(Pocket-lint) – For many, the days of just building a spaceship out of Lego or playing a game of Monopoly are long gone.
Today, kids want interactive tech toys that are powered by an app or that connect to the internet. They want animals that learn and grow as you play with them, or robots that will answer back.
The best coding toys: From robots to iPad games, these toys will help teach your kids to code
And thankfully, toy manufacturers are happy to oblige. There are plenty of different tech toys to suit all ages – maybe even for yourself.
We’ve played, poked, crashed, and tested a wide range of crazy and sometimes scary toys, to bring you a list of the best tech toys around right now.
Our pick of the best tech toys to buy today
Nintendo / Velan Studios
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit
squirrel_widget_353866
This is an amazing new toy from the genius minds at Nintendo, and lets you have all the fun of playing Mario Kart but in your real-life home. You’ll set up tracks around your rooms before playing them out using the Nintendo Switch.
The karts have cameras on them to give you a Mario’s-eye view of things, and you can pick up Mario or Luigi karts for multiplayer racing, if you like. This looks like it might be one of the hot toys of the year.
Pocket-lint
Upriser Ducati
squirrel_widget_173488
The humble remote control car has been around for years, and while we occasionally see remote-controlled bikes they’ve always got wheel-supports on them to stop them falling over. Spin Master has solved that problem with this new Ducati remote-controlled bike that has a number of gyros inside it to keep it upright no matter what you do with it. Capable of going up to 20km an hour and performing wheelies, it isn’t cheap, but by the eighth doughnut you won’t care.
Pocket-lint
Tonies
squirrel_widget_173489
This toy brings the “Game-to-life” concept found in video games like Skylanders and Disney Infinity to storybooks. At its heart, it is a padded speaker that comes with various children’s book character figurines that can be placed on top to start reading the story. Tap the side and it skips to the next track – a game or song or such like, while removing the toy stops the book altogether.
There are two types of character figurines; ones with pre-loaded stories and others, called “creative-tonies”, that are blank so you can load your own MP3 tracks on them.
Pocket-lint
Artie 3000
squirrel_widget_173490
A new coding robot that likes to draw, Artie 3000 can be programmed to draw a range of pre-programmed shapes, or simply whatever you can come up with. Reminiscent of the drawing turtle from the 1980s, it’s a simple to use and code robot. Kids will be able to program the robot via a PC, Mac, or tablet and Artie includes a number of games so it’s not all work, work, work.
Pocket-lint
Osmo
squirrel_widget_173491
Bringing traditional play to iOS, Osmo creates a number of interactive games that use an iPad as the gaming board, while also using the tablet’s on board camera to see what you are doing. Games include Coding Jam, which uses physical coding blocks to solve on screen puzzles, and even gives your child the opportunity to manage a pizza shop, which encourages maths. Osmo also offers simpler, but still very clever learning apps, like drawing, basic maths and English.
Kano
Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit
squirrel_widget_173492
With this coding kit, Harry Potter fans can follow step-by-step instructions to build a wand, which includes a gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometer so that it can track location, speed, and the position of a hand. The sensors allow the wand to detect the motions of spells in the Harry Potter world, and then kids can use the wand to do Harry Potter-related challenges inside the Kano app.
Sensible Objects
Beasts of Balance
squirrel_widget_173494
It’s a stacking game that uses an iPad, iPhone, or Apple TV app to help give it an extra dimension and marries brilliantly traditional gaming with a technological twist. The end result is great fun as you not only challenge of balancing the numerous array of beautifully crafted animals on the included scales, but as you do so seeing what creatures you can create by adding different counters and animals. Anyone for a Hogtopus? Yes, that’s a beast that’s half warthog half octopus if were wondering. The game ends when you can’t stack anymore.
Pocket-lint
Furreal Roarin’ Tyler
squirrel_widget_173495
Roar at Roarin’ Tyler and he’ll answer back. The cute, fluffy tiger cub comes with 100 different sound and motion combinations and reacts to all manner of touches and noises. If that wasn’t enough to interest you, the tiger cub can also move his eyes, ears, head, mouth and tail. Hasbro even throws in a toy chicken so he won’t try to eat your TV remote control.
Pocket-lint
Luvabella
squirrel_widget_173497
This very life-like baby doll will need feeding, putting to sleep and tickling if you are to get along. While that’s the same with most dolls, the difference here with Luvabella is the true-to-life facial expressions that will have you thinking she’s real – rather worryingly. She’ll even play peek-a-boo.
Pocket-lint
Hatchimals Surprise
squirrel_widget_173498
With Hatchimals Surprise you get two little critters keen to break out of the shell rather than just the one. The aim of the toy is to nurture each Hatchimal with love in order to help it hatch. When they do come into the brave new world, the owner must help them progress from baby to toddler to kid. The twins, as they are known, can identify one another, share secrets, play games and dance.
Pocket-lint
Sphero Mini
squirrel_widget_173499
Sphero Mini is a smaller version of the original app-enabled robot toy, only even smaller. The size of ping pong ball, you can control it with different modes in the Sphero Mini app, or you can just use your face thanks to a new feature called Face Drive. This uses your facial expressions to steer the ball.
Sphero Mini sports a little gyroscope, accelerometer and LED lights, as well as bright, interchangeable shells. It uses Micro USB charging and gives you about one-hour of play after an hour of full charging. It also comes with three mini traffic cones and six mini bowling pins for different games.
Pocket-lint
Little Bits R2-D2
squirrel_widget_148666
Using LittleBits’ electronic blocks technology and the free Droid Inventor app, kids big and small will be able to teach their R2 Unite robot new tricks and take it on more than 16 missions across the Star Wars universe. Kids can even level-up their inventor expertise and reconfigure their droid to give it new skills, allowing it to be controlled by The Force or similar. The Droid inventor Kit comes with everything kids need to create and customise their R2 Unite straight out of the box.
Boxer
Boxer AI robot
squirrel_widget_173484
Boxer is not only is he diminutive and hand-sized, but he can pull off impressive tricks with a personality usually associated with larger and more expensive toys.
He has an expressive dot-matrix face that offers expressions and interactions with the player. He can detect movement in front of him and respond to it in a variety of ways. Following fingers or kicking a small ball around are just the tip of the iceberg. A range of cards can be scanned to set him playing a wide variety of games. Best of all you don’t need a smartphone to play with him.
(Pocket-lint) – The headphone jack might just be dead – when Apple first got rid of it, the outcry was widespread, but we’ve now come to accept its absence as the default. Many Android phone makers are opting for Bluetooth and USB-C audio instead.
Removing the jack enables phones to be made thinner, use less connectors and to be made waterproof more easily. However, adoption of USB-C headphones has been slow because many opt for Bluetooth headphones instead.
There are advantages to using wired though; a digital connection can help improve audio quality, as headphones can be made with dedicated DACs integrated into them, such as the Audeze Sine and iSine that use the Lightning port on the iPhone.
Best in-ear headphones: 10 great wired, wireless and wire-free earphones
So we’ve rounded up the best USB-C headphones we’ve found – there aren’t huge numbers of options, as you’ll see.
Moshi
Moshi Mythro C
squirrel_widget_158244
These well-rounded USB-C earphones sound great and bass reproduction is decent. That’s thanks to a built-in DAC and four in-line buttons with mic and a DJ Boost mode. As with many other earphones you also get many different eartips as you’d expect.
Note that while these headphones say they are compatible Google Assistant compatible, they don’t have the assistant built-in as with some other devices such as the Pixel headphones below.
Libratone
Libratone Q-Adapt In-ear USB-C
squirrel_widget_160584
Libratone already has a pair of Q-Adapt in-ear headphones for the iPhone and has also released a pair with a USB-C connector too. They were made specifically for the Google Pixel 2 and fall under the “Made for Google” program.
They’re sweatproof, so can be used when exercising, have in-line controls for controlling music playback and even have a noise-cancellation mode when taking phone calls with power coming directly from the USB-C port.
Google
Google Pixel USB-C Earbuds
squirrel_widget_158209
Google released these earbuds alongside the Pixel 3 and, while they aren’t as good as wireless options they are dirt cheap. They also have native compatibility with Google Assistant so you can hear your notifications (just press and hold the volume up button) and get real-time translation from Google Translate.
Razer
Razer Hammerhead
squirrel_widget_2669865
Earbuds aren’t purely useful for music and chatting, though, and can be great for immersive gaming, too. Razer’s Hammerhead earbuds are slightly pricy, but if you really want the edge on mobile games they’ll do very nicely indeed. We also really like the look and feel of the tangle-resistant cable.
Xiaomi
Xiaomi ANC Earphone
squirrel_widget_2669866
Bringing ANC to the table are these earbuds from Xiaomi which offer a nice alternative to the set from Libratone above, especially if those older buds are out of stock. These have an unremarkable design but do everything you need them to very well.
OnePlus
OnePlus Type C Bullets
squirrel_widget_2669868
OnePlus rounds out our list with these really solid, incredibly simple earbuds, which aren’t particularly noteworthy but equally are priced pretty sensibly and sound really good for the price, too.
Writing by Dan Grabham. Editing by Max Freeman-Mills.
SteelSeries brings forward the same award-winning design of previous Arctis headsets with the Arctis 9 Wireless. The sound is still mostly great, even if the competition has caught up or surpassed the line, but if you don’t need Bluetooth, the $50 premium over the Arctis 7 might be hard to swallow.
For
Impressive wireless connectivity
Can connect to 2.4 GHz and Bluetooth simultaneously
Great battery life
Against
Expensive
Flat audio profile with muted bass
Questionable durability
SteelSeries has been on a run with its Arctis series of gaming headsets, first introduced in 2016 and bringing high-end audio and a great microphone in three price points. Combined with the unique ‘ski goggle suspension’ design, the Arctis headsets made players stand up and take notice of SteelSeries in another hardware category. While the line started with the SteelSeries Arctis 3, SteelSeries Arctis 5 and SteelSeries Arctis 7, it has since expanded with the low-end Arctis 1 and the upper-end Arctis 9X and Arctis Pro cans.
Our review focus, the SteelSeries Arctis 9 Wireless ($200 as of writing) builds on the same design of SteelSeries’ Arctis Pro Wireless and Arctis 9X Wireless. The latter is designed for Xbox One consoles, connecting to the system without the need for cables or a dongle. It also offers SteelSeries’ ClearCast microphone, a Discord-certified mic with great clarity and a simultaneous Bluetooth connection. If you’re an Xbox gamer, the Arctis 9X Wireless is a great choice. For everyone else though, SteelSeries needed to offer up another candidate for best gaming headset.
Enter the Arctis 9 Wireless, which trades in an Xbox wireless connection for a wireless dongle with support for PC, PlayStation 4, the upcoming PlayStation 5 and the Nintendo Switch in docked mode. Otherwise, it carries the same audio drivers, design, simultaneous Bluetooth connection and price point as the Arctis 9X Wireless.
