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HP's Elite X3 gets closer to the dream of a Windows Phone as a PC
Everything about HP's Elite X3 seems like a gamble. It's the company's first phone in two years, and it's the first major Windows Phone device since Microsoft's Lumia 950 debuted last year. HP is betting big that premium hardware and the ability to use the phone as both a pseudo desktop and laptop will actually be a boon for enterprise customers. Naturally, too, HP is hoping to tempt businesses away from BlackBerry. But while it's nice to see the company swing for the fences (as it did with its gorgeous Spectre 13 ultraportable), it's not enough in this case to make the $699 Elite X3 a useful device.
The sweet sound of the 'world's most expensive' earphones
I imagine I'm like most people in that I'm fairly content with a leaky pair of earphones that came bundled with a phone I bought 18 months ago. Some of you will have more expensive tastes, of course, dropping a few hundred on a "nice" pair of Beats, Sonys or similar cans. But there's a whole other world out there, where money is seemingly no object in the pursuit of the perfect sound. And for roughly a week, I've been masquerading as an audiophile myself, wearing oBravo's EAMT-1 in-ear headphones that cost no less than £3,600 (roughly $4,413). Yes, you read that right.
Fender's FXA2 in-ear monitors sound great onstage and off
When you think "Fender," your brain conjures up images of guitars, of long-haired tattooed musicians exploding into ear-piercing solos. It's an appropriate assessment -- the Stratocaster (or one of its many clones) is usually the first instrument of aspiring rock gods. What you don't think about are earbuds. But after a recent acquisition, the guitar maker is hoping to change that with its line of in-ear monitors.
The Linksys EA9500 pierced my apartment's WiFi-proof walls
I live in a two-bedroom San Francisco apartment built in 1916. It has a view of the bay and the top of the Golden Gate bridge. There's crown molding, high ceilings and some pretty dope neighbors. It should be perfect. And it is -- if you're cool with plaster walls blocking 90 percent of all WiFi signals.
The Rapidfire K70 is a gaming keyboard that typists will love
Mechanical keyboards are favored by gamers and programmers for how precise and springy the buttons feel under their fingers. The latter is important not just for improving a player's reaction time in a heated match, but a shorter key depression is also way kinder to a typist's hands. So it seems that Corsair's new Rapidfire K70 RGB would be the ultimate step up thanks to its new "Cherry MX Speed" keys, which only need to be pushed down 1.2mm: the shortest actuation point on the market. I've been using it as my work keyboard for the past two months and it's been a sweet experience, though not without a few bumps.
How modern tech saved my 'Dragon's Lair' arcade game
In the early 1980s, the arcade was still the place to play the newest and best video games. Sure, consoles existed, and were just starting to give arcades a run for their money -- and were even starting to shed their wood-grain home-furniture look for a more modern feel. But home play still lacked the arcade's mystique. As attendance began to dwindle, game makers started looking for a hook; something incredible and new that would lure people back to the arcades to spend their quarters.
Does your sous vide gear really need WiFi?
If you spend a considerable amount of time reading J. Kenji Lopez-Alt's writings on better cooking through science, you'll come across his sous vide steak guide. I've read what Lopez-Alt and others have to say about the culinary method for preparing a slab of beef, or, more specifically, that cooking a thick steak in a low-temperature water bath before searing produces stellar results. But that process can take a couple of hours for a thicker ribeye or New York strip. Also, keeping watch for that long sounds like an awful way to spend an evening.
The Galaxy S7 Active is a rugged flagship with a steep price
Accidents happen. And if you're more prone to accidents than most (like me), your phone's probably taken more than its fair share of beatings. Since 2013, the AT&T-exclusive Galaxy S Active line has taken Samsung's flagship for that year and put it in a rugged, water-resistant body. The new GS7 Active improves upon that formula, adding a shatter-resistant screen, rubberized rear, enhanced metal frame and a beefier battery than the regular Galaxy S7. You'll otherwise get the same excellent performance, cameras and display that we already praised on the standard S7.
Withings Body Cardio: A stylish scale for fussy health nuts
A scale is an odd thing to review. For one thing, it's one of the few gadgets you have to be completely naked to test. It also sends you down a rabbit hole of fitness tech, with too many apps and too many connected devices that do too many things. The Withings Body Cardio scale is emblematic of that, giving you your heart rate, body-fat ratio, bone mass, water mass, the weather (!) and something you never knew you needed called the "pulse wave velocity." Oh, and your weight.
Bose's best headphones are even better wireless
When it comes to headphones, it can sometimes be easy to forget about Bose. The company doesn't debut new models as frequently as the competition, choosing instead to focus on quality, comfort and its highly touted noise-canceling tech. Bose's previous noise-canceling model, the QC25, has been around awhile, and despite its popularity, there was one thing missing: a wireless edition. Announced just over a week ago, the QuietComfort 35s mix that trademark sound and feel in a $350 package. I spent a few days using the headphones to see if they met my high expectations.
