HP Omen X review – CNET
The Good The HP Omen X is a powerful gaming desktop with a modern, minimalist design, and is angled for easy access to ports and components. DIY types can buy the just case and build it themselves.
The Bad The system is big, heavy and expensive. Lighting effects are limited compared to some other gaming desktops.
The Bottom Line The HP Omen X builds a powerful gaming desktop with smart ergonomics into a bold but expensive statement piece.
It’s big. It’s powerful. It’s cube-shaped.
The Omen X desktop from HP is one of the boldest PC designs of the year, taking what could have been a cool but not exactly groundbreaking cube shape and standing it on one edge for a sharp, angular look.
The first thing everyone does when they see the Omen X is reach out and ever so gently give it a shake. Even though it looks precariously perched on a single edge, the stand is actually rock solid, and there’s zero danger of it tipping over.
View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET
Why is this desktop balanced on one edge? It’s actually a pretty brilliant idea that makes it very easy to access the ports, the drive bays, and even the interior of the system. With standard desktops, you usually have to (carefully) lie them down on their side, or else crawl up next to them on the floor. That makes removing the side panel difficult to start with, and also makes working inside the case, swapping out hard drives and graphics cards, a hassle.
In the Omen X, you just pop off the side cover, and everything’s already at an ergonomic 45-degree angle and easy to reach. It’s easiest on a desk or table, but works fine on the floor as well.
View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET
Three ways to get into the
Omen
The configuration reviewed here is a pretty basic build, with an Nvidia 1080 card, an Intel Core i7 CPU and a 256GB SSD and 2TB HDD storage combo. It runs $2,499 on HP’s website right now, a similar configuration sells for £2,499 or AU$4,499 in Australia. And it comes with a handful of CPU, GPU and storage options.
But, that’s not the only way to get the Omen X experience. As the big, airy case is sure to appeal to DIY-style system builders, HP offers the case itself, minus any components, for $599 or £549. It’s not currently available in Australia, but that price converts to about AU$800. To address the elephant in the room right away: That’s an insane price for a PC case, even one as nice-looking and feature-filled as the Omen X. It’s hard to imagine spending more than $200 on an empty case, even at the high end.
View full gallery Sarah Tew/CNET
If you want something really high-end with speciality components, extreme overclocking and a custom paint job, HP is going to kick you over to a well-respected gaming PC custom builder named Maingear. They’ll take the basic Omen X case and build you the very expensive gaming desktop of your dreams, starting at $2,999 — that’s about £2,365 or AU$4,025.
HP Omen X
| $2,499 |
| 4GHz Intel Core i7-6700K |
| 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,400MHz |
| 8GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 |
| 256GB SSD + 2TB HDD |
| 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.? |
| Windows 10 Home (64-bit) |
Enter the cube
There’s plenty of room for two graphics cards and even liquid cooling in the main compartment, and that’s because this cube is cut into separate quadrants. The power supply is tucked away in its own zone, and all the hard drives are in a separate zone — makes cooling and cable management much easier.
Razer Ornata Chroma Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
The great keyboard schism comes down to the keys. Membrane switches are electrical, and rely on each keystroke completing a circuit on a single board. Your average office keyboard most likely uses membrane switches.
The other side of the divide, favoured by gamers, uses mechanical switches. In a mechanical keyboard, every switch uses its own spring mechanism to record keystrokes. This gives a lot of control over travel distance, resistance and, most importantly, accuracy.
Razer’s new Ornata Chroma keyboard isn’t taking sides. It’s using both kinds of switch in its keys.
Dave Cheng/CNET
Key specs
- $100 (£100, AU$170)
- Razer’s specially designed “mecha-membrane” switches
- Full keyboard with numpad
- Anti-ghosting on up to 10 simultaneous keypresses
- Game mode to turn off Windows key
- Magnetized palm rest
- USB connection
- Razer Synapse app and Chroma customisation
Of mech and membrane
OK, so it’s a keyboard designed for gaming. Which means, you’re probably dealing with some real purists, and you’re telling them that their gaming keyboard doesn’t have fully mechanical keys.
What do they get though? The newly developed Razer tech appears for the first time in the Ornata, and it does manage to combine the satisfying click of a true mechanical switch with the softer touch of a membrane dome. It can also manage an impressive 10 simultaneous keypresses without ghosting (when too many keys are pressed and some don’t register).
Get up close with Razer’s new gaming range
See full gallery
1 – 4 of 15
Next
Prev
On the technical side, it also means there’s a much shorter distance between keystroke and activation without sacrificing too much travel on each key — they all sit at half height. Whether that translates to more speed and accuracy is going to come down to the user.
I’ve typed this whole review on the Ornata, and for general use, I’ll say this much: It stands head and shoulders above the mechanical keyboard plugged into my gaming rig at home. For one, the quieter actuation means my frantic tapping isn’t driving my coworkers crazy. There’s a reason my mechanical keyboard is at home, and not in the office. For another, it takes much less pressure per keystroke than pretty much every mechanical keyboard I’ve used.
The gravy
Then there’s the little quality of life features. I’m in love with the included magnetized palm rest. It snaps in place perfectly and hasn’t shifted on me once, even with rigorous use. It also puts your hands perfectly level with the keys, and honestly I wouldn’t recommend using the keyboard without it — at around an inch tall, it’s just too far off the desktop to use comfortably with no added support. That also means it takes up a fair amount of desk space — around 18 inches by 9.5 inches. Keep that in mind if space is already at a premium.
