Stigo L1e Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
The electric-powered Stigo may look like a bicycle, but take a closer look and you’ll see that it’s a foldable electric scooter. No need to balance upright — just perch on the saddle and coast along the pavement.
Despite its bulky appearance, this Estonian-built scooter is surprisingly light at 13.5 kg (or about 30 lbs), the weight of most foldable bicycles. Powered by a 250-watt motor, it easily hits a top speed of around 25 kph (15.5 mph). It comes in two variants, with a range of either 25 or 40 km (15.5 or 25 miles).
Stigo L1e e-scooter will take you places
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While testing the 25 km model, I was only able to clock around 20 km before I began to worry about running out of juice. That could have been because I was zooming at maximum speed for most of my journey.
A second trip of about 8 km at a slower pace left me with about 70 percent battery remaining, which made more sense. I tested the local distributor’s demo unit, so it’s possible the battery charge was already worn down by previous test drivers here in Singapore.
The folded Stigo is so compact that you won’t need to feel guilty when you haul it onto your bus or train.
Aloysius Low/CNET
The Stigo rides more like a bicycle than a standing e-scooter. It’s easy to learn, but the front handle bars are a bit too low and aggressive. I would have preferred them to be set higher for a more comfortable ride, but I soon got used to the position. The throttle control is smooth — unlike some other e-scooters, you don’t go from barely any power to a full-speed charge with just a tiny twist of the throttle.
Key features
- Top speed: 25 kmph (15.5 mph)
- Range: 25 km (15.5 miles) or 40 km (25 miles)
- Weight: 13.5kg (around 30 lbs)
- Folds up for easy storage
Folding and unfolding the Stigo is ridiculously easy. It takes about two seconds to lock the front wheel into position and pull up the seat. Packing the scooter away is simple too, making this one of the quickest folding designs I’ve encountered. When folded, the Stigo is easy to roll around, thanks to two small trolley wheels at the base of the now-standing e-scooter. And you don’t need to worry about someone stealing it, as the vehicle is useless without the smart key you use to turn it on.
All in all, the Stigo makes for a fun ride, but only if you have the dough for it. It costs 1,700 euros, which converts to approximately $1,900, £1,450 and AU$2,500 respectively, or you can pay S$2,000 here in Singapore. There’s no distributor yet in the US or Australia, but Stigo will deliver to the UK.
You’ll need to tap to unlock to use the Stigo.
Aloysius Low/CNET
Sony Xperia X Compact review
While we have seen a lot of “mini” iterations of popular flagship smartphones, these devices tend to fall in the mid-range category. Sony is the lone holdout in this regard, with their Compact devices only shrinking in size, while retaining the specifications and features of their flagship counterparts, which is the case with one of Sony’s latest offerings, the Xperia X Compact.
- Sony Xperia X Performance review
- Sony Xperia X Compact Hands on
- Why Sony deserves some credit – but not too much
- Sony Xperia XZ hands on review
Is there still a market for such compact smartphones, and what does this device have to offer? We find out, in this comprehensive Sony Xperia X Compact review!
Buy the Sony Xperia X Compact now
Design
While the Xperia X Compact is technically a smaller version of the Xperia X that was announced back at MWC this year, it borrows its design language from the flagship Xperia XZ that was launched alongside it at IFA 2016. However, it doesn’t feature the premium build quality of its high-end counterpart, with the Xperia X Compact being made entirely of plastic.
The X Compact may not offer the same feel as other Sony devices that offer metal and glass builds, but the phone is surprisingly sturdy. It comes with a very glossy finish, that gives it a ceramic look that is really nice, but does make for a huge fingerprint magnet. The top and bottom of the phone are completely flat, which means that the device can stand on its own, and there are frosted matching color inserts that flow well with the rest of the design.
The X Compact also features what Sony is calling a “loop” design, which is essentially a fancy way of explaining the tapers along the sides the make the transition from glass to plastic seamless, and makes the phone more comfortable to hold. Despite some aesthetic changes, the signature rectangular shape that Sony is known for is still seen here.
The best part about the Sony Xperia X Compact is how easy it is to use with one hand, which is obviously the point of a mini smartphone. With so many large display phones out there, it is quite refreshing to use a device that is this compact, with a screen that you can reach across very easily and without any hand gymnastics.
Taking a look around the device, the headphone jack and USB Type C port are at the top and bottom respectively, on the left side is the slot for the SIM card and microSD card, and on the right are the power button, volume rocker, and a dedicated camera button. The physical camera shortcut key is extremely convenient, with it not only providing a quick and easy way to launch the camera, but also because it works as a shutter button.
However, having all these buttons on one side can make it feel a touch cluttered, and the volume rocker sits too far down to make it comfortable to reach with your thumb. The position of the volume keys do make sense when using them to adjust the digital zoom of the camera, but is not in the optimal position for controlling the volume, which is its primary purpose.
The Xperia X Compact also comes with a fingerprint sensor that is embedded into the power button, but for reasons unknown, this isn’t available with the US version of the device, which is certainly an extremely odd choice. Unlike its flagship counterparts and previous Compact smartphones from Sony, the X Compact doesn’t come with dust and water resistance, which is another surprising omission, and could be a deal breaker for some.
Display
The Xperia X Compact comes with a 4.6-inch IPS LCD display with 720p resolution, resulting in a pixel density of 319 ppi. 720p may not be particularly impressive in the current scheme of things, but is certainly more than enough with a display of this size. The display is plenty sharp, and there have been no issues with reading text.
The display is pretty good, offering nice color reproduction and saturation, and good viewing angles. The screen also gets surprisingly bright, allowing for a comfortable viewing experience even in direct sunlight. Typing on the small screen isn’t much of an issue, but the media consumption experience isn’t going to be as good, not because of the quality of the display, but because of its size. It’s something that will take some getting used to, but is certainly not a deal breaker by any means.
