Tag: review

Neoplants Neo Px Review: This Plant Isn’t as Good as an Air Purifier

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Neoplants has an attractive pitch: a living alternative to an air purifier bioengineered to rid the home of those toxic vapors known as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. Its first product, the Neo Px, claims to be 30 times more efficient at air purifying than a regular houseplant. It arrived at my home in a sturdy cardboard box.

These are big claims in a little box. At around a foot tall, the plant system is touted as “the first bioengineered air purifier for your home.” From the company’s Instagram and marketing materials, I thought Neoplants had genetically modified the Pothos plant, supercharging its phytoremediation ability to remove pollutants from the air. Scientists have done this, but the Neo Px uses a regular Marble Queen Pothos. It’s the “Power Drops”—the microorganisms that are meant to live in the soil—that are bioengineered.

A Self-Sufficient Plant

Photograph: Lisa Wood Shapiro

The beige shell that comes with the plant is made out of a thermoplastic polyester polylactic acid (PLA) and has an unobtrusive design that easily blends with a variety of interior styles. PLA is derived from natural sources, and the Neo Px’s shell comes from flax.

It’s biodegradable in industrial composting settings, like the ones offered to New York City residents, but it won’t break down in a backyard compost and PLA rots at about the same pace as plastic in landfills. The planter is engineered for maximum airflow both from the top and the vents at the shell’s bottom, though every time I moved the Neo Px, a small amount of soil escaped through those vents.

As per the instructions, I filled the water well and coaxed the delicate water gauge back into the planter. Next, I cosplayed a botanist, mixing the water and Neoplants’ Power Drops in my Neo Px glass beaker with the glass wand, and then I poured the potion on top of the soil. The entire process took about half an hour.

I had to move the Neo Px to several different locations to keep my cats from nibbling the leaves. The Pothos is toxic to pets and can cause irritation in the mouth, trouble breathing, and gastrointestinal pain. I ended up putting aluminum foil around the plant to keep them at bay.

Photograph: Lisa Wood Shapiro

The Claims

Is the Neo Px an alternative to an air purifier? To start, the plant is unable to filter particulates out of the air. Unlike a HEPA filter that employs regulated accordion folded filters, the plant cannot remove smoke, pollen, and dust along with those invisible small particulates, PM 2.5, that can turn the sky orange and get into the deepest parts of the lungs. (A regular HEPA filter cannot capture vapor or gases, but it can when combined with a carbon filter.)

The Neo Px is touted as having the ability to filter out VOCs, targeting three vapors: benzene, toluene, and xylene. This is done through the use of the company’s bioengineered Power Drops. Each Neo Px is promoted as having the air cleaning ability of 30 plants, and in the company’s press materials, website, social media, and emails to me, Neoplants cites the nearly four-decade-old NASA plant study as proof. In short, the NASA plant study found that plants in a closed chamber, smaller in size than a bathtub, were able to rid the air of VOCs over a certain amount of time.

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June 23, 2024
Asus Vivobook S 15 Copilot+ PC Review: Promising Battery Life

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The arrival of Microsoft’s AI-soaked Copilot+ PC has somewhat overshadowed the simultaneous launch of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X CPU, an upgraded, ARM-based alternative to Intel and AMD processors that have long dominated the laptop world.

Qualcomm has made some incredible claims about what the Snapdragon X would be able to do since its announcement last fall, the most notable being a promise of double the performance over competing CPUs at one-third the power draw. Those competing CPUs have all been upgraded since that announcement, so examining the situation with the current environment fully accounted for is crucial. The catch is that Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs are only certified to run on Snapdragon X CPUs—for now, at least—so if you want the Copilot+ experience with all the new artificial intelligence features baked into Windows, a Snapdragon is the only way to fly.

Before we get to the CPU, let’s look at the laptop containing it more broadly. The Asus Vivobook S 15 (now featuring a space in the name, but sometimes not) dates back to 2017, when it began as an Intel-based product. Intel-powered Vivobooks are still around, mind you. The Qualcomm-based version reviewed here is model number S5507Q.

