Nintendo 2DS review – CNET

The Good The Nintendo 2DS is the most affordable portable system for a younger gamer or for those not interested in 3D visuals. It packs in a 4GB SD card and gives players access to the 3DS’ impressive library of cartridge-based and downloadable games. Best of all, it comes with a free download code for Mario Kart 7.

The Bad The 2DS feels cheap and has only one speaker, which sounds a little lacking. Though it’s designed for children, there are a few vulnerable spots on the 2DS, and it might not survive a bad fall. By today’s standards, its screens feel too small.

The Bottom Line With a new low price, the 2DS offers a huge array of compelling games and makes for a great entry-level system for uninitiated first-time gamers.

Remember the Nintendo 2DS? Yeah, that little wedge-shaped portable console without all the bells and whistles the 3DS XL has? It’s now even cheaper.

Starting May 20, the price of the 2DS will drop from $100 down to $80 — and that’s still including a free download code for Mario Kart 7. That’s 38 percent less than the $130 price at which the 2DS debuted in October 2013.

It’s important to reinforce that the 2DS is Nintendo’s no-frills, entry-level portable. The 2DS plays nearly all games for the Nintendo 3DS platform, but it can’t display anything in 3D. It also has the smallest screens of any of the current DS models, and it doesn’t have a great-sounding speaker.

Moreover, there’s no hinge to keep it closed, so you’ll want to protect it with a case. It also feels cheaply made and likely wouldn’t survive a decent fall. But if you can look past those issues, I think the 2DS is perfect for younger players.

Editors’ note: This review has been updated from its original publication in October 2013 to reflect a major price drop and changes in the competitive landscape.

LG LFXS30786S Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

That’s a Bluetooth speaker built into to the top of this refrigerator’s frame.

LG

Manufacturers are always looking for new ways to tempt you into upgrading your appliances. Most of the time, that means fancy, new designs and bold claims of better performance.

And sometimes, it means we get refrigerators with built-in Bluetooth speakers.

Specifically, I’m referring to the LFXS30786S, a new fridge available now from LG. It’s a pretty typical-looking, large-capacity French door model that slaps a Bluetooth speaker up along the top rim. Price? Four grand.

Now, in fairness, that’s the same price that LG charged last year for a very similar fridge that had no speaker to speak of. In other words, this fridge is expensive because it was an expensive design to begin with, not because LG added in a Bluetooth speaker this year. The speaker is just an extra incentive to get you to splurge.

It’s not the worst idea. Plenty of us listen to a kitchen radio as we eat our morning oatmeal, or stream a favorite playlist as we cook something up for supper. Packing a Bluetooth speaker into an always-powered appliance seems like a perfectly reasonable use of real estate, and potentially a good means of clearing some clutter off of your countertop.

It’s also not an idea that’s all that new. Whirlpool introduced its CoolVox fridge speakers at CES 2014, and was selling a French door fridge with built-in audio hardware as recently as last year. And let’s not forget the Samsung Family Hub Refrigerator, which has its own Wi-Fi radio and 21.5-inch touchscreen (and, you know, a set of speakers).

LG

As for LG’s fridge, it’s a 30 cubic-foot model with LG’s “Door-in-Door” feature, so if you press that button on the right door handle, the front panel of the door will open rather than the door itself, giving you quick access to the in-door shelves without actually opening the fridge. That’s a pretty popular gimmick at this point, so if you want it, there it is.

As for me, I’m more a fan of the “Slim SpacePlus” ice maker, which simply means that LG packs the entire ice maker into the left door. Other models place it in the upper corner of the fridge, and since the ice needs to tumble down through the door into your glass, you end up with an unsightly hump in the inside of the door that blocks off the shelves. No such problem with LG models like these — although the trade-off is that they make a little less ice.

The LG LFXS30786S is available now from select retailers. We’ll try and test one out here at CNET Appliances HQ — keep an ear out for a full review at that time.

