
Search results for 'Features' - Page: 10
| PC World - 1 Aug (PC World)Samsung has an insanely large 57-inch gaming monitor with impressive specs, and it just dropped to the best price we’ve seen all year. Act fast to score the Odyssey Neo G9 for just $1,500, which is a massive $800 discount down from its crazy-high $2,300 MSRP!
At 57 inches, this beast is wider than many TVs. It’ll overtake your desk and then some, but you’ll love every second of it for its incredible 7680×2160 resolution—the equivalent of two 4K monitors side by side, except with this one you don’t have an annoying bezel line down the center. Throw in the 1000R curvature and you have an elegant display that wraps around your vision, minimizing strain and maximizing immersion.
The Odyssey Neo G9 isn’t just for gaming immersion, but also for gaming responsiveness. Even at this size, it offers an impressive 240Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time that feels smoother than butter (assuming your PC is powerful enough to push that many frames at this resolution). And with AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, you get no tearing or stuttering. It features three HDMI, a DisplayPort, and two USB-A ports, too.
If you want to be on the cutting edge, you need the world’s first dual 4K monitor—but why pay full price when you can score it with an $800 discount? If you’d rather go for something smaller, though, check out our roundup of the best monitors right now.
Save $800 on Samsung`s insane dual 4K gaming monitorBuy now at Amazon Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 1 Aug (PC World)I don’t know how your tech drawers look, but mine are filled with wires I’ll likely never use again because technology has advanced quite a bit. Thankfully, USB-C seems to be here to stay since there is no wrong way to plug these things in. It’s not just smartphones, tablets, and laptops that use these, however, but also a long list of gadgets.
We’ve scoured the market for hidden gems: Ten gadgets that will make you think “Wow, I didn’t know I needed that, but it will make my life so much easier!” Let’s dive in and see what cool devices you’ll be able to use your type-C cables and ports with.
Wowstick 1F+ mini electric screwdriver
Wowstick
If you often have to fiddle around with your computer or other gadgets, this Wowstick mini electric screwdriver may be just what you need. This pen-shaped screwdriver features three LED lights so it’s easier to see what you’re working on and rotates 200 times per minute so you can finish the job faster. The screwdriver has a stylish base so you can hold it on your desk, and a whole collection of 56 aluminum alloy bits. The screwdriver can be charged via USB-C and it can last for hours. This super fun electric screwdriver usually goes for $41.
Anker Nano Power Bank
Anker
One thing you need to have in you bag/pocket/backpack is a power bank because you never really know when your phone will fail you and cry for a recharge. Well, the Anker Nano power bank is tiny enough to fit just about anywhere. It comes with a foldable USB-C connector and a port on the side so you can charge two devices at once if you need to. The 5,000mAh capacity is just about enough for a full phone recharge, so it will be great in a pinch. It’s also only $30, but we’ve seen it as low as $16.
Endoscope camera with light
Ennovor
Although it’s not something you’ll use every day, this Ennover endoscope camera can definitely come in handy. You just plug it in your phone, install and app, and see everything your camera does. Our team swears by it, using it for finding whatever they dropped behind the desk, while working on the car, or looking for pipe leaks. Since it has an IP67 rating, you can even plop it in your aquarium. The camera comes with a 16.4ft semi-rigid cable and several accessories, including a hook, magnet, and a mirror. You can get this one for $23 right now.
Blukar flashlight
Blukar
I don’t care who you are—you need a flashlight. The smaller, the better, because you get to shove it into any pocket. This model from Blukar comes with a built-in 1800mAh battery that you’ll recharge with one of those many type-C cables you have in that tech drawer we were talking about. It can work for up to 16 hours on a single charge, which is pretty decent. There are four different lightning modes to cycle through, including one that will help you signal for help. Plus, one of these is only $10, so no excuse to pass on this one.
Heat It insect bite healer
Anyone plagued by mosquitoes in the summer will be particularly pleased with this ingenious gadget. This tiny device, which can be easily connected to your smartphone via USB-C, can significantly reduce the itching of bites and stings with targeted heat.
