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20 Jan

Blog

Nvidia RTX 3080 12GB review: The bad version of a great GPU

January 20, 2022
Posted by Samson

RTX 3080 graphics cards among other GPUs.

Nvidia RTX 3080 12GB review: The bad version of a great GPU

RRP $1,249.00

"The RTX 3080 12GB is a powerful graphics card that has been acidified by Nvidia's shady practices."

benefits

Still a solid 4K graphics card
Outstanding design in MSI Suprim X version
Increased memory bandwidth

disadvantage

Significantly more expensive than the 10GB model
Slight improvement in performance over the 10GB model
Worse availability than other GPUs
Increased power consumption
Additional memory does very little

Imagine you are in charge of Nvidia. CEO Jensen Huang has retired to his kitchen, and now you can decide how to launch a new flagship GPU: the 12GB RTX 3080. What do you do? Do you use a list of influencers and media to spread the news? Do you use a big stage like CES?

No matter what you did, you probably wouldn't release a new flagship by burying the announcement at the bottom of a blog post focusing on a new GPU driver three days after the card's launch. And you certainly wouldn't launch the card a week after the biggest tech event of the year without day-one reviews.

That's what Nvidia did with the RTX 3080 12GB, and people are rightly confused. It's a graphics card that needn't exist with Nvidia's current offerings, and it shows a worrying trend for where GPU prices could be headed in 2022. The 12GB RTX 3080 is a bastardized version of one of the best graphics cards you can buy – and that's a shame.

price and availability

RTX 3080 on a pink background. Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Our reviews usually start with a discussion of design, specs, and performance, but remember: it's impossible to talk about a graphics card other than price. Performance alone doesn't matter. The performance in relation to the price makes the difference.

And in this case, it's the most important element of the 12GB version of the RTX 3080.

Nvidia has never set a list price for this graphics card, and while the list price doesn't say much, it still serves as a comparison. Even amidst the GPU shortage that has prices rising and falling, the cards still stack up as list prices suggest – the RTX 3080 costs more than the RTX 3070 and so on.

So what is the price of the 12GB RTX 3080? At the lower end, it's around $1,249 – $50 more than the RTX 3080 Ti. For example, the EVGA XC3 Ultra version is listed at this price. That's $40 more expensive than the RTX 3080 Ti version of the same model and $440 more expensive than the 10GB version. I'm not comparing high-end cards either. These are the most basic versions of EVGA.

You pay an inflated price no matter where you get your card.

The Asus ROG Strix version costs $1,600, which is $400 more expensive than the 10GB ROG Strix model. Technically, it's cheaper than the RTX 3080 Ti version, but that's only because this card is non-stock and Asus doesn't offer list prices on its website.

Even with inflated prices, you're looking at a much more expensive graphics card. On eBay, the 12GB model sells for about $300 more than the 10GB model, which is actually closer to the prices advertised by retailers. Prices at retailers and on the used market may be closer now, but that just means you're paying an inflated price wherever you buy your card.

There are a number of speculative reasons why the 12GB RTX 3080 is so expensive, but it boils down to this: the 12GB RTX 3080 will continue to sell at scalper prices once the market settles down. I'm not against Nvidia or board partners taking advantage of their products, but I'm against releasing a marginal upgrade to a GPU at a significantly higher price point when most people still can't even buy the base model.

draft

RTX 3080 graphics card on a pink background. Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

If it's not already clear, I'm not a fan of the 12GB RTX 3080. However, I have to give credit where it's due, and credit goes to MSI.

MSI was kind enough to send me a 12GB RTX 3080 Suprim X, which is great considering Nvidia doesn't have a Founders Edition model of the 12GB RTX 3080. Regardless of what Nvidia plans to do with this card, the Suprim X remains a wonderful design.

It's technically a dual slot card as it only occupies two slots on the back of your device, but the extra cooler height takes up almost enough space to occupy a third. As with other Suprim X models, this model includes a dual BIOS switch to toggle between Silent and Gaming modes, but even with Gaming mode set, the card was never loud enough to become an issue.

Despite the silicon underneath, MSI has created an excellent graphics card.

Similarly, it comes factory overclocked with a 180MHz boost over Nvidia's official spec, as well as a 50W power boost. To help with the increased power draw, the card uses three 8-pin connectors for power. To help with the massive cooler size, MSI includes a GPU bracket in the box.

Despite what I think about the underlying silicon, MSI has created an excellent graphics card here. I particularly like the RGB MSI shield on the backplate, which is accompanied by an RGB stripe that runs the entire length of the card.

Even in 2022, graphics card manufacturers are designing cards that look great from the front. The Suprim X looks great from the front, but MSI has gone to great lengths to make it look great while it's installed in your computer. This is perhaps the first time I like the backplate design more than the cooler.

Power connectors on the RTX 3080.

RTX 3080 RGB shield logo.

All of this is to say that MSI made a great graphics card, but Nvidia made a so-so GPU. The Suprim X makes the best of a bad situation, and if you have a choice between 12GB RTX 3080 models, this is the one to go for.

specifications

The 12GB RTX 3080 is just an RTX 3080 with 2GB more video memory, at least on the surface. The extra VRAM is the most noticeable change, but there's a little more going on in the specs, especially when compared to the RTX 3080 Ti.

