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Asus ROG Strix G15 2021 review: A gaming laptop masterclass

(Pocket-lint) – For 2021 it seems like Asus is going after competitive gamers with the 2021 versions of the ROG Strix G15 and G17. The G15 is now not only more compact than the previous model, but also boasts Nvidia’s RTX 3000 series graphics cards. Something that’s notoriously hard to get hold of in the desktop world.

On paper, the ROG Strix G15 (G513) is a gaming beast with some great options, whether you favour fast screens or stunning visuals. That’s because not only is there a lot of power under the hood, it’s also specced with a choice of Full HD 300Hz or a WQHD 165Hz panel.

The aim to create either gaming powerhouses or the ultimate portable e-sport machines depending on your preference. Or maybe both? We’ve been living with, working with, and gaming with the Strix G15 for a couple of weeks to see how it all stacks up.

Power and prowess

Up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Max Q 8GB GDDR6 GPU
Up to AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU
Up to 32GB DDR4 3200MHz SDRAM
Up to 1TB M2 NVMe storage

Don’t be fooled by the compact-yet-snazzy frame of Asus ROG Strix G15 – this is still a powerhouse of a gaming machine. It needs to be as well, in order to reach the lofty goals Asus is aiming for and, of course, to make the most of the 300Hz refresh rate screen (as specified for this review).

On the outside, the Strix G15 retains the usual Asus ROG aesthetic. It boasts an aluminium chassis, a textured finish with ROG logo etching, and a backlit keyboard with RGB underlighting. It’s compact and stylish – but beauty is more than skin deep as the goodness continues when you open the lid and turn the device on.

As you’d expect, the G15 uses NVMe storage, so it boots to Windows in the blink of an eye when you press that power button. Your experience is going to vary depending on whether you go for the WQHD (1440p) model or the Full HD (1080p) one, but even at 1080p we were struck by just how easy-on-the-eye the panel is.

It’s rich and vivid. But more importantly, it’s fast and accurate. With Armoury Crate, you can also adjust the visuals and switch between several pre-programmed settings including Vivid, Cinema, RTS, FPS, and Eye Care. That last one is our favourite for working during the day as it reduces the blue light and makes the screen easier on the eye while you’re beavering away.

Gaming goodness

Display options: Full HD 1080p 300Hz IPS // WQHD 1440p 165Hz, 3ms response
62.5% sRGB, 47.34% Adobe RGB, Adaptive Sync
Benchmarks: PC Mark, TimeSpy, TimeSpy Extreme, Port Royale, FireStrike Ultra, FireStrike Extreme

The screen really shines when you get into a good gaming session of course. If you opt for the 300Hz panel, you can push competitive games to their limit and theoretically make the most of the display’s nifty fast refresh rate.

We played Rainbow Six Siege at around 200fps on Max settings. We managed 66fps average on Dirt 5, 80fps on Far Cry 5, 60-70fps on Assassin’s Creed Odyessy. Even outputting to a 32-inch Samsung Odyssey G7, the G15 still did the business with comparable frame rates.

Other games, including CS:Go and Apex Legends, are bound to make the most of this panel too.

Connection options and downfalls

3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C (support Display Port & 100w PD Charger)
1x LAN RJ-45 Ethernet jack, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x audio combo jack
Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax (2×2), Bluetooth w/ support for Range Boost

One of our niggles with the Strix G15 is the connection options. While there are some highlights – there’s an Ethernet port, for example – it lacks a Display Port or Display Port Mini connection unless you have a DP to USB-C adapter.

It also doesn’t have a webcam as standard. We begrudge that in a world where everyone’s on Zoom calls or Microsoft Teams meetings. Yes, it could be countered by simply buying an external webcam but that’s more expense. It also means you’d be using up one of the precious few USB ports as well. Plug in a mouse (no right-minded gamer would use a trackpad), headset and external keyboard and you’ve barely got any ports left.

That said, a nice amount of thought has been put into the overall design. The USB ports are located on the left and rear, meaning if you do plug in a gaming mouse you won’t find cables getting in the way while you play.

Great sound and positional audio too

Up to Twin 4W Smart Amp speakers
Built-in array microphone
Dolby Atmos compatibility
AI microphone noise cancellation

Compact and thin gaming laptops usually run hot and loud in our experience. Sometimes painfully so. The Strix G15 is intelligently designed with excellent cooling vents that seem to keep it running cool under pressure.

It has various different fan modes too, all of which can be switched to from within the Armoury Crate software. Choose from Windows, Silent, Performance and Turbo modes. Under general use, the Strix G15 is pleasantly quiet and barely ramps up when watching video, surfing the web or working away.

Under gaming load it remains fairly quiet too. This is in part thanks to Nvidia’s Whisper Mode technology, which uses AI-powered analysis to adjust cooling to keep things quiet as well as cool. Of course, if you need power for the best performance then you can ramp things up with Turbo and Performance modes. These bring more frames per second potential – but also more fan noise.

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We’re happy to report that even under pressure the Strix G15 is not only quieter than other gaming laptops we’ve tried, but the speakers also do a great job of overpowering any noise from the fan sufficiently enough to not spoil your gaming fun.

Those speakers are also smashing in other ways. They’re great sounding and deliver satisfying audio whatever you’re doing. A two-way AI-noise cancellation mic also removes fan noise and background noise from your chat as well – whether you’re on a work call or gaming with friends.

Battery longevity

90WHr 4-cell li-ion battery
240W AC adapter, 100W PD Charger via USB-C

Despite its compact frame, the G15 packs in some neat battery charging tech that includes the ability to fast-charge for as much as 50 per cent power in just 30 minutes at the plug.

Pocket-lint

But the highlight for us is under standard, everyday load – browsing and working – we managed to get between five to six hours out of it before it needed charging. That’s great capacity and pleasing if you’re away from a plug or just want to work wire-free around the home.

Unlike other models we’ve tried, the Strix G15 is also capable of playing games when not plugged in with semi-decent performance. We managed to play Rainbow Six Siege at between 30-60fps while unplugged and other casual or less taxing games like Valheim will run nicely too.

Verdict

The Asus ROG Strix G15 is a great bit of kit that’s solidly built and powerful enough to make light work of modern games.

It doesn’t annoy with excessive fan noise, instead delighting with visual pleasures and audible goodness. The battery life means you can happily work all day too. Indeed, about the only irks are the limited connections and lack of webcam.

All told, the ROG Strix G15 is a great gaming device with far more delights than downfalls. It’s one of the best gaming laptops we’ve seen to date.

Also consider

Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15

Pocket-lint

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If you want something even slimmer and with extra screens then look no further than Zephyrus Duo 15. It runs a bit hotter but it’s also a really pleasing laptop whether you’re working or trying to be gaming productive.

Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 (GX550) review: Too hot to handle?

Gigabyte Aorus 17X

Pocket-lint

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If you don’t mind your laptop being a bit fatter, then the Gigabyte Aorus 17X is an interesting choice as well. It’s designed as a desktop replacement with some serious power under the hood. It also has great highlights including a mechanical keyboard and AI designed to help tune performance.

Gigabyte Aorus 17X review: Gaming to the extreme

Writing by Adrian Willings.

MSI Summit B15 review: average business

This year, multiple companies primarily known for gaming laptops have been branching out into the portable business and productivity sector. It’s a crowded field already, but Razer made quite a splash with its excellent Razer Book 13, which has an elegant chassis, a 16:10 screen, and just a touch of its company’s signature RGB lighting.

In this review I’m looking at the Summit Series, which is MSI’s attempt to enter the same space. The series includes the Summit E line — which includes discrete GPU options and is priced to compete with top dogs like Dell’s XPS 15 — and the Summit B line, which starts at $999 and sits squarely in the midrange market.

I’m discussing the Summit B15 here — I looked at the Summit E15 last fall. The base B15 includes a Core i5-1135G7, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. I tested the more expensive configuration, which costs $1,249 and has a Core i7-1165G7 (one of Intel’s top 11th Gen processors), 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The system puts solid specs in a nice chassis, but there are a few misses that make it a bit expensive for what it offers.

The most appealing facets of the Summit-Series laptops are their look and build. They have a smooth black finish, an aluminum build, a classy backlit keyboard, and a lustrous new MSI logo on the lid and bottom bezel (no dragon to be found, a first for MSI). MSI claims the B15 has “military-grade durability,” and while that’s a difficult claim to test, there’s very little flex in the B15’s lid and keyboard. And at 3.53 pounds and 0.67 inches thick, it’s light for its size.

