Electric guitar electric electric bike electrician electric scooter dont swap shop don t swap horses in midstream dont swap in midstream don t swap horses in the middle of the stream donut swap don t swallow your gum t shirt don t swallow my heart alligator girl don t sway don t swallow gum don taylor don tapscott don trump news don thompson don trump jr twitter don tpn

Don't Swap Your Gas-Guzzler for an Electric Vehicle to Avoid High Fuel Prices

---

Don't Swap Your Gas-Guzzler for an Electric Vehicle to Avoid High Fuel Prices

This story is part of Plugged In, CNET's hub for all things EV and the future of electrified mobility. From vehicle reviews to helpful hints and the latest industry news, we've got you covered.

There are plenty of great reasons to consider an electric vehicle. They usually offer stellar performance, they're smooth and quiet to drive, you can do much of your "refueling" at home (meaning you never have to visit a gas station unless you need snacks or a bathroom break) and they have zero tailpipe emissions. But despite their considerable advantages, EVs still aren't for everyone, and they don't always make the most economic sense.

If you tow earth-moving equipment or haul gravel for a living, you're probably going to want a heavy duty diesel-powered pickup, because today's EVs aren't going to cut it. Likewise, if you reside in an apartment and don't have a parking space, much less a garage with a Level 2 charger, an electric vehicle may be a hard sell. But what if you're looking for relief from high fuel prices? EVs cost way less to "refuel," though they are often quite expensive upfront.

Let's say you own a midrange, Lariat-trim, 2022 Ford F-150 with four-wheel drive, the lovely 2.7-liter EcoBoost twin-turbocharged V6 and a standard 10-speed automatic transmission, a popular pickup configuration in the US. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, this big bad truck stickers at up to 19 mpg city, 24 mpg highway and 21 mpg combined; frightening figures compared to a Toyota Prius, but everything is relative. For a full-size truck, this rig is actually quite economical.

Electric vehicles offer instant torque for speedy acceleration. 

Nick Miotke/CNET

But what does it cost to fuel this full-size truck each year? Well, let's do a little math to figure it out. (Scary, I know!) According to AAA, at the time of writing the national average price for a gallon of regular-grade gasoline is about $4.24. This varies wildly from state to state: In California, the per-gallon price is around $5.88; on the opposite coast in Maryland, it's a much more reasonable $3.80. As reported by insurance comparison site The Zebra, Americans drive an average of 14,263 miles each year. To keep things simple, let's round up and say you travel 15,000 miles annually in your F-150 and average 21 mpg doing so (the EPA estimate). Dividing 15,000 by 21 means you're burning about 714 gallons of dinosaur juice per year. There are myriad variables on top of that, but we can simply multiply 714 by 4.24, which works out to an annual fuel bill of about $3,028. Ouch.

Now let's compare that traditional, combustion-powered pickup to the exciting, all-electric F-150 Lightning. In midrange XLT trim with the extended-range battery pack, this truck offers an estimated 320 miles of range. As for efficiency, this version of the Lightning should return 78 mpge city and 63 mpge highway, scores that result in a combined rating of 70 mpge. For reference, mpge is a way of quantifying how much energy is in a gallon of gasoline; it works out to about 33.7 kilowatt-hours of electricity.

Next, according to the Energy Information Administration, the national average residential cost of electricity in the US was 13.72 cents per kWh in January 2022; we'll round up and say 14 cents per kWh. The Lightning's large battery pack clocks in at a husky 131 kilowatt-hours, so multiplying that by 0.14 means it would cost about $18.34 to completely recharge this truck from 0 to 100%. This is not something most people will ever do, because who wants to roll up to a charger with zero range? (Also, if you use public chargers, you'll probably be paying a lot more for the privilege.) Still, this is illustrative of how affordable it is to run an EV.

The Kia EV6 is one of our favorite new electric vehicles.

Antuan Goodwin/CNET

But now let's calculate how much it costs to run the Lightning for a year. We could base this off the EPA's estimated 48 kWh/100-mile efficiency figure, but let's do it just like we did with the standard F-150 above. Taking 15,000 miles per year and dividing that by 70 mpge, the combined "fuel economy" rating of this vehicle, gets you 214 "gallons" of electricity. Next, multiply 214 by 33.7, the equivalent number of kWh per gallon of gasoline and you get about 7,221 kWh. Multiply that figure by $0.14 and the result is roughly $1,011 in electricity per year. This is very close to the EPA's estimate of $950.

So, if it costs $3,028 to run the conventionally powered F-150 15,000 miles each year and just $1,011 to power the Lightning, the all-electric model is only one-third as expensive. The annual difference is a not insubstantial $2,017. What could you do with an extra two grand each year?

