Corsair’s Virtuoso RGB Wireless XT headset is extremely comfortable, versatile and delivers great sound. It can also play audio from both a PC and Bluetooth device at the same time. But you’ll have to seriously need those abilities to shell out the $269 asking price.
(Pocket-lint) – There are numerous speakers within the Sonos portfolio but if you’re looking at the smaller end of the range, the choice likely comes down to the Sonos Roam or the Sonos One, or One SL.
You can read how all the Sonos speakers compare in our separate feature, but here we are focusing on the differences between the Sonos Roam and the Sonos One, and One SL, to help you work out which could be the right starting point for you into the Sonos system, or which you should add to an existing one.
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The Sonos Roam is triangular prism shaped and comes in Shadow Black and Lunar White colour options. It is IP67 water and dust resistant and it is small, light and portable – around the size of a water bottle – so you can pick it up and bring it wherever you go.
On the top, there are tactile controls for microphone, play/pause, skip and rewind, and the Roam can be positioned vertically or horizontally. There is a wireless charger sold separately that the Roam will magnetically attach to, or you can charge it via the USB-C port.
The One and One SL meanwhile, are a little shorter and fatter than Roam in terms of physical measurements, but the main difference is they are mains-powered devices and not portable – or waterproof. They can also only be positioned vertically.
One comes in black and white colour options and it has capacitive controls on top, with a microphone on/off button, play/pause and skip and rewind. There’s a pairing button on the back, next to the power port and an ethernet port.
The One SL has an almost identical design to the One, but it doesn’t have a microphone array or button on its top controls.
The Sonos Roam and Sonos One both come with all the features offered by all Sonos speakers, like support for over 100 streaming services, stereo pairing, EQ adjusting through the Sonos app and of course, seamless multi-room audio, among plenty of others.
The Roam and One also both have built-in support for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant – meaning they are both smart speakers. You can’t have both assistants running at the same time but you can switch between them. One SL doesn’t have built-in support for the assistants but it can be controlled via a Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa device.
Both Roam and One have Trueplay tuning on board, enabling you to tune them according to their surroundings, though Roam does this automatically, whereas One and One SL require you to do it manually with an iOS device.
From here, Roam then takes the lead in the feature department compared to the One and One SL. It offers Bluetooth connectivity – automatically switching between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi – meaning you can use Roam as a traditional Sonos speaker when on Wi-Fi, or as a traditional Bluetooth speaker when you leave the house.
There’s also a feature called Sound Swap on the Sonos Roam where you push and hold the play/pause button to send the music playing on Roam to the nearest Sonos speaker. The Sonos One and One SL can receive the music from Roam if they are closest and they will continue playing whatever tunes you were listening to.
The Sonos One and One SL don’t have Bluetooth connectivity and they don’t offer Sound Swap, but they can both be grouped with a Sonos Arc, Beam, Playbar or Playbase and Sonos SUB to act as surrounds. The Roam can’t be grouped with a Sonos soundbar or the Sonos SUB.
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The Sonos Roam features two Class-H digital amplifiers, one tweeter and one mid-woofer under its hood. There’s also a far-field microphone array, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on board.
The Sonos One and One SL have two Class-D amplifiers, a tweeter and a mid-woofer. The One also has a far-field microphone array – the One SL doesn’t – and they both have Wi-Fi on board, but no Bluetooth capabilities.
All three speakers offer Apple AirPlay 2 support.
In terms of sound output, the Sonos One delivers a little extra than the Roam, but the Roam is an excellent sounding speaker for its size and all three speakers have no problem filling a standard room with sound. They also all sound great so you’re unlikey to be disappointed with any of them in this department.
The Sonos Roam is the cheapest of the Sonos speakers being compared here, costing £159 in the UK and $169 in the US.
The Sonos One costs £199 in the UK and $199 in the US, while the Sonos One SL is a little more expensive than the Sonos Roam but cheaper than the Sonos One at £179 in the UK and $179 in the US.
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The decision between the Sonos Roam and Sonos One will come down to what you want your speaker to deliver.
The Roam offers the best of both worlds, giving you an excellent multi-room Sonos speaker when on Wi-Fi and an excellent Bluetooth speaker when out and about. It also has some great features, like Sound Swap, automatic Trueplay tuning and Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support.
The One is a little more expensive and it isn’t portable, though it delivers a little extra punch in terms of sound compared to Roam, two can be grouped with a Sonos soundbar and SUB and used as surrounds (which Roam can’t) and it still has some great features, like the smart assistant support and manual Trueplay.
The One SL meanwhile, delivers the same sound capabilities as the One, but it isn’t a smart speaker. It’s the one you’d pick if you wanted a small Sonos speaker but you aren’t bothered about portability or having Google or Alexa, or if you want two as surrounds to your Beam or Arc.
Writing by Britta O’Boyle.
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Amazon’s new second-generation Echo Buds are the company’s second crack at true wireless earbuds. They’re smaller, lighter, and more comfortable than before, and now have more effective noise cancellation. The first time around, Amazon borrowed some of Bose’s tech to help the original Echo Buds block outside noise, but version two was built completely in-house. Hands-free Alexa voice commands still get top billing, but the most compelling thing about the Echo Buds is still their aggressive price — and the solid mix of features you get in exchange.
The Echo Buds cost $99.99 or $119.99 (with wireless charging case) for a limited time, after which the prices will rise to $119 and $139.99, respectively. Not only is Amazon undercutting premium noise-canceling buds from Apple, Bose, Sony, and others, but it’s also seemingly trying to obliterate mid-range options like the Anker Liberty Air 2 Pros.
The revamped Echo Buds are 20 percent smaller in footprint and have a shortened nozzle, so they protrude from the ears a bit less. They ditch the glossy outer touchpad for a matte design (though the side facing your ear is glossy) The Amazon “smile” logo is present on both earbuds, but it’s not as obnoxious as I assumed it’d be. It’s matte and printed onto the buds instead of being embossed or given a different texture to stand out, so the logo doesn’t really call attention. Still, I’d have preferred it not to be there at all. The charging case is far more understated; there, the smile logo is on the underside — where most people are never even going to see it.
That case has also been downsized and is roughly 40 percent smaller than the last gen, but still carries enough juice to provide the earbuds with two full recharges. The Echo Buds last for five hours with ANC enabled, which is extremely par for the course in 2021. This stretches to 6.5 hours if you disable noise canceling and hands-free Alexa. Oh, and the case does charging LEDs right: you get separate indicators for the case’s charge and both earbuds also have their own.
Amazon has included everything but the kitchen sink to help guarantee a good seal and snug fit. There are four sizes of silicone tips in the box — S, M, L, XL — and three different pairs of optional wing tips. The ear tips are color coded, which makes it much easier to tell the different sizes apart without having to squint at them. The wing tips might prove useful if you’re going to use the Echo Buds for intense workouts, but they weren’t necessary for everyday use or outdoor runs in my ears; the reduced size of the earbuds was enough to keep them locked in place for me.
The new Echo Buds now feature a vented design to cut down on ear pressure, similar to Apple’s AirPods Pro and recent Samsung Galaxy Buds models. But the flipside of this change means if you turn off ANC in the Alexa app (or with a voice command), you’re going to hear a fair mix of ambient noise. If you want to hear more, Amazon gets credit for its passthrough mode, which nearly matches the AirPods Pro and Bose in how natural sound it sounds. If you crank it up all the way, it almost feels like superpower hearing — but there’s a very noticeable hiss at max passthrough.
Amazon claims that the second-gen Echo Buds cancel out “twice as much noise” as the original pair, and the improvements are most concentrated in lower sound frequencies — exactly what you’d want for flights or bothersome hums around the house or office. But remember that the original Echo Buds utilized Bose’s noise reduction technology, which isn’t the same as full-blown active noise cancellation. (Even at the time, Bose said it could do better.) So while Amazon is advertising significant gains over the prior model, you won’t hear any claims that it’s outperforming earbuds from Apple, Bose, Jabra, or other companies. Those are different goalposts.
