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If you've ever had trouble falling asleep due to an injury, illness, stress or another reason, you're certainly not alone. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 70 million Americans experience chronic sleep problems.
While you could use a supplement or sleep aid to fall asleep, aromatherapy is also a more natural alternative. People have used this ancient practice for thousands of years to alleviate numerous conditions, including stress, anxiety, pain and sleeplessness. It involves using essential oils (extracted from plants like eucalyptus, lavender and peppermint) that are inhaled through the nose or applied to the skin.
Not only are there many different types of essential oils, but there are also several ways you can work with them to improve your sleep. Let's look at some of the most popular methods to use aromatherapy for sleep.
Choose the right essential oils
Essential oils serve different purposes, and there is a handful that can help promote better sleep. According to the American Sleep Association, some of the best options include lavender, chamomile, jasmine and sandalwood. Since essential oils are so potent, you'll also want a milder carrier oil (such as almond oil or coconut oil) to dilute the oils before applying them to your skin.
Rub a few drops on your chest, hands and neck
Once you've chosen the right essential oils, it's time to apply them to your body. First, dilute the oils by combining one teaspoon of carrier oil for every drop of essential oil. Then, making sure to avoid any areas with damaged or broken skin, add a few drops to your chest, hands or neck. Keep an eye on these areas after applying the oil to ensure no allergic reaction occurs.
Put drops of oil in a diffuser
Alternatively, if you'd rather not use the essential oils topically, you can inhale them through a diffuser. There are several different types of diffusers, including ultrasonic, burner and reed diffusers, but all of them work by taking the pure essential oils and dispersing them into the air for you to breathe in.
marefoto/Getty Images
Try a clay mask with essential oils
Another way to use aromatherapy for sleep is by applying a clay mask with essential oils. Several retailers sell facial mask products made with sleep-friendly essential oils, or you can find DIY recipes online.
Take an aromatic bath before bed
Soaking in the bath an hour or two before bed can help you unwind and prepare your body for sleep -- especially when you incorporate essential oils. To take an aromatic bath, combine a carrier oil with your preferred essential oil (lavender is a great pick), add it to the bathwater, and mix it all together. You can also buy pre-made essential oil bath salts or body washes.
Mix essential oils into your lotion
After -- or instead of -- your aromatic bath, try moisturizing your skin with an essential oil-infused lotion or body butter. Many of these products are available off the shelf, or you can create your own by infusing a few drops of essential oil into an unscented lotion or another moisturizer.
Spray essential oils on your pillow or mattress
If you're looking for a gentler way to incorporate aromatherapy into your bedtime routine, you can lightly spritz your pillow or mattress with an essential oil spray. You can buy premixed sprays or make your own by combining essential oils, distilled water and witch hazel.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
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Keep Hackers Off Your Wi-Fi. 10 Tips to Securing Your Home Network
Keep Hackers Off Your Wi-Fi. 10 Tips to Securing Your Home Network
This story is part of Home Tips, CNET's collection of practical advice for getting the most out of your home, inside and out.
How important is it to make sure your home network is secure? Well, just last year, internet crime cost people in the US more than $6.9 billion, and while phishing and scams contributed to the losses, personal data breaches were also a significant factor. In many cases, those personal data breaches could have been prevented by a little home network security.
The average US home now has more than 10 devices connected to the home Wi-Fi network. From laptops and tablets to phones, smartwatches and streaming devices, things add up quickly, and all are potentially vulnerable to hacking. With so much data stored on those devices -- credit card numbers, bank records, login credentials and other personal and private information -- you want to make sure you're protecting yourself from hackers if your network is ever compromised.
A secure home network will help reduce the risk of getting hacked and someone accessing your sensitive information. Not only that, it will keep away any unwanted or unauthorized users and devices that would slow down your connection or freeload on the internet service you pay for.
It's fairly simple to create and maintain a secure home Wi-Fi network. Below, you'll find 10 tips for securing your network. Some are more effective than others at keeping hackers and freeloaders at bay, but all are useful in their own way. Keep in mind that nothing can guarantee absolute security from hacking attempts, but these tips will definitely make it harder for anyone to compromise your network and data.
How to secure your home Wi-Fi network
Here are the basics for protecting your home Wi-Fi network. Keep reading for more information on each below.
1. Place your router in a central location.
2. Create a strong Wi-Fi password and change it often.
3. Change the default router login credentials.
4. Turn on firewall and Wi-Fi encryption.
5. Create a guest network.
6. Use a VPN.
7. Keep your router and devices up to date.
8. Disable remote router access.
9. Verify connected devices.
10. Upgrade to a WPA3 router.
Place your router in a central location
Strong network security starts with a smart setup. If possible, place your router at the center of your home. Routers send wireless signals in all directions, so strategically placing your router in a central location will help keep your connection to the confines of your home. As a bonus, it will likely also make for the best connection quality.
For example, if you have internet in an apartment where neighbors are immediately to the left and right of you, placing your router next to a shared wall could send a strong, and tempting, signal their way. Even if you aren't in an apartment, a good router can cast signals next door or across the street. Placing your router in a central location will help reduce how far those signals travel outside your home.
Create a strong Wi-Fi password and change it often
This should go without saying, but I'm going to cover it still to emphasize its importance. Creating a unique password for your Wi-Fi network is essential to maintaining a secure connection. Avoid easily guessed passwords or phrases, such as someone's name, birthdays, phone numbers or other common information. While simple Wi-Fi passwords make them easy to remember, they also make it easy for others to figure them out. (Here's how to access your router settings to update your Wi-Fi password.)
