Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Amazon

Roku makes our favorite streamers and leads the pack in sales, but Amazon is trying to find its own voice with an update to a familiar, inexpensive stick.

Available for preorder starting today is a new streaming media device officially called Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote. It costs the same $40 as its predecessor, the original Fire TV Stick, and still streams the same TV apps including Netflix, Hulu, Watch ESPN and of course Amazon video. But now the price includes the same remote found on the more expensive Fire TV box, complete with a little mic button and voice control.

Equally important in my book is a boost in speed. Amazon upgraded the processor with a quad-core version that’s supposedly 30 percent faster, addressing one of my major complaints with the original Stick. It also improved the Wi-Fi capability from 802.11n to 802.11ac, and added the ability to connect a set of Bluetooth wireless headphones for private listening.

Amazon

Otherwise it’s basically identical to the previous $50 version, which paired the original stick with a “voice remote.” Addition of the word “Alexa” in the new Stick’s name indicates how Amazon intends to differentiate itself from Roku. Amazon claimed “4,000 channels, apps, and games” on the original Sticks, and now that line reads “7,000 channels, apps and Alexa skills.”

Alexa, the Amazon voice assistant that’s been available for the last year on Fire TV, has grown more useful recently. It now augments search capabilities (which now cover 90 apps) with the ability to launch apps, play movies and TV shows by title or genre, control playback (“skip ahead 30 seconds”) read back information on local movie showtimes, businesses and restaurants, create shopping lists, use any of the 3000 Alexa skills, and command all of the same smart home devices as Amazon’s Echo and Dot.

The main downside of Alexa on Fire TV compared to Alexa on those devices, however, is that you’ll need to turn on your TV and press a button on the remote to use it — the Stick isn’t “always on” and listening for your command.

How to combine Alexa devices to fit your needs

Some of Alexa’s devices work well together, others don’t. We discuss the best combinations so you can find the one that works for you.

by Andrew Gebhart

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Fire TV’s primary function is streaming video, however, and my main beef is still with its interface, which relentlessly channels (no pun intended) users toward Amazon content. A recent minor facelift improved the situation a bit, allowing some apps like Netflix and HBO to surface content on the home screen, and Amazon promises a major “content-first” interface update later this year. We’ll see.

Three days ago Roku introduced an onslaught of new streamers, including three with 4K capability, while Google is expected to unveil its 4K Chomecast next week. A couple year-old iterations of the Fire TV box remain Amazon’s sole 4K streamers for now — the new Stick doesn’t have 4K resolution.

Of course, the Fire TV Stick’s primary rivals are the $35 Chromecast, the $30 Roku Express and the $50 Roku Streaming Stick, my favorite streaming device overall. Amazon’s counter-punch is to pair its new $40 Stick with a limited time promotion: “Eligible customers who purchase and activate their device by October 31 will also receive a free content package worth up to $65, including one month of Sling TV, two months of Hulu (Limited Commercials), and a $10 credit for Amazon Video to rent or purchase new releases or old favorites.”

The Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote ships October 20. We’ll have a full review as soon as possible.

Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The Mi 5s Plus features dual-cameras.

Xiaomi

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi’s third big-screen phone, after the Mi Note and Mi Max, is the Mi 5s Plus. But don’t let the name deceive you — the Mi 5s Plus feels more like a successor to the Mi Note, which was due a refresh this year.

Sporting the same 5.7-inch display size as the Mi Note, the Mi 5s Plus comes with a few upgrades not found on the Note, including a fingerprint sensor on the rear, dual cameras and a much bigger 3,800mAh battery.

Similar to the Huawei P9, the Mi 5s Plus’ dual 13-megapixel cameras feature a normal color sensor and a black-and-white one, which then combines both images for a more detailed image with less noise.

Like the Mi 5s, the Plus sports the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor. Depending on which version you get, it will either come with 6GB RAM and 128GB of onboard storage or 4GB RAM and 64GB storage.

While the phone’s currently limited to China, expect it to be sold in markets such as India and Singapore in the near future. It will retail for 2,299 yuan (approximately $245, £265 or AU$450) for the lower specced model and 2,599 yuan (about $390, £300 or AU$510) for the 6GB RAM version.

I’ll be looking forward to see if the cameras on the Plus are as good as Huawei’s P9, so do check back in the future for our review. In the meantime, here’s a quick breakdown of the specs.

