The original HomePod was notoriously difficult to repair, to the point where cutting tools were sometimes necessary. Apple isn't giving nearly as much grief with the second-gen model, however. iFixit has torn down the new smart speaker and discovered that it's far easier to pry open. The large amounts of glue are gone — you can get inside using little more than a screwdriver, and the internal components are similarly accessible. Combine this with the detachable power cord and it should be feasible to fix at least some parts yourself.
iFixit cautions that it hasn't tested for possible software restrictions on repairs. It's not clear that you can replace circuit boards and still expect a functioning HomePod. Even so, it's evident Apple considers repairability to be a priority this time around, much as it does with the standard iPhone 14 and other recent products.
Not that Apple has much choice but to make the HomePod more fix-friendly. Both federal and state governments are pushing for right-to-repair mandates. If Apple didn't make the speaker easier to maintain, it risked a political pushback. And while we wouldn't count on Apple adding the HomePod to its Self Service Repair program, the second-gen's design makes that prospect more realistic.
Sony’s full-frame A7R IV was one of the best mirrorless cameras I’ve ever reviewed, so there was a lot of pressure on its successor. The company’s answer is the 61-megapixel A7R V, designed to deliver the maximum amount of detail for portrait and landscape photography.
Though it uses the same sensor as the A7R IV, the new model has been improved in nearly every other way. The processors have been updated to the same ones found on the 50-megapixel A1, allowing for faster autofocus and AI tracking and better video specs. Sony has also improved the stabilization, the rear display, EVF and more – all for the same $3,900 price as its chief rival, the Canon EOS R5.
Sony’s advanced technology has always been its superpower, but rival models from Canon, Panasonic and others have started to catch up. To find out if the A7R V is worth buying over other cameras, and even the last model, I took it out for some detailed testing. Spoiler alert – it’s one impressive camera.
Body and handling
Sony made some changes to the design of its full-frame mirrorless cameras starting with the A7S III, and the A7R V continues in that vein. On top of a slightly bigger grip, it has a number of improvements over the A7R IV, such as a new dedicated selector for video, photos and the slow motion (S&Q) mode.
By taking that function off the mode dial, it’s relatively easy to switch between photos and video, then change modes in each. It’s also possible to share some, all or none of the settings like shutter speed and ISO between photo and video modes using the customization menu. Sony also moved the record button from the back to a better position on top.
As with other Sony cameras, it’s intuitive and easy to use. Some people may find it uncomfortable to hold all day, though, particularly those with larger hands. That’s because the grip has some hard edges and a material that’s less cushy than Canon’s R5, for example.
A big new innovation on the A7R V is the rear display. Rather than a simple tilt-only screen like before, Sony has come up with a whole new system. It not only flips out, but also tilts – not just upwards like Panasonic’s similar system on the GH6, but also down and out as well.
On top of being better for vlogging and selfies, it also lets you move the screen clear of any microphone or monitor cables. It’s also better for photo shooters. Some people prefer a tilting display (for shooting at high and low angles), so the A7R V has the best of both worlds.
The A7R IV already had a very good 5.76-million dot EVF, but Sony made it even better. Resolution on the OLED panel is up to 9.44 million dots, though it drops when you focus or increase the refresh rate to the maximum 120Hz. Still, it’s now close to matching what you’d see in an optical viewfinder.
Steve Dent/Engadget
Like the A1 and A7S III, it has a pair of dual-format card slots. Each one accepts either UHS-II SD or faster, but far more expensive CFexpress Type A cards. The latter are required for 8K video and let you shoot photo bursts longer before the buffer fills.
Since the A7R V is now a much better video camera, Sony has seen fit to swap out the tiny and fragile micro HDMI jack for a full-sized one. Though still not up to pro standards, it offers a relatively secure connection and allows for more robust cables, as micro HDMI models are prone to breaking.
It has the same battery as the A1 and delivers exactly the same number of maximum shots on a charge, 530. That’s under lab conditions, though, and I got about double that in the real world. The USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port is PD compatible, so you can charge the battery and power the camera at the same time. It also comes with microphone and headphone ports as you’d expect, plus a wired LAN port and the ability to do zoom calls or livestream over USB-C via the UBC webcam standard.
