Xiaomi is gunning for the title of best Android phone 2021, and with the Mi 11 Ultra, it might have a pretty strong chance. The handset boasts a 6.8in OLED with a resolution of 1440 x 3200 pixels, and a refresh rate of 120Hz. A high refresh rate means less blur – which is especially handy during fast-moving action scenes or gaming.
It also has a tiny 1.1in AMOLED screen on the back which can show notification alerts. Or you can use it to frame selfies with the main cameras.
The phone boasts a triple camera setup, offering a 50MP main camera, 48MP ultra-wide and 48MP telephoto (5x optical, 120x digital zoom) lens. And on the front? A 20MP selfie snapper.
The internal specs are just as impressive. We’re talking Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 chipset, 12GB of RAM, and a 5000mAh battery that supports 67W wired and wireless charging. The Mi 11 Pro can also juice up your other devices – just place them on the back and let the wireless charging tech do its thing.
Budget a little tighter? Xiaomi also launched a cut-price smartphone called the Xiaomi Mi 11 5G Lite at the same event. This offers a 6.55in AMOLED screen with an FHD+ resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels. Despite being more affordable, it still offers 5G connectivity, and the 90Hz refresh rate is still better than a lot of pricier rivals (iPhones, we’re looking at you).
Camera-wise, it has a 64MP main, 8MP ultra-wide and 5MP telemacro lens (the latter is for up-close pictures). It too has a 20MP front-facer.
It’s the first phone with the Qualcomm 780G processor, and comes with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM. The 4250mAh battery has 22W wired charging.
Both phones should go on sale next month, joining the Mi 11 (which was announced in January but only went on sale recently). We’re still awaiting pricing details.
MORE:
Meet the competition: Best Android phones
OS agnostic? These are the best smartphones around
Why not partner your phone with the best wireless earbuds?
Xiaomi has announced its latest flagship, the Mi 11 Ultra. It’s based on the excellent new Mi 11, but has a more advanced camera system — including a second screen housed inside the camera bump.
The Mi 11 Ultra has three cameras on the back: a 1/1.12-inch 50-megapixel main sensor, a 48-megapixel ultrawide, and a 48-megapixel 5x periscope telephoto. Those sensors should be upgrades across the board when compared to the regular Mi 11, which had a smaller 108-megapixel main sensor, a 13-megapixel ultrawide, and a 5-megapixel macro camera.
The camera bump dominates the top portion of the Mi 11 Ultra, and its secondary screen is the reason why. It’s a 1.1-inch 126 x 294 OLED display with a peak brightness of 450 nits and a power-saving mode. Xiaomi says it can be used as a selfie viewfinder, an always-on display, or a way to check notification alerts when the phone is face-down.
Rear display demonstrated for selfies.Image: Xiaomi
The specs are otherwise similar to the regular Mi 11. There’s a 6.8-inch 120Hz 1440p OLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. The battery has been boosted to 5,000mAh and is now capable of being fast-charged at 67W both wirelessly and with a cable.
Xiaomi is also launching a cut-down version of the Mi 11 called the Mi 11 Lite 5G. It looks similar to the regular Mi 11 but it’s more of a mid-range device. It’s the first phone to launch with the new Snapdragon 780 processor that Qualcomm announced last week, for example. The emphasis is on its slim and light design — it’s just 6.81mm thick.
Elsewhere you’ll find a 6.55-inch 1080p 90Hz OLED display, which is smaller, slower, and lower-resolution than that of the Mi 11. The triple-camera system includes a 64-megapixel primary sensor, an 8-megapixel ultrawide, and a 5-megapixel macro. The battery is also a little smaller at 4,250mAh, though you do at least get a headphone jack with the Mi 11 Lite, unlike the Mi 11.
Xiaomi hasn’t provided pricing or release details for the Mi 11 Ultra and the Mi 11 Lite just yet — stay tuned.
(Pocket-lint) – When a product arrives with a bag of sand and a bucket in tow for testing purposes, you know it’s not going to be just any old standard lifestyle product. But that’s exactly the point with the Samsung Galaxy Tab Active 3: it’s a rugged tablet, designed for drops, water- and dust-resistance, and being generally all-round well ‘ard.
“Oh, how very telephone engineer,” quipped one member of the Pocket-lint team. Because, really, beyond the lifestyle-looking shiny retail packaging, this tablet’s overall vision – it comes with a removable battery, people, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the dinosaurs existed, right? – is far more aligned to the workforce than our consumer norm on the test bench.
Except, in the right hands, it could stretch to appeal. Sure, plenty of current kit offers water- and dust-resistance, but that usually comes wrapped in a finish that’s prone to scratches or cracks. The Tab Active 3, on the other hand, almost wants to be abused – something that kids are supremely good at, even without meaning to be. So, buckets and spades at the ready, because this is the kind of tablet that will survive those trips to the beach.
Design & Display
8-inch PLS LCD display, 1920 x 1200 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio
Dimensions: 213.8 x 126.8 x 9.9mm / Weight: 426g
Rugged case and stylus included
Finishes: Black only
13MP camera
Pulling the Active Tab out of its box is a little like finding a time-travel wormhole. For a brief moment “Google Nexus 7” flashed before eyes, as if it was 2013 or something (which would be a little unfair: this Galaxy Tab has an 8-inch screen, not a 7-inch one).
Pocket-lint
There’s even a protective case in the box, complete with a stylus holster and chunky stylus included (but no hard hat) – it’s all very frontline-worker out-in-the-field kind of stuff – to add reinforcement. The stylus needs a fairly stiff tug to remove it, but at least you’ll know it’s securely stowed.
All this is very befitting of purpose though. The Tab Active 3 has a trio of physical buttons integrated onto its front – so no Android softkeys here, it’s hardware instead – to navigate around the Google Android (it’s version 10, so reasonably well up to date). Whether bare handed or gloved, you’ll be fine using this tough tab.
Pocket-lint
The screen itself has large bezels to its sides, so plenty of space to hold on, which again makes it look like an older-generation product. It makes sense in context, but that’s the reality of it – it doesn’t look new or especially fancy.
Rugged Testing
IP68 dust/water resistant – to 1.5m for 30mins
MIL-STD-810H military standard
1.5m drop tested
And so to the Galaxy Tab Active 3’s main sell: its ruggedness. This is certainly fun to test, because it’s such a rarity to lob a gadget around with pure abandon, but we got to go to town on this tablet.
Pocket-lint
It survived no worries, of course, as that’s its whole purpose. Sure, you’re probably not going to bury it in sand – but you could. So whether that’s the beach or a sandpit, it wont suffer ingress and be damaged, neither will it get all scratched up.
The drop test from 1.5m high is no bother either, although we think it would actually survive more severe impacts with that case attached. It’s not designed to, in terms of the test rating – it’s military standard though – but it’ll survive unscathed, whereas a ‘normal’ glass-backed tablet just isn’t going to.
It’s a similar tale for the waterproofing: we submerged the tablet in about 15cm of water for half an hour and that was no bother for it. Indeed, we think it’d survive for far longer (especially at that depth, as the pressure isn’t exactly high). Plus it can handle, according to the ratings system, 1.5m of submersion for that half-hour period of time without drowning.
Pocket-lint
All of this is good stuff, it’s the product delivering on what it’s supposed to do. But we’ve seen plenty of more refined consumer designs with newer hardware and specs also offer much of this – there are plenty of waterproofed mobile products, for example. It’s the Tab Active 3’s hard-shell extra casing that makes it a bit more significant though.
Performance & Battery
Samsung Exynos 9810 processor, 4GB RAM
5,050mAh removable battery, 15W charging
128GB storage, microSD card expansion
It’s rare that any products have removable batteries these days, but the Tab Active 3 does. A 5,050mAh one, no less, which is fairly capacious given the overall spec, and lasts for a long work day – around 11 hours. It’s not got phone longevity, therefore, given the scale of the device – but then you can just pop in a backup battery if you need.
