Samsung has quietly announced a new wireless keyboard, the Smart Keyboard Trio 500. According to a listing on Samsung’s store spotted by Max Jamborit’s a compact wireless keyboard with a very similar design to the likes of Apple’s Magic Keyboard, but with an interesting Samsung twist — a DeX shortcut to use the desktop-style interface on compatible Samsung devices.
DeX has been around since launching on the Galaxy S8 back in 2017, and allows you to access select Samsung phone or tablet’s apps in a windowed-interface similar to a desktop computer. But despite receiving new features and updates with subsequent phone releases, it’s yet to become the true desktop replacement Samsung initially pitched it as. Giving it an eye-catching button probably won’t change that, but it could still work as a little advertisement to use the feature, similar to Netflix’s ubiquitous TV remote buttons.
The keyboard can be paired with up to three devices, and switch between them.Image: Samsung
Beyond DeX, the Smart Keyboard Trio 500 has a couple of other tricks up its sleeve. There are customizable shortcut buttons to open your commonly used apps (though this is only compatible with Samsung devices running One UI 3.1 from march 2021 or later). The keyboard can also be paired with up to three devices, and switch between them using shortcut keys. It draws power from AAA batteries, which suggests it’s not rechargeable.
Samsung hasn’t listed a price or release date on its page for the Smart Keyboard Trio 500, but with an Unpacked event coming up on April 28th we could get an official unveiling soon.
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
Samsung is giving owners of its foldable phones some free dessert. Specifically, an order of “Chef Daniel Boulud’s signature Madeleines and Canelé,” designed by the chef exclusively for Samsung’s Galaxy Z Premier program, which offers Galazy Z Fold and Flip owners free perks in exchange for having bought the luxury-styled phones.
The new perk is being offered in partnership with the Michelin Guide through Boulud’s restaurant, Daniel (which itself has two Michelin stars). Samsung’s announcement claims that the dessert in question is valued at $75, which seems like a lot for French pastries, but if you already own a Galaxy foldable, the price tag isn’t something you’ll need to worry about, given that it’s free.
The company has been offering additional perks for foldable owners through its Galaxy Z Premier program since it relaunched the service alongside last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 2. And Samsung has since been adding bonus offers for the owners of its most expensive phones.
In addition to the free snacks (which will take three to four weeks for delivery), Samsung is offering a free year of FoundersCard membership, letting owners join a “community of over 50,000 entrepreneurs and business executives who receive unprecedented benefits and networking opportunities.”
The Galaxy Z Premier program already includes a free six-month trial of LinkedIn’s Premium Career service, a free round of golf through ClubLife, and six months of Obé Fitness. Samsung is also promising that it’ll have “new partners and benefits” to announce in the coming weeks.
Fitbit has announced its new Luxe fitness tracker that looks like a more fashion-focused take on the Inspire 2. It leaked last week, but Fitbit is making it official with the news that the Luxe is available for preorder starting today, April 19th, for $149.95. This cost includes six months of the Fitbit Premium service, which usually costs $9.99 per month. The service recently launched the new Mindful Method program created by Deepak Chopra that packs in over 30 audio and video sessions on mindfulness and wellness.
A specific release date for the Luxe hasn’t been shared, but the company is aiming for a spring launch, so it shouldn’t be too long of a wait.
The Luxe was designed for “a diverse range of wrist sizes and skin tones for 24/7 wear.” Fitbit says the Luxe is its thinnest touchscreen tracker yet, and the company thinks most people should be able to sleep comfortably with it on. To that end, you won’t need to charge it every night, as Fitbit claims it’ll last up to five days per charge.
The Luxe includes an interchangeable silicone strap with several size adjustments. Other straps will be available at launch, including silicone bands in a few colors for $29.95 each, woven fabric bands for $34.95, leather bands for $49.95, stainless steel mesh bands for $79.95, going all the way up to $99.95 for stainless steel link bracelets from luxury jewelry brand Gorjana. If you just want the Luxe with the Gorjana band, a limited-edition version of the tracker costing $199.95 will include one starting in June.
