Reviews

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The DJI Mavic 3 Classic is a more affordable version of the original Mavic 3. And, simply put, it's excellent.

My first real stereo was a hand-me-down Technics system that I loved. So, when I saw Technics recently launched the EAH-AZ60 Wireless Earbuds with ANC, I was excited to give them a try. Thankfully, the company agreed to send them out for a review.DesignThe Technics EAH-AZ60 true wireless earbuds come in a compact plastic case in either black or silver. I have the black unit here, but as you can see from the photos, it appears to be more of a dark blue than black.There is a USB Type-C port on the back for charging, sorry no wireless charging here, and the lid is held shut with the use of a magnetic clasp. The case also makes use of magnets to secure the buds in place and it does a great job of keeping them in place.ComfortAfter years of reviewing earbuds, one thing that always surprises me is the lack of ear tips included in the box, specifically smaller ear tips. However, Technics surprised me here by providing one of the most comprehensive collections of ear tips that I’ve ever seen. There are seven different sizes to choose from, including some specifically for people with smaller ear canals, that would be me.Not only is this important for comfort, but it also plays a huge role in noise cancellation. Without a proper seal, you can’t expect the earbuds to do a proper job of cancelling out the noise around you.Regardless, I couldn’t quite get a comfortable fit even with the smallest tips and I had to use a pair from this set I purchased from Amazon.User experienceWhile I applaud Technics for including a large variety of ear tips with the EAH-60AZ, I still found myself needing to adjust or buds in my ears from time to time. The issue with this, is that I’d also end up inadvertently activating the touch controls on the buds.I’ve encountered issues like this with several other pairs of headphones in the past. Touch controls seem great, in theory, but in practice, they can be a real nuisance unless implemented perfectly. A few brands have gotten it right, but I eventually had to disable the touch controls on the EAH-60AZ to prevent constantly pausing or skipping tracks.While we’re on the topic of pausing tracks, the Technics EAH-60AZ don’t include a sensor on the buds to automatically pause when you remove them from your ears. That’s not such a big deal for me, but it is something you’d expect to see at this price point.As far as making phone calls go, the mics work great. I never had any complaints on the calls I made and you can even use one earbud while leaving the other in the case.AppI love the app for the EAH-60AZ. Some manufacturers include a barebones app that does little more than toggle ANC and update the firmware. While other brands go all out, and I’m happy to report that the Technics app does the latter.The Technics Audio Connect app allows you to view the battery level of each individual earbud, toggle on ANC, control the level of noise cancellation, adjust the EQ, update firmware, and more.The app does just about everything you could want, except for showing the battery level of the case. It’s that one glaring omission that makes it just shy of perfect.Sound qualityHaving never used Technics earbuds before, I was uncertain of what to expect. Fortunately, I was in for a surprise, because the EAH-60AZ sound amazing. Out of the box, the sound is warm and balanced with lots of depth. However, I personally prefer a little more bass, so a quick trip to the EQ, and I had the EAH-60AZ tuned exactly the way I wanted.For me, that means crisp highs with deep full bass and a wide sound stage. The Technics EAH-60AZ more than delivered on all of these fronts, especially with deep clean bass without distortion.Comparing them to one of my favorite pairs of earbuds, the Sony WF-1000XM4, showed there was hardly a difference in sound quality. The EAH-60AZ sound very similar and offer the LDAC much like the Sony buds for the highest quality wireless connection you can ask for.ANCThe noise cancellation on the Technics EAH-60AZ is top-notch. With a proper seal, it blocks out all the annoying background sounds in everyday life and leaves you with just the music. Additionally, you can adjust the ANC level in the app, turn on the transparency mode to allow outside noises in, or completely disable noise cancellation.BatteryTechnics rates the EAH-60AZ for seven hours of consistent listening and 24 hours overall with the charging case. During my time with the earbuds, I’ve had no trouble listening for a couple of hours at a time, but I did have them drain completely on me within a week.That was after listening for around two hours a day during my workouts. This puts the battery life at nearly 14 hours, but in my case, I was using LDAC which is known to reduce battery life. That’s still more than decent considering I left ANC on all the time as well.One thing I did notice is that the left earbud seems to always drain more quickly to the point that it died before the right bud.Final thoughtsThe Technics EAH-60AZ are a fantastic set of earbuds with audiophile-level sound and excellent noise cancellation. I was very impressed with the ANC performance along with the sound quality when using the LDAC setting.Still, there are some improvements Technics could make, such as adding wireless charging and a design with an area you can use to push the buds in without activating the touch controls. Otherwise, the EAH-60AZ are among some of the best earbuds I’ve reviewed and come in at a lower price than Sony’s offering making them a great bargain.The Technics EAH-60AZ are now available in black or silver from Amazon or B&H for $200 or cheaper if you can find them on sale.Buy from Amazon Buy from B&H