Adobe Spark review – CNET

The Good Adobe Spark smartly unifies the company’s set of social-graphics creation tools for nonprofessionals.

The Bad Adobe annoyingly tags the ends of your videos and scrolling pages with ads for Spark, and there’s still no easy way to apply consistent designs across each module.

The Bottom Line A useful set of tools for creating graphics and visual stories for social media, Adobe Spark delivers nice results pretty easily.

Visit manufacturer site for details.

A nod to its nonprofessional users, Adobe Spark merges the company’s individual Adobe Post, Adobe Voice and Adobe Slate iOS apps into powerful, easy to use — and still free — Web-based tool for folks that need to produce visually intensive content for social sharing that Marketers call it visual storytelling. As part of the rebranding, they’ve been renamed Spark Post, Spark Video and Spark Page, respectively.

On iPhones and iPads they remain standalone apps; Android continues to get no love. Sadly, the Web app won’t run on small screens, so that’s not even a workaround. The Web app has a unified interface for the three, with My Projects displaying each apps’ projects. From there you launch into them. The projects are stored in the cloud and automatically sync between the computer and your Apple devices. The modules are pretty similar to the apps when we reviewed them, albeit with some additional features that Adobe added as time went on.

Spark Post lets you create single-image graphics with text overlays. It’s easy to use and you can change type style, colors, layouts and page size, through presets or manually. It’s real advantage is automation. You can cycles through styles and palettes and change themes, layouts and filters and the program intelligently adapts the design.

Spark Page generates single-page scrolling Web pages. It also handles automatic formatting quite well, and allows for some sophisticated effects like embedding a video in a picture.

Knocki Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Knocki

Houston, Texas-based startup Knocki wants to simplify your smart home. Rather than switching feverishly among apps, voice control devices and assorted multifunction buttons to keep your connected home in check, the team of two instead came up with Knocki, available for preorder now on Kickstarter starting at $69/£45/AU$95.

A puck-shaped Wi-Fi gizmo with built-in vibration-sensing tech, Knocki is designed to go pretty much anywhere inside your home. Use the included adhesive tape to stick one under a table, attach one to a wall, hide one inside a cabinet — or behind a door. I’m a little skeptical about the staying power of an adhesive-mounted product that looks slightly larger than palm-size, but the team also provides mounting hardware for a more permanent installation.

In other smart home news:

• Coolest new tech: A $34 Flic smart button
• Google Home vs. Amazon Echo: Why Home could win
• Throwing open the doors to the CNET Smart Home

Knocki promises an easy configuration that’s as simple as downloading the companion app on your Android or iPhone and entering your Wi-Fi credentials. From there, you’re supposed to be able to assign up to 10 custom “gestures” to a single Knocki.

Since the team claims upcoming support with the likes of IFTTT, Nest, Belkin WeMo, SmartThings, Philips Hue and other smart-home brands at launch, one Knocki can seemingly control a whole lot of stuff.

A double tap, for instance, could turn on your LEDs, two taps followed by a triple tap could unlock your integrated deadbolt, and a triple tap could dim your LEDs and turn on your TV. And that’s only 3 of the 10 possible gestures you can create per Knocki device.

This quirky gizmo is also supposed to be able to know the difference between a tap or a knock (I can’t wait to test this out), so there’s a bit more leeway in terms of the gestures you assign to certain functions. And even if you don’t have smart products at home, Knocki should be able to control music or find your phone, too.

Drag
Close

Our five favorite uses for the Flic smart button

We find out just how flexible Shortcut Labs’ new device really is

by David Priest

February 23, 2016

We haven’t seen anything quite like Knocki before. Sure, Shortcut Labs’ $34 Flic button is similar, but Knocki is using vibrations to determine which device or devices to control rather than Flic’s button presses.

