Most people by a laptop, never upgrade it, and toss it when it’s time for a new model. Framework, a San Francisco-based startup, hopes to upend that paradigm with its Framework Laptop, a 13.5-inch notebook that appears to be an easily upgradeable, customizable portable unlike any other. It could also greatly reduce e-waste.
To start, the laptop will run off of 11th Gen Intel Core processors, and will support up to 64DB of
DDR4
RAM and up to 4tB of PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD storage. It will offer a 13.5-inch,
3:2 display
with a 2256 x 1504 resolution. It won’t be saddled with a
720p
webcam — instead, it will offer 1080p at 60 fps.
CPU
11th Gen Intel Core Processors
RAM
Up to 64GB DDR4
Storage
Up to 4TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD
Display
13.5-inch, 3:2, 2256 x 1504
Webcam
1080p, 60 fps
Connectivity
Wi-Fi 6
But for tinkerers and environmentalists alike, it’s the repair system that sounds awesome. The ports are housed in a series of expansion cards, so you can choose the inputs and outputs you want on the laptop, as well as on which side they go. There are four port bays, from which you can choose from USB Type-C, USB Type-A, DisplayPort, HDMI, a microSD card slot, a headphone amp, or an “ultra-fast storage” bay.
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(Image credit: Framework)
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(Image credit: Framework)
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The Wi-Fi, two memory slots and the SSD are all replaceable, rather than soldered. But the entire motherboard will also be replaceable so that you can put in newer processors later on. This, of course, is the tough part for a startup. Framework will ultimately have to succeed to put out new versions for the full potential to come through. Alienware had promised replaceable GPUs for the
Alienware Area-51m
gaming laptop, and those ultimately never truly came to fruition, and that was an established company.
Framework also states that “high-use” components, including the battery, display, keyboard and a bezel with customizable color options will be easy to replace and that you will be able to buy parts directly from the company. It is pledging to release updates “regularly” to the components, and that it is going to have an open system so that partners can sell their own modules through Framework’s market. Additionally, the laptop is made from 50% recycled aluminum and roughly 30% recycled plastic.
There will be pre-configured models with either
Windows 10
Home or Pro, as well as a DIY Edition, which lets you customize and assemble the modules yourself and choose either Windows or a distribution of Linux. The company says it will include a screwdriver either way for when you eventually want to open the laptop up to upgrade or repair.
Framework hasn’t yet announced the full specs, prices or configurations. It says those will come in “the next weeks,” along with a shipping date that’s more than the curent Summer 2021.
The company was founded by Nirav Patel, who worked at Oculus near the start back in 2012, and also has talent that has worked at Google, Lenovo, Apple and others. We’ll be curious to see how it fares and if Framework ultimately manages to deliver, both at launch and years down the road. It’s a lofty goal, but one that could be game-changing if it succeeds.
A San Francisco-based startup called Framework has just launched an ambitious project: a thin, lightweight productivity laptop that it claims can be “upgraded, customized, and repaired in ways that no other notebook can.”
Framework founder Nirav Patel told The Verge that the company aims to address his long-standing frustrations with consumer technology companies. Patel was one of the original Oculus employees and has worked for Apple as well. During that time, he says he “saw an industry that felt incredibly broken across the board.”
“As a consumer electronics company, your business model effectively depends on churning out constant tons of hardware and pushing it into channels, and into market, and into consumers’ hands, and then sort of dropping it and letting it exist out there,” Patel explains. “It encourages waste and inefficiency, and ultimately environmental damage.”
To that end, Patel sees the Framework Laptop as more than a product — he sees it as an ecosystem.
The Framework comes with a 13.5-inch 2256 x 1504 screen, a 1080p 60fps webcam, a 57Wh battery, and a 2.87-pound aluminum chassis. Inside, you’ll get 11th Gen Intel processors, up to 64GB of DDR4 memory, and “4TB or more” of Gen4 NVMe storage.
As is the case with all kinds of consumer laptops, buyers can swap out and upgrade various internal parts of the Framework, including the RAM, battery, and storage. The company is trying to bring three additional benefits to the table. The first is that you can also customize and upgrade external components of the chassis, including the keyboard, screen, bezels (which are magnetically attached), and ports (via an expansion card system). If you’re someone who hates dongles and docks, you can select four ports from an assortment that includes the usual suspects (USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, DisplayPort, microSD, etc).
The second is that Framework will be selling its own modules in a centralized online marketplace, which is also open to third-party sellers and resellers. The idea is that if your screen cracks or you feel like changing your bezels, you can hop onto Framework’s site to find replacements that are custom-made for your laptop rather than having to search around. Framework’s components are printed with QR codes that, when scanned, will bring you straight to a purchase page for their upgrades.
The third is that in addition to a pre-built Framework system, you can purchase a “DIY” kit of your selected parts, which you can then use to assemble the laptop yourself. The DIY Edition provides some operating system flexibility: you can install “your preferred Linux distribution” on it or your pick of Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro.
Image: Framework
It’s a cogent plan, to be sure. But Framework won’t be able to achieve its upgradable, sustainable future just by announcing an ecosystem — it has to actually create an ecosystem that will last. And whether Framework will continue to manufacture modules for this specific laptop model far into the future, or whether third-party partners will pick up the slack, is certainly a question mark.
If you’re any kind of PC enthusiast, you probably know that Framework is far from the first company to try a scheme like this. Intel has given modular computers a shot in the past, to little result — its Compute Card was a commercial failure, and its modular Ghost Canyon NUC (which had hardware partners on board at launch) still has yet to receive any new components. Alienware’s original Area-51m also never received its promised future-proof upgradable parts. Phone makers have tried modular devices as well: Google’s Project Ara smartphone, composed of Lego-style bricks that users could rearrange and swap in and out, didn’t go anywhere. The reality is that hardware is hard to build and modular hardware is even more challenging.
Image: Framework
Patel, for his part, believes those OEMs weren’t committed enough. “Other companies, they put it out there, and someone internally decided, ‘Eh, we’re going to focus on something else this year,’ and shut down the project,” says Patel. “This is not something we’re dabbling in. It’s not a side project for us that someone thought was interesting. This is the core of our company.”
“We are releasing new modules, and upgrades, and accessories, and so on to drive the health of the ecosystem, and we’re going to continue doing that for as long as customers want us to,” Patel adds.
Framework will be taking preorders this spring, and the device is expected to ship this summer. Pricing hasn’t yet been announced, though Patel says it will be “comparable to other well-reviewed notebooks.”
Ever since Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville recorded an almost undecipherable version of the French song “Au Clair de la Lune” in the mid-19th century, it’s been clear that the technology that you use to produce and listen to sounds can affect your experience. Even now, about 150 years later, the quality of your gear can mean the difference between a tinny, nearly unrecognizable noise or a fully realized aural experience.
As you can imagine, the people here at The Verge spend a lot of time listening to a variety of digital sounds — whether it’s online meetings, music, podcasts, videos, or sound checks of their own multimedia productions. We asked the staff what their favorite devices were to either listen to, enhance, or produce their digital sounds. Here’s what they talked about.
Plantronics Explorer 500 Bluetooth headset
Plantronics Explorer 500 Photo: Poly
About six years ago, I reviewed a midlevel Bluetooth headset from Plantronics (now Poly) called the Explorer 500. It was a small, nicely built, single-ear headset, and it came with a short USB cable with ends that magnetically snapped together to become a loop. I thought it was a pretty good piece of tech at the time, so I bought one — and I’m still using it. Of course, it’s not great for music (it uses only one ear, after all), but it’s incredibly convenient to have it hanging on a loop in my bag so I can grab it for a quick phone call or if I want to listen to a podcast. And surprisingly, the battery still holds a reasonable charge. One of these days, I’ll have to invest in a fully wireless headset so I can have fully mobile music as well — but until then, my Explorer 500 serves me well. — Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor
AudioQuest Dragonfly USB DAC
AudioQuest Dragonfly seriesPhoto: AudioQuest
AudioQuest’s Dragonfly portable digital-to-analog converter (DAC) brings higher-quality audio to your devices. Most laptops, tablets, and smartphones don’t have great DACs or don’t natively support hi-res files like FLAC (nor tell you when they don’t), but with the Dragonfly, you’ll be able to listen to uncompressed audio up to 24-bit / 96kHz. There’s also an LED light on the device that changes colors to indicate which sample rate is being supported at the moment. AudioQuest makes three separate models: the basic Dragonfly Black; the Dragonfly Red, which uses a higher-performance DAC chip; and the Dragonfly Cobalt, its highest-end model.
In order to take full advantage of the Dragonfly, you’ll also need an adapter for your phone with a Lightning-to-USB-A adapter for an iPhone or a USB-C-to-USB-A adapter for an Android device. Portability is the biggest feature here — swapping between my phone and my laptop is the reason I’m recommending this for anyone who wants one gadget that will let you listen to hi-res audio on any device. — Andrew Marino, audio engineer
Audio-Technica ATH-M50 headphones
Audio-Technica ATH-M50xPhoto: Audio Technica
Alright, yes, I’m aware that these are pretty much already the internet’s favorite pair of wired, over-ear headphones. But seriously: I’ve had mine for six years now, and they’ve held up great. Sure, the pleather on the headband is starting to flake off, and I had to replace the ear cups a while back, but they sound just as good as the day I got them. I find that music just sounds fun with them — not too analytical, like my DT-770 Pros can sometimes be. The Audio-Technicas are for sure not reference headphones, but that’s probably not what most people are actually looking for.
They were also a great price, especially compared to their Bluetooth counterparts. And honestly, I’ve been falling out of love with wireless headphones for anything other than working out, though that’s probably a problem with me, not them. Either way, the newer version, the ATH-M50x (the ATH-M50 has been discontinued), has a removable cable so you don’t have to worry about being saddled with the ridiculously long cables that sometimes come with fancy headphones. (Another version, the ATH-M50xBT, disposes of the cable entirely.) — Mitchell Clark, news writer
Antlion Audio ModMic USB microphone
Antlion Audio ModMic USB microphone Photo: Antlion Audio
It seems like everyone’s getting big standalone microphones for their desks during the pandemic, but I don’t want to give up any precious real estate. A solution that works better for my needs is Antlion Audio’s ModMic USB microphone. It’s cleverly designed. First, you adhere a small circular base (about the size of a large chocolate chip) to the side of your headphones, then the microphone itself can be magnetically attached and detached at will. I like being able to quickly turn my headphones into a gaming headset, or to get ready for a meeting appearance, then back to regular headphones by detaching the mic. I use one with my Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro open-back headphones and it helps me get more out of the kit I already own.
This particular microphone has two modes you can switch between: omnidirectional (made for broadcasts) or unidirectional, which helps to capture just your voice if you’re in a noisy environment. The sound quality of a voice recording made with the ModMic is very good — far better than most of the gaming headsets I’ve tried. The microphone is compatible with Windows, macOS, Linux, PS4, and PS5.
The downside is this model costs about $70. Also, if your headphones are wired, introducing this mic’s wire into the fray can get a little tough to manage. For me, the price is worth the effort. Antlion also makes an all-wireless rechargeable microphone for $120, if you want to go that route, which also has dual mic modes and can stick to your headphones with adhesive. — Cameron Faulkner, writer
AirPods
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
I love my AirPods and I have since my first pair. They’re lightweight, they charge up quickly in their case, and they sound good enough for what I need them for, which is mostly hearing notifications, listening to podcasts, and watching YouTube videos. It helps that I’m an iPhone and a Mac user, as they work really well with both devices.
