HP OMEN Transcend 14 - Frustratingly Beautiful

I always feel a bit of a fraud when it comes to testing gaming laptops. I'm not really much of a gamer and I'm pretty easily satisfied when it comes to fancy graphics.

However, I do do a lot of audio production and a reasonable amount of video editing; tasks that are also greatly enhanced with a bit of extra RAM and processing power.

So I was pretty excited to get my hands on the latest powerhouse from HP.

I was even more excited to extract my review OMEN Transcend 14 gaming laptop from its box and discover it was a Ceramic White colour - all very funky and modern-looking to match its somewhat chunky design and sci-fi-looking O14 logos. (Also available in Shadow Black)

That tingle of tech-anticipation only intensified as I powered it up and was immediately presented with a rainbow-lit RGB keyboard - fully customisable, of course.

But the real star of the show here is the display, a sumptuous 14-inch OLED panel powered by a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU.

This screen really is a thing of beauty and when you use the pre-installed OMEN Gaming Hub app to wind everything up for maximum performance, classy games like Forza and Gotham Knights look like you're watching a movie. The light, shade and 3D-textured surfaces aren't just clear, they have a genuine depth to them other LCD displays can't compete with.

The 16:10 aspect ratio is that nice compromise between the more productive real estate of a squarer form factor and the wide-screen viewing experience of a 16:9 panel.

Sound-wise the OMEN Transcend 14 definitely comes to the party too, with a clear, precise and powerful, dual DTS-X speaker array.

And I really like the position of the USB-C and HDMI ports in the centre at the back, so you can keep at least two cables tucked neatly out of the way.

There's another Thunderbolt USB-C on the left-hand side and two more USB-As on the right.

The HP True Vision 1080p FHD IR camera does a fair job - offering advanced video features like auto-framing and Eye Contact (making you look as though you're looking at the viewer - not above them at the camera). The camera also works very efficiently for Windows Hello face-unlocking - it seemed to recognise me from varying distances, angles and light conditions.

The built-in mics are also worth a mention - complete with the ability to reduce background noise and room echo.

There's no doubt this is a fantastic gaming device and it should be - the variant I'm using right now has all the high-end components and goes for about five-and-a-half grand.

But...

With a ginormous 32GB of RAM and the reputable Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor running the show, I have to admit, I was expecting to be a bit more blown away by the OMEN Transcend 14's performance. I've tested enough high-spec gaming machines like this to expect a lot of fan noise and bad battery life - and this one certainly fails to improve much in either of those areas. Still, the one thing you'd hope to achieve by spending this much money on a laptop is plenty of grunt and frankly... I just wasn't feeling it.

And I'm no uber-power user. I'm talking about experiencing lag with a few apps running and several browser windows open. Admittedly, I have generally been using it plugged into my USB hub and running an external monitor for a dual display but I would expect a souped-up device like this to handle that sort of external load no problem at all. Instead, I've run into all sorts of stutters, most frustratingly when recording video, necessitating multiple retakes and overdubs. Sometimes, even just typing this review proved a chore as I experienced an unworkable delay between keystrokes and characters appearing on the screen. All very weird. Unplugging my second monitor and the USB hub seemed to make everything run as normal again.

I mentioned the bad battery and I'm not kidding. Sure, I've cranked the settings up for peak performance but these days its not uncommon for a laptop to last you six hours or more. I guess that's the price you pay running a super-bright OLED display, an RGB keyboard and a dedicated sound module. 

The OMEN Transcend 14 comes with a rather large external power supply in the box and I suggest you keep it handy. It delivers 140W which you'll need because the 100W PD my USB hub spits out certainly wasn't enough to charge it while I was using it. (Although it did eventually get to 100% when sitting idle)

So I'm torn. I love the way this laptop looks, especially in Ceramic White. The RGB keyboard is a nice bit of fun and the extreme gaming performance is more fun still. And yet the fan noise is persistent, the battery life is plain bad and the drop in performance once I added a few accessories and another screen was mystifying.

When you're paying at least NZ$3997.00 (for the base model) you'd think running a second display and having a few browser windows open would be like a hot knife through butter but that just hasn't been my experience. If all you want to do is game, this is a great way to do it. When it comes to productivity solutions, there might be better options.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the HP OMEN Transcend 14.

Nanoleaf Essentials Matter Smart Multicolour HD Lightstrip - Nanoleaf's Most Versatile Product Yet

I've tested out many Nanoleaf products over the years and when it comes to smart lighting solutions, there aren't many manufacturers who have as big a range or who consistently think outside the box.

Apart from basic light bulbs, we've seen various shapes, lines and recently, even ceiling panels.

