Month: October 2020

Apple announces Homepod Mini, a tiny smart speaker with a big feature set

Apple today announced the Homepod Mini, a lilliputian smart speaker that looks to be about 1/3 the size of the standard Homepod.

The top of the device serves as a touch panel for controlling the device. It also illuminates in a myriad of colors when the user calls on Siri for queries or controls.

Sound is put out by a single large driver and two large bass woofers which fire out the side of the device. Apple has designed the audio to blast out in a sphere.

The Homepod Mini features Apple’s S5 chip allows for “computational audio,” which is a fancy way of saying software helps to enhance the audio experience. The device constantly scans music data to tune and rebalance audio for an “optimal audio experience,” according to Apple. The Homepod Mini can also be paired with a second Mini for a stereo experience.

Apple emphasized privacy and security as a key feature of the Homepod Mini. Personal requests are only carried out when your iPhone is with you (likely within proximity of your voice). 

Homepod Mini supports Apple Music and Podcasts, as well as iHeartRadio. In the future, the speaker will also integrate with Amazon Music and Pandora.

Because this is an Apple device, it integrates well with Apple’s ecosystem, particularly with the iPhone. The Homepod Mini can send messages, update you on the weather, and more via Siri. Apple also showed that Siri on the Homepod Mini can even differentiate between the voices of multiple people, customizing requests based on voice alone.

The Homepod Mini also integrates with the iOS Home app for smart home controls. A new feature, called Intercom, lets users send a voice message from a Homepod Mini to another Homepod Mini, a vehicle with Apple CarPlay, an iPhone, an Apple Watch, Airpods, and other Apple devices.

Homepod Mini will be available on November 6 for $99. It will ship out starting November 16.

ASUS drops support for Ryzen 5000 processor series on X470 motherboards

AMD may have announced that the Ryzen 5000 series would support X470 and B450 motherboards from January 2021, but ASUS has other ideas. Multiple motherboard manufacturers, including ASUS, have already released updated BIOSes for 500 series chipsets, but the company has dropped X470 motherboards from future plans.

ASUS is yet to officially confirm this, but it is letting consumers know privately that this is the case. Apparently, the engineering department at ASUS has confirmed this, rather than a sales representative or customer service advisor. You can read the ensuing Reddit thread here, which has, unsurprisingly, received plenty of attention from AMD fans.

In May, AMD confirmed that it would ‘enable our motherboard partners with the code to support…AMD B450 and X470 motherboards’, giving some hope for Ryzen 5000 support. However, AMD has not instructed its partners to support B450 and X470 motherboards, so ASUS has decided against doing so. Seeing as ASUS is yet to confirm this publicly, then we would not be surprised if other motherboard manufacturers follow suit in dropping support for the B450 and X470 chipsets. 

The new Beats Flex are surprisingly budget wireless earphones from Apple

Apple has devoted much of its latest Special Event to the iPhone 12 series, which has been revealed to be as expensive as its predecessors in some cases. However, the company has launched accessories that are much less so. The Beats Flex earphones offer some popular wireless features for a relatively bargain price.

These new products share a “neckbud” form-factor with the Powerbeats, although they resemble something like the OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z product in looks. Despite their unusually budget nature, they still have the W1 chipset from the original AirPods.

This module allows for “seamless” pairing with any and all of a given user’s Apple mobile devices, “Class 1 Bluetooth” and potentially superior connection integrity and Audio Sharing, which allows the same stream to be synced across multiple Beats- or Apple-branded audio devices.

Beats also asserts that these new Flex earphones are rated for “accurate bass and ultra-low distortion” due to their “advanced acoustic platform”. Besides this, they boast automatic pausing as a result of connecting them at the earbuds with their integrated magnets, as though Android OEMs have not done this with their own branded neckbuds for quite a while now.

These new wireless earphones are now available in Apple’s web-store, if only in their Beats Black or Yuzu Yellow colorways, for US$49.99. There are also Flame Blue or Smoke Gray options, although they will only go on sale later in winter 2020.

Auzai 21.5-inch monitor is super cheap and super average

Auzai is currently selling a 21.5-inch 1080p monitor for less than $100 USD on Amazon. The company recently sent us a unit to test and, after playing around with it for a couple of days, it may be wise to hold onto your hundred dollar bill if you value higher quality monitors.

The first major drawback of the monitor is its TN panel and subsequent limited viewing angles. Though 100 mm VESA mounting is supported, don’t expect great colors when rotated.

The second drawback is the general graininess of the overall image. It’s not an issue when sitting at a normal distance from the screen, but image quality differences are obvious when compared to something pricier like the Dell Ultrasharp U2415.