	RTX3080 12GB	RTX3080 10GB	RTX 3080Ti
CUDA cores	8,960	8,704	10,240
boost clock	1.71GHz	1.71GHz	1.67MHz
reminder	12GB GDDR6X	10GB GDDR6X	12GB GDDR6X
memory bus	384-bit	320-bit	384-bit
effective bandwidth	912.4GB/s	760.3GB/s	912.4GB/s
tensor cores	280	272	320
RT cores	70	68	80
power consumption	350W	320W	350W

This is almost an RTX 3080 Ti, but with a big emphasis on almost. Compared to the 10GB RTX 3080, the 12GB model bumps the memory bus to 384-bit and power consumption to 350W, both specifications of the RTX 3080 Ti. It also has a slightly lower base clock, but that doesn't make a difference when gaming , when the boost clock is almost always active.

The main difference is that the 12GB RTX 3080 has a 3% higher core count over the 10GB model, which is significantly lower than the RTX 3080 Ti. Here's how you feel about the card: It's an RTX 3080 Ti, but with the core count of an RTX 3080.

It's clear that the 12GB RTX 3080 doesn't have to exist.

You should also think of it as an RTX 3080 Ti. The 2GB bump in VRAM might seem insignificant, but combined with the larger 384-bit memory bus, the 12GB model has a much higher memory bandwidth: 912GB/s compared to 760GB/s for the 10GB -Model.

Even before you get to the performance data, it's clear that this is a graphics card that doesn't have to exist. It doesn't fill any requirement that isn't already met by the base or Ti model, and it illustrates a breaking point of granularity in Nvidia's lineup where the minute differences between the models become irrelevant.

Of course, the first question you ask yourself about a new graphics card is, "What are the specs?" In the case of the 12GB RTX 3080, where specs are more important than most other GPU versions, the technical data do not paint a clear picture. They are insignificant in some areas and impractical in others. The only way to know what the 12GB RTX 3080 is trying to do is to see it in action.

Play

RTX 3080 installed in a PC. Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

An extra 2GB of storage doesn't matter when gaming – or at least that's what you'll hear ad nauseam in comment sections and forums around the web. It's true that at a certain point video memory doesn't play a huge role in performance, but the increased memory bandwidth does matter.

I ran all my tests with 32GB of memory, an Intel Core i9-10900K, and the latest version of Windows 10. My comparison GPUs are Founders Edition cards, so I downclocked the Suprim X and capped the performance to meet Nvidia's specs. With this particular card, you can expect higher average performance. Here are my results at 4K with the highest graphics preset.

	12GB RTX 3080	10GB RTX 3080	RTX 3080Ti	RTX3090
3DMark Time Spy	17,071	16.108	17,634	18,341
Red Dead Redemption 2	65 fps	N / A	72 fps	77 fps
Fourteen days	76 fps	95 fps	93 fps	78 fps
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	61 fps	62 fps	55 fps	63 fps
Battlefield V	103 fps	100 fps	104 fps	121 fps
Civilization VI	212 fps	255 fps	259 fps	N / A

My results are not too surprising. In 3DMark Time Spy, the 12GB RTX 3080 is about 3% slower than the RTX 3080 Ti and about 6% faster than the 10GB model. Battlefield 5 further illustrates this point, with just a single frame separating the 12GB RTX 3080 and RTX 3080 Ti.

Fortnite only yielded a two-frame difference between the 12GB RTX 3080 and RTX 3090. My middle two benchmarks were run on a different patch of the game, so don't compare these results to the others. The difference between the 12GB RTX 3080 and the RTX 3090 paints the picture clearly: the 12GB RTX 3080 doesn't offer a huge performance advantage.

Red Dead Redemption 2 and Civilization VI are superfluous. Here the trend is clear. The 12GB RTX 3080 is intentionally handicapped or free to run at full speed. It's a slight upgrade over the 10GB model and sits below the RTX 3080 Ti. The RTX 3080 Ti was already a slight improvement over the base model; This 12GB variant just splits the difference.

content creation

GeForce logo on the RTX 3080. Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

I was hoping that the additional bandwidth of the 12GB RTX 3080 would boost content creation performance, but that wasn't the case. Even with no performance or clock speed limitations, the card performed at roughly the same level as the 10GB model, and by a decent margin to the RTX 3080 Ti.

	12GB RTX 3080	10GB RTX 3080	RTX 3080Ti	RTX3090
PugetBench for Premiere Pro	799	821	855	855
Blender BMW (lower is better)	19 seconds	23 seconds	19 seconds	17 seconds
Blender Classroom (lower is better)	100 seconds	71 seconds	56 seconds	79 seconds
Blender Koro (lower is better)	65 seconds	75 seconds	63 seconds	57 seconds

The chart above shows diminishing returns in action. There are only minor differences between the 10GB RTX 3080 and the RTX 3090, with the latter only offering an advantage in dedicated workstations. Overall, the 12GB RTX 3080 sits between the 10GB model and the RTX 3080 Ti as it should, but the results here are so close that it hardly matters.

Content creation is all about what you need the graphics card for. There aren't enough advantages to justify the 12GB RTX 3080 over the 10GB version, even if you only care about content creation. Given the pricing, which I'll get to next, the RTX 3080 Ti is the better choice overall, and the RTX 3090 takes the crown.

Our opinion

The 12GB RTX 3080 does not have to be present. Even the RTX 3080 Ti was a disappointment considering how much more expensive it was than the RTX 3080, and this 12GB variant just splits the difference between those two. It's unnecessary product segmentation for the sole purpose of increasing the RTX 3080's base price.

