Garmin Vivomove review – CNET
The Good Great fashion-watch design; one-year battery life; and can track steps and sleep automatically. Can sync with Android and iOS, and can be worn in the shower and while swimming.
The Bad Occasional connection issues with the Garmin app; watch lacks vibration; can’t be used with other Garmin trackers; lacks advanced features like a heart rate sensor or smartphone alerts.
The Bottom Line The Garmin Vivomove is a well-crafted and stylish watch that provides bare-bones fitness tracking, but you’re trading function for form.
The Garmin Vivomove deserves a special honor. It’s the first fitness tracker I wore to a wedding, and no one even noticed.
That’s because the Vivomove is like nothing Garmin’s ever made before, but it’s something we’re seeing a lot from other companies. It looks like a stylish analog watch, but inside it’s a fitness tracker, much like the Withings Activite. It tracks steps, distance, calories burned and sleep. And its battery life is great: It lasts a year on a replaceable battery.
It’s also reasonably affordable. The Vivomove is available in three models: Sport ($150,£140, AU$249), Classic ($200, £180, AU$329) and Premium ($250, £240, AU$479). The Sport model has a silicone band, while the Classic comes with a leather one. The Premium features a steel body and a leather strap, and it’s the one I have been wearing for the past few weeks.
The fitness
The Vivomove can track the basics: steps, distance, calories burned and sleep. That’s it. There’s no heart rate sensor, no smartphone notifications or any sort of vibration. It does, however, include two small secondary e-ink screens that help show fitness data. The one on the left shows how close you are to reaching your daily step goal, while the one on the right is an inactivity bar that will slowly fill with red for every 15 minutes you aren’t being active.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The best part? You don’t have to worry about charging it. The Vivomove uses a traditional coin battery that will last up to a year. You will eventually need to manually replace it, but they’re incredibly cheap — you can get a 10-pack at Amazon for around $4.
Like all of Garmin’s devices, the watch is also waterproof down to 50 meters (165 feet), so you can swim and shower with it (sans the leather strap, of course).
Sarah Tew/CNET
All in all, it’s pretty similar in concept to the Withings Activite, but the Vivomove can store up to a week’s worth of data without being synced, whereas the Activite has more limited onboard storage and should be synced every day.
The style
Credit to Garmin, the watch is incredibly well crafted. This holds especially true for the more expensive Premium model. The stainless-steel casing gives it a nice weight. It’s not heavy enough to be annoying to wear, but it’s enough to feel like this isn’t some cheap plastic fitness tracker.
Sarah Tew/CNET
All models of the Vivomove have a clean and minimalist look, which I really liked. The 42mm diameter is also the perfect size for my wrist.
The watch supports any 20mm band, but Garmin offers its own sport and leather straps that range from $30, £24 or AU$49 to $60, £46 or AU$99.
The Fitbit Charge 2’s upgrades are incremental, but necessary
Fitbit’s two-year-old Charge HR has been in dire need of an upgrade, but thankfully the company has finally refreshed its lineup. The new Charge 2 boasts better exercise tracking, more informative stats, GPS capability and a larger screen for the same price ($150) as its predecessor. Although I dislike its still-boring looks and odd meditation mode, I’ve found the Charge 2 to be a solid fitness companion overall that spurred me to get better at monitoring and understanding my heart health. It’s a worthy successor to our current favorite fitness tracker, and takes over as the most well-rounded option you can buy.
Hardware
At first glance, the biggest change you’ll notice between the Charge 2 and the Charge HR is the display. Instead of a thin rectangular strip, the new screen is four times larger and spans the length of the band. This extra space allows for more information to be displayed, meaning you don’t have to do quite as much scrolling.
Another difference between the Charge 2 and its predecessor is the newer model’s interchangeable bands. You can now swap out the strap for a better-looking one, which you’ll want to do, since the new colors Fitbit introduced for its classic silicone straps are still a little too sporty (for my tastes, anyway). The leather versions look much better, and it’s nice to finally have the option of changing them out.
Both Charges are water resistant enough to withstand “sweat, rain and splashes,” according to Fitbit. Just like the Charge HR, the new model has an easy-to-use buckle clasp, a heart rate monitor on the underside and a physical button on the left side that you press to navigate through the interface. You can also interact with the Charge 2 by jabbing the OLED display since it’s not technically a touchscreen, but uses an accelerometer to tell when you’re hitting it. This means you’ll need to be quite deliberate when you’re poking at your Charge 2 or it won’t register your taps.
