Xiaomi Mi Band 2 review
Buy now from Amazon
Xiaomi is all over the place in the technology world. The Chinese company first came to the scene with its MIUI firmware back in 2010, and has since moved on to creating its own Android smartphones, televisions, tablets, and so much more.
One of the most interesting products the company has in its lineup is the Mi Band. Announced in August 2014, Xiaomi’s first Mi Band wearable aimed to bring basic activity tracking to the masses thanks to its seriously low $13 price point. Now Xiaomi is back with a new, more expensive fitness tracker – the Mi Band 2.
With an OLED display and a new design, does the Mi Band 2 have what it takes to make its way to your wrist? Let’s find out.
Here is our full Xiaomi Mi Band 2 review.
Review notes: I’ve been using the Xiaomi Mi Band 2 as my main fitness tracker for 20 days. The HTC 10 has been my smartphone companion of choice for the duration of this review.
Design
Aside from the strap, the Mi Band 2 doesn’t really look anything like the original Mi Band. It still comes in the form of a dongle that fits snugly into a silicone strap, and it’s thin and light enough that you’ll forget you’re wearing it most of the day. One of my biggest problems with the first Mi Band is that it feels cheap. I mean, I know it is cheap at only $13, but the silicone strap was too plasticky for my liking. The Mi Band 2’s strap is much more rubbery and soft this time around, which I really like.
The OLED display is nice… indoors
I won’t talk too much about price just yet, but you should know that the Mi Band 2 is a bit pricier than its predecessor. It retails for around $40-$50 here in the US. Why the bump up in price? Xiaomi decided to include an OLED display this time around, which I must say is very nice most of the time. Indoor visibility is just great, but it’s pretty tough to read outdoors in the sun. In fact, trying to check the time on a run just isn’t possible at times, but I suppose having a display is better than not having one.
Xiaomi says the .42-inch display is also UV coated, scratch resistant and anti-fingerprint. I haven’t gotten any scratches on mine, but fingerprints do show up quite a bit. The display can get very smudgy and greasy.
Underneath the display sits a snazzy capacitive button that lets you filter through the current time, steps, distance, calories heart rate and battery. You can also check the time by simply lifting your wrist, though I’ve found this feature to be more laggy than what other fitness bands offer. Sometimes the time delays for about 2 seconds before showing up. This definitely won’t make or break your experience with the device, but it’s still something worth noting.
Xiaomi also says there will be more colorful band options available at a later date, but as of writing this review we’re not sure when the bands will launch.
The Mi Band 2 also comes with an IP67 rating for water and dust resistance. This means you can wash your hands without taking it off, but you shouldn’t go swimming with it.
Features and performance
The Mi Band 2 does everything you’d expect from an entry-level fitness tracker. It tracks your steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned and your sleep. And for the most part, it’s very good at tracking all four of those metrics.
I’ve taken the Mi Band 2 out on a few runs with the Fitbit Charge HR and Garmin vívosmart HR, and all three devices have given me similar results. In terms of step tracking, the Mi Band 2 recorded 7,055 steps taken on a run, while the Charge HR recorded 7,058. During a second workout, the Mi Band 2 recorded 5,022 steps, while the vívosmart HR recorded 5,018. Basically, if you care about step tracking and you’re looking for an inexpensive alternative to other fitness bands, the Mi Band 2 will definitely do the trick.
See also: Fitbit Charge HR vs Garmin vívosmart HR8
The device will automatically record your workouts in the Mi Fit app, which is quite convenient. It can sometimes take a minute or two to recognize when you’ve started exercising, but it still should be accurate enough for most people.
Sleep tracking is one of this device’s strongest features
There’s much more to an activity tracker than step tracking, though. The Mi Band 2 will also record your light and deep sleep, and it does a pretty good job at both. It will automatically detect when you go to sleep, so there’s no need to open the app and press a sleep now button. Once you wake up, you can check all your sleep stats in the Mi Fit app. You’ll be able to see how much light and deep sleep you experienced, how many minutes you were awake, as well as the exact times you fell asleep and woke up.
The Mi Band 2 also supports silent alarms, so you can wake up with a subtle vibration if you aren’t a fan of noisy alarm clocks.
The optical heart rate monitor is one of the Mi Band 2’s most problematic features
One of the Mi Band 2’s headlining features is its optical heart rate monitor. This is one of the most problematic features on the device – not only because readings can be far off at times, but also because it often fails to record my heart rate when I’d like it to.
To test heart rate accuracy, I’ve been comparing the Mi Band 2 with the Wahoo TICKR X heart rate monitor. Most of the time the Mi Band 2’s heart rate readings are spot on with the TICKR X, though I have noticed the Xiaomi device will sometimes be off by 15bpm or so.
You should stay away from this device if you need to keep tabs on your heart rate during a workout. The heart rate monitor isn’t continuous, and you have to stay really still in order for the device to take its readings. You can always stop running to check your heart rate, but that’s not the most convenient method for many athletes out there.
Don’t buy the Mi Band 2 if you need a reliable heart rate monitor
I need to emphasize something here. The Mi Band 2 needs to be very still if you want to check your heart rate. Like, the device struggles to take readings even when I’m sitting still at my desk. I’ve never experienced a fitness tracker that fails so often at this. On the plus side, though, its display allows you to fire up the heart rate monitor much quicker than you could with the Mi Band Pulse.
