Samsung’s latest Chrome OS laptop, the Galaxy Chromebook 2, is now available for purchase at Best Buy. The Chromebook 2 was first announced at CES in January and features a new QLED display, 360-degree hinge, and a striking red paint job. It starts at $549.99 for a Celeron model and goes up to $699.99 for a Core i3 version, putting it at the higher end of Chromebooks.
That price is the most significant thing about the Chromebook 2 because it’s considerably less than the Galaxy Chromebook that debuted a year ago. The older Chromebook had an 4K OLED screen and came with a stylus — neither of which you’ll fine with the new model — but it also cost just under $1,000 when it came out. In our review, we found despite the gorgeous screen and striking paint job, the original Galaxy Chromebook didn’t justify its cost, particularly thanks to abysmal battery life.
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2
$550
Prices taken at time of publishing.
The Galaxy Chromebook 2 is Samsung’s flagship Chrome OS laptop for 2021. It has a new QLED screen, either Intel Celeron or Core i3 processors, and comes in a striking red paint job.
$550
at Best Buy
We’ve yet to put the new Chromebook 2 through its paces, but we did get to see the machine in person back in January and it certainly seems like it will be competent. The QLED screen isn’t quite up to the marks of the OLED panel, but you’d be hard-pressed to notice without putting them side-by-side, and the rest of the Chromebook 2’s fit and finish are appropriate for the price Samsung is asking. Importantly, it still comes in that amazing red color, as well. You might notice the extra weight — the Chromebook 2 is about half a pound heavier — but it still falls under three pounds total and should be easily portable.
We will have a full review of the Chromebook 2 in the near future, but if you don’t want to wait and grab one yourself, you might be able to find one in stock at your local Best Buy right now. Let’s just hope Samsung improved the battery life over last time.
The Razer Naga X offers a best-in-class sensor, 16 programmable buttons and a great shape. Razer needs to improve the ergonomics of its 12-button thumbpad though, and the Naga X misses what felt like standard features in the more expensive Naga Trinity and Naga Pro. For $20 more, the Naga Trinity is a better choice, and the lower-end competition has gotten better too.
For
16 programmable buttons
Configuration button mappings via Razer software
Design feels great in larger hands
Against
Can only save a single profile in onboard memory
Thumbpad buttons can be hard to differentiate
You can never have enough buttons. Whether you’re knee deep in the latest raid wing in World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XIV or you need a host of buttons for productivity in Adobe Photoshop, more buttons is helpful. This is where the MMO mouse excels.
Since 2009, Razer has offered the Naga line of MMO mice, each competing to be the best gaming mouse for MMO players. Each model has offered between 6 and 12 buttons, with updates over the years. Enter 2021, and we have the Razer Naga X with a 12-button thumbpad, RGB and the latest in Razer mouse technology.
The Razer Naga X’s $80 price tag puts it in line with some of the competition, including the Corsair Scimitar Pro RGB. That price point is above some other MMO mice however, like Redragon M913 Impact Elite or the Logitech G600 MMO mouse, which has seen its MSRP drop to $40 since its 2012 release.
Razer Naga X Specs
Sensor Model
Razer 5G Optical
Sensitivity
100-18,000 DPI
Polling Rate
125/500/1,000 Hz
Programmable Buttons
16
LED Zones and Colors
2x RGB
Cable
6 feet (1.8m), braided
Connectivity
USB Type-A
Measurements (LxWxH)
4.69 x 2.93 x 1.69 inches (119.13 x 74.50 x 42.93mm)
Weight
3.88 ounces (110g)
Razer Naga X Design and Comfort
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When I’d said the overall design of the Naga hasn’t changed, that wasn’t hyperbole. Like its predecessors, the Naga X has a gentle hump that’s more situated towards the rear of the mouse. On the right side, there’s a small resting spot for your ring finger. Overall, the general shape fits well into my larger hand, more so than a smaller design like from the Razer DeathAdder lineup. The Naga X is 4.69 x 2.93 inches x 1.69 inches, making it identical to the Razer Naga Trinity in dimensions and slightly less long, as well as less wide and slightly shorter than the Redragon M913 Impact Elite (4.82 x 3.62 x 1.65 inches). The Naga X is notably lighter than both the Naga Trinity and Redragon though (3.88 ounces versus 4.55 ounces and 4.23 ounces, respectively).
Most of the buttons on the Naga X live on the left side of the mouse. They’re in a familiar 12-button layout, with four rows of three buttons. Every button is slightly angled aimed at allowing you to differentiate which button is underneath your thumb. Each button has a decent click to it, though they’re not as meaty as the bigger buttons on the Corsair Scimitar RGB Elite.
The Naga X’s left and right click buttons both use Razer’s 2nd generation optical mechanical mouse switches. They have a snappy click with requiring much actuation force. In between the mouse’s two primary buttons is a notched scroll wheel and a single button that lets you toggle through 5 CPI settings, which you can program in Razer’s software if desired. This is where some of the design changes are felt. Unlike the wireless Razer Naga Pro and Naga Trinity, this is a single button, rather than two buttons so you can move up and down your CPI settings. It’s an odd omission, but not one that’s likely constantly felt. There’s no side-to-side tilt in the mouse wheel either, which was also a feature on previous Nagas, including the Nagao Pro and Naga Trinity.
There are two RGB lighting zones on the Naga X: on the scroll wheel and the 12-button thumbpad. Unlike many gaming mice, the logo by the palm does not have RGB.
Finally, on the bottom of the Naga X are three rather wide PTFE feet for smooth sliding on your surface of choice.
Razer Naga X Gaming Performance
The Naga X uses Razer’s 5G optical sensor, which is specced for up to 18,000 CPI, 50g of acceleration and a max velocity of 450 inches per second (IPS). These specs match the capabilities of the Naga Trinity’s sensor but increases the CPI by 2,000. The 5G sensor is a bit less powerful than what you’ll find in the pricier wireless Razer Naga Pro (Razer Focus+ sensor) but still proved reliable for MMO gaming and general use. The 5G is still packing powerful specs. For comparison, the Logitech G600’s sensor is specced for a max of 8,200 CPI, 30g and 160 IPS.
Given the MMO moniker of the mouse, it’s best to go to the source. I loaded up World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV to test the mouse out. By default, the 12 thumbpad buttons are all bound to corresponding number keys, with the 10 button being 0, and the 11 and 12 buttons being the minus and equal keys, respectively. This means the default setting has the standard MMO hotbar bound to the thumbpad.
During testing, I found that hitting 1-3 and 10-12 were pretty easy, as they occupy the outside edges of the thumbpad. The issue was in the 4-9 buttons. They’re simply too close together, and the differentiation in angle isn’t big enough to consistently hit the right button. The buttons are different heights, but the differences are so slight that it doesn’t matter. It’s very easy to press the wrong buttons in the middle rows.
In contrast, the Logitech G600 has what Logitech calls a “dual-dish” design, helping differentiation with “two carefully positioned sets of six buttons.” The Corsair Scimitar Pro RGB offers far more space between the buttons and an alternating texture pattern for each row. Both options add more variation, and Razer should be more willing to imitate some good ideas.
My fix was to leave the 7-9 buttons unbound. If I have problems telling the difference between the second and third rows, it’s better to just remove the third row. This gave me nine buttons to work with, which worked out pretty well overall. I was able to hit my standard rotation in both WoW and FFXIV with little issue. Of course, when buying a mouse with a 12-button thumbpad, the goal is to have 12 easily usable side buttons.
I also missed the up and down buttons for DPI switching. I work on two monitors, so I tend to find myself working with one DPI setting in documents, a higher setting for general use and then switching to an even-higher one to transition from monitor to monitor. The two DPI switch buttons made that transition easier; whereas, the single DPI cycling button adds an extra click or two to my workflow.
Razer Naga X Software
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Across its entire line of products, the Razer Synapse software is still a winner. Outside of some stiff competition from Logitech’s G Hub, the Razer software suite is one of the best around.
The main page for the Naga X within the Synapse software lets you change all of the button mappings for every button on the mouse, including scroll up, down and click. Even the main Left and Right clicks can be changed if you want. The Naga X also supports Razer HyperShift, allowing you to set a button that’ll change all the bindings to a second profile, essentially doubling the buttons available.
You can create unlimited button profiles in Razer Synapse, though only a single profile can be saved to the onboard memory on the Naga X. Once again, the Naga X falls short of the Naga Pro and Trinity; both mice could store five onboard profiles. The Naga X’s profiles can be linked to specific games and launch automatically with them. I tended to default to one profile for general work—with buttons 1 and 3 being set to forward and back— and another for MMO gaming.
Synapse is where you set the CPI toggle’s 5 stored settings, which can range from 100 CPI to a large 18,000 CPI. There are also 3 polling rate options in Synapse:t 125, 500 and 1,000 Hz.
Lighting brightness and standard RGB effects can be set in Synapse, but if you want to do more, you’ll need to use Razer’s Chroma Studio add-on software.
Bottom Line
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Razer Naga X is a solid offering at its $80 MSRP. This is a classic design that gets you a workhorse MMO mouse you can push higher with Razer’s excellent software. But the problem is the price has so many caveats.
The Razer Naga Trinity has an MSRP that’s only $20 more, and it often goes on sale for even cheaper than the Naga X’s $80 price tag. The Naga Trinity has features left out of the Naga X: more onboard profiles, the tilt click scroll wheel and dual CPI buttons. You’ll also gain the interchangeable side plates for 2, 7 and 12-button configurations, which is far more flexible. The only thing you lose is the top-end max sensitivity: the Naga X tops out at 18,000, while the Trinity is 16,000. I’d make that sacrifice.
The Logitech G600 is long in the tooth and its max DPI is much lower, but its MSRP is down to $40 at this point. And for $30 less than the Naga X, you can pick up the Redragon M913 Impact Elite, which doesn’t have the same build quality but can get the job done. I also like the design of the Corsair Scimitar Pro RGB Elite a little more than that of the Naga X, and it has the same price tag; the biggest problem with that mouse is being able to find one at retail anymore.
