The Google Home Max was announced back in October during the Pixel 2 event, and back then the search giant said the speaker will be available in December.
Well, it’s December alright and the device just went on sale at Best Buy. It’s available in either Chalk of Charcoal coloring options and you can snatch one for $399 a pop. But Best Buy isn’t the only place you can get the Home Max. The Chalk model is also up for grabs from Verizon, while the Charcoal one is currently listed as out of stock.
For those who don’t remember, the Home Max is a Google Assistant-power stereo speaker aimed at customers interested in getting superior audio quality. To that end, it takes advantage of 4.5-inch (114 mm) high-excursion dual-voice-coil woofers, as well as two 0.7-inch (18mm) tweeters. It also includes six microphones for far-field voice control and has Chromecast built-in.
The Home Max – which was developed in-house – benefits from Google’s Smart Sound algorithm which can use the microphones on board to adjust the speaker’s sound according to where it is placed in the room. It can also raise or lower the volume depending on what’s happening in the house. For example, it can raise the volume when a fan is on.
It’s interesting to note that at launch, Google said it would be giving away 12-months of YouTube Music (ad-free) with every Home Max purchase, but neither Best Buy or Verizon mention this in their listings.
Is the new annual flagship smartphone worth your hard-earned money, or is your older phone worth a second look? According to a new report coming out of the New York Post, it seems customers these days prefer getting a software update packed with new features, rather than invest towards a new phone.
The rising trend might have something to do with the fact that carriers have stopped offering phone subsidies. Instead, customers are allowed to purchase a phone and pay it back over the course of 24 months or more in installments. So now more and more users are choosing to improve their phones via software upgrades, instead of buying a new phone every two years.
The phone that could bring back the 2-year update cycle?
According to Chetan Sharma, CEO of Chetan Sharma Consulting, the new behavior was prompted by the fact that customers are now paying the full price for new smartphones. The result is that users now tend to treat cellphones purchases like computer purchases and hold on to them longer.
The only hope for this developing trend to subside is a dynamic product coming from a major manufacturer like Apple. According to Sharma, a smartphone like the iPhone X might do the trick and have customers reaching for the wallets every two years. And to encourage the behavior, some device manufacturers have started programs which allow customers to trade-in previous-generation smartphones for new models.
So what do you think? Do you have a tendency to renew your smartphone every two years or prefer upgrading your older device with software updates? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Sprint wants to encourage folks to switch carriers and sign up for its Sprint Unlimited plan this holiday season, so it’s throwing in a bonus worth $100.
But there’s a catch. We’re not talking about hard cold cash here, but rather virtual currency you’ll have to spend in Pokémon Go. That’s right, Sprint will be basically handing out $14,500 PokéCoins which can be exchanged for up to 3,600 Poké Balls, 480 Max Revives, 145 Premium Raid Passes or 96 Incubators.
Taking advantage of the offer is easy. Just activate a new line of service in a Sprint store, then ask a sales representative for the FREE Pokémon Go gift. You’ll soon receive a text message with instructions on how to redeem your prize.
The deal was announced in order to celebrate the fact that Niantic recently unleashed 50 new Pokémon from the Hoenn region including Treecko, Trochic or Mudkip.
Once again let us remind you, you’ll have to jump on board Sprint’s Unlimited plan in order to be able to take advantage of this offer. Sprint’s unlimited bundle includes four lines of unlimited data, talk and text for $25/month with the fifth one offered for free. Subscribers also get unlimited access to Hulu and a six-month trial for Tidal.
Sprint doesn’t say how long the deal is good for, so if you’re a serious Pokémon Go player you would do well to hurry up if you want to take advantage of the promo.
In the past couple years we’ve seen numerous electronic manufacturers dive into the new true wireless earbud market. Most are rolling out their first crack at it, while a select few were early starters and now have second iterations that don’t feel so beta anymore. One of the newest well-known manufacturers that are in the former camp is Sony. The Japanese giant has a well-placed presence in the audio market, not just with general headphones but wireless offerings that boast some of the best active noise-cancellation (ANC) tech thus far. Its over-ear flagship sequel, the WH-1000XM2, has garnered a lot of praise.
