Having all your telecommuting equipment in one dedicated device is an enticing promise, which is probably why ring-light equipped webcams like the Razer Kiyo exist. But as someone who still attends work meetings with a headset, even the best webcams still leave me wanting a separate microphone. That leaves demand for a proper all-in-one device, which is at least one reason why the Movo WebMic HD Pro Kickstarter hit its $15,000 goal in less than three hours when it launched earlier today.
Coming from audio equipment and smartphone recording accessory maker Movo, the WebMic HD Pro is essentially a cardioid condenser microphone (think the Blue Yeti or Razer Seiren) with a built-in 1080p @ 30 fps camera and halo ring light. There’s also a detachable stand that’s supposed to double as a handheld grip for more stable video, plus a clamp for attaching it to a monitor or laptop.
We don’t often cover Kickstarter projects, because they’re just too volatile and prone to making promises that are too big. But Movo’s a well-known company–a video journalism course I took at Columbia actually provided me with some Movo gear as part of the tuition. And given how necessary good recording equipment is right now, having a product that takes down the technical demand of managing multiple devices is appealing.
(Image credit: Movo)
But that doesn’t mean we don’t have our concerns. Chief among them: We can’t imagine it’s easy to get the most flattering angles and the best audio at the same time with this device. Normally, flattering video angles tend to come from above (hence the ‘Facebook angle’ meme) while the best audio comes from a microphone that’s closer to your mouth. That means you’ll probably need to compromise between the two with the WebMic HD Pro, and even in Movo’s promotional images, you see a lot of sample use cases that would result in what we lovingly call the ‘nose cam’ effect, which is when a webcam is placed in a way that it shoots up your nostrils.
(Image credit: Movo)
There’s also a lack of special features on the camera itself. There are 5 options listed on the Kickstarter, though all of them only capture footage at 30 fps, only two capture in 4K, and only two have the ring light. One option even only has the microphone, which seems to go so against the concept of the device that it almost shows a lack of confidence in it.
Finally, Movo doesn’t specialize in cameras themselves, so much as camera accessories, so we worry about video quality and low-light performance.
Still, the price is right. The 1080p WebMic HD Pro with the ring light, microphone and camera currently starts at $89 to “super early bird” backers, which is the same price as the similar Razer Kiyo, but will also get you that microphone functionality. That’s listed as 47% off the normal price, which would put its typical cost closer to $168, which is still great value given the device’s supposed functionality.
It’s also likely that this is one Kickstarter project that will come to fruition since Movo is such a well-known brand. In fact, because the Kickstarter project’s goal was so low, it was most likely put out to gauge interest in and promote the WebMic HD rather than actually fund it. With that in mind, it’s not too surprising to see a promised June delivery date.
Google’s latest feature drop for Pixel phones makes it easier to share audio recordings, adds better integration for an underwater housing accessory, and wraps up a couple of other updates into a neat little package for Pixel owners. The update is available starting today for some owners of Pixel 3 phones and newer, and it will continue to reach others over the next two weeks.
First up, recordings made via the Recorder app will now be backed up at recorder.google.com where they can be shared with anyone. The site, discovered last week by 9to5Google, offers the same transcription and search features included in the app itself. It’s somewhat similar to Otter.ai, a tool for transcribing Zoom meetings.
The update also includes better support for an underwater phone housing sold by Kraken Sports. The housing, which is a $325 universal accessory that lets you use your phone’s camera underwater, will now allow Pixel owners to use their own native camera app rather than Kraken’s app. That should result in higher-quality underwater photos since the native app is able to capture and process more data than third-party camera apps can.
Images: Google
Other minor updates include a new bedtime screen when the phone is placed on a Pixel Stand, plus three new wallpaper options with illustrations celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8th that actually look kind of cool; they’re illustrated by Spanish duo Cachetejack. Finally, Smart Compose — the feature that automatically suggests words and phrases as you type — comes to a bunch of messaging apps, including Android Messages, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Slack.
Instagram wants more people to go live at once, so today, it’s launching Live Rooms. The feature, which will be available globally, allows four people to video chat in a live broadcast, compared to the previous limit of two. Instagram’s blog post today says it hopes the feature encourages people to start a “talk show or a podcast,” host a “jam session,” or collaborate with other creators.
Going live with more people means the rooms could attract larger audiences. The followers of everyone participating will see the live room and, depending on their notifications, be pinged about it. (Anyone blocked by the active participants won’t be able to join the live, though.)
The easy comparison to make here is to Clubhouse, the buzzy social audio app that lets people go live in rooms. More than 10 people can speak at once, and rooms can reach up to 8,000 people before they’re full. Facebook is reportedly building a direct competitor, but Instagram Live could capture some people who might be interested in Clubhouse but can’t access it currently — it’s invite-only and only available through iOS devices.
But unlike Clubhouse, Instagram Live requires people to be on-camera, which comes with the added pressure of looking good and being in a photogenic environment. Clubhouse is thriving because it only requires a phone and lowers the audio expectation. (People regularly chat when they’re in the car, out on a walk, or just in a loud place.) Still, Live Rooms will likely do well on the platform as people fall back on their already-established followers and bank on the high energy more people in a room can create.
The MSI GP66 Leopard is a powerhouse gaming notebook housed in a fairly subtle shell that also boasts a comfortable keyboard. It also offers plenty to upgrade or repair, but it’s a chore getting inside.
For
Strong gaming performance
Comfortable keyboard
Replaceable components
Subtle design for a gaming notebook
Against
Difficult to open
Touchpad feels cheap
Too much bloatware
Just because you grow up a bit doesn’t mean you need to stop having fun. The MSI GP66 Leopard ($1,799.00 to start, $2,599.00 as tested) is a powerhouse gaming notebook with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and Intel Core i7-10870H. But it would fit in anywhere, whether it be an office or a gaming room, thanks to its matte-black stylings. If you’re looking for gaming power without all of the flash, this might be on your list of the
best gaming laptops
.
If you ran some workstation tasks on this, you might believe it was a work machine. Only when you turn on the RGB keyboard do you know it’s time to play. There aren’t red stripes, or, say, an RGB lightbar like MSI’s other models.
It’s a powerhouse, and many of the components are upgradeable for replacement down the line. But while the GP66 Leopard is all grown up, there are still some areas, like its touchpad and its bloatware, where it needs some more maturing.
Design of the MSI GP66 Leopard
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As far as MSI’s gaming notebooks go, the Leopard is quite plain. While some of its other laptops have red accents or RGB light strips, the GP66 is an all-black affair. On the aluminum lid, even the dragon shield logo is tone-on-tone. Only the hinges, which are connected to aggressively shaped plastic molds, suggest this is anything other than a workstation PC.
The only real sign of the GP66’s gaming prowess is the keyboard, which has RGB backlighting courtesy of SteelSeries. But the black aluminum deck and the fairly thin bezels around three sides of the display suggest just a premium notebook. The bottom cover is plastic.
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The Leopard is a thick machine at 0.92 inches tall, so there’s plenty of room for ports. However, MSI has placed only a few of them on the sides: The right side has a pair of USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, while the left side has another Type-A and the headphone jack. The rest of the ports — USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C, HDMI, RJ-45 Ethernet and the charging port — are all on the rear of the device. Alienware has been doing this for years, and it’s a benefit if you use your laptop like a desktop replacement and don’t move it around much. But it can also be inconvenient if you like to use your laptop on your lap.
At 14.09 x 10.51 x 0.92 inches and 5.25 pounds, the Leopard isn’t exactly portable in the toss-it-in-a-bag sense. Dell’s 15-inch competitor, the Alienware 15 m4, is slightly lighter at 5 pounds and a similar size 14.2 x 10.9 x 0.9 inches, but its design is slightly more sleek. The Gigabyte Aorus 17G is expectedly larger with a bigger screen, at 5.95 pounds and 14.9 x 10.8 x 1 inches.
3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, HDMI, 3.5 mm headphone jack, RJ-45 Ethernet
Camera
720p
Battery
65 Wh
Power Adapter
230W
Operating System
Windows 10 Home
Dimensions(WxDxH)
14.09 x 10.51 x 0.92 inches / 357.89 x 266.95 x 23.37 mm
Weight
5.25 pounds / 2.38 kilograms
Price (as configured)
$2,599.00
Gaming and Graphics on the MSI GP66 Leopard
MSI opted for a powerful implementation of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 for the GP66 Leopard. This version has a 130W max graphics power and a
boost clock
of 1,605 MHz.
Besides running benchmarks, I tried playing Control, a game I use often on laptops with RTX GPUs because of how tough it is to run and because
ray tracing
has a truly noticeable effect. With the settings maxed out at 1080p and with ray tracing on high, the game ran between 52 and 57 frames per second as I traded shots with hiss guards surrounding a control point, though it went as high as 70 during exploration.
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On Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1080p, highest), the GP66 hit 106 frames per second. The Aorus 17G, with an RTX 3080
Max-Q
ran the game at 86 fps, while the Alienware m15 R4 with an RTX 3070 played it at 77 fps.
The Leopard played Grand Theft Auto V (1080p, very high) at 125 fps, beating the Aorus (100 fps) and Alienware m15 (108 fps).
MSI’s laptop ran Far Cry New Dawn (1080p, ultra) at 103 fps, beating both the Alienware and Aorus by over 10 frames per second.
The GP66 Leopard outperformed on Red Dead Redemption 2 (1080p, medium), playing at 82 fps.
