Today we are looking at three peripherals from TecWare – the EXO Elite gaming mouse, Q5 gaming headset and the Phantom mechanical keyboard. Let’s see if three is the magic number, or if three is a crowd, by diving into the specs and features for each of these products. Are they worth your hard earned cash? Let’s find out!
Watch via our Vimeo channel (below) or over on YouTube at 2160p HERE
Q5 Gaming Headset
Specifications:
Type : Stereo Headset
Connector : USB 2.0 (Virtual 7.1)
Weight Without Cable : 320 g
Controller : Inline
Software : EQ, Effect, 7.1, Mic, LED
Speaker Diameter : 40 mm
Impedance : 32 Ω
Frequency Response : 20 Hz – 20,000 Hz
Sensitivity : 98 dB ± 4 dB @ 1khz
Max. Power 100 mW
Volume Control : Via Inline Controller
MICROPHONE SPECIFICATIONS
Direction : Omnidirectional
Impedance : 2.2 kΩ
Frequency Response : 100 Hz – 10,000 Hz
Sensitivity : -40±4 dBV
Microphone Mute : Via Inline Controller
Detachable Microphone : Yes
Flexible Microphone: Yes
Windscreen: Yes
You can purchase the Q5 Gaming Headset for £54.99 from Amazon HERE!
You can purchase the EXO Elite Gaming Mouse for £54.99 from Amazon HERE!
Pros
Solid build quality.
Lightweight.
Spare glide pads provided.
Low LOD.
Good value for money.
Cons
Not overly unique.
Braided cable is quite stiff.
Phantom Mechanical Keyboard
Specifications:
Dimensions: 361.5 x 133.5 x 40.1 mm
Weight: 0.95kg
Rated Voltage: 5.0V / 300mA
Switch Lifespan: 50 million keystrokes
Cable Length: 1.8m Braided USB cable
Frame: Black Plastic Body / Gunmetal Alloy Backplate
Switch Type: Mechanical Outemu Brown Switches
Circuit Board: FR-4 Fibreglass PCB
SMD LEDs
USB
Double-shot ABS Keycaps
You can purchase the Phantom Mechanical Keyboard for £59.99 from Amazon HERE!
Pros
Good build quality.
Nice detailing.
Strong RGB.
Great value for money.
Cons
ABS Keycaps attract grease and get shiny quickly.
Individual software apps is slightly inconvenient.
Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.
KitGuru says: Considering the price of each individual item, I think you are getting your money’s worth here. We’re not absolutely blown away by any of the products, but TecWare has three solid peripherals on its hands.
Shopping for a laptop can be stressful — doubly stressful if you or your children will be learning online for the first time. Kids of different ages have a range of different laptop use cases and different needs. And as the choices for best laptop and best Chromebook evolve, so do students’ needs. So I spoke to some experts on the subject: students themselves.
My recommendations here are meant to accommodate a variety of preferences and price ranges. But they’re a jumping-off point rather than an exhaustive list: every student is different. Before making a decision, you’ll want to make sure you read reviews and try out devices yourself if you can. I’ll do my best to keep this article up to date with items that are in stock.
Best laptop for students
Google’s Pixelbook Go has solid battery life and a rippled base that’s easy to grip, making it a good choice for kids.Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Best laptop for elementary school
For younger students, a touchscreen device is easier to use than a keyboard and touchpad, says Michelle Glogovac. Glogovac’s five-year-old son uses an iPad for Webex meetings with his kindergarten class. He’s gotten the hang of it; Glogovac says he’s already learned how to mute and unmute himself, “a skill that many adults aren’t familiar with.”
That said, it may be worth investing in a keyboard case if you go the tablet route. Glogovac has to type her son’s meeting codes and passwords for him, which can be cumbersome on the iPad’s flat screen.
As kids get older, their best laptop choice will vary depending on their needs. As a parent, it’s important that you and your child are in sync about how they intend to use it and the size of the programs they want.
Kristin Wallace purchased a budget HP laptop for her daughter, Bella, but didn’t realize how quickly the nine-year-old would fill up 32GB of storage. “It is really slow and has no space for games. I need a computer with more storage space,” said Bella, who uses the laptop to Zoom with friends and take virtual guitar lessons and math enrichment classes. Wallace plans to buy Bella a better device in the next few weeks.
Audio quality is an important consideration for kids’ laptops. Lisa Mitchell, an elementary library media specialist, says her students use their devices to watch YouTube videos in addition to their online classes. Battery life is also a plus, even for distance learners who may not be far from a wall outlet. Bella likes to use her laptop all around the house and doesn’t want to bring the cord with her.
Durability is also worth paying for, according to Mitchell. If you’re using a tablet, get a protective case. “If a reasonably-priced insurance or replacement policy is available, it’s usually worth the extra expense.”
Check out:
Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Edition ($199): a colorful, fast tablet with kid-friendly content
Lenovo Chromebook Duet ($279): a tiny 10-inch Chromebook with a detachable keyboard
Apple 10.2-inch iPad ($329): a great budget tablet that supports the Apple Pencil
Microsoft Surface Go 2 ($399): a solid Windows tablet with a built-in kickstand
Google Pixelbook Go ($649): a sturdy touchscreen Chromebook
Lenovo’s Chromebook Duet is just $289, but it can run plenty of tabs and apps with no problem.Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge
Best laptop for middle school
The middle school students I spoke to don’t use their laptops for much more than web-based schoolwork and browsing. Don’t be too concerned about power — prioritize a machine that’s comfortable and easy for your child to use.
“We just got the most basic Chromebook and it is totally perfect,” says Gabrielle Hartley, an attorney and mother of three children who take a mix of in-person and online classes. “The most basic Chromebook serves all the needs of the basic middle schooler.”
Chromebooks, like this one from Acer, are a good choice for students who use Google Classroom.Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge
Hartley’s son Max, who is in eighth grade, agrees. “I would really like a gaming PC or gaming laptop that can plug into a monitor and run video games with 120fps, but I really don’t need that,” Max says. “Most eighth graders aren’t going to be running any video games on their laptops or any software that requires a lot of power.”
Max mostly uses his laptop for Google Classroom applications, including Gmail, Slides, Google Docs, and Google Sheets. They’re very easy to use on his device, which he describes as “a run-of-the-mill Samsung Chromebook.” That said, if your child is starting middle school this year, it could be worth checking with their teachers to see what operating system is most compatible with their workflow. Caspian Fischer Odén, a ninth grader from Sweden, told me he has trouble with his Chromebook because his school has blocked downloading apps from the Google Play Store.
Even kids with more demanding hobbies think a budget device can get the job done. Sam Hickman, an eighth grader from the UK who uses his laptop for photo and video editing, says, “For most middle schoolers, any processor developed within the last two years will be able to handle any tasks they can throw at it.”
So, what is worth paying for? A comfortable keyboard, several students told me. Many middle school kids aren’t used to typing for long periods of time. You should also look for a device that’s compact and easy for them to carry around, particularly if they’re preparing for in-person school. Shoot for an 11- to 13-inch model — certainly nothing larger than 15 inches.
