If you've been waiting for Apple's AirPods Pro to drop below $197 on Amazon, now's your chance to grab them. The wireless earbuds are back on sale for $190, or $60 off their original price. They've been hovering at $197 for months, only dropping to $190 in June for a short period of time. While not an all-time low, it's a good discount for any iPhone user in need of a new pair of earbuds.
You probably know the deal about AirPods Pro by now, but here's a refresher: they're the best sounding earbuds in Apple's lineup, plus they fit the best in various ear shapes thanks to their interchangeable tips. Sound quality is noticeably better than previous AirPods models, thanks in part to a built-in amplifier and Adaptive EQ, which automatically tunes low- and mid-range frequencies to your ears. Active noise-cancellation does a good job blocking out surrounding sounds and the earbuds' touch controls let you quickly enter Transparency Mode whenever you need to hear the world around you.
But the AirPods Pro carved out a spot on our favorite wireless earbuds list because of how easy they are to use with other Apple products. The H1 chip inside allows them to pair and switch easily between iPhones, iPads and Macs, so you can go from taking a call on your iPhone to listening to music from your Mac pretty seamlessly. We also like their hands-free Siri feature, which lets you call upon the voice assistant without tapping the earbuds.
AirPods Pro are one of the best pairs of earbuds you can get if you live in the Apple ecosystem — but there are other options, too. If you care more about sound quality or ANC power, both the Sony WF-1000XM4 and the Jabra Elite 85t are good alternatives.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Jabra's excellent earbuds may get all the attention, but it makes some solid headphones to boot. Take the Elite 85h, which are currently on sale at Amazon for $150, a $100 saving on their normal price of $250. We gave them a solid 84 rating with praise for their custom EQ and active noise cancellation modes and excellent battery life.
The only major caveat we had was the price. Upon their launch, the true wireless headphones cost $300, but more recently they've sat at the sub-$160 range, even briefly dropping to $120. This latest deal marks an all-time low for Amazon and essentially cements their appeal.
If you missed them in 2019, the Elite 85h offer EQ and noise-cancellation presets within Jabra's Sound+ companion app that actually boost their audio profile. The headphones can automatically switch between these so-called "Moments" by analyzing noise to detect which location you're in. In addition, the software lets you choose between different voice assistants and helps you find your headphones if you lose them.
The Elite 85h also offer on-ear detection. When activated from the app, you can automatically answer calls or resume audio by putting them on. What's more, the headphones boast a heaving 36 hours of battery life with ANC on, topping Sony's 1000XM3 by six hours and Bose's QC35 II by an impressive 16 hours. Turn off noise-cancellation and you can up that to 41 hours between charges.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Sony has revealed a cheaper model of its speaker that looks like a lamp. Style-conscious audiophiles will be able to order the LSPX-S3 glass sound speaker starting in August.
The Bluetooth-enabled device features an organic glass tweeter with three actuators that enable it to emit sound in all directions, according to Sony. The company claims the tweeter "produces clear and powerful high tones" and spreads sound evenly throughout a space. The LSPX-S3 has a 46mm speaker unit and you can adjust the levels via the Sony Music Center app. It also has LDAC support for high-resolution audio.
Sony
The speaker won't light up an entire room, but the flickering candlelight-style illumination should provide a cozy ambiance for nighttime reading. The LED can pulse in sync with music and there are several lighting modes and brightness levels.
You can take the LSPX-S3 outdoors, too. It weighs around 1.1kg and has a battery that Sony says can power the device for up to eight hours on a single charge. You can recharge it via the USB-C charging port.
There's also an option to link two units for stereo playback and it can form part of a multi-room audio system. In addition, the speaker has a built-in microphone for calls, a metal base and a fabric bottom.
Almost six years ago, Sony first showed off a prototype for the stylish product. The company released the LSPX-S2 in Japan in 2019 and brought it to the US the following year. The LSPX-S3 will cost $350/£315/€350, which is around $100 cheaper than the previous model. It's not yet clear when Sony will start shipping the speaker.
Roland’s Go:Mixer series has found a fanbase with musicians looking for a pocket-friendly recording solution — and for good reason. The tiny mixers are lightweight, offer bags of connectivity and won’t break the bank. The latest model, the “Pro-X,” brings some modest but important upgrades from the original Go:Mixer Pro.
