If you want to get a fitness tracker, and you have a good budget to work with, we will always put Garmin on the top of your list. They are, undoubtedly, the kings of fitness trackers at this point. They have the fēnix series, a multipurpose and extreme activity tracker at a premium price point. They also make the vívosmart series that is meant to be an entry-level fuss free fitness tracker.
They also make rather focused fitness trackers too, specific to different sport functions. One of the most popular models in their line-up is the Forerunner series. It is hardly surprising though, the Garmin Forerunner series is made specifically for running, one of the simplest activities you can do to start getting in shape. It is also probably something you have been doing for a while now.
Garmin introduced their Forerunner 245 about two years ago. The Forerunner 245 is made for the intermediate runners, or people who are already quite familiar with running. It packs all sorts of tech that a runner might want. You get GPS, an adaptive training plan feature, specific sensors to track your stride lengths, ground contact time, balance, and whatever you need to know about your running posture. Of course, there is a heart-rate sensor built into the watch.
That was two years ago, it is 2022 and the Forerunner 200 series needs a successor, a modern refresh of some sorts. Welcome to the Forerunner 255, the new and improved mid-range Forerunner.
Better in Every Way
Source: Garmin
Source: Garmin
Source: Garmin
Source: Garmin
Source: Garmin
Source: Garmin
Source: Garmin
Source: Garmin
Very much like the Forerunner 245 it replaces; it is made for the enthusiast runners. It is better though, with longer battery life – 14 days on a single charge. It has an accurate GPS as well, in GPS tracking mode, it will last up to 30 hours.
It is also lighter at just below 50g. It is so light; you are not going to feel any resistance or weight in your arms as you go for your run. Of course, you might want to wear it to sleep as well, which means the lack of weight will not affect your sleep at all.
They made it to be more durable too. The entire body is made to be as rugged as a runner’s watch can be. Its included silicon band is made to last a long time and to withstand plenty of sweat without disintegrating.
Of course, the Forerunner 255 also retains all its exercise tracking functions to not just track your running, but to improve your lifestyle as well. it features more than 30+ exercise modes including a triathlon mode to make the Forerunner 255 even more versatile than before. Its advanced sleep tracking function not only measure your sleep patterns and heart rate. It also gives you suggestions to improve your sleep and to get through your day.
If you are going for a race, the watch can also be your coach in recommending programs for you to hit your goals. It helps you understand your body a little better too with a recovery time recommendation and performance condition tracking. At the same time, the watch tracks your training history and intensity to optimise your trainings and fitness regimes. In a race, it can even predict your training’s impact and estimates your finishing time.
Of course, to keep track of everything, you do not need to just rely on the small watch face you get on the Forerunner 255. Despite the brilliant 1.3-inch display protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3, you still want to see all your efforts in a report on a larger display. That is where the Garmin Connect app compatibility comes in. It also supports Garmin Pay, in case you need to quickly pop-by for coffee or any other things.
Price and Availability
The Garmin Forerunner 255 is now available in the North American region. The most basic Forerunner 255 is retailing for US$ 349 (MYR 1,532*) onward. There is also a music variant that allows your Garmin Forerunner to connect to your wireless earbuds and play music directly from the smartwatch itself for US$ 399 (MYR 1,751*) onward. You can get your Forerunner 255 in either 41mm or 46mm watch face sizes. There are no announcements yet on its availability in other regions, including Malaysia. Of course, we expect to see Garmin launching their Forerunner 255 in Malaysia in the coming months.
*Approximately based on exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.39 as of 06/01/2022 on xe.com
We hardly review accessories like a mouse. That is because reviewing a mouse is not as easy as it seems. In plenty of occasions, the decision on buying a mouse always ends up in preference.
Mice also comes in all shapes and sizes. They are also made with specific functions in mind. You have gaming mice, productivity mice, portable wireless gaming mice, portable wireless productivity mice , quiet mice, and now there is even ergonomic mice.
Choosing the right mice for you is not as easy as it seems. It is not like you can build one from scratch as well, like you do with custom keyboards. Sure, there are ways to mod your mouse with custom switches and what not, but that is sort of it.
They have come up with this Signature M650. It is compact, so you can bring it anywhere you want. It is also a wireless mouse that can either be used with a dongle or Bluetooth. Better yet, that means you can use it with up to two devices at a click of a button. Because it is clever, it offers its own solutions and functions for different applications too. Best of all, it is quiet.
Is it worth its asking price though, at MYR 159? You can get a Logitech quiet mouse at about three times less than this one. For that kind of money, you can also get a gaming mouse that is a little bigger than this one. You can only use this wirelessly. At the same time, the battery is not even a built-in one, still a single AA solution at that. Is it any good? We find out.
Design
Logitech knows a thing or two about making a good mouse. They start with plastics, because plastic is rather light and easy to work with in a mould. They are cheaper to make and replace too, obviously. They later add other materials to their mouse to add some textures and practical features.
In this case, while most of the Signature M650 is made of plastic, there is a sort of rubberised coating or material that surrounds the sides of the mouse. The rubberised sides are also textured with little dimples to add a sort of tactile feel to your fingers when you hold the mouse. At the same time, the textured surface adds a sense of grip and comfort to the hands. The mouse feels at home in your palms the moment you hold the mouse. Your thumb and fingers immediately find grip on the mouse.
Unlike Logitech’s ergonomic offerings, the Signature M650 is designed with some ambidexterity in mind. You can use it with your left and right hands. The only issue is that the extra buttons on the side does not get translated on the other side, so if you are using the mouse with your left hand, accessing the side buttons might be an issue.
While it is small, it is not as small as the typical ultra-compact and flat mouse. Compared to those, the Signature M650 is considered quite chunky. But the extra size can be appreciated thanks to the more ergonomic design. The top cover easily forms into your palms. At least for me it does, I do not have big hands. For those with larger hands, there is an ‘L’ variant of the mouse, though only available in Graphite colour option.
We also like that the soft-touch texture design continues to the mouse wheel. The mouse wheel is covered with a sort of rubber or silicon material for that soft feel on your fingers too. Scrolling the mouse wheel feels like you are fiddling with those gummy candies than a mouse wheel. It is an odd, but quite comfortable feeling.