The silver laptop features a spacious 15.6-inch (non-touch) display running at 2,880 X 1,620 pixels of resolution. It’s plenty bright without being eye-searing, backing up its screen with a beefy Harman Kardon sound system. In addition to the Snapdragon X Elite X1E7810 CPU, the unit features 16 GB of RAM and a 1-terabyte solid-state drive, both standard on a modern laptop. The keyboard is roomy and responsive, even squeezing a tiny numeric keypad to the right.

Photograph: Chris Null

An intriguing addition is the inclusion of color LED backlighting for the keyboard—something you don’t often see outside the world of gaming laptops. The single-zone lighting effects can be tweaked in the preloaded MyAsus app, which controls a range of functions ranging from fan speed to audio effects. The backlighting is understated in large part because it is hard to see, due to the silver color of the keys. Whether the backlighting was on or off, I struggled to read the letters and symbols on the tops of the keys; there just wasn’t enough contrast.

Note that the unit does not include Asus’ new Ceraluminum shell—the S 15 has an all-metal chassis—nor does it include the older ScreenPad feature (where the touchpad doubles as a small display), which is present on some other Vivobook offerings.

Port selection is good and befitting of a 15.6-inch laptop, with two USB-C ports supporting USB4, two USB-A 3.2 ports, a full-size HDMI port, and a microSD card reader. All ports are side-mounted. The Vivobook weighs 3 pounds and is 20 millimeters thick, acceptable stats for a machine of this size.

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June 23, 2024
Jabra Enhance Select 500 Review: Excellent Hearing Aids

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The vast majority of additional features on the 500—including Jabra’s SoundScape speech clarity technology, top-tier support from professional audiologists, and even the choice of five colors— haven’t changed in any detectable way. A single button on either aid still controls volume (up with the right button, down with the left) and choice of four operational modes. Unlike many hearing aids, the button is large enough and placed well so you can easily find it without fumbling around behind your ear.

The Jabra Enhance Select 500 uses the same app as other Jabra hearing aids, and setup and management are identical this time around. The app works well, is easy to navigate, and makes it simple to contact Jabra support if you want to tweak your listening profile, order longer receiver wires, or simply ask questions about how things work. A gazillion eartips are (still) included to make proper fitting a snap.

Impressive Audio Performance

Once again, I have no complaints about the 500’s audio performance, and I couldn’t detect any difference between the 300 and the 500. Hiss is minimal and all but absent at lower volumes, and the various listening modes are thoughtful but not entirely needed. The all-around mode works fine in pretty much all situations. As I remarked about the 300 series at the time, these hearing aids provide just the right amount of boost to audio where I need it, never blowing out my ears or amplifying the wrong types of sounds like footsteps, keyboard taps, or squeaky chairs.

Photograph: Chris Null

The only real downside is that the quality of media streaming remains awful, making music sound like it’s being piped through a tin can on a string across the room. I’d consider using the aids in this fashion only for occasional telephone calls or in an emergency. Again: No change from the 300 on this front, though the 500 now supports tap-based phone controls on Android instead of just iOS.

If there’s a catch here, it’s the price: The Jabra Enhance Select 500 hearing aids cost the same as the 300 did when we originally reviewed them: $1,995 with a three-year warranty and support, or $1,795 with a one-year warranty and no access to Jabra’s audiologists. The former is the only option worth considering; Jabra’s audiologist tweaks make all the difference.

The real question is whether you should consider the Enhance Select 300 instead. Now priced at $1,695 (or $1,495 with a one-year warranty), the older model is 18 percent cheaper and, after all, only 3 percent heavier. Looking at it another way: Is FOMO worth $300?

The solution is left as an exercise for the reader.

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June 22, 2024
Polyend Tracker+ Review: Powerful but Niche

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Polyend’s Tracker+ is a significant update to its powerful (if somewhat anachronistic) sample-based groovebox, the Tracker. What made the Tracker so unique, and also confounding, was that it was a tracker (small t), but in hardware form. Trackers were an early form of music-making software that emerged in the late ’80s. They were initially used mainly for video game music but eventually found favor with a certain strain of electronic musicians, most famously Aphex Twin.

