A speaker made by artist Dakd Jung, spotted by Gizmodo, visualizes music with ferrofluid, a liquid filled with tiny magnetic particles. The ferrofluid, a viscous black blob, reacts to an electromagnetic device and dances around in sync with the sounds being played.
The video shows Jung’s process for putting the speaker together: treating the glass container so the ferrofluid won’t stick, sanding the 3D-printed casing, and wiring up the electromagnetic device. The full prototype in action is a little less mesmerizing than his initial test that’s shown in the video because the blob breaks apart, but Jung says the speaker is still in development. He’s used ferrofluid in artworks before, including a huge ferrofluid panel and a ferrofluid “pond.”
Ferrofluid was originally developed by NASA for moving fuel into rocket engines without the help of gravity. It didn’t work out for that purpose, but it did succeed in looking cool as hell and having other practical uses. It can be used for speaker dampers, as a lubricant in ball bearings, or as a sealant in hard drives. Some day it might even be used in biomedicine.
The liquid has been used to visualize music before, like in the video below, but having it in a closed container is much more appealing because it’s a very messy substance. Plus it’s just more fun to have a lava lamp responding to your tunes than a vat of liquid chilling next to your speaker system.
The Asus ZenBook 13 UM325SA packs some of the best value we’ve seen in an ultraportable yet, outperforming much more expensive Intel options thanks to new Ryzen 5000U chips.
For
+ Strong and cheap
+ OLED display
+ Surprisingly good audio
Against
– Need a dongle for a headphone jack
– Touch-based numpad feels gimmicky
The Asus ZenBook line usually tends to be a series of plain, mid-range ultraportables that hit respectable performance for strong value. The ZenBook 13 UM325SA ($749 to start, $999 as tested), is also somewhat unassuming and still maintains strong value, but its performance is anything but mid-range.
That’s thanks to its new Ryzen 5000U processor options, which bring the power of AMD’s latest CPU line to ultraportables and into competition with Intel’s 11th Gen “Tiger Lake” processors. The result is a stunningly strong computer that’s priced well below Intel and Apple alternatives, yet usually outperforms the former while coming within spitting range of the latter.
Asus ZenBook 13 Specs
CPU
AMD Ryzen 7 5800U
Graphics
AMD Integrated Radeon Vega Graphics
Memory
16GB DDR4-3733 MHz
Storage
1TB M.2 SSD
Display
13.3 inch, 1920 x 1080, OLED
Networking
802.11ax Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
Ports
2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x microSD card reader
Camera
720p, IR
Battery
67Wh
Power Adapter
65W
Operating System
Windows 10 Pro
Dimensions(WxDxH)
11.97 x 7.99 x 0.55 inches
Weight
2.5 pounds
Price Range
$750 – $1000
Design of Asus ZenBook 13
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The Zenbook 13 is still a thin, light and minimally decorated machine that looks neither ostentatious nor exciting. Fitting that, color options include a blackish gray and a lighter, more metallic silver — the one we tested was gray.
The laptop’s lid is probably its most heavily decorated part, with a reflective, silvery Asus logo sitting off-center towards the laptop’s charging port side. A slight radial texture surrounds and emanates from the logo, although a glossy surface means it’s often covered by fingerprints. There’s also a small “Zenbook Series” logo on the laptop’s outer hinge.
Opening the laptop reveals a focus on functionality, as there’s not too much going on here visually aside from the chiclet-style keyboard and large touchpad. The keyboard does sit inside a sloping tray, which is nice, but what’s more noticeable is that opening the laptop’s lid also lifts the keyboard off your desk at up to a three-degree angle for easier typing.
The left side of the laptops houses two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports and one HDMI 2.1 connection. The right side similarly has just a single USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port and a microSD card reader. The big missing port is a 3.5 mm audio jack; you get a USB Type-C dongle in the box for that. You also get a USB Type-A dongle for RJ-45 Ethernet. Those adapters cut into the device’s portability. For instance, plugging in both dongles as well as the charger will use up all of your ports.
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The Zenbook 13 is on the smaller and lighter side when it comes to portability. At 11.97 x 7.99 x 0.55 inches and 2.5 pounds, it edges out similarly specced competitors on most measurements. The 13 inch MacBook Pro with an M1 chip is 11.97 x 8.36 x 0.61 inches and 3 pounds, while the HP Spectre x360 14 is 11.75 x 8.67 x 0.67 inches and 2.95 pounds. The Dell XPS 13 9310 comes the closest to giving the ZenBook decent competition on size, hitting 11.6 x 7.8 x 0.6 inches and 2.8 pounds.
Productivity Performance of Asus ZenBook 13
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The ZenBook 13 UM325SA is our first time looking at a Ryzen 5000U series chip, which brings AMD’s latest CPU generation to the ultraportable market. While our Ryzen 7 5800U ZenBook 13 configuration with 16GB of RAM and 1TB M.2 SSD didn’t quite beat Apple’s new M1 chip, it generally outperformed Intel Tiger Lake ultraportables like the i7-1165G7 HP Spectre x360 14 and XPS 13 9310. The Ryzen 7 5800U has eight cores and 16 threads, while Intel’s U-series Tiger Lake processors go up to four cores and eight threads.
In Geekbench 5, which is a synthetic benchmark that attempts to capture general performance, the Asus ZenBook 13 hit 6,956 points in multi-core tests and 1,451 points in single-core tests. That’s above the 5,925 multi-core/1,316 single-core scores earned by the MacBook Pro with an M1 processor running Geekbench via Rosetta 2 emulation. The M1 running a native Geekbench test performed much higher, although native M1 Geekbench isn’t exactly comparable to what we ran on the ZenBook. The ZenBook also generally beats our Tiger Lake competition. For instance, the HP Spectre x360 14 earned 4,904 multi-core/1,462 single-core scores and the Dell XPS 13 9310 earned 5,319 multi-core/1,521 single-core scores. Those single-core scores are closer to our ZenBook’s output, but the laptops fall far enough behind on multi-core to outweigh that benefit in most cases.
The ZenBook 13 led the pack in file transfer speeds. When transferring 25GB of files, the ZenBook 13 did so at a rate of 1,068.21 MBps, while the XPS 13 9310 followed behind at a rate of 806.2 MBps. The MacBook Pro M1 hit a rate of 727.04 MBps, and the Spectre x360 14 trailed behind with a score of 533.61 MBps.
