Microsoft’s long-awaited new webcam is finally here, alongside a number of accessories designed for the work from home era. Rumors of a new Microsoft webcam have been circulating for years, and the result is what Microsoft calls the Modern Webcam. It’s a fairly basic and affordable 1080p webcam that will start shipping for $69.99 in June.
The Microsoft Modern Webcam will support up to 1080p HDR output at 30fps and connects via USB-A, not USB-C. It’s not the 4K webcam found on Microsoft’s Surface Hub 2, and it doesn’t include Windows Hello support either. It’s really a simple webcam designed for students or workers to quickly add a better video calling option to an existing laptop or PC. Microsoft is also including a privacy shutter and LED indicator to let people easily see when the webcam is active.
Microsoft’s Modern USB-C Speaker.Image: Microsoft
Microsoft is also launching a new USB-C speaker. The Modern USB-C Speaker is designed primarily for Microsoft Teams, and it even includes a button to launch a control panel for Teams with quick actions for meetings. Microsoft’s USB-C speaker includes omni-directional microphones and background noise cancellation to improve audio quality. There are also the usual mute, volume, and call-button controls on the top deck of the dark fabric design.
It’s a compact speaker that’s just five inches wide, with cable storage for the USB-C connection and even a carrying case for protection when moving it around. While it’s designed primarily for meetings, you’ll be able to output any audio out of the speaker so it should be fine for music, too. Microsoft’s USB-C speaker will be available in June priced at $99.99.
Microsoft is also launching new USB and wireless headsets, as well as Surface Headphones 2 Plus today. All three devices include a Microsoft Teams button, and you can read more about them right here.
(Pocket-lint) – Hammerhead claims that the Karoo 2 is the closest you’ll get to a smartphone. That’s no surprise, because this is a Google Android-based bike computer – the operating system that so many phones run – which is cause for some excitement.
Hammerhead’s pitch with the Karoo 2 is that you’ll get regular updates. And that’s true – indeed, we’ve started to write this review on several occasions, only to find we wanted to explore something more following additional updates.
As a result of updates, the Karoo 2 has got better over the months we’ve been using it. But is it good enough to tempt you away from the likes of the Garmin Edge?
Design and build
Dimensions: 100.6 x 60.8 x 19.3mm / Weight: 131g
Handlebar and out-front mounts included
IP67 waterproofing
The Hammerhead Karoo 2 has a 3.2-inch display, meaning it sits between the Garmin Edge 530/830 and Edge 1030 sizes, but it’s bigger than the Wahoo bike computers. It’s on the larger size, yes, but that’s good for quick glancing.
The body itself is a glass-filled polycarbonate, with an elastomer bumper. The display is topped with Dragontrail Glass for scratch resistance, while the whole package gets an IP67 rating to keep the water and mud out.
Pocket-lint
On the rear there’s a sealed compartment you can open with a coin that will accept a SIM card, while a USB-C socket on the bottom of the device is used for charging. This has a rubber bung that inserts into it (with a spare in the box), but it’s not attached in any way. We’ve no qualms about losing it on a ride, but we might lose it when we have to take it out for charging.
We’ve used the Karoo 2 in rain and shine, through mud and sleet, and we’ve no worries about the waterproofing of this device. It feels solid, it looks good, and it’s kept on going with all we’ve put it through.
Best Fitbit fitness tracker 2021: Which Fitbit is right for you?
By Britta O’Boyle
·
We’re not huge fans of the buttons being on opposite sides of the body, though, because we find it more difficult to press a button than ought to be. Press the bottom button too hard and the device might rotate on the mount – which is how you remove it. But with another button on the other side, gripping to press on one side is a little more difficult. Basically, we’d prefer them to be staggered.
Pocket-lint
It’s something of a moot point, however, given that most cycling gloves these days work with touch displays (or one finger does at least) and there’s touch support for pretty much anything you might want to use a button for – although this is less reliable in the wet, when the buttons come into their own.
Turning to mounting, there’s an out-front mount in the box, which users Hammerhead’s connection system. This will let you slide it into place to lock in securely, with a twist to release and slide forward again to remove. This means you can mount it on busy handlebars without a twist as large as you’d need for a Garmin computer, for example.
The supplied mount is designed to sit out the front of your handlebars and to be aerodynamic. It’s designed for standard 31.8mm bars and there’s no shims supplied for anyone riding a vintage steed or anything smaller.
There is an adapter to switch the Karoo 2 to a Garmin quarter-turn mount, which was bundled with preorders, otherwise available as an accessory (it’s £14 in the UK). That’s a great option as you can switch between bikes using an old mount (which we did), without having to mess around with changing all the mounts on all your bikes.
The display is important, because in a world of data, that’s what you spend your time looking at. It’s a good resolution too, with 292 pixels per inch, and while that’s somewhat lower in count than the latest smartphones, it suits the content well enough – which is the important point.
As this is an Android-based system (Android 8, so generations behind current phones), some of the interface and interactions will be familiar. Trying to use the tiny keyboard, however, especially for setup, is a little tedious – and Hammerhead could well do with offloading some of these tasks to a companion app, in the way Garmin does.
Pocket-lint
There is plentiful brightness, but it’s not automatic, so you might have to swipe to bump it up when the rain starts falling – or indeed when the sun comes out.
There’s a Qualcomm-supplied quad-core processor, 32GB of storage, and a whole world of connectivity. That includes all the essentials: Bluetooth and ANT+ for accessories; GPS for location tracking; Wi-Fi for syncing and updates; 3G/4G for mobile data connectivity; motion sensors to aid navigation, and so forth.
This being an Android device it’s important that there’s enough power to do what you want. Startup is a little slow, but we’ve got used to starting it on the way to getting changed for a ride. Loading routes and profiles is a little slower than we’d like too, but we’re sure that software updates could fix this.
Pocket-lint
It’s easy to manage connected devices, perhaps a little simpler than some other bike computers, especially if you know your way around Android.
We tested the Hammerhead with Garmin ANT+ bike sensors, Scosche Rhythm+ 2.0, and the Polar Verity Sense via Bluetooth – and found no connectivity problems at all.
On to that smartphone-like experience. There’s no call support, because even with the SIM card this isn’t a phone, but the card slot in the back gives the option for a permanent data connection. Otherwise, you can just use a Wi-Fi hotspot from the phone – the one that’s probably in the back pocket of your jersey anyway – to save you needing another SIM.
Pocket-lint
However, there’s no data connection between the Karoo 2 and your actual smartphone via Bluetooth – all the syncing that the Karoo 2 does is via its own Wi-Fi or data connection if you’ve given it a SIM card. That’s mostly fine – but does also present some limitations.
You could, of course, ditch your smartphone and just take the connected Karoo 2, knowing that it will give you map searching and other features. But on a display this small, it could end up being just a little too frustrating when you get properly lost.
How Hammerhead handles its data
Karoo Companion app
Browser-based dashboard
Third-party services
You need to make sure the Karoo 2 is connected to Wi-Fi if you want to sync a new route that you’ve made, or to push ride data to a third-party service, because Hammerhead isn’t trying to run its own platform.
This is the fundamental difference between the Karoo 2 and Garmin’s devices: Garmin wants you to be as connected as possible, to feed data into Garmin Connect and drive the data machine. Hammerhead doesn’t offer that, so presenting some services is limited or constricted, while third-party connectivity plays a bigger role.
We hinted before that setup is a little strange. There’s no real smartphone app for starters: there’s the Karoo Companion app, which only handles push notifications; or there’s the web dashboard. This is a weird position for a company developing on Android, as you’d think Hammerhead would focus on being mobile first – but it’s not.
Pocket-lint
The notifications you get are a little basic too, missing a huge opportunity: Android quick replies. This is a gem that iPhone won’t know about, but quick replies on Android work really well on Garmin, letting you send a reply to an incoming message or call – really useful when you’re riding. Visually, the Hammerhead notifications are too basic too, so could certainly be presented better.
Instead you need to get yourself onto the browser and setup your Hammerhead account and then sign into your Karoo with that account when it arrives. There’s some downloading and updating that takes place – but syncing, you’ll remember, is via the device to third-party services and the dashboard, rather than within a smartphone app.
Really, your phone plays no part – and we think Hammerhead could make everything smoother with much closer pairing with phones. For example: if you want use the live tracking feature, that data can’t go via your Bluetooth-connected phone, you have to connect the Karoo 2 via Wi-Fi or a data connection and then share a URL to those you want to live track you.
It’s jumping through disconnected hoops and resulted in us using WhatsApp location tracking instead. Bear in mind that Garmin’s livetracking can be set to automatically notify a list of people as soon as you start a ride – and that’s really what Hammerhead needs to offer, rather than relying on people finding a link that was shared with them a few months prior.