The Razer Naga X isn’t a bad mouse by any stretch. It’s just a matter of the competition around it excelling in various areas — including competition from Razer itself. It’s a competent, mostly comfortable mouse for MMO gaming, but there are better options out there.
(Pocket-lint) – Despite the overall TV trend being towards ever bigger screens, when it comes to OLED technology there’s actually been a growing clamour for something smaller. Not everyone can fit a 55-inch screen in their living room – yet that size has traditionally been as small as OLED TVs get.
Happily there are finally no less than three 48-inch options out there for people who want the contrast-rich picture quality OLED is renowned for but in a more manageable package: the LG OLED48CX, the Philips 48OLED+935, and on review here, the Sony KD-48A9.
Sony KD-48A9 review: Design
4x HDMI inputs, 3x USB ports
LAN & Wi-Fi multimedia options
From the front, the 48-inch Sony A9 is gorgeously minimalistic. The frame around the screen is both exceptionally narrow and sits in the same plane as the image, so it all looks like one immaculate sheet of glass.
The screen sits so low on its heavy duty, centrally mounted desktop plate stand, too, that from any regular viewing distance the screen appears to be holding itself upright using some sort of magic.
Sony
The outer edges of the screen are less than a centimetre deep, too. This outer trimness does contrast starkly, it has to be said, with a central section of the rear that actually sticks out more than the backsides of most modern tellies. Unless the set is going to be hung on a wall, though, the A9’s chunky bits don’t detract much at all from the overall supremely elegant look.
The 48-inch A9’s design doesn’t appear to include any forward-facing speakers. Except that actually, it does. For despite being Sony’s smallest ever OLED TV, the A9 still uses the brand’s unique Acoustic Screen technology, where precisely positioned actuators are used to turn the screen itself into a speaker.
The 48-inch A9 isn’t short of connections either. Four HDMIs, three USBs, and support for both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless connectivity are all present and correct.
Disappointingly, though, none of the HDMIs can handle enough data to support 4K streams at 120Hz, or variable refresh rates (VRR). In other words, this A9 can’t support the two most important new features of the latest games consoles and PC graphics cards. Despite Sony actually making one of those games consoles.
Sony KD-48A9 review: Picture Features
HDR Support: HDR10, Dolby Vision, HLG
Processing engine: X1 Ultimate
While this A9 might be smaller than other Sony OLED TVs, it’s certainly no less clever. It gets the same premium X1 Ultimate processor that all of its bigger OLED siblings also get, complete with all of its proven benefits.
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For starters, it converts sub-4K sources to 4K using a vast dual database of picture analysis to give more effective results in real-time. There’s also a Super Bitmap system for refining striping out of HDR (high dynamic range) colour blends, and a Triluminos colour system that uses precision colour mapping to deliver an enhanced range of colour tones more accurately.
Sony’s Pixel Booster technology is on hand, meanwhile, to deliver enhanced contrast by better sharing power around between the individual pixels in the A9’s self-emissive OLED screen, while Sony’s renowned MotionFlow processing contributes to improved motion handling. There’s even a new option that inserts partial black frames into the image to create a more authentic looking 24 frames per second (24p) cinematic experience, but without the same degree of brightness reduction that black frame insertion usually causes.
The X1 Ultimate processor also powers a standard dynamic range (SDR) to HDR conversion system that’s sophisticated enough to treat various objects in the image differently, rather than just applying a conversion algorithm to the image as a whole. Sony is so confident about this system that it’s applied by default and undefeatably to most of the A9’s picture presets.
Unlike Sony’s A8 OLED TV range, the A9 is designated as one of Sony’s Master Series OLED TVs. This means that each set has been individually checked over and fine tuned in Sony’s factories before being released for sale.
As an OLED TV, of course, the 48-inch A9 gives you the technology’s key advantage of every single pixel in its 4K screen producing its own light source and colour, so that the darkest pixel in any image can appear right next to the brightest – without either compromising the other.
Sony
Being self-emissive also means the A9 can be watched from pretty much any angle without any loss of contrast or colour – something which the vast majority of LCD TVs cannot compete with.
In the interests of fairness, it needs to be stressed that OLED TVs can’t achieve the sort of brightness levels that LCD sets can. The highest brightness the 48-inch A9 can achieve is 665 nits in its Standard preset, dropping to 590 nits in Cinema mode. For comparison: premium LCD TVs can routinely hit more than 1,000 nits. In fact, Sony itself has managed almost 4,000 nits from its ultra expensive ZG9 8K LCD TVs.
The A9 supports three high dynamic range (HDR) formats: the standard HDR10 system; the HLG format typically used for live HDR broadcasts; and the premium Dolby Vision format, which adds extra scene-by-scene picture information so that compatible TVs can deliver more accurate images. There’s no support for the Dolby Vision-rivalling HDR10+ system – but that’s much less commonly found in the content world than Dolby Vision.
Sony KD-48A9 review: Smart Features
Smart System: Android TV plus YouView
Happily, after a buggy and cumbersome past life, the Android TV interface is finally improving to the point where you can actually start to appreciate the platform’s main strength: the amount of content it carries.
Sony’s implementation even includes Apple TV alongside the usual Netflix, Google Play, Amazon Prime, Rakuten, and other suspects, while Android TV’s remaining blind spots when it comes to the streaming services of the main UK broadcasters are covered by the inclusion on the A9 of the excellent YouView app. This brings all the UK streaming services together into one attractively presented, easy to browse umbrella app.
Pocket-lint
Android TV on the A9 proves to be significantly less buggy than previous generations, and integrates smoothly with the TV’s setup menus. There’s none of the excessive menu sluggishness Android has sometimes caused in the past, either.
There’s still something a little dated about its full screen presentation, and it still doesn’t feel quite as well adapted to TV (as opposed to smartphone or tablet) usage as some rival TV smart systems. But it’s now something that isn’t actually a chore to use, and that’s a definite step in the right direction!
It’s worth adding, too, that Android TV supports Chromecast out of the box, while voice recognition/control support is on hand courtesy of Google Assistant.
Sony KD-48A9 review: Picture Quality
While the 48-inch A9 isn’t the only 48-inch OLED TV on the market, its picture quality ensures that it’s a unique proposition.
The best way to start developing an impression of just how lovely the A9 is to watch is to say that it’s the closest Sony has got yet to matching the renowned picture quality of its legendary BVM-X300 professional OLED mastering monitor (a screen that cost tens of thousands).
Sony
The A9’s handling of dark scenes and black tones isn’t just great, as would be expected of any OLED TV, it’s pretty much perfect. It’s completely consistent, for instance, with no hint of the sort of sudden shifts in the overall black tone that you see with some OLED rivals.
There’s no sign of noise, either, be it fizzing or blocking, in areas of near-black detail. Yet at the same time the amount of subtle shadow detail the A9 brings out of even the darkest parts of the image is exceptional.
In other words, the screen doesn’t just take the easy route to clean, dark areas by sneakily crushing subtle details out of dark areas.
Colours, too, are exceptionally handled. Not a tone looks out of place or unnatural, no particular shades end up getting too much emphasis, potential colour banding is handily suppressed by the Super Bitmapping system, and the sheer range of tones the screen can produce does justice to even the most aggressive HDR/wide colour gamut sources.
Thanks in part to the finesse of its colour management and light control, the A9 delivers native 4K images with excellent sharpness and texture. So much so that you’re never in doubt that you’re watching a 4K screen despite the A9 being relatively small by today’s standards.
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Just as importantly, though, the sharpness doesn’t feel forced. The set just looks like it’s bringing out every subtlety that’s present in a 4K image, rather than using processing to artificially sharpen things up.
The natural clarity continues during action scenes and sports events, too, thanks to Sony’s excellent motion processing system. The new black frame insertion system is pretty effective – motion looks less juddery without sliding into the ‘soap opera effect’, and the image doesn’t lose as much brightness as you’d expect with a BFI-based system. Sony’s regular MotionFlow True Cinema option, though, is so effective that most users likely won’t feel the need to trade even a little brightness for the BFI option’s slightly more authentic cinematic flicker.
It’s not just native 4K images that look detailed and clean on the A9. The upscaling prowess of Sony’s X1 Ultimate processor adds detail while removing source noise pretty much flawlessly, achieving remarkably convincing results with all but the most heavily compressed sources. Even Sony’s (sensibly restrained) SDR-to-HDR conversion system delivers results so natural and believable that even the most die-hard picture accuracy obsessives will likely find the system hard to resist.
While it’s useful to break the A9’s pictures down into their different elements, the really key point about them is that they are almost free of distracting shortcomings, errors or inconsistencies. Which means, of course, that they’re phenomenally immersive and satisfying.
Sony
If there’s an issue with the 48-inch A9’s pictures, it’s just that they’re not very bright. The measured brightness figures quoted earlier are around a fifth lower than the numbers measured in the same circumstances from many rival OLED sets. Something to consider for people looking for a TV to go into a typically bright room, perhaps.
It’s important to add, though, that the local contrast impact achieved by the Pixel Booster feature is good enough to ensure the A9’s picture still feels startlingly punchy in a dark room, and certainly doesn’t completely fade into the background when the lights are on.
Sony KD-48A9 review: Sound Quality
Concerns that the 48-inch A9’s smaller screen size might lead to a diminished performance from Sony’s Acoustic Surface technology prove unfounded. The sound still projects forward into with pleasing directness, and swells out nicely to create a sound stage that spreads far beyond the outer edges of the screen.
There’s a lovely open, rounded feel to the sound’s tone, too, that even holds up in very loud, dense film moments. In fact, the sound expands really nicely to embrace raucous action scenes; there’s no levelling off too early or thinning out with the heaviest content like you get with many TV sound systems.
Sony
Also impressive is how detailed the A9 sounds. This includes some startlingly accurate positioning of specific sounds – voices, gunfire, moving vehicles – on the screen, and lots of general detailing.
The soundstage’s precision slips once it expands far beyond the screen, though, limiting the effectiveness of its Dolby Atmos support. Bass, too, while clean and lively, doesn’t sound particularly meaty, denying big soundtrack moments the foundation of rumbles they need to deliver their full sense of scale and impact.
