Thanks to some early hints in iOS 15.1, Beats’ latest earbuds are hardly a surprise. Today the company officially debuted its latest model: the $200 Beats Fit Pro. With a similar design to the Studio Buds that arrived earlier this year, this new pair offers active noise cancellation (ANC) alongside almost all of the features from Apple’s third-generation AirPods. That includes hands-free Siri, Adaptive EQ, spatial audio and more. Beats has also added a wing for a more secure fit during workouts and kept the IPX4 rating from the Studio Buds. All of those features, combined with a more attractive design, gives the company an alternative to the Powerbeats Pro in its lineup.

Design

If you’re thinking the Beats Fit Pro look almost exactly like the Beats Studio Buds, you’re not wrong. This new model is a smidge larger and the angle of the tab that holds the on-board controls is slightly different. The overall aesthetic and shape are pretty much identical, though. The biggest design difference is the fit wing, or wingtip as Beats calls it. Unlike a lot of sporty earbuds, this element is very flexible so it can bend to fit a greater range of ear shapes. That also makes it more comfortable. Even though the wing is helping keep the buds in place, you hardly know it’s there.

Like the Studio Buds, the on-board controls for the Beats Fit Pro are on the lowercase ‘b’ logo on the outside of each earbud. They’re still physical buttons you have to press rather than touch controls built for tapping. Controls are mirrored on each side by default, with options for play/pause and answering calls (single press) in addition to skipping tracks (twice for forward, three times for back) and cycling between ANC on and transparency mode (long press). The long press can be reconfigured for volume control, allowing you to turn it up on one side and down on the other. If you do this, you lose the ability to access noise cancellation or ambient sound mode. Bummer.

Beats says it strategically positioned the button for the on-board controls at the bottom of the hump on each earbud “to avoid accidental presses.” Just like I encountered on the Studio Buds, I frequently activated the controls when trying to adjust the fit of the earbuds. With the wingtip I had to do this less often than the previous model, but it was still annoying to want to secure the buds in my ear only to errantly pause the audio or change the noise control mode. And due to the positioning of the microphones, any fit adjustment usually meant touching the external mics and creating extra noise.

Apple’s new wear detection sensor sits around back. Like the tech on the new AirPods, the Beats Fit Pro have an optical sensor outfitted with wavelength LEDs that can determine if an object is skin in addition to proximity. Both Apple and Beats explain that this makes the automatic pausing more accurate, avoiding accidental activation when you don’t actually have them in your ear. Of course, this also helps save battery life when you’re less likely to erroneously turn them on.

Software and features

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Thanks to Apple’s H1 chip, the Beats Fit Pro have a lot of the same features as the new AirPods. Those include one-touch pairing, where even the first time you open the case, all you have to do is tap a pop-up on your iPhone and the earbuds are connected. Messing with a Bluetooth menu and putting a device in pairing mode are both relics of a bygone era. H1 also powers hands-free Siri and Apple’s enhanced Find My features. Lastly, you get Audio Sharing too, so you can listen to music or watch a movie with someone who has a set of earbuds or headphones made by Apple or Beats.

In terms of software, everything you need for Beats Fit Pro is built into iOS 15 for iPhone users. From Control Center, you can easily access noise control and spatial audio settings with a long press on the volume slider. You can reassign the press-and-hold on-board control from the ‘i’ icon next to the device name in the Bluetooth menu. An ear tip fit test resides there too, just like it does for the AirPods Pro, and you can disable automatic ear detection as well. Noise and spatial audio controls are located on this menu too if you’d prefer to access them here. On Android devices, Beats has a dedicated app that handles fast pairing and includes the ear tip fit test, control customization and battery status features available on iOS.

Sound quality

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Beats says it completely redesigned its proprietary transducer for the Fit Pro, creating “an entirely custom acoustic architecture” and promising balanced and powerful sound. That last bit is immediately apparent the first time you fire up these earbuds. There’s much more low-end tone on this model than what the Studio Buds offer. The punchier bass establishes more depth as well, so there’s more room for vocals, instruments and other elements to come through without sounding compressed or boring.

