Bosch SHS63VL5UC review – CNET

The Good This $800 Bosch dishwasher has the best cleaning rating of any machine we’ve tested so far, including some $1,200 models. It tops that off with great drying performance that limits water spots. Your dishes will actually come out shiny, no matter what’s covering them when they go in.

The Bad $800 isn’t cheap for a dishwasher, yet the Bosch has minimal features and a plain design. Inflexible racks also make it a pain to use.

The Bottom Line You can throw anything you want at the $800 Bosch SHS63VL5UC as long as you can find a place where it fits. If you’re willing to adapt to a tedious rack setup, it’ll reward you with cleaning performance that far outclasses its pay grade.

I have a love-hate relationship with the $800 Bosch SHS63VL5UC. With only a few cycle options and no extras such as a third rack, there isn’t much about this dishwasher’s feature list to lure you in. The adjustable height and fold down tines of the top rack are a plus, but you get no other flexibility, making it hard to fit any large or oddly shaped dishes. Plus, the plain color pallette and push buttons on the dishwasher’s upper lip make it look outdated, so forget about a cutting-edge design.

For all of that, this Bosch unit does do one thing consistently well: clean dishes. This $800 dishwasher tackled everything we threw at it. It handled tough stains like chili and spinach, and water spots on glassware were almost non-existent. In fact, it out-cleaned our previous champ — the $1,200 LG LDT9965BD — by a couple of percentage points making it the best cleaner we’ve seen so far. It finished our trials with an average clean score of 93 percent. That’s amazing.

I wish there were more features on the Bosch SHS63VL5UC for its price, but seeing sparkling dishes after each cycle makes this dishwasher hard to ignore. If all you care about is dish-cleaning performance and you’re willing to spend for an upper-midrange appliance to get it, the Bosch SHS63VL5UC is an easy recommendation.

Boss your dishes around with this Bosch dishwasher
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Design

The stainless finish of the Bosch SHS63VL5UC reminds me of many other modern large appliances, but the scoop handle provides a pleasant change of pace. Above the handle, a lighter steel color borders the rest and curves up to the control panel on the upper lip. As with every other built-in dishwasher with hidden controls, you’ll need to pull open the door for the control panel to work. But unlike most other dishwashers with hidden controls, the Bosch SHS63VL5UC actually has physical buttons instead of touch controls.

The buttons are responsive, I just found them strangely out of place on a hidden control panel. There’s nothing outright wrong about the design of the SHS63VL5UC, but there’s no color accents on the interior, and as a whole it struck me as plain and a little old fashioned.

A little old fashioned, but not necessarily ugly.

Chris Monroe/CNET

You can purchase the Bosch SHS63VL5UC 300 Series dishwasher at AJ Madison and other large appliance dealers. Like most large appliances, you’ll find it cheaper than the $800 list price. Right now, AJ Madison has it for $715. The SHS63VL5UC is not available overseas.

Features

Open the dishwasher and press the On-Off button, and you’ll be able to select from a pretty standard selection of cycle options — Heavy, Auto, Normal and Rinse — each with their own respective buttons. I found the lack of creative cycle options on an $800 dishwasher more egregious than the presence of buttons themselves — especially given that Bosch doesn’t even give you an express cycle if you need to wash a load quickly.

Not many cycles to choose from.

Chris Monroe/CNET

The $900 LG LDF7774ST lets you vary the water pressure from the top rack to the bottom with one of its cycles. It doesn’t have a true express either, but it comes closer with a Quick & Dry cycle that takes a little over an hour. Bosch’s shortest cycle other than Rinse is more than two hours long.

The $900 LG’s time display stays on as it runs, keeping you up to date with how much longer it will run. As you select your cycle, the display on the Bosch SHS63VL5UC blinks an estimate that updates as you add options such as “ExtraDry,” then turns solid as you hit start on the right to show you it’s ready to go. But once you close the door and the SHS63VL5UC whirs into action, the display turns off.

The InfoLight lets you know the dishwasher is running.

Chris Monroe/CNET

A red info light shines on the floor to let you know the dishwasher is running, so the SHS63VL5UC is sure to delight your family’s cat, but I’d have liked a few more features aimed at humans for the $800 price.

Usability

The interior of the SHS63VL5UC doesn’t have a lot going on in terms of features either, and I don’t like most of what it does have.

You can lift the upper rack to adjust its height to any of three possible positions. Once it’s all the way up, press the triggers on either side of the rack to lower it back down to position one, but even that is cumbersome as you’ll need to prod and jostle the rack to actually get it to drop.

Teal Drone Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Teal is more than just another quadcopter: It’s a platform.

As it stands in 2016, consumers can pick out a ready-to-fly drone for aerial photos and video or for racing or just to fly casually. Teal is meant to appeal to all of these buyers, regardless of skill level, and eventually to commercial pilots, too.

