Dragon Quest 11 for PlayStation 4: Everything you need to know

PlayStation and JRPGs are synonymous, and Dragon Quest 11 is the ultimate one.

Square Enix’s announcement of Dragon Quest 11 delighted many-a JRPG fan. The game’s western debut marks the first time in over a decade that we’ve seen a Dragon Quest title made for a major console.

With that comes a whole new opportunity to get fans of the series back into the game, as well as an original story for newcomers to enjoy. If you haven’t already imported Dragon Quest 11, this is one awesome game to keep your eye on. Here’s everything you need to know about it.

What is Dragon Quest 11?

If ever you needed an example of a Japanese RPG, Dragon Quest is perhaps the purest. It’s a high-fantasy game that features exploration, an overwhelmingly charming cast, character progression, and – you guessed it – turn-based combat.

It’s a style of game that’s become increasingly rare as the industry moves toward more action-oriented gameplay systems to keep players’ adrenaline rushing. Square Enix has remained committed to keeping this beloved genre alive.

Dragon Quest 11 will be no different in that regard. This launch is particularly exciting because it’ll be the first Dragon Quest game to launch on major gaming platforms in more than a decade. Yeah, there were the handheld titles, but those tiny screens just don’t do the beauty of the game justice.

Available in Japan as far back as July 2017, Dragon Quest 11 is set to make its western debut where it will get something that not even the Japanese crowd will: fully voiced cutscenes.

What’s the story?

Dragon Quest 11 takes place in the fantasy world of Lotozetasia. It’s beautiful realm that’s not quite open world, but certainly is chock full of expansive regions to explore. The region you start off in is Cobblestone.

That figures to be the homeplace of the main character, who pretty much goes unnamed, but is commonly referred to as a Luminary. Luminaries are basically bringers of light and harness great power. The character is the descendent of a legendary hero, and he doesn’t talk – go figure. Thus, it’s up to you to imagine the personality and traits of your character, a bit of a lost art in gaming.

The story begins with your coming-of-age trial, which is to climb God’s Rock and visit the spirits of the earth. The trial mostly serves as a tutorial and an introduction to the gameplay systems, but you get into the thick of things soon after.

Your first stop after that is Heliodor. It’s here where King Carnelian places you in jail for simply being a luminary. That’s because he believes Luminaries to be people who collude with dark forces (because light casts shadow when it shines on things, maybe). The antagonist seems totally unreasonable, but it’s up to you to escape and fight against the darkness to prove you’re a good guy.

All in all, you’re looking at about 60 hours to get the most out of Dragon Quest 11. Much of that time will be spent talking to party members and villagers to learn about your past, as well as their own.

Gorgeous art style

Dragon Quest has become known for its breathtaking art style. The series has favored a cel-shaded approach over the years. Dragon Quest 11 takes that up to, well, 11.

Leading artist Akira Toriyama is responsible for the look, and while we don’t know whether he had a direct hand in this particular release, we know Square Enix at least looked to imitate it as closely as possible. Traits include broad strokes of vibrant color and an anime-like approach to both character and world design.

Gameplay details

As we mentioned before, Dragon Quest 11 is as pure a JRPG you can find. That means there’s turn-based combat, and combat typically revolves around a system of strengths and weaknesses, meaning enemies will be weaker or stronger against specific attacks.

That’s where the party system comes in. You can have a whole gang of companions with you, each serving a specific purpose in your group. One can be a healer, while another can do the bulk of the fire damage you need, and so on and so forth. Each of these heroes has a unique upgrade tree, and they can either be controlled by the player or left to make their own battle decisions. Some of your characters can even combine attacks to make for a powerful combo, so long as they’re both in the “Zone,” a new mechanic that buffs your attributes and abilities.

You’ll be fighting the usual array of Dragon quest enemies, including skeletons, dragons, and even those cute little slimes that you often hate to kill.

You make your characters stronger by way of weapons, armor, and items. These things can be found on enemies and given as quest rewards. You can also buy them from vendors or craft them at campfires. In Dragon Quest 11, crafting will be less of a menu-diving affair and one with a tad more substance, as you’ll have to go through relatively easy mini games to make it a successful affair.

As far as traveling is concerned, you primarily move around on your horse, which can be called on at various outposts if you don’t want to slog through the expansive regions in the game. You still encounter enemies while on horseback, and you can even pick up items. The horse also makes it possible to run away from an enemy if you don’t want to deal with fighting it.

Square Enix saw fit to add a dash button for when your character is on fit. He moves painfully slow otherwise, so it’s a nice tool for making your way through towns when you need to talk to some people or do some general housekeeping. Another keen addition is the ability to climb up on roofs and walk on tightropes, giving you another perspective to take in the breathtaking scenery.

Where to pre-order Dragon Quest 11

There are a few different pre-order options available if you’re excited to get your hands on Dragon Quest 11. Standard edition pre-orders get a lanyard when bought through Square Enix, or a PS4 theme when bought digitally on the PlayStation 4. If you’re early enough on the pre-order train, you’ll also be in for the Edition of Light digital content, which includes experience skill seeds and replenishment items for mana and health.

See at Amazon

Opt for the $150 “Edition of Lost Time” copy and you’ll be landing yourself all the Edition of Light content, plus a 128-page hardback book featuring information and artwork, a two-disc original soundtrack, a cloth map, more experience seeds, and an in-game pep pop potion.

