Apple has a rocky relationship with some iOS developers because of its seemingly arbitrary decisions over what gets published and when — and now, because of a dumb miss, it’s being accused of putting profits ahead of human rights in Myanmar by the founder of ProtonMail and ProtonVPN, even though that’s probably not what happened.
Proton founder Andy Yen writes that Apple blocked an important security update to the company’s privacy-protecting ProtonVPN software simply because Apple didn’t like the app’s description, specifically this line:
Whether it is challenging governments, educating the public, or training journalists, we have a long history of helping bring online freedom to more people around the world.
If you’re having a hard time finding anything objectionable there, you’re not alone — but Apple told Proton it wasn’t okay to encourage “users to bypass geo-restrictions or content limitations.”
The context here is that VPNs have become a critical tool for protesters in Myanmar to sidestep an huge internet crackdown during the country’s ongoing, bloody military coup. One researcher told Bloomberg that VPN use has increased 7,200 percent since early last month, when the government blocked Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
I’m with Daring Fireball’s John Gruber on this: I highly doubt Apple made a conscious decision to deny ProtonVPN to Myanmar — the company’s smart enough to know how that would look, and it’s not like the app was blocked, just a security update. Yen is an outspoken critic of the App Store now, having told Congress (and The Verge) last year how he’d been strong-armed by Apple.
But the fact it’s just a security update makes the rejection extra dumb,because Apple explicitly said last year that it’d no longer hold up bug fixes because of these arbitrary guideline violations.
Regardless, Apple comes off looking a little like the bad guy here, especially now that ProtonVPN has taken the high road and ceded to Apple’s demands. “Due to the emergency situation in Myanmar, we removed the language about challenging governments which Apple found objectionable, and the app was finally approved,” Yen tells The Verge. Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment.
That perception seems like it’s going to be increasingly hard to fight, now that antitrust scrutiny of Apple’s App Store has been heating up in Congress and the courts, with the Epic App Store trial set to begin May 3rd.
It doesn’t help when Apple is seemingly caught breaking its own rules and needing to apologize, particularly when it could be seen as retaliation against an app developer (Yen) who’d previously spoken out. Last year, many other developers weren’t willing to come forward and admit they’d been forced to add in-app purchases to their apps, specifically because they feared retaliation.
Amazon is coming out with a third generation of its Alexa Voice Remote, and it includes some unwelcome new buttons that will take you to the Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney Plus, and Hulu apps. If you’re one of the people who subscribes to and regularly uses all of those exact streaming services, this remote could be a nice upgrade. But for everyone else, the buttons will only add friction and annoyance to the Fire TV control experience.
We here at The Verge have talked about why we don’t like these buttons before. They turn your remote into a canvas for permanent advertising for services you may not even use, and they take up space that could be used for buttons that take you to services you do use. If you, say, don’t subscribe to Disney Plus or Hulu, then the buttons are, at best, useless to you and, at worst, waiting to be accidentally pressed, leaving you to back out of an app that’s begging you to subscribe.
The obvious alternative is to make the buttons mappable to the services you use and not put permanent branding on them. If the remote instead came with four buttons you could use to open your preferred streaming services, this would be a very different story. Alas, it is not. But hey, now the voice control button is an Alexa button for even more branding! (I will concede that this isn’t that bad, given that it was already called the Alexa Voice remote.)
The previous generation of the remote (which is still for sale), minus the branded buttons. Image: Amazon
I don’t want to make it sound like a few annoying buttons (that could actually be useful to some people) are the end of the world or that this new remote has no redeeming qualities. There’s actually one more new button that takes you to a “guide” showing you a cable-esque timeline of all the content available from the live providers you have, such as Sling, Hulu, or YouTube TV.
Unlike the branded ones, it’s small and not brightly colored, so it’s easy to ignore if you don’t need it (and it won’t be as prone to accidental presses). I just wish remote manufacturers would let us choose the functions we want on our remotes, especially since the streaming service landscape is ever-changing, and people have taken to subscribing to one service for a few months then switching to another.
You know what I haven’t seen in more than a year? The inside of a pub. Or a bar. Or, indeed, any kind of inn, hostelry, saloon, roadhouse, taproom, tavern, or beer hall where money can be exchanged for the sweet relief of drink. Google, though, hasn’t forgotten and has apparently decided to taunt me with a new tag in its Photo app dedicated to the stuff.
As first spotted by 9to5Google, if you open up the Google Photos app right now, it should have a new Memories collection at the top of the screen. These are thematic groupings of photos selected by machine learning, and while previous collections have focused on children or food, this one — appropriately titled “Cheers!” — is dedicated to booze.
Click the image, and you’ll be shown a bittersweet slideshow: pictures of drinks being drunk with friends and loved ones. To paraphrase Mad Men’s famous Carousel scene, here is the essence of nostalgia, taking us to a place where we ache to go again. The pub.
A sampling from the Cheers! collection in Google Photos.Photos by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge
A tiny caveat: when Verge staffers looked for the “Cheers!” collection in their own app, not everyone found it. And those who did noted that the software didn’t always pick up on all of the relevant pictures of pitchers. (Maybe it’s a fussy drinker? Can’t relate.)
At any rate, it’s another neat demonstration of the power of Google’s machine learning photo tools as well as a cruel reminder of what most of us are currently missing. And please, if you’re in a country where pubs and bars are currently open, where you can simply walk out the door and grab yourself a pint in the sunshine, I beg of you: shut up and don’t talk to me.
Deezer has revealed a new subscription tier combining the benefits of its ad-free Family and Hi-Fi packages called, unsurprisingly, Family HiFi.
If you’re already a Deezer HiFi user, you can upgrade to Family HiFi immediately and get up to six individual, password-protected profiles for £19.99/$19.99 a month (the service isn’t rolling out to Australia just yet) – that’s an increase of £5/$5 over a regular HiFi subscription. New subscribers will get the opportunity to open a Family HiFi account for the same price later in the year.