And the Echo Buds objectively aren’t as effective as the AirPods Pro or Bose QuietComfort Earbuds at turning down the volume knob on the outside world. You might assume that it’s because of the vented design — but the AirPods Pro have that design trait too — so it’s really just that Amazon’s proprietary noise cancellation tech doesn’t yet measure up to the best out there. Occasionally when holding the Echo Buds in my hands, I’d hear a high-pitched whine or squeal coming out of them. This has happened with other earbuds, and Amazon tells me it’s due to an ANC-related feedback loop. Amusingly, I’m also told there’s a “squeal detection algorithm” that’s meant to suppress this. The noise is never really a bother when they’re in your ears, thankfully, but it does pop up from time to time.
Passable ANC aside, the Echo Buds do sound good. They handily beat out the AirPods Pro at bass, which is becoming a regular occurrence at this point. Amazon says the 5.7mm drivers are “optimized for increased fidelity in bass and treble,” and they make for easy listening when you’re playing spoken word content like podcasts, audiobooks, or watching videos. All of this proves out as true when using them. The bass has ample kick and the treble is well contained and never gets earsplitting. Tracks like Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” or Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” are perfect demonstration of what the Echo Buds are good at. I get the impression that Amazon has tuned these with modern hits in mind.
But they do lack a layer of depth and texture that you’ll find in the higher price tiers of true wireless earbuds. Acoustic-heavy tunes aren’t as warm as they could be, and tracks like Phoebe Bridgers’ “Graceland Too” don’t have as wide of a soundstage. The powerful bottom end can make up for that somewhat on songs like “Chinatown” by Bleachers, where the bassline never gets lost to the synths, vocals, and guitars.
So even before you get to the Alexa part of the equation, the Echo Buds establish themselves as worthy contenders at a hard-to-resist price. They also offer IPX4 water and sweat resistance, and voice call quality has improved some over the first-gen buds. Audio automatically pauses when either bud is removed, and each side can be used independently. Like most earbuds (save for those from Jabra), the Echo Buds lack multipoint Bluetooth pairing. Both AAC and SBC codecs are supported. Connection stability has been rock solid in my review period so far with only the rarest blip or dropout.
But how does Amazon’s voice assistant fare? Alexa can aptly handle music requests (“play my Release Radar on Spotify”), weather checks, smart home commands, and other activities that are normally smooth sailing on Echo speakers. Amazon says “later this year” the Echo Buds will get the same VIP Filter as its Echo Frames, which lets you pick which notifications you want to hear.
But on the whole, Alexa noticeably lags behind Siri and Google Assistant at more on-the-go requests. If you ask for directions, Alexa responds that you must tap a notification on your iPhone for those directions to actually open up in Apple Maps. It’s not a huge inconvenience, and some of this — like SMS messaging being limited to Android — boils down to platform restrictions, but there are often middle steps that don’t exist if you’re making the same ask of Siri or Google Assistant. (You also must grant the Alexa app full-time location access for directions to work.) It’s nice that I can ask these earbuds where the nearest COVID-19 vaccine site is or inquire about the status of a given subway line, but these are the kind of things that I’m always going to use my phone for. Getting people to change that default behavior is no small hurdle.
There were also bugs where I didn’t expect them. When I would say, “Alexa, turn on noise canceling,” it would often respond “sorry, what device?” Apparently “noise cancellation” is the term you’ve got to use, but it seems obvious that both should get you there. This was never an issue with voice commands asking to enable or switch off passthrough mode, which worked every time.
Amazon says it has built in a number of privacy-minded features to limit how often the microphones are listening for the “Alexa” wake word. At least one of the earbuds needs to actually be in your ear for the mics to function — they’re automatically muted when both are removed — and there must be an active Bluetooth connection to your phone. You can also manually mute the mics with the Alexa app or by customizing a long-press to do that.
Though Amazon promotes hands-free Alexa as a flagship feature of the Echo Buds, I think it’ll be a negligible value add for some buyers: the price, comfort, and sound are still enough to make these earbuds quite enticing. You’ve also got the choice of using your phone’s native assistant instead of Alexa, which is another option for the long-press command on the outside of a bud. So at least Amazon isn’t forcing anything on you.
If you don’t have an inherent resistance towards Amazon products (and some people certainly do), the 2021 Echo Buds strike a balance of features that’s downright impressive at their selling price. They’re a considerable upgrade from the first-gen earbuds in comfort with improved noise cancellation to boot — even if it’s not close to best in class. You can do better if you’re willing to spend upwards of $50 to $70 more. If you don’t want to go that high, the Echo Buds won’t disappoint.
Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge
New British tech company Zuma has launched what it is calling a “world first high-performance product that combines audio and light to give users an incredible immersive experience”.
The Zuma Lumisonic is an ultra-compact two-way loudspeaker with a low-energy LED light, all housed within an easily installable ceiling light fixture. The firm says it offers a virtually invisible, wireless and clutter-free audio experience that combines circadian rhythm and mood lighting.
It has been developed over three years by a team led by renowned industrial designer Morten Warren (Zuma’s CEO and founder) and featuring Vivid Audio’s acoustic engineer, Laurence Dickie, who was the creator of the iconic Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus speaker (one of, in our opinion, the finest examples of high-end audio engineering in history).
As it is a light fixture, the sound projects downwards vertically from the ceiling, through a 75-watt co-axial two-way driver configuration. The Lumisonic boasts support for WAV, ALAC and FLAC files up to 24bit/192kHz, plus streaming via AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Bluetooth (v4.2).
The Lumisonic is voice controlled, too – it will work with Alexa at launch, and you’ll still need an Alexa powered device somewhere in your home. And built into the Zuma app are a series of wellbeing features that will enable users to play atmospheric soundscapes and combine them with sympathetic lighting tones. Think transforming your bathroom into a high-end spa with music and mood lighting, connecting your Peloton via Bluetooth for that real-life spin class vibe, or the sound of rain as you sleep under a canopy of Zuma speakers.
Users can select both music and the lighting to suit certain moods, and if multiple Zuma lights are installed in a ceiling, users can surround themselves with colour-tuneable lights and enjoy a virtually invisible array of loudspeakers above for an immersive audio experience.
Zuma also says it has incorporated technology that will, later this year, allow users expand the capabilities of the devices to include motion sensors, smoke alarms and security systems to the device.
The Zuma team developed a patented spring blade mechanism which the firm says will enable quick and easy installation and removal. A selection of round and square bezels with different and flush mounting options will be available at launch.
Zuma’s Lumisonic speaker light is priced at £375 per unit (excluding VAT). A companion light-only product called Luminare will be available in the summer, priced £125 each.
MORE:
Check out the best smart speakers 2021: the best voice assistant speakers
Only want Alexa? See best Alexa speakers 2021: the best Alexa-enabled smart speakers
Only want the Google Assistant? Read best Google Assistant speakers 2021: best Google smart speakers
Sonos Arc owners can now adjust the volume of the soundbar’s height channels when playing Dolby Atmos content. Sonos is delivering this new feature in a software update rolling out to app stores today.
To adjust the volume of Arc’s height channels, simply open the Sonos app and update it to the latest version, then go to Settings > System > Arc > Height Audio. The update gives customers more control over their home cinema soundfield, allowing them to emphasise or reduce the sense of height in an Atmos mix.
As we said in our Sonos Arc review, the Atmos soundbar “delivers one of the most convincing Atmos presentations of any soundbar we’ve heard”, so while you wouldn’t want to swamp the soundfield with too much upward information, you might well be tempted to add a little more height presence. It’s something we look forward to trying out for our next Sonos Arc long-term review update.
