hardware
If you’ve seen last year’s puck-shaped Chromecast, the Ultra will look familiar. It’s still a small, circular device with a short HDMI cable that magnetically attaches to the back. But, given the extra technology on board, it’s a little larger and fatter than last year’s model. It’s still ridiculously tiny, especially considering the extra capabilities contained within. You can still easily toss it in a bag and forget about it.
Just like the standard Chromecast, the hardware here is minimal: There’s the aforementioned HDMI socket, a mini-USB port for power and a reset button. That’s it. The power cord, however, is different this time. The brick actually has an ethernet port in it, all the better for quickly streaming 4K videos. Unfortunately, the Chromecast Ultra can’t be powered by your TV’s USB port anymore; you’ll need to plug it into a wall socket.
Setup is also identical to what you’ll find with a standard Chromecast. Install the Google Home app on your phone, plug in the Chromecast and the app will detect your new hardware. From there, it’s just a matter of getting it on your home network (WiFI or wired) and signing in with a Google account. Once that’s done, you’re free to start casting content to your TV using any compatible third-party iOS or Android app.
Features and hardware
I know I’m repeating myself, but there’s really no other way to say it. Using the Chromecast Ultra is no different from using any other Chromecast. The Google Home app presents suggestions for apps that are compatible with the Cast technology, including all the usual suspects like Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Vudu, HBO Go and Now, WatchESPN, MLB.TV, and NBC Sports, among many others.
Once you start up a video stream in the app, tap the “Cast” button when it appears on-screen, select the Chromecast Ultra, and the video will start playing on your big screen. Most of the time, there’s a few seconds of buffering as you’re starting something up, but things loaded quickly and consistently for me after a few seconds on a 100-Mbps connection.
The big catch here is actually finding 4K content to watch. That’s not a fault of the device; it’s just the reality of the streaming space right now. The only apps I found that supported 4K streaming were Netflix, Vudu and YouTube, with the former two options being the only ones in the group offering shows and movies you’ve actually heard of. YouTube is heavy on tech demo videos, but lacking in things you’d actually want to watch.
While Netflix and Vudu have 4K content you might want to watch, the catalog is still very small. Just about all of Netflix’s original content is available in 4K now (as well as Breaking Bad) but that’s about it. And Vudu has a paltry 68 movies available to rent or buy in 4K. As for content that supports high dynamic range — arguably a bigger step forward in terms of video quality than 4K resolution — there’s even less of it out there.
There are other problems with the 4K experience on top of limited content. For starters, the standard $9.99-a-month Netflix plan doesn’t include 4K streaming. I totally forgot that was the case and spent half an hour watching streams in 1080p before remembering that I hadn’t upgraded my Netflix plan. If you want to watch 4K, you’ll need to sign up for the $11.99 plan that also lets you watch simultaneously on four screens rather than just two. This is something lots of customers likely won’t realize, and there’s no prompt in the Google Home app to remind you to upgrade your Netflix plan.
As for Vudu, a 4K rental costs a whopping $9.99, while buying a movie costs an even steeper $29.99. That is a lot of money for what feels like a marginal improvement in quality. (Your milage may vary, but more on that in a moment.) Again, none of this is Google’s fault — but it does make it harder to recommend buying any 4K streaming device right now, the Chromecast Ultra included.
Performance
As I mentioned earlier, the Chromecast Ultra performed quite well even over WiFi. Loading up 4K UHD content worked quickly and reliably. Of course, that’ll depend on your internet connection, but getting 4K streams working here wasn’t an issue whatsoever.
It’s worth taking a quick second to note that two of our main caveats about last year’s Chromecast refresh still apply here: You always have to use your phone as the remote and there’s no native Amazon Instant Video app. The latter is on Amazon, as it could certainly add Chromecast support, but would prefer you buy the Fire TV or Fire TV Stick instead. As for that first caveat, that’s just how the Chromecast has always worked, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t enjoy a simple remote to handle play and pause duties (like Roku and Amazon both include).
As for picture quality, there’s no doubt it’s stunning — but I give the vast majority of that credit to the wonderful 55-inch LG OLED TV I used to test the Chromecast Ultra. Senior editor Devindra Hardawar and I watched a bunch of Netflix shows (including Jessica Jones, Daredevil, House of Cards and Stranger Things) and streamed Pacific Rim from Vudu.