Performance
Under the hood, the Xperia X Compact retains the same processing package as its larger namesake, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 processor, backed by the Adreno 510 GPU and 3 GB of RAM. Even though it doesn’t feature top of the line specifications, performance hasn’t been an issue with the X Compact.
Everything has been fast and responsive, and the device can even handle high-end games without struggling. Granted, the load times may be a little longer, but once a game loads, it runs very smoothly, with rarely any dropped frames to be seen. Overall, the performance has been quite impressive, and goes beyond what you would expect from a mid-range processor like the Snapdragon 650.
Hardware
As far as storage goes, 32 GB is your only option, but expandable storage via microSD card allows you to add up to 256GB additional storage, which should take care of all your needs.
Above and below the display are two thin slits that house the dual front-facing stereo speakers. The overall volume is on the quieter side when compared to other front-facing setups, but the quality of the sound is actually quite good, with clean, clear sound, with no distortion.
However, you will have a far better audio experience when plugging in a pair of headphones. The Xperia X Compact has built in support for Hi-Res Audio like FLAC, ALAC, DSD, and LPCM, but if you don’t have audio in these formats already, the device can also upscale any compressed audio files to give it a Hi-Res sound.
The Xperia X Compact comes with a 2,700 mAh battery, which allows for surprisingly good battery life, helped along by the relatively lower resolution display that it has to power. The battery comfortably provides a full day of use, and even with heavy usage that involved a lot of gaming and watching videos on Youtube, I rarely had to charge the device in the middle of the day.
The device comes with Qualcomm QuickCharge 3.0 support, and given the capacity of the battery, it doesn’t take long to get back to a full charge at all. However, one thing to remember is that Sony doesn’t include a QC 3.0 charger in the box, so you will have to pick up a third-party one to take advantage of the phone’s fast charging capabilities.
Camera
Sony is also making a big deal about the camera of the Xperia X Compact. The front 5 MP shooter is a fairly standard wide angle lens camera, and gets the job done when it comes to taking selfies. On the back is a 23 MP camera, which is the same sensor that is found with Sony’s higher-end offerings like the Xperia XZ.
To improve the camera, Sony has added a new laser auto focus system to help with sensing distance and taking better shots in low light situations, and there is also a new color sensor to help you get much better white balance. The real kicker here is that the X Compact has 5 axis image stabilization for both the front and rear cameras when recording video, but there is no physical hardware inside to make this stabilization happen, with all the stabilization being software based.
Before you get too excited though, the 5 axis stabilization is utilized only when recording “macro” shots, so unless you see the word macro pop up in the corner of the viewfinder, you only get 3 axis stabilization, which does work well to keep the footage stable and without any warping or distortion. It is somewhat strange that Sony hyped a feature that is used only in limited situations, since macro video isn’t something a lot of people typically use their smartphones to record.
The camera application offers what we’ve come to expect from Sony devices, and it doesn’t look like it has changed significantly over the years. You can swipe up or down on the viewfinder to switch between various modes, that include Superior Auto, manual, and video recording, along with the slew of camera effects that Sony always adds. It isn’t the most intuitive camera app, and HDR still only works when using the manual mode, but the overall camera shooting experience is fairly straightforward.
Sony Xperia X Compact camera samples:
It is easy to quickly launch the camera and take a shot using the dedicated camera shutter button, and the image quality is well above average. Images are extremely sharp and well detailed, and while there is a good amount of color and saturation to be had, shots do look more natural when compared to the oversaturated photos that are taken with some other smartphones.
The camera also has a predictive hybrid auto focus feature that can continuously track moving objects and capture them without motion blur. As long as the object isn’t moving ridiculously fast, this feature does work really well. In low light conditions, there is still a fair amount of detail to be had, and images generally tend to be noise free. However, the shutter speed can be really slow in such lighting situations, so very steady hands will be required to avoid blurry photos.
Software
On the software side of things, the Xperia X Compact is running Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Sony’s custom skin on top. Calling it a custom skin is certainly a stretch however, considering how many stock Android elements are to be found throughout the user interface.
Sony has really scaled back on their own customizations, and has even gone as far as to add the Google Now homescreen to this launcher, which really makes the experience feel closer to stock. That said, it does come with a lot of bloatware, including pre-installed Sony apps and a few third-party ones, but all of these can be disabled and moved out of the way.
Overall, Sony has done a fantastic job with keeping the software experience clean and simple, which is also a contributing factor to the smooth performance that is available with the Xperia X Compact.
Specifications
| Display | 4.6” HD Triluminos IPS LCD |
| Processor | Hexa-core, 64-bit Snapdragon 650 (2 x 1.8 GHZ, 4 x 1.2 GHz) |
| RAM | 3 GB |
| Storage | 32 GB + microSD |
| Dimensions | 129 x 65 x 9.5 mm |
| Weight | 135g |
| IP rating | No |
| Main camera | 23 MP, predictive hybrid auto-focus, triple image sensing technology, 5-axis stabilization |
| Front camera | 5 MP |
| Battery | 2,700 mAh, Quick Charge 3.0, Qnovo Adaptive Charging, USB Type-C |
| Fingerprint sensor | Yes |
| Networks | GSM GPRS/EDGE (2G), UMTS HSPA+ (3G), Cat. 6 LTE |
| Connectivity | A-GNSS (GPS + GLONASS), Wi-Fi Miracast, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC |
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Pricing and final thoughts
So there you have it for this in-depth look at the Sony Xperia X Compact! The unlocked version of the Xperia X compact is available in the US for $500, which is really steep for what is basically a mid-range smartphone, and its price point puts this phone in a rather awkward position.
