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CNET
3 days ago
- CNET
Velocity Micro Raptor Z95A Gaming PC Review: What Leaving It to the Pros Looks Like
Velocity Micro Raptor Z95A Buy at Velocity Micro Pros Excellent gaming performance Tidy interior Ample upgrade options Cons Considerably more expensive than DIY So-so front connections Velocity Micro Raptor Z95A Buy at Velocity Micro If you want an extreme gaming PC without bloatware or the tedious work of configuring and building it yourself, the Velocity Micro SX3 Raptor Z95A stands out as a compelling option. It's pricey, but the folks at custom builder Velocity Micro put together a tidy system using almost exclusively standardized parts, leaving the door open for future upgrades. While it's frequently cheaper to build on your own -- at the very least, you save on the cost of labor -- the Raptor Z95A manages to be fairly competitive with other systems in its class, like the $3,899 Corsair Vengeance a7400 or $4,699 Vengeance i8200, though it leaves room to be undercut by systems like this $2,750 Asus ROG G700 with an RTX 5080 of its own. The Z95A is built around a few core elements that don't change, no matter the configuration. It's centered around a Gigabyte Aorus Pro X870E motherboard and Velocity Micro's SX3 case -- a 55-liter tower that fits ATX and EATX motherboards. Closed-loop liquid cooling is also a central feature, with a 360mm radiator and the option for RGB-lit fans. Velocity Micro Raptor Z95A Price as reviewed $3,999 Size 55 liter ATX (19.3 x 18.9 x 9.25in/490 x 480 x 235 mm) Motherboard Gigabyte Aorus Pro X870E CPU 2.5GHz AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Memory 64GB DDR5-5600 Graphics 16GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 FE Storage 2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD Connections USB 2.0 (x2 rear), USB 3.0 (x2 front), USB-C 3.2 Gen 2x2 (x1 front), USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (x4 rear), USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (x3 rear), USB4 (x2 rear), 3.5mm audio connector (x1 front, x2 rear), Optical S/PDIF (x1 rear), 2.5GbE (x1 rear), Antenna x2, HDMI (x1 on motherboard Networking 2.5GbE, Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 Wi-Fi 7 802.11be, Bluetooth 5.4 Operating system Windows 11 Home 24H2 The configurations start at $2,549. At that price, you get a Ryzen 5 9600X processor with 32GB of DDR5-5200, a 750-watt 80 Plus Bronze power supply, a 1TB Kingston NV3 SSD, and an RTX 5060 8GB. (The "A" in Z95A refers to AMD. There's a Z95i based on Intel CPUs.) Our test configuration bumps up a Ryzen 7 9800X3D with 64GB of DDR5-6000, an 850-watt 80 Plus Gold power supply (an MSI MAG A850GL in this case), a 2TB Samsung 990 Pro SSD and an RTX 5080. When the unit was prepped, it was listed at $3,999, though currently it's sitting at $4,644, partly because of volatile component prices. That's far from the peak of the pricing. Higher CPU, GPU, memory, and storage options can ramp the price up dramatically. Bumping up our test configuration up to the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and RTX 5090 alone would raise the price to just under $7,000. Josh Goldman/CNET If you tried to build it out piece by piece yourself, the configuration would cost roughly $3,000. This would be with largely identical parts, though calls for a different case and cooler, as Velocity Micro uses its own exclusive case and cooler. The extra $1,000 (or $1,644 at the current price) may be worth it for some, as it comes with some peace of mind that the cooling has been done effectively, the hardware is backed with a warranty, and the cable runs are kept neat. If you configure it yourself, you'll also have to bark up the tree of graphics card pricing. Unless you can get your hands on an RTX 5080 FE at its $1,000 retail price (or used), you might see your price leap up considerably. Clean but not too eye-catching "Micro" might be in the name, but there's nothing small about the Velocity Micro SX3 Raptor Z95A. The 55L SX3 case sits in the border between an ATX full and mid tower, able to accommodate as large as an E-ATX motherboard. As configured here, there's plenty of room inside the case thanks to the modest proportions of the RTX 5080 Founders Edition; it will be a little tighter with beefier GPU designs. Josh Goldman/CNET The case doesn't stand out. It's a rather stately black build with a healthy combination of solid aluminum, perforated aluminum, and a glass side panel. There are a few plastic elements around the front, but they don't stick out or make the case seem cheap. The front grille offers plenty of air for the three intake fans while keeping the perforations small and tightly packed. Hair and dust are still likely to get sucked in, but the grille should keep a good deal out still. Velocity Micro's 360mm radiator attaches at the top of the case and gets three more 120mm fans exhausting through it. This placement is smart, as it avoids feeding the graphics card pre-warmed air from the radiator. There's one more 120mm exhaust fan in the rear. While