Be sure to change your password every six months or so, or any time you think your network security may have been compromised.
Chris Monroe/CNET
Change the default router login credentials
Along the same lines of password-protecting your Wi-Fi network, you'll also want to keep anyone from being able to directly access your router settings. To do so, go ahead and change the admin name and password for your router. You can log in to your router settings by typing its IP address into the URL bar, but most routers and providers have an app that lets you access the same settings and information.
Your router login credentials are separate from your Wi-Fi network name and password. If you aren't sure what the default is, you should be able to find it on the bottom of the router. Or, if it's been changed from the default somewhere along the way, again, here's how to access your router settings to update the username and password.
Turn on the firewall and Wi-Fi encryption
Most routers have a firewall to prevent outside hacking, as well as Wi-Fi encryption to keep anyone from eavesdropping on the data that's sent back and forth between your router and connected devices. Both are typically active by default, but you'll want to check to make sure they're on.
Now that you know how to log in to your router settings, check to make sure the firewall and Wi-Fi encryption are enabled. If they're off for whatever reason, go ahead and turn them on. Your network security will thank you.
Create a guest Wi-Fi network
"Can I get the Wi-Fi password?" is undoubtedly something all hosts have heard. Before sharing access to your main home network, consider creating a separate guest network for visitors. I'm not suggesting your guests are going to attempt anything nefarious with your main Wi-Fi connection, but their devices or anything they download while connected to your network could be infected with malware or viruses that target your network without them even knowing it.
A guest network is also ideal for your IoT devices, such as Wi-Fi cameras, thermostats and smart speakers -- devices that may not hold a lot of sensitive information and are perhaps more easily hackable than a smarter device such as a computer or phone.
James Martin/CNET
Use a VPN
There are a few reasons to use a good VPN, and network security is definitely one of them. Among other things, a virtual private network hides your IP address and Wi-Fi activity, including browsing data.
VPNs are probably more useful when connected to a public network, but they can still add a level of security and privacy to your home network. Some VPNs are better than others, but like anything, you often get what you pay for. Free VPN services are available, but paying a little extra (seriously, just a few bucks per month) will deliver a much better, more secure service.
Keep your router and devices up to date
Software updates always seem to pop up when you need to get online most. While they can be annoying, there is a purpose to them and it often includes security updates. When companies become aware of potential or exposed security vulnerabilities, they release updates and patches to minimize or eliminate the risk. You want to download those.
Keeping your router and connected devices current on the latest updates will help ensure you have the best protection against known malware and hacking attempts. Set your router to automatically update in the admin settings, if possible, and periodically check to make sure your router is up to date.
Disable remote router access
Remote router access allows anyone not directly connected to your Wi-Fi network to access the router settings. Unless there's a need to access your router while away from home, to check or change the configuration of a child's connected device, for example, there should be no reason to have remote access enabled.
You can disable remote access under the router's admin settings. Unlike other security measures, disabled remote router access may not be the default.
Verify connected devices
Frequently inspect the devices that are connected to your network and verify that you know what they are. If anything on there looks suspicious, disconnect it and change your Wi-Fi password. You'll have to reconnect all your previously connected devices after changing your password, but any users or devices that are not authorized to use your network will get the boot.
Some devices, especially obscure IoT ones, may have some odd default names of random numbers and letters that you don't immediately recognize. If you come across something like that when scrutinizing your connected devices, go ahead and disconnect it. Later on, when you can't start your robot vacuum cleaner from your phone, you'll know that's what it was.
Upgrade to a WPA3 router
WPA3 is the latest security protocol for routers. All new routers should come equipped with WPA3, so if you buy a new router, you should have nothing to worry about there. However, many people rent their routers directly from the provider, which may not include the most up-to-date equipment.
If your router was made before 2018 it's possible that you have a WPA2 device, which lacks the same level of security protocols as newer, WPA3 devices. A quick search of your device's model should tell you when it came out and any specific features such as whether it has WPA2 or WPA3. If you've got a router with WPA2, call your provider and negotiate for a better, more recent router.
Network security is not a guarantee
Again, even with the most recent and effective methods of protecting your home network, security is never going to be 100% certain. As long as there is the internet, hackers and cybercriminals will find ways to exploit it. But with the tips above, hopefully you can better keep your network secure from anyone trying to use your connection or access your data.
For more, check out how to tell if your internet provider is throttling your Wi-Fi and our tips on how to speed up your Wi-Fi connection.
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9 Alexa tips for music junkies
9 Alexa tips for music junkies
This story is part of Home Tips, CNET's collection of practical advice for getting the most out of your home, inside and out.
It's World Music Day, and if you own an Amazon Echo -- or really any smart speaker -- chances are good you use it to listen to music. It makes sense: These speakers have all kinds of built-in hardware to make songs sound great in whatever room they're in, and the addition of Alexa makes ordering up your next track easier than it's ever been. Just say what you want to listen to and it plays.
But for many Alexa-users, that music experience can be faster, smoother and even better-sounding. Here's how to get the most out of your Alexa speaker when listening to music.
Choose and use your preferred speaker
If you're like me, you probably have a bunch of Echo Show displays, Dots and other speakers scattered through your house. And if you don't have them synced up, asking for a song on your dope-sounding Echo Studio could deliver that song two rooms away on the decidedly less dope-sounding second-gen Dot.