Behind Teal — the company and the drone — is 18-year old George Matus who has been flying quads since he was 11 and built his first one at 14. The drone is the result of an evolving list of dream features he’s been making since then.

The quad can go fast at up to 70 mph (112 kph) in up to 40 mph (64 kph) winds, it’s weatherproof, can be controlled with an iOS or Android device or a regular radio controller and is small enough to slip into backpack. In front is an electronically stabilized 13-megapixel camera that can record video at 4K resolution.

Teal is also modular, and that doesn’t only mean removing the battery. Each arm can be popped on and off, as can the drone’s top section. With other drones, if you were to break one of the prop arms you would have to send the whole thing in for repair. With Teal you’ll be able to easily replace it on your own. Plus, this opens the possibility for specialized arms for specific tasks. Teal is also currently planning to release modules for the top section including thermal imaging, obstacle avoidance (something it currently can’t do on its own) and a secondary camera for first-person-view racing.

Here’s where it gets even more interesting, though. Inside Teal is an Nvidia TX1 computer with an octa-core processor to handle machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies. The idea here is that by having the modular design, powerful hardware running the drone’s Teal OS as well as making an SDK available, it can be a platform to be developed for consumer and commercial uses.

For the moment the drone is targeted at consumers and will have three apps available at launch: one for flight control, another for a Follow-Me mode for automatic subject tracking and a racing application so you can compete against other Teal pilots. Matus hopes after an app store has been built and grows, that licensing of the platform with other hardware manufacturers will soon follow.

The biggest downsides we see are the same things we see with a lot of drones: battery life and price. Teal has a 1,800mAh lithium polymer battery that will provide around 10 minutes of flight time. This is shorter than larger camera drones, but is in line with most racing drones. Teal should be releasing extended batteries at some point after launch, too.

The other issue is that Teal is a new comer and at $1,299 the unit is not cheap and it is far off with the earliest units shipping right before Christmas 2016. While the rest of the orders placed by August 15, should ship by early 2017, which is quite some time. And that’s if all goes according to plan.

The company is accepting preorders on Teal Drones site and you won’t be charged until the drone ships.

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 review – CNET

The Good The 5.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has a brilliant high-resolution screen and takes excellent outdoor shots on its 16-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization. Using the stylus is more convenient, and the battery charges very quickly.

The Bad Low light and indoor shots aren’t as good as they should be. The Note 4 costs significantly more than some other phablets, like the LG G3.

The Bottom Line The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 will thrill anyone who loves a fast phone with a large screen, but it’s best for compulsive scribblers willing to pay a lot for its winning stylus.

Editors’ note: Samsung will be revealing the Galaxy Note 7 at an event in New York City on August 2. The successor to the 2014 Galaxy Note 4 (reviewed here) was 2015’s Galaxy Note 5, but Samsung is skipping the Note 6 moniker in order to bring its product line in sync with the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, which were released earlier in 2016.

To stylus or not to stylus, that is the question.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4‘s S-Pen — the narrow stylus tucked handily inside Samsung’s surprisingly successful, giant 5.7-inch Galaxy Note phone — stands out in a crowd. No other popular phone comes with a stylus, and this one makes the most of its mouselike properties, and an ability to write and draw on the screen. Every day, I’ve used it instinctively to jot a list or note, and to keep the screen clean from finger smudges.

The Note 4’s specs also earn outstanding marks across the board, including its eye-poppingly vibrant display and a mostly-excellent 16-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization. Rapid LTE data speeds and a robust processor join a host of other specs and features that easily make the metal-rimmed, Android-powered Note 4 easily equal to other top-rated handsets — and often better. The phone’s drawbacks, though present, are minor and few.

As someone who enjoys the physical act of writing, I love the Note 4’s stylus skills. However, if the act of putting digital pen to paper baffles you, skip this handset in favor of other big-screen phones that potentially cost less and perform core tasks just as well. This year’s Galaxy Note makes only incremental improvements over last year’s runaway Note 3 , and if you don’t use the S-Pen heavily, the Note “phablet” costs too much compared to competing large-screen phones like the LG G3 .

The Note 4 sells for $300 on-contract and $600 off-contract in the US; £600 or £650 in the UK; and AU$940 in Australia. Scroll to the end for price comparisons.

Framed! Samsung Galaxy Note 4 now metal-trimmed…
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Design and build: Metal over plastic

Achieving the zenith of premium design has long eluded Samsung, whose polycarbonate handsets are usually attractive if not drool-worthy. Earlier this year, Samsung broke the all-plastic mold with its metal-rimmed Galaxy Alpha , a move repeated on the Note 4. Silver accents around the rim and buttons look sharp on both the white and black versions we saw; they should class up the gold and pink tones as well.

So how does it all look? Very good, and a lot better than pretty much every other Samsung phone you can buy, except perhaps for the Alpha. The backing is slightly more textured (and thankfully free of last year’s cheesy, chintzy faux stitching). The straight sides are comfortable to grasp and easy to hold onto. You can easily find physical buttons with your fingertips.

