As we all know, Apple‘s latest iPhone 8/8 Plus and iPhone X have the capability of fast-charging, which should recharge the iPhones up to 50% in only 30 minutes. In order to fast charge your new iPhone, you would need both a compatible USB-PD charger and a USB-C cable. In this article, we will unbox the Apple first-party 29W USB-C Power Adapter and USB-C Charge Cable (2 m).
Power Adapter
At the front of the box, a tiny Apple logo and the model name are clearly printed on the top left. A photo of the side of the 29W charger is right in the center.
The model name (29W USB‑C Power Adapter) is again written at the back of the box, but in different languages, along with a simple instruction diagram.
The charger is securely fitted in a cardboard holder. There are a quick user guide (in multiple languages) and the warranty and regulatory information inside the package.
Cable
The 2-meter USB-C charge cable has a very similar if not identical packaging as the 29W charger. The Apple logo and model name are located on the top left, with photo of both ends of the cable in the center. *You will need a USB-C to Lightning cable to charge an iPhone*
On the side of the box, it indicates this cable supports both charging and data transfer, but only in USB 2.0 standard (slower).
The cable is wrapped in a circle by the paper holders. There is only warranty and regulatory information in the package. No quick start guide is found.
The packages have the easy-to-use pull taps to open the seal of the box, no need for any tools.
Similar to other power adapters from Apple, you can swap the adapter prong to different countries’ standards. In this case, it is using the UK plug.
On the left side, it is the 29W USB-C Power Adapter while the 12W USB Power Adapter for iPad on the right. You can see both chargers are in similar sizes. The 29W charger is able to output 14.5V/2.0A (USB-PD) and 5.2V/2.4A, with input voltage of 100V to 240V. The 12W charger will only output at 5.1V/2.1A.
Both the charger and cable feels solid and high quality, but they are quite expensive, just like any other first-party Apple accessories.
Feel free to leave comments below, if you have any opinion about this website. Share the website around if you enjoy reading it. Subscribe to our Newsletter or follow our Google+, Facebook and Twitter.
Support this website simply by shopping in Amazon. It will give us small kickbacks, if you use the above affiliate links to make any purchases, which will help us grow.
Along with the release of the Android 8.1 operating system for the Nexus and Pixel devices, Google also launched a Android Go Edition OS. This version of Android is based on Android 8.1 Oreo, but is aimed to provide better experience for the less powerful budget smartphones in the market.
It is difficult for all low-end smartphones to run the full version of Android smoothly, without the flagship hardware inside. Therefore, Google optimized Android Oreo Go Edition to be able to work on devices with 512MB to 1GB of RAM. For reference, modern flagship Android smartphones have at least 4GB of RAM (e.g. Pixel 2), or even up to 8GB (e.g. Razer Phone and OnePlus 5T).
Inside Android Oreo Go Edition, a new set of “Go” versions of the Google apps will be installed, such as Gmail Go, YouTube Go and Files Go. They are designed to occupy less storage space (up to 50%) and run faster. Each app is only a few megabytes (MB) in size. Because of lighter and fewer pre-installed applications, the operating system requires less storage to operate. Moreover, the built-in data manager and Google Chrome will turn on the data saver by default to help save mobile data usage. It can limit background data usage for applications. You would also get all the security features in Android 8.0/8.1 Oreo, like Find My Device and Google Play Protect. Manufacturers will be able to ship their entry-level smartphones with Android Oreo Go Edition around the globe in the coming months. More information about the Android Oreo Go Edition from Google and Android. Feel free to leave comments below, if you have any opinion about this website. Share the website around if you enjoy reading it. Subscribe to our Newsletter or follow our Google+, Facebook and Twitter. Support this website simply by shopping in Amazon. It will give us small kickbacks, if you use the above affiliate links to make any purchases, which will help us grow.
It had been a very tough week for Apple, because of multiple software bugs inside both their mobile (iOS) and desktop (macOS) operating system. The iOS 11.2 update is already available to download, fixing the unexpected crash on 2 December. And the latest macOS Security Update 2017-001 is hoped to deal with the serious root admin authentication problem in macOS High Sierra.