One of my favorite things about the Mi Band 2 is the Idle Alert feature. The device will give you a short vibration if you’re inactive for one hour, and you can customize what times of day this feature is turned on. I sit at a desk all day, so anything that reminds me to get up and move every once in awhile is definitely a plus.
One other neat trick it offers is notification support. Well, you won’t get full notification support here, but the device will buzz your wrist when you have an incoming text or phone call. It works most of the time, but not always. I’m not sure if this is due to a spotty Bluetooth connection or if it’s just a bug that needs fixing, but either way you shouldn’t rely on the Mi Band 2 to alert you of notifications every time.
Don’t miss: Samsung Gear Fit 2 review10
Xiaomi says the Mi Band 2 can last up to 20 days on a single charge, and that’s exactly what I’ve been able to achieve. Throughout the review period, I’ve gone on walks and runs about 4 times per week, checking my heart rate and scrolling through my daily stats multiple times per day.
It’s pretty easy to charge the Mi Band 2, as well. Just remove the dongle from the band, plug it into the proprietary charger, then hook it up to a computer.
| Display | .42-inch OLED display |
| Heart rate monitor | Yes, optical heart rate sensor |
| Sleep tracking | Yes |
| Water resistance | IP67 |
| GPS | No |
| Battery life | Up to 20 days 70mAh, lithium polymer |
| Compatibility | Android, iOS |
| Weight | 7g |
Software
Xiaomi’s Mi Fit companion app is sort of a mixed bag. I like some parts of it, while I can’t stand others.
Let’s start with the positives. Mi Fit is a beautiful app that displays your daily activity, sleep, weight loss, heart rate and goals on the main screen. Tapping on any one of these sections gives you more detailed information about that particular metric.
From here you’ll be able to access daily, weekly and monthly graphs showing your progress overtime. You can do this with your daily activity and sleep metrics, but for some reason the heart rate section only shows a list of readings in reverse chronological order. It doesn’t really make sense to look at your heart rate readings this way. Most people measure their heart rate to see how they’ve improved over time, but you just can’t do that with the Mi Fit app.
One other positive: Mi Fit can connect with Google Fit, WeChat and even Sina Weibo, so you’ll be able to access your results in your favorite apps if need be.
Unfortunately the list of negatives outweighs the positives here. This might not be a huge concern to most people, but I found the layout of the app just horrible. The interface is separated into three main sections: Status, Play and Profile. Status is basically your home screen, where you’ll find your daily activity. The oddly-named Play screen is where you’ll change notification options, set alarms and Idle Alerts, and also connect to third-party apps. In the profile section, you can change your activity and weight goal, connect with friends, and also access a settings menu (which pretty much only lets you change units and submit feedback).
I don’t know if it’s the Play section’s name that throws me off, or if it’s the lack of settings in the settings menu, but I still find myself, after 20 days of using this dang app, getting lost and scouring through to try and find what I’m looking for.
One of the things I like most about Fitbit’s companion app is that it makes it really easy to connect with friends and check out their progress. This isn’t the case with Mi Fit. You actually have to scan a QR code to become someone’s friend on Mi Fit. I really don’t think people are going to use this feature.
Oh, one last thing – the Mi Fit app force closes just about every other time I use it. I’ve used it on both my HTC 10 and Nexus 6P, and I couldn’t get it to stay open on either device.
Gallery
Should you buy it?
Buy now from Amazon
The Xiaomi Mi Band 2 is one of the better entry-level fitness trackers in the sub-$50 price range. It’s only $40, and it can track your daily activity and sleep without a hitch. It also looks really nice and has great battery life.
The problem is, most of the other features Xiaomi included in this tracker just don’t work very well. The heart rate monitor only works when you’re completely still, the display is hard to read outside, and the Mi Fit app needs a lot of work.
You shouldn’t buy the Mi Band 2 if you’re a serious athlete or if you need something with an accurate heart rate monitor. But if you only have $40 or $50 to spend and want something that can keep tabs on your daily activity, this device might be the perfect thing for you.
Related reviews:
- Fitbit Charge HR review
- Fitbit Alta review
- Withings Go hands-on
Whirlpool WFW87HEDW review – CNET
The Good Whirlpool’s $1,199 WFW87HEDW washing machine looks sleek, has simple controls, plenty of features and very good performance.
The Bad Most of the display settings sound a different musical tone when pressed, which gets old fast. The WFW87HEDW has no app or other smart-home compatibility.
The Bottom Line The Whirlpool WFW87HEDW is a well-rounded washer that doesn’t quite match the cleaning power of Electrolux’s similarly priced EFLS617S.
Strip away a washing machine’s bonus features, like multiple specialty cycles and a related app, and you wind up with Whirlpool’s $1,199 WFW87HEDW. Like the $1,099 Electrolux EFLS617S, the WFW87HEDW is a no-frills front-load model that gets the job done.
That said, it isn’t an entry-level washer either. Complete with 10 cleaning cycles plus a steam setting, the WFW87HEDW is a solid upgrade over the most basic of front-loaders. Its premium-looking Titanium finish helps too. While it can’t quite match Electrolux’s EFLS617S in terms of performance, it’s still worth a closer look.
This Whirlpool washer gets the job done for…
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What do you want from a washer?