Make your keyboard psychedelic with Razer Synapse and programmable LEDs.
Dave Cheng/CNET
The Ornata is firmly in the Razer family, and fully integrated with the Synapse desktop app. The LEDs are completely programmable, and you can do anything from only highlighting your WASD keys to having a full rainbow wave playing beneath your fingers.
On the subject of lighting, I found the glow from in between the keys muddied the backlighting on the keys themselves. Not a deal breaker, especially if you’re touch-typing or going by feel, but it’s definitely something to be aware of if you’re using the Ornata in a brighter room.
Verdict
The new switches, while in a very well designed package, are going to come down to personal preference. Are you okay with the half-height travel, with the resistance, with the sound of the keystrokes? Personally, I found that the hybrid switches make for a very good hybrid keyboard, but it’s hard to go past fully mechanical keys on a gaming peripheral.
What the Ornata does offer is the best of both worlds. Springy keys. Clicky typing, but not too loud. Middle of the road travel and soft-touch actuation. It may not be enough to convert loyalists in either the membrane or mechanical camp, but if you’re open to seeing how the other half lives, the Ornata is a great way to do it.
Razer DeathAdder Elite Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
The most accurate mouse ever.
It may sound hyperbolic, but Razer’s Deathadder Elite gaming mouse can back up the claim. The original Deathadder, Razer claims, is the most popular gaming mouse in the world. So when the upgraded Elite version was announced, it’s safe to say that people were a little antsy.
Razer has made good on the promise though, with bleeding edge sensors for improved accuracy and design tweaks that make the Deathadder Elite even more comfortable to use.
Dave Cheng/CNET
Key specs
- $70 (£70, AU$120)
- USB connection
- Mechanical switches
- Two side buttons
- Switches to control sensitivity on the fly
- Programmable Chroma LEDs
- Rubber grips and treaded scroll wheel
And, since this is what you’re really here for:
Key bragging rights
- 16,000 DPI tracking
- 99.4 percent resolution accuracy
- Tested to 50 million clicks
- 450 IPS tracking (30 percent higher than its closest competitor)
Hitting the mark
That’s right. In addition to some very compelling physical redesigns, the Deathadder Elite is near impossible to beat when it comes to accuracy.
It’s got the usual mechanical switches underneath the main mouse buttons for the best possible responsiveness, and if you’re worried about lifespan, those switches are tested to 50 million clicks (rather than the 20 million odd typical for mice).
But it’s the sensor itself. This is a gaming mouse, which means precision and speed. Without getting too bogged down in the numbers, suffice it to say that the Deathadder Elite’s sensor is 99.4 percent accurate, it tracks with hardly any latency and it has more points of reference than pretty much any other mouse you’ve ever used. That means you cursor should track your movements as close to perfect as possible.
Get up close with Razer’s new gaming range
See full gallery
1 – 4 of 15
Next
Prev
The Deathadder Elite is packing the most advanced optical sensor in the market, and that translates to literally unprecedented accuracy in a mouse. It’s customisable down to the point where you can specify the type of mouse pad or change the sensitivity on the fly with buttons located behind the scroll wheel. Razer has designed this with an audience in mind (the extensive research hit on the pain points and needs of e-sports pros), and those boasts about accuracy and performance don’t come up short.
While that’s all well and good — it’s certainly a performance device, and it’s noticeable, even for an amateur — you can’t go past how good it feels.
A mouse in the hand is worth two in the box
My colleague Sean Hollister called the original Deathadder “one of the most comfortable mice he’d ever held”. I’m with him on that point. The Deathadder it’s my own personal go-to. So when I say that the upgraded Deathadder Elite feels even better, I’m not mucking about.
The rubberized sides provide excellent traction and the tread on the scroll wheel offers just enough grip for rapid use. Design elements like Razer’s usual braided fabric USB cable also offer a great deal of peace of mind for long-term, intense use and surviving any travel.
It doesn’t have the full range of under-the-thumb programmable buttons that you’d find on the Naga, but the Deathadder Elite’s two side buttons are wonderfully positioned — easy to hit with a twitch of the thumb, but high enough on the side that you won’t bump them accidentally.
As is usual for a Razer product, it’s managed with the proprietary Synapse app so you can get the LEDs to flash in just the right way. I mean, every button and in-depth sensitivity control is also programmable through Synapse, but we all know what you’ve come here to do. And it’s custom LED patterns.
Dave Cheng/CNET
Verdict
If you want a mouse and have the money, it’s very, very hard to go past the Deathadder Elite. It feels great, it lives up to some wildly over-the-top claims and it’s an impressive evolution of one of the most popular gaming mice ever produced. While its baby brother is a better recommendation for the budget-conscious, the Deathadder Elite has set a new bar for gaming peripherals.
Razer Kraken Pro V2 Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
The Kraken 7.1 V2 headset is big. Edge to edge, they measured 27 centimetres when they were on. I had more than one person say I looked like a fly as I wore them. They’re not small, is what I’m getting at. The Cronenberg aesthetic aside, Razer’s latest USB headset manages to back up with an impressive virtual 7.1 surround sound offering and some nice design elements.