See at Square Enix

When can you play it?

Dragon Quest 11 launches in western markets on September 4th, 2018 for PlayStation 4 and PC. Those feeling particularly martyrous can import the Japanese copy to play on any region-free PlayStation 4 console right now. Just note that this version only includes Japanese for its language track.

See at Amazon

PlayStation 4

• PS4 vs. PS4 Slim vs. PS4 Pro: Which should you buy?
• PlayStation VR Review
• Playing PS4 games through your phone is awesome

Amazon

What you missed this week on CordCutters.com

It’s all Amazon Fire TV, all the time. OK, a lot of the time. Some of the time.

The Amazon Fire TV Cube is now shipping, and we’ve reviewed the little box. The short version? It’s really good, actually. But definitely not perfect, and maybe not for everyone. But there’s a real reason to give it a good look.

Have a taste:

In hindsight, it’s pretty clear exactly what we should have expected. Amazon Fire TV is a known entity. We’ve used it for years, and it’s a great option for streaming TV. Amazon Echo is a great hands-free voice assistant thing. We’ve used Alexa for years.

Combine the two in cube form, and we’ve got the Amazon Fire TV Cube. It sits atop the three current models of Fire TV, and is sort of an offshoot in the Echo line. A more capable Echo Dot, if you will. You plug it into your TV, teach it a little bit about what all you have hooked up, and it controls things reasonably well. Your display, speakers or sound bar, other devices.

What else did you miss this past week?

• Big changes to Sling TV: If you’re a fan of Sling TV, get ready for something new. New free offerings. New channels. And a new higher price on its most basic plan.
• The World Cup is still streaming: There are only 16 teams remaining, and two weeks left to play. We’ve got updated schedules and streaming info.
• Wimbledon is upon us: Tennis fans will be able to watch every damn match. Impressive.
• So, about that Westworld Season 2 finale …: Know what? It was good. It was really good. Don’t @ me.
• Oreo is on NVIDIA Shield TV: Finally? Finally. (And, yes you should update.)

Introducing CordCutters.com

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• All about streaming services
• What channels are on which service
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• How to watch sports
• Join the discussion

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Acer Spin 5 review

Research Center:

Acer Spin 5

If you want to say “Alexa!” and access some of Amazon’s digital assistant intelligence, you’ll now be able to do it on new PCs. Acer’s Spin 5 slots in at the midrange, but it brings that extra special something to the party – it’s the first laptop with Amazon Alexa enabled out of the box.

Our review unit was equipped with an 8th-generation quad-core Intel Core i7-8550U CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SATA solid-state drive (SSD), and a 13.3-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 or 166 PPI) display. That’s an increasingly common configuration lately, and the Spin 5 brings it in at a reasonable $900. You can save $100 if you’re willing to settle for a Core i5-8250U and slightly lower performance.

These are pedestrian components and pricing, but Alexa support places the Spin 5 – at least for the short term — in a unique position. Is that enough to give the Spin 5 a leg up on its competition?

Squint and you might not notice it’s there

We can’t really knock the Spin 5’s aesthetic design. It sports the common dark gray color scheme, a sort of metallic hatch effect on the lid, and chrome accents along the keyboard deck and touchpad inset. Overall, it’s a design that we like, both because of and in spite of the fact that it doesn’t stand out in a crowded field – not everyone wants their notebook to be a fashion statement. Lenovo’s Yoga 730 is similarly priced and it, too, implements the same safe design, but we wouldn’t fault you if you jumped up in price to something like the HP Spectre x360 13 with a bolder style.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

One area where the Spin 5 stands out, and not in a good way, is in its relatively massive bezels. The Yoga 730’s bezels are so much smaller, they make the Spin 5’s look comically large in comparison. That, in turn, makes the Spin 5 larger than it needs to be, as well as heavier at 3.31 pounds (compared to the Yoga 730’s much more svelte 2.47 pounds). The Spin 5 manages to be reasonably thin at 0.63 inches, compared to the Yoga 730’s 0.62 inches, but the Spectre x360 13 beats them both at 0.53 inches thin.

The Spin 5 is solidly built, with minimal flex in the lid and keyboard deck.

Fortunately, the Spin 5 is solidly built, with minimal flex in the lid and keyboard deck. It’s easily the Yoga 720’s equal in this regard, and it beats out the thinner Spectre x360 13 that demonstrated a somewhat bendy display. We’re glad to see lower-priced machines bringing such robust build quality. The hinge is smooth and holds the display in place through the 2-in-1s laptop, display, tent, and tablet modes.

Another strength is all the connectivity that Acer packed into the Spin 5. You’ll find a USB-C 3.1 port with data, power, and display support, two USB-A 3.0 ports, and one USB-A 2.0 port for solid legacy support. Then, there’s an Ethernet port – an unusual addition in this form factor — for easy access to gigabit ethernet, a full-size HDMI port, and an SD card reader. Power is provided by a proprietary charger, and you’ll find the usual 2X2 MU-MIMO 802.11AC Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 radios. That’s better than the Yoga 730, with the unfortunate exception that Acer omitted Thunderbolt 3 support and so external GPU enclosures are out of the question.