More washing machine coverage:
- Find more washer reviews here
- How we test washing machines
- 16 washers to help you clean up your laundry routine (pictures)
- Marathon wants to remove dryers from the laundry equation
The Whirlpool WFW87HEDW is a simple washer with some basic upgrades like a Steam Clean setting, a Titanium finish (it’s also available in white for $100 less), and 10 cycles. They include:
- Clean Washer
- Cold Wash
- Delicates
- Drain & Spin
- Heavy Duty
- Normal
- Quick Wash
- Sanitize
- Towels
- Whites
Its touch-style display panel is very responsive and a small screen displays the cycle time remaining in easy-to-see green LEDs. While easy to use overall, each button seems to sound a different musical tone, which I would absolutely turn off if I had this machine at home. I do like having sound associated with each button press, but I found these particularly annoying. Fortunately, they’re easy to turn off — just press and hold the Cycle Signal button on the bottom right of the panel for a few seconds and presto.
Here’s a closer look at the Whirlpool WFW87HEDW alongside its Electrolux EFLS617S competitor:
| Whirlpool WFW87HEDW | Electrolux EFLS617S |
| $1,199 | $1,099 |
| Chrome Shadow, White (for $1,099) | White, Titanium (for $1,199) |
| 4.3 cubic feet | 4.4 cubic feet |
| 10 | 9 |
| 109 kWh/yr | 85 kWh/year |
| 27 inches x 38.75 inches x 33.13 inches | 27 inches x 38 inches x 31.5 inches |
| 1 year, limited | 1 year, limited |
| 120V 60Hz | 120V 60Hz |
| No | No |
Performance
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Here’s how we test washing machines
It might seem simple enough — toss your dirty laundry in a washer and see how well it cleans — but testing washing machines is actually a lot more involved.
by Megan Wollerton
December 28, 2015
For the full rundown of washing machine test procedures, check out this how we test article — or watch the video to the right.
Basically, we run three identical loads. That’s a normal cycle, with normal soil, hot water, and a high spin. Each load has long fabric strips stained with sebum/skin oil (Gross? Yes. Hard to get off clothes? Double yes.), carbon black/mineral oil, blood (pig’s blood), cocoa (chocolate and milk) and aged red wine.
Philips SceneSwitch 60W Equivalent LED Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Dimmable light is a nice little luxury for modern living spaces, but it typically means hardwiring special switches into your walls or upgrading to smart bulbs with app-enabled dimming. Now, Philips thinks it has an easier solution: LED light bulbs that switch between three brightness settings each time you flip the switch.
They’re called SceneSwitch LEDs, and they’re intended to be an affordable, no-hassle means of adding dimming to just about any fixture in your home. Philips isn’t confirming pricing just yet, but an out-of-stock listing at Home Depot for a similar-looking SceneSwitch LED with a daylight setting prices a standard 60W equivalent at $9 — about AU$12 in Australia, or roughly £7 in the UK.
With the SceneSwitch LED’s plug-and-play approach, all you’ll need to do is screw one in. From there, the brightness will cycle between 100, 40 and 10 percent brightness each time you flip the switch off and then back on. Specifically, that comes out to 800, 320, and 80 lumens, or the rough equivalent of a 60W bulb, a weak 40W bulb, and an accent/mood light, respectively.
Philips
You’ll notice a subtle shift in color temperature, too, with the brightest setting in coming in at a yellowy default of 2,700 K, and the dimmest setting clocking in at an orangey 2,200K.
Essentially, it’s the same effect you’ll get with a traditional three-way incandescent. The difference is that incandescents like those use two separate filaments inside the bulb — one for the lowest setting, another for the middle setting, and both at once for the brightest setting. That requires you to use them in a special socket with an extra electrical contact. That isn’t the case with these SceneSwitch LEDs: They’ll work anywhere, with any common on/off switch.
It isn’t the first LED to offer built-in dimming trickery. The unique-looking Nanoleaf Bloom LED took a similar approach back in 2014 — it gradually fades to full brightness when you first turn it on, and by flipping the switch off and on during that fade, you can lock in a lower light setting. That bulb impressed us, but was tough to recommend at $40 each (about AU$55/£30). A similar LED that costs a lot less sounds pretty appealing to me.
In addition to the standard A-shaped, 60W-equivalent version, Philips says that spotlight and flame-shaped SceneSwitch LEDs are on the way this fall. That’ll bring candelabras, sconces and recessed lighting fixtures into play, and help shore up the “add dimming to any fixture in your home” part of the pitch.
Philips tells us to expect to start seeing the new SceneSwitch LEDs in the US on August 1, a few weeks after they’re slated to arrive in Europe and the UK. You can expect a full review just as soon as we’re able to get our hands on one.
The ‘world’s smallest 4K camera’ has big ambitions
If your sole guidance on an industry was the share price of the market leader, then you’d definitely consider it a tough 12 months for action cameras. That said, newcomer So Special Labs isn’t put off. In fact, it thinks its Mokacam GoPro rival might just be the tonic the product category needs. The 4K action camera packs a dual punch of being small and reasonably priced. At $270, it’s more than $200 cheaper than GoPro’s flagship 4K camera, and it deliberately tries to improve on its rival pain points. With all of that going for it, is the diminutive Mokacam able to compete with the biggest name in this space?