It also won out on Borderlands 3 (badass, 1080p), at 99 fps, while the Aorus 17G ran at 79 fps and the Alienware hit 84 fps.
We also ran our gaming stress test on the GP66 Leopard by looping the Metro Exodus benchmark at RTX settings for 15 runs, simulating roughly half an hour of gaming. It ran at a largely steady average of 76.38 frames per second across the runs. The CPU ran at an average of 3.73 GHz and an average temperature of 61.85 degrees Celsius (143.3 degrees Fahrenheit). The GPU ran at an average of 1.1 GHz and 61.49 degrees Celsius (142.68 degrees Fahrenheit).
Productivity Performance on the MSI GP66 Leopard
Beyond gaming, the GP66’s Intel Core i7-1070H and GeForce RTX 3080, along with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD are powerful parts that should aid in creative endeavors like streaming or video editing.
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On the Geekbench 5 overall performance benchmark, the GP66 earned a single-core score of 1,274 and multi-core score of 7,848. The Gigabyte Aorus 17G had scores of 1,265 and 7,895, respectively, while the Alienware 15 R5 notched scores of 1,252 and 7,642.
On our file transfer test, the Leopard copied and transferred 25GB of files at a rate of 1,059.78 MBps, falling just below the Alienware but ahead of the Aorus.
It took the GP66 Leopard seven minutes and three seconds (7:03) to complete our Handbrake test, transcoding a 4K video to 1080p. That’s slightly faster than the Alienawre (7:07) and far speeder than the Aorus (8:33).
Display on the MSI GP66 Leopard
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Our review unit came equipped with a 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080 (FHD) display with a 240 Hz refresh rate. The most demanding titles won’t run that fast, but you can take advantage of it if you like playing esports titles like Overwatch, Fortnite or Rocket League.
When I watched the trailer for the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie, I felt the need to turn up the brightness for the best experience. Cole’s yellow gloves popped, as did Kano’s red eye lasers against a dark background, but the screen was largely serviceable rather than special.
When I played Control, the screen was bright enough, even in some dark spaces. That game has a lot of red, and it really popped, especially against the Oldest House’s dark walls.
MSI’s panel covers 78.5% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, matching what we saw on the Aorus 17G. We reviewed the Alienware m15 R4 with a 4K
OLED
screen, so it’s not surprising to see superior coverage there.
However, at 277 nits of brightness, the screen was dimmer than both the Aorus (300 nits) and the Alienware (362 nits).
Keyboard and Touchpad on the MSI GP66 Leopard
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
MSI’s inputs are a mixed bag. Arguably the more important part of a gaming laptop, the keyboard, is the superior of the two. For years now, MSI has partnered with SteelSeries on its keyboards, and they’ve typically been quite good. On the Leopard, the keys are a bit more shallow than I would like, but they’re still fairly comfortable to type on. I hit 120 words per minute with a 2 percent error rate, which is about as fast as I ever get on the 10fastfingers.com typing test.
The 2.5 x 4.1-inch touchpad is fine for navigating and gestures with its Windows precision drivers, but it felt like cheap plastic compared to the aluminum around it. On top of that, I found I had to click harder than on most laptops. For gaming, you should be using a mouse anyway, but this could be a little better for general productivity use.
Audio on the MSI GP66 Leopard
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When I listened to Daft Punk’s “Something About Us,” the various synths and samples were quite clear through the laptop’s bottom-firing speakers. The vocals, purposefully distorted, still stood out on top of the track, along with some piano backing. The low end, including some drums, could have used a bit more punch.
There is a semblance of bass, which many laptops don’t offer, and I was able to tune it more to my liking in the Nahimic audio software.
When I played Control, Jesse’s internal thoughts were clear, especially as her narration ran over the creeping voices of the hiss. At some points, though, I wished I was able to make the volume louder, though this is something else that could be solved with headphones.
Upgrading the MSI GP66 Leopard
The GP66 Leopard is pretty easy to upgrade or repair. Well…it is once you manage to get inside. Compared to some other gaming notebooks, it’s like breaking into Fort Knox.
At first, eleven screws separate you from the GP66 Leopard’s internals. A size 000 Phillips head screwdriver will do the trick. Note, though, that one screw is beneath a factory seal, which is a questionable practice at best. If you send this back through warranty, MSI will know you opened it.
Even after removing all the screws, the system was too tight to open at first. No spudger or pick would fit in the cracks in the chassis. I tried this for longer before I cared to admit, before I eventually found
a YouTube video
from someone that had cracked the case. There is a decorative cover around the hinges, which you can pop off with a spudger. Once that’s off, you can slowly move your way around from the rear ports to the front of the case and carefully remove the bottom.
Once you’re in there, you’ll find that the RAM, Wi-Fi card and the SSD are replaceable. There are two PCIe
m.2 SSD
slots, and since ours came with a sole 1TB boot drive, there is room to expand. The 65 Wh battery, too, is replaceable.
Battery Life on the MSI GP66 Leopard
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The MSI’s GP66 Leopard’s 65W hour battery isn’t going to last it terribly long on a charge. This, unfortunately, is a trend on gaming notebooks, but the Leopard with its full-power RTX 3080, didn’t last as long as competitors.
MSI’s notebook endured for two hours and 25 minutes on our test, which browses the web, runs OpenGL tests and streams video over Wi-Fi, all at 150 nits of brightness. The Alienware m15 ran for 4:01 and the Gigabyte Aorus 17G ran for 4:42.
Heat on the MSI GP66 Leopard
Call it the MSI GP66 Jet Engine.
To keep its components cool, the GPU fans run hard and loud (especially in extreme performance mode, which MSI sent the GP66 Leopard to us set to by default). Admittedly, if you use headphones this is a bit less of a problem.
We took surface temperatures while running our Metro Exodus gauntlet (see the gaming performance section above).
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The center of the keyboard, between the G and H keys, measured 38.6 degrees Celsius (101.48 degrees Fahrenheit), while the touchpad reached 25.6 degrees Celsius (78.08 degrees Fahrenheit). The hottest point on the bottom of the laptop was 46.7 degrees Celsius (116.06 degrees Fahrenheit).
Webcam on the MSI GP66 Leopard
MSI has a laptop with a 1080p
webcam
coming this year. This isn’t it.
No, the GP66 Leopard still has a 720p webcam, and an image at my desk was grainy, though at least it was color accurate with my blue eyes and green t-shirt.
One minor annoyance is that the light that notifies you the camera is on blinks, rather than staying on and static. This is extremely distracting when you’re having a video call or streaming and want to focus on what’s on the screen.
Software and Warranty on the MSI GP66 Leopard
There is quite a lot of software preinstalled on the GP66, which has been a trademark of MSI laptops for a bit now. Unfortunately, a lot of it is bloatware.
Let’s start with the good stuff (it’s a shorter list). There’s MSI Dragon Center, which lets you monitor CPU and GPU usage and other stats, as well as change between different modes of performance. SteelSeries Engine 3 lets you configure the lighting on the keyboard, though I feel MSI should roll this into the other app. Nahimic lets you customize audio profiles.
Aside from that, MSI has added a ton of extra bloat, including the Cyberlink suite (AudioDirector, ColorDirector, PhotoDirector and PowerDirector), as well as Microsoft Sudoku, LinkedIn, Music Maker Jam and Norton Security.
That’s on top of the regular
Windows 10
inclusions, like Roblox, Hulu, Hidden City: Hidden Object Adventure and Adobe Photoshop Express.
MSI sells the GP66 Leopard with a one-year warranty.
Configurations
We tested the MSI GP66 Leopard with an Intel Core i7-1070H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD and a 15.6-inch, FHD display with a 240 Hz refresh rate. All of that adds up to a grand total of $2,599. (We have, however, seen an identical model with 32GB of RAM going for $2,499, so be sure to shop around).
For $1,799, you can get the Leopard with a Core i7-10750H, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and an FHD 144 Hz display.
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for a powerful gaming notebook that draws attention to games, not itself, the GP66 Leopard is worth looking at. The combination of a full-power RTX 3080 and 10th Gen Intel makes for a potent, if loud, gaming machine. And MSI has put it in a chassis that looks and feels fairly adult, even compared to something like the Alienware m15, which has also gone minimalistic.
There are some things MSI needs to work on here: primarily, the touchpad, which feels like an afterthought, and the sheer amount of bloatware that the company includes on its laptops. If you prefer a premium experience, the Alienware may be a better way to go, but a similarly specced model (with a 300 Hz compared to 240 Hz on the Leopard) is a little more expensive as of this writing.
But if you want a gaming notebook with powerful graphics performance, subtle styling and replaceable parts (even if it takes a bit of work to get to them), this Leopard will impress.
The AverMedia PW315 is too expensive for casual use, and while it works well in low light and too much light, it’s not that much cheaper than other, higher quality 60 fps webcams.
For
Operates well in all kinds of lighting
1080p @ 60 fps recording
Customizable through software
Against
Grainy, pixelated images
Tinny microphone
Image quality looks worse than cheaper alternatives
Webcams that can capture footage at 1080p and 60 frames per second can be expensive, like the $170 Logitech StreamCam or $200 Razer Kiyo Pro. There’s good reason for that, since 60 fps is a niche feature that’s best paired alongside video game footage. Unless you’re a game streamer, you probably won’t need it. But game streaming is also getting more accessible than ever from a technical standpoint, which is why budget 60 fps cameras like AverMedia’s new PW315 webcam are so enticing.