View full gallery The Note 4’s straight sides make it easy to hold.
James Martin/CNET

Despite the improvements, though, the Note 4 still falls short of the LG G3 and HTC One M8’s luxe metal contouring and finishes, and the Sony Xperia Z3 ‘s modern edges. Metal also structures the iPhone 6 Plus, which maintains a more seamless build quality than the Note 4 (although you can’t remove the iPhone’s backplate.)

After spending several months using the phone, I found that it holds up well to daily wear and tear.

Size and portability

There’s big and then there’s big, and the definition seems to swell by the day. You’ll find the Note 4’s exact dimensions and weight in the chart below, but what I think you really want to know is what it’s like to hold and carry around, especially compared to other supersize phones.

Size-wise, it’s a hair taller and thicker than the Note 3 and almost identical to the iPhone 6 Plus . The LG G3 feels much more compact by comparison, even though its screen size is just 0.2-inch smaller.

View full gallery Seeing double? The Note 4 (left) and iPhone 6 Plus are closely matched in height and size.
Josh Miller/CNET

As a relatively short person with smaller hands, the Note 4 technically squeezes into my back pocket, though it looks comical sticking out of it. The same scenario goes for its palm-stretching effects: I find one-handed use pretty much pointless and almost impossible, even with Samsung’s software modes turned on. However, several CNET editors with larger mitts and pockets didn’t have much trouble with the Note 4’s size, commenting on how nice it feels to grip.

Size and weight

Ultra HD display

Although it’s got the same 5.7-inch display as last year’s model, the Note 4 has jumped in display resolution, from 1080p HD up to a 2,650 x 1,440p quad HD AMOLED display. Its pixel density of 515 ppi soars over the Note 3’s 386 ppi and the iPhone 6 Plus’ density of 401 ppi (but is less pixel-packed than the slightly smaller LG G3’s at 538 ppi).

These are big, impressive numbers on a big, impressive display that is undoubtedly clear and sharp. I spent a lot of time scrutinizing the Note 4’s presentation of many HD images, Web sites, and even 4K video against the iPhone 6 Plus and LG G3, all of them with brightness cranked to the max. I also threw in the Note 3 for good measure. Apart from predictable differences in color temperature and tone between the LCD iPhone and G3 versus the AMOLED Notes, differences in lettering and image quality were minor, if visible at all.

Display resolutions, compared

I will say, though, that the G3 looks noticeably dimmer at full brightness than the rest, and that the Note 4 exhibited smooth color gradients and strong contrast. It was perhaps just ever so slightly better than the rest, but not nearly enough to warrant a rowdy debate. Even when viewing 4K video, hawk-eyed CNET editors and photographers gathered around the phones could only tell slight differences in the amount of detail on display.

Other external features

If you’re familiar with Samsung’s Galaxy S5 , you pretty much know what you’re getting with the Note 4. A physical home button and two capacitive soft keys rest below the screen, each with a secondary function when you press them down. The power/lock button decorates the right spine, with the volume rocker on the left. A rapid-charging port at the bottom edge balances out the 3.5 millimeter headset jack and IR blaster up top.

Below the camera lens, an LED flash module combines with the heart-rate sensor that is rapidly becoming another Samsung hallmark. The back cover pulls off to access the battery and microSD card slot, which you can fill with an up-to-64GB card (but not the 128GB you see on some other phones). The S-Pen holster bores into the back as well.

View full gallery There’s a lot of power inside the Note 4, just no waterproofing.
James Martin/CNET

One thing you won’t notice is a rubber gasket surrounding the internal parts to help keep them free of water, unlike on the Galaxy S5. This isn’t a deal-breaker by any means, though some folks find that “waterproof” phones (also like the Xperia Z3) are a little more convenient for their hydrophilic lives.

Music plays nice and loud out of the speakers, though its certainly passable audio quality is a little tinny and thin, not quite the rich, rounded audio of the HTC One M8, for example. Behind the scenes, the Note 4 supports Bluetooth 4.1 and NFC.

OS and apps

Android 4.4 KitKat is practically a given on this phone, as is Samsung’s custom TouchWiz layer. If anything, Samsung seems to have scaled back from the Galaxy S5 rather than piling more on top like it usually does.

My Magazine, the newsfeed that lives to the let of your home screen, has morphed into Flipboard (which powered it anyway). The Toolbox feature that was introduced with the S5 is also gone. I also enjoyed color-coding app folders on the home screen, which is another relatively tiny Note 4 omission. Google Search’s always-listening ear is off by default, but you can turn it on in the app’s settings menu under “Voice.”

