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Polar Ignite 2 review: Enough of a spark?

(Pocket-lint) – The Polar Ignite 2 is the follow-up fitness watch to the 2019 original. While it gives you all those key sports watch features, its key skills are to track your workouts and tell you the ones you should be doing next.

The relatively low asking price puts it up against the likes of the now older Apple Watch Series 3 or Fitbit Versa 3, but does the second-gen Polar deliver enough spark?

Design and display

1.2-inch IPS TFT touchscreen, 240 x 204 resolution
43mm case diameter, 8.5mm thick
Waterproof to 30 metres
Weighs 35g

The Ignite 2 is virtually identical to the original watch. It has the same-sized round polymer case, with a single physical button tucked away in the bottom corner, and a touchscreen controlled display.

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That’s partnered up with a silicone strap with a traditional watch-style buckle that comes in two size options. Those straps are removable too with a simple pin mechanism, letting you quickly swap for one of Polar’s dressier options or a strap that looks a lot like one of Apple’s sport bands.

Polar is offering some more colourful options here too as well. There’s now champagne, blue, black, and pink strap options to go with the four case colour options.

The Ignite 2 is a light watch – at just 35g – and we’ve found it’s been very comfortable to wear 24/7. If you like the idea of a watch that doesn’t sit big and bulky on your wrist, then it’s got appeal.

The biggest design change over the Ignite lies with the more textured, grippier finish on the case. With the right case and strap combo, it gives a slightly nicer-looking watch than its predecessor, but it’s the smallest of changes where pretty much everything else otherwise remains the same.

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Another element that hasn’t changed is the screen. It’s the same 1.2-inch touchscreen display that offers the same in the way of overall quality and viewing angles. It’s not as crisp, vibrant or as colourful as an AMOLED screen, but it’s a good enough screen surroundings to soak up your stats.

What isn’t so good is the still lingering lagging you get when interacting with this screen. It was the same on the first Ignite and clearly Polar hasn’t sought to improve things regarding the screen’s slightly delayed response.

Software and performance

Phone notifications, music controls and weather forecasts
Works with Polar Flow and third-party apps

As is the case with all of Polar’s watches (aside from a brief play with Google’s Wear OS for its M600 watch), it sticks to packing on its own in-house operating system.

It’s a software that pairs to your phone over Bluetooth and does offer the ability to pair up external Bluetooth heart-rate sensors. In the Ignite 2 you don’t get the ANT+ connectivity you get on more expensive Polar watches to widen the support of devices you can connect it to.

The software experience is similar to what you’ll find on Polar’s top-end watches, albeit with a greater emphasis on using the touchscreen to navigate your way around the interface. You can commence workout tracking in the same fashion, while swiping left and right on the watch screen will drop additional information around the watch face, such as current heart rate, activity tracking data, and a useful weekly summary of your training.

Polar has sought to offer more smartwatch features on the Ignite this time around, rolling out features that have already appeared on its Vantage series and Grit X watches. Along with the same notification support, you now getting weather forecasts, the ability to adjust the look of watch faces, and there’s now music controls here too.

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They’re not groundbreaking features, but they’re ones that make the Ignite 2 more useful to have around when you’re not just working out. They work well enough, too, although displaying notifications still feels a little clunky. The music controls are easy to use and work with third-party apps like Spotify, though, which is good news.

Off the watch, your go-to place for setting things up is the Polar Flow phone app or desktop app, but this is a watch that will play nice with third-party apps if you want to bypass Polar’s own once you’ve set things up. Much like Garmin, there’s a lot going on in Polar Flow and it pays to spend some time to get to know where things live in the app and get a sense of what all of the extra training insights mean.

Sports and fitness tracking

FitSpark workout recommendations
Nightly Recharge measurements
Pool swim tracking

Despite its small stature, Polar still manages to pack in quite an impressive array of features into the Ignite 2. There’s built-in GPS, the same Precision Prime heart rate monitor technology used on its pricier Vantage watches, and a rich collection of training features like adaptive running programmes.

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For sports tracking, you’re getting access to over 130 profiles – with activities like running, cycling, pool swimming the best served. There’s also profiles for HIIT and cross training, with a bigger emphasis on monitoring heart rate to measure effort levels during those workouts.

GPS signal pick-up was nice and snappy on our outdoor runs and distance tracking accuracy and core running metrics were in line with a similarly-priced Garmin watch.

In the water, however, the Polar wasn’t so good. Accuracy of tracking laps was fine on shorter swims, but accuracy waned noticeably over swimming longer distances above 400-500 metres.

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If you’re hoping for a reliable heart rate monitor, then the one on the Ignite 2 performed well in most of our tests. On runs and home workouts, it was a few beats per minute (bpm) out from a Garmin HRM-Pro chest strap monitor. For something more intense like interval training, that accuracy and ability to keep up with the sudden spikes and drops in heart rate shows though. It’s not a terrible performer, but if you yearn for supreme accuracy, take the opportunity to pair up an external sensor.

One of the standout features on the Ignite 2 is FitSpark. This is Polar’s smart suggested workouts feature that looks at the types of sessions you’ve logged with your watch to recommend workouts you should do around them. So it may suggest working on strength if you’ve been smashing the cardio lately, or adding some mobility work to better balance your training.

It works really well too, clearly instructing you what to do during the workouts and will start a countdown and send a vibrating buzz to let you know when to prepare for the next workout. It’s not a feature unique to this Polar watch, but it’s one that’s great to use if you’re not sure about what to do when it comes to training.

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If you’re yearning for some of the more advanced training analysis you get on Polar’s other watches, you can still get details on your cardio load status and you can learn more about whether you’re under- or over-training. You can now also understand what’s fuelling your run with the new Energy Sources feature – this heart rate-fuelled feature gives you a breakdown if you’ve used carbohydrates, proteins or fats to power a workout.

The Ignite 2 doubles up as a pretty solid fitness tracker too. It will track steps, distances, nudge you when you’ve not been active for a period of time, and display in the app a breakdown of when you were most active during the day.

But what’s really impressive with the Ignite 2 is the sleep tracking. It offers all the typical things you’d expect to find on a sleep monitoring watch, including a breakdown of sleep stages including REM sleep and sleep scores. Where things get interesting are the Nightly Recharge measurements, which aim to help you better assess if you’ve recovered from a tough physical day. It looks at sleep quality and how your autonomic nervous system calms during the early hours of sleep to generate the measurement. It can then offer tips on whether you should train or why you might have had a bad night of sleep.

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The accuracy of sleep tracking ultimately dictates how useful this feature is – and against a Fitbit’s pretty impressive sleep tracking the Polar held up really well on that front. So if you’re looking for a watch that tracks sleep but also offers useful, actionable insights based on that data, the Ignite 2 fits the bill.

Battery life

165mAh battery, up to 5 days per charge
100 hours in training mode
20 hours GPS battery life

The Ignite 2 promises to deliver up to five days of life in smartwatch mode – with continuous heart rate monitoring in use. When you’re using GPS, you can expect to get 20 hours of tracking time. And there’s now a new training mode that will record workouts up to 100 hours.

