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ADATA SD700 512GB External SSD Capsule Review
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ADATA SD700 512GB External SSD Capsule Review

​Flash-based external direct-attached storage (DAS) devices have been rapidly evolving over the last few years. The USB Type-C interface standard has prompted vendors to release updates to their lineup, but, the legacy USB 3.0 interfaces continue to remain popular. On the storage media side for SSDs, there has been a shift from MLC to TLC, and now, to 3D TLC. Flash has recently been at a premium as the foundries ramp up 3D NAND production while bringing down the MLC and regular TLC volume. This has led to SSDs and other flash-based products being sold at a premium. Amongst companies that don’t manufacture their own flash memory, ADATA was one of the first to announce and ship products based on 3D NAND (purchasing the flash from IMFT’s 3D NAND output).

We have already reviewed the ADATA Ultimate SU800 SSDs on the internal drive front. Along with the Ultimate SU800, ADATA also launched the SD700, an IP68 rated external SSD with 3D NAND. The unit comes with either an yellow or a black jacket, and its shell makes it shockproof in addition to its dust- and water-proof nature.

The ADATA SD700 has a USB 3.0 interface (micro B). There are three capacity points – 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. ADATA claims speeds of up to 440 MBps, but doesn’t reveal much in terms of internal specifications in its product page. ADATA sent us a 512GB variant for review, and we present the results of our rigorous DAS evaluation of the unit below.

Buy ADATA SD700 IP68-rated External SSD 512GB on Amazon.com

The ADATA SD700 comes with a short USB 3.0 Micro-B male to USB 3.01 Type-A male cable and a quick start guide.

The SD700’s IP68 rating is enabled by the thick jacket around the enclosure. The enclosure is indeed sturdy – I had it drop down to the floor from a 6ft high shelf by accident multiple times, and the unit was none the worse for the wear.

Internally, the bridge chip used is the JMicron JMS578, which has UASP support. We have already seen this USB 3.0 to SATA III bridge chip in storage enclosures before. The SSD itself is the Ultimate SU800 using a Silicon Motion SM2258 controller with DRAM and IMFT 3D TLC flash. This information can be gathered without opening up the unit by looking at the CrystalDiskInfo information.

Testbed Setup and Testing Methodology

Evaluation of DAS units on Windows is done with the testbed outlined in the table below. For devices with a USB 3.0 (via a Micro B interface) connections (such as the ADATA SD700 512GB that we are considering today), we utilize the USB 3.1 Type-C port enabled by the Intel Alpine Ridge controller, along with a Type-C male to Type-A female connector. The controller itself connects to the Z170 PCH via a PCIe 3.0 x4 link.

AnandTech DAS Testbed Configuration
Motherboard GIGABYTE Z170X-UD5 TH ATX
CPU Intel Core i5-6600K
Memory G.Skill Ripjaws 4 F4-2133C15-8GRR
32 GB ( 4x 8GB)
DDR4-2133 @ 15-15-15-35
OS Drive Samsung SM951 MZVPV256 NVMe 256 GB
SATA Devices Corsair Neutron XT SSD 480 GB
Intel SSD 730 Series 480 GB
Add-on Card None
Chassis Cooler Master HAF XB EVO
PSU Cooler Master V750 750 W
OS Windows 10 Pro x64
Thanks to Cooler Master, GIGABYTE, G.Skill and Intel for the build components

The full details of the reasoning behind choosing the above build components can be found here. The list of DAS units used for comparison purposes is provided below.

  • ADATA SD700 512GB
  • Corsair Voyager GS 512GB
  • G-DRIVE slim SSD USB-C 500GB
  • Netac Z5 512GB
  • SanDisk Extreme 510 480GB

Synthetic Benchmarks – CrystalDiskMark

CrystalDiskMark, despite being a canned benchmark, provides a better estimate of the performance range with a selected set of numbers. The numbers pretty uch back up ADATA’s 440 MBps claims. However, as evident from the screenshot below, the performance can dip to as low as 20 MBps for 4K random reads at low queue depths.

