EVGA had launched a whole series of new mice and keyboards earlier this year, with the flagship Z20 offering some neat features not found in other keyboards to date. It impressed us too, offering good value for money, especially if you were an EVGA Elite member. I had also mentioned briefly how the Z20 had come alongside the equally newer, more budget friendly Z15 keyboard. It took some time before we got here, but better late than never as we thank EVGA for sending the review sample to TechPowerUp!
As with the EVGA Z20, this Z15 keyboard is a new ID from the company and a departure from the older Z10 RGB in nearly every way. We have a new case design, dedicated media controls, no LCD display, a nice wrist rest, new switches, and even hot-swappable switch sockets. So yes, the Z15 gets a feature the flagship Z20 does not! Let’s go through the EVGA Z15 in detail by examining all these features in this review beginning with a look at the specifications in the table below.
Specifications
EVGA Z15 RGB Gaming Keyboard
Layout:
>104-key modified US ANSI layout, other language support depending on region
Material:
ABS plastic case and keycaps, steel plate
Macro Support:
Yes
Weight (total):
1.23 kg/2.49 lbs.
Wrist Rest:
Yes, removable
Anti-ghosting:
Full N-Key rollover USB
Media Keys:
Dedicated playback and volume control
Cable Length:
6 ft/1.8 m
Software:
Yes
Switch Type:
Choice of Kailh Speed Silver or Speed Bronze mechanical RGB switch
(Pocket-lint) – While many of us are still very much locked indoors for the foreseeable, working from home, the spectre of a potential commute is beginning to rear its head for plenty of people. Now more than ever, an electric bike is an attractive prospect.
Avoiding public transport, getting fresh air, but without the risk of exhaustion, what’s not to love? The main downside is that many of the most well-known options are prohibitively expensive.
That provides an opportunity for the likes of FuroSystems, a smaller manufacturer who can attract people with cost-saving as well as features. Its Aventa is a prime example – a great e-bike that doesn’t reinvent the wheel by any stretch, but offers a great experience at a very sensible price.
Sleek and disguised
Weight: 16.5kg
Aluminium frame
Central LCD display
Tektro HD-E290 Hydraulic Disk Brakes
Turning first to the look and feel of the Aventa, the good news is that it falls safely into the “you wouldn’t know it” category of electric bikes. This is a bike that at first glance doesn’t look electrified, which we consider to be a good thing.
Only one chunky part of its frame and the motor on the rear wheel give the game away, but the matte paintwork and FuroSystems logo do a good job of disguising this.
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An integrated front light keeps things sleek up front, athough there’s no back light for some reason – and you’ll need a reflector/light to ride on UK roads legally – while a fairly narrow set of handlebars and a sleek saddle makes for a racing-style fit. It’s not the most laid-back e-bike we’ve ridden – that honor belongs to VanMoof – but when you get the Aventa’s saddle adjusted right it’s entirely comfortable and feels nice and nimble.
The Aventa’s other big clue as to its electrification is a little dashboard that’s located between the handlebars – a small digital display that acts as a speedometer when its turned on, as well as indicating the battery level and what amount of pedal assist you’re currently getting.
We’re a bit torn on this. On the one hand, it gives you a bunch of useful information if you want it, with the pedal assist level particularly good to keep track of. Equally, however, it’s fairly ugly and has a tendency to make you look like you’ve got a GPS or phone strapped to your bike and are in the process of getting lost. If we could remove it easily, we probably would – indeed we think that’d be a good thing to stop it looking like a fancy e-bike.
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On the left handlebar, nicely nestled where your thumb rests, is the main control point for this e-bike, comprising a power button (holding it down switches it on and off), and a button each to either raise or lower the level of pedal assist. These are smartly placed and easy to use while riding, letting you adjust on the fly. The right handlebar houses a traditional gear switcher to let you control the bike’s nine standard gears.
Overall we’re impressed by how premium the Aventa looks and feels. It’s not quite at the level of VanMoof and Cowboy’s bikes – particularly when it comes to cable tidying, with most of the cabling on the bike’s exterior – but it’s also a big chunk less expensive than those options. And sometimes that can be what matters most.
Pedal assistance
6 levels of pedal assist, 25kmph/15.5mph top speed
Integrated Lithium-Ion battery
60km/37m range per charge
An e-bike’s design is important, but how it feels to ride is the key variable, and FuroSystems does well on that front. The newest version of the Aventa is easy to switch on and has six different levels of pedal assist to pick from – which help you to get up to a speed of 25kmph/15.5mph before letting you put in the work to go faster. That speed cap is the UK legal limit for an e-bike, it varies in other territories.
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Between the first and second levels of assist you won’t even notice a huge difference, with acceleration just feeling a bit easier than it otherwise would. Putting things up to level three or four on the power scale gets you a more appreciable boost as you kick off from a standstill, and makes getting up to speed feel really easy. On strenghts five and six, meanwhile, things feel really zippy – just after you start turning your pedals you’ll get a nice push of extra power.
Getting the system right on pedal assist is a little harder than it seems, while making sure that you feel in full control of your acceleration is something other e-bikes we’ve tested haven’t quite managed, but the Aventa strikes a great balance. You’ll find it super easy to get going at traffic lights; hills also won’t pose much of a challenge as far as maintaining your speed. All this is achieved without a particularly loud motor noise – just a very low-level whirr that wind-noise cancels out.
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With a standard nine-gear shifter also available, if you run out of battery then you’re far from stranded, and using normal gears in conjunction with the pedal assist levels lets you get to a pretty precise level of work as you cycle, which makes the Aventa good if you’re keen on having plenty of control.
A sizeable 80km/50m range means you can get plenty of cycling done on a single charge too, which is for the best since the Aventa’s battery isn’t removable – a typical shortcoming of e-bikes’ designs at the moment.
A four-hour charge should juice it back up, but you’ll have to lug it near to a power point to do so, and at 16.5kg you’ll find that a slightly tiresome task. Still, heaviness is also far from unique to the Aventa, it’s part and parcel of an e-bike, so it’s not a great sin. For context: a carbon road bike, all in, is about 8kg; a London ‘Santander Cycle’ is around 24kg, so this sits somewhere in the middle – not bad considering it’s the only electrified option.
Best Garmin watch 2021: Fenix, Forerunner and Vivo compared
By Chris Hall
·
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Apart from that pedal assist things are extremely simple to operate – there’s no companion app or smart features to speak of here, which means an ease of use that’s almost refreshing at times.
On the flip side, it does make for a lack of security features that competitors can offer, like bike tracking or even integrated locking. Still, provided you gear yourself up with a proper bike lock you’ll be able to lend it to mates and ride it without your smartphone, both options that can be surprisingly tricky on some so-called ‘smarter’ bikes.
