There are plenty of options for keeping your phone or tablet charged while on the go. We’ve already taken a look at portable USB battery packs, as well as the USB-C variety. Now were ready to take a look at car chargers.

These small devices don’t differ from each other all that much. Some have an indicator light, others have illuminated ports. Some feature Quick Charge for devices that support it, others don’t. One attribute they all share, however, is two USB ports—i.e., the days of the single-port car charger are long over. 

Best overall car charger

Spigen’s Quick Charge 3.0 charger is inexpensive, offers QC3.0, and has a minimal design. It’s our top pick for just those reasons. (See our full review.)

Best budget car charger 

The best deal you’ll find in our roundup is on the RAVPower 24W Dual USB car charger. At $8.99, its lack of Quick Charge is forgivable. And with its petite design, its not an eyesore. (See our full review.)

Best Quick Charge 3.0 car charger

Anker’s PowerDrive Speed 2 is our top charger pick due to both ports supporting simultaneous QC3.0, a streamlined design, and lights for each port. (Read our full review.)

How we tested

Determining whether a car charger lives up to its promise entails more than connecting it to a phone and charging. Testing requires special equipment to measure output and verify stated performance claims.

1. Testing began by plugging each car charger into the same port in a Honda Civic.
2. Then a PortaPow USB Power Monitor was plugged into a given car charger, with a USB-A-to-USB-C or Apple Lightning connecting the PortaPow USB Power Monitor to either a Samsung Galaxy S8 or an iPhone X. With the display off on each phone, we monitored the charger’s output.

The PortaPow allows us to see the volts and amps output of a car charger. We repeated the test for each port on a car charger and recorded the results.

Power source and cables

All of our tests were conducted using the same car charging port on a 2015 Honda Civic. The same charging cables were also use for each test. This was done to eliminate variables that could impact the results.

What to look for in a car charger

Without fancy testing equipment, it can be hard to gauge whether you’re getting what you paid for. Vendors, especially in Amazon listings, like to throw around a lot of terms and certifications. For those with a Quick Charge 2.0-, 3.0-, or PD-compatible device, make sure the car charger is certified for that spec. This can make a big difference in the time it takes to charge your device.

And if you’re just driving across town, the faster your phone charges, the better. If you own a QC 2.0 device, however, ask yourself if paying extra for a QC 3.0-capable charger is worth it.

All of our car charger reviews

Click on the links below to read full reviews of all the chargers we tested for this roundup. We will continue to update this page as we review more chargers.

Ring is adding an HDR (high dynamic range) feature to its cameras, but it doesn’t come switched on by default. HDR helps even out the bright and dark areas of an image to provide a better, more pleasantly exposed image.

In the context of a security camera, it could help see into dark corners better and stop images being washed out by harsh sunlight.

HDR is already ready in some Ring battery-powered cameras. If it isn’t in yours, you’ll have to wait for a firmware update to hit. Ring said HDR will be available in its wired cameras a little later.

Here’s a look at a couple of images, one without HDR enabled and one with it switched on. Hopefully, the difference should be obvious.

Martyn Williams/IDG

Martyn Williams/IDG

So, now you’ve seen the difference it makes, here’s how to switch it on:

Go into your Ring app, choose a battery-powered camera, click on the settings gear icon in the top right,  and choose “video settings.”

You’ll find a toggle for HDR right there.

Martyn Williams/IDG

And that’s all there is to it.

With Microsoft’s latest “19H1” feature release of Windows 10 nearing completion, the company has opted to “skip ahead” and release builds of subsequent feature releases to testers. What’s totally unexpected is that the “20H1” build—not due for another year—will be among those releases.

Windows 10 Build 1836 (which will eventually be released under 20H1) doesn’t have any noteworthy features; it’s mainly a collection of bugfixes and tweaks to existing features, such as a “tamper protection” setting that prevents bad actors from messing with your security settings. Known issues, such as a “green screen of death” when launching games with anti-cheat software, means that this is really a developer-only build.

What’s interesting though, is the vast diversity in current Windows 10 development. Many PCs are still running Windows 10 version 1803, from March 2018, after which Microsoft adopted a go-slow approach to Windows 10 version 1809, also known as the October 2018 Update. The vast majority of Microsoft’s Windows 10 Insiders are testing version 19H1, also known as the Windows 10 April 2019 Update. And as for the Windows 10 19H2 release: It’s due “later this spring,” Microsoft said in a blog post.

