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bose-soundlink-revolve+-ii-review:-360-degree-sound-supremo

Bose SoundLink Revolve+ II review: 360-degree sound supremo

(Pocket-lint) – We reviewed the original Bose SoundLink Revolve back in 2017. So to see the “Plus” model back three years later for the sequel – which adds better water-resistance and improved battery life – surely spells portable speaker perfection?

Well, it depends how you look at it. Sure, the SoundLink Revolve+ II has those minor improvement points, but the design otherwise remains as it was – including the older Micro-USB connector – which seems a little odd considering the more advanced yet similarly priced Bose Portable Home Speaker has launched in the interim.

What the SoundLink Revolve+ II really delivers upon is portability and 360-degree sound output so that could make it your outdoor summer soundtrack partner (hopefully with some friends too, eh, 2021?).

Design & Setup

  • Dimensions: 184mm tall x 105mm diameter (widest) / Weight: 900g
  • Connectivity: Bluetooth, 3.5mm/AUX, USB
  • Bose Connect app (iOS & Android)
  • On-body controls, voice prompts
  • Finishes: Luxe Silver, Triple Black
  • IP55 weather-resistant design

Bose makes a number of semi-conical speakers, delivering its typical stylish design language here in the SoundLink Revolve+ II. There’s no seams to the metal centre unit, with uniformly drilled holes allowing sound to perforate the full 360-degrees of output.

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Also typical of Bose design is a rubber-like cap up top, which can handle a few knocks and bumps no problem, and is also where the on-board controls live. You can control Bluetooth pairing, source, and volume up/down from here if you’re not using the app instead.

There’s also a flexible fabric handle to make portability even easier – not that this speaker is especially heavy, at under a kilo. However, there’s no charging base, like the one you’ll find in the Bose Portable Home Speaker, but you can buy one as an optional extra at your own cost.

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That IP55 rating might sound meaningless unless you get the full description: the first ‘5’ means it can withstand limited dust ingress from its electrical enclosures; the second ‘5’ means it can withstand low jets of water from any direction. It’s not waterproof, therefore, so don’t go lobbing it in the pool – but a splash won’t be a bother.



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When it comes to setting up the SoundLink Revolve+ II your main option is Bluetooth (otherwise it’s wired AUX or USB). If connecting from a mobile device you’ll be prompted to obtain the Bose Connect app – available for Google Android and Apple iOS – which will walk you through the process.

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It’s here – on the speaker itself – that you’ll begin to hear voice prompts, i.e. spoken word, to help guide you through everything too. The spoken word form is very Bose – the same as you’ll find in its other devices, such as the NC 700 Headphones.

Otherwise connectivity is fairly straightforward. There’s no Wi-Fi, so no Airplay or Chromecast, with the target being casual indoor and outdoor listening. To that end, again, the Bose Portable Home Speaker is much better connected overall – while still being portable and weather-resistant.

Sound Quality

  • Dual passive radiators, single down-firing transducer
  • Pair to other Bose Home speakers
  • Battery life: to 17 hours quoted
  • 360-degree sound output

As we said of the original: “Good sound quality from a Bose product is almost taken as a given. If there’s a Bose logo on it, it’ll be well balanced and easy listening.”

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The same rings true for the SoundLink Revolve+ II: the sound is projected from every angle using an internal deflector, providing largely uniform and believable sound from whichever angle you’re listening.

Rather than going down the route of having multiple little speakers all pointing in different directions, the Revolve+ II has one main speaker that points downward, using the deflector at the base to bounce the sound out in all directions.

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This design gives the speaker grounding, while two passive bass radiators and enough air space – despite the small size – seeing to pretty considerable bass output too. So whether you like your underground dance music, impactful rock, or something more poppy or easy-listening, this speaker can handle it all.

Indeed, to the point that it fills up even pretty large rooms. Not as convincingly as a larger system, but given just how small this Bose product is the sound is well beyond its size.