Pocket-lint
Some might say there aren’t enough partnerships to drive this platformless system. For many, the link with Strava will give them all the data analysis they want, with the reciprocal Strava Segments in place too – which does have some parity to Garmin’s offering, allowing you to have your starred Segments pop up when you get to them.
But there’s a lot that’s not on the list – and while more is likely to come, Hammerhead really needs to cover all cyclists’ needs.
Naturally, without a full platform for data analysis, most will be looking at this on Strava – which you can read about here – with Hammerhead’s dashboard only showing basic time, route, distance and elevation details.
Being Android-based also adds opportunity. Hammerhead mentions sideloading APKs onto the Karoo 2, which might be beyond your average user – but certainly there’s the opportunity for native apps rather than just data syncing. With a little thought, the Karoo 2 could be running its own Strava app or a Komoot app – but with the Karoo 2 running Android 8 (software originally released in 2017), some developers might baulk at the thought of working with that older version.
On the saddle and navigation
Profile customisation
Offline mapping
Rapid rerouting
With all that out of the way and accepted, riding with the Karoo 2 is actually great. The user interface presents a range of profiles, each offering up different data sets. The default selection is a little odd, but you can make a custom profile or edit any of the default profiles to your liking.
It’s worth having a play around with, because once you’ve entered one of these profiles you can’t back out and switch to something else if you find you can’t get to the data you want. But you can customise all the existing profiles, so if you want to add cadence instead of your average heart rate (or whatever) that’s easy enough to do.
Pocket-lint
And there are loads of data fields, including shifting information for Shimano Di2, battery life, every variant on time, power, climb, etc., that you can think of. It makes everything super customisable so you’re looking at exactly what you want.
Navigation is good, with the option to create routes on the device, sync routes from other platforms, import GPX files and so forth. Despite the lack of a proper smartphone app, you can download a GPX route and upload it to the Dashboard in your phone browser, to then appear on your Karoo 2 when it syncs.
Hammerhead does have a habit of changing routes – especially offroad routes. Having found and saved a route in Komoot, Hammerhead then imported and reinterpreted it, switching some of the forest paths to roads. Attempting to edit that route created a lot of doglegs, again attempting to avoid some of the paths that are perfectly legitimate to ride on.
Pocket-lint
Rerouting is rapid, however, but missing a waypoint can lead to lengthy rerouting instructions – especially if that missed point is the start of the route. You’ll spend the first 10 minutes being directed back to where you came from.
The GPS is accurate and fast to locate, with a good sense of direction. Thankfully it uses arrows on the route and a directional arrow for you, so on circuits or routes that cross themselves, there’s no confusion.
Navigating maps on a ride is easy too, because you can pinch and zoom, or drag around the map, which is far easier than Garmin’s system.
When you’ve planned a route and head out, you’ll be able to see route profile data so you can see how long those climbs are and when they’re coming up, so you can prepare yourself to open the hurt box.
Pocket-lint
Once in a route you can browse the maps on the device to make an alteration. For example, if you need to get home, you can zoom out on screen, drop a pin on home, then follow the new route easily enough – which is great for last-minute changes.
There is support for workouts too, which can be imported from TrainingPeaks, so you can directly access them on the Karoo 2. Although as we said previously, there’s room to expand this offering to make it more encompassing.
A lot of what the Karoo 2 offers is about expanding the offering too. As we said in the introduction, the software is always changing. Mostly this adds functionality which is welcomed – but we’ve seen a few rearrangements of the on-screen controls that took us by surprise. You’ll get an email detailing the changes, but Hammerhead also has a changelog here.
Battery life
2500mAh battery
12 hour reliable life
If you’ve used a smartphone you might be concerned about battery life. Having moved to Hammerhead from the capable Garmin Edge 830, we were pleasantly surprised.
You’ll get a reliable 12 hours of battery life from this computer. There are measures you can take to reduce the battery drain – including turning off the display if you just don’t need all those functions – and charging is fairly fast too.
Pocket-lint
You’ll get 30 per cent charge from 30 minutes plugged in – but you’ll need 3 hours to fully charge it again. And there’s no charger in the box, but as USB-C is common now you can simply charge it with any existing charger.
But put this in context: most phones will happily charge fully in half this time – with much larger batteries. So this isn’t really that fast in terms of charging speed, not when compared to the phone market. Certainly, we’d love to see faster charging in a future Karoo – just so you can avoid those last-minute delays.
Verdict
The biggest thing about the Karoo 2 is accepting that you might be stepping away from a huge ecosystem to do things a little differently. Unless you’re really committed to specific Garmin features, the mainstay of the Karoo 2’s offering is excellent – the visible and recorded data, the customisation, solid build and good battery life.
For those who live in Strava, rather than something like Garmin Connect, the Karoo 2 will potentially provide you with everything you need, rather than being drawn off into complete lifestyle tracking. But there are areas where the Karoo 2 can get more competitive – and it needs to, given the fairly steep price.
When all is said and done, the Karoo 2 is a great bike computer. It’s getting better all the time and fundamentally it gives everything you’ll need on a ride. Over time it has endeared itself to us.
Alternatives to consider
Pocket-lint
Garmin Edge 830
squirrel_widget_3662313
A natural rival to the Karoo 2, with a similar asking price. It’s equally ambitious, bettering the Karoo in terms of its smartphone interaction, while playing into a larger ecosystem where Garmin will help track your whole lifestyle – not just your rides.
Siri appears to have spilled the beans on the next Apple launch event. MacRumors was first to reportthatasking the voice assistant “When is the next Apple Event” prompts it to say April 20th. We’ve managed to get the same response, though only on a device that’s associated with a US Apple ID. Apple typically announces its events with invites sent out a week in advance, meaning the news should become official later today.
“The special event is on Tuesday, April 20th, at Apple Park in Cupertino, CA. You can get all the details on Apple.com” says Siri. Tapping the link takes you to the standard Apple Event landing page, where the launch isn’t listed. It seems odd that the response claims the event is happening in Cupertino, since this will almost certainly be another of Apple’s pre-recorded online-only events.
The message itself doesn’t give any hints about what Apple might be planning to announce at the event. However, recent rumors point towards new iPad Pro models, at least. Bloomberg recently reported new iPad Pros will debut in April. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro will reportedly be Apple’s first device with a Mini LED screen, allowing it to offer a high contrast ratio without the risk of burn-in associated with OLED displays. Reports indicate that the new iPad Pros could be in short supply due to production issues Apple is facing with the Mini LED displays. Other rumored iPad Pro upgrades include new processors with a similar amount of power to the M1 chip found in Apple’s recent MacBooks, better cameras, and USB-C ports with faster transfer speeds.
There are rumors that Apple is also close to launching its long-rumored AirTags. The location tracking devices, which should allow users to keep track of items using Apple’s Find My software, were expected to launch last year but ultimately never appeared. With Apple recently opening up its Find My network to track items from third-party companies, the stage is now set for the launch of its own physical trackers.
Unless Siri is lying, the invitations should arrive imminently.
Cowon has added Bluetooth, a volume wheel and a dual DAC to its bijou player – and produced another class leader
For
Detailed presentation across frequencies
Bluetooth connectivity
Classy build and finish
Against
Screen looks a little dated
Remember matchbook quotes, those little sayings written on complimentary matchbooks you could pick up in high-end bars or hotel lobbies? Should the Cowon Plenue D3, a matchbox-sized portable music player, have come adorned with its own saying, it might have read, ‘Be cautious of people whose actions don’t match their words’.
The third-generation Plenue D player arrives with no boastful fanfare, despite both its previous iterations gaining five-star reviews and even What Hi-Fi? Awards. The demure black packaging divulges little about this machine, apart from the fact that there’s now a Cirrus Logic CS43131 dual DAC on board, whereas the last generation used just one.
There’s also Bluetooth support, so you can pair your wireless headphones or speaker, and a new rotary volume wheel. Regardless of its decorated lineage and all these useful extras, the D3 is only slightly pricier than its predecessor, the Plenue D2.
Build
(Image credit: Cowon)
As we’ve come to expect from this line of miniature portable music players, the PD3’s build is minimalist and chic, with a black mirror finish on the front and back, a matte finish for the sides, and a silver metallic panel across the top of the player. It’s also available in a gold finish.
Cowon’s isometric edge design – where two faces meet, each edge has been cut with precise calculation – creates clean lines and proves that beauty really is in the detail.
The new Plenue D3 is a few millimetres longer and thicker than the original Plenue D, but unless you place the two side by side it is almost impossible to tell. The extra depth is down to a cracking new volume dial on the top right of the player, where the power button used to sit.
This glorious rotary wheel seems like an homage to Astell & Kern and feels just as premium as its pricier competition. As with the A&K Kann Alpha, a recessed light also shines out from beneath the dial. Here, it periodically flashes blue when playing, or glows red when charging or loading music, but you can turn it off in the settings menu if you prefer.
