Hopsy HomeTap Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Hopsy
In pursuit of beer nirvana, the Hopsy HomeTap lets you pour a pint of your favorite microbrew, fresh from the tap on your kitchen counter. A Bay Area product only for now, the HomeTap is the newest piece of the Hopsy beer delivery service. Order a growler of your favorite local brew, and if you have the HomeTap, Hopsy will deliver it in a specialized canister you can plug in and pour.
Beer gadgets
- Synek Counter Top Beer Dispenser
- Fizzics
- PicoBrew Zymatic
The containers hold a little more than a growler, actually — 2 full liters (around 68 ounces) vs 1.9 liters (64 ounces). Slide one into the cylindrical HomeTap, connect the tube to the tap, and close the door on the front. Then pull the tap handle and HomeTap will pour you a frothy glass of beer while keeping the contents of the container cool and fresh. Hopsy claims that the beer will last up to two weeks after you plug it into HomeTap.
If you’re in the Bay Area, you can preorder HomeTap now. Expect delivery starting at the end of this month. On its own, HomeTap costs $150, but you can also get it as part of various subscription plans to Hopsy’s delivery service. Since the HomeTap only works with proprietary bottles, you’ll need to use Hopsy’s service to use HomeTap. Later this year, Hopsy will expand to San Diego, and the growing business will hopefully reach markets outside of California before too long.
Hopsy
Krups, makers of the popular Nespresso, made the HomeTap for Hopsy. Handily, it cools and pours your beer without forcing you to hassle with a carbon dioxide canister. HomeTap bottles keep your beer pressurized in a bag inside of the hard exterior of the container. HomeTap pours your beer by using oxygen to squeeze the bag. That’s an interesting way to get around the need for carbon dioxide, but you can’t switch out bottles once you’ve plugged them into HomeTap without losing pressurization.
Outlook
Since Hopsy works directly with breweries, even once the company expands, you’ll likely be limited to using HomeTap with local beers. I like the idea of fresh beer delivered straight from the brewery, and Hopsy promises to deliver varieties you won’t be able to get in bottles. But $150 is a lot to spend on a device that keeps the selection so local. That said, if I lived in Hopsy’s service area, I’d be excited to give HomeTap a try.
Motorola Moto Z review – CNET
The Good The Motorola Moto Z is thin, fast and (literally) snappy. Those magnetic Mods accessories are practical and easy to use.
The Bad The phone looks naked without the Mods, and its fingerprint reader can be easily mistaken for a home button.
The Bottom Line Ambitious, quirky and ultimately useful, the Motorola Moto Z is the most polished customizable, modular phone yet.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
With the Moto Z (or Moto Z Droid Edition as it’s called by US carrier Verizon), customization isn’t about what your phone looks like. It’s about what it does. Snap-on “Moto Mods” give your phone a meatier battery, turn it into a boombox for your weekend cookout and transform it into a video projector for an impromptu movie night.
These Mods aren’t perfect. They add a layer of bulk when they snap onto the phone’s back and you’ll need to cough up extra dough to buy them. On top of that, the phone ain’t cheap. Motorola hasn’t said how much it costs worldwide, but it will sell with US carrier Verizon for $624. International prices aren’t available but it converts to about £475 or AU$835.
That said, the whole modular ecosystem is simpler and more approachable than Google’s intricate (and still developing) Project Ara. It’s also easier to use than LG’s clunky G5, which forces you to remove the battery, thereby turning off the phone, if you want to swap parts.
Lastly, the Moto Z is a reliable and powerful device that can stand up to most of the top-of-the-line phones — and that’s even if you strip away the compelling modular factor. But you wouldn’t do that, would you, because those modules are half the fun.
If you’re not interested in snapping on an extra battery, or case, or speaker, then skip the Moto Z and buy something else. But if you can’t wait to be on the cutting edge of smartphone design, the Z here is actually useful while still being different and cool. (And if you’re from the US, you might also want to check out the Moto Z’s meatier counterpart, the Moto Z Force Droid Edition.)
Motorola’s Moto Z and Z Force: Customization…
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Moto Mods: Useful, easy and brimming with potential
Without a doubt, the Moto Z’s biggest draw is its Moto Mods, hot-swappable accessories that can decorate the back or, better yet, add extra functionality — such as a battery pack or audio speaker.
Motorola’s take is polished and well-executed because attaching the Mods is as easy as lining up magnetic parts — science does the rest. You can change Mods in seconds and won’t have to power off the phone to do so. There’s a decent variety of starter Mods, and Motorola’s parent company Lenovo says it’s lining up more partners.
Companies such as Incipio, Tumi and Kate Spade make battery packs that can wirelessly charge the phone while also extending battery life. JBL’s snap-on speaker rests on a kickstand while it cranks out tunes louder than the phone’s built-in speaker. Perhaps the quirkiest Mod, however, is from Motorola itself: the Insta-Share Projector beams images, videos and the Moto Z’s display onto any surface. Check out Moto Mods pricing and availability here.
By and large, the Mods stay put. Slimmer “Style Shells” (think of this as a customized back plate) hugged the Moto Z when we dropped it from every angle onto carpet. The bulkier speakers sometimes popped off (which we expected), but otherwise, you’ll pull them off when you want to.
Moto’s magnetic Mod accessories just click
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Design: Thin, but awkward when bare
The Moto Z is a thin phone, but sturdy and well built. But the more I admire its svelte design, the more awkward it looks without any accessories. The camera bulges out brazenly, the magnetic pins on the back cry out for a mate, and the phone’s sharp sides dig into my hand. A backplate, however, can round out the rough edges.
And then there’s the no-headphone jack thing. Instead, there is just the USB-C port and a headphone jack adaptor dongle, which makes wired headphones work. But you won’t be able to charge the phone while listening to music this way, and if you lose the adaptor, you’re toast. The industry seems to be going this way, but it’s still annoying if you don’t have any Bluetooth headphones.
Still, the Moto Z’s most maddening detail is the bulbous fingerprint reader on the front. It looks like a home button, but does nothing other than read your fingerprint. You know how many times I pressed it instinctively expecting it to take me to the home screen? A lot. If Motorola can’t turn it into a home button, it should move it to the power/lock button or the back.
Without a Mod, the camera’s bulge is too big to ignore.
Josh Miller/CNET
Software: Nothing we haven’t seen before
The handset runs Google Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. You’ll still get the usual lineup of Google apps, deeper integration with Google’s digital assistant known as Now on Tap, a battery saving mode called Doze and Android Pay. We don’t know the timeline for an update to Android Nougat, so you’ll have to wait for Google’s savvier assistant and multiple windows.
Motorola does include some of its signature software features too, like twisting your wrist to launch the camera and a wave gesture to show your missed notifications, even when the device is sleeping.
Motorola Moto Z Force Droid Edition review – CNET
The Good The long-lasting Motorola Moto Z Force Droid has a durable display and its modular accessories are useful and easy to attach.
The Bad You can only buy the Force in the US. On Verizon. It feels hefty with the Moto Mods snapped on, and its fingerprint reader confusingly looks like a home button.
The Bottom Line The Moto Z Force Droid sounds better on paper, but the thinner, cheaper Moto Z is the one we actually want to use.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
With its swappable Moto Mod accessories that connect through magnets, and its premium hardware, the Motorola Moto Z Force Droid Edition is a powerful handset (with an overly long name) that’s available only to US customers. On Verizon. For $720. Ick.
You have to really, really want this phone, and in my opinion, you’d be better off with the standard Moto Z, which is also available on Verizon (as the Moto Z Droid Edition), cheaper at $624 and thinner, which makes it generally better to use.
At this point you’re going to say something about the Droid Force’s higher-megapixel camera and longer battery life, or maybe its heartier display. On paper, these add up to a “better,” more capable phone. But in testing, the negatives — the thicker design and higher price — outweigh its minimal real-life performance gains. Instead, you’re just left with…an excessive use of Force. (Yeah, I went there.)
P.S.: If Verizon isn’t your carrier, read my full Moto Z review for a full rundown. You can also check out pricing and sale dates for Moto Mod accessories here.
