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mikegranich87 · 3 years

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Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro review: Solid phones, great software, perfect pricing

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The Pixel 6 is the most intriguing phone Google has made in years. Not only is it a return to premium design with eye-catching colors and up to a 120Hz screen, it’s also powered by the company’s first mobile processor — Tensor. With it, Google is promising serious improvements in AI performance and photography, including better voice recognition and Assistant features.

Google also finally upgraded the Pixel’s camera hardware instead of just relying on its processing smarts. That’s not to say it’s overlooked software this year. The Pixel 6 is stuffed to the brim with special photography modes. The best thing about the Pixel 6 series, though, is the surprisingly low starting price, and it makes the few drawbacks easier to forgive.

Design

I'm torn over the Pixel 6's design. Compared to the last few generations, these are an arresting change of pace. The two-tone palette is pretty, especially on the smaller Pixel 6, which has more fun color options. It also has a flat screen with a matte finish on its sides while the Pro has pleasantly curved, shiny edges and feels a lot like the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

David Imel for Engadget

Google's horizontal camera bar here is polarizing. I don't mind it, but I know many people think it's hideous. In its defense, it not only houses larger sensors, but it also makes for a more symmetrical design than the corner camera bumps on every other flagship. And as a bonus, it doesn’t wobble when resting on a tabletop.

Aesthetics and style are all subjective, but no one can argue with hard numbers. At 207 grams (or 7.3 ounces), the Pixel 6 is heavier than the Galaxy S21 and the iPhone 13, though not by much. The Pixel does have a larger 6.4-inch screen, though, and I wish it was smaller since previous generations (and other companies) all offer a one-hand-friendly size. Meanwhile, the Pixel 6 Pro weighs 210 grams, which is much lighter than the iPhone 13 Pro Max and the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Display, audio and fingerprint sensor

Both the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro have lovely OLED screens. The standard model has a 6.4-inch 1080p panel that runs at 90Hz, while the Pro uses a 6.7-inch display that goes between 10Hz and 120Hz depending on what you're doing.

Most flagship phones have adopted OLED by now, and in general offer excellent image quality. The new frontier for displays is refresh rate, and the Pixel 6 Pro’s 120Hz screen is as buttery as the iPhone 13 Pro and Galaxy S21 Ultra’s. Scrolling through Twitter, Instagram and articles on the internet is satisfyingly fast.

David Imel for Engadget

The Pixel 6’s 90Hz refresh rate does make it feel a little slower, but you won’t notice if you haven’t been spoiled by 120Hz screens. If you’re upgrading from an older phone, the 90Hz panel will be an obvious improvement. Plus, this thing costs just $600, so no gripes here, especially since the iPhone 13 is $200 more and runs at 60Hz.

I’m also not going to complain much about the Pixel 6’s speakers, which are decent. Vocals were clear in Steve Aoki and Jolin Tsai’s Equal in the Darkness, though the mix could sound messy at times and lacked bass. Lil Nas X’s Industry Baby held up a little better.

Under the Pixel 6’s display is a fingerprint sensor, and unfortunately it’s slow and finicky, especially compared to in-screen readers on recent Galaxy and OnePlus devices. You also can’t log in with your thumb when the screen is off, meaning unlocking your phone is a two-step process: Wake the screen, then scan your print. Google could stand to take notes from Samsung here. Place your finger on the screen of an S21 and you almost immediately see your home page.

David Imel for Engadget

If you’re mad that the fingerprint sensor was relocated, Google said it was mainly to keep the phone’s rear looking uncluttered, while still offering some form of secure biometric authentication.

Android 12 and Assistant features

What truly defines the Pixel 6 experience is its software — an area Google has always excelled. With Android 12's new Material You UI, the Pixel 6s feel as pretty inside as they do outside. The most obvious flourish is its ability to theme the entire interface around a color palette it extracts from your wallpaper. We've discussed this many times in our previous coverage of the Android 12 beta, so I won't go on and on about it here, but it makes the OS feel more cohesive.

Android 12 offers many new features that we've already tested, like updated widgets, camera and mic privacy toggles, but the company has updates that are exclusive to Pixels as well. The most impactful of these are the upgraded speech recognition algorithms. Transcriptions are more accurate, translations are integrated in more parts of the OS and the keyboard is easier to use hands-free.

As someone who detests typing on a phone, I love the new voice keyboard. It’s better at understanding my rambling monologues and inserting punctuation. Now transcribed text looks more natural, rather than being a long block of words. The system will even retroactively add punctuation to previous sentences while you’re speaking. That said, Assistant still isn’t perfect, and often adds periods where they don’t belong. And maybe this is more of an indictment of the way I speak, but Google seems to think everything I say is a question.

In fact, here’s an example of the above paragraph as transcribed by the new voice keyboard:

“As someone who detest typing on a phone, I love the new voice keyboard. It's better at understanding my rambling monologues and inserting punctuation. Now transcribe text looks more natural rather than being a long block of words. The system will even retroactively add punctuation to previous sentences while you're speaking. That said, assistant still isn't perfect and often adds periods where they don't belong. And maybe this is more of an indictment of the way I speak, but Google seems to think everything I say is a question”

What makes hands-free typing even easier is the ability to say things like “Send,” “Clear,” “Delete” and “Undo.” I especially love that you can say “Hey Google, type” to trigger the speech keyboard, so there’s no need to touch the screen to reply to your friends. The Pixel 6 also helpfully suggests commands for things like jumping to the next field in a form or setting the subject of an email. Plus, you can add emoji by saying “smiley face emoji” or “peach emoji”.