You simply charge the small Heat It bite healer via the app and then hold it on the bite. The heat then does the rest, breaking down the proteins in the mosquito bite that cause the area to swell, itch, and hurt. A true must-have for summer, and it costs only $20.
A tiny air pump
Also perfect for summer is this small air pump from Cycplus, which fits in any bag while on the go. Not only can it inflate a bicycle tire in two minutes at the touch of a button, but it’s also USB-charged. According to the manufacturer, it’s suitable for mountain bikes, road bikes, motorcycles, and even cars!
In addition to being an air pump, this practical gadget can also be used as a flashlight or power bank for on-the-go use — all things that come in very handy on a bike ride. And at just $57, it’s highly recommended if you need quick help with a flat tire.
USB-C mini fan
These little fans are also pretty ingenious; you can easily carry them in your pocket in the summer and quickly use them whenever you need them. Anyone who’s ever sat on a crowded subway train in 30-degree heat and wished for at least a little fresh air will love this gadget.
The mini fan, which costs just $20, has a USB-C port and can be easily powered by power banks, computers, laptops, or USB chargers. There are even smaller and cheaper fans available that can be connected directly to your phone, costing under $10 each. But these also provide less powerful airflow, so we recommend the standalone version.
Reading light with a book clamp
Anyone who enjoys reading a lot, sometimes late into the night, will appreciate this little gadget: a reading lamp that you can simply clip onto your book. It may not be groundbreaking, but with a total of three color temperatures and five different light modes, you can individually adjust how much light you need for reading.
The Gritin reading lamp costs just $15 on Amazon and features a 1200 mAh battery that lasts up to 80 hours depending on usage. Afterward, you can easily recharge it via USB. You can swivel the neck of the lamp back and forth as desired, and there’s even a small charging indicator. What more could you want?
Samsung flash drive
Samsung
The vast majority of flash drives have a USB-A connector, but this one from Samsung has a Type-C connector. With transfer speeds of up to 400MB/s, you’ll move files around in no time. The beauty of this thumb drive is that you can even pop it in your smartphone to record 4K vids directly on it. The Samsung Type-C flash drive comes in multiple storage options, starting at 64GB and up to 512GB and they start at $14. The 256GB version, for instance, is $27 at the time of writing.
Type-C microSD card reader
Ugreen
Most laptops nowadays don’t come with a card reader anymore (I know mine doesn’t), so finding other ways to get data off those little buggers is a must. Whether you need to pull data off your dashcam’s card or if it’s from your camera, this tiny Ugreen USB-C microSD reader will work just fine. This reader is tiny enough that you should probably put it on a keychain of some kind. If you’d rather a slightly more versatile version, Ugreen has a model that also works with SD cards and features both USB-C and USB-A connectors. Any of these will cost you less than $10, so they’re worthwhile investments.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on May 16, but was updated to include additional devices. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 1 Aug (PC World)Anyone who tells you that smart home is easy is lying to you. Indeed, building a smart home—well, a smart apartment in my case—has been one of the trickiest tech endeavors I’ve ever taken on, given all the makes, models, connectivity standards, and interoperability issues that need juggling.
So yes, I’ve made mistakes—lots of them. Some were small (like the smart candelabra bulb that wouldn’t fit in a regular light socket) and some were fundamental. (Who has two thumbs and mixes Alexa speakers with Google Home displays? This guy. More on that in a moment.)
Luckily, we learn from our mistakes, and I’m ticking off my six biggest smart home foul-ups in the hopes you won’t repeat them.
Skimping on smart plugs (or on smart anything, for that matter)
It’s tempting to snag cheap smart plugs on Amazon for a steep discount; heck, who would turn their nose up at a four-pack of Wi-Fi smart plugs for $9.99? For that price, you can make all the outlets in your home smart without breaking a sweat.
Well, I’ve learned the hard way that a useless smart plug is no bargain, regardless of the discount. My home is riddled with cheap smart plugs that either can’t maintain a steady connection or simply don’t work at all.
This Eve Energy smart plug costs a pricey $40, but in four years it’s never let me down.Ben Patterson/Foundry
One off-brand Zigbee smart plug likes to conk out roughly once a week; unplugging it and plugging it back in seems to fix it, although never for long. Another cheap HomeKit smart plug lost connectivity with the Apple Home app long ago, and I just control it manually now. (I’ll get around to replacing it, eventually.) What those iffy smart plugs have in common is that they all cost about $10 each.
