Madden NFL 17 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

EA

There are only two options for NFL fans each year who want to play along with the season: get the new Madden NFL 17, or stick with last year’s and download community roster updates.

Other options, like fantasy football or mobile games, aren’t for me. Good, old-fashioned NFL video gaming has been my therapy for decades.

(Full disclosure: as those who follow me on Twitter — @jetscott — know all too well, I’m a rabid, albeit frequently frustrated, New York Jet fan.)

The football season’s weird that way: a game, then a week to obsess over the next one. Plenty of time to read every article, study every stat, and run simulations. Madden may function as a competitive sport for some, but for me it’s basically a Jets pregame statistical engine, and a post-game way to vent out and win in an alternate universe.

You probably know the drill about EA’s Madden games. From year to year, it’s hard to notice what’s really changed. Madden 17 — which I’ve played for the past five days or so — feels similar in a lot of ways to Madden 16. But its most notable addition might help me analyze the present and future of my childhood-adopted team a lot more efficiently.

Madden’s new Franchise mode is one of the main additions to this year’s game. I played as — of course — the Jets. I remember playing as the Jets for 12 straight seasons years ago, every single game…which took me a long time. Franchise mode simulation now has a hybrid simulation/game mode that simulates most plays and then zaps you in to play the biggest moments, like NFL Red Zone. I played through four games this way, and lost every single one — mainly because the Jets simply aren’t rated very highly in my prerelease build, and their early opponents are all better. So, in simulated plays, I didn’t have a chance. But it was fun to fast-forward a bit and still feel like I had a hand in the outcome.

The rest of Madden’s main improvements come in actual gameplay. Madden promises a greater range of player-specific skills, and defenses with a smarter way of playing zones. The ball is also meant to have more realistic physics. So far, I’ve seen plays break in different ways than I’ve been used to in Madden 16.

What trying to block a kick looks like.

EA

EA is also trying to spice up the special teams game a bit with a new punt/kick control meter…which, to me, felt like older meters I’ve seen. But there’s also a way to try to block kicks now, which offers a tiny bit of hope that it’ll actually happen. I succeeded in practice, but never in any of the 12 or so games I played (again, as the New York Jets).

Fake punts and kicks, however, I had a lot more success with. There are more plays, and the execution of these moves feels more polished.

Madden has looked TV-perfect for several years now, with a presentation that from a distance can look like a real broadcast. This year’s tweaks also include a whole new broadcast booth. I still remember Phil Simms and Jim Nantz going back and forth with phrases I started to memorize. The new crew of Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis reminds me more of top-notch radio commentary…not a surprise, since Gaudin is an announcer for Westwood One. It sounds like audio commentators doing Madden…I hate to say it feels pretty similar, too, but there you have it. I’m sure I’ll memorize everything they say in a hundred or so games, too.

I notice that Madden now seems to be a better educator of formations and NFL strategy. Called “concepts” in this year’s version, I was advised and encouraged to practice for certain play types between games in the Franchise season, and it made me more aware of what was going on. I liked the Skills training mode that I played last year, which worked as a smart type of education-meets-practice mode. Madden 17 seems like it’s better able to help advise. In-game, there are suggestions for running zones to hit, or play adjustments to make. I didn’t always do such a good job understanding what was suggested. After years of being an NFL fan, the game still confuses me.

The real test for any football video game is how well it can ride alongside the actual season with updated rosters and enough season-relevant stuff to feel like a companion. I can’t tell that part yet, but I hope Madden 17 ends up surprising. I prefer this version to last year’s. I’d still buy it even if I didn’t, though, because I consider it a yearly subscription to my NFL therapy.

I’ve tried replaying the Jets’ first few games this season, and I keep losing every time.

Robomow RS612 review – CNET

The Good The $1,600 Robomow RS612 is a robot lawnmower that can automatically cut your yard without much interference.

The Bad It’s expensive and still requires some work on your part. You can’t use a Robomow if your yard has deep inclines or is larger than three quarters of an acre.

The Bottom Line If lawn care is the bane of your existence and you just don’t want to hire a gardener, the Robomow is a fun, efficient way to cut back on your summer yard work.

