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QardioArm wireless blood pressure cuff – utilitarian and effective

Donovan Jeska
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As you may have read in our review of the QardioBase 2, we’re fans of Qardio’s approach to product design. With devices and an app that do what they do, well and eschew frills and extraneous features, Qardio’s plan is focused and extremely effective. While the Base measures weight and body composition, the QardioArm measures blood pressure and heart rate.

QardioArm Power Settings
QardioArm automatically powers on when unwrapped, and powers off when wrapped.

Build & Design

The device is almost painfully simple. Unrolling the cuff from the device automatically turns it on (and vice versa), mitigating the need for a physical switch. After sliding your arm through the loop and securing the cuff, all you need to do is open the Qardio app and tap it against the unit to instantly pair and connect. From there, pressing the Big Green Start Button takes your measurements. Results transfer automatically to the app (and to your doctor, if you have that functionality enabled). Simple and painless.

QardioArm Velcro
The velcro used on QardioArm’s cuff is extremely low-profile and premium-feeling.

The QardioArm is not a pretty device. Where the QardioBase 2 is beautifully designed and a joy to use, the Arm is simply a brick with a cuff attached to it. Which, honestly, should be expected given the utility of it. The band is very comfortable, with low-profile, high friction velcro to secure it. The unit itself contains four AAA batteries, which is a rather disappointing departure from the internal, rechargeable Li-ion battery of the QardioBase 2. A small green/red LED sits on the unit to display status. It comes in four colors: blue, red, gold and white, which makes it a bit more aesthetically pleasing, I suppose. 

Performance

QardioArm Start Button
Operation is as simple as pressing the Big Green Start Button.

The QardioArm does precisely two things, and does them both exceedingly well: it measures blood pressure, and it measures heart rate. That’s it. As long as you follow the directions – don’t talk, don’t move, and relax – it does its job. And while the device will be more useful to people that need to actively track their blood pressure, heart health is important to everyone.

Unlike the QardioBase 2, which automatically detects a user and can store data for up to a dozen people, the QardioArm has no onboard storage. Instead, it can pair with up to six devices via Bluetooth and uses those to identify users. This process is as simple as launching the app and tapping your phone to the unit until the Start button on the app switches from Gray to Green.

This convenience is thanks to a patented, proprietary technology that allows the QardioArm to overlay atop the Bluetooth pairing process. The unit pairs and connects to whichever phone is touching it with the app open. I, for one hope Qardio decides to license this technology to other companies. Imagine connecting to headphones, speakers – even a car – just by tapping your phone to it with the proper app open.

Value

At $99, the QardioArm sits at a similar price point to other Bluetooth blood pressure cuffs on the market. The Omron 10 Series is similar in function, but features a separate screen to display information in addition to sending information a phone. This makes it a little more independent but also quite a bit less portable, requiring a case to carry around. The Nokia BPM is the same MSRP as the QardioArm and features a similar form factor, though it’s perhaps a bit more stylish. Since Qardio’s solution is roughly the same price as the rest of the competition, it sits at a good value. Its simplicity and ease of use are worth the cost of entry.

The QardioArm retails for $99.99 and is available directly from Qardio, Walmart or Target. However, the cheapest price I was able to find reliably was at Amazon, for $81.35.

Here are the five best Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus cases you can buy right now (Vol. 3)

Matt Adams
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The recently announced Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus are truly beautiful devices. But, if experience has taught us anything, phones with glass backs need to be protected! We’ve compiled a list of some of the best cases you can order RIGHT NOW.

Read more:

Spigen Tough Armor

Another volume, another entry for Spigen. Spigen is pretty much the undisputed champ for cell phone accessories. Not only are its cases fantastic, but it makes about 15 different kinds. Today we’re talking about the Tough Armor, one of the best cases out there to protect your phone. It features a ton of cushioning to protect your phone from falls and a kickstand to make watching media in landscape easier. We highly recommend it.

Ringke Wave

Ringke is another well-known case maker on our list today. The Wave series combines excellent aesthetics with minimal bulk to provide a really pleasing case. There’s just enough bulk to adequately protect your phone from falls, but not so much as to make your phone feel like a big brick. We love the design on the back and how it makes the case stand out in the crowd.