The under body is a single unit that forms from the side. The colours here are consistent with the sides as well. The only piece that is not part of the bottom of the mouse is the plastic cover that protects the AA battery and Logitech Bolt USB receiver. It also serves as continued flat plane of the bottom side of the mouse. The optical sensor is off-center, presumably to ensure that the AA battery can be fitted sideways to ensure that it is, in fact, compact.
Underneath the optical sensor is a power on/off toggle, which is pretty much expected from a wireless mouse. While Logitech says that the included battery can last up to 24-months, turning it off can extend its battery life. At the same time, you would not want any accidental inputs from your mouse when you are carrying it around.
There is also a button above the optical sensor. It is the Signature M650’s Bluetooth pairing and switch button. A long press will kick the Logitech 650 into Bluetooth pairing mode. A quick press toggles it back to the Bolt Receiver mode.
The one we have here is the Rose variant, the pink one. There is the regular Graphite and Off-White colour options. These are the colours that are quite regular in Logitech’s product line-up though, so there is not too much to say about them. The pink on the Rose variant is soft and sweet though, not too overbearing, and because the bottom side is a darker shade of pink as well, it does not look cheap. The only concern with this colour option is how the colour will age.
The entire construction, while mostly made of recycled plastic, feels rather premium. The soft and smooth finish on the matte finished top feels like a quality product. While the sides may not be real rubber, the added texture feels like they belong there and durable enough to last years of abuse, even after your first battery gives out. Even the ‘logi’ logo feels like it will not fade at least until a year or two of use in. Of course, that really depends on how you use your mouse.
Features
Although this is a compact mouse, there are a lot of things that makes the Logitech M650 looks like a full-sized mouse on paper. The features on the mouse are designed for productivity even when you are out of your workspace. Of course, when you just want to wind down, relax, and just scroll through the net, this is one comfortable mouse to use as well.
SmartWheel
Where the MX series has the MagSpeed, the Signature M650 gets something called a SmartWheel. It is rather clever for quickly browsing through the net and even pages of documents. The SmartWheel scrolls like any other mouse wheel you might have used before. But it feels softer and smoother than the usual wheel. There is still some tactility and resistance when you scroll the wheel.
The smooth and soft feel of the mouse wheel is rather nice to work with. When you are browsing the internet, different scroll gestures give you different scrolling speeds. To be fair, there is only sort of two scrolling speeds with the SmartWheel – fast and slow. When you need to quickly scroll down the page to get to the part you want, a flick of the wheel makes it a sort of a MagSpeed wheel. Once you need to slowly look through the page, you can scroll through click by click. It works with your Microsoft apps too.
The wheel is not just to scroll up and down though. You can use it to scroll left to right too. You press and hold one of the side buttons and use the heel with it to scroll from side to side.
Multi Device
You can use it with up to two devices wirelessly. One of them needs a USB type-A port to work with. That would be your laptop or PC to plug in your Logitech Bolt receiver.
The other device would need Bluetooth to use the Logitech Signature M650. As we mentioned earlier, it is just a matter of pressing a single button at the bottom of the mouse. Once it gets into pairing mode, Windows Quick Connect detects the mouse and allows you to get your mouse connected in just one or two clicks.
The Logitech M650 relies on a Bolt receiver, not the same unifying receiver that older or cheaper Logitech mice comes with. That also means that the Logitech M650 is supposed to be working with a lower latency time than older mice. You also cannot use Logitech’s older Logi Option software with it.
Silent Operator
The Logitech Signature M650 is silent, but not as silent as we hoped. The main two buttons and scrolling wheel or middle button are all working silently. The side buttons, compared to the main two buttons are rather ‘clicky’. While it does not annoy us in the slightest, some of you might not like that very much.
Still, the main buttons are silenced without much sacrifice to tactility. There is a little bit of mushiness in every click of the three main buttons and even the scroll. But the tactility of a mouse click is still very defined. Every click feels sure and registered but a lot more muted in noise. Then again, Logitech has been making quiet mice for a long time, they know what they are doing.
Logi Options+
If you are using the Logitech Signature M650 on your Windows or Mac, you can download something called Logi Options+. Why did they have to develop a new software? We do not know, but here it is. When you plug the Bolt receiver into your PC or Mac, a prompt will ask you if you want to install the app on your device.
The software sort of acts like a manual for you to refer to. It tells you what each button does for each application that it supports. The application also allows you to change what the secondary buttons and middle button does for each application if you want to. For example, you can change the side buttons to ‘select’ and ‘cut’ in Adobe’s Premiere Pro while the middle button can be a play/pause button.
You can toggle on something called ‘smooth scrolling’ with the mouse too. That way, scrolling your webpages or documents looks nice and smooth instead of the usual staggered feel. It is ‘off’ by default, so we turned it on because we liked it.
You can also control how fast your mouse goes on Logi Options without getting through Windows default settings page. You can go as slow as 400 dpi or as fast as to 4,000 dpi to avoid huge mouse actions.
Performance – Smooth Operator
Once you know what each buttons do and get familiarised with all the applications you work with, the Logitech M650 becomes rather intuitive. It is still a compact mouse, which also means that you might still want to work with a bigger full-sized mouse when you can, I know I want to use a bigger mouse at home at least.
Still, when portability is concerned, a compact mouse is always appreciated. The Logitech Signature M650 is that compact mouse that does not compromise too much. The M650 retains a lot of functions that you can only find on bigger mice today. At the same time, it is ergonomic despite its proportions.
Having the option to use Bluetooth with a mouse like this is always appreciated especially when modern light-and-compact laptops usually come with no USB Type-A port or just that one port. Having the option to leave your only free USB Type-A slot is always best, and that is why Bluetooth is an important feature. This also gives you the option of leaving your bolt receiver plugged into your PC at home.
While we would prefer to have a flush body with an internal non-removable battery, we understand that the trade-off must be made in favour of battery life. A single AA battery can keep the Logitech Signature M650 running for up to two years. We are not sure if a built-in battery can give the Logitech mouse that kind of battery life from a single charge.
The mouse is highly comfortable to use in any conditions. It lacks the heft of bigger mice, but it is still ergonomic enough that using it is rather comfortable even at extended periods. It feels almost natural to use.
We did not use the Logitech Signature M650 for gaming much, nothing intense anyway. The games we chose to play with the Logitech mouse are more titles like Cities: Skylines and Two Point Hospital. The two side buttons have no preset functions in this case, so there is not much in terms of extra features or functions within the game.