Mowing the lawn is a necessary evil if you own a home with a yard. It takes a lot of time and energy to keep your yard from being an embarrassment to your neighborhood. And when temperatures reach the triple digits and the humidity is so thick it feels like you’re swimming through the air, cutting the grass is high on the list of worst yard chores.

A company called Robomow aims to alleviate some of the pain of lawn care with a line of battery-powered, robot lawnmowers that do most of the work for you. One of these mowers, the $1,600 Robomow RS612, delivers on much of its promise to take care of your yard without much interference on your part. (Robomow doesn’t offer the RS612 in Australia or the UK, but that price works out to AU$2,079 and £1,226.) The Robomow excels in automatic mode, in which it ventures out on its own and keeps your grass cut to a uniform length. And its Bluetooth-connected app provides an easy way to adjust the Robomow’s settings and remote control the mower if there are some additional spots on your property that could use a trim.

Relax while the Robomow cuts your yard
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Despite its high level of autonomy, you still have to lend the Robomow a hand every once in awhile. You have to spend an afternoon setting up a perimeter wire that outlines the boundaries of your yard, similar to an electric dog fence, so the Robomow knows where it needs to go. You also have to occasionally clean out the undercarriage and wheels. And the Robomow isn’t great for every yard; it struggles with terrain that is overgrown or hilly.

Outsourcing lawn care

• A robot lawnmower or a gardener: Which is the better deal?

The Robomow does a good job keeping an average yard looking pretty pristine, and it slashes the amount of time you’ll need to spend on manual lawn care. At $1,600, this is going to cost you a lot more than hiring a professional to tend to your yard. But if you want to cut out the middle man and lounge a bit more during the summer, start saving your money.

Getting to know the Robomow

Technical editor Steve Conaway installs the perimeter wire around my front yard.

Chris Monroe/CNET

Robot lawnmowers are a relatively new and expensive category of smart lawn care that are the outdoor cousin of robot vacuums. Robomow, an Israel-based company founded in 1995, has five battery-powered robot lawnmowers starting at $1,000 that are designed to tackle different-sized lawns. The RS612 model is intended for yards that are a quarter of an acre or less. The most expensive model, the $2,100 RS630, handles the largest area — three-quarters of an acre.

Sound expensive? Robomow’s products are the more affordable options when you compare them to other robot lawnmowers. Models from Husqvarna’s Automower line cost $2,000 to $3,500 (about £1,533 AU$ 2,600 to £2,685/AU$4,550 ) depending on the size of the yards they are designed to cut. The LawnBott LB85EL, which covers half an acre of yard and is also app connected, costs $2,800 (£2,150/AU$3,640 ), and the LawnBott LB300EL from the same manufacturer covers one and a half acres and costs about $5,200 (£4,000/AU$6,750).

Setup is the most time-consuming part of having a Robomow. First, you have to give your yard one last cut with a traditional mower. You select a spot near the edge of your yard for the base station where the Robomow will charge between uses. It’s a little unsettling to leave such an expensive piece of equipment out on the edge of your lawn. To protect help protect against theft, the Robomow will begin to beep loudly if you try to remove it from the base station without entering a four-digit PIN. However, an annoying alarm that you can turn off by flipping the power switch under the Robomow’s hood doesn’t feel like the best protection against sticky, grass-covered fingers.

How we tested the Robomow

• Weather thwarts inaugural mow
• Robot lawnmower becomes conversation starter when it runs
• Taking a seat to see what the mower can do
• App turns lawn care into a video game

From the base station, you lay bright green wire around the perimeter of your yard and secure it to the ground with small plastic pegs that come with the Robomow. The company includes a helpful measuring stick to use for installation that shows the proper distance the Robomow should be from barriers like sidewalks and buildings. Grass eventually grows over the perimeter wire, and you won’t be able to see it after about a week.

Once you’ve finished installing the perimeter wire, you connect the base station to a power box that you plug in and mount onto a wall of your home. The power box includes indicators that show when the Robomow is mowing or docked at the base station.

The Robomow takes 24 hours to charge before it’s ready to mow. The default setting is automatic operation, which means it will leave the base station and begin cutting on its own. You can change how often you want the Robomow to cut your yard and select days and hours that you don’t want it to run on mower’s operation panel. You have to lift up the Robomow’s hood and use a manual dial to adjust the length to which you want the Robomow to cut your grass.