Things looked excellent across the board, but Pacific Rim looked particularly gorgeous. Guillermo del Toro’s brilliant color palette shined throughout the film, while both the monstrous Kaiju and massive Jaeger robots looked more detailed and terrifying than ever. Oranges and blues in particular looked incredibly vibrant throughout the film, thanks to HDR technology — but sometimes, it felt like things were just a bit too saturated. Of course, it was near impossible to discern any pixels, even when standing a foot or two away from the screen.
But I was surprised to realize as the day wore on that 4K generally added very little to the experience. If you purchase a new TV as nice as the LG we were watching, you’ll definitely notice big improvements in the quality — regardless of whether it’s in 1080p or 4K. We did lots of A/B testing, flipping back and forth between Netflix shows streaming through the Chromecast Ultra and the current Apple TV (which only outputs in 1080p) and I was hard-pressed to discern a real difference. Even 1080p video looked outstanding on this fine TV. So did the 4K stream, but it wasn’t nearly the quality upgrade I was expecting.
Ultimately, the question of whether this is a major upgrade is a subjective one. Colors were far less saturated when watching Pacific Rim in 1080p, while the 4K rental occasionally entered the realm of oversaturation, at least to my eyes. The 4K HDR version of the film was impressive, but I don’t think it was definitively better. The Netflix shows we watched in 4K didn’t quite have that same oversaturated sheen. Things looked marginally sharper, but I would be hard-pressed to tell the difference in a blind test.
The competition
Perhaps the most obvious competitor to the Chromecast Ultra is Amazon’s Fire TV, which was updated last fall to include 4K video playback. It’s currently selling for $89, twenty bucks more than the Chromecast Ultra, but it has two big advantages. First is a real remote, and second is Amazon Instant Video support. That means that the Fire TV automatically has a larger library of 4K content, as Amazon supports the format. Then again, Amazon doesn’t offer very much video in 4K yet, but that’ll change over time.
Roku’s new Premiere+ is another contender. The $100 device streams 4K video with HDR at up to 60 frames per second. It also includes an Ethernet port, a microSD card slot and a remote. Additionally, it supports Amazon Instant Video. If you’ve used and enjoyed Roku products in the past, the Premiere+ is certainly worth considering.
The other big competitor to the Chromecast Ultra comes from your television itself. Most, if not all 4K TVs are so-called “smart TVs.” That means you’ll get access to apps like Netflix and Vudu right on the TV itself, and those apps will take full advantage of your set’s resolution. Lots of smart TVs have pretty terrible interfaces and it isn’t always easy to add apps, so make sure your television has what you want before you buy it. But Netflix and YouTube are almost always there. Furthermore, lots of new TVs now support Google’s casting technology. They essentially have a Chromecast built right in, then — something that makes buying a separate device unnecessary.
Wrap-up
Google’s original $35 Chromecast is so useful and so cheap that it was almost is a no-brainer. At double the price, I can’t quite say the same about the Chromecast Ultra. It works as promised, but the dearth of 4K content makes me hesitant to recommend it. Plus, chances are if you have a good 4K TV, it already has built-in Netflix and YouTube apps anyway.
Over time, as more and more video apps start supporting 4K, the Chromecast Ultra will serve more of a purpose. But the lack of video content coupled with the Chromecast’s higher price makes me feel like this device doesn’t quite have a purpose yet. If for some reason you have a great 4K TV that doesn’t have Netflix built in, though, this is probably the simplest way to remedy that situation. That has value — even if most consumers out there don’t need it.
Mass Fidelity Rad Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Two years ago Canadian company Mass Fidelity introduced the $600 Core — a networkable Bluetooth speaker that offered an ultrawide soundstage from a small box. Today, the company announced its follow-up, the Rad (the company stylizes this as “raD”, shorthand for radial dispersion), which uses the same networking system to communicate with other speakers in your house but is available at a lower price. While the Core used “Wave Field Synthesis” to create its stereo trick — which really did work based on our experience — the Rad uses a much simpler “radial” soundfield.
Mass Fidelity says the water-resistant product was a result of customers’ requests for a smaller, more rugged version that could be used outdoors or in a bathroom.The Rad is a little smaller than the Core at 5 inches square by 3 inches high, and it offers a five-speaker array, with four 1.5-inch drivers and a single 3-inch bass driver. The company says it’s capable of a frequency response from 75Hz to 20KHz and can be connected to the Core Wireless Subwoofer for even deeper bass.
