With the pending arrival of Sony’s long-awaited next-generation console: the PlayStation 5, many are looking for more information about the system’s new UI and for more concrete information on how the backward compatibility will work on the PS5. To cut the issue down to size, one of the biggest questions is whetherr you’ll be able to play PS4 games on the new console.
After much speculation and confusion, Sony has officially announced that approximately 99 percent of the over four thousand titles available on the PS4 will be playable on Playstation 5 consoles. So far, only 10 games are off the list which: DWVR, Afro Samurai 2 Revenge of Kuma Volume One, TT Isle of Man – Ride on the Edge 2, Just Deal With It!, Shadow Complex Remastered, Robinson: The Journey, We Sing, Hitman Go: Definitive Edition, Shadwen, and Joe’s Diner.
Source: Sony
System architect Mark Cerny expressed that the company has been testing the best 100 most played PS4 diversions, and “nearly” all of them will be working as intended when the Playstation 5 arrives. Sony has moreover guaranteed it has, as of now, tried “hundreds of titles” and will be testing “thousands more as we move toward dispatch”. This mean you will likely be able to play games that you have purchased on the PS4 and play them on PS5. Although, we haven’t heard from Sony just yet on how backwards compatibility will work when it comes to digital libraries from the PlayStation Store. That said, Sony strongly suggested to run your PS4 games on PS5 before buying any add-ons or DLC to ensure there is no any other ‘error or unexpected behavior’ occur while playing.
Sony has already done a public tear down of the PS5 and given us an in-depth look at the console’s specs and features. These include an NVMe SSD for super-fast load times, ray-tracing support, a built-in 4K Blu-ray player, backwards compatibility with thousands of titles in the PS4’s game library and a massive cooling system. With all these powerful specs and PS5’s Game Boost Feature, it is expected that compatible PS4 titles will run more smoothly and have a higher frame rate than on the PS4.
Let us be fair a little bit. The Sony WF-800n is not a completely new product. As in, it is not the first time we see noise cancelling in Sony’s sports focused earphones. It is also not the first Truly Wireless (TWS) sports focused earbuds in the market. It is however, Sony’s latest TWS sports earbuds with their award winning and proven Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) technology.
Sony already had the remarkable WF-SP700n earphones before this. In our tests two years ago, the device performed remarkably well in all kinds of situations. It only had a battery life of 3 hours on a single charge though (just earbuds). While that was enough for a good workout, it was pale in comparison to plenty of the TWS earbuds that was coming out at that time. Still, it had a small packaging that was attractive and easy to work with. It even has its own app, Sony’s Headphones app that we think was great.
The new model, the WF-SP800N is not technically a follow up or a replacement model. It was not meant to be a successor to the WF-SP700n, although the naming moniker. It is also more expensive than the older WF-SP700n at MYR 849. At that price though, it is cheaper than the coveted WF-1000XM3, the true great Noise Cancelling earbuds.
In this case, is this a better buy than Sony’s holy grail in TWS noise cancelling, the WF-1000XM3? Is it a better buy compared to the WF-SP700n at an MYR 100 premium? Most importantly , is it worth your hard earned MYR 849? Let us face it, that is just MYR 151 shy of MYR 1,000 (yes, I can count). In that case, this is still worth a lot of money compared to some of its competition. Let us find out then, if this is worth every penny, or if you should be looking elsewhere.
Design
To begin with, the one we have here is a very neon Orange colour option. It has four colour options including this one – Blue, White, Black, and Orange. That is the same amount of colour options you get with the less expensive and more compact Sony WF-SP700n. You are choosing between different colours though. There are two more colour choices compared to the higher-end WF-1000XM3 too. So that is one point to the Sony WF-SP800N.
We cannot help it; the WF-SP800N’s orange reminds us of traffic cones. It is exactly the same colour, both the case and the headphones compared to a regular traffic cone in Malaysia. That makes it seem like we have pieces of traffic cones in our ears and our bags. There is some good in this though.
Being this bright and neon means that you are sort of visible, albeit a small dot in your ear might not make that much of a difference in visibility. But still, it makes you a little more visible in whatever conditions that Malaysia can throw at you, except for torrential rain that is. You would not want to be caught running in the rain though, why would you run in the rain in the first place?
Still the extra visibility means you are a little safer when you do your runs on the street. You want to be a little more visible since you are going to be using the Noise Cancelling feature to block out the world. We do advise that you turn on the ambient noise feature when you run on a busy route though, just so that you are aware of what is coming at you and your surroundings.