The Toasty One is the first kitchen appliance from Tineco, a brand known primarily for its vacuum cleaners. A toaster at a premium price ($340) it could be the perfect match for your household. Or so one would assume for that much money. Is there enough here to justify the cost or would one be better served with a traditional unit?Read on to learn more about the Tineco Toasty One and find out what I thought of it.Inside the box was a cleaning brush, an instruction manual, and, of course, the toaster itself. Everything is packaged neatly and I was pleased to see there were no dents or scratches picked up while in transit.The Toasty One is a smart toaster which means it does what every other standard toaster can but it’s also a little more interactive. For starters, there is a built-in 4” LCD touchscreen on the front of it where you do interact with the unit.On this touchscreen you can create your own profile customized to how you like your toast done. Are you more of a lightly toasted person or do you prefer a little bit more crispiness to your daily bread?via TinecoThe Tineco Toasty One is able to hold up to eight different profiles so it’s faster and more efficient for dealing with multiple people in a home. For instance, one piece of toast can be darker or in the toaster longer while the other pops out in a fraction of the time.If you are not using the profile setting there is a slider on the display that you can use to manually adjust how toasted your bread gets. The screen also provides a nice visual indicator to show roughly what your toast will look like when it comes out.Once the bread is inside the toaster there is a progress indicator on the LCD screen that shows how close it is to finishing the process. This is an interesting aspect as most toast is done in a few minutes and we tend to prepare the rest of our meal during the time. Knowing the exact length of time before your toast pops out is nice, but it’s never been a pain point.There are two slots in the toaster that can both work independently from each other and both auto lift and lower the bread. A couple times when my bread was lifted out it seemed that one side of the bread got a little more heat than the other but there wasn’t a huge difference.As a customer I would want my premium toaster to be able to toast all bread about as perfectly as can be. Similarly, there is no bagel mode present so you cannot toast the inside more than the outside or treat one side of the bread differently.I will say that the look and build of the toaster itself is a sight to behold. It is a larger toaster and it gives off a bit of a 90’s vibe yet it retains the technology and modern day aesthetics.The outside of the toaster never got hot in my testing so I feel comfortable placing it in the same places that the traditional toaster sits. Underneath there’s a crumb catcher that can be removed whenever you want, but the LCD screen can be used to notify you for cleaning if left untouched for an extended period of time.The Tineco Toasty One has a 2-year limited warranty and feels like a quality device. I’ve been impressed with other Tineco products so I trust this one will be fine.ConclusionThe Tineco Toasty One is no doubt a high-priced, solidly built toaster. And the smarts are nice to have. However, for this much money I struggle with recommending it for most homes. Even with a two-year warranty and a history of good devices, I’m reluctant to suggest anyone spend this kind of money on any toaster.Any toaster can do the basic stuff and we’ve never really had an issue or problem with the way things were. We’ve never really worried about how much time is spent in the kitchen, waiting on toast to pop or wondering how much longer we have to stand by. Are we making something smart just because we can? Maybe that’s the case here. And really, most $50 toasters include a bagel setting.Sure, dealing with multiple people at once is easier and more intuitive with the LCD display. And the reminders for cleaning out the crumb catcher is also a nice touch. I might like to see room for up to four pieces of toast at once, especially if it can support the different profiles. Otherwise, we might as well just rely on the manual slider or knob from a traditional device.Is there anything here to justify its high price? I don’t think so. It is a step in the right direction for toasters and I am excited to see what Tineco does next in the kitchen space, but this first generation falls short in my eyes. In the meantime I would feel better recommending another toaster for your kitchen needs and saving the money.