Going by the marketing, you’d think the Mokacam’s key selling point was its size. On its hugely successful Indiegogo site, the company claims three separate times that the device is the “world’s smallest 4K camera,” and that’s before you even get to the details of the product. The main website also repeats this claim throughout and boasts, “The only risk you run is not being able to find it in your bag.” Spoiler: I can confirm that it’s quite easy to find in most bags, though it is indeed on the smaller side.
The problem with the size claim is that at 45mm x 45mm x 30mm, the device isn’t that much smaller than an unadorned GoPro Hero4 (41mm x 59mm x 30mm). And depending how you measure it (if you just measure the body and ignore the lens), my ruler suggests the Mokacam might not be smaller at all. The GoPro Hero4 Session is definitely more compact than the Mokacam, but then again, it doesn’t shoot in 4K. Last, once you add the waterproof case to the Mokacam (required if it’s going to get wet), it’s actually bigger than any housed GoPro Hero4 — so I’m not sure why the company placed so much emphasis on the footprint.
The size brag seems even less necessary once you look at the spec sheet. The Mokacam has a pretty robust feature set that includes a 16-megapixel sensor (the GoPro Hero4 Black has 12); 4K video shooting at 25fps; a decent Sony sensor; and hot-swappable, magnetic batteries, plus software stabilization and motion detection. Some of these features address major pain points found in all action cameras, but a few feel specifically targeted at GoPro (battery life and the lack of image stabilization come up again and again in GoPro forums).
Mokacam wouldn’t be the first action camera that relied on unique features to stand out. Garmin’s VIRB series trades on the company’s GPS heritage, and TomTom added auto-editing, while others bet on price. The Mokacam, for its part, tries to solve genuine problems rather than create gimmicks. I already mentioned the hot-swappable magnetic 1,100 mAh batteries, for instance.
This is a genius idea that theoretically lets you record forever (at least until your memory card fills up). The magnetic back also means you can mount the Mokacam on metal surfaces directly, no accessories needed. In a similarly practical vein, the attachable LCD screen has its own battery and thus doesn’t drain the one inside the camera.
It’s not just the hardware design that’s thoughtful. The software — on both the camera and the app — also has clever features. First up is software stabilization, which I found wasn’t as smooth as the OIS found in the iPhone 6s Plus. Still, it’s better than nothing. Then there’s the motion detection. With this, you could use the Mokacam as a security camera or capture wildlife shots. Other cameras have similar features, but their inclusion here shows Mokacam’s makers are eager to please at both the hardware and software level.
Smart hardware and clever code are only as good as their delivery, though, and this is where things go a little off track for the Mokacam. Those hot-swappable batteries? A great idea and fun to snap on, but they can be knocked off during an activity (unless you’re using the case, that is). And the LCD screen? It works well enough, but the menu system isn’t intuitive. Many key features, including motion detection, are hard to find. The menu screens on the LCD are generic and look like they’d be more at home on an off-brand MP3 player from 2009. Neither of these accessories works with the optional stabilizer accessory (itself a good product, and was used in the sample video in this article).
I’d like to say that the Mokacam was also designed for ease of use. It probably was, but the reality isn’t so straightforward. It’s nice that there’s an app and an LCD screen to control the camera, but there’s barely any feedback on the camera itself. One single, tiny LED on top of the camera tells you whether the device is on, recording or taking a picture — and it’s barely visible in the waterproof case. To switch between video and photo mode, you tap a button on the side; an equally small LED provides feedback here. It’s easy to press this button by accident without realizing it. It’s also the same button that you use to activate WiFi, with a long press. Doing so dims that top LED enough so that it looks like the camera is switched off (it isn’t).
By the way, you’ll want to enable WiFi so you can use the companion app. You might wish you hadn’t bothered, though, as the software needs work. On Android, I could barely get it to run at all. I successfully connected to my phone precisely one time. The iOS version works much better but still lacks many of the menu options the LCD display provides, and it’s pretty ugly too. Other oddities include the option for 20-megapixel mode, even though the camera’s sensor has 16 megapixels, and the 4K video mode isn’t accessible here either. So unless you have the LCD (which is technically $50 extra), you’ll have to wait until the app gets updated before you can use it. Thankfully, an update is indeed in the works, the company tells me.
This is a first-generation, crowdfunded product. So I’m willing to cut it some slack if the image quality is on point. The slider below contains two versions of the same shot, one from the GoPro Hero4 Black (right) and one from the Mokacam (left). The two had near-identical settings (mostly auto). You’ll see that the Mokacam’s higher resolution results in sharper detail on the trees and other busy objects. You’ll also notice that the color is much more vivid. This may initially make the image more pleasing to the eye, but the GoPro’s color reproduction is actually much more authentic. That is to say, the Mokacam is boosting the saturation on the camera.
As for video, the results are pleasing. The general image quality is good, and there’s no screen door effect either. Colors don’t seem as amped as they do in photo mode, but there might be other factors at play. Bright backgrounds can blow out the image a touch — the cheery blue Spanish sky in the sample below seemed to come out white — and at times there’s what appears to be lens distortion. There is an option to remove that on the camera, which is a real time saver, but it’s not always practical out in the field. Overall, though, the Mokacam is good enough that, combined with price, it makes a strong case to those not willing to spend more than $300 on a camera they may only use occasionally.
