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Netflix Adds 'Two Thumbs Up' Rating for Content You Absolutely Love
Netflix Adds 'Two Thumbs Up' Rating for Content You Absolutely Love
Even the savviest Netflix users may occasionally find themselves stuck in a recommendation conundrum. Because you watched that one British crime drama from 2017 and gave it a thumbs-up, you can't escape the algorithm. If you liked it, Netflix suggests other titles in the genre that fill up an entire row. Now the streaming service wants to take things a step further.
On April 11, the streaming service rolled out its Two Thumbs Up feature, which is a way to double up on your enthusiasm for a TV show or movie. Currently, the basic thumbs-up and thumbs-down options signal that you either want to see similar content or send it to the trash pile. You like it or you don't. Netflix tailors your recommendations based on these ratings, your viewing history and how and when you watch.
Let Netflix know what you want with the new Two Thumbs Up option.
Netflix
But when you click Two Thumbs Up, you'll be declaring your love for a particular title on the platform, and Netflix will sharpen its recommendation system for you. How does it work, exactly? As an example, the streamer says, "If you loved Bridgerton, you might see even more shows or films starring the cast" or from Shondaland, the production company behind the show. That means if you really dug Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, expect to see content suggestions featuring Tituss Burgess or comedies with quirky characters.
This rating feature is available whether you're streaming Netflix on a TV, mobile device or web browser. Once you click on the thumb icon to rate a title, you'll see the Two Thumbs Up option with a feedback message that says, "We know you're a true fan!" No need to email Netflix or figure out any of its hidden settings in order to tell the company how you really feel.
Netflix eliminated its five-star rating system back in 2017 and changed it to the more simplified thumb signal to express approval or disapproval. In addition to the personal preferences you choose when you first set up your profile, the thumb ratings help refine which titles best reflect your taste. The platform's algorithms also take into account the popularity of certain titles overall when suggesting your next favorite binge or movie. With this added feature, you can try taking your customization power to the next level.
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Why Black Holes Smashing Together Could Settle an Astronomical Dispute
Why Black Holes Smashing Together Could Settle an Astronomical Dispute
In 2019, a conference held at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in California concluded with a fraught statement: "We wouldn't call it a tension or a problem but rather a crisis."
David Gross, a particle physicist and former director of the KITP was talking about the rate at which our universe is expanding. But Gross wasn't worried about the expansion itself. We've already known for decades that the cosmos is exponentially blasting apart, because celestial bodies surrounding our planet continuously drift farther away from us and from each other.
No, Gross was worried about mathematics.
To determine exactly how quickly this cosmic shift is happening, scientists must calculate an important value called the Hubble constant -- yet, even today, no one can agree on the answer.
Thus, the astronomy community was permeated with a "crisis," but it was a dilemma that cradled innovation. Since that tense conference, experts everywhere have starkly adjusted the way they look at their Hubble constant equations as an attempt to restore peace among stargazers.
And on Monday, one such team presented a very out-of-the box idea to settle the dispute, as outlined in a paper published Aug. 3 in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Basically, astronomers from the University of Chicago believe when black holes lurking in deep space smash into one another – which they do sometimes – the gravitational leviathans reverberate ripples across the fabric of space and time that might leave traces of information crucial to decoding the Hubble constant.
In the end, if scientists can figure out the true Hubble constant, they can also derive answers to some really big questions about our universe like: Howdid it evolve to the stunning realm we see today? What is it physically made out of? What might it look like billions of years from now, long after humanity ceases to exist and therefore can't cast an eye on it?
Reading between the lines of space-time
Every so often, two enormous black holes collide. This means that a pair of the universe's most incomprehensibly massive objects combine into an even more incomprehensibly massive object.
When this happens, the merger sends ripples across the fabric of space and time -- as coined by Albert Einstein's general relativity -- just like dropping a rock in a pond would send ripples across the water.
Animation of gravitational waves produced by a fast binary orbit.
NASA
Just four years before Gross and fellow physicists hosted their stressful debate over the Hubble constant conundrum, two powerful observatories managed to capture those black hole-induced ripples from down here on Earth. They're called the US Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory and the Italian Virgo observatory.
Over the past few years, both LIGO and Virgo have detected the ripples from almost 100 pairs of black hole collisions, and those readings might help us calculate the rate at which the universe is expanding, according to Daniel Holz, an astrophysicist at the University of Chicago and co-author of the new study. They might shed light on the Hubble constant.
"If you took a black hole and put it earlier in the universe," Holz said in a press release, "the signal would change, and it would look like a bigger black hole than it really is."
What this means is that if a black hole collision happened way (way) out in space, and the signal has been traveling for a long (long) time, the gravitational ripples emanating from the event would've been affected by the universe expanding since the incident. If you think about pond ripples again, for instance, dropping a rock in a pond usually creates tighter ripples right at the point of contact. But if you keep watching those ripples extend outward, they get sort of wider and blunter.
Therefore, if we can somehow measure the changes in black hole collision ripples, perhaps we can understand the rate at which some of those changes occur. That would help us understand the rate at which the universe's expansion might've affected them and finally, the rate at which the universe is legitimately expanding.
"So we measure the masses of the nearby black holes and understand their features, and then we look further away and see how much those further ones appear to have shifted," Jose María Ezquiaga, a NASA Einstein Postdoctoral Fellow, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics Fellow and co-author of the new study, said in the release. "This gives you a measure of the expansion of the universe."
