Catch memorable moments in 4K quality with this Canon M6 EOS Mark II camera kit. Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functionality enable easy sharing of your 32.5MP photos, while the 14 fps burst mode and AF/AE tracking keep up with the demands of high-speed shooting. This Canon EOS M6 Mark II camera kit includes a 15-45mm lens for stunning close-ups..
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
**Summary** Equipped with a class leading 32.5 Megapixel CMOS APS-C sensor, excellent image quality, a precise and accurate dual pixel auto focusing (AF) system, and high speed continuous shooting all crammed into a compact, lightweight body, Canon engineered a remarkably high performing mirrorless camera to capture life’s precious moments and test your creativity . That in a nutshell are the Canon M6 mark II’s (M6ii) hallmark features and what it aims to deliver; And boy does this camera deliver!
**Styling** The M6ii I received is the graphite black capped with a silver top and bottom. This gives the camera a classic, vintage-retro look which I just adore. I was taking some photos the other day with it and a friend was wondering why I was still using an old film camera. Really liking the look of this camera!
**Touchscreen** The 3 inch touchscreen can be tilted 180 degrees up for vlogging and selfies, and 45 degrees downward to get some of those above the head shots. While the tilt screen is good, I wished the M6ii had the more familiar vari-angle flip screen allowing for greater flexibility for those tough angle compositions.
**Performance** The M6ii is an amazing performer limited only by the lens you put on it. The dual pixel CMOS AF system is lightning quick, precise, and accurate. Enabling continuous AF with face and eye detection, I was able to take sharp portraits of my kids who have a hard time standing or sitting still. With AI Servo AF tracking turned on, the camera captures action shots with ease and with a high percentage of keepers. Add to that a 14 frames per second (fps) high speed continuous shooting with AF and auto exposure (AE) tracking and you won’t be missing any of the action. Canon also boasts RAW mode shooting of up to 30 fps with 0.5 seconds of pre-shooting images to capture the perfect moment. I was amazed at the sharpness of the photos and the speed of the AF system after reviewing the photos I took of my kids running around.
**The Kit Lens is Forgettable** Of course how the camera performs and the quality of images you get depend on the lens you outfit with the camera. And this brings me to the weak link of the package - the included 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM kit lens. The kit lens is a good introduction to the M6ii, but that’s about it. It’ll give you acceptable image quality for static subjects and may work for moving subjects in good lighting conditions, but will not showcase the outstanding DIGIC 8 image processor or the CMOS sensor. For this you’ll want some of Canon’s native fast primes for its EF-M mirrorless mount system such as the 22mm f/2 STM and the 32 mm f/1.4 STM. (Sigma, a third party manufacturer has come up with their f/1.4 “mirrorless trio” of fast glass that should be on any serious shooter’s wish list.).
Even Canon thinks the 15-45mm kit lens is forgettable. On Canon’s own product webpage for the M6ii with kit lens, it provides three sample pictures taken with the camera, none of which were taken with the 15-45mm kit lens. Tells you how much Canon thinks about the image quality of this lens.
**Get the EF EOS M Mount Adapter** You’ll also be able to take advantage of Canon’s entire universe of EF and EF-S lenses with the EF EOS M Mount Adapter. I purchased this separately and am glad I did. I have a small collection of Canon EF-S and EF lenses along with several third party Sigma lenses. The lenses I attached to the M6ii via the M Mount adapter are as follows: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II (non STM version), Canon 18-135mm IS nano USM, Canon 55-250mm IS STM, Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 OS (the generation right before the release of the Sport badge), Sigma 17-50 f/2.8 OS, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 (the generation before the Art badge), and Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5. And guess what the results were when I tested all these lenses? They all performed flawlessly on the M6ii as though they are natively EF/EF-S mounted. Autofocus speed, accuracy, precision, focus tracking, and image stabilization are just the same as if they performed on my Canon 70D. Didn’t matter if it is a Sigma lens. Nothing was lost in the communication between the Sigma lens to the Canon M6ii. And on the M6ii with its 32.5 megapixel CMOS sensor, DIGIC 8 image processor, and ultra accurate and lightning auto focus, I had a larger percentage of action shot keepers. As a bonus, the sensor and processor of the M6ii resolved the image with more detail, clarity, and sharpness than on my 70D. I am sure that if you have the Canon L series lenses attached to the M6ii via the EF EOS M Mount Adapter, you’ll be even more pleased with the results.
**Video** And let’s not forget about motion pictures. The Canon M6ii is a competent video camera. Vloggers and content creators have the option to record in uncropped 4K UHD 30fps, FHD at 30fps or 60fps, and HD at 60fps. The camera can also produce slow motion capture in FHD at 120fps. It can also create some neat time lapse video as well. There is a microphone jack to attach an external mic. Perhaps the only disappointment observed by the video community is that the M6ii lacks recording at 24fps which is the standard for cinematographers. Canon has issued a response via its web product page stating that there will be a firmware update in 2020 to include 24fps.
**Other Notable Features** +Even at 12,800 ISO, images are surprisingly acceptable when the noise reduction is turned to the High setting. +The camera comes with the detachable electronic viewfinder (EVF), which is a great addition to have when you’re out in bright sunlight or if you’re so used to a viewfinder like myself that you cannot live without it. You can view everything in the EVF as though you were looking at the touchscreen. +Touch and drag AF is a great feature. With it enabled, while peering through the EVF, the touch screen turns into a touch pad where you can use your finger to move the auto focus point to the desired location, and you can see it move in the EVF. +The mechanical shutter is limited up to 1/4000 sec, but the electronic shutter can shoot up to 1/16000 sec. +The electronic shutter is a silent shutter. This means you can shoot discreetly during a performance or event that cannot be disturbed (e.g. music recital) +It’s a compact and discreet camera. People on the streets are often times turned off by a big dslr with an equally big lens. However, with the M6ii paired with an EOS M fast prime, it is perfect for street photography. +With the included bulb mode, you can shoot some awesome star trail shots just like the pros. +Interval shooting is a nice feature if you want to piece together your own time lapse using other video software. +Button customization. Canon makes it easy to reassign the physical buttons and dials on the camera to the way you like to use your camera. One thing I always do is to assign a back button focus and eliminate the half press shutter focus. +Take advantage and take the time to learn to connect the M6ii wirelessly via bluetooth and wifi. You will be glad you did. I tried it, and I don’t think I’ll ever go back to taking the memory card out of my camera to insert into the computer. You’ll be able to magically transfer photos directly to your smartphone, PC/laptop, or to a cloud service. If you have a studio set up with a PC, you can control the camera functions and take photos with the Canon EOS Utilities software. Install the Camera Connect app on your smartphone and view and download all the pictures and videos from your M6ii to your phone. Better yet, use this same app connected via bluetooth/wifi to remotely activate the shutter for that perfect group shot with yourself included. No need to have a 10 sec or 2 sec timer tripping over the tripod to get yourself into that group shot.
**Some Minor Gripes** -The EVF attaches to the hot shoe. For someone like myself who likes using a viewfinder to compose shots and also use an external flash for indoor flash bounce, this becomes a problem. I cannot use the EVF and external flash simultaneously. -Similar scenario for videographers who like to attach an external microphone to the hot shoe. You won’t be able to use the EVF simultaneously. -Because the EVF is detachable, it can easily be misplaced. -Mediocre battery life. According to the specs, the battery lasts for approximately 305 shots using the touchscreen, 250 shots thru the EVF, and around 410 when in ECO mode. That’s not much. Plan on getting an extra battery if you plan to shoot a lot for the day. -The camera body is not weather sealed (but neither are the lenses I own). Don’t take the camera out in the rain.