The campaign ends on July 2, so there’s time to get an early production version of Knocki. The $59 price tier is already sold out, but you can still snag one for $69/£45/AU$95 (the price will jump up to $129 when it officially hits retail). Knocki units will ship worldwide and are slated for delivery this December.

Canon EOS 80D review – CNET

The Good The Canon EOS 80D is fast, and if you play with the settings can produce excellent photo and video quality.

The Bad The automatic white balance isn’t very good, and it doesn’t have a terribly broad set of features.

The Bottom Line With better performance and photo quality than the 70D, the Canon EOS 80D is worth the upgrade, but it’s got a lot of competition for the money.

Canon delivers a decent update to its popular prosumer action-capable camera, the EOS 70D. The 80D gets a new version of the company’s Dual Pixel CMOS sensor with a faster on-sensor autofocus system, plus some minor additions. It has some notable improvements over the 70D, including much better Live View performance; it’s not as fast as a mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera, but it’s finally usable for subjects in motion. And the generally improved performance will resonate with the typical action-shooting enthusiast who buys this class of dSLR. But if you’re persnickety about color, you’ll have to do some tweaking.

It costs $1,200 (£1,030, AU$1,880) for the body and $1,600 (£1,380, AU$2,400) for a kit with the updated EF-S 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 USM lens that supports new the power zoom adapter.

Good photos, but change the defaults

The 80D is capable of producing excellent photos — as long as you either shoot raw or change many of the default JPEG settings. The camera’s automatic white balance isn’t very good. Under our lab lights, the only way I could get anything I could compare to other cameras was by using manual white balance; I’ve had similar issues with the Nikon D7200 and other Canons, but the 80D’s is pretty bad. In real daylight it’s better, but still has problems — among other things, it turns blue flowers purple. I couldn’t find a white-balance preset that produced accurate colors. On the flip side, though, the cast keeps its low-light photos from shifting too far to yellow.

Canon EOS 80D full-resolution photo samples
See full gallery

1 – 5 of 8

Next
Prev

Complicating the issue is Canon’s Auto Picture Style, which pushes the saturation and contrast way too much, plus overprocesses edges, making them look too heavy. The new Fine Detail option is much better at edge processing, delivering results comparable to using raw up to about ISO 1600, and delivers sharpness on thin lines comparable to other APS-C-sensor cameras. It should really be the default. You can get pretty good results processing raw through ISO 6400, though beyond ISO 1600 there isn’t a lot of dynamic range available to recover.

The slightly higher-resolution sensor plus Fine Detail mode allows the 80D to produce noticeably better JPEGs than the 70D, though the latter’s auto-white balance is more accurate. The 80D also has a far cleaner noise profile in general across ISO sensitivities.

The video still looks good, not much different than the 70D’s, though with the same caveats about the color and image settings. Now it also supports 1080/60p, though.

Apple TV (2015) review – CNET

The Good Apple TV delivers the most polished video experience today, with speedy reactions and a familiar yet attractive interface. It has the best remote on the market. Siri voice search is excellent, and useful voice commands add unique capabilities. The selection of apps is excellent, and AirPlay can be used for unsupported apps.

The Bad Apple TV costs more than similar devices like the Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Chromecast for basically the same core functions. There’s no dedicated app for Amazon or any other a la carte video service beyond iTunes.

The Bottom Line Apple TV’s awesome remote and voice control make it one of the best entertainment devices, especially for anyone who already owns plenty of Apple gadgets.

When the updated Apple TV box was first introduced in October 2015, it immediately distinguished itself as the most luxurious streamer available. From its extraslick touchpad remote to its polished interface to, yes, its higher price, it made the Rokus and Amazon Fire TVs of the world seem a bit clunkier. These devices all do pretty much the same thing — let you watch apps like Netflix, Hulu and WatchESPN — but the Apple TV makes everything smoother.

Since then Apple has added a bunch more apps, rolled out some minor tweaks to ease pain points, and doubled down on voice commands and tricks, another feature that helps Apple stand out. The Apple TV has improved in small steps, but they add up to a more refined streaming experience overall.