Nvidia says the 10GB model will live on, but I find it hard to believe. There's no reason to choose the 12GB RTX 3080 over the 10GB version or the RTX 3080 Ti, and Nvidia is aware of that. There's a reason we haven't had many day-one reviews or a public launch like we did with the RTX 3050 and RTX 3090 Ti.

Given the GPU shortage, you should buy almost any graphics card you can get at a reasonable price. There's a chance this is the 12GB RTX 3080, and in that case the card is a great performer. However, if the price trends I'm seeing continue, the 12GB RTX 3080 will remain a bad buy compared to the 10GB and Ti models, even with inflated scalper prices.

Are there alternatives?

Yes. The 10GB RTX 3080 and RTX 3080 Ti are close enough to this model to serve as viable alternatives. On the AMD side, the closest competitor is the RX 6800 XT, although it struggles with ray tracing.

How long it will take?

While the 12GB RTX 3080 is a disappointing graphics card, it's not bad. Like the base 10GB model, this one will last at least the next few years at 4K and probably several years at lower resolutions.

should you buy it

No. The 12GB RTX 3080 would be among the best graphics cards if it weren't for the 10GB version and the RTX 3080 Ti. They do, and they strike a much better balance between price and performance.

Editor's Recommendations

22 Mar

Blog

How to Ride an Exercise Bike With Bad Knees

March 22, 2021
Posted by Samson

Bad knees are a common problem associated with cyclists. To curb this problem, cyclists may be wondering if there is a way to reverse an exercise with this problem. However, we're here to bring you information on how to effectively ride a stationary bike with bad knees.

What you need to know before asking yourself this question is the correct height and saddle positions. If you read on, you will find the right answers for you below.

How do I ride an exercise bike with bad knees?

An exercise bike is the most convenient piece of equipment for people with bad knees and joint pain. They ensure a gentle training experience that is completely injury-free. What is more important is knowing how to drive it properly.
How do I ride an exercise bike with bad knees?

Make sure the seat height for your hips, ankles and knees is correct. Keep your arms slightly bent at a 15 degree angle. Make sure you understand the knee joint and the condition of the ankle in order to get a proper pedal position. The bicycle wheel Also explains the ways to use while riding an exercise bike with bad knees. Make sure you have considered all of this in order to get the best bad knees driving experience.

Adjust your seat correctly.

When riding an exercise bike, make sure that your legs are straight on the pedal. On the underside, make sure you're sitting comfortably, but not as straight, and don't lean too hard on the pedal. Once you have your legs in the upper position of the pedal, they should be comfortable too. For those who prefer recumbents, the right setting is the best bad kneeling riding experience. Make sure your seat and backrest are properly adjusted.

Adjust the handlebars correctly

You can't ride on bad knees if you don't know how to properly adjust the handlebars. If you have this condition, you can get an exercise bike with adjustable handlebars.

What you should do to ride with bad knees is adjust the handlebars based on your shoulder height. It is important to keep this setting in mind as it may be too short or too small.

Do not lean forward

Another essential aspect that will allow you to ride an exercise bike with bad knees is body positioning. It allows you to get better results when exercising with bad knees. The best position is to keep your chest up and your back down. Always keep your head straight so that the ear line stays at the shoulder.

Don't forget to adjust the pedal straps.

If you want a more comfortable and efficient ride with bad knees, you should properly adjust your bike's pedal straps. They are important because they help you position your foot correctly so that you always stay safe. As a result, a properly adjusted pedal strap is required to prevent your foot from slipping on the pedal. Once your foot is on the pedal, you can easily ride an exercise bike with bad knees.

How is riding an exercise bike good for bad knees?

Yes. People with bad knees have no other obligation than to use an exercise bike. This bike reduces inflammation of the knees. Exercise bikes allow the knees to get used to their normal movement and gradually recover.

Seniors or the elderly find this device necessary as it allows them to exercise without putting any strain on the knee joints. On the other hand, this tool can be used by anyone who suffers from stress on the joints or knees. Below are the reasons that make exercise bikes suitable for bad knees.

What sets it apart from exercise with exercise bikes is that they take considerable strain off the knees. This allows the hamstrings and quads to perform exercises without carrying a heavy load. It is best not to put pressure on your joints or knees when cycling with an exercise bike.

The exercise bike is great for reducing knee pain that will eventually lead to a full recovery. This training does not put any strain on the stressing joints. Pedaling an exercise bike can protect your knees from heavy lifting. In addition, you can heal your knees or even relieve the pain by exercising properly on an exercise bike.

These exercise bikes are great for workouts anywhere, depending on your needs. Manufacturers have made sure that it is light enough and easily maneuverable. Training with this machine depends on how you manage the time. It's also best for people with bad knees as it's not affected by weather conditions. It can be used for indoor exercises and ensures maximum privacy.

This exercise bike is suitable for people with bad knees because users can do a full body exercise. This way you can strengthen your thighs, legs and back muscles. It has a smooth and predictable slow motion with no knee and joint loads.

You can choose between an upright exercise bike or a recumbent bike. You can use them to perform reclining seat exercises with a backrest and extended support. This is an investment that is worthwhile and offers many advantages in the future.

Conclusion

In short, exercise bikes are indispensable exercise equipment for people with bad knees. What matters is whether you know the tricks and ways that you can use to exercise properly. Before you decide to buy your exercise bike, you need to be sure that you understand how to use it. Hence, you need to check the status of your knee and decide which exercise bike can meet your needs. There are different types of pedal bikes, but those with optimal performance must have the required characteristics. These properties make your joint pain or knee problems go away.