There are a lot of other options out there, like the Nexus 6P, that arguably offers a lot more value despite being a year old, for the same price or less, and if you are looking for something more current, great choices include the OnePlus 3, the ZTE Axon 7, or the Honor 8.
- Sony Xperia X Performance review
- Sony Xperia X Compact Hands on
- Why Sony deserves some credit – but not too much
- Sony Xperia XZ hands on review
The Xperia X Compact is a great phone, and if you choose to buy one, you certainly won’t be disappointed. However, without a fingerprint sensor (with the US version), or features like dust and water resistance, the $500 price tag is hard to accept, just for the convenience that its size offers. If you are looking for the best value for money, this phone isn’t the one to get, but if you just want a compact phone that doesn’t compromise a whole lot, that’s when you might find this device to be worth every penny.
Buy the Sony Xperia X Compact now
PlayStation 4 Slim review: Wait for the PS4 Pro if you can
After selling over 40 million consoles, Sony is refreshing the PlayStation 4. That starts with the PlayStation 4 Slim, available now for $299, along with the PlayStation VR headset (out next month) and the higher-powered PS4 Pro, which comes out in November. Sony has said that the PlayStation 4 Slim will become the new standard PS4, replacing the tried-and-true model that launched in 2013. So how does it compare?
Hardware
As its name suggests, the Slim is indeed a more compact version of what came before. The Slim drops over 2 pounds in weight, down to 4.63 pounds from 6.17, and it measures 10.43 x 11.34 x 1.54 inches, versus 10.83 x 12.01 x 2.09 inches on the older model. From the front, the PS4 has always looked like a sandwich cut at a funny angle. Both pieces of “bread” were an inch tall. That changes with the Slim. The bottom piece of “bread” is 7/8ths of an inch, and the top is 7/16ths of an inch. The Slim is 25 percent lighter, according to Sony, but it manages not to feel cheap or hollow. All of which is to say that the console is even more portable than its predecessor.
Much like the original PlayStation 3 and the PS3 Slim, the PS4 Slim retains the overall shape of the PS4 and drops its glossy black plastic in favor of a textured matte finish. This makes it much less prone to collecting dust, fingerprints and scratches. Meanwhile, sharp corners have given way to softer, rounded ones. It’s up front where you’ll notice the biggest changes.
The touch-sensitive power and eject buttons have been replaced with physical buttons. The power key is physically larger, while the eject button is a cute circle. Both are slightly recessed, but differentiating between them in the dark shouldn’t be a problem. The power button also acts as a replacement for the color-changing LED strip that adorned the top of the original PS4. Ten pin-size LEDs glow white when the system is powered on and orange when it’s in standby. They turn off completely when the system is powered off. I always thought the launch model’s strip was a little much; meanwhile, the new power button conveys the same information in a less obnoxious way. I’m a fan.
Above those buttons is a slot-loading Blu-ray drive. The system’s two USB 3.0 connections are now spaced roughly 6 inches apart, with one next to the optical drive and the other sitting next to the console’s right edge. Along the right side where the “meat” of the sandwich is, there’s a threaded hole halfway between the front and back where you can screw in a stand for setting up the console vertically. Around back are ports for the power cable, PlayStation Camera, an HDMI 2.0a socket and an Ethernet jack. If you have an older A/V receiver or are using certain types of gaming headphones, the lack of an optical audio port is going to sting quite a bit.
When I asked Sony about this omission, a spokesperson said the decision was based on “market trends and the needs of the audience we’re targeting with the new standard PS4.” Basically, Sony is saying that you should upgrade your other A/V gear to accommodate its cost-cutting measure.
There’s also a flimsy L-shape piece of plastic covering the hard-drive bay, granting easy access for future storage upgrades. Seemingly it’s an admission on Sony’s part that the pack-in 500GB hard drive is much too small. Usually, the underside of a video-game console doesn’t warrant any sort of attention (who even looks there?), but the Slim’s is kind of neat. The rubber feet at each corner are triangles, circles, squares and Xs in a nod to the platform’s face buttons, with a PlayStation logo in the center.
Any internal changes here should have minimal impact on day-to-day performance, but Sony says power consumption has been reduced an impressive 34 percent. That’s a significant change, yet you aren’t likely to notice any differences in performance. Load speeds on Doom and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End are still lethargic, but even with some of the more-demanding sequences from each, I didn’t hear the fan kick into overdrive the way it does on my launch model. And yep, I blow the dust out of that once a year, so this isn’t a case of my console overheating due to dirty innards.
One of my biggest gripes with the original PS4 was its reliance on aging wireless standards. Sony has addressed that with the Slim by stepping up to an 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. Finally. Connected to my 5GHz network, I’m getting similar download speeds on both WiFi and Ethernet, but as you’d expect uploads over 802.11ac still aren’t as fast as on a wired connection. That will matter if you’re planning to jump into Street Fighter V or maybe some Star Wars: Battlefront online, but if all you need to do is download a few games and aren’t physically near a router, you shouldn’t have to sacrifice much speed, if any.
The controller
The DualShock 4 is one of my favorite gamepads ever, but its battery life is absolutely awful. When images of a revamped controller started surfacing along with leaks of the Slim console itself, I hoped we’d get a more-power-efficient gamepad, or at least one with a bigger battery. The product label on the controller’s underside reveals that there’s an 800mAh battery tucked away, the same capacity as on the original. That’s a huge missed opportunity on Sony’s part, especially when you consider that with the Xbox One S, Microsoft retooled its standard gamepad to address shortcomings on the original controller.
That’s not to say there aren’t a few differences here, though — it’s just that they’re mostly cosmetic. The thumbstick pods feel a little smoother in motion, while the share and options buttons aren’t as stiff. The spaces where the face buttons and D-pad sit have changed, and have a matte, not glossy, finish. Oh, and all the touch-points, save for the touchpad and PlayStation/home button, are a carbon gray color versus monochrome black on the original.