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Volume is decent too, remaining convincing throughout its mid levels. Crank it up loud the bass can’t keep up with the dynamic, though, which is a tell-tale of the product’s scale.

In terms of longevity the 17 hours quoted seems accurate from our week of medium-level listening sessions. That’s always going to be dependent on volume factors, but at least you’ll get voice prompts about battery so you can assess expectations with reasonable accuracy too.

Verdict

If you’re looking for a stylish portable Bluetooth speaker then the SoundLink Revolve+ II is a great little speaker. It exudes style and sounds great through 360-degrees too.

It’s the context of where it sits that’s a little more challenging. We’d opt for the Bose Portable Home Speaker for the extra sound and connectivity. And as the second-gen Revolve’s design hasn’t evolved beyond the original there’s also the temptation to look back at other older products, of which there are many for a cut of the asking price. squi

Also consider

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Bose Portable Home Speaker

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Although it was release before the SoundLink Revolve+ II, the newer design brings USB-C, greater connectivity, and, to our ears, greater sound quality too. There’s some water-resistance, plus an included charging stand, which makes this the product to plump for – and only for a touch more cash in any event.

  • Read our review
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Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3

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It might be older, but it’s a chunk of cash less than the Bose, still sounds massive, plus there’s full water-proofing to put it a cut above. However, it’s with design where the Bose takes extra points.

  • Read our review

Writing by Mike Lowe.

cricut-completely-unravels-subscription-plans-that-would-limit-its-crafting-machines

Cricut completely unravels subscription plans that would limit its crafting machines

Cricut has announced in a new blog post that its automated cutting and printing craft machine will no longer require a subscription for unlimited uploads next year. The company took a step back when it announced it would postpone the change until 2022. But now Cricut CEO Ashish Arora is reversing the company’s plans entirely, guaranteeing Cricut machines will work how they’ve always worked.

“We’ve made the decision to reverse our previously shared plans. Right now, every member can upload an unlimited number of images and patterns to Design Space for free, and we have no intention to change this policy. This is true whether you’re a current Cricut member or are thinking about joining the Cricut family before or after December 31, 2021,” Arora writes.

Limits on uploads to Cricut’s required Design Space app were a contentious issue for regular Cricut crafters. While Design Space can work as separate creation software, many users prefer to create their art in other applications and bring them into Design Space to finalize them, before their Cricut cuts them out of paper, fabric and other materials.

In Cricut’s controversial plan, the company offered 20 Design Space uploads per month for free, and locked unlimited uploads behind a paid Cricut Access subscription. The move did not go over well with users, who were not only used to having unlimited uploads for free, but also wanted to avoid additional costs, or being forced to use Design Space for the entirety of their projects.

Cricut’s original response seemed to satisfy a lot of its customers, but now the company has gone a step further and made its subscription plan what it started out as, an add-on, rather than a requirement for normal use.

facebook-is-working-on-a-version-of-instagram-for-kids-under-13

Facebook is working on a version of Instagram for kids under 13

Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri confirms that a version of the popular photo sharing app for children under 13 is in the works, BuzzFeed News reports. The Facebook-owned company knows a lot of kids want to use Instagram, Mosseri said, but there isn’t a “detailed plan yet,” according to BuzzFeed News.

“But part of the solution is to create a version of Instagram for young people or kids where parents have transparency or control,” Mosseri told BuzzFeed News. “It’s one of the things we’re exploring.” Instagram’s current policy bars children under 13 from the platform.

“Increasingly kids are asking their parents if they can join apps that help them keep up with their friends,” Joe Osborne, a Facebook spokesperson said in an email to The Verge. “Right now there aren’t many options for parents, so we’re working on building additional products — like we did with Messenger Kids — that are suitable for kids, managed by parents. We’re exploring bringing a parent-controlled experience to Instagram to help kids keep up with their friends, discover new hobbies and interests, and more.”