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Wait, what’s with this phone again?
The Moto Z Force is a fully functioning phone, but it has these little magnetic bumps on the back that allow you to attach and swap out accessories called Moto Mods. They’re really cool, actually, and they either act as a customizable back cover or can enhance the phone by increasing battery life or pumping out music through a speaker. There’s even a snap-on projector.
They’re also incredibly user-friendly. With the audio speaker, music automatically starts playing when attached, and the projector hardly required any setup.
What’s the difference between this and the Moto Z?
The Moto Z Force has a bigger battery — 3,500 mAh compared to the Moto Z’s 2,600 mAh — that lasted longer: 15 hours 45 minutes for the Force, while the Moto Z lasted 12 hours 27 minutes.
It’s thicker too, and gets even heftier when you attach even the thinnest Moto Mod. The Moto Z’s slimmer frame doesn’t get as bulky.
The Moto Z Force also has an extra-tough display to protect itself from rough drops and falls. We first saw ShatterShield in the Droid Turbo 2 and — spoiler alert — it really is durable. I also noticed that its screen is notably brighter and whiter than the Moto Z when viewed side by side (though it’s not exactly clear why).
Finally, there’s the Moto Z Force’s 21-megapixel camera versus the Moyo Z’s 13-megapixel shooter. The extra megapixels get you higher resolution photos and images appeared a tad sharper on the Moto Z Force. Similar to the Moto Z, however, the wonky white balance can turn objects too yellow or too blue. For more about photo quality, check out the images below and click on them to view them at their full resolution.
2017 Chrysler Pacifica review – Roadshow
Jul 2016
The Good Svelte looks encase a well-designed, quiet minivan with loads of thoughtful touches, including tops-in-class convenience features and advanced safety tech.
The Bad The transmission lacks manual downshift capability, while infotainment goes without Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The Bottom Line Chrysler’s clever Pacifica charges to the head of the carpool lane with the nicest interior and smart, family-minded technology.
I am not myself these days.
Ever since my Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA National Championship in improbable and spectacular fashion last month, I find I’m more optimistic and increasingly willing to give people and situations the benefit of the doubt. I want to believe again.
It’s even true with cars. Take this all-new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica, for example. Before the Cavs’ historic win, I probably would’ve told you that this Pentastar is perhaps the nicest minivan I’ve yet driven. The best appointed. The quietest. The sharpest looking. The smartest in terms of safety and in-cabin tech.
It is, after all, all these things.
Chrysler’s new Pacifica is sexier than your average minivan.
Nick Miotke/Roadshow
But I likely would’ve ended my review with a downer caveat about Chrysler’s quality problems, of its history of producing vehicles that ultimately aren’t as reliable as competitors. Blame years of boundless optimism, only to be beaten down repeatedly by the cold hand of futility in The Big Game. Rooting your entire life for Cleveland sports teams and enduring a 52-year championship drought will do that to a man.
In the face of such odds, it’s often easier to encourage the more conservative, safer choice to avoid heartbreak — in the Pacifica’s case, that would mean recommending a model from Honda, Toyota or perhaps Kia.
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But I’m not going to do that here. Because in many ways, the Pacifica is substantially and demonstrably smarter than today’s Odyssey, Sienna or Sedona. Instead, I’m going to mention Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ quality question mark as a small footnote instead of a conclusion. Why? Because I genuinely believe the Pacifica is worth pinning to the top of your family hauler consideration list.
It all starts with a new generation that’s around 250 pounds lighter than its predecessor, yet its chassis is markedly stiffer than its Town & Country forebears. The good points continue with curvy bodywork that borders on sexy — at least for a minivan. And they’re furthered by an evolution of the company’s well-liked 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engine giving 287 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque — enough chutzpah to make this 4,300-pound minivan one of the quickest in its class. Even the standard nine-speed automatic that I’ve found undisciplined in vehicles such as the
Roof rack crossbars stow neatly to reduce wind noise when not in use.
Chris Paukert/Roadshow
Take a trip
With a multi-purpose vehicle like a minivan, it takes a higher-than-normal number of miles to uncover all of its hidden triumphs and foibles, so I signed up this Pacifica Touring L Plus tester for a proper road trip. I got my family together, piled a mess of vacation gear inside, and motored from metro Detroit all the way to North Carolina’s Outer Banks. It’s a 1,700-mile round trip that’s in my blood. I’ve been making this yearly migration every year of my life, like clockwork, and I’ve completed this trek in countless big SUVs, crossovers and minivans.
In other words, when it comes to assessing these big ol’ kinschleppers, I know what works.
My secret OBX route is a great way to get the measure of the Pacifica and vehicles like it, not only because it tests cargo space, fuel economy and long-distance seat comfort, but also because it has ton of driving scenarios. The route runs through the flat, dull turnpike slog in Ohio to the mountains of Pennsylvania, the meandering backroad hills of West Virginia and on to the heat-soaked, bumper-to-bumper grind of summer beach traffic.
So what did I learn? The Pacifica is pretty much good at everything, and it’s often great.
With a minivan, it’s all about the interior, and thankfully, the Pacifica’s exterior sleekness carries over to its cabin. Gobs of storage space and sensible ergonomics make nice with good-quality materials and unexpectedly premium flourishes such as a flush-mount, bezel-less center screen and cognac and toffee-colored trim.
The Pacifica’s cabin is both surprisingly stylish and feature-packed.
Nick Miotke/Roadshow
A cabin built for cruising
Chrysler’s old Town & Country was always a leader in terms of seating flexibility, and the new Pacifica handily carries the torch, with a second row that’s now easier to stow in the floor wells thanks to a button that motors the front seats forward for clearance. The seats themselves have thicker padding for improved comfort, and all flipping and folding motions are counterbalanced and spring-loaded for easy maneuvering, even by young people. Those with baby seats will appreciate that Latch points are easy to locate.
Chrysler’s well-regarded UConnect infotainment system returns with some updates, and its 8.4-inch touchscreen is nicely responsive, with a good selection of apps including things like Yelp and iHeartRadio. It may not have the Google Earth overlays found in some premium cars, but it does have neat features including a phone-like drag-and-drop menu bar and Siri Eyes Free. Niggles? While there’s an optional Wi-Fi hotspot, it’s oddly only 3G, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are not yet available. I could grouse about these issues more, but no other vehicle in the minivan segment includes these features anyhow.
Moto Z and Z Force Droid review: The risks are mostly worth it
Ever since the original Moto X came out, I’ve been fascinated by Motorola. We saw one of the biggest, oldest brands in communications take a long, hard look at where it’s been and chart a thoughtful path forward. Flash forward a few years (and a few Moto Xs) and wouldn’t you know it? Motorola started to lose some of its voltage when it came to its flagship phones. Don’t get me wrong, the Moto X Pure Edition was a fantastic device, but in hindsight it’s not hard to see that it was more of the same.
While we might still see a new Moto X this year, Motorola decided to try something different. We now have two different modular flagship smartphones, the superthin Moto Z Droid ($624) and the sturdier Moto Z Force Droid ($720). Some might bristle that both are exclusive to Verizon and aren’t yet slated for an international launch (I sure did), but there’s no two ways about it: These are still the most exciting Motorola phones in a long time.
Note: For the sake of brevity, I’m not going to bother calling these things “Droid Editions” for the rest of the review.
Hardware
At 5.2mm thick, the Moto Z is the thinnest flagship phone I’ve ever used, and it’s just stunning. In fact, when it comes to design, the Moto Z couldn’t be any more different from the flagship Moto Xs that came before it — the friendly curves and sloping back are gone, leaving us with something more angular and elegant. Think of it as the lightweight Lamborghini to the Moto X Pure’s friendly VW Beetle. If I’m honest, I was concerned that a phone this thin would feel insubstantial, but Motorola dodged that issue too. Aside from the pane of Gorilla Glass covering its 5.5-inch, quad HD AMOLED display, the Z’s body is crafted entirely of metal, lending it a crucial air of rigidity. Fair warning, though: Our review units came in a two-tone black and gray finish that both looks lovely and acts like a fingerprint-and-schmutz magnet.
