Today, we will be reviewing yet another Xiaomi mid-ranger – we are welcoming the 4G version of the Mi 11 Lite.
We are not sure how Xiaomi can keep uninterrupted production of so many phones with the ongoing global chip shortages. But we are glad things are working well for them so far.
The Mi 11 Lite 5G has already earned our recommendation, and we are hoping its cheaper version to be just as good. The lightweight Mi 11 Lite, just like the Mi 11 Lite 5G, is shaped after the Mi 11 flagship and focuses on similar features – an HRR OLED screen, enjoyable camera quality, long battery life, fast charging, and overall smooth UI experience.
We are glad to see Xiaomi has thoughtfully handpicked the features that matter the most. The 6.55-inch OLED is of great quality with 10-bit color support, HDR10 certification, and a 90Hz refresh rate. There is also 240Hz touch sampling, which is another requirement for a smooth experience.
The triple camera on the back is also reminiscent of the Mi 11’s and the same as on the Mi 11 Lite 5G – there is a high-res 64MP primary, an 8MP ultrawide snapper, and a 5MP telemacro cam. All sorts of shooting modes are supported, including Night Mode, Long Exposure, Pro mode for all cameras, and the Mi 11 series exclusive video modes such as Parallel World, Time Freeze, Night Mode Timelapse, among others.
The Mi 11 Lite relies on the Snapdragon 732G chip – the same one we experienced as part of the Redmi Note 10 Pro. That’s the only notable difference with the Mi 11 Lite 5G – the 5G model uses a more powerful Snapdragon 780G 5G SoC.
The Mi 11 Lite may have undergone an obvious cost-cutting process, but it still gets to enjoy stereo speakers, NFC connectivity, a microSD slot, and even an IR port. And, by looking at its specs sheet, it does seem like a Lite version done right.
Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite specs at a glance:
Body: 160.5×75.7×6.8mm, 157g; Gorilla Glass 5 front, glass back, plastic frame.
Display: 6.55″ AMOLED, 1B colors, HDR10, 90Hz, 240Hz touch sampling, 500 nits (typ), 800 nits, 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 402ppi.
Chipset: Qualcomm SM7150 Snapdragon 732G (8 nm): Octa-core (2×2.3 GHz Kryo 470 Gold & 6×1.8 GHz Kryo 470 Silver); Adreno 618.
Memory: 64GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM; UFS 2.2; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot).
OS/Software: Android 11, MIUI 12.
Rear camera: Wide (main): 64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm, 1/1.97″, 0.7µm, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 119˚, 1/4.0″, 1.12µm; Macro: 5 MP, f/2.4, AF.
Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.5, 25mm (wide), 1/3.06″ 1.0µm.
Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps; gyro-EIS; Front camera: 1080p@30fps, 720p@120fps.
Battery: 4250mAh; Fast charging 33W.
Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); Infrared port.The most notable omission is splash resistance, obviously. While the similarly priced Poco X3 Pro is IP53-rated, and Samsung is putting an even bigger effort with its most recent IP67-rated Galaxy A phones, Xiaomi isn’t keen on providing any sort of ingress protection for the Mi 11 Lite phones. It’s not a major issue, of course, but it’s already a popular must-have for the competition.
Unboxing the Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite
The Mi 11 Lite bundle is a match to what most of the Redmi and Poco phones recently offered – a 33W power adapter, a 3A-rated USB-C cable, there is also a USB-C-to-3.5mm adapter.
There is also a transparent silicone case inside the retail box – a much-appreciated addition across all Xiaomi phones. Xiaomi is also giving away a thin screen protector, but it’s one of those cheap films that turn your screen into a smudge magnet, and we just couldn’t bear all this smear, sorry.
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What makes a smartwatch “smart”? Is it the ability to show you notifications from your phone? What about the ability to track your physical activity and wellness, such as step counts, workouts, and sleep? How about providing you information about your day, such as the weather and upcoming calendar events? Or perhaps it’s the inclusion of a voice assistant on your wrist that you can ask to do things without having to use your phone?
Those are the questions I’ve been asking over the past week-plus as I’ve been testing the new OnePlus Watch, a $159 smartwatch and the first wearable from the smartphone company. The OnePlus Watch has all the looks of a modern smartwatch, but as I’ve learned wearing it on my wrist day and night, it doesn’t have all the smarts.
The OnePlus Watch is not like a Wear OS smartwatch, such as those made by Fossil, Motorola, or Mobvoi. Nor is it like a Samsung Galaxy Watch or an Apple Watch. All of those have software platforms that integrate with other apps and services, so you can download apps or watchfaces to the watch itself, just like you might with a phone. That makes them very extensible and customizable — you can easily make the watch look unique and do the things you need it to.
The OnePlus Watch, on the other hand (or wrist?), runs its own proprietary software, based on a real-time operating system. This software is very quick and power efficient, but it is not extensible — there’s no app store or third-party watchfaces to download on the OnePlus Watch. It’s similar to the software on the budget smartwatches you can get on Amazon; if you’ve ever used an Amazfit, Umidigi, or Wyze watch, you’ve used a real-time operating system. The OnePlus Watch is not very different from those in this respect.
This choice of platform affords the OnePlus Watch its greatest strength, long battery life, and also its greatest weakness: it just doesn’t do all that much compared to other smartwatches you can buy.
The OnePlus Watch looks like many other smartwatches, but most especially the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active.
OnePlus Watch software
The OnePlus Watch pairs with and is controlled by the OnePlus Health app for Android — there’s no iPhone compatibility at all. But you don’t need to own a OnePlus phone, it works with basically any modern Android device. I tested it on both OnePlus and Samsung smartphones and the experience was the same.
The app is where you can see what health and fitness metrics the watch has recorded, adjust which apps send notifications on your wrist, and view the available watchfaces. OnePlus has about 50 watchfaces so far, with some offering limited customizability in the form of selectable shortcuts or widgets, such as a weather widget, date, or shortcut to a built-in app like the timer. You can choose up to 14 faces to store on the watch and switch between them without using your phone. The company says it plans on adding more in the future, but as I mentioned earlier, there are no options for third-party watchfaces or third-party app widgets like you get with Samsung, Wear OS, or Apple smartwatches.
The watchfaces themselves are what you’d expect: there is the assortment of analog and digital styles to choose from, with some showing more information about your activity than others. I’m not a big fan of the analog options, so I settled on a digital face. Unfortunately, there’s a bug where digital watchfaces on the OnePlus Watch are stuck in 24-hour time and can’t show 12-hour time. The company tells me it is aware of this bug, and it is slated to be fixed “this month.”
The OnePlus Watch’s interface mimics Wear OS and is easy to navigate.
The watch interface has a familiar layout: swipe down for settings, swipe up to see notifications, press the side button to see your apps. You can swipe right from the watchface to access basic widgets for music control, weather, and activity tracking, similar to Wear OS or a Samsung watch. The design of the interface all looks mostly fine, and there thankfully aren’t any stutters or lags when navigating it.
I do have a few gripes with how notifications are handled. You can’t clear notifications by just swiping them away, like you can with every other smartwatch. Instead, you have to tap into each one and then press clear or scroll to the bottom to clear them all. It’s a clumsy and fiddly process. The OnePlus Watch doesn’t always sync with the notifications I’ve cleared on my phone, either, and occasionally notifications for the same messages would get duplicated, forcing me to see the same alerts more than once.