**Conclusion** The M6ii is a compelling camera that is compact and lightweight, but is big on features, rivaling some of the best enthusiast cameras on the market today. It takes excellent photos, focuses quickly to capture the most fleeting action shots, and has very high speed continuous shooting. With all the advanced features built into the camera, one would think it is geared for advanced amateurs to enthusiasts. That is not totally the case since Canon integrates fully automatic and scene modes to aid beginners. This is definitely a camera that a novice can grow with. As for the advanced amateurs and enthusiasts, they will feel at home with the advanced feature set in the M6ii. Even professional photographers will find some interest in the M6ii as a secondary camera when they don’t need to carry around the bulk.
I have decided to retire my 70D after using the M6ii.
I highly recommend that you put the M6ii on your short list of cameras to consider.
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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Comparison with 70D
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Optional (separate purchase) M mount adapter w/ EF 50mm f/1.8 lens
Smart. Portable. Powerful. The Bose portable smart speaker is a wireless home speaker, a portable Bluetooth speaker, and a voice-controlled speaker, all in one. And no matter what you listen to or where, you'll hear it all in 360 degrees of astonishing Bose sound.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Featuring a combination of excellent audio quality with integrated voice assistant, Bose has crafted an incredible smart speaker that’s ready to get out of the home and provide the soundtrack to your life wherever you go.
~~Pros~~ +360 degree rich, lively, immersive audio. The audio is well balanced. There is even crispness and sparkle in the treble frequencies which is a pleasant surprise since Bose’s signature sound is known for its richness and warmth. The speaker spreads sound evenly in all directions with no dead spots. Placing it near the corner of walls allows the audio to reflect off the walls to create a wider spatial feel to the sound. The bass is powerful and punches deep. (For comparison, the bass competes well against my Sony XB41, and that is one bassy speaker.) Audio from this speaker can easily fill a mid size room with no distortion when turning up the volume.
Not enough bass or treble? Feel free to adjust both the bass and the treble via the Bose Music app. You can go from -100 to +100 in increments of 10. Bose didn’t used to allow the user to custom adjust the Bose signature sound, figuring that the factory tuned audio quality was good enough for all types of music. How wrong that was. Some music genres benefit with more bass, others with less. And similarly, some can use more or less treble. Bose seems to now recognize this with the series of smart home audio products (e.g. bose 700 soundbar) that the company is introducing as of late with the ability to adjust both bass and treble.
+Choice of Alexa or the Google assistant with the option to switch between the two whenever you feel like it. Some days you want to listen to Alexa’s voice and other days you might want to converse with the Google Assistant. At least now you can have two virtual friends to talk to, but you can’t get them to both work simultaneously. Simply switch between voice assistants in the Bose Music app. I think it’s great that Bose was able to get both assistants on a single smart speaker. Other smart speaker manufacturers only offer Alexa or Google Assistant, but not both. Kudos to Bose for allowing the option to switch. This obviously helps to increase sales.
The microphones work well. Even with music playing loudly, the mics are able to pick up my voice from across the room to activate the voice assistant.
+wifi audio streaming using pandora, iheart radio, amazon music, spotify, siriusXM, tune in, and deezer. Wifi streaming quality is superior to bluetooth. So whenever, wifi audio streaming is available, you should choose that option.
+Wifi or bluetooth, its up to you. It’s a wifi and bluetooth speaker all in one. When you are away from wifi, simply connect and listen to music thru bluetooth.
+Bose Music app - Easy to use and feature rich. Save preset stations, adjust bass and treble, group Bose’s smart home audio speakers, adjust volume, select one of the aforementioned wifi streaming services. You’ll need to install the Bose Music app and create an account to perform the initial set up for the speaker.
+usb c charging. I list it as a pro, even though many devices today have already shifted to the usb c charging as a standard.
The Bose portable home speaker isn’t perfect by any means though. Some wonderful features from the good ole dumb bluetooth speaker days didn’t make the cut into the latest modern smart speaker devices. These notable omissions as well as other things are listed here as Cons.
~~Cons~~ -The Bose portable home speaker does not come with the charging cradle which allows you to simply place the speaker on top of it without having to plug it in to charge. It is available to purchase separately for another $30. For the price Bose is charging for the speaker, you would think they could throw in the charging cradle.
-The 3.5mm audio jack has gone the way of the dodo bird. Bose has simply done away with it. Most of us probably wouldn’t use it anymore, but it would have been nice to include just for completeness sake so you can tell this generation of youth that in the old days (errr..last year) you had to use a wire to connect to audio devices.
-No speakerphone ability. It’s a smart home speaker, but not smart enough to allow you to use it as a speakerphone. It has sophisticated microphones that pick up your voice from across a room only to allow you to speak commands to your voice assistant, but not speak with a real person. Go figure. For this reason, I can’t part with my Bose Soundlink Mini II which, even though it is a dumb speaker, is smart enough to allow me to use it as a speakerphone.
-Portable is relative. Sure this Bose smart speaker is portable, but it’s bigger and heftier than, say the Bose Revolve Plus, Bose Revolve, or my favorite Bose Soundlink Mini II. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of owning or using the Bose Soundlink Mini I or II, you will know how compact and low profile the speaker is. It’s always advertised with a photo of the speaker sitting on the palm of your hand. That is a portable speaker that I can easily throw into a bag. Not so much with the Bose portable home speaker. It is portable, but you’ll need a bigger bag.
-You can take it out of the home, but it’s not as rugged as other portable bluetooth speakers. The Bose portable home speaker shares the same cylindrical lantern design as the Bose Revolve speakers, but those have rubber bumpers at the top and bottom of the speakers to protect them during an impact. Bose clearly designed the portable home speaker to have a more aesthetic appeal to blend with indoor furnishing rather than for the outdoor ruggedness.
With an IPx4 rating, the Bose portable home speaker is water resistant, meaning it can withstand splashes of water, but can’t be submerged like other portable speakers rated with IPx7 waterproof ratings.
Here are some other observations: *You can only use the voice assistant as long as the speaker is connected through wifi. The voice controls will not work when you’re no longer within wifi range.
*For the occasions when you don’t want Amazon or Google listening to your conversation, you can simply turn off the microphone by pushing the mic on/off button at the top of the speaker.
*Although they look physically similar, the Bose portable home speaker does not have a tripod mount like the Bose Revolve speakers.
*It takes approximately 4 hrs to fully recharge the battery. Bose states the speaker can play up to 12 hrs. I was using the speaker at 50% volume and it has lasted well over 12 hrs.
~~Should you buy it?~~ This is one of those products where I would not hesitate recommending. The cons I listed are minor niggles that should not discourage you from putting the Bose portable home speaker at the top of your list to audition. Although it is on the pricier side, Bose has engineered an outstanding speaker with superb audio qualities that will bring a smile to your face when you listen to it.
Step up to high-speed USB 3.0 speeds and transfer your videos, photos and files up to ten times faster than standard USB 2.0 drives. SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 Flash Drive takes the wait out of moving, sharing or backing up big files - now you can transfer a full length movie from your laptop to your flash drive in less than a minute. Password protection lets you keep your private files private, while still allowing you to share generously with family and friends. And with a sleek, sturdy SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 Flash Drive in your pocket, you won~t need an internet connection to access those photos and videos anyplace and anytime you want. For more than 25 years, SanDisk has been known for quality and reliability all around the world.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
I really like that the Sandisk USB 3.0 256gb flash drive has plenty of space for all of my music files, videos, and documents. Even though it is stated as 256gb drive, actual available storage space is 233gb. Build quality on the drive is poor. The all plastic enclosure is loose and wobbly and it gives the impression that it can break off if inserted or removed with force. You’ll need to handle this drive with care.
I performed a non-scientific test of write speed. I transferred 27 gb of music files to the flash drive and it took 27 minutes, so 1gb/min. The drive does become warm during file transfer, but the amount of heat generated appears normal.
The flash drive comes with two useful software to enable file security and access. The first is Sandisk’s Secure Access Vault which is a file encryption software. You simply create a password and encrypt your files by dropping them into the Sandisk Vault. They are then electronically locked or encrypted. Nobody will be able to access your files without the decryption password. The only way to access the files is to enter your password in the Vault.