Key features

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor
• 4GB or 6GB RAM, 64GB or 128GB onboard storage
• 13-megapixel dual rear cameras
• 3,800mAh battery

Sony BDP-S3700 review – CNET

The Good The Sony BDP-S3700 Blu-ray player demonstrates good features and performance for the money. The number of streaming apps is solid, and disc loading times are fairly respectable.

The Bad Entering text in apps is laggy and frustrating. The implementation of the PlayStation Now gaming app is relatively poor.

The Bottom Line The Sony BDP-S3700 Blu-ray player offers a lot of features for little money but a lack of input responsiveness can spoil some of the fun.

With 4K Blu-ray having finally arrived in 2016 and streaming players costing as little as $30, it seems almost “retro” to be buying a 1080p disc player these days. Or does it? Standard Blu-ray discs lack the benefits of HDR but can still look better than streaming video, even in 4K.

Despite not planning to release a 4K Blu-ray player until 2017 at the earliest, Sony still sells plenty of regular, old 1080p Blu-ray players. They include high-end models like the $350 UHP-H1 as well as more modest offerings such as the BDP-S3700.

Features

View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET

The S3700 is a cut above many sub-$100 players. In addition to PlayStation Now, the player will also stream from a lot more services than competitors, including apps such as Netflix, Amazon Video, YouTube, Pandora and Spotify. And of course the Sony will play back Blu-rays, DVDs and CDs.

View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET

The BDP-S3700 is a digital-only machine with only an HDMI port, digital coax, and USB for connecting your gear. Internet access can be provided by either wired Ethernet or Wi-Fi.

View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET

The interface is friendly and easy to configure with shortcuts to your favorite services, while the stubby remote control has the all-important Netflix shortcut. I had some niggles with usability, however, the most glaring being the inability to eject or insert a disc when Netflix or other apps were active. I also found the interface could be slow to respond, especially when inputting text in apps. A lag of several seconds between each letter makes it unusually frustrating to setup or search Netflix, for example.

PlayStation Now

View full gallery Sony

For $20 a month or $100 a year, users can access new and back-catalog PS3 games from this Blu-ray player. All you’ll need is a PlayStation controller, sold separately.

In practice, however, this feature is too limited for all but the most occasional gaming.

Honeywell Lyric T5 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Honeywell’s new Lyric T5 thermostat is scheduled to hit stores in October.

Honeywell

Honeywell has been in the thermostat game since the introduction of its T-86 Round model in 1953.

Today, the heating and cooling giant sells dozens of thermostats, ranging from very affordable to the $199 Lyric — a Wi-Fi-enabled thermostat with geofencing capabilities that also works with the Apple HomeKit and Amazon Alexa platforms.

Honeywell’s $149 Lyric T5, announced today, is the brand’s next iteration of the smart thermostat.

How to install the Honeywell Lyric Thermostat

Follow these simple steps to setup your Honeywell Lyric thermostat.

by Megan Wollerton

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Similar to the round Honeywell Lyric thermostat, which will continue to retail for $199, the Lyric T5 will supposedly work with both HomeKit and Alexa when it officially launches in October. That means you should be able to say things like, “Siri/Alexa, set Away temperature to 68,” “Siri/Alexa, lower Living Room by 3 degrees,” “Siri/Alexa, set the temperature to 72 degrees.”

Here are some additional features of the Honeywell Lyric T5:

• New design: The T5 has a glossy black finish, a gray trim and is “touch-sensitive,” according to Honeywell
• Related app: The Lyric T5 will be accessible via the Lyric app for Android and iPhone
• Geofencing: Use the app to set custom Home and Away distances so your phone can make the changes automatically
• Auto changeover: Program the T5 to decide for you if your thermostat should be set to heat or air conditioning
• Smart response: The T5 is supposed to learn your routines and set the heat or A/C to the exact temperature you want
• Smart alerts: You can opt in to alerts based on needing to change a filter and extreme temperatures

All of the above features sound pretty standard for smart thermostats today. The Nest Learning Thermostat and the Ecobee3 Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat also track your whereabouts to keep your house at the right temperature 24-7. They also integrate with broader smart-home platforms; specifically, both Nest and Ecobee3 work with Amazon’s Alexa and the Ecobee3 is HomeKit-enabled.