Apple TV 2015 (hands-on pictures)
See full gallery

1 – 5 of 51

Next
Prev

The most obvious change is overnight explosion of Apple TV apps. In half a year the store has expanded to more than 5,000 apps and games, outpacing Roku and Amazon Fire TV despite their years-long head starts. Of course many of those apps were originally designed for iPhones and iPads, recast with more or less extensive changes onto the big screen.

Apple TV has most TV-centric streaming apps like Netflix and FXNow, although the selection on Roku and Amazon is better, especially if you’re not heavily invested in Apple content. iTunes is still the only service on the box that allows you to buy first-run TV shows and movies — competitors like Amazon Video (including Prime), Vudu and Google Play Movies and TV are shut out.

Siri’s search has expanded to cover more services like PBS, and the list of tricks is growing. And performing text searches, sign-ins and other menial tasks are helped by voice, and made easier with no-brainer additions found on competing devices, like using your phone for text entry.

A bit past its half-year birthday, Apple TV is still one of our favorite streamers. We like the Roku Streaming Stick better overall, however, because it costs one-third as much, has better app access, and nails the basics. The Apple TV has yet to offer anything irresistible to convince those who aren’t “Apple people” to pay up and make it their primary streamer.

Maybe that will change with announcements made at WWDC in June, when Apple promises to address tvOS, the box’s operating system, with app developers. But the big killer feature, a rumored Apple TV service along the lines of Sling TV and PlayStation Vue, seems pretty far off.

In the meantime the Apple TV remains a great choice for devotees of Cupertino, while most everyday users of streaming services, especially Amazon Prime Video, will want to investigate alternatives.

View full gallery
Sarah Tew/CNET

Pricing information: The 2015 Apple TV comes in in two versions: $149 for the 32GB model, and $199 for the 64GB model. The previous Apple TV , first released in 2012, remains on sale at $69, £59 and AU$109. In the UK, the new model costs £129 for the 32GB and £169 for 64GB, while in Australia they cost AU$269 and AU$349. For most people I recommend the 32GB version. See “A choice of sizes: 32GB vs. 64GB” below for details.

Editors’ notes: This review has been updated to account for changes in the competitive landscape since it was first published in October 2015. Major changes include features added as part of tvOS version 9.2, new apps and comparisons to other products.

Also, please note that this review refers to the US version. Some details, in particular available video-streaming apps, will vary in different territories. Check out our separate review of the UK version for more details.

View full gallery
Sarah Tew/CNET

So what’s new?

If you’re familiar with Apple TV, you might want a simple list of the improvements and changes made since launch. Here ya go.

• More apps, “more than 5,000” as of May 2016 according to Apple
• Siri voice search enabled across more movie and TV apps, including PBS, Disney channels and Starz
• Siri voice support for Apple Music and App Store
• Live tune-in, to ask Siri to go directly to a live channel inside supported live TV apps like Watch ESPN and CBS All Access
• Dictation to use voice to enter text on screen
• Support for Bluetooth keyboards
• Folder support for apps
• Podcast app
• iCloud Photo Library and Live Photos
• Conference Room Display, to lock Apple TV in business and education environments
• Additional Siri language support: Siri now understands Spanish in the US and French in Canada. If English is the language that you use for Siri and you live in Australia, Canada, the UK or the US, you can choose Australian English, UK English or US English.

One of the biggest gripes at launch was the difficulty of entering information into text boxes like Search on the app store, the search app itself, and worst of all, the usernames and passwords required to authenticate accounts on apps like Netflix, Hulu, Watch ESPN and the rest.

At first, the only option was to use the on-screen keyboard. I actually find it faster than most others, thanks to the swipe-friendly horizontal layout and snappy remote, and it often only requires a couple of letters before surfacing relevant results, but it does take some getting used to.

