Reviews

Google is hoping you'll like the new, second-generation Nest Hub enough that you'll take it into the bedroom, with the third outing for its Soli sensor promising sleep tracking without anything on your wrist. Still $100, the new smart display aims to replace your old clock-radio and give some fresh insight into how restful your night was, though when the lights go out there are still some questions to be answered.

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The new 2021 Ford Bronco Sport is not the new Ford Bronco, a faintly odd sentence you find yourself saying fairly frequently in parking lots and at traffic lights when you're driving a bright red Badlands trim example. Blame until-now-untapped enthusiasm for the Bronco brand and the high profile resurrection of the nameplate this year - oh, and Ford's massive "BRONCO" lettering across the grille - for that, and get used to some staring.

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Throughout all the changes that smartphones have undergone through the years, one thing that has remained constant, a least in the past few generations, has been the focus on better cameras. Almost just as important as the software user experience, the ability of these personal computers in our pockets to create a visual record of our lives has proven to be of importance to people from all walks of life.

No smartphone maker has been able to turn a blind eye on that trend and this year, Vivo has gone all out on the X60 Pro+ and we take it for a test run to see if its combination of high-end sensors and the ZEISS name is all that it's cut out to be.

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2021 started with a bit of uncertainty, especially for the smartphone market. Has the economy recovered enough to take big risks in new products? Or are consumers still opting to make "safe" purchases of familiar and tested products? The one thing that remains unchanged even with the pandemic is people's needs for an accessible smartphone with top-notch cameras that can capture their memories in perfect detail and performance that goes beyond its price tag. That's what Vivo is promising with the Vivo X60 Pro, one of its first to be made in collaboration with famed optics company ZEISS, and we take an intimate look to see if it all checks out.

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The OnePlus 9 is very, very similar to the OnePlus 9 Pro. Today we're going to decide if it's worth buying one over the other - and if it's time to upgrade from an older OnePlus device. The OnePlus 9 Pro is approximately $240 more than the non-Pro device, comparing both devices with their lowest-tier base pricing. Both have the same display, Hassleblad branding, and a similar camera setup - so what's the difference?

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Mazda makes some gosh-darned good looking cars, if you'll excuse my language. The 2021 CX-9 presents a challenge, like all three-row SUVs: the most practical shape for maximizing cabin space would be a big box on wheels, but then you've made a minivan and people accuse you of being boring. Even with the demands for passenger and cargo space, though, the CX-9 manages to squeeze in some curves - and some fun when the road curves, too.

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It's not unreasonable to suggest that Volvo owes a fair amount of its current prestige to the XC90. In 2021 XC90 T8 Recharge form, the plug-in hybrid three-row SUV is the de-facto flagship of the Swedish automaker's range in North America, combining Scandinavian minimalism with a jolt of electric power.

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The OnePlus 9 Pro is a smartphone with a big, brilliant display and a high powered set of cameras. OnePlus 9 Pro is one of two devices, the other also called OnePlus 9 (without the Pro), with a price that's over $200 different - with specs to match. With a price starting at approximately $969 for the most basic OnePlus 9 Pro, we're expecting OnePlus to out-do itself on all fronts.

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Amazon's Echo Show 10 is big on eye-contact. Now in its third-generation, the rotating smart display has the same screen as its predecessor, but mounted on a swiveling base that uses person-tracking to make sure it's always facing you. At $250, it's also Amazon's most expensive Echo Show model so far.

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Sonos may be best known for its standalone connected speakers, but its built-in speaker range, Sonos Architectural, is gaining traction in a space still fairly unfamiliar to mainstream users. Professional installation isn't new, but there are still preconceptions about just how attainable it is, with assumptions that it's reserved for multi-million dollar mansions with similarly lavish budgets. When I set out to give a home theater system a Sonos Architectural upgrade, though, I discovered some big surprises along the way.

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It's perhaps a measure of how much you like a car, that you still want to drive it even when that's perhaps ill-advised. Taking a supercar to do grocery shopping - and then playing paper towel Tetris in the parking lot as you try to fit everything into the trunk - is a good example, and to that I can add trying to coax a rear-wheel drive 2021 Genesis GV80 to play nicely in the Midwest snow.

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Smart lighting may be the easiest route into home automation, but nothing quite wows like motorized shades. Arguably the king of the category is Hunter Douglas, with a range of shades, blinds, rollers, shutters and more so wide, you'd be forgiven for feeling overwhelmed. If you've got an unusual window, though, that flexibility really pays off.

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