However, choosing a preferred speaker is super easy. Just go to the Alexa app, then tap the Devices tab. Select the Group your favorite speaker is in, then tap Choose Speakers. Select the speaker (or speakers) you want your music to come from, then tap Next. Finally, specify whether you want them to be the only speakers that play music or just the ones when you're in that room.
Pick your preferred music streaming service
If you use anything other than Amazon's in-house streaming service Amazon Music, you should take a few seconds to change the default music streaming service.
To do this, open the Alexa app, then go to More > Settings > Music & Podcasts > Default Services. Select Select your preferred streaming service under the Music, Artist and Genre Stations, and Podcasts banners.
Now when you play music, you won't have to specify what service you want to stream it. However, if you still want to use Prime Music or Amazon Music Unlimited, at any point you can say, "Alexa, play [song or artist] on Amazon Music."
Echo Show displays often work as well as dedicated speakers for playing music.
Chris Monroe/CNET
Adjust the equalizer
More recent Echo speakers and displays have equalizers that let you adjust the treble, midrange and bass. That means if you're pumping up some trap music, you can boost the bass, too. And it's as easy as asking Alexa to turn up the bass or turn down the midrange. If you want to be more precise, head to the Alexa app and simply tap Devices > [Your Chosen Device] > the Settings Gear in the top right corner > Audio Settings. From there, you can adjust each of the sliders to your heart's content.
Use multiroom audio
If you're cleaning the whole house and don't want your music swimming in and out of listening range as you wander the rooms, get all your Echo speakers and displays on the same wavelength. Just say, "Alexa, play music everywhere," to get started. If that doesn't work, head to the Alexa app, tap Devices and scroll to the bottom of the page. You'll see an Everywhere group that you can tap and edit to make sure all your speakers and displays are included.
Filter explicit language
Before I had kids, I used to blast Kendrick Lamar loud enough to make our windows rattle. Alas, I'm not ready for my kids to start picking up certain words and sharing them with their 4-year-old friends. Thankfully, Alexa lets you activate an Explicit Filter to keep music appropriate for all ages, if you're sharing a house with sensitive ears.
To activate it, go to the Alexa app, then tap More > Settings > Music and Podcasts > Explicit Language Filter. From this screen, you can toggle the filter as well as activate voice recognition to allow you control over the filter with voice commands (and to prevent your kid from asking Alexa to turn it off).
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Why WhatsApp users are pushing family members to Signal
Why WhatsApp users are pushing family members to Signal
When WhatsApp users started freaking out about privacy on the messaging app last month, Kevin Woblick knew it was time to encourage his family to move to another chat service: Signal.
The 30-year-old German software developer had broached the topic after Edward Snowden leaked classified documents detailing America's mass surveillance program. But Woblick couldn't convince his family to delete WhatsApp despite the Snowden news and the global uproar over digital privacy that followed. So this time, he took a gentler approach.
"It wouldn't be too inconvenient to have a second messenger on your phone right?" he asked his family. He found it amusing that his grandma was the first to agree to download the app. Then, the rest of his family followed.
Woblick and his family are among the exodus of WhatsApp users bolting from the Facebook-owned messaging app to services like Signal that are seen as secure alternatives. Making the move isn't easy, because people naturally gravitate toward apps their friends and family use, and then stick with them. In India, WhatsApp's largest market, switching to another messaging service is even tougher because of its enormous reach.
WhatsApp, which Facebook bought in 2014 for $19 billion, is used by more than 2 billion people in over 180 countries. The popular app is an online space where people go to chat, shop and share news. More than 175 million people message a business on WhatsApp daily, allowing them to browse or buy items, ranging from cakes to flights. The messaging app, though, has also been criticized for not doing enough to curb the spread of misinformation that fuels violence. In 2018, false rumors about child kidnappers ignited mob violence and killings in India, prompting WhatsApp to limit message forwarding.
Outrage over privacy on WhatsApp began to grow in January, when the service notified users it was updating its privacy policy and terms of service. The update included details about how WhatsApp data could be used and shared when a user messages a business on the app. Some users thought the changes meant WhatsApp could read their messages and listen to their personal phone calls. WhatsApp said the messaging service can't read personal messages, because they're end-to-end encrypted, and that the changes wouldn't expand the app's ability to share data with Facebook.
WhatsApp responded to the fallout, pushing back the update until May. It placed newspaper ads in India, shared more information on its website, and used Status, a tool that lets users post content that disappears within 24 hours, to assure people their personal WhatsApp messages remain private.
By then, though, the damage had been done.
From Jan.1 to Jan. 25, compared with Dec. 7 to Dec. 31, Signal installs jumped 4,868%, while downloads of WhatsApp fell roughly 16%, according to data from data analytics firm SensorTower. At one point, the surge in new users led to a daylong outage on Signal. A spokesperson for Signal said the app "had a record breaking January" but declined to say how many users are on the app.
Unlike WhatsApp, Signal isn't owned by a company. It's funded by a nonprofit set up by Moxie Marlinspike and Brian Acton, who co-founded WhatsApp but left the social media giant in 2017. Besides the user outrage, the encrypted-messaging service has also been endorsed by high-profile figures, including Snowden and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
David Choffnes, an associate computer science professor at Northeastern University, said WhatsApp's policy updates could've rekindled concerns over Facebook's poor track record with privacy. He pointed to the scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, a British political consultancy, that harvested the data of roughly 87 million Facebook users without their permission.
