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Best Travel Coffee Mugs


Best travel coffee mugs


If you're serious about your coffee, then you know just how difficult it can be when you have to skip your morning pick-me-up. If you're in a hurry, you can always take your morning cuppa on the go with you, but you'll want to make sure it stays piping hot until you have a chance to actually enjoy it. Fortunately, there's a huge market for reusable, portable and environmentally friendly travel mugs out there, so regular coffee drinkers can partake without sacrificing any of the function or pleasure. Plus, lots of coffee shops will give you a discount for bringing in your own cup, so you can earn a little cash back along the way. 

Like a lot of people, you've probably already made the switch to a reusable water bottle, so a reusable coffee mug for your hot coffee or hot tea is the next logical step. But are you in the market for a stainless steel mug? For a ceramic travel mug with a flip lid? There are many travel cups to choose from.

That's why we've tested out all the leading brands to determine the best travel coffee mug for you. Whether you're looking for something that fits into a standard cup holder or an accessory with modern flair, these stylish travel mugs will keep your tea and coffee hot for hours, and a cold beverage chilled for just as long.

Read more: This $25 Device Makes Iced Coffee in a Minute

Amazon

Coffee drinkers rejoice! Imagine the amazing insulated power of a Yeti cooler -- they're the standard for fishermen and people who like the outdoors -- but as an insulated coffee mug in the palm of your hand. This double-wall vacuum insulation stainless tumbler has great insulation. It keeps your morning coffee piping hot and safe well into the afternoon and the genius magnet sliding lid comes apart when it's time to throw it all in the dishwasher to clean (yes, this baby is dishwasher safe), should that be an option. This vacuum insulated coffee mug is also the perfect size for most car cup holders when you're driving through the great outdoors -- or just, um, to the office. Yeti Rambler tumbler is a stainless steel travel mug and is also available in a standard mug size with handle.

Amazon

If you're picky about your coffee, you probably have opinions on reusable coffee mugs, too. This durable super-chic to-go mug comes in neutral shades and has a stainless steel insulated cup that keeps coffee or tea safe at the same temp for up to six hours. Yasssss. The lid spins off to reveal an opening that you can sip from at any angle and the sleek design on this coffee travel mug is totally museum-worthy.

Amazon

No shame if you're the coffee drinker who gets more coffee on your clothes than in your mouth whenever you're carrying a cup on the go. Thankfully, this one has a spill proof lid. (Maybe you've heard of Contigo's Autoseal technology? It's good. Real good.) This reusable coffee canteen, which holds 16 ounces of your favorite brew, will keep your coffee safe and leak proof. It's also slim enough to fit in a car cup holder, which means even the bumpiest of rides won't threaten the heat of your morning joe. You can practically take this cup of coffee with you anywhere.

Amazon

This attractive 18-ounce insulated tumbler comes in a ton of amazing shades and designs, but it's not just a pretty face: This insulated travel mug is made from durable stainless steel and is triple-walled with insulation so that you'll never get condensation on your hands. But also, did we mention that it's p-r-e-e-e-e-e-t-t-y? Use this gorgeous and reusable coffee cup around the house to drink hot or cold beverages and find one that matches your decor (yes, that's a thing). Heads up, you have to purchase the lid separately if you want to take this one on the go.

Amazon

This is the travel mug for when your work bag is already loaded with notebooks, an iPad, your laptop and a million random receipts from heaven knows where. Made out of super-light, leak-proof BPA-free silicone, this travel coffee cup collapses to just 2.5 inches thick, meaning you can tote it practically anywhere without adding bulk to your bag. Plus, when your beverage needs a heat, it's microwave-safe. Hot tip: This Stojo collapsible cup also comes with a straw for when the iced coffee season hits and you want to swap a piping hot drink like hot java to a cold drink like cold brew, cold coffee, or iced tea. The collapsible travel cup is simply convenient. This reusable cup and the silicone lid last a lifetime.

Amazon

This stylish sipper holds 12 ounces of your beverage of choice and is made in the USA from soda-lime glass, which means it's easily recyclable when you're done with it eventually. It's safe to microwave, in case you want your beverage piping hot and even though it's glass, it's lightweight enough to carry with you on your morning coffee run. Thankfully, the cork band keeps your hands safe from burning and the BPA-free leak-proof lid and plug are dishwasher-safe.

More for coffee and other beverage enthusiasts:


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Apple Watch: It's Been 5 Years Since My Original Review, And It Holds Up


Apple Watch: It's been 5 years since my original review, and it holds up


Apple Watch: It's been 5 years since my original review, and it holds up

I'd love to say that when I first put on the Apple Watch, I'd never seen anything like it before. But of course, that's not true. By late 2014 I'd been surrounded by smartwatches for a few years. So when Apple announced it was making its own watch, my thought (as so often with Apple) was: finally.