Now, if you find a cheap smart plug that works consistently (and we have found a few), more power to you. But the smart plugs I spend more money on (more like $30 each), like these from Eve Energy and Philips, have been rock-solid, and consequently I never give them much thought. Yes, they were pricier, but at least I wasn’t throwing my money away.
Related: Check out TechHive’s top picks for smart plugs
Forgetting to (temporarily) switch my Wi-Fi to single-band mode
Many Wi-Fi-enabled smart home products are designed to only work on the 2.4GHz wireless spectrum. It makes sense; after all, a dual-band Wi-Fi light bulb seems like overkill given the limited networking it requires.
But sometimes, single-band Wi-Fi devices have trouble connecting to dual-band Wi-Fi networks, and that’s where the headaches come. See, when you’re setting up a Wi-Fi smart device for the first time and it trips on your dual-band wireless router, it often won’t tell you that that’s the problem.
Instead, you may wind up banging your head against the wall, trying one troubleshooting step after another, until you finally realize it’s the dual-band network that’s to blame. Make the switch from dual-band Wi-Fi to single-band, and more often than not, your smart device setup problems will disappear.
Forgetting to switch my Wi-Fi back to dual-band
Of course, the other Wi-Fi snafu that can arise with smart home is the mirror image of the previous one: forgetting to switch your Wi-Fi network back to dual-band after putting it into single-band mode.
I just committed that error a couple of weeks ago, and my family and I spent a few days scratching our heads wondering why our Wi-Fi speeds had plummeted. Finally it hit me: I’d forgotten to switch our TP-Link mesh router back to dual-band mode after installing a new smart gadget. Oops.
Getting security cameras that require subscription plans
This is more of a regret than a full-on blunder, but it’s worth mentioning it here anyway. I have a long-in-the-tooth Wyze Cam v2 guarding the back door in our basement, while a Ring Battery Doorbell Plus keeps an eye on our front doorstep. Both devices have served us well over the years, but they also need monthly fees to unlock their best features.
For the Ring doorbell, I pay $50 a year (there’s also a $5-a-month option) for three months of video storage, along with person detection and other assorted features; without the plan, I’d only be able to view a live feed from the doorbell, which lacks local storage. And while the Wyze cam does offer local storage, you must pay a monthly fee for people detection. I stopped paying for a Wyze plan years ago, meaning I get motion alerts for everything—spiderwebs, my robot vacuum scooting around, you name it.
The Tapo RoomCam 360 (pictured here next to my old Wyze Cam v2) does AI-powered object detection and more, all without a subscription plan.Ben Patterson/Foundry
I regret not having considered security cameras and doorbells with free, on-device AI object detection plus local storage. Such onboard AI and storage options are becoming increasingly common (like on this TP-Link Tapo can I recently tested), and while local video storage has its drawbacks—what if someone steals the camera?—it’s a heck of a lot cheaper in the long run than paying a monthly fee.
Related: 11 subscription-free security cameras
Not upgrading my robot vacuum sooner
For years, I made do with a bump-and-run robot vacuum—namely, the budget-priced iRobot Roomba 694—and figured that was pretty much all there was to robot vacuums.
Every few weeks or so, I’d prep for a Roomba run by tidying up the floors and blocking the stairway with a bench, all to ensure my robot didn’t eat socks or get flummoxed by the steps as it ping-ponged from one wall to another. It was a bit of a pain, but better than vacuuming my floors manually, I figured.
Boy, was I wrong. A little more than a year ago, I finally ponied up the cash for a vastly superior Roomba model, complete with a self-emptying dock, the ability to map rooms, and—best of all—a camera-based obstacle avoidance system that allows the robot to spot and navigate around socks, pet poop (eww), and other obstacles in its path.
My new Roomba i7+ (which has since been supplanted by new and even more advanced models) was a game changer. No longer was running my robot vac a chore—instead, it became a joy, as I watched the bot navigate my floors like a pro and easily dodge shoes, chairs, and other items without my having to lift a finger.
