There’s a newly discovered attack on SMS messaging that’s almost invisible to victims, and seemingly sanctioned by the telecom industry, uncovered in a report by Motherboard. The attack uses text-messaging management services that are aimed at businesses to silently redirect text messages from a victim to hackers, giving them access to any two-factor codes or login links that are sent via text message.
Sometimes, the companies providing the service don’t send any sort of message to the number that’s being redirected, either to ask permission or even to notify the owner that their texts are now going to someone else. Using these services, attackers are not only able to intercept incoming text messages, but they can reply as well.
Joseph Cox, the Motherboard reporter, had someone successfully carry out the attack on his number, and it only cost the attacker $16. When he contacted other companies providing SMS redirection services, some of them reported that they had seen this sort of attack before.
The specific company that Motherboard used has reportedly fixed the exploit, but there are many others like it — and there doesn’t seem to be anyone holding the companies to account. When asked why this type of attack is even possible, AT&T and Verizon simply directed The Verge to contact CTIA, the trade organization for the wireless industry. CTIA wasn’t immediately available for comment, but it told Motherboard thatit had “no indication of any malicious activity involving the potential threat or that any customers were impacted.”
Hackers have found many ways to exploit the SMS and the cellular systems to get at other people’s texts — methods like SIM swapping and SS7 attacks have been seen in the wild for a few years now and have sometimes even been used against high-profile targets. But with SIM swapping, it’s pretty easy to tell that you’re being attacked: your phone will completely disconnect from the cellular network. But with SMS redirection, it could be quite a while before you notice that someone else is getting your messages — more than enough time for attackers to compromise your accounts.
The main concern with SMS attacks are the implications they could have for the security of your other accounts. If an attacker is able to get a password reset link or code sent to your phone number, they would then have access to it and be able to get into your account. Text messages are also sometimes used to send login links, as Motherboard found with Postmates, WhatsApp, and Bumble.
This also serves as a reminder that SMS should be avoided for anything security related, if possible — for two-factor authentication, it’s better to use an app like Google Authenticator or Authy. Some password managers even have support for 2FA built in, like 1Password or many of the other free managers we recommend. That said, there are still services and companies that only use text messages as a second factor — the banking industry is infamous for it. For those services, you’ll want to make sure that your password is secure and unique, and then push both for them to move away from SMS and for the cellular industry to work on making itself more secure.
(Pocket-lint) – The Garmin Lily is pitched as a smartwatch for women. Garmin says it’s the smartwatch we’ve been waiting for: “classic enough to make a statement and modern enough to keep you connected”.
With a patterned lens over a greyscale touchscreen and a super small and compact design, is the Garmin Lily really the smartwatch women would want – or is the non-targeted wider market a far better place to pick from?
Compact design
Dimensions: 34.5 x 34.5 x 10.15mm / Weight: 24g
Classic and Sport models
Six colour options
14mm bands
The Garmin Lily is small – very small in fact – which is probably why Garmin has specifically pitched this device at women. It would get completely lost on a larger wrist. With a 34mm casing, it’s 6mm smaller than the 40mm Apple Watch, but its strap is much slimmer too, making for a very feminine device overall.
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Some will love its simplicity and elegance, while others will find it just too little. Compare the Lily to the likes of the Garmin Vivomove or Vivoactive ranges and you’re looking at a device that’s a fraction of the size.
In terms of finish though, the Lily is stylish and the design is versatile – it looks good with sportswear as well as dressier outfits. We aren’t quite sold on the patterned lens, though, which sits over the touchscreen – which, by the way, only appears when you flick your wrist – but the polished bezel, lugs and detail on the buckle are all nice touches.
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Flip the Lily over and you’ll find the heart rate monitor (HRM) on the underside of the lightweight casing, along with the charging pins. We had the Sport model so our review unit has a silicone strap, which is soft and comfortable to wear. There’s also a Classic model, with a more classic strap.
Interesting display
16-level greyscale TFT LCD display
1 x 0.84-inch, 240 x 201 pixels
Patterned lens coating
The Garmin Lily has a 1-inch touchscreen display that sits behind a patterned lens. It’s a clever design, though as we mentioned previously, we aren’t huge fans of the actual pattern that Garmin has chosen.
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The touchscreen is greyscale so there are no rich and vibrant colours like you would get on the Apple Watch or Fitbit Versa, making it a little less exciting than other smartwatches available. The touchscreen is nice and bright, however, so we had no issues seeing it in brighter conditions.
The screen is responsive too, when it’s actually on and you are navigating through the various options. The flick-of-the-wrist action or pushing the touch button at the bottom of the screen to get it on is less responsive though.
There were multiple occasions where we had to flick our wrist several times to wake the display up. The touch-sensitive button works fine, but you have to hit it in exactly the right spot – and the size of the device can make this fiddly.
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There’s also no always-on display option within the settings. This feature would of course drain the battery – which isn’t great anyway, more on that later – but it means the patterned lens is very prominent when the touchscreen isn’t on, which is most of the time. Many of the clock faces available are simple and perfect for having on all the time so we’d have liked this as an option.
The Garmin Lily is packed with features – some of which are excellent – but it misses out on a couple of important ones. Let’s start with what it does have though.
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There’s heart rate monitoring, respiration rate tracking, blood oxygen monitoring (VO2 max), stress tracking, advanced sleep tracking, and Garmin’s Body Battery monitoring, along with menstrual cycle tracking and hydration tracking – the latter two of which are manual (and, just to make note, available on many other Garmin products too).
You’ll also find the standard activity tracking features you’d expect, such as step counting, elevation, reminders to move, calories burned, distance, and intensity minutes.
Other features include 5ATM water resistance (which is down to 50m depth) and basic swim tracking, smartphone notifications, weather notifications, the ability to control your smartphone music, text response and call reject functionality (for Android users) and running cadence.
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Sounds like a lot, we know. And it is. But you’ll get those on other Garmin products, by and large. And the Lily misses out built-in GPS – which seems like a major omission for Garmin – and especially at this price point. It’s a bit baffling really.
The Lily does offer Connected GPS, but that of course requires you to take your phone with you when you run or walk. It also doesn’t offer Garmin Pay and there aren’t as many specific workout options available compared to the likes of Apple Watch.
Performance and battery
The Garmin Lily’s battery life is claimed to last for up to five days, but we struggled to get three out of it. On a couple of occasions we got less than two. Turning off blood oxygen monitoring helped to extend the life – as this cuts into the battery life significantly – but it definitely wasn’t a five-day device in our experience.
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In terms of other features though, the Lily performs well. Though we would really like to see more activities to select, like Hiit, the Lily was on par with the Apple Watch Series 6 for the way it measured any runs or high intensity workouts we did.
The heart rate monitor responds quickly during Hiit – something we didn’t find happened with the Fitbit Sense – and our runs were almost identical in terms of statistics to the Apple Watch.
Sleep tracking is also great on the Lily – if you want to go to bed wearing a watch – and we love the idea of Garmin’s Body Battery feature, although we wish it didn’t always tell us we were basically running on fumes.
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Smartphone notifications, however, are disappointing. Garmin calls the Lily a smartwatch, but it isn’t really – or at least not compared to the likes of the Apple Watch.
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For those on Android, you can reply to texts and reject calls on the Lily. But for iOS users, you can only clear notifications, making it a little pointless and pretty much just a battery drain.
Garmin Connect app
Android and iOS compatible
The Garmin Connect app offers a number of extra features on top of those found on the Lily itself. It’s also where you’ll find all the collected data, allowing you to delve a little deeper.
The Connect app is easy to use once you know how – much like the Lily itself. It’s not as clear as the Fitbit app, but there’s heaps of data to go through if you want. There is also no paywall on Garmin for some features, like Fitbit has done with its Fitbit Premium subscription.
At the bottom of the Connect app, you’ll find five tabs: My Day, Challenges, Calendar, News Feed and More. The first is likely the one you’ll use most, giving you a summary of your activity, including heart rate, Body Battery, stress, steps, calories. Tapping on each category will give you further breakdowns.
To see a summary of all the activities you have specifically tracked using the Lily, you can tap on your profile at the top of the Garmin Connect app. You can also see a summary of your statistics here too, like personal records.
To change settings – such as selecting which activity options appear on the watch – tap on the circle at the top of the Connect app with the Lily in it. From here, there are alert settings, general settings, appearance and activity tracking settings to go through, among others.
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On the Lily itself, tapping on the touch-sensitive button at the bottom of the display will take you to the main menu, which includes Watch Face, Activities, Settings and Clocks.
Swiping down from the top of the main screen will take you to a quick setting menu with options like Do Not Disturb and Notifications. Tapping on the Notifications icon is the only way to see past notifications that have come through on Lily from your smartphone.
Swiping right to left or left to right on the main screen of Lily will take you to My Day, with further swipes detailing health stats, calendar appointments, weather, menstrual tracking, hydration, Body Battery, and intensity minutes.
Verdict
The Garmin Lily is a small, lightweight, elegant device that is comfortable to wear, and has an interesting design. That’s the summary of its good features.
But there’s just too much lacking – the most prominent of which is no built-in GPS. Even without this feature available the battery life is poor compared to what’s promised, smartphone notifications are pretty pointless – in that you can’t do anything with them – and we aren’t especially keen on the patterned lens design either.
If you’re after a watch that offers good activity tracking in a very small and dainty package – and don’t mind taking your phone with you when exercising – then the Lily has its share of positives. But Garmin’s own range offers more features at similar prices, so we’d look there – accepting the result will be a physically larger product – to get more of the features that matter.
Also consider
Garmin
Garmin Vivoactive 4s
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The Garmin Vivoactive 4s has all the features the Lily offers, but it offers built-in GPS, more sports apps, Garmin Coach, Music and Garmin Pay. It comes in a 40mm option so while it is bigger than the Lily, it offers a lot more in that extra size.
Best Garmin watch compared
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Apple Watch SE
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The Apple Watch SE isn’t too much more expensive than the Garmin Lily – especially not if you’re looking at the Classic model – but it offers a lot more in the smartwatch department for Apple iOS users, and it has plenty of great fitness tracking features too.
(Pocket-lint) – Arlo is a big name in home security, with a wide range of cameras, so extending its offering to the front door makes a lot of sense.
