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We’ve had less than a year to mourn the loss of Dell’s iconic XPS laptop brand, and frankly, I’m still not over it. But time moves on. Engadget has already reviewed the Dell 14 Premium, formerly the XPS 14, and now I’ve finally had a chance to put the larger Dell 16 Premium through its paces. My conclusion? It’s still as beautiful as the last XPS 16, but I also think Dell seriously needs to rethink its ultramodern design strategy. 

With its minimalist design (look Ma, no visible trackpad!), smooth metal case and clean lines, the Dell 16 Premium looks like a work of art. It’s the sort of thing I’d imagine someone creating as a prop for a sci-fi movie in the ’90s, when we could barely imagine real notebooks moving beyond chunky grey bricks. But those good looks come at a cost — both in terms of price (it starts at $2,000) and basic functionality.

If you’ve read my reviews of the XPS 16 and XPS 13 Plus, Dell’s first models to use this aesthetic, you might think I’m just beating a dead horse. But it’s worth pointing out again, more than three years after I first chastised Dell for chasing style over function, that the company seemingly hasn’t learned anything. Sure, it’s a bit faster than before, thanks to Intel’s Core Ultra chips and NVIDIA’s RTX 50-series GPUs, but that’s not saying much. 

I still have trouble using the 16 Premium’s borderless trackpad because it’s tough to tell where the clickable zones are. I still hate the capacitive function row, both because it becomes miraculously invisible in bright light and it’s tough to build muscle memory for specific keys (like changing the brightness or volume). And honestly, I still don’t know how Dell can justify offering only USB-C ports and a microSD card slot on a laptop meant for serious work. Even Apple realized that it had to include a wider variety of ports for professionals, and that’s also something other PC makers like ASUS and Acer offer.  Did Dell miss the memo?

Worst of all, the 16 Premium’s 4K OLED screen seriously hampers its battery life. It only lasted six hours and five minutes during a basic video rundown, whereas the previous XPS 16 lasted eight and a half hours in the much more demanding PCMark 10 battery test. (For some reason, that benchmark didn’t run properly on my review 16 Premium review unit.) Larger laptops often stuff in bigger batteries than smaller models, but the 16 Premium can’t even manage that. 

At least it’s faster than before. The Dell 16 Premium I reviewed was equipped with Intel’s Core Ultra 7 255H chip and a low-wattage version of NVIDIA’s RTX 5070 GPU. It scored around 10 percent higher than last year’s XPS 16 in PCMark 10, and it was notably faster in the Geekbench AI benchmark thanks to Intel’s revamped NPU. I was even able to play Cyberpunk 2077 in 4K at 84 fps thanks to the 5070, though I had to enable DLSS 4 frame generation to do so. For some reason though, the system would slow to an absolute crawl whenever I enabled ray tracing features. At best, I only saw around 60 fps in 1080p while using the low ray tracing settings. 

The Dell 16 Premium from the rear.

Sure, it’s not a gaming laptop, so I can’t directly compare it to something like the Razer Blade 16. But it’s strange to see one of NVIDIA’s latest GPUs handle ray tracing so poorly. As you’d expect, the Dell 16 Premium also got pretty loud whenever its fans spun up. At least they managed to keep the system relatively cool though: Its CPU and GPU sat at 68C and 70C, respectively, under load.

The more I looked at the Dell 16 Premium’s beautiful facade, the more I wanted something… more. It needs more usable ports, like HDMI and a full-sized SD card reader. It needs more useful function keys that are visible in bright light — and also stay in one place — so I can touch type more easily. And for the love of god, just give up on the invisible trackpad. It’s a parlor trick that just makes it harder to tell left and right mouse clicks apart, despite the impressively large trackpad area.

The 16 Premium’s “invisible” trackpad blends seamlessly into its wrist rest, while the keyboard lays perfectly flat and a row of capacitive function keys sits above.

Given its premium positioning, I also expected more from the laptop’s speakers. They sound fine compared to most Windows laptops, but they can’t hold a candle to the audio sorcery Apple accomplishes with the 16-inch MacBook Pro. When playing music, the 16 Premium doesn’t have much dynamic range or low-end tone, whereas Apple’s speakers often surprise me with their depth and enveloping sound. During late night writing sessions, I often find myself playing music straight through the 16-inch MacBook Pro, rather than casting it off to my Sonos speakers like the 16 Premium forces me to do.

To avoid being entirely negative, I’ll reiterate that I genuinely enjoy looking at the Dell 16 Premium. I love the way its keyboard and large key caps lay perfectly flat along the notebook’s lower half. And I’ll admit, the 16-inch OLED screen looks lusciously colorful when it needs to. I’m just asking for Dell’s designers to consider a better balance of style and functionality for their next stab at a premium 16-inch laptop.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/dell-16-premium-review-stylish-to-a-fault-130000463.html?src=rss 

Uber is apparently feeling generous this holiday season. The company is launching family sharing for Uber One members, allowing individuals to add another adult to their account for free. They can also include an unlimited number of teens. 