All in all, though, the B15 has a bit of a utilitarian look, especially compared to the E15. The latter has some small flourishes that add up to a classier vibe — there are gold accents around the touchpad and edges of the hinge, for example, where the B15 is straight black. One other thing about the B15’s chassis — it’s one of the worst fingerprint magnets I’ve ever seen. Touch the lid one time, and a visible smudge will remain. I used the sides of my fists to reposition the laptop while taking photos and still had to wipe it down between shots.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice-looking and nice-feeling chassis. But there’s nothing exciting about it, and you’ll be wiping it down a lot if you want to maintain a clean look.

Two USB-A and a microSD on the right.

The useful port selection is a highlight, given the thin chassis. It includes a USB-C (supporting Thunderbolt 4, power delivery, DP 1.4a, and USB 4.0), two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, one USB 3.2 Gen 1, one combination audio jack, one microSD reader, and one HDMI jack, in addition to the barrel-plug power port. You also get an RJ45 Ethernet dongle in the box, which is handy. I also appreciate having USB-A ports on both sides.

I also like the keyboard backlighting, which looks quite classy and wouldn’t be out of place in an office setting. The keys have a nice texture and 1.5mm of travel. Three nitpicks to note: First, the Fn key is half-sized, and I found it a pain to hit. Second, there was occasionally some internal rattle inside the deck, which was annoying. Third, the keys are more mushy than they are clicky, and they’re a bit shallower than the best keyboard keys around. Subjectively, I made more errors on this keyboard than I normally do.

Audio jack, HDMI, USB-C, USB-A, and power port on the left.

The display, similarly, is functional with caveats. It covers 98 percent of the sRGB gamut and 76 percent of AdobeRGB, and it maxes out at 258 nits. That’s an acceptable range of color coverage and is functional enough for office use, but it’s too dim to use easily in bright settings. I would expect more from a $1,249 laptop. Additionally, it uses a 16:9 aspect ratio, which is falling out of fashion among premium business laptops for a reason — it’s cramped for multitasking purposes.

The one component I really don’t like is the touchpad. It’s a bit small for a 15-inch laptop, and I sometimes hit the fingerprint sensor (built into the top-left corner) and the top plastic as I was scrolling. It also isn’t the smoothest I’ve ever used, and my fingers would skid across it a fair amount. Both the material and the click feel a bit plasticky compared to what you might find in a nicer model.

The Summit’s performance is good. I didn’t encounter any problems while running it through my usual office work. The integrated Iris Xe graphics aren’t suitable for serious gaming but can run lighter fare if that’s your thing. I could occasionally feel the system chugging under the keyboard while doing more intense tasks, but it never got too loud or too hot. You can swap to the “Silent” cooling profile in MSI’s control panel if fan noise is bothering you.

With that said, two disappointments came out of my testing period. First, the audio from the B15’s two speakers isn’t terrible and works just fine for video calls, but it delivers tinny percussion and practically no bass. I also heard occasional distortion at maximum volume, though I could eliminate it by bumping the sound down a notch. My test unit’s microphone also wasn’t working on Zoom calls, though it worked in other applications — I’ve asked MSI about this and will update this article if they figure it out.

Second disappointment: the battery life. Running the B15 as my daily driver at 200 nits of brightness, I only averaged five hours and 13 minutes. This isn’t entirely unexpected, as it only has a three-cell 52Wh battery — similar to what some 13-inch laptops come with at this point. On this 15-inch laptop, it’s not enough to power you through a full day if your workload is similar to mine (around a dozen Chrome tabs, Slack, occasional Zoom call, that sort of thing). One thing to note is that the B15 comes loaded with Norton, which I’ve seen be a serious battery drain in the past. I ran a battery trial before uninstalling that software and only got four and a half hours. After I nuked the bloatware, the B15 got closer to six.

All told, the Summit Series is a fine first step for MSI. In a market where business-focused laptops commonly cost multiple thousands of dollars, there’s absolutely an audience for something like the B15, which is light, attractive, and functional for just over the $1,000 mark. It looks and feels like a laptop you’d bring to a business meeting, and it has a top Intel processor with cooling that can handle it. Professionals on a budget could certainly do worse.

“Determined to succeed” is the Summit Series motto.

But given the unremarkable audio, battery life, and the other areas of the chassis, I still think that people who are willing to spend a bit more will benefit from doing so, especially folks who can live with less RAM and storage. A better screen, better speakers, and better battery life can make a big difference in the daily experience, and while the B15’s nice chassis, plentiful storage, and business-specific features are worth a premium for some folks, they won’t be everyone’s top priority.

Photography by Monica Chin / The Verge

The best wireless earbuds to buy right now

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The true wireless earbuds market has never been more crowded than it is in 2021. With so many to choose from, finding the best earbuds can seem daunting. But the vast selection is actually a good thing: not only are there excellent picks for everyday buds to carry in your pocket, but you’ve also got a slew of options that prioritize things like noise cancellation, fitness, lengthy battery life, and comfort.

Even if you don’t consider yourself any kind of audiophile, it’s important to find a set of earbuds that sound good to you. This means different things depending on the person: do you want head-rattling bass or something more balanced with an immersive soundstage? You’ll want to find a pair with a good, reliable Bluetooth connection — all of the below picks check off that box — and enough battery life to last you through a normal day of intermittent listening.

Remember that getting the most out of earbuds requires a good seal in your ear. Always try the various ear tip sizes that come with whichever buds you purchase — and don’t be afraid to experiment with different sizes in each ear. Ears are funny like that. Many of these earbuds have apps you can install on your phone to further personalize their sound and controls the way you want.

If you’re looking for the overall best noise-canceling earbuds, you’ll be very happy with Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds. They have best-in-class noise cancellation and sound great.

But if you’ve got other priorities, there is a range of great options from Apple, Beats, Jabra, Sennheiser, and Ultimate Ears that won’t disappoint. This guide covers higher-end wireless earbuds. If you’re on the hunt for more affordable options, check out the best cheap wireless earbuds to buy.

Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds are the best noise-canceling wireless earbuds you can get.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

1. Bose QuietComfort Earbuds

Best noise-canceling earbuds

The QuietComfort Earbuds offer very powerful active noise cancellation, but what’s equally nice about them is how customizable the ANC is. You can choose between 11 different levels of noise cancellation (based on how much of the outside world you want mixed in) and set three favorites to cycle between when you double-tap the left earbud.

Bose’s premium earbuds put out fantastic audio with punchy bass. Their transparency / ambient mode is second only to Apple in how natural it sounds. And even the voice mics work well, so you really get the whole package — as you should for this kind of money.

The AirPods Pro remain the best wireless earbuds for iPhone owners because some of their best features only work with other Apple products.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

2. Apple AirPods Pro

Best wireless earbuds for the iPhone

There’s no beating the interplay between AirPods and Apple’s other devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The AirPods Pro don’t offer the best sound quality of our top picks, but it’s perfectly satisfactory to many people. And the active noise cancellation is right up there with Bose.

But it really all comes together if you’re in Apple’s ecosystem and also own a Mac or iPad. The AirPods Pro can automatically hop between devices based on which one you’re using, and on iPhone or iPad, spatial audio delivers immersive surround sound when watching streaming video apps. They’re fantastic for making calls with, and Apple continues to pull ahead of competitors when it comes to ease of use.

Here’s a tip: if none of the included ear tips get you a perfect seal, I recommend a set of memory foam tips like those from Comply or Dekoni.

The Jabra Elite 75t are the best wireless earbuds if you want to pair with two devices simultaneously.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

3. Jabra Elite 75t

Best wireless earbuds for multitasking

Jabra is pretty much the only company making true wireless earbuds that support “multipoint” for two simultaneous Bluetooth connections. So you can pair them up with a phone and your laptop or tablet at the same time. Jabra’s mobile app offers a ton of customization over the controls, EQ, and even includes bonuses like white noise or nature sounds if you’ve got situations where they’d be handy.

Jabra Elite 75t

$130
$150
14% off

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Jabra’s Elite 75t earbuds offer pleasing bass-heavy sound, reliable performance, and can connect with two devices — like a phone and laptop — at the same time.