Speaking of the touchpad, you can now see what color the controller’s lightbar is without flipping the gamepad over. That’s because the TV-facing distraction has been given a narrow window at the top edge of the touchpad. It’s subtle enough that in play it didn’t distract me from slaughtering hordes of demons in Doom. When the controller is turned off, you can’t even see where the top light would come through.
Perhaps the biggest change, though, is that the DualShock 4 will now transmit data over USB. For folks who count animation frames in Street Fighter or do competitive gaming, this is a big deal because it eliminates lag between the controller and the console. But if you’re casually playing single-player games like Darksiders 2 or Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, you probably won’t notice a difference.
The competition
At this point, it’s impossible not to compare the PS4 Slim to the Xbox One S. The revamped Xbox One went on sale last month starting at $299, with an Ultra HD Blu-ray drive and support for HDR gaming. In terms of pure specs, the Xbox One S is a much better value. That UHD drive future-proofs you, making it hard to dismiss even if you don’t currently have a 4K TV.
Movies are one thing, though — it’s the games that make or break a game console. If you want to play Gears of War, Forza Motorsport and Halo, or catch up on a raft of Xbox 360 backward-compatible titles, the Xbox One S is the console for you. But if Uncharted 4, Until Dawn, The Last Guardian or virtual reality are more your speed, then buy a PS4 Slim. That is, unless you’re waiting until next month for the PS4 Pro, which boasts 4K output (but no UHD Blu-ray drive), more power and HDR gaming. Just keep in mind that the Pro will set you back $399 versus $299 for the Slim.
Wrap-up
The PS4 Slim is a great console. It’s smaller, quieter and less obtrusive than the PS4 that launched in 2013. The addition of 5GHz WiFi is incredibly welcome, but no UHD Blu-ray drive makes it a tough sell against the comparably priced Xbox One S. The only reason to buy the Slim is if you need a new console right this minute and have a hard budget of $299. If you can hold out until November and sock away another $100 for the PS4 Pro, though, you absolutely should.
Mafia III Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
The Mafia series is publisher 2K’s take on the GTA-style sandbox crime spree set in fictionalised versions of historical American locales. The first game put you in Depression-era Lost Haven, an amalgam of ’30s Chicago and San Francisco. Mafia 2 dropped your felonious feet down in Empire Bay, a mash up of post-WWII New York, LA and Detroit.
Mafia III is out on October 7, and this time you’ll be driving, shooting, racketeering, stabbing and shooting your merry way across New Bordeaux, a ’60s-infused spin on New Orleans. Yes, I said shooting twice. There’s a lot of shooting.
2K Games
What is Mafia III?
New Bordeaux is your playground. If you’ve ever played a GTA-style sandbox game, you’ll know the score here. Drive around, shoot things, complete missions. Mafia III follows the story of Lincoln Clay, a Vietnam War vet who returns home and becomes embroiled in New Bordeaux’s criminal underworld.
Lincoln is an African-American returned Vietnam vet, so it’s safe to assume that Mafia III gets a little political with that period of US history. Mafia III opens with a warning that it won’t shy away from racial issues, and it lives up to that. That’s not to say Mafia III isn’t funny — even in the few hours I sampled, there were a dozen laugh-out-loud moments.
Mafia games track the rise and fall of larger-than-life underworld figures, and Mafia III is poised to deliver more of the same.
New Bordeaux, 1968?
Open world games like this live and die by the setting, and the city is brought completely to life in Mafia III. It’s a pleasure to drive around and soak up the atmosphere. From Mardi Gras parades to stalking gangsters through the bayou, New Bordeaux feels alive. A period soundtrack perfectly accompanies the story and the setting, and you won’t just hear the killer licensed tracks on the radio. Big cutscenes or story moments are all set to music, and it really pushes the cinematic feel.
In addition to gameplay and the usual cutscenes, the story is told using documentary technique, talking heads, with snippets of found footage and recordings of senate hearings set decades after the events of the game. The combination of story moments set in the ’60s and the regret-filled memories of the survivors in interviews gives Mafia III an engrossing true-crime sensibility.
2K Games
So it’s just like GTA?
The sandbox gameplay is similar. Drive around, and complete story missions at your own pace. There’s a huge city to roam, cops to avoid and an endless number of rival crooks to deal with. But after getting some extended hands-on time with the game, it feels far less tongue-in-cheek than Rockstar’s GTA series.
There’s also stuff above and beyond the usual driving, running and gunning. A decent stealth system has Lincoln make use of his army-issued Bowie knife for some truly gory takedowns. As you ascend the ranks in the criminal underworld and take over more of the city, you’ll also need to assign districts to your lieutenants and manage the income and bonuses.
Do I need to play Mafia I or II?
Nope. Lincoln is a new face and New Bordeaux is a new city. Previous knowledge is not required.
Can I feed people to alligators?
Yes. But I would like to remind you all that alligators are actually gentle creatures unlikely to attack humans.
2K Games
When can I play it?
Mafia III will be out on PC, Mac, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on October 7. Stay tuned to CNET for our full review.
Fender’s FXA2 in-ear monitors sound great onstage and off
When you think “Fender,” your brain conjures up images of guitars, of long-haired tattooed musicians exploding into ear-piercing solos. It’s an appropriate assessment — the Stratocaster (or one of its many clones) is usually the first instrument of aspiring rock gods. What you don’t think about are earbuds. But after a recent acquisition, the guitar maker is hoping to change that with its line of in-ear monitors.