Pocket-lint
Under the hood the Tab Active has Samsung’s Exynos 9810 processor, meaning it’s on last-gen hardware rather than being really eye-catching and up to date. That might well mean it doesn’t run as hard or as hot as some modern day cutting-edge flagship hardware, but it also means for a pricey slate such as this that you’re not getting the greatest of potential.
Of course whether that matters will depend on just what you want to be doing with this tablet. After all, while you could watch Netflix on your lunch break, realistically we suspect this tablet will have proprietary installs for specific tasks.
Pocket-lint
Samsung Knox, the company’s security framework – which is designed to give organisations the tools to manage work devices – comes as standard. That, really, tells you most of what you need to know – this is really for work rather than one to throw at the kids.
What is the Pocket-lint daily and how do you get it for free?
By Stuart Miles
·
Verdict
The more we lived with the Galaxy Active Tab 3, the more we wondered why it’s on both Samsung’s business and consumer website sections.
It’s clearly more aligned with the former, as at this price point it’s so far removed from a consumer-grade tough tablet for the kids that it won’t make sense for, well, almost anyone. We thought that might have been a good angle for such a products, but if that’s your thinking then save several hundred and pick up an Amazon tablet instead.
The fact is many consumer lifestyle products now offer some degree of rugged protection, more up-to-date designs, and as such the Active Tab 3 is therefore best left to who it’s really for: the workforce. It’s not bad by any means, it’s just kind-of retro and somewhat lost for purpose in a consumer context.
“I suppose you can’t have true respect for something unless you’re willing to challenge it,” we posit to Nils Frahm. “Exactly,” he replies. “Exactly.”
It feels good to have Frahm agree with you. Not only because his music is as much part of our homes – and the What Hi-Fi? test rooms – as the light fixtures and soft furnishings. It feels good to have Frahm agree with you because he comes across as an expert on whichever topic he is speaking about in that moment.
He even makes his own soap. Because that devilish streak of tinkering with his instrument, which we celebrate today on Piano Day, is just symptom of a wider curiosity this exquisite composer applies to every part of his life. Whether or not he is an expert is almost moot, as that infectious interest in everything travels down the phone line to us.
Even Piano Day cannot be taken at face value when Frahm, the very man who appointed it as the 88th day of the year, discusses the instrument’s more menacing symbolism.
Nonetheless, it is clear that there is a lot of love in this relationship. To celebrate this year Frahm has today released Graz, the first album he ever recorded for Erased Tapes.
This grand piano recording has taken 12 years to surface – though certain pieces you might recognise from his live performances – and captures a more youthful musician nearer the start of a career, and nearer the beginning of this mischievously respectful relationship with his instrument that we hope is nowhere near its end.
Over half an hour, we managed to talk with Frahm about Graz, recording the piano and a heavily customised hi-fi set-up. Not that we’d have put him through it, but we could have spoken for hours upon hours longer.
Lisen to Graz by Nils Frahm, released to celebrate Piano Day 2021, on Tidal or Spotify.
An emotional reaction
(Image credit: Sebastian Rieck)
What Hi-Fi?: We should probably start by congratulating you on getting Erased Tapes to release your debut album, at last. We’ve listened to it a few times and it’s got that real sort of transformational quality that your music has; it goes through that metamorphosis depending on what time of day or when in the year you hear it. Is the album as recorded in 2009?
Nils Frahm: It was recorded in a place where there was a special setup. It was basically a big studio that has variable acoustics, realised through microphones in the room and speakers where there’s a custom-made reverb algorithm, which basically takes the sound from various points – I think it has about 16 microphones and 64 speakers – and you can change the the parameters of the ambience through this.
So the shortest reverb is maybe 1.8 seconds, then you can turn on the engine and it will generate a reverb which you would like to hear in that room. It can be quite impressive; when you close your eyes and you play, and somebody tweaks with the parameters of the settings, you basically travel through space. Basically, while I was improvising, my colleague was turning some knobs and dials from this reverb engine, and that was inspiring me to play in a different way maybe.
WHF?: Reverb, and natural reverb especially, has been a huge part of your playing; it was in All Melody you used a dry well that you had found on holiday. How important for a piano recording is it to hear the space that it’s been recorded in?
NF: I think the room for acoustic instruments plays a big role, because essentially the room makes stuff louder and sound more immersive. With reflections and some sort of ambience an acoustic instrument sounds like it’s floating around you. Coming from various points, it becomes more three-dimensional and big sounding.
This is why a piano or a symphony orchestra sounds much better in a room over being played outside; I still don’t understand why some festivals curate classical concerts outside, because strings or the whole classical ensemble without the natural reverb for me doesn’t blend. You can’t blend the elements together without ambience. So I think the same for the piano: you have a lot of different sounds and notes and things on a piano. With the acoustics you put all of this together in one concept, almost as if you would dress a person from tip to toe.
WHF?: The performance is obviously key, and a recording lives or dies by it, but what other things are important to get right when recording the piano?
NF: The performance. Because when the performance is well put and the balance between the notes and the balance in the voicing, the loudness of each finger, is put right then basically the recording is quite stable. And if you have an unstable performance you have to really work much more with the mixing, or focusing on the microphone position, or choice of reverbs and processing to get the performance organised. Basically that’s the case for every musical performance. When the performance has some integrity and is put well, then as a recording engineer or as a person listening back at home, it’s an easy task to transport that wonderful moment.
Because sound in the end is decoded in our brains into an emotional reaction somehow – I don’t know how that works – but I would say that if you hear something that doesn’t really get you emotionally, you will analyse more technically. And if something just haunts you or something strikes you, and you don’t know why, you will not really ask so many questions.
It’s like a phenomenon. When I listen to Chet Baker records and I hear the voice then hear the piano, the piano sounds kind of bad, honestly. But together with the voice, the quality of the piano and the quality of the voice becomes something that’s hard to explain why it works. I think it’s because Chet really just sings so beautifully, and the piano just really plays wonderfully, and that gives you so much freedom as a producer to put these elements wherever you want. When you play really good you can make that element 6dB louder or 6dB quieter: it will still be amazing. If you have a bad arrangement or a bad take, you will fiddle with the volume to fit it in, because it will never be right.
A rebellious angle
(Image credit: Leiter Verlag)
WHF?: You have what we would describe as an almost two-way relationship with the piano, in that it feels like it’s rewarding you for the care you put into its tone and its timbre. What makes it such a special instrument?
NF: I think all instruments are pretty special. The piano is so special because I think it has had such a big success in the history of music. Ever since it was invented it played a huge role in the creation of music, especially in the Western world. Not so much in other places in the world. The piano is also testimonial to an industrialised society, a Western capitalist industrialised society, because it’s very difficult to make unique heavy machinery; you need vast skill sets and machines to make a piano. And you need a lot of money!
And so the piano is a symbol for power as well. These are all components I am also aware of. I try to have the awareness to treat the piano with a certain respect, but also show a sense of humour. Because when you take the piano too seriously, you also take the society we live in too seriously. You might get more interesting results from the piano if you treat it with respect but also with a rebellious angle, because there are many things I don’t agree with. I don’t think the West created a fair world, or a better place for everybody. So if the piano is a statue or symbol for all of this, then whatever the critique is towards a society or towards our philosophy, or our culture, the critique also addresses the piano.
So that’s why I respect it but I also disrespect it, in terms of changing its sounds or putting things inside, or doing wrong things maybe with it. Because I think the piano shouldn’t rule us, we should rule the piano; in as much as the values of a capitalist society or a white supremacist society shouldn’t rule us, we should rule the society. So it’s very philosophically put, but the piano is a symbol also for all the things I don’t agree with, and it creates an interesting angle for me to approach this special instrument.
WHF?: You can’t have true respect for something unless you’re willing to challenge it.
NF: Exactly, exactly.