The ZenBook 13 and MacBook Pro M1 were significantly faster than our Tiger Lake machines in our Handbrake video-editing benchmark, which tracks how long it takes a device to transcode a video from 4K to FHD. The ZenBook 13 completed this task in 9:18 and the MacBook Pro M1 did it in 7:44. Meanwhile, the Spectre x360 14 and XPS 13 9310 were much slower with scores of 18:05 and 18:22, respectively.
We also ran our ZenBook 13 through Cinebench R23 for 20 runs in a row to stress test how well it operates under an extended load. The average score among these tests was 7,966.40, and the CPU ran at an average clock speed of 2.43 GHz and average temperature of 66.72 Celsius (152.1 Fahrenheit).
Display on Asus ZenBook 13
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Aside from a new Ryzen 5000U chip, the ZenBook 13 UM325SA also packs a new 1920 x 1080
OLED
display. That’s an improvement over 2020’s
Tiger Lake model
, which had an
IPS
-level screen.
I tested this display by watching The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and was impressed by the color and brightness, but a little disappointed by the screen’s viewing angles and reflectivity. While the red on Falcon’s outfit popped and shadows and other blacks were deep, I found that the image tended to wash out when looking at the screen from over 45 degrees away horizontally. Vertical angles were more generous, but the issue with horizontal angles persisted regardless of whether I watched in a high or low-light environment. I also found that even in low light environments, reflectivity was an issue, as I could frequently see my outline on the screen. Still, this didn’t outweigh the excellent color and brightness for me.
Our testing backed up my experience, with the ZenBook 13’s color only being beaten by the HP Spectre x360 14, which also had an OLED screen when we tested it. The ZenBook’s DCI-P3 color rating was 96.5%, while the Spectre’s was 139.7%. The MacBook Pro M1 had a much lower 78.3% DCI-P3 color rating, while the Dell XPS 13 9310 followed behind with a 69.4% DCI-P3 color rating.
The ZenBook was closer to the bottom of the pack in terms of brightness, though given that all of our competitors were also packing bright screens, this isn’t really a mark of low quality. It had 375 nits of average brightness, which is above the Spectre’s 339 nits, but below the MacBook Pro M1’s 435 nits score. The XPS 13 led the pack with a score of 469 nits, but any of the screens are still plenty bright.
Keyboard and Touchpad on Asus ZenBook 13
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The ZenBook 13 UM325SA boasts a chiclet membrane keyboard that’s not too different from what you’ll find on most other ultraportables, but is nonetheless comfortable to use thanks to a slight angle and a cushiony feeling on keypresses.
The Zenbook’s lid is designed to lift its keyboard off your desk at up to a three-degree angle when opened, and while it doesn’t sound like much, that slight elevation helps for both comfort and typing accuracy. I wasn’t any faster than my typical 75 words-per-minute when typing on this keyboard, but I did find myself making fewer typos and my fingers didn’t feel as strained.
That comfort comes from keypresses that feel satisfyingly soft and pillowy, as well as wide keycaps that keep your fingers from feeling cramped or getting lost.
What’s perhaps more interesting than the keyboard is the touchpad, which is a generous 5.1 x 2.5 inches. It uses precision drivers and is perfectly smooth yet has enough friction for precise input, plus it tracks multi-touch gestures without issue. But that’s not what makes it interesting. What stands out here is the toggle-able touchscreen numpad built into it.
By holding the touchpad’s top-right corner for about a second, a numpad overlay will appear on the touchpad. You can still move your mouse cursor as usual in this mode, but you’ll also be able to tap on the overlay to input numbers as well as simple arithmetic commands like addition, subtraction and multiplication. Further, by swiping the touchpad’s top-left corner, your laptop will automatically open the calculator app.
This isn’t our first time seeing these features on a ZenBook, but they still remain novel here. The idea is to make up for the keyboard’s lack of a number pad, but unfortunately, this solution leaves much to be desired. The simplest issue is that touch input is unreliable and often requires users to self-correct by looking at what they’re touching. It also tends to lack comfort due to a lack of tactile feedback. Those two problems take away the major strengths tenkeys tend to have over number rows, but they’re not the only issue here.
While the numpad shortcut works well enough, the swipe to either bring up or dismiss the calculator can be finicky, and it’s not too unusual for it to not register a few times before working. It’s also unusual from a user experience perspective that the calculator shortcut uses a different input method than the numpad, and that the logo indicating where to swipe bears no resemblance to a calculator, but instead looks more like a social media share button.
While you can safely ignore the touch-based numpad without losing any utility over competitors, it doesn’t add much convenience to the device and comes across like a gimmick. At the very least, it does result in a larger touchpad than usual.
Audio on Asus ZenBook 13
The Asus ZenBook 13 UM325S comes with bottom-firing Harman Kardon speakers. And despite the ultrabook’s small size, they work well for both bass and volume.
I tested the ZenBook’s speakers by listening to Blinding Lights by The Weeknd, and they got loud enough at max volume to fill my whole 2-bedroom apartment, even through doors. Bass was also plenty present, capturing both the song’s drum beats and low synth without losing too much information. I couldn’t exactly feel it in my chest, but I also didn’t feel like part of the song was getting cut or drastically losing its impact, which is impressive on a laptop this size.
Unfortunately, the compromise here is that high notes did tend to get a little tinny as the volume got louder. While I had a decent listening experience at volumes lower than 60%, the distortion became noticeable and eventually annoying as I got higher than that level.
There’s also DTS audio software on board that lets you swap between different presets for music, movies and games, and lets you access a custom mode to boost certain parts of your audio like treble and bass. This mostly tended to affect sound mixing rather than quality, but helped me keep my general system volume down, which reduced tinniness to a minimum.
Upgradeability of Asus ZenBook 13
The ZenBook line has a history of being difficult to upgrade, and that’s the case here as well. That’s because some of the screws you’d need to remove to open up the device are hidden under the laptop’s feet. There’s no guarantee you’ll be able to get these feet back on after removal, so we skipped opening up the laptop for this review.
When we reached out to Asus, we were told that the ZenBook 13 UM325SA uses soldered RAM, though you can access and swap out the M.2 SSD if you wish.
However, given that you might end up having to replace your laptop’s feet in the process, we’d suggest being careful about your configuration choices before buying.
Battery Life of Asus ZenBook 13
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The ZenBook 13 UM325SA enjoyed a long 13 hours and 36 minute battery life in our benchmark, which continuously streams video, browses the web and runs OpenGL tests over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. That put it well above the HP Spectre x360 14’s 7:14 score and the Dell XPS 13 9310’s 11:07, with only the MacBook Pro M1 beating it. That laptop lasted for 16:32.