Thirdly, the next disadvantage relates to the color accuracy of the display. Though color coverage is actually pretty good at 95 percent of sRGB, color accuracy is just average at best with the color red being the most inaccurate even after calibrating the display.

Fourthly, the plastic base allows for almost no angle adjustments outside of a narrow tilt of just a few degrees. Users can remove the entire base with just a Philips screwdriver if desired.

The last noticeable disadvantage to keep in mind is the proprietary AC adapter. Not only are standard AC power cables not supported, but the included adapter is relatively short at around 3.5 to 4 feet in length.

The cheap Auzai monitor works well for web browsing, emailing, video, and other casual scenarios and the very light weight makes it easy to handle. More serious office workers or gamers are going to want to invest a little more on monitors with crisper and better calibrated displays.

Samsung unveils new Plus-line SDXC cards for 2020

Samsung has announced products that may be for professional photographers, vloggers or prosumers looking for a new and reliable full-sized SD card. The 2020 EVO Plus and PRO Plus models are all SDXC, but for the smallest 32GB SKU of each line, which are SDHC.

This variant of the PRO Plus series is also the only one that misses out on sequential write speeds that may reach 90 megabytes per second (MB/s), contenting itself with up to 60MB/s instead. However, it does get the sequential read speed of up to 100MB/s also associated with its 64GB, 128GB and 256GB siblings.

The latest EVO Plus cards, on the other hand, have that spec across the board. All of these share U3/Class 10 specs with the PRO Plus variants, except (again) for the 32GB EVO Plus (which is U1 and Class 10). However, all of this new UHS-I memory is equipped with Samsung’s new “seven-proof” protection.

This means they are resistant to drops of up to 5 meters, as well as the wear and tear that can result from up to 10,000 navigational swipes on the device in which a given card is installed, in addition to the more usual magnet-, shock-, water-, temperature- and x-ray-proofing conferred on “pro-level” SD cards.

The new Plus-series cards can be pre-ordered from now, and cost from US$6.99 for the EVO’s 32GB variant to $39.99 for its top-end 256GB version. The PROs range from $9.99 to $49.99 for the same sizes. They will all ship from Octber 19, 2020, with the exception of the 32 and 64GB PRO cards that are not projected to do so until November 2020.

Xiaomi’s Mi 55W Wireless Charging Stand offers ultra-fast charging for under US$40

The Mi 10 Ultra has a lot going for it, including its ability to charge wirelessly. However, while many modern flagship smartphones support wireless charging, few can recharge as quickly as the Mi 10 Ultra can. Xiaomi boasts that the Mi 10 Ultra can wirelessly charge at up to 50 W, a wattage that is well beyond what the capabilities of most smartphones.

The wireless charger that you need to charge at 50 W is reasonably-affordable, too. Xiaomi’s Mi 55W Wireless Charging Stand is not yet available from the company directly in Europe, but it can be purchased from retailers like AliExpress, Gearbest and Banggood. The latter sells the charger for US$55.99, but Gearbest has it even cheaper at US$42.99. AliExpress has it even cheaper still at around US$37, though.

According to Xiaomi, its wireless charger can recharge the Mi 10 Ultra in 40 minutes and has an active fan to keep things cool. The charger supports Qi Extended Power Profile (EPP), so it should recharge other smartphones like the Pixel 4 series quickly, too. The Google Pixel Stand retails for US$69, so Xiaomi’s effort could well be a better alternative, especially as it also includes a stand.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Carbon announced; no US or European releases seemingly planned for lightweight Tiger Lake laptop

Lenovo has unveiled the Yoga Slim 7i Carbon, its compact Tiger Lake ultrabook. According to Liliputing, Lenovo does not have any plans to bring the machine to North America. However, it will be available in Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Vietnam from this month. Pricing for these countries remains unknown, though. It is also unclear whether the device will make its way to Europe.

As expected, the Yoga Slim 7i Carbon has a 13.3-inch display with a QHD resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio. The 2,560 x 1,600-pixel panel corresponds to a 91% screen-to-body ratio, but Lenovo has still found space for a Windows Hello IR camera. Powering the machine is ‘up to’ a Core i7 Tiger Lake processor, although it remains unknown exactly what CPUs Lenovo will offer for the device.

However, Lenovo has confirmed that the Yoga Slim 7i Carbon will be available with up to a 1 TB M.2 PCIe SSD and 16 GB of LPDDR4X dual-channel RAM. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 support is also on board, as are two Thunderbolt 4 ports and a USB 3.0 Gen 1 Type-C port.

