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Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 review: premium in the right ways

The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 is beautiful, bold, and totally functional.

Samsung’s flagship Chromebook is less expensive and better than before

I’ll spare you the suspense: the battery life is good.

It’s not incredible. The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 is far from the longest-lasting Chromebook I’ve ever tested. But after last year’s Samsung Galaxy Chromebook couldn’t even make it five hours on a charge, my expectations were on the floor. I performed my first battery test on this year’s sequel in an optimistic but nervous state. Finally, several months after the Chromebook 2 was announced, I’m breathing a sigh of relief. To repeat: the battery life is not a disaster, folks. The battery life is fine.

That’s sort of the theme of this machine. There are a couple of standout features, and the rest of it is fine. And I’m very happy with that.

Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook, released almost a year ago, was a high-risk, high-reward play. There were a number of fantastic features, some of which (the OLED screen, the built-in S Pen, the 0.38-inch-thick chassis) were so fancy it was shocking to see them on a Chromebook. But two of its features were significant problems: the $999 price tag (putting the device in competition with the likes of the MacBook Air), and the battery life.

The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 (which isn’t so much a sequel to the Galaxy Chromebook as it is a more affordable alternative) lacks some of the Galaxy Chromebook’s most ambitious features. The stylus, the fingerprint sensor, and the OLED panel have all disappeared. But in their place are all-day battery life and a sub-$700 price tag. In doing so, it makes its case not as a groundbreaking Chromebook of the future, but as a device you might actually want to buy today.

With colors like these, who needs OLED?

From afar, the Galaxy Chromebook 2 looks fairly similar to the Galaxy Chromebook. That’s a compliment — the Galaxy Chromebook’s striking design was one of its biggest selling points. The Chromebook 2 comes in a bold “fiesta red” color, which is a cross between bright red and bright orange. You certainly don’t see Chromebooks of this hue every day, and it’ll turn heads if you’re sitting in public. (You can also buy this in “mercury gray” if you’re boring.)

Pick the thing up, and you’ll start to see where Samsung has cut some corners. It’s thicker and heavier than its predecessor, at 0.55 inches thick and 2.71 pounds, respectively. It’s still plenty light, though it’s a bit hefty to hold as a tablet for long periods. With square edges, it also has a blockier vibe, and the finish feels a bit plasticky and is quite a fingerprint magnet (though the prints are easy to wipe off if you have a cloth on hand).

None of these changes are massive knocks against the Galaxy Chromebook 2, though, especially at this price point. It still looks quite nice, and the aluminum chassis is sturdy. There’s little to no flex in the display or keyboard, and while I saw a bit of screen wobble while typing and using the touchscreen, it wasn’t too distracting. This is where the Chromebook 2 has an advantage over our current top pick, the Acer Chromebook Spin 713. That device is bulkier than Samsung’s, quite bland in its design, and has a bit more flex in its keyboard and screen.

The really big chassis downgrade Samsung has made is in the display. The Galaxy Chromebook has a 4K OLED panel that’s absolutely beautiful but, to be honest, not necessary for the majority of people. Instead, the Chromebook 2 is the first Chromebook ever to feature a QLED panel. QLED panels aren’t OLED, despite the name similarity; they’re LED-backlit LCD screens that use Samsung’s quantum-dot technology.

But OLED or not OLED, this is still one of the best displays I’ve ever seen on a Chromebook. It’s gorgeous. Colors were vibrant and accurate, with solid contrast and fine details. This machine is great to watch videos on. It is glossy and kicks back some glare but nothing that was too distracting. The other disappointment is that it’s 16:9 (1920 x 1080 resolution). The Chromebook Spin 713 also has a very nice panel at the roomier 3:2 aspect ratio. But on the whole, the Chromebook 2 looks great. Its speakers sound quite good as well, making for a solid entertainment device all around.

I’ll admit that the keyboard took some getting used to. It’s flatter than some of the best Chromebook keyboards I’ve used, including that of Google’s Pixelbook Go. But it does have a nice key texture with a click that’s satisfying but not too loud. I was enjoying it after a few days into my testing. In terms of ports, you get two USB-C ports (one on each side — bonus points for convenient charging!), a microSD slot, and a headphone jack. The one thing I’d wish for is a USB-A, but I know I’m fighting a losing battle there.

As I noted before, the Chromebook 2 is missing some of the snazzier features you’ll see on more expensive devices (including the Galaxy Chromebook). The most significant is that there’s no biometric authentication on this; it’s password-only, and I do miss the convenience of the fingerprint reader on its predecessor. (If you’re super anti-password, you could, technically, pair the Chromebook to an Android phone and unlock it with that phone’s biometrics.)

Another thing you don’t get is a bundled stylus. The Galaxy Chromebook shipped with a nice pen, which lived in a tiny garage in the chassis. The Chromebook 2 is compatible with USI pens, but you’ll have to store them separately. And there’s no camera on the keyboard deck, something a number of recent Chromebooks have included to allow for easy front-facing photos while in tablet mode.

But while those features are all nice bonuses, they likely won’t impact the average user’s experience too much. And at the $549 to $699 price points, I’m not enraged by their absence.

Pretty chassis with no stylus garage in sight.

You can buy the Galaxy Chromebook 2 with one of two processors: the starting $549.99 configuration includes an Intel Celeron 5205U with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, and the $699.99 model (which I received) includes a Core i3-10110U, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage.

In my first hands-on with this device, I was hesitant about the base configuration. Despite the appealing price, a Celeron with 4GB of RAM is quite an entry-level system, and I generally wouldn’t recommend it for anyone who needs their device to do school or office work. However, I now think there’s one compelling use case for the Celeron model: a Netflix machine. If you don’t plan on using the Galaxy Chromebook 2 as a primary driver but want to take advantage of the QLED screen for entertainment, you can probably get away with the $549 price. (Everyone else should probably spring for the Core i3.)

The Core i3 is a step down from the Core i5, the processor that powered the Galaxy Chromebook. But like an OLED screen, that processor is overkill for many Chrome OS tasks. As I used the Chromebook 2 to send emails, fiddle with spreadsheets, write in Google Docs, stream Spotify, and do other standard work, I didn’t notice any performance issues. I also never felt any heat in the keyboard, the touchpad, or the bottom of the deck. (The Galaxy Chromebook 2 has a fan, which some thin Chromebooks don’t.)

Battery life, as mentioned, is quite acceptable. I averaged 7 hours and 21 minutes of continuous work at 50 percent brightness, sometimes using a mix of Chrome and Android apps and sometimes sticking mostly to Chrome. The Chromebook 2 does take a bit of time to charge, though. It only juiced up to 54 percent in an hour.

Where the system lagged was in tasks that leverage the internal storage. The Galaxy Chromebook 2 has eMMC storage, which is considerably slower than the SSD you’ll find in most laptops. The process of getting a batch of around 100 photos from a camera into Adobe Lightroom just dragged. It took so long that, several times, I considered aborting the mission and hopping over to my MacBook. I ran AndroBench to confirm that the storage was the issue, and the results were… not great. To be clear, eMMC isn’t a huge knock against a Chromebook at this price, but it is a spec I’d stay away from if you’ll need to do anything with photos or other tasks that involve writing files to the drive.

Great for lighter loads, meh for more.

Finally, I think this is my first Chromebook testing period where I haven’t run into any big hiccups with Chrome OS. The operating system itself has been smooth for a while, but I’ve run into all kinds of issues with Android apps (one of the OS’s big selling points) in the past. No major problems here, though: nothing crashed, nothing bricked the device, nothing randomly changed size, nothing disappeared during tablet-mode transitions. That’s a welcome relief.

Your experience with Android apps on the Galaxy Chromebook 2 will vary widely based on the app. I generally used them to keep distractions like Twitter separate from my browser where I was working. Some popular services, such as Podcast Addict and 1Weather, don’t have great browser equivalents, so it’s handy to be able to load those apps through Chrome OS. But on net, I found that the apps I used for stuff every day — Slack, Messenger, Google Docs, Reddit, Twitter, Gmail — were either equivalent to or worse than their browser counterparts. The Android interfaces were generally slower to update and still had some kinks to work out. (You can’t click and drag to highlight in Docs, for example.) Slack also wouldn’t let me clear my status icon and occasionally sent me multiple pings for the same message. And Facebook Messenger occasionally refused to minimize, and also sent me huge dumps of notifications each morning from conversations I’d had on my phone the previous night. If you run into issues with Android apps, you can use the web app versions, which mostly work great.

In comparing the Chromebook 2 to the market, the most prominent competitor that comes to mind is Google’s Pixelbook Go. It offers similar benefits (an attractive design, decent battery life, a portable build) with similar caveats (no biometric authentication, no built-in stylus). But as of this writing, the $649 Pixelbook Go configuration comes with only 64GB of storage and an older Core m3 chip. So while there are reasons certain folks might prefer Google’s device (it has a better keyboard, it’s thinner and lighter), I think the $699 Galaxy Chromebook 2 is the better value among the two. For just $50 more, you get a better processor, more storage and RAM, a brilliant color, a convertible build, and a spectacular screen.

A $549 Chromebook that looks like a thousand bucks.

A more difficult comparison is the convertible Chromebook Spin 713. For $70 less, you can get that system with a Core i5, an NVMe SSD, a better port selection that includes USB-A and HDMI, and a 3:2 screen that’s also excellent. On the whole, Acer’s device still offers better value for the average person. That said, there’s a valid reason some people may want to splurge on the Galaxy: looks. The Spin 713, like a number of Chromebooks that are great on the inside, looks like something that you’d see on a middle school laptop cart. Pared-down as it is, the Galaxy Chromebook 2 is still a Samsung device: it asks a premium for hardware that’s beautiful to look at and built to last.

Put the Galaxy Chromebook 2 next to the Galaxy Chromebook, and the former has clearly cut some corners. But it’s cut the right corners. In some ways, it’s the device I’d hoped the Galaxy Chromebook would be: beautiful, bold, and totally functional as well. It’s exchanged a bit of panache for a lot of simplicity. It’s, as I said in my hands-on, “a regular-ass Chromebook.” And I couldn’t be happier with it.