The power button has been relocated to the top right side of the player and, because there’s no need for volume buttons here anymore, the three other little circular controls for play/pause, skip forward and skip back are now even easier to locate and use in your pocket. And the player still weighs just 103g.
The touchscreen is the same 2.8in wide-angle LCD (240 x 230) display as on the previous model. If you think one interface looks a little dated, you can choose between three different ‘skins’ and also alter the text font.
The PD3 responds well, displays album artwork and offers easy navigation and grouping of your music. Considering the challenging amount of screen real estate it has to work with, that’s no mean feat. Once you get used to hopping through the settings and back to your music, the Plenue D3 is a joy to use.
Features
(Image credit: Cowon)
The PD3 boasts a battery life of up to 45 hours if you’re playing MP3 files, or a solid 30 hours when listening to hi-res files at ‘normal’ volume. There is support for 24-bit/192kHz WAV, FLAC, ALAC and AIFF files and 64GB of built-in storage, which is expandable to 192GB with the addition of a 128GB microSD card. The PD3 boasts DSD128 file compatibility too – and that support is native, so DSD files aren’t converted to PCM during playback. Again, there’s balanced 2.5mm and unbalanced 3.5mm headphone jacks.
So why should you upgrade to the PD3? If the new volume wheel doesn’t tempt you, Bluetooth 3.0 (with support for SBC and aptX codecs) might. We go into the PD3’s Settings menu, hit the Bluetooth tab and select our Earfun Air Pro wireless headphones, and later our Tribit Audio Stormbox Micro Bluetooth speaker, to pair. Both connect – and automatically re-pair – with ease.
If you’re going away for the weekend and want a tiny sound system for your room that is both ultra-portable and leaves your phone free for actual calls, this is a top solution. Go to the JetEffects tab in Settings and you can stream your music with effects such as ‘X-Bass’, or ever-more creative profiles such as ‘Feel the wind’ or ‘Reverb cathedral’, according to your room or tastes.
There are 48 of these JetEffects in total, including 44 named presets, four user presets you can create with a five-band equaliser and nine special ‘reverb’ modes. Want to hear a track up to 50 per cent slower or at 1.5 times its original speed? The PD3 can oblige here too. Although DSD files can’t be played over Bluetooth or with JetEffect sound profiles, most of your music will work with all of these functions.
The PD3 charges via USB-C and takes around 3.5 hours to fully charge. Loading tracks via the same port is a breeze. We hook it up to our MacBook Pro, find it under our ‘devices’ tab and drag and drop files into the ‘music’ folder – no third-party apps required. You still need to physically connect the PD3 to your source to add music, but when adding files is this easy it genuinely feels like the best way to do things.
Sound
(Image credit: Cowon)
We enjoy toying with the PD3’s Bluetooth connectivity and JetEffect features, but the bulk of our testing is done with the wired Grado SR325e headphones (with a 6.3mm to 3.5mm adaptor) and with sound profiles set to ‘Normal’. But in the Audio Output tab here, you can select between in-ear ‘earphones’ or harder-to-drive ‘headphones’, just to optimise the performance.
We cue up Queen’s Greatest Hits (16-bit/44.1kHz FLAC) and there’s a glorious amount of separation on offer from the outset of Fat Bottomed Girls as the band sings the anthemic chorus. Freddie Mercury’s vocal is central, but the instruments shine too – a detailed drum fill towards the raucous end of the track, vocal trills, guitar ideas – proving there’s an extra level of detail on offer here that some players can’t access. The album continues to Bicycle Race and the character of the vocals and the playful bass completes an exciting, zealous and transparent listen.
The bicycle bells towards the end of the track are sparkling, separate and distinguished through the treble. This is a talented player that’s sonically similar in character to its older siblings, but there are small upgrades to be had in terms of rhythm, timing, detail and musicality.
From the start of Michael Jackson’s Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ (24-bit/192kHz FLAC) the bass riff is notably deep and agile in our left ear and the central melody is zealous and remarkably energetic for such a tiny box of tricks. The layers of vocals are handled with precision so that each is impactful across the frequencies.
Switching to Hans Zimmer’s Gotham’s Reckoning (24-bit/192kHz FLAC) from The Dark Knight Rises original soundtrack, the pensive and fast-paced percussion builds to a full-bodied snap of thunder within a brooding and expansive mix, brimming with emotion and forceful low-end punch.
Verdict
When considering the Cowon Plenue D3, it’s important to note that wi-fi streaming is still off the menu – so you will have to go without on-the-go streaming of Tidal, Deezer and others.
But if you have the files and like the idea of pairing your portable music player either to a wireless speaker or pair of headphones for one of the smallest wireless systems you’ve seen, there’s no better shout currently on the market for the money.
The Plenue D3 keeps things simple: it plays your hi-res music – and it does that very well indeed.
Apple’s next iPad Pro may face supply constraints at launch due to issues in production, according to a new report in Bloomberg. Apple’s suppliers are said to be having trouble with low manufacturing yields for the new Mini LED display rumored to be the key feature of the new 12.9-inch model; one manufacturer has reportedly paused production.
Nikkei reported last week that iPad production had been delayed by a shortage of displays and display components, though the publication didn’t specify which models had been hit. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the new iPad Pro lineup is still expected to be announced later this month.
It’s possible, though, that the larger model may have a later shipping date. The smaller model reportedly won’t use the Mini LED display, but other upgrades across the line are said to include a faster processor similar in power to the M1 chip in Apple’s new Macs, as well as an upgraded USB-C port and better cameras.
I would like to thank XGIMI for supplying the sample.
There has been quite a history of compact projectors hitting the market, with some so tiny as to fit in one’s palm. However, most tend to suffer from some form of limitation in terms of portability, brightness, interface or audio. XGIMI presented an interesting choice with the original Mogo Pro, which managed to provide all of the above at a level that made it a pretty unique all-rounder for casual use both indoors and on the road. The XGIMI Mogo Pro+ takes the same technological base of the Mogo Pro and adds fully automated Keystone setup to the mix.
Packaging and Contents
The XGIMI Mogo Pro+ ships in a white box that looks very similar to what you would expect when buying a modern cell phone these days. There is very little writing to distract from the product with the partner logos clearly visible for an added boost of clout and recognition. On the rear, once again much like mobile phone companies, you will find the serial number and required certification logos.
Besides a bit of paperwork, you don’t get any extras with the XGIMI Mogo Pro+, which is a bit unfortunate. It is built with portability in mind, so a case that could hold it and its power supply would have been a very welcome sight, especially as other brands in the industry include one. You may buy it separately for around $80 on Amazon, which is pretty expensive. A means to safely transport your fairly expensive device is pretty crucial; it would have been nice if it at least were a little cheaper.
The XGIMI Mogo Pro+ requires 3.42 A according to the PSU, which unfortunately is beyond the 3 A a USB-C implementation could deliver. Thus, a classic power brick makes sense, and the provided power brick is both sturdy and quite compact.
The bundled Bluetooth remote has a bit of a triangular shape to it, which makes it very comfortable to hold. In the front, you get a good set of buttons that allow you to navigate the Android TV interface easily. In the center is the colorful Google Assistant button. The remote takes two AAA batteries and even has a built-in toggle to use the angled up/down buttons for either volume or focus.
In about three months, Samsung will announce the Galaxy A22. Read all about the expected budget phone here and take a look at the possible design.
Every year, Samsung releases a large number of smartphone models, a significant part of which is housed within the Galaxy A series. A considerable number of 2021 models have already been announced, varying from cheap budget models to mid-range phones with 5G support. It started with the introduction of the mid-range Galaxy A42. Not long after, the cheap Samsung A12 and A02s were announced, followed by the A32. Recently, the Galaxy A52 and A72 have been added to the sales range. We now have to wait for the Galaxy A82 and the A22.
In this publication we limit ourselves to the Galaxy A22, the cheap brother of the already introduced A32. It will likely be the cheapest 5G phone that Samsung will announce in 2021 – with an expected retail price of around €250. It is the successor to the Galaxy A21 / A21s released in June.
Samsung A-Series smartphone 2021
Meanwhile, the expected Samsung A22 has been in the news several times. It is known that both a 4G and 5G version will be released – just as is the case with the Galaxy A32 and A52. There is also information available about the colors. The budget phone is expected to arrive in 4 color variants: gray, white, light purple (violet) and light green.
Based on all available information, graphic designer Technizo Concept, in collaboration with LetsGoDigital, has created a series of product renders in which the possible design of the Samsung Galaxy A22 is central. In addition to the four expected colors, Technizo Concept has also added a fifth variant, which in our opinion would fit well into the delivery program; pale yellow.