Having originally launched an Audio Doorbell – which connected to an Arlo system – the obvious leap was to integrate video and audio to make it a complete doorbell viewing and answering solution, either as part of a wider Arlo system or as a standalone device to rival Ring.
Which is exactly what you get with the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free. But is it good enough to stand up against the competiton?
Design and installation
Doorbell dimensions: 47 x 143 x 37mm
Includes flat & angled mounting plates
Weather-resistant design
Battery powered
We’ve all become familiar with video doorbells following the rise of Ring, which dominates this market. The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free is larger than Ring’s equivalent device, so it’s a little less subtle on the door, standing out more. It’s both taller and thicker than Ring’s devices.
At the top of the Arlo sits the camera, while the large doorbell button is towards the bottom, encircled with LEDs which illuminate as someone approaches it.
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The Arlo doorbell comes with both flat and angled mounting plates in the box, along with screws and plugs if you are mounting to a wall. In reality you can use any screws, but mounting is a simple case of screwing the mounting plate in place and then clipping the body of the device into place.
The camera body itself detaches from the backing plate via a pin release mechanism, the sort of thing you’d use to open a SIM tray of a phone. That needs to be considered when mounting, as you’ll need access to this hole on the top. That also means that anyone who wants to steal it only needs a bent pin, but they’d be doing that while being captured on camera.
The device is weatherproofed, too, designed to withstand rain.
Unlike with Ring, you’ll have to remove the entire Arlo unit to get to the battery inside. In some ways that’s easier, because you don’t have to mess around with a tiny screw or face plate. You can buy spare batteries too, making a quick change possible.
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The battery version of the Arlo Doorbell can also be connected to existing doorbell wiring, with connectors on the rear – although we didn’t test this aspect of the device.
The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free doesn’t come with a chime – i.e. the ability to sound a ringer elsewhere in your home – so that’s something else you might consider adding. That will mean it can audibly ring in any room of your house, so you’re not dependent on your phone, or hearing the sound from the device itself on the front door. But also consider you can have it alert you via an Amazon Echo if you create a simple Alexa Routine.
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Connectivity and the Arlo app
Hub or Wi-Fi connection
Setup via the Arlo app
No desktop app
Connecting to the Arlo Video Doorbell is much the same as connecting any other Arlo device. You’ll need to use the Arlo app on your phone or tablet and this will walk you through the process for both installing the doorbell and getting it connected.
The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free can connect to either Wi-Fi or an Arlo hub. Supporting Wi-Fi means you don’t have to be an existing Arlo system user to get started. If you have a hub and want to connect to that you also have that choice. The advantage of connecting to an existing hub is that you’ll then have the option for local video storage on microSD – so you don’t have to then have an Arlo Smart subscription to store video.
The doorbell then appears within the Arlo app. If you’re an existing Arlo user, that means it will sit alongside your other Arlo devices; if you’re new to Arlo and only plan to use have the doorbell then that’s all you’ll see in the app.
The app then gives you all the controls you’ll need for the device. That includes the option to disable the LEDs on the button when motion is detected, manage what happens when someone pushes the doorbell, change the video settings, set activity zones, and adjust the audio.
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You also get control over the mode that you’ll use for the Video Doorbell. These will be familiar to Arlo users, but on the doorbell they only really define what happens when motion is detected. You might choose to remove motion alerts when you’re at home, in which case you can “disarm” the doorbell, keep them on all the time using “armed”, or have them turn on when you leave home using geofencing or according to a schedule – such as only at night.
You can create custom modes too, which will be more relevant to those with existing Arlo devices. It’s here that you can create a mode that, for example, turns on your Arlo Light when motion is detected on the Doorbell, or begins capture on another Arlo camera you might have.
This gives plenty of flexibility for what happens from Arlo’s end, but it’s worth noting that because you can link Arlo to other major smart home platforms – like Alexa, Google Home and SmartThings – you can also set up Routines on those platforms involving other devices. For example, turning on a Hue light when your Arlo doorbell detects motion.
One downside, however, is that there’s no desktop app. Yes, you can log-in through a browser, but when working at home, having a proper desktop app just for your doorbell makes everything easier. Ring has one and it’s something that’s currently missing from Arlo’s offering.
Do I need an Arlo Smart subscription?
Arlo’s original devices didn’t need a subscription. You got a week of cloud storage for free – and that was a major advantage over other systems. With the release of more advanced devices, Arlo has tied 30-day cloud storage and a range of advanced features to its Arlo Smart plans.
For a doorbell, you might question whether you need those extra features. You can run the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free without a subscription, but you lose the cloud storage of motion captures if you don’t have an Arlo Smart plan.
As we said above, if you’ve connected the doorbell to an Arlo hub, you can use the local storage option to record to microSD – but there’s no way of monitoring those backups from your phone, you have to physically remove the card and view it on another device. That might work for some, but we suspect part of the appeal of a connected camera is being able to look back at what’s happened on your phone and download the videos you want to keep.
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Arlo Smart plans also drive other features – like AI detection of what’s been spotted, which can tell you if it’s a person, vehicle or animal. If you’re in a protracted argument about whether the neighbour’s cat is leaving deposits on your front lawn, this might be exactly the feature you need.
Arlo Smart also enables rich notifications, which will highlight what you’re looking at when those notifications appear on your phone.
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The Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free comes with 3-months Arlo Smart as a trial, so you can see how you get on and make your decision. We’ve generally found that Arlo products run smoother if you have a paid subscription, as you get access to all the features.
Without a subscription you can still live-view the video, get notification alerts, and will have the doorbell ring your phone when the button is pressed. And for some that’s all you’ll want – without ongoing costs.
Camera features and performance
180 degree view, 110 degree motion sensor
1536 x 1536 resolution, 1:1 aspect ratio
HDR, IR night vision
The big difference between Arlo’s doorbell and Ring’s is the camera. Arlo has gone for a 1:1 aspect, a square sensor behind that ultra-wide lens, rather than rectangular. The practical benefit is that you can see a lot more of the person at your door. Rather than just seeing a face, you’ll get a better head-to-toe view of that person.
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Depending on the arrangement of your door and the surrounding area, this might be a lot more useful than some rival cameras. For us, it means you can see a lot more of the area surrounding the door and porch, rather than the wider view that Ring offers.
The doorbell is effective at detecting motion, often alerting you to motion just before the doorbell is pressed, so you can get a double notification. The detection for us turned out to be a couple of meters, so will detect people coming up the path, although it’s more effective as people get closer.
We’ve not had the same long-distance alerts that we’ve sometimes had from Ring, which included vehicles on the road when the sun was reflecting off them. Such sensitivity can be adjusted, as well as having the option to specify detection zones (another Arlo Smart feature) if you need to obscure something.
The quality of video capture is good, with HDR (high dynamic range) allowing the camera to balance out scenes when lighting is uneven. There’s IR (infrared) extending the skills to low-light conditions too. While darkness reduces the effective range, IR does paint the subject nicely when approaching the doorbell, so it’s still easy to recognise who it is at night.
The camera is a good wide-angle too, as we mentioned above, although on a doorbell this is less important than it might be on a security camera covering a wider area of view.
The experience of using the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free is excellent, with the video results generally better than some close rival products. Certainly, the 1:1 aspect offers a natural advantage giving a more useful view for objects closer to the camera, appropriate for a doorbell.
Calling your phone has an advantage
SIP calling
Rich notifications
One of the other advantages that Arlo offers is how the “ring” comes through to your phone. Rather than it being served up via a notification, it comes in as a SIP call. The technicalities don’t matter, but it means that when someone presses your doorbell, your phone rings like an incoming call.
You’ll see that someone has pressed the doorbell, leaving you to either accept that call – and talk to that person – or decline the call and just go and open the door.
When you accept the call, you’re shown the live feed from the door and you have the option to unmute the microphone to talk, or to use messages instead – with responses like “we’ll be right there” or “you can leave the package outside”, meaning you don’t actually have to talk to whoever is at the door. These options provide great versatility in how you answer the door – and you can use these whether you’re at home or not, the caller won’t be able to tell the difference. They’re also captured on the recorded video (as in the example above), so you’d have a record of the conversation.
If you’re already on a call on your phone, Arlo will burst in on that call too, so you’ll quickly have to multitask to either put your other call on hold or send a quick reply to whomever is at the door.
We’re also a fan of the notifications that Arlo sends through. These rich notifications are the same as you’ll get from Arlo’s other cameras (if you have an Arlo Smart subscription), telling you what type of occurrence has triggered the motion and giving you a preview thumbnail. That means you can glance at your phone and see whether you need to pay attention to it or not.
Battery life
The battery life on the Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free has seen us through a month of use and still has about 50 per cent remaining, so we’re on course to get the best part of two months from it – and this includes several weeks around the 0°C mark.
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Arlo says that you’ll get three to six months from it, so we’re not hitting that sort of figure – but it still compares favourably with other battery-powered doorbells. Warmer temperatures will undoubtedly extend the usage. And, of course, you can adjust various features to prolong the battery life.
Verdict
Arlo’s first venture into doorbells with the Audio Doorbell never really captured the spirit of what people wanted from a connected device. Fortunately, the Video Doorbell offers a lot more, rivalling and bettering competitors in a number of areas.
The downsides are few: the lack of chime in the box means you’ll have to fork out for one separately, while an Arlo Smart plan will see an ongoing cost to really get the best out if this model.
Yes, this doorbell is a little on the large side, but the calling mechanism and quick replies, quality of the video, and potential for integration into other systems – not to mention folding it into an existing Arlo system – make it rather easy to recommend.
Alternatives to consider
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Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus
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The Plus version of Ring’s video doorbell adds a unique function: Pre-Roll video. This will capture 4 seconds of black-and-white video before the motion was triggered, so you get a wider window of capture for any given event. Wide support from Alexa and other platforms, as well as a complete package from Ring itself, makes this video doorbell rightly popular.
Ring Video Doorbell 3 Plus review
Writing by Chris Hall. Editing by Adrian Willings.
Tightly curved monitors like the MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR can really enhance gameplay, especially in first-person environments. With class-leading contrast, accurate out-of-box color and superb HDR, the 343CQR should be on everyone’s curved screen short list.
