As a battery saving measure, your iPhone automatically adjusts the brightness of your screen depending on the light in your environment. The less light there is around you, the dimmer your display gets — but that may not be what you want.
Even if it’s dark, you may want to keep your iPhone’s brightness up, because it helps you better see what’s on the screen, whether you’re reading an article or watching a movie. However, fixing this issue is not always as simple as toggling off an auto-brightness setting — although that’s a good start.
In this guide, we’ll show you two settings that you need to disable to help prevent your iPhone from automatically dimming. And how your iPhone might adjust its brightness even when those two settings are disabled, if you’re not careful.
Yes, this may seem a bit obvious, but the first thing you want to do is to make sure that you have automatic brightness disabled in your settings. The feature is pretty self-explanatory — it automatically adjusts your brightness depending on the light in your environment. But if you want to prevent your display from always trying to adjust, you must disable this feature.
In the Settings application, go to Accessibility > Display & Text Size and toggle off Auto-Brightness at the bottom of the page. You would think that this setting would exist in Display & Brightness, so it’s not uncommon that auto-brightness would be enabled without you really knowing, since it’s tucked away in Accessibility.
Auto-Brightness is tucked away in the Accessibility settings.
Nelson Aguilar/CNET
If your brightness continues to automatically adjust, there’s another setting you need to disable.
You also need to turn off True Tone
If you have an iPhone SE (2nd generation) and later, the True Tone feature has the ability to measure the color temperature and brightness in your environment and then adjust its display to match it. True Tone is useful — it not only helps show more accurate colors across various lighting situations, it’s also easier on the eyes, which you need if you’re constantly reading on your phone.
Again, if you don’t care about the feature, don’t use it or are simply annoyed that your brightness continues to automatically adjust, you need to disable it. In Settings, go to Display & Brightness and toggle off True Tone under the Brightness header. As long as auto-brightness is also disabled, turning True Tone off should prevent your iPhone from automatically adjusting your brightness.
If Auto-Brightness is disabled and your display continues to adjust on its own, this may be the culprit.
Nelson Aguilar/CNET
There is one exception though.
Don’t let your iPhone overheat
Your iPhone has several ways of protecting its internal components, and that includes automatically dimming your display. Even if you have both auto-brightness and True Tone turned off, if your iPhone is overheating it will automatically adjust the display intensity.
According to Apple, to help prevent this from happening, you should use your iPhone in temperatures between 32 to 95 degrees F (zero and 35 degrees C) and store it in temperates between 4 to 113 degrees F (between 20 below zero and 45 degrees C). If you leave your iPhone in your car or on the sidewalk on a hot day, there’s a good chance that it will overheat, thus causing your display to automatically dim.
You’ll see a warning message if your phone gets too hot.
Jason Cipriani/CNET
However, overheating doesn’t occur only because of a sunny day. A faulty battery could cause your iPhone to overheat: Go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging and check if your battery needs to be replaced. Another reason could be buggy software: Go to Settings > General > Software Update and more sure to always be on the latest update to deal with any software bugs and issues.
This story is part of 12 Days of Tips, helping you make the most of your tech, home and health during the holiday season.
Whether you got a new Chromebook for the holidays or you’re looking to do more with the one you have in the coming new year, you should know that there are still quite a few misconceptions about what Chromebook computers can do. One of the most prevalent is that Chromebooks can’t run Microsoft Office. While it’s true that Windows or Mac software can’t be directly installed on a Chromebook — including the desktop versions of Microsoft Office apps — that’s not the only option when it comes to using Microsoft’s suite of productivity software.
I’m not talking about the Android versions, either. Although Chromebooks can run millions of Android apps from the Google Play store, the Android versions of Microsoft Office, Outlook, OneNote and OneDrive are no longer supported on Chromebooks. However, when the Android apps stopped being supported on Chromebooks, another option (and in my opinion, a better one) took their place.
Progressive web apps are like mobile app versions of a website but with more features, such as offline use, the option to pin them to the taskbar, support for push notifications and updates and access to hardware features. You can find Microsoft Office 365 PWAs like Outlook and OneDrive, and they work great on Chromebooks. Here’s where to find them and install them so you can still use Office on a Chromebook.
Open the Chrome browser and go to Office.com, which is the landing page for Microsoft Office 365 online. If you already have an Office 365 account, sign in as you normally would. If you don’t have an Office account, you’ll need to create one. You can use any personal email you want for the account, and setting it up is a straightforward process: put in your email, set up a password, verify your email and prove you’re not a robot.
When this Install icon pops up in your address bar, click on it and follow the prompts.
Josh Goldman/CNET
Once you’re signed in to Office 365 in Chrome, an Install icon will appear at the top right of the address bar. It looks like a computer monitor with a downward pointing arrow. Click on it and it will pop open a prompt to install Office 365. Also, if you only want a single app like Word or Outlook, the same install option in the address bar will appear when you point the browser to the specific apps.
The installation happens fast. In a matter of moments, a window opens that looks exactly like the online version of Office 365. It is essentially a browser window but with the features of Microsoft Office mobile apps.
Read more: Best USB-C Hub 2022
Ready to work
The PWA is just like a mobile app.
Josh Goldman/CNET
Since the PWA behaves like installed software, you can do things like pin it to the taskbar, get notifications, work offline and easily resize it. The rest of the experience is the same as using the web versions. I actually prefer the PWA versions to the full Office downloads for most things.
Now, if after using the PWAs you’re missing the look, feel and tools of the desktop software, well, you still can’t install them directly on the Chromebook. But, you do have other options to run Windows software on a Chromebook.
I hate shopping for clothes. Shopping online means never really knowing if that shirt or those pants will fit. But going into the store means, well, physically going to a mall. It also means awkward moments in a fitting room where I need to get the attention of a clerk to bring me a different size or color. Often I don’t even bother, and I often go years between buying new pants.
Yet here I was at the Americana at Brand in Glendale, California, the weekend before Christmas, doing a bit of last-minute holiday shopping with my family. Mostly out of curiosity and some cynicism, I stepped inside Amazon Style, the online retail giant’s concept clothing store, and actually found myself having a fun time.
By merging its online shopping experience with a revamped, high-tech fitting room, it made me actually want to spend more time looking at clothes. For once, I didn’t feel the awkwardness or rushed anxiety that comes with trying things on in a changing room. This store is just one of two in the world (the other being in Columbus, Ohio), but I hope this is less an experiment and more the way all retailers start to think about their clothes shopping experience.
Amazon’s forays in the brick-and-mortar world have been varied and, at times, puzzling. There are the fully automated Amazon Go stores, where you grab an item and are automatically charged when you leave. Amazon also has its own supermarket concept which sits alongside its chain of Whole Foods Markets. Then there were the bookstores and pop-up shops, which the company shuttered this year.
Amazon declined to comment on its future plans for the Amazon Style store.
Like Amazon’s other stores, the key to the experience lies in its shopping app. At first glance, Amazon Style looks like any other clothing shop, with a few knick-knacks in the front and sections for men and women’s clothing.
Once you’ve scanned a few items, Amazon Style employees will set up a room for you with the clothes you’ve chosen. It’s all done through the app.
Roger Cheng/CNET
But upon closer inspection, there are some subtle differences. Each article of clothing appears once – there are no different sizes. The prices are the same as what you’d pay online, although there are discounts if you spend more. Flanking one side of the store are a row of fitting rooms – with more rooms taking up the entire second floor.
It’s those fitting rooms where Amazon Style really sets itself apart. Rather than randomly find an empty room, I use the app to scan a few articles of clothing that I want to try, and tell it that I want to “start a room.” An employee then gathered the selections and put them in a fitting room. After about seven minutes, the app notified me that one was ready and directed me to a specific fitting room number, which I unlocked using my app.
Once inside, I saw the various shirts and jackets I scanned hanging on a rack or neatly folded on top of the shelf below. In addition, there were a few extra items added based on what Amazon thought I might like. Curiously, there was a Calvin Klein shirt on top of the pile, a “sponsored item” that was essentially a pop-up ad come to life (I didn’t bother to try it on).
On the wall to my right was a large touchscreen that displayed my selections and offered recommendations for other items I might like. I could also request different sizes and styles and have them delivered to my fitting room.