Ultimately, could the Mokacam be my go-to for outdoor activities? Not right now. I love the creative thinking behind the batteries, the self-powered LCD and the ability to mount it magnetically. The camera delivers decent photos and video too. The issue for me is the usability. Simplicity is good, but visual feedback and functionality are better. Still, at $270 for a fully loaded bundle (with extra battery, LCD, waterproof case, remote and carry pouch), you might consider a few lost or accidental videos worth it.
Source: Indiegogo
Mini review: Our 90-second verdict on the Sony Xperia X Performance
The Xperia X Performance isn’t a bad phone, per se. It’s just that Sony’s newest flagship doesn’t bring anything new to the table. For $700, it offers fast performance (as its name suggests), and the design is water resistant, so that’s nice. Other than that, though, you’re stuck with a middling camera and occasional episodes of overheating. What’s more, it’s missing some features you’d typically expect from a device in this price range — things like a fingerprint sensor, 4K video recording and a Quad HD display. Again, it’s not a bad phone; it’s just not good enough for the price, especially with so many superior alternatives out there.
BloomSky Plus Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
The BloomSky Sky2 and Storm will make up the BloomSky Plus bundle.
BloomSky
Weather-centric startup BloomSky plans to track even more of your hyperlocal climate data with its new kit, the $249 BloomSky Plus. The BloomSky Plus bundle consists of two new gadgets, the Sky2 and Storm, which combined should be capable of sensing local weather conditions. Solar-powered, the setup uses Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless radios to send the info it captures to home networks, cloud-based servers and ultimately a companion mobile app,
BloomSky 2.0
At the heart of the BloomSky Plus package is the Sky2, a weather station and camera system bristling with sensors that measure everything from temperature and humidity to barometric pressure. An orb about the size of a grapefruit, the Sky2’s body has a series of moisture sensors to detect rain events as they happen.
The Sky2 is almost identical to the first Sky weather station.
Fans of the original BloomSky device, the Sky, which shipped to customers in spring 2015, will find this latest station extremely similar. In fact, BloomSky says the Sky and Sky2 products are almost physically identical, with the primary difference being the Sky2’s integrated Bluetooth LTE radio. According to BloomSky the added component is meant to lean on smartphones and tablets to aid the initial configuration of the weather station and link to your home network with fewer hiccups. Hopefully this will also mean less climbing on ladders to tap the Sky2’s buttons if you place the machine on a lofty perch.
In addition to promising smoother deployments, the Sky2 will perform the same tricks as its predecessor, the most notable made possible by its onboard HD camera (1,920×1,072 pixels). During daytime hours the gizmo snaps still pictures every 3 minutes, which it them stitches together into short motion clips for your viewing pleasure.
Capture the storm
The more interesting part of the BloomSky Plus bundle is the Storm device. Tucked away inside the Storm is an anemometer designed to measure wind speed along with a weather vane for detecting wind direction from eight compass points. The Storm has a tipping-cup rain collector as well that provides an unlimited range for assessing rainfall in 0.2mm increments.
The Storm has sensors for rainfall, wind speed and direction and UV light.
BloomSky
The Storm, like the first Sky device, has a UV light sensor, and it’s equipped with its own solar panel. Without solar power, BloomSky claims the Storm’s 3.7-volt (500-mAh) rechargeable battery has one week of staying power with a full charge.
Your smart home’s eyes in the sky
The BloomSky Plus is no ordinary weather station that’s walled off from the growing universe of internet-connected objects and appliances either. BloomSky pledges that both the Sky2 and Storm will support IFTTT integration like the current Sky device. The company also claims the weather station is ready to mesh with other smart-home platforms such as Nest and SmartThings, though as of yet neither has listed BloomSky as an official partner.
See local weather around the globe in the BloomSky app.
Screenshot by Brian Bennett/CNET
Availability
BloomSky plans to launch the Sky2 and Storm along with the BloomSky Plus ($249) combo on Kickstarter July 19, and the earliest Storm units ($99) are supposed to ship to customers in late October. The same October goal applies to BloomSky Plus kits, while the Sky2 bundle ($199 including its solar panel) could arrive as soon as August. BloomSky says the products will ship globally, though prices haven’t been provided. Converted, the Storm’s price would be about £75 or AU$130, while the BloomSky Plus bundle would be about £190 or AU$330.
Fisher-Price Smart Connect 2-in-1 Projection Mobile review – CNET
The Good The Fisher-Price Smart Connect Mobile is a cool device with a lot of features. I love the idea of adding a projector to the conventional mobile.
The Bad For some parents, the $70 price tag will feel a little high for a gadget that is ultimately unnecessary — especially considering the projector has only one reel of repeating images.
The Bottom Line Although the Fisher-Price Mobile isn’t perfect, it’s a feature-rich device with a longer lifespan than most competitors in its category. For the price, it’s a solid purchase.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
Buying toys for infants and toddlers is more complicated than it sounds. How much does it cost? How much clutter will it add? Will your child play with it in six months? Will they play with it at all? That’s what makes legos and blocks so special — they have a long entertainment lifespan. A conventional mobile, by contrast, often stops entertaining kids within a few months.
But Fisher-Price has a solution: a device that includes a mobile and a projector, plus a slew of extra features to sweeten the deal — all for the surprisingly affordable $70. It certainly isn’t a must-buy product, but for most parents, the Fisher-Price Smart Connect 2-in-1 Projection Mobile offers a solid long-term investment.