For
High contrast
Accurate out-of-box color
Solid gaming performance
1000R curve
Against
Slightly light gamma
Blur reduction feature makes the screen too bright
Higher input lag than some 144 Hz screens
Features and Specifications
In the world of curved monitors, there are more things to consider than just screen size. Not only are there three different aspect ratios, 16:9, 21:9 and 32:9, they also come in a wide variety of curve radii. This number is expressed in millimeters like 1500R or 1800R. Larger numbers indicate less curvature. When you see 1000R, you know the curve is as extreme as it gets
MSI has jumped on the 1000R train with its MPG Artymis 343CQR. In addition to that tight curve, it sports a high-contrast VA panel running at 3440×1440 resolution with USB-C, HDR support, Adaptive-Sync and an impressive 165 Hz refresh rate worthy of competing with the best gaming monitors. Selling for a premium price ($900 as of writing), the 343CQR is a sharply focused display that is at its best when gaming — going even as far as to include an aim magnifier for shooters.
MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR Specs
Panel Type / Backlight
VA / W-LED, edge array
Screen Size, Aspect Ratio & Curve
34 inches / 21:9
Curve radius: 1000mm
Max Resolution & Refresh
3440×1440 @ 165 Hz
FreeSync: 48-165 Hz
Native Color Depth & Gamut
10-bit (8-bit+FRC) / DCI-P3
DisplayHDR 400, HDR10
Response Time (MPRT)
1ms
Brightness (mfr)
SDR: 350 nits
HDR: 550 nits
Contrast (mfr)
3,000:1
Speakers
None
Video Inputs
1x DisplayPort 1.4
2x HDMI 2.0
1x USB-C
Audio
3.5mm headphone output
USB 3.2
1x up, 2x down
Power Consumption
32.6w, brightness @ 200 nits
Panel Dimensions WxHxD w/base
31.3 x 16.5-20.5 x 12.4 inches (795 x 419-521 x 315mm)
Panel Thickness
6.5 inches (165mm)
Bezel Width
Top/sides: 0.4 inch (9mm)
Bottom: 0.9 inch (22mm)
Weight
20.2 pounds (9.2kg)
Warranty
3 years
The 343CQR is all about gaming with support for AMD FreeSync from 48-165 Hz. It’s not G-Sync Compatible-certified, but we still got Nvidia G-Sync to work (see our How to Run G-Sync on a FreeSync Monitor article for instructions).
MSI’s specs sheet includes nearly 85% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut. You’ll be using that gamut for all content, SDR and HDR alike, because there is no sRGB mode available.
MSI designed the 343CQR with consoles in mind too. It will accept 4K resolution signals and down-convert them to 3440 x 1440 resolution. The 343CQR is also the first monitor we’ve seen with HDMI CEC (Consumer Electronics Control). Originally developed to support universal remotes, the CEC implementation in this monitor is designed to sense whether the incoming signal is coming from a PC or a console and adjust its picture mode based on designated profiles. The feature supports both PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.
Assembly and Accessories of MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR
To assemble the MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR, the panel and upright are mated with four fasteners, so you’ll need to have a Phillip’s head screwdriver handy. Next, you attach the base with a captive bolt. The resulting package is rock-solid and shows impressive build quality. It certainly meets the standard one expects for the price.
Bundled cables include IEC for the internal power supply, DisplayPort, HDMI and USB. A small snap-on cover hides the panel’s mounting hardware. And if you’d rather use a monitor arm, the bolt holes are in a 100mm VESA pattern with large-head bolts included. In a nice touch, a small hook snaps onto the bottom of the panel to help manage your best gaming mouse’s cable.
MSI MPG Artymis Product 360
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From the front, the MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR is all business with a thin flush bezel around the top and sides and a molded strip across the bottom adorned only with a small MSI logo. A tiny LED appears red in standby mode and white when the power’s on. Around the back right is a joystick and two buttons. One activates the Gaming OSD (on-screen display) app, and the other toggles power.
The upright is very solid with a stiff-moving 4-inch height adjustment. You also get 30 degrees swivel to both sides and 5/20 degrees tilt. There isn’t even a hint of slop or wobble. A small hole helps tidy up cables. The base is solid metal with thin legs that go more than 1 foot deep. That, combined with the fact that the panel’s 6.5-inch thick means you’ll need a bit of extra desktop space to accommodate the 343CQR.
From the top, you can see the 1000R curvature clearly. That radius means that if you made a circle from 343CQRs, it would be just two meters in diameter. If you have the room for three of them, they’ll wrap around almost 180 degrees. They would make a great flight simulator or, perhaps, a solid solution for a Zwift (cycling virtual training app) setup.
The back of the MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR is styled nicely with a variety of different textures and an RGB effect that shows as a strip and MSI shield graphic with a dragon. The color breaths gently through different shades. You can turn it on and off in the OSD and control it ever further with the Gaming OSD app. You can also sync up the lighting effect with that of other MSI products that support the vendor’s Mystic Light-branded RGB. That way, you can create a custom light show with everything working in concert.
The input panel includes two HDMI 2.0 ports that support refresh rates up to 100 Hz with Adaptive-Sync and HDR. Meanwhile, the DisplayPort 1.4 and USB-C inputs accept 165 Hz signals, also with HDR and Adaptive-Sync. There are no built-in speakers, but you get a 3.5mm audio port for headphones.
OSD Features of MSI MPG Artymis
Pressing the joystick brings up the MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR’s OSD,which is divided into seven sub-menus. There are plenty of gaming features as well as most of what you’ll need for calibration.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Gaming menu offers five picture modes. Four are game genre-specific, and there’s also the default mode, User. User’s the mode to pick because it delivers solid accuracy with no need for calibration. There are a few minor flaws, but the 343CQR definitely makes our Calibration Not Required list.
The Night Vision option is a shadow detail enhancer. We didn’t need it because the monitor’s black levels are both deep and richly detailed. Response Time is a three-level overdrive. Fast, the middle setting, is best. Next, MPRT is a backlight strobe that reduces motion blur and cancels out Adaptive-Sync.
It also pegs the brightness at over 860 nits, which is unusual. You can reduce this with the contrast control, but that removes much of the picture’s depth and quality. We recommend sticking with Adaptive-Sync and leaving MPRT off. Finally, Zero Latency should always be turned on for the lowest possible input lag.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Additional features include a frame rate indicator, alarm clock, aiming points and an Optix Scope feature. This is geared at fans of first-person shooters and lets you magnify the area underneath your crosshair in multiple levels using hot keys. As this will take some finessing to execute smoothly and without slowing down your gameplay, it won’t be for everyone.
The OSD will always show you the MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR’s signal status at the top with resolution, refresh rate, HDR status, FreeSync status and the active video input.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Image menu offers three color temperature presets, plus a User mode. Normal is the default and best choice. We were unable to make a visual improvement to the color temp with calibration. The test numbers show a tiny gain but not one that can be seen with the naked eye. The only thing we wished for was a gamma control. The default luminance curve is a tad light, though that’s somewhat mitigated by the 343CQR’s extremely high contrast.
Calibration Settings of MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR
You can simply unpack the MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR, plug it in and enjoy. The image is very accurate by default — even the brightness is already set close to 200 nits in the User picture mode. We attempted a calibration and made no visible improvement.
Our settings are below if you want to try them. Note that in the User color temp, the RGB sliders start at 50%, which reduces brightness by roughly that amount. We turned them all up to 100%, then adjusted from there to achieve maximum dynamic range.
Picture Mode
User
Brightness 200 nits
49
Brightness 120 nits
6 (min. 109 nits)
Contrast
70
Color Temp User
Red 100, Green 93, Blue 93
HDR signals lock out all picture controls. You can still access the modes, but changing them does not affect the image. HDR grayscale runs a tad red, but the EOTF is spot-on, as is the color tracking. The 343CQR also uses dynamic contrast to achieve tremendous contrast for HDR content.
Gaming and Hands-on with MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR
At 1000R, the MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR is as curvy as a gaming monitor gets today. At first, we noticed a little image distortion when working in productivity apps, like word processors and spreadsheets. However, we got used to the look after a short time.
When browsing the web, that distortion became unnoticeable. The monitor’s image is sharp and contrast-y enough to overshadow any horizontal line curvature. It’s best to set the panel exactly vertical with no back or forward tilt. By adjusting the height so our eyes were centered, it made all parts of the screen equidistant from the body. The 343CQR is perfectly usable for workday tasks.
Color was nicely balanced with slightly more than sRGB saturation but not so much that it looked unnatural. MSI has tuned the gamut so it renders SDR content more accurately without the need to switch color spaces, a capability the MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR lacks. When HDR was on, color looked far more vibrant, as it should. This is one of the few monitors that you could leave in HDR mode all the time for Windows apps. Brightness is reasonable with the highest levels reserved only for small highlights.
The monitor also supports 10-bit color, though the panel uses Frame Rate Conversion to achieve this. Despite the internal upconversion, we didn’t see any banding artifacts.
Gaming tests started with our usual trip through Tomb Raider, which clipped along at a sprightly 165 fps on a Radeon RX 5700 XT and GeForce RTX 3090. Both FreeSync and G-Sync worked without a hitch. The MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR’s middle overdrive setting, Fast, struck the best balance between ghosting and blur reduction. The MPRT backlight strobe feature also worked well at reducing blur without artifacts but at the cost of a very bright and overly harsh image. Playing games at over 800 nits peak grew tiring after a short time.
Engaging HDR for a few hours of Call of Duty: WWII proved to be a singular experience. The MSI MPG Artymis 343CQR nears equalling a FALD display when it comes to HDR contrast and color. Every hue, down to the murkiest greens and browns, leapt from the screen. Black levels seemed almost OLED-like in their depth and detail, offset by perfectly balanced highlight areas. Color accuracy was also top-notch. Though we noted a slight red tint during the grayscale tests, it did not affect games or movies we played. This is one of the best HDR monitors we’ve seen in a while.
If you download MSI’s Dragon Center software, you can also use the 343CQR’s Sound Tune feature which uses “AI calculations” to block out background noise coming through a plugged in headset. Since it requires software and many of the best gaming headsets include similar tech on their own, its usefulness will vary depending on the gamer.
Another unique feature comes in what MSI calls Mobile Projector. It lets you display your phone’s screen in a 5:9 column on the side of the monitor. Although having your phone on your computer screen could generally be distracting, if you have a specific task that requires using both your smartphone and PC, this could come in handy.