In use
There’s something to be said for the Charge 2’s design. Even though I don’t find it very stylish, it’s at least comfortable — so much so that I hardly noticed it was there. That is, until it came time to dress up for a night out, and my unit’s sporty blue band undermined the glam look I had picked out. I had to choose, then, whether I wanted to forego tracking that night’s activities or try to hide or match the Charge 2.
In the end, I chose to match my outfit, because removing the Charge 2 for longer than an hour means my steps progress isn’t logged. My resting heart rate differed depending on how long I had worn it that day, and since Fitbit now assigns a Cardio Fitness Score that shows me how my heart performed against other people of my age and gender, I didn’t want to risk falling behind. Plus, I had steps goals to meet!
Speaking of those goals, I felt pleased each time the Charge 2 buzzed me to say I met an hourly achievement, but none of that compared to the pride I felt when Fitbit’s app told me I had conquered 10 flights of stairs that day. The alert popped up on my phone, and was easy enough to share to my Twitter feed for me to brag to my followers. None of these features are new, but they keep me wanting to put on the device every morning.
What is new is the Charge 2’s ability to auto-detect common activities such as walking, running, bike riding and treadmill exercise after 15 minutes in each. Another big plus for runners is the new GPS Connect feature, which harnesses your phone’s GPS radio to monitor your distance traveled and give you an accurate pace reading. This does mean you’ll have to take your phone with you on your run, though, and, as we found on the original Apple Watch, this method doesn’t guarantee accurate distance tracking.
Fitbit’s app remains largely unchanged since the company’s Alta tracker came out earlier this year, and still displays your day’s progress in an easy-to-understand layout. In one page, you’ll see your step count so far, floors climbed, distance traveled, calories burned and time spent being active. Tap on any of these indicators and you can delve into greater detail about that particular stat. I most frequently studied my sleep and heart data, but I also really liked being able to easily log the cups of water I had drank that day.
Food logging is also pretty full-featured — you can scan a product barcode, search for common items, create custom entries or input a specific calorie amount. The database had most major brand names, too. I tried to enter my linguine alfredo dinner and found options from Red Lobster, Progresso and Mike’s Restaurants, but not the corner deli I got it from, though that’s not surprising. Fortunately, there were far more brands and options available for generic items such as bread and banana.
A new feature in the app is Fitbit Adventures, which lets you challenge yourself (as opposed to, you know, actual other people) to meet fitness goals without getting bored. Adventures takes you on specific paths tailored for cities such as New York or San Francisco. For instance, the Yosemite Vernal Falls adventure takes you through a 15,000-step route that goes by scenic waterfalls. That’s quite a cool way to mix up your workout, although I can’t see it working everywhere. (I wouldn’t want to go on a solo Adventure in a sketchy neighborhood.)
I sleep way more than I exercise, and happily the Charge 2 is still useful to a sloth like me. I’m obsessed with knowing how well I slept, and the Charge 2 was certainly a blessing in that regard. Every morning, I’d wake up and open up the Fitbit app to get a summary of my slumber, and the tracker was mostly accurate in logging my restless or awake moments. Once, during my week of testing, it incorrectly recorded a period of time I remembered being awake as just restlessness, but errors like that were few.
The Charge 2 made some mistakes in noting my steps as well, saying I completed my required hourly 250 steps when I took only about 100 or so paces. Still, the sensors were accurate overall — the heart rate monitor in particular matched my own finger-to-jugular reading almost exactly — and provided a good frame of reference for analyzing patterns in my health.
Wellness isn’t all about working out, and Fitbit’s new Guided Breathing mode is a nod to the importance of relaxing. The feature lets you start a two-minute or five-minute meditation session, during which the device’s heart rate monitor studies your pulse and coaches you to inhale and exhale at a rate that will help you “find moments of calm.”
Most of the time, I found these deep-breathing exercises somewhat difficult to follow. You’ll have to look at a ring on your Fitbit’s screen and breathe in when the circle expands, and out when it contracts. To see the display, I had to either hold up my hand (which became super tiring after a minute, not to mention two or five), or rest my wrist on a table or in my lap and crane my neck to see it. Either method caused me more distress than calm and I ultimately gave up and decided to breathe to my own tune instead. This implementation is similar to the Breathe app that Apple just introduced in watchOS 3, which also has you follow an onscreen animation to regulate your heart rate. Apple gives you more control over your desired session duration and breathing rate than Fitbit does, though.