A single Deezer HiFi account currently costs £14.99/$14.99 per month for which users can listen to 70 million tracks in 16-bit, 1411kbps CD-quality across several devices, including iOS, Android, desktop, plus various other audio products, from multi-room speakers to AV receivers. The top-level service also allows access to the 360 by Deezerapp that allows you to experience tracks encoded in 360 Reality Audio, Sony’s immersive audio format.
Those who upgrade to FamilyHiFi will also get the benefit of parental controls, dedicated customer service for HiFi users, and a specially curated Family Mix, so you might want to vet the tastes of your relatives before sharing.
The announcement brings Deezer in line with its streaming rivals in offering a multi-user CD-quality tier with Amazon Music HD (£19.99/$19.99), Tidal (£29.99/$29.99), and Qobuz (£24.99/$24.99) already offering the option to add up to 6 users to their top tiers, although Deezer still doesn’t have the option of hi-res audio.
With streaming giant Spotify set to join the party later this year with its CD-quality Spotify HiFi tier, and no word on the pricing or if it includes a family subscription, Deezer appears to be attempting to strengthen its offering in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
Scooter-sharing giant Lime is updating its app to make renting one of the company’s battery-powered two-wheelers a little easier. Customers can now take advantage of new features like app-less riding, 10-minute reservations, and vehicle configurations to take some of the bite out of scooter-sharing.
Customers who don’t have the Lime app on their phone can still ride by taking a photo of the scooter’s QR code and paying through Apple Pay or Google Pay. Lime says it will be a useful tool for first-time riders who don’t want to commit or don’t have space on their phones.
Reservations could be a potential boon to anyone who has thought to rent a nearby scooter, only to find it gone by the time they arrive at its purported location. After testing out the feature in a couple of key markets, Lime will now allow customers to reserve a scooter for 10 minutes in an effort to take some of the stress out of scooter riding.
Lime will also start recommending certain vehicles to its customers. So when you open the app, the company will refer you to the nearest vehicle with the best battery range. Combined with the reservation feature, Lime thinks this will help customers secure their vehicle faster, estimating it will take “less than 5 seconds” to reserve a scooter after opening the app.
And finally, Lime’s app is getting a dark mode to help customers see their options better while riding at night.
Lime, which operates in 120 cities across five continents, is in growth mode as the weather warms up in certain key markets. In addition to adding new products like electric mopeds and pouring money into a huge e-bike expansion, the company is said to be in talks to go public via a reverse merger. Lime says its customers took more than 200 million rides on its e-scooters and e-bikes last year, with the company expecting that number to grow significantly in 2021.
(Pocket-lint) – OnePlus started off as that limited, small batch phone-maker that only insiders knew about, before growing into a proper big-time brand. And yet, despite being available through proper partner carriers and in real stores, it’s still not a company you’d consider hugely mainstream. It certainly doesn’t have that mindshare that Apple and Samsung have enjoyed for years.
Counting all the ‘T’ versions, however, we’re now into the 13th generation OnePlus flagship. And in all of those generations it’s always nailed the speed, performance and fluidity. The cameras, however, have always raised questions, never quite delivering to the same degree as the competition. To try and conquer this final frontier OnePlus has brought in some outside help from a partnership with Hasselblad.
So does the OnePlus 9 Pro, Hasselblad riposte at the ready, succeed in flying us to the moon and back?
So shiny
Finishes: Morning Mist, Forest Green, Stellar Black
Dimensions: 163.2 x 73.6 x 8.7mm / Weight: 197g
IP68 water- and dust-resistant rating
Stereo speakers
OnePlus has three different finishes for the OnePlus 9 Pro. We’ve been using the silver coloured Morning Mist version, which is oh so shiny. At least, the bottom third of the back is. It’s reflective enough that you can see your face in it (which also makes photographing it a real pain – not that this would be a concern to 99 per cent of the people who buy one).
This reflective surface subtly gradients into a more misty, foggy look at the top. The surface of the glass on the outside is glossy and slippery, so attracts fingerprints like nobody’s business. All in all meaning you may just want to use the case, or pick up the frosted glass Forest Green variant instead.
Still, there’s plenty to like about the 9 Pro’s design. For one, the camera housing has a look about it that says the designers really cared about how it turned out. It’s not just a characterless rectangle stuck onto the back. It’s colour-matched to the back and each of the two main cameras has a metallic ring around the lens, making it stand out against the background. It’ll certainly make it stand out from the crowd.
The rest of the design is very familiar for anyone who’s used a OnePlus phone over the past year. The glass curves on the back towards the edges, making an otherwise quite large phone feel a bit more comfortable than it would if it were completely flat and square.
It’s not the lightest phone around, but in its size category, squeezing in below 200 grams is a good thing. It makes it perfectly bearable to use day in day out. Plus, all the buttons being within easy thumb reach means there’s not too much over-stretching going on to locate the alert slider or the volume rocker.
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While we’re on the subject of practicality, the Pro has IP68 rating against water and dust ingress. So when this slippery fish does inevitably slip out of your hand into a sink full of water, it won’t get damaged (well, not from the water anyway!).
Unlike the standard ‘non-Pro’ version, the OnePlus 9 Pro doesn’t have a completely flat panel, but the curves on the screen are definitely smaller than in previous iterations. That does mean the phone feels a bit chunkier than 7 Pro from two years ago, but it means it’s less prone to accidental touches. Plus, the bezels are really skinny, giving an almost edge-to-edge screen with only a neat little selfie camera punching its way through the top corner.
Display and software
6.7-inch AMOLED display
QHD+ resolution (1440 x 3216 pixels; 525ppi)
Adaptive frame rate up to 120Hz
Oxygen OS 11 (over Android 11)
It’s not just in physical button placement where OnePlus has attempted to make its large phone comfortable to use. The software, Oxygen OS, went through a massive refresh for its Android 11-based version – which first launched on the OnePlus 8T. This update didn’t just radically change the entire look and feel of the previously Google stock-like experience, it was designed so that the bits you need to reach with your thumb are easy to get to. Buttons and controls are shifted down, so you don’t have to awkwardly stretch across to the top corner.