27 Feb

Blog

Xiaomi Mi 11 Review: Beautiful Screen, Bad Battery

February 27, 2021
Posted by Samson

xiaomi mi 11 rating camera back hand

Xiaomi Mi 11 review: specs to challenge the Galaxy S21 but not the battery

"The screen, camera and performance of the Xiaomi Mi 11 are enviable, but the battery disappoints and the software has yet to be polished."

Stunning screen
Capable 108MP camera
Very fast wired and wireless charging

Bad battery life
Software has yet to be polished
Not widely available (yet)

If you've looked at the Samsung Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus and shrugged your shoulders without being impressed by the decent but not standout specs, the Xiaomi Mi 11 may be exactly what you're looking for. It has the specs and feature lists we've come to expect from Samsung's reasonably large flagship S-series phones, then charges less than the simplest Galaxy S21 to own the device.

Xiaomi has long excelled by delivering strong specifications on paper coupled with an affordable price, but then stumbled in terms of ease of use and polish. It has a great chance to impress with the Mi 11. Did it do that too?

design

With its metal frame, the curved Gorilla Glass Victus above the screen and Gorilla Glass 5 for the back, the Xiaomi Mi 11 is made of exactly the materials that we expect from a top smartphone today. The hue of the ice blue paint on the back of my Mi 11 changes slightly as it catches the light, it doesn't attract too many fingerprints and the overall footprint of the phone is manageable. At 196 grams, it's not too heavy either.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The camera module on the back is unusual, not only in its shape, but also because of the number of "steps" it takes. There are three different levels, all in different shapes and with different lenses and colors, so that they are immediately recognizable. It's kind of busy like the S21's lens assembly, but it's certainly not to be confused with any other camera array out there.

Maybe it's a good thing it looks different, as the Mi 11 doesn't push smartphone design in any other way. As expected, the curved panes of glass meet the metal case, there are speaker grilles at the top and bottom, no headphone jack and three buttons on the right side of the case. In your hand, it feels like the OnePlus 8, Galaxy S20 +, Oppo Find X2 Pro, and many other phones that have been released in recent years.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

A strange part of the design involves the bezels around the corners of the screen. The edges of the device appear to be at a slightly different angle than the edges of the screen. Once you notice this, it becomes frustratingly difficult not to see them. Even if the glass is curved on the sides, the screen does not extend far down. Some may see this as an advantage, but it also means that the black bezels are more noticeable than we'd like them to be.

Screen and audio

The Mi 11 has a 6.81-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 3,200 x 1,400 pixels, a refresh rate of 120 Hz, HDR10 + support and a maximum brightness of 1,500 nits. This goes beyond the specifications of the Galaxy S21 + and is the same as the Galaxy S21 Ultra. However, does it really matter that the FHD + screen performance of the Galaxy S21 + is indistinguishable from the WQHD + screen of the S20 +?

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

When I put the Mi 11 next to the S21 +, I really can't see any difference when playing high definition videos on YouTube – but that's not a bad thing as it looks amazing. This version of Iz * One's panoramic music video (below) looks sharp and stunning on both phones. It offers a multitude of colors and deep contrasts, perfect control during the sequences with flashing lights and fast movements as well as high brightness. Xiaomi adapts Samsung's screen performance to the Mi 11.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The excellent dual speaker system from Xiaomi with audio tuned by Harmon Kardon is clear and loud, with only minimal harshness at maximum volume. The speakers are too small for a lot of bass, but the Mi 11 has a deeper sound than the iPhone 12 Pro and sounds very similar to the Galaxy S21 + overall. It's also great to see AptX HD and AptX Adaptive on the list of Bluetooth features, which means the Mi 11 will stream the highest quality audio to compatible headphones. YouTube music sounded great when listening to the Vivo TWS Neo earbuds with AptX Adaptive, and there was little occasional lag while gaming.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

I couldn't find any downsides with the display itself, but was surprised that the 120Hz refresh rate had to be turned on instead of setting it by default. Some people may miss out because of this quirk. Otherwise, the Mi 11's audiovisual experience is superb and certainly on par with the very best phones you can buy today.

camera

The multilevel module on the back of the Mi 11 contains three cameras: a 108-megapixel main camera with a 1 / 1.33-inch sensor and optical image stabilization, a 13-megapixel wide-angle camera and a 5-megapixel macro camera. It doesn't have an optical zoom but has some unusual video camera features and it can also record 8K videos. The 20-megapixel selfie camera is located in a hole cutout on the screen.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The 108MP sensor seems to be the ISOCELL HM3 from Samsung, which can also be found in the Galaxy S21 Ultra. I enjoyed using the Mi 11 as I'm sure it will take good photos, but I missed an optical zoom feature and found there were more images to edit than on the Galaxy S21 Ultra. The white balance, for example, seems to be a weak point in the camera.

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xiaomi mi 11 review cropped character "aria-descriptionby =" gallery-7-2631171

1.
Mi 11 original
2.
Mi 11 cropped version

However, there is no denying how much detail the camera captures. In the photo of the pond above, there is a small sign on the wall in the center of the photo. Only when you zoom in to the right can you clearly read the message "Don't leave any trash, take it home". The same photo shows the beautiful tone of the Mi 11, which very effectively captures the colors at the end of winter.

