Tag: review

HiGround Opal Base 65 Keyboard Review: More Hype Than Substance

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What impressed me, though, is the Base 65’s RGB lighting—between the clear case, white silicone dampening, transparent switches and keycaps, and the reflective aluminum plate, the RGB absolutely shines, making this keyboard a bright centerpiece on any desk. Sadly, programming the RGB is a bit of a chore, and most of the factory presets have incredibly limited customization.

Paying for Looks

The saving grace is HiGround’s pop culture collaborations. You can get a keyboard made in collaboration with Minecraft, and previously there have been tie-ins with game and anime series, including Naruto, Pokémon, Attack on Titan, Gundam, and Yu-Gi-Oh. However, this usually comes with a tradeoff: Would you rather have a high-quality keyboard or one designed after your favorite media franchise? This keyboard is flashy, colorful, and a statement piece. But besides visuals, the Base 65 keyboard doesn’t do anything new, or anything that justifies the price.

Photograph: Henri Robbins

I also want to note the “all sales are final” line in most of the company’s product descriptions. Combine this with massive brand tie-ins and an emphasis on “limited” drops, and I’m reminded of the collab-based hypebeast sneaker culture of the 2010s; a marketing strategy that emphasizes exclusivity and makes people jump at “rare” (i.e., artificially scarce) products and assume they’re more valuable/higher-quality than they are. I know this is a lot of advertising rhetoric that sits outside the quality of the end product, but I think it’s important to consider why the keyboards are the way they are, and why they sell well despite some of the issues they may have. (As a side note, multiple keyboard collaborations from HiGround are currently being scalped on StockX.)

I also found some frustration when trying to review this keyboard because, when HiGround had a release coming up, every single page on its website would redirect to a password-protected countdown. This meant that the keyboard’s documentation, drivers, and even basic product information were unavailable for the entire time while waiting on a limited release (in this case, the Minecraft keyboard collection).

Ultimately, it’s hard for me to recommend HiGround’s keyboards unless you really want a branded keyboard for a certain media franchise and are OK with the sacrifices to the build quality and typing experience.

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June 15, 2024
Fitbit Ace LTE Review: The Best Kid’s Smartwatch

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As an adult, we’ve all become inured to fitness tracker gamification—all the funny little incentives to up your step count and get moving. It’s wild to see a child experience fitness gamification for the first time, especially since most children have too much energy to begin with.

The Ace LTE, Fitbit’s new smartwatch for kids, incentivizes children between the ages of 7 and 14 to wear their combination fitness tracker, location sharer, and communication device with a proprietary games studio called Fitbit Arcade. The child can unlock activity-based games with a certain number of steps, and it’s time-limited, so they can play for only a few minutes at a time.

It also has an eSIM with built-in LTE connectivity, so you and your child can text and call each other, and you can locate them in Google Maps. Tap to Pay via Google Wallet is also coming soon. This watch solves a lot of problems for me and my elementary-school-aged children. However, I’m not sure that Google’s beta testers have adequately prepared their software engineers for my two kids, who, if they see that they need 1,500 more steps to unlock a game, will sprint around the house at top speed for 20 minutes until they get them.

Mild or Spicy Sauce

The Ace LTE smartwatch comes in two colorways: Spicy Pebble and Mild Pebble. Both have a stainless steel case with plastic buttons and a polyester woven strap with a plastic clasp. It’s about 41 by 45 mm across—so, it’s sizable, but nothing that my 7-year-old and 9-year-old feel is unwieldy. The only time my son wants to take it off is when he’s playing violin. It’s a Fitbit, so it works with both Android and Apple phones.

Photograph: Adrienne So

It has a 5 ATM rating, which means it can withstand the pressure exerted by 50 meters of water. However, while it offers some protection, it doesn’t have a dustproof rating. The screen is made from Corning Gorilla Glass 3 with an OLED panel that is plenty bright enough to see in natural daylight. It also comes with a protective plastic bumper; I asked my daughter whether she wanted to take it off so her watch would look a little more grown-up, and she said no.