Over time, Nanoleaf has continued to refine and evolve its underlying technology, improving reliability and connectivity with 3rd-party smart home ecosystems.

And while we have seen lightstrips from Nanoleaf before, we've never seen one with this level of functionality...

The Nanoleaf Essentials Matter Smart Multicolour HD Lightstrip is obviously one of the worst names for a product ever. I'm not sure who thought it was a good idea to simply list off all the things this lightstrip can do and call it that. Like I say, this isn't the first Nanoleaf lightstrip I've reviewed, so they're not making things any less confusing by calling it something so hard to remember.

However, I can't deny that it is very colourful, Matter-enabled and is easily one of the smarter lights I've ever used.

The main thing setting this version apart from the original Matter Lightstrip is it gives you the ability to control each LED separately. In fact, that sets it apart from most other lightstrips, full-stop. Those other lightstrips can only change colour section by section whereas Nanoleaf's new HD strip has 60 LEDs per metre, each of which is its own, programmable zone.

That doesn't mean you have to tell all 300 LEDs over the 5 metre length what to do individually but it does mean motion effects look far more convincing, as your favourite colour races from one end of the lightstrip and back again, for example.

As usual, the Nanoleaf app (Android or iOS) has an impressive selection of pre-programmed animations to choose from - exactly like when you're setting up a room with multiple bulbs in the ceiling - except on a single lightstrip it seems so much more spectacular. You can use one of these as a starting point for your own creation, altering the colours, speed and type of animation. Recently, Nanoleaf even added an AI generator function that creates unique scenes based on text prompts - why not try "Crazy Pineapple Fireworks?" 

The Multicolour HD Lightstrip can also react to sound, through its controller and of course, the colours don't have to move or flash at all; in many cases you might just want to settle on one static colour and leave it at that. After all, there are over 16 million to choose from, not to mention being able to change the temperature of plain old white.

Installation is a breeze - while you get a 5 metre length in the box, it's easily trimmable and there's a self-adhesive backing running along the entire lightstrip. Because it connects to the controller via a single USB-C cable, you only need the smallest of holes to feed this through if you're intending to install your lightstrip in cabinetry or under benchtops.

Of course, many consumers choose a device like this to backlight their TVs or PC monitors and while this is an easy strip to install that way, it wouldn't be my first choice for TV backlighting as there's no way to sync it with the images on screen - Nanoleaf has another device for this; the 4D Screen Mirror camera. For Mac or PC it's a different story; there's a desktop Nanoleaf app which will mirror your on-screen action as long as you're on the same Wi-Fi network.

At just NZ$139.99 (if not on special), this probably makes the Multicolour HD Lightstrip the most cost-effective way to add this kind of immersive lighting to your Mac or PC.

And because it's Matter-enabled, the Multicolour HD Lightstrip can be controlled via pretty much every smart assistant going, including Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa and SmartThings.

In fact, during my testing I've got myself into a bit of a mess a few times because there are just so many ways to control this device - for example, if you're controlling it through Matter via an Apple HomePod, it seems to get a bit confused if you suddenly try to access it from the desktop Nanoleaf app over Wi-Fi. And who could blame it for getting a bit confused? I'm thinking this will really only be an issue for nerds like me who are trying to test it out in every possible situation - not for a more "typical" owner who probably only has one specific use in mind.

This is easily the most versatile and customisable way to achieve an ambient lighting solution in your home or workplace, at a very reasonable price. Its ultra-compatibility means it can fit in with other smart routines and schedules, responding to different cues like time of day, who's home and what movement, sounds or temperatures other smart devices are detecting.

And best of all, because every single LED is it's own programmable zone, there's an infinite list of patterns, rhythms and colour combinations for you to choose from. Frankly, it's my favourite Nanoleaf product yet.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Nanoleaf Essentials Matter Smart Multicolour HD Lightstrip.

JBL Auracast Speakers - Making Multi-Room Audio Affordable and Easy

Since the moment I digitised my music library (yes, that means pre-streaming - back when you had to rip actual CDs onto a hard drive) it has been my goal to be able to access that library from every room in the house.

Yes, even way back then, you could wire a sound system into the walls and ceilings of your home. It was expensive and complicated but if you had the resources, you could do it.

On the other hand, being a tech nerd on a fairly modest income, I thought for sure there had to be a way to achieve the same thing wirelessly. There was... but it involved some pretty random bits of cobbled-together hardware and it only worked about thirty per cent of the time.

It wasn't until the advent of affordable smart speakers, a decade or so later, that I really started to see a way to reliably play my favourite tracks everywhere at the same time, in any room or even outside.

