Dyson WashG1 - Awesomely Disgusting

This is easily the most revolting review I've ever written.

While I've tried all manner of vacuums over the years, including robot ones - and even motorised window cleaners, I've never encountered quite the extent of filth as I did this time around.

Of course, the question is; just how close to the filth did I have to get? Let's find out.

The WashG1 is Dyson's first attempt at a wet floor cleaner, although there is a self-contained wet roller head called the Submarine which attaches to the V15s Detect vacuum.

In their usual style, the engineers at Dyson didn't just come up with their version of other electric mops out there. These basically fall into one of two categories; 1) Scrub the floor with some form of rotating pad (or pads) or 2) Just suck everything up in a big gloopy mess.

The Dyson WashG1 doesn't really fall into either category - in fact, it doesn't technically "suck up" anything at all, which is kind of ironic given sucking up is what Dyson is best known for.

Instead, after a lot of testing, the Dyson R&D department discovered the key to cleaning hard floors isn't about how hard you scrub. It's more to do with how intensely you can soak it. Therefore their solution was a dual-tank system that pumps clean water onto two spinning microfibre rollers, then squeezes the dirty water out and pumps it back into a second tank. Meanwhile, any bits and pieces get brushed into their own little tray to be dealt with later.

So in short, this isn't a vacuum. It's more like a rolly-pumper... or perhaps a pumpy-roller?

Design is what Dyson does best and the WashG1 is definitely no exception. I put it together in about a minute and a half, straight out of the box, with no instructions. Everything slides easily into place, clicking home securely. 

Likewise, the rechargeable battery is a doddle to snap in and out so if the approximate 35-minute run-time isn't enough to get you through a whole clean, I assume you can order a second battery to have on hand.

Perhaps the only possible point of confusion, (at least according to one other review I read) is which way up to fit the double water-tank. Personally, I didn't find this confusing at all because the lower, dirty water tank has an indentation in the base that fits perfectly onto its corresponding position on the main device.

I also read a few complaints about the lids on the water tanks being fiddly to screw on. Again, I couldn't disagree more. If anything, these might be the best designed screw-tops I've ever come across. While it's true the single output nozzle on the clean tank and the dual inputs of the dirty tank have to line up with their respective release buttons, this happens automatically when you tighten the lids. I haven't had a single issue.

In another bit of design genius, the WashG1 can stand up by itself, all you have to do is click the handle into its upright position, perpendicular to the floor. You can't start it in this position though, so it's not until you've filled the blue tank with clean water and clicked the handle down that you'll be able to get underway.

Dyson describes the WashG1 as lightweight. I'm not so sure. It's just under 5kgs and of course, when you add a litre of water, that's another kilo again. Lucky then it's so manoeuvrable. The square head swivels in every direction and because the two microfibre rollers spin in opposite directions, it's very easy to move over the floor.

The handle folds down almost flat, which means I can get right in under my bathroom cabinets, as I demonstrate in the video below. You do have to be a bit careful though as using the WashG1 at such an angle often fools it into thinking the dirty tank is full and it won't continue cleaning until you've emptied it.

This information is clearly shown on the small full-colour screen on the top of the handle. This also displays your remaining running time and which of the three wash modes you're in.

In my regular use of the WashG1 on my timber flooring and bathroom tiles I found it did a spectacular job. It cleaned everything with ease and left very little water on the floor afterwards, so I was able to replace mats and furniture within minutes.

On my first use, I was quite disgusted at how dirty the water in the dirty tank was. Luckily, it's just as easy to empty and rinse out this tank as it is to fill the clean one.

Emptying the dry debris tray is a bit more of a mission. This slides out from the cleaning head itself and if I thought the dirty water was gross, I was quite unprepared for the collection of dirt, dead flies, hair, food particles and other detritus I found on this tray. I quickly washed it away and tried to block the image from my mind.

The charging stand is surprisingly compact; not much bigger than the head of the WashG1. This is also where you can run the self-cleaning cycle, which flushes the whole system so you're all spick and span for next time.

Although this seems to do an amazing job of squeezing out most of the moisture from the cleaning heads, they certainly don't end up completely dry by any stretch of the imagination and I do wonder if things might get a bit musty if you just left the WashG1 sitting snugly in its stand for days or weeks on end without removing the rollers to dry.

This is easy enough - another click and release system - and admittedly Dyson recommends you take them out and give them a more manual clean every three uses or so.

So yes, there is a bit of fiddling around here and at NZ$1,099.00 is it all worth it?

My answer is, it depends. About 2/5ths of my house is hard floors and I have a dog who hasn't quite mastered the art of wiping his feet before he comes in out of the rain. Generally I leave the mopping to a robot vacuum who does a pretty good job but, just like the Dyson, does require some fiddly maintenance and cleaning from time to time.