Performance
Steve Dent/Engadget
The A7R V has roughly the same burst speeds as its predecessor, 10fps in both mechanical and electronic modes, shooting C-RAW and JPEG photos. That drops to 7 fps when shooting uncompressed RAW files. While not super quick compared to Sony’s A1 or the Canon EOS R5 (both have stacked sensors), it’s not bad at all for a 61-megapixel camera. You can shoot about 104 C-RAW + JPEG files before the buffer fills, though that takes less than two seconds.
Sony is known for its brilliant autofocus, and the A7R V may be its best camera in this area to date. WIth 693 phase detect focus points (up from 567 on the A7R IV) the regular (non subject tracking) AF is uncannily accurate in all five area modes, delivering a large majority of sharp frames even with fast moving subjects.
Things get even better when you kick in the AI. On top of the excellent face, head and eye tracking, Sony has introduced a new body tracking mode. It works much like 3D motion tracking software used for animation, predicting the position of your head and eyes based on your skeletal structure. If it fails to track the subject’s face, it can also switch to their body and still grab sharp shots.
On top of humans, it can also track people, birds, animals, insects, cars, trains and airplanes. However, you have to select those manually – it would be nice to have an auto mode that lets the AI choose the subject like Canon’s EOS R6 II. It also has a touch-to-track mode that locks onto subjects more accurately than rival models.
Steve Dent/Engadget
In most of these tracking modes, the camera did a good job at focusing on the subject’s eyes. Failing that, it accurately tracked the head or body and still delivered sharp photos. The results were particularly impressive considering the high resolution that shows focus flaws in minute detail.
It sometimes failed to lock onto birds’ and other animals' eyes, though that’s something Sony could potentially improve with firmware updates. By and large, though, it nailed focus nearly every time, beating rivals by a solid margin.
The A7R V also has a new in-body stabilization system, boosting it from 6 to 8 stops with supported lenses, the same as what Canon’s EOS R5 offers. It was very good for photography, letting me take sharp shots down to a quarter of a second. That means you can shoot handheld and capture the streak of a car’s lights, for instance, while freezing the background. That being said. it falls a bit short for video as you’ll see soon.
Image quality
As it has the same 61-megapixel sensor, the A7R V delivers near identical image quality to the A7R IV. That’s not a bad thing, as the latter can produce stellar images. With the very high resolution and the lack of an anti-aliasing filter, only Hasselblad and Fuji’s 100-megapixel medium format cameras offer greater detail. If that’s not enough, you can use Sony’s Pixel Shift Multi-Shot and quadruple it to 240.8 megapixels.
With no low-pass filter, beware of antialiasing or moire that can crop up in detailed or repeating parts of an image. The high resolution means that the detail has to be very fine, however.
JPEGs are ready to share right out of the camera, with nicely tuned levels of sharpening and noise reduction. Colors are more accurate but perhaps less flattering to skin tones than Canon’s latest models. The system is particularly well tuned to sunny, blue-sky scenes, so the A7R V is a great option for landscape shooting.
Sony claims 15 stops of dynamic range, above Canon but perhaps slightly below Nikon. That gives you tons of overhead to edit RAW files, fix under- or over-exposed shots or tweak colors. Except for highly detailed scenes, I didn’t notice much difference between compressed and uncompressed RAW files.
The A7R V does surprisingly well in low light. At speeds up to ISO 6400, grain isn’t an issue. Noise increases considerably at ISO 12800, but images retain detail. Beyond that, they can get gnarly with large grained color noise. Still, for such a high-resolution camera, it exceeded my expectations in this area.
As it happened, I reviewed the A7R V at the same time as the 100-megapixel Hasselblad X2D, so it was a good opportunity to test two very high resolution cameras. Both use sensors that have the same size pixels, and both are likely manufactured by Sony. For many photos, it was honestly hard to tell the difference, which is not bad for Sony considering the X2D costs over twice as much.