At the same time, the Nest and the Ecobee3 cost $249. Given that the Honeywell Lyric T5 seems to offer similar features for 100 bucks less, the T5 is poised to compete well against its smart thermostat competition. We plan to test it out for ourselves as soon as we can.

More thermostat coverage:

• Same great Nest thermostat, now with even better looks
• This round thermostat has a few rough edges
• Ecobee’s smart thermostat closes in on Nest
• Thermostat buying guide
• These smart thermostats steal the heating and cooling spotlight
• How to find a great thermostat for just 30 bucks

Honeywell’s $149 Lyric T5 Wi-Fi Thermostat will be available for sale in the United States starting in October. The team will also release a new version of the Lyric app next month, as well as the Lyric T6 Pro Wi-Fi Thermostat, a model exclusive to HVAC contractors.

Wink Hub 2 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Wink

Hubs aren’t dead yet. Wink — the brand initially launched as an app for GE + Quirky products — unveiled the second edition of its hub today. With a slimmer design and a faster processor, the Wink Hub 2 also has more memory and locally stored automations for quicker smart home reactions.

Available starting in late October at Home Depot, Walmart, Amazon and on Wink’s site, the Wink Hub 2 will sell for $100 (£75 or AU$130 converted). If you’d rather, you can still buy the original Wink Hub for $70 (or about £120 in the UK), and I’m glad to hear the company isn’t phasing it out.

Second-gen home hubs don’t have a good track record. The Lowe’s Iris smart home system ran into glitches — and angry customers — when it pushed everyone from its first-gen system to its second. Wink will let customers make the transition when they’re ready, though the updated app that coincides with the new hub will have a tool to help you make the shift if you’re already invested in the Wink system.

The second SmartThings hub also disappointed with its confusing app and performance issues. With its primary competitors faltering, Wink could seize control of the hub market if its second hub avoids similar issues — if there’s any hub market remaining. The idea of controlling a smart home from a single platform is still enticing, but Apple, Google and Amazon are all making plays to do just that without a hub.

Still, the Wink Hub 2 is checking the right boxes. It includes antennas to respond to just about any smart home device.

Features

• Wi-Fi radio that supports 2.4 and 5GHz networks
• Ethernet port
• Bluetooth Low Energy radio
• Thread radio
• Support for Kidde
• Support for Lutron Clear Connect
• Z-Wave antenna
• Zigbee antenna

The Hub will also store schedules and product-to-product triggers you create on its hard drive, which will hopefully make your smart home more responsive. We’ll see if that’s enough to help Wink stand with tech giants like Google, Amazon and Apple as the race for smart home control heats up.

DJI Mavic Pro Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The DJI Mavic Pro may be the first prosumer camera drone with true mass appeal.

While there have been several kinder, gentler quadcopters this year — from the large PowerVision PowerEgg to the compact Yuneec Breeze — the Mavic Pro is really the only one to combine high performance in an ultracompact body. Add in DJI’s full assortment of safety and ease-of-use features and you’ve got a drone that anyone can take anywhere.

Despite the small size, you’ll get nearly the same or better performance as from the company’s top-of-the-line Phantom 4. The new OcuSync encrypted transmission system, for example, gives you control up to 4.3 miles (7 km) away with 1080p live streaming to Facebook Live, Periscope and YouTube through the DJI Go app. The Phantom 4 has a max range of 3.1 miles (5 km) and streams at 720p.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Like the drone itself, the controller is very small, but still has a monochrome screen to give you important flight data. Want to see what you’re shooting? You can connect a phone and mount it just below the control sticks. Also, DJI added a switch to change from RC to a Wi-Fi mode, so you can quickly launch and control the Mavic with only your phone at distances up to 80 meters (262 feet) with a top speed of 4 meters per second (13 feet per second).

For the camera, DJI stripped away what it could of the body and the lens is smaller — a field of view of 78.8 degrees compared with the Phantom 4’s 94 degrees — but it has the same 1/2.3-inch size sensor. It can record 4K-resolution video at 30 frames per second or 1080p at up to 96fps and 12-megapixel photos in JPEG or Adobe raw. And it’s stabilized with the smallest three-axis gimbal DJI’s ever made.