SteelSeries Arctis 9 Wireless Specs
Driver Type
40mm neodymium
Impedance
32 Ohms
Frequency Response
20 Hz-20 KHz
Microphone Type
Arctis ClearCast bidirectional mic
Connectivity
2.4 GHz USB Type-A wireless dongle cable, Bluetooth 4.1
Weight
0.8 pounds (376g)
Cords
5.1-foot (1.6m) charging cable, 3.4-foot (1m) USB dongle cable
Lighting
None
Software
SteelSeries Engine 3
Design and Comfort of SteelSeries Arctis 9 Wireless
Image 1 of 9
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 9
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 3 of 9
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 4 of 9
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 5 of 9
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 6 of 9
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 7 of 9
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 8 of 9
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 9 of 9
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
SteelSeries has settled on a strong design with its high-end Arctis headsets. There’s no RGB lighting here, casting the entire unit in a clean look; only the white lines of the adjusting strap and SteelSeries logo break up the pure matte black. There are no exposed wires either, something that’s a personal bugbear of mine in other cans, like the similarly priced Razer Blackshark V2 Pro and Logitech G Pro X Lightspeed. The Arctis 9 just looks so dang professional when you pull it out of the box the first time.
The ski goggle design also means this is an easy headset to fit on your noggin. A Velcro strap surrounds a steel headband and is adjustable for a tighter fit for smaller heads. The design makes it easy to pass the Arctis 9 Wireless to another person without too much tweaking. Many headsets push in on your head from the sides, but the Arctis 9 Wireless’ weight is actually held here by the strap around the headband. With the Velcro strap at the widest setting, I was able to fit it on my massive head, but the strap elasticity meant the ear cups were pushing up on the bottom of my ears. I got used to it, but those with big heads should keep this in mind.
Once it’s on your head though, you’ll barely feel the weight of it. The Arctis 9 Wireless, as well as the wireless SteelSeries Arctis 7, is 0.8 pounds. That’s a little heavier than some headsets I’ve recently reviewed, like the 0.7-pound wireless BlackShark V2 Pro. Logitech’s G Pro X Lightspeed, meanwhile, is also 0.7 pounds, and the Asus ROG Strix Go 2.4 is even lighter at 0.6 pounds. Despite some headsets being trimmer, the Arctis 9 Wireless felt weightless on my head.
SteelSeries’ Airweave cloth, which is supposed to take sweat into account, covers the ear cups’ light foam. Alternatively, leatherette here can often help block outside noise, and our review focus’ passive noise cancellation is weak. I was able to hear outside noise while wearing the headset. I could hear the typing on my clicky mechanical keyboard during slight lulls in my music, for example.
The left ear cup contains the retractable microphone. This has always been one of the better choices from the Arctis line, as you can safely stow the mic inside the ear cup when you don’t need it. That’s much better than a hard microphone arm or a detachable option that you can lose. The microphone also has a red LED to let you know when it’s muted. Finally, the ear cup also includes a ChatMix roller to change the mix between chat audio and game audio.
On the right ear cup, you’ll find most of the controls: a volume roller, microphone mute switch, power button, Bluetooth button, Micro USB slot for charging and 3.5mm jack. Many manufacturers put the mic mute button on the same ear cup as the microphone, but I find that means that hitting the button puts an audible pop or click in your recording; putting it on the other ear cup minimizes that. Another good choice for SteelSeries here. There’s an LED indicator in-between the power and Bluetooth buttons. When connected to the wireless dongle in PC mode, it blinks white. It blinks blue when connected to Bluetooth, and alternates when both connections are active.
The wireless dongle is actually a wired one instead of the USB drive-style dongle in most other wireless headsets. The dongle has a 3.4-foot USB Type-A cable, and the bottom of the unit has a PC/PlayStation switch and a pairing button. The Arctis 9 comes paired with the wireless dongle out of the box, making the unit mostly plug-and-play. I plugged it into my PC and was off to the races, no software installation required.
Moving the dongle over to my PlayStation 4 and changing the switch was equally easy, and the PS4 saw the headset immediately. I also used the wireless cans with a PlayStation 5, and true to SteelSeries’ claims, the Arctis 9 works with the console. No muss, no fuss.
The USB cable included in the box is purely for charging purposes. Hooking the cable to a PC without the dongle does see the headset come up in Device Manager, but not for audio purposes. This is a wireless-only headset, pure and simple.
Arctis 9 Wireless Performance
SteelSeries rates the Arctis 9 Wireless to maintain its cable-free connection from up to 40 feet (12.2m), and I didn’t have any problems with the connection, being able to walk around my entire apartment with nary a crackle or connection drop.
The Arctis 9 Wireless carries the same 40mm neodymium drivers you’ll find in the Arctis 9X, Arctis Pro and Arctis Pro Wireless. When it first launched, the Arctis line boasted strong audio compared to other gaming headsets. But competitors have moved to newer drivers this year: Razer put its 50mm Triforce Titanium drivers in the new BlackShark line. Similarly, Logitech has its 50mm Pro-G drivers, and HyperX offers 50mm drivers on its mid-range headsets. The larger drivers can allow for stronger sound, especially in terms of bass. And the frequency response on the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro is simply higher, topping out at 28 KHz, as opposed to 20 KHz on the Arctis 9 Wireless.
Out of the box, sound on the Arctis 9 Wireless was good on the higher side of the profile but missing something. With no equalizer tweaking, the mids came across great, treble was decent, and bass was pretty disappointing. The bass here lacks punch in comparison to fellow competitors from 2020.
I loaded up the SteelSeries Engine 3 to tweak the sound settings in the equalizer, kicking up the bass in the equalizer and utilizing the Bass Boost preset. Even with those additions, that only brought the bass in the Arctis 9 up to ‘good.’
Doom Eternal is one of my favorite PC games for testing bass, with the satisfying BOOM of the Super Shotgun always offering visceral excitement. But the shotgun’s report wasn’t strong on the Arctis 9 Wireless.
The results in Death Stranding and Horizon Zero Dawn were a little better because both games have audio that leans slightly more on the mids and highs. The mechanical screams of the machines hunting Aloy and the soft patter of the Timefall weather come across with clarity on the Arctis 9 Wireless. This is largely a great headset in terms of audio, but in comparison to the BlackShark V2 Pro or the G Pro Wireless, it feels like the Arctis 9 can do better.
The Arctis 9 supports DTS Headphone:X v2.0 for its virtual surround sound. This is the standard for a number of different headsets, but the THX Spatial Audio on the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro, is more robust. That said, when I used the Arctis 9 Wireless with Borderlands 3, I could pick out the barks of enemies and the quips of my teammates from every direction. without suffering from sounds blending together too much. DTS Headphone:X v2.0 works well for surround sound gaming.
Over on the PS4, the sound profile in Ghost of Tsushima, which doesn’t rely as heavily on bass, was also pretty darn good. Likewise, in Resident Evil 3, I could pick out every creak and groan on the mutated, undead hordes of Raccoon City. Note that you need to set the volume on the system and the headset. When I first hooked up the Arctis 9 Wireless, the audio was low, even with the volume all the way up on the PS4’s headset volume slider. It took me a few minutes to realize I needed to turn up the headset volume roller as well.
On music playback, the story was much the same as it was on gaming. Listening to NCT’s R&B heavy Resonance Pt. 1 album, I missed some of the deep thrumming that underpins the silky vocals of tracks like “From Home.” The upbeat tones of BTS’ “Dynamite” sounded excellent on the Arctis 9 Wireless, despite missing a tiny bit of the funk oomph; the distinctive pluck of the bass guitar was muted, robbing the track of some of its background color. The droning industrial of “On My Own” from Jaden Smith from the soundtrack for Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales pushed forward on the Arctis 9 Wireless with solid percussion, as did Kid Cudi’s background vocals. I’m not a hard audiophile in regard to music, but the Arctis 9 Wireless does what I need here.
For most of my testing, the Arctis 9 Wireless worked fine with no issues. In the last couple of days though, the left earcup occasionally wouldn’t put out any sound. This would happen sometimes when the headset was connected to my PC or PS4 via the wireless dongle. Resetting the headset and reinstalling the software did nothing. Sometimes it works for a while, only to drop out again eventually.
Looking online, we found numerous threads discussing similar issues. It’s an intermittent problem, but when it happens, there’s no way to reliably fix it. You just have to roll the dice and hope. We reached out to SteelSeries about this, and a spokesperson told us that it’s common for a small number of units to experience issues. If this happens, it’s recommended you contact the support team, “and if there is an issue with the headset, more often than not, we’ll just replace it.” The Arctis 9 WIreless has a 1-year warranty.
Microphone on Arctis 9 Wireless
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
SteelSeries opted for a retractable microphone with its ClearCast noise cancelling branding, a bidirectional design and Discord certification.
Microphone quality on these cans is great. Some recording I did sounded uniformly excellent and accurate for a headset mic. Noise cancellation was also solid. I had the news on in the background while recording one sound file, and that didn’t come across in the recording.
The Arctis 9 Wireless will show up to every gaming session on Discord with no problem, capturing every errant scream you make in Phasmophobia.
Battery Life on Arctis 9 Wireless
SteelSeries has rated the Arctis 9 Wireless at 20 hours of battery life on a single charge. Testing across two days, I landed at just under that. This is pretty great for a wireless headset, especially since I’m you’re more likely to charge it between uses than, say, the best wireless mouse or any of the best wireless keyboards. Since it charges over Micro USB rather than the faster USB-C, charge time felt long (around 4-plus hours), but you can still use the headset wirelessly while it’s charging.
The LED in between the power and Bluetooth buttons tells you the headset’s charge status: Green for 100-50%, Yellow for 49-20%, Red for 19- 10% and then a blinking Red for 9-1%. You can also find a general battery level indicator in the SteelSeries Engine 3 software, but it lacks hard percentages for detailed monitoring.
Software on Arctis 9 Wireless
Image 1 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 3 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 4 of 4
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The SteelSeries Engine 3 is a little stripped down in comparison to software suites from other competitors. With DTS off, you get access to a 10-band digital equalizer and a few equalizer presents. With DTS on, you can change the Surround Profile (Studio, Game, Cinema), the Stereo Profile and enhance the bass or dialogue. The Microphone settings only allow you to change the mic volume and the sidetones,or how much of your own voice and surrounding noise you’ll hear in your headset.
For comparison, Razer’s Synapse software offers more toggles for things like volume normalization, and nothing compares to the Blue microphone options for Logitech’s current gaming headsets.
With Engine, however, you can create profiles of different settings and have them load up automatically in different applications. The software doesn’t automatically find any currently installed application for you though. You’ll need to know where the executables for your applications are to make it work.
Bottom Line
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
If you’re looking for a tether-free gaming headset, the SteelSeries Arctis 9 Wireless is a terrific option. The ski goggle design means it’s easy to put on, the button placement is great and the retractable microphone is an option more manufacturers should look at.
That said, competitors have caught up to SteelSeries in terms of audio quality, offering larger 50mm drivers and more robust digital audio tweaks via software.
But the biggest problem with the Arctis 9 Wireless is you’re essentially paying $50 more than the very similar SteelSeries Arctis 7, for the addition of Bluetooth.
Then there’s the competitors in the $200 price range. The Logitech Pro X Wireless is the same price as our review focus, and the Razer BlackShark V2 Pro is $20 cheaper. The Arctis 9 Wireless is a great headset, but it’s a great headset in a space that’s becoming more crowded in 2020 and beyond.
Bluetooth can be handy though. The ability to roll from being in the box to being connected to your device in minutes is also a boon. The Arctis 9 Wireless is still a winner for the Arctis line overall, but I’d caution buyers to look at the Arctis 7 if Bluetooth and dual connectivity isn’t really necessary.
If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
Two and a half years ago, Apple finally entered the smart speaker market with the HomePod. It was a unique device — instead of prioritizing an accessible price and smart assistant features, it was laser-focused on audio quality and considerably more expensive than its closest competitors from Amazon and Google, while being less capable as a smart speaker. As a result, the HomePod didn’t really take off. Apple was forced to lower its price, and other retailers had to discount it aggressively in order to get anyone to buy it.