Video
The A7R V is a pretty darn competent video camera if you understand its limitations. It now offers 8K at up to 24/25 fps, 4K 60p and 10-bit 4:2:2 video with S-Log3, S-Cinetone and HDR formats. The A7R IV had none of those features, so it’s quite a step up.
Steve Dent/Engadget
There are some asterisks, though. The 8K video has a 1.24 times crop, while 4K 60p has a 1.24 times crop with pixel binning. 4K 30p video is uncropped, but also uses pixel binning. The only way to get supersampled video is with a 1.5 times APS-C crop. That, however, is limited to 30 fps. 120 fps video is only available at 1080p.
That said, Sony has done a good job with the pixel binning, so it doesn’t look significantly less sharp than the APS-C video supersampled from 6.2K.
Now that it supports 10-bit capture, the S-Log3 video is far more useful than on the A7R IV. You’ll see less banding once you grade it, and the 15 stops of dynamic range give you extra room to push blacks, pull back highlights and tweak colors. As with photos, hues are natural and accurate, and the A7R V is decent but not awesome for video in low light.
The A7R V now has the best video autofocus system, too. It’s nearly foolproof, locking onto subjects quickly and accurately even in chaotic circumstances. Shooting one scene with three people, it stayed locked onto the main subject even after he moved positions around the frame. All the AI features mentioned for photos work for video, so it can track animals and other subjects nearly as well as humans.
Steve Dent/Engadget
The updated stabilization isn’t nearly as good for video as for photos. It’s good for handheld video if you don’t move around, nicely smoothing out any hand shake or small motions. However, any rapid movements or walking will cause jolts that mar the video. Panasonic’s new S5 II is much better in this regard.
You might be thinking at this point that the A7R V is actually a solid video option, but it’s held back by one thing: excessive rolling shutter. It’s particularly bad at 8K and full-frame 4K, with any camera movement setting off a jello-like effect. The best case scenario is in APS-C mode, but you’ll still need to be careful not to whip the camera around.
Still, the A7R V is fine for most video shooting. If you’re mainly looking to shoot video, though, I’d get another camera. For instance, Canon’s EOS R5c or the Nikon Z9 are better, if you need 8K and can tack an extra thousand or two onto your budget. If 4K is fine, Canon’s new $2,500 EOS R6 II or the $2,000 Panasonic S5 II are better and a lot cheaper.
Wrap-up
Steve Dent/Engadget
Sony is once again on top of the high-resolution full-frame camera market with $3,900 A7R V. Image quality and detail are outstanding, autofocus is second to none and the updated video capabilities are a great addition for hybrid shooters.
As mentioned, Sony’s main rival is the 45-megapixel Canon EOS R5, which offers lower resolution and better video capabilities, but suffers from overheating issues. The 45-megapixel Nikon Z9 is also a more capable video camera, but costs $1,500 more, and Nikon’s $3,000, 45-megapixel Z7 II is $500 less but has inferior autofocus and video.
None of those models come close to matching the A7R V’s resolution, image quality and exceptional AF, though. Given that, plus the massive video improvements, it’s now the best high-resolution full-frame camera on the market, by far.
What a wild week chock full of news all over tech! Microsoft and Google both unveiled their AI products for the masses, with Microsoft holding a whole event this week to show off the new Edge and Bing. Google also had an event in Paris and unveiled the first Android 14 developer preview, while OnePlus launched its first-ever tablet alongside a new phone. Cherlynn is joined this week by guest co-host Sam Rutherford to tear into the week’s onslaught of news, and check in to see how we feel about Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra while reviewing it.
Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you've got suggestions or topics you'd like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!