You can’t do much with those notifications, either. There are no actions you can take other than clearing them from your wrist. OnePlus supports canned message replies in just five apps: WhatsApp, Telegram, Line, Discord, and Facebook Messenger. Notably and frustratingly, that list doesn’t include standard SMS messages. On top of that, there are only four basic replies to choose from: “OK”; “Be right there!”; “In a meeting, contact you later”; and “I’m driving, contact you later.” I frequently use a smartwatch to triage notifications, delete incoming emails, or reply to messages when I’m away from my desk, but I can’t do most of those things with the OnePlus Watch.
The OnePlus Watch comes with a basic set of apps: weather, timer, stopwatch, alarm, workout, sleep tracking, etc. Oddly, it doesn’t have a calculator or a calendar app, so I can’t easily see my next meeting or appointment, something I do a lot with other smartwatches. There’s no way to get your next appointment on your watchface, either. And since there isn’t an app store, I can’t add any apps to that list.
You can forget about streaming music from Spotify or playing podcasts through your favorite app — the only thing you can do with the OnePlus Watch is control what’s playing on your phone or transfer MP3 files from your phone to the watch’s 4GB of storage. Want to track your runs with Strava or MapMyFitness instead of OnePlus’ app? Sorry, no dice. If you want to control smart home devices from your wrist, the OnePlus Watch is entirely useless unless you have a OnePlus TV, where you can use it as a remote. The OnePlus TV is only available in India.
The OnePlus Watch also lacks a voice assistant. I can’t ask it to start a timer when I’m in the kitchen and my hands are dirty, I can’t ask it to turn the lights off or open my garage door, and I can’t dictate a reply to an incoming message. How well voice assistants work varies greatly between smartwatches (Siri on the Apple Watch, pretty good! Bixby on a Samsung watch, less so), but OnePlus isn’t even trying here and I’ve missed having one available.
Lastly, even though the OnePlus Watch has an NFC radio, it does not support mobile payments. You can’t tap your wrist to pay for something like you can with an Apple Watch, Samsung watch, or Wear OS smartwatch.
The OnePlus Watch’s fitness tracking features hit the standard beats.Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
OnePlus Watch fitness tracking
The fitness tracking features are quite basic. It will track your steps throughout the day; the watch will nudge you to get up and move when you’ve been sitting for too long; you can choose between 14 different workouts for the watch to track; and if you wear the OnePlus Watch to bed, it will make an attempt to track your sleep.
I’m not a gym rat, but I did wear the OnePlus Watch on my left wrist with a Fitbit Inspire HR on my right wrist throughout this review and the OnePlus counted thousands fewer steps than the Fitbit every day. None of these devices are perfect with their step tracking, but that kind of discrepancy is going to make tracking a longer-distance run or other intense workout inaccurate or just plain hard to do. I asked a few other reviewers I know who are also testing the OnePlus Watch and each one has had the same issues with inaccurate step counting. OnePlus says a bug fix for GPS optimization and to add more workout modes will be available sometime in mid-April.
While the OnePlus Watch frequently undercounted my steps, it overestimated how much I slept each night.
Sleep tracking, oddly enough, has the opposite problem. The OnePlus Watch consistently overestimates how long I slept each night compared to the Fitbit and Google’s Nest Hub. A bug has also prevented the Watch from syncing its sleep data with the OnePlus Health app, even though other activity synced over fine. The company says this bug should also be fixed sometime this month.
As mentioned earlier, you can’t use other fitness apps on the OnePlus Watch. The OnePlus Health app provides syncing with the Google Fit platform, so it’s possible you could cobble together a syncing solution between other apps using Fit as glue, but I did not test this. In general, the OnePlus Watch’s fitness tracking is fine for basic activity trends, but any fitness enthusiasts will want something more capable and reliable.
The OnePlus Watch only comes in one size: a large 46mm face.
OnePlus Watch hardware and design
In terms of design, the OnePlus Watch is generic-looking — it reminds me a lot of Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Active line. It’s got a round face, there are two buttons on the side, and the body is made of polished stainless steel, which is nice to see at this price point. It comes in silver, black, or a gold-colored special edition — I’ve got the black model and it’s a little boring to look at. Either way, the hardware is solid and put together well — it’s not creaky or plasticky, and there are no rough edges to worry about.
OnePlus is only offering the watch in one size, 46mm, and frankly, it’s big. It’s bigger than I like watches to be on my wrist, and if you have smaller wrists than me you’re not going to have a fun time with this. On the plus side, it’s not the thickest smartwatch I’ve ever worn. Just one size band comes in the box — OnePlus says that customers who need a shorter band will be able to get one by contacting customer service.
The touchscreen is a 1.39-inch 454 x 454 OLED that’s easy to see both indoors and out. It’s colorful, like you’d expect an OLED to be, but there’s no always-on display option, which nearly every other smartwatch has now. That makes it that much more annoying to check the time, though the wrist turn gesture does work well to wake it up.
On the underside are the sensors for heart rate and blood oxygen. As usual, you should not use these sensors for medical purposes — and blood oxygen monitors on even the best smartwatches notoriously struggle with giving accurate readings. Inside the watch are the accelerometers and gyroscopes necessary to track your activity and workouts, plus GPS and Bluetooth radios. There’s no Wi-Fi or LTE here — if you leave your phone behind, you’re going to miss notifications and alerts until the watch is back in Bluetooth range of your phone.
Also missing from the OnePlus Watch are any rotating bezels or crowns — the only way to interact with it is to tap and swipe on the screen itself or push the buttons on the side.
Even though it doesn’t have a voice assistant, the OnePlus Watch does have a microphone and speaker, so you can answer calls from your wrist via Bluetooth. It worked fine in my tests; callers said I sounded clear to them, but the speaker on the watch is a bit crackly at full volume. It works in a pinch.
The OnePlus Watch has exceptional battery life and charges very quickly on its included charger.
The best thing about the OnePlus Watch is its battery life. OnePlus claims up to 14 days of usage between charges — it lasted about 10 days for me, wearing it day and night. Charging the watch is also quick and easy: just 20 minutes on the charger adds half a charge, which translates to literal days of usage. No Apple, Samsung, or Wear OS watch can last this long or charge this quickly.
But at the same time, the OnePlus Watch has such great battery life because, frankly, it just does less than those other smartwatches. The best comparison I can make is that the OnePlus Watch is a fitness tracker in a smartwatch body, which would be an acceptable premise if it were a better fitness tracker.
There are about 50 different watchfaces to choose from for the OnePlus Watch.
The OnePlus Watch may look like a lot of other smartwatches, but I can’t say it compares well to them. It’s limited in features, only comes in one size, and as I’ve gone over, there are several bugs with it that make it feel like an unfinished product. Aside from its long battery life, the OnePlus Watch’s bestselling point is its low price, which is half that of a Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 and over $100 less than the comparably sized Galaxy Watch Active 2. But if you’re looking for a smartwatch for your Android phone, it’s not that hard to find Wear OS models on sale, often for less than the cost of the OnePlus Watch.
For me, a good smartwatch is a lot like a personal assistant on my wrist. It tells me the time, when my next calendar appointment is, what the weather is like, and how active I’ve been throughout the day. I can quickly ask it to set a timer when I’m making a cup of tea or use it to reply to a message from my spouse when I’m running an errand. It also lets me customize its appearance and capabilities through third-party apps, watchfaces, or both. For others, it’s a way to track workouts and keep on top of their personal health.
In that framing, the OnePlus Watch isn’t really a smartwatch and based on my experience, it isn’t a great fitness tracker either. Instead, it’s just a clever watch, and it can be useful if your expectations of it are low. But if a smartwatch is going to take up real estate on my wrist, it has to be more useful than the OnePlus Watch.
