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Govee Aura Smart Lamp review

Jason England
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Years ago I bought a smart table lamp and found it amusing that I could control it using my phone’s Bluetooth connection. And while the lamp wasn’t as bright as I would have liked, I made do with it.

As my smart home grew to include Google Assistant, I was disappointed that I couldn’t better integrate the lamp with my other lights.

I’ve wanted to replace it for a while now with something that would work better with my smart home and integrate with Assistant. Thankfully, Govee have what looks to be the perfect replacement with its new Aura Smart Table Lamp. We were provided a sample for review from our friends at the company and have a this review to share.

Design

The Govee Aura Smart Table Lamp uses a compact circular design coming in at 7.9 inches tall and 4.1 inches wide. There is a rubberized base to keep it from sliding around and on top are five buttons to control it.

Furthermore, the power cable is around 8ft. long which should give you more freedom when finding a placement. A complaint I had with my last smart lamp was the cable barely stretched from the outlet to where I wanted to place it. I was pleasantly surprised the Aura Smart Table Lamp had some slack left after positioning it.

User experience

The Govee Aura Smart Table Lamp features controls on the top to power it on/off, switch different lighting modes, and change the intensity of the light. While it’s great to have an easy tactile way to manage the lamp, you’ll most likely use the app because of all the options Govee includes, or a voice assistant such as Alexa or Google Assistant to control it.

Beyond powering it on and off with your voice, the Aura Smart Table Lamp also supports changing the color and brightness. The only things I couldn’t seem to control with Google Assistant were changing the scene modes making it react to music.

For those options you’ll have to open up the app. Before diving deeper let me just say, I was blown away by what Govee offers up.

App

The Govee app is the singular most valuable thing about the Aura Smart Table Lamp. Without the app, the lamp would be little more than a simple light that displays different colors.

However, with the Govee app, the Aura turns into a lava lamp on steroids. Sure, the app does all the normal things you’d expect such as turning the light on/off or changing the brightness and color, but that’s only scratching the surface.

When you open the “Scenes” section of the app, the Aura Smart Table Lamp comes to life. There are a ton of different presets divided up by categories to choose from, and while a few simply show a pretty gradient, some are full motion. It’s impossible to do these justice in photos, especially the scenes that include motion.

A couple of my favorites were “Snow flake” and “Cherry Blossom Festival,” which imitate snow or flower petals falling down. The “Fish tank” and “Ocean” scenes were also very cool and I had a blast going through all of the scenes while showing them off to my friends.

On top of using the preset scenes, the Govee app also allows you to create your own custom scenes with different colors and movement. This is ideal for getting festive around the holidays.

Now, if you’re not into all the fancy scenes and want just a simple lamp, then the Aura is perfectly suited for that as well. You can even control which shade of white you’d like to use, such as a cooler whiter tone during the day and a deeper amber color for later in the evening.

Speaking of, the Govee app also features a sleep timer, wake-up light, and a way to schedule the lamp to turn on or off based on your needs.

Brightness

Of course, we can’t leave out one of the most important functions in a lamp review. The Govee Aura Smart Table Lamp is rated for 350 lumens, and what that means in the real world, is that it gets quite bright.

With the Aura lamp set at maximum brightness, I was able to light up a small bedroom with ease. My previous lamp barely got bright enough to read next to, making the Aura a big improvement.

Now, don’t expect it to compare to a floor-standing lamp or ceiling-mounted fixture, but it should be enough to view your surroundings in the evenings or to do some reading.

Final thoughts

When I first started browsing I was only hoping to get a nice looking lamp that I could turn on or off using Google Assistant. With the Govee Aura Smart Table Lamp–I got way more than that–and between all the different modes, scenes, and customizations I can see why it retails for $60.

The Aura is much more than just a lamp, paired with the Govee app it becomes a customizable light show of colors dancing in your home. You can pick up the Aura Smart Table Lamp right now from the Govee website for $55 or on Amazon for $48 after applying the 20% off coupon.

Buy from Amazon Buy from Govee

Break into the lucrative field of cloud technology with this self-paced training

AG Deals Team
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Bowers & Wilkins PI7 True Wireless ANC Earbuds review

Jason England
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Bowers & Wilkins is a premium audio brand renowned for high-quality sound and style, so when they entered the true wireless earbud market with the PI7, my interest was piqued. Thankfully, the brand sent us out a pair for review, and now I can share my impressions after living with them for the past few weeks.