Verdict
The Sony KD-48A9’s pictures are as good as it gets. Close to the sort of thing typically only seen on pro-grade monitors, in fact. Especially if you’re prepared to darken your room for serious viewing.
It sounds good for its size too, and even its Android smart system is finally turning into a reasonably friendly place to hang out.
But the 48-inch A9 doesn’t quite bag a full five-star score for two main reasons: first, its puzzling lack of support for the latest cutting-edge gaming features (120/4K and VRR). Second, its asking price is pretty steep when a very similar 55-inch Sony KD-55A8 is available for hundreds less.
Alternatives to consider
LG OLED48CX
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LG’s 48-inch OLED telly is brighter and slightly cheaper than the Sony. It also, crucially, supports all the latest 4K/120Hz and VRR gaming features across all four of its HDMI inputs. Its picture quality isn’t quite as overall refined as that of the 48A9, though, and its more conventional speaker system is not quite as effective as the Sony’s Acoustic Surface approach.
Read our review
Sony KD-55A8
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Aside from sporting a less premium design and not having each set individually optimised in Sony’s factories before shipping, the A8 OLED range is a very close sibling indeed to the 48A9. And this 55-inch mode can be yours for less cash than the A9 too – if you’re ok with it being a bigger set.
The Keybow 2040 is a well made board that does exactly what it sets out to do. The CircuitPython library provides all of the functionality that we need in an easy to use manner.
For
Ease of use
Compact size
Clicky Keys
Against
Pricey
Lacks MicroPython support
Programmable keyboards are nothing new. Gamers and power users have had them for years. Making our own keyboards used to involve an Arduino Micro, lots of wiring and, if we were lucky, a 3D printed case.
UK Raspberry Pi reseller Pimoroni has made its own RP2040 ‘Pi Silicon’ based programmable keyboard which requires no soldering and comes with 16 keys, all featuring independently controlled RGB LEDs.
Keybow 2040 is Pimoroni’s second RP2040 based board, following on from their Tiny 2040 which offered a smaller version of the Raspberry Pi Pico. We took the £50 ($70) Keybow 2040 for a test drive, using it to save us time at the terminal and to create a colorful light show during those cold, dark winter nights.
Design and Use of Pimoroni Keybow 2040
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
As you may have already guessed, the Keybow RP2040 is powered by an RP2040 ‘Pi Silicon’ SoC, this is the same chip as used in the Tiny 2040 and other third party ‘Pi Silicon’ boards. It differs from earlier B0 variants of the chip, as confirmed by Raspberry Pi Founder Eben Upton who told us that it has “some more floating point support functions I think. Moving these to ROM frees up a little more RAM in applications that use them. Checking the datasheet, there are no errata fixes in this stepping.”
The RP2040 is hidden away on the middle PCB layer, which is also where the sockets for the keys and the RGB LEDs are connected, along with a single USB C port for power and programming.
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The first thing that strikes us about the Keybow 2040 is not the keys on top, but rather the exquisite silkscreen printing on the unit. Most noticeable on the underside of the board, the gold and black design is striking and permeates through the layers used to construct the board.
Ok now we can take a look at the keys, which have 16 clear keycaps covering your choice of linear (quiet) or clicky keys. Our review unit featured clicky keys via gold Kalih Cherry MX compatible switches. Each key features an RGB LED driven by an IS31FL3731 PWM LED matrix driver which handles all of the RGB effects, essentially reducing the work of the RP2040.
On one edge of the PCB is a series of GPIO breakouts for I2C, UART and typical GPIO operations. All of these breakouts require some delicate soldering to fully use them. All of this is sandwiched in a chassis measuring just 3 x 3 x 1 inches (76 x 76 x 26mm).
The Keybow 2040 sits nicely upon our desk and glows, comfortingly, as we work. Right now the best way to use and enjoy Keybow is via Adafruit’s CircuitPython programming language, a version of which has been created to specifically support Keybow 2040. Pimoroni is working on its own version of MicroPython and USB HID necessary for emulating a keyboard / mouse is in the works and this code should be available soon after release.
With CircuitPython, we were able to quickly control all 16 LEDs, creating flashing patterns and different color sequences with relative ease. CircuitPython’s adafruit_is31fl3731 library is part of a collections of libraries freely available for download, but we noticed that there was something wrong with what this library thought was the first key, and what the board library, used to interface with GPIO pins, thought was the first key.
In fact they were off by 90 degrees and this meant that pressing a key would cause the wrong key to light up in our test code. We reached out for help and a member of the community responded and was able to resolve the issue with some algebra. The new code has been passed back to Adafruit and should be fixed within a couple of days.
With the corrected version of CircuitPython, we created a simple project which mapped a sequence of key presses and text input to a single keystroke. When we pressed the bottom left key, it would simulate a key sequence on our computer which opens a terminal window and types in a command to launch a system monitor application. The key would change color from green to blue, and back again.
Use Cases for Pimoroni Keybow 2040
With the ability to map keystrokes, mouse movements and commands to any of the 16 keys, the Keybow 2040 is a powerful device for home workers and gamers. We can map commonly used sequences including reloading, inventory management and combo moves in our games or actions in a photo editor like Photoshop, and we can use Keybow 2040 perform a series of complex steps all from the push of a button.
If you’ve ever wanted an extra 16, programmable keys on your keyboard, the Keybow 2040 lets you add them.
Bottom Line
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Keybow 2040 is an impressive board and while it may only serve a single use, what it does, it does well thanks to good hardware and the CircuitPython library. The clicky keys feel responsive, and the RGB LEDs are bright and even.
At £50 ($70) we pay a high price for convenience, but Keybow 2040 is a refined and well made piece of kit that may just save you a few thousand keystrokes over the course of its life. There are cheaper alternatives, such as Pimoroni’s RGB Keypad, which uses rubber dome switches and requires you to plug in a Raspberry Pi Pico, but the smart money is on Keybow 2040.
Last year, AMD released the Ryzen 5000 series desktop processors in one of the most monumental hardware launches of the modern era. This final step completed the Red brand’s ascent back into the forefront of the desktop processor market that began with the launch of the first generation of Ryzen CPUs.
With the Ryzen 3000 launch in 2019 came the AMD X570 chipset. Featuring PCIe 4.0 support, X570 was an impressive leap from generations past. It was also hot, with motherboards often including chipset cooling fans, and, more significantly, expensive. The high cost of the chipset increased the average cost of X570 motherboards considerably over previous generations.
While AMD has done a great job of maintaining motherboard compatibility with new generation processors, none of the previous-generation AM4 motherboards featured official PCIe 4.0 support, not even for the storage and PCIe controlled by PCIe 4.0 compatible CPUs. Enter B550, the more value-oriented little brother of X570. While the B550 chipset is PCIe 3.0 only, B550 motherboards support PCIe 4.0 from the CPU to the primary PCIe slot as well as the primary M.2 slot (dependent on a PCIe 4.0 ready CPU). With PCIe 4.0 support also came increased cost. PCIe 4.0 devices are still rare in 2021, so for those on a budget, the tried and true B450 chipset is the way to go. What B450 lacks in cutting-edge features it makes up for in value.
The ASUS ROG STRIX B450-F Gaming II features a robust VRM cooling solution and a 8+4 VRM design. BIOS flashback has also been included, as well as ASUS’s excellent BIOS designed to provide an optimal, stress-free overclocking experience. The ASUS ROG STRIX B450-F Gaming II is even compatible with the latest Ryzen 5000 series processors. All of this performance is bundled into a sleek, modern package that comes in at less than US$150.
Let’s take a closer look at what the ASUS ROG STRIX B450-F Gaming II has to offer.
Specifications
Specifications
CPU Support:
AMD AM4 Socket for AMD Ryzen™ 5000 Series/ 4000 G-Series/ 3rd/2nd/1st Gen
1x RJ45 Ethernet port 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 USB Type-C® 1x BIOS FlashBack™ Button 1x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port 1x DisplayPort 1x HDMI 2x USB 2.0 1x Optical S/PDIF out 5x Audio jacks
Audio:
1x Realtek ALC1220A Codec
Fan Headers:
6x 4-pin
Form Factor:
ATX Form Factor: 12.0 in x 9.6 in, 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm
Citizen, the app that turns everyone into a crime reporter, now wants to track helicopters. The company announced today that it’s introducing helicopter tracking to the app, which will explain to users why there are flying vehicles overhead.
The team tells The Verge it employs a 24/7 group to review 911 communications, and now they’ll review data about police helicopters, too. Like any other info on Citizen, users can add their own videos and comments about the incident while Citizen verifies it on its end. When possible, the team will include a “related incident” for a helicopter spotting that’ll better explain the situation. That way, if the helicopter pertains to a missing person report, for example, that report will be linked.
The helicopter tool is the latest in Citizen’s arsenal in its attempt to become the place where people get all their local crime info. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it introduced an in-app contact tracing tool, and the company says it’s seen over 7 million signups since its launch in 2017.
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The LG Stylo 6 is a sub-$300 phone with a built-in stylus, which puts it in exclusive company: the $299 Motorola Moto G Stylus is more or less its only direct competition. For its $270 price, the Stylo 6 offers good battery performance; a big, bright screen; and the handy pen-derived features that stylus life offers. But as much fun as I had doodling on its generously sized screen, it’s just too slow to recommend.
That’s a shame because I genuinely enjoyed aspects of using this phone. I couldn’t seem to drain the battery below the 30 percent mark even on a day of heavy usage, and I experienced real enjoyment texting my spouse a precisely drawn, animated doodle of a farting butt. Photos look good on its vivid, wide 6.8-inch screen, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover while rewatching Chernobyl (don’t worry, I talk to my therapist about this) that it has stereo speakers.
Unfortunately, that enjoyment was overshadowed every time the phone took an extra beat to switch between apps, open Twitter, load my Instagram feed, or start my Google Maps navigation. It’s not unusably slow, but it is quite noticeably slow. If you have the patience of a small insect like I do, there’s a fine line between the two.
