Here a roundup of the latest reviews and articles:

7 Multi-room wifi systems tested: a hot mesh
AORUS M3 Optical RGB Gaming Mouse Review
ASUS STRIX AMD RX560 Graphics Card Review
HP Envy x2 Always-Connected PC Review
Jonsbo CR-201 RGB CPU Cooler Review
Laser League Xbox One Review
Logi Circle 2 HomeKit Camera Review
OnePlus 6 Review
Photo Backup and Build your own cloud with Synology
SMTube Review

7 Multi-room wifi systems tested: a hot mesh

The importance of a fast and reliable internet connection should be sufficiently well known in 2018. In addition to a good subscription to an ISP, you need an adequate router to make the connection accessible anywhere in the house. Nowadays at least one of them supports the 802.11ac wave 2 standard and is able to handle both 2,4 GHz and 5 GHz, of course with MU-MIMO. Tri-band functionality, the latest modulation techniques and a lot of beastly antennas can also certainly do no harm.

However, as is often the case, practice is much more chaotic than theory. Anyone who thinks they are there with the purchase of an awesome router is mistaken. Just think of the fact that a router seldom stands at the desired central location in a house. Usually the connection is located in a meter cupboard or on a wall in the periphery of the house, and most often on the ground floor.

Read full article @ Hardware.Info

AORUS M3 Optical RGB Gaming Mouse Review

Gigabyte is well known for their impressive motherboards, graphics cards, and more. However, their gaming brand AORUS is the one that’s really blazing a trail with PC gamers. Of course, GPUs, motherboards, coolers and all the hardware side of things are great, but they also make some fantastic peripherals. While I’m sure they’ll appeal to users of other brands hardware too, being able to have a system that’s all Gigabyte/Aorus and have matching peripherals is appealing to me. With that in mind, I’m excited to test the new M3 Optical RGB gaming mouse, which promises competitive performance and plenty of features that are sure to please any PC gamer.

Read full article @ eTeknix

ASUS STRIX AMD RX560 Graphics Card Review

We’re big fans of ASUS here at eTeknix, as they continue to deliver award-winning and very desirable products for PC gamers. Their STRIX line of products is a prime example of that, and while the RX560 may not be the VEGA 64 you want, it may be the GPU you can afford. Of course, not everyone needs an extreme GPU for gaming. If you’re rocking up to play Fortnite, Minecraft, League of Legends, heck, maybe you’re still playing CS:GO, and catching up on older less demanding games, and/or you’re simply on a tighter budget. For many people, the RX560 is very appealing, and your wallet will agree. It’s not going to topple the GPU gods, but let’s jump in and see what this wallet-friendly card can deliver!

Read full article @ eTeknix

HP Envy x2 Always-Connected PC Review

Windows 10 on ARM is not for everyone, but for me, the Envy x2 has become an essential daily tool that I won't give up.

The HP Envy x2 is garnering a lot of interest – and skepticism – as it is one of the first new PCs to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The Snapdragon 835 used in the Envy x2 is found in many popular smartphones and questions remain about how good it can be at powering a full desktop OS like Windows 10.

Read full article @ Windows Central

Jonsbo CR-201 RGB CPU Cooler Review

Up until even just a couple of years back when people went out to get a brand new CPU cooler they'd consider three things before doing so cooling efficiency/performance, noise levels and size (leaving out the all-time classic factor price). Lately however thanks to the introduction of RGB lighting a fourth factor has come into play and it is no other than looks. Now as expected to achieve the optimal result most manufacturers choose the "easy" way by bundling their CPU coolers (both air and AIO liquid ones) with RGB fans but lucky for all of us there are always those who take things just a step further by also adding RGB LEDs in the main body of the cooler. Jonsbo aims to be one such manufacturer with all their latest RGB models including the CR-201 RGB CPU Cooler which today's review is all about.