The large sensor adds a deep, natural depth of field and is really more effective than the random portrait mode for adding bokeh to your photos. Dim light is good too. The early morning red sky photo still shows a decent level of detail, even though the 2x setting is a digital zoom. Some edge distortion is noticeable in wide-angle shots and the colors are a little muted.

The Mi 11's camera, whether it's still images or videos, is a great partner.

The auto focus makes the 5 megapixel macro camera more user-friendly than most, but it's still not quite as good as the Galaxy S21 Ultra's macro mode, which uses the wide-angle camera. It's problematic because it's a bit of a hit or a miss when it comes to whether it focuses on what you want. Tapping the screen helps, but the camera never seems to be happy with the distance from the subject. It therefore takes time to do everything “just right”. That's fine if your subject is stationary and you don't mind taking multiple photos, but not if it's moving. Either way, you will need patience and a blank gallery to get a usable photo or two.

Video and editing modes

The Mi 11 camera gimmick (and yes, they are gimmicks) is related to video. When you hit the Movie Effects setting, you'll get a selection of clever, but very niche video effects for you to try out. Magic Zoom creates your own dolly shot (like that famous shot by Jaws) while Time Freeze keeps your subject in the shot as the world continues to move around it, and Parallel World folds the scene on itself in an inception style .

Each works reasonably well and is due to Xiaomi's artificial intelligence (A.I.) and software efforts, but they can only be used in very specific situations. Magic Zoom works best when there is a large distance between you and your subject, so it needs to be quite large. Time Freeze needs people to work and they have to do something vaguely interesting to make it interesting. Movement restrictions that I live in mean these features are mostly unusable for the time being. But even when I see real people again, I can't see these features being used except out of curiosity.

Wed 11 edited sky photo Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The 8K video recording feature is available at 24 frames per second (fps) or 30 fps, resulting in massive file sizes (at least 500MB per minute) and content that you can only really enjoy on an 8K TV. There are plenty of other modes too, from a 15 second short video setting to a dual video mode that lets you record with both the front and rear cameras. There are a lot of things you can try out – just don't expect them to be features that you use every day.

Xiaomi's photo editing mode is similarly fun and once again shows its A.I. Skills. There is an effective editing feature that can be used to change the appearance of the sky, such as: B. a bokeh portrait mode for the sky, which is surprisingly good at completely changing the mood of a photo. The Mi 11's camera, whether it's still images or videos, is a great partner. The features can be playful, but there's plenty to do on occasion and the quality of the main camera is undeniable.

Software and performance

My test Mi 11 exaggerated Android 11 with MIUI 12 and installed the security patch from January 1, 2021. It's the best version of MIUI I've used, but that's not a clear recommendation – it just means it's not as fussy as older versions. On the positive side, it's very pretty and very fast, and for the most part, the settings menu is very well laid out. Every app I've downloaded has worked without any problems and isn't frustrating to operate.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

However, there are some issues that you won't find with the S21 + or iPhone. The keyboard is at the very bottom of the phone, which can be a hassle to use. Notifications do well in the notification shadow and you can interact with them there, but I didn't always get them all and sometimes the phone would deliver a multitude of notifications together when I unlocked them for some other reason. There is also no "jump" to the notification shadow. So if you swipe the screen to reveal hidden messages, the shadows will simply close and you will be returned to the home screen.

I like the different options that always appear on the screen, the numerous customization options for the display, and the dark mode. Oddly enough, dark mode also adds darkness to the wallpaper, but this can be turned off by digging into the settings. This is probably the biggest problem with MIUI. The endless customization means investing time getting it just right and sometimes not knowing why something looks or works like this.

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Finding the macro mode in the camera app is a good example of MIUI being crowded and chaotic. This is not a standard setting in the option list in the viewfinder, is not a "flower" symbol next to the wide-angle and zoom options, and is not hidden in the "More" menu. Instead, it's under another menu at the top of the screen that is far too easy to miss.

None of these things make MIUI particularly bad. They just mean that the Mi 11's software has a steep learning curve before it really feels at home, especially if you're coming from an operating system like iOS or Android on a Google Pixel phone.

The new Snapdragon 888 chip from Qualcomm supplies the Mi 11 with power. My trial version has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, but a 256GB model with 12GB of RAM is also available. I can't understand why you need 12GB of RAM as I never thought the phone would be slow to respond. I've played Asphalt 9: Legends and it's fluid, very fast, and the screen looks wonderful. Due to its moderate weight, the Mi 11 is ideal for playing. There is also a game mode that can save notifications and mute calls.

Battery and security

Now we come to the biggest disappointment in the Mi 11 – the battery. The 4,600mAh cell may have the capacity to last a long time, and comes with wired and wireless fast charging, but doesn't have the guts to last longer than a full day (and even then, it's just that) when it does Fall is under heavy use.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

At the moment I mostly use Wi-Fi, and even then the Mi 11's battery life showed up. With some videos, some photos, a short gaming session, and normal use outside of those things, the battery dropped to 60% in the early afternoon. That's at least 20% less than most other phones, including the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Take it outside and connect to a cell signal and things are worse.

With moderate use, the battery drains at an alarming rate, and even in the middle of the day I wondered if I needed to charge it before going to bed. The cell is not small and the phone does not get hot, suggesting that it is a software optimization issue and future software updates may improve battery life. Fortunately, there is a wired 55 watt charger in the box, which promises a quick charging time of 45 minutes. If you have the Xiaomi 50W wireless charger, the charging time is still less than an hour. However, this is not included with the phone.