It’s a shame this height channel adjustment doesn’t appear to be valid for stereo playback, though. Our only complaint about the Arc’s musical performance is that sound isn’t projected forward towards the listening position as much as you might expect and, as all of the Arc’s drivers are in use during stereo playback, we reckon that might be due to the upward- and side-firing speakers doing too much.
The latest Sonos firmware update also brings improvement to the battery life of the new Sonos Roam Bluetooth speaker when Google Assistant voice control is enabled.
MORE:
Read our Sonos Arc long-term review: the highs and lows
Which Sonos soundbar should you invest in? Sonos Arc vs Beam vs Playbar vs Playbase
Starting a Sonos system from scratch? Sonos: everything you need to know
The SteelSeries Arctis 9 Wireless is what I’d call a logical addition to the famous and mostly fantastic Arctis gaming headset lineup. Looking at their nomenclature, the Arctis 9 Wireless is a natural upgrade of the also wireless Arctis 7, whose first edition I reviewed back in 2017 and still happily use to this day simply because it continues to impress me with its build quality, wearing comfort, and overall performance. But let’s not waste any more time on the Arctis 7—we’re here to talk about the $200/€200 Arctis 9 Wireless.
Depending on where you buy it, the Arctis 9 Wireless costs $30–$50 more than the Arctis 7. For that price hike, you’re getting everything great about the Arctis 7 with the addition of expanded wireless connectivity. Aside from the standard 2.4 GHz RF wireless connection, the Arctis 9 Wireless also offers Bluetooth connectivity. It can be used on its own to connect to mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops), TVs, and other devices which act as Bluetooth sound sources, or simultaneously with the 2.4 GHz connection. Thanks to that, you can have it connected to your PC and phone at the same time, and use it to answer phone calls without stopping what you’re doing or taking off the headset. In case you own a PlayStation, a Bluetooth connection to your phone will allow you to connect to a Discord server through Discord’s mobile app and easily communicate with your friends. Another interesting option is to connect the headset to your Nintendo Switch through a built-in analog 3.5-mm interface to hear the game while utilizing a Bluetooth connection to your phone for voice chat in Switch games that don’t support it natively. You can also use it wirelessly with the Switch because the supplied wireless dongle works perfectly fine as long as the Switch is in docked mode.
Xbox users, fear not—SteelSeries is also making an Xbox-specific version of this headset, simply called the Arctis 9X.
Your PC is nothing without its operating system, and for most devices (about 1 billion to be more precise), that OS is Windows 10. Windows has been around for so long that even the technologically inept should be able to find their way around the latest version. But if you’re a tech enthusiast, you don’t just want to be able to just use Windows 10; you want to master it. Only then can you enjoy the performance your system was built for and make the most out of what both your computer, the ubiquitous OS and you as a user can do.
We’ve been detailing some of the handiest Windows 10 tips and tricks so you can maximize your PC’s relationship with the OS and make sure it works the way you want it to with your device. This means tips on maximizing Windows 10’s productivity software, momentous Windows 10 hacks that are sure to boost your productivity, Windows 10 troubleshooting tutorials to keep in your back pocket and even answers to questions you’re too scared to ask.
If you got the basics of Windows 10 down ages ago, you might be wondering what we have to offer you. The following are some of our favorite hacks for boosting productivity while working with Windows 10. Between ways to capture screenshots you may not have thought of and instructions for a DIY SSD, these should help you learn something you didn’t know before.
If you’re the kind of person who people call when they can’t get their system to work properly, you’ll want to get a firm grasp of all the following Windows 10 troubleshooting tutorials.
Windows security isn’t just something that enterprises need to worry about. Not only do everyday users need to think about their security on the web, security at home or in the office can also be an issue if you share a device. For all those things on the family computer no one else needs to see, the following how-tos should help you out.
Microsoft doesn’t have the final word on how you experience Windows 10. We have step-by-step instructions for tweaking the OS to your preference. Maybe bright apps make your eyes weary, you want to change how your system boots or just don’t want to make a Microsoft account. Look to these Windows 10 tips and tricks for assistance.
In the tech world, it seems everyone knows it all, but the truth is no one does. Whether you’re a macOS converter (welcome), coming to Windows 10 from an older version of Windows, looking for a refresher or just plain don’t know how to do some basic or introductory tasks on Windows 10, we’ve got you covered.
Gigabyte is announcing seven new laptops featuring the hardware from Intel and Nvidia, two of which are packing Nvidia’s brand new RTX 3050 Ampere mobile GPU.
The new Gigabyte G5 and G7 are the company’s latest budget-friendly offerings for mainstream buyers. Both models are packing Intel’s 11th Gen Core processors, the eight-core i7-11800H or the hexa-core Core i5-11400H based on the Tiger Lake architecture. The G5 and G7 also use Nvidia’s newly released RTX 3050 and RTX 3050 Ti mobile GPUs.
Both notebooks feature dual DDR4-3200 slots supporting a max of 64GB (32GB per DIMM), and dual M.2 slots supporting PCIe with one allowing up to Gen 3 speeds and the other up to Gen 4. Plus, you get one 2.5-inch HDD/SSD slot that supports 7mm (or thinner) SATA drives.
The main difference between the G5 and the G7 is display size. The G5 is a 15-inch notebook while the G7 comes in a larger 17-inch form factor. Despite the changes in size, both laptops will come with the same panel specs, with a 1080p display at 144 Hz.
For connectivity the G5 and G7 come with four USB ports of different variations: You get a single USB 2.0 Type-A, dual USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports with one being type-C, and finally a USB 3.2 Gen 1 type A port.
For wireless connectivity, the G5 and G7 come with Intel’s AX200 or AX201 wireless cards which both support WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2. For storage and memory, you get dual M.2 slots with one supporting Gen 3 speeds and the other supporting Gen 4.
The line starts at $1,149 for the lowest-end G5.
Gigabyte is also updating its Aero line of laptops, which are targeted towards creators and gamers alike. Gigabyte is adding two upgraded models to the Aero lineup, the Aero 15 OLED and the Aero 17 HDR with new CPUs.
The main differences between the 15 and 17 will be its size and display type (as the name implies), the Aero 15 will come with a Samsung AMOLED display so you get those very crisply visuals and stunning visuals. Unfortunately, you will not be able to get an AMOLED display for the Aero 17, so Gigabyte has opted for a 4k HDR display instead.
The upgrade you’re getting on the new refreshed Aero 15 and 17 are the CPUs; both the OLED and HDR variants get upgraded to Intel’s 11th Gen Tiger Lake CPUs, specifically the i9-11980HK or the i7-11800H. Giving these laptops a big performance and efficiency boost over previous Comet Lake mobile CPUs.
Like the previous Comet Lake-based Aero 15 and 17, you get options for either an RTX 3070 or RTX 3080 GPU with a 105W TDP.
Gigabyte is also refreshing the Aorus 17X, the companies flagship gaming laptop with a 17.3 display and a thick chassis with vapor chamber cooling to cool Nvidia and Intel’s top tier CPUs and GPUs.
The 17X will come with Intel’s highest-end mobile processor you can get, the i9-11980HK with 8 cores and a max turbo frequency of 5GHz. The chip has a configurable TDP up to 65W. What we don’t know is how Gigabyte configured the TDP for the Aorus 17X.
For graphics, the Aorus 17X will come with an RTX 3080, with a whopping 165W of target graphics power.
This flagship device includes some other top-end specifications, including a 300 Hz display and a mechanical keyboard with Omron gaming switches and RGB backlighting.
This laptop is set to launch in June starting at $2,099.
The new Atom’s headline ability is headphone playback, but don’t underestimate its value as a preamplifier. It’s a classy and versatile addition to Naim’s Uniti range.
Sound+Image mag review
This review originally appeared in Sound+Image magazine, one of What Hi-Fi?’s Australian sister publications. Click here for more information on Sound+Image, including digital editions and details on how you can subscribe.