I think I like the original AirPods more than the Pros, though. While the Pros offer some welcome upgrades like active noise cancellation and water and sweat resistance, they just don’t fit my ears as well. The original AirPods never fell out, but the AirPods Pro will slowly slip out if I’m talking or eating, and sometimes when I’m running. That means I’m constantly readjusting them if I’m doing anything besides sitting completely still. (To be fair, I’m sitting completely still a lot of the time right now.)
Here’s hoping that the next version of the Pros will fit my ears just a little bit better. If they do, they’ll likely become one of my favorite Apple products ever. — Jay Peters, news writer
Rode RodeCaster Pro podcast production
Rode RodeCaster Pro podcast production Photo: Rode
This four-mic input audio interface by Rode makes it significantly easier to set up a full podcasting session with a design that mimics a live mixing board. You can record multitracks onto your computer or internally on a microSD using a USB-C connection.
As someone who mostly mixes podcasts after they’re recorded, this setup is more appealing to me for live streaming on Twitch or YouTube. You also get built-in customizable sound banks, compression and EQ settings, multiple outputs for monitoring, and an intuitive design for traditional live mixing.
Fun tip: it’s also a great way to record phone call interviews by pairing the RodeCaster Pro with your smartphone via Bluetooth. — Andrew Marino
HyperX QuadCast microphone
HyperX QuadCastPhoto: HyperX
I’d been looking to upgrade my microphone for a long time, but I was unsure which product to go with. A few friends recommended the HyperX QuadCast, and that’s what I ended up buying.
Previously, I used a Blue Yeti microphone, but I felt the audio quality was unsatisfactory on my end. I wanted to make sure I was buying a microphone that was not too cheap and not too pricey and, most importantly, had a nice cable lengthy so I did not have to rearrange my desk. Compared to the Blue Yeti, I found the HyperX QuadCast had great clarity and picked up the subtle details from my audio output.
I really enjoy the somewhat unconventional design of the QuadCast; it comes with straightforward controls, a stand, and a shock mount adapter for boom arms if you want to mount the microphone closer to you. I also find it convenient that the mute button is on top of the microphone. It makes it easy to mute myself quickly while on Zoom or Discord. —Taylor Lyles, writer
Sonos Five speaker
Sonos FivePhoto: Sonos
I’ve never found a single smart speaker that sounds better, and I like that there are no microphones inside. Those are the main bullet points for why I’ve had a Sonos Play:5 — recently refreshed as the Sonos Five — on my desk for several years now. For a speaker that doesn’t have a 360-degree design, the Five still produces a very satisfactory soundstage that can fill most rooms. It can kick out ample bass without overpowering the highs and mids of your music. It takes two of most other smart speakers paired together to come anywhere close to what the Sonos Five can deliver. (Granted, it had better sound damn good for $500.)
Pretty much every audio app under the sun is supported through the Sonos app, including hi-fi options like Tidal and Amazon Music HD. The Sonos Five works with Apple AirPlay, and there’s a 3.5-millimeter aux input for wired playback. (You can also use this to get a turntable hooked into your Sonos system.)
No, there’s no built-in voice assistant like Alexa or Google Assistant included here. But some people will appreciate the absence of always-listening mics. And adding an assistant to the mix after the fact is easy, either via another Sonos speaker like the One or simply by hooking up an Echo Dot or Nest Mini.
It’s just a shame that the white and black combo Play:5 colorway is no more; I think that was the best-looking speaker Sonos ever made. — Chris Welch, news editor
Steam’s Remote Play Together feature, which lets you stream local multiplayer games with friends over the internet, will no longer require every player to have a Steam account. The new functionality, which is currently in beta, lets Steam users invite a friend to their game with a link, after which they’ll be prompted to install the Steam Link app if they don’t have it already.
There are limits to the new feature. Games will need to already support the Remote Play Together feature for it to work (there are filtering options to find these titles), and only one friend without a Steam account can join a multiplayer session. If you want to add more, they’ll need to have accounts.
To try the feature out, head to your friends list in the Steam overlay while playing a Remote Play Together-compatible title and click the “Copy Link” button. Steam says you’re able to send links to friends to play on Windows, Android, iOS, or even Raspberry Pi devices.
With Bitcoins trading at almost $50,000 per bitcoin, perhaps it is finally time for me to get into the cryptocurrency game? Instead of buying bitcoins, could I use my Raspberry Pi to mine for bitcoins instead?
What is Cryptocurrency mining?
Crypto mining is the digital version of mining for gold, combining performing complicated calculations and pureluck (being the first to complete the calculation) with your computer. Mining is essential to cryptocurrencies in order to maintain their distributed ledger, aka Blockchain.
While Bitcoin is the most well-known form of cryptocurrency, it’s hardly the only game in town. All forms of cryptocurrency use blockchains to maintain the validity of each transaction and prevent someone from fraudulently spending their coins more than once.
Is Raspberry Pi Bitcoin mining profitable in 2020?
My initial research showed that mining for bitcoins with any consumer grade computer is not profitable when factoring in the cost of electricity and hardware. Most bitcoin mining is now done on ASIC Bitcoin Miners; hobbyists and individuals can find limited success by joining a mining pool, harnessing the power of a group of distributed computers. What if we joined a mining pool, used solar panels to power our Pi, and ‘wrote-off’ the cost of our hardware? Bitcoin mining is an extremely competitive venture with too many other miners, increasing difficulty levels, and lower rewards for miners.
Despite this gloom and doom news, I decided to forge ahead with this project and set my sights on alternative cryptocurrencies. As of the writing of this article, there are over six thousand alternative cryptocurrencies traded today.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Mining Pools
Individual cryptocurrency mining was out of the question since we are using a Raspberry Pi and not an ASIC Bitcoin Miner. I looked at several mining pool software groups I could join; most had options for Windows and MacOS; there were no mining pools with support for Raspberry Pi. Raspberry Pi is not supported by Linux miner software due to its ARM Architecture. Supported Linux mining software is based on x86 processors found in typical PCs.
Disclaimer: This article is presented as an educational opportunity to spark interest in learning more about blockchain and cryptocurrency, and not necessarily to generate cryptocurrency. The methods described in this article are hacks and not officially supported. The easier and faster method is to download and install the free software associated with the mining pool of your choice on your PC.
What You’ll Need for this Project
Raspberry Pi 4 or Raspberry Pi 3
8 GB (or larger) microSD card (see best Raspberry Pi microSD cards) with a fresh install of Raspberry Pi Lite OS or Raspberry Pi OS with Desktop.
Power supply/Keyboard/Mouse/Monitor/HDMI Cable (for your Raspberry Pi)
Optional (Recommended): Heatsinks and fan for your Raspberry Pi
Optional: Solar Panel Power Bank with USB-C
Optional: Raspberry Pi Cluster Case with Heatsinks and Fans
This tutorial is based on terminal commands. If you are not familiar with terminal commands on your Raspberry Pi, we highly recommend reviewing 25+ Linux Commands Raspberry Pi Users Need to Know first
How to Mine for Cryptocurrency on Raspberry Pi
We will start by creating our account with Minergate, a cryptocurrency mining pool with 3.5 million users worldwide for Bitcoin Gold, Zcash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, and Monero. This tutorial is specific to mining Monero as it was the only cryptocurrency I had any level of success with.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
2. Boot your Raspberry Pi. If you don’t already have a microSD card see our article on how to set up a Raspberry Pi for the first time or how to do a headless Raspberry Pi install.
3. If you are using Raspberry Pi OS with Desktop, open a Terminal, or press Ctrl-T. If you are using Raspberry Pi Lite, login as you would normally.
4. Once in your terminal, run the following updates and install the necessary dependencies:
6. After building and configuring our mining software on our Raspberry Pi, let’s start mining for Monero! Enter the following terminal command to start the miner, replacing YOUR_EMAIL with the email address you used to signup for your Minergate account.
./cpuminer -a cryptonight -o stratum+tcp://xmr.pool.minergate.com:45700 -u YOUR_EMAIL
You should see the mining software start and hopefully see a few shares ‘accepted’ with ‘yes!’
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
7. Let’s check your Minergate Dashboard by logging into https://minergate.com/internal. You can do this on a Chromium browser if using Raspberry Pi Desktop, or on your PC. Scroll down your dashboard until you see Monero. If everything is working, your Monero Status will indicate ONLINE. Congratulations! You’re now mining for Monero!
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
How to Start Raspberry Pi Crypto Mining on Boot
To automatically start our cryptocurrency miner on boot on our Raspberry Pi, we’ll use the Crontab method.
crontab -e
If you haven’t set the crontab previously, you’ll see the response “no crontab for pi, Select an editor.”
1. Type ‘1’ and hit Enter.
2. This will open a new crontab file, arrow down to the bottom of your crontab file and enter the command below, replacing YOUR_EMAIL, with the email address you used when creating your Minergate account
@reboot sudo /cpuminer-multi/cpuminer -a cryptonight -o stratum+tcp://xmr.pool.minergate.com:45700 -u YOUR_EMAIL
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
4. Press Ctrl-X, and y to save your crontab.
5. Now reboot your Pi by typing ‘sudo reboot’ in your Terminal.
How much Monero did I mine with Raspberry Pi?
My Raspberry Pi 4 calculated 357 good shares in about 8 hours of run time. Miners are rewarded for good shares. Bad Shares are calculations where I came up with the right answer, but my Pi produced the results slower than another computer. Miners only get paid when they submit the correct answer first. Invalid shares are the worst as a miner is penalized for every invalid share due to possible fraudulent activity. I was a bit worried when my first 4 shares were marked as invalid shares.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
357 good shares = 0.000001410642 Monero = 0.00015569 USD
I made the equivalent of 1/100th of a penny in 8 hours.
In order to withdraw my Monero, I needed a minimum of 0.05 Monero, approximately equal to $5.811 USD. (Exchange rate at the time of the writing of this article.) At a pace of accumulating 0.000001410642 Monero per 8 hours, it would take me 3,762 years to reach the minimum withdrawal threshold of 0.05 Monero.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Lessons Learned about Raspberry Pi Crypto mining
As stated at the beginning of this article, the purpose of this exercise was to learn about cryptocurrency and not to make a profit.
Cryptocurrency mining rewards are calculated by shares and hash rates. My hash rate varied from 1.6 H/s to 33.3 H/s. The average hash rate for the pool was 10.27 MH/s, approximately 3 million times my Pi’s hash rate. For reference, 1 MH/s is 1,000,000 hashes per second.
The mining pool company (in this case Minergate), also charges a small commission on your transactions. You have the choice of luck based commission (higher risk, higher reward), or Pay Per Share (higher commission for Minergate, but less risk).
At various points during the writing of this article, my Pi had numerous ‘time out’ errors and ‘send_line failed.’ Sometimes a reboot of the Pi would help, and sometimes, the miner would eventually start working again without human intervention.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
While the Raspberry Pi was not a ‘money maker’ in the crypto mining game, the excitement factor of watching my Pi successfully calculate and accumulate good shares was enough for me.
Is there something more productive I could do with my spare Raspberry Pis? If you’re interested in donating your spare computing power to finding potential treatments for COVID-19, check out World Community Grid. With World Community Grid, you can download and install a software package on your Raspberry Pi that will run a simulation to help predict the effectiveness of a chemical compound as a possible treatment for COVID-19.Check out our recent article about World Community Grid here.
Amazon’s cloud-gaming service, Luna, is now available to try for free in the US on select Fire TV devices without an invitation, the company has announced. Luna launched in early access last year, as an invitation-only service. Originally, customers also needed an invite to buy the Luna Controller, but Amazon now says it’s available to everyone.