Earlier, software developer, Lemi Orhan Ergin, found an security exploit in macOS High Sierra. It allowed anyone to “bypass” the authentication in the OS and gain full administrator access, by typing “root” as User Name and leave the Password empty. This method will work on system prompts, and even login screen.
Fortunately, Apple released a new Security Update quickly in 24 hours, that is specifically targeted at the above bug in the system. The update is available on macOS 10.13 and 10.13.1. Please be reminded that you will need to reboot your system in order to apply the update correctly.
Some users reported that the security update would create problems in using the file sharing function. Apple published a guide to repair it in their support website.
Find more information about the macOS update from Apple.
Feel free to leave comments below, if you have any opinion about this website. Share the website around if you enjoy reading it. Subscribe to our Newsletter or follow our Google+, Facebook and Twitter. Support this website simply by shopping in Amazon. It will give us small kickbacks, if you use the above affiliate links to make any purchases, which will help us grow.
On 2 December, iPhones were affected by a strange bug in iOS 11.1.2. The bug caused iPhones to restart constantly when the time reached 12:15 AM. Apple quickly published a support guide to fix the issue, which seems to be related to third-party applications’ notifications. Apple also had to release iOS 11.2 much earlier than expected to permanently remove the bug.
To stop your iPhone from crashing repeatedly, you can either disable all the notifications for all third-party apps or update to iOS 11.2.
What’s New?
Apart from the bug fixes in almost any iOS updates, iOS 11.2 also brings a number of new features to the users.
You can now pay or receive payments in Messages or in Siri using Apple Pay Cash (US only), without any applications. You can send “cash” to anyone, if there is enough money in your Apple Pay Cash card, credit or debit card in Wallet. On the other hand, the money you received will be automatically stored in your Apple Pay Cash card. You can spend it in local stores, in-app purchases, websites using Apple Pay, or transfer it back to your bank.
For iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X, they are getting faster wireless charging with a compatible Qi wireless charging pads, up to 7.5 watts. You can now charge much faster than the original 3.5-watt or 5-watt pads.
Others
iOS 11.2 introduces three new Live wallpapers for the iPhone X, and improves the video camera stabilization.
You can find out more information about the iOS 11.2 update from Apple.
Feel free to leave comments below, if you have any opinion about this website. Share the website around if you enjoy reading it. Subscribe to our Newsletter or follow our Google+, Facebook and Twitter.
Support this website simply by shopping in Amazon. It will give us small kickbacks, if you use the above affiliate links to make any purchases, which will help us grow.
Western Digital launched its first consumer solid-state drive in 2016, after the acquisition of SanDisk. The second generation WD Blue SATA SSD is updated to use the industry-leading 64-layer 3D NAND flash, that should provide a more affordable and durable product for consumers to choose from.
Specifications
The WD Blue 3D NAND SSD offers either the traditional 2.5-inch or the M.2 2280 form factor, but both of them runs on the SATA 3.0 (6 Gb/s) interface. The drive’s capacity ranges from 250 GB to 2 TB, with 64-layer 3D TLC NAND flash. The SSD is advertised to have read and write performance up to 560 MB/s and 530 MB/s respectively.
What is 3D NAND?
As solid-state drives are becoming mainstream after years of development, larger capacity drives are demanded, but the existing 2D (planar) NAND flash is already reaching its physical limit. To expand the storage capacity of SSDs, engineers will need to stack layers of flash cells on top of each other (vertically), which can create a denser and faster, yet cheaper NAND flash.
Unboxing
The SSD comes in a tiny box with the signature “BLUE” color and Western Digital’s logo. At the front, all important information, such as the capacity, performance and warranty, are clearly printed. There is a rectangle cutout to see the serial number of the drive.
The WD Blue SSD is sitting inside a hard plastic tray, protected in a transparent bag.
Along with the drive is the warranty guide, with contacts for technical support in different areas.
Review
The WD Blue 3D NAND SSD is using the 2.5-inch enclosure with a thickness of 7 mm. Both sides have a large stickers written with model name/number, serial number and all the required labels. The top panel is made of plastic, while the bottom one is aluminium.
