08 Apr
Blog

Vizio V-Series 4K HDR TV Review (V655-H19)

VIZIO V-Series 65-inch 4K UHD LED HDR Smart TV

"Vizio's cheapest TV line leaves a lot to be desired."

  • Very low prices

  • Low entry delay for games

  • Minimal bloom

  • Chromecast, AirPlay 2

  • Bad screen uniformity

  • Overwhelming HDR brightness

The V series is the cheapest TV series from Vizio. The 65-inch model costs less than $ 500 and the 70-inch model costs significantly less than $ 700. That sounds very promising – but what quality can you expect at this price point, and is the V-Series competitive with options like TCL and Hisense?

Details on the Vizio V series

While we tested the 65-inch model V655-H19, our test also applies to the screen sizes available in the series.

Screen size Model no RRP
40 inches V405-H19 $ 229
43 in V435-H11 $ 279
50 inches V505-H19 $ 299
55 inches V555-H11 $ 389
58 inches V585-H11 $ 399
65 inches V655-H19 $ 469
70 inches V705-H13 $ 649
75 in V755-H4 $ 779

Out of the box

Streaming the Vizo V seriesDan Baker / Digital Trends

Vizo V-Series StandDan Baker / Digital Trends

Setup of the Vizo V seriesDan Baker / Digital Trends

Side view of the Vizo V seriesDan Baker / Digital Trends

As you'd expect from a TV in this price range, setup is pretty straightforward: screwing in the TV's plastic feet and removing any protective film is all that is required for a stand mount.

The TV itself looks … OK. The V-series bezels are a bit chunkier than we're used to, but that's not surprising in this base price range. In fact, "fundamental" is a word that appears frequently in this review.

Entrances

Vizo V-Series audio connectorsDan Baker / Digital Trends

Vizo V series HDMI connectorsDan Baker / Digital Trends

The back of the V-Series has composite video inputs, an antenna input, analog and optical audio outputs and an Ethernet connection. On the digital side (and also on the side of the device) there are three HDMI inputs and one USB input. Note that these HDMI ports are 2.0b and do not support most HDMI 2.1 functions. At first we didn't think this TV supported eARC as nothing was mentioned in the datasheet, but it turns out that an HDMI port supports eARC (more on that later) and is clearly labeled as such.

To install

Setup of the Vizo V seriesDan Baker / Digital Trends

Setting up the V-Series takes a while – around 10 minutes. Thankfully, it's mostly automated, so you can hit the road to have more coffee and just let the TV do its thing. After that, you will need to agree to some terms and conditions related to the Sponsored Content information that you see at the top of the SmartCast home screen. There you land at the end of the setup.

Picture settings

Vizo V series - living pictureDan Baker / Digital Trends

Vizo V series - calibrated picture modeDan Baker / Digital Trends

The V-Series is delivered with the image mode on Vivid, which we have switched to calibrated, as this initially gives us the most accurate image. In the Calibrated Image preset, the backlight setting is already set to 100, but most of the other options are set to 50 and can be adjusted to your liking. While the TV has local full array dimming, it is a fairly limited system with only 12 zones so certainly not very advanced. The background lighting is activated in the advanced picture settings. This indicates that the local dimming control is activated by default.

Motion smoothing

The only control available for motion smoothing is the movie mode – there is no other motion menu we could find. Granted, the V series is a basic TV, but it would be nice to have at least some control over the motion settings. It is possible that if you select a different image mode, such as Sports, the motion smoothing will automatically adjust to that content, but the lack of other controls left us wanting.

Audio

Vizo V Series Virtual X Surround SoundDan Baker / Digital Trends

As mentioned earlier, there is no external label on the back of the TV for eARC support. However, we noticed that there is an option to toggle eARC on or off in the Audio menu. We recommend an inexpensive soundbar for the V-Series as the built-in audio isn't very good.

It's also worth noting that the V-Series comes with DTS: Virtual X surround sound enabled, which we turned off as it seemed to give the sound a slurred quality.

picture quality

Vizo V series screenDan Baker / Digital Trends

Vizo V series screenDan Baker / Digital Trends

Vizo V series screenDan Baker / Digital Trends

After running multiple test patterns and switching between standard dynamic range (SDR) and high dynamic range (HDR), there didn't seem to be much difference between the two formats. The V series supports Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG, but the device is not bright enough to improve the picture quality. According to Vizio, the maximum screen is 400 nits.

As for the overall image quality, this isn't particularly special. Bright highlights tend to be a bit washed out, and the color seemed a bit aggressive too. This is forgivable on a budget option and the word "basic" applies again. However, if you're looking for a standout imaging experience, switching to the Vizio M-Series is better with around $ 220 more for the 65-inch model and a more modest upgrade of around $ 90 for the 55-inch model Choice.

We should also note that the screen had some vignetting in the corners and strange bright spots on the sides. Maybe this is an "onscreen lottery", maybe it's a quality control thing, or maybe it's a transit issue. If we had bought this TV we would surely be looking for an exchange if we decided to keep it.

Play

Person playing video game on Vizo V-Series TVDan Baker / Digital Trends

Vizo V series gamesDan Baker / Digital Trends

Vizo V series gamesDan Baker / Digital Trends

Vizo V series gamesDan Baker / Digital Trends

Vizio touts the V-Series with a pro gaming engine, but it looks like the only real options are the game's low latency (which toggles the TV to the lowest input delay settings) and the game's HDR . And even though our Xbox Series X was automatically recognized, the picture mode was switched to light instead of game, which we had to select manually. You can also toggle the backlight control (the dimming function for the entire array), presumably to reduce the delay.

But when it comes to game features, that's all. Even with HDR games, the V series isn't bright enough for HDR games to make a noticeable difference.

Our opinion

When it comes down to it, the V-Series is designed to be ready to use right out of the box by people who just want a big screen and don't care about the specifics. The perfect use case would be to put it in the garage, man cave, or game room – somewhere where you just want a big screen for the occasional movie or game and something you don't have to worry about or think about. If you want lots of screen real estate at a low price – and that's it – the V-Series is well worth checking out.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes, the Vizio M series would be a better buy for image quality. However, the V series manages to displace the comparable TCL 4 series.

How long it will take?

With Vizio's latest SmartCast system and televisions recording long-term performance, the V-Series should last for years.

guarantee

Vizio offers a one-year guarantee on its TV products. For more information, see the Vizio warranty page.

Should you buy it?

Except for those looking for the most screen for the least amount of money, no. Again, we recommend taking a look at the much more powerful Vizio M series.

Editor's recommendations




07 Apr
Blog

The 5 Benefits Of A Professional Lactic Acid Peel

Mention "face" and "peeling" in the same sentence and many of us conjure up images of Samantha's botched face on Sex and the City. Fortunately, not all peels give such aggressive results – and lactic acid peels are the gentlest. Kind of Alpha hydroxy acid (AHA), lactic acid gently exfoliates the skin and gives even the dullest complexion a megawatt shine. When used by a licensed beautician, professional peels like them Eminence Organics Mangosteen Lactic Pro Peel 10% give even better results. Here are the five benefits of a professional lactic acid scrub at your favorite Eminence partner spa.

Mangosteen Lactic Pro Peel

Professional benefits of lactic acid peels

1. More active ingredients

While home peels contain 1-5% active ingredients, professional peels generally contain between 10% and 20%. What does this mean for your skin? An even greater concentration of the ingredients that are good for you in your favorite home skin care products. This doesn't mean it's time to say goodbye to home care. Using a home scrub twice a week is a great way to expand and enhance the benefits of a professional scrub.

While home peels contain 1-5% active ingredients, professional peels generally contain between 10% and 20%.

2. Faster cell turnover

Professional lactic acid peelings provide a high percentage of active ingredients to stimulate the renewal process of your skin. Lactic acid gently breaks down the glue that holds dead skin cells together and dissolves superficial surface buildup. Dermatologist Dr. David Bank tells Curls: "When this top layer is shed, signals are sent to the living cells below to multiply and move upwards, to increase collagen production, to produce more hyaluronic acid – to look younger."