Amazon’s FAQ says that users can get access to Luna on Fire TV by simply downloading the app. A list of Fire TV devices that are compatible with Luna is available on this Amazon support page. These include the Fire TV Stick Lite, Fire TV Stick (2nd & 3rd generation), Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV (3rd generation), Fire TV Cube, Toshiba Fire TV Edition, and Insignia Fire TV Edition.
Signing up for Luna gets you a 7-day free trial of the Luna Plus channel, which costs $5.99 a month thereafter during early access and includes games like Control, Metro Exodus, and Grid. There’s also a Ubisoft Plus channel subscription for $14.99 a month which includes titles like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
As well as Fire TV devices, Luna’s early access is also available on Windows, Mac, select Android devices, and web browsers on iPhone, iPad, Windows, and Mac, but only after receiving an invitation. “If you don’t have a Fire TV you can still request an invitation to access Luna at amazon.com/Luna,” Amazon’s post reads. The service is currently limited the US mainland, excluding Alaska, Hawaii, and US territories.
Ever since LastPass announced that it was tweaking its free tier to only allow a single category of device — mobile or computer — there’s been a lot of interest in finding alternatives among LastPass users. Luckily, once you do find an alternative, it’s pretty easy to pull your data from LastPass and upload it to another password manager.
What follows are instructions on how to download your LastPass data, and where to find instructions from several popular password managers that will help you upload that data to their services.
Export your LastPass data
LastPass allows you to export your data as a CSV or an XML file. If you’re planning to move that data to another service, then CSV is the far better choice. Since CSV stands for comma-separated values and is a plain text file, it’s a good idea not to hold on to it once you’ve moved your data to another password manager — or to put that file in a secure place where it can’t be easily read by someone else.
Before you start, you should be aware that the best (and really only way) you can export your data from LastPass is from its browser extension on a desktop or laptop computer. (You can technically do it from LastPass’ website, but as I’ll explain, it’s more trouble than it’s worth.) If you haven’t downloaded the extension for your browser (links for which are at the bottom of the LastPass webpage), go ahead.
Ready?
Click your extension icon and proceed to “Account Options” > “Advanced” > “Export” > “LastPass CSV File”
From your LastPass browser extension, click on Advanced….
…Export…
…LastPass CSV File
You’ll be asked to put in your master password to continue. If you think you may be interrupted at some point, and you’re working in a safe place (like a home office), feel free to ask it not to prompt you again for up to 24 hours.
Fill in your master password to download your data.
That’s it! LastPass will immediately download your CSV file.
If you really, really don’t want to install the browser extension, here’s how you can get your info from the LastPass website”
Go to LastPass.com and sign in to your account.
Click on “Advanced Options” in the left-hand menu.
Click on “Export” and enter your Master Password if asked.
If your experience is anything like mine, you should then see a comma-delimited list of all your passwords on a separate webpage. You can select all the content of the page by going to your top menu and selecting “Edit” > “Select All.” You can then copy the data and paste it to a text page using a word processor or other text app.
Once you’ve downloaded your info, you can upload it to the password manager of your choice. There are a variety out there, free and otherwise, and we’ve included a sampling below, along with their starting prices (if any) and links to their instructions on how to import your data. But first, we’re assuming that you’ll want to eventually delete your passwords from LastPass. Here’s how.
Delete your LastPass account
Once you’ve chosen your new password manager (and we strongly success you live with it for at least a week or so first), you can delete your account and data from LastPass.
Using your browser, go to the LastPass “Delete Your Account” page
The LastPass “Delete Your Account” page.
Click on the red “Delete” button.
Where you go from here depends on whether you remember your master password. If you do remember it, click on “Yes.” You’ll be given one last chance to download your data, will be asked to enter your master password, and asked why you are deleting your account. Then click on Delete.
Before you delete your account, you get a last chance to download your data.
If you don’t remember your master password, click on “No.” You’ll be given a chance to download your data and asked for your email address. You’ll be sent an email with a link that will let you delete the account.
In either case, remember there is no rush to delete your account. Make sure that you have a useable copy of your passwords and a new password manager that you’re satisfied with first.
Alternative password managers
What follows is a list of some alternative password managers and where you can find instructions for importing your LastPass data.
Bitwarden
Free version? Yes
Paid features start at $10 / year and include file storage, authenticator, two-step login, others.
Instructions for importing from LastPass
KeePass
Free version? Yes
No paid features
Instructions for importing CSV files. (Note: According to KeePass’ Import / Export help page, the app does have a specific import for LastPass that is accessible from within the app.)
LogMeOnce
Free version? Yes
Paid features start at $2.50 / month and include encrypted storage, additional password sharing, emergency access, live password tracker, others.
Instructions for importing from LastPass
NordPass
Free version? Yes
Paid features start at $1.49 / month and include syncing across devices, ability to have more than one active device, secure item sharing, others.
Instructions for importing CSV files. (Note: has separate instructions for exporting data from LastPass.)
1Password
Free version? No
Paid features start at $35.88 / year and include unlimited passwords, 1GB storage, email support, one year of item history, and others.
Instructions for importing from LastPass
RoboForm
Free version? Yes
Paid features start at $23.88 / year and include syncing across devices, cloud backup, two-factor authorization, shared folder, and others.
Instructions for importing CSV files. (Note: RoboForm has specific instructions for importing LastPass files to Windows and Mac systems; however, they include statements that separate apps are needed to export data from LastPass, which is no longer the case.)
Zoho Vault
Free version? Yes
Paid features start at $10.80 / year and include secure password sharing, password expiration alerts, cloud backup, and others.
The Razer Kiyo Pro trades the original Kiyo’s ring light for HDR, a fancy light sensor and 1080p @ 60 fps recording, but you’ll pay a hefty premium for those features.
For
Light Sensor makes room lighting easier
HDR
1080p @ 60 fps recording
Three different FOVs
Heavily customizable through software
Clear audio on microphone
Against
Costs as much as a 4K webcam
Doesn’t look its best out-of-the-box
Some features locked behind obtuse software
Razer hasn’t released a webcam since the original Razer Kiyo back in 2017, but with the pandemic has come a new demand for productivity tech. That demand has seen Razer veering outside of its typical hardcore gaming device lineup lately, with devices like the Razer Pro Click and Razer Book 13. And now it’s time for webcams to join the family. The Razer Kiyo Pro is the follow-up to the Kiyo, and with a new design that puts the Pro’s specs front and center and ditches the built-in ring light, it’s clear that it’s going for a more mature, less toyetic vibe.
Of course, the Razer Kiyo’s ring light didn’t just give it gamer style. It also gave it genuinely useful lighting to help make your face more visible in low light. But the Kiyo Pro’s approach is to instead use a light sensor, the Sony IMX327 CMOS with Starvis technology, which comes from surveillance cameras. When combined with the Kiyo Pro’s f2.0 aperture size, this sensor supposedly allows the camera to adjust its light capture to make sure your shots are perfectly lit without the need for a ring light.
There’s also plenty of brand new features on the Kiyo Pro, from a digitally adjustable field of view to HDR to the ability to record at 1080p @ 60fps, that make it enticing to game streamers, office professionals and even amateur filmmakers alike. Alongside those features also comes a new $199 price tag, though, which far eclipses both the $99 Razer Kiyo and the $79 Logitech C920 that we currently recommend as the best webcam for most people. Do those features make the new price worth it, or is this a niche luxury?
Out-of-the-Box Image Quality of Razer Kiyo Pro
Much of the Razer Kiyo Pro’s customizability lies buried away in the Razer Synapse software, but Razer told me on a video call that it’s also proud of the device’s plug and play ability. That’s probably because, as the company told me, it’s hoping to attract more than gamers to the Kiyo Pro, and Razer Synapse still has a certain…Mountain Dew and Doritos vibe to it.
So to test Razer’s claims, I compared its out-of-the-box functionality against the best 1080p webcam I have on hand, the Logitech C920. As usual, I took my test shots in standard mid-day lighting conditions, low light conditions and overexposed conditions.
Logitech C920
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Razer Kiyo Pro
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
In my room’s usual lighting conditions, the Kiyo Pro’s out-of-the-box shots look significantly warmer than the Logitech’s. While the Logitech renders its shots a little on the cooler end of the spectrum than I’d like, I would say that the way I look on the C920 is probably more true-to-life than the somewhat uncomfortably tanner appearance I have on the Razer Kiyo Pro.
However, shots were also plenty detailed, with the Kiyo Pro capturing arguably more texture information than the C920 and not displaying any noticeable grain. The warmth is also nowhere near as aggressive as I’ve seen on cheaper competitors. The camera’s default wide-angle field of view also showed off more of my background than the Logitech C920’s, although it also warped around the edges like a fish eye lens.
Logitech C920
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Razer Kiyo Pro
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
You could really see the Kiyo Pro’s light sensor at work when I closed my room’s blinds and turned off all light sources except for my main computer monitor. While the Logitech captured my face, almost everything else was bathed in shadow. Meanwhile, the Kiyo Pro brightened up my background to display color information that’s imperceptible in the Logitech’s photos. While both cameras’ shots are on the grainy and harsh end of the spectrum, I wouldn’t believe you if you told me that the Kiyo Pro shot was taken in a lampless room with the curtains drawn. It’s here that the Kiyo Pro makes it clear that losing its ring light doesn’t leave it weaker than its older sibling (although I do wonder what could be done if the light sensor were combined with a ring light).
Logitech C920
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Razer Kiyo Pro
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Finally, I tested the Razer Kiyo Pro in both highly-lit and overexposed conditions, where I pointed the camera directly at or close to my window. Normally, this test is where most cameras show their weaknesses, and while the Kiyo Pro somewhat followed that trend, I was impressed by what I got out of it.
Finding a good angle to take these shots can be difficult, and I often end up just holding the camera and adjusting it in my hand until I find the least blurry position I can. But the Kiyo can be tilted to the side when mounted to a monitor, which gave me such a great 3/4 angle shot of myself that I couldn’t not include it in this review. But even beyond the ease of use, the Kiyo Pro’s light sensor again showed its strengths here. While the handheld shots I took with it suffered the same out-of-focus, blurry issues as my handheld Logitech shots, the Kiyo Pro had no issue depicting what was outside my window rather than the standard sheet of white I’m used to seeing when pointing webcams out of windows.
That’s an impressive feat, and while the Kiyo Pro can still definitely suffer when not lined up perfectly with a naturally lit window, it makes it much more appealing to those working in brightly-lit environments or even considering using the Kiyo Pro to take outdoor shots.
Razer Synapse Software and the Kiyo Pro
While I was impressed by how well the Kiyo Pro handled low-light and heavily lit environments, I still didn’t love the out-of-the-box shots I got of my room in what I would consider normal lighting conditions. They were too warm for me, and the fish-eye effect on the edge of the shots was too distracting. However, this is where the Kiyo Pro’s software comes into play, which is a first for me in my webcam reviews.
Being a Razer product, the Kiyo Pro is fully compatible with Razer Synapse, which rather than adjusting the webcam’s nonexistent RGB lighting, adjusts settings like brightness, contrast, saturation and white balance. You can also use Synapse to toggle between HDR and SDR capture, swap from autofocus to a digital manual focus and select from 3 different fields of view (80 degrees, 90 degrees and 103 degrees, which are dubbed Linear, Medium and Wide).
To get you started, there are four built-in presets (default, cool, vibrant and warm) as well as a custom mode and an advanced settings tab with even more options.
