The vivo V20 Pro 5G has been announced back in September, but it’s only now that it reaches Indian soil. We had the chance to do a full review of the vanilla V20, and we really appreciated the slightly different approach vivo had with the phone. So now that we have the Pro version, we will take a quick look at what makes this one a “Pro”.
Design-wise, there isn’t much of a difference, especially if you look at the back. However, the front features a larger notch, which is a bit unexpected, given that notched handsets are pretty scarce these days. Other than that, the V20 Pro 5G is a typical mid-range device in the sub INR 30,000 category with a bright OLED display, 5G-capable Snapdragon 765G chipset.
vivo V20 Pro 5G specs at a glance:
Body: 158.8×74.2×7.4mm, 170g; Glass front and back, plastic frame.
Display: 6.44″ AMOLED, HDR10, 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 409ppi.
Chipset: Qualcomm SM7250 Snapdragon 765G (7 nm): Octa-core (1×2.4 GHz Kryo 475 Prime & 1×2.2 GHz Kryo 475 Gold & 6×1.8 GHz Kryo 475 Silver); Adreno 620.
Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM.
OS/Software: Android 11, Funtouch 11.
Rear camera: Wide (main): 64 MP, f/1.9, 26mm, 1/1.72″, 0.8µm, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 120˚, 16mm, 1/4.0″, 1.12µm; Depth: 2 MP, f/2.4.
Front camera: Wide (main): 44 MP, f/2.0; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.3, 1/4.0″, 1.12µm.
Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30fps, gyro-EIS.
Battery: 4000mAh; Fast charging 33W.
Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical), no 3.5mm jack, no NFC, no FM radio.A quick run through the specs raises the question about a proper feature disparity. The vanilla V20 and the Pro version seem to be identical, with the only difference being the chipset, the additional selfie camera and the microSD card support. The latter is scraped from the specs sheet on the Pro model, but, of course, it gives you a more powerful chipset. The rest of the specs are pretty much identical.
So even before doing this hands-on review, we have a pretty good idea of how the V20 Pro 5G would feel from day to day use. But until a full review comes around, join us in the next pages to see if the V20 Pro 5G is the right device for you.
Unboxing the vivo V20 Pro 5G
The retail box is nothing out of the ordinary, except that it contains a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle so that you can use the bundled 3.5mm headphones in the box. Weird that vivo didn’t add USB-C headphones, too.
You also get a transparent silicone case, and the 33W-compatible fast charger along with a USB-A to USB-C cable used not only for charging but for data transfers as well.
Since Apple’s reveal of its new MagSafe charging standard, officially approved wireless chargers that use the standard have been few and far between. But Belkin is boosting those numbers with its new BoostCharge Pro MagSafe 2-in-1 Wireless Charger, which also brings a more palatable $99.95 price tag.
Similar to the BoostCharge Pro MagSafe 3-in-1 Wireless Charger, the BoostCharge Pro MagSafe 2-in-1 Wireless Charger — as you might be able to already guess — can charge two products instead of three. Now, the futuristic charging tree will offer just a MagSafe pad and a regular Qi charger for your AirPods (or any other device that fits), dropping the Apple Watch charger found on the 3-in-1.
And like the 3-in-1, the new BoostCharge Pro MagSafe 2-in-1 is an official, MFi-approved MagSafe device, meaning that it’s one of the few options out there for taking advantage of MagSafe’s faster 15W wireless charger. And the one-third reduction in functionality comes with a similar reduction in price: the BoostCharge Pro MagSafe 2-in-1 costs $99.95, compared to the $149.95 that Belkin charges for its larger counterpart.
The BoostCharge Pro MagSafe 2-in-1 Wireless Charger is set to release later this year in March or April, when it’ll be available from both Apple’s and Belkin’s websites.
Along with the new wireless charger, Belkin also announced its second set of wireless earbuds, the Soundform Freedom True Wireless Earbuds. Where the original Soundform True Wireless Earbuds were a budget option at $59.99 (with features to match), Belkin is aiming higher with the Soundform Freedom buds. The new buds feature better battery life (up to eight hours, with an additional 20 hours in the case), USB-C charging, and improved isolation of background noise (although there’s no active noise cancellation).
Notably, the Soundform Freedom earbuds will also be one of the first third-party products to work with Apple’s Find My network (something Apple announced it would be offering as an option last year). That means that — similar to Apple’s own AirPods — you’ll be able to use the Find My app on iPhone and Mac devices to locate your missing headphones, using the same crowdsourced network of Apple products that the company’s own first-party devices can use.
The Soundform Freedom earbuds also offer both Qi and USB-C charging, swappable ear tips, and are rated IPX5 for sweat and splash resistance. Belkin has yet to announce pricing, but they’ll be available to purchase sometime in March or April.
LG has announced a new entry in its high-end UltraFine monitor lineup, the LG UltraFine OLED Pro, as part of the company’s CES 2021 announcements. LG is pitching the new monitor primarily for use by creative professionals, as you can see in LG’s video about the new display that we’ve embedded at the top of this post.
The UltraFine OLED Pro is a 31.5-inch 4K display, according to Engadget, and LG says the display has individual dimming for its more than 8 million pixels. The monitor covers 99 percent of the DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB color spectrum and has a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, according to LG’s video. And the display has a good number of ports, including one USB-C port with 90-watt power delivery, two DisplayPorts, three USB-A ports, one HDMI port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
LG hasn’t revealed a release date or price for the UltraFine OLED Pro just yet.
Lenovo announced brand new, versatile and functional AR glasses for business. ThinkReality A3 will appear in two versions. One of them will be dedicated to cooperation with computers working under the control of Windows systems, while the other is intended for Android smartphone users. As you can guess, the essence of the gadget is to expand the capabilities of the devices mentioned. Although this technology is undoubtedly impressive, we can treat the presented novelties as a kind of prelude to a real revolution in the field of augmented and virtual reality. Nevertheless, the ThinkReality A3 is a piece of equipment that should simply be looked at.
