Category Archives: hifi

OnePlus Buds 3 Confirmed for Launch

headphones, hifi,

OnePlus LogoWith the launch of the OnePlus 12 & 12R later this week, OnePlus have confirmed that the latest smartphones will be joined by a new set of earphones, the OnePlus Buds 3. These continue OnePlus’ mantra of “Never Settle” with “Harmony Unfiltered” reflecting hi-fi sound and easy of use. Over the last few year’s, the company has worked hard to bring a suite of products that work neatly together at multiple price points.

The new Buds 3 come with dual dynamic drivers with a 10.4 mm woofer and a 6 mm tweeter with a broad frequency range of 15 Hz to 40 kHz, which should give a good performance across the spectrum. As you’d expect, there’s active noise cancellation (ANC) with up to 49 dB of noise reduction. Perfect for screening out noise for a bit of peace and quiet.

Looking at the picture, the Buds 3 continue OnePlus approach to earphones with an accompanying battery case that charges the buds while they’re inside. No details in the release about charge times or battery lengths.

There are two colours, Splendid Blue and Metallic Gray. The former looks great, though it would appear to be a move away fro OnePlus green which has been a feature going back as far as the 8 series of phones, if I recall.

The Buds 3 come with a new feature – volume control on the stems. Simply slide your finger up the earbud to raise the volume and down to lower it. Brilliant.

Without the “Pro” moniker, I’m guessing that these will slot in as a mid-range device, below the Pro range but (well) above the Nords. At this point, no details on price. That will undoubtedly be revealed at the global launch event shortly.

OnePlus Delivers a Vision for the Future

hifi, smartphone, tablet

OnePlus LogoRight on cue, OnePlus delivered its largest launch event showcasing the OnePlus 11 5G smartphone, Buds Pro 2 earphones, Pad tablet and the Keyboard 81 Pro. In some respects there were no surprises but the big takeaway was OnePlus’ ambition to build an ecosystem with phones at the centre.

OnePlus has always had a strong fan base or “community”, as they’d probably prefer but even I was surprised by the numbers. The OnePlus Red Cable Club has 30 million members and you actively have to join; you aren’t automatically enrolled. In comparison, OnePlus has sold 55 million phones, which is nothing compared to Apple’s 2 billion phones, but it means that nearly 55% of owners are in the Club. I think that’s impressive and important. And over 14,000 people watch the live event broadcasting from New Delhi, India.

OnePlus’ new cryptic legend is “1+4+X”. 1 is the phone at the heart of the ecosystem, 4 are the categories of TV, wearables, tablets and earphones. X is entertainment, efficiency and health. There we have it – OnePlus’ strategy for the next few years. It’s not an entirely new approach as there have been hints of this as far back as the early Nord phones.

For comparison, Samsung’s been at this for awhile and have been very successful at it, though some of their gear only interoperates with other Samsung products, cf SmartTags, which I find frustrating. Xiaomi is another useful comparison but hasn’t been as successful in building an ecosystem. Xiaomi have lots of products in different categories but they don’t present as a unified system.

As OnePlus unveiled new products, the presenters often emphasised the interoperability between, say, the Buds Pro 2, and the OnePlus 11. Having devices from the same stable is now an advantage and while the event was really about the high-end offerings, I imagine this will trickle down to the Nord phones and lesser Buds.

With the strategy out of the way, let’s talk about the products, pricing and availability. The specs are well covered elsewhere so I’ll highlight a few of the main features only.

The Phone
The OnePlus 11 5G is largely as expected with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 powering a 6.7″ fluid AMOLED QHD+ display with 120 Hz refresh. Two colour ways, Eternal Green and Titan Black. There’s Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos and plenty of clever AI trickery called RAM-Vita to compress unused apps and reserve RAM for particular apps.

Inside is a 5000 mAh battery that will charge from 1 to 100% in 25 mins using the 100W SuperVOOC charger supplied in the box. While OnePlus reckons you’ll get at least 4 years of good battery health, I’m disappointed that there’s no wireless charging – I think that feature was last seen on the OnePlus 9. The phone is WiFi 7 ready and has dual WiFi acceleration to improve download speeds.