OnePlus teases ‘moonshot’ announcement for March 8th

OnePlus CEO Pete Lau is teasing a “moonshot” announcement on March 8th, when the company expected to reveal details about its next flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 9. “Something new is on the horizon” a teaser site reads, alongside a photograph that looks an awful lot like the famous “Earthrise” photograph from the Apollo 8 mission. That photo was taken with a Hasselblad camera, the 180-year-old Swedish company rumored to be partnering with OnePlus on its upcoming phones.

In the past, manufacturers have also used photographs of the Moon to advertise the capabilities of their phones’ zoom cameras for astrophotography, indicating that this could be a key feature of the OnePlus 9 lineup.

The tease comes days after tipster Ishan Agarwal told 91Mobiles that the company would be announcing three new smartphones — the OnePlus 9, 9 Pro, and 9R — and a smartwatch in mid-March. According to tipster Max Jambor, the company will announce the launch date of the OnePlus 9 series on March 8th.

Other rumors about the upcoming OnePlus 9 Pro include wireless fast charging at 45W. The step-down OnePlus 9 is expected to have a flat 6.55-inch 120Hz 1080p display, according to Android Authority, while the 9 Pro will reportedly have a 6.78-inch 120Hz 1440p display. Both phones are expected to be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 processor. A third phone, rumored to be called either the OnePlus 9R or OnePlus 9 Lite, could also be announced with an older Snapdragon 865 processor, Android Central reports.

Elecrow’s Crowbits Uses Programmable Blocks to Promote STEM Learning

(Image credit: Elecrow)

Just days after Elecrow launched its Kickstarter campaign for Crowbits on February 24th, the company has already received pledges 3x over its goal of $9,994 thanks to strong community support. But it’s not too late to send in your pledge since there are still 40 days left before the end of the fundraiser. All orders are expected to ship to customers by June 2021.

Following the success of its CrowPi 2 Raspberry Pi Laptop which launched last year, the electronic maker has come out with another fun STEM-based learning product that’s geared toward teaching kids to code as they play. Crowbits has over 80 magnetic blocks that easily snap together to build various projects. It’s packaged as a series of learning kits, from the basic kit aimed for beginners, and progresses to more complex kits that include additional modules and offer more challenging projects for advanced learners.

(Image credit: Elecrow)

Each kit has various modules that can be programmed based on their function and are differentiated by size and color.

Crowbits is also designed to seamlessly work with Lego bricks (a most welcome and added bonus for Lego enthusiasts) to extend the creative play, develop building skills and encourage imagination.

(Image credit: Elecrow)

Crowbits has five learning kits available: the Hello Kit, Explorer Kit, Inventor Kit, Creator Kit, and Master Kit. The initial kit requires no coding at all. It targets pre-schoolers and focuses mainly on developing critical thinking and building skills. The Explorer, Inventor, and Creator kits provide extra challenges for older kids that want to learn or level up their coding skills and explore more complicated projects.

(Image credit: Elecrow)

Capping the series is the Master Kit which teaches kids how to program their own mobile phone, game console, or radar sensor. This kit requires more complex programming and includes a TFT display and an ESP32 board.

Elecrow developed its own customized visual programming tool called Letscode which is based on Scratch 3.0, a drag-and-drop block-based programming software that allows kids to learn to code easily. Crowbits also supports multiple open-source platforms such as Arduino, Micro:bit, and Raspberry Pi. We look forward to reviewing this product in the near future.

Tacx Neo 2T Smart turbo trainer review: Indoor training revelation

(Pocket-lint) – After a pretty nasty ice-related incident over the winter, it became clear that to get back on the bike it was wisest to invest in an indoor trainer. Cue a moment of contemplating whether to go low-end or all-out in that investment – and after using a noisy, non-dynamic wheel-on roller for a short time, it became obvious that something far better was needed.

Enter the Tacx Neo 2T Smart. This direct drive turbo trainer is Tacx’s top-end trainer – i.e. to be used in conjunction with a bicycle; it’s not entirely standalone like the company’s Neo Bike Smart – and features a swathe of features to help with accurate measurements, enhanced comfort, lower noise, and even the ability to emulate a road-like feel.

Which all sounds well and good, but is it the best of best if you want to get into Zwift and other indoor training programmes? Its obvious rival is Wahoo and its Kickr range. So where is your money best spent?

What’s needed to setup?

Cassette not included – you’ll need 8/10/11/12 speed and tools to assemble
Included: skewer and adaptors (135 × 10; 142 × 12; 148 × 12mm)
Recommended: phone/tablet/laptop for interactive experiences

To use the Neo 2T you’ll need an existing fully functional bike setup. As a direct drive setup, you simply remove your bike’s rear wheel and mount it onto the turbo trainer.

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Well, hold up one second. First you’ll need to purchase, assemble and install a rear cassette onto the trainer. This allows you to select the corresponding speed to fit with your existing setup. You’ll also want the kit – cassette tightening tool, spanner, chain hold – to ensure this can be assembled properly (as such tools aren’t included). But once that’s done you needn’t worry about it again.

To mount your bike onto the turbo trainer it’s a case of lining the chain up and sitting the bike into place, before installing the included quick-release skewer, locking it into place, and ensuring everything is solid. With that done you’re good to go.

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The Neo 2T doesn’t actually require power to function – you could just hop on and ride, but you wouldn’t benefit from the dynamic controls or connectivity that make this such a top-end piece of tech. Such features are largely the point of this kind of product – to interact with software, such as Zwift, to simulate a real-world feel for indoor training.

As such you’ll want a phone/tablet/laptop and some kind of mount or table to have that nearby for any necessary interactivity. We’ve since purchased a sweat-catch that doubles up as a phone holder to use as our quick-glance and easy interaction second screen.

Let’s get Zwifting

Tacx Premium month subscription included
Zwift month subscription included
No calibration required

While Tacx does have its own software, it’s reasonably basic. It offers top-down GPS route rides as part of its free setup, plus training options. But if you want the visual real-world movies – which function realistically with the trainer – then you’ll need a Tacx Premium subscription. A month is included in the Neo 2T’s box to give you a taster – after which it’s €9.99 per month (€99.99 annually) or €13.99/€139.99 for the HD version.

But the big-success virtual training tool is Zwift (we know there are plenty of other options, but this is our personal go-to preference). This can be installed on your smart device (Apple iOS and Android supported), or setup on Windows/Mac. Or you can do both: we run the Windows version on a laptop, while an Android phone running the Zwift Companion app is able to talk to the Windows version in real-time.

Zwift

The world of Zwift – or Watopia as you may hear people talking about – is vast and pitched as a ‘game’. But there are plenty of training tools, goals and progress measurements to get to grips with, making it a veritable mountain (pun intended, there are actual ones) to climb. Whether you’re training for specifics, joining interactive rides, or just want to go for a solo spin, it’s all at your fingertips. A month’s subscription is included in the box, after which it’s £12.99/$14.99 per month – cancellable at any time.

It’s worth noting at this point that Tacx and Zwift is no spin class; it’s not like Peloton with a live instructor. It’s more flexible than that, with the ability to choose your own path to training. And when the weather’s good outside, pop your bike’s rear wheel back on, tighten the brakes, and get back out into the real world.

How realistic is the Neo 2T?

Emulates road feel (through vibrations) for different terrain
Frame allows a few degrees of movement left/right
Descent simulation (motorised power)
25% incline simulation possible

Let’s start by saying that riding on our original wheel-on roller was more like riding a plank of wood. It was just so rigid. And noisy. And undynamic.

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Compared to that the Tacx Neo 2T Smart is a revelation. Now we’re not saying you’ll climb on and think you’re out on the actual road, because as any rider knows you’ll put a lot more force and motion through the frame in an outdoor real-world situation.

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But the key thing for us about the Neo 2T is that there’s a few degrees of left/right movement available, so when, say, your left/right power is offset, or you stand, or sprint, you’ll get that bit of natural ‘wiggle’ – it’s not only is more authentic, but it adds to overall comfort too (i.e. it’ll help avoid chafe).

Plug the Neo 2T in, however, and this is where it steps up a gear. Zwift will identify the trainer via Bluetooth and this will mean it can measure your power (Watts), cadence (rpm), speed and total distance (in miles or kilometres). Use it in conjunction with other kit – say a bike computer, heart-rate monitor, and so forth – and you can use ANT+ FE-C to get everything communicating in real time (although you’ll need a USB ANT+ dongle for any non-Bluetooth device to register on Zwift, for example, which is the issue we have with our heart-rate monitor).

But with power flowing into the trainer it can simulate climb and descent – the former by magnetically braking the flywheel, the latter by powering the flywheel as relevant – to give you real-time real world feel on your rides, as relative to the route that you’re riding. We’ve taken on some 12% inclines and that -10% on the way back down is sweet release for the legs. The trainer can cater for +25%, which is, well, insane.

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There’s also no calibration needed, ever. So whether you have the Neo 2T setup semi-permanently, or fold it away after each use – which would be no surprise, as it’s pretty large – you needn’t fiddle around between rides. So long as your gears are smoothly setup. If they’re not it’ll add some extra noise from your drivetrain (a problem from which our setup suffers, sad face), as the actual trainer emits a low hum that’s whisper-quiet.

One quirky feature is the trainer’s ability to simulate road feel, using vibrations. Whether that’s rough, wooden boards, a cattle grid, and so forth, it’s quite an entertaining feature – but not especially needed, plus it only adds to the audible vibration/sound output.

Measurements & accuracy

Dimensions: 575 × 750mm (footprint) x 550 mm (height) / Weight: 21.5kgs
Measures: Power, cadence, speed, distance
Colour LED reacts to power input
Bluetooth, ANT+ FE-C control
2000W maximum power
Near silent operation

Because the Neo 2T Smart can measure so much it’s a great way to train. Whether you want to increase your FTP (functional threshold power), get fitter, ride further or faster, or whatever goal you have – all the data is there to see in real-time.