ADATA SD700 512GBCorsair Voyager GS 512GBG-DRIVE slim SSD USB-C 500GBNetac Z5 512GBSanDisk Extreme 510 480GB

Benchmarks – robocopy and PCMark 8 Storage Bench

Our testing methodology for DAS units also takes into consideration the usual use-case for such devices. The most common usage scenario is transfer of large amounts of photos and videos to and from the unit. The minor usage scenario is importing files directly off the DAS into a multimedia editing program such as Adobe Photoshop.

In order to tackle the first use-case, we created three test folders with the following characteristics:

  • Photos: 15.6 GB collection of 4320 photos (RAW as well as JPEGs) in 61 sub-folders
  • Videos: 16.1 GB collection of 244 videos (MP4 as well as MOVs) in 6 sub-folders
  • BR: 10.7 GB Blu-ray folder structure of the IDT Benchmark Blu-ray (the same that we use in our robocopy tests for NAS systems)

robocopy - Photos Read

robocopy - Photos Write

robocopy - Videos Read

robocopy - Videos Write

robocopy - Blu-ray Folder Read

robocopy - Blu-ray Folder Write

For the second use-case, we take advantage of PC Mark 8’s storage bench. The storage workload involves games as well as multimedia editing applications. The command line version allows us to cherry-pick storage traces to run on a target drive. We chose the following traces.

  • Adobe Photoshop (Light)
  • Adobe Photoshop (Heavy)
  • Adobe After Effects
  • Adobe Illustrator

Usually, PC Mark 8 reports time to complete the trace, but the detailed log report has the read and write bandwidth figures which we present in our performance graphs. Note that the bandwidth number reported in the results don’t involve idle time compression. Results might appear low, but that is part of the workload characteristic. Note that the same testbed is being used for all DAS units. Therefore, comparing the numbers for each trace should be possible across different DAS units.

robocopy - Photoshop Light Read

robocopy - Photoshop Light Write

robocopy - Photoshop Heavy Read

robocopy - Photoshop Heavy Write

robocopy - After Effects Read

robocopy - After Effects Write

robocopy - Illustrator Read

robocopy - Illustrator Write

Performance Consistency

Yet another interesting aspect of these types of units is performance consistency. Aspects that may influence this include thermal throttling and firmware caps on access rates to avoid overheating or other similar scenarios. This aspect is an important one, as the last thing that users want to see when copying over, say, 100 GB of data to the flash drive, is the transfer rate going to USB 2.0 speeds. In order to identify whether the drive under test suffers from this problem, we instrumented our robocopy DAS benchmark suite to record the flash drive’s read and write transfer rates while the robocopy process took place in the background. For supported drives, we also recorded the internal temperature of the drive during the process. The graphs below show the speeds observed during our real-world DAS suite processing. The first three sets of writes and reads correspond to the photos suite. A small gap (for the transfer of the videos suite from the primary drive to the RAM drive) is followed by three sets for the next data set. Another small RAM-drive transfer gap is followed by three sets for the Blu-ray folder.

An important point to note here is that each of the first three blue and green areas correspond to 15.6 GB of writes and reads respectively. Throttling, if any, is apparent within the processing of the photos suite itself. 

ADATA SD700 512GBCorsair Voyager GS 512GBG-DRIVE slim SSD USB-C 500GBNetac Z5 512GBSanDisk Extreme 510 480GB

Despite getting quite hot in our performance consistency test (more than 70C), the drive doesn’t throttle. Thermal issues are definitely a concern in all water / dust-proof external SSDs, and the ADATA SD700 is no different. Consumers would do well to not subject sealed SSDs (such as this one and the SanDisk Extreme 510) to extremely heavy workloads.

Concluding Remarks

The SD700 continues ADATA’s tradition of bring external SSDs with good value for money to the market. As icing on the cake, the SD700 carries an IP68 rating also.

The performance of the drive leaves us with no doubt that it would be a great portable OS drive, even though ADATA doesn’t advertise it for that purpose. After all, we have a real SSD inside – the Ultimate SU800. The JMicron bridge chip is also able to map the SCSI Unmap commands to TRIM, as our little test below shows.

​

Moving on to the pricing, the SD700 comes in at $209. In terms of cost per GB, we find that ADATA is beat only by G-Technology / SanDisk / Western Digital, which has its own flash manufacturing facility.