WHF?: As well as experimenting with your instrument, on Spaces in particular you have a lot of different ways of recording; it’s almost a collection of field recordings. Is using things such as reel-to-reel an experiment, or is there a particular sound to each medium that you really like and want to capture?
NF: For me it’s a little bit like with photography: the best camera is always the one you have with you. You can say the best recorder is always the one you can just work with in the moment, and is reliable and records the music. And true, they sound all a little bit different, but when I choose to record something on a cassette tape it probably reflects the approach of that session. I probably just don’t have real good equipment available and I take maybe just a really cheap USB junk sound card rather than my really high quality converter that I only have in one place.
I like to record on really interesting broadcasting master recorders. I like quality from all eras, and when I buy a cassette deck on eBay for 200 bucks, it’s maybe the Marantz PMD master recorder that was built for broadcasting documentaries. It has a certain quality: it will always turn on, it’s made out of metal, you can listen to the record head and you can definitely check what you’re recording. I really go with whatever sound comes out of it, if the machine is so well designed.
I’m a big fan of the Nagra tape recorder as well, or I record a lot on portable to track field recorders, made for film sounds. For me – tape, digital, analogue – whatever gets the job done and I feel happy with is my colour of choice. Because I know that whatever I do there is so much flexibility to treat material further in the mixing processes, and have more decisions. Of course, when I put something on tape I will never make it sound like a really good modern recording, but there’s still so many places that I could go with it that I just trust what will come out.
WHF?: It comes back to the performance being key; but if you set a certain recorder up do you think that affects the way you play?
NF: I don’t try to make the recorder a big inspiration or compositional element. I would rather record in a way that I can play loud notes without distortion, and if I play very quiet I will record in a way that I don’t just hear noise. But obviously the piano is a very dynamic instrument: if you want to get a good recording done, before you start playing you should think ‘is this a loud piece or a quiet piece?’.
I always turn the gain on the mic preamps to an according position, because the piano has over 90dB of usable dynamics. If I play super quiet and I have to crank the preamps up otherwise I will record almost nothing, and if I know I’ll play a loud piece or dynamic piece I have to turn the amps down knowing the quietest elements will not otherwise sound as good. So obviously I take this into account [but it doesn’t change the way I play].
WHF?: Do you have a list of favourite piano recordings that you go back to again and again?
NF: I think my favourite piano record, that I have gone back to for years, is one that doesn’t really sound like my style of recording. It’s actually the opposite: it’s a very far, distant sound. It’s a recording called Bagatellen und Serenaden by Valentin Silvestrov. He is a Ukrainian composer living in Kiev; I think it’s like nobody recorded the grand piano in such a loving way as ECM has done. Another mind-blowing recording from ECM is Der Bote by Alexei Lubimov. And there’s one piece [on that record], In the Landscape by John Cage, and that piece is just sounding unreal.
But again most of that is how the piano was treated and prepared by the piano technicians prior to the session. They really make the sound of the piano, these people, the piano tuners. They don’t tune the piano, they touch it in every possible spot; they put oil here, they sand down the hammers, they put needles inside the hammers to see whether the density should be different. So each note gets basically custom tuned, and so the whole piano becomes one thing that sounds like an instrument, which inspires the player. Because a piano that doesn’t inspire the player will not lead to a good take.
So all becomes like one beautiful thing: the room, the acoustics, how the piano is set up, who is the piano builder and the player, the performance. All that composition. And out of a thousand piano recordings, there are some that are just reaching far beyond what I thought was possible. That always sets imagined horizons, for me to remember: ‘wait, maybe we’ll get something else out of that wooden box, something more engaging than what we’ve heard.’
Principles and physics
(Image credit: Leiter Verlag)
WHF?: We want to talk to you about not just what you listen to, but how you listen at home. Do you have a mix of sources, amplifiers and things?
NF: At home I listen strictly to vinyl at the moment, just because I don’t need flexibility. I have the studio where I can listen to digital files. At home I just play records. I have a good pick up on a customised [Technics SL-1200] MK2. I just love that record player; I actually like how it looks also, people hate the Technics now but I still have mine and I’m very happy with it.
And that goes through a phono stage. I forgot the name: it’s a custom box from Sweden by a guy who put all the equaliser curves of all the different pressing plants – the Philips and Columbia and whatever – because I have a lot of original Columbia records for my US tours. I collect some original jazz records. And so I can just set the equaliser settings, because I realise that some of the records sound really much different when I change the EQ – and that makes sense when you know the history of that.
Then out of the phone stage I go into a… Jesus Christ, I’m so bad at names; I just bought this thing.. it’s an Air Tight, used 34-watt tube amp. I go straight into that and I need the boost to drive my 15 Ohm Klangfilm speakers. I made some custom wood panels for it so it’s not a closed chassis, it’s an open-baffle speaker. They have a coaxial driver with a tweeter in the centre, which is similar to the system I use in the studio, but it’s from the 1940s or something. And I made my own frequency divider for this with just an old British condenser, which sounds fantastic and takes the low out of the tweeter.
It’s very rough but it gives me such a good overall sound and tone. It isn’t very good with very low bass, and it’s not a fast speaker, but when you play resonant, atmospheric music like piano or jazz or old records especially, it sounds almost like people are in your room playing. It’s absolutely mind-blowing. Obviously it’s not a reference system, but it’s a very good sound system.
WHF?: It sounds a lot like the way you approach the piano, tinkering and tailoring to make it fit your own taste. Is that something you’ve always been interested in, on the listening side?
NF: Yes, every aspect in life for me is similar. I don’t want to buy brands, I think it’s boring when you just go ‘I like this brand and I like that brand’. I want to go beyond and when I like something I want to know why; I want to understand the principle, and often it’s not the magic of some brand. I mean, people think they should buy Bose speakers – I don’t want to bash Bose, they just don’t do the equipment I like – but if people trust the name, they think whatever they do will work.
Even if you listen to people with the everyday stuff, they say ‘oh, I have to buy the soap from this brand’ and ‘you have to buy the soap from that brand’. And I am always like, well let’s take that soap let’s look at the back: so it’s this, it’s this, it’s this… and then I go back and try to find the basic components. Usually it gets much easier without the additives and the weird colouring stuff, and it’s for the same for me with instruments or speakers.
I want to know, why do I like this? For example, why do I like coaxial speakers? The principal for me is much more important than the brand. All the forums that try to figure out how to make stuff sound good, they discuss brands and models; but people don’t really discuss physics, and they don’t really discuss principles, and types of signal flow. So there’s little knowledge about Class A, B, C, D – and so people try to remember what they should buy, and they think, ‘so I heard Class A sounds the best, so I need class A’. But often you don’t need class A. For me it’s always about looking under the bonnet.
WHF?: It’s testament to your creative mind that everything is an interaction rather than a consumable for you. Is it a similar tweaked set-up when you’re touring and on the move?
NF: No, my life is simple: when I don’t have a sound system that I like, I don’t really listen to music. I also need time away from sounds and away from music, nobody wants to listen to music 24/7. So if I’m not in the studio or not at home, I just stop listening to music. And if I’m in the car, I go with whatever sound system is in there. I would never spend money on that: it’s just a car. Maybe I listen to NPR or something like that, and it helps me also to listen to music on just a very average sound system, just for double-checking mixes.
So yeah, I’m not a picky type. Like I said, I value good-sounding records over a good-sounding sound system. Because I learnt a lot of people who are crazy about good speakers, they start buying CDs that are only made for good speakers, where the music was recorded through golden cables or whatever. And the musicians are not so good, but their sound recording is really good, and so they listen to reference where the music is not so interesting. For me, that is the point where I’m just getting lost, because the sound system is just there to play music from talented people with a message. Sometimes these moments are recorded great, and then if they’re recorded great I can also listen to that on a shitty sound system where it will cut through.