They’re very much a product of their time though, designed to work around the limitations of late 20th century personal computers like the Amiga. The new $799 Tracker+ has evolved to take advantage of modern technology, but its interface stays true to its forebears. The best way to describe a tracker is that it’s like composing in Excel. They’re vertically scrolling, spreadsheet-like collections of letters and numbers that can easily scare off a newcomer. But persistence will reveal a shocking amount of flexibility.

The Basics

Let’s get all the specs stuff out of the way first. The Polyend Tracker+ is a 16-track groovebox. Eight of those tracks can support stereo samples, with various methods of playback, and the other eight tracks can either control external devices via MIDI or one of the five built-in virtual synths. Samples can be simple one-shots or loops; you can slice up loops, or even load them into granular and wavetable engines for sample-based synthesis.

All of the tracks are monophonic. So playing a chord will eat up multiple tracks unless you’re using a sample of a chord. But tracks aren’t dedicated to any specific instrument so, you can combine kicks and snares on track one and maybe squeeze your bass in between hi-hats on track two.

The tracks themselves can be up to 128 steps, and each step contains instrument and note data, along with two slots for FX. The “FX” in this case aren’t chorus or reverb but things like chance, micro timing, and rolls. These two effects slots are the key to making your music not sound like it was written in a spreadsheet.

In addition to the increased sample memory, virtual synths, and stereo sampling, the other big upgrade from the original Tracker is support for audio over USB. This means you can connect the Tracker+ to your computer and get 14 stereo audio tracks out straight into your digital audio workstation (DAW). This makes it easy to put the final touches on an arrangement you’ve created on the Tracker+.

In Use

Photograph: Terrance O’Brien

Polyend nearly nailed the hardware with the original Tracker, if you ask me. The Tracker+ introduces some minor tweaks, but it’s mostly the same. It’s lighter and easier to toss in a bag but feels solid enough. The buttons are slightly clicky but have a new soft-touch finish. The large encoder has a bit more resistance, and the screen is brighter.

The grid of 48 pads is the same and remains, at best, usable. If you plan to use the built-in synths, I recommend connecting a MIDI keyboard. The pads are tiny, not velocity-sensitive, and don’t feel particularly natural to play. The quality of the hardware here is important since the interface can feel a bit like doing office work. But the feel of the keys and the resistance of the click wheel are all incredibly satisfying.

Polyend put a lot of thought into the interface to keep things from getting too tedious. There are shortcuts for quickly filling in entire tracks with data. For instance, you can quickly lay down a four-on-the-floor kick pattern with just a few button presses, generate a melody quantized to a specific scale, or randomly tweak the velocity on a hi-hat to give it a more natural feel.

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June 21, 2024
Sony Bravia 7 mini LED TV Review: A Lovely Screen From Center Stage

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If you’re more hands-off, the TV offers some advanced auto-calibration features, including the new Prime Video auto-calibration which pulls metadata from videos. It looks pretty similar to the Professional mode for filmlike content such as Jack Ryan or The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but when I put on the new Patton Oswalt game show The 1% it brightened the image significantly without looking oversaturated or washed out. I couldn’t test the feature for sports on Thursday Night Football, but it already seems among the best such options I’ve tried.

Solid Spoils

The Bravia 7 is fairly well appointed elsewhere, especially for gaming. The TV offers class-standard features like HDMI 2.1 support for VRR (variable refresh rate) at up to 120 Hz to provide tear-free gameplay, and ALLM (auto low latency lode) for speedy response. Sony’s game bar lets you add crosshairs and optimize several options on the fly, including a split-screen mode to watch YouTube walk-throughs onscreen. PlayStation 5 owners can also access Auto Genre Picture Mode and Auto HDR Tone Mapping to further optimize performance.

One notable drawback is, like the much pricier A95L, only two of the TV’s four HDMI ports support 4K at 120 Hz, one of which also harbors HDMI eARC for connecting a soundbar or other audio device. Cheaper options like Hisense’s U8N offer two discrete HDMI 2.1 ports, while step-up models like LG’s C4 OLED and Samsung’s QN90D and S90D OLED offer four. Inputs aside, I love using the TV for gaming. Its pristine clarity is almost distracting, evoking fine details like gold rivets glowing in the sun on a worn leather shoulder brace.