3. Better product absorption

The shedding of surface cells and the uncovering of new cells has an important benefit to the rest of your skin care routine: your skin becomes more absorbent and more receptive to the following skin care products. Without dead skin cells blocking the way, the ingredients in the rest of your routine can penetrate deeper. The result: a straight one Better performance of your favorite Eminence Organics products.

4. Immediate results

Because of their effectiveness, professional scrubs are designed to provide maximum benefits in a short period of time. This means that you can expect your skin to look softer, smoother, and more radiant after your first visit to the spa. Reader's Digest recommends using a series of mild chemical peels every few weeks to keep your skin looking its best.

5. Minimal downtime

You can calm your fears of “Sex and the City”. Unlike more extreme chemical peels, professional lactic acid peels require little to no downtime. Eminence Organics Mangosteen Lactic Pro Peel 10% is self-neutralizing and non-irritating, which means you can safely head straight out of the spa for a special occasion (like Carrie Bradshaw's book launch).

Have you had a professional peel? We'd love to hear about your experiences. Let us know in the comments below and join the conversation social media.

07 Apr
Blog

HP Elite C1030 Chromebook Review: Business Laptops

HP Elite C1030 Chromebook

HP Elite c1030 13.5 "Chromebook

"The HP Elite C1030 Chromebook isn't cheap, but it has a lot of business acumen."

  • Great job

  • Excellent 3: 2 display

  • Excellent keyboard and touchpad

  • Solid build quality and conservative appearance

  • Chrome OS Enterprise perpetual license included

  • Average battery life

  • Active pen is optional

  • Very expensive

Most people don't spend more than $ 1,000 on a Chromebook. There are way too many options for much less money that will make Chrome OS run like a dream. However, the growing Chromebook business has shown there is an interest in premium Chromebooks that have all of the manageability and security tools an IT department needs.

The new HP Elite C1030 Chromebook Enterprise fits right in with this new trend.

I had the chance to test a near-top-notch version of the Elite C1030 Chromebook that costs $ 1,529 for an 11th Gen Intel Core i7-10610U vPro CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 256GB PCIe solid version. State Drive (SSD) and a 13.5-inch IPS display with an aspect ratio of 3: 2 and a WUXGA + resolution of 13.5 inches (1,920 x 1,280).

The price also includes a perpetual Chrome OS Enterprise license, which is typically $ 50 per year. That's a lot of money for a Chromebook – does the Elite C1030 deserve its high price?

design

First of all, this is a nice looking laptop. It follows HP's elite aesthetic that is modern yet conservative. Yes, the chassis is all silver, and that sometimes seems generic. But the way HP uses contrast, with matte silver on top and bottom and shiny silver on the sides, makes it special.

The lid is rounded at the edges and the case back has just enough angles – it just works. The Lenovo ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook is another enterprise machine that has the iconic ThinkPad look and feel – all black with a soft coating – while the consumer-facing Acer Chromebook Spin 713 has a more angled look and darker gray that is also appealing. All of them are attractive options, but the HP Elite C1030 is one of my favorites.

HP Elite C1030 ChromebookMark Coppock / Digital Trends

The HP Elite C1030 Chromebook has smaller bezels than these two laptops and offers a 90% screen-to-body ratio that looks far more contemporary. The lower chin is actually relatively small for a 2-in-1 device that requires a complex hinge. Both HP and Acer use displays with an aspect ratio of 3: 2 and are therefore larger than the old-school Lenovo with an aspect ratio of 16: 9.

Even so, the Elite C1030 Chromebook is smaller in width and height than the ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook and Chromebook Spin 713 thanks to its smaller bezels, while still offering the larger palm rest and touchpad that laptops have in common with larger displays. The HP is 0.7 "thick and 2.87 pounds, compared to the 0.7" and 3.3 pounds of the Lenovo and the 0.66 "and 3.02 pounds of the Acer.

The Elite C1030 Chromebook is rock hard.

In terms of build quality, the Elite C1030 Chromebook is rock hard, at least as much as the ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook, and it's tougher than the Chromebook Spin 713. The company's systems have been military-tested for durability, it shows – they're in a different class, virtually every premium laptop on the market today. The Elite C1030 Chromebook's hinge requires two hands to open, but holds the display in place in all four modes – clamshell, tent, presentation, and media.

HP also builds in some security features that are uncommon on Chromebooks these days. The first is the fingerprint scanner, which offers passwordless login and works just as well as any Windows 10 Hello fingerprint scanner. Second, this is the switch to turn the webcam on and off electronically, something HP borrowed from previous Specter computers (which have since switched to a physical webcam blocker).

Finally, HP offers the world's first (optional) privacy screen that blocks viewing from any angle but in a straight line. My test device didn't equip this display, but I've seen it on Windows 10 computers and it's impressive.

HP Elite C1030 ChromebookMark Coppock / Digital Trends

HP Elite C1030 ChromebookMark Coppock / Digital Trends

Connectivity is solid, but not spectacular. On the left you will find a 3.5 mm audio jack, a USB-C 3.2 port and a Kensington lock port. On the right side there is another USB-C 3.2 port, a USB-A 3.2 port and a microSD reader. The wireless connection is provided via Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.

performance

My test device was built around a 10th generation Intel Core i7-10610U vPro CPU, which makes it a powerful Chrome OS laptop. This operating system is much lighter than Windows 10 or Mac, and a Core i7 of any stripe will work fine. When you add 16GB of RAM and a fast 256GB PCIe SSD, you have a recipe for a Chromebook that won't slow you down.

We don't have a lot of objective benchmarks to run on Chromebooks. So much of my analysis is subjective. The Elite C1030 Chromebook achieved 1,102 points in the Geekbench single-core test and 3,216 points in the multi-core test, which is far behind Windows 10 laptops, but ahead of the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 with its Core i5-10210U CPU (966 resp. 3,040). and the Lenovo ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook with AMD's Chrome OS-optimized Ryzen 5 3500C (907 and 2,739).

In the Tachometer 2.0 benchmark, which measures the responsiveness of web applications, the HP achieved 114 compared to the Lenovo with 86 and the Acer with 101.

HP Elite C1030 ChromebookMark Coppock / Digital Trends

Subjectively, I just want to say that you have to work really hard to slow down the Elite C1030 Chromebook. I opened Scads from Chrome tabs and ran several Android apps in the background. I couldn't shake the thing. I doubt you'll have performance issues no matter what you throw at the machine.

I could even play a little. The 10th generation CPU is limited to Intel's older UHD graphics, but it can still handle games like Asphalt 9: Legacy without delay or hesitation. You should be able to play a few light games on the Elite C1030 Chromebook to get all of your work done.

display

The Elite C1030 Chromebook has a 13.5-inch WUXGA + display (1,920 x 1,280) with a productivity-friendly 3: 2 aspect ratio. I can't test it with my colorimeter. This is simply not supported in Chrome OS. However, I found the display to be sufficiently bright in all lighting conditions I tested (HP promises 400 nits of brightness), except outside in bright sunlight – which is to be expected. Colors popped without looking oversaturated, but I can't confirm accuracy without my colorimeter.

When I look at pictures next to the Dell XPS 13, which has good colors but not great, I couldn't see any difference. Finally, the contrast appeared to be sufficient, with black text showing off nicely on a white background and images looking like they had sufficient depth.

HP Elite C1030 Chromebook ScreenMark Coppock / Digital Trends

The Acer Chromebook Spin 713 benefited from a higher sharpness of 2,256 x 1,504 on its 13.5-inch 3: 2 display. I would have appreciated this on the HP, but I can't say I noticed any noticeable graininess on the Elite C1030 Chromebook. I liked the display more than the 16: 9 panel on the Lenovo Thinkpad C13 Yoga Chromebook, which felt tight to me.

Most users will love this display especially when they see more vertical information thanks to the higher aspect ratio. Media consumption was fine, as was the productivity work, and I have no real complaints.

Keyboard and touchpad

HP makes great keyboards that you can find on the Specter and Elite models. The Elite C1030 Chromebook is no different. It has an island keyboard with silver caps with legible gray font, lots of spacing, and a very sharp mechanism that doesn't require a lot of pressure to snap into place, yet still has a satisfactory ground effect to work with, knowing you pressed a key.