SUPCASE Unicorn Beetle Pro

For serious protection, SUPCASE is a brand you can trust. I’ve used several of its cases in the past and have come away pleased each time. The Unicorn Beetle Pro features a two-tone design that provides you with a screen protector to protect the glass front and a hard protective back to protect the glass rear of the phone. A perfect combination if you’re looking to protect your phone long term.

YOUMAKER Heavy Duty Case

If you’re looking for a two-tone design but want a little bit more modern design, YOUMAKER might have the case for you. Its Heavy Duty Case has a protective front and rear, but a little bit of flair on the back too.

BAISRKE Gradient Case

BAISRKE is a new company to us, but this is a great first impression. Its Gradient Case is one of the most unique cases we’ve seen on the market today. With several different color combinations, there’s something for everyone. And BAISRKE didn’t forget the protection either. There’s a lip to cover the front of the device and bulked up corners to protect the phone even if you drop it. If you want something a little bit different, check out the Gradient Case from BAISRKE.

Bonus – Screen Protectors

Screen protectors for phones with curved screens are a tricky thing. They either don’t grip the entire screen, leave halos, or have no suction in the middle. While we can’t endorse any of the screen protectors listed below because we haven’t tried them, they do look promising enough for you to take a look at it.

Tip: How to speed up your Samsung Galaxy S6

Dan Bartram
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The Samsung Galaxy S6 was a fantastic device when it was released, but it is not as new as it once was and with apps getting more resourcing demand you could find the S6 to be slowing down. Luckily there is a hidden feature that you can change that will instantly speed up your device.

The tip will help speed up your Samsung Galaxy S6 helping reduce the impact of TouchWiz and the growing demand of apps.on the system resources. The best bit is there’s nothing extra to install or tons of settings to change, just a simple case of changing a setting with developer options enabled.

The little hack revolves around the animations applied to transitioning between windows and turning the device on or off. By simply turning this off, it contributes to making the device seem extremely snappy and fast by reducing the delay applied to the animation.

First, you’ll need to enable the Developer Options hidden menu. To do this, go into Settings -> About Device and scroll down to “Build Number”. Now, tap on “Build Number” five times and you’ll see a notification saying that “Developer mode has been enabled”.

With that hidden menu now enabled, we can head on into it to begin fastening up our Samsung Galaxy S6.

  1. Head on in to Developer Options in Settings.
  2. Scroll down to the Drawing section.
  3. Of interest here is the Window Animation Scale, Transition Animation Scale, and Animator Duration Scale.
  4. Click on them individually to change the scale.

You are able to turn the animations off completely, or set them to 0.5x (default is 1x) so the animations will be double speed for those who would like to retain them.

You’ll notice your Samsung Galaxy S6 feels substantially quicker. Let us know your comments in the section below.

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 review: Still worth it in 2018?

Matt Adams
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Xiaomi is a name that many Americans don’t know. The Chinese company is one of the biggest phone manufactures in the world. But despite its success, it doesn’t have much of a presence here in the states. And that’s true for a fair number of companies who make Android devices. OEMs like Huawei, Doogee, Leagoo, Elephone, Ulephone, and others all make some pretty high-quality devices, but none of them are officially sold here in the US. The best you can do is import them from sites like GearBest and hope they work on your network.

But, that could all be changing soon. Xiaomi has its eye on the US and could enter the market sometime this year. It released a test balloon of sorts in 2017 with the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2. The phone offers fantastic specs, an amazing design, and support for pretty much LTE band in the world. Where other Chinese phones suffer, the Mi Mix 2 thrives. So, that got us thinking. With the wave of new phones on the horizon, is the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 still a good buy? Should you wait for something new on the horizon?

We spent four weeks with the device and here’s what we found out.

Editor’s note: The Xioami Mi Mix 2 review device was supplied to us via GearBest.com for our honest review.