this does mean there are more exhaust fans than intakes -- creating the risk of negative pressure that could pull dust into the system from gaps in the case -- the air resistance provided by the radiator should help prevent this. The front fans also have a mostly clear line to the back of the case, so they blow hard enough out the back to keep dust from entering through the less-filtered holes there. Josh Goldman/CNET Velocity Micro has done tidy work with the cable management. Cable runs are kept mostly out of sight, appearing only for the short distance they have to travel to plug into the motherboard and other components. Surprisingly, the backside of the case, behind the motherboard, isn't a complete rat's nest either. The lack of pre-wired SATA cable runs is a little disappointing, especially when the system includes two 3.5-inch drive bays in the basement of the case, near the power supply, and two 2.5-inch drive mounting points. I wasn't thrilled to see the hoses for the CPU cooler touching the GPU radiator fins, either. The hoses may degrade from contact with the hot metal, and the airflow out of the back of the GPU is likely impacted. Josh Goldman/CNET The motherboard offers a great selection of ports, including 2.5Gb Ethernet to go on top of the Wi-Fi 7 support. The front I/O is limited with just two USB-A ports, a USB-C port, and a 3.5mm combo jack. The case allows the front I/O to sit either on the left side near the bottom or up at the top edge. The muscle 4K gaming calls for The Z95A is an extreme-performance system. It pairs some of the most powerful gaming PC hardware on the market for both high-frame-rate and quality 1080p and the horsepower to handle 4K gaming with cranked-up settings. In all of our game benchmarks, the system was happy to run at an average of more than 150fps at 4K, and that's without even tapping into the advanced Nvidia DLSS optimizations available to it, like Frame Generation. Monster Hunter Wilds' benchmark ran at 64fps in 4K with Ultra settings and DLAA enabled. Dialing back to 1080p but leaving other settings unchanged, it hit 120fps on average. That's without Frame Generation, which Monster Hunter Wilds encourages you to enable. Josh Goldman/CNET It can also keep on trucking even under demanding loads. In 3DMark's Steel Nomad stress test, the Raptor Z95A sustained its frame rate over 20 runs with a top score of 8285 (83fps) and a lowest score of 8139 points (81fps) -- that's just some run-to-run variability, not a steady decline in performance. The fans kick up a bit to sustain this performance, but they're not very loud or shrill. Beyond gaming, the Raptor Z95A holds up in high-end everyday operation, and it's well-suited to AI applications with the RTX 5080 tucked inside. It has some of the fastest CPU performance I've seen from systems I've tested for CNET, although some of the top-end Intel chips still rival it for single- and multi-core performance. Naturally, all this power comes with some heat, and it spits plenty out the top and rear. But the important thing is that it's spitting that heat out. The CPU manages to level off around 52 degrees Celsius, and the GPU levels off around 72. Working inside the case shouldn't be terribly difficult, as it's quite spacious. And because Velocity Micro has used all standardized components, your upgrade options will be basically limitless. The AM5 platform of the motherboard should be supported for a while yet, and the case has plenty of room for much beefier graphics cards in the future. All in all, it's a fast, solid build that should allow for enough upgradability to offset the high price over time. Geekbench 6 (single core) Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) 2,273 Lenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) 2,427 HP Omen 35L 2,656 Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti 2,833 Dell XPS 8960 2,948 Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 3,062 Alienware Area-51 3,149 Velocity Micro Raptor Z95A 3,303 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance Geekbench 6 (multicore) Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) 9,947 Lenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) 12,091 HP Omen 35L 12,745 Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti 16,959 Velocity Micro Raptor Z95A 18,338 Dell XPS 8960 18,699 Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 18,735 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance Cinebench 2024 CPU (multicore) Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) 749 Lenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) 783 HP Omen 35L 961 Velocity Micro Raptor Z95A 1,321 Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti 1,431 Dell XPS 8960 1,554 Alienware Aurora R16 1,806 Alienware Area-51 2,313 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance Shadow of the Tomb Raider gaming test (1080p) Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) 142 Lenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) 148 Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti 174 HP Omen 