My first Radiohead experience was like that. I listened to a €100 or whatever, portable, shit CD player back in the day in the late 90s, designed for a children’s room. And I sat and I played Amnesiac, and it sounded huge. It sounded absolutely insane, it sounded completely different to all the other records I had, and I could never really get sound out of that box. I was at that point more interested in bypassing the quality of what people have as a hi-fi, and try to make music which transforms the speaker, whatever quality it is, into to what the composer or the artist wants from it.
I know examples of records that will sound good on every sound system I know, and that’s not 100 per cent what is important but it’s very interesting to learn about this. Especially when people don’t make music and they just buy equipment to play back, and they’re not so familiar with how music is made. They need to know that when something doesn’t really sound right in that room ,or something doesn’t really sound right in that moment, it’s mostly a problem with the producer. It should not be the problem of the consumer to help whatever didn’t work in the recording or production stage. So whenever we want to listen to good music, we just have to find the good music. It’s very easy and you don’t need to spend too much money on on anything
WHF?: Those recordings you know will sound good on any system, what are they for you?
NF: Basically anything Miles Davis recorded In the 50s and 60s, especially Kind of Blue and the soundtrack he did for the French film, Ascenseur pour l’échafaud. That will transform your iPhone into to a huge soundstage. And obviously the Chet Baker example is is the most convincing for me, because when you put Chet Baker on your iPhone and you put your iPhone into a Pringles box, it will also almost sound as good as if you listened on thousand euro speakers. Maybe just 90 as opposed to 100 per cent. It’s a rough statement to make, but people probably get the point.
MORE:
10 of the best movie scores to test your system
40 of the best 1990s albums to test your speakers
Music for sleep: the best ambient albums to help you relax
If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
It’s still fair to call audio sunglasses a niche category, but with Bose offering several models, Amazon in the game, and counting recent announcements from Razer and JLab, it’s certainly a growing one. There are people out there who just aren’t particularly fond of earbuds — often because they dislike the feeling of silicone tips plugging up their ears. Open-style products like the standard AirPods and Galaxy Buds Live are one alternative, but then you still face the possibility of losing them. If you’re running on a trail or out for an intense bike ride, it’s not an insignificant risk.
For those people, I can absolutely see the appeal of the Bose Frames Tempo, which have speakers built right into their frame and will stay planted on their face no matter how strenuous outdoor activity gets. The Tempo glasses are the sportiest model of Bose’s Frames family, clearly geared at hikers, runners, cyclists, and anyone else who spends a good chunk of their time outside. Bose says they’ve also got the best sound performance of the bunch.
From the front, they look like your typical pair of Oakley, Nike, or Under Armour sunglasses. Bose is clearly going after that same market with the $250 Tempos. If you’re more fashion-forward or looking for a pair of audio sunglasses that don’t give the impression you’re in the middle of a triathlon, you’ll want to stick with the Tenor or Soprano styles of Frames. These come with black mirrored lenses in the box, but Bose also sells a couple of other pairs of $40 lenses that you can swap in to let different amounts of light pass through. The oversized temples are where it becomes more obvious that these are audio sunglasses.
But there’s a benefit to that chunky design: unlike the Tenor and Soprano Frames, which use a proprietary charger, the Tempo model has a regular USB-C connector on the left temple. Bose says the frame is made from “TR-90 nylon.” There’s not much give, but they feel rugged to me, and they’ve got an IPX4 water and sweat resistance rating, so if you get caught running or biking in the rain, they’ll survive.
The large temples are the obvious tell that these are audio sunglasses.
For the first couple of days wearing the Tempos, I felt a slight squeeze at the sides of my head that got uncomfortable. Now, I’ve got an extremely large dome — they used to have to bring out a special-sized helmet in Little League, friends — but thankfully, the fit loosened up a bit because this pressure went away by the end of the first week. The sunglasses didn’t get loose enough to where they started bobbing on my head or anything; they still felt nice and secure. (My friend Theresa, who has a normal-sized head, never mentioned any headache-inducing tightness.) Bose includes three sizes of nose tips in the box, and I found the large to be the right match. Even if my face was covered in sweat from a long run, the nose tips helped ensure the sunglasses didn’t slide around.
The frames have an IPX4 rating for water and sweat resistance.
The controls that Bose came up with are wonderfully foolproof, which is crucial when you’re trying to stay focused on other things. You swipe across the right temple to raise or lower the volume, and on the underside of that temple is a small circular button that you can press to play / pause, double-tap to skip tracks, or triple-tap to go back. In no time at all, these controls felt so natural and easy. Powering off the Frames Tempo just takes holding down the button for a few seconds. Or you can flip them over and lay them down with the top of the frame on a surface. After two seconds in that orientation, they shut off. (You can disable this in settings, but I found it really convenient and, again, natural.) Battery life is listed as eight hours, and that’s lined up with my experience so far. The sunglasses take roughly an hour to charge back to 100 percent. Bose’s mobile app lets you update the sunglasses’ firmware, but there aren’t any EQ controls or other options that adjust their performance.
The sunglasses stay firmly in place through all sorts of outdoor activities.
Describing the sound quality of audio sunglasses can be tricky. They’re nothing like headphones or earbuds since these are essentially down-firing speakers pointed at your ears. But Bose stepped up its game compared to the first-generation Frames, which I’ve tried on occasion. These have more life to them across the whole EQ range.
There’s a surprising amount of separation between vocals and instrumentation, and the Frames Tempo have a nice clarity and even-handed balance. There’s more bass than before, but this is where I think it’s most important to set reasonable expectations: the low end you get from any decent pair of in-ear buds will blow these out of the water. No contest. That said, Bose has at least reached a place where the bass no longer sounds anemic or flat, which is a legitimate improvement over the first-gen Frames. It’s there and perceptible.
Sound bleed is easily canceled out by everyday street noise, but if you’re inside with the volume turned up, people nearby will be able to tell that you’re listening to music. These are sunglasses, after all, so I imagine those situations will be few and far between. The Bluetooth connection has held stable throughout the vast majority of my time with the Frames Tempo so far. No complaints there.
Voice calls while wearing the Tempos have also been a joy. Callers say I sound nearly as good as when speaking directly into my phone, and something about taking calls with your ears totally open just feels very cool.
Bose sells additional $40 pairs of lenses that let in different amounts of light.
Even after a relatively short time using the Frames Tempo, I get this audio glasses thing. I really get it. It’s like Dieter recently wrote: “Not having to put in or take out headphones changes your relationship to audio — it’s just always available, always there when you want it.” Do I wish I could pop clear lenses into them and wear them everywhere? In theory, you bet. But this style wouldn’t really work for that, nor is it what the Tempos are meant to be at the end of the day. So I can’t knock Bose for the disappointment I feel when switching back to my normal glasses, which now seem so very primitive.
The Bose Frames Tempo let you hear the world around you with no obstructions — with a soundtrack playing over everything, while at the same time giving your ears a bit of a break compared to normal earbuds. At $250, they will be a tough sell for some. But I’ve come to realize that audio sunglasses are the exact sort of thing you won’t ever realize you needed. Until you put ‘em on — and all of a sudden, you do.
The OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro are now certified for use on Verizon’s network, which means Verizon customers will be able to use the phones with the carrier’s 5G network; without certification, the phones would be limited to LTE. The news was announced today by a Verizon representative, but the timeline is a little unclear. OnePlus had said it was working with Verizon, but there were no promises that it would be done by the phone’s launch.
The 5G story has been a bit confusing for the OnePlus 9 series phones from the start. Only the Pro model has the ultra-fast mmWave, and at announcement, the phones were only listed as 5G-compatible on T-Mobile’s network. Even with today’s news, that still leaves AT&T customers who buy a OnePlus 9 paying for 5G they can’t currently use. OnePlus’ carrier compatibility chart (which can be found via the OnePlus 9 or 9 Pro’s preorder page) currently lists the phones as having no bands compatible with AT&T.
Despite the initial confusion, it’s good that the phone can now be fully used on two out of the three major US carriers. The phones still aren’t listed in the Verizon store, but if you buy an unlocked OnePlus 9 or 9 Pro, you can use them with an existing or new Verizon account.