The biggest disappointment in the Mi 11 – the battery.

The security systems are better, but also not perfect. The built-in fingerprint sensor sometimes takes a few longer hits than expected to unlock the phone. So if you lift your finger too quickly, it won't open. It's frustrating that this isn't always the case. Hence, it is difficult to adjust your usage to compensate for this. However, the face unlock is very quick, so you may not be using the fingerprint sensor at all.

Price and availability

Choosing the Mi 11 over the Galaxy S21 or S21 + is one thing, but getting your hands on a Mi 11 is another. Xiaomi does not officially sell its smartphones in the US, so you will have to import one. Likewise, the phone has not yet been confirmed for launch in the UK, but we expect it to be available soon as it is available in parts of Europe. It starts at 749 euros, which converts to about 900 US dollars or 650 British pounds.

Our opinion

The Mi 11 is a really powerful device with a fantastic screen, a powerful 108 megapixel camera, and lots of the right features and specs for a very reasonable price. However, all of this doesn't quite make up for disappointing battery life and MIUI issues related to notifications and menu clutter. Xiaomi's hardware is excellent as always, but also, as we see too often, the software – although improved – can't compete with competing phones from Samsung, Apple and OnePlus.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes. If you don't want to spend $ 1,000 on the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra or the iPhone 12 Pro – our top two picks – and want something around $ 700, then the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is just like the Google Pixel 5 a good buy If the Xiaomi Mi 11 launches in the UK in the near future, it will be a great alternative to the OnePlus 8 Pro which, while excellent, does not have the latest Qualcomm chip. The camera is also not as powerful as that of the Mi 11.

How long it will take?

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor is up to date and has more than enough features to keep the phone fresh for two or three years. Xiaomi's MIUI software updates are more frequent than the Android version updates. While the latest software is now running, it won't when Android 12 releases later this year and it may take a while for the update to be available.

Unfortunately, the Mi 11 is not waterproof and the glass body is not particularly resistant to damage if the phone is dropped. A case would be a very good idea if you want the phone to last a long time. The Xiaomi Mi 11 has 5G connectivity provided you have coverage near you.

Should you buy it?

No. It's a capable phone with a lot of good points, but the battery life is disappointing and the additional camera features – while technically impressive – don't keep enough long-term interest. Also, you need to import it to the US and there is no final UK release date yet.

Editor's recommendations

09 Jun

Blog

There is no CrossFit, Just Good and Bad Coaching

June 9, 2020
Posted by Samson

Most people are now aware of the backlash against Greg Glassman, the founder and CEO of CrossFit, for speaking deaf, insensitive, and dismissively about George Floyd's death and COVID-19.

We don't have to reheat all of this here because it has killed everywhere else. However, we have to deal with one thing, the future of boxing gyms, especially since they struggle to open up in a post-pandemic and, as it seems likely, in a post-CrossFit world. The simple fact is that there is no CrossFit.

CrossFit is a brand. It is a name and an ideal. It was once a proponent of a process that organized high-intensity interval training (HIIT) into a methodology for functional fitness and general physical readiness (GPP).

It has made Olympic weightlifting, kettlebells, tabata, EMOM, gymnastics and weight training popular in group training. They either loved or hated CrossFit. For many personal trainers and strength and conditioning trainers, it was the entrance ticket to a gym, many of which started in their own garages.

CrossFit enabled boxing gyms to find a mainstream audience. It also helped private training studios find an identity and tie them all to the brand.

For this, the boxing gym owners paid participation fees for certifications, affiliation and finally for CrossFit Open and Games. The certifications went from Level I and Level II across all disciplines like a CrossFit Strongman approach.

Affiliations was a simple startup kit for aspiring fitness entrepreneurs. Simply log in to CrossFit and wait for customers to log in. The Open and the Games were recruiting tools, aspirations and community building.

CrossFit always sucked

While the CrossFit community was and is a real thing, CrossFit HQ (CFHQ), the governing body, was anything but collaborative. CFHQ has always been brutal, aggressive, insecure, controversial, and just disgusting to anyone who ticked it off. For many people who got caught in the crossfire, CrossFit was an organization. For some, it seemed more of a cult than a fitness company.

While CrossFit flourished worldwide, opened markets everywhere, and became synonymous with crazy-intense workouts that made you vomit or have to lie in a deep pool of your own sweat, it never took responsibility for individual partners and never really had a hand in it Hand providing training and programming instructions that are not provided through certification.

In fact, CrossFit transferred everything to the affiliates, although they were supported by their own lawyers when they felt their brand was under attack and never really committed to defining a CrossFit training or method that they are responsible for the liability.

In other words, there are no CrossFit workouts because the brand is legally defined. Sure, there are CrossFit workouts like Fran or Murph. We all know them.

However, no partner could claim to have offered CrossFit training, especially if this training harmed someone. Affiliates offered their own workouts under the patronage of a CrossFit box.

It didn't matter because the world did everything it wanted to do with the CrossFit name. It became mythical training for the general press, and it became a confusing mess of inconsistent quality for consumers who went to affiliates who didn't really know what they were getting.

The Darwinian CrossFit Box Gym

Glassman had always expected the subsidiaries to rise and fall due to market forces. The good would survive and the bad would fail. It was supposed to be libertarian or something, but ultimately it only caused inconsistency, unreliable coaching, and poor programming because there was no oversight.