Able input options make entering information a breeze, and Alexa is at your command

The Spin 5 equips the usual backlit island keyboard with black keys and white lettering, and while key travel is slightly shallow, Acer used a mechanism that’s responsive and provides a bouncy bottoming action. We found it to be a more comfortable keyboard for long typing sessions than the Yoga 730’s keyboard, which felt shallower and more abrupt, but it didn’t quite hold up to the Spectre x360 13’s excellent version.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

The touchpad was also very good and only slightly off-center, with just enough size and full Microsoft Precision touchpad support. Windows 10 gestures were precise and reliable, and the button had a nice click without being too loud. The touchscreen display did its job, responding to swipes and taps without hesitation. The Spin 5 supports a digital pen, but it’s a $50 option that wasn’t included with our review unit and so we couldn’t test the 2-in-1s inking performance. More and more 2-in-1s are including the stylus, and so this is an extra expense we’d rather avoid.

A responsive fingerprint reader provides Windows 10 Hello password-less login support, but it’s located inconveniently in the upper left corner of the touchpad. It’s great for lefties, but if you’re right-handed, then you’ll find yourself swiping a few times to get accustomed to the location.

The Spin 5’s display was dimmer than we like, and contrast below average.

Finally, as we mentioned earlier, Acer is the first company to ship a laptop with Amazon’s Alexa ready to go. Lenovo will implement Alexa support on a few of its laptops soon, but we were able to give it a try on the Spin 5 right away. Simply put, Alexa works just as you would expect: (Almost) like an Amazon Echo device built into a notebook format.

We were able to ask the usual questions from across a room, thanks to four far-field microphones and Intel’s Smart Sound digital signal processor (DSP). You can ask for weather and traffic reports, control Amazon Music and iHeartRadio (no Spotify or Pandora support for now), and access Alexa skills. If we had smart home devices, then we could have controlled those as well.

Acer Spin 5 Compared To

Lenovo Yoga 730

HP Spectre x360 13-ae002xx

Dell XPS 13 2-in-1

Asus NovaGo

Lenovo Yoga 720 13-inch

HP Spectre x360 13-w023dx

Vaio Z Flip

Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro

Toshiba Satellite Click 2 Pro

Acer Travelmate X313

HP Spectre 13t x2

Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro

Toshiba Satellite Click

HP ProBook 5330m

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge

Alexa for PC doesn’t yet support everything that Echo devices support, but it’s a nice subset of Alexa capabilities. If you’re an Amazon user and rely on Alexa, you’ll find it convenient to access her capabilities on the Spin 5. If you don’t use digital assistants or have placed your bets on an Alexa competitor like Google Assistant or Siri, then Alexa support won’t impress.

A dim display with better than average colors

The Spin 5 comes equipped with a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 or 166PPI) display, the new standard for midrange and premium notebooks. Acer doesn’t offer a 4K UHD display option, and so pixel-peepers will need to look elsewhere.

According to our colorimeter, the Acer Spin 5 offers better-than-average color gamut support, beating out the Yoga 730 and Spectre x360 13, and its color accuracy was also very good at 1.48 (where less than one is considered excellent). Unfortunately, the brightness was a bit low at 279 nits, where we like to see 300 nits or more, and contrast was average at 750:1 – although that’s better than the HP and Lenovo, many other recent notebooks offer higher contrast.

In subjective use, the Spin 5’s display was pleasant, with nice whites and colors that pop relative to other notebooks without professional-level displays. Gamma was perfect at 2.2, meaning that images and video were spot-on in terms of brightness, and watching Netflix was more than good enough.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

The audio was a mixed bag. Volume was excellent with surprisingly good stereo separation, but unfortunately, there was some distortion when at full blast. As usual with thin and light notebooks, bass was lacking, and treble was a little tinny. Sound quality is fine for the occasional YouTube video, but you’ll want to pull out your headphones for watching movies or listening to music.

The usual solid productivity performance

We feel like a broken record lately, talking about how Intel’s 8th-generation Core processors provide great productivity performance while maintaining impressive efficiency. Heading into our Spin 5 review, we fully anticipated the same old story.

We weren’t disappointed. The Spin 5 performed right in line with the competition, scoring better on the Geekbench 4 single-core test than the Yoga 730 and slightly less quick on the multi-core test. Overall synthetic benchmark performance was in line with our comparison group.

The results were similar when we compared the Spin 5’s ability to churn through a video encoding task using Handbrake. It managed to process a 420MB trailer in close to four and three-quarters minutes, which is competitive with our comparison group. Only notebooks equipped with full-power Intel quad-core CPUs are meaningfully faster.

The Spin 5 should last a full workday if you’re running the usual productivity tasks.

Acer wasn’t quite so generous with its SSD choice, however, equipping the Spin 5 with a slower SATA SSD compared to the PCIe SSD you’ll find in machines like the Yoga 730. That made it significantly slower in reading and writing information, although still faster than old-school spinning hard disk drives (HDDs) and plenty fast for the 2-in-1s intended purposes.

These test results culminated in a subjective experience that was speedy enough in real-life usage. We noticed no slowdowns no matter the task, although we were slightly disappointed with fan noise. It’s not that the fans were particularly loud, it’s that they ran too often, even when we were only browsing the web. The chassis never got too hot, but the fans were a bit annoying.

