Monthly Archives: September 2017

141800-smart-home-news-kitsound-voice-one-gives-alexa-the-audio-oomph-she-needs-image1-kovdemk8yd

Kitsound Voice One speaker preview: First impressions of the £130 Amazon Echo competitor

Audio & Video, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Consumer electronics show IFA sees a lot of product launches, but speakers with built-in assistants, whether Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa, have been announced in abundance.

Panasonic and Sony have both launched Google Assistant-powered speakers, while Onkyo has announced two speakers, one with Google Assistant and the other with Amazon Alexa.

Kitsound meanwhile, is joining the Alexa party, offering its Voice One smart speaker for £129, undercutting the likes of Amazon Echo. Here are our first impressions.

Kitsound Voice One speaker preview: Design

 

f2rXoExR4T79mtUVz4n2hn-1200-80

Hands on: Alcatel Idol 5 review

Phones, , , , , , , , , , ,

At IFA 2017, Alcatel a new member to the Idol smartphone range with the Idol 5. Not a flagship handset by any means, the Idol 5 is an affordable budget handset that appears to attempting to appeal to the social media minded.

Following on from the competent Idol 4, the Idol 5 offers a 5.2-inch Full HD display, a competent 13MP rear camera and some nice social features that edge more towards useful than gimmicky.

Release date and price

HEJ4WSsvMRzbXqXh7U4nm-650-80

The Idol 5 was announced at IFA 2017 but you won’t be able to get your hands on it in the UK until September 15.

The phone is currently available for pre-sale exclusively through Amazon, where you can secure it for £189.99.
…
Read full post here:
https://www.techradar.com/reviews/alcatel-idol-5

jjBYQQ6skUTByjSRif8jLf-1200-80

Hands on: Garmin Vivosport review

Wearables, , , , , , , , ,

Garmin’s Vivosmart 3 currently sits at number 4 in our best fitness tracker list, despite lacking built-in GPS, but this new version launched by the company at IFA 2017 looks to bring that feature back and more.

We’ve had time to try the Garmin Vivosport, and despite the confusing title of the device we had quite positive first impressions of the new tracker.

Read on to find out what we think about the new fitness tracker and whether it should be the next thing you buy.

Garmin Vivosport release date and price

The Garmin Vivosport is set to be released soon, but we don’t currently have an exact release date. The Garmin website estimates the end of September for the US, while those in the UK will get the device in the third quarter of 2017.
…
Read full post here:
https://www.techradar.com/reviews/garmin-vivosport-review

12b_HOME_ASSISTANT_Tab4_8inch_Hero_Front_forward_facing

Lenovo Tab 4 with Home Assistant preview: A great Amazon Echo Show alternative falls short of its potential

Tablets, , , , , , , , ,

Amazon looks set to take over the world with its Alexa voice assistant, which continues to pop-up in a multitude of third-party products. The Amazon Echo Show – which combines the Alexa voice assistant with a touchscreen for additional presentation and interaction – is a prime example of where the tech is headed.

And it hasn’t taken long for an interesting reimagination to arrive in the shape of the Lenovo Tab 4 with Home Assistant: a tablet which can clip onto a small Echo-like Home Assistant speaker to become, in essence, an Echo Show-like device (albeit minus the calling functionality, as that’s not currently open in the Amazon API).

142106-smart-home-hands-on-lenovo-tab-4-with-home-assistant-review-image1-blhse1qkgm

Only it’s not an Amazon product at all, it’s a Lenovo one. And a really interesting one, because, conceptually speaking, it’s far more versatile than the rigidity of Echo – given it can be used as a standalone tablet minus the Alexa aspect of things. The Lenovo is also visually more arresting than the blocky Echo Show, which gives it another edge over the first-party product.
…
Read full post here:
https://www.pocket-lint.com/smart-home/reviews/lenovo/142106-lenovo-tab-4-with-home-assistant-preview-a-great-amazon-echo-show-alternative-falls-short-of-its-potential

sony_wf-1000x_carousel

Sony WF-1000X review

Wearables, , , , , , , , ,

There are two possible reactions upon eyeing our star rating for the WF-1000Xs: either you may see it as Sony having simply designed a pair of great-sounding headphones, or you may be experiencing mild shock at the fact we regard a pair of true wireless, noise-cancelling in-ears worthy of being awarded five stars.

And when we say true wireless, this time we mean it. Our affections so far in this market have been mainly directed toward the Bose SoundSport Wireless and Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear Wireless, which both received five-star reviews earlier this year.

But whereas the earpieces for those headphones are tethered to one another by a cable running around the listener’s neck, the WF-1000X are connected only by a Bluetooth signal floating imperceptibly in the ether.
…
Read full post here:
https://www.whathifi.com/sony/wf-1000x/review

walkman_nw-zx300_s

Sony NW-ZX300 Hands on Review

Audio & Video, , , ,

Sony’s newest Walkman is far from cheap but, judging from an extended listen at the company’s enormous IFA 2017 stand, it could be one of its very best.

