The new shades of thePixel Buds Pro are $60 off
The Litra Beam Key Light: An Ultra-Lensed Key Light for Streaming, Podcasting, and Video Calls from Home
Happy Saturday, folks! Ever since they arrived on the scene in mid-2022, we’ve considered Google’s noise-canceling Pixel Buds Pro to be the wireless earbuds for Pixel phone owners — partly because of their great feature set and partly because they addressed the connectivity issues that plagued earlier models. The best part, however, is they’re often on sale for far less than the MSRP. Right now, for instance, you can pick them up at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy for around $139, which matches their second-best price to date.
Truth be told, I’ve never been a huge fan of most key lights, many of which opt for a circular or square-ish design that’s a bit of an eyesore when placed above your monitor. The low-profile form factor of the Litra Beam is what makes it different from the other illuminations on the market. What’s more, it’s currently available from Amazon, Best Buy, and Logitech for $89.99 ($10 off), nearly matching its all-time low.
As you might imagine, Logitech’s full-spectrum LED key light is purpose-built for streaming, podcasting, or taking video calls from home. It’s sleeker than similar offerings like Razer’s Key Light Chroma and Elgato’s new Key Light MK.2, which allows it to align squarely with the top of your monitor or easily be adjusted to act as a traditional desk lamp when you’re not streaming. It sports adjustable brightness and color temperature, too, the latter of which you can tune between a relatively warm 2700K and a super cool 6500K using either the onboard hardware controls or Logitech’s G Hub desktop app. As for compatibility, it works with macOS and Windows via USB and Bluetooth, though you will need to plug the USB cable in for power regardless of which connection method you choose.
A simple code for leaving buds in the charging case of a compact, high-resolution, water-resistant, sound-in-contrast auditory device
Speaking of gym time, you’ll have no problem breaking a sweat in these, or at least I didn’t, thanks to an included IPX5 rating for water resistance. I use them for a lot of trips to my gym, and for some time in the sauna.
I like the simple code for telling how much battery is left in the charging case. A red light means 0 to 30 percent, yellow 31 to 70 percent, and green 71 to 99 percent. It’s simple, and it’s helpful for those of us who leave buds in bags for gym time and rarely take them to the charger.
To play music, hold the outside of each bud to increase or decrease volume, or to tap twice on the touch controls on the outside of each bud, just hold the left side of the bud down. These buttons weren’t easy to use; I tended to use Creative’s headphone app and my phone’s controls to mess with the buds when I needed to, which worked fine.
Source: Creative Aurvana Ace 2 Review: These Solid-State Earbuds Sound Insane
The xMems Ace 2 & Ace 2: More Robust, Less Lossless, Better-Performance Silicon Earbuds
The xMems technology is the same but the Ace 2 has better processing. The Ace 2 has adaptive noise canceling technology which is more adaptive than non-adaptive, non-lossless technology inside the regular Ace. Both rounded cases offer 18 hours of battery reserve and Qi wireless or USB-C charging, in addition to the six hours of playback inside the buds. For the purposes of the rest of the review, I’ll focus on the Ace 2, which have the same drivers as the Ace but have the aforementioned higher-end chipset. At just $20 more (MSRP), they’re a better buy.
The past decade has been very busy for people who listen to music on the go. The rise of the Apple AirPods, along with the loss of the headphone jack, make listening on the go more convenient. One thing we have not seen? A big jump in audio quality.
California-based xMems has finally offered us a real leap in how earbuds generate sound with its new solid state drivers. Using the same technology pioneered for producing microchips, these silicon earbud drivers provide a flatter, cleaner overall signature, in addition to significantly added robustness when compared to previous technology.