Apple TV OS 9.2 gets folders and voice dictation…
See full gallery

1 – 5 of 7

Next
Prev

With a March 2016 software update Apple has introduced some alternatives. My favorite for entering password info is to use the Remote app for iOS devices, which allows you to use your Apple phone or tablet’s onscreen keyboard (Pro tip: copy and paste complex passwords from a locker like LastPass, or another source, to Remote). You can also connect a Bluetooth keyboard.

There’s also the ability to dictate individual letters, numbers and even symbols into the mic. This feature sounds cool, but didn’t really work well in my experience. No matter how clearly I spoke, the results always seemed to miss a letter or two, or it would otherwise misinterpret my dictation. I recommend sticking with the Remote app.

I go through and test many of the other improvements in the review below.

Same black brick, different feel altogether

Compared to the old device, Apple didn’t break the physical mold. Glossy edges, rounded corners, a matte top with the requisite logo — the two small black boxes look basically identical. The new one is 0.4 inch taller, weighs 5.4 ounces more, and felt like a solid brick when I pulled it out of the box.

View full gallery
Sarah Tew/CNET

In every important way however, the 2015 Apple TV feels better than the original to use. It starts with the remote. It has a touchpad, a few more buttons and a familiar mic icon to evoke Siri, the name for Apple’s disembodied female voice assistant (DFVA). Unlike Siri on a phone (or Alexa, the DFVA on Amazon’s Echo and Fire TV ) Siri has no actual voice on Apple TV. Her replies are limited to words and visuals that appear on the screen, but she usually responds accurately and can perform some useful tricks.

View full gallery
Sarah Tew/CNET

The remote’s touchpad is sensitive and fast, with just the right amount of friction, and the perfect size for one-thumb operation. It took a second to realize I had to click it to select anything, rather than just tap, but immediately afterward I was blowing through menus, zooming across thumbnails, and navigating quicker than with any plodding, click-based control. The menus let you choose a tracking speed. As someone who loves living dangerously, I chose “fast.”

View full gallery
Screenshot by David Katzmaier/CNET

And those menus are great. A clean, white canvas to fill with the app icons you know from your phone, the Apple TV home page allows nearly full customization. One of the first things I did after installing everything I wanted was to move Netflix, Hulu and HBO to the top row, along with Disney Junior for the kids, and move iTunes down a few rows since I don’t buy many TV shows and movies from Apple. The top-row app you select expands above to show content within (as chosen by the app itself).

You can also group different apps into folders and name them anything you want. The process is quick and painless, especially if you use voice to name them. Just tap the mic button and speak.

View full gallery
Screenshot by David Katzmaier/CNET

The old Apple TV came with numerous screen savers which appear after a period of inactivity. On the new one, for now, you just have a choice of your own photos or something called Aerial (above). Trust me, you should go with Aerial. It’s a stunning collection of cityscapes, landscapes and landmarks shot in slow motion, and looks so good you might feel reluctant to ever turn your TV off.

Exploring the app store on a 65-inch screen

To fill Apple TV’s white canvas you’ll head to the app store, which feels a lot like the store on an iPhone or iPad, with bigger icons. One issue with Apple’s app stores is wrestling with the sheer number of apps, and the problem rears its head on the Apple TV too.

View full gallery
Screenshot by David Katzmaier/CNET

Apple has improved organization of the store since launch, adding the ability to search by voice for example, and it’s relatively well-organized given how many apps are available. At the top is where you’ll find the main tabs for browsing new apps.

TV-centric apps predominate in the Featured tab, but other categories are appearing all the time. Some are devoted to games, apps for kids, sports and news, and some get Apple’s further approval in categories like “New Apps We Love” and “Games with Intuitive Controls.”

The Top Charts tab is next, with the most popular Paid, Free and Grossing apps (the latter, sadly, refers to money made, not fart and burp apps). The Categories tab, similar to “Explore” on the mobile app store, breaks apps down into “Games,” “Education” and “Entertainment.”