While some of these customization options, like brightness and white balance, will look familiar to anyone who’s used OBS to apply post processing to a webcam image, I found that Razer’s post processing tended to look more natural than what I’ve gotten from other encoders. For instance, the brightness slider in Synapse appears to light up the area behind my back, while the brightness slider in OBS looks evenly applied across the image.
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The OBS post processing was also far more aggressive on the Logitech C920 than either the Razer Synapse or OBS post processing was on the Kiyo Pro.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
After toying with the presets enough, I found that the vibrant preset was closer to what I would have liked from the out-of-the-box photos. Here, I struck a good balance between warm and cold colors that looked both realistic and flattering, and when combined with a different field of view option, finally gave me shots that I felt were capable of competing with the Logitech C920.
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
While I would have preferred not to dig through software to get these shots, I recognize that photography is subjective and different people will have different tastes and needs. It’s helpful to be able to customize your images to your liking. But this is where I might suggest Razer build its own app for the Kiyo Pro, as only a certain clientele is likely to consider adjusting a webcam in Razer Synapse, and the only indication that so many features are locked behind Synapse is a short sentence at the end of the device’s 2 page instructions.
That’s a shame, because while Synapse support complete with manual focus has come to the original Kiyo since its launch, the Kiyo Pro has additional features beyond post-processing not present on the original device that are locked behind the app, like its HDR toggle and its multiple fields of view. These are big, back-of-the-box selling points, and it strikes me as odd that the camera’s packaging and instructions tone down how I actually access them.
Special Features of The Razer Kiyo Pro
There are a couple of special features on the Kiyo Pro that everyone will get access to right off the bat, like its light sensor and its wide angle lens. But hidden inside its software is the ability to swap to a different field of view (the 80 and 90 degree options eliminate the fish eye effect that you’ll see on out-of-the-box Kiyo Pro photos), enable HDR recording and even swap from autofocus to a manual digital zoom. The Kiyo Pro has yet another special feature, though, which you’ll need to turn on in whatever recording software you use.
That feature is 1080p at 60 fps recording. While not necessary for telecommuting, photography or even most prerecorded video work, this feature hearkens back to Razer’s roots as a gaming peripheral maker. Though not considered necessary, some game streamers prefer to record their facecams at 60 fps to match their gameplay footage. This isn’t to capture high-octane real life stunts, but rather so that their viewers don’t get disoriented from looking at two different frame rates at the same time.
Again, you’ll have to activate this feature in your recording software. I chose OBS, and was able to turn it on by clicking on my “video capture device” tab and changing my fps to 60 in a drop down menu.
It’s important to note that any HDR recording will not work at 60 fps.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The 60 fps recording was plenty noticeable once it was on, and to my eyes, was about as smooth as 60 fps video game footage. I wasn’t able to stream using a live service due to embargo, but I did save several 60 fps recordings to my PC, and the frame rate carried over to them without raising the file size or presenting any noticeable loss in image quality due to file compression.
Speaking of compression, Razer advertises that the Kiyo Pro has “uncompressed 1080p 60fps” video, which we’re assuming means it feeds uncompressed video to your recording software. Otherwise, you’d fill up your hard drive or eat up your internet bandwidth very quickly. This seemed to be the case for me at least, as OBS still prompted me to compress my video footage when saving.
We’ve reached out to Razer to see what exactly the company means by “uncompressed,” and will update this review if we hear back.
Build Quality of the Razer Kiyo Pro
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Razer Kiyo Pro is a solidly built, hefty and modular device that feels pleasant in the hand and looks premium despite the use of hard plastic in its shell as opposed to metal. It also doesn’t have any aggressive Razer branding, aside from the company’s name being emblazoned on the front and an uncolored version of its hydra logo being hidden away on the webcam’s monitor mount. That kind of restraint has been rare from Razer in the past but is becoming more common as it breaks further into the productivity hardware space. That leaves the camera’s usability to shine here, and the Kiyo Pro is a plenty usable device.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The actual webcam component of the Kiyo Pro is connected to its monitor mount through a screw, meaning that you can unscrew it to place it directly onto a tripod or any other mount. That’s convenient for anyone planning not to use the Kiyo Pro on a monitor, but the monitor mount is still impressive in itself. It can swivel completely downward and about 5 degrees upward, plus the screw mount holding the webcam in place makes it easy to twist the camera from side to side. There’s a flathead screw bottom with an optional manual lever for tightening the screw as needed, as well as a tripod hole on the bottom of the monitor mount itself should you want to mount the webcam and tripod together in one piece.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Kiyo Pro also connects to your device through a removable, 59 inch, braided USB-C cable that gave me plenty of room to work with. There’s also a separate cover that you can place over your webcam when it’s not in use, and an LED turns on at the top of the webcam when you’re recording.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Of note is the Kiyo Pro’s built-in omnidirectional microphone, which while not advertised on the box, was easily on par with the gaming headset boom mic from the Sennheiser Game One that I use as my daily driver.
The ring light from the original Kiyo is gone here, which some users might miss, both for usability and aesthetic purposes. However, that camera’s circular design remains here, and does give the Razer Kiyo Pro a charming and unique silhouette.
Bottom Line
The Razer Kiyo Pro is easily the most advanced webcam I’ve reviewed yet, but that doesn’t make it a great buy for every user. At $200, It’s also the most expensive webcam I’ve reviewed, and its much-touted HDR and 1080p @ 60 fps recording features will likely only appeal to a specific group of content creators.
It also touts a new light sensor that’s genuinely impressive and will probably put you at ease if your recording environment is dark or inconsistently lit, but you’ll still probably need to tune that sensor’s results through post-processing software to be fully satisfied.
For most people, cheaper cameras like the $79 Logitech C920 will do most of what the Razer Kiyo Pro does while cutting away what you don’t need. For amateur streamers, the original Razer Kiyo also has much of the same image quality and uniquely has a ring light that helps offset the loss of the Kiyo Pro’s light sensor by still effectively illuminating the face.
For the addition of $100, I’d hope that the Kiyo Pro would find a way to maintain the ring light Razer offers on the original Kiyo, as I have no doubt that it could work with the light sensor to produce impressive results. As it is, the Kiyo Pro is a strong contender, but unless you need multiple field of view options, heavily customizable post processing, HDR or 60 fps live action footage, you’ll be just fine pairing a cheaper alternative with modest external lighting solutions like well-placed lamps or LEDs.
After updating the ThinkPad X1 line at CES, Lenovo is now opening the floodgates and releasing refreshed versions of its more mainstream ThinkPad T, X and L series, as well as some updates to the P-series workstations.
The new T-series, among the most popular ThinkPads around, are getting a slew of changes. There are Intel 11th Gen Core versions: the ThinkPad T14 i, T14s i and T15; and AMD Ryzen 5000 options: the ThinkPad T14 and T14s.
Laptop
Starting Price
Available
Intel or AMD-based
ThinkPad T14s i
$1,499
March 2021
Intel
ThinkPad T14s
$1,279
May 2021
AMD
Think Pad T14 i
$1,379
March 2021
Intel
ThinkPad T14
$1,159
May 2021
AMD
ThinkPad T15
$1,379
March 2021
Intel
ThinkPad X13 Yoga
$1,379
April 2021
Intel
ThinkPad X13 i
$1,299
March 2021
Intel
ThinkPad X13
$1,139
May 2021
AMD
ThinkPad L14
$689
May 2021
AMD
ThinkPad L15
$689
May 2021
AMD
ThinkPad P14s i
$1,389
March 2021
Intel
ThinkPad P14s
$1,169
May 2021
AMD
ThinkPad 15s
$1,389
March 2021
Intel
The 14-inch models are getting aluminum chassis, rather than silver paint over the typical black shell. For connectivity, Lenovo will offer optional 5G (sub-6 GHz) or 4G. Most Intel models will use Wi-Fi 6E (though some will use Wi-Fi 6), while AMD options will use regular Wi-Fi 6 exclusively.
But the T14s models are the only ones with an FHD IR webcam, which should make for superior video chatting, especially while so many people are working from home. On the T14 and T15 versions, it’s still standard 720p (with or without IR).
(Image credit: Lenovo)
Lenovo’s X13 laptops, which are more portability-focused, will get an Intel-based ThinkPad X13 i and X14 Yoga, while the AMD version is the ThinkPad X13. They’re getting 13.3-inch, 16:10 aspect ratio displays, joining a trend of taller screens.
(Image credit: Lenovo)
There’s a similar split with the more affordable ThinkPad L series: The Intel-based ThinkPad L14 i and L15 i will have 11th Gen Core vPro, while the L15 will gets Ryzen 5000.
The T14s, T14, X13 and X13 Yoga are getting new aluminum chassis options, while the T14s, X13 and X13 Yoga will all feature “Human Presence Detection” in order to lock when you’re not around. That latter feature can work with Windows Hello and the infrared camera to make it so you can log in and then lock the screen, all without ever entering passwords or even touching the machine.
For those who prefer fingerprint readers to facial recognition, the T14s, X13 and X13 Yoga will all have a reader built into the power button.
Additionally, Lenovo has its workstations with the P14s using Ryzen, P14s i and P15s running 11th gen Core vPro. The Intel models will offer up to Nvidia T5000 graphics or Intel Iris Xe, while the AMD models will use integrated Radeon graphics. Again, the Intel laptops will have Wi-Fi 6E while the AMD version has Wi-Fi 6.
The Intel models are scheduled to start shipping next month, while the AMD models are coming later in the spring. We’ll see how they stack up and if any vie for the title of best ultrabook as they come out.
Lately, the consumer internet — that set of products devoted to building and monetizing large networks of people — has started to feel rather buzzy. A space that had been largely emptied out over the past five years is once again humming with life. The products are compelling enough, and growing fast enough, that Facebook and others have begun trying to reverse-engineer and copy them.
It still doesn’t seem quite real to me, and yet everywhere I look the signs are there: social networks are competitive again.
Today, let’s tour this weird new landscape and talk about what it means — and doesn’t mean — for the tech giants and the governments trying to rein them in.
I. How competition ended
If I had to put a date on when competition ended among social networks in the United States, I’d choose August 2nd, 2016. That’s when Instagram introduced its copy of Snapchat stories, blunting the momentum of an upstart challenger and sending a chill through the startup ecosystem.
I don’t think copying features is necessarily anti-competitive — in fact, as I’ll argue below, it’s a sign that the ecosystem is working as intended — but the effect of Facebook’s copying here was dramatic. Snap fell into a long funk, and would-be entrepreneurs and investors got the message: Facebook will seek to acquire or copy any upstart social product, dramatically limiting its odds of breakout success. Investment shrunk accordingly.
The previous year, after the success of Twitter’s Periscope app, Facebook had cloned its live video features, and enthusiasm for both products seemed to broadly peter out. When live group video experienced momentary success under Houseparty, Facebook cloned that too, and Houseparty later sold to Epic Games for an undisclosed sum.
It was in this stagnant environment that many people, myself included, came to believe that it had been a mistake to let Facebook acquire Instagram and WhatsApp. The former became the breakout social network of a younger generation, and the latter cemented Facebook’s global dominance in communication. A world in which both had remained independent would have been much more competitive, even if neither had grown to the scale that they did under Facebook.
This is the basic thesis of the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against the company, which it filed in December. The government argues that Facebook “is illegally maintaining its personal social networking monopoly through a years-long course of anticompetitive conduct,” and if successful, it could force Facebook to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp. It’s a tricky case; as Ben Thompson explains here, the government’s attempt to define the market in which Facebook competes so as to prove it has a monopoly is rather tortured.