Another handy tool is Sandisk Flashback. Flashback automates the backup process by transferring the entire contents in the flash drive to Sandisk’s Cloud. You’ll be able to view and download the contents in the flash drive online without having the flash drive physically present. This becomes handy if you either left your flash drive at home or, worse, lost your flash drive entirely. You can recover all of your backed up content online. You can also share files with anyone by simply sending them a link to access the files in your Sandisk Cloud without having to attach large files onto an e-mail.
In order for all of this to function, Flashback software needs to be installed locally on your desktop or laptop computer to upload files to Sandisk’s Cloud server. You’ll also need to create an account on the Sandisk Flashback website to access your files in Sandisk’s Cloud server. Flashback is free for the 1st year, after that you’ll need to pay an annual subscription fee to continue access to your backed up files in the Sandisk Cloud. I’ve attached a picture showing the subscription pricing at the time of my review.
One limitation of the cloud backup feature is that backing up to the Sandisk cloud only works if you have the flash drive connected to a computer that has the Flashback software installed. In practice, there are numerous instances where you’ll be using the drive at a workstation, say at work computer or a friend’s computer, where the Flashback software isn’t installed. The flash drive becomes a regular, run of the mill storage drive. There’s nothing wrong with this, you just simply need to be aware that no Cloud back up is being performed until you plug the flash drive back into your computer that has the Flashback software installed.
Another limitation is that if you have files encrypted in the Sandisk Vault, those encrypted files will naturally remain encrypted, as they should, when backed up to the Sandisk Cloud. However, there is no way for you to access the encrypted files online in the Sandisk Cloud website since you won’t be able to decrypt the files without the Sandisk Vault. The encrypted files can only be decrypted locally from within the flashdrive.
All in all, this is a decent high capacity flash drive with some extra bonus features for securing your files and automatically backing up your flash drive to the cloud. I would recommend the flash drive.
Enjoy mobile communications with this Sony Xperia 10 smartphone. A Qualcomm Snapdragon 2.2GHz octa-core processor and 3GB of RAM facilitate multitasking and smooth running of applications, while the 6-inch Full HD display lets you watch high-quality videos. This Sony Xperia 10 smartphone features 64GB of internal storage for music tracks, videos and documents and supports microSD cards of up to 512GB.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
**Summary** With its uniquely long and narrow 21:9 aspect ratio, the new mid-range Sony Xperia 10 caters to users who consume cinematic content and multi-task using split screen. Combining premium build quality, smooth performance, feature rich front and rear cameras, and a nearly stock android operating system, Sony shows us that it can offer great value without too many compromises.
**Performance** The Sony Xperia performs very well for a mid-range phone. It is easy to hold with one hand, no matter if you have large or small hands. The phone feels centrally balanced with a smooth back and a nicely finished full HD 1080 x 2560, 6” screen constructed with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 material. It comes pre-installed with Android 9 Pie, and Sony doesn’t deviate much from stock Android. There isn’t much bloatware that comes with it other than Sony’s own Xperia Lounge app and an FM Radio app. Netflix and Facebook come pre-installed and baked into the OS as well, but I would have much rather it not come prepackaged since it doesn’t give us any flexibility to uninstall these apps. After all, how hard is it to download these apps from the Google Play Store?
**Swiping: Swiping and scrolling across the screen are smooth, fast, and instantaneous.
**Unique Sony Features: Sony adds two new very useful features to the Android user interface to facilitate navigation with one hand: 1. One Handed Mode and 2. Side Sense. I think that Sony acknowledges that this is a tall phone where some folks with smaller hands may find it difficult to reach all the way to the top of the screen while holding it with one hand. To solve this, Sony introduces One Handed Mode in which you can double tap the home button to reduce the display size of the screen that you are viewing. The smaller screen can be resized to your choosing. The reduced screen can now be easier to navigate with one hand. Think of this as Sony’s version of resizing a screen for Android similar to how you would reduce the screen size on a Windows PC environment. The second feature is Side Sense. By double tapping a sensor area bar to the right edge of the screen, it will bring up your frequently used apps. I think both of these features should be implemented on all smartphones. I applaud Sony with my free hand (while holding my Sony phone with the other hand) for coming up with them.
**Camera: The dual rear camera comes with a 13MP f/2.0 and 5MP f/2.4 cameras. The front camera is an 8MP, f/2.0 shooter. The camera performs very well under sufficient lighting. The HDR feature on the camera does a fantastic job balancing out a high contrast scene. Pictures come out sharp, detailed, and colors are accurately reproduced. In my experience, even low light photos are acceptable with the Sony Xperia. You’ll need to expect some graininess, artifacts from high iso, and softness in your pictures under low light using the Sony Xperia’s camera. After all, the camera’s tiny image sensor and software post processing can only do so much. The built in flash will help with some of these situations. Apart from this, the camera comes with various modes to improve your experience: Portrait Selfie, Bokeh, Slow Motion, Manual, Creative Effect, and Panorama Modes are all available to explore.
**Video: The Sony Xperia does a fine job recording video. You have a choice in recording in 4K (16:9)(I assume it’s 30fps), 4K (21:9)(again, 30fps?), Full HD (30fps), Full HD (60fps), HD, VGA, and MMS. Sony offers Steady Shot to stabilize the video images.
**21:9 Aspect Ratio: I don’t think any other smartphone manufacturer on the market right now offers a 21:9 aspect ratio other than Sony. Sony purposely chose the 21:9 aspect ratio to enable users to watch cinematic content on its smartphones without the top and bottom black bars that you frequently find when watching movies on screens that do not have the native 21:9 aspect ratio that cinema is shot in. It definitely works well when watching movies. The entire smartphone screen, every pixel in fact, was used when I watched movies using the phone. However, keep in mind that this only works for content that was produced in the 21:9 aspect ratio. Sony’s marketing department conveniently forgets to mention that for all other video content, you’ll see not only the top and bottom bars, but perhaps some left and right black bars as well as they were not originally recorded in the 21:9 aspect ratio. I found this out while watching some youtube content when I maximized the video screen only to find out that I had a video bordered on all sides by thick black frames. I heard these black bars will show up for some shows on Netflix as well. So much for the 21:9 marketing. Sigh.
To Sony’s credit, however, the 21:9 aspect ratio does work well for split screen usage. It provides plenty of usable real estate when using two apps such as browsing with the Chrome web browser simultaneously while reading Gmail. I found split screen particularly useful when listening to music off of YouTube. We’ve all been there where we’re listening to music on Youtube, and tried placing the app in the background only to find out that the music turns off. Well, with split screen, this provides a workaround where you simultaneously have the Youtube app open on half the display while using your other app, e.g. Gmail or Chrome browser, on the other half of the display.
**What else should you know about the Sony Xperia 10?** +Let’s not forget about call quality, after all this is a cell phone first and an entertainment center second. Call voices come through clearly and the speaker can get plenty loud. I’m on T-mobile, and the phone works well with this carrier. +The phone has a 3.5mm aux jack to connect headphones. Kudos to Sony for not following other manufacturers in abandoning the 3.5mm jack. +The internal speaker sounds surprisingly good. Great clarity for dialogue and music from a small speaker, but I still recommend connecting a bluetooth speaker or using headphones. +Battery: It’s a 2,870 mAh capacity battery. I got around 7 hours running on 50% brightness and playing movies continuously. On standby, with only wifi on, the battery percentage dropped approximately 5% in 10 hours. I believe that with moderate use, you’ll have no problem getting through a whole day without charging. Sony also includes a Stamina mode that kicks in to conserve battery when the battery percentage drops to a certain number of your choosing. +The first thing you should do after powering on the phone and connecting to your network is to update the phone to Sony’s latest version of the OS. It has been reported that the phone may experience some performance hiccups with the factory shipped OS out of the box. +If you remove the compartment that houses the nano Sim card while the phone is on, it will automatically power down and reboot. Don’t be alarmed. This is normal for the Sony Xperia 10. +The tray for the micro SD card will require you to have some length to your fingernails in order to pry it out to insert your micro SD card. +You can use a micro SD Card with up 512Mb of storage. +The phone is spec’d with 64 gb of internal storage, however, there’s actually only around 49 gb that’s available for use. The operating system took out a large chunk of storage. +I don’t know how many nits of screen brightness the display can be at its brightest, but I was quite happy that I was able to still view the content on the screen outside in bright sunlight without having to shade the phone. Even my Google Pixel XL (1st Gen) couldn’t get to such brightness levels and had difficulty viewing under sunlight. And that’s considered a premium phone. +The phone comes with bluetooth v5.0, but if all of your connecting devices are v 4.x and below, you won’t be able to take advantage of what v5.0 has to offer. +The Sony Xperia 10 has the Google Assistant built in. Once you teach it to recognize your voice, the phone’s microphone easily pick up your “Hey Google” or “Okay Google” command and responds.