The thing that works against this somewhat is that OnePlus has fewer of its own apps than it used to. It’s gone all-in with Google, so apps like Messages and the Phone app are Google; similarly, as we saw with the 8T in 2020, the Shelf that used to live on the left of the Home Screen has been replaced by Google’s Discover feed.
None of these moves are bad, as Google’s Discover is far more useful and more relevant than Shelf. That in itself hasn’t disappeared completely, though, as you can get to it by swiping down on the Home Screen. It could be useful for things like getting quick access to favourite contacts, or remembering where you parked the car. We didn’t find it all that useful, so we just changed the setting so that a swipe on the Home Screen dropped down notifications instead.
As for the screen, it’s one of the best available on the market. It’s a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel that has a top refresh rate of 120Hz, meaning it cycles through 120 refreshes per second to give the sense of smoothness.
Like Samsung’s latest flagships – the Galaxy S21 Ultra at the top of the stack – the OnePlus also has adaptive refresh rate capabilities. Here, however it can go all the way down to just 1Hz when it detects a static page, which will help save battery life. It also means it’s pretty much identical to the screen on the Oppo Find X3 Pro.
It’s really bright and vivid, and – once you’ve enabled its maximum sharpness within the settings – it’s crisp to the eyes too. One clever little feature actually enables you to toggle on a battery saver mode when you choose the QHD+ resolution, which means the screen can switch to a lower resolution if it’s appropriate to do so.
As usual, there are plenty of additional features, such as the ability to tune the appearance to your preferences: be that dark mode for night time, comfort tone for automatically adjusting the white balance based on the ambient light, or reading mode for, um, you guessed it, reading.
On the whole, it’s a mighty fine display. Colours pop, bright areas are almost searing, and animations are smooth. There’s perhaps a bit too much contrast, while auto-brightness dims the output a bit much – as to not retain balance of highlights, shadows and colours – but most of the time we were impressed by it.
For those who want it there’s plenty of customisability too. The display settings menu lets you adjust the overall look of the screen, making it more or less vibrant and adjusting colours and white balance.
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So to the all-important cameras. Both the primary and ultra-wide cameras use high-end Sony sensors – which is OnePlus showing off that it’s sourcing the best core kit for the job. For the most part, these sensors deliver good pictures.
The primary sensor looks like it’s had the most love from Hasselblad’s partnership, delivering natural-looking colours with good detail. Likewise, the ultra-wide sensor can take great pictures – and that’s no surprise given it’s the same sensor used by the Oppo Find X3 Pro in both of its two main cameras.
In good light you’ll get sharp mostly noise-free pictures, while the freeform ultra-wide lens will ensure you don’t get lots of curving and distortion at the edges. In fact, it’s very level and doesn’t suffer from that fish-eye effect you sometimes see from such lenses. It’s not as good in low-light situations as the primary sensor, neither is perfect once light levels drop. You’ll start to see image noise introduced when it gets a bit darker, particularly in greys and blues in any shadows.
The only inescapable problem isn’t with either camera individually. It’s when you compare them to each other. At some points it looks like results are from two different phones. Not in terms of angle of view, as that’s inevitable, but with the final aesthetic. The ultra-wide often boosts warmth and saturation to give a really vivid (almost more orange feel), while the primary lens delivers a more neutral, cooler image where blues are more standout.
You can see this difference when switching to Macro mode – which automatically switches to the ultra-wide sensor to perform the close-up shot – as well as when you shoot at night time using the Nightscape mode.
Nighstscape mode seems to have improved from previous generations of OnePlus phones, though, with the 9 Pro able to draw in decent light. We did sometimes struggle to get results looking sharp though, with finer details and edges blurring – not an out-of-focus blur, more like a motion blur as if the camera’s optical stabilisation can’t quite compensate for hand-shake enough.
It wasn’t the only time the phone’s camera struggled with detail either. Using the telephoto zoom lens – which is 3.3x that of the main camera, and can reach up to 30x digitally – we found that detail simply lacked. It’s not a great optical zoom.
Pocket-lint
: Ultra-wideUltra-wide
If you scroll through the gallery above – which cycles through the cameras at ultra-wide, 1x, 3.3x, 5x, 10x and 30x – you’ll see how the tree branches in the 3.3x shot turn into a weird-looking mush. And once you zoom past 3.3x the detail becomes increasingly ropey with the images at the top end looking more like an oil painting than a photograph.
As for macro mode, that’s pretty strong in good light. Details are sharp and in-focus, while the background blur adds depth and doesn’t suffer from unnatural and nauseating bokeh like some dedicated macro lenses do. That’s likely down to the fact the OnePlus 9 Pro is using the ultra-wide sensor, rather than have a poor low-resolution macro camera.
On the whole, then, the 9 Pro’s cameras are a bit of a mixed bag. It performs well, but the difference in colour balance between the primary and ultra-wide is confusing, especially given OnePlus’ insistence on using Hasselblad’s ‘strict’ tuning standards. The optical zoom lens is quite poor when it comes to detail, and night mode suffers a little with motion blur.
The primary lens is great for the most part, but we’d just love to see that consistency between the different lenses. It’d turn this system into one that truly competes with the market leaders. The hardware is obviously there, we just need to see attention to detail on balance still.
Speed, I am speed
Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 platform, 5G connectivity
RAM: 8GB/12GB LPDDR5
Storage: 128GB/256GB (UFS3.1)
4,500mAh battery (2x 2250mAh cells)
Warp Charge 65T flash charging (1-100% in 28 minutes)
Warp Charge 50 wireless charging (1-100% in 43 minutes)
If there’s one thing you can virtually guarantee from OnePlus when it comes to its flagship phones: they’re all fast and fluid. For years the company has used whichever is Qualcomm’s latest top-tier processor. For 2021 that’s the Snapdragon 888.