Coming in at $119, the AverMedia is still more expensive than 30 fps alternatives, but it does veer much closer to casual-use cameras like the Logitech C920 than other, more professional-focused 60 fps options. It also works well across lighting scenarios and comes with some cute though only somewhat useful post processing software. However, the camera’s image quality seems to have taken a hit along with its price.
Well-Lit Room
Logitech C920
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Razer Kiyo Pro
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
AverMedia PW315 Webcam
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
I tested the AverMedia PW315 in a well-lit room alongside both the $79 Logitech C920 and the $200 Razer Kiyo Pro, and it’s in this scenario where the camera disappointed me most. While its 95-degree lens captured more of my background than either competitor (and without the fish eye effect present on the Kiyo Pro’s wide angle options), the AverMedia was the only camera to show grain in my room’s standard, most optimal lighting conditions. While photos taken with it look OK shrunken down or from a distance, zooming in shows heavy pixelation, to such a degree that I’d forgive you for thinking you’re looking at a 720p picture.
That’s a shame, because the AverMedia webcam is also one of the few webcams I’ve tested to have almost perfect color accuracy out of the box. Unlike the C920, my skin doesn’t look cooler than usual, and unlike the Kiyo Pro, it doesn’t look warmer either. But then again, lower image quality tends to make everyone look better.
Low Light Room
Logitech C920
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Razer Kiyo Pro
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
AverMedia PW315 Webcam
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
I also tested the AverMedia PW315 in mid-day with my curtains drawn, my door shut and all artificial light sources turned off except for my monitor. The result? It looked better! Unlike the Logitech C920, which introduces some blur and takes a slight hit to image quality in low light, the AverMedia’s picture quality looks relatively unchanged. But in addition, my face looks brighter despite having fewer light sources, and colors look even more pleasing to the eye than before.
By contrast, the Razer Kiyo Pro presents a more true-to-life picture that better resembles what the light in my room actually looked like to my naked eyes when taking shots. Picture quality is still far ahead of either competitor, but if you want your dark rooms to look more well-lit than they actually are, the AverMedia seems to do that well.
It’s a shame that its grain persisted here, too.
Overexposed Room
Logitech C920 webcam
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Razer Kiyo Pro Webcam
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
AverMedia PW315 Webcam
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Finally, I tested the AverMedia PW315 in an overexposed room, where I pointed my camera directly at my window. I normally don’t expect accurate shots from this situation, and instead use it to see how well each camera responds to heavily lit situations. For instance, you can see some of the Kiyo Pro’s light sensor technology at work in its overexposed shot, as it shows more of the world outside my window than any other camera here, albeit at the expense of seeing my face..
The AverMedia shocked me, however, by being the only of the three cameras to accurately show my face in overexposed conditions. As with my low light photos, I arguably look better here. By contrast, I have so much shadow covering my face in the Logitech and Razer photos that I almost appear demonic.
Yes, the AverMedia’s grain is still present in these shots, but it doesn’t really matter. It was the only camera to give me anything usable in such heavy light.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The AverMedia PW315 has a thin, cylindrical design that feels lightweight and inexpensive but offers plenty of customizability when it comes to camera placement. The camera can tilt both up and down and swivel 360 degrees. There’s a hole on the bottom of its monitor mount to attach it to a tripod, and it fits snugly whether placing it on a monitor or a tripod. Its USB Type-A cord is 56.5 inches long, which also gave me plenty of room to attach it to either a front or rear port on my desktop.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The AverMedia PW315 also had a built-in sliding privacy shutter, plus dual microphones that tend to produce loud but tinny and echo-filled audio.
As with most webcams, there’s also an LED that lights up on the AverMedia PW315 when it’s recording.
Special Features on the AverMedia PW315
The AverMedia PW315 webcam is a color accurate webcam that’s resilient to both high and low light environments but suffers in quality more than I’d expect from its $119 price point. But special features is where this webcam makes its best argument for itself. Unlike most 60 fps webcams, which range from $50-80 more expensive than the AverMedia PW315, this camera can capture high frame rate footage on a budget.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
And to the PW315’s credit, those claims held out in my testing. When I navigated to OBS, turned on 60 fps recording, and took a video, I could easily see the clear uptick in frame rate without even trying. The video also only took up 20 more MB on my hard drive than a normal 30 fps video, and the extra frames helped counterbalance the lack of image quality, since the camera’s footage tended to look best in motion.
The AverMedia PW315’s other special feature is compatibility with AverMedia’s CamEngine software. You can use CamEngine to adjust your photos’ brightness, gamma and other settings, though most of these functions are available in other software like OBS and produce similar results there as well.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
But a facet of CamEngine that’s unique to the AverMedia PW315 is the ability to turn on AI framing, which attempts to follow you around as you move similar to the auto frame feature in Nvidia Broadcast. It’s an impressive utility, but I found it to be too slow and chunky for regular use. Slightly more useful is the ability to adjust the frame and zoom manually, although it’s possible to easily end up with negative space in your photos if you’re not careful.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
CamEngine also has a number of cute, Snapchat-esque virtual masks you can place over your face. The face tracking works surprisingly well here, even following you when you turn your head to the side, although there’s no real reason to use this over Snapchat’s free and more versatile software.
Bottom Line
AverMedia’s well known for its capture cards, and with products like the AverMedia PW315, it’s clear that the company has ambitions of moving beyond components and into peripherals, though that’s a far more crowded space. It’s going to have to step up image quality if it wants to compete with the best webcams.
There are some unique positives to the AverMedia PW315. It’s one of the cheaper 1080p @ 60 fps webcams from a known manufacturer on the market, and it’s resilient to both low light and overexposed environments. Its software also gives it a touch more customizability than your typical webcam, although much of its usability is perfunctory.
But its images are also grainy and heavily pixelated. It’s a problem for a $119 camera to have such drastically lower quality than a $79 competitor, especially when its 60 fps selling point is so niche. If you’re looking for a good casual use webcam and are confident with your room’s lighting, you can do better for cheaper. Meanwhile, if you want to stream at 60 fps, it might be worth spending the extra $80 on something like the Razer Kiyo Pro or Logitech Brio 4K to give your audience a more pleasant viewing experience.
Last year, AMD released the Ryzen 5000 series desktop processors in one of the most monumental hardware launches of the modern era. This final step completed the Red brand’s ascent back into the forefront of the desktop processor market that began with the launch of the first generation of Ryzen CPUs.
With the Ryzen 3000 launch in 2019 came the AMD X570 chipset. Featuring PCIe 4.0 support, X570 was an impressive leap from generations past. It was also hot, with motherboards often including chipset cooling fans, and, more significantly, expensive. The high cost of the chipset increased the average cost of X570 motherboards considerably over previous generations.
While AMD has done a great job of maintaining motherboard compatibility with new generation processors, none of the previous-generation AM4 motherboards featured official PCIe 4.0 support, not even for the storage and PCIe controlled by PCIe 4.0 compatible CPUs. Enter B550, the more value-oriented little brother of X570. While the B550 chipset is PCIe 3.0 only, B550 motherboards support PCIe 4.0 from the CPU to the primary PCIe slot as well as the primary M.2 slot (dependent on a PCIe 4.0 ready CPU). With PCIe 4.0 support also came increased cost. PCIe 4.0 devices are still rare in 2021, so for those on a budget, the tried and true B450 chipset is the way to go. What B450 lacks in cutting-edge features it makes up for in value.
The ASUS ROG STRIX B450-F Gaming II features a robust VRM cooling solution and a 8+4 VRM design. BIOS flashback has also been included, as well as ASUS’s excellent BIOS designed to provide an optimal, stress-free overclocking experience. The ASUS ROG STRIX B450-F Gaming II is even compatible with the latest Ryzen 5000 series processors. All of this performance is bundled into a sleek, modern package that comes in at less than US$150.
Let’s take a closer look at what the ASUS ROG STRIX B450-F Gaming II has to offer.
Specifications
Specifications
CPU Support:
AMD AM4 Socket for AMD Ryzen™ 5000 Series/ 4000 G-Series/ 3rd/2nd/1st Gen
1x RJ45 Ethernet port 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 USB Type-C® 1x BIOS FlashBack™ Button 1x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port 1x DisplayPort 1x HDMI 2x USB 2.0 1x Optical S/PDIF out 5x Audio jacks
Audio:
1x Realtek ALC1220A Codec
Fan Headers:
6x 4-pin
Form Factor:
ATX Form Factor: 12.0 in x 9.6 in, 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm
(Pocket-lint) – Arlo is a big name in home security, with a wide range of cameras, so extending its offering to the front door makes a lot of sense.
Having originally launched an Audio Doorbell – which connected to an Arlo system – the obvious leap was to integrate video and audio to make it a complete doorbell viewing and answering solution, either as part of a wider Arlo system or as a standalone device to rival Ring.
Which is exactly what you get with the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free. But is it good enough to stand up against the competiton?
Design and installation
Doorbell dimensions: 47 x 143 x 37mm
Includes flat & angled mounting plates
Weather-resistant design
Battery powered
We’ve all become familiar with video doorbells following the rise of Ring, which dominates this market. The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free is larger than Ring’s equivalent device, so it’s a little less subtle on the door, standing out more. It’s both taller and thicker than Ring’s devices.
