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Social networks are finally competitive again

Lately, the consumer internet — that set of products devoted to building and monetizing large networks of people — has started to feel rather buzzy. A space that had been largely emptied out over the past five years is once again humming with life. The products are compelling enough, and growing fast enough, that Facebook and others have begun trying to reverse-engineer and copy them.

It still doesn’t seem quite real to me, and yet everywhere I look the signs are there: social networks are competitive again.

Today, let’s tour this weird new landscape and talk about what it means — and doesn’t mean — for the tech giants and the governments trying to rein them in.

I. How competition ended

If I had to put a date on when competition ended among social networks in the United States, I’d choose August 2nd, 2016. That’s when Instagram introduced its copy of Snapchat stories, blunting the momentum of an upstart challenger and sending a chill through the startup ecosystem.

I don’t think copying features is necessarily anti-competitive — in fact, as I’ll argue below, it’s a sign that the ecosystem is working as intended — but the effect of Facebook’s copying here was dramatic. Snap fell into a long funk, and would-be entrepreneurs and investors got the message: Facebook will seek to acquire or copy any upstart social product, dramatically limiting its odds of breakout success. Investment shrunk accordingly.

The previous year, after the success of Twitter’s Periscope app, Facebook had cloned its live video features, and enthusiasm for both products seemed to broadly peter out. When live group video experienced momentary success under Houseparty, Facebook cloned that too, and Houseparty later sold to Epic Games for an undisclosed sum.

It was in this stagnant environment that many people, myself included, came to believe that it had been a mistake to let Facebook acquire Instagram and WhatsApp. The former became the breakout social network of a younger generation, and the latter cemented Facebook’s global dominance in communication. A world in which both had remained independent would have been much more competitive, even if neither had grown to the scale that they did under Facebook.

This is the basic thesis of the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against the company, which it filed in December. The government argues that Facebook “is illegally maintaining its personal social networking monopoly through a years-long course of anticompetitive conduct,” and if successful, it could force Facebook to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp. It’s a tricky case; as Ben Thompson explains here, the government’s attempt to define the market in which Facebook competes so as to prove it has a monopoly is rather tortured.

You can think the FTC’s case against Facebook is weak and also believe that the period from 2016 to 2021 saw remarkably little innovation among American social networks, at least in terms of the basic user behaviors that they inspire. The market for social products became incredibly concentrated; Facebook and Google built a duopoly in digital advertising; and their vast size and unpredictable effects helped to trigger a global backlash against American tech giants.

If, like me, you think this is all a problem, you could argue for one of two basic approaches to fixing it. The first is government intervention, in the form of an antitrust lawsuit or new regulations from Congress, that would regulate the ability of tech giants to acquire smaller companies or put up new barriers to entering the market or competing on fair terms. The second is to do basically nothing, trusting that the entropic nature of the universe and the inexorable march of time would eventually restore competition.

If the second choice sounds ridiculous, it is not without precedent. In the late 1990s, Microsoft’s dominance over the PC market led the government to pursue an antitrust case over the company’s move to bundle its Internet Explorer browser with the Windows operating system. The fear was that such bundling would grant Microsoft total power over the consumer PC market forever. In reality, of course, mobile phones were out there just waiting to be perfected, and then Apple came along and did just that, and now no one really worries too much about Microsoft’s power over the PC market.

I do wish the US government had intervened around 2016 to explore new regulations for tech giants’ mergers and acquisitions. In its absence, we could only bet on entropy — and whichever contrarian capitalists still felt like they could challenge Facebook in the market despite its many advantages.

The thing is, though, that a bunch of contrarian capitalists did. And lately they have been having a lot of success.

II. How competition began

Facebook’s biggest competitor in 2021 is, of course, TikTok, which has been siphoning usage from Facebook’s family of apps since it launched in the United States in 2018 (after merging with Musical.ly).

TikTok began by making it dramatically easier for people to make compelling videos, parceled out fame and fortune with a central feed that is incredibly compelling even if you don’t know or follow a single person, and eventually created an entire universe of audio memes, visual effects, and community in-jokes.

Eugene Wei, our best writer and thinker on TikTok, published the third part of his essay series about the app Sunday night. Among the many salient points Wei makes is that the sheer number of forces that have gone into TikTok’s success have made it difficult for Facebook (or YouTube) to clone. He writes:

People will litigate Instagram copying Snapchat’s Stories feature until the end of time, but the fact is that format wasn’t ever going to be some defensible moat. Ephemerality is a clever new dimension on which to vary social media, but it’s easily copiable.

This is why TikTok’s network effects of creativity matter. To clone TikTok, you can’t just copy any single feature. It’s all of that, and not just the features, but how users deploy them and how the resultant videos interact with each other on the FYP feed. It’s replicating all the feedback loops that are built into TikTok’s ecosystem, all of which are interconnected. Maybe you can copy some of the atoms, but the magic lives at the molecular level.

The success of TikTok is a source of real anxiety inside Facebook, where employees ask CEO Mark Zuckerberg a question about it during nearly every all-hands Q&A session. The company has deployed a competitor, called Reels, inside of Instagram, and perhaps it will find a way to succeed. But the larger point is that, whatever the odds, Facebook now has to compete against TiKTok or risk losing the next generation.

You’ve probably already considered that, though. (Unless you’re the FTC, which conspicuously avoided any mention of TikTok in its entire complaint about Facebook’s alleged monopoly position.) But when it comes to mobile short-form video, Facebook and YouTube face a real challenge.

So where else does Facebook suddenly find itself forced to compete?

For starters, there’s audio. While still available only by invitation, Clubhouse recently hit an estimated 10 million downloads. Celebrities including Tiffany Haddish, Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, and Zuckerberg himself have made appearances on the app, granting it a cultural cachet rare in a social startup that is still less than a year old. Clubhouse raised money last month at a valuation of $1 billion — more than Facebook ultimately paid for Instagram.

Because it’s an audio app, Clubhouse doesn’t pose quite the existential threat that TikTok does: you can still theoretically browse Instagram or message businesses on WhatsApp while listening to a Clubhouse chat. But Facebook has been sufficiently intrigued by Clubhouse’s rapid rise that it is now working out how to clone the app, according to a report this month in The New York Times. Elsewhere, Twitter already has a Clubhouse clone, called Spaces, in beta. It’s not clear that Clubhouse poses a threat to either company, exactly. But both are still taking it as a challenge.

What else?

After years of making its most prominent investments in technically challenging media involving video, augmented reality, and virtual reality, Facebook is reportedly taking a second look at text. The rise of Substack over the past year has begun to mint a growing number of millionaire, text-based creators, while also pulling millions of people away from their social feeds into the relative calm of the email inbox. (I have a personal stake in this one, of course; I started a newsletter in large part because my social feeds had come to feel like a lousy place to get my news.)

What’s interesting here is that Facebook now seems open to this possibility, too. Last month, the Times also reported that Facebook is developing newsletter tools for reporters and writers. (I’ve confirmed this with my own sources.) As with Clubhouse, newsletters hardly pose an existential threat to Facebook. But they do bleed time and attention away from the company’s apps — and in a world where news may not be even available on Facebook in some countries, it may be wise for it to have a hedge. (And Twitter clearly thinks so, too: it acquired Substack competitor Revue last month.)

That leaves Facebook competing with legitimately fast-growing, well-funded competitors across several categories. And while it’s in a much earlier stage, I think the company may soon have an interesting competitor in photography as well.

Dispo is an invite-only social photo app with a twist: you can’t see any photos you take with the app until 24 hours after you take them. (The app sends you a push notification to open them every day at 9AM local time: among other things, a nice hack to boost daily usage.) Founded by David Dobrik, one of the world’s most popular YouTubers, Dispo has been around as a basic utility for a year. But last month a beta version launched on iOS with social features including shared photo “rolls,” and it quickly hit the 10,000-person cap on Apple’s TestFlight software. It raised $4 million in seed funding in October, and assuming the buzz continues into a public launch, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dispo took off in a major way.

Audio, video, photos, and text: to some extent, Facebook has never had to stop competing across these dimensions in the company’s history. But I can’t remember the last time it was fighting so many interesting battles at the same time.

III. What it means

Here’s what I’m not saying when I argue that social networks are competitive again:

That Facebook has not acted in various anti-competitive ways throughout its history.
That Facebook should no longer be subject to antitrust scrutiny, or that the US government (and, separately, a coalition of US attorneys general) should abandon their lawsuits.
That, given all this new competition, Facebook should be allowed to purchase rival social networks in the future.
That Facebook won’t remain the world’s largest social network for a long time to come, or that its business will suffer in the short term.

In fact, I think there’s a good case to be made that antitrust pressure from the US government in particular is what has allowed competition to return to social networks in the first place. Had Clubhouse or Substack emerged in 2013 or 2014, it’s not hard to imagine Facebook racing to acquire them and knock them off the chessboard. But in 2021, when Facebook faces a formal antitrust review in the United Kingdom over its acquisition of a failing GIF search engine, the company can only sit back and try to copy what others are doing better.

If that’s the case, it suggests that the half-assed response to Facebook’s growing dominance over the past half-decade nonetheless got us, however belatedly, to a better place. Antitrust pressure made it extremely difficult for the company to make acquisitions, opening a window just big enough for new entrants to climb through. It remains to be seen how big any new challengers to Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter can grow. But for the first time in a long time, I’m optimistic about their chances.

Fitbit’s Mindful Method is an exclusive wellness program for Premium subscribers

Fitbit is launching an exclusive wellness program for Fitbit Premium subscribers called Mindful Method. The program is created by alternative medicine specialist Deepak Chopra and builds on the company’s focus on stress management that started with the Sense smartwatch.