I just happen to be in a band. (Actually, several. Okay, five. I’m in five bands.) And no matter where we play, we need to be able to hear ourselves. To accomplish that, everyone from Beyoncé to a local band at a small club uses “monitors.” Unlike the wall of sound directed at the audience, the in-ear and speaker-based monitor system is mixed for either a particular person or area on stage. And from my own experience if you’re a musician and can’t hear yourself — or worse, your bandmates — you’re going to have a bad time.
After years of filling clubs and arenas with piercing guitar wails, Fender is now jumping into helping people hear what’s actually going on onstage. It’s actually not that surprising: The company, earlier this year, purchased Aurisonics, an outfit catering to audiophiles and musicians. So when I put in the $200 FXA2 Pro in-ear monitors, it was easy to see why Fender made that purchase. The thing is, though, you really don’t need to be in a band to get the most out of these earbuds.
They sound outstanding and more importantly fit snugly in my ears without being uncomfortable — an issue I’ve had with other earbuds. Fender says that the FXA2 monitors are especially well suited for bass players and drummers. That translates to deep, rich kick drum (and Roland 808) hits and bass lines that sound crisp. Both of which are great, considering these sounds are typically lost in audio gear with such a tiny form factor.
Meanwhile guitars, vocals and the rest of the band also sound better than you’d expect on a set of $200 earbuds. Cymbal hits might not resonate as well as they would on more expensive headphones and earbuds, but the FXA2s do a respectable job. But it’s the low end that really impresses.
As for actually using these on stage, I sing in those aforementioned bands and was able to test these out using the PA system in our practice space. We use a Mackie 1604VLZ4 16 channel mixer and Shure SM58 mics. Typically we use speaker monitors, so using an in-ear system took a bit to get used to. That said, the FXA2 did seem lose some crispness in the higher registers while singing. Higher-pitched yells and screams also felt a little flat. But while using a Roland TR8 and listening to a bass guitar or singing in a lower range, the earbuds sounded great.
I’ll admit I never used them at a show. It would have required a wireless setup so I wouldn’t be tethered to the PA system. But if I started playing drums again or became a bass player and wanted a more focused audio monitoring solution, the FXA2s would be in my ears.
They’re comfortable and snug enough to use for hours without worrying that your sweaty rock-and-rock-level head movements won’t knock them free. The FXA2s have the added bonus of cutting out most outside audio, which has made them my go-to listening devices before a show. They’re more compact than the noise-cancelling headphones I usually wear, and I can use them as earplugs in the very loud clubs I frequent when I’m not listening to the music I’m trying to memorize before we go on stage. (I get pre-show jitters, fretting that I’ll forget everything.)
I also tried out the $400 FXA6 in-ear monitors from Fender and for double the price, they sound incredible. But, I know that being in a band is like having a direct line from your bank account to Guitar Center, and I feel that for musicians a $200 solution that works on stage and off is more ideal.
So if you’re a drummer, bass player or sing in a low register, the FXA2’s will serve you well as you bring down the house. For everyone else, they’re a great set of earbuds for enjoying your favorite music, regardless of whether you wrote it or not.
Kuna Toucan review – CNET
The Good The $199 Kuna Toucan outdoor camera connects to the included Smart Socket light bulb adapter via USB so you don’t have to bother with batteries or a power cord. It has a very discreet design and a built-in 100-decibel siren for an extra dose of deterrence.
The Bad Kuna’s Smart Socket adapter made the light bulb extend past the bottom of my wall light. The Toucan relies on the light fixture for illumination rather than infrared LEDs, it doesn’t work with smart home products from other manufacturers and its motion sensor was too sensitive.
The Bottom Line If you’re looking to add a low-maintenance outdoor camera to your home security setup, Kuna’s Toucan could easily fit the bill.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
Kuna’s $199 Toucan has a bunch of the basic outdoor camera stuff: HD video resolution, a motion sensor, alerts, a related app, two-way talk and cloud storage. But the best bit is that it also retrofits to existing outdoor wall lights via a USB cable, which means no batteries, no wires and no fuss. And since your purchase includes a Smart Socket adapter to make a dumb bulb smart, you can create rules in the Kuna app that link your camera to your light fixture.
I do wish its motion sensor were less sensitive and that the Toucan integrated with products from other smart-home companies. The Toucan doesn’t have infrared LEDs for night vision, either. You have to rely on the illumination from the light fixture above instead. Even so, the Toucan is easy to recommend for its fast installation, unobtrusive USB cable, clear HD feed and the added bonus of a built-in 100-decibel siren to startle trespassers.
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Getting to know Toucan
Housed in a circular, matte-black panel, the Toucan looks more utilitarian and discreet than the design-forward models out today like Nest Cam Outdoor. When you’re talking about outdoor security devices, though, I’d likely opt for a Toucan’s subtlety over a Nest’s shiny white finish.
Beyond its unobtrusive aesthetic, the Toucan was also built to integrate with standard outdoor wall lights. And Kuna came up with a clever way to harness power from your light fixture so you don’t have to install batteries in the camera or deal with wiring: a Smart Socket light bulb adapter and a small USB cable. That makes it much more low-maintenance than the battery-dependent Netgear Arlo outdoor cameras or the power-adapter-dependent Nest Cam Outdoor.
The complete installation took roughly 10 to 15 minutes. Here are the steps:
- Turn off power to your wall light
- Detach the wall light’s housing with a screwdriver
- Unscrew your existing bulb
- Screw in the Smart Socket adapter
- Reattach the same light bulb*
- Plug the USB cable into the USB port on the Smart Socket Adapter
- Reinstall the wall light housing **
- Install the Toucan camera below your wall light ***
- Plug the other end of the USB cable into the Micro-USB port on the camera’s base plate
- Turn on power to your wall light
*The Smart Socket is 3 inches long and might be too big too work with your current light bulb and light fixture. In my case, the light bulb hung below the fixture.