Indeed, guitars ring out in the chaotic metal of Every Time I Die, with bombastic drums booming underneath. The bass is ample and never overpowers, even with genres where things can get out of hand quickly when the tuning is the slightest bit off. There’s a clarity on the Fit Pro that’s well suited for genres like blues, bluegrass, ambient, electronic and more. Across all of those genres, the crisp details highlight Beats’ full range of tones. Bass, fiddle, guitar and mandolin all stand on their own for acts like Nickel Creek, giving space for each to shine. There’s no doubt the sound profile here is an improvement over the Studio Buds, but it’s not on the level of pricer sets like the MW08, Momentum True Wireless 2 or WF-1000XM4.

Thanks to the H1 chip, Beats Fit Pro work with Apple’s spatial audio. This gives you the ability to listen to Dolby Atmos Music content in Apple Music — with or without dynamic head tracking enabled. Spatial audio is also available for these earbuds on Apple TV or movies and TV shows streamed iPhone or iPad. Like the latest AirPods, the Fit Pro are equipped with Apple’s Adaptive EQ. This feature is active when you disable both ANC and transparency mode, continuously monitoring sound with internal microphones and adjusting the low- and mid-range frequencies to keep the audio quality consistent. The feature also takes into account the shape of your ear when making its tweaks.

As I’ve already mentioned, the Beats Fit Pro have active noise cancellation on board. It’s another feature powered by Apple’s H1 chip and it, too, adapts to both ambient noise and how the earbuds fit in your ears. Like previous Beats headphones, this tech continuously monitors and automatically adjusts based on the environmental clamor. Beats says the system is powered by an algorithm that can adapt the signal 200 times per second. That looks nice on paper, but at the end of the day, all you need to know is the ANC system on the Fit Pro does a solid job of blocking distractions when you need it to. It’s not as powerful as Bose or Sony, but it counters distractions well enough to come in handy.

As is typically the case with noise-cancelling earbuds these days, the Fit Pro also offer a transparency mode for tuning into your surroundings. There’s no denying this tool is helpful in certain scenarios when you need to pay some attention to what’s going on around you. However, like the Studio Buds, these don’t feed your voice back into the earbuds when you talk, so you have to speak up to hear yourself. Still, transparency mode will help you keep an ear out for your name at a coffee shop.

Call quality

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For calls, Beats equipped the Fit Pro with six microphones: three on each side. External beamforming mics focus on your voice while the internal units for ANC, transparency mode and Adaptive EQ pull double duty to help improve calls. The company says the feed-forward microphones are recessed to avoid wind issues and a voice accelerometer counters external noise with the help of “an advanced algorithm.”

All earbud companies make some version of this pitch with a mix of mics, algorithms and strategic placement. Mileage varies greatly with these promises and more often than not they don’t hold up. With the Fit Pro, your voice sounds better than speakerphone, but it comes across muffled on the other end. The person you’re speaking to will also get ample background noise if it’s loud enough. At the end of the day, these will work fine if you’re in a decently quiet space, but don’t expect them to block out a noisy office when you have a phone or video call.

When they first arrive, the Beats Fit Pro won’t support Apple’s new Group FaceTime spatial audio. The feature employs immersive sound so that participants sound like they’re speaking from the location they are on your screen. Apple says this makes FaceTime calls more natural, and it does to a degree. It definitely enhances the experience of a meeting or group chat, but it’s still far from real life. Beats says it plans to add this feature to the Fit Pro as part of a future software update.

Battery life

Beats is promising up to six hours of use on the earbuds with ANC or transparency mode active. When you factor in the additional 21 hours in the case, that’s 27 hours of listening time with the most attractive features turned on. If you opt to skip those and go with Adaptive EQ mode, you can expect an extra hour on the Beats Fit Pro and three more in the case for a total of 30. As always, the company has included its Fast Fuel feature that offers an hour of noise-cancelling playback with a five-minute charge.