Nintendo’s official Pro Controller for the Switch is generally a pretty useful accessory, but it has its problems: the D-pad is unreliable, and it doesn’t really offer any “pro-level” functionality. 8BitDo’s latest controller improves on both of those issues while coming in at a lower price.
The 8BitDo Pro 2 is an upgraded version of the SN30Pro Plus, already a well-regarded Switch controller. It uses Bluetooth and also works with PCs and mobile devices; there’s a physical control for flipping between Switch, X-input, D-input, and Mac. You can use it as a wired controller with a USB-C cable, too. I did try using it with my PC, but I feel like it makes more sense on the Switch due to the Japanese-style button layout with B on the bottom and A on the right. Or maybe I’m just too used to using Xbox controllers on the PC.
Aesthetically, it looks kind of like a cross between a SNES pad and a PlayStation controller, with a lozenge-shaped body, two handles, and symmetrically aligned analog sticks. The unit I have is decked out in a PlayStation-inspired gray colorway, though there’s also an all-black option and a beige model that evokes the original Game Boy.
It’s not a huge controller, but it feels comfortable in my large hands, with easy access to all of the buttons and triggers. Just as importantly for me, the D-pad is good. It feels more or less like a SNES pad, and its placement above the left analog stick makes it more appropriate for games where it’s a primary input option. I’d much rather use the Pro 2 than Nintendo’s Pro Controller for just about any 2D game on the Switch.
The Pro 2’s key feature over its predecessor is the customizable back buttons that you can press with your middle finger. These are a common element of enthusiast-focused controllers today, from Microsoft’s Elite controllers to third-party offerings like the Astro C40 for the PS4. Sony also released an attachment that brings similar functionality to the DualShock 4.
These buttons are useful because they allow you to enter commands without taking your thumbs off the sticks. Most first-person shooters, for example, assign jumping to a face button, which means it can be awkward to activate while aiming at the same time. With controllers like the Pro 2, you can set a back button to work the same way as a given face button, freeing you up to design more flexible control schemes. The Pro 2 makes it much easier to manipulate the camera in the middle of a Monster Hunter Rise battle, which might be worth the asking price alone.
The back buttons on the Pro 2 are responsive and clicky, activating with a slight squeeze. You can assign them through 8BitDo’s Ultimate Software app, which is now available for the Pro 2 on iOS and Android as well as PCs. It’s not quite as simple as some pro controller setups that let you remap the buttons directly on the controller itself, but it does support multiple profiles and works well enough. Beside button assignments, the app can also be used to modify the controller’s vibration strength and stick sensitivity.
You do miss out on some of the Switch Pro Controller’s features with the 8BitDo Pro 2. While the rumble is solid, it doesn’t feel as precise as Nintendo’s HD Rumble in supported games. The Pro 2 also lacks an NFC reader, so it won’t work with Amiibo figurines. And it can’t be used to power the Switch on, which is common to most third-party controllers across various platforms.
For $49.99, though, those omissions are understandable. That’s $20 less than Nintendo’s equivalent option, let alone the pro controllers you’d find for the Xbox or PlayStation in the $180–$200 range. And all things considered, I’d take the 8BitDo Pro 2 over the official Nintendo controller most days of the week.
The 8BitDo Pro 2 will start shipping on April 12th.
Nintendo’s official Pro Controller for the Switch is generally a pretty useful accessory, but it has its problems: the D-pad is unreliable, and it doesn’t really offer any “pro-level” functionality. 8BitDo’s latest controller improves on both of those issues while coming in at a lower price.
The 8BitDo Pro 2 is an upgraded version of the SN30Pro Plus, already a well-regarded Switch controller. It uses Bluetooth and also works with PCs and mobile devices; there’s a physical control for flipping between Switch, X-input, D-input, and Mac. You can use it as a wired controller with a USB-C cable, too. I did try using it with my PC, but I feel like it makes more sense on the Switch due to the Japanese-style button layout with B on the bottom and A on the right. Or maybe I’m just too used to using Xbox controllers on the PC.
Aesthetically, it looks kind of like a cross between a SNES pad and a PlayStation controller, with a lozenge-shaped body, two handles, and symmetrically aligned analog sticks. The unit I have is decked out in a PlayStation-inspired gray colorway, though there’s also an all-black option and a beige model that evokes the original Game Boy.
It’s not a huge controller, but it feels comfortable in my large hands, with easy access to all of the buttons and triggers. Just as importantly for me, the D-pad is good. It feels more or less like a SNES pad, and its placement above the left analog stick makes it more appropriate for games where it’s a primary input option. I’d much rather use the Pro 2 than Nintendo’s Pro Controller for just about any 2D game on the Switch.
The Pro 2’s key feature over its predecessor is the customizable back buttons that you can press with your middle finger. These are a common element of enthusiast-focused controllers today, from Microsoft’s Elite controllers to third-party offerings like the Astro C40 for the PS4. Sony also released an attachment that brings similar functionality to the DualShock 4.
These buttons are useful because they allow you to enter commands without taking your thumbs off the sticks. Most first-person shooters, for example, assign jumping to a face button, which means it can be awkward to activate while aiming at the same time. With controllers like the Pro 2, you can set a back button to work the same way as a given face button, freeing you up to design more flexible control schemes. The Pro 2 makes it much easier to manipulate the camera in the middle of a Monster Hunter Rise battle, which might be worth the asking price alone.
The back buttons on the Pro 2 are responsive and clicky, activating with a slight squeeze. You can assign them through 8BitDo’s Ultimate Software app, which is now available for the Pro 2 on iOS and Android as well as PCs. It’s not quite as simple as some pro controller setups that let you remap the buttons directly on the controller itself, but it does support multiple profiles and works well enough. Beside button assignments, the app can also be used to modify the controller’s vibration strength and stick sensitivity.
You do miss out on some of the Switch Pro Controller’s features with the 8BitDo Pro 2. While the rumble is solid, it doesn’t feel as precise as Nintendo’s HD Rumble in supported games. The Pro 2 also lacks an NFC reader, so it won’t work with Amiibo figurines. And it can’t be used to power the Switch on, which is common to most third-party controllers across various platforms.
For $49.99, though, those omissions are understandable. That’s $20 less than Nintendo’s equivalent option, let alone the pro controllers you’d find for the Xbox or PlayStation in the $180–$200 range. And all things considered, I’d take the 8BitDo Pro 2 over the official Nintendo controller most days of the week.
The 8BitDo Pro 2 will start shipping on April 12th.
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Sony’s new SRS-RA5000 is a $700 single-unit speaker that is filled to the brim with drivers, has convenient features like Spotify Connect and Chromecast built in, and is capable of producing immersive 360-degree audio.
Though it’s only coming to market now, the RA5000 dates back to CES 2019, where Sony exhibited it as a prototype speaker for its new-for-the-time 360 Reality Audio format. So it’s been in the hopper for a while. Same goes for the smaller, less expensive RA3000, which Sony demonstrated a year later at CES 2020. Now they’ve both evolved into consumer products and look practically unchanged.
At 13 inches tall, the RA5000 is much bigger than any smart speaker. And yes, from the top, it absolutely looks like an oversized electric razor, thanks to the three round speaker grilles. If this thing was all white, you might confuse it for some kind of futuristic humidifier or air purifier. But Sony has stuck with the mix of black and rose gold that has been the signature look for many of its recent headphones and earbuds. I continue to dig the contrast this creates, and the speaker’s sides are covered in a knitted fabric that hides the innards. There are touch-sensitive buttons on the left and right sides. You get volume and play / pause on the right, with the left side handling power, mode selection (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or aux input), and a calibration feature that tweaks the sound for whatever room the RA5000 is in.
