Philips Hue White LED Starter Kit review – CNET
The Good The plain, vanilla version of Philips Hue’s smart LEDs don’t change colors, but they do enjoy all of the benefits of Hue’s well-connected platform. They’re also bright, good looking bulbs with easy-to-use smarts, and you can add extras to your setup for just $15 each.
The Bad At $70, the two-bulb starter kit still comes with a fair share of sticker shock.
The Bottom Line Philips Hue is one of the best-developed DIY smart-home platforms money can buy, and this white-light starter kit is your most affordable entry point. It’s practically a must-buy if you’re serious about smart lighting.
There’s an awful lot to like about Philips Hue’s smart lighting ecosystem. It’s polished. It’s easy to use. It works with just about everything. The only problem? The price. A starter kit with the essential Philips Hue Bridge and three color-changing bulbs costs $200 — a steep point of entry for connected lighting.
Fortunately, that color-changing kit isn’t your only option. For $70, Philips also sells a starter kit with that same Hue Bridge and a pair of plain, soft white smart bulbs. They won’t change colors at all, but you can still automate them to turn on and off or dim up and down, and they’ll work with all of the same third-party services as the rest of the Hue lineup, including Amazon’s Alexa, Apple HomeKit, IFTTT, the Nest Learning Thermostat and more. Plus, given that the Hue Bridge typically sells for about $60 on its own, you’re basically getting them for $5 each if you buy the kit, which is a heck of a deal.
All of that makes the Philips Hue White LED Starter Kit a near must-have for anyone who’s serious about connected lighting and a very safe purchase given how good Philips has been about keeping its bulbs up to date with the latest platforms and products.
Let’s talk light bulbs
If you take a look at the shape of the bulb itself, you’ll see that it’s nice and wide, extending out beyond the heat sink that makes up the bottom half. That gives it a nice, omnidirectional light output that can shine downward if you’re using it in something like a bedside reading lamp. To me, that’s a slight edge over the Lifx White 800 LED. Though the Lifx is a brighter bulb overall, its flat-topped design that falls flush with the base of the bulb prevents the bulb from casting as much downward light as it should.
The Philips Hue White LED does a great job of casting light out evenly in all directions.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
The Philips bulb also dims exceptionally well, going all the way down to 0.9 percent brightness at its minimum setting (about 7 lumens). And because it’s using in-bulb dimming smarts as opposed to relying on in-wall dimmer switches, you won’t have to worry about flicker or buzz. Just be sure not to use it with one of those in-wall dimmer switches, as the two dimming mechanisms will clash and cause the bulb to strobe.
Lifx Color 1000 BR30 Wi-Fi LED Smart Bulb review – CNET
The Good The Lifx Color 1000 floodlight LED is an Alexa-compatible smart bulb with full color controls, robust IFTTT support, and a superb design.
The Bad $50 per bulb is still prohibitively expensive, especially since you’ll probably need more than one of them. They also won’t work with Apple HomeKit.
The Bottom Line Prices are still high on these kinds of color-changing LEDs, but this Lifx floodlight is one of the best. It’s worth the splurge if you’re into high-tech novelty lighting.
If money were no object, I’d have Lifx Color 1000 BR30 LEDs all throughout my home. They’re bright, they’re efficient, and they offer better-looking colors than Philips Hue, plus comparable smarts thanks to integrations with the Nest Learning Thermostat, with IFTTT, and with Amazon’s Alexa.
But money is an object, and these LEDs aren’t cheap — 50 bucks each, to be exact, or about £40/AU$65. It’s a lot of money for a light bulb no matter what currency you’re using, and that stops me from recommending them outright (or, you know, filling my house with them). Plus, they don’t work with Apple HomeKit, which might be a deal breaker for the iOS faithful among ye.
Still, these are very good smart bulbs, and a justifiable splurge for owners of the Amazon Echo smart speaker thanks to those Alexa controls. You don’t need these color-changing smart bulbs, but it’s perfectly fine to want them, and fine to buy them, too, if you’re looking for a little more color in your day to day.
The specs are strong with this bulb.
Lifx
As LED floodlights go, the Lifx Color 1000 is flat-out great. With nearly 1,000 lumens at its brightest setting it’s a legitimate upgrade in light output over the kinds of common 65W incandescents you might use it to replace. Bulbs like those typically put out less than 700 lumens.
It’s efficient, too, drawing just 11 watts (oddly even less than the white-light version of this bulb, which doesn’t do colors and isn’t quite as bright). With an 11W power draw, it’ll save you about six or seven dollars per year in energy costs over that 65W bulb, all while putting out significantly more light.
Lifx bulbs are also terrific when it comes to color accuracy, and capable of producing rich, vivid tones at just about every shade. They’re certainly better color-changers than Philips Hue, which struggles to put out true tones of green and cyan due to weak blue diodes.
The “Turn on lights” IFTTT actions for Philips Hue and Lifx LEDs: the Lifx controls go a lot deeper.
Screenshots by Ry Crist/CNET
The smarts are on point, as well. The integration with Amazon’s Alexa is particularly strong (I know because I own a couple of Lifx bulbs along with an Amazon Echo smart speaker, and use Alexa to control my lights each and every day). Sync your Lifx account with the virtual assistant in Amazon’s Alexa app, and you’ll be able to ask her to turn things on and off or turn them up and dim them down.
Apple Watch Series 2 review (as written by a marathoner)
When the Apple Watch first came out last year, Engadget published not one but two reviews. There was the “official” review, which provided an overview of the device’s features and, more important, attempted to explain who, if anyone, should buy it. Then there was a piece I wrote, focusing specifically on the watch’s capabilities (actually, drawbacks) as a running watch. Although we knew that many readers would be interested in that aspect of the device, we were wary of derailing the review by geeking out about marathoning.
This year, we needn’t worry about that. With the new Apple Watch Series 2, the company is explicitly positioning the device as a sports watch. In particular, the second generation brings a built-in GPS radio for more accurate distance tracking on runs, walks, hikes, bike rides and swims. Yes, swims: It’s also waterproof this time, safe for submersion in up to 50 meters of water.
Beyond that, the other changes are performance-related, including a faster chip, longer battery life and a major software update that makes the watch easier to use. Even so, the first-gen version, which will continue to be sold at a lower price, is getting upgraded with the same firmware and dual-core processor. That means, then, that the Series 2’s distinguishing features are mostly about fitness. And if you don’t fancy yourself an athlete, we can think of an even smarter buy.
Design
For all intents and purposes, the Series 2 is identical to the original. Apple says the new models are nine-tenths of a millimeter taller, allowing them to accommodate bigger batteries. This was news to me: When I first saw a tableful of the Series 2 watches at the company’s launch event earlier this month, I was sure the dimensions were unchanged. The screen sizes are otherwise the same — 38mm and 42mm — which means the respective bands will fit either generation of the device. So if you’re one of the few who’s already upgrading to your second Apple Watch, you can keep whatever bands you own.
