Category: Electronic Product

The Canon EOS R5 is the Most Exciting Camera Anyone Has Released in Over a Decade

I’m not one to generally heap praise on camera products that one, I haven’t tested or two, haven’t even been fully announced yet let alone released. But given what we know about Canon’s upcoming EOS R5, I have to change precedents, sit back and just clap.

Canon has been the butt of many criticisms and jokes over the past nearly ten years, and for good reason: the products they have been releasing have been mostly pomp and circumstance and not performance. They haven’t been at the leading edge of imaging technology since pretty much the 5D Mark III, with the exception of the 1D X Mark II that was priced above what was competitive at the time, didn’t stay in the technology lead for long, and came with many caveats.

The 1D X Mark III was good, but it didn’t blow any of us away. It impressed, don’t get me wrong, but we aren’t staring slack-jawed at it.

But the EOS R5 — that’s an entirely different story. This camera is shaping up to be the most impressive technological leap between models, nay compared to what is currently on the entirety of the market, that we’ve ever seen.

Model-to-Model Technology Leap

I know that the R5 isn’t technically a next-generation EOS R (we are still expecting them to give us an EOS R Mark II at some point), but the timing and market offerings from Canon puts the R5 as its technology successor. If you wanted, you could argue that the R5 is more the successor to the 5D Mark IV, and since the EOS R is basically a mirrorless 5D Mark IV, I wouldn’t disagree with you.

Whatever you do choose to compare it to, the R5 is offering an unprecedented gigantic technology leap from any other camera Canon has ever made. Not only that, it puts to shame every other hybrid camera currently available and even outperforms almost every high-end cinema camera available.

Just looking at the R5 spec list compared to either the EOS R or the 5D Mark IV, it might be the most impressive leap in capability I’ve ever seen between any two models of any digital camera, ever. Not just between Canon products, but between any two models of any camera released by any company.

And with all this said, I think we can truly put to rest the notion that Canon purposely holds back their hybrid cameras to “protect” their cinema line.

The Effect on the Industry

When the 5D Mark II was released, it really did change the industry entirely. Both photo and video in one device could be argued as the biggest shift in digital imaging in our lifetimes.

But can you argue that the EOS R5’s offerings are on par with that, given what is available on the market?

Given that it can shoot full-frame, uncropped 8K at 24p and 30p, in RAW, Canon Log H.265 or HDR PQ H.265 with full-time Dual Pixel autofocus all internally, I am really racking my brain to say this camera is worse from a pure specifications standpoint than most RED, ARRI or Sony camcorders. It will even shoot 4K at 120p, a spec that no hybrid camera to date has yet to hit and is reserved for those super high-end camcorders I just mentioned.

Oh, and it doesn’t just do that slow-motion capture just to add a spec to the box, but is nearly without compromise: it’ll record that 120 frames per second internally at 4:2:2 10-bit in Canon Log. If you wanted to narrow that scope to just cameras with full-frame, it’s an even more exclusive club: the R5 is the only member.

The biggest effect on the industry though might be proving how much can fit into a small package without fans and without, at this point, compromise.

To get 8K in a RED (like the Helium, Gemini, and Dragon) requires some serious cooling. Same with ARRI cameras like the ALEXA LF or the AMIRA, the Sony Venice (which can only do 6K), and even the Panasonic S1H (also capped at 6K) which we already mentioned has a specs list far less impressive than the EOS R5. All those cameras have fans.

Though the R5 doesn’t quite match up with the high-end ARRI or RED cameras I just mentioned, it does come close. Additionally, those cameras aren’t full frame like the R5 or the Sony Venice are, and the R5 beats the Venice in several key categories. It has 8K, and the Venice is only 6K. The R5 can do 4K at 120 frames per second internal, the Venice can only do 60 frames per second in 4K in full frame.

Author’s Note: Sony reached out to let us know that the Venice is capable of 4Kp120 as of Firmware 4.0 which was released in May of last year. However, that increase in frames per second came at a cost: a crop. You can only capture 4Kp120 in Super 35 format. Even though the Venice now competes in frames and resolution, it still falls short of the Canon’s full-frame readout at the same specifications. It can, however, capture up to 90 fps in 6K as of Firmware 5.0 in January 2020, which is a step above the R5. Nevertheless, the fact we are comparing what is likely to be a sub-$10,000 hybrid camera to a $40,000 cinema camera and finding it to be a back and forth boxing match is kind of ridiculous and puts a spotlight on how advanced Canon’s new camera will be.

Back in February, I attended WPPI and Canon showed the R5 (an actual working body, they promised) behind glass. Though we couldn’t hold it, we could look at it from nearly 360 degrees. From what I saw and how the Canon team talked about it, the body of the R5 is identical, at least in footprint, as the EOS R.

That body is tiny compared to any video camera with half the specifications that this camera will surpass. That fact alone will have major rippling effects on the industry. Not only is it pushing technology limits beyond anything we’ve seen before, but it’s also doing it in a body that’s arguably one of the smallest on the market.

That body also has no fan.

Is all this more impressive from an industry standpoint than putting video in a DSLR for the first time? That’s definitely a conversation to have and arguments could be made going both ways. Right now, all I know is it’s an idea we can start to entertain.

I do want to say that I by no means think that the R5 is going to replace ARRI or RED cameras or even the Venice. Though in specifications, it’s coming close or beating many of the capabilities of the cameras made by those three juggernaut brands, camcorders are always going to have major advantages for large production companies that this camera will not address.

But that’s not the point. The point is the gap is closing from what you can do with certain pieces of equipment, and more powerful equipment in more people’s hands means a better chance for incredible independent art to be produced. That’s a cause we should all be championing.

Still a Lot of Questions

Folks are going to criticize this article as well as the R5 for all of the unknowns. For example, up until this point, many public critics of the R5 have all said there was without a doubt going to be some caveat to the 8K recording, either a terrible bitrate or horrendous crop. It was easy to believe this line of thought because for the last decade, Canon has been the king of caveats. They were wrong in this case, but there is still room for healthy skepticism that there will be tradeoffs in other areas.

You can argue that it doesn’t have SDIs, we don’t know how it will manage audio control (maybe they’ll go the Panasonic route and sell a hot shoe adapter), we don’t know if it has dual gain ISO, we don’t know how many or how granular the video bitrates and frame rate options will be, and we also don’t know if it will support all the high-end video features many shooters want (like waveform).