You can think the FTC’s case against Facebook is weak and also believe that the period from 2016 to 2021 saw remarkably little innovation among American social networks, at least in terms of the basic user behaviors that they inspire. The market for social products became incredibly concentrated; Facebook and Google built a duopoly in digital advertising; and their vast size and unpredictable effects helped to trigger a global backlash against American tech giants.
If, like me, you think this is all a problem, you could argue for one of two basic approaches to fixing it. The first is government intervention, in the form of an antitrust lawsuit or new regulations from Congress, that would regulate the ability of tech giants to acquire smaller companies or put up new barriers to entering the market or competing on fair terms. The second is to do basically nothing, trusting that the entropic nature of the universe and the inexorable march of time would eventually restore competition.
If the second choice sounds ridiculous, it is not without precedent. In the late 1990s, Microsoft’s dominance over the PC market led the government to pursue an antitrust case over the company’s move to bundle its Internet Explorer browser with the Windows operating system. The fear was that such bundling would grant Microsoft total power over the consumer PC market forever. In reality, of course, mobile phones were out there just waiting to be perfected, and then Apple came along and did just that, and now no one really worries too much about Microsoft’s power over the PC market.
I do wish the US government had intervened around 2016 to explore new regulations for tech giants’ mergers and acquisitions. In its absence, we could only bet on entropy — and whichever contrarian capitalists still felt like they could challenge Facebook in the market despite its many advantages.
The thing is, though, that a bunch of contrarian capitalists did. And lately they have been having a lot of success.
II.How competition began
Facebook’s biggest competitor in 2021 is, of course, TikTok, which has been siphoning usage from Facebook’s family of apps since it launched in the United States in 2018 (after merging with Musical.ly).
TikTok began by making it dramatically easier for people to make compelling videos, parceled out fame and fortune with a central feed that is incredibly compelling even if you don’t know or follow a single person, and eventually created an entire universe of audio memes, visual effects, and community in-jokes.
Eugene Wei, our best writer and thinker on TikTok, published the third part of his essay series about the app Sunday night. Among the many salient points Wei makes is that the sheer number of forces that have gone into TikTok’s success have made it difficult for Facebook (or YouTube) to clone. He writes:
People will litigate Instagram copying Snapchat’s Stories feature until the end of time, but the fact is that format wasn’t ever going to be some defensible moat. Ephemerality is a clever new dimension on which to vary social media, but it’s easily copiable.
This is why TikTok’s network effects of creativity matter. To clone TikTok, you can’t just copy any single feature. It’s all of that, and not just the features, but how users deploy them and how the resultant videos interact with each other on the FYP feed. It’s replicating all the feedback loops that are built into TikTok’s ecosystem, all of which are interconnected. Maybe you can copy some of the atoms, but the magic lives at the molecular level.
The success of TikTok is a source of real anxiety inside Facebook, where employees ask CEO Mark Zuckerberg a question about it during nearly every all-hands Q&A session. The company has deployed a competitor, called Reels, inside of Instagram, and perhaps it will find a way to succeed. But the larger point is that, whatever the odds, Facebook now has to compete against TiKTok or risk losing the next generation.
You’ve probably already considered that, though. (Unless you’re the FTC, which conspicuously avoided any mention of TikTok in its entire complaint about Facebook’s alleged monopoly position.) But when it comes to mobile short-form video, Facebook and YouTube face a real challenge.
So where else does Facebook suddenly find itself forced to compete?
For starters, there’s audio. While still available only by invitation, Clubhouse recently hit an estimated 10 million downloads. Celebrities including Tiffany Haddish, Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, and Zuckerberg himself have made appearances on the app, granting it a cultural cachet rare in a social startup that is still less than a year old. Clubhouse raised money last month at a valuation of $1 billion — more than Facebook ultimately paid for Instagram.
Because it’s an audio app, Clubhouse doesn’t pose quite the existential threat that TikTok does: you can still theoretically browse Instagram or message businesses on WhatsApp while listening to a Clubhouse chat. But Facebook has been sufficiently intrigued by Clubhouse’s rapid rise that it is now working out how to clone the app, according to a report this month in TheNew York Times. Elsewhere, Twitter already has a Clubhouse clone, called Spaces, in beta. It’s not clear that Clubhouse poses a threat to either company, exactly. But both are still taking it as a challenge.
What else?
After years of making its most prominent investments in technically challenging media involving video, augmented reality, and virtual reality, Facebook is reportedly taking a second look at text. The rise of Substack over the past year has begun to mint a growing number of millionaire, text-based creators, while also pulling millions of people away from their social feeds into the relative calm of the email inbox. (I have a personal stake in this one, of course; I started a newsletter in large part because my social feeds had come to feel like a lousy place to get my news.)
What’s interesting here is that Facebook now seems open to this possibility, too. Last month, the Times also reported that Facebook is developing newsletter tools for reporters and writers. (I’ve confirmed this with my own sources.) As with Clubhouse, newsletters hardly pose an existential threat to Facebook. But they do bleed time and attention away from the company’s apps — and in a world where news may not be even available on Facebook in some countries, it may be wise for it to have a hedge. (And Twitter clearly thinks so, too: it acquired Substack competitor Revue last month.)
That leaves Facebook competing with legitimately fast-growing, well-funded competitors across several categories. And while it’s in a much earlier stage, I think the company may soon have an interesting competitor in photography as well.
Dispo is an invite-only social photo app with a twist: you can’t see any photos you take with the app until 24 hours after you take them. (The app sends you a push notification to open them every day at 9AM local time: among other things, a nice hack to boost daily usage.) Founded by David Dobrik, one of the world’s most popular YouTubers, Dispo has been around as a basic utility for a year. But last month a beta version launched on iOS with social features including shared photo “rolls,” and it quickly hit the 10,000-person cap on Apple’s TestFlight software. It raised $4 million in seed funding in October, and assuming the buzz continues into a public launch, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dispo took off in a major way.
Audio, video, photos, and text: to some extent, Facebook has never had to stop competing across these dimensions in the company’s history. But I can’t remember the last time it was fighting so many interesting battles at the same time.
III. What it means
Here’s what I’m not saying when I argue that social networks are competitive again:
That Facebook has not acted in various anti-competitive ways throughout its history.
That Facebook should no longer be subject to antitrust scrutiny, or that the US government (and, separately, a coalition of US attorneys general) should abandon their lawsuits.
That, given all this new competition, Facebook should be allowed to purchase rival social networks in the future.
That Facebook won’t remain the world’s largest social network for a long time to come, or that its business will suffer in the short term.
In fact, I think there’s a good case to be made that antitrust pressure from the US government in particular is what has allowed competition to return to social networks in the first place. Had Clubhouse or Substack emerged in 2013 or 2014, it’s not hard to imagine Facebook racing to acquire them and knock them off the chessboard. But in 2021, when Facebook faces a formal antitrust review in the United Kingdom over its acquisition of a failing GIF search engine, the company can only sit back and try to copy what others are doing better.
If that’s the case, it suggests that the half-assed response to Facebook’s growing dominance over the past half-decade nonetheless got us, however belatedly, to a better place. Antitrust pressure made it extremely difficult for the company to make acquisitions, opening a window just big enough for new entrants to climb through. It remains to be seen how big any new challengers to Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter can grow. But for the first time in a long time, I’m optimistic about their chances.
(Pocket-lint) – The Inspire 2 is the cheapest member of the Fitbit family – and effectively replaces the Inspire HR that launched in 2019 – aimed at those wanting to keep to the tracking basics.
The Inspire 2 sticks largely to the same formula as the Inspire HR, making welcome improvements to the design, bolstering battery life to make it last longer than any other Fitbit device, and giving you a tracking experience that just feels very easy to get to grips with.
With the likes of Samsung, Huawei, Amazfit and Xiaomi also making the budget tracker space a more competitive place, does the Fitbit Inspire 2 do enough to pull away from its more affordable rivals?
Design
Large and small wristband options
Water resistant to 50 metres (5ATM)
Finishes: Black, Lunar White, Desert Rose
With the Inspire 2, Fitbit isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. Put one side-by-side with an Inspire HR and you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two. The colour silicone bands can be removed and come in small and large size options.
Best Fitbit fitness tracker 2021: Which Fitbit is right for you?
By Britta O’Boyle
·
Pocket-lint
The greyscale touchscreen display – which has a slightly curvier edged look – is now 20 per cent brighter than the previous Inspire, which is definitely a positive move. There’s now a dim mode when you don’t need that extra hit of brightness, which can be disabled when you do. It certainly offers an improvement for visibility out in bright outdoor light, but it feels like it might be time to ditch the greyscale OLED screen and go colour like a lot its competitors have done – Xiaomi, Amazfit and Samsung each offer great colour display options for less money.
To give the Inspire 2 a much cleaner look than its predecessor, it’s also removed the physical button for a setup where you can squeeze the sides of the device to do things like turn on the display or get into the band’s settings. Overall, it works well and that button isn’t hugely missed.
Around the back is where you’ll find the PurePulse heart rate sensor, which means you have the ability to continuously monitor heart rate, exercise in personalised heart rate zones, and unlock new features like Active Zone Minutes.
Pocket-lint
The big appeal of wearing the Inspire 2 is that it’s a slim, light and comfortable band to wear all the time. As it’s water resistant up to 50 metres, it’s safe to swim and shower with.
Features
24/7 tracking
Connected GPS
Guided breathing
20+ exercise modes
Additional health insights in Fitbit Premium
Fitness tracking is what Fitbit does best – so it’s no surprise that’s where the Inspire 2’s key features lie.
The sensors making that happen haven’t changed from the last Inspire models. There’s an accelerometer to track steps and enable automatic sleep monitoring. You also have that optical heart rate monitor, which unlocks a range of features and is still best suited to daily monitoring as opposed to putting it to work during exercise. You still don’t get an altimeter to track elevation like floor climbs, which you also get on the Fitbit’s flagship Charge 4.
Pocket-lint
For daily tracking, you can monitor daily steps, distance covered, calories burned, and get reminders to keep moving during the day. Fitbit has also added additional reminders to wash your hands, get your heart pumping, or to stay hydrated.
When it’s time to go to bed, you’ll be able to capture the duration of sleep and get a breakdown of sleep stages. That includes the all-important REM sleep, which is a window into the type of sleep tied to memory and learning. You’ll also get a Sleep Score to give you a clear idea if you’ve had a good night’s sleep.
When you switch to exercise tracking, there are over 20 goal-based modes with core exercises like walking, running and pool swimming. There’s also Fitbit’s SmartTrack tech to automatically recognise when you start moving and working out.
There’s connected GPS support, which means you can lean on your phone’s GPS signal to more accurately track outdoor activities. That GPS support is also useful for the Workout Intensity Maps feature, which along with monitoring your heart rate can show you where you worked hardest during a session.
With that onboard heart rate monitor you’re getting to continuously monitor and capture resting heart rate – day and night. It’s also going to let you train in heart rate zones and generate a Cardio Fitness Score to give you a better sense of your current state of fitness based on your VO2 Max (blood oxygen). Fitbit is also introducing its new Active Zone Minutes feature, which will buzz you when you hit your personalised target heart rate zones. It’s a move to get users to think more about regularly raising heart rate as well as nailing those big daily step counts.
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For that time outside of getting sweaty, the Inspire 2 will perform some useful more smartwatch-like duties. There’s notification support for both Google Android and Apple iOS devices, letting you see native and third-party app notifications. There’s a dedicated notifications menu where you can find your latest incoming messages. In addition to notifications, there’s also a collection of different watch faces to choose from.
