I finished This is a Robbery, and I won’t spoil the ending but if you’re thinking there will be a huge reveal at the end, well, you might be disappointed. What I found interesting throughout the four-part series was how the storyline relied on the voices of newspaper reporters who have covered the heist —and its aftermath —over the years. Considering the filmmakers are Colin and Nick Barnicle, sons of longtime Boston Globe columnist and current MSNBC contributor Mike Barnicle, it makes sense they’d center journalists in the story. Go watch it, Boston looks absolutely beautiful and the Boston accents are more authentic than anything else you’ll watch this year. Plus, if you can figure out the central mystery of the series there’s a $10 million reward in it for you.
Here are this week’s trailers (which are heavier on the zombie content than usual):
Army of the Dead
We got a teaser a couple of months ago but this is the first official full-length trailer for Zack Snyder’s big-budget heist flick. A group of mercenaries shoot their way into Las Vegas to get $200 million buried underneath the Sunset Strip before the government nukes the entire city. Plot twist: Vegas has been overrun by zombies— not the shambling, mindless creepers from The Walking Dead, mind you; these zombies are organized and smart. And fast, like the World War Z zombies. (Side note: Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler is the perfect music for this trailer: “you got to know when to hold ‘em/Know when to fold ‘em/Know when to walk away/ Know when to run.”)
Dave Bautista plays the zombie war hero who leads the ragtag group into battle. Army of the Dead hits Netflix May 21st.
The Underground Railroad
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad is set in the novel’s alternate history, making the railroad of the title an actual 19th-century railroad that helps slaves escape the South. Thuso Mbedu plays Cora Randall, who is fleeing a Georgia plantation and being pursued by a bounty hunter (Joel Edgerton). Directed by Barry Jenkins, all episodes of The Underground Railroad— a sure Emmy contender that looks hauntingly beautiful— will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on May 14th.
Fast & Furious 9
This is one of many movies delayed by the coronavirus pandemic (the last trailer was in January 2020 and the movie was supposed to come out last May) but is finally back on the schedule with a new release date. Many familiar faces will return for F9, including (of course) Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, John Cena and Helen Mirren. The latest installment in the Furious franchise hits theaters June 25th.
Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness
Don’t you hate when zombies invade the White House and you have to go in and save the day? This teaser trailer gives some more clues into Netflix’s new anime series set two years after the events of Resident Evil 4. While an earlier teaser showed Claire walking around in what appeared to be a haunted house, this latest teaser shows that she and Leon are in the White House for separate reasons, and then: zombies. Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness hits Netflix in July.
Amazon Game Studios has canceled a Lord of the Rings online role-playing game, Bloomberg reported. The company announced the project with Leyou-owned Athlon Games back in 2019, and planned it to be a free-to-play game for PC and consoles.
The game was to be set “at a time long before the events of The Lord of the Rings, exploring lands, people and creatures never seen before by fans of the Tolkien universe,” according to an announcement from Athlon at the time. But Leyou was acquired by Tencent Holdings in December, and contract negotiations between Amazon and Tencent later fell apart, Bloomberg reported.
Amazon did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Saturday, but a spokesperson told Bloomberg that it was “unable to secure terms to proceed” with the game. “We love the Lord of the Rings IP, and are disappointed that we won’t be bringing this game to customers,” the spokesperson said.
Since its launch in 2014, Amazon Game Studios has yet to release a successful video game, canceling some previously announced games and delaying others. Its video game adaptation of The Grand Tour in 2019 got such bad reviews that the game was pulled from storefronts. In January, Bloomberg reported that the games studio had internal problems, including a culture that didn’t provide equal opportunities to men and women, and an in-house game engine that was “painfully slow.”
But Amazon’s incoming CEO Andy Jassy said in response that he’s committed to the video games division, which launched under outgoing CEO and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is stepping down as CEO later this year. “I believe this team will get there if we stay focused on what matters most,” Jassy said.
Earlier this week, a report claimed that Samsung will launch the Galaxy M42 5G in India in April. Today, Amazon.in confirmed the smartphone will be introduced on 28th of this month and set up a promo page on its website for it.
The page also includes a few images which reveal the Galaxy M42 5G’s design and some features. The smartphone will pack a notched display and sport a square-shaped quad camera setup on its back.
We don’t see a fingerprint reader on the Galaxy M42 5G’s rear panel, and neither is it embedded in the power button located on the right-side frame, meaning the smartphone could come with an in-display solution, which means the M42 5G will pack an AMOLED panel.
Under the hood, the Galaxy M42 5G will have a Snapdragon 750G SoC, although the RAM and storage aren’t revealed.
Amazon also tells us that M42 5G will come with Samsung Pay and Knox Security.
Galaxy M42 5G will come with Knox Security and Samsung Pay
While Samsung is yet to detail the M42 5G’s specs sheet, previous rumors and leaks claimed the smartphone will feature a 64MP primary camera, a 6,000 mAh battery, and will cost between INR20,000-25,000 ($270-335).
With the official announcement still over 10 days away, you can expect to learn more about the Galaxy M42 5G in the coming days.
The Intel Core i5-11600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600X rivalry is a heated battle for supremacy right in the heart of the mid-range CPU market. AMD’s Ryzen 5000 processors took the lead in the desktop PC from Intel’s competing Comet Lake processors last year, upsetting our Best CPU for gaming recommendations and our CPU Benchmarks hierarchy. Intel’s response comes in the form of its Rocket Lake processors, which dial up the power to extreme levels and bring the new Cypress Cove architecture to the company’s 14nm process as Intel looks to upset AMD’s powerful Zen 3-powered Ryzen 5000 chips.
Intel has pushed its 14nm silicon to the limits as it attempts to unseat the AMD competition, and that has paid off in the mid-range where Intel’s six-core Core i5-11600K weighs in with surprisingly good performance given its $232 to $262 price point.
Intel’s aggressive pricing, and the fact that the potent Ryzen 5 5600X remains perpetually out of stock and price-gouged, has shifted the conversation entirely. For Intel, all it has to do is serve up solid pricing, have competitive performance, and make sure it has enough chips at retail to snatch away the win.
We put the Core i5-11600K up against the Ryzen 5 5600X in a six-round faceoff to see which chip takes the crown in our gaming and application benchmarks, along with other key criteria like power consumption and pricing. Let’s see how the chips stack up.