The Stylo offers a large 6.8-inch screen.
LG Stylo 6 screen and performance
The Stylo 6 is a large phone, as you’d expect a phone with a stylus to be. It offers a 6.8-inch 1080p LCD with a standard 60Hz refresh rate and modest bezels. Its dimensions are similar to the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, also a large phone, except that it’s slightly taller. The screen itself is plenty bright and vivid, and the aforementioned stereo speakers make watching videos that bit nicer.
I found the phone overall too big to use comfortably one-handed, and it felt awkward in even large coat pockets. That’s beside the point, though, if you’re considering the Stylo then you probably already know you want a large phone, so to each their own.
The Stylo 6 offers a Mediatek Helio P35 chipset and 3GB of RAM. Herein lies the Stylo 6’s troubles: this processor and RAM combination just doesn’t offer enough power for this phone. I noticed stuttering often as I scrolled through media-rich screens on Twitter and Instagram. Ditto the previously mentioned slowness opening and switching between apps, and the camera suffers from laggy processing speeds, too.
I sometimes tapped the screen, then wondered if the phone had recognized the tap a split second before it opened an app or whatever I was trying to do. Conversely, I’d tap the screen too lightly or quickly and wait an extra second before realizing it hadn’t registered, just because I’d gotten used to giving the phone a little extra time to do everything. This would all be more forgivable (if still frustrating) on a $200 phone, but depending where you get the Stylo 6, it’s pushing closer to $300 and should really do better.
If there’s a bright spot to the phone’s processing woes, it’s that battery life is great — possibly as a side effect. The Stylo 6 has a 4,000mAh battery, and after a typical day with two-plus hours of screen-on time, I was usually down to only 70 percent. I was sure a day of heavier use with Google Maps navigation, Spotify, and more social media scrolling than usual would challenge it, but nope. I didn’t even drain it enough for a low battery warning before plugging it in at night.
There’s just one configuration offered with 64GB of built-in storage, which isn’t great, but it’s expandable by way of microSD. It ships with Android 10 and, unfortunately, a lot of preloaded apps and games that you probably don’t want. LG isn’t known for a generous upgrade schedule so it’s very unlikely the Stylo 6 will see an Android 11 update.
Popping out the stylus brings up some shortcuts.
LG Stylo 6 stylus features
Of course, the stylus features are a big (sorry) draw here. The stylus is tucked away and spring-loaded into the lower-right corner of the device, and it activates a set of shortcuts when it’s removed. You can take a quick note, grab a screenshot or a GIF of whatever’s on your screen, and mark it up with notes, or draw something immature to text to your partner.
You can do useful, productive things with a stylus, but you can do this, too.
Despite Samsung’s Galaxy Note being the de facto stylus phone, LG has been making phones with styluses for ages, and it shows with little UI touches like automatically toggling off gesture navigation when you start a note so that you don’t accidentally swipe out of it. You won’t find advanced features like the (much more expensive) Galaxy Note series offers here such as handwriting-to-text conversion or the ability to use the stylus as a remote control. Basically though, it does all of the things you’d expect it to do, and these features work well.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed having the stylus available. It’s much easier to draw or write silly notes on images with the pen rather than your finger, which I had basically given up on doing because they always look terrible.
The ability to also jot down a quick note without even turning the screen on is something I really appreciated. I feel like I’m always fumbling to unlock my phone, find the notes app, and open a new note just to type out something quick like an email address or a song title. None of this is unique compared to a Galaxy Note, of course, but the Stylo 6 has a set of genuinely useful features that aren’t very common, especially at this price point.
The Stylo 6 features standard wide and ultrawide rear cameras, plus a depth sensor.
LG Stylo 6 camera
The Stylo includes a 13-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel ultrawide, a 5-megapixel depth sensor, and a 13-megapixel selfie camera. That’s not a lot of resolution to work with, but it’s enough to allow the Stylo to take decent-quality images in good light.
White balance occasionally leans a little too magenta or too green, which sometimes gave an effect I liked — kind of a nostalgic film-like quality. At other times, images just looked too cool and washed out. I like how the Stylo handles high-contrast scenes; the HDR effect doesn’t look too strong. Your preview image will look overly dark, but an HDR icon on the screen indicates that the final image will look much more balanced.
Images in low light or moderate indoor lighting look okay for social media but show a lot of smeared detail if you look closely. The ultrawide lens is somewhat limited by its low-res sensor. Even in bright daylight shots details look smoothed over, and it’s just not up to low light photography.
Taken with ultrawide
Portrait mode
Portrait mode
Taken with ultrawide
The camera is also a victim of the phone’s underpowered processor, particularly in portrait mode. The live preview is quite laggy, which gets worse once you push the shutter and wait for the phone to process the image. This can take as long as six seconds, during which you’re unable to take another image.
It’s hard to know if you got the right frame of your subject, and it’s a frustrating experience trying to photograph a subject that’s moving even just a little bit because you can’t “spray and pray.” The camera keeps shutter speeds relatively low, too, so blurry subjects can be a problem. By sheer luck I got a portrait mode photo of my cat mid-yawn, but I wouldn’t count on being able to do that again.
I captured a few images with the Stylo that I really like, but I felt like it was more in spite of the camera rather than because of it. The images this phone captures will look okay on Instagram and Facebook, but overall, the Stylo’s camera capabilities lag behind most other devices at this price.
The Stylo 6 offers a lot of likable stylus-based features, but it’s ultimately too slow to recommend.
The Stylo 6 has a few good things going for it: an affordable price, built-in stylus, big screen, and great battery life. But factoring in its shortcomings, namely an underpowered processor, it’s not a device I can easily recommend.
Even around its $270 price, there are many other more capable options. The $300 OnePlus Nord N10 5G offers a better camera and processor. The 2021 Motorola Moto G Power includes a massive battery and better processor performance for $200. Neither of those comes with a stylus, of course, but I don’t think the Stylo 6 is even your best bet for an inexpensive phone with a stylus: for just a little more, the 2021 Moto G Stylus offers better performance and an upgraded camera.
If speed isn’t a concern, a stylus is a must-have, and the price is right, I think you can live a reasonably happy life with this phone. Maybe my patience is just too thin, and a more enlightened person can coexist peacefully with it. The rest of us would do best to look elsewhere.
(Pocket-lint) – Arlo is a big name in home security, with a wide range of cameras, so extending its offering to the front door makes a lot of sense.
Having originally launched an Audio Doorbell – which connected to an Arlo system – the obvious leap was to integrate video and audio to make it a complete doorbell viewing and answering solution, either as part of a wider Arlo system or as a standalone device to rival Ring.
Which is exactly what you get with the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free. But is it good enough to stand up against the competiton?
Design and installation
Doorbell dimensions: 47 x 143 x 37mm
Includes flat & angled mounting plates
Weather-resistant design
Battery powered
We’ve all become familiar with video doorbells following the rise of Ring, which dominates this market. The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free is larger than Ring’s equivalent device, so it’s a little less subtle on the door, standing out more. It’s both taller and thicker than Ring’s devices.
At the top of the Arlo sits the camera, while the large doorbell button is towards the bottom, encircled with LEDs which illuminate as someone approaches it.
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The Arlo doorbell comes with both flat and angled mounting plates in the box, along with screws and plugs if you are mounting to a wall. In reality you can use any screws, but mounting is a simple case of screwing the mounting plate in place and then clipping the body of the device into place.
The camera body itself detaches from the backing plate via a pin release mechanism, the sort of thing you’d use to open a SIM tray of a phone. That needs to be considered when mounting, as you’ll need access to this hole on the top. That also means that anyone who wants to steal it only needs a bent pin, but they’d be doing that while being captured on camera.
The device is weatherproofed, too, designed to withstand rain.
Unlike with Ring, you’ll have to remove the entire Arlo unit to get to the battery inside. In some ways that’s easier, because you don’t have to mess around with a tiny screw or face plate. You can buy spare batteries too, making a quick change possible.
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The battery version of the Arlo Doorbell can also be connected to existing doorbell wiring, with connectors on the rear – although we didn’t test this aspect of the device.
The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free doesn’t come with a chime – i.e. the ability to sound a ringer elsewhere in your home – so that’s something else you might consider adding. That will mean it can audibly ring in any room of your house, so you’re not dependent on your phone, or hearing the sound from the device itself on the front door. But also consider you can have it alert you via an Amazon Echo if you create a simple Alexa Routine.
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Connectivity and the Arlo app
Hub or Wi-Fi connection
Setup via the Arlo app
No desktop app
Connecting to the Arlo Video Doorbell is much the same as connecting any other Arlo device. You’ll need to use the Arlo app on your phone or tablet and this will walk you through the process for both installing the doorbell and getting it connected.
The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free can connect to either Wi-Fi or an Arlo hub. Supporting Wi-Fi means you don’t have to be an existing Arlo system user to get started. If you have a hub and want to connect to that you also have that choice. The advantage of connecting to an existing hub is that you’ll then have the option for local video storage on microSD – so you don’t have to then have an Arlo Smart subscription to store video.
The doorbell then appears within the Arlo app. If you’re an existing Arlo user, that means it will sit alongside your other Arlo devices; if you’re new to Arlo and only plan to use have the doorbell then that’s all you’ll see in the app.
The app then gives you all the controls you’ll need for the device. That includes the option to disable the LEDs on the button when motion is detected, manage what happens when someone pushes the doorbell, change the video settings, set activity zones, and adjust the audio.
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You also get control over the mode that you’ll use for the Video Doorbell. These will be familiar to Arlo users, but on the doorbell they only really define what happens when motion is detected. You might choose to remove motion alerts when you’re at home, in which case you can “disarm” the doorbell, keep them on all the time using “armed”, or have them turn on when you leave home using geofencing or according to a schedule – such as only at night.
You can create custom modes too, which will be more relevant to those with existing Arlo devices. It’s here that you can create a mode that, for example, turns on your Arlo Light when motion is detected on the Doorbell, or begins capture on another Arlo camera you might have.