The souped-up Kraken V2 is part of Razer’s new “e-sports suite,” a range designed with competitive gamers in mind. (The suite also includes the Deathadder Elite mouse and Gigantus mouse mat). And the extra legwork Razer’s done in talking to e-sports pros shows in the final product.
Key specs
- $100 (£80, AU$70)
- Over-ear memory foam cups
- 7.1 virtual surround sound
- Retractable noise-cancelling microphone
- 50mm neodymium drivers
- Aluminium headband
- USB connection
- 346g (12.2 ounces)
- Razer Synapse and Chroma compatible
Dave Cheng/CNET
Built to last, build to wear
The huge over-ear cups and unibody aluminium headband give the Kraken a deceptively sturdy feel for the weight, as well a small amount of passive noise isolation. It tips the scales at a very slim 346g (12.2 ounces), especially for the size. The size adjustments come in the form of five number notches on each arm. Each notch locks in with a satisfying click, and it makes it quite easy to find the right setting again.
Get up close with Razer’s new gaming range
See full gallery
1 – 4 of 15
Next
Prev
The Kraken also comes with a very handy moulded channel in the ear cups. Essentially, this gives a tiny bit of extra room for the frames of your glasses, stopping them from pressing uncomfortably into your head. It’s a burden I, and many other bespectacled gamers, know well. What this all adds up to is very comfortable long-term use. It’s not a headphone you’ll find uncomfortable after a five-hour-long gaming session.
In fact, the biggest problem I had was when I tried to take them off — the beefy cups wouldn’t sit comfortably around my neck when I wanted to talk to someone without them on. Something to keep in mind if you’re a fellow neckslinger.
Sound where you need it
This is a gaming headset, and that means there are two features in particular worth pointing out.
The first is the 7.1 virtual surround. All the software-side device management is done through Razer’s custom Synapse app. That includes letting you set custom colour profiles for the LEDs with Chroma and the usual equaliser tweaks, but the real standout here is the dynamic virtual surround.
Dave Cheng/CNET
Synapse will give you a map of all 7 speaker channels, letting you position them specifically for your own hearing to give you the best possible surround experience. It’s a pretty simple process too. A radial map goes from channel to channel and you click and drag until it sounds like it’s coming from the right spot.
The second is the mic. It retracts fully into the left ear cup, sits on the end of a flexible arm and can be muted by clicking the tip. It’s a very low-fuss, low-profile solution to incorporating the mic in a headset, but the most useful feature here is the active noise cancelling. The mic will filter out background noise, including general chatter of crowds and, in personal experience, the incredibly loud clacking of my mechanical keyboard.
Dave Cheng/CNET
Verdict
Razer’s new research-driven design ethos has yielded some very promising results, but the Kraken is a pricey headset. To its credit, Razer has made efforts to bring the price down, but the sound quality itself doesn’t stack up too well against other headsets that cost around the same money, and if I’m honest, it was slightly too chunky to be considered portable.
That said, if you’re entrenched in the Razer ecosystem the directional audio might be worth the price of admission for some, and there are little quality-of-life design choices like the retractable mic and aluminium headband that speak to a headset designed in response to feedback, even if it’s one that doesn’t get everything right.
Lifx Z Multi-Color LED Wi-Fi Light Strip review – CNET
The Good The Lifx Z light strips don’t need a bridge or a hub plugged into your router, and they let you “paint” multiple colors onto the strips — two distinct advantages over Philips Hue. They also work with IFTTT, Nest, SmartThings and Amazon’s Alexa.
The Bad Controls for that color-painting feature are pretty imprecise, and you can’t save any of your custom patterns to use later. There’s also no way to animate your light patterns — and no Apple HomeKit compatibility, either.
The Bottom Line Like most color-changing lights, these strips are a fun, expensive smart-home novelty.
Lifx is a top option in the color-changing smart bulb category, but it’s never offered color-changing light strips like the ones you’ll find from Philips Hue or Osram Lightify. That changed recently when Lifx introduced “Lifx Z,” a set of multicolor LED strips that you can stick up under cabinets or behind your TV set. They connect directly to your router using Wi-Fi just like Lifx lightbulbs do, and even let you “paint” each strip with multiple colors — something you can’t do with Philips or Osram.
The starter kit comes with two 1-meter strips and the plug-in power supply for $90 (about £70/AU$120), with additional 1-meter strips selling for $30 (£25/AU$40). While Osram’s starter kit is slightly cheaper, Lifx’s pricing matches what you’ll find with Philips Hue. That makes Lifx Z a viable alternative if you’re in the market for RGB smart strips, especially since they don’t need any sort of hub or bridge plugged into your router in order to connect with your network.
Lifx Z: Color-changing light strips for the…
See full gallery
1 – 5 of 8
Next
Prev
You can change the color or color temperature of the light strips in the Lifx app, just like you can with Lifx smart bulbs.
Screenshots by Ry Crist/CNET
Getting started with the Lifx Z strips is pretty simple. Connect your strips together and then connect them to the power adapter and plug them in (it can manage up to 10 strips in total). The Lifx app will direct you to connect to the Wi-Fi signal they’re broadcasting — once you do, it’ll connect them with your home network and you’ll be all set.