The main newness here is less about the audio and more about compatibility: Roland claims the Pro-X adds better support for Android phones and iOS devices. Don’t worry, there is some extra audio functionality. Namely, a new gain “pad” for guitars (to attenuate volume on active pickups) and the headphone/monitor port is now bi-directional (i.e. it’s also an input). Roland pitches the latter as a way to record the inline mic in your headphones, but you can also plug in a lavalier/3.5mm source too, if you can live without monitoring.
The rest of the Pro-X is the same as the Pro before it. There’s a single XLR combi port on the right hand side for microphones and 1/4-inch devices. Also on this side you’ll find the phantom power switch (for when using condenser microphones), a smartphone/line level 3.5mm input and a guitar/bass port. The front edge hosts two more 3.5mm line level inputs, that new pad switch, the updated dual-directional headphone port and the phone loopback switch. The left hand side has just a pair of 1/4-inch instrument inputs and the battery cover for four AAA cells needed for the phantom power.
In short, if it has, or can be converted to, a 3.5mm port, a quarter-inch jack or an XLR connector you can likely use it here.
On the top face of the Pro-X is where you’ll find all the gain rotaries for each input. A few things to note though: the “smartphone” 3.5mm input doesn’t have a gain control, you’ll need to adjust that on the phone itself. Although, you can also plug a phone into one of the quarter-inch ports with an adapter, in which case you will have volume control with one of the ports if that’s important. It’s also worth mentioning that the master volume is also the monitor gain which is a little inconvenient if you want high monitoring levels but low gain on your recording or vice versa.
James Trew / Engadget
Given that the Pro-X has been designed to work with your phone, there’s a handy ridge along the battery compartment that doubles as a slot for your handset. Obviously this means you don’t need to have your phone lying around like a tethered paperweight, but it also provides a good position for the camera should you wish to livestream a performance. My iPhone 12 with a case doesn’t quite fit in the groove perfectly, but enough that the phone is steady when using it.
If there’s one immediate thing I would change, it’s the “peak” indicator. Unlike a DJ mixer where you would have a full strip of LEDs indicating the volume of each channel and a separate one for the master volume, the Pro-X has a single LED that will flash red when any input goes over the maximum threshold (i.e. clipping). It’s quite possible to set your levels so that there’s no red light showing during your checks, and then just one plosive can send it over. If there was a way to constantly see how close you are to 0dB that would be much more helpful.
Worse than that, though, I found that some of my recordings that didn’t trigger the red light could be a little distorted on playback. While speaking into the microphone, everything looked fine, but the recording was often “crunchy” in louder sections. Thankfully, you can actually hear this in your headphones while it’s happening, so you can adjust the levels before hitting record, but ultimately what’s the clipping light for if it’s not reliably preventing you from overdriving things? It made me pretty nervous about each recording until I had experimented with various levels and put more confidence in the monitoring.
After some testing with different mics, it became clear that dynamic mics are fine, but any condenser I tried needed much more headroom to avoid sounding harsh. It’s not clear whether this is a pre-amp or phantom power issue, or just the extra sensitive nature of condensers. When I tested with a Shure SM59 (dynamic/no phantom power), for example, I was able to — in fact almost had to — set the gain to full, and even if the master volume was at 75 percent there was still plenty of headroom.
And that brings us back to the fact that the monitor level control is the same as the master gain. You probably want your levels quite modest to make sure you don’t clip, but in doing so, your monitoring levels are also low, making it harder to hear your mix is how you want it, you know, kinda important things.
I largely avoided this issue by making sure that I was recording into something that showed more detailed levels. Rode’s Reporter app, for example, has a nice, broad meter showing you how hot your signal is and it was much easier to use that as a gauge of the aggregate output.
Teething problems aside, once you’re all set, it’s all very straightforward. Like I mentioned above, I preferred plugging in a phone (or any other 3.5mm source to be fair) via the Guitar port. Having the rotary dial for volume allows you to adjust the volume on the fly much more fluidly, which is handy if you want to use music beds or other such sources where you might want to dynamically alter the volume.
James Trew / Engadget
Likewise, if you want to use two XLR microphones — say for a podcast or a vocal and a mic’d instrument) — you can co-opt one of the 3.5mm ports with something like an iRig Pre 2. This means spending out on another bit of gear, but if you record often, having an XLR-to-3.5mm adapter/interface is pretty handy to have around.
As for that new ability to record with the inline mic on your headphones, all I can say is… it works? Those inline mics are never any good, but it’s never a bad thing to have more inputs, and might work well for more conversational podcasts or just recording phone interviews. As already mentioned, you can actually feed in other inputs here if you don’t need to monitor, say if you’re recording a voice over or something for a multitrack piece you want to edit later.
