Latest news with #AndrewLanxon
CNET
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNET
I Love This Hidden Camera Trick on the Galaxy S25 Ultra
Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra has impressed us time and time again with its epic photo and video skills. It shoots some of the best images you can get from a phone in almost any conditions, while its big, vibrant display males lining up your shots a breeze. But even though I've been capturing photos with it for months, I recently stumbled on a little hidden tool that I didn't notice when I first started using the phone. But now that I've found it, I use it all the time. It's all about creating cool, cinematic filters for your photos. The original image (left) and the edited version using my custom filter (right). I love the warmer tones, the teal sky and the film grain. It's given it a very vintage look which I really like. Andrew Lanxon/CNET The tool, that Samsung sometimes calls My Filters, essentially lets you steal the color tones from one image and apply it to another. Say you like the warm orangey hues on a photo from a summertime trip to Italy. Simply load that photo up and it becomes a filter you can apply to other images, either while you're taking a photo or when you edit photos from your gallery later. It's baked into the heart of the camera experience and it's easy to use. Here's how you can do it yourself. Read More: Best Camera Phone to Buy in 2025 First, find the reference photos you want to use to create your filters. Maybe a night-time city scene with cool blue tones, or perhaps you're looking for more dreamy, warm colors for a summer vibe. Whatever you're after, you need to collect some images (either of your own, or any you've found online) and save them to your phone's gallery. The three overlapping circles is the icon that denotes the filter tool. This is what you're looking for. Andrew Lanxon/CNET Next, open the camera app. In the top left or right corner (depending on the orientation you're holding your phone) you'll see an icon that looks like three overlapping circles. This is the filter mode. Tap it to view the various built-in filters, and you'll notice there's a tile with a plus symbol just to the left of the built-in filters. Select this to bring up your gallery, and you'll be invited to select a picture to use as a filter. Choose one of your reference images, tap Create and your phone will do the rest. It analyzes the colors and contrast in the image, and then applies a filter that's based on your reference. You'll then see a live preview of what the effect will look like. You can rename the filter if you'd like, and then tap Done to save it. Tap the square plus button and you'll be able to load your own image to use as a reference for a new color filter. Andrew Lanxon/CNET When you take an image, that preset will be applied to the new photo. The filter also saves that effect to your phone, so you can now open any image in your gallery, press the edit button, tap the Filters button and then tap your new filter to load up the effect. When you apply it, you can also adjust the strength of the effect, along with adjustments like contrast and color temperature. I also love that there's an option to add film grain, which can help simulate the grain you'd see in analog photography to give your images that old-school vibe Instagram seems to be into these days. The ability to create a custom filter is a great tool to play around with, and I've really enjoyed saving a variety of different images to my phone in order to use as a basis for other filters. It's not perfect though -- the effects can be very subtle. It's not really achieving an accurate match for your source image -- it's more like it's taking inspiration from it. I'd like Samsung to amp up the effect even more in future updates, giving us the option to tone it down a bit if it's too strong. There are various tools to adjust the look of the effect, and there's even more control to be found in the general editing tools. Andrew Lanxon/CNET I could absolutely imagine loading up example photos taken with classic film stocks like Kodak Gold, Portra 160 or Fujifilm Velvia and creating a set of filters that mimic those analogue films. One of the joys of shooting on Fujifilm's digital cameras, like the X100VI, is the myriad of film emulation options you can achieve. This tool feels like a close approximation for Galaxy S25 owners. I really enjoy anything like this that allows photographers like myself to play around with the look of our image while still maintaining an authentic photo, rather than altering things with generative AI. Apple's Photographic Styles allows you to create similar color toning effects, but Samsung's tool makes things that bit easier by letting you create looks based off reference images. The original image (left) and the edited version using my custom filter (right). This time I went for a moody, cold look for this night-time urban scene. Andrew Lanxon/CNET The tool was introduced on the S25 range, including the base models and the S25 Ultra. It also features on the fancy new S25 Edge. You can also find the tool on Samsung's much cheaper Galaxy A series, and it's been made available as a software update on older Galaxy phones, including the Galaxy S22 range. Samsung hasn't made it clear exactly which phones support the tool, but if you own a Galaxy phone that was released over the past few years, it's worth seeing if it's available.