Battery life claims are rarely an issue with Beats gear and that holds true here. Using a mix of active noise cancellation and transparency mode throughout the day, I managed nearly seven hours before completely depleting the power. I missed it by about 10 minutes. That’s enough to get you through a full day at the office, and if you can dock the buds at some point, you’ll have no trouble wearing them during your commute either. All of these figures are on par with the new AirPods, but Apple’s latest don’t have ANC. Our current top pick for best earbuds, Sony’s WF-1000XM4, lasted seven and a half hours during my tests with noise cancellation active.

The competition

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Beats has a more affordable alternative to the Fit Pro in its lineup. The Studio Buds will save you $50, but you’ll have to make some sacrifices. First, and perhaps most importantly, the sound quality isn’t nearly as good. It lacks the punchy bass and overall depth the Fit Pro exhibits. The Studio Buds don’t have Apple’s H1 chip, but you still get quick pairing and hands-free Siri in addition to the ability to listen to Dolby Atmos tunes in Apple Music. What you won’t find is Adaptive EQ or the new skin-activated wear detection sensor.

The absolute best true wireless earbuds you can buy right now are still the Sony WF-1000XM4. As feature-packed as the Fit Pro are, the handy features are most useful for iOS. Sony goes beyond ANC to include automatic pausing when you speak and quick attention mode for short conversations. You can also fully automate your noise-cancelling or transparency levels on the WF-1000XM4 based on your activity or location. Of course, that’s if you’re willing to trade some privacy for convenience.

Wrap-up

If you’re looking for the best of what AirPods has to offer in earbuds that don’t have the polarizing stick apparatus, the Beats Fit Pro should do the trick. They offer a nice blend of features, sound and noise-cancelling performance for the price. Sure, there are better options but they also cost significantly more, especially if you’re looking for the absolute best audio quality. For now, Beats is giving the masses an AirPods alternative that’s actually still packed with Apple tech. And that’s an interesting proposition for iPhone owners.

You won't have to buy a Lucid Air if you want a car with more immersive Dolby Atmos. Mercedes will equip its cars with Atmos audio on all models that use both its latest MBUX interface (introduced with the latest S-Class) and an optional Burmester 3D or 4D sound system. Whether or not you'll driving, you'll hear compatible music in a vertically enhanced sound field — it might not sound like a "live concert" as Mercedes claims, but it should be a step up from the usual stereo playback.

The 4D system includes 31 speakers, six of which create the 3D effect from above. Another four "near-ear" speakers sit in the front seats, and all four seats have two sound transducers (aka exciters) each. Throw in 1750W of total power (including an 18.5-liter subwoofer) and you'll likely be happy regardless of the audio processing.

Just don't plan on buying an Atmos-equipped car right away. The format will first be available in the Mercedes-Maybach in summer 2022, and the S-Class soon after. Other models will follow, but you might not want to count on buying an A-Class with Atmos any time soon.

Black Friday has come a few weeks early for Google fans. A bunch of Google devices are on sale today at B&H Photo, including the Nest Audio smart speaker, which is only $60 right now if you go for the chalk or charcoal colors. That's $40 off its normal price and the lowest we've seen in a long time. The second-gen Nest Hub is half off, bringing it down to $50, while the Nest Hub Max is on sale for $180.

If you're an Android user or a Google Assistant fan, you can't go wrong with the Nest Audio as your main smart speaker. It earned a score of 87 from us and we considered it to be a steal at its normal $100 price point. Not only does it have solid sound quality on its own, but two paired together in stereo mode sound even better. We also like its minimalist design and how speedily the Google Assistant responds to commands.