Rather than have a store clerk knock on my door and hand me the clothes, the items are delivered through the closet to the right of the clothes rack. It takes a few minutes, but when the items are ready, the closet door locks and a red light flashes. Inside, the back of the closet opens up, allowing an Amazon Style employee to hang the new clothes. Once the red light goes off, I open the door and there they are.
The fitting room has a closet that opens on the backend, allowing employees to deliver additional articles of clothing for you.
Roger Cheng/CNET
The touchscreen and the fitting room take the best parts of the physical shopping experience and the online and mash them into an effective hybrid. It’s so simple, yet removes so much of the hassle from the shopping experience. I came into the store on a whim, but left with a white Adidas jumper.
It actually has me looking forward to the next time I need a new pair of pants. Maybe in 2024?
People looking for noise-canceling headphones have no shortage of options. Bose pioneered the function, but there are now a variety of headphones that offer noise cancellation that are comparable. Noise-canceling headphones help you listen to your music or podcasts while reducing outside noise. The space is competitive, which is good news for all of us as that means there’s no shortage of great noise-canceling headphones out there — and if you prefer noise-canceling Bluetooth earbuds, you can find them, too.
The best noise-canceling headphones tend to cost more than $200 — and some premium models cost double that or more — but you can find plenty of good ANC (active noise canceling) headphones and earbuds at more affordable prices. So, while some of the models on the list are indeed expensive, I’ve also included some value models that perform decently for not too much money. I’ve fully reviewed or had hands-on listening time with all the headphones on this list, which gets updated regularly as new models hit the market.
When you have a product that a lot of people love, change can be risky. Such is the case for Sony’s WH-1000XM5, the fifth generation of the 1000X series headphones, which were first released in 2016 as the MDR-1000X Wireless and have become increasingly popular as they’ve improved with each generation. Over the years, Sony has made some tweaks to the design, but nothing as dramatic as what it’s done with the WH-1000XM5. Other than the higher $349 price tag most of those changes are good, and Sony’s made some dramatic improvements with voice-calling performance as well as even better noise canceling and more refined sound.
Yes (IPX5 — protection against low-pressure water streams)
In the past, we’ve recommended Earfun’s AirPro SV and Air Pro 2 as excellent budget noise-canceling earbuds choices (they’re still good values). But the new-for-2022 Earfun Air S may be the best of the trio, with multipoint Bluetooth pairing, the latest Qualcomm QCC3046 SoC (system on a chip) with the AptX audio codec for Android and other devices that support it. It has the same 10mm wool drivers as the AirPro SV and features surprisingly impressive sound for its modest price point. They also work well as a headset for making calls with decent background noise reduction.
The buds have an IPX5 water-resistance rating, which means they’re splashproof and can withstand a sustained spray of water. Through Sept. 12, 2022, you can get them for $49 when you click the 5% instant coupon on the product page and apply the code AIRCNET2 to get a 13% bonus discount.
Bose’s second-generation QuietComfort Earbuds 2 are not only about 30% smaller than their predecessors, but their case is about 40% smaller and truly pocketable. They feature best-in-class noise canceling and improved sound, thanks to Bose’s new CustomTune sound calibration system that customizes the sound for your ears. Voice-calling performance is also significantly better than that of the original QuietComfort Earbuds.
The other big change is to the ear tips. Bose has ditched its one-piece StayEar wing tips for a two-piece Fit Kit system that features separate ear tips and “stability bands” in three size options, giving you more flexibility to get a secure fit and tight seal.
The buds initially ship in the Triple Black Color with the Sandstone color to follow later in the year.
The Bose QuietComfort 45 essentially looks the same as its popular predecessor, the QuietComfort 35 II, with the biggest design difference being a USB-C port in place of the older Micro-USB. (At 238 grams, the QC45 weighs just 3 grams more than the QC35, which should be imperceptible.) And while the Bose 700 has plenty of fans, a lot of people, including me, think this QuietComfort design is slightly more comfortable and the headphones fold up and fold flat. It’s arguably the most comfortable pair of headphones out there.
They also sound very similar to the QC 35 II, with no change to the drivers. Where you’ll see an improvement is with the noise cancellation (there’s a transparency mode), which very well could be the best out right now. According to Bose, there’s a new electronics package that powers the new ANC system, which now better muffles “unwanted sounds in the midrange frequencies” (voices) that you’d “typically find on commuter trains, busy office spaces and cafes.”
I found that to be true and give these the slight edge over both the Headphones 700 and Sony WH-1000XM4 for noise canceling. That said, you can’t adjust the level of noise canceling like you can with those models, which offer a more robust feature set, particularly the Sony. However, after a firmware update, you can now tweak the sound in the app with equalizer settings.
The headset performance has also improved, with better noise reduction during calls. And these offer multipoint Bluetooth pairing. That means you can pair the QC45 with two devices simultaneously — such as a smartphone and PC — and switch audio as needed. They’re equipped with Bluetooth 5.1 and support the widely compatible AAC audio codec but not aptX.
While these have advantages over the Headphones 700 and Sony WH-1000XM4 and do sound quite good, those models sound slightly better: The 700 is slightly more natural sounding and tuned more for audiophiles, while the Sony has more dynamic bass. So that makes choosing between these three models that much more difficult.
Sennheiser updated its well-regarded 4.50BTNC noise-canceling headphones in 2020. The new headphone model is called the 450BT and it has some notable upgrades, including better battery life (up to 30 hours with noise canceling on), USB-C charging, Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX support for devices like the Samsung Galaxy smartphones that support it and more comfortable earpads. The 450BT noise-canceling headphones list for $200, but usually cost around $150 although they have dipped to as low as $100 in flash sales (they’re a very good value at that price).
The 450BT headphones don’t have quite the clarity or bass definition of Sennheiser’s Momentum Wireless 3 headphones, but they cost much less and deliver very good well-balanced sound that’s easy to listen to for long periods. I thought the 450BT model also worked quite well as a headset making calls, with the sidetone feature that allows you to hear your voice inside the headphones.
The only potential downside is that regular headphones may not be the most comfortable for some people. I have a smaller head, so they worked fine for me, but they do clamp a bit and those with larger heads may find that to be an issue. Also, while the earpads have been upgraded, they’re still covered in a faux leather material that doesn’t breathe quite as well as some earpad coverings. Still, if you can’t afford premium models in the $300 to $400 range, this is a more affordable option that’s well built and delivers premium sound. The headphones fold up to fit into an included soft carrying case.
Sony has released its new WH-1000XM5 but the WH-1000XM4 remains on sale. While I prefer the WH-1000XM5 — it’s a little more comfortable and has improved noise canceling, more refined sound and significantly better voice-calling performance — the WH-1000XM4 is still a great headphone and some people may prefer its slightly more energetic sound and how it folds up into a smaller case than that of the WH-1000M5. It also costs less, and we should see some nice discounts on it going forward.
Available for preorder now and shipping Sept. 23, the new AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) are powered by Apple’s new H2 chip, which delivers more processing power while being more energy efficient, according to Apple. The new chip, combined with new low-distortion drivers, allows for improved sound that offers better clarity and depth. The noise canceling is also improved — Apple says the new AirPods have “double” the noise canceling of the original AirPods Pro. Additionally, the new AirPods add an extra hour of battery life — it’s up from 5 to 6 hours with noise canceling on — and a speaker in the case that emits a sound that helps locate your buds via Find My should they decide to hide from you.
Note that while Apple has discontinued the original AirPods Pro, they’ll remain on sale at discounted prices until supplies are exhausted. However, most people should get this newer model if they can afford it.
Sennheiser’s previous-generation Momentum Wireless headphones have always had a pretty distinct look that was part retro, part modern, and stood out for the exposed metal on their headband. For better or worse, that’s all gone now, and the new Momentum 4 Wireless, Sennheiser’s flagship noise-canceling headphones, look a bit more subdued and also a bit more like some of their competitors.
The Momentum 4 Wireless offers superior performance over the Momentum 3 Wireless in every regard, though the biggest gains are with noise canceling and voice-calling performance as well as battery life, which is outstanding — up to 60 hours at moderate volume levels. There’s also a transparency mode that allows ambient sound in, as well as the ability to create a custom sound profile in the Smart Control app for iOS and Android using the built-in EQ, sound modes and a new Sound Personalization feature that “assesses the user’s listening preferences and adjusts the listening experience according to their taste.”