Here’s how Microsoft explains it all: “These [new] builds are from the 20H1 development branch. Some things we are working on in 20H1 require a longer lead time. We will begin releasing 19H2 bits to Insiders later this spring after we get 19H1 nearly finished and ready; once 19H1 is ‘nearly finished and ready’ we’ll also use the Release Preview ring for previews of drivers and quality updates on 19H1.”

What this means to you: If you’re reading the tea leaves for an ETA on Windows 10 19H1, Microsoft is saying you’ll know it’s nearly completed when 19H2 builds begin to be released. While it’s nice to see Microsoft draw back the curtain, giving us a glimpse of what’s coming, it’s a bit surreal to be talking about next year’s Windows 10 builds when a substantial chunk of the computing world is using an OS from about a year ago.

Qobuz (pronounced koh-buzz), an audiophile-oriented music-streaming service based in Paris, launched in the U.S. today after being exclusive to Europe for the past 10 years. I’ve been enrolled in the closed beta for the past few days, and I absolutely love it.

In addition to using the service, I also spoke with Qobuz USA’s managing director Dan Mackta at CES in January, so I’ll sprinkle some quotes from him throughout the review. There are lots of things about Qobuz that make it different from other streaming services, but the most important differentiator is that you can stream high-resolution FLAC files: Up to 24-bit resolution and sampling rates as high as 192kHz. The service validates such tracks with the familiar Hi-Res Audio logo from the Japan Audio Society.

That level of fidelity doesn’t come cheap, though, and I was surprised to find some albums bearing the logo that would only play in 16-bit/44.1kHz resolution. I’ll get into the four service tiers later.

Qobuz delivers information galore

No matter which level of service you sign up for, you’ll get all the rest of the features that render Qobuz tailor-made for music lovers. Chief among these is the metadata and other documentation attached to the tracks. Bios are provided for every artist, and a short essay is attached to every album. In the Windows app, when you click on the “info” icon next to each track, a “track details” window pops up listing the label that published the track, and the name of the composer (hyperlinked to a biographical sketch with a list of other tracks they’ve contributed to and similar artists).

Michael Brown / IDG

Going back to the track details window, you’ll find the names of all the artists recorded on the track and which instruments they played, plus credits for the engineers and producers who mixed and mastered the track. It would be wonderful if these names were also hyperlinked, so you could explore their other works and contributions, but Qobuz already provides more information than any other mainstream service offers. And if you also subscribe to the terrific Roon music player service, you can integrate the two and dive even deeper into your favorite artists and their music.

The Qobuz team in France produces most of this editorial product, but the service all draws descriptions from the record labels and pulls in some material from AllMusic and Last.FM, always providing attribution to the source.

Many albums on Qobuz also come with digital booklets—PDFs of the printed material included with the physical discs you might otherwise buy—with lyrics, notes from the artist, and all the information that’s included in the track details. Mackta says Qobuz is launching in the U.S. with about 40 million tracks in its library, and 170,000 albums in Hi-Res Audio format. The service’s website says digital booklets are available for “hundreds of thousands of albums.”

Michael Brown / IDG

These PDFs, however, seem to be available only on the web player and the computer apps. I couldn’t find them in the Android or iOS apps. Qobuz’s library pales in comparison to Spotify and Apple Music, but what’s here is choice. “Our focus is on quality,” Makta said. “We have a laser focus on the audiophile market. We have lots of jazz and classical music. Our curation focuses on what audiophiles are looking for.”

Stream via the web, computer, or mobile device

You can use Qobuz five ways, but you can run only one stream per account. The web player streams directly to your browser, so you don’t need to download or install anything. It closely resembles the Windows software (I did not evaluate the Mac version) and functions much the same. There are apps for Android and iOS mobile devices, and I used the software on an iPad and on a Pixel 2 XL.

Qobuz is integrated into a broad array of Hi-Fi devices (from the likes of Sonos, Yamaha, Klipsch, Arcam, and Naim), but I’m not sure if the U.S. versions of those companies’ products have enabled that feature today. It wasn’t available on my Sonos system as of yesterday. Finally, Qobuz Connect enables the service to be used with third-party technologies such as AirPlay, GoogleCast, and Bluetooth. I tested it with GoogleCast, streaming 24-bit/96kHz audio to a Google Home smart speaker. I didn’t test AirPlay compatibility, but it’s worth noting that AirPlay has a 16-bit/48kHz ceiling. Sonos also will support only CD-quality streaming.