This smart mobile isn’t just for babies
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The Fisher-Price Projection Mobile has it all. First off, it’s got the standard-issue lullabies and ambient sounds preprogrammed into it. It also has a dim light for checking on your child in a dark room without waking them. Plus, the mobile can spin automatically, and the projector can shoot images onto the inner dome of the mobile. The device also listens for your child’s cries, and will send you push notifications if it sounds like the kiddo is waking up.
If that sounds like a lot of features for $70, that’s because it is. And you can even control all those features and set them on timers via Bluetooth using the iOS and Android app.
Pokemon Go Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
If you’ve been living under a rock these past few days, there’s something you need to know. A few days ago, Nintendo released a mobile app called Pokemon Go on Apple iOS and Google Android. The game integrates augmented reality and makes users travel around their local (and sometimes, not so local) area to catch small, pocketable monsters. Since its release, Pokemon Go has been a huge hit. Like, number-one-in-the-app-store-Internet-and-cultural-phenomenon huge.
But it’s not all Ho-Ohs and Butterfrees. The game is catching flack for accessing users’ full Google accounts, and if you download the game outside the Google Play Store, there’s a chance you’ll get malware instead.
To keep track about what’s going on with Pokemon Go, here’s an exhaustive (and ever growing list) of all the news coverage, how-tos, and explainers CNET has about the game.
These are the best-selling Nintendo consoles…
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On what lead up to this hit:
- Pokemon Go US beta begins, battle mechanics detailed
- Pokemon Go and ‘Plus’ wearable coming next month
- Pokemon Go launches on iOS and Android
- VIDEO: Pokemon Go now on Android and iOS: CNET Update
On the TL;DR basics:
- Pokemon Go: Gyms, candy, pokeballs and everything else you need to know
- Pokemon Go: Where it’s available now – and coming soon
- VIDEO: A Crash Course On Pokémon GO: Gaming
On how to do practically everything on Pokemon Go:
- 3 pro tips for throwing Pokeballs in Pokemon Go
- How gym battles work in Pokemon Go
- Here’s exactly what you get at every Pokemon Go level
- How to get Pikachu as your starter in Pokemon Go
- VIDEO: How to throw a Pokeball in Pokemon Go
- VIDEO: Pokemon Go: What are gyms?
On its growing cultural impact:
- All the Pokemon Go news from around the world
- It took just one day for Pokemon Go to outstrip Tinder
- Pokemon Go is taking over Spotify too
- Don’t play Pokemon Go while driving a car, state says
- Woman playing Pokemon Go finds dead body
- Pokemon Go players targeted in series of armed robberies, police say
- A wild Pokemon Go appears in Asia
- Pokemon Go: Have you caught the fever? (The 3:59 Podcast, Ep. 75)
- Let the Pokemon Go pub crawls begin
- Is Pokemon Go better than a gym membership?
- VIDEO: Strange Sightings in Pokémon GO: Gaming
- VIDEO: What you look like playing Pokemon Go
On malware, personal data and other bad stuff:
- For Pokemon Go, it’s stop — at least temporarily
- Pokemon Go: Gotta catch all your personal data
- How to avoid Pokemon Go malware
- Pokemon Go can see everything in your Google account. Here’s how to stop it
On its effect on Nintendo:
- Pokemon Go pumps up Nintendo’s value by billions
- Nintendo’s stock surges after Pokemon Go rocks iOS and Android devices
- Pokemon Go is a certified hit. What’s Nintendo’s next play?
- VIDEO: Pokemon Go aftermath: Nintendo makes billions, malware spreads: CNET Update
Gear Fit 2 review – can Samsung get fitness tracking right?
The fitness segment of wearables is as crowded as ever, and even though smartwatches are trying to converge on that territory, there is still a market for active-specific devices. Samsung brought one in the form of a wrap around wearable called the Gear Fit, and then we never really saw it again. Until now – Samsung has released the Gear Fit 2 to take on the fitness trackers of the world.
Other fitness trackers:
- Fitbit Charge HR vs Garmin vivosmart HR
- Fitbit Alta Review
- Fitbit Blaze review
Does it keep up with the competition or does it get left in the dust? Is the Gear Fit 2 the best fitness tracker or should you get a dedicated unit? Find out in this, our full Samsung Gear Fit 2 review.
Buy the Gear Fit 2 now!
Design and Display
The Gear Fit 2 is a lot like the original Gear fit in terms of design – it is still a wraparound device that isn’t afraid to stray away from a more conventional watch form factor. Instead, the plastic band simply wraps around the wrist and fastens with a simple nub on one of the arms that goes into the holes on the other. Finding the right fit isn’t that difficult, as the Gear Fit 2 comes with detachable wristbands in small and large sizes, with plenty of notches to fit all manner of wrists. Though proprietary, there are other colors of these bands for those of you that like to customize your products.
Once wrapped around, this is basically a small peripheral that sports a sizeable, curved touchscreen accompanied by a couple of buttons on the right side and an optical heart rate monitor that rests on the skin. The lower button on the right returns the user to the homescreen, while the upper button is for going backwards in the Tizen UI. They are easy to find and have a good click to them.