With elaborate cleaning schedules in place plus the self-empty dock, I was able to go weeks without giving my busy Roomba any assistance. Why hadn’t I made the change earlier?
Related: Check out Tech Advisor’s top robot vacuum picks
Mixing and matching smart speakers
OK, this one I can chalk up to being a smart home reviewer who must test different makes and models of smart devices. Still, there’s nothing quite as dumb as having an Alexa smart speaker sitting next to a Google Nest display, or a Nest display cozied up beside an Apple HomePod, and that’s precisely the situation in my household. “Hey Google—I mean, hey Siri,” is a common refrain in our kitchen, which naturally sparks squabbles between the duelling assistants as they respond to each other’s voices (“Hey there, I’m Alexa, not Siri,” “I think you have me confused with someone else”). There are also competing smart routines, smart devices that are connected to one smart assistant but not another…in a word, chaos.
Whatever you do, don’t make the mistake I made. Just pick a brand of smart speaker you like and stick with it. Your family will thank you.
Related: Check out TechHive’s top picks for smart speakers Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | ITBrief - 31 Jul (ITBrief) Hitachi Vantara enhances VSP One SDS on Google Cloud Marketplace, adding features like two-way replication to boost hybrid cloud data management and resilience. Read...Newslink ©2025 to ITBrief |  |
|  | | PC World - 31 Jul (PC World)TechHive Editors Choice
At a glanceExpert`s Rating
Pros
Wi-Fi connectivity
Voice control via Alexa, Google Assistant, and SmartThings
Customizable access codes for guests, deliveries, and more
Excellent battery life, with emergency power backup
Cons
No Fingerprint recognition
No geofencing support
Slight delay on remote unlocking
Not Matter certified nor Apple HomeKit compatible
Our Verdict
It’s neither the prettiest nor the most capable smart lock on the market, but TP-Link’s Tapo DL100 smart deadbolt delivers a lot more than you might expect based on its price tag.
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Best known for its inexpensive routers, TP-Link is rapidly growing its Tapo line of budget-priced smart home devices, and the Tapo DL100 smart lock is a fabulous home security value.
You’ll find plenty of smart locks that look prettier, pack more whiz-bang features, and support more smart home ecosystems, but you won’t find a $70 lock that’s nearly as good as TP-Link’s Tapo DL100.
Design and build quality
The Tapo DL100 isn’t flashy, but it doesn’t look cheap. The black-and-silver finish blends well with most doors, and the keypad glows softly for nighttime visibility. While the housing is plastic instead of metal, it doesn’t feel flimsy in the hand.
The Tapo DL100 isn’t flashy, but TP-Link has delivered one of the most fully featured smart locks you can buy for less than $100.
The Tapo DL100 is BHMA certified as a commercial lock rated ANSI Grade 3, the lowest of the three ANSI commercial lock grades (the higher levels being Grade 1 followed by Grade 2). If you want a stronger lock, you’ll need to spend more money. You can read about ANSI lock grades on the ANSI blog. We explain the BHMA’s residential lock standards at the preceding link.
In terms of weatherization, the lock is rated a modest IP54, which according to our IP code guide, means it won’t allow dust ingress to the point of causing failure, and that it can withstand being sprayed with water (but definitely not from a pressure washer).
The Tapo DL100’s interior (top) and exterior escutcheons.James Barber/Foundry
I don’t know if I’d use it for an oceanfront beach house, but it should stand up to more typical environments. That said, many of the locks we’ve reviewed lately have had the same water resistance ratings as this lock, but they’ve been impervious to dust ingress (having a 6–instead of a 5–as the first digit in their IP codes).
More specifications
The Tapo DL100 smart deadbolt features both a numeric PIN pad with physical buttons (it’s not a touchscreen) and a conventional key cylinder, and it can also be locked and unlocked with the Tapo app on your phone via Bluetooth, or—once you’ve connected it to your home Wi-Fi network (2.4GHz networks only)—with an Amazon Alexa or Google Home voice command.
