Welcome back, TechRadar readers! As Matt Hanson mentioned last week, he and I will be sharing the duties here until we can convince our new UK Editor-in-Chief, Marc McLaren to join in – so if you see Marc on the street, be sure to shout at him, “When are you writing the newsletter?!” That’ll show him.
I’m writing this just hours after going hands-on with Google’s new Pixel 7 phones and the very cool-looking Pixel Watch. I attended the launch event in Brooklyn (part of New York City, but with arguably better pizza and bagels, although no baseball team to speak of) along with our US Mobile Editor Phil Berne.
The Google launch is just the start of another very busy spell in the tech world. Next Wednesday Microsoft is set to introduce a new line of Surface products. I expect a new Surface Pro and Surface Studio, among other things, and I’ll be at that event, too – mark your calendars.
And as I was prepping for all this, I was wrapping up my journey through Apple’s iPhone 14 line with my review of the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Plus. It’s big, bold, and… well, big. Really it’s just a larger iPhone 14. Still, with the review going live just a day after the 11th anniversary of Steve Job’s death, I approached it with, perhaps, a little bit more reverence than usual.
Not to be outdone by Google, Apple, or Microsoft, Meta is holding its annual Meta Connect event on Tuesday. The anticipated highlight will be a new Quest VR headset, but I also expect more ridiculous VR and metaverse demos; watching CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s legless avatar float around his virtual universe never gets old.
If you think all that is a lot to process, strap in. It's been a busy week across TechRadar, and I have some (hopefully) interesting and entertaining highlights to share. As ever, let me know what you think via email, and remember to include ‘NEWSLETTER’ in the subject line so we don’t miss it.
The Google Pixel 7 is faster, more efficient and more secure. Whilst delivering the best photo and video quality yet. The new adaptive battery can last up to 72hrs whilst being fast and responsive for smoother gaming and scrolling. Pre-order the new Google Pixel 7 from £27.99 p/m and claim the new Pixel Buds Pro (usually £179). Pre-order from Carphone Warehouse
The Pixel Watch was possibly the highlight of the Made by Google event (Google)
The sheer number of leaks ahead of yesterday’s Made by Google event kind of sucked the fun out of the show itself. We knew all about the new Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, and we knew pretty much everything about the Pixel Watch. That meant team TechRadar was scrambling to find some fresh information – and fortunately, Google produced it, in the shape of the Google Pixel Tablet.
I know… a tablet, even a big-screen one with a pretty metal chassis, is not that big of a deal – and it won’t be available until next year – but Google got our attention by pairing the slate with a charging speaker dock. Basically, Google deconstructed the Nest Hub Max smart display – the tablet detaches when you want to walk about the house with it, and docks and charges when you don’t.
Phil Berne and I attended the event, and got to spend some time with the new phones and watch. You’ll want to read Phil’s Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 7 hands-on and my Pixel Watch rundown – we’ve got photos, videos, and even some words.
A World of Help. Amazing price! As well as offering the key benefits of the Pixel 7, the Pro offers a larger screen size and a triple camera. Allowing for 4k video recording on both the front facing and main camera. Pre-order the new Google Pixel 7 Pro from £36.99 a month and claim the new Pixel watch (usually £379). Pre-order from Carphone Warehouse
A GeForce to be reckoned with: The Nvidia RTX 4090 (Nvidia)
Back in the mid-1990s I remember holding some of the most powerful graphic cards on the market. They were small, dense and comparatively heavy – the weight came from the sizable heat sinks that were used to manage what was, at the time, the pretty substantial heat generated by these cards.
This week, I watched in stunned disbelief as our Computing Editor John Loeffler unboxed the Nvidia RTX 4090. It's the most powerful graphics card ever (it has 76 billion transistors), and it will cost $1,599 when it goes on sale next week).
‘Card’ really doesn’t do its size justice – this is easily the biggest consumer graphics card I’ve ever seen. It’s basically the size of a shoe box, and it looks like it will need a ton of power.
This is a card for someone who creates at a pro-level – think movies, music, game development. Although I guess you could also use it for playing Overwatch 2 in 8K…
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The Canon EOS R100 is likely to have a similar design to the R10, above, minus the viewfinder (Canon)
A mirrorless Canon prosumer camera for $700 / £700 (without the lens) sounds pretty good to me, but our Cameras Editor Mark Wilson makes a compelling case for why the Canon EOS R100 may be too cheap for its own good.
The problem, as Mark explains it, is that, based on rumors, the camera, which has a 24.1MP sensor and offers respectable 4K/30fps shooting, doesn’t quite strike the necessary balance between affordability and features. Basically, Mark thinks Canon may be missing the, er, mark when it comes to the feature set.
The problem is not so much that the features are bad, but that they may not look quite so good for the price when you can get a decent smartphone with many of the same shooting capabilities – and maybe one that’s better suited for vlogging than the EOS R100.
It’s worth a read, to see if you think Mark is onto something, or just being hyper-critical.
Looking for wireless earbuds? You've come to the right place (Samsung)
The sales and Christmas shopping season is just around the corner – in fact, it’s so just around the corner that it’s basically here. Amazon certainly thinks so, and it’s looking to part us from our money with a mini Prime day next week.
It’s not a bad idea – getting all the stress of gift buying out the way early is just smart. And here at TechRadar, we’re all about the tech shopping guidance. Case in point: I was looking at our Senior Audio Writer Becky Scarrott’s ‘Best wireless earbuds’ buying guide – and this article has everything.
There’s information on every top pair of buds, including Sony’s WF-1000MXM4 (such a mouthful) and the Apple AirPods Pro 2, along with critical information such as the best brands to look out for, why you should go for wired or wireless, and how we test all of these audio devices.
You’ll come away informed and enlightened – and ready to buy the earbuds you’ve always wanted. You’re welcome.
Dedicated heart-rate monitors tend to offer more accurate data than smartwatches (Wahoo)
It’s funny how we no longer find it weird to walk around with heart-rate monitors on our wrists. My Apple Watch has one, as does your Fitbit, and Google is claiming that its new Pixel Watch will offer more accurate heart-rate monitoring than a typical smartwatch (we’ll see).
But Matt Kollat wrote an article this week explaining why smart watches might not be the best tools for heart rate measurement. He makes a case for using a dedicated heart-rate monitor instead, and here’s part of his argument:
“The optical heart rate sensors found on smartwatches will always have limitations: the wrist moves a lot, gets sweaty, and has hair on it, not to mention the skin color also has an impact on readings.”
Okay, I get that (an expert recently told me that smartwatches tend to use cheaper and less-accurate infrared sensors). However, I think most smartwatch heart sensors are probably in the “good enough for most people” category. I wouldn't want to see people going back to having one sensor for every input (a pedometer, a heart rate sensor, elevation meter, etc). I love that my Apple Watch 8 alone can do so much.
Wherever you stand, Matt’s piece makes for interesting reading – and it reminded me that these kinds of ultra-specific sensors are still out there if we need them.
The identity of the new Black Panther looks to have been confirmed (Marvel Studios)
Of all the Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies (and a lot of TV shows), one of my favorites is Black Panther. The cinematography, style, rhythms, a story rooted in something fantastic that still felt real, and its magnetic star Chadwick Boseman made it a standout. Boseman’s untimely death also made it part-tragedy.
Like many others, I wondered how the franchise would carry on, especially because Marvel had no plans to recast Boseman’s Black Panther. Well, we now have at least a partial answer, courtesy of the stirring trailer for Wakanda Forever. Tom Power has viewed the new trailer, and offers his take on the inspired choice Marvel made.
Speaking of big decisions, Tom is less than inspired by Nintendo’s casting choices for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, especially after he got a load of Chris Pratt’s Mario voice.
POLL QUESTION:
Who should have played Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie?
Cosmonaut Anna Kikina is part of the new ISS crew (SpaceX)
Russia may now be our, as well as Ukraine’s, mortal enemy here on Earth, but we’re still cooperating in space – so much so that a SpaceX rocket launched from US soil this past week with a Russian cosmonaut on board.
Anna Kikina and her fellow astronauts – two American and one Japanese – are now safely aboard the International Space Station. Our friends at Space.com have all the latest updates on this mission, and it’s a powerful reminder that all of humanity is still living together on this tiny blue orb. Space agencies around the world appear to get this and, despite tragedies playing out in Europe and elsewhere, somehow continue to manage to work together.
Sure, this is partly out of necessity – no one knows what would happen, for instance, if Russia pulled out of cooperation on the ISS. But still, this story offers a glimmer of hope that, if we can still cooperate in space, maybe we can all, ultimately, get along down here.
This is from the editor
That’s a wrap for this busy week. Next week we can expect some big things from Microsoft, Meta, and others – and if you want to know what I’m up to (of course you do), follow me on Twitter, and of course keep your eyes on TechRadar.
Matt Hanson should return next week with, I’m guessing, a detailed critique of all the ways this newsletter went wrong when in my hands, plus his take on what Microsoft unveiled. Thanks for reading, and I look forward to your feedback, comments and questions, so keep those emails coming.
Have a great weekend!
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