Gaming was par for the course, as well

You’ll have to look elsewhere for anything but casual gaming, as the Spin 5 is limited to Intel UHD 620 integrated graphics. If you want moderately better gaming performance, you’ll need to look for a 2-in-1 like the Asus ZenBook Flip 14, which includes a discrete Nvidia GeForce MX150 GPU.

The Spin 5 scored pretty much as we predicted in the 3DMark synthetic benchmark, with results that matched up with other machines sporting integrated graphics. And real-life gaming results were the same as well, with the Spin 5 able to manage 54 frames per second (FPS) in Rocket League at 1080p with graphics turned down to Performance Mode. It dropped down to 26 FPS in High Quality mode, making the 2-in-1 best for older titles at lower graphics and less-demanding esports and casual Windows 10 games.

Thin and light enough to carry around, but battery life takes a step back

The Spin 5 packs in 54 watt-hours of battery capacity, which at the high end for this class of machine. It’s more than the Yoga 730’s 48 watt-hours, for example, and so we were expecting at least slightly better longevity away from a plug.

Our results were mixed. In our CPU-intensive Basemark web benchmark test, the Spin 5 managed to last just over three and a half hours before running down. That’s better than the Yoga 730, which hit just over three hours, but worse than the Spectre x360 13 that managed over four hours.

On our web browsing test, though, the Spin 5 did much better, lasting for nine hours. That’s much longer than the Yoga 730’s roughly six hours and even beats the Spectre x360 13’s eight and three-quarters hours. In fact, the Spin 5 was surprisingly competitive with the class leader, Microsoft’s Surface Book 13. On the other hand, the Spin 5 managed nine and a half hours in our video loop test. That’s an okay score that beats the Yoga 730’s roughly eight hours, but it falls well behind the Spectre x360’s 14 hours.

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

These are good – but not great – results for a midrange 2-in-1 today. They indicate that the Spin 5 should last a full workday if you’re running the usual productivity tasks. Push the CPU, though, and you’ll be reaching for the power supply sooner than you’d like.

The Spin 5 is just svelte enough to be comfortable in a backpack. It’s heavy at 3.31 pounds (compared to the Yoga 730’s 2.47 pounds), and its large bezels make for a wider and deeper chassis than is common today for 13.3-inch notebooks. But it’s thin enough to carry comfortably at 0.62 inches, which is close to the Yoga 730’s 0.62 inches.

Our Take

Acer perfectly positioned the Spin 5 in the midrange convertible 2-in-1 niche. It’s attractively priced, well-built, and it provides solid performance and good battery life. Input options are very good, and it tosses Alexa support into the mix. Only a rather dim and slightly low-contrast display holds it back from being an excellent option in this price range.

Is there a better alternative?

The most direct comparison to the Spin 7 is Lenovo’s Yoga 730, which costs $850 for a Core i5-8250U, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB PCIe SSD, and a Full HD 13.3-inch display. It’s also well-built, performs well, and is a bit cheaper — though the Spin 5 provides meaningfully better battery life.

You could also jump up to the HP Spectre x360 13, another convertible 13.3-inch 2-in-1 that we’ve long included on our our list of favorites. You’ll find the Spectre to be a much more attractive machine that offers similar performance to go with a better keyboard but lesser battery life. You’ll also pay more for the sleeker design, at $1,120 for a Core i5-8250U, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB PCIe SSD. That price also includes an active pen, a $70 extra for the Yoga 730.

How long will it last?

The Spin 5 is well-built with an up-to-date processor and solid connectivity. Only the lack of Thunderbolt 3 and the industry-standard one-year warranty is likely to become an issue over time.

Should you buy it?

No. The Spin 5 is a decent enough midrange convertible 2-in-1 option, but it’s held back by its dated bezels (and thus overly large chassis) and dim display. The ability to access Alexa is a nice addition, but it’s coming to other machines and doesn’t stand out as a vital feature.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+: Everything you need to know

The Galaxy S8 and S8+ have already been around for over a year, but they’re still among the best phones you can buy.

Samsung is an absolutely massive player in the smartphone space, and that all comes down from up high with the flagship Galaxy S line. The Galaxy S8 and its larger partner the Galaxy S8+, build on the core features and experiences from the Galaxy S7 and bring things into the future with great new design and a few eye-catching features that were all new for 2017. They go along with the Galaxy Note 8, which is slightly bigger and features an S Pen stylus, to form a trio of great hardware and meaningful software updates.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+.

Galaxy S8 and S8+: The basics

The two phones, which are only differentiated by their screen size and battery capacity, come in at 5.8-inches and 6.2-inches with extra-tall 18.5:9 aspect ratio displays. That battery difference is pretty subtle: 3500mAh for the Galaxy S8+ and 3000mAh for the standard Galaxy S8. You may note that the Galaxy S8+’s battery is actually 100mAh smaller than the Galaxy S7 edge of last year, while the Galaxy S8’s is the same size as the Galaxy S7 despite being a larger phone.

Though the batteries haven’t increased in size, the hope is that the improved efficiency of the new 10 nm processor inside — that’ll be the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 or the Samsung Exynos 8895, depending on the region — will provide some help. The processor is backed up by 4GB of RAM, an increase to 64GB of storage, and of course a microSD card slot. Waterproofing and wireless charging are still here as well, plus a new USB-C port on the bottom. The rear camera is unchanged in terms of its 12MP sensor and f/1.7 lens, but has improved processing thanks to new software and a new ISP (image signal processor).