View full gallery
Screenshot by David Katzmaier/CNET

The Purchased tab lists all of the apps you’ve installed on other devices that are also compatible with Apple TV. You download and install them individually, picking and choosing which ones you like (although I did wish for a big “Install all” button). In most cases, if you’ve already paid for the app or game, it will be available for free on the Apple TV too — but the decision to grandfather earlier purchases or charge you again is left up to each app’s publisher.

Finally, the Search tab shows trending apps and allows you to find more via keyword, whether typed in or via voice.

View full gallery
Sarah Tew/CNET

One-thumb gaming

The first thing to know about gaming on the Apple TV is that you can always use the included remote; you don’t need to buy a separate controller. The second thing is that with many games, a controller simply works better.

Most of the titles I played worked fine with the included touchpad remote, and there’s something to be said about gaming with one thumb. I easily could hold my infant son while I played Crossy Road, for example.

View full gallery
Screenshot by David Katzmaier/CNET

That addictive chicken-smasher, with its simple controls and graphics, played beautifully and looked great on the big screen. So did JetPack Joyride and Bandland, both of which mainly consist of timed jumping. Slightly more complex controls worked well at times, for example steering on Does Not Commute (tapping either side of the pad) or swinging a bat with Beat Sports (swiping to move a bit, and swinging the controller like a Nintendo Wii). Where the touchpad controller failed for me was with quick movements requiring precise directions, like flying the ship in Geometry Wars, or directing the character to move across the map or attack something in Oceanhorn and Transistor.

View full gallery
Screenshot by David Katzmaier/CNET

One of the titles with the most complex controls at launch is Galaxy on Fire: Manticore Rising (above). A space-based arcade shooter, it incorporates the remote’s position as well as swipes and clicks on the touchpad. It played surprisingly well considering all that, and again, required just one hand.

View full gallery
Sarah Tew/CNET

Two of the driving games, Asphalt 8 and Beach Buggy Racing, required me to put down my kid and hold the controller horizontally, like a steering wheel. Both were pretty forgiving and fun, but I definitely missed the precision of the controller.

I tried most of those games with a compatible controller, the Steel Series Stratus XL, and in most cases I found it more precise and responsive. But for casual games and quick one-off entertainment jaunts, it’s pretty great to just pick up the remote and click.

Best games for Apple TV
See full gallery

1 – 5 of 11

Next
Prev

Graphics, for what these games are, looked very impressive across the board. Even simple games like Crossy Road have been tuned up for the big screen, and higher-end titles like Galaxy on Fire and Transistor looked particularly good.

Cane Wireless Cliki review – CNET

The Good Cliki’s app groups commands into helpful sets, making feature selection easier than with other smart buttons.

The Bad Cliki doesn’t have nearly enough flexibility to appeal to most users. It’s Android-exclusive, and it doesn’t work with IFTTT or other integration platforms.

The Bottom Line For Cliki’s price, you can buy a much better smart button. But when Cane Wireless adds IFTTT integration and iOS compatibility, its product might start to gain on the competition.

Visit manufacturer site for details.

Smart buttons are hard explain, partly because they look so different depending on who’s using them. You can control the music on your phone, toggle the smart lights in your house, order a pizza, and more — all with the press of a button. At it’s best, using smart buttons can feel magical.

But when it comes to reviewing any particular smart button, the process is strictly scientific: How flexible is it? How many functions can it perform? How many platforms does it work with? These are the simple building blocks that construct the user experience.

Cliki, a new smart button by Florida-based Cane Wireless, is Android-exclusive and can perform thirteen distinct functions. It sends commands to your phone — to take a picture or toggle tethering — and it does so reliably. The problem is, for a $39 product, Cliki should do so much more.