The Fitbit Luxe in black.Image: Fitbit
The Luxe is angled toward people who want their fitness tracker to be taken for jewelry. The company even went as far as using a metal injection molding process to craft the Luxe’s stainless steel case, which is apparently a traditional technique for jewelry-making.
The Luxe is a buttonless tracker, and inputs are delegated to its color OLED touchscreen. Like its previous smartwatches and trackers, Fitbit’s Luxe will be supported for iOS and Android devices. It’ll also support Google Fast Pair to pair more quickly to Android devices. The Luxe supports connected GPS while paired to your phone, so you’ll need to bring your phone along if you want to track runs or walks. If having built-in GPS is important to you, Fitbit’s Charge 4 includes that and other features like Fitbit Pay and Spotify controls.
Fitbit is using this launch to announce that the Luxe, along with the company’s other heart rate-enabled trackers and watches, support the companion app’s Stress Management Score that assesses your activity level, sleep schedule, and heart rate to help you manage stress. Through the app, the Luxe can track a host of other metrics, like your breathing pattern, your resting and variable heart rate, skin temperature, mood, sleep, and menstrual cycles. Sometime after launch, it’ll be able to record your blood oxygen levels (Sp02).
It’s been a long time since we’ve heard about the mobile version of Apex Legends, but we’ll be seeing more of it very soon: EA announced that a regional beta for the game will kick off later this month. Initially, the publisher says the game will only be available to “a few thousand players in India and the Philippines,” but the plan is to roll it out to more countries over the course of the year.
The company also provided some of the first details of the game. Most importantly, it won’t be a port of Apex Legends, but instead a new version built for smartphones. “Apex Legends Mobile is specially designed for touchscreens, with streamlined controls, and thoughtful optimizations that result in the most advanced battle royale combat available on a phone,” Apex Legends game director Chad Grenier wrote in a blog post. This also means it won’t feature any kind of crossplay or cross-progression. And like the PC and console version of the game, Apex Legends will be free on mobile.
These kinds of mobile-exclusive spinoffs are becoming increasingly popular for big multiplayer games. Riot recently launched Wild Rift, a smartphone take on League of Legends, while Psyonix is doing something similar with Rocket League Sideswipe. PUBG Mobile, meanwhile, remains one of the most popular games in the world, recently surpassing 1 billion downloads.
The main version of Apex Legends just hit a new milestone of 100 million players, and last month, the game expanded to the Nintendo Switch.
(Pocket-lint) – Fitbit announced the fashion-focused Luxe activity and wellness tracker in April 2021, joining the Charge 4 and Inspire 2 in the company’s extensive portfolio.
How do the three devices compare though? You can read how all of Fitbit’s devices stack up against each other in our separate feature, but here we are looking at how the Fitbit Luxe compares to the Charge 4 and the Inspire 2.
Price
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The Fitbit Luxe starts at £129.99 in the UK and $149.95 in the US, with the Special Edition model costing £179.99 in the UK and $199.95 in the US. There are a range of accessories available, including a Gorjana bracelet.
The Fitbit Charge 4 starts at £129.99 in the UK and $149.95 in the US, with the Special Edition models costing £149.99 in the UK and $159.95 in the US.
The Fitbit Inspire 2 is priced slightly lower than the Charge 4 and the Luxe, costing £89.99 in the UK and $99.95 in the US.
The Fitbit Luxe is the most premium of the three Fitbit devices being compared here, offering a stainless steel body, coloured touchscreen display, a buttonless design, rounded edges and a focus towards fashion and style, with a range of accessories available.
The Fitbit Charge 4 has an aluminium body, and it too offers a premium design like the Luxe, but it has squarer edges and a more sporty look, along with a monochrome touchscreen display and inductive button on the side. Different accessories are available, but they are more standard compared to the bracelets and stylish straps available for the Luxe.