The Logitech Signature M650 – More Sensible, Still Clever
We are not looking at a gaming mouse here. It is not meant to be one, nor made to be one. It is a general-purpose mouse that is meant to be used in a work environment, remote workstations, and even at home. It is a sort of all-in-one mouse that you can put to good use with your work PC and get it to work with your home PC as well, no need to bring your work PC home.
In that sense, while it might seem a little pricey, the Logitech Signature M650 is an excellent mouse. It feels durable and comfortable, more so than those mice you can find for MYR 39. Sure, for MYR 159 we think Logitech can do better in terms of packaging, but to be fair, the packaging will end up in the trashcan anyway. There is not much in terms of documentation either.
MYR 159 for this mouse does not just buy you a compact mouse. It does not just buy you a silent mouse either. It buys you some premium feel and functions that is comparable to something like a Logitech MX Anywhere, probably even better than it.
The Logitech Signature M650 is a good buy. Not because it is cheaper than Logitech’s MX Anywhere 3. It is a good buy because you are getting a great mouse for its asking price. If you are looking for a cheap, low-budget mouse, you are looking at the wrong place. If you are looking for something that you can use to streamline or enhance your workflow in and out of your office, something comfortable to use, and even something durable and reliable, the MYR 159 asking price looks like a bargain.
Having a projector at home makes a lot of sense. With enough surface area, you can have an entertainment display that is usually larger than regular TVs you find today. You can usually resize and change the placement of your projector at any time you want. You can stow it away too when not in use to have a much cleaner looking surface free of a blank TV screen. You can even use the projector at any flat surface you have in your home, which also means you can set up your entertainment hub anywhere in the home.
Obviously, there are some trade-offs. 4K resolution projectors are usually quite large and bulky, you hardly want to move them too much. To get the best sort of colours, you want an LED projector too, which also lasts long. Most of the LED projectors are not really made with portability in mind too though. Unless you go for BenQ’s GV30 projector, that is.
The BenQ GV30
Source: BenQ
Source: BenQ
Source: BenQ
Source: BenQ
Source: BenQ
Source: BenQ
Source: BenQ
Source: BenQ
Source: BenQ
Source: BenQ
Source: BenQ
Source: BenQ
The BenQ GV30 is the world’s first smart portable LED projector of its kind. It packs powerful 2.1-channel speakers as well so that you do not need to carry around a separate speaker set to get great audio anywhere you set the projector up. At the same time, the projector also offers up to 300 ANSI Lumens in projection brightness and up to 720p HD resolution at that. Colours should not be an issue too with CinematicColor and Rec. 709 colour gamut capabilities.
The LED light source is supposed to last up to 30,000 hours with minimal drop in brightness. Of course, it has multiple ports to sport all sorts of input like game consoles, smartphones, PCs, Blu-ray players, and even USB sticks. You do not need to carry a power cord with the projector as well, there is a built-in battery that allows you to use it anywhere with no fussy cables.
Source: BenQ
Source: BenQ
Source: BenQ
Source: BenQ
Source: BenQ
You may not even have to plug anything to the portable projector. It comes with Android TV onboard which also means that you can operate it like a TV without any other inputs. You can directly download apps from Google Play store and stream movies on your favourite streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Videos, or even Disney+. If you wish so, you can even stream contents directly from your iOS or Android devices.
Price and Availability
The BenQ GV30 will be available June 2022 onward via BenQ’s official stores on Shopee and Lazada. You can also get your hands on one via BenQ’s official retailers across the nation. It will retail for MYR 2,688. If you do pre-order your BenQ GV30 projector between the 20th of June 2022 and 4th of July 2022, you can get your hands on one at an exclusive price of MYR 2,499. For more information on the BenQ GV30 mini portable LED projector, you can visit their website.
When organisations say that they are going green, they make things sound super simple. They start with their target numbers, their current numbers, their future, and that is sort of the end of their story, as far as eco-friendliness is concerned. When it comes to talking about making products more sustainable, they usually refer to their current production method and use of sustainable materials in products.
Acer is doing it differently though.
Acer announced their Earthion initiative back in 2020. In that, they have committed to making their company as sustainable as possible in the coming years. They plan to fully rely on renewable energy by 2035, which is a lofty ambition. They also mentioned that for them to achieve such lofty ambitions, they needed the help and support of their entire support chain too. They needed their support system to comply to their own standards of minimal carbon footprint and completely relying on renewable sources of energy.
Welcome to the entire range of Vero products. We have seen the Aspire Vero and TravelMate Vero launched before. The Aspire Vero was so interesting that National Geographic wanted their brand on the product, thus the Acer Aspire Vero National Geographic Edition that we recently saw.
With Next@Acer 2022, the Vero line-up is complete. They have introduced the new Veriton Vero All-in-One desktop solution and two new Vero monitors with premium IPS panels.
Acer Veriton Vero
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
The first thing that greets you when you take the Veriton Vero out of its 100% recyclable packaging is the brilliant 24-inch Full HD IPS display. The bezels are super-thin, in fact the display covers 88% of the Veriton Vero’s body. If you need to, the entire thing is VESA compatible to keep your table organised and clean.
The Veriton Vero’s shell is made of the same PCR material that the Aspire Vero is made of. It is constructed with 30% PCR (Post-Consumer Recycled) materials. The included keyboard and mouse also come with 65% PCR materials on top and 30% ocean bound plastics at the bottom to not only match the design intricacies that is the Veriton Vero AIO, but also as a statement of commitment to their Earthion programme. The AIO itself also features a screwless back so that users can easily access the internals to either upgrade or repair the device. Of course, Acer’s service centres will always be happy to help.
Once you open it up though, you will find Intel’s latest and greatest 12th Generation Core i9 (up to) processor and can spec it up to an NVIDIA GeForce MX550 GPU. You can even fit up to 64GB of dual-channel DDR4 3200 MHz RAM modules to the AIO if you need. This Veriton Vero is a workhorse with these internals.
To top it all off, you get WiFi 6E capabilities built-into the AIO for a fast, reliable, and stable internet connection. With two USB 3.2 Type-C ports that supports up to 20Gbps data transfer speeds, it is a versatile piece of kit on your desk. In the way of storage expansion, the Veriton Vero can support up to two M.2 SSDs at 2TB capacities.