Combustion vs. Electric

	2022 Ford F-150 Lariat	2022 Ford F-150 Lightning XLT	2022 Honda Accord Sport	2022 Kia EV6 Wind
Vehicle Details	4WD, crew-cab body, 2.7-liter twin-turbo V6, 5.5-foot bed	4WD, crew-cab body, 5.5-foot bed, 131-kWh long-range battery	FWD, 1.5-liter turbo-four, continuously variable transmission	RWD, 77.4-kWh long-range battery
Range (miles)	Up to 546	320	Up to 488	310
City Efficiency (mpg or mpge)	19	78	30	134
Highway Efficiency (mpg or mpge)	24	63	38	101
Combined Efficiency (mpg or mpge)	21	70	33	117
EPA kWh/100 miles	N/A	48	N/A	29
As-Tested Price	$56,020	$74,269	$31,085	$48,255
Estimated Annual Fuel/Electricity Cost to Drive 15,000 Miles	$3,028	$1,011	$1,929	$605

What about payback (and I don't mean revenge) time? Well, that XLT-trim Lighting with the big battery and no options starts at $74,269, including $1,795 in destination fees. That's certainly pricey, but the top-shelf Platinum model is far richer, kicking off at nearly 93 grand. As for our old-fashioned Ford F-150 (a midrange, Lariat trim, crew-cab model with a 5.5-foot bed, four-wheel-drive and the standard equipment group), it stickers for around $56,020, also including $1,795 for delivery. Subtracting $56,020 from $74,269 means the Lightning is a whopping $18,249 pricier, more than the cost of a new Nissan Versa sedan.

Next, dividing the price delta between these trucks by the annual fuel/electricity cost difference means you'd have to own the Lightning for about nine years for your "fuel" savings to make up the price difference, though if you get a more expensive model, a higher-trim F-150 or the same variant with more options, the payback period compared to that all-electric Lighting will be shorter.

Not surprisingly, it's the same story with smaller vehicles. Take the lovely Kia EV6, for instance. This stylish and spacious hatchback is a great choice for folks that want to downsize from a truck and save a big chunk of change in the process. A long-range, Wind-trim, rear-drive EV6 offers 310 miles of range and stickers at 134 miles per gallon equivalent city, 101 mpge highway and 117 mpge combined. Calculating the EV6's efficiency like we did with the Lightning above reveals that the electricity needed to run this vehicle for 15,000 miles should cost around $605 per year, which is very close to the EPA's estimate of $550.

Despite the myriad benefits of owning an EV, sometimes it still makes more sense to keep your combustion-powered vehicle.

Steven Ewing/CNET

Comparing our miserly EV6 to a midrange Honda Accord Sport sedan, which is far more efficient than an F-150, is similarly revealing. With a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, a continuously variable transmission and a combined fuel economy rating of 33 mpg, you'd be spending about $1,928 on fuel to drive this Honda for 15,000 miles... nearly 3.2 times more than the Kia. However, including destination and delivery, the Accord is far cheaper at a totally reasonable $31,085 compared to the EV6's $48,255 price tag. It's a difference of $17,170, which is slightly less than the delta between the standard F-150 and the Lightning. 

Dividing that figure by $1,323, the annual price difference of running the Accord compared to the Kia, works out to a payback period of nearly 13 years. In this case, it may make more sense to keep on driving the Accord even if you nearly faint every time you fill the tank.

The entirety of this discussion presupposes you're focused on prioritizing personal finances above all other concerns. But there's a bigger picture to consider: We haven't even discussed the negative environmental impact that burning fossil fuels or digging up rare earth minerals has on climate change, let alone the many and varied downstream costs that come home to roost societally as a result. Those sorts of long-term communal costs are clearly beyond the scope of this article, but they deserve to be considered.

At the end of the day, there are plenty of great reasons to get an electric vehicle, but if you're thinking about swapping your internal combustion-powered car or truck for a new EV just to save money at the pump, make sure to do the math first -- especially if your current ride is paid for -- because plugging in and making a change may not make economic sense for you, even with fuel prices in the stratosphere.

---

Source

This impressive location proudly this impressionist artist was an american this imperative means pay here this is impressive where is this impressive 18 story slide where is this impressive 18 story slide where is this impressive flower garden who built this impressive tower this is very impressive where is this impressive palace where is this impressive granite quarry this is so impressive

This Impressive Midrange HP Laptop is a Steal at $420 ($130 Off)

---

This Impressive Midrange HP Laptop is a Steal at $420 ($130 Off)

You don't need to drop thousands on a pricey ultrapowerful laptop to get a dependable machine that's equipped with everything you need for both work and play. There are plenty of affordable midrange models with specs that are more than sufficient for the needs of most people, and right now you can snag one at a discount. Today only, Best Buy is offering $130 off this 15.6-inch HP laptop, dropping the price down to just $420 until 9:59 p.m. PT (12:59 a.m. ET) tonight. 

With these specs, this HP laptop is a competitive model even at full price. It boasts an impressive 12GB of high-bandwidth RAM, as well as a 256GB M.2 solid-state drive, the same style used on powerful next-gen gaming consoles. Plus, it's equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U six-core processor and an AMD Radeon GPU. It has a full HD, 15.6-inch, antiglare display as well as a 720p built-in webcam, so it's ready for video calls right out of the box. It's also plenty versatile with two USB-A ports, a USB-C port, an HDMI port and an SD card reader. At 3.75 pounds, it's a little on the heavy side, but at 0.78-inch thick, this model is still slim enough to slip into your bag and take on the go. And it gets up to nine hours of battery life on a single charge for work without interruption.