"The whole world has lost a lot of trust in Facebook," Choffnes said, adding that the WhatsApp backlash "was sort of like a powder keg ready to ignite."
Nidhi Hegde, director of strategy and programs at the American Economic Liberties Project in Washington, DC, said her family uses a mix of WhatsApp and Signal. Some didn't want to switch to a new messaging service, especially after WhatsApp delayed its privacy updates. On Thursday, WhatsApp was No. 3 in Apple's top apps for social networking, and Signal was No. 12.
"I think what it has done is make a lot more people (like my mom and older relatives) who are not particularly tech-savvy or thinking about privacy become more aware of Facebook's power and how their personal data is mined for targeted advertising to feed Facebook's business," Hegde said in an email. "And they are now significantly concerned that they have no choice but to accept the terms."
Last month, WhatsApp users got a notice telling them the app's 3,800-word privacy policy and 5,000-word terms of service were being updated to include information about processing of user data, the ability of businesses to use Facebook services for managing chats, and the relationship between WhatsApp and Facebook. The notice linked to the revised policies but didn't outline the exact changes users were agreeing to if they accepted the updates.
The changes spell out what happens to your data when you message a business on WhatsApp, which is different from chatting with friends and family. Some businesses might make communications available to a third-party service provider that manages their chats with customers, which can include Facebook, the revised privacy policy says. WhatsApp labels chats with businesses that use Facebook's services to manage their conversations. A WhatsApp FAQ on the changes also notes that when a person messages a business, the store might use that information for marketing, which could include Facebook ads.
Some users thought the updates meant WhatsApp was going to force them to share personal data with Facebook for the first time. (But WhatsApp has already been sharing data with Facebook to suggest content and connections, and display "relevant offers and ads." The company updated its privacy policy in 2016 to reflect that and WhatsApp users that year were allowed to opt out of this data sharing.)
On social media, WhatsApp users quickly began sharing strategies about how to get family and friends to migrate to Signal or other messaging apps.
Siddharth Rao created a public Google doc he shared on Twitter titled "How to start a conversation about the Signal app with your family." Rao, a security and privacy researcher in Finland, said he's trying to learn more from WhatsApp users about their experience migrating to Signal and whether they stayed after the move. Many of the people who added to the document still have "one leg" in WhatsApp and the other in Signal, he said.
One strategy included in the document is to lie and tell people that WhatsApp is shutting down. Other tips include easing users into deleting WhatsApp after they've tried Signal, by disabling notifications for the Facebook-owned app.
Shachin Bharadwaj, an entrepreneur who splits his time between India and California, said he received anxious messages from his parents after the privacy changes were announced, concerned that WhatsApp was going to read their chats. The 38-year-old said he also recalled seeing videos, including one that called Facebook "evil" and claimed the company was planning to listen to users' conversations.
Bharadwaj knows that private messages remain encrypted on WhatsApp, but that didn't stop him from downloading Signal last month. He's used WhatsApp to order items such as medication in India, but he feels like there's just "too much happening" on the Facebook-owned service and wants to keep his most personal chats, like his family chats, on Signal. He now splits his messaging between the apps.
"I don't think you can ever leave WhatsApp as of the situation in India today," Bharadwaj said, pointing to the amount of WhatsApp users in that country. "But my idea was to move quality conversations to Signal."
As for Woblick, he thinks it'll "take a lot of time" before he's comfortable deleting WhatsApp, because some of his friends stayed on the app. For now, however, he's OK with using both. "For me it was more important to do that first step and migrate the most important people and contacts to Signal so I'm able to work with them without needing to use WhatsApp," he said.
Galaxy Watch 3 review: A stunning smartwatch with SpO2 tracking and ECG
Galaxy Watch 3 review: A stunning smartwatch with SpO2 tracking and ECG
Samsung's Galaxy Watch 3 has a lot working in its favor. It's one of the best-looking smartwatches out there, with a physical rotating bezel and bright, circular AMOLED display. It also brings new health and fitness tools such as a running coach, better sleep tracking than earlier models, blood oxygen monitoring and an electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG). But at $399 (or higher) it's on the pricier end of the smartwatch spectrum, and battery life on the smaller version is disappointing.
Read more: Samsung Galaxy Watch 4: Samsung aims for the ultimate Android watch
Looks go a long way with this watch
I was already a fan of the original Galaxy Watch with its round face and physical rotating bezel, and the Watch 3 looks even nicer. It has a bright, beautiful AMOLED screen that's easy to read even in broad daylight. It's also useful if you're on a run and need to quickly check your stats during a workout. The screen can always be on if you need it, although it'll cost you in the battery department (more on that later). I like navigating the interface with the rotating bezel instead of smudging the screen with my fingers.
Gazing at the Watch 3 on my wrist, I think it could almost pass for a traditional analog watch thanks to its classic design. The smaller bezels mean the screen is bigger than the original's even though the body of the watch has gotten smaller. It still bulges out from under the stainless-steel frame, however, making it thicker than I'd like and not as comfortable to wear at night as the Galaxy Watch Active.