Equipped with 42mm drivers, Sennheiser says the Momentum 4 Wireless offer “best-in-class” sound, which is debatable. I’d say the Momentum 4’s sound quality is right there with other models in this price range — they sound excellent, with the requisite well-defined, punchy bass, relatively wide soundstage (they sound pretty open) and smooth treble that brings out some of the finer details in well-recorded tracks. They’re a pleasure to listen to.
Yes, they’re expensive, but the AirPods Max deliver richer, more detailed sound than lower-priced competitors from Bose and Sony. They also feature arguably the best noise canceling on the market along with premium build quality and Apple’s virtual surround spatial audio feature for video watching. While they’re heavy, they manage to be surprisingly comfortable, though I did have to adjust the mesh canopy headband to sit a little more forward on my head to get a comfortable secure fit when I was out walking with them. They should fit most heads well, but there will be exceptions.
No earbuds are perfect and not everybody will love the fit of the Sony WF-1000XM4 buds or be able to afford their high price. But if you’re looking for great-sounding earbuds with great noise canceling, solid voice-calling capabilities and good battery life, these buds check all the boxes.
Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds also have top-notch noise canceling and sound quality, but the Sony is right there with the Bose for noise canceling (and some might say it’s a touch better in that department), but the Sony offers slightly better sound quality and also has a more compact design, particularly for the case (though the Sony buds certainly aren’t small).
Available in three color options (gray, blue and black), Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 headphones offer some significant improvements over the first-generation version. Not only are these headphones more comfortable — they tip the scales at 307 grams — but they sound better and have better noise-canceling and voice-calling performance with improved noise reduction. I don’t necessarily think they’re a better option than the lighter and even more comfortable Sony WH-1000XM5. But the PX7 S2 certainly looks and feels luxurious, with its sturdy design, and delivers very good sound with better voice-calling performance thanks to an upgraded microphone setup.
Bowers & Wilkins has also released a step-up model, the PX8, that features even better sound but costs significantly more.
Hot on the heels of the third-generation AirPods, Apple has another new set of earbuds, this time from its subsidiary audio company, Beats. Technically, the new Beats Fit Pro ($200) aren’t AirPods, but they’re built on the same tech platform as the AirPods Pro. Unlike Beats’ earlier and less expensive Studio Buds, the Beats Fit Pro include Apple’s H1 chip and have most of the AirPods Pro’s features, including active noise canceling, spatial audio and Adaptive EQ. I’d venture to call them the sports AirPods you’ve always wanted. And for some people, they might just be better than the AirPods Pro.
The new Shure Aonic 40 noise-canceling headphones are a bit smaller and more affordable than the company’s well-received Aonic 50 headphones ($299) that were released in 2020. My quick take: They sound quite good with clean, well-balanced sound that you can tweak in the Shure companion app for iOS and Android (you can choose from preset EQ settings as well as a customizable manual EQ setting).
The active noise canceling is solid but not quite up to the level of Sony’s or Bose’s and like the Aonic 50, they work well for making calls (Shure is known for its microphones) and you can connect them to your computer via USB-C. For those with aptX-enabled Android devices, the headphones support aptX HD Bluetooth streaming.
You don’t get extra features like ear-detection sensors that automatically pause your music when you take the headphones off your head and resume playback when you put them back on. However, the headphones have a dual-hinge design so they both fold up and fold flat, allowing them to have a more compact case than the Aonic 50’s (its case is pretty huge). In other words, these are more travel friendly. Battery life is rated at 25 hours with noise canceling on.
They’re very good headphones — sturdy, too — but I didn’t find them quite as comfortable as competing models from Bose and Sony. For some people, the top of the headband may put a little pressure on the crown of your head (the headband’s padding is OK but could be better). I pushed the headband forward a bit on my head to get a more comfortable fit. They’re also available in white.
The No. 5909 are premium audio brand Mark Levinson’s first headphones and, yes, they’re really expensive at $999. But they’re also really good. They have a sturdy design without managing to feel hefty on your head (read: they’re substantial but not too heavy) and they’re comfortable to wear over long periods thanks to their nicely padded (and replaceable) leather-covered earcups and headband.
Not only do they feature good noise canceling and excellent sound, but their voice-calling performance is top-notch. Plus, they have multipoint Bluetooth pairing so you can pair them with two devices, such as a computer and a smartphone, simultaneously.
The No. 5909 are high-res certified with support for Sony’s LDAC and Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive codecs that allow for near-lossless streaming over Bluetooth. Apple’s iPhones and iPads don’t support those codecs while certain Android devices do. Using the No. 5909 headphones over Bluetooth on my iPhone 13 Pro, it sounded a tad more natural and refined than the AirPods Max (the No. 5909 had a touch more “pure” and accurate sound).
I did notice a difference when I paired the No. 5909 to my Google Pixel 4 XL, which has support for LDAC, and using the Qobuz audio streaming service that offers high-res streaming. Overall, the sound had a little more depth and texture, and there’s a touch more sparkle, definition and openness.
The MW75 are Master & Dynamic’s best full-size headphones yet. Needless to say, they’re pricey at $599; most people will be quite satisfied with the $400 Sony WH-1000XM5, which are lighter and more comfortable, and which deliver best-in-class voice calling and noise canceling. But the MW75’s build quality is hard to beat and they offer top-notch sound for a wireless model (I thought they sounded better than Apple’s AirPods Max headphones), plus strong voice-calling and noise-canceling performance. With their support for aptX Adaptive, they have additional appeal for Android users, who can get a touch better sound quality with the right setup. But I was also quite happy streaming music with my iPhone 13 Pro using the AAC codec.
There’s a bit of an old-school vibe to the Technics EAH-A800 — and it’s not just the Technics brand, which Panasonic resurrected in the last few years. Their design is something of a throwback but the headphones are comfortable and both fold up and fold flat. They feature a big, energetic sound with powerful bass and good detail (however, they take a day or two to break in).
They feature ear-detection sensors that automatically pause your music when you take the headphones off, as well as multipoint Bluetooth pairing (you can connect them to two devices at the same time like a computer and smartphone). Additionally, they have support for Sony’s near lossless LDAC audio codec for Bluetooth streaming that’s available on certain Android devices. I mainly listened to these headphones with an Android device and the Qobuz music service, which offers high-resolution tracks. That setup offers the best possible wireless sound quality.
The headphones are available in black and silver and according to Panasonic, can deliver up to 50 hours of battery life at moderate volume with ANC on. That’s excellent, and the EAH-A800 also works well as a headset for making calls with eight onboard microphones for noise reduction and voice pickup.
Unlike the “open” LinkBuds, the LinkBuds S are traditional noise-isolating earbuds with tips you jam into your ears. They’re more compact and lighter than Sony’s flagship WF-1000M4 and also feature Sony’s V1 processor. While their sound and noise canceling don’t quite measure up to the WF-1000XM4’s, they’re close and cost less. They’re the Sony buds for people who can deal with larger buds like WF-1000XM4 but are looking for 80 to 85% of those buds’ features and performance for $80 less.
The Pixel Buds Pro are Google’s first earbuds to feature active noise canceling. While it’s nice that they finally have a feature that a lot of true-wireless earbuds have had for a while, what ultimately sets the Pixel Buds Pro apart and makes them worth considering — particularly for Android users — is their distinct design and winning fit. That helps enhance their performance on both the sound quality and noise-canceling fronts. While not quite elite for voice-calling, they also performed well as a headset for making calls. A couple of features are missing at launch — spatial audio and a five-band equalizer — but are due to arrive later in 2022, according to Google.
Yes (IP57 – Can Be Submerged for 30 Minutes Up to 1 Meter)
The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro offer improved noise canceling along with very good sound and voice-calling performance, plus support for high-resolution wireless audio streaming if you’re a Galaxy device owner with the right setup. That said, their biggest upgrade may be their new design and smaller size, which make them a better fit for more ears. Aside from their somewhat high price tag, their only drawback is that some of their key features only work with Samsung Galaxy devices. They’re fully waterproof with an IPX rating.
Featuring excellent sound, improved noise canceling and voice-calling performance as well a smaller, more refined design that includes stabilizing fins (so the earbuds stay in your ears more securely), the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 are among the best new true-wireless earbuds for 2020. They’re also one of the best true-wireless earbuds overall, giving the Sony WF-1000XM4 a run for the money.
