July, 2021 - LABFREQ

July 28, 2021March 7, 2023

Thinkpad L13 Yoga Gen 2 Review

The ThinkPad brand of laptops have a lot choices in it’s lineup, few are a versatile as the Thinkpad L13 Yoga Gen 2. It’s Jack of all Trades feature set turns out to be both the gift and curse of this unassuming, unitarian laptop.

Build and Feel

Traditional, Classic ThinkPad design is what you get here, Lenovo doesn’t deviate from the norm. One unique feature of the L13, are the two metal hinges that allow the screen and base to rotate the laptop 360-degrees into tablet mode – making it an official 2-in-1. The entire body is aluminum, adding the allure and premium feel of the Yoga brand – without losing any of the popular features ThinkPads are known for. The spacious key-travel, signature red-knob (Trackpoint) navigation, and IT-centric security tools are all on board.

The specs of the L13 Yoga justifies the slight bulkiness of the chassis, but that thinkness is only compared to the other Yoga laptops and the ThinkPad X1 Nano and X1 Carbon. It’s much more compact and travel friendly than a Legion laptop or the other ThinkPads.

Display	13.3 FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS, anti-reflective, anti-smudge, touchscreen, 300 nots
Processor	11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 @2.40GHz – up to 2.42GHz
Memory	8GB DDR4 3200MHd (Soldered)
Storage	512 PCIe SSD
Graphics	Integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics
Security	Discrete Trusted Platform Module (dTPM) 2.0 Optional: Match-on-chip fingerprint reader Facial recognition with Windows Hello (requires IR camera) Optional: Smart card reader Webcam privacy cover Kensington lock slot
Pen	ThinkPad Pen Pro
Audio	Dolby Premium Dual far-field mics
Camera	720p HD & 5 MP World Facing
Connectivity	Intel® Wi-Fi 6 AX201 802.11AX (2 x 2) & Bluetooth® 5.1
Ports/Slots	2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (one always on) USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C USB 4.0 Type-C / Thunderbolt™ 4 HDMI 2.0 Headphone / mic combo MicroSD card reader Optional: Smart card reader
Keyboard	Backlit – US English

Standout Features

Connectivity options galore, the L13 Yoga is one Thinkpad that lives up to its brand name and doesn’t sacrifice ports for modern functionality. Two full-sized USB-A ports, two USB Type-C ports (one is 4.0 Thunderbolt), an HDMI port, and a MicroSD Card slot are all on board. The metal 360-hinge gives this Thinkpad its 2-in-1 superpowers, making it one of the most versatile laptops on the market and deeming it worthy to carry the Yoga branding.

The ThinkPad Pen Pro is tucked away for when the time demands, like taking a quick note or precision is needed for an illustration or presentation. While the stylus could use a bit more width, it’s full-size length and the programmable two-buttons adds a much-needed improvement over the smaller ones included with Lenovo’s Yoga-branded devices. It also has a fingerprint reader and is Windows-Hello enabled, for a Face-ID type unlocking feature.

Conclusion

The ThinkPad L13 Yoga isn’t the thinnest or prettiest Thinkpad or Yoga device available, but it surely is one of the most well-rounded. Combining the business capabilities of the ThinkPad with the agility and future-proof features of the Yoga has reached a refined state in this 2nd Gen hybrid device. Depending on what you’re looking for, this could either be a ThinkPad that gains the features of the Yoga or a Yoga that loses some of it’s design edge for the office ready tools of the ThinkPad.

July 25, 2021April 17, 2023

Mobovi Ticwatch Pro 3 GPS Review

The Ticwatch Pro 3 isn’t the watch that I’d imagine would end up at the top of my favorite smartwatch list, but it has. The unassuming, seemingly average FTSN-screened wristwatch brings a twist – not only to WearOS devices – but the smartwatch landscape as a whole.

Out the Box

The Ticwatch Pro box and packaging is rather standard, packed with the essentials and nothing more: the watch, a proprietary magnetic charging clip, a power brick, the user guide, and a few marketing materials upselling Mobvoi’s products. The box itself does a great job selling you on the specs of the device.

On the Wrist

The 454×454 AMOLED display is immersed in a watch case that measures out to 47 x 48 x 12.2 mm, which gives the Ticwatch Pro 3 a masculine build and one more suitable for big wrists. The AMOLED display is covered by a low-powered, secondary FSTN screen that’s always on. The Dual display, assisted by the Snapdragon Wear 4100, gets around three days consistently, while putting the device in Essential Mode gives you up to 45 days with the FSTN screen only.

The watch itself has a stainless steel chassis, with the back side (that’s pressed up against your skin when wearing) made of polycarbonate (plastic). In daily usage, the back makes it more comfortable, complemented by the Silicon band. Orange stitching outlines the watchband, giving the device a more premium look without sacrificing comfort.

WearOS Shines on the Ticwatch

After using the Ticwatch Pro for a few weeks , it becomes obvious that under-powered devices with outdated processors were the culprit behind the rad rep the WearOS has. The once clunky, slow UI is now snappy, responsive and glitch-free. Granted, the Mobvoi Launcher has navigation sensibilities that the ‘curved tab’ style grid of the stock UI – which you would turn back in in settings if that’s yours thing.

Display	1.4” Retina AMOLED 454 x 454 + FSTN display + Low-Power backlit LCD Always-on display
Processor	Snapdragon Wear 4100
Wireless	Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
NFC	Google Pay-enabled
Sensors	Gyroscope, Accelerator, Barometer, Heart-Rate Sensor
Audio	Loudspeaker, Microphone
Navigation	GPS+Beidou+Glonass+Galileo+QZSS
Waterproof	IP68 and pool swimming suitable
Storage	8GB ROM, 1GB RAM Memory

Health and Fitness features

Mobvoi has a fitness suite of apps that are as extensive as any. Granted, they’re one-task ponies, features are broken down by app opposed to the suite like approach of Apple and Samsung Health. TicHealth is the central hub for checking on your profile stats, and brings all the data from TicPulse (heart rate), TicSleep, TicOxygen (blood oxygen,TicBreathe, TicHearing and TicExcercise all into one central location. Google Fit is present, rounding out the fitness and workout abilites.

1000+ Watch Faces

The beauty of the AMOLED display is really brought to life by the variety of Watch Faces Mobvoi has on offer, and the it really adds personality to the Ticwatch Pro 3.

Conclusion

What Mobovi has engineered is nothing short of commendable, to say the least. The Ticwatch Pro 3 has single-handedly broken the cycle of WearOS devices being bested by the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch due to ecosystem cohesiveness and smooth response time. Mobvoi has also given is flagship wearable unique features and a quality build that competes with the big dogs, at a price that manages to undercut them.

For anyone looking for a full-featured smartwatch that improves the expectations set by prior WearOS devices, the TicWatch Pro 3 is currently the undisputed king.

July 23, 2021July 23, 2021

Ableton Live 11 : the definitive review

Audio and MIDI Comping, MPE support, and Max for Live included from Live Intro and up. Has Ableton become the go all-in-one DAW?

Shame it has taken the Labfreq review team this long to publish a review on Ableton’s music production masterpiece. Created by a team of DJ, Musicians, and developers out of Berlin, Live is a software sequencer and digital audio workstation (DAW). It’s designed for live performance and remixing of songs, but it can also be used to record music, control stage lighting, visual effects, and much more.

Ableton Live has the tools and quality of any other professional level DAWs, but the unique feature of Ableton is the ability to run sequences in non-linear mode, allowing you to make live changes on a prepared material. Having been around for a decade or so, it’s reached the 11th iteration of the program – so let’s dive straight in and see what Live’s all about.