I tried out the bronze 41mm version (the watch also comes in a 45mm size), with the tan-pink leather straps -- a welcome step up from the silicone straps on the original Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Watch Active series. The bronze is a lot less flashy than the gold of the original Galaxy Watch, and it looks softer and more flattering on my wrist. If you're planning on using it for working out or swimming (or, in my case, bathing small children), you may want to invest in a sports strap as well. I can see the leather getting worn after a while due to frequent contact with water.
A staggered rollout of its health features
Aside from its looks, what really made the Galaxy Watch 3 stand out for me was its impressive list of new health features. It has ECG, an SpO2 app that measures oxygen saturation in the blood, a blood-pressure monitor, fall detection, advanced sleep tracking, period tracking and a detailed post-run analysis. But I have to admit I was a little skeptical as to whether Samsung could deliver on all of these promises. The Galaxy Watch Active 2, for example, also launched with an "ECG feature" which is still pending over a year later. The blood-pressure feature from the original Active was unreliable at best when we tested it and calibrated it against a blood-pressure cuff.
Samsung has since received FDA clearance for its ECG feature which can also screen for signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib), and rolled out the feature to both the Watch 3 and the Active 2. But blood pressure that's still pending FDA clearance in the US. (Blood pressure is only available in South Korea at the time of writing.)
Tracking blood oxygen levels on the Galaxy Watch 3
Samsung has had SpO2 tracking on past Galaxy devices like the S10, but I was excited to test it out on the watch to see how it had improved. Apple's new Apple Watch Series 6 also tracks blood oxygen levels on demand, while other smartwatches from Fitbit and Garmin use blood oxygen levels for sleep analysis or to determine VO2 max during exercise.
Tracking blood oxygen has become especially important during the coronavirus pandemic. People with COVID-19 can experience shortness of breath and serious dips in blood oxygen.
Doctors and hospitals use pulse oximeters placed on the tip of the index finger to measure blood oxygen levels, but these have become a hot commodity during the pandemic as many patients experiencing shortness of breath have turned to these small sensors to determine whether or not to head to the emergency room.
To test accuracy of the SpO2 app on the Galaxy Watch 3, I took a side-by-side reading using a medical-grade pulse oximeter and both gave results within a few points of each other (98 and 99). It also took a few minutes more to get a read on the Watch 3 and you have to position it correctly on your wrist for it to work.
Because my oxygen levels were within the healthy range, it's hard to know whether the Watch would be as accurate as the pulse oximeter in the lower ranges as well. It's also important to note that any watch or consumer tech device should only be used as a starting point, never in place of a physician and medical care.
Like its predecessor, the Watch 3 can monitor stress levels using your heart-rate data. The test takes a few seconds and requires you to keep your arm still. Once it has the information it needs, it'll grade levels on the stress spectrum and give you the option to go through a minute of breathing exercises to help get your rating down.
I took my stress test while on deadline writing this review and it detected very low levels, so I'm a bit skeptical about its accuracy.
It's also added menstrual cycle or period tracking: You enter the data in your watch and it syncs with the Samsung Health app, which can give you information about your next period and predicted fertility window. The feature isn't native to Samsung and is powered by the Glow app, which was already a relatively established name in the menstrual health tracking category and one I'd used before.
The other big health feature exclusive to the Galaxy Watch 3 is the trip-detection feature, which I hope I'll never need. If the watch detects that you're not moving after a hard fall, it immediately calls your emergency contact and shares your location. It's not on by default, so you'll have to set it up from the advanced settings option on the Watch 3 and designate an emergency contact. I tried activating it by falling on my bed a few times but I was unsuccessful. The Apple Watch (Series 4 and later) has a similar feature called fall detection that's actually saved lives.
CNET screenshot/Samsung
New ways to work out with the Galaxy Watch 3
Despite its dressed-up exterior, the Galaxy Watch 3 doubles as a fitness tracker. It tracks 40 different workouts, including swimming (both indoors and outdoors) and will automatically detect and track seven of those workouts. Within about 10 minutes of my starting my walk, I received a notification to start a workout and it gave me credit for the 10 minutes prior.
A heart-shaped dashboard shows you a breakdown of your active minutes, calories burned and stand time during the day compared with your target.
I took it on my usual 3-mile run alongside the San Francisco Bay without my phone, and I found it to be fairly accurate at displaying my distance, pace and heart rate.
You'll have to tweak the settings to display the information you want at a glance during your run, because the default doesn't include heart rate, which I personally like to have on hand. But I liked that it showed me a map of my run and a breakdown of my heart rate zones at the end of the run. It told me I had sustained my maximum heart rate for 2 minutes during the uphill portion of my run. You can also access this data after the fact on the Samsung Health app.
It also has a few bonus features for runners. The first is a running coach, the same one that debuted on the Active 2, which provides real-time feedback about pace and form during a run. Instead of starting a normal run, I selected the running coach on the watch and plugged in my earbuds. A robotic female voice told me to start my warmup. The voice gave me pace alerts throughout the run and generic tips about lengthening my stride and landing on the front of my feet instead of the heel. Be warned that using the running coach will drain the battery a lot faster than if you are tracking a regular run.
What's new to the Galaxy Watch 3 is a post-run analysis, with details including flight and contact time, asymmetry and stiffness to help identify areas of improvement. It's not as comprehensive as the data you'd get on a dedicated running watch such as the Garmin Forerunner, but it could help if you're training for a race or just looking to get more out of your usual route.