Price per GB

It is difficult to source IP68-rated enclosures into which one can put their own 2.5″ drive. Therefore, going the DIY route to create a compact product like the ADATA SD700 with all its features is not going to be a feasible solution for the product’s target market. ​ADATA must be given credit for being one of the first companies to bring 3D NAND to consumers in a IP68-rated product.

Buy ADATA SD700 IP68-rated External SSD 512GB on Amazon.com​

ASRock Demos X399 ‘ThreadRipper’ Motherboards: M.2, U.2, 10 GbE, & More
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ASRock Demos X399 ‘ThreadRipper’ Motherboards: M.2, U.2, 10 GbE, & More

At Computex last week, ASRock demonstrated two motherboards designed for AMD’s upcoming ThreadRipper HEDT processors. The new platforms are for high-end workstations and designed to support up to four graphics cards though the 60 PCIe lanes from the CPU, over a dozen of storage devices and up to eight DIMMs. To a large degree, ASRock’s motherboards reflect overall positioning of the AMD X399 “ThreadRipper” platform as a premium high-end desktop play, and what to generally expect from makers of mainboards here.

ASRock plans to offer two motherboards for AMD’s ThreadRipper CPUs: the X399 Professional Gaming and the X399 Taichi. The mainboards are based on the same PCB (and the same AMD X399 chipset/socket), but have a slightly different feature set. The ThreadRipper motherboards that ASRock demonstrated at Computex featured an eight-phase digital CPU VRM, which is the feasible limit given the physical space available, but we have no idea the capabilities of the power delivery as of yet. ThreadRipper is meant to be a high performance, high power processor, so undoubtedly the motherboard vendors have built their boards to match. When it comes to the socket itself, it has 4094 pins and is very large (not surprising given its origin). We’ve seen the socket referred to as SP3r2 and TR4, although the official word from AMD is that it is the ‘X399 platform’.

It will be interesting to see whether any motherboard maker manages to design a Mini-ITX mainboard for the ThreadRipper, but we will see. As we understand it, one of the problems with the socket, apart from the dimensions, is its cost to manufacturers that is prohibitively high at this time.

Both of the X399 motherboards from ASRock have eight DDR4 memory slots, but the manufacturer does not disclose speeds, ECC support and other details (although given previous discussions, we expect at least ECC and DDR4-2400). In fact, it does not even reveal the maximum amount of memory supported by the CPU. Though even if the company does know, it’s almost certain that AMD wants to hold all of these cards close to their chest for future product announcements.

The X399 Professional Gaming physically has four PCIe 3.0 x16 slots (electrically set at two x16 and two x8) that can support up to four-way AMD CrossFireX or NVIDIA SLI multi-GPU configurations, as well as PCIe SSDs. In addition, there is a PCIe 3.0 x1 slot. As for storage options, ASRock has most configurations covered: the motherboard carries eight SATA ports, a U.2 connector, as well as three M.2 slots. To ensure that there is enough power for the latter, there is a 6-pin PCIe power connector right near the SATA ports. As for network connectivity, the motherboard features a 10 GbE port using Aquantia’s AQC solution, two GbE headers (enabled by Intel controllers), as well as a 2×2 802.11 Wi-Fi module with Bluetooth. As for USB, there are 10 USB 3.0 ports in addition to two USB 3.1 ports (Type-A and Type-C) on the back panel. Finally, the X399 Professional Gaming has a 7.1 audio sub-system enhanced using Creative Labs’ SoundBlaster software.

ASRock’s X399 Professional Gaming and X399 Taichi for AMD ThreadRipper CPUs
  X399 Professional Gaming X399 Taichi
CPU Support AMD ThreadRipper CPUs in LGA4094 form-factor
Graphics

4 × PCIe 3.0 x16 (2 × x16, 2 × x8)
4-way AMD CrossFireX and NVIDIA SLI supported
Chipset AMD X399
Memory Eight DDR4 DIMM slots
Ethernet 1 × 10 GbE Aquantia AQtion AQC107
2 × Intel GbE controllers		 2 × Intel GbE controllers
Storage 8 × SATA 6 Gbps
3 × M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4 or SATA)
1 × U.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4)
Audio Realtek ALC1220 (?)
7.1 channel audio with Creative Labs SoundBlaster Cinema 3 enhancements		 Realtek ALC1220 (?)
7.1 channel audio with ASRock Purity Sound 4
USB 8 × USB 3.0 Type-A
1 × USB 3.1 (Gen 2) Type-A
1 × USB 3.1 (Gen 2) Type-C
Other I/O Dual band 802.11ac Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.x, PS/2
Form-Factor ATX
MSRP Expensive Less Expensive