Verdict
FuroSystem’s pitch is pretty clear when it comes to the Aventa: you can get a lot of the same feeling while riding it that you’ll find from the Cowboy or VanMoof S3, but you’ll have spent hundreds less on the bike.
That’s a surprisingly accurate summary of how it feels to use too. No, the Aventa might not have a ‘killer feature’, but it doesn’t put many feet (or wheels) wrong at all. You get really solid pedal assist, impressive range, and a design that manages to look as sleek as you could reasonably hope – and discreet too.
While a removable battery, smarter features, and better cable integration would be nice, the savings you make on the up-front cost more than explains their absence. So, if your budget doesn’t stretch to one of the more chic names in the market, the Aventa is an option that’s well worth considering.
Also consider
VanMoof S3
VanMoof also doesn’t have a removable battery, but its smoothness of ride and comfort are unrivalled, making its S3 or X3 brilliant options to ride. Either model is pricier than the Aventa, but you get a lot of app-based smart features like auto-unlocking and bike tracking, plus a design that’s a little more unique and modern.
Read our full review
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Cowboy
If your budget can go even further, the Cowboy is a superb option that has perfect pedal assist and probably the best app integration of any e-bike we’ve tried, making for a superb package that is just a bit of an upgrade on the Aventa in most areas. The biggest fillip it lands over other bikes, though, is that removable battery – making it miles more convenient than many competitors. Still, you’ll be paying for those privileges.
Read our full review
Writing by Max Freeman-Mills. Editing by Mike Lowe.
Multiple reports from China say that Huawei is prepping a 32-inch display with an unorthodox 3:2 aspect ratio. The monitor will carry Huawei’s new MateView trademark and will be aimed at professionals who need to have a lot of space both horizontally and vertically.
Being a new player on the market of PC displays, Huawei has to offer unique products to attract attention to its brand and gain share. Since the 32-inch Huawei MateView LCD will be aimed at users who demand accurate colors, it will reportedly use a 10-bit (presumably IPS-type) display panel with a 4500×3000 resolution, which is very unusual for desktop monitors.
The 90Hz refresh rate that the screen reportedly supports is also unusual. No other specifications are known at this point, but the monitor is expected to carry VESA’s DisplayHDR 400 badge and will thus feature a minimum of 400 nits peak luminance and support at least HDR10 transport.
The key selling feature of Huawei’s professional MateView monitor will obviously be its 3:2 aspect ratio, which has proven to be particularly useful on laptops. Such an aspect ratio shows more data vertically, which is good for coding, reading, and writing. Furthermore, to make the monitor even more comfortable, it will feature very thin bezels and a close to 100% screen-to-body ratio, reports GizmoChina. Meanwhile, a 3:2 aspect ratio can be annoying for those watching movies shot in aspect ratios like 1.78:1 or 2.39:1 (1.43:1 for IMAX) and therefore produce black bars even on 16:9/16:10 screens.
(Image credit: Uncle Mountain/Weibo)
Based on an image of Huawei’s MateView monitor with a 3:2 aspect ratio published by a blogger, the LCD has a wireless charging pad on its base, a feature that is fairly easy to implement but is rarely installed by manufacturers.
One thing to keep in mind is that Huawei does not produce display panels. Therefore, the 32-inch LCD panel will likely be used by other monitor makers. So, a 3:2 aspect ratio looks to be coming to desktops after all.
In addition to the professional 32-inch 3:2 display, Huawei is reportedly working on a 42-inch MateView monitor for gamers. The part is expected to feature a 3440×1440 resolution, a 21:9 aspect ratio, and a 165Hz refresh rate.
Huawei is projected to unveil both 32-inch and 42-inch MateView displays on May 16 (depending on the exact time the product is introduced, it may be May 15 in the U.S.). There is no word about pricing and whether they are set to be available outside of China.
Huawei has not yet announced its MateView LCDs, so all the information about them is strictly unofficial at this point and should be taken with a grain of salt. Meanwhile, it comes from two unrelated tipsters that partly corroborate each other, which may indicate that the company is indeed working on MateView displays for gamers and professionals.
We love Raspberry Pi cyberdecks, including all of the fun ways the community has contained our favorite SBC over the years and this project from Michael Torino joins our list of favorites. Torino began developing the Portable Threat & Security Device (PTSD for short) to keep busy during the early lockdowns of 2020. This project quickly snowballed into a quality network security rig capable of supporting a small facility on its own.
According to Torino, the idea was to create an all-in-one device that could handle most network security and support needs without lugging additional “accessory cases” frequently found on the ground in military deployment. His solution was to install two Raspberry Pi 4s inside of a single Pelican V100 Pistol Case which measures in at just 12.7″ x 12.6″ x 5.5″.
The best Raspberry Pi projects use more than one Pi (because we can’t get enough) and this project is no exception. One of the Pis is running Ubuntu while the other is running an instance of Kali. Torino can swap between them with a KVM switch as they share a 1280 x 800 IPS LCD touchscreen.
We asked Torino if he had a chance to use the device out and about for testing, he said “I’ve been using it in my garage so far. It has been taken apart and put back together many times and seems to be holding up well.“
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(Image credit: Michael Torino)
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(Image credit: Michael Torino)
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(Image credit: Michael Torino)
There are a few upgrades in the works that should be field testing more plausible. Power is an issue, making mobility (a critical component to the portability of the project) a bit of a strain until a more powerful battery is implemented that can support both Pis and the touchscreen.
If you’re going to make an all-in-one rig, why not go all out? Torino plans to include a Pi Cam as well as additional features like a software-defined radio or possibly a Wi-Fi Pineapple, which is good for testing network penetration. Follow Michael Torino on YouTube for more updates on this cool project.
When Apple introduced its all-new iMac 24-inch all-in-one desktop and iPad Pro tablet based on its M1 system-on-chip earlier this month, it said that the new products would be available in the second half of May, but never revealed when exactly they were set to hit the shelves. On Thursday Apple finally unwrapped details about availability of its new devices.
Apple and its partners will start to take pre-orders on the latest 24-inch iMac, iPad Pro, and Apple TV 4K starting April 30, 2021. Meanwhile, the new AIO desktop, professional tablet, and set-top-box will be available starting May 21, 2020, reports MacRumors citing UK retailer John Lewis. Since the date comes from an unofficial source, it should be taken with a grain of salt. Meanwhile, Jon Prosser, a tech analyst and a leaker, also states that the 21st of May as the launch date for Apple’s latest products.
Apple’s new M1-based iMac comes in seven colors and is equipped with a 23.5-inch display featuring a 4480 × 2520 resolution and a 500 nits brightness, a major upgrade for entry-level AIOs that previously featured a 21-inch LCD panel. The system can be equipped with up to 16GB of LPDDR4 memory and up to 2TB of solid-state storage. Pricing starts at $1,299.