The Mass Fidelity Rad (left) and the Core
Mass Fidelity
The Rad connects via Bluetooth to your portable device and is then able to link to up to eight other Rads or Cores in the home via a proprietary 5GHz wireless connection. The unit includes an onboard battery that can provide eight hours of playback as well as charge portable devices over a USB port. If you don’t want to connect over Bluetooth, you can also use the 3.5mm input.
We took a quick listen to the unit — it was apparent that the (more expensive) Core was demonstrably better at creating a stereo field, which the Rad wasn’t able to do convincingly. From our demo, the Rad sounded like a standard Bluetooth speaker
. We would really need to test it to give more specific impressions.
The unit is available for the next month on Indiegogo for $189 and will be sold at retail for $300. It’s expected to launch in April 2017.
OnePlus 3T Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
In a somewhat odd move, Chinese phone maker OnePlus is releasing a high-end handset called the OnePlus 3T — just five months after launching its OnePlus 3 flagship in June.
The OnePlus 3T (above) looks similar to the 3.
OnePlus
Though the device looks the same (save for a darker coat of paint called “gunmetal”), it’s packed with a bigger battery, a faster processor and a better camera. It also costs a bit more: the 64GB variant is $439, £399 and a new 128GB storage option is $479, £439. (Australia pricing is currently unknown, but that converts to about AU$580 and AU$630.) A gold finish will be available later too, but only for the 64GB model.
The 3T is seen as an “evolution of the 3,” according to the company’s head of marketing Kyle Kiang, and OnePlus did not want to “withhold some of the improvements” it could make for a whole year, when the next flagship is expected to launch. Kiang also said that the software updates in the 3T (more on that later), will roll out to 3 owners as well.
For OnePlus 3 owners though, this still has to sting. The 3 remains a great device and you’re not “stuck” with a lemon (in fact, we gave the phone an Editors’ Choice). But buying a great phone only to learn that the same company is selling an even better version for $40 more isn’t a great feeling.
The OnePlus 3T will be available in the US starting November 22, and will roll out to Europe on the 28th. The 3T will be OnePlus’ marquee handset, and the company will discontinue selling the 3 after the 3T’s launch. To see how these phone’s differ, read on for more info.
OnePlus 3 flaunts its premium design to the…
See full gallery
1 – 4 of 14
Next
Prev
More battery and processing power
Compared to the OnePlus 3, the 3T has both a higher battery capacity and a faster processor. Its battery is still physically the same size, and it will still employ OnePlus’ fast Dash Charging technology, but it will go from 3,000mAh to 3,400mAh. During our lab tests for continuous video playback on Airplane mode, the OnePlus 3 lasted 14 hours and 17 minutes, so we expect the 3T to last longer than that.
Likewise, the 3 had a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 820 processor. This time around, the 3T has a 2.35GHz Snapdragon 821 chipset. The 821 is the same processor you see in the Google Pixels and the LeEco LePro 3, and OnePlus 3 claims that despite the higher clock speed, the processor will run with the same power efficiency and won’t take a huge hit on battery life.
Cameras get an upgrade
The phone’s front-facing shooter jumps from 8 to 16 megapixels, and OnePlus claims it can take better low-light photos than its predecessor. The rear will remain a 16-megapixel camera, but its lens is made of a sturdier glass. Its image stabilization algorithm has also been updated so videos will appear more stable.
The OnePlus 3’s (above) front-facing shooter will go from an 8- to a 16-megapixel camera.
James Martin/CNET
Software tweaks (for everybody)
Like the OnePlus 3, the 3T will launch with Android 6.0 Marshmallow. OnePlus does promise that a 7.0 Nougat update is in the near future for both the 3 and 3T, and that the software updates featured in the 3T will roll out to the 3 as well. That’s one bit of good news for 3 owners, at least.
The software updates include more system gestures (like flipping the device upside down to mute a call and taking screenshots by sliding three fingers downward), resizable icons and a more user-friendly file manager. The shelf home screen page, which gives you fast access to your favorite contacts and email, will also get a minor facelift. You’ll be able to assign passwords for individual apps for extra security too. Extended screenshots, which allows users to take screenshots beyond what appears on the display (think webpages or files that you need to scroll down and see) will also be available in a future update.