Much is still unclear about the specifications. Presumably, the new A-series model will be equipped with a flat 6.5-inch LCD display. Although the A21 was still equipped with a punch-hole selfie camera, we expect the new model to feature a notch as all budget models within the A-series are equipped with a notch this year.
Budget phone with quad camera
There is still some uncertainty about the camera system at the rear. It is in line with expectations that Samsung will build in a quad camera – this was also the case with its predecessor. The main sensor will likely be able to capture 48 megapixel resolution photos. In addition, an ultra-wide-angle camera, a depth camera and a macro camera will most likely be implemented.
Samsung could choose to implement a square module, such as with the A12 and A42. For the product renders, however, we assumed that the camera of the A22 will have a rectangular design, as we also see with the A21 and the more recent A32.
With the latter model, Samsung chose not to place a camera frame around the lenses, the cameras are placed directly on the rear panel. We have also reflected this renewed and refreshing design in the A22, as can be seen in the following YouTube video of Technizo Concept.
Hardware & Software
The Samsung A22 is probably powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset. This is a mid-range 5G SoC. A MediaTek Helio chip may be used for the 4G model. It is still unclear whether both models will be introduced simultaneously. Recently, a Samsung roadmap appeared online (thanks to Evan Blass) listing the Galaxy A22 5G model for a July release.
With the A32, Samsung chose to introduce the 4G model at a later date. This device was equipped with less powerful hardware, but also with a nicer display and a higher resolution camera than its 5G counterpart. It is quite possible that Samsung wants to apply the same differentiation with the A22.
Samsung is expected to release at least two memory variants: 4GB RAM / 64GB ROM and 6GB RAM / 128GB ROM storage memory. A model with 3GB RAM / 32GB ROM may also be released in some markets. The memory will in any case be expandable with a microSD memory card. This is of course a great advantage. With the high-end models, such as the Samsung Galaxy S21, this option is no longer supported.
Android 11 smartphone
The smartphone will run on the Android 11 operating system, combined with the One UI 3.1 user interface from Samsung. This is a user-friendly and clear interface with many personalization options.
Since it is a budget phone of less than € 300, software- and security updates will also be performed less frequently. Based on other cheap A-series models, Samsung will likely make a security update available 4x per year (once per quarter).
Although Samsung has expanded its software update policy last year, by providing most models with Android OS updates for 3 years, this will probably not apply to the A22. The more expensive models from the A series can count on 3 years of software updates, such as the Galaxy A52, the A72 and the A82 expected later this year.
Battery & charging options
Samsung will probably provide this budget phone with a plastic back panel and a plastic frame. The fingerprint sensor is most likely processed on the side of the device, in the on / off button.
Like all Samsung Galaxy A-series models this year, the A22 will also have an old-fashioned, but still much-loved 3.5mm headphone connection. This way you can use a wired headset to fully enjoy your music.
A USB-C connection is provided for charging. As yet no information is known about the battery capacity, nevertheless it is likely that it concerns a 5,000 mAh battery. This is also the case with its cheaper and more expensive brother; the A12 and A32. Charging is probably possible with a maximum charging power of 15 Watts.
Although Samsung no longer includes a charger in the sales package for the S-series models, all A-series models are still being supplied with a charger this year. You can therefore assume that you will also find a charger in the sales box of the A22.
Samsung A22 price and model variations
It seems that Samsung is planning to launch the Galaxy A22 worldwide. The device is also expected in Europe, both as a 4G and 5G variant. The latter model is expected in July, it remains to be seen whether the 4G model will be introduced simultaneously.
No concrete information is yet known about the price. Nevertheless, a price indication can already be given on the basis of its predecessor and the other A-series models. The price will probably be somewhere between € 210 and € 275, where the 5G model will of course be slightly more expensive than the 4G model.
The 5G version will be equipped with a more powerful chipset. Perhaps Samsung will make some concessions in other areas, in order to keep the price difference between the two models small – think of a lower screen resolution and / or refresh rate and less high-resolution cameras.
Alternatives for Samsung Galaxy A22
If you don’t want to wait until July and are you looking for a new Samsung smartphone, then the 2021 range already offers sufficient diversity. For those who do not place too many demands on their mobile phone, the A12 may be a suitable candidate. If you are looking for just a little more, Samsung offers a good alternative with the A32. The one-year-old Galaxy A51 is also worth considering, this was the best-selling smartphone in Europe last year.
Obviously, there are also plenty of other brands, with interesting models within this price range. Consider, for example, the Nokia 5.4, the Motorola Moto G9 Plus, the OnePlus Nord N10, the Oppo A74 and the Xiaomi Mi 10T. The range of budget phones is wide. Although these smartphones usually offer a good price / quality ratio, the differences between them can be significant. It is therefore always advisable to compare a few models first, so you can make a good decision based on your personal preferences.
Note to editors :The product images shown in this publication are created by Technizo Concept in collaboration with LetsGoDigital. The presented 3D renders are for illustrative purposes only. This product is not for sale. The images are copyright protected. Feel free to use these renders on your own website, please be so respectful to include a source link into your publication.
Lenovo’s new Legion Phone Duel 2 is a gaming phone that has two USB-C ports, a pop-up camera, and even built-in fans. There’s so much tech inside that Lenovo decided it’d be best to shove its most crucial, hard-working components into the middle of the phone, making it easier for the fans to keep it all cool during gameplay. As a result, it’s thicker in the middle, flanked by two batteries. That didn’t seem like a huge red flag at first. If anything, it seemed clever — that is, until YouTuber JerryRigEverything got ahold of the phone (via Android Police).
As part of the channel’s signature rigorous testing of durability, each device is eventually bent to see how much flex it can withstand before breaking. Most devices can hold up but usually not without some bent metal or snapped glass along the way. The Legion Phone Duel 2 didn’t take well at all to being flexed, not even a little bit. At around the 8:40 mark in the video, shortly after the host said “I’m not even remotely concerned about it breaking,” it satisfyingly snapped at the antenna line that meets the raised middle section, compromising the phone’s ability to power on. With little force, the host also broke the other side to illustrate the lack of structural integrity in the design.
Lenovo’s device isn’t necessarily an outlier compared to other recent gaming phones the channel has tested. The Asus ROG Phone 5 (similar to the Ultimate model that I recently reviewed) also broke during the test, despite having a more cohesive design. That said, it did appear to require more force to break than Lenovo’s new phone. I’m no engineer, but it seems like splitting the battery in two might be part of what’s to blame for the fragility, as this is how Asus’ latest phone is arranged internally, too.
As different as the Legion Phone Duel 2 looks compared to some other gaming-centric phones, it comes at a high $950 price. And its somewhat fragile design might eventually cost you even more down the road if you need to find a replacement.
HMD is announcing six new midrange devices today led by the Nokia X20, a midrange handset priced starting at €349 / £299.99 (around $415). It will release in “select markets globally” such as the UK starting next month, but we’re still waiting on HMD to confirm exact US pricing and availability. I’ve been using the phone running near-final software over the past week, which has been enough to get some rough first impressions about the device.
To be frank, the Nokia X20 isn’t the most exciting device. But HMD’s promises about ongoing software and hardware support for the phone make it compelling.
The Nokia X20 is specced like a device at this price point is expected to be. It’s powered by a modest Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 processor paired with either 6 or 8GB of RAM (my device has 6GB), 128GB of expandable storage, and a 4,470mAh battery. It’s got a 6.67-inch, 1080p 60Hz display with a small hole-punch notch and four rear cameras including an ultrawide, macro, and depth sensor.
There’s a side-mounted fingerprint sensor on the right of the device.
The company says it’ll provide three years of monthly security updates for the X20 after launch, three years of OS updates, and to ensure the hardware doesn’t give up the ghost before software support ends, it’s also extending its normal manufacturer’s warranty by an extra year. “In the majority of places,” a company spokesperson says, “that extends it to three years.” If all goes to plan, the Nokia X20 should still be under warranty when it receives its Android 14 update.
In the past, HMD has generally been good at updating its phones over time, though ComputerWorld’sAndroid 11 upgrade tracker reports that it’s been more sluggish lately. Recently, HMD updated its Nokia 8.1 and Nokia 3.2, which released in 2018 and 2019, to Android 11 as part of an upgrade roadmap that includes over a dozen of its devices.
Three years of security updates is a little less than the four years Samsung recently said it would offer for its Galaxy devices, but Samsung’s warranty varies between one and two years depending on whether you’re in the US or UK. Apple recently updated its 2015 iPhone 6S to iOS 14 (five years after its release), but its standard limited warranty also typically only covers new phones for between one and two years.