35L 174 Alienware Aurora R16 226 Alienware Area-51 248 Dell XPS 8960 250 Velocity Micro Raptor Z95A 362 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance (FPS) Guardians of the Galaxy gaming test (4K) HP Omen 35L 139 Alienware Area-51 177 Velocity Micro Raptor Z95A 187 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance (FPS) 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) 6,007 Lenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) 6,232 Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti 7,277 Alienware Aurora R16 9,927 HP Omen 35L 16,426 Dell XPS 8960 17,525 Alienware Area-51 21,463 Velocity Micro Raptor Z95A 21,665 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance 3DMark Speed Way (DX12 Ultimate) HP Omen 35L 7,335 Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 7,425 Dell XPS 8960 7,520 Alienware Area-51 8,717 Velocity Micro Raptor Z95A 9,009 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance The Rift Breaker CPU (1080p) HP Omen 35L 131 Alienware Aurora R16 163 Alienware Area-51 166 Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 184 Dell XPS 8960 202 Velocity Micro Raptor Z95A 268 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance Procyon Stable Diffusion XL Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 3,444 HP Omen 35L 3,656 Velocity Micro Raptor Z95A 4,257 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance
CNET
09-07-2025
- Business
- CNET
The M4 Mac Mini Is the Best Value I've Found From Apple. And It's $100 Off Right Now for Prime Day
I bought the M4 Mac Mini last month after reading CNET laptop expert Joshua Goldman's review on the tiny machine. I was looking for a computer that would increase my productivity and better organize my workflow. In four weeks of usage, I've found it to be the best value for money among Apple's lineup. For less than $600, you can get a more powerful computer than the $999 MacBook Air. Even better, it's now selling for $100 off for Amazon Prime Day. As a result, you can buy an M4 Mac Mini for as low as $500. That's a fantastic deal for work-from-home employees and creatives. The M4 Mac Mini, Apple's smallest computer, is an easy recommendation for me since it's one of CNET's picks for the best desktop computers of 2025. It's also our go-to for the best cheap desktop alternative to a MacBook or iMac. Right now on Amazon, it's currently discounted by 9%, and Prime members can get an additional $46 off when you apply the on-page coupon. That's close to the lowest price we've seen on this powerful computer. The M4 Mac Mini has been my best tech investment this year The M4 Mac Mini plus Apple's current crop of USB-C Magic accessories makes for really nice portable computing solution. Add a portable monitor and you're set. Josh Goldman/CNET I've been joyfully surprised by M4 Mac Mini's value proposition and how wonderful it has been to work from a desk for me. As a freelance remote worker, I travel for at least 10 days every month, so I need a portable computer. Based on my lifestyle, I should be recommending the M4 MacBook Air. But it's the remaining 20 days of the month that I need to work harder than usual to work on new pitches, deliver approved stories, sort admin tasks, coordinate for hardware, research for my work and more. All of this requires immense organization and productivity, and the M4 Mac Mini has helped make my life easier. The smallest Apple computer doesn't compromise on power. It features a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, 16GB of unified memory and a 256GB solid-state drive for storage. It's very powerful for a $599 machine and a bargain at $500. You likely won't be able to find similar reliability and power on a Windows machine for $500. I've tried and failed. And no, I'm not forgetting that the Mac Mini doesn't come with a display or a mouse and keyboard. I paired my M4 Mac Mini with a 27-inch LG UltraGear monitor (currently down to $180) and a Logitech mouse and keyboard combo -- all for under $200. The UltraGear's big screen is quite useful for research and multitasking, as well as watching movies. The M4 Mac Mini can be equally excellent for both home office and content creation needs. As CNET's Goldman wrote in his review, "The Mini can fit in your hand and be everything from an everyday home office computer to a full-on professional content-creation machine -- and an easily portable one at that -- with support for up to three 6K-resolution displays." My buying recommendation The M4 Mac Mini was launched in November 2024, and it's now available at a $100 discount, which is close to the lowest price we've seen. The small Apple computer offers a superb value proposition for remote workers and content creators alike. If you've been on the fence about getting a PC for home like me, I'd say pick up a M4 Mac Mini and see the difference for yourself. Want to check out the competition? We've rounded up the best desktop computer deals from the likes of HP, Lenovo, Dell and, naturally, Apple. And if this desktop isn't up to your tastes, you can check out the best laptop deals.
