Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Amps Performance, Cameras And AI For Flagship 5G Phones

Qualcomm yesterday announced its new Snapdragon 865 and Snapdragon 765/765G Mobile Platforms, but the company was rather mum on specific details other than to say that both were 5G-enabled. Today, we're getting a full picture on what to expect when the first devices with these chips land next year, along with a clearer picture on the 5G modem situation with the respective platforms. Kicking things off is the Snapdragon 865, which is the flagship SoC replacement for the Snapdragon 855/855+. The Snapdragon 865 is paired with a separate Snapdragon X55 5G modem; which is an interesting development....

DJI Osmo Mobile 3 Review: Top-Notch, Affordable Phone Gimbal

by Chris Goetting - Tue, Dec 03, 2019

There are few better ways to record memories than video. You have probably recorded clips of birthday parties, vacations, or family holidays here and there. Maybe you enjoy sharing a glimpse of your daily grind to Instagram. Videos help us to share our world with others and reminisce about days gone by. Impromptu filming has become ever more accessible as smartphones have overtaken camcorders with remarkable new capabilities. While smartphone camera quality has improved dramatically year after year with powerful image stabilization capability, shots can still be ruined by human hand shake shortcomings....

Google Pixelbook Go Review: A Premium Chromebook Experience

by Rod Scher - Thu, Nov 21, 2019

Google's new Pixelbook Go is a bit of an anomaly in the company's line of Chromebooks. Neither a folding, swiveling ultra-premium device like the original Google Pixelbook, nor a tablet like the Pixel Slate, the company's newest release is a traditional clamshell design, although one that features a touch-enabled display. It looks, feels, and behaves like a conventional laptop, but with its magnesium chassis, 1080p touchscreen, and quiet "Hush Keys," one that's small, light, feature-rich and well-made. That said, though its premium mobile laptop is fairly conventional, Google's Pixelbook line...

ASUS ROG Phone II Review: A Mobile Gaming And Battery Life Beast

by Paul Lilly - Tue, Nov 12, 2019

The concept of a purpose-built gaming phone is still somewhat in its infancy, though we are starting to see generational upgrades, such as the ASUS ROG Phone II. As the name implies, this is the second generation of ASUS' gaming handset. Like the original ROG Phone released last year, the ROG Phone II combines bleeding edge hardware with gaming-centric software optimizations. ASUS sprinkles in some nifty features (like Air Triggers) and then surrounds it all with optional accessories to amp up the experience. What ASUS has essentially created is not just a gaming phone, but a smartphone gaming...

Google Pixel 4 XL Review: Streaks Of Brilliance, Pure Android

by Dave Altavilla - Thu, Nov 07, 2019

Without question, Google's Pixel 4 XL has been the most leaked smartphone of 2019 prior to its official launch. Heck, even Google teased the device and a key feature or two along the way, so it goes without saying, the hype was big for this fourth generation Pixel. Google tries to set the bar for Android ecosystem partners with respect to industrial design and new enabling technologies with its Pixel phones. And in fact, the new Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL bring with them a couple of firsts for made by Google devices, specifically a 90Hz display and wireless charging. The premise is that hopefully these...

Alienware m15 R2 Review: Beautiful OLED, Beastly Performance

by Ben Funk - Wed, Nov 06, 2019

Alienware may just be the most well-known gaming desktop and notebook brand on the planet. The company's gray alien logo graces everything from proper, upgradeable desktops like the Aurora R9 to the huge desktop-replacement Area-51m notebook complete with actual desktop hardware. What we have on hand today isn't quite so big and bulky, however: the new 2019 edition of the company's workhorse m15 gaming notebook, the m15 R2. We had a chance to spend some one-on-one time with this sweet portable machine back at Computex, but now it's come through our labs from the alien mothership for an extended...

HP Omen X 2S Review: A Sleek, Dual-Screen RTX Gaming Beast

by Tuan Huynh - Fri, Nov 01, 2019

In the last 5 years, gaming notebooks have essentially reached performance parity with desktop systems and made it easier for gamers to experience their favorite PC games virtually anywhere, without losing out on image quality or performance. However, because most components perform similarly in any given form factor, manufacturers are constantly striving to predict what the next hot desirable feature may be, to help their devices stand out from the crowd. HP’s 15-inch Omen X 2S banks on dual screens being the next big feature and packs an innovative, two-display setup into a sleek, lightweight...