Key Specs

  • Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
  • RAM: 8 GB
  • Storage: 128 GB
  • Display: 5.99-inch 2160 x 1080p IPS LCD
  • Battery: 3400 mAh
  • Dimensions: 5.98 x 2.97 x 0.30 inches
  • Main camera: single 12 MP f/2.0 with 4-axis OIS and dual-LED dual-tone flash
  • Front-facing camera: 5 MP f/2.0
  • Software: Android 7.0 Nougat with MUIU 9
  • LTE bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41

General impressions

Xiaomi has positioned the Mi Mix 2 to be a luxury phone without the luxury price tag. This is apparent from the very first time you open the box. Before you’re greeted by the phone, you find an insert with a quote from Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi. The quote paints a pretty good picture of what Xiaomi was aiming for with the Mi Mix 2

To truly explore is to exhaust countless possibilities. for an inch of progress, we’re willing to walk miles.

Xiaomi wanted to make the Mi Mix 2 a work of art, perfect in their eyes. When you pick the phone up for the first time, you have to admire how close they got. The phone is impressive in the hand and to the eye. It feels soft and smooth with a coldness normally reserved for steel. But, this is isn’t steel. Instead, the phone is wrapped in ceramic that melts over the sides to the back of the device. I spent time with both the black and white versions of the device. But, I have to say the latter is the most attractive phone I’ve ever seen.

Moving beyond the phone, the box holds a cable, charging brick, books, SIM card removal tool and a USB type-C to 3.5mm adapter. Yes, the Mi Mix 2 joined the chorus of devices to drop the headphone jack. My personal opinion is that this is a terrible idea, but I have no idea what sacrifices Xiaomi would’ve had to make to keep it. You’ll also notice that the charging brick is almost certainly for a European or Asian socket. That’s something you’ll need to keep in mind when purchasing the device. You either need to have your own wall brick or have an adapter on hand.

Hardware

The outside of the device is a work of art. The front of the phone holds an almost 6-inch display in a frame that isn’t much larger. The Mi Mix 2 shares a similar design to the Essential Phone where it has almost no bezel on three sides of the device with a decent size chin down below. Unlike the Essential Phone, there’s no notch here. Instead, Xiaomi chose to put the front-facing camera in that chin below the screen. It’s an interesting design choice and one that will make you cock your head to the side a bit and wonder what they were thinking, but in practice, it does the job just fine.

The rear of the device houses a single 12 MP camera outlined by a gold ring to give it a subtle hint of class. Just under the camera is the fingerprint sensor and… that’s it. There’s no branding, no logos or anything else on the rear of the device. It’s clean and it’s beautiful. The right side of the device houses the incredibly click volume rocker and power button, whereas the left side of the device houses the SIM card tray.

If I had to pick one word to describe the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, it would be “clean.” Everything on the device is clean. The lines are perfect, there’s nothing to distract the eye and no flashy gimmicks. It looks simply fantastic.

Internals

One of the key aspects of picking a phone today is longevity. That longevity normally comes down to whats inside the device. Pick a phone with an old processor and without much RAM, and you could be upgrading before you really want.

Luckily, the Xioami Mi Mix 2 has fantastic specs. We’re reviewing the special edition of the device that comes with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage, but the Mi Mix 2 normally comes with 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. Those are on the high end of what you can expect from a flagship in 2017-2018 and should be sufficient for years to come.

The processor of choice is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835. This is 2017’s flagship processor, but as we enter 2018 and devices with the SD845, one is left to wonder if you should really be picking up a phone with an older processor. I haven’t gotten my hands on a phone with a Snapdragon 845 yet, but I do know the Mi Mix 2 absolutely flies through tasks with no hint of slowing down. I believe that the Mi Mix 2 will be powerful enough to last for many many years.

One of the often overlooked internal components is the modem. We normally don’t have to worry about phones working on our carrier of choice, but being that the Mi Mix 2 is a Chinese phone, this a very real fear. There’s a wide swath of devices that simply won’t get service on American carriers, or at best will get 2G speeds. Luckily, Xiaomi included a top of the line modem that picks up on virtually every LTE band around the world. I never once had an issue connecting to T-Mobile’s network in the month that I’ve used the phone and data speeds have been great.

