18 Aug
Blog

Govee Lyra Smart Floor Lamp Review: A Futuristic Light Show

govee lyra smart floor lamp Rating 3 of 11

Govee Lyra Smart Floor Lamp Review: A fascinating, futuristic light show

RRP $ 150.00

"If there is a bare corner in your home, the Govee Lyra Smart Floor Lamp will illuminate it with light."

advantages

  • Tons of preset light modes to choose from

  • Strong brightness

  • Vibrant colours

Govee is a brand I've talked about a lot over the past few months, in part because their smart lights are affordable compared to alternatives from established brands like Philips Hue and Lifx. Conventional lightbulbs and light strips are widely used in the smart lighting field, saturating the market with products that have very similar purposes and functions – so Govee decides to expand their portfolio with their next device.

At first glance, the Govee Lyra Smart floor lamp with its round base and narrow protruding column looks like something out of a futuristic science fiction film. But once it turns on, there is something intriguing that catches your attention. It's certainly fascinating, but the $ 150 price tag makes it the most expensive model in its ever-expanding range of smart lighting.

Setup and installation

Building the Govee Lyra Smart Floor Lamp is a fairly simple process that consists of four components: a base, a narrow tube, a strip of light and a power connector. The narrow tube is fastened together and then connected to the base, which allows it to have a clearance of 57 inches when fully assembled.

Govee has taken the best features of a smart light strip and transplanted them into a potent floor lamp.

The hardest part of the whole setup is to snake the flexible strip of light along the thin cutout along the tube. It reminds me of your ordinary strip of light that you can hang on a wall or around furniture, but it's encased in a sturdy and flexible rubber-like housing that fits into the narrow channel of the tubes. From start to finish, the entire process takes a maximum of 15 minutes.

design

As I said before, the Govee Lyra Smart Floor Lamp looks very different – so much so that it may not blend well with traditional decor. If you are looking for the minimalist look, you can surely appreciate what Govee is up to here. Compared to the Wyze floor lamp I tested, which looks very much what I expect from a floor lamp, Govee's interpretation is undeniably as minimalistic as it gets.

Two people sing next to Govee Lyra Lamp.

This is not a bad quality in and of itself, especially if it doesn't take up a lot of floor space. I ended up putting it in a corner of my office so the light could bounce off the wall more effectively. And sure, you can position it so that the streak of light is facing away from the wall, but I did the opposite because the intensity of the light can be harsh on the eyes due to its high brightness.

features

Light shows are expected with these types of smart lights, but Govee goes a step further when compared to some other table or floor lamps. Although I really enjoy the ambience that table lamps like the Philips Hue Iris have, they cannot produce different colors at the same time. That is the special thing about the Govee Lyra, because as a light band it can produce many different colors at the same time. This is achieved thanks to Govee's RGBIC (red, green, blue independent control) technology.

A selection of dazzling light patterns is available via the Govee Home app, which is available for Android and iOS. What makes it better is that the light patterns are dynamic rather than just emitting one color – which is fine if you prefer a more static setting, but I enjoy the pattern changes that the Lyra offers. From breathing effects to mimicking the look of candlelight, it's nice to know that there is a pattern to choose from for every mood.

Its versatility underscores the lyra's ability to customize patterns. The app has options for choosing colors and which areas of the lightstrip to turn on so you can customize a light show. There is a mode that allows the lyre to light up when the microphone detects music or sounds. If you want to throw a dance party, the lyre glows beautifully to the beat of the music.

Use the Govee Home app for Android to turn on Govee Lyra.

Finally, it's compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant. I managed to set it up with the latter so that I can turn it on and off instantly with voice actions.

perfomance

When it comes to being a main source of light, the brightness of the Govee Lyra easily makes it a perfect reading lamp. It also works well as an accent or ambient light with my particular setup as the light coming from the strip is harsh when looking at it directly.

Govee Lyra Smart floor lamp lighting corner.

Meanwhile, the colors it can produce are saturated in tone – especially when different colors are emitted at the same time. The colors clashing along the wall have something fascinating to say – they make for an impressive light show. Seeing its color explosion through a picture is one thing, but seeing it in action in person or on video is another thing.

Our opinion

The $ 150 cost of the Govee Lyra Smart Floor Lamp is without question the biggest hurdle for most people. It's still expensive, but it's justified when you look at what the competition has to offer.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes and no. There aren't many smart floor lamps out there that offer this level of customization, especially for their price. The only other alternative worth checking out is the Philips Hue Signe, which stands out for its ability to work as ambient light with your home theater experience, but you'll want to pay $ 250 for it.

If you're looking for a smart floor lamp with more emphasis on being a primary light source, you can't beat the Wyze floor lamp. Although it only emits white light, you'll want to pay less than $ 50 for it.

How long it will take?

Fortunately, the base is weighted down enough to prevent the lyre from tipping over, but the thin metal column could be damaged if it accidentally falls over. Otherwise, you can count on long-term use of this lamp as it is based on LED technology. Govee offers a one-year limited warranty that covers defects.

Should you buy it?

Yes. It is a floor lamp that emits strong light and is perfect as a primary light source. And its colored light show will dazzle your eyes.

Editor's recommendations



18 Aug
Blog

Google Pixel 5a 5G Review: A Slight but Worthwhile Upgrade

Google Pixel 5a functional picture with the screen on.

Google Pixel 5a 5G

RRP $ 449.00

"The Pixel 5a continues to live up to its camera expectations and offers smooth performance, expressive photos and lowlight functions at an affordable price."

advantages

  • Excellent camera performance

  • Smooth, clean software

  • IP67 water and dust resistance

  • Affordable price for its skills

disadvantage

  • Standard, a bit boring design

  • No high refresh display

Google's Pixel 5a 5G was the subject of so many leaks at the time that there are no surprises here – but it never had to be. The Pixel A series has always been cheaper, scaled-down versions of Google's main phones while offering the same high quality camera hardware and software performance. This has not changed with the Google Pixel 5a either.

In terms of hardware, it's a step up from the Google Pixel 4a 5G, with a larger battery and IP67 water and dust resistance. Conversely, it leaves out some of the premium features you get on the Pixel 5, such as the increased RAM and high-resolution 90Hz display. Overall, it continues to deliver exactly what users of the Google Pixel A series want: clean software, a strong camera and no major disadvantages.

Google Pixel 5a from the back.Ajay Kumar / Digital Trends

Design and display

The design of the Pixel 5a 5G is largely unchanged from its predecessor, the 4a 5G, and borders on boredom. It's a standard candy bar design with sleek black plastic, rounded sides, and a screen with narrow bezels. The hole punch selfie camera is located at the top right, and a fast-reacting fingerprint sensor is located on the back. There is a 3.5mm audio jack on top, just like the 4a 5G.

The big change compared to the previous model is not visible, but a significant one. They now have IP67 water and dust resistance, which means the Pixel 5a can withstand full immersion in water, splashes, and rain, as well as a day at the beach. That was missing from previous generations and it is unusual to find even mid-range phones these days that are not waterproof. So it's nice to see that this durability issue has been fixed.

The screen is largely unchanged. It's a 6.34-inch OLED screen with a resolution of 2400 x 1080. That's a slight change from the 6.2-inch screen on the 4a 5G, which gives you an aspect ratio of 20: 9 while the resolution and pixel density remain the same at 413 pixels per inch (ppi). The viewing angles are great both indoors and outdoors, with high maximum brightness. Videos, games, and text look crisp and I didn't notice any pixelation while using it.

The only thing I missed was the Pixel 5's high-resolution 90Hz screen, which allows for smoother scrolling, animations, and transitions. After you get used to the high-resolution 90Hz screen on the Pixel 5 and 120Hz Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, it is difficult to go back to a normal 60Hz refresh rate.

Google Pixel 5a shows apps.Ajay Kumar / Digital Trends

Performance and battery

The Pixel 5a 5G is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G processor with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. This is the same configuration as the Pixel 4a 5G and the same chipset as the Google Pixel 5, so I won't go into too much detail on performance. Everything is smooth enough for everyday use with no noticeable app slowdowns.

It also handles demanding games like Asphalt 9 and Genshin Impact without chugging, although the lack of the high-refresh panel is noticeable. Even so, it will get the job done with no major problems. There's nothing more to say about that.

Battery life is a big step up from the Pixel 4a 5G. With a 4,680 mAh cell, it's one of the more powerful batteries I've seen on a mid-range phone, and significantly more durable than the 3885 mAh cell on the Pixel 4a 5G. I used an average of one and a half to two days of regular use before charging, with normal daily use consisting of surfing, tweeting, gaming, and photography. There's no wireless charging, but the included adapter gives you 18 watts of fast wired charging.

It will get the job done with no major problems.

Over time, the phone's adaptive battery feature also learns your app usage and habits. That means it finds out which apps you use the most and what times you use them (for me it's Twitter and Reddit 24/7), and it makes sure that apps you don't use often aren't Waste of energy in the background. Over time, this feature should be able to learn your habits and optimize performance better to get more juice out.

A powerful camera

Camera features are why you're here for the Pixel 5a 5G and the phone doesn't disappoint in that regard. On paper, the hardware is identical to the Pixel 4a 5G. The main sensor is a 12.2 megapixel (MP) camera with a 16 MP ultrawide camera with a 117 degree field of view. The 8MP front camera works perfectly well for selfies and videos. But it's Google's software chops that really make the sensors glow.

In good lighting, the main sensor takes excellent pictures with lots of detail, without noise or blurring. Despite a brutally bright and sunny day that can often hide the automatic exposure of smaller phones, all the shots I took while walking in the park turned out to be beautiful. The colors were accurate, vivid without being oversaturated, and the greens stood out particularly well in the contrast between sunlight and shadow.

Taking pictures with the ultra-wide 16MP camera gives you a much larger field of view of 117 degrees. It's marked 0.6x in your camera app and allows you to capture a lot more of your surroundings and background. It's useful for landscape photography, and I enjoyed using it to capture the entire perimeter of the fountain and pond in the park.

But it's Google's software chops that really make the sensors glow.

There are some tradeoffs with the ultrawide camera. While the barrel distortion is not significant, some of the finer details in the recording are lost. Zooming in on leaves and branches reveals more artifacts and debris than if you were just shooting with the standard 12.2 MP sensor. And it is also worth noting that there is no telesensor. There is a 2x zoom option in the camera app, but it is a digital zoom, not an optical one, so there is a corresponding loss of quality there as well.

Pixel 5a night vision example.

Google Pixel 5a 5g Review Portrait mode example 1500x1000

Unsurprisingly, lowlight photography is another of the Pixel 5a's strengths. On a cloudy day in my kitchen, the phone automatically activated Night Sight to capture the colors of the slowly ripening banana and the pattern of the granite tabletop behind it. You can also enable night vision in portrait mode, which gives you access to a variety of powerful onboard editing options to control things like background blur and color pop, as well as enable black and white shooting.

Among the other features included, you also get astrophotography, which, like the Pixel 5, lets you take vivid shots of the night sky. For video recording, the phone can process 1080p and 4K at 60 frames per second. The capture of people kayaking in the lake was smooth, with minimal jerking or autofocus panning issues. I was even able to track an airplane flying overhead and take several clear shots.

Pixel 5a camera app.

Pixel 5a portrait mode.