This gives plenty of flexibility for what happens from Arlo’s end, but it’s worth noting that because you can link Arlo to other major smart home platforms – like Alexa, Google Home and SmartThings – you can also set up Routines on those platforms involving other devices. For example, turning on a Hue light when your Arlo doorbell detects motion.
One downside, however, is that there’s no desktop app. Yes, you can log-in through a browser, but when working at home, having a proper desktop app just for your doorbell makes everything easier. Ring has one and it’s something that’s currently missing from Arlo’s offering.
Do I need an Arlo Smart subscription?
Arlo’s original devices didn’t need a subscription. You got a week of cloud storage for free – and that was a major advantage over other systems. With the release of more advanced devices, Arlo has tied 30-day cloud storage and a range of advanced features to its Arlo Smart plans.
For a doorbell, you might question whether you need those extra features. You can run the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free without a subscription, but you lose the cloud storage of motion captures if you don’t have an Arlo Smart plan.
As we said above, if you’ve connected the doorbell to an Arlo hub, you can use the local storage option to record to microSD – but there’s no way of monitoring those backups from your phone, you have to physically remove the card and view it on another device. That might work for some, but we suspect part of the appeal of a connected camera is being able to look back at what’s happened on your phone and download the videos you want to keep.
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Arlo Smart plans also drive other features – like AI detection of what’s been spotted, which can tell you if it’s a person, vehicle or animal. If you’re in a protracted argument about whether the neighbour’s cat is leaving deposits on your front lawn, this might be exactly the feature you need.
Arlo Smart also enables rich notifications, which will highlight what you’re looking at when those notifications appear on your phone.
The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free comes with 3-months Arlo Smart as a trial, so you can see how you get on and make your decision. We’ve generally found that Arlo products run smoother if you have a paid subscription, as you get access to all the features.
Without a subscription you can still live-view the video, get notification alerts, and will have the doorbell ring your phone when the button is pressed. And for some that’s all you’ll want – without ongoing costs.
Camera features and performance
180 degree view, 110 degree motion sensor
1536 x 1536 resolution, 1:1 aspect ratio
HDR, IR night vision
The big difference between Arlo’s doorbell and Ring’s is the camera. Arlo has gone for a 1:1 aspect, a square sensor behind that ultra-wide lens, rather than rectangular. The practical benefit is that you can see a lot more of the person at your door. Rather than just seeing a face, you’ll get a better head-to-toe view of that person.
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Depending on the arrangement of your door and the surrounding area, this might be a lot more useful than some rival cameras. For us, it means you can see a lot more of the area surrounding the door and porch, rather than the wider view that Ring offers.
The doorbell is effective at detecting motion, often alerting you to motion just before the doorbell is pressed, so you can get a double notification. The detection for us turned out to be a couple of meters, so will detect people coming up the path, although it’s more effective as people get closer.
We’ve not had the same long-distance alerts that we’ve sometimes had from Ring, which included vehicles on the road when the sun was reflecting off them. Such sensitivity can be adjusted, as well as having the option to specify detection zones (another Arlo Smart feature) if you need to obscure something.
The quality of video capture is good, with HDR (high dynamic range) allowing the camera to balance out scenes when lighting is uneven. There’s IR (infrared) extending the skills to low-light conditions too. While darkness reduces the effective range, IR does paint the subject nicely when approaching the doorbell, so it’s still easy to recognise who it is at night.
The camera is a good wide-angle too, as we mentioned above, although on a doorbell this is less important than it might be on a security camera covering a wider area of view.
The experience of using the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free is excellent, with the video results generally better than some close rival products. Certainly, the 1:1 aspect offers a natural advantage giving a more useful view for objects closer to the camera, appropriate for a doorbell.
Calling your phone has an advantage
SIP calling
Rich notifications
One of the other advantages that Arlo offers is how the “ring” comes through to your phone. Rather than it being served up via a notification, it comes in as a SIP call. The technicalities don’t matter, but it means that when someone presses your doorbell, your phone rings like an incoming call.
You’ll see that someone has pressed the doorbell, leaving you to either accept that call – and talk to that person – or decline the call and just go and open the door.
When you accept the call, you’re shown the live feed from the door and you have the option to unmute the microphone to talk, or to use messages instead – with responses like “we’ll be right there” or “you can leave the package outside”, meaning you don’t actually have to talk to whoever is at the door. These options provide great versatility in how you answer the door – and you can use these whether you’re at home or not, the caller won’t be able to tell the difference. They’re also captured on the recorded video (as in the example above), so you’d have a record of the conversation.
If you’re already on a call on your phone, Arlo will burst in on that call too, so you’ll quickly have to multitask to either put your other call on hold or send a quick reply to whomever is at the door.
We’re also a fan of the notifications that Arlo sends through. These rich notifications are the same as you’ll get from Arlo’s other cameras (if you have an Arlo Smart subscription), telling you what type of occurrence has triggered the motion and giving you a preview thumbnail. That means you can glance at your phone and see whether you need to pay attention to it or not.
Battery life
The battery life on the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free has seen us through a month of use and still has about 50 per cent remaining, so we’re on course to get the best part of two months from it – and this includes several weeks around the 0°C mark.
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Arlo says that you’ll get three to six months from it, so we’re not hitting that sort of figure – but it still compares favourably with other battery-powered doorbells. Warmer temperatures will undoubtedly extend the usage. And, of course, you can adjust various features to prolong the battery life.
Verdict
Arlo’s first venture into doorbells with the Audio Doorbell never really captured the spirit of what people wanted from a connected device. Fortunately, the Video Doorbell offers a lot more, rivalling and bettering competitors in a number of areas.
The downsides are few: the lack of chime in the box means you’ll have to fork out for one separately, while an Arlo Smart plan will see an ongoing cost to really get the best out if this model.
Yes, this doorbell is a little on the large side, but the calling mechanism and quick replies, quality of the video, and potential for integration into other systems – not to mention folding it into an existing Arlo system – make it rather easy to recommend.
Alternatives to consider
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Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus
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The Plus version of Ring’s video doorbell adds a unique function: Pre-Roll video. This will capture 4 seconds of black-and-white video before the motion was triggered, so you get a wider window of capture for any given event. Wide support from Alexa and other platforms, as well as a complete package from Ring itself, makes this video doorbell rightly popular.
While slightly compromised in the features department, the CX 400BT are sonic marvels – and, at this price, hugely appealing
For
Lively, detailed sound
Lightweight fit
Excellent value for money
Against
Battery life below the best
Not waterproof
Such is the popularity of true wireless earbuds today that you can go to the website of many established headphone brands and take your pick from several models across a range of price points. Sony, Bose and JBL, for example, all have at least a few pairs in their line-up.
But Sennheiser’s offering has, like Apple’s, been streamlined down to two models: the premium, noise-cancelling Momentum True Wireless 2 and the more affordable CX 400BT without noise-cancelling that we have on test here.
Sennheiser would no doubt argue the case for quality over quantity, and while the CX 400BT may not have the sleekest name, the fanciest design or even the most generous feature set, they are more sonically gifted than most at this level.
These Sennheisers launched at double the price but now inhabit the increasingly populated £100 ($100, AU$150) arena, making them some of the best-value budget earbuds we’ve come across.
Build
(Image credit: Sennheiser)
Compared with the excellent Momentum True Wireless 2, the CX 400BT lack active noise-cancelling, smart pause functionality and IPX4 splash resistance, and have an inferior battery life. Their specs next to their pricier sibling seems fair and is to be expected, although we would like to see a few more features from the CX 400BT.
Sennheiser CX 400BT tech specs
(Image credit: Sennheiser)
Bluetooth version 5.1, aptX
Battery life 20 hours
Charging USB-C
Weight 6g (each earbud)
Their combined battery life is 20 hours (seven hours from the buds, plus a further 13 hours from the charging case), which is less than that offered by the Cambridge Audio Melomania Touch (50 hours) and Melomania 1 (45 hours), the Earfun Air Pro (35 hours), JBL Reflect Flow (30 hours) and Apple AirPods (24 hours).
We’d also like some degree of sweat- or water-resistance, as featured on many of the Sennheiser’s rivals. Without that, the CX 400BT aren’t recommended for sportswear, and you don’t get the peace of mind that they’d survive being caught in a rain shower.
They do support Bluetooth 5.1 support and mobile app features, though – neither of which is a given at this level. The former promises high-quality, far-reaching Bluetooth transmission, while the latter opens doors to EQ adjustment and control customisation.
Out of the box, the left earbud can be tapped once to play or pause music, twice to jump backwards a track, and held down to reduce volume. On the right earbud, one tap activates your phone’s voice assistant or accepts incoming calls, two taps jump forward a track or rejects calls, and holding it down increases volume.
The playback functions can be reallocated or turned off in the Sennheiser Smart Control app, which is also where you can alter the earbuds’ EQ and save EQ presets. However, unless you’re someone who often adjusts the EQ, it’s likely you’ll use the dedicated app once during set-up and then rarely, if ever, again.
Comfort
(Image credit: Sennheiser)
While touch controls can sometimes be hit and miss with earbuds, the relatively large, flat surface area of the CX 400BT’s touch panels make the controls easy and reliable to use. The Sennheiser’s design is more functional than fancy, but that’s more of an observation than a complaint. And besides, who can argue with designs that just work?
Their oval housings require a push and twist motion for them to nestle nicely in the ears – we’re talking a bit of encouragement, rather than any forceful manhandling – and when in place are comfortably lightweight (6g each) and unobtrusive.
They are just over 2cm deep, so will protrude slightly out of shallower ears. The fit is as versatile as you’d expect, thanks to the four different sizes of silicone ear tips included in the box.
Sound
(Image credit: Sennheiser)
Sennheiser is one of the most consistent brands when it comes to sound quality, so expectations are high as we play The Weather Station’s Parking Lot via Tidal. The CX 400BT are instantly likeable: they’re lively and clear-cut, and their relatively open presentation is infused with clarity and generously peppered with detail.
Their inherently energetic, musical nature, which is forward yet not exhausting, can’t help but lap up the track’s jaunty piano melody and bassline. As cymbals, strings and vocals come into the increasingly dense mix, the Sennheisers manage to keep a tab on everything in the name of rhythmic precision.