Canon also was reluctant to give us recording time limits at any of these high-end settings, which could be worrisome if they’re only a couple minutes. Given that the S1H has much lower specs than the R5 and that is fan-cooled, I am not certain how Canon is managing the massive amount of heat shooting at 4:2:2 10-bit 8K or RAW will generate. Given what we know about cameras to this point, you would think we would have to limit recording times.

We still don’t know the price point, which is likely going to be a subject of wild speculation from here until we do. Given that it bears the “5” in its name, and that we should expect it to play in a different ballpark than the 1D series, I personally cannot imagine Canon asking for much more than $5,000 at launch. I am by no means sure of this, but their camera hierarchy and need to be competitive makes me feel pretty confident we won’t see a budget-buster of a camera.

But even with all those questions, Canon is showing that Panasonic’s impressive 6K at 4:2:0 isn’t the best that can happen in a compact camera. They’re showing that 4Kp120 in a hybrid camera is not a pipe dream. They’re proving that by embracing CFExpress, you do not need to be restricted by the data ceilings of HDMI or even have the need for USB out, and can deliver RAW recording the day of launch instead of having to wait for third party support (looking at you Nikon and Panasonic).

At every turn it feels like Canon is proving wrong every possible naysayer with the R5. It feels like they are rewriting their stigmas. I am sure the goalposts will be moved again in the coming weeks as folks come up with new reasons to be skeptical of Canon’s impending camera, but I’m going to take a stand and just applaud them for doing as much as they are here.

They haven’t even come close to releasing half the specifications for this camera, and I’m already more than satisfied. At the very least, I hope that most of you will agree with me that the title of this article is not hyperbole. Canon clearly figured out their processor issues and destroyed (nay, absolutely obliterated) any of the barriers that were holding back their development in the past, and I’m just happy to be along for the ride.

Microsoft Surface Dock 2 will have some much-needed upgrades

Microsoft’s Surface line of laptops and tablets are sleek-looking but, as MacBook Pro fans have recently learned, there is sometimes a price to pay for that kind of design. Ports, in particular, are in short supply which is why Microsoft is selling its own Surface Dock to compensate. Sadly, that accessory has come up short for many users but, fortunately, a second-generation Dock may finally have most that what users have been asking for.

The current Surface Dock fails to impress many users for a couple of reasons. Design-wise, some find the cable connecting the dock to a Surface Laptop or Surface Pro too short to be comfortable. The power it delivers, a measly 95W, isn’t enough to drive both the device was well USB peripherals attached to it. And then there’s the lack of USB-C, which seems to be a Microsoft Thing.

According to the Dr. Windows site, a new Surface Dock has been spotted on a Belgian web store that addresses exactly those. In place of the older dock’s Mini Display ports are two USB-C ports that serve the same purpose and more. That’s practically the only big change you can see from the outside, aside from the longer cable, that is.

That cable still connects via the proprietary Surface Connector but will supposedly deliver 200W of power, more than twice the first-gen dock. That will definitely be more than enough for the current Surface lineup which does raise questions whether the next Surface Laptops and Surface Books will draw even more power.

Those upgrades won’t come without a literal price, of course. The listing puts the Surface Dock 2 at around $270, quite higher than the current $200. There is also a sighting of a new 127W Microsoft Power Supply which seems to also hint at a new and more power-hungry Surface computer coming soon.

MSI Clutch GM30 Gaming Mouse Review: Comfy RGB Pointer

When it comes to finding the best gaming mouse, what some require is optional for others. While the most hardcore gamers may seek a mouse sensor boasting the highest CPI counts, a braided cable and a pile of programmable buttons, mainstream or casual gamers can do with a little less.

The MSI Clutch GM30 (available for $50 – $60 as of this writing) isn’t quite entry-level but cuts costs with a lower CPI (counts per inch) count than some similarly priced rivals, as well as fewer buttons. But what it lacks there it makes up for with a fabulous design with RGB lighting and a build you’ll appreciate from your fingertips to your palm. 

MSI Clutch GM30 Design and Comfort

The Clutch GM30 isn’t the lightest gaming mouse around, especially when compared to first-person shooter-focused ones offering lightweight designs that make flinging it across your best mouse pad a breeze. Instead, the Clutch GM30 has a bit of weight to it at 3.46 ounces (without the cable) compared to the honeycomb-style Glorious Model D’s 2.4 ounces or even the Razer DeathAdder V2 (2.9 ounces). But it’s still on par with something like the HyperX Pulsefire Raid (3.35 ounces). Very competitive gamers seeking a lightweight design should look elsewhere, but others might appreciate the Clutch GM30’s substantive feel.

The matte black Clutch GM30 measures 5.03 x 2.01 x 1.38 inches (LxWxH), which is pretty standard (the Deathadder V is 5 x 2.43 x 1.68 inches). It’s the perfectly curved rear (hello!) that made it fit so nicely in the palm of my hand that I almost thought the mouse was made for me.My palm made a home there similarly to how my cheek does a well-fluffed pillow.

MSI targets the Clutch GM30 toward gamers with medium-sized hands who use palm or claw grips. Either grip style both offered me long-term comfort and easy accessibility to the Clutch GM30’s two programmable and polygonal side buttons.

Speaking of programmable buttons, there are six in total, including the left and right buttons, scroll wheel and CPI button south of the scroll wheel. The CPI button lives in a small channel that also makes a great spot for resting the index finger during long scroll sessions.

The sides of the mouse are also slightly comfortable resting places, thanks to double-injection soft rubber “dragon scale grips.” I’ve felt softer and cozier, but these areas are softer than the rest of the plastic mouse and have enough texture to prevent slipping. Plus, the “scales’” rigidness may help with durability over the months (although I’ve only had the mouse for about 10 days).

Meanwhile, the thick scroll wheel, with aggressive tire-like markings, has a forgettable feel that isn’t as slick or desirable as those of other mice I often use, such as the Cooler Master MM711 or even the non-gaming Microsoft Wireless Mouse 4000. There were no issues with the wheel’s stepped movements. But for heavy scrolling it’d be nice to have the option to switch to a smooth-gliding wheel, such as seen in the more expensive Razer Basilisk V2 gaming mouse ($80 at the time of writing) or productivity-focused Logitech MX Master 3 (about $100).