The first smartwatch I reviewed at CNET was the Martian Passport, an analog watch that could make phone calls. It sounds so primitive now, but it was cool in early 2013. The Pebble Watch followed, and the Steel version became my favorite: It was like a Casio watch turned into a useful little pager-assistant. It was simple and had long battery life, and it was great.

There were others, too: Samsung's first smartwatches were ambitious (a camera?). Google's first Android Wear watches arrived in 2014. Meanwhile, there were Fitbits and Jawbone trackers galore.

I say this to lay the groundwork for the Apple Watch and what its impact was. Like the iPhone wasn't the first smartphone, the Apple Watch wasn't the first smartwatch... but it made the biggest footprint. It was another step validating that a world of wearables was here to stay. 

I was able to wear the Apple Watch a month before it went on sale. I spent a ton of time with it, getting used to both how it handled phone calls, and the activity tracking rings. I looked at my heart rate measurements. I accidentally ordered an Xbox One with an early Amazon app.

The Watch was, much like the first iPhone, sometimes feature-limited. But it also had some features that already stood out.

My original review was updated a year later, which you can read here. Some parts have changed, clearly, and Apple has updated the OS. But I'll comment on what I wrote then, and how I felt, and how that's evolved. Quotes from the original review are in italics.

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The gold Apple Watch, way back when.

James Martin/CNET

An excellent design, with luxury overtones

Apple wants you to think of the Apple Watch as fine jewelry. Maybe that's a stretch, but in terms of craftsmanship, there isn't a more elegantly made piece of wearable tech. Look at the Apple Watch from a distance, and it might appear unremarkable in its rectangular simplicity compared with bolder, circular Android Wear watches. It's clearly a revamped sort of iPod Nano. But get closer, and you can see the seamless, excellent construction.

The first Apple Watch came in aluminum, steel and ramped all the way up to a gold model costing more than $10,000. Compared to other smartwatches, it screamed luxury.

Certain touches felt luxurious, too: the fine-feeling Digital Crown, which spun ever so smoothly like a real watch part, for instance. The OLED display, which was a first for an Apple product, looked crisp and bright.

The most amazing part, maybe, were the watch bands. Apple created a really nice series of specially designed straps, from a steel link to a clever magnetic Milanese mesh that were extremely expensive and impressively engineered. 

Its watch face designs were great, too, and they integrated some information from the iPhone that aimed to add at-a-glance ease of use. There was a Mickey Mouse watch face that danced! The Solar face showing sunrise and sunset, and the astronomy face that showed planetary alignments and moon phases, felt like magic. I wanted more, but Apple's assortment of watch faces was limited, and it didn't allow for third-party watch face design. That's still the case now.

A lot of the Apple Watch reminded me of the strides Apple began with the iPod Nano, which also had watch mode... and a Mickey Mouse watch face.

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Sarah Tew

New technologies at first: fantastic haptics, a force-sensitive display

All Apple Watches have a new S1 processor made by Apple, that "taptic" haptic engine and a force-sensitive and very bright OLED display, which is differently sized on the 38mm and 42mm models. The watch has its own accelerometer, gyrometer and heart-rate monitor, but no onboard GPS. It uses Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz Wi-Fi to connect to your phone or your home network. There's a built-in speaker and microphone, but no headphone jack.

As I wore the watch on the first day, I felt a rippling buzz and a metallic ping: one of my credit card payments showed up as a message. Apple's "Taptic Engine" and a built-in speaker convey both a range of advanced taps and vibrations, plus sounds. Unlike the buzz in a phone or most wearables, these haptics feel sharper: a single tap, or a ripple of them, or thumps.

Sometimes the feelings are too subtle: I don't know if I felt them or imagined them. My wrists might be numbed from too many smart devices. I set my alerts to "prominent" and got sharper nudges on my wrist.

The first watch introduced some ideas that eventually made their way to other iPhones. A "taptic engine" delivered on some amazingly refined vibration effects, ranging from a purr to a ping to a gentle tap. These were way ahead of what anybody else was doing -- and they weren't just a gimmick. The notification types associated with unique vibrations felt distinct. Sometimes, the vibrating taps on the first Watch weren't as powerful as I wanted. But with later updates, the haptics made parts of the interface seem real: virtual wheels, clicking as if moving with invisible gears.

The more advanced haptics made their way to the iPhone next, making us used to them now. Other phones, game consoles like the Nintendo Switch, and VR accessories, have evolved haptics since, but the Apple Watch was the first mainstream device that upped the haptics game.

Force Touch was another wild idea: Apple made its watch display force-sensitive, meaning a deeper press could work like pushing a button. Though this idea was refined further into 3D Touch on the iPhone 6S, 3D Touch was a technology that never became as necessary as expected, and current iPhone models have dropped the pressure-sensitive display tech completely.

The Apple Watch still has Force Touch, though, and I think it always will.

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Digital Touch: I never used it much after that.

Sarah Tew

Lots of features. Too many features?