Features and Specifications of AMD Ryzen 5 5600X vs Intel Core i5-11600K
Rocket Lake Core i5-11600K vs AMD Zen 3 Ryzen 5 5600X Specifications and Pricing
Suggested Price
Cores / Threads
Base (GHz)
Peak Boost (Dual/All Core)
TDP
iGPU
L3
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
$299 (and much higher)
6 / 12
3.7
4.6
65W
None
32MB (1×32)
Intel Core i5-11600K (KF)
$262 (K) – $237 (KF)
6 / 12
3.9
4.6 / 4.9 (TB2)
125W
UHD Graphics 750 Xe 32EU
12MB
The 7nm Ryzen 5 5600X set a new bar for the mid-range with six Zen 3 cores and twelve threads that operate at a 3.7-GHz base and 4.6-GHz boost frequency. Despite AMD’s decision to hike gen-on-gen pricing, the 5600X delivered class-leading performance at its launch, not to mention a solid price-to-performance ratio. Things have changed since then, though, due to overwhelming demand coupled with pandemic-spurred supply chain disruptions, both of which have combined to make finding the Ryzen 5 5600X a rarity at retail, let alone at the suggested $299 pricing.
Intel’s Core i5-11600K also comes with six cores and twelve threads, but Team Blue’s chips come with the new Cypress Cove architecture paired with the aging 14nm process. Intel has tuned this chip for performance; it weighs in with a 3.9-GHz base, 4.9-GHz Turbo Boost 2.0, and 4.6-GHz all-core clock rates. All of these things come at the expense of power consumption and heat generation.
Intel specs the 14nm 11600K at a 125W TDP rating, but that jumps to 182W under heavy loads, while AMD’s denser and more efficient 7nm process grants the 5600X a much-friendlier 65W TDP rating that coincides with a peak of 88W. We’ll dive deeper into power consumption a bit later, but this is important because the Core i5-11600K comes without a cooler. You’ll need a capable cooler, preferably a 280mm liquid AIO or equivalent air cooler, to unlock the best of the 11600K.
Meanwhile, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X comes with a bundled cooler that is sufficient for most users, though you would definitely need to upgrade to a better cooler if you plan on overclocking. Additionally, a more robust cooler will unlock slightly higher performance in heavy work, like rendering or encoding. Still, you’d need to do that type of work quite regularly to see a worthwhile benefit, so most users will be fine with the bundled cooler.
Both the Core i5-11600K and Ryzen 5 5600X support PCIe 4.0, though it is noteworthy that Intel’s chipset doesn’t support the speedier interface. Instead, devices connected to Intel’s chipset operate at PCIe 3.0 speeds. That means you’ll only have support for one PCIe 4.0 m.2 SSD port on your motherboard, whereas AMD’s chipset is fully enabled for PCIe 4.0, giving you more options for a plethora of faster devices.
Both chips also support two channels of DDR4-3200 memory, but Intel’s new Gear memory feature takes a bit of the shine off Intel’s memory support. At stock settings, the 11600K supports DDR4-2933 in Gear 1 mode, which provides the best latency and performance for most tasks, like gaming. You’ll have to operate the chip in Gear 2 mode for warrantied DDR4-3200 support, but that results in performance penalties in some latency-sensitive apps, like gaming, which you can read about here.
For some users, the 11600K does have a big insurmountable advantage over the Ryzen 5 5600X: The chip comes with the new UHD Graphics 750 comes armed with 32 EUs based on the Xe graphics engine, while all Ryzen 5000 processors come without integrated graphics. That means Intel wins by default if you don’t plan on using a discrete GPU.
Notably, you could also buy Intel’s i5-11600KF, which comes with a disabled graphics engine, for $25 less. At $237, the 11600KF looks incredibly tempting, which we’ll get to a bit later.
Winner: AMD
The Ryzen 5 5600X and the Core i5-11600K are close with six cores and twelve threads (and each of those cores has comparable performance), but the 5600X gets the nod here due to its bundled cooler and native support for DDR4-3200 memory. Meanwhile, the Core i5-11600K comes without a cooler, and you’ll have to operate the memory in sub-optimal Gear 2 mode to access DDR4-3200 speeds, at least if you want to stay within the warranty.
The Core i5-11600K comes with integrated graphics, so it wins by default if you don’t plan on using a discrete GPU. Conversely, you can sacrifice the graphics for a lower price point. AMD has no high-end chips that come with integrated graphics, though that will change by the end of the year when the Ryzen 5000 Cezanne APUs arrive.
Gaming Performance on AMD Ryzen 5 5600X vs Core i9-11600K
The Ryzen 5 and Core i5 families tend to be the most popular gaming chips, and given the big architectural advances we’ve seen with both the Zen 3 and Cypress Cove architectures, these mid-range processors can push fast GPUs along quite nicely.
That said, as per usual, we’re testing with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 to reduce GPU-imposed bottlenecks as much as possible, and differences between test subjects will shrink with lesser cards, which you’ll see most often with this class of chip, or higher resolutions. Below you can see the geometric mean of our gaming tests at 1080p and 1440p, with each resolution split into its own chart. PBO indicates an overclocked Ryzen configuration. You can find our test system details here.
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At stock settings at 1080p, the Core i5-11600K notches an impressive boost over its predecessor, the 10600K, but the Ryzen 5 5600X is 7.8% faster over the full span of our test suite. Overclocking the 11600K brings it up to snuff with the stock Ryzen 5 5600X, but the overclocked 5600X configuration is still 3.6% faster.
As you would expect, those deltas will shrink tremendously with lesser graphics cards or with higher resolutions. At 1440p, the stock 5600X is 3.3% faster than the 11600K, and the two tie after overclocking.
Flipping through the individual games shows that the leader can change quite dramatically, with different titles responding better to either Intel or AMD. Our geometric mean of the entire test suite helps smooth that out to one digestible number, but bear in mind – the faster chip will vary based on the game you play.
Notably, the 11600K is 14% less expensive than the 5600X, and that’s if (a huge if) you can find the 5600X at recommended pricing. You could also opt for the graphics-less 11600KF model and pay 26% less than the 5600X, again, if you can find the 5600X at recommended pricing.
Winner: AMDOverall, the Ryzen 5 5600X is the faster gaming chip throughout our test suite, but be aware that performance will vary based on the title you play. This class of chips is often paired with lesser graphics cards, and most serious gamers play at higher resolutions. In both of those situations, you could be hard-pressed to notice the difference between the processors. However, it’s rational to expect that the Ryzen 5 5600X will leave a bit more gas in the tank for future GPU upgrades.
Pricing is the wild card, though, and the Core i5-11600K wins that category easily — even if you could find the Ryzen 5 5600X at suggested pricing. We’ll dive into that in the pricing section.
Application Performance of Intel Core i5-11600K vs Ryzen 5 5600X
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We can boil down productivity application performance into two broad categories: single- and multi-threaded. The first slide in the above album has a geometric mean of performance in several of our single-threaded tests, but as with all cumulative measurements, use this as a general guide and be aware that performance will vary based on workload.