Either of the Nest Hubs on sale would make great additions to your smart home, but which you choose will likely depend on how much you value affordability and sound quality. The second-gen Nest Hub is a great deal at $50 because you're getting a faster device overall, much improved audio quality and new sleep tracking abilities. For the latter, if you put the Nest Hub next to your bed, it'll track how long you've been asleep and even if you snore during the night. And regardless of where it sits in your home, the smart display can show video camera feeds from Nest Cams, so you can see who's at your front door without actually answering it.

As for the Nest Hub Max, it's the better choice if you want a smart display that can also hold its own against some high-end speakers. It includes two front-facing tweeters and a rear-facing woofer and they work together to pump out strong, clear sound. It's not a replacement for a couple of Sonos speakers spread throughout your home, but it's one of the best options if you want one device that can be your main speaker and smart display.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

Master & Dynamic has staked its name on its mix of refined design, premium materials and crisp, clear audio quality. The company has a number of models under its belt, including wired, wireless and noise-cancelling headphones, in addition to true wireless earbuds and a concrete speaker. Now M&D is venturing into uncharted sonic territory: gaming headsets. With the MG20, the company has built a set of "wireless gaming headphones" with its trademark design and a range of handy features for a whopping $449 (€449/£429). 

The MG20 has a familiar look to the company's over-ear headphones, with some simplified design choices. This gaming headset doesn't have quite as many varying textures as some of M&D's other products, for example. This time around, the company opted for a combo of aluminum, magnesium, lambskin leather and Alcantara. There's a detachable boom mic for gaming sessions and the MG20 also has microphones for calls when you're using them as a set of headphones. The headphones also have a semi-open back design for a wider sound stage and more natural audio quality. 

Inside, 50mm drivers power 7.1 surround sound with support for aptX HD for music and aptX Low-Latency for mobile gaming. With the debut of the MG20, M&D has added EQ presets to it's headphone app for the first time, allowing users to select a sound profile to fit their needs. What's more, independent volume controls for game audio offer another degree of customization. A low-latency USB adapter is compatible with both PlayStation and PC and offers easy switching between devices. Master & Dynamic says the MG20 will last for up to 22 hours on a charge, and thanks to wear detection, the headphones can save battery life when you're not wearing them. 

The MG20 will be available in black and white color options starting November 16th.

When you consider 2019’s second-generation AirPods were a modest update rather than a complete overhaul, Apple was way overdue for an all-new model. With this year’s third-gen version, the company has given us just that. The 2021 AirPods have a new design, complete with handy features from the company’s more expensive earbud and headphone models. The stick-bud look is still with us, and the overall fit will remain polarizing, but Apple has nonetheless massively improved its “regular” AirPods in nearly every way.

Design

Billy Steele/Engadget

Apple completely redesigned AirPods inside and out for this third-generation model. The new look is a blend of the original AirPods design and the AirPods Pro, with some modifications. Right off the bat you’ll notice the lack of the silicone eartips found on the Pro. The overall fit of the new model is similar to that of the first two AirPods, which means that there will be a good number of people who won’t care for it. That mixture of designs continues on the stem. Apple reduced the length of the component by a third versus the previous model, adding the force sensor from the AirPods Pro for the on-board controls.

For its new “contoured design,” Apple says it considered customer feedback on fit and comfort as well as thousands of ear scans, acoustic studies and heat map modeling to create the shape. The company explains that the design reduces weight and its tapered silhouette and angle increase comfort. Not to mention the updated earbud better directs sound into your ear. All of this turned out to be true, as the new model is more comfortable and the design helps deliver massive improvements to audio quality.

Despite a lot of people using AirPods at the gym or on a run, only the Pro model was sweat and water resistant. Apple has extended that protection to this third-gen unit as well as its charging case. You won’t want to try submerging either one, but the IPX4 rating should be enough to keep the earbuds safe during workouts or from an errant, albeit small, splash.

AirPods have had automatic pausing before now, but Apple changed in-ear detection for the 2021 edition. Instead of a simple optical sensor, Apple’s new version actually detects skin. Combined with the built-in accelerometer, AirPods can better determine when they’re in your ear, which Apple says makes pausing more accurate and can even extend battery life.