This smart button could live on your keychain…
See full gallery

1 – 5 of 9

Next
Prev

Cliki does a few things well. First off, you can attach Cliki to your keychain and use it as a fob. To me, that feels much more useful than the adhesive strips that other smart buttons have used. The Cliki app is also efficient. Rather than programming the button one command at a time, the commands are grouped into sets. That way, when you select the music icon, your button will automatically be able to play/pause your music with one press, and skip to the next song with a double press. Grouping commands in this way makes transitioning between button uses really easy.

Xiaomi Mi Box Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

You still can’t buy Xiaomi phones at retailers in the US, but you’ll soon be able to buy its streaming video box.

The China-based electronics giant is using Google’s I/O developers conference to highlight its Mi Box, a new Android TV-powered 4K set-top box. While official pricing and release date have yet to be announced, the Mi Box — not to be confused with a different model available in China (and via Amazon) — will be available in “other global markets” in addition to the US.

More on Google I/O 2016

• Everything announced at this year’s I/O
• Google’s CEO sums up his AI vision
• All the news from Google I/O 2016

The Mi Box’s announcement comes as Android TV is getting a makeover, with a bevy of new apps, including Watch ESPN, Comedy Central and Spotify. But Xiaomi will have competition in the form of the more-established (and just updated) Nvidia Shield. Sony TVs also run the Android TV operating system.

The Xiaomi Mi Box supports 4K UHD content, as well as the latest HDR standards. Other popular apps, like Netflix, Vudu and Hulu will be available for download, and the Mi Box can mirror your phone or tablet’s screen with its built-in Google Cast option.

Included with the Mi Box is a Bluetooth remote control with voice search capabilities.

What it’s like inside Xiaomi, China’s popular…
See full gallery

1 – 4 of 28

Next
Prev

More specifications on the Xiaomi Mi Box include:

• Quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU
• Mali 450 GPU
• 2GB of RAM
• 8GB of internal storage
• USB port
• HDMI 2.0a
• Dolby Digital Plus
• DTS Surround Sound

GE PB911SJSS review – CNET

The Good The GE PB911SJSS knows how to make a meal. This $1,100 electric range cooks food better and boils water faster than similar products that cost twice as much.

The Bad There’s not a lot you can do with the oven’s built-in Bluetooth connectivity, especially if you don’t have one of GE’s over-the-range microwaves. The lack of burner knobs could irk some traditionalists.

The Bottom Line Your $1,100 would be well spent on this GE range.

First impressions have led me astray in the CNET Appliances Test Lab. There was the cherry red wonder that was more of a lemon, the stainless-steel tank that stumbled through cooking tests and the plain range that concealed just how impressively it deployed induction. I’ve been fooled into thinking that some appliances would be better (or in some cases, worse) performers just because of how they look. Now, I’ve added the GE PB911SJSS freestanding range to the list of products that prove how wrong first impressions can be.

On the surface, this $1,100 GE electric range looks like an appliance that would be easy to pass by. It doesn’t have any burner knobs to control the cooktop, a feature that’s sure to turn off traditionalists. It doesn’t stand apart from the glut of stainless steel ranges on the market. But the GE PB911SJSS is a reliable, consistent appliance that executes simple cooking tasks like roasting and baking while adding the right amount of flourish with components such as Bluetooth connectivity and a convection fan.

The GE PB911SJSS transcends first impressions — this is a simple range without much flash but with solid cooking chops. And it’s a better investment than more expensive, garish models that can’t live up to the initial promises their appearances make.

Here’s how the GE PB911SJSS electric range…
See full gallery

1 – 5 of 8

Next
Prev

Knob-free, yet easy to use

I gave this range a hard side-eye when I first cut away its cardboard box. The control panel is completely flat; it doesn’t have any knobs to control the five burners on the smooth cooktop. I documented my distaste for knobless ovens in my review of the Kenmore 97723 double-oven electric range, a decent product marred by complicated touchpad burner controls. When I saw a similar feature on the GE, I anticipated days hunched over the cooktop, frustrated and fiddling with counterintuitive controls.