All that said, this phone certainly isn’t for everyone. Some people I’ve shown the phone to (here’s looking at you, Devindra) think the Moto Z is too skinny to feel comfortable in-hand. More important, you can’t build a phone this thin without making a few compromises. Motorola could only squeeze a relatively modest 2,600mAh battery into the Z’s body. The 13-megapixel camera juts out from the back in a circular hump. And the most divisive change? The phone’s slim frame meant Motorola had to ax the headphone jack. Motorola is convinced it’s on the right side of history with this move, but in the short term, you’re stuck buying either a pair of USB Type-C headphones or using an adapter that comes in the box.
I’ll delve more into the audio quality a little later, but right off the bat, the change presents some tricky issues to tangle with. Let’s say you’re a klutz like me: You’re probably going to lose that dongle before long. And if you’re listening to music through wired headphones, you can’t charge the phone at the same time. Inconvenient at best; counterproductive at worst.
Motorola is so sure of this decision that the Z’s cousin, the Moto Z Force, lacks the headphone jack as well, even though its thicker body could definitely have accommodated one. Throughout my week of testing, I’ve been looking at the Z Force as the Moto Z for everyone else: It has the same new look, paired with a bigger 3,500mAh battery and Motorola’s Shattershield design to keep you from cracking your screen. Throw in an improved 21-megapixel rear camera and we have a package that more than makes up for Z Force’s heftier dimensions. If owning an incredibly thin smartphone isn’t high on your list of priorities, you’re probably better off looking at this version of the Z instead. It’s just too bad neither of these phones are waterproof: They’re nano-coated to resist splashes, but that’s it.
Despite their differences, the slim Moto Z and the sturdy Z Force share some powerful silicon. Thrumming away inside both devices is a quad-core Snapdragon 820 chip paired with 4GB of RAM and an Adreno 530 GPU — just like almost every other flagship Android phone released this year. The similarities don’t end there, either: Both sport an excellent fingerprint reader beneath the screen, either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot for as much as 2TB of extra space, and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. A trio of tiny volume buttons and a sleep/wake key poke out of both phones’ right side, and on the bottom is a solitary USB Type-C socket for power, data transfers and audio.
Both devices are showcases for Motorola’s impeccable workmanship, but they’re made even more interesting by the array of golden contacts on their backs. Those 16 points make up what the company calls its Moto Mod connector, which allows power and data to flow between the phone and optional accessories that magnetically latch to the phones’ backs. The first batch includes a tiny projector, battery case and a JBL speaker, and they add a lot to the Moto Z/Z Force formula, so I’ll be sure to dig deeper on these in just a moment. For now, just know this: Motorola’s approach to modularity is the most elegant you’ll find on the market right now.
Display and sound
Both Moto Z phones feature 5.5-inch AMOLED displays running at 2,560 x 1,440 resolution, and they’re pretty great. In addition to very accommodating viewing angles, you’ll get the usual punchy colors that come with AMOLED screens. If they’re a little too punchy for your liking, though, you can hop into the device’s settings and poke around: The “Vibrant” color mode is enabled by default, but there’s also a “Standard” option that attempts to render colors more realistically. I’ve come to prefer the slightly oversaturated look you’ll see by default, but hey, it’s nice to have choices.
It’s also worth noting that these displays don’t look identical. My Moto Z’s panel seems a little more high-contrast than the Z Force’s screen, and I’m willing to bet that’s because of the Z Force’s Shattershield construction. In case you never owned a Droid Turbo 2, here’s the skinny: Above the AMOLED panel itself, there’s a redundant touch-sensing layer and two protective lenses, all meant to keep the screen from breaking if the Z Force takes a tumble. I reluctantly treated this thing like a jerk throughout my week of testing, dropping it on concrete for laughs and lobbing it onto my desk from across the room. The damage? A couple nicks on the screen and some scuffs on the phone’s aluminum edge. Shattershield is a welcome feature indeed, but it’s important to remember that it doesn’t make the Moto Z Force invincible.
Both phones also have a single speaker above the screen, nestled in the same place as the earpiece. It’s a far cry from the stereo setups we’ve seen in other smartphones, but you know what? The Z/Z Force’s speakers consistently churned out crisp (if not terribly loud) audio. It’s not a surprise, really: Lots of companies sort of phone it in when it comes to speaker quality, and it’s clear Motorola would like you to buy one of JBL’s sweet speaker Mods.
Now, about that pesky headphone issue. I’ve used the included USB Type-C dongle with several pairs of cans and in-ears, and it doesn’t seem to affect audio quality at all when playing high-quality tunes saved on Spotify. If anything, my biggest gripes were logistical: When I didn’t keep the dongle attached to headphones, it got lost in the depths of my backpack. When I did keep it attached, it sometimes made the cord long enough to be cumbersome when jamming everything into my pocket (especially when those headphones had an L-plug).
Are these huge issues? No, not really (and if you’re a Bluetooth headphone person, basically none of these gripes apply). Still, these sticking points aren’t going away for a while, so keep that in mind before you buy.
Camera
Let’s be honest: Motorola isn’t exactly known as a leader in photography. That’s why the company’s work this year is so surprising: We now have two Motorola phones with seriously good cameras. If the normal Moto Z is your thing, you’ll get a 13-megapixel main camera with a f/1.8 aperture lens and a laser autofocus module. My expectations were set needlessly low. As it turns out, the Z’s camera takes bright, nicely detailed shots with vivid colors almost across the board. It does stumble a bit in low light, where you’ll plenty of grain and soft edges, but really, what smartphone doesn’t? The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are still better all-around performers, but for once, Motorola has done well to close the gap.
Meanwhile, the Moto Z Force’s camera does a slightly better job of capturing fine detail, which really isn’t surprising — it’s a 21-megapixel sensor, after all. What is surprising is how tight the image-quality race can be sometimes. For a while, the Moto Z seemed a little better at rendering accurate colors, but then photos with the Z Force started coming out a little better. Then back. Then forth. You get my drift. What makes this whole thing even stranger is that the Moto Z Force was occasionally slower to focus on subjects than the Z, despite having phase-detection autofocus in addition to a laser-autofocus module. A quick tap or two is all it takes to set it right, but that’s still a little odd. It’s the Z Force’s low-light performance that clinches the deal here: It’s not quite Galaxy S7-level, but it’s closer than I dared dream.
Despite some curious performance quirks, I’d ultimately go with the Z Force as my shooter of choice — it’s as good a camera as Motorola has ever made, even if the underlying software needs some extra polish. Still, the standard Moto Z is no slouch.
Beyond the intricacies of their sensors, the Z and Z Force camera experiences have a lot in common. They share a 5-megapixel, wide-angle camera for selfies that does a generally lovely job of capturing those fleeting moments of vanity. Speaking of vanity, there’s also a new Beauty Mode that irons out the wrinkles and blemishes that might mar one’s selfies. I wouldn’t be at all shocked if this was a feature that parent company Lenovo insisted on; these sorts of cosmetic enhancements have popped up, and continue to pop up, in Lenovo smartphones.
It’s too bad it doesn’t work very well. I snapped selfies at both ends of the Beauty mode spectrum and neither did much for my looks. This year, Motorola also added a Professional Mode that allows for more granular control over your photos. Once enabled, you’ll get full control over ISO, white balance, shutter speed and exposure — change any of those settings and you’ll get a live update on your display. Just maybe don’t go too crazy with them. I managed to crash the camera app a few times doing that.
Moto Mods
Of course, the story of the Moto Z and Z Force extend beyond the devices themselves. Motorola has a vision centered on accessories that snap onto the phone with magnets. Not only is this less annoying than LG’s attempt with the G5 — it’s simpler and cleaner too. Motorola has also said that these first-generation Moto Mods will work with next year’s model as well, though the company isn’t promising anything beyond that.