View full gallery Android 4.4.4 is the backbone beneath Samsung’s TouchWiz layer.
James Martin/CNET

Otherwise, you’ll find a slew of ways to customize things from motion control to the notification panel. Blocking mode and private mode are present, and those who find the UI a little too frenetic can switch to a simpler Easy mode. As a security measure, the biometrically-minded can set up the fingerprint scanner as well (though its time-saving property is dubious).

Large phones like this one often come with settings to turn on one-handed operations. New in the Note 4 is a persistent panel hosting icons for your home-button functions, plus one to shrink down the application window for theoretically better one-handed use. You can expand or hide it on any screen, and of course, customize the icons.

Features that would help me use the phone one-handed are some I’d like to like, but in order for it to work, you have to be able to comfortably grip the phone and navigate with a thumb, something I had problems with while grabbing a pole on the bus and giving blood, both activities that really test these claims by taking an arm out of commission. Also, though it’s meant to be temporary, shrinking the app window defeats the purpose of having such a large display in the first place.

View full gallery Shrinking the screen is one way to use the Note 4 when you’ve only got one free hand.
Josh Miller/CNET

Just two more notes on apps before we move on. You may notice a few tiny changes to S Health. In the US at least, S Health gets a new optional “coach” you can use that’s sourced by healthcare provider Cigna. In addition to checking your heart-rate, the app can also monitor your blood-oxygen level (SpO2).

You might also notice fewer bundled Samsung apps in general, like the Kid’s Mode that came pre-installed in the S5. These haven’t disappeared, they’re just packaged into Galaxy Apps and include partner apps (many that comes with deals) like Dropbox and Kindle for Samsung. Any other bloatware you find on your phone is most likely courtesy of your carrier.

Multitasking and more

The Note 4 still supports a split-screen mode that lets you resize two app windows from a list of supported programs. You can now launch it several ways, including from the Recents tab, and can also create smaller pop-up windows to drag around the screen.

Even more, you can shrink the size of a popup to float it around the screen as a persistent bubble — a lot like a chathead in the Facebook Messenger lexicon, or like the Toolbox bubble found in the Galaxy S5.

(Watch the video below for examples.)

Google Nexus 6P review – CNET

The Good One of the first two Android 6.0 phones, Google’s metal Nexus 6P has a sharp, high-resolution screen and a solid camera, an accurate fingerprint reader, loud speakers and works with every major carrier. Its lower cost makes it a good top-tier value buy.

The Bad It’s big, a bit boxy and top-heavy, the fingerprint reader’s position isn’t always convenient and the 6P ditches the wireless charging of previous models.

The Bottom Line The Nexus 6P doesn’t have the most inspiring design, but when it comes to hardware prowess, value for money and Google extras, this best-ever Nexus is hard to beat.

Summer ’16 update

After struggling to find its footing in recent years, HTC, manufacturer of the Nexus One and Nexus 9 tablet, is rumored to be hard at work building the next Nexus smartphone for Google. And a series of leaked images and rumored specs published in recent months paint an increasingly vivid picture of what we might expect.

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An image of what is said to be the forthcoming Google Nexus phone. Credit: Android Police.

Android Police

In April 2016, veteran leaker Evan Blass reported that HTC was building devices that would run Android Nougat, Google’s yet-to-be released operating system, following 6.0 Marshmallow. In fact, HTC is believed to be making two devices with similar specs but different screen sizes. The larger phone, which is code-named Marlin, is expected to be equipped with a 5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED display with a 2,560×1440-pixel resolution. Meanwhile, the smaller device, referred to as Sailfish, is said to feature a 5-inch Full HD display with a 1,920×1080-pixel resolution. The rumors suggest that the next Nexus will feature a curved aluminum exterior.

Other specs include a quad-core Qualcomm processor, 12-megapixel rear camera, 8-megapixel front camera, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, a USB-C port and a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner.

Editors’ note: The original Google Nexus 6P review, published in October 2015, follows.

In my mind, there are two things that a Nexus-branded phone is supposed to do, and the Google Nexus 6P does them both very well. First, it’s meant to showcase the very newest Android software. Check! (So does the cheaper, smaller LG-made Nexus 5X.) Second, it should package together very capable hardware for a lower sticker price than more familiar brand-name competitors. Yep, that it does. (See our pricing chart below.)

And then the weighty, 5.7-inch Nexus 6P goes further. It adds a metal frame (a Nexus first!) and a crisp, high-resolution display; a spot-on fingerprint reader; a capable 12-megapixel camera; and strong stereo speakers. It also introduces China-based Huawei, which made the phone, to a whole new audience of people, Google’s Nexus fans. (Although I have to say, this breakthrough, while significant for Huawei, is only a passing curiosity for a buyer who’s focused on finding the right handset.)

This year’s Nexus phones are also compatible with most major carriers, which is terrific, and support Google’s own unique Project Fi wireless service — meaning you can switch among carrier plans without swapping your SIM card or phone. You don’t actually need Fi to do that, though, you can seamlessly carrier-hop on your own without Google’s specialized SIM card, too.