BlackBerry DTEK50 review – CNET

The Good The BlackBerry DTEK50 is a slim, lightweight phone that’s easy to use with a single hand. BlackBerry’s software tweaks mostly improve the Android experience.

The Bad The camera struggles in low light, performance is a bit lacking, and BlackBerry’s security claims are seriously overblown.

The Bottom Line In a crowded mid-range smartphone market, the DTEK50 doesn’t stand out. It’s a $300 phone that feels like a $200 one.

Visit manufacturer site for details.

The new BlackBerry DTEK50 is sold as a BlackBerry phone that will make your personal information incredibly secure.

There’s just a few problems. It isn’t made by BlackBerry, doesn’t run a BlackBerry operating system and doesn’t really make your phone secure. And another thing: It doesn’t come with BlackBerry’s trademark physical keyboard, so fans of button-punching don’t even walk away with that satisfaction.

Basically, it’s your standard Android phone with a few tricks up its sleeve, and a lot of BlackBerry software tweaks. Does that add up to a phone worth buying? Probably not for many.

The BlackBerry Idol

There’s nothing explicitly wrong with the BlackBerry DTEK50, because there’s nothing wrong with the Alcatel OneTouch Idol 4 — the phone which BlackBerry unapologetically cloned.

Left: Alcatel’s Idol 4. Right: BlackBerry’s DTEK50.

Juxtaposition by Sean Hollister/CNET

In fact, the new DTEK50 is better than recent BlackBerry phones in one important way — it’s an unlocked LTE smartphone that costs just $299 or £275 (roughly AU$390 converted). The BlackBerry Priv, its predecessor, originally sold for $750.

For the comparatively small amount of money, the DTEK50 isn’t bad. It’s surprisingly thin (at 7.4mm) and light (at 4.76 ounces, or 135 grams). While it’s partially made of plastic, a black aluminum band with shiny silver beveled edges catch the light quite nicely and make it hard to drop. It’s easy to use with a single hand, unlike many modern smartphones.

The 5.2-inch, 1,920×1,080-pixel IPS screen is perfectly competent, even if it’s not a stunning AMOLED display, while a pair of stereo speakers (they face front and back) make it a pretty decent phone for the occasional Netflix session.

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The BlackBerry DTEK50.

Josh Miller/CNET

There’s also a dedicated programmable button on the side of the phone to launch any app you want. While you can’t use it when the phone is locked, it’s decent as a quick flashlight or camera toggle.

Even the battery life is OK for a phone this small. It ran roughly 12 hours in our standard video streaming drain test. In my personal use, I usually make it home after a full day’s work before the battery dies — unless I play Pokemon Go.

For $300, the DTEK50 feels a good bit slower than I’d hoped. It always feels like there’s a slight delay before the phone opens the app, summons the keyboard or loads the link I want. Our benchmarks bear that out, too. Raw performance numbers show the DTEK50 performing at about the same level as the Moto G4, a phone that costs $100 less.

And it’s shame that BlackBerry’s camera is so weak in low-light settings: I get super noisy, smudgy photos most places that aren’t outdoors. I also found it much slower to focus or shoot HDR images than today’s high-end phones.

It took more than dozen shots to get a flower photo this sharp from the DTEK50 camera. My Samsung Galaxy S7 did it on the first try.

Software

Nate said it in our review of BlackBerry’s first Android phone, and I’ll say it again: BlackBerry has actually made some useful tweaks to the Android operating system.

Salton Harley Pasternak Power Blender review – CNET

The Good The Salton Harley Pasternak Blender does the job of high-powered machines that cost twice as much, and with style.

The Bad You’ll need extra patience to use this blender, as it takes longer to complete tougher tasks than similarly powered blenders from Vitamix, Blendtec or Ninja. It’s also loud, so you can’t just turn it on and ignore it while it works.

The Bottom Line If you have patience and earplugs, the Salton Harley Pasternak blender fulfills its promise to make powerful blending affordable.

The Salton Harley Pasternak Power Blender hopes to compete with the high-powered stalwarts of the blending world — such as Vitamix and Blendtec — for less. It draws its name not from trying to evoke a law firm, but from the celebrity trainer behind it — Harley Pasternak — and Canadian appliance manufacturer Salton.