**Should you buy it?** The Xperia 10 has plenty of noteworthy features packed into a mid-range phone. It’ll definitely suit most users’ needs whose concerns are mainly focused around speedy performance, a very capable camera, and a beautiful bright screen. And as an added benefit, it won’t break the bank. If you consider the Xperia 10 by itself, it’s definitely worthy to be considered at its price point. However, the decision becomes hazy when you begin to consider competing mid-range phones. Under the hood, the Sony Xperia 10’s processor is a capable, but aging Snapdragon 630 chip with 3 gb of RAM and with an average 2,870 mAh battery. Keen consumers will notice that competing manufacturers are releasing phones with a newer, faster Snapdragon 632 chip, 4 gb of RAM, and batteries having capacities over 3,000mAh at a similar or lower price point.
The Xperia 10 keeps up with the mid-range competition, but is quickly at risk of falling behind in terms of technical specs. I think Sony made a misstep here and this is where I decided to deduct a star from my rating. It should have at least offered the faster 632 chip, 4 gb RAM, and a larger capacity battery to lead the competition especially with its 21:9 aspect ratio, which is its biggest selling point.
Technical specs aside though, I still really enjoyed the solid premium build quality, the snappy performance, and the super wide 21:9 very bright screen. This is a worthy phone that should be on your mid-range short list.
Only at Best BuyKeep track of events that happen on the road with this V1P Plus dash cam. The simple design affixes to your windshield in minutes using the included mounting hardware, and the screen lets you review footage. With a mini USB port, this V1P Plus dash cam connects to your car's charger for a continuous power supply.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
**Summary** The Rexing V1P+ dash cam is a mixed bag combining a superb 1080p front dash cam with a shamefully mediocre VGA rear camera.
**Installation** If you’ve never installed a dash cam yourself and feel intimidated, let me reassure you that it is not that difficult. I consider myself an average joe, and it was also my first time installing a dash cam. I gained familiarity and confidence by watching all the installation videos on the rexingusa.com webpage. Then I went onto youtube and watched some more tutorials until I felt comfortable that I could handle the task myself. If you still don’t think you can perform the installation, you can always have the Best Buy geek squad professionally install it for you.
Since I have never done it before, I took my time with the installation. It took me around an hour and a half to hook up both the front and rear cameras and hide all the wires around the car trim.
**The Good**
+Two Options for Installation. The dash cam kit comes with wiring for two types of installations: You can connect the dash cam wiring to your vehicle’s 12V DC power charging outlet or you can hardwire the wires to the vehicle’s fusebox.
+Useful Plastic Trim Tool. The dash cam kit also comes with a plastic trim tool to help with opening the gaps in the vehicle’s trim and hiding the wire. I’m glad Rexing included the trim tool because I didn’t have one of these tools in my toolbox.
+Wires that keep going and going. The wires for both the front and rear cameras are very long. You won’t have any problem with stringing the rear camera to the back of a long suv or minivan. I had plenty of excess wiring left over.
+Wow, That Front Camera. The 1080p front camera has excellent video quality. BOTH daytime and night time images are sharp, clear, colorful and vibrant, and shows plenty of detail. Reviewing the videos on my computer screen, I could clearly read license plates, vehicle makes and models, determine vehicle color, read roadway signage and see signal lights, all of which may be valuable evidence when submitting video to your car insurance company or in cases where there are disputes.
**The Shortcomings**
-Yikes, That Poor Rear Camera Quality. The rear view camera is VGA 640x480p resolution quality. This resolution may have been fine in the late 80s and 90s, but with today’s video resolution advancements, it shouldn’t have cost that much more for Rexing to provide a 1080p rear view camera for the V1P+ dash cam package. Daytime video is washed out, with very little color, with poor contrast, graininess, and pixelation. It’s difficult to make out any details of vehicles, license plates are nearly illegible, and I couldn’t tell what the vehicles’ colors were. It was nearly like a black and white video. Dusk video is okay, a little worse than daytime video. However, when it is time to use the rear cam at night, that’s when the video becomes unacceptable. Bright headlights will overwhelm the rear video camera, creating what looks like blobs of light over where the vehicle should appear in the video. In background areas like sidewalks and edges of roadways where the lighting isn’t directly shining into the camera, the video appears to be better. The night time video would be inadmissible as evidence to an insurance company since it lacks the crucial details (e.g. you’ll only see the blobs of light from the vehicle that rear ends you and speeds away. No license plate will be captured in the video). I spent all this time hooking up and hiding the wires for the rear cam only to find out that the camera video quality is so pitiful. I want to make a note I made sure the rear camera lens was clean and that my rear windshield was clean both on the inside and outside before I made the above observations with the camera.
-The supplied Hardwire Kit is not universal. It will only work in certain vehicles where the fuse box has empty or spare fuse slots. If you have no spare slots in your vehicle’s fuse box, then you’ll need to perform a fuse tap. You will need to purchase a separate hardwire kit for the add-a-circuit/add-on/piggyback fuse tap. Really wish Rexing included the fuse tap hardwiring kit instead of the one that was supplied. A fuse tap is a more universal approach for hardwiring installations.
-The V1P camera uses a lithium ion battery instead of a capacitor to power the camera as it is saving the video file in the last moments when you park the car and turn off the ignition. In extremely hot environments, the interior of a car will sizzle. Heat and batteries just don’t mix. Just imagine what the heat is doing to that lithium ion battery. It will swell, leak, and break the internals in the camera. Capacitors on the other hand are not susceptible to such risks. So if you live in an area where it will be hot and you do decide to purchase the V1P+ dash cam, I recommend that you remove the camera from the windshield mount when parking under the hot sweltering sun. It’s a pain to always be doing so, but it will help prolong the life of your camera battery. Otherwise, just purchase a dash cam with a capacitor instead of a battery.
**Do I recommend the V1P+ Rexing dash cam?**
Yes, but a qualified recommendation. If you plan to use the camera in moderate climates and will not depend on the quality of the VGA rear camera for night time use other than as a novelty item, then this dash cam package will suit your needs, and I say go for it.
For the rest of us, including myself who live in a climate where summer days are typically well above 90 degrees F and even reaching above 100 degrees F, and who would prefer to have a very good video rear camera quality as evidence in a vehicle incident to go along with that excellent front dash cam, then I would not recommend this particular offering from Rexing.
Instead I would recommend you consider the Rexing V1P PRO dash cam package. It addresses all the aforementioned shortcomings of the V1P+. The PRO package comes with 1080p resolution for both front and rear cams, it has a super capacitor instead of a lithium ion battery for those of us who live in hot climates, and also has internal GPS logging and wifi file transfer as added bonuses. At the time of my review, the V1P PRO package at Best Buy is $50 more expensive than the V1P+, but I think it is worth the money. In fact I’ll be buying the Rexing V1P PRO package for my other car.