Here’s what I’m saying: the 6P here is the most ambitious and advanced Nexus phone Google has put its stamp on, and it comes closer than previous Nexus devices at meeting and beating premium handsets, big and small — like the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Edge+ , Sony Xperia Z5 and Z5 Premium — with its combination of internal performance and relatively low cost.

Like all phones, this one isn’t without flaws. It’s still a large, heavy device. I’m not wild about the design, which is completely fine, but a little generic. The position of the fingerprint reader isn’t always convenient. The native camera has fewer options and controls than many rivals. And unlike the Nexus 6 and other Nexus phones, this refresh lacks wireless charging, which would be extra useful backup if you leave your new Type-C charger at home. The 6P also won’t have the Note 5’s stylus, the Edge+ curves or the Xperia’s waterproofing. You have to decide how important those finishing touches are to you.

Feast your eyes on the Marshmallowy Google…
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A little warning for those who want to buy the 6P to mine the Android 6.0 Marshmallow software for all its goodies: while the new operating system brings a few interesting and somewhat useful tools — like contextual searching through the Now on Tap feature and battery life boosting that works quietly in the background — the 6P’s real take-home value is less about the wonders of Android 6.0 and more about your total bang for the buck.

Android 6.0’s nice-but-not-astounding bag of tricks may not have been as successful as past Nexus’ braggable features ( Android 5.0 Lollipop was quite the overhaul), but the 6P’s Marshmallow status still nabs you certain advantages, like fewer preloaded apps (“bloatware”) and being first in line to receive Google’s forthcoming software updates. “Pure” Nexus phones are also free from vendors’ custom take on Android, which can be good, bad or neutral depending on your stance. On the one hand, custom layers eat up storage space and delay upgrades, but on the other, they can also add handy features and snazzy design layouts.

Personally, I like the the Nexus 6P quite a lot — it does everything right and very little wrong. While it doesn’t grab me the way the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge’s unique design does, it’s still a phone I’d heartily recommend. As a utilitarian workhorse, the Nexus 6P does the job for less cash, and that’s smart.

Pricing and availability

The Nexus 6P is available for pre-order in the US, UK, Ireland and Japan from Google’s online store, and will be ship in October. Check out pricing for the US, UK, and Australia in this handy chart below:

Google Nexus 6P pricing

To sweeten the deal, Google tacks on a 90-day subscription to Google Play Music (plus a $50 credit for its Play Store for US buyers).

Google also wants to sell you a two-year warranty that covers breaks and water damage, which it’s calling Nexus Protect. It costs $89 in the US. If something goes wrong, you can get a new device as soon as the next business day.

In the US, the Nexus 6P works on all major carriers. It’ll also support Project Fi , the company’s SIM card that uses Wi-Fi hotspots for a network connection, falling back on T-Mobile and Sprint networks.

Specifications versus top rivals

Specs comparison

Google’s first metal Nexus

• 5.7-inch screen with 2,560×1,440-pixel resolution
• USB-C charging port
• Fingerprint reader
• Stereo forward-facing speakers
• Dimensions: 6.3 by 3.0 by 0.29 inches (159.3 by 77.8 by 7.3mm)
• Weight: 6.3 ounces (178 grams)

Big and aluminium with rounded edges and a fingerprint reader on the back, the Nexus 6P embraces quite a few trends of the day. The 5.7-inch display is a skosh more sizeable than the 5.5-inch iPhone 6S and right on par with the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and S6 Edge+ . Its high-resolution AMOLED display, sometimes referred to as 2K, fits in with the times as well, lending the 6P a sharp and clear screen, with high contrast. (Sony is already pushing boundaries with its world’s-first 4K display , which is probably overkill in most scenarios.)

View full gallery The Nexus 6P is a solid slab of aluminum, a Nexus first.
Josh Miller/CNET

Shape-wise, the Nexus 6P is smaller and narrower than Motorola’s 6-inch Nexus 6. Still, it’s a two-hander. Not the easiest jumbo phone (or, phablet, if you prefer) for my smaller hands to hold. Its slim, straight sides challenged hands larger than mine when I passed the phone around. Some combination of the straight edges and smooth back made the 6P seem unwieldy, slippery, even a little top-heavy. The similarly sized Samsung Galaxy Note 5, S6 Edge+ and iPhone 6S Plus seem proportioned and contoured to fit my mitts better.

Its unibody build means you won’t be able to access the battery, and there’s no microSD card slot for extra storage either. This is a typical trade-off in full-metal phones. During some of my testing, the Nexus 6P’s backing felt warm to the touch, but not dangerously or uncomfortably so.

Since I grip the bottom half of the device to use it, the placement of the Google Imprint fingerprint reader was often a stretch; I sometimes had to shift my grip in order to unlock the phone. If you have larger hands, you probably won’t have the same concerns.