Display

I have to admit, I’m an AMOLED fanboy. The deep blacks and colors that pop on AMOLED displays are truly a thing of beauty. I try to stay away from devices with IPS LCDs as much as possible, but I was honestly surprised by the Mi Mix 2. The device has a 5.99-inch IPS LCD that has a 2160 x 1080p resolution. It has the 18:9 aspect ration that Xiaomi first popularized last year in the Mi Mix and it just looks fantastic.

The colors are warm and beautiful, while dark areas are closer to black than gray. Peak brightness is very good and the phone will be viewable during all but the brightest of days. One word of warning though: the display is invisible when turned sideways when you’re wearing sunglasses. This isn’t the first display we’ve seen with this and it surely won’t be the last. This can cause issues if you plan to use the device in landscape mode for turn-by-turn navigation so keep that in mind.

While most displays are now QHD, Xiaomi decided to stick with a 1080p panel on the Mi Mix 2. The law of big numbers says that a 2560p display will always be better than a 1080p display, but I don’t think that’s the case any longer. Once you hit 1080p, I feel like the quality of the panel matters more than resolution. That’s where the Mi Mix 2 wins. The display looks excellent while saving battery life. It’s a win-win.

Camera

In a world of dual-camera smartphones, it’s almost a surprise to see a single camera setup. But that’s what Xiaomi has here on the Mi Mix 2. The single 12 MP shooter has four-axis optical image stabilization (OIS) and is flanked by a dual-tone flash.

While others like HTC and Google are able to produce top-of-the-line pictures with just one lens, Xiaomi cannot follow suit. While most of your shots will be fine for sharing with friends through social media and messaging services, that’s about all they’re good for. In good lighting, the Mi Mix 2 is able to produce compelling shots, but it falls flat in low light situations.

The included HDR mode does a lot to help in low-light, but it slows the camera shutter down drastically. This seems to have been helped with software updates of the course of our review period, but we still feel its pretty subpar compared to other flagship devices on the market today.

The front-facing camera is… interesting. The placement at the bottom of the phone is unconventional, to say the least. We understand that Xiaomi didn’t have room up top, but this still feels like an odd solution to that problem. When you switch to the front-facing camera, you’re prompted to flip your phone upside down so the camera is now placed at the top where you’d normally see it. That’s great for shots with the camera app, but if you’re using a video chatting app or taking pictures through a third-party camera like Snapchat, your camera will be at the bottom of your phone looking up at you. It’s a pretty odd situation.

The camera app itself is also just fine. There are plenty of modes to choose from but as we stated earlier, the shutter takes forever when using HDR and that can freeze up the app from time to time. It’s not all bad news here as there are plenty of modes to choose from and a manual mode to get shots exactly as you’d like them. Now as for the design of the camera app…

Software

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is running the latest version of MIUI, Xiaomi’s heavy Android skin. While there are some great features of MIUI, one of the things you’ll need to get used to is the “iOSification” of Android. From the camera app to the share menu and beyond, Xioami has taken great pains to make its skin look a lot like iOS.

And honestly, we’re not sure why. Apple doesn’t have the prettiest software in the world and its kind of strange to us that anyone would want to try and copy it. Places like the share menu are vastly superior on Android and nerfing it just to appeal to some iOS fans seems utterly silly. While many people call the Pixel 2 Google’s iPhone, I think the Mi Mix 2 is closer to that title than anyone else.

Despite that drawback, MIUI can be really attractive if you’re not in love with stock Android. There are excellent features here like Quick Ball which lets you quickly navigate the phone without using soft keys, dual apps which allows you to have multiple instances of an app open and second space that allows you to set up an entirely different instance of your phone. We love second space because we’re able to set up separate instances for work and personal apps and switch between them whenever we need. It’s great for leaving work at work.

One of the hallmarks of MIUI is very strict background restrictions. Xiaomi maximizes battery life by letting almost nothing suck your battery in the background while you’re not using your phone. This is fantastic for battery life but can cause issues with some apps updating when they’re not being used. I’d often open up my email app after several hours of inactivity to find many unread messages. I never experienced this with something like the phone or messaging app, but it can be frustrating if you’re waiting for an important work email to come through.