Apparently my "stiffness" needed improvement. Good to know, but it'd be nice to get this feedback live from the running coach so I could have adjusted during my run. It can also calculate your VO2 max, or maximum oxygen consumption during exercise, to give a sense of your overall fitness and tells you what your percentage is within your age group. This is the same metric you'd get if you were doing a VO2 max test in a lab on a stationary bike or treadmill, wearing a mask that measures oxygen exchange. I'm yet to compare them to determine whether or not the reading I got on the Galaxy Watch 3 was accurate.
Mitchell Chang/CNET
Another first on the Galaxy Watch 3 is a feature that lets you sync it with home workout videos you can control from your wrist. I wasn't really a home workout videos kind of person before March, but I think the global pandemic has made us all rethink how we exercise and I've since been doing a lot of Pilates and yoga classes on my TV. Having the workout on my wrist was a big step up from my usual routine.
I selected an abs program on the Health app, which consisted of three 15-minute workouts during the week, and was able to cast the first of the series on my Samsung TV and and follow along with my watch. The watch vibrated to let me know when it was time to move on to the next exercise and let me pause with a press of the button when I had to readjust my position. Plus it gave me the appropriate calorie credit at the end of it (or at least what I think is appropriate based on similar previous workouts).
This is not the first watch to offer training prompts from your wrist: Fitbit's Premium account gives workout videos that sync with the Versa, and there are third-party workout apps for the Apple Watch. But it's nice that Samsung offers it natively and for free. My one complaint is that the workout I chose had the same robotic woman's voice as the running coach guiding me through the workouts -- and let's just say she's not exactly motivating when you're trying to hold a plank for 60 seconds.
Sleep tracking finally makes sense on the Galaxy Watch 3
One of my biggest complaints about the sleep tracking feature on the original Galaxy Watch was that it provided little context about your sleep habits, especially for if you don't know much about sleep to begin with.
The Watch 3 has learned a lot from the mistakes of its predecessors, and now gives a more comprehensive look at your night. It gives you a full breakdown of the stages of sleep (light, REM, deep), and compares yours with a normal range. It also gives you a score based on these factors.
I've never found the score to be helpful, but having the context of seeing my data compared with a normal range helped me figure out how to get the most out of my sleep. While my total sleep time was good, I found I wasn't spending much time in "deep" sleep compared with what's typical. I tried going to bed an hour earlier, and though my total sleep time didn't change, I was able to extend my deep sleep time and felt more rested in the morning.
Samsung
The basic smartwatch features, but no MST for Samsung Pay
I tested the Galaxy Watch 3 with an iPhone 11 Pro and a Galaxy S20 Ultra and, while it worked well on both, some of its features, which include text responses and mobile payments, are only available for Android users. The Watch runs on Samsung's own Tizen operating system, which is easy to navigate and offers a lot more customization than some of its competitors. You can set widgets and rearrange apps right from the watch screen.
You can type, scribble, dictate or doodle a response and take calls from your wrist. It doesn't have a huge selection of third-party apps (Spotify and Strava are among the few), but it does receive notifications from most of them including Facebook, WhatsApp and even CNET news alerts.
With Spotify you get full music control, offline listening for Premium subscribers and streaming over LTE (you'll pay about $50 more for the cellular version of the Galaxy Watch 3).
The Galaxy Watch 3 has Samsung Pay, but sadly it's NFC-only and the feature will only work at NFC-enabled terminals. The Galaxy phones and Gear S3 have MST technology so you can use them for contactless payment at nearly all credit card terminals with a magnetic strip.
Battery life is disappointing
Samsung says the battery on the Galaxy Watch 3 will last for up to two days, which it can, but there are a few caveats. For starters, this claim only applies to the larger 45mm version of the watch. I tested the smaller, 41mm version and Samsung says this size will last closer to a day and a half with "normal use." As always, mileage may vary depending on how you intend to use it.
With the always on display set to auto brightness, tracking a full night of sleep and taking it on a 30-minute jog (without my phone) I only just made it to the 24-hour mark.
The watch offers some battery-saving tips including turning off the always-on feature, limiting the screen timeout and turning off location data. I made those changes and the watch lasted a day and a half when I didn't have time for a run and had the always-on screen off, but I feel like those features should be factored into Samsung's claim.
I was also disappointed to find that the watch doesn't come with its own USB wall adapter, just a cable with the magnetic charging puck, but the upside is that you can charge it on any Qi compatible wireless charger, or get a quick boost on the go using the Power Share feature on Samsung's Galaxy phones (S10 or later).
A good-looking smartwatch with great potential
The Galaxy Watch 3 has come a long way in terms of its features and user experience. Starting at $400 for the base 41mm model, you're getting a premium-looking smartwatch that can finally keep up as a fitness tracker. But the Watch 3 won't feel fully finished until it can deliver on all of its health features.
If you're not too attached to the design, or the physical bezel, you might also consider the Galaxy Watch Active 2, which shares a lot of the same features for about $200 less.
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Garmin Venu Sq review: A solid fitness tracker without the frills
Garmin Venu Sq review: A solid fitness tracker without the frills
The $200 (£179, AU$300) Garmin Venu Sq has almost every fitness- and health-tracking feature you could want in a smartwatch for less than competitors like the Apple Watch ($349 at eBay) and Fitbit Versa 3 ($170 at Target). It has a bright LCD touchscreen, built-in GPS, SpO2 (blood oxygen) tracking and up to six days of battery life, which makes it a compelling buy, especially if you want a watch that's compatible with both Android and iOS.