This is some beautiful hardware all around.

The overall design for the phones is identical on both sizes, and is still shimmering glass and metal much like the previous generation. It’s punctuated by the long edges of the displays curving subtly off the side, more so like the Galaxy Note 7 than the more dramatic Galaxy S7 edge — and to that point, there is no “edge” model here, as both phones sport the curves.

Read: Samsung Galaxy S8 review

The displays have an 18.5:9 aspect ratio with a QHD+ resolution, meaning they’re extra tall while staying relatively narrow. Samsung has also moved to on-screen buttons and reduced bezel size dramatically in order to fit as much screen into the body as possible. That necessitated the movement of the fingerprint sensor to the back of the phones, where it sits somewhat-awkwardly next to the camera lens. Iris scanning makes its return in a new-and-improved version from the Note 7 to try and pick up the slack.

Get familiar with all of the Galaxy S8’s specs

Samsung is trying to drive a narrative that we’ve moved beyond specs (and you can definitely argue that we have), but the enthusiasts will always want to know the details of what’s powering the latest phones. You get just about everything in here that you’d expect

Operating System	Android 7.0 Nougat	Android 7.0 Nougat
Display	5.8-inch AMOLED2960x1440 (570 ppi)	6.2-inch AMOLED2960x1440 (529 ppi)
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 835or Samsung Exynos 8895	Qualcomm Snapdragon 835or Samsung Exynos 8895
Storage	64GB (UFS 2.1)	64GB (UFS 2.1)
Expandable	microSD up to 256GB	microSD up to 256GB
RAM	4GB	4GB
Rear Camera	12MP Dual Pixel, f/1.71.4-micron pixelsOIS	12MP Dual Pixel, f/1.71.4-micron pixelsOIS
Front Camera	8MP, f/1.7auto focus	8MP, f/1.7auto focus
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11ac MIMOBluetooth 5.0NFC, GPS, Glonass, Galileo, BeiDouLTE Cat.16	Wi-Fi 802.11ac MIMOBluetooth 5.0NFC, GPS, Glonass, Galileo BeiDouLTE Cat.16
Charging	USB-CFast chargingQi wirelessPowermat wireless	USB-CFast chargingQi wirelessPowermat wireless
Battery	3000mAh	3500mAh
Water resistance	IP68	IP68
Security	One-touch fingerprint sensorIris scannerSamsung KNOX	One-touch fingerprint sensorIris scannerSamsung KNOX
Dimensions	148.9 x 68.1 x 8 mm	159.5 x 73.4 x 8.1 mm
Weight	155 g	173 g

As for the two different models, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ are identical internally aside from the batteries and of course screen sizes.

Notable camera improvements on the GS8

On the face of it, the spec hounds among us won’t be satisfied with the fact that Samsung has stuck with the same camera specs from the Galaxy S7 in the new Galaxy S8. Yes, that means we’re looking at a 12MP “Dual Pixel” camera with an f/1.7 lens — but remember that the software and ISP (image signal processor) have been improved since last year, and this was arguably the best camera of 2016. On the other side, Samsung has completely revamped the front-facing camera to an 8MP unit with autofocus — all the better for your selfies of all types.

How does it all come together? Here’s Daniel’s take from our Galaxy S8 review:

Since the Galaxy S8 has the same fundamentals as its predecessor, it’s still one of the fastest, most reliable cameras on any phone. […] Unlike some of the other substantive hardware improvements, the Galaxy S8’s rear camera is another solid effort, but not more.

Compared to the Galaxy S7, the Galaxy S8 takes naturally sharper photos (meaning it uses less artificial sharpening), and also takes less-saturated and more accurate photos. Those are both overall quality improvements, while the GS8 also remains lightning quick with lots of extra software features to boot.

The Galaxy S8 has what it takes to capture wonderful photos with extreme reliability, but unlike this time last year, it is challenged overall by the flagship competition — namely the LG G6, Google Pixel 2 and HTC U11.

Everything you need to know about the Galaxy S8’s cameras

There are some new software features in the Galaxy S8

As Samsung often does, we got a good sneak peek at the Galaxy S8’s software experience in the form of the Android Nougat update for the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. But there are some changes to make note of.

What you’ll find on the Galaxy S8 is very similar in terms of its design, core apps and behaviors, but you’ll also find a new launcher layout, new icons, on-screen buttons and of course a bunch of new features. Not the least of which being Bixby, DeX, S Pen-styled note-taking features and more.

A complete look at the Galaxy S8’s software in our review

Galaxy S8 review, one year later: Much cheaper, still fantastic

Oreo is here!

After a rocky start, Android 8.0 Oreo rolled out the the Galaxy S8 in spring 2018. Standard Oreo features such as notification channels, Google’s auto-fill service and general speed improvements are all present. There are also Samsung-exclusive features such as Edge lighting and improvements to the always-on display. The experience overall should be familiar for current customers, with subtle but meaningful improvements.

More: Samsung Galaxy S8 Oreo update: Top features + what’s new!

This is Samsung’s DeX desktop dock for the Galaxy S8

Far on the other end of interaction from Bixby is the new “DeX” desktop docking system for the Galaxy S8. It’s a little piece of hardware no larger than a wireless charger that lets you plug in your Galaxy S8, attaching it to a keyboard, mouse and monitor to transform it into a desktop-like environment. The Galaxy S8’s interface scales up gracefully to fill the large monitor, and Samsung’s own apps have been designed to be resized and operated with a keyboard and mouse.