But can it deliver a first-gen pair of true wireless earbuds that hold the same excellence as the rest of their headphone line, and not fall victim to the same downsides as the rest? That’s what we’re here to discover. To boot, we’ll say that fitting in ANC into such a small package is darn impressive, and something that others cannot claim.
Design
Unboxing the WF-1000X
One thing we really like about Sony’s designs is that they rarely follow in others’ footsteps. Case in point, the shape of the WF-1000X don’t look like any other true wireless earbuds currently on the market. They bear an L-shape that may initially draw confusion on how to exactly don them. But it quickly becomes apparent as soon as you realize the proper orientation. Grasping the ear tip stems and pointing the other end forward reveals how they insert in your ears. The ear tips are angled to match the shape of your ear canal.
We think the reason for this design is due to all the technology at Sony desired to pack in. So instead of going outward from the ear, they wrap around a bit towards the front. This is clever and in practice, there’s no downside that we found. Despite their size, the earpieces are still exceptionally lightweight. They practically disappear in your ears. This design choice also enables Sony to have great separation between the audio driver and wireless-enabling electronics. We think this is one reason for the WF-1000X’s above average sonics (we’ll talk about the audio quality a little later).
Speaking of the build, it’s all plastic but with a finish on the primary shell that looks metallic. Our “Black” model has more of a reflective dark gray that has an attractive sheen in light. It transitions to a smooth, matte finish on the ear tip end and a small window on the other end (where a wireless receptor is visible).
To reiterate, these earbuds are the in-ear (or in-canal) type, so the seal that the ear tips make in the ear canal are a big proponent of the sound quality. Sony’s ear tips are a firm, bullet-style and they go in pretty deep. We had no problem getting an appropriate seal. In the case that you don’t, Sony includes three different sizes of not just the typical silicone material but also foam.
We didn’t have any issue with the WF-1000X falling out, even while working out (which we don’t recommend because they’re unfortunately not water/sweat-proof). The silicone ear tips have a sticky finish that cling to your ear canals. They are very comfortable and we didn’t get any aches whatsoever.
Included accessories.
The packaging also comes with a USB-A to micro-USB charging cable, user-installable ear fins (for extra support), and a premium-feeling metal carrying case that has a battery within. True wireless earbuds struggle with battery life (the WF-1000X are no exception), so manufacturers typically put a battery in the carrying case to assist. This case has enough capacity to charge the WF-1000X through 3 cycles. This is great to have, but with a measly 3-hour rating, many your sessions will probably be cut short and you’ll have to wait until they charge up before continuing. Sometimes the future feels like we’re going backwards.
The earpieces have their specific Left and Right silos in the case. They have two pins that match up to the magnetic connectors in the case. They click into place nicely, but you do have to make sure that they get seated correctly. One time we thought we did and then ended up with no juice on the right earpiece. There’s a blue and red LED indicators that light up from the transparent portion of the earpieces. Red will shown when they’re charging. A blue flash tells the user that the earbuds are on, but they stop flashing once they’re set in the ears and the Bluetooth connection is stabilized.
Usability
It’s always interesting to see how manufacturers implement the user controls in these little guys, being that there’s not much room to work with. Some try touch controls while others try different button placements. Sony opts for buttons, one on the bottom of each earpiece. The left earpiece controls the power and mode of ANC (Sony has three sound modes: ANC on, ANC on but with audible higher frequencies, and ANC off), and the right earpiece controls playback in the typical method: single press for play/pause, double press for next track, triple press for previous track, and long press to toggle the mobile device’s virtual assistant (i.e. Google Now on Android). The buttons worked well in our use. Finding and pressing them can sometimes rock the seal, but nothing major.
I’m usually the type that likes to just plug and play. So I booted my experience with the WF-1000X by simply taking them out of the case, pairing with Bluetooth on my phone, and playing. I knew that Sony had an app that accompany the earbuds, but meh. Well, I soon found that if you want to access to the full volume capacity, you have to use the app. I was hitting the volume ceiling with just plugging and playing and got super worried for these headphones. The app has an independent volume control, for whatever reason. So what I did was cranked it up from that end so that I can solely have volume control on the Bluetooth end. This is an easy enough fix, but we still don’t agree with it. It’s not intuitive. The app shouldn’t be a necessity. I can picture users returning the WF-1000X upon running into the low volume and not realizing that the app can fix it.