First up: Motorola’s Insta-Share projector. When fully charged, the projector will run for about an hour on its own before using the battery in your phone. Stick it far enough away from a wall and you can get a picture that’s about 70 inches diagonal, a pretty big jump from the clunker of a TV I bought on sale years ago. Your environment needs to be superdark, and it can be tough to get the focus right, but once everything came together, I had a bit of a “wow” moment I didn’t see coming. There are, however, two potential issues to keep in mind. First, the speakers baked into the projector aren’t great, so you’ll want an external set if you’re really after something resembling a movie-theater experience. Second, it’ll set you back $299. If you’ve got money to burn, then by all means, go for it, but for most, it won’t be worth it.
Compared with that, the $79 JBL speaker Mod seems way more modest. I probably pissed off a few people in the office by cranking it up all the way, which can be almost unpleasantly loud depending on the kind of music you’re listening to. It lasts about 10 hours on a charge, and the speaker burns through that juice before switching to the phone’s battery for power. Alas, the audio doesn’t sound as meaty as I imagined; it seems to do better with podcasts and songs with lots of action in the mid and high range. Here’s my issue, though: You could get a portable Bluetooth speaker that sounds better (and works with any smartphone) for around the same price. Either way, you’d have to carry around a second piece of hardware. On the plus side, though, it has a kickstand to prop up the phone — a helpful touch when you’re watching videos.
Really, though, the best Moto Mod is a battery back that basically doubles the Moto Z’s battery life while still managing to feel like a natural extension of the phone. If you buy a Moto Z, this needs to go with it.
By building the Moto Mod connector and inking deals with companies like JBL, Motorola is admitting that we can’t always have everything we want in one single device. The beauty of Motorola’s design, though, means the things we add to the Moto Z feel like seamless parts of the device itself. It’s still early days for the Moto Mods program, and the only way to ensure it goes anywhere is to buy this stuff. Hopefully, enough people invest in this new ecosystem of hardware to keep it alive. It would be a shame to see such an elegant solution flounder.
(Side note: if you’ve got a brilliant idea for a Moto Mod of your own, Motorola is opening up its developer program in August — $125 gets you a hardware-development kit for bread-boarding and hashing out initial designs.)
Software
Motorola is well known for releasing smartphones that run very clean, almost stock versions of Android… unless those smartphones are Verizon exclusives like these. The broad strokes of Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow are still there, and for the most part, Motorola seemed happy to leave well enough alone; the most notable visual tweak is a dark theme applied to the familiar Marshmallow menus and app launcher.
Still, Verizon’s influence is undeniable. There’s a separate-but-optional setup process to get started with Verizon’s cloud upon first boot, and lots of preloaded software I never touched. I’m talking VZ Navigator, VZ Protect, Message+, Caller Name ID and a cloud app, not to mention NFL Mobile, Slacker, Audible and a ton of derivative games. You can delete some of them, but the rest need to be disabled in the settings and I couldn’t so this fast enough.
Curiously, the Motorola-made apps that used to come preloaded on the company’s Verizon-bound phones aren’t here anymore. If you want Loop and Zap (which let you keep tabs on loved ones and share content with people nearby, respectively), you’ll have to get them from the Play Store. I love it when companies stop trying to force apps of dubious value on us — HTC recently did this too — but Verizon pushed enough bloatware that Motorola’s cleanliness almost went unnoticed.
On the plus side, Motorola’s thoughtful software tricks are all still here. The sensors on the Z’s face can still detect your hands as they approach, and they’ll light up part of the display to show you the time and your notifications. Like before, you can double-twist your wrist to launch the camera, and a double karate chop turns on the flashlight. As it happens, Motorola added a new gesture this year: If you swipe up from the bottom of the display, the on-screen view will shrink so you can reach the notification shade without having to reposition your hand.
The Moto Z siblings are great at listening for your voice commands, too. Once you’ve trained them to listen to your activation phrase (mine is the dull “OK, Moto Z”), the phones will wake up and take requests like a proper assistant. That might not sound like a high bar to clear — after all, virtual assistants have come a long way since the earliest days of Siri and Google Now — but Motorola was one of the first companies to go big on phones that always listened, and they’re still very good at making them.
Performance
We can keep this part simple: The Moto Z and Z Force are damned fast. Is that really any surprise? Both run with the same high-end Snapdragon silicon as most other flagship Android phones I’ve played with this year, and they’ve all been really fast too. As always, my week of testing included all the usual, frenzied multitasking for work, along with loads of Real Racing 3, Mortal Kombat X, Hearthstone and Pokémon Go when the news died down. Try as I might — and trust me, I tried — the Moto Z and Z Force handled all of my trials with gusto. (They do get noticeably warm when you starting to push them, though.) Ultimately, now that premium smartphones like the Moto Z and its ilk all fall into the same performance range, the details that make these devices different are more important than ever.
| AndEBench Pro | 16,678 | 16,455 | 14,168 | 16,673 |
| Vellamo 3.0 | 5,613 | 5,727 | 4,285 | 4,876 |
| 3DMark IS Unlimited | 29,117 | 28,964 | 28,529 | 26,747 |
| GFXBench 3.0 1080p Manhattan Offscreen (fps) | 49 | 49 | 45 | 48 |
| CF-Bench | 45,803 | 44,977 | 51,227 | 49,891 |
| SunSpider 1.0.2: Android devices tested in Chrome; lower scores are better. |
Consider batteries, for instance. Thanks to its slim body, Motorola fitted the Moto Z with a 2,600mAh cell. Not bad, but definitely not great. I’ll admit, even though I’ve used smartphones with similar specs and battery sizes before, I went into this review expecting the worst. Thankfully, that was unwarranted. On days of heavy use, the Z would get me through the work day but give up the ghost not long after. That works out to about 11 hours of pretty continuous use, though you can stretch that up to about a day and a half if you’re a very, very cautious user. In our standard Engadget rundown test (looping a video with the screen brightness set to 50 percent and WiFi connected), the Moto Z lasted about just north of 10 hours. That’s on par with the LG G5 and HTC 10.
This means the Moto Z’s battery will probably cut it for most people, but anyone on the fence should consider the next step up. As you’d expect, the Moto Z Force blew its skinny sibling out of the water. I routinely got two full days of use out of its larger 3,500mAh battery, and got closer to three days over a particularly quiet weekend. Not bad at all. And in our rundown test, the Z Force looped the same sample video for 14 hours and 12 minutes, just 18 minutes less than Samsung’s Galaxy S7 Edge.
The competition
I probably sound like a broken record saying this, but there’s really never been a better time to buy a top-tier Android phone. While some are better suited to certain situations than others, there really isn’t a bad choice among them. Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are waterproof and still lead the pack in camera performance, though you’ll have to deal with the (much improved!) TouchWiz interface that’s layered on top of Android Marshmallow. The HTC 10’s fit and finish is first-rate, and it handles media better out of the box: It’ll tune your music for your preferences and headphones, for one, and it’s the first Android phone to officially support Apple’s AirPlay streaming standard. Meanwhile, if you’re shopping for flagship power on a budget, the reasonably priced OnePlus 3 brings the speed for a fraction of what the Moto Z and Z Force cost.
But if we’re looking at the Moto Z and Z Force as modular phones, first and foremost, the only real comparison this year is LG’s G5. The broad strokes are similar — Snapdragon 820, 4GB of RAM, a circle of “Friend” accessories — but the Moto Z’s elegant execution gives those two phones a clear edge. Just look at LG’s setup: modules connect to the bottom of the G5, requiring you to remove the phone’s battery, attach it to the new module, stick that whole thing back into the phone and power it up. At best, it’s an annoyance. On the plus side, though, you’ll be able to swap batteries willy-nilly, and you have a really neat dual-camera setup to play with.
Wrap-up
I have to give Motorola credit for doing what LG couldn’t: building modular smartphones that are convenient, cool and worth using. It doesn’t hurt, either, that the Moto Z and Z Force are two of the best-made devices in Motorola’s history, and that they can go toe-to-toe with any other flagship Android phone out there. These devices represent Motorola at the top of its phone-making game.