Software and connectivity

The Pixel 5a is running the latest version of Android 11. It's Google's clean version of Android that most people are probably familiar with. The 5a is guaranteed to receive operating system and security updates for three years, so you are sure to receive the upcoming Android 12.

In terms of unique features, there are various smarts and integrations from the Google Assistant. You can identify songs, you can put the Google Assistant on hold for a call using the "Hold for me" feature in your phone app, view calls and identify songs. It also has a built-in recorder that can automatically create transcripts, which I found particularly useful for recording interviews and referencing quotes.

In terms of connectivity, the Pixel 5a 5G supports Sub-6 5G, dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0 and NFC. I've tested mine on T-Mobile, but it's compatible with all the major US carriers, Japanese operator SoftBank, and Google's Project Fi.

Price and availability

The Google Pixel 5a 5G will only be available in the US and Japan. In the US, it will be available from the Google Store and Google Fi for $ 449 or through a subscription program for $ 15 per month. In Japan, it will also be available from the Google Store for 51,700 yen.

Our opinion

The Google Pixel 5a doesn't make promises it can't deliver. It's not a generational leap from the Pixel 4a 5G – the differences are pretty minor at best – but it does improve in key areas like waterproofness and battery life. Camera performance continues to be as expected, software is clean, and performance is smooth, so you get a great mid-range phone at a reasonable price.

Is there a better alternative?

If you already own the Google Pixel 4a 5G, the differences are in the IP67 sealing and improved battery life, which isn't worth the upgrade. On the other hand, if you have an older Pixel 4a, you'll also benefit from the faster processor, 5G connectivity, bigger screen, and two rear cameras, making the investment a much more worthwhile investment.

On the high end, the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE costs around $ 100 to $ 150 more on average, but it gives you a crisp 120Hz screen, triple rear camera array, wireless charging, and much more powerful processors and specs. There is currently a shortage of other compelling mid-range phone options in the US alongside the non-5G iPhone SE, but there is no shortage of competitive options like the OnePlus Nord 2 5G in the international market.

One last thing to keep in mind is that Google has already announced the existence of the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro that use the new Tensor processor. So if you're willing to wait another year, we expect a future unconfirmed Pixel 6a to have a version of the same new chipset.

How long it will take?

The Google Pixel 5a 5G comes with a one-year warranty as standard, but you can expect it to last a lot longer. Although it shares the same Snapdragon 765G processor, it is guaranteed to receive operating system and security updates for three years to keep it feeling new. It also has IP67 water and dust resistance, which gives it more durability than previous generations.

Should you buy one?

Yes. As a mid-range phone with a great camera, clean software, long-lasting battery, and water resistance, the Pixel 5a doesn't have many comparable competitors. However, if you already own a Pixel 4a 5G, the difference isn't big enough to be worth the upgrade.

Editor's recommendations



18 Aug
Blog

VZR Model One Review: Get the Most Out of 3D Audio

A man with the VZR Model One headphones.

VZR Model One Review: Get the Most Out of 3D Audio

RRP $ 349.00

"The VZR Model One offers excellent audio quality that is perfect for next-generation gaming."

advantages

  • Excellent sound quality

  • Strong spatial audio

  • Comfortable ear pads

  • Robust design

  • Two microphones in one

disadvantage

  • Very expensive

  • No volume control

The VZR Model One is not your average gaming headset. You won't find any flashing RGB lights on it. It doesn't have a well-known gaming brand like Razer or HyperX attached. And you probably won't see your favorite streamers prominently (and suspiciously) as they play. Here the audio quality is in the foreground, not the fashion.

The self-proclaimed "audiophile headset" comes from an impressive pedigree. It was designed by Apple's former senior acoustic engineer Vic Tiscarareno, along with video game audio veterans. The great innovation of the Model One is its patented CrossWave technology, which optimizes it for 3D audio. With consoles like the PlayStation 5 that use sound as a selling point, the Model One is poised to be the perfect next-gen headset.

The VZR Model One is a great gaming-focused headset that offers superior audio quality and surprising comfort. Its high price tag might put it out of many gamblers' budgets, but this is a major example of "you get what you pay for" on the move.

Do the CrossWave

The Model One's main selling point is its audio quality. It's a closed headset with 40mm drivers. For those looking for a gaming headset that is geared towards spatial audio, VZR has a strong selling point.

The basic sound quality lives up to the label "audiophil". When I switched between the Model One and the Roccat ELO that I had on hand (my go-to gaming headset), the difference was immediately clear. It offers a wider audio landscape that better balances booming bass and sharp highs. When listening to music, the bass is powerful, but never drowns out the higher frequencies. It's always a difficult balance to strike, but the VZR has done an admirable job here.

I can't deny that while wearing the Model One I got the most out of the next generation sound.

The main attraction here is VZR's patented CrossWave technology. To put it for the layman, the Model One uses an acoustic lens that was built to better shape the directionality. VZR notes that technology enables the headset to direct sound so that it better reflects how we hear it in real life.

The VZR Model One headphones sit on a desk.

This is immediately apparent when you play a PS5 game. As part of my testing, I jumped into Returnal which offers a detailed alien soundscape. Even after playing for 20 hours before, I was overwhelmed by what I heard. The rain was spreading in all directions and I heard drops, near and far, hitting the ground in all directions. As I trampled on someone else's eggs, I could hear them squeezing under my feet as if the sound were coming from right below me. I had similar results in the Resident Evil Village Maiden demo (which is a 3D audio tour de force), as detailed sound actively made for a more terrifying, immersive experience.

Sony notes that the 3D audio effect works the same on any headset that supports it, but I was skeptical of this claim after using the Model One. While the CrossWave technology was a bit of the marketing glitz of "Blast Processing" (and I don't think so), I can't deny that wearing the Model One I got the most out of the next generation sound. The high audio quality makes every sound pop, no matter how small, and I felt a full spatial listening experience.

Quality and comfort

When I first looked at Model One, I was expecting an uncomfortable experience. You weigh 430 grams with a hard metal skeleton around the headband and ears. This design certainly signaled that these are probably built to last, but I was skeptical of what it would feel like to wear them for hours.

I was expecting a compromise between comfort and quality here, but I'm impressed that the Model One can do both.

To my surprise, the Model One offers a surprising level of comfort. This is in large part thanks to the headset's memory foam ear cushions. With their thickness, my ears barely touch the hard plastic underneath. The ear cushions are soft compared to gaming headsets I've used before, so they can be worn for hours without any problems.

A man with the VZR Model One headphones.

The headband also increases wearing comfort. Thanks to a depression in the middle, it's not stiff, so it can bend. The headband appears to be padded with the same memory foam that is used in the ear cushions so it sits lightly on the scalp.

I was expecting a compromise between comfort and quality here, but I'm impressed that the Model One can do both. The only downside is that the size can make it a pain to lug around. They come in a solid square case that is bigger than a childhood lunch box. They might not be the most portable option, but that shouldn't be a huge problem if you're looking to grab a bunch of cans that home consoles make better use of.

Microphone test

The last part of the package is the Model One's detachable microphone. While it doesn't try to reinvent anything in the way the drivers are, it's still a bit unique. It has a patent-pending design that is geared towards passive noise cancellation.

It's harder to say how much effect this design tweak has, but the mic definitely does the job. When testing on PS5, I found that my voice came through clearly without interrupting. As I was recording some tests with my iPhone, I realized that I needed to have the microphone closer to my mouth than I would like. It picked up my mid-range voice well enough, but I could hear the distance. Discord friends noticed the same thing after playing a few rounds of Pokemon Unite.

The boom microphone that comes with the VZR Model One.

When the temple attachment is not in use, the headset defaults to an in-line microphone, which is a nice touch. Of course, the quality suffers here, but there is a great deal of flexibility. The headset also has a mute switch, but no volume control. It's a surprising omission considering how sturdy the package is – and the price.

For the casual gamer, the price of the Model One will certainly be hard to swallow.

The last part is important. The VZR Model One costs $ 349, which is certainly an investment. For comparison: Sony's own Pulse 3D headset, which is "optimized" for the PS5, costs 100 US dollars. For the casual gamer, the price of the Model One will certainly be hard to swallow. But for those who want the best possible sound, it certainly does justice to the audiophile label.

Our opinion

The Model One offers tremendous sound quality that really brings out the best in the spatial sound of the next generation. VZR has entered the headset scene with an impressive socket set that combines convenience and quality. The $ 349 price tag is remarkably high for the gaming arena and admittedly that will be a block for many gamers. Fortunately, Model One justifies the price for those willing to take the plunge.

Is there a better alternative?

If you're just looking for a headset better optimized for next-gen consoles, the Pulse 3D is a cheaper PS5 companion.

How long it will take?

With a metal frame and a sturdy design, the VZR Model One is certainly built to last. Don't expect them to fall apart in a year.

Should you buy it?

Yes. If you have the money to burn and really care about sound quality, they are sure to meet your audiophile needs.

Editor's recommendations



18 Aug
Blog

HP Pavilion Aero 13 Review: Ultra-Light, Ultra-Powerful?

HP Pavilion Aero 13 sits on a table.

HP Pavilion Aero 13 Review: Ultra-light, ultra-powerful?

RRP $ 1,000.00

"The HP Pavilion Aero 13 is as powerful as it is light."

advantages

  • Mostly solid build quality

  • Excellent performance

  • Very good battery life

  • Extremely light

  • Minimalistic good looks

disadvantage

  • Keyboard is a bit rough

  • Lid is too flexible

Light laptops usually come with compromises. Chunky performance and flimsy build quality are common.

The new Pavilion Aero 13 from HP tries to resolve these misunderstandings. Although the HP Pavilion Aero 13 weighs just 2.18 pounds (and is technically categorized as a budget laptop), it's a fast, well-built, and surprisingly high-quality small laptop.

I tested a mid-range configuration of the Pavilion Aero 13 for $ 1,000 that comes with an eight-core AMD Ryzen 7 5800U CPU and a modern 16:10 Full HD + (1,920 x 1,200) IPS display. Most buyers will be interested in the $ 750 base configuration with a Ryzen 5 5600U and half the RAM and storage.

But no matter what you choose, this isn't your dad's budget pavilion.

design

The Pavilion Aero 13 is the first in its product line in which the entire chassis is made of a magnesium-aluminum alloy. That makes it extremely light at just 2.18 pounds – in fact, it's the lightest consumer laptop HP has ever made. The HP Envy 13 is slightly wider and slightly flatter and is the same thickness at 0.67 inches but weighs 2.88 pounds.

The previous generation Pavilion 13 was larger in all dimensions, 0.70 inches thick, and weighed 2.71 pounds – without an all-metal design. The Pavilion Aero 13 clearly stands out among the thin and light 13-inch laptops from HP.

HP Pavilion Aero 13 sits on a table.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

It also beats the best 13-inch laptop on the market, the clearly high-quality Dell XPS 13, at least in terms of weight. This laptop is 0.58 inches thick, weighs 2.8 pounds, and is a bit thinner even with its own 16:10 display. The reason: HP has raised the hinge a bit, which tilts the keyboard for better typing and improved airflow, and so the chin of the Pavilion Aero 13 is larger than it appears when the lid is open. A closer competitor is the Asus ZenBook 13 OLED ($ 1,000 with 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and an OLED display), which is slightly larger in width and depth and heavier at 2.5 pounds, but only 0.55 inches is thick.