Check out:
HP Chromebook x360 ($279): an affordable Chromebook with great battery life
Lenovo Flex 3 Chromebook ($350): a small but sturdy laptop made for students
Lenovo 300e ($378): a durable 2-in-1 with a stylus
Acer Aspire 5 ($466): a portable option for kids who need a 15-inch screen
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go ($549): an attractive, light Windows laptop
The Surface Laptop 4 is a capable, no-nonsense laptop — just what many high schoolers want.Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge
Best laptop for high school
High schoolers’ laptop needs can vary based on their interests, but most don’t need powerful machines with lots of bells and whistles — especially if they come with glitches or serious downsides that could interfere with schoolwork. Miles Riehle, a student at Laguna Beach High School, has a high-end Surface Pro 7 but finds it overwhelming. “There is so much other stuff that I don’t use very often,” he said. “Something simpler might be a little more straightforward.”
The best operating system may depend on what your child is used to. Aryan Nambiar, a student at Barrington High School in Illinois, has an iMac at home and enjoys using an iPad for his schoolwork. Riehle says he would prefer a Chromebook because he has an Android phone and often uses Google services.
But almost every student I spoke to agreed that the most important feature of a high school laptop is portability. Kids attending in-person classes may be carrying their device around for much of the day with a stack of other books. Look for a 13- or 14-inch screen, or a lighter 15- to 17-inch model.
Students also recommend something sturdy. “Most high schoolers I’ve seen will throw their laptop in their bag without too much care,” says Moses Buckwalter, a student at Penn Manor High School. Backpacks can be jostled in the hallway as well. Distance learners can still run into trouble at home. “Anything can happen,” says Aadit Agrawal, a high school student from India. “My own brother scratched my laptop with his nails.”
Battery life is another key feature. “It can be a real struggle to find a place to charge while in class,” says Cas Heemskerk, a sophomore from the Netherlands. Unlike college students, many high schoolers don’t have frequent breaks to juice up their devices, so try to find something that can last a full day.
Many students recommend a touchscreen with stylus support. Nambiar uses the feature for his biology class, where he does a lot of visual modeling. “The touchscreen is always a bonus for drawing diagrams, whereas if you’re using a laptop it’d be a whole process to submit a diagram you drew,” Nambiar says. Riehle uses a Surface Pen to fill out school forms and annotate PDFs. Agrawal finds it useful to take notes on the same screen as his online lessons.
Depending on the broadband situation in your area, you may also want a laptop with multiple connectivity options. Agrawal’s online classes are sometimes interrupted by powercuts, so he recommends an LTE model. Matej Plavevski, a junior at Yahya Kemal College in North Macedonia, recommends looking for an Ethernet port in case slower connections disrupt meetings. That’s hard to find on smaller laptops, but there’s a slew of affordable dongles and docks to consider.
Check out:
Acer Chromebook Spin 513 ($349): a convertible Chromebook with all-day battery
Apple iPad Air ($599): a powerful tablet with a great screen
Acer Chromebook Spin 713 ($629): a fantastic Chromebook that’s not too pricey
Dell XPS 13 ($931): a solid clamshell Windows laptop
Surface Laptop 4 ($999): an excellent, light laptop that’s comfortable to use
For college students seeking an affordable laptop, HP’s Envy x360 performs just as well as some expensive competitors.Photography by Monica Chin / The Verge
Best laptop for college
College kids are justified in spending a bit more money than other age groups. Some (especially in STEM courses) can expect to do some fairly demanding work. Assad Abid, an electrical engineering undergrad from Pakistan, needs to run simulation software for his assignments. Aakash Chandra, a student at New Horizon College of Engineering in India, does a lot of coding, in addition to creative work in Premiere Pro and Photoshop, and gaming. Students also noted that it’s worthwhile to pay for a laptop that will last for a few years after graduation. That means you won’t have to worry about finding and financing your next device until you’re (hopefully) settled into a job.
But among high-end, capable devices there’s still a wide range of options. Students stressed that a college laptop should be light. Expect to bring it between classes, meals, meetings, the library, and other locations on campus. “It’s a boon that I can carry my laptop as well as some notebooks without feeling like I’m carrying too much for six hours a day,” says Haseeb Waseem, a senior at Villanova University.
The Dell XPS 13 has a variety of configurations. Students with light workloads may prefer the base model, while gamers and creatives can add a GPU.Photo by Monica Chin / The Verge
Another universally-lauded feature: battery life. Waseem, who uses an HP Spectre, says the all-day juice gives him “the flexibility to study in a bunch of different locations, and even outside.”
Speakers and webcams are often overlooked, even in top-end devices. But students say it’s worth looking for good ones if you’re starting college this year. Zoom will be a large part of university life this semester: many kids will be attending virtual classes, while others will still be meeting with clubs, study groups, and professors as well as hanging out with friends online. Waseem isn’t satisfied with his laptop’s audio and picture quality, which he says has made it difficult to pay attention in class and to engage with other students.
Many students will need to invest more in areas tailored to their interests and schoolwork needs. Chandra’s dream laptop would include a stylus and touchscreen for his creative work as well as a high-end GPU. Waseem, who uses his laptop for a hodgepodge of activities, including streaming, coding, social media, video chatting, and Microsoft Office work, would prefer to prioritize a large screen to keep track of his multitasking.
Check out:
Acer Swift 3 ($613): a super light laptop that performs well
HP Envy x360 13 ($689): a fast and stylish 2-in-1
Dell XPS 13 ($930): a solid clamshell Windows laptop
Surface Laptop 4 ($999): an excellent, light laptop that’s comfortable to use
HP Spectre x360 14 ($1,269): a premium convertible with standout battery life
There’s a quality that some long-running chat podcasts have that can feel like a brick wall for new listeners. Existing relationships, in-jokes, and context that friends and co-hosts have are additional barriers to feeling like you’re a part of the conversation. The casual hangout and chat format is tantalizing for its naturalism, but it also comes with parasocial relationships as baggage. Which makes HBO’s new late-night project, Pause with Sam Jay, so intriguing. It has hangout podcasts in its DNA, but it’s also out to reinvent a decades-old late-night format.
Pause is co-created by Sam Jay, stand-up comedian and Saturday Night Live writer, and Prentice Penny, showrunner and executive producer of Insecure. It feels fresh for some obvious reasons. Jay is a Black queer woman in a field filled with straight white men. But aside from the host, the format also feels unique. Where late night is dominated by monologues, desks, interviews, and panels, Pause is quite literally a party. Jay invites over her real-life friends and fellow comedians, and they shoot the shit, filmed by two camera operators, while Jay guides the conversation toward the episode’s topic.
For the episode I watched, that subject was selling out to white culture, or “cooning.” Jay and her guests think bigger than that, too, touching on the sorts of restrictions, labels, and classifications society can place on people who just want to be. The party atmosphere doesn’t always help communicate these ideas. Like a real kickback or house party, people shout over each other, ideas get lost in the mix, and jokes that play in the room just don’t translate without the context and history. But when it does work — or when Jay’s two white guests are gamely dunked on — it feels like something that’s never been available from this kind of show before.