It's not the most premium-looking smartwatch out there and it misses out on features like a voice assistant and altimeter, but it makes up for it in health and fitness features that elevate it from the rest.
A functional watch without the wow factor
Like the name suggests, the Venu Sq has a square watch face with rounded edges, unlike the original Garmin Venu and almost every other Garmin sports watch with circular designs. Its 1.3-inch color LCD display feels a bit cramped compared to other Garmin watches, but it's clear and easy to read even in bright sunlight and you can keep the screen set to always-on. Having used the larger Garmin Venu for a while, the smaller size of the Venu Sq took a bit of getting used to, especially during workouts when I couldn't see as many stats at a glance and had to scroll to find the right metric like heart rate, which was all the way on the last page.
The overall build quality is sturdy enough thanks to an aluminum bezel, although the plastic case and buttons make it feel like a cheaper watch than it actually is, especially compared to something like the Apple Watch SE ($280 at eBay), Galaxy Watch Active 2 ($200 at Amazon) or Fitbit Versa 3 for example, which all have metal finishes and OLED displays. The Venu Sq has two side buttons: one to start/stop activities and the other to navigate back and forth between menus. Once I figured out which did what, it took me a few days to get completely comfortable using them to navigate the interface.
My biggest complaint with the Venu Sq's design is the vibration motor, which is not particularly strong. Half the time it was the buzzing noise, not the vibration itself, that clued me in on a notification.
Blood oxygen monitor and heart health alerts
Garmin's biggest strength is in health and fitness tracking, with the Venu Sq squarely hitting the mark. It has an SpO2 sensor to identify blood oxygen levels, either as a spot check or automatically throughout the day and night, similar to the $399 Apple Watch Series 6. Although setting it to monitor constantly will reduce battery life a lot faster. It's also hard to find the SpO2 option in the menus and I found that adding it as a widget in the settings is the best way to get it to pop up on your wrist.
Unfortunately I didn't have a pulse oximeter to compare the readings from the Venu Sq to determine accuracy. Either way, it's important to note that the Venu Sq has not been approved to be used as a medical device and should not be used for diagnostic purposes. Always consult with a physician or other qualified health provider about any health-related issues you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
Though the Venu Sq doesn't have an ECG, or electrocardiogram, like the Apple Watch Series 6 and Galaxy Watch 3 ($399 at Amazon), it does give you the option to receive high and low heart rate notifications that will let you know if your heart rate spikes above or falls below what it considers to be a healthy threshold.
The Venu Sq also uses heart rate variability to determine your stress levels, but doesn't really offer much guidance on how to decrease your stress. I found Garmin's Body Battery meter, which takes into account heart rate variability readings, activity levels and sleep, a more accurate representation of how my body was working that day and helped me decide what kind of workout to do and how hard to push myself. It works better than the Stress Management Score in the Fitbit Sense ($240 at Target) that is a bit more difficult to interpret for me.
Garmin also offers breathing rate and estimated VO2 max, the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during exercise, which can be used to gauge and improve athletic performance. The higher the number, the more fit you are.
Screenshot by Lexy Savvides/CNET
Sleep tracking is also great on the Venu Sq and clearly identifies your sleep stages of REM, deep and light sleep. You'll also be able to see breathing rate and SpO2 levels in the morning. The downside is that the Garmin Connect app doesn't give you any tips on improving your sleep quality. Menstrual cycle tracking is also available on the Venu Sq and like other Garmin watches, it offers pregnancy tracking to log symptoms and monitor baby movement.
The Venu Sq has a range of workouts preloaded onto the watch, including cardio, strength, Pilates and yoga, so you can follow along with a preset routine on your wrist. There aren't any visual cues on the screen though, just text cues, so if you're doing yoga for example, you'll need to know what "standing forward bend pose" or "low lunge pose" means to get the most out of the routine. You can also build your own workout, such as a circuit of weights, a Pilates routine or a run, within the Garmin Connect app and sync them to the watch. There are also over 50 additional Garmin-created workouts you can load.
On top of these preloaded routines, the Venu Sq can track more than 20 different workout types, from the usual running and walking variants to golf and pool swimming. There's also a personal running coach you can use to help you train for a race or to hit a set goal. It doesn't give you personalized feedback on your form or audio cues like the Galaxy Watches ($295 at Amazon), for example, instead it's more a guide for when you should warm up or how long you should run for, displayed on your wrist.
The Venu Sq has built-in GPS, meaning you don't have to rely on your phone for distance tracking when you're outside. Just be warned that it does take at least 30 seconds to lock on to a GPS signal when you are outside (regardless of whether you have your phone with you or not), which seems like an eternity if you're an impatient runner like me who just wants to get on with it. Once it finally locked though, it tracked my route accurately.
The downside is that there is no gyroscope or altimeter on the Venu Sq, so if you need accurate elevation data you'll likely want to look elsewhere. The Garmin Connect app does a good job of clearly showing you all the details after your workout, but it doesn't dive any deeper into metrics than what similarly priced rivals like the Apple Watch SE or Fitbit Versa 3 offer.
Like other Garmin watches, the Venu Sq has Garmin Live Track which lets you share your location with a safety contact when you are doing an outdoor workout. It does however require a cellular connection, so you will need your phone with you to use this feature.