This light metal alloy has its price. While the lower chassis of the Pavilion Aero 13 only yields slightly under good pressure, the lid is quite flexible. Because the metal is not only more flexible, it is also quite thin. Build quality is one area where the Pavilion Aero 13 proves its budget pedigree – although it's by no means bad. Nevertheless, a higher-quality notebook like the XPS 13 or the HP Specter x360 13 gives the impression of rock-solid rigidity that the Pavilion cannot achieve.

The ZenBook 13 OLED has a lot going for it too, but it's hard to say which one is more solidly built without comparing them side by side. I have to note that the hinge on the Pavilion Aero 13 is excellent – you can open the lid with one hand and there is only a tiny wiggle when you type.

Aesthetically, the Pavilion Aero 13 has a modern look that is reminiscent of the Envy line. It's a minimalist design with clean lines and angles that comes in four colors – the natural silver of my review unit, pale rose gold, warm gold, and ceramic white. Whichever color scheme you choose, you get a simple and attractive look without being overbearing. It's also modern thanks to the small bezels of the display that give it a screen-to-body ratio of 90%. The XPS 13 and Specter x360 13 are more standout machines, but there's plenty of room for a laptop that looks this good without attracting attention.

Left side view of the HP Pavilion Aero 13. Connections shown: HDMI, USB, micro-USB and headphones.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

HP Pavilion Aero 13 right side view, charging port.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

HP Pavilion Aero 13 right side view, charging port.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Connectivity is mixed up, with a full-sized HDMI 2.0 port, a USB-A port and a USB-C port on the left, and a second USB-A port on the right. This is great legacy support, but there is no Thunderbolt support due to the AMD chipset. There is also no SD card reader, which is disappointing. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 offer wireless connectivity.

perfomance

HP Pavilion Aero 13 fingerprint scanner.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Equipped with an 8-core / 16-thread AMD Ryzen 7 5800U CPU, together with 16 GB RAM and a 512 GB PCIe Solid State Drive (SSD), the Pavilion Aero 13 promises to be quite powerful. AMD's chip is faster than Intel's 4-core / 8-thread Core i7-1185G7 of the 11th generation for CPU-intensive tasks.

These additional cores are most important to anyone using applications such as creative software that are CPU demanding. Video editing stands out here, and according to our benchmarks, the Pavilion Aero 13 offers a surprising amount of performance in such a light package.

The Pavilion Aero 13 is the fastest notebook in our comparison group and is on par with other notebooks equipped with the Ryzen 7 5800U, such as the Asus ZenBook 13 OLED. These two swapped places from benchmark to benchmark, with HP leading the way in Handbrake with an excellent score of less than two minutes to encode our 420 MB test video in H.265 and in Cinebench R23. These benchmarks show how well a laptop performs not only on creative tasks such as video rendering and display, but also on most tasks that place stress on the CPU for an extended period of time. They not only show the processor performance, but also how well the thermal design of a laptop keeps the CPU running at full speed.

The performance of the HP Pavilion Aero 13 was impressive across the board.

At the same time, the ZenBook 13 OLED came out on top in Geekbench 5 and the PCMark 10 Complete Score, tests that show how well a laptop performs at a mix of productivity tasks such as web browsing, video conferencing and office applications, as well as multitasking. The difference wasn't that big, and so it would be fair to call the two laptops equivalent. And as you can see in the table below, both laptops outperformed the Intel competition with quick results that are well above the price of about $ 1,000 for each laptop. Apart from single-core scores in Cinebench R23, the Intel chips couldn't keep up. The division of the PCMark 10 benchmarks into the points Essentials, Productivity and Content Creation resulted in the same inequality.

Simply put, the Pavilion Aero 13 was impressive across the board. If you run the CPU-intensive apps above, you will find few thin and light laptops that can keep up. The Pavilion Aero 13 was pretty quick during my tests and handled everything I threw at it without hesitation. I highly recommend this incredibly light laptop for its performance alone.

Geekbench (single / multiple) Handbrake
(Seconds)		 Cinebench R23 (single / multiple) PCMark 10 3DMark time spy
HP Pavilion Aero 13
(Ryzen7 5800U)		 1373/6430 112 1381/8304 5756 1212
Asus ZenBook 13 OLED
(Ryzen7 5800U)		 1423/6758 124 1171/7824 6034 1342
Dell XPS 13 (Core i7-1185G7) 1549/5431 204 1399/4585 n / A 1380
HP Specter x360 14 (Core i7-1165G7) 1214/4117 236 1389/3941 4728 1457
Razer Book 13 (Core i7-1165G7) 1548/5374 210 1508/4519 4878 1776
MacBook Pro 13 (M1) 1707/7337 n / A 1487/7547 n / A n / A

When it comes to gaming performance, however, the Ryzen chips do not dominate. The Pavilion Aero 13 achieved the lowest 3DMark Time Spy test in our comparison group and could not convince in our test game Fortnite.

It reached 29 frames per second (fps) at 1080p and high graphics and 15 fps with epic graphics turned on. That's about the same as what you get from the built-in Intel Iris Xe graphics, and not enough for older titles or newer titles with reduced resolution and graphics detail.

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HP Pavilion Aero 13 sits on a table.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

For the Pavilion brand, HP has moved the larger 16:10 aspect ratio downwards and has equipped the Pavilion Aero 13 with a 13.3-inch 16:10 IPS panel in one of two resolutions. You can choose from Full HD + (1,920 x 1,200), which my test device has, or QHD + (2,560 x 1,600) displays.

I was impressed with the display, which was so much better than you usually find on a Pavilion or other supposedly budget laptop. Again, it's a $ 1,000 machine, so it's reasonable to expect a good display – and HP delivered. My subjective experience matched my objective results, which I'll outline in a moment, with colors showing up without oversaturation and appearing accurate enough for all but the most discerning creative professionals. While the contrast was lower in absolute terms than I would like, black text on a white background still stood out – important for anyone who works with words or numbers on the screen.

The ultra-bright display of the HP Pavilion Aero 13 holds up particularly well in direct sunlight.

According to my colorimeter, the Pavilion Aero 13's display was primarily a high quality premium display. It was very bright at 437 nits, well above our 300 nit threshold and close to the 458 nits of the Dell XPS 13 Full HD + display. In comparison, the Asus ZenBook 13's OLED panel delivers 397 nits of brightness. Each of these displays may even be useful in direct sunlight, but the Pavilion Aero 13 holds up particularly well. The only disappointment with the Pavilion Aero 13 was the contrast ratio, which was only 830: 1 – below our 1,000: 1 threshold for the best displays. The XPS 13 was much better at 1350: 1, while the ZenBook 13 OLED enjoyed the extreme contrast of this display technology at 396,690: 1.

The color saturation of the Pavilion Aero 13 was average of 77% AdobeRGB and 99% sRGB, a little better than the premium average. The XPS 13 achieved 75 and 98% respectively, while the ZenBook 13 OLED again benefited from the display technology with an excellent 100% of both color spaces. The HP's colors were reasonably accurate with a DeltaE of 1.8 (less than 1.0 is considered excellent), the XPS 13 with 1.36 and the ZenBook 13 OLED with a phenomenal 0.49.

The tone was not quite the same standard. The volume was too low, even though there was no distortion when fully turned up. The mids and highs were clear, but there was no bass which made the sound a bit lifeless. It's fine for system sounds and the occasional YouTube video, but you'll need headphones or bluetooth speakers to enjoy Netflix or listen to music.

Keyboard and touchpad

HP Pavilion Aero 13 keyboard and trackpad.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The Pavilion Aero 13 has a keyboard that looks like that of the Specter and the latest Envy laptops. It's well spaced with nice sized keycaps and the same row of position keys along the right side. But it doesn't use the same mechanism that I've gotten used to. There are good trips out there, but without the precise ground motion and click feel you get with the high-end devices from HP.

The Specter keyboard is my favorite among Windows 10 laptops, and the Pavilion Aero 13 isn't stackable. It's better than many budget laptops, but this is a $ 1,000 device – the keyboard is a budget holdover that doesn't belong. The Asus ZenBook 13 OLED has a better keyboard for the same price. I should mention that the Pavilion Aero 13's keyboard is also a bit noisy, and not backlit, without paying a $ 20 premium – a disappointment given the $ 1,000 price tag.

The touchpad is better – it's 23% larger than the previous version and takes up most of the available space on the keyboard deck. It's bigger than the touchpad on the Specter x360 13, but not as big as the version of the Specter x360 14. It has a smooth finish and supports Microsoft's Precision touchpad drivers, so it supports Windows 10 multi-touch gestures well. There's no touch display option, and that's a disappointment because I don't really like non-touch displays – but not everyone feels the same, and that might not be a deal-breaker for most buyers.

Windows 10 Hello support is provided by a fingerprint reader on the keyboard deck, and it worked fine. I was able to log in straight away without my password, that's all you want the feature to do.

Battery life

The Pavilion Aero 13 is equipped with a 43-watt-hour battery, which is a bit small for a 13-inch laptop. I've seen mixed results with Ryzen battery life, so I wasn't expecting great longevity even with the Full HD + display.

I got the most encouragement in my benchmark tests. The Pavilion Aero 13 lasted 10.5 hours in our web browsing test, which is a solid result. The Dell XPS 13 Full HD + managed 8.5 hours, while the Asus ZenBook 13 OLED achieved a staggering 15.7 hours even with an OLED display. In our video test, which ran through a local 1080p trailer, the Pavilion Aero 13 again achieved just over 10.5 hours, the XPS 13 with 12 hours and the ZenBook 13 OLED with 15.5 hours. It struck me that, unlike Intel laptops, Ryzen computers do not always show such a large increase from web browsing to video testing.

The Pavilion Aero 13 managed almost 11.5 hours in the PCMark 10 Applications battery test, a strong score that is right at the top of our database. The XPS 13 lasted almost 10 hours; we didn't test the ZenBook 13 OLED with this benchmark. The Pavilion Aero 13 only lasted 94 minutes in the PCMark 10 gaming battery test, which is at the lower end of our database, while the XPS 13 lasted almost four hours. However, this PCMark battery test is highly dependent on how aggressively a laptop runs on battery power, and so it is likely that the HP maintained full speed while the Dell throttled during the test.

Overall, the Pavilion Aero 13 achieves an all-day battery life and a few more. You can take up some work in the evening without joining, or enjoy Netflix for a few hours. In view of the low weight of the laptop, this is a commendable result, also thanks to the lower battery capacity.

Our opinion

With the Pavilion Aero 13, HP has added a few premium features to the Pavilion line and at the same time increased the price. The all-metal chassis and 16:10 display aspect ratio are welcome additions and give the Pavilion Aero 13 a justification for its $ 1,000 price tag. The performance and battery life were also good enough to make the price seem reasonable, even if it's more than we'd expect from a machine that's supposed to be a budget option.

Add in the extremely light nature of the Pavilion Aero 13 and you have a very compelling option in the 13 inch space. If you are looking for a notebook of this class, you will be happy with the Pavilion Aero 13, even considering midrange and premium alternatives.

Any alternatives?

I'm not mentioning the HP Envy 13 because it's a great alternative, but because for the same $ 1,000 you can get a less-performing laptop with an old-school 16: 9 display. It shows how aggressively HP positions the superior Pavilion Aero 13 against the rest of its product lineup.

The Asus ZenBook 13 OLED is a more competitive alternative that also costs $ 1,000. It runs the same CPU but includes a larger 1TB SSD and an OLED display.