The Core i5-11600K takes the lead, at both stock and overclocked settings, by 3.8% and 1%, respectively. These are rather slim deltas, but it’s clear that the Rocket Lake chip holds the edge in lightly threaded work, particularly in our browser tests, which are a good indicator of general snappiness in a standard desktop PC operating system. We also see a bruising performance advantage in the single-threaded AVX-512-enabled y-cruncher.
The Core i5-11600K is impressive in single-threaded work, but the Ryzen 5 5600X isn’t far behind. It’s too bad that the 11600K’s lead in these types of tests doesn’t equate to leading performance in gaming, which has historically been the case with processors that excel at single-threaded tasks.
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Here we take a closer look at performance in heavily-threaded applications, which has long been the stomping grounds of AMD’s core-heavy Ryzen processors. Surprisingly, in our cumulative measurement, the Core i5-11600K is actually 2.5% faster than the 5600X at stock settings and is 1.8% faster after we overclocked both chips.
These are, again, slim deltas, and the difference between the chips will vary based on workload. However, the Core i5-11600K is very competitive in threaded work against the 5600X, which is an accomplishment in its own right. The substantially lower pricing is even more impressive.
Winner: Intel
Based on our cumulative measurement, Intel’s Core i5-11600K comes out on top in both single- and multi-threaded workloads, but by slim margins in both categories of workloads, and that can vary based on the application. However, given that the Core i5-11600K has significantly lower pricing and pulls out a few hard-earned wins on the application front, this category of the Core i5-11600K vs Ryzen 5 5600X competition goes to Intel.
Overclocking of Ryzen 5 5600X vs Core i5-11600K
We have reached the land of diminishing returns for overclocking the highest-end chips from both AMD and Intel, largely because both companies are engaged in a heated dogfight for performance superiority. As a result, much of the overclocking frequency headroom is rolled into standard stock performance, leaving little room for tuners, making memory and fabric overclocking all the more important. There’s still plenty of advantages with overclocking the midrange models though in today’s Ryzen 5 5600X vs Core i5-11600K battle, but be aware that your mileage may vary.
Intel benefits from higher attainable clock rates, especially if you focus on overclocking a few cores instead of the standard all-core overclock, and exposes a wealth of tunable parameters with its Rocket Lake chips. That includes separate AVX offsets for all three flavors of AVX, and the ability to set voltage guardbands. Intel also added an option to completely disable AVX, though that feature is primarily geared for professional overclockers. Rocket also supports per-core frequency and hyper-threading control (enable/disable) to help eke out more overclocking headroom.
The Core i5-11600K supports real-time memory frequency adjustments, though motherboard support will vary. For example, this feature allows you to shift from DDR4-2933 to DDR4-3200 from within Windows 10 without rebooting (or any other attainable memory frequency). Intel also supports live memory timing adjustments from within the operating system.
Intel has long locked overclocking to its pricey K-series models, while AMD freely allows overclocking with all SKUs on almost any platform. However, we see signs of some improvement here from Intel, as it has now enabled memory overclocking on its B560 and H570 chipsets across the board. That said, Intel’s new paradigm of Gear 1 and Gear 2 modes does reduce the value of memory overclocking, which you can read more about in our review.
AMD’s Ryzen 5000 chips come with innovative boost technology that largely consumes most of the available frequency headroom, so there is precious little room for bleeding-edge all-core overclocks. In fact, all-core overclocking with AMD’s chips is lackluster; you’re often better off using its auto-overclocking Precision Boost Overdrive 2 (PBO2) feature that boosts multi-threaded performance. AMD also has plenty of Curve Optimization features that leverage undervolting to increase boost activity.
Much of the benefit of the Ryzen 500 series0 comes from its improved fabric overclocking, which then allows you to tune in higher memory overclocks. We hit a 1900-MHz fabric on our chip, allowing us to run the memory in a 1:1 mode at a higher DDR4-3800 memory speed than we could pull off with the 11600K with the same 1:1 ratio. It also isn’t uncommon to see enthusiasts hit DDR4-4000 in 1:1 mode with Ryzen 5000 processors. There’s no doubt that Intel’s new Gear 1 and 2 memory setup isn’t that refined — you can adjust the 5600X’s fabric ratio to expand the 1:1 window to higher frequencies, while Intel does not have a comparable adjustable parameter.
Winner: Tie
Both the Ryzen 5 5600X and the Core i5-11600K have a bit more overclocking headroom than their higher-end counterparts, meaning that there is still some room for gains in the mid-range. Both platforms have their respective overclocking advantages and a suite of both auto-overclocking and software utilities, meaning this contest will often boil down to personal preference.
Power Consumption, Efficiency, and Cooling of Intel Core i5-11600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
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The Core i5-11600K comes with the same 125W TDP rating as its predecessor, but that rating is a rough approximation of power consumption during long-duration workloads. To improve performance in shorter-term workloads, Intel increased the PL2 rating (boost) to 251W, a whopping 69W increase over the previous-gen 10600K that also came with six cores.
Power consumption and heat go hand in hand, so you’ll have to accommodate that power consumption with a robust cooler. We didn’t have any issues with the Core i5-11600K and a 280mm liquid cooler (you could get away with less), but we did log up to 176W of power consumption at stock settings during our Handbrake benchmark.
In contrast, the Ryzen 5 5600X sips power, reaching a maximum of 76W at stock settings during a Blender benchmark. In fact, a quick look at the renders-per-day charts reveals that AMD’s Ryzen 5 5600X is in another league in terms of power efficiency — you get far more performance per watt consumed, which results in lower power consumption and heat generation.
The 5600X’s refined power consumption comes via TSMC’s 7nm process, while Intel’s 14nm process has obviously reached the end of the road in terms of absolute performance and efficiency.
Winner: AMD
AMD wins this round easily with lower power consumption, higher efficiency, and less thermal output. Intel has turned the power up to the extreme to stay competitive with AMD’s 7nm Ryzen 5000 chips, and as a result, the Core i5-11600K pulls more power and generates more heat than the Ryzen 5 5600X. Additionally, the Core i5-11600K doesn’t come with a bundled cooler, so you’ll need to budget in a capable model to unlock the best the chip has to offer, while the Ryzen 5 5600X comes with a bundled cooler that is good enough for the majority of users.
Pricing and Value of AMD Ryzen 5 5600X vs Intel Core i5-11600K
AMD was already riding the pricing line with the Ryzen 5 5600X’s suggested $299 price tag, but supply of this chip is volatile as of the time of writing, to put it lightly, leading to price gouging. This high pricing comes as a byproduct of a combination of unprecedented demand and pandemic-spurred supply chain issues, but it certainly destroys the value proposition of the Ryzen 5 5600X, at least for now.
The Ryzen 5 5600X currently retails for $370 at Microcenter, which is usually the most price-friendly vendor, a $69 markup over suggested pricing. The 5600X is also $450 from Amazon (not a third-party seller). Be aware that the pricing and availability of these chips can change drastically in very short periods of time, and they go in and out of stock frequently, reducing the accuracy of many price tracking tools.
In contrast, the Core i5-11600K can be found for $264 at Amazon, and $260 at Microcenter, which is surprisingly close to the $262 suggested tray pricing. Additionally, you could opt for the graphics-less Core i5-11600KF if you don’t need a discrete GPU. That chip is a bit harder to find than the widely-available 11600K, but we did find it for $240 at Adorama (near suggested pricing).
Here’s the breakdown (naturally, this will vary):
Suggested Price
Current (volatile for 5600X)
Price Per Core
Core i5-11600K
$262
$262 to $264
~$32.75
Ryzen 5 5600X
$299
$370 to $450
~$46.25 to $56.25
Core i5-11600KF
$237
$240 (spotty availability)
~$29.65
The Core i5-11600K doesn’t come with a cooler, so you’ll have to budget that into your purchasing decision.
Winner: Intel
Even at recommended pricing for both chips, Intel’s aggressive pricing makes the Core i5-11600K a tempting proposition, but the company wins this stage of the battle convincingly based on one almost insurmountable advantage: You can actually find the chip readily available at retail for very close to its suggested tray pricing. With much cheaper pricing both on a per-core and absolute basis, the Core i5-11600K is the better buy, and if you’re looking for an even lower cost of entry, the Core i5-11600KF is plenty attractive if you don’t need integrated graphics.
AMD’s premium pricing for the Ryzen 5 5600X was a bit of a disappointment for AMD fans at launch, but the chip did offer enough advantages to justify the price tag. However, the arrival of the Core i5-11600K with its disruptive pricing and good-enough performance would probably merit a slight pricing adjustment from AMD, or the release of a non-X model, if these were normal times. These aren’t normal times, though, and instead of improving its value proposition, AMD is facing crippling supply challenges.
Bottom Line
Intel Core i5-11600K
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
Features and Specifications
X
Gaming
X
Application Performance
X
Overclocking
X
X
Power Consumption, Efficiency, and Cooling
X
Pricing and Value Proposition
X
Total
3
4
Here’s the tale of the tape: AMD wins this Ryzen 5 5600X vs Intel Core i5-11600K battle with a tie in one category and a win in three others, marking a four to three victory in favor of Team Red. Overall, the Ryzen 5 5600X offers up a superior blend of gaming performance, power consumption and efficiency, and a bundled cooler to help offset the higher suggested retail pricing, remaining our go-to chip recommendation for the mid-range. That is if you can find it at or near suggested pricing.
Unfortunately, in these times of almost unimaginably bad chip shortages, the chip that you can actually buy, or even find anywhere even near recommended pricing, is going to win the war at the checkout lane. For now, Intel appears to be winning the supply battle, though that could change in the coming months. As a result, the six-core twelve-thread Core i5-11600K lands with a friendly $262 price point, making it much more competitive with AMD’s $300 Ryzen 5 5600X that currently sells far over suggested pricing due to shortages.
The Core i5-11600K has a very competitive price-to-performance ratio compared to the Ryzen 5 5600X in a broad swath of games and applications. The 11600K serves up quite a bit of performance for a ~$262 chip, and the graphics-less 11600KF is an absolute steal if you can find it near the $237 tray pricing. If you don’t need an integrated GPU, the KF model is your chip.
Even if we compare the chips at AMD’s and Intel’s standard pricing, the Core i5-11600K is a potent challenger with a solid value proposition due to its incredibly aggressive pricing. While the Core i5-11600K might not claim absolute supremacy, its mixture of price and performance makes it a solid buy if you’re willing to overlook the higher power consumption.
Most gamers would be hard-pressed to notice the difference when you pair these chips with lesser GPUs or play at higher resolutions, though the Ryzen 5 5600X will potentially leave you with more gas in the tank for future GPU upgrades. The Ryzen 5 5600X is the absolute winner, though, provided you can find it anywhere close to the suggested retail price.
It looks like problems on Twitter that began Friday night are persisting Saturday morning. People on the east coast of the US were reporting that while the page would load, they were unable to send tweets and DMs. Twitter Support posted a brief message Friday night that it was looking into the matter
Tweets may not be loading for some of you. We’re working on fixing a problem and you’ll be back on the timeline soon.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) April 17, 2021
Donwndetector, which monitors site outages, showed a massive spike in problems around 8:25PM ET on Friday. Things seemed to be returning to normal within an hour, but Saturday morning around 8AM ET, it was showing a small uptick in reported problems again. Often these outages are the result of a problem with an intermediary service like Amazon Web Services, but its dashboard shows all green as of this writing. And Twitter’s API status website was showing no problems this morning, either. At least, not yet.
There’s no official word on what is causing the problems and if it’s still limited to the eastern US. We’ve reached out to Twitter for more information and will update when we know more.
The first season of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings TV show is reported to cost the retail giant a frankly difficult to imagine $465 million to produce. Just to save you from having to re-read that, this price tag is for just one season, and that there is not a missing decimal in the above number. “This will be the largest television series ever made,” New Zealand’s Minister for Economic Development and Tourismsaid.
But this honor was already something of a known quantity, after Amazon spent $250 million to secure the rights to the franchise in 2017, kicking off a round of stories declaring the not-yet-produced show “the most expensive” television production in history, with the big B number circulating its rumored five-season run. This is perhaps fitting, since another episodic Lord of the Rings-adjacent production — Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy — currently holds the record for the most expensive movie production in history, at some $623 million (after tax credits).
To make a more lembas to lembas comparison, here are some other Big Numbers:
The final and most expensive season of that other fantasy TV series, Game of Thrones, cost just $90 million, or $15 million per episode.
Disney spent “around 100 million” on the first season of The Mandalorian.
Disney’s Marvel series are reported to cost as much as $25 million per episode which, considering there are nine episodes of WandaVision, would max out at $225 million. Chump change!
Adjusted for inflation, it cost Kevin Costner roughly $300 million in 1995 to build an entire island off the coast of Hawaii for Waterworld.
The US government plans to spend $451 million in 2021 on lunar exploration, or about one The Lord of the Rings season.
Of course, being a new show and all, there are some up-front costs to be expected in this first season, like sets and costumes, which may take some of the sting out of future seasons. But that’s really only a concern if you’re thinking as a not-billionaire. With a net worth of $193 billion, Amazon’s (outgoing) CEO Jeff Bezos can personally ensure the series goes there and back again (and again and again and again) for some 400 seasons before things start to get a little tight.