Read more: Best Laptop for 2022: Here Are 15 Laptops We Recommend

§

Once you manage to get your hands on a PlayStation 5, you'll be burning to play as many next-gen games as you can grab. But nobody wants to be stuck choosing this over that and deciding which paltry few games you can manage to fit on the PS5's limited prebuilt storage. 

Fortunately, you won't have to. Sony unlocked the PS5's extra internal storage drive slot in the summer of 2021. This option wasn't available when the PS5 launched in fall 2020, but now you can access that extra space to beef up your console's current storage capacity. Just grab the best M.2 SSD for your gaming needs and you can experience all the benefits of that extra storage boost.

Before the mass availability of solid-state drives and before the beta, you could still add an external drive for PS4 games, but only play PS4 games from it. You could store PS5 games on a portable SSD, but you couldn't play them. 

Read more: PS5 Review: Exclusive Games Power Sony's Console

However, it can be hard to find a superfast M.2 drive, especially one with a built-in heatsink. That's an essential feature to prevent overheating. So if your solid-state drive doesn't have one, you'll have to add it manually. We've made some suggestions below to help with that process.

We've tested several drives, including the 4TB Seagate FireCuda 530, which we installed in this how-to feature, and you can find those transfer time results below. 

Joe Kaminski/CNET

Samsung's high-end M.2 drive was a logical first choice for a lot of PS5 modders... but the original version didn't include a built-in heatsink, which is required for operation. Sure, you could buy a separate one and attach it, but that's a few extra steps.

Conveniently, this excellent Samsung 980 Pro SSD is now available with a heatsink, which makes it an all-in-one package. There are two current configurations, a 1TB model and a 2TB model, with the price roughly doubling for the larger model. 

Dan Ackerman/CNET

I recently got my hands on a big 4TB Seagate FireCuda 530, which includes a built-in heatsink, a requirement for an internal PS5 drive. The 1TB version is usually around $250, while the 4TB version is upward of $900. Note that due to its popularity, this particular Seagate FireCuda drive has frequently been out of stock, so grab one when you can. 

After I installed and set up the drive, I tried transferring a few games from the default drive to my new SSD. Call of Duty, which is nearly 200GB, transferred in about 2 minutes, 30 seconds. Returnal, around 50GB, transferred in about 40 seconds. 

Scott Stein

Corsair recently announced this PS5-compatible M.2 drive. This particular SSD comes with a heat sync. We're currently testing the 2TB version and will update this soon with more details from our hands-on testing. A 1TB drive sells for $145, while the 2TB is $290.

Dan Ackerman/CNET

Normally I'd stick with M.2 drives with built-in heat sinks, so make the entire upgrade process easier. But I'll make an exception for this PNY XLR8 drive, because PNY also makes a separate PS5 SSD cover panel, complete with built-in head sink. 

Just slot the slim M.2 drive in the slot, then screw the new cover panel over it and you're all set. The 1TB drive is around $140 right now, and the cover is an extra $20. We've tested the drive and added its transfer time scores to the chart below. 

This is the PNY heat sink and cover combo, which makes it easy to install an M.2 drive that doesn't have its own heat sink. 

Dan Ackerman/CNET

The drives above have all been tested, and you'll see there's not a lot of difference in performance between them. The most notable thing is that writing to the M.2 drive is a lot faster than writing back to the internal PS5 drive. 

PS5 M.2 file transfer time (in min:sec)

	Console to M.2	M.2 to Console
FFVII (81GB)
Seagate FireCuda 530 (4TB)	1:05	6:00
Samsung 980 Pro (1TB)	1:08	5:56
Corsair MP600 Pro LPX (2TB)	1:04	5:54
PNY XLR8 CS3140 (1TB)	1:16	6:11
Spider-Man: Miles Morales (39GB)
Seagate FireCuda 530	0:33	2:57
Samsung 980 Pro	0:31	2:53
Corsair MP600 Pro LPX	0:33	2:54
PNY XLR8 CS3140 (1TB)	0:40	2:53

Below are some additional drives and accessories that we have not tested yet, but should all work fine. 

---

Amazon

Besides the Samsung and Seagate versions, this Western Digital drive is probably the most popular M.2 choice for the PS5. It also includes the needed heatsink built in, which I frankly recommend as a much easier way to get your console storage upgraded. 

The WD Black comes in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB sizes, although I can't see going through all the effort required to open the PS5 and install these for a mere 500GB of extra space, especially with some games getting close to 100GB in size. 1TB seems like the best bang for your buck, as the 2TB drive costs more than the PS5 itself. 

Samsung

This is the original Samsung 980 Pro 1TB drive that needs a separate heatsink. If you've got one and can attach it, it's a less expensive option and easy to find. In fact, the price on this model has even dropped by a few dollars. 

The advantage of adding an M.2 internal drive to your PS5 is that you can both store and play PS5-native games from it. Regular external hard drives can store PS5 games, but not play them. (Both store and play PS4 games.)

Amazon

If you're going down the add-your-own-heatsink route, this is one of the most popular parts for PS5 owners. Gamers have reported that it's a perfect fit for the PS5's M.2 slot, especially when paired with the Samsung 980 SSD. 