As you can see, this is a lot of stuff. Did I have fun using the watch? Yes, mostly, but there are so many features that I felt a little lost at times. There are so many ways to interact: swiping, touching, pressing harder into the display, a button and a clickable digital crown-wheel. Plus, there's Siri. Do I swipe, or click, or force touch or speak? Sometimes I didn't know where an app menu was. Or, I'd find getting back to an app I just had open would require an annoying series of crown clicks, swiping through apps, then opening the app again.

There's a reason I used the word "complicated" to describe my feelings using that first Apple Watch. Setting up bits of information, called complications, was slow and not always intuitive. Apps took a while to load, and were sometimes so slow that it was easier to check my phone instead. Quick glances and notifications, and phone calls, were fine. Apple Pay on the watch was clever, but would I use it? I wished the watch had more battery life.

I didn't like the overcomplicated feel. The design of the OS, and the card-like swappable mini-view apps that used to be on the Watch like a dock, changed over time. It's gotten better since.

Storing music on the watch, while it took a while to sync, was easier than attempts on Samsung Gear or Android Wear. Of course, I had to hunt for a good pair of Bluetooth headphones to connect with the watch.

Today I still forget to dive into and make the most of the apps on the watch. I just dusted off Walkie Talkie: it's cool. There's noise monitoring. One app lets me remote control my iPhone camera, which has been a huge help for my stay-at-home self-shot videos. The Remote app helps me when I lose the Apple TV remote every other day. 

Third-party apps, and the grid of options? It turns out I don't use them much at all. I don't dig down deep into the layers of functions. I prefer what's on the surface: watch faces, and their readouts. But I've come to appreciate the watch's surprising number of options and settings. It's better than not having them at all.

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The rings were the beginning.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Fitness: The ring idea was just the beginning

The Apple Watch doesn't work any fitness miracles that the rest of the wearable world hasn't already invented, and it doesn't ship with any new magical sensors that change the game. But the Apple-made integrated fitness apps, Activity and Workout, are far and away the best fitness apps on any existing smartwatch that isn't a dedicated "fitness watch" (Samsung Gear, Android Wear, Pebble and the like). A clever three-ring method of tracking daily activity, which simultaneously measures and rewards daily calorie burn, active exercise and standing up, feels like a fusion of rewards and metrics seen on the Nike FuelBand, Jawbone Up, Fitbit and others. 

I appreciated Apple's complete-the-ring motivational activity tracker, which felt inspired by wearables like the Nike FuelBand (not surprising, since Apple's head of fitness, Jay Blahnik, arrived from Nike). For the red ring's daily goals, it's great. It felt too easy to complete the blue Stand ring, and it still does.

There are tons of fitness advancements Apple has made on the Watch in the last five years: GPS, resting heart rate, workout controls, social sharing, third-party app integration, swimming, modes for accessibility, activity trends -- and I haven't even discussed Apple's massive health aspirations like adding ECG, checking for falls, monitoring elevated or irregular heart rate or women's health tracking. There is some form of coaching and motivation, too. But I'd still love to see more of that. I hit a wall when trying to be fit, and there's only so much watches seem to help.

The first Apple Watch was more of a Fitbit. Now, it's more of a health companion. Those two worlds still feel like they need to dovetail and grow. There are missing features, too, like sleep tracking, which feels like the inevitable next step.

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You still need an iPhone, just like in 2015.

Sarah Tew

It was, and still is, an iPhone accessory

Much like most other smartwatches, the Apple Watch isn't a standalone device -- it's a phone accessory. Android Wear, Samsung Gear, Pebble and others work the same way. But here, you must own an iPhone 5 or later to use the Watch. A few Apple Watch functions work away from the phone, but the watch primarily works alongside the phone as an extension, a second screen and basically another part of your iOS experience. It's a symbiote.

One thing I noted back then was that you needed an iPhone to use the Apple Watch. Unlike other wearables that can pair with Android or iOS, or even sync with a computer, the Apple Watch was always designed to live symbiotically with the iPhone.

That's still the case now. Even with independent cellular options, and an on-watch App Store, you can't use the Watch without pairing to an iPhone. And it still won't work with Android. It's a shame, because a fully standalone watch could be a really helpful tool for many people who don't have iPhones, and it could even be a phone alternative (for kids, maybe).

Apple's AirPods created a gadget trinity where the Watch, the iPhone and AirPods can all work seamlessly together. But that trinity is an expensive one. The entry price of the Apple Watch has dropped, at least. But it feels like an extension of the iPhone more than its own device, even now.

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The Apple Watch Series 5: much better, with a few similarities.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Today: the best watch in a war of attrition

You don't need an Apple Watch. In many ways, it's a toy: an amazing little do-it-all, a clever invention, a possibly time-saving companion, a wrist-worn assistant. It's also mostly a phone accessory for now. In the months and years to come, that may change: with Apple's assortment of iPads, Macs, Apple TV and who knows what else to come, the watch could end up being a remote and accessory to many things. Maybe it'll be the key to unlock a world of smart appliances, cars and connected places. In that type of world, a smartwatch could end up feeling utterly essential.