The Inspire 2 has a plastic body so it’s a little cheaper in its appearance compared to the Luxe and Charge 4. It also has a smaller touchscreen display than the Luxe and Charge 4 and it has a physical button on the side, making for a less streamlined design than the other two models.
All models being compared here are waterproof and they all feature a PurePulse heart rate monitor on their underside, as well as charging pins. The Charge 4 has an SPO2 monitor too however.
Features
All: Steps, distance, calories, heart rate, advanced sleep, Active Zone Minutes, Auto exercise reognition, smartphone notifications
Luxe: Adds stress monitoring, Mindful Minutes
Charge 4: VO2 Max, NFC, Smart Wake
Many of the basic features offered by Fitbit are available across the Inspire 2, Charge 4 and Luxe fitness trackers, though there is some variation.
All three trackers being compared here offer steps taken, distance travelled, calories burned and heart rate monitoring. They also all offer advanced sleep tracking with Sleep Score, swim tracking, Active Zone Minutes and they are able to automatically recognise some workouts with Fitbit’s SmartTrack, whilst offering the ability to specifically track others using the Multi-Sport Mode.
You’ll also find silent alarms on all the trackers, Reminders to Move, smartphone notifications with Quick Replies for Android users, Guided Breathing and female health tracking.
Beyond those features, things change a little between the devices. The Fitbit Charge 4 has NFC on board for Fitbit Pay, while the Inspire 2 and Luxe miss this off. The Charge 4 and Inspire 2 offer Cardio Fitness Level – which is a VO2 Max measurement – though it isn’t clear if the Luxe also offers this. The Charge 4 also offers Smart Wake, which uses machine learning to wake you up at an optimal time.
The Luxe meanwhile, has stress management like the Fitbit Sense, offering a Stress Score within the Fitbit app. It also launches a feature called Mindful Minutes, though this will come to the other Fitbit trackers and smartwatches.
The Fitbit Luxe has Connected GPS on board, which means you’ll need to bring your phone with you in order to map a walk or a run. It offers six-day battery life, but as we mentioned above, there is no NFC for Fitbit Pay.
At the time of writing, we didn’t know if the Luxe has an altimeter to measure elevation, though we would expect it to.
The Charge 4 has built-in GPS, enabling you to map your route without your phone. It also comes with NFC on board and it features a seven-day battery life. It has an altimeter on board for measuring elevation.
The Inspire 2 has Connected GPS like the Fitbit Luxe. It comes with a five-day battery life and like the Fitbit Luxe, it doesn’t offer NFC for Fitbit Pay. There is no altimeter on board.
Conclusion
The Fitbit Luxe offers many of the same features and benefits as the Charge 4, though it trades built-in GPS and NFC for a more stylish and fashionable design.
There are a couple of extra features on the Luxe compared to the Charge 4 and Inspire 2, such as Stress Monitoring and Mindful Minutes, though the Charge 4 is likely to get some of these through a software update.
The choice between these devices will likely come down to which features are most important to you. If you want built in GPS and NFC, the Charge 4 is the one you’ll want. If you want a stylish tracker that is packed full of features but misses off a couple then the Luxe appears to be a great option. If you want most of the features Luxe offers but in a cheaper package with a more basic design, then the Inspire 2 will likely be adequate.
It’s no secret that one iPhone 13 model will have a 120Hz screen, but one analyst reckons there will be a second 120Hz handset in the new range.
According to Ross Young, the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max will both have LTPO displays, which allow for a 120Hz refresh rate. Previously, it was thought only the Pro Max model would have the feature.
Heard some rumors in the industry and media that there would only be one LTPO model from Apple later this year. Can confirm that is not the case. Apple fans can relax!April 16, 2021
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That would be double the refresh rate of the current iPhone range. A higher refresh rate means less blur, and is particularly well suited to fast-moving content particularly games.