Where the Dyson WashG1 really excels is cleaning up food spills. Any manual mop and yes, even my fancy robot, will just smear a mess like that around, and it would take several goes to dispose of all the evidence. Because the WashG1 literally picks up all the solid bits as it goes, one or two passes is generally all that's required.

So for people who are feeding toddlers in high-chairs, it really seems like an essential tool. Also, I don't know if you've ever smashed a jar of something on the floor but for me, it's always one of those, "Where do I start first?" sort of situations. After you've picked out the large pieces of glass, what next? You can't vacuum it, because it's wet. And you can't really mop or wipe it because of the little bits of glass.

This is where the WashG1 reigns supreme - and I know this because I found a tiny glass shard in the debris tray last time I used it. Who knows how long that had been lying around, waiting to stick into someone's toe or my dog's nose?

Sure there are limitations - I found the wide roller head didn't really cope very well with uneven surfaces like where the floor meets door-sills and although the rollers do reach right to the very edges of the cleaning head, you still can't quite get into tight corners.

That being said, it's a lot less work than a mop and you're not just re-splashing the same water over your floor as it gets progressively dirtier and dirtier in the bucket. The drying time is outstanding and the water tanks really are a cinch to fill and empty.

If you have hard floors and you have the budget, it's a pretty well design tool to add to your housework arsenal.

Click here for more information and pricing on the Dyson WashG1.

Samsung Odyssey G85SD - So Much More Than Just a Monitor

As exciting as it may be to upgrade your computer screen, there's only so much you can say about a monitor.

Once you've covered off the size, what sort of panel it is and whether it's curved or flat, what else is there to talk about?

That is, unless your monitor isn't really a monitor at all. What if it's a complete multimedia solution with a smart home hub built in to boot?

The first thing to impress me about the Samsung Odyssey G85SD was how easy it was to set up out of the box. I've never unpacked a monitor as large as 34-inches before - but I have reviewed plenty of much larger TVs and let me tell you, getting a 75-inch panel up the stairs and onto its stand ain't no picnic. (Neither is getting it back in the box when you have to send it back)

However, the Odyssey G85SD, isn't quite in that league - as large as it is. In fact, it's easy enough to attach the super-slim stand while it's still in the box - it simply tilts in and then is held securely in place by just two screws. Then you can actually use the stand to lift the screen out of the box and set it up where you want it.

Unfortunately, and perhaps it's partly due to all the cool flashing lights we'll talk about shortly, the mounting system is not the universal VESA mount the vast majority of modern monitors use, which means you're restricted to using the stand that comes in the box. This isn't all bad news. It's a great stand. It offers a good amount of height adjustability and you can tilt the screen up or down accordingly. The base of the stand is super flat and I've found it's a convenient place to store things like the remote control.

The downside is, if you'd prefer to wall mount the screen or attach it to a support arm instead, you'll need to track down a third-party adapter. To be fair, the only reason I had been relying on a support arm to this point is I've been using a two-screen setup. Obviously with the sublimely panoramic 34-inch Odyssey display, I've got more than enough screen real estate to play with and no longer require an extra one.

But back to the lighting; the Odyssey G85SD has a Core Sync RGB ring light on the back panel. This can be tuned to the colour of your choice or you can cycle through all the colours. Ideally though, you'll set it to mirror the action on screen - sort of like the backlight strips you can stick on TVs and monitors. I't a nice idea but my office nook isn't really dark enough to make the most of it - not when I'm usually working in there anyway.

So the physical setup was a breeze. It was when I plugged my MacBook Air in that things started going awry.

In a world of plug-and-play, I never expected there'd be any issue connecting the Odyssey G85SD with my Mac via HDMI. Admittedly, there are some variables to this particular setup. There's no actual HDMI port on a MacBook Air - you have to use a USB hub. That's never stopped me before. I do also wonder if the twin-screen setup I had been running immediately before plugging into the Odyssey was partly to blame for my issues. Either way, I spent hours (yes, literally) trying different HDMI ports on both my USB hub and the monitor (it has two). I'd get a few seconds of my desktop on-screen then nothing. I even tried swapping out the cables. No difference.

It wasn't until I returned all my open windows to the built-in display on the Mac and set the Odyssey to a random USB hub setting I stumbled across that everything finally settled down and started working properly. I wonder if it would have been different using a PC with a Display Port cable?

But from that point on it was all plain sailing and almost worth the initial frustration.