It is worth nothing that we expect the X399 chipset to be as capable as the AM4 X370 platform, which means that some of the features on the motherboard are likely to have shared resources, meaning having one enabled will disable some others. AMD has engineered the CPU to have 60 PCIe lanes for storage and graphics, which will nominally mean most configurations will allow three GPUs (totalling 48 lanes) and three M.2 slots (totalling 12 lanes) although the 10GbE controller will require some lanes as well as the other Ethernet and perhaps a USB port controller or two. Until we see the chipset diagram, it will be hard to tell at this point.

The ASRock X399 Professional Gaming and the X399 Taichi will be available later this year when AMD releases its ThreadRipper CPUs. It goes without saying that the motherboards are not going to be cheap: they are not designed for general consumers and their server origin will have a direct impact on pricing.

Related Reading:

Apple Refreshes iPad Pro Lineup: A10X Fusion SoC for 10.5-inch, 12.9-inch Models
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Apple Refreshes iPad Pro Lineup: A10X Fusion SoC for 10.5-inch, 12.9-inch Models

In addition to showing off its latest OS and software updates, Apple made several hardware announcements at WWDC 2017, including a refreshed iPad Pro lineup. The smaller of the two Pros ditches the 9.7-inch screen, which dates all the way back to the original iPad, for a 10.5-inch panel that fits into a chassis only 10.6mm (0.42”) taller and 4.6mm (0.18”) wider than the outgoing model thanks to smaller bezels. The expanded all-aluminum chassis increases weight by 7% or 32 grams, just enough to notice if you’re familiar with one of the recent models. The larger 12.9-inch Pro—first released at the end of 2015—finally gets some attention too. After missing out on the new hardware introduced with the 9.7-inch iPad Pro last year, the big Pro has been brought up to parity with the new 10.5-inch Pro.

Both the 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch LCD panels are new for this generation and share the same specifications. The 264ppi panels can display more vivid and lifelike colors by extending color coverage well beyond the sRGB standard with DCI-P3 gamut support. And because iOS supports ColorSync, Apple’s color management system, the Pros’ wide-gamut panels maintain color accuracy by respecting the source material’s target gamut (no overly-vivid, neon colors when viewing sRGB content, for example).

Both models also support Apple’s True Tone display technology that adjusts the display’s white point based on ambient light. The idea here is for the screen to replicate what happens to a white sheet of paper under different lighting conditions. If you read a printed book in an incandescent bulb’s warm light, the page will reflect that light and appear warmer, more yellow. True Tone does the same thing, reducing the LCD’s blue output and shifting the white point to appear warmer. Matching the display’s output to its environment is supposed to reduce eye strain, but True Tone can be disabled if it’s not to your liking.

Apple claims both displays can hit 600 nits peak brightness, which is impressive for tablets. We previously measured the 9.7-inch iPad Pro at 520 nits and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro at 427 nits, so this should bring a noticeable visibility improvement in bright light, especially for the big Pro. Both panels are also fully laminated to the cover glass and use an improved antireflective coating to further improve visibility and diminish eye strain by reducing screen reflections. The improved coating was first used on the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, and after comparing it side by side with the iPad Air 2, I was really impressed with how well it works.