Being powerful is never enough. You need it to be safe too if you are going to rely on it for work. BlueLightShield protects your eyes in extended use cases by reducing blue light emissions by up to 30%. Your data is kept save with Windows Hello’s IR facial recognition scanner with TPM (Trusted Platform Module) 2.0 built into the device. There is also a Tobii Aware smart sensor that locks out any other users that tires to access the PC. The same camera that does all this is also your webcam that can be shuttered to keep prying eyes at bay. You can even turn it away from you to project an entire room in a video conference.
Vero Monitors
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Thing is, you might not need a Veriton Vero AIO. You already have a functioning PC, but you need a monitor instead. Acer has you covered with a 27-inch Full HD CB273 monitor or a 23.8-inch Full HD B247Y G monitor.
While Acer wants to keep it as affordable and accessible as possible, you are not getting some random VA LCD panel for your monitors though. Both monitors feature IPS panels for accurate colour reproduction and plenty of viewing angles. The panels are good for a ΔE<1 rating and TÜV Rheinland Eyesafe® certified. They even come with KVM switch function to allow you to work with multiple PC inputs at a time. This way, you only need a single set of keyboard and mouse to work with. It even provides up to 90W power delivery via its USB Type-C port so that you only need one running cable from your wall port.
The best part about it is that it is made almost entirely of recycled materials. The entirety of the body is made with 85% PCR and 5% ocean bound plastics. Yes, it also features the same sort of design and look as the Aspire Vero. You might want to think about pairing the Aspire Vero to this monitor, just to match the looks.
Aspire Vero, now with 12th Generation Intel Core Processors.
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Source: Acer
Of course, the original Aspire Vero cannot be forgotten with the other products. The Aspire Vero, after all, is the original Vero product. The Vero line-up might not have been a thing if its not for the Aspire Vero. It is 2022 though and the Aspire Vero is still outfitted with 2021 hardware.
For 2022, the Aspire Vero series gets a modern 12th Generation Intel Core treatment. Both the 14-inch and 15-inch variant of the Aspire Vero also gets OceanGlass trackpads made out of ocean bound plastics. Nothing much else has changed other than that.
You get to pick from two colour options now though for both the 14-inch and 15-inch variants. The 14-inch variant now comes in Mariana Blue while the 15-inch variant can be opted with Starry Black colour instead of their original Cobblestone Grey colour option. They have also redesigned the packaging of the Aspire Vero a little bit so that more of its can be repurposed rather than disposed.
Price and Availability
The Acer Veriton Vero AIO is touted to be available July 2022 onward with prices starting from EUR€ 919. The Acer Vero CB273 and B247Y G monitors will be available somewhere in Q3 for EU€ 399 and EU€ 269 respectively. The updated Aspire Vero will be available in August 2022 onward with prices starting from EU€ 899 for the 14-inch variant and EU€ 999 for the 15-inch variant.
Note that these are the official availability dates for the European markets. There are no mentions on when theses eco-friendly products will be available in Malaysia currently. With that, there are also no mentions of their official pricing in Malaysia. For more information about these products, you can visit Acer’s website.
When you think of a Garmin, you tend to think of a modern smartwatch with bulky and sturdy exteriors. You think of a round watch face that tells you everything you need to know about the time of day, weather, and much more. You think of a premium fitness tracker that will keep up with you and tell you whatever you need to know in a single glance.
One thing that you hardly think about, when you think Garmin is a regular fitness tracker band that looks nothing like the smartwatches you know today. But Garmin does stellar basic fitness bands in the vívosmart fitness band.
They have just introduced their 5th generation fitness band, the vívosmart 5 and it is better than before. It looks better too, more fashionable in some sense. At the same time, it is as simple to work with as before.
Source: Garmin
Source: Garmin
Source: Garmin
Source: Garmin
Source: Garmin
Source: Garmin
The Do Everything, Go Everywhere Band
It is a Garmin smart wear, which means you can expect it to be quite the powerhouse of a fitness tracker. Packing Garmin’s famous GPS algorithm, the Garmin vívosmart 5 tracks your location for distance travelled, pace, and speed through a myriad of activities including cycling.
It is also your protector when you are out and about. Not really a protector, that’s overselling it. It has some safety features that allows you to send out emergency alerts to designated contacts with your tracking information. That way, your emergency contact can find you wherever you are.
Watching You Sleep
That might have sounded a little creepier than we intended it to be. The Garmin fitness band is cleverer than before in monitoring your sleep than before though. They call it the advanced sleep features that scores your sleep and helps you understand your sleep patterns better. Of course, the tracker allows you to understand not just your sleep patterns, the understanding of your sleep patterns is the first step in helping you sleep better.
The vívosmart 5 understands your sleep patterns by detecting your body movements in your sleep. It breaks down your sleep state in hours and scores them based on their durations against your total sleep time. It is pretty much the same as any other fitness tracker you can find, to be fair.
What is different is that Garmin uses these data to formulate insights about your body for the day and even recommend practices to help improve your sleep. Garmin also has something they call the Body Battery feature that tracks your heartbeat changes from one moment to another. This allows the fitness band to understand your stress levels and recovery states at night.
24/7 Monitoring + Long Battery Life
On top of all of that, Garmin’s latest fitness band tracks your heart rate in real-time. Instead of a second-by-second update, the fitness band samples your heart rate multiple times every second for 24 hours for an even more accurate heart rate reading. It detects high and low heart rates and informs its users on these abnormal occurrences to ensure that you can seek for help quickly. It does that for seven continuous days too on a single charge.
Fashionably Stealthy
Source: Garmin
Source: Garmin
Garmin’s latest vívosmart 5 is designed with lifestyle in mind too. It must look good, fashionable. The larger and brighter display ensures that operations on the Garmin vívosmart 5 is much more intuitive and simpler than before. It comes in three attractive colours too to match your outfits. You can choose between Mint Green, Morning White, and Midnight Black.
Price and Availability
Garmin’s latest vívosmart 5 is available via Garmin’s official stores on Shopee, Lazada, AECO e-store, and Garmin’s brand stores and authorised retailers across the nation. It will set you back MYR 730 and as we mentioned, it comes in three colour options – Mint Green, Morning White, and Midnight black. More information on the Garmin vívosmart5can be found on their website.