Mindful Method encompasses over 30 audio and video sessions on topics like mindfulness, sleep, stress management, wellness, and the mind-body connection, Fitbit says. The program is taught by Chopra, a renowned author and wellness expert, with more sessions from Chopra planned to be released over the coming months.

In a press presentation of the new program, Chopra led attendees through a sample meditation from Mindful Method. Overall, the experience was not that different from what I’ve done in other meditation apps like Calm or Headspace, though Mindful Method aims to differentiate itself by featuring more of Chopra’s philosophy of wellness combined with the data provided by Fitbit’s watches and Premium service.

Fitbit says Premium already features over 100 mindfulness audio tracks, but adding new ones from a recognizable name could make a difference for the Fitbit owner who hasn’t decided to pay $9.99 a month for Premium yet. Mindful Method also builds on Fitbit’s strategy of not just collecting and displaying a variety of data, but making it actionable, what Chopra summarized in his presentation as the move from “biofeedback” to “bioregulation.”

When Brent Rose reviewed the Fitbit Sense for The Verge, he found the device’s electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor to provide a generally accurate view of when he was stressed, displayed in the Fitbit app’s Stress Management Score. The existing meditations in Premium where a good way to see how that score could change with some controlled breathing and mindfulness, but now Mindful Method might provide an even more comprehensive way to learn about why you’re stressed and what to do about it.

The first 10 sessions of Mindful Method with Deepak Chopra are available now for Premium subscribers in Fitbit’s app.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek explains how the company plans to help artists (and itself) make money

Photo Illustration by Alex Castro | Photograph by Spotify

The company wants to be at the center of creator monetization

Spotify hosted an event on Monday to discuss its ambitions in audio, and one message came through loud and clear: the company wants to play a major role in helping creators make money.

During the 90-minute event, the company rattled through a series of announcements. It detailed a slew of new podcasts, including one featuring former President Barack Obama and rockstar Bruce Springsteen as co-hosts, as well as a full universe of DC Comics programming. It debuted an expanded podcast ad marketplace, bolstered by its Megaphone acquisition and Streaming Ad Insertion technology, along with a Hi-Fi subscription tier. And it teased new tools for podcasters to engage with their audiences and make money through subscriptions. Spotify obviously intends to make podcasting a real revenue driver.

But none of the announcements were groundbreaking for people in the industry. If anything, they demonstrated how far Spotify has yet to go. Crucially, Spotify announced that 7,500 musicians are making at least $100,000 per year through its platform, which isn’t much considering the service is available in 93 markets. Now, Spotify is trying to make the same pitch to podcasters as it did to musicians — that they’re all on the same side and share the same goals.

Spotify will both support its own shows and also host and sell ads for third-party programs, all with the stated goal of helping creators profit off their work. That seems like a tall order, and one that podcasters might hesitate to participate in, but Spotify CEO Daniel Ek says it’s critical to the company’s future. He tells The Verge that Spotify will incorporate a hybrid business model with three distinct parts. One will involve the typical user subscription revenue, another is advertising dollars through its podcast ad marketplace and music streaming ads, and the third is a la carte options, like helping musicians and podcasters sell merch, tour tickets, or even subscriptions to their own content.

“I think you’re going to see platforms making a distinction of not a one-size-fits-all, not just in terms of the creators or how they think about their audience, but really about how you can grow your audience, engage with them, turn them into fans, and then create new and important ways to monetize that fan base,” he says.

Following the event, The Verge chatted with Ek about the tension between launching Spotify’s own exclusive shows while also trying to sell ads, as well as how Spotify might help creators monetize. And yes, we asked about Clubhouse, too. You can read an edited version of the interview below.

Ashley Carman, senior reporter, The Verge: Today your team announced that 7,500 creators are making at least $100,000 per year on your platform. How does Spotify plan to grow that number?

Daniel Ek, CEO, Spotify: Long term, it’s really about — as I kind of outlined in the remarks, as well, during the event — we think the space is so much larger than most people realize, both in the amount of consumers that care, the minutes that will be spent in audio, and the amount of creators that ultimately will create content. So it’s in the billions of consumers, and we believe more than 50 million creators will create.

Obviously, not all of these [creators] are going to be able to support themselves full-time doing this, but our job is to create as many possibilities as possible for these creators to create, to grow, to engage, and to monetize with their fans. And I’ve talked about this in the past, but I think the future of Spotify, and really all successful media companies, is by allowing a multitude of different monetization models. In the past in the internet, you’ve seen platforms choose either to be ad-supported or to be subscription. In the future, I think you’re going to see ad-supported, subscription, and a la carte play key roles.

I think you’re going to see platforms making a distinction of not a one-size-fits-all, not just in terms of the creators or how they think about their audience, but really about how you can grow your audience, engage with them, turn them into fans, and then create new and important ways to monetize that fan base. How you monetize an average consumer the first time you have them listen to you is going to be very different than how you monetize one of your super fans. And in that future, I think Spotify will recognize all of those different abilities and allow the creator to find the best ways to monetize their fan base based on both their ability and how they think about sustaining their creative endeavors.

What timeline are you thinking about this on? Five years? Ten years?

It’s really a long, long-term goal, but the way I think about the world is really, if you think over the next 10 years for certain, what’s now radio is going to collapse and move from a linear space to an on-demand space. And all of those minutes spent, and we’re talking two to three hours a day of the average American, just to name one example, is now going to move online.

When you look at that space, which I think is just really, really interesting, all of audio as a category will grow — not just the minutes spent, but I think monetization, too — when you bring infinite level sophistication to it. So the targeting that you can imagine, the types of interactivity features you can create, and the types of monetization you can enable by having both ad-supported subscription and pay wall, so it’s really kind of the next decade that I think this will play out.

And that’s where I think we’re in this race to try to get as many people as possible to convert into streaming on demand and hopefully choose Spotify as their preferred platform.

Some musicians argue that streaming devalues their work while podcasters see the industry as not needing to be fixed or changed. How do you plan to keep the narrative positive and not like a corporate behemoth entering the space?

Community management is going to be one of the most critical things, but honestly this is part of the reason why we wanted to put this event out. Because what we realized is that we’re no longer this kind of small startup from Sweden. We’re in fact a very, very important platform for a lot of these audio creators. So rather than just telling everyone about everything that we’ve already released and then explaining them one by one, we wanted to create a narrative story that tells people about where we’re going and why we’re going there.

So I think this is exactly the type of reason why we wanted to have the event that we’re having today, and I think so much of this is going to be solved by constant communication and by also experimenting and being clear when we are experimenting. You saw that today, too. A lot of the features that we released are really tests and experiments, and the reason isn’t because we’re not committing to rolling it out if it’s successful, but it is because we want the feedback from the community so that we can iterate and improve and hopefully create something that better suits their needs and methods. So we’re really kind of changing our way of working in order to invite more of the creative ecosystem to give feedback and help us iterate and improve.

Spotify has focused a lot on launching platform-exclusive podcasts. What are the metrics of success for an exclusive show?

We have a number of different metrics that we’re internally looking at evaluating the success of this, but a huge part of it is just around can we create an awareness, can we create an audience for a creator that rivals the one that they would have been able to [make] on their own? And I think so far, we’re obviously early in our sort of exclusive efforts, but what we’re seeing is it’s very rewarding.

We are seeing that people are in fact tuning into Spotify, even though there was a creator maybe available in some other outlets before, as evidenced, for instance, by Joe Rogan being the number one podcaster on Spotify. And as they’re engaging, they’re finding more and more other podcasters, as well. And so the average listener on Spotify is now listening to a lot more podcasters than they were doing before, so that’s helping both the creator, and the consumer, and the whole creative ecosystem, as well. So we’re looking at a number of different KPIs (key performance indicators) to kind of evaluate if this is working or not, but ultimately, it’s all about creator retention and user retention. Those are the most important metrics that we track.

Are you concerned with whether you can convert listeners to paid subscribers through the exclusives?

No, not really. What I can tell you from 15 years of doing this now is, if we start with music, the reality is there wasn’t too many people that woke up in the morning thinking, “I’m going to find a music streaming subscription service to subscribe to.” That just wasn’t the case. But there were a lot of people that were looking for how can I listen to music? That turned out to be a very good amount of people.

And what we found is that as they got into Spotify and started listening, because of the platform, and because of the features, and because of the recommendations that we were offering, people started engaging a lot more. So the number of people that, from the beginning, said, “I’m never, ever going to pay for music,” because they may have come from a pirate environment that then slowly turned into, “This is just an amazing service. I’m getting so much value out of this. It’s a no-brainer to start paying.’”

My point by telling that story is that what we found so many times before is that the more people engaged, the more likely they are to pay. And the same is true with music as it is with podcasts, too. It’s really all about getting them onto the platform and starting to expose them to this entire ecosystem of creators and amazing content that we have on the platform. And once that happens, we know people eventually will convert into paying customers.

Spotify also debuted its podcast ad marketplace today, so I’m wondering how exclusives play into that. Exclusives seem to go against the point of ads — brands want to reach the largest audience possible. How might you make choices about keeping something exclusive versus letting it reach as many people as possible?

I think, overall, the main trade-off as a company is we’re all focused on growth, and growth is a function of engagement, the retention part that I talked about. So we monitor those metrics meticulously, and we’re looking at it for every single piece of content that we have on the platform and every single consumer we have on the platform, and just on an hourly basis modeling that, looking at that.

The answer, however, may be unintuitive, but I still want to share it which is, in the end, I think this whole notion about what is ads and what’s subscription, and the fact that when you look back on the internet there was this division. I just don’t believe that’s going to be true in the future. Think about television. It used to be the same way. You had broadcasting that only had ads and then you had cable that was the only subscription, but the reality is it converged because it turned out that the better consumer experience was the combination of both, and I think you’re going to find that into the future of the internet, too, is that we can deliver a great user experience with both advertising and subscription, and I think the future for us is both and a la carte, as well. So it’s really kind of three models, and that’s when you bring to bear the entire opportunity of the internet, I think, for monetizing that content.