The 11G’s cameras are managed by Hasselblad’s 3rd generation of mobile software with hardware assistance and computational photography. The three cameras offer 50 MP OIS for the main lens, a 32 MP 2x optical zoom for portraits (and bokeh) and an ultra wide 48 MP lens. In addition there’s a new colour calibration sensor that really should ensure colours are true to life.

Pricing is
US$699 / 829€ / UK£729 for the 8GB+128GB version
US$799 / 899€ / UK£799 for the 16GB+256GB
Pre-orders are open now with shipping in around 20th February.

The Tablet
The OnePlus Pad is the first tablet from the company and I get slightly mixed messages on this device. OnePlus tout the entertainment credentials of the Pad – big screen, hi-resolution, large battery for video, great sound – but Pad also comes with a stylus and a magnetic keyboard, which makes me feel they’re going after the more work-like Samsung Tab S series. As pricing and availability hasn’t yet been announced we’ll have to see.

The Pad is powered by the Dimensity 9000 chipset with up to 12 GB RAM. The screen is 11.6″ with a 2800×2000 pixel resolution which ought to look lovely. There’s an unusual 7:5 screen ratio and from the pictures, it’s clear that OnePlus expect the Pad to be used in landscape orientation and it comes in a lovely Halo Green to match the Eternal Green of the 11.

There’s a large 9510 mAh battery which will take advantage of 67W SuperVOOC to charge rapidly but the most interesting part is that allegedly the Pad will retain power for a month on standby.

The OnePlus Pad will only be offered with WiFi connectivity as owners are expected to seamlessly connect through to their OnePlus phone.

No details on price but pre-orders are expected in April.

The Earbuds
There’s nothing much to say that hasn’t already been covered in previous articles here on GNC. The Buds Pro 2 will come in three colours; Arbor Green, Obsidian Black and Misty White. Co-created with Dynaudio, the Buds Pro 2s have dual drivers for exceptional sound reproduction and with three external mics, there’s up to 48 dB of a active noise cancellation. When used with the charging case, there’s up to 39 hours of listening and 10 mins of charge gives 10 hours of music.

Pricing is $179 / 179€ / UK£179 and pre-orders are open.

The Keyboard
The OnePlus Featuring Keyboard 81 Pro is an interesting addition to the portfolio. Yes, it’s a high-end mid-sized keyboard with some cool features but it doesn’t really seem to fit into the ecosystem. Yes, it will work with PCs, Macs and other devices but I don’t see what makes this OnePlus special other than a couple of red keycaps. The premium materials are lovely and there are some nifty features like the metal stand, but it would have been nice to see some customisation for the 11 or the Pad. One for the fans, I think.

Price and availability to be announced later.

Conclusion
Overall, a solid launch event from OnePlus with an exciting long term vision for the future and some pretty cool products as well. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a few of them in for view from the nice folks at OnePlus.

Nothing ear(1) ANC Wireless Earbuds PreSale Saturday

headphones, hifi, ,

Earlier this week, Carl Pei’s new tech startup, Nothing, launched its first product, the ear(1) wireless active noise cancelling earbuds for a very competitively priced US$99 / GB£99.

Long time GNC readers will likely recognise Carl Pei’s name as one of the two founders of OnePlus, leaving the smartphone brand last year to start this new project with the financial backing of Google Ventures (now GV) along with a number of private investors, including Tony Fadell, creator of the iPod, and Casey Neistat.

The ear(1)s have comprehensively managed to step away from comparisons with other wireless earbuds with a unique design and a transparent charging case. Carl Pei said, “Nothing ear (1) is a breath of fresh air in a cluttered and indifferent market, setting the tone for our connected digital world to come. It marries advanced technology, precise engineering, and groundbreaking design at an unbelievable price.”

I have to admit that when I first saw the design, I thought the NOTHING ear(1) logo on the side of the earbuds was actually a small LCD display that would, say, show the tracks being played or the podcast being listened to. Sadly this isn’t the case but it would be really neat if it did.