The 7’s built-in audio system is serviceable, thanks to dual woofers, dual side-mounted tweeters, and features like Voice Zoom 3 digital optimization designed to pinpoint dialog, but it’s also rather thin and sharp. I recommend buying an outboard audio device like one of our best soundbar or best bookshelf speaker picks for sound on par with the visual experience.

Other key Bravia 7 features include support for multiple HDR modes, including Dolby Vision, HLG, and HDR10 (but not its more advanced HDR10+ version), streaming over AirPlay 2 and Chromecast, and the new Eco Dashboard 2 for deep-dive energy monitoring.

Punch, Poise, and Positioning

I was immediately impressed by the Bravia 7’s accurate yet engaging picture, and in most respects, I only grew more enamored with it over time. There’s a beautiful subtlety to the way Sony’s top TVs handle everything from fine details and colors to dark corridors and gleaming HDR. The Bravia 7’s mix of quantum dots for expansive colors, advanced mini LED backlighting for excellent control, and Sony’s latest XR picture processing help it to lean into that legacy with sweet results.

The 7 doesn’t offer the full-throttle, hair-on-fire brightness of lauded value options like the Hisense U8N (8/10, WIRED Recommends) or TCL’s latest QM8 (which I have yet to test). The 7 taps out around 2,000 nits, but that kind of brightness is still plenty potent for SDR (standard dynamic range) and HDR content alike. Laser shots in sci-fi films blaze, explosions pop, and nature scenes like sparkling coral reefs are rendered with sun-drenched realism.

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June 21, 2024
Dnsys X1 Exoskeleton Review: A Great Idea In Need of Finesse

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He was skeptical to start with, especially on the flat, but after climbing a relatively steep slope he conceded, “I would usually have to stop halfway up here and would definitely be more out of breath than I am.” He also noticed that walking on the flat, “alters my natural stride, and I feel like I’m someone with a disability that’s being held as I walk.”

Asked if he’d spend $1,200 on it though, Dad laughed.

The Dnsys X1 is heavily discounted as part of the brand’s crowdfunding campaign, with pricing from $750, which is slightly more palatable than the suggested retail price if and when it makes it to the market—though at $1.2 million and counting you’d assume it will.

My final prototype sample certainly had issues. Without the benefit of the Dnsys app, the controls on the X1 are fiddly and confusing, with various tones and tiny lights representing power modes and battery life.

The app makes everything easier, but it’s not great. I had to ask the brand what the different power levels actually represented, as there was no guidance. Levels one and two, for instance, are designed for women “with regular body weight”; levels two to four are for long-distance walking and climbing hills; and levels five and six are for trail running and intensive sports activities. Hopefully this basic info will be added to the app before proper launch.

During testing, the unit also failed several times. According to the engineers, this was a safety feature that kicks in when the straps are not in the right position. This in itself is a good thing, but I couldn’t tighten the straps any more, and the unit was unable to reset itself. Hopefully, for the Kickstarter backers, these are just teething problems.

Pensioner Power

There’s no denying the Dnsys X1 Exoskeleton works. It really does power you along and take the strain out of your legs when walking uphill. It’s too heavy, though, and the waist strap needs to be comfier.

Judging the Dnsys X1 as it stands now, it gets the score here—and it should be underlined that, even though this is a final-stage prototype, Dnsys was insistent we could fully review this model. If the glitches we found can be sorted out, it’ll be interesting to see how the shipped product, supposedly coming in September, differs.

I can’t help thinking, however, that the brand is currently targeting the wrong audience. Not a single person in the marketing literature looks like they actually need help hiking, walking, or running.

I’m lucky enough to be relatively fit and healthy, but as I get older and bits start to crumble, I’d love to know that there is a way for me to still get out and explore. Yes, my dad initially scoffed at the price, but he’d almost certainly spend big to keep doing what he loves—and I for one would love to welcome more Mighty Morphing Power Pensioners to the trails.