It may be a child’s smartwatch, but it is a Fitbit, and it does have the full suite of sensors—an accelerometer, optical heart rate sensor, magnetometer, ambient light sensor, and gyroscope. Multiple people have asked me, incredulously, whether I think it’s accurate when it says that my son is racking up between 16,000 to 20,000 steps a day. All I have to say is, you wouldn’t ask me that question if you could see him on our trampoline.

At the end of a full day—from 6:30 am to around 7:30 pm for my kids—the battery is down to around 13 or 20 percent, which is a little less than the 16-plus hours that Google advertises, but it works for us. Every night, I put it on the charger after they go to bed at 8 pm, and they’re always fully charged by the time I go to bed at around 10 pm.

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June 11, 2024
Keychron Q1 HE Review: Hall Effect Goes Mainstream

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Analog keyboards have been the “next big thing” for ages now in the world of mechanical keyboards. These have sensors inside that can much more precisely differentiate between a slight and full keypress. They’ve long promised to revolutionize gaming and typing, being faster, more customizable, and more reliable (supposedly). But they’ve never quite been compelling enough for most people to adopt: Why sacrifice a proven track record for something new and experimental?

I think you can compare analog keyboards to electric vehicles. Sure, they’re better on paper in a variety of ways, but the entire infrastructure around us is designed for internal combustion engines, and we’re all used to the handling and performance characteristics of our gas guzzlers. Why make a change when it’s hard to know if the benefits outweigh the risks?

Keychron’s new Hall effect (HE) keyboard, the Q1 HE, makes it easier to understand why. Combining the high-tech customizability of a Hall effect switch with the advanced construction of a premium mechanical keyboard brings out the best of both worlds. Plus having reliable and easy-to-understand customization makes the system a lot easier to understand.

What Are Hall Effect Switches?

Hall effect switches are a type of mechanical switch, similar to optical switches, which can have multiple different inputs across one keypress. While optical switches use a laser to identify inputs, an HE switch uses magnets to manipulate an electromagnetic field when a switch is pressed, which then returns different values at specific distances.

While these switches are new for consumer keyboards, the technology has been around for a while. One of the earliest manufacturers of Hall effect switches was Honeywell, who made these switches for the now-legendary Space Cadet keyboard. This version of the switch is incredibly different from modern iterations though—the only real similarity is that they both utilize magnets to create inputs.

Photograph: Henri Robbins

The benefit of these multiple inputs is the ability to adjust the actuation point of your key switches—when the switch identifies that you have pressed a key. Moving the actuation point to the top of the keystroke can make typing more responsive while moving it toward the bottom can prevent accidental mis-inputs. To create a good middle ground, there are settings like “rapid-trigger” that allow multiple keypresses in a row without the switch needing to return to its resting position.

The Q1 HE is Keychron’s first Hall effect keyboard. While a few from other manufacturers have made an impact on the industry already (the Wooting 60HE being the most prevalent), consumer-grade Hall effect switches are still something fairly new and experimental, and Keychron is one of the first major keyboard manufacturers to incorporate the technology.

HE vs. True Mechanical Switches

The Nebula Double Rail Magnetic switches, made by Gateron, are a proprietary design currently exclusive to the Q1 HE. With both factory lubing and a new slider design, I’m impressed by how smooth they are. However, this kind of smoothness should be expected from Hall effect switches; the magnet-based system means there’s no need for any physical contact to happen between the components of the switch.

The contactless system also means these switches will last quite a while. While Gateron hasn’t released any information on the longevity of these specific switches, its KS-20 Hall effect switches are rated for more than 100 million actuations.

The switches, which have a standard 60-gram bottom-out weight, feel great to type on. They are incredibly smooth, with hardly any lateral movement or stem wobble when typing. They also have consistent resistance across the entire keypress and feel natural no matter where the actuation point is adjusted to. If the standard 60-gram spring weight ends up not being for you, Keychron independently offers its Dawn and Aurora switches, which have 50- and 70-gram weights respectively, although these can’t be ordered as the Q1 HE’s default switches.