Putting off iOS updates for a week or two is generally fine, but it’s probably a good idea to download the latest one, iOS 14.4.2, as soon as you can. It fixes a security flaw that Apple says may have been exploited out in the wild (via MacRumors). The update also applies to iPadOS, so take a couple of minutes out of your day to go to Settings > General > Software Update.
According to Apple’s update notes, the security flaw allowed for universal cross-site scripting. In other words, a malicious website or script could gain access to information from other webpages you have open, which isn’t great, especially since Apple says that some sites may be doing this.
As I said back in January when Apple released a similar update, this doesn’t mean it’s time to completely lock down your phone and treat it like it’s radioactive until you can get it updated. Just stay clear of sketchy websites (which is good advice in general), and update your phone sooner rather than later.
(Pocket-lint) – The iPhone SE (second generation) is essentially an iPhone 8 externally but with the innards from the iPhone 11. It’s the natural successor to the long-discontinued but very popular iPhone SE from 2016.
squirrel_widget_167218
That means you’re getting some flagship features for a mid-range price. Wireless charging and waterproofing stick around, plus the single-camera from the iPhone 8, but with most of the software smarts from the iPhone 11.
We’ve now got the iPhone 12, of course, and you can see how that stacks up against the iPhone 11 here: Apple iPhone 12 vs 11 vs iPhone XR comparison: What’s the difference?
So should you order the new iPhone SE or opt for the more expensive but more advanced iPhone XR or iPhone 11? Here’s the lowdown.
Which is the best iPhone for you?
Design
iPhone SE (2020): 138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3mm, 148g
iPhone XR: 150.9 x 75.7 x 8.3mm, 194g
iPhone 11: 150.9 x 75.7 x 8.3mm, 194g
The iPhone SE (2020) is based on the iPhone 8 shell and that phone is at the bottom end of Apple’s smartphone range. Therefore it’ll slot in underneath the iPhone XR even though it has even more advanced innards.
iPhone SE is a Touch ID-based handset as opposed to the Face ID used on iPhone 11 and iPhone XR, so the screen doesn’t have a notch.
Surprisingly, it is water-resistant like the other two devices (it’s IP67-rated like the iPhone XR but not like the 11’s and IP68 rating). A glass back means it can also use Qi wireless charging.
squirrel_widget_233432
The iPhone SE comes in a single 4.7-inch size – there isn’t an equivalent of the iPhone 8 Plus in the SE range (that spot has now been taken by the iPhone XR, if you like).
The iPhone 8 has now been discontinued. It came in gold, silver and space grey and the SE is available in red (ProductRED), black and white. In comparison, the iPhone XR and iPhone 11 have a wider range of colours in their ranges.
iPhone 11 colours
iPhone 12 colours
Display
iPhone SE (2020): 4.7-inch, LCD, 1,334 x 750 pixel resolution
iPhone XR: 6.1-inch, LCD, 1,792 x 828 pixel resolution
iPhone 11: 6.1-inch, LCD, 1,792 x 828 pixel resolution
None of these models have OLED displays unlike the iPhone 11/12 Pro, iPhone 12, iPhone XS and iPhone X. Both the iPhone 11 and the iPhone XR have a 6.1-inch, Liquid Retina LCD display that has a 1,792 x 828 pixel resolution, giving a pixel density of 326ppi.
The iPhone SE (2020) has a 4.7-inch 1,334 x 750 pixel display, again giving 326ppi. It has True Tone tech like the other two models and yes, it’s the same as the iPhone 8 display.
The displays support Dolby Vision and HDR10 playback.
Cameras
iPhone SE (2020): Single rear camera (12MP), 7MP front camera
iPhone XR: Single rear camera (12MP), 7MP TrueDepth front camera
iPhone 11: Dual rear camera (12MP wide angle and ultra wide angle), 12MP TrueDepth front camera
The iPhone 11 is by far the better camera phone here, with a dual-camera on the rear and 12-megapixel TrueDepth camera on the front.
The iPhone 11 has a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle f/2.4 camera and a wide-angle f/1.8 sensor. There’s optical image stabilisation (OIS), a brighter True Tone flash and Portrait Lighting with six effects, as well as second-generation Smart HDR for photos. You also get a new night mode, a major improvement.
squirrel_widget_148311
The iPhone XR has a single 12-megapixel rear camera with f/1.8 aperture, OIS and 5x zoom. It also only offers three effect Portrait Lighting and first-gen Smart HDR for photos.
The iPhone SE (2020) has the same single camera as the iPhone 8 and iPhone XR but betters the XR by having many of the camera software features from the iPhone 11. So there are all six Portrait Lighting effects and Depth Control in addition to the second-generation Smart HDR. There is no night mode however. The front camera can do portrait mode, just like the iPhone 11, but it can’t do Animoji or Memoji. Like the XR you can’t use Portrait Mode unless you have a human face in the shot. Those portraits of your cat or dog using Portrait Mode are a no-no.
All three phones are capable of 4K video recording up to 60fps and Slo-mo up to 240fps at 1080p resolution.
Hardware
iPhone SE (2020): A13 Bionic platform, 64/128/256GB storage, single SIM with eSIM
iPhone XR: A12 Bionic platform, 64/256/512GB storage, single SIM with eSIM
iPhone 11: A13 Bionic platform, 64/256/512GB storage, single SIM with eSIM
The new iPhone SE uses the A13 Bionic chipset like the iPhone 11, bettering the A12 inside the iPhone XR.
The iPhone XR and 11 come in 64GB, 256GB and 512GB storage sizes and there’s the same 64GB entry-level on the iPhone SE, with 128GB and 256GB as the other options.
As we mentioned, the new SE will use Touch ID and have a Home button unlike the Face ID-toting iPhone XR and iPhone 11. Wi-Fi 6 is also supported, as it is in iPhone 11 although the iPhone 11 wireless antennas are better. All three handsets have support for a second SIM in the form of an eSIM.
All three phones also support wireless charging via a Qi charger and Apple’s Quick Charging feature although you will have to upgrade from the charger in the box. If you use a fairly new MacBook (one with a USB-C cable) you can use that charger, although you will have to buy A new USB-C to Lightning cable for it to work. But by doing so you’ll be able to get around 50 per cent charge in around 30 minutes.
All three handsets are 4G only. If you want a 5G iPhone, you need to get an iPhone 12.
Conclusion
There’s little doubt that the iPhone 11 is the best phone here. The main advantage it has over the XR is its second camera, and it’s smaller form factor making it easier to fit in your pocket. Otherwise, the experience will be very similar.
The new iPhone SE will slot in at the bottom of the range, but while it’ll be cheaper the main thing you compromise on compared to the XR will be the Touch ID-based design. The camera on the iPhone SE (2020) in our tests is better, thanks to the additional software improvements.
Many users upgrading from older iPhones will actually find this design reassuring rather than off-putting and may prefer it as an option, especially if you aren’t ready to move to a buttonless iPhone just yet. Plus, the smaller screen size will cater for those who don’t want a large-display phone.
(Pocket-lint) – The line between Oppo and OnePlus may be blurring at the management level, and when it comes to launching smartphones in their homeland in China, but when it comes to delivering flagships in western markets, they still take different approaches to things.
For the start of 2021, Oppo delivered the Find X3 Pro as its standout performer while OnePlus has launched the OnePlus 9 Pro. The two phones both offer top notch specs and performance, but with the prices driving higher this year, how do you choose between them? Should you spend more on the Oppo or is the 9 Pro good enough?
Design
Oppo: 163.6 x 74 x 8.3mm – 193g
OnePlus: 163.2 x 73.6 x 8.7 mm – 197g
Oppo: Gloss Black, Blue and White colours
OnePlus: Morning Mist (silver), Forest Green and Stellar Black colours
Both: Aluminium and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 construction – IP68 water/dust resistant
There was a time when Oppo and OnePlus flagships looked very similar to each other, but with the latest range, that’s no longer true. Of course, from the front they both look almost identical, given they have the same sized skinny-bezeled display and a hole-punch camera in the left corner. Turn them over however, and there’s no way anyone’s confusing these two.