The watch is available in the same finishes as before too, except that an all-white (and apparently very durable) ceramic model has replaced last year’s 18-karat gold model as Apple’s highest-end “Edition” offering. Most of us are likely to go for the aluminum version, which comes in gold, rose gold, silver and space gray and starts at $369 ($399 for 42mm), or the stainless-steel model, which is offered in two colors and is priced from $549.
If you’re looking for something different, a special-edition Nike+ version of the Apple Watch is coming out next month. It comes in four choices of sporty bands, which are made from the same elastomer as Apple’s own Sport strap, but are lighter-weight and easier to fasten. You’ll also get two exclusive Nike watch faces and support for Siri voice commands — something you won’t otherwise see in Apple Watch apps made by third-party developers. Speaking of the sort, Nike’s run app comes pre-installed, though it’s also available in the App Store for anyone to download on any iOS or watchOS device. It will start at the same price as the Series 2. Which makes sense: It’s basically the Series 2 with a few Nike extras thrown in.
Across the lineup, the Series 2’s screen is more than twice as bright as before, with an option to go up to 1,000 nits. But so long as you have auto-brightness turned on, you’re unlikely to see the panel get that bright on its own — not unless it’s really, really bright outside. Finishing our tour, you still have the rotating “digital crown” on the upper-right edge, with another physical button below that. Those buttons each work slightly differently than they did before, but I’ll get to that in a moment, in the software section.
For now, here’s the last thing I’ll say on the “recap” front before I get to the new stuff: I suggest women and thinner-wristed people opt for the daintier 38mm model. Yes, it still looks like you have a computer strapped to your wrist (you do!), but I find it’s small enough that it blends in with most outfits.
As a sports watch
As I write this, I’m training for my seventh marathon. When the first Apple Watch came out, I was unable to write Engadget’s official review because I was on “vacation,” running the Paris Marathon. I know a thing or two about running.
And, as it happens, I also have strong feelings about sports watches. I don’t actually ask much from them, though. More than anything, I need accurate distance and pace tracking, as well as enough battery power to last through my slow five-hour marathons.
The first Apple Watch wasn’t so good at the whole distance-tracking thing. But I had high hopes for this new model, which has its own GPS and GLONASS radios inside, meaning you no longer need to bring your phone with you to achieve the most accurate results.
Indeed, when I tested the Series 2 alongside my trusty Garmin Forerunner 225, the distance gap was often very narrow. One day, I ran the 3.35-mile interior loop of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, and the two devices were off by 0.03 miles: 3.39 on the Garmin, and 3.42 on the Apple Watch. At first blush, this doesn’t seem unusual: When I run with my training group, my friends’ devices often show slightly different numbers at the end of a run.
The problem is, even a seemingly minuscule distance gap can translate into a big difference in calculated pace. In the case of that 3.35-mile route, Garmin said I ran a 10:20 mile; Apple claimed my pace was 10:12. Needless to say, because Garmin did a better job estimating my distance around the park, I trust its pace calculation more too.
That pace gap grew whenever I allowed myself to walk. On one workout where I did walk/run intervals, the Series 2 and my trusty Garmin Forerunner 225 were off by 0.11 miles over two hours and 15 minutes, or nine seconds on pace. The discrepancies widened further when I did these walk/run intervals on shorter routes. In one 42-minute workout, the two watches were 0.09 miles off, resulting in a whopping 17-second difference in the average pace. Throughout, Apple consistently told me I ran farther and faster than I actually did.
The Series 2 and Garmin Forerunner 225 frequently disagreed on how fast I ran.
Interestingly, Apple’s calorie-burn estimate was always similar to that of both the Garmin and the treadmill at my gym. The heart-rate readouts during my cross-training classes were also on target (meaning: in the range I expected). I found all of this was true of the original Apple Watch too.
In any case, because the issue here is the pace calculation, and not whether I ran a few hundredths of a mile less than the watch said I did, the Series 2 could still be a good fit for walkers, hikers and casual cyclists. It might even work for sometimes-runners who just want a rough idea of how far and fast they’re going. But I would not recommend it for someone like me who trains for events where speed matters.
Believe me, I’m just as disappointed as you are. Especially since the distance and pace tracking seem to suffer when I switch to walking. Some of the fastest, fittest runners I know slow down or walk sometimes. Any sports watch worth its salt should take that into account.
Speaking of which, I know I sound like a broken record repeating this in every story I write about the Apple Watch, but would it kill the company to add a run/walk mode? Or interval workouts of any kind — even distance? These seem to me like fairly common, in-demand features, and what’s more, you can find a lot of them on cheaper devices. Anyhow, if you want them badly enough, you’ll download a third-party running app, like RunKeeper, which are often more full-featured.
The battery life here is at least decent. Apple says the watch can last through five hours of continuous GPS activity. Having done some testing, though, I believe that’s actually a conservative estimate. After a two-hour-and-fifteen-minute run with auto-pause and no heart-rate monitoring, I was down to 78 percent. That would have been plenty to last me through the rest of the day and into the evening, and then it was easy enough to recharge while I was in the shower. Just as important, the fact that I lost only 22 percent of my charge during such a long run means perhaps I really could finish a five-hour marathon without depleting the battery.
I also like Apple’s slick-looking Activity app for the iPhone. As on other running apps, you can see a map of your route, along with the weather conditions you ran through that day. Here, though, you also get color-coded lines showing where you sped up and slowed down. It’s a nice touch, but can we get some mile markers on the map too, Apple? Oh, and an elevation chart would be nice. Heck, if Apple wanted to study established players like Garmin, it could even throw in things like minimum, maximum and average cadence and steps per minute. Nike, meanwhile, is known for its cool photo feature. Some sort of picture tool seems like a no-brainer here, especially with the iPhone’s cameras being as good as they are.
I’m not saying the average user will demand all these things, but without them, why would a serious (and brand-loyal) runner like me switch? Especially if you could get a more feature-rich sports watch for the same price or less?
Swimming
There’s one thing I can’t argue with: The Series 2 watch really is waterproof. Whereas last year’s model was splash-resistant, the new model can handle immersion in up to 50 meters of water. Engadget’s senior mobile editor Chris Velazco took one for a dip on the Jersey Shore, and he didn’t break it. The watch is still “ticking,” so to speak.