Is there a catch?
But there is a bit of a caveat -- this technique, which the researchers call the "standard siren" method, can't quite be implemented right now. In truth, LIGO and Virgo are going to have to really buckle down and get to work for us to even imagine a future where it becomes commonplace.
"We need preferably thousands of these signals, which we should have in a few years, and even more in the next decade or two," Holz said. "At that point, it would be an incredibly powerful method to learn about the universe."
Though a pretty promising aspect of the standard siren method is that it relies on Einstein's general relativity theory -- tried and tested rules that are considered unbreakable by many, and thus incredibly trustworthy.
From left, an illustration of how relative amounts that the moon might warp space-time, then the Earth, the sun, and a black hole all the way on the right.
Zooey Liao/CNET
By contrast, most other scientists tackling the Hubble constant crisis rely on stars and galaxies, the researchers said, which involves a lot of complex astrophysics and introduces an honest possibility of error. But, of note, there have been some other experts zeroing-in on gravitational waves as measurements of the Hubble constant.
In 2019, for example, a separate crew of astronomers looked at ripples across space and time stemming from a neutron star merger, which was picked up by LIGO and Virgo in 2017. They were trying to understand how bright the collision was when it happened by reverse calculating from the gravitational waves and eventually arriving at a Hubble constant estimate. And in the same year, another team suggested that we need only about 25 neutron star collision readings to nail down the constant to within an accuracy of 3%.
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Netflix Adds 'Two Thumbs Up' Rating for Content You Absolutely Love
Netflix Adds 'Two Thumbs Up' Rating for Content You Absolutely Love
Even the savviest Netflix users may occasionally find themselves stuck in a recommendation conundrum. Because you watched that one British crime drama from 2017 and gave it a thumbs-up, you can't escape the algorithm. If you liked it, Netflix suggests other titles in the genre that fill up an entire row. Now the streaming service wants to take things a step further.
On April 11, the streaming service rolled out its Two Thumbs Up feature, which is a way to double up on your enthusiasm for a TV show or movie. Currently, the basic thumbs-up and thumbs-down options signal that you either want to see similar content or send it to the trash pile. You like it or you don't. Netflix tailors your recommendations based on these ratings, your viewing history and how and when you watch.
Let Netflix know what you want with the new Two Thumbs Up option.
Netflix
But when you click Two Thumbs Up, you'll be declaring your love for a particular title on the platform, and Netflix will sharpen its recommendation system for you. How does it work, exactly? As an example, the streamer says, "If you loved Bridgerton, you might see even more shows or films starring the cast" or from Shondaland, the production company behind the show. That means if you really dug Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, expect to see content suggestions featuring Tituss Burgess or comedies with quirky characters.
This rating feature is available whether you're streaming Netflix on a TV, mobile device or web browser. Once you click on the thumb icon to rate a title, you'll see the Two Thumbs Up option with a feedback message that says, "We know you're a true fan!" No need to email Netflix or figure out any of its hidden settings in order to tell the company how you really feel.
Netflix eliminated its five-star rating system back in 2017 and changed it to the more simplified thumb signal to express approval or disapproval. In addition to the personal preferences you choose when you first set up your profile, the thumb ratings help refine which titles best reflect your taste. The platform's algorithms also take into account the popularity of certain titles overall when suggesting your next favorite binge or movie. With this added feature, you can try taking your customization power to the next level.
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Which smart home gadget should you buy first?
Which smart home gadget should you buy first?
Smart home tech is nothing new -- hobbyists have been geeking out over home automation for decades now -- but in recent years, it's marched closer to the mainstream than ever before. In recent years, high-profile connected home gadgets like the Amazon Echo, the Nest Learning Thermostat and the Ring Video Doorbell have all become breakout hits by offering attractive designs and tangible benefits, many of them at prices that aren't unreasonably high.
The result? A mainstream smart home market with an awful lot of momentum. In 2018, a GfK study found that over half of US households now include at least one smart home gadget. Over a third of them include two or more.
Of course, that leaves about half of us who still haven't bought in. Many might be put off at the thought of connecting everything under their roof and sharing data picked up by sensors, security cameras and microphones with Silicon Valley -- but with a wide variety of smart devices available in your local hardware store, others simply might not know where to start. To that end, here's a look at how to answer a not-so-simple question: Which smart home product should you buy first?
Disclosure: CNET may get a share of revenue from purchases made through the links on this page.
Plan for a purpose-driven smart home
Ask yourself: What do you want from your smart home? As a guy who listens to pitches for the latest smart home technology day in and day out, I can assure you that you've got lots of options. Do you want to keep an eye on things with a do-it-yourself security system and camera feeds you can check from your phone? Do you want simple conveniences like voice controls for your lights and thermostats? Do you want artificial intelligence and cloud-connected appliances to help freshen things up in the kitchen?
To figure out what you want, think about the things you do at home on a daily basis and look for improvements that you'd find meaningful. Do you tend to wander from room to room before bed turning off lights that the kids left on? Smart bulbs that you can turn off with a single voice command or tap on your phone might make sense. Do you shop online a lot, and worry about thieves stealing packages off your porch while you're at work? A video doorbell with a feed you can view remotely might be a good fit.