To attach a heatsink like this, you usually need some thermal tape to connect the heatsink to the drive. In this case, there's an included thermal pad that sticks the two parts together. That's important because without the right kind of thermal management, the M.2 drive could get too hot in the tightly constricted PS5 internal drive slot. 

FAQs

We update this list regularly, and below are answers to some of the most common PS5 M.2 SSD questions.

Does my M.2 drive need a heat sink?

Yes. Sony requires a heat sink (basically a chunk of metal) to dissipate heat and prevent the drive from overheating. Some M.2 drives include a built-in heat sink, others need to attach manually via tape or adhesive. 

What games will run from a PS5 M.2 drive?

Unlike an external drive connected via USB-C, an internal M.2 drive can both store and run PS5 and PS4/PS Plus games. An external drive can store both, but only play PS4/older games. 

How we test PS5 M.2 drives

To test these M.2 SSD drives for the very specific purpose of storing and playing PS5 games, our primary concern is data transfer speed. All the drives compatible with the PS5 will play and load games seamlessly. The only time you're likely to notice the drive in action is when transferring full games either to or from it. 

To test the speed of these drives, we downloaded specific games onto the PS5 internal drive, then transferred those games to the newly installed M.2 drive. Then we transferred the same games back to the internal SSD. The games we use for this test are Final Fantasy VII Remake, at 81GB; and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, at 39GB. We used a stopwatch to time the transfers and listed each result in the chart above.

§

We're still a little ways away from the PlayStation VR2, but there are plenty of PSVR games you can play right now on the PlayStation 5. You will, of course, need the original PlayStation VR headset to play them.

The PSVR has held on as a surprisingly good doorway to a wide collection of the best VR games, including a number of Sony exclusives. So while you wait for the PlayStation VR2, you can hook up the existing PSVR to the PS5 and enjoy VR games. Some of them even benefit from better load times and graphics, too.

The PlayStation VR lives on with the PS5... and a few extra accessories.

Scott Stein/CNET

Some words of advice: The PSVR headset is older tech that requires a complex, cabled box and an older PS4 camera, which will plug into the PS5 with an extra dongle adapter you'll have to get from Sony. Also, most PSVR games won't work with the new PS5 DualSense controller (with a few exceptions, like Star Wars Squadrons). For most gamepad games, you'll need to dig up an older PS4-era DualShock 4. 

Sony's PSVR has other optional gear, too: wand-like PS Move controllers (which you need for some games) and a light-gun-like VR Aim controller. For the sake of keeping this list simple, I left off games that only work with those; below are some excellent titles that just need a DualShock 4 to work.

Also, a lot of these games also can work without a PSVR headset. They're VR optional, but the headset adds a different level of immersion that's often really compelling, with the downside of a lower-res display than you'd get on a 4K TV.

Sony Interactive Entertainment

The best Sony VR exclusive game, and a must-play if you get a PSVR headset. The same team that made Astro's Playroom -- the game that's baked into your PS5 that shows off the amazing tricks of the DualSense controller -- also made this showcase for the PSVR headset. It plays like a wonderful VR version of a Mario-type platformer. I like it even more than Astro's Playroom.

PlayStation

An art piece exploration puzzle game involving fantastic alien worlds, impossibly strange creatures and a simple interface that will have you exploring what to do. It's a great game to soak in some atmosphere. And really, it's so strange -- and beautiful.

More VR and gaming advice

---

Source

Huawei mate xs foldable huawei mate xs foldable phone huawei mate xs foldable phone huawei mate xs 2 review huawei mate xs 5g the mate spot the mate switching hypothesis huawei mate xs 2 mate xs 2 the material works

The Mate XS: A Huawei foldable will finally be available outside China

---

The Mate XS: A Huawei foldable will finally be available outside China

Huawei has taken the wraps off the Mate XS, a minor update to its existing Mate X that I spent time with in Paris late last year. I think the folding design is great and while the Mate X was strictly China-only, the Mate XS is due to go on sale elsewhere in the world, including the UK.

The XS does have some slight upgrades, including an apparently strengthened display, the latest Kirin 990 processor and some caps on the edge of the folding mechanism to help protect against dust. 

There's no firm date for the Mate XS as of yet, and no firm price either, although it is expected to be somewhere around the £2,200 mark in the UK (about $2,850 or AU$4,300). Yikes. Don't expect it to be available in the US at all, due to Huawei's ongoing political difficulties. 

The Mate XS is otherwise identical to the Mate X, so read on to see what I thought of that phone when I took it on a lovely tour of Paris. 

The Huawei Mate X

I've finally been able to spend some real time with the foldable Huawei Mate X, the Chinese company's folding phone rival to Samsung's Galaxy Fold and Motorola's folding Razr. After a whole day using it all over Paris, I've gotta be honest, this foldable Android device is damn cool. 

I'll start with the obvious, the actual folding mechanism. The Mate X's flexible OLED screen folds backward on itself, in contrast to Samsung's Galaxy Fold, which closes in on itself like a book, or the Razr, which folds shut like an old clamshell phone. That means you can use the entire 8-inch display even when the phone is closed. Unlike the Galaxy Fold, there is no internal Mate X display. 