Software and features

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Like Apple’s other recent AirPods models, this new set is equipped with the company’s H1 chip. That component enables a lot of features, with the first one being one-touch fast pairing. Simply flip open the case near your iPhone and all you have to do is tap the pop-up to sync the two devices. It’s so quick and easy, and you’ll quickly realize how much time you wasted putting earbuds in pairing mode before swiping over to the Bluetooth menu. Those days are long gone and, quite frankly, good riddance.

The H1 chip also powers always-on Siri. As before, this allows you to summon the virtual assistant without having to reach for or be near your phone. H1 lends a hand with Adaptive EQ, spatial audio and dynamic head tracking as well, bringing features from the pricier Pro and Max models to a more affordable version of AirPods.

Similar to previous products, AirPods are equipped with automatic switching between Apple devices. When you’re listening to music on your MacBook Pro and get a call, you can automatically switch over. And when the call is finished, you can go back without re-pairing. Thanks to the latest version of iOS features like announce notifications with Siri and improved Find My are all available on the third-gen AirPods. The older audio sharing tool is back as well.

With the change to force sensor-driven controls, Apple has given AirPods the same actions as AirPods Pro. On the second-gen model, you had to tap the earbud and the options were very limited. Like the Pro version, you now have the ability to play/pause and accept calls (press once), skip tracks forward (press twice), skip tracks backwards (press three times) and activate Siri (press and hold). Once again, there’s no option for on-board volume control. The press-and-hold input on the AirPods Pro changes noise-cancelling mode, so it seems like Apple could’ve reassigned this action for volume — up on one side, down on the other. As it stands, using this for Siri seems redundant, especially as the hands-free assistant is a staple of its AirPods line.

Sound quality

I don’t want to mince words here: the new AirPods sound so much better than the previous two versions. Like almost night and day better. Apple didn’t make any significant changes to sound quality from the first model to the 2019 version. But for gen three, Apple paired a custom driver with a high-dynamic-range amplifier to improve the audio chops. The company says that the duo work together to produce “rich consistent bass” and “crisp, clean” highs. From the moment I fired up the first song, this was all immediately evident. I don’t think I’ve ever audibly said “woah” with the first note from a guitar on any review unit, but given how average older AirPods sound, it was involuntary this time.

Overall, the sound is bigger and more immersive. It’s open and airy, instead of being compressed and downright boring like older AirPods. While greatly improved, the sound quality doesn’t match the absolute best I’ve tested: Sony’s WF-1000XM4, Master & Dynamic’s MW08 and Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 2. However, the new AirPods do sound better than the Galaxy Buds 2 and are comparable to Jabra’s Elite 75t — both of which offer active noise cancellation and are more in line with Apple’s latest in terms of price.

Even without spatial audio tracks, music feels dimensional with vocals, instruments and other sounds standing on their own. The performance is consistent across the bluegrass picking of Nickel Creek to the bluesy folk rock of Jason Isbell and the grungy metal of Every Time I Die. Sure, part of this is due to the new driver/amp combo, as the crisp treble and constant, but not overpowering, bass help create these soundscapes. Another reason is the new shape of the earbud that better directs sound into your ears.

Billy Steele/Engadget

The third aspect is Adaptive EQ, a feature Apple first introduced on the AirPods Max. Using computational audio, the company’s H1 chip and the inward-facing mic, AirPods tune the music for how the earbuds fit in your ear. Adaptive EQ constantly monitors sound and adapts low- and mid-range frequencies in real time. All of these updates make the new AirPods something I actually wanted to listen to music with, rather than something that was just more convenient that other earbuds.

The new AirPods also support Apple’s spatial audio. This means you can listen to tracks that are available in Dolby Atmos on Apple Music with no issue. I can respect that spatial audio as a concept is divisive: some people like it while others don’t. I don’t care for it with the AirPods Max, but I think it sounds better with these new AirPods. Dolby Atmos seemed a bit too spacious at times with Apple over-ear headphones (Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour is a prime example), but that’s not the case with the supported earbuds. I’m not sure it will sway folks who don’t care for spatial audio currently, but that’s why you have the ability to disable it entirely.