The lock also supports SmartThings and IFTTT, but not Apple’s HomeKit or, by extension, Apple’s Home Key . There’s no support for Thread or Matter, either, and the DL100 also doesn’t provide the alternative means of unlocking it with a fingerprint. If that’s a must—have feature, consider the upscale model Tapo DL110 that has that feature—plus an integrated doorbell; it’s priced at $150.
The lock operates on four AA batteries, which TP-Link says should last for 10 months using a Bluetooth connection. That claim drops to seven months with the lock connected to Wi-Fi, which I expect most people will opt for, since it gives you remote access to the lock. Should the batteries die while you’re out and about, you can plug a smartphone or a portable battery into a USB-C port on the bottom of the lock
Installation and setup
The Tapo DL100 smart deadbolt prior to installation. James Barber/Foundry
Physical installation should be a breeze for anyone replacing an existing deadbolt, and you don’t need any sort of hub or bridge to take advantage of all its features without the need to sign up for a subscription or other service plan.
I replaced an existing deadbolt lock, and the entire process from removing the old deadbolt to opening the DL100’s box to walking away from a completed project took less than fifteen minutes. If you need to cut into your door and jamb for installation, the process gets a lot more complicated—as it would with any other deadbolt.
The Tapo DL100 supports most of the smart home integrations you’d expect, save for Apple’s HomeKit.James Barber/Foundry
A Phillips-head screwdriver was the only tool needed for the project and, after installing the Tapo app on my phone and inserting the batteries into the lock, the DL100 connected via Bluetooth almost immediately. Your next steps will be to create a 4- to 8-digit PIN and add the lock to your Wi-Fi network. You can create up to 200 unique PINs with varying levels of permission. You’ll also want to activate the App Lock/Unlock setting if you want to be able to unlock the door remotely via the internet.
The app also allows you to generate a one-time code that guests, house-cleaners, contractors, repair services, and other people can use to gain authorized access to your home. You can choose from preset times (up to one full day) or set a custom time window on a future date. An activity log keeps tack of everyone’s comings and goings.
The Tapo DL100’s interior escutcheon with its battery compartment open (left) and closed.James Barber/Foundry
If you’re concerned that someone might discover your PIN by watching you unlock the door, or by studying which numbers on the PIN have telltale fingerprints, take advantage of Tapo’s Scramble PIN code option. This lets you press up to 20 random numbers, with your PIN code included in sequence and/or after your PIN, and the lock will disregard the other numbers but unlock when it recognizes your PIN.
TP-Link’s Unlock Attempt Limiter another security feature. It lets you define the number of failed unlock attempts before the lock freezes for a defined length of time: up to 5 minutes, in 1-minute increments). You can also set an Auto-Lock timer that will automatically relock the door after the passage of a defined number of minutes after opening it: 15- or 30- seconds, or 1-, 5-, or 15 minutes.
Wi-Fi connectivity is a known battery hog, so you can program the lock to automatically turn its Wi-Fi adapter off at night and fall back to Bluetooth connectivity only. The lock will automatically reconnect to Wi-Fi at a time of your choosing. It’s a very cool feature.
So, what’s missing?
You’ll install the Tapo DL100’s mounting plate (left) to the inside of the door and then mount the lock itself to the plate.James Barber/Foundry
Here’s what you don’t get at the bargain price of $70: There’s no fingerprint recognition (again, TP-Link offers a more expensive lock that does have that feature) and there’s no geofencing support, so your phone can’t automatically lock the door when you leave your home’s geocircle or unlock the door when you come back into it. The Tapo also app doesn’t send notifications on a per-user basis (“so-and-so just unlocked the door with their PIN”).
I also sometimes experienced a delay when unlocking via the app over Wi-Fi, usually just a few seconds, but long enough to make me wonder if the message went through. Voice assistant commands worked well but occasionally required a repeat. That could be more of an Alexa issue than a Tapo one. I didn’t test the lock with Google Assistant.
If you want to use the remote Wi-Fi features, you’ll need to set up a Tapo account in the Tapo app. That’s to be expected if you want long-distance access to a device, so keep in mind you can’t be 100-percent in control of your connection if you want those features.