It's as good as a keyboard that you can find on any Windows 10 laptop. It's better than the Chromebook average – including the two I highlighted in this review – and it can rival the Magic keyboard on Apple's latest MacBooks. There are the usual five levels of backlit Chrome OS brightness that let you fine-tune how much light your keyboard emits.

HP Elite C1030 Chromebook KeyboardMark Coppock / Digital Trends

HP Elite C1030 Chromebook KeyboardMark Coppock / Digital Trends

HP Elite C1030 Chromebook TrackpadMark Coppock / Digital Trends

The touchpad is larger than usual thanks to the additional space on the larger display and works very well. It's fluid and precise, and does a great job with the suite of Chrome OS multitouch gestures. The touch display is also responsive and supports an optional HP Active Pen for those who want to write ink on their Chromebook.

Battery life

The Elite C1030 Chromebook has a 50 watt hour battery with a reasonable resolution and a fast CPU. I wasn't entirely sure what battery life to expect.

As it turned out, the HP fell in between the other two Chromebooks I mentioned in this review. Our web browser test, which ran through a number of popular websites, got 8.5 hours compared to the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (11 hours) and the ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook (7.25 hours). In our video tests with a Full HD Avengers trailer, the Elite C1030 Chromebook achieved 10.5 hours, compared to 10 hours for the Acer and only about 7.5 hours for the Lenovo. These would be mediocre results compared to the universe of Windows 10 laptops, but they are average for the recently reviewed Chromebooks.

You probably get a full day of work with the Elite C1030 Chromebook, but not much more.

Chrome OS Enterprise

As mentioned in the introduction, with this configuration of the Elite C1030 Chromebook, HP has included a perpetual license for Google Chrome OS Enterprise, which typically costs $ 50 per year. That means you get the business-centric controls and plug-ins that will improve security and remote management forever.

Your organization can manage the Google Play Store to regulate which apps are installed, and support for the Google Chrome browser extension is also controlled by the company. Other features include single sign-on, Microsoft Active Directory support, and 24/7 business support beyond what you normally get from Google.

HP Elite C1030 ChromebookMark Coppock / Digital Trends

HP also talks a little about Parallels Desktop for HP Chrome Enterprise, a virtual machine solution that enables a company to add Windows 10 emulation to its fleet of Elite C1030 Chromebooks with minimal effort. The solution is easy to manage and offers advanced features for HP enterprise customers. It's not included with the laptop, but it's an interesting option nonetheless.

Our opinion

The HP Elite C1030 Chromebook is aimed at corporate customers. It's fast, and has the best security features you'll find on a Chromebook, plus the option of a Chrome OS Enterprise perpetual license. All of these add up to a good corporate laptop. The purchase price is also aimed at companies that have a strong need for security and manageability.

You can just as easily get a Chromebook for half the money in terms of hardware and performance. However, you don't get a laptop that fits seamlessly into a company's fleet of machines.

Are there alternatives?

The Lenovo C13 Yoga Chromebook offers the same support for Chrome OS Enterprise as the HP, without the same level of security. It's also roughly the same price as a similarly configured AMD Ryzen 7 3700C CPU with 16 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD.

I didn't mention it in this review, but the Dell Latitude 7410 Chromebook is a comparable corporate computer that's a few hundred dollars cheaper and costs $ 1,279 for a computer with the same specs as our Elite C1030 Chromebook review unit. with the exception of the 14-inch display from Dell). You get similar build quality and performance, but none of the advanced security features.

If you don't need the Chrome OS Enterprise features, the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is a great choice. It's also pretty quick and well built, and costs about half the money for a similar configuration.

How long it will take?

The Elite C1030 Chromebook is very well built and equipped to keep Chrome OS running for years. You will also appreciate the three-year warranty that comes with our test device.

Should you buy it?

If you're a corporate customer looking for a secure and manageable Chromebook, the Elite C1030 Chromebook should be on your shortlist. Otherwise, you'll want to save your money and use a consumer Chromebook instead.

Editor's recommendations




07 Apr
Blog

2021 Kia K5 2.5 GT Review: Midsize Sedan Rethink

2021 kia k5 rating front three quarters

2021 Kia K5 2.5 GT review: a new era

"The 2021 Kia K5 focuses on style and sportiness without sacrificing practicality."

  • Attractive styling

  • Powerful engine

  • Nimble chassis

  • Intuitive technology

  • Low standard driver assistant technology

Kia spent two decades transforming the Optima midsize sedan from a joke into a truly desirable car – all so it could rename itself and start over.

The 2021 Kia K5 is the replacement for the Kia Optima. While the name is a sterile alphanumeric combination that car buyers are more likely to associate with a Chevy SUV than anything bearing the Kia badge, the K5 looks pretty good on paper. The last Optima was a good looking car, but Kia chose even more this time around while adding a bigger touchscreen, more driver assistance technology, optional all-wheel drive, and a sporty GT model.

Kia has to pull out all the stops if it is to grab buyers' attention. The K5 has many competitors including the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Nissan Altima, Mazda 6, Subaru Legacy, and Volkswagen Passat, as well as its sibling – the Hyundai Sonata.

Prices for the 2021 Kia K5 start at $ 24,555 (all prices include a mandatory target fee of $ 965) but only buy an entry-level LX. Our test car was the K5 GT with a more powerful engine and a sporty chassis. The GT starts at $ 31,555, but our test car also had the optional GT1 package, which includes a 10.25-inch touchscreen, Bose premium audio system, and adaptive cruise control, among other things. That brought the MSRP to $ 35,705.

Design and interior

The K5 shares a base platform with the Hyundai Sonata, but the designers made a good distinction between the two. Where the Hyundai has sleek lines that look like it's floating in the street, the K5 is slightly more muscular, with a bulging hood and a front bumper that protrudes forward like the chin of a 1940s cartoon character. This is in line with the personality of both sedans. The Hyundai is a laid-back cruiser, while the K5 is said to be sportier.

However, the main differentiator of the K5 is the lighting. On the front you get straightforward LED daytime running lights, which Kia calls "heartbeat", as well as a horizontal light blade on the back. While the overall shape of the K5 is very slim and attractive, many other sedans these days have a similar shape. The styling is subjective, but the lighting design makes the K5 a lot more distinctive.

Sleek design usually costs the interior, but that's not the case with this Kia. The K5 has more headroom and front legroom than other midsize sedans and just 0.2 cubic feet less rear headroom than the class-leading Toyota Camry. The rear legroom is a bit below average, however.

The styling is subjective, but the lighting design makes the K5 a lot more distinctive.

At 16 cubic feet, the trunk space is above average, but behind the 16.7 cubic feet of the class-leading Honda Accord. The K5's Hyundai Sonata sibling also offers a little more cargo space at 16.3 cubic feet. Kia also offers a 60/40 folding rear seat for longer items, but this feature is not available in the basic K5 LX.

The interior design was clean and functional, although the slope of the roof somewhat obscured the rear view. Our K5 GT test car had special features such as heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a driver storage system for the seat and mirrors, and a panoramic sliding roof, which proves that Kia still takes its reputation as a token seriously. The materials didn't feel very high quality (Kia only offers faux leather instead of real leather upholstery) but were acceptable given the price of the car. However, Kia used a lot of shiny plastic that created an annoying sheen on sunny days.

Technology, infotainment and driver assistance

The standard infotainment system includes an 8.0-inch touchscreen. However, as an upgrade, you get a 10.25-inch touchscreen. Oddly enough, Kia only offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the smaller screen. While you still need to connect to use CarPlay and Android Auto on the bigger screen, it adds natural language speech recognition and Bluetooth with multiple connections.

Our test car had the optional 10.25-inch screen with cool-looking graphics, including old-fashioned tubes for radio stations. We appreciated the keyboard shortcuts for various menus, but the buttons on the right side of the screen were a bit difficult to reach from the driver's seat. The speech recognition system, which recognizes simple sentences like "turn on the air conditioning", had no obvious comprehension problems, but it was a little slow to respond.

It is also possible to charge cell phones. The unusual design involves placing the phone in a vertical slot. That seems like a smart way to save space, but Kia still left a phone-sized room – uncharged – in front of the gear stick.

The larger optional touchscreen contained cool-looking graphics, including old-fashioned radio tubes for radio stations.