MIUI has certainly improved since we took a look at the Xioami Mi 6 earlier in 2017, but we feel that Xiaomi can keep improving the software. There are definitely some refinements to be made before the company considers entering the US market.

Conclusion

So, should you go out and buy the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2? I think if you’re looking for top-notch design and hardware, the answer is yes. While you’ll have to put up with some quirks (mainly due to MIUI), the Mi Mix 2 delivers a fantastic experience overall. Again, I’ve never seen a more striking phone in my life. The white ceramic version is simply a work of art in every way. If I were choosing my daily driver based on looks alone, I’d definitely go with the Mi Mix 2.

I haven’t seen a lot of reviewers give the device praise for being easy to handle and I think that’s a shame. Sure, the ceramic is slippery and the curved edges don’t exactly help, but the overall size of the device makes it incredibly easy to operate. Reaching the top of the display to reveal the notification shade was a breeze and I never felt in danger of dropping the phone while I was using it.

I do wish the camera performance was a little bitter. As you can tell in the samples above, it’s just not a top tier camera in any way. Camera hounds will surely choose something like the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 or Pixel 2 instead. While you can get good pictures out of the Mi Mix 2, it’s a hassle. Not only is it difficult, but you have to have perfect conditions to do so.

There’s only going be a small subset of customers for this device outside of the few countries where it’s officially sold. That’s really a shame because I believe that this was one of the best devices of 2017 and still remains a solid buy in 2018. The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is coming soon, but it’s only a relatively small change and I think you could save the money and pick up the Mi Mix 2 and be just as happy.

You can pick up the Xioami Mi Mix 2 from GearBest right now

ZTE’s first Android Go phone is now available for purchase in the US

Alexandra Arici
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Announced back in Barcelona during the Mobile World Congress 2018, ZTE’s first Android Go phone, the Tempo Go is now available for purchase in the US.

Google wants to bring the power of Android to each and every user on the planet, so it has come up with Android Go, which is basically a lighter version of Android. It’s still the Android we all know and love, but it has software optimized for smartphones with lower performing processors and less RAM.

Well starting this week, customers in the US can pick up ZTE’s Tempo Go for only $79.99. The phone is available from the company’s official website.

At launch we also heard the phone will also be offered through AT&T and T-Mobile, but for the time being, you can only pick it up from ZTE.

The ZTE Tempo Go offers a basic package

Ok, so what will 80 bucks get you? Well, the Tempo Go comes with a 5-inch LCD display with 854 x 480 resolution. The affordable handset relies on the services of a quad-core Snapdragon 210 with a clock speed of 1.1GHz.

ZTE also offers 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage on board of the Tempo Go. The phone packs a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing selfie snapper.

Rounding up the package is a 2,200 mAh battery. We should also note the Tempo Go is sold unlocked and will only work on GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile.

US customers who for some reason don’t like ZTE will soon be able to opt for Alcatel’s own Android Go device. Called the 1X, the phone will hit the market with a 5.3-inch display with 960 x 480 resolution and a quad-core MediaTek processor clocked at 1.28GHz under the hood.

Other specs include 1GB or 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage and a 13-megapixel/8-megapixel camera combo. Alcatel says the phone will be sold for less than $100.

Unlocked Galaxy S9 devices to have FM Radio enabled on next update

AndroidGuys
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It looks like the next update that comes to unlocked Samsung Galaxy S9 devices should enable the phone’s built-in FM radio.

Apparently, Samsung forgot to add a particular API to unlocked devices that would’ve enabled the use of FM radio at launch. Carrier-locked versions have had the API already added though to use the radio function. NextRadio has partnered with Samsung earlier this year to allow the radio chip on the Galaxy S9 and future devices to be accessible. Users brought the issue to NextRadio’s attention, as it was initially though to be an issue with the app. Upon further investigation, NextRadio and Samsung figured out that a missing API was the culprit.