Microsoft’s AI event unveils Bing and Edge with OpenAI collaboration – 1:46
Google unveils Bard chatbot, its ChatGPT competitor – 23:48
Mat Smith’s OnePlus 11 review – 29:18
Also coming from OnePlus: a tablet, earbuds and a keyboard – 37:41
Sam Rutherford’s Galaxy S23 Ultra review – 44:38
AI-generated Seinfeld show “Nothing, Forever” banned from Twitch – 55:58
Android 14 developer preview is available now – 58:16
What is even happening with Twitter’s API access? – 1:02:26
Working on – 1:08:08
Pop culture picks – 1:09:06
Livestream
Credits Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Sam Rutherford Producer: Ben Ellman Music: Dale North and Terrence O'Brien Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos Graphic artists: Luke Brooks and Brian Oh
Samsung's flagship phone of 2023 is here – if you don’t count the foldables. The Galaxy S23 Ultra starts at $1,200 and has a big, beautiful OLED screen, better cameras, a new chip for even better performance and some revamped software. And, of course, there’s still a built-in S Pen for all your drawing and note taking. The highlight feature since last year’s S22 Ultra is the new 200MP sensor, which offers more options for advanced content creation. And, with five rear cameras, there are a lot of options.
In normal use, the S23 Ultra uses 16-to-1 pixel-binning from that huge sensor to help gather more light and produce sharp, colorful images without needing extra-large files. And in most situations, it seemed to produce better-looking photos. According to Engadget’s Sam Rutherford, the S23 Ultra images taken using the default 12MP mode featured more accurate colors and better details than those captured with the sensor's full 200 megapixels. However, this could be the most capable smartphone camera yet.
– Mat Smith
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Two people died in the collision, though neither was found in the driver's seat.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that Tesla's Autopilot was not at fault in a 2021 crash in which two people died. The agency said the 2019 Model S accelerated just before hitting a tree in Spring, Texas, just north of Houston. Neither occupant was in the driver's seat when they were found, leading to questions about Tesla’s Autopilot function. The NTSB found the car's rapid acceleration from 39 MPH to 67 MPH two seconds before the crash was likely due to "impairment from alcohol intoxication in combination with the effects of two sedating antihistamines, resulting in a roadway departure, tree impact and post-crash fire."
He has yet to post on the platforms after the company lifted a two-year ban.
Meta has restored former President Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts, two years after it suspended him from both platforms. The company previously said it would apply extra "guardrails" to his accounts to "deter repeat offenses." Trump has an agreement with the "free speech" app Truth Social, whereby he has to share social media posts there first and can't drop them anywhere else for at least six hours. Twitter restored Trump's account on its service late last year, but he hasn't returned to what was once his favored social media platform.
It highlights how valuable a small number of highly polarizing users can be.
In related news, Twitter is making millions of dollars from a handful of some of its most infamous users, according to a new report. New research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) estimates Twitter “will generate up to $19 million a year in advertising revenue” from just 10 accounts once banned from the platform. The report examined 10 accounts previously banned for “publishing hateful content and dangerous conspiracies.” The accounts were reinstated after Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter.
While we’ve been impressed by the 100-watt charging on the OnePlus 11, it’s already been beaten, twice, in China. First, a Redmi phone featured a whopping 210W charging, and now the Realme GT Neo5 can charge its 4,600mAh dual-cell battery from zero to 20 percent in merely 80 seconds, to 50 percent in four minutes and to 100 percent in 9.5 minutes. Naturally, you’ll need this specific phone, its dual-GaN power adapter and its proprietary high-current USB-C cable to deliver 20V/12A of power. The phone is already available in China, priced at around $500, but the company says there are plans for an international launch, too.
1Password is going all-in on passkeys starting this summer, as the company announced today that its users would soon have the option of using passwordless logins. The move follows Google's and Apple’s passkey support starting last year.
Passkeys can replace passwords by providing unique digital keys stored locally on your device. They are much less susceptible to theft in the case of data breaches or phishing attempts and can integrate with your device’s biometric security — including fingerprints and facial logins. 1Password’s passkey support will be “built on the same security foundation” as secret keys, the long recovery codes platforms generate as a fallback sign-in option.
“All you’ll ever need to sign in to 1Password, unlock your vaults, and securely access your data is your one passkey,” the company said in a blog post. “More and more sites and services are adding passkey support every week, but whether you’re first in line to start using them, or you need to rely on passwords for a while longer, we’ve got you covered.”