Apple’s upcoming iPad Pro also represent a huge advancement when compared to predecessors as they are powered by PC-class M1 SoC and can be equipped with up to 16GB of memory. Meanwhile, the new iPad Pro 12.9-inch is the world’s first tablet to use a Mini LED display. The new iPad Pros start at $799 for 11-inch SKU and $1,099 for a 12.9-incher.
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The Moto G Play is the least expensive of four phones that Motorola introduced for the US market earlier this year. Introduced at $169, it’s already enjoying an apparently permanent $10 mark down, placing it firmly in budget territory.
Most of what you’ll find on the G Play’s spec list makes a lot of sense given that price point: a 6.5-inch 720p LCD with standard refresh rate, Snapdragon 460 processor with 3GB of RAM, and a generous 5,000mAh battery.
There’s another factor that might sway some shoppers toward the G Play, too: as LG leaves the budget phone space and its remaining stock disappears from retailers’ shelves, Motorola’s budget-friendly phone will be one of a smaller number of options. In the US. we haven’t seen the kind of sub-$150 devices from Motorola that the company has introduced in other markets this year, so for now, the G Play is a likely candidate for the budget-oriented phone shopper’s consideration.
There are a couple of aspects of the phone’s feature set that feel underwhelming even considering the price: namely, a paltry 32GB of storage (though it can be expanded after the fact) and a 13-megapixel main camera when more advanced, high-resolution pixel-binning sensors are becoming the norm at every price point, for example. But in short, the G Play performs just fine for its price. Just know that you’ll need to bring patience and acceptance of a few shortcomings, and that spending an extra $50 to $100 if your budget allows would get you some meaningful upgrades.
The G Play’s 6.5-inch display is a bit low-res for its size and hard to see in bright outdoor light.
Moto G Play performance and screen
The G Play uses a Snapdragon 460 chipset which was introduced over a year ago and is an entry-level Qualcomm processor. Coupled with 3GB of RAM, it manages to keep up with routine tasks like jumping between apps and scrolling social media, albeit with subtle-but-noticeable stuttering along the way. Heavier tasks like starting and stopping Google Maps navigation take an extra couple of beats. It’s not as frustrating as my experience with the LG Stylo 6 was, but it’s a step down from the kind of performance you can expect from a phone that’s $50-100 more expensive, including those in Motorola’s own G-series lineup.
The screen, likewise, gets the job done but doesn’t particularly shine. Its 720p resolution is stretched thin across the 6.5-inch display and images are noticeably pixelated. Colors are on the cooler side and the screen is a bit dim unless you max out the brightness. Even with the brightness cranked all the way up I had a hard time seeing it outdoors. We spend so many hours looking at our devices that this is one area where it might be worth upgrading. That said, there isn’t exactly anything wrong with the display — it’s just not very nice.
There’s better news on the battery front. The G Play includes a 5,000mAh battery, which is significantly bigger than the typical 4,000 or 4,500mAh found in other comparably sized Android phones. Motorola claims it will get three days of battery life, which is probably true if you’re a light user and conservative with your screen brightness. I had no problem getting two days on a charge with a couple of hours each day of screen-on time. A full day and then some of heavy use is definitely reasonable to expect.
The Moto G Play includes just 32GB of storage — about as low as it gets in 2021. Considering roughly half of that will be taken up with operating system files, it’s just not enough. Storage is expandable via microSD card, so plan on that extra $10-15 as a necessary part of the purchase if you don’t already have one.
The G Play ships with Android 10 installed. While it’s on Motorola’s list to receive an Android 11 update, the timing is unclear and, given the company’s track record, could be many months away. The phone will receive security updates until January 2023. That’s an unfortunately short life span, so you might want to count on trading it in or cashing in your upgrade with your carrier after a couple of years.
There’s just one camera on the Moto G Play’s rear panel — plus a depth sensor and a flash.
Moto G Play camera
The G Play has just one 13-megapixel rear-facing camera (accompanied by a 2-megapixel depth sensor) and a 5-megapixel selfie camera. That’s it. Even in the budget class, that’s not many cameras in 2021. I don’t think anyone (myself included) will miss having the low-quality macro camera that manufacturers keep putting on their devices these days, but not having an ultrawide is a bummer considering it’s not hard to find a phone that offers one at this price.
If nothing else, the G Play’s camera offerings are very straightforward. There are just two main shooting modes in the native camera app: photo and video. Portrait mode and a few other extras are available in the shooting menu, but there’s no night mode here.
Outside in good lighting, this 13-megapixel camera does okay. Overall exposures are balanced and the camera doesn’t try to do too much HDR-ing, which I appreciate, but you don’t have to look too close to notice that details in grass and leaves are smoothed over. Things go downhill quickly in less good light — the G Play just isn’t up to low-light photography. The selfie camera is also guilty of aggressive over-smoothing at its default “Face Beauty Auto” setting that made my face look like a glazed donut. Thankfully, you can turn this off.
The G Play is well-priced for what it offers, but spending a bit more would mean some valuable upgrades.
Clearly the G Play has its share of shortcomings — at $160, it has to. The question is whether these are trade-offs you can live with for a couple of years. If you enjoy a very casual relationship with your phone, the G Play will do all of the things you need it to do.
Everyday performance for the basics — light web browsing, social media, email, music — is sufficient. If you just use your phone camera for quick snapshots out and about and don’t expect too much from it, the G Play will do fine.
If you suspect that you need a little more from your phone, or that you want the experience of using your phone to be a little more enjoyable, then I’d strongly encourage spending a bit more on something like Motorola’s own Moto G Power for a better camera. Samsung and OnePlus have recent entries in the sub-$200 class that are worth looking at, too; I haven’t tested them, but they’re specced competitively.
If your relationship with technology is less complicated than those of us who spend hours each day of our precious time on this Earth staring at the little glowing screen in our hands, jumping between social media apps, and pushing our phone cameras to their limits, then you’ll get along fine with the Moto G Play. Just spare a thought for the rest of us, please?
Samsung announced two entry-level Galaxy Book laptops at its Unpacked event: the Galaxy Book and the Galaxy Book Flex2 Alpha. The former will start at around $800 (according to Samsung, that price is subject to change) and will launch in the second half of 2021, whereas the Flex2 Alpha starts at $849 and is available for preorder now, shipping in mid-May. These round out the fleet of premium models announced today, including the Galaxy Book Pro and Pro 360 with OLED screens that start at $999, and the $1,399 Galaxy Book Odyssey gaming laptop that’s the first to sport Nvidia’s new RTX 3050 Ti graphics card.
Starting with the Galaxy Book, it has a 15.6-inch 1080p TFT LCD display, and it supports up to two fast NVMe SSDs. It has two USB-C ports (one of which can recharge the laptop with the included 65W charger), two USB-A 3.2 ports, an HDMI port, a headphone jack, a microSD card slot, and an optional nano SIM tray for LTE.