This can make the diversions Jay and Penny take slightly frustrating. To support the natural discussion at the party, Pause weaves in cutaways. There’s nothing necessarily wrong or unfunny about interviews, sketches, or man-on-the-street segments. But they have a very different vibe from a party, and the hangout atmosphere is what makes Jay’s project seem like a shot in the arm when you’re on its wavelength.
And it should! If Conan O’Brienswitching up his format, shooting for a shorter length, and literally getting out from behind his desk can be a major milestone in 2019, then clearly, late-night television needs something. In recent years, networks have turned to YouTube for inspiration (and extra ad sales). Segments on shows are frequently designed to be clippable and ready to be shared online, and networks like NBC have poached successful YouTube talent like Lilly Singh to offer relevancy and audience instincts to network late night. Jay and Penny are obviously working the problem from a different angle — and from behind an HBO subscription — but the instinct that the old ways can’t be the only way is the same.
One episode is not a lot to go on, but like the start of a great night with friends, there’s a ton of potential energy in Pause (despite what the name might suggest). There’s plenty of avenues the show could go down, but the most promising is playing with the party format and building out Jay’s guests as sources of humor and insight all their own. For now, though, it’s fun in its own way. Watching people drink, joke, and play pool just feels more engaging than an interview behind a desk — especially during a pandemic.
Pause with Sam Jay premieres on HBO on May 21st at 9PM ET and will also stream on HBO Max.
Jack Edwards doesn’t want to be praised for doing what he considers the bare minimum: making his videos accessible to his deaf and hard of hearing viewers.
Edwards began making book and lifestyle videos on YouTube five years ago, but he only started captioning all of his videos in January. “It was one of my goals this year to invest more time into making my channel more accessible for viewers,” he says. “I always think about the quote, ‘It’s a privilege to learn, rather than to experience,’ and that’s true for so many accessibility issues. I don’t rely on subtitles to enjoy YouTube content, so it’s easy to forget that others do.”
More creators like Edwards have been writing captions for their videos over the past year, providing subtitles so that more viewers can engage with their content without having to hear or understand the audio.
It’s a result deaf campaigners considered almost impossible about a year ago, when YouTube nixed community caption contributions. Most YouTube channels don’t upload captions for their videos, so it fell on subscribers to volunteer high-quality subtitles for fellow viewers to read. Yet, in September, YouTube scrapped the feature allowing for viewer-submitted captions, citing “low usage” and “abuse.” Creators had to start making captions themselves.
When the plans were first announced in April 2020, deaf YouTuber Rikki Poynter, a prolific captions campaigner, gave me a very bleak forecast. “Community contributions gave us more captioned channels and now we will risk having less of that.” Half a million people signed an online petition calling on YouTube to reverse the decision, and thousands of Twitter users got the hashtag #DontRemoveYouTubeCCs trending in September.
But over the past year, more creators have started adding captions of their own. Compared to August — the month before community captions were deprecated — total user-submitted captions in January were up by more than 20 percent, a YouTube spokesperson told me. Year on year, from January 2020 to January 2021, the increase was by more than 30 percent.
“We’re delighted that creators are finding our captioning tools helpful for their videos,” the spokesperson said over email.
Even though new tools such as a brand-new captions editor and the ability to add captions during the upload process were made availablein July 2020 and May 2021, respectively, for some, the incentive to start captioning came from somewhere else: their viewers.
“I got a message on Twitter about how YouTube was planning on dropping an important [closed captions] feature a few months ago and that it could mean that there wouldn’t be any for my hard of hearing viewers,” said Kennie J.D., who creates videos on makeup and films for an audience of almost 570,000 people. “I found that horrible, so I’ve been paying for a service called Rev.com that makes captions for my videos after they go up.”
Poynter suggests that more awareness about the importance of captions is behind the 20 percent increase — that, and the idea that creators have “got no other choice now,” since they can’t rely on viewers to fill the gap. Whatever the reason, she isn’t the only one who benefits from the rise in subtitles. “[It’s] also people with ADHD, auditory processing disorder, or [those] learning whatever the spoken language the video is in. So many groups of people are missing out,” she says. “If hearing people and the like can enjoy content, why can’t we too?”
Poor-quality captions don’t help things, either. YouTube does provide automatic captions through speech recognition, but many deaf users consider them inaccurate and unreliable.
So it falls to deaf activists and YouTubers like Poynter to call on others to write their own captions. “I used to send out personal emails to many YouTubers a year asking them to caption their content,” she says. “During VidCon and Playlist Live seasons for a few years, I even personally hand wrote letters and mailed it out to them.”
YouTube added the ability to add captions in the “upload flow” earlier this month. In the past, the social media site failed to promote its captioning features well.
Poynter notes that the reported increase in manual captions is great, but they still need further promotion. For now, it seems, the community is doing YouTube’s work.
“[Captioning is] something I hope all creators who make content full-time will start to do,” Edwards says. “While it’s really lovely to receive a little ‘thank you’ message as a token of someone’s appreciation, it’s also important to recognize the even more important work being done by deaf or hard of hearing creators on the platform.”
Commenting on YouTube’s recent promotion of captions in a tweet on Twitter, Poynter says: “They’re going to need to be more consistent about it. I do like that the uploading process now has a more accessible [way of adding captions]. When people actually see it, they’re a little more likely to want to use it.”
Talk of a possible Spotify HiFi launch hit the headlines this week, but it seems the music streaming giant wants to focus on a new feature for Google Wear devices: offline listening.
In a keynote speech at the recent Google I/O developer conference, Spotify’s product lead for cars and wearables revealed plans to allow the company’s 350 million users to download music to their Google Wear smartwatch.
YouTube followed up with a similar announcement. The company’s YouTube Music app is also due to get an update that will let some 35 million users download tracks directly to their Wear OS watch.
Apple Watch users have enjoyed offline listening via Apple Music for years but Apple Watch does not currently support offline Spotify playback.
As yet, Spotify hasn’t said when new the offline listening feature will be available – only that the new Spotify app has been “rebuilt from the ground up for Wear”. YouTube Music is due to land on Wear OS devices “later this year”.
The announcements came as part of a major overhaul of Google’s flagging Wear OS. The latest version of the software was developed in partnership with Samsung and claims improved performance (apps open 30 percent faster, apparently) and a sleek user experience based on Samsung’s popular Tizen OS.
MORE:
Spotify HiFi is missing something – but will it matter?
Established in 2011, Xtrfy is a peripherals company based in Sweden. What sets the MZ1 apart from other mice is the shape. Designed from the ground up by long-time YouTube mouse reviewer Zy “Rocket Jump Ninja” Rykoa, the MZ1 has a rather unusual shape. While it may look like an ambidextrous design at first glance, it is right-handed ergonomic, having the left side curve inwards more than the right one. The low-sitting front results in low button height, whereas the hump is positioned more towards the back to provide palm support. Its small size makes it most suited for fingertip grip, which is Zy’s grip style of choice. At 59 g, the MZ1 is exceptionally light, and comes with a new and improved cable. Kailh GM 8.0 switches are used for the main buttons, and PixArt’s PMW3389 capable of 16,000 CPI is the sensor. Much like the M4 and M42, the MZ1 doesn’t come with software, but rather allows for extensive on-device configuration, including of the rich RGB lighting.