In all areas, the OnePlus 9 Pro performs like a proper flagship should. It’s fast and smooth, loading any games and apps without stopping to think about it. We had no instances of stutter or delay. Part of that is also down to the screen’s refresh rate, but also its touch sampling rate – which can read your fingers taps and swipes at a rate of 240 times per second. The animation on screen responds virtually immediately, making it feel nimble and instant.
Even simple and mundane tasks like refreshing a Twitter feed or loading a web page is hassle-free. Plus, if you live in an area with 5G signal, you get that goodness too, for speedy cellular downloads.
During our testing there were moments where – after an hour or so of gaming – the phone became a little warm, but it didn’t feel uncomfortable. That’s likely down to having an efficient vapour chamber and graphite-based cooling system inside, making this the most non-gamer gamer phone on the market.
As for battery life, with the screen cranked up to its highest resolution and frame rate settings, the 4500mAh capacity is more than capable of pushing through a full day. Even on quieter ones, however, we never quite got the sense it’d make it through two full days.
On our heavier days with a three or more hours of screen time, we got to bed with somewhere around the 30 per cent mark left over. Here’s the thing though: battery anxiety is never an issue because when it comes to charging few phones compare to the OnePlus 9 Pro.
If you use the included 65W wired charger, you can get the battery from dead to 100 per cent in just 28 minutes. That’s a full charge in less than half an hour, which is mind-boggling. Plug the phone in for 10 minutes and that’ll provide enough to get you through a good few hours.
But there’s more: it charges fast wirelessly too. Using OnePlus’ latest Warp Charge Wireless stand (an optional extra, at your expense), you can get a full charge in 43 minutes. Of course, if it’s by your bed and you charge overnight you don’t need those speeds, but it can be programmed to go into bedtime mode which charges slower and, crucially, quieter. The fan it uses to keep itself cool during the faster charging speeds is shut off to allow you to get to sleep.
The Warp Charge Wireless is so quick that we’d often just leave the 9 Pro off charge at night, then put it on the stand while getting ready in the morning. It’s a bit of a game-changer.
It’s worth noting that – even though it charges quickly – OnePlus has kept its battery optimisation features in play, which ensure the device’s battery isn’t harmed by such speedy refills. It learns your charging routine and does the first chunk of charging quickly, before leaving it and then finishing the charge right before you wake up in the morning – which is good for battery health and longevity over an extended period of time.
Verdict
The OnePlus 9 Pro attemps to address the series’ historically biggest issue: the cameras. However, even with support from Hasselblad, it still doesn’t quite hit the mark in that regard. But the core of the phone impresses, with fast wireless charging a truly brilliant feature, and the display being top notch too.
While it’s possible to get great photos from the 9 Pro’s cameras, the imbalance of colour between the two main sensors – with photos often looking like they’ve come from two different phones – and the poor results from the telephoto zoom just don’t quite add up to what we’d expect. More hassle than Hasselblad, eh?
It’s also worth pointing out that the 9 Pro’s price has crept higher still, edging ever closer to the four-figure mark and, in so doing, sitting closer to other premium flagship competitors. That does mean it’s still more affordable than some of the other top tier phones out there, but it’s no longer the instant buy the series once was.
Overall, the OnePlus 9 Pro continues to deliver on the series’ well-established strengths. Its fast and fluid, has a cracking screen, mind-boggling impressive fast-charging, and all for a price that undercuts the established elite. But it continues the series’ ongoing weaknesses too, as those cameras still just aren’t class-leading.
Also consider
Oppo Find X3 Pro
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In a lot of ways, the Oppo is very similar to the 9 Pro, offering similar hardware in terms of screen, battery size, charging and processing power. Where it differs is with a more consistent camera experience and a more refined designed.
Read our review
Samsung Galaxy S21+
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Pricing isn’t all that much between Samsung’s S21+ and OnePlus’ latest top tier phone. It may have a plastic back, but its performance is strong in all the important ways. The cameras are a tad disappointing however.
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1More has absolutely flooded the true wireless earbud market, and it’s confident enough in its new ComfoBuds Pro noise-canceling earbuds to proclaim them as superior to the AirPods Pro — for a fraction of the price. They slot in between the company’s flagship True Wireless ANC earbuds ($200) and less expensive options like the $50 PistonsBuds and the standard ComfoBuds, the latter of which has an open-style design. 1More says with the Pro model, it’s “sure to bring the fight to Apple and give their loyal fanbase a serious dilemma in choosing what pair of earbuds are right for them.”
I don’t think forcing such a direct comparison was the right move because, despite 1More claiming that it offers “so much more” than Apple’s flagship buds, the ComfoBuds Pro can’t match up with the AirPods Pro in all areas — as is expected with such a price discrepancy — but they’re still an excellent product in their own right. The sound is fantastic for the money, they have several useful noise cancellation modes to switch between, and the fit certainly delivers on the “comfort” part of their name.
The ComfoBuds come in either gunmetal gray or white, and they lay flat in their elongated, capsule-shaped carrying case. This makes for a compact, pocketable design, but the trade-off is that removing them from the case isn’t so simple: you’ve got to press down on the stem, which pushes up the main earbud portion, and then pluck that out of the case. Once you’ve done it a few times, you’ll have it down.
Removing the ComfoBuds Pro from the case takes a bit more effort than some other earbuds.
LEDs hidden at the bottom of the teardrop stem indicate pairing and charge status, and there’s also a light on the case’s exterior so you know when they’re fully topped off. Battery life is rated at 6 hours with ANC enabled, which outlasts the 4.5-hour AirPods Pro. The case has enough extra juice for you to reach 20 hours of total listening time. It charges over USB-C but doesn’t offer wireless charging.