I think back to what the Apple Watch was competing against back then: Jawbone, Pebble, Fitbit, Google's Android Wear, Samsung's watches, the Microsoft Band. A lot of competitors are gone now. Fitbit was acquired by Google. Samsung still has watches. Garmin makes lots of dedicated fitness watches. There are still plenty of more affordable relative newcomers, too.

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The original Apple Watch, with the Pebble Steel, Moto 360 and the original iPod Nano with wristband (clockwise from top left).

Sarah Tew

In a field of fewer alternatives, the Apple Watch's consistent addition of new features and ongoing performance improvements has made it the best option. It's Apple's commitment to gradual improvements that has made it a stand-out watch now, especially compared to the struggles of Google's Wear OS.

The Apple Watch is still an iPhone accessory. And it's still not an essential product. But it's become a really fluid and useful device, one with lots of key upgrades that work, and one that's a lot easier to use.

What's the best smartwatch now? The Apple Watch. That doesn't mean I don't want to see improvements: battery life, sleep tracking, a watch face store and most importantly, Android support and true standalone function. If the last five years are any indication, Apple will tackle these problems on its own... time.


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WWE Clash Of Champions: Results, New Champions, Match Rankings And Full Recap


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WWE Clash of Champions: Results, new champions, match rankings and full recap


WWE Clash of Champions: Results, new champions, match rankings and full recap

Emanating out of Charlotte, North Carolina, WWE's Clash of Champions pay-per-view was OK. It wasn't bad, per se, but there was nothing on the show that was truly exceptional, with most of the event being average to good. Seth Rollins was the MVP of the night, being a key part of the strong open and closing matches. Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks was on its way to being a standout match but was stymied by a poor finish.

Here's a quick rundown of highlights:

  • Seth Rollins is still Universal Champion, but he and Braun Strowman lost the Raw Tag Team Championships to Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler. Not that it'll end up meaning anything, but Rollins was pinned fairly cleanly by Roode.
  • AJ Styles vs. Cedric Alexander was on the preshow, for some reason.
  • Becky Lynch retained her Raw Women's Championship via DQ, lengthening her feud with Sasha Banks.
  • Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan was a waste of time -- until Luke Harper returned.

Below you'll find all the results of the night, as well as match recaps and ratings. See you next month for WWE's Hell in a Cell event, which will be headlined by Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt. 

Seth Rollins retains his Universal Championship

Hot start, with Strowman bulldozing Rollins and going for his powerslam finish. Rollins escapes, works over Strowman's legs and hits three superkicks followed by a frogsplash. Rollins is so good. Two count. 

Good action, with Rollins springboarding all over the place and Strowman showing great intensity. The crowd is quiet, tired from a long and only OK show. Strowman hits his running shoulder tackle on the outside twice, but Rollins sidesteps him on the third one. Strowman crashes through an announce table, and Rollins hits dual suicide dives. The two end up fighting on the turnbuckle, and Strowman eventually hits a frogsplash from the top. Props.

We get a light, polite "this is awesome" chant. Rollins locks in a sleeper hold but Strowman rolls out. Rollins hits a curbstomp for a one count. He hits another for a two count. A third stomp for another two count. Rollins goes for a fourth but Strowman counters, hoisting him up for a powerslam. Strowman's leg gives out, Rollins nails a pedigree and then a final curbstomp for the pin.

After the match Rollins is attacked by Bray Wyatt, aka The Fiend. They'll wrestle next month at Hell in a Cell.

Rating: 3.5 stars. Very similar to SummerSlam's main event between Rollins and Brock Lesnar, but not as good. Suffered from a flat crowd, but still a solid main event. 

Erick Rowan beats Roman Reigns (!) 

Not much to this match. It's no DQ, so it's just a bunch of brawling outside the ring. Rowan has improved his intensity a great deal, but the crowd doesn't buy him as a threat to Reigns. Which is a shame, because the match was just Rowan beating down Reigns, trying to convince the audience he's a threat to Reigns.

One moment did impress the crowd. On the outside, Reigns jumps from the steel stairs for an elevated Superman Punch, but Rowan counters by grabbing him by the throat and pulling him up for a huge powerbomb through an announcer's table. This gets Rowan a 2 count. 

Match ends when a returning Luke Harper blocks a spear attempt from Reigns. Harper and Rowan double team Reigns. Rowan gets the win.

Rating: 1.5 star. Cool powerbomb spot and it's awesome that Luke Harper, who is awesome, is back. Other than that, this was not good. 

Kofi Kingston retains his WWE Championship

Orton and Kingston start slow. This is likely because they're following a hot match and want to restart the crowd, but it's also vintage Orton. 