So you don’t worry about turning off premium, paying users by having ads in your Spotify podcasts?

We’re constantly monitoring it, but I don’t think you should view it as we’re having ads or we have no ads. I think the future may be that some consumers don’t mind ads and would rather have that as something, and some people may not enjoy ads a lot. Our ad system should be able to realize that and be able to serve ads depending on who’s engaging with that content and what their propensity is to engage with that advertising, as well. And I think you’re going to see lots of different ways to monetize, I guess is what I’m trying to say.

Social audio, specifically Clubhouse, is super buzzy right now. What are your thoughts on it? Is it something Spotify would ever consider building into the app?

I think that there’s a number of different elements of what social audio or Clubhouse even is. So I think on the one end, you’re seeing the interaction between two or more people talking, and obviously if you think about podcasts today, that’s typically the format that’s working pretty well there, too. So I’m not surprised that that’s working.

I’m also not surprised that social features, users to users interacting with each other, are working. So it is an interesting space, and it’s definitely something that we’re keeping an eye on. Long-term, though, I think the broader shift that has been true with the internet has been most of the hours of consumption, we believe, will be moving from linear to on-demand. Meaning consumers should be able to consume whatever content that they want on their terms and not necessarily be beholden to someone else’s schedule. So I think it’s a really interesting format from a creation perspective, but I suspect that from the consumption perspective, most of the time consumed will still be on-demand which is what Spotify is known for today.

Do you worry about Clubhouse taking people away from the time they typically listened to podcasts?

Andy Grove, the [former] CEO of Intel, said 30 years ago, “Only the paranoid survive,” and it’s definitely something that I think he was right in assuming. But I’m paying as much attention to Clubhouse as I am looking at Fortnite, or Minecraft, or Roblox. All forms of media and entertainment is minutes that could have been spent listening to audio instead. So we’re definitely paying attention to it.

We’ve talked a lot about the creator side of things, but I want to focus on the listeners. Much of Spotify’s strategy is dependent on their data. How do you think about communicating with listeners to explain how you use their data? Do you worry about a pushback?

Obviously that’s super important for us, and being a European company with its roots in Europe, too, GDPR is a massive thing here in Europe, and so we take user’s privacy very, very seriously. It’s obviously something that we constantly think about as we’re evolving our data products, both to consumers but also to advertiser partners, and I think you will see that we’re very, very careful about how we’re using our users’ data in every aspect that we’re doing and conducting business.

Spotify announced its Hi-Fi subscription tier today with hardware partnerships to come. Amazon is making moves in the podcast space, and Apple is already established. Both those companies also offer hardware for audio playback. Is hardware something you think Spotify will need to invest in on its own?

We have something internally that we call the Ubiquity Strategy, and what you saw me talking about today is the fact that we have 2,000 [hardware] partnerships now, and, in fact, because of this network of creators that we now have — 8 million — and all the exclusive content we have, we’re seeing great success on the Google Home speakers, and the Alexa devices, Sonos, Sony PlayStation, GM cars, and just the breadth and wealth of this.

I would have been a lot more concerned if consumers were locked into just one ecosystem. If it was just an Apple, or just a Google, or just an Amazon that kind of owned the consumer across their entire ecosystem. That is a very concerning development, if it were to be true. But I think the good news is what we’re finding is that while Apple, for instance, is very strong on mobiles in many markets, we’re finding Amazon is very strong in their homes, and most of the cars today are being built on Android Auto, which is Google’s ecosystem. And the one thing that is true about Spotify is we play nice on all of them, and I believe we’re the only player that has that relationship where we’re now on 2,000 devices, and we play nice on all of them.

And that’s been our strategy from day one, and I think that would be very hard-pressed to do if we were also a hardware maker. So we think about the experience. We think about ubiquity, and we want to be everywhere where our consumers are.

Fitbit Inspire 2 review: Still inspiring for fitness goals?

(Pocket-lint) – The Inspire 2 is the cheapest member of the Fitbit family – and effectively replaces the Inspire HR that launched in 2019 – aimed at those wanting to keep to the tracking basics.

The Inspire 2 sticks largely to the same formula as the Inspire HR, making welcome improvements to the design, bolstering battery life to make it last longer than any other Fitbit device, and giving you a tracking experience that just feels very easy to get to grips with.

With the likes of Samsung, Huawei, Amazfit and Xiaomi also making the budget tracker space a more competitive place, does the Fitbit Inspire 2 do enough to pull away from its more affordable rivals?

Design

Large and small wristband options
Water resistant to 50 metres (5ATM)
Finishes: Black, Lunar White, Desert Rose

With the Inspire 2, Fitbit isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. Put one side-by-side with an Inspire HR and you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two. The colour silicone bands can be removed and come in small and large size options.

Best Fitbit fitness tracker 2021: Which Fitbit is right for you?

By Britta O’Boyle
·
23 February 2021

Pocket-lint

The greyscale touchscreen display – which has a slightly curvier edged look – is now 20 per cent brighter than the previous Inspire, which is definitely a positive move. There’s now a dim mode when you don’t need that extra hit of brightness, which can be disabled when you do. It certainly offers an improvement for visibility out in bright outdoor light, but it feels like it might be time to ditch the greyscale OLED screen and go colour like a lot its competitors have done – Xiaomi, Amazfit and Samsung each offer great colour display options for less money.

To give the Inspire 2 a much cleaner look than its predecessor, it’s also removed the physical button for a setup where you can squeeze the sides of the device to do things like turn on the display or get into the band’s settings. Overall, it works well and that button isn’t hugely missed.

Around the back is where you’ll find the PurePulse heart rate sensor, which means you have the ability to continuously monitor heart rate, exercise in personalised heart rate zones, and unlock new features like Active Zone Minutes.

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The big appeal of wearing the Inspire 2 is that it’s a slim, light and comfortable band to wear all the time. As it’s water resistant up to 50 metres, it’s safe to swim and shower with.

Features

24/7 tracking
Connected GPS
Guided breathing
20+ exercise modes
Additional health insights in Fitbit Premium

Fitness tracking is what Fitbit does best – so it’s no surprise that’s where the Inspire 2’s key features lie.

The sensors making that happen haven’t changed from the last Inspire models. There’s an accelerometer to track steps and enable automatic sleep monitoring. You also have that optical heart rate monitor, which unlocks a range of features and is still best suited to daily monitoring as opposed to putting it to work during exercise. You still don’t get an altimeter to track elevation like floor climbs, which you also get on the Fitbit’s flagship Charge 4.

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For daily tracking, you can monitor daily steps, distance covered, calories burned, and get reminders to keep moving during the day. Fitbit has also added additional reminders to wash your hands, get your heart pumping, or to stay hydrated.

When it’s time to go to bed, you’ll be able to capture the duration of sleep and get a breakdown of sleep stages. That includes the all-important REM sleep, which is a window into the type of sleep tied to memory and learning. You’ll also get a Sleep Score to give you a clear idea if you’ve had a good night’s sleep.

When you switch to exercise tracking, there are over 20 goal-based modes with core exercises like walking, running and pool swimming. There’s also Fitbit’s SmartTrack tech to automatically recognise when you start moving and working out.

There’s connected GPS support, which means you can lean on your phone’s GPS signal to more accurately track outdoor activities. That GPS support is also useful for the Workout Intensity Maps feature, which along with monitoring your heart rate can show you where you worked hardest during a session.

With that onboard heart rate monitor you’re getting to continuously monitor and capture resting heart rate – day and night. It’s also going to let you train in heart rate zones and generate a Cardio Fitness Score to give you a better sense of your current state of fitness based on your VO2 Max (blood oxygen). Fitbit is also introducing its new Active Zone Minutes feature, which will buzz you when you hit your personalised target heart rate zones. It’s a move to get users to think more about regularly raising heart rate as well as nailing those big daily step counts.

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For that time outside of getting sweaty, the Inspire 2 will perform some useful more smartwatch-like duties. There’s notification support for both Google Android and Apple iOS devices, letting you see native and third-party app notifications. There’s a dedicated notifications menu where you can find your latest incoming messages. In addition to notifications, there’s also a collection of different watch faces to choose from.

Beyond the basics, there’s also guided breathing exercises, menstrual health tracking, and app-based features like manually tracking your food intake. You also have access to Premium, Fitbit’s subscription service, which you’ll get a year to trial before deciding whether to continue at your own cost.

What is Fitbit Premium, what does it offer and how much does it cost?

Performance and battery life

Continuous heart rate monitoring
Up to 10 days battery life
Sleep tracking

Those core fitness tracking features is what the Inspire 2 does best. Step counts are largely in line with the fitness tracking features on a Garmin Fenix 6 Pro, also offering similar distance covered and calories data. While those inactivity alerts aren’t groundbreaking, it’s a small way to make sure you keep moving during the day.

Pocket-lint

When you switch to sleep, the slim, light design of the Inspire 2 makes it a comfortable tracker to take to bed first and foremost. Fitbit offers some of the best sleep tracking features in the business. Compared to the Fitbit Sense and the Withings Sleep Analyzer, we were pretty satisfied with the kind of data Fitbit gave us.

For exercise tracking – as long as you’re not hoping to run for miles on a regular basis and up the intensity in general – the Inspire 2 should just about cut it. The heart rate monitor is better suited to continuous monitoring than it is for strenuous workout time based on our experience. For running, and cardio blasting HIIT sessions on the Fiit home workout app, average readings could be as much as 10bpm out (compared to a Garmin HRM Pro chest strap monitor).

The connected GPS support is also better suited to shorter runs, which brings useful features like those Workout Intensity Maps into the mix.

