A lot of cool new tech products were announced this week. There were new wireless earbuds from Bang & Olufsen, Master & Dynamic and Nothing. Samsung showed off a beast of a gaming monitor. TCL’s first 8K TVs officially went on sale. And there was so much more. We round it all up, below.
The MW08 Sport are essentially higher-end versions of the company’s flagship MW08 wireless earbuds with active noise-cancellation. They cost $50 more, but add a Kevlar charging case that supports wireless charging (a first for M&D), and the earbuds have a more scratch-resistance finish made of sapphire glass (rather than ceramic). Other than that, the new models sound, fit and work exactly the same as the MW08.
(Master & Dynamic also announced its first-ever wireless charging pad — here — this week. It’s made of aluminum and canvas and costs $69. )
Turtle Beach is best-known for its high-end gaming headsets, but this week it announced something else: the Recon Controller. The company’s first-ever wired gaming controller is meant to be used as an alternative to an Xbox One controller (you can also use with a PC). It’s unique because it gives gamers more controller of their audio and vibration settings. The controller, which costs about the same as Xbox’s wireless controller, adds buttons for gamers to quickly adjust EQ presets, volume and various mic settings of their wired headset. You can also tweak the controller’s haptic feedback and the sensitivity of the thumb sticks. The controller is available now.
Nothing announced its first ever — and much hyped — wireless earbuds. The Ear (1) cost just $99 and have premium features like active noise-cancellation and support for wireless charging. The Earbuds (1) have a translucent design that allows you to see the guts (magnets, mics, pins and other circuitry) of each earbud — there’s nothing else like them. You’ll be able to buy them on August 17 (although, some niche stores will have limited quantities before then).
Bang & Olufsen announced its first pair of wireless earbuds with active noise-cancellation: the Beoplay EQ. They look slightly different to the company’s most third-generation wireless earbuds (w/o noise-cancellation), the E8, as they have a more earwing-esque design to help with fit and a more robust changing case (that supports wireless charging). The Beoplay EQ cost $399, which puts them in the ultra high-end price bracket of wireless earbuds, with the likes of the Bowers & Wilkins P17. You’ll be able to buy them on August 19 in two colors: black or gold.
Samsung announced a beast of gaming monitor this week. The Odyssey Neo G9 is a 49-inch curved monitor that packs a Mini LED backlit panel — the same technology used into Samsung’s high-end line of Neo QLED TVs — to help it get really bright (up to 2,000 nits) and still achieve deep blacks with excellent contrast. It also supports 240Hz refresh rates and 1ms response time. The fact that it packs two HDMI 2.1 ports means that you can hook up the Odyssey Neo G9 to either your PC or a next-gen gaming console.
Logitech announced a new smart home camera, the Circle View, that’s designed to work within Apple’s HomeKit ecosystem (in fact, it doesn’t work with any other smart home ecosystem). It’s the next generation version of the Circle 2 and has mostly the same capabilities, such as 1080p video capture, 180-degree FOV, two-way talk, and night vision. The difference is that the Circle View has a completely different design — it’s not modular — and there’s a privacy button on the back that lets you shut off the mic and camera in one fell swoop.
TCL’s 2021 6-Series is the company’s first line of 8K TVs. It was announced back at CES 2021, but it’s just been made available for purchase. The TVs utilize mini-LED backlighting technology, which helps it almost as good contrast and black levels as popular 4K OLED TVs. Admittedly, it’s still early days when it comes to 8K TV, as you’d really only want one if you have one of the latest-gen consoles (but even then very few games are optimized to run 8K). There are two models to choose from, a 65-inch model for $2,199 and a 75-inch model for $2,999, which are now two of the most affordable new 8K TVs you can buy.
Master & Dynamic