Sony’s WH-1000X series is known to be one of the world’s best, if not the best headphones with Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) features today. When they launched the WH-1000XM4, basically the fourth-generation high-end ANC headphones money can buy, it was regarded to be the best there ever was, leaving the likes of Bose in the dust. The question that remained from the fourth-generation product was “how is Sony going to make it even better”?
They answered with the WH-1000XM5, the fifth generation of what is possible in the world of noise cancelling headphones.
Two Noise Cancelling Audio Processing Chips
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Rather than just sticking to one processor for the headphones this time, they fitted two chips into the device. You get the proven QN1 processor you find yourself familiar with from the third and fourth generation WH-1000X over-ear headphones. They introduced the more powerful V1 processor in the WF-1000XM4 wireless earbuds, and it made its way here into the fifth-generation wireless over-ear headphones.
The inclusion of two chips rather than one means that the processing power of the headphones just doubled. That should translate to better and cleaner noise cancellation to tune the entire world out of your ears. Sony also claims that the WH-1000XM5’s noise cancellation algorithm can now handle mid-high frequencies to better seal noise away from your ears. There is also a new Auto NC Optimiser that optimises noise cancelling to different environments.
Smaller But More Powerful Drivers
Source: Sony
Sony’s clever engineers have found ways to cut back on material and weight with a smaller 30mm drivers. While it might sound that the engineers have cut back on power too, the Carbon Fibre constructed engine does not seem to agree with the logic. Because it is also a smaller driver, high frequencies tend to be a little richer, helping music sound more natural.
Of course, there is LDAC compatibility and DSEE Extreme algorithm that allows you to listen to high-Resolution Audio with the least possible loss in fidelity and quality. DSEE Extreme also allows you to listen to music and audio from streaming platforms at near CD quality. There is also Sony’s clever 360 Reality Audio algorithm that allows you to enjoy music as they are intended in the studio with Tidal.
Better Call Quality
Instead of the four mics that the fourth generation WH-1000X had, the WH-1000XM5 has eight, four on each side. While most of the mics are made for better noise cancelling, four of them are beamforming mics that you can also find on the WF-1000XM4 for improve voice pickup. At the same time, AI noise reduction helps transmit your voice clearly to the other end of the line.
New Age Design
Source: Sony
While the WH-1000XM5 retains the touch controls that has been associated with the WH-1000X series, there is a sort of new design that comes with the new pair of headphones. It is larger than before, and not as flexible (cannot be folded) oddly enough. Even the case that comes with it is much larger than before. Weirdly, the larger design does not add any weight to it though, in fact it is just slightly lighter than the older heapdhones.
There are more soft materials that are also supposed to be more durable than before. The Vegan Leather materials form soft fitting surfaces so that wearing the headphones for extended periods is a comfortable experience. The new design is also supposed to alleviate some clamping pressure while remaining secure on the head. At the same time, a stepless slider means that you can infinitely adjust the size of the headphones to really fit your head.
Everything else that was great about the WH-1000XM4 is still retained here though. You still get Adaptive Sound Control that is cleverer than ever before with Sony Headphones App. The new WH-1000XM5 now also tells you if you are listening to your music at too high levels with a new pressure sensor within the cups. If you are out and about, when you want to order your coffee or talk to your friends, Speak-to-chat function is still retained.
Still Impressive Battery Life
Source: Sony
When we tested the WH-1000XM4, we never found ourselves worrying about its battery life. It had 30 hours of battery life in a single charge, that was why. This continues with the WH-1000XM5.
To be fair, the quoted battery life has not changed. It is impressive still because instead of a single processor, this has two to power now. It is not like they fitted larger batteries as well since there are no added weight on this pair of headphones. They managed to put fast-charging technology to this pair of headphones though. A quick three-minute charge gives you three hours-worth of listening time.
Price and Availability
The WH-1000XM5 will be available in two colour options, like its predecessors. It is now available for pre-order at Sony’s authorised stores and retailers. You can even pre-order it from their website if you want and have it delivered to your doorstep as soon as it is available. It retails for MYR 1,799, which is a little more expensive than its predecessor. But the improvements made on this pair of headphones might be worth the premium. Still, you might want to wait for our review before deciding on one. More information on the Sony WH-1000XM5 can be found on their website.
The GPU market today looks like a completely different one compared to the one we saw in the past two years. Stocks are normalising and gone are the ridiculous prices. To be fair, prices are still quite high for existing stocks, and the entire market is still in its recovery mode. We may have also suggested that it is a good time to build a new gaming PC, since prices are steadily on the fall and items are readily available.
It is a good time for chip makers to launch new products too, to recapture the market and to start normalising the prices of their items that are floating in the market now, albeit a little odd. It is a good time then for AMD to launch additions to their Radeon RX 6000 series. They launched the new Radeon RX 6650 XT, RX 6750 XT, and RX 6950 XT. Guess which one we are interested in.
The Radeon RX 6650 XT and RX 6750 XT
They are still RDNA 2 GPUs, hence the RX 6000 series naming scheme. On paper, they are also just slight improvements to the RX 6600 XT and RX 6700 XT cards. As AMD puts it, they are more “enhancements” than anything else. You are supposed to get better Full HD 1080p (RX 6650 XT) and QHD 1440p (RX 6750 XT) performances out of both cards. Like their biggest brother, the RX 6950 XT, the new GPUS are also enhanced with the same sized but faster memory module than before. The speed boost could be quite significant in gaming performance though.
The Radeon RX 6950 XT
You guessed right; we are more interested in AMD’s most premium offering in the GPU market. The Radeon RX 6950 XT will set you back US$ 1,099, which is about the retail price of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, so you can sort of see where this is going now. The Radeon RX 6950 XT is a curious GPU though.
Despite its naming, AMD did not bother adding more compute cores to the Radeon RX 6950 XT GPU. It remains at 80 compute units, the same as the outgoing RX 6900 XT. There is no additional VRAM on the GPU either at 16GB. Despite those, the GPU demands a little bit more power at a typical 335W. In some early tests, the GPU can pull more than 400W at any given time. That could be result of a higher clock speed of 2,100 MHz (boost up to 2,310 MHz) on the compute units and a higher RAM speed at 18GBps.