And it didn't matter when the brand took off. There were times when in some densely populated areas three or four CrossFit boxes were within a few blocks of each other. From a business perspective, this didn't make sense, but everyone passed the same money on to the CFHQ, so it didn't matter.

Sure, over time it became clear that you can't build a business through wear and tear, especially if you ask your business partners to go to war with each other and pay you for the privilege.

But that didn't stop Glassman. When the US CrossFit market started to stagnate and shrink, international markets picked up. The United States was three or four years ahead of the rest of the world.

Whether CrossFit made good or bad business decisions pales in comparison to what happens to CrossFit partners when they make bad decisions. If the separation becomes a thing and CrossFit, like any other fitness fad or fitness trend, loses relevance, the question arises as to what replaces the workout.

Anything that is not CrossFit could be and vice versa

CrossFit box owners must recognize that they are the brand behind the workouts. Consumers should be aware that a CrossFit partner's head coach or trainer is the person responsible for the training, not the CFHQ.

Once you do this, you will find that CrossFit is irrelevant despite what it has done. It was irrelevant, and thinking differently is exaggerating his ability to do great coaching and training.

Sure, maybe CrossFit is an acronym that everyone can understand. But box gym too. Box gyms are also an abbreviation. CrossFit partners are all boxing gyms, which means that they are not globo-gyms or orange theory or SoulCycle or gyms. There are pull-up bars, barbells, kettlebells, rowing machines, rings, sweat and chalk.

If anyone wishing to cancel their membership agrees to call themselves Box Gym, we at Breaking Mucle would like to standardize this terminology.

Let's face it, box gyms do HIIT, Tabata, EMOM, AMRAPs, weight lifting, personal training, deadlifts, handstand walks, burpees and, as much as we hate, wall balls. What else do you need?

09 Jun

Blog

There is no CrossFit, Just Good and Bad Coaching

June 9, 2020
Posted by Samson

Most people are now aware of the backlash against Greg Glassman, the founder and CEO of CrossFit, for speaking deaf, insensitive, and dismissively about George Floyd's death and COVID-19.

We don't have to reheat all of this here because it has killed everywhere else. However, we have to deal with one thing, the future of boxing gyms, especially since they struggle to open up in a post-pandemic and, as it seems likely, in a post-CrossFit world. The simple fact is that there is no CrossFit.

CrossFit is a brand. It is a name and an ideal. It was once a proponent of a process that organized high-intensity interval training (HIIT) into a methodology for functional fitness and general physical readiness (GPP).

It has made Olympic weightlifting, kettlebells, tabata, EMOM, gymnastics and weight training popular in group training. They either loved or hated CrossFit. For many personal trainers and strength and conditioning trainers, it was the entrance ticket to a gym, many of which started in their own garages.

CrossFit enabled boxing gyms to find a mainstream audience. It also helped private training studios find an identity and tie them all to the brand.

For this, the boxing gym owners paid participation fees for certifications, affiliation and finally for CrossFit Open and Games. The certifications went from Level I and Level II across all disciplines like a CrossFit Strongman approach.

Affiliations was a simple startup kit for aspiring fitness entrepreneurs. Simply log in to CrossFit and wait for customers to log in. The Open and the Games were recruiting tools, aspirations and community building.

CrossFit always sucked

While the CrossFit community was and is a real thing, CrossFit HQ (CFHQ), the governing body, was anything but collaborative. CFHQ has always been brutal, aggressive, insecure, controversial, and just disgusting to anyone who ticked it off. For many people who got caught in the crossfire, CrossFit was an organization. For some, it seemed more of a cult than a fitness company.

While CrossFit flourished worldwide, opened markets everywhere, and became synonymous with crazy-intense workouts that made you vomit or have to lie in a deep pool of your own sweat, it never took responsibility for individual partners and never really had a hand in it Hand providing training and programming instructions that are not provided through certification.

In fact, CrossFit transferred everything to the affiliates, although they were supported by their own lawyers when they felt their brand was under attack and never really committed to defining a CrossFit training or method that they are responsible for the liability.

In other words, there are no CrossFit workouts because the brand is legally defined. Sure, there are CrossFit workouts like Fran or Murph. We all know them.

However, no partner could claim to have offered CrossFit training, especially if this training harmed someone. Affiliates offered their own workouts under the patronage of a CrossFit box.

It didn't matter because the world did everything it wanted to do with the CrossFit name. It became mythical training for the general press, and it became a confusing mess of inconsistent quality for consumers who went to affiliates who didn't really know what they were getting.

The Darwinian CrossFit Box Gym

Glassman had always expected the subsidiaries to rise and fall due to market forces. The good would survive and the bad would fail. It was supposed to be libertarian or something, but ultimately it only caused inconsistency, unreliable coaching, and poor programming because there was no oversight.

And it didn't matter when the brand took off. There were times when in some densely populated areas three or four CrossFit boxes were within a few blocks of each other. From a business perspective, this didn't make sense, but everyone passed the same money on to the CFHQ, so it didn't matter.

Sure, over time it became clear that you can't build a business through wear and tear, especially if you ask your business partners to go to war with each other and pay you for the privilege.

But that didn't stop Glassman. When the US CrossFit market started to stagnate and shrink, international markets picked up. The United States was three or four years ahead of the rest of the world.

Whether CrossFit made good or bad business decisions pales in comparison to what happens to CrossFit partners when they make bad decisions. If the separation becomes a thing and CrossFit, like any other fitness fad or fitness trend, loses relevance, the question arises as to what replaces the workout.

