ICYMI: We’re listening to Apple’s AirPods Max

Despite the minimalist design, Billy said the AirPods Max were a joy to use – the controls are simple yet effective, and the battery life is solid. Billy had no trouble reaching the 20 hour mark thanks to the device’s low power mode. The sound quality was good in several genres with a “natural” sound that offered both bass booms and subtle atmospheres. However, Billy didn’t like the Smart Case at all, which offers little protection for the headphones, and the $ 549 price tag, which makes it steeper than its competition.

Although Amazon introduced the Echo frames over a year ago, they are now widely available only to those who wish to wear a pair of smart glasses. Cherlynn Low liked the way the smart specs fit: She said they were so comfortable she forgot she was wearing them. Available in one style with three color choices, the glasses are compatible with prescription lenses. Echo frames don’t have a display or camera, but will allow users to take calls, hear music and notifications, and use Alexa hands-free. Cherlynn found Alexa to be quick and responsive even when there was background noise.

But the sound quality of the Echo Frames did not impress Cherlynn. The music she listened to sounded hollow and lacked bass, and the open-ear design meant nearby colleagues could hear her songs even at just 30% volume. The main downside, however, was the notifications – they were easy to accidentally dismiss due to the touch panel on the right side, not to mention the difficulty in customizing. Despite this, she still loved the Echo frames and found herself wearing them frequently for Alexa calls and commands.

Steve Dent / Engadget

Sony A7C is a compact version of its A6600 Camera but with the 24 megapixel sensor and the specifications of the A7 series. Lightweight and portable, the A7C is similar to other Sony models, especially the popular, full frame A7 III and the A6600 crop sensor. Steve Dent claims that the A7C has similar image quality and shooting speeds to the A7 III, but uses AI to improve autofocus tracking. However, it lacks a front dial, joystick, and other manual controls, which slowed down Steve’s shot and made handling awkward.

Steve said you can speed things up by setting up custom menus and buttons before using the A7C. Otherwise, it has impressive battery life and can go up to 680 shots on a charge. The A7C can shoot crisp 4K video and has decent stabilization, and is great for sports, wildlife, or other action shots. Steve thinks this would be ideal for hybrid shooters looking for a low cost full frame camera. But with a price tag of $ 1,800, it’s more expensive than competing models from Canon, Panasonic, or Nikon.

Devindra Hardawar / Engadget

the RTX 3060 Ti is the cheapest GPU in NVIDIA’s new line of video cards, but that doesn’t stop it from giving solid performance even at 1080p or 1440p. Devindra Hardawar expected the 3060 Ti to be an improvement over its predecessor RTX 2060 Super and he was significantly impressed with the fast speeds, 4,864 CUDA cores and 1.67 GHz clock speed produced by the new Ampere architecture.

While ray tracing slowed the card down a bit (and it showed its limits during 4K playback), the 3060 Ti easily beat the RTX 2080 Super in Devindra’s benchmark tests – and wasn’t much more. slower than the 3070 either. The fan configuration allowed the board to run cool and quiet, idling around 41 Celsius and reaching a maximum of 74 Celsius. The ports – three DisplayPort 1.4a and one HDMI 2.1 jack – will support 4K displays above 60Hz and 8K. This makes it a great deal for those looking for a decent price upgrade.

Terrence O’Brien / Engadget

the Electronic microcosm with hologram it’s a flexible effects pedal in the vein of Empress Effects reverb or the The afternoon of seismic devices. Capable of adding subtle texture or entirely transforming an instrument, the Microcosm can deliver a variety of effects from glitchy to spacey thanks to its 44 presets. Terrence O’Brien called it a one-stop-shop ambiance store.

The Microcosm also has a wide variety of additional features, including a reverb unit, modulation section, resonant low-pass filter, and a built-in 60-second phrase looper. It is, however, a sizable pedal size, but contains a good variety of inputs and outputs such as 5-pin MIDI inputs and outputs and an expression pedal jack. Terrence said he may have gotten lost exploring the different sounds and presets, although he admits there was a small learning curve for all of the features. Nevertheless, he encountered many happy accidents upon discovering them.

Devindra Hardawar / Engadget

Devindra Hardawar did not know who would want HP Reverb G2 after reviewing it. The $ 600 Windows Mixed Reality Headset is designed for PC users who want crisp screens and ergonomic designs, but don’t want to spend the $ 999 on Valve’s Index. Devindra liked the high quality produced by the near-field speakers, the sturdy headband, and the comfortable padding around the lenses. It also enjoyed the gameplay, thanks to the 2160 x 2160 resolution screens, 90Hz refresh rate, 114-degree field of view, and impressive tracking produced by all four sensors.

The controllers were underwhelming, although he found the curved grips more comfortable than Microsoft’s straight grip design. He thought they felt hollow, and on top of that, he couldn’t get a good response from the gamepad buttons. But the gameplay didn’t disappoint – Microsoft Flight Simulator was so immersive with the helmet that he started to dream about it. He claimed that despite its flaws, the Reverb G2 is still the best WMR headphone to date.