Design

Due to the minuscule size of true wireless buds, there isn’t much you can do with this form factor. Regardless, Bowers & Wilkins has come up with a design that is uniquely its own.

The two-tone buds come in white or charcoal and look great whether they are in the case or out of it. When it comes to controlling the PI7, B&W has incorporated touch-sensitive buttons which are easy to use without accidentally triggering them.

The charging case is a little large when compared to the recent competition, but it’s still pretty compact and lightweight. Basically, you won’t have any trouble fitting these into your pocket and they won’t weigh you down.

Comfort

The B&W PI7 comes with a set of three silicone tips and for what they cost, I wish they also included Comply foam tips like other luxury earbuds. As I’ve noted in previous reviews, I have smaller than average ear canals. I was still able to find a comfortable fit with the included tips, although, I wouldn’t have complained had they included some smaller ear tips.

That would have made it easier for me to wear them for hours on end. Instead, I experienced feeling some ear fatigue after about an hour or so of listening.

User experience

Controlling music playback with the PI7 was easy thanks to the touch-sensitive controls. With a series of taps you can play, pause, or skip forwards or backward when listening to music. Long-pressing the touch-sensitive buttons will also activate a voice assistant or enable active noise cancellation.

Another way the PI7 makes controlling your music easy is with a sensor that pauses playback when you remove a bud from your ear and resumes once you place it back in.

These are not Google Assistant-enabled headphones, meaning you won’t be able to hear the response from Assistant or your notifications.

Despite the controls working well, I found transparency mode was missing. This is one of the most valuable features of many newer headphones that allows you to have a quick conversation without removing the buds from your ears.

Many other brands include a way to activate this from the headphones themselves, but not so with the PI7. Instead, the manual directs you to use the app when you need transparency mode. It may seem like a minor complaint, but it does become very tedious when you just want to have a quick word with someone.

Media Streaming

One last feature the B&W PI7 boasts is the ability for the case to act as a Bluetooth transmitter. This is one of the most unique features I’ve ever come across on a pair of true wireless earbuds, and it allows you to add a Bluetooth connection to analog devices.

For this, I reached for the closest device I had on hand without Bluetooth, which in this case, is the Nintendo Switch. Getting the Bluetooth retransmission to function was a frustrating half-hour, but somehow I finally got the buds to connect.

I tried following the manual’s instructions without success and eventually, in between unplugging and plugging cables back in and double-clicking the button on the case, it finally made a connection. Once I got this working though, the PI7 buds did a great job of connecting between my phone and the case when I had it plugged in.

In the end, I don’t have a lot of use for this feature, and even though it was frustrating to set up, I was really impressed and thought it was a cool trick that sets the PI7 apart from other buds on the market.

App

This brings us to the B&W app, and, unfortunately, I found it lacking in comparison to its competitors such as Sony. First off, there is no equalizer and that’s something I’ve come to expect at this price point. Regardless of how good a pair of headphones sounds, I always like tweaking it to my personal taste and I was unable to do that with the PI7.

Furthermore, there was no way to customize the touch-sensitive buttons. It would have been great to replace the voice assistant shortcut with transparency mode, seeing how I’d definitely use that more considering you can’t get spoken replies from Google Assistant on these buds.

Besides these complaints, the app worked fine. It was great to be able to see the battery level of the buds as well as the case on the main page. It also allows you to turn ANC to auto or disable it entirely, and of course, it’s the only way to enable transparency mode.

Sound quality

Audio quality is one area where the PI7 excels as it uses the aptX codec for 24-bit streaming from your device with dual hybrid drivers with individual amplifiers. All of this added up to audio that sounded extremely clear with a crisp sound signature including a punch of bass.

While listening to music I was constantly impressed by the clarity of the tracks and how wonderfully balanced the sound was. The PI7 buds were able to make every song sound clear while still providing a nice thump in the low end. However, if you’re a bass head the PI7 will disappoint — and that’s where a custom equalizer would have really helped in the app.

ANC

Active noise cancellation on the PI7 wasn’t the best I’ve heard, but it was still quite impressive. While it doesn’t quite match some of the most popular ANC earbuds, the PI7 were able to block out the vast majority of repetitive noise while still retaining high-quality sound.