1More also beats out Apple on the scale, with each ComfoBud Pro weighing 5.2 grams compared to the 5.4-gram AirPods Pro. In your ears, they feel similarly light and barely there. This results in comfort that lasts over extended stretches, which can’t always be said of heavier options like the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds (8.5 grams) and Jabra Elite 85t (7 grams). Four sets of silicone tips come in the box, with an extra small size thrown in alongside the standard small, medium, and large. I’d have appreciated an XL option, as even the largest size took some adjustment for a snug seal.
Instead of any actual buttons, the ComfoBuds Pro have a touch-sensitive area on the outer stem. It works well enough, even if it’s not obvious exactly where you should be tapping. The most confounding thing about 1More’s controls is there’s no single-tap action. You can choose what happens with a double tap, long press, or triple tap, but the single-press option — commonly used by other manufacturers to play / pause — just doesn’t exist here. So although 1More lets you customize the controls that are here, you’re a bit limited.
By default, two taps is pause, three activates a voice assistant, and a long press toggles between the noise-canceling modes. I ended up switching the three-tap gesture to track controls, but that meant settling for no direct volume access. Each earbud has an IR sensor on the outside for auto-pause if you remove them. They reliably resumed the music whenever I put them back in my ears.
1More has a good reputation for delivering on sound quality, and I think the ComfoBuds Pro might set a new bar for what to expect if you’re on a $100 budget. They’ve got excellent clarity without the bass bloat that’s common in this price bracket. Everything gets its ample space in the mix; the many layered vocal tracks by Taylor Swift and Justin Vernon on “Exile” are all distinct and come through with clarity. The funky groove of Lake Street Dive’s “Hypotheticals” is a good demo for the punchy bass these earbuds are capable of. Usually, there’s one genre or even a style of music production that will expose the weaknesses of a particular set of earbuds, but I struggled to find that with the ComfoBuds Pro. They can adapt to pretty much anything without coming off as harsh or thin. 1More doesn’t include any options for EQ customization, so what you get is what you get. Either earbud can be used standalone.
You control the ComfoBuds Pro with tap gestures on the stem.
But do they sound better than the AirPods Pro? You could make the case they do, yeah. I think some people will prefer the deeper low tones and how much wider 1More’s earbuds can feel; vocals stay planted in the center, but you’ll hear a ton of detail out of the left and right channels. Still, there’s something to be said for the no-nonsense, straightforward audio reproduction of the AirPods Pro that so many people find pleasing across all sorts of different audio. 1More’s pricier True Wireless ANC also sound a bit fuller and more precise since they have a dual-driver design compared to the single 13.4-millimeter driver in the ComfoBuds Pro.
These earbuds offer a few different levels of noise cancellation intensity. There’s the default “strong” option, which goes the furthest in quieting outside noise. But 1More also includes a less powerful mode it says is suitable for “chatty” environments like cafes and offices, plus another that’s meant to avoid wind noise, which is common with noise-canceling earbuds since they constantly use the exterior microphones to sample ambient sound. If you’re outside on a windy day, that could be a good trick to lean on. (These latter two modes require the 1More mobile app to activate.) Finally, there’s a full-on transparency mode for getting a clear sense of everything happening around you. 1More’s active noise cancellation worked pretty well when I was sitting outside at a Brooklyn coffee shop, but this is one area where the AirPods Pro pull ahead. They don’t have the same variety of modes, but Apple’s premium earbuds do a better overall job of bringing down the volume of the outside world, which is what’s most important.
The case is compact but lacks wireless charging.
Even so, all of these things make the ComfoBuds Pro a great value. But the AirPods Pro still rank above in several respects. First, the ComfoBuds Pro case doesn’t support wireless charging. Second, Apple’s transparency mode still sounds more natural and airy than 1More’s. And 1More can’t match the software flexes (automatic switching, spatial audio, seamless pairing, audio sharing, etc.) that exist between AirPods and other Apple devices. That’s a huge part of what makes them so popular. Again, we’re talking about quality-of-life conveniences that you’d rightfully expect from a $250 product. And these cost nowhere near that. But if 1More is going to make the comparison, the differences are worth pointing out. Despite putting a huge focus on voice mic performance, 1More also winds up behind the AirPods Pro there — as does everyone else. It’s a draw on sweat resistance, with both sets of earbuds rated IPX4.
1More has put together a fantastic pair of budget earbuds with the ComfoBuds Pro. I wish the company had focused on the sheer value you get in exchange for your $99 instead of trying to take down the AirPods Pro, which just isn’t realistic. Despite matching them on comfort and edging them out in other areas like battery life, there are still valid reasons why many iPhone owners will go right for Apple’s buds. It’s hard to put a price on those exclusive Apple ecosystem features and the superior noise cancellation. But if you’ve only got around $100 to put toward earbuds, the ComfoBuds Pro are a standout pair that won’t leave you missing much else. Only thing is, the AirPods are far from the only competition they’ll need to stand out from.
It’s taken years, but OnePlus is finally getting in the smartwatch game with the newly announced OnePlus Watch, starting at $159. The new watch (as was revealed last week) has a round design that looks similar to a regular wristwatch, instead of the oblong rectangle popularized by the Apple Watch and its imitators, like the Oppo Watch.
The case itself is stainless steel, measures 46mm, and features two buttons on the side (one of which features the OnePlus logo). It’ll be available in two colors: silver and black. The display is a 1.39-inch OLED panel at 326ppi, with sapphire glass.
The watch will also feature a version of OnePlus’ Warp Charge system (promising a week of battery life off a 20-minute charge). OnePlus promises that the watch should last up to two weeks on a single charge or up to one week for heavier users.
Specs-wise, the OnePlus Watch features 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, and integrated speakers. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS are all built in, but there’s no cellular option. If you want connectivity on the watch, you’ll have to be connected to a nearby phone.
Image: OnePlus
Fitness is also a big part of the OnePlus Watch. It’ll offer over 110 workout modes, offer built-in GPS, and feature IP68 water and dust resistance. Additionally, the OnePlus Watch features internal storage for music, which allows users to store up to 500 songs to listen to over their Bluetooth headphones when out on a run, even if they don’t have their phone with them. The OnePlus Watch can also automatically detect and track workouts as well as monitor sleep, stress, blood oxygen saturation, and heart rate.