The MSI Clutch GM30 provides RGB fanatics with three independently-controllable RGB zones (more in the Features and Software section): the scroll wheel, the channel framing the CPI button and the Lucky Dragon logo kissing the palm. It’s nice for so much of that to be in between the left and right buttons, where they’ll usually remain visible. The mouse looks best with prismatic effects flowing from the top of the scroll wheel down to the dragon logo.

Unfortunately, the Clutch GM30’s wire isn’t braided and looks as vulnerable to damage as any other typical, standard cable. But at least its connector seems pretty solid with extra thick plastic and gold plating inside. Additionally, the cable has a plastic casing to ensure that that part of the cable stays 4.8mm (0.19 inch) off the desktop. You can slide that rubber bit up and down the wire with a good amount of effort.

After about 10 days of using this mouse regularly, I noticed a lot of dust gathering in cracks on the mouse’s underside, but you’ll rarely look there. And if you do, hopefully the additional dragon will garner most of your attention instead.

MSI Clutch GM30 Gaming Performance

The MSI Clutch GM30’s optical PixArt PAW3327 sensor fared well in the Nordlys story of Battlefield V. At work here is a sensor with polling rates of 125, 250, 500, or a speedy 1,000 Hz with 30G acceleration and a max tracking speed of 220 IPS. The CPI switch toggles between 400, 800, 1,600, 3,200 or 6,200 and was easy to swap through on the battlefield without straining my pointer finger, as I was easily able to reach into the groove where it lives with the tip of my finger or, more easily, the middle of the index. 

Other mice in this price range bring higher CPI counts (the DeathAdder V2 goes up to 20,000, and the PulseFire Raid goes to 16,000). But I could easily do rapid scans of the Norwegian battlegrounds and quickly stop to pinpoint an enemy’s small helmet. The mouse also kept up with my most erratic movements, such as jerking my head about to locate an enemy.

Another standout for gaming was the clickiness of the left and right buttons’ Omron switches. They’re supposed to be durable and last for over 20 million clicks. In our testing, they offered a snappy responsiveness that you don’t see with other gaming mice, such as the Cooler Master MM711. During rapid-fire attacks the two buttons felt as eager as I was to jump into action with audible, sure clicks to accompany the bangs of the MP40.

The scroll wheel offers line-by-line movement and doesn’t move far, even with my most powerful flicks. In games where I would do a lot of scrolling, like if I used it to spam a critical attack, it’d get a little tiring.

While gaming, it was easy to engage either of the two angular side buttons because my thumb was usually resting on them and they jut out sharply. If I had my way, the front one would be a slightly further back so that it’d be as easy to press as the back one.

The mouse’s cable never snagged during gameplay or work during my week-and-a-half with it. It’s purposely elevated 4.8mm, and the plastic casing really helped ensure that, plus I could slide that down to make sure the cable never became a drag.

MSI Clutch GM30 Features and Software

The Clutch GM30 is supposed to work with MSI’s Dragon Center app for controlling features like RGB lighting and programmable buttons. However, the software wouldn’t install properly at the time of writing. I reached out to MSI, which confirmed the issue. For now, that means the mouse has limited customization options, including, sadly over use of the six programmable buttons.

The pointer’s RGB lighting is still wowing me, but I don’t have easy control of its effects. Sans software, you can control the lighting effects by holding down the CPI switch and one of the other buttons. You can still change brightness (3 levels, plus off), switch lighting effects (9 modes, including steady, breathing, radar and whirlpool, plus off) and change speed, direction or color and fade off spee). Of course, none of this is as seamless — or seamless at all — without software.

Bottom Line

The MSI Clutch GM30 is a winner when it comes to design. Despite its dragon emblem and RGB lighting, it looks tasteful. More importantly, its well-curved design, snappy Omron switches, textured side grips and easily accessible buttons make long-term use — whether gaming or doing work — not only a breeze, but enjoyable.

Similarly priced rivals, such as the HyperX Pulsefire Raid ($60) and Razer DeathAdder V2 ($70), bring higher CPI counts and more buttons. But the average gamer will be able to navigate games well with the MSI Clutch GM30.

For a palm/claw grip companion that your hand will gravitate toward and good-looking RGB, the MSI Clutch GM30 is a well-priced choice. If only we could get some working software.

Razer Basilisk X HyperSpeed Wireless Gaming Mouse Review: Value Performer

Razer’s line of Basilisk mice have changed since it first introduced the Basilisk to win over first-person shooter gamers (FPS) in 2017. Today’s lineup features the Basilisk V2 ($80 at the time of writing) and two wireless versions, the Basilisk Ultimate ($150) and Basilisk X HyperSpeed ($60), the latter of which is the focus of this review. 

The Basilisk X HyperSpeed wireless mouse holds the entry-level spot in the Basilisk line-up, but its comfort and gaming prowess prove that in some cases lower specs can still yield a great value. Casual gamers will be fine with its gaming performance, but serious competitors will struggle to call this the best gaming mouse, due to last-gen technology and a lack of connectivity options. 

Design and Comfort 

The Basilisk X HyperSpeed is most defined by what it lacks: the Razer Speedflex cable found in the Basilisk V2, Basilisk Ultimate and DeathAdder V2. Instead, this is a wireless mouse that connects via a 2.4 GHz USB Type-A dongle powered by Razer’s HyperSpeed wireless technology that it claims has better performance than competitive products You can also connect via Bluetooth Low Energy.

That lack of wired support is likely to worry some folks, especially if they fear their Basilisk X HyperSpeed’s battery will die when they don’t have a backup. But that’s unlikely–Razer said that a single AA battery lasts up to 285 hours (HyperSpeed) or 450 hours (Bluetooth) of continuous use (more on that in the Battery Life section). People shouldn’t have to worry about switching out the battery often.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Basilisk x HyperSpeed’s design is a clear downgrade from the other current Basilisk mice. It only boasts six programmable buttons and features Razer mechanical mouse switches that rated for 50 million clicks, while the optical ones used in the other Basilisk mice have a 70 million click rating. The Basilisk x HyperSpeed also opts for the Razer 5G optical sensor, which supports up to 16,000 CPI, 450 inches per second (IPS) and 40G acceleration. The other current Basilisks use the Razer Focus+ optical sensor with up to 20,000 CPI, 650 IPS and 50G. Plus, there’s no RGB lighting. 

