Starting at $329, Apple’s most affordable iPad model comes at a very attractive price — but if you have been holding off in the hopes of buying it at an even better price, your patience has paid off. At Amazon and Walmart (in select colors), you can buy a 32GB model for $299; you can also get it for $300 at Best Buy. This is the lowest price we have seen for this model to date. If you need a little bit more storage, you can grab the 128GB model at Best Buy for $380.
While its design looks similar to its predecessor, the 2020 iPad model features a faster A12 Bionic processor.
Over at OnePlus’ website, now until February 17th, the company has a few discounts going. Most notably, you can grab an unlocked OnePlus 8 Pro with 12GB of RAM 256GB of storage for $799 ($200 off). If you buy the phone directly from the OnePlus website, you will also receive an Urban backpack at no additional cost.
OnePlus 8 Pro
$799
$999
21% off
Prices taken at time of publishing.
OnePlus’ current flagship smartphone has a 6.78-inch 3168 x 1440 screen and a 120Hz refresh rate.
$799
at OnePlus
Ori and the Blind Forest and its sequel, the Will of the Wisps, are 2D Metroidvania platformer titles known for their stunning visuals. Both games are available on Microsoft’s subscription service, Xbox Game Pass. If you don’t have a subscription or want to own the games in your digital library, you can grab Ori: The Collection for $12 at the Microsoft Store — that’s roughly $24 off its usual price of $35. The compilation includes both titles and is compatible with the Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X / S.
Ori: The Collection
$12
$35
68% off
Prices taken at time of publishing.
A compilation featuring copies of Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
$12
at Microsoft
Sling TV, Dish’s streaming service, recently increased its price to $35 per month. If you are interested in trying the service with no strings attached, Sling TV new customers free viewing between 5PM ET and midnight until February 14th. No credit card is required.
Additionally, if you’re a new customer and want to continue using the service, Sling TV is offering a $25 discount on the first month if you decide to purchase a Sling Orange or Blue package. Alternatively, you can choose an option to receive an AirTV Mini at no additional cost if you shell out $35 in your first month.
Google’s newest Chromecast with Google TV video streamer has received a chunky firmware update.
According to 9to5google, the update brings improved 4K support for both TVs and AV receivers, including improved Dolby Atmos and Dolby Digital Plus passthrough.
The Google changelog (200918.033) doesn’t go into much detail, but the update is set to fix the ‘Data is corrupt’ bug that a few owners have experienced and that requires a full reset.
Some users have also reported that the dongle doesn’t trigger Dolby Atmos audio when streaming content from Disney+, only when streaming from Netflix and Prime Video. Fingers crossed the update addresses this.
Sadly, there’s still no sign of the Apple TV app but Google has promised to add it to the device sometime in “early 2021”.
The update is available now and should be delivered to your Chromecast with Google TV automatically. Want to do it manually? Hold the home button, select system update in the settings menu, and the device should seek out the latest firmware.
If you’re in the market for a streaming stick, the Chromecast with Google TV is well worth considering. Under review we called it “one of the best video streamers available” thanks to the excellent Google TV platform and voice remote. In fact, our only real gripe was the lack of Apple content, which should be resolved shortly.
MORE:
Everything you need to know about Google Chromecast
Our pick of the best media streamers and TV streaming devices
Fancy a smart speaker? Best Google Assistant speakers on the market
The brains behind smartphone brand OnePlus has created a new London-based consumer tech outfit. Nothing – for that is the name of his company – is expected to launch a slew of devices this summer including a pair of wireless earbuds.
“We’re building an ecosystem of smart devices,” Carl Pei said in an interview with Bloomberg. “We’ll start with simpler products, wireless earbuds. We’re going to have multiple products throughout the year, not just audio products, and eventually, we want to build it so these devices talk to each other.”
Despite its embryonic state, Nothing has already attracted investment from the likes Alphabet Inc (Google’s venture capital arm), Kevin Lin (founder of Twitch), Steve Huffman (CEO of Reddit) and Tony Fadell (inventor of the iPod).
The tech guru hasn’t dropped any hints as to the design or spec of Nothing’s wireless earbuds, but the company’s website does offer some clues. Nothing says it’s determined to hit a “giant reset button”, “start from scratch” and “rethink everything” to reach its goals.
Meanwhile, OnePlus unveiled its first wireless earbuds last Summer. The budget OnePlus Buds offer noise-cancelling, 10 hours playback and Dolby Atmos support for £79 ($79, €89). Pei left OnePlus shortly after in what’s been called an “amicable” departure.
One thing’s for sure: Nothing won’t be short of competitors. From the Apple AirPods (2019) to the Sony WF-1000XM3 and the newly-unveiled KEF Mu3 buds, those who want wireless earbuds are spoilt for choice.
MORE:
Buddy up with the the best wireless earbuds: budget and premium
Our pick of the best AirPods alternatives
Need some peace and quiet? Check out the best wireless noise-cancelling headphones
Has the resurgence of vinyl got you excited? Perhaps you’re a lapsed lover of the big, groovy discs, with a collection in the loft just begging to have the cobwebs blown away – or maybe a newcomer looking to inject a little analogue into your current, exclusively digital musical diet.
But what if you don’t have a traditional hi-fi system to which you can simply connect a turntable? Or your current sound system is more geared towards TV sound, home cinema or multi-room?
Actually, in practically all of these cases, adding a turntable is remarkably easy – as long as you know the type of turntable you’re looking for. To help you, we’ve selected four non-traditional audio systems and outlined the sort of turntables you should be looking at and how to connect them.
We’ve even given specific examples of turntables to check out, so you’ll know exactly which model will work with your setup. Read on, you’re only a few steps away from vinyl nirvana…
How to add a turntable to a soundbar or soundbase
If the only audio system you’ve got is a soundbar or soundbase connected to your TV, you might be tempted to assume that adding a turntable simply isn’t on the cards – but you’d be wrong. In fact, with most soundbars and soundbases it’s a simple process; just choose the correct turntable, depending on which soundbar or soundbase you have.
Let’s use a couple of our 2020 Award winners as examples (we’ll tackle the Sonos Beam and Arc in the dedicated section below): both the Yamaha YAS-207 and Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar have a stereo analogue input in the form of a pair of standard RCA terminals. That means you can add any turntable that has a phono stage built-in, or any standard turntable via an external phono stage.
We’ll guess that at least part of your reason for choosing a soundbar or soundbase audio system was the neatness it offered, and you’re probably keen to avoid adding too many extra devices and their accompanying cables. So, we’re going to stick with turntables that have integrated phono stages for our recommendations. And, while these devices sound great for soundbars and soundbases, most don’t have the hi-fi credentials to make the most of serious, high-end kit, so it’s not worth spending a fortune on your new turntable.
With all of that in mind, we think the Audio-Technica AT-LP3 would be the best turntable to add to almost any soundbar or soundbase. It costs just £149, is simple to set up and sounds so good we gave it an Award. It has an integrated phono stage so you can connect it directly to any standard pair of stereo analogue terminals.
And if you simply can’t stomach the idea of adding any extra cables to your system, you could consider a turntable that outputs via Bluetooth, which most soundbars and soundbases (including the two mentioned above) can receive. Good-sounding Bluetooth turntables are still rather rare, and there’s an inevitable drop-off in sound quality compared to using cables, but if that’s the route you want to go down you could take a look at Sony’s five-star PS-LX310BT (£200), or if you really want to splash the cash then there’s the £1499 Cambridge Audio Alva TT.