What’s more, Apple added two swim workouts — pool and open-water-swimming — which the company said it tested on 700 swimmers of different abilities, for a total of around 1,500 workouts. Depending on the kind of workout you choose, the Apple Watch uses different techniques to track your distance. In a pool, you can program the length of the pool, at which point Apple can detect when you’ve turned around for another lap. In open-water swimming, the watch’s GPS radio pulls in your location every time your hand is above water to track where and how far you’ve gone. In addition to counting pool laps, the watch can calculate your average pace and even detect the kind of stroke you’re doing. That last part matters because it has a bearing on calorie burn. There’s a reason most of us don’t enjoy the butterfly: It’s hard!
Regardless of the swim workout you choose, the watch will automatically lock the screen to prevent accidental “touches” (water can sometimes register as a tap). When you’re out of the water, rotate the digital crown to unlock the screen and eject water from the speakers. What happens there is that the speakers use their own vibration to push out any remaining water. It’s a neat solution, considering the speakers were the one part of the device that couldn’t be totally sealed. You’ll probably also enjoy the retro arcade-esque beeps that the watch emits while releasing water. On the other hand, you might also be disappointed to find that the water doesn’t burst from the watch’s orifices like an open fire hydrant. You might not even see a trickle.
As a smartwatch
The Series 2 arrived about the same time as watchOS 3, the third and best version of Apple’s smartwatch software. And by the best, I mean this is the operating system the company should have launched on the original Apple Watch.
In addition to being faster, watchOS 3 has a far more intuitive user interface, with a revamped layout that generally requires less swiping and tapping than it used to. Now you can press the side button to open a brand-new “Dock,” where you can swipe horizontally through thumbnails of recent and favorite apps. Just as convenient, these previews refresh in the background. So if it’s my Activity Rings I’m after, I can see them at a glance and get a rough sense of how I’m doing. Depending on how much detail I need in that moment, I might not even need to open the app.
That side button serves a second purpose, by the way: An optional “SOS” feature allows you to hold down that key to call emergency services in whatever country you happen to be in. Unlike some other features in watchOS 3, this is one you actually have to opt into to use. That’s probably a good thing — we wouldn’t want anyone accidentally and unknowingly calling the police.
Another intuitive thing: You can swipe right and left on the home screen to cycle through whatever watch faces you’ve loaded onto the device. Indeed, there are some new faces on offer, and you can find them all in a brand-new face gallery in the Watch app. Adding and removing faces is intuitive, as is reordering them and selecting different accent colors (oh, the options there). My only complaint here is that sometimes when I would swipe left and right on the home screen, my swipes wouldn’t register at first; I’d have to try again before I could get to the watch face I wanted. Also, though I like the watch faces available, I wish I had more options. Why not open this feature up to outside developers?
You may have gathered already that Activity is one of my most-used Watch apps. And it’s not just because I’m a bit of a fitness nut. Even on days when I’m not running, there’s something addictive about completing my three color-coded Activity Rings. On days when I forget to wear my watch, I regret that I don’t get credit for all my New York speed-walking.
All that said, there was apparently room for the app to get better. With watchOS 3, Apple added social sharing, so you can see how far along your friends are in meeting their daily fitness goals. Once you’ve sent a connection request and your pal has accepted, you can check up on them by swiping left to a second screen in the Activity app. You’ll be notified when your buddies finish a workout, earn an achievement or close their rings. You can also send text messages from inside the app, with so-called Smart Replies designed specifically for activity sharing (and smack talk). Lastly, the Activity app is now optimized for wheelchairs, with an option to track wheelchair push counts instead of steps.
In a similar vein as the Activity app, watchOS 3 ushers in a new “Breathe” app that encourages users to stop what they’re doing and breathe deeply. Just take a minute to inhale and exhale as you watch an on-screen graphic contract and expand. Though I was annoyed to find that Breathe notifications can’t be permanently disabled, the app did come in handy on a recent subway commute, where I was otherwise feeling irritated by all the pushy people around me. If meditating is your cup of tea, you can adjust both the target breathing rate and the length of the session. If it isn’t, you can dismiss the notifications — for the day, at least.
Meanwhile, in Apple’s Workouts app you, can now assign names to miscellaneous workouts so that you don’t have to settle for the “Other” label. Think: yoga, belly dancing, et cetera. There’s that auto-pause feature I mentioned earlier, which works for both indoor and outdoor runs. (You’ll feel a “tick” on your wrist when the stopwatch pauses itself.) Additionally, you can mark segments in any workout by double-tapping the display. And you can hit Quick Start for your most common workout types — another example of how watchOS 3 often requires fewer taps than it used to.
A lot of the other new stuff in watchOS 3 matches what you’ll find in iOS 10. In Messages, you can send so-called Tapbacks, which let you respond to a message by adding a thumbs-up, heart or other pictorial reaction by tapping rather than hitting “reply.” That’s particularly useful on a watch, where you can’t type anything and probably want to minimize scrolling through dozens of lines of emoji.
Speaking of replies, you also get a “Scribble” feature, which is exactly what it sounds like: You can draw letters and hearts on the screen with your finger. For now, that feature is available only in English and Traditional and Simplified Chinese, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Apple incrementally added support for more languages. Rounding out the list of Messages features, you get access to those animated full-screen effects that make texting so addictive on iOS 10.
Other features borrowed from iOS (and even macOS): a new Home app, where you can control any smart home devices based on Apple’s HomeKit standard. There’s a new Reminders app and complication. Find My Friends is now on Apple Watch for the first time. And, as I discussed in my macOS Sierra review this week, you can use watchOS 3 to unlock your Sierra Mac. In theory, setting this up simply requires having two-factor authentication enabled and checking off a box in your system settings, but I wasn’t able to get the feature to work until I reset my iCloud password. Hopefully you have better luck there.
Performance and battery life
Throughout, the Series 2 feels fast — gone are the days when you’d have to wait several seconds for an app to load. That’s partly because watchOS 3 itself is faster and more efficient, but it’s also because of the second-gen watch’s new, faster “S2” chip. All told, Apple says the dual-core CPU inside can deliver up to a 50 percent performance gain, while the GPU is up to twice as fast as on last year’s watch.
The Series 2 does indeed feel materially faster than the original. Apps load quickly, it’s easy to swipe left into second screens, and the background updates have been super-helpful. I occasionally notice some lag when scrolling up and down; maybe that’s something Apple can address in next year’s software update. Even so, watchOS 3 and the Series 2 in particular are vast improvements when it comes to sheer speed and efficiency.
Though Apple says the Series 2 watches are slightly taller to accommodate a larger battery, the company lists the battery life as the same for the 38mm and 42mm models: up to 18 hours. In my day-to-day use, I found I could leave the house early in the morning — say, between 7 and 8 — and return some 14 hours later with as much as half a charge left. That’s assuming I used the watch intermittently, checking in occasionally to peek at my Activity Rings and dismiss those incessant “Stand” reminders. You still need to charge the watch once a day, but that never really bothered me. It’s not like I’m going to sleep with that big thing on my wrist, so why not just let it rest on its magnetic charging disc overnight?