You’ll be able to control the camera with buttons on the controller or with the mobile app. DJI plans to have full HD first-person-view goggles, too, that will give you a 85-degree view from the camera. You’ll be able to control camera tilt by looking up and down and turn your head to rotate the drone.

DJI Mavic Pro means never having to leave…
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DJI managed to not only retain the Phantom 4’s obstacle avoidance and intelligent flight capabilities, but updated them for the Mavic Pro. It can sense objects in front of it up to 49 feet (15 m) away while traveling at up to 22 mph (36 kph), while optical sensors on its belly help it fly indoors and keep it from hitting the ground even on a slope. In fact, a new Terrain Follow mode will keep it at the same height even if you head up a steep slope.

ActiveTrack, DJI’s name for its subject-tracking mode, can be used for people, animals and vehicles and will now allow the drone to follow from behind, in front or along side a subject as well as circle one. Selfie fans will appreciate the new Gesture mode, which lets you use hand motions to get the camera to focus on you and snap a photo.

The drone has a top regular speed of 24 mph (38.5 kph), but has a Sport mode which will let you take it up to 40 mph (64.8 kph). There’s a Tripod mode, too, that takes your top speed down to 2.2 mph (3.6 kph) so it’s easier to get the drone into just the right position for photos and video.

If all of that’s not enough, the Mavic Pro has a new Precision Landing system that uses the video and GPS information captured at takeoff to guide it back to land within an inch of where you launched from. So when you’ve reached the end of its 27-minute flight time, it will return right to you.

Sarah Tew/CNET

The DJI Mavic Pro will start shipping October 15 priced at $999 (about AU$1,300 and £750) with the controller or $749 by itself. You can pick it up in Apple Stores in early November. You’ll be able to tack on DJI Care Refresh for $99, which gives you accidental damage insurance for aircraft, gimbal or camera during normal use for up to 12 months, and for an additional charge will get you up to two full replacements if you total it.

When it comes to consumer drones, in my experience, smaller is better. Take a big quad like the Yuneec Typhoon H out to a public park and you’ll get more looks and questions than you do with a Parrot Bebop. The Mavic Pro seems to be the perfect solution: a quad that’s as portable and easy to fly as a Bebop, but with the performance and image quality of a larger model.

Kenmore 81383 Dryer review – CNET

The Good The Kenmore 81383 dryer has plenty of special cycles and steam modes. The appliance’s controls are also straightforward and easy to operate. The dryer offers satisfying cycle speed, and you can stack it vertically or place it on a pedestal accessory.

The Bad While practical, the Kenmore 81383 dryer’s design is generic and unexciting. Instead of using a dedicated water line, you must fill the dryer’s water reservoir by hand. The Kenmore 81383’s 7.4-cubic-foot capacity is small compared with the drum size of other dryers.

The Bottom Line With its solid performance and extensive features, you won’t be disappointed by the capable Kenmore 81383 dryer, but this machine’s boring exterior won’t thrill anyone.

Visit manufacturer site for details.

The $1,050 Kenmore 81383 clothes dryer doesn’t flaunt a snazzy design or metal and glass like the $1,000 LG DLEY 1701V. It also lacks both the drying speed and the large capacity of its bigger sibling, the $1,100 Kenmore 69133 dryer. Still, this appliance does have some appeal, specifically to the logically minded who shop with their heads instead of their hearts.

What the Kenmore 81383 offers is a practical mix of useful features and satisfactory performance for its price. You can also purchase upgrades for this model which allow its owners to either place it on a pedestal or stack it vertically with companion washers. Of course, these add ons are common among front-load style laundry appliances and can’t entirely mitigate the Kenmore 81383’s forgettable exterior.

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Design and features

With its subdued gray color scheme, which Kenmore calls “Metallic Silver”, and a generic profile, this dryer is by no means flashy. Indeed you could easily mistake it for one of countless other front-loading units on the market. It’s certainly no head-turner like the LG DLEY 1701V, which sports a design that’s simply beautiful.

This Kenmore dryer’s generic design could be found on any number of machines.

Chris Monroe/CNET

Measuring 39 inches tall and 27 inches wide by 30 inches deep, the Kenmore 81383 is more compact than other dryers I’ve recently taken for a spin. Of course those appliances, such as the Electrolux EFME617S Perfect Steam (8 cubic feet), Kenmore 69133 (8.8 cu. ft.), and Kenmore Elite 81072 (9 cu. ft.) all have roomier drums and spacious capacity to match. They make the 7.4-cubic-foot capacity you’ll find on the Kenmore 81383 feel cramped by comparison.