As far as sound, comfort level and build quality, you’d be hard-pressed to do better than Anker’s SoundCore Life Q30 for the money. It doesn’t quite have the clarity or bass definition as some of the top premium models, but it’s less than a third of the price and gets you about 75% of the way there in terms of sound (it’s well balanced overall with punchy bass and there’s an app that allows you to tweak the sound). Noise canceling is good for the price, though not up to the level of the Sony WH-1000XM4 or Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700. Battery life is rated at an impressive 40 hours with USB-C charging.
The only area where the Q30 falls a little short is for voice calls. It picks up your voice fine in quieter environments but it just doesn’t reduce background noise all that well.
Compared to the Q20 (see below), the Q30 does offer improved sound (it’s not a huge difference, but it definitely is a notch up) and a more premium design. Anker often offers the Q20 at a $10 discount at Amazon. Eventually, we should see something like that on the Q30.
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Is it ‘noise canceling’ or ‘noise cancelling’?
Short answer: both. Either spelling is correct, as “canceling” is more common in American English while “cancelling” is more common in British English. CNET uses “noise canceling” since the company is based in the US, but the noise is canceled just the same, regardless of spelling. If you’re looking to see what different noise-impacting technology is out there for headphones, check out our article on noise-canceling versus noise-isolating headphones, which highlights differences in function (and not just a difference in spelling).
Honorable mentions
Sennheiser 450BT– Sennheiser updated its well-regarded 4.50BTNC noise-canceling headphones in 2020. The new headphone model is called the 450BT and it has some notable upgrades, including better battery life (up to 30 hours with noise canceling on), USB-C charging, Bluetooth 5.0 with aptX support for devices like the Samsung Galaxy smartphones that support it and more comfortable earpads. The 450BT noise-canceling headphones list for $200, but usually cost around $150 although they have dipped to as low as $100 in flash sales (they’re a very good value at that price).
The 450BT headphones don’t have quite the clarity or bass definition of Sennheiser’s Momentum Wireless 3 headphones, but they cost much less and deliver very good well-balanced sound that’s easy to listen to for long periods. I thought the 450BT model also worked quite well as a headset making calls, with the sidetone feature that allows you to hear your voice inside the headphones.
The only potential downside is that regular headphones may not be the most comfortable for some people. I have a smaller head, so they worked fine for me, but they do clamp a bit and those with larger heads may find that to be an issue. Also, while the earpads have been upgraded, they’re still covered in a faux leather material that doesn’t breathe quite as well as some earpad coverings. Still, if you can’t afford premium models in the $300 to $400 range, this is a more affordable option that’s well built and delivers premium sound. The headphones fold up to fit into an included soft carrying case.
The LG OLED Flex is both a TV and a monitor, but its coolest feature is a unique motorized screen. The 42-inch OLED panel goes from flat to curved using a dedicated bend button on the remote. After using it for a week, I found it offers an immersive viewing experience for gamers with its curved screen and built-in bias lighting.
You can adjust the level of curvature with three presets and fine-tune it even further thanks to the motorized system. The monitor also has an X-shaped light on the rear that syncs to video and sound or cycles through colors.
The games I played definitely felt more immersive with the combination of the lighting and the curved screen. It felt like I was using my own private arcade system as I leaned back in my chair with the screen lifted high and tilted down.
The biggest drawback to the LG OLED Flex is the high price and large size. Not only does the stand measure 10 inches deep, but I needed to sit at least 20 inches from the screen to feel comfortable. That calls for a desk 30 inches deep or more, which is impractical for a lot of people. Not to mention, the monitor costs a whopping $2,500 — a steep price indeed when LG is selling a standard flat 42-inch OLED TV for $800.
To see the screen in action along with my full hands-on impressions, check out the video at the top of this article.
Apple’s mobile gaming subscription service has come a long way since its release in 2019, more than doubling its game library and offering subscribers new releases, remasters and updates every week. And it may have found its first flagship exclusive with Sneaky Sasquatch, a popular, lighthearted game about a Bigfoot-like character adventuring in the woods, hiding from campers and riding go-carts.
Over the three years since its launch, Apple Arcade has continuously added new games that cater to large audiences, while also spotlighting smaller developers who might’ve otherwise gone unnoticed in the App Store.
What began as a simple tab housing about 100 games is now a dynamic section of the App Store featuring new releases and updates, special in-app events and easy-to-navigate categories. That large catalog, reliable service and fresh, microtransaction-free approach to mobile gaming is why I’ve named it a CNET Editors’ Choice pick since its debut.
“We were defining a new category with the first gaming subscription service for mobile, desktop and living room, and challenged ourselves to launch with 100 brand new titles that would capture the quality and fun that we wanted the service to represent,” Matt Fischer, Apple’s vice president of the App Store, told CNET in an exclusive email interview.
Fischer said he believes Arcade debuted with more new games than any gaming service had launched with before, including heavy-hitters like Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, EA Play and Nintendo Switch Online.
Apple introduced its subscription gaming service, Apple Arcade, in 2019.
CNET
When first announced, Arcade sounded full of possibilities and like a breath of fresh air for mobile gamers who were tired of racking up bills from in-game microtransactions for items like a new look for their character or more power-ups to beat a particularly hard level. Now, for the equivalent price of one console game a year, Apple Arcade offers subscribers who pay $5 a month access to hundreds of games in categories like puzzle, nostalgia, mystery, sports and kids, as well as titles with multiplayer and social features. In addition to adding and updating content, Arcade removes older games every so often, likely as a result of expired contracts.
How Apple Arcade sets itself apart from the competition
When Arcade launched in September 2019, Apple firmly planted its flag between free and paid games by promising players access to the full experience of any game in its subscription. That was a stark contrast to the freemium model that had come to dominate mobile gaming, regularly charging players for extra features like more levels or help to defeat a particular challenge. Apple’s goal with Arcade is to allow subscribers to play through a catalog of games without constantly being blocked by those in-app purchases or interrupted by intrusive ads. That approach, Apple believed, also provided parents with peace of mind when letting kids play mobile games.
Although Apple doesn’t disclose data about how many Arcade subscribers it has, Ampere Analysis says the service’s content strategy is geared toward success, particularly by providing a source of entertainment for people during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
You can connect third-party game controllers to an iPad and play certain Apple Arcade games.
James Martin/CNET
Arcade also provides a space to spotlight diverse, indie developers who might have otherwise been overshadowed by freemium games in the App Store, a goal that it’s accomplished.
“There are billions of players in the world looking for different types of entertainment experiences,” Fischer said. “Apple Arcade appeals to a wide range of players of all ages and backgrounds, and so should the teams that make the games. We want to ensure we’re bringing the best content and gaming experiences to our subscribers from developers that also uphold our values of innovation, creativity, diversity, and inclusion.”
I’ve been covering Apple Arcade since the beginning, and one of my favorite parts has been hearing the developers’ stories — where the idea for a game came from, how the creators put themselves into a project — and having my expectations flipped.
Skate City has become a favorite game to help me unwind on Apple Arcade.
Snowman
For example, I don’t gravitate towards sports games, but after talking to the Snowman team (Where Cards Fall, Alto’s Odyssey: The Lost City), the atmospheric, lo-fi skateboarding game Skate City became a go-to title for me. In addition to the main character of Cardpocalypse being in a wheelchair, The Get Out Kids featured a Muslim family — one of the first times I’d seen representation like that in a video game.
Arcade games have also won awards, including titles like Where Cards Fall and Sayonara Wild Hearts. Some of its titles have also expanded to run on other gaming services like Steam, Switch, Xbox and PlayStation.
As for one of the biggest knocks against the service — that it doesn’t have a flagship exclusive game like Halo on Xbox and Mario on Nintendo — Fischer says Apple sees a lot of potential in Sneaky Sasquatch from RAC7, one of the service’s top games, with a rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars. In the game, players explore campsites — undetected by the cranky park ranger or other campers —and fill their backpack with picnic leftovers for themselves and other animals. Since its launch with the service in 2019, Sneaky Sasquatch has received multiple updates expanding the game’s world with features like careers, vacation spots and vehicles options for Sasquatch.
Sneaky Sasquatch is an adorable game that’s hard to put down.
CNET
For Apple Arcade’s third anniversary, I asked Fischer how the service has progressed and what comes next. He told me about how Apple sees the store against its competition, what customers have been asking for and how he finds new games that take advantage of hardware advances made possible by Apple’s M2 chip powering Mac computers and the A14 Bionic chip for the iPhone and iPad.
Here’s a lightly edited version of our exchange.