The silver color of the Galaxy Book.Image: Samsung
Samsung’s mobile press site shows that the Intel Pentium Gold or Celeron processor may show up in some models globally, but the company hasn’t confirmed what will be in the starting configuration in the US. A Samsung spokesperson told The Verge that the final price and specs will be announced closer to its launch in the second half of 2021.
According to the site linked above, if you need more power, you’ll be able to bump it up to 11th Gen Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, with the option of taking advantage of their Iris Xe integrated graphics, or you can opt for Nvidia’s GeForce MX450 discrete graphics. The Galaxy Book can be upgraded to 16GB of RAM.
Rounding out the specs, the Galaxy Book comes in silver or blue, and every configuration will have a 54Wh battery. Similar to the Galaxy Book Pro lineup, this one supports Dolby Atmos audio. Its webcam is a 720p HD sensor with a dual array mic.
The Galaxy Book Flex2 Alpha will launch in black, blue, or silver.Image: Samsung
If you want a 2-in-1 laptop with a better QLED screen that’s still not as expensive as the Galaxy Book Pro, Samsung also announced two sizes (13.3 and 15.6 inches) of the new Galaxy Book Flex2 Alpha. Each model has a 1080p QLED display, and either Intel’s 11th Gen i5 or i7 processors. The price for the 13-inch model starts at $849.
The starting configuration includes 8GB of RAM, but supports up to 16GB, and the storage tops out at 512GB. It has a standard selection of ports, including two USB-A 3.0 ports, a USB-C port, a headphone jack, a power plug, HDMI, and a microSD slot. Like the Galaxy Book, this model also has a 54Wh battery.
Samsung has expanded its Galaxy family with four new Galaxy Book “mobile PCs”, each of which can be used in laptop or tablet form.
The new Galaxy Books – the Galaxy Book, Galaxy Book Pro (pictured, top) and Galaxy Book Pro 360 – aim to be as powerful as a laptop but as portable as a tablet, and with the promise of an all-day battery. Prices start from £699, rising to £1499 (full details below).
Samsung wants these Galaxy Books to be the obvious choice for the millions of people who already own Galaxy devices, whether that be the Galaxy S21 phone or the Galaxy Buds earphones, promising a seamless cross-device experience.
Samsung Galaxy Book (Image credit: Samsung)
But there are reasons to consider them whether you’re part of the Galaxy family already: all three Galaxy Books feature Dolby Atmos support, while the Pro and Pro 360 also have VESA-certified DisplayHDR 500 screens, which bodes well for picture performance.
While the Galaxy Book (pictured, above) makes do with a full HD LCD screen, you can jump to a full HD AMOLED with the Galaxy Book Pro or a full HD Super AMOLED on the Pro 360.
Inside are the 11th-gen Intel Core processors and Intel Iris X garphics, plus USB-C and HDMI connections, and a microSD card slot. An upgraded S Pen stylus, as seen on the Galaxy Note phones, is also included on the Galaxy Book Pro 360 (pictured, below), though there’s no storage integrated inside the laptop, which seems a shame.
Only the Pro 360 includes 5G connectivity, with the Pro settling for LTE. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5 are across all three models. All the Galaxy Books use the Windows 10 Home/Pro OS, so expect all the associated Microsoft features including Link to Windows/Microsoft Your Phone mobile connectivity. In fact, Samsung is promising seamless Android and Windows compatibility for something of a world first.
Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 (Image credit: Samsung)
The real draw is the form factor, with the most compact model (the 13-inch Galaxy Book Pro) coming in at just 11.2mm – “thin like a phone” – and weighing just 870g. And of course you can fold the laptop on itself for a flat tablet experience or to use as a second screen.
The Pro and Pro 360 are also available in a 15.6-inch screen size, while the Galaxy Book is limited to a 15.6-inch display model.
There’s Samsung’s finger print authentication on each of the laptop-tablet combos, plus support for USB-C 65-watt fast charging.
Built from aluminium, the Galaxy Books continue the ‘Mystic’ colour palette of Samsung’s Galaxy phones, with a choice of mystic navy, silver, blue, pink gold and bronze.
Also launching are a range of accessories, including a neoprene pouch with pen holder (£24.99), a Galaxy Book Leather Sleeve (from £149.99), the Smart Keyboard Trio 500 (£39.99) and the Bluetooth Mouse Slim (£52.99).
Can it beat the best tablets and the best laptops? That remains to be seen.
If you’re already smitten you can pre-order now and you’ll get a free pair of Galaxy Buds Pro true wireless earbuds.
On sale from 14th May, full price details are as follows:
The Oppo A53s 5G was teased recently on Flipkart, and today the phone makes its official debut. It comes with a Dimensity 700 chipset, two RAM options, a big battery and three cameras on the back.
The front of the Oppo A53s 5G is a 6.52” screen with HD+ resolution and a waterdrop notch. Since the panel is LCD, the fingerprint scanner made its way on the side, acting as a power key as well. RAM is either 6 GB or 8 GB, with internal storage being 128 gigs in both cases.
Oppo has provided room for a micro SD in a long tray that can host two SIM cards and a memory card up to 2 TB.
The trio of cameras on the back consists of a 13MP main shooter, 2 MP depth sensor for portrait shots and 2MP macro cam. The selfie camera has an 8MP senosr.
The phone runs Android 11, topped with Color OS 11.1. The battery on the inside is 5,000 mAh, but the listing does not say anything about fast-charging.
The specs sheet does give us some insight on connectivity like dual 5G standby (even if India has zero actual working networks) Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth 5.0.
Oppo A53s 5G
The Oppo A53s 5G is offered in Crystal Blue or Ink Black colors. Prices are INR14,990 or INR16,990, depending on the memory combination. Flipkart is yet to reveal a date for pre-order or market launch.
Motorola has announced several low-cost devices with big batteries and fast-refreshing displays this year, and now it’s offering its least expensive model yet: the Moto G20. Launching in Europe this week for €149 (about $180), it includes a 6.5-inch 720p LCD with a 90Hz refresh rate and a 5,000mAh battery. It’s the latest in a series of budget devices from Motorola targeting slightly different price points in the budget range, and it would likely have a place in the US market if the company chose to offer it in the States.
The G20 features a 48-megapixel main camera, 8-megapixel ultrawide, 2-megapixel macro and depth-sensing cameras, and a 13-megapixel selfie camera. Unlike other Moto G-series phones launched this year, the G20 does not use a Snapdragon chipset, offering instead a Unisoc T700 processor with 4GB of RAM. The device’s built-in storage of 64GB or 128GB can be expanded via microSD, and it will ship with Android 11.
