Thread: Anandtech News

Logitech has added another keyboard to its arsenal, and this time they’ve integrated an input dial into it as well. The CRAFT Advanced Keyboard is designed for “creators” in the same vein as the Surface Dial, and it provides similar functionality, albeit without the on-display capabilities.

Logitech is calling their dial the Crown, and it sits in the top left corner of the keyboard. The idea behind it is much like the Surface Dial, in that you would use your left hand to run the Crown, while your right hand is on the mouse. There’s no reason you couldn’t swap those hands around if you prefer mouse duties with your left hand, but the placement of the Crown isn’t going to be as well suited to that without moving the keyboard.
Logitech is touting the same functionality as the Surface Dial as well, in particular in creative apps like Adobe Photoshop, where you can control context-specific functions. Ian got a chance to check out the CRAFT keyboard at IFA doing just that.
In addition to the Crown, the keyboard itself is typical membrane keyboard, but it does offer “Smart Illumination” which automatically lights up the keys when your hands approach the keyboard, and the lighting adjusts to the ambient lighting. The keyboard can be connected to up to three devices, and has a switch to change which device has focus. It can be connected either over the Logitech Unifying receiver, of with Bluetooth LE.
With macOS and Windows support, the keyboard would be a way to bring the Surface Dial to a Mac.

On either OS, the capabilities of the Crown are connected through Logitech’s software suite. On a Mac, that makes sense, but on Windows, it would have been nice to see integration with the Windows Dial APIs so that the Crown could be used with any app that supported that as well, but that’s not the case, and that’s a miss by Logitech. Even if the Dial doesn’t have widespread support, there’s already plenty of apps that do support it, and none of those can be controlled via the Crown.
Logitech’s CRAFT keyboard is at the premium end of their lineup, and will be available on October for $199.99
Source: Logitech

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Logitech has been in the PC speaker game for some time, and they’ve just announced a new set into their portfolio. The MX Sound speaker system is a two-channel PC speaker system which also integrates multiple inputs, as well as Bluetooth 4.1, to allow the owner to provide the improved audio capabilities of external speakers to their PC, phone, and more.

There’s no dedicated subwoofer, which shrinks the footprint of this setup, but the two speakers should offer decent punch with rear-facing port tubes to improve bass response, and 12-Watts of RMS power (24 peak) should provide plenty of authority for the two drivers. The speaker housings are 160mm in diameter, or just over six inches, so these are reasonable sized speakers for a desktop set. The set of speakers weighs in a t 1.72 kg / 3.8 lbs as well.
Logitech doesn’t provide a frequency response chart for these, but compared to any laptop, there will be a big step up in terms of audio quality thanks to the larger drivers and more powerful amplifier, but that’s not all these are made to connect to. Logitech allows for pairing with up to two Bluetooth devices, as well as two 3.5 mm input jacks. This versatility should be welcomed to many who use multiple devices. There’s also a headphone jack, to easily move from speakers to headphones without having to change any settings on the PC or phone.

The MX branding is due to these speakers matching well with the other MX devices Logitech sells, with similar styling cues and coloring to their mice and keyboards. The speakers have fabric covers, and motion-activated backlit controls.
These new speakers will be available starting in October, for $99.99.
Source: Logitech



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In this review, we are having a look at the ECS Z270H4-I Durathon 2, a Mini ITX motherboard based on the Intel Z270 chipset and marketed towards gamers and overclockers. A quick look at its specifications reveals very interesting features for a motherboard that retails for $109, which we will closely examine in this review.

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Every once in a while, we get surprised. It seems to be a rare thing in this industry these days, but it does still happen from time to time. The Chuwi Lapbook 14.1 was one such surprise when we reviewed it earlier this year. Chuwi hasn’t been around for a long time, but in one fell swoop, they forever changed the expectations on a budget laptop. Reasonable components, coupled with a good IPS display, instantly changed the expectations on any budget offering from the big PC makers. So far, they’ve not really responded, and the LapBook 14.1 is easily the top pick for anyone wanting a 14-inch laptop for not a lot of money.
So, imagine the shock when this still relatively unknown PC maker surprised us again. Earlier this year, they announced the LapBook 12.3, which is now available. It takes the same basic internals from the LapBook 14.1, couples it to the same display found in the Surface Pro, and packs it all into an all-aluminum chassis. The budget bar has been raised again.