Perhaps the most interesting thing, for me, is what else can I use this for? Its credentials as a portable mixer for musicians are obvious. But I also feel like it’s just something handy to have around if you work with audio in any way. I’ve become something of an audio-adapter collector. I have all sorts of cables, interfaces and various types of microphones. Something like the Pro-X appeals to me as a simple way to put lots of those together into a portable setup.
The wealth of inputs means it’s pretty flexible, too. That’s a pretty compelling combo right there. The levels issue I mentioned earlier is more about learning how to set things up. Once I figured it out it was rarely a problem after that.
I do wish that the monitor volume was separate from the master volume for those occasions where you really do want to record low but still hear how the mix sounds together. Maybe that’s something we can hope for in a future model.
Whether you’re a garage band, an artist on the move or a podcaster that likes to get out in the big wide world there’s a lot to like here. At $150, it’s also a relatively modest investment for something you can easily fit in your back pocket.
Verizon (Engadget's parent company) has created a version of spatial audio it says doesn't require specific headphones, earbuds or speakers. The first device to use Verizon Adaptive Sound tech is the Motorola One 5G UW Ace smartphone, which is available starting today.
Verizon suggests Adaptive Sound converts just about any content to spatial audio, whereas Apple's Spatial Audio or Sony's 360 Reality Audio require special content. It works with Dolby Atmos, as does Apple's version of the tech.
Play any music, video or a game and Adaptive Sound will optimize the content for your device automatically, according to Verizon. You'll be able to adjust some settings, such as treble, bass, spatial and voice options. You'll have sound profiles to pick from too.
Verizon
Verizon plans to bring the tech to more upcoming devices. Some current devices will gain access to Adaptive Sound as well via software updates.
It remains to be seen how well Adaptive Sound works compared with other takes on spatial audio and content that's designed to play 360-degree sound. In any case, it's interesting to see a carrier develop its own spin on spatial audio.
Meanwhile, the Motorola One 5G UW Ace seems similar to the One 5G Ace that emerged earlier this year. It features a 6.7" Full HD+ display, Snapdragon 750G 5G processor and 48MP camera. The phone costs $300 outright.
Vinyl has been on a resurgence for some time, and the pandemic somehow only accelerated that. It’s got many out there looking to upgrade from a cheap Crosley turntable and build out their first HiFi system. Of course, there are multiple pieces that go into building a decent stereo, but perhaps the most important is the speakers. If your speakers don’t sound good, it basically doesn’t matter what you connect them to.
This is understandably the part of their setup that people likely spend the most time researching. And you have to make a number of choices. One of the biggest is: active or passive? Both have their advantages, but for the sake of this guide we’re going to focus on passive speakers, which require a separate amplifier.
Active speakers have an amplifier built in. Usually, the two things are specifically designed to work together, which means you're getting a more faithful version of the manufacturer’s aural vision. And since you don’t need an external amplifier, active speakers also take up less room. While active speakers are more expensive than passive, the fact that you need to buy an amplifier to power passive speakers means the savings aren’t as great as they might initially seem. The primary benefit of passive is greater flexibility. You can’t go out and buy a new high-end amplifier and connect your active speakers to it; you’re stuck with what’s built in. Also, since active speakers require power, you’ll have to make sure they’re near an outlet.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
We’re also putting a cap on our spending for this guide: a somewhat arbitrary $600. Anything over that and you’re starting to get into budget audiophile territory. It also basically limits us to bookshelf speakers between five and six inches. While you can certainly get floorstanding speakers for that much, the quality of the drivers will likely be better on bookshelf speakers at the same price point.
A note about testing
Obviously, I could not test every set of five to six inch bookshelf speakers under $600, but I’ve tried enough and done enough research to feel confident in my recommendations. I’m sure there are other good speakers out there, but I don’t think anyone is going to regret buying the sets here.
Additionally, speaker preference is largely subjective. But I did my best to be as objective as possible. All of the speakers were connected to a Pyle PSS6 switcher with the same wire for quick side-by-side comparisons. After I’d tested them all myself I enlisted multiple people to listen blindly and then rank them based on their preference to see if their opinions lined up with my own. Testing included playing new and vintage vinyl, as well as streaming songs from Spotify.