Luckily, the Basilisk X HyperSpeed is comfortable to use for extended periods. It measures 5.11 x 2.36 x 1.65 inches (L x W x H) and weighs 2.9 ounces if you exclude the battery. Those are the same dimensions as the Basilisk V2. Since I preferred that model over the DeathAdder V2 (and other mice), it’s not surprising I liked using the Basilisk X HyperSpeed for long periods as well.

The Basilisk X HyperSpeed and Basilisk V2 have similar layouts, but the former lacks one CPI switch, the tilt scroll wheel buttons and button underneath for controlling scroll wheel resistance. Otherwise, they’re nearly identical, both being right-handed mice targeting palm and claw grips with two side buttons and a thumb guard that feature Razer’s preferred black-on-black-on-black color scheme. 

Gaming Performance 

The Basilisk X HyperSpeed also felt similar to the Basilisk V2 when I played games. That is the dirty little secret when it comes to gaming mouse specs: most people won’t notice a significant difference between different models. 

On paper, the Basilisk V2 should be superior because its Focus+ sensor can support up to 20,000 CPI to the Basilisk x HyperSpeed’s 16,000. In practice, however, the upper limits of a sensor’s CPI support don’t matter if you use a lower CPI setting. I set every mouse to 1,600 CPI for daily use, so long as the tracking is good at that setting I don’t particularly care how much higher the sensitivity can go. It’s hard to believe most gamers would push either of these sensors to their limits.

If you don’t have use for a bunch of side buttons, losing five programmable inputs between the Basilisk V2 and the Basilisk X HyperSpeed isn’t much of a disappointment. The same goes for Razer Hypershift, which effectively doubles the number of programmable buttons by switching between profiles. I’m perfectly content with the Basilisk X HyperSpeed’s available buttons.

The mouse performed well in the titular HyperSpeed 3.4 GHz wireless mode, and I didn’t notice any missing, delayed or otherwise incorrect inputs either. Some people will never be convinced that a wireless mouse can be as reliable as a wired one, but in my experience, the Basilisk X HyperSpeed performed as well as the Basilisk V2 in competitive shooters like CS:GO. Sure, I missed a few (dozen) flicks with the AWP, but that’s not its fault.

I found the Basilisk X HyperSpeed comfortable to use for prolonged gaming sessions. Bonus: I didn’t have to worry about any cable tangling.

Features and Software 

In terms of the Basilisk X HyperSpeed’s features, you can switch between wireless modes with a, well, switch located on the bottom of the mouse. The CPI switch beneath the scroll wheel also makes it easy to cycle through the sensitivity levels you’ve set with the Razer Synapse 3 beta companion app.

The Windows software makes it easy to set up to five sensitivity levels, choose the Basilisk x HyperSpeed’s polling rate and assign functions to its six programmable buttons. There’s enough onboard storage to save the CPI levels and those assigned inputs too, in case you don’t feel like installing Razer Synapse on a PC you’re using on a temporary basis.

Unlike the rest of the Basilisk lineup–and what seems like darn near every other Razer peripheral–the Basilisk X HyperSpeed doesn’t have any RGB lighting.

Battery Life 

Razer claims the Basilisk X HyperSpeed can offer up to 285 hours when using the dongle connection (HyperSpeed) or 450 hours if using Bluetooth with a single AA battery. The mouse hasn’t died on me after roughly 30 hours of use. 

Razer doesn’t make it easy to check the Basilisk X HyperSpeed’s remaining charge. There’s no indicator on the mouse itself, and Razer’s Synapse software only has an itty-bitty battery icon in the top-right corner of each settings pane. So far, that icon showed me that my review unit’s battery has barely drained after roughly 30 hours of use. I believe most people won’t have to swap out the battery particularly often.

Bottom Line 

There’s no denying there are many differences between the Basilisk X HyperSpeed and the rest of the Basilisk lineup. It uses Razer’s last-gen technologies, is the only member of the lineup that doesn’t offer a wired connection and costs significantly less than its counterparts do. (At time of writing the Basilisk X HyperSpeed costs $60; the Basilisk V2 costs $80 and the Basilisk Ultimate is $150 or $170 with the charging dock). 

But in my experience, the Basilisk X HyperSpeed didn’t feel lesser in any way to the Basilisk V2. People who rely on some of the Basilisk X HyperSpeed’s missing features–a sensitivity higher than 16,000 CPI and more programmable buttons–should opt for the Basilisk V2. The rest, however, will be just fine with the Basilisk X HyperSpeed and save $20 in the process.

Canon EOS R5 and EOS R6 Will Both be Announced on Schedule: Report

The novel coronavirus pandemic has thrown worldwide supply chains into disarray and caused delays across the entire industry, but it seems Canon is still hopeful it will be able to deliver the EOS R5 and rumored EOS R6 on time.

Canon Rumors is reporting that Canon has no plans to delay the debut of either the much-teased EOS R5 or the not-yet-announced EOS R6, which should both be officially announced “in the next 8 weeks or so.” There’s also apparently a new cinema camera in the works, which will also be announced shortly.

The other side of this coin is that, while official announcements won’t be delayed, shipping probably will be because total stock of cameras at launch will probably be meager at best. That’s to be expected. But Canon seems to be opting for a strategy of “announce and delay” rather than keeping their upcoming cameras a secret.

Admittedly, camera availability is hardly the top issue on anybody’s mind these days, and for good reason. But it’s reassuring to know that the industry hasn’t completely stopped functioning… at least not yet.

Everything we know so far about the Apple Watch Series 6

The Apple Watch Series 5 was a major update, bringing an always-on display to the device for the first time. This year, early indications are that the Apple Watch Series 6 will continue to expand health capabilities. Read on as we round up everything we know so far about the 2020 Apple Watch.

Design

The Apple Watch Series 6 is likely to look similar to the Apple Watch Series 5. Reports indicate that there aren’t any major changes in store for the Apple Watch Series 6’s industrial design, and that it will follow the same general form factor as the Series 4 and Series 5.

That being said, it’s not out of the question that Apple will offer new finishes, colors, and casing options for the Apple Watch Series 6. With last year’s release of the Series 5, Apple debuted an all-new titanium option.

What’s in store for this year? We don’t know yet, but possibilities include new colors for existing casing materials, new materials altogether, and much more. And of course, Apple will likely have new band options and colors as well.