As for battery life, the Inspire 2 offers the best battery numbers Fitbit has ever offered. It’s promising up to 10 days, which is double that of the Inspire HR. It lives up to that claim, too, as long as you’re not going too bright with that screen and not tracking exercise every day with it. The good news is that things like all-day heart rate monitoring don’t seem to have a tremendous drain, which isn’t the case on all fitness trackers.

Pocket-lint

When you do need to charge there’s one of Fitbit’s proprietary charging cables, which clips into the charging points on the back and the top and bottom of the rear case. That ensures it stays put and doesn’t budge when you stick the Inspire 2 onto charge.

Software

Fitbit’s companion app, which is available for Android, iOS and Windows 10 devices, remains one of its key strengths – and a strong reason you’d grab one of its trackers over cheaper alternatives.

It’s easy to use and if you want some added motivation to keep you on top of your goals, that’s available too. The main Today screen will give you a snapshot of your daily data and can be edited to show the data you actually care about.

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Discover is where you’ll find guided programmes, challenges, virtual adventures and workouts to accompany daily and nightly tracking. If you’ve signed up to Fitbit Premium, you’ll have a dedicated tab for that too. You still have all your device settings hidden away whether you need to adjust step goals, heart rate zones or how you keep closer tabs on your nutrition and weight management.

The Inspire 2 experience is similar to owning a Fitbit Versa 3, a Charge 4, or a Sense. Which is key: that consistent feeling across all devices makes it a good place if you know other Fitbit-owning people. You can delve deeper into data if you want to, but for most, what’s there when you first download it and login will be more than enough to get a sense of your progress.

Best Fitbit fitness tracker: Which Fitbit is right for you?

Verdict

The Fitbit Inspire 2 sticks to a known formula, covering tracking basics, while wrapping it up in a design that’s comfortable to wear all of the time.

The screen changes for this model are welcomed – extra brightness, yay – and if you care about steps, sleep and monitoring heart rate during the day and night, it will serve you well.

All that’s supported by an app that’s one of the most user-friendly if you’re starting to think about monitoring your health and fitness for the first time.

The level of smartwatch features are dictated by the slenderness of the device and while you can get more in the way of these features elsewhere for less money, what the Inspire 2 offers should be good enough for most. It’s still not quite the ready-made sportswatch replacement though.

Cheaper fitness trackers are now offering more features, arguably better displays and battery life. But if you’re looking for a fitness tracker that puts your health and tracking front and centre, then Fitbit is still one of the best.

Also consider

Pocket-lint

Fitbit Inspire HR

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If you can live without that brighter display and some of the software extras, the Inspire HR will still offer a solid tracking experience for less cash.

Read our review

Pocket-lint

Huawei Band 3 Pro

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Huawei’s fitness band offers one big feature you won’t find on the Inspire 2: built-in GPS. If you like the idea of a tracker a bit better built for sports, this is one worth looking at.

Read our review

Writing by Michael Sawh. Editing by Mike Lowe.

Disney Plus Star line-up now live! Here’s everything you can watch

(Image credit: Disney Plus)

Today’s a good day for Disney Plus subscribers, who now have access to hundreds more hours of Disney content than they did yesterday thanks to the launch of Disney Star. Over on the House of Mouse streaming service, next to the existing Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic tabs, there’s now a ‘Star’ section on the homepage, which offers a new slew of content geared towards grown-ups. How much more, you ask? More than 270 films, over 75 shows and four all-new originals.

Highlights include – deep breath – Modern Family, The X-Files, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Deadpool 2, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Favourite, 24, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Prison Break, Scrubs, The Killing, How I Met Your Mother, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and many more.

Star currently hosts four exclusive Star Originals, too: adult animated sitcom Solar Opposites, from the makers of Rik & Morty; drama series Helstrom; crime thriller Big Sky, from the creator of Big Little Lies and The Undoing; and Love, Simon spin-off show Love, Victor. Disney has taken the opportunity today to announce three new Originals, too – National Geographic’s 8-part limited series GENIUS: ARETHA, exploring Aretha Franklin (available in June); Rebel, inspired by the life of Erin Brockovich (available in May); and a spin-off of black-ish and critically acclaimed hit series grown-ish (available in April).

Future premieres for 2021 include Dopesick, starring Michael Keaton; The Dropout, with Kate Mckinnon; a four-part series filmed during the pandemic, Love in the Time of Corona, featuring Ava Bellows and Leslie Odom Jr.; and a slate of FX originals including The Old Man, staring Jeff Bridges.

The full A-Z Disney Star catalogue is available to see here.

(Image credit: Disney Plus)

The content for each region will differ slightly according to current rights holders, but material is all from Disney Television Studios, FX, 20th Century Studios and 20th Television. The addition of Star to Disney Plus will, in some regions, effectively double the amount of content on offer across the whole service.

Star is essentially a more adult-friendly section of the catalogue, and so Disney has sensibly chosen to introduce parent controls to its service. Available now, these let parents set limits on access to content for specific profiles based on content age ratings and introduce PIN locks on profiles with access to mature content.

(Image credit: Disney)

Disney Star is now integrated into the Disney Plus interface in Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. It will be available as a separate app along with sports in Latin America from June. Disney Star is not launching in America (which has Hulu instead), although those in the States can still sign-up to the superb triple-threat bundle of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ all for just $12.99

Star will doubtless be a welcome sweetener in the face of the forthcoming price hike from £5.99 to £7.99 – which comes into effect today. Prices for existing subscribers (prior to 23rd February) will be honoured for six months, with the price change taking effect on the monthly or annual renewal date following 22nd August 2021.

MORE:

These are the best Disney Plus movies and shows to watch right now

Learn all the Disney Plus tips and tricks

Disney Plus UK: price, films, shows and how to get a free trial

Here’s an interactive 4K view of Perseverance’s Mars landing site

Interactive 360-degree video of the Perseverance landing site on Mars.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has posted an interactive 360-degree view of the Perseverance landing site on Mars in 4K resolution. It’s the latest jaw-dropping imagery to return from the mission, including that incredible video of the rover plunging through the Martian atmosphere before being “skycraned” down to the surface of the red planet.

The 60-second video was captured by Perseverance’s color Navcams perched atop a sensing mast above the rover. The 360-degree scene can be navigated in a browser or in the YouTube app on your phone. The images were captured on February 20th, two days after the Perseverance landed in the Jezero Crater.

Perseverance has a total of 23 cameras, the most of any Mars rover to date: 16 for engineering and science and another seven that recorded those dramatic images of entry, decent, and landing. Audio captured at the landing site by Perseverance’s microphones has also been posted to NASA’s Soundcloud account.

NASA image showing location of the two color Navcams.

Image: NASA

NASA’s Perseverance mission has already made public a total of 4,796 raw images to date. Perseverance is capable of transmitting data at rates up to 2Mbps to the orbiters overhead. The Mars orbiters then relay the data back to Earth using their much larger antennas and more powerful transmitters. The video of the vehicle descending down to the surface amounted to about 30GB of images stitched together.

The Perseverance rover is designed to seek signs of life and better understand the ancient geology of Mars. It will spend at least one Mars year (two Earth years) exploring the area around the landing site.

Google has finally added iOS’s privacy labels to Gmail

Google has finally added Apple App Store privacy labels to its Gmail app, almost a month after we ran an article wondering what was taking so long (via MacRumors). The app is the second major Google app to get the labels, after they were added to YouTube when it was updated earlier this month.

So how does it look? Well, that’s up for you to decide. The app apparently shares your coarse location and user ID with advertisers, as well as information about your interaction with advertisements. According to the privacy label, though, it doesn’t collect your name, physical address, or phone number (though as an email client, Gmail obviously collects your email address). Location data is also used for analytics and there are some features of the app that will request it as well. If you want to see the full label, there’s a video below that scrolls through.

For contrast, here’s the app privacy information for another email app, Hey.

The information Hey requests fits on one page.

Screenshot: The Verge

It is worth noting that Apple’s app privacy labels are meant to show all the things that the app might access, not what information that app will access. For example, an app may only use location data when it needs to show you a map, but the privacy labels don’t make that clear — it’s just a binary used/not used. Also, the information in the labels is submitted by the company itself, and Apple doesn’t make promises about its accuracy.

Strangely, Google added the labels without actually updating the Gmail app, even though it was literally crying out for an update (because of a fun bug). The last time Google updated the iOS app was two months ago.

So far, Google’s other large apps like Maps, Photos, Docs, and Chrome haven’t gotten the labels yet. But the fact that both YouTube and Gmail have had them added indicates that Google is starting to roll them out to its bigger apps.

Spotify HiFi tier (finally) launching to offer CD-quality streaming

(Image credit: Spotify)

Spotify HiFi is official. Almost four years after it was first teased, a CD-quality tier is finally coming to the world’s most popular streaming service, the green giant has revealed during its ‘Stream On’ online event today.

Spotify will join the likes of Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer and Amazon in offering lossless streaming “beginning later this year”. Spotify HiFi will begin rolling out in select markets later this year, with the company promising to share more details – such as price, device compatibility and specific launch dates – soon.

CD-quality streams will be compatible with Spotify Connect, allowing Spotify HiFi subscribers to easily play such high-quality streams between their phone (via the iOS and Android apps presumably) or, fingers crossed, their computer (via the desktop app or web player) and the mass of Spotify Connect-enabled speakers and devices on the market.

“We’re working with some of the world’s biggest speaker manufacturers to make Spotify HiFi accessible to as many fans as possible through Spotify Connect,” reads Spotify’s statement.

According to Spotify, “high quality music streaming” has consistently been one of users’ most requested new features. Last summer, we speculated as to whether it was still part of the service’s roadmap and questioned if, with so many services already offering higher quality streaming, it would still be as welcome.