After putting the Salton blender to the test, I’ll attest to its power. It turned almonds into almond butter, made pesto and pulverized a block of cheese. It just took awhile to complete each of those tasks, and it’s loud enough that you can’t reasonably ignore it while it works. It’s successful in that it does offer a viable alternative to Vitamix and Blendtec for less, but I’d recommend the better performing $260 Ninja Ultima over it. The only reason to pick this Salton blender over the Ultima is if you like the design — you can pick from several color options.

Salton Harley Pasternak Blender stirs up…
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Cumbersome and competent

Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by modern blenders such as the Ninja Auto-IQ which lets you remove the blades to easily reach the bottom of the jar, but I found the clover-shaped jar and fixed bottom of the Salton Harley Pasternak blender difficult to use. Cleaning is easy enough — fill the jar with hot water and a couple of drops of soap, and clean it with a quick blend.

Blend anything thick, though, and you’ll have trouble scraping food out from under the blades. In particular, after both the almond butter test and the block of cheese test, it took me upward of 10 minutes to try to get all of the food out of the jar, and I ended up quitting on it and washing edible clumps down the drain just so I could move on with my life.

The shape of the jar makes it tough to scrape out ingredients.

Chris Monroe/CNET

Given that the blender takes awhile to complete just about any task, spending extra time excavating the jar grated on my nerves, as did the sound of the machine while it ran. Especially at high speed, the Salton Harley Pasternak is the loudest blender I’ve tested.

The $40 Hamilton Beach Smoothie Smart or the $90 Nutri Ninja are the best options if you just want to blend a smoothie. The appeal of the Harley Pasternak becomes clearer as you turn to more difficult tasks.

It looks the part of a high-powered blender. It’s tall and a little bulky, but I like the red finish and simple controls. Plus, again, you can pick your color from several different options.

Use the tamper to help keep things moving.

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Included in the box is a to-go cup and a tamper. You can’t blend right in the to-go cup as you can with the Hamilton Beach Stay or Go or the Ninja Ultima, so the Salton blender doesn’t have any exceptional features. About the only thoughtful extra it has it a cord wrapper on the bottom of the base.

You can buy the $250 Salton Harley Pasternak Power Blender from Best Buy, Amazon, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond and Ace Hardware. It’s also available in Canada at a number of small appliance retailers. It’s not available overseas.

Slow and steady

With a 1,500-watt motor at its disposal, an all-metal drive and eight stainless blades, four of which have a sawtooth edge, the Salton Blender has the power to keep up with high-caliber competition. By comparison the $450 Blendtec Designer Series Wildside Blender has 1,560 watts, and the $529 Vitamix 7500 comes in with a 1,440-watt motor.

Kobo Aura One Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Instead of going small with its new top-of-the-line e-reader, Kobo, now owned by online retailer Rakuten, has gone big. The Aura One sports a 7.8-inch E Ink display that’s significantly larger than the 6-inch E Ink displays found on all of Amazon’s Kindle e-readers.

Even with that bigger screen, at 230 grams or 8.1 ounces, this Aura is thinner and a touch lighter than the earlier Aura H20, which has a 6.8-inch screen. Bottom line, you’re getting more screen without adding any weight.

The Aura One compared to the Kindle Paperwhite.

Sarah Tew/CNET

I personally prefer the Kindles’ smaller form factor, and the svelte Kindle Oasis in particular, but some people like to bump up the font size and a larger screen allows you to display more lines of text. While it’s a little hard to get your whole hand around the device, it’s designed to be held in one hand, and the back of the device has a rubberized, textured finish that makes it a little easier to grip.

Like the Aura H20, this e-reader is waterproof, though it doesn’t float. Its got a higher IPX8 rating, which means it can be submerged in up to 2 meters of water for up to 60 minutes (the Aura H20 is rated to be submerged in up 1 meter for 30 minutes). Currently, no Kindle is waterproof, although Barnes & Noble’s Nook GlowLight Plus is.

Other upgrades include an ultra high resolution 1,872×1,404, 300-pixels per inch display, 8GB of onboard storage instead of the typical 4GB and an improved integrated lighting system that allows you to adjust not only brightness but color temperature (basically, a “day” and “night” mode).