BuzzFeed News obtained a message from an internal messaging board where Instagram vice president of product Vishal Shah said a “youth pillar” project has been identified as a priority by the company. Its Community Product Group will focus on privacy and safety issues “to ensure the safest possible experience for teens,” Shah wrote in the post. Mosseri would oversee the project along with vice president Pavni Diwanji, who oversaw YouTube Kids while she was at Google.

Instagram published a blog post earlier this week describing its work to make the platform safe for its youngest users, but made no mention of a new version for kids under 13.

Targeting online products at children under 13 is fraught not only with concerns about privacy, but legal issues as well. In September 2019, the Federal Trade Commission fined Google $170 million for tracking the viewing histories of children to serve ads to them on YouTube, a violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). TikTok precursor Musical.ly was fined $5.7 million for violating COPPA in February of 2019.

Facebook launched an ad-free version of its Messenger chat platform for kids in 2017, intended for kids between the ages of 6 and 12. Children’s health advocates criticized it as harmful for kids and urged CEO Mark Zuckerberg to discontinue it. Then in 2019, a bug in Messenger Kids allowed children to join groups with strangers, leaving thousands of kids in chats with unauthorized users. Facebook quietly closed those unauthorized chats, which it said affected “a small number” of users.

congress-tries-to-get-the-ftc-in-fighting-shape

Congress tries to get the FTC in fighting shape

On Thursday, House Judiciary Committee lawmakers held a hearing with some of the most prominent players in antitrust enforcement today. Two Federal Trade Commission leaders and two state attorneys general currently suing Facebook for violating antitrust law testified before the committee.

But while lawmakers have spoken extensively about breaking up companies like Facebook and Google, law enforcement agencies are the ones with real power to unwind tech mergers, even if their dwindling budgets and measly resources make it more difficult to do so. On Thursday, members of Congress signaled that they want to help them bring more lawsuits against Big Tech.

WHAT IT MEANS

In previous hearings, committee chairman Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) and others have made sweeping statements about setting new rules of the road for tech companies in order to spur more competition in the market. But on Thursday, it became apparent that helping enforcers do their jobs may be Congress’ first point of focus when it comes to reform.

At the top of Thursday’s hearing, Cicilline asked the witnesses how Congress could help modernize merger enforcement and encourage agencies like the DOJ and FTC to take on more cases.

“Today’s hearing is an opportunity to take additional steps… by identifying reforms to develop and clarify the antitrust laws to confront America’s monopoly problem,” Cicilline said in his opening remarks Thursday.

It’s something Republicans seem eager to take on as well. Ranking Member Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) said Thursday that he supports “increasing rigorous enforcement” of antitrust law and “reforming burdens of proof for Big Tech mergers involving a monopoly platform” — basically, making it easier for law enforcement to bring lawsuits against violating tech companies.

But FTC Acting Chair Democrat Rebecca Slaughter told lawmakers that their work shouldn’t stop there. “I firmly believe that effective enforcement is a complement, not an alternative, to thoughtful regulation,” she said.

THE HIGHLIGHT

During Thursday’s hearing, I spoke with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) about Congress’ priorities when it comes to antitrust reform. I asked Klobuchar if Congress should prioritize helping enforcers and providing them with more resources when it comes to antitrust reform.

“That’s something you can do while making the case for the changes to law,” Klobuchar said. “I was so close to getting that done at the end of the year.”

Klobuchar touted her antitrust package with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) called the “Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act.” That bill would provide law enforcement with more resources to take competition cases to court, mirroring much of what the House Judiciary Committee discussed on Thursday.

Klobuchar is also giving a virtual talk on antitrust reform on Friday with EU Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager. I asked Klobuchar what lessons the US could take from the EU’s competition efforts in the tech space.