The buds themselves are about the same size as the WF-1000XM3 earphones. To be fair, even the charging case looks nearly as big with the bottom third of the case cut off. The case cap is also a little concaved from the inside to create a sort of dome cocooning the earbuds inside.
The wingtips (they call it the arc supporter) that is additional to the regular silicon eartips makes the SP800N look a little larger than the WF-1000XM3 though. This is a stark difference compared to the WF-SP700n too. The WF-SP800N is way larger and look a little more cumbersome compared to the WF-SP700n. The wingtips do make it more secure to work with than the WF-1000XM3 though.
Like any modern device with a battery, the Sony WF-SP800N charges via a USB Type-C port at the back bottom of the device. Because of its odd shape though, the case only stands on its cap. That exposes the USB Type-C port to the top. We still do not understand this design choice.
As with most modern TWS cases these days, the WF-SP800N’s case cap is magnetic and the buds starts charging the moment you fit the buds back in. That is magnetic too, as with the WF-1000XM3. All you need to do is drop the earbuds into the case and the buds will simply snap in its place to start charging.
On the WF-800N’s left bud, there is a very tiny notch that indicates that the left earbud is the master earbud. It is technical a small instruction or reminder that you are supposed to put in the left side first. The rest of the earbuds’ design language mimics the WF-1000XM3 though, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
The case is made entirely of plastic though. While that makes it light, some might say it feels cheaper and less significant. The matte finish makes it feel a little nicer and softer to the touch, but there is no soft touch or rubbery coating here. You might want to be a little more careful with handling the case too though, or maybe buy a protective case, because the case does tend to scuff a little.
Performance
Of course, an earphone is nothing without its driver and sound quality. Of course, coming from Sony, you expect something special. Sony, after all, is one of the best in the business of audio. The Sony WF-SP800N packs a relatively powerful 6mm Neodymium drivers encased in very Orange (our test unit) IP55 rated package. Mind you, the case is not water resistant rated, so do not put the case in the water with the earphones.
Sound Quality
This section has always been Sony’s party piece. In a sense, Sony is a trusted name in audio, so there is never a doubt that it would sound good. That is if you do not compare it to the WF-1000XM3.
If you compared it to the older Sony WF-SP700n, the WF-SP800N does win out a little bit in the area. It is not night and day with the sound quality between the WF-SP700n and the WF-SP800N though. There is still a difference, comparatively.
On its own, the WF-SP800N TWS earphones is a capable performer. The low frequencies are great, for an earphone with tiny 6mm driver. The bass line is punchy and full. This is mostly thanks to Sony’s acclaimed EXTRA BASS technology.
Because of EXTRA BASS though, the mid-range and high-end frequencies take a little bit of a back seat. It does not mean that the Sony WF-SP800N sounds like a muddled piece of kit though. Contrary to that, while the bass line sounds punchy and powerful, mid and low frequencies are still present and available. The low-frequency is still full of details though, not just a punch for punching sake.
We used Spotify in most of our audio tests. The simple justification of us using Spotify, even if TIDAL can offer Lossless and FLAC quality audio, is that it is the most widely used ‘Premium’ music streaming app in Malaysia. It is also one of the most affordable, so we will stick to Spotify Premium for now.
We listened to music like ‘Lost Without You’ by Freya Ridings, for that full mid-range frequency pull of the vocals. We are happy to report that vocals still sound crisp and meaty in this case. Even ‘La Vie En Rose’ covered by Daniela Andrade sounds great on the WF-SP800N. This is if you are more concerned with vocals than anything. Then there is the concern of a terrible high-frequency with bassy earphones. For that high frequency reach, we tested the WF-SP800N with a symphony of Final Fantasy VII’s Medley done by Video Game Orchestra. In the symphony also we could properly tell the balance of the earphones. Of course, thanks to EXTRA BASS, you would expect all the low frequency instruments to shine. But it does not mean that the Violins and the windpipes do not get their shine, they still really do.
Of course, the sound staging is a little less dynamic than the WF-1000XM3. In this sense, the WF-1000XM3 does win out in a significant margin. It is also not the most accurate earphone to work with, so if you are working with audio plenty and require natural and neutral sounding earphones, this is not for you. Then again, if you do not put them side by side, like us, the WF-SP800N is a formidable earphone on its own.
Compare it to its competition though, and it will blow them away. The Samsung Galaxy Buds+ for example has nothing compared to the Sony. The Sony WF-SP800N sounds clearer with better sound staging compared to the Samsung Galaxy Buds+. There is one thing that the Samsung Galaxy Buds+ do better than the Sony though, and that is a better and cleaner vocals and mid-range frequencies. You notice them too, but overall, the Sony WF-SP800N is still a much better sounding earphone with better overall detail in all frequencies. That superiority in sound quality alone may not be enough to justify its heftier price tag though. Its other features might just make up those few extra hundred difference.
