Google Pixel 2 And Pixel 2 XL Impress With Android Oreo Superpowers

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Google recently launched the second coming of their Pixel line, dubbed unsurprisingly the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. These are next generation handsets from Google directly and designed to showcase the best that Android has to offer currently. With killer camera setups, powerful processors and cutting-edge designs, you’d think the hardware setup might be their best asset. However, under the hood is an operating system that that is a model of efficiency and a real speedster to boot. Check out my full review here with benchmarks for all the details…

Google Pixel 2 And Google Pixel 2 XL Review By David Altavilla

Google Pixel 2 And Google Pixel 2 XL

“Designed by Google but manufactured by HTC (Pixel 2) and LG (Pixel 2 XL), these two new handsets also boast Google’s latest Android 8.0 operating system, aka Oreo, an exclusive to Google Pixel and certain Nexus devices, at least for now. In some ways, this is also a big advantage as you’ll note on the pages ahead.”

 

Motorola Launches The Moto Z2 Play: HotHardware Claims The Battery Life King Never Looked So Good

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Smartphones are a funny beast of conflicting requirements, the insatiable need for more power and capability, hamstrung by the insatiable need for longer and longer battery life. The two are opposite, yet mutual complements, if executed well. Motorola has historically hit the mark in this regard, with the Moto Z Play series,  an Android smartphone with enough horsepower for the mainstream user but battery life that most handsets jones for.

Motorola Moto Z2 Play Smartphone - David Altavilla

Motorola Moto Z2 Play Smartphone

HotHardware’s Chris Goetting took the new Moto Z2 Play for a few loops around the test track and determined it was more of the same from Moto, only better. Check out his full review here and I reserve the right to ask for it back, if I’m feeling selfish. 🙂

Taking Samsung’s Galaxy Book 12 For A Spin

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Convertible notebook-tablet hybrid devices are big business these days. Microsoft drove the product segment forward nicely with the introduction of their Surface series of 2-in-1s a few years back and since then major PC OEMs have been looking to capture some of that lime light as well. Samsung recently stepped out with an Intel 7th gen Kaby Lake Core i5 powered 12-inch machine that is wafer thin and sports a gorgeous OLED display. Of course I just had to take a look. From the review:

Samsung's Galaxy Book 12

Samsung’s Galaxy Book 12

With Intel’s Kaby Lake 7th gen series processors hitting full stride, competitive solutions, like the Samsung Galaxy Book 12 we’ll show you here, are boasting serious horsepower in a hybrid tablet convertible form factor. The good news is, you know Samsung brings that bright, punchy OLED goodness with tablet displays, and this time we’ve got 12-inches of premium screen real estate to work with.

It’s impressive that Samsung was able to drop a full 15-watt Core i5 chip into this 1.5 tablet-hybrid device. Check out my full review here for all the details and my final evaluation.

My Review At HotHardware Of Dell’s XPS 27 All-In-One PC With A Killer Sound System

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The last time we looked at the Dell XPS 27 was all the way back in 2013. Then, we were working with Windows 8, multitouch support was a little on the pokey side still, there was a bit more plastic going on and everything was bulkier. The all new Dell XPS 27 7760 has a radically new look that draws at least one design cue from its XPS notebook siblings, specifically with respect to display bezel, or the lack thereof.

Though Dell isn’t officially branding the touch-enabled version of XPS 27 with an “InfinityEdge” display, as you can see here, side and top bezel is cut to a minimum, accentuating a beautiful 4K IPS panel. However, it’s new svelte window on the world might not be the most standout feature of the 2017 Dell XPS 27…

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Read on for my full review at HotHardware.com.

Maingear’s RUSH SuperStock X99 Is Pretty And A Crazy-Fast Killer Gaming Rig

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I recently took a Maingear RUSH custom gaming PC for a spin, and needless to say it really kicked some backside…

The Maingear RUSH system we received is an absolutely one of a kind gaming PC that is built with a zero-compromise component configuration. The system is built on an InWin 909 chassis platform with removable tempered glass sides. We received a stock black matte finish model, though highly customized automotive grade paint jobs are always an option for many Maingear systems.