The slim Aura only weighs 230 grams or 8.1 ounces.

Sarah Tew/CNET

As you’d expect from a Kobo e-reader, you can shop for e-books in the integrated Kobo store (Kobo also has apps for iOS, Android, Windows BlackBerry 10 devices, as well as Mac and Windows PCs). But in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, you can also check out library e-books via OverDrive, which Kobo’s parent company scooped up last year. (Yes, you can do also get those free library books on Kindle and Nook devices, but not by tapping the screen right on the reader as you can with the Aura One.) Other supported formats include EPUB, PDF and MOBI, as well as various image file formats, HTML, and comic book file formats.

Available for $230 in the US on September 6, the Aura One is fairly pricey, but that seems to be a trend these days in the e-reader market, as dedicated E Ink e-reading devices become niche products, with higher-end models geared to avid readers willing to pay extra for special features. (It also hits the UK on September 6 at an undisclosed price, and will follow to Australia later this year. The US price converts to AU$300 and £175.)

The value proposition here is that you’re getting a so-called “open” e-reader that has a large, crisp E-ink display and is safe to use in the bathtub or the pool.

The device is fully waterproof and has textured back.

Sarah Tew/CNET

We’ll have a full review of the Aura One after we’ve put it fully through its paces. In meantime, have a look at its specs, courtesy of Kobo:

• Price: $249 (CA) $229 (US) €229 (EU)
• Display: 7.8-inch Carta E Ink HD touchscreen with ultra-high resolution of 1,872×1,404, 300ppi
• Device size: 195.1 x 138.5 x 6.9mm, weight: 230g
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Micro USB
• Processor: i.MX6 Solo Lite Freescale, 1 GHz
• Light: Fully adjustable built-in ComfortLight PRO technology. Auto-adjusting colour temperature and brightness
• Waterproof: HZO Protection meets IPX8 rating. Waterproof for up to 60 minutes in up to 2 meters of water.
• Storage: 8GB (stores more than 6,000 e-books)
• Battery: Up to 1 month, depending on usage
• Content: More than 5 million titles in books, comics and kids’ titles. Library access via OverDrive (CA, US, UK, AU, NZ only)
• TypeGenius: 11 fonts, over 50 sizes, plus sharpness and lighting settings
• Kobo Picks: Personal recommendations based on your reading habits. Advanced Reading: Highlighting, dictionary, notes and bookmarks.
• Stats and awards: Learn more about yourself as a Reader and track your progress through books with reading stats. Enjoy spontaneous reading awards just for reading. Sharing: Share your favorite passages, quotes and books to your Facebook timeline
• Supported file formats: EPUB, EPUB3, PDF and MOBI e-books; JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP and TIFF images; TXT, HTML, XHTML and RTF text; CBZ and CBR comic books
• Languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Italian, Portuguese and Turkish

Kobo Aura One (pictures)
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Automatic Pro Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

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How to turn your smart home on and off using your car
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The Automatic Pro.

Automatic Labs

Automatic’s plug-in driving gizmo is like wearable tech for your car. Plug it into the diagnostic port beneath your car’s steering wheel, and you’ll be able to track mileage and maintenance needs on your phone over Bluetooth, or even trigger your smart-home devices to turn off and on as you come go.

Now, Automatic is back with the new and improved Automatic Pro. The pitch is the same as before, but the price has gone up 30 dollars, to $130. For the extra money, the device now includes a fee-free cellular connection that allows it to log your miles even when you don’t have your phone on you.

Automatic also pitches the cellular connection as a means of beefing up the gadget’s smart-home chops. The device already boasts integrations with Amazon’s Alexa, the Nest Learning Thermostat and the free online automation service IFTTT. In those last two cases, Automatic can act as a trigger — telling your Nest thermostat to shut the air off when you leave for work in the morning, or telling your smart lights to turn on when you arrive home at the end of the day. With an unlimited 3G connection, Automatic should be able to make those inter-device connections a little more reliably.

The redesigned Automatic app promises a better user interface and deeper controls.

