Fitbit equips the Fitbit Sense with an EKG function and a stress measurement via the skin resistance. A subscription service helps with data analysis.
Fitness watch Fitbit Sense with EKG and stress measurement in the test Dainty box Numbers that mean stress Conclusion Article in c’t 24 / 2020 read It was time for a successor to the somewhat aged Fitbit Ionic and the Versa 2. The Fitbit Sense suggests changes in the Fitbit universe in many ways. The watch itself remains the most important collector of body data, but the company, which Google bought last year, puts more weight on the evaluation – from which Google says it does not want to benefit. The interpretation of the fitness data for the Sense is divided into two parts: a free one, which covers the most important basic data, and the Fitbit Premium, which is subject to a surcharge and which also contains a wide range of advisory components.
More advice on the basis of concrete data sounds plausible: Many platforms only offer flat encouragement for more activity and even complain about a step goal not achieved when you are currently doing a sweaty 80 – completed a km bike tour
The Fitbit Sense is less aimed at sports data collectors than at people who keep an eye on their well-being and also want to evaluate health data. The watch comes up with a phalanx of sensory measurements that other manufacturers sometimes do not offer: These include, for example, an electrodermal skin scan, which is supposed to provide information about the stress level of the wearer, as well as the possibility of creating an EKG to detect atrial fibrillation, for example. The app even creates a PDF with health data and one with the ECG history for the doctor’s visit.
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(Pocket-lint) – Getting fit isn’t easy. The thought of sitting with a jar of Nutella in front of Netflix is often far more appealing than the sweat, pain and self-drive required for good exercise. It’s unlikely you’ll regret doing the exercise after you have done it, though, while there’s every chance you will regret the jar of Nutella.
So how do you get off the couch and start burning calories? That’s where we come in. There are numerous apps, fitness trackers and sports watches out there to help you on your running journey. We’ve rounded them up to get you started and build you up from that comfy couch to a 5K run.
Best apps for Couch to 5K
Apple
One You Couch to 5K
Download for iOS | Download for Android
The One You Couch to 5K has a nine-week training program – though you can take longer if you want to – and there are five trainers to choose from to help motivate and support you along your running journey.
There’s a countdown timer so you’ll know how long you have left for each run, as well as a half time bell so you know when it’s time to head home and you can track all your progress and achievements as you complete your runs. You can also set run reminders to make sure you don’t miss a run.
Apple
Couch to 5K Runner
Download for iOS | Download for Android
The Couch to 5K Runner app has an eight-week training programme that requires you to train three times a week for 30 minutes a day. Alternating between walking and running intervals, the run segments will gradually increase over the course of the program.
You’ll be told when to walk and when to run and the Couch to 5K Runner app is compatible with music apps so you can listen to your favourite playlist on Spotify whilst still hear your coaching commands. This app is also compatible with other GPS running apps, like Nike+ and it supports Apple Health too.
Apple
C25K 5K Trainer
Download for iOS | Download for Android
The C25K app is an eight-week program that, like the Couch to 5K Runner app, requires you to train three times a week for 30 minutes. It’s compatible with a range of GPS apps, MyFitnessPal and music apps including Spotify and Apple Music so you’ll still hear the coach over your playlist.
You’ll be able to track your calories and distance for each workout and there are light and dark modes, as well as Apple Health integration. As with the other apps on this list, you basically just have to press start and away you go.
Apple
Couch to 5K
Download for iOS | Download for Android
The Couch to 5K app is a nine-week program and relies on you training three times a week for between 20 and 30 minutes. There are four virtual coaches to choose from and human audio cues will guide you through your training sessions.
Couch to 5K is compatible with music apps so you can listen to your music and hear coaching cues and there’s GPS support in the app too so you can calculate distance, pace and map routes. You’ll also get treadmill support for manual entry of workouts and you can track your progress with total distance and average pace. A 5K to 10K follow up app is available too for when you surpass your 5K goal.
Apple
Zombies, Run! 5K Training
Download for iOS | Download for Android
The Zombies, Run! 5K Training apps is for those who want to improve their fitness but have a little fun while doing it. It’s designed as an eight-week training program, with instructions for each workout on when you should walk, run, jog or stretch, but it has a story to follow too, making it more interesting.
You’ll get a progress report for your training and the zombie story continues through the program, keeping you entertained while running. As with the other Couch to 5K apps we have listed, the Zombies, Run! 5K Training app is compatible with music apps so you can hear cues over your playlists and it is compatible with Apple Health too.
Pocket-lint
Best wearables for Couch to 5K
GPS sports watch
A GPS sports watch is a great way to track your runs accurately without bringing your smartphone with you. Using a GPS sportswatch also means less battery drain on your smartphone too. The software offered by GPS sports watches varies depending on the company, but many tap into a wider community that helps keep up motivation.
Garmin is a great platform for runners, offering plenty of data through its Connect platform, as well as a huge user base, but you could also consider Polar, Fitbit or Apple Watch, depending on what your budget is and how much data you want to see. What you buy will also likely depend on whether you plan to continue running after reaching your 5K goal.
Pocket-lint
Our recommendation: Garmin Forerunner 35
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For beginners, the Garmin Forerunner 35 is a great starting GPS sportswatch. It offers access to Garmin’s platform, delivers accurate fitness tracking, a strong battery life and a reliable heart rate sensor. Read our full review here.
Best GPS running watch 2020
Activity tracker
An activity tracker is different to a GPS sportswatch in that many use Connected GPS rather than built-in GPS, meaning you’ll still need to bring your phone with you on a run if you want the route data, though they will estimate distance travelled without your phone.
The great thing about an activity tracker is that they are designed to encourage movement, tracking steps and calories burned, as well as heart rate, sleep and other metrics like floors climbed and VO2 Max, depending on the model you buy. Fitbit is an excellent platform for activity trackers, offering data in an easy to understand format, but Garmin also offers options, including some with GPS built in, and Withings has a couple too.
Pocket-lint
Our recommendation: Fitbit Charge 4
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The Fitbit Charge 4 has a lovely waterproof design and it offers a great battery life, alongside accurate tracking with in-built GPS. It has superb heart rate tracking, excellent sleep tracking and calorie and step counting. It has automatic exercise recognition on board too in case you forget to log your run. Read our full review here.
Best fitness trackers 2020
Workout headphones
The headphones you wear during exercising will likely be different to those you’ll wear for casual listening. Workout headphones need to be comfortable, sweat resistant and secure fitting.
There are a number of options out there, some of which have heart rate monitors built in too, but they don’t come cheap if you want ones that sound good too. For heart rate headphones, you can try the Lifebeam Vi, Jabra Elite Sport or Bose SoundSport Pulse, all of which are great.
Our recommendation: Beats Powerbeats Pro
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The latest Beats Powerbeats Pro are a great pair of wire-free workout headphones and our top recommendation if you don’t want heart rate tracking built in. They have nine-hours of battery life, a great design, an impressive sound and they are excellent for running. Read our full review here.
Best workout headphones 2020
Writing by Britta O’Boyle. Editing by Max Freeman-Mills.
(Pocket-lint) – Given the amount of time that many of us are now spending glued to a screen all day, every day, it can feel like our brains might not be loving all the activity. It’s easy to get a bit tired and fuzzy as days go on and to worry that you’re losing your edge.
The best fitness games: Work out with these active exercise titles
Enter brain training – just because you’re not at school any more, doesn’t mean you can’t keep yourself sharp. There are loads of apps and games out there that can help you to keep some skills and mental processes you might have long since abandoned sharper and quicker. In fact, you could spin yourself up into a better version of yourself, given enough time.
We’ve rounded up some of the very best available so that if you’re looking for a way to tune up your brain, check these out.
The best brain training games to try today
Nintendo
Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training
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While it wasn’t the first by any means, the Nintendo DS iteration of Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training exploded brain training into the mainstream, and after a long hiatus it’s returned with this new Switch version.
Like before, it’ll give you a series of challenges to complete each day, tracking your performance in them to work out how you’re doing over time. They’re fun little games that don’t feel too taxing but will still likely force you to do mental acrobatics you’re not used to in your everyday life. If you have a Switch, this could be the one for you.
Lumosity
Lumosity
Download on Apple App Store | Google Play store
Lumosity has also been around for some years, a smartphone app that, like most brain trainers, presents you with a few themed games each day, monitoring how you cope with them so that it can report progress to you over time.
Its premium monthly subscription gives you a personalised plan to really take advantage of, but it’s a little pricey at $11.99 a month, which is a slight shame. Still, it’s a slick entryway to brain training.
Elevate
Elevate
Download on Apple App Store | Google Play store
A more recent success, Elevate has emerged to become one of the two main apps in this space, along with Lumosity, and has earned legions of devoted users as part of that rise.
It has over 35 games forming its lineup and tracks five different types of development so that you can see how you’re doing both overall and in particular areas.
Peak
Peak
Download on Apple App Store | Google Play store
Peak scores points on the design front, with nicely laid out games and tasks and a tone that’s not too overbearing in its demands to be used every day. Many of its games feel even more… game-y than other apps, too, making it easy to integrate into your daily routine without feeling like a chore.
You’ll have to take out a subscription for access to all of Peak’s games, too. There are some nice little added features, too, like Apple Watch integration if you’ve got one.
John .. on Unsplash
Sudoku
We’re going old-school for our final pick, which is a reminder that you don’t necessarily need fancy graphics and swish apps to keep your brain sharp – Sudoku is as popular as ever, and there are frankly countless apps you could pick to give you a near-limitless supply of puzzles to do.
Even if you decide to go down the physical, pen-and-paper route, you’ll get the same benefit of a little brain training, a little distraction, and a measure of satisfaction whenever you finish a puzzle correctly. It’s a no-brainer.
(Pocket-lint) – Smartwatches are here to stay. These wrist-worn phone companions can receive calls, texts, emails, and social media notifications. Many attempts have been made, some more successful than others, some much better looking than others and some smarter than others.
If you’re looking to take the smartwatch plunge, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve rounded up the best out there that we have had the pleasure of reviewing in full.
This feature covers smartwatches on various platforms, from Google’s Wear OS to Apple’s watchOS. If you are only interested in Wear OS smartwatches or Apple Watch options, we have separate features you can read to find the perfect smartwatch for you.
Our pick of the best smartwatches to buy today
Pocket-lint
Apple Watch SE
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The Apple Watch SE misses off a couple of the more accomplished Series 6’s features, including the always-on display, blood oxygen sensor and ECG sensor, but it has the same design, runs the same software and it’s cheaper.
By pulling together some of the best parts of the discontinued Series 4 and Series 5, the Watch SE is an affordable entry point to the Apple Watch, offering a great middle ground between the sensor-rich Series 6 and the older Series 3.
Apple Watch SE review: The smarter choice for your wallet
Pocket-lint
Garmin Fenix 6 Pro
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We won’t pretend that the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro is priced at a point that many people would stomach, but the reality is that it offers one of the most complete and impressive feature-sets on any smartwatch. Whether you’re taking huge hikes in the wilderness or using it as an everyday smartwatch, it’ll steer you right and work smoothly.
Garmin’s reputation for fitness tracking is richly deserved, and the Fenix 6 Pro will be overkill for many people, but it’s still a massively comprehensive watch that’s top of its class in most regards, price notwithstanding.
Garmin Fenix 6 Pro review: Sublime sports watch, great smartwatch
Pocket-lint
Apple Watch Series 6
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The Apple Watch Series 6 improves on its predecessor with battery and display refinements, along with a couple of extra sensors, including a blood oxygen sensor and an always on altimeter.
For some, it will be sensor overload and the Watch SE will more than suffice. For others, despite the new sensors feeling like a bit of a tick-box exercise, there’s still no better smartwatch on the market for iPhone users.
Apple Watch Series 6 review: Sensors for sensors’ sake?
Pocket-lint
Tag Heuer Connected 2020
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The Tag Heuer Connected 2020 fully delivers in offering a smartwatch that looks like a traditional Tag.