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Let’s first take you on the video tour of this beast. Then we’ll run down its component load-out, design, build quality and of course let it rip down our benchmark drag strip.

Read more at http://hothardware.com/reviews/maingear-rush-superstock-x99-review

Dell XPS 15 Late 2015 Review: Pushing The Infinity Edge

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When Dell launched its updated XPS 13 notebook with an Infinity Edge display that squeezes a 13 inch IPS panel into essentially a 12-inch frame, it was met with universal praise for its unique mechanical design advantages and premium build quality. In fact, it was so well-received that many of you almost immediately started asking if Dell would follow-up with the same sort of revamp for their 15-inch XPS 15 line as well. Dell apparently already had the same idea in mind and clearly the new XPS 15, with its 15-inch Infinity Edge display, was already in the engineering pipeline. Like the XPS 13, the XPS 15’s material choices, design and build quality are premium, through and through, from its carbon fiber composite palm rest area to its machined aluminum lid and base, and edge-to-edge Corning Gorilla Glass NBT that covers its near bezel-less display… small_Dell-XPS15-front-lid-open-right-angle The configuration we’re looking at here is one of Dell’s best setups with a 4K IPS display, a 6th gen Intel Core i7-6700HQ Skylake quad-core processor at 2.6GHz with turbo boost to 3.5GHz, 16GB of DDR4 RAM at 2133MHz, NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 960M 2 GB mobile graphics engine and a 512GB NVMe PCI Express Solid State Drive. At $2229 MSRP we’ve certainly got a stacked and jacked configuration to show you here today. MacBook Pro killer? Maybe, but the Dell XPS 15 looks to be much more than something so tediously defined by cliche’. Here’s my full review on Dell’s new beautiful beast.

Acer Predator X34 Curved G-SYNC Monitor Review

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If you’re a PC gamer or into enthusiast computing, how would you describe your ideal monitor? For many, it might go something like a 32 – 34-inch IPS panel with a high refresh rate of 100Hz plus, 4K resolution, along with NVIDIA G-SYNC or AMD FreeSync technology. And with displays this big, adding a slight curve might be high on your wish list as well. The good news is, with the recent advancements in display technologies, that “holy grail” set of specifications is beginning to take shape, as display manufacturers like Acer, ASUS, Samsung, Dell and others begin to build all this great new tech into bigger and better high-end displays.

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In fact, the new Acer Predator X34 series captures three out of four of those “ideal” spec check box items, maybe hitting all of them, depending on your perspective. Acer offers two variants of curved 34-inch IPS panels with adaptive refresh technology, a FreeSync version known as the XR341CK and a G-SYNC-enabled version called the Predator X34 that we’ll be digging into here. This panel also has a 100Hz overclock setting, a fast 4ms pixel response time and 100% sRGB color gamut capability for gaming geek nirvana as well as productivity and content creation fidelity. The native resolution for the Predator X34 is 3440X1440 in a 21:9 aspect ratio.

Here’s my full review…

My Deep-Dive Look At Dell’s Alienware X51 R3 Console-Sized Game PC

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The Dell Alienware team has been relatively quiet for the past 18 – 24 months or so with respect to their X51 small form factor gaming rigs, but Intel’s recent Skylake processor launch and NVIDIA’s further optimization in the Maxwell GPU architecture have given the company a frenzied salvo of artillery to work with for their tiny but mighty gaming PC product line. To boot, the past few months have brought forth new innovation at the platform chipset level, as well as within the storage space. And so it was fitting that almost from top to bottom, the Alienware X51 R3 was given a complete overhaul of the lastest technologies, all of which play very well with the tighter power budgets and thermal constraints of this class of machine…

Alienware X51 R3 Review: Console-Sized Gaming PC Gets Skylake Infusion:
http://hothardware.com/reviews/alienware-x51-r3-review