Q: Describe the inception of Apple Arcade. What made Apple want to expand into mobile gaming?
Fischer: Players love the huge catalog of games available on the App Store, from casual titles to console-quality experiences, many of which are free to download and offer in-app purchases or ads within the experience. However, many users are also looking for game experiences they can enjoy without interruptions, [and] without having to pay up-front for each title.
So we saw an opportunity to bring an exceptional set of games together for players who want unlimited access to an evolving catalog of great games, all for a low monthly price, all without in-game ads or in-app purchases. For developers, we sought out partners from around the globe who wanted to build and deliver titles that offered great gameplay, where they didn’t need to design in different business models or advertising to fund the games.
When we launched Apple Arcade, we were thrilled by the reception from both players and developers. The mobile gaming subscription model is an exciting new direction for us. The kinds of games we’re showcasing on Arcade continue to help define the App Store as the world’s best marketplace for games, and iOS the world’s most vibrant gaming platform, with Apple Arcade being complementary to the App Store’s massive catalog of games.
Q: What challenges did Apple face prior to launching the service? After launching the service?
Fischer: Launching the service was very exciting for us, but also quite daunting. We were defining a new category with the first gaming subscription service for mobile, desktop and living room, and challenged ourselves to launch with 100 brand new titles that would capture the quality and fun that we wanted the service to represent. Not only were we proud of the amazing content we had, but also that we launched with more new games than any gaming service had ever launched with before. That includes services like Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, EA Play, and Nintendo Switch Online. That in and of itself was a monumental task. There were a lot of last-minute changes and tweaks, but it all came together and it was a great launch. The catalog was quickly praised for its high-quality content, and we saw a lot of interest from players from all over the world.
NBA 2K21 Arcade Edition was one of the biggest games to launch after Apple Arcade overhauled its service in April 2021.
Eli Blumenthal/CNET
Over time, something we heard consistently from players was that they wanted more casual titles, along with many of the richer Arcade Originals in the catalog. So we saw another great opportunity to offer our subscribers a collection of classic games along with award-winning titles from the App Store, but with all the benefits that players love about the service. In April 2021, we introduced two new categories of games, App Store Greats and Timeless Classics, to expand the catalog. We’ve seen great success with these games, with titles like Solitaire by MobilityWare and Fruit Ninja Classic+ frequently appearing in our top 10 list alongside many of the top Arcade Originals like NBA 2K23 Arcade Edition and Sneaky Sasquatch.
Q: What was Apple’s process for approaching developers to be a part of the service?
Wylde Flowers is a colorful, spunky game with a witchy twist in the vein of Stardew Valley.
Apple
Fischer: Fun games, creative ideas. It can be that simple. We want to be able to provide our subscribers with an amazing catalog of high-quality games of all shapes and sizes. We have relationships with nearly every developer in the world, from big publishers to acclaimed creators to respected indie studios. Great games can truly come from anywhere. We continue to identify and work with new talent as well as developers who have created many of the best games in history, both on mobile and other platforms. There are billions of players in the world looking for different types of entertainment experiences. Apple Arcade appeals to a wide range of players of all ages and backgrounds, and so should the teams that make the games. We want to ensure we’re bringing the best content and gaming experiences to our subscribers from developers that also uphold our values of innovation, creativity, diversity and inclusion. Wylde Flowers is a great example of this. The game features inclusive, diverse, and memorable characters voiced by an authentic voice cast, and recently won an App Store Award as the 2022 Apple Arcade Game of Year.
Q: One of the biggest criticisms around Apple Arcade is that the service doesn’t have a flagship exclusive game, like Halo on Xbox, Mario and Nintendo, etc. What’s Apple’s plan to attain a title that could be synonymous with the service?
Fischer: Breaking new IP in any entertainment business is challenging, but especially so in gaming. Developing hit games takes time. We have been primarily focused on building a broad catalog that reaches many different players rather than trying to find one flagship game. We want everyone to find something they will love.
One game that’s continued to grow in popularity on Apple Arcade is Sneaky Sasquatch from RAC7, a two-person team from Vancouver. It was one of our launch titles and has constantly evolved with regular updates throughout the years. The game has expanded into a much richer world with many new adventures and is consistently one of our top-performing titles. We hear from fans of the game from all over the world, of all ages, on how much they love Sneaky Sasquatch. We see a bright future ahead for Sneaky.
Sneaky Sasquatch is one of Apple Arcade’s most beloved games, with a rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars.
Apple Arcade
Q: How does Apple choose games for the service? Is player feedback or metrics taken into account when choosing new games?
Fischer: As I mentioned before, fun games and creative ideas go a long way. We do pay attention to what players are responding to and make adjustments accordingly, looking for games that will appeal to them. But we also like to make bets on independent developers with visionary ideas so we can help bring them to life. We provide developers an opportunity to create the games they want without worrying about monetization mechanics, which in turn, provides players with innovative games that may not have seen the light of day without Apple Arcade.
Q: Back in July, subscribers noticed about 15 games in a Leaving Soon category, which prompted questions about games being taken off of Apple Arcade. Those weren’t the first titles to leave the service, but it was a sizable portion of the overall catalog. How do you decide what gets taken off?
Fischer: Since the beginning of Apple Arcade, our vision has always been to evolve the catalog to provide players a continually new selection of fun games to play on all their favorite Apple devices including iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. We launched the service with an unprecedented collection of over 100 new games and have since added more than 150 titles. We’ve also released more than 500 new content updates for existing games since the service launched. The catalog stays fresh so that players can enjoy their favorite Arcade games for years, while checking out new titles across a wide variety of genres. We look to have a regular cadence with only a handful of games leaving monthly, enabling us to focus on consistently bringing new exciting games and updates to players on a weekly basis.
Fantasian, a RPG from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, was one of the most highly anticipated Apple Arcade games to join the service.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
Q: Is there a metric that measures the success of a game on Arcade? Number of downloads? Minutes played?
Fischer:We look at ratings and reviews as player feedback is very critical for us in delivering the best possible service for our users. The most important thing for us is player satisfaction — are they understanding the benefits of the subscription model; are they aware of the incredible selection of games the service makes available; do they stay subscribed and find value in the service.
Q: Apple’s catalog has featured a lot of diversity — characters with disabilities, different religions, etc. What is Apple Arcade doing to actively recruit developers and publishers who make those kinds of games?
Fischer:We want the characters in our games and our overall catalog to reflect the world we live in, and to embrace Apple’s values, so we always discuss this with developers upfront. We’ve since reached the point now where many developers understand this about Apple Arcade and are bringing us ideas with diverse characters and perspectives. A few good examples of this are Wylde Flowers and Gibbon: Beyond the Trees.
Q: What’s a dream game that Apple hopes to join the service in the future?
Fischer:I would say many of our dream games are already available on the service — Fantasian, Wylde Flowers, The Oregon Trail, Sneaky Sasquatch, Skate City, Grindstone, Gibbon: Beyond the Trees, Mini Motorways. … I can go on and on. But Arcade is not just about one title. That’s not really how we think about it. We want a great catalog with several compelling choices for every type of player.
Gibbon: Beyond the Trees is a striking and emotional game about the impacts of deforestation on the Gibbon population.
Apple
Q: What are Apple Arcade’s ambitions for the kinds of games that are available on the service, especially as the technology in iPhones and iPads continues to advance?
Fischer:Our ultimate goal is to continually refresh the catalog with new games; some are easy to pick up and play, others offer a deeper gameplay experience, some are great games to play solo or with family and friends, but all in all, it is about having fun. Apple also continues to drive major innovations in gaming with Metal, A14 Bionic, M2, and augmented reality. We’ll continue to work with developers to help them take advantage of the advances in our hardware and software to provide the best gameplay experiences for our users.
Q: Has Apple considered a dedicated [Apple-made] console system or controller for its games?
Fischer:Our focus right now is continuing to build Arcade and meeting our players’ needs and expectations.
Q: Now that Apple Arcade is entering its third year, where is the service in terms of expectations? Is Apple happy with subscriber numbers and active users, or is that still an area of focus?
Fischer: We’re thrilled with how the service is performing and how much it has grown thus far. We have an incredibly broad and deep catalog that our players are loving and we continue to deliver exclusive new versions of hit games like NBA 2K23 Arcade Edition, Jetpack Joyride 2 and Cooking Mama: Cuisine. We have new titles as well like Air Twister from renowned developer Yu Suzuki, and hit games based on popular IP like Lego Star Wars: Castaways and Warped Kart Racers. We’re excited about the future of the service and look forward to our continued work with amazing and talented developers from around the world.