Along with aiming for three years of use, HMD has also made a couple of other decisions with the Nokia X20 in the name of being eco-friendly. First, in the EU it’s joining Apple and others by not including a power brick in the box, just a USB-C cable. What you do get in the box is a 100 percent compostable phone case. It’s a neat idea producing a case that won’t end up in a landfill, but the accessory itself is frustrating to use. The portion of the case that covers the phone’s volume rocker just isn’t flexible enough, making it hard to press the side of the button that I wanted.
The speed and performance of the phone was generally fine, but I saw the occasional hitch while switching quickly between apps, which made me question how this phone will perform after three years of OS updates. Otherwise, I didn’t have any problems with performance in everyday usage. The X20 supports Sub-6GHz 5G, which won’t matter much to you now but could in three years’ time.
You can find a selection of photo samples below, but in my time with the phone I was underwhelmed by the Nokia X20’s camera performance. The phone has a total of four rear cameras: a 64-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel ultrawide, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and a 2-megapixel macro.
HMD Nokia X20, macro camera.
Ultrawide camera.
Performance in daylight is broadly fine, but when things are more dimly lit you quickly start to lose detail and definition. Neither the ultrawide camera nor the macro camera have the resolution to take decent photographs, and the 2-megapixel macro camera in particular is a pointless and puzzling inclusion.
HMD’s Nokia X20 can’t make any big claims about being a flagship hit, but its modest price tag and HMD’s promises about continued support could make it a safe, dependable smartphone if that’s what you’re after.
The Corsair K70 RGB TKL is a powerful yet compact gaming keyboard. We didn’t notice an immediate benefit from the 8,000 Hz polling rate, but with a sleek look plyus premium media controls and keycaps, this keyboard’s in a league of its own.
For
+ Space-saving, durable build
+ Premium keycaps
+ Media keys
+ Some software-free RGB control
Against
– Close keys can require getting used to
– Expensive
Let’s be real: Mechanical keyboards can get expensive. While the best budget mechanical keyboards can give you the switches you need, the best gaming keyboards often come with extra bells and whistles that up the price. At $140, the Corsair K70 RGB TKL is one example, but you get a lot for that price.
Corsair’s been dubbing keyboards “K70” for a while. Just look at our Corsair K70 RGB Red review from 2016 or the most recent iteration, the low-profile Corsair K70 RGB MK.2. Our review focus brings the tenkeyless (TKL) form factor to the lineup.
The K70 RGB TKL is a competitive board that earns its price with extra features, like programmable keys, per-key RGB via manageable software. And as someone who games full-time, the quality of the keyboard’s build seems like a great investment. This is a sturdy keyboard that should hold up over extended use. And since this is a TKL keyboard, you’ll have all the space you need on your desk for your mouse, to let you focus exclusively on playing.
On top of that, Corsair is continuing its trend of upping the polling rate of its gaming keyboards, with the K70 RGB TKL offering an 8,000 Hz polling rate — 8 times the 1,000 Hz you usually see. The usefulness of that high spec, however, is debatable.
Corsair K70 RGB TKL Specs
Switches
Cherry MX Red (tested), Cherry MX Silent Red or Cherry MX Speed Silver
Lighting
Per-key RGB
Onboard Storage
8MB
Media Keys
Yes
Interface
USB Type-A
Cable
6 feet (1.8m) USB-C to USB-A , braided, detachable
Additional Ports
None
Keycaps
Doubleshot PBT plastic
Software
Corsair iCue
Dimensions (LxWxH)
14.2 x 6.5 x 1.9 inches
Weight
2.1 pounds
Extra
1x ABS plastic A, S, D, Q, E and R keycaps, 2x ABS plastic W and D keycaps, 1x keycap puller
Design
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Corsair K70 RGB TKL Champion Series is a tournament-ready keyboard with a colorful and durable design in a small form factor. As a TKL keyboard, it forgoes the numpad in favor of more desk space, which makes it great for people who don’t have a lot of room on their desk or travel a lot. At 14.2 x 6.5 x 1.9 inches, the K70 RGB TKL is similar but slightly taller than other TKL keyboards, such as the Razer BlackWidow V3 Tenkeyless (14.3 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches) and more petite Roccat Vulcan TKL Pro (14.2 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches). Another downside for travel is the K70 RGB TKL’s weight. It’s 2.1 pounds compared to 1.9 pounds for the Razer and 1.5 pounds for the Roccat.
But part of that slightly larger design comes thanks to the K70 RGB TKL’s inclusion of luxurious media keys. There are five dedicated hotkeys, plus an aluminum, textured volume roller, which are all a decent accomplishment to include on a TKL.
All those keys felt pretty solid, especially compared to the cheap plastic alternatives available on lower-priced keyboards.
This brings us to the overall durability of the keyboard. The K70 RGB TKL feels more rigid and sturdy than the ~$250 Logitech G915 Lightspeed full-sized wireless gaming keyboard I often use, (which has an identical design to its TKL counterpart, the Logitech G915 TKL). The Logitech is conveniently lightweight (2.3 pounds) and thin (0.9 inches) but feels like it might break if dropped. Suddenly, the K70 RGB TKL’s $140 price tag starts to make more sense. The K70 RGB TKL lives in a plastic chassis with a black matte finish and aluminum frame.
With its media key layout and brushed aluminum finish the K70 RGB TKL looks more interesting than a lot of other TKLs (looking at you, Razer BlackWidow V3 Tenkeyless). And it’s mature and subdued enough to go well with any setup. But I’m not wowed by its overall look; it’s not earning any style points from me at first. Out of the box, this appears to be a tool for competitive gamers, not a showy looker. You can add a little more flair, however, if you use the included silver W, A, S, D, Q, E, R, D or F keycaps. These keycaps are a cheaper ABS plastic than the doubleshot PBT that the keys come with by default, but do add more color to the design and a slight texturing that I like a lot.
For even more customization, you’ll have to rely on the K70 RGB TKL’s per-key RGB effects. You’ll need the software to create and play with different RGB effects. But you can also toggle through 10 different presets and control speed and direction using FN shortcuts. You can also create profiles in the iCue software with different RGB effects and store them in your onboard memory. When you toggle through profiles with the dedicated profile switch button, the RGB will change accordingly. As somebody who loves the variety of RGB settings on my keyboard, it is wonderful to be able to control these settings regardless of whether iCUE is running or not.
Next to the profile switch button are an RGB brightness key and Windows lock key as well. These and the media keys are also reprogrammable via iCue for ultimate customization.
Corsair didn’t skimp when it came to the keycaps. The use of doubleshot PBT plastic delivers a more premium feel than standard ABS plastic. And doubleshot means the legends will never fade. The keycaps feel strong at 1.5mm thick and have a matte coating that easily fought off grease and fingerprints during my testing. With many still working from home, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who isn’t eating near their keyboard, so this feature is highly appealing.
The K70 RGB TKL uses a detachable USB-C to USB-A cable that’s high-quality braided. Some keyboard’s USB cables can feel thin or cheap, but this one should survive a good amount of bending and wear. Our review focus’ cable is 6-feet-long, which is standard among gaming keyboards but can still feel a little long in actual use, which is why I prefer one of the best wireless keyboards when possible.
Typing Experience on Corsair K70 RGB TKL
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
The Corsair K70 RGB TKL comes with either Cherry MX Speed Silver, Cherry MX Silent Red or Cherry MX Red switches. All three options actuate with 45g of force and are linear, a mechanical switch style that tends to be a favorite among gamers for its interruption-free travel. Our review unit came with Red switches, which are specced for 2.0mm pretravel and 4.0mm total travel. Those who want less travel, (perhaps, potentially, for more speed, may prefer the Speed Silver switches (1.9mm / 3.7mm) or even the quieter Silent Reds (1.2mm / 3.4mm).
Pressing keys on the K70 RGB TKL felt lovely and easy because it felt like the keys registered quickly. But there’s very little space between the keys which, in addition to the lighter actuation force of Cherry MX Reds, made typos more common. As such, the K70 RGB TKL may require a slight adjustment period in order to use it smoothly, but this wasn’t a huge concern, as I was eventually able to adapt.
The doubleshot PBT keycaps were also a boon, both for typing and gaming. The quality plastic was more comfortable than the keyboards on most other keyboards I’ve tried. My typing accuracy increased slightly but like I stated I used less pressure to type, which I believe made typing easier.
8,000 Hz Polling Rate
(Image credit: Corsair)
Initially kicked off with the 4,000 Hz Corsair K100 RGB last year, Corsair is continuing its polling rate race with the 8,000 Hz K70 RGB TKL. It’s launching alongside the Corsair Sabre RGB Pro gaming mouse, which also has an 8,000 Hz polling rate, showing a newfound dedication to Hz from the gaming brand.