In terms of specs, the ear(1) earbuds have active noise cancelling, wireless charging, IPX4 water resistance (sweat and splash), in-ear detection, over five hours of battery life and 34 hours of listening with case recharging. The 11.6mm drivers have been tuned by the audio nerds at Teenage Engineering for balanced bass, mid, and treble performance. Bluetooth 5.2 provides wireless connectivity. Nothing provides a complementary app to customise the audio experience of the ear(1)s and to help you find them when they’ve fallen down the back of the sofa.

If, like me, you missed the keynote launch during the week, the event is available on YouTube for viewing – the Sound of Change.

However, what you might not want to miss is a presale of the ear(1)s over at nothing.tech at 1400 BST on Saturday 31st August for purchasers in the UK and US. It is a limited drop and I don’t know exactly how the sale will go down, but it’s probably worth registering on the web site in advance.

If you miss this opportunity, the ear(1) earbuds will be going on general sale from 17 August, though there will be some other opportunities to get in on the hype through a couple of fashion sites like HBX, Mr Porter and Kith. Clearly, the ear(1)s are for the cool kids.

Hidizs Sonata HD DAC Review – USB C to 3.5 mm

Hardware, headphones, hifi, review, ,

There’s no doubt that USB C is the new standard for smartphones, tablets and laptops and it replaces a plethora of legacy ports, including all the annoying variants of USB. In addition, USB C supports digital audio and several device manufacturers have decided to remove 3.5 mm audio sockets from their phones and tablets. Google, OnePlus, Samsung, Huawei and LG all have at least one model which only has USB C.

This is not good news if you have invested in high-end headphones or earbuds that connect via a cable. Yes, manufacturers typically include a USB C to 3.5 mm adaptor for the devices but my experience is that the sound quality isn’t that great – frankly, it’s rubbish.

Both my smartphone (OnePlus 6T) and tablet (Huawei Mediapad M5) are USB C only devices, and as an owner of some half-decent headphones, I’d been looking to improve the audio experience. I came across a recommendation for the the Hidizs Sonata HD DAC Cable II so I thought I’d try it out. I ordered via Amazon.com to be shipped to the UK, so it set me back about US$45 in total.

The Hidizs DAC comes in small zipped case typical of audio goods. Inside there’s the Sonata DAC cable itself, plus a USB A to USB C converter for use with laptops and PCs that don’t have the newer type of USB. It’s also needed for flashing the firmware, but more on this later.

First impressions are that this is a good product – the cable has lovely plaiting and the socket is metal….but we’re not here to look at the Sonata. What does it sound like?

Brilliant. The difference between the Hidizs DAC cable and the Huawei OEM one was easily noticeable. The sound was much clearer, with greater clarity and really opened up the performance.  Very impressed and would definitely recommend the Sonata if you have any kind of quality headphones. I tested with a range of headphones from Sennheiser to 1more, both over-ear and in-ear.

Using the USB A to C converter gives the benefits of the DAC over whatever penny chip was used in a PC or laptop. Windows 10 picked up the DAC on insertion and resetting the audio output to the new device yielded much better sound across the board too.

Finally, the Sonata 3.5 mm input is a TRRS type and supports headphones with a microphone, meaning you can take phone calls when you have your headphones on, as long as there’s a mic on the ‘phones. Interestingly, the firmware can be updated too and if you don’t use the phone function, the output audio quality can be enhanced further to 24bit/192kHz. I didn’t actually try to flash the firmware…

Overall, the Hidizs Sonata HD DAC Cable II is a big improvement over the cables provided in the box with smartphones and tablets sporting USB C. Recommended.

There’s more in the video below.

 

Clazio Spark Shows Off at CES 2018

ces, hifi, Interview, Speakers, Special Media, video, , , , ,

The Amazon Echo Show might be getting all the headlines, but it’s not the only show in town. Here we have the Clazio Spark, the most powerful smart speaker on the market – it’s a mini-media centre with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Todd and Dake discuss getting the right colour for the rear of the device.

Previously known as Clarity, the Clazio Spark is an all-in-one smart speaker that combines a 7″ Android Nougat tablet with a professionally developed speaker and both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice services. The HD screen (1920 x 1200) is set into a retro-modern design and when combined with a 4K HDMI out, creates a lovely media centre that can play music, show films, make video calls. If you can do it with an Android tablet, you can do it on the Spark with the additional benefit of Alexa.