Automatic Labs

You’ll also notice a newly refreshed Automatic app, available for both Android and iOS devices. It’s largely a cosmetic overhaul, though Automatic is promising deeper controls for things like notifications and diagnostics, along with an improved Crash Alert feature that can automatically send alerts if the airbags ever deploy. You can also expect to see suggested IFTTT recipes built directly into the app, part of IFTTT’s recent push for native third-party controls.

Automatic Pro is on sale starting today, and available online at Automatic’s website and on Amazon, or in store at Best Buy. We’ll be sure to test it out at the CNET Smart Home just as soon as we get our hands on one.

Nikon D3400 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

The D3400’s body looks almost unchanged since the D3100, which was three generations ago.

Nikon

The Nikon D3300 has long been my go-to recommendation for a cheap dSLR, but after 2 years it’s usually time to slap a new coat of paint on consumer products. Nikon’s 2016 update to that camera, the D3400, has some small enhancements to bring it up to date, but nothing vital.

Along with the camera, Nikon has announced new kit lenses to accompany it. The 18-55mm versions of its new AF-P lenses — they incorporate stepper motors like Canon’s STM lenses for smoother and quieter focus in LCD-based Live View — were announced in January and have been available in Europe and Australia, but they’re finally making their US debut. Additionally, the company revealed another pair of 70-300mm AF-P lenses.

There are two versions of each of the two zooms, one with optical image stabilization (Nikon’s Vibration Reduction, or VR) and one without; the names differ solely by the “VR” designation and $50 (a more significant £60 in the UK and as-yet unknown price in Australia). This is going to get really confusing for shoppers, who will, I bet, inadvertently end up buying the wrong kit.

The AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6G VR is $250 (£230, AU$200) while the non-VR version is $200 (£170; I don’t see this version of the lens in Australia), and the AF-P DX Nikkor 70-300mm f4.5- 6.3G ED VR costs $400 (directly converted £307, AU$520), $350 (approximately £270, AU$455) for the nonstabilized one.

Nikon’s initially offering two kits of the D3400, one with the 18-55mm VR lens for $650. The other option is a dual-lens kit with the VR version of the 18-55mm lens but the non-VR version of the 70-300mm. While that’s a silly configuration — stabilization on the lens where you don’t need it and no stabilization on the one where you do — it allows Nikon to hit its just-under-$1,000 price of…$999.95. I don’t have overseas information yet, but those convert to approximately £500, AU$845 for the first kit and £770, AU$1,300 for the dual-lens kit.

What’s new

• Sensor update. Though it’s the same resolution as the D3300, the new sensor follows Nikon’s trend of removing the low-pass filter (also known as the antialiasing filter) to deliver sharper photos. In fact, along with the update to the company’s Expeed 4 imaging engine, it looks an awful lot like the imaging system that’s in the D5300. It gives the camera a better noise profile, extended into what were the expanded regions on the D3300.
• Wireless support. No Wi-Fi here; Nikon’s betting on Bluetooth to maintain a persistent low-power connection between the camera and your mobile device. That’s fine given how lame the company’s SnapBridge app is. Hopefully there’ll be an iPhone/iPad-compatible app by the time the camera ships, because there still isn’t at the moment.
• Improved battery life. The D3400’s extends to 1,200 shots from 700, despite using the same battery.

My take

Like Canon, Nikon is now in a position where its older, better cameras (in Nikon’s case the D5300 from 2013) are cheaper than their cheap dSLRs — which, by the way, also have old technology, but a 2016 date on them. The D5300 has better autofocus and metering systems, an articulated LCD and Wi-Fi. The Canon EOS Rebel T6/EOS 1300Dis cheaper, but the D3400 has better hardware, so its real Canon competition is the old EOS Rebel T5i/700D, which, like the D5300, has better specs for the same price. Still, unless Nikon broke something, it should carry on the D3300’s torch as a solid first dSLR.

Comparative specifications

Huawei Honor 8 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

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The Honor 8 has dual cameras for extra sharp photos
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Liquid. That’s the best way we can describe the smooth, sensuous lines of Huawei’s new Honor 8 phone, which the company unveiled at a press event in San Francisco tonight in dark blue, black and white shades.

Honor is the Chinese company’s sub-brand, one that tends to — but doesn’t necessarily always — sell phones at lower prices than other Huawei lines. (One good example: the Honor 5X came in cheaper than the similar Huawei-branded GX8 at launch.)