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Yep, this is a Swift. It has all the features that characterize Acer’s Swift line: a thin body, a lustrous Acer logo, a chassis so light it’s hard to believe you’re holding a laptop and not an empty shell. But the 3X is targeting a slightly different market from the Swift 3 and Swift 5 for one reason alone: it has a discrete GPU.
Intel’s new Iris Xe Max, the company’s new discrete graphics card, is making its first appearance in an Acer laptop. With a starting price of $899.99, the Swift 3X is both one of the lightest and one of the most affordable systems you can buy with discrete graphics. It’s not a system meant for intense gaming, though — the target audience is closer to amateur creators and students who work with photo and video for class. For this specific demographic, the Swift 3X makes sense. For anyone else, the 3X is a bit below its price point in enough other areas that there are likely better options.
That’s kinda blue, right?
The first thing you might notice about the Swift 3X is its interesting color scheme. The model I tested comes in a new “steam blue” color, which is a nice change from the sea of black and gray laptops that you’ll see in any public setting. There’s a bright blue hinge on the back with “Swift” printed across it as well, which will certainly make the device stand out.
Weight, though, is the standout feature. The 3X weighs just 3.02 pounds and is 0.71 inches thick. As devices with discrete GPUs go, it’s an unusually portable machine. I brought the 3X on a weekend trip and could slip it into a packed backpack with no problem. It didn’t weigh me down at all. In terms of ports, you get a USB 3.2 Type-C Gen 2 with Thunderbolt 4 and DisplayPort, two USB 3.2 Gen 1, and an HDMI 2.0, as well as a combination audio jack. There’s a fingerprint reader below the arrow keys on the chassis, which worked well.
The display is another standout feature. It looks great, with excellent colors and sharp details. What’s nice is that its matte finish, combined with Acer’s ComfyView technology, does a really excellent job of eliminating glare. Using the 3X outdoors was a mixed bag, though — I didn’t see my reflection, but the screen still wasn’t quite bright enough to comfortably use. (It maxed out at 274 nits in our testing — you want at least 300 nits to use a device in very bright settings.)
That said, build quality is one area where the Swift 3X doesn’t quite measure up to competitors. Most of the chassis is aluminum, but it has a bit of a flimsy and plasticky feel. There’s noticeable flex in the keyboard and screen, which I don’t love to see in laptops over $1,000. And it’ll look like a bit of a clunker next to more expensive fare like Acer’s own Swift 5 — a big reason is that the bezels aren’t tiny (Acer claims an 84 percent screen-to-body ratio) and are visibly plastic. It also feels like a step down from some similarly priced devices like the Asus Zenbook 14.
The keyboard and touchpad are functional but not my favorites. They’re a bit shallower and stiffer, respectively, than the best input devices you can find at this price. The touchpad is spacious enough but had significant trouble with palm rejection — my cursor bounced all over the place often while my palm was on the pad, and it sometimes interfered with my typing.
Finally, this isn’t a machine I’d recommend for peripheral-free videoconferencing. While the microphones didn’t have any trouble picking my voice up, the webcam and speakers leave a lot to be desired. The 720p webcam is grainy and didn’t do well in low-light settings. (It doesn’t support Windows Hello facial login, either, though that’s not a crime at this price.) The audio is adequate for Zoom meetings, but I heard some distortion at maximum volume and had to turn the thing down. And I’d recommend an external speaker for anything more. When a friend and I tried to watch a YouTube video on the device, we had to lean in to hear the words clearly. Music has clear vocals, but bass is weak.
The Swift comes loaded with DTS Audio Processing, which allows you to swap between presets for music, movies, and games, but there’s no preset for videoconferencing. I actually preferred listening to music on the movie preset, which seemed to have the best balance overall.
Backlit keyboard and a precision touchpad.
These are all compromises you’re making for the Swift 3X’s main attraction, which is its performance. In addition to the Intel graphics, my review unit is powered by Intel’s Core i7-1165G7. This quad-core chip powers many of the best ultraportable laptops on the market and should be capable of doing whatever general office tasks you need to do. It also enables a number of modern amenities, including support for dual-band Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, and Thunderbolt 4.
My test configuration, which also includes 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, costs $1,199.99. The $899.99 base model has a Core i5-1135G7, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. I imagine that most people in the Swift 3X’s target audience will want the more expensive model (for the extra storage if nothing else) unless they’re on quite a tight budget. But note here that you’re paying a premium for the GPU — an Acer Swift 3 with identical specs to my test model (which is basically this machine without the GPU) costs $999.99, while an Acer Swift 5 (with no GPU, but a step up in build quality and a chassis that’s over half a pound lighter) is just $100 more at $1,299.
The system does deliver, though. I used the Swift 3X to edit a number of photos with multiple other apps and tasks running in the background, and the device breezed through it without any slowdown or lag.
I never felt much heat, even when I was bouncing between over two dozen Chrome tabs — the bottom of the chassis got slightly warm, but that was the extent of it. I only occasionally heard the fans spin up during my daily work. The fold-under hinge creates some extra ventilation space, as do the dual copper heat pipes. You can swap to Performance and Silent fan profiles as well, though I didn’t find the Silent profile necessary given how quiet the Swift was on default settings. I did hear some annoying coil whine on Silent once or twice.
The Iris Xe Max GPU delivers entry-level graphic performance. The Swift 3X scored a 313 on PugetBench for Premiere Pro, which measures a device’s performance on a number of Premiere Pro tasks. That means it’s a step above integrated graphics — it beats the LG Gram 17 and the XPS 13, with the same RAM and processor, and it trounces both the AMD-powered and Intel-powered Surface Laptop 4. But it doesn’t beat the M1 integrated graphics in Apple’s MacBook Air, and it’s still a step down from midrange Nvidia graphics cards: the Dell XPS 15 with a GTX 1650 Ti scored well above a 400.
Intel’s Deep Link technology provides better AI performance, per the company.
To get an idea of how these numbers translate to real-world tasks, we ran a five-minute, 33-second 4K video export. When comparing this machine to good ultraportables with Intel integrated graphics, you’re looking at a two- to three-minute improvement in export time with the Xe Max. The Swift 3X completed the task in eight minutes flat; the Gram 17 and the XPS 13 both took over 10 and a half minutes, while the AMD Surface Laptop 4 took 16:33. The Swift 3X was even 15 seconds faster than the MacBook Air, though the MacBook Pro finished the task in 7:39. Again, though, the Swift 3X is closer in performance to all of the Intel machines than to anything with a decent GPU — the XPS 15 took just 4:23.
Battery life was also a pleasant surprise, given the discrete GPU. I averaged seven hours and 51 minutes of continuous multitasking at around 200 nits of brightness. That’s comparable to the life span I got from the Swift with the same workload and better than what I got from the cheaper Swift 3. An unfortunately large amount of bloatware also comes preloaded onto this device (ExpressVPN, Norton Security Ultra, other various promotional stuff) so you may see better battery life if you take a few minutes to clean all that out.