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June 21, 2024
Honor 200 Pro Review: Midrange Mixed Bag

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Honor’s 200 Pro is an upper-midranger or maybe a lesser flagship. It has a lovely screen, good battery life, fast charging, a versatile camera, and the AI features of Honor’s flagship, Magic 6 Pro. Compromises are minimal. Sure, the processor is a step down from the flagship tier, it’s slightly less water resistant, the camera isn’t quite as good, and the 200 Pro misses out on secure face unlock, but it offers a pretty similar experience at a much more affordable price (£700 in the UK or 800 euros in Europe). It is not officially sold in the US.

Honor focused on the portrait prowess of the 200 Pro in the unveiling, talking up its partnership with Paris-based Studio Harcourt (a famous portrait studio). But, like many of the 200 Pro’s AI features, this stuff feels a bit gimmicky. The real reason to look at the 200 Pro is the hardware you get for the price. Just be aware that Honor’s software can be jarring, and the design is not for everyone.

Classic or Old

While the Honor 200 Pro feels like a classy phone, the design gives me grandmother vibes. I acknowledge this might just be me, but something about the cameo brooch-shaped camera module (supposedly inspired by Gaudi’s “Casa Milá”) and the pale green (Ocean Cyan), swirly, mother-of-pearl finish has me picturing Grandma fishing it out of her handbag. There’s nothing wrong with the design, and I feel bad dunking on an attempt to do something different with the camera module, but it’s just not for me.

The 200 Pro is light, slim, and curves front and back into the aluminum frame. It’s very comfortable to hold. But I have grown tired of curved screens and the inevitable accidental touches. I have no other complaints about the 6.78-inch AMOLED screen. The 2,700 x 1,224-pixel resolution is plenty sharp, the refresh rate goes up to 120 Hz, and it’s bright enough to read outdoors (Honor claims 4,000 nits of peak brightness, but that sounds optimistic). The sound quality of the stereo speakers is also impressive.

Photograph: Simon Hill

The fingerprint sensor at the bottom of the screen proved fast and responsive. I’m not keen on the double cutout for the front-facing camera, and there is no 3D time-of-flight sensor, so the 200 Pro doesn’t boast the secure face unlock of its more expensive sibling. The 200 Pro scores an IP65 rating, meaning rain and spills are probably fine, but you should avoid submersion.

The 200 Pro relies on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor, which is intended for the midrange. Somewhat confusingly, it is a step down from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, but I doubt many folks will feel a lack of processing power. The 200 Pro felt snappy, mostly keeping its cool while running games like Asphalt 9: Legends. Honor has generously appointed the 200 Pro with 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage.

Portrait Photography

The Honor 200 Pro has a triple-lens main camera that combines a 50-megapixel main shooter with a fairly large 1/1.3-inch image sensor, a 50-megapixel telephoto lens with a customized Sony IMX 856 sensor capable of 2.5X optical zoom, and a 12-megapixel ultrawide that can also handle macro photography. Honor made a big deal of this phone’s portrait chops, developed with the help of Studio Harcourt. True to that theme, there is a 50-megapixel front-facing camera with a 2-megapixel lens for depth sensing.

Honor has been quick to roll AI features into its phones, and the 200 Pro has its “AI Portrait Engine” built in, which is supposed to make the most of shadow and light to help you nail your desired artistic style with portrait photos. There is even a Harcourt Portrait mode in the camera app that lets you choose between vibrant, color, or classic (black-and-white) styles, but it only works with the main camera, not the front-facing selfie camera.

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June 20, 2024
The Evergoods Civic Panel Loader 24L Is a Well-Made Minimalist Backpack

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I’ve had a mild obsession with bags since grade school. I really wanted a Jansport backpack. What I got was a generic copy on sale at the local sporting good store—almost a Jansport, but not quite. It wasn’t the label, I didn’t care who made the bag. It was build quality. The zipper snagged on the generic version. The rear pocket wasn’t as big.

I’ve obsessed over quality bags and backpacks ever since, and it’s been worth it. A good day bag or backpack is an investment. My Lowe Alpine backpack lasted over 20 years. My Belstaff shoulder bag was in its second decade when I sold it for more money than I originally paid.