A Bose audio system with 12 speakers, subwoofer and external amplifier is also available. When you're tired of listening to music, the Kia also offers "nature sounds" including "lively forest", "calm ocean waves", "rainy day", "warm fireplace" and "open air cafe" in one machine with the K5 white noise on wheels.

The standard driver assistance technology under the Kia Drive Wise banner includes forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, a monitor for the driver's attention and automatic lane centering for the lane following assistant. Optional functions include blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alarm, automatic reverse braking and adaptive cruise control. The latter can use the navigation system to preventively reduce the speed for motorway curves or changes to the speed limit.

On the freeway, adaptive cruise control accelerated and braked smoothly, even though we didn't get a chance to test the automatic speed limit setting. The system also has a stop-and-go function, which is useful in heavy traffic. It's worth noting, however, that several competitors – including the Honda Accord, Subaru Legacy, and Toyota Camry – offer adaptive cruise control as standard, but without some of the features of the Kia system. We also found that Kia's lane tracking assistant is less competent than the lane-centering feature of Subaru's EyeSight system – which isn't exactly perfect either.

Experience at the wheel

The standard powertrain is a 1.6-liter, four-cylinder, turbocharged engine that produces 180 horsepower and 195 pound-feet of torque. The engine is coupled to an eight-speed automatic transmission with front-wheel drive as standard or optional all-wheel drive. These are respectable specs for an entry-level powertrain in a midsize sedan, and the availability of all-wheel drive is a benefit for new car buyers in colder climates. Note that you can also get all-wheel drive on the Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry. This is standard with the Subaru Legacy.

Kia K5 GT models like our test car get a 2.5-liter turbo four-cylinder with 290 hp and 311 lb-ft and an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission for faster gear changes. The GT is only available with front-wheel drive, but Kia claims it will do zero to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds. For a mainstream sedan, that's pretty quick.

Most midsize sedans will make you look like an adult. This one makes you look like a hooligan.

However, Kia packed more than just strength. The GT receives a model-specific chassis for better handling and 19-inch wheels with non-slip Pirelli P-Zero tires. Despite these tires, the GT was strong enough to spin its wheels on command. The "Sport +" driving mode also deactivates the traction control and lets the engine stay at its boiling point without shifting up. This is not the behavior you would normally expect from a car like this. Most midsize sedans will make you look like an adult. This one makes you look like a hooligan.

However, things are not going to get completely out of hand. The K5 is more than just a theater; It has the necessary steps to show its bravery. Many modern cars feel like they're breaking the laws of physics when cornering, but the K5 felt light and eager, as if it actually wanted to move. The excellent chassis tuning was disappointed by numb steering, but the K5 is far from the only sporty car with this problem. The ride was a bit tough too, but reasonable given the handling of this chassis.

Fuel economy and safety

The most fuel-efficient model of the 2021 Kia K5 is the base 1.6-liter, front-wheel drive LX that together achieves 32 mpg (29 mpg city, 38 mpg highway) fuel economy. Other models with the 1.6 liter engine get 31 mpg combined (27 mpg city, 37 mpg highway) with front-wheel drive and 29 mpg combined (26 mpg city, 34 mpg highway) with all-wheel drive. The 2.5-liter GT has an overall output of 27 mpg (24 mpg city, 32 mpg highway), and we hit 26.4 mpg according to the car's on-board computer.

The fuel economy figures are respectable for a midsize sedan, but it's worth noting that the Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, and Toyota Camry are all available with more efficient hybrids. Kia previously offered an Optima Hybrid but has not discussed any plans for a Hybrid K5.

The K5 received the “Top Safety Pick +” rating from the Insurance Institute for Road Safety (IIHS) with the top rating “Good” in all crash tests and the top rating “Superior” for the technology used to prevent frontal crashes. The headlight values, however, ranged from “good” to “bad” depending on the equipment variant.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave the 2021 K5 a five-star overall safety rating with four stars in frontal and rollover crash tests and five stars in side crash tests.

Kia offers a 10 year powertrain warranty of 100,000 miles and a five year limited warranty of 60,000 miles. These remain the longest warranty terms in the business. They're unmatched by rivals, except of course the Hyundai Sonata from Kia's sibling brand.

How DT would configure this car

The driving experience is really what sets the K5 apart from other midsize sedans. That's why we'd opt for a GT model like our test car. While the GT is a huge step up from the base spec on the LX, it is still great value for money considering how much gear you get, including a 290 horsepower engine, a well-tuned chassis, and loads of comfort.

However, Kia poses a dilemma for tech-savvy buyers. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are only available with the smaller 8.0-inch touchscreen, while the optional 10.25-inch touchscreen offers multi-phone Bluetooth pairing and natural language speech recognition. So buyers have to decide which features they think are more important.

We couldn't test the smaller screen, but given that the bigger screen is bundled with a $ 4,100 option pack, we'd think long and hard about skipping it and saving a large chunk of the changes. While we liked the voice recognition system, ditching cables seems like a bigger comfort boost.

Our opinion

The 2021 Kia K5 is built on the solid foundation of the Optima and offers an extra dose of style and performance. It's a well-executed midsize sedan, but it faces stiff competition too.

The Honda Accord, Mazda 6, and even the once boring Toyota Camry all offer satisfying driving experiences, while the Subaru Legacy has more standard driver assistance technology and a larger touchscreen available than the Kia, as well as standard all-wheel drive. However, Kia continues to boast a longer warranty and impressive value. Even when an option package was tackled, our K5 GT test car was less than $ 40,000.

It's also about the Kia's sibling – the Hyundai Sonata. The Hyundai has technologies not available on the Kia, including automatic parking with Remote Smart Parking Assist, a digital key feature that allows you to use a smartphone as a key, and a hybrid powertrain. The Sonata isn't as fun to drive as the Kia, however. Hyundai may have a Sonata N-Line performance model, but a prototype drive from 2019 did not challenge us.

Should you get one

Yes. The K5 proves that ordinary, practical cars can be fun too.

Editor's recommendations




06 Apr
Blog

Sonos Roam Review: Tiny Speaker, Huge Value

Sonos Roam

"This magical little speaker could do for Sonos what the iPod did for Apple."

  • Excellent design

  • Lightweight and portable

  • Completely waterproof and dustproof

  • Very good sound for its size

  • Selection of intelligent speaker assistants

  • Wireless charging

  • No Bluetooth stereo pairing

  • Does not work as a speakerphone

  • Less battery life than some other speakers

The $ 399 Sonos Move is a very powerful wireless speaker. When you're at home, it can be connected to the rest of your Sonos gear. Thanks to the built-in microphone, it can act as a smart speaker powered by Google or Alexa. On the go, the Bluetooth radio and 10-hour battery ensure a powerful, portable sound system. Well, maybe not that portable.

As good as the Move is, it will never be a grab-and-go speaker because it's just too big and too heavy. Go out onto the terrace from the living room? Grab the train. Going to the park from the terrace? That’s a different story.

But now we have the Sonos Roam for $ 169. It has all of the features of the Move (and a few more) but is only a fraction of the size, weight, and price of the Move. Is roam a breeze for Sonos fans? Let's try it out.

What's in the box?

Sonos RoamSimon Cohen / Digital Trends

Sonos has long been a leader in sustainably packaged products, but the Roam is its best performance yet. It even includes a handy label to help you determine which parts can be recycled.

In the small, simply printed cardboard box you will find the Roam, a USB-C charging cable, a printed quick start guide and no reference to plastic or foam.

design

Sonos RoamSimon Cohen / Digital Trends

The first thing you notice when you unpack the Sonos Roam is how small it is. Not only is it the smallest Sonos speaker by far, with a hair over 6.5 inches tall, it's also slightly smaller and lighter than many of the Bluetooth speakers it'll compete with, like the $ 120 JBL Flip 5 and the $ 150 Marshall Emberton.

The shape of the roam practically begs you to pick it up and take it with you.

Despite its small size, the Roam's minimalist design is a pure Sonos, regardless of how our test device comes in matte black or matte white.

The Toblerone style triangular shape isn't just for looks. it makes the roam extremely tangible. Point one of the three sides towards the palm of your hand, and your fingers will naturally curl around the curved edges along the other two sides. While the Move's integrated handle always feels a bit risky to grasp, the shape of the Roam practically prompts you to pick it up and take it with you.