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Microsoft’s new $99 Xbox Wireless headset isn’t perfect, but it’s the best attempt at being an Xbox gaming headset and an everyday set of wireless headphones I’ve tried yet. It’s compatible with the Xbox Wireless protocol, making it easy to pair with any Xbox One or Xbox Series X / S console. It’s also compatible with Bluetooth (version 4.2, SBC codec), and better yet, it can connect through both protocols simultaneously. So you can take a call or have audio from any app come through from a phone, tablet, or a PC mixed in with the sound coming from your Xbox console.
This is far from the first gaming headset to do this, or even do it well. Microsoft’s latest headset just stands out as being particularly impressive for the number of things it gets right for $99. Its design is stellar, a logical fit in the company’s headphone lineup. Next to the Series X, it looks the part with a touch of glossy green detailing around the ear cup dials, covered in matte black plastic. The little holes in the recessed areas between the faux leather ear pads and the dials seem to be there just for cosmetic reasons, but it looks fantastic nevertheless.
Crucially, these are comfortable, even though my head size nearly pushes them to their size limits. The sidearms require two hands to make adjustments, which I like. There’s no worry that they’ll resize just from being moved around. And while I wish this model had a bungee-style headband and swiveling ear cups like most SteelSeries headsets, not having these features didn’t equate to comfort issues here.
In addition to how the headset looks, its functionality is similar to the Surface Headphones, with twistable dials on the outside of each ear cup for adjusting elements of the audio. Unlike the company’s more premium headphones, there’s no active noise cancellation here (I’d complain, but they’re $99), though the passive noise isolation is better than average for this price. The left dial acts as a chat and game audio mixer, so you can tune your playmates down a bit during a dialogue-heavy cutscene or vice versa. I appreciate that Microsoft put it front and center. On the other dial is the volume control. Twist to increase or decrease, nice and simple — no buttons necessary.
Over on the right ear cup, there’s a USB-C port for charging. Microsoft includes a USB-C to USB Type-A cable to charge it, but you’ll get all of the same headset features if you plug into a Windows 10 machine with your own USB-C to USB-C cable. That’s not the case when plugged into a MacBook Pro, which won’t work over a wired connection with the headset. You can still connect to a macOS device and use the headset over Bluetooth, though.
There are only two buttons on the headset: one to manually mute the bendable microphone (an LED on the inner section of the boom microphone angled toward your face is illuminated when the mic is hot), and another that serves as the all-in-one pairing and power button, both of which reside on the left ear cup. Most gaming headsets require days of continued use to fully learn their respective button layouts, but this one’s dead simple. I would have taken one more button if it served as a multifunction button to control my device over Bluetooth, but Microsoft has limited the headset to just two buttons. There’s no way to independently control, say, a phone outside of just adjusting the volume.
The sound performance from this headset is better than I expected. During my tests, I listened to Spotify, and the music sounded good enough to stick with this headset instead of automatically reaching for my Sony 1000XM3s. People with a knack for stellar audio quality will find quibbles, like that the sound can come off as muddled at times, and the soundstage isn’t as expansive as you’d find in a more expensive set of headphones. But again, these are $99 and meant for gaming first. And for that price, I’m pleased.
Hopping over to gaming, I instantly booted up Doom (2016) on the Series X. The soundtrack and all of the various hellish sound effects have an adequate amount of crunch and punch, and I was head-banging to the music while I played. It sounded as it was intended to sound, though, again, the same nitpicks apply here as they do for music. When there’s a lot happening in the mid and high frequencies, the sound can lack clarity if you’re listening closely. I didn’t notice that as much in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, for instance. This headset works with the Dolby Atmos (Microsoft is giving buyers a trial of Dolby Atmos with purchase that will last until the end of September) and DTS: X paid apps available for Xbox and PC, which might enhance the sound. But for the purposes of this review, I tested just the out-of-the-box experience.
The battery life and range are competitive with other gaming headsets I’ve tested in this price range. Microsoft claims 15 hours per charge, and both times I ran the non-replaceable battery down during testing, it lasted for about that long. I was able to roam about my studio apartment, straying about 25 feet or so from the Xbox without experiencing any drop-outs. It started cutting out when the signal had to go through multiple walls, but that’s to be expected. As for charge speeds, Microsoft says it can gain four hours of use out of a 30-minute charge, or a full charge in three hours. In case you were wondering, you can use the Xbox Wireless headset while it’s being charged, but obviously, it’ll then take longer to recharge.
To give you a sense of how this headset handles connections, I first paired the Xbox Wireless headset to my PC with Microsoft’s USB Wireless Adapter (not included with this headset, but it operates on the same Xbox Wireless protocol as the consoles) for music and to take some video calls. Pairing the headset required pressing and holding the pair button for four seconds and doing the same to the Wireless Adapter. To use them on the Xbox Series X, I had to run through the same process. Frustratingly, the headset can’t handle juggling between two previously paired devices that use the Xbox Wireless protocol, so I had to manually re-pair it when I wanted to hop between my PC and the Xbox. I don’t want to overblow this issue, though. Microsoft’s pairing process for Xbox accessories is very simple. This won’t be a problem at all if you connect to your PC via Bluetooth (as I imagine most people will) since the headset can connect to both concurrently.
If you’re someone who’s likely to lean heavily on the concurrent wireless connection feature, I like that this headset automatically lowers the audio streaming from the Xbox Wireless protocol device when a call is incoming so you can hear it. You can adjust the volume of just your Bluetooth device with its own controls, but not from the headset itself. Cranking the volume with the dial makes it louder for both devices you’re connected to.
The Xbox Accessories app on PC and Xbox lets you fine-tune adjustments.
The level of customization this headset allows is also impressive for the price. Through the Xbox Accessories app for Windows 10 or Xbox, you can adjust the equalizer (movie, music, game, heavy bass, and speech are the presets, or make your own) and boost the bass. Additionally, there’s an auto-mute feature that can mute noises happening in your surroundings. There are three levels (low, medium, and high), and Microsoft says each step up will increase how aggressively the mic mutes things that aren’t your voice. During a video call, it seemed to work as intended, if not better than I expected. The person on the other end said that my speech wasn’t getting cut off, which is something that can happen with these kinds of features, and that happenings in the background weren’t noticeable. Of course, the effectiveness of this auto-mute feature can vary depending on your household situation. If you’re skeptical, it’s easy enough to just tap the mute button to avoid potential embarrassment.
Two other small but cool features in the Xbox Accessories app let you tweak how bright the mute light is, making it easier to see in your peripheral vision. You can also customize the level of mic monitoring or how much outside sound is fed through the mics and then funneled into your ears.
Up until now, the $150 Razer Kaira Pro was the Xbox-specific headset I told people to get because it’s comfortable, and it supports Bluetooth in addition to the Xbox Wireless protocol. Microsoft’s new Xbox Wireless headset is well ahead of that model in terms of design, ease of use, and functionality — all in a more affordable package.
If it fits my head and can also fit around the Series X, it should fit you fine.
If Microsoft is to be judged compared to Sony on how well it designed a headset to accompany its latest consoles — as it inevitably will be — this one handily edges out the Pulse 3D even though they’re the same price. Sony’s model is comfortable and looks equally dashing next to the console it was made for, and it has a 3.5mm headphone jack and 3D Audio support in its court. But it’s tough to compete with the Bluetooth support and button-lite design built into Microsoft’s model. I would have loved it if a USB dongle was included for more support with devices, like the Nintendo Switch. But by design, it can’t connect to other gaming consoles. Microsoft is keeping this one in the family. If you’re in the family, though, you’re in for a treat.
Photography by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge
Correction: The Xbox Wireless headset can get four hours of use from a 30-minute charge. This review incorrectly stated that a 15-minute charge could get you three hours of use. We regret this error.
Caviar transforms the iPhone 12 Pro (Max) into a 1 kilogram 24-karat gold bar. These unique Limited Edition smartphones will retain their value over time.
The Russian company Caviar is known for enriching and decorating high-end Apple and Samsung smartphones with rare materials, including precious metals. This time Caviar takes a slightly different approach. The iPhone 12 Pro (Max) was used as the basis for the new Goldphone. In Caviar’s jewelry workshop, the smartphone is decorated with a kilogram of 24-karat gold, making it an investment object for investors.
Normally, Caviar uses 18 karat gold for its luxurious creations, which is more practical in everyday life and also more affordable. This time, however, Caviar only uses 24 karat gold, making it a worthwhile investment for the long term.
iPhone 12 Pro Goldphone as an investment
Caviar’s iPhone 12 Pro Goldphone looks like a bar of gold, while retaining all the smart features the iPhone has to offer. Most functions, at least, because to create this golden design Caviar decided to eliminate the camera system.
The Caviar logo is processed on the back of the smartphone. Directly below, the letters “Fine Gold 999.9” are engraved, including the weight of 1000 grams. The Goldphone comes in a limited edition of only 7 pieces, on the back of the device the unique number is engraved.
This golden Limited Edition smartphone comes in a luxurious white case-safe with a combination lock. Caviar ships all over the world, every phone is delivered by a private courier. Delivery is included in the price, regardless of where you live.
This golden iPhone retains all functions that can also be found in the regular iPhone 12 Pro (Max) – except for the rear-camera. Customers can choose from the Pro or Pro Max model. Both devices are available in three memory variants: 128GB, 256GB and 512GB.
The suggested retail price of the Caviar Goldphone is set at $ 159,000 USD, for which you will receive the 128GB iPhone 12 Pro. Do you prefer a Samsung phone? Alternatively, Caviar offers the same design based on the Samsung Galaxy S21.
Ilse is a Dutch journalist and joined LetsGoDigital more than 15 years ago. She is highly educated and speaks four languages. Ilse is a true tech-girl and loves to write about the future of consumer electronics. She has a special interest for smartphones, digital cameras, gaming and VR.
Google says in a new blog post that it will now allow third-party developers to create custom Tiles for Wear OS. It first introduced Tiles in 2019, widgets that users could glance at and swipe among to get information about weather, calendar notifications, or stats like heart rate. All of the Tiles used to be directly from Google or the device’s manufacturer.