I won’t go as far as to literally eat my words about knobless ranges (and besides, we’re an online publication), but I’m woman enough to admit how shortsighted I was to write off all ranges without knobs. GE showed me that it’s possible to deploy a streamlined look while making it easy for old-school cooks like me to adjust to a new design.

Rather than using a numbered scale to show a burner’s heat levels, the GE range uses a semicircle surrounded by lights to control each burner. You press the on/off button in the middle of this semicircle, then press the plus and minus buttons to set your burner temperature. The more lights go on, the hotter the burner gets and vice versa. It sounds complicated, but these had a much quicker learning curve than the similar Kenmore model.

View full gallery
Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Bluetooth is a frivolous, but functional accessory

The lights and the fan on the microwave turn on automatically when you turn on a burner thanks to the Chef Connect feature.

Chris Monroe/CNET

GE uses this range to dabble in the world of smart large appliances without creating a product that is too complex or expensive. The company equipped this range with its Chef Connect feature (a proprietary way to say, “This oven has Bluetooth”) that syncs with GE over-the-range microwave ovens. Sync the two appliances, turn on a burner, and the microwave’s exhaust fan turns on automatically. The lights beneath the microwave that illuminate the cooktop also turn on when it detects that a burner is on.

Samsung RF28HMEDBSR review – CNET

The Good This four-door French door model doesn’t have any glaring weak spots, and also sports one of the best adjustable-temp drawers we’ve ever tested.

The Bad Performance was just OK, with temperatures consistently running a few degrees warmer than the target in our tests. The ice maker also blocks off one of the in-door shelves.

The Bottom Line This is a well-rounded and decent-looking fridge that you might be able to find at a discount as newer models start rolling in.

For $3,300, Samsung sells a “Food Showcase” French door fridge with a hidden door that lets you access the in-door shelves. The problem? Not all of us are sold on the utility of putting a door in our refrigerator door.

Enter the Samsung RF28HMEDBSR. For that same $3,300 asking price, it’s a nearly identical model that ditches the Food Showcase feature and replaces it with a dedicated “Flex Zone” drawer that you can dial up and down between four temperature presets.

Four doors on this Samsung French-door fridge…
See full gallery

1 – 5 of 9

Next
Prev

For my money, that’s the more practical feature of the two, and also the feature that’s more worthy of a high-end asking price. Think about it — one is an entire additional section for refrigerated goods, complete with its own thermostat. The other is a latch.

My main problem with this fridge is that it wasn’t a strong performer in our battery of tests. Most sections of the interior ran a few degrees warm at both the default, 37-degree setting and at the minimum setting of 34 degrees (though, in fairness, that Flex Zone drawer was a performance standout, with accurate, steady temperatures at both its highest and lowest settings). Overall, we saw better cooling performance from the comparable LG LMXS30786S, which retails for $3,600.

Still, the RF28HMEDBSR is over a year old at this point, and with retailers making room for 2016 models, you might be able to score it on sale. As of now, the average price is down around $2,600 — if it falls any lower than that, I’d say it’s worth considering.

Chris Monroe/CNET

Design and features

The Flex Zone Drawer is this fridge’s best feature.

Chris Monroe/CNET

It doesn’t come in black stainless steel like Samsung’s newer high-end fridges, but the RF28HMEDBSR is still good-looking, thanks in large part to the four-door design that you get with a dedicated flex drawer. Still, it isn’t a unique look — the very well-reviewed LG LMXS30786S has the same basic build, though it also costs a few hundred dollars more.

The interior is essentially the same as the Food Showcase version, save for the addition of that flex drawer. You might think that the flex drawer would eat up some of the main refrigerator section’s storage space, but it doesn’t really — the Food Showcase model had a pantry drawer beneath the crispers, and in this model, the flex drawer simply takes its place.