We will update this article with a complete review shortly…

The Instruments

Conclusion

Pending…

July 20, 2021April 20, 2023

Thinkpad X1 Nano Review

Lenovo is constantly updating and refining their Thinkpads – updating the household models’ feature set with security-centric, innovative features every update. This year is no exception, but they’ve also expanded the lineup by adding a few new additions to the brand, and here we’re taking a look at one of those devices – the featherweight-heavyweight, Thinkpad X1 Nano.

Build & Feel

The X1 Nano has a well-engineered, refined look that defies its 1st Gen lifecycle – taking the Carbon Fiber and Magnesium build from the Thinkpad X1 Carbon and somehow making it lighter and thinner without losing any of the durability of the latter. The bright and colorful 13″ 2K matte display is equipped with Dolby Vision, has great viewing angles, good color reproduction, and its anti-glare coating is second to none.

Specifications

The specifications section is the most boring of them all, so we’re going to get straight to it and spare you the boredom. The X1 Nano is as powerful an Ultrabook as you can get, powerful enough for everything but the most graphics-extensive games and 8K video editing sessions.

Display	13.0″ 2K (2160 x 1350) IPS, anti-glare with Dolby Vision™, 450 nits, 100% sRGB
Processor	11^th Generation Intel^® Core™ i7-1180G7 Processor with vPro™ (2.20 GHz, up to 4.60 GHz with Turbo Boost, 4 Cores, 8 Threads, 12 MB Cache)
Memory	16GB LPDDR4x 4266MHz (Soldered)
Storage	Up to 1TB PCIe SSD
Graphics	Integrated Intel^® Iris^® X^e Graphics
Security	Discrete Trusted Platform Module (dTPM) 2.0 Human-presence detection with Windows Hello & IR camera Match-on-chip fingerprint reader Webcam privacy cover
Audio	Dolby Atmos^® Speaker System 4 x 360-degree mics
Camera	Hybrid infrared (IR) / 720p HD with webcam privacy cover Optional: Hybrid infrared (IR) / 720p HD with webcam privacy shutter and Human Presence Detection
Connectivity	Optional: WWAN LTE 5G / LTE 4G CAT9* WLAN: WiFi 6 AX201 802.11AX (2 x 2) Bluetooth^® 5.2 with vPro™ On vPro™ Processors
Ports/Slots	2 x USB4 Thunderbolt™ 4 (Power Delivery) Headphone / mic combo
Keyboard	Spill-resistant Backlit with white LED lighting Call-control keys (F9-F11)

Standout Features

The Thinkpad X1 Nano is Lenovo’s first ThinkPad laptop to use the Intel^® Evo™ platform, which promises to deliver “a powerhouse combination of performance, responsiveness, battery life, and stunning visuals” not previously available in Ultrabooks. There’s not much that you can’t do with the X1 Nano, as long as the task doesn’t require a dedicated graphics card.

All the signature Thinkpad features are here: Trackpoint center button navigation, the webcam privacy shutter, Custom Thinkpad BIOS with advanced security features and spill-resistant backlit keyboard.

Conclusion

While the X1 Nano treads dangerously close to the Thinkpad X1 Carbon in its offering and feature set, it DOES manage to be lighter (at least 0.8 pounds) and inherently more powerful thanks to the Intel Evo platform. How long will that stay the case remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure – Lenovo is securing the Thinkpad X1 line-up as the premier brand for business staff, executives, and managers; All while expanding its appeal to Creatives and tech-centric student Millenials.

July 4, 2021July 5, 2021

Librem 5 Review : a Tinkerer’s Dream Gadget

Intro

Reviewing the Librem 5 – while intriguing, was not a simple task.

When I first received the smartphone, it was two months before it’s mass production units were ready for shipping out to the masses – and there were a whole slew of software features that hadn’t yet been implemented. It’s set of Cameras weren’t yet active, and neither was the OpenPGP card slot.