It’s a shame, then, that some curious decisions have kept me from loving the Z and Z Force more fully. Part of it is the lack of a headphone jack. Maybe I’m old-school, but I can’t be the only one who misses it. Part of it, too, is that some of the Mods are of dubious value. Worse, only a certain chunk of people — Verizon customers — can buy these phones. Ultimately, though, the strength of the Moto Z line and the potential of Moto Mods outweigh the few cons. If you’re a Verizon customer on the hunt for a powerful smartphone, pay attention to these two. (And if you’re a klutz, pay closer attention to the Z Force.) The rest of us will just have to hang in there — Motorola can’t let phones this good stay exclusive for too long.
Alcatel’s Idol 4S bundle is an affordable way to try out VR
This is the year of virtual reality. With the most eagerly anticipated headsets finally becoming available and many content makers creating VR material, 2016 marks the year the medium is started to go mainstream. Alcatel is looking to make it easier to embrace virtual reality by bundling a headset with its latest flagship, all for an impressively low price of $399 ($350 if you preorder). As the first phone to ship with its own VR Goggles, the Idol 4S already stands out for its value. It also has some respectable specs in its own right, including a Quad HD display, two-way speakers and sharp 16-megapixel camera. It’s even got a glossy new makeover. But hitting that price means Alcatel had to make some trade-offs, with the most notable being the CPU. Still, it’s a good phone for those who can live with middling performance.
Hardware
Props to Alcatel for its effort, and for generally succeeding in upping its style game. While last year’s Idol 3 had an unexciting, unassuming look, the 4S is the slick, dressed-up sibling. Its glass-covered body and shiny metal edges are a step up from its predecessor’s bland plastic back. But that style is strongly reminiscent of the Galaxy S6. Sartorially, Alcatel isn’t pushing any envelopes here; it’s still playing catch-up.
There’s nothing new about the Idol 4S’s flat, blocky frame and its 5.5-inch AMOLED display. Even its charging port on the bottom edge is of the older micro-USB variety, as opposed to USB Type-C.
Still, that doesn’t mean the Idol 4S isn’t a handsome handset. Just watch out: That glass covering is a heck of a fingerprint magnet. You’ll need to wipe it down frequently to keep the phone looking pristine.
I also wish Alcatel had gone with physical or capacitive navigation buttons below the Idol 4S’s screen, instead of relying on the software keys in Android. Those digital buttons take up a row of display space, and disappear whenever I play a game or full-screen video.
On the right side sits a round silver button that Alcatel calls the “boom key.” You’ll also find a circular fingerprint sensor etched into the Idol 4S’s rear, right under the camera. This placement is designed to be easy for your finger to reach while the phone is in use, but it’s not the easiest to find by touch, because the area isn’t depressed like it is on other phones.
VR box
When you first open the Idol 4S packaging, you’ll find a white rectangular box with a silver circle on the bottom. Press that, and you can pull apart the whole setup. The top half is the headset, which at first blush looks nearly identical to Samsung’s Gear VR, while the bottom half is a case that contains accessories.
The Idol 4S VR Goggles (yes, that’s the official name) differs from the Gear VR in a few ways. Alcatel placed its controls on the bottom of the viewer, as opposed to on the right edge like Samsung. The Idol 4S also comes with an extra headpiece to help the headset sit more comfortably on your head.
Most important, Alcatel’s system is based on Google’s Cardboard, whereas Samsung’s is the result of a collaboration with Oculus. Those who have never used the Gear VR probably won’t notice the difference in quality, but since I’ve spent a good deal of time with both, it’s clear to me that the Alcatel viewer is not as immersive. I’ve never noticed pixels when using the Gear VR, but a few minutes into a 360-degree video on the Idol 4S VR Goggles I started spotting the fine dots.
Otherwise, the headset, which is spongy around the eyes, feels light and comfortable enough to wear for extended periods. If you wear glasses, putting the goggles on may be a hassle, but it’s not much more difficult than with other setups.
Alcatel provides a VR launcher app that serves as your gateway to compatible content. With it, you get a basic navigation menu with seven tiles floating in a horizontal row over a starry backdrop. These icons let you see games, regular pictures and videos, 360-degree images and videos, a tutorial and Littlstar.
The latter is a third-party provider of VR video content from channels such as ABC News, Discovery VR, Showtime and other independent brands. Its offerings are mostly short, entertaining clips that occasionally look suspiciously like promotional material for those brands’ upcoming shows. In the week that I’ve had the Idol 4S, though, the Littlstar library doesn’t appear to have been updated with new stuff. But to be fair, neither Alcatel nor LIttlstar promises frequent additions to the selections.
Thankfully, Littlstar isn’t the only way to get good VR content on the Idol 4S. You can also go into the VR store app or find more media through Google’s own apps for Cardboard section. Unfortunately, the Idol 4S isn’t certified for Google’s Daydream mobile VR platform yet, so it might not be forward-compatible with upcoming media. Still, for the price, the Idol 4S Goggles and the basic content Alcatel offers is an easy and accessible way to dip your toe into virtual reality.
Display and sound
Just like its predecessor, the Idol 4S has a bright panel that’s easy to see even in direct sunlight. Its 5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED display is vibrant and sharp, which makes watching Netflix and playing games more immersive. Colors looked more saturated than I’m used to on my iPhone 6s screen. Even though I did eventually start noticing pixelation in VR content when looking through the viewer, high-res videos generally appeared crisp on the phone itself.
One other novelty in the Idol 4S is its dual JBL-certified speakers that pump out sound through both the front and back of the device. This prevents muffling of the audio when you put your phone down on a surface, and worked surprisingly well on both an office table and my bed. I noticed slightly clearer echo when the phone was face up rather than down, but the difference isn’t noticeable unless you go looking for it like I did.
The Idol 4S’s speakers were also satisfyingly loud, and I never had to struggle to hear it at top volume. The included Waves MaxxAudio app lets you change sound profiles for specific situations such as Music, Movie or General. You can also customize the output of bass, treble and revive, but, in general, I left these settings alone.
Software
Like any respectable phone being launched this year, the Idol 4S ships with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. The company said an update to Android Nougat is on its way, although it hasn’t given a timeframe yet.
As is its habit, Alcatel has skinned the otherwise stock OS with the company’s own icons for apps such as Messages, Dialer, Camera and Contacts. This cartoonish look won’t be for everyone, but it’s simple enough to resolve with a theme download.
A new feature for the Idol line is the aforementioned Boom key on the device’s right side. Pressing this in specific apps launch specialized tasks, such as activating photo collages in the Gallery, volume and bass boost in a music player, enhanced surround sound in a video playback and improved voice quality and loudness during a call. These are preset in the software, and you can’t change them or add more, but you can customize what pressing (or double pressing) the Boom key does when the phone screen is off and on.
The in-app Boom functions are hit or miss: I didn’t ever need photo collage mode when viewing my Gallery, but I found the volume boosts very handy. I also liked being able to open a specific app of my choice with one press while the screen is on.
Thankfully. not much bloatware comes loaded on the Idol 4S. In addition to the VR apps mentioned earlier, Alcatel also includes its fun Music app that has a Mix mode for turntable-style DJ-ing on the go. You’ll also get useful titles such as Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp, and the just-tolerable NextRadio and Swiftkey.
Camera
The Idol 4S’s 16-megapixel rear camera took decent shots that weren’t superexciting, but what did impress me was the HDR mode. First of all, turning on HDR may make snapping a pic a tad slower, but it made pictures significantly more colorful and vibrant, while retaining an impressive amount of detail. If you’re shooting a landscape and want some extra oomph, I’d recommend enabling HDR to really bring out all the hues.
Outdoor shots aside, the Idol 4S was also adept at capturing scenes inside buildings. In these situations, however, white balance can be a bit finicky. Alcatel lets you adjust this in manual mode, and you’ll also find options for Panorama, Slow Motion and Micro Video (a la Apple’s Live Photos).
In addition, you get a “Fyuse” mode for taking 360-degree panoramic videos, which you can view as a picture. It’s a little difficult to use, and that’s after a software update Alcatel issued with bug fixes. The camera often had trouble detecting the direction I was moving in and failed to record the video. When it did work, the resulting Fyuse video is basically a video that you can play by dragging on your screen or moving your phone in the corresponding direction.