Similarly, play Black Country, New Road’s Instrumental from their debut album and the rhythm track is presented with gusto and insight. If anything, their up-for-it presentation makes it all the more frustrating that the CX 400BT aren’t particularly good running headphones, because they would undoubtedly spur you on to reach that finish line.
There is enough in their sonic repertoire to keep them interesting when their zest isn’t required, too. Bass is taut and agile, mids are expressive and particularly open, and a crisp, present treble doesn’t let the side down. There’s plenty of detail and dynamic subtlety in a more technical, classical track, such as Ólafur Arnald’s piano-led nyepi, although if your budget can stretch to the likes of the pricier Sennheisers or Sony WF-1000XM3, there is a clear step up in class when it comes to outright transparency.
It has to be said that the CX 400BT’s sparkle comes at the expense of a little refinement. The similarly priced, five-star Panasonic RZ-S500W, for example, offer a smoother, more sophisticated balance that has a level of finesse we wish the Sennheisers possessed – even if the CX 400BT counter with a more energetic listen.
Verdict
When you have two superb-sounding true wireless earbuds in your arsenal – one with ANC at the premium end of the market, and one without at the more affordable end – why would you need any more?
We would have liked the CX 400BT to have a more versatile, sportier design, and perhaps this is where a third pair of truly wireless Sennheisers could be justified, but there’s no doubt that the reputable German audio brand has mastered the sound quality aspect. The CX 400BT would have been recommendable at their original launch price, but now discounted, they are truly excellent value.
(Pocket-lint) – Motorola is really, really good at making affordable phones. That, ultimately, is its bread and butter. So when, for 2021, it decided to rejig its Moto G family – although not by much, it now takes on a bigger-number-equals-better-features approach – the arrival of the Moto G30 looked like a familiar success story.
But with the Moto G10 appearing alongside it, at a slightly lower price and slightly watered-down spec, is the G30 the obvious winner? With a more powerful processor and faster refresh-rate screen being more or less the only differences, we’d say so – especially if you’re looking for an outright buy for the £/$180 mark – but what shortcomings might you expect?
As you can see from the specification skinny listed above, Motorola has got, um, ‘creative’ with its colour palette offerings. The model you see here on review is called Pastel Sky. That’s a totally non-descript duo of words for describing any colourway, really, and perhaps that’s for the best – because the two-tone mud-green and sparkly-pink that is its reality is, frankly, ghastly to the eyes.
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Pop a case of the G30 and you needn’t break a sweat though – although the one in the box is translucent though (uh oh). Or just buy the Phantom Black model so you won’t need to hide it from any curious onlookers (they won’t be thieves, that we can assure).
From the front, however, the Moto G30 cuts a familiar standard. The bezel around the screen is kept reasonably minimal. The teardrop notch to the top – where the selfie camera lives – is neatly done. By default the Android 11 software offers gesture navigation, so there’s not too much invading the bottom edge of the screen either.
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Plus, Motorola being knowledgeable of what people want in this category, the G30 comes complete with a 3.5mm headphone jack, an on-board microSD card slot for expanding storage, and a neatly integrated fingerprint scanner to the rear that’s well positioned this time around (that wasn’t the case for the G9 Power). There’s even a Google Assistant button – hence the trio of buttons to the side – to play nice with Android 11 and voice commands, if you so wish.
As we pointed out up top of this review, the G30 comes equipped with a 90Hz refresh rate screen. That betters the 60Hz panel of the Moto G10. Which sounds all well and good – because that’s a 50 per cent improvement in cycles per second, for a smoother visual experience – but, actually, it would have made more sense for this model to have featured extra resolution.
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While the HD+ panel here is totally fine – you’re not going to lose an eyeball due to any jaggies – given the total power available it can’t always keep up to speed with its 90Hz refresh logic. So, we say, resolution over refresh rate would have been the better shout.
Motorola has got better with managing brightness, too, so although auto-dimming is still relatively dog-with-a-stick keen, you won’t feel as though a dark veil has unnecessarily shrouded your smartphone world. Colours remain perky too.
Performance & Battery
Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 platform, 4GB RAM
128GB storage, microSD expansion slot
5,000mAh battery, 20W fast-charging
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Android 11 software
Which leads us to the innards of this phone. There’s a Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 platform on board here, along with 4GB RAM, which is a couple of steps down the Qualcomm ladder (800 series at the top, 700 series is still used in many flagships, so this is the next in the line-up).
Best smartphones 2021: The top mobile phones available to buy today
By Chris Hall
·
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That processor choice is why, hands down, the G30 makes a lot more sense to buy than the G10 (which has a Snapdragon 460). Not just because of the logic of smaller-number-must-be-worse thinking, but because of the practicalities in use.
For example: we had a G10 hang when opening Google Photos and then crash. The G30 hung around a bit, sure, but wasn’t totally gazumped by the experience, and eventually clicked into play and was on its merry little way.
Gaming, too, gets the upper hand from that better platform: yes, there are some slight pauses or stutters from time to time, but it’s not constant, meaning the G30 is good enough to dedicate to some medium level tasks. It’s got us through South Park: Phone Destroyer battles and even connected Zwift cycling sessions. We just don’t think the G10, by comparison, can offer the same quality of experience.
Pocket-lint
As is often the case at this price point you don’t get the fastest ever storage or Wi-Fi systems available, so downloads and installs will take a little longer than some devices higher up the flagship food chain. In isolation you won’t notice it though.
The choice of that processor also plays very nicely with the large-capacity 5,000mAh battery that’s on board. We’ve found the Moto G30 to push through a day – with several hours of screen time, some of which has been gaming – and still be at half empty (no, not half full) by bedtime.
Indeed, as we write this review it’s sat with 20 per cent remaining after 28 hours of not seeing a plug socket. So it’s a borderline two-day phone, especially if you’re fairly light with use (which we are not).
1/3Pocket-lint
In terms of software, there’s Google’s Android 11 on board. That’s backed up by just the one auto-installed Moto app, adding some handy tips, display, gestures, and gaming controls. It’s worth playing around with these settings, whether to enable a do-not-disturb during a gaming session, or for the screen to remain on when you’re looking at it. It’s not an intrusive app, just a nice little bonus.
Android 11 does default to gesture navigation though, which may be new to you. It involves swiping in different directions to perform different tasks and, as a system, can be decent – but can feel a little laggy in the Moto G30, presumably the result of available power. Here we’ve been happier to live with on-screen Android softkey navigation instead.
The Moto G30’s rear camera protrusion isn’t to excess; it’s a neat bump to the upper corner on the rear. Despite this small scale it houses four cameras within – a 64-megapixel main, 8MP ultra-wide, and pair of 2MP sensors for depth measurement and macro close-ups.
Pocket-lint
Sadly, however, the case for four cameras comes under the same scrutiny as so many other phones over-selling the numbers for the sake of it. The depth sensor has no real use, the macro sensor is basically a write-off – images are small, quality is poor, and colour balance all over the place – and even, in this instance, the wide-angle camera’s quality is questionable.
Yikes. That’s three out of four down, then. But, fear not, the main camera’s output on the G30 is pretty decent. The camera app is rather slow, mind, on account of the overall processing power, but with some artificial intelligence (AI) smarts aiding with scene detection – you can see the colour balance, saturation and enhancements pop into view after a little delay – shots in good light retain enough clarity.
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Don’t expect computational photography prowess here as you may find elsewhere – the night mode, for example, is average and nothing like, say, Google’s excellent mode on the Pixel series – but there are enough automated modes, including HDR (high dynamic range) to help results along. Low-light isn’t this sensor’s best friend, but it’ll be able to deliver shots from the main sensor if you hold it nice and steady.
Verdict
Although the Moto G30 takes its share of criticism – three of the four cameras are poor (two a total write-off), the Pastel Sky finish is questionable (and that’s being kind) – in the interests of context there’s little else out there at this price point that can even compete.
So, really, the G30 is all about expectation. It delivers a lot for the money – and a generally smooth user experience thanks to Android 11 software – in a long-lasting package that can handle apps and games reasonably well too.
In many ways the presence of Motorola’s G10 makes the G30 all the more appealing – as for a little extra you get the step-up in processing power, which makes the performance ample enough to recommend it as the choice.
Rivals, such as Realme and Redmi, sometimes offer more in raw specification but – as we’ve so often found from use – they just can’t touch the Motorola when it comes to core software-based user experience. So the Moto G30 is solid is a rock when it comes to standing out on its own.
Also consider
Pocket-lint
Redmi Note 9
squirrel_widget_3137106
It’s almost the same price, but brings a bump in resolution and some other features that might make it more attractive. However, as we’ve said already, the software experience just isn’t as fluid – with the Motorola running just that much better.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday that required an extensive review of critical American supply chains, with a special focus on semiconductors, to “ensure our economic prosperity and national security.”
The executive order requires the Secretary of Commerce to ”submit a report identifying risks in the semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging supply chains and policy recommendations to address these risks” by June 4.
The White House explained the order’s focus on semiconductors in a fact sheet:
“The United States is the birthplace of this technology, and has always been a leader in semiconductor development. However, over the years we have underinvested in production—hurting our innovative edge—while other countries have learned from our example and increased their investments in the industry.“
Relying on chips produced elsewhere also threatens various aspects of the U.S. economy and national security. The semiconductor shortage has slowed the production of automobiles, for example, which is vital to American manufacturing.
This isn’t a strictly American problem—TSMC’s decision to devote some of its production to automobile chips reportedly arrived due to pressure from Germany—but addressing it would quickly mitigate the chip shortage’s effect on U.S. workers.
The executive order also requires agencies to make recommendations regarding the resiliency of U.S. supply chains, reforms needed to improve analyses of those supply chains, and other factors “as soon as practicable” after the June 4 reports are filed.
All of these recommendations are supposed to help “revitalize and rebuild domestic manufacturing capacity, maintain America’s competitive edge in research and development, and create well-paying jobs” as well as “support small businesses, promote prosperity, advance the fight against climate change, and encourage economic growth in communities of color and economically distressed areas.”