At the top of the Arlo sits the camera, while the large doorbell button is towards the bottom, encircled with LEDs which illuminate as someone approaches it.
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The Arlo doorbell comes with both flat and angled mounting plates in the box, along with screws and plugs if you are mounting to a wall. In reality you can use any screws, but mounting is a simple case of screwing the mounting plate in place and then clipping the body of the device into place.
The camera body itself detaches from the backing plate via a pin release mechanism, the sort of thing you’d use to open a SIM tray of a phone. That needs to be considered when mounting, as you’ll need access to this hole on the top. That also means that anyone who wants to steal it only needs a bent pin, but they’d be doing that while being captured on camera.
The device is weatherproofed, too, designed to withstand rain.
Unlike with Ring, you’ll have to remove the entire Arlo unit to get to the battery inside. In some ways that’s easier, because you don’t have to mess around with a tiny screw or face plate. You can buy spare batteries too, making a quick change possible.
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The battery version of the Arlo Doorbell can also be connected to existing doorbell wiring, with connectors on the rear – although we didn’t test this aspect of the device.
The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free doesn’t come with a chime – i.e. the ability to sound a ringer elsewhere in your home – so that’s something else you might consider adding. That will mean it can audibly ring in any room of your house, so you’re not dependent on your phone, or hearing the sound from the device itself on the front door. But also consider you can have it alert you via an Amazon Echo if you create a simple Alexa Routine.
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Connectivity and the Arlo app
Hub or Wi-Fi connection
Setup via the Arlo app
No desktop app
Connecting to the Arlo Video Doorbell is much the same as connecting any other Arlo device. You’ll need to use the Arlo app on your phone or tablet and this will walk you through the process for both installing the doorbell and getting it connected.
The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free can connect to either Wi-Fi or an Arlo hub. Supporting Wi-Fi means you don’t have to be an existing Arlo system user to get started. If you have a hub and want to connect to that you also have that choice. The advantage of connecting to an existing hub is that you’ll then have the option for local video storage on microSD – so you don’t have to then have an Arlo Smart subscription to store video.
The doorbell then appears within the Arlo app. If you’re an existing Arlo user, that means it will sit alongside your other Arlo devices; if you’re new to Arlo and only plan to use have the doorbell then that’s all you’ll see in the app.
The app then gives you all the controls you’ll need for the device. That includes the option to disable the LEDs on the button when motion is detected, manage what happens when someone pushes the doorbell, change the video settings, set activity zones, and adjust the audio.
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You also get control over the mode that you’ll use for the Video Doorbell. These will be familiar to Arlo users, but on the doorbell they only really define what happens when motion is detected. You might choose to remove motion alerts when you’re at home, in which case you can “disarm” the doorbell, keep them on all the time using “armed”, or have them turn on when you leave home using geofencing or according to a schedule – such as only at night.
You can create custom modes too, which will be more relevant to those with existing Arlo devices. It’s here that you can create a mode that, for example, turns on your Arlo Light when motion is detected on the Doorbell, or begins capture on another Arlo camera you might have.
This gives plenty of flexibility for what happens from Arlo’s end, but it’s worth noting that because you can link Arlo to other major smart home platforms – like Alexa, Google Home and SmartThings – you can also set up Routines on those platforms involving other devices. For example, turning on a Hue light when your Arlo doorbell detects motion.
One downside, however, is that there’s no desktop app. Yes, you can log-in through a browser, but when working at home, having a proper desktop app just for your doorbell makes everything easier. Ring has one and it’s something that’s currently missing from Arlo’s offering.
Do I need an Arlo Smart subscription?
Arlo’s original devices didn’t need a subscription. You got a week of cloud storage for free – and that was a major advantage over other systems. With the release of more advanced devices, Arlo has tied 30-day cloud storage and a range of advanced features to its Arlo Smart plans.
For a doorbell, you might question whether you need those extra features. You can run the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free without a subscription, but you lose the cloud storage of motion captures if you don’t have an Arlo Smart plan.
As we said above, if you’ve connected the doorbell to an Arlo hub, you can use the local storage option to record to microSD – but there’s no way of monitoring those backups from your phone, you have to physically remove the card and view it on another device. That might work for some, but we suspect part of the appeal of a connected camera is being able to look back at what’s happened on your phone and download the videos you want to keep.
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Arlo Smart plans also drive other features – like AI detection of what’s been spotted, which can tell you if it’s a person, vehicle or animal. If you’re in a protracted argument about whether the neighbour’s cat is leaving deposits on your front lawn, this might be exactly the feature you need.
Arlo Smart also enables rich notifications, which will highlight what you’re looking at when those notifications appear on your phone.
The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free comes with 3-months Arlo Smart as a trial, so you can see how you get on and make your decision. We’ve generally found that Arlo products run smoother if you have a paid subscription, as you get access to all the features.
Without a subscription you can still live-view the video, get notification alerts, and will have the doorbell ring your phone when the button is pressed. And for some that’s all you’ll want – without ongoing costs.
Camera features and performance
180 degree view, 110 degree motion sensor
1536 x 1536 resolution, 1:1 aspect ratio
HDR, IR night vision
The big difference between Arlo’s doorbell and Ring’s is the camera. Arlo has gone for a 1:1 aspect, a square sensor behind that ultra-wide lens, rather than rectangular. The practical benefit is that you can see a lot more of the person at your door. Rather than just seeing a face, you’ll get a better head-to-toe view of that person.
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Depending on the arrangement of your door and the surrounding area, this might be a lot more useful than some rival cameras. For us, it means you can see a lot more of the area surrounding the door and porch, rather than the wider view that Ring offers.
The doorbell is effective at detecting motion, often alerting you to motion just before the doorbell is pressed, so you can get a double notification. The detection for us turned out to be a couple of meters, so will detect people coming up the path, although it’s more effective as people get closer.
We’ve not had the same long-distance alerts that we’ve sometimes had from Ring, which included vehicles on the road when the sun was reflecting off them. Such sensitivity can be adjusted, as well as having the option to specify detection zones (another Arlo Smart feature) if you need to obscure something.
The quality of video capture is good, with HDR (high dynamic range) allowing the camera to balance out scenes when lighting is uneven. There’s IR (infrared) extending the skills to low-light conditions too. While darkness reduces the effective range, IR does paint the subject nicely when approaching the doorbell, so it’s still easy to recognise who it is at night.
The camera is a good wide-angle too, as we mentioned above, although on a doorbell this is less important than it might be on a security camera covering a wider area of view.
The experience of using the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free is excellent, with the video results generally better than some close rival products. Certainly, the 1:1 aspect offers a natural advantage giving a more useful view for objects closer to the camera, appropriate for a doorbell.
Calling your phone has an advantage
SIP calling
Rich notifications
One of the other advantages that Arlo offers is how the “ring” comes through to your phone. Rather than it being served up via a notification, it comes in as a SIP call. The technicalities don’t matter, but it means that when someone presses your doorbell, your phone rings like an incoming call.
You’ll see that someone has pressed the doorbell, leaving you to either accept that call – and talk to that person – or decline the call and just go and open the door.
When you accept the call, you’re shown the live feed from the door and you have the option to unmute the microphone to talk, or to use messages instead – with responses like “we’ll be right there” or “you can leave the package outside”, meaning you don’t actually have to talk to whoever is at the door. These options provide great versatility in how you answer the door – and you can use these whether you’re at home or not, the caller won’t be able to tell the difference. They’re also captured on the recorded video (as in the example above), so you’d have a record of the conversation.
If you’re already on a call on your phone, Arlo will burst in on that call too, so you’ll quickly have to multitask to either put your other call on hold or send a quick reply to whomever is at the door.
We’re also a fan of the notifications that Arlo sends through. These rich notifications are the same as you’ll get from Arlo’s other cameras (if you have an Arlo Smart subscription), telling you what type of occurrence has triggered the motion and giving you a preview thumbnail. That means you can glance at your phone and see whether you need to pay attention to it or not.
Battery life
The battery life on the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free has seen us through a month of use and still has about 50 per cent remaining, so we’re on course to get the best part of two months from it – and this includes several weeks around the 0°C mark.
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Arlo says that you’ll get three to six months from it, so we’re not hitting that sort of figure – but it still compares favourably with other battery-powered doorbells. Warmer temperatures will undoubtedly extend the usage. And, of course, you can adjust various features to prolong the battery life.
Verdict
Arlo’s first venture into doorbells with the Audio Doorbell never really captured the spirit of what people wanted from a connected device. Fortunately, the Video Doorbell offers a lot more, rivalling and bettering competitors in a number of areas.
The downsides are few: the lack of chime in the box means you’ll have to fork out for one separately, while an Arlo Smart plan will see an ongoing cost to really get the best out if this model.
Yes, this doorbell is a little on the large side, but the calling mechanism and quick replies, quality of the video, and potential for integration into other systems – not to mention folding it into an existing Arlo system – make it rather easy to recommend.
Alternatives to consider
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Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus
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The Plus version of Ring’s video doorbell adds a unique function: Pre-Roll video. This will capture 4 seconds of black-and-white video before the motion was triggered, so you get a wider window of capture for any given event. Wide support from Alexa and other platforms, as well as a complete package from Ring itself, makes this video doorbell rightly popular.