Should you buy the Tapo DL100 smart deadbolt
At this price, the DL100’s most obvious competitor is the Wyze Lock Bolt, TechHive’s previous pick for best budget-priced smart lock. Wyze offers local Bluetooth control and fingerprint recognition but not Wi-Fi connectivity. If remote access and voice assistant compatibility are priorities, the Tapo DL100 is the clear winner.
The Tapo DL100 isn’t flashy, but TP-Link has delivered one of the most fully featured smart locks you can buy for less than $100. For this price, getting Wi-Fi access, real-time alerts, code and management without a paid subscription is truly impressive.
If you want premium features like fingerprint recognition or Apple HomeKit/Home Key support, you’ll need to spend more money—maybe even a lot more. But at this price, the TP-Link’s Tapo DL100 smart lock is easy to recommend.
Further reading: This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart locks. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 31 Jul (PC World)OpenAI has launched a new “study mode” for ChatGPT that’s designed to help students better understand complex topics—but instead of dishing out direct answers, study mode employs the Socratic method to ask questions and guide users to finding those answers.
Or another way to look at it: in study mode conversations, ChatGPT gradually rolls out information to the user in stages to avoid overloading and overwhelming, and to prevent the AI chatbot from doing all the work on the user’s behalf.
According to OpenAI, study mode was developed in collaboration with teachers, researchers, and education experts. It’s based on customized system instructions rather than an entirely new AI model.
Study mode will first be available to users on ChatGPT Free, Plus, Pro, and Team plans. ChatGPT Edu users will get access within a few weeks.
OpenAI emphasizes that study mode is still in its early stages and that user feedback is continuously evaluated to improve the experience. Over the long term, OpenAI plans to implement other features like goal setting, progress tracking, and increased personalization. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 31 Jul (PC World)Ever since Microsoft released Windows 11 24H2 to the public last fall, users have been reporting all kinds of issues with the mouse cursor. Last year, the mouse cursor would disappear in text fields. Earlier this year, the mouse cursor got stuck in its loading animation. Those issues have been fixed, and now it’s time for another mouse cursor fix!
According to Windows Latest, July’s optional preview update KB5062660 fixes the problem with Windows 11’s mouse cursor suddenly changing sizes and appearing to be the wrong size than what’s set in Settings, which users (fairly) found annoying.
Microsoft hasn’t officially addressed the issue, but Windows Latest says the issue is fixed in the update. Update KB5062660 is optional for now, but will roll out to all users next month. If you want this bug fixed, you can manually install it via Windows Update or Microsoft’s Update Catalog.
Update KB5062660 also quietly fixed other issues, like hits to stability and performance caused by previous updates. Meanwhile, it’s the same update that officially kills the iconic Blue Screen of Death and introduces several new features and improvements. While Microsoft claims that Windows 11 24H2 is the most reliable version of Windows, frequent stumbles like this make many wary of the claim. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 31 Jul (PC World)TechHive Editors Choice
At a glanceExpert`s Rating
Pros
Dual-lens view leaves no blind spots while minimizing distortion
No subscription needed for storage or to unlock any features
AI search could be a game-changer—but not today
Cons
There’s a slight visual anomaly where the two camera images are spliced
The weak onboard siren won’t dissuade a bad actor from lingering
Cheap screws stripped immediately
Our Verdict
Dual lenses give Reolink’s latest floodlight camera an incredibly wide field of view, while its bright and capable floodlights ensure the scene is effectively lit.
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No matter how wide a viewing angle a given fixed-lens security camera might have, it will invariably suffer from this flaw: It won’t be able to see everything in front of it. And while some cameras try to solve this problem by employing a fish-eye lens to widen that viewing angle, the resulting image usually suffers from a degree of barrel distortion.
Reolink’s Elite Floodlight WiFi mitigates that problem via a clever hack. It uses two camera lenses instead of just one to deliver a combined (and relatively distortion-free) 180-degree field of view. It’s a concept that Reolink has pursued with several earlier products, including its Reolink Duo 3 WiFi, and which it improves upon here.
Specifications
Like most floodlight cameras, the Elite Floodlight is a hardwired device that must be permanently mounted on a wall and connected to a home’s 120-volt wiring. Reolink supplies everything you need to attach the camera to a standard junction box, but it can also be attached directly to a wall (or ceiling) and plugged in with a bare wire/pigtail extension cord (that connection should still be in a weatherproof box).