Buy it for the GPU.
The Acer Swift 3X offers more powerful specs than most laptops you’ll be able to find at its price point, with a standout display and battery life, and it manages to do so while being quite light and portable. It’s a step above machines with Intel’s integrated graphics, and a step below anything with a half-decent Nvidia GPU. That’s the clearest case in its favor — and if that sort of laptop is what you’re looking for, you may be uniquely suited to the 3X. The major competitor at this weight and price point I can think of is the Asus ZenBook 14, which can come with an entry-level Nvidia GPU, but the chips in it are a generation old now, so we wouldn’t expect the same performance.
With that said, most other aspects of the chassis (the touchpad, the keyboard, the webcam, the speakers, the general build) aren’t quite up to par with other devices you can find at the $1,199 price point. I think you have to really want the GPU. If you don’t, but you’re shopping at this price point and are a fan of the Swift line, the Swift 5 offers better build quality, a thinner and lighter chassis, and a better keyboard and touchpad for just $100 more, with integrated graphics that are still pretty dang good.
We might finally have an idea as to how AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) tech will work compared to Nvidia’s competing DLSS solution. eternity@Beyond3D (via VideoCardz) has uncovered the patent filing for AMD’s Gaming Super Resolution technology which shows details of how this specific tech is supposed to operate, and it looks like it could be the blueprint to AMD’s long-awaited FidelityFX Super Resolution. Additionally, @Underfox3 grabbed a few images from Nvidia’s DLSS patent for a head-to-head comparison, which you can see below.
Now that AMD’s super resolution architecture patent has been published, it is possible to look into the work of making an architectural comparison with Nvidia DLSS and verify its different applicability and overall robustness.image 1 – AMD GSRimage 2 – Nvidia DLSS pic.twitter.com/6N1XEvLVAtMay 20, 2021
See more
(Image credit: United States Patent and Trademark Office)
The premise of AMD’s super-resolution technology is that it will provide a more accurate image than other competitors (probably DLSS), using both non-linear and linear rendering techniques.
The patent says that conventional super-resolution techniques that use deep learning, like Nvidia’s DLSS, do not use non-linear information, which results in the AI network having to make more educated guesses than what’s necessary. This can result in reduced detail and lost color.
AMD claims that its Gaming Super Resolution (GSR), on the other hand, should more effectively keep more of the original information from an image while upscaling it and improving fidelity thanks to linear and non-linear downsampling processing techniques, all without the need for deep learning.
The process works by taking a resolution, say a 1080p (1920 x 1080) image, and using two downsampling layers; one is a linear downsampling network, and the second is a non-linear downsampling network. Once that is complete, the image (or images) gets chopped up into individual pixels, further analyzed until GSR reconstructs the image with extra detail and supersamples it beyond the 1080p resolution.
Like DLSS, GSR can use multiple frames as a point of reference, further improving accuracy.
What’s great about this technology is that we could potentially see equal or better fidelity than Nvidia’s DLSS solution while not requiring deep learning. At least if AMD’s plans come to fruition. This means that potentially any GPU and even any CPU can run GSR.
If all this is true, then AMD Gaming Super Resolution will be a serious competitor to Nvidia’s DLSS solution, which only runs on RTX graphics cards.
Yesterday brought the momentous news that Google and Samsung will merge together their Wear OS and Tizen-based smartwatch platforms into a single operating system. The new software is currently being referred to as Wear, but that name could change as we get closer to the first devices that will ship with it.
The unified platform is intended to give Android smartwatches a huge boost and much simpler strategy. It will also allow developers to create apps and widgets for a single OS instead of splitting their efforts between Wear OS and Tizen. A lot of this is spelled out in more detail in the below video, but let’s also focus on the big highlights.
It’s going to be faster than Wear OS
Speed and responsiveness were one of the major talking points when Google and Samsung made this announcement during the I/O 2021 keynote. The companies are claiming that apps open up to 30 percent faster than they currently do on Wear OS. Google also promises “smooth user interface animations and motion,” which hasn’t always been a strength of Wear OS.
Battery life will be a step up, too
Samsung’s smartwatches were already routinely outlasting Wear OS products, so this doesn’t come as a surprise. The company is lending Google some hardware expertise to ensure better stamina. “Samsung implemented our best technology to provide optimized performances, and advanced sensor batching and low power display technology to ensure an efficient and long-lasting battery,” Samsung’sJanghyun Yoon wrote after Tuesday’s news. Google’s Bjorn Kilburn said customers can expect “handy optimizations like the ability to run the heart rate sensor continuously during the day, track your sleep overnight and still have battery for the next day.”
The next Samsung Galaxy Watch will run Wear
Samsung has confirmed that its next smartwatch — and all others in the pipeline — will run the unified Wear platform. But the company made sure to note that it will bring over some of its popular hardware elements, like the rotating bezel mechanism.
A standalone Google Maps app will do turn-by-turn directions
In a report from Wired, we learned that there are plans for a Google Maps app on Wear that features “a new user interface that will also work even if your phone is not with you.” That hints at cellular data support on the new unified platform.
Spotify and YouTube Music apps will support offline downloads
Spotify already allows owners of Samsung smartwatches to download songs for offline listening, and now that same convenience will be extended to Wear. That’s one thing Spotify for the Apple Watch still doesn’t do.
Google also confirmed that YouTube Music will be available on Wear. Like Spotify, it’ll include full support for offline listening.
Fitbit activity tracking will be built into the platform
Having completed its acquisition of Fitbit at the start of this year, Google will now integrate some of the brand’s health and activity tracking features into Wear. Future premium Fitbit wearables will also run the unified platform.
Device makers will be able to customize the look and feel
Google tried to emphasize on Tuesday that this platform isn’t just intended for itself and Samsung. “All device makers will be able to add a customized user experience on top of the platform,” Kilburn said. That’s going to prove important if Google wants to keep companies like Garmin on board with the new platform. And we can’t forget about the many traditional watchmakers — Fossil, Citizen, TAG Heuer, and others — that have gotten behind Wear OS in recent years in the absence of a flagship smartwatch from Google.
Apps should be faster and easier to develop with new APIs
Wear’s apps will use the latest Android development techniques like Jetpack and Kotlin to help reach the best possible performance. Google is also promising to make life easier for app makers with new APIs that cover Tiles, health services, watchfaces, complications, and more. And an activity indicator will show when certain functions are running in the background.
Some Wear OS smartwatches might get upgraded to Wear
There aren’t any firm promises yet, but Google at least didn’t outright say existing products won’t be updated to the new OS. The company told 9to5Google, “we will have more updates to share on timelines once the new version launches later this year.”
Samsung will not update Galaxy Watch models to Wear
Samsung will not be updating its Galaxy Watch line to Wear, but says it has no intention of leaving its current customers in the dust once it starts releasing Wear hardware. “For customers who already own the Tizen OS based Galaxy smartwatches, we are continuing to provide at least three years of software support after the product launch,” the company said Tuesday. However, it seems plausible there will be more than a few features and new Wear tricks that will never make their way to older Galaxy smartwatches.