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June 9, 2024
Raycon The Magic Power Bank 5-in-1 Review: My New Favorite Portable Charger

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I’m picky when it comes to portable chargers. There are plenty of power banks out there with built-in cables and wall plugs, but in a crowded market, it takes a lot more than a 10,000-mAh capacity to catch my eye. That’s why I was shocked that Raycon’s Magic Power Bank not only did everything I ever wanted but also some things I didn’t know I could want from a portable battery. And then I discovered the built-in phone stand.

This power bank’s 10,000-mAh capacity is enough to charge your phone around two times. It also has two charging cables built in—one USB-C and one Lightning cable for older iPhones and Apple devices. Additionally, it has two USB ports (one USB-A and one USB-C) on the front where you can connect additional cables.

Raycon calls this a 5-in-1 power bank, but you might’ve noticed those cables and ports only account for four charging options. The fifth sits atop the power bank: a MagSafe-compatible 15-watt wireless charging pad. While only certain iPhones support Apple’s magnetic accessory system, the wireless charger will work for any phone that supports the Qi standard. It’s worth noting that since this is not Made-for-iPhone-certified, MagSafe iPhones will only be able to take advantage of 7.5-watt charging speeds from the magnetic interface, which essentially means it’ll charge slowly.

Still, the battery can use all five charging methods simultaneously. (You might need to press the button beneath the digital display to activate the wireless charging for some phones.) If that was all this power bank did, it would be enough to be my new everyday carry battery. But there’s more.

Extras on Extras

Recharging the Magic Power Bank is super simple. It has a two-prong wall plug you can plug directly into any typical wall socket (in North America). It can also be recharged via the USB-C port on the front if you don’t have a convenient wall outlet nearby.

Photograph: Eric Ravenscraft

A rubber loop sits in one corner of the power bank, which makes it easy to latch onto a bag or belt. I often find myself at conventions or festivals where I expect my phone to die more often than usual, and carrying a giant battery in my pocket is cumbersome. This loop is a welcome addition. Even if I don’t want to carry around a bag, I can use a carabiner to latch it to one of my belt loops.

On the front of the battery, a digital readout shows the power bank’s current charge. This feature is mercifully becoming more standard on power banks, but it still feels like a nice-to-have. I’ve owned dozens of portable batteries, but only a few that can show me how full they are with this level of accuracy. Once you’ve had that convenience, it’s hard to go back.

And a Phone Stand

With the wireless charger, digital readout, and built-in cables/wall plug, I was ready to call this my new favorite portable battery. But I noticed an odd little plastic slider on the bottom. It has a couple of ridges; when I slid it out, it clicked into place. I hadn’t read everything about this battery before I started fiddling with it, so the surprise I felt when I realized what it was for brought me the kind of joy that gadget nerds live for.

It was a phone stand. A phone stand! I set the battery on my desk, laid my phone on it sideways, and it rested, tilted up at a slight angle to make it easy to watch a video. I could also prop the phone up in portrait mode to keep an eye on my notifications while my phone was on my desk (or for watching vertical videos).

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June 8, 2024
Aventon Ramblas Review: An Affordable, Rugged Commuter Electric Bike

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When I saw the price tag for the Ramblas, Aventon’s first electric mountain bike, I scratched my head and wondered, “How did they do this?” OK, so $2,699 isn’t exactly cheap. But most top-of-the-line, full-suspension e-MTBs are pushing $15,000. That’s a difference of more than $12,000, which can’t be explained away by the lack of a rear shock.

The company has been around since 2013, the year it started manufacturing fixies in Long Beach, California. In 2015 Aventon’s women’s Factory Team won the Red Hook Crit in Barcelona, a 20-lap race around a 1.2-kilometer course at speeds upwards of 35 km an hour. Despite a devoted fixie following, Aventon pivoted into the commuter ebike space in 2017. Seven years later, the e-MTB Ramblas was born.