CNET
01-07-2025
- Business
- CNET
How and Where to Buy Used Camera Gear to Save Money
Beware! Buying used camera gear is addictive. Photography can be an expensive hobby and finding out how easy it is to get great gear at a reasonable price only leads to buying even more gear at a "reasonable" price. Trust me, I've done it a lot. Finding the lens or camera you want at a lower price is great, but even better is finding older, discontinued models that can give that retro look with no editing required. While eBay is the obvious answer for finding anything used, that's only one option and, for a variety of reasons, not the best. Specialized resellers of camera gear might have higher prices but offer peace of mind that random internet sellers do not. So here's where to look for used camera gear and what to consider when you've found the model you were looking for. Where to get used camera gear Delihayat/GettyImages Let me start with that initial obvious answer. The issue with eBay is that you have no real idea about the condition of the camera you're buying. Sure, the better sellers will have detailed photos of (allegedly) the camera you're buying, but a photo can never tell you the whole story. It might seem like it's in good shape, but does the shutter actually work, is there dirt or worse in the lens? I've bought camera gear on eBay, and generally it was fine. But in one case I got a different camera than what the ad claimed to be selling. Specialty resellers CNET The two biggest names in camera gear reselling are KEH and MPB. These sites specialize in buying and selling everything from lenses to cameras to flashes and tripods. The gear they buy gets inspected, the condition rated and it's put up for sale with a price based on that condition. I've bought a lot of gear from KEH over the years, and CNET Managing Editor Josh Goldman has bought a bunch from MPB. While prices and selection are often fairly similar, at least for bigger-name and more popular cameras and lenses, one big advantage that MPB has over other resellers is that they photograph each item. So you can see the condition of the actual item you want to buy. Other options include retailers that also offer used gear. Adorama, for instance, has a ratings system for its used gear. B&H Photo has a similar ratings system for its used department. In both cases, there's a short description to go with the rating -- like "Condition: 9 Minor surface marks," for example -- but no images of the actual item you're buying. I've bought new gear from both but haven't tried any of Adorama's used gear. Depending on where you live, there might still be an actual, physical camera store. Many of these will offer a selection of used gear as well. These stores likely won't have anything close to the selection of the online options, but you'll at least be able to hold and potentially try out any of the gear you're considering. Or maybe you'll find something you weren't considering and buy that too. Now you have two new lenses. Ask me how I know. A listing on MPB for the Fujifilm X100VI, one of our picks for best point and shoot camera. If you're looking for more mainstream items, like popular cameras and lenses, it's worth checking all of the above for the best combination of condition and price. For more rare items, like 20-plus-year-old digital cameras, you might only find them in one place. If you're looking to sell some old gear you found, you might get a better price from one than from another. It's also worth noting that in most cases, they'll give you more money for gear you're selling as store credit than cash. In all the above cases, the biggest benefit is the ability to return the used item if it's not exactly what you were looking for, or rarely, if it doesn't work as promised. You should be able to do that with eBay, but how easy that will be will vary depending on the individual seller. Also, some of the stores above offer a warranty for their used gear, something you won't get on eBay. Yard, garage and estate sales or thrift stores Zoranm/GettyImages You only have to see one great clip from Antiques Roadshow or Pawn Stars to start wondering if you can find undervalued camera gear temporarily in the hands of someone who doesn't know what they have. Theoretically yes, this can happen. There's a lot of used camera gear out there and to someone not curious about the hobby, a lens is a lens and an old camera is an old camera. It's certainly worth keeping an eye out, but this option is best for people who know what they're looking for. I'll explain more in the next section, but a dusty, forgotten lens in the back of a thrift store might be an epic find or damaged trash, ripe with fungus. If you're willing to make that gamble on a potential bargain you could find something special... or not. Important aspects to consider when buying used camera gear Once you've figured out where to buy from, or more likely, the several options where to buy from, there are a bunch of other things to consider. Some of the following will be, or at least should be, addressed by the seller in their listing of the product. Others are questions to ask yourself about whether or not this specific camera or other gear is actually right for you. Condition The most obvious consideration is the condition of the gear. "Scratched but working" is far better than "seemingly undamaged but secretly trash." A dropped lens might not have any external signs that the interior elements are misaligned. A flawless-looking camera from 2005 might not be able to save to its memory card or even boot up. There are a lot of variables, and the better websites will offer significant details into what makes up their condition rating (if any). Batteries The battery is one of the most likely things to die on an older camera. You might be able to find a replacement, but not always. Sarah Tew/CNET All modern cameras need batteries, even most film cameras from approximately the last 50 years. If you're lucky, the camera you're considering uses