There's really no easy way to sum up the feeling of freedom you experience when you move from a smaller display - even two of them - to a fabulous, curved screen like this one. The Ultra WQHD panel provides excellent colour and detail but the thing that really struck me was the anti-reflective surface. This is something Samsung has featured on many of its TVs and monitors this year and it's been particularly effective in my case because my desk has a window behind it. I usually have to pull the blind down to see what I'm doing on screen but not with the Odyssey. Even when I'm hunting zombie robots on Callisto or racing in the rain at night in Forza. Or while writing reviews like this. Obviously.

The 175Hz refresh rate and streaking 0.03ms response time far exceeds my woeful reactions and I found gaming performance more than lived up to all my expectations. Just like late model Samsung TVs, the Odyssey has its own gaming mode built-in and the gaming settings bar pops up every time the display is woken up. I wish it wouldn't but I couldn't figure out how to stop it.

There's probably a way. But just like with the initial setup, it's not what this monitor doesn't have that's the issue, it's that it has way too much.

By connecting to your Wi-Fi, the Odyssey works exactly like any other Samsung smart TV. You can download your favourite streaming apps or browse the hundreds of free channels available on Samsung TV Plus. Great... except... isn't this a bit of a double-up? Can't I already watch Netflix on my computer? 

What's more, most of the content I consumed while I was using the Odyssey - streaming or gaming - wasn't optimised for its very wide aspect ratio. Instead, and let's take Netflix as an example, you get a nice, wide picture in the middle of the display with a kind of vertical letterbox effect at the sides. Don't get me wrong, the display itself is superb; I'm just annoyed I couldn't figure out how to spread Sylvester Stallone in Tulsa King from one edge to the other.

However, where I did manage to do so was doing actual work. Whether splitting two browser windows side by side, or importing sound files from a folder into a very spread-out Adobe Audition project, I can't overstate the boost in productivity you can achieve using a screen of this size with this level of pixel density. In fact, because there are just so many pixels, I found I could wind the resolution way up and still read smaller text and place my cursor accurately with no issues at all.

The built-in speaker system definitely deserves a mention here too. I don't know much about what kind of drivers make up the 10W speaker array but I have to admit, I was really impressed. The Odyssey G85SD does a pretty good job of creating an immersive audio environment when gaming and it sounds pretty classy when I'm just playing my favourite lo-fi productivity playlists while I work.

This truly is the monitor that has it all - and I haven't even covered the fact it can double as a SmartThings hub so you can control any compatible IoT devices from your desktop. Again, that's kind of the only problem with this thing; you can spend (waste) an awful lot of time setting up stuff that might be a double-up of other devices you're already using around the house like, I dunno, your TV?

What I will say is, if you have the time to tweak all the settings, the end result is pretty hard to beat. You'll get every smart feature you ever wanted, plus a whole lot more you didn't ask for, all packed into a big, detailed, bright, non-reflective curve.

Click here for more information on the Samsung Odyssey G85SD.

WiZ Smart Outdoor String Light and Smart Fairy Light - Smart but Simple

I've been using various smart lights for ages.

If you haven't given them a go yet, I really recommend it.

They've come down in price quite dramatically in the last few years and depending on your room, a set of smart lights could work out much cheaper than installing a dimmer switch.

But those aren't the kind of lights I'm talking about today. Not when the holiday season is upon us...

WiZ has a wide range of smart lighting for most situations but it seems like a good time of year to focus on the Smart Outdoor String Light and Smart Fairy Light.

In many ways, these will seem familiar. I'm sure most of us have dealt with fairy lights before and in this case you get 20 metres of them. Meanwhile, the String Light is a 14.8 metre length of twelve "festoon-like" bulbs, a style that seems to be all the rage right now.

The String Light is specifically designed for outdoor use, with the lights carrying an IP65 rating for weather resistance and the power adapter rated at IP44.

On the other hand, while the box for the WiZ Fairy Light set has a big pink "Indoor and Outdoor" sticker on it, they seem to only be rated IP20. Both power adapters have warning labels attached declaring they should be plugged into an indoor socket, even if you're using the lights outside. That'd be fine, except there's only a few metres of cable between the power plug and the first light on either set - not really enough to run inside through a window and still get them positioned anywhere near where you need them.

I think I'll risk it and use my outdoor power socket on the back deck instead.

Both sets of lights are rated for about 15 years use. The String Light seems particularly robust, with a solid moulding above each light complete with convenient hole for hanging on a hook or nail.

As for the Fairy Light set - 20 metres is fairly generous and I was able to trim pretty much my whole deck with those.