360 Reality Audio
If you have apps that takes advantage of Sony’s 360 Reality Audio, even better. Sony’s new 360 Reality Audio technology technically is Sony’s audio enhancer that completely changes your experience with music. It takes Sony’s object based spatial audio technology and allows artists and musicians to record music in a completely new way. It allows musicians to place different instruments within a spherical sound field. Like the ‘360’ naming moniker then, it gives you a true spatial music experience.
Sadly, 360 Reality Audio is only available on select music streaming platforms though. It is currently only available on Deezer, nugs.net, and TIDAL. To be fair, you can get higher resolution music via those apps compared to Spotify. A little bit of technical talk here, TIDAL HiFi accounts allows users to stream 44.1kHz/16bit files at about 1411kbps. That is in the region of Lossless and FLAC audio file quality. Spotify Premium, on the other hand only streams at 320kbps. That is no where close to CD-quality or Lossless. Of course, there is a cost to all this. TIDAL’s HiFi subscription is worth MYR 29.80 a month while Spotify Premium works out to MYR 14.90 a month.
That extra cost, if you listen to 360 Reality Audio produced music on TIDAL (our app of choice for 360 Reality Audio), the TIDAL HiFi subscription is quite worth it. But we are reviewing the earbuds here, not the app. Of course, with 360 Reality Audio, the Sony WF-SP800N shines. Suddenly your sound stage changes from a two-dimensional experience to an immersive three-dimensional phenomenon. Close your eyes, and you will feel like you are in the concert hall or recording studio itself.
The thing is, you have to be on TIDAL HiFi subscription plan to fully take advantage of Sony’s 360 Reality Audio technology. That, or you have to pay for a Deezer subscription. They do not have as many music in their library as far as we know. There are no plans yet on Spotify’s side to support higher streaming quality or even have 360 Reality Audio support. Also, subscriptions with 360 Reality Audio availability is a little more premium in pricing compared to the usual subscriptions we are used to.
Active Noise Cancelling
This is something that Sony does better than almost everyone else in the field. Sony’s Active Noise Cancelling technology is considered by many to be one of the best, if not the best, in the market. Their highly acclaimed WF-1000XM3 and WH-1000XM4 are the very products that is hailed as the best in-class currently.
That same know how in Active Noise Cancelling they used on the WF-1000XM3 is present on the WF-SP800N. This could be worth that few extra hundred bucks on top of superior audio quality over other earphones made for an active lifestyle. This is also because ANC can make plenty of difference in your music experience.
Again, we do suggest that you keep ambient noise up anywhere from 50% to 100% when you wear this for a run. You can never be too safe, and you do not want to completely isolate yourself from the world in the case that you are sharing paths with the public. If you are in the gym and are trying to block out the world though, this will do it mighty well. Even if it is just to shut out the gym music, this will do that job well enough that you are in your own world completely. You can even swim with it cranked up in your ear. Other than acting as a water seal, it keeps you entertained and pumped up for your training.
Of course, it does not just do well in the active environment. Thanks to ANC and great audio quality, it is a headphone that you can enjoy in normal commuting conditions too. It is still a perfect earphone to own and use in the train, or even in the bus. It does really block out the world and isolate you out a little bit, which is always nice and somewhat relaxing. Of course, podcasts work great too. On that note, do check out our Tech & Tonic Podcast on Spotify, or Google Podcast, or Apple Podcast.
When you get home, and need some alone time away from everyone at home or everything else that is happening around you, the ANC is good enough that you can isolate yourself virtually. Of course, if there are really loud noise like a wall banging from the construction next door, you are going to hear it a little bit. If you get a good seal from the silicon tips though (choose the correct size for your ears), you might not even hear a glass breaking two feet away from you. It is that isolating.
In that case, you might want to think twice about wearing it in the office sometimes. Sure, the noise cancellation also means that you get to focus better on your own tasks and jobs. It allows better concentration and less distractions while not biothering any of your colleagues. As we have found though, it may not be too advisable to turn your back to the world as you might not be too aware of your surroundings. Your colleague might get annoyed too for not being able to get your attention. Although, you might be able to get more work done. That, or you might just start dancing on your own like a crazy person.