Apple Watch Series 6 health features

One of the tentpole features of this year’s Apple Watch update is expected to be blood oxygen level detection. Code found within iOS 14 by 9to5Mac has indicated that Apple Watch will add it this year.

How would this work? Blood oxygen levels between 95% and 100% are considered healthy; blood oxygen levels below 80% may lead to compromised heart and brain functionality. Risk of respiratory or cardiac arrest is common after continued low blood oxygen saturation. This feature would work similar to existing watchOS heart rate notification features. If Apple Watch detects a blood oxygen level below a certain threshold, it will trigger a notification for the user.

Building on blood oxygen level detection, Apple is also developing improved electrocardiogram (ECG) capabilities for Apple Watch Series 6. Apple Watch Series 4 and 5 currently result in inconclusive ECG readings with heart rates between 100 and 120 beats per minute. A future update, either in software or hardware, will remove that limitation with an upgraded version of the ECG app.

As of right now, it is unclear whether these new health features will be limited to the Apple Watch Series 6 or if watchOS 7 might also bring them to the Apple Watch Series 4/5. History suggests Apple will want to use these features to push upgrades to the Series 6, but we’ll have to wait and find out for sure.

Sleep tracking

Sleep tracking has been at the top of many Apple Watch wish lists for years, and it appears that 2020 will finally be the year that brings the feature to users. 9to5Mac has reported many of the details on what to expect:

While asleep, the Apple Watch will track the user’s quality of sleep using its multiple sensors and inputs, including the person’s movement, heart rate, and noises. Data about the user’s quality of sleep will be made available in the Health app and a new Sleep app for the Apple Watch.

The biggest question is how Apple will tackle the battery life issue for Apple Watch sleep tracking. According to 9to5Mac sources, Apple has developed a feature that will remind users to charge their Watch beforehand so they can get through the night.

Bloomberg has reported that sleep tracking will be tied to new hardware rather than new software. This means that existing Apple Watch users will likely have to upgrade to the Apple Watch Series 6 in order to take advantage of native sleep tracking capabilities.

More watchOS 7 features

While these are unlikely to be exclusive to the Apple Watch Series 6, 9to5Mac has reported several other details on what to expect from watchOS 7 this year.

This includes a new Infograph Pro watch face that will feature a tachymeter. A tachymeter is an analog watch scale located around the dial that is used to measure speed and distance based on travel time. There will also be new “International” Apple Watch faces with country flags.

WatchOS 7 will also have numerous new features for parents and kids. For instance, a new feature called SchoolTime will allow parents to manage which apps and complications can be used during certain hours, like class time.

Currently, we expect the Apple Watch Series 6 to be announced in September alongside Apple’s 2020 lineup of iPhones. That being said, given the current COVID-19 pandemic, product launch timelines are in flux.

Various reports have suggested that the iPhone 12 could be delayed due to COVID-19 and corresponding economic uncertainty. Whether or not the Apple Watch Series 6 might also be affected by these delays remains to be seen.

Apple Watch Series 6 wrap-up

As of right now, that’s all we know so far about the Apple Watch Series 6. As always, it’s likely that we’ll continue to learn more about the device in the lead-up to its expected release in September.

What’s on your Apple Watch Series 6 wish list? What are you most looking forward to? Let us know down in the comments!

A Real-World Review of the Canon 1D X Mark III

As many of you know, I have been lucky enough to have a Canon EOS 1D X Mark III in my possession for more than a month now. People have been asking me to review this new top-of-the-line camera, but I really wanted to put it through its paces in order to do a fair review.

There are lots of photographers or tech reviewers who write reviews of a new product, basically looking at the spec sheets, or holding it in their hands for a couple of minutes. But in my mind, there is no better way to review a product than to use it as my primary camera for a while and really get to know it in detail.

Now that I have become pretty familiar with the ins and outs of this camera, it is time to share my findings with all of you.

So… on to the testing.

I took the camera out of the box and was happy to see that the body is very similar to the previous models, with buttons and joysticks right where I expect them. I was also happy to see a familiar battery and charger that is basically the same as the previous model.

The one big difference is that the new camera has two CFExpress card slots, which as many of you know, I was really hoping for. I like this for two reasons:

1. I like having the two extremely fast cards instead of one fast card and one legacy card format which slows everything down. This is really important because I always shoot RAW images to both cards for redundancy.

2. I like having 2 card slots using the same card format. I always found it frustrating to have a CFast slot and a CompactFlash slot in the same camera.

The first photos taken with the Canon 1D X Mark III were taken in my backyard. I like to use a new camera for non-client shoots for a while to build trust and familiarity with the camera and memory cards. The last thing I would do is use this camera on a paying job before I knew how to control it. I need to know that the images will be captured correctly in the camera and stored correctly on the memory cards before using it in a real-world situation.

This was also a time for me to try out the new CFExpress cards from ProGrade Digital. I had inserted a 512GB card in slot 1 and a 1TB card in slot 2, so capacity was not a problem!

The first couple of photos were of my dog, Cooper, who was nice enough to pose for me. It was my first time holding the camera and trying to the new smart controller for moving the focus point (more on that in a little bit). No fast action here, but it gave me a chance to inspect the image quality of the camera, which looked really great.

We were dog-sitting for a friend and our dog Cooper decided to play with Milo and give me some action shots. This was the first time trying the fast burst shooting of 16fps. The first thing I noticed with the 1D X Mark III was that it felt totally familiar in my hands.

Having used a 1D X and a 1D X Mark II in the past, I felt right at home shooting with the new body. The one big difference is that the new model has a touch screen LCD. I have gotten used to this on my Canon 5D Mark IV and find it very useful when shooting in the field.

Shooting at the fast burst rate enabled me to catch this shot of Cooper with all four paws off the ground. (Cooper forgets that he is 8 years old and still thinks he is a puppy).

This was my first chance to play around with the new smart controller. What is the smart controller? Canon took the back button focus button and added a new twist. This button now acts as a virtual joystick, so that if I move my thumb along the back of the button, the focus point will move accordingly. This can be incredibly handy, but also takes some getting used to.

There were a couple of times when I pushed the back button to focus and inadvertently moved the focus point to a location I did not want. But, with time, I have gotten used to this and really appreciate the feature a lot. What I have found is that the smart controller is optimum when shooting portraits, but I still prefer a locked single point of focus for sports.