The competition
The Garmin Vivosmart HR+
In a sense, the new Apple Watch’s greatest competition is actually … the old Apple Watch. The original model is still being sold under a new name, the Series 1, and at a lower starting price: $269 (make that $299 if you want the larger 42mm version). What’s more, the Series 1 now ships with the same dual-core processor as the Series 2, not to mention watchOS 3. That means the differences between the two models are few: The newer edition has a 1,000-nit screen instead of a 450-nit one; built-in GPS; and waterproofing. There will always be folks who want the latest and greatest (or who want to go for a swim), but I predict that this holiday season, many people will opt for the cheaper model instead.
Beyond that, it’s not helpful to say that the Series 2 competes with every other smartwatch out there; let’s instead focus on devices that are primarily as sports watches but also do typical smartwatch things, like handle notifications. Samsung has the $180 Gear Fit 2, which we called Samsung’s best wearable yet, thanks to its GPS, automatic workout tracking and stylish design. The problem? It’s Android-only for now.
For $250, Garmin’s Vivosmart HR+ has GPS, a waterproof design, support for cycling and a battery rated for eight days total or 13 hours of GPS activity. And, yes, it works with iOS. You might also be considering the Moto 360 Sport (now $200), but as we found in our review, the Android Wear watch doesn’t function nearly as well when paired with an iPhone.
Wrap-up
The Series 2 is a good smartwatch, but not the best sports watch. I always appreciated the availability of apps for the Apple Watch, but I’m particularly fond of the revamped layout in watchOS 3 — everything is easier to find, often with less tapping and swiping than before.
But considering that the Series 2 is being positioned as more of a sports watch, and that the GPS radio is one of the few things distinguishing it from the older Series 1, it’s disappointing that the pace calculation is often off the mark. Apple’s own Activity and Workout apps could benefit from more features too — things like mile markers on running maps, elevation charts and interval settings. In any case, if all you want is distance tracking (meaning pace is irrelevant to you), the Series 2 will make a fine companion on walks, hikes and maybe even casual jogs. But it isn’t precise enough for athletes in training.
Basically, it’s a very stylish, feature-rich fitness tracker. For most people, the less expensive Series 1 is a better bet, since it has the same processor and OS as the Series 2 and works just as well as a smartwatch. Really, I would recommend the newer model only to people who swim. Even then, as with running, it’s probably best for recreational use. Apple might feature serious-looking athletes in its ads, but ultimately, the Series 2 isn’t robust enough for those people to give up their dedicated sports watches just yet.
Photography by Chris Velazco
Alcatel Idol 4S review – CNET
Haven’t considered buying an Alcatel phone before? The unlocked Idol 4S — made of metal, glass and moxie — will work its butt off to change your mind. The phone boasts a large screen and excellent audio quality; a 16-megapixel camera and an 8-megapixel camera with front-facing flash; a convenience key to quickly launch apps; a fingerprint scanner; and a screen layout that orients itself as “up” no matter which way you pick up the phone. With competitive pricing (see below) and a list of impressive specs (full list also below), the Idol 4S is aggressively taking on the excellent OnePlus 3, a CNET editor’s choice phone. (Note that there’s an Idol 4, too. See those specs, you know, below.)
Let’s just make one thing absolutely crystal clear. I’ve been playing around with hardware and software on a prefinal Idol 4S meant for the US, which means there could be slight changes between this model and the completely finished, boxed-up unit. Since this version of the phone isn’t identical to one you’d be able to buy yourself, I’m holding off on a rated review for now and focus on my general impressions here. When I get the final version, the full court press — with my recommendations on whether or not you should buy the phone — is on.
In the US, the Idol 4S goes on sale July 15 for $350 presale or $400 outright. It comes bundled with a case, glass screen protector and Alcatel’s VR headset.
Flagship Alcatels bring the boom key
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The most important thing you need to know is that the Idol 4S is all about throwing you everything that Alcatel thinks a buyer wants in a phone, plus extras like a case, screen protector and possibly VR headset — for the same price of a midrange flagship phone (that doesn’t come with those extras). You may not want the VR headset that Alcatel will bundle in the box for US buyers, but the tempered glass screen protector and Incipio case do come in handy.
The second most-important thing to know is that it’s an unlocked phone that runs on the GSM network. In the US, that means you’ll have to buy a SIM card that works on AT&T, T-Mobile, Cricket Wireless or MetroPCS.
Using the Idol 4S
These dual speakers can crank out sound.
Josh Miller/CNET
Here’s what I noticed about the phone’s biggest features during this week — remember, this is prefinal-everything, so my impressions are subject to change when I get the real thing.
Boom key (convenience key): You can program this to open apps, like the camera, which is a shortcut. I love this in theory, but in practice, I kept accidentally taking unintended photos. Either it needs some finessing handling it, or I do.
Cameras: Overall, photos looked bright and colorful — so far I’ve mostly taken them of food, friends and flowers. Focus on the 16-megapixel camera seems a little relaxed, but a last-minute software update could very well enhance and sharpen the focus. We’ve seen this happen many times before. The flash on the 8-megapixel front-facing camera can be extremely useful, and harsh at times. Generally, I like having this as an option.
Fingerprint scanner: Located on the back beneath the camera lens, the fingerprint reader is small and not terrifically accurate. It helps to register multiple fingers, so if you don’t have a case on you can kind of drag them along the back. If you do, you’ll have to hit your target, but in a way that the case also helps position your finger. There is NFC, so you can use Android Pay for mobile payments as well as for unlocking your phone.
The fingerprint reader feels smaller than some.
Josh Miller/CNET
Reversible layout design: There’s technically an “up”, and the Reversible OS, which is entirely optional, is meant to help you use the phone right away no matter if you pick it up rightside up or upside down. What I noticed is that if you have the fingerprint reader turned on, it very much matters which way is “up” — you can only unlock the phone from a single orientation. And it’s confusing to think about the location of the Boom key if you want to use it.
Built-in JBL speakers: Audio is loud and rich for a smartphone. This is a great little extra if you play videos and music for others.
Worth watching
So yes, with its hardware and software so far, the Idol 4S is one to keep an eye on when our final review unit comes in. Alcatel’s huge value play is also unignorable for people who are interested in a high-performing midprice phone, one that could be a true contender against the OnePlus 3.