Samsung has also struck deals with Adobe and Microsoft to bring their most popular apps to the big screen — the only question is how it works with other non-optimized apps, and who will invest in these docks and this setup to use DeX on a regular basis.

Recently, Samsung announced DeX would be improving in a huge way: full-blown Linux. The upcoming “Linux on Galaxy” app will let developers use whatever build of Linux they’d like within DeX. It’s still a long way to go before replacing a full computer, but it’s a big step in the right direction.

Samsung DeX review: This isn’t a replacement for your laptop

Compare the Galaxy S8 today’s hot devices

Plenty of people will just pick up the Galaxy S8 or S8+ because Samsung is the brand they know, but many of us will comparing it head to head with other leading devices. To help you make up your mind on which phone is right for you, we’ve compared the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ to the likes of the Pixel and Pixel XL, LG G6 and of course the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Now that the Galaxy S9 has been announced, we also have a comparison with that.

Galaxy S8 vs. Google Pixel 2: Which should you buy?Galaxy S8 vs. Galaxy Note 8: Which should you buy? Galaxy S8 and S8+ vs. Pixel and Pixel XL: Two ways to do a flagshipGalaxy S8 vs. LG G6: Tall, skinny and very similarGalaxy S8 vs. iPhone 7: Battle of the platforms
Samsung Galaxy S9 vs. Galaxy S8: Should you upgrade

Which one should you buy?

So now that you have all the information, which one should you buy? You have a big phone and a bigger phone; one with a big battery and a bigger battery. There are so few differences between the Galaxy S flagships this year that it comes down to size and battery preference alone, and that may make your decision even harder.

Should you buy a Galaxy S8 or a Galaxy S8+?

Is it worth buying the Galaxy S8 in June 2018?

Where to buy the Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+

In the U.S., you’ll have your choice of the Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+, both in 64GB storage configuration, in one of three colors: black, silver, or orchid grey. You can also pick up a proper U.S. unlocked model from Samsung or Best Buy if you don’t want to bother with a carrier. Prices are in the range of $720-750 for the Galaxy S8, and $820-$850 for the Galaxy S8+, though you can find them for less on Amazon and other retailers. Finally, there’s a gorgeous burgundy red mode, but it’s only available in South Korea for now.

The Galaxy S9 is now official, meaning the S8 is likely to be discounted in the months ahead. If you have your eyes on the S8 or S8+, wait a bit and let the price drop.

Where to buy the Galaxy S8 in the U.S.Where to buy the Galaxy S8 in Canada

Bixby is slowly getting better

Bixby was a bit of a mixed bag when it debuted on the Galaxy S8, but it’s grown up since then. Rather than compete with Google Assistant with cloud knowledge, Bixby is geared more towards local interactions on the phone itself. This ranges from mundane tasks like toggling Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on and off to setting up elaborate chain reactions rivaling Tasker. For those that don’t like Bixby, fear not: the Bixby button can now be completely disabled.

More: Samsung Bixby: Everything you need to know!

Troubleshooting tips and tricks

The Galaxy S8 is a great device, but every smartphone has its share of problems. This is especially true if you’ve had your S8 since day one. If your phone is starting to feel a bit long in the tooth, try some of our troubleshooting tips!

More: How to fix Galaxy S8 battery life problems

Grab some accessories

There are still plenty of worthwhile accessories if you just picked up a Galaxy S8. Make sure you get a screen protector to keep your display safe, and a battery pack to use it even longer.

More: Best External Battery Packs for Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

More: Best Battery Cases for Samsung Galaxy S8

More: Best Screen Protectors for Samsung Galaxy S8

Best Wireless Charging Pads for Galaxy S8 in 2018

The Galaxy S9 is here

The Galaxy S9 has been out for a bit, but that doesn’t mean the S8 isn’t worth a look. The S9 and S9+ are an iterative upgrade over the S8 and S8+, with a very similar design, new internals, more natural fingerprint sensor placement and slightly better cameras. The S8 has been heavily discounted since the S9 launched, so those new features may not be worth the extra cost.

More: Samsung Galaxy S9 & S9+: Everything you need to know!

Update, June 2018: Article updated with new links and information, including links to troubleshooting tips and great accessories.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

• Galaxy S8 and S8+ review!
• Galaxy S8 and S8+ specs
• Everything you need to know about the Galaxy S8’s cameras
• Get to know Samsung Bixby
• Join our Galaxy S8 forums

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HDHomerun Quatro is down to one of the lowest prices we’ve seen!

HDHomerun Quatro has — wait for it — four tuners, so you can watch up to four shows at one time on multiple devices. ($119 at Best Buy)

Our favorite OTA streaming box at its best price ever!

If you’re in the market for a good over-the-air tuner that also shares that sweet free television with almost any device on your network, today is a good day to buy. Best Buy has the HDHomerun Quatro on sale for just $119, which is one of the lowest prices we’ve seen.

Why HDHomerun? It’s got the easiest setup of any of the OTA streaming boxes we’e used. (So long as you don’t need DVR or want to use it with Roku.) Just plug it in, fire up the app, and you’re good to go. And the quatro has four tuners, so you can watch different channels on multiple devices — up to four, because quatro — at the same time. It’s perfect if you have multiple televisions in your house, or know that you’ll be watching on multiple mobile devices at the same time.