Microphone

The Bowers & Wilkins PI7 uses a series of six microphones for stellar call quality. The sound of my voice was so clear and natural that people I spoke with on the phone were shocked I was using a pair of Bluetooth buds. The PI7 might just have the best set of mics on any pair of wireless headphones that I’ve used.

Additionally, while you’re on a call the PI7 will enable transparency mode allowing you to hear yourself so you’ll know what you sound like and also won’t get too loud.

Battery life

Bowers & Wilkins rates the PI7 for four hours of continuous listening time with up to an additional 22.5 hours when used with the charging case. I only ever used the PI7 for around two hours at a time and I found that the PI7 had no issue living up to its claims, and the case easily kept me charged up for a couple of weeks at a time.

Although, with the competition offering better battery life at a more affordable price, I could see this affecting your decision when deciding which buds to pick up.

Final thoughts

Bowers & Wilkins delivers on sound quality with the PI7 but comes up short with the app, smart features, and battery life. That might be more acceptable if they didn’t retail for $400 and/or if Sony’s fantastic WF-1000XM4 earbuds didn’t exist at a more affordable price.

However, if you’re a huge B&W fan, and don’t care about the missing smart features, then you’ll be perfectly happy with the sound quality, even though your wallet might not be with the price.

Buy from Amazon Buy from Bowers & Wilkins

This $90 bundle includes lifetime VPN protection and 90 hours of cybersecurity know-how

AG Deals Team
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If you use the internet on a PC, phone, tablet, or other device, you really ought to consider a VPN service. Not only will it protect your most private data, it lets you browse totally anonymously, and secures public Wi-Fi connections, too.

While there are quite a bit of options to choose from, we have one we think you should know about. Right now you can get a lifetime subscription to award-winning VPN Unlimited by KeepSolid as well as Platinum-level lifetime access to Infosec4TC Cyber Security Training for just $89.99. Valued around $1,200, it’s yours with a 92 percent discount.

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Nest introduces new Google Nest-branded security products

Scott Webster
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Nest on Thursday announced it has four new Google Nest-branded products for consumers. Priced as low as $100, the devices will be offered in an assortment of indoor and outdoor options as well as wired and battery-powered.

The new units include an indoor-only camera, an indoor/outdoor camera, a video doorbell, and a floodlight. Moreover, they essentially replace older Nest IQ cameras and the Nest Hello doorbell.

If you own, or have seen, any of the recent Nest products over the last few years, the designs will be familiar. Nest has been intentional in its choices, opting for muted colors and soft edges. That is to say they work with any environment or setting and blend in instead of calling attention to themselves. Indeed, the IP54 rating means that they’ll be alright in rain and the anti-theft mount ensures they don’t walk away.

Google Nest Cam (Battery)

Rather than send you notifications for every little activity (snow falling, leaves blowing), the cameras and app let you know about the more important things, like when a package was delivered.

Given these are Google products at their core, they get smarter with each generation. Such is the case here as on-device machine learning can help to detect people, vehicles, animals, and packages, offering notifications without relying on cloud services.

Google Nest Cam (Wired)

The Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) in the new line lets the cameras process twice as many pixels at twice the frame rate when compared to previous models. And instead of focusing on 4K images or resolution, these cameras work harder on HDR and overall quality. This is not too unlike what we expect in the Google Pixel 6 phones as they’ll also feature a Tensor processor.

The new cameras include three hours of event history and local storage for up to an hour of events in the case that Wi-Fi goes down at home or the office. Nest indicates that this would equate to roughly one week’s worth of coming and going events. Once Wi-Fi is reestablished, things are automatically synced to the cloud.

Google Nest Doorbell, Google Nest Cam w/ Floodlight

Google Nest Camera Line At-a-Glance

These new devices are now fully integrated into the Google Home app and work with the current generation of Nest smart displays. In other words, you can stay within the same app for managing your Google Assistant tasks, routines, and settings as well as viewing the new Nest cameras.

A Nest Aware subscription, offered in two paid tiers, unlocks more potential, including extending your event video history from three hours to 30 or 60 days. Also included is Familiar Face, a facial recognition technology that further smartens your alerts and notifications. Lastly, Nest Aware Plus allows for continuous 24/7 video history on wired Nest Cams.

