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ReviewsSamsung’s New iPad Pro Is Just Fantastic
Coming a year after the launch of Apple’s first 9.7-inch iPad Pro, the new iteration from Samsung feels daring. While it has the same sleek lines, is just as light, and possesses the magnetic connection on one side for easy keyboard cover attachment, Samsung’s iPad Pro for 2017 is, inexplicably called the Galaxy Tab S3, … Continued
By Alex Cranz -
ReviewsThis Silly Button From Logitech Made My Smart Home Fun Again
I have issues with smart home technology. The promise of a Jetsons-style, automated living environment has never been closer, but the experience basically sucks right now. After spending a few weeks with a programmable button by Logitech, however, I feel suddenly hopeful. The button is called the Pop Home Switch. It’s a delightfully simple gadget … Continued
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ReviewsThis $150 Console Gave Me Every Nintendo Game I’ve Ever Owned in 4K
I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t obsessed with retro video games. That’s one of the reasons I was so excited about the NES Classic Edition; it’s also why I spent my Thanksgiving documenting how to put together a Raspberry Pi-based mini SNES instead of brining turkeys. But building an emulation console from scratch … Continued
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ReviewsThis New Bluetooth Speaker Doubles As a Great Sounding Headphone Amp
V-Moda is known for making practically indestructible headphones that sound great and look nice to boot. What the company isn’t known for is external speakers. And yet I’m writing this review while listening to The Beatles on the V-Moda Remix, the company’s first Bluetooth speaker. But, and this is important, I’m listening to John Lennon … Continued
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ReviewsThe Beats X Earbuds Are AirPods For People Who Like to Move
Last fall, Apple killed the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 and tried to convince us all that we would be much happier with Bluetooth headphones instead. Apple’s flagship solution for all of that woe came by the way of the AirPods, $160 headphones with absolutely no wires. For the price, I like AirPods, but … Continued
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ReviewsBuilding the Ikea Bike Is a Pain Worth Suffering Through
It’s been about a year since I last jammed my finger putting together Ikea furniture. It was for my brand new apartment, and even though I broke a sweat and a little skin at the top of my hand, I saved a ton of money—that’s the benefit of outfitting your home in Ikea housewares. Now, … Continued
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ReviewsNintendo Switch Review: Plays Zelda Great, Doesn’t Do Much Else
After a shipping snafu with Amazon, I spent the better part of a day trying to track a Nintendo Switch down. I experienced exactly what many hopeful Switch owners will experience. I hounded Craigslist, and haunted Best Buy, and waited in a too-long line at GameStop. And now I’ve spent the last few days living … Continued
By Alex Cranz -
ReviewsAlienware Proves That Laptop Size Doesn’t Have to Matter
When it comes to playing games, I’ve always preferred consoles to computers. Building (or buying) a custom gaming rig can be fun, but I need a dedicated laptop. And gaming laptops can definitely bring the power, but often with a size and battery-life trade-off that would make it impossible to use in any non-gaming scenario. … Continued
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Reviews
You Can Game on This Super Cheap Laptop, But It Won’t Be Pretty
If you’re trying to spend less than $1000 on a computer you plan to use daily, then you will find yourself making compromises. In the case of the Dell Inspiron 7000, you get a beefy gaming computer that can take whatever game designers throw at it. Unfortunately, its physical design is rife with trade-offs. Indeed, … Continued
By Alex Cranz -
ReviewsThese Futuristic Earbuds Are a Pricey Upgrade to Apple’s AirPods
I’m sitting on a busy subway train in Manhattan, listening to some tunes. This is a normal situation, something I do a dozen times a week. What isn’t normal is that I only hear my music, and I don’t hear any of the train or crowd noise around me. Instead, my music is backed by … Continued
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ReviewsSamsung’s New Chromebook Is a Nearly Perfect Budget Laptop
I was working on the new Samsung Chromebook Pro, furiously putting together a post that needed to go up stat. The final touch was an image, but I needed to edit it, and I didn’t want to reach for my normal work machine. So I popped it open in the Adobe Lightroom Android app, flipped … Continued
By Alex Cranz -
ReviewsHP Made a Laptop I Actually Want to Use
After spending some time with HP’s redesigned 15-inch Spectre X360, it seems to me the company’s recipe for clawing its way back into the hearts of the people should have been obvious all along: lots of power and features in an attractive package for less money than the competition. Duh. HP has had a rough … Continued
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Reviews
How a Bike With Infinite Gears Changed The Way I Commute
For the past three months, I’ve been riding the Priority Bicycles Continuum, a commuter bike outfitted with a handful of low-maintenance components and a drivetrain system with an “infinite” number of gears. It’s been an absolute joy to ride and has regularly shaved about 15 minutes off my hour-long trips around Brooklyn and Manhattan. Besides … Continued
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Reviews
Someone Finally Made an Electric Grill That Doesn’t Suck
George Foreman changed the kitchen game when he slapped his name on a low-rent panini press and sold it to the masses. In the late 90s and early aughts, the George Foreman Grill was the kitchen appliance to own—after the refrigerator, microwave, and stove. But what if the George Foreman grill wasn’t that cheapo appliance … Continued
By Alex Cranz -
Reviews
The NES Classic Is So Much Better With a Wireless Controller
Several months after its release, it’s still difficult to track down Nintendo’s amazing NES Classic Edition. The tiny console is everything you want it to be, but it does have one tiny flaw that isn’t related to limited retail availability: incredibly short controller cords. The cord on the single controller that comes with the NES … Continued
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ReviewsHome EntertainmentSet-top BoxesThe Nvidia Shield Might Be the Best Set-Top Box You Can Buy Right Now
The original Nvidia Shield looked cool and had some neat ideas behind it, but its cost and use of the neglected Android TV operating system left the set-top box/console fusion feeling more like Frankenstein than legitimate answer to either Roku, PS4 or Xbox One. A major software update and some much needed changes to the … Continued
By Alex Cranz -
Reviews
You Can Get a Weed Leaf Decal for Literally Any Gadget, So I Did
I love my Amazon Echo. She is the perfect Bluetooth speaker, kitchen timer, and personal shopper—for better or worse—but also a friend, keeping me company on those brutally cold and lonely nights. So when I learned that MightySkins—a company that makes decals for literally every gadget under the sun, from hoverboards to drones to seven-year-old … Continued
By Eve Peyser -
Reviews
Apple AirPods Are Too Simple for Their Own Good
When they were first announced in September, it was obvious that AirPods were Apple’s attempt to distract everyone from the iPhone’s lack of a headphone jack. At $160, AirPods are Apple’s version of truly wireless earphones, a gadget lots of companies have been trying to perfect with varying degrees of success. No one disagrees that … Continued
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ReviewsThe DJI Mavic Pro Is So Close to Terrific
When the Mavic Pro arrived in our offices, the reaction was unanimous: holy shit, it’s small. The folding drone is roughly the size and weight of a hefty Italian sandwich. This compact form factor, I’d come to learn, is a blessing and a curse for the Mavic Pro—emphasis on the blessing. Let’s get one thing … Continued
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ReviewsDirecTV Now Is Just Another Failed Attempt at Streaming Live TV
Watching Turner & Hooch and crying, because I’d completely forgotten the dog dies, I came to a conclusion. Not about the film I’d been streaming on my laptop for the last two hours—but about the service I’d been streaming it from. AT&T’s DirecTV Now is currently an adequate streaming service, but it is not the … Continued
By Alex Cranz