Now we can debate all we want about which screen design and mechanical hinge are best, but this is purely about the Mate X, so I'll tell you what I've found to be great so far.

First of all, that folding display just looks amazing. The way the screen bends back around on itself, without any kind of distortion to the images, is awesome and I love the way the interface -- no matter what you're looking at -- instantly resizes into the correct aspect ratio. When I first saw this at MWC earlier in the year I had a genuine rush of excitement at witnessing something so futuristic. Months later, and even having used the Galaxy Fold since its launch, I'm no less excited about the way the Huawei Mate X bends. 

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Trust me when I say that from the moment you get it out of the box, you'll want to fold and unfold the Mate X time and time again. Your friends will want to have a go, your colleagues will want a go and even random strangers in bars will want a go.

But there's more to like about this foldable phone than just its ability to draw attention on a night out. By folding backward as it does, that big screen is essentially split in half, giving you a 6.6-inch display in its regular, "closed" phone format, outsizing all but the biggest phablet giants. (You get full use of the screen only when you unfold the phone.) As a result, videos and photos look great, particularly because there's no notch interrupting the view -- something I'll come back to later.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Having a big outer screen in "phone mode" makes it much more usable than the closed Galaxy Fold. In my several months with the Fold, I've found its 4.6-inch outer screen to be so narrow that typing on it can be extremely difficult. As a result, I almost always use it in its large, folded-out tablet mode. I've been forced to ask myself, do I really have a foldable smartphone or do I have a tablet that can be folded away for easy storage?

With the Huawei Mate X, I don't need to ask myself the same question. The Mate X's design is comfortable to use and while it's wider than the Fold, it's much thinner in its closed form, so it sits in my jeans pocket more easily and didn't feel at all awkward to keep there as I paced the busy Parisian streets. 

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

The downside? By bending outward, the rear screen is permanently exposed to the world, or to potentially damaging keys and coins in your pocket. Although the plastic material seemed pretty tough in my time with it, I can't vouch for it over months or years of ownership and I can't deny I'd be concerned about how easily it could get damaged. Let's not forget that Samsung canceled all orders of the original Fold following numerous instances of the screen breaking and eventually launched it with a refreshed design. At the very least, I'd want to keep it in some kind of protective sleeve when not in use.

The OLED display itself is bright, vibrant, pin-sharp and even under the bright lights of my hotel room -- and later, under the admittedly gray sky of winter in Paris -- I didn't struggle to read what was on screen. Watching videos in phone mode is great, but it's when you fold it out into its full 8 inches that those videos become significantly more immersive. I really loved checking out the images I shot on my day out in the city on that big display.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

To allow it to bend, the display is covered in plastic, not glass (as are all of today's foldable phones) and, like we've seen on the Galaxy Fold, there are some noticeable ripples on the screen's surface when it lays flat. But they're best described as "ripples" rather than the more pronounced "crease" on the Fold. This is likely due to the fact that the screen doesn't bend at such a sharp angle, thereby causing less of a crease in the display material. In my extended hands-on throughout the day, I rarely noticed these ripples and never found them to be a distraction. 

If I were really nitpicking (which, of course, I am), I'd say that the folding hinge is a bit stiff. Bending it backward from its tablet mode feels like you're having to force it more than it really wants, and on my first few attempts I wasn't sure if I was doing it properly. But it's something I'm sure you'd get used to once you got over the initial jarring sensation of basically trying to bend a tablet in half. It does mean that you're not likely to accidentally close it while using it as a tablet. I do like that a physical clasp holds it securely in its phone form and there's an easy-to-reach button that you'll press to release it and fold back out. The Fold and Razr use magnets to remain shut, but I believe the Mate just relies on the clasp. Time will tell which is better.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

The cameras are housed in a vertical side-bar, which I found to be a handy gripping point when unfolded in tablet mode (when closed, the phone folds back, sitting flush against this sidebar). It also means the cameras don't interrupt the display with notches, not even for selfies, as you simply turn the phone over and take those with the main camera. 

The camera lineup is much the same as Huawei's P30 Pro: a standard lens, a zoom lens that offers 3x and 5x zoom, a super wide-angle lens and a fourth "time of flight" sensor for depth processing. Having used the cameras extensively throughout my time with the smartphone, I'm pretty pleased with the results, particularly the portrait mode, which gave an extremely accurate bokeh around my willing subject. Exposure seemed good across the board and it uses the same night mode that's impressed me so much on Huawei's previous flagship phones, being able to capture bright, sharp images in dark night-time scenes.

The depth sensor did a great job of recognising that this metro sign is closer to the phone, thereby managing to produce a lovely looking bokeh with the background.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

There's lovely exposure and contrast in this street scene.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Accurate colours and an even exposure. Lovely stuff!

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Although shot at night, this image is vibrant and pin-sharp.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Other specs are pretty much in line with what you'd expect from any top-end smartphone. It runs Huawei's latest Kirin 980 octacore processor, has a 4,500-mAh battery with all-day battery life, 512GB of internal storage and 8GB of RAM. 