Idol 4S versus Idol 4: What’s the difference?
| Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow | Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow |
| Reversible OS | Reversible OS |
| 5.5-inch 2,560×1,440-pixel AMOLED screen | 5.2-inch, 1,920×1,080-pixel IPS |
| 16-megapixel camera | 13-megapixel camera |
| 8-megapixel camera with flash | 8-megapixel camera with flash |
| 1.8GHz + 1.4GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 | 1.7GHz + 1.2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 |
| 3.6 watt JBL dual speakers for front and back | 3.6 watt JBL dual speakers for front and back |
| 32GB storage, 3GB RAM, up to 512GB Micro-SD card slot | 16GB and 2GB RAM, up to 512GB Micro-SD card slot |
| 3,000mAh battery (quick charge) | 2,610mAh battery with quick charge |
| Standard Micro-USB port | Standard Micro-USB port |
| Yes | Yes |
| $400 (or $350 presale). ~450 euros, converts to £385, AU$780 | ~280 euros, converts to $310, £215, AU$435 |
2016 Roush F-150 SC review – Roadshow
The Good The supercharged 5.0-liter V8 makes the F-150 laugh-out-loud quick. Roush’s performance exhaust produces a thunderous exhaust note. SVT Raptor-inspired visual upgrades look menacing. On-road ride quality is still compliant on Fox suspension.
The Bad The 600 horsepower comes at the expense of lower fuel economy compared to the stock truck. Premium fuel requirement puts a bigger beating on you at the pump. Cost of admission into a Roush F-150 SC gets pricey.
The Bottom Line While not as off-road worthy as the SVT Raptor, the Roush F-150 SC still offers enough capabilities off pavement, while also being an absolute terror on the street.
Tackling sand dunes in the 600-hp Roush F-150 SC
A supercharger, upgraded suspension and styling changes produce a truck that’s a riot, both on- and off-road.
by Jon Wong
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Test Hill is among the tallest piles of sand at West Michigan’s Silver Lake Sand Dunes. For 20 minutes, I sit in my Roush Ford F-150 SC, looking at it and contemplating whether I should attempt a run up the monster hill. While numerous trucks make it to the top as I play spectator, many don’t and have to reverse back down in shame.
Admittedly, I’m a newbie when it comes to driving on sand. Paved racetracks are my comfort zone, but the urge to conquer Test Hill overwhelms any doubts I have, compelling me to jump out of the truck to take a few more pounds of air out of the already deflated tires for more grip. Power isn’t going to be a problem with the Roush’s supercharged 5.0-liter V8, but hitting the hill at high speed doesn’t seem to be the ticket to a successful run.
Instead, beginning the climb with just the right amount of momentum and gradually feeding in more power as you get higher seems to be the best strategy to prevent the truck from digging into the sand and getting stuck. With the truck’s four-wheel-drive system in 4-Low and 10 pounds of pressure in the tires, I stomp on the throttle and shoot towards the base of the hill.
Getting up Test Hill on the first try.
Nick Miotke/Roadshow
My heart threatens to explode out of my chest as I start my ascent. The Roush scampers up halfway without a problem, but I can feel momentum begin to bleed off. I squeeze in more power, and am careful not to mash the gas pedal to tear the tires off and beach the truck. I hold myself together long enough to get the F-150 to the summit, joining a gaggle of other trucks to take in the surrounding sights of other dunes and Lake Michigan.
It’s a relief to not embarrass myself and the truck, which attracts lots of attention from folks at the top with its aggressive visual changes. A blacked-out Roush grille includes clearance lights that follow in the footsteps of Ford’s own Raptor. It also has a new front bumper cover, fender flares with clearance lights and a tasteful slathering of Roush graphics. The entire package rides on dark-finish 20-inch Roush wheels wrapped in Mickey Thompson Baja ATZ tires.
From there, I motor around the rest of the off-road park, climbing other hills, charging through hoops and splashing through puddles of water where the Fox performance suspension works overtime to handle impacts. The SC’s off-road capabilities prove to be plenty for the dunes, which Roush says targets trucks like the Ram 1500 Rebel and Chevrolet Silverado Z71. Power aside, what it definitely is not is a full-blown SVT Raptor fighter.
As capable as it is off-road, I think the F-150 SC is actually more in its element on the street, mainly because of the power it’s packing under the hood. My test truck’s 5.0-liter V8 originally left Ford’s plant with 385 horsepower and 387 pound-feet of torque. After going through Roush’s facility in Plymouth, Michigan, the engine now spits out 600 horsepower and 557 pound-feet of twist thanks to an Eaton supercharger and performance exhaust system.
On the pavement, all that muscle shoots the F-150 SC forward in a brisk manner, but obviously it doesn’t build speed at the same rate as a 600-horsepower sports car. However, it is incredibility quick for a vehicle weighing nearly 4,900 pounds. Roush doesn’t quote performance numbers, so I’m not exactly sure how quick the SC gets to 60 mph or covers the quarter mile, but when you drop the hammer the speedometer needle sweeps upwards pretty darn fast as you get pinned back into the seat.
In a way, I see the SC filling the high-performance street truck void left by OEMs vehicles like the F-150 SVT Lightning, Silverado SS and Ram SRT-10, all of which are a long way back in history’s rearview mirror. Roush admittedly gives the SC more off-road ability, which isn’t something normally found in a thoroughbred street truck’s DNA. It’s there, though, all packed into a pickup that’s also a capable muscle truck with good handling and ride comfort. Consider the SC something of a dual-sport athlete, a slightly different performance truck specimen.
Nintendo Pokemon Go Plus review – CNET
You want to be the very best, like no one ever was. But you don’t want to be nose-deep in your phone instead of interacting with the world.
That’s why Nintendo devised another way to play the uber-popular Pokemon Go: a $35, £35 or AU$50 wearable gadget that can quietly alert you to nearby Pokemon.
The Pokemon Go Plus released on September 16, and so far, it’s exactly what we thought: a dead-simple way of catching Pokemon.
You wear it like a wristband, or pin it to your pocket, purse, lapel or sleeve. It easily pairs with your compatible iPhone or Android phone over a Bluetooth Low Energy connection, and connects to the Pokemon Go app.
The Pokemon Go Plus.
Nintendo
Then, instead of constantly pulling out your phone to scan for Pokemon, you just walk around town like a normal human being. Whenever you’d normally stumble across a Pokemon, the Go Plus lights up and vibrates instead.
Press that green light-up button, and — without needing to pull out your phone — the game will automatically throw a Pokeball to try to catch it for you. (Just so long as you’ve caught a Pokemon of that type before.) Nice, strong, distinct patterns of vibrations let you know whether you’ve caught or missed the Pokemon, even if you’re keeping the Go Plus in a pocket.
Pokemon Go Plus keeps you catching them all…
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It works for PokeStops, too: if you walk past one, the device lights up blue. Press it, and you can harvest the same items (balls, potions, berries) that would have been waiting for you if you’d activated it from within the game.
The Plus should also keep track of your steps (which count towards hatching eggs), though we haven’t tested that yet.