$130

at Amazon
$130

at Best Buy

The newer Elite 85t earbuds add more effective noise cancellation to the mix, but the 75ts are on sale so frequently that they’re still the go-to pick if multitasking is important to you. They pack a wallop when it comes to bass — but not to the point where it overwhelms the rest of the mix.

Jabra backs them with a two-year warranty in the event you experience any hardware issues. (I’ve had a 75t bud stop taking a charge out of nowhere, so it can happen.)

The Powerbeats Pro have been around for some time now, but they still rank as the best wireless earbuds for fitness.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

4. Beats Powerbeats Pro

Best wireless earbuds for fitness

Nothing has managed to unseat the Powerbeats Pro as the best fitness earbuds since their release in 2019. Their ear hook design keeps them planted on your ears during intense exercise, they can endure your sweatiest workouts, and the nine hours of continuous battery life should get you through just about any marathon. And the sound quality is killer, with plenty of bass to keep you motivated and moving.

And since Beats is owned by Apple, the Powerbeats Pro can also take advantage of features like audio sharing, auto device switching (like the AirPods Pro), and a dead-simple pairing process.

The Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus can last for up to 11 hours on a single charge, which blows away many competitors.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

5. Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus

Best wireless earbuds for battery life

They can last 11 hours on a single charge. That’s what I consider marathon battery life for true wireless earbuds, and few other companies have managed to keep up with the longevity of Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Plus. They lack active noise cancellation, so that helps them keep playing for longer, but even then, 11 hours is quite a feat. Like the Jabras, these are often on sale and easy to grab at a discount.

Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 2 are the best wireless earbuds in terms of sound quality.

Photo by Jon Porter / The Verge

6. Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2

Best wireless earbuds for sound quality

Sennheiser’s second swing at true wireless earbuds improve on the original Momentums with a more comfortable fit and the addition of active noise cancellation. But everything about these earbuds is second fiddle to their sound quality: the Momentum True Wireless 2 earbuds put out dynamic, expressive, and wonderfully detailed audio. They’re the sort of buds that will bring out things in your favorite music you haven’t noticed before.

But that upgraded sound quality comes for a hefty $300 price. If you want arguably the best sound that true wireless earbuds can deliver, these are it. But all of these other picks sound plenty good in their own right.

You’re not going to find any silicone ear tips that can match the UE Fits and their custom tips, which mold to match your ear shape in seconds.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

7. UE Fits

Best wireless earbuds if comfort is everything

If you often have difficulty finding ear tips that fit your ears comfortably, it doesn’t really get better than the UE Fits. These earbuds include special tips that mold to the shape of your ear during a 60-second fitting process that you activate with UE’s app. They get warm during molding (but not uncomfortably so) and you can feel them adapting to the contours of your ear canal.

Once the process is done, you’re left with custom earbuds with a fit that’s as close to perfect as you’ll ever find — unless you visit your local audiologist for a professional mold, and that gets expensive fast. Ultimate Ears has a fit “guarantee” and will send you a second set of tips should your first molding attempt go awry. The UE Fits are quite good, last for up to eight hours of continuous playback, and they’re rated IPX4 for water resistance.

UE Fits

$249

Prices taken at time of publishing.

The UE Fits come with unique ear tips that permanently mold to the unique shape of your ears in just 60 seconds. This allows for a much better fit that you can comfortably wear for hours.

$249

at Ultimate Ears

Creative SXFI Trio Review

Introduction

Even though the omnipresence of wireless headphones could lead you to conclude that the market no longer has room for wired models, you’d be wrong. Wired headphones, such as the Creative SFXI Trio, still very much have an audience. Anyone who can’t be bothered with such nuisances as battery charging and the potential loss of one of the headphones is likely to pick up a wired pair of in-ears. Let’s not forget about mobile gamers either, or at least those among them looking for zero-lag mobile gameplay, which makes wired headphones a must.

The Creative SXFI Trio in-ear headphones are equipped with a USB-C cable and as such connect directly to Android phones and the Nintendo Switch. Creative didn’t leave you hanging even if you’d prefer to connect them to your desktop PC, laptop, or PlayStation as a simple USB-C to USB Type-A adapter is included. The SXFI Trio in-ear headphones have two distinctive features: As their name implies, they’re equipped with three speaker drivers per earpiece and include SXFI Wire, essentially a more compact version of the excellent SXFI Amp (read our review here), a $150 mobile DAC and headphone amplifier that also includes a powerful DSP with the Super X-Fi headphone holography technology. Coming in at $140/€130, the Creative SXFI Trio in-ear headphones are by no means cheap, so let’s find out if they have what it takes to justify the price, and present themselves as a viable option in a world where wireless headphones absolutely dominate.

Specifications

Triple driver design (10-mm bio-cellulose dynamic driver + dual balanced armature drivers)
8–30,000 Hz frequency response (specified by the manufacturer)
Up to 24-bit/96 kHz PCM audio support
In-ear design
In-line SXFI Wire DAC/headphone amplifier with volume, media, and SXFI buttons
In-line MEMS microphone
Five additional pairs of ear tips
1.2 m Kevlar braided cable with a USB-C plug
USB-C to USB Type-A adapter, clothes clip, and silicone carrying pouch supplied
Weight: 29.4 g

MSI Advertises GE76 Raider Laptop As a Mining Machine

(Image credit: MSI)

A surge in crypto mining interest has led not only to users seeking out the best mining GPUs, but since graphics cards are so hard to find in stock and the GPU price index for cards on eBay is just crazy, mining with laptops is becoming a thing. In fact, we have even seen mining farms that only use notebooks. Now, MSI is trying to advertise its latest GE76 Raider notebook as a mobile mining machine.

In an official blog post MSI describes how it plans to use one of its latest gaming notebooks, the 17.3-inch GE76 Raider with Intel’s Core i9-10980HK processor and Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3080 GPU inside, for mining for one month. To mine, MSI will use the NiceHash platform (see how to mine Ethereum) as well as the Excavator miner with the DaggerHashimoto algorithm.

MSI admits that one of its top-of-the-range gaming notebooks is hardly the most cost-efficient mining option, but since it is hard to get a higher-end graphics card, miners may still want to try it.

(Image credit: MSI)

MSI claims that its GE76 Raider has a hash rate of around 52.8 MH/s, which is just a little below that of a desktop GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card. Assuming that the laptop consumes 240W of power and the cost of power is $0.12 per kWh, then the machine will bring about $134.08 in profits per month, according to CryptoCompare.

MSI does not talk about the long-term effects of using its laptop for mining and whether the components are built to endure years of 24/7 use. Yet, it sends a clear signal to to potential buyers that its gaming notebooks could be used for mining.

Asus’ new ROG Phone 5 Ultimate has 18GB of RAM and a rear-facing OLED screen

Asus is going big with its latest gaming phones. The ROG Phone 5 lineup will start shipping this month across the globe, costing 799 euros (around $950) for the base configuration with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of fast UFS 3.1 storage. Every configuration has a 6.78-inch FHD+ OLED screen with a 144Hz refresh rate and a 300Hz touch sampling rate. Also, the headphone jack has made a comeback after being absent from the ROG Phone 3, this time with a quad DAC in tow for hi-res audio. (In case you’re wondering where the ROG Phone 4 went, Asus skipped over the number four, like OnePlus did, due to its similarities with the word “death” in some Asian languages.)

The most notable changes from the last generation are exclusive to some even more expensive configurations, the ROG Phone 5 Pro and Ultimate (which I published a review of) that release in April for 1,199 euros (approximately $1,420) and in May for 1,299 euros (about $1,583), respectively. Both of these models have double the storage and more RAM (starting at 16GB in the Pro and going all the way up to 18GB in the Ultimate); come in limited edition colors; and have two additional ultrasonic touch sensors than the standard model, located near where your ring fingers might rest while holding the phone in landscape mode. You’ll also get a case and a clip-on AeroActive Cooler 5 fan attachment with purchase with either the Pro or Ultimate phone (which adds two more buttons attached to the fan.)

The new Asus gaming phones aren’t huge departures from their predecessors, though the hardware and software are more refined. I reviewed the ROG Phone 5 Ultimate, and while it delivers on its promises to be a spec and feature juggernaut in some clever ways, paying $1,580 for it seems steep. Even the $950 base configuration isn’t what I’d consider affordable.