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It appears to be accurate too. We compared the trainer’s power measurement against our Garmin Vector 3 power pedals and there was just one Watt difference in the average over the course of an hour’s ride.

As all this is built-in, too, you don’t need to mess around adding any sensors onto the bike itself. Normal pedals will do, giving you power and cadence measures – and, as a calculation of that input, your relative speed and overall distance too.

The Neo 2T can handle an absurd 2000W maximum, too, not that anyone will be looking to push it to that extreme (unless you’re the Hulk). What this does is provide extra headroom so that if you do shift from, say, a 150W output to a sudden 30 second sprint at 450W – good luck with that, legs – then it’s not going to slip as you engage.

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Your relative effort is represented by a colour LED light output which spills onto the floor, glowing from blue through to red the harder you’re at it.

We’ve been able to treat this turbo trainer with great confidence too, throwing in full standing sprints and never feeling as though it’s unstable. This is a heavy unit with a sensible footprint span, so while it takes up a lot of space even weightier riders can push power through it no problems.

What’s missing?

Currently no ascent simulation accessory in Tacx catalogue
No official rocker plate accessory for enhanced comfort
More accessories in the box would be nice

So what can the Tacx Neo 2T Smart not do? There’s less expandability here compared to its Wahoo rival. While there’s climb and descent simulation, you don’t get the physical movement that some dedicated bikes can offer – or the Wahoo Kickr Climb can add (but only for Wahoo trainers, it’s not compatible with Tacx).

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While the Tacx is far more comfortable than other trainers we’ve ridden, there’s a limit to just how much flexibility is on offer. Many swear by a rocker plate for those longer rides, giving even more motion to help emulate that real-world feel. But Tacx makes no such product. Wahoo has explored similar motion-adding products in the past, but the current line-up lacks any such kit (discontinued, but who can say why – quality control?).

Another minor criticism is the software-to-hardware communication. This isn’t really an issue with the Neo 2T, per se, more how it receives information and very quickly actions upon it. So if you suddenly hit a +3% climb off the back of a descent, say, there’s no consideration for momentum – the trainer quickly responds, so you’ll need steely legs to respond, which takes away some of that real-world feel.

Furthermore, you can adjust various trainer settings, but not in real-time. In Zwift, for example, you can sat the Neo 2T’s resistance from ‘Off’ to ‘Max’, which is a bit like turning up the resistance on an exercise bike. Put it to max and a +1% climb feels like a +15%. But put it to that level by accident and you’re then stuck with it – until restarting the software anyway. This should be more dynamic, permitting tweaks to the level setting in order to obtain that sweet-spot of response – because, as mentioned above, you’ll want a set point that doesn’t cause too much clattering on your legs as you shift between descents and climbs.

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Lastly, we think Tacx could include a bit more in the Neo 2T Smart’s box. A year’s subscription to its software seems minimal, given the considerable price outlay up front. And, really, with no rollmat to help curtail vibrations – you can buy one, at cost, but of course (yes, we see the irony in having a bright red Elite one beneath ours) – or other branded goodies in the box, it’d be a nicety to at least add a little something more to make for a complete package.

Verdict

It’s easy to look at a product such as the Tacx Neo 2T Smart and think “but that’s the price of a bike”, baulking at just how much an indoor setup could cost. Yes, this turbo trainer is undeniably pricey – like we say, it’s at the top-end of the market – but it’s undeniably sophisticated in its delivery.

As a training tool it’s as comfortable as such kit gets, it effortlessly communicates with other gear – using it for Zwift use is a breeze – allowing for dynamic auto-controlled adjustment for descent/climb, and it’s more than stable enough to take a hammering whether seated in the saddle or standing legs pelting it out.

As with any turbo trainer, however, it’s never going to 100 per cent recreate the real feel of the road – much as it tries with vibration-based road feel feedback, which very quirky indeed – and the comfort levels after long rides are, somewhat inevitably, going to feel different (a bit more ‘numb’) than our in the real-world. And without any true climb/descent physical motion or accessory add-ons – Wahoo offers the Kickr Climb for its turbo trainers – we think there’s scope for future enhancement.

Overall, if you’re looking for a smart indoor turbo trainer – one that will work dynamically with your setup, measuring all the important factors (power, cadence) – without the need for adding extras, then Tacx has a winning product on its hands. It’s near-silent, it’s supremely stable, and it’s revolutionised our indoor training during winter cold spells – we certainly won’t miss our wheel-on roller of old one bit.

Also consider

Wahoo Kickr V5

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What we find appealing about Wahoo’s option is its expandability – pair with a Kickr Climb and Kickr Headwind and you can simulate more realistic physical climbs and descents. As an out-and-out trainer, however, we think the Tacx Neo 2T has the edge given its wider base rigidity. Spec wise the two are highly similar, though, both offering climb/descent simulation and 2000W max. And Wahoo’s isn’t quite as pricey (not that it’s cheap!).

Read our review

Writing by Mike Lowe.

Today I learned the iPhone’s excellent document scanner can be controlled from a Mac

The iPhone’s Notes app has a powerful document scanning feature built right into it, and today I learned that this scanner can be controlled directly from a paired Mac in a variety of apps. It’s an incredibly useful tip for Mac users as it cuts out the awkward middle steps of having to transfer it from phone to computer, or grabbing it from the Mac’s Notes app after it syncs. Shoutout to TikTok account @keyboardshortcuts for bringing it to my attention.

Besides Notes, the iPhone’s scanner can be accessed from a number of different Mac apps, including the Finder, Mail, Messages, and Pages 7.2 and later. To use it, control-click (or right-click) in the window you want to scan the document into, select “Import from iPhone or iPad,” and then click “Scan Documents.” The camera app will magically open on the linked mobile device, where a scan can be taken as usual — no wires required. Once done, the scanned document will end up in the Mac app with a minimum of hassle. I found it useful to scan a bunch of legdocuments directly into a new folder in Finder, for example.

According to a support page for the feature, the Mac will need to be running macOS Mojave or above, and the iPhone or iPad needs to be running iOS 12 and above. Both devices need to have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on, and signed into iCloud with the same Apple ID with two-factor authentication enabled.

As well as scanning documents, the feature can also be used to take photos. Simply select “Take Photo” rather than “Scan Documents” from the menu and tap the shutter button on your mobile device to capture an image.

Camera Continuity isn’t a new feature, but its compatibility with the iPhone’s document scanner was news to me.

Lime says it will spend $50 million on a huge e-bike expansion

Lime is getting back to its roots. The scooter company formerly known as LimeBike says it will invest $50 million to grow its shared electric bicycle network, including adding a new model of bike and doubling the number of cities in which it operates.

Lime got its start with shared bikes, only to quickly pivot after Bird first introduced the concept of dockless electric scooters in 2017. The company dropped the “bike” from its name and started phasing out its bikes in 2019. But the following year, Lime acquired bike-share company Jump from Uber, and suddenly, bikes were back on the menu.

Now, the company is doubling down on shared electric bikes, with plans to launch in “a dozen” new cities in North America by the end of the year, as well as dozens more in Europe and other markets. In total, the company plans to have its bikes in 50 new cities by the start of 2022, roughly quadrupling its fleet size.

The $50 million investment will largely go toward designing, manufacturing, and assembling its next-generation bike, which will start rolling out this summer. The new model will come with a more powerful 350-watt motor and a swappable battery capable of up to 25 miles of range.

The battery is also interchangeable with the ones that power Lime’s Gen4 electric scooters, allowing for a standardized battery charging operation. A two-speed gear shifter will help with those hill climbs, and an integrated, electronically controlled hub lock will help keep the bike safe from theft and vandalism.

There are other new features on the bike: the handlebars are being replaced with ones similar to Lime’s scooters, there’s a phone holder in the front basket, and the bike will be able to hit speeds of up to 20mph (depending on local regulations). It weighs 72 pounds, which is heavier than the 65-pound electric Citi Bikes.

Lime will keep its cherry-red Jump bikes in operation, with no plans to phase those out in favor of the new Lime-branded e-bikes. The company has stated that it wants to be a multimodal provider of many different types of low-speed, electric vehicles. Last year, Lime added pedal-less e-bikes from Wheels to its app in several cities as part of a new effort to integrate third-party micromobility providers. And recently, it announced plans to introduce electric mopeds in Paris and Washington, DC.

The new investment in e-bikes comes as cycling is surging around the globe, with bike sales — and especially e-bike sales — hitting record numbers. Legislation has been introduced in the US to make e-bikes more affordable. And bike-share systems are adding more electric models to their fleets in the hopes of attracting more members. Lime says its customers took more than 2.5 million rides on its e-bikes last year, with the company expecting that number to grow significantly in 2021.

Verizon support says you should turn off 5G to save your phone’s battery

Despite its relentless promotion of 5G phones and the fact that it spent more than $45 billion bidding on a new faster spectrum, Verizon support now is advising people on Twitter to turn off their phones’ 5G access to preserve battery life.

In a Sunday morning tweet, Verizon support helpfully suggested that “one way to help conserve battery life is to turn on LTE” if users found their batteries were “draining faster than normal.” That step would, of course, turn off 5G in a phone that has it available. It’s also worth pointing out that you don’t actually “turn on LTE” when doing this step — LTE is always enabled as a fallback for the 5G network. But Verizon is obviously being cautious so as not to actually tell its customers to “turn off 5G”.

Twitter users naturally pointed out that switching to LTE-only would mean turning off 5G (which is available in some newer phones), but the helpful support person said it was important to troubleshoot “steps to find the root cause of any issues with speed,” adding that Verizon is “quickly launching more 5G areas, and making updates constantly to improve speeds.” Verizon’s nationwide 5G network uses a technology called DSS, which in many instances is actually slower than the LTE network it’s trying to replace.