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As Vergecast listeners know, I am a sucker for car phone mounts and chargers. They are a perfect gadget for the modern age — a design problem with no perfect solution, price points that usually land at the higher end of the impulse-buy zone, and completely well-suited for targeted Instagram ads. “People who have bought a Qi-based car mount in the last year,” the marketing director of a tiny accessory company sternly instructs the Facebook ad-targeting system. “Find them and relentlessly pressure them into buying our product which is at best marginally better than the one they have.”
Reader, it works.
All of this means I was very excited when Apple added MagSafe charging to the new iPhone 12 line. A series of magnets aligns a wireless charger to the back of the phone, and has enough attachment strength to — yes — hold the phone on a car mount. A dream: you get in the car, seamlessly dink! your phone onto the mount, and drive away, laughing at the suckers fumbling with their cradles and motorized friction arms and other unwieldy ideas. Magnets, baby. How do they work.
The MagSafe attachment plate can pivot independently from the mountNilay Patel
Note the lack of a USB cable plugged in here, because there isn’t a charger in there.Nilay Patel
Unfortunately it has been six months since the iPhone 12 was announced, and there is a pitiful shortage of MagSafe car chargers. In fact, there are no officially-sanctioned MagSafe car chargers. Instead, there is this Belkin Car Vent Mount PRO with MagSafe, which, as the name suggests, allows you to mount a phone to your vents with MagSafe, in, um, a professional way. However, it does not charge your phone.
I have been using a review unit of the Belkin Car Vent Mount PRO with MagSafe, or BCVMPwM, for a couple months now. It is at once supremely satisfying — dink! — and also tremendously frustrating. Like all vent mounts, the weight of the phone is enough to pull the vent louvers down over time, especially if you have a large phone like my iPhone 12 Pro Max. The magnets are indeed strong enough to hold even that phone in place, but if you go over any particularly huge bumps, something will fall down — the phone off the mount, or the mount off the vent.
“Dammit, BCVMPwM,” you will yell, using the full name of this $40 promise to yourself. “Why aren’t you everything I hoped and dreamed of when I looked at the marketing photos on social media?” Then you will put everything back into place at the next stop light, sheepishly glance at your partner, and slowly realize they have completely stopped paying attention to these sorts of antics anymore. You need new antics. You need to add Linux to your smart home.
It’s a clean look, but note that this phone is not charging. Because it’s not a charger.Nilay Patel
Stop it. Have I mentioned that the BCVMPwM does not have C? No, this is not a charger. For that, you still have to plug in a Lightning cable, which sort-of-maybe makes sense if your car does not have wireless CarPlay and you need to plug it in anyway — but there you are, plugging a cable into your phone, which is the complete opposite of the dink! Magnet Experience. Your old car mount, with the horrible friction arms, had a built-in Qi charger. There are hacky wireless CarPlay adapters! People say they are kinda slow and have audio latency issues, but c’mon — a single dink! to mount your phone, charge it, and instantly connect to CarPlay? Now that’s the good shit.
Why isn’t there an approved MagSafe car mount with built-in wireless charging after six months? Why do Apple accessory ecosystems always seem so petrified, in every sense of the word? This is the easiest win of all time, but instead, there is the BCVMPwM. It offers you a glimpse of a dream. Then it falls down. There are better unlicensed ones that might burn your car to the ground that you can buy on Amazon. It is the paradigmatic Apple accessory.
“… perhaps the most well-featured all-in-one desktop system you can buy right now,” is what we said of the Ruark R5 when we reviewed it in 2019, and that is no less true today. Now, Ruark has launched a special Signature Edition version that benefits from a performance boost and aesthetic upgrade.
For the Ruark R5 Signature, the signal paths have been revised and the cabling upgraded in an effort to make it sound cleaner than the standard R5. While the R5 comes in a a ‘rich walnut’ wood or light grey lacquer, the Signature model basks in a luxury piano lacquer finish with rose gold metal detailing.
Ruark says that each layer has been carefully built and hand sanded between coats. Once the final coat has been applied, the lacquer was wet sanded with a fine grit abrasive before being hand buffed and polished to a glass-like finish.
(Image credit: Ruark)
Of course, the Signature is just as well equipped as the original, featuring an integrated CD player, Spotify Connect, built-in access to other popular music services such as Amazon Music, Deezer and Tidal, Bluetooth, DLNA streaming and multi-room functionality.
We can also expect a sound that’s as likeably warm and organised (and hopefully clearer) than the R5, whose biggest talent is a lush and coherent midrange.
The Ruark R5 Signature will be available in a limited production run from June, priced £1250 (a not-insignificant premium over the £995 R5).
Project Connected Home over IP (CHIP), the awkwardly-named-but-interesting smart home partnership between Apple, Amazon, Google, and over 170 other companies that’s supposed to make everything more compatible should finally start showing some results later this year. According to a webinar hosted by the Zigbee Alliance earlier this week, companies participating in the program will be able to get smart home devices certified for the standard by late 2021, which means we might see some things on shelves for the holiday shopping season. That first wave of devices will include things like lighting, blinds, HVAC controls, TVs, door locks, garage door openers, security systems, and Wi-Fi routers.
The CHIP standard is built around three technologies: Bluetooth LE for setup, WiFi for high-bandwidth use cases, like streaming video from a security camera, and the still-nascent Thread mesh network protocol for low-bandwidth devices such as motion sensors. (Thread has been a work in progress for a while, but it’s now on the Apple HomePod Mini, the newest Google Nest Hub, and Eero routers, so maybe it’s finally going to happen.)
Manufacturers will be able to bring CHIP support to older products through bridges, as well, so there’s a chance that devices you already own might work with CHIP products in the future.
The program, which was first announced back at the end of 2019, has had some delays due to the pandemic. It was originally supposed to have products within the CHIP standard by the end of 2020, but then the group announced last September that we wouldn’t see anything until sometime in 2021. That time apparently is the end of 2021, so it’s very possible this launch could slip even further into 2022.
The goal of CHIP is to offer a unified standard for smart home products so that customers don’t have to worry if a device they buy will work with the other devices they already own. Its technologies replace older smart home protocols such as Zigbee and Z-Wave and are designed to work with whatever voice assistant you prefer. Of course, a new standard isn’t a guarantee to solve any confusion, and it’s very possible that the CHIP program will just add yet another option to the list of standards already out there.
Stacey Higgenbotham at Stacey On IOT has a deep dive on all the announcements made by the Zigbee Alliance this week, including how it plans to improve smart home security through… the blockchain, so I suggest reading her analysis for more on the subject.