off-the-shelf batteries, like a pair of AAs or a squat lithium that's expensive but obtainable. If you're not so lucky, you've got your heart set on a camera that uses bespoke rechargeable batteries that have almost certainly aged poorly. Will it hold a charge? If not, can you find a replacement? You should be able to find the owner's manual online, or a web search for "camera model plus battery." If the camera is 15-plus years old and uses a rechargeable battery, I'd be cautious. It might be fine, but more likely it won't be. Memory cards and storage Stephen Shankland/CNET I subscribe to several photography subreddits (shocker, I know). It seems like every week, someone posts about a cool "old" camera they bought that was made in the early 2000s and how they can't figure out how to get the photos from it. More on this broader problem in a moment, but there were two main ways to get images off cameras in ye olden days before Wi-Fi and Bluetooth were in every product. The first is with USB, almost certainly Micro (the tiny flat one) or Mini (the small trapezoid one). Even younger readers have likely used gear with Micro-USB, as it was relatively common until the rise of USB-C a few years ago. Mini was rare at that point, but not unheard of. The good thing about USB is that, in theory anyway, it should "just work" if you have the right cable. You will, of course, need a computer. The computer should recognize the camera and let you access the files. This will largely depend on how popular the camera was in its day and how old it is. A Sony, Canon, Nikon or Panasonic camera from 10 to 15 years ago? Almost certainly fine. A no-name camera from 20-some years ago? Perhaps not. A Nikon D800 (from 2012) with both CompactFlash and Secure Digital (SD) cards. Sarah Tew/CNET The second, and far more common way, was via a variety of nearly forgotten memory card formats. These days, nearly all consumer cameras use one of two sizes of Secure Digital cards. That wasn't always the case. If you didn't have a camera in-era, the two most common types you might not have seen before are Memory Stick and CompactFlash. Memory Stick was Sony's own format. CF was used in a variety of cameras and in various updated forms like CFexpress, used quite regularly, even recently. Assuming the card still works, you should be able to find a reader for it. If it doesn't work, you'll need to hunt for a used replacement. A quick search online turns up some used and allegedly tested options, so you might be OK. Lens system If you're buying an interchangeable lens camera, be it an old film SLR, DSLR or more modern mirrorless camera, it's worth researching how many lenses are available and how easy it is to adapt to use modern lenses. Many older cameras can use modern lenses, sometimes without an adapter. For instance, a 20-year-old Nikon D50 can use the same F-mount lenses as many other older and newer Nikon cameras. Also, some older lenses can be used on modern cameras with an inexpensive adapter. I've used 50-year-old Canon FD lenses on my R6 (RF mount) mirrorless with a $35 adapter. Keep in mind that when you're using older or newer lenses than your camera, the autofocus and auto-aperture might not work. That's all part of the fun, really. A fungus among us A particularly noticeable lens fungus. It can also look like small, almost dust-like clumps. Yuzuru Gima/GettyImages One of the insidious "killers" of lenses is fungus growing inside. These can look like little dots, clumps of dots, or branching lines, all of which can show up as dark spots or blurry areas in your images. Theoretically, you can have a lens cleaned to remove the fungus, but that might not be cost-effective for what you paid for the lens. Reputable resellers will likely not even sell a lens with a fungus issue, or they'll be up-front about it and drastically lower the price. Personally, I wouldn't buy a lens with this issue regardless of price. If you're buying from a less-reputable reseller and the lens you receive has little fungi friends growing inside, I'd recommend returning it. Unsupported antiquity The good thing about film cameras is that they were pretty well standardized for decades. If you buy a Canon from the 1970s, for example, it's going to work similarly to one from the 1980s, 90s or 2000s. New models will definitely have more features, but if you put the film in correctly, you'll likely get photos of some quality (after you get them developed, of course). The Apple QuickTake 200 from 1997, one of the first consumer digital cameras. It had 640x480 resolution and was made by Fujifilm. Oleksandr Rupeta/NurPhoto via Getty Images Digital cameras… well, not so much. It was the wild west there for a while, with many different varieties of the aforementioned memory cards, batteries and so on. There were no apps and no easy transfer of photos and videos. You should be able to connect to a modern computer and access what you shot, but it's possible the computer won't recognize the camera or vice versa. We take for granted how easy things are now, with Bluetooth connectivity, app control, fully functional USB connections and so on. Anyone wanting to ditch that for "the way things were" might be in for a shock when they learn that it was all a bit trash from a usability standpoint. There was a reason everyone ditched cameras for smartphones. It was just way more convenient. I say that as someone who loves and has way too many cameras, both old and new. Just know what you're getting into and enjoy that aspect as much as leaving your phone in your pocket, and just taking photos for the sake of taking photos. In addition to covering cameras and display tech, Geoff does photo essays about cool museums and other stuff, including nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers, medieval castles and epic 10,000-mile road trips. Also, check out Budget Travel for Dummies, his travel book, and his bestselling sci-fi novel about city-size submarines. You can follow him on Instagram and YouTube.
