A man of many hats, Tre has expertise in Holistic Health and Wellness, Digital Marketing, and Media Analytics. With over 10 years of experience as a recording artist and producer, he directs our Music Production workshops. and releases music as Tre'mendous - Learn More
Soundcore’s latest version of their flagship wireless earbuds, the Liberty 4 Pro have arrived. Do they have what it takes to take top place of the true Wireless headphones category? Read on to find out.
The Liberty 4 Pro come with a full range of features that are sure to satisfy the most demanding customer, with three listening modes that can be adjusted between various levels of Transparency and ANC – with Normal listening right between the two. There’s also Spatial Audio, which can be accessed from the charging case
Look and Feel
The earbuds feel comfortable and snug, but they also come with ear tips sized from Small to XL for those with dumbo lobes. The ones pre-installed fit my ears just fine.
Sound Quality
When it comes to audio, the Liberty 4 Pro’s don’t disappoint.
Features
The Liberty 4’s come with more features than you would expect at its price point, and the quality of the sound modes are industry leading. The three main modes, Normal, ANC, and Transparency mode all work as expected.
Conclusion
the Liberty 4 Pro in-ear headphones are a cut above the Liberty 3 in every way. Great sound quality and a long list of features for the price of the entry-level Airpods should put these earbuds at the top of your list.
The Pixel 9 series is the royal crest of Google’s Android throne
It’s no secret that I’ve always had a strong preference for Pixel smartphones. Although I rarely keep one device longer than 6 months (I swapped the Galaxy S24+, Phone 15 Pro Max, and Pixel 8 Pro in 2023 alone), this might change with the Pixel 9.
The Pixel experience has gotten so refined and seamless, as it should be – a key benefit from being made 100% in-house. And thats not just because it’s one of two devices that hardware and software is created under one company’s roof besides the iPhone – it’s also because the company it comes from makes some of the most used apps on any platform.
The Google Ecosystem
It’s not just the world’s most used search engine that Google is known for: the Chrome web browser, Gmail for email, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Keep Notes for School or Work files, YouTube/YT Music, Play Books and Play Games for entertainment, Google Messages for secure RCS text communication, and Meet for video chatting are just some of the apps that many people use on their smartphones – Android OR iPhone.
Google’s suite of apps give the Pixel 9 the only ecosystem that can go toe-to-toe with Apple
Of course most of these apps are available for every other Android and the iPhone, but that’s not my point. The level of reliability and smooth response of the UI is on another level when it’s all done by one company, much like Apple’s products.
So it’s easy to see potential for greatness in the Pixel ecosystem once you realize these are the default apps on the smartphone. No duplicate apps, no middle-man manufacturer who has to “optimize” Android for their hardware. That and the fact Google owns and maintains the Android OS, the Pixel software experience had better be one of – if not – the smoothest, most glitch-free Android experience. Even if the hardware hasn’t always been top-tier.
Luckily those issues have been resolved with the Pixel 9, as Google as released the best hardware to ever come from Mountain City, CA.
Peony Pleasantries
It might have taken 9 iterations, but the Build Quality feels durable – sturdy without being heavy – and the design language lends credibility to the claim that even the base models of the Pixel 9 are on the same level as the best selling smartphones on the market.
Wintergreen Wonder
Display Quality
The display is coined “Actua-Display”, and it’s an awesome screen. The colors are natural, the screen is bright and sharp – and in direct sunlight it goes up to 2700 nits.
Its stands toe to toe with the best from Apple and Samsung, with yearly improvements to an already great display.
6.3-inch Actua display1 20:9 aspect ratio 1080 x 2424 OLED at 422 PPI Smooth Display (60-120Hz)2 Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus® 2 cover glass Up to 1800 nits (HDR) and up to 2700 nits (peak brightness)3 >2,000,000:1 contrast ratio HDR support Full 24-bit depth for 16 million colors
Rear Camera Summary Advanced dual rear camera system: 50 MP wide | 48 MP ultrawide with Macro Focus | Super Res Zoom up to 8x13 and optical quality at 0.5x, 1x, 2x13
Wide Camera 50 MP Octa PD wide camera ƒ/1.68 aperture 82° field of view13 1/1.31″ image sensor size Super Res Zoom up to 8x13
Ultrawide Camera 48 MP Quad PD ultrawide camera with autofocus ƒ/1.7 aperture 123° field of view13 1/2.55″ image sensor size
Single-zone LDAF (laser detect auto focus) sensor Spectral and flicker sensor Optical + electronic image stabilization on wide
Front Camera
10.5 MP Dual PD selfie camera with autofocus ƒ/2.2 aperture 95° ultrawide field of view
Camera Features
Super Res Zoom up to 8×13 Add Me Macro Focus Night Sight Astrophotography Portrait Mode Face Unblur Long Exposure Action Pan Real Tone Panorama Top Shot Frequent Faces
Google VPN at no extra cost End-to-end security designed by Google Multi-layer hardware security: Tensor security core, certified Titan M2 security chip, and Trusty (Trusted Execution Environment) Anti-malware and anti-phishing protection Spam protection in Google Phone and Messages Learn more at g.co/pixel/security and g.co/pixel/certifications
Authentication
Fingerprint Unlock Face Unlock Pattern, PIN, password
Battery
24+ hour battery life5 Up to 100-hour battery life with Extreme Battery Saver6 Typical 4700 mAh (minimum 4558 mAh)7 Fast charging – up to 55% in about 30 minutes8 – using Google 45W USB-C® Charger, sold separately Fast wireless charging (Qi-certified)9 Battery Share10
Material
Scratch-resistant Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus® 2 cover glass Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus® 2 polished back with satin finish metal frame IP68 dust and water resistance14 Fingerprint-resistant coating The aluminum in the housing is 100% recycled content15 Made with at least 20% recycled materials based on product weight 100% plastic-free packaging16
Dimensions
6 in (height) x 2.8 in (width) x 0.3 in (depth)
Weight
7 oz
Colors
Peony, Wintergreen, Porcelain, Obsidian
Launch Date
August 2024
Price
$799 (12GB+ 128GB), $899 (12GB + 256GB) Google Store
Conclusion
With the Pixel 9, it feels as if years of incremental refinements and tweaks build up to one of the most complete smartphone packages available today. A premium, flagship-level build, pro-level cameras even in the base model (minus the telephoto lens) and a well rounded ecosystem that comes with 7 years of OS and security updates promise. What more can you ask for from a company that almost had it right with the Nexus brand. If only the gains in market share respond accordingly.
Withings, a global leader in connected health devices, unveils the ScanWatch Nova Brilliant Edition, its latest offering merging timeless design with the precision of medical-grade technology. Available for purchase in November 2024, in time for the holiday season, ScanWatch Nova Brilliant is the most spectacularly designed smartwatch Withings has ever made. The expanded line comes in titanium silver and stunning bicolor silver and gold, adding to the color choices of the current ScanWatch Nova lineup, and is available in a smaller size for daintier wrists thanks to a 39mm case.
At first glance, ScanWatch Nova Brilliant Edition is a testament to elegance. Its sleek, minimalistic design is highlighted by a fluted bezel that exudes sophistication, paired with an ultra-durable box-shaped sapphire glass face. This smartwatch combines durability with elegance. Water-resistant up to 50 meters (5ATM) and featuring a 5-link bracelet, it’s designed to keep up with your active lifestyle.
Scanwatch Nova Brilliant Edition in titanium silver
This hybrid smartwatch has an analog-style design and provides essential heart tracking features, notifications, messages, and information through its high-resolution OLED screen. It is available in luxurious gold and refined silver finishes, making it a versatile accessory for any occasion. The silver model features a bezel made of titanium for durability, while the gold model comes with a unique bicolor wristband. Beyond its attractive appearance, the ScanWatch Nova Brilliant Edition also houses advanced health sensors capable of performing powerful health scans, including a medical-grade electrocardiogram (ECG) for detecting atrial fibrillation. With a phenomenal 30-day battery life and leveraging the advanced health sensors and tracking capabilities of the acclaimed Withings ScanWatch 2, its medical insights and measurements include:
On-Demand Medical-Grade ECG: ScanWatch Nova Brilliant Edition performs an on-demand medical-grade electrocardiogram to detect a potential heart anomaly at any time such as atrial fibrillation which is one of the most prevalent forms of arrhythmias, characterized by irregular heart rhythms. In just 30 seconds, users can initiate an ECG reading by touching the bezel, with results available instantly on the Withings app. Since 2020, more than 2 million episodes of AFib have been detected using Withings devices.
May indicate the onset of an illness: ScanWatch Nova Brilliant tracks body temperature fluctuations day and night, potentially indicating the onset of an illness and boosting your ability to manage performance and workout recovery. This technology combines heat flux sensors with high-accuracy temperature sensors to provide top-tier temperature variation assessments.
Assess part of the respiratory system: Users can track their blood oxygen levels (SpO2) and monitor overnight breathing disturbances. Good blood oxygenation is necessary to supply the energy the muscles need to function, and it increases during sports activities.
Help achieve more restful sleep: Wake up to a Sleep Quality Score and detailed insights into sleep metrics, including phases, depth, duration, and interruptions, along with personalized improvement advice.
Boost your activity with advanced tracking: ScanWatch Nova Brilliant Edition can track parameters such as steps, calories, elevation, workout routes (via in-app connected GPS) and can automatically recognize more than 40 daily activities such as walking, running, swimming, and cycling. In addition, it offers Fitness Level assessments through estimation of VO2 Max, which measures the heart and muscle’s ability to convert oxygen into energy during physical exercise.
Scanwatch Nova Brilliant Edition in silver and gold
Availability
ScanWatch Nova Brilliant will be available to purchase on Withings.com from early November 2024, in the U.S., EU, and the UK, priced at $588.95, €599,95 and £ 549.95 and from mid-November at our selected retailers.
Will the new Snapdragon X Elite processors put new Windows 11 laptops at the forefront of mainstream AI experiences?
The new Omnibook series marks the beginning of AI-powered computers for both the industry and HP. The first of the two – the Omnibook X – is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite.
This marks the PC industries second big push to ARM-powered computers, one that has already become a standard with the M3 chips in Apple’s computing devices. ARM chips bring improved battery life, thermal management and integrated graphics without compromising processing power that comes with X86/64 architecture. Only this generation of ARM devices comes with AI powered smarts.
The Omnibook X is also a CoPilot+ PC which is Microsoft’s latest version of Windows 11 laptops powered by on device AI.
So, does the Omnibook X deliver? You’ll have to wait until our extensive review goes live, but our early indications show that there are practical improvements across the board. Even if the AI in Windows 11 is a bit underwhelming at the moment.
You can get the HP Omnibook X with a starting price of $1,149.99 at HP or catch it on sale for a limited time at Best Buy for $899.00
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.
The S1 Active is a lighter smartwatch than the vanilla Xiaomi Watch, with a slightly more durable and sporty build. Although it’s not sold in any major retail stores, and Xiaomi Pay is still not available in the U.S. – it’s just as assessable as more readily available smartwatches on the market.