**When you reinstall the wall light housing, make sure you feed the USB cable through the housing so it dangles down behind the wall light. A section of the USB cable is wrapped with a protective plastic cover to act as a cushion at the spot when the cable and the housing meet.
***When installing the Toucan camera, you can either use the included hardware or the strong adhesive backing; I used the sticker since my installation was temporary. Kuna also provides a conduit cover to hide any excess USB cable that might be dangling between the wall light and the camera’s install spot. I stuck the camera directly under the light fixture, so I simply tucked the extra cable between the camera’s base and face plate during installation.
Honor 8 feature focus – Camera
While popular smartphone manufacturers like LG and Apple have just recently adopted dual camera configurations, Huawei has largely led the way, beginning with the Huawei P9. While the P9 never made its way to the United States, the Honor brand is now bringing its own dual camera tech to the US with the Honor 8.
More Huawei Coverage:
- Honor 8 review
- Huawei P9 feature focus – Camera
As we highlighted in our comprehensive review, the Honor 8 offers two factors that are often mutually exclusive: a high-end dual camera experience and an affordable price. Let’s take a closer look at what exactly the Honor 8’s camera is packing with our Honor 8 camera feature focus!
Buy Honor 8 now!
Technical Details
Before we jump into our image analysis, it’s worth reviewing the technical details of the Honor 8’s cameras. The primary configuration is composed of two lenses with f/2.2 apertures. Thanks to Honor’s unique technology, when you go to take a picture, the first lens captures a color image while the second lens captures a monochrome image.
This in itself may seem a bit futile, but when combined with some clever software processing, the Honor 8 is able to produce better, more vivid 12 MP images with crispier details. This can be primarily attributed to a greater availability of light ― up to three times more than a single lens, according to Honor.
This dual lens configuration, in addition to the fast aperture and larger 1.25 μm pixel size, are remarkably functional in lower-light conditions as well, which we’ll analyze below.
The cameras are accompanied by a dual-tone LED flash, which helps balance skin tones when using the flash. There’s also a laser module for laser autofocus, which is utilized in synchrony with contrast detection. Honor says that this improves the Honor 8’s autofocus speed, which is obviously very important when capturing time sensitive subjects.
Of course, we can’t forget about the 8 MP front-facing camera. It has an f/2.4 aperture, and you can view a couple sample images below.
Results
Generally speaking, the front-facing camera produces great results. Yes, Honor’s Beauty mode is alive and well in the Honor 8’s camera software, but there’s now a slider to control the amount of skin softening. It’s fair to say that the results can still look slightly unnatural, but this effect can always be toned down from the default setting or turned off completely.
The camera app also offers a myriad of primary camera modes, including but not limited to manual, panorama, HDR, time-lapse, and slow-mo. Each of these modes works as you would expect. In the panoramic image above, the Honor 8 did an excellent job with stitching each piece of the photo together.
In this panoramic image, there are some areas where the stitching wasn’t perfect, but it’s still a great image overall.
As we have seen with previous Honor smartphones, the Honor 8 includes a wide aperture mode which enables artificial background blur, up to f/0.95. The effect can be very fun to play around with and certainly gives otherwise plain looking images artistic looks.
This effect is still artificial though, and can stumble a bit in lower contrast scenes like the one on the left. Mainly, the processing software seems to have trouble isolating the banner from the cloudy sky in the background. Regardless of the sometimes disappointing results, this mode can really take your smartphone photography to a more creative level.
Although there is an HDR mode which can be manually selected from the modes view, the normal auto mode often provides more than enough dynamic range, making many of the HDR photos virtually indistinguishable from the normal photos.
Taking a closer look at those “normal photos,” you can see just how well the Honor 8 balances the highlights and shadows. In the left image, this can be seen especially when looking at the properly exposed sky and detailed darker areas. On the right, the sky is just a tad overexposed, but the statue in the center is surprisingly well detailed.
Contrast is quite good across the board, actually, as can be seen in the images above. The Honor 8 also seems to do well with color saturation; images don’t come out oversaturated like they often do with the Samsung Galaxy S7, but they’re also still fairly punchy.
Overall, the Honor 8’s camera captures great stills in good lighting. Sadly, video recording isn’t up to par with competing options. In addition to maxing out at 1080P/60p when most others go up to 4K/30p, the actual video quality is a bit under what you might expect. Colors appear muted in comparison to how they do in still images, and the software processing sometimes mixes up the correct white balance mid-shot.
There’s also no optical image stabilization, so it can be tricky to get a steady shot at times. It’s hard to recommend the Honor 8 for video because many competing options simply offer superior quality.
In low-light conditions, the Honor 8’s camera offers surprisingly strong performance when compared to other affordable flagships. Granted, images do still appear noticeably noisy in dim conditions.
Colors also appear less punchy and more muted, although there’s still a good amount of contrast overall. Detail can be a mixed bag and primarily depends on how steady you hold the phone when taking the shot. In order to compensate for the lack of light, the Honor 8 lowers the shutter speed, meaning that the sensor is exposed for a longer period of time.
If you have shaky hands, this can be problematic when trying to capture the details of a low-light scene. Once you minimize camera shake, you’ll get noticeably better results. While the Honor 8’s camera isn’t as impressive in low-light when compared to phones like the Galaxy S7, it’s important to consider Honor’s competitive pricing.
In fact, perhaps the most impressing aspect here is how Honor was able to defy our expectations. One of the most pressing compromises with the vast majority of affordable smartphones is camera performance, yet the Honor 8 still manages to impress in this department.
That concludes our Honor 8 camera feature focus. How do you feel about the Honor 8’s camera? Is it enough to make you go out and purchase the Honor 8? Please do let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!
Buy Honor 8 now!