The wrestling here is actually very tight. The two exchange snug shots, and Orton ends up bumping Kingston out of the ring. He then follows up with suplexes all around the outside area, including two on the announce table.

The pace slows down though as Orton picks apart Kingston. Eventually Kingston mounts a comeback, but it's not a particularly vigorous one. He goes for a Trouble in Paradise, but Orton counters with a nice neckbreaker. Kingston gets some of that missing fire, though, with a huge over-the-top-rope dive.

Orton regains control and there's more slow-paced dissection. He sets up an RKO but Kingston counters into a rollup. Kingston starts a comeback but is cut off with an RKO outta' nowhere. Kingston gets a foot on the rope at 2. Orton goes for his infamous punt but Kingston dodges and nails a Trouble in Paradise to retain.

Rating: 3 stars. A lot of nice wrestling here, but nothing remarkable. 

Sasha Banks beats Becky Lynch via DQ

Crowd reacts big to Lynch, and is more into this match than the last few. Lynch starts out on top, but once Banks gets control the crowd breaks out into loud "Let's go Sasha!/Let's go Becky!" dueling chants.

After Banks worked over Lynch for some heat, Lynch mounts a comeback. She gets cut off in spectacular fashion though, with Banks countering a flying clothesline with a Banks Statement submission. Lynch powers out and hits an exploder suplex. Crowd has been more quiet, but wakes up with more dueling chants.

The two women trade submissions in the center of the ring, Banks going for the Banks Statement and Lynch the Disarmer armbar. Lynch ends up on top, getting her submission, but Banks gets her foot on the rope. Good stuff here. Banks nails double backstabbers and rolls Lynch into a Banks Statement for an intense false finish, but Lynch gets the rope break.

Banks villains it up, tossing in a chair to distract the ref and then, while the ref isn't looking, hitting Banks in the torso with another chair. She follows up with a shining wizard for a two count. The ref accosts Banks for using a chair and then Lynch takes a chair herself and swings for Banks, but Banks ducks and Lynch hits the ref. 

The two then brawl into the crowd. Lynch uses the stair rails to put Banks in a Disarmer armbar, which was gnarly. Banks and Lynch brawl into the backstage area, where Lynch smears Banks with mustard, and eventually come back to the ring. We're told by Michael Cole that Lynch has been disqualified for hitting the ref. Cool. Inside the ring Lynch destroys Banks with a chair.

Rating: 3.5 stars. A very good match with a weak finish. In fairness, Lynch looked like a badass babyface tearing apart Banks and leaving as a defiant champion, but that's in spite of an uninspired ending.

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Still the champ.

WWE

Shinsuke Nakamura retains the Intercontinental Championship

After The Miz' entrance, Sami Zayn comes out to berate the audience, talk smack about The Undertaker and to introduce Shinsuke Nakamura. It sucks that Zayn is a manager, because he's such a terrific wrestler, but he is a fantastic manager. 

Nakamura and The Miz open with some chain wrestling. Zayn immediately takes the mic and starts commentating from the side. After about 30 seconds of amazing commentating, Zayn's mic gets cut off. 

Miz works over Nakamura's leg throughout the match, leading up to a Figure Four submission that gets a nice pop thanks to this being Charlotte, North Carolina, aka Flair Country. Nakamura grabs the ropes to break up the pin. Zayn distracts Miz, allowing Nakamura to his a modified Kinshasa to the back of Miz' head for a 2 count. Miz regains control and nails a Skill Crushing Finale, but Zayn distracts the ref.

Ending comes as Miz chases Zayn around the ring. Nakamura cuts him off, then hits a Kinsasha in the ring for the win.

Rating: 3.25 stars. This match had a slow start, got very good towards the end but had a finish that made The Miz look dumb. Miz's offense also looked weak at points. 

Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss retain Women's Tag Titles

Alexa Bliss comes out with a Harley Quinn-inspired look tonight.

Nikki Cross starts the match with Mandy Rose, who after some taunting from Cross tags in Sonya Deville. Eventually Rose is back in the ring against Bliss. Some sloppy stuff here, some of Bliss' forearms and slaps look great but there was some conspicuous mishaps too. The two were at some points a second or two out of sync. 

R-Truth runs into the ring and is chased by the 24/7 Championship crowd for a quick distraction. Bliss tries to rollup Truth, but he kicks out and runs into the crowd. This sentence must be completely incomprehensible to someone who doesn't regularly watch Raw.

Deville and Rose hit a double-team move on Bliss, but the pin was broken up by Cross. Bliss tags in Cross, Cross scores the pin on Rose after a top-rope neckbreaker. 

Rating: 2 stars. Not bad, a well laid out match (except for the 24/7 distraction), but there was a lot of sloppy wrestling here and the crowd wasn't particularly interested.