You can even use the Pokemon Go Plus as a memory aid: if you walk out of range of your smartphone (roughly 30 feet, or 10 meters), it’ll vibrate and light up red to let you know you left your phone behind. Nintendo says the included button battery (a standard CR2032 cell) should last about 100 days on average.
Sound good? Just know that you may have some trouble actually finding one.
Even though Nintendo pushed back the device’s release to September — it was originally supposed to ship in July — there still doesn’t seem to be enough of the devices to satisfy demand. In the United States, Amazon and GameStop sold out of the devices within a few hours of them going on sale on September 16 — though you might still try try your local GameStop to be sure.
A closer look at Nintendo’s Pokemon Go Plus
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It’s not like you need a Pokemon Go Plus to play the game, though.
Especially when later this year, there’ll be an even more convenient way to catch Pokemon: with an Apple Watch. The developers say a version of Pokemon Go for Android Wear watches is pretty likely as well.
We’ll bring you our full, rated review of the Pokemon Go Plus in the days to come.
Why Pokemon Go is so popular
Why do we love the Pikachu-catching, ball-chucking, Pokedex-filling phenomenon? It’s all down to how little guidance the game gives you, argues CNET’s Luke Westaway.
by Luke Westaway
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Samsung UNKU7000 series review – CNET
The Good The affordable KU7000 series showed accurate color and a good picture in bright rooms. Samsung incorporates unique device and smart-home control features, tied together with a simple remote and interface. The design is sleek and minimalist.
The Bad In overall image quality it lags behind some similarly priced TVs.
The Bottom Line Midrange buyers seeking a stylish, feature-filled 4K TV from a well-known brand will find plenty to like about the Samsung KU7000, but picture-first shoppers should look elsewhere.
Samsung TVs deserve credit for Smart TV innovation and futuristic design, and the KU7000 combines both for an affordable price.
It’s the least expensive TV to feature the company’s cool automatic device control system, which lets you command connected AV equipment using the TV’s simple remote and zero programming. It can operate SmartThings-compatible smart home devices like lights and thermostats, and even simplifies your cable box and streaming-app interfaces. All with style that’s sleek and modern.
So far, so good, and for many buyers, especially those who value Samsung’s brand cachet, that’s plenty. Right about now, however, I’m imagine a typical CNET reader would mutter: “Stop talking about the design and features, Katzmaier, and tell me about the picture.” Soon enough, but first, look at these slides.
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Samsung UNKU7000 series (pictures)
Back? OK. Remember that Samsung has a premium line of TVs it calls SUHD. But in 2015, the company’s JU7100 — technically a step down from the SUHD line — actually delivered comparable picture quality to its SUHD big brother, the JS8500. But that happy occurrence isn’t being repeated for 2016: Comparing the KU7000 reviewed here directly with the 2016 SUHD step-up, model KS8000, the latter model was the clear winner. It gets brighter and darker, looks better in a dim and in bright rooms, and has better color. (And, of course, it costs a lot more.)
Then there’s Vizio. The 2016 M series costs about as much as the KU7000, and Samsung trounces Vizio in design and ease of use — despite Vizio’s included Android tablet-based remote, it feels less futuristic to use than the KU7000. On the other hand, the Vizio beats the Samsung at the most important thing a TV can do: producing a beautiful picture.
Series information: I performed a hands-on evaluation of the 65-inch Samsung UN65KU7000, but this review also applies to the other screen sizes in the series. All sizes have identical specs and according to the manufacturer should provide very similar picture quality.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Signature sweet Samsung style
One of the main reasons to pay up for Samsung is for nice design, and even the midrange KU7000 benefits. The dark gray metallic frame is thin, but not razor-thin like on some other sets. The small Samsung logo matches the quiet discretion of the rest of the TV, and the stand is a svelte splayed pedestal in darker black.
Sarah Tew/CNET
I also like the remote. It’s small enough to fit any hand yet feels substantial. Bumps, depressions and logical placement make finding keys by feel with a thumb as easy as on any clicker I’ve ever used. I’m an especially big fan of the raised flanges for volume and channel. I would have appreciated backlighting, however, as well as a few more keys — in particular dedicated fast-forward, rewind and skip keys.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Automatic control, smarter TV
Samsung’s novel control system allows the TV’s remote to command a lot of your home theater gear, including a cable box, without any tedious setup. Simply plugging in a device during initial TV setup is often enough to get the TV to recognize it and completely set up control using Samsung’s TV remote. This unique auto setup ability worked for a little over half the ones I tried when I reviewed it with the KS8000 (I didn’t retest it for this review).
You’ll need to plug your stuff directly into the TV, so if your setup incorporates an AV receiver it won’t work. The system mostly relies on infrared commands sent from Samsung’s remote, so you’ll need line-of-sight to control most devices (if your stuff is hidden in a cabinet, it won’t work).
Sarah Tew/CNET
In the end I’d stick with my Harmony, but people with simpler systems that use supported devices should be fine using just Samsung’s remote to control everything.
Samsung also revamped its Smart TV system with a friendlier design. App coverage isn’t as comprehensive as on Android TV (on Sony sets) or Roku TV, but it’s better than LG. If your streaming tastes go beyond the basic apps, you will probably still need to connect an external device like a Roku or Apple TV.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Samsung incorporates content more seamlessly than other TVs, though. Click the Home button and you’ll be able to browse content from within apps like Netflix and Hulu while your current video keeps playing in the background. The menu even serves suggestions and, on some apps, lets you resume stuff you were watching previously.
For more details on the control system and Smart TV, check out the KS8000 review.
Key TV features
| LED LCD |
| Edge-lit |
| 4K |
| HDR10 |
| Flat |
| Tizen |
| Standard |
| No |
Features
The KU lacks most of the picture-related extras of its SUHD compatriots, including Quantum Dots, “1,000 nits” of brightness and local dimming. Instead is a relatively standard 4K resolution set.
The “UHD Dimming” feature on this TV isn’t true local dimming, but rather an algorithm Samsung says enhances contrast, color and detail. The KU7000 has an edge-lit LED backlight as opposed to the direct or full-array units found on some other TVs, which helps thin the cabinet but can negatively impact screen uniformity. has a panel with a 60Hz native resolution, not the 120Hz of step-up sets, which has an effect on motion handling. See the picture quality section for more on how these features affect the image.
The set supports HDR (high dynamic range) content in HDR10 format only. It lacks the Dolby Vision HDR support found on Vizio’s and LG’s 2016 HDR TVs. It’s still too early to determine whether one HDR format is “better” than the other, and I definitely don’t consider lack of Dolby Vision a deal breaker on this TV–instead it’s just one more factor to consider.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Connectivity
- 3x HDMI inputs with HDMI 2.0a, HDCP 2.2
- 1x composite/component video input
- 2x USB ports
- Ethernet (LAN) port
- Optical digital audio output
- RF (antenna) input
No complaints here, and all three of its HDMI are state-of-the-art. Unlike the KS8000 and other more expensive Samsung TVs, the KU7000 actually includes an analog video input.
