Leading workstation vendors offer Linux-based machines with the latest hardware inside, but those PCs are expensive and are not exactly home-friendly due to their expansive design. Meanwhile, buying a boutique desktop PC with Linux is somewhat tricky. Fortunately for Linux users, there are companies like System76, which just launched its Thelio Mira midrange system that can be equipped with a 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X processor and a leading-edge Nvidia Quadro RTX graphics card.
System76 doesn’t label the Thelio Mira as a workstation; instead, the company brands it as a professional desktop system. Yet the PC can pack an AMD Ryzen 5000-series processor with up to 16 CPU cores, one or two Nvidia’s Quadro RTX graphics cards (up to the RTX 8000 model), up to 128GB of DDR4 RAM with ECC memory, up to 4TB of PCIe 4.0 NVMe storage (using two M.2 drives), and up to 36 TB of HDD storage. Obviously, all the connectivity features that you would expect from a 2021 desktop are all there, too: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, 2.5 GbE, USB 3.2 Gen 2, USB Type-C, and audio connectors.
Measuring 436.35 × 253 × 331mm (17.18″ × 9.96″ × 13.03″), the System76 Thelio Mira is smaller than most high-end workstations by major vendors and is more compact than the company’s top-of-the-line Thelio Major box. While the system isn’t large, it can still support two graphics cards and loads of DRAM, which is something you usually don’t find in midrange machines.
One thing to note about the System76 Thelio Mir is that it does not look as utilitarian as machines from the big suppliers. With a choice of five different wooden finishes, it can actually fit almost any home design.
System76’s Thelio Mir stats at $1,499 and comes with Pop!OS 20.10 (64-bit), Pop!OS 20.04 LTS (64-bit), or Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (64-bit) operating systems. Meanwhile, nothing is stopping you from installing Windows 10 on these PCs.
We’re glad people still enjoy reading about hi-fi; it’s what keeps us in a job, after all.
There have been plenty of insightful words committed to paper about our industry and the technologies, brands and history that define it, so we’ve listed some of our favourites in a hope that one (or several) might make it onto your bookshelf.
More than a handful of notable players in the hi-fi community – including PS Audio CEO Paul McGowan, Wharfedale founder Gilbert Briggs and esteemed hi-fi journalist Ken Kessler – have penned books on the field, while a number of the industry’s most respected brands have published definitive guides on their rich histories.
There’s also no shortage of painstakingly thorough explainers on speaker design, engineering and the like. We even travel to the other side of the speakers to find out what goes on inside the studio.
So whether you want to learn more about the subject, or are simply after a collectible on your favourite brand, we hope there’s a book for your library or coffee table on this page.
How to choose the right speakers and get best sound
The Art of Impossible: The Bang & Olufsen Design Story (2016)
(Image credit: Bang & Olufsen)
Considering Bang & Olufsen’s ever-faithful commitment to style and design, it comes as little surprise their books are so nicely presented you feel you should wear silk gloves while turning the pages.
A behind-the-scenes look at B&O’s design philosophy and manufacturing process, illustrated by an impressive collection of hundreds of sketches and photographs – the company archive is something that helps make its anniversary books so special too – The Art of Impossible is an ode to the company’s landmark products, from its early creations in the 1930s to the Beolab 90, and the design principles and people behind them.
See The Art of Impossible at Amazon
Rega: A Vibration Measuring Machine (2016)
(Image credit: Rega)
There are few people better placed to talk about turntables than Rega founder Roy Gandy. Here, with the help of his friend Bill Philpot and hi-fi journalist Paul Messenger, Gandy presents his thesis on hi-fi turntable engineering, and how it all revolves around making a machine that most accurately measures vinyl groove vibrations.
A Vibration Measuring Machine is both exhaustively and entertainingly informative. It takes us from the company’s humble beginnings in 1973, when Gandy and his business partner Tony Relph (their surnames amalgamated to form the brand name) began making turntables in their evenings and weekends, to the comprehensive engineering principles involved in turntable design and the practicalities around manufacturing.
See A Vibration Measuring Machine on Rega.co.uk and Amazon
Principles of Digital Audio (2010)
(Image credit: Ken Pohlmann)
Currently in a sixth edition since first being published in the mid-1980s – not surprising considering the ever-advancing nature of the subject – professor emeritus Ken C Pohlman’s definitive guide on digital audio is a crucial, academic read for those interested in sound engineering.
A thorough explainer on everything from conversion and compression to storage and streaming to transmission and coding, it has served as a reference book in the industry for more than three decades.
See Principles of Digital Audio on Amazon and Waterstones
99% True: Almost a National Bestseller (2019)
(Image credit: Paul McGowan)
Paul McGowan, CEO of Colorado-based hi-fi brand PS Audio, has a story to tell. And what a story it is.
“From his not-so-innocent youth growing up in the shadow of Disneyland and summer evenings in the innocent 1950s, to his dope-smoking, snake-eating, draft-dodging, loony-bin misadventure through Europe, to his struggles to build a thriving enterprise from a stack of dusty albums.” Not a bad sell, eh?!
99% True is an autobiographical account of a colourful and passionate music man’s journey from mischief-maker to managing director, shedding light on American history and the high-end audio industry on the way. It’s just up to you decide what makes up the hundredth of the book that isn’t true.
See 99% True at Amazon
KEF – 50 Years of Innovation in Sound (2011)
(Image credit: KEF)
If you own, or have owned, a KEF product, a flick through of this book may well reaffirm your admiration. An insightfully written and beautifully photographed record of the company’s first five decades, released to celebrate its half-century in 2011, 50 Years documents the history of one of Britain’s most iconic hi-fi companies.
Its co-authors – Dr. Andrew Watson, former head of acoustics and technical communications at KEF, and esteemed hi-fi journalist Ken Kessler – trawled through the vast KEF archives of printed documents, photo libraries, employee recollections and business records to tell the brand’s story. And comprehensive listings of every product produced by KEF, including every drive unit, are included too.
See 50 Years of Innovation in Sound at Amazon
Loudspeakers: The Why and How of Good Reproduction (1948)
(Image credit: GA Briggs)
While the advancement of audio technologies and hi-fi equipment has come on dramatically in the last five decades, the very fundamentals of speaker design haven’t changed as much as you might think. That is why this Holy Writ on loudspeaker development, by one of British hi-fi’s most notable figures, is still relevant more than 70 years after it was written in 1948.
The late Gilbert Briggs, who built his first speaker in the cellar of his home in West Yorkshire and went onto found Wharfedale in the 1930s, penned more than one notable book in his lifetime. But his first, Loudspeakers: The Why and How of Good Reproduction, is a comprehensive introduction to audio: a thorough primer on the principle theories of loudspeaker design, covering everything from magnets, cones, cabinets and baffles to impedance, frequency response, crossover networks and phase. And then some.
See The Why and How of Good Reproduction on Amazon
Quad: The Closest Approach (2003)
(Image credit: Ken Kessler)
Another definitive guide on one of the industry’s most iconic brands makes it onto this list here. Ken Kessler puts ink to page once more, this time to celebrate Quad as one of Britain’s oldest, most respected and innovative hi-fi companies.
An audiophile coffee-table book if ever there was one, this beautifully illustrated, 240-page hardcover Quad bible is far from light on insight covering the company and its CV full of classic products. It features words from company founder Peter Walker and audio engineers Tim de Paravicini (founder of EAR Yoshino) and Gordon Hill, as well as reproductions of AES technical papers and, of course, Quad’s famous ads.
See The Closest Approach at Amazon
The Producer’s Manual (2011)
(Image credit: Paul White)
If you want to know how a recording should sound, thus how accurately your hi-fi system is representing that, it’s good to have some understanding of what goes on in the studio. Paul White’s The Producer’s Manual is an easy-to-follow starting place for producers and those who just want to learn, covering everything from compression to microphone techniques – and delivering on its promise to bring together all you need to take a mix from initial recording to final master.
See The Producer’s Manual on Amazon
High Performance Loudspeakers: Optimising High Fidelity Loudspeaker Systems (2018)
(Image credit: Martin Colloms)
An encyclopaedic lowdown on loudspeaker design and performance from a designer’s point of view, High Performance Loudspeakers is engineer, design consultant and hi-fi critic Martin Colloms’s magnum opus.
Constantly evolving since it was first published in the late 1970s, this book examines electro-acoustics to the Nth degree, and is now in its seventh edition. This latest version incorporates bang-up-to-date analysis on ultra-compact systems and DSP integration, as well as musings on recent technological advancements such as Devialet’s Speaker Active Matching system.
See High Performance Loudspeakers on Amazon and Waterstones
The Complete Guide to High-End Audio (2015)
(Image credit: Robert Harley)
In this does-what-it-says-on-the-tin book, Robert Harley – editor-in-chief of Absolute Sound – channels his three decades of reviewing experience into almost 600 pages of advice on how to make the most of high-quality hi-fi.
It covers topics such as how to identify great-value kit and any weak links in your system, how to set up and tweak your system to provide optimum performance, and how to become a more appreciative listener – starting at the basics with each topic and getting more comprehensive as the chapter goes on.
Now in its fifth edition, it includes the newer aspects of modern-day music consumption: music servers, streaming, wireless networking and high-resolution downloads.
See The Complete Guide to High-End Audio at Amazon
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Here are 9 of the best vinyl documentaries to buy, rent or watch for free
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Microsoft’s new $99 Xbox Wireless headset isn’t perfect, but it’s the best attempt at being an Xbox gaming headset and an everyday set of wireless headphones I’ve tried yet. It’s compatible with the Xbox Wireless protocol, making it easy to pair with any Xbox One or Xbox Series X / S console. It’s also compatible with Bluetooth (version 4.2, SBC codec), and better yet, it can connect through both protocols simultaneously. So you can take a call or have audio from any app come through from a phone, tablet, or a PC mixed in with the sound coming from your Xbox console.
This is far from the first gaming headset to do this, or even do it well. Microsoft’s latest headset just stands out as being particularly impressive for the number of things it gets right for $99. Its design is stellar, a logical fit in the company’s headphone lineup. Next to the Series X, it looks the part with a touch of glossy green detailing around the ear cup dials, covered in matte black plastic. The little holes in the recessed areas between the faux leather ear pads and the dials seem to be there just for cosmetic reasons, but it looks fantastic nevertheless.
Crucially, these are comfortable, even though my head size nearly pushes them to their size limits. The sidearms require two hands to make adjustments, which I like. There’s no worry that they’ll resize just from being moved around. And while I wish this model had a bungee-style headband and swiveling ear cups like most SteelSeries headsets, not having these features didn’t equate to comfort issues here.
In addition to how the headset looks, its functionality is similar to the Surface Headphones, with twistable dials on the outside of each ear cup for adjusting elements of the audio. Unlike the company’s more premium headphones, there’s no active noise cancellation here (I’d complain, but they’re $99), though the passive noise isolation is better than average for this price. The left dial acts as a chat and game audio mixer, so you can tune your playmates down a bit during a dialogue-heavy cutscene or vice versa. I appreciate that Microsoft put it front and center. On the other dial is the volume control. Twist to increase or decrease, nice and simple — no buttons necessary.
Over on the right ear cup, there’s a USB-C port for charging. Microsoft includes a USB-C to USB Type-A cable to charge it, but you’ll get all of the same headset features if you plug into a Windows 10 machine with your own USB-C to USB-C cable. That’s not the case when plugged into a MacBook Pro, which won’t work over a wired connection with the headset. You can still connect to a macOS device and use the headset over Bluetooth, though.
There are only two buttons on the headset: one to manually mute the bendable microphone (an LED on the inner section of the boom microphone angled toward your face is illuminated when the mic is hot), and another that serves as the all-in-one pairing and power button, both of which reside on the left ear cup. Most gaming headsets require days of continued use to fully learn their respective button layouts, but this one’s dead simple. I would have taken one more button if it served as a multifunction button to control my device over Bluetooth, but Microsoft has limited the headset to just two buttons. There’s no way to independently control, say, a phone outside of just adjusting the volume.
The sound performance from this headset is better than I expected. During my tests, I listened to Spotify, and the music sounded good enough to stick with this headset instead of automatically reaching for my Sony 1000XM3s. People with a knack for stellar audio quality will find quibbles, like that the sound can come off as muddled at times, and the soundstage isn’t as expansive as you’d find in a more expensive set of headphones. But again, these are $99 and meant for gaming first. And for that price, I’m pleased.
Hopping over to gaming, I instantly booted up Doom (2016) on the Series X. The soundtrack and all of the various hellish sound effects have an adequate amount of crunch and punch, and I was head-banging to the music while I played. It sounded as it was intended to sound, though, again, the same nitpicks apply here as they do for music. When there’s a lot happening in the mid and high frequencies, the sound can lack clarity if you’re listening closely. I didn’t notice that as much in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, for instance. This headset works with the Dolby Atmos (Microsoft is giving buyers a trial of Dolby Atmos with purchase that will last until the end of September) and DTS: X paid apps available for Xbox and PC, which might enhance the sound. But for the purposes of this review, I tested just the out-of-the-box experience.
The battery life and range are competitive with other gaming headsets I’ve tested in this price range. Microsoft claims 15 hours per charge, and both times I ran the non-replaceable battery down during testing, it lasted for about that long. I was able to roam about my studio apartment, straying about 25 feet or so from the Xbox without experiencing any drop-outs. It started cutting out when the signal had to go through multiple walls, but that’s to be expected. As for charge speeds, Microsoft says it can gain four hours of use out of a 30-minute charge, or a full charge in three hours. In case you were wondering, you can use the Xbox Wireless headset while it’s being charged, but obviously, it’ll then take longer to recharge.
To give you a sense of how this headset handles connections, I first paired the Xbox Wireless headset to my PC with Microsoft’s USB Wireless Adapter (not included with this headset, but it operates on the same Xbox Wireless protocol as the consoles) for music and to take some video calls. Pairing the headset required pressing and holding the pair button for four seconds and doing the same to the Wireless Adapter. To use them on the Xbox Series X, I had to run through the same process. Frustratingly, the headset can’t handle juggling between two previously paired devices that use the Xbox Wireless protocol, so I had to manually re-pair it when I wanted to hop between my PC and the Xbox. I don’t want to overblow this issue, though. Microsoft’s pairing process for Xbox accessories is very simple. This won’t be a problem at all if you connect to your PC via Bluetooth (as I imagine most people will) since the headset can connect to both concurrently.
If you’re someone who’s likely to lean heavily on the concurrent wireless connection feature, I like that this headset automatically lowers the audio streaming from the Xbox Wireless protocol device when a call is incoming so you can hear it. You can adjust the volume of just your Bluetooth device with its own controls, but not from the headset itself. Cranking the volume with the dial makes it louder for both devices you’re connected to.
The Xbox Accessories app on PC and Xbox lets you fine-tune adjustments.
The level of customization this headset allows is also impressive for the price. Through the Xbox Accessories app for Windows 10 or Xbox, you can adjust the equalizer (movie, music, game, heavy bass, and speech are the presets, or make your own) and boost the bass. Additionally, there’s an auto-mute feature that can mute noises happening in your surroundings. There are three levels (low, medium, and high), and Microsoft says each step up will increase how aggressively the mic mutes things that aren’t your voice. During a video call, it seemed to work as intended, if not better than I expected. The person on the other end said that my speech wasn’t getting cut off, which is something that can happen with these kinds of features, and that happenings in the background weren’t noticeable. Of course, the effectiveness of this auto-mute feature can vary depending on your household situation. If you’re skeptical, it’s easy enough to just tap the mute button to avoid potential embarrassment.
Two other small but cool features in the Xbox Accessories app let you tweak how bright the mute light is, making it easier to see in your peripheral vision. You can also customize the level of mic monitoring or how much outside sound is fed through the mics and then funneled into your ears.
Up until now, the $150 Razer Kaira Pro was the Xbox-specific headset I told people to get because it’s comfortable, and it supports Bluetooth in addition to the Xbox Wireless protocol. Microsoft’s new Xbox Wireless headset is well ahead of that model in terms of design, ease of use, and functionality — all in a more affordable package.
If it fits my head and can also fit around the Series X, it should fit you fine.
If Microsoft is to be judged compared to Sony on how well it designed a headset to accompany its latest consoles — as it inevitably will be — this one handily edges out the Pulse 3D even though they’re the same price. Sony’s model is comfortable and looks equally dashing next to the console it was made for, and it has a 3.5mm headphone jack and 3D Audio support in its court. But it’s tough to compete with the Bluetooth support and button-lite design built into Microsoft’s model. I would have loved it if a USB dongle was included for more support with devices, like the Nintendo Switch. But by design, it can’t connect to other gaming consoles. Microsoft is keeping this one in the family. If you’re in the family, though, you’re in for a treat.
Photography by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge
Correction: The Xbox Wireless headset can get four hours of use from a 30-minute charge. This review incorrectly stated that a 15-minute charge could get you three hours of use. We regret this error.
Had enough Zoom meetings? Can’t bear another soul-numbing day of sitting on video calls, the only distraction your rapidly aging face, pinned in one corner of the screen like a dying bug? Well, if so, then boy do we have the app for you. Meet Zoom Escaper: a free web widget that lets you add an array of fake audio effects to your next Zoom Call, gifting you with numerous reasons to end the meeting and escape, while you still can.
You can choose from barking dogs, construction noises, crying babies, or even subtler effects like choppy audio and unwanted echoes. Created by artist Sam Lavigne, Zoom Escaper is fantastically simple to use. All you need do is download a free bit of audio software called VB-Audio that routes your audio through the website, then change your audio input in Zoom from your microphone to VB-Audio, and play with the effects.
You can watch a video tutorial on how to set up Zoom Escaper and listen to a sample of the various sound effects here:
If you’re running Zoom Escaper, you can’t actually hear the sound effects yourself. But I was able to test the site’s functionality with the help of my colleague, Verge news editor Chaim Gartenberg. Here was his opinion of the various effects Zoom Escaper had to offer:
Urination: “That sounds very fake. Also, I’m not entirely sure what the plan is to sell this as a reason to leave a call?”
Construction: “This sounds like you literally stood in the middle of a construction site. I think the sounds need to be a bit more muffled to sell it, but it’s very good.”
Man Weeping: “Those are the sobs of a broken man. But who’s crying — is it your roommate, your partner?”
Bad Connection: “This one works really well. Your audio is coming through broken up and disrupted. Get off the call.”
Echo: “Extremely annoying and very convincing. This sounds like a busted Zoom connection. If someone I was speaking to had this, I’d tell them to get it fixed. It wouldn’t be feasible to have a meeting with that.”
Wind: “If you were trying to skive off work, I’m not sure how you’d convincingly sell gale force winds in your own office.”
Dog: “That sounds very real. It sounds like a dog barking outside, but maybe not the sort of thing you’d need to take care of?”
Upset Baby: “That baby sounds decently upset! This is definitely something you should go and check on! Go and take care of your baby!”
Our opinion was that Upset Baby provided the most excusable reason to drop a call, but also requires that people believe you have a baby. And if you’re prepared to fake the existence of a child in order to get out of Zoom meetings with your co-workers, then perhaps you have bigger issues with work than a few annoying video meetings.
Zoom Escaper isn’t the first of Lavigne’s projects to self-inflict computer harm. His 2017 work The Good Life let users sign up to receive 225,000 emails confiscated from Enron during its 2001 implosion, while 2016’s Slow Hot Computeris a website that… makes your computer run slow and hot. “Use it at work to decrease your productivity,” says Lavigne.
If Zoom Escaper isn’t direct enough for you, there’s also Zoom Deleter, another of Lavigne’s creations. As he writes on his website, this is just a small program that runs in your menu bar or system tray: “It continually checks for the presence of Zoom on your computer, and if found, immediately deletes it.”
Speaking to The Verge, Lavigne describes the underlying ethos of his art as: “Deliberate slowdown, reducing productivity and output, self-sabotage, etc.” When asked by The Verge why these values were important to him, Lavigne did not respond.
Last week everyone was fixated on the “Right Up Our Alley” drone video that made us all nostalgic for bowling alleys. On Friday night, a VP at drone company DJI tweeted this video of a drone flight through a mostly-empty movie theater in Minnesota, and I don’t know about you but I really miss going to the movies. This video makes that longing about 100 times worse.
According to its YouTube page the video is by SkyCandy, and is a one-take fly-through of Mann theaters’ Plymouth Grand in Plymouth, Minnesota. It was filmed using a DJI Air Unit and Rotor Riot Cinewhoop.
The video is just over a minute long, but the drone takes us through the lobby — after being welcomed through the front doors by a masked theater employee— where people are deciding what to see, and buying tickets “for the 7:30 show,” according to the audio. There’s some very familiar-sounding background music playing in the lobby portion that I couldn’t quite identify, but it felt exactly right.
Next we fly by the concession stand where a couple snags a bucket of that overpriced movie popcorn, then we spin past the bar where we can overhear the bartender telling his patron, “you name it, I’ve seen it,” before heading down a long hallway into one of the actual theaters.
There are so many empty seats in that theater it actually felt a little sad— but then we briefly hear a familiar pre-movie sound: someone forgot to mute their iPhone. Rude! But funny. We end up looking at and then flying “into” the movie screen where guess what’s playing (I thought for one second it might be Tenet, but no): The beginning of the video we’ve been watching. Wild!
For those of us who haven’t been to a movie theater since social distancing started last year, this video is a welcome, wistful reminder of the joys of seeing a film on the big screen. One more thing to put on the “things I’m going to do when everything gets back to normal,” which hopefully will be sooner rather than later.
According to TechCrunch, Apple has discontinued the original HomePod. The website quotes an unnamed Apple representative as stating that the company is “focusing our efforts on HomePod Mini”.
Not only is this a disappointing development – the HomePod is one of the very best-sounding wireless speakers you can buy, after all – it also seems a little bit peculiar. Does a company as resource-rich as Apple really need to discontinue one product in order to focus on another? Surely not. Similarly, a single smart speaker surely isn’t adequate for a company the size of Apple when so many rivals are producing whole families of similar devices.
We’d be tempted to guess that the four year-old HomePod is really making way for a new model (Apple is strongly rumoured to be hosting a launch event of some kind at the end of this month), but Apple doesn’t usually discontinue a product before its replacement is announced.
Perhaps the intention was to replace the HomePod in March and Apple has wound-down production, but the replacement has had to be pushed back to later in the year. Whatever the full story is, we can’t help but think that something’s in the works.
According to the TechCrunch story, Apple will continue to sell the original HomePod until stock runs dry and is promising to offer support for the HomePods already sold. Whether that includes new feature updates and the like remains to be seen.
It wasn’t long ago that Apple added its Intercom feature to the original HomePod and gave it the ability to handle Dolby Atmos sound from the Apple TV 4K, making today’s news even more surprising.
If we were the betting sort, we’d bet that this is just the start of a hiatus for the HomePod, and that it will rise again in a new form at a later date. As soon as we hear anything on that front, we’ll report back.
MORE:
Read our Apple HomePod review
Should you consider the Mini? Check out our HomePod Mini review
How HomePod was made: a tale of obsession from inside Apple’s audio labs
Looking for an alternative? Here are the best wireless speakers
This year, multiple companies primarily known for gaming laptops have been branching out into the portable business and productivity sector. It’s a crowded field already, but Razer made quite a splash with its excellent Razer Book 13, which has an elegant chassis, a 16:10 screen, and just a touch of its company’s signature RGB lighting.
In this review I’m looking at the Summit Series, which is MSI’s attempt to enter the same space. The series includes the Summit E line — which includes discrete GPU options and is priced to compete with top dogs like Dell’s XPS 15 — and the Summit B line, which starts at $999 and sits squarely in the midrange market.
I’m discussing the Summit B15 here — I looked at the Summit E15 last fall. The base B15 includes a Core i5-1135G7, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. I tested the more expensive configuration, which costs $1,249 and has a Core i7-1165G7 (one of Intel’s top 11th Gen processors), 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The system puts solid specs in a nice chassis, but there are a few misses that make it a bit expensive for what it offers.
The most appealing facets of the Summit-Series laptops are their look and build. They have a smooth black finish, an aluminum build, a classy backlit keyboard, and a lustrous new MSI logo on the lid and bottom bezel (no dragon to be found, a first for MSI). MSI claims the B15 has “military-grade durability,” and while that’s a difficult claim to test, there’s very little flex in the B15’s lid and keyboard. And at 3.53 pounds and 0.67 inches thick, it’s light for its size.
All in all, though, the B15 has a bit of a utilitarian look, especially compared to the E15. The latter has some small flourishes that add up to a classier vibe — there are gold accents around the touchpad and edges of the hinge, for example, where the B15 is straight black. One other thing about the B15’s chassis — it’s one of the worst fingerprint magnets I’ve ever seen. Touch the lid one time, and a visible smudge will remain. I used the sides of my fists to reposition the laptop while taking photos and still had to wipe it down between shots.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice-looking and nice-feeling chassis. But there’s nothing exciting about it, and you’ll be wiping it down a lot if you want to maintain a clean look.
Two USB-A and a microSD on the right.
The useful port selection is a highlight, given the thin chassis. It includes a USB-C (supporting Thunderbolt 4, power delivery, DP 1.4a, and USB 4.0), two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, one USB 3.2 Gen 1, one combination audio jack, one microSD reader, and one HDMI jack, in addition to the barrel-plug power port. You also get an RJ45 Ethernet dongle in the box, which is handy. I also appreciate having USB-A ports on both sides.
I also like the keyboard backlighting, which looks quite classy and wouldn’t be out of place in an office setting. The keys have a nice texture and 1.5mm of travel. Three nitpicks to note: First, the Fn key is half-sized, and I found it a pain to hit. Second, there was occasionally some internal rattle inside the deck, which was annoying. Third, the keys are more mushy than they are clicky, and they’re a bit shallower than the best keyboard keys around. Subjectively, I made more errors on this keyboard than I normally do.
Audio jack, HDMI, USB-C, USB-A, and power port on the left.
The display, similarly, is functional with caveats. It covers 98 percent of the sRGB gamut and 76 percent of AdobeRGB, and it maxes out at 258 nits. That’s an acceptable range of color coverage and is functional enough for office use, but it’s too dim to use easily in bright settings. I would expect more from a $1,249 laptop. Additionally, it uses a 16:9 aspect ratio, which is falling out of fashion among premium business laptops for a reason — it’s cramped for multitasking purposes.
The one component I really don’t like is the touchpad. It’s a bit small for a 15-inch laptop, and I sometimes hit the fingerprint sensor (built into the top-left corner) and the top plastic as I was scrolling. It also isn’t the smoothest I’ve ever used, and my fingers would skid across it a fair amount. Both the material and the click feel a bit plasticky compared to what you might find in a nicer model.
The Summit’s performance is good. I didn’t encounter any problems while running it through my usual office work. The integrated Iris Xe graphics aren’t suitable for serious gaming but can run lighter fare if that’s your thing. I could occasionally feel the system chugging under the keyboard while doing more intense tasks, but it never got too loud or too hot. You can swap to the “Silent” cooling profile in MSI’s control panel if fan noise is bothering you.
With that said, two disappointments came out of my testing period. First, the audio from the B15’s two speakers isn’t terrible and works just fine for video calls, but it delivers tinny percussion and practically no bass. I also heard occasional distortion at maximum volume, though I could eliminate it by bumping the sound down a notch. My test unit’s microphone also wasn’t working on Zoom calls, though it worked in other applications — I’ve asked MSI about this and will update this article if they figure it out.
Second disappointment: the battery life. Running the B15 as my daily driver at 200 nits of brightness, I only averaged five hours and 13 minutes. This isn’t entirely unexpected, as it only has a three-cell 52Wh battery — similar to what some 13-inch laptops come with at this point. On this 15-inch laptop, it’s not enough to power you through a full day if your workload is similar to mine (around a dozen Chrome tabs, Slack, occasional Zoom call, that sort of thing). One thing to note is that the B15 comes loaded with Norton, which I’ve seen be a serious battery drain in the past. I ran a battery trial before uninstalling that software and only got four and a half hours. After I nuked the bloatware, the B15 got closer to six.
All told, the Summit Series is a fine first step for MSI. In a market where business-focused laptops commonly cost multiple thousands of dollars, there’s absolutely an audience for something like the B15, which is light, attractive, and functional for just over the $1,000 mark. It looks and feels like a laptop you’d bring to a business meeting, and it has a top Intel processor with cooling that can handle it. Professionals on a budget could certainly do worse.
“Determined to succeed” is the Summit Series motto.
But given the unremarkable audio, battery life, and the other areas of the chassis, I still think that people who are willing to spend a bit more will benefit from doing so, especially folks who can live with less RAM and storage. A better screen, better speakers, and better battery life can make a big difference in the daily experience, and while the B15’s nice chassis, plentiful storage, and business-specific features are worth a premium for some folks, they won’t be everyone’s top priority.
Teaching AI systems to understand what’s happening in videos as completely as a human can is one of the hardest challenges — and biggest potential breakthroughs — in the world of machine learning. Today, Facebook announced a new initiative that it hopes will give it an edge in this consequential work: training its AI on Facebook users’ public videos.
Access to training data is one of the biggest competitive advantages in AI, and by collecting this resource from millions and millions of their users, tech giants like Facebook, Google, and Amazon have been able to forge ahead in various areas. And while Facebook has already trained machine vision models on billions of images collected from Instagram, it hasn’t previously announced projects of similar ambition for video understanding.
“By learning from global streams of publicly available videos spanning nearly every country and hundreds of languages, our AI systems will not just improve accuracy but also adapt to our fast moving world and recognize the nuances and visual cues across different cultures and regions,” said the company in a blog. The project, titled Learning from Videos, is also part of Facebook’s “broader efforts toward building machines that learn like humans do.”
The resulting machine learning models will be used to create new content recommendation systems and moderation tools, says Facebook, but could do so much more in the future. AI that can understand the content of videos could give Facebook unprecedented insight into users’ lives, allowing them to analyze their hobbies and interests, preferences in brands and clothes, and countless other personal details. Of course, Facebook already has access to such information through its current ad-targeting operation, but being able to parse video through AI would add an incredibly rich (and invasive) source of data to its stores.
Facebook is vague about its future plans for AI models trained on users’ videos. The company told The Verge such models could be put to a number of uses, from captioning videos to creating advanced search functions, but did not answer a question on whether or not they would be used to collect information for ad-targeting. Similarly, when asked if users had to consent to having their videos used to train Facebook’s AI or if they could opt out, the company responded only by noting that its Data Policy says users’ uploaded content can be used for “product research and development.” Facebook also did not respond to questions asking exactly how much video will be collected for training its AI systems or how access to this data by the company’s researchers will be overseen.
In its blog post announcing the project, though, the social network did point to one future, speculative use: using AI to retrieve “digital memories” captured by smart glasses.
Facebook plans to release a pair of consumer smart glasses sometime this year. Details about the device are vague, but it’s likely these or future glasses will include integrated cameras to capture the wearer’s point of view. If AI systems can be trained to understand the content of video, then it will allow users to search for past recordings, just as many photo apps allow people to search for specific locations, objects, or people. (This is information, incidentally, that has often been indexed by AI systems trained on user data.)
Facebook has released images showing prototype pairs of its augmented-reality smart glasses. Image: Facebook
As recording video with smart glasses “becomes the norm,” says Facebook, “people should be able to recall specific moments from their vast bank of digital memories just as easy as they capture them.” It gives the example of a user conducting a search with the phrase “Show me every time we sang happy birthday to Grandma,” before being served relevant clips. As the company notes, such a search would require that AI systems establish connections between types of data, teaching them “to match the phrase ‘happy birthday’ to cakes, candles, people singing various birthday songs, and more.” Just like humans do, AI would need to understand rich concepts comprised of different types of sensory input.
Looking to the future, the combination of smart glasses and machine learning would enable what’s referred to as “worldscraping” — capturing granular data about the world by turning wearers of smart glasses into roving CCTV cameras. As the practice was described in a report last year from The Guardian: “Every time someone browsed a supermarket, their smart glasses would be recording real-time pricing data, stock levels and browsing habits; every time they opened up a newspaper, their glasses would know which stories they read, which adverts they looked at and which celebrity beach pictures their gaze lingered on.”
This is an extreme outcome and not an avenue of research Facebook says it’s currently exploring. But it does illustrate the potential significance of pairing advanced AI video analysis with smart glasses — which the social network is apparently keen to do.
By comparison, the only use of its new AI video analysis tools that Facebook is currently disclosing is relatively mundane. Along with the announcement of Learning from Videos today, Facebook says it’s deployed a new content recommendation system based on its video work in its TikTok-clone Reels. “Popular videos often consist of the same music set to the same dance moves, but created and acted by different people,” says Facebook. By analyzing the content of videos, Facebook’s AI can suggest similar clips to users.
Such content recommendation algorithms are not without potential problems, though. A recent report from MIT Technology Review highlighted how the social network’s emphasis on growth and user engagement has stopped its AI team from fully addressing how algorithms can spread misinformation and encourage political polarization. As the Technology Review article says: “The [machine learning] models that maximize engagement also favor controversy, misinformation, and extremism.” This creates a conflict between the duties of Facebook’s AI ethics researchers and the company’s credo of maximizing growth.
Facebook isn’t the only big tech company pursuing advanced AI video analysis, nor is it the only one to leverage users’ data to do so. Google, for example, maintains a publicly accessible research dataset containing 8 million curated and partially labeled YouTube videos in order to “help accelerate research on large scale video understanding.” The search giant’s ad operations could similarly benefit from AI that understands the content of videos, even if the end result is simply serving more relevant ads in YouTube.
Facebook, though, thinks it has one particular advantage over its competitors. Not only does it have ample training data, but it’s pushing more and more resources into an AI method known as self-supervised learning.
Usually, when AI models are trained on data, those inputs have be to labeled by humans: tagging objects in pictures or transcribing audio recordings, for example. If you’ve ever solved a CAPTCHA identifying fire hydrants or pedestrian crossing then you’ve likely labeled data that’s helped to train AI. But self-supervised learning does away with the labels, speeding up the training process, and, some researchers believe, resulting in deeper and more meaningful analysis as the AI systems teach themselves to join the dots. Facebook is so optimistic about self-supervised learning it’s called it “the dark matter of intelligence.”
The company says its future work on AI video analysis will focus on semi- and self-supervised learning methods, and that such techniques “have already improved our computer vision and speech recognition systems.” With such an abundance of video content available from Facebook’s 2.8 billion users, skipping the labeling part of AI training certainly makes sense. And if the social network can teach its machine learning models to understand video seamlessly, who knows what they might learn?
Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast The Vergecast, our chat show discussing the week in tech news featuring our reporters and editors.
This week, co-hosts Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn talk to Verge deputy editor Elizabeth Lopatto about the rise in interest of NFTs. Elizabeth explains the basics of how NFTs work and what someone actually owns when a transaction takes place.
In the second half of the show, Verge deputy editor Dan Seifert stops by for a gadget roundup — there’s a review for the wild Asus ROG Phone 5, some rumors of OnePlus’ new flagship device, and the announcement of Sonos’ first fully mobile Bluetooth speaker.
Listen here or in your preferred podcast player to hear the full discussion.
Stories mentioned in this week’s episode:
COVID-19 took disease tests out of the lab — and may keep them there
People who are vaccinated can socialize together without masks, CDC says
COVID-19 vaccine supplies are on the rise in the US
Single-shot COVID-19 vaccine is popular at vaccination sites
Artifacts from the first COVID-19 vaccination in the US are headed to the Smithsonian
Meet Dr. B, the startup connecting people to leftover vaccines
Beeple sold an NFT for $69 million
NFTs, explained
Of course John Legere bought an $888,888.88 NFT from Steve Aoki
Jack Dorsey’s first tweet may fetch $2.5 million, and he’ll donate the NFTy proceeds to charity
Sonos Roam officially announced for $169, preorders start now
Sonos partners with Audi to bring its audio tech to cars
Asus ROG phone 5 review
Leaked OnePlus 9 Pro and OnePlus 9 renders leave little to the imagination
OnePlus’ next phones will come out on March 23rd
Samsung will host another Unpacked event on March 17th
Apple reportedly overestimated iPhone 12 mini demand, by a lot
Insta360’s Go 2 is a $299 action camera with a surprisingly powerful case
The most powerful Wear OS watches are held back by Wear OS
Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 review: AMD and Nvidia at their best
Albert Marin has taken some very specific vacations. In Wales, he visited Raglan Castle to snap pictures of its stone wall. At the Palau Güell in Barcelona, he took meticulous photos, not of the building itself, but of the marble floor and its unique veins.
His trips followed in the steps of Capcom, which put bits of real-world architecture found across Europe into Resident Evil 4, which was originally released over 16 years ago. “I collected a great number of locations the game’s developers use as source material,” Marin told The Verge.
Fast forward to 2021, and Marin is now seven years into a project to remaster Resident Evil 4’s blurry GameCube-era graphics into crisp HD, in part using high-resolution photos he’s taken of everything from surfaces and doors to general architecture that seemed to have made their way into the original game. Even though Capcom published its own PC remaster in 2014, it wasn’t Marin’s idea of a true HD version of the game, so he and a small team have been poring through the game’s files to faithfully update every texture.
Screenshots showing the original Resident Evil 4 and the improved graphics of the HD Project.“,”image_left”:{“ratio”:”*”,”original_url”:”https://rondea.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/echo/CHAPTER5_043A_resultado.jpg”,”network”:”verge”,”bgcolor”:”white”,”pinterest_enabled”:false,”caption”:null,”credit”:null,”focal_area”:{“top_left_x”:0,”top_left_y”:0,”bottom_right_x”:1920,”bottom_right_y”:1080},”bounds”:[0,0,1920,1080],”uploaded_size”:{“width”:1920,”height”:1080},”focal_point”:null,”asset_id”:22342336,”asset_credit”:”Albert Marin”,”alt_text”:””},”image_right”:{“ratio”:”*”,”original_url”:”https://rondea.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/echo/CHAPTER5_043B_resultado.jpg”,”network”:”verge”,”bgcolor”:”white”,”pinterest_enabled”:false,”caption”:null,”credit”:null,”focal_area”:{“top_left_x”:0,”top_left_y”:0,”bottom_right_x”:1920,”bottom_right_y”:1080},”bounds”:[0,0,1920,1080],”uploaded_size”:{“width”:1920,”height”:1080},”focal_point”:null,”asset_id”:22342338,”asset_credit”:”Capcom”,”alt_text”:””},”credit”:”Albert Marin and Capcom”}” data-cid=”apps/imageslider-1615569713_4848_4611″>
Screenshots showing the original Resident Evil 4 and the improved graphics of the HD Project.Albert Marin and Capcom
In some cases, they work with what Capcom already made, sharpening the images with a mix of off-the-shelf apps and custom-built tools. Other times, Marin is making hand-crafted textures based on high resolution stock photos or pictures that he’s taken himself. If you own the Ultimate HD version of the game on Steam, you can actually test out an in-progress version of the texture pack right now. Eventually, every rock, wall, button, and dial will have been retouched by this small team of modders.
The fan-funded Resident Evil 4 HD Project is almost at the finish line and should be wrapped up later in 2021. Marin says he’s amassed over 4,500 Photoshop files and put in more than 9,000 hours of work (just on his part) to get to this point.
I spoke with Marin over email about his experience tackling a project of this scale, balancing expectations from fans who are just as passionate about the game, how the team was able to deconstruct the game’s files, and more.
How exactly do you remaster the visuals? Do you redraw textures from the ground up, or have a specialized way to increase the resolution of the original without degrading their quality?
Most textures are re-created from scratch using some texture library images as a base. The original textures need to be analyzed several times in order to make sure the new source images match in terms of color, lighting, and even the material.
For example, a rock texture: It may sound like an easy challenge, and it is, if you don’t have an original texture you need to be faithful to. You can’t imagine how complicated it can be to find a rock surface that matches with the original among the hundreds of different kinds of rocks nature has to offer!
Screenshots showing the original Resident Evil 4 and the improved graphics of the HD Project.“,”image_left”:{“ratio”:”*”,”original_url”:”https://rondea.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/echo/CHAPTER5_084A_resultado.jpg”,”network”:”verge”,”bgcolor”:”white”,”pinterest_enabled”:false,”caption”:null,”credit”:null,”focal_area”:{“top_left_x”:0,”top_left_y”:0,”bottom_right_x”:1920,”bottom_right_y”:1080},”bounds”:[0,0,1920,1080],”uploaded_size”:{“width”:1920,”height”:1080},”focal_point”:null,”asset_id”:22342346,”asset_credit”:”Albert Marin”,”alt_text”:””},”image_right”:{“ratio”:”*”,”original_url”:”https://rondea.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/echo/CHAPTER5_084B_resultado.jpg”,”network”:”verge”,”bgcolor”:”white”,”pinterest_enabled”:false,”caption”:null,”credit”:null,”focal_area”:{“top_left_x”:0,”top_left_y”:0,”bottom_right_x”:1920,”bottom_right_y”:1080},”bounds”:[0,0,1920,1080],”uploaded_size”:{“width”:1920,”height”:1080},”focal_point”:null,”asset_id”:22342345,”asset_credit”:”Capcom”,”alt_text”:””},”credit”:”Albert Marin and Capcom”}” data-cid=”apps/imageslider-1615569713_8656_4612″>
Screenshots showing the original Resident Evil 4 and the improved graphics of the HD Project.Albert Marin and Capcom
What sorts of applications and tech do you use to accomplish your goals with this project?
A talented modder and coder, “Son of Persia,” helped us a lot: He developed most of the tools I use to edit 3D models, lights, effects, collision data, and much more. I found out how some files work, but I needed to edit in a hexadecimal editor manually. This means a single light/effect would take hours to edit.
“Son of Persia” took all my findings about these files and generated automated tools that would make this work way easier. And he also deciphered how other files of the game work and what they do, and he generated the needed tools to edit these kinds of files as well.
We also use Photoshop, 3ds Max, and dozens of custom tools courtesy of “Son of Persia” and other modders. These tools unpack and convert all the game files into editable data (mostly understandable .txt files and 3D files that can be opened with most 3D editors). Once the data is edited it can be repacked again with the same tools. But I have to admit sometimes I manually edit a few things in a hexadecimal editor, too.
Is it intimidating to make certain adjustments to a game that has such a passionate fanbase, or are you confident in your changes?
We are on the safe side because one of the main goals of this project is to be faithful to the original. And here is where subjectivity plays an important role: Low resolution textures leave a lot to the imagination, and you know… every person’s imagination is different!
Sometimes we receive complaints even when we use the exact same texture, but in HD resolutions, because the low-res textures looked like it was dirtier or muddy or something like that. But the HD re-creation looked too clean in comparison, depending on what the person interpreted when looking at the low-res surface.
And then we have all the lighting and effects changes I’ve done. Most of them are well-received, but I’m aware my personal taste is playing a role to some degree, so I’m always open to feedback and this is the reason I post all those videos and comparison images.
I’ve changed a lot of things because of the feedback we receive!
Albert Marin standing in front of Raglan Castle, specifically, in front of the wall he says is used in a few Resident Evil titles. Photo: Albert Marin
What are some of the biggest and smallest changes your team has made to RE4 during this project?
The biggest change by far is an entire piece of area created from scratch in the Separate Ways mini-game. The transition between one room and the other made no sense. I combined the 3D structure of the connecting areas and I found out a portion of the path was missing.
The smallest changes are any small texture and small 3D improvement done here and there. In fact, there are hundreds of small edits I’m sure most people won’t ever notice.
As an example, I remember some design changes in certain ammo boxes. This PC port has a HD textures option. The HD textures are 95 percent an upscaled and filtered version of the original [GameCube] textures, but some of the textures are redone or slightly adjusted.
Marin’s team restored some of Capcom’s original texture work that had been lost in later ports, then enhanced it.Image: Albert Marin
In the image (above) you can see how they altered the TMP ammo box design. The “J” and the wolf drawing on the side are different. So, while I was upscaling that texture I took the opportunity to restore the original design from previous versions of the game.
What have been your favorite sections of the game to upscale textures for?
The castle area, by far, because I used a lot of pictures I took myself during the trips I did around Spain and Wales. It was really satisfying to identify and improve all those architectural surfaces!
The Raglan Castle-inspired wall as it appears in the original game (left), and the team’s version based on photography (right).“,”image_left”:{“ratio”:”*”,”original_url”:”https://rondea.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/echo/254700_20210224200505_1.png”,”network”:”verge”,”bgcolor”:”white”,”pinterest_enabled”:false,”caption”:null,”credit”:null,”focal_area”:{“top_left_x”:0,”top_left_y”:0,”bottom_right_x”:1920,”bottom_right_y”:1080},”bounds”:[0,0,1920,1080],”uploaded_size”:{“width”:1920,”height”:1080},”focal_point”:null,”asset_id”:22342355,”asset_credit”:”Albert Marin”,”alt_text”:””},”image_right”:{“ratio”:”*”,”original_url”:”https://rondea.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/echo/254700_20210224200321_1.png”,”network”:”verge”,”bgcolor”:”white”,”pinterest_enabled”:false,”caption”:null,”credit”:null,”focal_area”:{“top_left_x”:0,”top_left_y”:0,”bottom_right_x”:1920,”bottom_right_y”:1080},”bounds”:[0,0,1920,1080],”uploaded_size”:{“width”:1920,”height”:1080},”focal_point”:null,”asset_id”:22342358,”asset_credit”:”Capcom”,”alt_text”:”The improved version, based on Albert’s photography.”},”credit”:”Albert Marin and Capcom”}” data-cid=”apps/imageslider-1615569713_6067_4613″>
The Raglan Castle-inspired wall as it appears in the original game (left), and the team’s version based on photography (right).Albert Marin and Capcom
What section(s) of the game required the most amount of work to remaster?
The laboratory and factory areas on the island are probably the most time-consuming in terms of texture and 3D retouching, because there are tons of weird and blurry control panels, medical and military devices, and cables. Any small inaccuracy becomes really apparent, unlike the organic textures of the village or the old architectural surfaces in the castle.
Is your HD project focused strictly on visuals, or has there been work done to the sound quality and other parts of the game as well?
Unfortunately I do not have enough sound knowledge to remaster the game’s audio. Although I fixed some bugs, mostly related to wrong sounds playing in the wrong moment or low quality sounds during the Separate Ways campaign (shipped as part of the PS2 port and all ports following it).
I also fixed some stage collision issues here and there.
AI upscaling looks far better than the original texture, but not as good as what Marin and the team eventually accomplished manually.Image: Albert Marin
You currently accept donations to help fund the RE4 HD project, but do you plan to sell the finished project once it releases?
No, it will be for free. Modding and remastering this game is also a game for me.
What sort of reception have you gotten from this project, and who do you hope to reach with it?
It surpasses anything I’d imagined. I guess some people, sites, and communities have spread its existence. But after all, Resident Evil has a huge fanbase, so I guess it’s quite understandable a few thousands of this fanbase is interested in the remaster process of one of the best games of all history.
About our target audience, I’d say, everyone who likes the remasters for the sake of the visual pleasure; or playing their favorite game you like with no trace of blurriness, or simply the people who like this kind of fan project but don’t like the game at all!
Because this project is more about the journey than the final result. After all, it can’t compete with any next-gen game in terms of visuals, no matter how crisp the textures are or how round the models look.
One of Resident Evil 4’s laboratory environments, with upscaled textures applied. Image: Albert Marin
Have you worked in any capacity with Capcom (or any of its current or former employees) on this project?
No. We were in contact with them at the beginning. Someone at Capcom was interested in our project, and he took the time to send a planning document, but I guess the other Capcom people in Japan were not interested because the communication ended there. Other than that, there was no help on making the project.
Given that Capcom recently released the RE3 remake, it’s likely that an RE4 remake is in development. Does your team worry about Capcom eventually stealing your thunder, so to speak, with an improved version of the game?
No, the remakes are really different games. Even now, the original Resident Evil 2 & 3 receive their own mods and visual improvements (Resident Evil 2 and 3 HD Seamless Project) They are different and complementary experiences. Just think about any Hollywood remake. Most of them don’t hurt the original movie, and they are alternative visions of the older title.
PmsProxy, a partnered Twitch streamer who has 147,000 followers, was tired. Tired of streaming Grand Theft Auto roleplay, and of streaming herself playing games more generally — something she’d been doing nearly every day for around six years. “I didn’t just want to sit and play games all day, I realized,” she says when I reach her by Discord. “I want to either tell a story through roleplay or just do something that made it feel fulfilling, and roleplay wasn’t that.” So she decided to make a change: instead of streaming herself playing games, she’d stream herself making things for her business.
That business was leatherworking. Proxy made the jump from full-time game streamer to full-time crafting streamer at the beginning of this year; it was a nerve-wracking but ultimately necessary step. “It’s been unbelievably different in the best way possible,” she says. “My viewers have gone up, my subs have gone up. And I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that my community members are seeing me be happy, right? They’re seeing me do something that I love.” The people who stayed, she says, want to buy her work and learn how she makes it.
Twitch is usually thought of as a place for streaming video games. And while that reputation is deserved — yes, a lot of people stream their gaming on Twitch — the site also has a surprising breadth of channels. Makers & Crafting is one of them; the category was created in 2018, after Twitch renamed “Hobbies & Crafts” to better represent the many pros who streamed in it (in their words). According to Twitch Tracker, a website that logs Twitch statistics, the category averaged 520 viewers in September 2018, the month it was created. As of January 2021, Makers & Crafting was averaging 1,520 viewers, or about three times more.
The people who stream in the category do everything from embroidery to woodworking; it’s mesmerizing to bounce among them. Makers & Crafting is a warm, welcoming category that feels a little intimate. The streams can run long — I mean, they’re making physical goods — but every streamer I’ve seen seems to vibrate at a slightly different frequency than the people who stream on the rest of the site. They’re calmer. Less frenetic. The vibe is aggressively wholesome. In other words: it’s about as close to an oasis as you can get online.
Streaming anything is difficult. In every broadcast you have to be a host, producer, audio engineer, and video technician — all at the same time. Streaming your crafts, however, is harder: making things for an audience is a special kind of difficult, especially if the products you’re making are eventually going to be sold. What’s perhaps more interesting is how learning crafts has changed with the accessibility of the internet. Proxy and another streamer and woodworker I spoke to, WorkedLettuce3 — whose handle was chosen by the Xbox gamertag gods — both learned their crafts from the internet.
“I watched a lot of YouTube videos,” he says. “I just never thought it would be something I would take up. Because, you know, a lot of woodworking YouTubers in particular, they like to flex their shop, they like to flex all the hundreds of thousands of dollars they spent on their tools, right? And, yeah, I mean, that was never gonna be me.” Even so, he found a channel that he says motivated him to be a woodworker — one that emphasized that you didn’t need tons of gear to pick it up as a hobby. “I’m very, very glad I found it because I’ve been loving just messing around woodworking, hanging out with people in the garage like we’ve been doing now,” he says.
Proxy also learned some of the tools of her leatherworking trade from the internet. Her foray into the Makers & Crafting section coincided with the first time she tried her hand at leatherworking. “I started leather crafting January of this year. Like my first time really getting my hands on my own stuff was in January,” she says. “But I spent the last year researching. So starting in 2019 and all through 2020, I did nothing but watch YouTube videos and Instagram videos. I did tons of research.” Proxy says she’s always been gifted in working with her hands. Leatherworking is just the most recent outlet. (She also went to art school.)
Lettuce is in a similar position; before six months ago, he’d never sawn a board in half.
He’d never streamed before, either. His first streaming setup was just streaming directly to Twitch from his phone; these days, he’s got a dedicated PC in his garage, a couple webcams, and the TV from his living room to read chat on. And his chat is important: among his viewers are veteran woodworkers and other crafters, along with people who’ve just stopped by to watch. The woodworkers help him when he’s stuck; he says there are people there who have coached him through his entire woodworking career. That kind of interaction is unique to Twitch, and to the Makers & Crafting section in particular.
Even so, he says he finds woodworking on stream scary sometimes. “Like, before the first time I turned my table saw on, I was terrified. Before I turned my router on for the first time, I was terrified. Before I ran a circular saw for the first time, I was terrified,” he says. And he did fall into some bad habits — like reading chat from his phone while working on things. “My chat would see me reading the chat from my phone. And a couple people in there just like stepped in and they were like, ‘Yo, like, for real. You can’t be doing that.’” He credits chat with keeping him honest.
“No one is coming in to backseat you,” says Proxy. “They’re not like, ‘Oh, you should go here and you should do this. And oh, you didn’t kill my favorite boss.’” Viewers are there to watch someone make something, and maybe learn a little in the process.
Proxy also makes just about everything in her store live on stream. Which she says is intimidating but also rewarding — because viewers (who are also buyers) can see exactly how much labor goes into making what they’ve bought. “They get to see what work is actually being put into this,” she says. “It’s not just, you know, a quick two hours, and it’s done. It’s a grueling two hours. Like everything is hand cut, and hand stitched and glued and stamped.”
Not everyone sells what they make on stream. Another crafter I spoke to, LaserGeekCreations, says that he doesn’t usually create the things that show up in his shop on stream. “Mainly because a lot of the stuff that’s on my Etsy shop is like, quick and easy to make,” he says. “It’s kind of boring to make a lot of the time.” (He assuages this boredom by creating things like a giant wooden dinosaur, which he also destroyed on stream.) LaserGeekCreations also happens to be the streamer who raided Lettuce when he was just starting out — which gave Lettuce his first real start on Twitch.
It’s not all fun and games on Twitch. The larger viewer community can sometimes be brutally toxic to people who don’t fit its notions of who can and can’t be a streamer; recently, Twitch partner Negaoryx lamented, at Twitch’s 2020 Participation Ceremony event, that the chat was targeting presenters with tons of hate speech.
There’s more than 42,000+ viewers watching the Twitch Participation Ceremony on the offical @Twitch channel now. Users in chat are spewing hate speech & harassing the guest streamers. 3 mod names in the chat list but since I’ve been watching, have seen ZERO messages get deleted.
— negaoryx (@negaoryx) January 23, 2021
Makers & Crafting feels different, though. It’s smaller, for one thing. But all the people I’ve spoken to who’ve been involved with the category think it’s a uniquely welcoming space nestled within the larger Twitch community. “It was almost like — it’s gonna sound fucking hilarious — but it was almost like walking into a warm hug,” says Proxy. “It was just like everyone was so welcome.” During her first week in the section, Proxy says she went from getting around 100 viewers to getting more than 500. They were leatherworkers and other crafters; they dropped tips and ideas and support.
Lettuce had a similarly warm experience. “The Makers & Crafting community is — I’m gonna say in my opinion, but I’m pretty sure it’s a fact — that they’re the most welcoming and loving community-minded community I’ve ever seen in my entire life.” Once the pandemic is over, Lettuce says, he’s considering driving from Las Vegas, where he lives, to New Jersey, where his parents are, and visiting his friends from Twitch on the way.
“I don’t think I’ll ever leave Twitch. I mean, live-streaming and the community in general,” he says. “The stream will still be a thing, but I think interpersonal communication and hanging out and, you know, giving someone a firm handshake is my end goal.”
LaserGeekCreations has been streaming crafting for longer than Lettuce and Proxy, and he confirms their assessments of the community. “The makers community is such an amazing community. I think you’ve probably heard that from other people already,” he says. “Because it doesn’t matter what you’re making. We’re all makers, we all like seeing what other people are doing. Everyone’s so supportive of each other.”
That kind of supportive community feeling can be invaluable if you’re trying to finish something. As anyone who’s tried to make anything knows, creating things is hard because going from idea to reality requires a number of steps, which sometimes aren’t particularly obvious. On Twitch, the Makers & Crafting community makes it just a little easier.
As both a software engineer and an avid player of strategy games, chaosparrot struggled to reckon with the damage his work and hobbies had done to his hands. By 2017, the consistent pain of his repetitive stress injuries was bad enough that he could no longer type comfortably or enjoy the games he loved to play. While searching for solutions, he came across a video of someone using speech recognition software to code. He decided to try using the same tech — not for coding, but for playing games.
“I started the process of trying to play the old games that I couldn’t play anymore with sounds instead,” chaosparrot says. The project started in Python, which he used to create a full voice control program that enables him to play games hands-free. And it worked: he was able to reach just one tier below the rank in Starcraft he had attained before his injuries, and he also beat Hollow Knight, a twitchy game that’s likely to frustrate players even with a traditional controller, using just his voice.
Games have slowly gotten more accessible over time, but when features are missing or controls don’t work, the onus falls on disabled players to find their own ways to play. Many disabled players use a combination of adaptive hardware — such as mouth-operated controllers and specially designed joysticks — and various apps to enable features like eye tracking, screen resizing, or voice control. Chaosparrot’s use of voice is just one of the many customizable, bespoke solutions players have turned to.
“That’s like life when you have a disability. Anything that I kind of want, or need, and it’s not available, we have to make it ourselves,” says Kyle Abbate, who runs onehandmostly, a YouTube channel focused on accessibility in games. That might be a cup holder for his wheelchair, attachments for his keyboard and mouse, or the software setups he uses to play games. “A lot of stuff for disabled people is trial by error, and making your own accessible tech, and whatever works for you, and experimenting and trying to find what’s best.”
Chaosparrot’s program, Parrot.Py, was inspired by Talon Voice, a freely available voice recognition software for writing, coding, and theoretically any other computing task. By teaching Parrot.Py specific clicks, hisses, and clucks and associating them with button inputs in a game, chaosparrot is able to vocalize commands — selecting units in Starcraft or attacking and dashing in Hollow Knight — in addition to using eye tracking for movement. He hopes to get it working in a variety of game genres, and has even tested it while playing Among Us, though that involved explaining to friends why he was hissing into his mic on the way to electric.