Samsung will bring over its watchface designer tool
Some people out there really care about having a good watchface selection on a pricey smartwatch. Google and Samsung are promising a wide mix of styles, and Samsung told Wired its design tool — and many of the company’s own signature watchfaces — will be available on Wear.
The unknowns
Google and Samsung shared a decent chunk of information on day one, but we’re still left without answers to a few important questions. We should learn more details over the summer as we head into fall hardware season.
When will the first Wear smartwatch be available?
Is the underlying operating system closer to Wear OS or closer to Tizen? (Considering that developers will be using Android tools to build apps, it seems like the former.)
Will there be required helper apps like some of Samsung’s watches have needed?
Is Wear going to continue offering some semblance of iOS support?
What’s going to happen to Samsung Pay and Bixby? Are they both goners on the wrist?
Ford is getting ready to pull the curtain back on its latest electric vehicle. The F-150 Lightning, the electric version of the automaker’s bestselling pickup truck, will take center stage at Ford’s headquarters in Dearborn, MI, at 9:30PM ET on Wednesday, May 19th.
Ford says there will be “30+ ways to watch across physical and digital destinations,” including live streams on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. The event will also be broadcast in several public locations like Times Square in New York City and Las Vegas Boulevard.
It’s a lot of hoopla for a truck that’s been in the works for over four years and has already been seen publicly, with and without camouflage. We got our first real look at the F-150 Lightning during President Joe Biden’s visit to the Ford Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan.
Still, most of the relevant specs are being kept under wraps (although Biden let slip that he believed the 0-60mph time to be a little more than four seconds). Details like battery size, range, trim levels, and price should be on the bill for the Wednesday evening event.
Ford has a lot riding on the F-150 Lightning. It’s the company’s second major mass-market EV, after the Mustang Mach-E, and its first battery-powered pickup truck. Ford has said it would spend $22 billion over the next five years on electric vehicles — or a little more than half of what the company makes in revenue in one year of F-series sales.
Spotify is entering the virtual concert business, just as in-person concerts are becoming more of a possibility. The company announced today that people can now buy tickets to five different concert streams, which will air throughout May and June. Initial artists include The Black Keys, Jack Antonoff of Bleachers, and Leon Bridges. The streams all are prerecorded but can only be viewed at a given time through the web browser. The shows aren’t available on demand, and they aren’t accessible through the Spotify app.
Tickets cost $15, and viewers must have a Spotify account to watch the show. (Viewers can set up a free Spotify account during the ticket-buying process if they don’t already have one.) You can check out the FAQ page for more details, but notably, tickets are tied to individual users’ accounts, so they’re non-transferable, and if you end up missing the show, you can’t get a refund. (Spotify says each artist’s recording will air at four different times to account for the world’s various timezones, so buyers have to select their preferred time.)
Spotify previously participated in the concert ecosystem by allowing artists to list shows through its app and link out to ones from specific partners, like Eventbrite. In 2017, the company said it generated more than $40 million in ticket sales through its Fans First program, which gives fans extra perks, like early access to tickets. It also hosted its own in-person events tied to its playlist branding, including Rap Caviar and Viva Latino.
During the pandemic, the company started listing virtual concerts, too. Fifteen dollars for these prerecorded concerts feels a bit steep, especially because it isn’t much different than live sets you can likely find from late-night shows or other specials for free on YouTube or Instagram Live, but it seems like Spotify is trying to find a new revenue stream and way to keep fans engaged during a time when most have been disconnected from the idea of live music. It’s unclear if the company intends to keep up the virtual concert series. For now, these five shows are all the commitment we’ve seen.
Summer Game Fest is back this year, and it will start on June 10th with an event called “Kick Off Live!” that’s billed as a “spectacular world premiere showcase” with “more than a dozen” world premieres and announcements. The show, which will begin at 2PM ET, will be hosted by Geoff Keighley, who you might also know as the host of The Game Awards.
Kick Off Live! is just the first of many events that will be part of Summer Game Fest. Some of the publishers confirmed to be participating in Summer Game Fest include 2K, Activision, Blizzard, Capcom, Epic Games, Sony PlayStation, Riot Games, Square Enix, Ubisoft, and Microsoft Xbox.
This first event will also feature a performance by Weezer, “who will debut a brand new, stream safe game soundtrack song that can be freely streamed on Twitch, YouTube and anywhere else without being blocked or losing monetization,” according to a press release. (So it seems like we won’t see a repeat of what happened with Metallica’s performance at BlizzCon.)
Summer Game Fest launched last year to let publishers showcase their upcoming games after some of the industry’s biggest events were restricted or canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many gaming events have been affected by the pandemic this year as well, forcing some, like GDC and E3, to shift to digital formats.
The HP Elite Folio is a long-lasting, quiet laptop/tablet combo, but it offers a middling performance for a high price.
For
+ Versatile design
+ Runs very cool and quiet
+ 3:2 Display
+ Full-sized stylus charges in keyboard
+ Long battery life
Against
– Display could be brighter
– Windows on Arm has app compatibility issues
– Middling performance
– Few ports
– Pricey
There are a few laptops that fall into what I call an “executive notebook.” These are high-end, sometimes overly designed business laptops that you rarely see the rank-and-file office worker use. The new HP Elite Folio ($1,747.20 to start, $2,063.36 as tested) seems destined, with its vegan leather exterior and high price tag, for the C-suite.
HP has gone with Windows on Arm here, which means that the laptop runs quiet and has excellent battery life. But even as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors get more powerful and Windows on Arm slowly improves, there are still compatibility and performance sacrifices, so it’s not always fitting for the
best ultrabooks
.
But for those who rely on a stylus for writing on-screen or want a versatile form factor for various situations, you may be able to overlook that as long as you don’t use compute-heavy software. And if you value style, of course.
Design of HP Elite Folio
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HP’s new Folio means business. Or at least, it looks like it. The HP Elite Folio is a new, more professional take
on a previous design
. This laptop isn’t clad in metal, but rather polyurethane vinyl — or, as you might call it, vegan leather. Or as I call it, “
pleather
.” Unlike the old
Spectre x360 13
, which used real leather and came in brown, this is a more subdued black.
The result is a notebook that looks a bit like a briefcase, minus the handle, of course. If it didn’t have an HP logo on the lid under some stitching, I’d expect to see an intern carrying their resume in it. There’s no place to put your thumb to easily open the laptop, so I typically found myself requiring two hands to do so, which was a pain.
With the laptop open, it looks more traditional. There’s a 13.5-inch, 1920 x 1280 display in a 3:2 aspect ratio with a surprisingly thick bezel on the top. The deck features a backlit keyboard and also includes a spot to store and charge the included HP Slim Pen. This is a page straight out of the playbook Microsoft used with the
Surface Pro X
.
But the Surface Pro X is a true 2-in-1 detachable, and the Elite Folio has a different trick up its sleeve. The screen is on a hinge, and it can be brought forward into an easel mode that covers the keyboard but leaves the touchpad clear. You can also slide it further forward to be a tablet. (You could, if you wanted, also flip the screen upside down on the back of the device and use the display to watch videos or give presentations. This isn’t listed among HP’s options, but it works.)