The Revival defeats The New Day

The Revival are awesome and The New Day very good, but these teams are struggling to get the crowd alive. The New Day dominate until The Revival out Xavier Woods and double team Big E. The crowd did wake up when Big E, after around 5 minutes of being beaten down, tagged in Woods. 

Woods runs wild on The Revival, but is cut off when he gets kicked in his injured leg. Big E comes in for a nice sequence that ends up with The Revival hitting a Shatter Machine on the outside. Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder then pick apart Woods in the ring and nail him with a Shatter Machine. They could go for a pin but decide to work over Woods' leg more.

Dawson puts Woods in a submission lock and Woods taps out.

Rating: 2.75 stars. Some nice wrestling here, but the middle section of the match felt plodding and the crowd, though sporadically invested, on the whole wasn't super into it. 

Bayley retains her SmackDown Women's Championship

Flair opens hot with a big boot to Bayley, who then retreats out of the ring. Flair chases Bayley around and, back in the ring, hits her with some chops and some snug-looking strikes. Outside the ring Flair throws Bayley into the ringside barricades. Pretty gnarly looking. Here the crowd pipes up with a "Let's go Charlotte!" chant. 

Flair starts working over Bayley's leg. The story of the match so far is that Flair is murdering Bayley. Bayley reteats to the corner and the ref stops Flair from keeping the offense up. Bayley takes the bottom turnbuckle padding off, pulls Charlotte into it in an illegal move and, surprisingly, gets the 1-2-3. 

After the match Bayley legs it to the back.

Rating: 2.5 stars. This match actually told a coherent story. Flair was killing Bayley, who blatantly cheated to retain her title. The hero looks strong, the villain looks evil. It was too short to be a great or even good match, but was solid for what it was.

Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler are Raw Tag Champions

Good opening match here. It opens with Strowman dominating both Roode and Ziggler, then tagging in Rollins. Ziggler turns the tide with a wicked DDT on Rollins outside the ring. The crowd was a little quiet at the beginning, but really got into the match as the bad guys kept cutting off Rollins from tagging in Strowman. 

Big pop when Strowman gets tagged in. He runs wild -- literally running Ziggler and Roode down on the outside -- but Ziggler rakes his eyes and double teams him with Roode. Eventually Strowman tags in Rollins. Amazing hot tag. This guy was flying all over the place, springboards inside the ring, suicide dives outside, more springboards inside. 

Match ends when Roode sets up a Glorious DDT and Strowman bumps Roode into Rollins. Strowman and Ziggler take a tumble outside, and Roode hits a DDT on Rollins for the win. 

Robert Roode, bottom of the card a month ago, pins the Universal Champion.

Rating: 3.5 stars. Slow start, but ultimately a solid match with a very good final few minutes. 

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Your new tag champs. 

WWE

Preshow results

AJ Styles defeats Cedric Alexander in a United States Championship match: The first surprise of the night is that this match was on the preshow. Styles beats Alexander in a 5-minute match.

Drew Gulak retains the Cruiserweight Championship: Gulak beats Humberto Carrillo and Lince Dorado in a triple-threat match.


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Apple Watch: It's Been 5 Years Since My Original Review, And It Holds Up


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Apple Watch: It's been 5 years since my original review, and it holds up


Apple Watch: It's been 5 years since my original review, and it holds up

I'd love to say that when I first put on the Apple Watch, I'd never seen anything like it before. But of course, that's not true. By late 2014 I'd been surrounded by smartwatches for a few years. So when Apple announced it was making its own watch, my thought (as so often with Apple) was: finally.

The first smartwatch I reviewed at CNET was the Martian Passport, an analog watch that could make phone calls. It sounds so primitive now, but it was cool in early 2013. The Pebble Watch followed, and the Steel version became my favorite: It was like a Casio watch turned into a useful little pager-assistant. It was simple and had long battery life, and it was great.

There were others, too: Samsung's first smartwatches were ambitious (a camera?). Google's first Android Wear watches arrived in 2014. Meanwhile, there were Fitbits and Jawbone trackers galore.

I say this to lay the groundwork for the Apple Watch and what its impact was. Like the iPhone wasn't the first smartphone, the Apple Watch wasn't the first smartwatch... but it made the biggest footprint. It was another step validating that a world of wearables was here to stay. 

I was able to wear the Apple Watch a month before it went on sale. I spent a ton of time with it, getting used to both how it handled phone calls, and the activity tracking rings. I looked at my heart rate measurements. I accidentally ordered an Xbox One with an early Amazon app.

The Watch was, much like the first iPhone, sometimes feature-limited. But it also had some features that already stood out.

My original review was updated a year later, which you can read here. Some parts have changed, clearly, and Apple has updated the OS. But I'll comment on what I wrote then, and how I felt, and how that's evolved. Quotes from the original review are in italics.

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The gold Apple Watch, way back when.