Now based in Ontario, California, the company does almost everything in-house, from engineering and development to assembling small parts and manufacturing its own frames. On the Ramblas, Aventon even designed its own mid-drive motor. As a result, the maker can take out the middleman and do higher volume than competitors, which means lower prices to the consumer.

Make or Break It

Aventon works with more than 1,500 bike shops nationwide but also sells direct to consumers, so I had the company ship a demo Ramblas directly to me. My partner built the bike in under an hour, thanks to his mechanic skills and the easy-to-follow instructions accessed by the QR code on the box.

At first glance, I was impressed with the bike’s nicely specced components, which include a Rockshox 35 suspension fork with 130 mm of travel, a Sram NX 12-speed drivetrain, and Sram DB-8 mineral four-piston hydraulic disc brakes. In less technical jargon, that means more brake fluid is distributed across a larger surface area, making it easier to stop. Plus, the Ramblas comes with a dropper seat post and built-in front and rear lights.

As for e-components, the Ramblas uses an Aventon 708-watt-hour, rechargeable lithium-ion battery and the brand-new Aventon-designed A100 mid-drive 36-volt motor with 250 watts of sustained power and 750 watts of peak power that’s customizable via the companion app. I had never ridden an e-MTB that wasn’t powered by Brose, Bosch, or Specialized, so I was curious to see how the A100 would compare.

Photograph: Stephanie Pearson

My first ride in early May was a 25-mile loop of dirt and paved roads interspersed with chunks of singletrack dry enough to ride. My first adventure on a new ebike always triggers battery anxiety, so I stayed almost entirely in Eco mode, the lowest of the Ramblas’ three power modes, which is standard on most e-MTBs.

Even in Eco mode, I was impressed with the smooth, consistent power throughout each pedal stroke. If I kept up my cadence and completed each stroke, Eco mode provided enough steady power to drive up steep, long grades without having to toggle up to Trail or Turbo mode. The tiger in the A100’s tank is likely due to its 100 newton meters (NM) of torque (the higher the torque, the greater the motor’s power and responsiveness), about 20 NM more than most other e-MTB motors.

Heavyweight

At 52 pounds with the medium frame, the Ramblas is not light. At one point on a steep, paved uphill, I turned the bike off to see how well it pedaled under my own power. That didn’t go well, and I had to turn the bike back on long before I crested the hill, quickly realizing that it would be a very big bummer if the bike ran out of battery during a long ride. The positive, however, is that after 25 miles, I still had 70 percent of the charge remaining, which indicates that Aventon’s promise of an 80-mile range is accurate.

Photograph: Stephanie Pearson

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June 7, 2024
Razer Iskur V2 Review: The Best Gaming Chair

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I have, perhaps, a deep-seated distaste for gaming chairs. I bought one in 2016, got tired of the race-car-seat-like design, and grew frustrated at how poorly it managed heat. Then the back pain came as I began working remotely (right before the pandemic). One of my first pandemic purchases was a proper office chair since I spent more than eight hours at my desk. Lo and behold, the back pain slowly disappeared after a few weeks.

This launched my interest in testing office chairs—I have since put my behind on more than 50 models, from active seating to Herman Millers. An office chair is better than a gaming chair in almost every way—they often have more adjustments you can make to personalize the chair to your body; they typically do a better job of keeping you cool with breathable materials; and they usually have better back support. But that doesn’t make gaming chairs less popular. They’re the seat of choice for many creators and streamers, and something many gamers seem to yearn for to complete their gaming battle station. So here we are with the Razer Iskur V2.

I went into this review process knowing the Iskur would not right some of the problems I initially had with the gaming chair I sat on for many years, but I tried to keep an open mind. The verdict after a month of sitting on it? It’s OK! I wouldn’t choose the Iskur V2 as my WFH throne, but if you do not want an office chair, it’s probably the best gaming chair around.