In the end, I gave the Rexing V1P+ dash cam a total of 4 stars. I had to deduct a star for the poor quality rear camera. I feel that it is important to have good video quality for both cameras. Why short change us on the rear camera?
Keep gadgets powered and your vehicle in check with this dual-port ROAV SmartCharge Spectrum car charger. Its built-in car locator and engine battery monitor functions relay important vehicle information on the ROAV app, and the 30W Quick Charge 3.0 and PowerIQ 2.0 USB ports provide efficient performance. Personalize this ROAV SmartCharge Spectrum car charger via its LED lighting.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
The Roav 2 port car charger does an excellent job recharging both my google pixel xl and samsung galaxy s9 phones simultaneously with lightning speed. I highly recommend this charger for fast charging of your latest gadgets in your vehicle.
The added bonus of the Roav car charger is that it also has a feature that uses your phone’s GPS and bluetooth functions to set the location of your parked car when you turn off the ignition. It then embeds the location of your parked car graphically onto a Google map via the Roav Charger app. Then from your phone’s GPS and a Google map, you can see where you are relative to your parked car. This is supposed to assist you in locating your car if you forgot where you parked it.
From the Roav Charger app you can take a picture to assist you with remembering your vehicle’s parking location and also set a parking timer for those times that you need to remember to move your car or feed a curbside parking meter. This is nothing extraordinary that your phone doesn’t already have. The Roav app simply consolidates your phone’s camera app and the clock/timer app into a bundled package.
In my testing, the Roav car locator app works well as long as the phone’s GPS is working well. However, once I entered a concrete subterranean parking structure where my phone’s GPS could no longer pinpoint my location, the Roav app displayed “Weak GPS Signal. Failed to locate parking spot.”
Finally, the Roav car charger also has a feature that monitors your car battery’s voltage by relaying the voltage reading to the Roav Charger app. This is supposed to help alert you when your car’s battery needs to be checked up by your mechanic. I used a digital multimeter hooked directly to my car battery to cross check the accuracy of the voltage reading from the Roav charger. My mutimeter read 12.6 volts and the Roav app displayed 12.3 volts. The Roav charger is pretty darn accurate. I was impressed.
In summary, I think Anker has developed a great product at a reasonable price. It’s a fast charger with some nice bonuses to help you remember where you parked and to monitor your car’s battery. I have already recommended this device to my friends and coworkers.
Create digital copies of paper documents with this Epson WorkForce wireless scanner. It provides fast operation to effortlessly handle a large volume of forms or receipts, and the LCD screen displays the connection and battery level status. Nuance OCR converts outputs from this Epson WorkForce wireless scanner into searchable, editable versions for efficient file management.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
Summary The Epson WorkForce ES-60W is an ideal scanning companion for the road warrior, mobile business professional who needs to get the job done when taking a picture with a smartphone and calling it a scanned image is simply not good enough.
Here’s the essentials of what you need to know about the ES-60W to make your purchase decision:
THE GOOD +Portability - Really ultra portable. This scanner checks all the boxes for for those who need something compact and lightweight. The scanner measures a measly 10.7” x 1.8” x 1.3” (see the photograph) and weighs a featherweight 0.7 lbs. It easily fits in a business briefcase, messenger bag, or a large pocket of a laptop bag.
+Fast Scanning. I tested the scanning speed and can corroborate Epson’s marketing claim that this scanner can complete a single page (8.5”x11”) scan in 4 seconds. Doesn’t matter if its color, black and white, or gray scale. Super fast scans. This is of course using the standard 300 dpi setting. If you needed a super high resolution image of 1200 dpi, which this scanner will do, it will take 8 seconds to complete. That’s still pretty fast in my book.
+Connect Wirelessly or Wired. It’s up to you. The Epson software will automatically detect when it is connected via the supplied usb cable and switch to wired mode. You have choices even for wireless connection: manual wireless connection through your home or office router, automatic connection through Wireless Protected Setup (WPS) if your router has that feature, or Direct WiFi mode where the scanner creates its own wireless access point (AP) and you go to your computer or phone’s wifi settings and locate the Epson scanner SSID. In wireless AP mode, you’ll need to enter in the network security password which is located on the underside of the ES-60W scanner.
+Scans to the Cloud, to your local pc/laptop/mac, and to your smartphone. Send the scan via e-mail or to Google Drive or to Dropbox.
+Epson Smart Scan program has lots of features and adjustments.
+Similarly, the Epson Document Scan app for smartphones is feature rich and easy to use. I love that you can scan directly into the phone with the app. Eliminates the need to take out the laptop.
+Comes with a software plug-in to convert and save your scans directly into Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents for editing.
+The scanner software will create searchable pdfs. Great when you need to search for keywords in a document.
+Scans multiple sheets into a single file. You’ll just need to manually feed the sheets one-by-one into the scanner. Each sheet is displayed immediately on the computer screen while it scans, so you’ll be able to see if the scan was incomplete or coming out warped or excessively skewed and rescan those sheets and delete the incomplete/warped scans before saving the file.
+Battery Meter. There is a battery meter on the scanner that provides an estimate of the amount of battery remaining. In the Epson Scan 2 Utility you can also set up the time intervals where the scanner will go into Power Save Stand-By mode and shut off.
+Comes with a cleaning sheet that will clear the scanner of dust when spots or lines start appearing on the scanned image.
+Comes with a calibration sheet to help fix image quality problems (supposed to fix image blurriness, color inaccuracies, vertical lines on images). Haven’t had to use it yet, but handy to have.
THE NOT SO GOOD
-Feeding the sheet into the scanner will take practice, and even after you think you’ve mastered it, you’ll sometimes still need to support the paper with your hand to ensure that it makes contact with the roller that brings the paper into the scanner. In the ideal scenario, the scanner’s roller is supposed to automatically ‘grab’ the paper so that when you hit the scan button, it will feed the paper through the scanner without your further assistance. However, in actual practice you’ll find out that the scanner’s automatic grab and feed is far from perfect. As I described above, sometimes you’ll need to gently support the sheet with your hand and ensure the paper makes positive contact with the roller (see the photograph). If you do this, you will have a more enjoyable experience with the scanner.
-Simplex (SINGLE SIDED) scanning only. In other words, no duplex scanning. I’m sure Epson could easily include duplex scanning in the ES-60W, but it was probably a marketing decision to leave it out so as not to cannibalize sales of its other portable scanners that do offer duplex scanning.
-The Epson Smart Scan program only saves in PDF, searchable PDF, and JPG. That’s probably enough for the 99% of users out there. For example, it won’t save as a TIFF, BMP, or PNG if that’s what you’re interested in. I’ve used other scanners that save the scans to a wide variety of formats. You’ll just need other software to help with those conversions when using the ES-60W.
-Epson uses micro-usb and usb 2.0 type-A for the cable connections for the ES-60W scanner when usb type-c is becoming ubiquitous. Just saying, that’s all. You can render your own judgement depending on the connections on your pc/mac/laptop.
-Questionable build quality. It’s fine that the scanner is constructed entirely from plastic to cut down on weight. However, do note that the top piece of the scanner has some flex to it. I’m concerned that excess flexing at the top of the scanner may cause some damage to the internals. I just don’t know. I’ll be a bit careful about where and how I place the scanner in my travel bag. Would have been nice if Epson could have designed the top piece with some more reinforcement to prevent flex.
Would I recommend the Epson ES-60W? The shortcomings I listed above are not enough to prevent me from recommending this scanner. Given its compactness and light weight, the ultra portability alone is enough reason to give this scanner some serious consideration. This little scanner is an excellent performer as I was able to scan documents, business cards, fine paper receipts, and even photographs (using a carrier sheet) with the Epson ES-60W without issue. The feature rich Epson Document Scan app allows you to quickly make image and scanning adjustments without having to reach for your laptop and is a very nice modern convenience to have.