Oppo’s latest premium phone is unlike anything else on the market. The glass curving up to the camera housing is all part of the same glass that makes up the rest of the phone’s rear. That means you get an attractive, seamless look and feel. Plus that matte frosted glass on the blue model makes it feel super soft.
Pocket-lint
OnePlus has taken a vastly different approach, placing its cameras in a rectangle protrusion which is attractive in its own right. Each lens is surrounded by a metal ring, making them stand out visually, while the camera housing is colour matched to whatever the colour of the phone is.
Despite both being large phones, the Oppo is noticeably slimmer in the hand, and it feels more nimble and lightweight in the palm than the OnePlus does. Technically, there’s not a lot of difference in measurements, but holding the two yields very different feels.
Both have metal and glass construction and both are water and dust resistant up to IP68 rating, so which ever one you go for, it should survive being caught in the rain or dropped in a basin full of water.
The one area these two phones really are identical is in the display used on the front. Both have exactly the same 6.7-inch LTPO AMOLED display capable of reaching refresh rates up to 120Hz and a peak brightness of 1300 nits.
Maximum resolution for the both is set at QuadHD+ or, specifically, 1440 x 3216 pixels which gives it a density of 525 pixels per inch. That means they’re among the brightest, sharpest and smoothest displays currently available on any phone.
Both use an adaptive frame rate technology too, so that means if you’re looking at a still or slow-moving page, they adapt to the frame rate needed for that page. In the process, that means less power is wasted refreshing the display and as a result, it uses less battery.
Pocket-lint
Both feature Always On ambient displays too, although Oppo gives you more available style options to choose from. Plus, you get the ability to design and customise your very own.
OnePlus used to be the customisation champion with Oxygen OS, but Oppo has pulled ahead in this department offering more wallpapers that take advantage of the fluid, smooth display and giving you more fingerprint animation options.
squirrel_widget_4335124
Both sets of software let you enable various display features like a comfort tone that adapts the white balance based on your current ambient lighting, plus the ability to schedule night modes and kill blue light.
We experienced some quirks with Oppo’s notification system during the review however, where the OnePlus didn’t seem to suffer with as much inconsistency here.
Hardware and performance
Both: Snapdragon 888 processor
Oppo: 8GB/256GB or 12GB/256GB RAM/storage
OnePlus: 8GB/128GB or 12GB/256GB RAM/storage
Both: 4500mAh battery (2x 2250mAh)
Oppo: 65W Super VOOC 2.0 wired and 30W Air VOOC wireless charging
OnePlus: 65W Warp Charge wired and 50W Warp Wireless charging
Like its displays there are some clear similarities when looking at the internals of the two phones. Namely: they both have the Snapdragon 888 processor inside keeping everything ticking over smoothly.
Pocket-lint
They both even use the same speedy LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage, so that means that not only do your apps and games all run smoothly, but downloads and installations are quick too. Especially if you happen to live in a 5G area and can download over 5G.
What’s interesting here is that while batteries are the same size (4500mAh), we had slightly better battery life with the Oppo. No doubt, this is in part down to its pretty aggressive background task management. Still, sometimes we were able to get through two full days with the Find X3 Pro, where the OnePlus 9 Pro was a couple of hours short of making that mark.
Despite that, both will easily get you through a full day even if you’re someone who’s on the move constantly, listening to music, making calls and catching a few Pokemon on your travels.
With both being part of the same tech family, you often find similar charging technology in the companies’ devices and it’s no different here. Both use a proprietary flash charging system that can reach up to 65W speeds.
What’s different here is the OnePlus’ phone will retain those speeds for longer and can charge a battery from 1-100 per cent in under 30 minutes. The Find X3 Pro will take a few minutes longer to do the same, but in truth, both charge really quickly.
Pocket-lint
It’s in wireless charging where the OnePlus 9 Pro has the clear advantage. Its Warp Charge 50 Wireless can give you a full battery in 43 minutes using the bespoke wireless charging stand while Oppo’s 30W charge will take noticeably longer (around an hour).
In our experience, it’s in the camera department where you notice the biggest differences between the two phones. Both have high quality wide and ultrawide cameras, but Oppo opted to put the same 50-megapixel sensor on both, giving consistent results between them. Both give colour rich, detailed and warm shots.
The OnePlus 9 Pro we found quite inconsistent at times, offering photos that looked cool and blue from the primary and warmer shots like the Oppo from its ultrawide.
Pocket-lint
Both phones have a telephoto zoom lens and although the Oppo only goes up to 2x optical, we found it delivered higher quality results than the OnePlus’ 3.3x optical zoom lens. It was sharper and delivered relatively decent images up to 5x where the OnePlus lost a lot of detail and went quite mushy at times even at its lowest zoom.
Add to that the fact that the Oppo also delivered sharper, better looking images in its night mode vs. OnePlus Nightscape mode and it’s clear that the Find X3 Pro is the much better camera experience overal.
That’s without mentioning the gimmicky Micro lens which lets you get really close into objects and see right into their contruction at an almost microscope-like level. It’s fun to play with, but hard to get sharp in-focus shots from.
Pricing and availability
Oppo: From £1099
OnePlus: From £829
It’s no surprise to see OnePlus’ latest premium model cheaper than the Oppo alternative, however, to see the company’s phones getting so expensive in recent years must be difficult for some of its early fans. With prices starting at £829 in the UK, it’s as expensive as some big-name flagship phones, but still comes in cheaper than phones that are similar in terms of specs and features.
squirrel_widget_4300049
Oppo’s phone is a flagship device at a flagship price, and creeps over the £1000 barrier just as Samsung and Apple have done in recent years. It sees itself as a true flagship that doesn’t need a discounted price to persuade people to see value in its offering.
Conclusion
Ultimately there are likely only a couple of things that will sway you one way or the other on these two phones. A major factor will likely be the price. Oppo’s top tier phone is more expensive than OnePlus’, and looking at the spec sheet there may not be enough difference between them to warrant that extra money.
With that said, given the more consistent and excellent performance of the cameras on the Oppo, and the more refined design – particularly on the matte blue model – we think that’s extra money worth spending if you’re happy to pony up the extra cash.
Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast, The Vergecast, where we discuss the week in tech news with the reporters and editors covering the biggest stories.
This week, co-hosts Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn bring in Verge reporter Allison Johnson to chat about her review of the One Plus 9 and how the phone compares to the company’s 9 Pro model as well as other Android flagship phones out in the market.
The second half of the show is dedicated to Congress’ first big tech hearing of 2021 with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Politics reporter Makena Kelly stops by while the hearing is ongoing to comment on the effectiveness these types of proceedings have on making new tech regulation a reality, the live Twitter trolling conducted by Dorsey himself, and Zuckerberg’s thoughts on reforming Section 230.
There’s a whole lot more in between all of that — like Intel’s big changes coming with its new CEO, an augmented audio reality startup taking on theme parks, and a class action status for the butterfly keyboard suit against Apple — so listen here or in your preferred podcast player for the full discussion.
Further reading:
AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine 79 percent effective in US study
US officials publicly question AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine data
Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine website builds on a swine flu tool
OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro announced with Hasselblad-branded cameras
OnePlus 9 review: cheaper than the Pro and almost as good
The lower-cost OnePlus 9R is official, and it sounds surprisingly strong
OnePlus 9 Pro review: the elegant Android alternative
Here’s how the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro compare to Samsung and Apple’s flagships
The $159 OnePlus Watch is OnePlus’ first smartwatch
Angry MacBook owners get class action status for butterfly keyboard suit
Intel invests $20 billion into new factories, will produce chips for other companies
Intel Unleashed, Gelsinger on Intel, IDM 2.0 (Stratechery)
The startup trying to augment audio reality in public spaces
Yes or no: Are these tech hearings doing anything?