The Kenmore 81383 dryer places its controls front and center.

Chris Monroe/CNET

As a machine built to pair well with front-load style washers such as its companion, the Kenmore 41393 washing machine, the Kenmore 81383’s controls sit on its front face. Contained in a panel right above the drum, all the dryer’s buttons and keys are large and within easy reach. I also appreciate the big knob that turns without much effort and clicks softly into place when you select a dryer cycle.

Designed to handle different garment and fabric types, the dryer provides many cycles to choose from as well. Ten in all, they range from “Delicates” and “Casual” to “Heavy Duty” and “Bulky/Comforter,” just to name a few. The appliance is also equipped with steam modes to refresh, dewrinkle and even sanitize items. Instead of using a dedicated water line, however, the dryer relies on a small reservoir you must fill by hand periodically.

Acer Predator G1 review – CNET

The Good The Acer Predator G1 is a speedy, reasonably priced gaming desktop with a fun sense of design and an optional custom briefcase for on-the-go gaming.

The Bad Performance is slower than other similarly equipped gaming desktops; limited ports; requires two bulky external power bricks, and you’ve got to really like the sci-fi tank tread design.

The Bottom Line The Acer Predator G1 isn’t the fastest or even smallest VR-ready desktop, but it’s powerful enough for new games and VR headsets, and has a sense of fun missing from other gaming PCs.

Visit manufacturer site for details.

The compact Acer Predator G1 desktop isn’t the fastest or most powerful system in our roundup of gaming PCs with Nvidia’s new GeForce 1080 graphics cards. It’s also not the smallest, nor is it the least expensive or easiest to upgrade. But in testing and using it alongside many of its bigger and more powerful competitors, I found it had a better sense of — for lack of a technical term — fun. It’s a gaming desktop that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that’s a rare thing. Plus, it plays new 2D and VR games just fine, and is reasonably priced, making it easier to overlook any performance and design issues.

This is a newer, smaller version of the massive Predator G6 desktop we reviewed earlier in 2016. But that system was a floor-hogging monster that looked like a sci-fi movie prop, with its tank tread design and overblown online marketing copy which promised to “crush 4K gaming…and power-up for galactic domination.” While the Predator G6 was a very capable VR-ready desktop, and decently priced one, it was also too big and goofy to fit into most homes or apartments, especially if you have to consider the spousal approval factor for new hardware.

View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET

The Predator G1 is similarly high-end, but boils the same armored-space-tank design into a more manageable form, about 14 inches tall and 5 inches wide. It’s still somewhat silly-looking, but less in-your-face than the larger G6 version.

At this point, certain features feel like a wink and a nod to the excessive design. There are not one, but two separate pull-out headphone holders — basically reinforced sticks that extend from the left and right sides of the system — and the front panel breathes and surges with glowing lights, framing a vertical optical drive that slides open from the center of panel.

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Note the headphone holders deployed from either side.

Sarah Tew/CNET

My generous interpretation was that this was a miniaturized tongue-in-cheek take on the stereotypical gaming PC look and feel. I showed the Predator G1 to my game-playing spouse (70-plus hours in Fallout 4), hoping she’d find it as kitschy and charming as I did. But alas, she said it was hideous and banned it from the living room media center.

View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET

How do I know there’s a certain sly charm to the Predator G1? If you buy the special-edition bundle, which is what we have here, it comes with a custom rolling suitcase, designed specifically to fit the G1 and its accessories. It’s an aluminum case with the same armored/ribbed design as the desktop itself, but with a pullout handle and wheels, like an ordinary suitcase you’d see at the airport. Inside are custom foam cutouts for the desktop, its external power supply, and its keyboard and mouse. It’s hilarious, but also kind of awesome.

That bundle, which also includes a copy of the recent Ubisoft game The Division, is $2,299, and that also gets you an Intel Core i7-6700 CPU, 32GB of RAM, a single Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card and a 512GB SSD/2TB HDD storage combo. Acer says the suitcase alone is worth $265 (a stretch, but it’s not too shabby), so that’s a pretty good deal, and close to our VR-ready sweet spot of $2,000.