ThinkReality A3 is a new AR glasses from Lenovo available in the PC Edition and Industrial Edition versions. We check what the newly presented augmented reality goggles allow for.
Lenovo ThinkVision P Test 27 h – 20. WQHD office monitor with great image quality, original stand and USB-C port
AR is nothing but augmented reality technology. It is thanks to this solution that we can superimpose various objects on the real image. AR-based tools work well both at work and in entertainment. Games based on augmented reality are extremely popular and Pokemon Go will be a good example here. Thanks to the AR available on the smartphone, we can, for example, measure the height of objects and even people. The ThinkReality A3 offers a bit more, however. After connecting the equipment to the computer, we can work on the so-called virtual screens, which will be superimposed on what we see in front of us.
Lenovo Legion 5 – Gaming laptop test with Ryzen 5 4600 H and GTX 1650
This solution obviously applies to the PC Edition. The Industrial Edition option works a bit differently and is limited to supporting special programs and content created for the mentioned platform (ThinkReality). This solution may prove useful in broadly understood business. Equipping your employees with AR glasses that will display content relevant to a given position will certainly increase productivity. As for the hardware, the ThinkReality A3 features a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 chip, two screens with a resolution 1080 and a removable battery. Unfortunately, we don’t know the price yet. We do know that the equipment will be available in selected markets already in the middle of 2021 of the year.
At CES 2021, Netgear announced its first Wi-Fi 6E-ready device that takes full advantage of the 6GHz band: the Nighthawk RAXE500, a $599.99 tri-band wireless router.
Wi-Fi 6E wireless routers like this one broadcast over the 6GHz band, in addition to serving the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands that most devices can use. A number of devices launching at CES 2021 will support Wi-Fi 6E, and as a result, routers like the new Nighthawk RAXE500 can provide unfettered bandwidth to devices that require a lot of it. Not just that, devices connected via 6GHz can avoid disruptions from the many other household devices (even those being used by nearby neighbors) that operate on the crowded 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.
Netgear’s new high-end router looks like a manta ray, which is to say it’s relatively par for the course for the Nighthawk line of wireless routers. Looks aren’t everything, though — the router should provide some very fast AXE11000 Wi-Fi signals. Netgear claims that this device can push beyond gigabit speeds for mobile devices, and that it has a total throughput of 10.8Gbps over wireless.
The new Nighthawk features five gigabit ports and two USB 3.0 ports on its rear. It supports multi-gigabit speeds via a compatible DOCSIS 3.1 modem, either through the RAXE500’s single 2.5Gb link or by opting for a multiport link aggregation method (which offers up to 2Gbps speeds).
A view of the ports featured on the RAXE500 Wi-Fi 6E router.
Netgear has some other announcements for CES 2021, including an unlocked version of its Nighthawk M5 5G mobile Wi-Fi 6 hotspot. A variant that’s locked to AT&T already exists, but this one’s unlocked for use with a SIM from any carrier that supports sub-6GHz 5G spectrums. (For this and the products mentioned below, Netgear says it has certification for T-Mobile and AT&T, though it’s still working to get Verizon’s certification and hopes to by February.)
The mobile hotspot’s internal battery can last up to 13 hours, if it lives up to Netgear’s claims, or it can operate plugged in via its USB-C port. In addition to serving as a wireless router that can connect to up to 32 wireless devices at once, the hotspot can be used as a 5G modem by plugging it into a wireless router via its Ethernet port. This could be handy if you live in a place that doesn’t have great options for internet service.
The Nighthawk M5 5G mobile Wi-Fi 6 hotspot is coming to North America in the first half of 2021, and while no price has been announced for the US region, it currently costs a hefty €799 in Europe.
From left to right: the Netgear LM1200 modem and the Nighthawk LAX20.
In a similar vein, Netgear has two other new products that are unlocked and support a mobile network via SIM cards, which could be useful to fall back on if there’s an internet service interruption or in place of having internet wired into your living space.
The LM1200 is a $149.99 modem that accepts a 4G LTE SIM and supports CAT4 speeds (up to 150Mbps). It’ll be available later this month. If you want a Wi-Fi 6 wireless router that accepts a 4G LTE SIM card, the $299.99 Nighthawk LAX20, which is now available, may be a good fit. In addition to supporting wireless connections, it’s faster for wired connections than the LM1200 with CAT6 speeds (up to 300Mbps).
Anyone who has recently looked around at the booths of the Chinese electronics company TCL has almost always found display glasses somewhere. As part of the exclusively digital CES, the group has now announced the market launch of the wearable display for this year. The group also wants to make offers for tablet fans.
Cinema on the nose The wearable display is not a smart pair of glasses, but rather a cinematic experience to take with you. TCL has transplanted two mini OLED displays onto the inside of the glasses, each showing full HD. According to TCL, this corresponds to the viewing experience one has when viewing a film on one 65 four inch screen Meters away. TCL specifies the pixel density with 49 pixels per degree (PPD).
(Image: TCL)
The glasses themselves only house the two displays and are dependent on an external player to play media – even games can be displayed on them. This can be a laptop or a smartphone that outputs display signals via USB-C. According to Stefan Streit, General Manager of Global Marketing at TCL, the transmission works exclusively via cable. When asked, he did not provide any specific information on prices and availability. However, the market launch “in a bundle” should be this year. The US startup Avegant had already shown its Glyph video glasses at CES 2017. Royole also pursued the concept of mobile cinema with the Moon.
LCD panel like paper? TCL
The also presented Nxtpaper tablet is supposed to combine the advantages of IPS and e-ink displays. In contrast to conventional LCD displays, TCL does not have a backlight on the 8-inch Nxtpaper. Instead, a special layer below the pixel level should reflect the ambient light and thus enable a representation almost as if it were printed. The display does not suffer from the slow image build-up that is typical for e-inks, so that films can also be played on it. According to TCL, the display should be up to 24 percent more contrast than E-Inks and 65 Consume percent less electricity than conventional LCD displays. Unlike this, however, the Nxtpaper display depends on ambient light. According to TCL, the display can also handle pen input.