More and more users are considering how they include privacy alongside technology. Smartphones can be a struggle as Google doesn’t exactly scream user-first privacy and Apple has its own issues. Thankfully, new options like the Volla intend to offer an alternative.The Volla Phone 22 is a de-Googled Android device for the more security-focused user. How does it hold up in the modern world of advanced smartphones? Let’s find out in our full review.DesignThe design of the Volla 22 is fine. That’s about it. The industrial construction is mostly plastic and reminds me of some of the first few generations of Moto G devices. That was pretty decent four years ago, but now this is looking dated.However, you do get a few ports that you may have been missing these days. Yep, there’s a true relic of a 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom along with a USB-C charging port, and finally a speaker grille. On the right side of the Volla 22, you get a volume rocker and a dedicated power button.The back cover is the one spot the company has a bit going on with a glass inlay that has the Volla logo etched into it. It’s a nice touch to add a design flare. In the middle of the top half is a capacitive hardware fingerprint scanner. Just to the right of the is the dual camera array of the main camera.Crazy talk, but the back plate is completely removable. This is another throwback to another era of smartphones. While this is nice to get to internal things and lends to replacements of the battery, it also has its downside. The open compartment makes this much more susceptible to the elements like dust and water.Display and internalsThe screen on the Volla 22 isn’t bad. The 6.3-inch panel has a resolution of 2340×1080 and provides good colors and contrasts. There’s a teardrop notch at the top for a 16MP front camera.Performance is powered by a MediaTek Helio G85 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of internal storage. Most will scoff at 4GB of RAM, but without the backend processes of a true Google phone, I don’t see this as an issue with the Android model (more on that later).You have an LTE modem capable of most GSM-global bands, but sadly that leaves us Verizon customers out in the cold here. This isn’t rare in these niche phones, but it would be nice to see one take the largest US carrier seriously every once in a while.SoftwareVolla has included a unique option with the Volla Phone 22. You can choose either Volla OS or Ubuntu Touch at purchase. For those that may not know, this is the most popular version of desktop Linux used worldwide. A few years back they started a mobile variant that never took off on the commercial level but is still supported as an open-source alternative to the closed worlds of Android and iOS.Having Ubuntu Touch available as an alternative isn’t all. The company also supports running a multi-boot process with several other OS options. Sailfish OS, Droidian, and mobile Manjaro are all supported by official or community operating system builds.But for this review, let’s come back to the official Volla OS. The company has decided to make this super minimalistic and the entire UI revolves around the Springboard. This is essentially the home screen and global search built into one interface.By simply typing into the main Springboard UI, you can initiate a call to a contact, search the web, make a note, or create a calendar event. Volla has built this paradigm to make it dead simple to get to anything on the phone with just text input. It’s an interesting take that will give you pause to learn. 1 of 3 The other thing is the lack of cloud inclusions in the OS. This is a conscious decision for privacy, but you will need to offload your contacts and calendars from other sources to at least get started on the Volla Phone 22. After the initial setup offline you do have access to Fdroid and Aurora Store for app downloads without the need for Google Apps.CamerasThe main camera array can take decent shots with the 48MP shooter. In good lighting they can be even good. Add any disturbance or lackluster lighting and the camera quickly struggles. I’d say most of this is due to the open-source drivers. Great post-processing generally takes proprietary software to pull it all together.The front-facing is what you expect from a selfie cam. It snaps a decent, quick photo. Nothing more nothing less.BatteryI expected the 4500mAh battery pack to perform well with zero cloud hooks constantly running. I’m happy to report that this is the case in real-world usage. I’m able to comfortably get through a full day and a half with the internal battery before I have to reach for a charger.Charging is something I also assumed would take a backseat with the removable back and some of the more dated aesthetics, but both USB-C charging and wireless Qi are both onboard.ConclusionI’m torn on the Volla Phone 22. The Linux nerd in me appreciates the active removal of all things Google and app tracking. However, those things come at the price of convenience and I’m not sure how many real consumers are willing to give up the easy and well-done collection of apps and services standard Google’s Android offers.Google has built a world of Android users around the simplicity and free-to-use services on its mobile OS. If you’d like to attempt to free yourself from these restrictions and trackers, the Volla Phone is 452 euros or roughly $467 in the United States. The phone can be purchased on the Volla website directly from the store page.