There’s no denying the electric razor resemblance.
The internal layout breaks down like this: there are three up-firing speakers, three outward-facing speakers positioned at the middle of the speaker’s sides, and a single subwoofer at the bottom. Around back is a 3.5-millimeter input and a little NFC icon, which you can hold an Android phone to for quick pairing. Underneath the speaker is where the power cord plugs in, and the RA5000 comes with a big honking external power supply. That’s something I didn’t expect to see considering how large the product already is. It needs to be plugged into power at all times, so Sony’s fancy speaker is wireless but by no means portable.
The setup process is… a lot. Sony’s mobile app guides you through numerous steps like adding the RA5000 to the Google Home app, bringing it aboard your Wi-Fi network, linking it to Amazon’s Alexa platform, and more. The speaker initially had a lot of trouble connecting to my home Wi-Fi, but with some persistence, eventually it worked. As is standard for Sony, the app isn’t very polished or pretty, but it gets the job done.
The RA5000 has touch-sensitive capacitive controls.
The RA5000 offers a ton of flexibility for how you play music on it. You can pair a device to the speaker via Bluetooth — AAC and SBC codecs are there, but not LDAC — but you’ll get far better quality when the music is coming over Wi-Fi. There’s built-in Chromecast support for audio casting, and the RA5000 can also be added to a speaker group with either Google Home or Amazon Alexa. I’d have loved for Sony to round out the streaming options with AirPlay 2, but no such luck. The speaker hardware includes a microphone, but this is only used for the calibration feature. You’ll have to rely on another device to get music playing on the RA5000 with your voice, but since it’s compatible with both Alexa and Assistant, this can be done wirelessly with a cheap smart speaker or your phone.
When in traditional stereo mode, this speaker is a powerhouse, though you might expect more bass for the size. (There are EQ options in the Sony app if you want to boost the low end.) It easily blanketed both my living room and bedroom with sound; the up-firing drivers help give it a very full presence. In my average listening, I never pushed volume beyond the 60 percent range. Going much higher would probably result in some very annoyed neighbors if you’re in an apartment. But despite its big, boisterous sound, there’s no mistaking the RA5000 for a proper set of stereo speakers. It sounds every bit like the single enclosure it is.
It dwarfs most other smart speakers.
And that leads us to the standout trick: 360-degree audio. Sony’s 360 Reality Audio uses object-based spatial audio to try to build a captivating soundscape. The pitch is that it can feel “as real as if you are there at a live concert or with the artist recording in a studio.” When you close your eyes and listen to 360 Reality Audio, the RA5000 definitely sounds bigger and wider than its physical footprint. It’s a noticeable change from plain stereo. But does it put me in some mind-blowing sphere of music coming from all directions? No, not really.
When you hop between 360 tracks, you’ll notice that not all content really takes advantage of its scope. It remains unclear how involved and invested most artists really are when it comes to these 360 mixes, so I’m skeptical of any claims that this is how songs were meant to be heard. Jazz sounds fantastic; the instrumentation really benefits from bouncing off walls and your ceiling. Concert recordings, like Liam Gallagher performing Oasis hit “Champagne Supernova” with an enthusiastic sing-along crowd, also have an impressive breadth to them that feels distinct from regular stereo sound. The LED at the bottom of the speaker illuminates green when you’re playing true 360 Reality Audio music.
The speaker supports music over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or aux input.
Only a few music streaming services, including Tidal, Deezer, and Nugs.net, support Sony’s 360 Reality Audio at present. Amazon Music HD will also let you play 360 audio on the RA5000 as of April 6th. You can cast 3D audio directly from these apps to the speaker. But even among services that offer 360 Reality Audio, adoption from musicians and labels has a long way to go. Not a single song in Tidal’s “Top Tracks” section had 360 Reality Audio, nor did any of the Top Albums. That really speaks volumes. There’s a dedicated section in the explore tab where you can easily browse through playlists and albums that do support 360-degree audio. A vast majority of it is older stuff, but recent records like Haim’s Women in Music Pt. III are there, too, as are hit singles like Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar.”
The unconventional looks fit the novel 360-degree sound.
To make up for the lack of content that’s truly mixed for 360, Sony includes an “immersive audio enhancement” setting that attempts to re-create the same effect for two-channel music tracks. This algorithm-powered approach doesn’t work nearly as well. Toggling it on adds an obvious layer of artificial reverb and ambience to everything that you play, and you lose the soundstage precision that’s there with genuine 360 Reality Audio content.
At its eye-popping price of $700, finding direct “competitors” for the RA5000 is complicated. There’s a HomePod-looking device in Sony’s promotional video, but that Apple speaker was less than half the price and is now history. The $500 Sonos Five is my favorite single-unit speaker, but it sticks to stereo audio. Then you’ve got high-end, luxury audio alternatives like the $900 Formation Wedge speaker from Bowers & Wilkins, but again, that’s aiming for an audiophile-grade stereo experience. Sony’s speaker outperforms the $200 Amazon Echo Studio and can crank much louder — but that’s exactly what I’d expect considering the huge price gulf.
So the question I’m left with is this: who is this speaker for? It sounds excellent, can satisfyingly fill any normal-sized room, and 360 Reality Audio is a fun party trick. But the asking price is hard to get over. A lot of people who are serious about audio gear would sooner pay for a nice pair of stereo bookshelf speakers than drop $700 on this single unit. I think Sony’s trying to make the RA5000 a jack of all trades — led by immersive sound and an array of convenient streaming options. But I come away feeling like this speaker just tries to do too much, especially when the worth of its headline feature remains unproven and often inconsistent.
Xiaomi-owned Poco has returned with two new phones that have some notable processor choices at low prices. Both the X3 Pro and the F3 use new Qualcomm chips that are essentially updated and repurposed flagship-class processors from the past couple of years, which make them an interesting price-performance proposition.
First up is the Poco X3 Pro (pictured above and below), which is essentially identical to last year’s Poco X3 NFC but with a new processor. That means there’s still a 6.67-inch 120Hz 1080p LCD, a 5,160mAh battery with 33W fast charging, and a quad-camera setup headlined by a 48-megapixel primary sensor.
What’s new is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 SoC, which hasn’t previously been announced. The processor appears to be a new version of the Snapdragon 855, Qualcomm’s flagship part from two years ago found in phones like the Galaxy S10 and the Pixel 4. It uses the same Kryo 485 core based on ARM’s Cortex-A76 CPU, but the clock speed has been slightly bumped to up to 2.96GHz.
Poco describes the 860 as “the leading 4G flagship processor in 2021,” which doesn’t strike me as a field with a whole lot of competition. Still, it will likely outperform newer mid-range 5G chips like the 765.
The Poco F3, meanwhile, is a higher-end device that’s one of the first phones to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 870, which was announced a couple of months ago. The 870 is a similar idea to the 860 but based on the one-year-newer 865, which was Qualcomm’s highest-end chip in 2020. The CPU clock speed has again received a slight bump to a max of 3.2GHz. The 870 won’t be as fast as the 888, but another way to think of it is that it would’ve been the fastest Android phone chip in the world a couple of months ago.