Michael Brown / IDG

I found the Qobuz software easy to use on all the platforms I tried it on, but the Windows (and presumably the Mac) version—with a mouse, keyboard, and a big display—are the best tools for deep exploration. The Windows version even lets you choose not just which audio output you want to use, but which API you want to use (WASAPI, WASAPI Exclusive Mode, or DirectSound) when you’re outputting to a digital audio device.  

Michael Brown / IDG

You’ll find the same painstaking attention to detail in the mobile apps. You can customize listening quality to limit your broadband consumption when the device is connected to a mobile network and when it’s connected to Wi-Fi, with four choices: Listening quality of 24-bit Hi-Res up to 192kHz, 24-bit Hi-Res up to 96kHz, CD quality (16-bit/44.1kHz), or MP3 quality (320Kbps). You can also disable streaming when the device is connected to either or both types of network if you’re worried about busting through a data cap.

Listening to and creating playlists on Qobuz

If Qobuz has a weakness, it’s its playlists. “All our playlists are human curated,” according to Mackta. Maybe that’s why there are so few of them. And the ones that are available seem to be all about themes—love, summer, friendship, and so on—and include tracks from a mix of genres. When I just want to play background music on my Sonos speakers, it takes just a few button presses to pick from dozens of long genre-based playlists. Some genres have more Qobuz playlists than others, but Americana is my favorite genre right now, and the service has almost nothing to offer. Select “Folk/Americana” on Qobuz and you’ll get a block of 21 new album releases, a seven-album block labeled “Press awards,” and then—finally—an apparently unending list of tracks labeled “Top releases on Qobuz.”

Despite these tracks being numbered 1, 2, 3, and so on, Qobuz plays whichever track you click on, and then it plays the next track on that album instead of the next track on the list. And when the last track on the album is finished, the music just stops.

Michael Brown / IDG

Now if you enjoy creating your own playlists, Qobuz makes them very easy to build, with either individual tracks or entire albums. You can give each playlist a name, and if you choose, you can add a description. Each playlist can be designated as private (only you can see them), public (other Qobuz users can listen to them), or collaborative (other users can modify them as well as just listen to them). Qobuz also offers a tool for importing playlists you’ve created on other services.

Qobuz service tiers

Qobuz is available in four service tiers, and you’ll need either the second-most expensive tier, Studio, which costs $24.99 per month or $249.99 per year if paid annually; or the top tier, Sublime+, which is available only as an annual plan ($299.99 per year). The “plus” in the most expensive tier entitles you to discounts of 30- to 60-percent on purchases of Hi-Res albums from the Qobuz download store (the store itself is another differentiator, and anyone can purchase music there). If you don’t think high-res tracks are worth the additional cost, or if your ears can’t tell the difference, there are two lower-priced tiers to choose from.

Michael Brown / IDG

The Hi-Fi tier streams tracks at CD quality—16-bit/44.1kHz FLAC—and costs $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year if paid annually. This is comparable to Deezer HiFi and Tidal HiFi, both of which also cost $19.99 per month, but neither of those services offer a discount for paying annually. Tidal, however, does offer MQA-encoded tracks with its HiFi tier at no additional cost. When I asked Dan Mackta about MQA at CES, he said “We’re open to adding MQA if the market wants it. We have a shared goal [with MQA] of raising attention to better-quality audio.”

Finally, to compete with Spotify, Apple Music, and many others, Qobuz offers a $9.99-per-month ($99.99 per year) tier that streams MP3 tracks at 320Kbps. Qobuz does not currently offer a family plan, and if you’re streaming on one device and initiate a stream on a different one, that first stream will cut out almost immediately with a notification that you’re entitled to only one stream at a time.

Michael Brown / IDG

Is Qobuz a good value?

Qobuz has a rough edge or two—it’s disconcerting that some albums labeled as being available in Hi Res stream at only 16-bit/44.1kHz—and I’m not crazy about its playlists. I also hope that the U.S. version of the service will be quickly available on the various audio ecosystems (Sonos, et al) that the European service already supports.

But I found Qobuz’s audio quality to be excellent, the diversity of its catalog deep and broad, and its editorial curation is the best I’ve seen on any streaming service. Prices for the various service tiers are on par with the competition (in fact, they’re cheaper if you can swing paying for a year of service at a time), and Qobuz is unique in offering Hi-Res streaming to both computers and mobile devices.

If you enjoy deep musical explorations, Qobuz is an excellent choice, though you might want to wait to sign up for a paid subscription until you know it’s available on your streaming platform of choice (i.e., other than Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS).