With so many wireless earbuds hitting the market, it can be somewhat overwhelming choosing which ones are right for you.
Because everyone's different, there's no perfect solution - but let's look at the latest option from JBL...
The JBL Free X "truly wireless" earbuds follow the template we've seen from several other brands in recent months; a pair of small in-ear monitors you keep in their own charging case when you're not using them.
Cosmetically, the Free X buds are far from the worst I've seen. When it comes to the form factor of the earbuds themselves we've seen the emergence of two basic styles - the weird stick-hanging-down shape Apple is responsible for, or the more logical let's-keep-it-all-in-your-ear style I prefer. Thankfully, JBL's gone with the latter.
In saying that, they're definitely on the larger side of the scale, but rather than sticking straight out, the earbuds are kind of long and when I first saw them I wondered how they would balance once inserted in my ears. There's a loud and proud JBL logo on each bud, so people won't be in any doubt which brand you've chosen.
That logo actually covers physical control buttons which trigger different operations on each bud, depending on how many times you tap them. There's a definite, physical click with each push which certainly reduces the risk of accidental pushes as I've encountered on other touch-based controls. The buttons are not customiseable though, so you'll have to refer to the quick setup guide and familiarise youself with the controls if they're not intuitively what you thought they'd be. One push of the right-hand bud to play/pause or answer calls makes sense. A double press on the left-hand bud to skip back a track perhaps less so. I certainly like the tactile nature of these controls, but I missed the ability to adjust volume up and down - you'll have to do this on the connected device itself.
The Free X's address a few common issues I've had with other wireless earbuds. For starters, they're IPX5 certified, meaning they're splashproof so you can go running in the rain no worries. Why anybody would want to go running in the rain is more of a mystery, but at least you can do so knowing your earbuds won't die if you do.
The other thing that won't die is the battery. JBL claims you'll get up to four hours of continuous use and I've certainly had no issues reaching close to that mark. Four hours isn't the longest listening time out there, but a big bonus with the Free X setup is the charging case - and I do mean big. The case is certainly one of the larger ones I've come across, but presumably this is because of its superior battery life. While other cases carry enough juice for one or two extra charges on the go, the Free X case will charge the buds another five times! That'll keep you going for a full 24 hours, which could serve you well on your next long-haul Netflix binge.
Long-term listening shouldn't be a problem comfort-wise, as despite my initial concerns, the Free X buds are surprisingly balanced once inserted and feel almost weightless. There is a "but" though... I found getting the right fit somewhat challenging. The Free X comes with three sizes of eartips and two sizes of something I've never seen before; gel sleeves that alter the size and shape of the whole earbuds themselves, not just the tip.
This seems like a good idea in theory, as no two ears are the same shape. Trouble is, making the already large Free X buds bigger isn't a great solution. As it turns out, not only are my ears different to everyone else's, they're different to each other. I ended up using a sleeve on one side but not on the other. This provides a secure enough fit to get me through my 7km run with only a minimum amount of fiddling around to keep the earpieces in place. However, during more rigorous activity, like digging holes, I actually had earbuds fall out from time to time which is not ideal given they're "truly wireless."
Of course, the tricky thing with any earbuds is what fits perfectly for one person, might be completely wrong for someone else - and vice versa. The first company to offer a try-before-you-buy option might be onto a winner.
Perhaps the most important thing is sound quality though and here, as usual, JBL delivers a solid performance. Unlike many of its other devices, the playback isn't particularly bass-heavy, although this might be partly due to my lack of a really tight seal with the way the Free X buds fit. This also means background noise does get in a bit, although you can wind up the volume plenty loud enough to drown most things out. (Even complaining teenagers, I've discovered)
I found call quality to be very clear. For some reason the Free X defaults to mono on the right side when making or taking a call. The JBL website lists this as a positive "more natural" feature. I'm not sure what's more natural about having a conversation in only one ear but maybe I'm missing something.
Where the JBL Free X really wins out is price - available for around $200 at many retailers, the compromises on perfect fit and ultimate audio could well be worth making if you're looking to save a hundred bucks or so. Especially if you've got good-sized ear-holes.
Click here for more information on the JBL Free X truly wireless in-ear headphones.
While Huawei goes from strength to strength with its smartphone releases in New Zealand, we haven't seen much from its line of accessories... until now.