CNET
30-06-2025
- Business
- CNET
Prime Day Sales Don't Always Equal Real Savings: This Trick Can Help
Overspending during sales is Day deals aren't what they used to be. I remember seeing Reddit users complain about Prime Day "markdowns" in a thread last year. Some noted the discounts didn't feel like much, while others reported an actual increase in prices during the sale. Amazon's next Prime Day sale is July 8 to 11. While we expect lots of good deals, not everything is worth the hype. CNET tech and shopping experts recommend comparing and tracking prices before and during sales, especially for big-ticket items like electronics. Prime Day can also pressure us to stretch our budgets because we don't want to miss out on a "now or never" deal. For instance, if you're planning to buy a new TV, saving $530 on the Amazon Fire 75-inch Smart TV, which was originally $1,100, is a win. But if you spend money on an upgrade you don't need, that could put you in the red. What are the best strategies for saving money during Prime Day? I found a useful trick for determining what's worth buying and what's not. This trick can help you spot the real savings There's still some time before Prime Day. CNET editors recommend making a list of items you plan to buy, reviewing prices now and installing the CamelCamelCamel browser extension. "If you're not regularly tracking the prices for a computer, tablet or other device you want, it's tricky to know if you're getting a good deal," says Josh Goldman, managing editor and laptop reviewer at CNET. He says CamelCamelCamel will tell you the pricing history of any Amazon item. So, when the sale rolls around, it's easier to determine whether it's a deal or an everyday price. CamelCamelCamel is free, and you don't need an Amazon account to use it. However, this price tracker only works for Amazon, so you'll need to use other websites or browser extensions, like Honey and Slickdeals, to compare prices from other retailers. Remember it's fine to wait and save instead If you haven't budgeted for spending on certain items, or you don't see worthwhile savings, it may be worth skipping the Prime Day frenzy altogether. Plus, there are plenty of other sales coming up: Labor Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Sometimes, waiting is best. Many of us are cutting back on spending and monitoring the effect of tariffs, which are pushing prices higher. If you have a chunk of money you've set aside for a future purchase, I'd recommend keeping it in a high-yield savings account. Putting your savings into a high-yield account will help you earn interest while you wait. Right now, most HYSAs offer annual percentage yields between 3.60% and 4%, or even higher at select banks with stricter requirements.
CNET
26-06-2025
- CNET
OnePlus Pad 3 Tablet Is Powerful and Elegant, but Its Higher Price Has Me Thinking Twice
8.2 / 10 SCORE OnePlus Pad 3 $700 at OnePlus Pros Impressively zippy overall performance Good battery life Sharp, bright display with 144Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling and gaming Cons Fairly premium price LCD instead of OLED display No microSD card slot for expandable storage Disappointing front camera OnePlus Pad 3 8.2/10 CNET Score $700 at OnePlus Last year's OnePlus Pad 2 was considered one of the better tablet values, combining premium performance with a midrange price ($550) that would sometimes dip to $500. To a certain degree, the new-for-2025 OnePlus Pad 3 follows the same playbook. Equipped with a top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and a bright, 13.2-inch, 3.4 K-resolution display with 315ppi pixel density and an adaptive refresh rate up to 144Hz, this is a high-performance Android tablet that gives off premium vibes for a lower price than Samsung's Galaxy Tab S10 Plus. At $700, though, it costs $150 more than the Pad 2, edging it into premium pricing territory and making it less of a bargain. It's available for preorder now with a choice of two "free gift" accessories as an incentive to purchase, and it ships on July 8. Simple yet sleek and slim The Pad 3, which includes 256GB of storage, 12GB of memory (RAM) and runs on Android 15 (you get three years of Android updates and six years of security patches), isn't particularly bold-looking, but I still found its svelte design impressive. Weighing 1.5 pounds (675 grams) and measuring 11.4 by 8.3 by 0.24 inches (289.6 by 209.7 by 6 millimeters), it has an aluminum-alloy unibody in an understated "storm" blue color. Like the Pad 2, the Pad 3 has a 7:5 aspect ratio that's different from the 16:10 aspect ratio found on many Android tablets. It's a little more of a square look, akin to Apple's iPad and iPad Air's 4:3 aspect ratio or the 11-inch iPad Pro's 3:2 aspect ratio. Some people prefer the squarer design, and the Pad 3's 7:5 aspect ratio is arguably a selling point. The 13-megapixel rear camera is more bland-looking than the camera that OnePlus features on its phones. But it's been moved from a central position on the back to the top-left corner -- or the right corner in portrait orientation -- which is probably a better spot for it. There's also an 8-megapixel front-facing camera that's fine, but nothing special. Enlarge Image The OnePlus