We concluded that “we’d love Spotify, the world’s biggest music streaming service, to champion high-quality music. However, thanks to a trio of fine alternatives, including Amazon flying the hi-res flag for mass-market streaming… we can’t say we need it”. Now that it’s (almost) here, we can’t help but feel that the service will be more or less complete, having filled that gaping hole. That said, Spotify hasn’t said anything about ‘hi-res’ streams (generally defined as anything above CD-quality), which are also offered by many of its rivals, such as Tidal and Amazon Music HD.

Price will, of course, come into play – and we wonder how close Spotify will come to Amazon Music HD (£12.99, $12.99 for Prime members; £14.99, $14.99 for non-Prime members). If Spotify can match or even undercut that monthly fee, the future landscape of music streaming will be very interesting indeed.

MORE:

Where is Spotify Hi-Fi? And do we still want a lossless Spotify tier?

How Spotify saved the music industry but left some genres behind

33 Spotify tips, tricks and features

The best streaming device to buy in 2021

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Looking for a new TV gadget to stream all of your favorite entertainment? Buying an excellent streaming device is easier in 2021 than ever before — and the prices only continue to drop and get more appealing: $50 is the sweet spot if you want a streaming stick or set-top box that can do crisp 4K resolution, Dolby Vision / HDR, and immersive Dolby Atmos surround sound. Each of the picks below has its own strengths, whether it’s a snazzier interface, better voice controls, or a more comprehensive universal search for digging through all of your services. Depending on your wants, there are several good contenders, but the Chromecast with Google TV stands out as the best streaming device for most people.

Pretty much any 4K TV you buy today will come with a batch of built-in streaming apps. But they won’t always have everything. (For example, my LG OLED doesn’t have HBO Max.) So a dedicated streaming device is the best way to guarantee you’ll be able to watch that show or movie everyone’s been talking about. You can spend less money on entry-level Roku or Amazon streaming players, but you’ll be better off with one of our recommendations if you want your purchase to last.

The features and fantastic price of the Chromecast with Google TV make it the best streaming stick for most people.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

1. Chromecast with Google TV

The best streaming stick for most people

Google has done the best job figuring out what the home screen on a streaming stick should look like. That’s really the long and short of why the Chromecast with Google TV has taken the crown of best streaming player. With its new Google TV software, the company has taken a content-first approach that feels more focused and refined than what Amazon and Apple have managed in their own attempts to aggregate popular shows and movies.

On a Roku or Fire TV, my instinct is always to head right for the app where I want to watch something. But with the Chromecast, I’m equally happy browsing through Google’s rows of recommendations. The Google TV software always clearly shows where content is coming from — you can pick which streaming apps get factored into these recs — and it also provides helpful information (like Rotten Tomatoes ratings) at the surface level when you’re hunting for that night’s entertainment.

When you actually hit play, you’re punted over to Netflix or Prime Video or HBO Max just like always, but there’s no avoiding that. In terms of app selection, Google’s got all of the main players covered. You can still cast content to the Chromecast from your phone or laptop, and Google Assistant voice searches consistently work well and showcase Google’s accurate voice recognition.

Everything about Google TV feels tasteful, from the fonts to the way the background color subtly shifts to match the artwork of whatever content is highlighted. And the universal Watchlist, which lets you put together a list of stuff you’re interested in from various streaming services, is super convenient — especially since you can add to it from the web or your phone.

But not everything about the Chromecast with Google TV is perfect. The software can slow down from time to time, and some customers have encountered significant bugs that Google has tried to iron out with software updates. More annoyingly, despite the hardware supporting both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, there are still very popular apps like Disney Plus — which delivers both on other platforms — that aren’t doing so on the Chromecast. HBO Max says it does Atmos, but that hasn’t been my experience. Why? Who knows, but these inconsistencies are a mark against Google. And as for the Watchlist, some services like Netflix have already started removing their shows from it. Again, that’s something Google has no control over, but it does lessen the feature’s usefulness.

With its easy-to-use software, the Roku Streaming Stick Plus is the best streaming device for people looking for a good, simple option.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

2. Roku Streaming Stick Plus

The best streaming device for people who want to keep it simple

It’s hard to really complain about a Roku. The company’s streaming devices are about as simple and straightforward as they come. All of your apps are laid out in a big grid, which can make the experience feel a bit siloed — but there’s no beating that ease of use. And Roku has tried to touch up and modernize the home screen a bit with new sections like “Featured Free” to highlight content you can stream without any subscriptions.

Despite some occasional spats with content companies, Roku now has pretty much all of the entertainment you could want, including (most recently) HBO Max and Peacock. And the wonderfully neutral universal search remains one of the best aspects of the platform, favoring your existing subscriptions and free-to-stream options over making you pay money to rent or buy. And the company’s Roku Channel has grown into a legitimate streaming app of its own, offering a mix of ad-sponsored movies, TV shows, and live news for those days when you’re burned out on combing through Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.

The $50 Streaming Stick Plus remains the best overall pick among Roku’s hardware when you weigh price and performance. It gives you HDR, Dolby Atmos, and speedy performance. The main thing you’ll miss out on is Dolby Vision. If that’s a must, you should look at the $100 Roku Ultra set-top box instead, which also includes an Ethernet port for optional wired connectivity and a helpful remote finder feature. Plus, the Ultra’s remote has customizable shortcut buttons and a headphone jack so you can listen privately to whatever’s on-screen if you’re trying to keep quiet at night. (Other Rokus let you do the latter with the company’s mobile app.)

If there’s one area where Roku falls flat, it’s probably voice search. Your voice queries for specific shows or movies should work well enough, but Roku lags Amazon and Google when it comes to natural language interactions. (And forget about using your voice to control smart home gadgets or look up entertainment-related facts.) Still, the company is adding other perks to offset that weakness. Late last year, it added support for Apple’s AirPlay, letting you easily send content from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac to the TV screen. Speaking of Apple…

It’s more pricey than the competition, but the Apple TV 4K offers a top-notch user experience.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

3. Apple TV 4K

The best streaming device overall experience (for a steep price)

The Apple TV 4K is laughably overpriced compared to its competitors, but Apple’s set-top box still has its own set of appealing qualities. The interface is fantastic. It supports Dolby Vision and Atmos across a wide variety of services, has all of the important apps checked off, and also gives you add-ons like Apple Arcade and Apple Fitness Plus (if you pay for them) that you won’t find on other streaming devices.

Apps sometimes have a higher level of polish on Apple TV and are generally better about taking advantage of everything it can do. Another benefit of the Apple TV is privacy — to some extent. Apple itself isn’t obsessed with tracking your viewing data in the same way that a company like Roku is, but the streaming apps can still see what you’re doing. I generally think consumers aren’t particularly averse to sharing their streaming habits, but Apple’s privacy practices might matter to you.

Even with AirPlay now on Roku, the Apple TV still wins out for people deeply invested in Apple’s ecosystem. You can use HomePods as its speakers or connect two sets of AirPods for private listening with audio sharing. You can view the feed from HomeKit security cameras or see who is at the door if you have a HomeKit video doorbell. The Apple TV still makes it easy to tap into content on a Mac in your home, and services like Apple Music and iCloud Photo Library are right there in easy reach on the TV screen.

But there’s no forgiving the infamous remote, which is cumbersome to use and too easy to lose. And it’s more difficult than ever to recommend that you spend $180 on hardware that’s now several years old. Doing so isn’t wrong; you’ve just got to know why the Apple TV 4K is right for you.

The Fire TV Stick 4K checks off all the boxes for HDR support and costs just $50, making it the best streaming stick for people in Amazon’s ecosystem.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

4. Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K

The best streaming stick if you’re in Amazon’s ecosystem

Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K is yet another popular pick in that $50 range of streaming gadgets. The latest model added support for Dolby Vision, which made it the only product to offer everything HDR (Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, HDR10+, HDR10) for such little money — until the new Chromecast came along.

The Fire TV Stick 4K’s software is similar to the Chromecast in that the home screen takes a content-focused approach instead of just throwing a grid of apps at you. Amazon tends to showcase its own Prime Video content more prominently than shows and movies from other services, but the newly revamped software goes a long way in improving the look and feel of the Fire TV. Alexa voice commands with the remote also work reliably, whether you’re saying “open Netflix” or asking to dim the smart lights in your living room.

Amazon offers most major streaming apps, but there are some frustrating omissions: Vudu — a good source of Dolby Vision movies — and Peacock are both still absent from the Fire TV platform.

There’s also the $120 Fire TV Cube to consider. It essentially doubles as a streaming device and small smart speaker. Rather than make you press and hold a button to speak to Alexa like with the Stick 4K, the Cube takes a hands-free approach and has beamforming mics that respond to “Alexa” prompts just like an Echo speaker would. It also features something Amazon calls Local Voice Control, which allows it to understand more spoken commands without needing help from the cloud. The Fire TV Cube has a more powerful processor than the Fire TV Stick 4K, making it the fastest of the Fire TV bunch, but the difference isn’t very noticeable.

When it comes to their streaming capabilities, the Fire TV Stick 4K and Fire TV Cube are on equal footing. And you could always put the money you save by going with the Stick toward one of those new sphere-shaped Echo Dots, which will sound far better than the Cube’s tinny built-in speaker.

Nvidia’s Shield TV is a powerful Android TV streaming box that’s popular with home theater enthusiasts.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

5. Nvidia Shield TV

Best streaming device for home theater enthusiasts and gamers

Home theater enthusiasts, gamers, and people who like to tinker with their streaming devices have loyally stuck with Nvidia’s Shield TV and Shield TV Pro for a reason. They can serve as excellent players like any of our other picks, but you can also go more advanced and use them for cloud gaming or set up a Plex media library (in the case of the Pro). GeForce Now and Steam Link probably do more to sell gamers on the Shield lineup versus something like Apple Arcade on the Apple TV.

The Nvidia Shields currently run Android TV with Google Assistant built in, but it’s expected they’ll eventually get the same Google TV experience that’s on the Chromecast. Nvidia’s AI-powered upscaling can eke out some extra detail from the shows and movies you stream, and I’d rate the included remote control (with backlit buttons, even) as the most ergonomic of them all.

But like with the Apple TV, the main hurdle here is the price. The Nvidia Shield TV costs $150, so you’re looking at spending $100 more than devices that offer most of the same functionality. You get Ethernet and a very powerful streaming device for the added premium, and you can push the Shield TV farther and make it do more than just about any of its competitors.

Samsung launches EKG support for latest Galaxy Watch devices in 31 more countries

Samsung has launched support for electrocardiogram (EKG) readings and blood pressure monitoring on its Galaxy Watch Active 2 and Galaxy Watch 3 devices, according to SamMobile. The feature comes courtesy of the Samsung Health Monitor app, which is now available to download from the company’s app store in 31 additional countries. Prior to today, the features were restricted to owners of one of those two devices in South Korea and the US only.

Samsung first announced last month it would be adding the features to its latest Galaxy Watch devices through software updates, considering both smartwatches have the requisite sensors used for measuring heart rate and blood pressure and performing an EKG.

Image: Samsung

Now, users in 31 more countries — mostly in Europe — should have access after Samsung was given the CE marking clearance for its Samsung Health Monitor app in the EU. That regulatory approval signals the software meets the health and safety standards required for distribution in the region. SamMobile notes you’ll need the app downloaded and updated to the latest version on both a compatible Galaxy Watch and Samsung phone.

The full list of countries includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UAE, and the UK.

Best Budget 4K Monitors 2021

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

When it comes to sharp image quality, 4K resolution is where it’s at in 2021. Sure, there are 8K screens and even more modest 6K ones. And lower resolutions deliver higher frame rates on even the best graphics cards. . But if we’re being realistic about what our eyes need and can perceive, how big of a screen we can fit, our budget and the media available, 3840 x 2160 sits on the upper echelon of premium viewing experiences, whether you’re gaming, watching a movie, surfing the web or getting work done. And with one of the best budget 4K monitors, you can get there without going broke.

For a while, 4K was a luxury that wasn’t quite reasonable for a PC monitor. But as these high-res screens have become more common and the bleeding edge has turned to higher pixel counts, a market segment of budget 4K monitors now allow you to take the Ultra HD experience to your desktop.

Below are the best budget 4K monitors we’ve tested. All usually go for about $400 or cheaper.se.

When shopping for the best budget 4K monitor, remember the following:

What size do you need? For a budget screen, 32 inches is a good sweet spot, giving you ample space while still being able to fit on your desktop. 28-inch and 27-inch screens are also common in this price range and will be cheaper. They’re good for productivity, but you probably won’t want to share a screen that size.

Decide the monitor’s main purpose. If it’s gaming, higher refresh rates and Adaptive-Sync (AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync) are priorities, as is a beefy graphics card. You should have a minimum of a GTX 1070 Ti or RX Vega 64 for medium settings or, for high or better settings, an RTX-series or Radeon VII. For general productivity or entertainment, look for high contrast for high image quality. Creatives should strive for accuracy. For more, see How to Buy a PC Monitor and our Best Gaming Monitors page.

Errors under 3 Delta E (dE) are generally invisible to the naked eye. A monitor with a 5dE color error, for example, probably has colors that look visibly off. Accuracy matters more for creative work.

Do you need HDR? A 4K monitor with the right HDR implementation makes 4K/HDR content look significantly better than it would on a regular, or SDR, monitor. While many 4K monitors support HDR, few budget ones do it with noticeable impact. If you want a monitor that makes the HDR upgrade worth it, consider upping your budget to stay in 4K or opting for a lower resolution to save money. See our How to Choose the Best HDR Monitor article for more.

Consider ports and other features. Do you need HDMI 2.1, the latest DisplayPort (1.4)? Are USB Type-A ports important, and do you want USB-C for charging or a single-cable setup? Speakers and the stand’s ability to tilt, swivel or rise are also factors.

Best Budget 4K Monitors

(Image credit: Samsung)

1. Samsung UR59C

Best Budget 4K Monitor

Screen Size & Aspect Ratio: 32 inches / 16:9 | Panel Type: VA | Ports: 1x DisplayPort 1.2, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x 3.5mm | Refresh Rate: 60 Hz | Adaptive-Sync: None

Stunning picture

Effective curve

No USB ports

Needs calibration

The Samsung UR59C is the best budget 4K monitor, offering a 32-inch VA panel with accuracy and curves. Image quality is superb with bold, accurate colors and clear text — after calibration, that is. When we tested in sRGB mode, we recorded a color error of 4.3dE with visible errors, but our calibration (see our recommended settings on page 1 of the review) got it down to 0.9dE. Your web and games should look as intended. The UR59C also offers fantastic contrast, as expected from a VA panel, hitting an impressive 2,590.5:1 after calibration.

Ultrawide screens typically offer more noticeable curves, but despite its 16:9 aspect ratio, the UR59C’s1500R curve is noticeable and beneficial, allowing us to keep more windows in view.

This monitor isn’t fit for serious gaming, but casual players can make it work. The UR59C has a 60 Hz refresh rate, 4ms response time and no FreeSync or G-Sync to fight screen tears. You’d get noticeably better response times and input lag scores from a 75 Hz screen even. But with its high contrast and the pixel density of a 32-inch, 4K screen, games didn’t look bad. If you’re games that aren’t graphically intense or at lower settings and you have a speed enough graphics card that can consistently hit 60 frames per second (fps), you can enjoy blur-free gaming on the UR59C.

More: Samsung UR59C review

(Image credit: Asus)

2. Asus TUF Gaming VG289Q

Best Budget 4K Monitor for Gaming

Screen Size & Aspect Ratio: 28 inches / 16:9 | Panel Type: IPS | Ports: 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.2, 1x 3.5mm | Refresh Rate: 60 Hz | Adaptive-Sync: AMD FreeSync (40-60 Hz)

Accurate color

Good build quality

Average contrast

HDR looks only slightly better than SDR

You’ll have to pay a hefty price for a monitor that can push 8.3 million pixels at a 144 Hz refresh rate. The best budget 4K gaming monitor, the Asus TUF Gaming VG289Q, is a slower 60 Hz but fights screen tears with FreeSync. Yes, input lag is significantly larger than what you’ll find on a 144 Hz monitor, as is response time. But if you’re working with a budget graphics card and want your games to look detailed and realistic, this is a great option. SDR games looked extra colorful on the VG289Q, and dynamic contrast brought subtle visual benefits, like added dimension. There are screens on this page with better contrast though.

HDR isn’t as fantastic as you’ll find on a monitor with a full-array local dimming (FALD) backlight or even an edge array backlight, but shadows and highlights looked more distinct, and we enjoyed the boost in color.

For more premium high-res gaming screens, check out our Best 4K Gaming Monitors round-up.

More: Asus TUF Gaming VG289Q review

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

3. LG 32UN500-W

Best 32-Inch Budget 4K Monitor

Screen Size & Aspect Ratio: 31.5 inches / 16:9 | Panel Type: VA | Ports: 2x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x 3.5mm | Refresh Rate: 60 Hz | Adaptive-Sync: AMD FreeSync

Decent build quality

Good contrast

No portrait mode or adjustable height

HDR is lacking

If the best budget 4K monitor for you is in the 32-inch range, check out the LG 32UN500-W Contrast is a top consideration when it comes to image quality, and the 32UN500-W’s VA panel didn’t disappoint in our benchmarks, hitting 2,353.9:1 out of the box. The 32UN500-W’s native color gamut is P3, and it covers that color space accurately without any visible errors.

Again, as a budget 4K monitor, the 32UN500-W isn’t winning any HDR prizes. Color lacks the expected pop, and overall the image doesn’t provide a noticeable boost over SDR.

But the 32UN500-W also thoughtfully includes two 5W speakers and even AMD FreeSync to fight screen tears during casual gaming. In general, it delivered popping colors with deep blacks, making it a great fit for your favorite 4K movie and the like.

More: LG 32UN500-W review

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

4. Dell S2721QS

Best 27-Inch Budget 4K Monitor

Screen Size & Aspect Ratio: 27 inches / 16:9 | Panel Type: IPS | Ports: 2x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.2, 31x .5mm | Refresh Rate: 60 Hz | Adaptive-Sync: None

Accurate, bright image

Helpful productivity features

Low-impact

HDR support Clunky OSD

The Dell S2721QS earns the title of best 27-inch budget 4K monitor with a bright screen, reliably accurate image and useful add-ons. Those bonus add-ons include the ability to connect multiple PCs and view them simultaneously via picture-in-picture or picture-by-picture and an optional app that makes it easy to calibrate the screen or arrange up to 6 windows in various preset layouts. The latter is a productivity boon.

HDR isn’t this monitor’s strong suit. We recorded undersaturated color in this mode, as well as as well as visible grayscale errors. And this monitor doesn’t have the speed or Adaptive-Sync (FreeSync or G-Sync) to make it an appropriate gaming screen.

But in terms of image quality, this is a bright screen, hitting 393 nits in our testing, along with strong contrast for an IPS monitor (1,101:1). You can also expect accurate colors. We recorded just a 2.6dE error with sRGB color

More: Dell S2721QS review

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

5. HP U28

Best Budget 4K Monitor for Creatives

Screen Size & Aspect Ratio: 28 inches / 16:9 | Panel Type: IPS | Ports: 1x USB-C, 1x DisplayPort 1.2, 1x HDMI 2.0, 3x USB Type-A (3.1 Gen 1)3.5mm | Refresh Rate: 60 Hz | Adaptive-Sync: None

Accurate sRGB, P3 color

Good port selection, including USB-C

Lackluster HDR

A little pricey

If you’re doing professional work, you should probably opt for a professional monitor. Pro monitors are known for offering exceptional accuracy for a premium price. But with monitors continuously improving, we’re at a point where you can find monitors with pro-level accuracy in key areas, like color, just without the pro-level price tag.

The HP U28 is one such screen and the best budget 4K monitor for creatives. None of the monitors on this page are color slouches, but the U28 stands out with its ability to accurately cover both the sRGB and P3 color spaces with just a switch in the OSD and no calibration. You also get an adjustable stand that allows height and swivel adjustments and the ability to flip into portrait mode, offering plenty of flexibility for creative work.

HP’s U28 comes at a premium though. While not as pricey as professional monitors, the U28 is the most expensive monitor on this list as of this writing.

Still, with a USB-C port letting you charge laptops (or other devices), you may be able to reduce cable clutter, and there are many other ports here too. With that bonus in mind and creative-level accuracy, the U28 is great for feeding your hobby or even career.

More: HP U28 review

Earfun Air Pro

Our Verdict

By adding noise-cancelling to a budget wireless earbuds winner without compromising on its established sound, Earfun has another hit on its hands

For

Solid, accurate bass weight
Effective noise cancelling
Classy build and finish

Against

Harsh upper midrange

Mention the name Earfun six months ago and you’d probably have been met with quizzical looks or even the odd giggle. But that was before the virtually unknown audio firm released an affordable true wireless headphone proposition that was so good for the money we handed it a What Hi-Fi? Award.

The company is seeking to build on the success of its Earfun Air by cramming even more features into a new ‘Pro’ variant, the main addition being active noise cancellation. (There is now a 10mm driver and three mics per earpiece, too.) But, considering the claims on the spec sheet, the price remains jaw-droppingly low at £70 ($80, AU$120).

Just as bands struggle with the difficult second album, repeating that winning formula in a sophomore effort could be a tough ask. Can Earfun deliver the goods with a follow-up set of affordable in-ears? We can’t wait to see…

Build

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The Earfun Air Pro’s cool black plastic case is pocketable, portable and doesn’t collect fingerprint smudges. Unlike its older sibling, it opens like a suitcase, instead of a backpack, and is pebble-shaped as opposed to looking like a premium box of dental-floss. Though it charges via USB-C, it doesn’t support Qi wireless charging.

Earfun Air Pro tech specs

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Bluetooth version 5.0

Battery life 7 hours with ANC (earbuds), 18 hours (case)

Charging time 1.5 hours (earbuds), 2 hours (case)

Dimensions (hwd) 6.7 x 5.5 x 3.1cm

Weight 53g

Once the buds are back in it, you have to quickly flip to the back of the case to find the LED battery indicator, which will flash red three times if you have more than 60 per cent battery left, twice for over 30 per cent and once when you’re at five percent and really need to charge.

One of the joys of the Award-winning Earfun Air true wireless earbuds was the simple and reliable pairing experience. We’re happy to report that is still the case here – Earfun consistently manages to do the basics properly. We open the lid, then snap it shut and count to 30. We reopen the case, leave the earpieces inside, go to our phone’s Bluetooth menu, see the Earfun Air Pro as an ‘available device’ and connect. It’s easy. And once they’re paired, the connection is solid.

Although three sets of tips are supplied, we find the pre-fitted medium pair works for us. Also, fitting them in our ears is done without unintentionally altering playback or accessing Siri. This is both refreshing and an improvement on some more expensive models.

Comfort

(Image credit: Earfun)

The buds themselves are well-weighted, comfortable and secure in our ears, with the stems angling slightly forward to follow the line of our cheekbones. The silvery sheen on the angular and stylish new stems completes a premium aesthetic that belies the Earfun Air Pro’s entry-level price point.

It’s worth noting that the 10mm composite dynamic driver in each earpiece is a switch up from the 6mm composite cellulose driver found in each Earfun Air driver housing, too.

The in-ear detection is now infrared, not capacitive, and is handled via an LED rather than an electrical charge. If you’re worried this might make auto-pause a bit hit and miss, don’t – it’s spot on. It will doubtless save on battery, but more than that it’s a great comfort to know that you can simply pluck the buds from their case, put them in your ears and pick up whatever you were last listening to.

There’s no way to alter volume or skip back to the start of a track without accessing your source device, and there’s no app support. These are the only small issues in the Earfun Air Pro’s otherwise admirable feature set – though we shouldn’t perhaps expect the latter at this entry level anyway.

The tap-control functionality is clever here, though: more evidence that Earfun does the basics well. One tap actually serves no purpose – a clever approach given that you can easily alter playback on other buds by inadvertently touching them.

Two taps on the right bud pauses or resumes playback; three skips to the next track. Double tapping the left earpiece accesses Siri on our iPhone and also answers or ends a call. The crucial function you’ll want to practice is a triple-tap of that left earpiece, as this scrolls between the Earfun’s noise-cancelling, ‘normal’ and ‘ambient sound’ modes.

(Image credit: Earfun)

Beyond those three profiles, there’s no scope to tweak the levels of noise-cancelling, and without app support you can’t activate them on your phone. However, once we get the hang of tapping just below the mic at the top of the stem rather than on the mic itself, it’s a solution that works well.

With noise-cancelling deployed, low-level constant noises such as the hum of the washing machine are significantly diminished. Initiating ambient mode dutifully feeds the noise of passing cars and barking dogs into our ears. Both in terms of efficacy and usability, it’s not quite in the same league as the Apple AirPods Pro – but at one-third of the price, to expect that would be unreasonable.

The good level of noise cancelling is thanks in part to the six-mic array (three per bud), which also ensures clear voice calls in our tests. Battery life is good too, with a claimed total of 25 hours with ANC on (seven from the buds plus 18 hours from the case) or 32 hours with it off.

The Earfun Air Pros boast an IPX5 rating for water-resistance, meaning that while you can’t submerge them fully in water, a spell in heavy rain or sweating at the gym shouldn’t do them any harm. All in all, it’s a lot of decent tech and durability for the money.

Sound

(Image credit: Earfun)

Setting the sound profile to normal, we cue up a Tidal Master stream of Missy Elliott’s Get Ur Freak On. The Earfun Air Pro’s presentation really suits the hip-hop track, celebrating the deep bass-heavy intro while still holding down the central riff and the various layered vocals.

It’s a zealous display with energy and attack. Stormzy’s Vossi Bop is similarly agile: the treble is ever-present and, while occasionally a tad harsh through the midrange at higher volumes, alongside a rhythmic grime beat that isn’t afraid to go low, it’s a perfectly acceptable listen.

Fans of the original Earfun Air will have no complaints about the updated model’s sound. Also, both earpieces feel very similar when worn; the driver housing is virtually identical in shape despite the new stems, extra mic and larger drivers inside.

Switch to Words Of A Fool by Barry Gibb and Jason Isbell on Tidal Masters and there’s a pleasing level of separation and clarity between the wurlitzer, piano, textured guitars and Gibb’s soulful vocal. Taylor Swift’s Willow is similarly expansive through the three-dimensional string section and, although there’s that marginal touch of harshness through the midrange, Swift’s central, often ethereal vocal stylings are well-handled.

Listen to the slightly pricier, Award-winning Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 and, in comparison, there’s an extra ounce of detail and finesse over the Earfun Air Pro across the frequencies. But without noise cancelling, USB-C charging or in-ear detection, and taking their higher price tag into account, it’s an altogether different proposition.

During our testing, the sound presentation is well-balanced, relatively transparent, taut and full through the bass, and musically pleasing overall.

Verdict

When considering our minor issues with how this budget proposition sounds, it’s easy to forget that not long ago, you’d have paid upwards of £200 to get something anywhere near as fully-featured. At the time of writing, we haven’t come across anything at this level that does everything these Earfuns do, as well as they do it.

The Earfun Air Pro fit securely, connect easily, have reliable controls and feature basic but effective noise-cancelling profiles – for just a small premium on the Air model. There’s also USB-C charging and wearer detection, plus the sound is pretty decent for the money.

As we said in our review of the Earfun Air, it’s rare that we award five stars to a pair of true wireless headphones at this ultra-low price point, since cheap rarely means good value. Simply put, it does here.

SCORES

Sound 4
Comfort 5
Build 5

MORE:

Read our guide to the best wireless earbuds

Here’s our pick of the best Apple AirPods alternatives

Read our Earfun Air review

HyperX Alloy Origins 60 Review: Big Wins, Small Keyboard

Our Verdict

The HyperX Alloy Origins 60 is a 60% gaming keyboard that justifies its premium price tag with sturdy build quality, responsive mechanical switches and RGB backlighting.

For

Premium build quality
Doesn’t take up a lot of desk space
Responsive, ping-free switches

Against

60% layout can be hard to learn
Replacement spacebar uses ABS plastic instead of doubleshot PBT

HyperX entered the 60% form factor market with the almost scandalously named HyperX x Ducky One 2 Mini in May 2020. The limited run keyboard sold out quickly, so HyperX released another model with a few cosmetic changes in November, and that version sold out as well. Now, the company has released the HyperX Alloy Origins 60 ($100) as its first solo entry in the 60% market. Hopefully, the first of its self-described “petite” keyboards to stay in stock for a while because if you’re looking for a small clacker, this is one of the best gaming keyboards you can get.

HyperX Alloy Origins 60 Specs

Switches	HyperX Red
Lighting	Per-key RGB
Onboard Storage	3 profiles
Media Keys	With FN
Interface	USB Type-C to USB 2.0 Type-A
Cable	Detachable, braided
Additional Ports	None
Keycaps	Doubleshot PBT
Construction	Aluminum top plate, plastic base
Software	HyperX Ngenuity
Dimensions (LxWxH)	11.5 x 4 x 1.5 inches (292.1 x 101.6 x 38.1mm)
Weight	1.6 pounds (738g)
Extra	Spacebar keycap, Esc keycap, keycap puller

Design

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

There’s no denying the HyperX x Ducky One 2 Mini’s influence on the Alloy Origins 60. Aside from the lack of Ducky’s branding, the most immediate differentiator is this model’s monochromatic color scheme. HyperX’s first 60% keyboard complemented its predominantly black design with red accents; those accents disappear on the Alloy Origins 60. It’s like the company decided to channel The Rolling Stones by making sure every piece of red was painted black.

Otherwise, the Alloy Origins 60 seems awfully similar to its predecessor. Both were designed with one clear goal in mind: making the smallest keyboard the average gamer might accept. (There are smaller form factors, sure, but those are clearly intended for enthusiasts.) The number pad is gone. So too are the function row, arrow keys and the nine-key cluster that houses the likes of Insert and Delete. Everything has been pared down to bare essentials.

The result is an itty-bitty keyboard that we measured at 11.5 inches long, 4 inches wide and roughly 1.5 inches tall (292.1 x 101.6 x 38.1mm) with a weight of 1.6 pounds (738g) excluding the cable. For comparison, the Razer Huntsman Mini is about 11.6 x 4 x 1.3 inches. The Alloy Origins 60’s dimensions and 1.6-pound (738g) weight combined with the Alloy Origins 60’s aluminum construction,detachable cable and collapsible feet should make the keyboard easy to travel with. They also mean there’s plenty of room on our desk for your relatively large and best RGB mouse pad, a headset stand and our other, as they say, #gaminggear.

HyperX ships the Alloy Origins 60 with a keycap puller, a replacement Esc key featuring the company’s logo and a unique spacebar that boasts a topographic design. That spacebar is the only key made from ABS plastic; the rest are doubleshot, ensuring the print won’t fade, and more premium type of plastic, PBT. That’s in order to get the unique design on the keyboard, which HyperX told us was selected among about 12 concepts from the design team. Although the dip in construction material is a drawback, we’d be happy to see this trend of highly decorative bonus keycaps take off.

Overall, the Alloy Origins 60’s use of that higher quality plastic, its sturdy aluminum frame and its braided USB cable all make it seem like a truly premium offering that doesn’t rely entirely on RGB lighting to justify its price tag.

Typing Experience

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The Alloy Origins 60 ships with linear HyperX Red mechanical switches that feature a 1.8mm actuation point and 3.8mm total travel with 45g actuation force. HyperX offers the same switch, as well as other HyperX ones in the full-sized HyperX Alloy Origins, tenkeyless HyperX Alloy Origins Core and HyperX x Ducky One 2 Mini. Upon release, the Alloy Origins 60 is only available with linear switches, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see HyperX eventually add its tactile Aqua and/or clicky Blue switches as options.

HyperX Red switches are intended for gaming, but it’s worth considering how they fare during everyday use, too. Most aren’t able to switch keyboards every time they move between work and play.

I used the 10fastfingers.com typing test to quantify my typing performance with the Alloy Origins 60 compared to other keyboards. The average results after three tests were 117 words per minute (wpm) with 97% accuracy. That compares well to my results with the Logitech G Pro, Razer BlackWidow V3 and Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro. I was slightly faster on the Origins 60 than on the G Pro (116.3 wpm) but also slightly less accurate compared to the 97.5% accuracy there.

From a qualitative perspective, however, I had a few problems with the Alloy Origins 60. It turns out that I tend to lightly rest a finger on the E key, and the switches are sensitive enough to register that not-quite-hovering. This resulted in long strings of letters that made it seem like I were typing in chat apps and disrupted my flow while writing. (There’s nothing like having an idea, going to type it and losing it because you have to delete “eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.”) Of course, your experience may vary. If you have lighter hands, you’ll be okay. For comparison, these switches require the same amount of force to actuate as Cherry MX Red switches, which also have 4mm total travel and actuate at 2.2mm.

It can also be hard to get used to the 60% form factor, especially when it comes to productivity. Having to hold down the Fn key on the bottom-right corner of the keyboard made it difficult to perform certain functions. That difficulty varied by function. Taking a screenshot was simply a matter of finding the PrtSc key, for example, while exiting an app using Alt+F4 was impossible without using both hands. Some might adapt quickly to this new approach; others might never get accustomed to it.

None of these trade-offs are a surprise in a 60% keyboard though. This small form factor is for a specific audience. And the overall experience of typing on the Alloy Origins 60 was pleasant. The flip-out feet prove useful here by offering three different angles (default, slightly propped up and fully propped) at which the keyboard can rest, which should make it easier to fine-tune the ergonomics. Once the keyboard was settled at just the right angle, the keys felt satisfying throughout the entire press.

Meanwhile, the doubleshot PBT keycaps were shaped well enough that we didn’t have to worry about our fingers slipping. HyperX nailed the keycaps’ texture, too, giving the keys just enough grip to ensure stability without feeling like sandpaper beneath our fingers. Bonus points for a lack of undue pinging, which has become an even greater concern throughout the course of the global work from home experiment that kicked off nearly a year ago.

Gaming Experience

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

This is where the Alloy Origins 60 shines. Linear switches like this are most useful in games where a few milliseconds mean the difference between success and failure. Need to crouch? Just brush your pinky against the “Ctrl” key. Time to reload? That key is “R”-eady to go as well. Those sensitive mechanical switches are supposed to respond as quickly as possible to your touch; who cares if they might lead to lines of “Es” appearing in the heavy-handed’s word processor of choice?

There are lighter mechanical switches though, even linear ones in the 60% form factor. Razer’s Huntsman Mini is available with Razer’s optical mechanical clicky or linear switches. The linear ones actuate with 40g of force compared the Alloy Origin 60 switches’ 45g. Razer’s linear optical switches also have shorter travel( 1.5mm actuation point, 3.5mm total travel) compared to HyperX Reds (1.8mm actuation and 3.8mm total travel).

We found HyperX Reds’ responsiveness particularly helpful in fast-paced games, like Call of Duty: Warzone. That game requires a lot of split-second decision making tied to a lot of inputs. Each fight can require you to walk, sprint and slide; use field upgrades, grenades and tactical equipment; slam open doors, jump through windows and deploy a parachute; and switch weapons or refill armor plates. (To say nothing of actually, you know, shooting at someone.)

It’s also the kind of game where sound matters quite a bit. How are you supposed to listen to your surroundings if every key you press clicks and clacks like a miniature cap gun? And how effectively will you be able to make call outs to your squad if they can barely hear you over the sound of you running, using all your equipment and frantically searching for an “I win” key? The Alloy Origins 60 isn’t silent, but it’s definitely quieter than a lot of other gaming keyboards.

Form factor also plays a role. The entire point of a 60% keyboard is maximizing the amount of desk space available to other peripherals, especially the mouse pad. Using a lower in-game sensitivity makes it easier to aim, generally speaking, and that also requires the use of a larger mousepad. In my experience it’s more comfortable to use a large mousepad with a smaller keyboard so my shoulders don’t have to be spread quite as far apart.

Suffice it to say the Alloy Origins 60 fits the bill. We’d just gotten used to clearing most of our desk to review the full-sized Razer BlackWidow V3 when we unboxed HyperX’s petite savior. The difference is striking. Besides having more desk space for other peripherals, this setup also feels more comfortable, especially during longer sessions. The difference from a tenkeyless keyboard is less pronounced but still noticeable. Ergonomically, 60% feels like the way to go.

Features and Software

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HyperX offers a variety of customization features for the Alloy Origins 60 via its NGenuity software. The app launches right into controls that make it easy to apply new colors, one of seven built-in effects and various cycling speeds to the keyboard’s lighting on a per-key basis (with an “All Lights” button to simplify keyboard-wide changes, of course). You’ll see changes on the keyboard in real-time, but they aren’t saved until you press the “Save to Keyboard” button.

You also need NGenuity to assign new functions to any and all keys. There are a variety of available categories–Mouse Function, Multimedia, Macro and Windows Shortcut. The left Shift key could be used to launch the Task Manager, for example, while the Esc mutes audio. All of these assignments can be assigned to a key on the “Base Layer” or the “Fn Layer” as desired.

The app also offers easy access to brightness settings, preset configurations and a Game Mode that can be used to disable any combination of four different keyboard shortcuts that can ruin a gaming session. (There’s nothing like being in the middle of a match and hitting “Alt”+“Tab” at a critical moment.)

There are three different onboard profiles that can be switched to using NGenuity, via keyboard shortcut, or, if you have NGenuity downloaded, when a specific game is launched.

Bottom Line

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

As a 60% gaming keyboard, the HyperX Alloy Origins 60 is a niche product. Consumers have become more accustomed to tenkeyless keyboards, but removing even more keys can seem daunting. Living without a number pad is relatively easy compared to living without the function row, arrow keys and other essential keys. For many people the form factor’s trade-offs won’t be worth its benefits.

If you belong to that niche, however, the Alloy Origins 60 is easy to recommend. It has everything we look for in a premium keyboard. That includes a braided, detachable cable that should be easy to transport; a premium build quality resulting from doubleshot PBT keycaps, an aluminum top frame, seemingly reliable mechanical switches and RGB lighting that’s easy to configure. The included keycap puller and the custom spacebar make the keyboard even more appealing.

If you’re looking for something other than linear switches though, you’re currently out of luck. HyperX tends to add more switch options to its Alloy Origins lineup, but the Alloy Origins 60 only has one switch option right now. For an alternative, the Razer Huntsman Mini 60% keyboard offers Razer’s optical mechanical linear or clicky switches.

But if you want linear switches that are quick to respond in a keyboard built with quality in mind, the Alloy Origins 60 is a top contender.