Big and Tall

Assembly was fairly quick and easy, like many of the office chairs I’ve tested, and the tools you need are included in the box. I initially thought the installation instructions were missing from, but it turns out they’re on the back of a giant piece of paper, which is the first thing you’ll see when you open the box. You can also scan a QR code to watch the assembly video on YouTube.

The build materials are nice—I tested the PVC-free faux-leather model (the black-and-green version), which feels well-constructed with durable stitching. There’s also a fabric model that’s available only in gray. My initial impression after moving the Iskur V2 from my living room to my office upstairs was that it’s heavy and bulky, plus the casters don’t roll well on hardwood floors. Seriously, I have seven office chairs in my room right now (send help), and the Iskur is the tallest and widest, taking up the most space.

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

It’s black with some neon-green accents and looks quite sleek—most gaming chairs typically have flashy designs. I still don’t care for the race-car-seat design—I genuinely prefer the look of office chairs like the Branch Verve, Steelcase Gesture, and Herman Miller Embody to this bulky, thick Iskur, but that might also be my back holding a grudge.

The Iskur V2 has a wider backrest than its predecessor. I’m 6’4″, and it fits my wide shoulders perfectly; the corners don’t dig in as on some chairs. The seat was wide enough for my frame, too; however, you cannot adjust the seat depth (you can’t pull the seat out at all). This meant I had no room for alternative sitting positions—I couldn’t sit with one leg tucked under the other, something I can do on the Embody and the Haworth Fern I’m currently testing.

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June 7, 2024
Signia Silk 7X Review: Fuss-Free, Super Expensive Hearing Aids

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Signia’s vast range of hearing aids includes, by my count, a whopping 20 different models, but one of the smallest and most discreet is the company’s Silk X line. There are currently five different sub-models within the Silk X lineup, the most advanced and most expensive of which is the Silk 7X, reviewed here. Note, however, that while it’s still being actively marketed, Signia says the Silk X line is considered “outdated technology” and will eventually be phased out in favor of the Silk Charge&Go IX line.

The Silk 7X are a pint-sized powerhouse that sit completely in the ear canal and are virtually invisible save for the tiny retrieval wires that stick out just above your earlobes. Weighing in at 1.34 grams each, their heft is kept at a minimum by using tiny replaceable batteries (size #10) instead of rechargeable ones. Distinguishing right from left is easy: The right aid is clad completely in translucent red plastic, the left in blue. No hunting for tiny R and L signposts here. To turn the aids off, open the battery hatch a bit. Close it to turn them on again.

Photograph: Save Hear

Aside from the color scheme, the aids themselves may appear familiar in design—specifically, they look a lot like Sony’s CRE-C10 hearing aids, which were released as part of the first wave of over-the-counter hearing aids back in 2022. Sony’s version is all black but otherwise identical in appearance. That’s for a reason: Signia is Sony’s hearing aid technology partner, and it made the C10 (as well as Sony’s E10 model) for the company.

Why would Signia make two versions of the same hearing aid? That’s a complicated question, but the crux is that Sony’s model is purely over-the-counter, with no audiologist visit required (or available), whereas Signia’s Silk X line comprises prescription models you can get only through a professional. This matters a great deal, and which type of hearing aid you purchase depends heavily on how much handholding you want and need.

Case in point: Sony’s C10s aren’t the easiest to set up—they don’t have a Bluetooth connection—so novices may become frustrated during the delicate configuration process, which is performed via high-frequency sound waves emitted by your phone. The C10s also rely on an in-app hearing test to tune them to your hearing profile. On the other hand, the Silk 7X are configured in person by an audiologist. The user doesn’t have to do a thing except get themselves to the doctor’s office.

Functionally, I didn’t notice any real difference between the two models—though I do not have Sony C10s on hand anymore to test them side by side—and I even had the same notes about the default settings causing the bass to be too heavy on the Silk 7X. There’s no way to make any major adjustments in the mobile app—Signia’s AI-powered Signia Assistant isn’t available on this device —aside from adjusting volume, sliding balance between “soft” and “sharp,” and making directional hearing choices that let you focus on sounds originating from all around you, just one side, or somewhere in between.