The strips have a layer of 3M sticky tape on the back — just peel and stick to put them in place. I had them up and running under a cabinet at CNET Appliances HQ in just a few minutes; my only concern is that it might be a bit of a pain if you ever want to relocate them to another spot.
You can use the Lifx app to change the color of the strips (or the color temperature, if you’re sticking with natural white light tones). The app treats them like another bulb, so if you want to group them with other Lifx products or include them in any of your scenes, you can.
Tapping one of the themes — in this instance, “Exciting” — will change each of the eight “zones” of lights in each one-meter strip to a random color from the theme’s group.
Screenshots by Ry Crist/CNET
The one in-app difference with the strips is that you’ll notice a horizontal line up above the color wheel. That line shows you the current color of your strips as you rotate the dial — but its true function comes to light once you tap over into the “Themes” section of the app.
ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe review
ASUS made quite a splash in January last year with the mid-range ZenFone 2, with the device offering impressive specifications and features that were coupled with a very budget-friendly price tag. This is a practice that has becoming increasingly common since then, with a lot of OEMs jumping on the “high quality, affordable price” bandwagon, and has also become a growing trend in the flagship space as well.
- ASUS ZenFone 3 review
- ASUS ZenFone 3 family hands-on
This year, ASUS has released a high-end Deluxe edition along with the two mid-range ZenFone 3 variants, to better compete in this growing smartphone category. Is ASUS’ latest flagship offering a compelling option in the face of stiff competition? We find out, in this comprehensive ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe!
Design
Expectations are high when a word like “Deluxe” is tacked on to the name of a device, and the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe does deliver in terms of design. As expected from a flagship smartphone, the build quality of this device is fantastic. Unlike its mid-range siblings that utilize a metal and glass construction, the Deluxe edition features a full metal unibody design.
Chamfered edges around the front and back, a sloping, curved back, and rounded corners and sides all make for a device that provides a smooth and comfortable feel in the hand. It is fairly thin, with a thickness of just 7.5mm, which gives it a sleek look, but even more impressive is the fact that the ZenFone 3 Deluxe features a truly full metal construction.
You won’t find any plastic antenna lines as is seen with every other smartphone with a metal body, and ASUS claims that this is the first smartphone to achieve this. This choice doesn’t seem to inhibit the phone’s ability to pick up a wireless signal, which makes you wonder why we haven’t seen this already, especially from much larger OEMs.
Like previous ZenFone devices, you will notice ASUS’ signature pattern of concentric circles above the display, on the bottom chin, and along the power button and volume rocker that are both located on the right side. Up top is the headphone jack, and at the bottom are the USB Type-C port and a single speaker unit. On the left side is the SIM and microSD card combination slot.
The device uses capacitive navigation keys, but instead of embedding a fingerprint scanner into the capacitive home button up front, ASUS decided to keep the sensor on the back. The fingerprint scanner features a thin rectangular design which is unlike the circle or square sensors that we are used to seeing with other smartphones.
Display
The ZenFone 3 Deluxe comes with a large 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with a 1080p resolution. This screen is not going to stack up to a Quad HD display in terms of sharpness, particularly if you are planning to use this phone for VR, but it certainly more than gets the job done and actually looks really great.
You get bright and vibrant colors, excellent viewing angles, high contrast, and deep, inky blacks, which are expected features of a Super AMOLED display. The large display makes it the perfect size for playing games and watching videos and movies. It also comes with some handy features that are becoming increasingly common, including a blue light filter, and the ability to tweak the display and color settings to have the screen look the way you want it.
Performance
Under the hood, the ZenFone 3 Deluxe comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor that is backed by the Adreno 530 GPU and a whopping 6GB of RAM. This is the processing package that powers the majority of 2016 flagships, plus more RAM than the standard, so unsurprisingly, performance isn’t an issue with the smartphone.
The device handles everyday tasks like opening, closing, and switching between apps, browsing the web and social media, and a whole lot more, without a hitch. Gaming is very enjoyable, and multi-tasking is a breeze. You can easily have numerous apps open in the background, including a couple of games, without any signs of slowing down. Despite ASUS’ heavily skinned version of Android, the ZenFone 3 Deluxe manages to provide a very fluid experience.
Hardware
64GB, 128GB, and 256GB are the options available in terms of built-in storage, which is further expandable up to an additional 256GB via microSD card. However, keep in the mind that the second SIM slot doubles as the microSD card slot, so users will have to choose between dual SIM capabilities or expandable storage.
As mentioned, the device comes with a single speaker unit at the bottom which sounds fine and gets decently loud. It’s not going to compare to a phone with stereo or front-facing speakers though, and as is the case with any bottom-firing speaker, it is very easy to cover up when holding the device in the landscape orientation.
The different design of the fingerprint scanner from the back doesn’t take away from how accurate it is, with it able to unlock the device every single time. However, it isn’t the fastest sensor out there, and there have been a few instances where it took two to three seconds to wake and unlock the phone. I’m also not a fan of the fact that there is no haptic feedback or vibration when using the scanner, so there is no way to tell that you are actually unlocking your phone when you are doing it blindly.