In low light, the Idol 4S struggled to get a steady shot. Turning on the flash will help get clearer pictures, but it added a yellowish green hue. Until a software fix is issued, don’t expect many great photos at night.
Selfies are decent once you turn down the portrait enhancement to avoid looking muddy and fake. Unlike many other phones with so-called selfie flashes, the Idol 4S actually has a separate bulb next to the front camera to light up your portrait, instead of using the phone’s display. This selfie flash was strong enough to light up my shirt in addition to my face, while still keeping the accurate colors intact.
Performance and battery life
As an iPhone 6s owner and a reviewer of high-end devices, I’m used to blazing speeds and have little tolerance for lag. As such, I was expecting the Idol 4S with its midrange Snapdragon 652 chip to be noticeably slower than I’m accustomed to. I was pleasantly surprised, then, when the Idol 4S held up well under my torture test, during which I had AZ Screen Recorder capturing my Pokémon Go battles with a handful of other apps open.
The resulting video was smooth and had no dropped frames, while my in-game experience was close to (just slightly slower than) what I see on my iPhone without a screen recorder running. I did encounter the occasional stutter and pause, and the phone struggled when I tried to run two games concurrently with the screen recording, crashing when a Hangouts message arrived. Not the best for someone in the middle of an intense high-stakes battle for Pokéstop territory.
More-expensive phones fared better than the Idol 4S on synthetic benchmarks in general, especially when it came to graphics. But the OnePlus 3 stands out, beating the Idol 4S on all but one test despite costing the same.
Moto G4
AndEBench
9,742
13,841
16,371
16,159
Vellamo 3.0
4,831
5,202
2,819
2,762
3DMark IS Unlimited
18,051
30,058
9,851
9,841
GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan Offscreen (fps)
15
48
6.6
6.6
CF-Bench
75,760
41,653
60,998
61,030
Still, the Idol 4S’s performance is impressive for a phone that is using a slower chip than the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 820 that all the high-powered flagships are packing.
The Idol 4S’s 3,000mAh battery provided ample power to last through the day. It lasted 10 hours and 41 minutes on our battery test, which involves looping an HD video at 50 percent brightness. That’s nearly an hour longer than what we saw on the OnePlus 3, although it pales in comparison to the Moto G4’s 12-hour-and-30-minute runtime.
When you run out of juice, recharging is swift, thanks to support for Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0 standard. Within 15 minutes of plugging the device in, I saw the power level go up to 33 percent. By the time an hour had passed, the phone was back up to 84 percent.
The competition
With a retail price of $399, the Idol 4S goes up directly against the OnePlus 3 and ZTE Axon 7. Although we’ve yet to review the Axon, its Snapdragon 820 chip with 4GB of RAM, Quad HD AMOLED display and sexy frame already make it seem like the more promising phone for power users. Plus, ZTE says the phone will be compliant with Google’s Daydream mobile VR platform by the fall, making it a worthy consideration for virtual reality fans.
We really liked the OnePlus 3’s performance, handsome build and clean Android-based system with bonus features. It even has a USB Type-C charging port, which will delight early adopters who have already made the switch to the reversible cable. However, the OnePlus 3 has a less-sharp 1080p screen and didn’t last as long as the Idol 4S on our battery test.
If you’re looking for an even cheaper phone than the Idol 4S, Moto’s new G4 and G4 Plus pack plenty of power and more stamina for a low starting price of $200. The G4 Plus also offers better low-light camera performance than the Idol. But the trade-off is a more basic design and lower-resolution screen.
All that considered, no other company has started shipping a VR headset in and as the box of its smartphone, which leaves Alcatel with its unique proposition: Come for the aggressively priced bundle, stay for the intro to VR. And in the meantime, you may discover that the Idol 4S itself is a perfectly adequate phone.
Wrap-up
The Idol 4S is not the sort of fancy handset you’re likely to brag about to your friends, but you’ll definitely want to show off the VR bundle. The 4S may not be the fastest phone around, but its combination of rich display, superb speakers, long-lasting battery and decent cameras make up for the shortfall in speed. Alcatel needs to improve the main camera’s low-light capabilities, as well as build out more extensive library of VR content, potentially through Daydream.
Ultimately, you can’t argue against good value. The truth is, if you order the Idol 4S for $350 before Aug. 3rd, it is the best deal on the market. Miss that deadline, and you’ll have to be more invested in VR than the average buyer, but not so keen that you need a top-notch experience. The Idol 4S’s success will depend on the size of that crowd, and its ability to keep that group engaged.
Whirlpool WRT511SZDM Top Freezer Refrigerator review – CNET
The Good The Whirlpool WRT511SZDM is the most powerful top freezer we’ve ever tested, with consistently low temperatures throughout the entirety of the fridge.
The Bad Those temperatures were often too low, with main shelves falling below the freezing point even at the default setting. The design is also pretty plain, and there aren’t any features worth getting excited about.
The Bottom Line If your refrigerator’s cooling performance matters more to you than fancy features or design flourishes, then this Whirlpool workhorse deserves your consideration.
If you were to list the habits of highly effective refrigerators, pumping out cold air would sit right at the top. Thankfully, that’s what you’ll get from the $1,100 Whirlpool WRT511SZDM top freezer, and then some — it’s actually the coldest refrigerator we’ve ever tested.
How cold is too cold, though? The freezing point (32 F) seems like a fair place to start, and sure enough, this Whirlpool blows right past it, with an average body temperature of 26.4 F at the coldest setting. Even at the default setting, the refrigerator’s bottom shelf comes in at 30.1 F.
That said, it’s tough to fault a fridge for being too good at its job — especially when you can dial it up a setting or two and save a little money on your power bill. If cooling performance that errs on the cool side is what matters most, then this no-frills top freezer fits the bill. Just don’t blame me when your milk freezes.
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There’s a whole lot of storage space in those in-door shelves.
Chris Monroe/CNET
Design and features
The WRT511SZDM is a sturdy-feeling stainless-steel fridge that’s also available in white or black for $100 less. It’s a very basic build that passes on significant design flourishes in favor of a safer, more traditional aesthetic. In other words, it’s a token top freezer.
Open it up, and you’ll find a grand total of 21.3 cubic feet of storage space, 15.2 of which are in the fridge compartment. That’s a decent amount of room as far as top freezers go, but it’s not as much as you’ll get with the king-sized LG LTCS24223S — that fridge beats Whirlpool by 2.5 cubic feet. Still, it was big enough to fit all of our test groceries, along with five out of six of our king-size stress test items (I couldn’t quite jam the party platter and the extra large pizza box inside at the same time.)
By the way, the MVP of those storage tests was the in-door shelving. The shelves are sizable enough to hold a surprising amount of groceries, and there are enough of them to make it easy to section things off and organize everything just how you like. I also appreciated that there were plenty of different spots into which I could rearrange the shelves.
Top freezer fridges for around $1,000
| 15.2 cubic feet | 17.6 cubic feet | 14.2 cubic feet | 13.5 cubic feet |
| 6.1 cubic feet | 6.2 cubic feet | 4.1 cubic feet | 4.0 cubic feet |
| 21.3 cubic feet | 23.8 cubic feet | 18.3 cubic feet | 17.5 cubic feet |
| Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel |
| No | Yes (+$100) | No | No |
| No | Yes | Yes | No |
| 443 kWh | 501 kWh | 363 kWh | 399 kWh |
| $53 | $60 | $44 | $48 |
| $2.49 | $2.52 | $2.40 | $2.74 |
| $1,100 | $1,200 | $1,100 | $1,000 |
| $900 | $1,075 | $850 | $900 |
Feature-wise, there isn’t much else worth mentioning, save for the “Flexi-Slide Drawer,” which is just a drawer that slides from left and right beneath the top shelf to make room for tall objects below. That’s really about it. No water dispenser, no spill-proof shelves, no extra bells or whistles whatsoever.