View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET

As is often the case, the available configurations in other regions differ. Lower-spec versions of the G1 are for sale in the UK starting at £1,499 and in Australia starting at AU$2,299. Neither includes the suitcase. Sorry.

Snapchat Spectacles Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

What would it take to get you to wear something on your face?

Smartglasses — or any sort of aggressive head-wearable eye tech — is still the final frontier for tech. Google Glass died as an awkward joke. Most smartglasses look like the sort of oddball things a normal person wouldn’t wear for more than a few seconds.

Enter Spectacles. Can camera-glasses become a thing at last?

Spectacles will arrive this fall, a surprise announcement by Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel alongside the launch of Snap, Inc. Snapchat is a popular social media app, but Snap, Inc. is positioned as a “camera company,” and Spectacles are its first product. They’re priced affordably. They have a camera inside. They record video. They look pretty bizarre. Or maybe they look fun. What do you think?

Can they redefine the concept of smart glasses? Here’s what we know so far from limited information on Snap’s Spectacles page, and a feature published in The Wall Street Journal. (We don’t have a pair…yet.)

Going for big and bold.

Spectacles.com

They’re sunglasses with a connected camera inside. Spectacles can record 10-second video clips that upload to Snapchat via an iPhone or Android phone paired through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Place them in the included case to recharge, AirPods-style.

Wearable camera-glasses aren’t new, but Spectacles are aiming to be the best. Companies like Pivothead made them years ago. Google Glass did something slightly similar (it could record video clips and photos, among other things). So understand that having a camera on your face has been a thing for a couple of years now, at least. But Spectacles are trying to look fun, and like something you’re wearing in public on purpose.

They’re bright and weird-creepy versus stealthy-creepy. Spectacles seem to have bright, Elton John-esque designs, and there’s a very prominent circular ring of LEDs that light up when video is being shot. That’s a different approach than Pivothead, which made black sunglasses that looked nearly normal, hiding the camera in the bridge of the glasses.

They’re priced like a novelty. Evan Spiegel calls them a “toy,” and at $130 they’re in that spontaneous-purchase novelty zone where Amazon Echo and Fitbit lurk (and the more expensive Apple Watch most certainly does not). Many pairs of sunglasses already cost that much. Maybe you buy one for a weekend at Coachella or Burning Man. Maybe you just do it because you want to try something new.

They shoot circular video that can be viewed in landscape and portrait. The 115-degree wide-angle camera captures video in a circle…so, if you view this video in the Snapchat app, you can look at it in horizontally, or vertically…or, by continuing to spin your phone around in any orientation. The video seems to be reframed as needed, meaning you might want to keep repositioning your phone for certain videos.

They light up when recording, just so everyone else knows what you’re doing.

Spectacles.com

It only records 10 seconds of video at a time. Like quick-snaps for video, and much like what Snapchat already does. This isn’t a record-your-kid’s-whole-birthday-party set of camera glasses, unless you keep snapping 10 seconds at a time. To snap, you tap (the frames).

These won’t make everyone look like hamburger-cat-people (maybe). Snapchat’s insane set of filters that map onto photos or videos with uncanny precision are amazing…but these Spectacle glasses don’t do anything like augmented reality. They don’t have video displays. These are just camera glasses. However, there’s a possibility that videos recorded via Spectacles could have filters applied afterward in the Snapchat app. No details have emerged regarding this.

It looks like they’re designed to sync into one app: Snapchat. Welcome to the world of connected wearable app-cessories. Spectacles look like a one-purpose type of gadget that syncs into one app (as far as we currently know). But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Snap nailed a great app first (Snapchat) and then is releasing a product second. And anyway, most great connected products tend to work this way.

They’re selfie-challenged. These are outward-facing camera-glasses, not inward. They’re glasses for snapping others, and capturing action shots. In a selfie world, maybe that seems weird. But when it comes to mounted action cameras like GoPro, it’s pretty standard.

They seem to be going after GoPro more than augmented-reality smartglasses. Again, they’re glasses with an embedded camera, not any sort of deeper set of “smartglasses.” And that’s probably a great idea, because they’re going to be a lot less complicated. And now that everything in the world is being instantaneously livestreamed, Spectacles could be a simple type of hands-free way of snapping stuff on the go. Or, yes, while doing crazy things.

