Apple has announced that AirPods will be getting some quality-of-life improvements with iOS 15, including the ability to boost the sound of people talking to you, better Find My support, and the ability to announce a wider range of notifications.
Apple says the “Conversation Boost” feature will help people who have difficulties hearing other people’s voices when they’re talking. It will try to isolate the voice of the person in front of you, with sliders that let the user control how much ambient noise is let in.
AirPods can already announce messages and texts, but now they’re getting the ability to read out other important notifications, like when a food delivery is made.
The easy-to-lose headphones are also getting more Find My abilities, including an AirTag-like proximity view that tells you how far away your buds are. Using the same tech, your phone will also be able to alert you if you’re about to leave your AirPods behind.
AirPods will, of course, support the spatial audio in FaceTime feature announced earlier in the show, as well as spatial audio on Macs and Apple TVs.
Developing… we’re adding more to this post, but you can follow along with our WWDC 2021 live blog to get the news even faster.
Weeks after introducing its most powerful iPad Pro devices ever, Apple is today announcing the latest version of iPadOS — and there’s a clear focus on making Apple’s tablets more capable productivity machines. At least if you find yourself using split-screen mode a lot, that is. Otherwise, there aren’t any radical changes for the platform.
As rumored, iPadOS 15 will make the homescreen more customizable and allow for more flexible placement of widgets. You can now stick them anywhere you’d like, a capability that came to iOS 14 last year. But iPadOS 14 didn’t offer the same functionality, and widgets could only be placed in the Today View sidebar despite the tablet’s vast screen real estate.
Apple is also bringing the App Library to iPadOS. Much like on the iPhone, it will let you maintain a less-cluttered homescreen by filing away the apps you rarely use to an automatically organized section of folders. On iPads, the App Library is located in the dock.
Multitasking is also getting some much-needed refinement. New icons will make it simpler to go into split-view mode, and Apple also mentioned a “shelf” feature that makes it easier to jumble different tasks. It’s a significant change to how multitasking currently works on iPadOS, and it seems like a major improvement.
Multitasking is getting more intuitive in iPadOS 15.Image: Apple
QuickNote is a new convenience that will let you attach notes to webpages and other areas of iPadOS, making them easier to get back to.
Finally, the standalone Translate app is also now coming to iPadOS.
New tricks shared with iOS 15 on the iPhone
iPadOS 15 will also share many of the new features and experiences that are coming to iOS 15. FaceTime calls will now support spatial audio for more lifelike, natural sound. A voice isolation feature will let your voice cut through background noise, and a “wide spectrum” option will pick up more sound than before. Portrait mode is also coming to FaceTime, resulting in a blurred background that keeps the focus on your face.
Apple is introducing a new SharePlay feature for FaceTime that allows people to share media — music, movies, etc. — together on a group call. SharePlay will leverage iOS features like picture-in-picture, iMessage, and more for a seamless experience across multiple devices at the same time.
The new iPad software update includes new tools meant to help you focus, like revamped notifications that are easier to identify and a “notification summary” section that recaps your less-than-essential notifications. You can also customize which notifications you’ll see at different points of the day, allowing you to separate work and personal alerts. Focus preferences are synced across Apple devices.
Memories in the Photos app can now synced up with music tracks with automatic filters and effects applied based on the vibe of the song, and Spotlight search is also getting some deeper search capabilities. Live Text is a feature that uses on-device intelligence to let you select text from photos you’ve taken and those in your camera roll. It supports seven languages.
Apple punts for another year on “pro” requests
The M1-powered iPad Pros are on equal footing with Apple’s latest iMac, MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini in terms of sheer performance. Their release has only fueled calls for Apple to evolve iPadOS into a platform that can properly take advantage of all that power for those trying to use the devices as laptop replacements. Using an iPad is a fantastic experience that can regularly turn frustrating when you run into its software limitations.
On the pre-WWDC wishlist of some users were things like multi-user support, a more advanced Files app, better support for external displays, and pro-caliber apps like Final Cut and Logic making their way to the iPad. Apple didn’t address many of those wants in today’s keynote. The most “pro” capability announced was the ability to create and ship apps using Swift Playgrounds. So we’ll have to see what other improvements and surprises iPadOS 15 may hold as it enters beta in the coming weeks.
Developing… we’re adding more to this post, but you can follow along with our WWDC 2021 live blog to get the news even faster.
Being able to sample audio from other users’ videos is one of TikTok’s greatest strengths. It allows memes to percolate across the platform and lets users discover new content by watching videos with the same sound. Soon, YouTube will expand this feature in its TikTok competitor, Shorts, letting users sample sounds from any content uploaded to YouTube.
YouTube officially announced this feature last month in a community support post, but tells The Verge it should now be available for the first time in new markets as part of the launch of Shorts in the UK, Canada, and a number of Latin American countries (including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela). The YouTube-sampling tool will then roll out to other Shorts markets including the US in the coming weeks.
Shorts users can already sample sounds from other Shorts videos (as well as from a library of licensed music). But this update will greatly expand the audio they have easy access to. The feature will funnel YouTube users into its Shorts feature via a new “Create” button in the mobile app. This will appear underneath videos next to the like and dislike buttons. Clicking it will give users the option to sample the video’s audio in Shorts. Shorts viewers will also be able to tap the audio in any video to head back to the original source in YouTube proper.
Shorts videos sampling audio from YouTube will link back to the original source. Image: YouTube
This feature will allow longform creators “to benefit by allowing the community to find something interesting in their video,” YouTube’s product lead for Shorts, Todd Sherman, tells The Verge. Shorts users can create something with the sample audio, he says, and the creators of the audio will “get perhaps inbound traffic or exposure from that. From the longform creator perspective I think a lot of folks are excited to have their things remixed.”
Not all creators are happy about this, though. After YouTubers noticed a new check-box in the settings for their video uploads that gives Shorts users access to their audio, many complained that this would let people “steal” their content. Search for “YouTube Shorts permissions” on YouTube itself and you’ll find plenty of videos worrying about exactly this scenario, with thumbnails posing questions like: “YouTube legalized video stealing?”.
The permissions box seems to have been introduced before Shorts users were actually able to sample audio from YouTube videos. Right now it has to be unticked manually for each video, but Sherman tells The Verge the company is working on a bulk opt-out option.
IMPORTANT: YouTube suddenly automatically checked “Yes” on EVERY YouTube video to allow them to be re-uploaded as Shorts on OTHER channels ???
Please let your YouTuber friends know that they have to go through and uncheck this setting on every video or risk stolen content… pic.twitter.com/b4rjiwmE2c
— Mysticat #Mysty200k (@MysticatLive) April 30, 2021
A YouTube-sampling feature could create other problems, too. A huge array of content has been uploaded to YouTube over the years, much of it sensitive or personal in nature. The uploaders of this content won’t necessarily want their videos to be sampled as this could enable harassment or abuse. Despite this, the sampling feature will be opt-out rather than opt-in. That means all YouTube videos will be sampleable by default, and creators will have to specify which videos they don’t want to be used in Shorts.
Sherman says YouTube is aware of these potential problems, but that the company’s discussions with creators has indicated more excitement. “There is some concern about examples of videos that you might think are personal or sensitive and that’s why creators have asked for the ability to opt out. But they also seem to recognize that it sort of doesn’t work if it’s very selectively an opt-in,” he says.
YouTube originally launched Shorts last September in India before bringing the feature to the US in March. Last month, the company announced plans to pay $100 million to creators to use the app, though exactly how much individual creators can earn isn’t clear.
Great hardware with lots of power in a tiny package. The price may put some off but if you need Wi-Fi and the RP2040 then this is the board for you, but for how long?
For
+ Small form factor
+ Lots of analog inputs
+ Built-in Wi-Fi and BLE
+ Built-in microphone, IMU
Against
– Pin numbers hidden away
– High Cost
– No USB-C
– Software is buggy
When you think of an Arduino, the first board in your head has to be the classic Arduino Uno, with its Atmel microcontroller. You wouldn’t think of an Arduino powered by ‘Pi Silicon’ but the last of the initial wave of RP2040 partner boards is the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect and this is the board we have been waiting for. You see the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect is the only partner board to come with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Neatly integrated into the familiar Nano layout is a Nina W102 uBlox Wi-Fi module which provides 2.4 GHz WI-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy, an IMU capable of detecting movement and gestures and a microphone which can be used to measure audio levels and more importantly used in machine learning projects.
Should the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect be the heart of your next project? Well that depends on your needs and budget. If you are happy to blink LEDs and make things move, then a $4 Raspberry Pi Pico is more for you. But if you want to build Internet of Things (IoT) devices with a web interface then Arduino’s latest board may just be what you are looking for. But we don’t truly understand how a board works, and more importantly how it is supported until we use it, and use it we shall!
8× Programmable I/O (PIO) state machines for custom peripheral support.
1x User LED (GPIO 13)
RGB LED, accessible only via the Nina W102 module.
Castellated module allows soldering directly to carrier boards.
Extra Features
Nina W102 uBlox Wi-Fi module
ST LSM6DSOXTR 6-axis IMU
ST MP34DT06JTR MEMS Microphone
ATECC608A-MAHDA-T Cryptographic Coprocessor
Dimensions
1.77 x 0.7 inches (45 x 18mm)
Design and Use of the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The design of the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect is quite clearly based on Arduino’s Nano range of boards such as the Nano 33 IoT and Nano Every. The Nano range of boards share the same pin out, enabling the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect to be a drop-in replacement for other Nano boards. The bare board has the castellated edges that have become the norm for an RP2040 board and the underside of the board is unpopulated, enabling it to be surface soldered into a project. Of the 22 GPIO pins we have 20 pins which can be used for PWM and of those we have 8 analog inputs, the most of any RP2040 board as the Pico comes with three and most third-party RP2040 boards have four. If you are looking for the I2C pins they are hidden away on pins A4 and A5 and the onboard IMU is accessible on the I2C bus.
The eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted a micro USB connector, something common on many newer Arduino boards. We would’ve liked to have seen a USB-C connector, because it offers a foolproof connection and the mechanical connector is stronger than micro USB. As this is the most expensive RP2040 board, we think that Arduino could’ve included this without impacting the overall cost.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The big feature of the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect is Wi-Fi and the Nina W102 chip provides us with 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2. The antenna is located opposite the micro USB port. The Nina W102 chip is itself a powerful microcontroller with 520KB SRAM and a 240MHz 32bit Dual Core Xtensa LX6 CPU, but in this board it is relegated to handling communications.
As this is an Arduino, our natural inclination is to use the Arduino IDE, and with a recent update bringing official support for the RP2040 to the IDE, we can easily create projects. We tested the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect with the Arduino 1.8.15 and 2.0 beta 7 IDE and after installing the board via the board manager we were able to flash the example blink sketch to prove that we had connectivity. To access Wi-Fi we needed to install the WiFiNINA library and then create a secrets file to contain our Wi-Fi login details. We ran the Simple Web Server WiFi example and it flashed with no issue, but we later learned that we needed to change the default GPIO pin used in the example from 9 to “LED_BUILTIN” in order to control via a web interface.
The connection details should appear in the serial monitor, but no matter what we did, we could not connect to the serial monitor and all we saw was an error informing us that the port was busy. This is not unique to the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect; we have seen this behavior with other RP2040 boards and the Arduino IDE. Our only solution was to close the Arduino IDE and use another application to open a serial terminal. The same issue affected our test of the IMU, so we opened the serial terminal, reset the board and saw raw accelerometer data scroll across the screen. We later discovered that the issue lay with our operating system, Ubuntu 18.04, we had to uninstall modemmanager in order to see the serial data on the port. This issue has not impacted any of our other official and clone boards.
We also tested the onboard microphone, the same model as used in the Nano 33 IoT. We followed the official documentation to flash the test sketch to the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect, then opened the Serial Plotter hoping to see a visualization of sound. Alas all we saw was a constant flatline value of -128. We were unable to locate any guidance on how to fix this issue.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
We had other issues when using the Arduino’s IoT Cloud, a service that we have used before with MKR WIFI 1010 and Nano 33 IoT boards. our Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect was detected, but could not be configured. We followed the official documentation, which at the time of writing looks to be incomplete, and still drew a blank. This is a real shame, as the IoT Cloud is Arduino’s new service to enable IoT “Things” (projects) to be created and monitored via a web interface. It is most likely teething troubles for now, and something that will be fixed in the future. For now the smart maker will stick with the desktop IDEs.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
You are probably thinking that this is an RP2040, so I can run other programming languages? Correct! We can use CircuitPython and MicroPython with the Arduino Nano RP2040, the caveat is that you will need to source your own libraries for the onboard microphone, IMU and WiFi. A quirk exists between the pin numbering and the actual GPIO number. The Arduino pin number, used in the Arduino IDE for a pin is say D2, but the RP2040 pin is GPIO25. Another example is the built in LED is D13, but in our MicroPython tests it was GPIO 6.
We tested the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect with CircuitPython and it was a much more pleasant experience and thanks to the plethora of libraries, especially the ESP32SPI library we quickly had the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect online and receiving data from a remote API. We also tested with MicroPython and it behaved in much the same manner as a Raspberry Pi Pico, but we had no drivers to use the onboard Wi-Fi.
This is where we noticed a quirk that prevented us from setting the board ready to accept new firmware. Typically we would reset the board and press BOOTSEL. For the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect we would double press the reset button, but this did not work. After reaching out for help on Twitter we were told that we could connect the REC and GND pins together to force the board into the mode.
Use Cases for the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect
The most obvious use case is an IoT appliance and this is made quite straightforward via the Arduino IoT Cloud. With the IoT Cloud we can quickly create GUI applications to read data from a remote device. For example we can create a weather station using the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect and have live data streamed to the cloud which can be accessed from any web connected device.
The same Arduino IoT Cloud user interface can be used to remotely control the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect, for example a web controlled robot wouldn’t be much more difficult to build than a non web enabled robot.
If you are not an Arduino IoT Cloud user, you can still make the most of this board using the traditional IDE. There are libraries available for HTTP, MQTT and Bluetooth which have existed for some time and can be ported to run on the RP2040. With these libraries we can build web controlled robots, wireless weather stations etc.
Bottom Line
It comes down to the price. If you need Wi-Fi and the RP2040 then the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect is a solid piece of hardware but it is more expensive than any other RP2040 solution we’ve tested, including buying a Raspberry Pi Pico and a Pimoroni Pico Wireless. The extra cost gives us access to GPIO pins, which are sadly blocked with the Pico Wireless. If you need the smallest package possible for an embedded IoT project, then this could be the board, but right now the documentation is not up to Arduino’s usual standards despite this being the last board in the first wave of RP2040 powered devices.
The additional analog inputs mean that the Arduino Nano RP2040 Connect has the most of any RP2040 device, useful for connecting many different components. The smart money for those wanting to connect their RP2040 project to the world is with this board, but for how long? Seeed’s own RP2040 board comes with Wi-Fi and it is expected to retail for half the price of the Arduino.
The Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed hits the sweet spot between functionality and size, clearing up desk space while offering a premium design and functionality. But it’s pricey compared to some fantastic 65% keyboards, and its keycaps can get uncomfortable during heated gaming.
For
+ Efficient form factor
+ Dongle, Bluetooth or cable connection
+ Highly customizable
Against
– ABS keycaps can feel clammy
– Larger keys are a little loud
– Expensive
For some, a clear space makes for a clear mind. And if you’re gaming, more space also means extra room for your mouse and focusing solely on the inputs needed to level up. The best wireless keyboards already decrease clutter by cutting the cord, but a wireless gaming keyboard in a smaller form factor can be a true game-changer for players seeking an efficient, yet productive, form factor.
The Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed fits the bill well. It’s Razer’s first 65% keyboard, which is a good sweet spot for those who want a small keyboard but can’t let go of navigation keys. With arrow keys, the BlackWidow V3 Mini is a more likely mate for both productivity and work than 60% keyboards. a more likely match for those who want a keyboard for both gaming and work. And Razer makes connectivity, even across several PCs, simple by offering the option to use a dongle, Bluetooth with up to 3 devices or a USB-C to USB-A cable. A $180 MSRP means you’re paying a Razer tax though, and the keyboard, especially its keycaps, aren’t perfect compared to the best gaming keyboards it’s up against.
Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed Specs
Switches
Razer Yellow (tested) or Razer Green
Lighting
Per-key RGB and logo
Onboard Storage
4 profiles
Media Keys
With Fn
Connectivity
USb Type-A dongle, Bluetooth or USB Type-A cable
Cables
USB-C to USB-A
Additional Ports
None
Keycaps
Doubleshot ABS plastic
Software
Razer Synapse
Dimensions (LxWxH)
12.6 x 5.1 x 1.6 inches
Weight
1.8 pounds
Design of the Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed
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If you haven’t tried a 65% layout before, it’s worth a shot because you may just find your sweet spot. 65% keyboards chop off a lot of keys but keep the precious arrow keys and even some that typically live above them. Razer told me it wants the BlackWidow V3 Mini to be a “more inclusive option” than the 60% Razer Huntsman Mini, one that saves space but still is efficient in applications like Excel and PowerPoint. No more keyboard switching is the idea, but if you do heavy number input into Excel, you’ll probably still miss the numpad.
The BlackWidow V3 Mini has Delete, Page Up, Page Down and Insert keys, which all also double as macro keys when you’re holding Fn. That’s a little more than some other 65% keyboards, such as the wired Ducky Mecha SF Radiant, which leaves out Insert in favor of a Ducky logo and doesn’t double up those keys as macros. Already we see the more gaming-friendly side of Razer’s 65% option.
However, I rarely use those four keys and would personally prefer a Print Screen option if anything. Of course, I could reprogram this via software and even switch out a keycap if I was that serious. But since I don’t care for that quartet of additional buttons over a 60% keyboard, something like the Cooler Master SK622, which doesn’t have dedicated keys for any of those functions except for Delete, would be even more efficient for me. That keyboard also saves a little bit of space, measuring 11.5 x 4.1 x 1.6 inches, while weighing only 1 pound. The Razer (12.6 x 5.1 x 1.6 inches, 1.8 pounds) is still on par with Ducky’s Mecha SF Radiant (12.8 x 4.1 x 1.6 inches, 1.9 pounds) though.
The V3 Mini doesn’t have a function row but gets a lot done with its Fn key. Just as with the Huntsman Mini, out of the box pressing Fn will disable any lighting you have on and provide white lighting to the keys with a secondary function. In addition to the number row handling F1-F12, there are also side-printed functions for macro recording, adjusting RGB brightness, media controls and the missing navigation keys.
Still, some tasks were more tedious on the 65% board. For example, to take a screenshot of a specific window, instead of pressing Windows + Alt + Print Screen, I had to hit Windows + Alt + Fn + Print Screen, while locating the key that has Print Screen as a secondary function. The side-printing is easy to read from typical seated positions. But unlike the main legends on the keys, these aren’t doubleshot, so could fade with time.
The BlackWidow V3 Mini has flip-out feet for 6 or 9-degree elevation, but I preferred keeping it flat, as my wrists already sloped down, due to the lack of included palm rest. If I were to use this as my forever keyboard, I’d need to find some sort of compact wrist rest, which is a mild annoyance, considering the keyboard’s price.
Besides that, the BlackWidow V3 Mini takes many characteristics from the BlackWidow line, which includes the full-sized BlackWidow V3, wireless BlackWidow V3 Pro and BlackWidow V3 Tenkeyless.That includes a plastic base that’s shiny around the lip, allowing the snake trio that is the Razer logo to peek through with customizable RGB.
The plastic base is subtly textured and surprisingly durable in that it doesn’t seem like it’ll scratch or nick easily. “For Gamers by Gamers” written in a designer bag like pattern on the underside makes you feel special. An aluminum top plate sits atop that for more heft and more fingerprints. But because there’s such little wasted space on the BlackWidow V3 Mini, that issue is mostly limited to the keyboard’s bottom slope.
Razer went with doubleshot ABS plastic keycaps that are a good and cheaper substitute for doubleshot PBT. The ABS plastic here is still visibly textured, especially in bright lighting, is good at fighting smudges and allows RGB to shine through perfectly. Although they’re still slippier than doubleshot PBT, it could fool the less-aware gamer.
The BlackWidow V3 Mini uses the same font as other BlackWidow keyboards with a lower-case font that can feel slightly kiddish, especially if you opt for rainbow RGB, and in the truncated right Shift key. Speaking of, the right Shift’s size will be a problem for some, but I’m a righty and touch typist who never uses the right shift key, so besides it looking a little funky, I’m okay with the sacrifice.
Typing Experience on Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Razer offers the BlackWidow V3 Mini with either clicky Razer Green switches, (which we tested in our BlackWidow V3 Pro review), or linear Razer Yellow switches with added sound dampeners, which we’re testing here. Razer specs its Yellow switches with 3.5mm total travel, actuating at 1.2mm with 45g of force versus Cherry MX Red’s 4mm/2mm/45g.
I don’t have another keyboard with Razer Yellows on hand to directly compare the dampeners’ effectiveness, but compared to the sound displayed in our Razer Yellow hands-on a few years ago, my test keyboard sounded quieter and less high-pitched and annoying. For the most part, I enjoyed the soft clacking of the BlackWidow V3 Mini during testing. Most of the keys’ noises are an inoffensive volume, and even if your mic picks it up, your teammates won’t be nearly as distracted then if you were using a clicky mechanical switch.
But while the spacebar still manages to sound soft despite an extra plastic-y note, the Backspace, Enter and right Shift, which also show some wobble, make too much of a plastic racket that stands out compared to the other keys. I also noticed a small amount of unwanted pinging, but this was only occasional.
I don’t typically like using linear switches for typing, but getting work done on the BlackWidow V3 Mini was easier than expected. I still missed my tactile bumps and clicks, but the keyboard’s layout is logical and the keys properly spaced, so there were no other distractions. The keycaps are also more comfortable than many other ABS ones, and the keys never felt mushy.
On the 10FastFingers.com typing test, I averaged 122.7 words per minute (wpm) and 95.2% accuracy. That’s faster than my typical 118 average, but my accuracy dropped 2.8 percentage points. The speed may be due to the faster travel and lack of a tactile bump to get through, but I believe that bump would’ve helped my accuracy.
Wireless Experience on Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Razer recommends using the BlackWidow V3 Mini’s 2.4 GHz USB-A dongle for gaming and even remembered to provide a spot for dongle storage on the keyboard’s underside; (although, the plastic covering could be more durable). Even better, I never lost my connection during testing, even when gaming with my best wireless mouse and a pair of Bluetooth headphones. The only time I noticed obvious lag was when the battery was under 2%. At this point, RGB started changing effects unprovoked and the keyboard would occasionally repeat inputs for some reason, so I wouldn’t use it much at that battery level anyway.
If you prefer to save a USB port, you can connect via Bluetooth by sliding the toggle on the front edge over to the “BT” side. The keyboard can connect to up to three devices via Bluetooth and toggle through them by hitting Fn + 1-3.
Gaming Experience on Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Many prefer the smooth travel of linear switches like Razer Yellows. Packed inside of the BlackWidow V3 Mini, these switches felt fast and responsive, not only keeping up with my inputs but feeling potentially faster than gaming with heavier switches like Razer Greens (4mm total travel, 1.9mm actuation, 50g of force).
Movements felt easy. With just a light touch I could walk my character long distances without growing weary or feeling like the key was too unstable if I didn’t bottom out. I often find keyboards with Cherry MX Reds exhausting in that regard because I can feel like I’m floating when depressing halfway for an extended period. That wasn’t the case with this keyboard, making my adjustment to linear switches over my preferred tactile and clicky switches easier than expected. Well-spaced keys also made strategic inputs easy, so I didn’t end up murked because I was hitting the wrong button.
But after even just 15 minutes of gaming, the keyboard would get noticeably clammy. Now, this was before things even got heated on the battlefield. When I grazed my finger down the W key, for example, while exploring my virtual world, I’d encounter an unpleasant feeling. You may mistake the BlackWidow V3 Mini’s doubleshot ABS keycaps as PBT at quick examination, but once you get gaming, the truth will be apparent. After serious gaming for an hour, the clacker got seriously clammy and, dare I say, sticky-like.
But there are some gaming advantages here. The obvious one is the keyboard’s small form factor, which afforded me more space to not only move my mouse but to get comfortable by positioning my keyboard in different angles.
If you’re concerned about sound, Razer used sound dampeners with this keyboard to make its linear switches even quieter. I don’t have other Razer Yellows on hand, but I do enjoy the sound.
Battery Life of Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
When I used Razer’s keyboard with its dongle connection and rainbow Wave RGB effect at max brightness for about 26 hours and 17 minutes, and Synapse’s battery meter read 3%. This was with the keyboard set to dim lighting after 1 minute of activity and to turn off after 15 minutes of activity (the shortest amount of times available). Once the battery level dropped to about under 2%, the lighting would automatically turn off unless I was actively typing, and would change effects without me asking. There was also input delay and repeated inputs, key bindings stopped working and Synapse wouldn’t recognize the keyboard, so I wouldn’t want to use the keyboard at under 3% battery.
Razer claims the BlackWidow V3 Mini can last for up to 200 hours without any RGB whether using the dongle or Bluetooth connection. With the keyboard’s Spectrum Cycling RGB effect at max brightness, Razer’s battery life estimate drops to 17 hours. If you keep brightness at 30% max, the expectation is 48 hours.
Razer told me the keyboard can charge to 100% after 4 hours and 50% after 30 minutes. However, your experience may vary, as I let my test unit’s battery run out, charged it for 30 minutes with the included cable and a 5V/2A power brick and only had 11% battery after. After 4 hours of charging though, the battery meter on the mouse’s software read 100%.
Features and Software of Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed
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Synapse continues to be the tool of choice for Razer’s RGB and feature-clad lineup, offering control over everything from per-key and logo RGB to almost every key’s function. My favorite part, however, is the battery life reading, stated in a clear, specific percentage.
The Customize section lets you set almost every key’s (not Windows or Fn) function, including different keyboard and mouse actions, RGB control and the ability to switch another Razer product’s profile. With Razer’s HyperShift feature, Fn doesn’t only activate certain key’s side-printed secondary functions, it can also activate secondary functions, assigned via Synapse, among most other keys. Indeed, one of Razer’s advantages is the volume of customization options — so long as you don’t mind running Synapse in the background.
If you do, the BlackWidow V3 Mini makes a decent effort of offering some features app-free. For one, you can toggle through some RGB presets by pressing Fn + Ctrl + 1-7. And in addition to being able to store an infinite number of profiles in the software, (thanks to the cloud), there are 4 onboard memory profiles. But how to toggle through those profiles isn’t obvious. In my few weeks with the keyboard, I couldn’t figure it out on my own. I had to ask Razer, which taught me to fold Fn + C. And, indeed, when you hold down Fn, the C key lights up to let you know it has a secondary function. But there’s no side-printing on the C key to remind you that it can perform profile toggling. Additionally, RGB settings don’t carry over. And some advanced functions, like inter-device control and launching apps or websites, still require Synapse to be open.
You can also do macro recording on the fly, but it requires Synapse to be running in the background. But remember, four keys are ready to serve as macro keys alongside Fn, so it’s worth considering. If you plan on using dedicated macros often though, a full-size keyboard may be a better fit, especially something with macro keys like the Corsair K95 RGB Platinum XT.
Synapse’s Lighting section offers access to RGB controls, like brightness from 0-100% and the ability to toggle 11 preset effects, including your typical rainbow wave and Fire, which plays around with the red and orange color scheme flickering across keys. For customized effects, you’ll need the Chroma plug-in, which offers expansive layers of customization options, including over the snake logo.
Power is a simple, but important, menu. There’s a battery meter here, plus the option to make RGB dim automatically or have the keyboard turn off after a certain amount of inactivity (to conserve battery).
Bottom Line
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed is Razer’s first 65% keyboard, but adopts the brand’s tradition of high-priced, high-functionality peripherals gamers would be proud to carry. This keyboard is an exciting addition, particularly because of its efficient layout. If you don’t need a numpad, this is about as good as it gets without making basic navigation burdensome.
You can go slightly trimmer, though. The Cooler Master SK622 offers an interesting counter offer in what is essentially a 60% keyboard with arrows. Wireless connectivity is Bluetooth only though, and many will prefer the reliability of the BlackWidow V3 Mini’s dongle and the option to toggle through up to 3 more PC connections via Bluetooth.
We rank the 75% Keychron K2 as the best wireless keyboard for productivity, and the 65% version, the Keychron K6, is much cheaper than the BlackWidow V3 Mini at under $105 with RGB or without.
And if you can stomach a cable, the Ducky Mecha SF Radiant offers a striking design, a broad range of Cherry switches and doubleshot PBT keycaps, an upgrade over what the BlackWidow V3 Mini offers, for $159.
But with this level of customization, from key bindings to RGB to multi-PC connectivity, there’s very few if any in the 65% category that can compete with the BlackWidow V3 Mini’s gaming-ready featureset.
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The new Alienware M15 R5 Ryzen Edition is a slight undoing of progress, depending on how you look at it. As many gaming laptops are going thinner, this one is heavier and thicker than previous generations. Its design has been tweaked slightly in ways both good and bad, and it has fewer ports than before, too.
Despite all of that, it’s a cause for a small celebration because of the Ryzen processor it uses, marking AMD’s return to Alienware products after a 14-year gap when the brand exclusively used Intel CPUs. And it’s a welcome return, even if this laptop won’t appeal to everyone. AMD’s high-end mobile processors have been a boon to gaming laptops for the last couple of years, bringing long battery life and fast performance that sometimes outpaces and undercuts laptops that have competing Intel processors.
The Ryzen 7 5800H processor brings that magic to the M15 R5 Ryzen Edition, and gaming performance with its RTX 3060 doesn’t struggle to get above 60 FPS in graphically-demanding games — all thanks to being a high-wattage component. This R5 that I tested has 16GB of RAM and a 512GB NVMe SSD for a total cost of about $1,616 currently, which isn’t cheap despite being close to the most affordable version that Alienware makes. If money isn’t an issue, it can be upgraded to the more powerful Ryzen 9 5900HX with Nvidia’s RTX 3070 and more storage and RAM for $2,379.
The high price is something that I couldn’t ignore while reviewing this laptop, especially since Dell (Alienware’s parent company) makes a $1,225 G15 Ryzen Edition that has similar GPU specs that should come close to what this pricier M15 R5 can do. And, if you can settle for a slightly lesser processor, there’s a $900 model in the works that has the RTX 3060, but it isn’t available yet.
The value doesn’t fare well outside of Dell’s world either. Asus is currently the go-to brand for excellent AMD-based gaming laptops that are easier to recommend for people who want something more portable and feature-packed, without sacrificing battery life. Compared to a similar M15 R5 configuration, the ROG Zephyrus G15 offers a QHD display, more storage, a better processor and a powerful RTX 3070 (albeit a lower-powered GPU than you’ll find in the M15 R5) for a few hundred dollars less. The new Strix G15 Advantage Edition looks more garish next to Alienware’s laptop, but it also has fast gaming performance and high-end features for a lower price. Neither of these models feature a webcam, but that might be something you can live without.
The M15 R5 is 19.25mm (0.75 inches) thick for most of the machine (thinner at the front, but slightly thicker in the back) and it weighs 5.34 pounds. Some configurations weigh more, going up to 5.93 pounds. Its heft is jarring if you’ve picked up an ultrabook recently, but it’s an asset in helping its high-wattage RTX 3060 graphics chip (125W maximum graphics power, 1,702MHz boost clock) to perform similarly to a low-wattage RTX 3070. Compared to thinner laptops that have a low-powered 3070, like Asus’ TUF Dash 15, Alienware’s laptop makes up for the difference in CUDA cores with sheer power. It will likely be a solid performer well into the future — perhaps longer than some lower-powered 3070s — despite having a technically lesser component. It’ll just be more of a chore to lug around.
The M15 R5 Ryzen Edition fared well while running some demanding games at their highest settings. Red Dead Redemption 2 managed to reach 63 frames per second. Shadow of the Tomb Raider ran at about 80 frames per second with its ray tracing shadows feature and DLSS switched on. Horizon Zero Dawn ran at an average of 68 frames per second. None of them came close to fully taking advantage of the default 1080p display’s 165Hz refresh rate, but most people likely have older games in their library that should be able to display at very fast frame rates on this laptop.
It didn’t take long for this laptop to make a good impression with gaming performance. It took even less time to learn that it gets warm to the touch even while idling with no apps, and that when games (especially graphically-demanding ones) are running, it can get very loud. A fast and quiet gaming laptop is an oxymoron, and the M15 R5 is really just one of many offenders. But I didn’t notice signs of thermal throttling after long periods of gaming, nor did I encounter unexplainable slow-down. You just might want to wear some headphones while gaming. The speakers shoot sound out of the sides of the laptop. It’s serviceable for YouTube videos or video calls, but it doesn’t deliver enough depth or bass for entertainment purposes.
This Ryzen-based gaming laptop can handle any sort of casual browser-based workflow with ease. It shouldn’t have surprised me that the M15 R5 has great battery life, since AMD’s processors have proven to bring efficiency to other gaming laptops, but it still did. This one’s 86Wh battery lasted for about seven hours of mixed use, through sustained use of Microsoft Edge with 10 or so tabs, Spotify, Slack, and some video calls. That’s great for an Alienware laptop. The M15 R3 that I reviewed last year clocked in at just one hour. Though, other AMD-based gaming laptops have the M15 R5 beat. The Strix G15 Advantage Edition lasted over nine hours for my colleague Monica Chin.
One area where the Ryzen Edition got a little hung up is with a video export test in Adobe Premiere Pro. Our video team’s five-minute, thirty-three second 4K file took just over seven minutes to finish exporting. That’s not a bad result, but it’s not going to be fast enough for creators to quickly turn around projects and not nearly as fast as laptops with Intel processors can manage.
The M15 R5’s design is different from earlier models in minor ways. Sometimes, it’s for the better. For instance, this newer model is matte-textured all around, including on its screen bezels, which looks better than the glossy bezels used in previous generations. Some people might like the M15 R3 and R4’s two-toned color design, but the R5 comes in a gunmetal silver color that is striking, and the black plastic covering the keyboard is relatively free of distractions, aside from the backlit keyboard and illuminated Alienware logo. One of my favorite changes is inside of the laptop: Alienware lets you easily upgrade the RAM and storage if you want. Some previous models had RAM soldered onto the motherboard, but this one’s more futureproof.
Alienware shuffled around the keyboard layout, though, and it’s worse off than before. The M15 R5’s keys are still enjoyable to type on, but I make more typing mistakes because the volume keys have been delegated to the right side of the keyboard instead of the top. Also, the arrow keys were previously positioned a little lower than the rest of the keyboard to make them easy to find, but those have been shoved up in this model, resulting in a smaller right shift key. This might not be a problem once you get accustomed to typing on the M15, but it still feels like a step backwards.
The port selection isn’t as generous, either. The Ryzen Edition features three USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, an HDMI 2.1 port (capable of 4K output at up to 120Hz), a headphone jack, and a 2.5Gbps ethernet port. It’s not a bad lineup, but it could be better.
Missing from this model, and all other new models that Alienware recently unveiled, is the proprietary amplifier connector for its external GPU enclosure, which has been officially discontinued. Intel-based versions of Alienware’s newest laptops, like the M15 R6, X15, and X17, will support Thunderbolt eGPUs, but the M15 R5 won’t because it lacks a Thunderbolt port. So, you’re just stuck with the GPU that’s inside. Thankfully, the graphics performance is great by default, but there’s a lot of unused space on the R5’s rear where that amplifier port used to be. It would have been nice if Alienware had filled it with an SD card reader and an extra USB-C port.
The M15 R5’s performance didn’t come into question during my testing. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of seeing the great battery life AMD’s processors bring, and it’s great that this GPU can hold its own next to pricier components like the RTX 3070.
But as a whole, Alienware missed the landing when it comes to value. If you want more features for your money, even if it involves swapping some of the M15 R5’s power for a QHD screen and better portability, you should look elsewhere. The M15 R5 isn’t the jaw-dropping value that it needed to be (and that I’d hoped it would be) to steer everyone away from the 2021 gaming laptop frontrunner (so far), the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15.
The specs and feature highlights are appealing but the Halo falls short when it comes to subtlety
For
Excellent black depth
Bright for the money
Handy portable features
Against
Blunt contrast control
Poor speaker placement
If you’ve ever had to pull an all-nighter for work, then you’ll know the taste of the 4am cup of coffee – strong and effective, much like the Xgimi Halo portable projector. Subtlety is not its strongest suit, but it most certainly gets the job done.
Chinese brand Xgimi has been making smart projectors and laser TVs since 2013. Now armed with an impressive array of seven portable projectors, ranging from standard-definition up to 4K, it’s here to take on Epson, BenQ and, most notably, Anker Nebula as the go-to brand for your all-in-one big screen needs.
The Xgimi Halo is just about the midpoint of the series. With its wireless speaker-sized frame, built-in battery, 800 ANSI-lumens LED light source and 1080p HDR output, it could be the home and away portable projector that meets all your needs.
Build
(Image credit: Future)
Squint and you could be forgiven for mistaking the Xgimi Halo for an aluminium Sonos One, though the Halo is a little larger at 11cm tall and 15cm wide, and it weighs 1.6kg. It’s about as large as you’d want a portable projector to be before it becomes a hassle to carry around.
Xgimi Halo tech specs
(Image credit: Future)
Resolution 1080p, HDR, 4K input support
Internal storage 16GB
Brightness 800 ANSI Lumens
Throw ratio 1.2:1
Battery life 2-4 hours
Dimensions (hwd) 11 x 15 x 17cm
Weight 1.6kg
Inside is a 2x 5W Harman Kardon sound system and a DLP projector set-up with a 0.33in DMD (digital micromirror device) at its core. The LED light source is rated to last for 30,000 hours of viewing which translates as eight hours of use per day for the next 10 years – hopefully enough for almost everybody’s needs.
The light is focused by a fixed lens with a 1.2:1 throw ratio that can produce a picture of between 30 and 300in, with a 100in image possible at a distance of 2.67m.
On the outside, there is a single HDMI port (ARC-enabled), a USB and a 3.5mm headphones socket. You can plug in most games consoles, disc players and external speakers, and play files on USB sticks, hard drives, and even from the 16GB of internal storage space. Two-way Bluetooth is available, too, so you can play music through the Halo sound system from your phone or output the projector’s audio signal to a bigger external wireless speaker.
Control of all this and more is through the rather tasteful voice remote control. It includes buttons for direct access to the settings menu and input selection as well as the usual navigation, volume and focus controls too.
There are two other helpful items included. The first is a built-in battery that offers two to four hours of video use, depending on brightness settings, and eight hours of audio playback. Also, tucked underneath is a little kickstand that is useful for angling the Halo up to the right position. The weight of the machine feels quite a lot for a little flap like this and, though it’s fine during our testing, we’re not convinced it would hold up in the longer term.
Features
(Image credit: Future)
Like many portable smart projectors, the Halo uses Google’s Android TV 9.0 OS to take care of the apps and menus. Google Assistant provides an effective voice search, and there is also the Chromecast screen sharing technology to fill in most app gaps.
There are a fair few of those, with Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Apple TV, ITV Player, All 4, Now, Apple Music and BBC Sounds all missing. Chromecast can’t stream the Apple services but there are other, free Android TV apps available to help mirror content from iOS.
Setting up the picture projection itself couldn’t be easier. The Halo is fitted with autofocus and auto-keystone. Each time you turn it on, or when its internal gyroscopes detect that you’ve moved it, the 10,000-point AF system springs into life and produces something close to the best possible image, with an impressive keystone correction of up to +/-40 degrees vertically and horizontally.
Like most portables, the Halo runs far quieter than a traditional home cinema projector. It’s rated at less than 30dB and we’re never once distracted by the sound during testing. It’s also 3D-enabled. All you need is some content and a pair of active shutter glasses.
Picture
(Image credit: Future)
The minute you switch on the Halo, you get a good idea of just how bright this projector can go. There’s certainly less luminance on the table than with traditional home cinema projectors, but the Halo is a clear step ahead of the entry-level portables, such as the Anker Nebula Mars 2, and pretty much on a par with the more expensive Epson EF-12.
The big, white Xgimi logo is quite blinding with the lights off. We don’t struggle to see what’s going on when we add some ambient lighting and that bodes well for outdoor cinema use, as well as watching sports with friends.
Popping Bumblebee on 4K Blu-ray into our player, that translates to a good, strong picture with plenty of colour saturation. The early scene at the boardwalk funfair is a real treat. The sky is a beautiful sapphire blue, the candyfloss a brilliant synthetic pink and the paintwork of the 1980s cars is a line-up of some wonderful teals, burnt oranges and assorted metallics. At its best, the Halo even has enough skill with colour handling to have skin tones not look out of place either.
However, when the light levels drop, the Halo comes unstuck. Black depth itself is decent, but the detail within those dark zones is scant. The Standard preset gets the most out of the shadows, but even so, we struggle to find much in the way of individual hair strands on Charlie’s head as she rides her scooter off to the scrapyard.
There are similar problems in other areas of this tonally mixed scene. The brightness in the sky behind her is quite blown-out for whites and the shadows in the foreground are strong patches rather than careful shades. There just isn’t enough care in handling the contrast on offer.
The contrast problem is particularly hard going with a film that has any kind of added aesthetic such as Fury in Full HD. The grainy WWII drama is a hard watch on the Halo and there aren’t enough adjustments available to get a picture that’s consistently bright and detailed.
One moment, we have the external scene of the ruined German town square exactly where we want it – some texture to the masonry, a sense of daytime – and the next we’re plunged into a chequerboard of jarring light levels in the apartments where the dead Nazi officers are slumped in their chairs.
It’s even more problematic with standard-def content. We watch Up In The Air on DVD and the upscaling is handled relatively well. Any noise is easily reduced by taking the sharpness setting down and applying a light touch to the Noise Filter, but that heavy contrast is tough to take, with detail even thinner on the ground than before.
The Halo struggles to produce any difference in the blocks of black or navy blue in the suits of the business people in this film. The moment the characters sit on any dark furniture, everything bleeds together and half of each frame can be lost. As impressive as this projector can be at times, at the first sign of a difficult frame the Halo’s big, punchy strengths turn out to also be its most significant weaknesses.
Sound
(Image credit: Future)
Sound is a genuine consideration when buying a portable projector. While we’d always recommend upping the ante with a soundbar, headphones or wireless speaker, the 2x 5W Harman Kardon sound system in the Xgimi Halo is largely well appointed and makes an acceptable stopgap for AV and music listening needs.
The Bumblebee soundtrack is a pleasure to listen to through the projector alone. Steve Winwood’s Higher Love provides a real moment of joy as Charlie drives away in her first car, thanks to the decent dynamic ability of the system. There’s plenty of weight and a clear tonal balance that never threatens to get too bright even when we push the volume towards its limits.
Unfortunately, Xgimi has chosen to have the drivers facing forwards on the Halo and that seems an odd choice. The throw distance means you’ll most likely be sitting behind this projector and so the sound will be going the wrong direction. It makes the audio more muffled than it should be but, even in front of the Halo, it is still a touch soft and lacking a little precision compared with the Epson EF-12.
The clicks and whirrs aren’t quite as crisp as they could be when Bumblebee transforms from car to robot in the garage. There is some good spatial sense to the sound as the yellow bot’s metal parts unfold. Details might be placed more clearly in the soundscape if the Halo had a little more organisational know-how.
For this price, it’s the dynamic ability we’re most pleased with. Listening to Know Your Enemy by Rage Against The Machine, there are plenty of dramatic ups and downs and appropriate attacks and crescendos to make the song exciting.
Verdict
The Xgimi Halo makes a good stab at a serious step-up device from entry-level portable projectors, but it doesn’t quite reach a rich and complex level of performance.
Its brightness, battery, storage, speakers and connectivity options mean that, at first glance, it looks the part of a punchy and convenient travel projector. It’s still small enough to throw into your bag, but big enough to give some impact around the house or even in the garden.
But, while it is a decent option for social watching situations, its picture quality just isn’t up to the same standards as those around it. Spend a bit more on the Epson EF-12 and you get a far more sophisticated portable projector. If you need something with a built-in battery, then the Anker Nebula range seems to provide more image subtlety and at a lower price too.
(Pocket-lint) – Google has announced a new version of the Pixel Buds, its true wireless headphones that originally launched in 2017 – the first-gen weren’t all that, though, while the second-gen Buds 2 stepped things up a little in 2019.
The third model belongs to the A-Series, picking up on the A series that we’ve seen in Google’s phones, presenting an affordable choice of true wireless headset.
What’s different to the previous Pixel Buds?
To look that, there isn’t a huge difference between the A-Series and Buds 2: both have the same overall styling and come in a case that’s smooth, much like a pebble.
Both have the same earbud design with a little promontory at the top to help keep them secure, and a round touch-control area on the outside.
Pocket-lint
The Pixel Buds 2 have wireless charging, however, and inside the case and on the inner part of the ‘buds have a matte finish to the plastics, while the A-Series is glossy. That means the older version looks slightly higher quality.
The A-Series also lacks the option to change the volume via gestures – instead you have to use voice for that – and there are a few minor feature differences. Otherwise, the experience is much the same – but the A-Series is much cheaper.
Design & Build
Earbud: 20.7 x 29.3 x 17.5mm; 5.06g
Colours: Dark Olive / Clearly White
Case: 63 x 47 x 25mm; 52.9g
IPX4 water-resistant
Three ear tip sizes
The Buds A-Series’ case, for all intents and purposes, is the same as that of the Buds 2: it’s the same size, has the same feel, and that same satisfying action when you open and close the lid. Both have a USB-C charging port, a manual connection button on the rear, but the A-Series is slightly lighter.
There’s a satisfying magnetic action when you drop the ‘buds into the case to charge and don’t worry about mixing these up if you happen to have the older version too – the A-Series has two charging contacts inside, the Pixel Buds 2 has three.
Pocket-lint
There are two colours to the A-Series – Clearly White or Dark Olive – and opening the lid reveals the colour you’re looking at, as it’s the touchy smooth round end of these Buds, carrying the ‘G’ logo, which makes them really distinctive.
The A-Series ‘buds have the same design as the previous model, with the body of the earbud designed to sit in the concha of the ear, while sealing into the canal with a choice of three different ear tips. These are round – Google seemingly hasn’t been tempted to move to oval as seen on some rivals.
There’s an additional rubber arm that sticks out the top of the buds that is designed to slot into one of the folds at the top of your ear to help keep things secure. We weren’t a fan of it on the previous version and we have the same reservations here: you can’t remove it from the ‘buds and we’re not convinced it’s necessary. As for us, the Buds A-Series sit securely in the ear anyway – even when exercising.
Indeed, if we rotate the earbuds to get that blobby rubber ant to engage with our ears, the sound from the headphones gets worse because they then don’t sit in the best position for our ears. That’s one thing to consider: all ears are different, so this might work for some people and not for others.
Pocket-lint
The great thing about these earbuds’ design is that they don’t hang out of your ear, so you don’t need to worry about pulling a hat over the top or anything else – we think they look a lot better than the ear-dribble style of Apple’s AirPods and all those who copy them. We find the Google design more comfortable for wearing over long periods, too.
Connection, setup and control
Native Pixel support
Pixel Buds app
Touch controls
Google Fast Pair means you just have to lift the lid of the case and your nearby Android phone will detect the Pixel Buds A-Series and allow you to connect with one tap. It’s essentially the same as Apple’s system with the AirPods and iPhone, linking the Buds to the Google account you register them with so they are then available on other devices too.
If you’re using a Pixel phone then you’ll have native support for the Buds; if using another brand Android device you’ll be prompted to download the Pixel Buds app, which will provide access to firmware updates and details on how to use all the features, as well as some options.
Pocket-lint
As far as setup is concerned, that’s all there is to it: you’ll be asked to walk through things like Google Assistant, and you’ll be prompted to allow notifications access, so you can unlock the potential of the Pixel Buds.
The touch-controls are fairly easy to master, too, with both left and right sides offering the same function: single-tap to play/pause; double-tap to skip forward; triple-tap to skip backwards; press-and-hold to get a notifications update.
The last of those is interesting, because you’ll get a report of the time and then you’ll be told about your notifications – with the option to reply, needing a press-and-hold to speak your reply, before it’s confirmed and then sent.
Pocket-lint
Missing from this selection of touch-controls is volume: unlike the Pixel Buds 2, you can’t swipe to change the volume, you have to ask Google Assistant to do it or you have to thumb the volume controller on your device instead.
This, we feel, is the biggest flaw of these headphones: volume control is pretty important when you’re listening to something, so having to ask Google using voice just isn’t appropriate in all situations.
Google Assistant and smart features
Google Assistant integration
Adaptive Sound
With a lack of volume control, Google pushes its Adaptive Sound option as a solution. This is designed to adapt the volume to the ambient sound levels. As the external noise goes up, so does the volume of the headphones. That’s fine in principal and works when you move from and area of consistent background noise to another – from a quiet library to a server room with whirring fans, for example – but it’s hopeless when you have varying noise levels.
Just walk along a busy street with Adaptive Sound on and you’ll find the volume of the headphones yo-yoing, because it’s not constant noise, it depends on what’s driving past at that moment. This could be corrected by a software update with Google reducing the frequency of volume changes. If you manually adjust the volume then it suspends the system for a bit and leaves the control to you, but in reality, it’s just too irritating to use in many situations and you might as well turn your phone volume up instead.
Pocket-lint
As we’ve said, Google Assistant is fully integrated into the headphones, so you can ask Google anything that you might on your phone or Nest Hub at home. For fans of the system, that’s a great addition, because you don’t need to fish your phone out of your pocket first. Sure, there are lots of headphones out there that offer Google Assistant, but naturally, Google puts Google first and the experience is nice and smooth.
It’s also a two-way experience, with Google Assistant notifying you of incoming messages and it’s able to read them out to you too – with the option to speak a reply. You can disable messages from any apps you don’t want in the Pixel Buds app, to maintain privacy (or, indeed, a barrage of non-stop voiced messaging). You can also trigger message sending through voice – and you’ll get to confirm the message that’s being sent.
Thanks to Voice Match, it will only respond to your voice – and that also means you can access things like your calendar and so on. It’s plain sailing all round.
Sound quality and performance
Buds: 5 hours battery life
Case: 19 hours extra
Spatial Vents
Bass Boost
When it comes to the performance, Google is taking a bit of a gamble. Rather then pursuing isolation from the outside world, it wants to provide an experience that lets some of the ambient sound in, so you don’t feel cut off.
Pocket-lint
Google uses what it calls Spatial Vents, while claiming that the headphones provide a gentle seal rather than trying to block everything out. We’re not huge fans of this approach and with the rise in headphones offering active noise cancellation (ANC), it suggests that generally speaking that’s what people are buying.
Needless to say, there’s no ANC here and you’ll be able to hear what’s happening around you a lot of the time. At home that’s perhaps useful – you can hear the doorbell or the dog bark – but out on public transport, you’ll hear every announcement, door crash, clatter of the wheels on the tracks, and that’s not something we want. This is exactly the same experience as the previous Pixel Buds and whether that suits you will depends very much on where you wear your headphones. If that’s a busy place, the A-Series might not be the best for you.
Aside from that, in quiet conditions, the sound quality is actually very good. The Pixel Buds A-Series benefits from the Bass Boost option that Google added as a software update to the previous Buds in late 2020, so they offer better performance for tracks which want a driving bassline. In quiet conditions at home we have no complaints: the Pixel Buds A-Series is a great pair of headphones, especially at the asking price and given the smart options they offer.
Pocket-lint
When it comes to calling there are two beam-forming mics on each ‘bud, but they still let noise through to the caller. This is reduced, but they’ll hear every car that drives past as a hiss. If you’re after a better calling experience, the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro offers a far better experience, providing a better veil of silence when making calls.
The Pixel Buds A-Series provides battery life of 5 hours, which we’ve found to be accurate – although we found the left ‘bud to drain slightly faster than the right one. The case supplies 24 hours of life, recharging the buds when they are back in it, and charged itself via USB-C. This isn’t the longest battery life on the market, but it matches the Apple AirPods.
Best Bluetooth headphones 2021 rated: Top on-ear or over-ear wireless headphones
By Mike Lowe
·
Verdict
The Pixel Buds A-Series have a lot to offer considering the price: Google Assistant integration, comfortable design, a lovely case, plus great audio performance when in quieter conditions.
The biggest downsides are the lack of on-bud volume controls and the design decision to not strive for isolation from external noise. The Adaptive Sound – which auto-adjusts volume – is a good idea in principle to compensate for this, but it sees the headphones’ volume yo-yo unnaturally.
Compared to the older Pixel Buds 2, we’d pick the Pixel Buds A-Series every time: they do the important things just as well but the price is much more approachable, meaning you can forgive the omissions given the context of price.
Also consider
Pocket-lint
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro
Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Pro offer great noise-cancelling – which is especially effective when making calls – while also offering a great set of features.
Read the full review
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Jabra Elite Active 75t
These headphones are a little more bulky, but they offer noise-cancellation that will almost entirely eliminate external noise. If you want silence, Jabra delivers it.
As usual for Google hardware, the new Pixel Buds A-Series have already been extensively leaked, and the company even tweeted about them prematurely. But today, the earbuds are being officially announced. They’re priced at $99, a significant savings compared to the $179 standard Pixel Buds, and are available for preorder in the United States and Canada starting now. Google says the Pixel Buds A-Series be released on June 17th. They come in either olive green or white and gray.
Despite their much lower cost, the Pixel Buds A-Series retain the same sound quality as the 2020 Pixel Buds. They also still offer hands-free “Hey Google” voice commands and are rated IPX4 for water and sweat resistance. Google has slashed some features of the prior earbuds — like wireless charging for the case and swipe controls for volume — but the Pixel Buds A-Series don’t skimp on much else.
Image: Google
Battery life is rated at five hours (24 hours counting recharges in the case), and Google says you can get up to three hours of listening time with a 15-minute quick charge.
While the Pixel Buds A-Series look practically identical to the regular Pixel Buds, Google has tweaked the design by softening the integrated ear hooks / stabilizer arcs and making them a bit smaller. The company has also taken steps to avoid the connectivity bugs and audio cutouts that still affect some owners of its last earbuds. And the Pixel Buds A-Series can crank louder in overall volume.
Did Google succeed in making a must-have pair of $99 earbuds? Well, I’ve actually been using the Pixel Buds A-Series for a few days now, and you can read the full review right now.
The new Pixel Buds A are available in a dark green color
The $99 Pixel Buds are a better buy than their pricier predecessors
With the new, awkwardly named Pixel Buds A-Series, Google is trying to do more than merely introduce a much cheaper set of true wireless earbuds: the company wants to get it right this time — and get it right for under $100. Google’s second-generation Pixel Buds were certainly an improvement over the company’s original wireless earbuds; let us never forget the most overly intricate carrying case of all time. But the 2020 earbuds came with issues of their own. At the top of that list were concerns with stability. Google never managed to get the two Pixel Buds connected as reliably as many competitors, and some owners still complain of audio dropouts even after numerous firmware updates.
In several ways, Google has succeeded at its goal. The $99 Pixel Buds A-Series are more comfortable to wear over longer stretches of time than the pricier earbuds. They retain the same enjoyable sound quality, and hands-free “Hey Google” access to Google Assistant and features like real-time language translation are still useful tricks to have at your disposal. The carrying case is just as fun to fidget with as before (though it lost wireless charging) and has the same satisfying thunk when you close it. Google promises the same five hours of continuous battery life, with a total of 24 hours when you include case recharges.
The bad news is that Google didn’t fully overcome the connectivity issues, though it made some improvement. I recently talked with Google’s Sandeep Waraich, who went over some of the changes made to the A-Series buds that were meant to enhance wireless reliability. Each earbud connects individually to the source device. Both the antenna and chipset architectures were optimized for stronger transmission power and increased range to avoid cross-body audio dropouts. There’s even an all-new chipset inside, though Google declined to tell me who manufactures it.
But in my experience so far, the Pixel Buds A-Series still have more occasional blips and audio interruptions than those from many competitors. It’s not as much of a glaring problem as before, and I really only encountered it on the move (and on busy streets with plenty of wireless interference), but it’s still something you’ll run into at times. But I find that it’s easier to tolerate things like this for $99 than the $179 that Google still asks for the 2020 Pixel Buds.
Google also told me about some subtle improvements it made to the physical design. The A-Series earbuds look nearly identical to the 2020 Pixel Buds, but according to Waraich, the nonremovable “stabilizer arc” — a source of discomfort last time after prolonged listening — has been made softer and smaller than before. I’ve got large ears, and it seems like the hook never settles into the folds of my ear the way it’s meant to, but the Pixel Buds A-Series sit snug and stable regardless.
The Pixel Buds A-Series look just like the regular Pixel Buds.
Google also shaved off a few milligrams of weight from each earbud. The Pixel Buds A-Series come in either white or olive green, and the inside of the carrying case is now color matched to whichever earbuds you get. In the ear, the Pixel Buds continue to have a very discreet, flush style and can be hard to spot when looking at someone head-on.
They still have a discreet design that sits flush against your ear and doesn’t stick out far.
The acoustic architecture is unchanged, so the sound signature between the Pixel Buds and Pixel Buds A-Series is very consistent. That’s a good thing. Google aims for full, natural audio reproduction, and that’s what you get from these earbuds and their 12-millimeter drivers. You can still enable the “bass boost” option in settings to give the low end some added oomph. Even with bass boost active, the Pixel Buds don’t match the boominess of something like the Jabra Elite 75ts or Sony’s WF-XB700s. Still, there’s a level of clarity that outshines many earbuds that sell at the $100 mark. Waraich told me that Google increased overall volume levels across the board after some customers found the 2020 Pixel Buds couldn’t crank as high as they’d hoped.
The carrying case is also similar, though this one lacks wireless charging.
But although the Pixel Buds A-Series can get louder, they still have to contend with a lot of the outside world. Like the previous model, these A-Series earbuds just aren’t very good at noise isolation. While working from the outdoor seating area at my local coffee shop, I could hear an annoying level of traffic at all times. I think it partially comes down to their vented, airy design, but Google seems to struggle with this more than other companies.
Google says it actually tweaked the spatial vents to allow less outside noise in, but it’s still a noticeable downside of these earbuds. I think it’s inherently got something to do with the fit and “gentle” in-ear seal that Google had in mind with the design. What’s become clear to me is that the next flagship Pixel Buds really need some form of active noise cancellation to counteract this. I know there are people who prefer some awareness of what’s happening around them, but you get a little too much of that with the Pixel Buds.
I already mentioned the loss of wireless charging, but other sacrifices that Google made to hit the $99 price aren’t as obvious. The swipe forward / back gestures that let you easily control volume on the Pixel Buds are gone; now you’re limited to just taps for track controls. The A-Series earbuds also ditch the “experimental” attention alerts feature that could detect specific sounds like sirens, dog barks, or a baby crying. And the LED that was on the inside of the Pixel Buds case (to indicate charge status of the buds) is also history. These omissions make sense to me, and Google has at least preserved other important vitals like IPX4 water and sweat resistance. Voice calls also remain a Pixel Buds strength on the A-Series, with dual beamforming mics that do a good job of plucking your voice out of noisy environments and maintaining clarity during phone chats or work conference calls. Voice commands to Google Assistant were also recognized loud and clear.
The “adaptive sound” feature, which automatically adjusts volume based on your surroundings, is also carried over from the 2020 Pixel Buds. It works reasonably well and only activates when there are sustained changes in ambient noise as you move between different locations, but I’m old-school and prefer controlling volume myself rather than letting algorithms do it. The Pixel Buds A-Series still support Android’s Fast Pair feature for quick setup. On Pixel smartphones, the companion app is built in, but you can also grab it from the Play Store on other Android phones. With it, you can locate your earbuds, toggle settings like bass boost and in-ear detection (another thing Google didn’t skimp on), or check battery levels for the earbuds and case. No such app exists for iOS, however.
By holding onto a lot of what worked best on the 2020 Pixel Buds — namely sound quality and hands-free voice controls — and improving other parts that didn’t, Google has ended up with an appealing set of $99 earbuds. The Pixel Buds A-Series haven’t fully stamped out the biggest issue that dragged down their pricier older sibling, and the level of outside noise your tunes compete against will turn some people away. But even with some of the things Google left out, you’re getting a better overall product for less money.
When somebody comes to your door — not a virtual door, your real door — and wants to get your attention, they usually ring the doorbell. Zoom has a feature that is sort of, kind of like that: it notifies you with a loud “ding dong” when somebody enters your meeting. This can be useful if you’re waiting for a friend to show up for a Zoom meeting and are playing with your dog or dusting the bookcase in the meantime. It can also be irritating if you’re part of a meeting with ten or more people, and you hear a “ding dong” every time somebody enters or leaves the meeting.
So if you want to turn this notification on — or off — here’s how you do it.
To turn audio notifications off, go to the web-based Settings page.
If you’re in the Zoom app, click on your personal icon (usually in the upper right corner). Select “Settings.” Go down to the bottom of the Settings page and click on “View More Settings.” This will open Zoom’s browser-based Settings page.
Alternatively, sign into Zoom using your browser rather than the app and click on “Settings” in the left-hand column.
Click on “In Meeting (Basic)” in the left column and scroll down until you see “Sound notification when someone joins or leaves.” You can now toggle the feature on or off.
If the feature is toggled on, you will have the option of playing the sound for everyone who joins or leaves your meeting, or hosts and co-hosts only. You can also have Zoom ask to record the voice of someone who joins by phone to use as a notification.
If you hop into a game of Fortnite right now, you might get teleported across the map by a mysterious laser beam that appears out of the sky.
Yes, seriously. Watch it happen in this video from streamer Ali “SypherPK” Hassan, which I’ve also embedded below at the right timestamp.
While it’s hard to tell exactly where the laser beam is coming from, it’s hard to think that it isn’t coming from some kind of UFO or alien… thing.
The abductions started happening in Fortnite Tuesday evening, just one week before the game’s next season begins on June 8th. And a few other hints seem to indicate that Chapter 2 Season 7 could be alien-themed in some way, too.
Check out this video teaser that apparently is on TikTok, for example, which features the tagline “they’re coming” and mysterious alien-like sounds (headphone warning, the sound is a little harsh):
And you can see an image that’s similar to what’s in that TikTok ad on Epic Games’ Fortnite website:
It’s also not out of the ordinary for Epic to change things up at the end of a season. In May 2019, a volcano erupted and destroyed Tilted Towers, one of the most beloved spots on the map. And last June, a mysterious device blew up the island’s central landmark and transformed the ever-present storm into a wall of water.
So far, these new abductions don’t seem to have quite the map-shifting impact that those changes did — but with a few days left in the season, who knows what else Epic might have up its sleeve?
The Olympics is currently hosting its first-ever virtual sporting event series, the Olympic Virtual Series, where competitors can play in virtual versions of five different physical sports: motorsport, cycling, baseball, sailing, and rowing. The cycling competition, for example, takes place in Zwift, which lets you pair your bike and a bike trainer with your computer, phone, or tablet. The motorsport competition takes place entirely inside Gran Turismo Sport.
You might notice that none of those are games you might typically associate with esports, such as Overwatch, which has previously hosted World Cup-style tournaments where players represented their countries. At least for now, though, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is intentionally choosing to host competitions in virtual versions of physical sports.
“I think it’s fair to say that we remain a sport-based and sport-focused organization,” the IOC’s sport director, Kit McConnell, told The Verge in an interview. “We’re looking to keep the Olympic Virtual Series focused around sport titles.”
While that might sound like the IOC has shut the door on keeping esports out of the Olympics, the Olympics still plans to stay in touch with the esports community, especially since more athletes are playing video games. “We don’t think there’s any mutual exclusivity between the esport community and the traditional sport community,” McConnell said.
The IOC also wants to find ways to help support esports players similarly to how it supports athletes in traditional sports. “As elite esports and gaming competitors are relatively new to the highly competitive environment, they have more limited access to resources than athletes in traditional sports,” the IOC says in its latest strategic roadmap, which was released in March. “The IOC recognises these challenges and aims to adapt various existing tools and resources to support them in different fields such as gender equality, mental and physical health, competition integrity and career transition.”
And the IOC sees virtual sports continuing to play a growing role in the Olympics. While the Olympic Virtual Series isn’t a medalled event, there is a possibility that a virtual representation of a physical sport could become one as early as the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games, according to that roadmap.
To be clear, the actual language in the roadmap does not make that a sure bet. The roadmap has a “recommendation” to “consider the addition of physical virtual sports in the Olympic Programme in cooperation with the respective International Federations.” But if that became a reality, you could expect to see it take a similar form to what’s being done for the cycling and rowing events for the Olympic Virtual Series, McConnell said. (Of the five sports in the Olympic Virtual Series, only those two require players to compete on physical hardware.)
So while we may not see a League of Legends team adorned in Olympic gold medals anytime soon, virtual sports might actually become an official Olympic event someday. And the Olympic Virtual Series could be a preview of what that may look like.
Confirming what The Verge reported back in April, Ikea tonight listed a new Symonisk “picture frame with Wi-Fi speaker” product on its website. The device, which is listed for $199, has not yet been announced — but it’s one of two new collaborations between Ikea and Sonos set for release in the near future.
According to the likely-to-be-removed website, the Symfonisk picture frame measures 22 inches high, 16 inches wide, and 2 inches deep. Ikea says customers will be able to choose between “various interchangeable fronts,” and the frame will be offered in either black or white finishes. Like the previous two Symfonisk products, the picture frame is designed to blend into your home decor and not stick out as an obvious tech gadget.
Image: Ikea
“You can choose to hang it on its own on the wall as an eye-catcher, match it with your other pictures on a wall, place it on the floor, or lean it against a wall,” Ikea’s site says of the picture frame. Despite the name “picture frame,” it seems that you won’t be able to put your own photos into this frame; it’s more of an art piece. The front materially is likely specially designed to help sound pass through.
Ikea’s site confirms the Symfonisk picture frame will support Apple’s AirPlay 2, allow for stereo pairing, and can be controlled through the Sonos app just like previous Symfonisk products. It also has this quote from Sonos product manager Sara Morris: “By working together with the designers we were able to keep the thin edge of the picture frame while hiding a deeper acoustic volume behind it. Together with a waveguide, this let us make big room filling sound from what looks like a thin speaker.”
The other 2021 Symfonisk joint effort between Ikea and Sonos will be a redesigned table lamp speaker. June 14th is the latest rumored date for when the two companies will officially announce both products — even if Ikea got a little ahead of itself this evening.
(Pocket-lint) – It can be a little difficult to stand out from the crowd in the wireless earbuds world at the moment, whether you’re an established presence or a newcomer.
Best true wireless earbuds rated: Wire-free Bluetooth audio
Having a big name attached to your ‘buds could be a help though, and music producer Kygo has been making some waves with his headphones brand over the last couple of years.
The earbuds, called Xellence, are a creditable addition to his oeuvre. But in this bustling market are they particularly memorable?
Design
Plastic case and build
60g weight (including case)
Touch-sensitive controls
Unlike other audio brands named for or endorsed by celebrities, these earbuds from Kygo really don’t look too glaringly brash. Yes, there’s a repeated ‘X’ blazoned on both the case and each earbud, but it’s a logo subtle enough to blend in nicely, and aside from that these ‘buds look pretty normal – in a good way!
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The case is small and lightweight, built from plastic, and easy to pocket. It’s got indicator lights to let you know its charge level, and the earbuds clip in easily with the help of magnets. The case charges by USB Type-C – we’d have liked to see wireless charging, too, but that’s life.
One slight worry on our end is that the case’s lid, while sturdily hinged, is pretty thin – if there’s a potential point for breakages, this could be it. However, it’s satisfying to open and shut, so doesn’t feel fragile in the hands.
Moving to the earbuds, each has a round exterior that corkscrews in toward a silicone tip (with multiple sizes included). A twist gets each into your ear canal and we found them comfortable enough to wear for long periods. That said, those with smaller outer ears could find them a little chafey.
In terms of controls, the whole flat outside surface of each ‘bud is touch-sensitive. A tap on the left or right earbud will alter the volume of playback, while double-taps can pause (and unpause), while triple-taps can change noise-cancellation mode (or ‘ANC’ as it’s often called).
Each earbud also has a small button to its rear so that can activate your chosen voice assistant, but this is so awkwardly placed and hard to press when the ‘buds are in your ears that you’ll doubtless almost never use it.
That ‘X’ on each Kygo ‘bud has a backlit LED which looks fairly classy, but you can turn the lighting off easily if it doesn’t suit your style.
Overall this is a solid showing in design terms – there’s nothing here to redraw the lines for all wireless earbuds, but Xellence looks nice and feels good to use.
Sound quality
10mm drivers
Personalised sound with Mimi
When it comes to actually listening to music, Kygo’s Xellence ‘buds offer a fairly similar picture: it’s a solid performance, not that it rehapes the mould of sound potential. The sound stage here is entirely decent, with a richness that makes plenty of different genres sound warm and natural.
If you use the optional Bass Boost setting, you’ll get a welcome added oomph on the low-end, and while we didn’t find that highs got particularly defined, it’s still more than capable of punching through whatever playlist you throw at these ‘buds.
One nice twist on this is that the earbuds use sound personalisation in partnership with audio engineers Mimi. In the companion app, you can take a hearing test that takes a couple of minutes. It assesses how each of your ears receives different frequencies, then creates a custom EQ (equaliser) to make music as natural sounding as possible. It works nicely and you can really hear the difference if you toggle it on and off.
That’s further enhanced by decent ANC. There are three settings for Xellence – noise cancellation, ambient mode, and no cancellation. With cancellation on you’ll unsurprisingly get a more isolated sound, and we found that it did a very decent job of drowning out external sound without impacting our music.
Ambient mode boosts the volume of sounds around you using the included microphones. As is often the case, it works fine but is eerie and too distracting for prolonged use. With both turned off, meanwhile, the in-ear shape still gives solid passive isolation and you’ll save some battery life.
Best noise-cancelling (ANC) headphones for blocking out noise when you’re working from home
Earbuds aren’t just for music in modern life, though. Call quality is a key factor, and Kygo’s Xellence doesn’t excel here. Your voice will come through slightly muffled and echoey, sadly, meaning these aren’t a great pick for conference calls or long catch-ups.
Software and battery
10-hour battery life, 20 further hours in case
X by Kygo companion app
Bluetooth pairing
The aforementioned X by Kygo app is where you’ll get a bit of added control over these earbuds, and it’s a fairly slick affair. It’s easy to pair new earbuds through it (although this is also straightforward in your phone’s settings) and you can toggle between a bunch of settings.
This includes the Mimi sound personalisation test, changing the earbuds’ lights, turning the Bass Booster on, and adjusting ANC. You won’t necessarily find yourself opening it up all too often, but it’s a useful hub.
We found our connections over Bluetooth to be pretty strong and reliable, meanwhile, although leaving the room that your phone’s in can still be a risky affair.
On the battery front, meanwhile, you get a stated 10 hours of battery life that shrinks to 8 hours if you’re using ANC. The case adds 20 more hours to make for 30 total before you need to plug it in again – and those numbers line-up with our testing. That makes for battery life that isn’t the best in the industry but is solid enough to see you through most working days or journeys.
Verdict
Xellence delivers good sound quality, the sound personalisation is a bonus for those who use it, while active noise-cancellation does well enough in blocking out ambient sounds. The design is equally fine without standing out to excess – except maybe for those lights.
X by Kygo’s Xellence is a dead solid pair of wireless in-ears, then, but you’re unlikely to be blown away by any one particular element. Which isn’t deep criticism, but it does feel like something ‘X-tra’ would be needed for these ‘buds to really stand out in what’s a hugely crowded market.
Also consider
Apple AirPods Pro
If you don’t mind spending a bit more, and especially if you’re on iOS, Apple’s own in-ears are simply superb, offering all the software conveniences you could want, alongside extremely impressive sound and some of the best active noise-cancelling (ANC) you can find.
Read our full review
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Klipsch T5 II True Wireless
Alternatively, to keep the cost down, a slightly better-priced pair of earbuds can be found here from Klipsch. These don’t have active noise-cancellation (ANC), but they don’t really need it too badly. That feature absence explains their simply superb sound quality for the price.
Read our full review
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Writing by Max Freeman-Mills. Editing by Mike Lowe.
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