Fit and Comfort
The Sony WF-SP800N some similarities to the WF-1000XM3 in terms of earbud design. For one, they do share the same silicon tip fitting. The only difference between the two earphones is the WF-SP800N having an extra wingtip to ensure that the earphones stay in your ears and not fall out in an intense work out.
Fitting and comfort for everyone is a little different though. In that sense, I would not be able to say that I speak for everyone in this matter too. I had to change the silicon tips to the largest available from Sony to get a good seal in my ear. They provided three different sizes within the packaging, which also means that you get to either pick between a large, medium, or a small ear tip. The wingtips come in two sizes, medium, or small. The one attached to the earbuds out-of-the-box is the medium sized one, which is perfect enough for me. If it gets uncomfortable, you might want to switch to the smaller one.
Yes, there is a case for foam eartips for plenty of earphones. The WF-1000XM3 comes with foam eartips in-the-box as well. Foam eartips can be a little more forgiving to your ears and also means a longer period use case will not be uncomfortable or painful. Foam tips are a little more prone to tearing and may not work too well with water though. In that case, silicon is a little more reliable. Still, if you want to get a better seal, you can opt for aftermarket foam tips.
As we said earlier, it is important to find a good fit and seal for your earphones. It helps with the entire aural experience when your ears are properly sealed. It is especially important for noise cancelling earphones. Without a good seal, noise cancellation might not work as well. Therefore, take your time to choose the right eartips sizes for each of your ear.
Once you get a good fit and seal, the earphone can sit in your ears for hours and hours on end. It is made for a good workout, so if you are using the right sized eartips and wingtips, you are going to be mighty fine on long workout sessions. Even if you are just using it to relax and settle down on your commute home, or even reading a good book, you should be fine.
The only issue is that there is a little bit of heft to it. While in most cases you may not notice it that much, if you come from the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Buds or even the Buds live, you are going to feel it on your ears a little more. It is not a major issue though. It is not like the earphones weigh more than 1kg each to weight down your ears. Each earbud weighs only about 10g anyway.
Thanks to the extra wingtips, the Sony WF-SP800N is extra secure. We took it to the gym, we took it swimming, we took it for evening runs, and we did our circuit training with this too. In those sessions which lasts anywhere between 15 minutes to 45 minutes, the Sony WF-SP800N has never needed any readjustments or a refitting. The whole experience was quite uninterrupted and seamless as long as your smartphone is within stable Bluetooth connection range.
Battery Life
The Sony WF-SP800N quotes about 9 hours of continuous music play time with ANC on. The charging case charges the WF-SP800N once over, which gives the earphones a total listening time of 18 hours. On paper, that is not as good as the WF-1000XM3’s total battery life. The SP800N offers a slightly longer battery life on a single charge though over the WF-1000XM3 – nine hours over eight hours.
In real life, we never could leave music playing for nine hours in our ears. We do not have any long flights lined-up for us too. Well, flights are still limited. We will take their words on the battery life, in this case.
Still, we have only charged the Sony WF-800N with the case once in a week. Of course, exercising is not in our daily activity schedule. We not only use the WF-SP800N as our workout companion of course. You can expect this kind of battery life too even if you head to the gym daily.
Whatever it is though, the battery life is perfect for long flights. If you are heading to Europe, you are going to appreciate the nine hours of battery life, especially when you have two seven-hour stints to complete. No travelling at this time though, so short domestic flights will have to do.
Sony Headphones App
We have said before that we always appreciate an accompanying app when it comes to wireless earphones. That said, Sony has always been shipping their audio devices with their accompanying app, the Sony Headphones and Music apps available on iOS and Android for free. We can happily report that the app is nothing short of amazing.
The app is designed to ensure that experiences with all Sony audio products are at least similar or unified. In that sense, even if you have multiple Sony audio products with you, you only need to work with a single app. Well, two in Sony’s case.
The Sony WF-SP800N works nicely with Sony’s Headphones app. Even if you access it through Sony’s Music app, the app will direct you to the Headphones app anyway, do not waste your time downloading the Music app first. The Headphones app is also one of the most comprehensive earphone controller apps we have ever come across so far though.
Samsung’s Wearables app has gone the route of simplification and minimalization in the past few years. You see less and less on the menu and settings screen. Sony has gone a little more of the opposite recently. On the Sony Headphones app, you still have the usual noise cancelling level and ambient noise balance control.
You now also have a separate section and page just for action detections, and location detection. You can tune and location detection. You can tune your WF-SP800N to different locations now too, you can have slightly different settings for when you are at home or even in the office. It can be as simple as tuning your earphones to tune out noise and sound a certain way at home, or in the office. When you are at the gym, it can automatically turn on ambient noise or turn up the low frequencies to get a better kick for your workout sessions.