Like the AirPods Pro, spatial audio here is also available with dynamic head tracking, which changes the position of the audio in your earbuds when you turn your head. iOS will allow you to switch between fixed spatial audio and dynamic head tracking via the volume slider in Control Center. There’s also a third option to disable the immersive sound entirely from here. I think head tracking has some benefits when you’re watching a movie or TV show, but when you’re listening to music, it’s not so great. Especially when you momentarily walk away from your computer or phone. For that reason, easy access to these controls is a great thing.

What you won’t find here is active noise cancellation (ANC) or a transparency mode. Apple has reserved both for the pricier AirPods Pro, and there’s a key reason why. The third-gen AirPods allow some outside sound in by design as they don’t completely seal off your ear canal. This would make an ANC setup difficult and means the AirPods are “transparent” by default. Much like the design, if you consider the features of the new AirPods as the middle ground between the base model and the Pro version, a lot of these decisions make sense.

Call quality

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As ever, Apple is hyping the voice quality on its latest AirPods. The company says new acoustic mesh covers for inset microphones help reduce wind noise. These earbuds also support the AAC-ELD codec, which Apple says enables “full-HD voice quality” to keep you sounding crisp and clear on FaceTime calls. What’s more, the AirPods support spatial audio in Group FaceTime calls to further simulate the feeling of being in the same room. Basically, the sound from the person who is talking comes from the direction they’re positioned on your screen. It’s not like speaking IRL, but it is an improvement. It makes calls more immersive, plus you can get an even better sense of directional audio when your device is in landscape mode.

Indeed, FaceTime calls are crisp and clear with the new AirPods. Phone calls are improved as well but not to the same degree. Voice quality is here better than most earbuds I’ve tested, but not by a ton. True to Apple’s claims, these AirPods do a decent job blocking background noise and focusing on your voice. It’s great when you’re talking, but the clamor resumes when you’re not speaking. Depending on how loud the noise is, it might be distracting for the person on the other end. There are improvements in regards to voice, but you’ll notice them most in FaceTime.

Battery life

Billy Steele/Engadget

To accompany the redesign, Apple also increased battery life on the new AirPods. The company says you can expect up to six hours on the earbuds themselves and up to 30 hours total when you factor in the case. I actually managed just over seven hours during my tests, and that’s with fixed spatial audio on (but without dynamic head tracking). Since the second-gen version was rated at five hours, over seven is a significant upgrade for those who use headphones throughout their work day.

If you find yourself in a pinch, the new AirPods have the same quick-charge feature as the AirPods Pro: five minutes in the case gives you about an hour of use. Where the original AirPods Pro case supported wireless charging, now both it and the case for AirPods is equipped with MagSafe. The MagSafe case still works with Qi-certified pads, but Apple will sell you a magnetic charger for a better experience. Just remember: the second-gen model that Apple kept around for $129 doesn’t support wireless charging at all.

The competition

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There’s never been a doubt that AirPods are built for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Nearly every feature is meant to enhance or extend the tools available on those devices, including giving you the ability to access Siri and other things without reaching for an iPhone. By adding the third-gen AirPods in the middle of its lineup, Apple has replaced the 2019 model with a wireless charging case. That leaves its roster with the original design (second-generation) at $129, this model at $179 and the AirPods Pro at $249. The company now has a trio of options akin to what Samsung has offered for a while now: a range of choices with varied options and prices.