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We have some good news for low-power AMD builders this morning: AMD has (finally) begun to sell the 35W versions of their "Bristol Ridge" desktop APUs. Overall the company has released 3 35W retail Bristol Ridge SKUs, the A12-9800E, A10-9700E, and A6-9500E, with these chips fleshing out the low-power segment of AMD's AM4 platform through the end of the year.
AMD originally released its Bristol Ridge A9000-series APUs to OEMs in mid-2016, targeting desktops and laptops. The SoCs integrate one or two Excavator v2 modules (two or four x86 cores in AMD’s nomenclature), a Radeon R5/R7 iGPU featuring AMD’s GCN 1.2 (3^rd generation) architecture and up to 512 stream processors, a dual-channel DDR4 memory controller and so on. Earlier this year AMD finally decided to release a rather broad lineup of its 7^th-generation A9000-series APUs on the retail market, enabling end-users to build their own inexpensive AM4 systems, essentially popularizing the AM4 ecosystem compatible with the company’s latest Ryzen processors in general.

AMD Bristol Ridge APUs and CPUs
	CPU		GPU			TDP
Modules/ Threads	Base/Turbo (MHz)	Brand	Stream Processors	Base/Turbo (MHz)
A12-9800	2M / 4T	3800 / 4200	Radeon R7	512	800 / 1108	65W
A12-9800E	3100 / 3800	655 / 900	35W
A10-9700	3500 / 3800	384	720 / 1029	65W
A10-9700E	3000 / 3500	600 / 847	35W
A8-9600	3100 / 3400	655 / 900	65W
A6-9550	1M / 2T	3800 / 4000	Radeon R5	576 / 800
A6-9500	3500 / 3800	720 / 1029
A6-9500E	3000 / 3400	256	576 / 800	35W
Athlon X4 970	2M / 4T	3800 / 4000	-			65W
Athlon X4 950	3500 / 3800
Athlon X4 940	3200 / 3600

The originally planned retail lineup for Bristol Ridge included 11 SKUs with a mix of 35 W and 65 W TDPs, but until now, only select 65 W SKUs were available. In the meantime, the interest towards inexpensive Mini-ITX systems is high these days. AMD spent a little over a month after the formal introduction of the family to bring the 35 W A12-9800E and A10-9700E APUs to store shelves. In the last days of August, the new chips hit store shelves across the world: they can be purchased in the U.S., Europe and in Japan, a clear indicator that they are indeed available broadly.
The AMD A10-9700E costs $85 – $91 in the U.S., whereas the more advanced AMD A12-9800E is available for $105 – $113, depending on the retailer. Meanwhile, the A6-9500E, the most basic 35 W Bristol Ridge APU, can be purchased for around $55 – $58. In Europe and Japan, prices are traditionally higher, see the table below for details. Overall, the 35 W APUs from AMD do not look very affordable, but it is typical for chipmakers to charge extra for energy-efficient parts.

Availability of AMD's Bristol Ridge APUs and CPUs
	Amazon	Newegg	Amazon UK	Caseking.DE	Japan*
A12-9800	$112.96	$109.99	£107.5 ($139)	€104.9 ($125)	-
A12-9800E	$112.95	$104.99	£140 ($181)	€99.9 ($119)	¥13,993 ($127.9)
A10-9700	$91.37	$89.99	£91.8 ($119)	€82.9 ($98.5)	-
A10-9700E	$91.37	$84.99	£122 ($158)	€79.9 ($95)	¥11,664 ($106)
A8-9600	$69.13	$69.99	£68.1 ($88)	€61.9 ($73.5)	available
A6-9550	-	-	-	-	-
A6-9500	available	-	£82.4 ($106)	€47.9 ($57)	-
A6-9500E	$58.19	$54.99	-	€49.9 ($59)	-
Athlon X4 970	-	-	-	-	-
Athlon X4 950	$66.27	$66.26	£77.6 ($100)	€51.9 ($62)	-
Athlon X4 940	-	-	-	-	-
*Lowest price according to Hikaku.com, or according to AKIBA PC Hotline.