Verizon announced its big 5G plans for 2021 last month, after formally launching its next-gen network in October 2020. One of its top priorities is expanding coverage of its ultra-fast mmWave coverage, which is currently restricted to parts of some cities in the US. It’s also heavily dependent on how close you are to a Verizon 5G site.

Both Verizon and AT&T spent big bucks in the FCC’s Auction 107, bidding on the C-band spectrum. Verizon spent $45.4 billion— twice as much as AT&T’s $23.4 billion. AT&T’s current nationwide 5G network also relies on DSS with speeds close to or lower than 4G LTE.

The new frequencies won’t become available until the end of the 2021 at the earliest, and will be available in limited locations first.

LG Stylo 6 review: great stylus features, sketchy performance

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The LG Stylo 6 is a sub-$300 phone with a built-in stylus, which puts it in exclusive company: the $299 Motorola Moto G Stylus is more or less its only direct competition. For its $270 price, the Stylo 6 offers good battery performance; a big, bright screen; and the handy pen-derived features that stylus life offers. But as much fun as I had doodling on its generously sized screen, it’s just too slow to recommend.

That’s a shame because I genuinely enjoyed aspects of using this phone. I couldn’t seem to drain the battery below the 30 percent mark even on a day of heavy usage, and I experienced real enjoyment texting my spouse a precisely drawn, animated doodle of a farting butt. Photos look good on its vivid, wide 6.8-inch screen, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover while rewatching Chernobyl (don’t worry, I talk to my therapist about this) that it has stereo speakers.

Unfortunately, that enjoyment was overshadowed every time the phone took an extra beat to switch between apps, open Twitter, load my Instagram feed, or start my Google Maps navigation. It’s not unusably slow, but it is quite noticeably slow. If you have the patience of a small insect like I do, there’s a fine line between the two.

The Stylo offers a large 6.8-inch screen.

LG Stylo 6 screen and performance

The Stylo 6 is a large phone, as you’d expect a phone with a stylus to be. It offers a 6.8-inch 1080p LCD with a standard 60Hz refresh rate and modest bezels. Its dimensions are similar to the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, also a large phone, except that it’s slightly taller. The screen itself is plenty bright and vivid, and the aforementioned stereo speakers make watching videos that bit nicer.

I found the phone overall too big to use comfortably one-handed, and it felt awkward in even large coat pockets. That’s beside the point, though, if you’re considering the Stylo then you probably already know you want a large phone, so to each their own.

The Stylo 6 offers a Mediatek Helio P35 chipset and 3GB of RAM. Herein lies the Stylo 6’s troubles: this processor and RAM combination just doesn’t offer enough power for this phone. I noticed stuttering often as I scrolled through media-rich screens on Twitter and Instagram. Ditto the previously mentioned slowness opening and switching between apps, and the camera suffers from laggy processing speeds, too.

I sometimes tapped the screen, then wondered if the phone had recognized the tap a split second before it opened an app or whatever I was trying to do. Conversely, I’d tap the screen too lightly or quickly and wait an extra second before realizing it hadn’t registered, just because I’d gotten used to giving the phone a little extra time to do everything. This would all be more forgivable (if still frustrating) on a $200 phone, but depending where you get the Stylo 6, it’s pushing closer to $300 and should really do better.

If there’s a bright spot to the phone’s processing woes, it’s that battery life is great — possibly as a side effect. The Stylo 6 has a 4,000mAh battery, and after a typical day with two-plus hours of screen-on time, I was usually down to only 70 percent. I was sure a day of heavier use with Google Maps navigation, Spotify, and more social media scrolling than usual would challenge it, but nope. I didn’t even drain it enough for a low battery warning before plugging it in at night.

There’s just one configuration offered with 64GB of built-in storage, which isn’t great, but it’s expandable by way of microSD. It ships with Android 10 and, unfortunately, a lot of preloaded apps and games that you probably don’t want. LG isn’t known for a generous upgrade schedule so it’s very unlikely the Stylo 6 will see an Android 11 update.

Popping out the stylus brings up some shortcuts.

LG Stylo 6 stylus features

Of course, the stylus features are a big (sorry) draw here. The stylus is tucked away and spring-loaded into the lower-right corner of the device, and it activates a set of shortcuts when it’s removed. You can take a quick note, grab a screenshot or a GIF of whatever’s on your screen, and mark it up with notes, or draw something immature to text to your partner.

You can do useful, productive things with a stylus, but you can do this, too.

Despite Samsung’s Galaxy Note being the de facto stylus phone, LG has been making phones with styluses for ages, and it shows with little UI touches like automatically toggling off gesture navigation when you start a note so that you don’t accidentally swipe out of it. You won’t find advanced features like the (much more expensive) Galaxy Note series offers here such as handwriting-to-text conversion or the ability to use the stylus as a remote control. Basically though, it does all of the things you’d expect it to do, and these features work well.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed having the stylus available. It’s much easier to draw or write silly notes on images with the pen rather than your finger, which I had basically given up on doing because they always look terrible.

The ability to also jot down a quick note without even turning the screen on is something I really appreciated. I feel like I’m always fumbling to unlock my phone, find the notes app, and open a new note just to type out something quick like an email address or a song title. None of this is unique compared to a Galaxy Note, of course, but the Stylo 6 has a set of genuinely useful features that aren’t very common, especially at this price point.

The Stylo 6 features standard wide and ultrawide rear cameras, plus a depth sensor.

LG Stylo 6 camera

The Stylo includes a 13-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel ultrawide, a 5-megapixel depth sensor, and a 13-megapixel selfie camera. That’s not a lot of resolution to work with, but it’s enough to allow the Stylo to take decent-quality images in good light.

White balance occasionally leans a little too magenta or too green, which sometimes gave an effect I liked — kind of a nostalgic film-like quality. At other times, images just looked too cool and washed out. I like how the Stylo handles high-contrast scenes; the HDR effect doesn’t look too strong. Your preview image will look overly dark, but an HDR icon on the screen indicates that the final image will look much more balanced.

Images in low light or moderate indoor lighting look okay for social media but show a lot of smeared detail if you look closely. The ultrawide lens is somewhat limited by its low-res sensor. Even in bright daylight shots details look smoothed over, and it’s just not up to low light photography.

Taken with ultrawide
Portrait mode
Portrait mode
Taken with ultrawide

The camera is also a victim of the phone’s underpowered processor, particularly in portrait mode. The live preview is quite laggy, which gets worse once you push the shutter and wait for the phone to process the image. This can take as long as six seconds, during which you’re unable to take another image.

It’s hard to know if you got the right frame of your subject, and it’s a frustrating experience trying to photograph a subject that’s moving even just a little bit because you can’t “spray and pray.” The camera keeps shutter speeds relatively low, too, so blurry subjects can be a problem. By sheer luck I got a portrait mode photo of my cat mid-yawn, but I wouldn’t count on being able to do that again.

I captured a few images with the Stylo that I really like, but I felt like it was more in spite of the camera rather than because of it. The images this phone captures will look okay on Instagram and Facebook, but overall, the Stylo’s camera capabilities lag behind most other devices at this price.

The Stylo 6 offers a lot of likable stylus-based features, but it’s ultimately too slow to recommend.

The Stylo 6 has a few good things going for it: an affordable price, built-in stylus, big screen, and great battery life. But factoring in its shortcomings, namely an underpowered processor, it’s not a device I can easily recommend.

Even around its $270 price, there are many other more capable options. The $300 OnePlus Nord N10 5G offers a better camera and processor. The 2021 Motorola Moto G Power includes a massive battery and better processor performance for $200. Neither of those comes with a stylus, of course, but I don’t think the Stylo 6 is even your best bet for an inexpensive phone with a stylus: for just a little more, the 2021 Moto G Stylus offers better performance and an upgraded camera.

If speed isn’t a concern, a stylus is a must-have, and the price is right, I think you can live a reasonably happy life with this phone. Maybe my patience is just too thin, and a more enlightened person can coexist peacefully with it. The rest of us would do best to look elsewhere.

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge

Arlo Essential Video Doorbell Wire-Free review: Ding dong

(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.

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.

Sennheiser CX 400BT

Our Verdict

While slightly compromised in the features department, the CX 400BT are sonic marvels – and, at this price, hugely appealing

For

Lively, detailed sound
Lightweight fit
Excellent value for money

Against

Battery life below the best
Not waterproof

Such is the popularity of true wireless earbuds today that you can go to the website of many established headphone brands and take your pick from several models across a range of price points. Sony, Bose and JBL, for example, all have at least a few pairs in their line-up.

But Sennheiser’s offering has, like Apple’s, been streamlined down to two models: the premium, noise-cancelling Momentum True Wireless 2 and the more affordable CX 400BT without noise-cancelling that we have on test here.

Sennheiser would no doubt argue the case for quality over quantity, and while the CX 400BT may not have the sleekest name, the fanciest design or even the most generous feature set, they are more sonically gifted than most at this level.

These Sennheisers launched at double the price but now inhabit the increasingly populated £100 ($100, AU$150) arena, making them some of the best-value budget earbuds we’ve come across.

Build

(Image credit: Sennheiser)

Compared with the excellent Momentum True Wireless 2, the CX 400BT lack active noise-cancelling, smart pause functionality and IPX4 splash resistance, and have an inferior battery life. Their specs next to their pricier sibling seems fair and is to be expected, although we would like to see a few more features from the CX 400BT.

Sennheiser CX 400BT tech specs

(Image credit: Sennheiser)

Bluetooth version 5.1, aptX

Battery life 20 hours

Charging USB-C

Weight 6g (each earbud)

Their combined battery life is 20 hours (seven hours from the buds, plus a further 13 hours from the charging case), which is less than that offered by the Cambridge Audio Melomania Touch (50 hours) and Melomania 1 (45 hours), the Earfun Air Pro (35 hours), JBL Reflect Flow (30 hours) and Apple AirPods (24 hours).