Its Jetpack Tiles library for third-party developers is now in alpha. Google notes in the blog post:
Tiles can be designed for many use cases, like tracking the user’s daily activity progress, quick-starting a workout, starting a recently played song, or sending a message to a favorite contact. While apps can be immersive, Tiles are fast-loading and focus on the user’s immediate needs. If the user would like more information, Tiles can be tapped to open a related app on the watch or phone for a deeper experience.
Wear OS has been in limbo for a while, with small updates coming here and there, but without a clear path for its future. In the latest blog post, the company says the new custom Tiles “will become available to users later this spring when we roll out the corresponding Wear OS platform update.”
LG’s German website has revealed its Android 11 update roadmap — at least for Europe — and the news isn’t too encouraging. With the exception of the LG Velvet 5G, most of the company’s phones won’t get Android 11 until the back half of 2021, with the vast majority of devices not seeing the update until at least Q4 2021 (long after Android 12 should be available, if Google’s release schedule is similar this year).
It’s worth noting that the released schedule is only from LG’s German site. It’s possible that time frames will be different in other regions, that LG could add more devices over time, or that the updates will simply take less time to develop than the company expects.
The slow update speed isn’t entirely surprisingly, though. LG’s phone business has been struggling for years, prompting reports that the company is considering exiting the smartphone space entirely this year, although the company told The Vergein January that nothing has been finalized yet.
LG has also denied rumors that its next major smartphone, the LG Rollable, has been canceled, although there’s still no firm release date for that device either outside of a vague 2021 window.
Every Friday, The Verge publishes our flagship podcast The Vergecast, our chat show discussing the week in tech news featuring our reporters and editors.
This week, co-hosts Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn talk to Verge deputy editor Elizabeth Lopatto about the rise in interest of NFTs. Elizabeth explains the basics of how NFTs work and what someone actually owns when a transaction takes place.
In the second half of the show, Verge deputy editor Dan Seifert stops by for a gadget roundup — there’s a review for the wild Asus ROG Phone 5, some rumors of OnePlus’ new flagship device, and the announcement of Sonos’ first fully mobile Bluetooth speaker.
Listen here or in your preferred podcast player to hear the full discussion.
Stories mentioned in this week’s episode:
COVID-19 took disease tests out of the lab — and may keep them there
People who are vaccinated can socialize together without masks, CDC says
COVID-19 vaccine supplies are on the rise in the US
Single-shot COVID-19 vaccine is popular at vaccination sites
Artifacts from the first COVID-19 vaccination in the US are headed to the Smithsonian
Meet Dr. B, the startup connecting people to leftover vaccines
Beeple sold an NFT for $69 million
NFTs, explained
Of course John Legere bought an $888,888.88 NFT from Steve Aoki
Jack Dorsey’s first tweet may fetch $2.5 million, and he’ll donate the NFTy proceeds to charity
Sonos Roam officially announced for $169, preorders start now
Sonos partners with Audi to bring its audio tech to cars
Asus ROG phone 5 review
Leaked OnePlus 9 Pro and OnePlus 9 renders leave little to the imagination
OnePlus’ next phones will come out on March 23rd
Samsung will host another Unpacked event on March 17th
Apple reportedly overestimated iPhone 12 mini demand, by a lot
Insta360’s Go 2 is a $299 action camera with a surprisingly powerful case
The most powerful Wear OS watches are held back by Wear OS
Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 review: AMD and Nvidia at their best
PmsProxy, a partnered Twitch streamer who has 147,000 followers, was tired. Tired of streaming Grand Theft Auto roleplay, and of streaming herself playing games more generally — something she’d been doing nearly every day for around six years. “I didn’t just want to sit and play games all day, I realized,” she says when I reach her by Discord. “I want to either tell a story through roleplay or just do something that made it feel fulfilling, and roleplay wasn’t that.” So she decided to make a change: instead of streaming herself playing games, she’d stream herself making things for her business.
That business was leatherworking. Proxy made the jump from full-time game streamer to full-time crafting streamer at the beginning of this year; it was a nerve-wracking but ultimately necessary step. “It’s been unbelievably different in the best way possible,” she says. “My viewers have gone up, my subs have gone up. And I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that my community members are seeing me be happy, right? They’re seeing me do something that I love.” The people who stayed, she says, want to buy her work and learn how she makes it.
Twitch is usually thought of as a place for streaming video games. And while that reputation is deserved — yes, a lot of people stream their gaming on Twitch — the site also has a surprising breadth of channels. Makers & Crafting is one of them; the category was created in 2018, after Twitch renamed “Hobbies & Crafts” to better represent the many pros who streamed in it (in their words). According to Twitch Tracker, a website that logs Twitch statistics, the category averaged 520 viewers in September 2018, the month it was created. As of January 2021, Makers & Crafting was averaging 1,520 viewers, or about three times more.
The people who stream in the category do everything from embroidery to woodworking; it’s mesmerizing to bounce among them. Makers & Crafting is a warm, welcoming category that feels a little intimate. The streams can run long — I mean, they’re making physical goods — but every streamer I’ve seen seems to vibrate at a slightly different frequency than the people who stream on the rest of the site. They’re calmer. Less frenetic. The vibe is aggressively wholesome. In other words: it’s about as close to an oasis as you can get online.
Streaming anything is difficult. In every broadcast you have to be a host, producer, audio engineer, and video technician — all at the same time. Streaming your crafts, however, is harder: making things for an audience is a special kind of difficult, especially if the products you’re making are eventually going to be sold. What’s perhaps more interesting is how learning crafts has changed with the accessibility of the internet. Proxy and another streamer and woodworker I spoke to, WorkedLettuce3 — whose handle was chosen by the Xbox gamertag gods — both learned their crafts from the internet.
“I watched a lot of YouTube videos,” he says. “I just never thought it would be something I would take up. Because, you know, a lot of woodworking YouTubers in particular, they like to flex their shop, they like to flex all the hundreds of thousands of dollars they spent on their tools, right? And, yeah, I mean, that was never gonna be me.” Even so, he found a channel that he says motivated him to be a woodworker — one that emphasized that you didn’t need tons of gear to pick it up as a hobby. “I’m very, very glad I found it because I’ve been loving just messing around woodworking, hanging out with people in the garage like we’ve been doing now,” he says.
Proxy also learned some of the tools of her leatherworking trade from the internet. Her foray into the Makers & Crafting section coincided with the first time she tried her hand at leatherworking. “I started leather crafting January of this year. Like my first time really getting my hands on my own stuff was in January,” she says. “But I spent the last year researching. So starting in 2019 and all through 2020, I did nothing but watch YouTube videos and Instagram videos. I did tons of research.” Proxy says she’s always been gifted in working with her hands. Leatherworking is just the most recent outlet. (She also went to art school.)
Lettuce is in a similar position; before six months ago, he’d never sawn a board in half.
He’d never streamed before, either. His first streaming setup was just streaming directly to Twitch from his phone; these days, he’s got a dedicated PC in his garage, a couple webcams, and the TV from his living room to read chat on. And his chat is important: among his viewers are veteran woodworkers and other crafters, along with people who’ve just stopped by to watch. The woodworkers help him when he’s stuck; he says there are people there who have coached him through his entire woodworking career. That kind of interaction is unique to Twitch, and to the Makers & Crafting section in particular.
Even so, he says he finds woodworking on stream scary sometimes. “Like, before the first time I turned my table saw on, I was terrified. Before I turned my router on for the first time, I was terrified. Before I ran a circular saw for the first time, I was terrified,” he says. And he did fall into some bad habits — like reading chat from his phone while working on things. “My chat would see me reading the chat from my phone. And a couple people in there just like stepped in and they were like, ‘Yo, like, for real. You can’t be doing that.’” He credits chat with keeping him honest.
“No one is coming in to backseat you,” says Proxy. “They’re not like, ‘Oh, you should go here and you should do this. And oh, you didn’t kill my favorite boss.’” Viewers are there to watch someone make something, and maybe learn a little in the process.
Proxy also makes just about everything in her store live on stream. Which she says is intimidating but also rewarding — because viewers (who are also buyers) can see exactly how much labor goes into making what they’ve bought. “They get to see what work is actually being put into this,” she says. “It’s not just, you know, a quick two hours, and it’s done. It’s a grueling two hours. Like everything is hand cut, and hand stitched and glued and stamped.”
Not everyone sells what they make on stream. Another crafter I spoke to, LaserGeekCreations, says that he doesn’t usually create the things that show up in his shop on stream. “Mainly because a lot of the stuff that’s on my Etsy shop is like, quick and easy to make,” he says. “It’s kind of boring to make a lot of the time.” (He assuages this boredom by creating things like a giant wooden dinosaur, which he also destroyed on stream.) LaserGeekCreations also happens to be the streamer who raided Lettuce when he was just starting out — which gave Lettuce his first real start on Twitch.
It’s not all fun and games on Twitch. The larger viewer community can sometimes be brutally toxic to people who don’t fit its notions of who can and can’t be a streamer; recently, Twitch partner Negaoryx lamented, at Twitch’s 2020 Participation Ceremony event, that the chat was targeting presenters with tons of hate speech.
There’s more than 42,000+ viewers watching the Twitch Participation Ceremony on the offical @Twitch channel now. Users in chat are spewing hate speech & harassing the guest streamers. 3 mod names in the chat list but since I’ve been watching, have seen ZERO messages get deleted.
— negaoryx (@negaoryx) January 23, 2021
Makers & Crafting feels different, though. It’s smaller, for one thing. But all the people I’ve spoken to who’ve been involved with the category think it’s a uniquely welcoming space nestled within the larger Twitch community. “It was almost like — it’s gonna sound fucking hilarious — but it was almost like walking into a warm hug,” says Proxy. “It was just like everyone was so welcome.” During her first week in the section, Proxy says she went from getting around 100 viewers to getting more than 500. They were leatherworkers and other crafters; they dropped tips and ideas and support.
Lettuce had a similarly warm experience. “The Makers & Crafting community is — I’m gonna say in my opinion, but I’m pretty sure it’s a fact — that they’re the most welcoming and loving community-minded community I’ve ever seen in my entire life.” Once the pandemic is over, Lettuce says, he’s considering driving from Las Vegas, where he lives, to New Jersey, where his parents are, and visiting his friends from Twitch on the way.