When you’re not working out or trying to relax, the Charge 2 is still a decent companion, delivering your message, call or calendar alerts to your wrist with a buzz. Thanks to the larger display, you won’t have to wait as long to see the full preview of your notification. You can also now pick from seven watch faces that can display stats on your steps progress and heart rate in addition to the time, which is handy for someone like me who always needs to know how their ticker is doing.
As of this writing, the Charge 2 has endured about six days of activity, with its battery going from a full 100 percent to just below 50 percent. That’s pretty impressive, and longer than Fitbit’s rated runtime of five days.
The competition
For what it does, and for the price, the Charge 2 doesn’t really have much competition. Its closest rival is the Garmin Vivosmart HR+, which costs $70 more, is swimproof and has built-in GPS so you won’t have to lug your phone along on your runs. The Vivosmart will also continuously track your pulse. Jawbone’s Up 4 costs the same as the Charge 2, and also has constant heart rate monitoring, along with a longer rated battery life. But it doesn’t have a display.
Fitness rookies like myself may prefer Fitbit’s Alta tracker, which is more stylish and costs $20 less. Just keep in mind that the Alta won’t monitor your heart rate. If you want a more smartwatch-like experience but want to remain within the Fitbit family, the odd-looking Blaze may be more your speed, since it lets you control your music and interact with notifications (albeit in a limited way). The Blaze does cost $50 more than the Charge 2, though that won’t necessarily be a deal-breaker.
Wrap-up
Fitbit’s Charge line was in serious need of an update, and it finally has a decent offering in the Charge 2. The new heart rate and activity tracker brings important tools such as auto exercise tracking and GPS connectivity, which are good enough that I can forgive the poorly implemented meditation feature. Plus, a bigger screen and interchangeable bands make the Charge 2 look better than its predecessor, even if it could still be more stylish. Overall, the improvements will help Fitbit better take on its rivals, and secure the Charge 2’s place as the leader in its price range.
CybertronPC CLX Ra review – CNET
The Good The CybertronPC CLX Ra has a premium look and high-end parts for excellent performance. Access to both side panels is very easy.
The Bad The rear ports are almost impossible to get to without removing the glass panel on the right side. The oversized off-the-shelf chassis isn’t for everyone.
The Bottom Line Despite using the same components and cases as many other PC makers, CybertronPC has managed to hit top performance scores in the CLX Ra at slightly lower prices than the competition.
Configure at CybertronPC.
While not as well-known among deep-pocketed PC gaming enthusiasts as brands such as Alienware or Origin PC, CybertronPC has been knocking out highly customizable gaming PCs for years, and was best known as a place to get a real a la carte gaming desktop built from exactly the case and components you wanted for a reasonable price.
While keeping the sci-fi-inspired name (Cybertron is the home planet of the Autobots, after all), the company now has a high-end line of carefully tuned gaming systems, with premium looks and premium prices. The new CLX line tops out with the CLX Ra — yes, named for the Egyptian deity — which goes head to head with the highest-end gaming desktops we’ve tested in our Nvidia 1080 system roundup.
View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET
The look of our CLX Ra is distinctive, with smoked-glass side panels on a black aluminum chassis, and a large airflow channel cut out underneath. It’s a huge case, especially considering that Falcon Northwest can squeeze two graphics cards into a small FragBox, and both Alienware and Acer are moving toward smaller desktop designs. But it does have plenty of room for the two Nvidia 1080 cards included here, and at least 11 large Thermaltake fans, plus plenty of room for airflow and a liquid cooling rig.
Like most boutique PC makers, Cybertron uses off-the-shelf cases, such as the In Win case used here, but it’s not one of the regular case choices I’ve seen over and over again from other PC builders. Typically, only a handful of big brands, the Dells and HPs of the world, can design and produce their own desktop and laptop chassis, although Origin PC does have a couple of its own custom designs now, including the recently reviewed Millennium.