Photograph: Save Hear

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June 7, 2024
Poco F6 and F6 Pro Review: Small Price, Big Performance

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With so many excellent midrange smartphones available now, how do you choose? Every year, Xiaomi’s Poco range pushes hardware expectations, and the Poco F6 and F6 Pro are no exception. The Poco F6 Pro (£499) struggles to justify the Pro tag, but the cheaper Poco F6 (£399) is an absolute bargain (even more so if you bagged the early-bird price of £339). You will struggle to find this processing power or display quality elsewhere without paying more.

Xiaomi routinely rebadges affordable phones released in China under its Redmi brand as Poco phones for Europe and the rest of the world, though they are not sold in the United States. Poco quickly built a reputation for value, and the F6 is a strong example of why. It ticks all the boxes with a gorgeous display, zippy performance, capable camera, and fast charging, though the software and battery life let it down some.

The Poco F6 could be the perfect phone for gamers on a budget this year and is almost compromise-free. The Pro is not worth the extra cash, so I’ll focus on the Poco F6 in this review, but I will drill deeper into the differences below.

Identity Crisis

The design is perhaps the least interesting thing about these phones, but it is also the most obvious difference. The Poco F6 is all-plastic, with a flat frame, a gently curved shimmery back that doesn’t show finger smudges, and two huge camera lenses at the top left flanked by a smaller flash. My review unit is a handsome green, but it also comes in black or a beige gold that Xiaomi calls titanium.

The F6 Pro has an aluminum frame and a glass back with a marble effect finish. My review unit is black, but you can also opt for white. The camera module is far bigger, spanning almost the whole top of the F6 Pro, with three medium-sized lenses and a flash in a symmetrical grid of four. The F6 Pro is a touch thicker and heavier than its sibling, and you can tell it is the more expensive of the two, though I preferred the F6. The Poco branding is mercifully subtle. That said, neither design is very exciting.

Photograph: Simon Hill

Both phones have a fingerprint sensor under the screen, and it worked fine for me, usually unlocking the first time. But it is weirdly low compared with other phones, so I kept having to adjust the position of my thumb. Strangely, the F6 has a superior IP64 rating for water resistance and Gorilla Glass Victus to protect the screen, while the F6 Pro is IP54 and has the older Gorilla Glass 5.

These phones are almost identically sized, both boasting a 6.67-inch AMOLED with a 120-Hz refresh rate, though you must activate it in the display settings. The distinction is the resolution, with the F6 Pro at 3,200 x 1,440 pixels and the F6 at 2,712 x 1,220 pixels, and the F6 Pro is supposed to get a bit brighter. Even side-by-side, I couldn’t see much of a difference. Both screens are sharp and bright enough to see outdoors. These are solid phones for movie watching (if you must watch movies on your phone) with stereo speakers and support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+.

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June 6, 2024
Eargo Link Review: Basic Hearing Aids That Are Too Pricey

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Eargo is widely known for its ultra-luxe over-the-counter hearing aids; the company makes some of the most expensive OTC aids on the market. But to make its lineup a bit more accessible, there’s the Eargo Link, a low(er)-priced, no-frills alternative to its more sophisticated options.

At first glance, the Link hearing aids don’t appear any different than standard Bluetooth earbuds. You get a glossy black plastic and a bulbous design that rests inside the ear’s concha, albeit bulging out a little. At 4.74 grams (fitted out with a small ear tip), it’s considerably heavier in the hand than a lot of modern hearing aids, but it doesn’t feel particularly weighty in the ear, due to the particulars of its design—even after sustained use. They can, however, be tough to wrangle into the right place as they need to be carefully rotated into the ear to fit snugly.

Photograph: Eargo

In addition to its design, the Link is distinguished from its forebears by its lack of an app. While it pairs to your phone like a set of standard Bluetooth headphones, it doesn’t work with Eargo’s standard hearing aid control app. It doesn’t have any physical controls either. Rather, the earbuds are touch-sensitive and rely on (well-placed) taps to operate them. More on that in a bit.