But most of the navigation on the Gear Fit 2 is done on the 1.84 inch Super AMOLED display, which has a resolution of 432×216. Swiping from side to side brings the user to the different widgets that include shortcuts to the heart rate monitor, workouts, and trackers for water and caffeine intake. The colors on the AMOLED screen are where one would expect from Samsung, and the display is properly responsive for getting in and out of the various features.
While the display does a good job of showing workout, sleep, and heart rate information, it does have a limit when receiving notifications – often emails and long messages will be eventually cut off, ending with the ability to reply (depending on the app in question) or the option to open the notification on the paired smartphone. The display does a good job of showing its information without requiring a whole lot of squinting – but as with any wearable, it is not the most ideal place to read longer forms of text.
Overall, the Gear Fit 2 doesn’t weigh down the wrist and it is light enough to generally forget it is even there – given how easy it is to put on, removal and replacement when necessary is as easy as it can be. And in most situations, the Gear Fit 2 can handle some punishment – with a IP68 certification, it is water resistant. Though it is not specifically rated for swimming or showering, everything from hand washing splashes and full showers haven’t done any damage to the Gear Fit 2.
Hardware
The Gear Fit 2 comes with a few extra features required of a proper fitness device, and that includes GPS, Bluetooth, the heart rate monitor, and 4GB of onboard storage that can be utilized from the Gear Manager on the smartphone.
To start off, the 200mAh battery allows the Gear to go for a few days without needing to dock it into the included proprietary charger. When paired to the phone and receiving messages, a few days happens pretty easily – however, at one point I used the wearable without the Bluetooth on and it lasted plenty longer, close to 5 and a half days. When tracking workouts consistently, the device will obviously drain battery faster. Your mileage will vary – pun intended.
Samsung smartphones aren’t particularly required to enjoy the benefits of the Gear Fit 2, as the device can be paired to phones that have the Gear Manager and S Health installed. In my case, I was able to have the phone paired to the OnePlus 3, and even look at the information transferred to the phone through S Health, installed via the Play Store.
Those who listen to music during workouts can use a Spotify app on the Gear Fit 2, but that does require the phone to be in range. On the other hand, users can transfer local music files to the device via the Gear Manager and listen to music that way – simply pair a Bluetooth headset to the Gear and it will play music from the built in music player. It works quite well and provides a convenient way to bring audio along for workouts without having to rely too heavily on the smartphone. Audio prompts of how long or how far the activity has gone are routed to the headphones, as well, which is useful.
Though users can manually start workouts, one important facet of wearables today is the ability to automatically recognize activity. GPS is always on in the Gear Fit 2, used in conjunction with the accelerometer in order to track distances and possible workouts like walking, running, and hiking. When used with workouts, the GPS needs to lock onto the user and then the path of the activity will be saved for later viewing. Getting a GPS lock tended to take a little while, but once it was set, workouts were properly tracked in both the device and the smartphone’s S Health application.
Distance is one way of tracking a workout, but monitoring one’s heart rate is another option. The optical monitor also does automatic tracking, focusing on resting heart rate through measurements every 10 minutes. The lower one’s resting heart rate is, the better the person’s general fitness is – so, this is a welcome feature of the Gear Fit 2. For the most part, it is fairly accurate and gives a pretty constant look at one’s personal health.
On the other hand, using the heart rate monitor during workouts is very hit or miss. To begin with, heart rate monitoring is only available for basically cardio workouts like running. I personally prefer lifting exercises over straight cardio, so this means that the heart rate monitor is less useful for me. And even then, the accuracy of the monitor during high intensity workouts is worse – when compared to a chest-mounted monitor like ones made by Polar, the heart rate is often more than a dozen beats off of the real mark. This is often the case with heart rate monitors on wrist wearables, but it means the Gear Fit 2 is not made for those enthusiasts who micromanage their workouts.
Fitness Tracking
The Gear Fit 2, as mentioned, is able to automatically track activity, but that is also true for sleep. When registering little to no motion while sleeping, the Gear Fit 2 can tell users the ‘efficiency’ of rest. It seems to take a while for the device to register that sleep is over – likely because obvious movement first needs to happen – but a notification showing the percentage of sleep efficiency will eventually greet users in the morning. Mine was always in the nineties, which seems a little suspect, but at least movement graphs in the S Health app show a little more information.
That said, one of the more useful features of a smart wearable is missing in the Gear Fit 2 – wake up alarms. Personally I think that using vibration feedback for alarms is one of the most important features for a smartwatch – a smart fitness wearable, moreover – to have.
When walking or running around in general, the Gear Fit 2 will try to track the activity – for example, when I attended Anime Expo, the long walks to and from areas in the Convention Center made the wearable vibrate and prompt me about my current length of activity, sometimes telling me to ‘keep it up’ or keep up the pace.’ All of this tracking goes toward the overall amount S Health recommends – either one hour or the default 6000 steps.
Starting actual workouts is simple – just swipe over to the workout widget, select the type of activity, and hit start. There are a few different options for tracking, like distance, pace, or calories burned. Heart rate monitoring happens consistently during cardio movements and does not happen at all when doing other activities – setting “Other Workout” for weight lifting kept the monitor off, which I already mentioned is not ideal for me.