TCL equips the tablet with a 5500 – mAh battery off, which should allow 10 hours of continuous use. The Android – – Tablet comes with a MediaTek MT 8768 E, which is usually found in entry-level devices. The 64 GByte memory can be expanded. The market launch is announced for April, TCL calls for the device 140 Euro.
It is a big day for TCL, first announcing its new phones, followed by two new tablets – TCL Tab 10S and TCL Nxtpaper. While the first one is a pretty straightforward slate the second one is really intriguing – it comes with a new display technology that protects the eyes, saves battery and still delivers full color.
TCL Nxtpaper
The Nxtpaper switches the typical LCD for an NCVM-composite sheet. The abbreviation stands for non-conductive vacuum metallization, and the technology uses special materials that do not conduct electricity. TCL revealed it basically works like an e-ink display, but will full color support and much higher 1440 x 1080 pixel resolution.
Such a panel does not need any backlight, meaning there’s no blue light that usually strains the eyes during prolonged use. The goal for TCL was to create a device that can be used for the whole day, especially in these times were a lot of kids are studying at home.
Due to the NCVM panel’s specifics, it is extremely thin, requires literally very little battery power, and brings the total thickness of the tablet to 7.4 mm, weighing just 316 grams. The 10” screen has certifications from the German Rhine laboratory and 26 unique patents for ultimate eye protection.
The chipset inside is a Mediatek MT8768 with an octa-core CPU at 2.0 GHz and a PowerVR GE8320 GPU. RAM is 4 GB, while storage is 64 GB and can be expanded through the microSD slot. The battery is 5,000 mAh and supports 18W charging, but due to the display’s low-power capabilities, it can last for 400 hours of standby time. And the OS is full Android 10, so no worries about compatibility or anything like that.
TCL Nxtpaper will cost €349 once it launches in April 2021 and will even throw in cellular support – up to 4G. The color is only one – Ultramarine Green.
TCL Tab 10S
The Tab 10S is a pretty straightforward tablet – a Mediatek MT8769 chipset, 3GB or 4GB RAM, and up to 64GB of storage, with a microSD slot for more. It has a big 10.1” Full HD+ panel with a resolution of 2000 x 1920 pixels, an 8MP camera on the back, and another 5MP on the front for video calls.
This tablet’s selling point is its massive 8,000 mAh battery and the dual speakers, making it a great option for home fun for everyone. The UI, based on Android 10, provides profiles for all members of the family. It also comes with a stylus in the retail box and supports a cover keyboard accessory that can be purchased separately.
Available in March 2021, the TCL Tab 10S will cost €199 for the Wi-Fi-only version, while the 4G variant will be €249.
TCL Moveaudio S600 & TCL Movetrack PetTracker
The online launch also saw TCL introducing the Moveaudio S600 TWS earphones. They are extremely light, come with a big 500 mAh battery in the case (with each bud holding an extra 55 mAh charge), and have a dynamic 10mm speaker. Each bud has three ANC microphones, and the stems come with a touch sensor as well.
The S600 can connect like most Bluetooth earphones but you have the option to customize their sound via the TCL Connect app. They are compatible with Android and iOS and will sell for €149 in four colors – Graphite Gray, Pure Marble, Silver Chrome, Turquoise Blue.
The TCL Movetrack Pettracker is exactly what the name suggests – a smart tracker you attach to the collar of your home pet. Its job is to detect movement and upload location every 60 seconds. It supports Safe Zones, automatically sending you the location of your pet if it leaves your house.
There’s also a feature called Virtual Leash – the PetTracker connects via Bluetooth to the phone (that’s about 5-10 meters), and once the pet is too far from its owner, the tracker starts sending push notifications. The device and its app can store 24-hour history of paths and locations, which can be searched by time and date. Storage time is six months. The price of this gadget is €99.
Finally TCL also demonstrated a Wearable Display that looks like glasses, but actually sits higher up on your nose and lets you get a cinematic experience on the go. The two 1080p OLED displays put so close to your eyes have the same viewing angle as 140-inch screen. It connects through a USB-C cable to any device that can output image over USB-C. More details will be disclosed in a “few weeks,” according to company officials.
TCL has announced its 2021 lineup, predictably called TCL 20. It will consist of no less than five different smartphones, with the first two being TCL 20 5G and TCL 20 SE, and coming to the stores this very month. The rest of the family includes TCL 20 Pro 5G, TCL 20L, and TCL 20S, which should be detailed later on and released by the summer.
TCL 20 5G
The TCL 20 5G phone is the most affordable 5G handset by TCL and comes with a Snapdragon 690 chipset, coupled with 6GB RAM. On the front, we have a 6.67” LCD Dotch Display, which is how TCL branded its panel with a punch hole for the 8MP selfie camera.
The resolution is Full HD+, with a tall 20:9 ratio, and according to press materials, it has a 91% screen-to-body ratio. Since the fingerprint can’t make it under the panel, TCL has put it on the right side, under the power key.
The setup on the back is aligned vertically and features a 48MP main camera, an 8MP ultrawide-angle shooter with 118-degree FoV, and a 2MP macro shooter.
Other highlights of the TCL 20 5G include a 4,500 mAh battery with 18W fast charging over Qualcomm’s QC 4+ standard. In addition to 5G with downlink speeds of up to 2.7 Gbps, you also get Bluetooth 5.1 and NFC.
Available in Black or Blue, the TCL 20 5G is already selling in Italy for €299 and should arrive in other countries by the end of the month.
TCL 20 SE
The TCL 20 SE claims to be a great phone for entertainment, thanks to its big 6.82” LCD, although it only offers HD+ resolution. There’s a small waterdrop notch on the top with an 8MP selfie camera tucked inside.
Under the hood we have a Snapdragon 460 chipset, 4/64 GB memory, plus a microSD slot for up to 256GB more. The setup on the back includes a 16MP main and 5MP ultrawide-angle cameras as well as a couple of 2MP auxiliary units.