The new keyboard also makes it easier to fix mistakes. You can’t do this hands-free unless you want to clear everything and start over, but at least you don’t have to exit voice typing mode to select a typo and then tap the speech button to start dictating again. The mic will remain on so you can repeat something with more careful enunciation, and you can use commands like “Delete” to get rid of stray words.

The improvements to voice commands are especially important for those with physical or motor disabilities, and this might make it easier to communicate if you have limited mobility.

Cherlyn Low / Engadget

Google also expanded its Quick Phrases feature, which allowed you to say things like “Stop” or “Answer” in response to alarms or calls. This feature rolled out first on Google’s speakers and displays, and now on the Pixel 6 you can also say “Stop,” “Snooze,” “Answer” and “Decline.” I know it seems like a minor update, but I appreciate every little addition that makes hands-free interaction with my phone easier.

Another advantage Pixels have over other phones is Google’s time-saving features like Duplex and Call Screening. On the Pixel 6, Google is introducing new Wait Time and Direct My Call tools that tell you how long you’ll have to wait for a customer service rep and converts voice-based menus into on-screen options. Though it’s supposed to work with the top 5,000 toll-free US business numbers, I didn’t see wait times appear for Bank of America, though it showed up for Capital One, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield and DoorDash.

The Pixel 6 accurately turned DoorDash’s menu into tappable buttons, too, though it only works in English. “Press 1 to continue in English” appeared, though “Para continuar en espanol, o prima dos” did not, nor did the option to continue “en Francais.”

The company has also integrated its translation engine into more parts of the Pixel 6, like Live Transcribe and the keyboard. You no longer have to use the app or search engine to translate what you need before copying and pasting it into a message.

When I opened a conversation with our video producer Brian, the phone detected that he had written in German and asked if I wanted it to translate. Once I agreed, Brian’s message of “ich liebe dich” was replaced with “I love you.” As I typed out my reply, a separate text field appeared above the keyboard with my words in English being translated into Deutsch. This also worked with the new voice typing, although sometimes it reverted to the old speech keyboard (the microphone icon looks different in the latest version).

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

Only a few languages like German, Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, French, Hindi, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Russian and English are supported at this time. Most chat apps are compatible, too, like WhatsApp, Signal, Line, Twitter, Google Chat, Snapchat and Android Messages. Though, Instagram messages weren’t working when I tried it.

Another area where translation is baked in is Live Captions, which provides subtitles for anything playing through your phone’s speakers. In general Google’s interpretations still aren’t very accurate and sentences come off stilted. In Interpreter Mode, Brian and I had a conversation where I spoke Chinese and he spoke Korean and simply couldn’t make sense of what the other was saying unless we told it to translate both languages to English instead. But it’s not like any other translation software is better.

The phone’s Tensor chip handles all these things quickly, and since it’s all done on-device you can use the features without an internet connection. Lens in particular was very fast at identifying Korean characters on a book and correctly capitalizing the author’s names. And, though it struggled with my handwritten Chinese characters, it was still fairly speedy at showing its English interpretation.

There are a lot of little software updates throughout Android 12 that I don’t have the time or space to go into here, but I’ll quickly shout out new security features like the Anti-Malware and Phishing tool. When someone sends you a suspicious message in WhatsApp, Facebook or Instagram, Google will throw up a warning page like it does in Chrome, reminding you not to transmit sensitive information online to people who might not be who you think they are. It won’t prevent these messages from reaching you, but it’s at least a reminder to be careful (and a great way to diss your friends). There’s also a new security hub that helps you identify what apps are using your personal data the most.

Cameras

Google’s software has helped it make the most of the outdated cameras on its older Pixels, but this time around the company endowed its flagships with much better hardware. The Pixel 6 has a 50-megapixel main sensor that uses pixel-binning to achieve a resolution closer to 12 megapixels (that are bigger and let in more light). Accompanying this is a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera with a 114-degree field of view, and the Pro adds a 48-megapixel telephoto lens to the mix that has 4X optical zoom. It also has a 11.1-megapixel wide angle selfie camera that shoots in 4K, while the Pixel 6 has an 8-megapixel sensor that tops out at 1080p. These sensors aren’t just sharper, they’re also bigger with larger pixels, which makes for brighter, cleaner photos.

In almost every situation, the Pixel 6 Pro’s photos were basically on par with the iPhone 13 Pro, and the comparison here boils down to personal preference. They both produce crisp, colorful pictures. Apple tends to deliver more-saturated images with a green-yellow cast, while Google has a more neutral look. The iPhone struggles with fringing when shooting anything against a light source, but it also renders rosier skin tones compared to the Pixel, which washes my subjects out in low light.

That’s disappointing, by the way, given the Pixel 6 also features Google’s Real Tone processing. It’s part of the company’s Image Equity program, which is built on research and feedback from photographers and people of color to get more accurate exposure for different skin tones.

This isn’t a feature you can turn off, so it’s hard to see how effective it is. All I can say is: I’ve photographed people of varying skin tones in my testing and have yet to encounter any serious issues or obvious improvements.