“They have gone about this in a way where they’re seriously looking at competition policy,” Klobuchar said. “They’re calling it competition policy, and they’ve been aggressive about it, going up to these gateway companies. I think that’s the overall thing that one can learn. Let’s face it, US policy has been sleepy. For years, it was kind of close your eyes to what’s happening with things like [Facebook’s] purchases of WhatsApp and Instagram.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

With all of the House’s hearings coming to an end, it means we could start seeing legislation introduced in the near future. Earlier this month, Klobuchar told CNN’s Brian Fung that she plans to hold a series of competition hearings in the Senate as well looking into tech’s dominance, like app store fees and Facebook and Google’s dominance of the ad market. Those hearings haven’t been scheduled yet.

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How to use your Echo with two Amazon accounts

If you’ve got an Alexa device in your home, like an Echo smart speaker, anyone in your home can use it. But there are certain disadvantages to having it associated with only one account. Mainly, it means that everyone is pretty much sharing the same account.

You can create what Amazon calls a “household.” That means that there can be two adult accounts on the device. On an Echo, that means it can display photos and allow notifications (for example, for a to-do list) from both accounts. Creating a household also permits one member of the household to make a purchase using the other’s account, which can be useful if one person has a Prime account. (You can add a code if you’d rather not allow the other household member to make purchases.) And outside of an Alexa device, having a household lets you share digital content such as ebooks and games.

There are a few limitations.

First, you can only add one other adult (or teenager) to a household account. You can add up to four teens age 13–17 (who can shop on their own with parents approving the purchases). You can also add four children age 12 and under via the Amazon Kids Plus plan, which costs $4.99 a month (or $2.99 a month for Prime members) for a single child and $9.99 a month (or $6.99 a month for Prime members) for up to four children. Also, don’t confuse this with Amazon Household, the service attached to a general Amazon account, which allows two adults, up to four teens, and up to four child profiles to share an account.

Here’s how to add someone to your household:

  • Go to the Amazon Household page on the Amazon website. (You can no longer add a household member using the Amazon app.)
  • Select “Add Adult” (or “Add a Teen” or “Add a Child”)

Click on “Add Adult” to add someone to your household.

  • Add the name and email of the adult you want to share the account with. They will be invited to join your Amazon Household. (A teen will also get an invite; you will need to create a child’s profile yourself.)

Your new household member will be sent an email.

Once that’s done, to go from one account to another, you just have to say, “Alexa, switch accounts.” (If you’ve lost track of whose account you’re using, you can say, “Alexa, identify account.”)

Remove a second account

What if you no longer want the other adult on your account? (Breakups do happen.) You can easily remove them from your household:

  • Go to the same “Manage your Household” page on the Amazon site. On the left, you’ll see icons representing you and the other member of your household.
  • You can either select “Leave” to leave the household yourself or “Remove” to remove somebody from your household. Be aware that any adult leaving or removed from a household won’t be able to join another for 180 days (in other words, six months).

To remove a household member, go to the “Manage Your Household” page.

That 180-day restriction could be a problem if, for example, you’re simply trying to transfer a household member to a different account or if you’ve accidentally removed somebody. In either case, it’s a good idea to contact Amazon customer support via chat or phone. According to a customer service rep I chatted with, Amazon can remove a household member without imposing the 180-day ban if requested. And if you’ve already removed one, it can reset the account so that you can add another before the six-month period is up.

Update March 18th, 2021, 2:15PM ET: This article was originally published on November 19th, 2019, and has been updated to accommodate changes in Amazon’s Household plan.

tesla’s-co-founder-is-teaming-up-with-specialized-to-solve-the-problem-of-e-bike-batteries

Tesla’s co-founder is teaming up with Specialized to solve the problem of e-bike batteries

The growing popularity of electric bikes has raised a lot of exciting possibilities about the future of transportation, but it also presents a number of unique challenges. Chief among them is what to do with all those e-bike batteries when they eventually run out of juice. Rather than send them to a landfill, one major bike manufacturer is teaming up with a co-founder of Tesla to ensure those batteries have a second life.