There were still limitations though - most smart speakers aren't portable and they rely on a fixed Wi-Fi connection.

Well, JBL's new range of portable bluetooth speakers has introduced me to a new kind of connectivty which has completely unleashed my home listening experience.

The Go 4, Clip 5 and Xtreme 4 are all excellent JBL speakers in their own right.

As JBL's smallest portable, the Go has been a favourite little powerhouse of mine for a few generations now and this latest model steps things up with even more surprising bass response than ever before - I still can't figure out how they squeeze so much power from such a tiny package. A speaker of this size should sound thin and tinny but the Go 4 just doesn't.

It's more durable than ever too - gone are the unforgiving sharp corners of earlier incarnations - now everything's rubberised and rugged, with an IP67 waterproof and dustproof rating to boot.

There are six colour combinations to choose from, and like the previous model, it has a useful (and durable) loop built into the top right corner so you can attach it to your belt, backpack or whatever.

While seven hours playback on a full charge isn't exactly world-beating, it's pretty solid for a speaker this small and weirdly it has a Playtime Boost button which not only increases volume and sharpens the EQ slightly, somehow it's supposed to extend battery life by up to two hours too. I have to admit, I haven't tested this scientifically but... well... cool, I guess.

You'll also find Playtime Boost on the Clip 5 - this time extending 12 hours playback to as much as 15. Like the Go 4, the new Clip also comes in six colourways and it's equally water and dustproof.

The Clip 5 packs quite a bit more punch than the smaller Go 4 and I found it to be a very useful travel companion on a recent overseas holiday. The totally redesigned carabiner at the top now opens wide enough to fit the Clip onto pretty much anything, from handlebars to shower heads.

Finally, for a bigger, boombox-like experience, the Xtreme 4 steps in - also rugged and rubbery, also IP67 and yes, it also boasts the new Playtime Boost feature. This time around the power savings are quite amazing - another 6 hours on top of the 24 hours you can expect from a full charge, which in itself was already a significant upgrade over the Xtreme 3. 

This is quite a feature-packed (and power-packed) device. There's a comfy shoulder strap included with a handy bottle-opener buckle and rubber grip lines underneath to help keep it in place while you're on the move.

You can charge other devices (like your phone) from the built-in power pack and because it ships with a very high-capacity charging brick in the box, it actually charges much faster than many other portable speakers - just ten minutes charge should get you another two hours playback.

There are two woofers, two big drivers and dual bass radiators, so if you're after a bit of woomp woomp woomp in your life, the Xtreme 4 can definitely deliver.

All three of these new JBL devices are heavily endowed with recycled materials and environmentally-friendly packaging. All three are Bluetooth 5.3 enabled - which means a stronger, more reliable connection. And they all also connect to the JBL Portable app for easy firmware upgrades and EQ tweaks. Yes, you can even customise the EQ on the little Go 4.

But for me, the big news here is Auracast, a whole new way of connecting bluetooth devices together which could well revolutionise the way we think about multi-speaker and multi-room setups.

Auracast has been designed to allow any enabled device to connect to the same source, regardless of the model, form factor or manufacturer. The potential here is pretty huge - imagine everyone listening to the same TV show with their own headphones at their own personal volume.

This is different to previous JBL and Harman/Kardon connection protocols like PartyBoost - that was only for certain JBL/HK speakers. Auracast is much more brand and device-agnostic.

And it's so easy.

Just a press of the triangular Auracast logo on any (or all) of these speakers and they're instantly paired, playing the same song. This means when you use Auracast to connect the Go 4 and Clip 5 together, suddenly you have a much bigger, room-filling sound. Add the Xtreme 4 into the mix and suddenly all that extra power and bass response is also at your disposal.

Thanks to the superior range offered by Bluetooth 5.3, you're not limited to using all those speakers in the same room either. Just like that, all my multi-room fantasies are realised. I can stick each one of these speakers in a separate room, playing from the same source, all sounding great. The whole system comes in at under NZ$700.00. The Go 4 is only NZ$69.95 so you could conceivably plonk one in every room without breaking the bank.

Auracast means a much more modular, come-and-go approach to home audio and I'm excited to see what brands like JBL will do with it next.

    

Click here for more information on the JBL Go 4.

Click here for more information on the JBL Clip 5.

Click here for more information on the JBL Xtreme 4.

Apple iPad Pro (M4) - The Bleeding Edge of Mobile Computing

When it comes to reviewing iPads and other tablets, it's always tempting to ask, "Could I use this to replace my laptop?"

I've certainly been guilty of running that same theme and I now regret it. It's a flawed proposition for a number of reasons.

Firstly, if someone's in the market for a tablet, it's probably not because they really want a laptop.