All those pixels really do fill a wide screen, and you can zoom in impressively to catch quite fine details when you need to.
Reolink supplies wire nuts for either attachment method (along with various other mounting hardware), but I ended up using my own because the supplied ones felt a bit too small to be secure. Either way, once you use the three nuts to complete the circuit and ground the device, the unit is ready to be mounted to the wall. This is achieved via a mounting bracket that comes complete with a built-in spirit level.
Installation and setup
As is common with floodlight cameras, you’ll need to hardwire the Reolink Elite WiFi floodlight WiFi to your home’s 110-volt electrcal system.Christopher Null/Foundry
The first hiccup with the hardware install was that I found I needed to swivel both the camera housing and the two spotlights well out of the way to access the two tiny channels in which the screws that connect the camera unit to the mounting bracket are placed. (I could also have used a lengthy bit extension for my drill.) I must also complain about the poor quality of the screws included with the kit, two of which stripped completely during installation. Removing them later took more than an hour and a lot of headache.
The camera records to its own storage, so you’ll need to install a microSD card (capacities up to 512GB are supported) as a last step. No card is included, and the camera can’t record without one. (Reolink doesn’t require a subscription plan, and unlike other Reolink cameras, this device doesn’t even support one.)
Wi-Fi setup was painless in my testing once I got the blaring and endlessly repeating audio instructions silenced, and it’s additionally helpful that the camera supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi networks.
Using the Reolink Elite Floodlight WiFi
Once installed, I felt the camera was slightly more attractive than many floodlight-cam competitors, as it’s a little more compact and less obtrusive—although this is of course a matter personal preference. But overall, the design is similar to that of most other floodlight cameras, with two spotlights providing a maximum of 3,000 lumens of illumination, perched atop a separate camera housing.
The Reolink Elite Floodlight WiFi is slightly less visually intrusive than most of its competitors.Reolink
All three components can be positioned independently, and the entire device carries an IP67 weatherization rating, which our IP code guide tells us means the device is not only impervious to dust ingress, but that it can withstand being submerged in several feet of water for up to 30 minutes.
Intriguingly, you can not only set the floodlight’s brightness level, but you can also adjust its color temperature, from a somewhat warm 3,000 Kelvin to a daylight-equivalent 6,000K. The floodlights can be set to always off, on at night, on based on a timer, or on at night based on motion detection, a setting that can be further restricted based on person, vehicle, or animal detection.
A detailed scheduling system allows you to define when the camera records, which again can be restricted to types of motion if, for example, you don’t want to record every passing car on the street. Users can also define a “post-recording duration” to set how long to record after motion ends (15 seconds, 30 seconds, or 1 minute), and the camera can be set to record continuously (24/7 or based on a schedule), overwriting recordings at an interval you set (or simply deleting the oldest recording once the available storage is filled).
Don’t like the lights? The unit also includes infrared night vision that can be set to kick in if ambient light is dim and the floodlight is turned off. Other features include two-way audio, a configurable siren (albeit a very weak one), a time-lapse recording mode, and the ability to push recordings to an FTP or NAS device instead of storing them on the camera itself.
Camera image quality
The cameras 8-megapixel image sensor records 4K video (which Reolink defines as 5120 x 1552 pixels) at 20 frames per second, and that ultra-wide angle image takes a little getting used to. Watching playback in Reolink’s app all but requires your phone to be in landscape mode. In portrait view, the image is so small that you can’t see any details. Fortunately, all those pixels really do fill a wide screen, and you can zoom in impressively to catch quite fine details when you need to. One hiccup of note: The use of two cameras means that the image must be digitally stitched together, which creates a visible seam that runs down the middle of the picture, along with a slight visual glitch, invariably where you least want it to be.
The Reolink Elite Floodlight WiFi’s ultrawide field of view all but requires your phone be in landscape mode to watch its live feed or recordings. Christopher Null/Foundry
The illumination power of the spotlights is solid, but I found the infrared night vision mode to be better from a recording standpoint, as I was able to make out figures further away in IR mode than with the spotlights on, even at full power. I have the opposite opinion when people were much closer the camera and recorded at night, as the floodlight makes up-close figures much clearer.