Beyond the basics, there’s also guided breathing exercises, menstrual health tracking, and app-based features like manually tracking your food intake. You also have access to Premium, Fitbit’s subscription service, which you’ll get a year to trial before deciding whether to continue at your own cost.
What is Fitbit Premium, what does it offer and how much does it cost?
Performance and battery life
Continuous heart rate monitoring
Up to 10 days battery life
Sleep tracking
Those core fitness tracking features is what the Inspire 2 does best. Step counts are largely in line with the fitness tracking features on a Garmin Fenix 6 Pro, also offering similar distance covered and calories data. While those inactivity alerts aren’t groundbreaking, it’s a small way to make sure you keep moving during the day.
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When you switch to sleep, the slim, light design of the Inspire 2 makes it a comfortable tracker to take to bed first and foremost. Fitbit offers some of the best sleep tracking features in the business. Compared to the Fitbit Sense and the Withings Sleep Analyzer, we were pretty satisfied with the kind of data Fitbit gave us.
For exercise tracking – as long as you’re not hoping to run for miles on a regular basis and up the intensity in general – the Inspire 2 should just about cut it. The heart rate monitor is better suited to continuous monitoring than it is for strenuous workout time based on our experience. For running, and cardio blasting HIIT sessions on the Fiit home workout app, average readings could be as much as 10bpm out (compared to a Garmin HRM Pro chest strap monitor).
The connected GPS support is also better suited to shorter runs, which brings useful features like those Workout Intensity Maps into the mix.
As for battery life, the Inspire 2 offers the best battery numbers Fitbit has ever offered. It’s promising up to 10 days, which is double that of the Inspire HR. It lives up to that claim, too, as long as you’re not going too bright with that screen and not tracking exercise every day with it. The good news is that things like all-day heart rate monitoring don’t seem to have a tremendous drain, which isn’t the case on all fitness trackers.
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When you do need to charge there’s one of Fitbit’s proprietary charging cables, which clips into the charging points on the back and the top and bottom of the rear case. That ensures it stays put and doesn’t budge when you stick the Inspire 2 onto charge.
Software
Fitbit’s companion app, which is available for Android, iOS and Windows 10 devices, remains one of its key strengths – and a strong reason you’d grab one of its trackers over cheaper alternatives.
It’s easy to use and if you want some added motivation to keep you on top of your goals, that’s available too. The main Today screen will give you a snapshot of your daily data and can be edited to show the data you actually care about.
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Discover is where you’ll find guided programmes, challenges, virtual adventures and workouts to accompany daily and nightly tracking. If you’ve signed up to Fitbit Premium, you’ll have a dedicated tab for that too. You still have all your device settings hidden away whether you need to adjust step goals, heart rate zones or how you keep closer tabs on your nutrition and weight management.
The Inspire 2 experience is similar to owning a Fitbit Versa 3, a Charge 4, or a Sense. Which is key: that consistent feeling across all devices makes it a good place if you know other Fitbit-owning people. You can delve deeper into data if you want to, but for most, what’s there when you first download it and login will be more than enough to get a sense of your progress.
Best Fitbit fitness tracker: Which Fitbit is right for you?
Verdict
The Fitbit Inspire 2 sticks to a known formula, covering tracking basics, while wrapping it up in a design that’s comfortable to wear all of the time.
The screen changes for this model are welcomed – extra brightness, yay – and if you care about steps, sleep and monitoring heart rate during the day and night, it will serve you well.
All that’s supported by an app that’s one of the most user-friendly if you’re starting to think about monitoring your health and fitness for the first time.
The level of smartwatch features are dictated by the slenderness of the device and while you can get more in the way of these features elsewhere for less money, what the Inspire 2 offers should be good enough for most. It’s still not quite the ready-made sportswatch replacement though.
Cheaper fitness trackers are now offering more features, arguably better displays and battery life. But if you’re looking for a fitness tracker that puts your health and tracking front and centre, then Fitbit is still one of the best.
Also consider
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Fitbit Inspire HR
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If you can live without that brighter display and some of the software extras, the Inspire HR will still offer a solid tracking experience for less cash.
Read our review
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Huawei Band 3 Pro
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Huawei’s fitness band offers one big feature you won’t find on the Inspire 2: built-in GPS. If you like the idea of a tracker a bit better built for sports, this is one worth looking at.
When it comes to sharp image quality, 4K resolution is where it’s at in 2021. Sure, there are 8K screens and even more modest 6K ones. And lower resolutions deliver higher frame rates on even the best graphics cards. . But if we’re being realistic about what our eyes need and can perceive, how big of a screen we can fit, our budget and the media available, 3840 x 2160 sits on the upper echelon of premium viewing experiences, whether you’re gaming, watching a movie, surfing the web or getting work done. And with one of the best budget 4K monitors, you can get there without going broke.
For a while, 4K was a luxury that wasn’t quite reasonable for a PC monitor. But as these high-res screens have become more common and the bleeding edge has turned to higher pixel counts, a market segment of budget 4K monitors now allow you to take the Ultra HD experience to your desktop.
Below are the best budget 4K monitors we’ve tested. All usually go for about $400 or cheaper.se.
When shopping for the best budget 4K monitor, remember the following:
What size do you need? For a budget screen, 32 inches is a good sweet spot, giving you ample space while still being able to fit on your desktop. 28-inch and 27-inch screens are also common in this price range and will be cheaper. They’re good for productivity, but you probably won’t want to share a screen that size.
Decide the monitor’s main purpose. If it’s gaming, higher refresh rates and Adaptive-Sync (AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync) are priorities, as is a beefy graphics card. You should have a minimum of a GTX 1070 Ti or RX Vega 64 for medium settings or, for high or better settings, an RTX-series or Radeon VII. For general productivity or entertainment, look for high contrast for high image quality. Creatives should strive for accuracy. For more, see How to Buy a PC Monitor and our Best Gaming Monitors page.
Errors under 3 Delta E (dE) are generally invisible to the naked eye. A monitor with a 5dE color error, for example, probably has colors that look visibly off. Accuracy matters more for creative work.
Do you need HDR? A 4K monitor with the right HDR implementation makes 4K/HDR content look significantly better than it would on a regular, or SDR, monitor. While many 4K monitors support HDR, few budget ones do it with noticeable impact. If you want a monitor that makes the HDR upgrade worth it, consider upping your budget to stay in 4K or opting for a lower resolution to save money. See our How to Choose the Best HDR Monitor article for more.
Consider ports and other features. Do you need HDMI 2.1, the latest DisplayPort (1.4)? Are USB Type-A ports important, and do you want USB-C for charging or a single-cable setup? Speakers and the stand’s ability to tilt, swivel or rise are also factors.
The Samsung UR59C is the best budget 4K monitor, offering a 32-inch VA panel with accuracy and curves. Image quality is superb with bold, accurate colors and clear text — after calibration, that is. When we tested in sRGB mode, we recorded a color error of 4.3dE with visible errors, but our calibration (see our recommended settings on page 1 of the review) got it down to 0.9dE. Your web and games should look as intended. The UR59C also offers fantastic contrast, as expected from a VA panel, hitting an impressive 2,590.5:1 after calibration.
Ultrawide screens typically offer more noticeable curves, but despite its 16:9 aspect ratio, the UR59C’s1500R curve is noticeable and beneficial, allowing us to keep more windows in view.
This monitor isn’t fit for serious gaming, but casual players can make it work. The UR59C has a 60 Hz refresh rate, 4ms response time and no FreeSync or G-Sync to fight screen tears. You’d get noticeably better response times and input lag scores from a 75 Hz screen even. But with its high contrast and the pixel density of a 32-inch, 4K screen, games didn’t look bad. If you’re games that aren’t graphically intense or at lower settings and you have a speed enough graphics card that can consistently hit 60 frames per second (fps), you can enjoy blur-free gaming on the UR59C.
You’ll have to pay a hefty price for a monitor that can push 8.3 million pixels at a 144 Hz refresh rate. The best budget 4K gaming monitor, the Asus TUF Gaming VG289Q, is a slower 60 Hz but fights screen tears with FreeSync. Yes, input lag is significantly larger than what you’ll find on a 144 Hz monitor, as is response time. But if you’re working with a budget graphics card and want your games to look detailed and realistic, this is a great option. SDR games looked extra colorful on the VG289Q, and dynamic contrast brought subtle visual benefits, like added dimension. There are screens on this page with better contrast though.
HDR isn’t as fantastic as you’ll find on a monitor with a full-array local dimming (FALD) backlight or even an edge array backlight, but shadows and highlights looked more distinct, and we enjoyed the boost in color.
For more premium high-res gaming screens, check out our Best 4K Gaming Monitors round-up.
If the best budget 4K monitor for you is in the 32-inch range, check out the LG 32UN500-W Contrast is a top consideration when it comes to image quality, and the 32UN500-W’s VA panel didn’t disappoint in our benchmarks, hitting 2,353.9:1 out of the box. The 32UN500-W’s native color gamut is P3, and it covers that color space accurately without any visible errors.
Again, as a budget 4K monitor, the 32UN500-W isn’t winning any HDR prizes. Color lacks the expected pop, and overall the image doesn’t provide a noticeable boost over SDR.
But the 32UN500-W also thoughtfully includes two 5W speakers and even AMD FreeSync to fight screen tears during casual gaming. In general, it delivered popping colors with deep blacks, making it a great fit for your favorite 4K movie and the like.
The Dell S2721QS earns the title of best 27-inch budget 4K monitor with a bright screen, reliably accurate image and useful add-ons. Those bonus add-ons include the ability to connect multiple PCs and view them simultaneously via picture-in-picture or picture-by-picture and an optional app that makes it easy to calibrate the screen or arrange up to 6 windows in various preset layouts. The latter is a productivity boon.
HDR isn’t this monitor’s strong suit. We recorded undersaturated color in this mode, as well as as well as visible grayscale errors. And this monitor doesn’t have the speed or Adaptive-Sync (FreeSync or G-Sync) to make it an appropriate gaming screen.
But in terms of image quality, this is a bright screen, hitting 393 nits in our testing, along with strong contrast for an IPS monitor (1,101:1). You can also expect accurate colors. We recorded just a 2.6dE error with sRGB color
If you’re doing professional work, you should probably opt for a professional monitor. Pro monitors are known for offering exceptional accuracy for a premium price. But with monitors continuously improving, we’re at a point where you can find monitors with pro-level accuracy in key areas, like color, just without the pro-level price tag.
The HP U28 is one such screen and the best budget 4K monitor for creatives. None of the monitors on this page are color slouches, but the U28 stands out with its ability to accurately cover both the sRGB and P3 color spaces with just a switch in the OSD and no calibration. You also get an adjustable stand that allows height and swivel adjustments and the ability to flip into portrait mode, offering plenty of flexibility for creative work.
HP’s U28 comes at a premium though. While not as pricey as professional monitors, the U28 is the most expensive monitor on this list as of this writing.
Still, with a USB-C port letting you charge laptops (or other devices), you may be able to reduce cable clutter, and there are many other ports here too. With that bonus in mind and creative-level accuracy, the U28 is great for feeding your hobby or even career.
Microsoft is planning to add text predictions to Word in March. The new feature will work similarly to Google Docs’ Smart Compose option, using machine learning to predict what words an author will need to speed up document creation. Microsoft originally announced a beta of text predictions last year, but Neowin spotted it’s now on the Microsoft 365 roadmap to reach all Word users on Windows next month.
Word will highlight grayed-out predictions when users are writing a document, and the suggestions can be accepted using the Tab key or rejected by hitting Escape. Text predictions can also be completely disabled by Word users.
