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Showing posts with the label Becky Scarrott

AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging review: with ANC this good, why pay more for AirPods Pro 3?

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Apple AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging review Apple's second-cheapest new AirPods are a fantastic little buy. But you'd be forgiven for overlooking them given Apple's curious naming strategy. After all, the last time Apple unveiled two sets of entry-level AirPods, one had ANC and the other didn't — easy to work out where the extra money went there. But with AirPods 5, both the base model and the step-up option tote ANC. So what's the deal? It's not as simple as it first appears. As the name implies, AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging offer a better case that charges wirelessly. But what the name doesn't tell you is that here there are a few other perks the cheaper model lacks, which I think makes this set far worthier of the nominal extra fee. Said case also includes a speaker for audible pairing status pings and Find My help, for instance, which you won't get with ...

Technics EAH-A1000 review: over-ear headphones with class, detail and comfort that err just slightly on the side of caution

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Technics EAH-A1000: Two-minute review If you were expecting a minor update over Technics' previous over-ears in the EAH-A1000, you're in for a surprise. Because in the four-years-and-loose-change since its last over-ear offering, Technics' various audio departments have been very, very busy — and I'm referring to the design team as well as the sonic engineering squad. Here's a novel idea to kick things off: these headphones have Technics' own proprietary, top-secret metallic juice concoction oiling the drivers. Those familiar with the company's hugely successful earbuds (and if you read this publication regularly, you will be) will remember the firm's Magnetic Fluid Driver technology. Technics pioneered it to aid the pistonic motion of those tiny drivers. As they busily move back and forth to create physical sound waves from electrical signals, said fluid helps the...

Nothing Headphone (1) Pro review: a strange case, but sonically not without merit

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Nothing Headphone (1) Pro: Two-minute review I love an audio outfit that refuses to kowtow to the norm (no thinly disguised AirPods copies here) and instead forges ahead with unconventional and striking ideas — and not just visually, but within the driver count and feature set, too. Nothing's success in the audio and headphone arena is deliciously hit-and-miss. There have been some huge, long-term budget wins and an inaugural set of 'close, but no cigar' cans that made us yearn for an update to see if the relatively young tech brand (born of OnePlus' co-founder Carl Pei in 2021) could fix things. And you know, it certainly could… But here we are, smash-hit affordable second set in the bag (albeit an actual bag, and one that reminded me of swimming lessons in grade school) and on to a third set of headphones from Nothing, this time in the much trickier premium space. Can the Nothin...