CNET
24-05-2025
- Automotive
- CNET
The Three Types of Camera Every Photographer Needs to Own
There are three main types of camera that all photographers need to own. And I'm not just talking about brands, like a Sony or a Canon, or even sensor types, like a full frame or an APS C. I mean a deeper level of camera selection -- the types of camera that offer fundamentally different ways of taking photos and allow you to create your best work, no matter what genre you like to dabble in. And while these types could be three physically different cameras, they could also be represented in two cameras, or even just the one. I'll explain, so let's dive in with camera type number one. The workhorse This is the camera that gets stuff done. It's likely packed with modern camera technology. It's fast to use, shoots at high speed, has lightning-fast autofocus, possibly image stabilization, and almost certainly uses interchangeable lenses. It may well be full frame. It's the camera that pros the world over use for all kinds of photo shoots -- just like I have -- from weddings to cars to products to pets ... whatever. It's a jack-of-all-trades camera that you can trust will do anything you need it to any time you need it to do it. I've used my Canon R5 on numerous professional shoots for photos and videos. It's a high-performance all-rounder. Andrew Lanxon/CNET For me right now, that's the Canon R5. Fast, high resolution. Tons of features. A flippy screen. And it shoots awesome video. Endless lens and accessory options. It's the camera I trust for most of my professional work because I know it can deliver and I know I can deliver when I'm using it. Previously it's been the Canon 5DIV and before that it was the Canon 6D. For you, it might be the Sony A7RV, the Nikon Z8 or the Panasonic Lumix S5II. It might not be the latest model around, but whether it was launched in 2025 or 2005 it'll tick all the boxes you need for a busy day of photography whether you're a professional or an enthusiastic amateur. The workhorse is a camera that'll do everything and it'll do it well. But it's likely also quite big and probably quite expensive. While it's great that there are so many lenses to choose from, maybe sometimes you don't want the burden of choice. So that's when you need... A compact, fixed-lens camera like Fujifilm's X100VI is great to have with you, always ready to shoot. John Kim/ CNET The everyday carry It's a small digital. A compact point and shoot, ideally. Almost certainly a fixed lens. The Fuji X100VI or the Ricoh GRIII. Even the relatively ancient Sony RX1R or the Leica Q3. The Q3 isn't that small really but I actually love my Q3 43 as an everyday carry. It'll be the type of camera you can quickly grab when you're heading out in a hurry without thinking about lenses. When you don't want a backpack full of gear when camping, but do want lots of fun shots of you and your mates around the campfire. It's the camera you can always carry. It's the social camera you don't mind getting in among the chaos of life. It could feasibly even just be your phone camera. Read more: Best Phone Camera in 2025 It's probably the lightest camera you own that allows you to comfortably wear it around your neck while you're walking around the streets of some old Italian town. It's maybe even small enough to slip into your pocket when you go into a bar and easily slip back out when the light comes in beautifully through the pub window and you want to catch a quick shot. Having my Leica Q3 43 always with me allows me to snap scenes whenever I see them. Andrew Lanxon/CNET It's a camera for quick shooting and for social shooting -- maybe even grubby from-the-hip or spray and pray shooting. It's probably the camera you've captured the most memories on but it's also probably not the camera you've used to take your favorite fine art photos. Oh no, that'll be this one. The artful one It might not technically be your best camera. It might not have the most features. It might not be the smallest, the fastest or the easiest to use. But it's the camera that inspires you the most. It's the one that makes you feel creative just by looking at it. It's the one you choose to take when you drive for hours to one location in the slim hope that you might have good light that evening. It's the camera that makes you slow down and think about the art in