“I don’t think I’ll ever leave Twitch. I mean, live-streaming and the community in general,” he says. “The stream will still be a thing, but I think interpersonal communication and hanging out and, you know, giving someone a firm handshake is my end goal.”
LaserGeekCreations has been streaming crafting for longer than Lettuce and Proxy, and he confirms their assessments of the community. “The makers community is such an amazing community. I think you’ve probably heard that from other people already,” he says. “Because it doesn’t matter what you’re making. We’re all makers, we all like seeing what other people are doing. Everyone’s so supportive of each other.”
That kind of supportive community feeling can be invaluable if you’re trying to finish something. As anyone who’s tried to make anything knows, creating things is hard because going from idea to reality requires a number of steps, which sometimes aren’t particularly obvious. On Twitch, the Makers & Crafting community makes it just a little easier.
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The true wireless earbuds market has never been more crowded than it is in 2021. With so many to choose from, finding the best earbuds can seem daunting. But the vast selection is actually a good thing: not only are there excellent picks for everyday buds to carry in your pocket, but you’ve also got a slew of options that prioritize things like noise cancellation, fitness, lengthy battery life, and comfort.
Even if you don’t consider yourself any kind of audiophile, it’s important to find a set of earbuds that sound good to you. This means different things depending on the person: do you want head-rattling bass or something more balanced with an immersive soundstage? You’ll want to find a pair with a good, reliable Bluetooth connection — all of the below picks check off that box — and enough battery life to last you through a normal day of intermittent listening.
Remember that getting the most out of earbuds requires a good seal in your ear. Always try the various ear tip sizes that come with whichever buds you purchase — and don’t be afraid to experiment with different sizes in each ear. Ears are funny like that. Many of these earbuds have apps you can install on your phone to further personalize their sound and controls the way you want.
If you’re looking for the overall best noise-canceling earbuds, you’ll be very happy with Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds. They have best-in-class noise cancellation and sound great.
But if you’ve got other priorities, there is a range of great options from Apple, Beats, Jabra, Sennheiser, and Ultimate Ears that won’t disappoint. This guide covers higher-end wireless earbuds. If you’re on the hunt for more affordable options, check out the best cheap wireless earbuds to buy.
Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds are the best noise-canceling wireless earbuds you can get.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
1. Bose QuietComfort Earbuds
Best noise-canceling earbuds
The QuietComfort Earbuds offer very powerful active noise cancellation, but what’s equally nice about them is how customizable the ANC is. You can choose between 11 different levels of noise cancellation (based on how much of the outside world you want mixed in) and set three favorites to cycle between when you double-tap the left earbud.
Bose’s premium earbuds put out fantastic audio with punchy bass. Their transparency / ambient mode is second only to Apple in how natural it sounds. And even the voice mics work well, so you really get the whole package — as you should for this kind of money.
The AirPods Pro remain the best wireless earbuds for iPhone owners because some of their best features only work with other Apple products.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
2. Apple AirPods Pro
Best wireless earbuds for the iPhone
There’s no beating the interplay between AirPods and Apple’s other devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The AirPods Pro don’t offer the best sound quality of our top picks, but it’s perfectly satisfactory to many people. And the active noise cancellation is right up there with Bose.
But it really all comes together if you’re in Apple’s ecosystem and also own a Mac or iPad. The AirPods Pro can automatically hop between devices based on which one you’re using, and on iPhone or iPad, spatial audio delivers immersive surround sound when watching streaming video apps. They’re fantastic for making calls with, and Apple continues to pull ahead of competitors when it comes to ease of use.
Here’s a tip: if none of the included ear tips get you a perfect seal, I recommend a set of memory foam tips like those from Comply or Dekoni.
The Jabra Elite 75t are the best wireless earbuds if you want to pair with two devices simultaneously.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
3. Jabra Elite 75t
Best wireless earbuds for multitasking
Jabra is pretty much the only company making true wireless earbuds that support “multipoint” for two simultaneous Bluetooth connections. So you can pair them up with a phone and your laptop or tablet at the same time. Jabra’s mobile app offers a ton of customization over the controls, EQ, and even includes bonuses like white noise or nature sounds if you’ve got situations where they’d be handy.
Jabra Elite 75t
$130
$150
14% off
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Jabra’s Elite 75t earbuds offer pleasing bass-heavy sound, reliable performance, and can connect with two devices — like a phone and laptop — at the same time.
$130
at Amazon
$130
at Best Buy
The newer Elite 85t earbuds add more effective noise cancellation to the mix, but the 75ts are on sale so frequently that they’re still the go-to pick if multitasking is important to you. They pack a wallop when it comes to bass — but not to the point where it overwhelms the rest of the mix.
Jabra backs them with a two-year warranty in the event you experience any hardware issues. (I’ve had a 75t bud stop taking a charge out of nowhere, so it can happen.)
The Powerbeats Pro have been around for some time now, but they still rank as the best wireless earbuds for fitness.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
4. Beats Powerbeats Pro
Best wireless earbuds for fitness
Nothing has managed to unseat the Powerbeats Pro as the best fitness earbuds since their release in 2019. Their ear hook design keeps them planted on your ears during intense exercise, they can endure your sweatiest workouts, and the nine hours of continuous battery life should get you through just about any marathon. And the sound quality is killer, with plenty of bass to keep you motivated and moving.
And since Beats is owned by Apple, the Powerbeats Pro can also take advantage of features like audio sharing, auto device switching (like the AirPods Pro), and a dead-simple pairing process.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus can last for up to 11 hours on a single charge, which blows away many competitors.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
5. Samsung Galaxy Buds Plus
Best wireless earbuds for battery life
They can last 11 hours on a single charge. That’s what I consider marathon battery life for true wireless earbuds, and few other companies have managed to keep up with the longevity of Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Plus. They lack active noise cancellation, so that helps them keep playing for longer, but even then, 11 hours is quite a feat. Like the Jabras, these are often on sale and easy to grab at a discount.
Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 2 are the best wireless earbuds in terms of sound quality.Photo by Jon Porter / The Verge
6. Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2
Best wireless earbuds for sound quality
Sennheiser’s second swing at true wireless earbuds improve on the original Momentums with a more comfortable fit and the addition of active noise cancellation. But everything about these earbuds is second fiddle to their sound quality: the Momentum True Wireless 2 earbuds put out dynamic, expressive, and wonderfully detailed audio. They’re the sort of buds that will bring out things in your favorite music you haven’t noticed before.
But that upgraded sound quality comes for a hefty $300 price. If you want arguably the best sound that true wireless earbuds can deliver, these are it. But all of these other picks sound plenty good in their own right.
You’re not going to find any silicone ear tips that can match the UE Fits and their custom tips, which mold to match your ear shape in seconds.Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
7. UE Fits
Best wireless earbuds if comfort is everything
If you often have difficulty finding ear tips that fit your ears comfortably, it doesn’t really get better than the UE Fits. These earbuds include special tips that mold to the shape of your ear during a 60-second fitting process that you activate with UE’s app. They get warm during molding (but not uncomfortably so) and you can feel them adapting to the contours of your ear canal.
Once the process is done, you’re left with custom earbuds with a fit that’s as close to perfect as you’ll ever find — unless you visit your local audiologist for a professional mold, and that gets expensive fast. Ultimate Ears has a fit “guarantee” and will send you a second set of tips should your first molding attempt go awry. The UE Fits are quite good, last for up to eight hours of continuous playback, and they’re rated IPX4 for water resistance.
UE Fits
$249
Prices taken at time of publishing.
The UE Fits come with unique ear tips that permanently mold to the unique shape of your ears in just 60 seconds. This allows for a much better fit that you can comfortably wear for hours.
(Pocket-lint) – If your TV audio isn’t up to snuff then there are a bevy of options on the market to help step things up a notch. Among these is Polk Audio’s React soundbar, which is available for less cash than many a rival.
But just because you’re paying less doesn’t mean you’ll get less in terms of raw sound capability. Especially if, as we have for this review, you opt for the bundled React soundbar and React Sub package.
That said, the Polk React doesn’t offer any fancy object-based sound decoding, it doesn’t even play pretend – as there’s no Dolby Atmos surround output here from the bar itself – instead sticking to Dolby Digital and DTS surround formats.
You can later invest in Polk’s RS2 surround speakers, which are simply paired at the touch of a button, to create a fully fledged 5.1 system (if you have the Sub) in smaller steps rather than forking our a massive chunk of change up front. That, we think, is a big part of this soundbar’s wider appeal.
Design & Setup
Ports: 1x HDMI (ARC) output; 1x optical input
Controls: Included remote / four-button top-of-‘bar panel
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Alexa voice control integrated
Dimensions (soundbar): 56mm (H) x 864mm (W) x 121mm (D)
Dimensions (sub): 348mm (H) x 218mm (W) x 419mm (D); 7.5kg
Having recently reviewed the JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam – which is an all-in-one box solution that can’t ever be connected to separates – it was interesting to dig into the Polk React for its points of difference. The Polk is a longer soundbar – at 864mm it’s 160mm longer by comparison – so even sat against a 55-inch telly, as pictured, it’s fairly good at covering the majority of the screen width, which is handy for a wide soundscape to help match the action on screen.
The Polk is simpler than the JBL in terms of core specification, though, as there’s no HDMI input, just the one HDMI input – the latter of which is ARC (audio return channel) capable. For us this meant a slight rejig of our TV’s four HDMI ports, as we couldn’t passthrough using the soundbar itself, ensuring the HDMI ARC cable provided was running from TV to React ‘bar.
Thing is, our ARC port is one of the two 4K resolution capable HDMI ports on the TV (every maker does this at present), so our BT TV box for telly had to be relegated to HDMI 4 (running Full HD maximum – which, in fairness, is how majority content from there is streamed) to save HDMI 1 for our PlayStation 5 (our source of Blu-ray and 4K streaming apps such as Netflix). ARC does its job though: once the TV is switched on the audio handshakes between device and soundbar.
Best Bluetooth speakers 2021: Top portable speakers to buy today
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·
Our guide to the best Bluetooth wireless speakers available to buy today, including B&O, Denon, JBL, Marshall, Sonos and Ultimate Ears
Well, it didn’t at very first. For a brief period of time we were in a no man’s land of having both TV audio and soundbar audio outputting simultaneously. That’s because the setup is, to our mind, a little finicky. The soundbar needed an update out of the box, that much it told us (by voice alert), but having advised us to install the Polk Connect app – which we did on our Google Android phone – it then didn’t like it, forcing a handover to Amazon Alexa instead. But the Alexa app initially failed to get things talking successfully.