It works with web browsers. It works with Android. It works with iOS (via the Channels app). It works with Linux. And Windows 10. And Plex and network-attached storage.

And that $119 sale price is spot-on.

More: The best over-the-air streaming box for cord-cutters

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Fourth of July sale: Take $300 off the HP Envy x360 2-in-1 convertible laptop

Although tablet computers have yet to completely replace laptops, these handy mobile devices have nonetheless become very popular for both play and work. Accessories, such as Bluetooth keyboards, have made it much easier for people to use their tablets for things like writing and presenting. Now, however, a lot of companies like HP are closing the gap between “tablet” and “laptop” altogether with convertible computers like the excellent HP Envy x360.

It’s not hard to see the appeal of 2-in-1 laptops like the Envy. With the touchscreen capability of a tablet, more powerful hardware, and the ergonomic backlit keyboard of a laptop, a 2-in-1 definitely provides the best of both worlds. A growing number of “normal” laptops come with touchscreen displays today, but the HP Envy x360 takes this one step further by allowing you to actually rotate and flatten the screen on its base for tablet use with the included stylus.

Tablets typically run on dedicated mobile chips like those from Qualcomm or Nvidia, but under the hood, the HP Envy x360 is all PC. It runs on an 8th-generation Intel Core i7-8550U CPU, an Intel integrated graphics processor, and 8GB of RAM – more than enough for snappy performance when you’re working, browsing the web, streaming videos, or even doing some light gaming. The 15.6-inch display comes with a crisp 1080p resolution on the standard model, too, so you can enjoy it all in Full HD.

Instead of flash memory, you also get a standard hard drive with 1TB of storage, which offers plenty of space for all of your programs, work files, and entertainment. It comes with 64-bit Windows 10 operating system pre-installed as well.

As part of its ongoing Fourth of July sale, HP is slashing prices on its inventory of desktop and laptop computers. The HP Envy x360 retails for $1,000 in its basic configuration, but through Wednesday, July 4, this 2-in-1 convertible laptop is available at a discount of $300, letting you pick it up for just $700.

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Looking for more great stuff? Find laptop deals and more on our curated deals page, and be sure to follow us on Twitter for regular updates.

We strive to help our readers find the best deals on quality products and services, and choose what we cover carefully and independently. If you find a better price for a product listed here, or want to suggest one of your own, email us at dealsteam@digitaltrends.com.Digital Trends may earn commission on products purchased through our links, which supports the work we do for our readers.

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Thousands of Android and iOS apps are leaking your data through their Firebase backend

Apps are inadvertently leaking data through 2,271 misconfigured databases.

Firebase is a great service for any small developer who needs to have an online service at their disposal. It’s powered by Google and the company goes out of its way to help developers use it in their mobile apps. You can see by simply watching any Google I/O session video about Firebase that developer actually cheer when the service is mentioned.

Apparently, some of those developers have hit a snag when it comes to configuring the database they may be using to store your data. After scanning 2.7 million apps, security researchers at Appthority say more than 113GB of data is available through over 2,200 Firebase databases to anyone who knows the right URL. In total, there are over 100 million personal records exposed.

Researchers found 28,500 apps that used Firebase to connect and store user details, of which 3,046 stored their data inside a misconfigured Firebase database that was readable through the use of a JSON URL scheme. The majority of the apps that use Firebase are for Android, but 600 apps that exposed data are for iOS. The problem is platform-agnostic, and the apps in question aren’t the culprit here. It’s simply the database configuration on the backend.

The information leaked contains:

• 2.6 million plaintext passwords and user IDs.
• 4 million+ PHI (Protected Health Information) records.
• 25 million GPS records.
• 50 thousand financial including Bitcoin transactions.
• 4.5 million Facebook, LinkedIn, corporate data-store user tokens.

Appthority informed Google about the database configuration and provided the list of affected apps before this report was published. We’ve reached out to see if Google has anything they would like to add and will update once it’s received.

Appthority is no stranger to finding poorly configured online databases. Previously the company has found “critical” user data exposed through services like MongoDB, CouchDB, Redis, MySQL, and Twilio.

It sounds ridiculous, but these beaver bots are designed for disaster zones

Engineers, scientists and other researchers will often look to the natural world to find solutions to problems. That is what a team at the University at Buffalo, New York recently did when it created a beaver-inspired robot which, believe it or not, could turn out to be a lifesaver in a disaster zone.

The robot built by graduate students Maira Saboia Da Silva, Vivek Thangavelu, and others doesn’t physically resemble a beaver. Instead, it’s a mini-rover vehicle which uses a camera, custom software, and a robotic arm to lift and deposit nearby objects — modeled after the way the beaver builds dams from whatever it can find in its location. In this case, however, it uses the nearby objects it finds to build ramps which allow it to overcome obstacles to reach its destination. In the real world, the robot could be used for rescue missions in disaster zones — for instance, utilizing whatever rubble and other objects it can find to help it reach trapped people.