Developer’s were behind their feature roadmap schedule, mostly due to suppliers lambasting Purism with delays set into motion by a shortage of components and parts needed to bring their ambitious smartphone project to life. Which naturally affected shipping times, resulting in a few early backers having to wait longer than expected. If this was a device aimed at the masses for general use, Androids and iPhones of the world – the life of the Librem 5 would have ended before it started. But it’s not your typical mobile device.

The Librem 5 is a smartphone by Purism, a computer company that already makes Laptops, Mini PCs and Servers – running a Linux based operating system called PureOS. It’s built around an open-source philosophy protecting users’ digital rights with a focus on privacy. It has three kill switches on the side, to insure your devices bluetooth, WIfi and Cellular connections are off – and temporarily severed – when you expect them to be.

Specs

Processor	NXP® i.MX 8M Quad core Cortex A53, 64bit ARM @max 1.5GHz
GPU	Vivante GC7000Lite
Screen	5.7″ IPS TFT 720×1440
Memory	3GB RAM
Storage	32GB Internal Storage with SD Card Slot
Battery	4500 mAh Replaceable Lithium
WLAN	Redpine Signals RS9116: 802.11 abgn 2.4GHz/5GHz
GPS	TESEO LIV3 multiconstellation GNSS receiver
DAC	Wolfson Media WM8962
3.5mm Jack	Yes (stereo out and mono microphone in)
USB	USB C: USB 3.0 data, PowerDelivery (Dual-Role Port), video out (DisplayPort)
Kill Switches	3 – WiFi, Cellular, Microphone/Cameras (all 3 will turn off GPS)

Display

The 5.7 inch display has a resolution of 720p, and while it’s put to shame by 90% of all Modern Androids, it’s basically the same screen sharpness as all but the very latest iPhones. In other words, it’s fine. The screen has deep blacks, vivid colors and wide contrast – it scales nicely on bigger screens, and it’s powerful enough to run the phones’ display simultaneously.

Battery

Battery life is the Achilles heel on this smartphone, giving an average of 2 to 4 hours battery life – depending on the program(s) running – even background apps. During my testing, the Librem 5 simply has horrible staying power while idle. It improved incrementally with OS updates – but the differences were minor.

Ecosystem

The Librem 5 has access to nearly all desktop programs that you can install on any Linux Computer. From the terminal, sudo apt-get install will get you pretty much any Linux app on the smartphone. Since PureOS is the exact desktop operating system that you’d find on Purism’s Librem 14 and Librem Mini, connecting the device to a monitor or t.v , keyboard and mouse turns the L5 to a pocket computer – albeit somewhat-limited by it’s processing power. Purism also built a graphical phone interface called phosh that gives any desktop app a dynamic, touch-based UI – granted support for phosh is enabled .The PureOS Store, curates apps that are phosh compatible, so you know right off the bat what programs have maximum compatibility with mobile devices.

Audacity, Inkscape, LMMS, GIMP, VLS, all install on the Librem 5, and they all run pretty smooth once the device is connected to a monitor – none of the apps in this sentence is optimized for mobile sized displays. Just keep in mind, the Librem 5 uses ARM architechure by NXP.

Conclusion

With nearly half of the population of the world owning a smartphone today, mobile computing has become the default way for people to interface with the internet. This means that nearly one out of two people general means of bring online is a smartphone. It’s safe to say the mobile computer market has enough room for a third alternative to Android and iOS. It’s a daunting task, an uphill battle – but if there is any existing platform that can offer that much needed variety – it’s a Linux-based one. The Librem 5 comes really close to being that third option in it’s first iteration, but slightly misses the mark due to issues with overall build quality (the back battery cover just wont stay on!), and software inconsistencies. It’s improved drastically in the two months I’ve been reviewing it, but Android and iOS – which both have had a decade plus of development and refinement to be fair – are both just a bit too full-featured and polished to lose any but the most tech-savvy user demographic. For electricians, technology enthusiasts, developers, tinkerers – you might want to give the Librem 5 a look.