Nvidia’s new RTX 3060 will be available to purchase starting on Thursday, February 25th at 9AM PT / 12PM ET. Unlike other GPUs in the RTX 30 series, Nvidia is not making a Founder’s Edition of the RTX 3060, but other manufacturers like EVGA and Gigabyte are making their own iterations of the RTX 3060. The price is said to be $329, but as has been the case for the past year, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to find it available for that. Retailers that have posted listings are already marking up 3060 cards to $390 or more, which is much closer in price to the step-up 3060 Ti.
The Verge’s Sean Hollister reviewed EVGA’s iteration of the RTX 3060 and noted in his review that although the GPU’s price makes it more competitive to buy, you’re sacrificing more than a little bit of performance compared to the RTX 3060 Ti.
So far, Best Buy and Micro Center are the only retailers that have put listings up for the RTX 3060. We will continue to update the list of cards and retailers selling them as they become available.
BEST BUY NVIDIA RTX 3060 LISTINGS
EVGA’s GeForce RTX 3060 for $380
MSI’s GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 3X for $500
PNY’s GeForce RTX 3060 single fan GPU for $625
PNY’s GeForce RTX 3060 dual fan GPU for $630
MICRO CENTER NVIDIA RTX 3060 LISTINGS
EVGA’s GeForce RTX 3060 for $390
MSI’s GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 2X for $485
Asus’ TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 3060 for $490
Zotac’s GeForce RTX 3060 for $500
Asus’ ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3060 for $510
MSI’s GeForce RTX 3060 Gaming X for $515
You may also be able to find it at Amazon, Nvidia, Newegg Shuffle, and Adorama in the US; Currys and Ebuyer in the UK; or Best Buy CA if you live in Canada.
If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
Apple Fitness Plus has been out for a couple of months now, and a few of us here at The Verge have been spending that time running it (and ourselves) through its paces. The $9.99-a-month service offers a decent array of exercise videos with an added bonus: integration with the sensors on an Apple Watch. In fact, an Apple Watch is required to use the service.
Since everybody’s exercise routine is a little different, we wanted to get a variety of perspectives on the service. What’s become clear from all of our testing is that Apple has successfully achieved what we think it set out to do: create an exercise service that is accessible to a broad range of people. There are lots of different ways an exercise service like this could get tripped up, but for the most part, Fitness Plus stays on track.
Whether you like the direction that track goes or if it’s long enough to keep your attention for years to come is another matter. It will take more time for Apple to expand its array of options in the service, but it has already added one new kind of exercise — celebrity walk-and-listens — which could bode well for those hoping for future updates.
But as we always say, never pay for something now in the hopes that it’ll be better in the future. So here’s what we think of Fitness Plus after two months of using the service.
Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge
The basics of Apple Fitness Plus
Fitness Plus’ main selling point is it’s easy to jump into — so long as your own oodles of Apple devices. The app requires an Apple Watch to access the classes, and then you’ll need an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV to stream the workouts. (Critically, there’s no way to stream from a Mac, which makes no sense and required me to stream from my tiny iPhone display.) But because the app connects to the Watch, your rings show up in the corner of the screen throughout a workout. It serves as a reminder of how hard you’ve worked and how far you have to go to meet your goals for the day. Some people might find this motivational. I did.
As for equipment, the app offers a variety of cardio workouts, such as cycling, treadmill classes, and rowing, which require special equipment. But it also offers classes like Time to Walk, which Becca will dive into below, and dance classes that require no equipment at all. Most of the strength classes would like you to use dumbbells (which can be hard to find in stock currently), but you could get away with your bodyweight if necessary.
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
There’s no way to filter classes by equipment requirements or even area of focus, so expect to spend time in the app reading descriptions and watching previews to discern whether a class is for you. This is a pain and a hurdle that shouldn’t exist. Filters by workout type and equipment should be table stakes for any fitness app.
What Apple lacks in filters, though, it slightly makes up for with a diverse group of instructors and class formats. The instructors vary in age, background, and body type, which I immediately noticed and appreciated. (I would still like to see a fitness app incorporate all body types and not just what we typically think of as “fit.”) The strength classes also offer three different sets of instructions: one for the prescribed exercise, another to make it more advanced, and a third to modify for injuries or anyone who needs to take it easy. This is the type of setup you’d see in classic fitness tapes, but I don’t find as much in on-demand classes.
This setup contrasts Apple’s biggest competitor in the space, Peloton, which doesn’t offer modifications during its workouts. As someone who has regularly worked out through Peloton’s classes, this was a nice change and one I’d like to see Peloton take as a cue from Apple. —Ashley Carman
Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge
Apple Fitness Plus versus Peloton
Apple and Peloton are similar when it comes to premise and the primary user experience. You can select workouts with different lengths, different playlists, and different instructors in various categories like cycling, treadmill, strength, and yoga, as well as dedicated cooldowns.
I would say the primary reason to use Apple’s program is its seamless integration with the company’s hardware ecosystem. When I start up a workout on my iPad, the workout shows up on my Watch as well, and my Watch’s metrics appear on the iPad’s screen. It’s great to be able to watch my heart rate and rings in real time on the same screen as my workout without having to manually connect anything. You can even launch Fitness Plus playlists in Apple Music if you take a liking to them. (You can sync an Apple Watch with Peloton’s Bike Plus, but its on-screen metrics are limited to cycling workouts.)
I also like that when you start a hill in Apple’s cardio workouts, a clock appears counting down to the end of the interval. I watch that clock religiously during the steepest climbs. It’s easier to survive them when I know exactly how long I have left to endure without having to count in my head.
Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge
Another unique feature of Apple Fitness Plus is — and I apologize for not having a better term here — the vibes. Peloton instructors approach their rides with a wide range of attitudes and personalities. And while this is also true of Apple’s instructors to some extent, all of them (at least, the cycling and treadmill folks) have vibrantly positive personas. They’re enthusiastic, they’re full of energy, and they’re so excited to be running or biking with you that it’s infectious. It’s hard not to be excited in turn. There was an emphasis on overall wellness — reaching goals, eliminating stress, that sort of thing. I don’t feel like Apple’s instructors are just trying to get me through a workout; I feel like they’re trying to make me a better person.
But the biggest difference between Apple and Peloton’s libraries is that Apple’s is newer — and that means it just doesn’t have as much stuff yet. Peloton has a wider variety of music. I’ve done everything from Bon Jovi rides to yacht-music bike rides, where Apple’s playlists are largely more general (“Everything Rock,” “Latest Hits,” “Latin Grooves,” etc.). And as someone who likes longer endurance workouts, I was disappointed that Apple’s cycling and treadmill workouts are capped at 45 minutes. With Peloton, you can ride for up to 90. Peloton also offers a number of live classes where you can interact with fellow riders, while all of Apple’s workouts are pre-recorded.
Another area where Peloton’s ahead is in specific workout hardware integration. Obviously, Apple doesn’t sell a spin bike (yet), and that means the instructors have to be more general about intensity. While Peloton instructors give a specific range (“30 to 50”), Apple instructors speak more generally (“Moderate intensity,” “add a little bit more here,” etc.). This meant I was always kind of guessing where my resistance was supposed to be during Apple’s rides (and I don’t really trust myself to arrive at a legitimately “hard” resistance when asked to find that for myself).
Apple instructors can be more specific with treadmill workouts since metrics like speed and incline are universal. Still, I wish Apple could display the current incline or resistance on the iPad screen like Peloton does. There were times when my teacher instructed everyone to change their resistance while I was zoned out or checking my phone or something, and I ended up doing a portion of the workout at the wrong intensity.
But I think the biggest thing to consider when choosing between Peloton and Apple Fitness Plus is the difficulty. Most of the Fitness Plus workouts I tried are around the same level: a nice challenge for folks like me who work out a few times a week and aren’t super in shape. Peloton caters to a wider variety of abilities, sorted on a scale of 1–10, and you can sort classes by intensity while browsing. If you’re serious about athletic training (and cycling, in particular), Peloton will have more to offer. —Monica Chin
Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge
Time to Walk
Working out in one space has always been a struggle for me. I get really bored and uninterested when I’m not actively going somewhere or physically achieving something. I usually exercise by doing loops in a park on my bike, going on a run, or slacklining between trees. So Apple Fitness Plus’ at-home workouts were never of interest to me — until a few weeks ago when Apple rolled out the Time to Walk feature. That is something I, in theory, could get behind.
Time to Walk pairs inspirational monologues, music, and photos from famous musicians, athletes, and actors with the Apple Watch’s exercise tracking feature to create a more engaging way to take a walk. I take a walk almost every day and use that time to tune in to a new album or one of my favorite podcasts, so Time to Walk slotted into my routine quite nicely. It’s exactly the level of effortlessness I need in workout tech.
There are only a couple of differences between Time to Walk and a more traditional podcast. Most notably, your Watch will buzz about twice an episode, and a photo will show up on the screen that relates to what the host is talking about. It’s cool but not groundbreaking. Secondly, the hosts are either also on a walk or talking about what walking means to them. I appreciated this a bit more. Ruby Bridges’ episode has a slow, calm pace, and you can hear as she strolls through Audubon Park in New Orleans. There are many loud birds and cars driving by in the distance. While Draymond Green’s heavier foot on a gravel path in Malibu is accompanied by the sounds of distant waves. Apple really nailed the soundstage of these walks, and it creates a pleasing experience that actually makes you feel as if you are walking next to someone.
My only issue with Time to Walk and Apple Fitness Plus at large is the need to live in the Apple ecosystem. You absolutely need an iPhone and Apple Watch to use Fitness Plus, and even outside of that, when you use the Time to Walk feature, your headphones have to be paired to the Apple Watch. If a call comes in on your iPhone and you’re not using Apple or Beats headphones that can switch over automatically, you will have to manually reconnect your headphones to your phone to take the call on them, then manually reconnect your headphones to the Watch to resume the Time to Walk episode.