The ZenFone 3 Deluxe comes with a decently-sized 3,000mAh battery, but in my experience, the battery life leaves much to be desired. Light usage will allow for a full day of use, but even slightly heavier usage that involves watching videos on Youtube and playing games will mean that you will need to charge your device in the middle of the day.
Heavy gaming will cause rapid battery drain with any smartphone, but I noticed that it was much faster with the ZenFone 3 Deluxe when compared to other flagship smartphones I’ve used recently like the Galaxy S7 Edge, Google Pixel, and OnePlus 3T. The phone typically lasts about 8 to 9 hours off the charger, which is significantly shy of what I would normally expect to get a full day’s worth of use. The phone does support Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 though, so at least it doesn’t take a long time get it back to a full charge.
Camera
The Deluxe comes with a 23MP rear camera with a f/2.0 aperture, optical image stabilization, and a laser autofocus system. Up front is an 8MP shooter with the same aperture, and it works pretty well to cover all your selfie needs. A slew of beauty mode settings to take a better selfie are available to use with the front-facing camera, that can hide blemishes, change your skin tone, widen your eyes, and thin out your face.
The camera app is packed with a variety of features, and comes with 20 different shooting modes, including beautification, low light, depth of field, timelapse, and more, so there is a whole lot you can do with this camera. The built-in manual mode is surprisingly well fleshed out. Apart from the usual granular controls for white balance, exposure, ISO, shutter speed, and focus, you also get a built-in histogram and a horizontal level so you can get a perfectly straight shot every time.
With a 23MP shooter, you might expect the photos to be very well detailed, but that unfortunately just hasn’t been the case. The color reproduction and dynamic range are pretty good, but the images lack a lot of detail and sharpness, even in daylight shots. Shots do look fine overall, but zooming in is when you can really see the detail start to break down, and everything just appears rather soft.
In well-lit lighting conditions, the shutter is nice and fast, but in low-light conditions, it slows down drastically. The image quality also deteriorates and OIS doesn’t seem to be of any help here. There is a lot of noticeable noise and blooming in the highlights, and the overall image is just soft and lacking in detail or sharpness. It takes a good two or three seconds for the camera to capture a shot in low light, and that makes it really difficult to get a shot that was in focus. Any movement before you are sure that the camera has taken the picture will result in a blurry image.
What is impressive about the camera experience is all the features and shooting modes that are available, but quality of images it is able to capture is a little underwhelming to say the least.
Software
On the software side of things, the ZenFone 3 Deluxe is running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow with the Zen UI on top. While many OEMs have been streamlining their user interfaces, AUS has gone in the opposite direction. Zen UI changes a lot of the Android experience, and comes jam packed with a ton of features which may or may not be all that useful.
If you prefer something more simplistic, the Zen UI can certainly feel a touch overwhelming. Some of the elements also feel slightly outdated. For example, the app drawer still houses all the widgets, which we haven’t seen on stock Android since the Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean days.
The out of the box is also very animation heavy, and while they do look good and flashy, some of the animations are quite long and can make something as simple as opening an app from a folder take more time that it should. You do have the option some of these, like the home screen scroll effects and folder animations to something shorter, but if you stick with the regular settings, it will make the experience feel a lot slower.
Zen UI is very reminiscent of Samsung’s TouchWiz from a few years ago. It is very bright, colorful, has a lot of cartoonish icons, and comes pre-installed with a handful of ASUS’s own bloatware applications. The experience can feel incohesive and bloated, but it isn’t all bad. There are some features that are useful, such as double tap to wake and sleep, a one handed operation mode, and a robust themes store that lets you change the look and feel of the UI.
Specifications
| Display | 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display 1080p resolution, 386 ppi |
| Processor | 2.15 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 Adreno 530 GPU |
| RAM | 6 GB |
| Storage | 64/128/256 GB expandable via microSD card up to 256 GB |
| Camera | 23 MP rear camera, f/2.0 aperture, OIS, laser autofocus, dual LED flash 8 MP front-facing camera, f/2.0 aperture |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Bluetooth 4.2 NFC GPS + GLONASS IR USB Type-C (USB 3.0) |
| Battery | 3,000 mAh |
| Software | Android 6.0 Marshmallow |
| Dimensions | 156.4 x 77.4 x 7.5 mm 170 grams |
Gallery
Pricing and final thoughts
So there you have it for this in-depth look at the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe! The device is priced at $499.99 which isn’t a bad price tag, but there are several other smartphones out there like the Axon 7 and the new OnePlus 3T that undercut this price, while offering very similar experiences.
The ZenFone 3 Deluxe features a beautiful design, a great looking display, and comes with a ton of features, but so do a lot of other smartphones, and the Deluxe just falls short in too many key areas to make it really stand out from the crowd.
Lifx Plus Wi-Fi Smart Bulb review – CNET
The Good The Lifx Plus is bright and efficient as ever, features a well-designed, integrated and easy-to-use app. It produces bold, accurate colors at every hue. The new night vision feature is unique and legitimately cool.
The Bad Lifx bulbs still aren’t compatible with Apple HomeKit. Those infrared night vision diodes mean that the Lifx Plus is always drawing power, making it less efficient than its predecessors.
The Bottom Line If you use night vision cameras in your home, then these well-rounded smart bulbs can help them see in the dark — but if you don’t, there’s really no reason to buy them.
Visit manufacturer site for details.