For my money, I think smart lighting is a sensible starting point for almost everyone. After all, we use the lights in our home more than just about anything else -- adding in things like motion-activated lights for the exterior of your home or automatic wake-up fades that sync with your morning alarms make a lot of sense, because you'll enjoy them day in and day out. For more on why it's a great time to try smart lights, click here.
Value versatility
If nothing specific jumps out at you and you just have a general curiosity about what the smart home might have to offer, then look for flexible, multifunctional devices that you can use in lots of different ways. A small smart speaker like the Amazon Echo Dot or Google Home Mini is a great way to see what artificially intelligent in-home helpers like Alexa and Google Assistant are capable of, and neither one will cost you more than $50. The WeMo Mini smart switch from Belkin is even cheaper, and it'll let you automate anything you plug into it -- lamps, desk fans, crock pots, space heaters, you name it.
The WeMo Mini Smart Switch from Belkin is a versatile little gadget that automates anything you plug into it. Available for just $30, it's a good, low-risk step into the smart home.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
As always, when in doubt, start small. Once you find a product that you like, you can start to build around it by adding in other, compatible gadgets capable of making it even smarter and contributing some unique appeal of their own. Our smart home compatibility tracker can be a really helpful tool to that end.
Ponder your platform options
If you're buying a new computer, you'll need to decide which operating system you'd like to use -- Mac, Windows, Chromebook, etc. Smart home tech is similar in that a majority of the most popular gadgets are designed to work within a wider ecosystem of devices -- the most common being voice control platforms like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and the Siri controls that come with Apple HomeKit. Control hubs from names like Wink and Samsung SmartThings offer dedicated platforms capable of helping different devices get along, too. You could also keep things working together by sticking to gadgets that work with IFTTT, a free, online automation platform.
Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each of those options can go a long way toward helping you build out a smart home setup that makes sense for you, particularly if you're planning on using multiple types of gadgets. The smart home is just better when things work together.
That said, most devices offer their own dedicated apps and controls, and can be used independent of any broader platforms right out of the box. That means that you don't necessarily need to make any commitments right away. On top of that, a growing number of products support multiple platforms. Starting with smart devices like those can help you keep your options open if you're undecided for now.
I'll add that each platform has its own security certification process designed to keep insecure, vulnerable hardware out of the mix -- that means that a product that works with multiple platforms has essentially gotten multiple passing grades from names like Apple, Amazon, Google and Samsung, all of which have a lot at stake when it comes to keeping their respective platforms secure.
Here are a few quick suggestions that fit the bill:
Available with two bulbs or four, Philips Hue's white-light smart bulb starter kit is relatively affordable, and it's easy to use and build upon -- plus, it works with just about everything you could imagine.
Ry Crist/CNET
Smart lights
Along with automating whatever you plug into the side of it, the iDevices Switch will monitor your energy use and double as a multicolor nightlight, and it works with Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
Smart plugs
Available for $100 and packed with helpful features, the Honeywell Lyric T5 is one of our favorite smart thermostat value picks, and it works with a wide variety of platforms.
Chris Monroe/CNET
Smart thermostats
The Kwikset Obsidian is a keyless smart lock that supports a number of platforms, including Amazon Key for in-home package delivery.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
Smart locks
I'd also add that if you have any interest in voice controls, then starting off with either an Amazon Echo Dot or a Google Home Mini is one of the smart home's biggest no-brainers. Even if you ignore the smart home integrations that let Alexa or the Google Assistant control things like lights and thermostats, each device is arguably worth the $50 asking price for the voice-activated music, podcasts, news headlines and cooking timers alone.
Do your homework
The best way to pick the right gadgets for your home is to understand what all of the different options have to offer and narrow things down accordingly. With such a huge variety of alternatives battling it out in a complex arena of competing platforms and standards, doing so can get confusing in a hurry.
But hey, that's where we come in! Our product reviews, best-of lists, buying guides, how-to content, explainer posts and featured dispatches from the CNET Smart Home are all aimed at helping you understand what a more connected living space has to offer (and where it falls short). If you're looking for ideas as to how you might put a smarter home to work, we'll help you brainstorm. If you're stuck trying decide between two seemingly identical gadgets, we can help with that, too. If you want to dive deeper into privacy and security concerns before buying in, we've got you covered.
Bottom line: There's never been a better time to try your hand at home automation. Explore your options, and you'll find plenty of ways to start your smart home off right.
Why Black Holes Smashing Together Could Settle an Astronomical Dispute
Why Black Holes Smashing Together Could Settle an Astronomical Dispute
In 2019, a conference held at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics in California concluded with a fraught statement: "We wouldn't call it a tension or a problem but rather a crisis."
David Gross, a particle physicist and former director of the KITP was talking about the rate at which our universe is expanding. But Gross wasn't worried about the expansion itself. We've already known for decades that the cosmos is exponentially blasting apart, because celestial bodies surrounding our planet continuously drift farther away from us and from each other.
No, Gross was worried about mathematics.
To determine exactly how quickly this cosmic shift is happening, scientists must calculate an important value called the Hubble constant -- yet, even today, no one can agree on the answer.
Thus, the astronomy community was permeated with a "crisis," but it was a dilemma that cradled innovation. Since that tense conference, experts everywhere have starkly adjusted the way they look at their Hubble constant equations as an attempt to restore peace among stargazers.