The Moto G20 includes a 48-megapixel main camera along with an ultrawide.Photo: Motorola
There’s no indication whether the G20 will be sold in the US — the G100, G50, and G30 introduced earlier this year haven’t been offered stateside as of yet either. Motorola’s current US offerings are largely situated above the $200 mark, and there are rumblings that high-end Edge devices may be coming next. But with the void LG is leaving at the budget end of the market, Motorola certainly has a full portfolio of devices it could offer if it wanted to try to fill the gap.
A small-format resin 3D printer with a bargain-basement price, the Longer Orange 10’s weak output and wobbly build quality make it a poor bargain.
For
+ Inexpensive price
+ Small footprint
Against
– Laser-cut UV lid feels wobbly
– Low XY resolution
– Small build volume
The Longer Orange 10 is the entry-level 3D printer in the Orange lineup and sits below the Orange 30 and Orange 4K in both price and features. It’s available from the Longer site for $139, a surprisingly-low price that is around the cheapest I’ve seen a 3D printer of any kind for sale.
After testing the Orange 10, I’m left with more questions than answers as to who this printer is marketed towards. It uses an RGB masking LCD that defaults to a slow per-layer cure time as well as a small build volume. Importantly, it also has a pixel resolution that is over 50% larger than the Creality LD-002R, a comparable printer in price and size, resulting in lower resolution prints and pronounced stepping on shallow curves.
Longer Orange 10 Specifications
Machine Footprint
6.7″ x 6.7″ x 14.2″ (17.0cm x 17.0cm x 36.0cm)
Build Volume
3.86″ x 2.17″ x 5.5″ (98mm x 55mm x 140mm)
Resin
DLP Photopolymer Resin
UV Light
UV Matrix 405nm UV LED
Masking LCD Resolution
854 x 480
Masking LCD Size
4.5″
Interface
2.8″ LCD Touchscreen
XY Axis Resolution
.115mm
Included in the Box of Longer Orange 10
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Longer Orange 10 ships with all of the consumables you need to get up and printing including the power supply, a metal scraper for removing parts, gloves, a clean-up rag, a microSD card, a USB microSD card reader, and some resin filters for reusing resin. The UV-resistant lid ships disassembled (more on that later), and all the pieces required to assemble it are included in the box. The Orange 10 also includes a printed manual that covers all of the steps involved with getting the printer up and running.
Assembly of Longer Orange 10
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Longer Orange 10 includes a UV-resistant lid that requires assembly before it can be mounted onto the printer. This is a little unusual; most MSLA resin printers like the Anycubic Photon Mono, Creality LD-002R, and the Elegoo Mars Pro use a single-piece acrylic lid that ships mounted to the printer. The lid for the Longer Orange 10 ships in five pieces that all have a protective film applied to both sides. This film tends to tear and delaminate when peeled and was very time-consuming to remove; it took me almost fifteen minutes to remove it fully.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Once the protective film has been removed, the lid can be assembled. The jigsaw pattern on the sides of the panels allows them to snap into place, and the included black brackets hold the side panels together before the top panel is added. Assembling the lid felt a bit like a juggling act; the brackets and top hold the sides together, but the sides can’t be assembled without the top to hold them in place. It took a few tries to get it right but the lid eventually snapped together.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The lid is held together with a pair of rubber bands; one at the top and one at the bottom. While this solution is relatively inexpensive and allows the printer to ship in a slightly smaller box, the general shakiness and lack of a sturdy lid did not inspire much confidence in me after it was put together. The rubber bands pulled tight around the acrylic corners, and I’m concerned that picking up the lid will cause the rubber band to tear over time from rubbing against the sharp corners of the acrylic panels.
Design of Longer Orange 10
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The user interface of the Longer Orange 10 is a 2.8-inch color touchscreen LCD that offers basic functionality controls as well as real-time information during printing. The LCD is bright and responsive, but the overall UI is a little bare and the controls used to calibrate the build platform aren’t labeled intuitively.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Orange 10 uses a custom controller board with an STM32F103 microcontroller and an A4988 stepper driver. The controller board cooling fan is the loudest component on the printer, and it operates at a very reasonable volume during printing. The case of the Orange 10 is made from bent sheet metal, and I liked the solid and stable feel that it provided.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The masking LCD on the Longer Orange 10 is a 4.5-inch screen with a resolution of 854 x 480. This combination results in a relatively low .115mm XY resolution, a much coarser resolution than the .035mm achieved by the 4K resolution masking LCDs like the one on the Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K. Even non-4K masking LCD screens like the one on the Creality LD-002R are capable of sub-.1mm resolution (the LD-002R is .075mm), so this slightly-thick XY resolution can result in parts with visible stepping on shallow curves.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The build platform has a rear-facing slant, which allows resin to drip back into the vat during printing. The gantry to which it attaches is made from a bent piece of metal and the Z threaded rod has an anti-backlash nut installed to prevent banding during rapid movements. The motion components on the machine generally feel solid, and the gantry doesn’t seem to have any play during printing.
Leveling the Build Platform on Longer Orange 10
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The build platform on the Longer Orange 10 is secured to the gantry with four bolts that are also used for leveling. After loosening the bolts on the gantry and placing a piece of paper over the masking LCD screen, I dropped the build platform to the home position and tightened the bolts on the gantry.
The bolts have split ring lock washers as opposed to regular washers, which make leveling the bed a tedious and difficult task. As I tightened the bolts, the split ring washer moved just slightly and caused the build platform to raise or lower. Leveling this printer was a challenge that required me to work very slowly to make sure the build platform didn’t shift while tightening.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
After I leveled the build platform, I installed the resin vat in the printer and secured it with the two attached thumbscrews. The vat has a polymer frame with fill indicators graduated to the max fill line of 200ml embossed on the side. The FEP film at the bottom of the vat has been installed, pretensioned and is ready to use right out of the box.
Printing Safety with Longer Orange 10
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Longer Orange 10 uses 405nm UV resin, a material that you need to handle safely when in an uncured state to avoid injury. The resin can be harmful when making contact with skin, so make sure to wear gloves when pouring, cleaning up, or handling uncured resin. I also make sure I’m wearing gloves when removing the build platform after a print, as the resin tends to pool on top of the platform and can drip off while the platform is being removed.
Make sure you use the Orange 10 in a well-ventilated room to minimize the danger from inhaling fumes. Any spills or uncured resin stuck to a surface should be cleaned using 99% Isopropyl Alcohol and the container for the resin should be kept closed and secured when not actively pouring material.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The build platform on the Orange 10 has four upward-facing bolts that are used to secure it to the bracket. This is a poor design element, as the location of the bolts means it is very difficult to clean uncured resin off inside the bolt caps or clean the space between the bolt heads and the bracket. While the slanted build platform does allow the majority of the resin to slide back into the vat, it still pools around where the bracket meets the build platform and it can be difficult to clean completely. While this isn’t a problem unique to the Longer Orange 10, it is certainly something I find to be unnecessarily time-consuming and could be easily solved with a one-piece build platform.