Acer Aspire Switch Alpha 12 review – CNET
There are so many Windows-powered tablets that connect to slim keyboard covers that we’ve taken to calling them Surface-alikes, after the flagship Microsoft hybrid. But while most of the competing options cost less than the current Surface Pro 4, those systems, from Samsung, Asus and others, cut corners by relying on low-power processors from Intel’s Atom and Core M lines.
Acer is taking a different approach with its new Switch Alpha 12, a 12-inch hybrid first announced at the company’s New York press preview on April 21. The Alpha 12 uses current-gen Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 CPUs (like the Surface Pro), and has a 2,160×1,440-pixel resolution, which isn’t as high as the Surface Pro, but is in the ballpark.
Sarah Tew/CNET
More importantly, the Alpha 12 comes with its magnetic keyboard cover included in the box, whereas the Microsoft version is an extra $129, no matter which base model you buy. That’s especially important, as the Switch Alpha 12 starts at $599 in the US, presumably for a Core i3 configuration.
Up close with all the new gear Acer announced…
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It’s also very quiet, as this is a fanless design, something we usually only see in very low-power Core M systems. That’s accomplished by way of a small liquid-cooling component that pulls heat away from the CPU. Acer calls it the LiquidLoop Cooling System, and while it’s not as robust as the massive liquid cooling systems in some gaming PCs, it’s an interesting way to keep a slim tablet cool without fans.
Sarah Tew/CNET
In my brief hands-on time with the Alpha 12, I liked the U-shaped manual kickstand, which you deploy by simply pulling it out, unlike with some other hybrids which rely on twitchy buttons and latches. On the demo unit I tried, the magnetic connection between the keyboard cover and the tablet was also very strong. So much so that it was hard to pull them apart. That’s good for security, but can also be a hassle if you want to go tablet-only on the fly.
The Switch Alpha 12, which weighs 2.76 pounds (1,260 grams) all together or 1.98 pounds (900 grams) as a standalone tablet, will be available in June in the US, starting at $599. It will be available across Europe in May, at €699, which is about £545. There’s no word on Australian availability yet.
LG LDS5040ST Semi-Integrated Dishwasher review – CNET
The Good Since its racks have lots of fold-down tines, you can fit anything you want into the $700 LG LDS5040ST dishwasher, and if you’ve rinsed your dishes beforehand, it’s more than capable of doing the rest.
The Bad If you don’t rinse your dishes, expect to find redeposited chunks spread across your plates and bowls. This LG’s limited selection of cycles and options all take longer than normal and don’t justify the extra time spent with better cleaning. This dishwasher also lacks any notable features.
The Bottom Line Even though its competent, for the same price, you can find better options than the LG LDS5040ST.
If the stores near you don’t have many options, and if you need a dishwasher right away and want a competent one at a midrange price, you could settle for the $700 LG LDS5040ST. Make sure to rinse your dishes and it’ll treat you well enough. Nothing about it is exciting or exceptional, but it looks fine, and it’s pretty quiet.
But this is definitely a dishwasher to settle for, rather than one to seek out. At around the same price, we recently reviewed a trio of better options. The $600 GE GDF610PMJES is my pick if you’re looking for useful features. Go with the $700 Kenmore 13699 if you want great cleaning power, or the $650 Frigidaire FGID2466QF, which offers the best balance of cleaning and features of the trio. The LG LDS5040ST fails to make that group a quartet, as it doesn’t do anything well enough to carve out a niche of its own. It’s not a bad dishwasher, but I don’t recommend it unless you’re short on options.
LG’s modern dishwasher has a few old-school…
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Disposing convention
The LG LDS5040ST differentiates itself from the three midrange models mentioned above in two key ways, both of which made me hopeful it could be the best of the bunch. First, it has a stainless steel tub, as opposed to the plastic tubs on its three competitors.
Better mid-range dishwashers
- GE GDF610PMJES
- Kenmore 13699
- Frigidaire FGID2466QF
The stainless tub should have helped it save energy, but it draws approximately 279 kWh per year according to its manufacturer rating. The GE GDF610PMJES and Kenmore 13699 both draw 270 kWh and the Frigidaire FGID2466QF is rated at 268 kWh.
Balancing out the benefits of the stainless tub in this LG is its hard food disposer — the other main difference between this model and the others we’ve tested in this price range. This LG basically has a disposal at the bottom of its tub. The other three fit the more modern trend with a mesh filter to remove large particles from the water.
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This LG has an old-fashioned food disposer.
Chris Monroe/CNET
The disposer uses a lot of energy, but LG does a good job keeping the dishwasher quiet despite it. The LDS5040ST has a sound rating of 50dB vs. 42dB, 50dB and 52dB from the GE, Kenmore and Frigidaire dishwashers, respectively.
Cycles and options
Along with its stainless tub and food disposer, the LG LDS5040ST has five cycles to choose from and three different options you can add on to each cycle. The mix ranges from Power Scrub to Delicate, though I would have liked if the 90-minute Quick cycle was a bit quicker.
The controls are on the front next to the scoop handle instead of integrated on the upper lip — another way this dishwasher bucks modern design trends. You also pick your cycle with physical buttons instead of touch controls.
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We run our tests on the Normal cycle with no options selected.
Chris Monroe/CNET
The lack of a start button threw me off, but it’s typical of the LG dishwashers we’ve tested so far. Pick your cycle, use the Option button to select if you want Sanitary, Extra Rinse, or Extra Dry. From there, just close the door and the dishwasher will whir into action. The countdown timer on the control panel stays illuminated throughout the run so you always have an estimate of how much time remains.
Searching for features
The dishwasher doesn’t have a third rack or anything particularly helpful on the inside. It doesn’t even have wine stem holders, but a lot of the tines fold down to help you fit bigger items wherever you’d like. You can even customize the angle of two columns of tines on the upper rack, or set every other tine down in certain rows on the bottom rack. All together, this LG has the capacity for 14 place settings.