The holidays are stressful enough without the chaos and cancellations of holiday travel. With a winter storm sweeping through a chunk of the country right before Christmas, getting home safely and quickly for the holidays will save you time, money and, perhaps most importantly, stress. If you’re planning to catch a flight or spend several hours on the road, you can use Google Maps to help you navigate to help ease some of the stress of traveling.
There are a variety of ways to use Google Maps to help make the journey easier, from quickly getting around the airport to using the Maps app offline. Check out some of the app’s best features for holiday travelers below.
If you need to quickly find a store in a large mall or transit center, Google Maps is expanding its Directory tab for all airports, malls and transit stations. This can help when you’re running around the airport trying to find a place to eat or grabbing a last-minute souvenir before catching your flight.
The tab will tell you a destination’s business hours and what floor it’s on. You can look through restaurants, stores, lounges and parking lots.
2. See how busy an attraction is
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To see how busy a spot is, check out Google Maps’ Busyness tool. Already you could search for a location, like a business, to see a chart that showed how crowded it is in real time. Now a feature called Area Busyness lets you see when entire map areas are clogged with people.
To use the new feature, you open the Google Maps app on your Android or iPhone (or your computer’s browser) and move around the map to find a general area, say, downtown, a riverwalk or a quaint nearby town. The busyness information will now automatically appear on the map, so you don’t need to specifically search for a place to see how crowded it is. Google Maps may say something like “Busy Area” and when you click for more details, it could say, for example, “As busy as it gets.”
3. Input your itinerary into Google Maps
Google Maps can chart your holiday travels, but it can also quickly show you your flight, hotel, car rental and restaurant reservations, saving you the hassle of searching through your email for check-in times and confirmation numbers.
To see your upcoming reservations:
1. In Google Maps, tap Saved in the bottom menu row.
2. Tap Reservations. Here, you’ll see a list of upcoming reservations you’ve made that Maps has pulled from emails in Gmail.
3. Select an item to see more about the reservation, including date and location.
4.You can also search for “my reservations” in the Google Maps search box to see a list of what you’ve booked.
4. Make a restaurant reservation
Planning a dinner night out with a large group for the holidays can be a hassle, especially when you go at a busy hour. Google Maps can help you book a lunch or dinner reservation. Here’s how.
1. In Maps, tap the Restaurants button at the top of the map to see a list of places to eat.
2. Select a restaurant that looks good, and in the window that pops up, reserve a table or join a waitlist, if it gives you that option (not all do).
Remember you can use the busyness feature mentioned above to pick the least packed place. Also, note that some restaurants that are closed to dine-in may still allow delivery, curbside pickup or outdoor seating.
5. Use Google Maps offline
Heading someplace remote where you may not have a mobile network connection? Google Maps can still give you directions when you’re offline.
1.Before you head out, search in Maps for the location where you’ll want directions.
2.In the location’s window, pull up the menu at the bottom.
3.Scroll right through the tabs and tap Download, and then in the next window tap Download again. Maps will download a map to your phone for the area you selected.
Now, as you use Google Maps for directions in the area you downloaded a map for, when you lose your cellular connection Maps will switch to the offline map to guide you. Note that because you’re offline, Maps won’t be able to offer real-time traffic info.
6. Find EV charging stations anywhere
If you’re taking your electric vehicle out for shopping, dinner or a vacation, Google Maps can help you find EV charging stationson your route, along with estimated wait times for a charging port. You can also filter your search by connector type — such as J1772, CCS (Combo 1 or 2)and Tesla — to see just the stations that are compatible with your EV. Note you can also search for gas stations by following these same directions. (Here’s how you can save money at the pump.)
1. In Maps, scroll through the tabs on the top of the screen and tap More.
2.Scroll down to the Services section and select Electric vehicle charging.
3. Maps will display nearby charging stations and how many are available.
4.Tap a charging station on the map to have Maps add it as a stop on your trip.
You can also use this trick to search for other places along your route, like a coffee shop.
7. Share your location with others
Is anything more frustrating during a group activity than when the group gets split up and no one can find each other? Google Maps can help bring you all back together.
1.In Google Maps, tap your profile icon in the top right corner and tap Location sharing.
2.Tap Share location, and select who you want to share your location with and for how long you want to share it.
3.Tap Share, and Google Maps will send your location to everyone you’ve selected.
4. If you want to see someone else’s location, tap that person’s icon at the top of the window and then tap Request.
If you were lucky enough to find a shiny new iPhone waiting for you under the tree this year, the first thing you’re going to want to do is get it some protection. It doesn’t take much to cause scratches and dents or shatter a screen, and a proper case can end up saving you hundreds in repair costs. And right now at Totallee, which makes some of our favorite iPhone cases for 2022, you can even pick one up at a serious discount.
Totallee makes some of our favorite superthin iPhone cases on the market, and right now, you can snag one for less. Now through the end of the year, Totallee is offering 60% off all cases and screen protectors, as well as other accessories, sitewide when you use the promo code BYE2022 at checkout. There are tons of different options to choose from, whether you’ve got the base model iPhone 14, the powerful 14 Pro Max, or an older generation like the iPhone 13 or iPhone 12. Totallee cases have a raised lip to help protect the camera lenses, and are just 0.03 inches thick, so they don’t feel bulky in your pocket. With the discount, most cases start at just $16, which saves you $23, or you can upgrade to a MagSafe case for $20. This offer is only available through Dec. 31, so be sure to get your order in before then if you don’t want to miss out on these savings.
Shopping for a new phone case?
Compare pricing on your favorite cases with our CNET Shopping extension so you’re certain you’re getting the best deal.
This story is part of 12 Days of Tips, helping you make the most of your tech, home and health during the holiday season.
It doesn’t matter if you have an iPad, iPad Pro or iPad Air, there’s no denying the excitement that accompanies using a new iPad, or even exploring what’s new in a big software update on your old one. Once you get all your settings in order, there are many cool features you’ll want to explore on your iPad.
A good spot to start is the Tips collection. You should be able to find the Tips information hub in your default widget setup, but otherwise, you can also find it in your apps library under Information and Reading.
There’s a lot to see and do, but here are our favorite fun features on the iPad to get you started.
Arrange your home screen widgets
When you finally reach your iPad home screen, you’ll notice the widget layout. By default, your iPad will include the clock, notes, calendar, weather and news. You can edit this layout to best fit your needs. Even if you’re happy with the default apps in place, long-press the app to see extra customization options, or hold and drag to rearrange the widgets.
If you want to edit the widgets, swipe right on the screen and tap Edit. From here you can remove or add widgets, giving you quicker access to the e-book you’re reading or your favorite games or streaming service.
Check out Apple’s free trials
A new iOS device includes a free trial for Apple TV Plus and Apple Arcade — a CNET Editors’ Choice award pick. So, in addition to downloading your favorite TV streaming apps, games and linking accounts, you can try something new.
Apple will ask if you want to have your device in light or dark mode during initial setup, but you can always make changes in the Settings app. Tap Display & Brightness to swap between modes, set custom schedules (like your screen dimming at sunset), and use True Tone, the feature that automatically adjusts your screen’s brightness based on current ambient lighting.
Split screen
I love using a split screen to keep a reference image nearby when I’m working on a drawing in the Procreate digital illustration app — another CNET Editors’ Choice award pick. But you can use split screen with just about any combination of apps. A common use might be opening your calendar app while writing out a to-do list in the reminders app. To start a split view, open an app, tap the small horizontal trio of dots at the top of your screen and choose the layout you want.
Scribble for iPad makes for a smoother iPad experience if you’re using an Apple Pencil.
Apple / Screenshot by Shelby Brown / CNET
Scribble for Apple Pencil
If you use an Apple Pencil with your iPad, the Scribble feature, introduced in iOS 14, lets you do more without having to put your pencil down. The feature converts your handwriting, letting you write in text fields that you’d previously type in. It’s a great way to quickly jot down notes or put a personalized touch on things. For example, if you’re sketching in Procreate and need a reference image, you can open Google, jot what you’re searching for (just as you’d type it) and get the result — all without putting down your Apple Pencil.