Paradigm PW Soundbar Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Paradigm
Speaker manufacturer Paradigm has revealed its latest high-end sound bar, which will include new features for the company including HDMI inputs and wireless multiroom music capabilities
The $1,299 PW Sound bar features HDMI 2.0a connectivity with includes pass-through support for HDR/4K content as well as DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD decoding. In addition the sound bar offers to DTS’ multiroom system Play-Fi.
The 46-inch wide unit is a little squatter than the existing Paradigm Soundscape, yet it incorporates nine 2.5-inch full-range drivers inside. The drivers are grouped in threes, and the company says they’re situated so as to generate a wide soundfield.
Paradigm is one of a dozen different companies that supports DTS Play-Fi multiroom streaming. Play-Fi offers streaming from most services, including Pandora, Spotify and Tidal as well as hi-res support.
If the PW Sound bar is too rich for your blood, the company also offers the Soundplay which is based on the same speaker layout and chassis but minus the Wi-Fi and HDMI connectivity. The Soundplay is available for $899.
Customers will be able to add Play-Fi speakers from any brand to act as rear surrounds.
2016.5 Mazda CX-5 review – Roadshow
The Good The lightweight 2016 Mazda CX-5 boasts better-than-average handling and good low-speed grunt from its 2.5-liter engine. The Mazda Connect infotainment system offers a decent list of features and, more importantly, a low level of driver distraction. The i-ActivSense suite of aid features keeps the CX-5 on par with its competition.
The Bad Mazda’s simpler approach to tech means that its infotainment suite lacks many modern features. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are not available.
The Bottom Line On paper, the 2016.5 Mazda CX-5 is another solid choice for a small SUV. On the road, its dynamic feel and attention to driving detail elevate it head and shoulders above the rest of the class.
The 2016.5 Mazda CX-5 is a mid-year update to a fun little SUV with a playful, puppy dog face. It’s no secret that the CX-5 is one of my favorites, if not the favorite, in this vehicle class and it’s not just because looking at it reminds me of the Mazda MX-5 Miata. Actually, it’s because driving the CX-5 reminds me of the Miata.
When I say this small SUV reminds me of the compact roadster, I’m not saying that it handles like a sports car. What I appreciate about both cars is a sort of purity of purpose and a focus on appropriate driving dynamics. Allow me to explain.
#DrivingMatters
The CX-5 is powered by Mazda’s 2.5-liter SkyActiv four-cylinder engine, which makes a peppy 184 horsepower and 185 pound-feet of torque. The 2.5-liter is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. Additionally, prospective drivers will have the choice of either front or on-demand all-wheel drive; the latter being useful for regions with four distinct seasons.
Fuel economy is good, but not the best. Its 26 combined mpg (24 city and 30 highway) for the all-wheel drive model is basically on par with the competition from Honda, Toyota and Ford, but won’t win any green awards. Opting for front-wheel drive bumps the EPA’s estimate up to 29 mpg combined.
Antuan Goodwin/Roadshow
A six-speed manual transmission-equipped “Sport FWD” trim level persists for those few who like to row their own gears. However, that manual transmission is mated to a smaller engine, a 2.0-liter version of the SkyActiv mill that steps down to 155 horsepower and 150 pound-feet of torque, which sort of snuffs out the fun, making it more of a low-cost option.
The CX-5 really shines when driven, which is good because, well, it’s a car. Mazda has proven that it has a knack for knowing what an “engaging drive” actually means, what we’re actually looking for when describing a car as “sporty” and delivering that experience with its vehicles.
The steering is direct, but not twitchy, and delivers the right amount of responsiveness to inputs, making the SUV feel fun around a bend and stable during evasive maneuvers. The suspension is firm and communicative, but also compliant over all but the most severe potholes. All of this works with the peppy engine options that feel well matched with the CX-5’s chassis to deliver a driving experience that won’t trick anyone into thinking they’ve purchased a sports car. That being said, it is still capable of generating grins and inspiring confidence.
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So, how is this small SUV like Mazda’s iconic roadster? Neither is concerned with being the fastest or the most powerful car in its class; rather, the aim is to be pleasurable to pilot and easy to approach. Both the CX-5 and MX-5 get the job done with a minimal amount of gadgetry and complication. And that’s what I like most about the Mazda CX-5; it’s a car that produces the core of driving before blowing its bells and whistles.