your images rather than rattling off a thousand mediocre snaps. It's the camera that's responsible for the work you're most proud of. The Hasselblad 907X -- an amazing, quirky camera. Andrew Lanxon/CNET This camera could be a lot of things. It could be a film camera, be it 35mm or 120 medium format. That alone would slow you down and make you take a more methodical approach unless you're happy to spend a fortune on film. Or maybe it's something like a modern digital medium format like a Fuji GFX or my personal favorite, Hasselblad's 907X 100C — that weird little box gave me such a buzz when I used it that it was genuinely difficult to part with it when I had to send it back. I found the Hasselblad's X-Pan panorama mode incredibly inspiring. This image was even shortlisted for a major UK photography award. Andrew Lanxon/CNET It's a camera you might not even own yet and maybe don't even know you want. I didn't know I was at all interested in film photography until only quite recently, yet the other day I gave a man a fistful of cash in a car park to buy his medium format Mamiya 645 Pro, which I'm very excited to put to use. Life throws things your way sometimes. So maybe this camera is one you'll need to be a bit open minded about. But it's also the one you might be most glad you got in the years to come. Three types, one camera Between the workhorse, the everyday carry and the artful one, you have yourself covered in any aspect of photography, no matter what genre you like to dabble in. I took my Canon R5 to Sicily where it performed all the roles of workhorse, everyday carry and inspirational camera admirably. You don't necessarily need three separate cameras. Andrew Lanxon/CNET Of course, some cameras can be two things. Hell, some cameras could be all three. And that's absolutely fine -- as long as that one camera ticks each of those three boxes for you. It's really up to you to interpret whether your camera is small enough to be your everyday carry or inspiring enough to be your artful one. My Canon R5 with a compact prime on it certainly can be all three. It was a great everyday carry on a trip to Sicily and it inspired me to take artistic photos that I later licensed to go into a luxury travel book meaning it was also my workhorse. So on that one trip alone it ticked all three boxes. But it's not always all of those things for me. My Leica Q3 43 was a superb everyday carry camera on my recent travels to the Swedish Arctic and Barcelona. It was the camera I took on multiple ferry trips to various remote Scottish islands and it was the camera I took when I went to hang with my brother for his 40th birthday. And yeah, it too is also a camera that excites me, that inspires me and urges me to be more creative with my shooting. Because it's a damn Leica and what photographer doesn't feel excited to take photos when they're holding a Leica? My Leica Q3 43 was an amazing everyday carry and professional workhorse on my assignment in Sweden. Did it also inspire me creatively? You bet. Volvo But it's my recent forays into film that have taught me even more about slowing down and crafting an image and the culmination of that has led me to getting this Mamiya 645 as my artful camera, which completes my personal holy trinity. And sure, as my work and my style develops and other cameras come and go, that trio of cameras will likely change over the years but the basic building blocks of workhorse, everyday carry and the artful one will always need to be met by whatever cameras I have.
CNET
22-05-2025
- CNET
This Phone Brought My Dad Back to Life and I Don't Know How to Feel
My dad died just after my fourth birthday in 1992. Being so young, I have few memories of him and my family has only a small handful of home movie clips, filmed in the brief window before he died. But I do have a selection of still pictures and in my testing of a new phone, I found I was able to bring him to life using AI. Honestly? I really don't know how to feel about it. The original still image of my dad (left) and the AI-created video of him (right). Andrew Lanxon/CNET The phone is the new Honor 400 Pro and while it's broadly a decent handset, it packs a tool that uses AI (powered by Google's VEO-2 model) to turn any image into a 5-second video. I was skeptical when I read the press release about it (as I usually am), but I found it