UK-based Naim Audio became first renowned for its amplification, proving the importance of power quality from the early 1970s. Three decades later Naim was also quick to recognise the future of file-based and streaming music, and today enjoys great success with its Mu-so wireless speakers, while the Uniti range of all-in-one streaming systems deliver simple but definitely hi-fi ‘just-add-speakers’ solutions.
In a way the Uniti players brought together everything Naim has learned – the wireless, multiroom and control elements of the Mu-sos, with the solid hi-fi amplification developed over decades, including more recent trickle-down tech from the developmental fillip of investment made in the company’s no-holds-barred Statement amplifier project.
Now here comes the Uniti Atom Headphone Edition (£2399/$3290/AU$4299), which takes the smallest of the existing Uniti all-in-ones and does something rather unexpected for Naim – it throws out the part on which the company built its reputation, the amplification.
Well, that’s not entirely true. There are no amplifiers for loudspeakers, as provided on the other Uniti units (excepting only the Uniti Core, which adds networked hard-drive storage to the range).
But as the ‘HE’ of the new name suggests, it caters instead to headphones. On the front there are headphone outputs for jacks of full-size quarter-inch (6.5mm in new money) and 4.4mm Penteconn balanced connections, while round the back there’s a second balanced connection on 4-pin XLR.
We’re told that for this product Naim has used an all-new amp implementation designed especially so it delivers the best headphone amplifier experience, including a new transformer design to provide power tailored to the needs of the headphone amplification.
But this is not only a headphone amp. It’s also a preamplifier, and Naim has optimised its preamplifier performance also, “including elements originally used in our flagship Statement Amplifier” it says.
As a preamplifier it offers one analogue input pair on RCA sockets, and then digital inputs: two optical and one coaxial, plus USB-A slots both front and rear. There’s also Bluetooth available, which includes the aptX codec.
What doesn’t it have? It loses from the original Atom the HDMI ARC connection which was handy to play audio from your TV, and there’s still no USB-B connection to play direct from computer.
But its outputs are expanded, its variable preamplifier output available on both unbalanced RCA and balanced XLR outputs to feed your downstream amplification. This could play straight to power amps, since there is full volume control in the Atom HE – either from the remote, from its app, or from the heavenly Naim knob which sits on top, the only disadvantage of this positioning being that it is hidden when the unit goes on a good rack shelf, though its minimal height of 9cm means you should still be able to squeeze your hand in there for a knob spin when the urge presents itself.
And in addition to physical inputs, this Naim has all the streaming prowess of other Uniti members, and that’s to say as complete a set of protocols as you’ll find anywhere – so many, indeed, that when the range originally launched, it was significantly delayed by the paper trail for all the licensing involved.
So this includes being easily addressed from any Spotify app, free or paid, or using Apple’s AirPlay 2 to stream the output of a Mac or any app on an iOS app, and Chromecast too, for point-to-point streaming from Android devices. Those with music libraries on a PC can use its UPnP ‘server’ function. It’s also Roon Ready, and although the Roon-direct licensing was still going through when it arrived for review, it was nevertheless available in Roon via its Chromecast and AirPlay abilities.
Then there are the services available within the Naim app itself. These include internet radio and podcasts, Tidal, and Qobuz (the latter newly available to Australia). You may note these are services which offer higher-quality subscriptions; Naim emphasises this quality also in its internet radio app, with a section devoted to higher-rate streams than the often grungy desk-compressed pop stations.
And one last batch of capabilities – the Atom HE is multiroom-capable with other Naim equipment including the Mu-so wireless speakers, so you can have music playing in unison (and Uniti) throughout your home. Chromecast and AirPlay 2 offer other paths to multiroom and multi-device playback.
Having previously reviewed the standard Uniti Atom, we found set-up here to be a breeze. You have to pair the remote control by holding it to the full-colour five-inch front-panel panel display while you push ‘Home’ for three seconds. Our Naim app, already installed on an iPad Pro, needed a reinstall before it saw the Atom HE on the network and delivered it a firmware update, losing contact until the update was complete.
Beyond that, we had absolutely zero operational issues, and indeed throughout our testing we were able to generate no criticisms at all – not one – because Naim has honed its highly versatile and potentially complex operation to something near perfection.
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The Naim app presents all its streaming services on one screen, the inputs on a scrolling second screen; if that doesn’t appeal you can use the settings to reorder the inputs to your preference, banishing unused ones to the second screen.
We had connected a Thorens turntable via a phono stage into the analogue input. We connected our computer to an optical input, using a DAC between them as a USB-to-SPDIF converter.
To kick off, we ran the Atom HE’s unbalanced pre-outputs to our resident power amps, always a slightly nervous connection to make when the preamp is digitally controlled and might flick the output to max accidentally. (Once we had Roon connected, we specified a safety level beyond which the volume slider then can’t go.)
We addressed it first from Tidal on the Naim app, then from the Tidal app itself, then from Roon.
Indeed during the Atom’s visit it may have be physically located in one room, but it seemed omnipresent. Wherever we accessed music – on the music room computer, on our Chromebook, the iPhone, a tablet – there was the Naim Atom as a playback device waving at us as if saying ‘Play to me! Play to me!’ There are so many ways to play that surely any current preferred path to playback will fit right in.
We can fully believe Naim’s claim that the preamp of the Atom HE is actually superior to those of the current Uniti range. Even in our initial set-up without the benefit of the balanced connections, all the cues from our favourite tunes poured from power amp and speaker references, dynamically delivered, cleanly resolving the good and the bad.
The effect on Alex the Astronaut’s main vocal for Split the Sky can sound curiously excessive on systems lacking resolution, degenerating into a mush. Here it could be discerned separately, part delay, part reverb. More to the point, the music and the emotion were entirely unchecked. The quite awful subject matter of her remarkable I Like To Dance is chilling; her Triple J cover of Mr Blue Sky – The Go-Betweens’ Lindy Morrison on drums – is sheer joy.
The Tidal stream through the Atom HE easily outperformed Spotify’s relatively softened sound. Naim’s Uniti platform does not support the MQA encoding which Tidal uses to ‘unfold’ its high-res Masters to their high definition – Naim could change this by firmware update, it has said, but is being led by demand.
Whatever you might think of MQA, it may be that uncompressed FLAC high-res streaming as offered by Qobuz and Deezer represents a purer future – after all, with today’s bandwidths defined by streaming 4K video, what need for data compression of high-res music any more?
So with Qobuz newly launched in Australia, we took the opportunity to connect our Roon to Qobuz, and our Roon to the Uniti. Roon’s excellent quality check pop-up box reminded us that Roon via Chromecast dropping the high-res to 48kHz, so we switched to Qobuz direct inside the Naim app. And what a joy that was. Fleetwood Mac’s Go Your Own Way was almost alarmingly crisp; details on Toto’s Africa (the left-channel chuckle on the intro) astoundingly apparent, especially as our usual playback preference for this slice of soft rock is the vinyl 45.
On Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill, the continuous rolling drums’n’bass were entirely segregated from the other parts, and the emotional lift of multitracked Kates as we reached the first ‘Come on baby, come on darlin’ was thrilling at an almost tactile level. We began regretting our agreement to return the Atom HE to distributor BusiSoft AV within an unusually brief two weeks; we were barely getting started and we were missing it already.
Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition specs
Inputs: 1 x analogue RCA, 2 x optical digital, 1 x coaxial digital, 2x USB-A
Streaming: Apple AirPlay 2, Chromecast, UPnPT, Spotify Connect, TIDAL, Qobuz, Roon Ready, Bluetooth, Internet radio
Headphones outputs: 6.35mm, 4.4mm Pentaconn, 4 pin XLR
Audio outputs: preamp unbalanced (RCA); preamp balanced (XLR)
Also visiting from Naim’s Australian distributor were the Final Audio D8000 Pro headphones, themselves a mere AU$4999 (£3995, US$4299) with their silver-coated cables trailing away to the Atom HE’s full-size headphone jack like weighty twisted tinsel.