Pad 3 with the new Smart Keyboard. Josh Goldman/CNET The Pad 3's 3,392x2,400-pixel LCD is sharp, but its black levels and contrast fall short of what you get with the superior OLED displays found on Samsung's high-end Galaxy Tab S10 Plus and S10 Ultra. (The Pad 3's contrast hits just 1,123:1 when displaying a checkerboard pattern.) On the bright side, literally, it shines with a whopping 600 nits for a whole-screen image and is rated to go up to 900 nits in a special high-brightness mode (I could only measure the brightness in standard mode). I also liked that the screen features a 144Hz refresh rate that makes for buttery scrolling and gaming. OnePlus Pad 3 Specifications Price as reviewed $699 + $199 keyboard case + $99 Stylo 2 Cameras 13MP rear, 8MP front Display 13.2-inch, 3.4K (315ppi), 144Hz (7-step adjustable), Dolby Vision, 12bpc, 900 nits CPU Snapdragon 8 Elite (Gen 1) Memory 12GB LPDDR5X GPU Adreno 830 Storage 256GB UFS 4.0 Networking Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Battery 12,140 mAh, 80W charging Operating system Android 15, OxygenOS 15.0 (+3 OS updates and 6 years of security patches) While Samsung's more affordable version of the Galaxy Tab S10 Plus, the Tab S10 FE Plus, doesn't have the same aspect ratio at the Pad 3, it's got a 13.1-inch screen that uses LCD technology, is 6 millimeters thick, weighs 1.5 pounds (664 grams) and starts at $650, so it's in the same price class as the Pad 3 and probably it's most direct competitor. The Tab S10 FE Plus' screen refresh rate only hits 90Hz, so technically the Pad 3 has an edge there. And the Pad 3's Snapdragon Elite processor is significantly more powerful than the Tab S10 FE Plus' Samsung Exynos 1580 processor. Both Samsung's Galaxy Tab S10 and Tab S10 FE series have microSD expansion slots for adding more storage, while the Pad 3 has no expansion slot. You'll have to make do with the 256GB of built-in storage (which should be ample for most people). Enlarge Image The rear camera has been moved from the center of the device to the corner. Josh Goldman/CNET Incredibly zippy performance The OnePlus Pad 3 packs the best chipset for Android devices I've tested. The Snapdragon 8 Elite offers huge improvements on the already impressive Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset used in leading phones and tablets in 2024. The OnePlus Pad 3 puts up impressive performance numbers across benchmarks, with especially strong results from the GPU. The Pad 3's Geekbench 6 results saw it even beat the Windows-based Asus ProArt PZ13 ($1,300) in single-core performance, though it still lagged behind in multicore performance. When it came to graphics, though, the OnePlus Pad 3 achieved more than double the PZ13's scores in 3DMark's Steel Nomad Light and Wildlife Extreme tests. The tablet's larger footprint allowed OnePlus to pack in a sizable 34.8-square-centimeter graphene composite vapor chamber to dissipate heat, and it does its job admirably. Running the Steel Nomad Light Stress Test, which cycles the benchmark 20 times in a row, the OnePlus Pad 3 had 84.5% consistency and saw its CPU temperature rise from 28 degrees Celsius to just 31 degrees, one of the more impressive results I've seen. Enlarge Image The screen has a 7:5 aspect ratio. Josh Goldman/CNET All that speed lets the tablet run incredibly smoothly, with nary a hitch in everyday operation. It also easily handles heavy games, like Delta Force, while remaining comfortable to hold (heat-wise, not so much bulk-wise). The newer chip also gives the Pad 3 the edge over even gaming-focused devices like the Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3. We were also impressed with the Tab 3's battery life. Its 12,140-mAh battery rocks, easily lasting through the workday for everyday tasks. And in our online streaming battery test with the display set to 50% brightness (measured at 125 nits), it ran for 16 hours and 20 minutes (it ran an additional 40 minutes after the display dimmed, giving it a total battery life of 17 hours). It can also recharge at up to 80 watts with the included charger, reaching full capacity in 92 minutes. Alas, the USB-C charging port isn't high-bandwidth, as it tops out at the USB 3.2 Gen 1 spec of 5Gbps. While camera performance has been impressive on OnePlus phones of late, the same can't be said of this tablet's cameras. Both the front and rear cameras are only mediocre, failing to offer very sharp or low-noise images. The tablet packs eight speakers (four for the low end and four for high frequencies), which would seem like a recipe for excellence. But the sound quality was only decent, not great -- basically what you'd expect from a premium tablet. Not surprisingly, the midrange, where vocals live, was the strongest, with voices sounding loud and clear. However, like with most tablets and laptops, the speakers just don't output a ton of bass, and you're not getting any semblance of surround sound. OnePlus Pad 3 accessories Samsung's Galaxy Tab S10 series tablets are pricey (the Tab S10 FE models could also be included in that statement, even though they're more affordable). But Samsung is always offering big discounts in its online store if you trade in an older tablet or another device. If you play your