This rarefied category of expensive bags worth owning is currently, in my book, held by GoRuck, Mystery Ranch, Mountainsmith, and the latest entrant: Evergoods. The Evergoods Civic Panel Loader 24L backpack has been my only bag through a series of trips this spring.

GoRuck Heritage

Suppose you love the solid manufacturing, heavy-duty construction, and waist-belt-free design of a GoRuck GR1 (7/10, WIRED Review), but you’re less sold on the “tactical” styling and molle webbing? This is where Evergoods comes from. Cofounded by the former head of product at GoRuck and a former Patagonia R&D designer, Evergoods is exactly what those two pedigrees imply: military-inspired, heavy-duty construction and durability, paired with a more outdoorsy-meets-commuter design aesthetic. Throw in the fact that it’s made in the US (Bozeman, Montana) and uses an eco-friendly, solution-dyeing process for its black fabric, and you have a bag worthy of consideration.

Evergoods Civic Panel Loader 24L has a very clean, minimalist design on the outside. This belies the considerable amount of organizational options available, some of which are so well hidden that I didn’t discover them until I went to write this review (never noticed the pen loops in the front panel pocket). I rather like this, I am not fond of bags with dozens of zippers jangling and endless pockets festooned all over them.

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

As the name implies, this is a 24-liter bag. It weighs in at 3.1 pounds (1.4 kilograms), which is on the heavy side for a bag of this size (18 x 7 x 11.5 inches). That weight comes from Evergood’s custom heavy-duty 840d ballistic nylon, which is water repellent (though it’s worth noting, not fully waterproof), and the aluminum stays. All of which is technical bag-speak for: it’s well made, but on the heavy side. The only catch is, you’ll probably want to carry some kind of rain cover if you live in the Pacific Northwest or another wet region.

One of the more interesting aspects of the CPL24 is that it’s built to function as both a backpack (what I would call upright) and sideways, or as I think of it, briefcase mode. There are handles on the top and the side, so you can carry it whichever way you like. The side handle was great going through airports. What’s remarkable about the design is that it really does work well no matter which way you carry it.

Organizational Genius

My favorite part of the Civic Panel Loader 24—hereafter referred to as the CPL24—is the massive main compartment that fully unzips on three sides (with zipper counter-pull tabs at each end). The design allows you to load and unload the CPL24 like it’s a suitcase. The interior is lined with a light gray, 420d HT nylon, which makes it easier to see the contents.

Photograph: Scott Gilbertson

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June 19, 2024
LG Gram Pro 17 Review: Ultralight and Ultra Hot

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Choosing a laptop inevitably involves a matter of compromise. A lightweight, more portable device means a small screen and a cramped keyboard. A larger laptop provides room to stretch out and usually more power—at the expense of portability. What’s an on-the-go creative to do? Is there a best of both worlds out there somewhere?

Enter LG with its Gram Pro 17, and I wouldn’t dream of burying the lede on this one: At 18 millimeters thick and weighing just 2.8 pounds, it is the thinnest and lightest 17-inch laptop I’ve ever seen, and it’s not even close.

Some points of comparison to start, in case you think I’m being dramatic. The 17.3-inch Acer Nitro 17 I reviewed recently weighs a hefty 6.3 pounds and is 34 mm thick. Back in 2018, HP’s Omen X 17 tipped the scales at 9.9 pounds and a beastly 41 mm of girth—and it didn’t even have the courtesy to include an optical drive with it. The only machine that is even in the ballpark is the oddball HP Spectre Foldable. With its removable keyboard, it weighs 3.5 pounds and is 23 mm thick—though that’s hardly an apples-to-apples comparison.

That’s kind of the point. There is no comparison for this laptop and no meaningful point of reference. Unboxing it felt like someone was pulling a prank on me. Did a child’s plastic toy somehow get shipped to me instead of a Windows laptop? Where’s the usual 1-pound power brick? LG has been making iterative versions of this laptop since 2019, but even the older models don’t reach the featherweight status of this 2024 model.