It doesn’t quite rival the sports tracking skills of a Garmin or Polar but Tag Heuer remains ahead of the pack as far as building a truly desirable smartwatch that feels worthy of that steep price tag. It is a beauty of a smartwatch.
Tag Heuer Connected 2020 review: Still the luxury smartwatch champ
Pocket-lint
Michael Kors Access Runway
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The Michael Kors Access Runway is the perfect smartwatch for those after stylish wrist-wear with solid performance and plenty of features. It has built-in GPS and heart rate monitoring, as well as plenty of apps thanks to Google’s Wear OS platform.
Its battery life isn’t the best out there and despite a range of fitness features, it’s definitely a more fashion-focused device but for the Michael Kors fan, the Access Runway is a fabulous smartwatch and everything you could want.
Michael Kors Access Runway review: Fabulous and fashionable
Pocket-lint
Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2
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The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 features a light, sporty design with case options of 40mm and 44mm. There is waterproofing up to 50-metres, great sports tracking features and great performance, with specific options for loads of different sports.
As it runs on Tizen rather than Wear OS, there is a slight lack of third party apps, and this isn’t an amazing choice for iPhone users, either. If you’re looking for a smartwatch to go with your Android device that also happens to be a great fitness and activity tracker though, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 is a very compelling device to consider.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 review: Buy now or wait for the pending features?
Pocket-lint
Skagen Falster 3
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The Skagen Falster 3 has a fabulous Scandinavian design, offering a simple and minimalist look that’s perfect for those after a subtle smartwatch.
It doesn’t have the best battery life of those on this list, but with NFC and GPS on board it’s a really great option if you like its design. Plus, with good storage for offline music playback and good solid performance, it’s still useful if you leave your phone behind.
Skagen Falster 3 review: Power and finesse
Pocket-lint
Fossil Gen 5 Garrett HR
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The Fossil Gen 5 Garrett smartwatch is a great looking smartwatch and one of many offered under the company’s umbrella – most of which offer the same features.
It and the Gen 5 offer a good performance, interchangeable straps, a solid build quality and come with a heart rate sensor and built-in GPS. If you’re on Android, the Wear OS software will work as well as it can with your device too.
Fossil Gen 5 Garrett HR review: Style and substance
Pocket-lint
Huawei Watch GT 2e
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The Huawei Watch GT 2e offers a fantastic battery life, good fitness options, a wealth of data in the accompanying health app and a vibrant and bright screen.
It might not be perfect but if you haven’t got the budget to spend on a smartwatch from Apple, or a high-end fitness watch from Garmin, the Huawei Watch GT 2e is a great middle ground.
Huawei Watch GT 2e review: One watch to track it all
Pocket-lint
Michael Kors Access MKGO
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The Michael Kors Access MKGO is an excellent smartwatch for the active Michael Kors fan. It offers a lightweight and sporty design, a lovely display and a great feature set, including waterproofing, built-in GPS and NFC for Google Pay payments from your wrist.
It’s not as premium as the Michael Kors Access Runway (above), it doesn’t have the best battery on this list and there are a couple of performance issues here and there, but overall, the MKGO and its customisable Michael Kors faces and heavy MK branding will be perfect for some Kors fans.
Michael Kors Access MKGO review: A smartwatch for the active Kors fan
Pocket-lint
Casio WSD-F21HR
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The Casio WSD-F21HR has successfully built another great outdoor watch with a long battery life, a durable design and a secondary mono display that is great for timekeeping.
There’s a heart rate sensor on board, making it much more useful than it’s predecessors and the Moment Setter watch app is really great too. If you want a solid, durable outdoor smartwatch, the F21HR is definitely Casio’s best effort yet.
Casio WSD-F21HR review: Now with heart-rate monitoring
Writing by Britta O’Boyle. Editing by Max Freeman-Mills.
Budget smart home company Wyze is preparing to release a smartwatch, according to a newly published Federal Communications Commission certification listing spotted by Twitter user @iJRPN. Other than its Apple Watch-esque rounded rectangular design, the “Wyze Watch 44” listing doesn’t reveal too much about the unannounced smartwatch. We’re assuming the “44” in its name refers to it having a 44mm case size, and it appears to feature a set of sensors for heart rate tracking.
Although Wyze is best known for its lineup of affordable smart home security cameras, which start at just $19.99 for the Wyze Cam V2, the company has recently been expanding its lineup to include the Wyze Band fitness wearable and even a $199 robot vacuum cleaner with LIDAR. Other new devices include headphones, a smart thermostat, and a video doorbell.
As Dave Zatz notes over on Twitter, Wyze’s expanding product lineup is starting to make it look like the Amazon Basics of gadgets. It has an increasingly broad range of stripped-down devices, which could fit the bill if you’re working with a tighter budget.
The Oculus Quest 2 has excellent performance, striking visuals and is lighter than the old version. It has its shortcomings, such as uncomfortable controllers, but the HMD’s a worthy replacement for the original Quest and as Facebook’s sole VR headset.
For
Amazing resolution
Lightweight, compact and portable
Much more powerful than original Quest
Great price
Against
White picks up dirt and grime
Poor controller ergonomics
No Oculus Link cable in the box
IPD adjustment could be more precise
Oculus Quest 2 Tested: Specifications and Features
Editor’s Note: This review was originally published on September 16, 2020 and has been updated with new information.
Facebook is making a bold move with the Quest 2 VR headset announced today. Surprised by the original Oculus Quest’s success, which we considered the best VR headset for most enthusiasts, Facebook is doubling down with Quest 2.
Starting at $299, this VR headset is the key to Facebook’s vision of the future. Come 2021, Oculus will abandon headsets that require a PC connection, phasing out the Oculus Rift S and making the Quest 2 Facebook’s only VR headset. The Quest 2 ends the era of Rift, but is it worthy?
WIth its standalone form factor, it doesn’t require a PC or smartphone connection, making it easier for newcomers to adopt. It’s a more accessible and more powerful VR device that Facebook sees as the catalyst for mass adoption of VR. After playing with it for a couple of weeks, we tend to agree. It’s not perfect, but it’s really good!
Oculus Quest 2 Specs
SoC
Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 (Snapdragon 865)
Display
Fast-switch LCD: 1832 x 1920 resolution per eye, 72 Hz or 90 Hz refresh rate
IPD Setting
3 mechanical pre-sets (58mm, 633mm, 68mm)
Storage
64GB or 256GB of internal flash storage
Audio
Integrated speakers and microphone, single 3.5 mm audio jack, third-party accessories available
RAM
6GB
Battery
Built-in Lithium Ion battery (mAh undisclosed); 2-3 hours estimated runtime, 2.5 hour charge time
Facial Interface and Strap Material
Knit Mesh foam cushion, flexible fabric head strap
Tracking Technology
Oculus Insight inside-out camera-based 6-DoF tracking with motion controllers
Input
3rd-generation Oculus Touch controllers
Play Space Requirements
Stationary or room-scale; Room-scale requires a minimum of 6.5 x 6.5 feet (2m x 2m) of obstruction-free floor space
Dimensions
7.5 x 4 x 5.6 inches (191.5 x 102 x 142.5mm)
Weight
1.1 pounds (503g)
Price
64GB: $299; 256GB: $399
The original Quest headset included a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC that was a few generations old at the time. The Quest 2 is equipped with the latest XR chipset, the Snapdragon XR2. The new headset also includes 50% more RAM than the first Quest, giving developers a full 6GB to exploit. In the short term, the extra memory likely won’t have much benefit, but developers may take advantage of the extra RAM to add features to upcoming titles.
Resolution and Framerate Bumps
Oculus Quest vs Oculus Quest 2 (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Quest 2 runs at a significantly higher resolution than the previous generation. The original Quest’s panels offer a very respectable 1440 x 1600 resolution per eye. That’s higher than the Oculus Rift and on par with the HTC Vive Pro and Valve Index — all of which require a PC connection. The Quest 2 kicks things up a notch or two with a per-eye resolution of 1832 x 1920. That’s a 50% increase in pixels over the first Quest. The difference is subtle, but the crisper image is a welcome treat, especially if you’re concerned about the screen door effect.
Facebook’s new VR headset can also run at up to a 90 Hz refresh rate; whereas, the original Quest is locked in at 72 Hz. So, you’re getting a framerate increase, along with the resolution bump. But keep in mind that it’s up to developers to allow 90 Hz within their games. As of now, it’s not something you can choose to run outside of the Oculus Move fitness tracker that Oculus announced on November 13.
Industrial Design Changes
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The Quest 2 is much more performant than the previous model, but that’s just scratching the surface of the changes introduced on this new headset. Facebook learned a lot from the first Quest and Oculus Go budget standalone headset about what works for standalone VR and what doesn’t. The Quest 2 is the culmination of Facebook’s best insights into making a great VR headset—for consumers and Facebook.
Facebook’s Quest 2 is 10% lighter than the last one, partly due to its size decrease. Quest 2 is slightly narrower and shorter than the Quest, and the visor isn’t as deep either. Facebook even installed smaller tracking cameras on the front of the headset to help reduce the device’s size and weight.
Quest 2’s material construction also helps reduce weight. Gone is the fancy fabric exterior in favor of a simple plastic housing, which weighs less and, more importantly, is easier to clean. Facebook recommends using non-abrasive anti-bacterial wipes to keep the exterior sanitized.
Keeping the HMD clean is important for the usual obvious reasons, but also because the Quest is white, not black like other Oculus headsets. White makes it look nice at first, but any dirt or stain will show up immediately, so you will need to clean it regularly. Depending on how you look at it, that could be a good or a bad thing.
Redesigned Head Strap
(Image credit: Oculus)
The original Quest featured a semi-rigid rubber strap that didn’t conform well to your head and was easily the biggest con of the Quest’s design. The Quest 2 has a fabric strap, like the one found on the Oculus Go headset, which we find much more comfortable than the older model’s firm strap. The fabric here is made of an elastic that holds the tension on your head. The head strap has a simple adjustment in the back that doesn’t require any Velcro. There is an overhead strap that does have a Velcro adjustment.
The Quest 2’s head strap isn’t permanently affixed. Facebook created a custom snap-fit system that allows you to remove the strap for easy cleaning. You can hand wash the strap with mild detergent and hang it up to air dry. Again, a removable, washable strap is a welcome addition to the design not just because of the current global situation, but also because the strap is an off-white color that is sure to get dirty over time.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Additionally, the head strap is removable because you can buy upgrades for it. More on that later.
Simplified IPD Adjustment
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Interpupillary distance adjustment (IPD) is somewhat of a hot-button topic in the VR headset market. Oculus was crucified by its fan base when it launched the Rift S without a mechanicalIPD adjustment that allows wearers to change the distance between the two lenses to align with the distance between their pupils. The original Quest adopted the original Rift CV1’s fabric-covered lens calibration system, which is absent from the Quest 2’s plastic shell. Images of the new Quest leaked in July, which made it seem like the lenses may be affixed in place. We’re happy to say that’s not the case, but IPD adjustment still isn’t what you may be accustomed to.
Facebook saved money on the Quest 2’s IPD solution by reducing it from a linear adjustment to three pre-established placements. The Quest 2 supports 58mm, 63mm and 68mm placements, conveniently labelled 1, 2 and 3 on the headset. To adjust the lens placement, you grab hold of the lens housing and slide it to the desired location. There are no switches or buttons to press.
Quest 2 doesn’t have a software calibration to fine-tune the IPD adjustment further, so you may have trouble finding the perfect alignment, but the offered range should suffice for most people. We prefer a more precise adjustment solution, but that would probably increase the overall price and weight of the Quest 2, so it’s, perhaps, a worthy concession.
