Reviews

HTC learned the hard way that, in the cutthroat smartphone industry, you need to bring your A-game each and every time. Make a misstep and, though recovery isn't impossible, it'll cost you dearly - cash that HTC just doesn't have to splash around. The stakes are high for the HTC U11, then, and in a year packed with compelling flagships from deep-pocketed rivals it can't afford less than a surefire hit. Question is, does the U11 have what it takes?

Continue Reading

Apple's HomeKit may have had a quiet start, but third-party accessories for an iOS smart home are gradually picking up pace. Latest to store shelves is Elgato's Eve Degree, a compact temperature, humidity, and air pressure sensor, wrapped up in a simple and handsome design, and promising to be the smart trigger your connected home has been asking for.

Continue Reading

Lenovo has released the second-generation version of its ThinkPad 13, a business ultrabook with the same no-nonsense style we've come to know and love. Unlike some ultrabooks, the ThinkPad 13 packs a bunch of ports that (most likely can) cover all of your workday needs, tossing other features on top including a fingerprint sensor and customizable hardware. Is the latest version worth the upgrade? Read on to find out!

Continue Reading

The Cinder grill really wants you to enjoy the perfect steak, and it doesn't want you to have a headache making it. As a greedy geek with a counter crammed full of kitchen gadgets and a taste for meat, that certainly appealed, as did Cinder's promise of sous-vide style cooking without the hassle of preheating water baths and bagging up your meals. Question is, at 2-3 times the price you'd pay for an entry-level sous-vide machine, does this grill do enough to justify its existence?

Continue Reading

It seemed that after the lackluster standalone installment On Stranger Tides, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was finally over, having ended on a bad note after resurrecting the original, and decent enough, trilogy. That wasn't the case, as everyone knows by now. The fifth and final installment, Dead Men Tell No Tales, arrived in theaters late last week to give audiences one last experience with series favorite Jack Sparrow. Unfortunately he, and the rest of the movie, fell flat.

Continue Reading

Is the Volkswagen Beetle a charming slab of four-wheel history brought back to life, or a cynical piece of modern-day memorabilia for baby boomers? On the one hand, the 2017 Beetle Dune Convertible puts a little distance between its droptop and the fairly cliched car it's based upon. Nonetheless, at around $30k are you paying more for image than anything else?

Continue Reading

You've no doubt seen miniature PCs -- small sticks and blocks that scarcely take up room on a desk. The Kangaroo Mobile Desktop Pro is similar, but takes the idea of portable to a whole new level: this PC is small enough to slip into a pocket and it features an internal battery to keep things running when not plugged in. That makes the Kangaroo Pro far more convenient in certain situations, making transfers between stations as simple as unplugging the computer from one device and plugging it into another. How does it live up to everyday usage, though? Read on to find out!

Continue Reading

It's easy to get hooked on having Amazon Alexa around, but though the affordable Echo Dot's always-listening microphones are good, there's no beating the true portability of a battery-powered speaker. Rather than splash out on an Amazon Tap, though, Nintey7's Vaux offers an upgrade route to make an Echo Dot mobile. For $49.95 you can not only cut the power cord, but boost Alexa's volume in the process.

Continue Reading

Garmin is a name mostly associated with navigation devices, but it has been branching out to other consumer electronics markets, from fitness trackers to dash cams. A 360-degree camera, however, is probably the last thing you thought it would get into, and yet here it is with the VIRB 360. In a market already crammed with GoPros and action cam knockoffs, does the Garmin VIRB 360 have what it takes to stand out? We took it for a spin and was quite floored by what this newcomer was able to pull off.

Continue Reading

In the world of sports car design the mid-engine layout is king, which makes the 2017 Porsche 718 Cayman S one of the reigning blue-bloods of the high performance niche. Perfectly balanced, and from a certain perspective affordably priced, the Cayman family of compact coupes has given Porsche a strong throne from which to command its sub-911 empire.

Continue Reading

You wait for one premium 2-in-1 Windows 10 hybrid, and along come a whole selection at once. Samsung is hoping the Galaxy Book 12-inch will catch your eye out of a growing market, promising the latest in digital S Pen technology plus more processing power than you might expect from such a skinny slate. Question is, does the Galaxy Book do enough to warrant its $1,129.99 price tag?

Continue Reading

In the fast, exclusive, and expensive world of supercars, "practical" is a dirty word. Cachet for such cars, after all, comes from their speed, or their rarity, or how efficiently their jaw-dropping design endears you to those of your gender of preference. Yet the 2017 McLaren 570GT carries its convenience like a mark of honor, and it turns out with good reason.

Continue Reading