The Yoga Slim 7i Carbon will only be available in Moon White and weighs less than 1 kg thanks to its carbon fibre chassis. Lenovo has still included a 50 Wh battery that can charge at up to 65 W, though. The machine measures 296.9 x 208.6 mm and 14.9 mm at its thickest point, too.

Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro irreparability revealed in teardown video

Xiaomi has released yet another teardown video, this time for the Mi 10T Pro. Officially called the Mi 10T Pro 5G, the device features a bevvy of flagship hardware, such as a Snapdragon 865 chipset, UFS 3.1 storage, a 108 MP camera and a 5,000 mAh battery. The company’s teardown video underlines just how complex and irrepairable the Mi 10T Pro is, though.

Xiaomi stresses that one should tear down their Mi 10T Pro, despite making it look easier than it is to disassemble the device. For some reason, the company decided to remove several steps from its short video, including the process for removing the back panel and the battery. The latter appears to have a pull-tab of some sort, but that may not necessarily be the case. Hopefully, Xiaomi has included pull tabs, as that would make the battery easier to replace.

Either way, the fingerprint scanner is replaceable, as are the camera sensors. The 108 MP primary camera dwarfs the other lenses though, explaining why Xiaomi included such a large housing for them. Sadly, Xiaomi has soldered the USB Type-C port to a daughter-board, meaning that you must replace it and the dual-SIM card slot if the Type-C port malfunctions.

The video highlights the cooling efficiency of the Mi 10T Pro too, with Xiaomi focusing on its graphite and copper cooling systems. From what we can tell, Xiaomi has included a sheet of copper over the SoC and a graphite layer behind the display. Beneath this sits a copper heat pipe, which runs through the middle of the device.

Overall, the Mi 10T Pro does not seem that repairable, not least because Xiaomi does not sell any replacement parts for the device. The inclusion of multiple soldered parts emphasises this, which is a shame considering the value for money that the Mi 10T Pro offers.

Zeblaze Thor 6: Smartwatch with full-size smartphone CPU and Android 10 available in the US

While Apple and other big manufacturers dominate the international smartwatch market, there are still more and more startups coming up, especially in China, that are trying to gain a foothold in this rapidly growing market. These small companies like to take unusual approaches to their devices to attract attention. One of these manufacturers is Zeblaze, which does a lot different with its new Thor 6 smartwatch compared to established companies like Samsung.

Hence, the company has chosen the Helio P22 as its processor, which is normally intended for smartphones. Accordingly, LTE is always on board. With 4 GB RAM and 64 GB internal memory, the smartwatch has considerably more storage capacity than the Galaxy Watch 3, for example. At 830 mAh, the battery should provide runtimes of two to three days. Nevertheless, the Thor 6 comes with many classic smartwatch features, which means that you can use it to track various types of sport and your pulse.

The round IPS display is 1.6 inches in size and has a resolution of 400 x 400 pixels. Furthermore, the Thor 6 has a 5-MP camera in both the front and the back. The ceramic and plastic chassis is IP67-certified and weighs 74 grams. Considering the specifications, this is relatively light. In comparison, the Galaxy Watch 3 is only a little lighter at 53.8 grams. As operating system Android 10 is preinstalled.

Currently the Zeblaze Thor 6 is not available in Europe. However, at US$219 on AliExpress the smartwatch is rather cheap for customers in the United States and is likely to make its way to Europe soon.

Fortnite can now run at 90 FPS on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and Galaxy Tab S7+

Despite high-refresh-rate screens becoming increasingly commonplace even among low-cost smartphones, many applications cannot take advantage of it. In particular, several mobile games max out at 60 FPS and require direct intervention from their developers to run at higher framerates. Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and Galaxy Tab S7+ owners will be pleased to know that they can now play Fortnite at 90 FPS.

Samsung announced the update via a blog post. To get started, all one needs to do is update the game via the Galaxy Store and enable the 90 FPS mode via the game’s settings. It becomes the second Android device after the OnePlus 8 series that can run Fortnite at that framerate. The problem is, both Apple and Google have removed Fortnite from their respective platforms, making the Galaxy Tab S7 series one of the few devices that can run the game, to begin with.

Interestingly enough, both the Galaxy Tab S7 and Galaxy Tab S7+ come with 120Hz screens. However, it is unlikely that either device will be able to deliver 120 FPS consistently. Even the iPad Pro had to sacrifice some visual fidelity and run the game at 720p to run Fortnite at that frame rate. One can only hope that Samsung and Epic implement something similar for the future Galaxy devices running more powerful hardware.