From AMD’s standpoint, the main purpose of Bristol Ridge CPUs and APUs is to fill the gap in the AM4 lineup before the company releases Raven Ridge APUs and cheap CPUs based on the Ryzen microarchitecture later on.
Related Reading:

• AMD Releases Bristol Ridge to Retail: AM4 Gets APUs
• AMD 7th Gen Bristol Ridge and AM4 Analysis: Up to A12-9800, B350/A320 Chipset, OEMs first, PIBs Later

Sources: Amazon, Amazon UK, Caseking, Newegg, AKIBA PC Hotline, Hikaku.com.
Image Source: AKIBA PC Hotline.

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Logitech has introduced its new gaming mouse that weds high mousing precision, a long battery life, and low input lag with a relatively affordable price. The new G603 Lightspeed wireless mouse uses the company’s latest proprietary sensor with enhanced power efficiency, as well as its new interconnection technology.
The market of gaming peripherals is expanding. New suppliers enter the scene every year with rather promising products. and established players use more and more sophisticated technologies for their halo products to differentiate themselves from others. Because of this, the complexity of gaming mice has increased rather substantially over the last 10 years, and this evidently affected their costs and prices. Flagship gaming products from established players like Logitech and Razer have long crossed the psychological $100 barrier and now halo products retail for $150. Meanwhile, the vast majority of gamers hardly need and can barely afford gear from the high end of the product stack. As a result, numerous companies focus on mainstream price points, they try to make mice that cost $60 to $80 more attractive for the buyer and grab sales away from the market leaders. A good example of such an approach is Corsair’s Glaive RGB, that features a 16,000 DPI sensor, interchangeable grips, programmability and RGB lighting at a price of $70. Obviously, Logitech has to respond to products like this one and the G603 Lightspeed seems to be a very strong contender for the sweet spot of the gaming mice market.

The Logitech G603 Lightspeed is based on the company’s new HERO (high efficiency rated optical) sensor with 12,000 DPI sensitivity, up to 400 inches per second speed and up to 40G acceleration. According to Logitech, the HERO sensor consumes less energy than other high-end optical sensors, which is why it can last for 500 hours non-stop gaming with maximum performance on two AA batteries.

One of the key selling features of the Logitech G603 is its Lightspeed wireless interconnection technology that promises to cut the input lag by optimizing internal architecture of keyboards/mice, decreasing polling rate of wireless receivers to 1 ms, increasing signal strength, applying a proprietary frequency hopping mechanism that uses the strongest interference-free channel and optimizing software. In a bid to preserve energy, Logitech’s software allows to reduce polling rate of wireless transmitter and receiver to 8 ms when working with non-gaming applications.

Since the Logitech G603 Lightspeed is a gaming mouse, all of its six buttons are programmable using the company’s LGS software. Just like some other contemporary mice and keyboards from Logitech, the G603 Lightspeed can work with two host systems while connecting to them using Bluetooth or Lightspeed.
The Logitech G603 Lightspeed mouse will be available this month directly from the company and from its partners. As noted, since the G603 Lightspeed is designed to compete for mainstream gamers, its prices is not going to be too high — the MSRP is $69.99 in the U.S., but it will differ in other countries.
Related Reading:

• Logitech Launches G203 Prodigy Gaming Mouse with A New 6000 DPI Sensor
• Logitech Announces The Ambidextrous G900 Chaos Spectrum Gaming Mouse
• Corsair Launches Glaive RGB Mouse: 16,000 DPI, Interchangeable Grips, LEDs
• Razer Announces The Lancehead Gaming Mice
• Razer Updates The DeathAdder Elite Gaming Mouse
• Logitech Formally Exits OEM Mouse Market
• Logitech G303 Daedalus Apex Capsule Review
• The Logitech MX Anywhere 2 Mouse: Portable Performance