The Naim had not the slightest trouble driving these esoteric 60-ohm planar magnetic headphones to their maximum ability, whether delivering a tight and punchy kick drum under the guitar and synthscape of The Triffids’ Wide Open Road, or highlighting the curiously lo-fi elements opening Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know.
The Naim and Finals delivered a mind-meltingly zingy portrayal of The Go-Betweens’ Streets of your Town, currently resurrected for advertising purposes by Ampol but here crisply separated to the point where our attention was constantly darting around the soundstage to small sonic elements like the cunning combination of panned rhythm guitars, the tight block hits in the left, each element easily individually selectable by the mind’s ear, yet held together in a finely musical whole.
We also ran more affordable headphone references – open AKGs, closed Sennheisers – and there wasn’t a pair which didn’t display their full abilities or receive more than enough power on tap from the Atom HE – enough, indeed, to achieve quite worrying levels without any hint of congestion or distortion.
The relevant figures are 1.5 watt-per-channel output into 16 ohms (from all headphone outputs), and output impedance of 4.7 ohms. The headphone amp remains in pure Class-A except for lower impedance headphones pushed to the extremes of volume, when a Class-AB circuit is “seamlessly” invoked.
If you like it loud (bearing in mind the dangers of so listening), the Atom HE will at least ensure you get your music with a minimum of damaging distortion.
After a head-pumping serve of Wolfmother’s The Joker and the Thief we wondered if we should take a rest, but Qobuz continued serving such delights that we didn’t, instead diverting to some high-res classical. This confirmed the dynamic reserve of the headphone output and a remarkable ability to stay tonally accurate across different impedance headphones. All this was from the standard unbalanced quarter-inch headphone socket; the balanced outputs could potentially lift the Atom HE’s game still higher.
Having an assortment of active stereo speakers in residence for our group test this issue, it occurred to us that the Atom HE’s abilities as a preamp perfectly complemented just such devices. The ELAC Navis, for example, has balanced XLR inputs, to which we connected the Atom HE’s balanced outputs.
The result was wildly successful – a brilliant pair of speakers provided with a perfectly-pitched preamp output backed by physical inputs, streams galore, an app, a physical remote control and Naim’s big knob. Adding good active speakers to the Atom HE makes for a wonderfully compact yet versatile system, boosted by its particular powers to make your headphones sing when privacy is required.
The Atom HE is an excellent addition to the Naim Uniti range – something genuinely different in offering a streaming preamplifier with a top-quality headphone amplifier. Use it alone with headphones, with power amps, or with active speakers, and you have a system just as versatile in its streaming abilities as the Mu-so, more versatile in its connections, and far higher in its hi-fi quality. And it comes with the best knob in hi-fi. It’s a big thumbs up from us.
Project Connected Home over IP (CHIP) — the ambitious smart home partnership that will see Apple, Apple, Google, Samsung, the Zigbee Alliance, and dozens of other companies work together on an open standard — has gotten a new name: Matter.
The rebranding comes ahead of the first Matter certifications, which are set to arrive before the end of 2021. The new branding and logo are designed to help make it easier for customers to tell which devices work with Matter’s unified system, with the logo set to appear on future hardware products.
Image: Connectivity Standards Alliance
The goal of Matter is deceptively simple: make sure you’re able to use your smart home devices with the voice assistant (or assistants) of choice, whether that’s Apple’s Siri / HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant. At launch, Matter will run on Ethernet Wi-Fi, Thread, and Bluetooth Low Energy.
Other big companies, like Philips Hue, are on board: the company has already promised to release a simple software update in the coming months that will make all of its past and present products compatible with Matter once it launches.
It’s an ambitious goal, which could vastly simplify the confusing parts of smart home setup — assuming companies are willing to put in the work to issue software updates and integrate the standard into their current and future products.
As part of the announcement, the Zigbee Alliance (which created the Zigbee standard for interconnected smart home gadgets) has announced that it’ll rename itself to the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) as it expands to focus more on projects like Matter in addition to the existing Zigbee network.
ASRock’s Z590 Taichi is a well-rounded premium mid-range motherboard, with more-than-capable power delivery, Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, three M.2 sockets, Intel- and Killer-based networking, including Wi-Fi 6E.
The latest in a long line of Taichi boards, ASRock’s Z590 Taichi for Intel’s latest Rocket Lake CPUs includes improved power delivery, fast Killer-based networking, eight SATA ports, native PCIe 4.0 for the GPU and M.2 socket, and improved aesthetics. Landing at $459.99, this upper-midrange board may be out of range for some users. But if you want to spend this much, this is a feature-rich and capable Z590 board.
ASRock’s Z590 lineup is similar to the previous-generation Z490 product stack. At the time we wrote this, ASRock had 12 Z590 motherboards listed. At the top is Z590 Taichi, followed by the PG Velocita we’re looking at here, and three Phantom Gaming boards, including a Micro-ATX option. Additionally, there are two professional boards in the Z590 Pro4 and Z590M Pro4, two Steel Legend boards, two Extreme boards (also more on the budget end), and a Mini-ITX board rounds out the product stack. Between price, size, looks, and features, ASRock should have a board that works for everyone looking to dive headlong into Rocket Lake.
Performance testing on the Taichi went without a hitch, producing results aligned with the other tested boards. Game performance was on the slower side of things, but the meager difference will be tough to notice unless you’re benchmarking. The memory, which uses Gear 1 on the latest BIOS, is where the Taichi shined. That said, outside of the benchmarks, again you won’t notice the difference. Overall, the Taichi performed well compared to other tested Z590 boards.
The Z590 Taichi is a nice improvement over the previous Taichi, between the improved appearance and cool moving gear feature, it is one of the better-looking Z590 boards. But looks aren’t everything. The Taichi comes with two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports (40 Gbps), eight SATA ports, Killer-based Wi-Fi 6E and 2.5 GbE, and a graphics card support bar. We’ll check out these details and other features below. But first, here are the full specs from ASRock.
| Socket | LGA 1200 |
| Chipset | Z590 |
| Form Factor | ATX |
| Voltage Regulator | 14 Phase (12+2, 90A MOSFETs) |
| Video Ports | (1) HDMI (2.0) |
| (2) Thunderbolt 4 | |
| USB Ports | (2) USB 4.0 Thunderbolt 4 Type-C (40 GB/s) |
| (2) USB 3.2 Gen 2, Type-A (10 Gbps) | |
| (3) USB 3.2 Gen 1, Type-A (5 Gbps) | |
| Network Jacks | (2) 2.5 GbE and 1 GbE |
| Audio Jacks | (5) Analog + SPDIF |
| Legacy Ports/Jacks | ✗ |
| Other Ports/Jack | ✗ |
| PCIe x16 | (3) v4.0 x16, (x16/x0/x0, x8/x8/x0, or x8/x8/x4 (PCIe 3.0) |
| PCIe x8 | ✗ |
| PCIe x4 | ✗ |
| PCIe x1 | (1) v3.0 x1 |
| CrossFire/SLI | AMD Quad CrossFireX, 3-Way, and CrossFireX |
| DIMM slots | (4) DDR4 5000+(OC), 128GB Capacity (11th gen) |
| M.2 slots | (1) PCIe 4.0 x4 / PCIe (up to 80mm) |
| (1) PCIe 3.0 x4 / PCIe (up to 80mm) | |
| (1) PCIe 3.0 x4 / PCIe (up to 110mm) | |
| *Supports RAID0 and 1 | |
| U.2 Ports | ✗ |
| SATA Ports | (8) SATA3 6 Gbps |
| *Supports RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 | |
| USB Headers | (1) USB v3.2 Gen 2×2 (Front Panel Type-C) |
| (2) USB v3.2 Gen 1 | |
| (2) USB v2.0 | |
| Fan/Pump Headers | (8) 4-Pin |
| RGB Headers | (2) ARGB (3-pin) |
| (2) RGB (4-pin) | |
| Legacy Interfaces | ✗ |
| Other Interfaces | FP-Audio, TPM |
| Diagnostics Panel | Dr. Debug 2-character LED |
| Internal Button/Switch | Power and Reset buttons, reset CMOS button |
| SATA Controllers | Asmedia ASM1061 |
| Ethernet Controller(s) | (1) Killer E3100G (2.5 GbE) |
| (1) Intel I219-V (GbE) | |
| Wi-Fi / Bluetooth | (1) Killer AX1675x (WiFi-6E, 2×2 160 Hz/6 GHz, MU-MIMO, OFDMA, BT 5.2) |
| USB Controllers | Asmedia ASM1042A (plus re-drivers) |
| HD Audio Codec | Realtek ALC1220 |
| DDL/DTS Connect | ✗ / ✗ |
| Warranty | 3 Years |
Inside the box, along with the motherboard, you’ll find cables, the graphics support bar and even a second VRM fan and an additional bracket to add your own 40mm fan. The included accessories should get you up and running without having to scramble and head to the store. Below is a complete list of all included extras.