The only thing missing is a built-in lanyard option for those times when you need your hands free.

You can stand the Roam vertically or lay it horizontally with the four built-in rubber feet to anchor it securely to your chosen surface.

In any case, the simple elegance of the Roam can be invisibly combined with almost any decor.

Sonos Roam with Sonos MoveSonos Roam (front) and Sonos Move Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

The physical controls are also very stealthy – a set of four buttons hidden behind a layer of rubber on the top, barely hinted at by their slightly raised icons. From a distance they disappear completely.

The loudspeaker grille with its thousands of tiny perforations fits seamlessly into the body of the Roam. It looks like it could be badly dented, but behind that thin layer is a much tougher hexagonal grille that gives the grille an impressive level of rigidity.

Two tiny LED lights hidden behind the grille indicate the status of the speaker: one light shows whether you are in WiFi or Bluetooth mode, and one that shows the charge level of the battery. A third light next to the microphone button indicates when the microphone is active. According to Sonos, this cable is permanently connected to the microphone circuit. When the lights are off, you can be sure that no one is listening.

Sonos RoamSimon Cohen / Digital Trends

On the back is the USB-C charging port and a small power switch that is also used for Bluetooth pairing. When you're at home, it's a good idea to keep the Roam plugged in so it's always ready to play your music. However, if you're likely to move it around a lot, you should take advantage of wireless charging.

Sonos sells a custom Qi charger for $ 50 that is shaped to fit the bottom of the Roam and stays magnetically locked until you need it. However, I did not receive a charger to test. Not that it matters – any Qi charging mat does the job, and I found it very easy to just let the Roam sit on one when I wasn't carting it around.

Setup and configuration

If you're a Sonos owner, I don't have to tell you how easy it is to set up the company's wireless speakers. A few taps of your finger on the Sonos app, a few keystrokes on the speaker and less than two minutes later you are done. With the Roam, Sonos has made this process even easier.

Every technical product should be this easy to configure.

After you've connected the Roam to a power source using the supplied USB-C cable (or wireless charger) and opened the Sonos S2 app, the app will automatically prompt you to set up the speaker. It's very similar to how Apple's AirPods prompt you when you first open the charging case.

The next step is to tap the back of your phone against the back of the Roam. This should allow the speaker's NFC sensor to detect your phone for the process to complete.

Unfortunately, this didn't work with my iPhone 11, but after two failed attempts, the Sonos app offered another solution: the Roam gave a beep that was picked up by the iPhone microphone and the setup completed automatically, including adding the Roam to my Wi-Fi network. No buttons to press and no passwords to enter. Every technical product should be this easy to configure.

At this point, you can play music through the Sonos app, manage the roam as a single speaker or as part of a group of Sonos products, or stream audio directly to the roam using Apple AirPlay.

However, since the Roam can also act as a smart speaker, you may want to take the extra step of adding it to the Google Home app or the Amazon Alexa app – it only takes a few extra minutes.

Sound quality

Sonos Roam with JBL Flip 5 and Marshall EmbertonJBL Flip 5 (left), Sonos Roam (center) and Marshall Emberton Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

In line with Sonos' reputation for products well above their weight class, the Roam sounds fantastic for such a small speaker.

It delivers a warm yet clear signature with a decent response considering how compact it is.

Indoors, the Roam is an ideal loudspeaker for smaller rooms.

If you have WiFi, you can use the Sonos app to adjust the bass and treble if you want to override the factory EQ – an optimization that's retained even if you switch to Bluetooth.

Indoors, the Roam is an ideal speaker for smaller spaces – such as a bedroom, bathroom or even a kitchen. Outside, it gets loud enough to host a pool party or a backyard gathering. Speaking of volume, the Roam is virtually distortion-free up to its loudest setting, and the speaker housing doesn't hum in an uncomfortable way, which can be the case with lower-quality Bluetooth speakers.

As you turn up the volume settings, the roam keeps the frequencies in balance – until you hit around 75%. Once you exceed this limit, the speaker simply no longer has a low or mid range and uses the high frequencies to reach maximum volume.

There is simply no way a speaker this size can deliver the deep bass or powerful sound of larger devices. However, when you place the roam in a corner – a tried and true way to improve bass response – it's surprising how deep the sound can get.

The roam outshines that JBL Flip 5 However, for clarity and sound quality, it delivers an almost identical signature to the Marshall Emberton.

The Emberton proved to be a little more flexible for outdoor gatherings thanks to its 360-degree speaker pattern, while the Roam is more directional.

In theory, the roam's automatic Trueplay feature will continually adjust the roam's sound depending on where you place it. It works whether you're using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and you won't find it on any other non-Sonos-branded wireless speaker.

In practice, I found it difficult to determine if Auto Trueplay actually made a significant difference. I moved the roam to different indoor and outdoor locations and turned Auto Trueplay on and off to see if I could see it. For the most part, the changes were barely noticeable even when I placed the speaker in places that should have caused a lot of adjustment (like the corner placement mentioned above).

user friendliness

Sonos Roam Top controls

If you've never used the Sonos app and Roam is your first Sonos product, it's time to pamper yourself. It's the best audio streaming software in the world other than none. Not only is it compatible with almost every streaming music source imaginable – over 100 so far – but all of this music is incredibly easy to navigate and find thanks to the universal search function.

The Sonos software is so good that it's reason enough to buy the Roam over any other portable speaker in its price range.

You can create your playlists and favorites that will work independently from the ones you may have already created in your music apps. If you have more than one Sonos speaker, you can control each speaker independently or as a group.

Most other Wi-Fi speakers rely on Apple HomeKit, Google Home, or Amazon Alexa for their multi-room capabilities. However, these cannot affect the extensive range of functions of the Sonos app.

The Sonos software is so good that it's reason enough to buy the Roam over any other portable speaker in its price range.

As with any other Sonos speaker, the controls are as intuitive as possible. The two volume buttons work exactly as expected, while the play / pause button can skip a track forward with a double press or backward with a triple press.

Switching from Wi-Fi to Bluetooth is also very easy. A long press on the small button on the back will put the speaker in bluetooth mode and the Roam will automatically re-pair with the last paired device.

Pairing a second or third device is a little more complicated. You must turn off the bluetooth radio on the currently paired device so that the roam can re-initiate bluetooth pairing. Once the second (or third, etc.) device is paired, you can control which device the Roam is talking to without repeating the pairing process.

Unfortunately, Sonos does not support stereo pairing of its speakers via Bluetooth. To do this, you need to be on your home Wi-Fi network and have a matching set of Sonos speakers. The roam can only be paired with a second roam in stereo, and even a paired set of roams cannot be used as surround speakers for Sonos Arc, Beam, Playbase or Playbar.

And despite the presence of a microphone, you can't use the Roam as a speakerphone – which is a bit confusing given the number of business people likely to pack the Roam in their pockets when traveling.

Smart speaker skills

Sonos RoamSimon Cohen / Digital Trends

The Sonos Roam is by far the cheapest portable speaker that can also act as a smart speaker – and one of the few where you can choose between Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

It's amazing how easily the roam can hear and respond to your commands

I set it up with the Google Assistant. This process takes about two minutes and requires that you have the Google Assistant app installed on your phone.

Once you're ready, it's amazing how easily the roam can hear and respond to your commands. For fun, I placed the roam at one end of our yard and called "Hey Google" at the other end – about 40 feet away. The Roam heard and answered immediately.

Smart speakers are pretty darn handy and allow you to do everything from managing music playback to organizing your shopping lists to controlling smart home devices like lights and cameras. But smart speakers usually need to stay plugged in, which is why people often buy a Nest Mini or Echo Dot for every room in their home. Since the Roam is completely wireless, it can be used anywhere and will continue to function as a smart speaker as long as it has WiFi.

The Ultimate ears blast and JBL Link Portable can do this too, but they cost $ 10 more than the Roam and they only work with one assistant (Amazon Alexa for the Blast, Google Assistant for the Link Portable).

If freedom of choice is important to you, the Sonos Roam is clearly the best option.

Extras

Sonos RoamSimon Cohen / Digital Trends

What makes the Sonos Roam such a remarkable speaker is its additional features. Some, like wireless charging, Auto Trueplay, AirPlay, and its ability to act as an assistant-free smart speaker are tangible benefits for anyone who buys it.