We’d also like some degree of sweat- or water-resistance, as featured on many of the Sennheiser’s rivals. Without that, the CX 400BT aren’t recommended for sportswear, and you don’t get the peace of mind that they’d survive being caught in a rain shower.

They do support Bluetooth 5.1 support and mobile app features, though – neither of which is a given at this level. The former promises high-quality, far-reaching Bluetooth transmission, while the latter opens doors to EQ adjustment and control customisation.

Out of the box, the left earbud can be tapped once to play or pause music, twice to jump backwards a track, and held down to reduce volume. On the right earbud, one tap activates your phone’s voice assistant or accepts incoming calls, two taps jump forward a track or rejects calls, and holding it down increases volume.

The playback functions can be reallocated or turned off in the Sennheiser Smart Control app, which is also where you can alter the earbuds’ EQ and save EQ presets. However, unless you’re someone who often adjusts the EQ, it’s likely you’ll use the dedicated app once during set-up and then rarely, if ever, again.

Comfort

(Image credit: Sennheiser)

While touch controls can sometimes be hit and miss with earbuds, the relatively large, flat surface area of the CX 400BT’s touch panels make the controls easy and reliable to use. The Sennheiser’s design is more functional than fancy, but that’s more of an observation than a complaint. And besides, who can argue with designs that just work?

Their oval housings require a push and twist motion for them to nestle nicely in the ears – we’re talking a bit of encouragement, rather than any forceful manhandling – and when in place are comfortably lightweight (6g each) and unobtrusive.

They are just over 2cm deep, so will protrude slightly out of shallower ears. The fit is as versatile as you’d expect, thanks to the four different sizes of silicone ear tips included in the box.

Sound

(Image credit: Sennheiser)

Sennheiser is one of the most consistent brands when it comes to sound quality, so expectations are high as we play The Weather Station’s Parking Lot via Tidal. The CX 400BT are instantly likeable: they’re lively and clear-cut, and their relatively open presentation is infused with clarity and generously peppered with detail.

Their inherently energetic, musical nature, which is forward yet not exhausting, can’t help but lap up the track’s jaunty piano melody and bassline. As cymbals, strings and vocals come into the increasingly dense mix, the Sennheisers manage to keep a tab on everything in the name of rhythmic precision.

Similarly, play Black Country, New Road’s Instrumental from their debut album and the rhythm track is presented with gusto and insight. If anything, their up-for-it presentation makes it all the more frustrating that the CX 400BT aren’t particularly good running headphones, because they would undoubtedly spur you on to reach that finish line.

There is enough in their sonic repertoire to keep them interesting when their zest isn’t required, too. Bass is taut and agile, mids are expressive and particularly open, and a crisp, present treble doesn’t let the side down. There’s plenty of detail and dynamic subtlety in a more technical, classical track, such as Ólafur Arnald’s piano-led nyepi, although if your budget can stretch to the likes of the pricier Sennheisers or Sony WF-1000XM3, there is a clear step up in class when it comes to outright transparency.

It has to be said that the CX 400BT’s sparkle comes at the expense of a little refinement. The similarly priced, five-star Panasonic RZ-S500W, for example, offer a smoother, more sophisticated balance that has a level of finesse we wish the Sennheisers possessed – even if the CX 400BT counter with a more energetic listen.

Verdict

When you have two superb-sounding true wireless earbuds in your arsenal – one with ANC at the premium end of the market, and one without at the more affordable end – why would you need any more?

We would have liked the CX 400BT to have a more versatile, sportier design, and perhaps this is where a third pair of truly wireless Sennheisers could be justified, but there’s no doubt that the reputable German audio brand has mastered the sound quality aspect. The CX 400BT would have been recommendable at their original launch price, but now discounted, they are truly excellent value.

SCORES

Sound 5
Comfort 5
Build 4

MORE:

Read our guide to the best wireless earbuds

Read our Panasonic RZ-S500W review

Read our Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 review

Moto G30 review: Low-price but all high praise?

(Pocket-lint) – Motorola is really, really good at making affordable phones. That, ultimately, is its bread and butter. So when, for 2021, it decided to rejig its Moto G family – although not by much, it now takes on a bigger-number-equals-better-features approach – the arrival of the Moto G30 looked like a familiar success story.

But with the Moto G10 appearing alongside it, at a slightly lower price and slightly watered-down spec, is the G30 the obvious winner? With a more powerful processor and faster refresh-rate screen being more or less the only differences, we’d say so – especially if you’re looking for an outright buy for the £/$180 mark – but what shortcomings might you expect?

Design & Display

Display: 6.5-inch LCD, HD+ resolution (720 x 1600), 90Hz refresh rate
Finish options: Phantom Black, Pastel Sky
Build: Glass front, plastic frame and rear
3.5mm headphone jack
Rear fingerprint sensor

As you can see from the specification skinny listed above, Motorola has got, um, ‘creative’ with its colour palette offerings. The model you see here on review is called Pastel Sky. That’s a totally non-descript duo of words for describing any colourway, really, and perhaps that’s for the best – because the two-tone mud-green and sparkly-pink that is its reality is, frankly, ghastly to the eyes.

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Pop a case of the G30 and you needn’t break a sweat though – although the one in the box is translucent though (uh oh). Or just buy the Phantom Black model so you won’t need to hide it from any curious onlookers (they won’t be thieves, that we can assure).

From the front, however, the Moto G30 cuts a familiar standard. The bezel around the screen is kept reasonably minimal. The teardrop notch to the top – where the selfie camera lives – is neatly done. By default the Android 11 software offers gesture navigation, so there’s not too much invading the bottom edge of the screen either.

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Plus, Motorola being knowledgeable of what people want in this category, the G30 comes complete with a 3.5mm headphone jack, an on-board microSD card slot for expanding storage, and a neatly integrated fingerprint scanner to the rear that’s well positioned this time around (that wasn’t the case for the G9 Power). There’s even a Google Assistant button – hence the trio of buttons to the side – to play nice with Android 11 and voice commands, if you so wish.

As we pointed out up top of this review, the G30 comes equipped with a 90Hz refresh rate screen. That betters the 60Hz panel of the Moto G10. Which sounds all well and good – because that’s a 50 per cent improvement in cycles per second, for a smoother visual experience – but, actually, it would have made more sense for this model to have featured extra resolution.

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While the HD+ panel here is totally fine – you’re not going to lose an eyeball due to any jaggies – given the total power available it can’t always keep up to speed with its 90Hz refresh logic. So, we say, resolution over refresh rate would have been the better shout.

Motorola has got better with managing brightness, too, so although auto-dimming is still relatively dog-with-a-stick keen, you won’t feel as though a dark veil has unnecessarily shrouded your smartphone world. Colours remain perky too.

Performance & Battery

Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 platform, 4GB RAM
128GB storage, microSD expansion slot
5,000mAh battery, 20W fast-charging
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Android 11 software

Which leads us to the innards of this phone. There’s a Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 platform on board here, along with 4GB RAM, which is a couple of steps down the Qualcomm ladder (800 series at the top, 700 series is still used in many flagships, so this is the next in the line-up).

Best smartphones 2021: The top mobile phones available to buy today

By Chris Hall
·
25 February 2021

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That processor choice is why, hands down, the G30 makes a lot more sense to buy than the G10 (which has a Snapdragon 460). Not just because of the logic of smaller-number-must-be-worse thinking, but because of the practicalities in use.

For example: we had a G10 hang when opening Google Photos and then crash. The G30 hung around a bit, sure, but wasn’t totally gazumped by the experience, and eventually clicked into play and was on its merry little way.

Gaming, too, gets the upper hand from that better platform: yes, there are some slight pauses or stutters from time to time, but it’s not constant, meaning the G30 is good enough to dedicate to some medium level tasks. It’s got us through South Park: Phone Destroyer battles and even connected Zwift cycling sessions. We just don’t think the G10, by comparison, can offer the same quality of experience.

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As is often the case at this price point you don’t get the fastest ever storage or Wi-Fi systems available, so downloads and installs will take a little longer than some devices higher up the flagship food chain. In isolation you won’t notice it though.

The choice of that processor also plays very nicely with the large-capacity 5,000mAh battery that’s on board. We’ve found the Moto G30 to push through a day – with several hours of screen time, some of which has been gaming – and still be at half empty (no, not half full) by bedtime.

Indeed, as we write this review it’s sat with 20 per cent remaining after 28 hours of not seeing a plug socket. So it’s a borderline two-day phone, especially if you’re fairly light with use (which we are not).

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In terms of software, there’s Google’s Android 11 on board. That’s backed up by just the one auto-installed Moto app, adding some handy tips, display, gestures, and gaming controls. It’s worth playing around with these settings, whether to enable a do-not-disturb during a gaming session, or for the screen to remain on when you’re looking at it. It’s not an intrusive app, just a nice little bonus.

Android 11 does default to gesture navigation though, which may be new to you. It involves swiping in different directions to perform different tasks and, as a system, can be decent – but can feel a little laggy in the Moto G30, presumably the result of available power. Here we’ve been happier to live with on-screen Android softkey navigation instead.

Cameras

Quad rear cameras:
- Main: 64-megapixels, f/1.7 aperture, 0.7um pixel size, phase-detection autofocus (PDAF)
- Ultra-wide (118-degrees): 8MP, f/2.2, 1.12um
- Macro: 2MP, f/2.4
- Depth: 2MP, f/2.4
Front-facing punch-hole selfie camera:
- 13-megapixels, f/2.2 aperture, 1.12um pixel size

The Moto G30’s rear camera protrusion isn’t to excess; it’s a neat bump to the upper corner on the rear. Despite this small scale it houses four cameras within – a 64-megapixel main, 8MP ultra-wide, and pair of 2MP sensors for depth measurement and macro close-ups.

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Sadly, however, the case for four cameras comes under the same scrutiny as so many other phones over-selling the numbers for the sake of it. The depth sensor has no real use, the macro sensor is basically a write-off – images are small, quality is poor, and colour balance all over the place – and even, in this instance, the wide-angle camera’s quality is questionable.