Heat on Asus ZenBook 13
We took the ZenBook’s temperature after 15 minutes of YouTube videos, and found that the touchpad registered 73.4 degrees Celsius (164.12 Fahrenheit), the center of the keyboard between the G and H keys hit 83.3 degrees Celsius (181.94 Fahrenheit) and the laptop’s underside was mostly 84.7 degrees Celsius (184.46 Fahrenheit).
That said, the underside as a whole has a lot of surface area, and its rear-center (just in front of its underside vent) did hit 94.6 degrees Celsius (202.28 Fahrenheit).
Webcam on Asus ZenBook 13
The ZenBook 13 UM325SA has a single 720p webcam with IR capability for Windows Hello. While it has strong color accuracy, I found that photos I took with it suffered from low quality and a lot of artifacting. It also didn’t adjust well to heavy or low light.
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The colors were natural, but it still almost feels as if I have a filter on. I’d be nervous taking an important work call on this device.
Software and Warranty of Asus ZenBook 13
The Asus ZenBook 13 UM325SA comes with minimal utility software, excluding the extended McAfee total protection trial that’s turned on by default when you get the system. We uninstalled this fairly early on, as some antivirus programs can lower benchmark performance.
Aside from that, you have DTS audio processing for swapping between different presets that tune the speakers for music, movies or gaming. You also have AMD Radeon software, where you can adjust your PC’s power mode, view usage stats for different components and launch games.
Most of Asus’ utility software limited to the MyAsus app, which lets you run diagnostics, troubleshoot, perform updates and the like, all from one place.
There’s also typical Windows pack-ins like Spotify, the weather app, and Microsoft Solitaire Collection.
Configurations of Asus ZenBook 13
We reviewed the ZenBook 13 UM325SA with a Ryzen 7 5800U processor, integrated Radeon Vega graphics, a 13.3-inch 1920 x 1080 OLED display, 16GB of LPDDR4X-3733 memory and a 1TB M.2 SSD. That’s the top configuration for the AMD version of this laptop.
Official pricing info is still a little undefined at the moment, though we’ve been told that the price range for this line of Zenbooks is $750 – $1000. We’d assume that our laptop would come in closer to the top of that range. CPU options for this laptop include the Ryzen 5 5500U, the Ryzen 5 5600U, the Ryzen 7 5700U and the Ryzen 7 5800U. Some of those CPUs are split between the UM325UA and UM325SA models, though there isn’t much difference on these devices other than that CPU selection.
You can also choose to lower your RAM and SSD capacities for a cheaper price, although Asus hasn’t given us details on available options as of publishing.
Bottom Line
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AMD’s Ryzen processors have, as of late, had a reputation for strong productivity performance and value, and those features stand out in how the latest Asus ZenBook 13 leverages the new Ryzen 5800U chip. Despite costing a maximum of $1,000 at its highest configuration, it easily stands above Intel Tiger Lake competitors that reach as high as $1,600, all while touting a gorgeous OLED display.
In our productivity tests, the only ultraportable that beat the ZenBook 13 was the M1-equipped MacBook Pro 13, which we tested in an $1,899 configuration (and starts at $1,299). Yet despite costing slightly more than half of that price tag, the ZenBook was still in the MacBook’s general range, and never once lost to an Intel competitor.
Granted, some of those Intel competitors have special features. The HP Spectre x360 14 is a convertible, and the Dell XPS 13 has a premium design and a 1920 x 1200 resolution. But they also perform worse while costing more, and even though this ZenBook is still largely plain when it comes to bonuses, it does have a beautiful new OLED display.
There are a few quibbles here and there, like the slim port selection or the near-useless touch-based numpad. But overall, this device is the definition of punching above your weight class.
Bowers & Wilkins isn’t always first to the party but, when it does arrive, it certainly likes to make an entrance. Today, the company launches not one but two debut sets of true wireless headphones, the PI5 and PI7.
The latter are the more premium of the pair, with a six-microphone active noise-cancelling system. The built-in mics will work for voice calls, as well as smart functionality (Siri and Google Assistant are both supported).
Each earbud features a two-driver arrangement to offer what Bowers refers to as sound “comparable to loudspeakers”. The two sides have a balanced armature tweeter for the top notes and a set of 9.2mm drive units for the mid/bass, all with their own dedicated amplifier.
The true wireless stereo transmission comes in through Bluetooth aptX Adaptive, allowing for 24-bit hi-res audio streams (when connected to a compatible source). Bowers has worked to provide a reliable and tightly synced connection between the left and right earbuds.
There’s more to the PI7’s charging case than just storage and battery life, too. Uniquely, it has USB and 3.5mm ports, allowing you to connect it direct to an audio source. The case sends that music to your ears wirelessly using AptX Low Latency. The idea behind it, according to Bowers, is to allow users to hook up to an inflight entertainment system without the need of trailing cables to their ears.
The B&W PI5 true wireless headphones, meanwhile, are a slight step down but still very much from the same stables. They’re missing the dual-driver arrangement and instead come with a single 9.2mm Bowers-developed unit. TWS+ technology is used instead for the transmission of the audio from source to both buds simultaneously. There are also just the two microphones on each side for noise-cancelling and no inputs on the case.
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The PI5 and PI7 have an earbuds battery life of 4.5 hours and 4 hours respectively, but the charging case stores four more full cycles, offering a reasonable (but not class-leasing) total of 22.5 hours or 20 hours from a single charge.
Bowers says it has championed driver technology and wireless transmission over battery life for a better audio experience. Explaining the company’s late entry into true wireless, Bowers & Wilkins Director of Product Marketing, Andy Kerr, said: “We don’t pride ourself on being first but being the best. In each case we waited and watched the market. We chose to stay out of the market until we felt we could make a difference.”
Both sets of Bowers & Wilkins true wireless headphones are available from today in a choice of white or charcoal. The B&W PI7 cost £349 (AU$699, €399, $399) – one of the most premium price tags we’ve seen attached to a pair of true wireless earbuds – while the PI5 are priced at a more democratic £199 (AU$369, €249, $249).
MORE:
Our pick of the best true wireless earbuds on the market
Take a look at our choice of the very best noise-cancelling earbuds
In a press release for Apple’s new Tile-like AirTag tracker, the company has revealed that iOS 14.5 will officially arrive “starting next week” — as spotted by Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern. AirTags go on sale April 30th and will only work with devices running iOS 14.5 or higher. Likewise, watchOS 7.4 and macOS 11.3 will also launch next week, as they support new Apple Podcast feature updates.