The laptop looks like leather, but it doesn’t feel like it. It’s soft to the touch but definitely has a plasticky feel. For those wondering, yes, I did smell the laptop. While it pulls off a leather look, it can’t match the real thing’s fragrance.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
I can’t speak to how well this will hold up over months and years of use. In the immediate sense, it did manage to pick up minor scuffs or schmutz on my desk, but I could wipe it off with a damp cloth.
Port selection is extremely minimal, with a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C port on either side of the laptop and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the right side.
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HP’s notebook is 2.92 pounds and measures 11.75 x 9.03 x 0.63 inches. That’s similar to the Lenovo Flex 5G (2.9 pounds, 12.7 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches), a convertible 2-in-1. The Microsoft Surface Pro X is 2.4 pounds (with the keyboard attached) and 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.3 inches. An Intel-based clamshell, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano, is 2 pounds and 12.7 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches.
HP Elite Folio Specifications
CPU
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2
Graphics
Qualcomm Adreno 690 (integrated)
Memory
16GB LPDDR4-4266 SDRAM
Storage
512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
Display
13.5-inch, 1920 x 1280 touchscreen
Networking
Qualcomm QCA639X Wi-Fi 6 Dual Band and Bluetooth 5, Qualcomm Snapdragon X20 LTE Cat 16
Ports
2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack, nano SIM card slot
Camera
720p IR
Battery
46 WHr
Power Adapter
65 W
Operating System
Windows 10 Pro
Dimensions(WxDxH)
11.75 x 9.03 x 0.63 inches / 298.45 x 229.36 x 16 mm
Weight
2.92 pounds / 1.32 kg
Price (as configured)
$1,998.72
Windows 10 on Arm
The HP Elite Folio uses the latest Windows on Arm platform, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2. That comes with its benefits (long battery life, quiet), but in terms of performance and app compatibility, it’s certainly lacking.
To be clear, that’s the case on all Windows on Arm laptops at the moment. Apple has used Arm too on its most recent laptops with its
M1
chips, with far greater success.
Windows on Arm can run 32-bit apps, but not 64-bit apps. That functionality is coming but is currently limited to Windows Insider builds, which you’re unlikely to see in a business environment. An increasing number of apps are running natively on Windows on Arm, including Office, browsers like Edge and Firefox, and some of Adobe’s, but the rest require emulation. Others that run natively include the popular media player VLC, Netflix, Twitter, Skype, and Windows Terminal.
Perhaps the most reliable place to get apps that work on the processor, native or not, is through the Windows store, which largely filters apps that don’t work with Arm.
Productivity Performance of HP Elite Folio
Here, we’re comparing the Folio, which has an 8cx Gen 2, with two other Arm laptops, the Lenovo Flex 5G with the last-gen Snapdragon, and the Microsoft Surface Pro X with SQ1, Microsoft’s entry-level offering. We also tossed the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano in the mix for a business notebook using an x86 platform, namely Intel’s 11th Gen processors.
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On Geekbench 5, which measures overall system performance, the HP Elite Folio notched a single-core score of 792 and a dual-core score of 3,115. The Lenovo Flex 5G’s 729/2,923 suggest the newer chip has its advantage in multi-core workloads, though this test is run through emulation, which has to be kept in mind. The Surface Pro X isn’t in this test, as we were still running Geekbench 4 when we tested it. The ThinkPad X1 Nano’s scores were 1,473/5,155, with the test running natively.
The Elite Folio transferred 25GB of files at 666.5 MBps, faster than both the Flex 5G and ThinkPad X1 Nano. The Surface Pro X was run on an older, 5GB version of the test, and that was the slowest of the batch.
Our Handbrake test currently doesn’t run on Arm chips, though it is starting to be included in early “nightly” builds. Our Cinebench R23 stress test is also incompatible with Arm. These will change when 64-bit support becomes a finalized part of Windows 10.
Display on HP Elite Folio
I’m glad that HP went with a 3:2 display on the Elite Folio. Simply put, 3:2 is the best aspect ratio for productivity laptop displays because the extra height lets you see more content on your screen at once. This 13.5-inch touchscreen has a resolution of 1920 x 1280.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
I found the laptop to be bright enough for productivity, but when you switch to multimedia, it’s a mixed bag. In the trailer for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the color red popped in car paint, lights and a number of outfits. But a series of dim scenes in a montage made me wish I could turn up the brightness (though the dimness made for great contrast in a scene with purple backlighting).
HP’s screen covers 70.7% of the
DCI-P3
color gamut, which is just about in line with the Surface Pro X and ThinkPad X1 Nano. The Lenovo Flex 5G was more vivid at 81.4%
The Folio was the dimmest of the bunch with an average of 390 nits. The Surface Pro X was the brightest, measuring 448 nits.
Keyboard, Touchpad and Stylus on HP Elite Folio
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HP has implemented a keyboard with 1.3mm of travel into this small device. I didn’t have any issues with travel, but when I typed, I felt that the keys were a bit too stiff. It didn’t stop me from typing quickly; I hit 110 words per minute on the 10fastfingers.com typing test. But accuracy suffered slightly.
The 4.2 x 2.6-inch touchpad uses Windows precision drivers, and with a smooth, metal surface, I found it responsive and easy to glide my fingers against. Simple navigation and more complex gestures worked on the first try. It clicks a bit louder than some other touchpads, but I can get over that.
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HP’s Slim Pen lives in a dock above the keyboard, which also keeps it charged. It’s long and flat, more like a carpenter’s pencil than your standard writing instrument. It has a rocker on the side, which can be unwieldy because of how thin the buttons are. The button on the top, however, is easy to access. That comes at the expense of using it as an eraser like the Surface Pen, however.
I found that the Elite Folio’s screen offered solid palm rejection. The Pen uses Wacom drivers and offers 4,096 degrees of pressure sensitivity. HP claims it fast charges in 30 minutes, though in my use, it’s home in the laptop meant it was always topped off.
Audio on HP Elite Folio
HP’s partnership with Bang & Olufsen on its speakers continues to bear fruit. While there’s no software to tune the speakers yourself, they sound decent considering how thin this device is.
For instance, when I listened to Chvrches’ “He Said She Said,” the crashing drums, synths melodies and vocals were loud, clear and crisp. There was, however, a distinct lack of bass, which is a problem on many laptops.
One downside, however, is that the speakers vibrate a lot, and I could feel it under my hands on the touchpad and keyboard. While this isn’t unique to this laptop, it was far more distracting on the Folio than other devices.
Upgradeability of HP Elite Folio
In theory, the HP Elite Folio is upgradeable. HP has a video showing the process:
This is aimed at service technicians, and for good reason. The design means you have to do things in a weird order, like removing the pen slot from the keyboard before opening the
chassis
.
The RAM is soldered to the motherboard, but the SSD is upgradeable. The only rub there is that to actually change out the storage, you have to remove the entire thermal system. Some enthusiasts may be comfortable with that, but for most people, that’s a step too far.