OnePlus isn’t using Wear OS for the OnePlus Watch, though. As the company had announced before the event, it’ll use RTOS-style software setup (similar to companies like Fitbit), with a companion app that will allow it to connect to your phone to receive calls and notifications. (An iOS app for Apple users is promised for the future, too.)
That means things like app selection and custom watchfaces will be largely limited to whatever OnePlus can build in-house — so no third-party apps, at least for now. That said, to start, there’ll be dozens of watchface options to choose from (with additional customization choices to add more style options), so users will have some flexibility.
The OnePlus Watch can also be connected to a OnePlus TV (where available), allowing it to be used as a remote. And if you happen to fall asleep when you’re watching TV on OnePlus’ set, the watch can automatically turn off the TV after it detects that you’ve fallen asleep.
Image: OnePlus
The company also announced a limited edition model made out of a cobalt alloy, which it says is twice as hard as stainless steel. OnePlus says that the Cobalt Limited Edition will be “coming soon,” but the company isn’t providing a price yet.
The OnePlus Watch will start at $159 and will be available starting on April 14th from OnePlus’ website.
Valve is launching a dedicated Steam Link app for macOS this week. The app allows Steam users to stream games from a PC to devices with the Steam Link app installed. While the Steam macOS app has offered streaming already, MacRumors points out that this lightweight Steam Link app is just 30MB in size from the Mac App Store compared to the full Steam app, which requires 1GB of storage space.
Steam Link will be useful on Macs, particularly as it’s rare to see big AAA games debut on macOS. Mac users typically have to dual boot Windows, use virtualization apps, or Steam games from a PC to get access to most of the latest titles.
Steam Link launching on macOS follows a Linux version of the app earlier this month, and it now means Steam Link is available on macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and Raspberry Pi. All you need to do is download the Steam Link app, pair your device with a compatible controller, and connect to a PC over your local network to stream PC games.
Valve also rolled out a big update to its Remote Play Together feature earlier this month, allowing Steam users to stream local multiplayer games with friends over the internet.
Cambridge Audio has announced a firmware update to bring Tidal Connect support to its music streamer line-up.
The update is already available for the Edge NQ, CXN (V2), 851N, CXN (V1) and StreamMagic 6 (V2), and will arrive for the CXR120 and CXR200 from 7th April.
Given that the oldest model receiving the upgrade came out in 2014 (that makes it well into middle-aged in tech-years), it’s a nice touch that Cambridge is rolling out the new feature to their entire current offering.
Tidal Connect (like Spotify Connect but for, er, Tidal) lets subscribers stream music to compatible products directly within the service’s app. Unlike it’s Spotify alter-ego, however, this lets you stream music at higher quality if you’re a Tidal HiFi subscriber. Simply select your Tidal Connect-enabled product in the device selector at the bottom of the ‘Now Playing’ screen.
To this end, Tidal integration will be removed from the Cambridge Connect app and the front panel of the streamers (although will continue to work through the StreamMagic app).
While one of the benefits of Tidal Connect is passthrough of hi-res (MQA-powered) Tidal Masters, this won’t be available with Cambridge streamers as MQA implementation requires a hardware modification. You can, however, workaround this incompatibility by connecting a USB-A-to-USB-B cable between a PC/laptop and the network player to enjoy MQA content through the Tidal desktop app.
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A startup called Spatial is unveiling its first suite of products today, focused on creating audio experiences that are immersive, interactive, and automatically generated. The products themselves are a little complicated to explain, but the result is simple: ambient and interactive audio for public spaces that’s easy to create and more dynamic than the usual tracks.
Although Spatial has a consumer offering, the most likely customers are going to be businesses. Think hotels that want a different audio experience in their lobby, theme parks that want to develop audio for their spaces faster, brand activations, or AR experiences (National Geographic is an investor). Think about how corny the canned audio at the zoo often is; Spatial wants to fix that.
In one demo a couple of weeks ago, I sat in a room and heard the sounds of a forest all around me, with birds chirping in one spot and then moving to another — until a dragon flew overhead and scared them all away for a little while.
That’s frankly nothing special: audio positioned in space is simple. What’s complex is the engine that created all of that audio. Spatial’s goal is to make designing custom sound for a space easy and also to make that sound happen generatively instead of on a loop or a track. There are three main pieces to it.
First, there’s Spatial Studio, a Mac app that’s a sort of unholy melding of Logic and Unreal Engine. It defines a 3D space where users can place audio objects – either sounds they’ve created themselves or pulled from Spatial’s library. Users can even pipe in live audio as an object – say, if they want to bring the sound of the nearby ocean up into the lobby or just run a Sonos stream.
What’s special about Spatial is that those audio objects have behaviors. A bird might move along a predetermined track (with some randomness so it doesn’t get boring) or an ocean tide might appear at certain times of day, for example. Those audio objects might also react — either to each other or to something that happens in the real space.
The second part of Spatial’s system is turning all those dynamic audio objects into actual sound that you can hear in a space. For that, it uses Mac minis (or, for corporate customers, Linux) to run a real-time audio engine called Spatial Reality. It will take inputs from various sensors if need be, or simply let the little audio world run its course — and since the things in that little audio world have different behaviors, it will sound different all of the time. Spatial has also created an iPhone app for more direct interaction.
You’d think the third part is the speakers, but that’s actually Spatial’s third trick: it can work with any speaker setup. Spatial’s engine serves as an abstraction layer that is aware of the speakers’ position in the room and automatically adjusts the sound to ensure correct 3D positioning of the audio. Instead of a strict set of placement rules, Spatial can work with what you’ve got.