Photograph: LG

Aside from being impossibly light and thin, what do you get with the new Gram Pro 17? An Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU is backed by 32 GB of RAM, a 2-terabyte solid-state drive (curiously configured as two logical disks), and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card. That’s a fairly dated, lower-end graphics processor, which I’ll delve into in more detail soon. The bright IPS screen offers 2,460 X 1,600 pixels of resolution, but it isn’t a touchscreen (to keep things thin).

The port selection, arranged on both sides of the device with none on the back, is good but not quite great. You get two USB-A ports, two USB-C 4.0 ports, and a full-size HDMI. You’ll need one of the USB-C ports for charging with the included A/C adapter.

LG’s design here is understated, all matte-black, powder-coated with gentle curves at the corners and nothing in the way of flourishes outside of the “Gram” logo on top. There’s room for a (rather slim) numeric keypad to the right of the spacious keyboard, though key travel is necessarily restricted due to the extreme thinness of the device.

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June 19, 2024
NZXT Relay Headset and SwitchMix Review: Innovative Convenience

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The NZXT Relay Headset isn’t noteworthy on its own. It’s a solid gaming headset with decent audio quality, comfortable earcups, and an understated design. But NZXT swung for the fences with its foray into the world of audio. Paired with NZXT’s SwitchMix accessory, the Relay Headset gets far more interesting.

The NZXT Relay Headset ($100) and the NZXT SwitchMix ($130) are sold separately, but they’re designed to be used together (along with NZXT’s Relay Speakers and Subwoofer). The headset plugs into the SwitchMix, which plugs into your PC, and you can use the SwitchMix to adjust the volume with the giant stylish knob or balance between game audio and voice chat with a simple slider.

But the headset hangar is the star of the show. It has a built-in pressure plate switch that tells the SwitchMix mixer to change devices between the headset and your external speakers. No more fiddling with device settings in Windows, forgetting to swap outputs, and accidentally waking your partner with your game. Just take the headset off the hangar and your PC will switch to it. Put the headset back on and audio will come out of your speakers. It’s a dream come true—when it works.

One Simple Switch

The SwitchMix accessory doesn’t come with the Relay Headset, and it costs slightly more than the headset itself, but that feels appropriate. It’s pretty unique. It comes in two parts: a mixer and a headphone stand.

The mixer is a sturdy yet sleek brick with a large stylish knob and a slider along the right side. The bottom of the mixer has four circular rubber pegs on the bottom that fit neatly inside a grid of holes on the base of the stand. It’s a nice little design touch that lets you rotate the mixer so it’s positioned best for your desktop setup. The knob and slider are large and distinct, making it easy to adjust them without looking, which can be crucial when you’re trying to adjust audio in-game.

Photograph: Eric Ravenscraft

The switch in the stand is easily the most appealing part of this setup, and it pulls off this party trick in a low-tech way that’s both a blessing and a detriment. A small 3.5-mm connector runs from the base of the stand into a port on the rear of the mixer. A USB-C port on the rear of the mixer runs to your computer, while two more 3.5-mm ports run to a speaker and (wired) headset.

This setup, unfortunately, means that the hangar switch works only with wired headsets, and can only connect to external speakers via a single 3.5-mm port. That limits the amount of hardware this setup will work with. But when it does work, it’s delightful. I prefer to watch videos on my desktop with my speakers but put on my headphones while I play Overwatch 2 with my friends. Picking up the headset from the stand, the audio switched over before I even got the headphones on my head. The word “seamless” was invented for experiences like this.

The SwitchMix also functions as a standalone digital-to-analog converter (DAC), though in my experience, this isn’t a particularly noteworthy benefit. The SwitchMix supports 24-bit/96-kHz audio output, but I didn’t notice a meaningful difference in the audio compared to plugging the headset directly into my PC.

One Solid Headset

The Relay is a solid first entry from NZXT. The earcups have a smooth matte surface in either black or white. I tested the white version and it looked particularly stylish. The foam inside the cups is soft and comfortable, and the headset is lightweight enough to wear for hours without discomfort.

Photograph: Eric Ravenscraft

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June 16, 2024