Battery Life
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The Elite Folio’s Arm processor excels in the one place you would expect it: battery life. On our test, which involves browsing the web, running OpenGL tests and streaming video over Wi-Fi, all at 150 nits, the Folio lasted for 15 hours and 21 minutes. It was outclassed only by the Lenovo Flex 5G, using a last-gen Snapdragon processor, which ran for 17:30.
Microsoft’s Surface Pro X with the SQ1 ran for 9:30, while the Intel-based ThinkPad X1 Nano lasted for 12 hours flat.
Heat on HP Elite Folio
Because we couldn’t run our Cinebench R23 workload due to compatibility issues, we took the HP Elite Folio’s skin temperatures following 15 minutes of streaming video from YouTube. The fanless system was quiet and kept very cool.
The center of the keyboard, between the G and H keys, measured 27.8 degrees Celsius (82.04 degrees Fahrenheit). The touchpad was cooler at 26 degrees Celsius (78.8 degrees Fahrenheit).
The hottest point on the bottom of the laptop measured 30.3 degrees Celsius.
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A
720p
webcam in an executive notebook after more than a year of white-collar workers have been doing their jobs from home? Excuse me?
Stills and trial video from my desk, even in good lighting, were grainy. And colors, like a blue shirt I was wearing, were overly dark.
There is a physical webcam privacy switch, which covers the camera but doesn’t cut power to the hardware like some other HP laptops. It’s very small, and you need to use your fingernail to move it in either direction.
There are also IR sensors to log in to Windows 10 with facial recognition. This worked well, with the exception that you need both the cameras and the IR sensor for this to work. If you close the privacy cover, you can’t use it to log in. That’s a choice you have to make between privacy and convenience.
HP has limited the amount of software it includes on this laptop, which is a benefit, especially on an enterprise laptop. There are no crappy antivirus software trials or ports of phone games.
The two big pieces of software are HP Pen Settings, which lets you pair the included stylus and customize its functionality; and HP QuickDrop, which lets you send files and photos across your laptop and smartphone.
HP Pen Settings has a number of clever options, including assigning commands that would be useful to go through slides or play media while giving presentations. There’s also a way to get a virtual dial on the screen when holding a button down.
While this laptop has Microsoft Office preinstalled, at least it doesn’t include links to sponsored Microsoft Store applications.
HP sells the Elite Folio with a 1-year warranty. It can be boosted to three years for an extra $75.
As of this writing, HP is selling the Elite Folio in both a ready-to-ship configuration and customizable configurations.
The quick-ship one is $1,889 with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2, 16GB of RAM and 256GB SSD, as well as an LTE modem.
We reviewed it with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB storage and an LTE modem. That runs for $2,063.36.
If you want a 1,000-nit display with HP’s Sure View privacy, that’s an extra $169. A 4G modem is $201, while a 5G modem is $444.
The base model, with Windows 10 Home instead of Pro, 8GB of RAM, 128GB SSD and no mobile connection is $1,747.20.
Prices on the Folio seem to be fluctuating on HP’s website, so they may vary after this article was published.
Bottom Line
The HP Elite Folio review has a versatile design and, if you’re into the office chair aesthetic, a fake leather exterior that fits in any office.
HP’s Slim Pen is nice, and the fact that it is full-sized and can still charge by sitting in the system is a big plus for anyone who does a lot of writing on screen. The different screen modes will also be helpful for people who use touch screens a lot.
But while relying on the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 means long battery life and quiet operation, there are a series of small sacrifices that are made, largely based on Windows on Arm and app compatibility. Some apps work, some are emulated and 64-bit apps, while coming, aren’t ready for prime time right now, without downloading a beta version of the OS. These aren’t problems unique to the Elite Folio — they’re the same on the Lenovo Flex 5G and the Microsoft Surface Pro X.
If the chassis, touch screen and functionality allowed by the display-on-a-hinge design will make your job easier, this is worth considering. But for many, an x86 business notebook, like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano with an Intel processor, can run more software, do it faster, and is cheaper in some configurations.
Spotify’s product lead for cars and wearables teased an exciting new feature coming to Wear devices during Google’s Developer Keynote on Tuesday: the ability for the streaming services’ 356 million users to download music directly to their watch, and listen to it at times when they don’t want to carry their phone (via XDA Developers). The feature isn’t included in the redesign that was just released, but Spotify says that it’s currently in the works.
The announcement came alongside Google’s reveal that it would be merging Wear OS with Samsung’s Tizen. During Tuesday’s I/O keynote, Google promised that the updated OS would bring faster performance and longer battery life, which are currently still issues for Wear OS watches.
The YouTube Music app is also getting an update, which will similarly add the ability to download music directly to Wear devices, allowing users to listen without a phone nearby.
YouTube Music will also support downloads. Image: Google
Google’s smartwatch OS has lagged behind Apple’s in many ways, including offline music listening. The Apple Watch has been able to play songs downloaded through Apple Music when away from a phone for years, and it got to the point where Google decided to release its YouTube Music app for the Apple Watch before its own Wear OS. When Gizmodo put out an article last November on how listen to music phone-free on smartwatches, its Wear OS recommendation was more or less an app that acted as an MP3 player, requiring the transfer of local files that you already own.
Since the shutdown of Google Play Music, Wear OS users haven’t had many options for offline music. But now, Google’s Wear watches could potentially even leapfrog the Apple Watch when it comes to offline Spotify playback — to get your Spotify on an Apple Watch without carrying around your phone, you currently need an active internet connection to stream it to one of Apple’s pricier cellular Apple Watch models, a feature added late last year. Some other watches have had offline Spotify playback in the past, though, like Garmin’s flagship Forerunner sports watches and some Samsung Galaxy wearables.
You can check out the Spotify and YouTube Music app reveals for yourself in Google’s Wear-specific session from I/O. The YouTube Music announcement starts at 2:38, and the Spotify demo starts at 12:50 in the video below.
In yet another sign of the growing alliance between Google and Samsung, today both companies announced that they are essentially combining Wear OS — Google’s operating system — and the Tizen-based software platform that has been foundational to Samsung’s wearables for many years. The resulting platform is currently being referred to simply as “Wear,” though that might not be the final name.
Benefits of the joint effort include significant improvements to battery life, 30 percent faster loading times for apps, and smoother animations. It also simplifies life for developers and will create one central smartwatch OS for the Android platform. Google is also promising a greater selection of apps and watch faces than ever before.
“All device makers will be able to add a customized user experience on top of the platform, and developers will be able to use the Android tools they already know and love to build for one platform and ecosystem,” Google’s Bjorn Kilburn wrote in a blog post.
Wired has more details on what’s to come, including the tidbit that Samsung will stick with its popular rotating bezel on future devices — but it’s finished making Tizen-only smartwatches. There will also be a version of Google Maps that works standalone (meaning without your phone nearby) and a YouTube Music app that supports offline downloads.
Wear will make it easier to multitask across smartwatch widgets and apps.Image: Google
Samsung confirmed that its next Galaxy Watch will run on this unified platform. And future Fitbit devices will also run the software. Aside from merging the technologies of both platforms, the new Wear OS will include improvements that make it easier to multitask between wrist apps. And some of Fitbit’s “most popular” fitness tracking features will also be included.
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