Michael Plitkins, one of the cofounders, tells me that fundamentally he believes that laying down audio on a static track is backwards. It’s better, he says, to let the computers figure it out in real time based on what they know about the speaker system. As the product stands right now, Spatial isn’t bothering with any real-time tuning to the audio in the room. It will work with any speaker setup, but users will need to program in what they have in the Spatial Studio app.
At the start, Spatial’s main competition is some combination of Muzak for public spaces and whatever custom tools Disney Imagineers use for the audio in their theme parks. It may appeal to some hobbyists too — part of the inspiration for the company was Plitkins’ desire to create a soundscape in his own back yard. I had a demo of that space too, complete with cave sounds under the deck so authentic it was eerie.
Whomever the customers end up being, it probably won’t be an easy sell. (And launching a product meant mainly for public spaces while a pandemic is still on is another challenge.) Dynamically created rain and birdsong doesn’t sound any different from a static audio track if you only listen for a couple minutes.
But during a long interview in a conference room where the team explained the ins and outs of their product, they turned off the cabin in the woods-themed audio that had been gently playing the whole time. The silence was weirdly stressful, the way conference rooms usually are.
(Pocket-lint) – The joy of cycling is that it’s an accessible sport that allows you to travel relatively long distances in a short amount of time. Well, at least that’s how it starts, but once bitten by the bug there are usually two questions that dominate riders’ thoughts: “how do I go further?”, and “how do I go faster?”
This is where deep pockets and a sympathetic or unobservant significant other becomes necessary. It usually starts with a new bike, upgrading the wheels maybe, faster rolling tyres – all these are so obviously necessary and easily justifiable in your quest to beat your PBs.
Sure, your trusty bike computer tells you the results, and your heart monitor will give you some indication of how hard you were working, but to really see how much effort you’re putting in on the road, you need a power meter.
Once the preserve of the professional teams, power meters have come down in price and gone up in accuracy over the past 10 years, making them a popular and accessible upgrade for riders looking to step up their performance. So, how does the premium Garmin Vector 3 perform?
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Out of the box
Weight: 316g
Cleat type: Look Keo
Waterproof rating: IPX7
Adjustable release tension
Pedal-based power meters have long promised to deliver accurate power measurements to cyclists with the added convenience of being easily installable and swappable between bikes. Unfortunately, early investors found products that have been plagued with reliability problems, until now. Garmin has further refined its Vector 3 pedals to provide all the data you could ever need, accurate measurements and, crucially, reliability.
We’d been looking forward to testing the Vector 3 pedals, despite the fact that there are a number of negative reviews online. In spring 2020, Garmin released a new-and-improved battery compartment cover for their Vector 3 pedals – which has finally added the all-important factor of reliability to what was already undoubtedly a technically excellent power meter.
Pocket-lint
The Vector 3 pedals are shipped with a pair of basic red (9 degree float) Look Keo cleats, so you can get going straight away, though many people will want to upgrade to ones with less float.
Also included is a quick installation guide and the manual. If, like most people, you’re planning on installing the Vector 3 pedals yourself, you’re also going to need a 15mm spanner and some grease; as long as you have those it’s a simple enough job. Weighing in at 316 grams apiece, they’re about the same weight as the most basic Look or Shimano pedals, which considering the technology that is packed into them, is fairly remarkable.
Once you’ve got the Vector 3 pedals physically attached to your bike, you need to pair them with your bike computer (they are also compatible with some high-end Garmin watches) and set your crank length. It’s then possible to alter the data fields on your display to show all sorts of variations of power output as you ride.
Garmin Edge 1030 Plus cycling computer review: Data by the bucketload
One thing that isn’t clearly explained in the manual, however, is how to calibrate the Vector 3 pedals – which Garmin support says you should do before each ride.
On the road
Communication: ANT+ & Bluetooth
Battery type: LR44/SR44 (x4)
Battery life: 120 hours
Accuracy: +/- 1.0%
Out on the road the pedals do precisely what they should. As straight pedals, they are unobtrusive to the point that we forgot they were there, which is exactly as we think it should be for this kind of tech.
Pocket-lint
We found clipping in and out was just as you would expect – unless you’re unfamiliar with Look Kleo anyway! – and they had good clearance, even when cornering more aggressively. We tested them extensively in the wet and cold, commuting through the winter grit and grime as well as the lanes at weekends, and they worked flawlessly no matter the weather.
The IPX7 protection means these pedals won’t be bothered by hours of road spray, or indeed a full dunking if you have to traverse a flooded road. Garmin’s battery cover has been redesigned and stands up to the rigours of real-life riding.
One niggle is that the pedals do not have a rechargeable battery option – which we would have liked to have seen over the single use LR44 batteries.
Connectivity and Garmin Connect
Once you’re off the Vector 3 power meter provides near instant power data to our bike computer. That’s allowed us to pace TT efforts and perform interval training on the track and road. To check the power reading we hooked the bike up to a Wahoo Kickr and found that the pedals recorded power at a consistent 10W higher. It’s usual to find discrepancies like this between power meter measurements, but crucially they tracked each other’s power consistently.
Pocket-lint
Through your bike computer – and the Vector 3 pedals are compatible with all the major players – you can choose to display a range of data beyond just straight power output, including your watts per kilogram (W/KG), power as a percentage of your FTP (Functional Threshold Power), average power per lap – the list goes on and covers pretty much every realistic scenario we could think of.
Beyond this Garmin provides a rich seam of data for post-ride analysis that will appeal to many riders looking to improve their technique, but only if you’re using a Garmin Edge computer or compatible watch. Through these you’ll be able to record and analyse your ride’s power cycling dynamics.
The data covers a wide variety of areas, including cadence, left/right power balance, time spent seated/standing, your power phase (showing the angles of rotation of the pedal that you are generating different levels of power at) – again, the list goes on.
It’s worth noting that this is only available on the Vector 3 pedals, not the single-sided and more affordable Vector 3S model.