James Martin/CNET

An excellent design, with luxury overtones

Apple wants you to think of the Apple Watch as fine jewelry. Maybe that's a stretch, but in terms of craftsmanship, there isn't a more elegantly made piece of wearable tech. Look at the Apple Watch from a distance, and it might appear unremarkable in its rectangular simplicity compared with bolder, circular Android Wear watches. It's clearly a revamped sort of iPod Nano. But get closer, and you can see the seamless, excellent construction.

The first Apple Watch came in aluminum, steel and ramped all the way up to a gold model costing more than $10,000. Compared to other smartwatches, it screamed luxury.

Certain touches felt luxurious, too: the fine-feeling Digital Crown, which spun ever so smoothly like a real watch part, for instance. The OLED display, which was a first for an Apple product, looked crisp and bright.

The most amazing part, maybe, were the watch bands. Apple created a really nice series of specially designed straps, from a steel link to a clever magnetic Milanese mesh that were extremely expensive and impressively engineered. 

Its watch face designs were great, too, and they integrated some information from the iPhone that aimed to add at-a-glance ease of use. There was a Mickey Mouse watch face that danced! The Solar face showing sunrise and sunset, and the astronomy face that showed planetary alignments and moon phases, felt like magic. I wanted more, but Apple's assortment of watch faces was limited, and it didn't allow for third-party watch face design. That's still the case now.

A lot of the Apple Watch reminded me of the strides Apple began with the iPod Nano, which also had watch mode... and a Mickey Mouse watch face.

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Sarah Tew

New technologies at first: fantastic haptics, a force-sensitive display

All Apple Watches have a new S1 processor made by Apple, that "taptic" haptic engine and a force-sensitive and very bright OLED display, which is differently sized on the 38mm and 42mm models. The watch has its own accelerometer, gyrometer and heart-rate monitor, but no onboard GPS. It uses Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz Wi-Fi to connect to your phone or your home network. There's a built-in speaker and microphone, but no headphone jack.

As I wore the watch on the first day, I felt a rippling buzz and a metallic ping: one of my credit card payments showed up as a message. Apple's "Taptic Engine" and a built-in speaker convey both a range of advanced taps and vibrations, plus sounds. Unlike the buzz in a phone or most wearables, these haptics feel sharper: a single tap, or a ripple of them, or thumps.

Sometimes the feelings are too subtle: I don't know if I felt them or imagined them. My wrists might be numbed from too many smart devices. I set my alerts to "prominent" and got sharper nudges on my wrist.

The first watch introduced some ideas that eventually made their way to other iPhones. A "taptic engine" delivered on some amazingly refined vibration effects, ranging from a purr to a ping to a gentle tap. These were way ahead of what anybody else was doing -- and they weren't just a gimmick. The notification types associated with unique vibrations felt distinct. Sometimes, the vibrating taps on the first Watch weren't as powerful as I wanted. But with later updates, the haptics made parts of the interface seem real: virtual wheels, clicking as if moving with invisible gears.

The more advanced haptics made their way to the iPhone next, making us used to them now. Other phones, game consoles like the Nintendo Switch, and VR accessories, have evolved haptics since, but the Apple Watch was the first mainstream device that upped the haptics game.

Force Touch was another wild idea: Apple made its watch display force-sensitive, meaning a deeper press could work like pushing a button. Though this idea was refined further into 3D Touch on the iPhone 6S, 3D Touch was a technology that never became as necessary as expected, and current iPhone models have dropped the pressure-sensitive display tech completely.

The Apple Watch still has Force Touch, though, and I think it always will.

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Digital Touch: I never used it much after that.

Sarah Tew

Lots of features. Too many features?

As you can see, this is a lot of stuff. Did I have fun using the watch? Yes, mostly, but there are so many features that I felt a little lost at times. There are so many ways to interact: swiping, touching, pressing harder into the display, a button and a clickable digital crown-wheel. Plus, there's Siri. Do I swipe, or click, or force touch or speak? Sometimes I didn't know where an app menu was. Or, I'd find getting back to an app I just had open would require an annoying series of crown clicks, swiping through apps, then opening the app again.

There's a reason I used the word "complicated" to describe my feelings using that first Apple Watch. Setting up bits of information, called complications, was slow and not always intuitive. Apps took a while to load, and were sometimes so slow that it was easier to check my phone instead. Quick glances and notifications, and phone calls, were fine. Apple Pay on the watch was clever, but would I use it? I wished the watch had more battery life.

I didn't like the overcomplicated feel. The design of the OS, and the card-like swappable mini-view apps that used to be on the Watch like a dock, changed over time. It's gotten better since.

Storing music on the watch, while it took a while to sync, was easier than attempts on Samsung Gear or Android Wear. Of course, I had to hunt for a good pair of Bluetooth headphones to connect with the watch.

Today I still forget to dive into and make the most of the apps on the watch. I just dusted off Walkie Talkie: it's cool. There's noise monitoring. One app lets me remote control my iPhone camera, which has been a huge help for my stay-at-home self-shot videos. The Remote app helps me when I lose the Apple TV remote every other day. 