It’s been just a little over four years since Australian inventor Phil Bosua introduced his idea for a color-changing, Wi-Fi-enabled LED on Kickstarter. Now, Lifx is already selling its third-generation smart bulb, the Lifx Plus.
The Lifx Plus looks and works just like the Lifx bulbs that came before it, but it adds in infrared diodes that cast out invisible light when the bulb is turned off. That’s the same light that night vision cameras use to see in the dark, which means the Lifx Plus can give NV cameras greater visibility in low light conditions.
It’s a cool, creative feature that worked well when I tested it out, which makes Lifx Plus worth considering if you use night vision cameras to keep an eye on your home. But if you don’t, then I say don’t bother — at $80 each (which converts to about £65 or AU$105), they cost more than standard Lifx LEDs and they don’t bring anything else new to the table besides the night vision trick.
The Lifx Plus smart bulb helps your cameras…
See full gallery
1 – 5 of 10
Next
Prev
Design and features
The Lifx Plus sticks to the same flat-topped design as previous-gen Lifx bulbs, adding only a plus sign beneath the Lifx logo. Like the existing Lifx bulbs, it’s an 11W LED that promises to put out about as much brightness as a 75W incandescent bulb — 1,100 lumens.
You can change the color or the white-light color temperature of each Lifx bulb with easy-to-use selector dials.
Screenshots by Ry Crist/CNET
It sticks to the same playbook on the smarts front, too. Like the original Lifx LED and last year’s second-gen Lifx Color 1000, each Lifx Plus bulb uses a built-in Wi-Fi radio to connect directly with your home network. Once everything’s synced up, you’ll be able to control the bulbs on your phone from anywhere with an internet connection.
The app controls include a complete spectrum of colors as well as sixteen dedicated white light settings. Those range from a warm, candle-like glow at 2,500 kelvin to hot, bluish-white daylight tones at 9,000 kelvin. The app also offers a number of preset color themes and lighting effects, including a music visualizer and a strobe function. You can also schedule lighting changes to happen at specific times of day, or at sunrise or sunset.
Lifx bulbs are compatible with a variety of third parties. You can sync them up with the SmartThings connected home platform, the Nest Learning Thermostat and Nest Protect smoke detectors. Or you can sync them with the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot smart speakers and get voice-activated lighting changes through Alexa, Amazon’s virtual assistant. Lifx also has a fairly robust channel on the online automation service IFTTT, which lets you trigger lighting changes using any number of IFTTT-compatible gadgets and services.
That said, none of those partners are new this generation. Compatibility with Apple HomeKit, the set of smart home protocols in the software that runs iPhones and iPads, is still missing. HomeKit compatibility is the most-requested feature from the Lifx user base, but for now at least, Lifx COO Tim Peters would only tell me to “stay tuned.”
Lifx Plus is brighter than the previous-gen Lifx Color 1000 at every white light setting, especially daylight tones.
Ry Crist/CNET
Performance
The third-gen Lifx Plus bulbs work just the same as the past Lifx bulbs, but they were at least a little bit brighter than before at every color and white light setting I tested. That’s a nice step forward given that they don’t use any more energy than last year’s bulbs do.
The only colors that were noticeably brighter with Lifx Plus than with the original Lifx LED were yellow, green, and cyan.
Ry Crist/CNET
Still, they aren’t quite as bright as advertised. At their brightest setting, the default 3,500 kelvin, I was only able to get the Lifx Plus’ lumen count up to 1,015 — a bit short of the stated 1,100 lumens and barely any brighter than last year’s Lifx Color 1000. The results were much better at other white light settings, though — particularly the bluish-white daylight tones, where Lifx Plus offers you an extra 200 lumens or so across the board. A small improvement, but a noticeable one.
The colors have gotten brighter, too, but again, only incrementally so. Compared with the very first Lifx bulbs, the Lifx Plus only puts out noticeably brighter colors at yellow, green and cyan. Other shades essentially finished in a tie, although Lifx Plus always came out slightly ahead.
Google Wifi review – CNET
The Good Google Wifi is easy to use and a breeze to set up. It has strong Wi-Fi coverage and fast speed. It costs a lot less than other mesh Wi-Fi systems.
The Bad A Google account and a mobile device are required for setup and management. It doesn’t have many advanced features or customizable network settings.
The Bottom Line Google Wifi is the best Wi-Fi system on the market.
If you want to extend fast internet to every corner of your home, the Google Wifi is the best device to do it. You just need two things:
- An internet-connected iOS or Android mobile device, like a phone or a tablet
- A Google account, which you can get for free
This is because, unlike most routers, there’s no web-based interface and the new Wi-Fi system can only be set up and controlled via the new Google Wifi mobile application. Once set up, the Google Wifi will stay connected to Google at all times and will log into your Google account each time you want to manage it.
Google says the Wifi doesn’t collect user activity data, like what sites you’re visiting. By default, it appears to collect only hardware-, app- and network-related information. However, you can turn this off in the Privacy section of the settings.
Still, a constant connection to Google is required. That’s a dealbreaker for some. Not all home mesh Wi-Fi systems, which use several “satellite” devices to extend the Wi-Fi signal, require a connection to the vendor in order to work — the Eero does while the Netgear Orbi doesn’t. Most home routers don’t require this at all.