Apple first launched the 14.5 beta to the public earlier this year in February alongside watchOS 7.4 beta (no word on whether that’s arriving soon, too). Along with AirTag support, it will implement Apple’s new App Tracking Transparency requirement, which mandates that developers ask for permission to track users for ad targeting. The feature was announced last year and met with sharp resistance from Facebook in particular, which argues that the move will harm small businesses that benefit from ad tracking.
iOS 14.5 also introduces some welcome inclusivity features, like the ability to change Siri’s voice and new skin tone options for some emoji. Another feature we’ve appreciated in our testing thus far is Siri’s ability to learn which audio-listening apps you prefer for certain activities. This stops short of letting you select a new default app, like picking Spotify for all of your streaming music requests, but it’s a helpful evolution in any case.
Of course, this feature may or may not make it to the final release, but we do know now when we can expect to find out which features made the final cut. Apple doesn’t say specifically which day we can expect 14.5, but when it does, iPhone users will be able to download the update in their phone’s settings as always.
Good news if you’re an LG smart TV owner and also subscribe to Tidal. You now have access to a dedicated Tidal TV app.
The new app is compatible with 2018 to 2021 models running webOS versions 4.0 through 6.0 and can now be downloaded now from the LG Content Store.
The streaming service, which offers high-fidelity MQA audio, Sony 360 Reality Audio content, plus a growing Dolby Atmos Music library all through its HiFi tier, has been notably absent from LG TVs until now.
Thanks to the addition of the new app, though, Tidal users can now stream music through their LG TV and take advantage of Dolby Atmos content if their set or connected soundbar supports it.
Tidal’s Dolby Atmos music catalogue launched in 2019 and includes older releases remixed in the immersive format, such as Kraftwerk’s 3D The Catalogue, Hans Zimmer’s Live in Prague and R.E.M.’s Automatic For The People (25th Anniversary Edition), as well as newer hits like Ariana Grande’s 7 Rings, The Weeknd’s After Hours and 50+ genre-spanning playlists. A great excuse to spend a few more hours in front of your beloved LG G1 OLED.
MORE
10 of the best hi-res albums on Tidal Masters
Best music streaming services 2021: free streams to hi-res audio
iPads? AirTags? AirPods? There could be a lot on tap today
Apple seemingly has a big backlog of products to announce. We’ve been anticipating new iPad Pros, AirTags, AirPods, an Apple TV, and just maybe a new iMac with Arm-based Apple Silicon. The tagline for today’s event, “Spring Loaded,” seems to be a hint that today’s live stream will be chock-full of new stuff. All signs, however, point to new iPad Pros being the star of the show.
And it might not be just hardware. Apple is increasingly pushing its own services. Perhaps there will be more on tap today to fill out its Apple One bundle. Obvious candidates are some kind of premium podcast option or maybe even an HD option for Apple Music, but the Apple TV Plus service could also stand to get some more premiere content and today’s stream might be a good place to announce it.
There are a lot of possibilities, but only Apple knows which of them it’s choosing for this “loaded” live stream.
We hope to find out ourselves soon. The event kicks off at 10AM PT / 1PM ET, and we’ll be live-blogging all of the announcements from the live stream.
The gaming audio company EPOS has debuted a new wired gaming headset called the H3. It’s not as exciting as its GTW 270 truly wireless earbuds for gaming, and depending on your needs, its short list of features might not be worth its $119 price. But a few things stick out in the H3’s favor after spending a few days with it.
EPOS has a knack for using a rotating dial for volume controls on its headsets, and if you read my review of Microsoft’s excellent Xbox Wireless Headset, you know I’m all about dials. On the outside of the H3’s right earcup, there’s a dial controlling the volume that’s easy to adjust with two fingers. Opposite that, on the left earcup, there’s an articulating boom microphone that can be muted when it’s in the up position. Any time it’s lowered, the mic will be on, unless you mute it on your device.
I also like that these have broad compatibility with consoles, mobile devices, and PC — not that they’re the first to do this. The H3 includes two swappable braided cables, one made for PC that extends from the headset and splits into a dedicated audio 3.5mm plug and a microphone plug (most desktops and some gaming laptops feature both of these ports). There’s also a cable that outputs to a single 3.5mm plug that can go into a phone, a controller, a PC, an Oculus Quest 2, or any other device you own with this kind of audio jack. I do wish that EPOS included a 3.5mm-to-USB-C adapter to broaden compatibility further for devices that lack a headphone jack.
On the right side of the H3, you’ll find this volume knob.EPOS
You don’t have to spend $119 on a wired gaming headset to get features like the ones I explained above, but the H3’s comfort and sound performance help to justify their price. The earcups fit snug around my head, but not too snug, and they have a wide range of motion (though they don’t swivel to lay flat on the chest.) The headband’s size adjustments snap into place and don’t move, even when I yank the headset off. The passive noise isolation of the ear cups is decent, partially because of the closed-back design, but its plush pads do a better-than-average job at keeping outside sounds out because the cups can be tilted to fit your head shape. I’m short on qualms about the build quality, though the earcups might not be as good a fit for people who have larger ears.
The H3 is a solid performer when it comes to gaming and listening to music. Its closed-back earcups provide a clear, balanced sound without an overwhelming amount of bass. Yet, the palpable bass line in “Book of Slim” by Gene Harris & The Three Sounds came through just fine. Switching over to games, I was happy with how games like Ratchet & Clank (2016) and Ghost of Tsushima sounded on the H3 while connected to a PS5 controller. The sound quality rivals many of the sub-$150 headsets I’ve tried in my gaming headset buying guide.
The mic is muted when it’s flipped up, as it is in the picture.EPOS
The microphone quality is also solid for the price, picking up all of the little details in my voice. It’s easy to tell my “p’s” from the “t’s” in voice recordings. It sounded crisp when connected to my PC, and within Google’s Recorder app while plugged into my Pixel 3 via a USB-C dongle. I got similarly good results plugged into my PS5 controller. Though, I wouldn’t suggest this headset over a dedicated microphone, if you’re planning on making any podcast appearances soon.
Other than the USB-C adapter that I wish was included, the other big omission from the H3 compared to other headsets in its price range is the lack of microphone monitoring. I love being able to hear my own voice, but I swear I’m not a narcissist. Monitoring is useful to hear someone yelling for you across the room when you’re distracted in a game.
If you aren’t totally sold on going wireless for your gaming headset because you don’t want another device to recharge, or some other reason, the H3 is a solid alternative. Its sound quality and comfort mostly make up for not having many features. That said, its price borders on what you’ll pay for one of several good wireless gaming headsets that have many more features.