My last trip, before all this COVID-19 craziness, was to Las Vegas for the WPPI show. I was not planning on bringing my 1D X Mark III to Las Vegas, but right before leaving, I had the offer to meet up with my buddy Drew, Canon USA’s top tech guy, who offered to help me customize the settings to get the most out of the new features of the camera. That turned out to be awesome, and I will tell you more about that in a minute.

While at the show, there was a rain booth set up for people to photograph models dancing in water. I saw this as a perfect time to try out these new settings.

I used the new 1D X Mark III at it’s full speed at 16 frames per second, with a Canon 24-105mm lens to capture the dancers. The super-fast frame rate of the camera allowed me to capture them at the peak of action.

The newer focus system also did a very good job of locking in on the dancers as they moved around at a fairly quick pace.

As I mentioned, Drew sat down with me to give me pointers on the new camera. And there is a lot to learn on this new piece of hardware. The Canon 1D X Mark III looks a lot like the Canon 1D X Mark II, but looks can be deceiving. What is under the magnesium alloy body is very different from the previous model.

One of the biggest differences of the 1D X Mark III is the new face and head detection. I was shown how to tweak the camera to take advantage of the face and head detection covering most of the frame. This means that once I locked in on a person, it would follow them even if they moved off-center from the lens.

I got credentials to shoot the San Jose Earthquakes game and put the camera to a test. I mounted the Canon 200-400mm lens to the 1D X Mark III and found the focusing system to be noticeably faster and more accurate than the 1D X Mark II.

I would lock focus on a particular athlete and then let the camera follow them from that point. As long as I kept the athlete in the frame, the tracking stayed on them, even if someone briefly ran in between them and me. This allowed me to capture images like this, where the Earthquake player is in perfect focus even though he is not in the center of the image.

The camera is capable of shooting 16 frames per second (fps) when using the shutter and 20 fps when in live view mode. This is great except that I can not imagine shooting a sporting event in live view and trying to follow fast action using the screen on the back of the camera. But, needless to say, 16 fps is plenty fast and allowed me to easily capture the peak of action during the game.

Even though I was shooting in RAW mode using the ProGrade Digital CFExpress memory cards, I never once filled the buffer of the camera. These cards can transfer 1600MB/s per second, which is nothing short of amazing.

I kept the camera in Auto White Balance for the entire afternoon and found it to be very accurate in the representation of the colors.

Note: Some of you may be wondering about the video capabilities of the new camera. But since I am primarily a still photographer, I will leave the video review to the experts who know that side of the business way more than I do.

My next test of the camera was in a completely different environment. My niece and her husband asked if we could take portraits of their one-year-old son. This time I was using the camera at higher ISOs indoors and going outside with different lenses.

Patrick did not move at the speed of a soccer player, but he definitely moved faster than a year ago, when I took his baby photos. Once again, the 1D X Mark III (this time combined with the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens) was tack sharp on his eyes.

After taking a bunch of portraits of the little guy on the grass and standing, they asked if I could get some photos of him in the swing. As soon as I started photographing him, I realized that this was a perfect test of the new focus system.

The following images really help tell the story of this new face and head tracking.

Using back button focus, I locked focus on Patrick and then hammered the shutter at the full speed of 16 fps. Even though his head was moving off-center of the frame, the focus stayed perfectly on him. You can scroll through the following images to see how accurate this was!

I figured that the black swing would interfere with the focusing of his face, but that was not the case.

This sequence is a perfect example of how I set up the shot. In this image (above) I locked focus on Patrick when he was dead center and the focus point was right on this face.

Then, as he was going back and forth, I just held down the back button and the focus points moved with him.

You can see here that his face is well off the center of the image, but the focus is still perfect. If I were to try this with the previous Canon models, I would have had to move the camera and lens to keep the focus point on his face. This would have been very difficult to do and would have yielded a lot less useable images.

The Canon 1D X Mark III has a newly designed 20.1-megapixel CMOS sensor which is ample for most of my photography. Do I wish for a little more resolution? Maybe. I do like the file sizes of the Canon 5D Mark IV which captures at 30.4MP, but having clean images at higher ISOs is still the most important thing to me. And I know that cramming more megapixels onto a sensor can degrade the high ISO sensitivity.

A couple of weeks ago, I was doing a portrait shoot for a young lady who was about to have her bat mitzvah. Well…until it was postponed due to the Covid-19 virus outbreak. For this shoot, I used the Canon 1D X Mark III with a Canon 600EX-RT flash mounted on the hot shoe of the camera.

Canon has designed a new low pass filter for better lens sharpness, and the image quality of the camera is exceptional, with the colors, skin tones and clarity being everything I was expecting from a pro camera. I don’t fully understand how the new DIGIC X image processor works, but I can tell you that everything in this camera is fast. From focusing speed, the processing of the image, to data transfer to the card.

There was one anomaly though. When I take portraits, I almost always do so in a slow burst mode. There is no need to shoot at 16 fps, and yet I never have my cameras set to a single-shot mode. I don’t like the single-shot mode since I always want to be prepared to shoot multiple images when if a perfect moment arises.

With every other Canon DSLR I have used, the slow burst mode is a predictable sequence of shots. I hit the button and I get “click….click….click”. Weirdly enough, when I had my flash on the camera and I was shooting outdoors, the frame rate was a bit erratic. I expected “click…click…click” at a predictable pace and instead I got “click..click…click.click.click” or “click…click.click…..click”. I am hoping that this is something that Canon will fix in a future firmware update.

After using the new camera for numerous shoots, I felt comfortable using it to create images at a client’s bar mitzvah. For their portraits, I loved using the smart controller to easily move the focus point out of the center and taking full advantage of the 191 focus points.

While spending time with Canon in Las Vegas, I was also shown how to use the 1D X Mark III in mirrorless mode. Since the mirror is locked out of place, this allows me to shoot with absolutely no shutter noise at all. Combining this silent mode with the face tracking autofocus is a real game-changer.

For this bar mitzvah, I was using the Canon 200-400mm lens on the 1D X Mark III, mounted on a Gitzo gimbal fluid head and tripod. It was awesome to lock focus on the boy’s face and let the camera track his movements while I silently took photos.