In addition to baking Real Tone into its algorithms, Google also introduced a slew of special camera features, including Magic Eraser, Motion Mode, Face Unblur and Speech Enhancement for selfie videos.

Most of these are hit or miss, except Face Unblur, which uses images from both the wide and main cameras to stitch together photos with crisp faces every time. I wasn’t expecting to be wowed, but Face Unblur worked well. I fired the camera in rapid succession while Brian stood in front of me and vigorously shook his head from side to side. Every single shot had his face in perfect focus.

The rest of the updates, like Speech Enhancement, Magic Eraser, Long Exposure and Action Pan in Motion Mode, only work in the right circumstances. Magic Eraser doesn’t always identify photobombers or perfectly remove them. But in some cases, like my picture of a stream framed by trees, it accurately highlighted two people on the bank and seamlessly replaced them with foliage.

Cherlynn Low / Engadget

I’m also a fan of Action Pan and Long Exposure, which add a motion blur effect to your fast-moving subject and let you capture light trails. When they work, the results are eye-catching. But while they’re easy to use and don’t require you to hold still for too long, Action Pan can’t handle anything faster than a cyclist and the blur can be exaggerated. Long Exposure delivered some nice shots of cars going down a roundabout, but doesn’t offer enough controls for experienced photographers.

Finally, while speech enhancement mode does muffle some ambient noise in videos shot with the front camera, my voice wasn’t all that much clearer than without the mode on.

Generally, much like Google’s astrophotography mode, these features are only helpful in specific situations that most people won’t encounter often. The tools that have a greater impact on your photos are Magic Eraser and Face Unblur, and despite some quirks they’re both quite effective.

Performance and battery life

Despite Tensor being Google’s first mobile chip, its performance is surprisingly good. I barely noticed a difference between the Pixel 6 and Apple and Samsung’s latest flagships, and it handled League of Legends: Wild Rift while screen recording without issue. According to Geekbench 5’s CPU benchmarks, though, the iPhone 13 Pro with its 3.2GHz A15 Bionic chip was way faster than the Pixel 6 (which is clocked at 2.8Ghz), notching a multi-core score of 4,809 over Google’s 2,802. The Surface Duo 2, with a Snapdragon 888 processor (2.84GHz), came in at 3,485.

David Imel for Engadget

With two ARM X1 “Prime” cores, two big cores and four little high-efficiency cores, Tensor’s design is similar to Qualcomm’s high-end Snapdragon 888, though with an additional X1 core. But the draw here is Google’sTPU, or Tensor Processing Unit, which is a scaled down version of what the company uses in its data centers, and it’s designed to speed up AI tasks. To be fair, Apple and Qualcomm offer similar coprocessors: the Neural Engine and Hexagon, respectively. But Google has much more experience in the field of AI than its competitors, and while we don’t have hard numbers to back it up, anecdotally Tensor seems to outclass the competition in this field.

On-device Assistant requests, voice typing and translating foreign characters in Lens all happened in an instant. I was especially impressed that I could see the effects of Google’s noise reduction through the viewfinder in low light without having to wait for processing after taking the shot.

I encountered some odd delays every once in a while, like the camera struggling to load sometimes. I received several updates throughout my testing (as recently as yesterday) and may still not have the final version of the app, which could bring more stable performance.

Both the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro last incredibly long. On our video rundown test, the Pixel 6 clocked 20 and a half hours, while the Pro managed 17 hours and 13 minutes. That puts them among the longest-lasting phones we've tested all year. In real world use, too, the Pixel 6 Pro typically stuck around longer than a day and I never stopped to think about charging it.

David Imel for Engadget

Pixel 6 or 6 Pro?

Though it’s still difficult to choose between the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, the decision this year boils down to one key factor: price. In the past, Google's phones came in regular and XL versions, and they were obviously different in size. With the Pixel 6 though, the standard model isn't that much smaller. That's disappointing for anyone with daintier hands that have a hard time reaching across the screen. But it does mean you don’t have to choose between size or premium features — just go for the Pro if you want the top-of-the-line edition.

The main reason to get the Pixel 6 instead of the Pro is to save $300. You'll only be missing out on the 120Hz screen, telephoto camera and slight design differences. Yes, the Pro has an ultra wideband chip for spatial location and ranging, but this won’t matter much to most people.

Wrap-up

Whichever version you’re considering, the Pixel 6 series is a superb return to form. Google is clearly aware that its strengths lay in smart software and excellent photography, and those are the areas where the Pixel 6s deliver most. The company also didn’t neglect basics like battery life and display, and though I wish the fingerprint sensor was faster, there’s little to complain about. Best of all, Google is offering you all these flagship features for hundreds less than the competition.