But there are more than just ambient noise controls. You might have noticed that we said something about low frequency tuning in the previous paragraph. That is because you can really tune the earphones to your liking. There is a general equaliser control for you to work with, and there are even preset settings you can work with too in that.
Within the app is also Sony’s new clever optimisation algorithm to tailor listening experiences for individuals. Each of us has very slightly different ears and therefore experience headphones differently. That is also why high-end earphone makers scan your ears and create a mould for your ears to tailor their earphones for your ears and for your ears only. Sony does that virtually with their clever software by just taking a picture of your ears, with your smartphone’s selfie camera.
If you have Tidal, the app will have an optimisation option for 360 Reality Audio. You do want to optimise it for the sake of your Sony earphones though, not just the WF-SP800N. As we mentioned, it really transforms your audio experience. You can hear the difference if you pay attention.
The WF-SP800N – The Better Sports Earphone
For the longest time, the most proper TWS earphones that could stand up to sweat and pool water is the Sony’s WF-SP700n. Before that, it was the Samsung IconX, which we thought was a very good idea too. The TWS earphones idea was built for that purpose too, technically. It frees you from tangling wires or being tethered to a smartphone when you jog, when you work out.
It became plenty more than that later on though. We have super high-end TWS earphones made by the likes of Sennheiser, Klipsch, and even Shure now. Sony was the first to break out their high-end TWS earbuds with the WF-1000X though. With the introduction of the WF-1000XM3, TWS earphones does not have to be rubbish sounding even with Active Noise Cancelling. With the WF-1000XM3 too, great sounding earphones do not have to last only three hours before needing a quick recharge.
The culmination of that knowledge and Sony’s industry leading water resistance knowledge birthed the WF-SP800N, a follow up from the WF-SP700n. The new TWS earphone is a step up from the older WF-SP700n in every way, including weight and size. We think that the only drawback, compared to the old hardware, is just its heft. But that is justified by a longer battery life on both its case and the earpieces.
It may not sound as good as the WF-1000XM3. If you compare it to something like a Samsung Galaxy Buds+ though, it sounds quite a little bit better. It lasts quite a little bit longer too, in terms of battery life. It also fits better than the Samsung earbuds, and way more secure than the Sony WF-1000XM3 thanks to the extended wings.
It holds an advantage over the WF-1000XM3 though. It is water resistant rated at IP55. That also means you can use it for all your workout sessions. They say you can even swim in it if you want. Of course, you get to do that at your own risk.
At MYR 849, it is not exactly cheap. As we mentioned, it is just MYR 100 shy of the WF-1000XM3. It is difficult to justify that purchase based on sound quality alone. In fact, if that is all you are looking for, the WF-1000XM3 is a better buy. The WF-SP800N is in a completely different class of product though. It is made for the active people. It is made for those who exercises regularly and has a regularly active lifestyle; it is made to take a beating. But because Sony knows their way around an audio device, the WF-SP800N still sounds good enough for you to be enjoying music in any other situations. It is a perfect earphone to have for any situation, an all-rounder.
This is an excellent all-rounder earphone with Sony’s ANC technology. Some considers Sony’s ANC to be the best in the industry too. The MYR 849 premium price is also justified by that. There are no sports earbuds currently that has ANC currently, if you think about it.
So, for MYR 849, you are getting something that is quite out of this world. For MYR 849, you are getting something unique in the market. For MYR 849 too, you are paying for Sony’s quality, knowhow in audio, and excellent ANC technology, in a body that could handle your active lifestyle and stick to your ears even when it gets tough. What more could you want from a sports earphone?
It seems just like yesterday that we saw the full spec sheet of the highly anticipated Sony PlayStation 5 (PS5) and the console’s new controller, the Sony DualSense. In that demo, we saw plenty of PlayStation 5 exclusive that promises no load times and even more impressive graphics that can be projected to a 4K display at 120Hz. Only the most powerful of PCs can have that kind of power these days. Of course, with newer CPUs and a powerhouse in the latest generation GPUs, 4K resolution at 120Hz might be a cake walk for next generation gaming PCs.
Source: Sony
Still, the PS5 is an impressive avenue to next generation gaming alongside the Microsoft Xbox Series X and Series S. For Malaysia at least, we will not be getting the Microsoft gaming consoles. That is as far as we know anyway. That does not mean you cannot get your hands on one though, just not officially supported in the country at the moment.