The standard 2.5-inch hard drive mounting holes, and the SATA 3.0 (6 Gb/s) connector.
Internals
The 1 TB version of the WD Blue 3D NAND SSD has a printed circuit board (PCB), that covers the full length of the enclosure. Only one side of the PCB is installed with components. You can see eight identical 3D TLC NAND packages manufactured by SanDisk. Each package holds 128 GB of data, giving the drive a total of 8×128=1024 GB (1 TB) of storage capacity.
On the left, there is the Marvel 4-channel controller, and a SLC cache below it.
Western Digital also adds a thermal pad to the controller, allowing it to make contact with the aluminium enclosure for some passive cooling.
Testing Methodology
To test the performance of the solid-state drive, I uses three well-established storage benchmarking software. They are CrystalDiskMark, ATTO Disk Benchmark, as well as AS SSD Benchmark.
CrystalDiskMark can measure both sequential and random 4KB read/write speeds with a queue depth of 32. ATTO Disk Benchmark can test how the drive performs across different transfer block sizes, mostly in a sequential environment. AS SSD Benchmark can provide both normal read/write speed and the IOPS performance of the drive.
Performance
Unsurprisingly, the WD Blue 3D NAND SSD reached the identical sequential performance as advertised in CrystalDiskMark, over 560 MB/s at read and 530 MB/s at write. At 4K random read/write, the drive maintained about 70% of the speed at around 350 MB/s to 380 MB/s.
However, in AS SSD Benchmark, the SSD could not achieve the same speed in sequential read/write test, dropping to around 480 MB/s. If I configure the test size to 3GB, the sequential read/write speed would increase to about 520 MB/s. Though, the drive had results similar to CrystalDiskMark, with write performance decrease by about 20 MB/s.
IOPS number represents how well a drive handles input and output operations. The WD Blue SSD scored 1196 in IOPS benchmark. It reached 95600 IOPS and 83080 IOPS in 4K-64THRD (Queue depth of 64) read and write test respectively.
In ATTO Disk Benchmark, you could see consistent performance of over 500 MB/s read and write speed, once the transfer file size increased to 128 KB or larger. It maxed out at 563.9 MB/s in read, and 532.1 MB/s in write.
Comparison
[visualizer id=”2840″]
[visualizer id=”2842″]
Conclusion
The Western Digital Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD is the “mid-range” solid-state storage solution in their lineup, between the Green and Black series. With the newly implemented 64-layer 3D NAND flash technology, the SSD can reach storage capacity up to 2 TB and a MTBF at 1,750,000 hours. The M.2 2280 form factor is also available for easier installation, which is especially helpful in laptops.
The SSD can deliver promising transfer speed in both read and write operations, over 560 MB/s and 530 MB/s. The NAND flash has much more potential, but is limited by the old SATA interface. The SSD is on par with other 3D NAND SSDs in the market, while outperforming older 2D NAND drives.
Moreover, the WD Blue 3D NAND SSD is priced similar to other solid-state drives with 3D NAND from Crucial and SanDisk, but with slightly better performance (Crucial MX300: 530 MB/s in read, 510 MB/s in write). The drive will certainly be a great storage option, with higher capacity, faster performance and improved power efficiency.
You can purchase the SSD from your local/online resellers or the links below from Amazon.
Thanks Western Digital for providing us the SSD for review. (Review Sample)
Feel free to leave comments below, if you have any opinion about this website. Share the website around if you enjoy reading it. Subscribe to our Newsletter or follow our Google+, Facebook and Twitter.
Support this website simply by shopping in Amazon. It will give us small kickbacks, if you use the above affiliate links to make any purchases, which will help us grow.
Razer finally released its first smartphone, the Razer Phone, in early November. The phone follows the path of the Nextbit Robin in terms of appearance, but using aluminium as the body material. It is also equipped with the latest hardware, like any other 2017 flagship Android devices. The 120 Hz 5.7-inch IGZO display and the dual front-facing speakers are two of its distinct features. But the omission of the 3.5 mm headphone jack is questioned by many people against its gaming orientation.