View full gallery Double-click the power button to launch the camera.
Josh Miller/CNET

I like that double-pressing the lock key launches the camera, but I’m not a fan of the haptic jiggle that confirms you’ve opened it, and I haven’t found a way to turn it off.

You can pick up the Nexus 6P in three colors: aluminum (silver), graphite (black) and frost (white), our favorite of the trio. Japan gets it in gold, too. My all-black model looks nice in a generic way, with subtle chamfered edges around the rims, though the design isn’t inspired.

Loud stereo speakers

Audio quality from the dual front speakers was pretty great for a phone. I played a lot of music videos from YouTube. The highest volume setting filled a room, and songs sounded clear. Compared to a set of good headphones or a decent Bluetooth speaker, though, the 6P’s audio still sounded jangly and two-dimensional, where my over-ear In Case headphones sounded rich. But the 6P is still notably better than you’ll get from the default speaker in most rival smartphones.

Type-C marginally better

I like the reversible USB Type-C charging port in theory, and once more phone-makers start using it, charging cables will be easier to come by. If you forget the Type-C to Type-C fast-charger and Type-C to USB cables that arrive in the box, you’ll be hard-pressed to find one lying around — it’s not compatible with your other devices’ cables. Wireless charging would be a convenient backup here, but unlike the 2013 and 2014 Nexus models, that feature is absent.

View full gallery Better keep an extra Type-C cable.
Josh Miller/CNET

If you get the 6P, prepare to also buy a few extra chargers and a micro-USB to Type-C adaptor that fits over the tip. (For Type-C fans, keep in mind that the Nexus 6P uses the Type-C charging shape, but not all the features that also support faster file transfers and charging for other devices. Read more about that here.)

Android 6.0 Marshmallow: Now on Tap is not great

• “Pure” Android software
• Google Now on Tap
• Android Pay support
• Doze function saves battery

A Nexus phone is the first to debut Google’s latest Android software. Always. In our case, that’s the Android 6.0 build , codenamed an ooey-gooey Marshmallow. It promises, as always, to be faster and smoother than the previous generation and filled with more tricks and treats.

The most enticing of these is Google Now on Tap, which is an obscure name for an extra layer of software that lets you more deeply interact with whatever’s on the screen. The classic example is asking Google simply, “Who sings this?” when listening to any given song, without having to specify the track’s title.

View full gallery Google Now on Tap is essentially a shortcuts bar within Android 6.0.
Josh Miller/CNET

Let’s say you’re on a restaurant menu and you press and hold the home button. Mini “cards” pop up on the bottom half of the screen with buttons you can press (shortcuts) to search on Google, open a menu, make a reservation, call the business, navigate there and see Google Street View. You can also use voice search to ask for additional information (“show me her tour dates” for example) without having to reframe the question.

CNET will do much more Now on Tap testing, but in my initial tests, I threw a barrage of questions and commands at it, and opened the Now on Tap cards from a variety of Web pages. Some scenarios seem to work better than others. For example, contextual voice searches usually worked, but interrupted the songs I asked about, which made for a pretty disruptive listening experience, since getting search results on-screen essentially stops the music, at least with YouTube.

Other times, Now on Tap presented useful information, like a restaurant menu link and icon shortcuts to other apps, other times, I didn’t get what I wanted. Also keep in mind that clicking a link from Now on Tap whisks you away to a new page. Either way, Now on Tap cards took about two seconds to load, which felt slow.

Hurom H-AA Slow Juicer review – CNET

The Good The Hurom H-AA Slow Juicer effectively extracts liquid from citrus and hard fruits and vegetables. The cold-press juicer also runs quietly compared with noisy centrifugal machines.

The Bad The Hurom H-AA Slow Juicer has trouble pulling juice from leafy greens. It’s also expensive and has a complicated design and hand-wash-only accessories.

The Bottom Line Avoid the complex and troublesome to clean Hurom H-AA Slow Juicer in favor of better performing models such as the Omega J8006.

Visit manufacturer site for details.

With a sticker price that’s higher than many premium cold-press models, the $439 (£256, $649 AU) Hurom H-AA Slow Juicer will certainly make a negative impact on your budget. Unfortunately while the large and expensive machine plays the part of a luxury juicer, its performance misses the mark, which makes it an unwise purchase compared with competing juicers such as the $300 Omega J8006.

The first thing you’ll notice about the Hurom H-AA is that it comes with numerous accessories such as strainers, even gadgets for preparing ice cream and pressing homemade tofu.

Included with the Huron H-AA juicer are lots of parts and accessories.

Chris Monroe/CNET

However, all that extra equipment results in a kitchen gadget that’s overly complex to assemble and break down. The Hurom H-AA’s many moving parts are not dishwasher-safe either and must be washed by hand which makes keeping the whole apparatus clean a big headache. The design of this appliance is extremely similar to another product, the $200 VonShef Premium Slow Masticating Juicer, which I also found a chore to use and wash.