How to add a turntable to an AV receiver
The great thing about an AV receiver (or AV amplifier) is that it has lots of inputs for all manner of audio and video devices, and connecting a turntable is not a problem. In fact, many AV receivers have a built-in phono stage, allowing you to connect any standard turntable directly. All of Denon’s current line of AV receivers have a phono stage, for example – simply connect your new deck to the ‘phono’ input and you’re sorted.
However, the phono stage of an AV receiver will often fall short of the performance of an external phono stage or one built into a turntable. It’s worth taking this into account if you’re serious about sound quality.
(If you do decide to add a turntable with a built-in phono stage or use an external phono stage, you need to avoid the phono input on your receiver and use one of the standard pairs of RCA terminals).
In terms of recommendations, let’s again look at our Award-winning AV receivers. For the Denon AVR-X3700H (tested at £999), we’d recommend the Rega Planar 1 Plus (£329); it’s Rega’s entry-level turntable in integrated phono stage form.
The Denon AVC-X6700H (available for £2299) is capable of making the most of a higher-end turntable – we’d suggest the Rega Planar 3 with the Elys 2 cartridge (£649). You could connect this directly to the amp’s phono input, but you’ll get more out of the set-up if you also add a dedicated phono stage. Rega’s own Fono MM MK3 (£199) is a strong choice.
The multi-Award-winning Sony STR-DN1080 doesn’t have a phono stage, but as we’ve suggested ignoring those of the Denons above, that’s no barrier to vinyl enjoyment. Here, we’d suggest the Sony PS-HX500 (£279), which will be a nice aesthetic match to the amp, sounds great, has an integrated phono stage and will even let you rip your vinyl to hi-res digital files via USB.
How to add a turntable to a Sonos system
A multi-room streaming system and turntable might not immediately sound like perfect bedfellows, but it’s surprisingly easy to add vinyl to Sonos – and if you do so you can hear your records in every room of the house.
You need one of the Sonos units with a standard pair of stereo analogue terminals. That means having a Play:5 (for which you’ll also need an RCA-to-3.5mm adapter), Connect (or older ZP80 or ZP90), Connect:Amp (or older ZP100 or ZP120) or the new Sonos Amp. None of these has a built-in phono stage, so you’ll need a turntable that has one integrated, or buy an external phono stage at the same time.
For the Sonos, we’d suggest the Sony PS-HX500, particularly if you’re connecting to the Sonos Amp, which is sonically capable enough to make more of the Sony’s musical talents. Connect the turntable to any of the Sonos devices listed above, and whatever vinyl you play on it can be streamed to every other Sonos in the house.
What if you’ve got a multi-room system that isn’t Sonos? Most offer a similar route to turntable integration. The majority of Bluesound’s players have standard stereo RCA inputs, as do Audio Pro’s C5 and C10 speakers, and both systems support multi-room playback of your vinyl.
How to add a turntable to a wireless speaker
If your existing music system consists of a simple wireless speaker, there’s still every chance that you’ll be able to connect a turntable.
To do it ‘properly’, you want a wireless speaker with an analogue stereo input (whether that’s a pair of RCA terminals or a 3.5mm socket that will require an inexpensive adapter), and all of our 2020 Award-winners (the JBL Flip 5, Audio Pro Addon C3, Audio Pro Addon C10 and Naim Mu-so Qb 2nd Generation) have just that. In those cases we’d again suggest you check out the plug-and-play Audio-Technica AT-LP3.
And even if your wireless speaker is entirely lacking physical inputs, you can connect a Bluetooth turntable such as the Sony PS-LX310BT, which we gave five stars for both its wired and wireless audio talents.
In short, practically any wireless speaker can be connected to a turntable. The notable exceptions are the Sonos One, Play:1 and Play:3 (which can still receive streams from your turntable via another Sonos unit – see above) and the Apple HomePod.
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Belt drive and direct drive turntables: everything you need to know
Apple is working with TSMC to develop ultra-thin and energy-efficient micro OLED displays for its upcoming augmented reality devices, Nikkei Asia is reporting. The R&D project is said to be in a trial production stage, focusing on displays that are smaller than one inch in size and “several years” away from commercialization. Apple is also said to be developing MicroLED displays at the same Apple lab in Taiwan.
According to Nikkei, the micro OLED displays in development are able to be so thin and compact because they’re built directly onto chip wafers, rather than glass like traditional OLED or LCD screens. News of the project follows reports that Apple has both VR and AR headsets in development. It could release its first VR headset (codenamed N301) as early as next year, while a more lightweight pair of AR glasses (codenamed N421) could follow in 2023. N301 reportedly features two 8K displays and a fabric exterior to cut down on its weight, while future headsets could eventually use this new panel technology to become slimmer and lighter.
A mockup showing what Apple’s VR headset could look like.Image: The Information
As well as working on micro OLED, Nikkei reports that Apple is also working on MicroLED display technology at the same secretive lab in Taiwan. These self-emissive panels, which use miniature LEDs to remove the need for a traditional backlight, could eventually end up in devices like the Apple Watch, iPad, and MacBooks. Samsung already sells a MicroLED TV called The Wall, though the technology is a long way from being mainstream or affordable.
As a sidenote: micro OLED and MicroLED are distinct from Mini-LED, which uses an array of LEDs as a backlight behind a more traditional LCD display. Mini-LED technology is already available in TVs from the likes of TCL, and Apple is also reportedly working to bring it to devices like iPads and MacBooks in the not-too-distant future.
According to Nikkei, Apple’s R&D efforts are an attempt to reduce its reliance on other companies, like Samsung, to supply its displays. The iPhone 12’s OLED display is thought to be its second most expensive third-party component behind its Qualcomm 5G modem, for example. While Apple may end up using these technologies in its products, it could also just use its work to acquire technology patents, giving it more control over these next-gen technologies, Nikkei notes.
Apple isn’t the only company working to develop these display technologies. Sony Semiconductor Solutions has developed micro OLED displays for AR and VR headsets, while a partnership of BOE, Yunnan North OLiGHTEK Opto-Electronic Technology, and Kopin are also working together on the tech. Meanwhile, Samusung, BOE, and San’an Optoelectronics are also working to commercialize MicroLED displays.
Apple is bringing accident, hazard, and speed check reporting to Apple Maps. The feature is currently only available to users with the iOS 14.5 beta, and is similar to user-reporting features found in Waze and Google Maps.
When you’re using the feature, you (or preferably a passenger) can press a new Report button in the bottom tray, and select what type of incident or hazard you’re reporting. You can even do this using Siri: I was also able to say “there’s a speed trap here” or “there’s something on the road.” MacRumors shows that the interface is available on the CarPlay version of Maps, too.
Apple Maps will give you a confirmation that your report has been submitted.Screenshot: The Verge
This user-centric reporting feature is now something that all the major maps app either have, or have in development. While this feature was popularized with Waze, it’s been available in Google Maps since April of 2019, so Apple is playing catch-up here (like it’s also trying to do by adding user-generated photos and reviews to Maps). It is worth noting, though, that Apple’s version has way fewer options as of today — Google’s, shown below, is much more in-depth.
Google’s report interface has more options for hazard/incident types.Screenshot: The Verge
There is one strange thing to point out with Apple’s version, and it has nothing to do with the fact that the feature is in beta. You may have noticed in the Google Maps screenshot that Apple’s and Google’s icons for accidents and speed traps look very similar. Here are Apple’s again for comparison:
These are Apple’s icons. See the similarities?Screenshot: The Verge
Apple has launched a new, free battery replacement program for 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pros that won’t charge past one percent. The issue affects “a very small number of customers,” according to Apple.
If your battery is affected, you’ll see a “Service Recommended” message when checking the battery health status. “If the status indicates that your battery is Normal, your battery is not affected by this issue,” Apple says.
To get the battery replacement started, contact Apple support. The company will examine your Mac prior to servicing it to “verify that it is eligible for the free battery replacement,” Apple says.
Earlier on Tuesday, Apple released macOS Big Sur 11.2.1, which is also intended to help fix charging issues with some 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pros. Apple recommends updating your computer to that or the macOS Catalina 10.15.7 supplemental update.
Satechi has launched a double-sided charger that can wirelessly charge an Apple Watch or AirPods — but not both at once — while hopefully saving you from the added clutter of extra cables. The Satechi USB-C Watch AirPods Charger features a Qi charging pad shaped like an AirPods Pro charging case on one side, and a charging “puck” for an Apple Watch on the other. The charger is available now, exclusively from Apple for $49.95.
Satechi’s new charger has an aluminum build, white finish, and a small charging indicator light that fits right in with Apple’s minimalist product design. Because of the reversible nature of USB-C, switching between Apple Watch and AirPods charging only requires pulling the charger out, flipping it over, and plugging it back in. It can’t charge both your Watch and AirPods at the same time like some other charging stands or pads, but hopefully the compact size is worth the cost of that added convenience.
Having a charger jutting out of your laptop or tablet of course has its own risks — I’d definitely worry about situations where it might snap off. Then again, Apple’s guilty of designing its own ridiculous charging set-ups, like it did with the original Apple Pencil. Satechi’s not that extreme, and it definitely seems convenient.
Satechi’s wireless charger can also be plugged into a wall outlet with an adapter.Image: Satechi
Last August, the routine story of a trademark opposition captured the world’s imagination, when Apple declared that Super Healthy Kids (yes, that’s the real name of a company) shouldn’t be allowed to trademark its pear logo because it might “cause dilution of the distinctiveness” of Apple’s own famous fruit-shaped intellectual property.
Six months later, the case is now settled, and it seems Apple didn’t actually have a pear-shaped problem after all — because Super Healthy Kids has agreed to change the shape of the leaf atop that pear, and Apple has agreed that’s good enough to let the trademark go forward.
Prepear’s new logo has a half-moon shaped leaf, instead of the pointed oval.USPTO
Apple has already consented to the settlement, according to documents filed at the USPTO.
“Prepear is pleased to announce that it has amicably resolved its trademark issue with Apple,” company co-founder Russ Monson tells The Verge, adding that it plans to change its app logo in the coming weeks. The app’s website already features the new leaf.
Monson’s “Save the Pear from Apple!” petition at Change.org wound up getting 269,650 signatures.
Who needs an Apple car when you’ve got one with four legs? Hyundai, which recently acquired a controlling stake in robot maker Boston Dynamics, rolled out a new version of its four-legged “walking car” concept that it first unveiled in 2019.
Hyundai is calling it TIGER, which stands for “Transforming Intelligent Ground Excursion Robot.” It’s the second vehicle to come out of the automaker’s Ultimate Mobility Vehicles studio in Silicon Valley, and the first designed to be fully autonomous, with no space for drivers or passengers. It’s like a real-life Transformer, but without the “bent on world domination” vibe.
In fact, Hyundai actually thinks its four-legged vehicles have the potential to make the world a better place. The vehicles are designed specifically to access remote locations for missions related to scientific exploration, or to deliver food or medical supplies during a natural disaster or other emergency.
But how does it work? TIGER has four “legs,” each with a series of joints, enabling the vehicle to mimic both mammalian and reptilian walking gaits. According to Hyundai:
Based on a modular platform architecture, its features include a sophisticated leg and wheel locomotion system, 360-degree directional control, and a range of sensors for remote observation. It is also intended to connect to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which can fully charge and deliver TIGER to inaccessible locations…
With its legs retracted, TIGER drives like an all-wheel drive vehicle and is in its most efficient mode because it moves by rolling traction. But when the vehicle gets stuck or needs to travel over terrain that is difficult or impassable for wheels alone, it uses its walking ability to get unstuck or more easily travel over that terrain.
If you’re getting a strong Mars Rover vibe off this thing, that’s on purpose: Hyundai thinks the technology underpinning this vehicle could make it ripe for an interplanetary mission. The walking car can traverse uneven terrain, climb a wall, step over a gap, and spread its legs to a 15-foot-wide track width — all while keeping its main cabin (and cargo) level. When not in the field, the vehicle’s legs are stowed underneath and can be driven like a normal off-roading vehicle.
But TIGER is just a proof of concept, and there’s no guarantee that Hyundai will put it into production. That said, the South Korean automaker expects “this new class of vehicles to grow rapidly over the coming years,” and is also working on other UMV concept cars for other use cases, a spokesperson said.
The first four-legged concept, called Elevate, was designed to carry passengers, while TIGER is meant to be completely uncrewed — no driver and no passengers. And while they may share some characteristics with Boston Dynamics’ robot dog, Spot, neither concept was designed with any input from the robotics firm that Hyundai recently acquired.
Hyundai was in consideration as a manufacturing partner for Apple, which is planning on launching its own electric and autonomous vehicle. However, those talks broke down recently and Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia have sought to downplay rumors it was working with the tech giant.
CBS All Access is set to transform into Paramount Plus on March 4th, but you won’t be able to watch it if you own a second- or third-generation Apple TV. The company announced that it won’t update its app for those devices when the streaming service relaunches next month, as spotted by MacRumors.
Image: MacRumors
The announcement makes CBS All Access / Paramount Plus the latest service to end support for the set-top box. YouTube announced that it will drop support starting next month, while HBO dropped the aging streaming boxes last year. The second-gen Apple TV is over a decade old (it launched in 2010), while the third-generation version was released in 2012, so it’s understandable that we’re starting to see a wave of deprecated apps.
Users will still be able to stream Paramount Plus to older Apple TVs using an iPad or iPhone, however, so they won’t be completely locked out of their content.
Unlike the more recent Apple TV models (starting from 2015 and onward), which feature modern software and an App Store that makes it simple for developers to continue to update their apps, the older Apple TV models generally only saw updates to individual streaming applications when Apple updated the entire operating system — an increasingly rare occurrence these days.
The sunsetting of the CBS app on older TVs isn’t the only change the Paramount Plus transition is causing: 9to5Mac also notes that the company no longer offers its discounted CBS All Access and Showtime bundle for Apple TV Plus subscribers.
After years of niche positioning in the music world, “high-resolution audio” (or “hi-res audio”) finally hit the mainstream, thanks to a huge raft of support in streaming services (such as Tidal and Amazon Music HD) and products (from smartphones to most digital hi-fi components).
So why should you care about hi-res audio? If you want the best digital music experience possible or at least better sound quality than you’re currently used to (and why wouldn’t you?), hi-res audio is definitely worth investigating.
It can be a daunting prospect. After all, what exactly constitutes hi-res audio, what do all the different file formats and numbers mean, where can you download or stream these high quality files, and what devices do you need to play it?
Indeed, where do you even begin?
That’s where we come in. Our handy guide will take you through the ins and outs of hi-res audio. By the end, we hope you’ll know everything you need to know (and then some) and will be well on your way to enjoying your new and improved sonic lifestyle.
50 of the best hi-fi albums for audiophiles
What is high-resolution audio?
Unlike high-definition video, there’s no single universal standard for hi-res audio. In 2014, the Digital Entertainment Group, Consumer Electronics Association and The Recording Academy, together with record labels, formally defined high-resolution audio as “lossless audio that is capable of reproducing the full range of sound from recordings that have been mastered from better than CD quality music sources”.
In its simplest terms, hi-res audio tends to refer to music files that have a higher sampling frequency and/or bit depth than CD, which is specified at 16-bit/44.1kHz.
Sampling frequency (or sample rate) refers to the number of times samples of the signal are taken per second during the analogue-to-digital conversion process. The more bits there are, the more accurately the signal can be measured in the first instance, so going 16bit to 24bit can deliver a noticeable leap in quality. Hi-res audio files usually use a sampling frequency of 96kHz or 192kHz at 24bit. You can also have 88.2kHz and 176.4kHz files too.
Hi-res audio does come with a downside though: file size. A hi-res file can typically be tens of megabytes in size, and a few tracks can quickly eat up the storage on your device or be cumbersome to stream over your wi-fi or mobile network. Thankfully, storage is much cheaper than it used to be, so it’s easier to get higher-capacity devices. And technologies such as MQA (see below) have arrived to help tackle that.
That’s not all: there are also several different hi-res audio file formats to choose from, all of which have their own compatibility requirements.
They include the popular FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) formats, both of which are compressed but in a way which means that, in theory, no information is lost. Other formats include the uncompressed WAV and AIFF formats, DSD (the format used for Super Audio CDs) and the more recent MQA (Master Quality Authenticated).
The relative merits of each of the formats can be argued, but the most crucial issue will be the file’s compatibility with your chosen products and software.
Here’s a breakdown of all the main file formats:
MP3 (not hi-res): Popular, lossy compressed format ensures small file size, but far from the best sound quality. Convenient for storing music on smartphones and iPods, but doesn’t support hi-res.
AAC (not hi-res): An alternative to MP3s, it’s lossy and compressed but sounds better. Used for iTunes downloads, Apple Music streaming (at 256kbps) and YouTube streaming.
WAV (hi-res): The standard format all CDs are encoded in. Great sound quality but it’s uncompressed, meaning huge file sizes (especially for hi-res files). It has poor metadata support (that is, album artwork, artist and song title information).
AIFF (hi-res): Apple’s alternative to WAV, with better metadata support. It is lossless and uncompressed (so big file sizes), but not massively popular.
FLAC (hi-res): This lossless compression format supports hi-res sample rates, takes up about half the space of WAV, and stores metadata. It’s royalty-free and widely supported (though not by Apple) and is considered the preferred format for downloading and storing hi-res albums.
ALAC (hi-res): Apple’s own lossless compression format also does hi-res, stores metadata and takes up half the space of WAV. An iTunes- and iOS-friendly alternative to FLAC.
DSD(hi-res): The single-bit format used for Super Audio CDs. It comes in 2.8MHz, 5.6mHz and 11.2mHz varieties, but isn’t widely supported.
MQA(hi-res): A lossless compression format that efficiently packages hi-res files with more emphasis on the time domain. Used for Tidal Masters hi-res streaming, and product support is picking up pace.
MP3, AAC, WAV, FLAC: all the audio file formats explained
What’s so good about hi-res audio?
The main claimed benefit of high-resolution audio files is superior sound quality over compressed audio formats such as MP3 and AAC.
Downloads from sites such as Amazon and iTunes, and streaming services such as Spotify, use compressed file formats with relatively low bitrates – such as 256kbps AAC files on Apple Music and 320kbps Ogg Vorbis streams on Spotify.
The use of lossy compression means data is lost in the encoding process, which in turn means resolution is sacrificed for the sake of convenience and smaller file sizes. This has an effect upon the sound quality – those formats aren’t telling the full story of our favourite songs.
This might be fine when you’re listening to Spotify playlists on your smartphone on the bus on the morning commute, but serious audiophiles and music fans should want better. This is where high-resolution audio comes in.
To illustrate why it should sound better than MP3, for example, let’s compare the relative bitrates. The highest quality MP3 has a bitrate of 320kbps, whereas a 24-bit/192kHz file has a data rate of 9216kbps. Music CDs are 1411kbps.
The hi-res 24-bit/96kHz or 24-bit/192kHz files should, therefore, more closely replicate the sound quality the musicians and engineers were working with in the studio. And they could be that very same recorded file, too. These files are labelled as “Studio Masters” in some cases.
With more information on the file to play with, hi-res audio tends to boast greater detail and texture, bringing listeners closer to the original performance – provided your system is transparent enough.
What do I need to play hi-res audio?
There’s a huge variety of products that can playback hi-res audio. It all depends on how big or small you want your system to be, how much your budget is, and what method you’ll mostly be using to listen to your tunes. But it’s never been easier to get involved, now that plenty of the digital and streaming ecosystem supports hi-res, and especially as popular streaming platforms such as Google Chromecast (although not AirPlay 2) do.
These days, even, you don’t have to completely abandon your vinyl collection to go hi-res, either; turntables such as the Sony PS-HX500 let you digitise your vinyl collection by ripping your record tracks into hi-res audio files.
Smartphones If you’re going portable, smartphones are increasingly supporting hi-res playback. This is restricted to higher-end Android models, though – Apple iPhones so far don’t support hi-res audio out of the box (though there are ways around this by using the right app, and then either plugging in a DAC or using Lightning headphones with the iPhones’ Lightning connector).
Phones that have USB-C sockets instead of 3.5mm headphones jacks for music playback – as is becoming the norm – can boost their USB-C output with adapters such as Zorloo’s Ztella USB-C DAC.
Hi-res audio is increasingly easy to stream wirelessly thanks to new advancements in Bluetooth. Phones with aptX HD Bluetooth support (which many these days have, although Apple’s iPhones are an exception) can wirelessly transmit hi-res audio to aptX HD-supporting headphones (such as the Sony WH-1000XM4 and WH-1000XM3 and Bowers & Wilkins PX7 noise-cancelling headphones).
aptX HD Bluetooth: What is it? How can you get it?
Portable music players Alternatively, there are plenty of dedicated portable hi-res music players such as various Sony Walkmans and Award-winning Astell & Kerns and Cowons that offer more storage space and far better sound quality than a multi-tasking smartphone. More digital players than not support hi-res audio, although again an Apple product is the exception, this time the iPod Touch.
Desktop For a desktop solution, your laptop (Windows, Mac, Linux) is a prime source for storing and playing hi-res music (after all, this is where you’ll be downloading the tunes from hi-res download sites anyway), but make sure the software you use to play music also supports hi-res playback. Apple iTunes, for instance, doesn’t support it, even if your MacBook does, so you’ll need to buy and download separate music playing software. The likes of Channel D’s Pure Music and Amarra are worth considering for a Mac. On a PC? Try JRiver Media Center.
DACs We wouldn’t just rely on your computer or phone’s internal DAC to do hi-res audio justice, either. A USB or desktop DAC (such as the Cyrus soundKey, Chord Mojo or Audiolab M-DAC nano) is a good way to get great sound quality out of hi-res files stored on your computer or smartphone (whose audio circuits don’t tend to be optimised for sound quality). Simply plug a decent digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) in between your source and headphones for an instant sonic boost.
Best DACs: USB, portable and desktop DAC
Music streamers
If you’re after a proper hi-fi set-up, you’ll need to look into music streamers that support hi-res, and highly recommendable contenders include the Audiolab 6000N Play, Cambridge CXN V2 and NAD C 658. This is especially if you’ll be storing your growing hi-res library on a NAS (Network Attached Storage, essentially a hard-drive with processing built in), which we would recommend.
Systems
There are plenty of other products that also support hi-res playback, including hybrid DAC-amp-streamer systems (Moon Neo Ace), speaker systems with everything built into them (KEF LS50 Wireless II), just-add-speaker systems (Marantz PM7000N) and current AV receivers (Sony STR-DN1080).
The ever-popular Sonos multi-room system still has no plans to support hi-res audio, and neither does Apple. But that has led rival companies such as Bluesound to offer hi-res playback across their range of connected products (for a higher price, of course).
Wireless speakers At the higher end of the wireless speaker market you’ll find hi-res support the norm. The likes of the Naim Mu-so Qb 2nd Generation, Linn Series 3 and Bowers & Wilkins Formation Wedge are all able to handle hi-res file playback over wi-fi.
Best wireless speakers 2021
Where can I buy and download hi-res music?
Now that you’re armed with all this information on hi-res music, your next question should be: where can I get all these glorious hi-res music tracks?
There are currently a handful of UK download sites that let you buy and download single tracks and full albums in various hi-res formats. There are also plenty of US and European sites, though not all of them let you purchase from the UK.
Major music labels such as Sony, Warner and Universal have made their extensive music catalogues available to these hi-res download services – which is a real shot in the arm for fans of high-resolution audio. With all sites, make sure it’s clear what file format and bitrate you are buying. Ultimately, you may end up with a favourite go-to site, but even then, it’s worth checking across the different sites for the same album or track, too, as some stores can offer better prices than others.
Here are the top UK hi-res download sites:
7Digital With a strong catalogue offering hi-res music from all genres and a website that makes buying music easy, 7digital is an excellent all-rounder. There’s an accurate search function and the website is simple to navigate. You can easily spot hi-res recordings thanks to a ’24bit FLAC’ badge on an album or song’s thumbnail, and there’s also a dedicated hi-res section. The sole drawback is that it only offers downloads in the FLAC format. Prices are affordable, though, and you can buy individual tracks as well as full albums.
Qobuz Sublime
Music discovery and front-end intuitiveness get full marks on French download store Qobuz. Both the website and dedicated app are easy to navigate, and you can search by genre or new releases, which can be sorted by sample rate. There is a strong Francophile focus, although the catalogue is growing more varied every day. Pricing is competitive, but if you opt for the hybrid download-and-streaming Sublime+ service you do get discounts when buying hi-res albums.
HDtracks
HDtracks may be one of the most established hi-res download stores, but it’s in need of a refresh in looks and catalogue. It can feel aimed at an older audience (there’s strong focus on jazz, classical and dad rock), which can be off-putting for wider audiences, especially fans of more current, popular music. On the other hand, whereas other download sites offer FLAC as default, HDtracks lets you choose between FLAC, ALAC, WAV and AIFF (and the sampling rate for each) before downloading. There’s a selection of DSD tunes, too, which is great for audiophiles.
How to build the perfect hi-fi system
Where can I stream hi-res music?
Not ready to download hi-res files, or simply prefer streaming? Tidal and Qobuz streaming services have offered hi-res and CD-quality streams for years, putting them ahead of rivals Spotify and Apple Music. And now that Amazon has joined the party with its HD service, hi-res streaming is now firmly in the mainstream domain.
Tidal Masters Tidal and MQA’s partnership has brought us one step closer to mainstream hi-res music streaming. You’ll need to subscribe to Tidal’s HiFi tier (which offers CD quality streaming) to unlock the Masters section, and then you can stream hi-res MQA files through the desktop app and Android/iOS mobile apps.
Tidal claims a 30,000-strong catalogue of MQA files, with about 400 clearly labelled. The MQA files have a resolution of up to 24-bit/96kHz (any 192kHz files will be unpackaged to 96kHz by MQA’s core decoding). With the right kit, the streamed tunes sound great, too. It’s a solid foundation from which the hi-res streaming experience can only evolve.
Qobuz Sublime+ Qobuz strikes again here and says its hybrid download-and-streaming tier is ‘”the best music subscription in the world.” This top-tier package offers hi-res streaming up to 24bit/192kHz files (as well as CD quality tracks) on its desktop and mobile apps, with its 50-million-track catalogue including more than 240,000 hi-res albums.
The big downside is the price – you have to pay an upfront £250 annual fee to use Sublime+ and all its perks (which does include good discounts when buying hi-res albums). And in comparison, we found Tidal offers more drive and dynamism when it comes to sound quality. Qobuz’s hi-res streaming tier is a great venture, but only if you’re fully committed to hi-res streaming.
Amazon Music HD The most recent entrant into the hi-res streaming service world is Amazon – and its arrival at the end of 2019 largely marked hi-res streaming going mainstream. The cheapest hi-res service of the three, the value-packed streaming service is up there with the best thanks to its Intuitive desktop and mobile apps, good CD-quality and hi-res library and excellent value.
What’s next for hi-res audio?
With more support than ever before, hi-res audio is a viable choice for anyone interested in audio quality, whether part of your home audio system or when on the move.
Whether the biggest players – Apple, Sonos and Spotify – will ever natively support hi-res remains to be seen, but there are plenty of other, increasingly affordable ways that you can start delving into the hi-res audio world. (Interestingly, 360-degree or surround sound formats such as Sony 360 Reality Audio and Dolby Atmos Music respectively are also making headway in offering higher quality, if not necessarily ‘hi-res’, music experiences, so they’re other options for melomaniacs to explore.)
With this wider availability, more people are able to learn and understand exactly what high-resolution audio is, and the benefits it can bring to music. There’s plenty of content out there, and there’s plenty of hardware to go with it.
So if you want the ultimate sonic solution, you know what to do.
MORE:
Where is Spotify Hi-Fi? And do we still want a lossless Spotify tier?
3 of the best high-res audio systems
Here’s a superb-sounding hi-fi system with streaming skills
Live concerts, gigs and festivals are still out as we march further into 2021, so the need to feel transported to somewhere more beautiful via melodies, lyrics and rhythms has rarely been felt more keenly. In short, music has never been in greater demand.
Whether you’re after a selection of sounds to help you get a good night’s sleep, tunes to entertain children at home or a selection of inspiring albums written in self-isolation, heading down to your local record shop and rifling through crates is off-menu right now. But that’s where streaming services like Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer and Apple Music come in. These offer a lockdown-approved lifeline at the click of a button – a chance to test-drive new tracks and try sounds before you buy.
Spotify isn’t our reigning champion when it comes to value, variety and audio quality, but its popularity and accessibility is undeniable. And the platform is always trying to offer something new, whether it be artist-led algorithms to better personalise your music recommendations, listing virtual events in lieu of real ones or giving Spotify account-holders a chance to ‘tip’ acts while listening – acts who are clearly losing gig revenue right now.
If you’ve ever used Spotify, you’ll know that typing ‘new music’ into the search bar will yield a selection of curated mainstream newness from the likes of Lady Gaga, Ella Eyre, Jake Bugg and Stormzy, (and New Music Friday UK is always a good playlist shout here) but what if you’re looking for something a bit different? That’s where we come in. Why not lend your and ear to a few of these slightly more niche curated playlists? It’ll make a change from the hi-res files stored on your laptop, whatever’s on the Astell & Kern, the playlist someone shared with you at the start of the first lockdown or the CDs you retrieved from your car glove box, at any rate…
See our Spotify review
Crate Diggers Anonymous
(Image credit: Spotify)
Imagine a record store (remember those?) in Las Vegas. Now imagine one in east London. Now think about popping into one in Bilbao for a crate rummage. What new and old LPs might you unearth? You could soon be spinning John Mayall, Led Zep, Kool and the Gang, Barry White or Weather Report, it depends. There’s no specific genre here. Click play. Let’s see.
33 Spotify tips, tricks and features
Anti Pop
(Image credit: Spotify)
Think beat-driven spitting segued with melodic, softly-sung but often edgy vocals – forget commercial pop music, there’s a message here if we’ll only listen. Expect new tracks from Curtis Waters (pictured) and ballads from Joji interspersed with hard rap from Kenny Mason and everything in between. If OutKast, Wu Tang Clan, Dave, Dungeon Family or Bel Biv DeVoe have ever featured in your heavy rotation, give this a spin. You’ll almost certainly learn something.
10 Apple Music playlists to listen to right now
Defected Records (Deep House)
(Image credit: Defected Records)
There’s a time and a place for house music, and that time is right now, in your actual house. Home entertainment remains the only entertainment for most of us, so go ahead and bring it home. Defected Records is a British independent record label specialising in deep house music and recordings, founded in 1998 and based in London. This playlist does exactly what it says on the tin, with over 25 hours of head-nodding tracks from the likes of FISHER, Gorgon City, Ferreck Dawn and Jack Back.
25 of the best podcasts on Spotify
(Image credit: Matt Berninger/Spotify)
American singer-songwriter Matt Berninger (frontman of indie rock band The National) curates and updates this playlist on a weekly basis. You might get Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Leonard Cohen or Interpol. And you might get Marilyn Monroe, Whitney Houston or even John Prine singing about a happy enchilada.
“Playlist themes subject to change according to moods and events,” is the cover description. We say, if you want someone to serve up the collective mood through the medium of music, subscribe.
Tidal vs Spotify: which is better?
Most Necessary
(Image credit: Spotify)
It’s like the ultimate new rap music label. Spotify describes this playlist as “the official voice of generation next”. If you’re looking for a soundtrack for your next virtual house party, Most Necessary gets it done. With one eye on the next huge hit-single and another on capturing a snapshot of the current vernacular, you’ll rarely hear a track that misses the mark. Expect new offerings from CJ, DaBaby, Lil Tecca, BRS Kash (pictured) and Toosii, for starters.
Spotify Connect: what is it? How can you get it?
Phonica Recommends (Home)
(Image credit: Phonica)
Independent UK record store Phonica only opened in London’s Soho in 2003, but it quickly became one of the capital’s most-loved vinyl specialists. Basically, if Phonica recommends it, that’s more than good enough for us.
Phonica’s Spotify page reads: “So much great music out there that we’ve decided to split up our recommended playlists into two: one for the club and one for home listening”.
So now you’ve got two extra playlists to add to your list, spanning everything from dub, reggae, nu jazz, soul and funk to broken beat and techno. Click the link below to access Phonica’s recommended ‘home’ playlist, or turn your abode into a particularly exclusive club for the night, with the Phonica Recommends (Club) selection.
Gold School
(Image credit: Spotify)
Vintage throwback hip-hop that strays from the well-explored coastal tracks and celebrates lesser-known heroes of the genre. Think Camp Lo, Big L and Mac Miller alongside Drake, Ghostface Killah, Eminem, 50 Cent (pictured) and Nas.
Got a pressing Zoom meeting or big grocery shop ahead? Get the cans on and stream this. You’re going to ace it.
Acoustic Covers
(Image credit: Spotify)
Discover Hozier’s laid-back cover of the Destiny’s Child classic Say My Name, John Mayer’s take on Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’ using just a mic and two guitars, or Teenage Dirtbag as you’ve never heard it before; sung not by Wheatus but by Ruston Kelly.
The moments of surprise, recognition and ultimately approval come thick and fast here. A staple go-to for when you just can’t decide what to listen to.
R&S – Office Favourites
(Image credit: R & S Records)
R&S Records is an independent record label founded in 1984 in Ghent, Belgium. R&S represents the initials of Renaat Vandepapeliere and Sabine Maes, the couple responsible for creating the label.
Expect heavier electronica, house and trance offerings from Richard Fearless or V interspersed with expansive soundscapes from Darkstar, Nautic or Axel Boman, alongside the occasional grime track from Novelist. It’ll easily double as your running playlist too, if you’re pushing your time.
Late Night Lofi
(Image credit: Lofi/Spotify)
Think laid-back chill-hop, juicy lo-fi beats, layered synthy vocals, classical and jazz-infused piano chords with crisp textures; ice clinking in a glass, rain on a window, crunchy leaves and even the brushing of teeth. It’s perfect for playing through the cans and relaxing, zoning out, getting ready to sleep or seeing you through a bout of insomnia ’til sunrise.
At 4am in New York, when (if?) Birdland calls time at the bar, you’ll finish your drink and talk about the price of a subway ticket versus a yellow taxi home to this playlist, one day…
The What Hi-Fi? Lockdown Playlist (and more)
(Image credit: Bobby Womack)
Shameless self-promotion aside, this surely beats another Brian Eno album. What you’ll get is a What Hi-Fi? curated playlist featuring five-and-a-half hours of tunes to celebrate staying healthy and not going out.
It’s all relatively upbeat – no lonesome crooning – and all the titles here are relevant to our shared predicament, tangentially or otherwise. Think Lost In The Supermarket by The Clash, Outkast’s So Fresh, So Clean, Iggy Pop’s I’m Bored and Music For A Nurse by Oceansize, for starters.
Treat yourself to the full experience on Spotify and Tidal.
Like what you hear? There’s plenty more where that came from. We also regularly curate a monthly playlist featuring the music we’ve been listening to (and testing with) over the past 30 days. To enjoy it via the streaming service of your choice, just click on the relevant link below and drink your fill.
Listen: What Hi-Fi?Spotify playlist 2021
Listen: What Hi-Fi? Tidal playlist March 2021
Listen: What Hi-Fi? Deezer playlist March 2021
Listen: What Hi-Fi? Qobuz playlist March 2021
MORE:
Now stream 11 of the best musical soundtracks to test your speakers
See the best music streaming services 2021: free streams to hi-res audio
Companies looking to make a name in podcasting have mostly done so by spending lots of money on flashy names, big acquisitions, and valuable content libraries. But increasingly, the audio itself, and the recording techniques used to capture it, are becoming the selling point.
Today, iHeart Media announced that it’s investing in binaural audio, also known as 3D audio, which effectively places listeners in the room of a recording and makes them feel like it’s happening around them. Listening to a show in 3D audio sounds like you’re in the scene and hearing things exactly as you would in real life because the microphones are often shaped like a human head or a pair of ears. This means the sounds hit your ears as they would normally, a zooming car, for example, might be louder in your right ear and then move to your left as it passes, slowly fading from your right. (The Verge’s audio director Andrew Marino published a ton of 3D audio clips here if you want some examples.)
iHeart is launching an entire slate of shows dedicated to the technique, under the name iHeart 3D Audio. It will feature programs made with Blumhouse Television as well as podcast creator and producer Aaron Mahnke.