More top freezer fridges
- Lots of storage space: LG LTCS24223S
- Exceptional performance: Kenmore 79432
- Style on a budget: GE GTE18GMHES
- Fingerprint-resistant: Frigidaire Gallery FGTR1845QF
- Compact size: LG LTNC11121V
Despite the sturdy exterior, certain parts of the interior also felt a bit flimsy to the touch. The crisper bins don’t glide out as smoothly as you’ll see in nicer refrigerators, and some of the door shelves didn’t snap into place as tightly as I’d like. The bar that blocks off the bottom in-door shelf was particularly annoying, popping out of place enough times during my tests that I was forced to tape it into position.
It all adds up to a fridge that doesn’t do very much to set itself apart from the competition. That’s somewhat forgivable in the top-freezer class, but still disappointing given that this is a $1,000+ refrigerator we’re talking about.
Asus ZenPad Z8 review | A spec-heavy $249 Verizon tablet
This post originally appeared on our sister site TabTimes.com where you can find benchmarks and additional screenshots
It’s not too often we see an affordable tablet compatible with a cellular network like Verizon deliver an experience nearly free of compromises. Although the affordable smartphone market has been more competitive as of late, with a sometimes even overwhelming number of excellent affordable options, budget tablets often leave something to be desired.
- ASUS ZenPad S 8.0 review
- Laptop, tablet or both, ASUS has you covered at Computex 2016
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the same company that brought us the remarkable Zenfone 2, various affordable tablets, and the Nexus 7 is now offering what appears to be one of the best “bang for your buck” tablets.
Where does the ASUS ZenPad Z8 excel and where does it fall short? Let’s find out in our comprehensive ASUS ZenPad Z8 review!
Buy the Asus ZenPad Z8 now!
Design
ASUS has undoubtedly delivered a clean and simplistic design with the Z8. Its textured plastic rear is subtle to the eye yet impressionable in the hand, and makes the tablet easier to grip. Unfortunately, the plastic band running along the edges of the tablet doesn’t seem to help with the ZenPad’s structural integrity, which is notably weak. The tablet’s plastic construction does lend to a nice handling experience in both portrait and landscape orientation, however.
The power and volume buttons, found on the right edge, are tactile and positioned well. ASUS has implemented a fairly inconspicuous flap towards the top of the left edge, which covers the microSIM card slot, for data connectivity, and the microSD card slot, for expanding the tablet’s 16 GB of storage, up to 128 GB.
The front of the Z8 features a Verizon logo on the bottom, as well as a 2 MP front-facing camera on the top. Capacitive navigation keys are absent, and navigation is instead handled by on-screen keys. Although the iconography follows ASUS’ ZenUI design language, the layout matches what Google has defined as standard.
Display
The ZenPad’s 7.9″ QXGA (2048 x 1536) display offers a high pixel density of 324 PPI, which is a pleasant surprise at this price. The display’s sharpness is very important when consuming text-heavy content, such as webpages or ebooks. Viewing angles are also good and the display’s color reproduction is fairly accurate.
ASUS’ Splendid app is also worthy of praise, as it offers granular control over the display’s color temperature, in addition to several screen color modes. If you’d like to bump up the display’s vividness, for example, you can simply select the “Vivid” mode.
Sadly, the display’s glass is very reflective and the highest brightness setting is still relatively low, which makes reading the display in direct sunlight challenging in many cases. I also noticed that auto-brightness tended to dim the display too much, which eventually became so frustrating that I had to turn it off completely.
One other attribute to keep in mind is the display’s 4:3 aspect ratio, which makes the tablet seem a bit too tall in landscape mode when watching 21:9 movies or even 16:9 TV shows or videos. Put simply, you may see some letter boxing when consuming this type of content. I should note that the 4:3 aspect ratio does work well, however, when reading or web browsing.
Performance
Under the hood, the ASUS ZenPad Z8 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 650, which offers performance comparable to that of the Snapdragon 808. During my time with the Z8, I did not notice much lag nor did I find app load times to be unreasonably long.
I did, however, have some minor trouble multitasking with more than a couple of apps. Unfortunately, the Z8 includes just 2 GB of RAM, which although often enough for some low-end smartphones, was not enough to keep up with my tablet usage demands. If you plan on using the tablet for simple tasks like video streaming and reading, however, this should not be an issue.
The Adreno 510 delivers great gaming performance and users should have no trouble playing higher-end games like Asphalt 8: Airborne. This is great to see, as tablets in this price category often skimp in this department.
Hardware
Unlike many sub-$300 tablets, the ASUS ZenPad Z8 allows you to receive 4G LTE data on the Verizon Wireless network. It’s also compatible with Verizon’s strong XLTE network, meaning that you’ll receive more reliable and faster data coverage in congested areas. And, although band support is limited to the Verizon network, the tablet itself is unlocked and can be used on other compatible LTE networks.
It’s great to see ASUS adopt the newer USB Type-C standard with the ZenPad Z8. Unlike the now outdated microUSB, USB Type-C is reversible so you won’t have to worry about plugging the cable in “the wrong way” when attempting to charge the device.
The ASUS ZenPad Z8 features dual front-facing speakers, which is something that we all love to see, especially on tablets. In terms of actual audio quality, they sound pretty good with some minor distortion and tinniness at full volume. But for the price, it’s really difficult to complain here.
Battery Life
Battery life with the Z8 was good, thanks to the tablet’s large non-removable 4680mAh battery. I was able to consistently achieve over five hours of screen on time with a minimum of twelve hours of standby. Although there are tablets out there offering better battery life, this should be more than enough for almost all users. ASUS’ power saving profiles can also help squeeze just a bit more juice when you are running low on battery.
Camera
ASUS has implemented an 8 MP rear camera on the ZenPad Z8, but you should really avoid using it whenever possible. Although it certainly is nice to have and may come in handy in some situations, the images it produces are soft, noisy, and lack detail.
Camera samples from the ZenPad Z8:
With that said, color reproduction is excellent, saturation seems to be good, and autofocus is reliable and fairly fast. Low-light performance is poor, although ASUS’ Owl mode does help bring up the brightness by reducing the image quality. Chances are, however, that the camera on your smartphone is simply better in most conditions.
Software
Shipping with ASUS’ ZenUI skin over Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, the ZenPad Z8 provides a great software experience. The user interface does feel a bit cartoonish, but the overall mechanics are very similar to stock Android. Overall, there’s nothing terribly out of the ordinary if you’ve used Android in the past.
There are some nice software additions, however. The screen color settings and audio equalizer are very nice to have, apps like Do It Later and Quick Memo can be helpful, and the included Help app could come in handy, especially for those who are not yet comfortable with Android. Thankfully, bloatware is also kept to a minimum, with only a few Verizon apps and four Amazon apps.
Sadly, the selection of tablet apps available on the Google Play Store is still very limited compared to Apple’s App Store. Many of the apps available on Android are simply not optimized for tablets, which is certainly a bummer. You’ll still have a wide selection of apps, but do be aware that not all will run as smoothly as they do on the iPad.
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Price & Conclusion
The ASUS ZenPad Z8 is now available through Verizon Wireless for $250 off contract (or $10.41/mo. for 24 months). That’s a very competitive price, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a comparable cellular connected tablet.
You can also purchase the Z8 for $150 with a two year contract. You should, however, consider how you’d like to use the tablet before agreeing. Although there are certainly use cases where paying for data makes sense, you may end up mostly relying on Wi-Fi, especially if you don’t plan on taking the tablet outside of your home often. By paying an extra $100 up front (or by financing the device), you can avoid any headaches down the road.
- ASUS ZenPad S 8.0 review
- Laptop, tablet or both, ASUS has you covered at Computex 2016
There is little complaining that can be done once you factor in the Z8’s affordable pricing. Although the display could be less reflective, there could be more RAM, and the camera could produce better images, there’s a lot to love about this tablet. With its dual front-facing speakers, excellent high-resolution display, and very good performance, the ZenPad Z8 is yet another home run for ASUS.
Buy the Asus ZenPad Z8 now!