You still get RDNA 2, AMD’s Infinity Cache technology, and Smart Access Memory from the GPU. Those has not changed much. You also get AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.0 support with the new GPU too. In supporting games, upscaling should look even better than before. DirectX 12 Ultimate is also supported, but unfortunately ray tracing performance will still pale in comparison to the NVIDIA GPUs with their dedicated ray tracing cores.
All of these should mean that you get quite a bit in boost in gaming performance. In some earlyu tests, performance numbers shows that the Radeon RX 6750 XT blew away its competition. Of course, you want to take those results with a pinch of salt. At the same time, you are also getting a boost in overall productivity performance if you are working with Adobe Creative Suite and other 3D software.
Price and Availability
The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT, RX 6750 XT, and RX 6950 XT is now available globally. Board partners are also expected to announce the availability of their cards soon. The GPUs are priced at US$ 399 (MYR 1,749)*, US$ 549 (MYR 2,407*), and US$ 1,099 (MYR 4,818*) respectively. MSI Malaysia has announced their AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT, RX 6750 XT, and RX 6950 XT cards in Malaysia with no specific mentions of date and pricing as of now. More information on AMD’s new Radeon RX 6000 series cards can be found on their website.
*Approximately based on exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.38 as of 11/05/2022 on xe.com
Yesterday we said it is a good time to build a gaming PC. Specifically, we pointed out that building a budget gaming PC at this time is quite perfect. Thing is, it is not just budget PC parts that are being launched left and right, there are some high-end ones too like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, making it also the perfect time to build a high-end PC.
If you are looking to build a high-performance entertainment powerhouse though, you do not want to forget to kit it out with the best possible audio gear. While it is plenty overlooked, audio is an important component in not just gaming, but for general entertainment. It can enhance and even break your experience. Even in video calls, you tend to want to prioritise a clear and stable voice communication over video, because that is where a large portion of the communications happen.
Most of the time, when you build a high-end PC and decides on the audio solution, you do not want to stay with the built-in speakers your display comes with. Most users tend to buy a pair of headphones to work with in this case. But headphones tend to be a little restrictive, and uncomfortable in extended periods of gaming. What if you also want your audio gear to be your main listening tool for movies and music without being too restrictive?
You get a sound bar of course. Yes, just like the one you see for televisions (TV). Not just any sound bar though, you get a Razer gaming soundbar made specifically to fit your crowded gaming desk set up, look good on it, and sound stellar in gaming conditions.
Source: Razer
Welcome to the Razer Leviathan V2, the follow-up to the highly acclaimed Razer Leviathan launched about seven years ago now. Like it predecessor, it also comes with a subwoofer box in the box. You might be fine without the subwoofer box though.
Compact, Powerful, Immersive
It packs two full range drivers to drive everything from the mid-range frequencies to the higher end ones. To give better clarity and detail on the higher-end frequencies though, Razer has also fitted two tweeters to accompany the full range drivers. To ensure that audio sounds full, especially in gaming, you must have big booms. For that, you get two down-firing subwoofers that brings some rumble to your desk when you need it.
You might think that having the speaker in front of you might take out some of its immersive feel. True, you do not have rear firing speakers to feed some spatial awareness into your ears. This soundbar comes with THX Spatial Audio technology though and is activated when you connect it to a PC. That also means that you get a virtual surround sound experience like no other on your gaming PC.
Visually Stunning and Versatile
To add to the visual drama, Razer fitted this soundbar with 18 lighting zones powered by Razer Chroma RGB. You can match the light works with your other Razer gear via Synapse, or even make your games for immersive by matching the lights to whatever you see on your screen.
It is also a rather versatile piece of kit to have on your desk. Like the older Leviathan, the V2 is also a wireless speaker when you want it to be. It is Bluetooth 5.2 enabled so that you can connect your smartphone to it for when you just want to listen to music without your PC. Bluetooth 5.2 also ensures that the connection between your smartphone and speakers stay stellar. Just to fine tune the speakers to your liking, Razer also made the feet on the speakers detachable and replaceable for differing angles.
The Razer Leviathan V2 is now available on Razer.com and its authorised retailers across the nation. It will set you back MYR 1,399, which is about the same price as most decent all-in-one soundbar these days. More information on the Razer Leviathan V2 can be found on their website.
Let us first clarify what the title means for a second. It is really a reflection of the experience of the pair of earbuds itself, nothing to do with its build or even sound quality. It is a Sony headphone after all, one that retails for MYR 849.
This is an odd pair of kit. Sony is famous with their noise cancelling offerings. There is the very famous WH-1000XM4 and the WF-1000XM4. These are the best pair of noise cancelling headphones money can buy currently.
So, what was Sony thinking when they made the WF-L900 LinkBuds? Their marketing blurb says that it is the only headphones you will never have to take off. They also said that it is permanently on transparent mode.
On paper, you are getting a lot less than the WF-1000XM4 noise cancelling earbuds. The price tag is a little lower too for sure, but MYR 849 is not exactly cheap still. Is the asking price a fair one? Would this be a pair of headphones we never knew we needed? Would you be better off with a WF-1000XM4 instead? Let us find out
Design
The first thing that greets you, when you open your box made from the recycled paper, is not the two pairs of earbuds. It is the clamshell style case. It also looks like one.
The outer shell is made entirely out of what Sony claims to be recycled plastic. It looks the part too; most recycled plastic panels have the same texture and look. It feels grainy and smooth at the same time. It feels expectedly premium too.
Because it is made mostly of plastic, it is much lighter than what we expected. Curiously, the case can still charge the LinkBuds at least twice over. There is no wireless charging for this device though, that could explain its weight.
There are no magnets to keep the cap closed. The hinge is spring-loaded and swings open when you press the button at the front. There is a pairing button sitting beside a USB Type-C port. The case is very minimal, and very tiny.
Then you open it and find the LinkBuds with two large domes staring back at you with the chromed rings. The recess on the case for the ear loops looks oversized at first, until you rummage through the packaging to find extra ear loops. No multiple inserts for the ear tips here, there are no ear tips to begin with
The recess for the main body of the buds is quite shallow making cleaning as easy as dabbing the seats with a piece of cloth or tissue paper. The recess is also where you see the infrared sensors that senses the earbuds and two charging pins.
The earbuds are also designed with minimalism in mind. There are no additional magnets other than the ones in the ring drivers here. The LinkBuds themselves feature two recess that are made to be caught by latches on the case to secure the earbuds in the case, in case the magnets are not enough.