There are other workouts found lower on the list, including bodyweight exercises like squats and crunches. These are actually pretty useful, as the device uses the built-in meters to register movements based on the prompts displayed before starting. In one case, doing a bunch of squats required an almost crossed arm position so that the Gear Fit 2 knew when it was lowered and lifted due to the movement. This part of the fitness tracking is kind of nifty, albeit rather simplistic.
And that is, basically, the best way to describe the Gear Fit 2 in terms of a fitness tracker – like quite a few trackers made by companies that are not already entrenched in the fit world, it is best used as a way to get a glimpse into one’s daily activity.
For full fitness enthusiasts, it isn’t the most accurate tracker but comes with a number of good tools – users can even track how much water or caffeine has been consumed. To track resting heart rate and steps, the Gear Fit 2 does a pretty good job – when the activity gets more intense, usage ultimately gets a little tougher to accurately track. And for people who are already serious about fitness tracking, the Gear Fit 2 may not do enough to replace their already existing solutions.
Software
Tizen is the interface used in the Gear Fit 2, as is the case with the current Gear family of wearables. It is simple, easy to navigate, and provides a proper suite of tools. Notifications are routed to the wearable, so that users will not miss any important messages or alerts. These can be active on a per-app basis, easily changed in the Manager.
When notifications arrive, they are displayed in a scrollable block of text with some options on the bottom. The options are very limited, however, as replies to messages can only be done on either the built-in Samsung SMS messenger and Facebook Messenger. The Google Messenger app, for example, does allow reading back the conversation, but replying relies on canned responses or emoji. And as mentioned before, long form messages are eventually truncated – this isn’t a big deal for a fitness wearable, since reading full e-mails isn’t something that should be done during activity, but it is important to keep in mind.
As this is Tizen on the Gear Fit 2, the Gear Manager and Galaxy Apps systems are required to install extra applications and watchfaces on the device. Watchfaces and widgets are easy to change on the wearable, requiring just a long press on the screen in order to trigger customizations. However, when going into the actual app stores, there is a severe lack of third party applications. I was very happy to find one well-designed and functional watchface, but that’s about all I’ve found in terms of extras. Especially since the original Gear Fit was available quite a while ago, we thought there would be more developed apps.
Gallery
Conclusion
As so, there you have it. A smart wearable by Samsung that hopes to give users a better look into their daily fitness. When taken in the context of fitness trackers, the Gear Fit 2 finds itself among an incredibly crowded market filled with companies that have a lot more experience in the fit world. That said, Samsung has done a great job of adapting their mobile knowledge into the fitness space, and the Gear Fit 2 is slightly above average in terms of tracking.
It unfortunately pales in comparison to much more focused trackers, especially when it comes to heart rate during workouts, but as a way of snapshotting daily activity and consumption, this and S Health are good for the user that needs more than nothing. If you are already tracking your health with another device, the Gear Fit 2 will probably not replace what is already sitting on your wrist. But for everyone else, the appropriately priced $179.99 Gear Fit 2 is a good start that provides just enough to be useful.
Other fitness trackers:
- Fitbit Charge HR vs Garmin vivosmart HR
- Fitbit Alta Review
- Fitbit Blaze review
What do you think of the Gear Fit 2 and do you plan to buy one? Do you like fitness trackers on your wrist? Let us know your views in the comments below!
Buy the Gear Fit 2 now!
Incipio Offgrid Express for iPhone 6/6S review – CNET
The Good The Incipio Offgrid Express will fully charge the iPhone once and powers up your phone’s battery just as quickly as more expensive chargers.
The Bad The case has a few inelegant open seams that look unattractive and awkward.
The Bottom Line The Incipio Offgrid Express has some design flaws, but get this over the pricier Mophie Juice Pack.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
If you’re looking for a slim battery case to charge your iPhone on the go, but you don’t want to spend more than $100, the Incipio Offgrid Express is a good $80 option (or £60 and approximately AU$110). The accessory offers a meaty 3,000mAh battery and it can double your phone’s battery life for a good deal less than Mophie’s $120 Juice Pack Plus.
Though its battery reserves aren’t as high as the Juice Pack Plus (the Mophie sports 3,300mAh battery) and its design isn’t as clean cut, Incipio’s case does essentially the same thing and works just as well.
To use the Offgrid Express, plug the handset into the battery charger and snap the bumper around the phone’s edges to attach both pieces together. For the first few times, I had a hard time snapping the bumper into place all the way since there always seemed to be a gap at the seams. But as I kept fastening the case together throughout the day, I eventually got the hang of it.
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On the bottom right edge is a button that turns on the indicator lights so you know how much charge is left. You can also long press the button to turn the charger on and off. The case uses Micro-USB charge, which is common for iPhone battery cases. Because of this, you’ll need two different cords to charge your case and iPhone (the latter uses a proprietary eight-pin Lightning connection). If this is a big deal for you, Apple has its own Smart Battery Case that uses the eight-pin port too.
During my time with the case, I saw that it did attract some fingerprint smudges, but they’re much easier to wipe off compared to Mophie’s case. The Offgrid Express also adds extra bulk to your device, especially at the bottom. Because your headphones may not fit through the case and into the handset’s headphone jack, Incipio included a headphone port extender. In addition, a small rectangle on the left of the case is cut out to allow users access to the phone’s ring/silent switch. Given the overall thickness of the case, that means you’ll need to dig your fingers a bit deeper to toggle this on and off.
AIVAnet 