Availability

The new battery-powered Nest Doorbell and Nest Cam, available for preorder immediately and go on sale August 24. The Doorbell is offered in four colors (white, beige, green, or gray) whiles the Nest Cam is available in white.

The other two products are listed as “coming soon.”

Marsback Zephyr Pro Mouse review: A mouse that keeps you cool

Josiah Ward
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I’m not really the most intense PC gamer in the world, so I didn’t really assign much importance to the quality of my mouse. In fact, the mouse I most recently bought for myself cost $7. This changed, however, when I met the Marsback Zephyr Pro mouse, an RGB gaming mouse with quite a cool addition.

Specs

Zephyr Pro Spec Sheet

What’s In The Box?

Zephyr Pro Box
The Zephyr Pro comes in a cool vertical box

In the Zephyr Pro box, you’ll get your mouse, an instruction manual, and some cool stickers.

Setup

There’s not much to be said here, honestly. The Zephyr Pro Mouse can be used like any other mouse, simply plug and play on Windows, Mac, or Linux.

Design

The Zephyr Pro mouse is an RGB mouse with a honeycomb design. There are a total of six buttons: the scroll wheel, left and right click, the DPI button, and the two buttons on the left side of the mouse. These two buttons navigate back and forth by default.

There’s one more trick under the Zephyr Pro’s sleeve, though. Under the honeycomb design is a fan that cools your palm and keeps your hands sweat-free. This might be good if you’re at your computer using your mouse for long periods of time.

  • Side-by-side Zephyr Pro vs my old mouse
  • Zephyr Pro Mouse Top View
    The Zephyr Pro Mouse includes a fan to cool down your palm.
  • Zephyr Pro Mouse Left Side with macro buttons
    There is two programmable buttons on the left side of the mouse
  • Zephyr Pro Mouse bottom view
    The Zephyr Pro has buttons on the bottom to change the lighting and fan settings of the mouse

I’m not the biggest fan of the honeycomb design as I prefer a more uniform looking design, but I see where it is needed for the fan and beneficial for heat dissipation. After all, this is marketed towards PC gamers that might spend hours at a time holding their mouse.

The Zephyr Pro is also lightweight and packable thanks to a flexible, soft cable.

One thing I like about the mouse is the fact that it feels comfortable in both hands. Compared to my other mouse, the side buttons are smaller and more centrally placed on the mouse. This makes it easy to hold the mouse however you wish without worrying about accidental button clicking.

Software

To reprogram the buttons, modify the colors in a certain mode, or program macros, you’re going to need to download the Zephyr Pro software. You can find it on Marsback’s support page, simply download the zip and click the application file inside. There’s one catch, though, and that is the fact that it is only available on Windows devices, so you’re out of luck if you have any other devices.

That being said, the software is amazing. You can change anything and everything about the mouse.

  • Zephyr Pro Mouse configuration page
    The Zephyr Pro software can change basically anything about the mouse.
  • Zephyr Pro Performance page
    Performance config page
  • Zephyr Pro Color Effects Page
    Color Effects page
  • Zephyr Pro Macro creation page
    Macro creation page
Zephyr Pro mouse key configuration options
Every button on the zephyr pro mouse can be configured for a large list of purposes.

The Zephyr Pro can be anything you want it to be. You can even create profiles to switch between different settings for different use cases quickly and easily.

Price

The Marsback Zephyr Pro comes in at a base price of $69. This seems expensive to me but this price is about standard for comparable mice from other brands, and it boasts the unique fan. If that’s a bit much to swallow, you have two opportunities to save: first, Marsback is offering a summer sale until September 10th, which knocks $10 off the price. Not only that, but Marsback is offering a deal to AG readers if you use the code AGONLY, combining for a total price of just $49.

Buy from Marsback

Save 49% on the Treblab X5 true wireless earbuds

AG Deals Team
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The Treblab X5 earbuds are some of our favorite wireless audio devices over the last couple of years. The headphones offer a unique design and really great sound. Add the dedicated button controls and voice assistant built-in and you have a winner at the normal $70.

If you act right now, Treblab has the X5 wireless earbuds for 49% off at the AG Deals Store. That gets you really, quality earbuds from Treblab for only $49.99 while this promo lasts.