Key specs

SpecPixel 6Pixel 6 ProDisplay6.4-inch 2,400 x 1,080 (20:9) OLED. 411ppi, up to 90Hz6.7-inch 3,120 x 1,440 LTPO OLED. 512ppi, up to 120HzDimensions

6.2 x 2.9 x 0.4 inches / 158.6 x 74.8 x 8.9 mm;7.3 oz / 207 grams

6.5 x 3.0 x 0.4 inches / 163.9 x 75.9 x 8.9 mm;7.41 oz / 210 grams

Processor, RAM and Storage

Google Tensor with Titan M2 security coprocessor;8GB LDDR5 RAM;128GB / 256GB UFS 3.1

Google Tensor with Titan M2 security coprocessor;12GB LDDR5 RAM;128GB / 256GB / 512GB UFS 3.1

Rear cameras

50MP octa PD Quad Bayer camera, 1.2-micron pixels, 1/1.31" sensor and f/1.85 aperture12MP ultrawide camera, 1.25-micron pixels, 114-degree FOV and f/2.2

50MP octa PD Quad Bayer camera, 1.2-micron pixels, 1/1.31" sensor and f/1.85 aperture12MP ultrawide camera, 1.25-micron pixels, 114-degree FOV and f/2.248MP telephoto camera, 4x optical zoom, 0.8-micron pixels, f/3.5

Front camera8MP, 1.12-micron pixels, f/2.0, 84-degree FOV11.1MP, 1.22-micron pixels, f/2.2, 94-degree FOVBattery

4,614 mAh, fast-charging with included Google 30W USB-C chargerQi-certified, fast wireless charging, battery share

5,003 mAh, fast-charging with included Google 30W USB-C chargerQi-certified, fast wireless charging, battery share

Sensors and connectivityUnder-display fingerprint sensor, dual-SIM (one nano and one eSIM), NFC, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2Under-display fingerprint sensor, dual-SIM (one nano and one eSIM), NFC, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, Ultra-wideband chipWater resistanceIP68IP68

Photos by David Imel (@DurvidImel)

from Mike Granich https://www.engadget.com/google-pixel-6-and-pixel-6-pro-review-specs-camera-samples-battery-test-160014200.html?src=rss

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charger-batteries · 4 years

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MSI Alpha 15 Review

MSI's Alpha 15 made waves at its debut a year ago for using all AMD hardware, the only gaming laptop to do so at the time. Other vendors have joined the ranks since then, but MSI prepared well by refreshing the Alpha 15 ($1,199 as tested) at the end of 2020 with a more powerful "Renoir" Ryzen 7 processor and a beefier 6GB Radeon RX 5600M graphics card. The new notebook churned out great 1080p gaming performance in our testing while keeping the high-end features of the original, such as its per-key RGB backlit keyboard. Our top choices among upper-entry-level gaming rigs remain the HP Omen 15 and the Acer Predator Helios 300, but the Alpha 15 is a creditable alternative, especially if you can catch it on sale.

Touched Up by 'Renoir'

The new Alpha's eight-core Ryzen 7 4800H CPU (2.9GHz base, up to 4.2GHz boost) gives it a leg up on similarly priced Intel gaming notebooks powered by the six-core Core i7-10750H. The Helios 300 is one example, going for $1,174 on Amazon with a 6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti as I typed this review.

That said, the Alpha 15 must also contend with AMD-powered notebooks; HP offers a comparably equipped Omen 15 (model 15-en0029nr) for $1,249 while the Dell G5 15 SE goes for $1,205. These minimal price differences highlight the fierce competitiveness of this segment.

The MSI looks much the same as before on the outside. Its dark silver palm rest contrasts nicely with the black of the rest of the laptop, though I'm still lukewarm about the green logo on the back of the lid. At least it's not backlit.

The lid backing is the only metal on this laptop. Considering the Alpha 15 is now $100 or $200 more expensive than last year's model, it could stand more of it to feel as sturdy as the Acer and HP laptops. That said, all its surfaces do a good job of resisting flex.

The system is slightly oversize and overweight for a 15.6-inch gamer. Its 1.1-inch thickness is 0.2 inch more than the Omen 15, and it's heavier at 5.3 pounds versus 4.6 pounds. Trim side display bezels translate to a reasonable 14.1-inch width, though a thick bottom bezel extends its depth to 9.8 inches, 0.4 inch more than the HP.

The full HD (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) screen leaves little room for complaint. It not only offers IPS technology for wide viewing angles, an anti-glare coating, and a 144Hz refresh rate, but AMD FreeSync Premium technology to smooth out frame rates. Laptops with Nvidia G-Sync are far more expensive.

The screen has average brightness but an overall enjoyable picture with its rated 72% coverage of the NTSC gamut (about 100% of sRGB).

The Keyboard: Per-Key RGB Backlighting

Its SteelSeries-designed keyboard is one of the Alpha 15's high-end touches. It integrates with the SteelSeries Engine app for its per-key RGB backlighting and reprogrammable keys, features usually reserved for more expensive gaming notebooks. (The Omen 15 and Predator Helios 300 offer neither.)

The island-style keys have satisfyingly soft key presses and a font that says "gamer." Layout-wise, the keyboard is partially nonstandard since the arrow keys are forced into the main keyboard area, downsizing the right Shift and number pad 0 keys. (The Lenovo Legion 5i avoids this traffic jam by properly divorcing its arrow keys below the keyboard.) The Windows key is also located to the right instead of left of the space bar, though the MSI Dragon Center app lets you swap it with the Fn key if you wish. A maximum-cooling-fan button, a key to launch Dragon Center, and the power button sit above the number pad.

Meanwhile, the traditional two-button touchpad offers a smooth surface and ample space, though its physical clicks are loud.

The Alpha 15's generous port selection includes four USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports (three Type-A and one Type-C), Ethernet, full-size HDMI and mini DisplayPort video outputs, separate headphone and microphone jacks, and a full-size SD card reader.

The ports are divided between the left and right sides, though some are positioned right up against the front edge (near the user) so plugged-in peripherals can protrude into external mouse or elbow-resting territory. Fortunately, the included power adapter has a right-angle connector to keep a low profile.