Motorola Moto Z Play review – CNET
The Good The affordable Moto Z Play works with swappable modular accessories, retains its headphone jack (unlike the more upmarket Moto Z and Z Force) and has a battery that goes on and on.
The Bad The Z Play is the thickest and heaviest phone in the Moto Z series and its fingerprint sensor, annoyingly, can be mistaken for a home button.
The Bottom Line Even if you don’t give two licks about its cool modular capabilities, get the Motorola Moto Z for an affordable phone with an impressively enduring battery life.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
Motorola’s Moto Z is a premium phone that made waves with its magnetic snap-on accessories. Unlike the LG G5, which also had swappable components, Motorola’s take on modularity made a lot more sense and was easier to use.
With its Moto Z Play, the company trimmed down the hardware but beefed up the battery, retained the quirky Moto Mod feature and slapped on a cheaper price. And what can I say? I’m all for it. Affordable, reliable and boasting super-long battery life, the Z Play is an excellent midrange phone even without the Mods.
The device is available in the US on Verizon for $408, but an unlocked version that’s compatible with GSM networks will be available globally in October for $450 (or £347 and AU$590, converted). Compare that with the original Z and its other counterpart the Z Force, which costs an additional $200 or more, the Z Play offers you all the goodies from Motorola’s Z series, without breaking your wallet.
Moto Z Play: It keeps going, and going and…
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What makes this phone unique again?
The Z Play is a fully functioning handset, but on its back are two rows of magnetic bumps that let you attach and swap out accessories called Moto Mods. These Mods have a variety of uses and can be as simple as a decorative back cover (those covers come in a variety of patterns and textures) or as complex as an extra battery case, a snap-on speaker with kickstand or a projector. Motorola’s newest Mod, a point-and-shoot camera accessory with a 10x optical zoom, is called the Hasselblad True Zoom.
The Mods are incredibly easy to use. With the audio speaker, music automatically starts playing when attached,and the projector requires hardly any setup. Even the True Zoom takes only a few seconds to ramp up and start capturing pictures.
Connecting the point-and-shoot camera accessory with the Moto Z Play.
Josh Miller/CNET
What’s the difference between this Z Play and the Moto Z and the Moto Z Force?
The Z Play looks like the Z and Z Force (they share that annoying fingerprint sensor on the front that can be mistaken too easily for the home button), but as the more affordable midrange option, its specs vary. For one, instead of ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack like the other two, the Z Play still has its jack. That means its USB Type-C port and headphone jack exist side by side, together and happy, and you don’t need a dongle adapter to listen to your music. You can also charge your phone while listening to beats. With even the Apple iPhone 7 losing its jack, maybe there’s hope for your wired headphones in this cruel post-headphone-jack world, after all.
Though Z Play’s 5.5-inch display is the same size as the other two, but it has a 1,080-pixel resolution compared with the others’ 1,440p, and it isn’t as durable as the Z Force’s ShatterShield display. The Z Play also has a less powerful processor and a bit less RAM and its 16-megapixel rear camera sits between the Z and the Z Force’s in terms of megapixels (compare all specs below). The camera lacks optical image stabilization too, so your photos might look blurrier if you have an unsteady hand.
From left to right: Motorola’s Moto Z Play, Z and Z Force.
Josh Miller/CNET
Lastly, the Z Play is a tad thicker and heavier than the already weighty Z Force. This is because the former packs a slightly larger battery. Motorola says this is the “longest-lasting phone battery” on a Moto phone, which I’ll get to later. For a quick comparison, check out our chart below:
Motorola Moto Z series
| 5.5-inch; 1,920X1,080 pixels | 5.5-inch; 2,560×1,440 pixels | 5.5-inch; 2,560×1,440 pixels |
| 403 ppi | 535 ppi | 535 ppi |
| 6.16x3x0.28 in | 6.11×2.96×0.2 in | 6.14×2.98×0.28 in |
| 156.4×76.4×6.99 mm | 155.3×75.3×5.19 mm | 155.9×75.8×6.99 mm |
| 5.82 oz; 165 g | 4.79 oz; 136 g | 5.75 oz; 163 g |
| Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow | Android 6.0 Marshmallow | Android 6.0 Marshmallow |
| 16-megapixel | 13-megapixel | 21-megapixel |
| 5-megapixel | 5-megapixel | 5-megapixel |
| 4K | 4K | 4K |
| 2.0GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 | 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 | 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 |
| 32GB | 32, 64GB | 32, 64GB |
| 3GB | 4GB | 4GB |
| Up to 2TB | Up to 2TB | Up to 2TB |
| 3,510 mAh (nonremovable) | 2,600 mAh (nonremovable) | 3,500 mAh (nonremovable) |
| Below screen | Below screen | Below screen |
| USB-C | USB-C | USB-C |
| Headphone jack, Moto Mod snap-on accessories and dedicated accessory port on back | Moto Mod snap-on accessories and dedicated accessory port on back | Moto Mod snap-on accessories and dedicated accessory port on back |
| $450 unlocked | $699 unlocked | $720 (on Verizon) |
| £347 converted | £499 | £555 converted |
| AU$590 converted | AU$905 converted | AU$944 converted |
How’s the camera?
The phone’s 16-megapixel camera took clear, decent photos and its shutter operated quickly. Though I didn’t have as a noticeably rough time with the camera’s white balance as I did with the Z and Z Force, some images I captured still had white hues that were slightly tinted blue. Dimmer environments understandably featured more graininess, but the camera was altogether satisfactory for quick, casual shots. For more about photo quality, check out the images below and click on them to view them at their full resolution.
AIVAnet 