“Unlike user-created passwords, passkeys are strong and unique by default. They’re generated and stored on your devices, and they’re never shared with our cloud service,” the company said. “Passkeys are also resistant to phishing, and they have a full 256 bits of entropy to prevent cracking — providing even more protection than our Secret Key. They’re safeguarded by biometrics and hardware-level security. And we’re building them to be portable between all your devices and platforms.”
Samsung's Ultra branding is typically reserved for devices that pack as many high-end features as you can fit in a single gadget. The Galaxy S23 Ultra starts at $1,200 and has a big, beautiful OLED screen, a new chip with even better performance, improved cameras and some revamped software. And, of course, there’s a built-in S Pen for all your drawing and notetaking needs. So while that sentiment still generally rings true for the new S23 Ultra, the company's latest flagship phone doesn't look or function all that differently from last year's.
Display and design: You'll need to squint to spot the changes
While the standard S23 and S23+ got a facelift this year, the Ultra appears to be a carbon copy of its predecessor — unless you look real close. You get a big 6.8-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz adaptive refresh rate and a 3,088 x 1,440 resolution. And it looks awesome, even if those specs haven't changed much from the previous model. Colors are dazzling and brightness tops out a stunning 1,750 nits, with a typical max brightness of around 1,000 nits in my testing.
The rest of the phone is a nice combo of Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and Samsung's durable Armor Aluminum. There are a few minor tweaks to the chassis, including slightly less curved edges on the screen to help prevent accidental touches. That said, I never really had an issue with that on last year's phone. The S23 Ultra's frame is also a bit flatter, which makes the whole thing feel boxier. And thanks to Samsung's continued focus on sustainability, small elements of the phone like the lock button are made from ocean-bound plastic. But that's about it. So, unless you're already familiar with the S23 Ultra's new color options (which include cream, lavender, green and black), even when you look at the S22 Ultra and S23 Ultra side-by-side, it's almost impossible to tell them apart.
Performance: New chip means more speed
The S23 Ultra is one of the first phones on the market to feature a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. However, Samsung didn't stop there. It worked with Qualcomm to create a custom version of the processor just for Galaxy phones. So what does that get you? Simply, a wealth of speed. In tests, the S23 Ultra posted multi-core scores in Geekbench 5 that were 40% higher than what we got from last year's phone. That's a huge jump, so it probably isn't a surprise when I tell you that everything feels smooth – apps, games, you name it.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Now I should mention that the custom Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy platform that Samsung uses has a clock speed that's only around 150 MHz higher than the standard chip, which honestly, isn't a difference most people (including me) can discern in normal use. However, one of the biggest changes for 2023 is that every version of this year's Ultra will feature a Snapdragon chip, so people outside North America won't be saddled with a less powerful Exynos processor like in previous years. The base model features 8GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, but if you jump to the 512GB or 1TB storage options you get 12GB of memory.
Software: One UI 5.1 is nice, but not essential
Alongside the debut of the Galaxy S23 line, Samsung is also introducing One UI 5.1 which features some handy tweaks and customizations. That said, a number of additions like the new personalization options on the lock screen or a wider palette for the UI's accent colors are sort of things we've seen before in iOS 16 or Android 13's Material You. You can even do things like add info to the lock screen so it's easier for people to return your device to you if you lose it. However, out of the box, our review unit came with a message that said "Hi help me" which seems more like a cry for attention than an attempt to provide assistance.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Samsung is also making it easier to create custom stickers from your photos, which you can do by simply long pressing on an object and then dragging it to another app for easy sharing. Unfortunately, some subjects are easier to clip than others. Faces and animals tend to work relatively well, but other things like flowers can often end up looking a bit off, so your results may vary. There's also a new Modes and Routines section in the menu that lets the phone adjust multiple settings for specific activities like exercising or relaxing. But aside from the Sleep mode option, I didn't find this new functionality all that useful. When I work out, all I need to do is find some good music and I'm ready to go.