The Ultimate and Pro include “ROG Vision,” a feature that pushes premade or custom text or graphics to its rear-facing OLED screen. It’s a spin on Asus’ “Anime Matrix” effect used in the Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop, allowing you to personalize your phone if you want. The standard ROG Phone 5 simply has a backlit ROG logo, which some might find to be just enough pizazz.

I go into all of the features in the review. But if you’re just passing by and want to know all about the specs, I’ve attached a handy table just for you.

Asus ROG Phone 5 lineup specs

Comparison	ROG Phone 5 Ultimate	ROG Phone 5 Pro	ROG Phone 5
Comparison	ROG Phone 5 Ultimate	ROG Phone 5 Pro	ROG Phone 5
Colors	Matte white	Glossy black	Phantom black or Storm white
Price	1,299 Euros (approx. $1,583)	1,199 Euros (approx. $1,420)	Starts at 799 Euros (approx. $950)
Processor	Snapdragon 888	*	*
OS	Android 11 with ROG UI	*	*
Display	6.78-inch 2448 x 1080 OLED with 144Hz refresh rate	*	*
RAM	18GB LPDDR5	16GB LPDDR5	8GB,12GB or 16GB LPDDR5
Storage	512GB UFS 3.1	*	256GB UFS 3.1
Extra touch sensors	Yes	*	No
Rear-facing cameras	64-megapixel with F/1.8 aperture, 13-megapixel 125-degree ultra-wide with F/2.4 aperture, and a 5-megapixel macro lens with F/2.0	*	*
Front-facing camera	24-megapixel with F/2.45 aperture	*	*
ROG Vision support	Yes, monochromatic	Yes, color	No
Battery	6,000mAh	*	*
Included charger	65W	*	*
Dimensions	172.8 x 77.2 x 10.29 mm	*	*
Weight	238 grams	*	*
Connectivity	LTE and sub-6GHz 5G on AT&T and T-Mobile, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2	*	*
Included accessories	AeroActive Cooler 5, Aero case	*	No cooler included
			* represents the same spec as the Ultimate

Photography by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge

Microsoft’s long-awaited new webcam reportedly arriving at Surface spring event

Microsoft is reportedly planning to release a new webcam this spring. The software giant has previously offered a variety of webcams under its LifeCam brand, but Microsoft hasn’t updated these significantly for 10 years. Petri reports that a Surface event will take place this spring, and a new webcam will be on the agenda alongside Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop 4.

The webcam will reportedly include a privacy cover and support high dynamic range (HDR). While Microsoft uses 4K USB-C webcams on its Surface Hub 2 device, this new webcam is rumored to skip 4K support. It’s not clear what resolution will be supported, or whether it will support Windows Hello facial recognition.

Microsoft’s old LifeCam webcams.

Image: Microsoft

Whether Microsoft choses to use the Surface branding on this new webcam also remains to be seen. Microsoft’s Windows and devices chief, Panos Panay, hinted all the way back in 2018 in an interview with The Verge that the company was looking at releasing Surface-branded webcams. “Look at the camera on Surface Hub 2, note it’s a USB-C-based camera, and the idea that we can bring a high fidelity camera to an experience, you can probably guess that’s going to happen,” hinted Panay at the time.

This isn’t the first time a new Microsoft webcam has been rumored. Thurrott reported that two new webcams would arrive in 2019, one for Windows and one for Xbox. Those webcams never launched, and consumers and businesses have been relying on webcams from Logitech, Razer, and others instead.

Webcams quickly became the gadget of 2020, as consumers flocked to buy the devices to work from home during the pandemic. Prices of webcams also shot up briefly early on in the pandemic, before supply caught up and demand settled towards the end of 2020.

2020 GPU Sales Failed to Impress, Despite Record Demand

(Image credit: ASUS)

Sales of PCs increased sharply in 2020 as people needed new desktops and notebooks to work and learn from home. As a result, shipments of GPUs (graphics processing units) also increased compared to 2019, mostly because the majority of today’s CPUs (central processing units) come with integrated GPUs. But while many people were hoping to pick up one of the best graphics cards or best CPUs, availability was severely limited, particularly in the second half of the year. The surprising result is that, despite record demand for gaming PCs and hardware, sales of dedicated GPUs were not exactly exceptional in 2020. Data from Jon Peddie Research (JPR) confirms what we experienced, but let’s look at the details.

As PC Sales Increase, Intel’s GPUs Eat AMD’s and Nvidia’s Lunch

According to Gartner, PC shipments increased 10.7% year-over-year to 79.392 million units in Q4 2020. Quarter-over-quarter, PC sales increased by 11.2%. For the year, they totaled 274.147 million units, up 4.8% from 2019. JPR says that shipments of both integrated and discrete GPUs in the fourth quarter were up 20.5% quarter-over-quarter, as some chips are sold well before actual systems become available. That sounds good, but the actual GPU sales aren’t quite as impressive.

(Image credit: Jon Peddie Research)

Since Intel remains the leading supplier of CPUs, it’s also the No. 1 supplier of GPUs. In Q4 2020, Intel actually managed to solidify its lead by increasing its market share to 69%. Meanwhile, the three GPU vendors posted mixed results in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter: AMD’s shipments were up 6.4% and Intel’s sales increased 33.2%, while Nvidia’s unit shipments decreased by a rather significant 7.3%.

As far as market share goes, Intel controlled 69% of the PC GPU market in Q4 2020, Nvidia’s share dropped to 17%, and AMD’s share fell to 15%. We’ve been talking about graphics card shortages since the Ampere launch back in September, but it’s good to have hard numbers.

Both Intel and AMD sell loads of CPUs with integrated graphics, and last year the companies released quite successful 11th-Gen Core ‘Tiger Lake’ chips as well as Ryzen 4000-series ‘Renoir’ processors for laptops and compact desktops. To that end, it isn’t surprising that the two companies increased GPU sales as shipments of notebooks boomed. Meanwhile, note that when counting CPU shipments, some of these devices may be sold to fill in backlog, or to sit in the inventory of PC makers.

Unlike AMD and Intel, Nvidia supplies only discrete GPUs and its unit shipments decreased because it suffered severe shortages of its desktop products in Q4. Despite the drop in unit sales and the deficit, Nvidia’s position as the leading discrete GPU supplier didn’t suffer. More on that later.

Sales of Desktop Graphics Cards Hit by Shortages, but ASPs Set Records

Unit sales of desktop discrete graphics cards were down 3.9% sequentially in Q4 2020. Jon Peddie Research reports that around 11 million add-in-boards (AIBs) were sold during the quarter.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Generally, approximately 11 million graphics cards sold in the fourth quarter looks like a rather modest result (it’s below Q4 2019, Q4 2017, Q4 2016, and Q4 2015), but keeping in mind how significantly average selling prices of AIBs increased recently, 11 million GPUs mean a lot of money for AMD, Nvidia, and their AIB partners. Meanwhile, since it’s extremely hard to get a new graphics board these days, it becomes rather evident that there is a great undersupply.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Overall, the market shipped around 41.5 million discrete graphics cards for desktop PCs in 2020, which is about 3 million more than 2019 but still below sales in prior years. Jon Peddie Research reports that the AIB market reached $14.8 billion last year, which means that an average graphics card cost $360 last year.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

In recent months we saw numerous reports and videos about cryptocurrency mining farms using hundreds or thousands of graphics AIBs to mine Ethereum. While there certainly are mining farms using loads of GPUs, it doesn’t appear that they somehow substantially increased the total available market of video cards. Most probably, they have had added to the deficit of graphics cards on the market, but neither miners nor scalpers are the key reasons for the shortages.

Nvidia has been leading the desktop discrete GPU market since the early 2000s, and in Q4 2020 it actually captured its highest unit market share ever. Last quarter the company controlled 83% of the shipments. By contrast, AMD’s share hit an all-time low of just 17%.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Throughout the fourth quarter, Nvidia complained about shortages of GPUs and other components. However, it still managed to ship over 9 million standalone graphics processors for desktops throughout the quarter, which is its best result in two years. We do not know the share of Nvidia’s Ampere GPUs in its shipments in Q4 2020, but previously the company indicated that it was draining its Turing inventory for a couple of quarters, so the GeForce RTX 30-series was probably sold in noticeable quantities in Q4.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

AMD’s desktop discrete AIB market share in the fourth quarter 2020 dropped sharply by 6% sequentially. The company commanded 17% of shipments and sold about 1.87 million standalone GPUs for desktops in Q4 2020, 780 thousand less than in Q3 2020, according to Jon Peddie Research. For AMD, this is the worst result in two years.