And on Monday, one such team presented a very out-of-the box idea to settle the dispute, as outlined in a paper published Aug. 3 in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Basically, astronomers from the University of Chicago believe when black holes lurking in deep space smash into one another – which they do sometimes – the gravitational leviathans reverberate ripples across the fabric of space and time that might leave traces of information crucial to decoding the Hubble constant.
In the end, if scientists can figure out the true Hubble constant, they can also derive answers to some really big questions about our universe like: Howdid it evolve to the stunning realm we see today? What is it physically made out of? What might it look like billions of years from now, long after humanity ceases to exist and therefore can't cast an eye on it?
Reading between the lines of space-time
Every so often, two enormous black holes collide. This means that a pair of the universe's most incomprehensibly massive objects combine into an even more incomprehensibly massive object.
When this happens, the merger sends ripples across the fabric of space and time -- as coined by Albert Einstein's general relativity -- just like dropping a rock in a pond would send ripples across the water.
Animation of gravitational waves produced by a fast binary orbit.
NASA
Just four years before Gross and fellow physicists hosted their stressful debate over the Hubble constant conundrum, two powerful observatories managed to capture those black hole-induced ripples from down here on Earth. They're called the US Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory and the Italian Virgo observatory.
Over the past few years, both LIGO and Virgo have detected the ripples from almost 100 pairs of black hole collisions, and those readings might help us calculate the rate at which the universe is expanding, according to Daniel Holz, an astrophysicist at the University of Chicago and co-author of the new study. They might shed light on the Hubble constant.
"If you took a black hole and put it earlier in the universe," Holz said in a press release, "the signal would change, and it would look like a bigger black hole than it really is."
What this means is that if a black hole collision happened way (way) out in space, and the signal has been traveling for a long (long) time, the gravitational ripples emanating from the event would've been affected by the universe expanding since the incident. If you think about pond ripples again, for instance, dropping a rock in a pond usually creates tighter ripples right at the point of contact. But if you keep watching those ripples extend outward, they get sort of wider and blunter.
Therefore, if we can somehow measure the changes in black hole collision ripples, perhaps we can understand the rate at which some of those changes occur. That would help us understand the rate at which the universe's expansion might've affected them and finally, the rate at which the universe is legitimately expanding.
"So we measure the masses of the nearby black holes and understand their features, and then we look further away and see how much those further ones appear to have shifted," Jose María Ezquiaga, a NASA Einstein Postdoctoral Fellow, Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics Fellow and co-author of the new study, said in the release. "This gives you a measure of the expansion of the universe."
Is there a catch?
But there is a bit of a caveat -- this technique, which the researchers call the "standard siren" method, can't quite be implemented right now. In truth, LIGO and Virgo are going to have to really buckle down and get to work for us to even imagine a future where it becomes commonplace.
"We need preferably thousands of these signals, which we should have in a few years, and even more in the next decade or two," Holz said. "At that point, it would be an incredibly powerful method to learn about the universe."
Though a pretty promising aspect of the standard siren method is that it relies on Einstein's general relativity theory -- tried and tested rules that are considered unbreakable by many, and thus incredibly trustworthy.
From left, an illustration of how relative amounts that the moon might warp space-time, then the Earth, the sun, and a black hole all the way on the right.
Zooey Liao/CNET
By contrast, most other scientists tackling the Hubble constant crisis rely on stars and galaxies, the researchers said, which involves a lot of complex astrophysics and introduces an honest possibility of error. But, of note, there have been some other experts zeroing-in on gravitational waves as measurements of the Hubble constant.
In 2019, for example, a separate crew of astronomers looked at ripples across space and time stemming from a neutron star merger, which was picked up by LIGO and Virgo in 2017. They were trying to understand how bright the collision was when it happened by reverse calculating from the gravitational waves and eventually arriving at a Hubble constant estimate. And in the same year, another team suggested that we need only about 25 neutron star collision readings to nail down the constant to within an accuracy of 3%.
Elden Ring Boss Guide: How To beat Margit, Godrick, Radahn, and more
Elden Ring Boss Guide: How To beat Margit, Godrick, Radahn, and more
Elden Ring is out and like every other Souls-like game there are times when you confront a major foe who will put your survival skills to the test.
Elden Ring has the largest roster of bosses and secret encounters of any Souls-style game to date, and people are quickly figuring out how unforgiving these bad guys can be. So with that, we're offering a quick rundown of general tips to know when facing these bosses. Along with that, a guide on defeating some of the first major bosses of the game.
Check back with us in the coming days as we'll be adding more guides and tips on overcoming the big bads of The Lands Between.
General Boss tips
Learn Their Patterns
While every boss can be daunting, they each have a pattern that they follow rigorously. The most important thing you can learn when fighting enemies is how they move and what behaviors they follow. This knowledge can be a bit tough to learn, especially when you have swords and magic spells being hurled at your face. But once you do, you'll get a sense of how a boss' attacks work and what you can do to overcome them.
Don't Rely on Rolling Too Much
Rolling in Elden Ring is vital to every battle, but it's easy to abuse it. The move gives players a small window of invincibility on any attack, so it appears that spamming it would be the right answer to whatever scenario. Do not do this. FromSoftware purposely makes enemies' attacks reach a certain distance for when you roll. Bosses also have multiple quick and delayed attacks to throw off the timing of your rolls. Keep that in mind even in the heat of the battle.