Treblab X5 Features

  • Quality sound: Silicone tips reduce outside noise for clear, crisp stereo-quality sound
  • Long-lasting battery: Lasts for over 35 hours w/ portable charging case
  • Bluetooth 5.0: Pairs instantly w/ any Apple or Android device within 33ft signal range
  • Unparalleled call reception: Built-in CVC 8.0 mic for hands-free calls
  • Sweatproof & water resistant: Ideal for a wide array of activities – workout, commute, jog, and more

You get a pretty solid spec sheet for under $50. The Treblab X5 earbuds have 8.2mm drivers for awesome sound. You also get 35 hours of total playtime with the battery case and 7 hours per charge on the X5 alone.

Bluetooth 5.0 is onboard for crisp connections for playback and phone calls. You will have to settle for older micro-USB charging, but it does charge the case in under 2 hours.

What are you waiting for? Head to the AG Deals Store right away and add a pair of Treblab X5 earbuds to your cart. Hurry, the price, and stock won’t last forever.

Processor speed not the most important component in smartphone experience

Jason England
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Every year myriad smartphones are released and each time we see manufacturers tout improved performance. Adding to that discussion are benchmarking apps such as Geekbench which host lists of the top-performing phones on its site.

Things keep getting better with each generation and scores continue going up. On paper, the top phones are packed with performance and able to pull down incredible and impressive figures.

Of course, most of us know that benchmarks don’t tell the full story. And besides that, many phone makers cheat and fudge numbers, but that’s an entirely different article.

Instead, I want to focus more on how the overall mobile experience isn’t completely dependent on having the fastest phone. If that were the case, and we truly cared about speed, we’d all be using iPhones. Why? Apple’s handsets routinely top the charts in benchmarking apps.

User experience

When choosing your smartphone, one of the most important aspects is the overall user experience. This can include hardware features, such as having a microSD card slot, high refresh rate display, wireless charging, face unlock, and more.

Some of us like curved edge displays or screens that approach seven inches. Others might prefer to have something much smaller and easier to hold in one hand.

Just as important as the hardware preferences is the software. For instance, I recently had the opportunity to review the RedMagic 6 gaming phone, which I found to be extremely snappy performance-wise. Unfortunately, the software was one of the weakest points on that phone.

I encountered some bugs while using it, but even worse, the launcher was locked and there was no way to change it. That can be a deal-breaker for those of us who have a favorite launcher as it can impact our mobile productivity.

At the same time, the RedMagic 6 also included several hardware and software enhancements that are a real benefit for mobile gamers. Examples here include a fan and built-in mappable capacitive shoulder buttons. Whether or not that is of any benefit to you depends on how big of a mobile gamer you are.

There are other phones, such as the Pixel line, which put an emphasis on having a fantastic camera and a clean software experience with quick updates. If those are important to you, you probably don’t worry so much about the benchmarks for 3D gaming.

Software support

This brings us to the topic of software support. That is to ask how long the manufacturer will support the phone. How many OS updates will you receive? To use the RedMagic 6 again as an example, it is made by Nubia (ZTE) who is not exactly known for fantastic software support.

Not many handset makers can compete with Google when it comes to software support and that’s often why you see our site and other outlets recommend Pixel smartphones.

To that end, plenty of other brands have stepped up and began guaranteeing two or more platform upgrades and/or longer security updates such as Samsung, Nokia, OnePlus.

Camera

Many of us use our smartphones as our only camera these days, and for good reason. Most modern cellphones come with wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto lenses, making it the only camera you really need. And while a speedy CPU can help with processing your photos for more impressive images, it doesn’t guarantee them.

Take a look at the Pixel 4a which has a phenomenal camera but uses a midrange Snapdragon system-on-chip. Even some smartphones with the latest and greatest Snapdragon 888 won’t be able to match it in terms of image quality. This once again highlights the fact that the highest benchmarking score doesn’t mean that phone will be the best for you.

Battery life

It doesn’t matter how much horsepower you have under the hood if your phone can’t get you through the day.

Many times when I’m browsing for a new smartphone I put battery life at the top of my list of specs to check. While snappy performance is important to me, I don’t want it at the cost of not being able to make it through the day on a single charge.