OnePlus 3T Spec Comparison
| 5.5-inch; 1,920×1,080 pixels | 5.5-inch; 1,920×1,080 pixels | 5.5-inch; 1,920×1,080 pixels | 5.5-inch; 2,560×1,440 pixels |
| 401ppi | 401ppi | 403 ppi | 534 ppi |
| 6.01×2.94×0.29 in | 6.01×2.94×0.29 in | 5.96×2.90×0.29 in | 6.1×2.98×0.34 in (at its thickest) |
| 152.7×74.7×7.35 mm | 152.7×74.7×7.35 mm | 151.4×73.9×7.5 mm | 154.7×75.74×8.58 mm (at its thickest) |
| 5.57 oz; 158 g | 5.57 oz; 158 g | 6.24 oz; 177 g | 5.92 oz; 168 g |
| Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow | Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow | Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow | Android 7.1 Nougat |
| 16-megapixel | 16-megapixel | 16-megapixel | 12.3-megapixel |
| 16-megapixel | 8-megapixel | 8-megapixel | 8-megapixel |
| 4K | 4K | Snapdragon 821 processor | 4K |
| 2.35GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 | 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 | 2.15GHz + 1.6GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 |
| 64GB, 128GB | 64GB | 64GB | 32GB, 128GB |
| 6GB | 6GB | 4GB | 4GB |
| None | None | None | None |
| 3,400mAh (nonremovable) | 3,000mAh (nonremovable) | 4,070mAh (nonremovable) | 3,450mAh |
| Home button | Home button | Back cover | Back cover |
| USB-C | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C |
| Notifications toggle, dual-SIM, Dash Charging | Notifications toggle, dual-SIM, Dash Charging | Access to LeEco’s streaming platform with Live button | Google Assistant built-in; unlimited cloud storage; Daydream VR ready |
| $439 (16GB), $479 (128GB) | $399 | $399 | $769 (32GB), $869 (128GB) |
| £399 (16GB), £439 (128GB) | £329 | Converts to £325 | £719 (32GB), £819 (128GB) |
| Converts to AU$580 | Converts to AU$530 | Converts to AU$520 | AU$1,269 (32GB), AU$1,419 (128GB) |
Samsung NVMe SSD 960 EVO Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
The new Samsung SSD 960 Evo
Dong Ngo/CNET
The Samsung SSD 850 Evo is one of the most popular solid-state drives (SSDs) on the market, and now there’s a much faster upgrade for it, the 960 Evo that Samsung announced to day. But this new drive can’t literally take the place of its predecessor. It’s available only in the new M.2 design, and not the traditional 2.5-inch SATA design.
M.2 is a new interface that uses the PCI Express standard, one that was once reserved only for video cards, to connect to a computer’s main board. This interface allows for much higher bandwidth (currently up to 32Gb/s or 4,000MB/s) compared to that of the existing SATA, which caps at just 6Gbps. That said, M.2 is a new upcoming interface standard that’s expected to replace SATA completely in the future. The fact Samsung doesn’t offer an SATA version of the 960 Evo is a clear indication of this trend. To use an M.2 drive, your computer needs to have an M.2 slot or, for desktops, you will need a PCIe adapter.
Samsung says the new 960 Evo has a top read copy speed of up to 3,200MB/s and a write speed of up to 1,900MB/s. Its random access performance is upward of 380,000 IOPS, making it one of the fastest SSDs on the market.
It shares similar features as the older brother, however. The new drive, too, uses Samsungs 3D VNAND flash memory and also supports TurboWrite, a technique that uses a small amount of of high performance SLC flash memory as buffer to significantly increase write speed. It has a new five-core controller, four of which manage the NAND performance, with the last core dedicated to optimizing the communication between the host computer and controller. Like previous Samsung SSDs, the new drive also supports hardware encryption.
The new Samsung SSD 960 Evo is available in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB capacities at the MSRP of $129, $249 and $479. Pricing for the UK and Australia is not available at this time but those prices converted come out to £63/AU$171, £200/AU$330 and £385/AU$634, respectively.
Samsung SSD 850 Evo solid-state drive is a keeper
CNET editor Dong Ngo did a magic trick with the all new and excellent Samsung SSD 850 Evo. The kind of tricks that none of us can do!
by Dong Ngo
Close
Drag
AIVAnet 