Specialized, the third largest bike maker in the US based on market share, is partnering with a firm called Redwood Materials, which is run by Jeffrey “JB” Straubel, a co-founder and former chief technology officer of Tesla, to figure out a process for recycling the company’s e-bike batteries. Those batteries, which are typically attached to or integrated within the downtube of the bike, activate the motor when the cyclist is pedaling or uses a throttle.

The bikes are built to last a lifetime, but the batteries typically run out of power after four and six years, said Chris Yu, chief product officer at Specialized. “Generally, the bikes will long outlast the packs for the typical user,” Yu told The Verge. “And so it’s always been in the back of our minds: what do we do about them?”

Enter Redwood Materials. The Carson City, Nevada-based company was founded by Straubel in 2017 primarily as a recycler of electric car batteries. In addition to breaking down scrap from Tesla’s battery-making process with Panasonic, Redwood also recycles batteries from Nissan, Amazon, and others. Many of the batteries from those first-wave electric vehicles, like the Nissan Leaf, are just now reaching their end of life and are in need of recycling. Redwood promises that all of its recycling is done domestically — much of the e-waste in the US is shipped to developing countries for smelting — and with an eye toward reuse and recovery. Last year, Wired referred to the company as the “anti-gigafactory.”

A battery being removed from a Specialized electric bike.
Image: Specialized

This is how the partnership will work: Specialized will recover depleted e-bike batteries through its network of retail partners and then ship those batteries to Redwood’s facility in Northern Nevada. The first step will be to figure out how much of the battery is reusable, such as various connectors, wires, plastics, and other components. After that, Redwood will begin a chemical recycling process, in which it strips out and refines the relevant elements like nickel, cobalt, and copper. A certain percentage of that refined material can then be reintegrated into the battery-making process.

“Usually, there’s not very much else in there that’s very recyclable,” Straubel told The Verge. “But we strive to really minimize any separate waste streams.”

Specialized says that by the end of 2021, every one of its e-bike batteries will “have a pathway” to Redwood’s recycling facility. Yu explained that means making customers aware through their local Specialized retailer or via diagnostic notifications through the company’s smartphone app about the expected end-of-life date of their e-bike’s battery and what recycling opportunities are available to them. The company has been piloting this process, and so far, 100 percent of the battery packs it collects are going to Redwood.

JB Straubel, center, seen with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in 2016.
Photo by Jordan Golson

With e-bike sales booming, there is expected to be a tsunami of dead batteries needing to be recycled in the decades to come — perhaps more so than from electric cars. More electric bikes were sold in Germany in 2020 than all of the electric cars sold in Europe. Over 547,000 e-bikes were sold in the Netherlands last year, or 54 percent more than the total number of cars, both gas and electric. According to Deloitte, 130 million e-bikes are expected to be sold globally between 2020 and 2023, making them the most popular battery-powered vehicle on the planet.

These data points — a faster product life and higher volume of sales — helped convince Straubel to team up with Specialized on this project. He also was friends with Specialized’s founder and CEO, Mike Sinyard, and helped set him up with a Tesla many years ago. But e-bikes, in addition to other lightweight electric vehicles like scooters and mopeds, are a sign of where things are headed for transportation. Straubel said he was surprised by how much of the e-waste that is processed for recycling is comprised of materials from e-bikes.

“It’s kind of a bellwether, I think, for passenger EVs,” he said, “and that’s been a really fascinating thing.”

A bin of e-waste at Redwood Materials’ recycling facility.
Redwood Materials

E-waste recycling is a notoriously shady business, with companies sending raw materials overseas to developing nations that lack the infrastructure for safe processing. This has caused a growing ecological disaster. Straubel insists Redwood is different because it does all of its recycling domestically, not just the separation and aggregation processes. And he aims for maximum transparency, inviting all of his clients to come to the facility and inspect every inch of the process.