Final thoughts

What makes the “best” smartphone is highly dependent on what your needs are, and what’s right for one person won’t be what’s right for everyone.

Raw power used to be one of the deciding factors when buying a new phone, but these days we’ve gotten to a point where most midrange smartphones are more than fast enough for our everyday tasks.

We’ve moved from simple bullet points to talking points when describing our preferred handset experience. That’s never been more evident than with Google’s Pixel a-series of phones. It’s why our site and many other outlets often highly recommend the Pixel 4a and other handsets in the a-series lineup.

See Also: Google Pixel 4a (5G) review

The Pixel 4a also has the benefit of featuring a fantastic camera and great battery life making it a terrific all-around phone despite its specs looking rather weak on paper.

Google, Samsung, and others all know there is a sweet spot to hit where performance is “good enough” and it doesn’t revolve around the fastest, most expensive SoC.

With Google set to release the Pixel 6 with its own Tensor silicon under the hood, it’s likely we’ll view it through the wrong lens. That is to say people will compare to Qualcomm’s latest offerings and look at how the processors stack up on paper.

Expect Google to make up for any low benchmark scores by steering the conversation around artificial intelligence and machine learning and how they make your phone work smarter.

Could this be enough to outperform chips with more horsepower? We’ll have to wait and see, but just remember, raw performance is only one aspect of a good smartphone. It’s ultimately about the entire package and how it serves your needs.

Master & Dynamic MW08 Sport true wireless earbuds review

Scott Webster
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Master & Dynamic’s newest audio offering is the MW08 Sport, a refreshed approach to it 2021 series of truly wireless earbuds. Priced $349, they’re available in a variety of colors of sapphire glass: silver, black, blue, and green.

For obvious reasons, they are nearly identical in appearance to the MW08 in both the earbuds and the case. Given they’re $50 more than their counterpart, one would expect an extra feature or two. Indeed, they do come with a couple of which we’ll touch on later.

The MW08 Sport come with a Kevlar-coated carrying case.

Our team was provided a pair of MW08 Sport earbuds; I spent a few weeks listening to our favorite music, podcasts, and other audio content to get a sense for the new product.

Here’s the AndroidGuys review of the Master & Dynamic MW08 Sport.

Design

At first blush the MW08 Sport look identical to the MW08 in terms of overall design for the earbuds and the case. They maintain the smaller footprint and forgo the stabilizer fins, something we’re more than happy to live without.

Instead of the polished ceramic materials, the MW08 Sport are made with shatter-resistant sapphire glass. Equally attractive, the black has a great reflective shine and we can imagine the other colors do, too.

The exterior of the MW08 Sport earbud.

Another key difference is the carrying case. Not only does it have a slightly water-resistant and tough Kevlar coating, but it also supports inductive wireless charging. A first for the company, it was one of the only features I found lacking in the MW08.

Despite my best intentions, I’ve never been able to keep the shiny metallic case of previous Master & Dynamic earbuds free from scuffs. I was only too pleased to see and feel the protective coating with the MW08 Sport. And since these are sporty earbuds, you’ll be pleased to know that the case also has an IPX4 water resistance rating.

The case charges up via USB Type-C and has three lights to indicate the level of battery. Master & Dynamic says the case can charge up to 50% in just 15 minutes and we can verify that is accurate. Moreover, it takes about one hour to fully charge the case through cable.

The inside of the MW08 Sport earbud.

The wireless charging capability is also something I welcome with open arms. It’s not so much that I need it in my earbuds, but when you command around $300 for a pair, it’s almost a requisite in 2021.

The MW08 Sport can be charged with pretty much any Qi-enabled wireless charger which is great for a lot of modern phone users. Should you have a high-end handset that offers wireless charging, you likely have a platter or unit that supports the standard.

Wireless charging makes more sense for accessories than it does for phones, at least to me. It seems more intuitive to drop the carrying case onto a charger when not in use and grab when leaving. And again, when less expensive counterparts include wireless charging, it’s hard to argue the “premium” experience.

The MC100 is silver aluminum with a fabric finish.

Master & Dynamic have also introduced its first wireless charging puck. Available for $69.99 on its website, it’s a sophisticated looking unit that features fabric and aluminum. With a modern design that matches any environment, it takes up very little space.