genuinely fascinating to use. Here's how it works. You open the tool within the gallery app, choose your source image from any picture you have in your camera roll and hit go. It takes about a minute to analyze the image but then that picture suddenly springs to life, like a magical picture from the world of Harry Potter. Don't like the result? Simply tell it to generate again and you'll get a slightly different outcome. The original still image. Andrew Lanxon/CNET The AI-created video version (converted into a lower-quality gif format). Andrew Lanxon/CNET I've tried it on various images with mixed results. Sometimes it's pretty low-key (an image of someone reading a book simply resulted in them turning a page), while other times it goes weirdly hard. I loaded in a picture of a family of sheep on a Scottish island that I shot on Kodak Gold film (seen just below). In the moving AI version, there was suddenly a flood of sheep pouring through the frame before the camera angle cuts to an aerial view of a whole flock running across a meadow. I think that's what the kids call "extra." Ditto when I ran it on a picture of my cat and it threw in bizarre-looking titles for some baffling reason (seen further down). The original still image of this family of sheep. Andrew Lanxon/CNET The AI-created video version (converted into a lower-quality gif format). Andrew Lanxon/CNET But then I went another way. I've had my dad's photo on my shelf for decades. It shows him onstage playing bass in his band. It's an image I love for many reasons, but chiefly because I'm a musician myself and I've always liked that we've had that in common. But that one picture is all I've seen of him performing. I certainly never went to a show and I don't believe any video footage of him playing exists. Until now, that is. I fed the image into the app and with a certain sense of trepidation hit go. I waited for it to process and then suddenly there he was: My dad, moving around, jamming on his bass, visibly getting into the spirit of the performance. It transformed this small black and white picture I've treasured for so long into something more. Something alive. It actually made me quite emotional. But then another part of my brain spoke up. This isn't my dad. It's not him moving and vibing with the music. Not really. It's what Google's algorithm imagines he'd do. In many ways it's like he's a marionette being grotesquely controlled by some invisible puppeteer, trying to give the impression of lifelike movement. I ran it a few more times to see what options it would give but each one was basically a minor variation on him swaying and bopping while playing the bass. To be fair, the AI did a great job here. It looks realistic, with the shadows moving just right, the microphone staying in place and his hands actually looking like they're specifically playing a bass guitar. It's also still in black and white, with the film grain and various signs of aging to the image still present. The original image of my lovely cat Toulouse. Andrew Lanxon/CNET What the hell is this? Andrew Lanxon/CNET I think that made all the difference to me as it really did give me the impression of what he might have looked like on stage. I didn't have to squint to ignore any strange errors or random other elements the AI could have thrown in. Every time it produced a gentle clip of my dad playing his music. So I remain split in how I feel. On the one hand it's kind of gross in how it puppets a deceased loved one like this, based solely on Google's "best guess" of what would happen. I showed it to my brother who seemed to have much the same stance as me: "I'm not sure I like it, but I also don't think I dislike it. It's kind of spooky." On the other hand it's injected life into a picture that I've treasured for decades and given me a glimpse into what my dad might have been like onstage. And I liked seeing that, even if it's not exactly real. It's definitely not a perfect solution for me, and if I want to really remember him I'd rather turn to our actual home movies than AI-created imagery. But maybe AI tools like these will eventually bring real comfort to the many people in this world with passed loved ones, who right now only have a handful of static images to hold on to. And I'd like to think that, for all AI's faults, maybe this is one way it can do some good.
