Sony MDR-MV1 headphones review

The MDR-MV1 are Sony's newest studio mixing and monitoring headphones. They could be considered the spiritual successors to the legendary MDR-7506, which have been around for over 32 years and are still on sale. Unlike previous Sony headphones meant for studio use, the MV1 are open-back headphones. Sony intends these to be used more specifically for mastering spatial audio, which is becoming increasingly popular these days with the advent of Dolby Atmos (and less so because of Sony's own 360 Reality Audio). In this review, I will be checking if the MV1 are fit for their intended...

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Top 10 trending phones of week 40

The Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max's streak is at an end in week 40 as new announcements from Google and Samsung stormed the top of the chart. It was the Pixel 8 Pro that ended up on top, while the Galaxy S23 FE had to settle for second. As a consolation to the Koreans it's the outgoing Galaxy S21 FE that rose to take third. This leaves the iPhone 15 Pro Max in fourth, just ahead of the other new Google phone - the Pixel 8. Xiaomi 13T is the best placed phone by the Chinese maker in sixth, while the Galaxy S23 Ultra takes seventh. Xiaomi 13T Pro is down to eight, while most popular phone...

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OnePlus 11R Solar Red hands-on

OnePlus recently launched the OnePlus 11R Solar Red edition in India. This is similar to the standard OnePlus 11R with mostly aesthetic differences. The Solar Red edition was initially unveiled as a Genshin Impact special edition in China. The Solar Red is essentially the same phone minus the special packaging and software personalization. The main feature of this variant is the striking red vegan leather back, replete with a leather texture in the middle, fake stitched pattern, and a ribbed texture around the edges for grip. Visually, the design is quite convincing...

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Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro review

Introduction The best way to compete in the premium smartwatch market is to join Google’s Wear OS (or be an Apple Watch), or so Xiaomi thought as it was designing the Watch 2 Pro. The move opens up the Play Store and all of its apps, while the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 platform - a big 4nm step up from the S1 Pro - takes things up a further notch. The chipset is a rarity among Wear OS watches outside of the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5. The move to a proper OS also means that the Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro lasts about two days, while the watch it replaces had its battery life measured in weeks. That’s a...

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Flashback: Samsung's Galaxy S minis were small but hardly deserving of the S-branding

Mini phones are on our mind again – when are they not? – but the most recent memory to surface is just another confirmation that the market doesn’t actually want such devices. Specifically, we want to talk about the Samsung Galaxy S III mini and its ilk. The first one came out in October 2012, about half a year after the big S III. We find it a bit funny that this “mini” phone has the same display as the original Galaxy S, which was just over two years old at this point. Both had a 4.0” Super AMOLED panel with 480 x 800px resolution (15:9). This was 30% smaller (in terms of surface area)...

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