However, if you have or want to buy other Sonos products, there are other cool features available, such as: B. Sound Swap, which allows you to transfer a Wi-Fi streaming session to and from the Roam by pressing and holding the Play / Pause button. It only works with newer Sonos products like Sonos One, One SL, Beam, Move, and Arc, but it works just fine.

You can also use the Roam's Bluetooth connection as a source for your other Sonos speakers. For example, if you're away from home and using the roam as a bluetooth speaker, when you return home you can open the Sonos app and group your other speakers with the roam, which will then share the roam's BT session with the group.

It's also a great solution for giving guests access to your Sonos system without giving them your WiFi password or forcing them to download and install the Sonos app.

It's also a great solution for streaming songs stored locally on your phone – a feature Sonos offered in its app.

Battery life

With a claimed battery life of 10 hours, the Roam doesn't set any endurance records, especially when you consider that the JBL Flip 5 packs 12 hours and the Marshall Emberton packs 20 hours. On the other hand, the Emberton weighs 40% more than the Roam.

Still, 10 hours is probably more than enough for a day trip. If you need to add more playtime to the Roam, you can always bring a portable battery pack as the Roam (unlike the Move) can be charged from virtually any USB power source.

robustness

Sonos RoamSimon Cohen / Digital Trends

With an IP67 rating, the Roam can handle just about anything you throw at it, from full immersion in water to a sandy day at the beach. That makes it a great companion for pool parties, as long as you're ready to dive in afterwards when it gets kerplunk: The Roam doesn't swim.

However, I am not convinced that the Roam can withstand drops on hard surfaces such as the JBL Flip 5 or Marshall Emberton.

Despite its thin rubber end caps, the body of the Roam is made of unprotected hard plastic that may crack or flake upon direct impact. Care should be taken to prevent this from happening.

Our opinion

Sonos packed so many features into the roam that it is easily the best value for a portable speaker.

Is there a better alternative?

You can find portable speakers with better sound quality, longer battery life, or louder volume, but you won't find one that offers all of the features of the Sonos Roam at all costs – including its more expensive big brother, the Sonos Move.

But if you're willing to forego WiFi, Apple AirPlay, voice commands, and the Sonos ecosystem, you get $ 150 Marshall Emberton sounds just as good and has a 20 hour battery.

If you're willing to forego a selection of voice assistants, Apple AirPlay, and Sonos Ecosystem, get $ 180 UE explosion has longer battery life and 360-degree sound.

How long it will take?

Sonos products are very well built. If you consider protecting IP67 from dust and water, it should last for many years as long as you protect it from severe shock. All Sonos products come with a one-year warranty.

Should you buy it?

Yes, I can only recommend Sonos Roam if you intend to start a new Sonos system, add it to an existing system, or use it all on your own.

Editor's recommendations




06 Apr
Blog

How to select the best heavy duty treadmill for home

There is no doubt that the treadmill is one of the most powerful exercise machines in the gum center. One of the most important factors is choosing the best High performance treadmill for a home gym.

Because nowadays a lot of fitness equipment is available on the online market or near the shop. The biggest challenge is not to find the quality device easily or straightforwardly.

In these reviews, we will discuss an obese treadmill on which you can learn details about its features. After reading this post, we are very sure that you will get a clear idea of ​​the fitness equipment. So stay with us and see at a glance!

How to choose the best high performance treadmill for the home

Motor speed

A powerful motor ensures that your running or walking activities become more effective and efficient. The entire sports brand, especially the treadmill, has a powerful motor with a minimum speed of 2.0-3.0 MPH, which is really remarkable when running or walking. You can choose any of the engines that you can run without any problem.

Running belt

It is a very limited component before choosing the best running machine for a home gym. The running machine also gives you enough surface space as this is the main thing that makes your goal go smoothly. In this day and age, the maximum treadmill offers 15 x 55 inches or 18 x 60 running belts that allow you to comfortably end your activities.

save time and money

There is no doubt that going to the gym is very time consuming and costly. Suppose you go to the gym nearby so you need to prepare for difficult activities. And after you hit the gym, you have to wait for an empty workout to begin your journey. However, when you buy a high capacity indoor walking machine, you can work anytime, anywhere. At the same time, all of your family members have the opportunity to keep fit and to increase endurance.

Prevent various diseases

One study has shown that physical activity can increase your strength and endurance, and prevent various diseases like diabetes, cancer, and more.

So, if you want to prevent the risk of illness mentioned above, you need to spend some time on the treadmill regularly.

characteristics

More training function makes your performance more impressive. For this reason, the entire sports organizer has many attractive functions that ensure your training progress precisely. If you are planning on purchasing equipment, you need to look at which feature you would like for your performance.

LCD screen

Typically, every single fitness machine with an LCD console can keep track of your current activity data such as time, distance, calories and speed. This is one of the most important parts of the fitness machine, it shows your data and motivates you to increase your performance.

Emergency security key

Currently, maximum fitness equipment, especially treadmill machines, comes with an emergency safety key that you can use to stop your machine after a fall. So if you are looking to buy a device that you can run or walk with, I recommend choosing a high capacity instrument to get a security key.

Summary

A treadmill if you are overweight not only strengthens your fitness, but also prevents many health diseases. So we strongly recommend that you consider a high performance running machine that will perfectly solve your fitness problem and provide many benefits that you need for your body.

06 Apr
Blog

Let’s Explore the World of Food and Nutrition

I am a food lover, and if you are someone who has a fast metabolism like me, you have no idea how blessed you are on this one. You could be the one people say, “Heyyy !!! You are so thin don't you eat? "I know this phrase could have pissed off your whole teenage life. But as you get older I'm sure you'll enjoy it very well. You can eat what you want and still not get any fat. How awesome is that?" Right ?! So embrace your body and your metabolism.

But hey! Please wait a second and I'm not saying you should starve yourself; I also don't stereotype overweight people. No!!!!

I would be one of those who would give you positive support. But I also don't want you to take your health for granted and eat what you want. I want you to know exactly what you are eating because even the best nutritionists at Rasheed Hospital say this: "You become what you eat."

Today, in this article, I'm going to share some fun facts with you. You might be confused as to whether it is a fact or a fiction. So let's expose them together.

Before we start, let me tell you that food and nutrition are such serious business. Unfortunately or fortunately, everyone seems to have an opinion about good and bad food. You could also see that everyone has reasons for "eating and not eating certain foods". You may find some of these food myths in this article as well.

Let's start with the fact or fiction now

Question 1: Consuming Vitamin C Prevents Cold?

Vitamin C is good for immunity, but it isn't true that it prevents colds. It can potentially shorten the duration of your cold, but research on this is limited. It is one of the essential elements of your diet so you shouldn't skip it. According to the famous Nutritionist in LahoreFoods rich in vitamin C include citrus fruits, broccoli, green leafy vegetables, and other fruits.

Question 2: No or low carbohydrate diet is good for your health?

One of the most popular diets for weight loss is the "low-carbohydrate diet". These weight loss diets are a short term and quick fix to losing weight, but research has shown that they have side effects on the body in the longer term. There have even been reports of people gaining weight again and at increased risk of death. You could get short-term benefits, but it would affect your overall health.

Question 3: Frozen vegetables and fruits are less nutritious and healthy than fresh ones?

Well, the fast-paced era has changed our eating habits. When eating fruits and vegetables, people often ask which way is healthier. Eat fresh or frozen? Eating vegetables and fruits either way is good. However, when the food is frozen, some of the nutrients are inactivated and can even be destroyed during cooking. This does not mean that you should avoid fruits and vegetables as you should not ignore the health benefits of these foods.

Question 4: Is it better to eat several small meals than one large one?

When something comes to your health, is what we eat more important than how often we should eat? Either way, as long as you eat a healthy diet, whether it's two large meals or four small meals.

Question 5: Do you gain weight while eating at night?