The PS5 though, that is going to make it into Malaysia. The older generation console, the Sony PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro was made available almost immediately when they made the launch announcement. With the new PS5, we can expect the same thing as well.
According to Sony, the PS5 will be available in most markets from 19th November 2020 onward. That would most likely include Malaysia too, except if there are issues with the custom clearance and shipping. Still, pre-orders are supposedly open already for most regions. There are certain regions that gets the PS5 earlier though – United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea. But it is just a week earlier on the 12th of November 2020. That also means that finding going to another region to source for your PS5 may not be worth it.
Source: Sony
Still, the thing that even we want to know is how much money do we have to fork out to own a piece of kit like the PS5. As pointed out before too, there are two types of PS5 that will be available later in the year. One is a Digital Edition that has no Blu-Ray tray. The other is a traditional PS5 with a disc tray. The Digital Edition is the cheaper option at US$ 399.99 (MYR 1,657.91*) and the regular PS5 will set you back US$ 499.99 (MYR 2,072.40*). Yes, I know I said that it is less than US$ 500 (MYR 2,072.54*). Technically I am not wrong though, it is US$ 0.01 less than US$ 500. If you go for the Digital Edition, it is way less than US$ 500.
*Approximately based on conversion rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.15 as of 17/09/2020
It has been five years since the Sony Alpha 7S II launched, which also means the king of low-light photography and videography have stood the test of time. In that time, nothing came close to taking its throne as the best videography and photography tool when it comes to low-light scenes. The camera is the weapon of choice for plenty of aspiring videographers for obvious reasons. The new one has a lot to live up to.
There are a few similarities from the A 7S III and the A 7S II. For one, it records at 4K resolution 10-bit still. But instead of shooting at a measly 30 frames a second, the new A 7S III now records at 120 frames a second. That is a large improvement over the older A 7S II. It also outputs up to 4K 60p 16-bit output via a full-sized HDMI port.
Source: Sony
You might not want to put this beside the Canon EOS R5 though, it is more of a Canon EOS R6 contender, if you ask me. The A 7S III still shoots from a 12.1-Megapixel Full-Frame CMOS sensor with a small, but significant improvement. The new Exmor R technology means that the Rolling-Shutter problem that the A 7S II and A 7S had is now reduced to a barely noticeable level at the worst.
Better Pair of Eyes
Source: Sony
The A 7S II was known for its ability to “see” even better than our regular eyes. The A 7S III improved on that with an even bigger native ISO range at 40-409,600. There is no need to be afraid of noise too with about 1 more stop on noise reduction at highly sensitive ISO settings and 15 dynamic range stops. This will ensure that details do not get murky in low-light shoots. Even S-Log3 allows you to record from ISO as low as 160 if you really need to. Say goodbye to the ND filters you have bought for the A 7S II.
There was a small issue with Auto Focus when it comes to Sony cameras of old though. They have corrected that with the Sony A 7S III with their new Fast Hybrid Auto Focus system with 759 points of Auto Focus points covering 92% of the sensor. We have seen the technology implemented on Sony’s A 7R III and A 7 III.
Longer Shoots, Better Feel
Recording 4K videos for a long time creates plenty of heat. Sony devised a new heat dissipating mechanism to ensure that you an continue recording at 4K continuously for at least an hour. We suspect that contributes a little bit to the bigger overall package size. Of course, you still get the highly acclaimed 5-axis stabiliser within the compact body.
Source: Sony
A larger package also means that you can fit more things into it though. The A 7S III allows you to work with two memory cards now. You can either choose to work with two regular SD cards or two new standard CFexpress Type A cards for even higher speeds to work with. You need that for 100mb/s card write speeds when shooting at 4K resolution.
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
In terms of ergonomics, besides the thicker body, there are a few changes to how the button layout and arrangement. For example, there is a new joystick at the back with a slightly different dial button. The record button has been moved yet again. It is in a much improved location though – near the shutter button. Even the mode select button is raised a little higher for better accessibility.
Instead of the limited flip out LCD display with limited play, Sony has finally adopted the vari-angle LCD that plenty of users prefer. This allows you to place the Sony A 7S III anywhere at any angle and you do not need a secondary monitor to see what the camera sees.
Availability
Source: Sony
If you are looking for a replacement of the aging Sony A 7S II, you may not have a fitting replacement until now. No, not the Canon EOS R5, the new Sony A 7S III. No, it does not shoot at 8K, but 4K is still plenty more than enough these days. With better colour science, higher ISO sensitivity, and better noise removal, this is the only way to beat the reigning king of low-light.