Yikes. That’s three out of four down, then. But, fear not, the main camera’s output on the G30 is pretty decent. The camera app is rather slow, mind, on account of the overall processing power, but with some artificial intelligence (AI) smarts aiding with scene detection – you can see the colour balance, saturation and enhancements pop into view after a little delay – shots in good light retain enough clarity.

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Don’t expect computational photography prowess here as you may find elsewhere – the night mode, for example, is average and nothing like, say, Google’s excellent mode on the Pixel series – but there are enough automated modes, including HDR (high dynamic range) to help results along. Low-light isn’t this sensor’s best friend, but it’ll be able to deliver shots from the main sensor if you hold it nice and steady.

Verdict

Although the Moto G30 takes its share of criticism – three of the four cameras are poor (two a total write-off), the Pastel Sky finish is questionable (and that’s being kind) – in the interests of context there’s little else out there at this price point that can even compete.

So, really, the G30 is all about expectation. It delivers a lot for the money – and a generally smooth user experience thanks to Android 11 software – in a long-lasting package that can handle apps and games reasonably well too.

In many ways the presence of Motorola’s G10 makes the G30 all the more appealing – as for a little extra you get the step-up in processing power, which makes the performance ample enough to recommend it as the choice.

Rivals, such as Realme and Redmi, sometimes offer more in raw specification but – as we’ve so often found from use – they just can’t touch the Motorola when it comes to core software-based user experience. So the Moto G30 is solid is a rock when it comes to standing out on its own.

Also consider

Pocket-lint

Redmi Note 9

squirrel_widget_3137106

It’s almost the same price, but brings a bump in resolution and some other features that might make it more attractive. However, as we’ve said already, the software experience just isn’t as fluid – with the Motorola running just that much better.

Read our review

Writing by Mike Lowe.

The House’s three big ideas to take on tech power

Last year, House Judiciary Committee lawmakers topped off a yearslong investigation into anti-competitive behavior in the tech industry by bringing in some of the most powerful chief executives in the market. Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai headlined one of the biggest must-watch hearings last summer and they faced tough lines of questioning from lawmakers who (for the most part) did their homework, prepped with thousands of pages of evidence alleging illegal business practices.

Lawmakers shined a light on some of tech’s shady business practices, and now they’re getting ready to finish the job. On Thursday, the House Judiciary’s subcommittee on antitrust returned for a far less flashy hearing with experts. It’s the beginning of a second and far more important phase of the committee’s work, pinning down new rules that would address those practices.

On paper, Thursday’s hearing was about analyzing how big tech platforms act as gatekeepers and create barriers to entry — but really it was about testing out three new avenues for keeping tech companies in line and seeing which ones might gain support from tech-skeptical Republicans.

WHAT IT MEANS

Arguably, the most revealing parts of last year’s hearing with tech CEOs had to do with their abilities to shove competitors out of the market. Zuckerberg was pressed over an email from former Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom saying that the Facebook CEO would go “destroy mode” if Instagram didn’t sell. Bezos said he couldn’t “guarantee” that Amazon employees weren’t looking at data from independent sellers to help develop their own products. Cook and Pichai were both pressed on reports that they used their platforms to squash competition.

But at Thursday’s hearing, the subcommittee moved beyond calling out bad behavior and laid out three big areas where Congress could actually take action. They’re still general ideas instead of specific proposals, but you can expect to see these same ideas in whatever tech regulation bills come forward over the next few months.

The big three:

Data interoperability and portability: Users should be able to take their data elsewhere with ease. Example: Think about how you can move your phone number between carriers. Before the 1996 Telecommunications Act, that wasn’t always an option!
Nondiscrimination: Basically, a dominant platform shouldn’t be able to preference its own products over those of its competitors.
Structural remedies: Breaking apart different lines of business or platforms under one company.

Portability and interoperability rules are the measure that’s least threatening to tech companies. A bunch of those products were released in the wake of the GDPR, and it’s easy for Facebook and Google to develop more without touching their core businesses. Nondiscrimination is a little scarier — particularly for Apple and Amazon — but it’s still workable.

Some of those ideas might even get bipartisan support. In his Third Way report last year, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) called for data portability and more funding for antitrust regulators at the Justice Department and FTC.

But the antitrust wing of the Democratic Party won’t be satisfied with a few new app store rules and a little more money for the FTC. In their recommendations last October, Democrats on the committee called for a kind of Glass-Steagall Act for the internet, breaking apart different lines of business in response to monopoly concerns. It would lay the groundwork for splitting off Instagram from Facebook or Amazon Web Services from Amazon — basically leveling the tech landscape by force.

This is the worst-case scenario for tech companies — and as much as Republicans complain about Jeff Bezos, they still largely oppose the idea. It’s hard to imagine a trust-busting bill attracting support from fence-sitters like Rep. Buck, much less the more tech-friendly members of the caucus. Just like in the stimulus and minimum-wage fights, Democrats have to decide whether to play for a bipartisan fix or push through a more progressive policy on their own. But judging from this hearing, Democrats aren’t ready to give up on a full-scale breakup just yet.

WHAT DIDN’T THEY ASK?

Amazon kicked Parler off its web hosting service after last month’s deadly attack on the Capitol. Parler was a popular platform with the rioters who stormed the Capitol, and without Amazon’s web hosting, the platform was effectively kicked offline until it could find a new company to host the site in mid-February.

Since Parler was deplatformed, some Republicans have turned away from Section 230 reform and toward antitrust as a remedy to their beef with a focus on Amazon. Republican FCC commissioners have used the incident to make shaky comparisons to network neutrality and cloud infrastructure. But after Parler went down, Ranking Member Buck tweeted that he would be “introducing legislation this Congress to hold Amazon accountable for their anticompetitive behavior.”

Amazon crushes small businesses. They cheat and steal. Now they want to join Google and Facebook in censoring.

I will be introducing legislation this Congress to hold Amazon accountable for their anticompetitive behavior. #BigTechReckoning https://t.co/lChxvMFFuZ

— Congressman Ken Buck (@RepKenBuck) January 10, 2021

Here’s what I would have liked to hear from Republicans:

How do cloud services like AWS fit into antitrust reform outside of just providing an additional line of revenue for companies? What if Amazon deplatformed a nascent e-commerce platform using its services?
What are the ramifications of stripping companies like Amazon from their cloud services? Should this be included in any measures the committee proposes?

WHAT’S NEXT?

The House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on antitrust still has two more hearings to complete before they start filing legislation. They’re expecting to start introducing those bills this spring, but that doesn’t mean they’ll become law anytime soon. There will likely be even more hearings and a markup process before those bills get close to votes on the floor.

We also need to hear what the Senate is thinking. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the chair of the Senate’s antitrust panel, introduced the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act earlier this month that doesn’t do nearly as much as the House is considering for legislation. Klobuchar’s bill would provide antitrust enforcers with more resources to bring cases to trial and conduct extensive reviews of markets and merger effects.

Apple Fitness Plus review: easy mode

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Apple Fitness Plus has been out for a couple of months now, and a few of us here at The Verge have been spending that time running it (and ourselves) through its paces. The $9.99-a-month service offers a decent array of exercise videos with an added bonus: integration with the sensors on an Apple Watch. In fact, an Apple Watch is required to use the service.

Since everybody’s exercise routine is a little different, we wanted to get a variety of perspectives on the service. What’s become clear from all of our testing is that Apple has successfully achieved what we think it set out to do: create an exercise service that is accessible to a broad range of people. There are lots of different ways an exercise service like this could get tripped up, but for the most part, Fitness Plus stays on track.

Whether you like the direction that track goes or if it’s long enough to keep your attention for years to come is another matter. It will take more time for Apple to expand its array of options in the service, but it has already added one new kind of exercise — celebrity walk-and-listens — which could bode well for those hoping for future updates.

But as we always say, never pay for something now in the hopes that it’ll be better in the future. So here’s what we think of Fitness Plus after two months of using the service.

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

The basics of Apple Fitness Plus

Fitness Plus’ main selling point is it’s easy to jump into — so long as your own oodles of Apple devices. The app requires an Apple Watch to access the classes, and then you’ll need an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV to stream the workouts. (Critically, there’s no way to stream from a Mac, which makes no sense and required me to stream from my tiny iPhone display.) But because the app connects to the Watch, your rings show up in the corner of the screen throughout a workout. It serves as a reminder of how hard you’ve worked and how far you have to go to meet your goals for the day. Some people might find this motivational. I did.

As for equipment, the app offers a variety of cardio workouts, such as cycling, treadmill classes, and rowing, which require special equipment. But it also offers classes like Time to Walk, which Becca will dive into below, and dance classes that require no equipment at all. Most of the strength classes would like you to use dumbbells (which can be hard to find in stock currently), but you could get away with your bodyweight if necessary.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

There’s no way to filter classes by equipment requirements or even area of focus, so expect to spend time in the app reading descriptions and watching previews to discern whether a class is for you. This is a pain and a hurdle that shouldn’t exist. Filters by workout type and equipment should be table stakes for any fitness app.

What Apple lacks in filters, though, it slightly makes up for with a diverse group of instructors and class formats. The instructors vary in age, background, and body type, which I immediately noticed and appreciated. (I would still like to see a fitness app incorporate all body types and not just what we typically think of as “fit.”) The strength classes also offer three different sets of instructions: one for the prescribed exercise, another to make it more advanced, and a third to modify for injuries or anyone who needs to take it easy. This is the type of setup you’d see in classic fitness tapes, but I don’t find as much in on-demand classes.

This setup contrasts Apple’s biggest competitor in the space, Peloton, which doesn’t offer modifications during its workouts. As someone who has regularly worked out through Peloton’s classes, this was a nice change and one I’d like to see Peloton take as a cue from Apple. —Ashley Carman

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Apple Fitness Plus versus Peloton

Apple and Peloton are similar when it comes to premise and the primary user experience. You can select workouts with different lengths, different playlists, and different instructors in various categories like cycling, treadmill, strength, and yoga, as well as dedicated cooldowns.