If you need to roll, especially for boss battles, try rolling toward the boss. It sounds counterintuitive but the way FromSoftware designs boss attacks, going toward the boss helps you evade, as the expectation is for you to roll away. If there's one attack constantly hitting you when you roll away, that's when you need to roll forward.
Being Greedy is Dangerous
We know the feeling you can get when a particular foe gets caught in a vulnerable spot, and you want to keep attacking them. However, it's important not to be greedy in those moments. Before you know it, a boss can quickly recover and send you flying with a powerful counterattack. Always be mindful of the time it takes to attack. It's often better to go in for a couple of quick hits and back away to safety, even if there's time for another set of blows.
Make Sure to Use Your Summons
As players progress through the game, they'll receive more summons. These spirits can be somewhat weak and do minimal damage, but they distract the boss. These assists provide a small respite from the battle, allowing you to heal or set up a powerful charge or jumping attack. Calling on a summon should be the first thing players should do in a boss battle.
For the boss fights of legacy dungeons, there is usually a summon right next to the golden fog gate. Keep an eye out for an orange symbol on the ground as these fighters are powerful and can help you tremendously in these hard battles. You might need to find these NPCs within the dungeon before they will help.
Finish The Fight, Later
FromSoftware always finds ways to catch you off guard. An example is the Tree Sentinel, a big brute of a boss, in the game's first area. It's a powerful foe that can kill you in two hits. This encounter may give you the impression that you have to beat him at this moment, but trust us when we say that is not the case. You'll inevitably come across some foes that will knock you out in a quick fashion. While you can certainly try and figure a way to beat them, you're often better off just taking the hint and doing something better with your time. You can always come back later once you're stronger and get some revenge -- and those moments are always satisfying.
Now let's take a look at some specific bosses...
Margit, The Fell Omen
Margit, the Fell Omen can be a daunting foe to face in your first hours with the game.
From Software / Namco Bandai Games
This encounter is likely the first major boss you'll face in Elden Ring and they will certainly put you through your paces. The battle against Margit is, above all, a test of your dodging, attack skills and patience during a fight. Despite its size, Margit is highly mobile and can easily close the distance to land some hits on you if you aren't careful. The boss primarily uses their staff as a close-range weapon, striking with three-hit combo attacks and a harder two-handed blow that can drop your stamina fast if you try to block it. Margit will throw magic daggers at a distance at a range, and it's best to avoid them by dodging.
The best way to strike Margit is to hit them once they've finished performing their attacks. By looking at their attack patterns, you can have a window of opportunity to hit them with quick strikes. It's always better to stick and move rather than lay into them with a series of long combos. Go for brief 2-3 hits and then move away to avoid their follow-up attacks. And unless you have decent strength and endurance for your character, it's always better to roll out of the way of its attacks. Though if you have a shield with parry sub-ability -- and you're willing to take a risk -- you can stun Margit with a well-timed parry. However, if you miss the timing, you leave yourself open to a devastating attack.
Once you clear half its health, Margit enters a second phase where they'll pull out a massive hammer. While their patterns are still similar, Margit's extra aggression makes for a more tense fight. The best thing to do is stay composed and look at their patterns to find an opening. And always stick with dodging as opposed to blocking. If you try to block their hammer, you will lose your stamina and open yourself up for attack. Remember to stick and move, and keep your attacks brief when fighting Margit, and you will eventually defeat them.
If you're still struggling, another option to make the fight slightly easier: Visit the Murkerwater Cave dungeon, north of the Dragon Burnt Ruins. Inside the case, you'll encounter a boss named Patches, a recurring character from previous FromSoftware games. If you spare his life after he yields in combat, he will open up his inventory for purchase. One item he sells is Margit's Shackle, which will stun the boss during its first phase only, allowing you to go in for a series of strikes. This is a great way to overcome Margit if you need extra help with the fight
Godrick The Grafted
The battle against Godrick will be a real test of patience and resolve. It'd be best to bring in some back up for him.
FromSoftware / Namco Bandai Games
If you make it through Stormveil Castle, then you've already picked up skills and tactics when it comes to overcoming foes. However, the battle with Godrick is, by far, the biggest hurdle you'll need to overcome. As the first demi-god you'll fight, this fallen ruler of Stormveil Castle will pull out all the stops to take you out. Much like Margit, Godrick is speedy despite his size. But unlike Margit, Godrick has a larger arsenal of weapons and skills to use.
Before this fight, one thing you can do to make it easier is to summon an AI character. Nepheli, a traveling warrior, is someone you'll first meet in the Roundtable Hold, and you can find her again in Stormveil Castle near Godrick's location. If you speak with her, she will help you during the battle. Just outside the door to Godrick, you can see her summon sign. It's recommended you call in an assist in this fight, as having a backup will be a big help.
Like the previous fight, you'll need to watch Godrick's patterns to avoid their strikes. One attack to watch out for is a 360-degree wind attack that will encompass the immediate area of Godrick, damaging you and other allies if you stay close. It's important to watch for his tells and avoid his attacks once he gets them ready. It would be best to try to be more aggressive in this battle. Godrick has a lot of health, so playing it safe too long can exhaust you and resources, leading to a sudden defeat. Still, don't be greedy with your attacks.