Speaking of bells and whistles…
Mazda Connect tech
Like the chassis and powertrain tech, the Mazda Connect infotainment and navigation system that lives at the center of the CX-5’s dashboard gets the fundamentals right.
Fitbit Charge 2 review – CNET
The Good Swappable bands. A multi-line OLED display that can show time and fitness data. Always-on heart rate. A great companion app. Affordable price. Five-day battery life.
The Bad Not water-resistant for swims or showers. Lacks GPS. Phone notifications on the Charge 2 display are limited and hard to read.
The Bottom Line If you don’t need water resistance and GPS, the Fitbit Charge 2 is the best overall fitness tracker you can buy.
Lots of things track steps now. Tons of trackers and watches — and even phones — do a good enough job.
In 2016, you buy a fitness band for its app and software. Fitbit does what it does so well and so simply, and across enough platforms and phones and social networks, that it wins out as a platform of choice.
And the best overall Fitbit hardware you can get right now? That’s the new Charge 2, which costs $150 in the US, £130 in the UK, AU$250 in Australia. (A slightly pricier special edition at $180, £150 or AU$290 with a different band finish.) It’s the follow-up to our previous favorite (an no longer available), the Charge HR. The Charge 2 is a slight redesign, with a few new features. I still don’t think anything else nails the combination of app, feature set and functional, affordable design like it does.
If you’re a dedicated long-distance away-from-your-phone runner, or want to swim, or want a fully-connected smartwatch, go with other choices. But the Charge 2 is a do-everything band for the average person. I’ve worn one for about a month now and it’s won me over. It’s the easy answer to “which fitness tracker should the average person buy?”
Just don’t swim with it.
Compact design, larger display.
Sarah Tew/CNET
It’s a Fitbit Charge HR with extras
As I said, the Charge 2 is a similar band to the Charge HR, replacing that older model in Fitbit’s lineup at the identical price. It still has five-day battery and always-on heart rate tracking, but adds a much larger OLED display that shows all the data I wanted it to in the first place. And its design, while still a bit bulky, is sharper: a steel body, glass-covered screen and swappable leather or rubber bands. It isn’t the most jaw-dropping design of all time, but its watch-style buckle fit me securely (it comes in two sizes).
If you’re looking for a small snug band, this might be too bulky for you. Consider the Fitbit Flex 2, a less expensive no-screen waterproof tracker that lacks heart rate.
Multi-line display, at last.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Bigger screen is better
The Charge 2’s new selection of watch faces and the larger vertical LED display mean I can see time, steps and heart rate all at once.
Its screen is not always on, but a lift-to-look gesture works fine, or you can tap the display, or you can press the side button. That side button shifts between modes on the tracker, while tapping on the display brings up extra data (estimated calorie burn, or pace, or resting heart rate).
Onboard features include a stopwatch, exercise tracking mode, heart rate and a new “Relax” mindfulness app. Notifications pop up in a limited way — texts, calendar appointments and phone calls, which scroll slowly across the bottom of the vertical screen. Not great, and you can’t respond to anything, of course, but it’s better than nothing.
Trying to calm down.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Relax = a little mini-mindfulness, sorta
Fitbit’s one small step into the expanding mindfulness wearable tech world is Relax, which only lives on the Charge 2: much like the Apple Watch‘s Breathe app, it is a focused timed breathing exercise that aims to encourage relaxation. It doesn’t sync back any data to the Fitbit app. It gathers a simulated respiration rate from heart rate data, and encourages timed inhale-exhales over 2 or 5 minutes, showing your heart rate afterwards. That’s it.
OK, it got me to focus. But it’s not anything that a regular meditation exercise couldn’t also do. I don’t use it much, but as a freebie bonus, it’s not bad. I just didn’t know what to do with it, and I wasn’t encouraged by my Fitbit to ever go back and use it on a daily basis.
Fitbit’s new trail-based challenges are kinda fun.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Better software, better features
Fitbit’s own app has gotten pretty comprehensive. It’s great. It’s easy to use, and tracks everything you’d need: standing, stair climbing, weight loss, nutrition, water intake, heart rate, exercise, sleep…and oh yeah, steps. And unlike the Apple Watch — twice as expensive or more — it also tracks stair climbing and sleep.
The easy-glance dashboard design has won me over, and I can pair enough other things into the experience, such as hooking in a Withings scale to sync weigh-ins via the cloud, that I never feel like it lacks anything I need.