The company has built three studios specifically equipped to handle 3D audio recording and employs a team of 12 producers who are trained in capturing binaural audio. By the end of 2021, iHeart plans to have 10 to 12 series produced with the technology, says Conal Byrne, president of the iHeartPodcast Network. The team also plans to host live radio events because iHeart owns hundreds of US radio stations, during which it’ll encourage listeners to don a pair of headphones to enjoy the binaural experience.
“I think a lot more should be in 3D audio than is,” Byrne says. “And so as we look across the slate of shows we have from A-to-Z, across 2021, most of those, there’s a 3D audio version that’s probably better than what [we’re] doing normally.”
Byrne sees the form as a tool for storytelling, sure, but also as a new way for sponsors to send a message — and another way for iHeart to differentiate itself from all the companies looking for brand partners.
“I think 3D audio to make a new kind of a 30-60-two minute ad could really kind of — I’m not going to suggest will reinvent podcast advertising — but could definitely push it further toward immersion,” he says. “So we’re going to offer that.”
iHeart isn’t the only network to harness 3D audio, and creators have been doing so for years. Indie network Paragon Collective has used the technology for some of its narrative shows as well, including The Oyster and Darkest Night.
“What I really like about 3D audio is it just sucks people in, so where I’ll use it a lot now is when a character’s whispering to another one, so you can get in their head, or it makes a huge difference when you’re using these sound effects on 3D audio and the user’s in the middle of the room,” says Alex Aldea, founder and CEO of Paragon.
Binaural could become more popular than ever for a few reasons. For one, it’s more immersive, which is good for getting people to listen and stick through a podcast. It’s also compatible with any pair of headphones, meaning listeners don’t need special equipment or software to enjoy it. And finally, narrative podcasts are booming with many networks looking to gain an audience for their shows and a way to differentiate themselves. If you try 3D audio and love it, you might look for more shows like it.
Another network, QCODE, which makes narrative shows with big-name stars, is looking to take the next step in podcast audio and create surround-sound experiences. The company tells The Verge it’s been mixing its shows in Dolby Atmos. Crucially, no major podcast apps support the standard yet, despite companies like Apple supporting it on their hardware devices, like the AirPods Pro, the HomePod, and Apple TV 4K. QCODE is essentially preparing for a day when podcast app makers are ready to support the standard.
“Creating these environments and this experience is going to be a really new thing, and a really positive one for this type of storytelling,” says Rob Herting, CEO at QCODE. “It’s not to say that it’s a replacement for good storytelling, and you can’t think of it like a gimmick, but I think when used well, it can be really, really impactful.”
Podcasts are increasingly becoming IP machines, or a way to make a story come to life and sell a potential film or TV adaptation. Surround sound and 3D audio are just the next steps in that journey to keep listeners tuned in and make podcasts seem even closer to the experience of watching something on the big screen.
The HP Spectre x360 has an attractive design and long battery life, though the 16:9 display feels dated. Its only performance downside is in bursty workloads, which we saw some issues with.
For
Sliim, attractive chassis
Solid speakers for a laptop
Long battery life
Still squeezes in a USB Type-A port
Against
16:9 display is dated, especially as a tablet
Not great with bursty performance
Difficult to upgrade
Sure, the
best ultrabooks and premium laptops
are tools, but you also want your computing device to look good. Design is important, after all.
The HP Spectre 360 13t ($949.99 to start, $1,249.99 as tested) continues to be one of the best-looking Windows devices out there, with a refined, thin design and clever port placement with both Thunderbolt 4 and USB Type-A.
But a tool also has to do the job well. With a 16:9 screen, the Spectre x360 can still, well, compute, but it doesn’t show as much as some others. And then there’s the question of whether or not this laptop can tame Intel’s latest Tiger Lake processors.
Design of the HP Spectre x360 13-inch
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HP’s Spectre lineup has had an aesthetic that would make a jeweler proud for the last few years. The Spectre x360 13t is no different there. The laptop, made from silver aluminum (it comes in black or blue for an extra cost), and has a reflective, modernized HP logo that I think the company should really start using on all of its products. But what makes it stand out are the cut-off corners near the back hinge, one of which has the power button while the other houses a Thunderbolt 4 port.
Those corners are always accessible, and easy enough to reach whether the laptop is being used as a notebook or a tablet.
The 13.3-inch display has very thin bezels, but looks short and squat with a 16:9 aspect ratio. As more notebooks move to taller 16:10 displays, like the
Dell XPS 13
and
MacBook Pro
or a 3:2 display like the
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3
, it makes the whole design here, not just the screen, seem a little cramped and dated. (HP does have a 3:2 Spectre x360 with the 14-inch version of this laptop, which we hope to be able to test soon.)
HP has packed in a full-size keyboard, including a row for home, page up, page down and end keys, and the rest of the construction is aluminum. This thing is built solid.
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While thicker notebooks may have more ports, HP hasn’t given up on USB Type-A here, which I really appreciate. The left side of the notebook has a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A with a drop-jaw hinge to squeeze it into the chassis, as well as a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The right side has two Thunderbolt 4 ports (one in the top-right corner), a kill switch for the camera, and a microSD card reader.
The Spectre x360 13 measures 12.08 x 7.66 x 0.67 inches and weighs 2.8 pounds. That makes it ever so slightly lighter than the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 9310, which is 2.9 pounds and 11.6 x 8.15 x 0.56 inches. The Asus ZenBook Flip S UX371 is a slighter 2.7 pounds and 12 x 7.3 x 0.6 inches. Apple’s MacBook Pro, a clamshell, is 3 pounds and 11.97 x 8.36 x 0.61 inches.
HP Spectre x360 13-inch Specifications
CPU
Intel Core i7-1165G7
Graphics
Intel Iris Xe Graphics
Memory
16GB LPDDR4X-4266
Storage
512GB PCIe NVMe SSD with 32GB Intel Optane
Display
13.3-inch, 1920 x 1080 IPS touchscreen
Networking
Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX 201 (2×2) and Bluetooth 5
Ports
2x Thunderbolt 4, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, Headphone/microphone jack, microSD card reader
Camera
720p IR
Battery
60 WHr
Power Adapter
65 W
Operating System
Windows 10 Home
Dimensions(WxDxH)
12.08 x 7.66 x 0.67 inches / 306.83 x 194.56 x 17.01 mm
Weight
2.8 pounds / 1.27 kg
Price (as configured)
$1,249.99
Productivity Performance HP Spectre x360 13-inch
The Spectre is the latest machine we’ve tested with Intel’s Core i7-1165G7 “Tiger Lake” mobile processors. Our configuration of the 2-in-1 has paired that with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB Intel SSD and 32GB of Intel Optane memory.
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On comparable versions of Geekbench 5, an overall performance benchmark, the Spectre had a single core-score of 1,574 and a multi-core score of 4,749. The ZenBook Flip S had a higher multi-core score (4,952) but a lower single-core score (1,512) with the same CPU. The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1, also with the same Core i7, has a far higher multi-core score (5,639) but a lower single-core score (1,532). On the same test, the MacBook Pro had a multi-core score of 5,925 and a single-core score of 1,316, and that was through Rosetta emulation that can decrease performance.
The Spectre transferred 25GB of files at a rate of 452.62 MBps, edging out the XPS 13 2-in-1. But the ZenBook Flip S out-performed here at 979.37
It took the Spectre x360 18 minutes and 39 seconds to complete our Handbrake test, which transcodes a 4K video to 1080p. That’s faster than the ZenBook, though the XPS 13 2-in-1 had it beat, while the MacBook Pro was more than five minutes faster than the Spectre, even through Rosetta 2 emulation.