Apple has officially announced its “Spring Loaded” event for April 20th, its first major product announcement of 2021.
Unlike a lot of Apple’s events, its spring events tend to be a bit more scattershot: one year might see high-end iPads, another a more education-focused event, or a launch of a comprehensive service strategy. This year, rumors are pointing to a refreshed iPad Pro lineup, potentially with Apple’s first Mini LED panels — which would bring a big jump forward for the company’s tablet displays. But we could also see new AirPods, the company’s long-rumored AirTag trackers, a new iPad Mini, and more.
The proceeding should kick off at 1PM ET on Tuesday, but if you’re looking for an early preview, here’s what you can probably expect to show up.
iPad Pro
It’s been over a year since Apple’s last refresh of the iPad Pro, and the 2020 model — a fairly iterative update to the 2019 version — is starting to get a little long in the tooth, especially compared to the beefed-up specs on Apple’s latest iPhones and M1 Macs.
Like last year, Apple is expected to launch both 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models; but the larger iPad Pro is expected to make a big switch in screen technology to debut Apple’s first Mini LED display. Additional rumors indicate that supply of the Mini LED panels might be hard to come by, that stock of the larger model may be limited at launch, or that Apple might delay the release of the 12.9-inch version until availability is better.
Photo by Brennan King / The Verge
A report from Bloomberg sheds more light on what to expect, too: while the overall design of the two tablets is expected to stay largely the same as last year’s model, Apple is expected to swap out the A12Z chip for a newer processor that’s said to be on par with its more recent M1 chipset. The new iPads are also said to upgrade to a Thunderbolt port (with faster data speeds and a wider peripheral selection than the standard USB-C port) and feature upgraded cameras.
Apple could also potentially have a new Apple Pencil accessory in the works to go with the new iPad Pros. Images of a new, glossy version of the stylus have been circulating on Twitter, and the “spring forward” teaser could imply that Apple might offer a spring-loaded tip, similar to what Wacom offers on its pens.
AirTags
Image by Guilherme Rambo / 9to5Mac
One of Apple’s worst-kept secrets in years, Apple’s Tile-like AirTags have been rumored to make an appearance at nearly every Apple event and announcement since early 2019. Said to be small, circular tags with Bluetooth and ultra-wideband radio chips, AirTags would rely on Apple’s existing Find My app and network of iPhones, iPads, and Macs to allow users to track and find missing objects (similar to how users can currently track lost phones).
AirTags would also potentially work with recent iPhone models’ U1 chip to allow for AR-based ultra-wideband tracking in local areas — something that Samsung has recently also began to offer with its Galaxy SmartTag Plus.
There have been references to AirTags (or Apple Tags) in iOS code leaks, endless rumors, and even in an official support video that explicitly revealed the “AirTags” name as part of its offline finding feature last year. The only thing left is for Apple to officially announce them.
iPad Mini
Also long overdue for an update is Apple’s oft-neglected iPad Mini, which was last refreshed over two years ago in March 2019. (Given that that update came after a four-year drought for the iPad Mini, a refresh this year would actually be beating par.) The current model features the exact outdated design that Apple’s been using for nearly a decade, with an older A12 processor to boot, so there’s plenty of room for Apple to improve things, too.
Adding fuel to the fire is that both Bloomberg and noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo have pointed at a larger iPad Mini (potentially with an 8.5-inch display, which could come from eliminating some of the chunky 2012-era bezels) for 2021.
AirPods 3
A third-generation version of Apple’s AirPods has been rumored for months, set to feature shorter stems and replaceable ear tips, similar to the current AirPods Pro design. The updated AirPods are also said to feature better battery life than their predecessors. Apple has also been rumored to be working on a refreshed AirPods Pro design that would eliminate the earbud stem entirely, but as Bloomberg’s report notes, that redesign is further out — so they’re unlikely to make an appearance here.
Apple TV
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
The Apple TV 4K sits at a strange place in Apple’s lineup. Released in 2017, it’s one of the oldest Apple products still being sold. At $180, its price has since been lapped by Roku, Amazon, and Google, all of which offer comparable 4K streaming boxes at a fraction of the price.
Apple is rumored to be working on a refreshed model for 2021, which would add a faster processor and a new remote to replace the infamous Siri Remote. Support for HDMI 2.1 and 120Hz refresh rates could also be in the cards. But more than new features, the Apple TV 4K is in dire need of a price cut — something that Apple is historically more reticent to provide.
iOS 14.5
Given the pace of both developer and public betas, it’s all but certain that Apple will officially release iOS 14.5 either at or immediately following the event (especially if it has new iPad hardware). The new software promises to add the ability to more easily unlock an iPhone while wearing a mask through an Apple Watch, new emoji, and Apple’s highly debated App Tracking Transparency feature that has drawn particular ire from Facebook.
MacBooks and iMacs and Mac Pros (oh my!)
After the shockingly great debut of Apple’s first wave of Apple Silicon-powered computers last fall with the M1 MacBook Air, Pro, and Mac Mini, all eyes are on Apple’s next steps in its ARM transition. The company is rumored to be working on plenty of new Macs as it looks to achieve its ambitious goal of switching fully from Intel’s chips within two years. That includes more powerful MacBook Pros that would ditch the Touch Bar, bring back MagSafe and additional ports, and feature an improved M-series chip. A new iMac and a smaller Mac Pro (also featuring M-series chips) are said to be in the works as well.
With WWDC around the corner, though, it’s likely that we won’t hear more about new Mac hardware until then, especially if Apple is planning on debuting more developer and professional-friendly Apple Silicon-powered laptops and desktops.
Something surprising
Of course, with Apple, you never quite know what to expect — which means that there’s always room for a surprise announcement or two at the Spring Loaded event that not even we saw coming. Could Apple tease its long-rumored VR headset? A refreshed iPhone SE? A first look at the Apple Car? Whatever happens, stay tuned to The Verge for all the details.
Blink’s cheap wireless cameras have seen better days.Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
Blink, the Kickstarter success bought by Amazon in 2017, has long been synonymous with inexpensive battery-powered home video cameras that don’t require a monthly contract for cloud recordings. Open-source projects like Homebridge, Home Assistant, and HOOBS have made the cameras even more extensible by allowing Blink’s temperature and motion sensors to work with smart home platforms like HomeKit and act as triggers for various automations. This combination of price and functionality led many smart home enthusiasts to buy Blink cameras in bulk for whole-home monitoring, especially those who don’t want to be beholden to a corporate overlord (and its requisite subscription fees). But instead of embracing its most passionate fans, Amazon has turned against them, threatening to terminate Blink accounts while challenging the very concept of ownership.