While slightly compromised in the features department, the CX 400BT are sonic marvels – and, at this price, hugely appealing
For
Lively, detailed sound
Lightweight fit
Excellent value for money
Against
Battery life below the best
Not waterproof
Such is the popularity of true wireless earbuds today that you can go to the website of many established headphone brands and take your pick from several models across a range of price points. Sony, Bose and JBL, for example, all have at least a few pairs in their line-up.
But Sennheiser’s offering has, like Apple’s, been streamlined down to two models: the premium, noise-cancelling Momentum True Wireless 2 and the more affordable CX 400BT without noise-cancelling that we have on test here.
Sennheiser would no doubt argue the case for quality over quantity, and while the CX 400BT may not have the sleekest name, the fanciest design or even the most generous feature set, they are more sonically gifted than most at this level.
These Sennheisers launched at double the price but now inhabit the increasingly populated £100 ($100, AU$150) arena, making them some of the best-value budget earbuds we’ve come across.
Build
(Image credit: Sennheiser)
Compared with the excellent Momentum True Wireless 2, the CX 400BT lack active noise-cancelling, smart pause functionality and IPX4 splash resistance, and have an inferior battery life. Their specs next to their pricier sibling seems fair and is to be expected, although we would like to see a few more features from the CX 400BT.
Sennheiser CX 400BT tech specs
(Image credit: Sennheiser)
Bluetooth version 5.1, aptX
Battery life 20 hours
Charging USB-C
Weight 6g (each earbud)
Their combined battery life is 20 hours (seven hours from the buds, plus a further 13 hours from the charging case), which is less than that offered by the Cambridge Audio Melomania Touch (50 hours) and Melomania 1 (45 hours), the Earfun Air Pro (35 hours), JBL Reflect Flow (30 hours) and Apple AirPods (24 hours).
We’d also like some degree of sweat- or water-resistance, as featured on many of the Sennheiser’s rivals. Without that, the CX 400BT aren’t recommended for sportswear, and you don’t get the peace of mind that they’d survive being caught in a rain shower.
They do support Bluetooth 5.1 support and mobile app features, though – neither of which is a given at this level. The former promises high-quality, far-reaching Bluetooth transmission, while the latter opens doors to EQ adjustment and control customisation.
Out of the box, the left earbud can be tapped once to play or pause music, twice to jump backwards a track, and held down to reduce volume. On the right earbud, one tap activates your phone’s voice assistant or accepts incoming calls, two taps jump forward a track or rejects calls, and holding it down increases volume.
The playback functions can be reallocated or turned off in the Sennheiser Smart Control app, which is also where you can alter the earbuds’ EQ and save EQ presets. However, unless you’re someone who often adjusts the EQ, it’s likely you’ll use the dedicated app once during set-up and then rarely, if ever, again.
Comfort
(Image credit: Sennheiser)
While touch controls can sometimes be hit and miss with earbuds, the relatively large, flat surface area of the CX 400BT’s touch panels make the controls easy and reliable to use. The Sennheiser’s design is more functional than fancy, but that’s more of an observation than a complaint. And besides, who can argue with designs that just work?
Their oval housings require a push and twist motion for them to nestle nicely in the ears – we’re talking a bit of encouragement, rather than any forceful manhandling – and when in place are comfortably lightweight (6g each) and unobtrusive.
They are just over 2cm deep, so will protrude slightly out of shallower ears. The fit is as versatile as you’d expect, thanks to the four different sizes of silicone ear tips included in the box.
Sound
(Image credit: Sennheiser)
Sennheiser is one of the most consistent brands when it comes to sound quality, so expectations are high as we play The Weather Station’s Parking Lot via Tidal. The CX 400BT are instantly likeable: they’re lively and clear-cut, and their relatively open presentation is infused with clarity and generously peppered with detail.
Their inherently energetic, musical nature, which is forward yet not exhausting, can’t help but lap up the track’s jaunty piano melody and bassline. As cymbals, strings and vocals come into the increasingly dense mix, the Sennheisers manage to keep a tab on everything in the name of rhythmic precision.
Similarly, play Black Country, New Road’s Instrumental from their debut album and the rhythm track is presented with gusto and insight. If anything, their up-for-it presentation makes it all the more frustrating that the CX 400BT aren’t particularly good running headphones, because they would undoubtedly spur you on to reach that finish line.
There is enough in their sonic repertoire to keep them interesting when their zest isn’t required, too. Bass is taut and agile, mids are expressive and particularly open, and a crisp, present treble doesn’t let the side down. There’s plenty of detail and dynamic subtlety in a more technical, classical track, such as Ólafur Arnald’s piano-led nyepi, although if your budget can stretch to the likes of the pricier Sennheisers or Sony WF-1000XM3, there is a clear step up in class when it comes to outright transparency.
It has to be said that the CX 400BT’s sparkle comes at the expense of a little refinement. The similarly priced, five-star Panasonic RZ-S500W, for example, offer a smoother, more sophisticated balance that has a level of finesse we wish the Sennheisers possessed – even if the CX 400BT counter with a more energetic listen.
Verdict
When you have two superb-sounding true wireless earbuds in your arsenal – one with ANC at the premium end of the market, and one without at the more affordable end – why would you need any more?
We would have liked the CX 400BT to have a more versatile, sportier design, and perhaps this is where a third pair of truly wireless Sennheisers could be justified, but there’s no doubt that the reputable German audio brand has mastered the sound quality aspect. The CX 400BT would have been recommendable at their original launch price, but now discounted, they are truly excellent value.
DS Audio has decided to share its niche expertise in optical phono cartridge technology with the world for free. Why? The Japanese company has pioneered what has largely been an eight-year solo effort in implementing optical tech in its development of phono cartridges. Now, it wants others to join the optical audio market and help popularise the MM/MC-cartridge alternative.
DS Audio CEO and chief designer Tetsuaki Aoyagi has published literature about optical phono cartridge design on its website. He says he would like to see an increase in optical cartridge take up in more high-end audio systems – undoubtedly due to both his passion for the topic and his interest in selling the cartridges – and hopes that being open about implementation will lead electronics manufacturers to create optical cartridge-friendly tech into their phono stage and amplifier designs. Currently, a DS Audio cartridge requires its own equaliser and so isn’t compatible with MM or MC phono stages.
“My goal is that optical cartridges move from being ‘unique’ to ‘popular’,” he says.
To that end, DS Audio is inviting interested manufacturers to contact them to check over proposed designs and answer questions, for free.
Back in 2015, DS Audio brought the first-ever optical cartridge to the UK, following its initial launch two years prior in Japan. It cost, ahem, nearly £7000. As would be the case for the company’s following designs, which are more affordable but still very much high-end, the debut DS-W1 used a beam of light – much like you’d see via a digital optical cable – to detect the vibrations from the stylus. DS Audio’s argument for this method lies around its inherent elimination of the detrimental friction associated with and caused by traditional MM or MC phono cartridges.
MORE:
Best cartridges 2021: budget and premium options for your turntable
Spotify’s making it easier to parse your liked songs. The company is rolling out a new feature today that’ll let users filter their liked songs by genre and mood. This way, you can enjoy more of what you like without compromising on the vibe. I, for example, have songs that would be fun in the club but also folky songs for relaxation time, both of which are under my liked songs umbrella. This new feature would let me decide what mood I’m in and then listen.
To access the filters, you have to have at least 30 liked songs. You can then go to your library, tap into liked songs, and select a filter that’s listed across the top. You can remove that filter whenever you like and swap in a new one. These filters will change as you like new songs, Spotify says. For now, they will only be rolling out to English-speaking markets, including the US, Canada, and the UK.
Spotify has made it no secret that it wants to be the app for every kind of audio need, including music and podcasts. Although this feature is small, it’s the kind of update that makes a product more useful for everyday use and could keep people coming back to the app to like songs, which is what Spotify wants.
This interview was originally published by What Hi-Fi? in March 2016.
It is easy, often and now especially, to become consumed by technology. It is easy to allow the romanticism of music, the entire grounds for that technology, to be camouflaged. That is why, speaking with Stuart Braithwaite, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter of post-rock deities Mogwai, it is ultimately uplifting listening to this self-confessed non-techie discuss sound so passionately, relatively unfocused on the mechanics or mathematics behind its reproduction.
Unfocused is not to say uninterested, of course. In fact, when we speak with him, Stuart is in the process of fixing up an out-of-commission Linn turntable he’s been gifted by a friend, and can speak proudly of what is a thoughtfully and impressively pieced together stereo system.
We also speak with Braithwaite in anticipation of Mogwai’s latest record, Atomic, a soundtrack to Mark Cousins’ documentary film of the same name about the atomic age. It’s the band’s third major soundtrack, following on from Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (2006) and for the first series of French supernatural TV show Les Revenants (2012), and we discuss how writing and recording for screen differs to a studio album, also from project-to-project, and about the process of readying a soundtrack for release as a record.
An avid reader of our reviews can hardly have failed to notice our admiration for Braithwaite’s work, nor, in a more pragmatic sense, its worth for testing hi-fi equipment, so we also take this opportunity to ask for his recommended test discs and what it is he’s listening for from his kit. In short, it’s as interesting and revealing a half-hour natter about music as we’re likely to have.
40 of the best 1990s albums to test your speakers
Collaboration outside the band
What Hi-Fi?: Well it makes sense to begin with speaking about Atomic. What’s the process when you’re writing and recording a soundtrack; how is that different to recording a studio album?