The Sony A 7S III will be available in Malaysia from October 2020 onward. There are no mentions on price just yet though. We are guessing that it would be priced slightly above the price of a brand-new A 7S II body (roughly between MYR 8,500 to MYR 9,000 for body only). Of course, there are still plenty of lenses for you to choose from with the new A 7S III.
The techENT Download is back for another exciting week in tech! This week’s tech news round up has everything from dramatic reveals, painful hacks to sad cancellations!
It is hard to believe when we say that the Sony PlayStation 4 platform is already about 7 years old now. When it was launched, it was ‘The’ next generation console to get your hands on. It was supposedly less powerful than the Xbox at that time, but it came with a chock-full of exclusives that made the Xbox look boring.
In its 7 years of service, there has been some great games that was made on the PlayStation platform. Plenty of the titles that came even later in its life cycle was very respectable titles still. Games like Grand Theft Auto V that was launched about the same time the PlayStation 4 was launched gained high praises for its graphical prowess and gameplay. That still holds true even today. Then there is games like God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Last of Us. These games launched just a few years ago still held up to the standards of games today. These games are still regarded as some of the best games today even when you compare them to games you can play on PC.
Mind you, all these games that are filled with praises and great graphics are played on 7-year-old system. That is a testament to the prowess of the system itself in Full HD 1080p gaming. They’ve launched a specific model to accommodate the rising trend of 4K televisions though, the PlayStation 4 Pro with 4K Ultra HD capabilities but limited to 30fps. That is okay though because most TVs do not go over 75Hz in refresh rate. Still, pushing the original PS4 hardware to take on 4K gaming also adds some heat issues and a slightly different power regulation measures. The PS4 Pro handled that nicely and is still a benchmark in 4K gaming. Heck most PCs still maintain their gaming resolution to 2K. That is also to keep the refresh rate higher though at 120Hz at least to get 120fps.
Seven years on and it is time for the PlayStation 5. It is time for the next generation gaming console. It has also been teased since 2018 technically and we have seen renders of the PS5 floating around in the world wide web. None of them, in our hopes, was true renders though. PS5 finally revealed some things early on in the year and just about a month ago. They revealed that, like the Microsoft Xbox, the PS5 console platform will feature AMD’s latest chips with RDNA 2 and Ray Tracing. It is touted to be less powerful than the Xbox too, just slightly. They claim that the Sony PS5 is about 10x faster than the previous generation console thanks to the more powerful hardware and cleverer SSD storage management and usage. People from Epic Games claim that the PS5 console is more powerful than any current generation gaming PC with an Unreal Engine demo.
There was a lot of hype around it especially after Sony revealed the Dualsense controller. Mind you, we have already seen how the other competing gaming console looks like. The Microsoft offering is black and box; purposeful. The renders of the next-gen Sony console does not look promising with weird valleys in the design and huge bulges that is less than attractive. At least he controller looks good though. It looks bulkier with more ergonomics as a part of the design consideration. It looks more comfortable than before. It looks better than before too. It departs from the traditional Sony Dualshock design that became an icon of a controller in the gaming world.
With the console and controller mix too they promise an even more immersive gaming experience with not just ultra high-resolution and sharp graphics, and pulling horsepower; but also with immersive 3D audio even without purpose built audio systems. They are building that immersive audio into the Dualsense controller too. More than that, the trigger buttons on the PS5 are now adaptive to the games you play and its requirements. Now, we are more excited than ever to see the PS5 console itself. We hoped, we prayed that the new console does not look like anything that has been in the renders.
Source: Sony
Fast forward to way too early this morning and our prayers were answered with the reveal of the PS5. Thank the heavens, it does not look like anything the renders put out. Thank heavens, Sony was able to keep the project under wraps for such a long time. Thank heavens, they have lined up a bunch of exclusives to be released within the first year of the PS5 launch in the late 2020s to the early 2021s.
The Sony PS5 looks like nothing in this world. It looks more like a sculpture than anything else you can put your finger on. It is a far cry compared to the sharp, boxy slate design we are used to with the PS4. Instead, the sharp boxy design continues only with the Microsoft Xbox Series X, a boxy bin like structure that is more purposeful and stealthy. The PS5 is made so that you can really show off.
It comes in two variants too, a regular PS5 with a Blu-Ray disc insert for the usual Blu-Ray media that we are used to since the PS4. Then there is a curious PS5 with no disc tray. They call it the Digital Edition and that starts to make a little bit of sense since games are purchased online and digitally these days.