But it's not internal specs that are important here. The Huawei Mate X is all about that bend and having spent all day with the phone I'm confident in saying that this is my favorite foldable phone I've used so far. Given that it's only available in China, I'm not likely to add one to my permanent collection anytime soon, and that's a real shame, but my time with it has left me extremely excited about what we'll see from folding devices in the years to come. 

Originally published in December 2019.

---

Source

8k tv samsung 8k tv deals 8k tvs 2021 8k tv for sale 8k tv lg 8k tv 55 inch 8k tv reviews 8k tv 2022

8K TV Explained, and Why You Definitely Don't Need to Buy One

8K TV Explained, and Why You Definitely Don't Need to Buy One

Believe it or not, 8K TVs are available right now. Yep, 8K, as in four times the resolution of Ultra HD 4K TVs. You can, if you really want to, buy models from Samsung, Sony, LG and TCL in a variety of sizes. As you'd expect from cutting-edge technology with over 30 million pixels, the prices are quite high. In most cases 8K TVs cost more than a high-end, and often higher-quality, 4K TV. 

Should you consider an 8K TV? Are they the best TVs out there? In a word: No. In two words: Not yet. You're better off getting a high-quality 4K TV for far less money. It will look better with 99.9% of the content you put on it. That said, 8K is here, and it's not going away, so it's worth taking a closer look. You'll need to look very close, as those pixels are tiny. 

Eventually 8K will be far more mainstream. It's possible 4K will go the way of all those lower resolutions, and be relegated to tech history. Does this mean your 4K TV is already obsolete? Should you wait to buy a new TV until 8K prices drop? Do you need an 8K TV for the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X? Read on for the answer to all these questions and more.

Read more:  PS5 and Xbox Series X Can Game in 8K Resolution. Should You Care?

This shows the relative number of pixels in each of the major resolution formats. Not actual size of course; this is a chart not a visual representation (though it is to scale if you click on it). From largest to smallest: 8K (tangerine), 4K Cinema in 1.78:1 aspect ratio (black); Ultra HD (white); 2K Cinema in 1.78:1 aspect ratio (green); Full HD 1080p (red); 720p (blue). For more detail, pun intended, check out 4K vs. 8K vs. 1080p: TV resolutions explained.

Geoffrey Morrison/CNET

Is it worth buying an 8K TV?

Here's a quick summary of our current thinking regarding 8K TVs in early 2022.

• Unless you have money to burn, don't even consider buying one right now.
  
• From what we've seen, there's little, if any, image quality improvement over 4K TVs.
  
• Any improvement we have seen required sitting very close to a very large screen.
  
• To get the most out of any 8K TV, you need actual 8K content (and there basically isn't any).
• Both new consoles promise 8K resolution, but that's potentially misleading.
• In the next few years 8K TVs will get cheaper and perhaps actually be worth considering.

To reiterate, one of the biggest reasons 8K TVs are not as amazing as you might expect, besides their price, is that there simply aren't any 8K TV shows or movies to watch on them. And while the latest gaming consoles will eventually do 8K (maybe), 8K games today are basically nonexistent. The best you can get in most cases is 4K, so all those extra pixels of an 8K TV won't be used to their fullest potential. 

Now that you've slid your wallet back into your pocket, sit back and soak in everything there is to know about 8K TVs today. 

Read more: Remember When TVs Weighed 200 Pounds? A Look Back at TV Trends Over the Years

What is 8K, and is it better than a 4K TV?

A traditional HDTV from a few years ago is 1080p, which means it has 1,920 pixels horizontally and 1,080 vertically. Many digital cinema projectors -- the ones in movie theaters -- have a resolution of 2,048x1,080. Because it's common in Hollywood-speak to only refer to the horizontal resolution, they call that "2K," but it's basically the same as the HDTV 1080p you have at home.

Mathias Appel/HDMI Licensing

The term "4K" comes from the digital cinema side, too, with a horizontal resolution of 4,096, hence "4K." However, on the TV side, manufacturing efficiencies meant we got double the horizontal and vertical resolutions of 1080p HDTV, so 3,840x2,160 pixels. Everyone colloquially calls this "4K," though the technical term is Ultra HD. This has four times as many pixels as 1080p HD.

Which brings us to 8K. You guessed it: twice the horizontal and vertical resolution of 4K, for a whopping 7,680x4,320 and 33,177,600 total pixels. Not only is that four times the resolution of 4K, that's an incredible 16 times more pixels than 1080p. Or to put that differently, you could put 16 full-resolution 1080p videos on an 8K screen at the same time with no loss of quality. I'm not sure why you'd want to do this, but hey, why not?

Read more: 4K vs. 8K vs. 1080p: TV Resolutions Explained

TV and projector resolutions

Resolution name	Horizontal x vertical pixels	Total pixels	Other names	Found on
8K	7,680x4,320	33,177,600	8K Ultra HD, Ultra High Definition (UHD), Super Hi-Vision, UHD-2	High-end TVs
4K	3,840x2,160	8,294,400	Ultra High Definition (UHD)	Most modern TVs, some projectors
1080p	1,920x1,080	2,073,600	High Definition (HD)	Smaller, less expensive and older TVs, most projectors
720p	1,280x720	921,600	High Definition (HD)	Very small and older TVs

The Consumer Technology Association's 8K Ultra HD logo.