While Samsung has not stated the date of this update, we know that Galaxy S9 devices with a serial number of either SM-G960UI or SM-G965UI are receiving it. Do you or will you use FM radio on your phone? Let us know down in the comments.

A new pop-up subscription scam could catch you out in the Play Store

Dan Bartram
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Scammers out there seem to have created a new way to scam users out of their money by using the Play Store subscription pop-ups to trick users. The method first showed up in an app called Pingu Cleans Up. Google has since removed it from the Play Store but no doubt another will take its place.

The scam works by tricking users into confirming a subscription fee that will cost a €5.49 weekly fee. Accepting the subscription will keep it active until you specifically go into your subscriptions in the Play Store and cancel it.

You are presented with two steps that have a confirm button with some meaningless text, followed by the third one that will be the prompt that signs you up for the subscription. The hope by the scammers is that someone will repeatedly hit confirm on the first two screens and miss the final one. It may catch some users off guard since the app is using the Play Store’s official pop-up, so appears legitimate.

Users seem to have clocked onto it quite quickly and left many negative reviews warning other users. Google has since removed the app from the store.

However, it highlights how easy it is to be fooled into signing up for something you hadn’t intended and is made worse if you’ve allowed someone else on your device with a pre-registered credit card.

Stay vigilant people.

5 Minute Yoga will limber you up, for a price (review)

AndroidGuys
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There are plenty of Android fitness apps available to you nowadays. Amongst the plethora of fitness apps out there in the Play Store market is 5 Minute Yoga, from developer Olson Applications, Ltd. Olson also offers other “5-minute”-style apps, including meditation and relaxation versions. While 5 Minute Yoga is marketed as a free app, it’s more what I’d call a “limited-free” app….I’ll explain shortly.

Setup

Setup is pretty minimal; simply download from the Play Store and open it up. Upon opening, you have a pretty simple main page. You can choose to dive in right away, or you can go to the Settings menu.

Within Settings, you can:

  • Go directly to your favorite workout.*
  • Select your background music.*
  • Set reminders for your workouts, choosing the interval (in days) and time of day for your reminder.

App Experience

Once you dive into 5 Minute Yoga, the simplicity of the interface continues, in a good way. Starting on your Day 1 workout and going forward, you are provided five yoga poses to perform in sequence. Obviously, these start out with pretty simplistic moves, to get you used to it.

Moves such as “Big Toe” and “Bound Angle” get you going, giving you a 40-second countdown timer for you to hold the pose. For the less-flexible of us (including me), the app provides an illustrated example the of the pose you’re trying for.
When your timer reaches zero, the screen switches to the next pose, waiting for you to push “play” for the next round. You get five total poses, and the total time spent in your workout is a little less than 5 minutes. Then the next day, you’re on to the next set of five poses.

If you noticed some asterisks above, it has to do with the *free part of the app. While the app is indeed free to download and try your first day’s set of poses, after that it is a different story.
5 Minute Yoga allows the second day of poses, but only if you first tell it where you discovered the app via multiple choice, and post a starred review.

Beyond the second day, you can only enjoy 5 Minutes Yoga by being a paying customer. You are given a couple of choices to pay, either by a single lump sum of $8.49, or via a subscription; at $1.99 per month or $5.99 per year. Now granted, there are a year’s worth (365 days) of workouts available; you won’t get bored with the variety anytime soon.
So if you’re not totally convinced about the value in the app, for a minimal cost you can explore further.

Wrap-Up

If you’re looking for an easy intro to some daily yoga practice, with no-to-minimal investment in both time and money, then 5 Minute Yoga could be the ideal app for you to try. It’s simple, attractive, and offers a lot of variety for you and your family.

Download 5 Minute Yoga from the Play Store here.

Beyerdynamic Aventho Wireless Headphones Review – The best on-ears?

Josh Noriega
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Beyerdynamic is one of the audio brands that advocates the distinction of German quality. What we like is that you don’t have to necessarily break the bank to be part of the club. Namely, the company’s highly-regarded DT series fall in sub-$200 territory.