But that’s not something most people will care about, plus it will keep the device secure from hacking via regular automatic updates. So if you’re cool with this setup, Google Wifi has the best balance of ease-of-use, performance and price yet.
View full gallery
The Google Wifi includes three identical hardware pieces.
Josh Miller/CNET
What I love about Google Wifi
The price: At just $129 for a single unit or $299 for a set of three, the Google Wifi is cheaper than other Wi-Fi systems like the Eero or Orbi. (Google hasn’t said whether the Wifi will go on sale in the UK or Australia, but those prices convert to around £100 or AU$170 and £235 or AU$400.)
It’s really easy to use: It took me about 15 minutes to set up all three units using an Android phone. The whole process was self-explanatory, and dare I say, fun.
And fast. In terms of data throughput it tested well for a dual-stream AC1200 router, with a top sustained Wi-Fi speed of more than 470 megabits per second.
The nature of Wi-Fi, however, means that each time you extend the signal wirelessly, signal loss will occur, which basically means slower speed. You can mitigate this by placing the satellite units around the first router unit. To avoid this completely you can connect the units together using network cables.
Coverage and reliability is great: As a single unit or as a system of three units, the Google Wifi passed my 48-hour stress test with flying colors. During the test I set it to transfer lots of data between multiple wireless clients (four laptops in this case). The Wifi did this without any disconnections. The system also had excellent signal hand off, allowing you to walk around your house, seamlessly connecting from one unit to another without getting disconnected from the internet. I tried this while making a call over Wi-Fi and the conversation wasn’t affected at all.
Google claims the system is constantly analyzing the air space to figure out the cleanest channel and the best Wi-Fi band (5GHz or 2.4GHz) for a client to connect to. I used it in a home with many other routers and the Google Wifi network remained stable, which definitely adds credence to its claim.
View full gallery
Each unit has a Gigabit WAN and a Gigabit LAN port and can work as a router or an extender.
Josh Miller/CNET
OK, so how exactly does this work?
In many ways the Google Wifi is the evolution of the company’s previous home routers, the OnHubs. The difference with the Wifi is that instead of just a single unit, you can have up to three. Each hardware unit is called a Wifi point. If you get a single unit, you have just one point, which can cover about 1,200 square feet, which is suitable for a small home or average-sized apartment. More points (up to six) scattered around the house will increase the area of coverage accordingly. A set of three units can easily cover a 4,000 square-foot or even larger home.
All Google Wifi units are identical. When multiple units are used in a home, the first unit works as the main router that connects to an internet source, like a broadband modem. The additional units extend the Wi-Fi coverage to create a single Wi-Fi mesh network. Depending on the layout of your home, you can put the Wifi points one or two rooms away from one another to maximize the Wi-Fi coverage. The Google Wifi app can help determine the best location by measuring the connection between units.
The app displays your entire home network in an easy to understand layout. You can use it to visualize your entire home network, quickly prioritize the broadband connection to any particular device, and pause the internet to one or a group of devices. You can also use it to find out which Wifi point a particular client is connected to and customize a few network settings that the Google Wifi has to offer, including guest network, IP reservation and port forwarding. Everything can be done via a few taps on your phone’s screen. Google says it will continue to update the Wifi with more features, such as voice control (via your phone, Google Home and Amazon Alexa) and support for other appliances, like the Nest thermostat. Be sure to check back to find out how these features pan out.
So yes, Google Wifi has a lot to love. It delivers both in ease of use and Wi-Fi coverage. It has great performance, too. And there’s more: If you already own one of the Google OnHubs, starting today, it will be automatically updated to be part of the Wifi ecosystem, and use the same Google Wifi app. This means, apart from being a standalone router like it has always been, any OnHub can also work as a Wifi point, the same as a unit of Google Wifi.
CNET Labs’ Wi-Fi system performance
Google Wifi (single router)
473
97.4
Netgear Orbi (single router)
416.2
229.6
Netgear Orbi (via one extender)
415.83
229.3
Eero (single router)
352.5
197.7
Almond 3 (single router)
315.8
220.6
Google Wifi (via one extender)
206.9
91.7
Eero (via one extender)
170.7
60
Almond 3 (via one extender)
159.1
110.1
Legend:
Close range
Long range
Note:
Measured in megabits per second. Longer bars mean better performance.
Google Wifi review
Made by Google.
That’s the tagline the company touted leading up to its October 4th 2016 reveal, where it announced the release of a whole new hardware experience for its customers. This was a turning point for Google, as it gave them much more freedom and flexibility over each and every component that went into the Google devices consumers use every day.
The new hardware suite is wide ranging, with some, like the Pixel, pushing into premium device territory, while others such as Google Home push the boundaries of what our upcoming A.I. overlords are currently capable of.
- Google Pixel XL review
- Google Home review
Google Wifi however, represents an incredibly simplistic version of a usually cumbersome and complicated technology. Through the use of a simple app, sleek setup, and a design reminiscent of its air freshener-like cousin, general consumers and power users alike can get their fix from this old-but-new mesh networking technology.
This is our Google Wifi review.
History
If you’re not familiar with the concept of “wireless mesh networking” technology, it’s time to get acquainted.