I also like Fitbit’s tweaks to its other measurements, especially its reminders to move. Unlike many other bands, Fitbit makes you walk 250 steps to “earn the hour.” It made me want to walk more, instead of just standing.
Erato Apollo 7 review – CNET
The Good The Erato Apollo 7 is a lightweight, totally wireless set of earphones that delivers mostly hiccup-free operation. They sound good, are sweat-resistant (they can be used for running), and a charging case with an integrated battery supplies multiple charges on the go.
The Bad They’re expensive, the battery life is only 3 hours and the firmware isn’t upgradable.
The Bottom Line Although it’s a bit too pricey, the Erato Apollo 7 is one of the first truly wireless headphones that works well and delivers decent sound.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
Erato, a Taiwanese startup, bills its Apollo 7 as the world’s most compact true wireless earphones — that emerging category of Bluetooth headphones with separate left and right standalone earbuds with no connecting cable in between. Apple might dispute that claim now that it’s unveiled its AirPods, but the Apollo 7s certainly are very small, lightweight and among the best of this new breed of headphone.
The key to all these truly wireless earphones is that the wireless Bluetooth connection between both your phone (the audio source) and the two buds needs to be rock solid. Or close to it anyway. And that’s what’s impressive about the Apollo 7s: they worked just like a standard in-ear Bluetooth headphones, with minimal hiccups and dropouts. It’s also worth noting that after I paired them with my phone once, I had no trouble pairing them again.
The earphones in their included charging case.
Sarah Tew/CNET
How it works is that you pair one of the buds (I chose the right one) with your phone or another Bluetooth-enabled device, then you turn the other bud on and it pairs automatically to the first bud to form a stereo connection. If you want to use only one bud as a headset, you can do that.
During the nearly three weeks I used the Apollo 7, operation wasn’t totally flawless. There were a few minor glitches. For instance, the headphone locked up once and wouldn’t produce sound, even though it was paired to the phone. Solution: I powered off my phone, restarted it and the issue resolved itself.
I thought the Apollo 7 sounded quite good for Bluetooth earbuds, with a reasonable amount clarity and decent bass. Included in the box are various silicone and foam tips. Using one of the larger silicone tips I managed to get a secure fit and that tight seal really helps improve sound quality (if you don’t like having eartips jammed in your ears, this isn’t the headphone for you).
Each earbud has a single universal control button.
Sarah Tew/CNET
That said, like a lot of Bluetooth headphones, the Apollo 7’s performance can be somewhat uneven. By that I mean that they sound very good with some tracks and not as great with others.
They’re a touch bright in the treble and a bit forward in the midrange. For instance, with Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie — Live, BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, London 2007” I had to ratchet back the volume because her voice had a little bit of a harsh edge to it at higher volumes. The headphone will also distort with certain tracks at higher volumes, so it’s best to use it at around 60-75 percent volume. (It does play loud enough, however.)
A good wired in-ear headphone, such as the $150 Bose SoundTrue Ultra, which both CNET contributor Steve Guttenberg and I like a lot, easily bests this headphone, with smoother, richer sound. Bose’s SoundSport Wireless also sounds a little better than the Apollo 7 for about half the price. But the SoundTrue is a wired headphone, and the SoundSport is wireless with a wire connecting the left and right earpieces. The Apollo 7, by comparison, has absolutely no wires. Given that stipulation, they they sound relatively impressive, especially compared to the bulk of the current competition. It also helps that that they maintain a good connection.
Comparisons to rival full wireless ‘phones
For comparison in that fully wireless realm, I pitted the Apollo 7 against the Bragi Dash and Earin, the latter of which also lays claim to being the world’s smallest completely wireless earphones.
Of the three, the Apollo 7 had the most reliable connection by a long shot. Although I like the Bragi Dash and Earin — both fit me well — they had frequent hiccups, which made it it difficult to listen to them on the go (I ran with the Dash).
The Earin, which actually weighs less (3.5 grams) than the Apollo 7 (4 grams), is well designed and sounds good but is missing a microphone for making calls (its price has come down to $200 from $280).
Google Pixel Phone Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Google
Every year since 2010, Google has launched a “Nexus” phone into the marketplace — a device made by a third-party manufacturer, with the distinction of being the first one kissed with that year’s version of Google’s Android operating system. Nexus has since become synonymous with higher-end features in a package that’s cheaper than Apple and Samsung’s top phones.