Right off the bat, the Huawei Watch GT is a fine looking timepiece. Even if it was just an "ordinary" watch, you'd be impressed by its modern colouring and superior build quality. The titanium grey casing features bronze accents making it a versatile match with almost anything. This is carried through to the design of the dark green band, which (as the above picture would suggest) tends to the blue end of the scale. It's sporty but still elegant and the whole package really does blend in with both casual and dressy ensembles.
The quick-fit band can be easily swapped out with other similar-sized straps, but I haven't found many as comfortable as the Huawei-branded band supplied. In fact, the Watch GT is extremely comfortable generally. It's significantly slimmer and lighter than most smartwatches I've worn which not only makes wearing it while working out so much more pleasurable, but it's the first full-sized watch I could stand to wear to bed to take advantage of its sleep-tracking functionality. There's even an easily accessed do-not-disturb setting to prevent the screen lighting up in the dark.
That's good news, because once paired with the Huawei Health app, which is very straight-forward by the way, I found the information gleaned from my nights' sleep very accurate and enlightening. Based on Harvard University research, the Watch GT tallies up your deep, light and REM cycles to let you know exactly what you're missing out on... or getting too much of.
Turns out, waking up in the middle of the night to go and work at breakfast radio is slowly killing me. That's pretty much what I've always suspected.
Of course, the Watch GT is much, much more than a sleep tracker - its primary function is recording your exercise. From walking, running and cycling to swimming and even triathlon, there's a good selection of activities able to be tracked and saved to your Huawei Health profile. A good selection - but not great. Unlike other app-based trackers, while the basics are well covered, relatively common exercises like aerobics, martial arts and football are not. It's possible more sports will be added with future software updates. Here's hoping.
Because the activities the Watch GT does track, are tracked beautifully. I've found the GPS to be one of the most accurate I've come across, probably due in part to its ability to support all three Satellite Positioning Systems. The 1.39inch AMOLED screen is large enough to display a lot of information at once; heart rate, pace, distance and more. I've also found the screen extremely easy to read in all lighting conditions, although sometimes I wish it would dim a little more in the dark. The display is surrounded by a ceramic bezel which helps give everything a very durable feel. I've been wearing the Watch GT pretty much 24/7 for almost a month and have yet to notice any scratches or dings.
Navigation is fairly straightforward and intuitive, via a combination of the two side-mounted buttons and screen-swipes. This way you can quickly fire off workouts or review brief summaries of your activities to date.
All these things respond very quickly, if not instantly and I've found operation smooth and reliable.
But...
There's not much else to talk about.
Unlike previous Huawei smartwatches which ran the same Androidwear operating system found on many watches from various manufacturers, this time Huawei has gone with its own OS. The advantage is slick operation, making the most of its unique double chipset. The disadvantage - and it's a hefty one - no outside apps. Unlike other smartwatches, you won't find your favourite fitness, music or banking apps on this one. In fact, there are some fairly serious omissions across the board. The function I miss the most is any kind of media controller. I've become quite dependent on being able to play and pause my podcasts with my watch, but not with the Huawei Watch GT.
And while it does an excellent, reliable job of displaying notifications from any app installed on your phone, there's no ability to reply to emails or texts from the watch itself.
Given you can control some functions, like dismissing alarms on your phone, I'm holding out hope some of those other functions may magically appear in future software updates.
Maybe Huawei has simply decided if you can't do it perfectly, don't do it at all. Certainly what it does do, it does flawlessly. Apart from accurate activity and sleep tracking, and easy-to-read notifications, there are also plenty of useful tools, like the stopwatch, timer, compass and weather widget.
But battery life is probably the star of the show. While the Huawei website claims up to two weeks on a full charge, I've found mine lasts more like 10 days, probably due to longer, more regular workouts. That's right, I'm a fitness freak. (Yes, that is a joke) That being said, I've never owned a smartwatch with a screen this good that lasted more than a day or two, so ten days is blowing my mind. While the charging cradle isn't strictly wireless, the magnetic connection is pretty foolproof.
The Huawei Watch GT has a RRP of $349 and although this is less than some smartwatches on the market, you can't ignore it simply doesn't offer the same level of functionality as many of those devices.
On the other hand, this is perhaps the most comfortable and attractive smartwatch I've ever worn. Add in its remarkable battery life and maybe that justifies its premium price tag.
One thing's for sure; if you received the Huawei Watch GT as a bonus for pre-ordering your P30 or P30 Pro, its definitely worth taking out of the box and giving a go.
Click here for more information on the Huawei Watch GT.
There are a lot of ways to plug yourself into the Matrix. Assuming you have some decent hardware to play your games out of and a nice big screen to see them with, it'd be a shame not to treat yourself to an immersive audio experience too.