Also worth noting: I am not an audiophile. This is not a guide for audiophiles. I want my music to sound good, but I’m not about to drop the price of a used sedan on my stereo. My setup includes an Audio Technica Audio-Technica AT-LP120 and a Chromecast Audio running through a Technics SA-EX110. This is not fancy stuff, but it is certainly an upgrade from a Crosley Suitcase turntable or even a higher-end Sonos system.
The best for most people: Audioengine HDP6
Honestly, a lot of the speakers I tested sounded eerily similar to each other. But not the $399 Audioengines. They had a much brighter sound and a lot more clarity than all the others, with the exception of a significantly more expensive KEF pair. The particular pair I tried also came in a gorgeous “walnut” enclosure that helped them stand out in a sea of utilitarian black.
The HDP6s deliver especially strong mids that shine when it comes to vocals and guitars. But they sound quite balanced across the entire spectrum. Towering compositions like Nine Inch Nails “The Day the Whole World Went Away” sprung to life and revealed nuances that, frankly, I’ve never noticed before even on headphones. And Promises, the recent album from Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra, was so enveloping it made me want to throw my current floorstanding speakers in the trash.
While no bookshelf speakers on their own are going to be able to deliver the sort of room-shaking thump that floorstanding speakers or a subwoofer can deliver, the HDP6 performed admirably with bass-heavy songs. They didn’t have the most low end of my test units, but drums and bass were still punchy and clear.
If your number one concern is sound quality, regardless of anything else, check out the Q150s. These are the entry-level option from noted audiophile brand KEF and the only speakers that beat out the Audioengines in any of my blind taste tests. They didn’t come out on top every time, and some people had trouble deciding between the two, but ultimately I think the KEF’s have the slight edge in pure sound quality. They had a bit more volume at the extreme lower and higher ends of the spectrum. It added a certain sparkle to tracks like the Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t it Be Nice,” while Run the Jewels’ “JU$T” hit a little bit harder than on the HDP6s. The difference can be subtle depending on what you’re listening to, but it’s undeniable in side-by-side testing.
The audio profile of the KEF is similar to that of the Audioengines. They’re both much brighter and with a lot more treble and midrange than all the other speakers in this roundup. If you’re into listening to classical or jazz on high quality vinyl, these are going to deliver exactly the sort of frequency response you’re looking for.
What stops the Q150 from topping this list is the list price. At $599 they tied for the most expensive speakers I tested. (The Polk R100s were also $599, but didn’t make the final cut.) While the Q150s sounded slightly better than the HDP6s to my ears, they weren’t necessarily $200 better.
The JBLs were pretty consistently in the middle of the pack when it came to listener preference. They’re not as bright as the KEFs and the Audioengines, but not quite as muddy at the lowend as the Polk S15s. If you’re just looking for a decent set of speakers and don’t sweat over spec sheets, or if you’re primarily listening to streaming music and only putting on vinyl occasionally, these are a great option if you can find them on sale.
The A130s aren’t a bad deal at the list price of $300. But I’ve seen them discounted to as little as $180, at which point they’re a downright steal.
For those that need more bass: ELAC Debut 2.0 DB6.2
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
Ok, so these speakers break our rules a bit but, if you opt for the slightly larger 6.5-inch DB6.2s, instead of the DB5.2s, you get a lot more thump at the bottom end. The Debuts can’t quite match the Audioengine or KEFs when it comes to clarity, but you’ll feel every 808 hit a lot more. Backxwash’s new album I Lie Here Buried with my Rings and my Dresses raged harder on the ELACs than it did on the Polks, JBLs or even the KEFs. And they only cost $350, which isn’t bad at all.
If you’re primarily listening to electronic music and modern hip hop, you might consider the Debut 2.0 DB6.2s.
If you can’t find the JBL A130s on sale, and really want to save as much money as possible, you could snag the Polk S15s. The S15s don’t sound bad, but the JBLs are definitely superior. They don’t have as deep of a soundstage as the other speakers I tested and the lowend can be a little undefined. These are probably better suited as part of a home entertainment system than a stereo. At a list price of $229 they might seem like a bargain, but I’d save your pennies for a bit longer and spring for something better.
Polk R100
The Polk R100s are decent sounding speakers. Perhaps slightly better than the JBLs, though with a sound profile closer to the Polk’s own S15. The problem is they’re $600, tying them for the most expensive I tested. At half the price these might be a solid option, but the $600 KEFs and $400 Audioengines were ranked higher than the R100s by every tester.
Q Acoustics 3020i
I have no doubt that these are very good speakers: They’re currently Wirecutter’s top choice. But I could not test them and therefore cannot vouch for them.