Stuart Braithwaite: Well I think the main difference is the music isn’t just for us. When we’re making our own album then the only thing we’re bothered about is the whole band being happy with the music, whereas if it’s a soundtrack then you’ve obviously got other people who are involved, who’ve got to approve and think that the music works as well. So it’s really just more of a collaboration, a collaboration out of the band, compared to an album, which is just the band members getting the music together to our satisfaction.
WHF: Do you see the footage beforehand and write music for specific scenes, or is it more about getting a few ideas together and letting directors decide what to do with it?
SB: The processes have been different. With Atomic, we wrote the music to the scenes, whereas with Les Revenants we just provided an awful lot of music and they just told us where they wanted to put it. So it depends from project to project, but usually we’ll have an idea of the sort of atmosphere of the film. Atomic was a little bit different because there were very different sections of it that have very different emotions and atmospheres to them, but with Zidane and Les Revenants they both had very distinctive atmospheres that we were kind of writing within.
WHF: Had you seen Zidane and Les Revenants beforehand, or was that from speaking with the directors?
SB: With Zidane they’d already made the film, so we came in once the thing was completely shot; they were just editing. Les Revenants we started before they’d even shot anything, it was all just from the story and the references the directors gave us. With Atomic it was kind of self-explanatory, but we were very involved with Mark Cousins, the director, discussing what he wanted, how he wanted things to feel.
In the studio
WHF: You don’t release the album of Atomic until April; what goes on in those in between months?
SB: Essentially the music is the same, but we just spent a bit more time, filled it out a little bit more, wrote a few new parts, changed different sounds; we just really developed it. I think we just wanted to take the opportunity to work on it a little bit more; that was the main motivation.
WHF: What is the recording process like for you; what’s your routine?
SB: We tend to start in the morning getting the basic sounds up; we very often record the bass and the drums together and then overdub the other instruments. [Overdubbing] gives you a bit more time to think about what to play. Usually we’re still writing parts; usually the structure and the basic shape of the music is done, but quite often we’ll still be writing parts.
WHF: Do you ever find yourself not knowing when to stop?
SB: Oh we always put too many parts on, but that’s just a decision further down the line, when we’re mixing we can pick and choose. No-one in the band really has much of an ego about things not getting used or anything like that.
WHF: What sort of things are you listening for when deciding which parts to keep and which to drop?
SB: Really just what sounds good. I mean, that sounds pretty obvious, but really just what works well with the song, what is different, what is new. We’ve made so many records and recorded so many songs that quite often you can do something and it’s not that dissimilar to something you’ve done before. So you obviously pull more towards something different.
Clinging on to CD
WHF: Let’s talk about home; what do you use?
SB: I’ve got a Moon amp, I think it’s a 250i; I’ve got KEF R700 speakers; I’ve got a Pro-Ject turntable, but my friend’s actually given me a Linn turntable that’s missing some parts, so I’ve been getting the parts and I’m going to sort that all out pretty soon; I’ve also got a little KEF Muo Bluetooth speaker for listening to music in other parts of the house.
WHF: What do you use as your main source?
SB: I’d say probably about 50 per cent vinyl, 50 per cent streaming through my Apple TV, to be honest with you. I still listen to CDs actually quite a lot, too; I’ve got a Cambridge Audio CD player. I’m kind of still clinging onto the CD era, even though I rarely buy them I’ve got a load that I bought in the 1990s.
WHF: We often play Mogwai when testing products. When you’re choosing hi-fi, what kind of music do you listen to generally?
SB: I would rather go for something that’s well recorded, like a classically recorded record rather than something really lo-fi. But one of my neighbours has got an insanely good stereo, and actually whenever you play something that was recorded in someone’s garage it sounds really horrible because it brings everything out that’s there. I really like listening to a lot of modern classical, like Max Richter, or possibly some sort of electronic music like Boards Of Canada or Aphex Twin; I think that stuff always sounds really, really good on a great system.
WHF: And what’re you listening to at the minute?
SB: I actually got this really wonderful album on Erased Tapes by a guy called Lubomyr Melnyk; it’s called Rivers and Streams. It’s absolutely brilliant, it’s a solo piano record, it’s one of the best records I’ve heard for years and I’m really, really enjoying that.
I also really like a lot of early African-American music, and I got a great box set on Dust To Digital called Art Of Field Recording Volume Two. It’s a four CD box, and the CD of religious music is absolutely amazing; one of the best things on it I’ve heard for years, I think it’s track four, it’s a piece called New Prospects, it’s just a live recording from a church, it really stopped me in my tracks, it’s one of the best things I’ve heard for a long, long, long time. It sounded absolutely amazing on the stereo, it sounded like you were there, which I suppose is the desired effect.
WHF: With such eclectic taste and the influence of that must have on your own work, is that something you just absorb naturally or are you ever listening intently for ideas for your own writing or recording?
SB: I think of ideas more than actual techniques or anything like that, I’m actually not a very techie person at all, but actually thinking about what’s happening with the music and how that could be applied to the type of instrumentation we use or the way melodies interact with each other, whether that’s something we could use. I’m just interested in how different people work.
WHF: What’s most important to you when you’re listening to hi-fi?
SB: I think space is really important, I think when you can really hear the proper sound of the instrument. I really like acoustic recordings and one of my favourite guitar players is Robbie Basho, the twelve-string player; to be able to hear the way each string resonates with the other strings, having the space to hear that kind of detail is important. I mean, there’s also a lot to be said for having so much music going on that you can’t tell what the hell’s going on as well, I think both extremes are absolutely wonderful.
Mogwai’s new album Atomic is on sale now
MORE:
10 of the best movie scores to test your system
50 great British albums to test your hi-fi system
Music for sleep: the best ambient albums to help you relax
Amazon’s head of Fire TV, Kindle, and its new Luna cloud gaming service departed the company this month. Marc Whitten has joined Unity as an executive on the company’s Unity Create business. Unity is a cross-platform game engine that many developers use to get their games running across multiple devices.
Whitten’s departure, spotted by Matthew Ball on Twitter, comes less than six months after Amazon launched an early access version of Luna, the company’s new cloud gaming service. It also comes during the same month Google announced it’s shutting down its in-house game development studios for Stadia. That’s left the writing on the wall for Stadia, as it increasingly looks like Google will focus on licensing the underlying tech it has built out to industry partners.
Amazon’s Luna is currently available on PC, Mac, iOS, and Android as long as you’re invited to try the service. Amazon has also expanded Luna to Fire TV devices without an invite, but it’s still limited to just the US right now. It’s not clear when Amazon plans to make Luna available more broadly.
Whitten confirmed his Amazon departure on Twitter yesterday. “I’m just digging in at Unity of course, but it is so much fun seeing the amount of energy, passion, and creator/user love here,” he said.
Before Whitten arrived at Amazon, he spent 14 years at Microsoft helping launch three Xbox consoles. Whitten left Microsoft in 2014 to take up the role of chief product officer at wireless audio company Sonos. He has spent the last nearly five years overseeing the Fire TV, Amazon’s Kindle devices, and the launch of Luna.
Ever since Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville recorded an almost undecipherable version of the French song “Au Clair de la Lune” in the mid-19th century, it’s been clear that the technology that you use to produce and listen to sounds can affect your experience. Even now, about 150 years later, the quality of your gear can mean the difference between a tinny, nearly unrecognizable noise or a fully realized aural experience.
As you can imagine, the people here at The Verge spend a lot of time listening to a variety of digital sounds — whether it’s online meetings, music, podcasts, videos, or sound checks of their own multimedia productions. We asked the staff what their favorite devices were to either listen to, enhance, or produce their digital sounds. Here’s what they talked about.
Plantronics Explorer 500 Bluetooth headset
Plantronics Explorer 500 Photo: Poly
About six years ago, I reviewed a midlevel Bluetooth headset from Plantronics (now Poly) called the Explorer 500. It was a small, nicely built, single-ear headset, and it came with a short USB cable with ends that magnetically snapped together to become a loop. I thought it was a pretty good piece of tech at the time, so I bought one — and I’m still using it. Of course, it’s not great for music (it uses only one ear, after all), but it’s incredibly convenient to have it hanging on a loop in my bag so I can grab it for a quick phone call or if I want to listen to a podcast. And surprisingly, the battery still holds a reasonable charge. One of these days, I’ll have to invest in a fully wireless headset so I can have fully mobile music as well — but until then, my Explorer 500 serves me well. — Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor
AudioQuest Dragonfly USB DAC
AudioQuest Dragonfly seriesPhoto: AudioQuest
AudioQuest’s Dragonfly portable digital-to-analog converter (DAC) brings higher-quality audio to your devices. Most laptops, tablets, and smartphones don’t have great DACs or don’t natively support hi-res files like FLAC (nor tell you when they don’t), but with the Dragonfly, you’ll be able to listen to uncompressed audio up to 24-bit / 96kHz. There’s also an LED light on the device that changes colors to indicate which sample rate is being supported at the moment. AudioQuest makes three separate models: the basic Dragonfly Black; the Dragonfly Red, which uses a higher-performance DAC chip; and the Dragonfly Cobalt, its highest-end model.