Printing the Included Test Prints on the Longer Orange 10
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Longer Orange 10 includes four pre-sliced models that are ready for printing, as well as the .STL files used to make them. The first one I tested was VampireLordBust.lgs, a 75.26mm model that prints in five hours and nine minutes. The model (which I found uploaded on MyMiniFactory by searching for the file name) has supports designed into the model as opposed to being generated by the slicer software.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
I try to avoid models with supports designed into them, as every printer will handle them differently and the slicer software is usually better at generating them. This is more of a problem with MSLA resin printers, as larger supports need to be broken off which can shatter or crack the brittle cured resin.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The part printed without any issues and, as expected, removing the support material left some defects. The two large bars underneath the arms were difficult to remove fully, and the thin beams under the chin left material behind after they were cracked off. The overall level of detail on the model was muted, and the resolution didn’t look as sharp as I would have expected from an MSLA resin printer. The teeth on this vampire bust have been individually modeled, but I noticed that they were difficult to differentiate on the printed model.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The built-in model The_Three_Wise_Skulls_20mb.lgs is a taller print (107.25mm) that let me get a better feel for the level of detail the Orange 10 was capable of. This sliced model was interesting for two reasons; it prints out completely support-free, and it also prints completely solid. This means that it uses more resin in the printing process and has a heavier, denser feel than the Vampire Lord bust (78 grams as opposed to 27).
I was a little more impressed with the detail shown on this model, and the nine hour and 17 minute print time was a pleasant surprise considering the height of the model. The low XY resolution (.115mm) leads to visible stepping on the shallow curves of the model, most notably the back and sides of the skulls.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Preparing Files for Printing with LongerWare
(Image credit: Longer)
Longer includes two apps with the Orange 10; LongerWare and Chitubox. LongerWare is an app that is designed for the Orange 10, Orange 30, and Orange 120 MSLA resin 3D printers. LongerWare includes profiles for the various resin types including water-washable, standard, and castable at multiple resolutions. LongerWare offers the functionality you would expect from a slicing software, such as the ability to scale, rotate, and move models before preparing them for printing.
(Image credit: Longer)
I was disappointed in the overall experience while using LongerWare, though, as
thesoftware feels a little unfinished. There’s no ability to preview print times or material usage in the software, and once exported as an .lgs file for the Orange 10, the object can’t be opened to examine the settings. This feels like a major oversight, and it made planning my print schedule a little difficult. The only way to see the estimated print time is to save a project as a .lgs file, export it to the microSD card, insert the card into the printer, click print, and then see the time on the printer touchscreen interface.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
To test out LongerWare, I printed out a 32mm mini from Loot Studios sliced using the .05mm Water Washable resin profile. The mini (32mm_Georgios_HelmetVersion) printed in just over four hours, and it wasn’t until the mini was above the vat of resin that I noticed the supports had not attached to the model at various points. After removing the model and cleaning it, I saw that the shield was missing a large section. The supports for the shield printed all the way up to the contact point then stopped abruptly, leaving me to believe that the connection between model and support wasn’t strong enough to hold the model in place.
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Despite the lack of support material on the shield, the spear printed without issue and successfully completed. The quality of the support material on the spear is hit or miss, with some of the individual structures fused with those adjacent to them.The various defects in this model are frustrating, but the bigger takeaway for me was the difficulty in using the LongerWare software. When compared with the alternative offered by Longer (Chitubox), it’s hard to imagine a situation where it would be advantageous to use LongerWare.
Preparing Files for Printing with Chitubox
(Image credit: Chitubox)
Chitubox includes the Orange Longer 10 on its list of supported printers, but you’ll need to import a plugin to export the .lgs extension used by the printer. Longer includes both the Chitubox app as well as the required plugin on the microSD card included with the machine. Chitubox offers all of the functionality of LongerWare as well as additional features such as print time estimates, material usage estimates, and the ability to fix any potential issues with a sliced file by deleting islands (individual pixels that are not connected to the main body and can float around in the vat or stick to the FEP film).
(Image credit: Chitubox)
I used the same profile on Chitubox that I used on LongerWare (Water Washable for 0.05mm), but I noticed that the exposure time was set to six seconds as opposed to eight. This is a minor difference, but it did make me wonder about what other changes may exist in the various profiles between the slicers. The Z speeds all seemed to be the same, and the bottom layers had the same exposure and height settings as well.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Sliced in Chitubox, the 32mm miniature Minotaur model by Loot Studios printed out in 3 hours and 2 minutes and didn’t seem to have the support delamination issue that the model sliced in LongerWare had. The detail was similar to the other models printed, although some of the smaller features looked a little soft. The support material was attached to the model throughout, and the removal was quick and easy.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Print Size Comparison of the Longer Orange 10 vs. Creality LD-002R
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Longer Orange 10 is a compact 3D printer with a noticeably smaller footprint than other MSLA resin 3D printers. The $199 Creality LD-002R MSLA resin 3D printer offers similar specifications at a slightly-higher price point, so it makes sense to compare the overall build volume and printer volume to get a feel for how much smaller the Longer Orange 10 really is.
Longer Orange 10
Creality LD-002R
Masking LCD Resolution
854 x 480
2560 x 1140
XY Resolution
.115mm
.075mm
Build Dimensions
3.86 x 2.17 x 5.5 inches
4.69 x 2.56 x 6.3 inches
Build Volume
46.07 cubic inches
75.64 cubic inches
Printer Dimensions
6.7 x 6.7 x 14.2 inches
8.7 x 8.7 x 15.9 inches
Printer Volume
637.44 cubic inches
1203.471 cubic inches
Build / Footprint Ratio (higher is better)
7.20%
6.20%
The significantly reduced length in the X and Z axes on the Orange 10 directly translates to a significantly impacted build volume when compared with the LD-002R. The lower resolution masking LCD on the Orange 10 means that the XY resolution is also lower than the LD-002R. However, the compact form factor of the Orange 10 gives it a slight advantage when comparing the overall build volume to footprint ratio.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Printing the Included Bracket Print on the Longer Orange 10
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
After printing a few miniatures, I wanted to see how the Longer Orange 10 performed when making parts that were intended for real-life use. The Orange 10 includes a file on the microSD called ‘BRACKET.lgs’ which prints out in a speedy hour and a half. The bracket has been filled with hexagonal lightweighting holes that perforate the model vertically and circular lightweighting holes that run through horizontally.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The printed bracket felt stiff and lightweight, and the inclusion of this model gave me something to think about while it was curing. While the overall resolution of the Orange 10 doesn’t seem up to the task of printing highly-detailed miniatures, larger or blockier models that don’t require sharp detail may be a good fit for this printer.
The bracket had a minor amount of stepping in the XY plane, but that’s less of a consideration when printing functional parts like this. Seeing this model made me think that this printer may have a home with any user who is looking to print functional parts where accuracy is less of a concern.