The F3 itself is a rebranded version of Xiaomi’s Redmi K40, which was recently released in China. It has a 6.67-inch 120Hz 1080p OLED display, a 4,520mAh battery with 33W fast charging, and a triple-camera setup including a 48-megapixel main sensor, an 8-megapixel ultrawide, and what seems to be the same 5-megapixel “telemacro” found on the Xiaomi Mi 11.
Poco hasn’t announced full global release details yet, but the X3 Pro costs €199 for a model with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage (or €249 for 8GB/256GB), while the F3 is €299 for 6GB/128GB and €349 for 8GB/256GB. Those are early-bird prices — all models will be bumped up by €50 after April 1st for the X3 Pro and April 6th for the F3. Even after that, though, they look like very good value for their segment. Both phones will go on sale later this week.
In 2013, Walt Disney World resort offered the MagicBands — a plastic bracelet that made it easy to perform numerous services such as park tickets. And now, almost a decade later, the company is finally making your trip to the most magical place on Earth a little more modern with MagicMobile, a digital pass accessible through your iPhone and Apple Watch starting later this year.
As an alternative to spending money on a plastic NFC wristband, the MagicMobile pass will be added to your Apple Wallet. Guests can then use their iPhone or Apple Watch to gain entry into the park. Disney has not said exactly when MagicMobile will officially be available but confirmed Apple devices would get access to the service and features first.
Disney confirmed in a blog post that the MagicBands will still be an option, and guests can choose which option is more convenient for them or even use both and alternate between the MagicBand and MagicMobile pass. (Disney says it’s introducing new MagicBand colors and designs featuring Disney characters.) The company also notes that MagicMobile will not replace the My Disney Experience app, which serves as a digital room key for guests staying at a Disney Resort hotel.
Amazon One, the technology that lets customers pay in shops by scanning their palm, is expanding to more stores in the greater Seattle area. The company says it’s available starting today in its 4-star store in Lynnwood, and in the coming weeks, Amazon One is also coming to its Amazon Books store in Bellevue and its 4-star and Pop Up stores in South Lake Union. In total, 12 of Amazon’s physical stores will soon feature the technology.
The e-commerce giant announced its palm recognition Amazon One system last year. It works by scanning your hand and identifying its unique characteristics like surface area details and vein patterns. Palm scanning technology has been around for a few years, and it’s pretty secure as biometric security methods go, though there are concerns about how Amazon might use the data gathered as part of the system.
So far, Amazon has made Amazon One available as a payment option across a number of its own-branded physical stores around Seattle. But in the longer term, the company hopes the convenience factor of being able to confirm your identity using just your hand will convince third-party businesses to use the service, too; the Amazon One website invites other companies to contact its sales team. That might include other stores or even locations like offices where the system could replace the need for NFC ID tags.
The Redmi Note 10 Pro is the best phone of the series that Xiaomi announced on Thursday, though the naming could have been better. In India fans will find an almost identical phone under the Redmi Note 10 Pro Max name (the key difference is the removal of NFC).
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro
The two phones are certainly similar enough that our written review applies to both. The same goes for our video review, which you can watch below.
The Note 10 Pro impresses with the value it brings on a modest budget. This €250 phone stands out with its 120 Hz AMOLED display, most phones in its price range switch to LCD in order to afford a high refresh rate. The other highlight is the 108 MP main camera that shoots flagship-level photos (though low light performance leaves something to be desired).
If you like what you see, the Redmi Note 10 Pro will become available globally on March 8 (Monday) and you’ll be able to grab one for $300/€250. India’s Redmi Note 10 Pro Max will be up on Mi.com and Amazon from March 18 (the starting price is INR 19,000 for a 6/64 GB unit).
Oppo introduced the Oppo Band back in June 2020, and nine months later, the wearable finally will escape the domestic scene. Its first overseas market will be India, with a launch scheduled for Monday, March 8 and the name is slightly changed – it will now be called Oppo Band Style.
The wearable comes in two variants – one with a simple TPU wrist band and a more fashionable option with a metal ring.
The Oppo Band Style has 12 exercise modes, including one for long-distance runners – a specific group of athletes that rarely gets recognition in the world of affordable wearables. There is also a continuous heart rate monitor and SpO2 tracking – Oppo claims the Band can make a measurement every second for eight hours straight.
Oppo Band Style
The band’s typical battery life is 14 days, with 1.5 hours charging time after the two-week period. The wearable in China has NFC, but Oppo India said nothing about this type of connectivity in a press release about the launch date. Another unknown is the price – in China, it costs the equivalent of $30/€27, so it should be no more than INR2,500.
The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G has not been officially announced yet – that is expected to happen later this month – but a retailer in Saudi Arabia has put the phone on sale already, listing the full specs and everything.
The A52 5G has a 6.5” Super AMOLED display with 1,080 x 2,400 px resolution. We’re not seeing a refresh rate listed but it should be 120Hz (the rumors were right about everything else). The fingerprint reader is built into the display and the whole thing is guarded by Gorilla Glass (we’re not 100% clear on the version).
The Snapdragon 750G is the brains of the operation, as expected. It is hooked up to 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB storage and there’s a microSD slot for up to 1 TB more (the dual card slot has a hybrid design). Only one memory configuration is listed, but that’s something that varies by region.
Samsung Galaxy A52 5G (in Black)
Anyway, the Galaxy A52 5G has a 64MP main camera that can record 4K videos. Next up is a 12MP camera (presumably ultrawide) and two 5MP modules (macro and depth is our bet). The selfie camera has a 32MP sensor.
The phone’s 4,500 mAh battery is charged over USB-C at 25W. There’s no 3.5 mm headphone jack by the looks of it, but the phone does have NFC.
Note that the OS version is listed as Android 10, but we believe this to be a mistake – the phone ran Android 11 when it went through Geekbench.
The retailer is charging SAR 1,650 for the Galaxy A52 5G, which works out to $440/€365. This matches the rumored prices. There should be a 4G model as well, but that one isn’t showing up yet.
(Pocket-lint) – Think ‘Montblanc’ and in your mind’s eye you could be picturing any number of things: wallets, pens, jewellery, watches, bags, belts, or even notebooks. The one thing that they all have in common (apart from often being made from black leather) is that they’re luxury items and aren’t cheap. A Meisterstück gold-coated Classique ballpoint pen could set you back hundreds.
So when Montblanc launches a Wear OS smartwatch it’s best to go in with the expectation that it won’t be cheap. But actually, if you compare this second-gen watch – here the Summit Lite – to other Montblanc watches, it’s relatively cost efficient. That means there’s still definitely some appeal here for anyone wanting a luxury smartwatch but who doesn’t wish to spend more than a grand.
Design
Colours: Grey or black
43mm aluminium case
Straps: Fabric or rubber
Anti-scratch crystal glass
Water resistant to 50m (5ATM)
Rotating crown and 3 push buttons
Montblanc’s first smartwatch, the Summit, was pretty but underwhelming. From a design perspective there was a missed opportunity – it had a stylish looking crown, but it didn’t rotate and it was the only button on the side; and we found the whole device too big.
Pocket-lint
The company improved things considerably with the Summit 2, which launched in 2019, and now there’s the new Summit Lite model – hence that slightly more affordable price point.
The Summit Lite has three buttons on its side. Each of them feels sumptuous when pressed, giving a lovely ‘click’ and feeling just like a proper watch with proper buttons should. But the best thing about these buttons is that the middle one has a proper rotating crown.
Rotating it is smooth and effortless without it feeling too loose. Doing so enables you interact with elements on the screen. For instance, you can use it to scroll up and down lists or messages, or – when on the watch face – bring up notifications or the quick settings tiles.