2016 Chevrolet Tahoe review – Roadshow

The Good It’s easy to modulate the 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe’s throttle, making for smooth maneuvering and safe towing. Safety systems in the Luxury package include blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and forward collision warning. Even without the navigation option, Chevrolet’s MyLink head unit supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

The Bad The Chevrolet Tahoe comes in a little pricier than its competition without necessarily besting the others in power or cabin space. Adaptive cruise control is only available in the top trim.

The Bottom Line The 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe remains a solid choice for family recreation and towing, making for an easy-driving and modern-looking SUV with some nice tech features, but it doesn’t leap ahead of the competition.

Driving the 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe down the California coast, I contemplated the uses I could make of this big beast. With its middle-row bucket seats, I could take five friends to its namesake Lake Tahoe. Although with only 15.3 cubic feet for cargo behind the third row, I would have to leave a couple of those friends behind. Its full 94.7 cubic feet, behind the first row, would allow an epic Ikea run.

Considering what it could tow, the Tahoe’s 8,600-pound rating would let me pull a 28-foot Airstream Land Yacht for an upscale Burning Man experience. Or on the Lake Tahoe idea again, this SUV could manage a Sea Ray 280 Sundancer, although dragging a 28-foot boat on a twisty mountain highway doesn’t sound particularly fun.

A big truck-based SUV like the Tahoe offers a lot of possibilities for recreation, while cylinder deactivation helps maintain reasonable fuel economy.

The Chevy Tahoe continues with its body-on-frame architecture, and adds a smooth, handsome exterior for the current generation.

Wayne Cunningham/Roadshow

The Chevrolet Tahoe got a significant update for the 2015 model year, pretty recent considering the longer product cycles for this type of vehicle. Eschewing the trend of independent suspensions among SUVs, the Tahoe stuck to its solid rear axle and body-on-frame architecture. Chevrolet currently cites the Ford Expedition, Nissan Armada and Toyota Sequoia as the Tahoe’s main competition.

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I got behind the wheel of a 2016 Tahoe in LT trim, with rear-wheel drive instead of the available four. And despite the last-century architecture, I was impressed with the modern look, the sheet metal showing smooth sides and a neatly squared-off rear instead of the more contoured look embraced by many other automakers. The Tahoe looks like a Bauhaus office building, all sheer sides and geometrical windows.

The Tahoe looks like a Bauhaus office building, all sheer sides and geometrical windows.

Under the hood, a 5.3-liter V-8 makes 355 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque, that latter figure tuned to give the Tahoe its towing power. Tipping halfway into the throttle left me wondering if the engine was taking a nap, as the Tahoe seemed in no rush to accelerate. However, putting the pedal down to pass on a two-lane highway showed that the engine could get up and go when needed.

This throttle mapping makes for a smooth driving experience in the Tahoe, giving me a lot of leeway in pedal travel for maneuvering in the city or other tight spaces. That controlled tip-in would make even more of a difference with a trailer hitched up. But the initially light power delivery can fool you into thinking the engine doesn’t have much to give.

Chevy mapped the Tahoe’s throttle program for easy modulation, which can seem like a lack of power until you really get on the gas pedal.

Wayne Cunningham/Roadshow

Cruising down the highway, I appreciated the Tahoe’s high seating position and view of the road, but in the city its sheer sides made me worry that I might not see a pedestrian, pet or bicyclist close in.

Lending to the Tahoe’s safety, the Luxury package in the model I drove brought in blind-spot monitors, a rearview camera with cross-traffic alert and forward collision alert. And making sure I didn’t miss a visual or auditory warning from these systems, I was sitting on Chevrolet’s Safety Alert Seat, which buzzed either side of the seat bottom in an alert that I could not ignore.

Lane drift prevention also worked to keep the Tahoe from rolling over lane lines in an unobtrusive manner, a feature that could save drivers who fall asleep at the wheel. Oddly missing from the package is adaptive cruise control, a feature only available at the Tahoe’s top trim.

GE JB750SJSS review – CNET

The Good The GE JB750SJSS electric range cooks fantastic roast chicken, boils large pots of water in less than 10 minutes and only costs $1,000.

The Bad None of the cook times were record-breaking, and its design is pretty basic.

The Bottom Line This range is a good pick if you’re on a budget but don’t want to sacrifice quality cooking.

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Manufacturers have to keep large appliance features to a minimum if they want to keep the price budget-friendly. This means that a range should perform basic cooking tasks well since there are not many bells and whistles to hide behind. GE Appliances has taken this challenge and excelled with the $1,000 GE JB750SJSS, an electric range that cooks food well, is easy to use and is reasonably priced.

GE includes just enough features in this range to help you cook more efficiently, such as a convection fan in the oven and a powerful burner to quickly bring water to a boil. And the JB750SJSS cooks food well — the oven bakes food evenly, and the convection roast features makes for some of the most delicious chicken to come out of the CNET Appliances test kitchen.