The Honor 8, whose glossy, reflective coating channels Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and S7 phone design, is essentially a rebranded Huawei P9, a phone released last spring with two rear cameras. While the Honor 8 shares the dual camera and some unique gestures you can initiate with your knuckles, it does’t use the P9’s more quality components, like the Leica-made cameras.

Huawei’s Honor 8 has liquid-smooth looks
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We’ll soon take the two 12-megapixel rear shooters on a head-to-head bout with the P9 to see just how the Huawei camera compares to Leica’s lofted lenses.

Where and when to get it

The Honor 8’s glossy finish attracts the light, and also icky fingerprints.

Josh Miller/CNET

As of now now, the Honor 8 has been announced for China and the US.

In the US, you can pick up the 32GB variant for $400 and the 64GB version for $450. Pre-orders run from August 17 through September 3 and you get a $50 gift card for your efforts. You can pick up the phone at HiHonor.com, Amazon, Best Buy, B&H and Newegg. If you want that bright blue color, though — and it’s a nice one — you’ll have to get it from Best Buy for the first two months. After that, it’s fair game.

Glossy, pocket-friendly design

We can tell you that the 5.2-inch Honor 8 is comfortable to hold and pockets well, although its shiny surface smudged up fast. While we do like the size, the 1,920×1,080-pixel resolution is bright and detailed but not as sharp as the 2,560×1,440-pixel screens found in top Samsung, LG and Motorola phones. However, that matters less if you aren’t using a phone for VR, and resolution also matches up with our favorite midprice phone of the year, the OnePlus 3.

Huawei phones keep a fingerprint sensor on the back. Since this is a smaller device than the much larger Nexus 6P, it’s an easier target for those of us with smaller hands to reach.

Hidden perks: Knuckles and custom launcher

Wild! Drag your knuckle on the screen to launch apps.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Even better, the fingerprint reader includes a “smart button” feature that turns it into a programmable button you can use to launch specific apps. You can map it to launch three different apps when you tap, double-tap or long press the sensor. It’s a really nice perk the Honor 8 has that the brushed-metal P9 did not.

However, this Honor 8 does carry over a previous feature to knuckle down on the screen. Really. Double tap the display with your knuckle to snap a quick screenshot, or double tap it with two knuckles to begin recording the screen. (Knock, knock!)

You can also use your knuckle to draw a “C” to launch the camera app, an “E” for email and “M” for music — though the latter are sometimes more trouble than they’re worth. We’ve seen it previously on the Mate 8 phone, but it’s the first time their knuckle actions will come to the US.

Double the camera lenses, double the fun?

Two lenses working better together could add depth to your photography.

Josh Miller/CNET

Let’s get back to those dual cameras, shall we? One lens is monochrome and the other is RGB. Huawei says the two work together to make photos more vivid and detailed. AKA, you become more of a photo genius and the envy of your peers. Both cameras together can also change the depth of field to give your shots more of the professional look usually associated with DSLR cameras. For a black-and-white effect, you can switch to a monochrome mode.

Meanwhile, an 8-megapixel camera sits on the front with a flash that doubles as a notification light. So far, our test shots looked pretty good — but we’ll be taking many, many more.

Full specs

• 5.2-inch display with a 1,920×1,080-pixel resolution (423ppi)
• Octa-core Huawei-made HiSilicon Kirin 950 processor
• Two 12-megapixel rear cameras with flash
• 8-megapixel front camera with flash
• 32GB of internal storage with 4GB of RAM
• MicroSD card slot up to 256GB of space
• 3,000mAh battery with fast charging
• USB-C charger port
• Android 6.0 with Emotion 4.1 UI
• IR Blaster, NFC, USB-C, 3.5mm headphone jack

Puro Sound Labs BT5200 Bluetooth Headphones review – CNET

The Good The Puro Sound Labs BT5200 wireless headphones let you know when your volume is over 85dB, potentially causing hearing loss. Long battery life and very good passive external noise blocking. Can be used wired and there’s a built-in mic for calls.

The Bad Somewhat generic design and although they’re generally comfortable, the headband might be too tight for some, resulting in ear pain. You can’t tell if the volume is too loud without taking them off your head.