The LucidSound LS30 is a gaming headset for the style conscious
Last month when I was putting together a list of gaming headsets worth buying, I spent a lot of time reading about audio quality. Which headsets delivered the best highs and lows for music, how clear were the sound effects and how immersive was the surround sound? There was also plenty of talk of how each headset looked and, though plenty were deemed passable, "beautiful" and "gorgeous" are words I didn't hear often. Although there's a plethora of attractive high-end headphones on the market, the same can't really be said for gaming headsets. LucidSound, the new company from the founders of headset-maker Tritton, is aiming to change that. Its $150 LS30 headset packs clear, balanced sound into a pair of gorgeous cans that don't scream "LAN party at my house!"
Axent Wear's cat ear headphones are the stuff of anime dreams
New Yorkers have perfected the art of looking but not looking. You know, where you let your eyes glaze over someone as you pass, so you can take them in without making it obvious that you're studying them. For this reason I wasn't entirely sure if anyone noticed the giant glowing cat ears on my head as I walked down the street on my way home from work.
A 'Hi-Fi' Bluetooth adapter doesn't help Plantronics' new headphones
When you're looking for stylish premium headphones, Plantronics probably isn't the first company that comes to mind. It's best known for its PC headsets and Bluetooth earpieces -- not exactly Beats territory. But I can still remember the first time I heard the company's first over-ear wireless headphones, the BackBeat Pro, in 2013. At $250, they sounded as good as far more expensive cans from Beats and Bose, and they even packed in noise-canceling to boot. Now with the $300 BackBeat Pro+, its pseudo follow-up, Plantronics has added a USB dongle for high-quality Bluetooth streaming audio from computers. But is a tiny accessory worth an even higher price? Not quite.
OnePlus' Icon earbuds are solid but overhyped
My commute to Engadget's New York office sucks. At around two hours on a good day, it's far worse than any of my colleagues' (Terrence's is pretty bad too, but it also involves post-work beers on a ferry, so he wins). My enthusiasm for headphones, then, is less about a commitment to artistic fidelity and more about preserving my sanity. No wonder a new pair of earbuds from OnePlus -- yes, the phone maker -- seemed so intriguing: They promised sound quality that outranked even $200 headsets for just $50. Bold claims, but I beg to differ. The Icons are solid -- quite good, even! They're just not much to get worked up over.
Living with the BlackBerry Priv hooked me on its keyboard
When my colleague Dan reviewed the BlackBerry Priv, he was understandably cool about it. You're paying a steeper-than-average price ($699-plus in the US) for a phone whose selling point is its slide-out keyboard. That's a big gamble when there are more affordable touch-only phones that are also more powerful. But what's it like if you take that plunge? I've spent several weeks living with a Priv to find out. All its stand-out features and quirks are still there, but I've found myself gradually drawn in by that keyboard -- enough so that my opinion of the phone has changed for good.
The Xperia Z5 Premium's UHD screen broke my heart
Pro BMX biker Kriss Kyle navigates a complex series of colorful loops and platforms, set against a seemingly endless void of black. With every perfect landing, my heart sinks. I'm watching Kaleidoscope, a gorgeous promotional video made by Red Bull and Sony to highlight the Xperia Z5 Premium, the world's first 4K phone. The problem is, it's pretty much the only thing I've watched all week.
The Logi Circle connected camera is simple, yet limited
Logitech isn't the first company you'd think of when considering potential Nest/Dropcam competitors, but it's aiming to change that with its new Logi Circle connected camera. On top of the usual ability to stream video of your home to mobile apps, the $199 camera stands out with two things: 24 hours worth of free cloud video recording, and a built-in battery for several hours worth of wireless surveillance and video chat. On paper, that puts it a step ahead of Nest, which still doesn't offer any video recording without an additional subscription. After testing out the Logi Circle for a few weeks, I've found it to be relatively easy to use -- but that simplicity also severely limits its capabilities, especially compared to more feature-rich rivals.
Bang and Olufsen couldn't convince me a speaker is worth $1,000
Bang and Olufsen is known for two things: unique design and high prices. Sometimes, the cost isn't so much of an issue if the design is matched by quality audio or a solid display panel. The company's new BeoPlay A6 is a $1,000 wireless speaker with three modes to change its sound based on where it's placed in a room. With Sonos and others already offering similar products for a fraction of the price, I was unsure if B&O's latest product would live up to steep asking price. Unfortunately, my suspicions were correct.
Dyson's $1,200 robotic vacuum is expensive, but also the best
Dyson is very confident about its new vacuum. Then again, with this price, it has to be. On sale now in Japan for just shy of 150,000 yen ($1,200), the 360 Eye is the company's first robotic model -- although it's not for lack of trying. It might be worth the wait, though: It actually cleans like you always hoped a robot vacuum would. It's so good, in fact, that I might have to fire my Roomba.
Ring's video doorbell let me banish unwanted visitors
If you live in a well-heeled apartment building it's likely that you have the use of a video intercom. People ring your bell and you can not only speak to them, but see them as well, which is useful for screening out folks you don't want to invite in. Ring's $199 smart doorbell offers a similar solution for everyone else, swapping out a wall-mounted videophone for a direct connection to your smartphone. In the interests of science, I decided to drill some holes into my front porch and see if having one is worth the effort.