As far as battery life goes, Master & Dynamic say you should get about 12 hours of playback at 50% volume levels with around 10 hours for ANC mode. The case allows for nearly three more full charges, too. All in, you ought to expect around 42 hours of playback time for a fully charged carrying case.

Features

The MW08 Sport retains the same physical controls from the previous generation and 2021 sibling, something I appreciate. They are easy to locate without looking and respond firmly to pressing. Also great, it takes very little time to figure them out. If you’ve used a pair of Master & Dynamic earbuds, you already understand the controls.

The left earbud has two buttons which control volume levels but long pressing them enables and disables ANC and ambient listening modes. 

The MC100 is Master & Dynamic’s first wireless charging pad.

The earbuds have a built-in optical sensor that can detect when they’re removed from your ear, immediately pausing music. There is an option to disable this feature in the companion mobile app but it does help with battery life.

The MW08 Sport are IPX5 water resistant which is about the only thing that makes these “sporty” earbuds. They don’t have any flashy or eye-catching color pops and look otherwise sophisticated.

I like the tactile feel that comes with a physical button press, and the MW08 Sports are quite responsive and feature a noticeable click. I’ve come to simply pinch the earbuds when pressing as pushing down without support below will cause them to come loose.

When it comes to pairing, the MW08 Sport only allow you to have one device actively paired with them at a time. Should you have a laptop, tablet, or another user in the house that might like to share the earbuds you’ll have to put them into pairing mode (long press right ear bud) each time you switch. 

Active noise cancellation (ANC) is present and from what I can tell, it’s very good. Out of the box with the preset ear tips it does a great job of filtering and removing voice in particular. If you plan to wear your earphones in a home office, coffee shop, or library, you’ll find the earbuds let you settle into the audio with no major distractions.

The MW08 Sport come with a variety of ear tip options.

Like their standard model brethren, the MW08 Sport can be managed via an M&D Connect app from Master & Dynamic. Simple and straightforward, it gives listeners a bit of control over their audio experience. It’s off to a good start but we might appreciate more settings such as equalizer.

Audio

For more than a few years now I have been a champion of the Master & Dynamic brand. And when it comes to sound quality, I have yet to come encounter one of its products that left me desiring more. The MW08 Sport are no exception and further cement its legacy as one of the best in the space.

Given this is not an audiophile website or one that centers around headphones, but I can recognize quality audio when I hear it. The experience here is right in line with expectations. It’s balanced, full, and crystal clear. Every level of the spectrum is represented equally and I never find myself annoyed or worn down by too much bass.

Depending on my environment or situation, I’ll enable the ambient listening mode so that I  can half-listen for someone who may be looking to get my attention. The same goes for ANC, too. I really appreciate that I don’t have to second-guess whether one of the modes is activated. 

Taking calls on truly wireless earbuds is always a touch strange if only because it sounds like the caller is inside your head. With that in mind, voice is very clear and balanced for phone calls.

The case for the MW08 (left) is more prone to scuffs and scratches than the MW08 Sport (right).

Conclusion

I feel like a broken record, but Master & Dynamic have yet another killer pair of earbuds with the MW08 Sport. I feel very comfortable recommending the brand for people looking for a quality set.

The “Sport” aspect of the earbuds is more or less attributed to their IPX5 rating. And sure, the carrying case has its own water resistance, but these don’t have any outward appearance of being sporty or geared toward a different demographic.

These are premium earbuds in every sense and might be better called the MW08 Plus. That is unless Master & Dynamic have some funky colorways coming down the road. As it stands today, they’re unassuming and not something you’d expect to see in an athlete’s ear.

Do you remember growing up and how dad used to have things that were “his” and you were told not to touch them? That’s exactly what Master & Dynamic products are for me. They are mine, they don’t get loaned out to others, and they’re treated like gold.

At $349 it gets pretty tough to convince people to spend that sort of money on a pair of earbuds. Then again, once you drop that much on something, you’re theoretically buying them for life. 

It’s up to you to decide whether it’s worth the extra money to add wireless charging, water resistance, and a tougher carrying case. Along that route, I would feel better if these were $299 with the standard model dropping down to $249.

Learn more about the MW08 Sport true wireless earbuds at the Master & Dynamic website where you can purchase them in a handful of colors.

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