Secondly, when a manufacturer like Apple makes both products, it's not an either/or situation; if you want a MacBook, buy a MacBook. 

Thirdly, how come nobody ever asks, "Could I use my laptop to replace my iPad?"

Of course, it's a safe bet most tech journalists use laptops a lot more than iPads or other tablets, so that goes a long way to explaining this rather skewed way of looking at things.

All that being said, if you did have to pick one over the other, wouldn’t you just go with whichever was more powerful?

The 2204 iPad Pro is powered by the M4 chip, Apple’s latest and greatest. This is the fastest, most powerful and efficient chip Apple has ever produced and right now, the iPad Pro is the only device running it.

Depending on which sized iPad Pro you go for, the M4 CPU offers as many as four performance cores and six efficiency cores - that means more speed for less battery. There’s a 10-core GPU for breakthrough graphics abilities, including ray-tracing and mesh-shading (resource-heavy 3D effects that make the unreal seem more real). And if that’s still isn’t enough cores for you, the 16-core Apple Neural Engine is allegedly capable of 38 trillion operations per second.

This last feature is what effectively future-proofs the iPad Pro for years to come. Whether you call it AI or Apple Intelligence (as rebranded at this week’s WWDC in Cupertino) only devices with this level of mind-blowing machine-learning will be up to the task… even if there are 38 trillion tasks.

As an early demonstration of just how next-level this device is, I was amazed how quickly I was able to set it up, migrating my settings, apps and preferences from the iPad Air I reviewed last week. The transfer of data took just a few minutes but then, once the transfer was complete, the actual setup happened in seconds. I know this will sound like an exaggeration but I’m talking instantly, before my eyes. 

The most time-consuming parts of the setup were any steps that involved my input - intitialising Face ID for example - this may well be the first time I’ve encountered a device that works faster than I can think.

Needless to say, I have yet to find any task the M4 iPad Pro can’t perform. Games of any genre and complexity install, load and run effortlessly.

Multitasking - be it screeds of tabs open in your browser or many apps open at once - nothing hampers the performance. Meanwhile, MacOS-like features such as Stage Manager let you manipulate, arrange and access different windows any way you like, making the most of the extra screen real estate if you go with the 13-inch model over the 11-inch option.

In fact, now I’ve brought it up, let’s talk screens because you’ve never seen a display like this… and I mean that quite literally. The Ultra Retina XDR display on the M4 iPad Pro is a world first. It’s also Apple’s first OLED screen on an iPad - that means the same ultimate level of true black until now we’ve only experienced on OLED TVs and monitors. However, no matter how sharp and colour-accurate OLED panels are can be, they’re notorious for underperforming in bright conditions.

That’s why Apple has reimagined the OLED concept and doubled up; effectively sandwiching two panels together in a tandem OLED design. This results in an astounding 1600 nits of peak brightness. In real-life terms that means if you’re anything like me when you watch video on your phone or tablet, you always turn the brightness setting up to maximum, right? Even then, sometimes the action is a bit of a mystery - especially if the protagonists are spending a lot of time inside a black box like they do on the new Apple series, “Dark Matter.”

Well, I’ve been streaming on the M4 iPad Pro for a while now, not just with Apple TV+ but Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video too - and I only realized last night I haven’t touched the brightness controls at all. Not once. Whether I was sitting in an armchair in the sun or a dark bedroom, everything looked amazing. Although, I will say as useful as the taller 4:3 ratio of the display is for stacking multiple windows and apps, when it comes to the more widescreen-formatted shows and movies, the letterbox created by the black sections top and bottom does seem like a bit of a waste.

I’ve yet to mention the other stunning design feature of this iPad; how slim it is. The 11-inch model is only 5.3mm while the bigger one I’m using right now is even thinner; a mere 5.1mm. There are two colour options; Silver and Space Black. The outer casing is 100% recycled aluminium and despite being so, so thin, the whole thing feels very robust, with no flex whatsoever.

The M4 iPad Pro also runs much cooler - it’s packed with graphite to dissipate heat and even the Apple logo on the back is copper to achieve a 20% drop in temperature from the previous model.

As far as accessories go, like last week’s M2 iPad Air, there’s a new Smart Folio which will now display the iPad Pro at multiple angles or you can really pimp your pad with the breathtakingly well designed (and excruciatingly priced) Magic Keyboard. The Pro version of the Magic Keyboard has been totally reworked - it now features aluminium palm rests and a full, 14-key function row across the top for easy access to things like volume, brightness and media controls.