Finally, you could go for the Dell XPS 13, which is more expensive but also of higher quality. You get better build quality, a slightly better display, and a sleeker look and feel.

How long it will take?

The Pavilion Aero 13 has a slightly flexible lid, but otherwise it's a well-built and well-equipped laptop that should last for years with typical use. The one-year warranty is standard, but disappointing as usual.

Should you buy it?

Yes. The Pavilion Aero 13 is not only – or even primarily – intended for budget-conscious laptop buyers. It's a great machine for anyone looking at a 13-inch laptop.

Editor's recommendations



17 Aug
Blog

JBL Tour One Review: ANC Headphones With Super Call Quality

JBL Tour One wireless noise-canceling headphones.

JBL Tour One test report: Noise canceling cans for frequent callers

RRP $ 300.00

"A large battery and a pleasant call quality make these cans ideal for work or travel."

advantages

  • Effective ANC

  • Good sound quality

  • Excellent call quality

  • Great battery life

disadvantage

  • No sidetone for calls

  • No aptX / aptX HD / LDAC codecs

Right now, Sony's $ 350 WH-1000XM4 are the best noise-canceling headphones you can buy. We like them so much that they also top our list of the best wireless headphones and the best headphones overall. Sony's success has not gone unnoticed by its competitors, which has led to several attempts to mimic the XM4, including JBL's $ 300 Tour One.

The Tour One isn't just a bit like the XM4. From size, weight, shape, and materials to controls and features, it's almost like JBL used the XM4 as a blueprint for the Tour One and then figured out how to sell it for $ 50 less.

The question you're probably asking is, should I buy the Tour One and save that $ 50, or has JBL trimmed too many features to slip below the price of the XM4? I think the Sony headphones are still the ones to buy, but JBL still managed to make the Tour One worth it thanks to a few things it does really well. Let's get into that.

What's in the box?

Scope of delivery of the wireless JBL Tour One headphones with noise cancellation.Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

JBL still has a lot to learn about sustainable packaging. The Tour One Box contains a lot of foam padding and coated cardboard, which makes recycling difficult.

Open the box and you will find the Tour One in its own semi-rigid zippered tote bag. This is your first hint that JBL was inspired by Sony. Not only is the case almost exactly the same size and shape as the one Sony uses for both the WH-1000XM3 and XM4, but it also has the same mesh pocket sewn to one side for small accessories or perhaps a credit Card and ID can be used if you have taken it to the gym.

Inside the case, the Tour One is folded into exactly the same position as the Sony cans and there is a paper insert with a diagram to remind you how to put the headphones in to make them fit again, just like Sony did.

If Sony's designs are too conservative for you, the Tour One adds just enough bling not to look boring.

The similarities continue into the small compartment that houses the included accessories: a USB-A to USB-C charging cable, a 3.5mm to 2.5mm analog cable and a Double pin flight adapter.

Unlike Sony, JBL's charging cable actually has a usable length (40 inches compared to Sony's ridiculously short 9 inches). The USB-A side is reversible for rate-free use – a nice touch.

design

JBL Tour One wireless noise-canceling headphones next to the Sony WH-1000XM4.JBL Tour One (left) and Sony WH-1000XM4. Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

Given the similarity of the Tour One to the WH-1000XM4, the overall design is hard to criticize. It has a compact shape that keeps the ear cups and headband close to your head so you don't look like you've just walked off the set of a daft punk video.

The auricles pivot, fold, and articulate gently to adapt to the shape of your head. The headband is well padded and the sliders move with a precise "notch" that is both easy to adjust and secure once adjusted.

The Tour One are still very light and very comfortable.

JBL has given the Tour One a slightly satin finish to the plastics and added some black chrome accents that give the cans an extremely high-quality look. If Sony's designs are too conservative for you, the Tour One adds just enough bling not to look boring.

In terms of controls, JBL is improving Sony's design. JBL keeps things simple by replacing Sony's swipe gestures for a combination of simple taps on the right earcup for playback controls and a dedicated set of buttons for volume. A combined power / Bluetooth pairing switch on the right ear cup and a single multifunction button on the left ear cup round off the Tour One's controls.

Comfort, controls and connections

The wireless JBL Tour One headphones with noise cancellation control the close-up.Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

Although not quite as light as the WH-1000XM4 (9.45 ounces vs. 8.95 ounces), the Tour One is still very light and very comfortable. The ear pads and headband are generously padded and I was able to wear them for three hours without getting tired, even with glasses. One thing that bothered me towards the end of this period was the depth of the auricles. My ears stick out quite a bit – maybe a little more than average – and their outer edges are touching the inner lining. At some point this pressure point needed some relief.

If your ears are like mine, both the Sony WH-1000XM4 and Bose Noise Canceling Headphones offer 700 deeper ear cups.

The Tour One's hinged hinges are great for wearing around your neck, and they fold properly so that the ear cups are facing down and the ear cushions are against your collarbone. Sony does this too, but Bose makes the peculiar decision to put the headband's far less comfortable sliders on your collarbone.

Despite its comfortable fit, the Tour One has a greater tendency to move on its head than the Bose or Sony. It's by no means a deal breaker, but if you want a full-size set of cans for the gym as well as the office or airplane cabin, keep this in mind.

The controls of the Tour One are very easy to use. The single, double, and triple tap touches on the right earcup register every time (as long as you tap the center) and I like having a power button that turns the headphones on instantly. The Bose 700 also turns on instantly, but the Sony XM4s require more patience with a gesture of pressing and holding the power button.

Using the JBL Headphones app offers some adjustments to the controls. Both the multifunction button and the tap-and-hold gesture on the touch panel can be set to control the Active Noise Canceling (ANC) / TalkThru modes or to trigger your voice assistant.

The bluetooth connectivity is excellent.

The auto-pause option works really well. If you pull the ear cups away from your head, the melodies will pause immediately and then resume just as quickly when they are snapped back into place. You can deactivate the function in the headphones app if you want.

The bluetooth connectivity is excellent. Even though I wasn't considered a Class 1 Bluetooth device like the Beats Studio 3 headphones, I was still able to leave my phone at my desk and walk all the way to my garage (about 18 meters, one floor and several walls in terms of the distance). and the signal stayed strong. You can also connect the Tour One to two Bluetooth devices at the same time, although this once caused a static noise that was fixed by disconnecting and reconnecting my phone.

Sound quality

JBL Tour One wireless noise-canceling headphones.Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

Out of the box, the Tour One has a relatively neutral EQ. There's a nice definition over the frequencies and excellent clarity in the upper mids and highs. The bass reproduction is snappy and not intrusive. You can tell that JBL has tuned these sockets as genre-independent as possible, which is in contrast to headphones, which tend to be low-end.

Compared to the Sony XM4, the Tour One doesn't offer as much warmth or such a wide soundstage, but the difference isn't that big. Strangely enough, the Tour One, just like the other flagship radio sockets from JBL, the Club One, are not equipped with high-quality Bluetooth codecs such as aptX, aptX HD or LDAC. While you can play frequencies from 20 Hz to 40 kHz (and are therefore considered Hi-Res audio compatible), you will never experience this anywhere when using the headphones wirelessly. The XM4 gives you LDAC, which doesn't do much for iPhone owners, but offers better sound quality for those with Android phones.

When you listen via bluetooth you can enjoy the bones of the song, but when you are wired you can hear its soul.

And that's a shame, because if you connect the Tour One to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) with the supplied analog cable, they deliver a lot more depth and resonance.

One of my favorite test tracks is Billie Eilish's Bad Guy. Not only does it have incredibly deep bass, but it also superimposes Eilish's whispering voice, creating a torture chamber for audio equipment. It's also a deceptively complex shot. When you listen via bluetooth you can enjoy the bones of the song, but when you are wired you can hear its soul. Suddenly Eilish is not only whispering through the lyrics, she is whispering directly in your ear – it's an ASMR-level experience that creates goosebumps.

I don't want to miss out on the wireless performance too much as it's actually very good, and I like the fact that you can access EQ presets and manual EQ adjustments from within the app. This can radically change the sound signature of the Tour One. So if you're not a fan of the so-called flat EQ, you don't have to put up with it.

Noise cancellation and transparency

JBL Tour One headphones with wireless noise cancellation in close-up.Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

The Tour One does a good job of canceling out external noise, but its performance can be a little uneven. Unlike the Sony XM4 and Bose 700, the Tour One seems to struggle to produce a nice, even canceling effect. I have a fan under my desk that produces both even sound and even wind. JBL's ANC blocks it well enough, but it cannot decide exactly which of the fan’s frequencies to block, so you can actually hear it chasing around and the result can be a little uncomfortable.

This mostly happens when you use JBL's True Adaptive ANC mode which tries to respond to your listening conditions in real time. Turning this feature off helped a lot. To be fair, my desk fan situation is a minor anomaly – I wasn't even aware of the problem at other times – but both the Sony XM4 and Bose 700 handled it flawlessly, with the Bose being by far the best of the three.

The Silent Now mode is useful if you just want to be quiet: it activates ANC, but keeps Bluetooth communication switched off, saving the battery when you need it.

In short, I've never tested wireless headphones with better call quality than the Tour One.

JBL gives you two different transparency modes to choose from, and both of them have their advantages. For a better general awareness of your surroundings, you can choose Ambient Aware – which lets in a lot of external sounds without affecting your music. Or, if you actually need to talk to someone, you can activate TalkThru mode, which is just like Ambient Aware but also drops the volume of your audio to a point where it is barely noticeable.

Oddly enough, you can toggle between full ANC mode and TalkThru by double-clicking the multifunction button. However, if you want to switch between ANC and Ambient Aware, you need to switch between three modes: ANC>, Ambient Aware>, Ambient Aware Off> ANC.

Call quality

JBL Tour One wireless headphones with noise-canceling headband in close-up.Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

So far, most of the qualities of the JBL Tour One have more or less placed them where one would expect them to be compared to the Sony WH-1000XM4 and the Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700. But one area where the Tour One blows away those other headphones is their call quality.

I could walk down a very busy street, with varying degrees of traffic noise, including loud buses and some construction equipment, and yet if you listen to the recording I made you would swear I was sitting alone in a quiet park – so little outside noise got recorded by the microphones of the Tour One.

Not only will your voice be interrupted by these competing sounds, but it will sound really good too. The Tour One captures and preserves the lower notes of your voice, adding depth and resonance to it, which is in sharp contrast to most other headphones and earbuds.

In short, I've never tested wireless headphones with better call quality than the Tour One.

The only caveat here is that JBL has dedicated all of the Tour One's microphones to noise suppression and voice quality optimization, which means there is no sideline and no way to be in Ambient Aware mode or TalkThru mode while on a call to stay. While your callers will love your sound, they may not hear your own voice as clearly.

Battery life

JBL Tour One wireless noise-canceling headphones, folded.Simon Cohen / Digital Trends

JBL claims that the Tour One gives you 50 hours of battery life if you disable ANC, and about half that if you leave it on. I didn't run it for a full charge / discharge cycle, but after about 10 hours of playing music at 50% volume with ANC, the JBL Headphones app gave me a 55% battery level, which is pretty close to what JBL claims.

These are great numbers. Better than Sony, better than Bose, and even a tiny bit better than the Marshall Monitor ANC II, our best premium cans for battery life to date.

