Samsung announced the Galaxy S9 and S9+ just over a week ago now and since that time I have been evaluating the new flagship.
Quite a fair amount of content has been shared by major websites, and whilst some of that, not all, is either biased or non committal it still is possible to read thru the lines and makes some assumptions. However, I will be putting my own S9+ thru its paces when it arrives later this week, with particular focus on the following :-
– overall user experience
-the audio capabilities from the loudspeaker, bluetooth and wired headphones with a very large selection of headphones tested
– the camera – from auto mode to pro mode and then taking it to the extreme
– Comparisons with other phones like the iPhone X, Mate 10 Pro, Pixel 2, Huawei P20 Pro, Note 8, S8, S8+ and more
So my first thoughts are that Samsung has refined the S8+ and Note 8 to produce the S9+. Undoubtedly, it will be a fine phone, but I still have questions over whether the camera is that much improved and whether the user experience will be hampered by Samsung including double of everything eg voice assistants.
So if you have any particular questions you would like answered, let me know.
Welcome to my review of the DJI Osmo Mobile 2. I owned and reviewed the original Osmo Mobile, so I was quite keen to see how this improved upon the original, also considering the original cost £299 whereas the updated version is only £139.
– Consumption 1.2 W -Under ideal conditions with the gimbal fully balanced.
– Controllable Range Pan： ±160°
– Tilt：±155° (landscape orientation)
Mechanical Range Pan：±170°
– Roll：-90° to +70°
– Tilt：±170°
– Max Controllable Speed 120°/s
– Width of Compatible Phones 58.6 – 85mm
– Battery Type 18650 LiPo,Capacity 2600 mAh,Energy 18 Wh,Voltage 7.2 V
-Operating Time 15 hrs – Under ideal conditions with the gimbal fully balanced.
– Charging Time 2 hrs
– Bluetooth LE 4.0
Review
I reviewed the original Osmo Mobile, link at end to review which includes sample footage to some of the modes in the DJI app, which cost £299. On top of the £299, you had to buy so many accessories from a tripod attachment mount and more which added another £70 plus to the cost. With the new version, DJI lowered the price to £139. And you don’t need any accessories for it either. Why? Firstly by making the battery integrated, it added a tripod mount. Plus the integrated battery lasts up to 15 hours which is a vast improvement over the original.
The new version is also much lighter which makes it easier to hold for longer. Plus the new version allows you to charge your phone on the go when using the gimbal, or just acting as a power bank. You can’t charge both at same time though.
The DJI app is available on iOS and android. And just as iOS and android have differences, so does the app depending on the platform. See video review for differences.
As a gimbal, the Osmo Mobile 2 is fantastic. The new phone grip holds much bigger phones , although you might still need to take your phone case off. See video again which illustrates this. Using the gimbal you get smoother video footage. You can also take perfect panoramic shots , and a range of time lapses, motion time lapses and hyper time lapses. You can also shoot long exposures hand held!
Conclusion
It is incredible to think DJI not only reduced the price by over 50%, they actually made it much better than the original too. If you want a gimbal, this is the one to get.
– 30W RMS, Portable Speaker
– Direct pre-sets for internet radio
– Bluetooth & Wi-Fi streaming
– Up to 8 hours battery playback
The 30 Watt Sphere 2 is a Multi-Room Wi-Fi Bluetooth speaker, which allows Hi Res audio Playback. The Sphere 2’s High Resolution audio is delivered by 30W of RMS power supplied by a class D Amp 4 Ohms at 88 dB 60Hz-20KHz.
You can have 5 direct presets for streaming thousands of internet radio stations and playlists. The built in lithium rechargeable battery allows a minimum of 8 hours playback. The sphere 2 allows playback in single, stereo or group mode. Comes with wireless or LAN connections and has USB for charging you mobile devices. The speaker is controlled and initially setup by the free Tibo App. The video review has more details on the app. Within the app you can setup Spotify Connect, Tidal, Tunein radio and more services. You can also play locally stored music, connect to it via bluetooth or even use the aux input. The key here is versatility.
Video Review
Conclusion
A great sounding portable speaker, with lots of versatility. Recommended.
– 30W RMS, Tap to talk – Multi-play speaker
– Direct pre-sets for internet radio
– Bluetooth & Wi-Fi streaming
– Amazon Alexa near field VAS built-in
– 3 changeable sides: Walnut, White, Grey
The TIBO Kameleon Touch is a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Multi-Room speaker with Amazon Alexa built in. With Amazon Alexa the speaker takes on a whole range of smarts. It is also able to link with ease to other TIBO Smart Audio products.
The Smart Audio capability is controlled by the free TIBO App. Setting up the speaker using the app was a breeze. The app then allows you to link other TIBO Smart Audio speakers and the various music streaming services from Spotify connect, Tunein Radio, Tidal and others. Refer to video review for more details. You can also stream music stored locally on your phone. Versatility is the name of the game here. The Kameleon Touch can be used to playback audio in single, stereo or group mode at the touch of a button. High Resolution audio streaming via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth makes music from a wide range of sources immediately available. Plus, the speaker has five pre-sets which can be toggled through for thousands of internet radio stations and playlists. This saves a lot of time and to also include an aux in is another nice touch.
Amazon Alexa is available at a touch of a dedicated button. For styling purposes the speaker comes with 3 sets of interchangeable panels, white, dark grey and walnut, which is a neat touch.
Video Review
Conclusion
A very versatile and great sounding speaker, recommended.
Welcome to my review of the LG V30+. The review includes a camera showcase plus 32 reasons why this is currently the best phone in 2018!
And just in case you missed anything, here are the 32 reasons. The video includes additional commentary, screen shots and the camera showcase.
1. V30+ has lots of storage 128gb. Great for keeping apps and games in internal storage. Longevity as games and apps get bigger.
2. Dual hybrid sim so either another sim or micro sd card. Flexible options without huge extra costs.
3. Top processor snapdragon 835 and 4gb ram. Snappy device.
4. Hardware. Gorgeous. Glass back using gorilla glass 5 in an aluminium frame.
5. IP68 dust and water resistance plus up to 1.5metres for 30 mins Plus MIL-STD-810G complaint. A lot of phones have IP68 but aren’t MIL-STG-810G.
6. 6 inch OLED screen at 18:9. Great for content and usage with easy grip 7.54cm wide. Not missing a cutout like iPhone X and screen colour profiles and with custom colour profile option.
7. Dolby vision and hdr 10 complaint.
8. Always on display that shows you what you need at a glance without impacting battery. Fully customisable.
9. Not heavy at 158g. Considerably less than some flagship phones.
10. Cameras dual 16mp f/1.6 and 13mp ultra wide f/1.9 , 5mp front. 16mp more detail than 12mp flagships.
11. HDR video, manual video, cine video, lut recording profile, graphy, 192kHz stereo sound, iPhone X still mono !
12. Manual photo and huge options and modes well ahead of other phones. Special mode for Instagram photos. Ultra wide lens is amazing. Even use it for selfies.
13. If you miss the Google Pixel camera, a dedicated port for the V30 normal and wide lens is available. Best of both worlds.
14. Not only does it have a headphone jack, it’s fitted with a Quad Dac. No need to worry about have I got my adapter or have I charged my Bluetooth headphones. MQA streaming support included.
15. But if you use Bluetooth, you have aptx, aptx hd and LDAC is coming next. iPhone X doesn’t have the basic aptx. MQA streaming support included.
16. Audio is 32 bit, 192kHz, b & o certified , audio recording is 24bit/48khz
17. Active noise cancellations with dedicated mic too.
18. Comes not only with headphones in box, but B & O Headphones, some of the best in the box headphones.
19. Decent mono speaker despite IP68.
20. FM radio included with RDS.
21. Fingerprint on rear which is reachable without any strange moves eg Note 8.
22. Sensors include fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compasss, barometer, and colour spectrum for camera.
23. Battery is great, gets you thru a heavy day despite QHD display, but can adjust display to 1080 or 720p.
24. Quick charge 3 with correct plug in box to do this and also has Qi wireless charging.
25. Handy knock on or knock off. Just a useful feature.
26. Floating bar gives access to shortcuts, screen capture with options like gif, music player and quick contacts. Customisable and position change. Again all mod cons to make using phone a lovely experience.
27. Uses the modern usb type c plug.
28. LG Home + has lots of themes now.
29. Fluid experience and Google apps, hardware and services work well with the phone. As well as Google Assistant voice control when phone is locked too. A lot of phones don’t have Google Assistant when locked
30. The home touch buttons can be customised and position changed plus you can hide them in whichever apps you like, or even show them. LG adds an extra menu item for app scaling or game control as applicable.
31. Games tools. Game graphics, screen resolution, break time (reduces brightness and performance when you leave game running for more than 5 mins, screenshot)
32. I said so 😉
Conclusion
The LG V30+ is a competent workhorse, yet in a beautiful body with all the requirements needed for a modern phone, with nothing missing from a hardware perspective.
The Focal Elear headphones cost around £800 and are an open back pair designed headphones. The Focal Elear feature many innovations from Focal.
For starters the Elear offers the world’s first, full range and fully open back loudspeaker, built-in to a pair of headphones. They are made from an Aluminum-Magnesium blend, in a formed shape, brand new “M” shape dome speaker. This new dome shape has originated from the research performed during the £3,500 Focal Utopia headphone. In fact the Elear also benefits from a lot of the R&D done on Utopia.
The acoustic quality and design of the Elear means that Focal menaced to avoid the use of any crossover or passive filtering process in order to achieve a frequency response from 5Hz to 23kHz.
So what does all this fancy tech mean. Quite simply the headphones virtually disappear and provide a truly unique high-fidelity audio experience. The headphones are also very comfortable too.
The Key Specifications
– Impedance 80 ohms
– SPL 104db
– Frequency Response – 5Hz to 23kHz
– Loudspeaker – 137⁄64“ (40mm) Aluminum-Magnesium “M” shape dome
– Weight – 450g
The Musical Experience
One word for these headphones. Incredible. And like nothing you have listened to before. The Focal Elear headphones are also relatively easy to drive but do need a separate amp for optimum performance. My LG V30 and even my Fiio Q1 mk2 were powerful enough to drive these. However, upping the ante to a £400 Audio-gd USB DAC/Amp and the bar gets raised again.
What makes the Elear so special to listen to? Everything appears as if its being performed in the room. The headphones disappear. Singers appear in front of you, instrument separation and soundstage is off the charts good. Bass is fast, deep and impactful. The experience is staggering. Every genre I tried was a new experience and rediscovering every song in my collection.
Video Review
Conclusion
In your lifetime you owe it to yourself to own a pair of these. Highly highly recommended.
Welcome to my review of the Focal Listen Wireless headphones which sell for around £200. Focal are renowned for some of their audiophile headphones like the Focal Utopia that cost £3,500. So using the audio expertise, Focal have delved into the world of bluetooth audio.
Key Specifications and Features
– Portable headphones & comfortable, passive isolation
– Exclusive cone technology offering outstanding sound quality
– Bluetooth 4.1 for moving around freely up to 50 feet (15 metres)
– Up to 20 hours of battery life
– “Clear Voice Capture” double microphone system for even greater intelligibility of speech and conversations
– Bluetooth® wireless technology 4.1, Range 15m
– Battery Up to 20h
– Impedance (passive mode) 32Ω, Sensitivity (passive mode) 122dB SPL @ 1kHz – / 1Vrms THD @ 1kHz / 100dB SPL < 0.4%
– Frequency response 15Hz -22kHz
– Driver Electrodynamic (137/64“) Mylar Titanium
– Microphones – 2 Omnidirectional (Clear Voice Capture)
– Net weight 300g
Main Review
The Focal Listen Wireless consist of high density memory foam pads, that are not only comfortable but heat-sensitive. The headphones possess good dynamics, tight bass and a lovely tonal balance. No matter what genre of music I threw at these headphones, I was presented with a lovely sound and musicality. Bass was tight, mids and treble were well balanced and with a reasonable sound stage. Bear in mind these are closed back, so the soundstage is not massive.
To keep the weight down, plastics have been used, but at least the headphones fold into the cloth bag which is included in the box. If for any reason the power runs dry, Focal also provide a 3.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable to plug into a headphone socket. Unlike many bluetooth headphones, in wired mode, these are relatively easy to drive too. Review now continues with the video below.
Conclusion
A surprisingly lovely sounding wireless headphone from Focal. Recommended.
Welcome to my review of the Optoma NuForce BE Free8. These are a true wire free and wireless headphones. The quick review. The best ever truly wireless wire free earphone. Now read on to find out why and how they compare to other top earphones.
Key Specifications and Features
– Cable free – true wireless earphones
– Stable and reliable signal/connection – Bluetooth and NFMI technology
– Superior sound quality with deep explosive bass – enhanced with AAC and aptX for Apple, Android and Windows
– Non-stop listening on the go – 4 hour battery life with three additional full charges using the charging case
– Rain and sweat resistant – IPX5 rated
Main Review
The Optoma NuForce BE Free8 combine advanced audio coding and connection technologies including AAC, aptX LL and NMFI. This enables superb Hi-Fi sound with no lag or connection issues. One of the issues with a lot of wire free wireless earphones is lag and connection drop outs. The Sony WF-1000X suffer from drop outs and lag as do many others, which makes watching YouTube frustrating. AirPods do not suffer lag or drop outs and finally Optoma nailed this common issue with the BE Free8. I was able to walk around my whole house and not miss a beat.
In terms of fit, these fit snug in the ears without any discomfort. I was able to walk and jump and they did not fall out, Being IPX5 would be ideal for the gym.
Sound. Deep enhanced bass is one of the characters of these earphones. On some tracks the bass did interfere with the treble and midrange but overall the quality is excellent. Reasonable soundstage too. Compared to the audio quality of the Sony WF-1000X, the BE Free8 are far superior to the Sony’s. The BE Free8 are also superior in sound to AirPods, with more bass and passive noice cancellation.
The battery lasts 4 hours with another 3 full charges from the battery case. Also, the earphones are black which is a much better colour than white. So lets continue my review below.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a wire free in ear headphone, the Optoma NuForce BE Free8 are in a league of their own. Highly recommended.
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