I’ve used many Epson scanners over the years for both work and home. So far I have yet to be disappointed by any of them. They all produce good to very good scanned images. You really can’t go wrong with the ES-60W if you’re a professional who’s always on the go and need a high quality scanner in your business tool box.
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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This pic shows the size of the scanner
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Shows how I support the paper to allow the paper to make positive contact with the scanning roller
Get work done with this Dell Inspiron Chromebook laptop. The 14-inch Ultra HD touch screen supports EMR pens, and the Intel Core i3 processor powers system tasks smoothly with the 4GB of RAM. The 128GB of eMMC storage lets you store documents and media files on this Dell Inspiron Chromebook laptop.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
When I heard that Dell was coming out with a premium chromebook for mainstream consumer and business use, I jumped at the opportunity to try the new Inspiron 14” 2-in-1 touchscreen chromebook.
Here's what I like about the Inspiron 14” chromebook:
+It’s equipped with an Intel core i3, 8th generation processor. It’s not some cheaper celeron or pentium processor.
+4GB of RAM. This is plenty for a chromebook, but 8GB would have been nice for some heavy duty multi-tasking work and to stay ahead of the competition.
+128 gb of eMMC flash memory, which is more than sufficient for onboard storage for all the apps that you’ll be downloading. If that’s not enough for you, there is a micro SD slot for expandable memory for your pictures, videos, music, documents, etc.
+Love the 14” screen size. 13”-14” laptops are the perfect size in portability for traveling as it’s easy for carrying in your hand or putting away in a bag or backpack.
+At 4 lbs., it’s relatively light for a 14” chromebook.
+Premium look and feel. The exterior shell has a smooth gray ash color to make it look like a metallic finish. On first glance someone might just mistaken it for a Dell XPS.
+Beautiful 14” full HD screen. Vibrant colors and contrast, with wide viewing angles. This is a glossy screen, so be careful of placement next to windows or bright lights otherwise you’ll see lots of reflection.
+Backlit keyboard. Kudos to Dell for including a backlit keyboard. Although I don’t need a backlit keyboard, the white lights that illuminate the keys below look cool. Speaking of the keyboard, it has just the right amount of keystroke travel for good tactile feedback. Spacing of the keys should also suffice for larger hands. I type a lot, and I didn’t experience any fatigue in using the keyboard.
+Smooth and responsive trackpad.
+2-in-1 so it can fold up into tablet mode. Hinges are firm and strong.
+It comes with a stylus that is unobtrusively stored in a compartment underneath the laptop and can easily be overlooked if you’re not paying attention. The stylus glides across the screen effortlessly, and responds well and adjusts to the variation of pressure applied at the tip. The stylus is useful for the occasions that I need to jot down quick notes or sketch up some ideas during business meetings.
+Excellent connectivity for a premium chromebook: 2 x usb type c ports, 1 x usb 3.0 type A port, micro SD slot, and 3.5mm aux for headphones/headset. I’m really pleased Dell includes 2 usb type c ports, one on each side of the chromebook. The chromebook can also be re-charged at either port, so that means you can conveniently connect the power cord to the type c connector at which ever side is closer to the a/c wall outlet.
+This Dell Chromebook is FAST. It boots from cold start in 3-4 seconds. From sleep, it will wake up in an instant. Apps load with lightning speed. I put my Dell XPS laptop side by side with the Dell chromebook for a non-scientific test on how fast they each load webpages, and I was surprised to see that the chromebook loaded complete web pages half a second to a full second faster than my XPS. Perhaps the chromebook’s Chrome OS is optimized to take advantage of its primary function for web access.
+Long Battery. I got around 7.5 hrs on half brightness, running bluetooth speakers, streaming movies, and playing games. I’m sure under normal usage, the battery should last 8-10 hrs. This beats some of the best Windows laptops.
+Access to both the Chrome Web Store AND the entire Google Play Store. The addition of the Google Play Store is a big deal and is the game changing thing that Google needed to make the chromebooks have greater mainstream appeal! While the Chrome Web Store continues to grow its apps, themes, and extensions, it is the familiar Android Google Play Store that has the treasure trove of apps that we are all accustomed to using on our Android phones. And now it is included in the new chromebooks such as this Dell 14” 2-in-1 chromebook. I think the sale of chromebooks is going to take off because of this.
+Casual Gaming. With the Google Play Store now available on the latest Chromebooks, you’ll have your pick of games. I tried out Asphalt 8, which is a car racing game. Although the Dell chromebook is not a gaming machine, graphics rendering frame rate and game play are silky smooth with the i3 processor and integrated graphics. Not once did it skp frames or paused during play. Needless to say, I was impressed.
The Dell 14” 2-in-1 chromebook has a lot of positives going for it, but it’s definitely not perfect. Here are some of the things that I found to be okay or neutral:
-Just like any other laptop out there, you can’t expect dynamic range from the built-in speakers. It’s definitely clear enough for dialogue, and audio with lots of treble. Best to use external speakers or headphones.
-The webcam is just mediocre. Images and videos are satisfactory, but not crisp and clear. The webcam definitely doesn’t handle variation of lighting well. If you have differences in lighting, it will either over expose or under expose.
-In today’s age of thin to non-existent bezels, the Dell 14” chromebook’s thick bezel would appear to be anachronistic.
While I’m not looking for a chromebook to entirely replace my Windows laptop, I was curious to see what this thing is capable of. I’m not talking about web browsing capability - we all know it is super fast on Chrome OS, but rather connectivity. Can the Dell chromebook do some of the things that I’ve taken for granted with my Windows laptop? Let’s find out.
+Docking and Multi-Monitor Set Up. Yes you can set up a docking station with the Dell Chromebook. There are many docking station products out there. I use the Wavlink brand of docking stations which use the Display Link drivers. According to the Display Link website, the Display Link drivers are natively built-in to chrome OS. That is excellent, as I was able to connect two 25” external monitors making a three monitor set up (including the chromebook monitor). Extend and mirror options are available. I like going with the Extend option as this allows all three monitors to display different content. Additionally, you’re able to rearrange the monitors on the screen, just like in the Windows environment, so that your mouse cursor flows naturally across one screen to the next. I didn’t experience any performance hiccups either with this three monitor set up. I had a movie streaming on one monitor (in standard definition of course since HDCP is unsupported with my docking station), multiple tabs open on another screen, and a game going on a third screen. The Intel i3 process and integrated graphics are powerful enough for such multi-monitor, multi-tasking. It didn’t once bog down the chromebook. Wow!
+Wireless Keyboard and Mouse. In addition to docking, I was able to connect a wireless keyboard and mouse. I use a Logitech Anywhere 2s mouse which I have customized the buttons from my Windows laptop. Unfortunately, those customized buttons do not work. Scroll wheel, hyper-scrolling, and basic mouse clicking, though, are fully functional.
+Printer. Yes, you can connect to a printer. I have a wireless Brother All-In One that I connect wireless through wifi. The Dell chromebook connects flawlessly for wireless printing. If you don’t have a wireless printer, according to Google’s Help Page, you’ll still be able to manually connect through the old way of utilizing a usb wired connection from the Dell chromebook to your printer.
+External Flash Drive / Portable External Hard Drives / Desktop Hard Drives. They’re all accessible on the Dell Chromebook from either the usb type A or type C ports. I successfully opened various files from the external drives on the chromebook.
-Scanner. Your mileage will vary here depending on your scanner manufacturer. Scanning worked for me after I downloaded my printer (Brother) manufacturer’s iprint and scan software from the Google Play Store.
-External DVD RW/ROM. Doesn’t work. No driver support in Chrome OS perhaps. You won’t be able to play your DVD movies on the Chromebook.