Last week, I also featured the new Apple Pencil Pro quite heavily - so you can go back to find out more details on innovative features like squeezing for tool shortcuts and barrel-roll for calligraphy. Of course, you can do all that when paired with the M4 iPad Pro too but I also quickly came to depend on the Apple Pencil Pro when editing in the latest version of Final Cut Pro. Not only have I typed and created this whole review solely using the iPad Pro, I edited the video below on this device as well. And here’s where the new iPad Pro really comes into its own. Not only does it now have excess computing power for previously taxing tasks like video and audio editing, you also have the advantage of the touch screen for pinch-to-zoom and of course, the accuracy of the tip of the Pencil Pro. When it came time to resize inserts or fine-tune text and colours in my graphics, I found myself reflexively reaching for the Pencil Pro to manipulate my edits with a much finer touch than I would have been able to achieve with my fat fingers or even with a mouse.

There’s just so much more I could share with you - and I’m sure I’ll be referring back to what this year’s iPad can do in future reviews too. I haven’t even touched on the magical abilities of the four speaker sound system for example; how Apple has managed to squeeze such an immersive performance from such tiny drivers, I honestly couldn’t tell you.

The cameras are great - some of the best I’ve used on a tablet and definitely superior to what you’ll find on most laptops. The built-in LIDAR scanner combined with the awesome power of the M4 chip means 3D renderings for AR can be created in seconds.

And just like the new M2 iPad Air, connectivity is stronger, more reliable and faster than ever, thanks to the latest Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thunderbolt, USB 4 and 5G protocols.

This week at WWDC, Apple launched new operating systems across its full range of devices, including iPadOS. While we won’t see these new features pushed out fully until Spring, it looks like the line between iPadOS and MacOS is blurring even further - which is great but as I said at the top, for the first time I’ve become less obsessed about trying to use this iPad as a MacBook because it’s just so damn good at being the best iPad it can be.

It certainly isn’t cheap. While the base model, 11-inch M4 iPad Pro starts at NZ$1,999.00 - that’s not what I’m using here. This is the 13-inch cellular version, it has a whopping 2TB of storage (as opposed to 256GB) and I’ve added the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro. That all adds up to almost six grand - and that’s without the option of Apple’s new Nano-texture glass for an even less reflective viewing experience.

Sure, six-thousand bucks would buy you a hell of a laptop but you wouldn’t get the uniquely sublime viewing experience of the tandem OLED Ultra Retina XDR display, the uber-fine control offered by Apple Pencil Pro or the supreme mobility of such a thin, lightweight device - even when it’s paired with the aptly named Magic Keyboard.

And most of all, you’d miss out on the outstanding performance of Apple’s record-breaking M4 chip. Remember, you simply won’t find it anywhere else.

Click here for more information and pricing on the Apple iPad Pro (M4).

Click here for more information and pricing on the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro.

Click here for more information and pricing on the Apple Pencil Pro.

Twelve South ButterFly - Perhaps the Best-Designed Charger Yet

There's a trap tech reviewers like me get caught in every now and again - it's just a hazard of the job.

Sometimes I fall in love with a product that's been sent to me, before I've taken the time to find out how much it actually costs. Reviewing gadgets is the ultimate try-before-you-buy scenario. Ideally, I like to use something for at least two weeks in my real, everyday life before passing judgement on it and writing up my thoughts.

That's not something most "normal" customers get to do. You can't just roll on into your local store and say, "Hey, do you mind if I take this home for a fortnight before I decide to buy it? If it's good, I definitely (probably) will purchase it but if it's not really my thing, I'll try and shove it back in the box (more or less the way I found it) and you can sell it to someone else. Okay?"

Which means that if something seems a lot more expensive than it should be, it probably won't even get a second look. Not online and definitely not in a shop.

And so it goes I often get quite a long way down the track with my review before I discover what people (normal people) are expected to shell out for the device I now can't do without.

On the other hand, if the device is really that good, isn't it worth paying a premium?

The Twelve South ButterFly is worth its over-the-top price tag. It'll cost you around NZ$240.00 or thereabouts which is obviously kind of insane for a travel charger and I get that.

Except...what if it's the best charger you've ever used?

It's certainly the smallest - when the two are halves magnetise closed together the whole thing isn't much larger than an Oreo cookie - if that Oreo was made of anodised aluminium layered with vegan leather. Yes, despite its small size, the ButterFly - like all Twelve South accessories - certainly looks and feels like the premium product it is.

Oh sorry; did you want to know what it actually does? Fair enough - it's a 2-in-1 MagSafe charger - specifically designed for charging an iPhone with one half and an Apple Watch with the other. That being said, it will also charge your AirPods case too, or in fact any other phone or pair of earbuds that charges wirelessly. It's just better with MagSafe and only Apple products have that magic magnetic ring built in.