Among other slight changes, the Quest 2 dropped one of the two headphone jacks found on the Quest, and features a relocated power button. Facebook also relocated and reoriented the charge port to a position that would work great with a 90-degree USB-C cable. Ironically, the original Quest included a 90-degree cable, but the Quest 2 package contains a standard straight-ended USB-C cable. Worse yet, it’s only 3-feet long;whereas, the original Quest had a 10-foot long charge cable, so you didn’t need to put it on the floor when you plug it in.
Oculus Quest 2 Touch Controllers: A Step Backward
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Oculus controllers have evolved over the years. When the Rift first launched, the input device of choice was an Xbox One controller. Soon after, Oculus released the highly praised, first-generation Touch controllers. Those controllers offered capacitive touch sensors, two face buttons, a menu button, a thumbstick and a thumb rest, plus a trigger and grip buttons.
The second-generation Touch controllers were a small iterative change from the original controllers, which were altered mostly for compatibility with the Quest and Rift S’ inside-out tracking system. The new controllers were slightly smaller than the first-gen Touch controllers, but Facebook did away with the thumb rest, which, according to the vendor, was a sore spot for many fans.
As such, the Quest 2 includes newly redesigned controllers that bring the thumb rest back. The Quest 2’s Touch controllers look like a cross between the first two generations.
Unfortunately, the new controllers are a step in the wrong direction. Their bulky shape does not lend well to a comfortable experience. The controllers’ top is quite bulbous, which makes it difficult to get a good grip on the controller. My index finger must be extended quite far to reach the trigger with the tip of my finger. That forces my hand to sit in a more open position than it does with the previous versions of Touch.
The result is a much less balanced controller. Despite balance being one of the main points that Palmer Luckey highlighted when he first revealed Touch to the world, it feels like the designers of these next-gen Touch controllers put no consideration into balance at all.
To make matters worse, because of the extended index position, my thumb rides up pretty far on the controller’s face. The placement of the A, B, Y and X buttons and the thumbsticks works fine, but I struggle to find the menu button when I want to, and my thumb doesn’t rest naturally on the thumb rest.
Facebook said it designed the new Touch controllers in response to customer feedback complaining about the lack of thumb rest. However, the added thumb rests make the controllers’ shape too bulky, which negatively affected my ability to hold the controller securely.
While playing Pistol Whip, I frequently thought I was going to drop the controller. The problem wasn’t as prominent in Beat Saber because the triggers aren’t needed. The combination of swinging the controllers and needing the trigger button makes for a cumbersome controller experience. After playing for about an hour while compensating for the controller’s inferior balance, my hand cramped up.
Unfortunately, there’s no going back. The new headset is not backwards compatible with the Quest and Rift S’ Touch controllers. That is incredibly disappointing for all the third-party companies that make accessories for Quest and those who already bought accessories but want the Quest 2. Not carrying over support for the old controllers is a massive oversight and missed opportunity for more choice for the customer.
The new Touch controllers still employ disposable batteries stashed inside the handle. The original Touch controllers had a novel magnetic battery cover, which carried over to the second-generation model. For the third iteration of Touch controllers, Facebook discarded the neodymium in favor of a plastic,pressure-fit mechanism. The move likely saved a few grams of weight and a few dollars in manufacturing cost, but it’s a slick feature that I’ll miss.
The design of the new Touch controllers isn’t all bad. Facebook managed to improve efficiency so the controller lasts four times as long on a set of batteries compared to last gen. The construction of the controllers also feels more robust than the previous iteration.
Facebook also said it upgraded the haptics system, but we didn’t notice much of a difference.
Oculus Quest 2 Accessories
One of the most exciting features of the Quest 2 is its support for accessories to customize the headset to your tastes. Facebook is offering both first-party accessories and has partnered with third-parties to develop additional Quest 2 specific upgrades.
For starters, Facebook developed two optional rigid head straps that look a lot like the PSVR’s mechanical strap. The Elite Hard Strap ($49) provides a dial to adjust the size and tension of the fitment. Facebook also offers a deluxe option called the Elite Hard Strap With Battery ($129) that doubles the Quest 2’s battery life. The battery fits in the rear of the strap to help balance the weight distribution. We have not yet tested the upgraded strap options, so comfort levels are unknown.
Facebook is also offering a facial interface pack, which includes one wider and one narrower face cushion and a light-block accessory that covers the nose opening to reduce light-bleed.
As for third-party accessories, Facebook partnered with VRCover to develop a PU leather cushion replacement, which should be available in time for the Quest 2’s launch. Logitech is also working with Facebook to provide headphone and earbud options, including the $50 G333 in-ear headphones, with short cables suitable for Quest 2.
So, What About Content?
The Oculus Quest is a lot like a game console for VR, so you may be wondering about the content available for Quest 2. Often when a new console comes out, old games aren’t playable on it. Fortunately, that is not the case with the Quest 2. The headset is compatible with the entire back catalogue of Quest content.
Facebook wants to grow its user base as much as possible, and the quickest way to sabotage that to split the content library into segments for each headset. Everything you can play on Quest, including the library of ported Go software, will work on Quest 2. We may even see some older titles get an update to support the 90 Hz display mode in the future.
Quest 2 is also compatible with the entire Rift software library, thanks to Facebook’s USB tethering solution called Oculus Link.
Oculus Link
One of the most impressive features about the first-generation Quest was its ability to double as a standalone headset and a PC-VR headset via a separate Oculus Link cable, killing two birds with one stone.
Quest 2 also supports Oculus Link, but it’s sold separately for $79. That’s the future of Facebook’s VR offerings. With the launch of Quest 2, Facebook is making the full transition to standalone VR. The company will phase out the Rift S in the spring of 2021, after which the Quest 2 will become Facebook’s sole VR headset option. From that point on, every Oculus VR device will give you the options of taking it on the go or plugging it into a gaming PC.
That is perhaps the biggest reason that we’re disappointed with the bundled charge cable. Oculus wants you to spend extra money for the privilege of using the Quest 2 on your PC. And while that’s not explicitly unfair, it leaves a bit of a sour taste in one’s mouth. A better solution would have been a longer bundled cable, with an upgrade option for the better quality optical Oculus Link cable.
Oculus Link on Quest 2 works the same way as it does on Quest. Just plug your Quest 2 into a gaming computer with the Oculus software installed and enable the Oculus Link option in the setting menu on the headset. It should ask you to confirm that you want to enable Oculus Link, at which case you’ll see the Rift home screen and content library. SteamVR is also supported, but you’ll need to launch games from the desktop.
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(Pocket-lint) – Golf may look like one of the more leisurely sporting activities you could pick up, but that doesn’t mean it won’t take hours and hours of practice to reach the top of your game. Thankfully, there are an ever-increasing range of golfing gadgets out there to help you get better.
Best fitness trackers: Top activity bands to buy today
We’ve found the best kit to enhance any golfer’s game, from beginners wanting to improve to seasoned players trying to hone and perfect their game. We’ve even thrown in a few fun gadgets too.
Our pick of the best Golf gadgets
Garmin
Garmin Approach S40
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Garmin may be a smartwatch maker, but it’s also got a surprisingly wide range of golf wearables in its Approach line. The pick of the bunch is the S40, a smartwatch that’s stylish most of the time but comes into its own on the course. The Garmin Approach S40 offers more than 41,000 course guides with shot distances, digital scorecard, green layup details and more for each.
The 43g watch is water resistant to 50 metres and manages 10 days on a charge. It can pair with your smartphone via Bluetooth to display calls, texts and emails as you’re going around the course, so the phone can stay in your bag.
A dedicated Green-View button takes you to the Green View screen where a true shape and layout of the green can be seen. The pin can be touched and dragged to the day’s location for an exact measure of distance so swing power can be calculated perfectly. A AutoShot feature even tracks your shot distances automatically as you play.
The Garmin Approach S40 is arguably the pinnacle of a sports wearable, in that it’s perfect for golf but also a great smartwatch in its own right.
Leupold
Leupold GX-2i3 laser rangefinder
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The Leupold GX-2i3 is a digital rangefinder that uses lasers and lenses to offer an accurate measurement of distance. It works in both yards and metres, includes a scan mode, and stretches up to a range of 600 yards – beyond even Tiger Woods’ drive.
The lens offers 6x magnification allowing you to spot the pin and read the range of anything in the crosshairs. Leupold also claims the scope can take a real beating and keep going thanks to the rugged waterproof build. The battery should last a whopping 7,000 sightings before needing to be changed. For the money you’ll be hard pressed to find a better-kitted rangefinder.
Hole19
Hole19
Download now on iOS|Android
You might, quite fairly, not want to spend too much on your golf game, at least at first – and if you’ve got an Apple Watch, or even just a smartphone, you’re in luck. Hole19 is a great app that will track you around courses, and can give you information about the hole you’re on, including yardage and advised shots.
If you pair it with a compatible smartwatch it gets even better, tracking you without needing inputs.
Zepp
Zepp 2 Swing Analyser
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Make any golf glove a smart glove with this nifty little swing analyser that attached to your wrist. It uses a range of sensors to track your swings and reports back on them in the companion app.
You’ll get loads of data on your game, plus training videos to help you improve on your weakest elements. It can also take data from your smartphone and smartwatch to augment its tracking, a clever integration.
Garmin
Garmin Approach S10
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As we mentioned, Garmin’s Approach series has a bunch of different wearable trackers to choose from. If you’re not sure you have the money for the S40, the S10 represents a great alternative.
This tracker has access to all the same courses, and can give you your distances to the green or hole using GPS. It’s basically a slightly less stylish version of the S40 for those who aren’t as concerned about the looks of the device, and is consequently a good chunk cheaper.
Game Golf
Game Golf Live
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Another great tracking system can be found in the form of Game Golf Live, with its distinctive red colours and an impressive range of professional users. The two main sensors here are one that can be popped onto the top of your club before you play, and another that clips onto your belt as you go around the course.
These combine to great effect, tracking and reporting on your play and strokes. It’s easy to then use the associated app to work out where you need to improve, and strategise accordingly. You do have to tap the two sensors together before each shot, though, which is surprisingly easy to forget to do.
(Pocket-lint) – The Apple Watch has been kicking around for several years now and the apps available for it are plentiful to say the least – especially now it has its own App Store. Of course, not all the apps are great, useful or even suited to the Apple Watch but there are a few that are simply brilliant.
These are the best Apple Watch apps we’ve come across – the ones that hold their own on the smaller screen and deliver the information you need without you having to get your iPhone out.
There’s everything from games to productivity apps, all of which make the Apple Watch useful, rather than just another gadget.
Which Apple Watch is right for you?
Pocket-lint
Best travel Apple Watch apps
British Airways
If you fly a lot with British Airways, having your flight details on your wrist when at the airport is very handy. The BA Apple Watch app will provide you with gate details, whether the plane is on time and what the status of the flight is. It even goes as far as telling you the weather at your destination.
Citymapper
Citymapper’s approach to its Apple Watch app is to let you quickly see the status of nearby public transport at the press of a few buttons. It will also give you directions to your work address, or any saved addresses that you have preset using your iPhone using available public transport from your location and you can see real-time departures too. Quick and simple.
Uber
The Uber Apple Watch app is simple but effective. It doesn’t offer as many features as your phone, such as fare estimates, but it will allow you to request and Uber from your wrist without touching your phone. It will tell you how long the wait is for an Uber, switching between the various car choices.
Apple Maps
Apple Maps doesn’t have the best reputation but this app works well on the Apple Watch. You can ask Siri to direct you to a location using your Watch and the Apple Maps app will open, find the location and give you the option to press start. It will then give you step-by-step instructions on your wrist, vibrating to alert you when the next turn is coming up. No iPhone necessary.
XE Currency
XE Currency is a handy little app for those that travel and want to know how much something is in a different currency. Australian Dollars, British Pounds, Canadian Dollars, Chinese Yuan, Euro, Japanese Yen and US Dollars are all available currencies, among others. Type in an amount into any of them on your wrist and it will convert it into all the others instantly.