Our only complaint about the rotating crown – as pretty and shiny as it is – is the surface is just a little too smooth and shiny. That means you need a little firm pressure to make sure you finger gets enough traction to turn it. A slightly toothier edge would have made this a little easier.
Pocket-lint
What’s great about traditional fashion and design companies getting involved in the smartwatch market is that they deliver decent case designs. For its full-fat Summit watches, Montblanc uses stainless steel for the case material. With the Lite model it’s aluminium.
The 43mm case isn’t too big and sits comfortably on the wrist. The contrast between the glossy bezel and buttons with their softer anodised finish on the case is eye-catching. It has that glint of dress watch that looks great just subtly poking out from under your blazer or cardigan sleeve.
There are some subtle angles on the lugs that make the edges softer in appearance, while they curve downwards towards the strap to create a skinny side-on profile. It’s nice and lightweight too thanks to that shift from steel to aluminium.
It’s not just about being pretty though. The casing feels like it’s well put together, while the screen is capped off with crystal glass to help avoid scratches from when you inevitably brush it against all manner of hard surfaces in your daily activity.
Pocket-lint
Our unit shipped with a thick black rubber strap which had something of a ‘sticky’ feel when we first put it on, but that sensation has since tamed. Other fabric strap options are available too. However, the case will fit any 22mm strap and the quick-release catches mean it’s super simple to swap for one you really want.
Turn the Summit Lite upside down and you’ll see its well-considered underside. Right in the centre is the optical heart-rate sensor – built within a subtle protrusion that’s surrounded by a metal ring – and accompanied by a four-pin connector for the charging base.
It looks and feels more purposeful than a lot of other Wear OS undersides and, happily, it snaps onto its magnetic charging cradle with ease. It holds the watch in position well and – thanks to having a rounded cutout for the rotating crown – only fits the watch one way, so there’s no chance you’ll ever find yourself placing the watch in the wrong way.
If there’s any criticism it’s that the cradle itself is relatively lightweight plastic and so – because of the strong connection – if you try and remove the watch one-handed you’ll more than likely take the cradle with you. You need to hold both in order to separate them.
Pocket-lint
On the plus side, the underside is coated in an almost-sticky rubber-like material that helps it not to slide around all over the place.
Display and software
1.2-inch circular AMOLED display
390 x 390 resolution
Wear OS software
For the most part, the software situation with the Montblanc Summit Lite is the same as pretty much every other Google Wear OS watch. The main interfaces and preinstalled apps are the same, but it comes with Montblanc’s own watch faces.
Pocket-lint
Press the middle button and it launches your apps list, and the top and bottom buttons can be customised to launch any number of functions or apps. By default, however, they launch two elements of Montblanc’s own activity tracker screens. And this is where the Summit Lite is slightly different to some of the other Wear OS devices.
The activity app can be used to manually track any workout, but will also track your movement, heart-rate and stress levels throughout the day, and your sleep quality at night. Combining that information it can also measure how well rested you are and give you an Energy Level reading. It’s similar in theory to Garmin’s Body Battery feature.
Go running and it’ll work out your VO2 Max (that’s blood oxygen saturation) and judge your fitness level. It’ll even give you the time frame you need to rest for in order to recover for you next workout session. Interestingly, there’s also a Cardio Coach function which tells you what you should aim for in terms of heart rate intensity and duration for your next activity.
There are some pretty glaring holes in this workout software though. Firstly, there’s no mobile companion app. That means all that useful data and detail just stays on the watch. Secondly, if you go on a run or bike ride, there’s no map to look at afterwards to see if it tracked your route properly.
The solution to these issues is to use third-party apps – like Strava for running/cycling – or just use the Google Fit app that’s built-in as standard to all Wear OS watches.
Pocket-lint
For those who want those features it makes more sense to completely bypass Montblanc’s offering. It’s a shame really, because otherwise that data and information on the watch could be really useful. It’d just be nice to get access to it from a phone.
Otherwise accuracy seems on point. Comparing the Summit Lite’s data to that captured on the Garmin Vivoactive 4 reveals that the average heart-rate was within one or two beats-per-minute away from matching. There was a slight difference in distance measured and, as a result, pace – but not enough that it made any serious difference to the tracked activity. It was about 10-20 metres out on a 25 minute 4km run, which is a pretty standard discrepancy between watches.
All of this software and detail is shown on a fully round AMOLED panel. It’s a 1.2-inch screen, and boasts 390 pixels both vertically and horizontally, making pretty much on par with the latest hardware from the likes of Fossil.
Hardware and battery performance
Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform
1GB RAM + 8GB storage
Tech aficionados will complain that a watch in 2021 doesn’t feature the newest Snapdragon Wear 4100 processor. Nonetheless, there’s not a huge amount wrong with the way the Montblanc Summit Lite performs.
The Wear 3100 processor here ensures that the interface and animations are mostly smooth and responsive. There are elements that still feel a little laggy and slow, however, which is usually when extra data is required – like when browsing the Google Play Store on the wrist to download apps. There’s a little bit of a wait launching most apps, too. You’ll maybe need to wait three seconds for Google’s Keep Notes to launch, for example.
Pocket-lint
As far as connectivity and modern tech goes, the Summit Lite has pretty much everything you’d want from a smartwatch. There’s NFC (near field communication) to enable Google Pay for contactless payments. There’s Wi-Fi for direct downloading apps on to the watch. And there’s GPS for location tracking.
Best Apple Watch apps 2021: 43 apps to download that actually do something
By Britta O’Boyle
·
Battery life is pretty standard for a Wear OS watch too: you’ll get roughly two days between charges. We managed to get through two work days even with the always-on display switched on – because the watch faces run a lower brightness and lower refresh rate than the main watch face.
Verdict
The Montblanc Summit Lite’s side buttons have been purposefully redesigned with a proper rotating crown for enhanced interaction, paired with a great all-round display, plus all the features you’d expect from a Wear OS watch.
Despite being a ‘Lite’ model it’s still expensive, though, so you’re very much still paying for the Montblanc brand name. Furthermore Montblanc’s otherwise useful activity tracking doesn’t have a companion phone app to download and view your data in much detail. So it’s more decoration than designed for those super serious about tracking fitness.
Overall, things have improved dramatically since the first Montblanc Summit watch. The Summit Lite is really well designed, with its subtle, stylish and almost minimalist look, while also featuring practical material choices and the durability you’d expect from any modern smartwatch.
Also consider
Pocket-lint
Tag Heuer Connected 2020
squirrel_widget_231495
Compare the prices and the Montblanc starts to look like good value for money. The Tag is about double the price, but it’s still the luxury smartwatch champ that has a lot going for it.
Read our review
Pocket-lint
Fossil Gen 5 Garrett HR
squirrel_widget_307331
On the complete opposite end of the scale, but with a similar approach to style, Fossil’s Garrett is one of the nicest looking and more affordable options from the popular fashion brand.
(Pocket-lint) – Think ‘Montblanc’ and in your mind’s eye you could be picturing any number of things: wallets, pens, jewellery, watches, bags, belts, or even notebooks. The one thing that they all have in common (apart from often being made from black leather) is that they’re luxury items and aren’t cheap. A Meisterstück gold-coated Classique ballpoint pen could set you back hundreds.
So when Montblanc launches a Wear OS smartwatch it’s best to go in with the expectation that it won’t be cheap. But actually, if you compare this second-gen watch – here the Summit Lite – to other Montblanc watches, it’s relatively cost efficient. That means there’s still definitely some appeal here for anyone wanting a luxury smartwatch but who doesn’t wish to spend more than a grand.