That's an oversimplification though, because this charger does more than just charge.

It's also a stand. In fact, it's two stands.

The first is the most obvious; the Apple Watch charger hinges up out of its half of the ButterFly to present your Watch (or Watch Ultra) in nightstand mode. What's more, because you can also magnetise the two halves together back-to-back, you can stack everything up to take up less space on your bedside table; place your iPhone face down, the charger sits on its back, then the Watch charger sits on top of both and you can then place your Apple Watch on top of everything else.

If you have no idea what I'm on about (and who could blame you?) just watch the video below and let me demonstrate.

The other way to use the ButterFly as a stand is to stack it back-to-back once more then simply lean your iPhone against it as pictured here. This lets you view your phone at an appropriate angle if you're in a video call or streaming something and it will also activate the relatively recent Standby-Mode when not in use - displaying a bedside clock, calendar, photo slideshow or whatever else you've set up.

Of course, whichever way you stack it, the main thing the ButterFly does is charge. And it does this at high capacity (well, high capacity for iPhone and Apple Watch anyway) thanks to the 30W charging brick which is included in the box. Yes, you read that right - unlike Apple's own MagSafe Duo travel charger, TwelveSouth not only throws in the power supply but also four easily swapped-out plug adapters for anywhere in the world you might be heading to. The power adapter is very compact - it'll nestle in beside any other plugs on a multiboard, no problem. And it can't be overstated how crucial it is to have the right power source to plug your charger into. Many USB adapters only supply 5W or 9W which simply isn't enough to juice a double charger like this.

There's even a little drawstring travel bag to pop it all into.

So, as always, Twelve South has pushed the design curve to its extreme. This is the most compact dual-charger I've ever come across. It looks fantastic, feels very durable and as I've outlined, it's amazingly versatile given its small form factor. Is it worth almost two-hundred and forty bucks? If it's the best there is... maybe so.

    

Click here for more information on the Twelve South ButterFly.

Apple iPad Air (M2) - What More Do You Need?

Although Apple originally launched the iPad Air in 2013 and we wouldn't see the first iPad Pro until two years later, there was nothing awkward about it suddenly becoming the middle child.

It was instantly the perfect solution for all those entry-level iPad users who looked on at those Pro creator types in envy, coveting the extra processing power, more advanced displays and other added extras.

While every new generation of iPad Pro would set a new standard for all other tablets to follow, the iPad Air tended to eventually pick up many of those power-user features and then offer them a year or two later at a far more accessible price.

This is a trend Apple has been only too happy to continue in 2024.

This year's iPad Air comes in four colours; Space Gray, Starlight, Blue and Purple. Strangely, this is one colour less than in 2022 - no pink this time around - but still twice as many options as the new iPad Pro I'll be reviewing next week.

There are matching accessories of course, including the new Smart Folio case, now redesigned to support the iPad Air at extra angles. 

Even more useful is the amazing Magic Keyboard. This hasn’t really changed for the iPad Air, although there’s a new cursor experience when using the trackpad that’s easier to follow. As much as I love this accessory, I find the NZ$599.00 asking price to be truly eye-watering. I do believe I may have complained about this before.

The other (and probably most notable) accessory to mention is the all-new Apple Pencil Pro. Some may have expected this powerful tool to be compatible with the new iPad Pro only but Apple surprised many by allowing it to be paired with the M2 iPad Air as well. There are quite a few new tricks up its sleeve; you can now squeeze it to bring up an on-screen tool shortcut, there’s a new hover-to-preview functionality that ties in nicely with its barrel-roll abilities. This means you can roll wider brushes and pens while you’re drawing to alter the thickness of the line on screen. I’m not explaining it very well but you can see me demonstrate it in the video below.

Outwardly, the M2 iPad Air doesn’t look a whole lot different to its predecessor, other than this year's Air has now moved the selfie camera from the short side to the long side. I’d argue this is long overdue. In fact, I pointed out my frustration at the portrait-based camera on the last model in 2022. Thankfully, now it’s a lot easier to look your virtual meeting mates in the eye.

But the really big news - and I do mean “big” - is the iPad Air now comes in both 11 and 13-inch models. This larger size option now matches that of the iPad Pro and it makes a big difference when it comes to stacking multiple windows from different apps.

The 13-inch model also promises “twice as much bass” - not sure how that is measured, or indeed, what that sounds like because I only have the 11-inch version to review. I’m sure it sounds pretty good, because the sound on this one is already quite impressive.