VanMoof S3 with PowerBank arriving at Castricum aan Zee from Amsterdam.Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
We put a new 2021 S3 model to the test on a three-hour ride
VanMoof, maker of some of our favorite electric bikes, just announced the PowerBank, a range extender that also charges the internal battery of the company’s S3 and X3 models. Not only does the emotional-support battery promise to ease range anxiety by extending VanMoof e-bike commutes by a claimed 45 to 100 km (28 to 62 miles), it also addresses VanMoof’s biggest limitation: non-removable batteries that enable a sleek look, but could necessitate hauling the 19-kg (42-pound) bikes indoors to be charged.
I’ve had a new VanMoof S3, improved for 2021 (more on that later), with the PowerBank since Friday. After 3 hours in the saddle on two 90-minute rides, I can attest to the extended range and more convenient charging. It’s not cheap and it’s not perfect and I didn’t go quite as far as VanMoof claims, but the PowerBank makes a compelling case for purchase.
The 378Wh capacity PowerBank attaches in seconds (about 20 of them). It has an on / off button so you can choose when it charges the larger 504Wh battery found inside both the full-sized S3 and smaller X3 e-bikes. It charges from a standstill or while riding, and adds an extra 2.8 kg (6.2 pounds) to the total weight of the bike. That’s a reasonable (and unnoticeable) tradeoff if it means never having to carry the bike up the stairs to your apartment again. It also adds $348 / €348 / £315 to the cost of a bike that already starts at $1,998 / €1,998 / £1,798.
The PowerBank sits in a permanent mount you must first attach to the S3 or X3 e-bikes. The PowerBank battery then wedges into the frame and locks in place with a supplied key, and is further secured with two velcro straps. A third velcro strap is used to keep the charging cable from flopping around as it snakes up to the underside of the top tube and into the bike’s charging port. I rode on some rather bumpy brick roads and didn’t hear a single rattle from the assembly.
The thick velcro straps, while being inelegant, blend nicely into the dark black S3 model. But the straps and bulky battery are visually jarring on the smaller, light blue X3 e-bike.
Light blue VanMoof X3 fitted with a PowerBank. Eww.Image: VanMoof
While a first for VanMoof, range extenders are not uncommon amongst e-bike makers, especially for electric mountain bikes. Last month Specialized announced the Como SL commuter e-bike with an optional $449.99 range extender that it says adds about 31 miles (55 km) of range.
Over the weekend I tested a PowerBank fitted to a brand new VanMoof S3 on a 76.7 km (47.7 miles) round trip from Amsterdam to the coastal hamlet of Castricum aan Zee, and back. That’s beyond the 60 km stated range of a VanMoof ridden at max power, and far beyond the 47 km I managed during my S3 range test in April of 2020. VanMoof claims that a fully charged S3 battery coupled to a PowerBank has a range of between 105-250 km (65-155 miles), depending upon the level of powered assist you’re using. I wasn’t anywhere close to that.
I rode at full power (level 4) on exceedingly flat Dutch terrain making liberal use of the Turbo Boost button. A bit more than half of my testing was directly into a fairly strong 14-knot headwind, the rest benefited from a 6-knot tailwind. In total, I’d estimate that I could have ridden about 80 km (50 miles) before both the S3 and PowerBank batteries were empty. In other words, the VanMoof PowerBank coupled to the new S3 extended my range by about 70 percent compared to 47 km (29.2 miles) I managed last year.
In my testing, I noticed that the S3 battery emptied faster than the PowerBank could recharge it while riding at max power with lots of Turbo Boost button presses. (VanMoof confirmed this behavior after my testing was complete.) So rather than risk having to stop and recharge on the way home (or ride in a less fun economy mode), I took advantage of a 20-minute ferry wait to top off the S3 battery when it was showing just 15 percent remaining. I likely would have made it the final 7.9 km home even without the top-up, but the whole point of having a PowerBank is to avoid range anxiety and I was in a hurry to get back.
As to my buttocks, well, I should give the VanMoof’s custom saddle honorable mention. It’s surprisingly comfortable, and the first time I’ve ridden it — my S3 review bike was fitted with a different saddle last year. While I did notice a bit of discomfort down there when climbing onto the bike for my return journey, it was far less than expected.
Despite my test coming in below the lowest range estimate for the PowerBank, VanMoof still stands by its numbers. “It should give most riders an additional 45-100km range depending on conditions and an individual’s use-level,” said the company in an email response to my findings. Apparently, my aggressive riding style, weight (190 pounds / 86 kg), height (6 feet / 183 cm), and ambient conditions at testing make me an outlier.
Some other observations…
VanMoof e-bikes don’t provide a USB charging port for phones mounted on the handlebar and the arrival of the PowerBank doesn’t change that. That’s an oversight in my opinion. A range extender enables riders to travel longer distances, which often requires GPS navigation on a phone operating at peak brightness and paired with Bluetooth headphones for turn-by-turn directions and maybe some music playing over your 4G / 5G connection. My three-year old iPhone wasn’t up to the task, which meant tethering it to yet another battery I had to carry in my jacket. I forgot about the cable when I stopped off at a ferry crossing, nearly causing me to topple over.
VanMoof says a USB port was considered but was ultimately left off for “waterproofing reasons.” Shame.
I should also note that the S3 I tested was one of the models that recently added support for Apple’s Find My tracking network. While that was the headline item, VanMoof’s X3 and S3 e-bikes were also upgraded with improved on-bike displays that are more visible in direct sunlight, and electronic shifters that are more accurate. I complained about the display readability in my review last year and it is slightly improved. More importantly, the e-shifter seems much improved over the S3 variation that I reviewed at launch in April of 2020. At the time I said it glitched on 2 out of 100 shifts, but the automatic four-speed on my new S3 glitched about 1 out of 100+ shifts over my three hours of riding. I characterize a glitch as an unexpected mechanical “clink” sound, a surprise free-wheel of the pedals when you expect to feel resistance, or an obvious feeling of being in the wrong gear.
VanMoof, unlike many e-bike makers, is able to constantly improve the hardware and software of its e-bikes because it has a dedicated factory and relatively tight control over a supply chain of custom VanMoof parts. That means it doesn’t have to compete for Shimano shifters or Bosch motors, for example, which left many bike manufactures without parts for months after the recent surge in e-bike demand. Good thing, too. The first shipments of S3 and X3 models were plagued by issue rates as high as 10 percent, the company co-founders told me last year.