The Bottom Line The Puro Sound Labs BT5200 headphones might look like some other Bluetooth headphones, but they do deliver excellent audio while helping you protect yourself from hearing loss.

The Puro Sound Labs BT5200 wireless headphones are broccoli for your ears.

That’s not really “rock ‘n’ roll,” but the BT5200s are made to save you from yourself and keep your hearing healthy. Inside of the aluminum earcups with their 40mm custom dynamic drivers is a microprocessor that monitors their decibel level and alerts you via an LED when your volume is safe or unsafe.

Basically, to keep your hearing healthy, it’s recommended that you keep volume at or below 85 dB. When you’re in this range with the BT5200s, the tiny LED on the left cup glows green. When you’re between 85 and 95 — a level you should limit to 2 hours or less — the LED glows yellow. Keep raising the volume till you’re over 95 decibels and the LED turns red, letting you know you’re on your way to hearing damage.

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Green is good.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Knowing the safe listening level at a glance is nice (even if it does require taking the headphones off to find out), but you still want to be able to hear whatever it is you’re listening to. For that, Puro balanced the sound quality, so it actually sounds loud at a lower volume.

The Puros have a natural, warm tone to them with full bass, and sound excellent for a variety of music styles as well as spoken word such as audio books and movies and TV. If you’re looking for a lot of booming, hard-hitting bass or highly detailed audio, these probably won’t satisfy. But for those with eclectic tastes or those who want a good multipurpose headphone, the BT5200s hit the mark.

There is no active noise cancellation, so if you’re on a plane, train or bus, you’re still going to hear much of the noise. The earcup padding combined with the pressure of the headband does block 82 percent of external audio according to the company, though, and I believe it. All it takes is listening to some music at low volume to completely block out extraneous noise in my office.

2016 Nissan Frontier Pro-4x review – Roadshow

The Good The Pro-4x trim offers traditional off-road controls for those who don’t want the computer to do the thinking for them.

The Bad The Frontier is long overdue for an update, both inside and out.

The Bottom Line While it’s a good truck, it’s tough to justify spending upward of $30,000 on a Pro-4x when the competition offers more features and a modern design.

It was already over 100 degrees when I pulled into our pit area at the race track outside Barstow, California. I would be off road racing in a few hours, but for the time being, I had ample opportunity to play in the dirt with the 2016 Nissan Frontier Pro-4x pickup truck.

I grabbed a pal, dropped the tire pressure on the Hankook Dynapro AT-Ms to 28 psi, and headed out to the open desert.

What I found surprised me. The Frontier scrambled up the mountain the locals call Starter Ridge, the four-wheel-drive system and 281 pound-feet of torque propelling me up the steep and rocky slope like it was a walk in the proverbial park.

Emme Hall/Roadshow

We stopped at a flat spot on the hill and noticed a motorcycle rider on the highest peak, watching us with interest.

“Let’s give him a show,” I said to my co-driver. A single push of a button locked my rear differential and I switched the transmission into 4L. With 9 inches of ground clearance the Frontier clambered over a small sea of rocks to gain even more elevation. Alas, the trail turned to one better suited for two wheels than four, and we turned back.

To be honest, I knew the Pro-4x, the off road trim of the midsize Frontier, would be good in the dirt as soon as I sat behind the wheel. It’s simple. Everything about it is simple. There are no terrain-select geegaws to get in the way. Just a simple electronic locking rear differential, Bilstein shocks and a shift-on-the-fly 4×4 system. Frankly, I don’t need much more than that.

Well, on second thought, a beefier Dana 44 rear axle would help, something Nissan should make standard on each Pro-4x. Currently, it’s only available in the smaller king cab Pro-4x or SV V6 trims, not the larger crew cab.

Uncomplicated Inside

Unfortunately, the rest of the tech is simple as well. You want a 7-inch touchscreen? Too bad, you get a dinky 5.8-inch color touchscreen. Adaptive cruise control? Nope, drivers must deal with regular cruise control. Sure it has Bluetooth, satellite radio, iPod connectivity, voice control and a 10-speaker Rockford Fosgate premium audio system, but on the whole the tech is soooo 2000-late.