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Success did come after a few attempts, after which there’s been no issues, but it very much points to this Polk’s intentions: it’s an Alexa voice control soundbar through and through. There’s even an Alexa button pride of place on the included remote control. There’s not even a proper off button – as your main TV remote will take over for that duty anyway – and there’s always a glowing light of some colour to the front of the ‘bar, which we think is a design downside when watching movies in darkened rooms.
Oh, and Alexa shouts crazilyloud for some reason too – almost to the point of distorting – and there’s no simple way that we can find to turn this down, which is irksome.
The included remote isn’t the prettiest, but it’s well appointed, able to switch between TV and Bluetooth audio sources. There are adjustments for bass up/down on the left, volume up/down in the middle, voice up/down on the right, four quick-select movie presets below this, and surround sound volume/balance adjustment to the bottom of the controller.
That surround sound adjustment won’t do anything unless you’ve bought into the Polk’s expandable options though. As the React soundbar itself is a straight forward left, centre, right speaker arrangement. But if you buy the RS2 surround speakers – not on test here – then you can easily sync them at the touch of a button on the back of the soundbar and boost things to a 5-channel system.
Go with the subwoofer – paired in the same way, using the same button to quickly sync without extra wires – and that brings 5.1 channel potential into your living room. The sub is pretty beefy in terms of scale – and deeper than it is either wide or tall – but the addition of true bass at the lower end of the spectrum is transformative to the sound profile. We think it’s an essential addition to make the React ‘bar deliver its potential.
Which brings us to the whole reason to buy a soundbar: to enhance audio quality, notching up TV audio to new heights. And the Polk React does a generally decent job, although given its positioning to the base of a screen (inevitable, of course) and lack of object-based sound control it lacks any distinct verticality – so on larger screens voice parts might not give the impression they’re coming from the person speaking with the greatest of precision.
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Otherwise there’s a lot of tweaking that can be done with ease, so it’s great to have all that control directly to hand. The presets are particularly useful, selecting Movie to enhance that extra bass – there’s always a good down-pitched “wommm” in an action flick – or Night to quieten such frequencies and allow your family/neighbours/whoever to get some shut-eye when you’re having a late night session.
The independent controls for bass and voice are handy too, the latter really adjusting the mid-to-high-end of the frequency range to give more curvature to vocal output. So if you’re finding the bass balance is a bit too high, then this can help voices to cut through the mix with greater clarity. We like that it’s a simple system, too, not over-complex in how many ways it can all be adjusted.
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However, bass-wise we’ve heard soundbars with chunkier capability. Which is why, once paired with the React Sub, you’ll really hear and feel the difference. With the React subwoofer linked up the sound has a much more rooted appeal, delivered with gusto. It’s got great musicality too, to the point we’ve ceased using our Marshall standalone speaker in the living room and instead just tuck into the Polk React and Sub on Music mode for the best possible listen.
Through the Alexa app it’s simple enough to get the soundbar to register as part of your home network. With Google Home open it’s easily identified (although not directly controllable here, as Alexa rules the way), so Spotify plays nice – and you can ask Alexa by voice to load your favourites.
We suspect that adding a pair of RS2 speakers would add to the expanse of the overall sound as, like we said up top, the Polk React doesn’t support object-based audio, so you’re not going to get any Dolby Atmos pseudo height and all-around sense from this soundbar. But, really, given how such systems can sometimes fly off the handle in weird (and not always wonderful) ways, we think Polk delivers here exactly what people will want – enhanced sound on a smaller budget.
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That will raise the question, however, as to whether you want something smaller and more technologically complete, such as the JBL Bar 5 MultiBeam that we mentioned at the beginning of this review. It can’t match the smacking bass of the subwoofer by any means, but if you don’t have the space then it might be a better fit to your needs – and the Atmos found there is impressive given the right source material.
Verdict
While the Polk React doesn’t have object-based sound decoding bells and whistles – that’s to say there’s no vertical channels for pseudo surround – as a standalone large ‘bar with decent output and control, for a very fair price, it’s got a lot going for it. Especially if you’re keen on Alexa integration for voice control.
But things really step up a notch when you add a React Sub as part of the package. That’s when the sound becomes extra full, deep and rich – to the point that it’s taken preference as our living room music speaker when the telly is out of use. Now if that’s not high praise, then what is? Keep your expectations in check in terms of technological prowess and Polk delivers strong at this end of the market.
Also consider
Pocket-lint
JBL Bar 5.0 MultiBeam
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It’s a different prospect, as it’s a single box solution – so you’ll never be able to add extras or a sub – but that might better suit your space restrictions. However, it permits passthrough (thanks to HDMI in and out ports with eARC) and offers Dolby Atmos decoding, which with the right source delivers a more complete sound. That said, the Polk’s React Sub, if you want to fork out the extra cash, takes impactful sound to the next step where the JBL simply cannot reach.
Read our review
Pocket-lint
Yamaha SR-C20A
squirrel_widget_4026933
Looking for something smaller? If what you need is a bit of everything from your soundbar – ignoring that, at this price point, you can’t expect surround sound – you can’t go far wrong with this little Yamaha. It’s a one-box solution (so, like the JBL above, there there’s no subwoofer here) and can turn its hand to pretty much anything, without ever making itself the centre of attention. A different prospect, but a nice neat little package.
(Pocket-lint) – Oppo is on the move, gaining popularity in its home market where it’s even overtaken Huawei. But it’s not just gaining at home: it’s now undoubtedly a top contender in the world of smartphones, make it the most likely challenger to Apple and Samsung’s dominance.
Oppo’s latest effort, the Find X3 Pro, is seeking to go toe-to-toe with the likes of the Galaxy S21 Ultra and iPhone 12 Pro Max, offering a big and premium flagship experience that, as we’ve found, is stunning in almost every way.
Distinctive design
Glass and metal design; curved glass around rear camera enclosure
Dimensions: 163.6 x 74.0 x 8.26mm / Weight: 193g
IP68 water and dust resistance
For the past few years we’ve seen smartphone makers all use the same tired design and – for 2021 so far – thankfully we’re seeing some new takes. Samsung kicked things off with its odd, but purposeful, camera hump in the S21 series – the one that wrapped around the edge of the phone to form a more deliberate part of the design.
Now the Find X3 Pro delivers what we think is an even more refined finish. Rather than have a separate unit for the camera, Oppo made the camera protrusion part of the same piece of glass as the rest of the phone’s back, forming this completely seamless curve. The company says it took 2000 attempts to get this right, and nearly gave up on the idea, but the effect is really unique.
The result is a lot more subtle and refined than just having a rectangle sticking out of the back fo the phone. It’s also unique, unlike anything else currently on the market. It’s really lovely to look at – and far better looking than the odd digital renders that leaked ahead of the phone’s launch – although the camera arrangement definitely has some iPhone-like vibes.
The rest of the Find X3 Pro’s back is one smooth surface with gradual curves towards the edges, while this blue model features a lovely frosted soft glass finish that’s really nice to the touch. The branding is minimal too, giving this phone a look and feel that’s highly polished and befitting of its high price tag.
It’s slimmer than its predecessor, the Oppo Find X2 Pro, too. In fact, it’s a more than a 1mm thinner than the vegan leather model of old and noticeably lighter too – although there’s no denying the Find X3 Pro is still quite a large phone. It doesn’t have the bulk or weight of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra though.
Pocket-lint
It’s skinny bezels all the way around on the front and nothing cuts into that display panel except for a small selfie camera punched into the top corner.
Aligning itself slightly with recent trends, the curves around the edges of the display are less extreme than we’ve seen in the past, but are very much still there. It seems the trend of ‘waterfall displays’ died before it began. Unsurprising, really, given how easy it is to perform accidental touches on those things.
Another positive is that Oppo has built in some stereo speakers, so if the phone is close enough to your face, you get that left and right channel effect while watching movies and listening to music. The loudspeaker at the bottom is definitely the louder of the two, however, and can be quite easy to cover with a hand by accident – especially during landscape gaming – leaving you with quite a quiet left channel only.
Brilliant display
6.7-inch AMOLED panel, QHD+ resolution (3216 x 1440 pixels)
120Hz refresh rate (with adaptive frame rate)
1300 nits peak brightness
ColorOS 11 (based on Android 11)
Oppo has made something of a name for itself by putting fantastic screens on its phones this past couple of years. For 2021, that’s no different. With a high-resolution and fast refresh rate panel – with adaptive refresh up to 120Hz – the Find X3 Pro delivers on that sharp and smooth experience.
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As if that wasn’t enough, it can display up to a billion colours, is HDR10+ compatible, and has a peak brightness of 1300 nits. The display spec sheet is enough to make any tech nerd’s mouth water.
But it’s not just read it and imagine stuff, it’s great in reality too. It’s bright, it’s sharp, it’s dynamic, and the colours are rich. It’s set to FHD+ resolution by default, but it’s easy enough to change to QHD within the settings and get the full effect of its sharpness (inevitably minus some battery life).
We don’t find that it over-eggs the contrast too much either, so while blacks are really deep and dark, they don’t cause the screen to feature that overly contrasty or ‘black crush’ look we sometimes found with the Find X2 Pro or OnePlus 8.
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Oppo’s ColorOS software is great in a lot of ways too. As Android skins go, it’s worked itself into the position of being one of the cleanest, most fluid and attractive options out there. It doesn’t go crazy with colourful icons and trasitions like Samsung’s One UI, and has attractive rounded corners on the notification bubbles.
It’s come a very long way since it was effectively just a clone of Apple’s iOS back in the day – before Oppo’s launch in Europe (well, relaunch). There are some quirks though. Mainly around notifications.
There doesn’t seem to be a lot of consistency in how notifications are handled. For instance, we could have a little icon showing we have a notification on the always-on display, but then there’s nothing displaying on the Lock Screen. Or there coule be a little red dot on the app icon, but nothing showing up in the status bar or notification shade when we dropped it down.