These control limitations mean there’s not a lot to using the Link hearing aids; there’s not even a traditional way to control the volume. Instead, you’ll spend most of your time double-tapping your way through four Listening Programs, each one offering a higher amplification level (reportedly tuned to speech) than the last. A final mute setting turns all amplification off before cycling back to Program 1. The four programs don’t seem to vary in any other way aside from overall loudness, and there’s no way to tune the aids for certain environments such as TV watching or outdoor use. By and large, you’ll just have to experiment to find out what works.

The good news is that the Link does a solid job at boosting audio, though I found it a bit blunt, amplifying everything across the board from voices to footsteps to wind noise. Moving up the programs, each is, well, one louder. Other than increasing levels of loudness, I didn’t hear any difference among them.

Eargo includes six sets of ear tips—three sizes in both open and closed designs. The default medium ear tips are gargantuan for me, and even the small size is a snug fit. Using open ear tips, I experienced a fair bit of echo and the usual “booming own voice” effect, but neither is overly onerous. Screeching feedback was common when inserting the aids, but otherwise, I never encountered any. Neither did I experience any problems with hiss except when using the highest volume program.

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June 6, 2024
Sennheiser Accentum True Wireless Earbuds Review: Bland and Forgettable

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It’s a sign of just how feral the market for true wireless in-ear headphones has become that even a brand with nothing to prove has it all to do every time it launches a new product.

Sennheiser is just the latest manufacturer to realize there’s no laurel-resting available where true wireless in-ears are concerned. Its new Accentum True Wireless arrive in a sector of the market where “pretty good” is nothing like good enough. And it doesn’t matter who you are, what your reputation is like, or how long you’ve been a player. The question is always: “What have you done for me lately?”

And on first acquaintance, Sennheiser doesn’t seem to have done itself any favors with the Accentum True Wireless. They are certainly helpfully compact; the charging case in which the earbuds travel is just 1.1 x 1.9 x 2.0 inches and 40 grams, and each earbud weighs a mere 5.4 grams. But the plastic from which each component is made feels hard and slippery, and not in any way premium. The fact that the quality of build and finish is typically Sennheiser—which is another way of saying it’s beyond reproach—doesn’t help the Accentum True Wireless look or feel even remotely upmarket.

Surprisingly, considering the above, these have managed to win a Red Dot design award. Perhaps this is down to the shape of the earbuds being carefully ergonomic? While the “lozenge” section looks unpromisingly chunky, the security of the fit is reassuring, and long-term comfort is all but guaranteed. Four pairs of different-size silicone eartips in the packaging don’t do any harm in this respect, either.

Photograph: Amazon

Clear Control

The Sennheiser claw back a bit of that “premium” aura with a glance at the spec sheet, too. Battery life of up to 28 hours (eight from the earbuds) with active noise cancellation switched off isn’t too shabby, and compatibility with Qi-certified wireless charging pads isn’t to be sniffed at, either. A flat-to-full charge takes 90 minutes, while a 10-minute pit stop should be good for more than an hour of playback.

Wireless connectivity is via Bluetooth 5.3, and in addition to the usual SBC and AAC codecs, there’s LC3 and aptX compatibility too. It would have been nice to see compatibility with one of the even-more-accomplished Qualcomm codecs, but at least Bluetooth LE and Auracast are coming in an imminent(ish) firmware upgrade. Sound, once it’s on board, is served up by a couple of 7-mm versions of Sennheiser’s TrueResponse dynamic drivers; frequency response is claimed to be 5 Hz to 21 kHz.

One area where Sennheiser can always be confident of its leading-pack status is control—and the Accentum True Wireless are no exception. Admirably unflashy, the Smart Control app (free for iOS and Android) is a paradigm of stability, logic, and all-around good sense, which puts it a notch or two above any number of nominal competitors.

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June 6, 2024