But if you want to level-up to an even higher standard and sharper-tuned audio, then Beyerdynamic has you covered there too. And it’s ramping up its wireless audio presence. We’ve only seen in-ear wireless headphones from the company…until now. Say hello to the Aventho Wireless.

Beyerdynamic Aventho Wireless Headphones

Design

Aventho is a new name (maybe future series?) for Beyerdynamic. The Aventho Wireless is an on-ear headphone, which replaces the company’s previous DT 1350 flagship of this type. So it carries over some of the original design but is reworked for the most part.

Specifically, the ear cups, ear pads, and headband materials are all greatly refined, while also cutting the cord and packing in wireless-enabling technology. We must say that the aesthetics of this headphone is some of the best we’ve seen; the pictures don’t quite do it justice.

Beyerdynamic Aventho Wireless Headphones

The industrial-looking makeup of metal and rivets, contrasted by elegant leather and smooth matte black plastic, is cohesively sophisticated and eye-pleasing.

The packaging is pretty simple. You’ll get cables for charging (USB-A to USB-C) and to use the headphone in wired mode (3.5mm to 3.5mm aux). The included carrying case is a cloth, string-closing bag.

Beyerdynamic Aventho Wireless Headphones

While the bag is thin, the footprint is on the large side. This is because, unfortunately, the Aventho don’t fold/collapse down. They can only rotate the ear cups to a thinner profile. This is fine to save you bulk if you plan to just stick them into a backpack, but you won’t be able utilize a small pack like with the V-MODA XS, for instance. You’ll also need to be mindful of pressure because the soft case won’t protect the Aventho from getting crushed.

Usability

The Aventho Wireless performs well with ergonomics and comfort, at least for an on-ear headphone. It’s not the lightest for its size (wireless headphones usually aren’t) at about 238 grams, but there’s ample cushioning on the ear pads and headband. The premium, supple leather is also a great choice.

But these qualities don’t mean that the Aventho avoid the on-ear discomfort that sets-in with longer listening sessions, despite having the perfect clamping pressure. That’s just how it is with pads pressing on your ears. But the Aventho do succeed in keeping the aches minimal, which don’t grow to an unbearable level. Same goes for the headband. Its great distribution of weight keeps eventual aches at bay.

They also aren’t able to avoid poor noise isolation – a common problem with on-ear headphones. These are wireless but not noise-canceling. So you’ll have to crank up the volume in noisy environments, being careful to not over-stress your eardrums.

Being wireless headphones, you’ll find a slew of features on an ear cup. It’s laid out simply: charging port, status LED light, power/pairing button, and 3.5mm jack for wired use.

Beyerdynamic Aventho Wireless HeadphonesWe have to commend Beyerdynamic on implementing the current USB-C port standard. Most accessory manufacturers are lazy and hold us back with the old micro-USB standard, and we’re forced to carry cables/dongles so that we’re covered for both. The only way we’re going to move on is if everyone is on the same page.

The single button is only used for power on/off and toggling pairing; there’s another way to control playback – a touchpad is unassumingly incorporated on the surface of the right ear cup. You intuitively swipe left/right to switch tracks and up/down to change the volume.

Beyerdynamic Aventho Wireless Headphones
The right ear touchpad has no visual indication.

In the real world, these functions worked about 90% of the time for us. Our main contention wasn’t for the touchpad itself but the volume mapping. Connected to an Android device, the headphone’s volume control is unified with the Bluetooth volume on Android. This is nice in that it simplifies things (instead of having two separate volume controls), but the volume attenuation is coarse. We ended up with a volume step that was too quiet and the next too loud. This isn’t a problem with the headphones, per-se, but something not thought-out in the Android OS with how it functions with wireless audio.

That said, the touchpad on the Aventho doesn’t get a complete pass. There’s some extra functions built-in, like swiping and holding to rewind/fast-forward, which didn’t work for us at all, as well as toggling the Google Assistant.