Whichever size you go with, the Liquid Retina display is clear and bright, as we’ve all come to expect from any Apple device. In fact, this is another area where the larger model has a slight advantage, promising up to 600 nits of brightness as opposed to 500 from the device I’m typing on now. Either way, despite what Apple claims, if you take the iPad Air outside into the bright sunshine, you won’t see much in the murkier scenes of a show like “Dark Matter”. Mind you, there aren’t many screens that would perform in those conditions… or are there? Watch this space.

Some of the most significant iPad Air upgrades are also some of the least visible; improved connectivity is a biggie. You now have Wi-Fi 6e for a faster, more reliable connection (assuming you have a a Wi-Fi 6e router, obviously.) If you opt for the cellular version you can access 5G where available via eSIM. If you haven’t used eSIM before, don’t be afraid - I’ve been using it on my phone for months and it’s great. Bluetooth has been bumped up to the latest 5.3 iteration which is a significant boost for range and less delay. You’ll get up to 10GB/s fast data transfer via USB (using the right cable, of course) and perhaps most helpful of all, you now get simultaneous dual-band connection over Wi-Fi. I haven’t heard many people talking about this but it’s very useful when it comes to tasks like mirroring your screen using Apple TV. Whether you’re streaming, browsing or gaming, thanks to simultaneous dual-band you shouldn’t run into any of the stuttering, delays or dropouts you may have encountered when screen-sharing in the past.

In fact, stuttering, freezing or glitching are things that simply don’t happen with this device. By now Apple’s M2 chip has a proven (and highly regarded) performance record, both in MacBooks and the last iPad Pro. You won’t find many other laptops out there that keep things humming along as efficiently as the M2, let alone other tablets.

Whether editing audio and video, gaming or browsing multiple tabs, I haven’t really been able to make this iPad Air break much of a sweat and if it’s AI future-proofing you’re looking for, the M2 chip promises a great deal with its 16-core Apple Neural Engine. It’s capable of completing up to 15.8 trillion operations per second, so when it comes to on-device machine learning, you’re pretty well placed.

In fact, given I’ve yet to find something the M2 iPad Air can’t do, I really wonder what the 2024 iPad Pro has in store for me.

Oh wait, there is one thing. Face unlock. For some reason, we’re still left with the fingerprint sensor under the power button on the iPad Air, despite that very good 12MP Ultra Wide front-facing camera. I don’t know why we can’t have the same face-unlock most iPhones now offer, but there you go. The rear 12MP Wide camera is more than adequate for a tablet, offering Autofocus, Smart HDR and 5 X Digital Zoom. If you thought iPads couldn’t take decent photos and video, think again.

As expected, the M2 iPad Air is a slim, light yet extremely powerful device with excellent battery life, great sound and a lovely display - now available in a significantly larger size. The entry-level option starts at NZ$1199.00 which I consider to be excellent buying - especially since that base model now comes with 128GB of internal storage - thankfully nobody will ever be lured into thinking 64GB is a viable option ever again.

Unfortunately, accessories like the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro, although stunningly well designed are also stunningly expensive. If you really want to turn your iPad Air into a laptop, perhaps you should consider a MacBook Air instead? No touch-screen on a MacBook though. Tricky, isn’t it?

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Apple iPad Air (M2).

Click here for more information and pricing on the Apple Pencil Pro.

JBL PartyBox Stage 320 - Big Bass Boom

In an incredibly crowded bluetooth speaker market, somehow JBL has managed to carve out quite a niche for itself when it comes to oversized party speakers with flashing lights and amazing bass performance.

The idea seems to be, whether you're dancing, singing or just need a few coloured lights and a room-filling sound, JBL has a single box that will do the job.

In fact, in recent years, JBL has come up with several options that'll do the job, each iteration getting brighter, bigger and louder.

The PartyBox Stage 320 isn't even the biggest party speaker in the JBL line-up; that honour goes to the PartyBox Ultimate - a truly huge monolith that is somewhat held back by the fact it runs on mains-power only. That's the first thing Stage 320 has going for it; genuine portability.

JBL promises up to 18 hours of non-stop partying on a full charge and it even sells additional batteries so if 18 hours isn't quite enough, you can just swap out power cells and keep dancing. That sounds like a total nightmare to me but I guess there must be some scenarios that require more than 18 hours of continuous beats and JBL is only too happy to oblige.

Although weighing in at a hefty 16.5kgs, there's a combination of sturdy, wide wheels at the rear of the base and a robust, telescopic handle to make it relatively easy to move around... kind of like a suitcase - if the suitcase was capable of rattling the windows while playing your favourite playlist. 