But these aren't just any decorative lights, of course. Being smart lights, they need to be set up with the very well set-out WiZ V2 app. Pairing is a doddle, you just turn the lights on, the app recognises them and guides you through the rest of the setup process, which simply involves inputting your Wi-Fi password, naming your lights and designating the room or area in which you've installed them.

At this point you can now use the app to control the lights and that means so much more than just turning them on and off. Obviously you have all the colours in the world to choose from, at any level of brightness. But there's a host of preset static and dynamic themes too - everything from Candlelight and Sunset to Christmas and Diwali.

The controller (down by the power adapter) has a single button which can be programmed to activate two different themes of your choice, based on a single or double click.

Alternatively, you can schedule the lights to turn on and off automatically at specified times, displaying whatever theme, colour, brightness or pattern you like.

Just to prove how smart these lights are, you can also set them to respond to your circadian rhythms (based on when you get up and go to sleep). Admittedly, this probably isn't that relevant to these particular lights, unless you have them set up in your bedroom - which I guess is more likely with the Fairy Light set.

Smarter still - and this kind of blows my mind - both these WiZ lights are SpaceSense enabled. This means they literally use Wi-Fi waves to act as motion sensors. You do need two separate WiZ lights installed in the same space to use this feature but then it can turn on the lights and send you a notification if you wish. You can even adjust the sensitivity so only people set it off - not pets.

And then, even smarter again, both the Fairy Light and String Light are compatible with just about every smart home system known to humankind; Google Home, Amazon Alexa, SmartThings, IFTTT, Apple HomeKit - in fact, because they are Matter enabled, there aren't many IoT hubs that won't control them. This means I can use voice commands with any smart speaker, phone or even my watch and my new party lights on the back deck will respond accordingly... even if I'm not home.

Best of all, you can set both strings of lights to the exact same, matching theme. I love the way they can transform from bright, gaudy party lights one minute, to a cosy, flickering flame-like effect the next.

If you're considering updating or adding to your Christmas light collection this year, I'd definitely consider smartening up your nightscape with either or both of these options. At around NZ$180 each, they may be a little more expensive than your standard set of lights but they're very durable, super easy to set up and they're pretty much guaranteed to be compatible with any existing smart home.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the WiZ Smart Outdoor String Light and Smart Fairy Light.

Arlo Ultra 2 - The Latest Security Tech Comes at a Cost

When considering a security camera system for your home, there are many choices.

It's obviously important to have cameras that provide clear footage, day and night. Ideally, you need accurate and prompt notifications. And I'd also argue it's not enough just to have a camera - you also need to be able to record and save the footage. It's no use having a live feed of a porch pirate stealing your prized packages if you can't pass the video on to the proper authorities.

Those should be your minimum requirements.

But Arlo can offer you more. Much, much more.

The Ultra 2 is Arlo's latest wireless security camera and in combination with an Arlo Secure Plus subscription, you'll get just about every feature you can think of... and a couple you may not have even imagined.

To begin with, the Ultra 2 camera itself is a very tidy piece of design. It's compact, weather resistant and appears to be very durable. The two-camera kit I was sent for review also included magnetic and screw mounts which meant plenty of flexibility around exactly where I could install it. In fact, because the Ultra 2 has a magnetic back panel at both top and bottom, you'll get the right angle whether you choose to wall mount or attach to a ceiling or overhang.

This isn't just a camera either. There's also a powerful, built-in LED spotlight and a 2-way audio system that boasts noise reduction tech to battle any ambient wind noise.

The simplicity of the design makes setting up the Ultra 2 very easy; by pushing the release button underneath, you simply slide the cover back to insert the large, rechargeable battery cell. These can last for an impressive six months, depending on usage. This is hard for me to verify as I've only been using the cameras for a week or so and not only have I put both of them in high-traffic areas but I've been pushing most of the features pretty hard.

Using battery-powered cameras can be a bit limiting because they need to be somewhere you can easily take them down for charging. However, Arlo sells additional batteries and a dual charger, so you don't have to have any cameras out of action for the several hours it takes to charge.

Alternatively, you could add Arlo's Solar Panel Charger or leave the camera connected to the optional (and rather expensive) 7.6-metre magnetic charging cable.

Perhaps the most important thing to note is the Ultra 2 cameras connect via a Smart Hub, not directly to your home Wi-Fi network. This is important because it ensures a solid connection and a leaves you with less crowded Wi-Fi. It does mean connecting the Smart Hub to your router via an ethernet cable though, so you'll need to make room for that and hopefully you'll have a spare LAN port on your router to plug it into.

The other advantage of a hub-based system like this - and for me it's a biggie - is there's a slot for a microSD card on the Smart Hub. This means you can store your video footage locally, without risking it being nicked if it was slotted into your camera instead.