During his 2nd phase, he'll take a more desperate tactic and graft the head of a dragon onto his arm and use it to attack you. This upgrade for him not only adds a new melee attack to his arsenal, but he can also use his new arm for breathing fire on you, which does considerable damage if you get hit. During this phase, the best thing to do is to keep a medium distance away from him, avoid his area of effect attacks, and then run to his blind spots when he pulls out the dragon head to breathe fire. The flames will only go in front of him, so running up to his side or behind him will protect you while also leaving him vulnerable for extended periods.
One of the important lessons this fight will impact is the importance of placement and position in a fight. Along with being a narrow bridge, the area also has a set of stairs on both sides. The elevation change can prove to be an advantage, as some of Godrick's attacks can miss you entirely if you get the high ground above him or below him. If you can be mindful of his attacks while also keeping your positional advantage, then you will be able to overcome Godrick with patience and a steady rhythm of attacks.
Red Wolf of Radagon
The battle with Red Wolf of Radagon will test if you can handle a foe adept at magic and close ranged combat.
FromSoftware / Namco Bandai Games
The battle with Red Wolf can be tough, due to how aggressive it is with close-range attacks and its set of long-range magic attacks. Like other major bosses, the Red Wolf is highly mobile, and uses that to its advantage with its attacks. Its deadliest attacks, by far, are the magic missiles, which are homing attacks that will tear right through your defenses and health. The Red Wolf also has a regular habit of priming up its magic spells and then using melee attacks to close the distance, adding further pressure on you. It can be tough to manage, and you'll likely face a quick death during your first attempts.
Thankfully, the Red Wolf doesn't have a second phase, so you'll see most of its patterns and tricks during the first couple minutes of the fight. The important thing to figure out is that the Red Wolf is very aggressive. Yet, that aggression can be used against it. Once it finishes attacking, it will leave itself vulnerable to counterattacks. Given the frequency of its attacks, you'll have plenty of opportunities to go in for quick hits -- provided you dodge its attacks without fail. Don't bother chasing after it; keep your distance and let it come to you. Once it has finished its attacks, strike it and back away. Keep this up for the remainder of the battle, and you will eventually come out on top.
Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon
Rennala is an incredibly powerful magic user, and can easily vaporize your character with her spells.
FromSoftware / Namco Bandai Games
The two-phased fight against magic-wielding Rennala is a bizarre one, but it's still a challenging fight. Unlike other bosses, Rennala likes to keep her distance, use spells, and summon monsters to tear through you. She'll start off with having her academy students fight for her, but once the battle continues, she'll take matters into her own hands -- and that's where things can quickly go south.
The first phase taking place in the library is a strange one. As you can see in the center of the room, Rennala is suspended in the air and it's impossible to reach her. The only way to bring her down is to find three different glowing gold students. They're hidden in the library, so you'll have to run through the area to search for them. Once you destroy three students, Rennala will fall to the ground in the center of the room, opening her up for attack. She won't stay down for long, though. Once enough damage has been done, she'll come back up, forcing you to repeat the previous steps. The biggest dangers in this phase of the fight is the magic that sends furniture hurling towards you, along with some devastating spells that will turn Renalla's students into missiles. The best thing to do is dodge through these attacks while searching for glowing students. After you deal enough damage, Renalla will then get serious.
This second phase is where the fight gets more dangerous. Rennala is an adept mage, and she'll keep her distance away from you while she sends out devastating magic attacks. Many of her spells are homing, which means you'll need to be extra careful when dodging and running towards to close the distance. Also, she'll call in help from her plethora of summoned monsters, many of which are common foes you've fought through the game thus far. These additional enemies are ultimately a distraction. If you focus too much on them, Renalla will snipe at you with her spells, spelling a quick defeat. If you die during this phase, you'll have to repeat the first one again.
The best way to defeat Renalla is to take note from previous bosses and be aggressive. While Renalla has some spells that push you away, she is very weak at close range and easily staggered with attacks. If you are a spellcaster, the best thing to do is to dodge her spells and then cast your own in quick succession. The key to winning this fight is to not hesitate and land your attacks when you see a window of opportunity. If you can keep it up, then you'll defeat Renalla in no time.
Godfrey, First Elden Lord
Roll forwards, not backwards!
From Software
Godfrey is the first required boss in Leyndell. He's a big golden brute with a giant axe. Luckily, his attacks, while powerful, are somewhat typical for a boss.
A good way to start off the fight is with a summon. If you haven't yet, visit the Fringefolk Hero's Grave, which is at the very start of the game behind a fog wall. Complete the dungeon and you'll receive Banished Knight Oleg who is a more powerful summon that can take quite a few hits from bosses.
As for strategy, the key to his Godfrey fight is to roll forwards, not backwards. Godfrey makes use of his giant axe to reach you as you roll back. If you see him winding up, it's like he's getting ready for a long-reaching attack which is when you want to roll forward. He'll also use this attack when you're backpedaling while trying to heal.
If there's an attack you want to be aware of it's his stomp. It comes out quickly and will stun just enough to combo into an axe swing if you don't move. If you see a stomp coming, try to use a shield to block the attack instead of rolling away since it can still catch you.
You'll want to attack when you roll forward into those long axe attacks and when you roll away from his jumping pound attack. In both cases, he takes an extra couple of seconds to reset himself leaving him open to attacks.
Morgott, The Omen King
If Margit gave you nightmares, Morgott is going to haunt you while you're awake. The Omen King is going to be the toughest challenge you've faced so far unless you have gained a substantial number of levels. Even then, this is far from an easy fight.
The good news is that you have an orange summon available right outside the golden fog: Melina. If you don't see her symbol, use a Furlcalling Finger Remedy to reveal it. She's going to be vital for the fight as she can heal you while also dealing and taking damage. You'll also be able to use one of your own ash summons, but it's best to save that for the second phase.
What's important in this battle is speed. Do not attempt long combos against Morgott. Their attacks are so quick, can do multiple hits and will be delayed in order to throw your timing off. What you want is to get in, do a quick jumping attack and run away. This is where having Melina helps because as soon as she becomes targeted, you can get a few more hits in as well as a jumping attack.
In this fight, rolling back is more ideal as Morgott doesn't have long reaching attacks. If you're far away, they can throw some daggers or a lance that can be easily blocked or dodge. If you see swords floating above, that's a big area-of-effect attack and you want to roll back and avoid any areas where they land.
Phase 2 starts when Morgott's health gets about halfway. They'll lean over and start coughing. This is your sign to run away because a big blast is about to happen. If you're clear, it's time to for an ash summon in order to get another target for Morgott.
In the second phase, Morgott does the same attacks, but whenever an attack is missed, a puddle of liquid will be left that will erupt a few seconds after so make sure to avoid them. Aside from that, keep the same strategy of jumping in for quick attacks and then getting out of range. Keep this up and Morgott will go down.
Starscourge Radahn
The battle with Radahn is one of Elden Ring's most bizarre and epic boss fights. Come in prepared.
FromSoftware / Bandai Namco Games
While not required to complete the main story, this battle against Starscoruge Radahn is one of Elden Ring's most epic boss encounters, and it's one you'll likely find yourself walking into unintentionally. Located just off from Redmane Castle in the Caelid region, the battle with Radahn will see you face off against a towering foe who wields a ludicrous amount of power. Along with that, you'll call in many support characters to help you in battle. It's truly a one-of-a-kind fight, but it's also quite unforgiving. One wrong move against Radahn can result in a quick and brutal defeat.
What makes this battle so difficult is that is Radahn's attack power and range are so high that he can easily kill you within seconds of the fight beginning. He wields a magic-infused bow and twin great swords that can tear through your defenses. Right at the beginning, you'll need to close the distance on Radahn while also taking the time to summon allies to the fight. During this part of the fight, he'll try to pick you off with his arrows, and they deal considerable damage. You'll need to stick with cover, using the piles of old weapons as a shield, and close the distance to Radahn. You'll need to jump on Torrent and begin your attack from here.
This battle has two phases, and you'll need to pick your moments to attack Radahn and make a quick exit to avoid his strikes. For more of a detailed breakdown of the battle against Radahn, check out deeper guide that details the fight and the best strategies you'll need to beat him.
Gaming phones like the Nubia RedMagic 7 aren't trying to compete with Samsung Galaxy devices or Google Pixel phones. They instead crank up the Android gaming experience with specs that sound like they belong in a PC. The RedMagic 7 allows you to max out games for excellent responsiveness and performance.
Features like the 6.8-inch 165Hz refresh rate AMOLED screen, 12GB of RAM and 65-watt charging speeds also have a benefit beyond just being big numbers. They give us a glimpse at features that will likely make their way over to more mainstream phones in coming years.
For the price -- $629 (£529, which is roughly AU$940) -- all of these features might sound like a steal, but there are plenty of reasons why this phone isn't for most people, stemming primarily from tweaks to Android 12 that prioritize gaming performance over user experience. The RedMagic also has a shorter software update cycle than other phones at this price. And while a cooling fan is a common feature on many gaming phones, the RedMagic 7 includes an internal one, which is vital to keep the phone from overheating during intensive gameplay.
The RedMagic 7's $629 starting price includes 128GB of storage and 12GB of memory -- the latter already being a ridiculous amount for a phone. The review unit I tested is $799 and has 256GB of storage and an absurd 18GB of RAM. For perspective, the $800 Galaxy S22 has 8GB of RAM.
The RedMagic 7 comes with a 65-watt GaN charger.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
A little bit Android, a little bit Switch
At first glance, the RedMagic 7 seems like any other Android 12 phone. You unlock it with an in-screen fingerprint sensor and are greeted with a skinned version of Android 12 that includes themed widgets like a switch for the internal cooling fan and a toggle for quickly cranking the display's refresh rate from 60Hz up to 165Hz.
However, this RedMagic OS customization makes a number of annoying default choices that aren't great for casual users. Luckily, they can be switched off pretty easily. Apps are organized into multiple home screens like on iOS. To find the app drawer, you have to turn it on in settings. Once you set it up, you can keep most apps there and organize the ones you want onto the home screens.
The default internet browser is NextWord, which is easy to switch to Chrome or Firefox. And I hope you figure this out faster than I did, but the phone puts a RedMagic watermark on all your photos. After another frustrating trip to Settings I was able to turn that off as well.
You may find yourself visiting the Settings menu a lot to change some of the defaults in the RedMagic 7.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
OS annoyances aside, this phone is clearly aimed at gamers. A red physical switch on the top-left of the phone's transparent body boots it into a game launcher. The aptly named Game Space looks more like the menus you find on the Nintendo Switch and automatically adds games from your app library.
Gaming mode makes several tweaks to the phone's settings: It disables notifications, turns on the fan and adds menus for quick access to display refresh rates and processor performance. I set it up to show the frames per second as I played which helped determine which games supported higher refresh rates.
On the right side of the phone there's a fan exhaust and touch-sensitive areas that emulate shoulder buttons on a game controller. You can set up the "buttons" to tap specific areas of the screen during gameplay -- for instance I coupled them to the shoot button in Apex Legends Mobile and on the Use and Report buttons in Among Us.
Mortal Kombat Mobile supports the 165Hz refresh rate allowed by the RedMagic 7's screen.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
Gaming runs fast and sometimes hot
Along with the 165Hz display refresh rate, the RedMagic 7 touts a "720Hz Multi-Finger Touch Sampling Rate" -- their words. This refers to how responsive screen taps are while playing games. In lieu of having physical buttons, having a cranked-up touch rate for the screen makes a lot of sense. I found it particularly helpful for games streamed from the Google Stadia cloud service.
Cloud gaming in general is notorious for lag under even the fastest of internet connections, but with the RedMagic's 720Hz touch rate screen I was almost able to create combos in Mortal Kombat 11. It also made it possible to play Marvel's Avengers using the touchscreen over the Stadia cloud. These games are made for a physical controller, so while it's not an ideal or competitive way to play, it works fine for a quick game over good Wi-Fi.
The Game Space launcher on the RedMagic 7, which puts Android games into a more console-like menu.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
What was more interesting were the handful of games that supported the 165Hz screen refresh rate. Mortal Kombat Mobile (separate from Mortal Kombat 11) cranks all the way up to 165Hz, making all the punches and battles look super smooth. On the other hand, Rayman Adventures, which supports 165Hz, runs at double or triple speed. I had to turn the screen refresh rate down to 60Hz to run at a normal speed.
Most games however ran at 60 frames per second regardless of what I set. While Apex Legends Mobile appeared to top out at 60fps, the game did let me max all of its settings out. Performance remained super smooth throughout a 20-minute match, but I definitely noticed the phone was physically hot to touch. The RedMagic comes with a case that makes the heat from gaming substantially more tolerable.
The RedMagic 7 can charge from 0% to 100% in roughly 30 minutes.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
Fast charging that I want to see in more phones
The 65-watt GaN charger that's included with the phone is a serious perk. The dual 4,500-mAh double-cell battery can recharge from 0% to 98% in just over 30 minutes. This is a phone you definitely won't need to charge overnight. Interestingly enough when charging, an onscreen graphic shows the percentage, and the cooling fan turns on to dissipate any heat.
Battery life was great: I consistently got through an entire day, even when I kept the screen at 165Hz. Even on days where I played games for an hour or so, I had 20% to 30% left by the evening.
Another neat trick is you can power the phone straight from the power adapter, skipping the battery. This should help the battery ultimately last longer, since when available the phone won't need to draw power directly from it at all times. And during gaming, this will reduce the amount of heat the phone gives off.
I hope other phones adopt these power-charging features. A 30-minute charging time means the phone can fully charge up while you shower and get dressed in the morning.
Citi Field in New York. The RedMagic 7 applies a watermark by default that can be turned off in the settings menu.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
Photography and software support take a back seat
The phone has a 64-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera and 2-megapixel depth sensor. The RedMagic can handle most daytime photography situations, but it isn't going to win any awards for its photos.
Crowds inside of Citi Field, taken on the RedMagic 7.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
In terms of image quality, photos I took at a New York Mets game were on par with lower priced phones like the Moto G Stylus 5G. Photos taken outdoors in sunlight generally looked good, while lower light situations were more difficult.
RedMagic 7's Night mode photo at New York's Citi Field.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
The phone's Night mode helps bring out a few more additional details, focusing on subjects like the signs at the Mets' stadium, but it's not quite as detailed as other phones in this price range. If you want a phone that takes great photos, I recommend looking at the $599 Pixel 6 or the $700 Galaxy S21 FE.
The RedMagic 7 has an 8-megapixel front-facing camera.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
The 8-megapixel front-facing camera is disappointing, even for livestreaming. Selfie photos are just OK. The front-facing camera isn't something I'd use to broadcast on Twitch. With gaming and livestreaming so interconnected, it'd be nice if the RedMagic 7 could function as a starter device towards that.
Software support on the RedMagic 7 isn't great. RedMagic says that its products tend to get one major update with a "maintenance period" that lasts between one and a half to two years.
Geekbench v.5.0 single-core
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
Geekbench v.5.0 multicore
Asus ROG Phone 5 Ultimate
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
Serious Android gamers only
The RedMagic 7 isn't for most people, nor is it intended to be. If you are a competitive gamer who really wants an absolutely screaming refresh rate, and doesn't mind a built-in cooling fan, then this phone is certainly an option for you. Just understand the software update tradeoffs and all the defaults you'll probably want to change out of the box.
But most other people should look elsewhere for a daily driver phone. Families considering the RedMagic as an alternative to a Switch would be better off buying a Nintendo Switch and a cheaper phone.
Nubia RedMagic 7 vs. Nubia RedMagic 6 vs. Samsung Galaxy S22 vs. Google Pixel 6
5G sub 6 (some carrier models also have 5G mmWave) support, Wi-Fi 6E, 30W fast charging, Magic Eraser, Motion mode, Real Tone, Face Unblur, Cinematic Pan, 5 years OS and security updates, IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, Gorilla Glass Victus (front), Gorilla Glass 6 (back)