The lock screen’s inconsistency was particularly unusual. Even when we’d set notifications to wake up the phone we’d see the notification light up the lock screen, but upon picking up the phone to check again, the notification would vanish – despite being unread and still showing as an icon on the always-on display.
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All of these quirks were despite having set notifications to have the ability to show everywhere (status bar/app icon/lock screen), and despite setting our most-used apps to ignore any battery optimisations that might push them to background status or send them to sleep.
Still, there’s some other fun and good points to ColorOS, such as the Relax app to help you get to sleep at night by playing some calming ambient noise. And we like the customisation options available for the interface and the always-on display.
Performance & battery life
Snapdragon 888 processor, 12GB RAM
256GB storage, no microSD expansion
4,500mAh battery capacity
65W Super VOOC 2.0 flash charging
30W Air VOOC wireless charging
5G connectivity
As far as pure power goes, the Find X3 Pro is up there with the best of them, featuring the top-end for 2021 Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series. Here that means the Snapdragon 888 with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage.
Load up your favourite games and the phone handles them without breaking a sweat, keeping up with fast animations and transitions. It doesn’t stutter or lag anywhere, so it really doesn’t matter what you try to do with it, it’ll handle it just fine. It didn’t even get particularly warm, even after a 30 minute gaming session.
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Battery management is similarly efficient. We struggled to drain the full battery in a single day, even at a weekend with three hours of gaming and then some camera testing we still finished the day with 30 per cent left over.
On quiter days with only a little dabbling with news sites, maybe an hour of gaming and some social media, we could easily finish the day with more than 50 per cent left at bed time. So we have no doubt this could easily be a two-day phone for light to moderate users.
Then when the battery does eventually empty, it has Oppo’s trademark flash charging technology in both wired and wireless forms. With the wired adapter, it can full refill in under 40 minutes. With the proprietary AirVOOC tech – which OnePlus also uses in its Wireless Warp Charge stand – you can fill it up pretty quickly with the wireless charger too.
Under the microscope
3-megapixel ‘Micro lens’
Where to start with the camera. Let’s go with the gimmick bit first. Because, actually, it’s rather fun.
In its quad camera system, the Find X3 Pro has a so-called ‘Micro lens’. This gives you the effect of zooming in up to 60x and has its own little LED light ring around it. That’s an essential addition because it’s for shooting really, really close-up shots, allowing you to see detail you just can’t with the naked eye.
Launch the microscope mode in the camera and a curtain goes from being just about able to see a weave pattern to being able to see the individual threads and weaves in the construction. It’s a similar effect with a weaved nylon watch strap or a clothbound book. Hold it to a screen and you’ll see the sub pixels in the panel. It’s pretty cool.
Yes, it’s a gimmick – and with a low 3-megapixel resolution – so it’s not particularly sharp, but it is fun and definitely adds a different edge to your photography.
It also takes some concentration and very steady hands. Holding the camera 1-3mm away from a subject is hard enough without the extreme magnification also making every tiny hand movement or shake exagerated.
It has a macro mode too, which thankfully isn’t handled by this low-resolution sensor. It instead uses the same sensor as the ultra-wide camera – which we’ll come to later.
What that means for photos – examples of which you can see in the gallery above – is that your images retain colour, detail and a natural blur that you generally don’t get with a seperate, low-resolution macro camera. It can get you great results, although its automatic activation can take a little while to get used to.
With the camera set to its default 1x mode it’ll automatically switch to macro mode as soon as you get close to a subject. Sounds great, except it switches to the ultra-wide lens – and because that’s in a physically different position you have to then adjust and re-frame.
Our only real criticism here is that sometimes with the macro mode the background blur causes edges to appear to have a outline glow, which is kind of odd.
As for the other cameras, it’s pretty much all good here. Pictures have detail and a lot of vibrancy and life, especially when shooting in daylight. One of the best things is that both the ultra-wide and primary camera use exactly the same 50-megapixel sensor.
That means – since they make use of the same image processing tech too – that the balance of colour, dynamic range and detail between the two is pretty much identical. It helps photos taken from those two camera appear consistent, which isn’t the case on a lot of other phones.
The phone cameras seem to handle harsh lighting conditions pretty well too, balancing out highlights and shadows nicely. It’s a really reliable system.
One thing we did notice – in both daylight and night modes – is that the camera produces quite a warm colour balance. We like the look, but it isn’t necessarily the neutral and clean finish some will like. Saying that, there is a ‘Pro’ mode which will let you adjust all manner of settings, including the white balance.
There’s also a telephoto zoom camera with 2x optical zoom, 5x hybrid zoom, and up to 20x digital zoom, giving you that extra range you might want to shoot subjects further away.
Images from this camera don’t have that same quality look of the two primary cameras, but they hold up well – up to about 5x anyway. Zoom beyond that and the detail falls off quite rapidly. At 20x the picture looks quite ropey, with details somewhat jagged and blurry.
With night mode activated the phone performs well in low-light conditions too. To our surprise we found that both the primary and ultra-wide cameras perform well in night mode, drawing in a lot of light. Although, with its wider aperture, the primary is noticeably better.
We took the Find X3 Pro out to compare with the iPhone 12 and Google Pixel 5 at night and found that its images were warmer than the other two. It doesn’t seem as heavy-handed with contrast and highlights like the iPhone, but isn’t quite as realistic looking as the Pixel in our view.
Night mode doesn’t just apply to photos either. Tapping an AI enhancing button boosts the video performance at night too. This does effect the optical stabilisation a little negatively, but results in some pretty colour and hyper-realistic scenery, but it’s impressive to see the difference in really low-light situations.
Best smartphones 2021 rated: The top mobile phones available to buy today
By Chris Hall
·
Verdict
When it comes to display, battery life and overall speed, the Oppo Find X3 Pro is undoubtedly one of the best flagships on the market right now – and will likely remain a strong choice throughout 2021.
While the camera does have a habit of warming up pictures’ colour balance and sometimes making them a bit oversaturated, the whole system is immensely versatile and gets great results, regardless of lighting conditions.
The only other negative relates to quirks with notifications from the ColorOS software. Otherwise it’s hard to find much fault with Oppo’s top-tier flagship.
While Oppo might not be a familiar name to everyone, the Find X3 Pro is so fantastic in nearly every way that it’ll put the brand name on the map. It simply stands out from the crowd for all the right reasons.
Also consider
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Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
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Oppo is competiting with the big names, and Samsung’s latest ultra-premium device has a lot going for it. The screen is fab and it has a super camera system. Oh, and that Phantom Black colour is stunning too.
Read our review
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iPhone 12 Pro Max
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It’s Apple’s latest all-singing all-dancing flagship and offers many of the same hardware features. It’s a very polished experience all-round if you’re not up for Google’s Android OS.
This afternoon, I was updating the streaming apps on my 2020 LG CX OLED TV, something I do from time to time, but today was different. Out of nowhere, I saw (and heard) an ad for Ace Hardware start playing in the lower-left corner. It autoplayed with sound without any action on my part.
Now I’m fully aware that it’s not unusual to see ads placed around a TV’s home screen or main menu. LG, Samsung, Roku, Vizio, and others are all in on this game. We live in an era when smart TVs can automatically recognize what you’re watching, and TV makers are building nice ad businesses for themselves with all of the data that gets funneled in.
But this felt pretty egregious even by today’s standards. A random, full-on commercial just popping up in LG’s app store? Is there no escape from this stuff? We’re just going to cram ads into every corner of a TV’s software, huh? Imagine if an autoplay ad started up while you were updating the apps on your smartphone.
The Ace spot wasn’t particularly annoying — it was over in 15 seconds — nor did it feel targeted at me or creepy. It’s really the placement that feels like a step too far.
This stuff can come off as invasive, but it’s also partially what’s steadily brought the prices down on even high-end TVs. I got this 55-inch CX on sale for like $1,400, and it’s pretty much the best TV on the market for next-gen gaming. But even if this beautiful panel came cheaper than it might have without ads plastered in random places, the level of ad infiltration on display here is still disheartening to see. LG recently announced it will be licensing webOS to other TV brands, so maybe the company is trying to see how far it can push things.
I guess I can always cut the TV’s internet connection and stick to a streaming stick or my Xbox Series X if the autoplay commercials keep popping up everywhere. Or maybe I can opt out of a setting somewhere to end the barrage. Some people aren’t bothered by this stuff, but if you are, check out this excellent Reddit thread, which can help you fight back and block some of the domains that these TVs phone home to for their ads. A lot of people on Twitter also pointed me to Pi-hole as a fix.
This afternoon, I was updating the streaming apps on my 2020 LG CX OLED TV, something I do from time to time, but today was different. Out of nowhere, I saw (and heard) an ad for Ace Hardware start playing in the lower-left corner. It autoplayed with sound without any action on my part.
Now I’m fully aware that it’s not unusual to see ads placed around a TV’s home screen or main menu. LG, Samsung, Roku, Vizio, and others are all in on this game. We live in an era when smart TVs can automatically recognize what you’re watching, and TV makers are building nice ad businesses for themselves with all of the data that gets funneled in.
But this felt pretty egregious even by today’s standards. A random, full-on commercial just popping up in LG’s app store? Is there no escape from this stuff? We’re just going to cram ads into every corner of a TV’s software, huh? Imagine if an autoplay ad started up while you were updating the apps on your smartphone.
The Ace spot wasn’t particularly annoying — it was over in 15 seconds — nor did it feel targeted at me or creepy. It’s really the placement that feels like a step too far.
This stuff can come off as invasive, but it’s also partially what’s steadily brought the prices down on even high-end TVs. I got this 55-inch CX on sale for like $1,400, and it’s pretty much the best TV on the market for next-gen gaming. But even if this beautiful panel came cheaper than it might have without ads plastered in random places, the level of ad infiltration on display here is still disheartening to see. LG recently announced it will be licensing webOS to other TV brands, so maybe the company is trying to see how far it can push things.
I guess I can always cut the TV’s internet connection and stick to a streaming stick or my Xbox Series X if the autoplay commercials keep popping up everywhere. Or maybe I can opt out of a setting somewhere to end the barrage. Some people aren’t bothered by this stuff, but if you are, check out this excellent Reddit thread, which can help you fight back and block some of the domains that these TVs phone home to for their ads. A lot of people on Twitter also pointed me to Pi-hole as a fix.
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