Third-party apps, and the grid of options? It turns out I don't use them much at all. I don't dig down deep into the layers of functions. I prefer what's on the surface: watch faces, and their readouts. But I've come to appreciate the watch's surprising number of options and settings. It's better than not having them at all.

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The rings were the beginning.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Fitness: The ring idea was just the beginning

The Apple Watch doesn't work any fitness miracles that the rest of the wearable world hasn't already invented, and it doesn't ship with any new magical sensors that change the game. But the Apple-made integrated fitness apps, Activity and Workout, are far and away the best fitness apps on any existing smartwatch that isn't a dedicated "fitness watch" (Samsung Gear, Android Wear, Pebble and the like). A clever three-ring method of tracking daily activity, which simultaneously measures and rewards daily calorie burn, active exercise and standing up, feels like a fusion of rewards and metrics seen on the Nike FuelBand, Jawbone Up, Fitbit and others. 

I appreciated Apple's complete-the-ring motivational activity tracker, which felt inspired by wearables like the Nike FuelBand (not surprising, since Apple's head of fitness, Jay Blahnik, arrived from Nike). For the red ring's daily goals, it's great. It felt too easy to complete the blue Stand ring, and it still does.

There are tons of fitness advancements Apple has made on the Watch in the last five years: GPS, resting heart rate, workout controls, social sharing, third-party app integration, swimming, modes for accessibility, activity trends -- and I haven't even discussed Apple's massive health aspirations like adding ECG, checking for falls, monitoring elevated or irregular heart rate or women's health tracking. There is some form of coaching and motivation, too. But I'd still love to see more of that. I hit a wall when trying to be fit, and there's only so much watches seem to help.

The first Apple Watch was more of a Fitbit. Now, it's more of a health companion. Those two worlds still feel like they need to dovetail and grow. There are missing features, too, like sleep tracking, which feels like the inevitable next step.

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You still need an iPhone, just like in 2015.

Sarah Tew

It was, and still is, an iPhone accessory

Much like most other smartwatches, the Apple Watch isn't a standalone device -- it's a phone accessory. Android Wear, Samsung Gear, Pebble and others work the same way. But here, you must own an iPhone 5 or later to use the Watch. A few Apple Watch functions work away from the phone, but the watch primarily works alongside the phone as an extension, a second screen and basically another part of your iOS experience. It's a symbiote.

One thing I noted back then was that you needed an iPhone to use the Apple Watch. Unlike other wearables that can pair with Android or iOS, or even sync with a computer, the Apple Watch was always designed to live symbiotically with the iPhone.

That's still the case now. Even with independent cellular options, and an on-watch App Store, you can't use the Watch without pairing to an iPhone. And it still won't work with Android. It's a shame, because a fully standalone watch could be a really helpful tool for many people who don't have iPhones, and it could even be a phone alternative (for kids, maybe).

Apple's AirPods created a gadget trinity where the Watch, the iPhone and AirPods can all work seamlessly together. But that trinity is an expensive one. The entry price of the Apple Watch has dropped, at least. But it feels like an extension of the iPhone more than its own device, even now.

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The Apple Watch Series 5: much better, with a few similarities.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Today: the best watch in a war of attrition

You don't need an Apple Watch. In many ways, it's a toy: an amazing little do-it-all, a clever invention, a possibly time-saving companion, a wrist-worn assistant. It's also mostly a phone accessory for now. In the months and years to come, that may change: with Apple's assortment of iPads, Macs, Apple TV and who knows what else to come, the watch could end up being a remote and accessory to many things. Maybe it'll be the key to unlock a world of smart appliances, cars and connected places. In that type of world, a smartwatch could end up feeling utterly essential.

I think back to what the Apple Watch was competing against back then: Jawbone, Pebble, Fitbit, Google's Android Wear, Samsung's watches, the Microsoft Band. A lot of competitors are gone now. Fitbit was acquired by Google. Samsung still has watches. Garmin makes lots of dedicated fitness watches. There are still plenty of more affordable relative newcomers, too.

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The original Apple Watch, with the Pebble Steel, Moto 360 and the original iPod Nano with wristband (clockwise from top left).

Sarah Tew

In a field of fewer alternatives, the Apple Watch's consistent addition of new features and ongoing performance improvements has made it the best option. It's Apple's commitment to gradual improvements that has made it a stand-out watch now, especially compared to the struggles of Google's Wear OS.

The Apple Watch is still an iPhone accessory. And it's still not an essential product. But it's become a really fluid and useful device, one with lots of key upgrades that work, and one that's a lot easier to use.

What's the best smartwatch now? The Apple Watch. That doesn't mean I don't want to see improvements: battery life, sleep tracking, a watch face store and most importantly, Android support and true standalone function. If the last five years are any indication, Apple will tackle these problems on its own... time.


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