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After removing the Z590 Taichi from the box and setting it up, one of the first things I noticed was the addition of the moving gears above the IO area. During POST, the watch-like gears rotate, which gives this board a unique design aesthetic–although your system will need to be sitting at eye level with a clear side panel to notice this. The VRM heatsinks are connected via heatpipe and use active cooling (in the form of a small integrated fan) to keep temperatures in check. The bottom half of the matte-black, 8-layer PCB is covered in heatsinks and shrouds for the M.2 sockets.
You’ll find RGB lighting elements under the IO cover, chipset heatsink, and on the right edge of the board. The RGBs are bright and saturated, adding a significant glow from under the board. Control over the RGB is provided by ASRock’s Polychrome Sync software. In the end, the Z590 Taichi’s appearance has improved over the last generation and shouldn’t have issues fitting in with most build themes.
Focusing on the top half of the board and starting on the left side, we get a closer look at the unique gear design. The black half gear/counterweight slowly ticks when powering the board up and stops once POST completes. The cogwheel spins either clockwise or counterclockwise via a small motor. In the BIOS, you’re able to adjust the time between rotations (5/10/30/60 minute intervals and off). Although this is clearly a gimmick, it’s truly a unique design aesthetic. Just below this is the Taichi name lit up by RGB lighting.
The VRM heatsinks are large and actively cooled with a small fan hidden inside the left bank. Just above this are the two 8-pin EPS connectors (one required) for powering the CPU. Just to the right of the socket area are the unreinforced DRAM slots. The board supports up to 128GB of RAM at speeds listed to DDR4 5000 when using an 11th generation CPU (lower with a 10th gen). Just above the DRAM slots is the first RGB header. In this case, it’s 3-pin ARGB.
Just to the right is the first 4-pin fan header. This particular header happens to be the Chassis/Water Pump connector and supports 2A/24W. The CPU fan headers are located mid-board above the first M.2 socket. The CPU connector supports up to 1A/12W, while the CPU_Fan2/WP3A supports 3A/36W. The rest of the connectors support up to 2A/24W. These headers have plenty of available power to connect your fans and water pump, without overloading the board.
Making our way down the right edge, we find the 24-pin ATX connector for board power, two front-panel USB 3.2 Gen 1 headers (one vertical, the other horizontal) and the front-panel USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Type-C header. Last, in white, is the first 3-pin RGB header.
The Z590 Taichi sports a 12-phase VRM setup for the CPU. The 8-pin EPS connector(s) send power to the Renesas ISL69269 12-channel (X+Y+Z=12) controller, then on to six ISL6617A phase doublers. Last but not least is the 12 90A Renesas ISL99390B Smart power stages. This configuration supports up to 1080A for the CPU, which is plenty for stock and overclocked operation, including extreme (read: sub-ambient) overclocking. The power delivery on this board will not get in your way. Again, this board also includes an additional fan for the VRM. After testing without it, we chose not to use it as there wasn’t a need and it would only increase the noise profile, which was quiet without it. Temperatures were well within operating range throughout all testing.
Moving down to the bottom half of the board, we’ll again start on the left side with audio. Hidden below a plastic shroud is the Realtek ALX1220 codec – a last-generation flagship solution. I would like to have seen the latest generation codec (not that most will notice the difference) for this price. We can also see the audio separation line from the other parts of the board and the red WIMA audio caps. The Taichi also includes an ESS ES9218 Sabre DAC supporting up to 600 Ohm headphones and 130dB SNR.
In the middle of the board are three full-length, reinforced PCIe slots along with a single x1 size slot. Between them are heatsinks for the three M.2 sockets and shrouds covering the board. When using an 11th gen CPU, the top two PCIe slots support PCIe 4.0 speeds. The top PCIe slot runs at x16 while the second slot runs at a maximum of x8 — both are CPU connected. The bottom full-length slot is connected to the chipset and runs at PCIe 3.0 x4. The board supports AMD Quad CrossfireX, 3-Way CrossFireX and CrossfireX. No mention of NVIDIA SLI, even though the board is wired to support it.
On the M.2 storage front, the Taichi includes three sockets. The top M2_1 is the Hyper socket (PCIe 4.0 x4, 64 Gbps) and supports 80mm PCIe-based modules. M2_2 supports both SATA and PCIe modules up to PCIe 3.0 x4 (32 Gbps), up to 80mm long. The bottom socket, M2_3, supports 110mm SATA or PCIe modules up to PCIe 3.0 x4. M2_2 shares lanes with SATA port 0/1. If either one is in use, the others are disabled. M2_3 shares lanes with SATA ports 4/5 and the bottom PCIe slot. If either is in use, the others will be disabled. You can have three M.2 devices and up to 4 SATA ports running concurrently.
Note, though, that I had trouble with the PCIe 4.0-based Phison drive we use for testing. Using the latest BIOS, version 1.63 for me, the top M.2 socket that runs PCIe 4.0 doesn’t recognize the drive. The Phison storage drive works just fine on all of the other PCIe 3.0 sockets and other boards’ PCIe 4.0 M.2 sockets. We’re not sure if this is limited to the Phison drives, as they are the only PCIe 4.0 M.2 drives I have in-house. We’ve let ASRock know and they are working on the issue. It’s likely that a BIOS update will resolve this problem.
Finally, to the right of the PCIe slots and M.2 sockets is the chipset heatsink. Here we get a close look at the unique pattern found on the heatsinks. It’s almost like a rough wood grain type of finish, quite unique. To the right of it are the eight SATA ports, two of them managed by an ASMedia ASM1061 controller, with the rest connected to the southbridge. Just below are two more fan headers. The included GPU support bracket mounts in this area to the ATX screw holes in the middle and bottom of the board. This is a nice value-add in these days of huge and heavy cards. Now if only ASRock could do something about how much modern high-end cards weigh on our wallets.
Across the board’s bottom are several headers, including more USB ports, fan headers and more. Below is the complete list, from left to right:
Looking at the rear IO, we see the pre-attached IO plate matches the colors and design theme of the rest of the board. One thing that jumps out is the 5-plug plus SPDIF audio stack’s location: It sits in the middle. Typically this is on the right edge/bottom, but in most cases the odd placement shouldn’t be a cause for concern. From left to right, we have the BIOS Flashback button to flash the bios without a CPU, the Wi-Fi antenna connections and an HDMI (v2.0) port for the integrated video. Next are two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports and the audio stack mentioned above.
On the networking front, the Intel-based Ethernet port is black, while the Killer 2.5 GbE port is blue. Below those are two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports. At the bottom are two Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C ports that support up to 40 Gbps throughput. They also double as additional video outputs. Curiously, these aren’t labeled as Thunderbolt here. On the far right are the last two USB ports that run at USB 3.2 Gen 1 speeds.