Apple iPad Pro Comparison
  iPad Pro 10.5″
(2017)		 iPad Pro 12.9″
(2017)		 iPad Pro 9.7″
(2016)		 iPad Pro 12.9″
(2015)
SoC Apple A10X Fusion
3x Apple performance cores
3x Apple efficiency cores

12 core GPU

 Apple A9X
2x Apple Twister @ ~2.2GHz

PowerVR 12 Cluster Series7XT
Display 10.5-inch 2224×1668 IPS LCD
DCI-P3, 120Hz		 12.9-inch 2732×2048 IPS LCD
DCI-P3, 120Hz		 9.7-inch 2048×1536 IPS LCD
DCI-P3		 12.9-inch 2732×2048 IPS LCD
sRGB
Dimensions 250.6 x 174.1 x 6.1 mm
469 / 477 grams (WiFi / LTE)		 305.7 x 220.6 x 6.9 mm
677 / 692 grams (WiFi / LTE)		 240.0 x 169.5 x 6.1 mm
437 / 444 grams (WiFi / LTE)		 305.7 x 220.6 x 6.9 mm
713 / 723 grams (WiFi / LTE)
RAM ? 4GB LPDDR4 2GB LPDDR4 4GB LPDDR4
NAND All: 64GB / 256GB / 512 GB All:
32GB / 128GB / 256GB		 WiFi:
32GB / 128GB / 256GB
WiFi + Cellular:
128GB / 256GB
Battery 30.4 Wh 41.0 Wh 27.5 Wh 38.5 Wh
Front Camera 7MP, f/2.2, Auto HDR, Wide Color Gamut, Retina Flash 5MP, f/2.2 1.2MP, f/2.2
Rear Camera 12MP, 1.22µm pixels, f/1.8, PDAF, OIS, Auto HDR, Wide Color Gamut, True Tone Quad-LED flash 12MP, 1.22µm pixels, f/2.2, True Tone LED flash 8MP, 1.1µm pixels, f/2.4
Cellular 2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Category 9) 2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Category 4)
SIM Size NanoSIM NanoSIM
Wireless 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2×2 MIMO, BT 4.2 LE, GPS/GLONASS 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2×2 MIMO, BT 4.2 LE, GPS/GLONASS
Connectivity Apple Lightning, 3.5mm headphone, Apple Smart Connector Apple Lightning, 3.5mm headphone, Apple Smart Connector
Launch OS iOS 10 iOS 9
Launch Price Wi-Fi:
$649 (64GB)
$749 (256GB)
$949 (512GB)

Wi-Fi + LTE:
$779 (64GB)
$879 (256GB)
$1079 (512GB)

 Wi-Fi:
$799 (64GB)
$899 (256GB)
$1099 (512GB)

Wi-Fi + LTE:
$929 (64GB)
$1029 (256GB)
$1229 (512GB)

 Wi-Fi:
$599 (32GB)
$749 (128GB)
$899 (256GB)		 Wi-Fi:
$799 (32GB)
$949 (128GB)
$1079 (256GB LTE)

Before we move on to other hardware, it’s worth mentioning that Apple is using an adaptive refresh rate on the new Pros, a technology it calls ProMotion. The standard refresh rate doubles from 60Hz to 120Hz, which should help UI animations appear more fluid. It also reduces the Apple Pencil’s latency, making inking smoother with less lag. Driving a panel at 120Hz increases power consumption (panel and SoC), however. To help reduce the impact on battery life, the refresh rate is adjusted down to 24Hz or 48Hz when displaying content that would not benefit from the faster refresh, such as reading an ebook or Web page, for example.

Under the display is an Apple A10X Fusion SoC that comes with additional CPU and GPU cores compared to the A10 Fusion SoC used in the iPhone 7. Instead of 2 performance CPU cores and 2 efficiency cores, the A10X Fusion uses 3 of each. It also doubles the number of GPU cores, which makes sense considering it needs to drive a lot more pixels at a higher refresh rate. Apple claims a 30% improvement in CPU performance and a 40% faster GPU compared to the Apple A9X SoC used in the previous generation.

It’s still not clear how much RAM the new Pros have. It’s probably safe to assume that the 12.9-inch model still comes with 4GB, but does the 10.5-inch model stick with 2GB like the 9.7-inch Pro? Considering all of the new multitasking features and visual elements in iOS 10/11, a bump to 4GB is certainly justified, although, Apple tends to be frugal with RAM.

Internal storage capacity doubles, with the least-expensive models packing 64GB of NAND.  The next two storage tiers jump to 256GB and 512GB, which makes these iPads a bit more competitive with other ultraportable devices targeted at professionals. The extra space is also essential if you plan to use an iPad for less ‘Pro’ purposes such as watching TV shows or movies, which eat up space quickly.