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TCL's BlackBerry Mobile imprint has introduced a revamped BlackBerry KEYone smartphone at IFA trade show last week. The new KEYone Black Edition comes in all-black chassis and has more DRAM and storage space than the original KEYone model introduced at MWC earlier this year. The product will be available in multiple countries, but the U.S. is currently not listed among them.
Traditionally, Research in Motion and then BlackBerry Limited developed most of their smartphones with business customers in mind and this prompted them to use strict designs and colors. Since black fits business environments well and looks good with almost any other color, most of BlackBerry handsets were black, sometimes with grey metallic inlays. Such methodology is fully understandable, yet when Nokia released its E-series smartphones in the mid-2000s, it took a bold approach and started to offer them in multiple colors. Eventually, BlackBerry Mobile took a page from Nokia’s book and introduced its Passport silver edition for those who prefer metallic, but only after it released an all-black Passport. With the KEYone, BlackBerry Mobile took a different tactic and launched the phone in metallic-with-black finish first, which looks very high-tech, but may not appeal to everyone from BlackBerry’s traditional customer base. The KEYone Black Edition makes the new BlackBerry completely black.

Gallery: BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition: Hands On at IFA

The KeyONE BE continues to use the frame made of anodized aluminum, but the color of the frame is now black, not metallic. BlackBerry Mobile does not disclose details about its anodization process and how durable the frame is. It is possible that BlackBerry has been experimenting with black anodized aluminum for a while, which is why it did not release an all-black version earlier this year as it wanted to ensure that the quality and robustness of its materials.

Meanwhile, the KEYone Black Edition is not only about the color. The BE version comes with 4 GB of LPDDR3 DRAM, up from 3 GB on the regular model, and 64 GB of eMMC storage, up from 32 GB on the original unit. Considering that Android OS benefits from higher amount of DRAM, the upgrade will be welcome by many. Storage may not be the most required feature for business users, but 32 GB in general is not a lot. Therefore, expanding storage capacity to 64 GB is a good move.
From computing, imaging and other standpoints, the BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition is exactly the same as the regular one: Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC, a 4.5” LCD display with Gorilla Glass 4, Qualcomm’s X9 LTE modem, a 3500 mAh battery, a 12 MP camera and so on.

BlackBerry KEYone Specifcations
	KEYone	KEYone Black Edition
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 (MSM8953) 8x ARM Cortex-A53 @ 2.0 GHz Adreno 506
RAM	3 GB LPDDR3	4 GB LPDDR3
Storage	32 GB (eMMC)	64 GB (eMMC)
Display	4.5-inch 1620x1080 (434 ppi) with Gorilla Glass 4
Network	3G: WCDMA (DB-DCHSDPA, DC-HSUPA), TD-SCDMA, EV-DO, CDMA1x 2G: GSM/EDGE 4G: depends on the version Canada, LATAM, APAC, US V1: LTE: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 19, 20, 28, 29, 30 TDD LTE: 38, 39, 40, 41 EMEA: LTE: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 20, 28 TDD LTE: 38, 40 US V2: LTE: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30 TDD LTE: 41 CDMA: BC 0, 1, 10
LTE	Down: 300 Mb/s Up: 150 Mb/s
Audio	Stereo speakers 3.5-mm TRRS audio jack
Rear Camera	12 MP with f/2.0 aperture and dual LED flash
Front Camera	8 MP
Battery	3505 mAh with Qualcomm's FastCharging 3.0
OS	Android 7.1
Connectivity	802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, USB-C
Sensors	Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, proximity, ambient light
Navigation	GPS, GLONASS (?)
SIM Size	NanoSIM
Colors	Black/Metallic	Black
Launch Country	NA, EMEA (parts), APAC	U.K., Germany, France, Canada, United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Japan
Price	$549/€599/£499	€649/£549/$799 CAD/2,299 AED/ ¥79,800

Now, time to talk pricing and availability. The BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition will be available starting from September in the U.K., Germany, France, Canada, United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Japan starting at €649/£549/$799 CAD/2,299 AED/ ¥79,800. BlackBerry Mobile also plans to make the product available in other markets in Europe, Asia and Latin America later this year. For some reason, the KEYone BE is not going to be available in the U.S., at least officially.