VanMoof says it also improved the internal wiring of its bikes for better resistance to weather, added new pedals for better grip, and new fender flaps to reduce excess splash on wet roads. It also made the shipping boxes more environmentally friendly — important when you consider that VanMoof ships around 12,000 of those giant boxes a month, as of September 2020.
All this is to say that the 2021 S3 and X3 models, the ones with the “Locate with Apple Find My” label printed under the top tube, are the best VanMoof e-bikes yet, which really is saying something. The new PowerBank option is just icing on the cake.
All photos by Thomas Ricker / The Verge unless otherwise stated
Facebook is going all in on audio. The company announced multiple products on Monday that emphasize voice content over text, images, or video. The products will be released over the next few months and, in some cases, will start with a limited set of people.
Most notably, Facebook is indeed launching a competitor to the buzzy social audio app Clubhouse with a feature called Live Audio Rooms, which will be available this summer. It’ll first roll out to groups and public figures as a test, but it will eventually make its way to Messenger, too, so people can hang out with friends. Users will be able to record their conversations and distribute them, and eventually, people can charge for access to these rooms through either a subscription or one-time fee.
To get people to join, Facebook says it’s introducing an Audio Creator Fund to “support emerging audio creators.” All of these conversations can also be turned into “Soundbites,” a forthcoming feature that allows people to create and share shortform audio clips along with an algorithmic feed to promote them. Think TikTok, but with audio clips.
The Soundbite creation tool will let people put effects on their voices.Image: Facebook
Soundbites will live within the broader News Feed. Users will be able to record them in a separate tool within Facebook, which the company describes as a “sound studio in your pocket.” In a chat with Casey Newton, the author of Platformer and a contributing editor at The Verge, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg equated Soundbites to Reels, Instagram’s TikTok competitor, but for audio.
He also added that he likes audio over video or images because it allows people to multitask and host longer, nuanced conversations.
“The high-level picture here is that we think that audio is, of course, also going to be a first-class medium, and that there are all these different products to build across this whole spectrum,” Zuckerberg said.
Facebook also plans to take on a bigger role in podcasting. The company says it’ll start recommending shows and episodes based on people’s interests and that people can comment on them and recommend them to friends. The company says 170 million people on Facebook are connected to a page that’s linked to a specific podcast, and more than 35 million people are members of fan groups around podcasts.
Facebook wants to support podcasts with direct monetization.Image: Facebook
Zuckerberg says a partnership with Spotify is forthcoming, too, which will bring the company’s player over to Facebook, letting people stream music and podcasts from their News Feed. Zuckerberg emphasized that this feature is for music. But still, Facebook users will be able to share Spotify podcasts and let people listen without having to leave the Facebook world — they just have to link their accounts.
“Our ambition has always been to make Spotify ubiquitous across platforms and devices — bringing music and podcasts to more people — and our new integration with Facebook is another step in these efforts,” a Spotify spokesperson said in a statement. “We look forward to a continued partnership with Facebook, fueling audio discovery around the world.”
Finally, Facebook’s tipping system, Stars, will be coming to Live Audio Rooms as well as for individual creators and public figures.
How serious Facebook is about audio and whether users actually want it over other formats is still unclear. On one hand, the audio industry is hot right now, with most major tech companies wading into the broader podcasting industry. Clubhouse and other audio startups have also made live audio a popular way to interact, and already, multiple big platforms have integrated the format into their apps.
On the other hand, live audio has clearly found its moment during the pandemic, when everyone’s been starved of human interaction and mostly confined to their homes. Podcasting offers edited, on-demand conversations, which people have enjoyed for years, but whether the live formats will survive remains an open question. Facebook has also routinely gone all in on a format, only for it to languish. It went for longform video with IGTV but has since pivoted to a focus on Reels. It launched and subsidized Facebook Live content, which has since mostly fallen by the wayside. The same could happen for audio, but Facebook is clearly using its size to try to make its mark on the industry.
Rotel has announced sequels to some of its 14 and 15 Series integrated amplifiers. The A14MKII, RA-1572MKII and RA-1592MKII are second-generation models that leverage design elements from the brand’s high-end Michi Series, benefitting from upgraded circuitry and components.
The A14MKII (£1195, $1600) – the successor to the A14 – is the flagship integrated model in Rotel’s 14 Series, building upon its predecessor with a new 32-bit/384kHz-supporting Texas Instruments DAC. Rotel says it has made 25 component changes in the DAC output filters alone. That’s complemented by changes in the power supply, spurred by Rotel’s Tribute models. The new A14MKII is a well-equipped machine, too, featuring analogue and digital connections (including USB-type B and MM phono sockets), aptX Bluetooth, MQA decoding and rendering, and support for Roon. All of the MKII models feature Ethernet and RS232 connections for control system integration.
Moving over to Rotel’s 15 Series we have the all-new flagship RA-1592MKII (£2295, $3200), delivering 200 watts of Class AB power into 8 ohms and benefitting from “upgrades to all critical circuits”. The 32-bit/384kHz Texas Instruments DAC utilises 12 new coupling capacitors with improved frequency response and higher component tolerances, while other component changes include upgraded capacitors.
(Image credit: Rotel)
Connectivity expands upon the A14MKII’s with XLR balanced and front-panel USB (for iOS device) socketry, too.
Below that is the new RA-1572MKII (£1595, $2100), which too benefits from component changes – 33 this time! – in acoustic and filter capacitors and the power supply. The RA-1572 too has a comprehensive analogue- and digital-friendly connectivity list featuring aptX Bluetooth, USB and MM phono.
The Rotel A14MKII, RA-1572MKII and RA-1592MKII integrated amps are available to order now, with shipping expected to begin in May in the United States and Canada, with the rest of the world to follow.
MORE:
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(Pocket-lint) – There aren’t a great many high-resolution gaming headsets out there, but the devices that do exist can make a real difference to your gaming experience. That extra audio range provides more immersion and also helps with things like hearing footsteps in competitive shooters.
The Asus ROG Delta S sports a high-resolution Quad DAC (digital-to-analogue converter) and MQA technology that promises “true to life” audio. So on paper it should be fantastic, but is it? We’ve been gaming and listening to find out.
Best PC gaming headsets: The best wired, wireless and surround sound headsets around
Lightweight comfortable design with RGB
Detachable microphone
Lightweight 300g frame
Braided 1.5m USB-C cable, 1m USB 2.0 adapter
ROG Hybrid ear cushions / protein leather cushions with fast-cool memory foam padding
The first thing that struck us about the Asus ROG Delta S upon wearing it for the first time was the comfort. This headset comes with a flexible headband and earcup design that extends nicely over the head and sits in a satisfying way over the ears. But more importantly, it sports D-shaped ergonomic ear cushions, with a choice of either a protein leather or ROG Hybrid finish backed by fast-cool memory foam padding.
Pocket-lint
Both these ear cushions are included in the box, giving you a choice of what to use – but they’re equally comfortable in our mind. The protein leather cushions do a better job of blocking out external noise though, which means you can focus on the sound.
The D-shaped cushions fit nicely over the ears and they’re both deep and wide enough to not put unnecessary pressure on your ears either. This, combined with the nicely padded headband and the lightweight over ear design, result in a headset that’s comfortable to wear all day for work and then into the evening for gaming.
Comfort and convenience go hand-in-hand with this headset. As standard it has a USB-C connection, which means you can use it with your Android phone or Nintendo Switch and still get great sound. Alternatively, there’s an adapter that converts it to USB-A with ease, meaning you can connect it to even more devices. The detachable mic also gives you the choice of whether you use the provided one or opt for something external.
Best microphones for video calling, podcasting and streaming
On the outside of the headset there’s a couple of RGB lighting zones on each earcup: a ring around the outer plate and the ROG logo. This lighting can be adjusted within the Armoury Crate software – there’s a few different effects including static, breathing, strobe, colour cycle and, of course, rainbow. The headset itself also has a hardware button to set it to three different modes – on, off or soundwave. Soundwave makes the lights respond to your voice when you’re talking, which might appeal to streamers.
Pocket-lint
One thing we were impressed with is the RGB lighting works even when plugged into a smartphone, which is a fairly unusual feature. So yes, you can have RGB on the go with this headset. If you really want to show off your passion for gaming when outside the house. But there’s the option to turn it off too if you don’t want to look like a mobile disco.
Satisfying high-resolution audio
50mm Neodymium magnet drivers
20Hz-40KHz frequency response
Hi-Res ESS 9281 Quad DAC
MQA rendering technology
24-bit, 96KHz sample rate
Virtual 7.1 surround sound
Custom audio profiles
The main selling point of the Asus ROG Delta S is the inclusion of the Hi-Res ESS 9281 Quad DAC and MQA rendering technology (which stands for ‘Master Quality Authenticated’). This tech means that with Tidal Masters recordings you can enjoy some seriously satisfying sound quality.
Pocket-lint
We thoroughly enjoyed listening to music this way on a Google Pixel 5. The audio is rich, warm, and has a superb range to it. If you’ve never heard hi-resolution audio before, you’ll soon notice new elements to your favourite tracks that you’ve never heard before.
Best USB-C headphones for Android phones 2021
By Dan Grabham
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That same logic applies to gaming too. Plug the headset into a PC, set the 24-bit/96KHz sample rate in Windows sound settings, tweak the equaliser (EQ) in ROG Armoury Crate and get your game on.
Suddenly you’ll find a wider audio range than you’ve heard before. This is great as it often means you can pick up on important sounds more easily. The footsteps of enemies in games like Rainbow Six Siege or Warzone, for example, are much easier to hear and discern their direction from within the game world.
That said, we did feel like this headset oddly isn’t as bassy or as rich as other high-res headsets we’ve tried. Strangely, music is richer than when gaming. And though you can adjust the EQ settings and sound profiles within Armoury Crate, we just feel like it lacks some of the richness we’d expect at this price point.
That said, the virtual surround sound is good and combined with high-res audio it delivers great positional awareness. This headset is also insanely loud. So if you feel like you struggle to hear with other headsets then the ROG Delta S won’t disappoint.
AI-powered mic?
AI-noise cancellation
Unidirectional pick up pattern
100Hz to 10KHz frequency response
Noise gate, perfect voice, other settings in Armoury Crate
The Asus ROG Delta S has a flexbile, detachable unidirectional microphone included in the box. This mic offers AI-powered noise cancellation that’s designed to block out external noise and help keep your voice in focus.
We weren’t overly impressed with the mic on this headset, though, but it’s far from the worst we’ve tried.
You can adjust settings for noise gate, perfect voice and the AI noise-cancellation in the Armoury Crate software. But we found our voice was captured more clearly when we didn’t use those settings. This is going to depend on your environment of course, but the quality of the audio can certainly be tweaked in various ways with ease.
Verdict
The Asus ROG Delta S is a comfortable and easy-to-wear gaming headset that sounds fantastic when listening to high-res music on Tidal.
However, for our ears the audio lacks depth when gaming. It’s not as rich or as bassy as we’d like, but there are plenty of settings to play around with and tweak to your preference.
The included microphone is also not as good as, say, that included on the Corsair Virtuoso – so we’d highly recommend a proper mic as an alternative.
All told, the Asus ROG Delta S is a mixed bag. We love that it works with multiple different devices – a benefit of that USB-C/USB-A connection option – and for music it’s absolutely fantastic. But it’s just not quite as on point for gaming audio.
Also consider
Pocket-lint
Corsair Virtuoso RGB
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A fantastic alternative thanks to a superior microphone and more connection options with 3.5mm, wireless and USB-A. It’s not as comfortable as the ROG Delta S, but is more impressive in a number of ways and also delivers high-res audio that’s fantastic on PC.
Pocket-lint
Audeze Penrose
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This is a wireless version of the company’s Mobius headset. It features massive 100mm Planar Magnetic drivers and a broadcast-quality microphone. It also works well on PC and PS5 and offers 2.4Ghz wireless, Bluetooth connectivity and 3.5mm options too.
I finished This is a Robbery, and I won’t spoil the ending but if you’re thinking there will be a huge reveal at the end, well, you might be disappointed. What I found interesting throughout the four-part series was how the storyline relied on the voices of newspaper reporters who have covered the heist —and its aftermath —over the years. Considering the filmmakers are Colin and Nick Barnicle, sons of longtime Boston Globe columnist and current MSNBC contributor Mike Barnicle, it makes sense they’d center journalists in the story. Go watch it, Boston looks absolutely beautiful and the Boston accents are more authentic than anything else you’ll watch this year. Plus, if you can figure out the central mystery of the series there’s a $10 million reward in it for you.