Unfortunately, while the S23 Ultra comes with an S Pen and a handy storage slot, there aren't really any new notetaking or drawing features, which is kind of a shame. Samsung's top-end handset is still unmatched when it comes to stylus support on phones, so I wish there was something, anything new to mess around with. But I must admit even I'm struggling to think of a major feature I'd really like to see added.
Cameras: More pixels better?
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
The biggest upgrade on the S23 Ultra is its new 200MP main sensor, which features twice as many pixels as before. At Samsung Unpacked, the company showed off snippets of short films from not one, but two, big-name directors to really drive home the phone's new cinematic capabilities. It sounds impressive, but in practice, it takes a bit of effort to really make the most of that new sensor.
In normal use, the S23 Ultra uses 16-to-1 pixel-binning to help gather more light and produce sharp, colorful images without the need for extra-large file sizes. And in most situations, it produces better-looking pics too. When I used the S23 Ultra to shoot photos of some pizza (which was extremely tasty might I add), images taken using the default 12MP mode featured more accurate colors and better details than those captured with the sensor's full 200 megapixels. In the right conditions activating the sensor’s full resolution may allow you to capture finer textures on some subjects, but you’ll need to zoom in to see them.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Now part of this is because it seems Samsung's object detection and optimizer doesn't work in 200MP mode, but there were also noticeable differences in white balance and sharpness. On one hand that makes sense because pro photographers often prefer images with flatter color profiles which makes post-processing a bit easier. But that also means unless you're editing everything you shoot in an app like Lightroom or Photoshop, you're better off sticking with the regular 12MP setting. This is what I mean when I say you need to work to get the most out of the S23's new camera, and it applies to other stuff like Samsung's Expert Raw app too.
Designed for more advanced photographers, Expert Raw has a much wider array of settings and tools to tweak every aspect of your shot, from shutter speed, to exposure compensation and more. You also get a new astrophotography mode so you can take better pics of the night sky, that is unless you live in the city like I do. That's because between light pollution and cloudy skies, I couldn't get a single photo with the astrophotography mode that I was really proud of. And I even used a tripod to make sure things were super stable.
It's a similar story when it comes to video, where the S23 Ultra's improved OIS is a welcome addition for reducing shakes and vibrations while recording. But then there's the new 8K/30 fps mode (up from 8K/24 fps last year) which is nice because there's no more 2X crop like you got on the S22 Ultra. But at the same time, who records home movies in 8K, let alone has the proper display to watch those clips at full resolution? Sure, it's nice to be able to crop in when you want some extra detail. But this feels like overkill, especially when you consider that the file size for a two-minute 8K/30 FPS video is over one gigabyte, which means you're gonna run out of storage real fast.
At least when it comes to selfies, the phone has a new 12MP camera with dual pixel autofocus, and its pics look great despite a sensor that actually features a lower resolution than on the previous model. The 12 MP ultrawide cam and the two telephoto lenses (3x and 10x) are largely the same, which feels like a missed opportunity because that 10x optical zoom is still my favorite lens on the phone.
Battery life: Just great
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
While the S23 Ultra's smaller siblings both got upgrades in battery capacity, Samsung's flagship stayed pat at 5,000 mAh. But that's ok because there's plenty of juice to go around. On our video rundown test, the S23 Ultra lasted an impressive 19 hours and 26 minutes, which is similar to the OnePlus 11 (19:45), though not quite as good as the iPhone 14 Plus' 21:17. And that was with the phone's adaptive refresh rate turned on.
In the real world, you're looking at more than all-day battery life. Even on a day when I was doing heavy benchmarking and playing NBA All-World (which really gulps electrons due to constant use of GPS), I still had 25% battery left at the end of the day. And on days with more moderate usage, I often had 40% or more in the tank when midnight rolled around.
All this means you don't really need to worry about the phone dying during the day, which is a good thing because that gives the S23 Ultra leeway to donate some charge to other devices via Samsung's Power Share feature (aka reverse wireless charging). And with 45-watt wired charging, you can refuel the phone in a jiffy too.
