News

The latest technology news from around the world

Garmin Venu 2 & 2S Launching in April with a bigger display & better Battery vs Venu

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Garmin has been a little quiet recently; they are hopefully gearing up for the Fenix 7 launch at some point later this year. However, in the meantime, it looks like the Garmin Venu 2 will launch. The Garmin Venu appears to have been a big success for Garmin, helping them appeal to more mainstream smartwatch … Read more

Acer Swift 3x Review – How does the Intel Xe Max GPU perform vs MX250 on Matebook 13

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The new Acer Swift 3x is one of the first laptops on the market to launch with the new discrete Iris Xe Max GPU. It is far from a gaming GPU but instead aimed at aimed at improving performance for GPU orientated productivity such as photo and video editing.  The Xe Max GPU will therefore … Read more

Huawei Sound now available for £199.99 – The Huawei X Devialet collab has more connectivity, still no Spotify streaming – What else is different vs Sound X?

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I loved the Huawei Sound X, it has an awesome room-filling sound with incredible bass making it the best Bluetooth speaker I have reviewed. However, it was just that, a Bluetooth speaker, and with a £300 price tag at the time of launch, it wasn’t cheap either. You can now buy it for just £179 … Read more

Safely Smart Home Alarm Review – A DIY smart home security system with extensive options by SafelyTeam

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The Safely DIY home alarm system by SafelyTeam is the latest smart home alarm system to enter the market. This is a new company hoping to compete with big players like Ring and SimpliSafe. The Safely alarm system is more advanced than many off the shelf solutions from the likes of Ring and Eufy, offering … Read more

Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra is the new camera king with 50MP 1/1.12” Samsung GN2 sensor and an equally massive price tag

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Xiaomi has finally released their top of the range flagship phone of the year, and it is a beast. The launch confirms much of what has been leaked already. 50MP 1/1.12” Samsung GN2 Sensor – larger then Huawei Pro Pro camera The new phone has the latest Samsung GN2 50-megapixel primary camera, which was co-developed … Read more

Xencelabs Pen Tablet is an affordable graphics tablets for professionals from $279 with UK availability soon

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Many of my friends have had to take their artistic trade digital in the past year, and I regularly get asked questions about graphics tablets or what the best iPad for drawing is. So the launch of the new Xencelabs Pen Tablet caught my eye. While there are certainly cheaper options on the market, the … Read more

Edifier TWS1 Pro Review – £50 true wireless earphones with aptX Adaptive & 12 hour battery life!

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The Edifier TWS1 Pro are the latest earphones from the affordable brand. I reviewed the original standard Edifier TWS1 True Wireless in January 2020, and these offer some significant improvements while only costing around a tenner more. Edifier TWS1 Pro vs TWS1 The new Edifier TWS1 Pro has several important upgrades, including: A shift to … Read more

Crash Bandicoot Comes to Mobile

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King, a leading interactive entertainment company for the mobile world, today announced that Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! is now available to download and play for free worldwide on iOS and Android mobile devices. In the all-new Crash Bandicoot mobile adventure, players will run, spin, swipe and smash their way through mysterious lands, defeating the … Read more

Chuwi CoreBook Xe coming soon, equipped with Intel’s DG1

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In CES 2020, Intel released its first discrete graphics card DG1, officially named Iris Xe Max, which focuses on the consumer notebook market and breaks the monopoly of NVIDIA and AMD in the market. The Chuwi CoreBook Xe will also be the first laptop to come with Intel's DG1. It will be released worldwide in April 2021 and is expected to cost $599.

DG1 adopts the new XE architecture, 10nm process and has 96 EU execution units, 768 core stream processors, 1.65GHz core frequency, and independent 4GB video memory. In addition, the DG1 supports Intel's Deeplink technology, which greatly improves video encoding performance. Intel says the integrated XE graphics card on Tiger Lake will have twice the graphics power of the previous generation! At CES, Intel smoothly demonstrated the AAA-level game Destiny 2.

According to the running score, the DG1 outperformed Nvidia's current mainstream standalone MX450 in DX12, and the performance was close to that of the GTX 1050 TI MAX-Q. The DG1 improves visuals to fully unlock the capabilities of the laptop.

SpecificationIris Xe MAX（DG1）
Shading Unit768(96EUs)
Texture Mapping Unit48
Rasterization Processing unit24
Acceleration Frequency1650MHz
FP32Rating(Peak)2.46TFLOPs
GeometryRate (Prim/Clock)2
Video Memory FrequencyLPDDR4X-4266
Video Memory Bit Width128-bit
Video Memory Size4GB
TDP25W
ArchitectureXe-LP

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Qualcomm Snapdragon 780G vs 765G vs 750G vs SD888 vs Dimensity 1200 Specification Compared – Qualcomm introduces a massive upgrade to the 7 series, competing with flagship Dimensity chipsets

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Qualcomm has finally gotten around to giving the Snapdragon 700 series some love. What had been previously rumoured to be the Snapdragon 775G is now the Snapdragon 780G.

This new chipset looks more like a flagship chipset and looks very familiar to some of the specification offered by the flagship chipset from Mediatek Dimensity 1200 this year.

For the sake of this comparison, I have used the main Qualcomm chipsets, not the retweaked options used on a limited number of phones, such as the SD 768G or the new SD860 and SD870.

In fact, the SD780G offers a superior specification to the SD860, so the lines have become very blurred between their upper midrange and flagship 800 series.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 780G vs 765G vs 750G vs SD888 vs Dimensity 1200 Specifications Compared

Snapdragon
750G		Snapdragon
765G		Snapdragon
780G		Snapdragon
888		Dimensity
1200
ProcessSamsung 8 nmSamsung 7 nm EUVSamsung 5 nm5 nm TSMCTSMC 6 nm
CPU (prime)–1x Kryo 475 (A76) @ 2.8 GHz1x Cortex-A78 @ 2.4GHz1x ARM Cortex-X1 @ 2.84 GHz1x Cortex-A78 @ 3.0 GHz
CPU (big)2x Kryo 570 (A77) @ 2.2 GHz1x Kryo 475 (A76) @ 2.4 GHz3x Cortex-A78 @ 2.2GHz 3x ARM Cortex-A78 @ 2.42 GHz3x Cortex-A78 @ 2.7 GHz
CPU (small)6x Kryo 570 (A55) @ 1.8 GHz6x Kryo 475 (A55) @ 1.8 GHz4x Cortex-A55 @ 1.9GHz 4x ARM Cortex-A55 @ 1.8 GHz4x Cortex-A55 @ 2.0 GHz
GPUAdreno 619Adreno 620Adreno 642
+50% perf over 768G
& 768G offered 15%+ over SD765G		  Adreno 660Mali-G77 MC9
Display1080p+ @ 120 Hz1080p+ @ 120 Hz1080p+ @ 144 Hz4K @ 60 Hz, 1080p+ @ 90 Hz1080p+ @ 168 Hz
ISP2Dual 14-bit Spectra 355 ISPTriple 14-bit Spectra 570 ISPTriple 14-bit Spectra 580 ISP
NPU4.7 TOPS5.4 TOPS12 TOPS26 TOPS 
5G modem (downlink)X52, 3.7 GbpsX52, 3.7 GbpsX53, 3.3 GbpsX60, 7.5 Gbps 4.7 Gbps (sub-6)
Wi-FiWi-Fi 6Wi-Fi 6, 867 MbpsWi-Fi 6E, 3.6 GbpsWi-Fi 6EWi-Fi 6

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Airpulse A80 Active Speakers launched for £629, offering high res audio and Bluetooth

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I have covered a few active speakers and passive speakers recently. Most of my coverage leans towards the affordable, but if you are looking for something more premium, Airpulse has some attractive options.

Airpulse is the premium audio solution from Edifier who I have covered extensively. The Airpulse A80 Active Speakers are technically the entry-level speakers but sit a notch up in price than any of the Edifier options.

AIRPULSE A80 Electric Blue
AIRPULSE A80 Electric Blue
  • Bluetooth 5.0
  • 100W RMS (40w x 2+10W x 2)
  • Input : AUX, PC, USB, Optical, Bluetooth
  • Tweeter : Horn Loaded Ribbon Tweeter
£629.00
Buy on Amazon

Full Press Release

Airulse Airpulse has released the quintessential modern bookshelf speaker – the A80 – in a stunning electric blue. In addition to the original Walnut Finish, the recently released A80 matches in equal parts its technical superiority and stunning design. Created to be the perfect combination of conventional loudspeaker and digital XMOS system, the A80 offers a superb sound quality from a stylish unit.

The A80 is Airpulse’s entry level plug and play speaker that utilizes the brand’s signature horn-loaded aluminium ribbon tweeter and proprietary 4.5-inch magnet ferrite mid-woofer to drive the system. The thin aluminium ribbon diaphragm has high sensitivity, superb transient response, extended frequency range and well-defined resolution. This meticulously formulated horn shape produces directional and optimized high frequencies from the ribbon tweeter, so they are aimed at the listeners, minimizing unwanted inflections and producing a superior, three-dimensional sound with excellently defined details.

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Mobile Pixels Trio Portable Monitor For Laptops Review – Make your laptop dual or triple display

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With the prospect of being able to travel again this year I have been contemplating on how to improve my mobile working experience. Whenever I go on holiday or press events, I always set up a small workstation allowing me to get a couple of hours of work done each day (the cost of being self-employed). In recent years this has expanded from just a laptop to include both a proper keyboard and mouse, which massively improves my productivity. However, working from a single monitor is not ideal for me; when writing, I almost always have side by side content so I can research and reference things.

A portable monitor is a perfect solution for this. I recently reviewed the Acer PM1, which was flawed but still good, largely thanks to its great price. However, the Mobile Pixels Trio offers a slightly alternative solution that will be particularily appealing to people that work on the move.

Rather than having a completely sperate monitor, this monitor attaches to the back of your existing laptop, sliding out as and when needed. It gives you a much more convenient set up when working in tight spaces.

The Mobile Pixels Trio name is slightly misleading initially; the monitor you buy is a single monitor, but it is designed to allow two to be attached to your laptop to create that triple monitor setup.

Specification

Mobile Pixels Trio Portable Monitor for Laptops, 12.5'' Full...
Mobile Pixels Trio Portable Monitor for Laptops, 12.5'' Full...
  • ★Extend Your Vision by Ultra Wide Screen...
  • ★Plug and Play, One Cable Setup,Backward...
  • ★One Trio Max Display on Multiple...
  • ★Optimized Design for Home Office and Work...
£269.99
Buy on Amazon
  • Display Size: 12.5″ (Max model is 14″)
  • Resolution:  1920 x 1080
  • Refresh Rate: 60 Hertz
  • Power: 4.5W
  • Brightness: 300 nit
  • USB: 2x USB-C (one for power if the source device can't provide it)

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Huawei MateBook X Pro 2021 announced with Intel i7-1165G7 & Iris Xe graphics for £1599.99

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Huawei may be suffering a bit with their phones lacking Google, but they are easily one of the best laptop brands around at the moment for any non-gaming laptop. Today they have announced the latest Huawei MateBook X Pro 2021, which is a 13.9 inches ultra-portable, weighing in at just 1.33 kg. As usual for … Read more