The TCL 20 SE gets an ample 5,000mAh power cell, supporting up to 18W fast charging, although you only get a 10W adapter in the box. It comes with Android 11 offers FM Radio, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, and NFC.
The TCL 20 SE will be sold in Black or Green at the price of €149 and will start appearing at markets before the end of January.
Microsoft is updating its Surface Pro line today with a refreshed Surface Pro 7 Plus model that is only available to businesses and schools. While the design and screen on the outside remain the same as the Surface Pro 7, Microsoft has overhauled the internals of the device to make way for Intel’s latest 11th Gen processors, a bigger battery, removable SSD, and LTE connectivity.
This marks the return of LTE to the main Surface Pro line for the first time since 2015, but unfortunately there’s no 5G connectivity as Microsoft is using Qualcomm’s older Snapdragon X20 LTE modem inside the Surface Pro 7 Plus.
The Surface Pro 7 Plus has no external design changes.Image: Microsoft
A variety of models will be available, starting with the Intel Core i3 (1115G4) and ending with the Intel Core i7 (1165G7). Only the Intel Core i5 (1135G7) model will have optional LTE starting at $1,149, and the base Core i3 model ships with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for $899. The top Core i7 option ($2,799) can also be configured up to 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB of SSD storage.
Microsoft is now promising up to 15 hours of battery life on the Surface Pro 7 Plus, up from the 10.5 hours the company claims on the original Surface Pro 7. A small part of this battery life improvement will be thanks to the Intel 11th Gen chips, but it’s mostly down to a move from a battery capacity of 46.5Wh to 50.4Wh.
The Surface Pro 7 Plus also ships with the same 12.3-inch (2736 x 1824) PixelSense display found on the original Surface Pro 7, with a single USB-C port, a USB-A port, 3.5mm headphone jack, and the Surface Connect port. The Wi-Fi-only models will include a MicroSDXC card reader, while the LTE models will replace this with a nano SIM. This does mean that the Surface Pro 7 Plus still doesn’t have Thunderbolt connectivity.
The removable SSD on the Surface Pro 7 Plus.Image: Microsoft
The Surface Pro 7 Plus has some bigger than normal internal changes overall, too. “We changed the inside quite substantially,” explains Robin Seiler, corporate vice president of program management for devices at Microsoft, in an interview with The Verge. “It actually required us to flip the internals in order for us to put the SSD here, so when we did that we also updated the TDM (Thermal Design Model) to create more space for a larger battery size.”
The removable SSD works just like it does on the Surface Pro X or Surface Laptop 3, allowing businesses to swap drives out for reparability.
So why no major redesign with thinner display bezels? Microsoft says it’s mostly for consistency because businesses want to standardize on Surface Pro configurations and form factors. “When you look at the Surface Pro X, which has the thinner bezels, there are pretty substantial changes in terms of port locations which is driven by those bezels,” says Seiler. “Thinning the bezels does require significant change in terms of form factor and compatibility with previous [models].”
The Surface Pro 7 Plus starts at $899.Image: Microsoft
This focus on businesses and LTE connectivity, at a time when home internet connections might not hold up to working from home demands, also explains why Microsoft didn’t opt for the Surface Pro 8 moniker and make this device available to consumers. “This is simply an extension of a commercially-focused line,” explains Seiler. “It was important for us to signal that this is an extension of Pro 7, for all of the customers who have standardized on that.”
Still, it’s disappointing that a refreshed model with Intel’s latest processors and LTE connectivity won’t be available directly to consumers. Microsoft won’t say if that will change any time soon, but it does feel like the company is trying to draw a line between the Surface Pro as business-focused and the Surface Go and Surface Pro X for consumers.
Microsoft is planning to start shipping the Surface Pro 7 Plus to customers on January 15th in the US, and it will also be available in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and a large number of European countries.
L’Oreal debuted a gadget at CES last year that promised to make lipstick shades in whatever color wearers wanted. This year, we’re learning what that device requires to work at home: lipstick pods.
The Yves Saint Laurent Beauté Rouge Sur Mesure Powered by Perso — yes, that really is the name — takes three different lipstick color pods and squirts their liquid out at the top of the device for wearers to mix. (The pods dispense the YSL Beauty Velvet Cream Matte Finish formula.) When combined, they create the desired shade. The top of the Bluetooth-enabled device doubles as a compact so people can take it on the go and touch up their color as needed.
The device costs $299 and is available for preorder today. Each preorder includes two sets of colors in either the red, nude, orange, or fuchsia family. Everything will ship in “early spring.” The device will then be more widely available in September. Custom skincare and foundation pods will also launch later this year. The device charges through USB-C and has a battery life of more than a week, according to L’Oreal, YSL’s parent company.
Image: L’Oreal
Wearers have three options to create a shade within the iOS or Android app. They can select from the “shade wheel,” which makes it easy to select a color from a wheel; the “shade match,” which creates a shade to complement an outfit or a favorite lipstick color through a photo; or “shade stylist,” which relies on a “smart algorithm” to choose between three shades that’ll best work with an outfit, again based on a photo. The app also includes a social component that showcases colors other users made and highlights “real-time trends” from “YSL experts” and other users.
The lipstick pod sets cost $100 on their own and cannot be swapped in for anything other than those pods. Each cartridge is verified through RFID, which allows the machine to detect the formula type inserted in each canal, track its consumption, and offer to automatically reorder the cartridge if needed. Although users can order individual cartridges, they cannot mix and match the pods from different sets. The machine won’t operate if they try.
Of course, relying on pods is often how hardware companies create recurring revenue. People buy the device once but then are required to keep buying more things to use it. In this case, it’s possible people might go through the cartridges faster than they would a typical lipstick, especially if they use it daily. I, for one, own lots of lipsticks that I rarely use. I get bored of one color and then look for a new one to start wearing — and not always from the same brand. YSL can bank on the fact that people will need to re-up these cartridges directly from its line, guaranteeing that customers stay loyal to its lipsticks and keep paying the company. Pods have finally found their place in makeup.