They take two hours to empty, but you can get three hours of playtime on a 10 minute quick charge.

Extras

JBL's Tour series, which includes the Tour One headphones and Tour Pro + True Wireless earbuds, is one of the few on the market that offers hands-free access to the Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa of your choice.

Once you've chosen your assistant, you can say “Hey Google” or “Alexa” and then ask for anything – including controls for playback, answering calls, and volume. When you use this option, one of the gestures on the multifunction button is released, giving you more control over other headphone functions.

I only tested Amazon's Alexa, but it worked just fine. JBL hasn't stated whether using the speakerphone will reduce battery life (and I haven't been able to determine if it does), but it is very likely that it will.

You also get JBL's My Alarm feature, which lets you choose from a variety of soothing sounds, combined with a customizable sleep timer.

Our opinion

For those looking for premium noise-canceling headphones, the JBL Tour One offers an excellent (and cheaper) alternative to Sony and Bose, with only a few sacrifices for the cheaper price. And they're killers for phone calls.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes, overall it is Sony WH-1000XM4 are still a better set of noise-canceling headphones that outperform the Tour One in sound quality, ANC, comfort, and Hi-Res wireless audio. But if you can't find them on sale, they're a fair bit more expensive than the JBL Tour One. If you don't mind the compromises, I see no reason not to buy the Tour One instead of the Sony's.

How long will they last?

As far as I can tell, both the build quality and materials of the Tour One are superb, and I suspect they are roughly on par with the Sony and Bose models in terms of durability. They may even have an advantage thanks to their longer battery life, as batteries in a set of wireless headphones are usually the first part to deteriorate.

JBL supports the Tour One with a one-year guarantee.

Should you buy it?

Yes. They're a solid option for anyone looking for comfortable noise-canceling headphones with good sound quality, great battery life, and great call quality

Editor's recommendations



16 Aug
Blog

Abode Cam 2 Review: Compact Camera With a Compact Price

Abode Cam 2 mounted on the wall

Abode Cam 2 review: compact camera, compact price

RRP $ 35.00

“The Abode Cam 2 leaves you pleasantly surprised with all of its functions. ”

advantages

  • Low price point

  • Small size

  • Higher frame rate than comparable cameras

  • Option to record 24/7 videos

disadvantage

  • No siren

  • Audio quality is not the best

Abode is a company similar to Wyze known for offering low prices without sacrificing quality. The newest product, the Abode Cam, 2 is no exception to this rule. For only 35 US dollars, this intelligent surveillance camera packs many functions into a (very) small housing and, thanks to its weatherproof rating of IP65, can be set up indoors or outdoors.

While the Abode Cam 2 may not be as fully featured as high-end models, it's affordable enough that almost anyone can buy one, and versatile enough to be used as a stand-alone camera system in a studio apartment, or as part of a much larger security system which is distributed over a house and a yard.

Setup and installation

The Abode Cam 2 uses a 10-step setup process that isn't all that different from the type of setup you would see with similar cameras, but it's not seamless. I've encountered a couple of issues with the setup. In one step, you need to show the camera a QR code that will be displayed on your phone. It took several tries (and a restart) for the camera to recognize the code.

The camera also provides continuous, audible prompts to display the code, which doesn't make the process any less of a chore. However, once it got past that one step, the rest of the setup went smoothly.

After I completed the setup, the Abode Cam 2 immediately started working. I was able to stream and control the camera easily. By default, it can sit flat on its base, but it comes with a mounting kit that allows you to simply screw the camera to the wall if you want to place it high above the floor.

The power cord is six feet long – more than enough to be placed near the ceiling in most homes.

Abode Cam 2 sits on the windowsill.

Features and Specifications

The Abode Cam 2 streams and records videos at 1080p and 30 frames per second. It has a 121 degree field of view that allows you to see a large chunk of the room, which makes mounting this camera in a corner the perfect place to keep an eye on everything. You can speak through the camera with two-way audio, and Starlight-based night vision provides clear images even in almost pitch black conditions.

You can also set up the Abode Cam 2 to record video 24/7.

The really standout feature of this camera is how compact it is. Measuring less than 5 inches per side, the Abode Cam 2 is tiny – and perfect for tucking away in a corner for unobtrusive surveillance. If someone is up to no good and is on the lookout for cameras, it can be particularly difficult to spot, especially if it blends in with the background.

The camera automatically places a frame around anything it identifies as a person, and you can take pictures from within the app. You can also record video clips with just one touch of a button. All recorded videos are displayed in the timeline under the video feed in the app.

It's worth noting that the camera's speaker is almost mute by default. It is difficult to hear what is being said through the speaker unless the volume is turned up to almost maximum and the sound comes through slightly distorted. There's no siren either, but I imagine one could be included with an update. If the video feed is mirrored, you can rotate it 180 degrees within the app.

You can also set up the Abode Cam 2 to record video 24/7. It uses a rolling storage system that deletes the oldest videos first. The camera can be configured to record a short video clip when it detects motion, and you can adjust the detection area for more accurate results and fewer false positives. This feature costs $ 9 per month, but it covers every camera on the network.

The camera is integrated with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, so you can view live video from both applications. Alexa also lets you set up routines that the Google Assistant doesn't offer.

Is it private?

All security cameras have been intensified, especially those without physical privacy screens. Although the Abode Cam 2 does not have a physical data protection lock, you can deactivate the camera within the app under a special sub-heading Data protection. It's not immediately obvious, but you can also delete videos from your timeline by going online to Abode's online portal. This seems like the only way to delete footage. There is also no local recording function.

Although the privacy features could be a bit more robust (and every camera should have a physical privacy lens), the Abode Cam 2 is roughly on par with other cameras in terms of security. The app allows you to lock it when you leave and requires FaceID or a PIN to access it again.

Close-up of the Abode Cam 2 power connector.

Our opinion

The Abode Cam 2 is a pretty simple device. There is not much in the package – just the camera itself, the power adapter and cable, and the mounting kit. But it's so affordable and budget-friendly that you don't expect much, and the Abode Cam 2 will leave you pleasantly surprised with all of its features.

Is there a better alternative?

The Wyze Cam v3 offers many of the same features, but also offers 14 days of free cloud storage as well as local storage via a microSD card. It also includes a siren and works with IFTTT via Alexa and Google Assistant. The Wyze Cam v3 fits the Abode Cam 2 for the same price. The Abode Cam 2 is characterized above all by the fact that it offers more images per second for a smoother video feed.

The Blink Mini is also aimed at a similar audience. This camera is also $ 35, is easy to set up, and has clear audio, but it comes at the expense of less than razor-sharp video. It's not the best option, but it's nowhere near the worst either.

How long it will take?

The build quality is not the highest, which is one of the reasons for the low cost. Even so, the Abode Cam 2 doesn't feel cheap and its weather resistance rating suggests longevity. If cared for, the camera should continue to work for years, though I wouldn't expect it to survive a hard fall. It comes with a one-year warranty that protects it from defects.

Should you buy it?

Yes. At $ 35, the camera is affordable for almost every budget and has a wide variety of features. Although it lags slightly behind the Wyze Cam v3 in terms of functionality, its small size and higher frame rate reduce to what is really important in a surveillance camera: better surveillance and security at home.

Editor's recommendations



16 Aug
Blog

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 Review: New and Improved

A look at the opened ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 in the test: A great laptop made even better

RRP $ 1,865.00

"The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, now in its ninth generation, is still one of the best high-end business laptops."

advantages

  • Elegant look and feel

  • Solid productivity performance

  • Incredibly long battery life

  • Excellent keyboard

  • Long list of business-friendly features

disadvantage

  • Expensive

  • A bit flexible

When a laptop reaches the ninth generation, you expect it to be refined. This applies in particular to Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 series, which is one of the best business laptops with entries. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon is the flagship of the series, and the ninth generation promises to keep that refinement while making some significant design changes – including a switch to a 16:10 display aspect ratio.

I tested a configuration of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 for $ 1,865, with an Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU 11th HD + display (1920 x 1200). The spec improvement, 16:10 screen, and great battery life are all welcome changes that make the ThinkPad X1 Carbon one of the best business laptops you can buy.

design

Aside from the resizing necessary to accommodate the taller display, Lenovo hasn't changed much in the design of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. It's still made from a carbon fiber top and a magnesium alloy in the rest of the case, which makes it lightweight while also giving it a certain amount of lid flex and a keyboard deck curve. It's durability isn't that much in doubt, but it doesn't feel as rock solid as aluminum alloy laptops like the Dell XPS 13 and HP Specter x360 14. Lenovo has the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen. Tested as usual 9 to a variety of military-spec tests, so there's reason to be confident in the laptop's long-term viability. The same soft-touch texture makes the ThinkPad comfortable to hold and type, which I always enjoy.

The logo on the palm rests of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9.

In fact, I should point out that the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 feels great in the hand. It's light at 2.49 pounds and thin at 0.59 inches. The XPS 13 comes in at 2.64 pounds and 0.58 inches, but it's a 13-inch laptop of course, so it feels a bit denser. Closer to the ThinkPad, the Specter x360 14 is 0.67 inches thick and weighs 2.95 pounds. However, there is something beyond these technical specifications that makes the ThinkPad X1 Carbon so comfortable to wear – it's a well-executed combination of weight, thinness, and a soft feel. Put simply, the laptop exudes quality. One small complaint is that the top and bottom display bezels are bigger than they could be, which adds slightly to the overall size of the laptop. It's not a huge problem, but some other modern laptops benefit from smaller bezels all around.

Lenovo updated the hinge on the latest model, creating a single hinge design that integrates the wireless antennas inside. I really liked the hinge, which allows the lid to be opened with one hand and at the same time prevents the display from wobbling when typing. It competes with the XPS 13's sleek hinge, one of the best in a couple of generations.

The aesthetics of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 remain the same, with the usual ThinkPad black-on-black design with some red accents in the LED above the “i” in the ThinkPad logo, the “X” in the X1 logo, the red TrackPoint nubbin in the middle of the keyboard and on the lower edges of the TrackPoint buttons. It's an iconic look and feel that ThinkPad enthusiasts should be familiar with, and one that offers everyone else a sleek, yet conservative aesthetic. The XPS 13 and Specter x360 14 offer more complex and colorful designs, while the Dell Latitude 7420 has another conservative look that business users might like.

The new single-hinge design of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 and the USB / Micro-USB ports.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The new single-hinge design of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The USB / Micro-USB and HDMI ports of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 on the left side of the laptop.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Connectivity is strong for a laptop this thin. On the left side there are two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 (one of which is for charging the laptop), a USB-A 3.2 port and a full-size HDMI 2.0 port. On the right side there is another USB-A 3.2 port and a 3.5 mm audio jack. Unfortunately there is no SD card reader. When you configure the optional 4G / 5G WWAN connection, you have a nano SIM card slot. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth provide wireless connectivity 5.2.

perfomance

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 can be configured with different CPUs of the 11th generation of the U-series, from the Core i5-1135G7 to the Core i7-1185G7, optionally with Intel vPro. My test unit was equipped with the Core i7-1165G7, which is a competent processor that usually offers excellent productivity performance. You can use Windows 10's power slider to enable Lenovo's standard and performance modes, but I didn't see much of a difference in our benchmarks. In fact, the performance mode caused some slower results, possibly because the laptop's thermals couldn't keep up. The only noticeably improved score was Geekbench 5's single-core score, which came in at 1,556 versus 1,327 in standard mode.