The cameras on iPads have always seemed like an afterthought, with Apple using iPhone leftovers a generation or two old. Because tablets typically are not the first device people reach for when shooting photos and video, camera hardware is an obvious place to save money. This is not the case with the new iPad Pros, however, which receive the biggest camera upgrade since Apple first added cameras to the iPad 2. Both the front and rear camera modules are shared with the iPhone 7. That means a 7MP FaceTime HD camera on the front that supports automatic HDR imaging, wide color gamut photos, and 1080p video recording. You can also use the iPad’s display as a flash. Around back is a 12MP camera with 1.22µm pixels, OIS, Focus Pixels (PDAF), a 6-element lens array with a large f/1.8 aperture, and a quad-LED True Tone flash. It also supports automatic HDR imaging and wide color gamut photos and uses OIS and EIS for stabilizing video.

The new Pros come with 802.11ac 2×2 MIMO Wi-Fi that offers a peak theoretical throughput of 866Mbps. Like previous iPads, there’s Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + LTE cellular variants. The cellular-enabled models get a new Category 9 LTE modem with up to 450Mbps on the downlink. There’s also support for 25 LTE bands and an embedded Apple SIM.

The new iPad Pros look like, well…iPads. The aluminum shell is visually indistinguishable from earlier models and still has a Lightning connector on the bottom, a 3.5mm headphone jack and power button in opposite corners at the top, volume buttons on one side, and an Apple Smart Connector on the other. The proprietary Smart Connector transfers both data and power to optional peripherals such as external keyboards. There are also 4 speakers—2 on the top and 2 on the bottom—that provide better sound than the mono speakers on older iPads and are less prone to being covered by your hands when holding it in landscape mode.

The 12.9-inch Pro looks the same as the previous version from the front, while the 10.5-inch Pro has noticeably narrower bezels along the sides of the display. The physical home button includes an upgraded Touch ID sensor (same as iPhone 7) that’s 2x faster.

Both the 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros are available for preorder and will begin shipping mid June. Unlike the iPhone 7, Apple is not offering any new color choices for the iPads, so we get the familiar Silver, Space Gray, Gold, and Rose Gold. The Apple Pencil can be purchased separately for $99, and Apple offers its Smart Keyboard for $159 and $169 for 10.5- and 12.9-inch models, respectively.

ASUS Unveils Three Strix Gaming Monitors: FreeSync & High Refresh Rates
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ASUS Unveils Three Strix Gaming Monitors: FreeSync & High Refresh Rates

Hot on the heels of the Swift PG35VQ announcement, ASUS has unveiled three new Strix-branded gaming monitors that will feature AMD’s FreeSync technology. While the first Strix model was unveiled back at CES 2017 – the Strix XG27VQ – it was a one-off until the announcement of these newest models. Clearly, ASUS intends to have a gaming monitor lineup that consists of both the Strix and Swift series.

Starting off from largest to smallest, we have the Strix XG32V. This model has a 31.5-inch IPS panel with a WQHD resolution of 2560 × 1440 and an 1800R curve that should help provide a wider field of view. We don’t have a ton of other technical details, we do know that this model can handle refresh rates of up to 144Hz and it supports FreeSync. It will be interesting to see what the actual FreeSync range actually is.

For connectivity, there are two DisplayPort 1.2 inputs, one HDMI 2.0 input, and an undisclosed amount of USB 3.0 ports. Like on many of their other new gaming-oriented monitors, ASUS has added Aura Sync lighting to the XG32V. This not only means there will be an ROG logo that shines down onto the desk, but a back panel that features RGB LEDs and that can be synchronized with other Aura Sync-enabled PC components and peripherals.

Moving on to the next monitor, the Strix XG27V is a more value-minded model that shares the 1800R curvature of the XG32GV, but shrinks the panel down to 27 inches and the resolution to 1920 x 1080. Thankfully, this model can handle refresh rates of up to 144Hz and it also supports FreeSync.

While the XG27V has onboard Aura RGB lighting, it doesn’t have Aura Sync, so it cannot synchronize with other Aura-compatible components and peripherals. Although specifics are lacking, connectivity is the form of a DisplayPort input, an HDMI input, and DVI-D port.