Fast-forward to now and Apple’s new smart speaker, the $99 HomePod mini, takes a different approach. It’s smaller, simpler, and way less expensive than its bigger sibling, and thanks to Apple’s work on Siri over the past few years, it can actually do more than the original when it launched. It’s clear that Apple designed this to complement the larger HomePod. If you have an original in your living room, you can put the mini in various other places in your home without having to invest as much money or take up as much shelf space.
But the rest of the smart speaker world has obviously not stood still, and Amazon and Google have released the most compelling options in their respective lineups this year. While Siri has gotten better, it’s still the HomePod mini’s Achilles’ heel — well, that and the fact that you still need to be fully embedded in Apple’s ecosystem to get the most out of it.
The top of the HomePod mini has a touch-sensitive panel that lights up when Siri is listening or responding to commands.
HomePod mini Design
The HomePod mini has a different look than the larger HomePod, but you can tell they were cut from the same cloth. Instead of a squishy-looking cylinder, the mini is a squat ball with a flat top. It reminds me of a scented candle or an upside-down Magic-8 Ball wrapped in mesh. Just like the original, you can get it in light or dark gray, and it has a similar soft fabric.
On top of the mini is the only interface on the device itself, a flat plastic touch-sensitive pad that you can use to invoke Siri, play or pause music, or adjust volume. It has the same multicolored LEDs under it that light up and swirl around whenever Siri is listening or responding. It will glow white when music is playing or green when you’re using the mini as a speakerphone for calls.
The USB-C power cable is permanently attached to the HomePod mini.
In my testing, I’ve found this light-up panel to be harder to see from across the room than the Echo’s glowing ring. Unless you’re right next to the HomePod mini, it’s hard to tell when Siri has heard your voice command and is responding. It’s also much more fiddly to use to adjust volume (especially when nothing is playing), and there’s no visual confirmation for how loud the speaker is set when you do adjust the volume, like you can see with an Echo or Nest Audio. In all, it’s just less accessible than the buttons on Amazon’s speakers or even the touch-sensitive areas on Google’s — a rare miss in this department from Apple.
There’s also no physical switch to disable Siri’s always-listening feature. You have to either ask Siri to “stop listening” or dive into the HomePod settings in the Home app in iOS to toggle the feature, a slow and clumsy process.
Like the larger HomePod, the mini has a permanently attached power cord, though this time, it ends in a USB-C port. (A 20-watt charging brick comes in the box.) The cord is about six feet long, though I wish there was the option to just swap it for another if you want to put the speaker far from an outlet.
The HomePod mini has four microphones for picking up voice commands, but it does not have the room-tuning capabilities the original HomePod has. Instead, Apple says the processor in the mini (an S5 chip, the same as you might find in an Apple Watch) analyzes the music being played and adjusts the speaker’s output for the best quality.
The microphones do an admirable job of hearing my voice commands, even from across the room and while something is playing, and the processor is quick to take action. In my experience, Siri is typically faster to respond and do something than either Alexa or the Google Assistant, whether that’s to play music, answer a question, or control a smart home device.
The HomePod mini is about the same size as the new Echo Dot but considerably smaller than the full-size Echo.
HomePod mini sound quality
With the first HomePod, Apple prioritized sound quality above all else. That’s not quite the same with the HomePod mini, but you can still hear the effort that went into making the mini sound relatively good.
I say “good” because, for its size, the HomePod mini sounds quite nice. It’s considerably better-sounding than the similar-sized fourth-gen Echo Dot, and it puts out more bass than other small smart speakers.
The key thing to notice is that the HomePod mini outperforms other “small” smart speakers like the Echo Dot and Nest Mini, but it can’t compete with larger speakers like the regular Echo, Nest Audio, or Sonos One. The HomePod mini is priced closer to those larger speakers, although it really belongs in the small speaker class when it comes to the sound it can produce.
At 3.3 inches tall, the HomePod mini is about the same size as the fourth-gen Echo Dot and considerably smaller than the full-size Echo or Google’s Nest Audio. As a result, it has just one speaker: a downward-firing full-range driver that is designed to evenly spread sound in all directions. Two passive radiators help to accentuate lower bass tones, but they shouldn’t be confused with the multiple active speakers that are in the Echo and Nest Audio.
The HomePod mini doesn’t provide a visual confirmation of volume levels, which is frustrating.
So it sounds good, but I can’t say the HomePod mini sounds great. And next to the larger Echo and Nest Audio, both of which cost the same, it simply can’t keep up. It doesn’t have the presence, volume, or sound stage of either, and it certainly can’t match the Echo’s bass output. As they say, there’s no replacement for displacement.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do to improve that, either. Two HomePod minis can be paired in a stereo configuration, but that doesn’t dramatically increase the amount of volume you get, and it does nothing for improving bass or punch. Unlike the Echo or Nest speakers, you can’t pair the HomePod mini to a subwoofer or larger speaker system. You are stuck with what it does out of the box.
Despite not being quite up to the Echo’s sound performance, the HomePod mini does sound pleasant for most any genre of music and for podcasts and other vocal performances. It has good balance in the mid-tones and a very vocal forward sound profile. You’ll hear the lyrics to your favorite song easily, without them getting overwhelmed by bass. The bass that’s there can be heard but not felt.
The HomePod mini’s 360-sound works as advertised, too. I can walk around the speaker, and the sound of the music just doesn’t change. This is great if you plan to put the mini in the middle of a room, but realistically, it will be on a shelf or closer to a wall, where it has less of an impact. That’s why both Amazon and Google switched to more directional speaker designs this year, after years of using 360-degree speakers.
In all, the HomePod mini excels at casual listening and background music. It’s great for playing music during dinner when you don’t want to drown out conversation or just to have some audio playing in the background as you work from home. The mini is nice to listen to at low volumes or higher settings and doesn’t distort at all. It won’t soundtrack a party, and it certainly doesn’t replace a proper sound system — but for its size, it is good.
The HomePod mini sounds good for its size.
The Ecosystem of the HomePod mini
It won’t come as a surprise to many, but unless you are fully bought into Apple’s iOS ecosystem, you shouldn’t even consider buying the HomePod mini. In fact, I’d go even further: everyone in your home really needs to be using iPhones and Apple services to make the HomePod mini worth buying.
Setting up the mini requires an iPhone or iPad. For any smart home control, you need to be using Apple’s Home app and HomeKit-compatible devices. Asking the HomePod mini to place a phone call, read messages, or give you calendar updates requires you to use an iPhone.
The HomePod mini doesn’t support cross-platform audio streaming like Google Cast or Spotify Connect, so the only way to send audio to it from a device is via Apple’s AirPlay. You need an iPhone or a Mac to do that.
You can tap an iPhone to the top of the HomePod mini to transfer whatever you’re playing on your phone to the speaker and then tap it again to transfer the audio back to your phone. Apple will be expanding this with a new interface and more features for iPhones with the U1 chip (any model released in 2019 or later, except for the SE) in the future, but I wasn’t able to test that for this review.
Apple has made some small strides toward allowing the HomePod to directly play music, podcasts, and audiobooks from sources other than Apple Music, and there’s now an API that apps can tap into to become the default option on the HomePod. That allows you to use voice controls to play music and have it play from a different service than Apple Music. But right now, the only app that’s taken advantage of it is Pandora, and there’s no word when others, such as Spotify or YouTube Music, will hop on board. (Given Spotify’s frequent lawsuits and criticism of Apple’s locked-down platforms, I wouldn’t hold my breath for it anytime soon.)
Another thing I’d like to see is the ability to set separate default services for music, podcasts, and audiobooks, for example, using Spotify for music, Pocket Casts for podcasts, and Audible for audiobooks. Right now the default service setting limits all three categories to one app.
None of this is a problem if you’re fully bought into Apple’s world, but the reality is that few individuals (and, by extension, families) are. Both of Apple’s major smart speaker competitors have services and ecosystems of their own, but they also allow for much more freedom of choice for preferred services and work with both iOS and Android devices.
Siri has gotten better since the original HomePod mini, but it’s still behind Amazon and Google’s virtual assistants.
Siri on the HomePod mini
Back in 2018, my colleague Nilay Patel rightly pointed out that the state of Siri on the original HomePod can be summed up by the fact that it cannot handle multiple timers. I’m happy to say that the HomePod mini can support multiple timers, and you can even label them now.
Siri has gotten other improvements over the years as well. It can now differentiate between voices, so I get a different answer for “what’s on my calendar” than my spouse does when they ask the same question. It also prevents a random person from sending messages or placing phone calls from my iPhone using the HomePod mini, a problem we ran into when reviewing the original HomePod.
You can also run Siri Shortcuts from the HomePod, provided you’ve gone through the legwork to program them on your iPhone. Siri can also do a bunch of things with Apple’s apps, such as notes, calendar, reminders, and Maps, and some limited actions with third-party apps that have added support for SiriKit commands.
A new feature as of software version 14.2 is the ability to give you an itinerary at the start of your day, including a weather report, upcoming appointments, commute traffic, and a news blurb from NPR. You can ask for a different news source, such as Fox or CNN, but that’s about as far as you can customize this feature. Either way, it’s nice to see Siri catch up to something that Alexa and the Google Assistant have offered for years.
I ran into a number of weird bugs with Siri during my two weeks or so testing the HomePod mini. When asking Siri to play an album from Apple Music, it would play songs out of order instead of how they appear on the album. When I use the HomePod mini to place a call, neither myself nor the other party could hear anything until I transferred the call to my iPhone and then back to the HomePod. While Siri is able to distinguish between my voice and my spouse’s and provide personalized answers, it didn’t know my spouse by name and referred to them as “secondary user 1,” despite Siri having all of their information on the iPhone.
Some of these bugs, such as the Apple Music one, were resolved during my testing period or didn’t happen every time. But collectively, they are demonstrative of why many people still have a negative perception of Siri.
Bugs aside, Siri is still behind where Amazon and Google are with their virtual assistants. It does the basics mostly fine, such as playing music, giving weather reports, and setting timers and reminders. But Google still reigns supreme when it comes to answering random facts and Alexa is constantly being improved with proactive features that make it feel more like an actual assistant than a voice-controlled remote.
HomePod mini Smart home
The smart home capabilities of the HomePod mini are largely unchanged from the HomePod. It can control smart home devices that are set up in the Home app on the iPhone and can be integrated into Home automations. It can also act as a Home hub, which allows you to control your smart home devices with your iPhone from anywhere you have a data connection.
The mini does support a new smart home protocol called Thread, which allows devices to connect to it over longer distances and using less power than Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. (Smart home nerds will remember Thread as the standard that Google originally pushed and adopted by Eero routers before effectively stalling and going nowhere for years.) A handful of smart lights have been announced with support for Thread in HomeKit (Apple’s smart home platform), but for now, the Thread ecosystem is quite small. HomeKit itself does have a wide range of compatible smart home devices, including lights, contact sensors, cameras, thermostats, door locks, smart plugs, and more, all of which can be controlled by voice through the HomePod mini. It’s not as broad an ecosystem as Alexa and Google offer, but it’s still comprehensive.
Also new for either HomePod is an intercom feature that lets you broadcast messages from a HomePod to another HomePod or Apple device. You can have it sent to a specific HomePod or blast it to all of the HomePods in the home as an announcement. You can even intercom using Siri from your phone or Apple Watch to broadcast messages to anyone that is at home.