In order to take full advantage of the Dragonfly, you’ll also need an adapter for your phone with a Lightning-to-USB-A adapter for an iPhone or a USB-C-to-USB-A adapter for an Android device. Portability is the biggest feature here — swapping between my phone and my laptop is the reason I’m recommending this for anyone who wants one gadget that will let you listen to hi-res audio on any device. — Andrew Marino, audio engineer
Audio-Technica ATH-M50 headphones
Audio-Technica ATH-M50xPhoto: Audio Technica
Alright, yes, I’m aware that these are pretty much already the internet’s favorite pair of wired, over-ear headphones. But seriously: I’ve had mine for six years now, and they’ve held up great. Sure, the pleather on the headband is starting to flake off, and I had to replace the ear cups a while back, but they sound just as good as the day I got them. I find that music just sounds fun with them — not too analytical, like my DT-770 Pros can sometimes be. The Audio-Technicas are for sure not reference headphones, but that’s probably not what most people are actually looking for.
They were also a great price, especially compared to their Bluetooth counterparts. And honestly, I’ve been falling out of love with wireless headphones for anything other than working out, though that’s probably a problem with me, not them. Either way, the newer version, the ATH-M50x (the ATH-M50 has been discontinued), has a removable cable so you don’t have to worry about being saddled with the ridiculously long cables that sometimes come with fancy headphones. (Another version, the ATH-M50xBT, disposes of the cable entirely.) — Mitchell Clark, news writer
Antlion Audio ModMic USB microphone
Antlion Audio ModMic USB microphone Photo: Antlion Audio
It seems like everyone’s getting big standalone microphones for their desks during the pandemic, but I don’t want to give up any precious real estate. A solution that works better for my needs is Antlion Audio’s ModMic USB microphone. It’s cleverly designed. First, you adhere a small circular base (about the size of a large chocolate chip) to the side of your headphones, then the microphone itself can be magnetically attached and detached at will. I like being able to quickly turn my headphones into a gaming headset, or to get ready for a meeting appearance, then back to regular headphones by detaching the mic. I use one with my Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro open-back headphones and it helps me get more out of the kit I already own.
This particular microphone has two modes you can switch between: omnidirectional (made for broadcasts) or unidirectional, which helps to capture just your voice if you’re in a noisy environment. The sound quality of a voice recording made with the ModMic is very good — far better than most of the gaming headsets I’ve tried. The microphone is compatible with Windows, macOS, Linux, PS4, and PS5.
The downside is this model costs about $70. Also, if your headphones are wired, introducing this mic’s wire into the fray can get a little tough to manage. For me, the price is worth the effort. Antlion also makes an all-wireless rechargeable microphone for $120, if you want to go that route, which also has dual mic modes and can stick to your headphones with adhesive. — Cameron Faulkner, writer
AirPods
Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
I love my AirPods and I have since my first pair. They’re lightweight, they charge up quickly in their case, and they sound good enough for what I need them for, which is mostly hearing notifications, listening to podcasts, and watching YouTube videos. It helps that I’m an iPhone and a Mac user, as they work really well with both devices.
I think I like the original AirPods more than the Pros, though. While the Pros offer some welcome upgrades like active noise cancellation and water and sweat resistance, they just don’t fit my ears as well. The original AirPods never fell out, but the AirPods Pro will slowly slip out if I’m talking or eating, and sometimes when I’m running. That means I’m constantly readjusting them if I’m doing anything besides sitting completely still. (To be fair, I’m sitting completely still a lot of the time right now.)
Here’s hoping that the next version of the Pros will fit my ears just a little bit better. If they do, they’ll likely become one of my favorite Apple products ever. — Jay Peters, news writer
Rode RodeCaster Pro podcast production
Rode RodeCaster Pro podcast production Photo: Rode
This four-mic input audio interface by Rode makes it significantly easier to set up a full podcasting session with a design that mimics a live mixing board. You can record multitracks onto your computer or internally on a microSD using a USB-C connection.
As someone who mostly mixes podcasts after they’re recorded, this setup is more appealing to me for live streaming on Twitch or YouTube. You also get built-in customizable sound banks, compression and EQ settings, multiple outputs for monitoring, and an intuitive design for traditional live mixing.
Fun tip: it’s also a great way to record phone call interviews by pairing the RodeCaster Pro with your smartphone via Bluetooth. — Andrew Marino
HyperX QuadCast microphone
HyperX QuadCastPhoto: HyperX
I’d been looking to upgrade my microphone for a long time, but I was unsure which product to go with. A few friends recommended the HyperX QuadCast, and that’s what I ended up buying.
Previously, I used a Blue Yeti microphone, but I felt the audio quality was unsatisfactory on my end. I wanted to make sure I was buying a microphone that was not too cheap and not too pricey and, most importantly, had a nice cable lengthy so I did not have to rearrange my desk. Compared to the Blue Yeti, I found the HyperX QuadCast had great clarity and picked up the subtle details from my audio output.
I really enjoy the somewhat unconventional design of the QuadCast; it comes with straightforward controls, a stand, and a shock mount adapter for boom arms if you want to mount the microphone closer to you. I also find it convenient that the mute button is on top of the microphone. It makes it easy to mute myself quickly while on Zoom or Discord. —Taylor Lyles, writer
Sonos Five speaker
Sonos FivePhoto: Sonos
I’ve never found a single smart speaker that sounds better, and I like that there are no microphones inside. Those are the main bullet points for why I’ve had a Sonos Play:5 — recently refreshed as the Sonos Five — on my desk for several years now. For a speaker that doesn’t have a 360-degree design, the Five still produces a very satisfactory soundstage that can fill most rooms. It can kick out ample bass without overpowering the highs and mids of your music. It takes two of most other smart speakers paired together to come anywhere close to what the Sonos Five can deliver. (Granted, it had better sound damn good for $500.)
Pretty much every audio app under the sun is supported through the Sonos app, including hi-fi options like Tidal and Amazon Music HD. The Sonos Five works with Apple AirPlay, and there’s a 3.5-millimeter aux input for wired playback. (You can also use this to get a turntable hooked into your Sonos system.)
No, there’s no built-in voice assistant like Alexa or Google Assistant included here. But some people will appreciate the absence of always-listening mics. And adding an assistant to the mix after the fact is easy, either via another Sonos speaker like the One or simply by hooking up an Echo Dot or Nest Mini.
It’s just a shame that the white and black combo Play:5 colorway is no more; I think that was the best-looking speaker Sonos ever made. — Chris Welch, news editor
A well-stocked, easy-to-navigate catalogue of new and original content that Disney fans are bound to enjoy
For
Huge, intuitive catalogue
4K, HDR10 and Dolby Atmos/Vision
Vast device support
Against
Poor 4K HDR discovery
Once upon a time, a man called Walt Disney founded Walt Disney Studios with his brother and became one of the best-known motion-picture animators in the world. Fast forward nearly 100 years, over 400 movies and more than 60 Academy Award wins and, thanks to the Disney Plus video streaming service, nearly every Disney title ever committed to celluloid is now available to stream in one place.
Disney Plus (Disney+) is a natural rival to the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+, available in loads of countries – US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and several European countries. It offers a rich catalogue of films and TV shows from Disney and its subsidiaries – Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar and National Geographic, as well as a slate of new Disney+ Originals. As of more recently, Disney Plus subscribers in Europe, Canada, New Zealand and the UK also have access to Star, a channel that offers “grown up” content from ABC and 20th Century Fox back-catalogues, plus originals that already live on US service Hulu (which Disney has a majority stake in).
Many titles are presented in the best video and audio technologies available today – 4K, HDR10, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos (technologies also adopted by its rivals) – and Disney has really gone the distance where device support is concerned.
Less than a year after it launched, Disney has attracted around 95 million subscribers – not far off half of Netflix’s headcount at the time of writing. So should Disney Plus be part of your world or should you let it go? Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s off to Disney’s service we go…
Disney Plus: price, films, shows and all the details
14 of the best Disney Plus movies and shows to watch right now
Price
Disney Plus launched in the States in November 2019, rolling out to other territories (including Europe and the UK) the following March. The monthly fee was £5.99 ($6.99, AU$8.99, €6.99), making it a very tempting proposition indeed.
But, partly in light of the arrival of Star in several markets, that price has now gone northwards. Since 23rd February 2021, the monthly cost of Disney Plus is £7.99 ($7.99, AU$11.99, €8.99). In the US, the Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus bundle will also get a $1 increase to $13.99 per month. Subscribers who signed up to Disney Plus before that February date will pay the original monthly price up until August 2021, when it will change to the pricier one.
Note that an annual subscription works out cheaper – £79.90 ($70, AU$120, €89.90) – if you’re willing to pay that upfront sum.
Features
(Image credit: Disney)
Disney Plus’s catalogue comprises over 700 films and more than 400 TV series, from all-time classics to family favourites, including three of the four most profitable films ever made: Avatar, Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
One of the service’s biggest selling points is its slate of original shows, such as The Mandalorian, The World According To Jeff Goldblum, Clone Wars, The Imagineering Story and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (yes, that is its real title). Disney seems willing to splash the cash, announcing it plans to spend $8bn to $9bn on Disney Plus content alone in fiscal 2024, by which it hopes to have attracted over 230 million subscribers.
That title-dropping expands to more than 30 films and 50 series from the Marvel universe, including Black Panther, Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel, Guardians Of The Galaxy and Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Disney Plus is the only place to see Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Captain Marvel and all future releases from both Lucasfilm and Marvel, and is the exclusive streaming hub for every Disney theatrical release from 2019 and beyond. And yes, the service also has over 600 episodes (30 seasons) of The Simpsons, too.
