Deezer can now help you find songs that suddenly start playing in your head in the middle of the night. The music streaming service has upgraded its in-app SongCatcher feature so that it can now identify a track just by humming or even whistling parts of it. Once the service identifies a track, it will show you an information page with its title, artist and single/album cover where you can play the song, add it your playlist or queue and add it to your favorites.
The company says it’s the only music streaming service with an in-app track recognition feature that includes humming and whistling, but it’s worth noting that you can do the same within Google search. I tester Deezer’s new feature and compared it with Google’s and found that the latter is a bit better at recognizing my off-key humming. Google was even able to easily ID the more obscure parts of some Japanese pop songs.
For Deezer, I sometimes had to hum the more recognizable parts of a track, such as its chorus, even if they’re enormous hits. I’m talking songs like Lady Gaga’s Always Remember Us This Way, Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next and Lil Nas X’s Industry Baby. If you’re a subscriber, though, it’s the more convenient option, seeing as you can directly add tracks to your playlists. To ID songs by humming, you simply have to go to Search, then tap on “What’s this song” to launch SongCatcher and choose “Sing Now.”
Maybe I was just extra out of tune while testing Deezer — nobody has ever called me a good singer. The good news is that the feature could become much better at identifying tracks over time. Alexandra Leloup, VP Core Product at the company, explained: “As we keep improving the algorithm, the feature will become faster and even more accurate when it comes to recognizing songs across our 90 million track library.”
Although not as recognizable as Sony or Apple, Bowers & Wilkins is a brand known for speakers and an expertise in sound that it first brought to the headphone market five years ago. Three years after the debut of its excellent PX7 wireless headphones, the PX8 are finally here, and they cost $700.
I wasn’t expecting Apple, of all companies, to deliver the most competitively priced smartwatch you can buy in 2022. But with Apple shaving $30 off the cost, the new Watch SE is arguably the most compelling wearable on the market. For $150 less than the new Series 8, this year’s Watch SE delivers a comprehensive suite of health and fitness tools, emergency features and surprisingly few tradeoffs. It even uses the same new chip as the Series 8, and it looks indistinguishable to boot.
Design and hardware
If you’ve seen one Apple Watch, you’ve pretty much seen them all. Unlike the majority of smartwatches for Android users, iPhone owners are stuck with the rounded square face the company has retained year after year. At this point, it feels like most people are used to the shape and have either embraced it, adjusted to it or given up complaining.
I’m one of those who’s decided to no longer waste my breath asking for a round face. At least the Watch SE looks inoffensive and is light, comfortable and well made. The 40mm model I’ve been testing sits nicely on my wrist and most of the time I barely even notice it’s there. A 44mm version is also available.
It’s worth noting that most recent wearables are similarly unobtrusive, though at 26.4 grams (0.93 ounces), the 40mm Apple Watch SE is one of the lightest around. Meanwhile, the Fitbit Sense and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 both outweigh it at 37.6 grams and 28.7 grams, respectively.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
Though the SE’s underside is made from a nylon composite and sapphire crystal instead of the ceramic on its predecessor and the Series 8, I didn’t even realize there was a difference until I scrutinized the spec sheet.
Unlike the Series 8 and Watch Ultra, the new SE isn’t rated IPX6 for dust resistance, but it is water resistant at up to 50 meters. It also uses an older heart rate monitor than the other two, but comes with the same S8 system-in-a-package (SiP) processor, as well as an onboard high-g accelerometer that makes crash detection possible.
Like its predecessor, the SE’s screen is covered by an Ion-X glass as opposed to the sapphire crystal on the Series 8. I’ve had no mishaps with the new SE, though my first review unit of the last-generation device did get seriously damaged, with spiderweb cracks covering the display after it fell off my bathroom sink. If you’re clumsy or anticipate being careless with your smartwatch, it might be worth paying more to get a hardier model.
Display
The Watch SE’s Retina display is bright, crisp and easy to read, even in direct sunlight. That latter trait has a lot to do with the fact that Apple consistently uses colorful text on a black background, which is great for readability. Though Samsung watches like the Galaxy Watch 5 often have higher resolutions and greater brightness, they also sometimes use tiny fonts with low contrast and can be hard to read.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
The new SE has the same display as its predecessor, which is to say it’s also an LTPO OLED panel that runs at resolutions of 394 x 324 and 448 x 368 for the 40mm and 44mm versions, respectively. It’ll also max out at 1,000 nits of brightness like the older SE and the Series 8.
Besides the lack of a skin temperature sensor, the main difference between this year’s Watch SE and its more premium siblings, is that it doesn’t have an Always On Display (AOD). This just means you’ll have to lift your wrist (fairly deliberately sometimes) to see things like the time, how long you’ve been working out or a notification that just came through. It does take a second for the Watch SE to wake up and show me what I’m looking for, but it never felt too laggy. If you’re the impatient type and have money to spare, though, this is one feature that might make the Series 8 worth the extra $150.
Performance and in use
For the price, it’s impressive that the Watch SE uses the same S8 SiP as the Series 8 and Watch Ultra. In general, this meant the $250 watch was just as snappy as its pricier counterparts at setting new watch faces, measuring my heart rate, starting workouts and more. I wore the SE and a Series 8 during my testing and sometimes it was quicker to detect that I had been walking for 10 minutes or longer, while other times higher-end model would be first. Regardless of which device alerted me first, though, they both clocked roughly the same duration for my outdoor walks.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
Using the SE to track my daily HIIT and resistance training sessions felt exactly the same as using the Series 8. The only difference was that the latter’s AOD kept the workout screen on so I could more easily keep an eye on stats like elapsed time and calories burned.
The most significant feature that the SE lacks is the new skin temperature sensor that Apple introduced on the Series 8. This measures the wearer’s body temperature overnight and, based on any deviations from a baseline reading, retrospectively estimates if they’ve ovulated. Because the SE doesn’t have the hardware, it doesn’t offer this ovulation-tracking feature. But it does everything else related to cycle and sleep-tracking. You can log your periods or wear this to bed to see how long you’ve spent in zones like REM, Deep and Core sleep.
Despite packing an older heart rate monitor than the Series 8 and Watch Ultra, the SE didn’t take significantly longer to deliver a reading. Frankly, for the most part, I couldn’t tell that there was any difference between the SE and the Series 7 I had been wearing for a year. Missing features like the ECG and blood oxygen apps weren’t things I used much anyway.
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
Battery life
One area where the SE lagged pricier Apple Watches is battery life. While the Series 8 usually stuck around all day with juice to spare the next morning, the SE tended to run dangerously low at night if I’d been particularly active earlier. I usually track one workout every morning and rely on the watches to automatically detect my two to five outdoor walks each day, all while trying to hit my stand and move goals. If I walk for longer than 10 minutes more than twice, the Watch SE will struggle to last till midnight.
Another notable difference between the SE and the Series 7 and later is that it doesn’t offer fast charging, but it never took longer than an hour to get back to 100 percent.
Wrap-up
Apple sacrificed surprisingly few features on the second-gen Watch SE. As a starter smartwatch, it offers plenty of health and fitness-tracking functions, while providing peace of mind via emergency features like crash detection and compass trackback. As long as you’re not extremely clumsy or impatient, you won’t miss things like the hardier screen, dust resistance or always-on display. At $250, the new Watch SE is the best smartwatch for the money.
Bowers & Wilkins promised its next flagship headphones would debut later this year when it revealed the redesigned Px7 S2 model over the summer. Today, the company sticks to its word by officially unveiling the Px8. While Bowers & Wilkins retains much of it’s signature look for this new version, there are some notable updates — especially on the inside. The premium looks and what the company calls “the best sound quality” it has ever offered in a set of wireless headphones will cost you $699.
Inside, new 40mm carbon cone drivers power the “new reference standard for sound,” as Bowers & Wilkins describes it. The company says these components offer improved detail, resolution and “spaciousness” over the Px7 S2. As it has on previous models, Bowers & Wilkins angled those new drive units for consistent distance to the listener’s ear across their surface. The company explains that this creates a “more immersive and highly accurate soundstage,” edging ever closer to “the artist’s intent.” It certainly worked well on the Px7 S2.
The Px8 supports aptX Adaptive and thanks to Bowers & Wilkins’ digital signal processing (DSP), these headphones can handle 24-bit streaming from the applicable services. Plus, you can now play tunes from Deezer, Qobuz and TIDAL directly from the company’s Music app, the same software that’s used to configure the headphones.
The other big change on the Px8 is Bowers & Wilkins’ choice of materials. The arm construction is now made out of cast aluminum, shaped to meet the company’s signature look. Memory foam cushions line the inside of the earcups, wrapped in Nappa leather and coming in black or tan color options. All of that certainly combines for a more refined look than the Px7 S2.
Bowers & Wilkins
The company says the Px8 packs the same active noise cancellation (ANC) platform as the Px7 S2. That’s good, because the ANC setup on that more affordable model did an admirable job during our review. Six microphones total are on board: two to monitor driver output, two to keep tabs on ambient noise and two for voice. On the Px8, Bowers & Wilkins says it moved those last two mics closer together and adjusted their angles to improve voice quality and reduce wind noise.
Bowers & Wilkins is promising up to 30 hours of battery life on the Px8, same as the Px7 S2. The company doesn’t specify whether that’s with ANC on or off. However, during our review of the previous model I blew past the stated time using active noise cancellation. I still had 33 percent in the tank at the 30-hour mark. On the Px8, a 15-minute quick charge session will give you up to seven hours of listening time if you find yourself in a pinch.
The Px8 is available starting today from Bowers & Wilkins and select retailers for $699. If that’s too much for you, that’s certainly understandable. However, the Px7 S2 is $399 and it’s one of our favorite headphones of 2022.
Logitech is today announcing a quartet of products in its Designed for Mac series of wireless accessories. The first headline item is the MX Mechanical Mini (for Mac), an Apple-favoring variation on the existing MX Mini which launched earlier this year. Fundamentally, it’s the same product as before, offering a refined twist on the mechanical tenkeyless keyboards currently en vogue. Naturally, you’ll get macOS-specific keycaps, and it’s available in a pair of more Mac-friendly colors: Space Gray or Pale Gray.
Next up is a Mac-specific version of the company’s flagship MX Master 3S mouse, again in Space Gray or Pale Gray. That carries over all of the same features as the existing 3S, and if we’re being honest, there’s little reason for this to exist as a separate model. After all, the standard 3S is a universal model, and it can already be customized with Mac-specific shortcuts in the macOS version of Options+, Logitech’s app for accessory tweaking. But if you’re looking for consistency in your color choices, then if the prices are the same, then there’s also little option not to choose this one.
Logitech
The other major launch is for the Lift for Mac which, like the above, is a Mac-hued version of its existing vertical mouse. Logitech says that the 57-degree angle of attack places your mitt in a natural handshake position for better comfort. At the same time, the company is rolling out a new color for its K380 wireless keyboard, this time in Blueberry. You can also pick up the accompanying mouse in that same hue, should you wish to go all matchy matchy with your purple M1 iMac.
All four products are available to buy this month from Logitech’s official website and, most likely, your retailer of choice. The MX Mechanical Mini will set you back $150, while the MX Master 3S is marked up at $100, with the Lift costing $70, and the blueberry K380 is $40.
Alienware’s existing QD-OLED monitor is a spectacular display, but its size and $1,300 price can make it difficult to justify even if you’re a well-heeled enthusiast. Dell is tackling both of those problems with a revamped Alienware 34 Curved QD-OLED Gaming Monitor, the AW3423DWF. The new version is thinner, making it easier to mount on a wall, but also carries a lower $1,100 sticker. It’s not exactly cheap, then, but you can at least roll some of the savings into an RTX 4080 or other PC components.
The technical capabilities are largely similar, although that isn’t really a bad thing. This latest Alienware monitor still outputs atn ultra-wide 3,440 x 1,440 with QD-OLED’s signature color quality, high contrast and quick pixel response times (0.1ms gray-to-gray). The AW3423DWF packs a native 165Hz refresh rate with FreeSync Premium Pro and VESA AdaptiveSync Display support, but also offers 120Hz variable refresh rate compatibility to work nicely with your PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S. There’s a new on-screen settings joystick to quickly access mode presets, including a new Creator mode for gamers who also need to edit photos and videos.
The Alienware 34 QD-OLED Gaming Monitor ships sometime this fall. If anything, its main competition may come from its panel manufacturer. Samsung will release the Odyssey OLED G8 with a subtler design and slightly improved 175Hz refresh rate before the end of 2022. While its pricing isn’t yet available, you may have a difficult choice if you’re shopping for a stretched gaming display in the near future.
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