Mark Zuckerberg proposes limited 230 reforms ahead of congressional hearing
Jack Dorsey is just trolling Congress with Twitter polls now
Lina Khan is just the first step toward tougher US tech regulation
Congress tries to get the FTC in fighting shape
Microsoft rebrands Xbox Live to Xbox network
The street prices of Nvidia and AMD GPUs are utterly out of control
KEF’s first noise-cancelling wireless earbuds make a positive impression, even if they fall short of being best-in-class
For
Refined, mature balance
Weighty bass
Good battery life
Against
Beaten for dynamics and expression
Call quality could be better
KEF has dabbled in the headphone market since 2013, experimenting with both over-ear and in-ear models over the years, however it’s fair to say the hi-fi giant hasn’t set the headphone market alight. But could all that be about to change with the ambitious Mu3?
The Mu3 are KEF’s first-ever wireless noise-cancelling earbuds and, in terms of price, slot somewhere in between the big-hitting Sony WF-1000XM3 and the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds.
Build
(Image credit: KEF)
If you haven’t heard of Ross Lovegrove before you buy the KEFs, you will have by the time you have unboxed them. His name is emblazoned on the packaging, the instructions and even on the inside of the Mu3 case.
Lovegrove has helped design several KEF products in the past, most notably the KEF Muon – an impressive-looking pair of limited-edition, aluminium, floorstanding speakers that cost an impressive £140,000 ($198,000) per pair. He also played a major part in designing the Award-winning KEF Muo wireless speaker, and now he has turned his hand to a pair of true wireless earbuds.
KEF Mu3 tech specs
(Image credit: KEF)
Type True wireless in-ears
Bluetooth Yes
Noise-cancelling Yes
Battery life 9 hours (+15 hours from case)
Weight 5.8g (each)
From the moment you take the headphones from their packaging, you can see Lovegrove’s involvement. The case looks like a large blob of liquid metal but has a nice subtle shape. It feels robust, too, while the smooth glossy plastic helps to give a more premium first impression. It’s a similar story when you open the case up. The Lovegrove name on the inside might be one nod to the designer too many, but the sheen from the small silver earbuds also gets your attention.
The buds look and feel in keeping with the case, from the smooth glossy exteriors to the KEF logo imprinted on the surface of each bud. They’re surprisingly small, which makes them a little slippery when placed between finger and thumb, but getting them in place with a good seal isn’t too tricky. Pick your eartips (there are four different sizes to choose from), drop them in and twist the buds slightly to lock them into place.
Comfort
(Image credit: KEF)
Provided you achieve a good seal, the level of passive noise isolation on offer is decent. While finding them pretty comfortable for a brief stroll, we are a little less convinced of their comfort during longer listening sessions. The Sony WF-1000XM3 are a slightly bulkier design but feel much less intrusive, as do the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds.
The first time you open the case, the headphones automatically start the pairing process. Once partnered to your headphones, they connect almost as soon as the lid is lifted.
On the outer surface of each earbud, you’ll find a small KEF logo that sits on a circular control button. There are no touch controls here, but the physical ones work perfectly well – and also means you won’t accidentally hit play or skip a track when putting them in place.
On the left earbud, a long press turns the volume down, while a short press switches the noise-cancelling on or off and engages the ambient mode (which lets you hear your surroundings without having to take the buds out of your ears). On the right earbud, a short press answers calls and plays or pauses music and a long press increases volume. Pressing twice stops your phone call or skips forward a track.
Battery life comes in at an excellent nine hours, with the case giving a claimed extra 15 hours of additional juice to keep the buds going. By comparison, the class-leading Sony WF-1000XM3 offer around six hours. If you’re caught short, a quick five-minute blast from the charging case (which uses USB-C) should give you an hour of playtime.
There’s a small LED on the case which blinks when the battery is low, but it’s not that obvious against the glossy plastics and it also doesn’t give any real indication of just how much charge is left. We were caught out when our buds needed charging, only to find the case was also running on empty.
Unlike many wireless earbuds around this price, there’s no app to accompany the KEF Mu3. This means there’s no EQ adjustment for you to play with, but that’s only an issue if you aren’t happy with the balance of the KEFs. And we can’t see why you wouldn’t be.
Sound
(Image credit: KEF)
The KEFs produce a wonderfully balanced sound that’s smooth and refined. They’re quite effortless in their delivery and present the music in a mature and sophisticated fashion, making them easy to listen to over prolonged periods. You can push them to the limits of their battery life and emerge on the other side not feeling drained or tired of their sound.
We play Shout by Tears For Fears and notice fullness and finesse to the percussion, plus a good amount of space around the instruments. There is no hint of harshness as chimes cut through the song’s rich vocal and solid, yet relatively mild-mannered bass. However, the Sony WF-1000XM3 deliver the song with a greater sense of sparkle, proving capable of finding an extra gear when it comes to drama and drive.
Switch to Hayden Thorpe’s Diviner and the smooth, soulful delivery of the track plays to the KEF’s strengths. His vocal is rich and full-bodied with a good sense of expression, while the individual strokes of the piano keys come across well. Again, the Sonys take this level of dynamics and expression up a notch, forming a tighter emotional bond with the listener.
Moving on to Massive Attack’s Angel, the KEFs cope well with the track’s powerful and relentless bassline. There’s a richness to each bass pulse and they sound solid, even if rivals can paint them with greater texture.
The Mu3 do a good job of keeping outside interference to a minimum. Their noise-cancelling tech doesn’t produce such stark results as the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, but it’s effective and, anyway, not everyone is comfortable with the vacuum-like feeling that more aggressive noise-cancelling technology can have.
The call quality could be better, though. While the best pairs of true wireless earbuds lend your voice a more natural-sounding quality, the KEFs have a slightly coarse edge and introduce more compression.
Verdict
KEF has put its head above the parapet and produced a pair of true wireless earbuds that can be considered worthy rivals to the Apple AirPods Pro. However, we have some reservations about the call quality, and while nothing about the performance stands out as being a negative, the Mu3 can’t quite match the sonic ability of the class-leading rivals at this level from the likes of Bose and Sony.
However, if you’re a fan of the KEF brand – or Ross Lovegrove in particular – and have the funds at your disposal, it’s well worth giving them a chance.
In many places, you can call up a neighbor or local pizza parlor just by dialing seven numbers, as long as you have the same area code — but that ability will soon be going away, in order to make the National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Lifeline easier to reach. If you live in one of the areas where the change is taking place, you’ll soon have to dial 10 numbers whether you’re making a local call or not.
Each cellular carrier has a support page explaining the change (we’ll link to all of them below, and a list of the area codes will be included at the end of the post), but the basic gist is that, starting October 24, 2021, anyone trying to call a local number using only seven digits will be met with a recording telling them to hang up and try again with the full area code. The change will apply to landlines, cell phones, and VoIP systems.
Here are the carrier support pages for:
T-Mobile
AT&T
Verizon
It’s worth noting that seven-digit calling isn’t going away for everyone — there are only 37 states with affected area codes, and in some of those states it will only cover specific regions. The change will still affect a lot of people though — there are plenty of states, including Alaska, Hawaii, New Hampshire, and New Mexico where the entire state will have to switch over to 10-digit dialing. People in large portions of Washington, Michigan, Colorado, Arizona, and other states will also be affected.
The change is happening due to an FCC order from July 2020, which mandated that the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline should be reachable at a three-digit number, 988, to make it easier for people in crisis to reach the hotline. After the decision was reached, the responsibility for actually getting the system working was passed to the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, which is now in charge of making sure that calls to 988 end up at the Lifeline starting on July 16, 2022.
Please note that calling 988 will not connect you to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline until July 16, 2022. If you or a loved one is in crisis, please call 1-800-273-8255.