At this point, the only options that come close to the deep iOS integration AirPods offer are products like the Powerbeats Pro. A few models in the Beats lineup offer handy features like fast pairing and hands-free Siri since they’re powered by Apple’s H1 chip. The more affordable Studio Buds ($150) don’t have that component, but they still offer the ability to wake the assistant without reaching for your phone. The Beats Fit Pro leaked earlier this month and initial reports indicate they too will carry Apple’s powerful earbud tech, but we don’t know about price just yet. There are plenty of options that sound great and have handy features in their own right, but nothing without the H1 chip syncs as well with Apple’s devices.

If you want active noise cancellation or ambient sound in some tiny earbuds, the Galaxy Buds 2 are a solid bet. Unfortunately, Samsung scaled back its iOS integration a few models ago, but these still work well with iPhone and the like. If ANC, spatial audio or hands-free Siri aren’t things you need, Jabra’s Elite 3 earbuds are the best value right now. They’re tiny and comfy, but the sound is impressive and the battery life is good. Plus, they’re only $80.

Wrap-up

No modest update this time around. Apple totally overhauled AirPods for the third-generation version with the biggest changes coming in the design and audio quality. The company also expanded availability of key features like spatial audio and Adaptive EQ to a more affordable set of earbuds while keeping all of the convenience of AirPods intact. These earbuds still aren’t for everyone, but what they offer the Apple faithful can’t be found elsewhere and the company will do well to keep it that way.

Razer has refreshed its lineup of microphones aimed at streamers with new versions of two Seiren models. The Seiren V2 Pro and Seiren V2 X are both plug and play mics with a high pass filter to mitigate unwanted low frequencies and an analog gain limiter to tackle voice distortion.

The mics each have a gain dial and mute button as well as a headphone jack, while the V2 Pro also has a volume dial. They’re both said to be fully customizable for mixing and sound profiles, and there’s integration with audio mixing software via Razer Synapse.

The V2 Pro is a dynamic microphone with 20 Hz frequency response to pick up a full range of audio, according to Razer. The company says it’s an improvement on its Elite offering and it delivers “rich and powerful vocals” with “superior clarity and noise dampening.”

Meanwhile, the V2 X is a new version of the Seiren X, which emerged in 2017. It's a 25mm condenser mic with a supercaridoid pickup pattern, which Razer suggests bolsters the device’s voice isolation capabilities. The company is promising “crisp and natural vocals” with the V2 X as well.

Razer recently introduced a webcam and capture card for streaming newbies and an entry-level headset for console gamers. However, the latest mics are aimed at professional and casual streamers who might want to improve the sound quality of their streams. The V2 Pro costs $150, while the V2 X is $100. Both are available now, as is the Seiren Mini, which Razer debuted a year ago.

It'll be easier for Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers to listen to music with spatial audio starting today. You can now use any headphones to listen to songs with Dolby Atmos and Sony's 360 Reality Audio via supported devices.

Those include iOS, Android, Echo Studio, some other Alexa Cast devices and Sony soundbars and home theater speakers with 360 Reality Audio support. Later this year, you'll be able to stream Amazon Music's Dolby Atmos tracks to Sonos Arc and Beam (Gen 2) soundbars through the Sonos app.

Amazon switched on spatial audio in Amazon Music in 2019. It's now available to Unlimited subscribers at no extra cost and it'll be on by default. Earlier this year, Amazon rolled HD and Ultra HD music into the standard Unlimited individual, family and student plans, rather than asking users to pay extra for those tracks, as was previously the case.

Until now, Amazon's spatial audio has only been available on a limited selection of devices, including Echo Studio and Sony's SRS-RA3000 and SRS-RA5000 speakers. So, bringing the feature to a wider selection of headphones should mean far more people are likely to try it.

Apple Music also started offering spatial audio this year with Dolby Atmos. However, that streaming service has at least one trick Amazon does not: dynamic head tracking for spatial audio using AirPods Pro or AirPods Max.

Sony's WH-1000XM4 wireless headphones received one of Engadget's highest review scores ever thanks to the immersive sound quality, powerful ANC and other features. If the $350 price has given you pause, however, Amazon is now offering them for $248 ($102 off) in black, blue and silver — matching the best price we've seen yet on that model.  