Compared to a comparison group of identically configured laptops, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 was fast. It led the field or was near the top in all of our benchmarks. For example, it got the fastest score in our Handbrake test, which encodes a 420MB video as H.265, and took second place in Cinebench R23. It also did well in the PCMark 10 Complete test, where it had the second highest major score in this group and was one of the faster laptops we tested in the essentials, productivity, and content creation areas of the test.

I found that the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 lives up to these benchmark results in real use. It was a fast laptop during my tests no matter what I threw at it – if my duties were productivity oriented. As with all laptops using Intel's U-series CPUs, you won't get the best performance in demanding creativity applications where AMD's latest Ryzen CPUs shine. Most people won't buy the ThinkPad for this type of job, however, and so it fulfills the needs of the target audience and more.

Geekbench 5 (single / multiple) Handbrake (seconds) Cinebench R23 (single / multiple) PCMark 10 3DMark time spy
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 (Core i7-1165G7) 1327/5201 170 1469/4945 5147 1776
Frame laptop
(Core i7-1165G7)		 1432/4725 176 1444/5373 5054 1641
Dell XPS 13 (Core i7-1165G7) 1540/5432 201 1399/4585 3859 1589
HP Specter x360 14 (Core i7-1165G7) 1214/4117 236 1389/3941 4728 1457
Samsung Galaxy Pro 360
(Core i7-1165G7)		 1554/5603 N / A 1308/4062 5159 1800
Razer Book 13 (Core i7-1165G7) 1548/5374 210 1508/4519 4878 1776

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 scores well in the 3DMark Time Spy test and is faster than most Intel Iris Xe laptops. That meant a few extra frames per second (fps) in Fortnite, the game we test integrated graphics with. The ThinkPad hit 28 fps at 1080p and high graphics, more than the 25 fps average for the class, and managed 20 fps with Epic Graphics turned on. These aren't good results, of course, showing that, like other laptops with Intel Iris Xe graphics, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 is best for older games or newer games with lower resolutions and reduced graphic details.

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According to my colorimeter, Lenovo has chosen a good display that does not achieve very great things.

The shift to larger displays with 16:10 and 3: 2 aspect ratios versus the old school 16: 9 continues, with most premium laptops adopting one or the other ratio. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 has a 14-inch 16:10 display that comes in a variety of configurations, including touch and non-touch low power Full HD + (1920 x 1200), a full HD + privacy panel and a UHD + (3840 x.). 2400) screen with High Dynamic Range (HDR) support. My test device uses the entry-level non-touch Full HD + panel, which has the advantage of the best battery life. I find the resolution just sharp enough on a 14-inch panel, although I prefer UHD displays.

Enlarged view of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 screen.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

According to my colorimeter, Lenovo has chosen a good display that does not achieve very great things. It just passed our 300 nit brightness threshold at 306 nits, which means it's bright enough for anything but direct sunlight. The colors were quite wide at 76% AdobeRGB and 96% sRGB. That is slightly higher than the premium average for the former and average for the latter. The color accuracy was excellent with a DeltaE of 0.99 (less than 1.0 is imperceptible to the human eye).

These results are mixed when compared to some other premium laptops. For example, the Dell XPS 13 Full HD + display delivers an excellent brightness of 458 nits and achieves 75% of AdobeRGB and 98% of sRGB with a color accuracy of 1.36. The ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga achieved 431 cd / m², but only 71% of AdobeRGB and 96% of sRGB with a color accuracy of 1.62. The contrast ratio of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 was 970: 1, just below our preferred 1,000: 1. The XPS 13 managed a significantly higher 1,350: 1, while the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga was slightly higher with 1,010: 1.

My subjective analysis was consistent with these objective results. I found the display bright and colorful without being oversaturated, and the contrast was high enough that black text popped out on a white background. This is a great display for productive use, but it won't meet the needs of creative professionals who need wider colors. The larger aspect ratio is welcome, but I missed the touch support.

Speakers on the right side of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Audio is provided by two speakers to the left and right of the keyboard, along with two downward facing woofers that are designed to add bass and expand the dynamic range of the sound. The support of Dolby Atmos promises improved spatial effects. I found the sound to be more than loud enough with no distortion at maximum volume. Mids and highs were crisp and clear, and there was only a hint of bass. The audio wasn't up to the standard of the Apple MacBook, but it was better than many other premium laptops I've tested. It's good enough to enjoy Netflix with a friend, although I would still be using headphones for music.

Keyboard and touchpad

Keyboard and trackpad on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 has the typical ThinkPad keyboard with molded keys, excellent spacing and large travel. I usually find the ThinkPad's switch mechanisms a little stiff for my taste as they require too much pressure to press a button and lead to fatigue over time. This one was softer and more comfortable – I don't know if that's a change to the mechanism or just how this particular keyboard turned out. I would love if this was something new that we will see on other ThinkPads because I like this keyboard a lot better. It's close to the keyboard on my favorite Windows 10 laptops, the HP Specter line, and that is kudos.

In the middle of the keyboard is the usual ThinkPad TrackPoint knob, and it works as usual. If you like this type of cursor control, you will love this one. The disadvantage of the TrackPoint is that it requires an additional set of buttons that takes up space from the touchpad. Lenovo increased the width of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9's touchpad by 10%, but it's still smaller than it could be. However, it's a Microsoft Precision touchpad, so it's smooth and precise.

Security and privacy

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 is a business class notebook that also appeals to private users. Hence, it includes several features that make it attractive to businesses looking to improve the security, privacy, and manageability of their laptop fleets.

First, there is support for Intel's vPro, a CPU feature that provides additional security and management features, including Intel Hardware Shield and advanced remote management. Next up, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 includes Lenovo's ThinkShield suite of security features, including the ThinkShutter webcam privacy switch, the match-on-chip fingerprint reader for passwordless login under Windows 10 Hello, and a self-healing BIOS that can help prevent system failure in the event of attack or corruption.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 also supports the Human Presence Detection (HPD) function from Lenovo. This uses an optional infrared camera (which is also used for Windows 10 Hello support via face recognition) and pulse radar to detect when a user is in front of the laptop or is away. In the latter case, the laptop will be put to sleep and when the user returns they will wake up and log in. My test device didn't come with HPD, but I've used it on other ThinkPads and it worked reliably and quickly.

Overall, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 continues Lenovo's excellent support for business users. Neither of these features detracts from the consumer appeal of the laptop, but they do make the laptop a much more enticing option for larger businesses.

Battery life

A look at the opened ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9.Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The tested display is not only Full HD +, which promises a better battery life, but also an energy-saving display. Combined with the jump in the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 from 51 watt hours of battery capacity to 57 watt hours, I was given the hope that Lenovo will finally produce a ThinkPad with a good battery life. Our experience with previous ThinkPads has not been the best in this area.

Lenovo took advantage of the extra battery capacity and the power-saving display to achieve excellent battery life.

My expectations were exceeded. In our web browsing test, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 lasted just over 11.5 hours, a strong figure that beats the 10 hours, which we consider to be very good. The Dell XPS 13 Full HD + only lasted 8.5 hours, while the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga lasted just over 9.5 hours. In our video test, which repeats a local Full HD Avengers trailer, the ThinkPad achieved a phenomenal 20.5 hours, one of the best values ​​we have ever recorded, compared to the XPS 13 with 12 hours and the X1 Titanium Yoga with 15.75 hours.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 also scores exceptionally well in the PCMark 10 Applications battery benchmark with 17.25 hours. That is the second longest result in our database after the additional half an hour of the LG Gram 16. The ThinkPad also does well in the PCMark 10 gaming battery benchmark with 4.75 hours. That's again the second longest score we've only seen behind the LG Gram 16, which lasted just 11 minutes longer.

Obviously, Lenovo took advantage of the extra battery capacity and the power-saving display to achieve excellent battery life. Finally, we can report that a ThinkPad not only lasts for a whole working day, but also well into the evening. Depending on your workload, you may even have some energy left for the next day. This is a refreshing result that we hope will carry over to the rest of the ThinkPad lineup.

Our opinion

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 is the best version of this laptop yet. As always, it exudes quality and is a pleasure thanks to its soft-touch feel and a great keyboard. But thanks to the 16:10 aspect ratio display, solid productivity performance, and the best battery life we've seen in a ThinkPad, Lenovo has made some significant improvements to this year's model as well.

It's expensive, but you get your money's worth. It's great for business, but don't miss it if you're a consumer. It's a great laptop for everyone.

Are there alternatives?

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga is a great alternative if you're not the biggest fan of the typical ThinkPad aesthetic. The battery life isn't that good, but the build quality is better and has its own charm.

If you want a detachable tablet, Lenovo's ThinkPad X12 Detachable is a solid choice. It's not that fast or that it's durable, but it's the best detachable tablet you can buy.

Finally, if you don't need the business features and want a slightly smaller laptop, the Dell XPS 13 is always a good option. It's still the best laptop you can buy overall, and it has the same performance and the option of a great 16:10 OLED display.

How long it will take?

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 is well built enough to last for years as its military certification tests promise. It is up-to-date in its components and should keep up with the performance demands of everyone for just as long. The one-year warranty is disappointing for an expensive business-class notebook.

Should you buy it?

Yes. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 is an excellent laptop that both home and business users will love.

Editor's recommendations



15 Aug
Blog

Sony A80J OLED TV Review (XR-55A80J, XR-65A80J, XR-77A80J)

Mountain and landscape view on the screen of Sony A80J 4K HDR OLED TV.

Sony A80J OLED TV review: you can stop looking now

RRP $ 2,300.00

“The Sony A80J is an impeccable television. One of the best that has ever been made. "

advantages

  • Impeccable picture quality

  • Excellent sound quality

  • Google TV platform

  • Excellent out-of-box settings

  • Flexible stand options

disadvantage

  • Certain game features are missing

I think about OLED TVs all the time; And not just because I'm a TV reviewer and I tend to spend too much time thinking about my job. In all honesty, it's because, like you, I watch quite a bit of TV at home, and because I don't own an OLED TV myself (a discussion for another time), I spend a lot of time wishing myself TV did own an OLED television.

Yes, I am an unabashed fan of OLED televisions and I do not apologize for it. It's the perfect black levels of OLED, and most importantly, the superior contrast that catches most people's eye, but what really seals the deal for me is the TV tech's lack of LED backlights – backlights that work in one making dark space noticeable all the time thanks to very annoying effects that plague LCD televisions, which are referred to as "blooming" and "halo".

With Sony, LG, and Vizio all making OLED TVs now, there's a hearty buffet of options to choose from, but if I were to buy an OLED TV this year, the Sony A80J reviewed here would be one of only two I would consider would pull.

Which is the other I come to that. First, let me explain why I think the Sony A80J OLED is one of the best TVs you can buy this year.

Out of the box

Sony A80J sits on top of the media console. The picture is a close-up on the stand of the television.

Riley Young / Digital Trends

A side view of the Sony A80J 4K HDR OLED TV shows how thin the TV is.

Riley Young / Digital Trends

A close up view of the plugins and ports on the back of the Sony A80J 4K HDR OLED TV.

Riley Young / Digital Trends

OLED TV panels are so thin and noticeable that a five year old could frame one in PlayDough and it would still look like a work of art. Fortunately, Sony's approach to OLED TV design is significantly superior.