CNET
15-05-2025
- CNET
Huawei Watch 5 Tested: Easy Heart Scanning, but Not for Americans
The Huawei Watch 5 packs a variety of health tracking tools into a sleek, elegant body. It's a solid all-round smartwatch and while it doesn't run Google's Wear OS, Huawei's smart watch software is intuitive and it runs just as well on Android or iOS. Its stand-out feature is its all-in-one X-Tap sensor that makes it quick and easy to perform multiple health scans in one go -- including heart rate, ECG and respiratory health -- to get an easy-to-understand overview of your metrics. I tested the watch in the 42mm stainless steel variant, which in the UK retails at £400, although a more premium 46mm model made of titanium will be available, costing £500. Due to ongoing restrictions from the US government, the Huawei Watch 5 will not be officially for sale in the US, but for reference, that £400 UK price converts to $531. I've been using the watch for a few days now and I've got some early impressions An elegant design Some people see smartwatches as purely functional items, like a phone, camera or laptop where aesthetics don't really matter. Personally, I think that anything you wear like jewellery first and foremost needs to look good. Otherwise why ruin an outfit with an ugly-looking gadget on your wrist? The composite rubber and fabric strap is fine, but I'll be interested to see what alternatives Huawei offer. Andrew Lanxon/CNET The Watch 5 is among the nicer looking smartwatches I've tested, with an elegant stainless steel body that looks great in the soft gold color of my review model. The top of the metal is brushed while the sides are contrasted nicely in a polished finish. The 42mm model will be better for those of you with slimmer wrists, but if you've got thicker-set arms then the larger model is for you. The composite rubber and fabric strap is fairly comfortable though it doesn't quite have the same luxurious appeal as the watch itself. I actually managed to sleep in it in order to use the sleep tracking functions. I normally hate wearing a watch to bed but the Watch 5 went mostly unnoticed throughout the night. The display is bright and vibrant, and I found it easy enough to read under bright sunlight. You'll find the digital crown on the side, along with a second button used for navigation or bringing up quick-access apps. But there's also a very visible sensor in between the button and crown, which brings me on to… Easy health tracking The Watch 5 tracks a variety of health metrics from heart rate, skin temperature, blood oxygen levels and more but it does much of it through the new easy access sensor on the side. Huawei calls it the X-Tap sensor and it essentially makes it easier to press your fingertip against and get a variety of readings. The X-Tap sensor sits on the side of the watch for easy access throughout the day. Andrew Lanxon/CNET By using the sensor, the watch can track nine different health metrics in 60 seconds (some require guiding you through, like performing an ECG) to give you what it calls the "health glance." It's essentially a brief summary of how healthy you are at that point, and I definitely found the side sensor comfortable to use. You can activate the screen and then press and hold your fingertip to the sensor to activate the health glance scanning function. It's certainly a quicker way of working than going into the watch's apps to find the right one and I can definitely imagine it making it easier to build into your routine throughout the day if you're keen on regular tracking. It's got some new tricks as part of its scanning, too, including HRV (heart rate variability) tracking, which analyses your heart rhythms over time and which Huawei claims is a first on a smartwatch. It also analyzes your respiratory health by having you cough three times into the microphone. Both the respiratory health and HRV tracking are performed as part of the Health Glance operation. Beyond health, the watch can track movement analytics for a huge variety of sports and activities from running and cycling to belly dancing and, er, esports. Good to know if you really want to track your heart rate as you're getting demolished in Fortnite. Health: Achieved! Andrew Lanxon/CNET Other watch features include GPS tracking, eSIM functionality to make calls without a phone, gesture control (tapping your thumb and index finger to answer a call, for example -- yes, like the Apple Watch does) and sleep tracking, along with "contextual recommendations to help users understand and improve their lifestyle." I'm hoping that won't include passive aggressive comments about why I shouldn't order a second beer. Huawei Watch 5: Should you buy it? Huawei's smartwatches have always been great bits of kit, and the company's titanium Watch 5 Ultimate is still one of my absolute favorite models to wear. The Watch 5 is a much more elegant option, and I'm certainly a fan of its curving form and even the soft gold color. It's easy to use, with up to five days battery life that seems solid. It's easy to scan your health metrics, which will be genuinely helpful if you need to take multiple readings throughout a day. The workout tracker will even track your esport session, as though that's any kind of a workout. Dont '@' me, gamers. Andrew Lanxon/CNET It's a solid overall smartwatch and while it doesn't run Wear OS, it doesn't feel like it's lacking in any way because of it. If you're keen for something a bit different to the Apple Watches you see on everyone's wrists, it's certainly worth considering. Just as long as you're not in the US.