Design
Colours: Grey or black
43mm aluminium case
Straps: Fabric or rubber
Anti-scratch crystal glass
Water resistant to 50m (5ATM)
Rotating crown and 3 push buttons
Montblanc’s first smartwatch, the Summit, was pretty but underwhelming. From a design perspective there was a missed opportunity – it had a stylish looking crown, but it didn’t rotate and it was the only button on the side; and we found the whole device too big.
Pocket-lint
The company improved things considerably with the Summit 2, which launched in 2019, and now there’s the new Summit Lite model – hence that slightly more affordable price point.
The Summit Lite has three buttons on its side. Each of them feels sumptuous when pressed, giving a lovely ‘click’ and feeling just like a proper watch with proper buttons should. But the best thing about these buttons is that the middle one has a proper rotating crown.
Rotating it is smooth and effortless without it feeling too loose. Doing so enables you interact with elements on the screen. For instance, you can use it to scroll up and down lists or messages, or – when on the watch face – bring up notifications or the quick settings tiles.
Our only complaint about the rotating crown – as pretty and shiny as it is – is the surface is just a little too smooth and shiny. That means you need a little firm pressure to make sure you finger gets enough traction to turn it. A slightly toothier edge would have made this a little easier.
Pocket-lint
What’s great about traditional fashion and design companies getting involved in the smartwatch market is that they deliver decent case designs. For its full-fat Summit watches, Montblanc uses stainless steel for the case material. With the Lite model it’s aluminium.
The 43mm case isn’t too big and sits comfortably on the wrist. The contrast between the glossy bezel and buttons with their softer anodised finish on the case is eye-catching. It has that glint of dress watch that looks great just subtly poking out from under your blazer or cardigan sleeve.
There are some subtle angles on the lugs that make the edges softer in appearance, while they curve downwards towards the strap to create a skinny side-on profile. It’s nice and lightweight too thanks to that shift from steel to aluminium.
It’s not just about being pretty though. The casing feels like it’s well put together, while the screen is capped off with crystal glass to help avoid scratches from when you inevitably brush it against all manner of hard surfaces in your daily activity.
Pocket-lint
Our unit shipped with a thick black rubber strap which had something of a ‘sticky’ feel when we first put it on, but that sensation has since tamed. Other fabric strap options are available too. However, the case will fit any 22mm strap and the quick-release catches mean it’s super simple to swap for one you really want.
Turn the Summit Lite upside down and you’ll see its well-considered underside. Right in the centre is the optical heart-rate sensor – built within a subtle protrusion that’s surrounded by a metal ring – and accompanied by a four-pin connector for the charging base.
It looks and feels more purposeful than a lot of other Wear OS undersides and, happily, it snaps onto its magnetic charging cradle with ease. It holds the watch in position well and – thanks to having a rounded cutout for the rotating crown – only fits the watch one way, so there’s no chance you’ll ever find yourself placing the watch in the wrong way.
If there’s any criticism it’s that the cradle itself is relatively lightweight plastic and so – because of the strong connection – if you try and remove the watch one-handed you’ll more than likely take the cradle with you. You need to hold both in order to separate them.
Pocket-lint
On the plus side, the underside is coated in an almost-sticky rubber-like material that helps it not to slide around all over the place.
Display and software
1.2-inch circular AMOLED display
390 x 390 resolution
Wear OS software
For the most part, the software situation with the Montblanc Summit Lite is the same as pretty much every other Google Wear OS watch. The main interfaces and preinstalled apps are the same, but it comes with Montblanc’s own watch faces.
Pocket-lint
Press the middle button and it launches your apps list, and the top and bottom buttons can be customised to launch any number of functions or apps. By default, however, they launch two elements of Montblanc’s own activity tracker screens. And this is where the Summit Lite is slightly different to some of the other Wear OS devices.
The activity app can be used to manually track any workout, but will also track your movement, heart-rate and stress levels throughout the day, and your sleep quality at night. Combining that information it can also measure how well rested you are and give you an Energy Level reading. It’s similar in theory to Garmin’s Body Battery feature.
Go running and it’ll work out your VO2 Max (that’s blood oxygen saturation) and judge your fitness level. It’ll even give you the time frame you need to rest for in order to recover for you next workout session. Interestingly, there’s also a Cardio Coach function which tells you what you should aim for in terms of heart rate intensity and duration for your next activity.
There are some pretty glaring holes in this workout software though. Firstly, there’s no mobile companion app. That means all that useful data and detail just stays on the watch. Secondly, if you go on a run or bike ride, there’s no map to look at afterwards to see if it tracked your route properly.
The solution to these issues is to use third-party apps – like Strava for running/cycling – or just use the Google Fit app that’s built-in as standard to all Wear OS watches.
Pocket-lint
For those who want those features it makes more sense to completely bypass Montblanc’s offering. It’s a shame really, because otherwise that data and information on the watch could be really useful. It’d just be nice to get access to it from a phone.
Otherwise accuracy seems on point. Comparing the Summit Lite’s data to that captured on the Garmin Vivoactive 4 reveals that the average heart-rate was within one or two beats-per-minute away from matching. There was a slight difference in distance measured and, as a result, pace – but not enough that it made any serious difference to the tracked activity. It was about 10-20 metres out on a 25 minute 4km run, which is a pretty standard discrepancy between watches.
All of this software and detail is shown on a fully round AMOLED panel. It’s a 1.2-inch screen, and boasts 390 pixels both vertically and horizontally, making pretty much on par with the latest hardware from the likes of Fossil.
Hardware and battery performance
Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform
1GB RAM + 8GB storage
Tech aficionados will complain that a watch in 2021 doesn’t feature the newest Snapdragon Wear 4100 processor. Nonetheless, there’s not a huge amount wrong with the way the Montblanc Summit Lite performs.
The Wear 3100 processor here ensures that the interface and animations are mostly smooth and responsive. There are elements that still feel a little laggy and slow, however, which is usually when extra data is required – like when browsing the Google Play Store on the wrist to download apps. There’s a little bit of a wait launching most apps, too. You’ll maybe need to wait three seconds for Google’s Keep Notes to launch, for example.
Pocket-lint
As far as connectivity and modern tech goes, the Summit Lite has pretty much everything you’d want from a smartwatch. There’s NFC (near field communication) to enable Google Pay for contactless payments. There’s Wi-Fi for direct downloading apps on to the watch. And there’s GPS for location tracking.
Apple watchOS 7: All the key new Apple Watch features explored
By Maggie Tillman
·
Battery life is pretty standard for a Wear OS watch too: you’ll get roughly two days between charges. We managed to get through two work days even with the always-on display switched on – because the watch faces run a lower brightness and lower refresh rate than the main watch face.
Verdict
The Montblanc Summit Lite’s side buttons have been purposefully redesigned with a proper rotating crown for enhanced interaction, paired with a great all-round display, plus all the features you’d expect from a Wear OS watch.
Despite being a ‘Lite’ model it’s still expensive, though, so you’re very much still paying for the Montblanc brand name. Furthermore Montblanc’s otherwise useful activity tracking doesn’t have a companion phone app to download and view your data in much detail. So it’s more decoration than designed for those super serious about tracking fitness.
Overall, things have improved dramatically since the first Montblanc Summit watch. The Summit Lite is really well designed, with its subtle, stylish and almost minimalist look, while also featuring practical material choices and the durability you’d expect from any modern smartwatch.