Gallery: BlackBerry KEYone Black Edition: Official Photos


Related Reading:

• BlackBerry KEYOne Announced: Snapdragon 625 with QWERTY, $549
• BlackBerry Stops Development of Smartphones, Set to Outsource Hardware Development

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AOC has introduced its new curved display specifically aimed at the entry-level market. The new C2789FH8 monitor is one the industry’s first curved LCDs that comes in yellow gold chassis with gold-and-white mosaic on the back. From performance point of view, the display seems rather basic for 2017, but among its advantages are extended color gamut, AMD’s FreeSync adaptive refresh rate technology, and a very affordable price.
The AOC C2789FH8 is based on a VA panel with FHD (1920×1080) resolution and 1800R curvature. The panel has a 250 nits brightness, a 3000:1 contrast ratio, a 4 ms GtG response time, as well as a 60 Hz maximum refresh. When it comes to color gamut, AOC says that the display covers 90% of the NTSC color space, which means that its capabilities exceed those required to display 100% of the sRGB color space. For some reason, AOC does not disclose anything about the sRGB support, but it is logical to expect a mass-market monitor to support the primary color space used by Microsoft’s Windows.
Two other important features of the display are support of AMD’s FreeSync technology (the range is unknown, but typically it is between 30 and 60 Hz on basic models) and very thin bezels. AOC suggests that its thin bezels will enable owners to build dual or triple display configurations for gaming or productivity. In fact, AOC considers gaming as one of the important selling points of the C2789FH8. Apart from FreeSync, the manufacturer equipped the monitor with two proprietary features: Game Modes that optimize brightness, contrast and other things for different game genres (FPS, RTS, Racing) and Shadow Control that adjusts brightness in dark scenes. Besides, the manufacturer mentioned that the monitor also features the AOC’s Clear Vision video engine to upscale SD content to HD quality.

As for connectivity, the C2789FH8 has an HDMI and a VGA D-Sub input as well as features a 3.5-mm audio jack for headphones. D-Sub does not support HDCP or FreeSync, so it is not going to be used by gamers. A key reason why AOC decided to install a D-Sub port into a new monitor is probably because it wanted to address the market of older PCs that are still in use as well as very cheap new PCs with its inexpensive curved LCD.

Over the past nine months AOC has released several displays aimed at people who value style above everything else. First, the company launched its Q2781PS monitor with rose gold stand and Swarovski crystals in February. Then, it released the PDS-series LCDs co-developed with Porsche Design. The C2789FH8 is a yet another stylish display that comes in yellow gold chassis and inherits some pros and cons from the aforementioned models, but also introduces some new features. On the bright side of things, the screen itself is rather thin (its thickness is 7 mm) and it has very narrow bezels. To make it even more attractive for a potential buyer, it is curved and supports various features aimed at gamers (FreeSync, game modes, etc.). On the other hand, the resolution and brightness of the new SKU are lower than these of typical 27” monitors, something we have seen this with the AOC PDS-series already. Moreover, the unorthodox yellow-gold die-cast metal stand of the C2789FH8 does not allow any kind of adjustments (e.g., height, tilt, etc.), a tradeoff between style and price.

Specifications of AOC's Golden Curved Display
		C2789FH8
Panel		27" VA
Native Resolution		1920 × 1080
Maximum Refresh Rate		60 Hz
Dynamic Refresh Tech		AMD FreeSync
Response Time		4 ms (gray-to-gray)
Brightness		250 cd/m²
Contrast		3000:1
Viewing Angles		178°/178° horizontal/vertical
Curvature		1800R
Pixel Pitch		0.3113 × 0.3113 mm
PPI		81
Color Gamut		90% NTSC 100% sRGB (?)
Inputs		1 × HDMI 1 × D-Sub
Audio		3.5-mm headphone jack
Color		Yellow Gold
Bling?		Bling Bling
Power Consumption	Standby	< 0.5 W
Maximum	30 W

While the AOC C2789FH8 has a very flashy look, its price is not too high. AOC’s MSRP for the product is $249.99, but it is already available from Amazon for $199.99. The manufacturer says that the “golden” curved display will also be available from Newegg shortly.
Considering the price point, the AOC C2789FH8 is indeed a nice candidate for gaming multi-display configurations: for less than $600 one can get an circa-80” curved display system with a 5760×1080 resolution.