One of the USB ports, labeled IoT Extend, is designed to accept the company’s SmartThings Extend control dongle. The dongles will allow the TVs to control SmartThings devices via an app on the TV. They were originally expected to ship this September, but now won’t be available until early 2017, according to Samsung. They’re free to owners of this TV who redeem a coupon included in the box. Maybe the integration of the platform into TVs will push Samsung to iron out some of SmartThings’ glitches.
Picture quality
The KU7000’s image was good, but not up to the standards of many TVs I’ve tested this year. Its relatively light black levels and subpar video processing were the biggest issues, and while I appreciated its accurate color and solid HDR image, they aren’t enough to push its picture into “very good” territory.
Garmin Vivomove review – CNET
The Good Great fashion-watch design; one-year battery life; and can track steps and sleep automatically. Can sync with Android and iOS, and can be worn in the shower and while swimming.
The Bad Occasional connection issues with the Garmin app; watch lacks vibration; can’t be used with other Garmin trackers; lacks advanced features like a heart rate sensor or smartphone alerts.
The Bottom Line The Garmin Vivomove is a well-crafted and stylish watch that provides bare-bones fitness tracking, but you’re trading function for form.
The Garmin Vivomove deserves a special honor. It’s the first fitness tracker I wore to a wedding, and no one even noticed.
That’s because the Vivomove is like nothing Garmin’s ever made before, but it’s something we’re seeing a lot from other companies. It looks like a stylish analog watch, but inside it’s a fitness tracker, much like the Withings Activite. It tracks steps, distance, calories burned and sleep. And its battery life is great: It lasts a year on a replaceable battery.
It’s also reasonably affordable. The Vivomove is available in three models: Sport ($150,£140, AU$249), Classic ($200, £180, AU$329) and Premium ($250, £240, AU$479). The Sport model has a silicone band, while the Classic comes with a leather one. The Premium features a steel body and a leather strap, and it’s the one I have been wearing for the past few weeks.
The fitness
The Vivomove can track the basics: steps, distance, calories burned and sleep. That’s it. There’s no heart rate sensor, no smartphone notifications or any sort of vibration. It does, however, include two small secondary e-ink screens that help show fitness data. The one on the left shows how close you are to reaching your daily step goal, while the one on the right is an inactivity bar that will slowly fill with red for every 15 minutes you aren’t being active.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The best part? You don’t have to worry about charging it. The Vivomove uses a traditional coin battery that will last up to a year. You will eventually need to manually replace it, but they’re incredibly cheap — you can get a 10-pack at Amazon for around $4.
Like all of Garmin’s devices, the watch is also waterproof down to 50 meters (165 feet), so you can swim and shower with it (sans the leather strap, of course).
Sarah Tew/CNET
All in all, it’s pretty similar in concept to the Withings Activite, but the Vivomove can store up to a week’s worth of data without being synced, whereas the Activite has more limited onboard storage and should be synced every day.
The style
Credit to Garmin, the watch is incredibly well crafted. This holds especially true for the more expensive Premium model. The stainless-steel casing gives it a nice weight. It’s not heavy enough to be annoying to wear, but it’s enough to feel like this isn’t some cheap plastic fitness tracker.
Sarah Tew/CNET
All models of the Vivomove have a clean and minimalist look, which I really liked. The 42mm diameter is also the perfect size for my wrist.
The watch supports any 20mm band, but Garmin offers its own sport and leather straps that range from $30, £24 or AU$49 to $60, £46 or AU$99.
The Fitbit Charge 2’s upgrades are incremental, but necessary
Fitbit’s two-year-old Charge HR has been in dire need of an upgrade, but thankfully the company has finally refreshed its lineup. The new Charge 2 boasts better exercise tracking, more informative stats, GPS capability and a larger screen for the same price ($150) as its predecessor. Although I dislike its still-boring looks and odd meditation mode, I’ve found the Charge 2 to be a solid fitness companion overall that spurred me to get better at monitoring and understanding my heart health. It’s a worthy successor to our current favorite fitness tracker, and takes over as the most well-rounded option you can buy.
Hardware
At first glance, the biggest change you’ll notice between the Charge 2 and the Charge HR is the display. Instead of a thin rectangular strip, the new screen is four times larger and spans the length of the band. This extra space allows for more information to be displayed, meaning you don’t have to do quite as much scrolling.
Another difference between the Charge 2 and its predecessor is the newer model’s interchangeable bands. You can now swap out the strap for a better-looking one, which you’ll want to do, since the new colors Fitbit introduced for its classic silicone straps are still a little too sporty (for my tastes, anyway). The leather versions look much better, and it’s nice to finally have the option of changing them out.
Both Charges are water resistant enough to withstand “sweat, rain and splashes,” according to Fitbit. Just like the Charge HR, the new model has an easy-to-use buckle clasp, a heart rate monitor on the underside and a physical button on the left side that you press to navigate through the interface. You can also interact with the Charge 2 by jabbing the OLED display since it’s not technically a touchscreen, but uses an accelerometer to tell when you’re hitting it. This means you’ll need to be quite deliberate when you’re poking at your Charge 2 or it won’t register your taps.
In use
There’s something to be said for the Charge 2’s design. Even though I don’t find it very stylish, it’s at least comfortable — so much so that I hardly noticed it was there. That is, until it came time to dress up for a night out, and my unit’s sporty blue band undermined the glam look I had picked out. I had to choose, then, whether I wanted to forego tracking that night’s activities or try to hide or match the Charge 2.
In the end, I chose to match my outfit, because removing the Charge 2 for longer than an hour means my steps progress isn’t logged. My resting heart rate differed depending on how long I had worn it that day, and since Fitbit now assigns a Cardio Fitness Score that shows me how my heart performed against other people of my age and gender, I didn’t want to risk falling behind. Plus, I had steps goals to meet!
Speaking of those goals, I felt pleased each time the Charge 2 buzzed me to say I met an hourly achievement, but none of that compared to the pride I felt when Fitbit’s app told me I had conquered 10 flights of stairs that day. The alert popped up on my phone, and was easy enough to share to my Twitter feed for me to brag to my followers. None of these features are new, but they keep me wanting to put on the device every morning.
What is new is the Charge 2’s ability to auto-detect common activities such as walking, running, bike riding and treadmill exercise after 15 minutes in each. Another big plus for runners is the new GPS Connect feature, which harnesses your phone’s GPS radio to monitor your distance traveled and give you an accurate pace reading. This does mean you’ll have to take your phone with you on your run, though, and, as we found on the original Apple Watch, this method doesn’t guarantee accurate distance tracking.