Most recent high-end phones have refresh rates of either 90Hz or 120Hz. Samsung has even launched some mid-range devices with those refresh rates. So Apple’s move would be welcomed by many.
LTPO screens allow for variable refresh rates. While they top out at 120Hz, they can also go much lower for less intensive tasks such as reading emails. This would save the device’s battery life.
Apple already uses LTPO displays for its Apple Watch device, so it isn’t completely new to this technology.
In other iPhone 13 news, a screen protector has leaked (via 9to5Mac) that suggests the device will have a smaller notch than the iPhone 12. The notch houses the front-facing camera for taking selfies and authenticating using Face ID. A smaller notch would take up less of the screen, making content more immersive.
According to 9to5Mac, the new notch will be around 30 per cent smaller – another welcome change in a handset that’s already shaping up to be quite the phone.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
During a mass shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis on Thursday, a company policy barring some employees from having their cell phones on them while working prevented family members from being able to contact workers inside the facility, The New York Times reported.
Authorities said the gunman, a former employee, fired into the warehouse killing eight people and wounding at least seven others, then fatally shot himself before police arrived. The incident began around 11PM Thursday and was over in a matter of minutes.
Tami Campbell, whose husband works at the facility, said she didn’t know what had happened to him until he called her after his shift ended at 10AM Friday. “I called his phone a thousand times even though I knew he wouldn’t have it,” she told the Times. And according to the Indianapolis Star, many family members had to wait overnight at a Holiday Inn Express to find out if their family members had been hurt or killed.
In a statement to The Verge on Saturday, a FedEx spokesperson described the cell phone policy: “To support safety protocols and minimize potential distractions around package sortation equipment and dock operations, cell phone access within certain areas of FedEx Ground field operations is limited to authorized team members.”
Before anyone gets unnecessarily excited – NO, LG hasn’t gone back on its decision to leave the smartphone business. At least not officially, that is. This is just another case of unfortunate timing surrounding the rollable phone that the company teased at CES 2021. Apparently the LM-R910N, as its official designation goes, was pretty far along in the development cycle. Enough for LG to start filing for various certifications for it to go to market. The NFC certification, as seen here, is dated January 5, at which point the Rollable or LM-R910VM, mentioned in the document in particular, was very-much still on the roadmap.
Unfortunately, we don’t really have a lot of info on the hardware of the futuristic device other than the fact that it was going to use a BOE-developed flexible OLED display. Not that it really matters all that much now, seeing how the LG Rollable is destined to remain an interesting curiosity and footnote in LG’s smartphone history.
If you find yourself particularly interested in it, though, an alleged live photo of a unit did recently leak online. You can also check out our flashback article detailing some of LG’s formidable smartphone highlights throughout the years.
Samsung has been working hard on flushing-out its popular Galaxy A lineup with the recent announcement of the Galaxy A72, A52 and A32. The trio can be had in both a vanilla 4G variety, as well as trendy and reasonably-priced 5G variant. It seems that the Korean giant is now planning to introduce an even cheaper A device in the Galaxy A22. Again, in both a 4G and a 5G version. Last we heard of such a model was way back in December last year, until a certain SM-A225F was recently spotted on the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) website.
Samsung Galaxy A22 4G: BIS • HTML5 test
Unfortunately, beyond the SM-A225F/DS moniker, indicating that the phone will have dual-SIM support, there is hardly any other info available on the A22 4G. That same SM-A225F model number was also spotted in an HTML5 test listing, which does mention that it will run Android 11 out of the box.