Wrap-up
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
The tricky thing about recommending the S23 Ultra is that it's everything a super premium phone should be. It's got a gorgeous display, a great build and more power than you know what to do with. However, starting at $1,200, it's also really expensive and it's not that much better than last year's offering. I have no doubt you can film Hollywood-grade movies using its new 200MP sensor. But it's important to remember that even in Samsung's promos, we're talking about a crew with decades of experience, not to mention additional equipment like external mics, camera cages, gimbals and more. The S23 Ultra's camera has tons of potential, but it takes more than just a casual familiarity to make those features glow.
For those wondering if they should trade in their current handset after only a year: No, it's just not worth it. If you're simply looking for a premium device and don't care about taking notes with a stylus, I'd argue that the Pixel 7 Pro is a better value. But if you have an older phone and are looking for a major upgrade, the S23 Ultra is unlike any other Android phone on sale today. And with its fancy new sensor, Samsung's latest flagship might be the closest thing you can get to a pro-grade camera in a phone, just as long as you're willing to polish your content in post.
TP-Link briefly teased its entry into robot vacuums at CES, but today the company released more detail on its first pair of budget-minded cleaning machines. The Tapo RV10 is a $250 vacuum / mop combo, while the Tapo RV10 Lite cuts the mop, doubles the dustbin size and saves you $20.
Both models use gyroscope-based “zig-zag path planning,” which the company says will clean your floor more efficiently than random-path vacuums. In addition, the machines offer four suction levels (quiet, standard, turbo and max) with a maximum of 2,000Pa suction power. They also include noise suppression to keep the sound as low as 53dB in quiet mode. Both devices work with the Tapo app for iOS and Android; Alexa and Google Assistant voice control are also supported.
TP-Link
The mopping RV10 differentiates itself from its vacuum-only sibling with a 300ml water tank, an electronic pump and three water flow levels. Additionally, the RV10 only has a 400ml dustbin, presumably to make room for its mopping hardware; the RV10 Lite’s bin doubles the size at 800ml.
The vacuums each have a 2,600mAh battery, adding up to an estimated three hours of cleaning per charge. TP-Link says if their batteries get low before finishing, they’ll dock automatically, recharge and pick up where they left off.
The vacuums are available today on Amazon. The Tapo RV10 costs $250, while the Tapo RV10 Lite is $230.
Remember that Redmi phone which featured a whopping 210W charging? Well, another Chinese contender has made its next move with a 240W upgrade. The Realme GT Neo5 can apparently charge its 4,600mAh dual-cell battery from zero to 20 percent in merely 80 seconds, or to 50 percent in four minutes, or to 100 percent in 9.5 minutes. On an mAh-per-minute basis, this actually beats the Redmi Note 12 Discovery Edition's 9-minute record, considering that it has a smaller 4,300mAh battery.
Realme's 240W SuperVOOC rapid charging feat is enabled by a surprisingly compact dual-GaN power adapter, which is paired with a proprietary high-current USB-C cable to deliver 20V/12A of power. This is then converted to 10V/24A by three 100W power management chips before it reaches the battery — a similar implementation to the Redmi. The adapter is also compatible with USB-PD at up to 65W, as well as existing Qualcomm QC and Oppo VOOC-based solutions — the latter's previous record was 150W. Realme further claimed that even after 1,600 cycles (about four years of usage), the battery health wouldn't go lower than 80 percent.
Realme
Realme's GT Neo5 has a nice little gimmick on the back: an under-glass Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 decoration surrounded by an RGB light ring, which can be customized with 25 colors for scenes including charging, gaming, messages and more. This is all wrapped around an NFC circuitry positioned to the right of the camera island. Speaking of, you'll also find a 50-megapixel main camera (featuring a Sony IMX890 sensor and optical stabilization), an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 2-megapixel macro camera here.