There isn’t much in the way of fancy design when it comes to the GE JB750SJSS. And its cook times lag behind similar appliances. But these points barely register as inconveniences when you consider the range’s price and performance. The GE JB750SJSS, like the similar GE PB911SJSS we’ve reviewed, is a solid appliance that is worth consideration the next time you’re buying a range.

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Basic design in exchange for a bargain

The stainless-steel GE JB750SJSS is a basic large appliance without a lot of frills. The 30-inch wide electric range has a smooth ceramic cooktop with four burners and a warming zone. The oven has 5.3 cubic feet of space, which is a bit smaller than what we’ve seen from other brands, such as the 5.9-cubic-foot oven on the Samsung NE59J7630SB or the 6.1-cubic-foot oven on the Kenmore 95073.

iDevices Socket review – CNET

The Good The iDevices Socket works pretty well as a dimmer and nightlight.

The Bad Its design is bulky and inefficient, and its price is absurd.

The Bottom Line The Socket is a gadget you want to hide, but in so doing, you lose its primary appeal — the ability to display unique light bulbs. Why anyone would shell out $80 for this product, I cannot imagine.

Visit manufacturer site for details.

Lighting is one of the easiest and most affordable entry points into smart-home gadgetry. Connected LEDs, switches and plugs typically slide in around or under 50 bucks. But now a new type of device is available — a retrofit Socket that lends smarts to any bulb screwed into it. Sure, crowdsourcing hopefuls have proposed similar products in the past, but this is different. iDevices is an established company, and the Socket integrates with Apple HomeKit and Amazon Echo.

On its surface, the Socket functions as advertised: it smartens up almost any standard bulb, adding dimming, scheduling and voice-activated controls with both Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa. It even includes an RGB color changing nightlight. But there’s a fundamental question I’ve been unable to answer: When is the Socket consistently more useful than a smart switch or bulb? The $80 price tag only adds to my befuddlement, since you can easily find more feature-rich lighting devices for considerably less cash.

Until I find a unique use case that justifies the Socket’s otherwise outrageous asking price, I can’t recommend iDevices’ newest product.

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What it gets right

Taken as it is, the Socket actually works pretty well. The iDevices app has always been one of the better third party HomeKit apps out there, and it continues to support its devices with an intuitive interface and easy setup process. Getting the Socket up and running takes barely a minute, and operating its dimming, scheduling, and nightlight capabilities is slick the whole time.

EzeeCube review – CNET

The Good EzeeCube ably serves as a media center and easy backup option for your photos and videos. It offers expandable storage and other optional add-ons with a sleek, stackable design. It operates on the versatile Kodi platform.

The Bad The base unit and add-ons are expensive. It’s not 4K capable and is sometimes tricky to use. The remote is infrared instead of Wi-Fi, which means you can’t tuck the unit away.

The Bottom Line The innovative EzeeCube personal cloud storage device and media player offers plenty of good features, but they don’t come cheap.

There are plenty of media players and backup devices out there, but EzeeCube offers something quite different: the ability to stack up additional modules on top of the base unit. You can add more storage, a Blu-ray drive, and other new add-ons are likely to come in the future. If that sounds cool, it is.

Adding additional hard disk space is as simple as putting the new module on top of the EzeeCube base player. And if you add on the Blu-ray drive, a feature that lets you rip DVDs is also enabled automatically. However, the additional modules don’t come cheap, costing $199 (£150 or AU$260) for either a 2TB drive or the Blu-ray drive. The base unit itself will set you back a cool $499 (£380 or AU$660) for the 2TB version. A cheaper 1TB option is available for $399 (£300, AU$525).

EzeeCube stacks up to offer more features
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That said, you’re not just paying for a normal backup device. The EzeeCube is also a fully functional media player. It uses Kodi as its operating system (formerly known as XBMC) but skinned with a much nicer design, and features a personal cloud service that syncs with your iOS or Android device. You’re able to backup your videos and photos and access them from anywhere without having to worry about your phone’s limited amount of space or pay extra for cloud storage. On the other hand, if the hard drive of the EzeeCube crashes, you’re out of luck.

While it sounds simple on paper, I did find the EzeeCube a tad frustrating to learn how to use, compared to the ease of plug and play devices such as the Roku 4. Kodi is pretty flexible and lets you do a lot of things, but its various options can be overwhelming for a first time user looking for something simple.

The EzeeCube easily played all the video formats I threw at it without a hitch. But it can’t play 4K video — unlike the much less expensive Nvidia Shield, which also supports Kodi, Plex and external/networked hard drives for storage. EzeeCube can download add-ons for watching YouTube or live Twitch streams, for example, but the selection of apps can’t compete with that of the Roku or Nvidia Shield.

The EzeeCube is quite the swiss army knife of home media centers, and its expandable tech is very cool, but its audience is limited given its expensive retail price.

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