Min-Liang Tan, co-founder and CEO of Razer, recently posted an article on Facebook, explaining the reason for the controversial decision about the headphone jack of the Razer Phone.
According to Min-Liang Tan, there are multiple advantages if they remove the headphone jack. Improving the thermal performance of the Razer Phone is one of the stated benefits. Also, the saved space allows the phone to have a 500 mAh larger battery. Moreover, he said the inclusion of the headphone jack may lead to a custom-made battery, which would delay the shipping by months and increase the retail price by about $100 USD. Min-Liang Tan further explained that all Razer Phone will have a dedicated 24-Bit THX Certified DAC adapter (USB-C to 3.5 mm) inside the package. And he claimed that the adapter can provide better audio quality than internal headphone jack. Razer also released HammerHead USB-C and HammerHead Bluetooth headphones. Would you ever trade your phone’s 3.5 mm headphone jack for a slightly larger battery, and possibly better heat dissipation performance? Feel free to leave comments below, if you have any opinion about this website. Share the website around if you enjoy reading it. Subscribe to our Newsletter or follow our Google+, Facebook and Twitter. Support this website simply by shopping in Amazon. It will give us small kickbacks, if you use the above affiliate links to make any purchases, which will help us grow.
Update: In the latest Google Chrome update, this setting is removed from the “chrome://flags” options. You can no longer put the address bar to the bottom of the screen. (April 2018)
Popular/Flagship smartphones nowadays are getting a much larger display than before, from 3.5-inch up to over 6-inch. Although bezel-less design is becoming a trend in 2017, the size of our hands does not change accordingly to handle a bigger device.
One thing I find annoying is the user interface of Google Chrome on Android is located on the top by default. This makes it extremely hard to reach and use, especially with a taller 18:9 display. Fortunately, there is a way to “move” the interface to the bottom, within the reach of your thumb.
Default
All of the buttons and controls are positioned at the top of the screen, the settings menu, address bar and tabs. Whenever you need to enter a new URL or a Google Search, you will have to press the address bar all the way up. You will need to readjust your hands position every time in order to do a simple task like that.
“New” Chrome Home
A hidden setting in the Chrome app can move all the user interface elements to the bottom of the screens, allowing better one-handed usability, which is called Chrome Home. It was first introduced in Chrome Dev in 2016.
After enabling it, you will still get your personalized content by sliding up the address bar. When you open a new browser tab, the address bar stops at the middle to let you choose between the frequently visited websites or manual typing the URL. You can also access all your downloads, favorites and browsing history by selecting respective sections at the bottom.
A new added advantage with the re-positioned interface is the quick switch between opened tabs. You just need to tap and hold any part of the address bar, then slide to the right or left to other tabs. Yes, this control gesture is already available for the default Chrome’s interface. However, you can now do it much easier to switch tabs with your thumb at the bottom of the screen., instead of the top.
Instructions
To enable Chrome Home, type “chrome://flags” into the address bar. You will get to the experimental features menu for Chrome. Scroll down the list, or use “Find in page” to search “Chrome Home”. What you need to change is “Chrome Home Android”. Press enabled and restart the browser twice to activate the feature.
Please do not change any other settings in the menu, unless you know what they will do. If you want to reset everything to default, a button is located at the top of the page (chrome://flags).
Feel free to leave comments below, if you have any opinion about this website. Share the website around if you enjoy reading it. Subscribe to our Newsletter or follow our Google+, Facebook and Twitter.
Support this website simply by shopping in Amazon. It will give us small kickbacks, if you use the above affiliate links to make any purchases, which will help us grow.
Although NVMe solid-state drives, like the ZOTAC SONIX PCIe SSD, can achieve insanely fast speed in reading/writing data, they often come with a much higher price tag. You can get less storage capacity in the same amount of money. To strike a balance between performance and size, a normal SATA SSD is a great option. This time, we are taking a look at the Kingston UV400 480GB SSD.