During the last quarter, AMD launched its latest Radeon RX 6800/6900-series graphics cards based on the Navi 21 GPU that were sold out as soon as they reached store shelves. The company also complained about shortages of components. In addition to its desktop discrete GPUs, AMD also had to ramp up production of its Ryzen 5000-series processors as well as system-on-chips (SoCs) for the latest game consoles in Q4, which naturally decreased the number of pre-allocated wafers it could use for the Radeon products.

Nvidia Solidifies Positions as Leading dGPU Supplier

Although Nvidia’s unit sales dropped by 7.3% quarter-over-quarter in Q4 2020, the company still managed to post massive gaming revenue gains and actually increased its discrete GPU market share (which includes graphics processors for both desktops and laptops) to 82%, based on data from Jon Peddie Research.

(Image credit: Jon Peddie Research)

In recent years, Nvidia has outsold AMD 7:3 or 4:1 in the discreet GPU market, which is a significant lead. Nvidia has also long dominated the standalone GPUs market for laptops with gaming GPUs for laptops. Historically, this market was small, but it grew by 7X in seven years, according to Nvidia. So far, the company has sold 50 million mobile GeForce graphics processors for gaming, which is a lot.

“Laptops right now, gaming laptops, is probably the fastest-growing gaming platform that is out there,” said Colette Kress, CFO of Nvidia, at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Broker Conference (via SeekingAlpha). “It is up 7 times in just 7 years. Q4, for example, was our 12th consecutive quarter of double-digit year-over-year growth in our overall laptops. Our GeForce RTX 30 series laptops launch was one of our largest launches ever with more than 70-plus different devices. […] We have got 50 million GeForce laptop gamers at this time.”

Summary

(Image credit: Jon Peddie Research)

Demand for PCs is booming, which helps AMD and Intel sell tens of millions of CPUs every quarter. Over 274 million systems were sold in 2020, which means these two companies supplied over 274 million client processors throughout the year, and most of these CPUs featured an integrated GPU. In contrast, the situation looks different when it comes to discrete GPU sales.

(Image credit: MSI)

Traditionally, GPU sales increase when new GPUs and new games arrive, or at least stay at high levels. Both AMD and Nvidia started shipments of their new AIBs based on the latest RDNA2 and Ampere architectures in Q4 2020. Several new AAA games were released during the quarter as well, including Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Marvel’s Avengers, and Microsoft Flight Simulator. However, despite new hardware and game launches, actual discrete GPU shipments dropped in Q4 vs Q3, which was almost certainly caused by component shortages.

Nvidia sold over 9.13 million of desktop discrete GPUs in Q4 2020, which was a bit up from the prior quarter, but the shipments were constrained. With its Radeon RX 6800/6900-series graphics cards based on the Navi 21 GPU, AMD’s Radeon products turned out to be competitive against Nvidia’s in the lucrative enthusiast segment for the first time in years. Unfortunately, the company’s market share and unit shipments declined sequentially because of the shortages and because the company had to ramp up production of other products, which lowered its ability to produce enough Radeons for the market.

In general, discrete desktop GPU shipments in 2020 totaled approximately 41.5 million units and exceeded shipments of graphics cards in 2019. That’s likely due to AMD and Nvidia both selling out of previous generation cards, rather than significant numbers of the latest generation GPUs. Shortages constrained and continue to limit AIB sales, and it’s difficult to estimate just how high the actual demand for standalone desktop GPUs was in 2020. Looking forward, there’s still unmet demand, and the GPU and graphics card makers would need to produce plenty of products to keep up in 2021. Unfortunately, that’s likely not possible, as the shortages continue to plague the industry.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 review: AMD and Nvidia at their best

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 is the gaming laptop to beat.

When I tested Asus ROG’s Zephyrus G14 a year ago, I was blown away. Not only was it just over 3.5 pounds — a weight unheard of for a system with both a powerful processor and a discrete GPU — but it ran even the most demanding games at much better frame rates than any gaming laptop we’d ever seen at that size. And then everything else about it — the keyboard, the touchpad, the audio, the battery life — was also great. The G14 wasn’t just better than other gaming laptops in those areas: it was better than most other laptops at its price point, period.

Given the G14’s resounding success, it was only a matter of time before Asus put it in a 15-inch chassis. The formula wasn’t broken, and Asus didn’t fix it — Asus just made it bigger. While I had some questions when I heard the G15 was on the way (could it deliver the same combination of portability, battery life, and performance as a 14-inch product? Could it do that without costing over $2,000?), what’s become clear throughout my testing period is that the device isn’t just as good as its 14-inch counterpart; it’s somehow even better. Asus and AMD have done it again.

Gaming on Cloud 9.

The G15’s secret weapon is its processor. All models have AMD’s monstrous eight-core Ryzen 9 5900HS. My test model, priced at $1,799.99, pairs that chip with Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 3070 (an 80W version, with dynamic boost up to 100W), as well as 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. This configuration is a step above the base model, which includes an RTX 3060 and 512GB of storage. There are also two RTX 3080 models — pair it with 16GB of RAM for $1,999.99 or 32GB of RAM for $2,499.99. (I think my test model hits a sweet spot: 512GB of storage isn’t a lot for a gaming laptop, and it seems like the RTX 3080 models are fairly low-clocked and don’t perform hugely better than the lower-tier options.)

Asus says the G15 has a “desktop-inspired layout” with separate keys to control the volume, toggle the microphone, and pull up Armoury Crate.

Another highlight, consistent across all models, is the G15’s 165Hz QHD display. We’re finally starting to see 15-inch laptops with QHD screens en masse this year, indicating that this is the first year that manufacturers think mobile hardware is powerful enough to take advantage of them. Traditionally, mobile gamers have had the option of a 1080p display or a 4K display. (Not only is the latter quite expensive, but very few laptops can run demanding games at playable frame rates in 4K.)

You get over 3.5 million pixels from this QHD display.

So, the big question: Can the Zephyrus G15 run games at QHD resolution? The answer is an emphatic yes.

Some raw numbers to start. The G15 averaged 178fps on CS:GO at maximum settings — dust particles, fires, and other graphically intensive effects looked just fine. Red Dead Redemption II, also at maximum settings, averaged 58fps. (Come on, that’s basically 60). Ray tracing was no problem for this machine: the system averaged 61fps on Shadow of the Tomb Raider with ray tracing on ultra, and a whopping 81fps with ray tracing off. Remember, the G15 is running these at QHD resolution, which is already a bigger haul than traditional 1080p.

Those frame rates mean you should be able to run whatever game you want in QHD without bumping down any settings. They put the G15 about on par with MSI’s GS66 Stealth with an Intel Core i7-10870H and a GeForce RTX 3080 Max-Q — the two laptops tied on Red Dead and were just one frame apart on Tomb Raider. MSI told us that the QHD GS66 model costs $2,599 — so the G15 with an RTX 3070 is getting the same frame rates for literally $800 less. The G15 also did better than the QHD / RTX 3070 Intel configuration of the Razer Blade 15 Base (53fps on Red Dead, 46fps on Tomb Raider), which costs $400 more. Those differentials should speak for themselves. Yes, the GS66 has a 240Hz screen, but that’s going to be excessive for most people at QHD resolution. If I didn’t already know where the G14 was priced last year, I would be emailing Asus to check if $1,799.99 was a typo. It’s an unbelievable value.

The games all looked great on this screen, which covers 100 percent of the sRGB gamut and 89 percent of AdobeRGB, and maxes out at 334 nits of brightness. It isn’t the highest refresh-rate screen you can get at 165Hz — Razer’s Blade 15 Advanced has a 240Hz QHD model, as does MSI’s GS66 Stealth — but it’s still a significant step above the Zephyrus G14’s 120Hz display. While the G15 doesn’t deliver the best picture I’ve ever seen, it still looks great and certainly improves upon the G14’s 1080p panel. Movement was all smooth, without a stutter in sight, and colors looked great. I saw a small amount of glare when using the device outdoors, but it was still quite usable at maximum brightness.