This year, things are probably going to be a little different. Here’s what we know so far, and what’s rumored, about the next Google-branded phone.
There will be two and their names shall be Pixel (maybe)
The word on the web is that Google is doing away with the Nexus brand and plumping for Pixel instead. Why? We don’t know for sure, and it’s only a rumor for now, but Google already has a Pixel C tablet, so the designation at least makes sense. If the rumors are true, we’ll have two phones, the Pixel and Pixel XL. That would work out, too. Last year we saw double Nexus phones as well, the Nexus 6P (made by Huawei) and smaller, lighter-featured Nexus 5X (made by LG).
You could be looking at the Google Pixel and Pixel XL.
Android Police
I don’t have any insider information here, but if I were to guess, I’d say Google might want to start fresh because the Nexus numbering is getting out of hand. Phones named 6P and 5X don’t seem to belong to the same generation (but they did), and with the iPhone 7 phones, four Samsung Galaxy “7” phones and the ZTE Axon 7, another “7” phone would feel played out. There’s also the matter of an existing Nexus 7 and Nexus 9; Google may be running short on names. This would also be a good opportunity to give the phones a new philosophy or price range.
October 4 launch date set
We can’t say for sure that Google will definitely unveil its next phone, but something rectangular is being unmasked on October 4 in San Francisco. Google’s site for the launch, its invitation to journalists, giant billboards and new TV commercials all show a phone-shaped rectangle accompanied by a Google “G” (and various morphing animations from the Google search bar, on the video versions).
We’ll be on the ground covering the event live.
What else do we know about the phones?
Again, we don’t know anything for sure, but we’ve heard plenty of rumors and leaks about phones that may or may not be called the Pixel and Pixel XL. The smaller phone might have a 5-inch screen; the larger one a 5.5-inch display. They could be made by HTC and start at $650 (that converts to about £500 and AU$860), with the Pixel XL costing more. There may also be a financing plan you can buy from Google and an extended warranty, similar to Apple Care.
The back may have an unusual glass panel.
@OnLeaks, Android Authority
The phones could come in three colors, according to Android Police: aluminum, black and bright blue colors. In the US, it’s possible they’ll sell through Google’s Store and Verizon.
The possible specs, pieced together from leaks all over the internet, from Business Insider, Android Authority and Android Police are listed below.
Rumored Google Pixel specs
- 5-inch display with 1,920×1,080-pixel resolution
- 12- or 13-megapixel rear camera
- 8-megapixel front-facing camera
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor
- 32GB, 128GB storage options
- 4GB RAM
- 2,770 mAh battery
- Android 7.0 Nougat
- Google Daydream-ready
Rumored Google Pixel XL specs
- 5.5-inch display with 2,560×1,440-pixel resolution
- 12- or 13-megapixel rear camera
- 8-megapixel front-facing camera
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor
- 32GB, 128GB storage options
- 4GB RAM
- Android 7.0 Nougat
- Google Daydream-ready
Will we see any other hardware?
Don’t hold your breath for the Project Ara modular phone with swappable parts; that’s stalled so much that Google has finally pulled it off the table, for now.
But here’s what we do expect:
- Google Home: The voice-activated, AI-using challenger to Amazon’s Echo.
- Daydream View VR headset: The hardware that goes with Google’s forthcoming virtual reality platform.
- New Pixel tablet: Last year’s excellent Pixel C is due for an upgrade.
- 4K Chromecast: The next version of Google’s phone-focused media-streaming puck could welcome 4K streaming on board, and be called the Chromecast Plus or Chromecast Ultra, Android Police reports.
More to come
Rumors and leaks will hit a fever pitch as the October 4 event approaches. We’ll update this story with the best nuggets we find, and we’ll be sure to bring you all the goods from Google’s big event.
Frigidaire FGGF3058RF review – CNET
The Good The $1,150 Frigidaire FGGF3058RF gas range includes some extra cook settings and features, such as a pizza button and a heating element built around the oven’s convection fan. It also boils water quicker than comparable gas ranges.
The Bad The gas range slowly broils burgers, and the oven controls are counterintuitive.
The Bottom Line The Frigidaire FGGF3058RF attempts to offer higher-end features to distinguish itself from similarly priced ranges. But when you dig deeper, this range isn’t much different than the competition.