Word text predictions.Image: Microsoft
Microsoft also started rolling out identical text predictions in Outlook for Windows this month, allowing users to compose emails faster. These Gmail-like text predictions also rolled out to Outlook on the web last year, alongside a feature to let people schedule when emails would be sent.
The HyperX Alloy Origins 60 is a 60% gaming keyboard that justifies its premium price tag with sturdy build quality, responsive mechanical switches and RGB backlighting.
For
Premium build quality
Doesn’t take up a lot of desk space
Responsive, ping-free switches
Against
60% layout can be hard to learn
Replacement spacebar uses ABS plastic instead of doubleshot PBT
HyperX entered the 60% form factor market with the almost scandalously named HyperX x Ducky One 2 Mini in May 2020. The limited run keyboard sold out quickly, so HyperX released another model with a few cosmetic changes in November, and that version sold out as well. Now, the company has released the HyperX Alloy Origins 60 ($100) as its first solo entry in the 60% market. Hopefully, the first of its self-described “petite” keyboards to stay in stock for a while because if you’re looking for a small clacker, this is one of the best gaming keyboards you can get.
HyperX Alloy Origins 60 Specs
Switches
HyperX Red
Lighting
Per-key RGB
Onboard Storage
3 profiles
Media Keys
With FN
Interface
USB Type-C to USB 2.0 Type-A
Cable
Detachable, braided
Additional Ports
None
Keycaps
Doubleshot PBT
Construction
Aluminum top plate, plastic base
Software
HyperX Ngenuity
Dimensions (LxWxH)
11.5 x 4 x 1.5 inches (292.1 x 101.6 x 38.1mm)
Weight
1.6 pounds (738g)
Extra
Spacebar keycap, Esc keycap, keycap puller
Design
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
There’s no denying the HyperX x Ducky One 2 Mini’s influence on the Alloy Origins 60. Aside from the lack of Ducky’s branding, the most immediate differentiator is this model’s monochromatic color scheme. HyperX’s first 60% keyboard complemented its predominantly black design with red accents; those accents disappear on the Alloy Origins 60. It’s like the company decided to channel The Rolling Stones by making sure every piece of red was painted black.
Otherwise, the Alloy Origins 60 seems awfully similar to its predecessor. Both were designed with one clear goal in mind: making the smallest keyboard the average gamer might accept. (There are smaller form factors, sure, but those are clearly intended for enthusiasts.) The number pad is gone. So too are the function row, arrow keys and the nine-key cluster that houses the likes of Insert and Delete. Everything has been pared down to bare essentials.
The result is an itty-bitty keyboard that we measured at 11.5 inches long, 4 inches wide and roughly 1.5 inches tall (292.1 x 101.6 x 38.1mm) with a weight of 1.6 pounds (738g) excluding the cable. For comparison, the Razer Huntsman Mini is about 11.6 x 4 x 1.3 inches. The Alloy Origins 60’s dimensions and 1.6-pound (738g) weight combined with the Alloy Origins 60’s aluminum construction,detachable cable and collapsible feet should make the keyboard easy to travel with. They also mean there’s plenty of room on our desk for your relatively large and best RGB mouse pad, a headset stand and our other, as they say, #gaminggear.
HyperX ships the Alloy Origins 60 with a keycap puller, a replacement Esc key featuring the company’s logo and a unique spacebar that boasts a topographic design. That spacebar is the only key made from ABS plastic; the rest are doubleshot, ensuring the print won’t fade, and more premium type of plastic, PBT. That’s in order to get the unique design on the keyboard, which HyperX told us was selected among about 12 concepts from the design team. Although the dip in construction material is a drawback, we’d be happy to see this trend of highly decorative bonus keycaps take off.
Overall, the Alloy Origins 60’s use of that higher quality plastic, its sturdy aluminum frame and its braided USB cable all make it seem like a truly premium offering that doesn’t rely entirely on RGB lighting to justify its price tag.
Typing Experience
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The Alloy Origins 60 ships with linear HyperX Red mechanical switches that feature a 1.8mm actuation point and 3.8mm total travel with 45g actuation force. HyperX offers the same switch, as well as other HyperX ones in the full-sized HyperX Alloy Origins, tenkeyless HyperX Alloy Origins Core and HyperX x Ducky One 2 Mini. Upon release, the Alloy Origins 60 is only available with linear switches, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see HyperX eventually add its tactile Aqua and/or clicky Blue switches as options.
HyperX Red switches are intended for gaming, but it’s worth considering how they fare during everyday use, too. Most aren’t able to switch keyboards every time they move between work and play.
I used the 10fastfingers.com typing test to quantify my typing performance with the Alloy Origins 60 compared to other keyboards. The average results after three tests were 117 words per minute (wpm) with 97% accuracy. That compares well to my results with the Logitech G Pro, Razer BlackWidow V3 and Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro. I was slightly faster on the Origins 60 than on the G Pro (116.3 wpm) but also slightly less accurate compared to the 97.5% accuracy there.
From a qualitative perspective, however, I had a few problems with the Alloy Origins 60. It turns out that I tend to lightly rest a finger on the E key, and the switches are sensitive enough to register that not-quite-hovering. This resulted in long strings of letters that made it seem like I were typing in chat apps and disrupted my flow while writing. (There’s nothing like having an idea, going to type it and losing it because you have to delete “eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.”) Of course, your experience may vary. If you have lighter hands, you’ll be okay. For comparison, these switches require the same amount of force to actuate as Cherry MX Red switches, which also have 4mm total travel and actuate at 2.2mm.
It can also be hard to get used to the 60% form factor, especially when it comes to productivity. Having to hold down the Fn key on the bottom-right corner of the keyboard made it difficult to perform certain functions. That difficulty varied by function. Taking a screenshot was simply a matter of finding the PrtSc key, for example, while exiting an app using Alt+F4 was impossible without using both hands. Some might adapt quickly to this new approach; others might never get accustomed to it.
None of these trade-offs are a surprise in a 60% keyboard though. This small form factor is for a specific audience. And the overall experience of typing on the Alloy Origins 60 was pleasant. The flip-out feet prove useful here by offering three different angles (default, slightly propped up and fully propped) at which the keyboard can rest, which should make it easier to fine-tune the ergonomics. Once the keyboard was settled at just the right angle, the keys felt satisfying throughout the entire press.
Meanwhile, the doubleshot PBT keycaps were shaped well enough that we didn’t have to worry about our fingers slipping. HyperX nailed the keycaps’ texture, too, giving the keys just enough grip to ensure stability without feeling like sandpaper beneath our fingers. Bonus points for a lack of undue pinging, which has become an even greater concern throughout the course of the global work from home experiment that kicked off nearly a year ago.
Gaming Experience
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
This is where the Alloy Origins 60 shines. Linear switches like this are most useful in games where a few milliseconds mean the difference between success and failure. Need to crouch? Just brush your pinky against the “Ctrl” key. Time to reload? That key is “R”-eady to go as well. Those sensitive mechanical switches are supposed to respond as quickly as possible to your touch; who cares if they might lead to lines of “Es” appearing in the heavy-handed’s word processor of choice?
There are lighter mechanical switches though, even linear ones in the 60% form factor. Razer’s Huntsman Mini is available with Razer’s optical mechanical clicky or linear switches. The linear ones actuate with 40g of force compared the Alloy Origin 60 switches’ 45g. Razer’s linear optical switches also have shorter travel( 1.5mm actuation point, 3.5mm total travel) compared to HyperX Reds (1.8mm actuation and 3.8mm total travel).
We found HyperX Reds’ responsiveness particularly helpful in fast-paced games, like Call of Duty: Warzone. That game requires a lot of split-second decision making tied to a lot of inputs. Each fight can require you to walk, sprint and slide; use field upgrades, grenades and tactical equipment; slam open doors, jump through windows and deploy a parachute; and switch weapons or refill armor plates. (To say nothing of actually, you know, shooting at someone.)
It’s also the kind of game where sound matters quite a bit. How are you supposed to listen to your surroundings if every key you press clicks and clacks like a miniature cap gun? And how effectively will you be able to make call outs to your squad if they can barely hear you over the sound of you running, using all your equipment and frantically searching for an “I win” key? The Alloy Origins 60 isn’t silent, but it’s definitely quieter than a lot of other gaming keyboards.
Form factor also plays a role. The entire point of a 60% keyboard is maximizing the amount of desk space available to other peripherals, especially the mouse pad. Using a lower in-game sensitivity makes it easier to aim, generally speaking, and that also requires the use of a larger mousepad. In my experience it’s more comfortable to use a large mousepad with a smaller keyboard so my shoulders don’t have to be spread quite as far apart.
Suffice it to say the Alloy Origins 60 fits the bill. We’d just gotten used to clearing most of our desk to review the full-sized Razer BlackWidow V3 when we unboxed HyperX’s petite savior. The difference is striking. Besides having more desk space for other peripherals, this setup also feels more comfortable, especially during longer sessions. The difference from a tenkeyless keyboard is less pronounced but still noticeable. Ergonomically, 60% feels like the way to go.
Features and Software
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HyperX offers a variety of customization features for the Alloy Origins 60 via its NGenuity software. The app launches right into controls that make it easy to apply new colors, one of seven built-in effects and various cycling speeds to the keyboard’s lighting on a per-key basis (with an “All Lights” button to simplify keyboard-wide changes, of course). You’ll see changes on the keyboard in real-time, but they aren’t saved until you press the “Save to Keyboard” button.
You also need NGenuity to assign new functions to any and all keys. There are a variety of available categories–Mouse Function, Multimedia, Macro and Windows Shortcut. The left Shift key could be used to launch the Task Manager, for example, while the Esc mutes audio. All of these assignments can be assigned to a key on the “Base Layer” or the “Fn Layer” as desired.
The app also offers easy access to brightness settings, preset configurations and a Game Mode that can be used to disable any combination of four different keyboard shortcuts that can ruin a gaming session. (There’s nothing like being in the middle of a match and hitting “Alt”+“Tab” at a critical moment.)
There are three different onboard profiles that can be switched to using NGenuity, via keyboard shortcut, or, if you have NGenuity downloaded, when a specific game is launched.
Bottom Line
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
As a 60% gaming keyboard, the HyperX Alloy Origins 60 is a niche product. Consumers have become more accustomed to tenkeyless keyboards, but removing even more keys can seem daunting. Living without a number pad is relatively easy compared to living without the function row, arrow keys and other essential keys. For many people the form factor’s trade-offs won’t be worth its benefits.
If you belong to that niche, however, the Alloy Origins 60 is easy to recommend. It has everything we look for in a premium keyboard. That includes a braided, detachable cable that should be easy to transport; a premium build quality resulting from doubleshot PBT keycaps, an aluminum top frame, seemingly reliable mechanical switches and RGB lighting that’s easy to configure. The included keycap puller and the custom spacebar make the keyboard even more appealing.
If you’re looking for something other than linear switches though, you’re currently out of luck. HyperX tends to add more switch options to its Alloy Origins lineup, but the Alloy Origins 60 only has one switch option right now. For an alternative, the Razer Huntsman Mini 60% keyboard offers Razer’s optical mechanical linear or clicky switches.
But if you want linear switches that are quick to respond in a keyboard built with quality in mind, the Alloy Origins 60 is a top contender.
The Philips 558M1RY represents a price breakthrough in the jumbo gaming monitor category. Though it leaves out HDMI 2.1, it brings everything else to the gaming table with 120 Hz, adaptive sync and accurate DCI-P3 and sRGB color. Add in killer HDR and you have a winner for a relatively low price.
