Week in Review: Feeling the pinch? Ditch Spotify and get some $20 earbuds
Plus: Tim Cook drops a big hint about Apple's AR plans | Tim Cook all but confirms Apple's AR intentions | You don’t need to spend a grand to get a good phone
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Hi again, and thanks for tuning in for another Week in Review! We’re into that lull period where news is a bit quieter and the rumors mostly center around what Apple is up to, but the great thing about this time of year in the tech calendar is that we’re getting some great products in for review – and this week the team has reviewed two big-deal devices that I’m really excited by.
But let’s start with – you guessed it – a big hint about what Apple has in store for us, dropped by none other than Tim Cook himself…
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A mock-up of what could be coming our way from Apple soon (Shutterstock / Mr.Mikla)
Fair play to the reporter at China Daily USA who got Tim Cook talking about the world of augmented reality (AR). The interview starts in a pretty routine way, with Apple’s CEO speaking enthusiastically about the opportunities AR offers, and saying the technology needs to be developed in a way that puts “humanity at the center of it”.
But then right at the end of his spiel about the thousands of AR-enabled apps in the App Store, he smiles slightly and says “stay tuned to see what we have to offer” in the AR space.
It’s far from an outright confirmation that Apple has something in the works, but there’s something in his demeanor that suggests we’re getting an announcement soon – let’s hope that’s the case, and that Apple’s eagerly anticipated AR headset and/or glasses trigger a huge push by more tech brands to put that technology on our heads.
Game changer? The Tecno Camon Series 19 Pro (Future)
I enjoyed this piece from Lance Ulanoff a lot, despite the fact that the phone in question likely won’t ever go on sale in the US or UK.
Lance got to spend a day with the Tecno Camon 19, a phone that’s set to cost around $300/£250, and yet still ticks all the boxes in terms of what most of us want from our indispensable pocket pal.
All-day battery life, mobile gameplay, an acceptable camera, headphone jack, large, edge-to-edge display… none of these things (bar the battery) necessarily make this handset flagship material; but then again, you’re saving in the region of $700 – and, based on Lance’s early review of the phone, it punches above its weight.
Talking about a device most of us will likely never own might seem moot – but if it’s a portent of the sub-$500 phone market taking a leap forward in functionality and design, Apple and Samsung are going to have some big decisions to make.
Future (The new, M2-powered, Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch)
Some people are annoyed that the ‘new’ MacBook Pro from Apple is just the same as the last one, but with a new M2 chip inside. Well, I quite like the industrial, aluminum design, but all I really want from a laptop is long, long battery life – and in that respect, Apple has excelled.
Sure, the new MacBook Air 2022 will be with us soon, and with a new design, MagSafe charging, and more impressive speakers. But the latest MacBook Pro is an absolute powerhouse, and the new M2 chip can help the battery life last twice as long as the one in the Intel chip-powered 2019 MacBook Pro – that’s a big jump in just three years.
So perhaps this will be the MacBook to go for in a year’s time, when it’s been quietly discontinued and the prices start to get a little more palatable. But 15 hours of battery in a high-power laptop? Yes please.
Too specialized for its own good? The Sony Xperia 1 IV (Future)
You might think that the headline above is me besmirching Sony’s smartphone strategy… and, full disclosure, it is, a bit.
The Sony Xperia 1 Mark IV is a phone that just confuses the life out of me. Let’s get past the name (roman numerals and regular numerals together?) and focus on the price: $1,299, which is more than the flagship iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S phones.
To justify that price tag, Sony is focusing on content creators, giving them high-end video, audio and photography tools in a smartphone that you won’t find in other handsets. However, while a unique selling point is a great thing in a phone, these features seem a bit too niche to appeal to many.
That said, reviews of Sony phones continue to be among some of our more widely-read reviews, so it seems that features like continuous optical zoom really do resonate – although I’m also confused as to why Sony doesn’t do basic things like fixing its dodgy fingerprint sensor, which has been present on several models now.
My own reservations aside, I’m pleased to see a brand going in a different direction like this – and if Sony can bring the same features to lower-cost handsets, and start to build a broader fan-base, then perhaps we’ll see it become a powerhouse in the phones world again.
The JLab Go Air Pop true-wireless earbuds look like a steal (Future)
I do love Becky Scarrott’s reviews – they’re so full of personality, and really convey her enthusiasm for all things audio.
So if Becky tells me that the $20 Jlab Go Air Pop true-wireless earbuds are the thing to buy, I’m going to trust her – but it’s a struggle. Surely, wireless earbuds that cost so little can’t be that good?
Well, the Jlab Go Air Pop are well designed, they’ve got EQ settings, they’ve got user detection (they can detect when you’ve removed them), and they boast a stunning 32 hours of battery life on a single charge of the case.
Sure, they’re not sonically gifted, and as Becky says: “The name hardly screams audio excellence anyway – ‘air’ and ‘pop’ are not words we’d recommend using in the same sentence as 6mm drivers and Bluetooth connectivity.”
But if I need some decent running headphones to function as a last-minute backup if my main headphones are dead, I think I just found them.
Spotify remains the biggest name in music streaming - for now (Shutterstock)
At TechRadar we appreciate that many people don’t have as much disposable income to play with these days, and with many of us canceling subscriptions in a bid to save money, I feel that brands like Spotify need to step up and prove that they’re worth our hard-earned money.
Our new US Senior Home Entertainment Editor, Al Griffin, is less inclined to give Spotify the benefit of the doubt – he’s of the opinion that other services offer better value, and it’s hard to argue with that when you think that Spotify doesn’t have premium, lossless audio offerings (where’s the long-promised Spotify Hi-Fi?) or features like Spatial Audio.
Spotify does still have the advantage of being the market leader, but if you really care about audio quality then there are better options out there.
Polar bears from the colony discovered on the banks of a fjord in Greenland (Kristin Laidre/University of Washington)
If you come across an article about a secret population of polar bears, you’re going to read it, right? Sadly, these polar bears aren’t hanging out in a Texas pool hall, or masquerading as the new family that’s moved in down the street from you. No, they’re still living on snow and ice, but a long way from the ocean that traditionally sustains them.
They were found living on the banks of a fjord in Greenland, at the southern edge of the Arctic Circle. The sea ice which polar bears normally use to hunt seals and other prey has been disappearing in the region as a result of climate change, but the bears have adapted by instead hunting on chunks of ice that have broken off a glacier.
It might not sound like a dramatically big change of habitat, but in the polar bear kingdom, this is a seismic development. Sadly, this isn’t a sustainable solution for other polar bear populations if the sea ice continues to disappear, but it’s fascinating to read about how these particular members of the animal kingdom have learned to adapt to changing conditions.
This is from the editor
Thanks for reading this week’s review-laden missive – one of the joys of working in tech is the chance to test and assess the latest devices, and tell you whether we think they’re worth your hard-earned money.
The problem is that people are spending less time reading reviews than they used to. I’ve been writing reviews for nearly 15 years, so perhaps I’m biased, but I think that researching the latest tech before you buy it is a critical part of the process; so do yourself a favor, read those reviews, and do some in-depth research about that new TV, laptop or smartwatch you’re thinking of buying – I promise it’ll be worth the effort.
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Have a great weekend!
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