The technical reason for why this change is required is reasonably simple — some phone numbers start with 988, so if someone were to dial a number like 988-9999, the phone switch wouldn’t know how to interpret it. Since there isn’t a 988 area code, requiring all 10 digits ensures that no phone numbers will start with 988 and confuse the system.
If you’re struggling to remember the last time you made a call without typing in the area code, you’re not alone — places like New York City and parts of the Bay Area have been requiring 10-digit dialing for years. Of course, tapping in a specific number at all is less common in an age of more messaging, fewer calls, digital address books, and phone number links on Google Maps.
Area codes where 10-digit dialing will be required
Xiaomi’s upcoming Mi Mix handset will include a camera with a liquid lens, the company teased in a pair of Weibo posts today. As its name implies, the lens typically includes a layer of liquid, and the lens’s focus and focal length are changed by applying an electrical voltage. Xiaomi says the lens will allow one camera to take everything from telephoto to macro shots as well as offer fast autofocus. The phone is due to be unveiled on March 29th.
Liquid lenses have been around for a number of years, but they’re typically found in industrial applications where traditional lenses with moving mechanical parts might wear out too quickly. But their compact size and versatility make them an appealing prospect for smartphones. In theory, one camera with a liquid lens could combine several of the cameras that are found on the backs of most flagship smartphones.
As well as Xiaomi, there were rumors last year that Huawei is also exploring using the technology in its smartphones.
A liquid lens feels fitting for Xiaomi’s Mi Mix line, which has featured some pretty experimental designs over the years. In 2018, the Mi Mix 3 was among the first phones to offer a mechanical sliding selfie camera, and the following year, it showed off the Mi Mix Alpha, which had a screen that wrapped around almost the entire device.
Qualcomm has announced its latest 7-series processor, the Snapdragon 780G, which trickles down features from the company’s flagship Snapdragon 888 chipset, while still offering manufacturers (and, by extension, consumers) a more affordable phone.
The 780G takes the new top slot in the 7-series lineup, replacing the 765G / 768G (the latter being largely a frequency-boosted version of the former). Obviously, there’s the usual boost in performance: the 780G features Qualcomm’s Kryo 670 CPU, which the company says offers a 40 percent boost in performance, and a new Adreno 642 GPU for up to 50 percent faster graphics compared to the 765 model.
But the 780G also enables some new functionality, like the Spectra 570 triple ISP (image signal processor), which, like the Snapdragon 888, allows for phones to capture three simultaneous photo or video feeds at the same time.
And like the Snapdragon 888, the Snapdragon 780G features Qualcomm’s sixth-generation AI engine running on a new Hexagon 770 processor, which can perform 12 trillion operations per second (TOPS) — twice that of its predecessor, even if it still pales in comparison to the 26 TOPS that the Snapdragon 888 offers. It also features the second-gen Sensing Hub that Qualcomm debuted on its flagship chipset.
Lastly, the 780G has improved connectivity features, with an integrated Snapdragon X53 5G modem that promises up to 3.3Gbps speeds on Sub-6 GHz 5G networks. And like its pricier sibling, the 780G adds support for Wi-Fi 6E, meaning phones with the new chip will be able to take advantage of the fastest Wi-Fi speeds around as well as Bluetooth 5.2.
The first phones with the Snapdragon 780G are expected to release in the second quarter of 2021.
Motorola has added support for two new indigenous languages spoken in the Amazon as part of a larger effort to make technology more accessible. Beginning today, Kaingang and Nheengatu will be among the language options available on Motorola Android devices. Any Motorola phone updated to Android 11 will be able to access the new language options, not just its most expensive models.
“We believe that this initiative will raise awareness towards language revitalization, not only will impact the communities that we’re working directly with, but right now we’re in the process of open sourcing all that language data from Android into Unicode,” Janine Oliveira, Motorola’s executive director for globalization software, said in an interview with The Verge. “And by doing that we believe that we’re going to pave the way for more endangered indigenous languages to be added, not only on Android, but also on other smartphones.”
The Kaingang language comes from an agricultural community of people in southeastern Brazil, and only about half of the community still speaks it, Motorola found. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated Kaingang “definitely endangered.” This means that children no longer learn it as their first language at home.
The Nheengatu community of about 20,000 people lives mostly in the Amazon, but only about 6,000 people in the region still speak that language, so UNESCO considers Nheengatu “severely endangered.” That’s the second-most serious category before a language is considered “extinct.” UNESCO classifies a language as severely endangered if it’s spoken by grandparents and older generations, who may not speak it among themselves or to children.
Both of the indigenous communities rely heavily on mobile technology, even though they may not always have reliable internet access, said Juliana Rebelatto, globalization manager and head linguist at Motorola’s mobile business group. “Teachers use their mobile phones in their classroom to teach their curriculum, so now that the phones will be in Kaingang and Nheengatu this will really help with the learning process,” she said.
The Kaingang welcome screen on Motorola.Image: Motorola
The Nheengatu welcome screen.Image: Motorola
It makes sense that Motorola has a focus on Brazil: as of February, it had 21 percent of the market share in the country among smartphone manufacturers, ahead of Apple and second only to Samsung. Rebelatto acknowledged there isn’t necessarily a big return on investment for Motorola by incorporating the indigenous languages into its system; the move isn’t likely to add a huge number of new users for its products.
“We know that for most people it will be just another language in a drop down menu but for the people who speak that language, it’s a big innovation. It is part of the bigger mindset we have about digital inclusion,” she said.
Rebelatto said it was their colleague Robert Melo, Motorola’s internationalization lead, who first realized that there were no Latin American indigenous languages represented in any form of digitalized technology. “We started researching ways that Motorola could change that story,” she said.
The company partnered with the University of Campinas in São Paulo, Brazil, and worked with Professor Wilmar D’Angelis, a researcher in cultural anthropology and indigenous languages. “He has dedicated his life, 40 plus years, into researching languages,” Rebelatto noted, and he proved vital in helping the company narrow down which indigenous languages it would choose.
Motorola’s linguistics team worked with native language speakers of both languages throughout the project, which meant training them on the company’s tools and practices while on a multinational schedule. “We had to ship Lenovo PCs to communities where the mail barely got into,” Oliveira said, all during a pandemic.
But the native speakers were eager to help, Rebelatto added. One of the women who was a translator on the project told them she couldn’t wait for the languages to be available on phones: “She now has all the argument she needs to convince her child to learn their ancestral language, because it will be on the phones they use every day.”
Ozias Yaguarê Yamã Glória de Oliveira Aripunãguá with his daughter.Image: Motorola
Nheengatu speaker Ozias Yaguarê Yamã Glória de Oliveira Aripunãguá worked with Motorola on the project and emphasized the cultural importance of the language. “You must understand that over time, Nheengatu has been weakening more and more, and today, many times, due to discrimination against the language, people are ashamed to use it,” he said in an email to The Verge.
“But you can’t talk about the Amazon without talking about Nheengatu because the two are linked … it’s part of the essence, it’s the core. The soul of the Amazon is Nheengatu,” he said. Seventy percent of fish names are Nheengatu names, and 50 to 60 percent of the city and river names are Nheengatu names as well, Yaguarê added. “There is no way to talk about one without talking about the other.”
The team plans to open source all of the data it collected as part of the project, hundreds of thousands of UI strings, for anyone to use or research the Amazon languages, not only on Android, but other platforms as well. They had to customize a keyboard and are working with Google on the process of including the languages in G-board.
“We don’t intend to stop here,” said Renata Altenfelder, Motorola executive director for brand. “We are putting this as an open source because we truly believe this should be something for everyone to join.” More endangered languages will be added to the project, she added, they just haven’t decided which ones yet.
Rebelatto added that by digitizing endangered languages, the company hoped it would draw more attention to them and motivate other tech companies to consider similar initiatives. The Motorola project, she added, “will allow technology to have its rightful place in the preservation of not only the language but in their traditions, in their culture and their story.”
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