The Alpha 15 uses an Intel AX200 wireless card for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 connectivity, an upgrade over the original Alpha's previous-generation wireless standards. However, like most gaming notebooks, it still lacks a fingerprint reader and face-recognition webcam to support Windows Hello biometrics. The 720p webcam also delivers merely average quality, like most laptops' in this price range. The stereo speakers located beneath the palm rest are equally unremarkable with their bass-shy sound.

Team Red on the Bench: Testing the Alpha 15

The Alpha 15 model A4DEK-004US that I'm testing packs an eight-core AMD Ryzen 7 4800H processor, a 6GB AMD Radeon RX 5600M graphics card, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB NVMe solid-state drive for its Windows 10 Home operating system. MSI backs it with a one-year warranty. The system was hard to find for sale as I typed this, though the close-cousin A4DEK-005US model (which doubles the SSD storage to 1TB) was available for $1,199 on Newegg with a $100 mail-in rebate that brought it to just $1,099. That's commendable hardware for the money.

For our performance benchmarks, I compared the Alpha 15 to the gaming notebooks listed below...

The HP Omen 15 teams its Ryzen chip with a GeForce GTX 1660 Ti to make an ideal comparison with (and foil for) the Alpha 15's Radeon RX 5600M. The Acer Predator Helios 300 will show what a more expensive GeForce RTX 2070 (Max-Q) can do, while MSI's Bravo 15, another all-AMD model from earlier this year, uses an entry-level Radeon RX 5500M to save money. (It was $999 as tested.) Let's go.

Storage, Media, and CPU Tests

Our first test, UL's PCMark 10, assesses general system performance across different real-world productivity and content-creation workflows. The Alpha 15's score of 5,950 points is outstanding, far above the 4,000 points we like to see from high-performance PCs. The system's showing in PCMark 8's storage subtest is also competitive. (That said, most modern SSDs ace this test.)

Next up is a pair of CPU-crunching tests: Cinebench R15 stresses all available processor cores and threads while rendering a complex image, while in our Handbrake test, we transcode a 12-minute 4K video down to 1080p.

The Alpha 15 kept pace with the Omen 15 and Bravo 15, since all three use AMD's Ryzen 7 4800H CPU. The Intel-based Acer and Lenovo trailed.

The final test in this section is photo editing. We use an early 2018 release of Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud to apply 10 complex filters and effects to a standard JPEG image, timing each operation and adding up the totals. This test is not as CPU-focused as Cinebench or Handbrake, bringing the performance of the storage subsystem, memory, and GPU into play.

The Predator Helios 300 and Legion 5i did better here mainly because of their higher-clocked Core i7-10750H chips, which top out at 5.1GHz; the Ryzen 7 4800H reaches just 4.2GHz. The "bursty" Photoshop test tends to reward machines that can ramp processing-intensive tasks up and down quickly. Nonetheless, the Alpha 15 still makes a powerful photo-editing platform.

Graphics Tests

Our first two benchmarks in this section measure the gaming performance potential of a PC. In UL's 3DMark, we run the Sky Diver (lightweight, capable of running on integrated graphics) and Fire Strike (more demanding, for high-end gaming PCs) subtests, both DirectX 11-based. Our other gaming simulation, Unigine Corp.'s Superposition, uses a different rendering engine to produce a complex 3D scene.

The Alpha 15 and Omen 15 slugged it out, though the Alpha took the lead in 3DMark Fire Strike. However, the Superposition 1080p benchmark shows their GPUs are neck and neck. Both were far ahead of the Bravo 15.

Next, we'll try some real games. We use the built-in 1080p benchmarks of Far Cry 5 (at its Normal and Ultra presets) and Rise of the Tomb Raider (at its Medium and Very High presets). Far Cry 5 uses DirectX 11, while we flip Rise of the Tomb Raider to DirectX 12.

The stalemate between the Alpha 15 and Omen 15 continued; it's clear that the Radeon RX 5600M and GeForce GTX 1660 Ti are well-matched. The GeForce RTX-equipped Predator and Legion performed slightly better.

As far as Intel versus AMD goes, the Core i7-10750H is just as capable of gaming as the Ryzen 7 4800H, though the AMD chip's two extra cores can be advantageous for livestreaming or recording gaming sessions. It's undoubtedly an all-around faster CPU.

Impressively, the Alpha 15 didn't get more than lukewarm on its top and bottom throughout my gaming sessions. Its processor and graphics card also stayed under their maximum rated temperatures—the Ryzen 7 4800H topped 86 degrees C while the Radeon RX 5600M reached just 68 degrees C.

That said, I wish the fans were quieter. It was easy to pick out the noise from across my living room while the Alpha 15 was running full tilt.

Battery Rundown Test

For our last benchmark, we measure a laptop's unplugged runtime while playing a locally stored video with screen brightness at 50 percent and audio volume at 100 percent. We use the notebook's energy-saving rather than balanced or other power profile where available, turn off Wi-Fi, and even disable keyboard backlighting to squeeze as much life as possible out of the system.

The Omen 15 lasted another hour, but the nearly nine hours of the Alpha 15 is an excellent time for a 15.6-inch gamer. MSI deserves a shout-out for vastly improving the battery life versus last year's model, which lasted barely five hours in this same scenario.