A couple important technological features that Beyerdynamic gets right is the battery life and audio streaming capacity. The Aventho Wireless can go the distance with a 30-hour battery rating – and you can carry the wired cable with you if you’re still worried about it. Beyerdynamic also shows it’s not playing around with sound quality, being that the higher fidelity aptX HD audio streaming codec is supported. Manufacturers typically settle with the vanilla aptX, if they even support it at all (a significant 16-bit, 352 kbps vs 24-bit, 576 kbps difference).

Sound

Beyerdynamic Aventho Wireless Headphones
Aventho Wireless paired with Galaxy S9 and aptX streaming sounds great.

Beyerdynamic has been slow to adopt wireless audio, and we think that’s because of the method’s inherent quality limitations. Specifically, the tracks have to be substantially compressed to transfer over Bluetooth, and a compact DAC has to be packed in with all those other internal wireless-enabling components.

Now that Beyerdynamic has had the time to work it out, we were expecting a top-notch sound from the Aventho Wireless. And fortunately, they did not let down.

They deliver a powerful sound, fuller than you’d expect an on-ear to deliver. We’re not just talking about bass, of which does have an elevated presence but not overdone or bloated (though, a little much on the mid-bass for our tastes). That kind of energy is carried throughout the spectrum, up to the crisp and textured treble.

The mid-range is punchy and not held back either, like typical V-shaped sound signatures out there. It doesn’t quite have the spacious range of the treble, but we appreciate that its forward enough to draw authority when dictated.

This is a headphone that tilts towards fun/impact than trueness, but since this is Beyerdynamic we’re talking about, there’s plenty of detail to appreciate. The open/airy delivery is most what captured us. The nice soundstage (for an on-ear) gives the dynamics detectable space to breathe, recognized best by the rich treble.

Final Thoughts

Beyerdynamic Aventho Wireless Headphones

So all things considered, what is our recommendation with the Aventho Wireless? They are no doubt a finely crafted on-ear headphone, probably the best out there. They do so many things right, like properly using the latest USB-C port and aptX HD wireless audio standards, as well as an impressive 30-hour battery life.

But it’s hard to overlook that wallet-busting $450 price tag. This is especially in light of being an on-ear headphone, which inherently comes with some limitations, like with noise isolation, discomfort, and soundstage. Additionally, there are some really good full-sized headphones to be found at that price. The Aventho Wireless has the size advantage, but many of its larger counterparts can fold down to a competitively small form.

That said, if you really want an on-ear, you’ll be hard-pressed to find one better put together than this one.

Official Beyerdynamic Aventho Wireless webpage

Sony Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact now available for pre-order at B&H Photo

Alexandra Arici
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Introduced back at MWC 2018, Sony’s latest flagships the Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact are now available for pre-order in the US.

Retailer B&H Photo is offering both models, although there’s no info on when exactly the phones will start shipping out to customers.

The Sony Xperia XZ2 is available in for $799, while the smaller Xperia XZ2 Compact in can be had for $649. Get yours in Black/Silver/Pink or Green.

US customers can pre-order the Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact

The new Sony phones are the first to come boasting the company’s “Ambient Flow” design. This means the devices sport tall displays with 18:9 aspect ratio and slimmed down bezels.

The two Xperia XZ2 models share a few internal specs including the Snapdragon 845 processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. In both instances, there’s a 19-megapixel Motion Eye main camera with f/2.0 which can shot 960p, super-slow-motion video in fullHD.

But the Xperia XZ2 Compact features a smaller 5-inch display, as opposed to the 5.7-inch one its larger brother. It’s also made of a polycarbonate blend instead of glass.

Being the less premium version of the two, the Compact does not offer the wireless charging option. Yet, it’s IP68 certified just like its the XZ2.

The Xperia XZ2 bundles a pretty unique feature which is called Dynamic Vibration System. This feature means your phone will rumble along while you’re playing media on it. This gimmick is exclusive to the larger model.

Another difference between the two models which should be noted is LTE connectivity. The XZ2 is rated for Cat.18 speeds, while the Compact is rated for Cat.15 speeds. Both smartphones run Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box.

Sony is offering an interesting flagship duo this year, but will it be able to take customers’ mind off the Galaxy S9?  It remains to be seen.

Any takers?

Order the Sony Xperia XZ2

Order the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact

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