To set the stage, I recently set up a Raspberry Pi running Homebridge with the goal of creating a single iPhone dashboard to tie my smart home together. I started automating my home about 12 years ago, long before you could buy into complete ecosystems from Amazon, Google, and Apple. Now it’s a devil’s brew of Z-Wave and Zigbee devices, some controllable with Siri, some with Alexa, and a few with Google Assistant. It’s held together with a smattering of IFTTT recipes and four disparate hubs from Ikea, Aqara, Philips Hue, and Vera. It works, kind of, but requires several different apps, many interfaces, and lots of patience, especially from my family.
Homebridge turns this Blink XT outdoor camera into a temperature and motion trigger for other automations in Apple’s Home app.
Over most of a weekend, I was able to configure Homebridge to link every one of my 50+ smart devices to HomeKit and each other in the Apple Home app. This allowed me to create rules that were previously impossible, like using the Blink XT camera’s motion sensor in my garden to trigger a Z-Wave siren and Hue lightbulbs at night. Nerdvana unlocked!
My sense of delight and intense pride lasted exactly one week before my Blink cameras suddenly went dead. The reason was delivered in an email from Amazon the next morning:
“My name is Tori and I am with the Blink team. While doing a routine server audit, your account was flagged and subsequently disabled due to unsupported scripts or apps running on your system. The only automation that is permitted for use with the Blink system is through Alexa and/or IFTTT. Please disable these scripts or apps and reach back out to me so that I can re-enable your account.”
After a brief WTF exchange whereby I explained that Alexa and / or IFTTT are wholly inferior to the capabilities of Homebridge, Tori helpfully directed me to the exact paragraph of the Blink Terms of Service that I had violated. Terms which, admittedly, I was now reading for the first time (emphasis mine):
“We may terminate the Agreement or restrict, suspend, or terminate your use of Blink Services at our discretion without notice at any time, including if we determine that your use violates the Agreement, is improper, substantially exceeds or differs from normal use by other users, or otherwise involves fraud or misuse of Blink Services or harms our interests or those of another user of Blink Services. If your use of Blink Services is restricted, suspended, or terminated, you may be unable to access your video clips and you will not receive any refund or any other compensation. In case of termination, Blink may immediately revoke your access to Blink Services without refund.”
It turns out that Amazon’s crackdown on Blink automators has been a known issue in the community for at least a year. My question is: why does Amazon bother?
My Homebridge integration may well be in violation of Blink’s terms and conditions, even if the terms seem unduly restrictive. But why is Amazon, owner of those massive AWS server farms that earned nearly $50 billion in 2020, resorting to such draconian measures in response to my meager deployment of five Blink cameras? I could see a crackdown on large-scale corporate installations hammering away at the Blink API, but why me and other small-time enthusiasts?
According to Colin Bendell, developer of the Blink camera plugin for Homebridge, there are at most 4,000 homes using open-source plugins like his. “Even if we round up to 10,000 users, I think this is probably small potatoes for Amazon,” says Bendell, who should know. Not only did he reverse engineer the Blink app to mimic its behavior, but the O’Reilly author and self-proclaimed IoT hobbyist is also the director of performance engineering at Shopify.
Blink could easily look the other way for small home deployments like mine without waving its rights. It says so right in the T&Cs it sent me:
“Blink’s failure to insist upon or enforce your strict compliance with this Agreement will not constitute a waiver of any of its rights.”
But that’d be a cop out. Really, Amazon should be embracing Blink hobbyists. Homebridge is, after all, a project that extends Apple HomeKit to work with a wide variety of uncertified devices including cameras and doorbells from Amazon-owned Ring. And study after study have concluded that Apple device owners love to spend money. Surely this is a community Amazon should encourage, not vilify.
At the risk of saying too much (please don’t shut me down, Amazon!), why is it that my two Ring cameras aren’t raising any red flags during “server audits”? I certainly check them more frequently as one is my doorbell. Perhaps it’s because I already pay a monthly subscription to Amazon for Ring and pay nothing to Blink. (Although sadly, even that early benefit has come to an end. As of March 18th, Amazon requires owners of newer Blink cameras to pay a subscription fee to unlock every feature.)
When I reached out to Amazon with the questions I raise above, and asked if enthusiast initiatives like Homebridge would be officially (or unofficially, wink) supported, I was given this boilerplate response:
“Blink customers can control their cameras through the Blink Home Monitor app, and customize their experience using the If This Then That (IFTTT) service. We are always looking for ways to improve the customer experience, including supporting select third-party integrations for our devices.”
Gee, thanks.
One of Blink’s biggest advantages has come to an end.Image: Blink
We kid ourselves about ownership all the time. I say I own my house, but, in fact, the bank owns more of it than I do. I listen to mymusic on Spotify, but those Premium playlists I’ve so carefully curated for years will be plucked from my phone just as soon as payments lapse. But somehow, Blink cameras were supposed to be different. They were for people drawn to Blink on the strength of that “no monthly contract” pitch. These were devices you were supposed to own without limitations or tithes.
How things have changed.
In 2017, Blink stood alone in the field; today there’s Wyze, Eufy, TP-Link / Kasa, Imou, and Ezviz to name just a few of the companies making inexpensive wired and wireless cameras for every smart home ecosystem, including Amazon’s, often with better features and value.
I’ve been a smart home evangelist for more than a decade, doling out advice to friends, often solicited, often not. Blink used to be an easy pitch: cheap and dead simple to install for normies, and highly extensible if you’re willing to put in the effort. But Amazon’s heavy-handed enforcement of T&Cs alongside the introduction of subscription fees have negated any advantage Blink once held over its camera competitors. While Blink sales will undoubtedly benefit from Amazon’s promotion machine, longtime Blink enthusiasts like myself will be taking their allegiances elsewhere.
Amazon Kindle owners can now set the lockscreen image to the cover of the book they’re reading. The long overdue Display Cover feature, first spotted by Engadget, was previously only available after jailbreaking your device (and a popular motivator to do so). Amazon says that it works with “most books, magazines, comics, and Manga.”
The Display Cover feature is only supported on some Kindle devices without ads. These devices include the Kindle (8th, 10th generation), Kindle Paperwhite (7th, 10th gen), Kindle Oasis (8th, 9th, 10th gen), and Kindle Voyage (7th gen). If you can’t recall which Kindle you have then click here to identify it. Promotions on ad-supported devices can be disabled for $20, or by calling into customer support and asking real nicely, according to many reports on redditkindle.
Supported Kindle devices running the latest firmware can activate the Display Cover feature by enabling the Show Cover option under Settings, Device Options. Just be sure whatever you’re reading is something you’re willing to advertise, m’kay weirdos?