Cooling, while sometimes iffy on the G14, is stellar on this device. The G15’s “intelligent cooling” system includes two 84-blade fans and six heat pipes. It had no problem with any of the games I threw at it, spending the vast majority of its time between the mid-60s and mid-70s (Celsius) and never jumping above 80 degrees. That’s some of the best cooling performance I’ve ever seen from a gaming laptop, especially considering that this one was running heavy AAA titles, maxed out, at QHD resolution.

More impressively, the fans managed to do this without being deafeningly loud. I could certainly hear them while the machine was under load, but it was standard gaming-laptop noise, and I had no problem hearing game audio. You can also swap to the “Silent” profile in Asus’ Armoury Crate software. That toggle lived up to its name and completely silenced the fans, without causing any heat or performance problems that I observed.

Speaking of audio, the G15’s speakers also sound great. That’s to be expected — there are literally six of them, including two front-facing tweeters and force-canceling woofers under the palm rests. They deliver clear audio with very strong bass and powerful percussion. I don’t often get to say that about laptop audio, especially on gaming laptops. The G15 comes preloaded with Dolby Access, which you can use to jump between equalizer presets for gaming, movies, and music, and it makes a huge difference.

There are three microphones, which had no trouble picking up my voice. They also have presets for game streaming, music recording, and conference calls. Those are handy, but they’re not enough to make the G15 a good choice for remote work because it doesn’t include a webcam. The G14 also didn’t have a camera — Asus seems to have decided that webcams aren’t necessary on Zephyrus products. It’s the one significant knock against a device that is basically perfect otherwise. It’s also very odd to have such an advanced microphone setup and not have a webcam to go with it.

There are a couple other things to note about the G15’s chassis. Like many other Asus laptops, the G15 has an ErgoLift hinge, which folds under the deck when the laptop is open and lifts the keyboard above the ground. This is supposed to create a more ergonomic typing position, though I can’t say I ever noticed the difference. It does dig into your legs a bit if you’re using the laptop on your lap, though. The G15’s hinge isn’t as sharp as some other hinges, but as a frequent couch user, it’s still not my favorite feeling.

The keyboard and touchpad are both great as well. The G14 had one of my favorite keyboards of 2020, and the G15’s is quite similar. The click is comfortable, with 1.7mm of travel, and the dedicated volume keys (a Zephyrus staple) are quite convenient. There’s a fingerprint sensor built into the power button, which is on the top right of the keyboard deck.

The touchpad is massive, at 5.1 x 3.4 inches — 20 percent larger than that of the prior G15 generation. It’s so big that large portions of both my hands were resting on it when they weren’t typing, rather than on the palm rests. This was a bit annoying, but to the G15’s credit, it didn’t cause any palm-rejection issues. It’s also a bit loud and not the easiest or deepest click, but those are nitpicks — it’s a fine touchpad.

But what impressed me the most about the G15 is its battery life. This thing never dies. Using it as my daily driver with an office workload on Asus’ Silent profile around 200 nits of brightness, I averaged eight hours and 32 minutes. That’s just under what I got from the G14, and the G15 has a larger and higher-resolution screen to fuel. The result puts the G15 right up there with its smaller sibling as one of the longest-lasting gaming laptops we’ve ever seen. It has a large 90Wh battery inside, but plenty of gaming rigs with comparable bricks can only make it a few hours on a charge.

Gaming significantly shortens the G15’s life span, of course. I got an hour and 21 minutes of Red Dead out of one charge. Impressively, though, the game was quite playable for much of that time, avoiding stutters and performance issues. The game didn’t drop below playable rates until the G15 was down to 10 percent with six minutes remaining. The 200-watt charger also juices the G15 decently fast — during very light Chrome use, it got the device up to 60 percent in 37 minutes. If you don’t want to carry that heavy brick around and aren’t doing GPU-intensive tasks, the G15 also supports 100W Type-C charging.

G15s are available in eclipse gray (like this model) and moonlight white.

At the end of the day, there are things I can nitpick about this device. In particular, the lack of a webcam is egregious. And there are reasons it won’t be for everyone. Folks who are looking for a higher refresh-rate screen may prefer to spend more on a Blade 15 Advanced or a GS66. Those who want a jazzier design may find Asus’ Strix Scar 15 a better fit. And while $1,799 is a great value for these specs, anyone on a tighter budget has options like Lenovo’s Legion 5 on the table.

But almost everything about this laptop is fantastic. And not only is it fantastic, but it’s fantastic for several hundreds of dollars less than its QHD competitors. If you are willing to use an external webcam and you don’t need a 240Hz screen, there’s really no reason you should be buying any other QHD laptop in the thin 15-inch class. The G15 is superior on battery life, superior on power, superior on weight, and superior on price. It’s just the best.

Google links Android phones to Chromebooks with new Phone Hub feature

Google is marking 10 years of Chromebooks by unveiling new features for Chrome OS today. The biggest addition is a new Phone Hub feature that connects an Android phone to a Chromebook. It allows Chrome OS users to respond to texts, check a phone’s battery life, enable its Wi-Fi hotspot, and locate a device easily.

Phone Hub is packed into a taskbar widget that even expands to show you recent Chrome tabs that you have been browsing on your phone. It looks like it will be a super useful feature for Android and Chromebook owners. Google is also enabling its Wi-Fi Sync feature on more devices, allowing you to connect to Wi-Fi networks you’ve already configured and used on your Android phone and other Chrome OS devices.

Chrome OS gets an AirDrop competitor.

Image: Google

Another significant addition to Chrome OS is Nearby Share between Chromebooks and other Android and Chrome OS devices. Much like AirDrop, Nearby Share will let people send and receive files between devices. Google says this will arrive in Chrome OS in the coming months, finally providing its laptop OS with a full AirDrop competitor.

Elsewhere, Google is also adding in a new Screen Capture tool into the Quick Settings menu in Chrome OS. Like the name implies, this will let you record your screen or take screenshots and access them quickly in a “Tote” space from the Chrome OS Shelf.

The Clipboard is also being improved in Chrome OS, allowing you to save five recent items to paste elsewhere without switching windows. The Launcher Key will provide access to this updated clipboard experience. Quick Answers is another new addition, which lets you right-click a word in Chrome OS to get a definition, translation, or unit conversion. It’s very similar to what exists in macOS today.

Google is even improving the virtual desktops feature of Chrome OS — Desks. When you reboot a Chromebook, it will now restore all windows to their correct virtual desktops, and you can also right-click at the top of an open window to send apps to a different virtual desktops.

Chrome OS’s clipboard feature is getting a history feature.

Image: Google

Most of these new Chrome OS additions are clearly playing catch-up to what already exists on Windows and macOS, but they’re welcome additions for those relying on Chrome OS every day. Google first launched a range of Chromebooks back in 2011 in a partnership with Samsung and Acer. There are now Chromebooks from every major PC maker, and Google is promising that 50 new Chromebooks will launch during 2021.

Insta360’s Go 2 is a $299 action camera with a surprisingly powerful case

At 26.5 grams and the size of my thumb, Insta360’s latest action camera, the Go 2, looks like an oversized Tic Tac with an eyeball. It’s the second generation in the Go lineup, which is Insta360’s only non-360-degree camera line. Where the first-generation Go left a lot to be desired, particularly in the image quality department, the $299 Go 2 comes with a new charging case, larger sensor, and improved image quality, making a strong case for a mobile-first action camera.

The case has a 1/4-inch thread for support mounting and a USB-C port for charging.

The most noticeable changes to this tiny camera come in the hardware department. The Go 2’s camera component has a new removable lens cover and less slippery matte plastic housing. The case plays a more active role in the use of the camera, becoming a tripod, remote, external battery, and charger all in one. It is slightly larger than the AirPods Pro case and has a 1/4-inch thread for support mounting and a USB-C port for charging. The standalone camera can run for 30 minutes on a single charge or 150 minutes while in the case.

While the case is not waterproof, the Go 2’s camera is IPX8 water resistant for use up to 13 feet underwater. In the box, Insta360 also includes three camera mounts: a pivot stand, a hat brim clip, and a pendant for wearing around your neck. All of these mounts utilize a magnet to keep the Go 2 attached to them.

Three camera mounts are included in the box: a pivot stand, a hat brim clip, and a pendant for wearing around your neck.

The use of the case as more than just a place to store the camera is one of my favorite innovations in the Go 2. All of the mounts, remotes, and other accessories you have to end up buying for an action camera really add up. So it’s great to see essential features, such as a tripod, being built into the camera’s hardware.

More important than hardware, though, is image quality. With many smartphone cameras producing sharp, stabilized 4K 60fps video and punchy, crisp photos, it’s absolutely necessary for dedicated cameras outside of our phones to up the game. The POV ultrawide look of the Go 2’s video and the unique mounting abilities allow me to create video different enough that I could see myself carrying the Go 2 around in addition to my phone. I simply cannot produce a point-of-view angle, like that of the Go 2, with my smartphone’s camera.

On a phone, the camera’s 9-megapixel photos are crisp, full of contrast, and highly saturated without looking unrealistic. Put that image on a desktop, and it begins to look a bit grainy, where the sensor’s lower megapixel count begins to show, but the image is certainly usable.

Although the Go 2’s video resolution maxes out at 1440p and 50fps, the 120-degree field of view and saturated color science creates an image far more unique than what you get from a phone’s camera. When viewed on a small screen, the video is sharp and smooth with bright colors and lots of contrast. I was impressed with just how true to life the footage looked in perfect lighting conditions, but when I brought it over to the large screen on my laptop, the footage did look a bit noisier. I also wish video taken at night had less grain and noise. The amount of smoothing applied to low-light images doesn’t help either. Insta360 is not alone here: this is a problem even in the more expensive, robust action cameras such as the GoPro Hero 9. It is absolutely a problem I would like to see these companies spend more time fixing. (I’ve been using a pre-production unit in my testing, but Insta360 did not indicate to me that it was going to change anything when it comes to features or performance on the final version.)

There are four preset field-of-view options in the Go 2’s Pro Video mode that range from narrow to ultrawide. Despite the options, I typically just used the ultrawide view and reframed in the Go 2’s mobile app. The camera also utilizes a built-in 6-axis gyroscope along with Insta360’s FlowState stabilization algorithm for horizontal leveling, no matter the camera’s orientation, which produces extremely stable video without a crop to your image. I continue to be impressed with the stability GoPro, DJI, and Insta360 have been able to achieve in their action cameras, and the Go 2 is no exception.

Video Samples from the Insta360 Go 2.

Operating the Go 2 is a unique experience that takes a bit of getting used to. Like the first generation, there are no visible buttons on the camera component. To operate the camera, outside of its case, you push down on the Insta360 logo located under the lens, which then creates a vibration to signal it has been pressed. From powered off, a single press will start recording basic video, a double press takes a photo, and a one-second press will power the camera on to a ready state. If the camera is already on, a single press will start and stop FlowState stabilized video, a double press will begin a Hyperlapse timelapse video, and a two-second press will put the camera to sleep.

Like using touch controls on wireless earbuds, or any tech without a screen, there is a learning curve. It took me about three sessions to know what the LED light indications and different vibrations meant. I felt a lot more comfortable using the Go 2 in its case where its small black-and-white screen displayed which mode the camera was in, what resolution it was filming at, and how much storage was left on the 32GB of internal memory.

Insta360’s mobile app can also be used to control the camera via Wi-Fi and display a live view from the camera. The app also has capable editing software that allows for reframing, trimming, and exporting of clips. A Flashcut feature uses AI editing tools to trim and stitch clips from the Go 2 into flashy edits with punchy music and over-the-top transitions, such as screen wipes and quick zooms. It’s very fun to play with but a bit loud for my taste. For someone not familiar with video editing, this could be very useful though.

The Go 2 is available starting today for $299. For a company deeply focused on mobile-first editing for posting to social accounts, the Insta360 Go 2 makes perfect sense: a small portable camera whose footage will likely never make it to a desktop-editing software or a screen larger than a phone. To my knowledge, there isn’t a smaller camera on the market that can shoot 120 degrees with this level of stabilization or this quality, which looks great on the device you’re likely to view it on: your phone.

And for the mobile-first vlogger or avid social media user, that image quality is more than enough, the camera is small enough to mount anywhere, and its lack of confusing controls is perfect for the person who wouldn’t exactly know what to do with lots of options anyway. But for me, I’m most excited to see the bump in image quality. The better image processing and a larger sensor have allowed this camera to take a huge leap forward, even if, on paper, the difference is only going from 1080p to 1440p. This is starting to feel like a camera I might feel comfortable trusting with my more daring moments in a size that won’t feel too big to carry around.

Photography by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Dell G15 Gets Glittery Redesign, RTX 3000 in China

(Image credit: Dell)

Dell is refreshing its 15-inch gaming notebook, the Dell G15, with a new design and refreshed specs. Today’s announcement is for China, where the laptop is available now, and will come to the rest of the world “later,” likely this year.

The company is being surprisingly coy on specs for a laptop that is actually going on sale today, albeit in a single market. What we do know is that Dell will offer three options, going up to 115W of

TDP

and Nvidia’s Ampere (RTX 3000) graphics. No specific processor details were made available. The 15.6-inch display will go up to 360 Hz, which should help in quick twitch esports, and uses low-blue light hardware, meeting German TuV standards.

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(Image credit: Dell)

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(Image credit: Dell)

The new G15 has a more aggressive, angular design that comes in four new colorways: dark shadow grey, obsidian black, “spector green with speckles” and “phantom grey with speckles,” which seem to suggest somewhat glittery exteriors. Dell missed an opportunity to call it “specktor green,” but oh well.

With that new design comes an upgraded cooling system, which Dell says came from its higher-end gaming line, Alienware. A four-zone RGB keyboard is optional and uses the same AlienFX software as its Alienware counterparts. Photos show USB Type-A ports, a drop-jaw Ethernet port, headphone jack and an HDMI output.

No prices were immediately announced, and Dell has made no suggestions as to whether the specifications coming to the rest of the world will be the same as the ones in China.

Dell’s new G15 is a speckled gaming laptop coming to China first

Dell has launched its new G15 gaming laptop, which will be available first in China before coming to other regions around the world. The laptop’s industrial design is all-new, though the most notable feature might be the paint job.

Yep, those are paint flecks you see in the photos. Dell says the new G15 uses “low-VOC waterborne paint for a durable and environmentally conscious design;” it’s available in colorways including Spector Green with Speckles, Phantom Grey with Speckles, Dark Shadow Grey, and Obsidian Black. Our advice: go with the speckles.

We don’t have full specs for the new G15 just yet, but it can be outfitted with Nvidia RTX 3000-series graphics and has “three performance options ranging up to 115W of TDP.” The display is a 15.6-inch panel with a refresh rate of up to 360Hz. Dell says the G15’s thermals have been improved thanks to a design based on Alienware technology, and there’s an optional 4-zone RGB keyboard that makes use of AlienFX software for customization.

The new G15 will go on sale in China today, and global availability is set to follow at some point in April. We’ve asked Dell for further details.

The Kubuntu Focus M2 Linux Notebook Gets Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 30-Series GPUs

(Image credit: Kubuntu Focus)

Kubuntu Focus has started to offer Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 30-series graphics processor with its Kubuntu GNU/Linux distribution-based M2 laptop aimed at gamers and performance-hungry professionals.

Linux-based laptops are usually niche products for people with very specific requirements, so there aren’t many configurations available. Yet, a few companies offer high-end notebooks with powerful hardware that can compete against their Windows-powered counterparts. Kubuntu Focus is one of the vendors that offers such machines.

The Kubuntu Focus M2 notebook comes with a 15.6-inch 144Hz Full-HD display and Intel’s Core i7-10875H (8C/16T, 2.30GHz/5.10GHz) processor that was first introduced last October, Liliputing recalls. At the time, the manufacturer only offered Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 20-series graphics processors based on the Turing architecture with it since no mobile GeForce RTX 30-series GPUs featuring the Ampere architecture were available.

Nvidia has launched its GeForce RTX 30-series graphics processors for notebooks, so now the Kubuntu Focus M2 comes with an option for RTX 3060, 3070, and 3080 GPUs. In fact, the base model now comes equipped with the Core i7-10875H CPU, the GeForce RTX 3060 GPU, 16GB of memory, and a 250GB SSD for $1,795.