The earbuds, at 4g, is feather light. You can keep it in your hands, walk around, drop it and not feel a thing. You can put it into your ears, and then forget about it the entire day even when the battery runs out. Trust me, it happened to me.
Fit and Finish
Their odd shapes make for an odd fitting. Unlike regular earbuds, fitment of the LinkBuds really depends on the size of the ear loop that presses against the inner part of your ear. The ring part goes into the hole, but you cannot push it all the way in. Instead, it simply rests on your ears.
With a good fit, the LinkBuds should feel natural in your ears. It should stay in place even with heavy headbanging. After some time, you forget that it is in your ears.
Features
Of course, the most important feature of the Sony LinkBuds is its transparency mode. It allows you to keep your music on but be completely aware of your surroundings.
Always Transparent Mode
The transparency mode is a permanent feature. There is no proper way to seal the headphones. You can sort of stuff things into the middle of the ring, but we do not recommend that.
Because there is no artificial processing, you are getting clean, natural sounding ambient noise. You can have a completely normal conversation with your peers without taking off your headphones or stopping your music.
Oddly enough, there is a Speak-to-Chat function built into this pair of headphones. We never needed it and kept it off. I have tried ordering coffee with the set of headphones without any issues. I can have full conversations with my friends with the headphones on as well.
Oddly Intuitive Wide Tap Area Gesture Control
There are no touch controls on either bud. Accidentally turning down your volume, pause your music, or launch Google Assistant or Alexa by adjusting your earbuds is a thing of the past. There is a still gesture control. You need to tap right next to your ear to get it working. It does not work on a single tap too, which is another great way to prevent accidental inputs. It is either a double tap or triple tap, and it works well for us.
It is rather intuitive once you know what to do. Sure, you can only fit up to four commands in this case for the LinkBuds. Four is enough for most use cases.
The system is not perfect though. Despite the ‘wide’ moniker, you cannot tap too far away from the headphones to register an input. You want your taps to be distinct as well.
IPX4 Construction
Water resistance is important on this pair of headphones. In our minds, this is the type of headphones you wear for extended periods. There are already a few instances where we left the case in the car when we are out and about with the earphones in our ears.
You might take it for a quick run around your neighbourhood too. In that case, it will be exposed to the elements. It can take rain, shine, or even sweat with no issues.
Sony Headphones App
This being a premium Sony product, it gets Sony’s Headphone app. It is different from other headphones we are used to though. Obviously, The WF-L900 LinkBuds does not feature noise cancellation. You will find the ambient noise slider or toggle.
The controls for the Sony LinkBuds are more simplified than what we are used to as well. You still have control over the EQ presets, which we left to Bass Boost. You can change the gesture controls, DSEE settings, speak-to-chat function, and Sony 360 Reality Audio on the app. The ear analysis feature remains too. It works, but the difference is not night and day.
Performance
While part of the MYR 849 that you are paying is for the unique qualities of this truly wireless earphones, its main purpose is a personal listening gear. For that, it should also still perform like a Sony should. We are happy to report that it does, though with some trade off.
The Sony V1 Processor
It is the same one you can find on the more expensive and slightly older WF-1000XM4. It is missing a few key features on this model though.
You do not get to take advantage of the noise cancelling algorithm on the V1 anymore, for obvious reasons. But you also lose DSEE Extreme. In its place, it is still DSEE audio upscaling technology, which is still good, but not DSEE Extreme good.
The Calls
It is a strange experience, using the LinkBuds for calls. The person at the other end of the line sounds clear and crisp, enough at least for you to make up the words they are trying to convey. The person on the other end did not report any issues with the call quality. We did not try to use only one side of the earphone because I always seem to forget that I have the earphones on in the first place.
The strange part is that you are listening to the person on the other end, but you are also hearing the rest of the world at the same time. Sure, you can just concentrate on having a conversation with your friend, because he is in your ear. But when the environment gets noisy, it gets a little difficult to have a conversation since you are also very much receiving the noise from all around you.
In most cases, if you can hear your music, you should be able to hear into your calls very nicely.You hardly need to worry about privacy too.
Adaptive Volume
Adaptive volume is the unique feature of this pair of earphones. In effect the algorithm adjusts the volume of the audio according to your environment. If your environment gets a little louder, your audio becomes louder too.
You might not notice the volume increase and decrease too much in most cases though, since everything is done in accordance with your environment. It is rather seamless too; you hardly notice that the volume has changed at all. Then again, that is the whole point.
Much Enjoyment, Much Awareness
The experience that is offered by the LinkBuds can be more likened to the experience you get from open backed earphones. You get a rather wide, open feel to your music and audio. It feels like audio fills up the space around you. It is a different experience.
We use Tidal for most of our music listening and testing. The songs we used for the test is Freya Riding’s “Lost Without You”, Video Game Orchestra’s “Final Fantasy VII Medley”, “3 Hour Drive” by Alicia Keys Ft. Sampha, and Post Malone’s “Circles”. No, they are not necessarily what audiophiles would pick, but some of them represent some of the most popular music genres and styles today. We kept our volume to about 50% in most of our use case.
You can make out the bass lines on songs like “Circles” and “3 Hour Drive”, but they are not punchy at all. You do hear some of the details with Bass Boost turned on, but once you turn it off, it feels like the lower frequencies disappear. For Freya Riding’s “Lost Without You”, we get quite a natural reproduction of Freya Riding’s unique vocals. Her voice comes out very clear and you still can hear the depth of her voice in the song itself. On an orchestral reprisal that is the “Final Fantasy VII Medley”, you do miss some of its drama because the earphones lack that punchiness in the lower frequencies. It is far from terrible though; the music still sounds clear and crisp.
We use Spotify as our main podcast listening platform and the experience is a good one. You are still completely aware of what is happening around you, but you are also getting entertained. You lose a little bit of that radio voice, but the most important part of a podcast is usually its content.
The thing is, while we do want to give a hard time for it not having a thumping low-frequency punch, we still quite like the audio experience on the LinkBuds. Audio feels more natural thanks to the open back concept. Rather than getting as choke full of sounds pumped into your ear, music is lightly fed to your ears. It is a unique experience.