Bottom Line
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Longer Orange 10 is currently available directly from Longer for $139. In addition, the Orange 10 is $179.99 on Amazon, and Amazon Prime members can currently pick it up for a very reasonable $143.99 with free shipping. At that price, it can certainly appear that the Orange 10 is a good value for someone interested in getting involved with 3D printing.
Unfortunately, I have a hard time finding a compelling reason to go with the Longer Orange 10 when other budget MSLA resin 3D printers like the Creality LD-002R exist in the same price range. The relatively low resolution on the XY plane and non-Mono LCD means that the Orange 10 will take longer to print lower resolution parts than other budget MSLA resin machines. The Orange 10 strikes me as an application-specific machine, but you will need to have that application ready and in mind before purchasing this printer.
Generally speaking, a lot of the appeal of the Orange 10 will likely come from the rock-bottom pricing of the machine. For users unconcerned with speed or accuracy who want a hands-on assembly like they would get from the Creality Ender 3 Pro FDM 3D printer, the Orange 10 offers a complete MSLA resin 3D printing experience for less money than a date night for two.
Keyboard shortcuts should make life easier, not more complicated—that’s why we love Katie Dumont’s Raspberry Pi Pico Macro Keypad project! This custom-made Pico keypad not only stores macros but also helps you keep track of different keyboard shortcut profiles for multiple applications.
The device was designed entirely from scratch by Dumont. It features a matrix of 12 keys spanning three rows down and four columns across. The best Raspberry Pi projects have a professional touch and, in this case, each key is using Cherry MX switches for a professional click. A rotary encoder is used to cycle between the shortcut profiles.
When I mentioned that Dumont designed everything from scratch, I meant it. She developed a case just for the occasion using OpenSCAD and this was fabricated using a 3D printer. The end result is a sleek, custom shell that snugly houses each component. Rubber feet are used to keep the base from sliding around while it’s in use.
Programmed using CircuitPython, a version of MicroPython from Adafruit, Dumont’s project was written using Mu an IDE aimed squarely at beginners that is compatible with Python, MicroPython, CircuitPython on devices such as Adafruit’s boards, Raspberry Pi and micro:bit.
When plugged into a computer it is recognized as a keypad device, no matter what operating system it is used with. A built-in LCD screen is used to see which application profile is currently active and this can be changed to another pre-programmed layout using the rotary encoder.
If you want to recreate this Pico shortcut keypad, check out the project thread at Element14 for more details and resources to get started.
What is it about Raspberry Pi and homebrew electronics projects that seems to attract the Star Trek fans? We couldn’t possibly say, but this awesome tricorder project from Chris “directive0” Barrett is the second we’ve seen this week, so there could be a whole universe of them out there.
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(Image credit: Chris “directive0” Barrett)
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(Image credit: Chris “directive0” Barrett)
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(Image credit: Chris “directive0” Barrett)
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(Image credit: Chris “directive0” Barrett)
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(Image credit: Chris Barrett)
Barrett’s design is actually the second one he’s produced, and he’s been working on it since January 2018. It blends a custom mainboard PCB, complete with Starfleet delta, with a Raspberry Pi Zero W and top mounted sensor board with LEDs set to mimic the onscreen prop. The tricorder’s sensors are able to sense temperature, humidity, air pressure and VOC gas sensing unit for passive environmental readings, plus a non-contact thermometer and a small IR thermal camera for measuring temperature at range. Barrett hopes to add another gas-detecting sensor too, this time for picking up traces of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, hydrogen, ammonia, methane, propane, and iso-butane in the atmosphere.
The shell is 3D printed, and modelled on the flip-open TR-590 Mark VI Tricorder seen in Star Trek the Next Generation that looks a bit like a Game Boy Advance SP on growth hormones (though it looks more like the TR-580 Tricorder VII in service between 2366 and 2372 to us). Custom-printed stickers supply the necessary Star Trek aesthetic.
The newest design of the mainboard includes capacitive touchscreen compatibility, and a shift register to drive the LED lighting, plus a single transistor audio amplifier. A simple LCD display provides visual output. The custom PCB requires further revisions, so the Tricorder isn’t fully functional yet. PicorderOS, a Python library, runs the show, unifying the different modules under a custom user interface. You can read about the whole ingenious project on Barrett’s wiki.
We’re not sure entirely how useful this will be, but for those of you with a plentiful NFT collection, a GitHub user called snarflakes has published instructions for creating an NFT viewer out of a Raspberry Pi Zero and a Pirate Audio pHAT from Pimoroni.
(Image credit: snarflakes)
The brains of the unit is a Raspberry Pi Zero WH, the model with the built-in Wi-Fi and pre-soldered GPIO header. The tiny computer sits behind a Pimoroni Pirate Audio, a 1.3 inch SPI LCD display, which has a resolution of 240 x 240px, four buttons and a speaker that connects directly to the Pi’s GPIO pins. There’s a slim battery pack too, connected to the GPIO of the Raspberry Pi Zero WH via a UPS Lite board. All you need is the software, installed to a Micro SD card, and you are ready to appreciate your art collection.
The Python code running the project, drives the display, processes the users input via the four buttons, plays the tunes and calls up the art images from their URLs.
Snarflakes has provided full instructions on GitHub, where we expect cryptoart appreciators to begin flocking immediately.
(Pocket-lint) – The Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite joins the Mi Watch as a part of a duo that wants to put smarts on your wrist for significantly less money than an Apple Watch or a Samsung smartwatch.
If the Mi Watch is considered affordable, then the Mi Watch Lite is proper cheap, going toe-to-toe with a raft of Amazfit Bip watches available around this price – and other budget options you should probably steer clear of.
For that cut price, the Mi Watch Lite offers a mix of smartwatch and fitness tracking features and battery life that can make it through a week. You’ll inevitably have to live with some shortcomings, but it feels like ones that don’t detract from what is a decent budget smartwatch.
Design & Display
Measures: 41 x 35 x 11.9mm / Weighs: 35g
1.39-inch display, 320 x 320 resolution
Size options: 41mm
5ATM waterproof
Like the first Mi Watch – the one that never made it out of China – the Mi Watch Lite is a square affair, featuring a 41mm case made from plastic.
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It weighs in at 35g, so it’s by no means a heavy watch, and it’s paired up with a TPU strap that’s removable. It just takes a bit of time to get it off and get something else on there.
There’s your pick of black, ivory or navy blue case colours, or the choice of five ‘fashionable’ Morandi colours including olive, pink and ivory.
On the wrist, the Mi Watch Lite doesn’t look hugely different from other budget square smartwatches out there and the colour options are nice – but it would be stretch to say it gives them a more stylish look. It’s pleasant enough looking, but the larger Xiaomi Mi Watch is visually more appealing.