Most true wireless earbuds struggle with the Bluetooth connection. It’s understandable, since the receptors must be tiny and the range compromised. The WF-1000X are certainly not exempt from this issue, despite its design to move the receptors further out from the ears. We can’t say if the fault falls on hardware or software. Not to scare anyone, signal drop-age isn’t particularly a whole lot worse than other true wireless earbuds we’ve tried. Typically enough body movement between the source device and earbuds do it. But we have found that the signal can spaz out randomly on the WF-1000X. Usually it’s the right earpiece that gets lost (these earpieces use a master/slave relationship – the left earpiece is the master and the right links to it) and takes a few seconds to recover. Our experience with this is best described as hit or miss. Sometimes it would chug through flawlessly and sometimes it would struggle to recover. Additionally, a few times when we took the earpieces out of the case for a listen, only the left earpiece would play. We would then have to placing them back in the case so they shut off and reset and that did the trick, but annoying.
[Update: Sony has since issued a firmware update that improves the audio/connection stability. We have installed it and can tell that there are less dropouts. Additionally, Sony has linked the volume control with the system, so there’s no longer the separate controls we complained about.]
And alas, there’s the ANC. To first set the stage, we have to caution that the performance of the ANC here is not going to be on the same level as something like the Sony WH-1000XM2 or Bose QC 35. It helps block noise but it’s going to be near dead silent. We’d say it’s about half level of those. It’s up to you if that’s meaningful or not. It is in our opinion. It’s pretty amazing to have ANC at all in something this size and this challenging to engineer. In other words, we’ll take whatever we can get. In practice, you’ll mostly be cancelling out low-end rumbling, like a white noise in an office space or the rumbling of a dishwasher. Same goes for an airplane, but in this case you will pick up the higher frequency whizzing from the engines.
Sound
The WF-1000X easily pair to our Android phone, but Sony includes an NFC receptor on the bottom of the charging case for even quicker setup.
The WF-1000X is not going to rival any headphone in the $200 range for clarity or analytical details. That said, it is no slouch either. Dynamics are stellar, reaching higher than the price would suggest. Soundstage is also a strong suit relative to the competition. This means that the sound isn’t cohesively flat. It’s open, airy, and notes have depth/dimensionality and impact. If you can look past high fidelity, it’s a very enjoyable and engaging sound. Together with the noise-cancellation, it’s easy block out the out the outside world and get lost in the sound. In other words, Sony makes up for fidelity (which is in no way bad) with delivery and noise-cancellation.
Speaking of the frequency response, it’s fairly well balanced. As of late, Sony has been doing a great job getting a nice balance between neutrality and energy. The range upper bass to mid range is wonderfully present and well separated. But sub-bass doesn’t go as deep as you can get up the price chain. Likewise, the treble is appreciably detailed, but it not with standout quality or reach, just decent.
Like most wireless, ANC headphones, the WF-1000X isn’t exempt from low-level hiss. But it’s within the realm of reason. Unless it’s a quiet passage, the music drowns it out.
Final Thoughts
The WF-1000X are an…interesting pair of true wireless earbuds. They have a couple standout highs but also some potentially deal-breaker lows. We’d be able to recommend them, but with a glaring caution based on the iffy wireless signal – but this is significantly better now since the firmware update.
The WF-1000X sound quality is definitely where it should be for the price tag. What puts it over the edge is noise-cancellation, which no other truly wireless earbud can claim. If you value sound above other things, and want absolutely no wires, then the WF-1000X is the best that you can do at the moment.
Missed some of the deals Amazon had on its Prime Exclusive Phones during Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Don’t worry, the company isn’t done offering discounts this holiday season.
And if you haven’t found the perfect gift for that special loved one or family member, maybe Amazon’s list of discounts on Prime Exclusive Phones will inspire you.