Pixel 4 XL Vs Galaxy Note 10 Pics: HDR, Portrait, Night Sight Shoot-Out

by Dave Altavilla, Brandon Hill - Tue, Oct 22, 2019

Google recently launched its Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, which are its two newest flagship Android smartphones. The Pixel 4 family brings a number of new features to the table including 90Hz displays, Face Unlock, and radar-driven motion/gesture sensing tech, but one of the most talked about features of any Google Pixel phone to date is its namesake, the camera. Or in the case of the Pixel 4, its cameras, plural. While our full review of the Pixel 4 XL will be forthcoming shortly, we thought that we'd give you a brief preview of what this new high-end smartphone has to offer with its new cameras. For...

Dell XPS 13 2-In-1 (2019) Review: A Near-Perfect Intel 10th Gen Laptop

by Ben Funk - Wed, Oct 16, 2019

Dell's XPS family of premium laptops has long been synonymous with excellent performance and build quality. In particular, the XPS 13 lineup has included some of the most highly awarded ultraportable PCs on the market today. Today, we have Dell's latest XPS 13 on hand: model 7390, which is a 2-in-1 model with a 360 degree hinge and a 13.3-inch multi-touch IPS display that converts what looks like an otherwise-traditional laptop into a tablet. Perhaps more importantly, this is the first retail notebook we've gotten our mitts on with Intel's 10nm CPUs, codenamed Ice Lake, in tow. In fact, Dell...

Intel Gen 11 Graphics Takes Fight To AMD In Dell XPS 13 2-In-1

by Ben Funk - Thu, Oct 10, 2019

It's no secret that Intel has a lot riding on its "Ice Lake" 10th generation Core CPUs manufactured on its 10-nanometer fabrication process. The chipmaker got by on squeezing more power and efficiency out of its 14-nm node for what seemed like an eternity, but we're talking about a mobile sector that relentlessly demands more performance and longer battery life. This oft-delayed Intel process node promises to reduce power consumption and increase performance by a wide margin over the Kaby Lake Refresh processors that previously served as the brains for thin and light PCs. Dell's XPS 13 2-In-1 Gets...

OnePlus 7T Review: Fast, Premium And A Fantastic Android Value

by Marco Chiappetta - Wed, Oct 09, 2019

Over that last few years, OnePlus has earned a reputation for offering well-appointed, high-performance mobile devices that compete with other contemporary flagships, but with highly aggressive pricing. When we looked at the OnePlus 7 Pro back in June, or the OnePlus 6T before that, we declared both handsets leaders, in terms of value and performance. With the upcoming OnePlus 7T, which is due to start shipping in just a few days, OnePlus is trying to capture that status again. Looking at the OnePlus 7T’s list of features and hardware specifications, it appears to be a premium Android phone...

HP Zbook 14u G6 Review: A Thin, Powerful Mobile Workstation

by Ben Funk - Tue, Sep 17, 2019

The modern work place is everywhere. Thanks to the need to attract top talent, many employers have generous work-from-home policies that allow employees who would normally be stuck in an office, to work from almost anywhere. Without the advent of fast portable PCs to do that work, however, this wouldn't be as easy as folding up a laptop and taking it with you. There are also plenty of road warriors who spend more than half their working lives traveling, and those folks need (or want) good-looking, fast laptop PCs like the HP Zbook 14u G6 we'll be showing you here, to take with them. ...

ASUS ROG Phone II Benchmark Preview: The Fastest Android Phone Ever

by Paul Lilly - Wed, Sep 11, 2019

ASUS recently sent us its brand-spanking-new ROG Phone II and we are in the process of evaluating the handset for a full review. We hope to have that posted within the next few weeks. In the meantime, we have some preliminary benchmarks and initial analysis to share, starting with the observation that this is the fastest Android phone we have ever tested. More on that in a moment. Before we get into the initial performance data, let's take a moment to talk about the gaming phone category, the ROG Phone II Ultimate Edition, and the specs. Gaming phones are still a somewhat new and niche category,...

Dell XPS 15 (2019) Review: OLED Display Beauty, 8-Core Beast

by Paul Lilly - Tue, Sep 03, 2019

Dell often rides the bleeding edge, as it wastes little time arming its laptops and desktops with the latest hardware platforms available. At minimum, this means yearly refreshes of its popular product categories. So, right on cue, Dell has begun rolling out updated variants of its XPS 15 laptop with some nifty upgrades compared to the version we reviewed last September. One of the biggest changes is the addition of an OLED display option. Just as we have been enamored by Samsung's display panels on its mobile phones, we hold Dell's InfinityEdge displays in similar regard, as being among the...