The WH-1000XM4s deliver great sound quality with punchy bass, along with ANC that blocks out more noise than rivals across the entire frequency curve. They also offer multi-device connectivity and Speak-to-Chat, which automatically pauses audio when you talk. An update earlier this year brought support for Sony's 360 Reality Audio that offers a similar surround-sound experience to Dolby Atmos. You'll get around 30 hours on a charge and you can eke another five hours from a quick 10-minute charge.

If $248 is still a bit much, Amazon has an even better deal on Sony's budget WH-CH710N model. They're now available for $78 in black or blue (57 percent off the regular $180 price), again tying the best deal we've seen on Amazon. 

These models don't offer the same sound quality and level of noise cancellation as the WH-1000XM4s, of course. However, they made our 2021 top headphone list under the "best budget" category thanks to decent audio range and good clarity. Thanks to the dual noise sensor technology, they also offer enough sound-blocking power to reduce distractions. Other features include an ambient-sound option so you can keep tabs on what's going on around you, plus 35 hours of battery life, a quick charge feature and onboard controls. 

Clubhouse has proven to be a big hit with musicians, helping them try out material on an audience and even create viral hits. Now, the site is becoming more useful to bands and singers with a new feature called music mode, the company announced in a blog post. 

The new mode appears in the three-dot menu under "audio quality," with a new selection called "music." Clubhouse didn't reveal any of the audio specs, but said it lets users broadcast with high quality in stereo. "You’ll also be able to use professional audio equipment for your performance, like external USB microphones or mixing boards," it wrote. Users will also be able to add the mode to pre-recorded Clips, "so any snippets you share from performers using music mode will also sound great," according to Clubhouse.

The new feature is the second boost to sound quality over the last couple of months. Late in August, Clubhouse added spatial audio to create more immersive audio chats, making speakers' voices come from different parts of the room.  

Along with the music mode, Clubhouse rolled out a couple of new tweaks, moving the search bar to the top of the feed and allowing users to wave at each other through the search bar, on iOS to start with. The new features will roll out to iOS first, "with Android as a fast follow," the company wrote. 

Just in time for the holiday season, Bose has released a new portable Bluetooth speaker designed for both strong audio performance and durability. The SoundLink Flex has an IP67 rating, meaning it's water, dust and dirt resistant, and the company even claims that the speaker will float to the surface if you drop it in water (but you should probably fish it out quickly if it drops into a bathtub or the ocean).

The silicone rear and powder-coated steel grille should protect the speaker from drops and bumps, according to Bose. The company also claims the device is resistant to UV light and corrosion and it won't peel or flake.

But it's not just the speaker's apparent toughness that makes it interesting. Bose says it packed the SoundLink Flex with features "to deliver astonishing audio performance." It claims that the custom transducer provides maximum audio clarity and "bass that you can feel in your chest.” The SoundLink Flex also has dual-opposing passive radiators, as well as Bose's digital signal processing tech, which should minimize distortion.

Bose

The speaker can detect its orientation and adjust the audio output accordingly. So, whether it's horizontal, vertical or hanging from the utility loop, the sound will be optimized. It's the company's first Bluetooth speaker that uses this Bose PositionIQ tech.

SoundLink Flex can remember up to eight Bluetooth connections to make it easy to switch from one device to another. You can adjust the settings using the Bose Connect app and control your phone's voice assistant and take calls using the speaker's microphone.

You can pair a second Bose Bluetooth speaker for stereo or simultaneous playback. The SoundLink Flex can connect to other Bose speakers and soundbars as part of a home audio system. Bose says you'll get up to 12 hours of playback on a single charge and you can recharge the lithium-ion battery with a USB-C cable.

The SoundLink Flex is just under eight inches wide, 2.1 inches deep and 3.6 inches tall. It weighs just over a pound and is available in black, white smoke or stone blue. The speaker costs $149 and you can pick it up from Bose's website starting today.