Again, one of the most common myths about eating at night is causing you to gain more weight. The exciting thing to mention here is that you don't gain weight at night, but what you eat. At night, people usually eat high calorie foods like snacks, cookies, ice cream, popcorns, etc. So you can see that people don't chew on carrots or vegetables at night, so eating garbage at night can affect your metabolism. Research has shown that checking our diet or fasting at night or skipping meals can lower our blood pressure, weight loss, and insulin sensitivity. Research on this is still ongoing and for the time being.

TakeAway notice,

These are just some fact fiction food myths. What is more important to you is your healthy eating plan. If you have any health condition, instead of experimenting or harming your health, the first thing to do is ask your nutritionist about your eating plan. Remember, nothing is more important than health.

05 Apr
Blog

The Best Abs Workouts to Perform at Gym

Building packs of 6 can seem like a tough task, but turns into a breeze with activities to do in no time. Yeah, it's not such an uphill battle, especially when you know how to push the right buttons.

Today we're going to walk you through some of the easiest six pack abs exercises that will help you get strong and flexible in no time. We promise; The results will make you bounce off your couch every day. So let's get started!

Sniffer dog

  • Start in a table position, with your shoulders over your wrists and your hips over your knees.
  • Engage your core and raise your arm. At the same time, raise your left leg as well.
  • Flex your foot as you lean back and keep your palm toward your body.
  • Keep your arm and leg level with your torso.
  • Now gradually bring the limbs back to the starting position.
  • Repeat on the opposite side.

Side board with a raised foot

  • Take a side plank position with your right forearm on the floor. Try to stabilize yourself by keeping your right foot on the floor.
  • Tighten your core by contracting your abs.
  • Lift your left arm and left foot off the floor.
  • Hold this position for a few seconds.
  • Repeat the training for the best experience.

Medicine Ball Soccer Throw Sit Ups

  • Lie on your back by holding a medicine ball over the wall.
  • Cut your head and shoulders off the floor and compress your abs. Lift the ball above your head and hit it against the wall.
  • Pick up the ball and lift it off your head.
  • Keep your arms outstretched and slowly return to the starting position.
  • Repeat the workout for immediate results.

Hanging windshield wipers

  • Pull down on your lats and attack your shoulders. Hang on an overhead pole.
  • Squeeze your front core together and bring your toes toward the bar.
  • Maintain oblique control and move your legs side by side. This will help hold it together.
  • Try not to focus on lowering your legs and twisting your hips.

Slowly hanging leg rises

  • Stand under a pole and reach up with both hands.
  • Maintain a neutral back and inhale as you work your abs.
  • Raise your legs by bending at the knees. Don't go any higher than your waist.
  • Now exhale as you lower your legs in a controlled manner. Remember, your abs need to be busy.
  • Repeat the workout for the best results in the shortest amount of time.

Dumbbell side bend

  • Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold a dumbbell in your right hand. Your palms should be facing towards your torso.
  • Now keep your back straight, your core engaged, and then slowly bend as far as you can.
  • Now hold on to the bottom by tensing your abs.
  • Return to the starting position and repeat the workout immediately.

Swiss ball "Stir The Pot"

  • Get into a kneeling position with your forearms resting on a Swiss ball.
  • Extend each leg until you are in an almost plank-like position on the ball.
  • Now, without removing them from the ball, try gradually rotating your arms clockwise.
  • Repeat the movement ten turns for the best experience.

frequently asked Questions

1. Are These Workouts Beneficial for Performing at Home?

Yes. All of the workouts we've listed for you above are helpful in their own way. Make sure you choose them if you want to improve your fitness game. They work like magic in improving your health.

2. Do I have to change my diet too?

Not necessarily. If you want to continue with your diet, you can. However, it is advisable to change your diet and switch to a healthy one so that the workout has lasting effects on your health and overall fitness.

3. What if I injure myself while exercising?

All of these workouts are very convenient so there is a very unlikely chance that you will get injured. However, if you do have one, the earliest time you should consult with a medical expert is. This will help avoid complications.

05 Apr
Blog

Outriders Review: Space Magic Saves a Flat Sci-Fi Story

Outriders

"Outriders has great action and deep customization, but it lacks personality."

  • Fun shooting

  • Excellent customization

  • Different classes

  • Strong rep hooks

  • Weak story

  • Flat characters

  • Always online, unnecessarily

Outriders is not like Destiny … at least according to developer People Can Fly. No matter the premise of the sci-fi looter and shooter. Don't look out for these Thrall-like creatures roaming around in swarms. Ignore the class-based superpowers, one of which gives players a Titan Slam.

Okay, it's a bit like Destiny. To be honest, it's a lot more than that. The cover-based third-person shooter grabs some bits of its contemporaries while defying some of the games' biggest pitfalls. By distancing themselves from modern live service games, People Can Fly wants to separate the luggage from the valuable loot.

Outriders lack personality and their edges are rougher than an octagon, but the core battle is just plain fun. Thorough character customization, numerous equipment benefits, and exciting superpowers make for a nifty shooter that should shine after much-needed maintenance.

Mass Effect Lite

Outriders has great narrative ambitions, though they don't quite pay off. The dystopian science fiction story revolves around mankind's attempt to colonize one of the last livable planets in the galaxy, Enoch. Players control a title outrider who awakens from a 31-year-old cryogenic slumber to discover that the mission has failed and civil war has broken out among the remaining humans. To make matters worse, there is a mystical aura called anomaly that turns people into overpowering "altered" ones.

There is certainly some potential in the area, but it doesn't quite come to fruition in the dry colonization soap opera featured here.

I can't tell you too much about where it goes from there because the story is as "in one ear out of the other" as it gets. There's tons of sci-fi technobabble to learn, read pages of dry lore, and meet dozen of flat NPCs. During a character's big emotional beat, I caught myself asking "Who?" loud to no one.

The game lacks personality and that goes beyond the narrative. Enoch itself is a vague planet that clinically moves between popular video game areas, from generic desert wastelands to subdued green forests with brightly colored plants. It's hard to identify any of his levels from a series of modern science fiction shooters.

The game is more successful when it plays with its otherworldly elements. The best moments come when he faces Enoch's extraterrestrial creatures who stir up the usual firefights against interchangeable human factions. Giant spiders, kite-like birds and acid-spitting bipeds bring the world to life and give a better sense of the chaos in which humans have found themselves. They're also more compelling targets that require players to get out of cover and play aggressively.

There is certainly some potential in the area, but it doesn't quite come to fruition in the dry colonization soap opera featured here. It just feels like an outdated take on Mass Effect, the first of many associations the studio will have trouble shaking with.

Less fate, more Diablo

What Outriders lacks in history it more than makes up for in its action. Let's get some more inevitable comparisons out of the way. Take the Division's third-person shoot, Destiny 2's class-based action, and Diablo's character building, and you are well on your way there. To be clear, this is not a punch. The game does an efficient job of taking the best ideas from each of these games and seamlessly piecing them together into its own recipe.

Outriders

What makes it all fit together so well is the deep customization that every combat mechanic improves. Shooting itself feels good, but it's only enhanced by weapon perks, which turn each weapon into its own "exotic" to borrow a notion of fate. There is a lot of joy in equipping a gun blindly and firing a shot only to discover it is freezing an enemy. It gets players to experiment with their loadout and offers lots of cool rewards for doing so.

In addition to standard shooting, the game has four character classes, each of which brings unique skills to the table. Fraudsters can manipulate spacetime to teleport behind enemies or slow them down. Pyromancers set bad guys on fire and cause damage over time. Each class is completely different and has different skills that can be mixed and matched. Switching classes can completely change a style of play, so everyone is worth a look.

It doesn't stop there. Each piece of armor also has benefits that can further change class skills. In addition, there is an extensive skill tree that enables more permanent tinkering. Of every comparison the game warrants, the Diablo is the one most liable. This is an action game that allows players to create hyper-specific builds and raise hell in so many different satisfying ways.

Outriders don't know how to tell a story, but it's damn sure they can stage a battle.

Here is a specific example. I mainly played a technomancer, a support class that can heal towers and spawn. My final build was to reduce the cooldowns and improve the health of all of my tower skills so that I could put up ice and poison towers every few seconds. This allowed me to approach combat like a tower defense mode, where I could strategically place turrets around the battlefield and put enemies in danger. I couldn't believe I had managed to create something so specific in the game. I was even more shocked that there was so much more I could do to make this setup even more deadly.