Just keep in mind that these devices come with Amazon’s ads and offers on the lock screen. But if you’re OK with that, the phones are a pretty good deal especially this month:
Nokia 6 – $149.99 ($30 off); deal starts today until December 24
Moto G5 Plus 64GB – $199.99 ($40 off); deal starts at 12:01 a.m. on December 10 until December 23
Moto X4 – $279 ($50 off); deal starts at 12:01 a.m. on December 10 until December 23
LG X Charge – $119.99 ($30 off); deal starts at 12:01 a.m. on December 10 until December 23
LG Q6 – $179.99 ($50 off); deal starts at 12:01 a.m. on December 10 until December 23
LG G6+ – $449.99 ($50 off); deal starts at 12:01 a.m. on December 17 until December 23
These deals are available for a limited time while supply last. So if you eyed an offer, you best make sure you act fast.
During its Tech Summit this week, Qualcomm unveiled more than just the high-end Snapdragon 845 chipset for smartphones. In an attempt to cure the missing 3.5 headphone jack blues, the chip maker also announced its first dedicated USB-C Hi-Fi DAC, titled the AQT1000. Qualcomm already makes DACs and audio codes, but this is its first USB-C Hi-Fi DAC offering.
With the new USB Type-C plug-and-play module, Qualcomm aims to bring a more enhanced audio experience to the headphone dongles normally used with 3.5mm jack-lacking smartphones.
The module is designed to plug into a phone USB-C port and stream high-quality sound through its 3.5mm output.
To do so, the AQT1000 boasts a dynamic range of 123dB up to 384kHz, 32-bit audio, and THD+N of -105dB. Furthermore, the module also takes advantage of DSD (Direct Stream Digital) audio support, a format originally developed to capture jazz concerts – which takes a different approach to creating high-resolution audio signals than PCM.
Instead of using many bits of information in the single, DSD uses a single bit. But rather than sampling the info several thousand times a second, this single bit samples 2.8 million times a second to generate the audio signal. The result is a more “natural” sounding audio preferred by audiophiles.
Qualcomm will be offering the AQT1000 to manufacturers to bake it into their devices, rather than offer it as a dongle itself. The chip maker says to expect the first products in early 2018.
A few months ago, YouTube’s global head of music, Lyor Cohen confirmed the add-free YouTube Red service and Google Play Music will be merged into a new subscription service.
Now a new report coming out of Bloomberg sheds more light on the matter. Apparently, the new service – internally referred to as Remix – is set to launch next March in an attempt to take on the likes of Apple Music and Spotify. The new product will offer both music and video streaming.
But whether Remix goes live or not depends on a few factors, the most important one being getting the big music publishers on board. While Warner Music Group has already signed on, YouTube is still in talks with Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, as well as Merlin – a consortium of independent labels. Bloomberg also notes YouTube has negotiations set up with Vevo – a popular video hosting service which is under the patronage of Universal and Sony.
YouTube has been harshly criticized over the years for its casual approach to copyright infringements issues, as well as for providing unsatisfactory compensations, which might explain why the remaining two music giants are reluctant to sign a deal with the Google-owned company.
At this point, it’s not entirely clear how YouTube plans to differentiate Remix from the slew of rival services out there. Spotify and Apple Music boast 50 million and 30 million paid subscribers respectively, so it will be quite hard to compete with that. Especially since, over the years, Google has failed to impress with its music-centric Play Music offering while YouTube’s Red service was reported to have only a 1.5 million subscriber base last year.
Some Chinese smartphones makers like Ulefone have already signaled their intent at launching an iPhone X clone complete with the controversial notch. But it seems that copying the design of Apple’s latest and greatest flagship is not only reserved for China’s more obscure brands.
According to a report coming out of the xda-developers, Huawei – who overtook Apple as the world’s second-largest smartphone maker in September 2017 – is working on a flagship that will come with a distinct iPhone X-esque notch.
The current Huawei P10
The publication found evidence in official Huawei firmware that one of the company’s upcoming flagships, quite a possibility the P11 will come with a notch. The biggest clue is an overlay image (re-created below) referenced in a configuration file that defines the “RoundCornerDisplay”. A second configuration file is even more specific and directly references one of the systems build properties as a “notch”.