I don't consider myself an audiophile. For years, my primary pair of headphones were just the wired earbuds that came with my phone. I’m hard-pressed to tell the difference between MP3 and FLAC. Yet, I recently bought a U-Turn Audio Orbit Plus turntable, a pair of Kanto YU4 speakers and several vinyl records on eBay. How did this happen?
It all began nearly a decade ago when I joined a They Might Be Giants fan club. For an annual fee, the band would send members not just bumper stickers and t-shirts, but also several 7-inch singles and the occasional 12-inch LP. Two years later and I had accumulated a mini collection of vinyl that I had no way of playing.
Not wanting to spend a ton of money, I decided to see what the fuss was about and buy a cheap Crosley Cruiser Deluxe (you know, the one in its own suitcase that every late-millennial hipster bought from Target a few years back). I wasn’t expecting much for $50, but somehow it still managed to fall far short of those expectations, with thin and flat audio that sounded bad even to my untrained ears.
Engadget
But the experience was strangely charming: It’s hypnotic to set a record on the platter, watch it spin and witness the needle transforming its grooves into sound. Playing a record also reminded me of my childhood, when I would spend hours in my bedroom listening to cassette tapes and CDs, and reading the liner notes. I got lost in the music in a way that random playlists on Spotify can’t quite replicate.
I looked around for higher-quality turntables, but the only ones I could find at the time were far outside my price range. I was also reluctant to spend more money on extra equipment like amplifiers, preamps and speakers. Plus I wasn’t entirely convinced that my non-audiophile ears would be able to tell the difference between vinyl and digital. It didn’t seem worth it.
But as time went by, I secretly longed for one. I know it sounds shallow, but to me turntables just look cool. Additionally, vinyl has undergone a resurgence and it’s not uncommon these days for artists to release special edition LPs with album artwork and bonus tracks that aren't available elsewhere. Call me pretentious, but the idea of owning something tangible, something beautiful, that also supports an artist I love, really appeals to me.
Engadget
Then came 2020, and in a fit of quarantine-induced mania, I decided that this was the time to finally give in to the vinyl lust that’s been building all these years. After a copious amount of research that included reading reviews and watching YouTube videos, I chose a setup that could deliver a combination of affordability, design and quality, at least for my tastes and budget.
I knew right away that I wanted U-Turn Audio’s Orbit Plus ($309) as the turntable. It’s not quite as inexpensive as the company’s own Orbit Basic ($200), but it’s still relatively affordable compared to some of the higher-end turntables on the market. Admittedly, one of my primary reasons for going with U-Turn Audio is the sleek and minimalistic design of the company’s hardware. I opted for the Plus over the Basic because its acrylic platter makes for more consistent speeds. It also comes with the Ortofon OM5E cartridge, which I had read delivers a more neutral, balanced sound.
As someone who’s never set up a turntable before, I was impressed with how easy the U-Turn Audio was to put together. When I received it, the tonearm and cartridge were already in place. All I had to do was position the platter, the mat and the belt, connect the appropriate plugs, and I was ready to go in a little over five minutes. Plus, changing speeds between 33 rpm and 45 rpm is as easy as slipping the belt into another pulley groove.
Engadget
Another thing I like about the Orbit Plus is how customizable it is. It comes in a variety of different eye-catching colors, and I could choose to change out the cartridge for something a little more premium later on if I wanted to. I could also add a built-in phono preamp (which is needed to amplify the signal from the cartridge to your amplifier or speakers) or incorporate a cue lever that lowers and raises the tonearm. Bear in mind that adding these different options (aside from the color change) will cost extra. The addition of the preamp, for example, increases the price of the Orbit Plus to $379.
I went without a preamp on the Orbit Plus because my choice of speakers are the Kanto YU4s, which already have one built-in. I decided against separate components like an amplifier or a standalone phono preamp because I wanted to keep the setup simple, with as few devices as possible. Powered speakers like the YU4 allow me to do that. In fact, the YU4’s versatility is one of the reasons I like it so much. It has RCA and AUX inputs, optical inputs, a USB charge port, a subwoofer output, plus Bluetooth capabilities. Thanks to the latter feature, I often use the YU4 as computer speakers as well.
Engadget
What's more, the YU4s are just so good-looking. It has this modern, minimalist design that I think pairs wonderfully with the Orbit Plus. I currently have the YU4s positioned on either side of it, and I'm very pleased with how it all looks together. On top of that, I found the YU4’s price ($370) quite reasonable as well, especially with all of its features.