This Samsung 65W charger (EP-TA865) was certified by the Korean authorities back in September, but this is the first time we see in a photo. It supports USB Power Delivery at up to 20V and 3.25A, including Programmable Power Supply (PPS).
It’s powerful enough to be used with laptops as well, provided they can be charged through their USB-C ports. But it’s probably too overpowered for the Galaxy S21 flagships that will be unveiled this Thursday – the S21 Ultra is rumored to support 45W charging, the highest Samsung has gone yet (using the EP-TA845 adapter).
The Samsung Galaxy S21 and S21+ are not in contention as they expected to top out at 25W. And in all three cases you’ll have to provide your own power brick as the new S-series is expected to ship in a barebones box.
A 65W USB-C charger for Samsung (EP-TA865)
There’s a chance that the Galaxy Note21 Ultra battery will be beefed up for 65W charging, but it’s too early to tell. Or it’s possible that the rumors are wrong and the S21 Ultra will surpass its predecessor – the S20 Ultra (45W) was faster than the Note20 Ultra, which was limited to 25W, so it will be quite a jump for the upcoming Note.
It’s quite possible, in fact, as we already know that the S21 phones will upgrade reverse wireless charging to 9W, double what the S and Note phones from 2020 achieved. So some upgrades to the electric system are coming, why not 65W too? Samsung has stayed out of the Watt wars for now, but that could change.
Source 1 (in Dutch) | Source 2 | Source 3 (in Chinese)
RESUME A sound character that produces minimal listening fatigue, a design that provides comfort, and ANC by as much 13 positions together provide a pleasant experience that you can enjoy for a long time. We just miss that little bit of musical emotion that would complete the picture.
PLUS POINTS Price Comfort Build Quality Service MINUSES Missing musical emotion ANC cannot be turned off completely Battery life
Today’s technological innovations are hard to keep up with, because we seem to be making leaps and bounds every day. VR, AR, Motion control, flexible screens and 20191114160511 degrees sound, these are just a few examples from the world of audio and video. The big and sometimes slightly less big tech giants behind it really can’t go fast enough. From the maker who has been helping you for years with text files in Word, spreadsheats in Excel and your most ambitious PowerPoint presentations, we have now received the Surface Headphones 2. And no, the -s in the end is not a typo.
Laptops, smartphones, tablets and all-in-ones, Microsoft has been at the forefront of innovation for decades. Electronics for the head should not be missing. That the manufacturer also adheres to the business user will come as no surprise. What we do see is that, just like with Apple, a brand-specific ecosystem is emerging. And that Microsoft also supplies both the hardware and the software. Surface Headphones 2: a job well done We received a test sample from France where we received no less than 40 days. That should be enough. The reception, unpacking and getting hold of it promised a good experience. Everything exudes solidity and reliability. The Microsoft Surface Headphones 2 seems (seem?) To be made of aluminum, plastic and (artificial) leather. The band for the over the head stands out. It is different in design than, say, a Bose or B&W. There is a bend upwards above the left and right unit. But something else also stands out. On the outside of both units we also see a beautifully milled ring. It gets even better, because that ring can turn. At the bottom we find the button for switching the Microsoft Surface headphone 2 on and off. There is also the port for USB-C charging and a 3.5 mm connection.
Microsoft likes to use beautiful marketing terms. For example, the Surface 2 is equipped with ‘Omnisonic sound’ for an ‘immersive experience’. What is more practical is the operation. This can be done with touch, but also by turning. That Microsoft is indeed looking forward to the business user who wants to get started undisturbed, becomes clear with the whopping 13 modes of active noise cancellation. And not 1, but 2 microphones for clarity during conversations. Should we also report voice control? Nice for at home, but not in public.
Comfortable with the capital letter C Every headphone is different again. What we see with the Microsoft Surface Headphones 2, as with the DALI IO6 by the way, are the round shapes of the earpads. Some people prefer the oval shape, while others prefer the round shape. The ear cushions are extremely comfortable and almost vacuum themselves against the head. Wearing glasses with the MS Surface 2 is therefore no problem. The cushions still seal well. The weight when carrying is fine. It is not so light that the feeling of wearing completely disappears, but it is absolutely not disturbing. We have been able to listen to music for quite a while, but a good two hours is no problem anyway.
On the inside of the headband is a kind of rubber / plastic strap. It is sensitive to fat. Especially if you are bald that is something to take into account. A cloth over it and it is clean, but this is something you would like to know in advance. To listen and use the Microsoft Surface Headphones 2, we link the iPhone and the HP laptop. It is therefore possible to link two devices. When turning on the Surface, we are greeted by a neat lady voice, who tells us the remaining battery time.
Pinch of more music The music turns on and the eyebrows are raised; in surprise. This is not what we expected. The music sounds subdued and reserved. This period of acclimatization does not last very long. Between 5 and 7 seconds later, the eardrums are used to it again and we can start listening. For convenience, we pack a regular Top 40 or 50 add a list, and we ‘just’ start listening. This gives us a little idea of where the sound character lies. We now have quite a bit of comparison material â ???? the DALI IO6, B&W PX7 and the PX5 and the Nitro-X, for example. For the sake of completeness, we even have a Bose. This allows us to form a good picture of Microsoft’s strategy.
In terms of sound reproduction and musical experience, the Microsoft Surface Headphones 2 comes across as reticent. As if he doesn’t give everything. The sound is reserved. In The Air Tonight â ???? Phil Collins, after building up all the tension, has the moment when emotion and feeling are released. And that moment is crucial to the musical emotion that is in the song. And that is exactly what is not well reflected. It doesn’t sound bad, not at all. The sound scores very well, but it just lacks that pinch of musical experience of, for example, the DALI or Bowers. The downside of the preserved character is that you can listen for hours without any form of listening fatigue. However, that is an important consideration that Microsoft has made. It also directly shows which audience Microsoft is targeting.
If we then use the ANC which is in 13 positions can be adjusted, start scanning by means of the rotating ring, then the puzzle pieces really stand out its place. The ANC is arguably the best in this price range. By combining this with a sound adjustment that results in hardly any listening fatigue, Microsoft focuses on long-term use. We also notice this in the comfort – the Surface 2 is great. Comfortable, not too heavy, and the build-up of heat is easily dissipated.
Final Verdict Microsoft has taken off the boxing glove and goes into battle with Bose. With the Surface Headphones 2, the computer giant focuses primarily on business and long-term users of wireless headphones with ANC. This strategy is confirmed by the sound character, comfort and variation in ANC â ???? although you can never completely turn off the latter. The build quality is better than that of the plastic Boses, and at this price it looks a bit like sprinkling sand in the eyes of this competitor. Depending on the use â € œbubbles for example consumes a little more energyâ €. we can get around the 16 hours ahead. That is slightly less than the competition, but much of that criticism is somewhat nuanced by the price. With a suggested retail price of 279 euro, Microsoft is clearly looking for a larger share of the market for wireless ANC headphones. For us, a pinch of musical emotion could really have been added.
Conclusion Microsoft is hungry for a bigger share of the ANC wireless headphones market. With the Surface Headphones 2, they clearly outshine the Bose. They target the business users. A sound character that produces hardly any listening fatigue, a design that offers comfort, and ANC with a whopping 13 modes together ensure a pleasant experience that you can enjoy for a long time. We just miss that little bit of musical emotion that would complete the picture.
Microsoft Surface Headphones 2
â ?? ¬ 279 | www.microsoft.nl
Rating: 4/5
LG has announced at this CES 2021 its first OLED monitor for PC , a model with a panel of 31, 5-inch panel with 4K resolution 3. 840 x 2. 99 aimed at advanced users and professionals
This panel has HDR technology with Local Dimming, that is, the brightness can vary independently for each pixel, something typical of OLED technology where each pixel emits its own light, which avoids the need to implement an additional backlight system as in conventional LCD panels.
99% coverage ADobe-RGB and DCI-P3 for professional users
In terms of color coverage, get a 99% from the DCI-P3 range and also a 99% of the Adobe RGB gamut, figures that place it as a monitor intended for use by video and image professionals.
At the rear it incorporates a multiple connectivity system, with two DisplayPort, one HDMI, three USB and USB-C connector with Power Delivery of 90 W for power. At the moment we do not know its availability or price.
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Antonio Delgado
Computer Engineer by training, editor and hardware analyst at Geeknetic since 2011. I love gutting everything that comes my way, especially the latest hardware that we get here for reviews. In my spare time I fiddle with 3d printers, drones and other gadgets. For anything here you have me.
Home/Channel/CES/CES 2021: Lenovo unveils Yoga Slim 7i Pro with OLED display
Dominic Moass 37 mins ago CES, Featured Tech News, Notebook, Tech News
Lenovo has announced a new version of its Yoga Slim 7i Pro laptop. While this notebook was first unveiled back in September 2020, this new model differentiates itself from the original thanks to the use of a 14-inch OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. It also uses an 11th Gen Intel CPU, up to an i7, and up to Nvidia GeForce MX450 discrete graphics.
While OLED laptop displays are becoming more common, they are still nowhere near as prevalent as LCD screens, so it’s good to see another manufacturer hop onboard this trend. The OLED panel used for the Yoga Slim 7i Pro is manufactured by Samsung and sports a resolution of 2880×1800, which is a 16:10 aspect ratio. It’s also great to see a 90Hz refresh rate, while Lenovo claims up to 100% DCI-P3 coverage. There’s even support for Dolby Vision so you can watch your Netflix movies in HDR.
The rest of the spec certainly looks good on paper. Lenovo says it is aiming to achieve Intel Evo certification by Q2 2021, and is therefore using Intel 11th Gen CPUs, ‘up to’ i7 but we can expect a range of models to hit the market. There’s also support for ‘up to’ Nvidia’s GeForce MX450 discrete GPU.
We also see up to 16GB RAM, support for a maximum of 1TB PCIe storage, and both WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0. The battery cell is rated at 61 WHr, which isn’t bad considering the chassis is listed at just 0.7in thick (approximately 17.8mm). It also weighs at ‘up to’ 3.2lbs (around 1.45kg), but could be even lighter depending on the exact SKU.
Connectivity wise, the Yoga Slim 7i Pro sports 2x USB-C ports, each of which support Thunderbolt 4 and DisplayPort 1.4, as well as Power Delivery 3.0. Then there’s also 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (AKA USB 3.0) Type-A port and 1x audio combo jack.
Pricing is yet to be confirmed at the time of publishing, but Lenovo did clarify that the OLED model will not be available in North America.
Full specification is as follows:
Spec Table
Yoga Slim 7i Pro (OLED version)
CPU + iGPU
Up to Intel 11th Gen i7 + Intel Iris Xe
dGPU
Up to NVIDIA GeForce MX450
RAM
Up to 16GB
Display Size and Panel
14” OLED
Refresh Rate
90Hz
Color Space
Up to 100% DCI-P3 125% sRGB
Dolby Vision
✓
Storage
Up to 1TB PCIe SSD
Audio
Harman speakers and Dolby Atmos
Webcam
IR Camera (dual mics)
Wi-Fi/Bluetooth
Wi-Fi 6 / 5.0
Battery Capacity
61 WHr
Colors
Slate Grey
Ports
2 x USB Type-C™ (Intel Thunderbolt 4, Power Delivery 3.0, DisplayPort™ 1.4, USB 4.0)
1 x USB-A (USB 3.2 Gen 1)
1 x Audio Combo Jack
Dimensions
W x D x H
12.3″ x 8.7″ x 0.7 (in)
Weight
Up to 3.2 lbs
KitGuru says: The Lenovo Slim 7i Pro looks like a very solid laptop, and the OLED display should deliver an excellent viewing experience.
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The Consumer Electronics Show officially begins this week. Thankfully, the Consumer Electronics Association capitulated in July and switched the whole thing over to being online-only. But it’s hard to know what CES is even supposed to be without giant convention halls filled with ostentatious displays, blinking lights, and hordes of exhausted and smelly people in off-the-rack suits. Whatever happens, you will be able to find all our coverage right here.
The chief executive of the CEA Gary Shapiro told the Wall Street Journal that his organization did its best to try to translate some of the experience online. I can tell you that many on our staff here at The Verge are absolutely dreading being made to click through 3D software models of booths like we’re playing the worst Myst remake ever.
But my guess is that it’ll be a lot smoother than that and really the thing we’ll miss the most is that it will be harder to serendipitously stumble upon some strange or clever new gadget at a tiny booth in the back reaches of the Sands convention center.
The CEA has smartly limited official keynote presentations to 30 minutes a pop. That should mean we’ll get to the announcements more quickly and have to spend a little less time hearing vague hand-waving about innovation. We’ll be covering those live (though without liveblogs), so stay tuned starting today and through the first half of the week.
The main CES keynote will come from Verizon (so expect 5G talk), but the usual suspects like Sony, Samsung, LG and others will have their own presentations. One consequence of moving the entire show online is that companies seem to be stretching out their announcements to fill the suddenly larger virtual space. So although CES’s official start is this week, many of the biggest announcements have already happened. This year’s TV announcements are essentially half-finished thanks to Samsung and Sony going so early.
This year, there will be a few trends to watch for. In TVs, 8K will continue to be everywhere but the real showdown is going to be between more traditional OLED TVs and Mini LED. But the real thing to watch for is HDMI 2.1, the new iteration of the spec that has the necessary bandwidth for more advanced gaming features. It ought to be everywhere this year. Oh, and LG has already shown off its weird concepts this year — transparent TVs are cool.
LG’s bendy TV for 2020LG
There will be plenty of 5G talk, but since this isn’t a phone show much of it will amount to more promises. Verizon is doing the keynote, however, so perhaps it will have something to say about improving its lackluster 5G network, which can often be slower than LTE. (Verizon’s 4G LTE network remains great, at least.)
Laptops and PCs will likely show up with their usual mix: a few weird concepts and a lot of decent spec bumps. I’m going to keep an eye out for two things: whether AMD can pick up more models from Intel and whether Intel can get a critical mass of “Evo” laptops with decent battery life. Because like it or not, the stunningly good Arm-based MacBooks are going to loom like a shadow over the whole proceeding. Perhaps a few companies will take a shot at making a better Arm-based Windows laptop, too.
As for smart home stuff, there’ll be the usual mix of oddities like smart toilets and improvements to the basics like fridges, ovens, and smart lights. I do wonder if there will be a small lull this year as we await the new CHIP industry standard that should reduce fragmentation in how these things communicate with each other.
Image: JBL
One thing we’ll definitely keep an eye out for is health gadgets — and that eye will be extremely skeptical. CES is always the place where quackery and technology team up, but this year my worry is that more than a few overzealous companies will try to make COVID-specific pitches for their gadgets.
Last and perhaps least: phones. CES is rarely a phone show, and this year the fact that Samsung will be announcing its flagship Galaxy S21 just afterwards will tamp those announcements down further. I suspect we’ll see a lot of low and mid-range phones that bring down the cost of access to 5G, but I doubt anybody will try to front-run Samsung.
There may be surprises, too! You never know. We’ll be covering it all from the safety of our homes, so stay tuned. I’ll send out more newsletters than usual this week to try to keep up. And speaking of keeping up, below are the CES and CES-adjacent announcements that have already happened.
TVs
┏ Samsung’s 2021 TVs have dramatically better picture, thanks to Mini LED. Samsung’s big bet on Mini LED continues, including more dimming zones. Not having the chance to see Samsung’s TVs in person is one of my bigger regrets this year, because it is doing so much to try to innovate with LED tech instead of just going to OLED like everybody else.
But to me, the best thing Samsung did was tout a whole new set of accessibility features. In particular I like that its TVs will give users the option of enlarging the ASL bubble that appears on the lower-right of the screen. But it’s doing much more than that.
┏ Samsung made a solar-charging Eco Remote for its latest TVs. Samsung also made a lot of noise over the environment and here I was less sympathetic. If one were to do a study of the extra carbon cost of building this remote with its solar panel and integrated battery versus just letting users replace a couple of AA cells every so often, I wonder which would come out ahead.
┏ LG imagines a bed with a hidden see-thru OLED TV set. I dunno LG, a semi-transparent TV is cool enough on its own that adding a motorized gimmick and suggesting it go at the foot of a bed is just gilding the pixel lily.
The screen achieves 40 percent transparency, LG Display says, which is an improvement over past transparent LCDs the company claims achieved only 10 percent transparency. … LG imagines the screen sitting at the foot of a bed, where it can rise up partially or in full to show information or videos while retaining a view of the other side of the screen.
┏ Watch this flexible LG gaming TV bend from flat to curved. Okay I dig this.
┏ Sony’s 2021 TV lineup runs Google TV and fully embraces HDMI 2.1. Sony’s TV lineup is a little less flashy but a lot more functional this year. It’s switching over to Google TV from Android TV, for one thing. And I love this bit about the legs:
Sony has also focused on small touches, like adjustable legs that can be configured to allow enough space for a soundbar in front of the TV without obstructing the picture. Going down the lineup, you lose certain niceties (like an antireflective coating exclusive to the 8K set), but all of the TVs support Dolby Vision HDR.
┏ Roku says Roku TV was best-selling smart TV OS in North America for 2020.
Other very good big screens
┏ Acer’s latest gaming monitors include its first with HDMI 2.1. At some point, I am going to need to figure out a way to play PS5 games without using the main television for hours on end — there’s other people who want to watch TV. This looks like a great, overkill solution for that which could also serve as a really solid gaming monitor. Not cheap, though, and as Cameron Faulkner points out it is getting awfully close to “just buy an actual TV instead” territory.
In terms of specs, the standout product is the new Nitro XV28, a 28-inch 4K monitor with an IPS display and a 144Hz refresh rate with FreeSync Premium. It’s Acer’s first gaming monitor to use HDMI 2.1 ports, giving it the spec (assuming you’re using an HDMI 2.1-compliant cable) to support up to 4K gaming at 120 frames per second with variable refresh rate (VRR). … So, not only is this a solid option for PC gamers hoping to squeeze the most out of their Nvidia RTX 3080 or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, it’s an option about which PS5 and Xbox Series X owners can be equally excited.
┏ Mercedes-Benz unveils its absolutely massive 56-inch ‘Hyperscreen’ display. CES is nothing if not a show about screens, and I am sad that I won’t have a chance to go behold this screen (which is technically three screens) in person.
┏ Sony is going to start selling its Mandalorian-like virtual set displays. I’ll take two.
Audio
┏ These are Sony’s first 360-degree audio speakers. These speakers look really interesting! I do wonder how they sound, of course. I also wonder just how much content is really going to support 360-degree audio.
┏ Sony’s 360-degree audio is coming to streaming video.
┏ JBL’s new stereo amplifier pairs retro looks with modern connectivity. Click through and look at this thing. It’s very pretty!
The JBL SA750 is a new stereo amplifier pairing modern streaming technologies like Airplay 2 and Google Chromecast with a design that wouldn’t look out of place in a hi-fi rack from the ‘60s or ‘70s. It’s got a set of reassuringly chunky-looking dials and switches as physical controls, an understated display, and its sides are covered with wood veneers. The amplifier, whose release coincides with JBL’s 75th anniversary, will cost $3,000 when it goes on sale beginning this May.
┏ JBL’s Bar 5.0 Multibeam is an all-in-one soundbar with Virtual Dolby Atmos.
┏ The JLab JBuds Frames are open-ear headphones you clip to your glasses.
PCs
┏ LG’s 2021 Gram laptops feature Intel’s 11th-Gen processors. There are “Evo” laptops, Intel’s badge for devices that meet certain benchmarks for battery life and included features. As Monica Chin notes, LG might have exceeded those benchmarks in at least one category:
LG claims you could see up to 19.5 hours from the Gram 17, Gram 16, and 16 2-in-1. That’s a claim I’d usually be skeptical of, but I will say the 2020 Gram 17 had some of the longest battery life I saw from a laptop last year. It lasted around 10 hours of my daily workload (which is fairly intense). So LG knows what it’s doing when it comes to efficiency, and there’s reason for optimism.
┏ Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 hands-on: promisingly boring. Last year Samsung and Google did their level best to steal the CES show with a very red, very pretty Chromebook that ended up being very disappointing. This year Samsung is retrenching — this laptop is not a successor at all. As Monica Chin calls it, it’s a “regular-ass Chromebook.” Nothing wrong with that as long as it’s executed well. We’ll see.
┏ Lenovo’s new IdeaPad 5 Pro includes AMD Ryzen mobile processors. Lenovo is joining the 16:10 aspect ratio club, which is the hottest laptop screen club even though it’s not quite as fancy as the 3:2 aspect ratio club.
┏ Lenovo’s new Yoga all-in-one has a rotating display for better TikTok videos and Twitter scrolling. Sure, the monitor rotates and that’s rare in AIOs, but I am jealous of the feature that lets you plug in your laptop and make the two computers a little more symbiotic.
Of particular note is how Lenovo is taking advantage of USB-C with the Yoga AIO 7. Plug in your laptop with a USB-C cable, and you’ll be able to use the Yoga AIO 7’s hardware — including the display, speakers, mouse and keyboard, power supply, and even the integrated hard drive — directly with your laptop.
┏ Lenovo chases dream of making a PC Nintendo Switch with the LaVie Mini concept. Another concept that is unlikely to actually end up on store shelves, as Mitchell Clark notes:
Most, like Alienware’s UFO concept from last year, don’t ever end up making it to market, as these prototypes are often less about making viable consumer products and more about experimenting with new ideas and form factors and getting the requisite press attention during CES. Some do go on sale but don’t end up appealing to enough gamers to really make an impact, like Razer’s Edge or the initial Nvidia Shield handheld.
Gadgets and gizmos
┏ LG’s newest cordless vac automatically empties itself. I don’t know if LG will actually sell this or not — the company loves doing weird concept stuff at CES. I do know that I very much hate emptying out my vacuum so having a stand that does it for me is very appealing. Probably not appealing enough to actually buy the thing, but appealing enough for me to pay attention. That, after all, is the point of weird concept stuff.
┏ Intel launches RealSense ID, facial recognition tech that uses the company’s depth-sensing cameras. As Ian Carlos Campbell, Intel has been trying to make RealSense a Real Thing that gets included in devices for a long time now.
Intel’s RealSense tech has been knocking around for several years, popping up in odd, tech demo use cases like inserting your face into Fallout 4, and more useful ones like unlocking a laptop with Windows Hello. Intel suggests this new application of RealSense could be used in a variety of settings, like ATMs, registers, and smart locks. What the company doesn’t mention is the other popular use of facial recognition: governments and law enforcement agencies tracking and profiling people.
┏ I hope to someday sit in Kohler’s new voice-activated smart bath. If your bathtub doesn’t have color-changing lights and a literal fog machine built in, well, Kohler has the solution for those pressing problems.
┏ The 2021 Moto G Stylus, Power, and Play focus on big batteries, bigger screens, and low prices. Of all of these, the one I’m most interested in is the Power. At these price points, it seems unlikely that these phones could compete with flagships in any way. That’s true except in one case: the Power might have battery life that’s hard for any phone to beat.
┏ Kensington’s SD5700T Thunderbolt 4 dock has all the ports you could need. Monica Chin:
Thunderbolt 4 is here, and so is the first fully powered Thunderbolt 4 docking station. Kensington’s SD5700T includes a whopping 11 ports, 90W of power delivery, and transfer speeds of up to 40Gbps. It provides either one 8K output at 30 Hz or two 4K outputs at 60 Hz. … Make no mistake: This is a fancy dock. It’s listed for $289.99 on Kensington’s site.
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