CNET
13-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- CNET
Your Next Audible Audiobook Could Be Voiced by AI
When most people ask you what your "big three" are, they're likely inquiring about your sun, moon and rising signs. But when I ask you the same question, I'm not trying to determine your horoscope. Instead, I'm curious what your headphones and earbuds collection looks like. After more than a decade working as a technology journalist, I'm in the fortunate position of having what most people would consider to be too much tech in my house. I make a real effort to keep it to a minimum and try not to accumulate any superfluous gadgets. But with headphones, I've reached the conclusion that everyone needs at least three pairs. No matter how hard I've tried, I can't pare this number. See also: Best Earbud and Headphone Deals: Bag Big Savings on Models From Apple, Sony and Others First, there are the everyday earbuds. These are the ones that can slide into your smallest bag or your pocket and travel everywhere with you -- on your commute, on your errands and on shopping trips. Second, there are the over-ear, luxury headphones. These need to have that heady combo of great noise cancellation, audio quality and battery life, combined with a level of comfort that means you could easily wear them for an entire long-haul travel day. Finally, if you're serious about fitness, you need dedicated workout headphones. Could you wear either of the above pairs to go on a long run? Sure, and plenty of people do. But for the sake of longevity and your sanity, having a sweat-proof, durable pair of headphones that won't budge may save your sanity in the short term and save you money in the long run. If you're trying to make one pair of headphones work in every scenario, you might feel frustrated that none are able to truly deliver the experience you want across the board. This is where my theory comes into play. It really doesn't matter which headphones you choose for each of these purposes but I do believe they are distinct categories with little crossover. And what are my big three? They may not be the same as yours but these are the headphones I absolutely can't live without right now. My everyday earbuds: OnePlus Buds 3 The OnePlus Buds 3 are always in my pocket or my bag. Andrew Lanxon/CNET I will die on the hill that you shouldn't spend more than $100 on your everyday earbuds -- the kind that you will drop, accidentally bash and at some point, inevitably, lose. So much about buds comes down to personal preference on how they actually feel when tucked inside your ears. Personally, I've settled on the OnePlus Buds 3, which list right at $100. They're aesthetically pleasing in a pale blue that matches my preferred fashion color palette, and I find them to be supremely comfortable. I've been using them for a good six months and I don't have any of the usual niggles I have with earbuds -- by which I mean they don't fall out of my ears or have any random, weird sound glitches. Soundwise, I enjoy the heavy bass and find the ANC to suit my needs as a frequent traveler on public transportation. With 10 hours of battery life, plus an additional 44 in the case, these buds have never let me down. They're not necessarily anything special but I keep reaching for them even though I have other options at my disposal. My luxury over-ear headphones: Dali IO-8 The Dali IO-8 headphones are the most comfortable I've ever worn. Andrew Lanxon/CNET At the other end of the spectrum, my favorite luxury headphones have transformed my longest travel days into periods of prolonged sonic bliss. I wear the Dali IO-8 headphones through airports, on plane journeys, all the way through to checking into my hotel. They also come with me on my daily hot girl walks. With 30 hours of battery life and decent ANC, they allow me to move through the world in my own little bubble. Not only are they truly the most luxurious and comfortable headphones I've ever used, they also provide me with glorious sound. You can switch between two modes: hi-fi and bass. I usually stick with the former. No matter whether I'm immersed in an audiobook, bopping away to Paramore, spacing out to Sigur Ros or getting lost once again in the depths of Taylor Swift's back catalog, the $1,100 Dali IO-8s deliver. My workout headphones: Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 The lilac Powerbeats Pro 2 are a running essential. Andrew Lanxon/CNET There's no two ways about it: I've tried other workout headphones and I keep coming back to Beats. I've been known to tie up my running shoes and be halfway out the door, then calling the whole run off because I can't find my Powerbeats. I've been a fan since the earliest Powerbeats model but the latest Powerbeats Pro 2, priced at $249, are my favorite workout headphones yet. Once in, they simultaneously feel glued to my head with a tight seal in my ear, while also being so light and comfortable I forget they're there. This is an essential combination when you're exercising, as the last thing you want to do is deal with any discomfort or annoyance that might distract from your workout. CNET's resident audio expert, David Carnoy, rated the Powerbeats Pro 2 an 8.8 out of 10, noting the improved sound quality and good noise canceling. As someone who's long been a fan of this line, I have to agree and I'd go so far as to say this latest upgrade has made running to my favorite high-energy tracks more enjoyable than ever.