Also consider
Pocket-lint
Tag Heuer Connected 2020
squirrel_widget_231495
Compare the prices and the Montblanc starts to look like good value for money. The Tag is about double the price, but it’s still the luxury smartwatch champ that has a lot going for it.
Read our review
Pocket-lint
Fossil Gen 5 Garrett HR
squirrel_widget_307331
On the complete opposite end of the scale, but with a similar approach to style, Fossil’s Garrett is one of the nicest looking and more affordable options from the popular fashion brand.
(Pocket-lint) – Fitbit offers numerous devices in the activity tracking market, from the plain and simple Inspire 2 to its top-of-the-range smartwatch Sense.
The Charge 4 is an activity tracker that sits in between the Fitbit Inspire range and the Fitbit Versa range.
We’ve compared it to its predecessor – the Charge 3 – as well as the older Charge 2 to see how the Charge devices differ and help you work out if you should upgrade.
Which Fitbit is right for me?
squirrel_widget_217724
Design
Charge 2: OLED tap display, buckle, stainless steel, interchangeable straps
Charge 3: OLED touchscreen, buckle, aluminium, interchangeable straps, water resistant
Charge 4: OLED touchscreen, buckle, aluminium, interchangeable straps, water resistant
The Fitbit Charge 3 and Charge 4 are virtually identical in design on the surface, but they offer a number of refinements compared to the Charge 2. Not only do they add water resistance up to 50-metres, making them both swim proof, but they also trade the stainless steel body of the Charge 2 for aluminium, resulting in 20 per cent lighter devices.
The Charge 3 and Charge 4 have smoother, sleeker finishes overall compared to the Charge 2, and they also have a more refined mechanism for changing the straps. Additionally, the Charge 3 and Charge 4 trade the physical button found on the left of the Charge 2’s display for a neater inductive button.
The Fitbit Charge 2, Charge 3 and Charge 4 all have OLED displays, but the Charge 2 is just a tap display, while the Charge 3 and Charge 4 both have touchscreen displays. The Charge 3 and Charge 4 also have 40 per cent larger displays than the Charge 2.
The three devices all have buckle fastenings and they all feature a PurePulse heart rate monitor that sits on the underside of their main bodies – more on that next.
Fitbit Charge 3 review
Specs and sensors
Charge 2: PurePulse HR monitor, connected GPS
Charge 3: PurePulse HR, SpO2 monitor, connected GPS, NFC in some models
All three Fitbit Charge devices being compared here have a PurePulse optical heart rate monitor, offering automatic and continuous heart rate tracking. They also all have an accelerometer, altimeter and vibration motor.
The Charge 3 and Charge 4 both have relative SpO2 sensors too, allowing users to view a graph in the Fitbit app to see an estimate of the oxygen level variability in your bloodstream, which is designed to help show variations in your breathing during sleep.
In terms of GPS, the Charge 2 and Charge 3 both offer connected GPS, using your smartphone for the GPS signal meaning you’ll need to bring it with you when you go for a run or walk if you want detailed map data. The Charge 4 however, offers built-in GPS. There are seven GPS-enabled exercise modes to choose from.
The Charge 3 and Charge 4 also both have NFC on board, allowing you to pay with your activity tracker at contactless terminals through Fitbit Pay. While the NFC chip comes as standard on the Charge 4 however, it’s only available in the Special Edition models of the Charge 3.
Features
Charge 2: Activity and sleep monitoring, auto exercise recognition, multi-sport tracking, smartphone alerts
Charge 3: Adds swim tracking, goal-based exercise, run detect with auto stop, accept/reject calls, quick replies, NFC (Special Edition), Active Zone Minutes
Charge 4: Adds Spotify support, Smart Wake
The Fitbit Charge 2, 3 and 4 all feature all-day activity tracking (steps, distance, calories, floors climbed, activity minutes, hourly activity, stationary time) and sleep monitoring with sleep stages and sleep score. They also all allow you to see daily stats on their displays, along with smartphone notifications – the latter of which are more advanced on the Charge 3 and 4.
Other features found on all three devices include SmartTrack, which automatically recognises when you exercise, Multi-Sport tracking, Cardio Fitness Level, which allows users to see a personalised Cardio score and Guided Breathing, which offers personalised breathing sessions based on your heart rate.
In addition to all the features offered on the Charge 2, the Charge 3 and Charge 4 also both have swim tracking on board, Goal-Based Exercise, Run Detect with auto stop, a timer option and weather information. It’s also possible to accept or reject calls and send Quick Replies if you are an Android user.
There’s also a feature called Active Zone Minutes. This feature uses your personalised heart rate zones to track your effort for any energising activity, allowing you to earn credit towards the recommended 150-minute weekly goal for each minute of moderate activity in the fat burn zone and double the credit for vigorous activity in cardio and peak zones.
Adding to the Charge 3’s features, the Charge 4 offers Spotify support for control of Spotify on your phone, as well as Smart Wake, which uses machine learning to wake you at the optimal time – a feature that was previously only available on Fitbit smartwatches.
Price and conclusion
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The Fitbit Charge 2 and Special Edition models aren’t available through Fitbit anymore, but you can still get hold of it online at retailers like Amazon. We’d recommend looking at the Charge 3 before you do though as that is the superior device in many ways and there might not be much difference in price.
The Fitbit Charge 3 could be a good option for some, especially given the design is the same as the Charge 4. It has a great feature set and you might find it at a decent price compared to the Charge 4.
With built-in GPS on the Charge 4 however, and the extra additional features like Spotify control, that’s the model to go for if your budget allows. The built-in GPS means it also makes for a decent upgrade, to both the Charge 3 and 2 but you’ll see an even bigger difference if you have the Charge 2.
Intel may owe quite a bit of cash to a semiconductor company that hasn’t existed for 20 years. A Texas jury has asked Intel to pay $2.18 billion for infringing two patents owned by VLSI Technology, according to Bloomberg.
VLSI seemingly rose from the dead in 2019 specifically to sue. The last time it was a company was in 1999 when Philips purchased the semiconductor design firm for $1 billion, with its assets later traveling to Philips spinoff NXP (which you may know from its tap-to-pay NFC chips, among other things). NXP will reportedly get some of Intel’s money, too.
One of VLSI’s claims to fame was being part of the original project with Apple and Acorn to produce the first ARM processors — and the ARM company — responsible for the underpinnings of the chips that now appear in every smartphone, most tablets, and a growing number of laptops and servers.
Technically, the patents are newer than all of that VLSI history. They were originally issued to Freescale Semiconductor, and Sigmatel in 2009, 2010, and 2012, respectively, and the earliest of them was filed in 2005. But Bloomberg reports they were all assigned to the new VLSI in 2019, an LLC that’s attached to a Fortress Investment Group.
Calling out VLSI as a zombie brand was part of Intel’s argument, according to Bloomberg:
VLSI “took two patents off the shelf that hadn’t been used for 10 years and said, ‘We’d like $2 billion,”’ Lee told the jury. The “outrageous” demand by VLSI “would tax the true innovators.”
But that didn’t keep jurors from awarding roughly a tenth of Intel’s yearly profits — $2.18 billion — for infringing two of the three patents. (They’re about “managing clockspeed in an electronic device,” a “minimum memory operating voltage technique,” and “voltage-based memory size scaling,” in case you’re curious.)
Intel tells The Verge that it’s not done fighting yet: “Intel strongly disagrees with today’s jury verdict. We intend to appeal and are confident that we will prevail.”
Fortress and VLSI Technology have other lawsuits pending against Intel, too.
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