Well-Priced AMD Power, Take Two

MSI's refreshed Alpha 15 is a much stronger performer with its eight-core Ryzen CPU and Radeon RX 5600M graphics card, as it's now able to go toe-to-toe with GeForce GTX 1660 Ti notebooks. It offers high-end features not often seen at its price point—a 144Hz FreeSync Premium screen and per-key RGB backlit keyboard—and showed impressive stamina in our battery test.

It's a little chunky and could use quieter cooling fans, but its low price makes those downsides easier to digest. Well-priced and well-rounded, the Alpha 15's value torch continues to burn brightly among upper-entry-level gaming laptops.

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robertkstone · 6 years

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2018 Audi A4 Ultra Premium vs. 2018 Honda Accord 2.0T Touring: Blurred Lines

With mainstream automakers offering luxury-laden trims while prestige car brands attempt to democratize luxury, we organized four comparison tests to see who does posh better for a capped price of $40,000.

Luxury, like pornography, can be hard to define. In the case of automobiles, luxury is not as much about demographics or data as it is about the holistic feeling a premium vehicle gives you. Superior driving dynamics might be a major portion of the luxury car experience, but design, build quality, and interior materials also are significant factors. Although luxury used to be defined solely by high levels of craftsmanship, nowadays technology—chiefly infotainment and driver-assist hardware—is increasingly important, too.

But in the past decade or so, there’s been a wrinkle in the continuum of automotive luxury. Mainstream automakers have added high-zoot trim packages to their volume models to earn a bit more profit and amortize costs across broad volumes; meanwhile, luxury automakers have moved downmarket, producing cheaper models to increase market share. Things have become especially heated in the market for a family sedan priced in the neighborhood of 40 grand, where the two segments collide.

Sedan buyers should be pretty familiar with the Honda Accord as a practical family hauler and work commuter. After all, it’s been the best-selling car to individual buyers (not counting rental fleets) for years. And Honda has made its midsize package even more impressive with the 10th generation.

Case in point: the new top-spec 2018 Honda Accord 2.0T Touring. It comes loaded with all the things luxury buyers expect, such as leather and amazingly lifelike imitation wood inside, Honda Sense driver-assist technology, and a hot-rodded engine under the hood—all for $36,690 out the door. It’s a far sight more expensive than the base Accord 1.5T LX, which is no slouch, either, at a starting price of $24,460.

On the luxury end of the spectrum is the 2018 Audi A4. With luxury sedan sales taking a nosedive and fuel economy regulations tightening, Audi introduced the more affordable and efficient A4 Ultra when the fifth-gen model made its debut in 2017. Starting at $36,975, the A4 Ultra is one of the most inexpensive ways to get a luxury-brand family sedan in your garage.

The A4 Ultra’s starting price covers the luxury basics, with LED lights, a sunroof, and leather seats. However, most models on showroom floors are typically specced up like the zero-miles loaner we borrowed from a helpful local Audi dealership. Our tester added options such as gray paint for $575 (black or white paint are the only free colors) and the Convenience package, which adds keyless entry, a color instrument cluster display, and a few other features for $1,000. A handful of other goodies brought the as-tested price for our A4 to $39,110. That makes the two competing cars’ monthly payments within $40 of each other. Forgo a couple pour-overs a week, and you can upgrade to an Audi.

The two cars are closer mechanically than you’d think. Both have an identical wheelbase and weigh about the same. Under the hood of each car sits a 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4 that drives the front wheels.

With a lower cost of entry and improved fuel economy being the reasons for the A4 Ultra’s existence, its engine makes less power than it does in other A4 trims, producing 190 hp and 236 lb-ft of torque (compared to 252 and 273 for the 2.0T Quattro lineup). Power is routed through a seven-speed twin-clutch automatic to the front wheels—Audi’s famous Quattro all-wheel drive system having been omitted on the A4 Ultra for fuel economy reasons. The trade-off would appear to be worth it, as it achieves an impressive EPA rating of 27/37/31 mpg city/highway/combined on premium gasoline.

Honda takes a traditional luxury car approach with the Accord Touring 2.0T’s engine—overpowered and understressed. The Accord Touring 2.0T’s powerplant, a detuned version of the Civic Type R’s 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4, produces 252 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque and is paired with a 10-speed automatic. The combo is good for 22/32/26 mpg on regular gas. This is the upgraded engine from the base 192-hp 1.5-liter turbo I-4 paired with a CVT—a combo also available on the Accord Touring. The difference is impressive.

One of the worst things that can happen to a luxury car buyer, particularly one shopping on the lower end of the spectrum, is the obvious revelation to both you and others that you got “the cheap one.” Although some base luxury family sedans have some pretty obvious tells, the A4 Ultra hides its relatively affordable sticker price well. The A4 Ultra’s trim looks sharp, even with its slightly smaller wheels and Eastern Bloc apartment gray paint. From its LED signature headlights, down its sharply creased flanks, to its sequential taillights, everything about the A4 screams, “I’ve made it!”

Inside, the A4 makes a good first impression. “The design vibe is a smartphone on wheels,” executive editor Mark Rechtin said. Slip into the interior, and you’re greeted with real leather seats (though they are on the grainy and thin side), neat metallic-looking trim along the dashboard, and Audi’s MMI infotainment system mounted front and center atop the dash. The plastic switchgear feels soft and satiny to the touch, and the metallic-tipped HVAC controls and MMI knob feel cool to the touch and look pricey. The knobs turn and buttons press with a satisfyingly damped click.