What we’ve learnt over our experience with Polar’s latest watches is that they can come up a little short on those claims. That doesn’t change with the Ignite 2. It’s clear the more advanced sleep monitoring features Polar has introduced have quite a noticeable drain on battery – and you can’t turn it off. You can disable continuous heart rate monitoring, which will get you to that five day mark – otherwise it’s more like four.

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When you’re putting GPS tracking to use, you’re getting around the same battery life as a similarly priced watch from Garmin, but significantly more GPS battery life than what you’re going to get from any Apple Watch model. If you want something that can get you just under a week of training, then that’s what the Ignite 2 will get you.

When it’s time for charging, Polar retains the same disc charger that clips onto the back and takes over an hour to get from 0-100 per cent, so it’s a relatively snappy charger.

Verdict

Polar hasn’t made wholesale changes compared to the first Ignite, instead focusing on improving the look and trickling down some features from its pricier watches into the Ignite 2.

But it’s got pretty much everything you could want in a fitness watch, offering solid tracking for most activities, plenty in the way of data, features and insights, and is a light and comfortable watch to live with.

Features like FitSpark and the Nightly Recharge measurements is what really makes the Ignite 2 stand out from the similar price competition. The latter though clearly is a drain on battery life.

As a smartwatch you’ll get more from the likes of Garmin, Fitbit and Apple. But in terms of a fitness watch first and foremost there’s a lot to like here.

If you like the idea of a watch that does a great job of bringing training and recovery closer together and helping you make sense of it, the Ignite 2 is worth strapping on.

Also consider

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Apple Watch Series 3

While you’ll have to live with much less battery life, the Series 3 gives you a better screen, smartwatch features, and pretty solid sports tracking in a more attractive, customisable look.

Read our review

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Garmin Venu Sq

The square Venu Sq is in a similar price range and again offers a nicer display and more smartwatch features like Spotify offline playlist support.

Read our review

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Polar Unite

If you can live without the built-in GPS, the Unite offers those great FitSpark and Nightly Recharge measurements for less money.

Read our review

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Writing by Michael Sawh. Editing by Mike Lowe.

OnePlus updates its midrange Nord with new processor and a headphone jack

OnePlus has announced a new addition to its lineup of midrange phones, the Nord CE. According to the company, the “CE” stands for “Core Edition,” an indication that the company is focusing on the fundamentals, rather than inflating the device’s spec sheet with unnecessary extras. The phone is launching in Europe and India, and there are no plans for a US release.

What this focus on the fundamentals means in practice is that the Nord CE is slightly stripped down compared to last year’s Nord, but it’s slightly higher-specced than its predecessor, too. So you’re getting a higher-resolution 64-megapixel main camera (up from 48 megapixels), but there are only three rear sensors in total. (There’s also an 8-megapixel ultrawide with a 119-degree field of view and a 2-megapixel monochrome sensor.) The Nord CE also only has a single 16-megapixel selfie camera, with no secondary ultrawide like the original Nord.

The phone features a very similar design to its predecessor.

Image: OnePlus

Internally, there’s a Snapdragon 750G powering this year’s model, compared to the 765G in last year’s phone. OnePlus claims its CPU is 20 percent faster, while its GPU is 10 percent faster. That’s paired with a choice of 6, 8, or 12GB of RAM, although these options vary slightly based on region. There’s a 4,500mAh battery inside the Nord CE, up from 4,115mAh last year, and the phone supports Warp Charge 30T Plus fast charging, which OnePlus says should charge you from 0 to 70 percent in half an hour.

Externally, the Nord CE looks very similar to its predecessor. It’s got a very similarly styled camera bump on the back left (though with three rather than four cameras) and a hole-punch for its selfie camera on the front of the phone (again, with one rather than two cameras). However, on the bottom of the phone, you’ll find a headphone jack, which was missing from last year’s device. In terms of display, the Nord CE comes with a 6.43-inch 90Hz 1080p OLED panel. The phone is available in blue, black, or silver.

The Nord CE will be available to preorder in limited quantities from OnePlus itself starting today in the UK, and these devices will ship on June 14th. The device goes on general sale on June 21st. In the UK, it starts at £299 (€329) for the model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and £369 (€399) for the model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. In Europe, there’s a version with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which will retail for €299. Those prices are slightly cheaper than the original Nord, which started at £379 (€399) for its 8GB model.

Like the original Nord, OnePlus says it doesn’t have plans to release the Nord CE in the US. Instead, the US has the OnePlus Nord N200 5G to look forward to. It’s a successor to the N100 that OnePlus CEO Pete Lau recently confirmed will retail for under $250.

Samsung pushes pixel size even further with new camera sensor

Samsung has announced a new image sensor for smartphone cameras that it says has the smallest pixels in the industry. The ISOCELL JN1 is a 50-megapixel sensor with a relatively tiny 1/2.76-inch format, meaning its pixels are just 0.64μm in size. For comparison, Samsung already broke records in 2019 with the slightly larger ISOCELL Slim GH1, another 50-megapixel sensor with 0.7μm pixels.

Conventional camera wisdom says that smaller pixels usually result in worse image quality with higher noise, so why is Samsung doing this? According to the company, it’s about form factor versatility. The sensor’s smaller size means it can be used in ultrawide or telephoto camera modules — which are challenging to design when size is at a premium — or as a way to reduce the height of the primary camera bump.

As with other high-resolution camera sensors, the JN1 will make use of pixel-binning technology that combines multiple pixels into one for higher light sensitivity. In this case, Samsung says the sensor will capture 12.5-megapixel photos with the equivalent of 1.28μm pixels, and the company is also claiming a 16 percent boost to light sensitivity with its ISOCELL 2.0 tech.

Unusually, Samsung even held a full-on live-streamed launch event for this sensor, which you can watch here:

Samsung says the JN1 is currently in mass production, so it’s likely to show up in smartphones before too long.

Cooler Master MM720 Review: Respawn

Our Verdict

The Cooler Master MM720 is a unique gaming mouse that improves on its predecessor, the Spawn, with a case, sensor and cable that compete with other high-end mice.

For

+ Unique design with ring finger support
+ Pure PTFE feet
+ Very lightweight, flexible cord

Against

– Side buttons can be hard to reach
– Cable already suffers from light kinking

It took nearly a decade, but Cooler Master finally announced a followup to its Spawn gaming mouse at CES 2020. The vendor has followed up its cult classic with the Cooler Master MM720. Available for $40–$50 as of writing, the MM720 is ready for the new millennium with a honeycomb-style chassis, upgraded sensor and a cable with both pros and cons. Ultimately, it’s a winning package that not only competes favorably against modern rivals but also its predecessor, which some consider the best gaming mouse of yesteryear.

Cooler Master MM720 Specs

Sensor Model	PixArt PMW-3389
Sensitivity	Up to 16,000 CPI native or 32,000 via software
Polling Rates	125, 250, 500, or 1,000 Hz
Programmable Buttons	6
LED Zones and Colors	2x RGB
Cable	6 foot (1.8m) USB Type-A
Connectivity	USB Type-A
Measurements (LxWxH)	4.15 x 3.01 x 1.47 inches (105.42 x 76.5 x 37.4mm)
Weight (without cable)	1.72 ounces (49g)
Extra	Replacement PTFE feet

Design and Comfort

Modern gaming mice often seem like they were made from the same mold. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing because manufacturers have mostly settled on shapes that can appeal to a broad audience, and breaking that mold can result in a truly awful mouse. But that didn’t stop Cooler Master from eschewing the staid designs of modern mice in favor of the unique, seemingly hand-molded case that inspired the original Spawn gaming mouse.

The Cooler Master MM720 is short, wide and defined by its curves. It almost seems like the company handed someone a ball of Silly Putty, told them to pretend it was a mouse and then used the resulting shape as inspiration. There is nary a flat surface on the mouse; every point of contact has been contoured in some way to better accommodate the natural shape of most people’s hands. This looks weird, yes, but it feels great during use.

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But all of those things were true of the Spawn when it debuted a decade ago. The Cooler Master MM720 complements that ergonomic design with an ABS plastic honeycomb shell that weighs roughly half as much as its predecessor, a PixArt PMW-3389 optical sensor that’s been moved to a more sensible location under the mouse and a braided cable that should offer a better experience than the rubber cable Cooler Master had to use in the Spawn.

Cooler Master has also welcomed modern design trends with the MM720 in the form of two color options, white and black, with either a glossy or a matte finish. There’s a subdued Cooler Master logo on the palm rest that—along with the scroll wheel—provides the new mouse’s obligatory RGB lighting. And, of course, the honeycomb shell makes the MM720 look much different from the Spawn’s solid plastic construction.

The result is a mouse that is familiar in many ways, thanks to its similarity to mice like the similarly priced Cooler Master MM710 and Glorious Model D, yet still novel because of its shape. The Cooler Master MM720 measures 4.15 inches long, 3.01 inches wide and 1.5 inches tall and weighs 1.72 ounces. For comparison, the MM710 is 4.59 x 2.46 x 1.51 inches and about 1.87 ounces, and the Model D- is 4.72 x 2.40-2.64 x 1.30-1.57 inches and 2.4 ounces.

Unfortunately, the matte black option of the Cooler Master MM720 we tested is also a fingerprint magnet, which gives the already odd-looking mouse an even less appealing aesthetic. This problem might not be as noticeable on other versions of the mouse though, especially the white ones. And it’s merely a cosmetic issue. Cooler Master says the MM720’s case offers IP58 dust and water resistance, thanks to its special coating. The company also claims “you can dunk this bad boy in water to clean it off,” but I wasn’t brave enough to test that claim.

I also noticed some light kinking on the cable after just a little over a week of use. At this point it’s more of a visual distraction than anything else, but it does raise concerns about the cable’s long-term durability.

Gaming Performance

The Cooler Master MM720 is surprisingly comfortable to use for extended periods, and that’s mostly because it offers a place to rest your ring finger while you’re playing. Most gaming mice tend to ignore the existence of our ring fingers entirely—companies typically account for our thumbs, index fingers and middle fingers before calling it quits. But the Cooler Master MM720’s design accounts for one of those neglected appendages (sorry, pinky), and this seemingly inconsequential change makes a noticeable difference over the course of a long play session.

It’s also surprisingly easy to fling the Cooler Master MM720 around a mousepad. Many of the changes Cooler Master made to this mouse contribute to that ease of movement: the 100% pure PTFE feet are smoother than Rob Thomas, and the braided cable offers minimal drag, although it was still somewhat distracting coming off the wireless mice I’ve reviewed lately. I’m firmly in the wireless camp at this point, (see our Best Wireless Mouse page for recommendations), but if you insist on having a cable you could do worse than the Cooler Master MM720 when it comes to actual gameplay. Of course, your final views will depend on how founded or unfounded those concerns about durability prove to be.

The Cooler Master MM720’s light weight, smooth feet and braided cable are complemented by the PMW-3389 optical sensor, specced for up to 16,000 counts per inch (CPI) sensitivity, a max velocity of 400 inches per second (IPS) and max acceleration of 50g. Many other mice, including the excellent Razer Naga Pro, use the same sensor to great effect.

The sensor’s also in a sensible position on the MM720: smack-dab in the middle of the mouse, as opposed to the offset sensor found in the original Spawn. I didn’t have any trouble popping heads in Valorant with the Cooler Master MM720, and the PMW-3389’s reliability is a big contributor to that.

Another contributor: The LK optical micro switches used in the primary mouse buttons. They are certainly responsive, and I only found myself shouting “but I clicked!” because of network problems, not because of a missed input. Cooler Master markets the switches as offering “nearly instant actuation” and reducing debounce time to “practically zero.”

In fact, the only problems I had in-game with the Cooler Master MM720 involved the side buttons. They appear to be well-made, as I didn’t notice any pre or post-travel during everyday use, but their placement just doesn’t work for me. Practically every aspect of the mouse lends itself to a relaxed grip, so I want to rest my thumb in the dedicated groove along the side of the case, but the side buttons are located above that groove. This placement wouldn’t be a problem with my normal fingertip grip, but because of the Cooler Master MM720’s design, I would end up using something closer to a palm grip that forced me to stretch my thumb every time I wanted to press a side button. Cooler Master says the MM720 is fit for palm and claw grippers, but I can’t comfortably use a claw grip and take advantage of the ring finger rest, so it ended up being a matter of which trade-off I was most willing to live with.

Whether or not that’s a problem for you will depend on the grip you use, the size of your hand and how much importance you put on the side buttons. But it did seem a bit strange that this one aspect of the Cooler Master MM720’s design was at odds with the rest of the mouse. Maybe there’s a technical limitation preventing a lower placement for the side buttons or perhaps the grip I settled on wasn’t actually what Cooler Master had in mind. Hopefully others fare better in that regard.

Features and Software

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The Cooler Master MM720 is configured using the comically named Cooler Master MasterPlus+ software. The utility offers information about your system, like the temperature, usage percentage, and voltage of your CPU and GPU by default. You can also use it to manage your other Cooler Master hardware. It checks for any new firmware on first launch, offers to install it and then gets out of the way so you can configure the Cooler Master MM720 using its many distinct settings.

The six programmable buttons can all be configured under the appropriately titled Buttons page. Because of the software’s Mouse Combo feature, there are actually just five programmable buttons—the side buttons, right mouse button and the scroll wheel directional inputs—by default. That setting allows each of the mouse’s buttons to perform a secondary function when the scroll wheel button is held down. Luckily that setting, which is enabled by default, can be disabled right on this page.

The MasterPlus+ software offers a variety of actions. Each button can be disabled, set to behave like another mouse button, keyboard key, or DPI switch, used to control multimedia playback or tasked with executing a macro, switching between profiles or performing a Rapid Fire action that repeats a given input up to 99 times as quickly as possible. There’s also an option to disable the sensor, which could prove useful if you want to stop someone from clicking around your system or if you want to watch a video without the controls popping up because you happened to jostle your desk, and the DPI switch on the bottom of the mouse can be assigned any of these functions as well.

The Cooler Master MM720 also offers a surprising amount of control over its performance. The usual settings are all here: You can enable angle snapping, toggle lift-off distance, or set the polling rate to 125, 250, 500, or 1,000 Hz. There are also sensitivity controls between 200 and 32,000 CPI; just be warned that setting the CPI any higher than 16,000 uses software and also causes problems because of the PMW-3389’s limitations. And by “causing problems” I mean the cursor is nigh impossible to control, skips around the screen, and is essentially unusable. Cooler Master provides seven CPI stages for toggling with the CPI switch that all offer separate values for their horizontal and vertical sensitivity; although, the two are linked by default.

MasterPlus+ also offers sliders for angle tunability, button response time and the operating system’s settings for double-click speed and pointer sensitivity. But the premier feature is Surface Tuning, which is supposed to optimize the sensor for your particular mousepad. I didn’t notice any improvement, but I’m also used to adapting to a variety of sensors in numerous mice, so maybe someone who spends months on end with the same mouse and/or sensor would better appreciate the setting.

The software’s RGB settings are similar to those found in most other utilities. Cooler Master offers seven preset colors, as well as slots for seven custom colors that you can set by using a color wheel or providing RGB values and adjusting the brightness slider. There are four built-in effects—Static, Breathing, Color Cycle and Indicator—that mostly perform as expected. I say mostly because Indicator is a bit of an odd duck. It’s not clear what exactly it’s indicating, and it’s the only built-in effect that uses different colors for the two RGB zones—blue in the palm rest and pink under the scroll wheel— but those colors don’t appear to be customizable and they remain static even if I move the mouse or click around the app.

There’s also the option to create a custom lighting effect, but this seems to be limited to solid colors because the LED speed and LED direction settings are grayed out. Aside from using the Indicator setting, this appears to be the only way to set different colors for the two RGB zones, but the process isn’t particularly intuitive. You have to select a color and then, entirely without prompting, click on the zone you want to assign that color in the preview window.

Macros, meanwhile, are surprisingly limited. All you’re able to do is tell MasterPlus+ to start recording your keyboard or mouse inputs, tell it when to stop recording and then set the input delay for the individual actions you performed. The only other option is to run a macro once, have it loop for as long as the designated execution key is held down or have it loop until that key is pressed again. That isn’t to say the macros can’t prove useful, but they are more limited than they are in other utilities.

Finally, there are profiles. Cooler Master offers five by default, and they can each be reset, renamed, overridden by an imported profile, exported, or viewed as a .exe file in your file system. Otherwise, they simply store the settings managed by the other sections in the app to the mouse’s 512KB of onboard storage. You can change the mouse’s current profile without having to open (or download) the app again by using the profile switch button.

Bottom Line

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I said in my review of the MSI Clutch GM41 Lightweight Wireless that it featured the “prototypical gaming mouse look.” Nobody could say that about the Cooler Master MM720. It’s a unique mouse that breaks the mold with purpose—providing a more comfortable gaming experience—instead of a misguided attempt to simply look different from the other mice on the market. Sure, the groundwork for this design was laid over a decade ago, but it’ll still be novel to most of its potential customers.

The Cooler Master MM720 is also a surprisingly good value, with a honeycomb shell, modern-day sensor, braided cable, large 100% pure PTFE feet and two RGB lighting zones, starting at $40 as of writing. Many companies would either charge more for mice with those components or choose different parts. The HK-Gaming Mira-M (currently $40), for example, relies on a PMW-3360 sensor and smaller feet.

The primary drawbacks to the Cooler Master MM720 are the placement of its side buttons and the questionable durability of its cable. But of far greater concern is the mouse’s shape and if it fits your style. I preferred palm gripping with the MM720, and people who’ve been waiting for a followup to the Spawn or a more ergonomic gaming mouse should be excited by the MM720. If you prefer an ambidextrous mouse or a claw grip, the Glorious Model D- and Mira-M may be better options.

There isn’t necessarily a clear winner between the Mira-M, Model D- and MM720, which all earned our Editor’s Choice Award. But that might actually be a good thing: Having options with quite different shapes but similar pricing, specs and performance is a sign that this ultralight segment is maturing. Now you can opt for the mouse that best suits your hand size, grip and play style.

For gamers seeking a unique, ergonomic-minded option, the Cooler Master MM720 is a solid product. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take Cooler Master another decade to release a followup, eh?

The Moto G Stylus 5G is a step-up version of our favorite budget stylus phone

Motorola has announced the Moto G Stylus 5G, a new version of its very good, non-5G budget-friendly stylus phone. It offers broadly similar hardware to the 4G version, with notable exceptions in the new Snapdragon 480 5G chipset with sub-6GHz 5G connectivity and a bigger 5,000mAh battery. Priced at $399, it’s at the higher end of the budget range and will go on sale June 14th.

Like its 4G peer, the G Stylus 5G features a large 6.8-inch 1080p screen, ready for your notes and doodles courtesy of a built-in stylus. It includes 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and ships with Android 11. There’s a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a charging brick is included in the box. The Stylus 5G is a little bigger and heavier than the 4G version, but not by much — it’s about four grams heavier and 0.3mm thicker.

The G Stylus 5G offers a rear triple-camera array that’s very similar to the 4G G Stylus’, with a 48-megapixel f/1.7 standard wide, 8-megapixel ultrawide, and 5-megapixel macro, plus a 2-megapixel depth sensor. Around front, there’s a 16-megapixel selfie camera.

The G Stylus 5G isn’t the most aggressively priced 5G phone in the budget market. OnePlus says its upcoming N200 5G will cost less than $250, and Samsung’s Galaxy A32 5G is currently selling for $279. It’s also surprising to see the Snapdragon 480 5G chipset used here, since it’s intended for more affordable 5G devices well under the Stylus 5G’s $400 price.

On the other hand, the G Stylus 5G is quite a bit cheaper than the other prominent 5G phone with a built-in stylus, the $999 Galaxy Note 20, if you want to look at things that way.

Kabuto’s giant smart suitcase announced for Hot Vax Summer

Smart luggage maker Kabuto is now selling a 95L Trunk with magnetically attachable Backpack that itself can double in capacity from 9L to 18L. The hard shell trunk includes a TSA-approved fingerprint lock, removable battery to charge your gadgets, and magnetic Fidlock fasteners, just like those found on the Kabuto Smart Carry-On bags launched on Kickstarter in 2019. Both bags should begin shipping by the end of summer as vaccine-fueled travel begins again.

The $629 (early bird pricing) Kabuto Trunk measures 72 x 36 x 37cm (28 x 14 x 14.5 inches) and weighs 4.7kg / 10.4lb. It can be configured with a $29 30W 10,000mAh battery for smartphones or a beefier $79, 60W, 20,000mAh battery that can also charge most USB-C laptops. The batteries can be stored in an optional $69 Pocket that magnetically attaches to the front of the Trunk and charges devices stored inside or out thanks to an external charging hub. That means you can sit down, wheel the trunk in front of you, plug in your laptop, and place it on the boxy Trunk for a mobile workspace on the go. When you check the Trunk, just pop off the Pocket to keep all your valuables (and battery) with you on the plane. The Trunk is available in black / copper or blue / silver color combinations.

The fingerprint sensor can store up to 10 fingerprints, making it suitable for sharing with family or friends. Like the Carry-On, the Trunk’s fingerprint sensor has its own dedicated replaceable battery that will warn you when the charge is getting low. Nevertheless, you’ll also get a set of slim back-up keys that can be carried in a wallet or purse. Kabuto claims the sensor is fast. I tested the sensor on the 2019 Kabuto Carry-On and that’s already very fast — equivalent to what you’d expect unlocking a modern smartphone. Assigning fingerprints is also quick, although you’ll likely need to relearn the steps should you ever share the bag as it’s not entirely intuitive.

The $299 (early bird pricing) Kabuto Backpack includes a USB-C hub on the side. It doubles in capacity using hidden magnets that incrementally expand the sides of the bag as pressure builds. And like the Pocket, it snaps onto the Kabuto Trunk using a magnetic Fidlock mechanism that Kabuto says can securely hold up to 10kg / 22lb. The Trunk remains upright with the help of four “tires” that Kabuto claims are “the most silent wheels ever.” The Backpack is available in silver, blue, grey, and a nude beige.

The Trunk / Backpack combo is available for $929 via early bird pricing. Kabuto bags are covered by a lifetime warranty and are expected to begin shipping in September at the tail end of Hot Vax Summer, just as the world hopefully emerges from our collective traveling funk.

OnePlus to launch stripped-down Nord CE 5G this week

OnePlus is planning to announce a new budget smartphone called the Nord CE 5G this week. TechRadar has a render of the device straight from OnePlus itself, showing that, well, it looks quite a lot like the original OnePlus Nord.

The CE 5G, however, will be a little cut back in terms of specs. OnePlus’ product head Oliver Zhang tells TechRadar that CE stands for “Core Edition” and refers to a design philosophy where the company had a goal of “distilling the product down to the most important things.”

“You see mid-range phones on the market with very exaggerated specifications,” Zhang says. “We actively avoided some of those features and kept the things we felt would really make a difference to the daily smartphone experience, like fast charging (Warp Charge 30T Plus), a 90Hz AMOLED display, or 5G.”

OnePlus itself has been guilty of these “exaggerated specifications” in the past — the original Nord, for example, had a “quad-camera” setup that included a 2-megapixel macro camera and depth sensor of dubious utility. The CE 5G, on the other hand, makes do with three cameras on the back.

That camera proposition, as well as the CE 5G’s processor and price, will be key to the product’s appeal. For that, you’ll have to wait until the full reveal tomorrow, June 10th, at 10PM ET. The Nord CE 5G is being targeted at the European and Indian markets, according to TechRadar.

Sony WF-1000XM4

Our Verdict

You won’t find many true wireless earbuds that come close to matching the all-round brilliance of the Sony WF-1000XM4

For

Clear, detailed bass performance
Wonderful sense of musicality
Comfortable
Class-leading battery life

Against

Missing Sony’s Multipoint feature
Lacking ear tip choices
No aptX HD

How do you improve on arguably the best all-round true wireless earbuds on the market? Sony has gone back to the drawing board and designed a brand new pair that look nothing like their predecessors – and the result is the WF-1000XM4. Is it a brave move? Definitely. Crazy? Quite possibly.

Sony’s WF-1000X range of wireless earbuds has been a dominant force in this category over the last few years, and the last pair to emerge from its stable, the WF-1000XM3, are two-time What Hi-Fi? Award-winners.

But instead of making the odd refinement here and there, Sony’s engineers have gone to town on the WF-1000XM4 with an all-new design, a new charging case and a new audio processor. They have even found time to develop a new eartip material, which here is appearing on a pair of Sony earbuds for the first time. What could possibly go wrong?

Luckily for Sony, very little does. In fact, the WF-1000XM4 are one of the most feature-packed, user-friendly and sonically gifted pair of wireless earbuds we’ve tested.

Pricing

Unsurprisingly, the Sonys sit at the premium end of the market, coming in at £250 ($280, AU$500). That places them right in the firing line of other five-star rivals such as the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 (£279, $299, AU$499), Bose QuietComfort Earbuds (£249, $280, AU$399) and, of course, the Apple AirPods Pro, which at the time of writing range in price between £199 ($199, AU$300) and £249 ($249, AU$329).

Build

(Image credit: Sony)

Your initial contact with the WF-1000XM4 is a surprising one. Sony has ditched the usual glossy box for recycled packaging made from a special blend of paper. This makes for a more compact box (34 per cent smaller than the WF-1000XM3’s), and one that’s plastic-free. That’s great news for the environment, though it doesn’t really give off the vibe that you’ve just bought a pair of premium noise-cancelling headphones.

Sony WF-1000XM4 tech specs

(Image credit: Sony)

Bluetooth version 5.2

Noise-cancelling Yes

Battery life 8 hours (BT + ANC), 24 hours (total)

Voice control Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa

Finishes x2

Weight 7.3g (x2)

Once you’ve liberated the WF-1000XM4 from their packaging, you’re greeted by a small, black charging case. It’s smaller than the case that comes with the Bose Quiet Comfort Earbuds, and positively tiny (40 per cent smaller) compared with the charging case that comes with their predecessors.

The case charges via USB-C and also introduces wireless charging to the WF-1000X range for the first time – all you need is a compatible Qi charging pad. You can even battery share with compatible smartphones and piggyback off their power supply, too.

You shouldn’t have to worry too much about the battery life. Sony’s new buds might come with a smaller case, but the XM4’s battery life is actually up compared with the XM3. You now get eight hours of play from the earbuds with noise-cancelling and Bluetooth turned on, and Sony claims the case can supply a further 16 hours of charge. That places their battery life from a single charge above all major rivals. The AirPods Pro can only manage five hours, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless seven hours and the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds six hours. Turn off noise-cancelling and the Sony’s life is extended to 12 hours from a single charge and 24 hours with the case. A five-minute quick charge is good for one hour of playtime, too.

You can see the life remaining in both the buds and the case through Sony’s Headphones Connect app, which will also give you a reminder when the case drops below 30 per cent charge.

As with all wireless earbuds, battery life can vary due to a number of different factors, such as the quality of files you’re listening to, how hard the internal processor is working, and the volume you’re listening at. During our testing, we found the battery life consistently good enough to get us through a day of mixed use.

Comfort

(Image credit: Sony)

Flip open the magnetic case and you’ll see the all-new earbud design of the WF-1000XM4. Based on a combination of customer feedback about the XM3 and research about the human ear, Sony has settled on a rounder body that sits more inside the ear opening.

The matte finish on each earbud gives the headphones a premium feel, while the small accents around the microphone and sensor holes add a tiny splash of colour. Speaking of colour, the XM4 come in a choice of black or silver.

If you want your XM4 to double as sports or running headphones you’ll be pleased to know they boast an IPX4 rating, making them resistant to “splashing from any angle” – a big improvement on the old model.

Besides the new-look earpieces, the XM4 also have brand new eartips. Made from polyurethane, which feels like a cross between silicone and foam, Sony claims they help secure a tighter, more stable fit. The thousands of tiny bubbles in the tips are also supposed to help reduce and dissipate noise.

The only downside here is that you only get a single set of small, medium and large-sized tips to choose from. Sony says you will get years of use out of one pair, and naturally extra tips should be available to purchase if you need them.

We don’t have any major problems sliding the earbuds in and twisting them into place. If you are struggling for a seal, you can pinch the tips and slide them into your ear canal, until they expand. We find they sit snugly in your ear opening, but they are comfortable over longer listening sessions.

To make sure you have the perfect fit, Sony has introduced a new air-tightness test, accessible through its Headphones Connect app. The app fires out a test tone and reports back on whether or not you need to make any adjustments. It’s worth trying out, especially if you feel the sound is lacking bass or there is outside noise leaking in.

In fact, we’d recommend installing the Headphones Connect app when you first connect the XM4. It gives you direct access to all the key features and functions of the earbuds so you can choose which ones to enable and disable. It also helps you get set up for listening to music in Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format from compatible streaming services such as Tidal and Deezer.

Features

(Image credit: Sony)

The circular outer surface of each earpiece is a touchpad and, by using the Headphones Connect app, you can customise the functionality of each one. They can control volume and playback or switch between noise-cancelling and ambient sound modes through the usual combination of taps, presses and long holds – and the headphones are quick to respond to these actions. Switching between sound modes, changing volume and activating and deactivating features such as Quick Attention (which drops the volume of what you’re listening to, so you can have a quick conversation without having to remove the earbuds from your ears) happen with minimal fuss.

The Sony WF-1000XM4 borrow the Speak-to-Chat function that debuted in the WH-1000XM4 wireless headphones. This feature allows you to talk to someone while the earbuds are still in place and is triggered when you start talking. It works well, although as is the case with the over-ears, it’s only triggered a second or so after you start talking.

This slight delay can be frustrating, as can the tendency for the feature to be triggered by a cough or an impromptu karaoke session while sat at your desk. You can reduce the sensitivity of the feature, or you can turn it off completely and either use Quick Attention or remove an earbud completely (which pauses playback automatically).

On the inside of the XM4 is plenty of new technology. The earbuds feature an improved DAC and analogue amplifier and are powered by a new Integrated Processor V1. Sony claims it provides a clearer sound and even better noise-cancelling than their predecessor. The new model also gets Sony’s DSEE Extreme audio processor with Edge-AI, which we have already experienced in the WH-1000XM4 over-ear headphones, and is designed to upscale low-bitrate music files to near hi-res quality.

The 6mm driver used inside the XM4 is similar in size to the one used in the previous model, but it’s made from a new material and features a bigger magnet, which Sony claims helps improve sound quality and noise-cancelling, especially with certain low frequencies.

There’s no aptX HD support onboard, but the XM4 support Sony’s LDAC file format, which, streamed over Bluetooth from a compatible source, allows hi-res audio files up to 24-bit/96kHz to be transmitted at data rates of up to 990kbps.

(Image credit: Sony)

Sony has also aimed to deliver clearer call quality with new features, including beam-forming and the use of a bone conduction sensor that stops the mics from picking up distracting ambient sounds while you’re talking. There’s even an automatic wind noise reduction mode which attempts to cut out swirls of noise passing through the headset and into your ears.

All of this works with Sony’s Precise Voice Pickup technology, originally introduced in the WH-1000XM4. The net effect is an impressive call quality for a pair of wireless earbuds. The technologies all combine to do a solid job of dampening down outside noise and interference, especially for the person on the other end of the line.

The general level of noise-cancelling is excellent, especially for a pair of wireless earbuds. Not everyone likes that ‘vacuum’ feeling you get when it’s turned on, but it’s extremely effective through the Sonys and you’ll struggle to find better noise cancellation at this level.

Android users will be pleased to hear the Sonys are compatible with Fast Pair so you can get up and running with minimal fuss. You receive a battery notification pop-up on your smartphone when they power up and you can even track their location down using the Google Find My Device app.

Unfortunately, iOS users don’t get any such pairing perks, but all you need to do to start pairing is open the case and take the headphones out. It’s a shame Sony hasn’t carried across the ‘Multipoint’ feature enabled on the WH-1000XM4 over-ears. This allows you to connect the headphones to two different Bluetooth devices simultaneously, which can come in handy if you’re working on a laptop but still want to be connected to your phone. Here’s hoping it can be added at a later date.

In terms of stability, we use an Apple iPhone 12 and Macbook for the bulk of our testing and find the connection to be rock solid with no dropouts, even in more built-up areas.

Sound

(Image credit: Sony)

Before we get to the WF-1000XM4’s immense musicality and expressive dynamics, we should note the way the headphones handle bass. The quality of bass and the clarity of low frequencies is stunning. There’s such a fantastic level of detail on display that it makes rival headphones, such as the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, sound congested in comparison.

We’re keen to hear how the earbuds handle one of our favourite bass-heavy test tracks, Massive Attack’s Angel – and we’re blown away by the confidence with which the song is dispatched. Every element of that pulsing bassline is precisely deployed and dripping in texture. It’s the clarity around the notes that really grabs you – it allows the WF-1000XM4 to communicate intricacies in the bass notes that other headphones struggle to uncover.

But it’s not a sound that purely favours low frequencies. There’s clarity across the board and a sense of rhythmic precision that allows the Sony’s to switch pace effortlessly. They sound as at home keeping up with, and succeeding in not being tripped up by, Radiohead’s 15 Step as they are dispatching the slow, deliberate swagger of Nina Simone’s Feeling Good.

Simone’s effortless vocal oozes class and sophistication, with every nuance in her delivery laid bare for the listener. Combine the emotion in her voice with the impact of the piano, percussion and wind section and the Sony’s create a captivating sound you can’t help but be swept away by.

If you were wondering whether the WF-1000XM4 would be a step up from the WF-1000XM3, we can confirm that they are. The newer model sounds more informative and uncovers more subtle detail. Bass notes are better defined and the overall sound is better balanced. Even the much-admired Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 struggle to match the Sonys for tonality and refinement.

You can hear that refinement and natural tone shine through as we listen to Ludovico Einaudi’s Experience. From the delicate, deliberate piano strokes at the start to the soaring strings at the song’s climax, the Sonys bring the individual personalities to life and mix them together like the ingredients of a fine cocktail.

Verdict

We’re quite taken by the Sony WF-1000XM4. Given all the design changes and new features in these wireless earbuds, it must have been a real challenge to get them right. But Sony has absolutely nailed it. The headphones deliver a satisfying user experience, class-leading battery life, some of the best noise-cancelling we’ve heard in this category, and absolutely stunning sound quality. Put simply, this is a new benchmark for premium true wireless earbuds.

SCORES

Sound 5
Comfort 5
Build 5

MORE:

Read our guide to the best in-ear headphones

Read our Bose QuietComfort Earbuds review

Read our Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 review

Read our Apple AirPods Pro review

Read our Sony WF-1000XM3 review

Realme’s Snapdragon 888 flagship is coming to Europe for €549

The Realme GT, Realme’s Snapdragon 888-equipped flagship phone, is coming to Europe and will sell for €549 (about $670) for a model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, according to the company’s website. The price makes it among the cheapest Snapdragon 888 devices available to date, if not the cheapest. Xiaomi’s excellent-value Mi 11 started at €749 (~$910) for an 8GB / 128GB model, for comparison.

Realme says the GT will ship to Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Portugal, though the device isn’t currently available to actually order. It’s not clear which other European markets it’ll be available in when it does launch.

Realme announced the Chinese version of the GT in March. It started at 2,799 yuan there for the 8GB / 128GB model, or about $440 at current exchange rates. Madhav Sheth, CEO of Realme’s Indian and European business, confirmed last week that the GT would get a global launch — a performance-focused flagship model in June and a camera-focused flagship model in July.

The GT series will be a part of realme’s new flagship focusing on high-performance and image, respectively. This will not only allow us to achieve technological breakthroughs but will also keep us ahead of the market.

— Madhav Max 5G (@MadhavSheth1) June 3, 2021

It’s not quite clear yet how those models will differ in Europe spec-wise, but the Chinese version of the GT had a 64-megapixel primary camera with an 8-megapixel ultrawide and a 2-megapixel macro sensor, so there’s certainly room for improvement on the camera flagship. Elsewhere, the GT has a 6.43-inch 120Hz OLED display, up to 12GB of RAM, and a 4,500mAh battery with 65W fast charging.

Realme started out as a sub-brand of Oppo focused on the Indian market but quickly turned into a major force in its own right and is now focusing on capturing Europe with more premium devices. The launch of the GT follows last year’s €499 X3 Superzoom, which had a Snapdragon 855+ and a periscope telephoto lens.

Raspberry Pi Detects Satellites With a GPS Module

(Image credit: Andrew Healey)

When you’ve worked with the Raspberry Pi, or just microelectronics in general, for long enough, you inevitably end up with a box of spare parts and sensors. Maker Andrew Healey decided to put his box of parts to good use with this satellite detection project.

The inspiration began after receiving a GPS receiver module as a gift. The end result is a custom dashboard that outputs data in real-time with a Windows 98 themed interface. Healey created this platform with modularity in mind so components can be easily added or removed over time.

The dashboard currently relies on three major accessories: a GT-U7 GPS receiver module, an AM2302 temperature/humidity sensor as well as a POS58 receipt printer. The best Raspberry Pi projects use a slick interface and this one uses CSS to resemble the default Windows 98 theme.

On the first 24-hour test run, the GPS module managed to detect 31 individual satellites! According to Healey, about 8 to 10 satellites are usually visible at a given time. The satellite data is output to a dedicated window on the dashboard. There is also a window used just for displaying the temperature and humidity information from the AM2302 module.

(Image credit: Andrew Healey)

The printer has a notably unique function—Healey uses it to print messages from his friend who also has a receipt printer and can receive replies.

This project is totally open source and available to anyone who has a box of components that need to be put to use. Check out the project page on Healey’s website for more details.

There’s no need to have a GPS. If you want do this a bit more easily, using cloud-based data check out our tutorial on how to track satellite fly-bys with Raspberry Pi.

Apple working on iPad Pro with wireless charging, due 2022

(Image credit: Apple)

Apple has only just announced an iPad Pro with a Mini LED screen, but already there is word of a successor. The next iPad Pro will have ‘MagSafe’ magnetic wireless charging – just like the iPhone 12 – according to Bloomberg. It apparently won’t launch until 2022, but a redesigned iPad Mini is due this year, the report says.

To accommodate wireless charging, the next iPad Pro will have a glass back, instead of the current aluminium one, sources say. This would likely pave the way for a whole new market of iPad accessories, like magnetic docks that hold the tablet suspended in air, and cases that ‘snap’ into place.

Apple could also give the device reverse wireless charging, which would let the tablet wirelessly charge other devices like iPhones and AirPods. All you would have to do is place the device on top of the iPad and the tablet would transfer some of its battery power.

There aren’t many details on what to expect from the new iPad Mini due later this year, though. All the report mentions is narrower screen borders and that the removal of the home button “has also been tested”. Could we see Face ID unlocking to replace it? Or a Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the power button, like the iPad Air? We’d take either!

Apple is also rumoured to be working on a slimmer version of the standard iPad, also due for release this year. Next year, it’s expected to bring OLED screens to some models of iPad, which you’d imagine would include the 2022 iPad Pro.

MORE:

All the details on the latest iPad Pro

These are the best iPads worth your money

Why not partner them with the best wireless headphones?

VAXEE ZYGEN NP-01S
Size:	120 mm x 62 mm x 36 mm
Size (inches):	4.72″ x 2.44″ x 1.42″
Ambidextrous:	No
Weight:	68 g
Number of Buttons:	5 (including wheel click)
Main Switches:	Huano (10M)
Wheel Encoder:	Optical
Sensor:	PixArt PMW3389
Resolution:	400/800/1600/3200 CPI
Polling Rate:	125/500/1000 Hz
Cable:	2.10 m, braided
Software:	No
Price:	$59.99
Warranty:	1 year

How To Build A Simple Raspberry Pi Pico Robot

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Building robots is an awesome way to learn electronics and programming. We have the excitement of making something move, along with learning life-long coding skills that will help us create many different projects. Robots are made using two disciplines. The first is the engineering of building a chassis and connecting electronic components together. The second discipline is the code that reads the inputs, which is interpreted by the brain and then controls the motors.

While there are many robotics projects out there for regular Raspberry Pi, the Raspberry Pi Pico is a good choice because of its low cost, low power requirements and instant-on capability (no OS required). Below, we’ll show you how to build a simple, Pico-powered robot that navigates through a room by touch and uses Kitronik’s Pico Motor Driver to interface between the Pico and its DC motors.

For this we are going to assume that you already know how to get your Raspberry Pi Pico up and running with MicroPython and that you know how to solder.

For This Project You Will Need

A Raspberry Pi Pico
Kitronik Motor Driver Board
Robot chassis
2 x DC TT motors with wheels
A caster wheel for the front
1 x 4 AA Battery pack
4 x AA Batteries
1 x Microswitch / push button
Soldering equipment

You can find the chassis, motor, battery pack and caster wheel together in an expensive package such as this one, which goes for around $13 on Amazon.

Building the Raspberry Pi Pico Robot

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Your build will differ, depending on the robot chassis that you use but at the most basic level we have to connect the motors to the terminals of the driver board, connect the bump sensor and supply power from the batteries.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

In our build we used a microswitch, commonly used in arcade joysticks and mice to give a clicky feedback, but you can use a simple pushbutton or an arcade button to achieve the same result.

Connecting the Components to Your Raspberry Pi Pico Robot

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

DC “TT” style motors (the kind in the yellow plastic housing) are common in the maker community. They work from around 5V to 9V and draw their power from the driver board.

1. Insert the Pico into the female headers on the Kitronik board.

2. Strip the ends of four wires, leaving 10mm of bare wires on each end. Twist the wires and then flow a little solder onto each end. This is called “tinning” and it ensures that no stray ends cause a short. If your TT motors already have wires attached to them, only strip the opposite ends of those wires and skip to step 3.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

3. Solder one end of each of the wires to the motors metal terminals.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

4. Insert the remaining ends into the Motor 1 and Motor 2 terminals on the Kitronik driver board. The wires from one motor will connect to a corresponding motor terminal. For example the left motor connects to the Motor 1 terminals, the right motor to Motor 2. You’ll notice that we added ferrules to our motor wires, this improves the strength and stability of the wires but it is entirely optional.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

5. Solder two wires to the microswitch / button. One wire should be soldered to COM (Common) and the other to NO (Normally Open). This means that when the switch is pressed, the normally open circuit is closed, connecting the 3V terminal on the driver board to GP0.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

6. Insert the COM wire into the 3V terminal of the driver board, then insert the remaining wire into the GP0 terminal on the boad. Secure the switch to the front of the robot so that the metal contact is clear of the chassis.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

7. Connect your battery pack to power terminals. Ensure that you observe the correct polarity. The red wire is positive (+) and the black wire is negative (-). For now do not insert the batteries.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

8. Secure the motor driver board and battery pack to the chassis.

Coding Your Raspberry Pi Pico Robot

Kitronik’s motor driver board has its own MicroPython library which abstracts the control of the motors and so we start by first installing that library. Please note that it is important that you do not have the power switch set to ON while the driver board is connected to your computer as this may damage the Pico or your computer.

1. Connect your Raspberry Pi Pico to your computer and open the Thonny application. Press STOP to ensure that the Pico is connected.

2. Copy the text of this motor driver library file.

3. Create a new file in Thonny and paste the text. Save the file as PicoMotorDriver.py to your Raspberry Pi Pico.

4. Create a new file for the project code.

5. Import two libraries. PicoMotorDriver and utime. PicoMotorDriver is the library that we just created and utime is used to pause and control the timings necessary for controlling the robot.

import PicoMotorDriver
import utime

6. Create two objects. The first, “board” is used to enable control of the motor driver board. The second, “forward_bumper” creates a connection between the driver board and the microswitch. We set this pin as an input, and ensure that the pin is pulled low (0V).

board = PicoMotorDriver.KitronikPicoMotor()
forward_bumper = machine.Pin(0, machine.Pin.IN, machine.Pin.PULL_DOWN)

7. Create a function called forward. This function has one argument and that is the speed at which we want the robot to move. Inside the function we have two lines of code. The first controls the motor connected to Motor 1. We specify the direction of travel as forwards “f”, and the speed variable is passed when the function is called.

The second line is almost identical, but with Motor 2 specified and the direction of travel set to reverse, as the motor will be seated on the opposite side of the robot. if the “f” and “r” values don’t work for you then swap them. But only change one set of values, for example the forward function, and test before moving on.

def forward(speed):
    board.motorOn(1, "r", speed)
    board.motorOn(2, "f", speed)

8. Create another function for reverse control.

def reverse(speed):
    board.motorOn(1, "f", speed)
    board.motorOn(2, "r", speed)

9. Create two more functions for moving the robot left and right. For this we need the motors to work in opposing directions so that the robot turns on the spot.

def left(speed):
    board.motorOn(1, "f", speed)
    board.motorOn(2, "f", speed)

def right(speed):
    board.motorOn(1, "r", speed)
    board.motorOn(2, "r", speed)

10. Create a final function to stop the robot.

def stop():
    board.motorOff(1)
    board.motorOff(2)

11. Add a five second delay to the code. This delay will give us the time to place the robot on the floor and move out of its way.

utime.sleep(5)

12. Create a while True loop to continuously run the code.

while True:

13. Inside the loop, add a conditional test. This test will check the GPIO pin used for the bumper microswitch. If the robot has bumped into an object, then the switch is closed, connecting the 3V terminal to GP0 and changing the value from 0 to 1.

 if forward_bumper.value() == 1:

14. Write code for what happens if the robot bumps into something. On bumping, it will first print a message to the Python shell. Then it will use the reverse function at 75% power for one second. We then stop, print another message to the shell before turning left at 75% power for one second. The robot then stops.

print("Reverse")
        reverse(75)
        utime.sleep(1)
        stop()
        print("Left")
        left(75)
        utime.sleep(1)
        stop()

15. Add an else condition for when the robot is just moving forward. This will print a message to the Python shell, then using the forward function, set the speed to 75% and set the code to wait five seconds, which will move the robot forwards for five seconds.

    else:
        print("Forward")
        forward(75)
        utime.sleep(5)

16. Save the code to your Raspberry Pi Pico as main.py, this will force the code to run when the Pico is powered on.

Complete Code Listing

import PicoMotorDriver
import utime

board = PicoMotorDriver.KitronikPicoMotor()
forward_bumper = machine.Pin(0, machine.Pin.IN, machine.Pin.PULL_DOWN)

def forward(speed):
    board.motorOn(1, "r", speed)
    board.motorOn(2, "f", speed)
    
def reverse(speed):
    board.motorOn(1, "f", speed)
    board.motorOn(2, "r", speed)
    
def left(speed):
    board.motorOn(1, "f", speed)
    board.motorOn(2, "f", speed)

def right(speed):
    board.motorOn(1, "r", speed)
    board.motorOn(2, "r", speed)   

def stop():
    board.motorOff(1)
    board.motorOff(2)

utime.sleep(5)
while True:
    if forward_bumper.value() == 1:
        print("Reverse")
        reverse(75)
        utime.sleep(1)
        stop()
        print("Left")
        left(75)
        utime.sleep(1)
        stop()
    else:
        print("Forward")
        forward(75)
        utime.sleep(5)

Place your robot on the floor and get ready to chase it around the room as it bumps and navigates your home using nothing more than a simple switch.

Design and display

Software and performance

Sports and fitness tracking

Battery life

Also consider

Apple Watch Series 3

Garmin Venu Sq

Polar Unite

Our Verdict

For

Against

Cooler Master MM720 Specs

Design and Comfort

Gaming Performance

Features and Software

Bottom Line

Our Verdict

For

Against

Pricing

Build

Comfort

Features

Sound

Verdict

Introduction

Specifications

Design

Display

Software and Fitness tracking

Performance and battery

Price

Conclusion

For This Project You Will Need

Building the Raspberry Pi Pico Robot

Connecting the Components to Your Raspberry Pi Pico Robot

Coding Your Raspberry Pi Pico Robot

Complete Code Listing