In his final annual letter to Amazon’s shareholders, CEO Jeff Bezos — who will step down in Q3 2021 to make way for Andy Jassy — shared that the number of Prime subscribers has reached 200 million. Its Q4 2019 earnings included the milestone of surpassing 150 million subscribers to its Prime service that offers fast shipping, original TV content, and more. Essentially, Amazon convinced 50 million people to join Prime during the pandemic, accounting for an approximate 33 percent growth of the base.
If you haven’t paid attention to the company’s earnings in the past year, Prime subscribers certainly aren’t the only numbers Amazon has been able to grow. 2020 was the company’s most profitable year yet, growing bigger during a time when many other businesses shrank or disappeared. To put context on some of the success, halfway through 2020 — around the first big countrywide surge of COVID-19 — Amazon was already doubling its profits. And that came even after the company pledged $4 billion of its Q2 2020 earnings to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE), clean its facilities, to ensure “higher wages for hourly teams,” and expand its own COVID-19 testing capabilities. In late March 2021, Amazon got FDA authorization for an at-home COVID-19 test kit that it developed.
It’s been quite a busy final year for any CEO to steer through — let alone, the one in charge of the world’s biggest, most profitable company. But despite the success on a company level, it has been a tumultuous year so far from a PR perspective. Amazon’s warehouse employees who contribute to the success still struggle to be recognized and gain ground in their efforts to unionize. And, lest we forget that 2021 has already seen the company sparring on Twitter with US state representatives about taxes, as well as publicly disputing reports that some of Amazon’s workers pee in bottles just to meet company targets. It later apologized to Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI) for its “You don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you?” tweet from its @AmazonNews handle, while attempting to shift the blame.
You can put down your Switch, you can retire from Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but you can never quite leave the island behind. Now, thanks to a new a multi-CD imported soundtrack for the game, you won’t have to. With seven — yes, seven — compact discs of Animal Crossing music, you can quite literally change your life’s theme music as often as it changes in the game.
Seven CDs seems like a lot, but New Horizons, like other Animal Crossing games before it, is almost constantly scored, with multiple variations of music in the game for every hour of the day (“3PM” fans, rise up), multiple locations, and weather conditions. The series’ music is one of the big reasons why it’s so beloved. Having a song for almost every situation only furthers the game’s “I could really stay here forever” power. That’s why Nintendo dropping a live version of the theme can be a little mini event in its own right.
You can own K.K. Slider’s entire discography AND the music for every hour of the day.Image: Columbia Japan
Details on the limited edition imported Animal Crossing: New Horizons soundtrack are slim, but referring to the image above, the complete package appears to come with seven CDs, custom albums to hold them, and what appears to be a K.K. Slider-themed headphone case. The soundtrack is available for preorder now from Amazon with a current release date set for this Friday, April 16th.
Till then, join me in strolling your island (mentally) at precisely 3PM wherever you are.
Amazon is today introducing its second-generation pair of Echo Buds. The new true wireless earbuds improve on the originals with a more comfortable design — they’re now 20 percent smaller — and enhanced active noise cancellation. But Amazon is staying aggressive on price: the 2021 Echo Buds are priced at $119.99 for the earbuds and a USB-C charging case or $139.99 for an upgraded case with wireless charging. For a limited time, both are being discounted. The regular set drops under $100 to $99.99, with the wireless charging pair costing $119.99. The new Echo Buds will be released on May 13th.
Aside from shrinking them down, Amazon has also made comfort-focused design changes to the Echo Buds. They now have a vented design (like the AirPods Pro, Pixel Buds, etc.) to reduce unwanted ear pressure. The company has shortened the nozzle so that the Echo Buds don’t sit as deep in your ear canal, and the external depth has been reduced for a more flush fit. The ear tips — four sizes come included — are now oval-shaped, and you also get two sizes of optional wing tips in the box.
Instead of a glossy touch surface like on the original Echo Buds, the outside-facing exterior is now all matte. But Amazon has slapped its logo onto the earbuds this time around, which I could’ve done without. They now come in white in addition to black.
Four sizes of ear tips and two wing tips come included.Image: Amazon
With the first Echo Buds, Amazon borrowed some of Bose’s noise-reduction technology. But this time, it’s doing everything itself. The company says that the second-gen earbuds “cancel twice as much noise” as before. When in passthrough mode, you can adjust the amount of ambient noise you want to come through. Sound quality has also seen some improvements, according to Amazon’s press release:
Echo Buds deliver crisp, balanced sound with extended dynamic range — so you get the most out of your music, regardless of genre. The premium speakers are optimized for increased fidelity in bass and treble, which reduces distortion during media playback, delivering vibrant melodies and clear spoken word.
The second-gen Echo Buds are rated IPX4 for water and sweat, which Amazon says should cover any exercise and “light rain.” And Amazon says the microphones on these earbuds — three on each bud — are improved, too; they’re “optimized to capture lower frequencies compared to the prior generation,” which apparently results in better quality for voice calls. Either bud can be used standalone in mono mode.
Amazon has made comfort a big priority with the second-gen Echo Buds.Image: Amazon
Battery life is estimated at five hours of listening with noise cancellation enabled, with two additional full charges in the case for a total of 15 hours. (The case now has status LEDs for each individual earbud, which is a handy addition.) If the battery runs low, charging over USB-C for 15 minutes should get you around two hours of playback.
To see just how aggressive Amazon is on pricing, let’s compare the Echo Buds against the wider market of popular true wireless earbuds. Most of these have noise cancellation, though some (like the Pixel Buds) don’t:
$279 Bose QuietComfort Earbuds $249.95 Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 $249 Apple AirPods Pro $229.99 Jabra Elite 85t $229.99 Sony 1000XM3 earbuds $199.99 Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro $179.99 Google Pixel Buds $179.99 Jabra Elite 75t $139.99 Amazon Echo Buds with wireless charging ($119.99 for a limited time) $129.99 Anker Liberty Air 2 Pro $119.99 Amazon Echo Buds with USB-C ($99.99 for a limited time)
Just like the first model, Amazon hopes a big part of the appeal with the Echo Buds will be the ability to use Alexa everywhere you go. You can ask for a specific artist or song, of course, but Amazon also added the option late last year to ask for music by activity type. You can control your smart home, play an Audible audiobook, ask for transit directions, or even use Alexa’s local search powers to find the nearest COVID-19 testing site.
You can also ask any nearby Alexa device to find your buds, and they’ll play an audible chime to help make them easier to locate. Amazon says “later this year,” it will add the VIP Filter feature that debuted on its Echo Frames, which allows you to choose the notifications you want to hear and avoid the rest.
If the noise cancellation improvements are as significant as Amazon claims, the second-generation Echo Buds could prove quite compelling — especially at their low price versus the competition. Stay tuned for a full review in the next few weeks.
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