Your keyboard (or other peripheral) polling rate tells you how many times per second the device sends data to your PC. Instead of doing so 1,000 times a second, like the vast majority of gaming keyboards, the K70 RGB TKL can do it 8,000 times per second. It achieves this through what Corsair calls Axon, “an embedded onboard system with Corsair’s purpose-engineered, real-time operating system” running on a system-on-chip (SoC) with multi-threading in order to “process multiple complex instructions in parallel.” Corsair claims Axon uses an advanced scheduling algorithm. There are some caveats though.
First, there are some requirements. You’ll need a USB 3.0 port and to download iCue software and change the polling rate (from 1,000 Hz) in order to use the 8,000 Hz polling rate. Corsair also noted in its reviewer’s guide that the keyboard “transits keystrokes to the PC up to 8x faster than standard” but can only “detect keypresses up to 4x faster than conventional gaming keyboards.” The vendor doesn’t get too specific in terms of system requirements for 8,000 Hz. A rep told us, “Keyboards send a lot less data, so 8,000 Hz has only a small added CPU usage impact” but added, “the more up-to-date the system is – the smoother the experience.”
But similarly to when we used the 4,000 Hz polling rate on the K100 RGB, I didn’t notice a difference when moving from 1,000 Hz on the K70 RGB TKL to 8,000 Hz, despite using a system running an AMD Ryzen 5950X CPU. There’s a bit of future-proofing here, and it wouldn’t hurt for a very competitive pro player to have this feature handy. But as a low-level competitive player, I didn’t notice my speed or accuracy increase in Fortnite or Destiny.
Gaming Experience on Corsair K70 RGB TKL
This is still a powerful gaming weapon though, as it feels incredibly responsive and fast on the battlefield (whether gaming at 1,000 Hz or 8,000 Hz). I used the K70 RGB TKL during intense Fortnite matches, as well as crucible matches in Destiny, and it didn’t disappoint. The quick and easy actuation of the go-to Cherry MX Red switches honestly made me feel like I was able to better focus on gameplay without looking at my keyboard as often as I normally do.
The best part was how lightly I had to touch the keys for them to register. This really cut down on hand fatigue. When I play, I usually overpress buttons and can even be guilty of mashing (gasp!). On Corsair’s TKL, I quickly realized I didn’t need to press the keys nearly as hard. That really reduced hand pain, which I sometimes experience after several hours of gaming.
And while the tight spacing of the keys was a bit of a hindrance for general typing, this became helpful when gaming, as it meant my fingers had less distance to travel to input my next move. Meanwhile, the TKL form factor gave me a little more room to breathe with my mouse, and I found it easier to focus on the game than when using a full-sized keyboard. I have always been a fan of a larger build but now I am thinking compact is the way moving forward.
Those doubleshot PBT keycaps also came in handy in action. The premium plastic doesn’t get slick, including from sweaty hands. These keys managed to stay dry during high-pressure gaming.
Features and Software on Corsair K70 RGB TKL
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Image 2 of 2
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
To create new RGB effects or make onboard or software-based profiles, you’ll need iCue, which I found user-friendly. The Corsair K70 RGB TKL features 8MB of onboard storage allowing you to customize to your heart’s content. You can store up to 50 onboard profiles, depending on the configuration, that allow you to customize your RGB settings with up to 20 lighting layers, as well as custom macros.
(Image credit: Corsair)
A unique feature, the keyboard also includes a Tournament Switch on the top edge. This could help you focus on your game more by swapping the keyboard to static backlighting to reduce distractions and disabling programmed actions / macros. As someone who’s been known to press incorrect buttons or clumsily drop things in the heat of battle, I found this to be a great addition.
Bottom Line
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
If you want a powerhouse of a keyboard made for competitive gameplay, the Corsair K70 RGB TKL is an immediate must-have. This keyboard isn’t just pleasant to look at, it is an efficient tool that will take your gameplay to the next level, thanks to responsive keys, high-end PBT keycaps and a lot of customization options both with or without software.
At $140, this is an expensive wired gaming keyboard though. For comparison, the HyperX Alloy Origins Core, one of the best budget mechanical keyboards, is about half the price, and the Razer BlackWidow V3 Tenkeyless is currently $100. But the K70 RGB Pro gives you a lot for the price. Not only is there a robust featureset, including media keys, this is a tough keyboard. I will definitely be utilizing it more for my tournament gaming needs. And there are pricier TKLs than the K70 RGB TKL, such as the $160 Roccat Vulcan TKL Pro with its optical-mechanical switches or the wireless Logitech G915 TKL, which starts at about $200 and is excellent but not for everyone, since it’s low-profile.
Ultimately, the K70 RGB TKL can be an efficient weapon in your gaming toolkit, granting you the look and functionality you need for your most competitive setup.
(Pocket-lint) – Electrification is the future. Policy makers as well as car makers have asserted that. So while the revolution’s wheels begin to turn, there’s a good interim point to jump in – a hybrid plug-in, such as this, the Skoda Octavia iV.
The “iV” part of the equation is what tells you this is a plug-in vehicle, as the Octavia is also available in straight petrol or diesel, including a beefier vRS model.
But here it’s all about that plug-in option, which we lived with for a week to see whether it’s worth the circa-£8K price jump, plus whether Skoda’s all-new 2021 interior updates are the future, or feel more a step backwards.
Design & Interior
You can no longer say a Skoda isn’t distinctive – but whether you think that’s in a good way or a bad way is a whole other matter. As we said of the excellent Superb iV Estate, when reviewed back in 2020, it’s to the point where Skoda is extra proud – even spelling out the full name across the rear of each Octavia.
Pocket-lint
It’s the front of the Octavia iV that will garner greater attention though, given those slitted headlights, which deliver LED technology as standard (Matrix LED is an extra option and cost). It’s edgy and angular and stands apart from what else you’ll see on the road.
Pop open the door, however, and it’s inside where the 2021 Octavia showcases Skoda’s latest interior. You can choose from black or beige finish options – we’d definitely avoid the latter – and, as a place to sit it’s really rather comfortable.
That’s perhaps the biggest take-away of the Octavia: it’s just effortless to sit in, heated seat cranked up, the upholstery kind of cuddling. Certainly preferable to our freezing cold winter office anyway.
The interior layout adopts what most car-makers are going with too: more touchscreen, fewer physical buttons. Which, in the case of the Octavia, we actually think puts it back a step compared to the last-gen interior.
The Octavia doesn’t have a mechanical gearstick, for example, it’s gone with a little push/pull paddle instead. It functions fine enough, but not all modes are accessed from here. There’s no dedicated EV/Hybrid button to be found, despite there being heaps of space for it, which feels lazy in a car with a focus on electrification.
Instead, you’ll need to find the Mode button on the dash, press that, then select from the on-screen options of E-Mode or Hybrid Mode. The former is pure electric, the latter uses a combination of electric and combustion. By default the E-Mode isn’t activated, so we never had a silent start-up.
Pocket-lint
This ‘hiding’ of controls continues elsewhere: the Climate button activates that selection on screen which, again, is difficult to adjust when you’re driving around – and, let’s face it, that’s when you’ll be making adjustments.
Not even the slider control to the south of the main screen is especially intuitive, despite being new. It sometimes gets touched by accident, making adjustments you didn’t know you wanted.
Infotainment & Technology
Those screens do house a lot of technology though. By default the Octavia iV comes with an 8.25-inch main touchscreen, upgradable to 10-inch with that slider control (as per this review) in the correct package options. Beyond the steering wheel there’s the Virtual Cockpit system, another 10.25-inch arrangement, digitally handling various at-a-glance information.
Pocket-lint
The screens line-up more than the earlier iterations in Skoda’s range, as the main display has been raised higher towards the dash – meaning its top edge also protrudes, more tablet-like, bringing it into a position of greater focus. Again, we preferred the lower screen position and additional button controls to keep peripheral distractions at bay.
All Skoda Octavia models feature Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (via Mirrorlink) by default, according to the specification, although we never managed to get Android Auto to activate for some reason unknown to us. Maybe an issue with the USB-C to USB-A converter – as there’s two USB-C ports (the smaller ones) up front, next to a handy inductive charging pad (if your phone has wireless charging aboard).
Another comment about the whole tech setup is the speed at which it loads. It just, well, slow. The start-up time lags and navigation is often blank for a number of seconds. Once things get running everything is fine, but from a cold start you’ll be hanging about a bit before entering that post code.
Pocket-lint
Beyond infotainment, Skoda’s range of driver assist safety features is vast. What you pick should reflect the way in which you will use the car – if it’s just short commutes then some of the assist packages, such as lane keep assist, might not be as useful as for someone who’s going to be up and down the motorway on repeat.
The adaptive cruise control is – if you pay for it – an advanced one, able to keep distance, lane keep, and auto-brake to a stop. In certain scenarios it’ll prove a life-saver – not just literally, but just from a comfort point of view.