I would say the primary reason to use Apple’s program is its seamless integration with the company’s hardware ecosystem. When I start up a workout on my iPad, the workout shows up on my Watch as well, and my Watch’s metrics appear on the iPad’s screen. It’s great to be able to watch my heart rate and rings in real time on the same screen as my workout without having to manually connect anything. You can even launch Fitness Plus playlists in Apple Music if you take a liking to them. (You can sync an Apple Watch with Peloton’s Bike Plus, but its on-screen metrics are limited to cycling workouts.)

I also like that when you start a hill in Apple’s cardio workouts, a clock appears counting down to the end of the interval. I watch that clock religiously during the steepest climbs. It’s easier to survive them when I know exactly how long I have left to endure without having to count in my head.

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Another unique feature of Apple Fitness Plus is — and I apologize for not having a better term here — the vibes. Peloton instructors approach their rides with a wide range of attitudes and personalities. And while this is also true of Apple’s instructors to some extent, all of them (at least, the cycling and treadmill folks) have vibrantly positive personas. They’re enthusiastic, they’re full of energy, and they’re so excited to be running or biking with you that it’s infectious. It’s hard not to be excited in turn. There was an emphasis on overall wellness — reaching goals, eliminating stress, that sort of thing. I don’t feel like Apple’s instructors are just trying to get me through a workout; I feel like they’re trying to make me a better person.

But the biggest difference between Apple and Peloton’s libraries is that Apple’s is newer — and that means it just doesn’t have as much stuff yet. Peloton has a wider variety of music. I’ve done everything from Bon Jovi rides to yacht-music bike rides, where Apple’s playlists are largely more general (“Everything Rock,” “Latest Hits,” “Latin Grooves,” etc.). And as someone who likes longer endurance workouts, I was disappointed that Apple’s cycling and treadmill workouts are capped at 45 minutes. With Peloton, you can ride for up to 90. Peloton also offers a number of live classes where you can interact with fellow riders, while all of Apple’s workouts are pre-recorded.

Another area where Peloton’s ahead is in specific workout hardware integration. Obviously, Apple doesn’t sell a spin bike (yet), and that means the instructors have to be more general about intensity. While Peloton instructors give a specific range (“30 to 50”), Apple instructors speak more generally (“Moderate intensity,” “add a little bit more here,” etc.). This meant I was always kind of guessing where my resistance was supposed to be during Apple’s rides (and I don’t really trust myself to arrive at a legitimately “hard” resistance when asked to find that for myself).

Apple instructors can be more specific with treadmill workouts since metrics like speed and incline are universal. Still, I wish Apple could display the current incline or resistance on the iPad screen like Peloton does. There were times when my teacher instructed everyone to change their resistance while I was zoned out or checking my phone or something, and I ended up doing a portion of the workout at the wrong intensity.

But I think the biggest thing to consider when choosing between Peloton and Apple Fitness Plus is the difficulty. Most of the Fitness Plus workouts I tried are around the same level: a nice challenge for folks like me who work out a few times a week and aren’t super in shape. Peloton caters to a wider variety of abilities, sorted on a scale of 1–10, and you can sort classes by intensity while browsing. If you’re serious about athletic training (and cycling, in particular), Peloton will have more to offer. —Monica Chin

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Time to Walk

Working out in one space has always been a struggle for me. I get really bored and uninterested when I’m not actively going somewhere or physically achieving something. I usually exercise by doing loops in a park on my bike, going on a run, or slacklining between trees. So Apple Fitness Plus’ at-home workouts were never of interest to me — until a few weeks ago when Apple rolled out the Time to Walk feature. That is something I, in theory, could get behind.

Time to Walk pairs inspirational monologues, music, and photos from famous musicians, athletes, and actors with the Apple Watch’s exercise tracking feature to create a more engaging way to take a walk. I take a walk almost every day and use that time to tune in to a new album or one of my favorite podcasts, so Time to Walk slotted into my routine quite nicely. It’s exactly the level of effortlessness I need in workout tech.

There are only a couple of differences between Time to Walk and a more traditional podcast. Most notably, your Watch will buzz about twice an episode, and a photo will show up on the screen that relates to what the host is talking about. It’s cool but not groundbreaking. Secondly, the hosts are either also on a walk or talking about what walking means to them. I appreciated this a bit more. Ruby Bridges’ episode has a slow, calm pace, and you can hear as she strolls through Audubon Park in New Orleans. There are many loud birds and cars driving by in the distance. While Draymond Green’s heavier foot on a gravel path in Malibu is accompanied by the sounds of distant waves. Apple really nailed the soundstage of these walks, and it creates a pleasing experience that actually makes you feel as if you are walking next to someone.

My only issue with Time to Walk and Apple Fitness Plus at large is the need to live in the Apple ecosystem. You absolutely need an iPhone and Apple Watch to use Fitness Plus, and even outside of that, when you use the Time to Walk feature, your headphones have to be paired to the Apple Watch. If a call comes in on your iPhone and you’re not using Apple or Beats headphones that can switch over automatically, you will have to manually reconnect your headphones to your phone to take the call on them, then manually reconnect your headphones to the Watch to resume the Time to Walk episode.

For someone who doesn’t use AirPods, this is very annoying. Outside of the usual Apple ecosystem walls, Time to Walk is my favorite feature of Apple Fitness Plus. Every Monday, when a new episode with a new mystery celeb comes out, I look forward to my nightly walk. Unfortunately, this is the only feature I loved within Apple Fitness Plus, and a walking podcast is not worth $9.99 a month for me. —Becca Farsace

Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge

If there’s a single message to take away from this review, it’s this: Apple Fitness Plus is great for beginners but may not offer the depth you’re looking for if you’re advanced in any specific sport. It’s accessible to anybody who is able to buy into Apple’s whole ecosystem, though. And for me, a person who has struggled to exercise regularly for my entire life, it’s better than a gym membership.

There is enough variety for me to feel like I won’t have to put videos on repeat, but I’m only using it a couple of times a week right now. My main complaint has nothing to do with the exercise content but instead with the vibe of Apple’s videos. I’m not asking for disaffected ’90s MTV VJs, but the peppy and relentlessly positive chatter is a lot for a Gen-Xer like me. And the vaguely-but-not-actually spiritualistic “mindfulness” that you can’t avoid in the cooldowns also grates. None of this is new to anybody who has used services like this, but for me, it’s a lot. I cringe when a trainer ends a video by trying to get me excited to “close those rings” on the Watch.

Still, the best thing I can say about Apple Fitness Plus is, slowly but surely, it is helping me build a habit of actual exercise. There are plenty of days that I end up going outside for a bike ride or a walk instead of turning on an Apple video, but I think doing a couple Fitness Plus videos a week has made it more likely I’ll do that non-Fitness Plus exercise, too.

And while the Apple Watch integration occasionally feels motivational, for the most part, it feels unnecessary. Fitness Plus is not a reason to go out and buy an Apple Watch, but it might be a good reason to keep using the one you’ve already got. As with many of Apple’s new services, it’s less about drawing people in than it is about keeping people from leaving. I’ll probably keep using Fitness Plus simply because it’s part of the big Apple One bundle I got so my family could have an amount of iCloud storage that didn’t feel punitive.

If you’re not an Apple One subscriber, is Fitness Plus worth $9.99 / month on its own? If you’re already in an exercise routine, I’m not sure that Fitness Plus is going to offer you something better. For me, it’s literally better than nothing. —Dieter Bohn

The Framework Laptop is an upgradable, customizable 13-inch notebook coming this spring

A San Francisco-based startup called Framework has just launched an ambitious project: a thin, lightweight productivity laptop that it claims can be “upgraded, customized, and repaired in ways that no other notebook can.”

Framework founder Nirav Patel told The Verge that the company aims to address his long-standing frustrations with consumer technology companies. Patel was one of the original Oculus employees and has worked for Apple as well. During that time, he says he “saw an industry that felt incredibly broken across the board.”

“As a consumer electronics company, your business model effectively depends on churning out constant tons of hardware and pushing it into channels, and into market, and into consumers’ hands, and then sort of dropping it and letting it exist out there,” Patel explains. “It encourages waste and inefficiency, and ultimately environmental damage.”

To that end, Patel sees the Framework Laptop as more than a product — he sees it as an ecosystem.

The Framework comes with a 13.5-inch 2256 x 1504 screen, a 1080p 60fps webcam, a 57Wh battery, and a 2.87-pound aluminum chassis. Inside, you’ll get 11th Gen Intel processors, up to 64GB of DDR4 memory, and “4TB or more” of Gen4 NVMe storage.

As is the case with all kinds of consumer laptops, buyers can swap out and upgrade various internal parts of the Framework, including the RAM, battery, and storage. The company is trying to bring three additional benefits to the table. The first is that you can also customize and upgrade external components of the chassis, including the keyboard, screen, bezels (which are magnetically attached), and ports (via an expansion card system). If you’re someone who hates dongles and docks, you can select four ports from an assortment that includes the usual suspects (USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, DisplayPort, microSD, etc).

The second is that Framework will be selling its own modules in a centralized online marketplace, which is also open to third-party sellers and resellers. The idea is that if your screen cracks or you feel like changing your bezels, you can hop onto Framework’s site to find replacements that are custom-made for your laptop rather than having to search around. Framework’s components are printed with QR codes that, when scanned, will bring you straight to a purchase page for their upgrades.

The third is that in addition to a pre-built Framework system, you can purchase a “DIY” kit of your selected parts, which you can then use to assemble the laptop yourself. The DIY Edition provides some operating system flexibility: you can install “your preferred Linux distribution” on it or your pick of Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro.

Image: Framework

It’s a cogent plan, to be sure. But Framework won’t be able to achieve its upgradable, sustainable future just by announcing an ecosystem — it has to actually create an ecosystem that will last. And whether Framework will continue to manufacture modules for this specific laptop model far into the future, or whether third-party partners will pick up the slack, is certainly a question mark.