The camera was adept at detecting motion in my testing, and a sophisticated detection-zone system lets you define areas and types of motion within those areas that you might want to ignore. Clips are catalogued in Reolink’s Playback menu, which lets you scrub video on a 24-hour timeline, one day at a time, or you can choose from animated thumbnails below the timeline, showcasing each moment where motion was detected.
Each clip is even marked with a small dot to indicate where notable motion events occurred within the clip. The app can also be configured to send notifications of motion via push notification or email; but for the latter, you’ll need to configure mail server settings in the app, which might be more of a headache than most users want to deal with.
The camera’s onboard AI leaves much to be desired
I was less than impressed with the Reolink Elite Floodlight WiFi’s AI (center app screenshot), and the view from its dual lenses isn’t perfectly stitched together (right-hand app screenshot). Christopher Null/Foundry
A new feature (introduced in beta test mode just days before the product’s release) lets you search for recorded clips using natural language. This AI-powered search is a potential game-changer, letting you filter clips of people, vehicles, and animals (and only those three categories, not general motion), using written qualifiers.
For example: “Person in a blue shirt.” “Cat running.” “Red pickup truck.” My tests with this were all over the map, indicating the algorithm probably has room to grow. It works well with color queries, picking out clips of me wearing a black shirt with ease, but it didn’t find any clips of me “holding a bottle,” identifying just about everything else as a valid clip except the one where I was holding a bottle.
The system could find no clips of any person either “with a beard” or “without a beard.” (I have no beard, for the record.) And while it was successful at finding clips of my cat, it also tagged the same clips if I searched for “dog.”
As noted, Reolink has work to do on the AI front.
Should you buy the Reolink Elite Floodlight WiFi?
At $220, the Reolink Elite Floodlight WiFi is a reasonably priced and capable lights-and-camera combo. It’s also fairly compact and remarkably full-featured, producing high-quality, ultra-widescreen video that you won’t get elsewhere.
Apart from its onboard AI–which remember–is still in beta, it’s a solid product. And not having to pay for a subscription is icing on the cake.
This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coveraqe of the best home security cameras. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 31 Jul (PC World)Let’s cut right to the chase: today, you can get a Lenovo Legion 5i laptop with an RTX 5060 for just $1,500 at B&H. Once that crazy bit of info has soaked in, go ahead and jump on this deal because I doubt you’ll find a better one for an RTX 50-series laptop anytime soon.
This Lenovo Legion 5i features a spiffy Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX processor and a whopping 32GB of DDR5 RAM (with some AI capabilities though it isn’t a full-blown Copilot+ PC). Combined with the 1TB SSD, this is a powerful machine that can easily handle Windows 11 Home plus all your apps, games, and browser tabs without slowing to a crawl.
But here’s the pièce de résistance: a GeForce RTX 5060 dedicated graphics card, which is absolutely insane for a laptop that only costs $1,500. Granting you access to DLSS 4 and Nvidia’s other latest tech, you’ll be gaming like a fiend on this machine. And it’s going to look sweet on the laptop’s 15.1-inch OLED display with native 2560×1600 resolution and fast 165Hz refresh rate.
Other noteworthy bits include a USB4, a USB-C, and three USB-A ports, plus an HDMI 2.1, LAN, and 3.5mm audio ports. That’s a good mixture of connections that makes this laptop adequately future-proofed. It also has Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3 support, a long-lasting 80-watt-hour battery, and it’s okay for portability at 0.85 inches thick and 4.4 pounds heavy.
I repeat, this is a slamming deal on a slamming gaming laptop. Snag this Lenovo Legion 5i for $1,500 at B&H while you still can! There’s “limited supply at this price” so don’t expect it to last forever.
Score this RTX 5060 OLED laptop with 32GB RAM for only $1,500Buy now from B&H Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | ITBrief - 30 Jul (ITBrief) Optimizely launches new CMS features to boost AI search visibility, helping businesses adapt content for the rise of generative engine optimisation and AI-driven search. Read...Newslink ©2025 to ITBrief |  |
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