The new player follows in the footsteps of the £250/$375 NW-A25HN, the £500 NW-ZX100HN and the £900 NW-ZX2, which launched over the last couple of years.

And, in terms of design, spec and performance, it looks to largely follow in similar footsteps.

Design and build

The NW-ZX300 is an unremarkable looker. It’s beautifully made, naturally, with a smoothly finished body – and there’s great tactility in the nicely proportioned frame. But it doesn’t look anything special, in much the same way a premium smartphone doesn’t look all that remarkable.
…
Read full post here:
https://www.whathifi.com/sony/nw-zx300/review

 

bEjDffkQzsrGv776xr5Ti5-1200-80

Hands on: JBL Bar 5.1 review

Audio & Video, , , , , , , , , , ,

Despite wireless speakers now being very much the norm in our homes, getting a decent wire-free surround sound system for your home cinema remains a bit of a chore. Either the price is exorbitant, or the rear channels end up requiring discrete mains powering anyway, removing most of the point of a “wireless” system.

However, JBL has hit IFA 2017 with a lovely solution. Its JBL Bar 5.1 is not only a soundbar that comes with an accompanying subwoofer, but one that can transform to offer truly-wireless satellite speakers.

We spent some brief hands-on time with the system at the Berlin show, and came away impressed.

Snap on, snap off

DJRjk4b4VdJQcfDeziC9F-650-80

The JBL Bar 5.1’s main soundbar unit houses a detachable satellite speaker on either end of the long central speaker, and it’s such a clever design, you wonder why it’s not more commonly seen.
…
Read full post here:
https://www.techradar.com/reviews/jbl-bar-51

24767-71b903413e6422735447e5e57627889b

Hands on: Garmin Vivoactive 3 review

Wearables, , , , , , , , , , ,

Mere days after the announcement of the Fitbit Ionic and Fitbit Pay, Garmin has revealed the Vivoactive 3, which comes sporting a new mobile payment tech of its own, called Garmin Pay.

The new Vivoactive 3 looks like the most premium watch that Garmin has ever created and comes with a few new features that make it worthy of the sport brand’s name.

We’ve had the opportunity to try out the new smartwatch at IFA 2017 and here you’ll find all of our impressions so far.

Garmin Vivoactive 3 release date and price

JPqbexqkTwhHgCcoWB3mMM-650-80

An exact release date for the Vivoactive 3 is currently unclear, but we do know the price will start at £279.99 (about $360, AU$450).

There’s a slightly more expensive version of the watch too, which comes with a more refined design and will cost you £299.99 (about $390, AU$490).
…
Read full post here:
https://www.techradar.com/reviews/garmin-vivoactive-3-review

 

LF_S50G_Clock_W

Hands on: Sony Smart Speaker LF-S50G review

Audio & Video, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Sony LF-S50G is one of the least sexy names around, but the product it’s attached to is rather good looking.

This is Sony’s first smart speaker to rival the likes of the Amazon Echo, Google Home and Apple HomePod, and it uses Google Assistant as the brains of the operation.

5XttWGs3d6BexPannrgEkZ-650-80

It means it works almost identically to the search giant’s own smart speaker, so for a detailed rundown of how Assistant fares in a speaker – and the commands it can understand – head over to our in-depth Google Home review.

If you’re still with us, we’re taking a closer look at the ‘Google Assistant built-in Wireless Speaker’ as Sony has rather clumsily labelled it on its booth at IFA 2017in Berlin.

It’s easy to draw immediate comparisons with Apple’s HomePod, with the cylindrical design covered almost completely in a speaker mesh shockingly similar in look.
…
Read full post here:
https://www.techradar.com/reviews/sony-smart-speaker-lf-s50g

The Walkman is alive

The Walkman is alive

Audio & Video, Wearables, , , , , ,

With a streaming-capable smartphone in most pockets, it’d be easy to assume that the bottom has fallen out of the standalone media player segment altogether. Sony, though, would argue that’s an incorrect assumption, and point to its long-standing Walkman line as evidence of that. Latest to join the clan is the Sony Walkman NW-ZX300, freshly unveiled at IFA 2017 in Berlin.

The Walkman is alive

You might not have realized it, but Sony has been pushing out quite a number of Walkman models over the past couple of years. Unsurprisingly, their styling has drifted in the same direction of the better-known Xperia smartphones, until at first glance you could mistake media player for something more capable.

So, my big question as I donned a set of headphones and prepared to give the NW-ZX300 a quick audition in the hardly-conducive environs of the Sony booth was whether the Walkman could still offer something sufficiently compelling to make me want to add a second device to my pockets. Turns out, if you have the right music and enough space in your bag, there could well be reason enough to double up.
…
Read full post here:
https://www.slashgear.com/?p=498094