While shooting this way, I came across another weird anomaly. As I mentioned earlier, I like to shoot in a slow burst most of the time. When taking these photos, I had the camera in Live View mode (essentially shooting mirrorless) and also had the camera set to slow burst. But when I hit the shutter release I saw that the camera was capturing at the fastest burst rate of 20 fps.

This is complete overkill for an event like this. I sent a text to the Canon expert from the back of the Temple and he replied back and told me that when in Live View, the camera will capture either a single shot or full speed. There is currently no in-between. This is something else that I hope is changed in a future firmware release.

When I photograph events, it is quite common for me to shoot full RAW for the service and then switch to a smaller file size for the party. In the past, that meant that I would switch my files from RAW to MRAW. On the Canon 5D Mark IV, that meant that I was switching from a file size of 30MP to 17MP and a resolution of 6720×4480 down to 5040×3360.

So you can imagine my surprise when I got to the party and went to change the 1D X Mark III to MRAW and it wasn’t there. All I saw was RAW and something called CRAW, but both were listed at the same resolution of 5472×3648. It was time for another text message to my Canon contact asking for urgent help.

He explained to me that MRAW has been replaced with CRAW (in the new CR3 files) and that even though they are the same resolution, the CRAW file is more compressed. I recently tested this and found that an image taken in RAW was 25.8MB and the same exact image at CRAW was 14.3MB in size. When zooming in at 400%, I could see how the increased compression decreased the quality a bit, but it was only a slight difference.

I love the idea of having the same resolution with higher compression than a smaller resolution.

There are certain key moments during a bar mitzvah celebration, and the family members being lifted in the chair is one of them. For the last 6 years, I have relied on the Canon 1D cameras to capture this moment. Why? Because the focus system is more accurate than the Canon 5D and the camera can write to two cards faster than the less expensive cameras.

The Canon 1D X Mark III definitely proved that it could lock focus even in low light, and wrote to the two CFExpress cards faster than my flash units could keep up.

With all of this said, there are still features of the Canon 1D X Mark III that I have yet to explore, and I look forward to doing so in the near future. As many of you now know, the Summer Olympics in Tokyo has been postponed. This postponement is a major disappointment for the organizers, the athletes, the public, and me. I was so excited to use this new camera at the Games. But I guess that will have to wait for a while longer before I get that chance.

Looking on the positive side, it gives me that much more time to get familiar with the new camera before the big event.

Huawei’s Watch GT 2E is a sporty redesign of its last smartwatch

Huawei has a new sporty smartwatch it’s announcing alongside its flagship P40 smartphone series. The Huawei Watch GT 2E includes 100 workout modes, like rock climbing, skateboarding, and parkour, and has storage for up to 500 songs, Huawei says. The red and green versions of the device feature a similar design to the Nike Editions of Apple’s smartwatches, with a rubber watchband covered in small holes.

The smartwatch features broadly similar specs to last year’s Watch GT 2. It’s got a 1.39-inch OLED touchscreen with a resolution of 454 x 454, 4GB of memory, it uses the company’s Kirin A1 chipset, and Huawei says it should last 14 days on a single charge. However, new for this version of the device is blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitoring via a dedicated IR sensor. The watch is water resistant up to 50m, supports GPS, and has two physical buttons on the right-hand side of its watchface. As well as the red and green, the watch is also available with black and white straps, while the watchface itself is available in silver or black.

Alongside the new Huawei Watch GT 2E, Huawei has also announced a new gold variant of its existing 42mm GT 2 smartwatch, which maintains the same overall design of the previous smartwatch but with a new gold finish on its steel casing.

The new Watch GT 2E will retail for €199 in Europe, while the gold edition of the Watch GT 2 will be priced starting at €229 for a version with a white strap or €249 for a red strap. Huawei says the watches will be available in April.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active2 review: It’s everything I wish Wear OS would be

I’ve reviewed my fair share of Wear OS smartwatches, and while the designs and hardware is often fantastic, they always leave something to be desired. It’s not the OEMs’ faults either; that’s all on Google and Qualcomm. One thing that I haven’t dove into is Samsung’s lineup of smartwatches, mainly because I don’t often use Samsung smartphones.

But for my Galaxy S20+ 5G review, I really wanted to try out the Galaxy Watch Active2 to see what Samsung has to offer. Samsung uses Tizen, so this is a completely different experience from Wear OS, although it does work with any Android phone.

As it turns out, it’s everything that I wish Wear OS was. Samsung’s Exynos chip is fast, and the software has pleasant and consistent animations. The hardware is solid, with a beautiful curved glass round body and a Super AMOLED display. It also adds Samsung’s Touch Bezel, and if you go for the stainless steel model, 4G LTE.

Specs

CPU

1.15GHz dual-core Samsung Exynos 9110

RAM

768MB (1.5GB in LTE model)

Storage

4GB

Battery

340mAh

Body

44x44x10.9mm, 30g (44g for LTE model)

Display

1.35 inches, 360×360, Super AMOLED, Full color AoD

Bluetooth

5.0

Location

GPS, Glonass

Wi-Fi

802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz

Durability

5ATM, IP68, MIL-STD-810G

OS

Tizen

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The chassis comes in aluminum or stainless steel. The aluminum variant is Wi-Fi only, while the stainless steel model is cellular.

There’s also a smaller model with a 1.2-inch display. The screen resolution is the same, so it has a higher pixel density, although it does have a smaller battery at 247mAh.

Day one

Design and display

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Active2 is probably the sexiest smartwatch on the market. The company really did a great job with it. The chassis comes in either aluminum or stainless steel, and you can get it in Aqua Black/Black, Cloud Silver/Silver, or Pink Gold/Gold. As noted above, the aluminum ones are Wi-Fi only, while stainless steel comes with cellular.

I went with Cloud Silver aluminum, sacrificing a fair bit of style while opting not to spend the extra $150 for cellular connectivity that I won’t use. Note that compared to an Apple Watch, this is an incredibly inexpensive device.

The aluminum models have a matte finish on the body, and it’s also lighter than the 44g stainless steel model, coming in at 30g. There are just two buttons on the side, with the top one serving as a home button and the bottom one acting as a back button.

It uses standard 20mm bands that are easy to replace with the pin mechanism that’s common in smartwatches. It’s a silicone band, as you’d expect from a sporty device like the lighter aluminum model, although the stainless steel one does come with a leather band. Naturally, you can swap them out, get third-party bands, and play around with it.