“Animals don’t make a complete plan before they start,” Nils Napp, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, told Digital Trends. “Instead, they keep evaluating cues as they build and respond to them. For many animals, we don’t exactly know which cues they respond to, and how those cues map to the final function of the emerging structure. In the case of beavers, we know they respond to the sound of moving water, and that stopping water from rushing results in a working dam. In our robots, we were able to map geometric cues to a final function, which is to enable mobility. That’s where the inspiration came from. In the future, we would also like to expand the types of functional structures our robots can build including dams and levees.”

At present, the autonomous robot has only worked with beanbags of different sizes to simulate various objects. In 10 tests, it moved anywhere from 33 to 170 bags, each time creating a ramp to reach its target location.

“It’s really difficult for robots to work in messy, real-world, outside environments,” Napp continued. “In factories and inside homes the world is structured, and that allows robots to reason about what they should do next. We were looking at how animals solve problems in the wild, and one common approach seems to be that they continuously analyze and modify partially built structures until they fulfill some specific function. We applied this idea to robots, enabling them to assess structures and add material where necessary until their task is complete.”

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How facial recognition software helped identify the Capital Gazette shooter

The day after the deadly shooting left five people dead in the newsroom at Capital Gazette, a seemingly unusual fact has emerged about how police identified their suspect.

According to The New York Times, ABC News, and others, after capturing the suspect, Jarrod Ramos, authorities used facial recognition technology to identify him.

After he was in police custody, Ramos refused to cooperate with authorities. He at first evaded identification when the fingerprint scanning machine malfunctioned, causing police to speculate that he’d filed off his fingerprints prior to the attack. With an uncooperative suspect and malfunctioning fingerprint machine, investigators were left to use other methods to ID him.

Local police sent an image of Ramos to the Maryland Combined Analysis Center, Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy Altomare told reporters, which then compared the image to photos of known offenders contained in the Maryland Image Repository System (MIRS) database. MIRS contains more than ten million photos, including those of known offenders and every driver’s license photo in Maryland. It can also access the mug shot database maintained by the FBI, which contains some 25 million faces.

Ramos had previously been convicted of harassment and was likely present in the database.

MIRS photos have helped Maryland authorities identify criminals in the past. A robbery suspect was caught after police compared an Instagram photo to the state DMV database, which linked them to the suspect. Facial recognition is also used at DMVs around the country, reports The Verge, to minimize ID fraud and duplicates.

Catching and identifying criminals is obviously essential but if you’re worried about the connection between facial recognition technology and the steady creep of surveillance into every aspect of our society, you’re not alone. Privacy advocates have challenged this use of facial recognition, calling it a threat to civil liberties. One concern is that, although authorities are instructed to remove the photos of people who’ve been arrested but found innocent, systems like MIRS aren’t often inspected to ensure that’s the case.

Facial recognition technology has been in the news lately after the American Civil Liberties Union revealed that police departments were testing Amazon’s facial recognition software in the field.

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Microsoft calls its foldable Andromeda device “disruptive”

Ryan Smalley | Behance

There have been numerous leaks surrounding Microsoft’s dual-screen Andromeda computing device in recent months, which is widely believed to usher in a new pocketable PC form factor to bridge the gap between what a smartphone and a laptop can do. Now, according to recently leaked internal emails, we are learning that Microsoft is positioning Andromeda as a “new and disruptive” device that will be part of the company’s Surface hardware family.

“It’s a new pocketable Surface device form factor that brings together innovative new hardware and software experiences to create a truly personal and versatile computing experience,” Microsoft’s internal document described Andromeda, according to The Verge.

Recently discovered Windows 10 code revealed that Andromeda could become the ultimate convertible computing device with the capability to transform into any one of five form factors depending on usage. While today’s convertible notebooks with 360-degree hinges can only be used in up to three usage modes, Andromeda can transform between closed, flat, convex, concave, and full modes.

Essentially, Andromeda can be opened like a book and is compatible with a digital stylus, similar to Microsoft’s Courier concept from nearly a decade ago. With expanded inking capabilities planned for Windows 10, Andromeda could be positioned as a paper notebook or paper planner replacement. This wouldn’t be too far of a stretch given that Surface Chief Product Officer Panos Panay had described the Surface Mini, a tablet that was canceled before it was launched by Microsoft, as a capable Moleskine notebook replacement.

Though Andromeda’s transformative capabilities are generating a lot of buzz, it’s still unclear what processor will power the device. Microsoft has traditionally relied on its partnerships with Intel and AMD to run Windows on x86 processor architectures, but the company has also worked with Qualcomm to bring Windows to ARM-based CPUs. It’s rumored that Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 850 and the powerful Snapdragon 1000 processors are designed for new form factors, like PCs with foldable or dual displays such as the one rumored to debut on Andromeda. A Snapdragon processor may make sense given Andromeda’s positioning as a potential phone replacement and Microsoft’s push for Always Connected PCs using Qualcomm’s chipset. “It will blur the lines between mobile and stationary computing,” another Microsoft document stated, according to The Verge’s report.

Even if Microsoft decides to leverage Snapdragon processors for its new computing form factor, Intel is also readying challengers in the dual-screen space. Intel’s dual-screen Tiger Rapids PC concepts will be adopted by partners Asus and Lenovo. Dell is also rumored to be working on its own device codenamed Project Januss.

Earlier reports suggest that Microsoft’s exciting Andromeda convertible could debut as early as late this year. The device is anticipated to launch as the Surface Phone.

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