Jonsbo, a professional team with full of passion and innovation, is established in 2010. Our developed team possesses over a decade experience in computer case development and 7 years’ experience in HTPC product's R&D. We have always been focusing on the users’ actual needs to develop and produce professional high-end computer cases with distinctive characteristics. Currently we use JONSBO as the brand for global marketing, moreover we provide OEM and ODM services for many famous brands in Japan, Germany, Sweden, etc. Jonsbo always focus on the real needs of users. By pragmatic and even stubborn selection of materials, combined with aesthetic simplicity of design and perfect craftsmanship, we provide users with the most valuable solution.

Read full article @ NikKTech

Laser League Xbox One Review

Laser League may be easy to play, but mastering it is an exciting and thrilling challenge unlike anything else on Xbox.

If you took the aesthetic of TRON, Rocket League's sports theme, tactical decision making, and blended it all together, you'd get something similar to 505 Games' Laser League. In truth, though, it's a unique experience at its core. If you're a fan of intense, fast paced action and class-based tactics, then Laser League is definitely for you — provided you can look past a number of caveats.

Read full article @ Windows Central

Logi Circle 2 HomeKit Camera Review

We've spent a few months with Logitech's flagship smart home security camera that gained support for HomeKit just last fall. After extensive usage, we have the verdict on one of the most popular HomeKit cams yet.

Not that many cameras support Apple's smart home platform. D-Link's Omna 180 was the first big player to the game, and while it worked well as a nanny cam, it was not a great overall camera, especially when it came to security purposes. So can the Circle 2 from Logitech buck this lackluster trend?

Read full article @ Apple Insider

OnePlus 6 Review

Metal made the previous phone stand out, but now it's just another smartphone. OnePlus might not be a perfect Android device maker, with fairly regular controversies involving its security mistakes, bad advertising decisions, and lack of a concrete support policy. But OnePlus is really good at making high-end hardware at a low price, though, and for some people that's enough to forgive the company's other flaws.

For 2018, the company is introducing the OnePlus 6. While OnePlus' flagship pricing is once again jumping up $29 to $529, the OnePlus 6 is still one of the cheapest Snapdragon 845-powered devices you can buy. With a switch to a glass back and a notched display design, OnePlus' flagship seems more generic than ever. But for that price, it's still hard to beat.

Read full article @ ArsTechnica

Photo Backup and Build your own cloud with Synology

For the longest time, I have been doing periodic backups of a few smartphones used by my family and for the longest time, this required me traveling or having each device available and connected to my PC to download the contents and update any photo and video albums.

Since mid- 2016, I have been using a Synology DS716+ as my primary backup with two 2TB drives as my main storage which is then backed up to several high capacity drives that are cold storage. This has worked great over the years with minimal need to upgrade but I recently had the option to increase storage capacity with new drives and it just so happened Synology had just released the DS718+; the new model over my existing platform. This too comes at a time when Synology had a few new applications they were ready to launch. These applications were Moments, Drive and Office, two of which could help me greatly with the issue above. That said, Synology was kind enough to send over a DS718+ for this article. Above we have the front and rear layouts for the NAS and as you may notice the DS718+ uses an identical chassis layout to my now aging DS716+. On the front we have two drive bays, both equipped with locks and activity LEDs. To the right of the bays you will find status LEDs, one-touch backup with its own USB 3.0 port and the power button.

Read full article @ TweakTown

SMTube Review

It's a no brainer. On the desktop, you go online, and you open a tab and you load Youtube, and then you play clips. But then, on mobile devices, you have dedicated applications, which usually offer a somewhat more efficient media experience. So, on the desktop, it's the browser way or the ... SMTube way?

SMTube is a cross-platform Youtube player, which allows you to search and play videos from the popular media platform, with some additional search tweaks and filters, and extra download options, all this from the desktop, without having to keep a browser tab open. It's a convenient tool to use, and with the recent rewrite, it actually works, and it works fairly well. I decided to test to see what gives.

Read full article @ Dedoimedo