For
Good contrast
Color accurate
Bright
Perfect Adaptive-Sync at 120 Hz
Unbeatable audio quality
Against
No HDMI 2.1
No streaming apps
Features and Specifications
Go big or go home. Size matters. The bigger, the better. Whatever your favorite cliché, games are more fun when you play on a big screen. That’s part of the reason the PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox Series X and console gaming in general is so popular. It’s not just cost; consoles also make it easier to play on the large TV in the living room, rather than the desk-sized screen sitting in the home office.
But PCs have a huge performance advantage over consoles. You’re not going to hit 144 fps on a console, and you’re definitely not going to find a DisplayPort on a console or TV. For those committed to high-performance and speed in one of the best 4K gaming monitors, the question is how much are you willing to spend on a jumbo monitor?
If around $1,500 is within your budget, the Philips Momentum 558M1RY may be for you. It’s a 55-inch VA monitor specced for up to 1,000 nits brightness, HDR, AMD FreeSync and a 120 Hz refresh rate. If that’s not enough, the 558M1RY includes a high-quality soundbar from Bowers & Wilkins. Yes, that B&W. That’s a premium package at a premium price.
Philips Momentum 558M1RY Specs
Panel Type / Backlight
VA / W-LED, edge array
Screen Size / Aspect Ratio
54.5 inches / 16:9
Max Resolution & Refresh Rate
3840×2160 @ 120 Hz
FreeSync: 48-120 Hz
Native Color Depth & Gamut
10-bit / DCI-P3
DisplayHDR 1000, HDR10
Response Time (GTG)
4ms
Max Brightness
SDR: 750 nits
HDR: 1,200 nits
Contrast
4,000:1
Speakers
B&W 40-watt Ported Soundbar: 2x tweeters, 2x mid, 1x sub
Video Inputs
1x DisplayPort 1.4
3x HDMI 2.0
Audio
3.5mm headphone output
USB 3.2
1x up, 4x down
Power Consumption
53.5w, brightness @ 200 nits
Panel Dimensions WxHxD w/base
48.5 x 32.8 x 12.1 inches (1232 x 833 x 307mm)
Panel Thickness
4 inches (102mm)
Bezel Width
Top/sides: 0.4 inch (10mm)
Bottom: 0.9 inch (22mm)
Weight
58.3 pounds (26.5kg)
Warranty
4 years
We’ve looked at a few jumbo monitors in the past, like the HP Omen X 65 Emperium and the Alienware 55 OLED panel. Both perform admirably but cost a fortune. In terms of jumbo gaming monitors, Philips’ 558M1RY is the least expensive we’ve seen yet.
There’s no question around whether or not the 558M1RY is a TV. There’s no tuner and no smart TV apps. But despite Philips advertising the monitor as offering “new-level console gaming,” there is no HDMI 2.1 to support the new PS5 and Xbox consoles’ fastest frame rates. If you use the monitor with a console you’ll be limited to a 60 Hz refresh rate, unless you drop down to 1440p resolution, where you can reach 120 Hz. For 4K at 120 Hz, you have to use the DisplayPort connection, which, of course, is only found on PCs.
A VA panel promises high native contrast, there’s an extended color gamut and an LED edge-array backlight that Philips promises is good for 750 nits brightness with SDR content and a whopping 1,200 nits with HDR, which surpasses VESA’s highest HDR certification, DisplayHDR 1000, which requires 1,000 nits. The 558M1RY certainly has the tools to produce a stunning 4K image.
Gamers will enjoy the 558M1RY’s seamless AMD FreeSync Premium Pro implementation. Compared to standard FreeSync and FreeSync Premium, FreeSync Premium Pro adds HDR support and low latency in HDR mode. We also got Nvidia G-Sync to run on the scree,n even though it’s not G-Sync Compatible-certified. (To learn how, see our How to Run G-Sync on a FreeSync Monitor tutorial). We verified that both kinds of Adaptive-Sync work over a 48-120 Hz range with or without HDR through DisplayPort 1.4.
Assembly and Accessories on Philips Momentum 558M1RY
You’ll need a friend to help you unbox the Philips Momentum 558M1RY because it arrives fully assembled with stand and soundbar already fixed in place. The package weighs around 65 pounds in total. As with a desktop monitor, you get an IEC power cord plus HDMI, DisplayPort and USB cables. A tiny remote is also included which makes menu navigation a lot easier. If you plan to wall mount, there’s a 200mm VESA pattern in back with four large bolts included in the box.
Philips Momentum 558M1RY Product 360
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It’s hard to appreciate the scale of the Philips Momentum 558M1RY from the photos, because it’s styled just like a standard PC monitor. The first clue that this is an extreme display is the soundbar firmly attached to the panel. These B&W speakers are covered with a burlap-like wool-blend fabric in dark gray. Meanwhile, the base and upright are very solid and stable and offer a tilt adjustment like a desktop display. The generally low-key design makes sense, considering that this will likely sit in a living or family room for all to see. There are no gaming cues in sight — until you activate the 558M1RY’s colorful lighting effect.
The 558M1RY features what Philips calls Ambiglow, a lighting feature across the sides and top of the panel’s backside. It can glow a single color with adjustable brightness or you can set it change according to what’s currently on the screen. That effect adds an interesting motion element you won’t find on any other gaming monitor. It works particularly well if you have a neutral-colored wall behind the screen.
From a side view, the 558M1RY looks chunky with angles and straight lines making up the 558M1RY’s shape. In back, you can see a heat vent across the top and a tiny Philips logo. The small dots around the perimeter are the Ambiglow LEDs. On the soundbar, you can see a port on one side that extends the bass lower.
Perfect for a living room, the 558M1RY even comes with a 6-inch-long wand-shaped remote that easily controls all monitor functions. You get a power toggle, plus mute, input and menu up top. After the four-way nav pad is picture mode and return. Two rockers at the bottom adjust brightness and volume.
The input panel is up under the upright and fairly hard to reach. You get three HDMI 2.0 inputs and a single DisplayPort 1.4. USB is version 3.2 and includes one upstream and four downstream ports. Two of them can charge or power devices when the 558M1RY is off.
OSD Features on Philips Momentum 558M1RY
With 12 logically arranged submenus, the on-screen display (OSD) is exactly like the one found in all the Philips monitors we’ve reviewed. You can access it with a joystick on the back-right side of the panel or the handy remote control.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
First up is Ambiglow, the LED lighting effect. You can set any color to a steady state and adjust its brightness with a slider, or choose a random rotation of colors. The coolest feature is image match, where the colors change with the onscreen content. It sounds gimmicky, but in practice, it added an interesting dimension to both gameplay and video.
A Game Setting menu offers aiming crosshairs, a low input lag mode, which can be left on all the time, and a three-level overdrive. The speediest overdrive settings, Fastest, works well at reducing motion blur without leaving ghosting artifacts.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Most of the image controls are in the Picture menu, where you get brightness and contrast, along with sharpness and color saturation. At the top, SmartImage offers 7 different picture modes, which are task-specific. One of the modes focuses on improved screen uniformity. It delivered but reduced contrast in the process. Our sample didn’t need that feature though.
There are also five gamma presets in the Picture menu.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Color menu offers color temp adjustments by Kelvin value or with RGB sliders. The Philips Momentum 558M1RY measures well out of the box and doesn’t need calibration, but there are slight gains available with a few adjustments. Here also is the sRGB mode, which effectively renders that gamut with decent gamma and grayscale tracking. Color purists will be happy to have this feature available.
Philips Momentum 558M1RY Calibration Settings
The 558M1RY has a native DCI-P3 color gamut that it uses for all content unless you engage the sRGB mode in the Color menu. Since sRGB mode can’t be calibrated, we calibrated the 558M1RY via the User Define color temp and left SmartImage off. With slight changes to the RGB sliders and a switch in gamma from 2.2 to 2.4, we achieved excellent results.
You’ll notice in the table below that we could only turn the backlight down to 105 nits minimum. That’s a bit bright for gaming in a completely dark room, but you can get some relief by turning on Ambiglow and setting it to a dim white.
Here are the calibration settings we used for SDR mode on the 558M1RY:
Picture Mode
Smart Image Off
Brightness 200 nits
54
Brightness 120 nits
12
Minimum
105 nits
Contrast
50
Gamma
2.4
Color Temp User
Red 99, Green 99, Blue 99
When an HDR signal is applied, you get five additional presets. For the brightest presentation, choose DisplayHDR 1000. For the best HDR image, choose Personal.
Gaming and Hands-on with Philips Momentum 558M1RY
Using a 55-inch monitor for workday tasks is a bit unusual, but if you sit around 6 feet away, it works. The Philips Momentum 558M1RY’s stand raises the screen a bit less than 5 inches from the desktop, so to put your viewpoint in the center, you’ll have to raise your chair or use a lower than typical piece of furniture. Unlike a TV, the Philips’ stand has a tilt function of 10 degrees, so there is some flexibility there. The soundbar moves with the panel so its sound is always focused on the user.
With font scaling set to 300%, Windows apps were easy to use from up to 10 feet away. Small text was easily readable, so if you want to sit on the couch and browse the web, the 558M1RY can oblige. Contrast is superb with a nearly 5,000:1 contrast ratio available in SDR mode. We used the extended color gamut for most productivity apps, except Photoshop, where we switched to the sRGB mode.
Movie watching is a pleasure with such a large screen. You can sit close and have a very immersive experience, both visually and sonically. The impact of good audio cannot be overstated either. In the AV world, the most commonly given — and most commonly ignored — advice is to spend twice as much on audio as video. This is hard to do because we all want the largest possible display. But when sound is as good as the B&W soundbar included with the 558M1RY, you’re getting a huge value-add.
With two tweeters, two 10W midranges and a 20W woofer for bass, the Philips Momentum 558M1RY has some of the best built-in sound we’ve ever heard. The full frequency spectrum is represented and only the very deepest bass, below 80 Hz, is a little weak.
For gaming and movies, the soundbar is a huge asset. Not only is the audio crystal clear, but also the sound stage is much wider than the bar’s physical size. Higher partials, like female voices and finely detailed ambient effects, came through in perfect balance with no trace of sibilance or harshness.
Of course, the Philips Momentum 558M1RY is at heart a gaming monitor, and for that, it excels. SDR games, like Tomb Raider, look fantastic when running at 120 frames per second (fps) at 4K resolution with max detail. We paired the monitor with a system running a GeForce RTX 3090. One of the best graphics cards, it has no trouble keeping frame rates high. We also tested the monitor with a Radeon RX 5700 XT-equipped machine. In either case, we got Adaptive-Sync to run perfectly. And in general, response and input lag were low enough not to call attention to themselves.
Contrast was particularly impressive in the dark areas of the game environment where blacks were true and shadow detail was rich. The depth afforded by a quality VA panel like this makes the suspension of disbelief far more palpable.
Color also stood out, thanks to an accurate gamut. We played Tomb Raider in sRGB mode, where it looked great, and with the full DCI-P3 gamut engaged, where it looked even better. Though purists like us prefer to use the mastered color spec whenever possible, there’s no denying the impact of a little more saturation.
Switching to HDR in Windows worked seamlessly, and thanks to the availability of the contrast slider in the HDR Personal mode, we were able to dial down the extreme brightness to make the desktop less fatiguing to look at. With the HDR title Call of Duty: WWII, however, we enjoyed 750-nit highlights that made the picture really pop. It never looked too bright, even in daylight outdoor scenes.
Video processing was also perfect with HDR engaged. 120 Hz and Adaptive-Sync worked flawlessly on both AMD and Nvidia platforms with HDR content.
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