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Razer has just announced new versions of its Blade 15 workhorse gaming laptop, complete with some of the biggest changes to the lineup in some time.
Like many other laptops announced today, the new Blade 15 Advanced features Intel’s 11th Gen H-series processors and Nvidia’s RTX 30-series graphics chips, with up to a Core i9 11900H (2.5GHz base clock, 4.9GHz boost clock), an RTX 3080 GPU with 16GB of video memory (Razer declined to share the total graphics power ahead of publishing), and a 4K touchscreen.
The most welcome improvement might be the new fingerprint-resistant coating making its way to all of these new models. I can’t imagine that it’ll eliminate fingerprints altogether, but this should address one of the biggest annoyances with the prior models. The Windows Hello webcam is getting bumped up to 1080p resolution (from 720p), and Razer claims the trackpads have improved palm rejection.
For the new design, Razer managed to shave off a little more than a millimeter from the thickness of the Blade 15 Advanced, coming in at 15.8mm thick. Razer claims that it’s the smallest 15-inch gaming laptop with RTX graphics and is 17 percent smaller by dimensions compared to the MSI GS66 Stealth. This size reduction applies only to the starting model that has the RTX 3060, though. Thinner might sound more appealing, but it isn’t usually better for gaming performance. Nvidia allows OEMs like Razer to choose the wattage and clock speed of the GPU based on their laptop designs, and generally speaking, the thinner the laptop is, the worse it can be running games compared to thicker laptops that typically allow for bigger cooling systems.
The higher-specced options are thicker than this 15.8mm model, but that’s roughly the same thickness as the previous generation. The width and depth of these machines debuting today are also unchanged from the previous gen at 355 and 235mm (13.98 and 9.25 inches), respectively.
The latest (and thinnest) Blade 15 Advanced starts at $2,299, and this model has a 240Hz QHD IPS panel with 2.5ms response time and 100 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut. It has an octa-core Intel Core i7-11800H processor, the RTX 3060 GPU with 8GB of video memory, and 16GB of DDR4 RAM clocked at 3,200MHz. A 1TB NVMe SSD that supports PCIe 4.0 for faster read / write and transfer speeds and a 80Wh battery come standard across all Advanced models.
The selection of ports across the Advanced lineup is similar but not exactly the same as the models released earlier in 2021. The most notable exceptions are the two new Thunderbolt 4 ports. In addition, you’ll find an UHS-III SD card reader, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, a headphone jack, and an HDMI 2.1 port. Aside from that, all new Blade 15 models support Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, 20V charging via USB-C.
All of the Advanced models also support upgradeable storage and RAM. The starting model has only one M.2 slot because of its thin design, but all other new models have an additional M.2 slot for a total of up to 4TB of storage supported.
Spending more will get you a better screen, processor, and GPU. Below you can see the specs of each option, as well as the most recent version of the prior Blade 15 Advanced.
| Compare | Razer Blade 15 (early 2021 model) | Razer Blade 15 Advanced (mid-2021, starting model) | Razer Blade 15 Advanced (mid-2021, high-end model) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compare | Razer Blade 15 (early 2021 model) | Razer Blade 15 Advanced (mid-2021, starting model) | Razer Blade 15 Advanced (mid-2021, high-end model) |
| Dimensions | 16.9 x 235 x 355mm | 15.7 x 235 x 355mm | 17 x 235 x 355mm |
| Screen options | QHD (240Hz IPS), upgradeable to FHD (360Hz IPS), or 4K (60Hz OLED with touch) | QHD (240Hz IPS, 2.5ms response time) | OLED 4K touchscreen (60Hz, 1ms response time) |
| Storage | 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD (supports a second M.2 drive for a total of up to 4TB) | 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD | 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD (supports a second M.2 drive for a total of up to 4TB) |
| Memory | 16GB dual-channel DDR4-2933MHz RAM (upgradeable to 32GB, user replaceable up to 64GB) | 16GB dual-channel DDR4-3200MHz (upgradeable to 32GB, user replaceable up to 64GB) | 32GB dual-channel DDR4-3200MHz (user replaceable up to 64GB) |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-10875H (2.3GHz base clock, 5.1GHz boost) | Intel Core i7-11800H (2.3GHz base, 4.2GHz boost) | Intel Core i9-11900H (2.5GHz base, 4.9GHz boost) |
| Graphics | Nvidia RTX 3070 (upgradeable to Nvidia’s RTX 3080 with 16GB of VRAM) | Nvidia RTX 3060 with 8GB vRAM | Nvidia RTX 3080 with 16GB vRAM |
| USB-C ports | Two (one being a Thunderbolt 3 port with four lanes of PCIe throughput) | Two Thunderbolt 4 ports | Two Thunderbolt 4 ports |
| USB-C charging | Yes (20V charging) | Yes (20V charging) | Yes (20V charging) |
| Battery | 80Wh | 80Wh | 80Wh |
| USB Type A ports | Three (3.2 Gen 2) | Two (3.2 Gen 2) | Two (3.2 Gen 2) |
| HDMI 2.1 support | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SD card reader | Yes (UHS-III) | Yes (UHS-III) | Yes (UHS-III) |
| Ethernet port | No | No | No |
| Headphone port | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Webcam | Windows Hello 720p | Windows Hello 1080p | Windows Hello 1080p |
| Wi-Fi 6E support | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bluetooth | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.2 |
| Starting price | $2,499 | $2,299 | $3,399 |
All of these new Blade 15 Advanced machines will be available for preorder starting Monday, May 17th from Razer. They’ll go on sale and ship sometime in June.
MSI is getting a new lineup, including some new designs, in sync with Intel launching its Tiger Lake-H processors. While it refreshed recently at CES 2021, this new launch includes more new designs. Some of them will also utilize Nvidia’s new RTX 3050 and RTX 3050 Ti graphics cards. Pre-orders begin today, and laptops will begin to ship on May 16.
The GE76 and GE66 Raider have taken the flagship spot. (The latter has long been on our list of the
best gaming laptops
.) They’re the same design, but with 17-inch and 15-inch screens, respectively. Both will go up to an overclockable Intel Core i9-11980HK and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080. At launch, the GE66 will go up to
4K
, while the GE76 will only have faster but lower resolution 1080p screens. Higher-resolution screens for the 17-incher will come in May and June.
While the design is the same, including a blue aluminum, MSI said it intends on using more powerful cooling. The Raiders also have
FHD
webcams and have bumped up to Wi-Fi 6E and Thunderbolt 4 for connectivity.
| MSI GE76 Raider | MSI GE66 Raider | MSI GS76 Stealth | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Up to Intel Core i9-11980HK | Up to Intel Core i9-11980HK | Up to Intel Core i9-110900H |
| GPU | Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 (16GB GDDR6) | Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 (16GB GDDR6) | Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 (16GB GDDR6) |
| RAM | Up to 32GB at 3,200 MHz | Up to 32GB at 3,200 MHz | Up to 64GB at 3,200 MHz |
| Storage | Up to 1TB | Up to 2TB | Up to 2TB |
| Display | 17.3-inches, 1920 x 1080, up to 360Hz (QHD coming late May) | 15.6-inch, up to 4K, QHD up to 240 Hz | 17.3-inches, up to 4K, FHD up to 300 Hz |
| Networking | Killer WiFi 6E AX1675 (2×2), Bluetooth 5.2 | Killer WiFi 6E AX1675 (2×2), Bluetooth 5.2 | Killer WiFi 6E AX1675 (2×2), Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Battery | 99.9 WHr | 99.9 WHr | 99.9 WHr |
| Starting Price | $1,499 | $2,299 | $1,999 |
We’re also seeing a larger version of the existing MSI Stealth. The new GS76 is a 17.3-inch version of the laptop. (We only saw the GS66, the 15.6-incher, at CES, though that is getting upgraded to new parts, too.) It won’t get the overclockable processor, but you get RAM going up to 64GB at 3,200 MHz, up to 2TB of SSD storage and the same 99.9 WHr battery as the Raider line. Like the Raider, there will be
QHD
options coming later in the month.
The new design has top-firing speakers, and MSI says this laptop will have a far more tactile keyboard than the previous 17-inch Stealth, the GS75.
The MSI GL Pulse is a new entry that joins the Crosshair, both of which are intermediate-level gaming laptops. They’re largely the same, including metal lids, but the Pulse has some engraved designs where the Crosshair is plainer.
Both the Pulse will start at $959 with a Core i5-11400H and RTX 3050 and go up from there, topping out at $1,799. Both are getting new keyboards with single-zone RGB, and while the more expensive Raider and Stealth will have Gen 4 SSDs, the GL lineup will stay on Gen 3.
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MSI’s most entry-level gaming notebooks are the new Katana and Sword. They’re replacing the previous GF Thin line. The two notebooks differ only in color: Katana is black with a red keyboard, while Sword is white with a blue keyboard. These differ from the GL lineup in that they are plastic and have fewer panel options.
Katana starts at $999 with a Core i7-11800H and an RTX 3050 Ti and goes up to $1,449 with a Core i7 and an RTX 3060. The white laptop, Sword has a single $1,099 configuration with a Core i7 and RTX 3050 Ti. Sword has a 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080 display at 144 Hz, while Katana will be at both 15 and 17 inches.
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MSI is taking another shot at the MacBook Pro crowd with its new Creator Z16. It starts at an eye-watering $2,599 with an Intel Core i7-11800H, an RTX 3060, 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The $2,999 configuration bumps up to a Core i9-11900H and 2TB SSD.
The new top-of-the-line creator notebooks are minimalist with a CNC aluminum build. MSI has opted for a 16:10 touch display with 2560 x 1600 resolution and a speed of 120 Hz. It also includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports, microSD slot. Unlike the Raider, this sports a 720p webcam and a 90 WHr battery.
With Intel’s new eight-core, 35-65W Tiger Lake-H processors, Dell is rolling out updates to its most premium workhorses and some of the best ultrabooks, the XPS 15 and XPS 17. The pair will be available sometime this summer, with more exact dates coming soon.
The Dell XPS 15 (9510) will start at $1,199.99 with processor options going up to an 11th Gen Intel Core i9 CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTTX 3050 Ti graphics card. Dell calls it the “smallest 15.6-inch performance class laptop,” with a 92.9% screen-to-body ratio thanks to a 16:10 display and a new, thinner InfinityEdge bezel. Like the XPS 13, Dell is introducing a 3456 x 2160 OLED screen in the top end.
| Dell XPS 15 (9510) | Dell XPS 17 (9710) | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Up to Intel Core i9-11900H | Up to Intel Core i9-11980HK |
| GPU | Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti (4GB GDDR6, 45W) | Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (4GB GDDR6, 70W) |
| RAM | Up to 64GB DDR4-3200 | Up to 64GB DDR4-3200 |
| Storage | Up to 4TB PCIe SSD | Up to 4TB PCIe SSD |
| Display | 15.6-inch 3840 x 2400 touch, 3456 x 2160 OLELD touch, 1920 x 1200 non-touch | 17-inch 3840 x 2400 touch, 1920 x 1200 non-touch |
| Networking | Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650, Bluetooth 5.1 | Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650, Bluetooth 5.1 |
| Battery | 56 WHr or 86 WHr | 97 WHr |
| Starting Price | $1,199.99 | $1,449.99 |
Dell’s ports are still minimalist, including two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, a headphone jack and a full-size SD card reader.
The new Dell XPS 17 (9710) will start at $1,499.99 and go a step higher with some components. It will go a step further with the processor, topping out at the unlocked Intel Core i9-11980HK with a
boost clock
of 5.0 GHz, while the GPU will go up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060. Potential customers will have the same storage and RAM options, but there is no OLED screen here – just a
4K
touch version and
FHD
non-touch.
Dell says this is the smallest 17-inch laptop with a screen-to-body ratio of 93.7%. While that’s impressive, there aren’t that many 17-inch non-gaming laptops out there right now. It has four Thunderbolt 4 ports and a headphone jack, with no SD card reader like its 15-inch counterpart.
On both laptops, Dell is touting quad-speaker designs with Waves NX audio. The company says those speakers were tuned by Jack Joesph Puig, a Grammy-winning producer who has worked with Green Day, U2, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Sum 41 and more.
The smallest in the lineup, the Dell XPS 13 last saw an update in April, when the Tiger Lake U-based system was updated with an OLED display option.
Razer is refreshing its Blade 15 Advanced model with Intel’s Tiger Lake-H, its 11th Gen, 35-65W processors for gaming. The new lineup starts at $2,299 and will go as high as $3,399 when it ships in June. It’s pricey, but the previous release was one of the best gaming laptops.
The majority of Razer’s configurations will include the Intel Core i7-11800H, an 8-core processor with a 4.2 GHz max boost clock. The top-of-the-line version will use the Core i9-11900H with a 4.9-GHz max boost. None of them uses Intel’s overclockable Tiger Lake-H chips. Graphics range from the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 on the intro model and go up to the RTX 3080 with 16GB of VRAM.
| Razer Blade 15 | $2,299 | $2,599 | $2,699 | $2,999 | $3,099 | $3,399 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11800H | 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11800H | 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11800H | 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11800H | 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11800H | 11th Gen Intel Core i9-11900H |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 (8GB) | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 (8GB) | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 (8GB) | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 (8GB) | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 (8GB) | Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 (16GB) |
| Display | QHD, 240 Hz | FHD, 360 Hz | QHD, 240 Hz | QHD, 240 Hz | FHD, 360 Hz | 4K, OLED, Touch |
| Storage | 1TB (PCIe) | 1TB (PCIe) with one open M.2 slot | 1TB (PCIe) with one open M.2 slot | 1TB (PCIe) with one open M.2 slot | 1TB (PCIe) with one open M.2 slot | 1TB (PCIe) with one open M.2 slot |
| Memory | 16GB DDR4-3200 | 16GB DDR4-3200 | 16GB DDR4-3200 | 32GB DDR4-3200 | 32GB DDR4-3200 | 32GB DDR4-3200 |
| Battery | 80 WHr | 80 WHr | 80 WHr | 80 WHr | 80 WHr | 80 WHr |
| Networking | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Webcam | 1080p webcam with IR for Windows Hello | 1080p webcam with IR for Windows Hello | 1080p webcam with IR for Windows Hello | 1080p webcam with IR for Windows Hello | 1080p webcam with IR for Windows Hello | 1080p webcam with IR for Windows Hello |
At 13.98 x 9.25 x 0.67 inches, there’s no real change in profile beyond a few fractions of a millimeter of thickness shaved off. Still, Razer claims that the CNC aluminum notebook is the smallest 15-inch gaming laptop with RTX graphics.
There are other technical improvements internally including faster memory clocked at 3,200 MHz and support for
PCIe
Gen 4 storage (up to 4TB). On models that don’t use the RTX 3060, there’s a second PCIe slot that lets you stack storage in the laptop’s minimal space. Finally, there’s a
1080p
webcam with IR support for Windows Hello, both of which will be welcome for those using the Blade 15 to work from home.
It’s still keeping its Choma keyboard, of course. One might argue it wouldn’t be a Razer laptop without it.
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Razer has only provided information about the Advanced Model. The company did not make it clear when 11th Gen Core processors may come to the normal Razer Blade 15 or the Studio Edition.
If it’s as good as the Blade 15 has historically been, the new version will be worth looking forward to. But there are a lot of gaming laptops with 11th Gen Core and Nvidia RTX being announced today, so it will surely be in a crowded field.