The gears are shifting in Washington in a way that could have a broad effect on what Specialized and Redwood are hoping to accomplish. A bill was just introduced in the House of Representatives that would incentivize the recycling of lithium-ion batteries, which are widely used by both electric cars and e-bikes. Another bill would offer a tax credit for anyone who purchases an e-bike. Public tax dollars are flowing into the industry in a way that could underscore the importance of Specialized and Redwood’s partnership.

“We’ve been working on this for a while. So it was a way to really get in front of it,” Specialized CEO Mike Sinyard told The Verge. “People who buy an electric car, but even more, people who buy an electric bike really care about that. And we care deeply about that too.”

Straubel agrees, saying it’s a question that’s on the minds of the people who buy these products: what will happen to it when it eventually runs out of power? “They want to make sure that the solution isn’t worse than the problem,” he said. “But to me, this is a story of optimism because these batteries are very highly recyclable, with the right process and method for doing it.”

arlo-pro-3-floodlight-camera-review:-illuminating-home-security

Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera review: Illuminating home security

(Pocket-lint) – Arlo has been refining and expanding its offering over the past few years, with the Arlo Pro cameras moving to their third version and evolving into the Pro 3 Floodlight Camera, a hybrid of two areas that Arlo operates in – cameras and lighting.

While most Arlo cameras now offer some sort of LED illumination, the Floodlight goes a lot further, crossing over into space that was previously dominated by dedicated security lights. So is this fusion a best of both worlds?

Design and installation

  • Dimensions: 218.5 x 77.9 x 190.5mm / Weight: 650g
  • Wire-free installation
  • Waterproof

The Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera essentially looks like an Arlo Pro 3 camera sitting in the middle of an LED bar. The design maintains a familiar look to the body of the camera, the big difference being that spread of lights to the front. But this camera is longer in the body than the regular Pro 3 too and has a more substantial wall-mount to accommodate the additional weight.

As before, there are two main components to the light: the wall mount and the casing; and the camera, light and battery assembly. The latter combination slides into the casing and clicks into place. 

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That means there are no seams or joints on the body, the only place where there’s a joint is around the end of the casing where it meets the back of the light – and well sealed to keep water out. It’s survived some heavy rain and having used Arlo cameras over a number of years, we’ve found them to be waterproof, so no concerns here.

There’s also no way to lock the camera into the housing, you just have to press a button to release it. That’s not a problem for cameras mounted high, but if it’s within reach, it could potentially be removed easily – and not necessarily by yourself.

Installation is simple, because there’s no need for a wired connection, it’s a battery-operated device. That means you can position the light wherever you please, but you will have to drill into the wall to secure the mounting plate. All the screws and wall plugs are supplied in the box, and it’s a quick job to get it up there.

Once the mounting plate is in place, you can attach the remainder of the casing, secured with another screw so it can’t be easily removed. Then the camera assembly slides into the housing and locks into place. The angle can be adjusted, with a ring around the base of the mount to tighten it all up and keep the camera pointing in the right direction.

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Arlo has an healthy range of accessories and if you’d rather have this as a wired device, you can buy a charger that magnetically fixes to the bottom, while there’s also a solar charger option too.

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Setup and the Arlo system

  • 2.4GHz Wi-Fi or SmartHub or Base Station connection
  • Arlo app control

The Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight will either act as a standalone camera – connected to your Wi-Fi network – or it can connect to an Arlo SmartHub or older Arlo Base Station. In some previous devices the SmartHub was obligatory, but the Pro 3 Floodlight gives you a little more freedom, meaning it’s a more affordable route to getting a single Arlo device up and running.

Using the SmartHub means you get 2K local streaming and 2K local recording on a microSD card, as well as auto zoom and tracking features, so it delivers a wider array of features than the standalone route.

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Setup is all managed by the Arlo app on your smartphone and that’s the place to start. Given the size of the camera, it’s worth charging and connecting before you put it in place on your wall, just to make sure everything is working correctly – something that’s easier to do when you don’t have to worry about climbing up and down a ladder repeatedly.

The Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight will happily work within an existing Arlo system, the main advantage here being much more substantial illumination.

Once connected and installed, you’ll have to decide how your camera behaves. Unlike some systems, Arlo doesn’t just start recording everything automatically, you have to decide what you want the camera to do. This is important because they are battery operated and capturing every movement will soon drain the battery.

As this is both a light and a camera, you also have to decide if you want to separate these functions. You can choose, for example, to have the light come on when movement or sound is detected, or you can have video captured, or both. Depending on how and where you install the camera, you do at least get the chance to choose and via the app you can create operation modes to cover all your needs.

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Talking about battery life, Arlo says that the battery will last 6 months, although we suspect that’s in an environment where it’s not triggered. We suspect the typical battery life would be around 3 months, but it’s going to depend on things like the temperature and how much you capture – dependent on the volume of usage. We’re on track for about 2 months of usage, but we have the device illuminating on motion detection and capturing the cats coming and going on the garden whenever it’s triggered.

Recharging takes 5-6 hours for this extended battery pack and you have to remove the entire camera array to plug it in via Micro-USB to get it recharging. For those who don’t want to worry about battery life, we’d recommend the solar panel to keep it running instead. 

Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera performance

  • 2K HDR video capture (2560 x 1440 resolution)
  • 2-3000 lumen floodlight
  • 160-degree wide angle
  • Built-in siren
  • 2-way audio

The camera on the Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight is basically the same as the Arlo Pro 3. That gives you a great wide-angle lens covering 160-degrees, with the option to reduce that angle of capture if you want something narrower.



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There’s a 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution, although you can opt for lower resolution if you want. To view those 2K videos you’ll need a device that supports HEVC (iOS 9 or later, Android 5 or later), but that covers most smartphones from beyond the past few years. The advantage that a higher resolution offers is that you can zoom in to see a little more detail on captured video if you need.

It’s a good resolution, able to capture plenty of detail and thanks to that huge floodlight on the front, when triggered in low light, you’ll get high quality video at night too. It’s better than the non-Floodlight version because there’s a lot more light available for night-time capture, although for some it might be too bright and be irritating to neighbours – but you can also change the brightness.

You can capture night video without the floodlight, with IR illumination able to provide some coverage, although not to the same extent as the full floodlight experience and that’s rather more basic – but still useful.

With all that light available, the Pro 3 Floodlight also works great as a welcome home light, even if you only have video capture when you’re away from home. Via the app you can also manually turn on the light, which is useful if you want to do something outside when it’s dark.

Motion detection can be defined in zones (if you’re an Arlo Smart subscriber), which means you can choose not to have it triggered by passing cars, only motion on the driveway, for example. You can also set the sensitivity for motion or audio triggers. As we said above, these triggers can be ascribed to both the camera, the light or both together.

Able to capture audio, you can also talk through the Arlo’s built-in speaker, meaning you can converse with someone you catch doing something you’re not happy with – while there’s also a siren that you can manually trigger, or have automatically trigger, which you probably don’t want outdoors, but could be useful if you’re using it to monitor your garage or storage shed.

As with other recent Arlo devices, you’ll need an Arlo Smart subscription to get the most from the Pro 3 Floodlight Camera – priced at $2.99/£2.99 a month. That unlocks smart features like like the detection zones, auto pan and zoom, and 2K video cloud storage for 30 days.

It’s all about the Arlo app

  • Voice assistant compatibility
  • Remote monitoring
  • Customisation

While the Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera can act as a standalone device, it works best as part of a system. That’s because you’ll need to use the Arlo app to control it – and it’s better to have one app, rather than a collection of apps to control a range of cameras from different manufacturers.

Unlike something like a lightbulb, the range of options that Arlo presents means there’s a lot more to get to grips with, but there’s some integration with other systems, like Apple Homekit, Alexa, Google Assistant, IFTTT and SmartThings. You can, for example, view your Arlo cameras through a device such as the Amazon Echo Show, but we still maintain it’s better to use the Arlo app directly, as you can then view your history and have full control of your devices.