Kingston:
IT DRAMATICALLY IMPROVES THE RESPONSIVENESS OF YOUR EXISTING SYSTEM AND IS 10 TIMES FASTER THAN A 7200RPM HARD DRIVE…
Specifications
The UV400 is the “mid-range” SSD in Kingston’s consumer lineup, providing storage capacities from 120GB up to 960GB. It is advertised to reach 550 MB/s and 500 MB/s in sequential read and write operations respectively.
Unboxing
Instead of coming in a solid cardboard box, the Kingston UV400 SSD is delivered in a paper blister pack. This is not as elegant as using a reusable box, but at least it is not the frustrating and “dangerous” plastic packages.
All information and features of the SSD is also printed on both sides of the package, such as the storage capacity and the “10 times faster than HDD” claim.
There are openings in each side, that let you put your thumb in and separate the SSD from the package without the need of any tools.
Kingston UV400 SATA SSD
The UV400 SSD is using the standard 2.5-inch form factor. Its dimensions are at 100.0 mm x 69.9 mm x 7.0 mm. The outer shell is made of aluminum, which feels very solid. You get a huge Kingston logo, covering most area at the front.
At the back, only a small label, with all the model/serial numbers, drive capacity and different certifications, is found.
There are standard 2.5-inch drive’s mounting holes at both the sides and the back.
The SATA 3.0 (6 Gb/s) data and power connectors are located at the top.
Review
Testing Medathology
To test the performance of the solid-state drive, I uses three well-established storage benchmarking softwares. They are CrystalDiskMark, ATTO Disk Benchmark, as well as AS SSD Benchmark.
CrystalDiskMark can measure both sequential and random 4KB read/write speeds with a queue depth of 32. ATTO Disk Benchmark can test how the drive performs across different transfer block sizes, mostly in a sequential environment. AS SSD Benchmark can provide both normal read/write speed and the IOPS performance of the drive.
Performance
The Kingston UV400 SSD did exceptionally well in our tests, as expected. It reached 531.2 MB/s and 520.2 MB/s in sequential read/write in CrystalDiskMark. The performance is similar to what Kingston advertised. Even in 4K random read/write, the UV400 still maintained most of its speed, at around 350 MB/s.
We got similar results in AS SSD Benchmark. The UV400 did slightly worse in sequential write, dipping below 500 MB/s. In 4K random (queue depth of 64), the SSD dropped to about 310 MB/s in both read and write.
IOPS number represents how well a drive handles input and output operations. The Kingston UV400 SSD scored 1059 in IOPS benchmark. It maxed out at 79,656 and 78,700 IOPS in 4KB (Queue depth 64) read and write operations.
For reference, a traditional hard drive (with spinning disks) will have IOPS number of a few hundred at best.
In ATTO Disk Benchmark, the SSD’s performance became stabilized at around 500 MB/s in both read and write, once the transfer size was over 16 KB. It topped out at 562 MB/s (read) and 511 MB/s (write).
Conclusion
The Kingston UV400 SSD was launched to provide an “Ultra-Value” but fast storage to consumers. In the performance side, the UV400 is able to deliver decent speed in both read and write operations, up above 500 MB/s. If you are replacing an traditional hard drive with this SSD, it is a no-brainer. You will definitely feel the speed improvement, whether in boot-up time and operating system’s responsiveness. However, when comparing with other similarly-priced TLC SSDs in the market, Samsung’s and Western Digital’s drives do offer slightly better performance.
The UV400 SSD was originally priced at similar to other budget SSDs, and with a 3-year warranty by Kingston, back when its launch in 2016. The price was relatively competitive, and offered great value in the market. Due to the shortage in NAND flash around the globe, every SSD costs a lot more than its suggested retail price. There are cheaper options you can purchase with similar performance for now, but the UV400 SSD is not a bad choice at all.
You can purchase the SSD from your local/online resellers or the links below from Amazon.
Thanks Kingston for providing us the UV400 SSD for review. (Review Sample)
Feel free to leave comments below, if you have any opinion about this website. Share the website around if you enjoy reading it. Subscribe to our Newsletter or follow our Google+, Facebook and Twitter.
Support this website simply by shopping in Amazon. It will give us small kickbacks, if you use the above affiliate links to make any purchases, which will help us grow.