What do you think of the ASUS ZenPad Z8? Will you be picking one up? Let us know in the comment section below!
This post originally appeared on our sister site TabTimes.com where you can find benchmarks and additional screenshots
Sony XBRZ9D series Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Sony’s 100-inch Z series TV unveiled by company execs.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
For people who can afford it, Sony’s latest high-end TVs could actually outperform the current kings of picture quality, LG’s OLEDs. If nothing else, they’re certainly brighter.
Unveiled at an event in Los Angeles today, the Sony Z series is available for preorder from Sony now and will ship by the end of summer. The price of entry for the 65-inch size is $7,000US, and it will also be available in the UK and Europe, where it’s called the Bravia ZD9 and costs 5,000 EUR (about £4177). Australian pricing and availability was not announced. The Z series also includes a 75 inch size ($10,000US, about £6682) and a crazy 100-inch model (pricing not available).
By comparison, LG’s 65-inch E6 OLED TV costs $6,000, and Samsung’s best 65-inch set, the 65KS9800, is $4500. I wouldn’t be surprised if the new Sonys performed better than the Samsung, but to justify their prices, the Sonys need to deliver a better picture than OLED.
Given Sony’s excellent track record with picture quality, and the mouthwatering Z series specifications company reps shared with me, that might actually be possible.
Sony’s Z Series TVs go big and bright
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LED backlight dimming goes even more local
So how could an LED backlit LCD TV like the Z series hope to beat an OLED-based TV? Its dimming is more local.
The best current LCD TVs use a technology called local dimming, where the groups of LEDs that comprise the TV’s backlight can be brightened, dimmed or turned off independently of one another. Generally the more of these dimming zones a TV has, the better its image quality.
The Z series takes local dimming to its logical conclusion: every LED in its backlight can be dimmed individually, discrete from its neighbors. Doing so should further reduce the amount of blooming, or stray illumination, that plagues local dimming TVs that rely on groups.
Sony’s rep declined to specify how many LEDs the Z series uses, beyond telling me that it’s “a lot more than is normally utilized, so blooming on axis is minimal.” The press release also talks up a “calibrated beam LED design” that focuses the light emitted by the LEDs more narrowly, to further combat blooming.
OLED is immune to blooming because every one of its 8 million-odd pixels (in its 4K screen) is basically its own zone that can be brightened or dimmed individually. The Z series certainly has much fewer LEDs than that–LEDs are not pixels, they’re basically the light bulbs that illuminate the pixels–so it will likely still suffer some blooming compared to OLED. To see exactly how much, we’ll have to wait to review one.
A prototype TV demonstrates Sony’s Backlight Master Drive local dimming technology at CES 2016.
Sarah Tew/CNET
At CES in January during a closed-door demo, I did get the chance to see an 85-inch prototype that uses the same so-called Backlight Master Drive as Z series. I remember being impressed by the black levels and color of the demo, but mostly I remember how blindingly bright the picture felt. Indeed, Sony claimed the prototype could reach 4,000 nits, between three or four times as bright as the brightest current LED LCDs, while the best OLEDs are significantly dimmer.
Sony again didn’t specify how many nits the shipping Z series can achieve, beyond assuring me its brightness is “unprecedented.” Raw light output is an important component in making next-generation high dynamic range (HDR) content look impactful, but in my tests comparing OLEDs to LCD TVs with HDR, OLED’s superior contrast was more important than light output. On paper, the Z series’ combination of precise dimming (deep black levels) and high light output seems like a stiff challenge for OLED, at least from on-angle.
Sony also discusses the Z series’ improved processing, including noise reduction said to better differentiate between details and film grain, a system that makes standard dynamic range content look more like HDR with object-based remastering, and 14-bit mapping to combat banding with both high-def (8-bit) and 4K (10-bit) sources.
Sony’s rep assured me most processing options can be turned off, in case you don’t like the effects, and confirmed that like other Sony TVs, this one only handles HDR10, not Dolby Vision HDR content. I also asked what percentage of the DCI/P3 color gamut the Z series would cover, but the rep declined to specify. For reference, the superb Sony XBR-X930D I reviewed earlier measured 91 percent, a bit short of the Samsung SUHD set I measured.
Like the X930D and other recent Sony sets, the Z series uses the Android TV operating system, with 4K and HDR-compatible Netflix and Amazon apps. It also includes Sony’s exclusive Ultra app with Sony Pictures films in 4K and HDR available for purchase.
We look forward to seeing how the Z series actually performs against today’s best TVs in our full review.
Alienware 13 (OLED) review – CNET
The Good The OLED screen on this 13-inch gaming laptop looks amazing. Gaming performance is very good for a mainstream gaming laptop, and there’s even an (expensive) option for adding VR-ready desktop graphics.
The Bad The display is not as finely tuned as high-end OLED televisions, the graphics options don’t go past mainstream, and battery life while gaming is short.
The Bottom Line For something truly different and eye-catching, the OLED display on this “limited edition” Alienware 13 gives it great visual punch, but keep in mind this is not a top-end gaming rig.
There are thinner gaming laptops out there. There are more powerful gaming laptops out there. But, this updated version of the Alienware 13 has something almost no one else has, at least not yet.
The headline here is an OLED screen, which is the super-bright, super-clear display technology now found in only the highest-end big-screen televisions. Why is that important? As we said in our OLED TV explainer: “OLEDs work by putting electricity through certain materials that glow in specific colors. No other TV technology creates light directly like this…OLED TVs will be thinner, lighter, more efficient, and better-performing than any current television technology. Each pixel can be shut off, for an absolute black (no other tech can do this, save CRT), meaning an actual infinite contrast ratio, not just marketing hype.”
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And just like on big OLED TVs, the effect here is pretty stunning, as OLED gives you bright colors and deep, nearly invisible blacks. If I were buying a new TV today, there’s no way I wouldn’t make the extra investment in an OLED model. For a laptop, even a gaming one, the benefit is not as clear-cut, but it’s still a great extra feature to have.
While it would be great to have an OLED display as at least an option in a totally top-of-the-line gaming PC, it’s currently only available in a single version of the 13-inch Alienware 13 (with a handful of configuration options) the company labels a “limited edition.” The components inside, including a U-series low-voltage Intel Core i7 CPU and Nvidia’s GeForce 965M GPU, make this a mainstream gaming machine, so you’ll be playing newer games on medium, rather than ultra, settings on the 2,560×1,440 screen.
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Fortunately, even though an OLED television will set you back anywhere from $2,500 to $6,000, the OLED version of the Alienware 13 is reasonably priced, even with its high-end screen. Starting at $1,299 in the US, it’s a bit of a premium over other laptops with Intel GeForce 960-series GPUs (the 965M is a newer variant, and this is the first time we’re testing it), but it costs less than I initially expected.
The configuration we tested, with an Intel core i7-6500U processor, 256GB SSD, the OLED display and the Nvidia GeForce 965M, works out to $1,799. The OLED display version of the Alienware 13 isn’t currently available in the UK or Australia, but similar non-OLED configurations run £1,498 or AU$2,816.
Alienware 13 (OLED)
| $1,799 |
| 13-inch, 2560 x 1440 OLED touchscreen |
| 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-6500U |
| 12GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz |
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 965M |
| 256GB SSD |
| 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.1 |
| Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit) |
OLED display aside, this looks and feels like the same Alienware 13 that’s been around for past couple of years. It’s thinner and lighter than gaming laptops of years past, but it’s also not on the bleeding edge of gaming laptop design. Razer, MSI and others do slimmer, more modern-looking gaming laptops.
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Like every other Alienware laptop in recent memory, a programmable backlit keyboard offers plenty of color customization and the closely spaced, tapered keys feel more like a traditional gaming desktop keyboard than the standard island-style keys found on most other laptops, gaming or otherwise.
Eyes on with OLED
The big deal here is that 2,560×1,440 OLED display. I took the system to our in-house television testing lab, manned by TV testing expert David Katzmaier, and we viewed a variety of video and game content on the screen. What we saw was performance that’s very visually appealing, but not as dead-on as a great OLED television.
AIVAnet 