One of the products we use everyday, and generally don’t think twice about, is the toothbrush. All toothbrushes are pretty much able to do the job but some are better than others. And in 2022, quite a few of them are electric or considered smart. Which are the best and/or the most efficient for the job of cleaning our teeth? Today we are going to look at a relatively unknown brand, Soocas, and compare its Spark to the more widely known Philips One. Which one will be the best bang for your buck? Read on to learn more about what I thought of the two.Soocas SparkThe Soocas Spark is packed in a very minimalistic box. Things were tightly packed and included only the essentials and a bit of padding. Inside the box are the toothbrush, a Type-C charging cord, and a travel case. The base and the brush attachment felt very solid in hand and it was quite easy to assemble. The travel case felt a little flimsy, to me, at first but after using it a couple times I felt more comfortable with it. Despite the fact that it only covers the brush part of the toothbrush and the power button, it felt adequate for the job at hand.The Soocas Spark charges in two hours and its battery should last up to 40 days on a single charge. There is a ring light on the toothbrush that lets you know when it needs to be charged again so you won’t be caught without power. The unit has two different brushing modes (Gentle/Cleaning) which are both accessed by hitting the power button once or twice in the first 10 seconds of operation. There is also a built-in smart timer for a two minute duration that will briefly pause every 30 seconds letting you know to move on to the next area of your mouth to clean. The Soocas Spark has a waterproof rating of IPX8 and a 30,000 vibrations/minute sonic motor. I was very happy with the performance of the Soocas Spark and my teeth felt extra clean after every use.Philips OneThe Philips One also comes with the toothbrush, a Type-C charging cord, and a travel case. The toothbrush had easy assembly and a solid feel to the build of it. The travel case had a solid design to it but this one houses more of the toothbrush than just the head. Rather, you place the toothbrush into it face down and the button is protected from being accidentally pressed while traveling.The Philips One charges in approximately eight hours and holds its charge for 30 days on a single charge. There is one brushing mode but it’s enough to fulfill your basic brushing needs. There is also a built-in smart timer for two minutes that briefly stops in 30 second intervals to let you know to move on to the next part of your mouth. The Philips One has a waterproof rating of IPX7 and a 13,000 vibrations/minute hollow cup motor. This toothbrush also left me quite satisfied after each use.VerdictBoth the Soocas Spark and the Philips One are great, affordable toothbrushes and work well for consumers looking for an entry-level “smart” device. The Soocas Spark gets the edge for me as it seems to offer a more well-rounded package and comes in ten dollars cheaper: The Soocas Spark runs $29.99 while the Philips One typically comes in at $39.99. Both are affordable and worth your money but the Soocas Spark has slightly more to offer. As of today both are discounted a bit, perhaps likely as part of holiday sales.