Kubuntu Focus’ M2 is quite a powerful mobile workstation with plenty of options and rich connectivity, including a Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth adapter, a GbE port, a Thunderbolt 3 connector, three USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A connectors, two display outputs (one mini-DisplayPort 1.4 and one HDMI), a microSDXC card reader, and audio ports. The beefiest configuration with the Core i7-10875H, the GeForce RTX 3080, 64GB of DDR4, and 4TB of storage costs $4535.

The Kubuntu Focus M2 seems to be the first Linux laptop with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 30-series graphics, but it will certainly not be the last one.

Polar Verity Sense review: Adding heart rate to your workouts

(Pocket-lint) – Many have accepted that heart rate monitoring is part of their workout routine. With heart rate sensors now common on sports devices, we’ve come a long way from the dark days when such monitors were expensive devices exclusive to the sporting elite.

So with such wide availability of the hardware, is there a demand for something as simple as the Polar’s dedicated heart rate monitor, the Verity Sense?

Design and build

30 x 30 x 9.6mm, 5g
50m water resistance

The Polar Verity Sense is basically just the optical sensor, battery and connectivity hardware you might find in a sports watch, but in a neat button, measuring 30mm in diameter and just under 1cm thick.

The idea is that you can wear the sensor rather than having to wear a watch, or as an alternative to wearing a chest strap – which for many years was the mainstay of heart rate sensors. The Verity Sense is Polar’s second-gen device, improving on the OH1 in many ways.

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The Verity Sense offers 50m water protection, designed for protection against swimming, so it’s more than happy to be sweated into too. That’s what it’s for – it’s a sports device you wear next to the skin, which means you’re going to be sweating into it a lot.

There’s a single button on one side to power on and off, and switch through the three different modes that it supports. On the opposite side is a coloured LED which will visually display the mode you’re in – blue when connected to another device, green when storing its own data, white when in swimming mode.

Wear and comfort

Strap and clip included
Goggle clip for swimmers

The Verity Sense is designed to be worn against the skin, clipping into a holder on an elasticated band which will keep it in place. This can be adjusted to fit, so will suit various sizes, designed to be worn on the fore or upper arm.

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Polar advises against wearing on it the wrist like a watch. Given the size of the strap, we think most people would struggle to wear it securely in that position anyway.

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You basically wear it like a band and we found it easy just to slide it up the arm to a position where it was tight enough to stay in position, but not so tight that it’s uncomfortable. Having been cycling, running, and done plyometric exercises wearing the Verity Sense, we’ve found it stayed in place without a problem.

In that sense, it’s comfortable, more convenient and, for many people, more accessible than a chest strap. We only found ourselves adjusting it on a ride going over 2 hours and then you can move it down your arm a little, or tweak the strap a little to make it looser, if your arms have expanded slightly over the course of the activity you’re doing. The slider on the strap is easy to nudge a little to make it slightly looser on the move.

Being low profile also has a distinct advantage: you can fit the Verity Sense under long-sleeve tops easily. Even when wearing it under tight bike kit or compression gear, we didn’t find it a problem. Having fought with chunky sports watches under tight sleeves, it’s a welcome change – although wearing a chest strap under tight gear has never been a problem either.

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It can, however, function just about anywhere that it can stay in contact with the skin – indeed a clip is supplied so you can wear it on your goggle strap when swimming, to get your pulse from your temple. We haven’t had the chance to test this in the pool, because the pools are closed at the time of writing, but we’ve worn it to check that it would get a reading through a layer of hair and it seems to work reliably.

Functions and connections

Three recording modes
Bluetooth and ANT+
Polar Flow app

Supporting Bluetooth and ANT+ means that the Verity Sense is compatible with a wide range of devices. Bluetooth is commonplace, allowing you to connect to your phone, laptop, or smart trainer like the Wahoo Kickr, and a whole lot more.

ANT+ is widely supported in sports devices, allowing connection to Peloton, Garmin Edge bike computers, and more.

Having both available means connections are a breeze, so you can setup whichever devices you want to benefit from Polar’s data. We found that connecting to the Hammerhead Karoo 2 was as straightforward as connecting any other sensor.

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The Verity Sense will also support two simultaneous Bluetooth connections, so you can have it connected to different devices if you want to record and monitor heart rate on two different platforms at the same time.

There’s also the option to disable ANT+ if you never use it via the Polar Flow app – which is another aspect of this device. It’s managed via Polar’s app, so will need to connect to your phone for firmware updates or to download data you choose to save to the internal memory.

There are three modes of use. The first is as a heart rate sensor for another device. As described above, this will let Verity Sense supply live data via Bluetooth or ANT+ to be recorded or displayed elsewhere.

That might be using it with Apple Health or Strava to record a manual activity, with an indoor bike trainer or treadmill, or with bike computers to get a more complete set of data on your rides.

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When used as a sensor, you don’t have to use Polar’s apps at all. The only time you’d need to use Polar’s apps are when using the other functions that it offers.

The second mode is to have the Verity Sense record the data itself. In this mode, as soon as you switch this mode on it will log the heart rate data to its internal storage, up until you turn it off.

It will hold up to 600 hours of data and you’ll have to sync to Polar Flow to extract the data, where you can then examine it. Bear in mind that it will be recording the whole time the device is on (with the green light showing), so that may well include all those breaks, any delay before you start, and so on.

This mode means you don’t need a phone or any other device nearby for that activity – and if you’re doing something where you don’t want to wear a watch, it’s especially useful. We’ve used it for workouts and it’s a useful feature, even if you can’t immediately figure out how you might apply it to your own exercise routine.

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Finally there’s the swimming option. This gives additional support, using the internal sensors to detect turns in the pool. You’ll have to set the length of the pool in Polar Flow, but then you’ll get a readout of pace, distance and your heart rate for your swim.

Performance and battery life

20 hours battery life

What’s perhaps surprising about Polar’s optical heart rate sensor in the Verity Sense is that we’ve found it to behave itself better than some of Polar’s other devices, like the Vantage V, which was a little temperamental when we reviewed it.

That’s a good starting point for the Verity Sense, in that it acquires your heart rate quickly and sticks to it, avoiding some of the warm-up lag that sometimes plagues optical heart rate sensors. But it’s an accurate sensor too.

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Comparing with a Garmin chest strap and a Garmin Fenix 6, we’re getting averages within a beat of those devices, hitting the same highs, seeing the same recovery drops when pausing at traffic lights or coasting downhill and so on.

What can send things out of sync slightly is the inability to control the activity time. As we said above, when using it to save data internally, it starts once the mode is set, and stops when you turn it off. (A little secret here – it doesn’t actually turn “off” it just stops measuring heart rate, because it will still sync with your phone once all the lights are off.)

The result is that, used as a standalone device, you will probably end up sandwiching your workout with non-exercise activity, which can pull the exercise average down. What’s perhaps more important to consider when used like this are the times spent in different zones – and Polar’s software will show you that sort of breakdown.

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The good performance is backed up by solid battery life too. There’s a lot less demand on this type of device than there is on a watch – but 20 hours of recording is good going. That’s going to cover most people for most activities for a couple of weeks, if not longer.

Charging takes place via USB, by slipping the sensor into the supplied adaptor, so it’s nice and easy.

Verdict

For those who always monitor their activities with a phone – running with it, for example – the Polar Verity Sense is a way to easily add heart rate data to get a lot more information on what your body is doing. That might equally apply to anyone who doesn’t want to wear a watch, or can’t because you’re wearing gloves or something else around your wrists.

There’s immediate appeal for cyclists. With most bike computers supporting additional sensors, adding heart rate without a chest strap – and more affordably – makes the Polar Verity Sense a no brainer. That equally applies for indoor training too, something that’s seen a huge boom.

For many, the Polar Verity Sense is cheap enough to buy as an accessory for those times that you want to use it, even if you have another watch that will offer you heart rate monitoring, just because it is great to have the choice of a dedicated sensor in some situations.

Also consider

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Polar H10

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Polar has a chest strap of its own, offering great performance and comfort. It supports ANT+ and multiple Bluetooth streams as well as standalone tracking mode.

Wahoo

Wahoo Tickr Fit

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Wahoo’s collection also includes a band-type optical heart-rate tracker, offering Bluetooth and ANT+ to easily get heart rate data into other devices.

Writing by Chris Hall.