Drive & Range
And so to the main reason to be looking at a plug-in car: added efficiency and lower emissions – both of which can save you on fuel costs and tax. The green credentials, at this stage, are fairly minor in the bigger overall picture – but it’s a step in the right direction.
Pocket-lint
The Octavia iV has a 13kW battery built-in, delivering over 30 miles of pure electric range – we could get around 32 miles – plus decent efficiency and regeneration when in hybrid mode. Skoda quotes 37 miles in E-mode, based on WLTP standard, so our achieved figure isn’t too bad relative to that.
A number of plug-ins that we’ve driven fail to offer an all-electric option – the Volvo XC40 being one such example – while mild hybrids (without a plug-in solution) tend to offer almost zero potential on electric-only travel. So it’s reassuring to be able to use an Octavia for, say, the school run entirely in electric mode without limitation to your driving.
Recharging is possible via the Type-2 charger to the front left of the car. We plugged in at home and refilled once successfully, but were met by an error message at around the 80 per cent mark on recharge attempt number two. A glitch in the system, it seems, and certainly a surprise.
Apple CarPlay explained: Taking iOS on the road
By Britta O’Boyle
·
A detailed look at how Apple’s CarPlay works, with explanations on using Google Maps, sending messages and playing music, among other functions.
Pocket-lint
Should you want to drive with no thought about range, then Sport mode – activated by pulling the drive paddle down a second time into ‘S’ – gives a little extra pep to the drive, but typically regenerates the battery quicker through more applied braking. Not that the Octavia is ‘sporty sporty’, but it’s got enough get up and go thanks to a total combined output of 204bhp from that 1.4l engine and 13kW electric motor combination.
Verdict
The Skoda Octavia iV plug-in hybrid might not be a super exciting car, but it’s got some super aspects about it: it’s roomy, it’s comfortable, there’s a lot of tech options, and the electric-only range is practical.
The new interior sometimes feels like a step backwards, though, given how it ‘hides’ settings within a more touchscreen-focused operation. And, in our use, we had glitches with Android Auto and recharging that couldn’t be explained.
Overall, if you’re looking for a practical family hatchback then Skoda sits well among the VW Group’s price listings. The iV model adds an inevitable premium over the petrol/diesel-only selection, but with genuine practicality added as a result that’ll pay its worth back for the right kind of owner.
(Pocket-lint) – When out cycling it’s not just your eyes but also your ears that can be crucial in assessing what’s going on around you – it’s why we’d never put in headphones and listen to music while out on the road. But sometimes your own limited senses aren’t quite enough.
That’s where the Garmin Varia (RTL515) comes into play. Not only does it function as a rear bike light, it also has built-in radar that can detect when another vehicle or cyclist is on the approach and, through sync with your Garmin Edge cycling computer or mounted smartphone (via the Varia app) can alert you to what’s going on.
Thing is, the Varia RTL515 is rather a lot of money. But, having been solo cycling in the country for some months now, it’s proven its worth and our peace of mind time and again. Here’s why we recommend it.
Design & Mount
Syncs with Garmin Connect / Garmin Edge computers / Varia mobile app (iOS & Android)
Mount: Garmin twist-lock mount (adaptors included)
Dimensions: 98.6 x 19.7 x 39.6mm / Weight: 71g
ANT+ & Bluetooth connectivity
IPX7 weather-resistant design
While most bike lights are rather small, the Varia is a lot larger on account of its mount, internal battery and radar technology. It’s not big to the point of bothersome, but much of the product isn’t the actual light itself – as you can see from the extended black area in the elongated pill-shaped design.
To mount the light it’s a case of getting the included Garmin mount, fixed by O-ring bands, onto your rear seatpost. It fits fairly snug, although road vibrations can, to some degree, make the light/radar turn around the seat post slightly – and we cannot see any way to make it tighter. It’s never stopped the product functioning for us, though, so it’s no bother.
There are some adaptors included in the box, which you may find helpful, which pad out the mount. Our light, once mounted, has a fairly ‘downward’ facing position, so using the adaptors can be assistive in getting a better position overall.
Once it’s mounted up, there’s an on button, a press of which will see a small blue light show you that the light is active. From here it’ll want to find your relevant Garmin kit to sync. Through the Garmin Connect app it’s possible to sync with a bike computer, as we have with the Edge 1030 Plus, where the light’s presence shows as a little always-on-top symbol to the top right. If it’s deactivated this is red, if it’s in play then this is black. Nice and simple.
You don’t even really need to worry about turning the light itself off or on – a long press of the on/off switch can do this though – as the sync with your Garmin product means it’ll only be active when your cycling computer is also active. Very handy.
The connection is made through ANT+ or Bluetooth in the case of using a phone app instead of dedicated Garmin cycling computer. We’ve had no issues with the connection, but if the radar is blocked due to say, excess mud all over the light, then it’ll let you know that it’s not functioning – so you can stop and give it a wipe down as needed.
Performance
Radar: 140m range & 220 degree field of view
Modes: Solid, Peloton, Night Flash, Day Flash
Maximum lumens: 65 (in Day Flash mode)
Minimum lumens: 8 (in Peloton mode)
Up to 16 hours battery life
Micro-USB recharging
Once you’re out on the road, the only presence of the Varia is that little symbol to the top right corner of the Garmin Edge display. However, once a vehicle is detected on the approach the side of the display becomes an ‘approach bar’ showing a little dot (representing the vehicle) and how closely it’s approaching. There’s also an audible “de-dah, de-dah, de-dah” type alert, which will make you look – and is really useful, as it sounds even when the rest of your Garmin’s functions are muted.
That ‘approach bar’ is reasonably accurate, as you’ll tend to note a vehicle sits awaiting its sensible moment to overtake. At this point, the Varia will sound an alert again – as the radar can detect the wider movement, effectively giving you one alert for initial approach, and a second alert for overtake.
Once a vehicle has passed, the ‘approach bar’ will turn from red to green, to let you know there’s nothing else on the approach. If there is, however, the bar will remain red and show the next vehicle awaiting its turn to pass – and you might not get an approach alert in this instance. We don’t see that as a problem, but it’s something to be aware of.
There’s a similar minor issue we’ve found when riding with others: when riding chain gang style, in a bit of a peloton, the close proximity seems to make the Varia think nothing is in your near vicinity. This is how it’s supposed to function – a consistent speed follow within 30m is seen as a fellow cyclist, in effect – in order to free up the system to alert you for faster approaching vehicles.
Which is all well and good, but can’t you just use your ears? Well, yes and no. See, when we lived in London, cycling was a whole other experience compared to cycling country backroads. Our old London route was open, largely straight, with ample passing space and, frankly, enough traffic that it would rarely be faster than two legs a-pedalling. But in the country, with often concealed turns, dappled light, and rush of wind that can make hearing tricky, it’s very valuable.
Pocket-lint
As one example: there are two sections of our daily country ride that are a bit tighter. It’s actually hard to hear anything on the approach in those sections, due to the rush of wind at relative speed. That said, it’s a national speed limit road, so a passing vehicle could, technically speaking, overtake at pace. What we do here is get alerted from the Varia that there’s a vehicle behind, then await a decent passing spot and sign for the vehicle to proceed safely. Not something we needed in London, massively useful in the country.
As for the brightness of the Varia, it’s pretty punchy. A flashing Day Flash mode is 65 lumens, with a battery life up to 16 hours. There’s also Solid (20 lumens, always on), Peloton (8 lumens to not distract nearby cyclists’ eyes), and Night Flash (29 lumens, to be seen). We’ve also seen that the sequence of flashing will change when the radar detects a vehicle in order to help you to be seen, which is a clever little feature.
As for battery life, the claimed time of 16 hours is perhaps a stretch. We’re probably poor at switching the light off properly, however, and it is at least easy to charge – although it uses older Micro-USB when we’d prefer USB-C and the possibility of wireless charging for a much simpler solution without the need for vulnerable ports and enclosing flaps to protect.
Pocket-lint
In terms of sensitivity, the Varia is very good at identifying a relevant approach. If your bike is stationary and you walk up to it from behind it’ll count that as an approach. And, as we’ve said, other vehicles – motorbikes, cars, vans and beyond – and cyclists are detected with ease. So if there’s a T-Rex on your tail, the Varia will let you know about it.
Verdict
Your eyes and ears are one thing, but adding radar to your cycles adds a layer of safety that’s very useful. In the case of the Varia RTL515 it’s expertly integrated into your Garmin setup, too, which makes it an easy-to-understand tool to act upon as necessary.
The only real question mark over whether to buy one is the simple fact that it costs an awful lot of money for what is, in effect, a fancy rear light. But it’s proven its worth and our peace of mind time and again. And for that we say it’s well worth it.
If portable audio has been shaped by anything other than advancing headphones technology in recent years, it’s the arrival of portable DACs – pocketable ‘middleman’ devices that connect between a phone or laptop and a pair of headphones to improve sound quality. We’ve had laptop-friendly AudioQuest DragonFlys and the more versatile Audiolab M-DAC nano, for example, and now THX (yes, that same firm famously behind cinema audio standards) is entering the consumer electronics market with a similar device.
The all-new THX Onyx ($200, €210) is a dongle designed to enhance the performance between your USB source and your headphones or desktop speakers. You can plug it into any PC, Mac or Android device toting a USB or USB-C port, with iOS devices requiring the slim Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter to be compatible. At the other end, the Onyx has been designed to drive all manner of headphones – those with impedances from 22ohms to 600 – via its 3.5mm jack, through which desktop speakers can also be connected.
It’s the first DAC of its kind to utilise THX’s AAA-78 amplifier technology, which is the highest-powered configuration within the company’s Achromatic Audio Amplifier design and promises the same power output as a desktop THX AAA DAC amp – just in a much smaller package. THX says this technology can “reduce harmonic, intermodulation, and crossover distortion by up to 40dB”, promising a performance with “infinitesimally low levels” of noise and distortion. It also claims this makes the Onyx up to five times more powerful than other similar USB DACs.
Our pick of the best DACs 2021: USB, portable and desktop DACs
(Image credit: THX)
That AAA technology is bolstered by an ESS ES9281PRO DAC chip, as well as a Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) renderer for playing back MQA hard files and (MQA-encoded) Tidal Masters in their native quality.
The Onyx has an all-metal body, with LED lights to signify the quality of file being played through it – blue denotes 44.1kHz or 48kHz PCM files, yellow signifies sample rates above that, while red and pink display DSD and MQA signals respectively. THX has incorporated cable management into the design so that wires from connected headphones are kept neat and tidy, too.
THX Onyx is now available in the United States and Europe for $200 and €210. Needless to say we look forward to taking it for a spin very soon.
MORE:
See all our DAC reviews
Astell & Kern AK USB-C Dual DAC cable promises to boost your portable listening
Alienware has announced the latest revision to its flagship gaming laptop lineup, the 15-inch Alienware M15 R5. It’ll start shipping on April 20th in the US, costing $2,229.99 to start. The company is going big with its messaging that it’ll host AMD’s fast Ryzen 5000 H-series processors (up to the octa-core Ryzen 9 5900HX) and up to Nvidia’s RTX 3070 graphics chip. Dell says this is the first Alienware laptop since 2007 to feature an AMD processor.
In case you haven’t noticed, AMD’s processors have been on a tear in the past year, delivering great performance without compromising on efficiency when you aren’t gaming. This is just the latest company to join along the likes of Asus, Lenovo, and even Dell with its G5 15 SE, to name a few. AMD-touting laptops are already among some of the best gaming laptops you can buy. Yet Alienware is possibly the most well-known gaming brand to go AMD yet.
The base configuration of the M15 R5 has the octa-core Ryzen 7 5800H processor and Nvidia’s RTX 3060. You can upgrade to the Ryzen 9 5900HX octa-core processor and the RTX 3070. Both the RTX 3060 and 3070 have a total graphics power level of 115W with 10W of extra boost available for up to 125W of maximum graphics power. Interestingly, the 3060 has a higher base and boost clock (base: 1,387MHz, boost: 1,702MHz) than the 3070 option does (base: 1,110MHz, boost: 1,560MHz).
Either way, these are some of the highest clock speeds we’ve seen yet in a reasonably thin 2021 gaming laptop. Alienware is pushing the boost clocks nearly all the way to the ceiling, and it’s great that it’s transparent about these power specs, since Nvidia now requires that manufacturers share it.
The Ryzen Edition will ship in this silver configuration.
Speaking of dimensions, the R5 is thicker and heavier than the previous R4 generation. The base configuration weighs 5.34 pounds (up to 5.93 pounds, depending on the components inside). The R4’s base configuration weighed 4.65 pounds, for comparison. The R5 is 19.25mm thick at its front (up to 22.85mm thick near the hinge), 272.5mm deep, and 356mm wide. Each configuration will ship with an 86Wh battery, like what shipped in the M15 R4 and R3.
Screen-wise, the R5 can be configured with a range of high-refresh-rate displays. The base FHD screen has a 3ms response time screen with a 165Hz refresh rate, and your options for upgrading are either a dimmer 300-nit 1080p panel with a faster 360Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time, and only 100 percent sRGB color coverage, or a brighter 400-nit QHD screen that has a 240Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time, 100 percent DCI-P3 color gamut, plus G-Sync, which should deliver the smoothest experience even if your framerate dips.
The M15 R5 looks similar to the previous two generations.
If you want to output to a separate display, the laptop’s HDMI 2.1 port means it can display up to 120 frames per second at 4K resolution if your monitor (or TV) supports it. This laptop also features an 2.5Gbps Ethernet port, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, one USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, and a headphone jack. There’s no Thunderbolt port, but that Intel technology might find its way into an Intel-based version later on.
Dell says this is the first Alienware laptop to feature fast 3,200MHz DDR4 RAM, and it’s also user-configurable with two SO-DIMM slots. This is a move in the right direction, as the M15 R3 and R4 both had their RAM soldered onto the board, making it impossible to upgrade after you bought it. There are two M.2 slots inside so you can upgrade storage post-purchase, too.
The company says the laptop’s paint has been engineered for “increased stain-resistance and premium surface feel.” This model can be configured to feature Cherry’s Ultra-Low Profile mechanical switches. Dell announced this keyboard collaboration for the M15 R4, and it’ll be available as a $150 add-on for this new model, too.
If you’re looking for a more budget-friendly gaming laptop with a new Ryzen 5000 H-series processor, check out Dell’s $899 G15 that was also just announced.
Sennheiser is introducing some new mics for creators to use on consumer-level cameras and phones, including an update for its popular camera-mounted MKE 400 shotgun microphone and new phone-friendly lavaliere microphones.
The updated MKE 400 shotgun microphone looks to be an upgrade in many ways from the previous version — it’s got a new design, which incorporates a windscreen (it also comes with a furry wind sock), a built-in headphone port, and, blessedly, can automatically turn on or off with your camera. It also now comes with a free wind blocker for when it gets really breezy. That should help reduce the number of times you finish recording, only to realize that you didn’t actually capture the audio you were hoping for (something I’ve absolutely done before).
The updated MKE 400, with a built-in windscreen.Image: Sennheiser
The previous version of the MKE 400.Image: Sennheiser
It’s also now designed to work with mobile devices like phones or tablets; it comes with both a standard TRS cable meant for DSLRs or mirrorless cameras, as well as a TRRS cable that should work when plugged into a phone’s headphone jack. Or, more likely, a 3.5mm to USB-C or Lightning adapter. With the microphone’s built-in headphone jack, you should even still be able to monitor when shooting with a phone (or with a camera that only has a mic-in and no headphone out).
The TRS and TRRS cables will make it easy to use the microphone with both phones and cameras.Image: Sennheiser
The new features should help make Sennheiser’s microphone a more compelling competitor to Rode’s latest mics — the older version of the MKE 400’s lack of auto on/off and comparatively outdated design made it a tough sell when compared to something like a Rode VideoMic Pro. It’s nice to see Sennheiser catch up with the rest of the market.
All the upgrades to the MKE 400 do come at a bit of a cost in the battery department, though: Sennheiser estimated that the old MKE 400 would last 300 hours off a single AAA battery, while the new version only advertises 100 hours of use off of two AAAs. The mic still retails for the same $199.95.
The USB-C version of the XS Lav.Image: Sennheiser
Meanwhile, Sennheiser’s new XS Lav mics are meant to be worn on a shirt collar or lapel and could be useful for creators looking to get better audio, but who don’t want to use a large shotgun-style microphone. The clip-on mics comes in two versions: one with a 3.5mm TRRS plug, and one with a USB-C plug for dongle-free use with phones or computers. Sennheiser had previously made a lavalier mic for iPhones that plugged in via Lightning, but it seems like to be no longer widely available. (You can find one that mysteriously looks just like it at Apogee.)
The USB-C version should be the most widely-compatible, as it’ll be useful for both Android phones and single-audio-port computers (plugging it into a combination headphone jack on, say, a MacBook would make it difficult to use headphones, but you could use the USB-C port instead). iPhone owners will want to look at the XS Lav with the 3.5mm connector, though an adapter will be required.
The 3.5mm version costs $49.95, and the USB-C version costs $59.95 — both are less expensive than the $79 Rode smartLav Plus.
Both the MKE 400 and XS Lav USB-C can also be purchased as part of a “Mobile Kit,” which adds $30 to the price and includes a tiny tripod and phone clamp mount.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
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.