cards right, you can get several hundred dollars for an earlier Tab S series model to put toward the latest model. OnePlus only gives up to $100 for trade-ins in its online store, but it tends to throw in an accessory for "free" as a value-added incentive to buy the device. In the Pad 3's preorder window, which ends July 7, OnePlus is going a step further, allowing buyers to pick two of three accessories as "free gifts." The accessories available are a $49 folio case, the $199 OnePlus Pad 3 Smart Keyboard and the $99 OnePlus Stylo 2 (yes, the same stylus offered with the OnePlus Pad 2, but the other two accessories are new for the Pad 3). Given the choice of two accessories, I suspect most people would take the Smart Keyboard and the Stylo 2. And if only one accessory was available as a free gift, the Smart Keyboard would likely be the first choice. Enlarge Image A closer look at the keyboard. Josh Goldman/CNET The keyboard is pretty good, with a more tactile feel to the keys than the earlier version. OnePlus says the Pad 3 Smart Keyboard "has larger, spaced-out keycaps that give a PC-style feel, as well as a range of useful command keys and a dedicated AI button -- all while retaining the same massive trackpad. It can also be adjusted to between 110- and 165-degree angles and continues to support NFC transfers and instant magnetic connection." If I had a gripe, it was that the behavior of the trackpad is a little odd. The mouse movement wasn't perfectly smooth and was sometimes a little jumpy, struggling to detect nuance. This hampers its principal utility: fine control. We struggled to select text quickly and accurately. Using two fingers to scroll webpages, we found the trackpad often accidentally registered a click, and I ended up opening plenty of advertisements this way. In some cases, the trackpad actions don't even work. Google Docs wouldn't allow it to scroll pages, and many times I'd be clicking around the web and would come across something that I couldn't click on with the trackpad, so was forced to reach up and tap the screen. Note that while you can attach the keyboard case to the tablet magnetically, you can also detach it and use it wirelessly over Bluetooth (sometimes when the case was jostled, it detached a little too easily and had to be reattached). The Smart Keyboard is decent enough if included, but it isn't worth anywhere near its $200 price. I suspect OnePlus intends to heavily discount the keyboard or continue offering it as a free gift alongside the tablet, which is what it did with the Pad 2. The Stylo 2 stylus has a magnetic anchor point along its top edge, where it also charges the pen. This arrangement could use more work, as the stylus is easy to attach in the wrong position (it's not clearly demarcated), and it's all too easy to pop the stylus loose while moving the tablet into or out of a bag, even when it's attached correctly. The stylus is accurate and helps facilitate some interesting features, including the ability to write words into text fields on the tablet and have your handwriting converted into neat text (most pen-based tablets offer this feature). It supports a whopping 16,000 levels of sensitivity and has haptic feedback that helps simulate the feel of paper. But there's no getting past how smooth the screen's glass is. It just doesn't give that right amount of resistance to feel like paper. Should you get the OnePlus Pad 3? It's hard to say what the Pad 3 would have cost without the Trump administration's tariffs coming along, but it likely would've been $50 to $100 cheaper. So it goes. All things considered, the Pad 3 is still a decent value, particularly when you compare it to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE Plus, which retails for about $50 less but can't come close to matching the zippy performance that this model's Snapdragon Elite processor serves up. And it matches up quite well against Apple's similarly priced iPad Air M3, offering better specs in some areas and better overall performance, though iPadOS has some advantages over Android in general. The Pad 3 isn't quite ready to be a laptop replacement, which you could argue is the case for most Android tablets and iPads. For a true laptop replacement in a tablet form factor, Windows-based machines like Asus's aforementioned ProArt PZ13 or Microsoft's Surface Pro remain your best bet. But despite its small shortcomings, the OnePlus Pad 3 is one of the best premium Android tablets and certainly makes for an excellent entertainment device, offering strong performance for gaming (it's also well-suited for Xbox Cloud Gaming) and light productivity. Geekbench 6 (Android version) Single Core OnePlus Tab 3 3,076.5 Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 2,228 Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ 2,127 Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ 1,259 OnePlus Pad 2 958 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance. Geekbench 6 (Android version) Multicore) OnePlus Tab 3 9,021.5 Samsung Galaxy Tab S10+ 7,126 Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 6,600 OnePlus Pad 2 4,610 Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ 3,871 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance
