Editors’ Picks: Digital Discoveries

Bo Moore, technology editor, and Alan Dexter, executive editor, reveal their latest tech highs

LOGITECH G433

I’m not a big fan of the “gamer” aesthetic. RGB lighting and aggressive styling on keyboards, monitors, and cases do very little for me, but at least they’re only seen in the home. Things get tougher in the headphones space—gaming headsets are great for co-ordinating with teammates, but they aren’t exactly the kind of thing you’d carry with you walking out the door.

That’s why I’ve been enjoying my time with Logitech’s new G433 gaming headset, which can pull double duty as your desktop communicator and your commuter cans. With a detachable cable, you can easily swap from the USB digital soundcard dongle at your desk to a commuter-friendly cord with inline media controls.

Internals-wise, it has all the hallmarks of a solid headset—7.1 surround sound, 40mm drivers, and a detachable boom mic. But on the outside, things get interesting. Instead of big leathery cans housed in a plastic monstrosity, the G433 is sleek and stylish, lined with a hydrophobic sport-mesh fabric. This makes the G433 feel closer to a pair of Beats—the kind of headphones that don’t make you feel stupid in public—but with good sound and communication ability. $100, http://gaming.logitech.com

PCMARK 10

Benchmarking gaming PCs is easy; more serious desktops less so; which is why there’s a market for Futuremark’s benchmarking tools. PCMark models modern workloads to produce an index that allows systems to be quickly compared. PCMark 10 is the latest iteration, updated for Windows 10, and quicker to run than its predecessor. It’ll soon be making its way into our benchmark tables, replacing PCMark 8 when we’re happy with the numbers it produces.

The main interface has been updated to more closely resemble that used by 3DMark and VRMark, and offers a single-button execution, which makes our lives easier. The suite itself replicates web browsing, application work, and video conferencing. The extended benchmark includes gaming tests from 3DMark, which shows how we’re expecting more and more from our PCs.

Of the four versions available, only the Advanced ($30) and Basic (free) editions are of interest to home users. If you just want to see how your own machine fares, the latter enables you to compare your system against the scores you’ll see from us. Advanced has a few more tests—useful if you’re a system builder, and want to push your machines. $30, www.futuremark.com