With wafer-thin metallic-black bezels and sturdy metal feet, the A80J OLED TV exudes a business-class aesthetic – neither overly conspicuous nor a bit dreary or boring. The remote that came with the TV is standard Sony tariff – no backlight, sorry – but it does the job.

There are two positions in which the metal feet can be oriented. One position throws the TV low toward its supporting media stand or sideboard, the other lifts the bottom of the TV slightly to accommodate a soundbar without blocking the screen. It's a chic look, but keep in mind that the feet reach the edge of the TV in both configurations, which makes for a wide stand that requires an equally wide media stand.

To install

Flames on the screen of a Sony A80J 4K HDR OLED TV.Riley Young / Digital Trends

One of the most notable features of the Sony A80J is its out-of-the-box image accuracy. Select the preset picture settings “Cinema” or “Custom” and viewers hardly have to do anything to ensure that they are getting the best possible picture quality.

Of course, accuracy isn't necessarily what everyone is looking for. While accuracy dictates that a television must have a relatively warm color temperature in order to best represent the creator's intent, many viewers tend to prefer a cooler color temperature setting. For this reason, many will prefer the TV's standard picture mode, which is a little brighter and more vibrant.

When it comes to photo editing, Sony's has historically been the best.

For TV enthusiasts, however, it should be noted that the white point and color measurements I obtained using a SpectraCal C6 colorimeter (profiled on an x-rite i1display Pro) along with the Calman software are some of the most accurate I have seen how it comes from a television factory. In fact, many other TVs struggle to get the same ultra-low error counts after a professional calibration that the A80J gets out of the box right out of the box with no adjustments required.

White point and color measurements are found using a SpectraCal C6 colorimeter.Riley Young / Digital Trends

features

What makes a Sony OLED TV look like a Sony OLED TV isn't the OLED panel – it's actually made by LG Display – but the TV's processor. And when it comes to image processing, Sony's has historically been the best.

The A80J continues that legacy. Although the influence of the Sony marketing department is not neglected, the so-called Bravia XR Cognitive Intelligence Processor, which drives the image of the A80J, delivers images that are optimized so that they do their best without ever noticeably dropping the ball. That said, if Sony's newest, most powerful processor compromises its magic, you'll never believe it.

Aside from the top notch workmanship, the A80J is a very capable smart TV that runs the latest version of Android TV, now Google TV. As for smart TV interfaces, it has quickly become one of my favorites. Not only is the Google Assistant seamlessly integrated into the TV for controlling smart home devices, but the TV itself can also be controlled from other smart home devices, including the Google Home app on a mobile device.

Google TV setup on Sony A80J.Riley Young / Digital Trends

Perhaps the best part of the Google TV platform is that once it is set up on one device, it pushes all the essential settings to other devices that are running the platform. For example, having set up a Chromecast with Google TV at home, when I logged into my Google account on the A80J, I found that it was already logged into all of my favorite streaming apps. I didn't have to enter usernames or memorize complicated passwords. All I needed to stream was quick authentication with my phone and I was seeing my favorites in seconds.

If the A80J falls short anywhere in terms of features, it must be due to its lack of full support for certain gaming features typically associated with the latest HDMI 2.1 specification. While the A80J has two HDMI 2.1 ports and can support up to 4K resolution at 120 Hz with HDR, both the variable refresh rate (VRR) and the auto-low-latency mode (ALLM) are not yet supported. While future support for these features could one day come via an update, historical delays make me skeptical if they come in the near future. I discuss the impact this deficit has on gaming a little below.

Sound quality

A photo of one of the converters on the back of the Sony A80J.Riley Young / Digital Trends

The days of making fun of televisions for sounding awful are far from over – many of the televisions I test were meant to be sold with a warning sign begging buyers to pick up a soundbar before they check out . But certain Sony TV models – and Sony OLED TVs in particular – are setting new standards in how good a TV can sound, even if thinner than an iPhone.

I think most people will be amazed at how good this TV sounds.

To generate the sound, the Sony A80J has attached two converters to the back of its OLED screen. That way, the screen itself makes up most of the sound that you hear. Supported by a small “subwoofer” recessed into the back of the television, the built-in on-screen loudspeaker system creates a remarkably full, dynamic and lively stereophonic sound signature. While I was able to force the A80J's sound system to distort at higher volumes, I think most people will be amazed at how good this TV sounds. With an emphasis on dialogue clarity and voices that seem to come from where the actors' mouths are on the screen, not only will viewers be happy to understand what is being said, but they will also be entertained by the way it seems like the voice is also coming from the actor's location on the screen.

picture quality

Dog runs on the screen of a Sony A80J 4K HDR OLED TV.Riley Young / Digital Trends

Having been amazed by the picture quality of OLED televisions for almost seven years, I sometimes find it harder and harder to say something new or unique about the latest models. The improvements in OLED image quality have been gradual improvements over the past few years – and this is true this year as well – but the incremental changes that the A80J OLED brings are a matter of finesse but are very welcome nonetheless.

The A80J just seems to take everything to the next level.

With a Sony OLED you start with a base of perfect black tones, paint in lively yet precise colors and then gild the lily with sparkling HDR highlights and precise fine details. I should also point out that the A80J's handling of motion – be it the cadence of a 24fps movie or the fast-paced action of a sports broadcast – is some of the best I've seen, and that includes Sony TVs past. The A80J just seems to take everything to the next level.

And yet, it's not Sony's best OLED TV. What would be better?

Not the brightest TV on the floor

Sony's A90J OLED TV made many headlines this year as one of the brightest OLED TVs you can buy. LG also has a brighter OLED model, the Gallery Series G1, which has similar brightness claims.

One of the reasons brighter OLED TVs are big news is because one of the few complaints about OLED TVs is that they don't get anywhere near as bright as LED and even newer backlit mini LED LCD TVs . For those who watch TV with lots of natural light (or lots of bright lights on fire) during the day, an OLED TV doesn't have the pop or contrast that an LED-backlit TV does. Brighter OLEDs are intended to question this notion.

Whether they do this successfully is a debate for another article. My point is that the A90J is a brighter OLED TV and therefore could be considered marginally better. But as I said, if I were to buy an OLED TV now, it would be the Sony A80J or maybe the LG C1 OLED. Neither of these are the brighter, better OLEDs, but they'll make most people (me included) pretty happy.

Not the absolute best for gaming

A car video game played on a Sony A80J 4K HDR OLED TV.Riley Young / Digital Trends

The only reason I buy a LG C1 OLED TV over a Sony A80J OLED TV is for next-generation gaming purposes. The LG C1 OLED offers four full-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports that support all available next-generation gaming functions at the same time and can all be addressed via an entertaining and somewhat handy gaming dashboard.

The Sony A80J OLED just doesn't do much for gaming, which may seem strange given that Sony is making the new PlayStation 5 console. But what most people don't realize is that the A80J is still an excellent TV for playing games. Sure, it may not offer a variable refresh rate (VRR) and some other features that some competing TVs have, but it will still be fine for most casual gamers. Only the hardcore gamers have to consider looking elsewhere. In other words, unless you know exactly what makes HDMI 2.1 play without looking up, then you can count on the A80J to deliver a great gaming experience with low input lag, great graphics, and smooth movement.

My recording

Sony's A80J offers some of the best picture quality you will find on a television and is only surpassed by televisions that cost many times more. It's also one of the most user-friendly TVs to buy thanks to its Google TV platform and impeccable standard picture preset options. It sounds great too. All in all, the A80J is a wonderful package and I highly recommend it.

Is there a better alternative?

The Sony A90J and LG G1 OLED TVs are a bit brighter, but whether they're better TVs really depends on the viewing environment. Most people will find the A80J bright enough, with excellent contrast and sparkling HDR highlights. The LG C1 could be a better alternative for those looking for the latest in gaming features.

How long it will take?

As with all OLED TVs, there is a slight possibility of burn-in caused by viewing the same picture for a long period of time, day after day, month after month. If you watch the same news channel for many hours a day, you shouldn't buy an OLED television. However, for most normal considerations, burn-in is not a problem. Apart from this consideration, the Sony A80J should reach far into the future even without full HDMI 2.1 support on board.

guarantee

Sony offers a one-year limited warranty on the A80J OLED TVs. More details can be found here.

Should you buy it?

Yes. The Sony A80J is a standout TV and an excellent choice for most buyers looking for great picture quality and sound.

Editor's recommendations



15 Aug
Blog

Xiaomi Roidmi Eve Plus Review: Self-Empty Base on a Budget

The Xiaomi Roidmi with charging station / dust collector.

Xiaomi Roidmi Eve Plus Robot Vacuum Cleaner Review: A Roomba Rival That Makes The Cut

RRP $ 450.00

"The Xiaomi Roidmi offers straightforward cleaning and an intelligent app that offers the user many customization options."

advantages

  • Precise real estate mapping

  • Excellent cleaning performance

  • Solid battery life

  • An intuitive app

disadvantage

  • Instructions and app can be difficult to understand

  • Occasionally gets stuck on furniture

No longer the niche figureheads that scoured the homes of the most serious tech hounds, robotic vacuums are now ubiquitous. While big names like Roomba and Dyson stand out for their performance, reliability, and customization features, the O.G. Labels are also known for their high prices.

If you look at Amazon, you'll find that there are hundreds of robot vacuum brands out there that promise high-performance cleaning from top brands at great prices, but unfortunately, many models just don't. Every now and then, however, a non-brand contender will come to the surface to compete against the biggest names in Clean Town. One such vacuum robot is the Xiaomi Roidmi, the subject of our test today.

Is that a worthy vacuum robot? As a matter of fact. Does it hold up against the best in vacuuming? Yes and no. Let's take a closer look.

Out of the box

Top view of the Xiaomi Roidmi vac.

I often worry that the boastful designs and finishes of certain brands of robot vacuums clash with my home decor. Call me crazy but it drives me crazy While browsing around on the Roidmi a little before it got to my house, I wasn't sure if the product stills I saw would carry over to the Vak's personal demeanor. I'm happy to say I was pleasantly surprised.

The traditional puck-shaped shell of many robotic vacuums is fully present here, but the hard white casing and rounded black trim keep things minimalist and go with most furnishings.

The Roidmi is also ready for use straight out of the box. My model had an already existing charge of about 68% after unpacking, the battery level was quickly increased by a few minutes of basic charge. The Roidmi comes with the plug-in vacuum cleaner and charging station, replacement mop heads, an additional filter (with a QR code that you have to scan to add the vacuum cleaner to your app) and an operating manual.

Adaptive cleaning that gets the job done

The Roidmi's carbonless motor generates a solid 2,700 Pa of adjustable suction power. My apartment has three types of floors – carpeting, laminate and tiles – all of which Roidmi viewed as a professional. By default, the vacuum cleaner is set to the "Standard" suction setting, but Quiet, Power and a powerful Max mode are also available, which can be found in the companion app under the "More" tab (more on this below).

Bottom view of the Xiaomi Roidmi with mop attachment.

To see how the Roidmi would pile up against the rubble, cat litter was purposely placed over my carpet. For the laminate and tiles in the kitchen, I decided to use granules made from cat food. The bot's rotating main brush did the lion's share of the dirty work, handling even the deepest points of the test throw with ease. Same goes for the food, where the two side silicone brushes also did a good job of catching stray pieces of meow mix along the baseboards.