You can customize the options on this screen to show only your favorite workout types to track.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
Just enough smarts for most people
While the Venu Sq is geared towards fitness and health tracking, that doesn't necessarily mean you'll miss out on smartwatch features. Like almost every other watch, the Venu Sq displays notifications from your phone and pings your phone to locate it if you lose it within Bluetooth range. You'll be able to see call notifications come through regardless of which phone you have the watch paired with, but only Android users will be able to decline calls and respond to text messages from the watch with prewritten responses. There is no speaker or mic onboard so you can't use voice-to-text responses.
The Venu Sq runs Garmin's own operating system (Garmin OS) which is not as seamless as that of Apple or Samsung's smartwatches, but I found it to be stable and more responsive than the Fitbit OS. It's faster to sync updates and doesn't experience any lag in selecting menu options or opening apps.
The biggest pain point for me when using the Venu Sq paired with an iPhone ($500 at Best Buy) has been notifications. The Garmin Connect app on iOS doesn't let you filter out what notifications come through on your wrist and simply mirrors whatever notifications you have set up on your phone. It might not be a deal breaker for many, but I like to push only the most important notifications such as calls and text messages to my wrist, rather than everything that my phone shows. Android users get more control over which notifications come through.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
If you want onboard music storage, you'll need to opt for the music edition of the Venu Sq that costs $50 more, which is the version I tested in this review. The Venu Sq Music lets you store music for offline listening from apps like Spotify (with a Premium subscription) or songs you already own. It's also the watch to get for faster data transfers as it has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, whereas the regular Venu Sq only uses Bluetooth.
Garmin has plenty of watch faces to choose from, including third-party options to help personalize the look, plus a fairly wide selection of apps through the Connect IQ Store (a separate app you need to download on your phone). You can also make contactless payments with Garmin Pay on all versions of the watch. The main Garmin Connect app is where you see all your stats and change settings on the watch, while the Connect IQ Store is for adding apps and watch faces.
The Venu Sq, however, lacks a voice assistant, a feature that by now has become standard for most of its similarly priced competitors. This might not be a deal-breaker for you, but it means you miss out hands-free voice control, which I like.
A week's worth of battery life
The Venu Sq has great battery life and you can get up to six days worth of use before you'll need to charge it up, though that number may start to whittle down if you're using it for a lot of GPS workouts, listening to music or continuously tracking your blood oxygen levels. Garmin quotes up to eight hours of battery when playing back music, 14 hours if you are using it in GPS mode, or up to six hours with GPS and music playback.
A great fitness watch without extra bells and whistles
If you're willing to sacrifice a few smart features for better health and fitness tracking, the Garmin Venu Sq is a solid choice that works with Android or iOS. That said, I do wish that Garmin wouldn't charge the extra $50 for the music version, as it does alter the value proposition quite a bit, particularly if you are an iPhone user who might also be considering the Apple Watch SE which, at that point doesn't cost you that much more.
This story is part of War in Ukraine, CNET's coverage of events there and of the wider effects on the world.
It's been over a month since Russia invaded Ukraine, and worries about cybersecurity continue to grow. Even before the invasion, US officials blamed Russia for cyberattacks against some Ukrainian websites, including Ukraine's Ministry of Defense and two banks.
While the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said there are no specific or credible cyberthreats against the US, the agency also said potential cyberattacks are more likely to target infrastructure. CISA is recommending everyone be prepared just in case. And securing your mobile device is a good place to start when building a line of cyberdefense. Here are six steps Android users can take to protect their phone data.
Make sure your OS is up to date
Updating your operating system can patch known security vulnerabilities and fix bugs. Not updating to the latest version leaves you and your device open to flaws that could expose personal data to malicious actors. Some people might put off updating their OS so they don't have to deal with early bugs in the system, but waiting too long can harm your system. Here's what to know about the latest Android OS, Android 12.
Turn on two-factor authentication
Two-factor authentication , or 2FA, adds a second layer of security to your Android account in case your password gets stolen. With 2FA, once you enter your password, a second message is sent to another device asking to verify that you are trying to login. It adds a bit more time to your login process, but the extra layer of security is well worth it. Here's how to turn on 2FA.
Use a password manager
If you're having trouble memorizing multiple passwords and coming up with unique passwords for every account, a password manager can help. These utilities can work hand-in-hand with 2FA and can securely store passwords and automatically fill login pages. They can also protect you against phishing scams that direct you to enter your password into a fraudulent website. For more information, check out CNET's reviews of password managers Bitwarden, LastPass and 1Password.
Encrypt your Android
Starting in 2015, Google required manufacturers to make Android devices encryptable out of the box. Once your device is encrypted, all data stored on the device is locked behind a PIN code, fingerprint, pattern or password known by the owner. Without that key, not even Google can unlock your device. Here you can find out how to encrypt your phone.
Remove your data from Google
Android is a Google product, so unencrypted device data could be stored on a Google server. You can check with Google to see what data of yours it has, and you can ask Google to delete that data. The process can take time, but it's worth the effort -- your data can't be stolen if it's not in the system to begin with. Here's where you can find how to request Google to delete your information, but note that Google does not guarantee that it will complete the request.
When all else fails, delete your phone
If you lose your phone or it's stolen, you can remotely wipe your phone. Our Android settings guide has a walkthrough in case you need to take this step. This gets rid of all data from your phone so if you have anything on it you want to keep, you should get in the habit of backing your phone up on a separate device.
For more information on securing your phone, check out these eight apps to protect your phone's privacy, what information digital security experts wish you knew and how to stop your phone from tracking you.