Here are this week’s trailers (which are heavier on the zombie content than usual):
Army of the Dead
We got a teaser a couple of months ago but this is the first official full-length trailer for Zack Snyder’s big-budget heist flick. A group of mercenaries shoot their way into Las Vegas to get $200 million buried underneath the Sunset Strip before the government nukes the entire city. Plot twist: Vegas has been overrun by zombies— not the shambling, mindless creepers from The Walking Dead, mind you; these zombies are organized and smart. And fast, like the World War Z zombies. (Side note: Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler is the perfect music for this trailer: “you got to know when to hold ‘em/Know when to fold ‘em/Know when to walk away/ Know when to run.”)
Dave Bautista plays the zombie war hero who leads the ragtag group into battle. Army of the Dead hits Netflix May 21st.
The Underground Railroad
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad is set in the novel’s alternate history, making the railroad of the title an actual 19th-century railroad that helps slaves escape the South. Thuso Mbedu plays Cora Randall, who is fleeing a Georgia plantation and being pursued by a bounty hunter (Joel Edgerton). Directed by Barry Jenkins, all episodes of The Underground Railroad— a sure Emmy contender that looks hauntingly beautiful— will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on May 14th.
Fast & Furious 9
This is one of many movies delayed by the coronavirus pandemic (the last trailer was in January 2020 and the movie was supposed to come out last May) but is finally back on the schedule with a new release date. Many familiar faces will return for F9, including (of course) Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, John Cena and Helen Mirren. The latest installment in the Furious franchise hits theaters June 25th.
Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness
Don’t you hate when zombies invade the White House and you have to go in and save the day? This teaser trailer gives some more clues into Netflix’s new anime series set two years after the events of Resident Evil 4. While an earlier teaser showed Claire walking around in what appeared to be a haunted house, this latest teaser shows that she and Leon are in the White House for separate reasons, and then: zombies. Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness hits Netflix in July.
A real estate broker named Shane Dulgeroff decided to take advantage of the NFT hype. He’s selling a house at 221 Dryden Street, in Thousand Oaks, California along with an NFT of a psychedelic-flavored video of the house.
The artwork and house are up for auction on OpenSea, with a minimum bid of 48 ETH, or almost $117,000. No one has bid yet, and the auction closes in seven days. The house previously sold at $746,000, according to real-estate platform Zillow.
“It’s less about the significance of the art as it is the significance of us using a platform like this to sell a home,” Dulgeroff told Fast Company. “The significance that the art will carry, it’s going to be stored in your digital wallet forever as living proof that you purchased the first home ever that was done through any kind of a crypto platform directly. So that’s where the real value is.”
NFTs are usually used to support digital goods — for instance: art, music, and trading cards. Currently there are no laws to explain how this might work, or what the taxes will be. “It really is an interesting process navigating the legal side of it, the tax side of it, the transfer side of it to make sure it’s all done correctly,” Dulgeroff told Fast Company. Perhaps that explains the lack of bids — no one wants to get in trouble with tax collectors.
The art that comes with the house was designed by Kii Arens. This isn’t the only Arens NFT; his pop-art confections inspired by Yusaku Maezawa’s attempted space mission are also up for sale. Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire, announced in 2018 that he planned to go to the Moon with artists. “I want to be on that spaceship as it travels farther than any human has from Earth,” Arens wrote to explain the inspiration for the NFT set.
South Korean brand HiFi Rose has launched in the UK and Ireland, and you can now pick up two of its products from select stores, supplied by Henley Audio.
Both products are premium networked streamers. The HiFi Rose RS201 E (pictured) is a music streamer, DAC and amplifier in one. Its minimalist design might be a little industrial for some, but it’s a good size to fit on a desk and boasts an 8.8in touchscreen display.
It supports audio up to 32-bit / 384KHz (PCM) and DSD256 (Native DSD), and you can stream digital music from your network or attached devices using the Rose OS Music app. It’s compatible with Apple AirPlay, Roon Ready and Spotify Connect, and comes with integrated apps for Qobuz and Tidal.
It’s MQA certified and has 100 watts of amplification. It connects online using Wi-Fi or Ethernet, or you can stream offline using Bluetooth 4.0. There’s also an HDMI output to connect to a TV. A Bluetooth remote control comes as standard.
This is joined by the RS150 network streamer which shares many features. It’s bigger than its sibling, though, with a 14.9in touchscreen, and benefits from a speedy Hexacore CPU and Mali-T864 GPU. It features an Asahi Kasei VERITA AK4499EQ DAC with support for Velvet Sound technology, and benefits from what HiFi Rose claims is “industry-leading technical measurements for exceptional sonic integrity”.
You can manually adjust the input/output settings to your liking, and it has HDMI-ARC and AES/EBU connections.
The RS201 E costs £1749, and the RS150 £3899. Both are on sale now from your local Henley Audio stockist.
MORE:
These are the best music streamers around
Find out how to add a streamer to your hi-fi system
Apple Music’s payment rate for artists and labels is fundamentally a penny per stream, according to a letter from the company posted on its artist dashboard and first reported by the Wall Street Journal. That payment rate is higher than Spotify, which has a confusing variable rate scheme that basically tops out at a half-penny per stream.
Announcing a penny-per-stream rate is a nice PR win for Apple Music, since it is 1. very simple and 2. Spotify hates talking about its per-stream payments, which the company insists are a misleading figure. Seriously, it just launched an entire website called Loud&Clear last month designed to help artists and fans understand how payments work, and a good chunk of it is devoted to explaining why per-stream rates are not the right thing to focus on. It’s a lot of copy like this:
In the streaming era, fans do not pay per song and services do not pay per stream, so we don’t believe a “per stream rate” is a meaningful number to analyze. Still, we understand that artists find it useful to calculate an effective “per stream” rate or, in other words, a revenue-to-streams ratio — dividing the total size of the royalty pool on Spotify (the numerator) by the total number of music streams on Spotify (the denominator). Both of these numbers are growing incredibly quickly every year.
There are a number of factors that contribute to that ratio looking small, which we understand can seem problematic.
Right. It is important to note that Spotify runs a massive ad-supported music service with very different economics to the paid Spotify Premium tier, while Apple Music only offers a paid service. And Spotify is way bigger, with 345 million total users, of which 155 million are paying Spotify Premium customers. (It’s hard to put good numbers on how big Apple Music is currently; the company’s last public number is “more than 60 million subscribers” from June 2019, and more recent estimates have it at 72 million.)
In any event, Spotify’s argument is that it pays lower variable rates on far more streams, while Apple’s happy to say that it pays a higher, simpler rate on fewer streams. Neither argument really solves the essential economic problem of streaming, which is that most artists can’t make a living on streaming royalties alone, which is why everyone is out there selling NFTs and hoping the concert business comes back in force soon.
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