Final Observations:
*The keyboard has no CAPs lock key. However, there’s a trick. If you hold the ‘Alt’ and ‘Search’ key, CAPs lock will turn on. To turn it off, hold the ‘Alt’ and ‘Search’ key again. You can find this and a ton of keyboard shortcuts at the following Dell Chromebook keyboard guide website:
*It’s nice to have a backlit keyboard, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to turn it off. Apparently, it’s another trick. To adjust the backlighting on the keyboard or turn it off entirely, you’ll need to press and hold the ‘alt’ key and tap the increase or decrease screen brightness keys.
Conclusion: The chromebook is all grown up and matured. It’s not limited to an educational setting, but is a worthy competitor in the consumer and business environments. Dell makes a very compelling and standout premium chromebook with the Inspiron 14” 2-in-1. Equipped under the hood with an 8th gen Intel core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 128 of eMMC flash memory and with the excellent build quality that Dell has been known for, this is really an awesome machine for productivity and entertainment. It is fast, no, really fast. It features a ton of connectivity and makes a strong case for replacing the average consumer’s Windows PC. I was a skeptic of the chromebook before, but now after having used it, I think Google has something here for the long term. I hope Dell continues to turn out chromebooks with high, premium specs. This is a solid professional chromebook I would feel proud to walk in with at my next business meeting. I would highly recommend it.
You don't want to just hear the bass - you want to feel the thunder. The Bose Bass Module 700 delivers rich, resounding bass in a compact wireless subwoofer so you can feel the full impact in every thrilling moment of your music, movies, and TV. With its premium glass-top finish, the Bose Bass Module 700 offers elegance you won't find in typical subwoofers or home theater equipment. But the real beauty lies beneath the exterior. This wireless subwoofer delivers a dynamic range of resounding low notes from a powerful driver and generously sized port. You can feel the crushing footsteps of a T-rex on the screen, or a heart-pumping, beat-stomping chorus in your favorite song. Don't be afraid to turn up the volume, either; QuietPort technology virtually eliminates distortion without sacrificing clarity. Want to kick up the performance a little bit more? Add the Bose Surround Speakers to your Bose soundbar and bass module for full-on surround sound.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
The Bose Soundbar 700 does a decent job delivering upper and mid bass for an enjoyable music and cinema experience, but adding the optional Bose Bass Module 700 totally transforms the experience with jaw dropping, thunderous, immersive deep bass that you'd typically associate with being in a movie theater. I could keep throwing superlative adjectives of praise to describe the bass, but this is one of those situations where you have to experience it yourself to believe how awesome the bass can be. Get the bass module if you want incredible lower end bass frequencies that will rattle your windows, shake the walls, and send vibrations through the floor. Get the bass module if you want to squeeze as much out of those explosive and rumbling sounds in action movies that you not only can hear, but feel. Get this bass module if you live in an apartment/condo and want to annoy the heck out of your neighbor.
The bass module is a heavy weight, weighing in at around 36 lbs. It's topped off with the same beautiful tempered glass top found on the Bose 700 soundbar. It's relatively easy to wirelessly pair to the Bose 700 soundbar using the Bose Music App. As an option, the bass module can be wired into the soundbar using a 3.5mm aux cable. Wireless is the way to go, though. You're ready to rock, once you run the AdaptIQ audio calibration.
I spent hours watching and re-watching my library of action movies as if it was for the first time. From the roar of rockets, to explosions, and punches in fight sequences, the omnidirectional bass blankets you in the middle of the action. It was simply phenomenal being able to feel the sound. The bass module 700 really adds that extra dimension, depth, and realism to the cinematic experience.
Finally I want to point out that the bass module 700 is identical to the Acoustimass 300 bass module. It was simply relabeled as '700' to eliminate any confusion about compatibility of the bass module with the matching soundbar. Additionally, if you have the budget and the space, you may wish to add a second bass module 700 (or Acoustimass 300). You're gonna get even richer and more immersive bass!
Do I recommend the bass module 700? A resounding Yes!!! This is one of those products where the price equates with the performance. If you love deep lower end bass that you can feel, you'll love this bass module. Highly recommend!
The Bose Soundbar 700 smart speaker offers a perfect combination of sophisticated design and exceptional sound for your home theater, so you can feel the full power in every moment of your favorite music, movies, and TV shows. Featuring premium materials and exquisite craftsmanship, the soundbar is designed to look as good as it sounds. Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant built in puts all your favorite music at the tip of your tongue and acts as a central hub to control your existing smart home devices.
This reviewer is a member of the Best Buy Tech Insider Network Program. This invitation-only program provides BestBuy.com reviewers with manufacturer-supplied products for the purpose of writing honest, unbiased and usage-based reviews. Outside of receiving products to test and review, Best Buy Tech Insider Network Reviewers are not compensated in any other way.
**The One Sentence Summary While the Bose 700 blends stylish aesthetics with exceptional sound quality and Amazon Alexa smart speaker integration to deliver a premium, well engineered elegant soundbar, it may not be compelling enough to attract a growing number of consumers who are also looking for the multi-dimensional enveloping sounds offered by soundbars with Dolby Atmos.
**Form and Aesthetics In creating the Bose 700 soundbar, the Bose design team copied the Soundtouch 300's exterior design. If you were to place the two side by side, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference at first glance. The Bose 700 sports the same tempered glass top, metal grille, and physical dimensions. By no means am I criticizing Bose with the lack of creativity in design. Rather I think the soundbar looks awesome and there is no need to change a design aesthetic that fits so well with today's modern home décor. With a low 2” height, the soundbar fits nicely beneath a television without being obtrusive, and that tempered glass top looks amazingly beautiful, adding a very nice touch to the overall look.
**Connections The soundbar is connected to input sources either through the hdmi e-ARC/ARC or optical-in. Audio devices can also be connected and streamed via bluetooth.
**Setup I'll have to admit this is one of the more time consuming soundbars to set up. It took me around 20-30 minutes to fully set up the soundbar. The entire set up process is done with the Bose Music app that you'll need to download onto a smartphone/tablet. Once you install the app, you'll be guided through the steps to set up a bose account, connect to your wifi, connect to your Amazon account to use Amazon Alexa, use the AdaptIQ headset to help optimize the soundbar to the acoustics of your room, and set up the universal remote control with your television. It's not difficult, it just simply takes time to do. Also, I recommend that you download the user manual from the Bose website to get the most out of the installation.
**Bose Music App The music app is a wonderful addition to the soundbar. With the app, the treble and bass levels can be adjusted in fine increments of 10 from -100 to +100. One of my biggest complaints about Bose is the lack of treble control, and it is great that Bose finally provides treble adjustment since this function was lacking in the Soundtouch 300 and would have made for a much cleaner and clearer listening experience. You can also store up to six of your favorite preset music stations in the soundbar using the app. The app will also allow you to connect to a select few music apps via wifi. The selection includes iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify premium, Amazon music, Deezer, SiriusXM.
**Audio Performance and Quality Let us not forget the whole reason for the soundbar. Just how does it sound? I've owned or tested dozens of soundbars, and I have to say quite frankly that the Bose 700 ranks up there as one of the best in audio quality for music, television, and cinema. Sound is rich and balanced. I tested every genre of music I could think of from bass heavy tracks to instrumentals and vocals, the Bose 700 simply delivers clean, clear sound. Bose's audio engineers did a superb job. Crisp highs come through nicely and sparkly. Mids are accurately rendered. And upper and mid bass come through tight with power and punch without any boominess. I was surprised that the highs and mids still come through crisp and clear even after adjusting the bass to the maximum on the soundbar. Well done Bose. Typically, on other soundbars, the entire audio frequency spectrum gets dragged down when the bass is increased.
One other thing worth mentioning is how well the soundbar alone can produce bass sounds even without a separate subwoofer. Most soundbars depend almost entirely on a separate, bulky subwoofer unit to produce the mid and upper bass frequencies. The Bose 700 soundbar on the other hand does well on its own without the separate bass module.
For television and cinema, the dialogue setting in the app adjusts the mid range frequencies so that dialogue and vocals become more prominent and center stage. This makes is much easier to listen to programs with a lot of dialogue.