For someone who doesn’t use AirPods, this is very annoying. Outside of the usual Apple ecosystem walls, Time to Walk is my favorite feature of Apple Fitness Plus. Every Monday, when a new episode with a new mystery celeb comes out, I look forward to my nightly walk. Unfortunately, this is the only feature I loved within Apple Fitness Plus, and a walking podcast is not worth $9.99 a month for me. —Becca Farsace
Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge
If there’s a single message to take away from this review, it’s this: Apple Fitness Plus is great for beginners but may not offer the depth you’re looking for if you’re advanced in any specific sport. It’s accessible to anybody who is able to buy into Apple’s whole ecosystem, though. And for me, a person who has struggled to exercise regularly for my entire life, it’s better than a gym membership.
There is enough variety for me to feel like I won’t have to put videos on repeat, but I’m only using it a couple of times a week right now. My main complaint has nothing to do with the exercise content but instead with the vibe of Apple’s videos. I’m not asking for disaffected ’90s MTV VJs, but the peppy and relentlessly positive chatter is a lot for a Gen-Xer like me. And the vaguely-but-not-actually spiritualistic “mindfulness” that you can’t avoid in the cooldowns also grates. None of this is new to anybody who has used services like this, but for me, it’s a lot. I cringe when a trainer ends a video by trying to get me excited to “close those rings” on the Watch.
Still, the best thing I can say about Apple Fitness Plus is, slowly but surely, it is helping me build a habit of actual exercise. There are plenty of days that I end up going outside for a bike ride or a walk instead of turning on an Apple video, but I think doing a couple Fitness Plus videos a week has made it more likely I’ll do that non-Fitness Plus exercise, too.
And while the Apple Watch integration occasionally feels motivational, for the most part, it feels unnecessary. Fitness Plus is not a reason to go out and buy an Apple Watch, but it might be a good reason to keep using the one you’ve already got. As with many of Apple’s new services, it’s less about drawing people in than it is about keeping people from leaving. I’ll probably keep using Fitness Plus simply because it’s part of the big Apple One bundle I got so my family could have an amount of iCloud storage that didn’t feel punitive.
If you’re not an Apple One subscriber, is Fitness Plus worth $9.99 / month on its own? If you’re already in an exercise routine, I’m not sure that Fitness Plus is going to offer you something better. For me, it’s literally better than nothing. —Dieter Bohn
NVIDIA today launched the GeForce RTX 3060 “Ampere” graphics card, and Zotac sent us their most premium product based on this chip, the Zotac RTX 3060 AMP White Edition. This card retains the compact essential design of Zotac’s RTX 3060-series, but has a few premium bits, such as a most elaborate aluminium fin-stack heatsink, an all-white cooler, and factory-overclocked speeds that are a notch above even the standard (black) RTX 3060 AMP. The RTX 3060 is set to be the most important SKU from the “Ampere” generation, as the xx60 series tend to sell the most in terms of volumes. The RTX 3060 provides a logical upgrade path for the GTX 1060 6 GB “Pascal,” by enabling 1440p gaming with reasonably high settings, or maxed out 1080p gaming including raytracing.
The “Ampere” graphics architecture powering the Zotac RTX 3060 AMP White Edition represents the 2nd generation of NVIDIA’s path-breaking RTX technology, which combines new Ampere CUDA cores with concurrent FP32+INT32 math performance, 2nd generation RT cores which double the intersection performance over the previous generation, and add hardware for raytraced motion-blur effects; and 3rd generation Tensor cores that leverage the sparsity phenomenon in neural nets to increase AI inference performance significantly. The RTX 3060 features full DirectX 12 Ultimate logo readiness.
Powering the RTX 3060 is the new 8 nm “GA106” silicon, the smallest chip from the “Ampere” generation thus far. It comes with 3,584 “Ampere” CUDA cores, 112 3rd generation Tensor cores, 28 “Ampere” RT cores, 112 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. NVIDIA has doubled the memory amount over the previous-generation, to 12 GB. The memory bus width and memory type, are unchanged—192-bit GDDR6, although the memory clock has been increased slightly.
As mentioned earlier, the Zotac RTX 3060 AMP White Edition is the company’s most premium RTX 3060 offering, with an elaborate aluminium fin-stack heatsink, two fans of different sizes, a groovy all-white cooler shroud, and factory-overclocked speeds of 1867 MHz, compared to 1770 MHz reference. Zotac hasn’t provided any pricing info, we’re expecting the card will end up in roughly in the middle of the RTX 3060 price range.
Palit introduced its GeForce RTX 3060 Dual OC graphics card today. The RTX 3060 is the most important “Ampere” graphics card for NVIDIA, from a volume standpoint, as the xx60 series tends to sell the most to the vast majority of gamers. At a starting price of $329, the RTX 3060 is designed to be a logical upgrade for those still gaming on the GTX 1060 6 GB “Pascal,” or even those on the GTX 1660 Ti, bringing them 2nd generation RTX real-time raytracing technology.
The “Ampere” graphics architecture powering the Palit RTX 3060 Dual OC uses the 2nd generation of RTX technology, combining new Ampere CUDA cores with concurrent FP32+INT32 math performance, 2nd generation RT cores which double the intersection performance over the previous generation, and add hardware for raytraced motion-blur effects; and 3rd generation Tensor cores that leverage the sparsity phenomenon in neural nets to increase AI inference performance significantly.
The GeForce RTX 3060 is based on the new 8 nm “GA106” silicon, making its debut on the desktop platform. The RTX 3060 comes with 3,584 “Ampere” CUDA cores, 112 3rd generation Tensor cores, 28 “Ampere” RT cores, 112 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. NVIDIA has doubled the memory amount over the previous-generation RTX 2060, to 12 GB. The memory bus width and memory type, are unchanged—192-bit GDDR6, although the memory clock has been increased slightly to 15 Gbps.
The Palit GeForce RTX 3060 Dual OC is designed for those who just want an RTX 3060 for its gaming performance and features, at as low as possible pricing. It features an innovative dual-fan solution, in which most of the airflow from the second fan flows through the heatsink. Palit is giving the card a handy factory-overclock of 1867 MHz (vs. 1777 MHz reference). Palit does not give any guidance on pricing, we expect the card to be one of the most affordable models.
GeForce RTX 3060 Market Segment Analysis
Price
Shader Units
ROPs
Core Clock
Boost Clock
Memory Clock
GPU
Transistors
Memory
GTX 1060 3 GB
$160
1152
48
1506 MHz
1708 MHz
2002 MHz
GP106
4400M
3 GB, GDDR5, 192-bit
GTX 1060
$210
1280
48
1506 MHz
1708 MHz
2002 MHz
GP106
4400M
6 GB, GDDR5, 192-bit
GTX 1660
$200
1408
48
1530 MHz
1785 MHz
2000 MHz
TU116
6600M
6 GB, GDDR5, 192-bit
GTX 1660 Ti
$270
1536
48
1500 MHz
1770 MHz
1500 MHz
TU116
6600M
6 GB, GDDR6, 192-bit
RTX 2060
$300
1920
48
1365 MHz
1680 MHz
1750 MHz
TU106
10800M
6 GB, GDDR6, 192-bit
RX 5700
$330
2304
64
1465 MHz
1625 MHz
1750 MHz
Navi 10
10300M
8 GB, GDDR6, 256-bit
GTX 1080
$330
2560
64
1607 MHz
1733 MHz
1251 MHz
GP104
7200M
8 GB, GDDR5X, 256-bit
RTX 2060 Super
$380
2176
64
1470 MHz
1650 MHz
1750 MHz
TU106
10800M
8 GB, GDDR6, 256-bit
RX Vega 64
$400
4096
64
1247 MHz
1546 MHz
953 MHz
Vega 10
12500M
8 GB, HBM2, 2048-bit
GTX 1080 Ti
$650
3584
88
1481 MHz
1582 MHz
1376 MHz
GP102
12000M
11 GB, GDDR5X, 352-bit
RX 5700 XT
$370
2560
64
1605 MHz
1755 MHz
1750 MHz
Navi 10
10300M
8 GB, GDDR6, 256-bit
RTX 2070
$340
2304
64
1410 MHz
1620 MHz
1750 MHz
TU106
10800M
8 GB, GDDR6, 256-bit
RTX 3060
MSRP: $330 Estimate: $420
3584
48
1320 MHz
1777 MHz
1875 MHz
GA106
13250M
12 GB, GDDR6, 192-bit
Palit RTX 3060 Dual OC
Estimate: $420
3584
48
1320 MHz
1867 MHz
1875 MHz
GA106
13250M
12 GB, GDDR6, 192-bit
RTX 2070 Super
$450
2560
64
1605 MHz
1770 MHz
1750 MHz
TU104
13600M
8 GB, GDDR6, 256-bit
Radeon VII
$680
3840
64
1802 MHz
N/A
1000 MHz
Vega 20
13230M
16 GB, HBM2, 4096-bit
RTX 2080
$600
2944
64
1515 MHz
1710 MHz
1750 MHz
TU104
13600M
8 GB, GDDR6, 256-bit
RTX 2080 Super
$690
3072
64
1650 MHz
1815 MHz
1940 MHz
TU104
13600M
8 GB, GDDR6, 256-bit
RTX 3060 Ti
$700
4864
80
1410 MHz
1665 MHz
1750 MHz
GA104
17400M
8 GB, GDDR6, 256-bit
RTX 2080 Ti
$1000
4352
88
1350 MHz
1545 MHz
1750 MHz
TU102
18600M
11 GB, GDDR6, 352-bit
RTX 3070
$750
5888
96
1500 MHz
1725 MHz
1750 MHz
GA104
17400M
8 GB, GDDR6, 256-bit
RX 6800
$850
3840
96
1815 MHz
2105 MHz
2000 MHz
Navi 21
26800M
16 GB, GDDR6, 256-bit
RX 6800 XT
$1200
4608
128
2015 MHz
2250 MHz
2000 MHz
Navi 21
26800M
16 GB, GDDR6, 256-bit
RTX 3080
$1000
8704
96
1440 MHz
1710 MHz
1188 MHz
GA102
28000M
10 GB, GDDR6X, 320-bit
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