How useful this data will be will vary from rider to rider, but there’s no doubt that Garmin present the data in an accessible way through the Garmin Connect app. If you want to train to increase your power to weight ratio then it’s not going to be an overnight journey, you’ll need to put the structure and planning into place.
If you have more cycling sensors to pair with your setup then you can derive yet more data too. Garmin will know your power output and can detail recovery, based on your profile build in Garmin Connect. A heart-rate monitor and blood oxygen read can also factor into this.
Pocket-lint
You are also able to analyse at what phase of your pedal stroke you are applying the greatest power. We found this data interesting to see and to think about, but there is no definitive ‘right’ answer to how this should be.
Platform offset was again interesting, but no amount of cleat tweaking seemed to change the +2mm that our right foot was off from centre. And herein lies the danger of so much data: how much time one should spend trying to adapt with newly enhanced knowledge.
Verdict
Despite some early poor reviews for the Vector 3 pedals, we found them – in their 2020 guise, with updated battery cover – to be excellent and consistent performers.
If you already own a Garmin bike computer you will get access to the full range of cycling dynamics, but be aware that outside of Garmin’s ecosystem you will only see basic power data.
Aside from Garmin choosing single-use batteries over a rechargeable option, we whole heartedly recommend the Vector 3 power meter if that’s the kind of data you want to gather to help improve your potential.
Alternatives to consider
Favero
Favero Assioma DUO Power Meter Pedals
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With the added convenience of rechargeable batteries, the Favero Assioma offers many of the same features and value for money.
Quarq
PowerTap P2 Power Pedals
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These reliable pedals are a popular choice for many, but lag behind the Garmin Vector 3 pedals in the data stakes.
Niantic, developer of the smash hit Pokémon Go, has announced a new partnership with Nintendo. The first new game from the collaboration will be a mobile augmented reality game based on Nintendo’s popular Pikmin franchise, and it will launch later this year.
Details are thin right now, but Niantic says that “the app will include gameplay activities to encourage walking and make walking more delightful.” If you want to receive more information about the new game as it’s available, you can sign up here to get updates. The new Pikmin AR game will be the first developed by Niantic’s Tokyo Studio.
“Niantic’s AR technology has made it possible for us to experience the world as if Pikmin are secretly living all around us”, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto said in a statement. “Based on the theme of making walking fun, our mission is to provide people a new experience that’s different from traditional games. We hope that the Pikmin and this app will become a partner in your life.”
The Pikmin franchise is all about exploring a very Earth-like planet with packs of the adorable Pikmin creatures, so a Niantic-made Pikmin game about walking and exploring the world around you makes a lot of sense. The latest game in the Pikmin series is the Nintendo Switch’s Pikmin 3 Deluxe, an upgraded version of the 2013 game first released for the Wii U.
Niantic didn’t say what other games it will be making with Nintendo, but it sounds like the two companies have secured some kind of long-term partnership. “We’re honored that Nintendo has chosen Niantic to be its publisher of real-world AR applications,” Niantic said. More details about upcoming apps will be revealed “in the coming months.”
Niantic is best-known for Pokémon Go, the hugely popular mobile AR game released in July 2016. The game is still quite popular despite being nearly five years old, although Niantic has had to make some changes to the game while many have been staying inside due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those changes didn’t stop Pokémon Go from generating money hand over fist, however — 2020 was the game’s biggest year yet, surpassing $1 billion in revenue as of November, according to app analytics firm Sensor Tower.
Tinder is partnering with Lyft to offer the ability to gift rides to dates without having to leave the Tinder app. It’s a small convenience if you already have the Lyft app downloaded, but like adding video chat in the app, it’s one less reason to switch your focus away from your match and to another app.
There’s no firm release date for the Lyft integration other than it’s “slated to roll out in the coming months” and Tinder has no visuals to share yet for how it will work in the app. Tinder does say that Lyft’s usual safety features like location sharing with family and friends will be available from the Lyft app for gifted rides.
Adding Lyft rides could be convenient, but there are some potential scenarios to be concerned about. It’s not clear at what point you’re able to order a ride, or whether both you and the person you matched with have to agree. It would be annoying (not to mention a little unsettling) for both the person you matched with in Tinder and the Lyft driver if you called a ride and they didn’t actually want it.
When asked for more details, Tinder declined and said more information would be available in the coming months. Until then, Zoom dates or Tinder’s built-in trivia feature might be the way to go.
Samsung is reportedly working on a double-folding phone to add to its lineup, according to Nikkei Asia (via 9to5Google). According to the article, the phone would fold into three segments using two hinges and could be announced “as early as the end of this year.” The phone would be a third option in Samsung’s foldable lineup, joining the Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip, both of which are also expected to appear in new versions this year.
According to the report, the design is still being finalized, but Nikkei’s sources say its screen could have a more standard 16:9 or 18:9 aspect ratio, making it easier for app makers to design for than the 25:9 screen found on the Z Fold.
We’ve seen phones with multiple folds before: Xiaomi’s folding phone prototype folded at two points, but the company has reportedly adopted a more Galaxy Fold-like design for its upcoming foldable. Huawei’s Mate X2 foldable also uses a similar design to Samsung’s. It would be a bit ironic, then, if Samsung’s working on a double-folding design after others adopted its single-fold style.
It’s possible that Samsung is introducing the new type of foldable to ease its power users into a transition to the form factor. Samsung says it might be skipping a new Galaxy Note this year but wasn’t exactly clear on why. There was talk of streamlining its phone offerings and of the global chip shortage, but this could be a test to see if Note users are ready for the fold. By giving customers three foldable options to choose from, Samsung could be trying to make it as likely as possible that people will find one that works for them.
It’s likely the multifold phone’s release will depend on whether Samsung can figure out how to navigate the chip shortages that have been affecting the entire industry. Folding phones are already more difficult to make than standard smartphones, and if Samsung’s not able to get the chips it needs, it could push the company’s plans back. Still, it’s exciting to hear that Samsung is working on a third type of foldable, as it indicates that Samsung still sees the form factor as the future.
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