Anything that is not CrossFit could be and vice versa

CrossFit box owners must recognize that they are the brand behind the workouts. Consumers should be aware that a CrossFit partner's head coach or trainer is the person responsible for the training, not the CFHQ.

Once you do this, you will find that CrossFit is irrelevant despite what it has done. It was irrelevant, and thinking differently is exaggerating his ability to do great coaching and training.

Sure, maybe CrossFit is an acronym that everyone can understand. But box gym too. Box gyms are also an abbreviation. CrossFit partners are all boxing gyms, which means that they are not globo-gyms or orange theory or SoulCycle or gyms. There are pull-up bars, barbells, kettlebells, rowing machines, rings, sweat and chalk.

If anyone wishing to cancel their membership agrees to call themselves Box Gym, we at Breaking Mucle would like to standardize this terminology.

Let's face it, box gyms do HIIT, Tabata, EMOM, AMRAPs, weight lifting, personal training, deadlifts, handstand walks, burpees and, as much as we hate, wall balls. What else do you need?

04 Mar

Blog

Adaptation Is Not a Bad Word, Body Confusion Is

March 4, 2020
Posted by Samson

As spring approaches, many of us run the risk of making serious mistakes in your training for the rest of the year, and revising this bug program is one of them.

However, this does not mean that changing things that do not work is not justified. Rather, frequent program changes at the beginning do not allow any adjustments. The renowned scientist Hans Seyle is known for the “General Adaptation Syndrome” (GAS) concept, which describes the three physiological stages that the human body goes through under stress. These include the alarm response level, resistance level and fatigue level.

Adaptation is not a bad word, body confusion is - fitness, overtraining, rest and relaxation, hypertrophy, muscle building, muscle control, training plan, general adaptation syndrome, Hans Seyle

To create a solid training program, the American College of Sports Medicine, together with the National Academy of Sports Medicine, uses GAS guidelines as a means to create resistance programs for the general population to determine the rep range, choice of exercises, etc. ,

This is done to maximize muscle building. The work of Dr. However, Seyle is best suited to avoid overtraining GAS research done by Samuel Buckner and others about possible misuse in strength training.

To understand the dilemma, Buckner reviewed Seyle's original work and found that his work was due to exposure to toxic levels of pharmacological agents and stimuli.

In addition, the everyday lifter can follow a periodization plan for muscle size and strength, in which the athlete is exposed to constant strains outside of strength training, such as in sports and life. This amount of life stress and the like does not explain how the athlete should follow a training program to maximize profits.

Strength training versus aerobic training

According to Knuttgen, strength training and aerobics differ in their own way. High intensity strength training for more than 20 repetitions is not possible. Knuttgen explains that it takes a few weeks to get used to this form of training physiologically.

However, aerobic training consumes a maximum of 20% of the maximum output and is therefore dependent on the oxygen supply and small organelles, the mitochondria that supply the tissue with energy. He further expresses that repetitions are a more sensible conversation when it comes to strength training, while time and heart rate are far more important in sports like cycling.

This does not mean that you cannot talk about repetitions during aerobic exercise, However, it makes more sense to consider the time and type of cardio performed while your body can adapt to the improvement in overall performance. With progress in strength training, the rates can decrease to an adjustable volume per week in favor of a higher percentage of the 1RM.

In my experience as a natural athlete, over training in Seyle's definition is usually not achieved by most general weekend warriors, and it is far more useful to focus more on a consistent program. According to my professional recommendation, cardiovascular training should be a challenge, but not impossible.

Stair masters, kickboxing, taibo, sled kicks, combat ropes or jump ropes are some examples that help to support healthy joints. Otherwise, the world is your oyster with stationary bikes, zumba, etc. However, choose two types of cardio a week and strive for maximum time while increasing tolerance every week. Do not start changing cardio frequently, as this, along with changing strength training, can be a daunting task.

My clients often have three types of cardio to complete. Most do two types, but rarely do all three – and that's fine. It's better to extend the runtime than to worry about how many climbers you complete in a minute,

Weight training has recently become an atrocity on social media. It seems everyone has the latest and greatest training plan. Some swear by having the exact exercises required to achieve your goals.

However, exercise encyclopedias do not improve your performance. They can teach you about different movements and encourage you to stay open. The main exercises, however, are universal.

These exercises include, but are not limited to: pushing up, pulling up, diving, squatting, deadlift, hip extension, knee bending, knee extension, plank, overhead / shoulder press, row, bench / dumbbell press, and mostly patience.

Don't make it complicated

Confusing your body with breakaway rows of stability balls or squats on half a Bosu ball is a recipe for disaster, injury, and an award on YouTube, Keep it simple in Bruce Lee's words. Track your progress weekly and try to eat and exercise as regularly as possible. For example, eat four meals a day and train each part of the body differently each day.

It is important that you leave your ego at the door and actively strive for function and strength, not muscle confusion and tricky techniques that will help you achieve your goals quickly. My parents always said to me: "What comes quickly goes quickly."

For advanced lifters, don't skip the gym and fix what isn't broken. Form creep can occur with certain movements, which indicates bottlenecks and mobility problems. However, do not try to change your program every week.

Instead, replace one or two exercises with something else. This ensures general well-being. Work for success and remember that mistakes occur – and consistency is key.

03 Mar

Blog

Adaptation Is Not a Bad Word, Body Confusion Is

March 3, 2020
Posted by Samson