We also ran the Spectre through our stress test, which runs Cinebench R23 twenty times on a loop. The results were largely in the high 3,000’s, occasionally peaking over 4,000. Towards the end, it was a bit erratic. The CPU ran at an average of 2.52 GHz and an average temperature of 64.88 degrees Celsius (148.78 degrees Fahrenheit). HWInfo’s monitoring software detected several instances of cores’ power limits being exceeded.
Display on the HP Spectre x360 13-inch Specifications
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Our review unit has a 13.3-inch, 1920 x 1080 touchscreen with a 16:9 aspect ratio. That seems a bit squat, even outdated, compared to some competitors, which have moved on to 16:10 or 3:2 displays that are taller and show more of your work at once. It’s also more natural for tablet mode.
Part of my testing included watching the trailer for The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Some explosions early in the trailer showed some intense burst of orange, though some scenes on a football field had fireworks that didn’t pop against the night sky as much as I would have liked to see. It’s usable, but not the best I’ve seen.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Spectre’s IPS display covered 67.7% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, in the range of the XPS 13 2-in-1 (70%). We reviewed the ZenBook Flip S with an OLED display that hit 113.1% (you can get the Spectre with OLED; see configurations below). Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro reached 78.3%.
HP’s display measured an average of 391 nits of brightness, beating the ZenBook, but falling short of the MacBook Pro and the XPS 13 2-in-1.
Keyboard and Touchpad on the HP Spectre x360 13-inch
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The keyboard on the Spectre x360 is comfortable, with a satisfying click (at least, as far as membranes go), that bounces up in a responsive fashion.
My bigger issue was the wristrest. The deck is a bit short, so my hands hung off it while I typed. I hit 88 words per minute on the 10fastfingers.com typing test, which is a bit low for me; I’m generally in the high 90’s. It wasn’t because of the keyboard, but because I was floating my wrists in the air. A taller screen would require a longer deck, which could help solve this.
I would prefer that the 4.4 x 2.2 inch touchpad be a bit taller, but there’s also not any room for that on the device. Still, the vertical height was slightly limiting, and I often hit the edge of it. That said, the precision touchpad is sensitive enough that I was able to perform gestures, even with four fingers, without any issues.
Audio on the HP Spectre x360 13-inch
For such a trim device, HP is offering up decent quality sound. The bottom-firing speakers, tuned by Bang & Olufsen, were clear with detailed sound. In Yellowcard’s “City of Devils,” the mix of violins, guitars, cymbals and drums were well leveled and textured, though, like many laptops, the bass wasn’t particularly perceptible.
The included Bang & Olufsen Audio control app helped that a bit when I switched to the Bass equalizer preset, but I preferred the overall mix of the default settings, which better highlighted the violins and vocals.
Upgradeability of the HP Spectre x360 13-inch
There are only two visible screws (a pair of Torx) on the bottom of the Spectre x360. If only things were that easy.
There are four additional Phillips-head screws beneath one of the laptop’s two adhesive-backed rubber feet. Removing the foot could potentially rip or tear it, making it difficult to replace later, so the average person probably shouldn’t attempt to open the laptop up.
Per HP’s maintenance manual for this laptop, the battery, Wi-Fi card and SSD are all replaceable if you do get in there, though the RAM is soldered down.
For most people, we recommend ensuring you get the configuration with enough storage and RAM to future proof it for you. Enthusiasts who can risk that rubber foot will find some upgradeable and repairable parts inside.
Battery Life on the HP Spectre x360 13-inch
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This 2-in-1 has some endurance. While it comes with a nice USB Type-C charger with a braided cable, you should be able to go quite a while without it. The Spectre ran for 12 hours and 32 minutes on our battery test, which continuously browses the web, runs OpenGL tests and streams video over Wi-Fi, all at 150 nits of brightness.
It outlased both the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1, which ran for 10:52, and the Asus ZenBook Flip S, which lasted 8:11. But Apple’s MacBook Pro, powered by its incredibly-efficient M1 processor, lasted four hours longer at 16:32.
Heat on the HP Spectre x360 13-inch
Beyond internal temperatures, we took skin temperatures while we ran our Cinebench R23 stress test.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The center of the keyboard, between the G andH keys, measured 36.2 degrees Celsius (97.16 degrees Fahrenheit), though the keyboard was a cooler 29 degrees Celsius.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The hottest point on the bottom of the laptop hit 41.7 degrees Celsius (107.06 degrees Fahrenheit).
Webcam on the HP Spectre x360 13-inch
The 720p camera in the Spectre x360’s bezel produces blurry images and doesn’t capture color well. In a shot at my desk, My blue eyes looked dark, my orange shirt muted, and the whole image was covered in visual noise.
Is it usable? Sure. But you may also want to consider buying best webcams for improved image quality. There’s a kill switch on the right side of the laptop for extra privacy when you’re not using the webcam.
Software and Warranty on the HP Spectre x360 13-inch
Most of the software preinstalled on the Spectre is from HP itself. The most important is HP Command Center, a one-stop-shop to choose between performance presets, network prioritization for applications and system information. The others include HP Support Assistant (which I think could be rolled into Command Center), HP Privacy Settings and a link to the user manual for the laptop. There’s also MyHP, which gives you easy access to your serial numbers and a bunch of short tutorials for Windows and Microsoft Office.
Of course, there’s still the bloat that comes with most Windows 10 installs, like Spotify, Hulu, Roblox and Hidden City: Hidden Object Adventure.
HP sells the 13-inch Spectre x360 with a 1-year warranty that can be extended at an additional cost.
HP Spectre x360 13-inch Configurations
We tested the Spectre x360 with an Intel Core i7-1165G7, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage with 32GB of Intel Optane memory and a 1920 x 1080 IPS touchscreen. All of that comes for $1,249.99.
The base model is $949.99, with an Intel Core i5-1135G7, 8GB of RAM, a 1080p screen and a 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD.
Many of the components are configurable. You can go up to a
4K
UHD OLED touch screen (add $180), or opt for FHD
OLED
(add $30) or even WLED with Sure View Privacy (a $60 extra.) Storage goes up to a 2TB PCIe SSD. If you don’t want the silver color, you can pay $10 for black or $20 extra for blue.
The most expensive version, with a “Poseidon blue” chassis, Windows 10 Pro and the maximum specs runs $1,869.99.
Bottom Line
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
In its latest iteration, the 13-inch HP Spectre x360 continues to be an attractive choice, quite literally. The Spectre remains one of the best-looking notebooks on the market, and it’s sleek and trim. Its battery life is impressive, and the Bang & Olufsen audio is pretty good for a 2-in-1 laptop.
While many ultrabook owners may not use their laptops for the most intense workloads, those who do may notice the issues we saw in our Cinebench gauntlet. That’s not a huge issue for day-to-day use, but enthusiasts or power users may seek other options.
If you’re looking for a convertible 2-in-1, the go-to continues to be the
Dell XPS 13 2-in-1
, which offers strong performance and a taller, 16:10 display that works better as a tablet. You will, however, give up the full-sized USB Type-A port. HP also offers a comfier keyboard, in this author’s opinion, though a short wrist rest mars the typing experience.
But if a mix of style and endurace strikes your fancy, the Spectre x360 should be under consideration, though I’m hoping we can check out the 14-inch, 3:2 version soon.
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