But despite its name, Intercom isn’t really a two-way intercom. It’s effectively sending recorded audio messages to the devices instead of opening a live audio. It’s fine for letting the family know you’re on the way home from the grocery store or telling the kids it’s time for dinner from another floor of the house, but I didn’t find it particularly necessary in my home. Both Google and Amazon offer similar features on their smart speakers, but they have more two-way live communication options than the HomePod.
The HomePod mini is small enough to fit in most places in your home.
When the HomePod originally launched, it felt like Apple was operating in a completely different world from the rest of the smart speakers, one that didn’t make sense for a lot of people. The HomePod mini at least feels like it’s in the same ballpark as the rest.
At $100, compared to the original HomePod’s $350 launch price, the mini is priced low enough that you can envision buying more than one and spreading them throughout your home. It does most of the things you expect a smart speaker to do and sounds good when doing them. If you’re already fully bought into Apple’s ecosystem, including services, it’s hard to fault the HomePod mini’s price or capabilities. It also provides an escape from some of the privacy concerns and baggage that come with the Echo or Nest smart speakers, including the increasingly common ads that show up in Alexa’s responses.
But it feels like Apple is still two years or more behind Amazon and Google when it comes to smart speakers. And compared to the equally priced Echo and Nest Audio, the HomePod mini struggles to keep up in both sound quality and features.
Apple has shown that it’s willing to improve things and listen to feedback when it comes to smart speakers, so I’ll be interested to see how it continues to develop. Hopefully, now that the HomePod mini is here, it starts to move a little faster.
Photography by Dan Seifert / The Verge
Correction: An earlier version of this review said it wasn’t possible to use third-party apps as default sources for podcasts or audiobooks. That is incorrect, you can set a third-party app as the default to handle requests for music, podcasts, and audiobooks, but you can’t set separate apps for those categories. We regret the error.
Google is working on integrating its Chromecast streaming devices and Nest Audio speakers, according to a comment from a Google spokesperson in The Wall Street Journal, in a move that would give Google’s smart home and streaming gadgets a feature parity with Amazon and Apple.
Being able to combine a streaming platform with a smart phone speaker makes a lot of sense for these companies. After all, customers already have all the hardware in their living room — why not repurpose those speakers to improve the sound of your Netflix movies? Plus, there’s the added bonus of inciting customers to stay within a company’s ecosystem. You’re more likely to buy a HomePod mini if it works with the Apple TV you already have.
The ability to link smart speakers to streaming boxes is also something that both Apple and Amazon already offer. Apple lets customers link both HomePods and HomePod mini speakers to the Apple TV (the Apple TV 4K and the full-sized HomePod even offers additional synergy with virtual Dolby Atmos support). And Amazon lets customers both use their Echo devices to control their Fire TVs and to output audio.
Google’s plans are extremely vague for now — The Wall Street Journal makes no mention of which devices the company is looking to link together, when the feature will arrive, or what sort of use cases it’s looking to achieve. But with Google increasingly looking to push users toward its smart home devices, making them all work better together just makes good sense.
These Elacs are exceptional in parts, but they aren’t the most exciting to listen to
For
Transparent midrange performance
Great integration between drivers
Good detail levels
Against
Presentation lacks drama
Needs care in partnering
We’re big fans of Elac’s entry-level Debut speaker range. Each of the three models we’ve tested has managed to win us over, together garnering the German manufacturer an unbroken string of five-star reviews.
The new, more premium Debut Reference series – comprised of the DBR62 standmounters on test here, the DFR52 floorstanders and the DCR52 centre speaker – aims to take things further.
Build
(Image credit: Elac)
The DBR62 feel nicely made and are pleasingly solid, no doubt helped by the new perimeter internal bracing.
The quality of finish is high and there are two colour options – a white baffle with an oak-covered cabinet or a black baffle with a walnut box. Either way, these speakers succeed in looking smart.
Elac Debut Reference DBR62 tech specs
(Image credit: Elac)
Type 2-Way Bass Reflex
Frequency response 44Hz – 35kHz
Impedance 6 ohms
Sensitivity 86dB
Finishes x2
Dimensions (hwd) 21 x 36 x 27cm
Weight 8.2kg (each)
Technically, the big news here is the new mid/bass unit with its cast aluminium chassis. Its 16.5cm cone is made of aramid fibre, as is the case with Elac’s much-admired but cheaper Debut 2.0 B6.2.
Here, it’s linked to the same 25mm cloth dome tweeter as the junior model, but much work has been done on the high-frequency unit’s waveguide to improve the overall performance.
A carefully calibrated, single-wire crossover links the two drivers. Bi-wiring isn’t an option, but at this level it makes more sense to use a single set of quality speaker cables than compromise with two pairs of inferior alternatives.
Compatibility
(Image credit: Elac)
While it’s possible to place the DBR62 close to a rear wall, we wouldn’t advise such positioning. In our test room, their presentation becomes congested and loses a little balance when used in this way. Start from around 50cm out from the wall and adjust from there; given some space to breathe, they produce a far more open and subtle sound.
As for partnering equipment, these are revealing speakers so it’s best to use suitably capable kit. We would suggest something like the Rega Brio or Cambridge CXA61 amplifier and sources the level of the Cambridge CXN music streamer or Rega Planar 3 record player, at least.
Don’t forget a pair of solid stands, too. Compromise the system electronics or the supports and you’ll never hear just how good these Elacs can be. At their best, they challenge the class leaders. They have a transparent, even-handed nature that avoids the overt sonic flavouring imparted by most rivals.
Sound
(Image credit: Elac)
We love their midrange performance. It’s clean, clear and impressively delicate, without sounding forward or overly etched. We listen to a range of recordings, from Michael Kiwanuka’s ’70s-tinged Home Again to the emotionally charged Found Songs from Ólafur Arnalds, and the Elacs truly shine.
They dig deep into vocals and bring out the nuances and texture as capably as speakers that cost hundreds more, while shading dynamics with an ease and elegance that’s rare at this level.
It’s a cohesive and tidy sound – one that has enough in the way of scale and authority to convince. All that work on the tweeter’s waveguide pays dividends: there’s seamless integration between the drivers, and the tweeter never draws attention to itself. The highs sound refined and insightful but still manage to pack enough in the way of bite to avoid complaint.
The lows are nicely blended too, and deliver enough in the way of reach to give a good impression of solidity and weight to the presentation.
Talented though these speakers are, they aren’t fully rounded. Listen to something harder hitting, such as works by Jay Z or Nirvana, and you’ll find that rhythmic drive and dynamic punch are subdued. It’s as though the DBR62s deem such things to be of secondary importance to its finesse and information retrieval skills.
Verdict
If you’re looking for speakers to thrill you with thumping crescendos or make you want to dance, these Elacs aren’t for you. These are more cerebral performers that are more concerned with dotting the ‘i’s than having a party.
But if the DBR62’s talents align with your tastes, we doubt you’ll find better for the money. For the rest of us, they’re likely to remain speakers to admire rather than love.
It’s worth replaying through Half-Life: Alyx from start to finish once more — if only because Valve’s development team justadded over three hours of audio commentary to the VR-only game that launched earlier this year. In the commentary mode, you’ll encounter clips at 147 points of interest in the game, covering several corners of development, including design, art, animation, rendering, sound, and more. Valve endearingly shared that the development team in Seattle recorded the commentary “in closets and blanket forts.”
Given that these are tell-all tales about the game’s development, you’re going to run into major spoilers. So complete the game once before listening unless you don’t mind spoiling the first Half-Life game to come out in over a decade.
To dive into a playthrough with developer commentary turned on, you’ll actually need to start a new game, then select “Developer Commentary” in the menu before proceeding to gameplay. Then, look for floating headphones strewn about each environment, pick them up, and fasten each one around Alyx’s head to hear the commentary track. The commentary is in English, but subtitles are available in English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Castilian Spanish, Latin American Spanish, Russian, Polish, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese.
Dev commentary has been a signature feature in most Valve games, treating curious players to interactable audio clips placed around the game world. Each dives into different aspects of design methodology, development challenges, and just generally fascinating tidbits of contextual, location-based information that you probably wouldn’t otherwise hear. I’m particularly interested to hear the commentary for the ending section of the game.
If you haven’t jumped into the game yet — first off, I’m jealous that you get to experience it with fresh eyes. Second, my colleague Adi Robertson’s review makes the point that this is an adventure that’s well worth buying a VR headset. I’ve played it, too, and can vouch that it’s a really fun experience that’s at once the coolest thing I’ve experienced in VR and everything I wanted in the next Half-Life adventure. You can pick it up at Steam for $59.99. It will work with any headset that supports SteamVR.
Short tests: Mini-PC case, wireless microphone and WLAN mesh boxes Mini-PC case Wireless microphone Wi-Fi-6-Mesh Fractal Designs compact housing combines chic design with practical details and lots of fan spaces.
The wireless microphone Modmic Wireless from Antlion Audio transforms ordinary headphones into headsets.
Asus’ ZenWiFi AX Mini is a compact, slimmed-down version of the XT8 mesh WLAN system and is intended to enable fast WLAN in large apartments or houses.
Access to all contents of heise + exclusive tests, advice & background: independent, critically sound c’t, iX, Technology Review, Mac & i, Make, c’t read photography directly in the browser register once – read on all devices – can be canceled monthly first month free, then monthly 9, 95 € Weekly newsletter with personal reading recommendations from the editor-in-chief start FREE month Start the FREE month now Heise + already subscribed?
Sign in and read Register now and read the article immediately More information about heise +
(Pocket-lint) – Google Assistant is an excellent voice assistant. It not only brings the power of Google search to the table, but it’s conversational too. Like Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Assistant can set alarms, read news briefings, tell you what the weather is like, control compatible smart home devices and play music, among plenty of other features.
Google offers its own Google Assistant-enabled speakers in the form of the Google Home and Nest devices, but there are plenty of Google Home alternatives too.
From Harmon Kardon and Sony to Panasonic and Sonos, here are the best Google Assistant speakers available right now.
Pocket-lint
Sonos One
squirrel_widget_148504
Sonos One is the smallest speaker available in the Sonos portfolio and it offers Google Assistant support in the US, UK and some other countries, allowing it to do pretty much everything the Google Home can. The Sonos One delivers superb sound quality, coupled with a great design and seamless multi-room audio with other Sonos speakers.
For those after an excellent smart speaker, the Sonos One is certainly one to consider. Unlike other smart speakers, Sonos offers support for both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, rather than just one or the other. You can’t have both running at the same time, but if you want to try out Google Assistant, whilst still having the option to go back to Alexa, the Sonos One is a perfect way to do that.
Sonos One review: Superb sound with added bonus of Alexa and Google Assistant
Pocket-lint
Google Nest Mini
squirrel_widget_168546
Google is really starting to up its game when it comes to first-party hardware. For a long time, Amazon’s Echo speakers put Alexa out in front as an assistant with good hardware support. The newest Nest Mini goes a long way to fight that assumption — it’s Google’s answer to the Echo Dot.
The good news is that it’s just as impressive as that puck speaker. In a tiny, classy package you get really impressive sound (given the size), and easy access to the Google Assistant with all its wisdom. It’s also one of, if not the cheapest entry point to getting Google Assistant in place around your home.
Google Nest Mini review: Mini update, max impact
Sonos
Sonos Move
squirrel_widget_167282
The Sonos One is a brilliant speaker, but it lacks one thing that Sonos has finally brought to the table with the Sonos Move — portability. This is the first ever hybrid speaker from Sonos, bringing the best of both worlds to the table. When it’s docked on its cradle in your home, the Move is an exemplary smart speaker very much in the mold of the Sonos One.
That means it’s got Google Assistant on board for your smart home control needs, and stunning sound. If you want, though, you can pick the speaker up and take it out and about for hours of playback through Bluetooth. You won’t be able to use the Assistant unless it’s on your home WiFi, of course, but that won’t slow you down much.
Sonos Move review: Finally, a portable Sonos with Bluetooth connectivity
Pocket-lint
Google Home
squirrel_widget_148299
Google’s very own smart speaker is obviously in many ways the purest version of a Google Assistant speaker you could find, but it’s also not the newest hardware by a long stretch, hence its slightly lower position on this list than you might expect.
The speaker is still a great option, though – it looks great and we’re fond of its two-tone look, too. Plus, the Assistant is as responsive as you could possibly hope.
Google Home review: A better voice assistant than Amazon Echo?
Pocket-lint
Panasonic GA10
squirrel_widget_148940
The Panasonic GA10 features a retro design, which might not be to everyone’s taste, but some will prefer it to Google Home’s air freshner-style look. The GA10 doesn’t offer calling functionality like Google Home but it delivers great sound quality, versatile audio input selection and it is just as smart as Google Home, meaning plenty of smart home integrations.
The GA10 is an excellent Google Home alternative for those after decent audio. It is as much a living room speaker as it is a smart assistant and while it it costs more than Google Home, it’s a lot cheaper than a Google Home Max and it delivers in the sound department.
Panasonic GA10 review: Google Home, but better
Pocket-lint
Google Nest Hub Max
squirrel_widget_160596
This may or may not suit the definition of a smart speaker, depending on your perspective — there is an obvious screen element to it. Nonetheless, the Nest Hub Max is a pretty all-encompassing device, and obviously includes Google Assistant as standard.
The smart display gives you a deeper degree of interaction with the Assistant, since it can surface visual information or photos to answer your requests. Beyond that, you get surprisingly impressive sound and a really useful smart home hub, all in one package. Plus, the Nest Hub Max’s camera (which the smaller Nest Hub doesn’t include) lets you make video calls with ease.
Google Nest Hub Max review: Putting the Echo Show on notice
Pocket-lint
Harman Kardon Citation Series
squirrel_widget_148942
Harman Kardon doesn’t just offer one Google Assistant-enabled speaker, the Samsung-owned company has an entire range. The Citation Series is comprised of the One, 100, 200, 300 and 500 speakers, with the One being the smallest and the 500 being the largest. There is a sound bar, sub, surround speakers and tower speakers in the series too though.
All the speakers in the Harman Kardon Citation Series have Google Assistant on board, except the sub and surround speakers.
Pocket-lint
Sonos Beam
squirrel_widget_144759
Like the Sonos One and Move further up this list, the Sonos Beam is both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant enabled. The Beam is significantly more expensive than the Google Home but it offers some serious sound for its compact size.
Aside from once again offering a choice of voice assistants, the Beam isn’t just a speaker. It has seamless multi-room audio like the Sonos One but the Beam also offers TV sound so you get a smart speaker and sound bar in one.
Sonos Beam review: Compact in size, not in sound
Writing by Britta O’Boyle. Editing by Max Freeman-Mills.
(Pocket-lint) – Most smartphones will come bundled with a pair of free in-ear headphones, but more often than not they’re not exactly high-quality. For occasional music listeners, they’re fine, but if you want to get the most out of your tunes then an upgrade is in order.
When looking for a new pair of in-ear headphones, you’ll want to make sure they’re comfortable, fit snugly in your ears to provide a tight seal and thus better bass and improved noise isolation.
You will also need to decide if you want a wired or wireless pair. Wired pairs tend to sound slightly better on the whole, but wireless offers convenience. So what are your options if you want to upgrade? Read on to find out.
Pocket-lint
Beats Flex
squirrel_widget_3491164
Beats has revamped the tried-and-tested Beats X, slashing its price and upping its battery life for a package that’s seriously impressive for its price.
They’re comfortable in the extreme, massively lightweight and sound really good, making them an easy choice for anyone operating on a budget and hoping for all-day audio performance.
Beats Flex review: Brilliant if you’re on a budget
Pocket-lint
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds
squirrel_widget_352481
Bose specializes in comfortable headphones and this true wireless set is no different. It’s a great package that also brings really impressive noise cancelling to the table.
You get decent battery life and solid connectivity, but it’s the sound quality that really stands out and makes the Earbuds easy to recommend if you’ve got a higher budget.
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds review: The in-ear noise-cancelling king
Pocket-lint
Beats Powerbeats Pro
squirrel_widget_148688
If you’re looking for a pair of completely wire-free earphones, the Powerbeats Pro is probably the most versatile pair going. Not only are they cheaper than most of the big-name rivals, but they last longer on a full charge, they sound great and they’re super comfortable to wear.
Of course, a big draw will be for the performance during exercise. The lightweight, cable-free feel is perfect for long runs and hard sessions in the gym. What’s more, the redesigned shape makes them a lot more comfy than previous Powerbeats models.
Add that to the fact that the sound is very enjoyable, and they have that H1 Chip found in the AirPods, and you have a very well rounded pair of in-ears.
Beats Powerbeats Pro review: Perfect workout companions
Pocket-lint
V-Moda Forza Metallo Wireless
squirrel_widget_141026
V-Moda’s recent offering of headphones has been fantastic, and that includes the latest wireless version of the Forza Metallo in-ears. They follow a similar design path to others, with their neckband form factor, but V-Moda – as always – took it in a slightly different direction.
Rather than have a chunky collar, the electronics and battery are all kept in plastic housing at the back of the neck, while semi-rigid thick cable leads around the front to the earbuds themselves. This design means they’re very light and easy to wear all day, and that you can hide them easily under your collar if you want to.
More importantly, the V-Moda’s sound fantastic. There’s plenty of bass and mid-tones, creating a very enjoyable listening experience. They’re not for the audiophile, but there’s a great balance to them.
V-Moda Forza Metallo Wireless review: Jaw-dropping sound from new neckband earphones
Pocket-lint
Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8
squirrel_widget_145367
Bang & Olufsen’s first pair of in-ears within the Beoplay lineup stands out from a lot of the rest, by not just being a piece of plastic tech in your ears. Attention was paid to design, in the form of the leather coated carrying/charging case as well as the construction and feel of the in-ears themselves.
With the respectable battery life and the smartphone app that lets you customise the audio experience to suit you, these are a truly fantastic pair of wire-frees for the discerning music lover.
B&O Play Beoplay E8 wireless in-ear review: Premium styling and sound
Pocket-lint
Apple AirPods 2
squirrel_widget_148285
The AirPods did what other Apple products have typically done in the past; take something that’s already out there, evolve it, and make it popular. They’re not the first completely wireless pair of in-ear headphones, but they were the first to introduce the W1 chip which allows for instant pairing with iOS devices. Now in its second generation, that’s been replaced by the smarter H1 chip.
The look of them may divide opinion, but they’re unmistakably Apple. Sound quality is decent, although we wouldn’t say it’s the best in this list. However, for the majority of on-the-go listening, they’ll do the job well.
Apple AirPods 2 review: Small improvements spell second-gen success?
Pocket-lint
Master & Dynamic MW07
squirrel_widget_145803
Master & Dynamic took its time to get into the wire-free market, but that time was really well spent. In the MW07, the manufacturer has some of the best sounding in-ears available, and not just in the wire-free category. Sound is full and detailed with plenty of bass and mid to keep you enjoying your music for hours on end. What’s more, the design is unlike everything else in the category, especially those tortoiseshell patterned finishes.
Add that to the unique, but very comfortable approach to in-ear fins for a secure fit, plus that awesome shiny charging case, and you not only have one of the most visually distinctive pairs of earphones around, but also the most impressive sounding.
If you want a pair of in-ear monitors unlike any other, the Audeze iSine10 will suit you down to the ground. Particularly if you’re happy with the “TIE Fighter docked in your ear” look. The planar magnetic drivers mean they can achieve balance and clarity that you just don’t normally get from tiny in-ears. They also mean that the outer housing is much bigger than most, and that they need internal or external ear hooks to keep them on your ears.
For iPhone users, there’s a version that ships with a Lightning connector, which also has a built-in 24-bit DAC/amp processing system to make your music sound even better than it would through a 3.5mm jack. What’s more, it also means it can be controlled by the Audeze app to adjust EQ presets using a 10-band equaliser.
The long and short of it is that they look weird, but sound amazing, and are surprisingly comfortable to wear.
Audeze iSine10 review: In-ears unlike any other
Pocket-lint
RHA CL2 Planar
squirrel_widget_146224
Every now and then you pick up a product in a category and it completely ruins every other product for you. In the case of neckband or wireless in-ears, the CL2 Planar from RHA is that pair. The only issue is, they cost a lot of money.
In every way, this is a premium pair of earphones that offers sound and versatility by the bucket load. Its performance predominantly comes from a tiny planar magnetic driver within an impossibly small case built from very high end cermic materials. This is then delivered into your ear via virtually any choice of tip you can think of.
What’s more, with the MMCX connector, you can decide to use the Bluetooth neckband or switch for a traditional 3.5mm jack-equipped oxygen-free copper cable or silver coated cable and 2.5mm jack.
It’s a simply sublime pair of earphones, but one that will leave your wallet hurting once you’ve ponied up the cash for them.
RHA CL2 Planar review: Chic and unique in-ears come with a hefty price
Pocket-lint
Audio Technica ATH-LS70iS
squirrel_widget_141275
For the price, you’ll be hard-pushed to find something sounds as well-balanced as the Audio Technica in-ears. They don’t quite live up to their promise of sounding like “live sound”, but that doesn’t mean they’re not impressive.
The ear hook design means they sit securely on your ears and offer a nice, isolated fit, passively killing off noise from the outside to leave you in a lovely bubble of music.
Crowd screams and claps on live songs are conveyed incredibly well to help you feel part of the audience and vocals are presented right at the fore. They’re punchy, clear and, in some instances during our testing, goosebump-inducing.
Audio Technica ATH-LS70iS review: Exceptional detail at an affordable price point
Writing by Cam Bunton. Editing by Max Freeman-Mills.
(Pocket-lint) – So, you’ve decided to buy an Oculus Quest or Quest 2 and are getting set to plunge into the mystical world of virtual reality. Now you’re wondering which games to buy and what the best ones are to make the most of the headset.
Well, the good news is you’ll find plenty of diversity within the Oculus Quest’s voluminous library of games – whether you like shoot-em-ups, puzzle games, rhythm-action games, action-adventures or sports games that offer something akin to a workout, it contains plenty to suit your tastes.
Buy the Oculus Quest 2
That said, there’s a lot of games to choose from, so we’re here to make your life easier by rounding up some of our favourite games for the wire-free VR headsets that are well worth trying out. The games are compatible with both the original Oculus Quest and the newer Quest 2 as well.
Best Oculus Rift and Oculus Rift S games and experiences available
1. Superhot VR ($24.99/£18.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
With its stylised concrete and glass settings, and its red, glassy enemies, Superhot VR has an utterly distinctive look. Which matches its equally inimitable gameplay.
Nominally a first-person shooter, in reality, it feels incredibly tactical, thanks to a game mechanic which slows down time – essentially, the enemies are stationary until you move, and the faster you move, the faster they do. So, you end up moving as if performing tai chi, keeping things slow and steady at times before speeding up, while grabbing guns and objects in mid-air and even throwing them to yourself for later use. Original, tactical and thrilling.
Superhot VR review: Virtual reality’s most frustratingly enjoyable game
2. Beat Saber ($29.99/£22.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
Beat Saber may be pretty simple, but it’s utterly addictive and superbly satisfying to play, which is one of the reasons it’s one of the most popular Oculus games to play both on Oculus Rift S and Oculus Quest.
Beat Saber is a rhythm-action game, so to keep it flowing, you must hit incoming blocks at the right moment, since they come at you in patterned waves. Easy to grasp, fantastical to behold thanks to futuristic, neon-style visuals, blessed with a top-notch soundtrack and fabulously good fun.
3. Job Simulator ($19.99/£14.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
As VR games go, Job Simulator may be somewhat venerable – but it’s also a classic. On paper, it doesn’t exactly sound wild: as the name suggests, it’s a physics-based simulator which lets you sample various forms of employment, including as a chef, an office skivvy, in a convenience store and more.
As you may have guessed, it’s not exactly serious – to be precise, it’s absolutely hilarious. And quite cathartic, especially if you’ve ever dreamed of throwing a virtual stapler at your real-life boss or creating an unholy mess in the kitchen.
4. Pistol Whip ($19.99/£19.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
This super action game enables you to go pistol-first through a bunch of scenes such as bank heists and android uprisings where you have total freedom to get through it using whatever means possible.
It’s a super use for the Quest controllers – you can shoot, dodge and more, all as you see fit. The game has a pulse-pounding soundtrack from various EDM artists. You can also challenge your skill with your friends and play against others for positions on the world leaderboards.
5. Space Pirate Trainer ($14.99/£10.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
Space Pirate Trainer was one of our favourite games on the Oculus Rift, so we were pleased to see it available on the Oculus Quest too. If you’re confused by the name, just imagine you’re a pirate in training and that training involves shooting waves of dangerous robots in space.
In principle, its gameplay is just like those early arcade-shooters: it sends waves of bots at you, which you must shoot down while dodging incoming fire or deflecting it with a shield. Simple enough, but surprisingly tactical, and rollicking good fun.
6. Creed: Rise to Glory ($29.99/£22.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
If you’ve ever fancied having a go at boxing without running the risk of any form of injury, then Creed: Rise to Glory should fit the bill magnificently.
It isn’t the only boxing game for the Oculus Quest, but it is the best, boasting various licences for the Rocky and Creed franchises, plus a story mode which sees you work your way up the professional boxing ladder. And it has a great multiplayer element which lets you box human opposition. Great fun and it will help with your fitness as it’s absolutely exhausting when played with determination and Rocky-style grit.
Creed Rise to Glory Review: VR boxing sim is a knockout!
7. Moss ($29.99/£22.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
Moss simply oozes quality. It’s a third-person puzzle-platform game built on a strong narrative, with a storybook vibe. In it, you embark on an adventure with an anthropomorphised mouse called Quill, in which you and she must collaborate to solve mostly environmental puzzles while taking on enemies in a classic hack-n-slash manner.
With its pitch-perfect, enchanting storyline, interesting characters and Oculus Quest-specific downloadable content that extends its storyline, it’s one of those games you’ll want to play through a number of times.
8. Arizona Sunshine ($35/£29.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
Arizona Sunshine is another utter classic and a solid VR favourite of ours that’s made it over onto Quest too. The game is a tongue-in-cheek zombie game that takes place in the barren landscapes of a post-apocalyptic America.
It features large environments to explore, 25 different weapons to unload at the zombie horde and the ability to play cooperatively with friends too. If you enjoy it, there’s also follow-up content in the form of Dead Man DLC to add even more playtime.
9. Star Trek: Bridge Crew ($30/£22.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
Bridge Crew is another fantastic virtual reality game that was good enough to make it onto our list of the best Rift and Rift S games money can buy. Happily, it’s also available to play on Oculus Quest as well.
If you’ve ever wanted to crew your own Federation vessel, then this is the game to get. It’s also a co-op game, meaning you can team up with your pals and go out on numerous space adventures for fun and frolics across the universe.
10. Knockout League ($19.99/£14.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
If you’re looking for a good workout while you game, then Knockout League is another sure fit hit. It’s a bit more tongue-in-cheek than Creed: Rise to Glory and features some slapstick comedy styling as well as plenty of awesome characters.
Knockout League features fun gameplay along with the added bonus of calorie tracking so you can feel like you’re being productive while you game as well.
11. Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs ($14.99/£10.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
Remember the days when Angry Birds was all we played? Using a variety of birds to smash down various piggy constructions and take the fight to them? Now Angry Birds has been reimagined for VR and it’s fantastic. The flat 2D world has now been transformed into a much more immersive experience.
Over 75 levels are available where you can choose where you fire your slingshot and aim for the best scores.
12. Tilt Brush ($19.99/£14.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
Looking for something a little more laid back? Something to inspire your creative side? Tilt Brush is just the thing you need. It’s essentially a virtual reality painting game where you can fill the world around you with colours and shape until your heart is content.
13. Trover Saves the Universe ($30/£22.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
We loved Trover Saves the Universe when we played it on the Oculus Rift S and it’s now available to buy for Oculus Quest owners as well. It’s very much an adult game, as you expect considering it’s designed by the people behind Rick and Morty. It’s also hilarious, rude, weird and wonderful.
Strap on your Quest and travel the universe with Trover, you won’t regret it. Quest owners also get access to Important Cosmic Jobs area DLC with more content, comedy sketches and fun too.
14. FitXR (£22.99/$29.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
FitXR is a VR fitness game that originally started out as a boxing game but has since added some dance-themed workouts as well. This means the company can pitch the app as “workouts for everyone” – no weights or equipment necessary (beyond the obvious VR headset of course) just lots of body movement to get your heart racing.
The boxing element sees you punching incoming balls of different colours while also squatting, lunging and blocking in time with music. The dance workouts get you moving your whole body while following a virtual trainer who’s there to show you what to do.
FitXR also makes use of a scoreboard system which pits you against fellow online players. This obviously serves as motivation not only to beat your own best score, but to do better than the competition. Multiple workouts exist as standard and you can buy extra exercise plans to keep things interesting.
Being able to track your workout progress, calories burnt and more make FitXR interesting and enjoyable and certainly make it a more thrilling option to traditional home workouts. You will feel a bit daft waving your arms about though, we certainly did. If you already own a Quest and want to feel productive while using it, then this is the game for you.
15. Shooty Fruity (£14.99/$19.99)
See it on the Oculus Store
We played a Shooty Fruity a couple of years ago on the Vive and Rift and thought very highly of it. An amusing game, with a daft premise and plenty of fun on offer.
The idea is simple, you’re a lowly checkout assistant in a busy supermarket. You need to scan items as they come down the conveyor belt and ensure they get to the bagging area. The problem is, pesky fruit keep coming along trying to blow up your checkout and interrupt your plans. The solution – blasting them with various hand cannons. Things get complicated when you’re trying to shoot fruit and scan produce at the same time. Frantic, frustrating but a whole lotta fun.
16. The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (£29.99/$29.99)
See it on Oculus Store
Saints & Sinners takes place in the murky, post-apocalyptic ruins of New Orleans. You’re thrust into the shoes of “The Tourist” and set out into a dangerous world packed with different factions and all manner of threats. Walkers are a constant menace and only a sharp object to the brain is enough to stop them. Which certainly keeps things interesting when you’re busy looting with one hand and holding a torch with another.
Sneaking and scavenging is a key part of this game and the atmosphere is fantastic. We liked Saints & Sinners a lot when we played it on the Rift S and the Quest version is just as enjoyable. Crafting equipment, brainin’ zombies, helping out NPCs and trying not to lose your cool – all feels great with the wireless freedom of VR. Just watch out you don’t smash your real-world surroundings as you try to survive.
Ever since the introduction of dual sticks, video game controllers haven’t changed that much. There’s been the addition of share buttons and some ergonomic tweaks, but the way you interact with and experience games is largely the same. That’s what makes Sony’s DualSense controller so interesting.
Introduced alongside the PlayStation 5, the DualSense is a controller that looks fairly familiar on the surface. But it’s also one that comes with an enticing idea: that the feelings in your hands can further immerse you in a game. The DualSense’s biggest innovations are new haptic vibrations and rear triggers with variable tension, which can do everything from simulate walking on a sandy beach to let you know when your point guard is tired.
When used right, the DualSense actually makes games better.
The controller
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
At its most basic, the DualSense looks like a slightly futuristic take on the DualShock 4, the PS4’s controller. The layout is basically identical, save for some variation in the placement of the share and options buttons, a redesigned home button, and slightly larger triggers and touchpad. It has a built-in microphone and headphone jack, some nice textured grips on the back, and it charges via USB-C. You’ll get roughly the same battery life as with a DualShock; on average, I’ve had to recharge my DualSense after every seven or eight hours of use. (There’s also a separate charging option if you purchase a charging dock for $30.)
From an ergonomic standpoint, the new controller is slightly larger and heavier than its predecessor. It hasn’t bothered me, but it could be an issue for some users. The reason for that change in size, though, is because the biggest changes to the DualSense are under the hood. The controller now offers haptic feedback, similar to a modern smartphone, which means it can create more subtle vibrations to simulate real-world sensations. Along with this are new triggers with variable tension, which means they can offer various degrees of resistance when you press down on them.
That’s a lot of buzzwords. What does it actually mean for games?
The vibrations
Let’s start with the vibrations. Rumbling controllers have been around since the Nintendo 64, but they haven’t offered much variation. Your controller shakes when there’s an explosion or you get punched. It doesn’t usually add much to the experience. The DualSense is different. The controller’s vibrations can be big and brash, like a typical gamepad, but it’s also capable of much more subtle and specific sensations.
The best examples can be found in Astro’s Playroom, a 3D platformer that comes bundled with the PS5. You play as a little robot venturing through a range of environments, and each one offers up different tactile sensations. You can feel the crunch of sand as you walk across a beach, the cracking of glass as you smash through a panel, the pitter-patter of raindrops on an umbrella, or the elastic tension as you pull on a loose cable.
Even more impressive: often, you can feel these sensations coming from different parts of the controller. For instance, a huge gust of wind can come in from the left, and you’ll feel it moving across your hands, while the vibration from footsteps will alternate left and right accordingly. Add in the sound effects from the controller’s built-in speakers, and it can be incredibly immersive. It can make mundane activities, like splashing in a pool of water, into something satisfying.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure.
Of course, while Astro is a great showcase — something akin to what Wii Sports was for motion controls — the PS5 needs more than that for the haptic feedback to become more than a gimmick. At launch, the results are mixed. There are a few other games that make good use of the vibrations, though none are as impressive as Astro. In launch title Bugsnax, for instance, you can feel the light rumble of thunder in the background, letting you know a storm is approaching. And in Sackboy: A Big Adventure, you can feel boulders rolling around you or the pop of a bubble when you jump on it.
Disappointingly, two of the PS5’s biggest launch titles don’t really exploit this feature. Both Demon’s Souls and Spider-Man: Miles Morales have what feel like fairly standard vibrations, which don’t come anywhere near the subtlety of Astro. Demon’s Souls even offers two options — normal versus immersive — but the only difference I could spot was some extra rumbles when you swing your weapon.
The triggers
The same largely is true for the DualSense triggers. Astro is the best showcase here. When you fire a bow, you’ll feel resistance in the trigger, mimicking the string being pulled back. There are also sequences where you control a spring-powered robot, and you have to press harder to compress the spring and make it jump. Again, the PS5’s other big showcase games don’t make use of this at all. I’ve played hours of both Demon’s Souls and Miles Morales and haven’t experienced anything that utilizes the new triggers yet.
But other developers have already made some creative use of them. My favorite so far is NBA 2K21. If you post up near the rim, the tension activates, so you’ll have to push a bit harder to get into position; the bigger your opponent, the greater the tension. There’s a similar feature to represent stamina. Over the course of a game, players will naturally get tired, and the more exhausted they are, the more tension you’ll feel when pushing the right trigger to sprint. This is especially helpful because it’s a constant physical reminder of the state of each player.
NBA 2K21.
Other games use the triggers more sparingly. In Bugsnax, for instance, you use a camera-like scanning device to search out creatures. In order to scan an animal, you push down on the right trigger, and it gives a satisfying “thunk” as if you were using a disposable camera. I particularly like how Fortnite utilizes the triggers, giving different amounts of tension depending on what weapon you have. Pulling the trigger to fire a pistol will give a little bit of resistance, while an assault rifle requires just a bit more, and a shotgun even more than that. It makes the act of firing a weapon much more tactile.
The future
The hit-and-miss nature of PS5 launch games makes it hard to predict whether the DualSense’s unique features will catch on in the long term. But the potential is there. Astro’s Playroom makes a clear and obvious case for the DualSense, but the one-off features in games like 2K21 and Fortnite also show that the controller can be additive in smaller doses. For now, at least, I’m just excited to play just anything with a bow-and-arrow in it.
It’s much smaller and more affordable than expected, but the most surprising thing about the HomePod Mini is its superb sound
For
Sophisticated, engaging sound
Substantial smart skills
Impressive music discovery
Against
Limited third-party service support
Lacks a full control app
The Apple HomePod Mini has been a long time coming. As soon as the original HomePod was announced, it was assumed that it would be the first in a large family of smart speakers. It hadn’t even hit shops before people were asking when a smaller, more affordable model would be introduced.
It has taken almost three years for that model to arrive – that’s aeons in the world of tech – so, has the wait been worth it? It sure has: the HomePod Mini outperforms its size and price like no other smart speaker you can buy.
Build
(Image credit: Apple)
The HomePod Mini really is small. At just 8.4cm tall and 9.8cm wide, it’s roughly half the size of the similarly priced and similarly spherical new Amazon Echo. In fact, it’s even smaller than the new Echo Dot.
The Mini comes in simple white or black finishes, wrapped in a seamless fabric mesh that was apparently chosen as much for its acoustic properties as for its stylishness. The whole design gives the impression of a tiny, woven plant pot – in a good way. It’s pretty and unobtrusive, and will happily fit in any room of the house.
Apple HomePod Mini tech specs
(Image credit: Apple)
Finishes x2
Voice assistant Siri
Bluetooth No
AirPlay Yes
Dimensions (hwd) 8.4 x 9.8 x 9.8cm
Weight 345g
The glass panel on the top is opaque when the speaker is inactive, but a swirling orb of coloured light appears when Siri is listening or processing, while a smaller white orb gently oscillates as music plays. It’s a classy and alluring touch beyond anything you’ll get from any other similarly priced speaker. It makes the wraparound lightstrip of the new Amazon Echo look as sophisticated and seductive as a set of traffic lights.
There are no physical buttons on the HomePod Mini. When the top panel is lit, it reveals otherwise near-invisible plus and minus symbols that, when touched, raise or lower the volume. A tap of the centre of the panel will pause or resume your music, a double-tap skips forward and a triple-tap skips back. A long press, meanwhile, sets Siri to listening mode. At its core, though, this is designed as a hands-off affair.
There are no physical audio connections, either. Even the power cable is fixed, terminating at the other end to a USB-C plug that slips into the same 20W wall charger that’s bundled with the company’s higher-end iPads. If you’re wondering whether that means the HomePod Mini can be powered off the USB-C socket of a Mac; it can’t. At least, it wouldn’t work when plugged into our MacBook Pro, with an angry-looking pulsating orange light indicating the HomePod Mini’s displeasure at being asked to perform on an underpowered port.
Features
(Image credit: Apple)
Within the HomePod Mini’s spherical, mesh-covered frame is a single, Apple-designed full-range driver that fires sound downwards and out of the 360-degree waveguide around the bottom. The driver is held by a suspension system to reduce distortion, and it’s flanked by two passive radiators designed to help create a bigger, weightier sound.
There are four microphones built into the chassis: three that specifically listen out for the ‘Hey Siri’ command and a fourth that uses echo location to ensure you can be heard over background noise or loud music. Certainly, the HomePod Mini has no issue hearing or comprehending us at any point during testing.
Also impressive is the way Siri always seems to know which device is being addressed, sensing when an instruction is to the HomePod Mini on the other side of the room even when an iPhone is lying much closer. This is particularly clever compared with Alexa – we find that questions directed at an Echo speaker just a couple of feet away are often answered by a different speaker in another room.
The brain of the HomePod is Apple’s own S5 chip, also found in the new Apple Watch Series 5 and Apple Watch SE. In the HomePod Mini, it enables computational audio. Apple claims it analyses and optimises the performance over 180 times per second, based on the position of the speaker and what’s being played.
Of course, the HomePod Mini also uses its power for a variety of Siri-powered smart functions, from controlling any HomeKit-compatible devices in your house, to setting timers and alarms, creating reminders and shopping lists, and sending messages and making phone calls. It can also now make announcements to one or all other HomePods in the house using the new Intercom feature. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
(Image credit: Apple)
Siri’s real strength in the context of the HomePod Mini (just as it was with the original HomePod) is its music curation. After a short period of learning, it responds to the phrase “play something I’ll like” not by streaming your most played track of the last few weeks, but by playing something that you may have never listened to before but is a good fit for what you often do listen to. If you’re not in the mood for Siri’s first suggestion, saying “play something different” will switch genres while remaining within your general tastes. It’s a really powerful way to discover new music, and Alexa is nowhere near as good at it.
Where the HomePod Mini falls back a little is in its support for third-party services. Things have certainly opened up somewhat since the original HomePod was launched – most notably in the addition of radio stations via TuneIn – but there’s still a long way to go. Spotify integration is top of the wishlist, and we’d also like to see Tidal and Deezer there. BBC Sounds is a must for the UK, too, as you can’t currently access BBC radio stations using Siri commands. We say “Hey Siri, play BBC Radio 5 Live”, and the Mini starts playing Five-O by James. It’s a lovely song, but it’s not the Champions League football we were after.
Apple is at least taking steps in the right direction – Pandora and Amazon Music will be added shortly – but there’s no guarantee that the service you want or already use will be added further down the line. In short, this is still a device aimed at those already embedded in the Apple ecosystem: not only do you require an iOS device to set up the HomePod Mini, you also need to be a regular user of many of its services, particularly Apple Music, in order to really get the most out of it.
That isn’t to say that it’s impossible to play non-Apple Music music on the HomePod Mini. AirPlay 2 integration means that audio can be sent from myriad iOS apps, including Spotify and Tidal. The slight issue there is that AirPlay 2 works like Bluetooth, using your iOS device as a source, rather than Chromecast, which uses your phone as a way to control music that the speaker then streams directly from the cloud. There’s nothing particularly wrong with the AirPlay/Bluetooth method, but it does have implications for sound quality and battery life.
Regularly switching between Siri and AirPlay can make for a slightly disjointed user experience, too. We can’t help but feel that Apple could do with a dedicated HomePod app that integrates all available services and makes all content searchable and then combinable in queues, much in the way that Sonos has. Right now, control of the HomePod and HomePod Mini is built into the Home app, but you’ll find only rudimentary controls for music (play, pause, volume, etc) alongside a handful of settings.
Sound
(Image credit: Apple)
From the moment we start playing music, it’s clear that the HomePod Mini comfortably outperforms its size and price. It goes much louder than expected – even 75 per cent volume is louder than we imagine most people will regularly want to go in an average-sized living room. But, no matter how much you push it, the HomePod Mini never shows any sign of strain. It’s clean and composed at all volumes.
While a bigger speaker, such as the Amazon Echo, will produce deeper bass, the HomePod Mini doesn’t sound bass-light in its own right. In fact, it’s more solid and authoritative than a speaker this small has any right to be, and its bass is seamlessly integrated into the overall presentation. There’s excellent overall tonal balance and consistency, with no frequencies over-exaggerated.
It’s rhythmic and driven, too. We play Hole In The Earth by Deftones and the Mini delivers plenty of the requisite power and urgency. There’s also enough dynamic capability to convey the track’s shifts from bass-led groove to swirling bridge and hammering crescendo. The quieter moments are properly quiet (and lots of speakers don’t do quiet effectively), leaving the space open for the next big hit.
Like the original HomePod, the Mini has an innate ability to get to the core of a track, delivering it as faithfully as its stature allows. That’s a rare ability, particularly for a smart speaker at this price. The performance from the new Amazon Echo simply isn’t as engaging. It’s not as immediate or driving, and a lot of that comes down to it being less well tonally and rhythmically organised.
We switch to Lane 8’s Nothing You Can Say and the bassline of the stripped-back track bubbles along with a surprising degree of extension. The bass here is supposed to be pronounced, underpinning the track, but without drowning out Lucy Stone’s vocals. That’s just how the HomePod delivers it. Each element, from the electric drums to the twinkling keyboard, is easy to focus on and enjoy, with no one strand coming at the expense of any other.
Once again, the HomePod Mini impresses in its ability to deliver the music as intended. The early beat from the kick drum is punchy with plenty of texture. You can tell it’s a live instrument, included along with the maraca to contrast the electronic effects of the track.
(Image credit: Apple)
What’s also impressive about this delivery is how well it’s projected. We play the same track on the Amazon Echo and it’s as though Stone is singing from a little, spherical cell. The HomePod Mini projects sound and fills the space far more effectively, removing itself as an object from the soundstage to a greater degree. The presentation is consistent from all around the room, too, with the Mini delivering on its promise of 360-degree sound.
Playing the sparse, live recording of The Road soundtrack by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, the HomePod Mini proves adept at presenting the subtle details and low-level dynamics necessary to convey the raw emotion of the track. This level of nuance is very rare at this level.
Saying “Hey Siri, play something different” offers up Paolo Nutini’s Coming Up Easy and, despite the HomePod Mini not being as outright bassy as bigger speakers, there’s still an authentic fullness to Nutini’s voice, along with plenty of texture, passion and dynamic flow. Getting voices right at this level is hard, but the Mini manages it marvellously.
Finally, we use the Home app to combine two HomePod Minis in a stereo pair. This predictably makes for a much bigger, more solid and more room-filling sound. Bass weight is increased and the Mini’s general qualities in terms of punch, clarity, dynamism and tonal balance are only improved by the pairing. There’s really no downside to creating a stereo pair.
Verdict
While Apple took a while to launch its first smart speaker, the HomePod was worth the wait. Yes it’s taken even longer to launch a smaller, cheaper model, but the HomePod Mini is, if anything, even more impressive.
For a speaker this small and this inexpensive, its audio performance is startling. Naturally for a speaker of its size and price, the HomePod Mini has its limits, but it quite frankly embarrasses its direct competition with the sophistication and maturity of its sound. It gets to the core of your music, ensuring everything it plays is engaging and interesting.