There are other players who use older, preexisting voice control programs like VoiceAttack and GAVPI as viable alternatives to typical controllers. But regardless of the program, there are still hurdles that come with voice as a control method. Voice controls create a time delay between giving a command and the move being executed in the game, which makes for a more difficult gameplay experience, especially in games that call for fast reaction times.
There’s also more mental labor involved in setting up voice commands before diving into a game. Both VoiceAttack and GAVPI require more tech literacy than just running a game by itself, and Parrot.Py requires at least a basic familiarity with coding. Using any of these programs involves extra steps on top of the existing barriers that come with playing as a disabled person. “It’s gonna be hard to bridge that gap,” says chaosparrot. Like Abbate has done for VoiceAttack, he plans to make videos explaining how to use his program.
Beyond the quirks of setting up voice controls, some games are just more difficult to play than others. A game like Celeste, which requires fast decision-making and movement, presents a challenge, but is more playable thanks to a built-in assist mode that allows for adjustments in speed, stamina, and invincibility. For games without an assist mode, adjusting elements like health or attack damage with a program like Cheat Engine can make the game adapt to the player, meeting them in the middle between what they’re capable of and what the game requires. “I think if you look at the future of accessibility, I think [an assist mode] is a great thing to add, at least to single-player games,” says chaosparrot.
Inclusive design requires time, careful consideration, and a willingness to solicit feedback from people with a variety of disabilities. Developers don’t always have adaptive play styles in mind, and don’t necessarily have the best track record for considering how disabled people might interact with their games, from button-mashing triggering chronic pain flare-ups to flashing lights potentially causing seizures.
Improvements in gaming accessibility have often been the result of disabled people advocating for themselves. Microsoft’s Xbox Adaptive Controller was developed with guidance from advocacy groups like AbleGamers to better address the needs of disabled players. A letter from a disabled player is what pushed Naughty Dog’s team to consider accessibility in their games. They prioritized accessibility in The Last of Us Part IIas a result, and the game was praised for its wide range of customizable options like remappable controls and audio cues for players with low vision.
Those pushes for more accessible features are also found on social media platforms, where disabled people band together to bring awareness to what’s missing in games and what fixes have been made. “The disabled community on social media has been growing and becoming more and more vocal,” says Courtney Craven, founder of Can I Play That, an accessible game review site.
Players continue to advocate for accessibility in games by reaching out to developers and showcasing and sharing the kinds of solutions they use. Chaosparrot’s Parrot.Py is designed to address his needs, but he and other players know that accessibility will never be one-size-fits-all.
“I encourage devs to take a look at their game and their mechanics, and then think about ‘how do we make these accessible,’’’ says Abbate. “And then when you’re making your next game, ‘how can we iterate again, and make those changes, make it even better.’”
McIntosh has released details of its reference in-car audio system, which will feature in the 2022 Jeep Grand Wagoneer SUV, due in mid-2021.
This is the latest fruits of the American hi-fi brand and car’s partnership (announced last September), following the launch of the McIntosh sound system inside the Jeep Grand Cherokee L earlier this year.
The McIntosh MX1375 Reference Entertainment System is the company’s first-ever ‘automotive reference system’ and will be available exclusively in the Grand Wagoneer. The set-up boasts 23 speakers and “one of the highest performing 12-inch subwoofers in the industry.” It will be powered by a 24-channel 1375-watt amplifier.
There’s no word on pricing yet, but McIntosh points out that splashing out on the MX1375 gets you the firm’s Adaptive 3D Surround Processing capabilities, which aim to provide an “immersive listening experience”.
If the reference system proves a little rich for your blood, you can opt for the McIntosh MX950 Entertainment System, which will be available in the Grand Wagoneer Series I and II, as well as the Wagoneer Series III. The same system found in Jeep’s Grand Cherokee L, the MX950 comprises 19 speakers, a 10-inch subwoofer and a 17-channel, 950-watt amplifier.
(Image credit: McIntosh / Jeep)
(Image credit: McIntosh)
It’s not the first time McIntosh has teamed up with an American icon. In the early noughties, the US-based audio maker developed custom systems for Harley Davidson motorcycles and the reissued Ford GT.
No expense has been spared this time around, though. McIntosh’s acoustics experts are said to have had “free rein” to create the best possible audio system design, with the aim of enveloping passengers in a convincing live music experience.
“When we were developing the MX1375 Reference Entertainment System, we set up a McIntosh Reference room next to the Wagoneer team’s facility to ensure the best parts of the home system experience made it into the Grand Wagoneer,” said McIntosh president Charlie Randall.
And yes, those iconic blue meters are present on the vehicle’s infotainment display.
McIntosh isn’t the only hi-fi brand hitting the road. Sonos will offer its audio kit in the upcoming Audi Q4 E-tron, while Naim has recently teamed up with Bentley.
MORE:
Vroom with a view: the best in-car audio tech and trends
Read our review of the Naim for Bentley in-car audio system
An in-depth look at the McIntosh MA9000 integrated amplifier
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The true wireless earbuds market has never been more crowded than it is in 2021. With so many to choose from, finding the best earbuds can seem daunting. But the vast selection is actually a good thing: not only are there excellent picks for everyday buds to carry in your pocket, but you’ve also got a slew of options that prioritize things like noise cancellation, fitness, lengthy battery life, and comfort.
Even if you don’t consider yourself any kind of audiophile, it’s important to find a set of earbuds that sound good to you. This means different things depending on the person: do you want head-rattling bass or something more balanced with an immersive soundstage? You’ll want to find a pair with a good, reliable Bluetooth connection — all of the below picks check off that box — and enough battery life to last you through a normal day of intermittent listening.
Remember that getting the most out of earbuds requires a good seal in your ear. Always try the various ear tip sizes that come with whichever buds you purchase — and don’t be afraid to experiment with different sizes in each ear. Ears are funny like that. Many of these earbuds have apps you can install on your phone to further personalize their sound and controls the way you want.
If you’re looking for the overall best noise-canceling earbuds, you’ll be very happy with Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds. They have best-in-class noise cancellation and sound great.
But if you’ve got other priorities, there is a range of great options from Apple, Beats, Jabra, Sennheiser, and Ultimate Ears that won’t disappoint. This guide covers higher-end wireless earbuds. If you’re on the hunt for more affordable options, check out the best cheap wireless earbuds to buy.
Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds are the best noise-canceling wireless earbuds you can get.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
1. Bose QuietComfort Earbuds
Best noise-canceling earbuds
The QuietComfort Earbuds offer very powerful active noise cancellation, but what’s equally nice about them is how customizable the ANC is. You can choose between 11 different levels of noise cancellation (based on how much of the outside world you want mixed in) and set three favorites to cycle between when you double-tap the left earbud.
Bose’s premium earbuds put out fantastic audio with punchy bass. Their transparency / ambient mode is second only to Apple in how natural it sounds. And even the voice mics work well, so you really get the whole package — as you should for this kind of money.
The AirPods Pro remain the best wireless earbuds for iPhone owners because some of their best features only work with other Apple products.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
2. Apple AirPods Pro
Best wireless earbuds for the iPhone
There’s no beating the interplay between AirPods and Apple’s other devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The AirPods Pro don’t offer the best sound quality of our top picks, but it’s perfectly satisfactory to many people. And the active noise cancellation is right up there with Bose.
But it really all comes together if you’re in Apple’s ecosystem and also own a Mac or iPad. The AirPods Pro can automatically hop between devices based on which one you’re using, and on iPhone or iPad, spatial audio delivers immersive surround sound when watching streaming video apps. They’re fantastic for making calls with, and Apple continues to pull ahead of competitors when it comes to ease of use.
Here’s a tip: if none of the included ear tips get you a perfect seal, I recommend a set of memory foam tips like those from Comply or Dekoni.
The Jabra Elite 75t are the best wireless earbuds if you want to pair with two devices simultaneously.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
3. Jabra Elite 75t
Best wireless earbuds for multitasking
Jabra is pretty much the only company making true wireless earbuds that support “multipoint” for two simultaneous Bluetooth connections. So you can pair them up with a phone and your laptop or tablet at the same time. Jabra’s mobile app offers a ton of customization over the controls, EQ, and even includes bonuses like white noise or nature sounds if you’ve got situations where they’d be handy.
Jabra Elite 75t
$130
$150
14% off
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Jabra’s Elite 75t earbuds offer pleasing bass-heavy sound, reliable performance, and can connect with two devices — like a phone and laptop — at the same time.
$130
at Amazon
$130
at Best Buy
The newer Elite 85t earbuds add more effective noise cancellation to the mix, but the 75ts are on sale so frequently that they’re still the go-to pick if multitasking is important to you. They pack a wallop when it comes to bass — but not to the point where it overwhelms the rest of the mix.
Jabra backs them with a two-year warranty in the event you experience any hardware issues. (I’ve had a 75t bud stop taking a charge out of nowhere, so it can happen.)
The Powerbeats Pro have been around for some time now, but they still rank as the best wireless earbuds for fitness.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
4. Beats Powerbeats Pro
Best wireless earbuds for fitness
Nothing has managed to unseat the Powerbeats Pro as the best fitness earbuds since their release in 2019. Their ear hook design keeps them planted on your ears during intense exercise, they can endure your sweatiest workouts, and the nine hours of continuous battery life should get you through just about any marathon. And the sound quality is killer, with plenty of bass to keep you motivated and moving.
And since Beats is owned by Apple, the Powerbeats Pro can also take advantage of features like audio sharing, auto device switching (like the AirPods Pro), and a dead-simple pairing process.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus can last for up to 11 hours on a single charge, which blows away many competitors.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
5. Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus
Best wireless earbuds for battery life
They can last 11 hours on a single charge. That’s what I consider marathon battery life for true wireless earbuds, and few other companies have managed to keep up with the longevity of Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Plus. They lack active noise cancellation, so that helps them keep playing for longer, but even then, 11 hours is quite a feat. Like the Jabras, these are often on sale and easy to grab at a discount.
Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 2 are the best wireless earbuds in terms of sound quality.Photo by Jon Porter / The Verge
6. Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2
Best wireless earbuds for sound quality
Sennheiser’s second swing at true wireless earbuds improve on the original Momentums with a more comfortable fit and the addition of active noise cancellation. But everything about these earbuds is second fiddle to their sound quality: the Momentum True Wireless 2 earbuds put out dynamic, expressive, and wonderfully detailed audio. They’re the sort of buds that will bring out things in your favorite music you haven’t noticed before.
But that upgraded sound quality comes for a hefty $300 price. If you want arguably the best sound that true wireless earbuds can deliver, these are it. But all of these other picks sound plenty good in their own right.
You’re not going to find any silicone ear tips that can match the UE Fits and their custom tips, which mold to match your ear shape in seconds.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
7. UE Fits
Best wireless earbuds if comfort is everything
If you often have difficulty finding ear tips that fit your ears comfortably, it doesn’t really get better than the UE Fits. These earbuds include special tips that mold to the shape of your ear during a 60-second fitting process that you activate with UE’s app. They get warm during molding (but not uncomfortably so) and you can feel them adapting to the contours of your ear canal.
Once the process is done, you’re left with custom earbuds with a fit that’s as close to perfect as you’ll ever find — unless you visit your local audiologist for a professional mold, and that gets expensive fast. Ultimate Ears has a fit “guarantee” and will send you a second set of tips should your first molding attempt go awry. The UE Fits are quite good, last for up to eight hours of continuous playback, and they’re rated IPX4 for water resistance.
UE Fits
$249
Prices taken at time of publishing.
The UE Fits come with unique ear tips that permanently mold to the unique shape of your ears in just 60 seconds. This allows for a much better fit that you can comfortably wear for hours.
(Pocket-lint) – If your TV audio isn’t up to snuff then there are a bevy of options on the market to help step things up a notch. Among these is Polk Audio’s React soundbar, which is available for less cash than many a rival.
But just because you’re paying less doesn’t mean you’ll get less in terms of raw sound capability. Especially if, as we have for this review, you opt for the bundled React soundbar and React Sub package.
That said, the Polk React doesn’t offer any fancy object-based sound decoding, it doesn’t even play pretend – as there’s no Dolby Atmos surround output here from the bar itself – instead sticking to Dolby Digital and DTS surround formats.
You can later invest in Polk’s RS2 surround speakers, which are simply paired at the touch of a button, to create a fully fledged 5.1 system (if you have the Sub) in smaller steps rather than forking our a massive chunk of change up front. That, we think, is a big part of this soundbar’s wider appeal.
Design & Setup
Ports: 1x HDMI (ARC) output; 1x optical input
Controls: Included remote / four-button top-of-‘bar panel
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Alexa voice control integrated
Dimensions (soundbar): 56mm (H) x 864mm (W) x 121mm (D)
Dimensions (sub): 348mm (H) x 218mm (W) x 419mm (D); 7.5kg
Having recently reviewed the JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam – which is an all-in-one box solution that can’t ever be connected to separates – it was interesting to dig into the Polk React for its points of difference. The Polk is a longer soundbar – at 864mm it’s 160mm longer by comparison – so even sat against a 55-inch telly, as pictured, it’s fairly good at covering the majority of the screen width, which is handy for a wide soundscape to help match the action on screen.
The Polk is simpler than the JBL in terms of core specification, though, as there’s no HDMI input, just the one HDMI input – the latter of which is ARC (audio return channel) capable. For us this meant a slight rejig of our TV’s four HDMI ports, as we couldn’t passthrough using the soundbar itself, ensuring the HDMI ARC cable provided was running from TV to React ‘bar.
Thing is, our ARC port is one of the two 4K resolution capable HDMI ports on the TV (every maker does this at present), so our BT TV box for telly had to be relegated to HDMI 4 (running Full HD maximum – which, in fairness, is how majority content from there is streamed) to save HDMI 1 for our PlayStation 5 (our source of Blu-ray and 4K streaming apps such as Netflix). ARC does its job though: once the TV is switched on the audio handshakes between device and soundbar.
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Well, it didn’t at very first. For a brief period of time we were in a no man’s land of having both TV audio and soundbar audio outputting simultaneously. That’s because the setup is, to our mind, a little finicky. The soundbar needed an update out of the box, that much it told us (by voice alert), but having advised us to install the Polk Connect app – which we did on our Google Android phone – it then didn’t like it, forcing a handover to Amazon Alexa instead. But the Alexa app initially failed to get things talking successfully.
Pocket-lint
Success did come after a few attempts, after which there’s been no issues, but it very much points to this Polk’s intentions: it’s an Alexa voice control soundbar through and through. There’s even an Alexa button pride of place on the included remote control. There’s not even a proper off button – as your main TV remote will take over for that duty anyway – and there’s always a glowing light of some colour to the front of the ‘bar, which we think is a design downside when watching movies in darkened rooms.
Oh, and Alexa shouts crazilyloud for some reason too – almost to the point of distorting – and there’s no simple way that we can find to turn this down, which is irksome.
The included remote isn’t the prettiest, but it’s well appointed, able to switch between TV and Bluetooth audio sources. There are adjustments for bass up/down on the left, volume up/down in the middle, voice up/down on the right, four quick-select movie presets below this, and surround sound volume/balance adjustment to the bottom of the controller.
That surround sound adjustment won’t do anything unless you’ve bought into the Polk’s expandable options though. As the React soundbar itself is a straight forward left, centre, right speaker arrangement. But if you buy the RS2 surround speakers – not on test here – then you can easily sync them at the touch of a button on the back of the soundbar and boost things to a 5-channel system.
Go with the subwoofer – paired in the same way, using the same button to quickly sync without extra wires – and that brings 5.1 channel potential into your living room. The sub is pretty beefy in terms of scale – and deeper than it is either wide or tall – but the addition of true bass at the lower end of the spectrum is transformative to the sound profile. We think it’s an essential addition to make the React ‘bar deliver its potential.
Which brings us to the whole reason to buy a soundbar: to enhance audio quality, notching up TV audio to new heights. And the Polk React does a generally decent job, although given its positioning to the base of a screen (inevitable, of course) and lack of object-based sound control it lacks any distinct verticality – so on larger screens voice parts might not give the impression they’re coming from the person speaking with the greatest of precision.
Pocket-lint
Otherwise there’s a lot of tweaking that can be done with ease, so it’s great to have all that control directly to hand. The presets are particularly useful, selecting Movie to enhance that extra bass – there’s always a good down-pitched “wommm” in an action flick – or Night to quieten such frequencies and allow your family/neighbours/whoever to get some shut-eye when you’re having a late night session.
The independent controls for bass and voice are handy too, the latter really adjusting the mid-to-high-end of the frequency range to give more curvature to vocal output. So if you’re finding the bass balance is a bit too high, then this can help voices to cut through the mix with greater clarity. We like that it’s a simple system, too, not over-complex in how many ways it can all be adjusted.
Pocket-lint
However, bass-wise we’ve heard soundbars with chunkier capability. Which is why, once paired with the React Sub, you’ll really hear and feel the difference. With the React subwoofer linked up the sound has a much more rooted appeal, delivered with gusto. It’s got great musicality too, to the point we’ve ceased using our Marshall standalone speaker in the living room and instead just tuck into the Polk React and Sub on Music mode for the best possible listen.
Through the Alexa app it’s simple enough to get the soundbar to register as part of your home network. With Google Home open it’s easily identified (although not directly controllable here, as Alexa rules the way), so Spotify plays nice – and you can ask Alexa by voice to load your favourites.
We suspect that adding a pair of RS2 speakers would add to the expanse of the overall sound as, like we said up top, the Polk React doesn’t support object-based audio, so you’re not going to get any Dolby Atmos pseudo height and all-around sense from this soundbar. But, really, given how such systems can sometimes fly off the handle in weird (and not always wonderful) ways, we think Polk delivers here exactly what people will want – enhanced sound on a smaller budget.
Pocket-lint
That will raise the question, however, as to whether you want something smaller and more technologically complete, such as the JBL Bar 5 MultiBeam that we mentioned at the beginning of this review. It can’t match the smacking bass of the subwoofer by any means, but if you don’t have the space then it might be a better fit to your needs – and the Atmos found there is impressive given the right source material.
Verdict
While the Polk React doesn’t have object-based sound decoding bells and whistles – that’s to say there’s no vertical channels for pseudo surround – as a standalone large ‘bar with decent output and control, for a very fair price, it’s got a lot going for it. Especially if you’re keen on Alexa integration for voice control.
But things really step up a notch when you add a React Sub as part of the package. That’s when the sound becomes extra full, deep and rich – to the point that it’s taken preference as our living room music speaker when the telly is out of use. Now if that’s not high praise, then what is? Keep your expectations in check in terms of technological prowess and Polk delivers strong at this end of the market.
Also consider
Pocket-lint
JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam
squirrel_widget_4229578
It’s a different prospect, as it’s a single box solution – so you’ll never be able to add extras or a sub – but that might better suit your space restrictions. However, it permits passthrough (thanks to HDMI in and out ports with eARC) and offers Dolby Atmos decoding, which with the right source delivers a more complete sound. That said, the Polk’s React Sub, if you want to fork out the extra cash, takes impactful sound to the next step where the JBL simply cannot reach.
Read our review
Pocket-lint
Yamaha SR-C20A
squirrel_widget_4026933
Looking for something smaller? If what you need is a bit of everything from your soundbar – ignoring that, at this price point, you can’t expect surround sound – you can’t go far wrong with this little Yamaha. It’s a one-box solution (so, like the JBL above, there there’s no subwoofer here) and can turn its hand to pretty much anything, without ever making itself the centre of attention. A different prospect, but a nice neat little package.
Read our review
Writing by Mike Lowe.
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