Elk
Elk is another good currency converter app. It knows where you are and will automatically pick the right currency for you, along with a starting value. You can then swipe left to increase the values, swipe right to decrease them, or tap on a value for more accuracy. There is a free version, as well as a paid for version with access to all currencies.
iTranslate
Another for those that travel, or even for those just going on holiday. The iTranslate app will translate the words spoken into it when the microphone is pressed into the language you request at the bottom. There are numerous languages available and the translations are pretty accurate from our experience. It will allow you to order a beer or find out where the toilet is at least.
Pocket-lint
Best productivity Apple Watch apps
PCalc
If you remember and loved Casio’s calculator watch, PCalc is a must-have app for the Apple Watch. As you might guess, it is a calculator on your wrist. It’s nice and simple, allowing you to add, subtract, divide and multiply, as well as calculate percentages directly from your wrist. There is a Lite version that is free, but the paid version includes a paper tape, engineering and scientific notation, making it more useful than Apple’s own calculator for Apple Watch.
Evernote
The Evernote Apple Watch app allows you to record voice notes on your Apple Watch, which are then translated into text and synced to your Evernote account to make sure you don’t forget any lightbulb moments. You can also see your previous notes but you can’t edit them or the voice note translation text. This app is purely for barking instructions rather than editing that novel you are writing, and rightly so.
Noted
Noted is an audio recording and note taking app that allows you to record directly from your Apple Watch. You can start recording with one tap, pause recording and add a Time Tag. The Time Tag feature is brilliant for pin pointing the more exciting parts of a recording so you can access it quickly later on your iPhone.
Things 3
Things 3 is a paid-for organiser and reminder app with a lovely design. You can add new To-Dos directly from your wrist and tick off the ones you’ve done. The app follows the Apple Ring look, showing you how close you are to completing your To-Dos for that day. It’s a great one for those that love to be organised.
Pacemaker
Pacemaker is a very basic DJ app that creates music mixes automatically from your iPhone and then allows you to add effects via four preset options on your watch. Effects include distorting the music, making it sound like it is under water, and smashing up the music. It’s simple but fun and paired with a Bluetooth speaker makes things even more interesting.
Pocket-lint
Best information Apple Watch apps
Weather
There are numerous apps you can download for the Apple Watch when it comes to weather but we found the native Apple weather app was perfectly adequate at providing quick and easy information on our wrist. For each place you have set up on the iPhone, the Apple Watch weather app will show you the hourly expected outlook. It’s easy to read and understand and it’s quick to access.
Carrot Weather
If you fancy a more exciting take on the weather, the Carrot Weather Apple Watch app is fabulous. It offers access to current, hourly and daily forecasts but it delivers them with dialogue and characters, making things much more interesting. You can also disable the personality if it becomes too much.
Dark Sky
Another weather app, but this one is like magic. Dark Sky creates forecasts for your precise location, offering minute-by-minute predictions for the next hour and hour-by-hour forecasts for the next day and week. It will literally tell you to the minute if you’re about to get rained on.
Find Near Me
The Find Near Me app allows you to find various amenities nearby where you are from your wrist. The list is pretty comprehensive with everything from ATMs and cafes to beauty salons and book stores. Tap on what you need to find and a list of results will appear on your arm, each of which you can then tap on for more information and even directions.
Shazam
If you’ve used Shazam you’ll know how it works. You hear a track, fumble for your phone, and try to tap listen before the song finishes. With the Shazam Apple Watch app, you can simply slide up from a Glance, press the listen button and you’re capturing the tune before you know it. The Apple Watch app then gives you the option to buy the track on iTunes using Apple’s Handoff feature.
Night Sky
Night Sky is a great app for identifying stars, planets, constellations and satellites in the night sky. Ever wondered which one Orion’s Belt is? Just point your Apple Watch at the sky and it will direct you to it, after which you can explore the object in AR on your iPhone.
Onefootball
An essential app for the football fans out there. Onefootball allows you to follow thousands of teams and hundreds of leagues and competitions worldwide. You can select your favourite players, clubs, national teams and leagues to get instant content and scores that matter to you when they happen.
ESPN
Another great app for the sports fan, the ESPN Apple Watch app gives you quick access to scores across football, cricket, F1, NBA, NFL, tennis, golf, MLB and more. Like Onefootball, you can personalise the app to get alerts for your favourite teams and leagues.
Yelp
Yelp is a local guide to helps you find restaurants, bars, salons, coffee shops and plenty more near by. You’ll be able to see reviews, price range, opening hours and the address directly from your wrist. Perfect for when you’re in a new area.
Pocket-lint
Best health and fitness Apple Watch apps
FiiT
FiiT lets you stream hundreds of workouts, with options including HIIT, strength training, kettlebell, dumbbell, yoga, postnatal recovery and more. Signing up to a membership (£20/month) gives you unlimited access to 10, 25 and 40 minutes classes with personal trainers, whenever you want. Start a workout on your iPhone and you’ll see your heart rate come up on your Apple Watch, along with a leaderboard on the next screen.
Runkeeper
If you are wearing the Apple Watch for fitness, Runkeeper is a good one to download. It allows you to start the app straight from your wrist, without even looking at your iPhone. Open the app, press “start running” and off you go. Once you’ve started running you can check a number of stats, including overall time, distance covered and pace.
Strava
Strava is an excellent app and the Apple Watch version is great. Like others, Strava allows you to start an activity from your wrist, such as an outdoor ride or run, or indoor run. It will then offer time, splits, distance and heart rate on your wrist during the workout. All data is transferred to the iPhone app following a workout so you can see more detail.
Streaks Workout
Streaks Workout app is excellent, offering 30 equipment-free exercises to choose from and four different workout lengths comprising six minutes, 12 minutes, 18 minutes or 30 minutes. The Apple Watch will display your heart rate on the display, alongside the exercise, time and your progress. Super simple to use, but expect some serious pain.
Gymaholic
The Gymaholic Workout Tracker uses AR to create an avatar, which you can then change to represent your gender, height and body fat percentage. After a workout, the avatar will show all the muscles you trained and it will also show which muscles are ready for training too. During a workout, you’ll see various stats, including reps, weight, heart rate and calories, alongside your avatar. It’s great.
MapMyRun
MapMyRun is another good Apple Watch app for those into fitness. It allows you to start a running, cycling or walking workout without touching your iPhone. During the workout, you will be able to see duration, distance and calories burned, as well as pause, finish, save or discard the workout. The information is then visible in the MapMyRun iPhone app.
Runtastic
Runtastic allows you to track various activities from running to biking, see a brief history of your previous workouts and monitor your stats from your wrist. The app will track workouts in real time with built-in GPS and during a workout, it will display time, distance, pace and heart rate. It is also possible to manage tracking settings directly from your Apple Watch.
Withings Health Mate
For those that use the Withings ecosystem, the Withings Apple Watch app is good for providing quick stats in a simple format. If you have a Withings activity and sleep tracker, as well as one of its smart scales, the Apple Watch app will show you steps and distance, sleep recorded and weight recorded. You can also see your activity and weight history without opening the app on your phone.
Seven
Seven is another workout app and the Apple Watch version is lovely and simple. You can pretty much do everything on your wrist as you can on your phone. The Apple Watch app allows you to select which seven-minute workout you want to do, whether that’s full body, upper body, core, lower body or random, depending on which workouts you’ve bought or unlocked, and then you can just hit start. A picture of the exercise you need to perform appears on the watch face, surrounded by a countdown circle.
Hole19
Hole19 is the Apple Watch app for golfers. You’ll need to start a round on your iPhone after which the Watch will take the information and deliver it to you when you need it, such as distances and the par of the hole. The app also allows you to enter strokes and putts via your wrist, which it then puts into a score card so you can see how you’re doing nice and easily.
Autosleep
Autosleep does exactly what it says on the tin – it automatically tracks your sleep if you wear your Apple Watch to bed. You don’t need to press a single button. Wear your Apple Watch to sleep and you’ll get a notification in the morning detailing how well you’ve slept, including quality, average heart rate and deep sleep. The app will also show your seven-day average.
One Drop
One Drop is a great app for those with diabetes. It enables you to log glucose, meds, food and activity directly from your wrist, as well as view daily goals progress and glucose in range. You can also schedule medication reminders and there is automatic carb counting too.
Pocket-lint
Best Apple Watch games
Trivia Crack
No list of apps would be complete without a couple of games and Trivia Crack is one of our favourites. It’s a very basic version of Trivial Pursuit but if you’re any good at general knowledge, it’s a great app to try. You compete with an online opponent and choose from six categories of questions. Answers are multiple choice, which you select on your wrist and you don’t even need to get your iPhone out to start a game.
Brainess
Brainess is all about stimulating your brain and it offers seven brain training games that you can play on your Apple Watch. The games include memorising and tapping dice, choosing the correct number to complete a maths equation and matching pairs of identical cards. The seven games are said to improve and exercise your memory, vision and compute skills. Whether they will or not is a different story altogether but worth a try right.
Rules
Rules is a puzzle game with super cute little animations. There are different levels, comprising beginner, expert or timeless and the game includes a daily brain workout mini-game for the Apple Watch.
Lifeline 2
Lifeline 2 is the successor to the original Lifeline, offering a new story of a young woman called Arika who is on a deadly quest to avenge her parents and rescue her long-lost brother. You will have to make choices to keep her alive and help her succeed.
Pocket-lint
Best finance Apple Watch apps
Wallet
Wallet is one of Apple’s own apps so you’d expect it to be good on the Apple Watch and it is. Like the iPhone version, it provides easy access to boarding passes, tickets and cards you’ve registered to Apple Pay. Having your boarding pass and tickets on your wrist means you don’t have to mess about getting your phone out, which is always good when travelling and you can also pay using your wrist.
Pennies
There are plenty of apps trying to help you stay on top of your finances but we’ve taken a liking to the Pennies Apple Watch app, which lets you quickly tap in how much you’ve spent of a given budget target straight on your wrist. It means you can then track how much you’ve got left, whether that’s keeping an eye on your weekly food bill, or as we would like to imagine, your champagne bar bill.
Pocket-lint
Best smart home Apple Watch apps
Philips Hue
The Philips Hue app is a simple remote control that lets you have a number of lighting presets that you can then control directly from your watch. You don’t even need to pick up your iPhone to turn the lights on now, let alone move from the sofa.
IFTTT
IFTTT (If This Then That) is compatible with over 600 apps from Twitter and Instagram to Nest and Hive. The Apple Watch app doesn’t allow you to create new Applets, such as turn the lights on at sunset, but download various Widgets through the main IFTTT iPhone app and you can activate any of them through the Apple Watch app.
Neato
Got a Neato robot vacuum cleaner? The Neato Apple Watch app allows you to start and stop and clean. You can’t get the Neato robot to return to the dock or anything from your wrist so it’s basic functionality, but it’s still a useful app to start that quick clean.
Hive
The Hive Apple Watch app not only allows you to control your Hive thermostat, but you can also control any Hive lights or plugs than you have.
Pocket-lint
Best social media Apple Watch apps
Facebook Messenger
Facebook might not be available for Apple Watch but Messenger is so you can get access to all your Facebook Messenger chats. You’ll be able to reply with stickers, or a voice recording or a pre-written message so you can stay in touch without having to get your phone out at all.
Chirp for Twitter
Chirp for Twitter is pretty much the only way you’ll be using Twitter on your Apple Watch. The app allows you to browse your timeline, lists, like and retweet things. You can also see quotes, pictures, hashtags and mentions directly from your wrist.
Writing by Britta O’Boyle. Editing by Max Freeman-Mills.
(Pocket-lint) – So, you’ve decided to buy an Oculus Quest or Quest 2 and are getting set to plunge into the mystical world of virtual reality. Now you’re wondering which games to buy and what the best ones are to make the most of the headset.
Well, the good news is you’ll find plenty of diversity within the Oculus Quest’s voluminous library of games – whether you like shoot-em-ups, puzzle games, rhythm-action games, action-adventures or sports games that offer something akin to a workout, it contains plenty to suit your tastes.
Buy the Oculus Quest 2
That said, there’s a lot of games to choose from, so we’re here to make your life easier by rounding up some of our favourite games for the wire-free VR headsets that are well worth trying out. The games are compatible with both the original Oculus Quest and the newer Quest 2 as well.
Best Oculus Rift and Oculus Rift S games and experiences available
1. Superhot VR ($24.99/£18.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
With its stylised concrete and glass settings, and its red, glassy enemies, Superhot VR has an utterly distinctive look. Which matches its equally inimitable gameplay.
Nominally a first-person shooter, in reality, it feels incredibly tactical, thanks to a game mechanic which slows down time – essentially, the enemies are stationary until you move, and the faster you move, the faster they do. So, you end up moving as if performing tai chi, keeping things slow and steady at times before speeding up, while grabbing guns and objects in mid-air and even throwing them to yourself for later use. Original, tactical and thrilling.
Superhot VR review: Virtual reality’s most frustratingly enjoyable game
2. Beat Saber ($29.99/£22.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
Beat Saber may be pretty simple, but it’s utterly addictive and superbly satisfying to play, which is one of the reasons it’s one of the most popular Oculus games to play both on Oculus Rift S and Oculus Quest.
Beat Saber is a rhythm-action game, so to keep it flowing, you must hit incoming blocks at the right moment, since they come at you in patterned waves. Easy to grasp, fantastical to behold thanks to futuristic, neon-style visuals, blessed with a top-notch soundtrack and fabulously good fun.
3. Job Simulator ($19.99/£14.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
As VR games go, Job Simulator may be somewhat venerable – but it’s also a classic. On paper, it doesn’t exactly sound wild: as the name suggests, it’s a physics-based simulator which lets you sample various forms of employment, including as a chef, an office skivvy, in a convenience store and more.
As you may have guessed, it’s not exactly serious – to be precise, it’s absolutely hilarious. And quite cathartic, especially if you’ve ever dreamed of throwing a virtual stapler at your real-life boss or creating an unholy mess in the kitchen.
4. Pistol Whip ($19.99/£19.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
This super action game enables you to go pistol-first through a bunch of scenes such as bank heists and android uprisings where you have total freedom to get through it using whatever means possible.
It’s a super use for the Quest controllers – you can shoot, dodge and more, all as you see fit. The game has a pulse-pounding soundtrack from various EDM artists. You can also challenge your skill with your friends and play against others for positions on the world leaderboards.
5. Space Pirate Trainer ($14.99/£10.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
Space Pirate Trainer was one of our favourite games on the Oculus Rift, so we were pleased to see it available on the Oculus Quest too. If you’re confused by the name, just imagine you’re a pirate in training and that training involves shooting waves of dangerous robots in space.
In principle, its gameplay is just like those early arcade-shooters: it sends waves of bots at you, which you must shoot down while dodging incoming fire or deflecting it with a shield. Simple enough, but surprisingly tactical, and rollicking good fun.
6. Creed: Rise to Glory ($29.99/£22.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
If you’ve ever fancied having a go at boxing without running the risk of any form of injury, then Creed: Rise to Glory should fit the bill magnificently.
It isn’t the only boxing game for the Oculus Quest, but it is the best, boasting various licences for the Rocky and Creed franchises, plus a story mode which sees you work your way up the professional boxing ladder. And it has a great multiplayer element which lets you box human opposition. Great fun and it will help with your fitness as it’s absolutely exhausting when played with determination and Rocky-style grit.
Creed Rise to Glory Review: VR boxing sim is a knockout!
7. Moss ($29.99/£22.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
Moss simply oozes quality. It’s a third-person puzzle-platform game built on a strong narrative, with a storybook vibe. In it, you embark on an adventure with an anthropomorphised mouse called Quill, in which you and she must collaborate to solve mostly environmental puzzles while taking on enemies in a classic hack-n-slash manner.
With its pitch-perfect, enchanting storyline, interesting characters and Oculus Quest-specific downloadable content that extends its storyline, it’s one of those games you’ll want to play through a number of times.
8. Arizona Sunshine ($35/£29.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
Arizona Sunshine is another utter classic and a solid VR favourite of ours that’s made it over onto Quest too. The game is a tongue-in-cheek zombie game that takes place in the barren landscapes of a post-apocalyptic America.
It features large environments to explore, 25 different weapons to unload at the zombie horde and the ability to play cooperatively with friends too. If you enjoy it, there’s also follow-up content in the form of Dead Man DLC to add even more playtime.
9. Star Trek: Bridge Crew ($30/£22.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
Bridge Crew is another fantastic virtual reality game that was good enough to make it onto our list of the best Rift and Rift S games money can buy. Happily, it’s also available to play on Oculus Quest as well.
If you’ve ever wanted to crew your own Federation vessel, then this is the game to get. It’s also a co-op game, meaning you can team up with your pals and go out on numerous space adventures for fun and frolics across the universe.
10. Knockout League ($19.99/£14.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
If you’re looking for a good workout while you game, then Knockout League is another sure fit hit. It’s a bit more tongue-in-cheek than Creed: Rise to Glory and features some slapstick comedy styling as well as plenty of awesome characters.
Knockout League features fun gameplay along with the added bonus of calorie tracking so you can feel like you’re being productive while you game as well.
11. Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs ($14.99/£10.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
Remember the days when Angry Birds was all we played? Using a variety of birds to smash down various piggy constructions and take the fight to them? Now Angry Birds has been reimagined for VR and it’s fantastic. The flat 2D world has now been transformed into a much more immersive experience.
Over 75 levels are available where you can choose where you fire your slingshot and aim for the best scores.
12. Tilt Brush ($19.99/£14.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
Looking for something a little more laid back? Something to inspire your creative side? Tilt Brush is just the thing you need. It’s essentially a virtual reality painting game where you can fill the world around you with colours and shape until your heart is content.
13. Trover Saves the Universe ($30/£22.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
We loved Trover Saves the Universe when we played it on the Oculus Rift S and it’s now available to buy for Oculus Quest owners as well. It’s very much an adult game, as you expect considering it’s designed by the people behind Rick and Morty. It’s also hilarious, rude, weird and wonderful.
Strap on your Quest and travel the universe with Trover, you won’t regret it. Quest owners also get access to Important Cosmic Jobs area DLC with more content, comedy sketches and fun too.
14. FitXR (£22.99/$29.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
FitXR is a VR fitness game that originally started out as a boxing game but has since added some dance-themed workouts as well. This means the company can pitch the app as “workouts for everyone” – no weights or equipment necessary (beyond the obvious VR headset of course) just lots of body movement to get your heart racing.
The boxing element sees you punching incoming balls of different colours while also squatting, lunging and blocking in time with music. The dance workouts get you moving your whole body while following a virtual trainer who’s there to show you what to do.
FitXR also makes use of a scoreboard system which pits you against fellow online players. This obviously serves as motivation not only to beat your own best score, but to do better than the competition. Multiple workouts exist as standard and you can buy extra exercise plans to keep things interesting.
Being able to track your workout progress, calories burnt and more make FitXR interesting and enjoyable and certainly make it a more thrilling option to traditional home workouts. You will feel a bit daft waving your arms about though, we certainly did. If you already own a Quest and want to feel productive while using it, then this is the game for you.
15. Shooty Fruity (£14.99/$19.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
We played a Shooty Fruity a couple of years ago on the Vive and Rift and thought very highly of it. An amusing game, with a daft premise and plenty of fun on offer.
The idea is simple, you’re a lowly checkout assistant in a busy supermarket. You need to scan items as they come down the conveyor belt and ensure they get to the bagging area. The problem is, pesky fruit keep coming along trying to blow up your checkout and interrupt your plans. The solution – blasting them with various hand cannons. Things get complicated when you’re trying to shoot fruit and scan produce at the same time. Frantic, frustrating but a whole lotta fun.
16. The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (£29.99/$29.99)
See it on Oculus Store
Saints & Sinners takes place in the murky, post-apocalyptic ruins of New Orleans. You’re thrust into the shoes of “The Tourist” and set out into a dangerous world packed with different factions and all manner of threats. Walkers are a constant menace and only a sharp object to the brain is enough to stop them. Which certainly keeps things interesting when you’re busy looting with one hand and holding a torch with another.
Sneaking and scavenging is a key part of this game and the atmosphere is fantastic. We liked Saints & Sinners a lot when we played it on the Rift S and the Quest version is just as enjoyable. Crafting equipment, brainin’ zombies, helping out NPCs and trying not to lose your cool – all feels great with the wireless freedom of VR. Just watch out you don’t smash your real-world surroundings as you try to survive.
(Pocket-lint) – Garmin has a full range of bike computers in the Edge series, but thankfully, there are fewer options than you’ll find in the Garmin’s watch and fitness tracker families.
But there are still plenty of choices to be made if you’re looking to get a computer for your road, mountain or gravel bike, giving you access to bike data, performance data, mapping and navigation.
They range from simple monochrome devices up to larger, full colour, touchscreen devices. All connect to the wider Garmin ecosystem of sensors, but there’s a big variance in features – and prices.
Here’s how all Garmin’s current devices breakdown.
Garmin
Garmin Edge 1030 Plus
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58 x 114 x 19mm, 124g
3.5in colour, 282 x 470 pixels, touchscreen
GPS, altimeter, accelerometer
24 hours battery
ANT+, BLE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
IPX7
The Garmin Edge 1030 Plus is Garmin’s top Edge device and also the biggest, with a 3.5-inch colour touchscreen, but also having the advantage of being able to offer a 24-hour battery life.
The bigger screen also means the Edge 1030 Plus can show the most sophisticated graphics, and while that makes little difference when you’re looking at your stats during a ride (except that they’re bigger or you can get more on the display), it does mean better visual representation.
Loads of metrics are captured from your ride, supporting connected sensors via ANT+ or BLE, while there’s also support for power control and indoor bike trainers. Full mapping, with imported routes or routes created on the device are supported, re-routing when you go wrong.
There’s also support for Strava Segments, meaning you can compete against Strava friends on those hills, while ClimbPro will help you manage your effort on hills too. Daily workout suggestions will keep you motivated.
Smartphone connectivity will sync all your data to Garmin Connect, provide live tracking for your rides and serve you notifications from your phone – including quick replies to messages (Android only). You can also use it as an alarm for your bike, it supports group messaging and tracking. It’s Garmin’s most complete device, but also the most expensive.
Garmin
Garmin Edge 1030
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58 x 114 x 19mm, 123g
3.5in colour, 282 x 470 pixels, touchscreen
GPS, altimeter, accelerometer
20 hours battery
ANT+, BLE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
IPX7
The Edge 1030 is essentially the older version of the 1030 Plus, with a few small differences, like less internal storage, but support for microSD. It offers the same overall hardware and connectivity, but lacks the bike alarm function offered by the 1030 Plus and the daily workout suggestions.
Otherwise it offers full mapping on that large display, including on-device route planning and re-routing. It doesn’t offer the MTB Dynamics of newer devices, or the included TrailForks routes.
Otherwise, there’s full smartphone connectivity, all the metrics you could hope for and compatibility with things like power meters and control of indoor bike trainers. In truth, it’s close in offering to the 1030 Plus, but as it’s older, you might be able to find it at a better price.
Pocket-lint
Garmin Edge 830
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50 x 82 x 20mm, 79.1g
2.6in colour, 246 x 322 pixels, touchscreen
GPS, altimeter, accelerometer
20 hours battery
ANT+, BLE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
IPX7
The Garmin Edge 830 is more compact than the Edge 1030 Plus and a lot more affordable, while offering many of the same advanced features. The device itself is close to the Edge 530, but offers a touchsreen for more intuitive navigation – on top of essential button control to stop/start tracking.
A full selection of data is returned, from all your route and performance metrics – mirroring those you’ll get from the Edge 1030 Pro, the only real exception being the daily workout suggestions. It will support connection to a full range of sensors for more data, including power, as well as offering smart indoor trainer controls.
Full mapping is offered, supporting route imports and creation on the device, re-routing and navigation back to the start of routes, as well as features like Strava Segments and ClimbPro so you can see how much further you have to fight up those hills. TrailForks data is integrated and MTB Dynamics supported.
You can also use it as an alarm for your bike, it supports group messaging and tracking. Full smartphone connectivity is offered, including replies to messages (Android only).
Garmin
Garmin Edge 820
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49 x 73 x 21mm, 67.7g
2.3in colour, 200 x 265 pixels, touchscreen
GPS, altimeter, accelerometer
15 hours battery
ANT+, BLE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
IPX7
The Edge 820 offers a colour touchscreen – like the Edge 830 – but it’s smaller and lower resolution. On the hardware front the 15 hours of battery is respectible, but not as accomplished as the 830.
A full range of metrics is offered, however, with much the same data gathered as you’ll get from the Edge 530 or Edge 830, but it doesn’t support MTB Dynamics or Training Effect measurements. It also lacks ClimbPro, useful for managing effort on long hills.
However, it does offer a complete mapping solution, letting you create courses on the device, import courses, with turn-by-turn routes. Given that this Edge model is older – you might find that Edge 530 covers your needs, only really lacking the touchscreen offered here.
Garmin
Garmin Edge 530
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50 x 82 x 20mm, 71g
2.6in colour, 246 x 322 pixels
GPS, altimeter, accelerometer
20 hours battery
ANT+, BLE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
IPX7
The Edge 530 is a upgrade over the Edge 520 Plus and sits below the 830, while offering a similar size and display. It doesn’t have a touchscreen however, it’s button control only, which is one of the big differences between these units.
The Edge 530 offers a lot more data than the smaller 130 Plus, with full recovery and training load covered, as well as metrics for your ride, including power compatibility and indoor bike trainer control.
It uses Garmin’s cycle map, so supports colour navigation with turn-by-turn routing, re-routing, but there’s no on-device route creation as you get on the Edge 830.
Smartphone connectivity provides LiveTrack, notifications, and much more, while connectivity includes Wi-Fi for updates and syncing without a phone connection, and Bluetooth and ANT+ for connectivity to other sensors.
Garmin
Garmin Edge 520 Plus
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49 x 73 x 21mm, 65.2g
2.3in colour, 200 x 265 pixels
GPS, altimeter, accelerometer
15 hours battery
ANT+, BLE
IPX7 waterproofing
The Garmin Edge 520 Plus updated the Edge 520 (which is now fairly obsolete) and is teh forebear of the Edge 530. It has a smaller display than the new model, has lesser battery life and misses out on some features, like Wi-Fi.
There’s full mapping, with colours base maps, allowing re-routing of imported courses, but there’s no on-device route creation, which separates this from devices in the Edge 800 series. It also lacks ClimbPro the useful tool for managing effort in the hills.
Smartphone connectivity is supported, along with notifications, and a full selection of tracking features. Workouts are supported, and you’ll get plenty of data on things like VO2 Max and recovery advice.
The Edge 520 Plus is a decent device, but the 530, ahem, has the edge as a newer model.
Garmin
Garmin Edge Explore
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55 x 105 x 22mm, 116g
3.0in colour, 240 x 400 pixels, touchscreen
GPS, accelerometer
12 hours battery
ANT+, BLE
IPX7 waterproofing
The Edge Explore cuts down on some features, while retaining core elements, like mapping and navigation tools. It’s large, with a 3-inch display supporting touch, with GPS and an accelerometer, but there’s no altimeter, so it lacks the elevation accuracy and features of some other Edge devices.
While plenty of route data is collected, the Explore doesn’t delve into some of the deeper training metrics – it doesn’t support workouts or interval training, it doesn’t give data on VO2 Max, recovery or training effect either. It’s also not compatible with power meters, although it will connect to other ANT+ sensors.
Essentially, the Explore is all about touring and navigation, rather than training.
Garmin
Garmin Edge 130 Plus
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41 x 63 x 16mm, 33g
1.8in monochrome, 230 x 303 pixels
GPS, altimeter, accelerometer
15 hours battery
ANT+, BLE
IPX7 waterproofing
An update to the Garmin Edge 130, the Plus is a compact and light unit giving you the essential details about your ride. It has a GPS and alitmeter, so offers route tracking and some navigation. It offers button control only.
There’s no mapping on the device, so it’s a breadcrumb trail only from imported routes, with notifications of when to turn. It will route back to the start, but there’s no re-routing offered when off course. The altimeter means that ClimbPro is offered, showing a visual graph of the hill you’re climbing and how much further there is to go.
It will connect to your smartphone, enabling data syncing with Garmin Connect, LiveTrack and notifications. It’s also compatible with a wide range of sensors using ANT+ or Bluetooth and in the future will support indoor trainer control too.
(Pocket-lint) – One of the great things about the connected world is that it’s no longer difficult to take charge of your body and monitor your weight, body-fat composition and more. What used to involve laborious calculations and possibly visits to dieticians and doctors can now be done at home.
Best fitness trackers 2020: Top activity bands to buy today
Scales have been getting smarter and smarter in recent years, to the point where you can now use them to easily track your progress if you’re on a diet plan, working out or heading towards a goal of any sort, and they’ll often link up with fitness trackers to offer wider impressions on your success.
There are plenty of smart digital scales on the market, so we’ve narrowed the selection down to a few real winners for you to take a gander at.
Our pick of the best smart scales to buy today
Fitbit
Fitbit Aria 2
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Fitbit feels a little bit like the king of personal health in the digital age. Its fitness trackers are extremely popular, and the tracking they do is also phenomenal. However, if you’re wearing a Fitbit every day but want a more complete impression of your data, and want everything to feed into the same ecosystem of information and reporting, the second generation of Fitbit’s Aria smart scale is a superb addition.
The scale can measure your weight, body fat percentage, lean mass and BMI, and its real strength is demonstrated by the way it uses Wi-Fi to sync automatically to your Fitbit app, leaving you with nothing to do but step on and off it. You can have up to 8 different users, and the ease of use is superb. It really is the definition of everything you’d want from a smart scale, and we can’t praise it highly enough.
Tanita
Tanita RD 953
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If you’re not embedded in the Fitbit universe, though, and have a hankering to try a different brand, Tanita offers a similarly-specced scale at an equivalent price. It has its own well-designed companion app to track and analyse your results over time, and measures 10 different body composition measurements including muscle quality on top of weight and BMI.
Withings
Withings Body Cardio
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Another big name in the health tracking world is Withings, maker of smart trackers including smartwatches and sleep monitors. Its Body Cardio scale is a powerhouse, with smart features like a heart rate tracker to let it take stock of more than just your weight.
If you have a Withings smartwatch, this scale is a no-brainer, but it still makes sense if you’re not in the system. Withings’ app is nicely laid-out and the striped design of its scale is a little less robotic than some others on this list.
Garmin
Garmin Index S2
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Rounding out our representation of big fitness tracking brands is Garmin, which makes some of the most impressive premium wearables on the market, like the Fenix 6 Pro smartwatch. Its newest smart scale smart scale is just as impressive as its watches are, measuring weight, BMI, body fat and water percentage, bone and muscle mass.
Like Fitbit and Withings’ devices, it automatically uploads your data to take the burden off your shoulders, and the Garmin Connect app lets you take a hugely detailed look at breakdowns of your results.
Withings
Withings Body+ body composition Wi-Fi scale
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You might find it under Nokia’s name, or under Withings, since the latter built it, but the Body+ scale is basically a less expensive, slightly less powerful version of the Body Cardio we featured above. It’s nonetheless still a great choice for those with slightly lower budgets who still want to get the benefits of a connected smart scale.
It can sync to a range of health trackers including Apple Health and Google Fit, and is sleek and classy in its design. Given that it still tracks an impressive range of stats, the Body+ is a great option.
Salter
Salter Curve
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If you’re looking for a scale that can hook up with a platform like Apple Health, but which doesn’t cost nearly so much as the others on this list, Salter’s Curve is a decent option.
It’s well-made and pretty standard on the design front, and is very easy to use to quickly get measurements. It falls down a bit on the software side, tough – Salter’s MiBody app frankly needs an update, which can make porting your data across a bit of a hassle.
If you purchased a Peloton bike or treadmill to exercise with during the pandemic, you’ll soon have a new collection of classes to take from a familiar artist. This week, Peloton announced a multi-year partnership with cultural phenomenon Beyoncé — the artist will help curate classes for the fitness company’s subscription service, starting with a series of Homecoming-themed classes in honor of historically Black colleges and universities. Peloton says that Beyoncé is one of the most requested artists for its playlists.
Based off the announcement, its unclear what Beyoncé’s “curation” entails, but if you’d like to see for yourself, Beyoncé-themed classes have already begun. There are meditations, outdoor runs, and bike rides scheduled for the remainder of this week and more classes to come.
Peloton’s Beyoncé-themed class schedule.Image: Peloton
If you’re already a subscriber through the Peloton app for $12.99 a month or through Peloton’s Bike, Bike+, Tread, and Tread+ devices for $39 a month, you should be able to attend. If not, Peloton is offering a 30-day free trial so you can see if these Beyoncé classes are worthy of the artist’s name.
It’s somewhat interesting that Peloton is signing Beyoncé directly instead of through a publisher; the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) sued Peloton in March of last year for illegally using thousands of songs in video fitness classes offered through its subscription service. After some legal back-and-forth and the removal of some songs from Peloton’s playlists, the company settled the lawsuits in February of 2020. While Peloton said in its Q3 earnings that it’s added thousands of publishers since, it also clearly has a path for artists to join Peloton directly.
(Pocket-lint) – Cycling’s great – not only is it a great way to get your daily exercise, but because of the distances you can cover it’s also a really nice way to get out of your immediate area, especially if you’re spending a lot of time at home, like most of us.
Best fitness trackers: Top activity bands to buy today
If you’re getting more into your cycling, though, you might be thinking about how to take your rides to the next level, and start tracking yourself more accurately. This can help not just in monitoring and ramping up your fitness but also just in understanding more about your performance.
We’ve gathered together some of the very best bike computers on the market for you to browse, but a warning in advance – stock is very limited at the moment, so it can be a little hard to find some of these!
Our pick of the best cycling computers to buy today
Garmin
Garmin Edge 520 Plus
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Garmin make some of our best-loved fitness trackers, with premium designs that cater to those with particular interests, whether they’re mountaineering or diving, and it’s also a specialist in cycling trackers. Its Edge series has loads of bike computers to choose from, ranging from entry-level to really in-depth, and we think the Edge 520 Plus represents a great middle ground for most people.
While it’s far from cheap, its feature-set is hugely impressive. It’ll navigate you through your route turn-by-turn, tracking all sorts of metrics, from pace and cadence to calories, time, temperature and loads more. It’s easy to use and Bluetooth makes it a doddle to connect, as well. This is like having a cycling trainer on your handlebars.
Cateye
Cateye Quick Wireless Cycle Computer
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If you fancy spending a good chunk less, though, and don’t mind losing some features to go with it, Cateye’s got a great, dead simple bike computer that actually has some of the cleanest design on the market.
It’s nice and simple, but still tracks distance, speed, elevation, pace indicator and time, which is a great set of metrics for those starting out, and it’s all really intuitive to use and check while you’re riding. If you’re looking for a simple intro to the cycling computer world, this could be a superb first option.
Wahoo
Wahoo Elemnt Bolt
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Wahoo’s another big name in the fitness tracking world, with heart rate straps some of its special items. Its bike computers are great too, though, and the Elemnt Bolt is one of its finest – we prefer it on value terms to the more feature-packed Roam.
This unit has a clear and easy to use screen, and tracks countless metrics while offering navigation and has thousands of pre-baked routes that it can call upon to help you find a great ride quickly. With ANT+, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi all on board, you’ll also find it easy to upload your data.
Garmin
Garmin Edge 25
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Garmin’s Edge range is extensive enough that it can offer competition when it comes to budget options, though, and its Edge 25 is a great entry in that category. It’s dead simple to set up and really simple to use, too, with a few metrics displayed at a glance. While it won’t win you over with a colour touch screen, it’ll track what you’re likely to want.
Connectivity is still solid, with Bluetooth on board, while you can also hook it up to a heart rate monitor, as so many users are likely to want to. If you don’t want to splash for the Edge 520 Plus but still want a Garmin, this could be the answer for you.
Beeline
Beeline Velo
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For something a little different, you might want to check out Beeline’s offering, which strips out a lot of the stats to make a clean and freeing travel experience by bike.
Its Velo is a simple puck that you can easily wrap around your handlebars. Using the companion app’s map, you set your destination and set off. The puck’s display simply points, as the crow flies, to your desired end-point. That’s it – the finer points of navigation are up to you, letting you find new routes and places while keeping track of your overall process.
It’ll be too barebones for some, but we’re big fans of the attitude that this bike gadget encourages.
Lezyne
Lezyne Mega C
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Our final tracker does have a really solid screen though – Lezyne’s Mega C might have an odd name, but it’s got performance in spades where it counts. Its real speciality is a 32-hour battery life that should see you through even the most taxing of marathon rides, too.
It’s got a really solid companion app that makes it easy to integrate with whatever platform you’re tracking yourself on and offers navigation using routes from your phone (though it doesn’t have any of its own stored. It’s a good package, all in all.
Testing Tests overview Smartphone Oneplus 8T: Battery full in 45 minutes and 120 – Hz display Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 5G in the test: better and cheaper Pixel 5 in the test: Google just does it better Elephone U5 in the test: The cheap phone from China is so good The most popular China smartphones 2020 Xiaomi Mi 10 T Pro in the test: 122 – Hz display and great camera Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC in the test: 120 Hz and the best camera Smartwatch Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro in the test: Smartwatch with cross-country battery Apple Watch: Smartwatch with contract from 15 € per month Buy Apple Watch 6: All generations in the price check Skagen Falster 3 in the test: Smartwatch with Wear OS Test Huawei Watch GT 2: Noble fitness tracker in watch form Huawei Watch GT in the test: record-breaking battery life Skagen Falster 2 in the test: good design and a vulnerability Multiroom Bose Portable Home Speaker in the test: Battery, WLAN, Airplay 2 Sonos Move in the test: The robust one All-rounder Musiccast: Multiroom from Yamaha in the test Denon Heos in the test: versatile multiroom system Flat soundbar Teufel Sounddeck Streaming in the test Teufel Raumfeld in the test: rich multiroom sound Technisat Digitradio 580 in the test: The gray all-rounder Keyfinder Tile Slim (2019): Key finder in credit card format Bluetooth key finder Tile Pro in the test: 122 m range! Key finder Tile Pro in the test: the range champion Orbit Bluetooth tracker in the test: looking for wallet and keys Nonda iHere 3.0: smart key finder under test Chipolo Classic and Plus: Bluetooth key finder under test Musegear finder 2: Keyfinder without mandatory registration Action-Cam DJI Pocket 2 in the test: Zoom and 64 – Megapixel sensor Actio ncam Insta 360 One R: 1-inch image sensor in the test Gopro Hero 8 Black in the test: Back to the top Insta 360 One R in the test: The modular action cam Motorola Moto G8 Plus review: Great smartphone, but … Insta 360 Go: Micro -GoPro in the test Motorola One Action Test: good hardware, bad camera microSD In the test: Kingston UHS-I U3 microSDXC Kit MicroSD card for smartphone: Samsung Evo Plus 2017 Test report: Lexar Professional 1800 x microSDXC Kit Test report: Intenso Premium microSDXC card with 50 GByte Android Sonos Move in the test: The robust all-rounder Honor 20: Inexpensive high-end -Smartphone in the test Xiaomi Mi 9: top technology at a bargain price Doogee S 090 in the test: modular outdoor smartphone ZTE Axon 10 Pro in the test: High-end phone at a competitive price Motorola Moto G7 Power in the test: large battery, small price Sony Xperia 10: Smartphone with 20: 9 display under test Advice Advisor overview Purchase advice Bargain: Which Fire TV stick from 19 € is the right one? Purchase advice: What good is a leaf blower with a battery for 45 Euro? True wireless headphones: How much do you have to invest? Purchase advice water cooling: High-end PCs cool better Guide : Air conditioning and fan against the heat wave Sony shows the Xperia 1: Is the predecessor XZ3 worth it now? Purchase advice: Current headphones with ANC to 400 Euro Practice Caution, money gone: Kickstarter & Co. are not shops Android notifications Turn off annoying apps Here’s how: Install the new Android L keyboard now Tip: Use “Ok Google everywhere” in Germany In the test: the jailbreak works for iOS 7.1? Goderma and mobile medicine: The doctor apps are coming! Instructions: Jailbreak for iOS 7 on iPhone 5S, 5, 4S and 4 Technology Importing technology from China, part 2: Customs, taxes and tricks Drones & copters: From toys to FPV racers What does the end of an ecosystem mean? Smartphones with a flexible display: What is the benefit for me? Smartphone processors at a glance: Everything Snapdragon? Evolutionary dead ends: the worst cell phones mpass: Z Dial with the NFC mobile phone or the NFC toilet roll Display calculator Calculate pixel density, number and display proportion Best list Test winner Price comparison Price comparison overview Smartphones from Android 7.0 Phablets with stylus Fitness tracker with GPS Bluetooth headphones with ANR Drones with GPS Video TechStage Test Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 + 5G in the test: What a Board! Beginning Design Display Camera Equipment Battery Price Conclusion Comments from Stefan // 07. 11. 2020 15: 00 Clock
With the Galaxy Tab S7 +, Samsung has been breaking through the 11 – Customs limit and only packs high-end technology including OLED display and pen in the delivery box. In the test we show what the top tablet can do.
Apart from a few exceptions with some well over 10 inches most manufacturers of Android tablets are on 10, 1 inch agreed as the standard display size. Samsung breaks with this “normality” and gives its top tablet Galaxy Tab S7 + a whopping 12, 4 inches at high resolution and in OLED quality, the manufacturer also puts everything in the tablet that can be found on the high-end shelf in terms of technology. Owners of an iPad Pro will rub their eyes: The stylus called the S-Pen is included in the Galaxy Tab S7 + despite the tablet’s already lower price, so the best prerequisites for top marks in the test – right?
Design What a board! That’s the first thing that came to mind when unpacking the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 + and that’s why this thought made it into the headline. Because Samsung combines the huge display, which takes up almost the entire front thanks to its evenly narrow bezels, with just under 6 millimeters thin aluminum housing. Overall, the Galaxy Tab looks fragile and extremely high quality at the same time. Although the tablet can be twisted easily (no wonder given the slim design), the device still makes a fairly robust impression, provided that you handle it properly. The monolithic construction increases the fascinating impression even more. The manufacturer chooses a very angular design language, but the device is not sharp-edged. Only the size of 266 × 185 Millimeters and the resulting high weight of 575 grams makes long-term use in the hand difficult. In the long term, it is therefore advisable to use it lying on the table or in the optionally available keyboard cover.
When lying on flat surfaces, the camera unit protruding around a millimeter on the back hardly disturbs, due to the sheer surface of the tablet, the model is largely wobbly when operated. The entire back is made of aluminum. On the sides, antenna strips perfectly integrated into the metal can be seen as a design feature. A long black strip of glass extends from the camera, which serves as a docking and charging option for the stylus included in the scope of delivery. It is slightly flattened on one side and is held in place magnetically when it is correctly attached. A briefly shown on the display shows the charging status of the pen called S-Pen.
The holding force is strong enough that the stylus does not fall off by accidentally jostling or shaking the tablet. Nevertheless, this type of storage gives the impression of being intended for in between. An integration of the S-Pen as in the current Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (test report) is because of the thin design of the tablet and the stylus in normal pen size and thickness but not otherwise possible. Despite the unibody of the Galaxy Tab S7 +, the tablet is not waterproof and dustproof.
All pictures from the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 + in the test (28 Photos) Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 +
Display In addition to the ultra-thin design, the huge display is the most impressive. That is next to the sheer size of 11, 4 inches especially on the Brilliance that the panel exudes. Colors are shown brightly, but without the candy look of earlier OLEDs and the contrasts with the abyssal black are inspiring. This is basically the same with good smartphone displays, on over 12 Zoll, it is even more impressive. In addition, Samsung gives the screen a refresh rate of 120 Hertz donated. In combination with the strong hardware, moving content is displayed absolutely fluently – great. In contrast to the manufacturer’s smartphones, it works there s not only with reduced Full HD resolution, but also the full 2800 × 1752 Pixels of the Tab-S7 + display. By the way, this brings up the screen 257 Pixels per inch – less than a smartphone, of course, but enough to be considered sharp because of the usually greater distance to the eye.
The viewing angle stability is particularly successful. Even from very flat viewing angles there are no noticeable color changes and the brightness remains almost the same. In the end, there are only two limitations: the reflective Gorilla Glass 3 surface of the panel and the brightness. Both prevent effective outdoor use. The brightness, which – at least in automatic mode – is otherwise more of a parade discipline of Samsung’s OLED screens, even represents a weak point: Even in bright ambient light, we were only able to 450 measure cd / m2. That is little for a top-quality product, especially since Samsung is already at the 1000 – Candela mark scratches. The manufacturer is thus banning the Galaxy Tab S7 + to the home office – terrace or park are largely denied. Too bad. One reason for this could be the power consumption, which in such a thin tablet (and correspondingly limited space for a powerful battery) with such a large screen quickly becomes a problem.
Camera Traditionally, the cameras on the back of a tablet are of little use and the front camera becomes the main camera. It’s not that bad with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 +, but users shouldn’t expect too much. Compared to a good smartphone camera that Samsung uses in its top models such as Samsung Galaxy S 20 Ultra (test report) or Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (test report) is missing the 13 – Megapixel main lens and the only 5 megapixel wide-angle lens for image sharpness and richness of detail. At first glance, this is hardly noticeable in the full screen view, especially since the image dynamics are decent and image noise is kept within limits. On closer inspection, however, fine structures always appear a bit washed out.
The camera is fine for a tablet The wide angle is almost surprisingly good – Despite its low resolution, it also ensures acceptable image quality, even if distortion and chromatic aberration are visible towards the edges. As the light decreases, the image quality of all lenses quickly drops to the point of being unusable – a typical tablet problem. The front camera takes pictures with 8 megapixels and is well suited for video chats with up to 4K / 30 possible are. Neither the less than optimal image sharpness nor the somewhat weaker contrasts compared to the main camera on the back are noticeable. The selfie camera does a satisfactory job and offers many software features.
All original recordings with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 + (10 Photos) Wide angle
Furnishing At In terms of hardware, Samsung builds all kinds of cutting-edge technology into the Galaxy Tab S7 +. This is how the tablet is operated by a Snapdragon 700 + powered, Qualcomm’s fastest chipset currently. It is combined with 8 GB LPDDR5 RAM – it is fast, but 8 GB are no longer state of the art. Some gaming smartphones such as the Lenovo Legion Phone Duel even come with 16 GByte therefore. A real difference to the 8 GB of the Galaxy Tab S7 + should only be noticed in exceptional cases, so the choice of RAM size is not a real point of criticism. Especially since content in interaction with the 90 – Hz display can be displayed absolutely smoothly and the tablet never gave the impression of reaching its performance limits at any point during the test.
The Tab S7 + is also really fun in games That confirms that Result of around 12. 500 Points in PCmark Work 2.0 – that is significantly less than with some smartphones with the same chipset, but still a very solid value. The good performance is also evident in games such as PUBG-Mobile, in which the tablet offers a smooth display even with the highest graphic settings. This is very impressive on the large display and offers strong immersion, but the tablet becomes a bit heavy in the long run. Various solutions, as we have summarized in our guide for perfect mobile gaming, provide a remedy. However, users are welcome to do without the Bluetooth speakers mentioned there. The four loudspeakers on both sides of the display deliver loud and clear sound that is even seasoned with sufficient depth – it just doesn’t get much better with such a thin housing. This also makes it easy to watch series that are really fun with the brilliant display. The stylus included in the scope of delivery is great, because its natural size makes it easy to hold. The latency when writing or drawing is kept within tight limits. Thanks to the large range of apps such as Autodesk Sketchbook, great works of art can be created – provided that the user has mastered it.
The stylus only works really safe on the go with the expensive keyboard cover While the stylus shouldn’t be lost so quickly when charging thanks to the strong magnetic hold, it still looks a bit out of place when attached to the back of the tablet. It is different with the optional keyboard cover. This not only has a good full keyboard including a complete row of numbers, F-keys, arrow keys and even a touchpad, but its cover for the back also encloses the stylus. Users can easily free it from its transport position by folding down a small part of the back. In addition, the steplessly angled lower half of the cover allows the display to be set up at any angle even above 90 degrees beyond. The cover is round 150 Euro not exactly cheap, but in combination with another monitor with features such as Dex (wireless or for less latency via USB 3.2) it is a real PC replacement for simple office applications.
We didn’t like the fingerprint sensor that much. It is hidden in the display and is well positioned due to its placement near the edge, but did not work as accurately in the test as its counterparts in Samsung smartphones and the unlocking speed should also be a bit higher. With the internal storage, however, there is nothing to complain about. The 256 GB of UFS 3.1 memory in the S7 + tab is quite fast and can be reached with 19. 900 Points in PCmark Storage a decent result. There is nothing to complain about with the rest of the hardware either. A look at the table shows what goes with it.
Samsung still relies on Android for the software 10 – especially with tablets, a comparatively slow update supply is unfortunately normal. Currently Android is included 11 not yet found. Tablets with Android 07 we have listed here (advice). The security patch for the Tab S7 + is from October and is sufficiently up-to-date at the time of the test in early November.
Battery pack 10. 0 90 mAh is provided by the battery in the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 +, which sounds like a really good value in such a thin tablet. 14 Samsung specifies hours of runtime for its top tablet – but without exactly to define how they are composed. However, this information cannot have come from a realistic scenario. This contradicts both our impression that we were able to make of the tablet during the test period and the PCmark battery test. With a fixed brightness of 185 cd / m2 the tablet came here only around 7.5 hours – compared to many other devices that is not much. The predecessor Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 (test report) at least managed over 11 Hours.
However, the new model offers 120 Hz, experience shows that in this scenario it eats up around 1 to 2 hours of running time – even then the Tab S7 + wouldn’t be a runtime wonder, however. This is where the extremely thin design of the top tablet has a negative impact. Samsung could have provided compensation elsewhere, but does not even try: when charging. This takes over 3 hours with the Galaxy Tab S7 +, which is also possible with a battery beyond the 10. 00 0 mAh more quickly. That doesn’t work wirelessly with the Tab S7 +.
Price The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 + is available in black, silver and bronze. Different memory configurations are missing, users can only choose between the wifi-only variant for 954 Euro (RRP) and the 5G version for 1149 Select Euro (RRP). The recommended keyboard cover costs just under 150 euros in the RRP.
Main difference to the cheaper Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 (without the plus name suffix): 5G is not available for this, and an IPS LCD is used instead of the OLED .
Conclusion The Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 + is a top-of-the-line tablet that we see designed for use in our own four walls. Then neither the somewhat dark display nor the not quite as long-lasting battery matter. Instead, the chic device scores with a brilliant display, terrific performance and elegant design and looks good on any desk or sofa. The included stylus completes the overall package. Thanks to the corresponding app offer and the expensive but excellent keyboard covers, the tablet should even do a good job in home office use – if that’s not enough, you should take a look at our guide to homeschooling solutions (guide).
Overall, the Tab S7 + is a great piece of technology, but it also has its price – even if it is lower than the direct competitor iPad Pro. If you don’t want to spend that much, you should take a look at the predecessor Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 (test report), which is now much cheaper.
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Over the last several years, Jabra’s true wireless earbuds have consistently earned positive reviews and are often at the top of recommendation lists for people who aren’t interested in Apple’s AirPods. Last month, the company announced its latest set — and first to ship with active noise cancellation. The $230 Elite 85t are Jabra’s most premium earbuds yet and meant to go toe-to-toe with the AirPods Pro and Bose’s new QuietComfort Earbuds. But in a surprise bonus, Jabra said it would bring ANC (albeit a less effective implementation) to its existing Elite 75t and Elite Active 75t via a firmware update.
The 85t buds have a new chip dedicated to noise canceling, which allows them to cancel out a wider range of outside sounds than the 75t, where the ANC feature feels tacked on. But while they look and feel very similar to the prior model, Jabra has made some consequential design choices. Most notably, the 85ts now have a “semi-open” design that eliminates the plugged-up ear feeling of older sets. That change comes with sacrifice, however, as these earbuds aren’t capable of the same resounding, impactful bass as the 75t. Jabra has also switched to oval-shaped ear tips — likely necessitated by the larger 12mm drivers and ANC circuitry — that feel slightly less secure in my ears compared to the older round style. And the Elite 85t buds are rated IPX4 for water and sweat resistance, a downgrade from previous Jabras.
But even with those changes, the Elite 85ts are among the better noise-canceling earbuds on the market, thanks to their best-in-class controls, wealth of features, and reliable performance. The main question is whether the noise cancellation is worth the added cost over the Elite 75t. Considering the differences in water resistance and sound quality, it’s not a straightforward answer.
Picking up the 85ts, everything feels very familiar. They’re slightly larger and heavier than their predecessors, the drilled microphone holes are much smaller (likely to keep out dust), and the most obvious change is those oval speaker grills. The case has also grown in size a tad, but it includes Qi wireless charging; the 75t buds are only available with wireless charging if you order them direct from Jabra. (The charging LED is at least now on the case’s front instead of bafflingly on the back near the USB-C port, as it is on the 75ts.)
The Elite 85t earbuds (left) are slightly larger and heavier than the 75t (right).
There’s still a circular button on each earbud that responds to single, double, and triple presses. You’re given a ton of freedom over customizing the controls in the Jabra app, and those changes — like any EQ adjustments you make — stick with the earbuds from device to device. The 85t earbuds are rated IPX4 for water and sweat resistance, which is down from the IP55 of the Elite 75t and IP57 of the Elite Active 75t. IPX4 puts these at par with the AirPods Pro and QuietComfort Earbuds and means they’re capable of surviving splashes of water, but heavy sweaters should be wary of making these their fitness earbuds. (It’s unclear whether Jabra eventually intends to release an Active version of the 85ts.)
The Elite 85 earbuds have Jabra’s excellent customizable controls and a new semi-open design for improved comfort.
Before we get to the noise cancellation, let’s quickly call out one of the best things about Jabra earbuds: multipoint. While most true wireless earbuds can only connect to a single device at a time, Jabra’s can handle two at once. You can be listening to music from your laptop and take an incoming call on your phone without having to manually switch the earbuds over.
That’s a trick that the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, Sennheiser True Momentum Wireless 2s, and Sony’s 1000XM3 buds are simply incapable of. (I’d argue AirPods get a pass here since they can now automatically switch between Apple devices without you having to do anything, and if you own AirPods, you’re probably in that ecosystem.) Multipoint works well on the 85t earbuds, seamlessly switching back and forth between your phone and PC or tablet based on what’s actively playing audio. All of Jabra’s earbuds dating back to the Elite 65t offer this feature, but here, you can combine the convenience of multipoint with powerful noise cancellation.
Jabra’s active noise cancellation performance in the 85t buds is impressive. You can adjust the intensity of ANC with a slider in the Jabra app, and at maximum, I’d say it’s up there with the Sony 1000XM3 or AirPods Pro — but definitely a rung beneath the QuietComfort Earbuds, which I view as the new benchmark.
But as I mentioned earlier, the 85t earbuds differ from past models because of their new semi-open design. When you turn ANC completely off (which can only be done inside the Jabra app), you can definitely hear more ambient noise than with the 75ts, which seal into my ears really well and have the added benefit of great passive noise isolation. I found that the new, oval-shaped tips of the 85 didn’t quite twist into my ears as snugly or as deep; they never fell out or came close, but I could remove them with less effort than the 75ts. This comes down to preference: I know there are many of you who will prefer the airy design of the 85t, which can be worn for long stretches without any noticeable discomfort or pressure buildup.
But keep in mind that Jabra recently updated the Elite 75t with active noise cancellation. By itself, it’s less effective than the 85t, but the noise isolation of the 75t earbuds helps make up the gap some. In the end, I think it’s almost a wash between the two. The Elite 85ts still won out and hushed more noise when I tested them side by side in a coffee shop or on the streets of Brooklyn, but not lopsidedly so. If you’re someone who dislikes the plugged-up feeling that regular earbuds can give, the 85ts are the better choice, but the added comfort means paying more. I don’t mind that closed-off feeling at all, so I’d probably stick with the 75ts.
Compared to competitors, the 85t earbuds have a unique strength: they can pair with two devices at once.
That’s also because of sound quality. The 85ts use new 12mm drivers that deliver slightly better detail and presence (and roll off some of the harshness of the 75t treble), but there’s really not that much of a difference between these two sets of earbuds. The 85ts have a fuller mid-range; the overall EQ feels less blatantly V-shaped — but all of this can be adjusted to your liking.
However, while the semi-open design results in a wider soundstage, it also means the 85ts lose some of the amazing low-end kick that the 75ts are capable of. If you lean toward less sculpted EQ, you might prefer the more even balance of the 85ts; the bass isn’t lacking, it’s just not as head-rattling as the 75ts. I’m pleased when using either set, but even the higher-end 85ts trail competitors like Sennheiser and Bose if top-notch sound is your deciding factor.
Battery life is rated at 7 hours with ANC off (half an hour shorter than the 75t) and 5.5 hours with it enabled, which is fairly standard. Factoring in the case, you can get up to 25 hours of total listening time. As has become standard for Jabra, call quality remains a strength on the 85ts. People said my voice was crisp and came through clear without much background noise. But you can still only use the right earbud by itself since that’s the primary bud that relays audio to the left one. I wish Jabra would make them both independent (especially at this higher cost), but we’re not there yet.
The carrying case supports wireless charging.
A few other things worth touching on quickly:
Jabra’s “HearThrough” passthrough mode still isn’t as natural-sounding as what I’ve experienced with the AirPods Pro or Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, where it can often sound like you’re not wearing earbuds at all. With these earbuds, the outside world still sounds a little digital and over-processed, but it’s perfectly usable for keeping aware of your surroundings.
The Jabra Sound Plus mobile app remains excellent. With it, you can set up different “moments” with customized ANC / HearThrough preferences for each environment. There’s a built-in hearing test for tailoring the sound to your own hearing profile (I found the difference to be negligible), and you can even play white noise and other sounds when you need to focus on something and music or podcasts are too much.
Unlike previous Jabra earbuds, the 85ts no longer offer Amazon Alexa as a voice assistant. I barely ever took advantage of this option, and seeing as it’s now gone, I’m guessing that was true of most people.
Overall, I think the Elite 85t earbuds are Jabra’s best earbuds yet: the noise cancellation is quite good, they deliver rich audio quality, and you can use them with two devices at once. But there are a lot of people who will be better off saving money and just going for the Elite 75ts. For me, the older earbuds fit better, and I prefer their noise isolation over the semi-open feel of the new buds. But maybe the combination of noise cancellation and an airy fit is just what you’ve been looking for. If the AirPods Pro don’t meet your needs, it’s hard to go wrong with the Jabra Elite 85t.
Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge
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