If you’re any kind of PC enthusiast, you probably know that Framework is far from the first company to try a scheme like this. Intel has given modular computers a shot in the past, to little result — its Compute Card was a commercial failure, and its modular Ghost Canyon NUC (which had hardware partners on board at launch) still has yet to receive any new components. Alienware’s original Area-51m also never received its promised future-proof upgradable parts. Phone makers have tried modular devices as well: Google’s Project Ara smartphone, composed of Lego-style bricks that users could rearrange and swap in and out, didn’t go anywhere. The reality is that hardware is hard to build and modular hardware is even more challenging.

Image: Framework

Patel, for his part, believes those OEMs weren’t committed enough. “Other companies, they put it out there, and someone internally decided, ‘Eh, we’re going to focus on something else this year,’ and shut down the project,” says Patel. “This is not something we’re dabbling in. It’s not a side project for us that someone thought was interesting. This is the core of our company.”

“We are releasing new modules, and upgrades, and accessories, and so on to drive the health of the ecosystem, and we’re going to continue doing that for as long as customers want us to,” Patel adds.

Framework will be taking preorders this spring, and the device is expected to ship this summer. Pricing hasn’t yet been announced, though Patel says it will be “comparable to other well-reviewed notebooks.”

The Verge’s favorite audio gear

Ever since Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville recorded an almost undecipherable version of the French song “Au Clair de la Lune” in the mid-19th century, it’s been clear that the technology that you use to produce and listen to sounds can affect your experience. Even now, about 150 years later, the quality of your gear can mean the difference between a tinny, nearly unrecognizable noise or a fully realized aural experience.

As you can imagine, the people here at The Verge spend a lot of time listening to a variety of digital sounds — whether it’s online meetings, music, podcasts, videos, or sound checks of their own multimedia productions. We asked the staff what their favorite devices were to either listen to, enhance, or produce their digital sounds. Here’s what they talked about.

Plantronics Explorer 500 Bluetooth headset

Plantronics Explorer 500

Photo: Poly

About six years ago, I reviewed a midlevel Bluetooth headset from Plantronics (now Poly) called the Explorer 500. It was a small, nicely built, single-ear headset, and it came with a short USB cable with ends that magnetically snapped together to become a loop. I thought it was a pretty good piece of tech at the time, so I bought one — and I’m still using it. Of course, it’s not great for music (it uses only one ear, after all), but it’s incredibly convenient to have it hanging on a loop in my bag so I can grab it for a quick phone call or if I want to listen to a podcast. And surprisingly, the battery still holds a reasonable charge. One of these days, I’ll have to invest in a fully wireless headset so I can have fully mobile music as well — but until then, my Explorer 500 serves me well. — Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor

AudioQuest Dragonfly USB DAC

AudioQuest Dragonfly series

Photo: AudioQuest

AudioQuest’s Dragonfly portable digital-to-analog converter (DAC) brings higher-quality audio to your devices. Most laptops, tablets, and smartphones don’t have great DACs or don’t natively support hi-res files like FLAC (nor tell you when they don’t), but with the Dragonfly, you’ll be able to listen to uncompressed audio up to 24-bit / 96kHz. There’s also an LED light on the device that changes colors to indicate which sample rate is being supported at the moment. AudioQuest makes three separate models: the basic Dragonfly Black; the Dragonfly Red, which uses a higher-performance DAC chip; and the Dragonfly Cobalt, its highest-end model.

In order to take full advantage of the Dragonfly, you’ll also need an adapter for your phone with a Lightning-to-USB-A adapter for an iPhone or a USB-C-to-USB-A adapter for an Android device. Portability is the biggest feature here — swapping between my phone and my laptop is the reason I’m recommending this for anyone who wants one gadget that will let you listen to hi-res audio on any device. — Andrew Marino, audio engineer

Audio-Technica ATH-M50 headphones

Audio-Technica ATH-M50x

Photo: Audio Technica

Alright, yes, I’m aware that these are pretty much already the internet’s favorite pair of wired, over-ear headphones. But seriously: I’ve had mine for six years now, and they’ve held up great. Sure, the pleather on the headband is starting to flake off, and I had to replace the ear cups a while back, but they sound just as good as the day I got them. I find that music just sounds fun with them — not too analytical, like my DT-770 Pros can sometimes be. The Audio-Technicas are for sure not reference headphones, but that’s probably not what most people are actually looking for.

They were also a great price, especially compared to their Bluetooth counterparts. And honestly, I’ve been falling out of love with wireless headphones for anything other than working out, though that’s probably a problem with me, not them. Either way, the newer version, the ATH-M50x (the ATH-M50 has been discontinued), has a removable cable so you don’t have to worry about being saddled with the ridiculously long cables that sometimes come with fancy headphones. (Another version, the ATH-M50xBT, disposes of the cable entirely.) — Mitchell Clark, news writer

Antlion Audio ModMic USB microphone

Antlion Audio ModMic USB microphone

Photo: Antlion Audio

It seems like everyone’s getting big standalone microphones for their desks during the pandemic, but I don’t want to give up any precious real estate. A solution that works better for my needs is Antlion Audio’s ModMic USB microphone. It’s cleverly designed. First, you adhere a small circular base (about the size of a large chocolate chip) to the side of your headphones, then the microphone itself can be magnetically attached and detached at will. I like being able to quickly turn my headphones into a gaming headset, or to get ready for a meeting appearance, then back to regular headphones by detaching the mic. I use one with my Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro open-back headphones and it helps me get more out of the kit I already own.

This particular microphone has two modes you can switch between: omnidirectional (made for broadcasts) or unidirectional, which helps to capture just your voice if you’re in a noisy environment. The sound quality of a voice recording made with the ModMic is very good — far better than most of the gaming headsets I’ve tried. The microphone is compatible with Windows, macOS, Linux, PS4, and PS5.

The downside is this model costs about $70. Also, if your headphones are wired, introducing this mic’s wire into the fray can get a little tough to manage. For me, the price is worth the effort. Antlion also makes an all-wireless rechargeable microphone for $120, if you want to go that route, which also has dual mic modes and can stick to your headphones with adhesive. — Cameron Faulkner, writer

AirPods

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

I love my AirPods and I have since my first pair. They’re lightweight, they charge up quickly in their case, and they sound good enough for what I need them for, which is mostly hearing notifications, listening to podcasts, and watching YouTube videos. It helps that I’m an iPhone and a Mac user, as they work really well with both devices.

I think I like the original AirPods more than the Pros, though. While the Pros offer some welcome upgrades like active noise cancellation and water and sweat resistance, they just don’t fit my ears as well. The original AirPods never fell out, but the AirPods Pro will slowly slip out if I’m talking or eating, and sometimes when I’m running. That means I’m constantly readjusting them if I’m doing anything besides sitting completely still. (To be fair, I’m sitting completely still a lot of the time right now.)

Here’s hoping that the next version of the Pros will fit my ears just a little bit better. If they do, they’ll likely become one of my favorite Apple products ever. — Jay Peters, news writer

Rode RodeCaster Pro podcast production

Rode RodeCaster Pro podcast production

Photo: Rode

This four-mic input audio interface by Rode makes it significantly easier to set up a full podcasting session with a design that mimics a live mixing board. You can record multitracks onto your computer or internally on a microSD using a USB-C connection.

As someone who mostly mixes podcasts after they’re recorded, this setup is more appealing to me for live streaming on Twitch or YouTube. You also get built-in customizable sound banks, compression and EQ settings, multiple outputs for monitoring, and an intuitive design for traditional live mixing.

Fun tip: it’s also a great way to record phone call interviews by pairing the RodeCaster Pro with your smartphone via Bluetooth. — Andrew Marino

HyperX QuadCast microphone

HyperX QuadCast

Photo: HyperX

I’d been looking to upgrade my microphone for a long time, but I was unsure which product to go with. A few friends recommended the HyperX QuadCast, and that’s what I ended up buying.

Previously, I used a Blue Yeti microphone, but I felt the audio quality was unsatisfactory on my end. I wanted to make sure I was buying a microphone that was not too cheap and not too pricey and, most importantly, had a nice cable lengthy so I did not have to rearrange my desk. Compared to the Blue Yeti, I found the HyperX QuadCast had great clarity and picked up the subtle details from my audio output.

I really enjoy the somewhat unconventional design of the QuadCast; it comes with straightforward controls, a stand, and a shock mount adapter for boom arms if you want to mount the microphone closer to you. I also find it convenient that the mute button is on top of the microphone. It makes it easy to mute myself quickly while on Zoom or Discord. —Taylor Lyles, writer

Sonos Five speaker

Sonos Five

Photo: Sonos

I’ve never found a single smart speaker that sounds better, and I like that there are no microphones inside. Those are the main bullet points for why I’ve had a Sonos Play:5 — recently refreshed as the Sonos Five — on my desk for several years now. For a speaker that doesn’t have a 360-degree design, the Five still produces a very satisfactory soundstage that can fill most rooms. It can kick out ample bass without overpowering the highs and mids of your music. It takes two of most other smart speakers paired together to come anywhere close to what the Sonos Five can deliver. (Granted, it had better sound damn good for $500.)

Pretty much every audio app under the sun is supported through the Sonos app, including hi-fi options like Tidal and Amazon Music HD. The Sonos Five works with Apple AirPlay, and there’s a 3.5-millimeter aux input for wired playback. (You can also use this to get a turntable hooked into your Sonos system.)

No, there’s no built-in voice assistant like Alexa or Google Assistant included here. But some people will appreciate the absence of always-listening mics. And adding an assistant to the mix after the fact is easy, either via another Sonos speaker like the One or simply by hooking up an Echo Dot or Nest Mini.

It’s just a shame that the white and black combo Play:5 colorway is no more; I think that was the best-looking speaker Sonos ever made. — Chris Welch, news editor