Gallery: AOC C2789FH8


Buy AOC C2789FH8 on Amazon.com
Related Reading:

• AOC Teams Up with Porsche Design for PDS241 and PDS271 Displays
• The AOC Q2781PS Announced: 'Frameless' Rose Gold 27" QHD with Swarovski Crystals
• AOC P2779VC: 27” PLS Display with Qi Wireless Charging Base for $199

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Western Digital has introduced its new SanDisk iXpand Base storage solution for Apple iOS-based devices. Just like the SanDisk iXpand flash drive launched several years ago, the new device can backup photos, videos and contacts from iPhones, iPads and other devices to free some space and/or make a redundant copy. Internally, the iXpand base uses SD cards, essentially making it a card reader for Apple’s devices.
As the name implies, the SanDisk iXpand Base is a base for iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch that holds an SD card and has a power adapter to charge iOS devices. To back up photos, videos and contacts, users have to connect the product to their mobile device using a Lightning cable (not bundled) and a special application will activate automatically. The software transfers content (including content from apps and located in the iCloud) to the card, which may then be removed and read on other devices. Moreover, the SanDisk iXpand Base itself can be connected to a computer using a Micro-USB to USB Type-A cable and used like an SD card reader.

SanDisk will offer multiple versions of the iXpand Base with pre-installed SD cards ranging from 32GB to 256GB. The company does not disclose which SD cards it uses and whether the Xpand Base supports aftermarket memory cards. If it does (most likely), then the device is upgradeable too and once an owner runs out of space, they can simply swap the card with a new one
Apple’s iPhones are often criticized for not having a memory card slot, which requires owners to clean up their photos from time to time and/or delete rarely used apps to free some space. To a large degree, the SanDisk iXpand Base solves this problem as it acts like an external card reader for Apple’s smartphones, which automatically backs up their photos and videos when used for charging (as opposed to the iXpand drive, which has to be connected separately). Afterwards, the content may be deleted from the phone to free up some space.

The SanDisk iXpand Base will be available shortly in the U.S. from such stores as Amazon, BestBuy.com, B&H Photo Video.com and other major retailers. The most affordable model with a 32 GB SD card will cost $49.99, whereas the one with a 256 GB card will carry a $199.99 price tag.

SanDisk iXpand Base at Glance
	32 GB	64 GB	128 GB	256 GB
P/N	SDIB20N-032G-AN9AN	SDIB20N-064G-AN9AN	SDIB20N-128G-AN9AE	SDIB20N-256G-AN9AE
Fast Charge	Yes, 5 V, 3 A (15 W)
Materials	Rubber and plastic
Dimensions	25.36 × 101.00 × 107.00 mm or 0.99 × 3.98 × 4.21 in (HxWxL)
Warranty	2 years
Price	$49.99	$99.99	$129.99	$199.99

Gallery: SanDisk iXpand Base


Related Reading:

• Western Digital Launches SanDisk Ultra microSD Card with 400 GB Capacity
• SanDisk Launches A1-Class microSDXC Card
• Western Digital Shows Off Prototype 1TB SDXC Card at Photokina 2016
• SanDisk Unveils New Generation of USB Type-C Flash Drives
• SanDisk Ultra +Cloud 64GB + 64GB Flash Drive Review

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HP is not a well-known name in the retail SSD market, but as a major PC OEM it's not too surprising to see them producing their own SSD models based on third-party controller solutions. The HP S700 and S700 Pro SSDs use Micron 3D TLC NAND and Silicon Motion controllers, but have undergone tuning and significant QA from HP in an effort to give them an edge over earlier drives from other vendors that are using the same basic formula.

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