Like all JBL PartyBoxes, the Stage 320 is built with durability in mind. Nothing is more hazardous to finely-tuned AV tech than a bunch of people eating, drinking, singing, dancing and having fun. So not only is the Stage 320 ruggedly constructed, with plenty of party-friendly rounded corners, it also carries an IPX4 splash-resistance rating. Whether you're pool-side, beach-side or bar-side, this speaker is going to take a reasonable amount of punishment and still keep blasting.

Supposedly, the Stage 320's 6.5-inch woofers will deliver "clean, precise, deep bass" while the duo of 25mm dome tweeters take care of the highs. I've been testing it all out quite a bit in recent days and that's true - as long as you're prepared to tweak things a bit.

"It Gets Better" by Rex Orange County is a quirky, bouncy track that jumps around dynamically between keyboard/vocals only, then cuts in and out of more dancey drum and bass sections. At first it all sounded slightly muddy - admittedly I had the Bassboost on (using the JBL PartyBox app, Bassboost can be set to "Deep" or "Punchy") but isn't that the point of a big JBL like this? To blast out the bass? As it turns out, it depends what you're listening to. There are a few preset EQs in the app but it wasn't until I created my own custom one, pushing up the mids, that the full soundscape of "It Gets Better" really came to life.

Then I gave in and just turned off Bassboost altogether, went back to the JBL Signature EQ and things transformed dramatically.

On an even softer, more acoustic track like Ray LaMontange's "Roses and Cigarettes," suddenly every instrument had plenty of space to breathe and everything played warmly, yet clearly.

Don't get me wrong, this speaker sounds great - with the right settings applied to the right genre and boy, does it get loud.

So when should I crank that Bassboost button?

How about on Madonna's "Die Another Day?" Yup. This is a sparse yet highly produced dance track with heavily effected vocals and a super-punchy bass drop. It actually gave me goosebumps - although that could just be the bass rumble vibrating up through my chair. And that's at about 50% volume.

I'm pretty sure 100% would result in some noise complaints from my neighbours fairly quickly. Possibly from people who live in the next block.

For a really serious bit of bass, it's hard to go past "RATATA" by Skrillex, Missy Elliot and Mr. Oizo and indeed, this is exactly the kind of raise your hands in the air like you just don't care kind of track the Stage 320 was designed for; pumping, thumping bass that can be felt through the floor and walls all through the house.

But there's more than one kind of party. Personally, I'm more of a sing-a-long kind of guy than a dance all night from dusk-till-dawn kind of guy. The Stage 320 has that covered too.

Open the weather-proof back panel and you'll find quite a selection of ports; a mic socket, a mic/guitar input, an AUX line-in and a USB-A charging slot. This means the Stage 320 can work just like a guitar amp, with separate mic controls to adjust volume, treble, bass and echo. You can use it as a standalone speaker or play and sing along with whatever music you're playing (including karaoke tracks, obviously).

You can daisy-chain the Stage 320 with other speakers using the In and Out sockets too.

Unfortunately, you can't pair the wireless mics that JBL sold with earlier model PartyBoxes but they now offer separate mics that pair with their own wireless dongle.

What's really frustrating though, and this is not the first time JBL has been guilty of this, is this speaker is probably not able to be paired with other, earlier speakers to create a stereo pair, although you can obviously pair two identical Stage 320's which would make for a very loud stereo indeed.

However, excitingly, there is an Auracast button in between the bluetooth and Bassboost controls. The reason Auracast is so promising is although not backwards-compatible with other Harman/Kardon and JBL devices, there are many new speakers in the pipeline that will also have Auracast connectivity built in. I've been told this new Bluetooth standard will allow any number of speakers to be linked, regardless of model or size. Apparently, JBL will be soon be releasing software to allow you to create an Auracast surround system. For example, imagine using the Stage 320 for its impressive bass-boosting abilities as a subwoofer, while pairing a couple of smaller JBLs to use as rear surround units. Watch this space.

I haven't mentioned the lighting or sound effects that also help add a bit of fun to your Stage 320 party. The lights are more customisable than ever, via the PartyBox app. You can choose one of the many preset patterns, create your own or simply cycle through them all.

I'm less enamoured with the sound effects which can be assigned to the three buttons in the middle of the top console. I can't quite imagine having the urge to play random record scratches or weird female vocal samples in the middle of my party but they're there if you want them.

At the end of the day, the PartyBox Stage 320 is a genuine powerhouse. It's ultra-loud, provides too much bass right when you want it and the long battery life, wheels and telescopic handle make it much more portable than many other party speakers of this size. It's not a half-bad guitar and mic amp either, making it a great-value, if not essential centrepiece of your next party.

    

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the JBL PartyBox Stage 320.