Of course, cloud storage is even more secure... but we'll come to that.

Once up and running - which is a very straightforward process, guided clearly, step by step in the Arlo Secure app - I was immediately impressed by the picture quality. There aren't many 4K cameras on the home security market and the Ultra 2 provides a stunningly clear, detailed feed, day or night. 

It also offers a wide, 180° view, with very little fish-eye distortion at the edges. In fact, as you'll see from my video below, the view is so wide, it's somewhat wasted on the camera I set up in my entranceway, a pretty enclosed space; half the shot is taken up by blank walls!

You even have the option to toggle HDR on and you can set the Ultra 2 to automatically track and zoom any objects/people it detects.

As you would expect, you can send notifications to your phone - or anyone else's for that matter. 

But to really get the most out of an Ultra 2 camera, you'll need to subscribe to an Arlo Secure Plan - ideally Arlo Secure Plus. This gets you thirty days of cloud storage, easily accessible and shareable from anywhere.

It also unlocks the ability to distinguish between people, packages, animals and vehicles. This is a feature I've used with other cameras before but Arlo's version is even smarter. Thanks to Arlo Intelligence (Get it? A.I.?) you can use other photos stored on your phone to train the Ultra 2 to recognise people or vehicles - they don't have to have appeared on camera beforehand.

Aural notifications can be activated too - either smoke alarms or just any sound at all.

Or... and this is pretty cool - you can create your own Custom Detection. Have you ever arrived home to discover you left the garage door open the whole time you were out? With an Arlo Secure Plus subscription, you can use a picture of what that looks like to get the camera to send you a notification before you get too far down the street.

You can have rich notifications sent to your phone or smart watch - this means a preview shot of what's been detected - and you can start streaming on your phone or tablet right from the notification window.

These are the kind of specialised features that are often only available on a subscription plan and Arlo certainly has quite a list of them - which is maybe why Secure Plus so expensive - starting at NZ$16.67 a month, if you pay for a year at a time. Ouch.

Oh, and one other little quirk. Just like most other cameras, when you set up the Ultra 2 you can create Smart Activity Zones, effectively monitoring some areas but not others. This is essential if you want to be notified of movement on the path to your mailbox but not on the busy street beyond it. Trouble is, you'll need an Arlo Subscription to do this too. I've never had to pay extra for this feature before.

Now, if can push my grumpy old man prejudices aside, I have to concede that as a grumpy old man, I can still remember a time when people used to pay private security companies to monitor their alarms for them. I'm pretty sure it cost a lot more than twenty bucks a month. 

And it wouldn't sting so much except these are not cheap cameras we're talking about here; the 2 Camera Kit I'm reviewing goes for NZ$899, with a single add on camera setting you back NZ$429. Yes, there's a Basic plan and yes, if you're only monitoring one camera it would cost you as little as NZ$6.67 a month - but wouldn't it annoy you not having access to all those fancy "AI" features?

At least if you buy one before the end of the year you can enter Arlo's competition to win an MG 3 Excite or another Arlo camera. A free car would certainly help dull the pain of a monthly subscription.

I'm not disputing these are perhaps the most well-designed home security cameras I've trialled to date and as such, you'd expect to pay a premium. But to have to keep paying a premium for all the features (some of which you get for free elsewhere) seems just a tad over the top.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Arlo Ultra 2 two camera kit.

Apple AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC - Choosing the Right Pods Just Got a Lot Harder

Well, if there was one common theme to come out of Apple's September product launch, for me it was all about narrowing the gap between Pro and non-Pro devices.

As I've already discussed in my reviews to date, the base-model iPhone 16 and 16 Plus got the same new Camera Control button as the Pros.

The Series 10 Apple Watch has adopted many of the Watch Ultra's features and even has a slightly larger display.

So was it any surprise AirPods 4 also got a premium makeover?

This review is a bit of a weird three-way as I'll be comparing the AirPods 4 with the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation - but then I'll also be comparing both of them with the AirPods Pro 2. That's because your "basic" AirPods ain't so basic anymore.

Let's start with what the two new AirPods 4 models have in common, because it's quite a lot.

In fact, as far as I can tell, they look exactly the same. There doesn't seem to be any difference in size or shape and size-wise, the charging cases also appear to be identical.

This is mostly fantastic news. Apple has gone to great lengths to improve the shape of its AirPods. I never used to be much of a fan of the open-fit design. Not only did I miss the passive noise cancellation you get with the nice, tight seal of a set of silicone tips but I always found they just fell out a lot. This is only to be expected, right? If you have earbuds that merely sit on your ears, rather than in them, they might be moire comfortable but obviously they're not going to be very secure.

Except, now they are.

I've been wearing the new AirPods everywhere; around the house, in the kitchen, walking the dog, working in the garden, cleaning out my man cave... I haven't had a single bud fall out yet. So I can personally attest to a major improvement in fit. Both AirPod 4 options carry an IP54 dust/sweat/water resistance rating so yes, they're potentially now the most comfortable sound option for workouts.

Both have the same pinch controls on the stem for playing/pausing/answering calls etc. Unfortunately, there's no volume control by sliding your finger up and down the stem like there is on the AirPods Pro 2.

However, they do have the same H2 chip as the AirPods Pro 2 and this brings many advantages, not least of which is a big improvement to the sound quality.

You get full Spatial Audio performance, which puts you right in the middle of the action, whether you're gaming, listening to music or watching a movie.

If you own an Apple TV streaming box, I recommend watching with a pair of these AirPods. They're so comfortable you can happily wear them for hours on end and the surround-sound effects generated by the Spatial Audio technology genuinely rival my home-theatre speakers.

As far as music appreciation goes, AirPods have been renowned for their accuracy and clarity from the very beginning so it stands to reason these qualities have only continued to improve, four generations on.

The driving beat of RUFUS DU SOL's "On My Knees" is powerful, precise and deep - without any hint of distortion.

"King of Pain" by the Police sounds so pure, so restrained... and then, as the track grows layer by layer - drums in the second verse, muted guitars in second chorus - the soundscape expands accordingly, eventually surrounding you with multiple vocal tracks. It's a perfect sonic recipe and the AirPods 4 lets you pick out every ingredient.

The inward-facing mic is constantly listening to exactly what you are, adapting the EQ specifically for you.

The AirPods also do an amazing job of Voice Isolation - even the non-ANC version has this feature. So although my mum has an uncanny ability to call me when I'm out walking the dog, she can still hear me in crystal clarity, no matter how windy it is.

Another feature which is relatively new to AirPods Pro 2 is also on both AirPods 4 models - they can sense if you're nodding or shaking your head. This means you can answer a call with a nod or dismiss a notification with a shake. I thought this would just be a gimmick but I've been amazed how often I find myself shaking away messages I don't need read out in full. This is great when you've got both hands in the sink and can't immediately access your phone or watch.

One little quibble I've always had with AirPods is how hard they are to get out of the case. Because it's so compact - and these are the smallest cases yet - my clumsy digits often scrabble around trying to get a decent grip on the AirPods' glossy surface. Perhaps I need to grow my nails?

While we're talking cases, lets get into what makes these two new models different. While both now charge with USB-C (hallelujah) the ANC AirPods 4 case also charges wirelessly and will even MagSafe to an Apple Watch charging puck. This feature alone would be enough for me to consider going with the more expensive option. The case also has a speaker for Find My alerts.

Battery life is where the AirPods 4 still come up a little short. Apple claims about 5 hours listening on a full charge and an hour so less on the ANC model with that feature activated. 5 hours is fine but there are plenty of other options out there that'll last a lot longer. At least you'll get five or six full charges out of the case.

Then we come to the Active Noise Cancelling itself. When I first heard Apple had decided to bring this feature to an open fit design, I was skeptical - although I have come across the combo a few times before, with varying results.

I don't know what I was worried about. It's very rare for Apple to introduce a feature that hasn't been designed to death and rigorously tested. Whether you choose full ANC, Adaptive mode or allow Transparency to let the outside world in, I think you'll be just as impressed as I was with how well it works with this form factor. No, it isn't as effective as the ANC on the AirPods Pro 2 - that tight seal I talked about earlier is always going to provide an extra level of sound blocking you don't get with the open fit. But when compared with the non-ANC AirPods 4 the difference really is quite stark.

What it all boils down to is there is now an AirPods model to suit all tastes and most budgets. And just because you prefer an open fit, doesn't mean you have to miss out on all the premium features.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Apple AirPods 4 and AirPods with ANC.

HOVERAir X1 - I'm a Drone Guy Now

I've never been all that into drones.

I mean, it seems like a whole world of its own; a lot of high-tech, high-skill and high expense.

Most of the drone enthusiasts I've come across in the past have either been wannabe pilots or obsessive photographers. The first group wants to simulate the experience of flying - in many cases as fast and as crazy as possible. The second group just wants to capture the perfect shot from the perfect angle - even more important for budding movie-makers.

I don't have the skills or the desire to fit into either of those groups, although I have to admit, there have been plenty of times I wish I had another person to be my camera operator when I'm filming my very amateur-hour review videos.

It turns out, I didn't need another person at all. I just needed a smarter camera. With wings.

The HOVERAir X1 had my full attention before I even opened its box.

I knew I was being sent a drone to review... but what sort of drone would fit in such a small package? I've made toasted sandwiches bigger than this thing. When it's folded up, it literally fits in my jacket pocket.

The HOVERAir X1 comes in white or black and has its own soft carry-bag, a spare battery and a double charger included in the box. Every part of this device has been designed for performance, ease-of-use and efficiency - including the charger. Although it holds two batteries simultaneously, it charges one and then the other. This means instead of having two half-charged cells, you're more likely to have one all ready to go while the other finishes juicing up. Each 1050mAh cell only takes about 35 minutes to reach 100% in the charging hub anyway.

And that's the boring stuff out of the way because everything else about the HOVERAir X1 is just pure, unadulterated fun.

You can update and customise the drone using the Hover X1 app - a strangely set-out yet easy-to-follow interface that has a library of useful tutorial videos for someone like me, who's never even held a drone before, let alone used one.

But the thing is, with the HOVERAir X1, that doesn't matter because all the best bits are already pre-programmed and ready to go.

Amazingly, this drone, this tiny little drone, is quite capable of flying itself. There are only two buttons to worry about; the big one turns it on and the little one toggles through the six Flight Modes; Hover, Zoom-Out, Follow, Orbit, Bird-Eye and Custom.

Choose one, rest the HOVERAir X1 on your palm, push the big button again and away it goes. Yes, you can be filming yourself from a flying drone in a matter of seconds. The first time I used it it seemed far too easy but the results spoke for themselves.

Once the HOVERAir X1 is flying in the selected mode, it starts recording - as indicated by the LED above the camera turning red. The camera is on a fully automated gimbal mechanism that always keeps you in shot and makes up half of the hybrid image stabilisation system which guarantees the smoothest footage possible - even in fairly gusty conditions.

You read right, by the way. There's a Follow mode. Don't ask me how but this little piece of engineering magic will get a fix on you then stay the same distance away from you as you move... be that walking, running, cycling, skateboarding - whatever. Again, this is another thing I just couldn't believe was actually happening when I first tried it.

Each of these preset flight modes can be adjusted through the Hover X1 app - you can change things like the distance away from you in Follow Mode, the diameter maintained in Orbit Mode and of course the height in Zoom-Out and Bird-Eye modes.

Furthermore, once you've flown the HOVERAir X1 a bit, you'll unlock several custom flight modes, including Dolly-Track, Side-Track and manual control.

I'm not enough of a video expert to have known what Dolly-Track or Side-Track meant before I started using the HOVERAir X1 - but get used to a lot more of that sort of thing in my review videos from now on. Before drones, the only way to get a smooth walking-and-talking shot was to use either an expensive steady-cam arrangement on gimbals or an even more cumbersome camera-on-actual-tracks system.

Now you can move toward the camera (or along side it) resulting in a very professional travelling shot, no extra cameras or crew required.

As for flying the HOVERAir X1 manually from your phone - although you can do it, it's challenging to adjust all the flight controls in concert with the camera controls. I certainly get much better results from the automated flight modes, although you can pair a remote control which I'm sure would do a better job than stabbing at a phone screen.

Note; this isn't one of those drones you need to worry about getting in the way of low-flying aircraft, its maximum height tops out at 15 metres.

In fact, there are a few limitations you need to be aware of. The HOVERAir X1 can't fly in high winds, a fully charged battery will only sustain about ten minutes of continuous recording and its maximum speed is about 25km/h. This means it's probably not going to be the right device to film your cycling adventures - unless they're low-speed cycling adventures.

Excitingly, higher-spec models are on the way, promising not just greater speeds and increased range but also extra "pro" features like obstacle avoidance.

Meanwhile, I have to admit I should have read the instructions when it came to recording sound with my videos. I naively assumed the HOVERAir X1 was equipped with its own built-in mic and I was gobsmacked when I heard the results of the noise-cancelling on offer, cutting out the sound of the four propellors completely.

What I didn't realise is the sound recording happens on your phone, not the drone. This makes complete sense of course - how would the HOVERAir X1 be able to hear you properly from 15 metres away? I didn't discover my mistake until I recorded a bunch of videos without my phone and when I played them back, they were silent movies. Of course, the other advantage of this system is you can plug an external mic into your phone for even better sound quality.

As a first-time droner, I couldn't have asked for a better option than the HOVERAir X1. The wide range of automated flight modes accessible at the touch of a button make a potentially over-complicated device so damn easy to use. The fact you can literally take it out of your pocket and have it up and flying and filming in under a minute, makes this my favourite gadget of the year to date.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the HOVERAir X1.

Google TV Streamer - Chromecast Grows Up

The other day, a work colleague was complaining about his TV.

"There's nothing really wrong with it," he said. "It's just getting a bit out of date."

I suggested he try one of the latest streaming devices. After all, if there's nothing wrong with the TV's display, it's a lot cheaper to buy a dongle or a box than to replace the whole TV.

He didn't really know what I was talking about.

So this review is especially for him.

The Google TV Streamer is quite the departure from what preceded it, the Chromecast with Google TV.

As I've discussed at length in previous articles, right from its very first iteration, Google's Chromecast dongle worked so well, was so cheap and was so easy to use, it quickly became one of those products you use as a verb - like Rollerblading or Hoovering.

While it wasn't the only way to transmit (or cast) content from your phone, tablet or computer to your TV screen, it was certainly the most widely adopted and soon that little TV icon with the lines in the corner started appearing on all sorts of apps.

This was happening just as the viewing public began to shun conventional broadcast TV in favour of on-demand streaming - an evolution that became complete in my household years ago now.

Thanks to the Chromecast, all the TV had to do was turn on and off. The content could now be provided by another device with the Chromecast linking the two.

Google eventually streamlined this process even further. The Chromecast with Google TV pretty much eliminated the need for another source device altogether. It was still a dongle, hanging from an HDMI port at the back of your telly, but now you could install and log into Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and the rest, directly on the Chromecast itself.

As more 4K content arrived, so did a 4K Chromecast with Google TV, not to mention all the high-definition, cinema-style sound options as well.

Each Chromecast upgrade came at a very reasonable price and you could have conceivably kept using the same TV through every step in its development. (Although obviously you need a 4K panel to display 4K content)

Now Google has sacrificed some of the Chromecast's extreme portability and wirelessness in favour of a faster, more reliable connection and more powerful performance all round.

As a user interface, Google TV is everywhere, including on my TV of the year, the Sony BRAVIA 9. It's easy to navigate, it's familiar - especially for Android phone users - and it now comes in its own box. Essentially, the Google TV Streamer means you can have the very latest version of Google TV on your telly, regardless of what brand that telly is.

About twice the size of the Chromecast with Google TV dongle, the Google TV Streamer is technically a set-top box... although this small, flat slab is anything but box-like.

The rear of the device is just tall enough to accommodate a full-size HDMI socket and an ethernet port so you can connect directly to your home network via landline. This should guarantee both a faster and more stable internet connection, eliminating any pesky buffering pauses that dodgy Wi-Fi might be prone to. I have to say, given the change of form factor, I was a little disappointed to find there were no ethernet or HDMI cables in the box. Maybe that's how they keep the price down.

The Google TV Streamer has 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, which apparently makes it 22% faster than Chromecast with Google TV. I've certainly been impressed with how snappy and fluid everything is. This alone might be a compelling reason to plug one into your television - especially if you're finding your apps are taking a long time to load or video takes a long time to start when you push play.

Another reason might be the remote control. The Streamer's remote is a little longer than last time, primarily to accomodate a full-sized volume rocker. Previously this was a much smaller control tucked away on the right-hand side and wasn't always the easiest to find with my fumbling digits. There's still not much else there though; it's fairly minimalist - still no play/pause button which means a double press of the control wheel for some apps.

However, you can access Google Assistant via the mic button, there are shortcuts for YouTube and Netflix and there's a programmable shortcut button too. This can be customised to launch your favourite app, switch inputs or even access IoT devices through Google Home. Yep, because the TV Streamer also acts as a Thread border router, you can set up and control other smart home devices like Nest security cameras and video doorbells.

As remotes go, it's still fairly wee. However, if you happen to lose it down the couch cushions or under a magazine, you can push a little button at the back of the set-top box to sound a find-me alarm. Or just ask Google.

Most importantly, you have access to the biggest TV app store around. Every app I wanted was available; from Plex to TVNZ Plus. You might need to have a little play with the settings to get the exact video and audio performance you want though. I found because of the TV and sound system I was using, choosing options like "Match content frame rate" and "Match content Dynamic Range" could prove problematic, affecting the brightness on some apps and even causing sound dropouts. After a bit of trial and error, I sorted these minor bugs out.

Oh, and I guess it goes without saying you can still cast to the TV Streamer from phone, tablet or computer, just like before. Except now you can use the remote to control the content when you do.

As you can see, if your TV just doesn't seem to be as smart as it used to be, for around NZ$175.00 you can now give it a brain transplant. And if previous devices are anything to go by, the Google TV Streamer will receive security and performance updates a lot more regularly and for a lot longer than any television I've ever used.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Google TV Streamer.