Battery Life
The Sony open back earbuds is quoted to have a battery life of up to 5.5 hours in regular listening mode. With the case, it is supposed to get up to 12 hours extra battery life. Our app says we have logged about 19 hours of listening time on the WF-L900 LinkBuds. We have only charged the device once since we got the device, which also means we have extracted more than the promised battery life.
Then again, we left the WF-L900 at half volume at most times and we hardly ever activate the wide area tap function. Adaptive volume was on, but again, volume is at 50% most of the time. We pick up calls with it too, which is supposed to drain its battery a little more. Our calls are placed with volumes above 75% most of the time just so that we can hear the other person clearly.
We believe that the batteries will last about 5 hours in a single use, especially when you leave the headphone on 70-75% volume. Our use case allows the battery life of the device to extend a little more than the quoted battery life, which is good when you do not want to take your headphones off.
You want to remember that each earbud only weighs 4g. It is one of the lightest pair of truly wireless headphones in the market, and it offers a battery life that matches some of the more premium offerings in the market. In that regard, the battery life is impressive.
The Sony WF-L900 LinkBuds – Unique is The Word, But There is a Little Bit More to It
In short, we enjoyed the Sony WF-L900 LinkBuds. It is a unique product, and it is not made for everyone. Inevitably, there will be “why do I need that?” questions. You don’t.
This is a unique product that fulfils a very specific need and solves a very specific problem. It is for the people who wants an earphone to be constantly in their ears. It is for people who wants a little more seamlessness in their day. It is for the people who are constantly on the go.
There are some compromises with this pair of headphones. It does not offer DSEE Extreme, just regular DSEE. There is Sony’s 360 Reality Audio, but we hardly notice its effects in our use time. It offers less battery life as well than the WF-1000XM4. The biggest drawback is that it lacks low-end punch.
You still get quite decent audio experience though, excellent high-end notes and crisp mid-range tones. At the same time, you are completely aware of what is happening around you while enjoying tunes or even podcasts. It is water resistant, important when you are constantly on the move. It is light and hardly noticeable in your ear once it goes in. You never have to take it off your ears until it needs a charge.
The MYR 849 goes into excellent audio while being able to go through the day completely uninterrupted. It buys a unique convenience, a sort of hybridization of lifestyles. It keeps you in the loop, while you are drifting away in a calm land. It keeps you focused, and entirely separated from everything that is happening around you simultaneously. It is weird, but it is a good kind of weird, and we like that.
Cleaning up at home is a tedious job. While you should allocate a single day for a major clean up operations at home, there are certain things that you should also consider doing consistently to ensure that your living space is livable until those major cleaning days. One of which is to keep your floor properly clean, very important in Asian homes where shoes are not allowed indoors. You want a smooth, clean floor for that.
The introduction of robot vacuum cleaners are a blessing and a little bit of a curse. They are mighty convenient to work with. At a touch of a button, or tick of a timer, the robot vacuums start its own cleaning routine without too much of a fuss, do a round around your space, and goes back to its own little corner. It is perfect for smaller spaces, thus making it the perfect home cleaning companion when you live alone in a single-storey apartment.
A lot of them were not very good though. Because they were not very big, you still want to ensure that they are not exposed to large chunks of debris. While they were advertised to be “smart cleaners”, they were not very clever sometimes. They tend to fall off ledges, trip over cables, gets themselves stuck transitioning from regular flooring to carpet, and sometimes they are not able to comprehend that there are a lot more floors than what they are cleaning. You still must do some regular maintenance cleaning on the robot vacuum itself, because it has a small stomach. If your robot has mopping functions, you must ensure you top the water up, or replace the murky water after every vacuum session. You also want to make sure your mopping attachment is clean all the time. In conclusion, having a robot vacuum cleaner can be more hassle than it is marketed to be.
Now though, ECOVACS is here to save the day with the DEEBOT X1 series of robot vacuum cleaners.
ECOVACS, if you have not heard yet, is one of the leading brands when it comes to home service robots, especially robot vacuum cleaners. They were one of the first in the industry to push an AI powered vacuum robot that uses various sensors to map out your entire floor plan it can access, understand the surfaces it is exposed to, and run more efficient cleaning programs for itself the next time it goes around.
There was still another problem to solve. The maintenance of the robot vacuums themselves. At least that was a problem until now.
The DEEBOT X1 family of products looks rather sophisticated. All it is, in essence anyway, is an ECOVACS DEEBOT robot vacuum with a large docking station that also acts as its bin, and refilling tank. The DEEBOT X1 robot vacuum itself also has mopping functions, which explains the refilling part.
The robot vacuum itself comes with ECOVACS’ state-of-the-art vacuum technologies. It is powered by a powerful 5000Pa suction mechanism. Of course, being a premium product, ECOVACS also ensured that it maps your floor plan as accurately as possible with their proven AIVI 3D and TrueMapping 2.0 technologies. There is even a clever AI voice assistant YIKO. You can interact with YIKO, which could be fun. At the same time, they have also fitted the OZMO Turbo 2.0 Rotary Pressure Mopping System for the most advanced robot mopping experience you can get in the current market.
The highlight of the DEEBOT X1 family though is their docking stations. There are two on offer: the OMNI, and the TURBO. The OMNI would be the flagship model with a 4L water tank for both clean and dirty water to ensure that the robot has fresh water supply for its own cleaning and the mopping programs. All the cleaning and refilling happens automatically. All you need to do to for maintenance is to ensure that dirty water is disposed, and fresh water is topped up periodically.
The docking station is also where the DEEBOT X1 dumps its vacuumed load to ensure that its bowels are empty again for its next vacuum station. Like the 4L water tank, all you need to do is to replace the vacuum bag within the housing periodically, or when it gets full.
For the TURBO model, the docking station acts only as a cleaning station for the DEEBOT X1 after every vacuum and mopping session. That means you need to still replace the filter bags and water supply of the robot vacuum itself. The cleaning station on the TURBO docking station, like the OMNI station too, ensures that the mopping pad is cleaned and dried removing any bad odours that might come from the pads.
Price and Availability
The DEEBOT X1 is now available on both Shopee and Lazada. The DEEBOT X1 OMNI will set you back MYR 7,999. The DEEBOT X1 TURBO will retail for MYR 6,999, a whole MYR 1,000 less than the OMNI. While both models do sound premium, it does cut out a lot of cleaning work for yourself. Just think about how much time you save on cleaning and the price will make a lot more sense.