The Spark isn’t tied to a power cable as the 4,800 mAh battery gives around 5 hours of music and about half that for video. There’s a 5 MP front facing camera for video calls and a microSD card slot for more storage. Is there anything the Spark can’t do?

After successfully crowdfunding on Indiegogo in early 2017, the Spark is preparing to go into retail with an expected price of US$269. You can still contribute to the Indiegogo campaign with “pre-orders” to get some good deals but the usual caveats regarding crowdfunding apply.

I’m with Todd on the colour.

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Word Up! The Cotodama Lyric Speaker

hifi, Speakers

The Cotodama Lyric speaker is one of those products that makes you go, “Whoa!” In fact, you’ll probably feel that way twice. First, although the Lyric is high fidelity speaker, it’s not what you hear but what you see that makes it special. Watch this.

Yes, the Cotodama Lyric displays the playing song’s lyrics on a semi-translucent display in time to the music. The speaker links with SyncPower Corporation (PetitLyrics), Japan’s largest lyrics database, recognises a song, analyses the mood and its “expression engine” to chooses fonts and animations to match so people can see the lyrics as the artist actually sings them.

For example if a slow love song is chosen, the Lyric speaker will react and show a more delicate font that drifts across the speaker. If no lyrics are found, or an instrumental song is played, the speaker shows abstract graphics that animate in sync with the music. No more singing the wrong words to the music!

The Lyric hails from Japan and each speaker is handmade. Consequently, only fifteen of these speakers are made each month. If you order one, there might be a little wait.

Jin Saito, CEO of Cotodama says, “In Japan, there is a culture of appreciating words themselves as art such as Shodo (calligraphy) and decorating your favourite words with Kakejiku (hanging scroll).Through making the Lyric speaker’s visuals with the artists and the programmers, we have strived to put Japanese aesthetics into our product and contribute to the world’s music industry.”

The Lyric Speaker uses Wi-Fi to connect to the free app which is compatible with Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play, SoundCloud, Youtube, and other services. The speaker can play 96khz/24bit FLAC files, has a range of 40Hz to 40kHz, and has two coaxial loudspeakers and two drone cones.

Hopefully, you appreciate the first “Whoa!” The second is the price – it’s GB£4,320 and US$4,500. Whoa! More details and dealer contacts over at Cotodama Lyric Speaker.

Damson S-Series with Dolby Atmos at CES 2018

ces, hifi, Home Theater, , , ,

A good surround sound system makes the difference between just watching TV and a home cinema experience. The only snag is that it’s all too easy to end up with wires and cables everywhere.

For something neater, there are wireless speaker systems, though even then it’s hard to get a decent level of audio quality. Fortunately Damson are bringing Dolby Atmos to wireless home cinema speaker systems in their new S-Series.

The S-Series is the first wireless modular home cinema speaker system to support Dolby Atmos, enabling sound to be precisely placed and moved anywhere in a three-dimensional space, including overhead. This brings entertainment alive all around you, delivering moving audio with greater clarity and depth.

With the S-Series powered by Damson’s wireless network, JetStreamNet, users are able to seamlessly connect and expand sound throughout their homes. JetStreamNet has the capability to connect up to eight speakers. This means users can place the wireless speakers in a variety of arrangements, or in individual groups, to stream sound throughout different rooms. Each speaker has a range of up to 50 metres (approximately 150 feet), which goes far beyond the power of any ordinary wireless speaker system in the market.

The S-Series: Home Cinema system with Dolby Atmos features a soundbar, subwoofer, 2 S-Cubes and a Dolby Atmos Speaker, allowing the system to decode all Dolby formats, including Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Atmos, providing cinema-level audio experiences in a powerful, compact, and elegant package.

 Available for pre-order for US$799.99 / GB£799.99 / €849.99, the S-Series Home Cinema system will be the most advanced wireless speaker system for home entertainment to date while staying affordable for consumers.

Still at CES? Find them in the Flamingo Hotel.