They’re either a dumb promotional stunt, a bold stab at the future of cameras, or both. And we may or may not be in the world where wearing video-capturing glasses is finally acceptable. But we are definitely in a place where everyone already shares everything from their phones. I still think Spectacles seem more like party favors than permanent lifestyle decisions, but if people end up wearing them and not being mocked, Snap might have a victory for wearable face-tech.

BeatsX Earphones Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The funky wireless AirPods got all the attention when Apple unveiled it alongside the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus on September 7, but it was only part of the company’s new headphones lineup. It also showcased three new wireless headphones from its Beats brand: the PowerBeats Wireless 3, the Solo3 Wireless and the BeatsX.

But only the BeatsX ($150, £130, AU$200) is a truly new headphone and the first one designed with the help of Apple’s design and engineering teams. (The PowerBeats Wireless 3 and Solo3 Wireless just updated the previous models in their respective lines with a new wireless chip.) You probably won’t see it in stores until November, but I got an early listen, and was impressed with both the fit and sound of Beats’ first neckband-style headphone.

The band itself, which Beats calls a Flex-Form cable, has two wires running through it that are made of nickel titanium alloy or nitinol, which was developed by the US Navy in the late 1950s and is very malleable, durable and lightweight. The key to it here is that it gives the band just enough rigidity and allows you to roll up the headphone so it fits it in an included compact carrying case. You can’t do that with an LG Tone headset.

The headphones charge via a Lightning port and come with a Lightning cable.

David Carnoy/CNET

The magnetized buds adhere to each, so you can pin them together when they’re not in your ears and wear them like a pendant. The lightweight buds come with a few sizes of eartips and I got a tight seal with the medium tip (I usually take a large) and overall they fit my ears well. The buds house 8 mm drivers and after my short listing session, my initial impression was that the BeatsX sounded pretty natural for a Bluetooth headphone, with good detail and strong bass that wasn’t overpowering — an issue that plagued many an early Beats product.

Like Apple’s AirPods, the BeatsX also incorporates Apple’s new custom low-power Bluetooth chip, the W1, which allows for automatic pairing with Apple devices updated with the latest versions of its operating systems (iOS 10, MacOS Sierra and WatchOS 3). To pair, you just hold the BeatsX near your iPhone. That should also automatically pair the headphone to your Apple Watch, iPad and Mac — anything registered to you on your iCloud account.

The headphones come in black or white and roll up to fit in a compact carry case.

David Carnoy/CNET

BeatsX also works with other Bluetooth devices, but you have to pair it the old-fashioned way, which is still pretty simple.

The headphone delivers up to 8 hours battery life, which is decent for this type of headphone, though not exceptionally good. On top of that, if you give the headphone a quick 5-minute charge via its Lightning port — yes, I said Lightning, not USB — you get 2 hours of usage. Beats calls this quick-charge feature Fast Fuel.

You also get a couple sets of wingtips to get a more secure fit if you’re going running or doing something else athletic with the headphone. The X is sweat-resistant, has an integrated microphone and Beats has redesigned the RemoteTalk button to make it more tactile and responsive.

Close up with the wireless BeatsX Earphones
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At $150, this headphone isn’t cheap, but it is the least expensive wireless headphone from Beats and costs slightly less than Apple’s AirPods, sounds better and delivers longer battery life. I’ve tried near-final versions of both headphones and the BeatsX has more bass and richer sound. Which set of earphones proves superior as a headset for making calls remains to be seen, however.

I’ll have a full review of the BeatsX Earphones as soon as I get a final review sample. But if you’re looking for this style of headphone that you can wear around all day, the BeatsX is definitely worth checking out. Although it doesn’t offer 12 hours of battery life like the new $200 Powerbeats3 Wireless, it may be the better choice for those people who can’t get the right fit from the Powerbeats.

Aside from Beats’ own products, the BeatsX has plenty of competition in this category. Bose’s highly rated SoundSport Wireless costs $150, £140 or AU$249 and its upcoming QuietControl 30, which features both wireless active noise-canceling, arrives in the US in October for $300 (£230 or AU$400 converted). And there’s the plethora of lower cost neckband-style headphones, including LG’s popular Tone headphones, the Jabra Halo Smart and Skullcandy Ink’d Wireless.