“Audi does a superb job of using the interior design to mask the material selection,” associate editor Scott Evans said. “The design is hypermodern and looks premium, and the textured silver plastic stands in well for fake wood.”

But dig a bit deeper, and there is some disappointing decontenting to hit the price point—starting with the fancy tech Audi is most known for. With the cheaper trim package, the game-changing Virtual Cockpit is missing, as is any driver-assist technology. (Honda Sensing is standard on even the cheapest Accord.) . MMI is at least friendly with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which lessens the blow.

Some of the material choices are disappointing in a tactile sense. The armrests aren’t leather, and neither is the dash topper, which is a sort of squishy rubber. There’s also a lot of hard, unsatisfying plastics hiding below your beltline.

The material choices are pretty easy to overlook considering this A4’s sticker price, but the back seat isn’t. The lack of legroom means taller passengers will find themselves with their legs pressed up against a hard plastic seat back instead of softer surfaces found on higher-spec A4s. Cupholders are also conspicuously absent in back, though there are at least bottle holders in either door pocket. The Audi claws back a few points by offering up HVAC controls to rear-seat passengers.

As for the Accord, if a mainstream automaker is to put up a credible alternative to a luxury car, it can’t just beat the luxury maker on price and value. And Honda appears to be taking the challenge seriously. The Accord Touring oozes curb appeal, with a Mercedes CLS-esque stance and wheel arches filled by attractive 19-inch wheels.

“Get inside, and the effect is familiar Honda yet futuristic,” Rechtin said. The leather-lined cabin is anchored by comfy seats, rich-looking LCD digital displays on the instrument panel and on top of the dash, and both “wood” and satin metallic trim. Honda sweat the details, too. Its infotainment system has a larger screen than the A4, and it’s more user-friendly, too, with big icons and an easily navigated user interface. Even its HVAC controls are nice, its knurled metal knobs spinning with a satisfying click, and, as an added bonus, the knobs are backlit either blue or red, depending on whether you’re cranking the heat or A/C.

“The buttons and stalks all have that tactile detent cushioning, a little hint of elegance that makes you think Honda spent the extra hour of overtime to get the product just right,” Rechtin said. The feature-rich cabin is rounded out by heated seats front and rear, a limolike back seat, and USB outlets spread throughout the cabin. The loaded infotainment system works with CarPlay, as well.

For all the extra attention to detail, the Accord’s cabin does have a few minor flaws. The wood trim, although it looks nice, doesn’t feel like And as Evans puts it, the light gray leather seats “highlight how plasticky some of the dash and door parts are, particularly in the corners where the dash and door meet, where there appears to be a sheen and color difference between the two neighboring panels.”

Those nitpicks can be easily forgiven once you hit the road. The Honda Accord is a sweetheart to drive. “This drivetrain is a winning combination,” Evans said. Honda’s 2.0-liter engine and 10-speed automatic are a fine pairing, the former seemingly always in its powerband and the latter shifting seamlessly. The engine purrs under gentle throttle but responds with a satisfying snarl when you ask more of it. “Shift quality is whisper smooth; even downshifts are handled without much of a jolt from the transmission,” Rechtin said.

The Accord is an elegant handler with one of the most refined front-drive suspensions on the market. “It goes around a corner really well for a midsize family sedan,” Evans said. “It doesn’t roll much, and steering is accurate and precise.” The Accord rides nicely over poor pavement, too, isolating the cabin from all but the harshest bumps. However, the cabin could be considered on the noisier side under hard acceleration, registering at 38.7 sones with our test gear due to the engine’s pleasing growl, but it quiets down to a reasonable 16.9 sones while cruising at 65 mph.

Our test data would seem to back up what we learned on the road. Here are the highlights: The Accord is properly quick from 0 to 60 mph, needing just 5.8 seconds, and thanks to its fast-shifting transmission, it also doesn’t suffer from noticeable turbo lag, needing only 2.8 seconds to complete a 45–65-mph pass.

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cashcounts · 7 years

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Finding your ideal nicotine strength

Chances are good that, if you vape, you want nicotine. Whether you’re just starting out with a disposable cig-a-like, or fogging rooms with your sub-ohm monster mod, nicotine is a vital component to most vapers’ experiences.

Now, we’ve already discussed nicotine at length on these pages. But moving beyond the science of vaping, many vapers – even experienced ones – still struggle to find that elusive “sweet spot” for ideal nicotine strength.

Let’s see if we can help…

Why does nicotine matter to vapers?

Short answer? Because it feels good. For ex-smokers, nicotine is the element that matters most. Not only because of the satisfaction your body craves, but also because of the throat hit it provides.

In vape devices, nicotine serves the same purpose, producing a more realistic “smoking sensation.” This is just as vital to many vapers as flavor or cloud production.

Anecdotally speaking, one of the primary reasons people go back to smoking after trying e-cigs is because they try to step down too quickly, opting to cut down nicotine. As a result, they puff more frequently, and with more intensity, than they smoked, leading to dissatisfaction. For beginners, we recommend a different approach…

Nicotine tips for new vapers

Before we jump in, let’s be clear – these are recommendations from former smokers and current vapers, and are meant as suggestions. No two vapers – or smokers – are alike, and no single recommendation will work for everyone. Finding an ideal nicotine strength is a personal journey – one that will likely require a little trial and error before finding an optimized experience.