Anyone added to the membership can access all of the same benefits, including free delivery. They will also earn unique credits for rides. You can attach someone to your membership by clicking Account and then Uber One. From there, you can tap manage membership and then family sharing. 

Uber is also giving members additional perks, like prioritized complimentary upgrades. The company claims that it will upgrade over one million rides for members between December 2 and 25. Plus, members traveling between today and Thursday for Thanksgiving should get 10 percent off if booking an Uber Black to or from an airport. 

Tech lovers with an Uber One subscription will be happy to hear that you can get early access to $25 off if you spend $75 or more at Best Buy — through Uber Eats, of course. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/uber-one-subscribers-can-now-share-free-deliveries-and-other-perks-with-their-family-120004629.html?src=rss 

After taking a break from the Playdate following Season Two and the wonderfully weird experience that was Blippo+, I finally dusted off my little yellow console this week and dove back in. And what better place to start than with a couple of games about cheese? Cheese ‘n Crackers and Say When! both hit the Playdate Catalog recently, but aside from the thematic similarity, they’re two very different games. As an extra treat (unrelated to cheese), I also picked up Ware-wolf Campfire Stories, a free game on itch.io that’s actually over a dozen bite-sized games in one. 

Cheese ‘n Crackers

When it comes to snacking, everyone’s got their preferences. Some crave a savory blast of umami, while for others, a sweet treat might be what always hits the spot. Or maybe you’re like me, and if you have one, it needs to be followed by the other. Creating snacks that hit just right is what Cheese ‘n Crackers is all about. 

In this Playdate game, you have what is essentially a neverending charcuterie board with all the fixins you could imagine. There are meats, cheeses, spreads, spices, vegetables, fruits and various types of crackers and breads to adorn with those toppings. You have to combine ingredients to make the perfect snacks for whatever group you’re serving that round. Each group — like the Speed Daters or Grandma’s Bridge Club — has a specific set of guidelines that may include favorites, dietary restrictions or aversions to certain tastes. 

A still from the Playdate game Cheese n Crackers showing a cutting board with various meats, vegetables, cheeses and crackers

While pairing ingredients is pretty intuitive, there are specific combinations that will earn you more points, so you’ll have to pay attention to descriptions of each food item. Or, you can turn to the Cheese ‘n Crackers Compatibility Spreadsheet for all of that information in one place. Yes, that exists, and it’s an intimidating work of culinary organization. Toppings will go bad if they sit out for too long, so you won’t want to waste too much time scouring the spreadsheet, but it’s still a relatively low-pressure game that you can play at your own pace. For the more competitive among us, though, there are leaderboards so you can challenge yourself with scores to beat. 

Say When!

This is the more intense of our cheese games, with a Root Bear–like structure that sees you tending to a revolving door of restaurant patrons and trying to grate the perfect amount of cheese for their meals using the crank. And despite being called Say When!, your customers (very unhelpfully) will not actually say “when” to let you know you can stop cranking; you have to pay attention to their unique tells to know when they’re satisfied — the twitch of a mustache, a change in facial expression, etc. 

A still from the Playdate game Say When! showing a man wearing dark sunglasses sitting at a table, with a dish in front of him. Grated cheese is pouring onto the dish from a cheese grater that floats above it

There’s a customer satisfaction meter at the top of the screen that will take hits any time you under- or over-serve cheese, or suffer if you’re moving too slowly, and once it’s down to the bottom, you’re fired. After each shift, you’ll be given the choice to use a modifier that can help you out in areas like customer satisfaction or getting the boss off your back. To mix things up, there are also mini-games that pop up in the middle of your shift. You might be furiously grating cheese and then have to switch gears and save the life of a choking customer, for example. 

It’s fast-paced, it’s silly and it’s pretty hard to put down once you get going. 

Ware-wolf Campfire Stories

While the Playdate Catalog has lots of great titles to choose from, there are plenty of gems not on there that are worth checking out too. One such example is Ware-wolf Campfire Stories, a unique package of 14 tiny games that’s free on itch.io. It’s the result of a collaboration between 15 developer teams — including the developers of Off-Planet Dreams, the Life’s Too Short series, Voidblazers and other popular Playdate titles.

Per the description:

In Ware-wolf Campfire Stories, 5 kids are sitting around a fire with their counselor telling spoooooky tales! Each story launches a separate game that you may win or lose…. with consequences.

It’s a cool format, and there’s some nice variety among the games, which each only take a few minutes to get through for the most part. They’re all of the spooky sort, so expect bats, ghosts and skeletons galore. It’s a nice way to get a taste of some of the many different game styles you’ll encounter on the Playdate, and maybe discover some developers whose games you haven’t yet checked out.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/two-playdate-games-about-cheese-and-spooky-campfire-stories-with-a-twist-232516706.html?src=rss