Save time with Touch ID
If your iPad has a fingerprint sensor, it’s possible to enable Touch ID during your initial device setup. It’s not a requirement, but it can make signing in, as well as confirming purchases and downloads a bit quicker. If you want Touch ID on your iPad, open the Settings app and choose Touch ID & Passcode. The device passcode is one of the first things you’re prompted to set up after turning on your iPad, but you can change or turn off the passcode here as well.
To set up Touch ID, tap Add a Fingerprint and follow the prompts. Afterward, you can customize what your Touch ID can be used for, like unlocking your device and password autofill.
Use Sign in with Apple
Sign in with Apple is a feature to be aware of and use, rather than a setting to adjust on your device. The tool is another layer of defense for your security, like adjusting your device’s privacy settings or using privacy tools like a virtual private network or DuckDuckGo.
Add an extra layer of security by using Sign in with Apple.
Érika García/CNET
When you create a new account for an app or website, you can choose Sign in with Apple instead of signing in with Facebook, Google or email. The tool creates a random email address that can only be used for one specific app. The app or website will use the generated email, but Apple will forward any correspondence to your real email, protecting your identity. You can reply to whichever emails you like without exposing your personal email address.
There’s also the Hide My Email option. Apple creates a random email address for you to use when signing up for any service — you’ll recognize it by the unique alphanumeric string followed by @privaterelay.appleid.com.
Speech to text
If your ideas are flowing faster than you can type them out, the iPad has a dictation feature that works across email, text messages and notes. For example, you can open the Notes app and tap the microphone icon on the keyboard. Apple will ask if you want to enable dictation; tap yes. Now when you tap the microphone when it’s available on the keyboard, you can use speech to text. If you use speech to text in third-party apps, you may have to grant additional permissions.
To turn off speech to text, open the Settings app and tap Keyboards. Scroll down and toggle off Enable Dictation.
Tapping the information icon can help you learn more about your photos.
Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET
Learn more about your photos
The iPad photos app has a handy tool that works a bit like Google Lens. Open the photos app, choose an image and tap the little “i” in the upper-right corner. A panel will open and you can see details like camera spec information, as well as when the photo was taken. You can also add a caption and the location of the image.
You can also learn more about what’s in your photo. Tap the Look Up option in the info panel and your iPad will offer information from Siri, the web and maps (if applicable).
Google got my attention by bragging about the Pixel 7 Pro‘s “pro-level zoom” and asserting that the Android phone’s photography features can challenge traditional cameras. I’m one of those serious photographers who hauls around a heavy camera and a bunch of bulky lenses. But I also love phone photography, so I decided to test Google’s claims.
At its October launch event, Google touted the Pixel 7 Pro’s telephoto zoom for magnifying distant subjects, its Tensor G2-powered AI processing, its faster Night Sight for low-light scenes and a new macro ability for closeup photos. “It cleverly combines state-of-the-art hardware, software and machine learning to create amazing zoom photos across any magnification,” Pixel camera hardware chief Alexander Schiffhauer said at the phone’s launch event. Google wants you to think of this phone as offering a continuous zoom range from ultrawide angle to supertelephoto.
As you might imagine, I got better results from my “real” camera equipment, which would cost $10,000 if purchased new today. Even though my Canon 5D Mark IV is now 6 years old, it’s hard to beat a big image sensor and big lenses when it comes to color, sharpness, detail and a wide dynamic range spanning bright and dark tones.
But the Pixel 7 Pro’s photographic flexibility challenges my camera setup better than any other phone I’ve used, even outperforming my DSLR in some circumstances and earning a “stellar” rating from CNET editor Andrew Lanxon. While my camera and four lenses fill a whole backpack, Google’s smartphone fits in my pocket. And of course that $900 smartphone lets me share a selfie, check my email, pay for the groceries and tackle the daily crossword puzzle.
With the steady annual improvement in smartphone camera hardware and image processing, a smartphone isn’t just a better-than-nothing camera. These little slices of electronics are increasingly able to nail important shots and open up new creative possibilities for those who are discovering the rewards of photography.
I’ll keep hauling my DSLR on hikes and family outings. But because I won’t always have it with me, the Pixel 7 Pro — in particular its zoom and low-light abilities — means I won’t be as worried about missing the shot when I don’t.
My Canon 5D Mark IV, which costs $2,700 new these days, most often has the $1,900 Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens mounted. I also use the $2,400 EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM for telephoto shots, the $1,300 ultrawide EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM zoom, the $1,300 EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM for closeups, and the $429 Extender EF 1.4X III for more telephoto reach when photographing birds. Here’s how that gear stacks up against the Pixel 7 Pro’s 0.5x ultrawide, 1x main camera and 5x telephoto camera.
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Google Pixel 7 Pro vs. Canon 5D Mark IV, main camera
With plenty of light, the Pixel 7 Pro’s 24mm main camera does a good job capturing color and detail in its 12-megapixel images. Check the comparisons here (and note that my DSLR shoots in a more elongated 3:2 aspect ratio than the Pixel 7 Pro’s 4:3).
Pixel peeping shows the phone can’t hold a candle to my 30-megapixel DSLR when it comes to detail. If you’re printing posters or need a lot of detail for photo editing, a modern DSLR or mirrorless camera is worth it. But 12 megapixels is plenty for most purposes. Check the below cropped images to see what’s going on up close.
Google missed a chance to shoot even higher resolution photos than my 30-megapixel DSLR, though. The Pixel 7 Pro’s main camera has a 50-megapixel sensor. It takes 12-megapixel photos using an approach called pixel binning that combines each 2×2 pixel group on the sensor into one effectively larger pixel. That means better color and low-light performance when shooting at 24mm. But you can use those 50 megapixels differently by skipping the pixel binning and shooting in the sensor’s full resolution when there’s sufficient light. That’s exactly what Apple does with the iPhone 14 Pro camera, and I wish Google did the same.
Pixel 7 Pro vs. DSLR, people and pets
The Pixel 7 Pro was capable at portrait photography. I prefer shooting raw and editing the shots myself because I sometimes find the Pixel 7 Pro makes faces look a little too processed, and I find its color balance a bit cool for my tastes. With the main camera, the Pixel 7 Pro does a pretty good job finding faces, tracking them and staying focused. For 2022, the Pixel 7 Pro now can find individual eyes, the ideal focus point of a camera and a weak point on my older DSLR.
On this comparison, I find the DSLR did a better job with skin tones, but the Pixel 7 Pro capably exposed the face in tricky lighting.
Using the Pixel 7 Pro’s portrait mode, which artificially blurs photo backgrounds, I find the processing artifacts distracting, especially with flyaway hair, though that’s not a problem with the example below. The shot is workable for quick sharing and looks fine on smaller screens, but I wouldn’t make a print of it. For the DSLR shot, I used my Sigma 35mm f1.4 lens, shooting wide open at f1.4 for the smoothest possible background blur. It’s much better than the Pixel 7 Pro, though its shallow depth of field blurs the hands and plastic toys.
For pets, the Pixel 7 Pro again did a great job finding and focusing on eyes. Here’s my dog, up close. The main camera at 1x zoom, or 24mm, isn’t ideal for single subjects, though, and the camera’s performance at 2x isn’t as strong, so bear that in mind.
To see how much more detail my SLR can capture — as long as I get focus right — check the cropped views below. And note that new mirrorless cameras from Sony, Nikon and Canon do a good job with eye tracking for easier focus.
DSLR vs. Pixel 7 Pro, telephoto cameras
Telephoto lenses magnify more distant subjects, and the Pixel 7 Pro has a remarkable range for a smartphone. Its sensors can shoot at 2x, 5x and 10x zoom modes with minimal processing trickery. It’ll shoot at intermediate settings with various combinations of cropping and multi-camera image compositing that I find fairly convincing. Then it reaches up to 30x with Google’s AI-infused upscaling technology, called Super Res Zoom. Here’s the same scene shot across the Pixel 7 Pro’s full range from supertelephoto 30x to ultrawide 0.5x:
The Pixel 7 Pro’s zoom range reaches from 0.5x to 10x shooting at the native resolution of its three cameras, then extends to 30x with Google’s image processing technology. That’s an equivalent of 12mm to 720mm in conventional full-frame camera terms.
Stephen Shankland/CNET
The image quality is pretty bad by the time you reach 30x zoom, an equivalent of 720mm. But even my expensive DSLR gear only reaches 560mm maximum, and venturing beyond 10x on the Pixel 7 Pro can be justified in many circumstances. Not every photo has to be good enough quality to make an 8×10 print.
Bigger telephoto photography
Telephoto lenses are big, which is why those pro photographers at NFL games haul around monopods to support their hulking optics. Canon’s RF 400mm f/2.8 L IS USM lens, popular on the sidelines, weighs more than six pounds, measures more than 14 inches long, and costs more than my entire collection of cameras and lenses. My Canon 100-400mm zoom is smaller and cheaper but doesn’t let in as much light, but it’s still gargantuan compared with the Pixel 7 Pro. I’m delighted to be able to capture useful telephoto shots on a Pixel phone, an option that previously was available only on rival Android phones from Samsung and others.
Google exploits the Pixel 7 Pro’s 50-megapixel main camera sensor for the first step up the telephoto lens ladder, a 2x zoom level good for portraits. The Pixel 7 Pro uses just the central 12 megapixels to capture a 12-megapixel photo in 2x telephoto mode, an equivalent focal length of 48mm.
The dedicated telephoto camera kicks in at 5x zoom, an equivalent of 120mm. Instead of a bulky telephoto protuberance, Google uses a prism to bend light 90 degrees so the necessary lens length and 48-megapixel image sensor can be tucked sideways within the Pixel 7 Pro’s thicker “camera bar” section. It also can use the central megapixels in its 10x mode, or 240mm, an option I think is terrific. This San Francisco architectural sight below is pretty good:
Using AI and software processing to zoom further, the camera can reach 20x and even 30x zoom, which translates to 480mm and 720mm. By comparison, my DSLR reaches 560mm with my 1.4x telephoto extender.
My DSLR would have trounced the Pixel 7 Pro for this scene of Bay Area fog lapping up against the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco, shot somewhere between 15x and 20x. (I wish Google would write zoom level metadata into photos the way my Canon records lens focal length settings.) But guess what? I was mountain biking and didn’t take my DSLR. The best camera is the one you have, as the saying goes.
San Francisco Bay Area fog lapping up against the Santa Cruz Mountains, photographed here at about 20x zoom with the Pixel 7 Pro, is a useful if flawed photo.
Stephen Shankland/CNET
Back at 10x zoom, I was pleased with this shot below of my pal Joe mountain biking. I’ve photographed people in this very spot before with smartphones, and this was the first time I wasn’t frustrated with the results.
A Pixel 7 Pro photo of a mountain biker taken at 10x zoom
Stephen Shankland/CNET
Google’s optics and image processing methods are clever but not magical. The Pixel 7 Pro produces a 12-megapixel image, but the farther beyond 10x you shoot, the more you’ll cringe at its blotchy details that look more like a watercolor painting. That’s the glass-is-half-empty view. I’m actually on the glass-is-half-full side, appreciating what you can do and recognizing that a lot of photos will be viewed on smaller screens. Image qualityof 10x is respectable, and that alone is a major achievement.
Here’s a comparison of a rooftop party photographed with the Pixel 7 Pro at 30x, or 720mm equivalent, and my camera at 560mm, but cropped in to match the phone’s framing. The DSLR does better, of course. Even cropped, it’s an 18-megapixel image.
Practical limits on Pixel 7 Pro’s telephoto cameras
To really exercise the phone, I toted it to see the US Navy’s Blue Angels flight display over San Francisco. Buildings and fog blocking my view made photography tough, but I found new limitations to the Pixel 7 Pro.
Fiddling with screen controls to hit 10x or more zoom is slow. Framing fast-moving subjects on a smartphone screen is hard, even with the aid of the miniature wider-angle view that Google pops into the scene and its AI-assisted stabilization technology. Focus is also relatively pokey. With my DSLR, I could rapidly find the jets in the sky, lock focus, track them as they flew and shoot a burst of shots.
I didn’t get a single good photo of the Blue Angels with the Pixel 7 Pro. Google’s “pro-level zoom” works much better with stationary subjects.
DSLR vs. Pixel 7 Pro, shooting in the dark
Here’s where the Pixel 7 Pro beats out a vastly more expensive camera. There’s no way you can hold a camera steady for 6 seconds, but Pixel phones in effect can thanks to computational photography techniques that Google pioneered. Google takes a collection of photos, using AI to judge when your hands are most still, then combines these individual frames into one shot. It’s the basis of its Night Sight feature, which I’ve used many times and, at its extreme, powers an astrophotography mode I’ve used to take 4-minute exposures of the night sky.
Below is a comparison of a nighttime scene with the Pixel 7 Pro at 1x, where it’s best at gathering light, and my DSLR with its 24-70mm f2.8 lens. The DSLR has more detail up close, but the Pixel 7 Pro does well, and its deeper depth of field means the leaves in the foreground aren’t a smeary mess.
Here’s a comparison of a 2x zoom photo with the Pixel 7 Pro and the best I could do handheld with my 24-70mm f2.8 lens. The longer your zoom, the harder it is to hold a camera steady, and even with my elbows on a railing to steady the camera, the Pixel 7 Pro shot was vastly easier to capture. I had to crank my DSLR’s sensitivity to ISO 12,800 to get the shutter speed down to 1/8sec, and even then, most of the photos were duds. Image stabilization helps, but this lens doesn’t have it.
Just for kicks, I used a tripod to take three exposure-bracketed shots with my DSLR and merged them into a single HDR (high dynamic range) photo in Adobe’s Lightroom software. The longest exposure was 30 seconds. That’s how much effort it took to beat a Night Sight photo I took just standing there holding the phone for 6 seconds. Check the comparison below.
Parked cars
Here’s where my DSLR completely trounced the Pixel 7 Pro, even with Night Sight, though: the nearly full moon. Here’s the Pixel 7 Pro at 30x zoom vs. my DSLR at 560mm, cropped so the framing matches.
DSLR vs. Pixel 7 Pro, dynamic range
One of the best measures of a camera is dynamic range, the span between dark and light it can capture in a single scene. To exercise the Pixel 7 Pro here, I shot in raw format, which allows for more editing flexibility. Then I edited the photos, cranking the exposure up 4 stops to reveal noise problems in shadowed areas and then down 4 stops to see how well it captured detail in bright areas.
In short, I’m impressed. Google squeezes a remarkable amount of data out of its relatively small sensor with its processing methods.
Two techniques are relevant. With Google’s HDR+ system, the Pixel 7 Pro combines multiple underexposed frames and one regularly exposed frame to record shadow detail without blowing out highlights in bright areas. And Google includes this data in a “computational raw” format that packages that detail in Adobe’s very flexible DNG format. It’s not truly raw, like the single frame of data pulled from my DSLR’s image sensor is, but it’s an excellent option for smartphone photography.
Below is a cropped photo with the Pixel 7 Pro’s 1x camera, underexposed by 4 stops to see if was able to record a range of tones even in the very bright pampas grass plumes. It was.
Shooting at 2x, which uses only the central pixels on the 1x camera, poses more of a challenge when going up against my DSLR, which suffers no such degradation in hardware abilities when I zoom in. Overexposed by 4 stops, you can see a lot more noise and color problems with the Pixel 7 Pro in the comparison below. But overall, it’s got impressive dynamic range on the main camera.
DSLR vs. Pixel 7 Pro, ultrawide
Google made the ultrawide lens on the Pixel 7 Pro an even wider field of view compared with last year. What you like is a matter of personal preference, but I appreciate the dramatic perspective that you can capture with a very wide angle. When I don’t need it, the 24mm main camera still qualifies as wide angle.
Here’s a comparison of a scene shot with the Pixel 7 Pro and my DSLR’s 16-35mm ultrawide zoom.
DSLR vs. PIxel 7 Pro, macro
The new ultrawide camera now has autofocus hardware, and that opens up the world of macro photography for close-up subjects. Apple’s iPhone Pro models got this ability in 2021, and I’ve loved macro photos for years as a way to shoot flowers, mushrooms, toys and other small subjects, so I’m delighted to see it on the higher-end Pixel phones.
As with the iPhone, though, the macro is useful as long as the subject fits in the central portion of the frame. Note in this comparison below how blurred the image gets toward the periphery of this butterfly coaster with the Pixel 7 Pro.
No, it’s not as good as my DSLR. But with macro abilities, Night Sight and a zoom range from ultrawide to super telephoto, the Pixel 7 Pro is more than just useful for snapshots. It lets you start exploring a much bigger part of photography’s creative realm.