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You can also have voice-controlled activation of your Smart Hub. This will allow you to arm your Arlo system via voice through a virtual assistant like Amazon Alexa – with the option to have PIN protection for voice disarming too.

The Arlo app, on the whole, is good. It takes some time to learn your way around it and explore the wealth of features, but it’s generally stable. There will be the occasional time when you open the app to have it reported that you have no connection and can’t see any cameras, but generally restarting the app (and checking you actually have a connection of course) resolves that.

Alerts can be customised and with an Arlo Smart subscription, you can choose the type of alert you want too – such as vehicle, animal or person. You then receive a rich notification on your smartphone, getting a thumbnail of the person detected, for example.

Verdict

Arlo is one of the most popular home camera brands and it’s easy to see why, thanks to the versatility that the system offers. The Arlo Pro 3 Floodlight Camera offers all the advantages of the Arlo camera system, but with that powerful lighting giving you more options – and the flexibility to choose how it is used.

It’s a bit of a big beast, but given that you could remove your regular floodlight once you have the Arlo in place probably offsets that worry.

Overall the great performance, good quality video night and day, along with a wire-free setup and the option for hub-free operation means it’s great on its own or as part of a wider system of cameras.

Alternatives to consider

Pocket-lint

Ring Floodlight Cam

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Less pretty than the Arlo, this camera offers greater flexibility with directional spotlights. It’s around the same sort of price, but uses the Ring system instead, with a 1080p camera, although it is a wired camera.

  • Read the Ring Floodlight Cam review
Pocket-lint

Netatmo Smart Outdoor Camera

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The Netatmo camera is wired – designed to replace an existing outside light – so it’s not quite as simple as the Arlo, but it does come with no ongoing costs. That’s because it saves the footage to internal storage which you can then access via the smartphone app. It’s a 1080p camera.

  • Read the full Netatmo Smart Outdoor Camera review

Writing by Chris Hall. Editing by Mike Lowe.

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Microsoft Brings Its Xbox One Auto HDR Feature To Windows

(Image credit: Microsoft and Xbox)

When Microsoft announced that Auto HDR would make its way to the Xbox Series X and S, many wondered if it would also make an appearance on Windows 10. Today, Microsoft has announced that a test build of Windows 10 (21337) is currently available and incorporates Auto HDR.

To give the preview a test drive, you’ll need to be a member of the Windows Insider Program (Dev Channel) to gain access to the Windows 10 21337 build (see also how to get Windows 10 for free or cheap). If you aren’t already a member, you can join and access the proper channel here. You’ll also need a display that’s capable of handling an HDR signal. If you don’t have a monitor, you can also try using a 4K TV if you have one of those.

Auto HDR is a technology developed by Microsoft for use with the Xbox Series family of consoles and Windows. It uses artificial intelligence to convert standard dynamic range (SDR) material to a high dynamic range (HDR) image. This is made possible thanks to Microsoft’s use of machine learning., which then trains the Auto-HDR algorithm on what to look for when converting from SDR to HDR. 

In the image below, Microsoft has provided examples of an SDR image (left), Auto HDR image (middle), and one in native HDR (right). As we can see by the heatmap, the lighting or luminance isn’t as pronounced in the Auto HDR example but does provide the benefit of HDR, without the impact that running a title at native HDR image would produce. 

(Image credit: Microsoft and Xbox)

As of now, there’s a limited amount of titles that support Auto HDR, but Microsoft says that more PC games, both DirectX 11 and 12, will benefit from Auto HDR. The company says that is working through the process of selecting titles and will announce the selection of games when they become available.

Currently, Auto HDR is a preview/beta build and Microsoft is still working to improve it. If you do enable the preview, you will encounter bugs, and things may not work correctly. So be sure to provide any feedback to Microsoft via its feedback hub app.