Fitbit’s app remains largely unchanged since the company’s Alta tracker came out earlier this year, and still displays your day’s progress in an easy-to-understand layout. In one page, you’ll see your step count so far, floors climbed, distance traveled, calories burned and time spent being active. Tap on any of these indicators and you can delve into greater detail about that particular stat. I most frequently studied my sleep and heart data, but I also really liked being able to easily log the cups of water I had drank that day.
Food logging is also pretty full-featured — you can scan a product barcode, search for common items, create custom entries or input a specific calorie amount. The database had most major brand names, too. I tried to enter my linguine alfredo dinner and found options from Red Lobster, Progresso and Mike’s Restaurants, but not the corner deli I got it from, though that’s not surprising. Fortunately, there were far more brands and options available for generic items such as bread and banana.
A new feature in the app is Fitbit Adventures, which lets you challenge yourself (as opposed to, you know, actual other people) to meet fitness goals without getting bored. Adventures takes you on specific paths tailored for cities such as New York or San Francisco. For instance, the Yosemite Vernal Falls adventure takes you through a 15,000-step route that goes by scenic waterfalls. That’s quite a cool way to mix up your workout, although I can’t see it working everywhere. (I wouldn’t want to go on a solo Adventure in a sketchy neighborhood.)
I sleep way more than I exercise, and happily the Charge 2 is still useful to a sloth like me. I’m obsessed with knowing how well I slept, and the Charge 2 was certainly a blessing in that regard. Every morning, I’d wake up and open up the Fitbit app to get a summary of my slumber, and the tracker was mostly accurate in logging my restless or awake moments. Once, during my week of testing, it incorrectly recorded a period of time I remembered being awake as just restlessness, but errors like that were few.
The Charge 2 made some mistakes in noting my steps as well, saying I completed my required hourly 250 steps when I took only about 100 or so paces. Still, the sensors were accurate overall — the heart rate monitor in particular matched my own finger-to-jugular reading almost exactly — and provided a good frame of reference for analyzing patterns in my health.
Wellness isn’t all about working out, and Fitbit’s new Guided Breathing mode is a nod to the importance of relaxing. The feature lets you start a two-minute or five-minute meditation session, during which the device’s heart rate monitor studies your pulse and coaches you to inhale and exhale at a rate that will help you “find moments of calm.”
Most of the time, I found these deep-breathing exercises somewhat difficult to follow. You’ll have to look at a ring on your Fitbit’s screen and breathe in when the circle expands, and out when it contracts. To see the display, I had to either hold up my hand (which became super tiring after a minute, not to mention two or five), or rest my wrist on a table or in my lap and crane my neck to see it. Either method caused me more distress than calm and I ultimately gave up and decided to breathe to my own tune instead. This implementation is similar to the Breathe app that Apple just introduced in watchOS 3, which also has you follow an onscreen animation to regulate your heart rate. Apple gives you more control over your desired session duration and breathing rate than Fitbit does, though.
When you’re not working out or trying to relax, the Charge 2 is still a decent companion, delivering your message, call or calendar alerts to your wrist with a buzz. Thanks to the larger display, you won’t have to wait as long to see the full preview of your notification. You can also now pick from seven watch faces that can display stats on your steps progress and heart rate in addition to the time, which is handy for someone like me who always needs to know how their ticker is doing.
As of this writing, the Charge 2 has endured about six days of activity, with its battery going from a full 100 percent to just below 50 percent. That’s pretty impressive, and longer than Fitbit’s rated runtime of five days.
The competition
For what it does, and for the price, the Charge 2 doesn’t really have much competition. Its closest rival is the Garmin Vivosmart HR+, which costs $70 more, is swimproof and has built-in GPS so you won’t have to lug your phone along on your runs. The Vivosmart will also continuously track your pulse. Jawbone’s Up 4 costs the same as the Charge 2, and also has constant heart rate monitoring, along with a longer rated battery life. But it doesn’t have a display.
Fitness rookies like myself may prefer Fitbit’s Alta tracker, which is more stylish and costs $20 less. Just keep in mind that the Alta won’t monitor your heart rate. If you want a more smartwatch-like experience but want to remain within the Fitbit family, the odd-looking Blaze may be more your speed, since it lets you control your music and interact with notifications (albeit in a limited way). The Blaze does cost $50 more than the Charge 2, though that won’t necessarily be a deal-breaker.
Wrap-up
Fitbit’s Charge line was in serious need of an update, and it finally has a decent offering in the Charge 2. The new heart rate and activity tracker brings important tools such as auto exercise tracking and GPS connectivity, which are good enough that I can forgive the poorly implemented meditation feature. Plus, a bigger screen and interchangeable bands make the Charge 2 look better than its predecessor, even if it could still be more stylish. Overall, the improvements will help Fitbit better take on its rivals, and secure the Charge 2’s place as the leader in its price range.
CybertronPC CLX Ra review – CNET
The Good The CybertronPC CLX Ra has a premium look and high-end parts for excellent performance. Access to both side panels is very easy.
The Bad The rear ports are almost impossible to get to without removing the glass panel on the right side. The oversized off-the-shelf chassis isn’t for everyone.
The Bottom Line Despite using the same components and cases as many other PC makers, CybertronPC has managed to hit top performance scores in the CLX Ra at slightly lower prices than the competition.
Configure at CybertronPC.
While not as well-known among deep-pocketed PC gaming enthusiasts as brands such as Alienware or Origin PC, CybertronPC has been knocking out highly customizable gaming PCs for years, and was best known as a place to get a real a la carte gaming desktop built from exactly the case and components you wanted for a reasonable price.
While keeping the sci-fi-inspired name (Cybertron is the home planet of the Autobots, after all), the company now has a high-end line of carefully tuned gaming systems, with premium looks and premium prices. The new CLX line tops out with the CLX Ra — yes, named for the Egyptian deity — which goes head to head with the highest-end gaming desktops we’ve tested in our Nvidia 1080 system roundup.
View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET
The look of our CLX Ra is distinctive, with smoked-glass side panels on a black aluminum chassis, and a large airflow channel cut out underneath. It’s a huge case, especially considering that Falcon Northwest can squeeze two graphics cards into a small FragBox, and both Alienware and Acer are moving toward smaller desktop designs. But it does have plenty of room for the two Nvidia 1080 cards included here, and at least 11 large Thermaltake fans, plus plenty of room for airflow and a liquid cooling rig.
Like most boutique PC makers, Cybertron uses off-the-shelf cases, such as the In Win case used here, but it’s not one of the regular case choices I’ve seen over and over again from other PC builders. Typically, only a handful of big brands, the Dells and HPs of the world, can design and produce their own desktop and laptop chassis, although Origin PC does have a couple of its own custom designs now, including the recently reviewed Millennium.
AIVAnet 