It’s also affordable enough to be bought in quantity, small enough to be placed in any room of the house, laden with smart skills and has an uncanny ability to introduce you to new music you’ll love. All of which makes it a deeply impressive proposition indeed.
It’s a good day for subscribers of Tidal’s HiFi service: millions of tracks from Warner Music Group have now been added to the streaming service’s catalogue as high-resolution Tidal Masters. New Tidal Masters albums include works from The Notorious B.I.G., Missy Elliott, LCD Soundsystem and Madonna.
Tidal has also improved the discovery of Tidal Masters – and in doing so the overall hi-res streaming music experience – by introducing ‘Master Edition’ Artist Radio and Track Radio, which allow subscribers to listen to an uninterrupted stream of Tidal Masters tracks based on their listening habits. Also in response to listeners’ requests, Tidal has also added the Master Edition of My New Arrivals, a personalised playlist of newly released music.
For the uninitiated, Tidal Masters are hi-res (typically 24-bit/96kHz) tracks available to subscribers of Tidal’s £20/$20-per-month HiFi service. Hi-res streaming comes courtesy of MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) technology, which efficiently captures and stores original studio master recordings as files that are small and convenient enough to stream, without the sonic sacrifices traditionally associated with compressed files.
(Image credit: MQA, Tidal)
Streamers of Tidal Masters have apparently doubled since 2019, and Tidal HiFi users now stream 40 per cent more tracks than they did last year. This latest Warner Music Group expansion means Tidal now offers the largest MQA catalogue outside of China. If you haven’t yet tried Tidal HiFi but are curious about streaming in optimum sound quality (and why wouldn’t you be?), now is a good time to try it: Tidal is currently offering new subscribers three months of the service for just £3 ($3) – that’s just £1 ($1) per month for glorious hi-res streaming!
UK: Tidal HiFi hi-res streaming just £3 for 3 months
US: Tidal HiFi hi-res streaming just $3 for 3 months
It’s been a big month for Tidal. The service recently launched Tidal Connect – a similar concept to the Spotify feature with the same suffix. The ‘casting’ feature allows subscribers to control music streaming (including of Tidal Masters and Dolby Atmos Music tracks) on compatible products (from Bluesound, Cambridge Audio, DALI and KEF, for example) directly from within the Tidal mobile apps.
MORE:
First Tidal Connect products confirmed: NAD, Naim, KEF and more
(Pocket-lint) – True wireless earphones have become much more popular over the past couple of years. While completely wire-free earphones existed before the AirPods first launched in 2017, there’s no denying the impact Apple has had, bringing momentum to the big breakthrough in wireless audio tech.
Since then, countless other companies – including the best audio brands around – have entered the market and we’ve tested all the big-name options to bring you what we think are the best wire-free earphones available to buy.
If you’re not yet convinced you want to gamble on wire-free, this list may change your mind. If not, you can always check out our list of best in-ears instead.
Our pick of the best true wireless earphones to buy today
Pocket-lint
Sony WF-1000XM3
squirrel_widget_160854
Sony’s first pair of noise cancelling wire-frees were received with a somewhat mixed response, but the newest generation is super. Where these are set apart from their rivals is in ANC. You’ll struggle to find wire-free in-ears with great adaptive noise cancelling that adjusts to its surroundings, but in these, Sony has knocked it out of the park. They’re really impressive.
Add the over-ear quality ANC to a device with great sound, long battery life and a comfortable fit, and what you have is a winning combination. The look and design of the earbuds might divide opinion, but then that’s true of pretty much any true wireless earphones. What Sony has done here is taken the superb capabilities of its flagship headphones, and crammed it into a tiny pair of wireless earphones.
Perhaps the only limitation is that these really are just for music enjoyment. They’re not water or sweat resistant, and the design doesn’t lend itself to being used for workout sessions. Still, the price is comfortably below the big-name audio brands, especially now that they’ve been out for a while, making them an easy recommendation.
Sony WF-1000XM3 review: True wireless in-ears with class-leading ANC
Apple
Beats Powerbeats Pro
squirrel_widget_148688
When you combine comfortable design with great sound, long battery life and Apple H1 convenience you get an all-round fantastic pair of earphones. And that’s exactly what the Powerbeats Pro is.
For its first pair of wire-free earphones, Beats collaborated even more deeply with Apple than before; building all the internal components and the design from scratch.
The more gentle curves and angles in the sculpted plastic casing make a pair of earphones that’s super light and supremely comfortable to wear for long periods. It also happens to have battery life to match, with up to 9 hours of playback outside of the case.
That’s not all either, with it being Apple-owned, Beats gets access to Apple technology, and that means you get the same H1 chip that lives inside the second gen AirPods. That means simple pairing with iOS devices, and instant pairing with any device using the same iCloud account.
Then there’s sound, which really is quite impressive given the Powerbeats price point. Lots of bass, but plenty of detail in the highs and mids. The only downside is a lack of decent noise cancelling.
Beats Powerbeats Pro review: Perfect workout companions
Pocket-lint
AirPods Pro
squirrel_widget_168834
True wireless earphones have become much more popular over the past couple of years. While completely wire-free earphones existed before the AirPods first launched in 2017, there’s no denying the impact Apple has had, bringing momentum to the big breakthrough in wireless audio tech.
Since then, countless other companies – including the best audio brands around – have entered the market and we’ve tested all the big-name options to bring you what we think are the best wire-free earphones available to buy.
If you’re not yet convinced you want to gamble on wire-free, this list may change your mind.
Apple AirPods Pro review: Silence is golden
Pocket-lint
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds
squirrel_widget_352481
Bose makes its debut on this list with an absolutely superb pair of earbuds that blew us away on review. They pack in superb noise cancelling, as well as brilliant comfort in the wearing, just as the name suggests.
Music sounds simply brilliant through the Earbuds, and while the controls aren’t quite so intuitive or helpful as some others, they’re still right up there with the best sets available.
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds review: The in-ear noise-cancelling king
Pocket-lint
Master and Dynamic MW07 Plus
squirrel_widget_168714
If you’re all about looks, having something a little unique and soul-enriching sound, look no further than the Master and Dynamic MW07 Plus. We fell instantly in love with them on first look at the polished chromed case and stayed in love when we put them in our ears.
They’re super comfortable to wear, thanks to a unique in-ear fin design that grips securely without letting you know it’s there. You can barely feel them in your ears, and yet they don’t ever feel like they might fall out.
What’s more, in an age of very samey looking plastic earbuds, the patterned, attractive acrylic finish on the outside makes it stand out and ensures you’re not walking around with the typical bland plastic poking out of your earholes.
Then there’s the sound. They’re truly fantastic to listen to. Lots of bass, dynamic detailed sound and great soundstage overall makes this the pair for those that just want to get lost in the music. Unlike the first generation, the battery actually lasts a good amount of time, and we get ANC in this model too. What’s not to love?
Master & Dynamic MW07 Plus review: Noise-cancelling dream
Pocket-lint
Shure Aonic 215
squirrel_widget_218032
If there was a prize for the most unusual pair of true wireless earphones, it’d undoubtedly go to the Shure Aonic 215. The over-ear hook design means fitting them takes a little longer than standard earbuds, and the foam tips need a few seconds to expand and fill the ear entry, but those two elements combined ensure you get a fantastic fit and great passive noise cancelling.
With the outside world locked out and a lovely snug feeling, you’re locked into music that sounds, frankly, phenomenal. You get a lot of detail, without losing the bass and other frequencies that help make music more enjoyable.
What’s more, due to there being an MMCX connector, you can snap off the wireless adapters and connect the earbuds to a cable for wired listening if you want to.
Shure Aonic 215 review: True wireless never sounded so good
Pocket-lint
Apple AirPods 2
squirrel_widget_148285
For iPhone users, the AirPods have been a smash hit. Despite the unusual looks, a combination of intelligent design choices and convenience make these very easy to recommend. In the first generation, the W1 chip (now replaced by the H1) ensured it paired really easily with your iPhone, while they also automatically paired with any other Apple device using the same iCloud account.
They’re easy to get out of the portable charging case, which in itself, is well designed and easy to carry around. Perhaps its only weakness is that the sound isn’t quite as dynamic or pleasing as the others on this list. But as we’ve found out so many times in consumer electronics, convenience often wins out against sheer quality.
You’ll be hard pushed to find someone who’s used AirPods and not loved them. What’s more, they can pair just like normal earphones with Android devices, if you want to use them cross-platform, it just loses some of that convenience that makes it so appealing.
Apple AirPods 2 review: Small improvements spell second-gen success?
Pocket-lint
Sony WF-XB700
squirrel_widget_218186
If what you need in a pair of wire-free earphones is the best sound and performance for the money, Sony’s WF-XB700 are a truly fantastic option. The sound is dynamic, loud, fun and really easy to recommend.
To get to the low price point without losing out on sound quality, Sony built the XB-series wire-free earphones from some pretty rough looking plastic, but they do sound great, the wireless connectivity is super. With up to 9 hours of battery from a full charge, they last really well too.
Sony WF-XB700 review: Wireless freedom on a budget
Pocket-lint
Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2
squirrel_widget_193281
Sennheiser took some time to get into the wire-free game, but it was worth the wait. The company focussed on sensible styling and great, customisable sound with the Momentum True Wireless, before following that up with an even better second generation. In addition to the other benefits, you get longer battery life and noise cancelling added to the mix.
You get aptX and Bluetooth 5.0 for solid, reliable connectivity as well as an app that allows really intuitive control over your sound profile. There’s no complicated EQ fader in sight. What’s more, they fit well, stay secure and aren’t uncomfortable to wear. Plus, they’re splash resistant.
The pair comes in a portable, neat carrying case covered in a grey textured fabric that opens and snaps shut easily. Touch controls can be a tiny bit fiddly, and the three-hour battery life isn’t the best, but certainly good enough for daily use. They charge quickly too.
B and O Play’s first wire-free earbuds were fantastic. It’s all about attractive, sensible style with great, customisable sound. We liked the app that comes with it, and the audio transparency feature can be useful at times too. For the second gen Beoplay E8’s, it was about building on a winning formula and making it even better.
B and O improved the battery life quite noticeably – although it still somewhat behind some of the more modern long-lasting earphones like the Powerbeats and the Sony pairs. What it does have, however, is a case that can be placed on a wireless charger for easy, convenient topping up, and a case with more battery inside it.
The pricing is just about in line with what other flagship wire-free in-ears cost, and we’re big fans of them.
B&O BeoPlay E8 2.0 review: Know it when you hear the champion sound
Pocket-lint
Samsung Galaxy Buds+
squirrel_widget_184630
So you don’t want to spend nearly £300 to get a decent pair of wire-frees? That’s where Samsung’s latest attempt comes in. The biggest draw is undoubtedly the price. They’re cheaper than any of the other big-name offerings, and they do the job well.
If you have a Samsung device, you’ll get similar pairing convenience to the Apple AirPods, and you get a wireless charging case as standard (no extra charge for that).
Samsung Galaxy Buds+ review: Enough of a plus?
Pocket-lint
Jabra Elite 75t
squirrel_widget_172296
Jabra has been in the true wireless game as long as anybody, and it seems to fit in a great middle-point between the budget end and the flagship earphones. It’s not an expensive pair, but wireless performance is exceptional and the sound is really good.
You get HearThrough for listening to ambient noise around you, plus built-in support for Alexa. At that the fact you get 7.5 hours of music playback from a full charge and a compact design, and you have a truly versatile pair of wireless in-ears from Jabra.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
