Weighting in at just 48lbs, the Urtopia Carbon 1 Pro is one of the lightest – and smartest – e-bikes available today.
At first glance, tha Carbon 1 Pro doesn’t look like an electric bike. Touting a sleek and lightweight carbon fiber frame, it looks just like a regular cyclist’s bike.
That is, until the reasonably loud Bluetooth speakers draw attention to the mini-LED smart box in the center of the handlebars.
The C1 Pro also contains a rechargeable battery in the down tube of it’s impressively compact and thin frame, making it a PEV that’s arguably the most trimmed-out bike available today..
I’m talking ChatGPT voice assistant, Bluetooth stereo speakers for your favorite streaming apps,3 PAS modes with a (somewhat) hidden Turbo mode, a headlight (and taillights) with turn-signal indicators, and even an embedded e-sim for recording your routes, calories burned, fingerprint lock/unlock access to the smart bar, and most importantly anti-theft GPS tracking to deter would be bandits from being tempted to take it – and an electric fence alarm for the ones who dare to try.
It’s all brought together by the Urtopia app’s detailed control center for the bike:
While we haven’t had the e-bike for long, so we need a bit more time to take the bike through its paces and determine if it’s ready for the mainstream. But we will have a better idea in the coming week or two. Our full-on review of the Urtopia Carbon 1 Pro will be published shortly.
The AMD Powered, Ultra portable laptop is internally upgradable and more than powerful for anything from everyday to extensive tasks.
System76, a tech company known for offering easy to use, open-source technologies to the masses has sent us the Pangolin (2023 model) for review.
This Ryzen 7 powered laptop has a generous amount of ports, a 16″ matte screen with anti-glare, and even a kill switch for the webcam to secure yourself from snooping hackers.
While you can get the Pangolin directly from the System76′ website, we’ve taken the Pangolin (2023 model) through its paces. Keep reading to see our conclusions of this highly capable laptop below.
Design: Big Screen and Ports Galore
The Pangolin has a 16-inch anti-reflective matte screen, with a generous port selection including a barrel AC/DC power port – although the Pangolin can be charged through USB-C. There’s an HDMI port for external monitors, although the USB-C port is Thunderbolt 4 enabled. For those wanting analog audio, a 3.5mm headphone jack exists.
On the left side of the laptop is a full-size SD card reader, a Lexington lock slot, and a 3rd USB-A 3.0 port. Check out the full spec sheet below:
Full Specs
Specs
System76 Pangolin
OS
Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
Processor
AMD Ryzen 7 7840U
CPU
8 Cores – 16 threads 3.3up to 5.10 Ghz
GPU
AMD Radeon 780M
RAM
32 GB LPDDR5 @ 6400 Mhz
Display
16″ 1920×1080 FHD, Matte Finish,60 Hz
Storage
2 x M.2 SSD (PCIe NVMe) Up to 16TB Total
Expansion
3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, SD Card Reader
Running a customized distro of Linux named Pop_OS!, (made in-house by System76) it has one of the most commercially assessable operating systems that’s not Windows or MacOS.
From a design standpoint, Pop_OS! has a similar feel to MacOS with its Unix-like interface. For those familiar with Linux – it’s interface derives from the GNOME flavor of Ubuntu Linux, but you can easily install different distro shells (UIs) on top of the Pop_OS! Linux Kernel.
The Pop_OS! App Drawer
We’re reserving our final take of Pop_OS! In a separate review article, but I will state here that Pop_OS! Is probably the most user friendly version of Linux that ships from a manufacturer out the box. System76 also promises lifetime support for your OS when you purchase one of their devices.
The Pop_OS! settings menu, About Device tab
It may take some re-adjusting and you may have to find open-source alternatives to proprietary software packages you need to use; But if you’ve ever used Linux before, you’d be surprised at how far it has come along in 2024.
Conclusion
The 2023 model of the Pangolin has some significant improvements over the 2022 model, mostly in the upgraded CPU and GPU, .Those looking for more dedicated graphics might want to look at the Oryx Pro; or the Darter Pro if you want a even lighter, Intel-powered laptop in the System76 lineup.
Apple might not make AirPods for computing devices that they don’t manufacturer, but in many instances their Beats brand is the better bang for buck buy.
Build Quality
The design has been refined and updated with a studier headband (the gaudy beats branding removed ☺️), metal hinges where the headphones fold and touch/swipe controls.
They fold inward to store in the Beats-branded pouch that comes with the headphones, which also has two pouches for the included USB-C and 3.5mm cord for analog connection. You can also listen to Hi-Fi Audio through the USB-C cord, which will simultaneously charge the headphones.
The Beats Studio Pro stands at the top of the Beats headphones hierarchy – offering the most powerful audio drivers and the largest feature set. The Noise Cancelation is some of the best in the market and uses the same algorithms as the AirPods Max – as they both have the
AirPods Max for Android?
The Beats Studio Pro’s are compatible with Android Fast Pair, so they connect like AirPods would to iPhones.
The Beats app is the hub where you handle the settings of your headphones, like adjusting EQ or setting up features like the Noise Cancellation or Transparency modes.
The Studio Pros are rich in lows, with broad mids and tamed high frequencies. The high end doesn’t sound muffled or muted, but the subwoofers in the headphones there to dominate the frequency spectrum. The color and warmth of the sound the Beats Studio Pros produce is reminiscent of Subwoofer based car audio systems built to showcase bass heavy music like Hip-Hop or Reggaeton. They are good set of reference headphones for audio engineers working with similar genres of music, which is where the USB-C and 3.5mm connections are invaluable. There are also three personalized sound profiles for USB-C audio through its built-in DAC (Digital to Analog Converter).
Conclusion
We’re doing a in-depth comparison of the Beats Studio Pro, in Pro Audio environments like Recording and Mastering Studios; As well as comparisons to the top Over-The-Ear headphones in the market and will conclude this review shortly.
