Let's Talk Tech
Pocketnow’s Real Audio Review gives you the full scoop on what our phones can do with headphone and speaker playback. The Huawei Mate 9 is a BIG phone, but does that mean we get BIG audio? Let’s take a listen!
See more Real Audio Reviews https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…
When it was announced that HTC would be manufacturing Google’s newest phone, we smartphone audio snobs were all hoping we’d see (hear) the same great sound quality we’ve come to expect from HTC. We’ve been testing the phone, and we’re now ready to report what we’ve seen (heard) on the Pixel XL!
We recently produced our first Real Audio Review, and we got MANY questions and comments regarding our testing procedure. Let’s answer some of those questions, and look at a USB headphone DAC we’ll be using for future comparisons!
iPhone 7 Real Audio Review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cisS…
I finally got off my butt and got a MUCH bigger back up solution for all my photos and videos. We’re also chatting about bone conduction audio, and we’re quickly wrapping up my New Year, New You fitness gear contest! Make sure you’re charged and ready! It’s Podcast Time!
Full contest details and where to enter: http://goo.gl/eqXp42
Download this week’s show as an audio podcast!
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I wrote a book! If you want to take your smartphone photography and video skills up a notch, you’ll want to read my book! ‘Take Better Photos: Smartphone Photography for Noobs!’ is now available – http://amzn.to/1LZMa52
Let’s work together to make our New Year’s resolutions happen! I’m giving away a FitBit Charge, an LG Tone Active BT Headset, and a CoolGear beverage infuser courtesy of my pals at AT&T! Check out the contest widget below for more details on how you can win some cool gear to get your 2016 started off right!
I’m a big fan of AfterShokz headphones. Bone conduction is a terrific technology, and the Bluez 2 might just be the safest headphones you can wear outdoors.
I recently got a message from a young Youtuber named Vishal who posts videos of himself playing piano and violin. He’s a remarkable young man, a talented musician who was born with a condition called Microtia and Aural Atresia, which means he was born without ear canals.
Doctors told his parents he would be deaf and mute, but Vishal’s father introduced him to music at a fairly young age, and thanks to bone conduction hearing aids, he participates in school much like a hearing child might.
After watching one of my reviews on AfterShokz headphones, his father thought they would be worth a try to see if they would be an improvement over the hearing aid he has worn most of his life.
They documented their unboxing and first impressions of the AfterShokz M3 Headphones which you can watch below.
Sennheiser makes some really high quality headphones, so let’s see how their G4ME ZERO gaming headset stacks up to the competition!
Shop the G4mE ZERO on Amazon.
More info on Sennhesier Gaming Headsets.
Sennheiser Momentum Wireless Review.
Sennheiser Urbanite XL Review.
Another round of bloggers are latching on to this story, posted a year ago on The New York Times, so I’m not sure why it’s news again, but we’re looking at some fresh outrage over claims that Beats headphones “cost as little as $14” to manufacture.
The frustrating thing about stories like these is that they force me to defend a company I don’t like. $14 sounds about right for an entry level pair of ear buds and a fashion mark up to $99, but these articles always compare that $14 figure against the price tag of the most expensive pair of headphones the company offers, which are definitely not being built for $14. From the original Times article:
And even at prices of up to $450 apiece, they quickly became fashion statements. The company’s headphones have fat profit margins. Headphone designers estimate the cost of making a fancy headset is as low as $14.
Notice how I used a pair of cans as the top picture? Your brain is linking that $14 figure to a pair of expensive headphones. That $14 figure instead should be linked to a pair of earbuds like these pictured to the right, but that’s not as salacious a “gotcha” story.
And we all know the parts list and manufacturing costs don’t represent the total investment of how a gadget gets built. That would discount the work done by designers, any tech that might need to be licensed, and the marketing costs which all get rolled into the price of the product.
I think there are plenty of companies producing high quality and fashionable headphones that offer up better bang for buck, like Sennheiser and V-Moda, but just as Apple is becoming less a tech company and more a “Lifestyle Brand”, Beats Headphones are a similar fashion statement.
But damn these articles. Damn them for making me defend Beats…