CTA

One thing to look for in new 8K TVs: It will feature the official logo and "spec" on new 8K TVs. This goes beyond raw pixel count to help you find TVs that perform to at least a certain standard. This is partly to avoid the mess from the early days of HD and 4K, where some of the first TVs couldn't accept a full HD or later, a 4K signal. The Consumer Technology Association lays out the following minimums a TV is required to have to wear the 8K Ultra HD logo:

• At least 7,680 pixels horizontally and 4,320 vertically. 
  
• At least one HDMI input capable of accepting that resolution, at 50 or 60 fps (depending on region), with HDR. 
• The ability to upconvert lower resolution signals to 8K.
• The ability to receive and display 10-bit content.

Can the human eye even see 8K?

Technically yes it can, but the difference will be very subtle at best.

As we've explained many times with 4K TVs, there's a point of diminishing returns when it comes to resolution. The human eye can see only so much detail, and extra pixels beyond what you can discern are basically wasted. To get anything out of higher resolutions and their proportionally tinier pixels, you need to sit closer, get a bigger TV, or both.

It's rare that anyone gets a large enough TV -- or sits close enough to one -- to justify the need for even 4K resolutions. 8K is excessive overkill... at least for a TV. If you're talking about massive theater-size screens like Samsung's Wall or Sony's Crystal LED, 8K would be amazing. But since 4K is hard to discern when comparing to a 1080p TV, 4K to 8K from 10 feet away will be pretty much impossible.

That said, because 8K TVs are currently the most expensive offerings from most companies, they often have features which help them produce stunning images that are completely divorced from resolution. So most 8K TVs, with the likely exception of the "cheap" models, will usually look great regardless of their pixel count.

Read more: Best 4K Projectors for 2022

TCL's 65-inch 8K 6-Series TV. 

TCL

8K content: Can I actually watch anything in 8K?

Without 8K content, an 8K TV is just a 4K TV with a few thousand dollars stuck to it with duct tape. Samsung talks up fancy "AI" upscaling technology on its TVs, designed to improve the look of mere 4K and 1080p sources on an 8K screen. And other TV makers like Sony and LG have touted their own 8K special sauces. But to get the most out of all those 33 million-plus pixels, the incoming source needs to be 8K too.

There are three main aspects to getting any new format, like 8K, into your home:

1. Content recorded in the new format

2. Transmission of the new format (broadcast, streaming, etc.)

3. Playback of the new format

An 8K TV represents the last part of the system: playback. That's the easy part. Any TV manufacturer can design and produce a TV with any resolution it wants. It's just up to the company and its resources.

Creating content in the new resolution, meanwhile, is a lot tougher. While the number of 8K-capable cameras has dramatically increased in the last few years, they're still expensive to buy or rent. In most cases, these cameras are used to create 4K content instead. There are lots of reasons it's a great idea to capture in 8K. The end result, however, is 4K, because of the second part of the process (transmission).

Read more: How I Built My Dream 8K-Capable Video Editing PC

The Red Monstro 8K VV "Brain" has a 35.4-megapixel CMOS sensor, can record 8K video at 60 fps, has over 17 stops of dynamic range, and costs -- brace yourself -- $54,500. 

Red

Ultra HD 4K transmission takes a lot of data. You need a really fast internet connection to stream it. Streaming 8K is a whole other level, well beyond what many have in their homes. With only a tiny percentage of their audience able to see it, mainstream streaming services are slow to adopt higher resolutions, with the increase in cost of storage, processing and more. 

Which is all to say, don't expect 8K versions of your favorite streaming shows anytime soon. And without 8K content, the main benefit of an 8K TV is at least partially wasted.

Do I need 8K to play Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 games?

Both Sony and Microsoft have announced that their next-generation gaming consoles, the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X, will both be capable of outputting 8K resolution via future updates. Sounds like a great excuse to buy an 8K TV, right? Not so fast.

First, and most important, you will not need an 8K TV to play games on these consoles. They will work just fine on most 1080p and nearly all 4K TVs. If you can connect a PS4 or Xbox One to your current TV, it will work with a PS5 or Xbox Series X. 

Read more: Sony PS5 vs. Microsoft Xbox Series X: Game On

Secondly, games will need to be specifically written to take advantage of 8K, something that isn't going to be particularly common. The resolution you see on screen, even if your TV says it's 8K, might not be what resolution the console is rendering the game. It will likely be far more common for the console to build the game's visuals at a lower resolution, 1440p or 4K at best, and convert to 8K to send your TV. This is the same thing your TV does automatically.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

A Sony spokesperson confirmed that this FAQ, published on the PlayStation blog in November 2020, was still the case: "PS5 is compatible with 8K displays at launch, and after a future system software update will be able to output resolutions up to 8K when content is available, with supported software." We're still waiting for that update.

"Xbox Series X is fully capable of 8K output. However, as there is no media content or games that currently support 8K resolution, we have not enabled the option within the system settings at this time. Xbox Series X was designed with the next 8 to 10 years of advancements in mind, and as we see signals from creators and 8K becomes a more widely adopted format, we will update console software to support it," a Microsoft spokesperson said.

Long story short, few games will look much different on an 8K TV than they will on a 4K TV. There is limited time and money when you develop a game (well, most games), and few developers will want to invest those limited resources on something only a handful of people will be able to enjoy. Far more likely are games rendered in 4K with higher frame rates, something else made possible by the latest version of HDMI and available on the new consoles.

Read more:  120Hz Gaming: Best TVs for PS5 and Xbox Series X

Where can I stream 8K? Do Netflix or YouTube support it?

Getting the 8K onto your new 8K TV is also a bit of a challenge. Ideally, the TV's internal apps for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and the rest will be 8K compatible. You'd think that'd be a given, but it wasn't in the early days of 4K. Further, there's no 8K content from any major streaming service available yet. The exceptions are YouTube, as you see in the video below, Vimeo and a new service called The Explorers exclusive to 8K Roku TVs. Eventually, ATSC 3.0, also known as Next Gen TV, might allow 8K to be broadcast over the air, but we're a long way from that.

How fast does your internet need to be to stream 8K?

8K also presents another issue for the early adopter: The bandwidth required is immense. Most 4K content streaming companies recommend you have an internet connection in the 20Mbps range. 8K, even with everything else the same, has four times as many pixels. 

That doesn't equate exactly to a 4x increase in data or bandwidth, but, and this is just a ballpark guess, a connection requirement in the 40 to 50Mbps range wouldn't be unexpected. Maybe you, cutting-edge CNET reader, have that kind of speed, but most people do not.

A visual representation of how much more bandwidth the upcoming Ultra High Speed cables can handle.

HDMI Forum

What kind of HDMI cable do I need for 8K? 

One thing we've already got is the physical connection thing sorted in case any 8K media streamers hit the market or they're needed for the PS5 and Xbox Series X. HDMI 2.1 is capable of 8K resolutions and more. But before you rush out and stock up on HDMI 2.1-compatible cables, keep in mind there will almost certainly be a new standard between now and the wide adoption of 8K. So those cables might be obsolete, despite their current forward-looking appearance.

All of the major 8K TV makers say that their sets have HDMI 2.1 inputs capable of handling the 48Mbps bandwidth required for the highest resolution and frame-rate combinations (8K and 60 frames per second and 4K at 120 fps). We also got a look at some new, higher-bandwidth HDMI cables. 

To take advantage of higher 4K frame rates on the new consoles, presuming your TV can handle them, you might need new cables.

Read more: When is the Best Time to Buy a TV?

Is 8K TV a gimmick?

To put on my cynic hat, increasing resolution is one of the easiest ways to offer the appearance of higher performance. This is likely what TV makers are smoking, coming out with 8K TVs when there's essentially no content and no 8K infrastructure. 

Given how easy it was to market 4K as "better looking than 1080p," TV makers are claiming the same thing with 8K. But resolution is just one aspect of overall picture quality, and not one of the most important ones. Improving other aspects, such as contrast ratios, overall brightness for HDR, more lifelike colors and so on, offer better image improvements but they are significantly harder to implement. This is especially true for LCD, which is a technology Samsung is still strongly flogging -- e.g. all of its QLED TVs are simply LCD TVs with quantum dots. 

It's relatively easy to create a higher-resolution LCD panel, but improving the other aspects of performance for that tech is a greater challenge. Not "more" pixels but "better" pixels. This is why OLED is a thing, and why many companies are researching new technologies like true direct-view quantum dot displays, MicroLED, and mini-LED. Samsung is even coming out with an OLED-quantum dot hybrid that promises to combine the contrast ratio of OLED and the bright colors of quantum dot-based displays. These technologies, regardless of resolution, should look better than 8K TVs, which are currently only LCD-based. 

Well, except for LG's OLED, which costs $20-$30,000 depending on size.

Direct-view quantum dot display.

Nanosys

Bottom line: Don't wait for 8K

If you're thinking about buying a new TV, does this mean you should hold off? If your current TV works, you should probably hold on to it regardless. New 8K TVs shouldn't be a factor, because as we mentioned above, early 8K TVs are expensive. We're also many, many years away from any sort of widespread 8K content. We arguably don't have widespread 4K content, and no one is talking about scrapping 4K to go directly to 8K.

The other aspect is a warning that will be seconded by countless 4K early adopters: There's no guarantee these early 8K TVs will end up being compatible with any future 8K standard. There are tens of thousands of 4K TVs that can't play any current 4K media content. 

Lastly, even as prices drop, like they have with the $2,200 TCL 8K 6-series, you're almost certainly better off with a 4K TV for the same money. It offers better picture quality overall and only lacks the bragging rights that you have more pixels than your neighbor. But if that's your thing, go for it.

Update, March 14, 2022: This article was first published in 2018 and is regularly updated with new info.

---

As well as covering TV and other display tech, Geoff does photo tours of cool museums and locations around the world, including nuclear submarines, massive aircraft carriers, medieval castles, epic 10,000 mile road trips, and more. Check out Tech Treks for all his tours and adventures.

He wrote a bestselling sci-fi novel about city-size submarines, along with a sequel. You can follow his adventures on Instagram and his YouTube channel.

---

Source