Chris Monroe/CNET
At first glance, it seems like the Frigidaire FGGF3058RF is a feature-rich appliance available for a reasonable price: $1,150. There’s a heating element built around the oven’s convection fan for more even cooking. It has specialty cooking modes, such as convection roast and a simple button that just says “pizza” for your favorite frozen or fresh pie. And there’s a probe that you plug into the oven wall that tracks the internal temperature of dishes you’re cooking, a feature we usually see on more expensive ovens.
But when you dig a little deeper into this oven’s extras and basic functions, you realize that Frigidaire has created an appliance that is on par with other gas ranges in the less-than-$1,200 price range. The oven takes its sweet time broiling burgers, and it doesn’t bake multiple racks of biscuits as evenly you’d hope, especially with that “true convection.” And the pizza button? It works, but it’s so simple that it almost seems like an unnecessary part of the oven.
Overall, the Frigidaire FGGF3058RF is a decent range. It just doesn’t have enough bells, whistles or cooking prowess to make it any more special than other ranges. Consider the $1,000 GE JGB700SEJSS, a cheaper gas range with fewer bonus features, but an equally good performance.
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Frigidaire goes big in bid to go home with you
Another day, another stainless-steel range
The Frigidaire FGGF3058RF does little to set itself apart aesthetically from other gas, freestanding ranges. Fortunately, this now-standard design is inoffensive and won’t be an eyesore in your kitchen. The Frigidaire is a 30-inch wide freestanding range coated in stainless steel that’s supposed to be resistant to smudges and fingerprints (it was indeed resistant, but not impervious, so keep stainless-steel wipes handy). Continuous cast-iron grates cover the five gas burners on the cooktop. The range comes with the nice addition of an option of a griddle you can swap over the middle, oblong burner for foods like pancakes or grilled cheese.
The touch panel buttons often control more than one cooking option.
Chris Monroe/CNET
The touchpad controls can be difficult to get the hang of because one button can access multiple features. For example, there isn’t a separate button between convection bake and convection roast; you use the same button to access each cooking mode. And if you’re using the temperature probe, you can decide whether you want the oven to continue cooking after your desired temperature has been reached or if you want it to stop. This is a smart option to give users, but it’s hard to remember exactly how to get to that selection. You need to make sure you hold onto this oven’s user manual so you can keep all the controls straight.
Down in the oven, Frigidaire gives you 5 cubic feet of baking space, which is a bit on the small end for a freestanding gas oven. But in practice, there is plenty of room for large baking sheets and roasts. A convection fan is built into the back wall of the oven to improve the circulation of hot air. As I mentioned earlier, there’s a heating element around the convection fan (in addition to traditional heating elements on the top and bottom of the oven) to heat the air while it’s circulating.
Philips Avance Collection Indoor Grill (HD6370/90) Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
The Philips Indoor Grill makes meat grilling a smokeless affair for those living in apartments.
Aloysius Low/CNET
Apartment life can be tough. I’ve always wanted to grill a fat juicy steak at home, but I don’t have a garden and don’t want to risk filling up my place with charcoal smoke. But Philips is about to make my grilling dreams come true.
The Philips Avance Collection Indoor Grill may not look like much, but Philips has put plenty of thought into its black box design. Instead of filling up the grill with the usual charcoal, though, all you need to do is plug the Indoor Grill into a power outlet and turn it on.
The Indoor Grill uses infrared heaters, placed at sides. They’re angled to heat the top where you put the meat, but leave a clear space for the fat and juices to drip down into a tray below. This stops the fat from burning up, which is what produces much of the smoke you see coming from standard charcoal grills.
Philips claims there’s 80 percent less smoke compared to its other grill, but from what I could see at the demo, there were barely any smoke from the meat pieces being grilled at around 230 degrees Celsius. And yes, the meat has proper grill marks.
Cleaning seems to be a simple affair. Philips says the top grill and the fat-collecting tray are removable. So you can put them in a dishwasher or clean them with soapy water.
I’m looking forward to giving the grill a try when Philips sends me a unit to test. Until then, it’s the great outdoors for me if I need to cook up a wagyu steak. The Philips Indoor Grill is on sale for $299, which converts to around £230 or AU$400.
AIVAnet 