We don’t really know a lot about the SM-A226B either, which is said to be the Galaxy A22 5G. Rumors have mentioned a quad-camera setup with a 48MP main snapper, 8MP untrawide and two additional 2MP modules for depth and macros. A 13MP selfie is also likely and apparently the Galaxy A22 5G is expected to have two RAM and storage variants and multiple colors, including gray, white, light green and purple. Pricing for the 5G Galaxy A22 is expected to be in the EUR 229 ballpark, naturally positioning it lower than the A32 5G. Hence, we could anticipate it to rock something like the MediaTek Dimensity 700 or 720 chipset, or perhaps Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 480 5G budget part.
Earlier this month the vivo V21 got certified in Indonesia ahead of its launch, and then vivo’s arm in Malaysia started teasing the phone outright on its official website. So it was pretty clear that a full unveiling was going to happen sooner, rather than later.
That’s been confirmed today, by vivo Malaysia’s official Twitter account. The V21 will be made official on April 27 in the country, alongside a V21e. We were always expecting the V21 to be a family of devices and not just one phone, and this pretty much confirms that.
According to a yet-unconfirmed report, the V21 should also launch in India on the same day. The V21 will support Virtual RAM, so you can ‘add’ an additional 3GB by using the storage for a total memory of 11GB. The V21’s selfie camera is now rumored to have eye autofocus, and the phone is said to retail for under INR 25,000 ($335 or €279 at the current exchange rates).
Asus is no stranger to the gaming phone sector and the ROG line, in particular, has solidified itself as the forerunner in the segment. After the success of last year’s ROG Phone 3, Asus decided to take the series up to 5 with the ROG Phone 5. With our ROG Phone 5 written review in the books, we now bring your attention to our video breakdown with Will guiding you through his impressions of the latest gaming flagship from Asus.
The focus here is on the vanilla ROG Phone 5 instead of the more feature-packed ROG Phone 5 Pro or Ultimate. Despite being the most affordable of the bunch, the vanilla ROG Phone 5 does not disappoint in any area. You get a dual glass design with Gorilla Glass Victus covering the display and Gorilla Glass 3 on the back.
Asus has always tried to differentiate the backs of its ROG Phones and this year brings a DOT matrix LEDs which form the ROG logo. The sides are made from aluminum and the 238-grams heft makes the ROG Phone 5 a two-hand device.
Being a gaming phone, Asus has once again brought its custom pressure-sensitive shoulder triggers giving you an upper hand in supported gaming titles. You also get a second USB-C and accessories port on the side to charge and connect up additional gaming peripherals.
The 6.78-inch AMOLED display with adaptive 144Hz refresh rate and 1080p resolution is major selling point. Colors are vibrant and the panel is uninterrupted by cutouts as Asus tends to do. Touch latency has been improved thanks to the new 300Hz sampling rate. You also get an excellent pair of stereo speakers which achieved great loudness scores in our tests though not on the level of the outgoing ROG Phone 3.
Performance from the Snapdragon 888 is among the best we’ve seen to date thanks to Asus’ optimizations and advanced cooling system. Throttling has been kept to a minimum which is a major factor for prolonged gaming sessions.
The massive 6,000 mAh battery in the ROG Phone 5 delivered a respectable 110-hour endurance rating in our test, though we were expecting more. The bundled 65W charger was among the fastest we’ve tested managing a 0-70% top-up in just 30 minutes.
Just a week ago Oppo brought its Reno5 Z 5G in Singapore and now the phone has made its way to Europe as the Oppo A94 5G. It’s still powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 800U bundled with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage for a base price of €359.
The A94 5G brings a 6.43-inch AMOLED screen with FHD+ resolution and a punch hole for the 16MP selfie camera. The panel also comes with an integrated fingerprint scanner. The camera department is headlined by a 48MP main shooter alongside an 8MP ultrawide snapper and two 2MP modules for macro and depth data.
Oppo A94 5G
There’s a 4,310 mAh battery with 30W charging while the software front is covered by Android 11 with Oppo’s ColorOS 11.1 on top. The A94 5G comes in Fluid Black and Cosmo Blue colors and will go on sale starting May 3.
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