As a self-professed non-audiophile, I found the audio quality of this entire setup to be more than satisfactory. The highs are crisp and the volume is powerful enough to fill the room. The one complaint I would have is that the Kanto YU4’s bass is a little lacking. It’s there, but it just isn’t as thumpy as I would like. Kanto does sell a separate subwoofer for extra bass, but for $300, I think I can live without it.
Since I’ve purchased the turntable, I’ve spent many evenings sitting in my room listening to entire albums without the distractions from the phone or computer. I even enjoy the ritual of cleaning each record and putting them back in their sleeves. It’s become a form of meditative self-care for me. Is that too precious? Does that make me a hipster? I don’t pretend it isn’t at least a little tiresome. But right now, in the midst of a pandemic, I’ll take any kind of self-care I can get.
If you want a portable speaker, Sonos is looking for anyone that doesn’t already own one. At $169, the Roam is more expensive than many Bluetooth-only portable speakers, but it’s also Sonos’ cheapest speaker ever.
Unlike the Move (Sonos’ previous moveable, if not all that portable, speaker), the Roam has a smaller, narrower design and weighs just about one pound. The battery should give 10 hours of playback, and it automatically goes into a low-power sleep mode when it’s not in use. There’s also dust and water protection, and you’ll be able to pair two speakers for portable stereo sound. You can even connect the new speaker to existing Sonos devices around your home, rounding out your sound system.
The company is tacitly aware that the portable Bluetooth-speaker market is an incredibly crowded one — so the Sonos features will be important if it wants to convince a lot of us to upgrade from our existing beach-trip speaker. The Roam’s versatility pitch, however, is a compelling one. Let’s see how it sounds.
Pre-orders for the Roam are open now, and the speaker will be available on April 20th.
Google’s very own operating system, Chrome OS, is getting a bunch of features and some new styling to celebrate a decade in existence. It’s a good time to strike: Chromebooks have never been so popular. Phone Hub might be the most useful update. It’s a little dashboard that accesses your phone's controls so you can see its status for things like battery life and data connectivity. You can ring your Android device when you've misplaced it, and also remote-enable tethering with one click. We unravel all the new features right here. Continue reading.
Bose is well-regarded for its great-sounding headphones. The company’s latest buds have an “open” design that sits outside your ear. Not only does this increase comfort but it also means you can hear what’s going on at all times — a key safety feature for runners. Bose decided allowing you to be hyper-aware of everything around you was paramount, and according to News Editor Billy Steele, who reviewed the Bose Sport Open Earbuds, that means accepting sacrifices to sound quality. Continue reading.
If you’re an iPhone or an iPad user, Apple’s Shortcuts helps with your digital spring cleaning. With Shortcuts, you can quickly perform a specific task or a more complex sequence of tasks with a single tap or voice command. Mobile Editor Chris Velazco walks you through a Shortcut for clearing out your excess Notes and outlines everything you need to make your own Shortcut routines. Continue reading.
Samsung has finally introduced a 980 SSD that isn't part of the high-priced Pro line, and it's mostly good news for performance-minded PC users — with a caveat. Hitting read speeds up to 3,500MB/s and faster writes (up to 3,000MB/s versus 2,500MB/s) than the 970 Evo it replaces, Samsung says it also offers 36 percent lower power consumption, 54 percent greater power efficiency and improved cooling, which should prevent overheating. However, Samsung is also ditching built-in DRAM on the plain 980, joining the ranks of lower-cost SSDs. It's promising speeds "identical" to faster DRAM-equipped drives in part by using Host Memory Buffer technology to directly access system RAM, but it's clear this is a tradeoff to keep prices down.
Those prices are low, thankfully. The 980 will start at $50 for a 250GB model, $70 for 500GB and $130 for 1TB. Continue reading.
We still only know a few things about Nothing, a new hardware startup by the co-founder of OnePlus, Carl Pei. One thing we know is its first product will be wireless earbuds, which we assume informs what we're looking at above. The see-through casing on what appears to be a concept wireless earbud is a nod towards making tech devices less obtrusive. The shape is apparently inspired "a grandmother’s tobacco pipe", which is at least different from the chopped off q-tip look that epitomized the most popular wireless earbuds so far. Nothing’s first products launch this summer. Continue reading.
The company promises to share something "awesome."
Two months ago Samsung held an Unpacked event to announce the Galaxy S21, but the company is already sending out invites for another event it plans to hold on March 17th at 10 AM ET. Continue reading.