**Amazon Alexa It's a given that nearly all speaker systems today come equipped with some type of smart speaker integration. The microphone on the Bose 700 does a fantastic job picking up my voice from across the room even with the music playing. The integrated Amazon Alexa functions exactly as you would expect from any other Amazon smart speaker device. Through the Bose 700, you'll be able to issue commands to Alexa to control your connected home devices. And if you don't like having the thought of Alexa listening to you all the time, you can silence the microphone.
Personally, I have too many smart speakers in my home already. I really didn't care much to have another Alexa device in the soundbar.
**Shortcomings As good as the Bose 700 sounds and looks, Bose doesn't capitalize on the latest trend of employing speakers with surround sound Dolby Atmos technology. Many soundbars today offer Dolby Atmos with their speakers to create a more immersive 3-D enveloping sound. It would have been great to see this technology incorporated in the present line up of Bose soundbar offerings. Perhaps, Bose can do it in the next soundbar iteration.
**Cons -No NFC to facilitate bluetooth connection -No HDMI pass through -Does not include wall mounting brackets -Expensive
**Do I recommend the Bose 700? I think that if you're in the market for a premium soundbar and have a large budget, the Bose 700 should be on your shortlist to audition. The superb quality, aesthetics, and excellent sound quality are factors worthy of consideration. On the other hand, the soundbar is very expensive. For the price of the Bose 700 soundbar, you will be able to purchase a decent 5.1.2 soundbar system with sub-woofer and rear surround speakers. My recommendation is to experience the Bose 700 soundbar in person at your local Best Buy. Let the audio quality tickle and entice your ears. You might end of purchasing the soundbar.
PowerCore III 20K is a slim and powerful portable 20000mAh battery. With two USB-A port outputs and one USB-C PD input, this is all you need as your charging companion.
The Anker PowerCore III 20K is rated at 72 Whr, which is within the FAA limit of 100 Whr. It is allowed on an airplane. I took it on an airplane without issue.
Make the most of every day with the sleek style, performance, and all-day battery life~ you need in the lightest Surface Laptop, all at an exceptional value. Ultra-light and portable profile, the apps* you use every day, premium materials, and a choice of must-have colors will make this your go-to laptop. ~Up to 13 hours of battery life based on typical Surface device usage. Testing conducted by Microsoft in September 2020 using preproduction software and preproduction configurations of Surface Laptop Go Testing consisted of full battery discharge with a mixture of active use and modern standby. The active use portion consists of (1) a web browsing test accessing 8 popular websites over multiple open tabs, (2) a productivity test utilizing Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook, and (3) a portion of time with the device in use with idle applications. All settings were default except screen brightness was set to 150nits with Auto-Brightness disabled. Wi-Fi was connected to a network. Battery life varies significantly with settings, usage and other factors.
What version of Windows does Surface Laptop Go ship with?
Make the most of every day with the sleek style, performance, and all-day battery life~ you need in the lightest Surface Laptop, all at an exceptional value. Ultra-light and portable profile, the apps* you use every day, premium materials, and a choice of must-have colors will make this your go-to laptop. ~Up to 13 hours of battery life based on typical Surface device usage. Testing conducted by Microsoft in September 2020 using preproduction software and preproduction configurations of Surface Laptop Go Testing consisted of full battery discharge with a mixture of active use and modern standby. The active use portion consists of (1) a web browsing test accessing 8 popular websites over multiple open tabs, (2) a productivity test utilizing Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook, and (3) a portion of time with the device in use with idle applications. All settings were default except screen brightness was set to 150nits with Auto-Brightness disabled. Wi-Fi was connected to a network. Battery life varies significantly with settings, usage and other factors.
Make the most of every day with the sleek style, performance, and all-day battery life~ you need in the lightest Surface Laptop, all at an exceptional value. Ultra-light and portable profile, the apps* you use every day, premium materials, and a choice of must-have colors will make this your go-to laptop. ~Up to 13 hours of battery life based on typical Surface device usage. Testing conducted by Microsoft in September 2020 using preproduction software and preproduction configurations of Surface Laptop Go Testing consisted of full battery discharge with a mixture of active use and modern standby. The active use portion consists of (1) a web browsing test accessing 8 popular websites over multiple open tabs, (2) a productivity test utilizing Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook, and (3) a portion of time with the device in use with idle applications. All settings were default except screen brightness was set to 150nits with Auto-Brightness disabled. Wi-Fi was connected to a network. Battery life varies significantly with settings, usage and other factors.
Make the most of every day with the sleek style, performance, and all-day battery life~ you need in the lightest Surface Laptop, all at an exceptional value. Ultra-light and portable profile, the apps* you use every day, premium materials, and a choice of must-have colors will make this your go-to laptop. ~Up to 13 hours of battery life based on typical Surface device usage. Testing conducted by Microsoft in September 2020 using preproduction software and preproduction configurations of Surface Laptop Go Testing consisted of full battery discharge with a mixture of active use and modern standby. The active use portion consists of (1) a web browsing test accessing 8 popular websites over multiple open tabs, (2) a productivity test utilizing Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook, and (3) a portion of time with the device in use with idle applications. All settings were default except screen brightness was set to 150nits with Auto-Brightness disabled. Wi-Fi was connected to a network. Battery life varies significantly with settings, usage and other factors.
Can you switch out of S mode on Surface Laptop Go?
Yes, Microsoft allows you to switch out of S mode to Windows 10 Home. Once you switch out, it is permanent and you will not be able to revert back to Windows in S Mode.
Get work done with this Dell Inspiron Chromebook laptop. The 14-inch Ultra HD touch screen supports EMR pens, and the Intel Core i3 processor powers system tasks smoothly with the 4GB of RAM. The 128GB of eMMC storage lets you store documents and media files on this Dell Inspiron Chromebook laptop.
I know this thing isn't light. But how much does it weigh? I don't see that in specs
Toshiba 4K UHD Fire TV Edition is a new generation of smart TVs featuring the Fire TV experience built-in and including a Voice Remote with Alexa. With true-to-life 4K Ultra HD picture quality and access to all the movies and TV shows you love, Toshiba Fire TV Edition delivers a superior TV experience that gets smarter every day. The Voice Remote with Alexa lets you do everything you'd expect from a remote~plus, easily launch apps, search for TV shows, play music, switch inputs, control smart home devices and more, using just your voice.
Can it be wall mounted? I don't see any mounting screw holes from the back picture.
Toshiba 4K UHD Fire TV Edition is a new generation of smart TVs featuring the Fire TV experience built-in and including a Voice Remote with Alexa. With true-to-life 4K Ultra HD picture quality and access to all the movies and TV shows you love, Toshiba Fire TV Edition delivers a superior TV experience that gets smarter every day. The Voice Remote with Alexa lets you do everything you'd expect from a remote~plus, easily launch apps, search for TV shows, play music, switch inputs, control smart home devices and more, using just your voice.
Can you mira cast or screen cast from your phone/tablet/laptop wirelessly?
Listen to your playlist in peace with these Sony headphones. They have a 40mm dome driver to deliver the full depth of audio, and the noise cancelling feature minimizes outside disturbances for a better listening experience. These Sony headphones have a battery life of up to 30 hours for extended jam sessions.
Can anyone who has used these AND the Bose QC35 comment on the overall comfort for long trips? The QC35s are good, but I can't wear them for more than 3-4 hours before my outer ears start to hurt from the pressure from the cups.
I have both the QC35 and the 1000XM2. The QC35 is more comfortable on long trips. The 1000XM2 headband forces the earcups to press more firmly against my ears and is less comfortable.
Listen to your playlist in peace with these Sony headphones. They have a 40mm dome driver to deliver the full depth of audio, and the noise cancelling feature minimizes outside disturbances for a better listening experience. These Sony headphones have a battery life of up to 30 hours for extended jam sessions.
Does the cable come with a built in remote? This includes, volume, play pause and microphone.