On the other side, there's a 6.74-inch 2,772 x 1,240 AMOLED screen (supplied by China's Tianma) which not only runs at up to 144Hz, but also offers a sensitive 1,500Hz touch sampling rate — a plus for mobile gaming. This is complemented with an under-display fingerprint reader and a 16-megapixel punch-hole selfie camera. Other notable features include a infrared remote blaster at the top (a common feature on Chinese phones), a pair of stereo speakers and an 8-layer heat dissipation design for optimal gaming performance. All of these are packaged into a 199g-heavy, 8.9mm-thick body which comes in black, white or purple, and it's mostly covered with a piece of frosted glass on the rear side.
Realme
The Realme GT Neo5 is already available in China with two flavors offered: the model with 16GB RAM and 256GB storage is asking for 3,199 yuan (around $470), but bumping it up to 1TB storage is just 3,499 yuan (about $520). Interestingly, there's also a 5,000mAh variant of the GT Neo5 which features "just" 150W charging, and it ranges from 2,499 yuan ($370; 8GB RAM and 256GB storage) to 2,899 yuan ($430; 16GB RAM and 256GB storage).
Realme has confirmed to Engadget that the GT Neo5 will be headed to international markets "soon." That said, the 240W SuperVOOC feature will actually be introduced to the global market by way of the company's upcoming flagship phone, the Realme GT3, later this month. Smells like an MWC special here.
Google Translate is getting an AI-powered upgrade in the coming weeks to help you find more accurate translations, particularly for words with multiple definitions. The app will offer additional contextual translation options with descriptions and examples.
Let's say you're looking for a translation of the word "row," which has multiple meanings in English. It could refer to an argument, a line of seats on a plane or using an oar to propel a boat. Google Translate should soon offer translations for all of those variants, along with examples of how they're used.
Google
Google says the app will provide "the context you need to accurately translate and use the right turns of phrase, local idioms or appropriate words depending on your intent." All going well, this should help you communicate more clearly in different languages. The upgraded contextual translations will be available for languages such as English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish starting this month, with more surely to follow.
Meanwhile, the company recently rolled out a Translate redesign on Android. It's coming to the iOS app soon. The revamped app introduces more gestures that should make it easier to use, including swifter access to language selection and the option to swipe to bring up recent translations. Google says translations are now more readable, while an extra 33 languages are available for on-device translation, including Basque, Hawaiian, Hmong, Kurdish, Sundanese, Yiddish and Zulu.
The original AirPods Pro and AirPods Pro 2 are popular among iPhone users for their convenience and compelling mix of features. However, your options are limited if something happens to the charging case, and your earbuds aren’t under warranty. Apple will replace the case for a fee. If you own a first-generation pair of AirPods Pro, you’re probably better off buying the new model to get a fresh set of batteries. In any event, there’s no easy way to repair a set of AirPods Pro and limit your electronic waste. Replacement parts are either hard to find, expensive or non-existent, and Apple didn’t design any of its earbuds with repairability in mind.
Robotics engineer Ken Pillonel, who became internet famous in 2021 for creating a working USB-C iPhone, is trying to fix that. With his latest DIY project, Pillonel has effectively created an end-to-end solution for those who want to swap the battery in their AirPods Pro case rather than replace it altogether.
Pillonel designed a replacement USB-C PCB he says is possible to install in an undamaged case without milling. If you’ve been following Pillonel for a while, you likely know that he also designed a USB-C PCB for the first- and second-generation AirPods and uploaded the design to GitHub. This time, he’s selling the AirPods Pro part to make the repair as easy as possible for anyone who wants to attempt it. You can get a single PCB from his online store for about $38.
If you damage your AirPods Pro case trying to access the internal battery, Pillonel has thought of that too. He’s uploaded a schematic to GitHub that you can use to 3D print a replacement. The USB-C PCB and case are fully compatible with one another. The only part you need to source independently is a replacement battery. You can find those online for about $20. “The goal of this project is to maximize the number of successful repairs to minimize the quantity of electronic waste,” Pillonel said in a statement. Obviously, most people won’t have the patience or confidence to service their AirPods Pro charging case, but a project like this is invaluable for those who do.