A mesh operates by using multiple networking nodes that talk to one another and spread a signal across a wide area. Only one node needs to be physically plugged into the internet, while the other nodes in the system simply accept the frequency being output by the base node and use their own bands to once again spread the signal in a wide radius.
Like many technologies, mesh was first developed for military purposes, but eventually made it’s way into the consumer sector using common appliances such as radios. Over the last decade, mesh technology remained concentrated in enthusiast communities, though it did see some use in large scale projects such as city-wide Wi-Fi. Now, Google is looking to take advantage of this technology to help solve the problem of strong, reliable wireless that can cover your entire house, no matter how big it is.
Google has been waiting to use mesh technology for years
Google says they have been wanting to use this technology for years, and began working on it about four years ago. They wanted to get the idea of a simple, easy to use Wi-Fi network into the wild as soon as possible however, which is why we have Google OnHub. Now that the company is taking control of its hardware with the new Made By Google campaign, it can work with component manufacturers to achieve great hardware at an affordable price. Enter Google Wifi.
See also:
Google OnHub router hands-on impressions
June 9, 2016
Specs
Google Wifi can support both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. The routers optimize the network each device is using every five minutes, and will switch bands when one network is less congested. This happens only while a device is idle, so don’t worry about your movie getting interrupted every few scenes.
The routers support IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, and use WPA2-PSK. The AC1200 2×2 Wave 2 Wi-Fi expelled from these routers can help them talk to one another and expand the mesh outwards. There is no limit to the amount of routers you can use in your mesh, so whether you have a small house or a large warehouse, you should be able to cover your space completely.
Features
Network Management
Google Wi-Fi will automatically switch your devices to the strongest, fastest connection. It can detect congestion on the network and will actively work to move your devices to the connections that will work best. It can support speeds up to about 600Mbps, so don’t worry about not being able to stream that 4K movie.
Network Assist
Network Assist is a feature within the Google Wifi app that will help you get the most optimal experience possible. After setting up your access points, Network Assist will tell you if you can maximize your network speed by moving some of your points to other rooms. Since only one access point actually requires direct wiring to the network modem, your other points can be placed anywhere they can get power.
Wi-Fi Pause
Google knows that parents might want to limit their kids’ use of the internet, which is why they implemented a Wi-Fi pause feature. Simply select the device you want to halt, and the Wi-Fi will be “paused” on that device. I asked Google if they were planning on implementing a scheduling feature to allow data at certain times, but they said this was a feature that would likely come later, as they wanted to focus more on making the app simple and intuitive for now.
Smart-Home Control
Through a special site, on.here, guests can access and manipulate smart-home appliances like Phillips Hue lights. These lights are currently the only working devices, but Google said they are planning on adding other devices in the future. In addition, Google Wifi supports IFTTT, meaning you can control your Nest thermostat and other things using the app.
Prioritized Devices
If you’re a gamer or a movie buff, there are probably specific devices that you want to prioritize to make sure you get the fastest speeds possible. Google has added a “Priority Devices” feature into Google Wifi to let users select the devices they want the highest speeds on.
Device Grouping
You can group a set of devices using labels, meaning you can control multiple connected devices at once. For example, if you want to shut off all the kids’ internet at a particular time, you can do that.
Speed Test
Say goodbye to speedtest.net and hello to native testing. Google Wifi can perform a speed test right in the app, making it easy to see if you are having issues. The app will also tell you what kind of video quality you can stream, going all the way up to 4K.
Guest Networks
You can create guest networks through the app as well. This network can have special permissions separate from the main network, but can be set up to still have access to connected devices like Chromecasts. This way you can allow a babysitter or guests in your Airbnb to use features you don’t mind sharing, and not the features you don’t.
Setup
The setup process is a breeze
Setup of the network is actually extremely straightforward, which is what Google was pushing with this product.
First, simply connect one of the Google Wifi routers to your network switch and power it on via Ethernet and USB-C respectively. After that, your phone should auto-detect that Google Wifi is in your home. It will prompt you to download the Google Wifi app if you don’t have it already, then have you set up the network.
Simply scan the QR code on the bottom of the router, and Google Wifi registers the router with Google cloud and verifies the encrypted key. You can then name your network, and proceed to select what room your core node is in.
The network knows if you got the (1) or (3) pack, and will prompt you to set up the other nodes if you have more than one. You don’t even have to scan these, they should be ready to go. Once it registers that the nodes are in the network, it will have you choose a name and location, and will move you on to the next device.
Each router connects to one another using a 5GHz connection, so it is best to place them about 1500 square feet away from one another if possible. Google wants to promise a consistent 100Mbps to all users if possible, and says you should never experience any drops due to issues with the router. If you do, they have 24/7 customer service that you can call to get your issue fixed right away.
Conclusion
Google Wi-Fi was born out of Project Carrowack, which aimed to solve the problem of home-based Wi-Fi solutions being manufactured for industrial purposes. It allows admins to perform network checks and take control of connected devices and is ridiculously easy to set up via the included app. Simultaneous Band Switching allows for the absolute fastest speeds available on each device, and smart-home control allows for admins and guests alike to take advantage of the future of home technology.
If you’re looking for routers that are simple but powerful, this is for you.
You can pick up one node for $129, or three for $299.
Buy Google Wifi (1)
Buy Google Wifi (3)
AIVAnet 