The change from one floor surface to the other was handled smoothly by the two drum wheels, with the Roidmi climbing my carpet sleepers with ease. I could also hear the suction power automatically change when the vacuum cleaner hit my carpeted floor from a hard surface.

The bot's rotating main brush did the lion's share of the dirty work.

The vacuum cleaner uses 18 sensors to control the Roidmi through your whole house, avoiding your walls and furniture while the house is getting clean. My Roidmi moved from room to room and did an excellent job, but its performance was not perfect. Every time I used the vacuum cleaner there were several moments when I had to get it out of a corner it got trapped in or out of some furniture it couldn't steer away from.

In terms of wiping, the Roidmi has three water dispensing presets to choose from (in-app), ranging from small to large quantities. As soon as you attach the mop head, the bot automatically recognizes that you have switched from vacuuming to mop mode. In use, the Roidmi did a decent job of deliberately tackling soda spills, but I had to finish the job on my own elbow grease. I would say that wiping with your Roidmi should be reserved for less serious spills and dirt / grease stains.

Self-draining and a lot of power

As soon as the Roidmi finishes cleaning or you order it to return to its base, the rear-facing dust connector on the vacuum cleaner connects to the dust collector. The collector then picks up all the dirt, deodorises and filters the contents as it flows into the dust bag. The dust collector emptied my Roidmi efficiently and at a reasonable volume. In fact, the only complaint I have about the collector is that regardless of where I placed it in my apartment, the Roidmi would take its sweet time to find it.

The Xiaomi Roidmi with charging station / dust collector.

Oddly enough, the bot would move only a few inches from the base, drive backwards, and then bump forward five or six times. Only then does the vacuum cleaner properly dock on the dust collector.

The Roidmi's 5200 mAh battery is said to provide up to 250 minutes of continuous operation. I ran my vacuum cleaner through a handful of full home cleans (1,100 square feet) and at the end of each cycle I had about a third of the battery left to play with. Not too shabby if you ask me.

An intuitive app that can be difficult to understand

While you can simply turn the vacuum on to send the Roidmi out for a whole house clean, be sure to download the Roidmi Companion app (available for iOS and Android devices) for an expanded set of controls and map options .

The Roidmi's apartment scan was so detailed that it even included rooms and cupboards that were behind closed doors and walls.

As soon as I switched on the Roidmi, the LDS laser on board immediately scanned my entire apartment. The resulting card is logged directly on the main page of the Vac in the Roidmi app. Here you will also find some basic functions such as start / stop controls, a load command that sends the Roidmi back to its base, and various suction and wiping settings. There is also a battery level indicator, a tracker of how long the vacuum cleaner has been in use in the current cycle and how much living space has been covered.

The Roidmi's apartment scan was so detailed that it even included rooms and cupboards that were behind closed doors and walls. When the bot is active, you can easily track it in the app (it's a tiny gray circle with a glowing blue ring around it). With four filters at the top of the home page, you can customize the cleaning experience.

If "Entire Map" is selected, the Roidmi will search your entire mapped residence. The partition allows you to define no-clean zones that the vacuum cleaner should avoid. The area allows you to pinpoint specific spots in the house that require careful attention. If you need to specify exactly which parts of a room to hit, you can tap and drag the cleaning square to enlarge or shrink it. When Area is selected, you can use the "Add" icon in the lower menu ribbon to add up to five different deep cleaning zones to which the Roidmi will react one after the other. With a final filter, Point, you can send the Roidmi into a 1.6 meter long pre-measured cleaning zone. You can add more point zones, but you cannot adjust their size.

While none of these tabs and drop-down menus have been difficult to use and navigate, there is some language separation with the entire app that can pose a challenge for some. For example, a quick menu where you can adjust the suction sensitivity has an Enter / Save button labeled "Set". It's a big, red button at the bottom that probably leads most to believe that after making your adjustments, you'll tap it – which is correct. However, Determine may not end up with all users. I even questioned it for a moment before just tapping the button because I had nothing to lose.

Our opinion

The Xiaomi Roidmi definitely does the job when it comes to what a vacuum cleaner does best – vacuuming. Strong suction and effective brushes dig deep for the dirt your old stand just can't find. There's even support for Alexa and Google Assistant to control the vacuum with a handful of voice commands. That said, if you're looking for the seamless app experience you find on titans like Roomba, you can find a good app that could use a bit of polishing here and there instead.

At around $ 449, the Roidmi holds up well on its sticker, though inventory for the product appears to be low on both digital and stationary shelves – so much so that it doesn't even seem to be available for purchase on Roidmis Side.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes, but you'd pay more to get a robotic vacuum cleaner that requires less supervision. Roborock has two outstanding options to choose from: the intelligent S6 MaxV with its built-in camera for superior obstacle avoidance and the S7 with its sound wiping function.

There is also the iRobot Roomba i3 Plus with its self-draining dock. It's an efficient cleaner that somehow manages to avoid most of the household obstacles and potential pitfalls. In any case, you will still be spending more money to pick up one of them through Xiaomi's offer.

How long it will take?

It's reasonably constructed, but comes with a one-year limited warranty that protects it from failure.

Should you buy it?

Yes, because for the price it offers a lot of value to combine the functions of vacuum cleaner and mopping device. The inclusion of the self-draining docks only sweetens the package.

Editor's recommendations



14 Aug
Blog

Fitbit Ace 3 Review: Kids Tracker for the Fitbit Family

fitbit ace 3 tests lifestyle images from 4

"The Fitbit Ace 3 uses rewards and fun challenges to help children lead healthy lifestyles."

advantages

  • Easy to use

  • Comfortable fit in child size

  • Attractive, animated user interface

  • Fun, family challenges

disadvantage

  • The fastener can break

  • Works best with a parental Fitbit

Activity trackers are usually aimed at adults who want to get fit and stay fit. These trackers are designed for adults and have interfaces designed for adults rather than children. While they may not set the Fastest Known Times, kids can benefit from the health benefits of a fitness wearable.

Fitbit wants to reach these kids with its Ace 3 tracker, which has an animated user interface and a kid-friendly design. How does the Fitbit Ace 3 hold up to the demands of childhood? We tested it on a couple of elementary school children to find out.

Design: Small, but mostly robust

Although it's a kid's device, the Ace 3 isn't a problem. It has a triaxial accelerometer for step tracking and detailed sleep monitoring. There's even a heart rate monitor, but it's probably not turned on for privacy reasons. On the surface, it seems Fitbit has taken its adult tracker and reduced it for kids.

Fitbit Ace 3 is worn around a child's wrist with a hula hoop.

The touchscreen is small enough for a child's wrist, but not too small for a child's hand. My kids had no problem swiping or typing on the screen. The black and white display is big enough for kids to see their stats and bright enough to be seen from outside and inside. Unlike the Fitbit Ace 2, which is completely covered with silicone, the Ace 3 has recesses for the buttons so that they are easy to press.

The Ace 3 is reminiscent of Fitbit's early fitness trackers. It consists of a tiny fitness tracker unit that fits into a sturdy silicone strap. The bracelet is designed for smaller wrists with an easy-to-use standard watch clasp. My children, 8 and 10 years old, had no problem putting the band on and off themselves. It was comfortable to wear day and night and we had no problems with rashes. We took some preventive measures that minimized skin irritation. After a day outdoors, we took off the tracker and washed both my child's wrist area and the tracker.

A child playing tug of war while wearing Fitbit Ace 3.

While not as slim and slim as Fitbit's all-in-on trackers like the Charge 4, the Ace 3's modular design is perfect for kids who are electronics-prone. If the tape breaks, it's easy to replace. Simply pull out the tracker unit and place it on a new tape. Be prepared to replace the tape, especially if your child likes to take the tracker on and off. We broke one tie in our tests while the second stood the test of time.

Software: fun and kid-friendly interface

The user interface adheres to basic step counting and doesn't overwhelm your kids with advanced metrics like heart rate analysis or calorie consumption. It features a handful of fun watch faces that my kids loved. Our favorites were the animated ones that change with fitness stats. The missile, for example, was nearing launch as the step count neared its target. When they reached their target, the missile took off with a bang, much to the delight of my younger child. I found that the younger the child was, the more they enjoyed these animations.

The Fitbit Ace 3 harnesses rewards and fun challenges to help children lead healthy lifestyles.

Another feature we liked was the family competitions, where my kids could challenge family members and friends to do the most steps in a day. We often had to take an extra walk around the block to add that extra step count. The Fitbit Ace 3 judiciously uses more than one strategy to encourage your children to exercise, as not every child is motivated in the same way. My younger child enjoyed the rewarding animations, while my older child seemed more motivated by this competition than just achieving their goal.

Performance: Viewing fitness stats can be annoying

The Fitbit Ace 3 is a kid's device and, as such, has a parental component that you need to navigate through. Almost everything is done through the parent's Fitbit account under the My Family tab in the Fitbit app. How you view your child's daily fitness stats depends on whether or not they have their own mobile device. For older children, you can install the Fitbit app on the child's device and they can keep track of their stats for themselves. It's a little harder to see the stats with your younger kids.

Younger children who don't have a mobile device need to use the Fitbit app on their parent's phone or tablet to view their daily stats. You can switch between two views – the parent's view with their tracker information and a child's view with data from the child's tracker. This kids view is simplified so your kids can easily track their progress without being overwhelmed with too many numbers.

A girl holding onto a skateboard while wearing Fitbit Ace 3.

My kids looked forward to checking their stats on my iPhone several times a day and changing their watch faces frequently. Unfortunately, it was a pain to switch between the child's and the parent's views. Every time you return to the parent view, you will have to enter your password. I couldn't use a fingerprint or facial recognition for this authentication step, so I had to enter my randomly generated, 12-digit string. It was so annoying that I changed my Fitbit password to a shorter and easier to remember one, which is likely to compromise the security of my account for convenience.

Our opinion

The Fitbit Ace 3 takes the best features of its successful fitness tracker line and bundles them in a tracker that was developed exclusively for children. The Ace 3 has a vibrant user interface that encourages kids to exercise. It is especially effective for elementary school children who get caught up in animation and family-friendly competitions. Older kids, like the fast growing tweens, may find this tracker too childish.

Is there a better alternative?

The main competitor of the Fitbit Ace 3 is Garmin's Vivofit Jr. 2, which offers a similar playful user interface. Both are very powerful trackers for kids, so your choices should be made based on the platform. If you already own a Fitbit, or are planning on buying a Fitbit, then the Ace 3 should be your first choice. It integrates seamlessly with the Fitbit app and enables communication with and control of the child's device. Likewise, those with a Garmin device should stick with the Garmin ecosystem and get a Vivofit Jr.

How long it will take?

The Fitbit Ace 3 will last a few years, depending on your child's age and activity level. Your child can grow out of the device before it breaks. The weak point is the closure of the tape, which is made of plastic. However, since the tracker can be detached from the tape, you can easily replace the tape if it breaks. Fortunately, Fitbit offers a one-year limited warranty that covers defects in materials and workmanship under normal use.

Should you buy it?

If you're looking for a new fitness tracker for your kids, the Fitbit Ace 3 should be at the top of your list. It has a comfortable fit and a fun user interface that will keep your child moving all day. If you already own the Fitbit Ace 2 or a competing kid tracker, there's no need to upgrade. The Ace 3 primarily offers an improved user interface that is not a compelling reason to upgrade.

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