But what's the difference between a mid-range headset and something with a few more bells and whistles?
And are those bells and whistles a bit over the top?
Logitech has launched a whole new range of G-Series gaming headsets to cater for most budgets and technical demands.
You can start with a fairly simple stereo, wired setup for $139.90 or splash out on the G935 7.1 surround sound wireless rig, complete with RGB lighting for $349.90.
We'll come to that one shortly but, assuming you'd prefer surround sound to stereo, let's check out the G432 - which I think represents excellent value at $169.90.
The G432 is a wired headset, but one that comes with a lot of options. It has a generous 2-metre cable which is probably plenty long enough to reach the rear socket on your PC tower if need be. This will plug into the hybrid headphone/mic jack you'll find on most laptops, tablets and phones.
However, most PC's have separate mic and headphone sockets, either on the front or back of the tower or both. Luckily, Logitech includes an adapter cable to split the lead into separate mic and headphone feeds.
This is all well and good, but the G432 is actually a 7.1 capable headset and to make the most of its surround sound abilities, you'll need the final attachment included in the box - a USB dongle you plug the headset into.
This allows you to tune your audio experience through the extremely user-friendly Logitech G Hub app, easily downloaded from the Logitech G website. Using the app, you can choose from preset profiles and EQ's, or adjust these manually, even fiddling with the levels on each individual speaker if you wish.
If you ask me, that's a lot of functionality for $169.90.
The G432 is constructed mostly from a durable, matte black plastic, with a metal headband protected by the same leatherette cushioning you'll find on the ear-cups. There are a few bright blue highlights here and there, but aesthetically there's not much to write home about.
On the other hand, I found that cushioning to be extremely comfortable, quite breathable and although the headset leans towards the larger side, it's pretty well balanced so doesn't feel heavy at all when you're wearing it.
The mic boom, fitted on the left side, flips up out of the way and mutes when you're not using it. I found the mic quality clear enough, without being anything close to studio performance, although it certainly picks up quite a lot of background noise if the volume is wound up.
On the back of that same left-hand earcup you'll find a convenient volume wheel, so you can adjust the playback level directly, without having to open any settings on your device, mid game.
The sound is pretty great - you can certainly wind things up nice and loud and the surround experience can be further enhanced by selecting DTS mode if you prefer. It's the only way to play a first person shooter, or even a race-track game - the 7.1 effect really does put you in the middle of the action.
The G432 wouldn't be my first choice for music appreciation - the speakers are good, but not super accurate over the full range of highs, mids and lows. Also, you'd look a bit stupid walking down the street listening to Spotify wearing a headset like this.
I'd almost consider it with the G935 though.
This is Logitech's full featured headset and it's damned impressive.
In saying that, I do have to start with a slight negative; it's huge. If the G432 is on the large side, the G935 is a monster, but there's a reason. The deluxe leatherette earcushions are big enough to fit right around your whole ears, sealing out any distracting background noise. The earcups themselves are extra deep too, so the surround sound effects really do have the space they need to seem as realistic as possible. The well-padded steel headband is shaped to provide even better balance than the G432, so again, despite its size, once you've put the G935 on, it's comfortable enough to wear for hours at a time - and I have.
Just because it's big, doesn't mean it's not beautiful. There's a more solid feel to this headset, built with an attractive combination of matte and shiny, patterned plastic. All black... until you power it up.
There's a strip of RGB LEDs running up each earcup as well as an LED Logitech logo. These are totally customisable using the Logitech G Hub app. Choose your favourite colour, flash on and off, cycle through all the colours - even sync your light scheme with other Logitech peripherals. Of course, if you think lighting up something you can't see because you're wearing it on your head is stupid... you can turn the lights off completely.
This will save you a bit of battery life, which might be important if you're an all day (or all night) gamer. Either way, you should get at least 8 hours out of a full charge - via the included microUSB cable. If you're involved in a real marathon, the charging cable is plenty long enough to leave plugged in while you're playing.
The G935 connects wirelessly via its supplied USB dongle - this is a 2.4GHz connection, not bluetooth, so there's no latency whatsoever and it's crystal clear. I've used it in various locations and have yet to encounter any interference or dropouts whatsoever. When you're not using it, you can hide the dongle away behind the magnetic cover on the left earcup. Very secret squirrel.
You can connect via standard 3.5mm audio cable too. Strangely, this isn't an attractive braided lead like the charging cable is. Maybe Logitech would rather you just did the cool thing and play wirelessly.
Logitech's Pro-G speakers really are next level - they call the sound design "Anti-Assassin Audio" - the idea being no-one can sneak up on you anymore because you'll hear them coming. I'm no pro gamer, but I definitely feel like one wearing this headset. I've never been so immersed in the action. There's a much better bass response here and unlike the G432, I've been more than happy to play music through the G935 while I work. Again, due to its bulky profile, you're hardly going to be wearing these while you work out, but the playback quality is right up there.
The mic quality is definitely a step up too - very clear although like the G432, if you have the level too high you'll pick up a fair amount of background noise. The mic boom not only mutes when flipped up, but it recesses back into the left earcup completely, so you almost can't see it at all.
That left earcup is definitely where all the action is - not only is the power switch and volume wheel on the back, but you'll also find three fully programmable function buttons. We're not just talking Play, Pause and Skip here - using the Logitech G Hub app, these buttons can be used to change sound and lighting profiles too. That's right; you can even create different profiles to match different games. There are so many ways to customise the G935, it might seem overwhelming, but the app is very well designed and all those options can be accessed in just a few clicks.
My only complication with either of these headsets was the initial setup. I installed them on two different Windows 10 PC's and had to run the sound troubleshooter to get them to work as my default devices. Not a major - maybe a future update from either Logitech or Microsoft will sort this.
Whichever headset you choose from Logitech's new G-Series, I'm confident you'll be more than satisfied with the sound, the build quality and value for money. Once again, Logitech has shown it certainly knows how to build great gaming accessories... although you might want to invest in a headset stand to save yourself some desk space!
Click here for more information and pricing on the Logitech G432 wired gaming headset.
Click here for more information and pricing on the Logitech G935 wireless gaming headset.
Before Spotify. Before iTunes. Before mp3's. Hell, before CD's, cassettes and LP's... there was this thing called radio.
What may surprise you is, it's still there.
But how do you get it?
The JBL Tuner FM is certainly a tidy little unit. Smaller than a block of cheese, it feels solid and durable. There are no sticky-out knobs or sharp corners. It can easily be stowed in a bag without taking up too much space or getting tangled up with anything you have in there.
Since the invention of the transistor, radio has been the entertainment source you can take with you wherever you go... but somewhere along the way we forgot that and started fiddling with our phones instead.
Of course, another cool thing about radio is it doesn't use your data if you're out and about and it doesn't need to connect to the WiFi.
If this all sounds a bit rudimentary, I guess it probably is - and maybe that's why the JBL Tuner FM is somewhat... basic. It works very much the same way as a car radio. You can scan for your favourite stations and choose five to save to your presets, with a simple long-press of a button. There's a backlit digital display to show you the frequency and sometimes the name of the station - but only sometimes. I couldn't quite figure out how to make this happen all the time, so I'm pretty sure this is a feature controlled at the transmission end, not the receiving end.
And the receiving end receives very well. Ironically, given I work in radio, I live in an area that's notoriously spotty when it comes to radio reception. When I fired up the Tuner Fm, I was presently surprised to find all my preferred stations booming through loud and clear... along with quite a few stations I'd never even heard of. This is probably due mostly to the old-school external antenna which retracts snugly into the body of the device when not in use, but is thick enough and strong enough to take a few knocks.
The Tuner FM isn't just a radio of course, it also doubles as a bluetooth speaker, and a pretty decent one at that. You'd expect any JBL speaker to be loud and bassy and the Tuner FM is no exception. Sadly, unlike other JBL speakers, this one isn't waterproof, so you'd better keep it on your towel if you take it to the beach.
The other feature I miss is JBL Connect - the ability to link with other JBL and Harman/Kardon speakers. This is a shame because it would be nice to be able to have the same radio station playing all through the house. Especially my station. Obviously.
What really sets this radio apart from your traditional transistor is modern battery technology. It charges using a conventional microUSB charger. That charge will last around 8 hours... although I've found that actually understates playback time if you're only using the Tuner FM as a radio - that doesn't seem to use much power at all, as opposed to a bluetooth connection which runs things down much faster.
At first glance $119 seems a little steep for such a straight-forward device. (Although you may find it a bit cheaper if you shop around) But this truly is two solid devices in one; a relatively grunty, uber portable bluetooth speaker combined with a fantastic FM radio capable of picking up a heap of stations with crystal clarity. Yes, it's simple, but it works.
Click here for more information and pricing on the JBL Tuner FM.