Huawei’s notch
Another hint that the phone will come with a notch similar to the one found on the iPhone X and mind you, the Essential Phone, is found in a boot animation. While the alleged P11 has a 6.01-inch display with 2160 x 1080 resolution, the boot animation reveals the phone actually uses 2244 x 1080 resolution. This discrepancy can be explained by the presence on the notch.
Furthermore, we’re told the phone is apparently called EMILY and will come with Android 8.0.1 Oreo out of the box.
Huawei unveiled the P10 and P10 Plus during the MWC 2017 tradeshow in Barcelona, so we expect the company to unveil the P11 and probably the P11 Plus during the same event next year. So we should be able to learn more details about the company’s upcoming top-tier phone in the upcoming weeks.
Remember the HTC Desire EYE smartphone which launched back in 2014? Well, it looks like the Taiwanese company is looking to bring back the “EYE” naming scheme. Well sort of.
According to reliable leakster, @evleaks HTC is gearing up to unveil a new handset dubbed the U11 EYEs. This is the same device previously known as the HTC Ocean Harmony which recently received CCC certification in China.
The upcoming HTC Harmony will come to market as the, ahem, HTC U11 EYEs.
The HTC Desire EYE got its name from the large centrally-positioned 13-megapixel selfie camera on the front, so it could be assumed the HTC U11 EYEs branding could signal the presence of a dual-camera setup up front.
Other than that, the HTC U11 EYEs is expected to arrive with a 5.99-inch display with 18:9 aspect ratio and thin bezels all around. Two versions of the phone will reportedly be launched, one with a Snapdragon 652 and 4GB of RAM + 64GB of native storage on board, as well as one with a Snapdragon 660 chipset.
HTC U11+
While we are yet to see any images of the HTC U11 EYEs, some believe the phone will look quite similar to the recently launched HTC U11+, but we’ll just have to wait and see if this will be the case or not.
Fortunately we might not have to wait that long, as according to recent rumors, the HTC U11 EYEs will make a debut this month.
In an attempt to combat addiction to smartphones with large, bright displays among children, Republic Wireless has unveiled its own take at a kid-friendly phone.
Republic Wireless’ Relay looks more like a tiny, square speaker, but is in fact marketed as a phone for children. The small device benefits from both Wi-Fi and LTE connectivity but doesn’t include a screen and a keypad in order to minimize appeal. There’s a circular button in the middle of the device which triggers walkie-talkie interactions with another Relay devices, or users who have the Relay companion app installed on their Android or iOS devices.
The kiddie phone can hold up to 10 hours of music, includes a few games and is powered by the Google Assistant, although privacy-concerned parents can disable it if they wish to. The physical buttons located on the side of the device let users switch between Channels – which are used to communicate with family, and activate the Assistant. Adding a friend’s Channel on the Relay is done via the embedded NFC functionality.
The tiny device is said to be able to last multiple days without running out of power and will go on sale in multiple color variants including Blue, Pink, Azure, and White. Republic Wireless will start selling the kiddie phone in packs of one, two or three for $99, $149 and $199 respectively. Service will cost an extra $6.99/month per device.
Note that the Relay will be available for everyone interested in the product, so you don’t have to be a Republic Wireless subscriber to get one.
On top of unveiling the Relay, Republic Wireless also pulled the veil off a Google Assistant-powered speaker/phone called Anywhere HQ.
The speaker works in connection with a dedicated phone number (like a ported home number) and can be used as fully functioning phone by using the wake phase “Hey Republic”. Switch to “Hey Google” and you’ll get to interact with the Assistant instead.
Like the tiny kiddie phone, the Anywhere HQ has 4G LTE and Wi-Fi and should provide several day battery life. The speaker comes with built-in spam filtering and a Do Not Disturb mode which users can activate when they do not wish to get interrupted by calls.
The Anywhere HQ will be launched in the carrier’s beta program, Republic Labs in January. A wider rollout is expected to happen later in 2018.