Sometimes we crave deep, narrative experiences from a video game. Sometimes we just want to shoot a frozen kite out of the sky with a lightning-fast weapon. Outriders don't know how to tell a story, but it's damn sure they can stage a battle.

Another service

There's a certain reason People Can Fly doesn't like the modern game comparisons. Outriders is not a Destiny-style live service game, although it looks like it is. Instead of connecting players with the promise of weekly updates, see what you get. It has all the charm of building a strong character through RPG mechanics, without the baggage, having to keep up with updates all the time. It's a game that respects that at some point players will want to play a different game.

Outriders

There's a wealth of strong content and ideas out there that will help extend the life of the game beyond the 25-30 hour campaign. One of the more effective hooks is the World Tier system, which acts as a clever difficulty level. Players can unlock up to 15 levels, each of which adds additional challenges and rewards to the game. It's an ingenious system that dedicated players can use to test their championship and work towards a final badge of honor (and the true ending of the game).

The biggest draw is the game's multiplayer mode, with which up to three friends can put together and tackle missions together. The class system shines here as it promotes a coordinated game where each team member has a specific use in battles. The game doesn't offer a great solution for dealing with players who are at radically different levels, but firefights are so fun that it doesn't matter too much.

It's a game that respects that at some point players will want to play a different game.

While there is a lot to do, Outriders is in rough shape right now. The game's opening weekend was plagued by crashes, bugs, and server issues that prevented players from getting their hands on it for too long. Oddly enough, the game features the same "always online" model that is reserved for live service gaming. When servers go down, fans can't even play alone. It's an inexplicable choice that is already causing some frustrated gamers to drop it altogether.

Outriders game

People Can Fly is not mistaken in distancing Outrider from other games, but it's hard to blame people for making the comparisons. With unnecessary live service DNA, the game is a quack to be a duck. Just as its protagonist is torn between a human and an altered state, Outriders takes a strange middle ground between old and new game design. It's an identity crisis that weakens the current experience.

But did I mention you can get armor that electrifies your evasive throw? Cool.

Our opinion

Is Outriders a sophisticated action game with a compelling science fiction story? No. Is it fun to freeze a spider with an ice tower and crush it with a well-placed sniper shot? You bet. Sometimes that's all you really want from such a Sagittarius. It could use an offline mode for single player sessions and some maintenance, but it's a solid foundation for an action game that respects its players' time.

Is there a better alternative?

Gears 5 for a third-person narrative shooter and Destiny 2 for a Space Magic looter, but Outriders is a great option for those who want a little bit of both.

How long it will take?

The main campaign lasts around 25 to 30 hours with a good portion of side quests. Multiplayer and World Tier Grind extend this time much further.

Should you buy it?

Yes. It's a bit rough but fun to play with friends. Even cuter, it's included with Xbox Game Pass, which makes it a breeze for Xbox owners.

Editor's recommendations




04 Apr
Blog

Lenovo Smart Frame Review: Simple With Google Photos in Mind

Lenovo Smart Frame Review Subseries Gallery 2

"No Distraction Here: The Lenovo Smart Frame is about sharing your favorite memories."

  • Photo-realistic display

  • One of the largest picture frames ever

  • Convenient organization with Google Photos

  • Easy wall mounting

  • It is expensive

  • Does not support other photo services

Digital photo frames are nothing new. They've been around almost as long as the first commercial digital cameras. Over the years, arguably, the greatest innovation in digital photo frames has centered on smart displays – how smart displays effectively serve as photo frames and add value to them.

In Lenovo's view, the Photo Frame is again a stand-alone product with the power and help of Google Photos. Unlike other photo frames you've come across, the Lenovo Smart Frame wants to make its presence known with its huge 15 x 24 inch digital canvas. Compared to today's smart displays, it's an undeniable Goliath.

Realistic picture quality

I loved the first digital photo frame I bought in the early 2000s, but when I look back now, it was total rubbish. Not only was it low resolution, but the colors were bleeding through the sides and corners like no other. Of course, with today's digital photo frames, you won't have these worries.

The sheer size of the Lenovo Smart Frame dwarfs the vast majority of digital photo frames in circulation. While most are largely reserved for coffee tables, bedside tables, end tables, and cramped counters, the Lenovo Smart Frame yearns to be wall-mounted – or at least deserves to be propped up on its own pedestal or shelf. This is due to the sizeable 21.5-inch IPS panel. Not only is it significantly larger than other picture frame displays, but its realistic look is enhanced by its anti-glare coating. When viewed directly, this can be confused with a normal picture frame.

While the 1080p resolution works decently from a distance, I can see less detail in the images on closer inspection. This is obviously expected and is not a complete distraction. As long as the original image was captured correctly, it is still pleasing to the eye. The colors are also displayed well, and the viewing angles are excellent and do not distort at wide angles.

Thanks to Google's Ambient EQ technology, the Nest Hub smart displays are among the best for lifelike results. I have to admit, however, that the Lenovo Smart Frame's matte finish makes the display more realistic. Aside from the lack of a higher resolution display, it does it justice when it comes to presenting photos.

Google photos is a must

In order for photos to appear on the Wi-Fi connected Lenovo Smart Frame, you need to set up Google Photos – this is mandatory and the only option. This is a bit limiting and I would have liked wider support for other image services like Shutterfly. However, since this is Google Photos, it comes in handy that I can quickly fill an album to present on the Lenovo Smart Frame by selecting familiar faces. (This works on pets too.) Better to have to go through all of my albums manually.

In addition to showing my Google Photos, which can be shuffled in chronological order or via the Lenovo Smart Frame app, you can set up other “channels” to show other things besides photos. The only other options are the Art Gallery and Clock channels, which show curated graphics and the time, respectively. The latter only have a handful of clock widgets to choose from, but I really wish they could show other important information – like weather and temperature.

Although the Lenovo Smart Frame automatically flips through photos, it has a built-in motion sensor that makes it easy for anyone to scroll through them and the various channels. You have to be patient with these hand gestures because if you're like me and want to scroll through a set in a hurry, it can't keep up.

There are two ways to assemble the frame. I opted for the easy way of putting it on a wall with the power chord behind it, but later I used the included wall mount to mount it properly. While it's still heavier than other frames at 8.26 pounds without the metal frame mount, you don't need to find pins in the wall to attach it to the wall. Once it's on the wall, you can easily remove it by pulling on the switches on the back of the unit. If you have younger children who may be attracted to the power cord, a child-resistant clip is provided to make the cord easy to detach from the device.

Stick to what it does best

We have high expectations for displays these days, especially considering how smart displays are the command centers of some households. One can expect that the Lenovo Smart Frame can do more, e.g. B. Play videos, possibly act as a second screen, or even provide voice control with the Google Assistant. There was also a point where I wished I could have broadcast a video that I was watching on my smartphone. But, you know what? It doesn't do any of them. And who knows if it ever will.

This may be hard to swallow for some, but I understand Lenovo's intent. The company already makes its own line of Google Assistant-based smart displays (like the Lenovo Smart Display 7, which I love). The Smart Frame therefore serves only one purpose: A picture frame that inspires you with some of your favorite memories.

Our opinion

What can also be difficult to accept for some people is the $ 400 cost of the Lenovo Smart Frame. It's way above what you can find anywhere else, even for fancy smart displays that serve as frames for your photo memories and cost around $ 250.

Its size is undoubtedly its greatest asset. Few are ever as tall as 10 inches. So it's a picture frame worth mounting in a high-traffic area of ​​your home for family members and visitors to see. With the integration of Google Photos, you can no longer organize your favorite memories and move them into a picture frame.

How long it will take?

The Lenovo Smart Frame is mainly made of plastic and is solidly built. Since this is a heavy side, extra care should be taken where you place it if you don't plan to mount it on the wall. It comes with a one year limited warranty.

Is there a better alternative?

As mentioned earlier, smart displays like the Google Nest Hub are actually a better investment as they double as picture frames. Therefore, if you want to fill smaller spaces, these are the better option. Conversely, you won't find many picture frames larger than 10 inches. This is one of the few options to consider – especially those over 20 inches.

Should you buy it?

Yes, for its presentation style as the right photo frame that is easy to manage thanks to Google Photos.

Editor's recommendations




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