While the Strix XG258 might be the smallest of the bunch, it has an ace up its sleeve. This 24.5-inch display features a 1920 x 1080, which is pretty conventional, but it supports a maximum refresh rate of up to 240Hz. According to ASUS, this means that the delay between new frames is just 4.2 ms, compared to 6.9 ms on a 144Hz gaming monitor.

Much like the XG27V, this model has onboard Aura RGB lighting, but it doesn’t have Aura Sync, so it cannot synchronize with other Aura-compatible components and peripherals. For connectivity, there are two DisplayPort 1.2 and two HDMI inputs, one of which is HDMI 2.0.

Although we have no pricing details, all of these new Strix gaming monitors will be available starting in Q3.

The HTC U11 Giveaway: Win a Launch-Day Smartphone
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The HTC U11 Giveaway: Win a Launch-Day Smartphone

A couple of weeks back, HTC announced their new flagship smartphone, the HTC U11. The latest in HTC’s now considerable history of flagship phones, the U11 bumps HTC up to Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835 SoC while also going in a new direction for the company in terms of aesthetics, and even squeezing in a new input feature.

The HTC U11 is launching here in the United States on June 9th, so to celebrate it’s launch and HTC’s final two Meet U demo events, HTC is giving us a phone to give away to our US readers.

HTC U11 Overview

Quickly recapping the new phone, the headline feature for the HTC U11 is its new method of interaction: Squeezing. If you’ve encountered any of the marketing material on the device, it’s all about the squeeze. HTC’s new philosophy is that smartphones are stagnating: every generation is just a spec update to the previous model, and the only thing that drives the industry is related to new interaction methods and ways of streamlining the use of a device. Hence the squeeze: by holding the U11 naturally and squeezing between the thumb and the other side of the hand, the squeeze action will do a number of things.

HTC U11
  HTC U11
SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 835

4x Kryo 280 Perf @ 2.45 GHz
4x Kryo 280 Eff @ 1.90 GHz

Adreno 540 @ 653 MHz 
Display 5.5-inch 2560×1440 SLCD5
Dimensions 153.9 x 75.9 x 7.9 mm
169 grams
Waterproof Yes (IP67)
RAM 4 GB
NAND 64 GB UFS
MicroSD Yes
Rear Camera 12MP “UltraPixel 3” w/ OIS, f/1.7, 1.4µm pixels
Front Camera 16MP
Battery 3000 mAh
non-replaceable
Modem Qualcomm X16 (Integrated)
2G / 3G / 4G LTE
LTE Bands 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 20, 32
38, 39, 40, 41
SIM Size NanoSIM
Wireless 802.11ac,
BT 4.2, NFC, GPS/GLONASS/BDS
Connectivity USB 3.0 (5 Gbps), Type-C, Quick Charge 3.0
Launch OS Android 7.1 with HTC Sense

Under the hood, the U11 is backed by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC and paired with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 64GB of storage. HTC says it’s using UFS NAND, although the company isn’t stating if it’s UFS 2.0 or UFS 2.1. The phone comes with a 5.5-inch QHD (2560×1440) SLCD5 IPS display, and HTC is color calibrating each phone at the factory. Meanwhile the rear camera is a 12MP UltraPixel 3, which offers OIS, an f/1.7 lens assembly, and 1.4 micron pixels.

The big aesthetic change for the U11 is its “liquid surface design,” which mimics the visual properties of a liquid, by covering both the front and back with Gorilla Glass 5. The manufacturing process that adds color into the 3D glass is called “Spectrum Hybrid Deposition,” and in the devices we saw it gave them a very shiny and metallic look (it also attracts fingerprints very easily). Presumably for that reason, a clear case is provided in the box.

 

The Giveaway

As HTC isn’t able to offer an unlocked phone that works with all 4 major US carriers, instead we’ll be giving the winner the model and color of their choosing. That’s either the unlocked version, which works on AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, or the Sprint locked version. The unlocked version is available in blue, black, or silver, while the Sprint version is only available in blue or black.

Finally, please note that like our other giveaways, this giveaway is only open to US residents. The giveaway will run from now to 2pm ET on June 9th, the day of the HTC U11 launch. For the full details, please see the terms & conditions on the Gleam widget.

Good luck to everyone!

The HTC U11 Smartphone Giveaway