The catalogue features plenty of 4K HDR content (some originally mastered, some remastered), which isn’t surprising considering Disney has been in the Ultra HD Blu-ray game for three years. When we first reviewed the service upon launch, we counted just over 100 titles in 4K HDR – including Frozen, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Lion King (2019), Aladdin (2019), Toy Story 4, Moana and all five of Disney’s new Original movies. But thanks in part to the Star expansion, that figure has grown considerably.
In Europe, Canada, New Zealand and the UK, Star has matured the service offering, appealing more to adults and sensibly introducing parent controls (which means parents can set limits on access for specific profiles based on content age ratings and introduce PIN locks on profiles with access to mature content). Star arrived in February 2021 as a 270-film, 75-show proposition, including four originals and plans for future premieres. Highlights include – deep breath – Modern Family, The X-Files, Deadpool 2, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Favourite, 24, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Prison Break, Scrubs,The Killing, How I Met Your Mother and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
(Image credit: Disney)
4K support isn’t limited to just new titles, either. Toy Story is in 4K HDR, as are the original Beauty And The Beast and The Lion King. Classics such as Alice In Wonderland, Pinocchio, Cinderella, The Jungle Book and Sleeping Beauty are presented in Full HD with 5.1 audio.
The fact you can download these titles in full 4K onto a compatible tablet or smartphone is arguably one of the best-value features of Disney+, considering the cost of individual 4K movies to rent or buy.
Downloads are unlimited, don’t expire, and can be downloaded on up to 10 devices. The same treatment isn’t so abundant with TV shows, with 4K HDR material limited to a handful of new Disney Originals series.
The service not only has plenty of content in 5.1 audio, it also supports Dolby Atmos, which was probably to be expected, given Disney’s commitment to the – the very first theatrical Atmos release was Disney’s Brave, after all.
Atmos content on Disney Plus spans over 100 titles – all movies, shorts and the odd Disney Original – including The Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise, The Mandalorian, WALL-E, Thor: Ragnarok, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2, Big Hero 6 and the Captain Americas. Those same titles are also available in Dolby Vision HDR.
Amazon Prime Video vs Netflix – which is better?
Ease of use
(Image credit: Disney)
Disney Plus’s interface is similar to Netflix’s – and just as easy to use. It hasn’t tried to reinvent the wheel with its layout, and the result is a service most people will feel comfortable navigating.
A banner of featured content heads up the home page, with titles grouped into categories such as ‘Recommended for You’, ‘Originals’, ‘Musicals’ and ‘Mickey Mouse Through The Years’. There is also a ‘Nostalgic Movies’ tab for those who wish to revisit Bedknobs And Broomsticks, Pete’s Dragon and Herbie Goes Bananas.
Above these categories – sandwiched between the featured content banner and title categories – are five blocks for Disney, National Geographic, Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar (or six in those regions that also have Star). These allow subscribers to dive right into the offerings of each of those specific Disney-owned brands.
(Image credit: Disney)
Disney Plus’s ‘Collections’ group similar content together – for example, films within the Spiderman universe or films featuring princesses. In the ‘Winnie the Pooh Collection’ you’ll find everything from The New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh TV series (1988-1991) to 2001’s The Tigger Movie and the recent Christopher Robin feature.
A pull-out sidebar lets you view only movies, only TV series or Disney Originals, search for specific content using the search bar, and access your watchlist (titles you’ve pinned for easy access at a later date). Up to seven profiles for each family member can be made on one account too.
A nice touch is that each user can pick a character for their profile, which can be made child-friendly with bolder icons, and a more colourful, less dense interface populated with more kids’ content.
We previewed a Netherlands version of Disney Plus (launched in November 2019) prior to the European launch, and noted how useful the ‘Ultra HD and HDR’ category was for finding and accessing such content. Sadly, that category appears to be missing in the UK version.
A search for ‘4K’ doesn’t bring up any results, so it appears impossible to see what is available in 4K without going into the description for each individual title.
Logos for 4K, HDR (HDR10 or Dolby Vision) and Dolby Atmos are neatly flagged within the synopsis, alongside those for age appropriateness, year of release, genre, season count and audio format. But you will only see these badges if your device supports the technology.
Disney Plus streaming service: everything you need to know
Performance
(Image credit: Disney)
Unsurprisingly, Disney Plus has launched with exhaustive hardware support.
The service works across web browsers; iOS (iOS 11.0 and later) and Android (OS 5.0 Lollipop and later) phones and tablets; Google Chromecast, including devices with Chromecast built-in, such as select Vizio Smart TVs; Apple TV (4th gen or later) and Apple TV 4K (running tvOS 11.0 and later) streamers; Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles; Samsung (2016 and later), LG (2016 and later) and Android-based Sony and Sharp TVs; a wide range of Roku streaming players; Android TV set-top boxes such as Nvidia Shield TV and Mi Box; all of Amazon’s Fire TV streamers, Fire TV Edition smart TVs, and Fire Tablets (Fire OS 5.0 and later); and Sky Q.
Disney Plus’s catalogue can be streamed from an iOS device over AirPlay to Apple TV (including the 3rd- and 4th-generation boxes) as well as any TV compatible with AirPlay 2.
A note on Sky Q support, though: while you might reasonably expect Sky Q to support 4K streaming on Disney Plus, as it does on Netflix, sadly the service’s 4K titles appear only playable in HD and 5.1 audio. We hope Sky rights this in the near future.
Up to four screens can stream simultaneously on one account, which is on a par with Netflix’s pricier Premium tier and better than Apple TV+’s and Amazon Prime Video’s three-screen limit.
Here’s how to watch Disney Plus on Sky Q
Disney reduced the service’s streaming bandwidth by “at least 25 per cent” in order to ease pressure on internet service providers during the current coronavirus pandemic. Disney said: “We have instituted measures to lower bandwidth utilization, and in some circumstances streaming content in HD and UHD formats, including Dolby Atmos audio, will be limited or unavailable.”
With this in mind, our final judgment of Disney Plus’ picture quality compared to that of its rivals, which have also committed to lowering bandwidth, will be better reached at a later date. But we’re happy to report, for those considering subscribing to the service straight away, that the material is perfectly watchable right now.
We find ourselves drawn to the technically wonderful The Lion King live-action remake (a 4K HDR10 title) and are met with appropriately lush landscapes, tangible textures of lion fur, baboon skin and bird feathers, and a clean, crisp picture.
In the much darker opening scene of The Mandalorian (a 4K, HDR10 title) that crispness reveals itself again, complete with punch to lights and shine off helmets. There is enough gleam and sharpness to do justice to the series’ high production values.
Even older titles that have been remastered in Full HD, such as Pete’s Dragon (1977) and The Aristocrats (1970) display a surprising amount of clarity, coherence and richness on our 55in Samsung QLED TV.
(Image credit: Disney)
Verdict
Despite the understandable restrictions around streaming quality, we are very impressed with the Disney Plus streaming service.
As you’d expect from one that’s already been up and running for several months in some countries, this is a polished and personal streaming service that fans of Disney’s output are bound to enjoy.
With its rich, appealing catalogue, vast picture and audio quality support, intuitive usability and reasonable subscription price, Disney Plus is hoping to establish itself as a serious rival to the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+.
It isn’t perfect, though – the UK service currently overlooks the importance of 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos content discovery – and it is restricted to Disney content, of course, meaning that, for many, it is likely to be a second subscription alongside a more general streaming service.
But with quality Disney Originals and plenty of theatrical releases, Disney Plus seems to have found its own particular niche and be living happily ever after in the competitive streaming world.
Ring has announced the latest model in its line of video doorbells, the Video Doorbell Pro 2. The Pro 2 is a new top-of-the-line model that comes with a number of enhancements over its predecessor, including a taller field of view and enhanced motion detection capabilities. It is available to preorder for $249.99 starting today, with shipments expected to begin on March 31st, 2021.
The most significant update for the Pro 2 is its new square video capture. First popularized by Google’s Nest Hello and adopted by many other video doorbells, this field of view makes it possible to see who is at your door from head to toe. It also makes it possible to see when packages are left on the ground in front of the doorbell. The Pro 2 captures a 1536 x 1536 pixel image and is the first Ring model to not use the traditional 16:9 wide view.
The second big upgrade is in the Pro 2’s motion detection. Ring is calling this new feature “3D Motion Detection” and says it allows you to “pin point the location and time a motion event begins.” In addition, a new Bird’s Eye View shows you a top-down image of the motion detected, letting you see where someone traversed your property from above. Ring says it’s possible to customize the specific point where the new motion detection and video recording begins, thanks to new radar sensors on the Pro 2. You can also customize other motion and privacy zones, much like you can do with Ring’s other cameras.
Ring also says the Pro 2’s audio features have been improved with an array microphone, and new preset replies can be set for when you’re not home. Those who subscribe to a Ring Protect Plan can utilize Alexa Greetings, which offers a more advanced answering machine service.
Like the prior Video Doorbell Pro, the Pro 2 is a wired model and does not use a battery. That means you need to have doorbell wiring in place or be willing to wire power to it if you want to install it at your door.
Competition in the video doorbell space has heated up a bit in the past few years, with a number of new entrants bringing innovative features to the space. Ring, which can be credited with popularizing the idea of a video doorbell, has mostly been criticized for its privacy policies and police partnerships over the past few years. That hasn’t stopped it from being the most common video doorbell and the de facto brand when people think of this product category. The Pro 2 is Ring’s answer to a lot of those new competitors, and it will be interesting to see how it performs once we’re able to give it a test.
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