The Lite offers a single physical button on the side of the case that’ll wake the screen up and launch the app menu screen. That screen is the touchscreen kind of course. It’s a 1.4-inch TFT LCD type, so not the AMOLED kind you get on the more expensive Mi Watch.
It’s a good quality screen for the price and certainly doesn’t have that washed-out look you sometimes find on smartwatches this cheap. The backlight offers 350 nits of brightness, so it’s not one you’re going to struggle to see at night or during the day. It still offers good colours and it’s generally a nice screen to glance down at.
What’s more problematic is the controls: tapping is prioritised over swiping through screens. You can scroll through some screens, but it’s slow moving when you do it. It’s generally less of a problem if you’re checking a notification or looking at one of the widgets, but when the sweat comes during exercise, it’s more problematic and frustrating to handle.
Like the round Mi Watch, Xiaomi has made the Lite suitable for swimming and showering by slapping it with a 5ATM water resistance rating, which means it’s good at depths up to 50 metres.
Software & Performance
Works with Android and iOS
No third-party app support
Xiaomi uses its own in-house operating system for the on-watch software experience and it has Xiaomi Wear (Android) and Xiaomi Wear Lite (Apple) apps for that time spent away from the watch itself.
Pocket-lint
Our screen control frustrations aside, it’s a very easy watch software to get to grips with. Swipe left and right to see widgets showing off data like heart rate and weather forecasts. The main menu screen is a mere button press away.
Like the Mi Watch, that main menu screen doesn’t include any text, so it’s up to you to quickly establish what launches what here. There’s some simple settings you can tinker with on the watch like screen brightness, watch faces, do not disturb mode, idle alerts, and setting up a password for security.
The companion Xiaomi Wear app is broken up into three sections letting you dig into your health and fitness stats, track workouts from and adjust settings. There’s no third-party app support here, so if you’re thinking of connecting it to the likes of Apple Health or Google Fit, you’re out of luck.
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The app itself – much like Zepp Health’s Amazfit and Mobvoi’s TicWatch – doesn’t feel the most polished or slick, but it does make it easy to adjust watch settings and delve deeper into your data if you want.
Sports & Fitness Tracking
GPS and GLONASS
Built-in heart rate monitor
24/7 fitness tracking and sleep monitoring
Like the Mi Watch, the Lite is one that’s built to track your fitness and health – and has the key sensors on board to deliver that.
Pocket-lint
There’s built-in GPS and GLONASS satellite support to map outdoor activities. There’s accelerometer and gyroscope motion sensors for indoor tracking. And there’s 11 sports modes in total, including running (indoors and outdoor), cycling, trekking, swimming (pool and open water) and freestyle modes for those activities it doesn’t cover.
What you’re missing out from the Mi Watch are the Firstbeat-powered training features, stress tracking, the ability to take blood oxygen measurements, automatic exercise recognitio, and wider satellite support.
As a stripped-back sports and health monitoring watch, the Lite performs pretty well. GPS accuracy during our testing was reliable in comparison to a Garmin running watch. For indoor workouts, heart rate data was usually closely in-line with a chest strap monitor for HIIT and indoor rowing sessions – although we didn’t have to raise the intensity too high outside to see some odd spikes in heart rate.
If you’re less concerned about smashing out burpees and nailing 5K PBs, the Lite’s core fitness tracker features work well without really offering ways to make improvements or motivate you to move more.
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Step counts during our testing were within acceptable range of the Fitbit Sense, and it’ll capture distance covered and calories burned. It offered similar accuracy to the bigger Mi Watch for sleep monitoring, though doesn’t capture REM sleep stages or offer any kind of insight or advice to improve sleep.
If you choose to continuously monitor your heart rate, then based on our experience, resting and average heart rate data seemed high compared to the data captured on a chest strap and a heart rate monitoring pulse oximeter. While there’s no stress monitoring here, you do still get guided breathing exercises, though there’s nothing groundbreaking on that front in terms of how it’s delivered.
Smartwatch Features
Over 120 watch faces
View notifications
Music controls
For this low price you’re obviously not going to get an Apple Watch equivalent here, so you won’t be able to make payments, put music on it, or even download apps.
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What you can do is view notifications from a paired Android or iPhone, control music playing on your phone from native and third-party apps, check weather forecasts and set alarms.
Notifications can only be displayed and not acted on and some messages can look a little messy at times in the manner they’re displayed. Music playback controls work well and dedicated screens to show-off weather data work without issue, so there’s definitely some nice elements here.
You do get a nice array of watch faces too, with the ability to store multiple faces on the watch itself and download more from the watch store, which you can find in the companion app. There’s a good mix of analogue and digital faces and additional ones if you want to pack it with data or keep things simple.
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That’s really your lot though. Aside from some timer and alarm features, Xiaomi keeps it basic, which some will be satisfied with and others possibly not so much.
Battery Life
Up to 9 days in typical use
10 hours GPS battery life
The Mi Watch Lite comes packing a 230mAh capacity battery, which Xiaomi says will get you up to 9 days in typical use. That typical use is based on lab tests where heart rate monitoring was set to be the biggest interval option, 100 notifications were received by the watch, and it tracked one 35-minute outdoor exercise session a week.
Pocket-lint
The likelihood is that most people are probably going to be working out more than once a week or wanting to monitor heart rate with more detail. Our testing time didn’t reflect Xiaomi’s lab testing conditions. We had continuous heart rate monitoring on at 5 minute intervals, had notifications turned on and tracked five outdoor and indoor workouts a week. It ended up lasting about 5 days in our testing time, which is short by 4 days of that claimed 9 days life per charge.
Those GPS battery life numbers seem to add up as well, offering the kind of drop off in 30 minute and 1 hour outdoor runs that suggest it could reach to those 10 hours when you want that hit of mapping data.
Best fitness trackers 2021: Top activity bands to buy today
By Britta O’Boyle
·
Our guide to the top fitness trackers available, helping you count steps, track calories, monitor your heart rate, sleep patterns and more.
When it comes to charging, there’s a large cradle that clips around the back of the watch and you’ll have no concerns it’s going to budge or fall out when it’s charging. It’s pretty well locked in place.
Verdict
The Xiaomi Watch Lite is a cheap smartwatch that is surprisingly nice to live with once you accept the compromises you have to make with it.
You’re not going to get that same high-quality display or some of the richer health and fitness features and insights you’ll get on the Mi Watch, but what remains offers a familiar and good experience.
It’s a solid albeit basic fitness tracker, competent smartwatch, and doesn’t do too badly as a budget sportswatch all considered. Compared to smartwatches in and around it at this price, the Mi Watch Lite stands out for the right reasons.
Also consider
Pocket-lint
Amazfit GTS 2
If you can stretch to spend more, the GTS 2 will get you a more impressive hardware and richer fitness tracking and smartwatch features.
Read our review
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Writing by Michael Sawh. Editing by Mike Lowe.
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