Autumn and winter are the best time for gamers, and if your set-up is looking a
little stale, here are the key ingredients for a serious seasonal upgrade
With summer gone and the skies already greying over in preparation for six
months of uncontested rain, you may well be thinking more seriously about video
games. September and October tend to see the biggest releases of the year, so
you can expect many evenings spent hiding from the world while playing Call of
Duty: Black Ops 6 or Mario Party Jamboree. If your gaming set-up is looking a
little tired and you want to treat yourself to a serious seasonal upgrade, here
are some suggestions.
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Tag - Headphones
New running headphones combine bone conduction and open-air speakers for more
rounded sound
So-called bone conduction headphones are a runner’s best friend, allowing you to
be fully aware of the outside world while you listen to your motivational tunes.
But the technology simply can’t generate decent bass – a problem that the
open-ear headphone firm Shokz thinks it has solved with its latest OpenRun Pro
2.
The follow-up to the popular OpenRun Pro and OpenSwim lines, the OpenRun Pro 2
cost £169 (€199/$175/A$299) and resemble most competitors, with bone conduction
pods held in place in front of the ear by two loops and a band that runs behind
your head.
Water resistance: IP55 (spray resistant)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3 (SBC)
Battery life: 12h
Dimensions: 30.9 x 21.7 x 24.3mm
Weight: 30.3g
Drivers: Air and bone conduction
Charging: USB-C
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New Pixel phones, foldable, watch and earbuds feature Gemini Live for
free-flowing conversations with AI bot
Google is launching four phones, one of them foldable, two smartwatches and a
set of earbuds packing its latest AI tech including the new advanced Gemini Live
conversational experience, as the Android maker tries to outdo Apple and
Samsung.
The array of new Pixel products, announced at an event in California, mark the
latest evolution of Google’s own-brand Android devices as it attempts to prove
its integrated AI and devices work better than rivals.
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Cut-price Bluetooth Beats are small, comfortable and last a long time, with
great Android and iPhone support
Apple’s latest Beats-branded earbuds offer the sound, fit and Android-loving
features of its popular Studio Buds but in a smaller, much cheaper and
longer-lasting package.
The Solo Buds follow in the footsteps of last year’s Buds+, offering full
integration with Apple’s various devices and Google’s Android, making the best
of both platforms.
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, SBC, AAC
Battery life: 18 hours
Water resistance: none
Drivers: 8.2mm
Earbud weight: 5.7g each
Earbud dimensions: 16.7 x 18.5 x 18.9mm
Case weight: 22g
Case dimensions: 34.7 x 66.1 x 23.7mm
Charging: USB-C
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Company’s long-awaited headphones deliver top sound, long battery life, supreme
comfort and killer home-cinema feature
The wifi hi-fi maker Sonos has finally released its much-anticipated first set
of headphones, the Ace, which combine the best elements from Bose, Apple and
other high-end rivals with supreme comfort, sleek styling and a killer party
trick for owners of the company’s soundbars.
The hi-tech noise-cancelling headphones cost an eye-watering £449
(€499/$449/A$699) and rub shoulders at the top of the market with a range of
extremely accomplished competitors such as the Bose QuietComfort Ultra,
Sennheiser’s Momentum 4 and Apple’s AirPods Max.
Weight: 312g
Dimensions: 191 x 160 x 85mm
Drivers: 40mm
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.4 with multipoint, wifi, USB-C audio and charging
Bluetooth codecs: SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive with Lossless
Battery life: 30+ hours with ANC over Bluetooth
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Funky transparent design backed by good sound and noise cancelling make these
budget buds winners
The tech firm Nothing’s latest set of cut-price Bluetooth earbuds offer great
sound and noise cancelling for an even more competitive price, while continuing
to stand out from the crowd through cool design.
The London-based firm has launched the budget Ear (a), which keep almost
everything that was great about previous Nothing earbuds and cost £99 (€99/$99).
That is £30 less than its previous offering and the new £129 (€149/$149) Ear,
which offer a few more customisations for sound and other features.
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Repairable electronics pioneer shows noise-cancelling Bluetooth earbuds do not
have to be disposable
Fairphone, the repairable and ethical electronics pioneer, is back with a pair
of some of the first Bluetooth earbuds to make it so easy and cheap to replace
their batteries that you can do it at home in minutes.
Bluetooth earbuds have become a ubiquitous part of life, driven by the success
of Apple’s AirPods. Until now they have all compromised on sustainability by
being very difficult to repair, in effect making them disposable.
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Quality earbuds with improved Bluetooth, great battery life, good controls and
future-proofed tech
Sennheiser’s latest high-end earbuds aim to retake the crown as the
best-sounding noise-cancelling earbuds you can buy, with cutting-edge chips,
tricks and future-proofed tech.
The Momentum True Wireless 4 earbuds cost £259.90 (€299.90/$299.95), pitting
them directly against the best from Bose and Sony.
Water resistance: IP54 (splash)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.4, SBC, AAC, aptX adaptive, LC3
Battery life: Seven hours; up to 28 hours with case
Earbud weight: 6.2g each
Driver size: 7mm
Charging case weight: 66.4g
Case charging: USB-C, Qi wireless charging
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Bluetooth earbuds fit around side of the ear without blocking it for full
awareness with music and calls
Bose’s latest earbuds are very different from its previous noise-cancelling
champs, designed to let the sound of the outside in, rather than blocking it out
and attaching to your ear, more like jewellery than gadgets.
They are the latest evolution of Bose’s open audio tech that uses small speakers
to play music into your ears without blocking them, last seen on the excellent
Frames audio glasses that have been discontinued.
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