The bottom of the device includes your standard heart rate sensor, but one thing that you’ll notice is that there are no charging pins. Yes, this smartwatch actually supports wireless charging, something that’s something of a rarity these days. The only other current smartwatch I’ve used with the feature is the Apple Watch.

I really want to praise Samsung for this though, because charging pins suck. Yes, I said it. They get dirty after you wear the watch on your sweaty wrist for a time, and they require cleaning to properly charge your device. That’s just not a problem with wireless charging.

With a minimal design and a round chassis on the Galaxy Watch Active2, even the display is beautiful. It’s a 360×360 Super AMOLED display, and if you’ve ever used a modern Samsung flagship smartphone, then you know how pretty its Super AMOLED screens are. The colors are vibrant, and the pixel density doesn’t show any pixelation.

This is the 44mm version too. It’s worth noting that the 40mm model is also 360×360, so it does have a higher pixel density.

Tizen

Tizen picks up the slack left by Wear OS. I was always skeptical about Google’s non-Android smartwatch efforts, because of a lack of Google services. It’s actually pretty great though, and it’s the first round smartwatch I’ve used that doesn’t feel like a square peg in a round hole.

The app selection screen displays icons in a circle, and you can scroll through them using the Touch Bezel. Samsung extended the touch area beyond the screen, letting you use the bezel for just that. You’ll find multiple pages of app icons, as you can see from the three dots in the image above.

It’s all pretty straightforward, although I found that it can get confusing to remember where an app is located. It’s really not something that I access very much, so it’s not a muscle memory thing like it would be on a smartphone.

Samsung does have its own app store, something that’s important in making this work with all Android devices, rather than just Samsung phones. Keep in mind that you will have to install some Samsung software on a non-Samsung device. It has a pretty wide range of apps too, which kind of surprised me. If you want GPS, there’s no Google Maps, but you can use HERE Maps.

I’ll also note that the app selection isn’t quite as wide as Wear OS. I’m OK with that though. It has the apps that I need on a smartwatch.

And of course, you get Samsung Pay. Here’s the bad news though. It’s lacking the best feature of Samsung Pay, which is the ability for it to work with magnetic strip terminals. Unfortunately, this only works with NFC.

One thing that I found strange about Samsung’s smartwatch implementation is that it doesn’t automatically turn on notifications for new apps. I grew to appreciate this though, not getting slammed with notifications whenever Best Buy is having a sale or when OneDrive wants to tell me that it’s uploading a file. Notifications should be opt in, rather than opt out.

What really impressed me about Samsung’s OS though is just how fluid everything feels. The animations are smooth, things feel snappy, and there’s even a little “Good morning” animation when you first take it off the charger when you wake up.

This isn’t the feeling that I get with Wear OS, which is often inconsistent and wonky. I’m always impressed with Wear OS hardware from companies like Fossil, but on the software side, it always feels like it’s lacking.

Performance and battery life

Both performance and battery life are another reason why I love the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active2. It uses a 1.15GHz dual-core Samsung Exynos 9110, so it’s not using an off-the-shelf Qualcomm part. And let’s not forget that Wear OS smartwatches have been using what’s essentially the same chip since the platform was introduced in 2014.

No, really. The first Android Wear smartwatches shipped with a Snapdragon 400, a chipset made for lower mid-tier smartphones. It was a quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 chip, as was Qualcomm’s first wearable chipset, the Snapdragon Wear 2100. The current generation, the Snapdragon Wear 3100, is also Cortex-A7. There have been some minor improvements over that time, but the architecture remains the same.

The Exynos 9110 is Cortex-A53, a massive performance improvement over Cortex-A7. This is the chip that Qualcomm should have made, frankly, a while ago. It’s also 64-bit, while the Snapdragon Wear 3100 is still 32-bit.

As I mentioned above, everything on the Galaxy Watch Active2 just feels smooth, and I kind of love it.

Battery life didn’t disappoint either. I found it to be on par with an Apple Watch, which is really saying something. You can easily stretch it to two days if you want, although I just charge it overnight.

Conclusion

As I said right in the title, this is what Wear OS should be. If only Google and Qualcomm put as much into Wear OS and Snapdragon Wear as Samsung did into Tizen and Exynos, the Android smartwatch ecosystem would be a better place. But luckily, we do have Samsung for that.

Not only do I enjoy the software, but I love the hardware. This is a sexy smartwatch, with a minimal aluminum chassis and a stunning curved glass Super AMOLED display. And if you want to go for something that’s even sexier, go for the shiny stainless steel model and make use of cellular connectivity and double the RAM.

My two main issues are that the app selection isn’t quite as wide as that of Wear OS, and that Samsung Pay doesn’t support Magnetic Stripe Terminal. Seriously, that’s the best part of Samsung Pay in general, and with Samsung phones, it’s enough to make me comfortable with leaving my wallet at home. If it was on the watch, I’d be able to do the same with another Android phone.

I think that the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active2 is a solid buy. If you’re looking for a smartwatch to use with an Android phone, this is the one to get.

What Do You Get When You Buy a GoPro Knock-Off?

GoPro’s dominance has shifted slightly in recent years but when it comes to dedicated action cams with incredible stabilization, it’s hard to beat. That performance comes at a price, however, so what do you get when you buy yourself a budget option?

In this excellent video, Gene Nagata a.k.a. Potato Jet puts the AKASO V50 Pro Native 4K30fps 20MP WiFi Action Camera with EIS Touch Screen to the test, pitting it against the GoPro Hero 8 Black. The AKASO is one-third of the price of the GoPro and the box includes a watch that enables remote control, along with a spare battery and charger — all items that are missing from the basic GoPro Hero 8 option. At just $120, it’s something of a bargain.

Nagata runs through a load of comparisons and while video quality and stabilization is definitely not on par with the GoPro, much of the AKASO’s limitations seem to be about usability and durability. As with most camera gear, you will get what you pay for.

Notably, if you opt for the AKASO, you’re investing in technology from a company that has no proven record. There may be a warranty but making the claim might be tricky, and once outside of that first year of use, it’s hard to know how long the camera will hold up. Of course, at that price point, it’s much more replaceable, so it probably balances out.

Have you bought a cheap action cam? Are there any models that stand out above the rest? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.