We have seen many beginners achieve success by roughly matching a nicotine strength to how many mg of nicotine in the cigarettes they smoked, and how often they did so.

As a general rule, heavier smokers should look to higher nicotine levels in less powerful devices. Cig-a-like brands are designed for these smokers, and usually come in higher strengths, ranging from 1.8% (the percentage of nicotine solution in the included e-liquid) all the way to 3.6% or higher. Levels in this range should closely match a cigarette-like experience, as they provide a high nicotine “jolt” and a satisfyingly thump of a throat hit.

For veteran vapers, those numbers (and results) seem unfathomable. But for those who just tossed aside the cowboy killers, it’s a welcome breath of relief.

Even casual smokers should stick in the 12-18% range, as this will still replicate the smoking experience, but isn’t as abrasive to the throat.

Now, we can hear some detractors already – “You’re telling us to stay on nicotine?” – so we need to reiterate that nicotine isn’t the dangerous part of smoking. By starting at a high nicotine level, new vapers are less likely to abandon their devices after repeat bouts of frustration.

On the contrary, we feel vaping should be a comfortable and enjoyable part of your daily routine. If an e-cig isn’t satisfying your needs, or if you find yourself blowing through cartomizers and disposable devices at a breakneck pace, then you’re not getting your money’s worth.

If you find over time – and many vapers do – that you could probably step down your nicotine intake, then there are a ton of options for doing so.

Maybe you found that your cig-a-like in a particular strength, is all you need, and this is where your vaping exploration ends. If so, congratulations – this is fantastic! It’s also rare.

More than likely, though, you might find yourself perusing more advanced vaping devices. If so, the nicotine situation becomes a little more complicated.

Stepping up the hardware? Read on…

It wasn’t that long ago that box mods and high-wattage devices were exclusive to the most hardcore vapers. Heck, the term “mod” is derived from the modifications old-school vapers applied to existing technologies to drive more power and performance.

Today? Modifying that Smok Alien will get you nothing but a broken device and an angry email explaining why your warranty is no longer valid.

Modern vape devices come out every day, each seemingly capable of more power. When combined with complex coils and a capable atomizer, users will be chucking massive plumes of vapor in just seconds.

The e-liquid conundrum

But with that power comes consumption. Just as a high-performance car uses gas at an ungodly rate, many of today’s tanks devour e-liquid – those sick clouds don’t happen by accident, friends. In order to make huge vapor, you need to vaporize more e-liquid. And the more liquid you consume, the more ingredients come with it.

You see where we’re going here. Users of high-wattage devices and sub-ohm tanks and RDAs generally stick to lower-nicotine e-liquid, not only because the throat hit can become extremely harsh at high power, but also because taking in that much nicotine might prove to be uncomfortable over the course of a day.

While there are no “hard and fast” rules, higher-nicotine vapers (let’s call it >9 mg, or so) tend to prefer mouth-to-lung tanks that work better at lower wattages, and ultimately consumer less e-liquid. The sensation is more akin to smoking, with satisfying throat hits.

Sub-ohm vapers, on the other hand, tend to stay at 6 mg or lower. As the industry becomes increasingly focused on more powerful devices and voluminous cloud production, you’ll notice vape shops carrying more and more VG-heavy e-liquid lines that cap at 6mg, with most products at 3 mg or less.

High-nic or zero-nic? There’s a vape for you

Though we just mentioned the industry’s propensity toward high-wattage devices, it hardly spells the end of MTL vaping, so don’t fret! There has been a recent resurgence of this style, through new pod vape systems – an improved take on the classic cig-a-like design that simplifies the process for users.

Likewise, we are seeing the venerable vape pens and classic cig-a-like designs continue to pop up in more vape shops and mass market stores across the country. We don’t know if it’s because advanced devices are becoming a little too unwieldy, or just a renewed focus on replicating the act of smoking, but these handy, reliable MTL setups are perfect for high-nic vapers.

You might not be able to find 60 mL bottles of 18 mg liquid in many vape shops anymore, but pod systems like Juul, My Von Erl and the like have catered to this crowd. They serve as a perfect bridge between disposable e-cigs and high-end vaping, with more nicotine varieties and effortless, plug-and-play use.

When clouds aren’t high on your list of priorities, but flavor and satisfaction are, new and old systems alike can meet your high-nic needs.

The flip side of the coin – nicotine-free vaping

It might seem strange to vape without nicotine, but there are thousands of satisfied people doing just that. For these individuals – a list that includes this author – the physical “act” of exhaling smoke/vapor was far more of a driver than the nicotine itself.

Instead, these vapers do so for the love of vapor, flavor and the satisfaction they get from the entire routine. Nic-free vapes aren’t for everyone, but for that matter, neither are ultra-high strengths. It all comes down to personal preference … something that can be said for all aspects of vaping.

Like we said at the beginning of this post, most ex-smokers give up on vaping because they’re not satisfied. And this dissatisfaction may very well come from having the wrong nicotine level to satiate their cravings. Maybe their ideal level can be attained by moving higher, or to no nicotine at all – they won’t know until they experiment with different varieties.

While there’s no magic formula for choosing a nic level, we’re confident more ex-smokers will find vaping a satisfying alternative if they are willing to put in a little trial and error to find the right one for their needs.

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