Source: Sony
Still, in its first launch phase, you are getting the first generation of Sony’s anticipated Dual-sense controller. There will be a Sony PS5 headphone to purchase as well. We assume that this is going to be fully optimised with Sony’s proprietary Tempest audio engine. There is also a Nintendo Wii-esque controller that we assume would be a VR or AR motion controller that you need to pair with a tracking camera which they are also selling together later on when the PS5 launches. There are no PS VR headset in sight just yet.
Back to how it looks. There are plenty of smooth curves on its body that is standing tall. The only sharp edges are the two plates on each side holding everything upright and in its place. Those plates reveals a black cutaway cross structure that holds the integrity of the PS5 and encases all the horsepower inside. There are plenty of ventilation holes revealed here too, presumably for cooling and airflow: important in something that holds as much power as a very high-end gaming PC in less space than a mini-ITX build. We wonder at its thermal performance and throttling now though.
Source: Sony
In a sense, this looks beautiful. This looks more like a show piece with its large white panels and distinctive, yet muscular curves and grooves. It looks powerful, yet elegant and modern. It looks like it belongs on your coffee table as a centerpiece more than in your TV shelf as a gaming device.
We still do not know how it will actually perform though. All we know so far are just numbers. From the demos, it is looking good too. The only issue is that we are not directly having our hands-on with it just yet, so it is difficult to say.
Still, like when they launched the PS4, they lined up very compelling titles out of the box within the first year of its release. We can expect even more than what they have already showcased too. Within the announcement itself, we are already excited to place our wallets on the counter for one PS5.
Source: Sony
First of all, the announcement starts with Grand Theft Auto V (GTA). Yes, it is an old game. As old as the PS4 itself. But Rockstar is not announcing any new GTA titles anytime soon and the best we will get at this time is GTA V. Rockstar and PlayStation announced that the title will be available for free to current GTA V players on the PS4 console. Players on PS4 console will also be getting 1 million in-game currency every month until the PS5 launches. Great deal? Great deal.
Then they continue with not just a handful of games to be released just for the PS5. It looks like they announced a whole year worth of games if you play them one by one. It is as though they are giving you a reason to buy the console at least to keep it for a year worth of binge gaming.
We have our highlights of course, and we are lovers of exclusive titles. One of the ones we are really excited about is Horizon: Forbidden West. We love the first title, and we are still playing it (we suck at games, please forgive us). The award-winning Spider-Man on PS4 is followed up with Spider-Man: Miles Morales too. Then, there is Grand Turismo 7 (we are also quite big on racing games). We are unexpectedly excited for Sackboy: A big Adventure, because we played Little Big Planet 3. Then there are titles like Resident Evil VIII: Village, and Hitman III. If those titles do not get you excited, we don’t know what will. Best of all, you can still play all your titles from the PS4 if you already have them, thanks to backward compatibility this time. They are still based on the Blu-Ray media system anyway. The list of PlayStation exclusive titles that will be launched within the first year of the PS5 release are listed below.
Exclusive Games 2020/2021 Release
Spider-man: Miles Morales
Grand Turismo 7
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Project Athia
Stray
Returnal
Sackboy: A Big Adventure
Destruction: All Stars
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Goodbye Volcano High
Oddworld: Soulstorm
Ghostwire: Tokyo
Jett: The Far Shore
Godfall
Solar Ash
Hitman III
Astro Playroom
Little Devil Inside
NBA 2k21
Bugsnax
Demon’s Soul
Deathloop
Resident Evil VIII – VIllage
Pragmata
Horizon: Forbidden West
The Sony PlayStation 5 will be launched later in the year 2020. We are looking at the fourth quarter of the year for the highly anticipated console. We kind of know which console we will get our hands-on first with this reveal. Still, as per said by plenty of sources in Sony, we can expect prices to land somewhere near the US$ 500 mark, most likely more than that, but less than US$ 600 hopefully. We are keeping our eyes open, so stay tuned. What do you think of the Sony PlayStation 5 now that we have seen it? Which would you get? Comment below.
Sony Interactive Entertainment (PlayStation) is kicking off a new initiative called Play At Home for their PlayStation community. The new initiative comes in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing number of countries going into lockdown to curb the spread of the disease. Play At Home is an initiative from the company to reward their players for staying indoors and also to ensure the sustainability of a vibrant, growing indie gaming development.
The first part of the new initiative is to keep gamers entertained indoors – in the most literal way, to encourage gamers to Play At Home. To this end, PlayStation is making Unchartered: The Nathan Drake Collection and Journey available for free on the PlayStation Store.
Unchartered: The Nathan Drake Collection collects three entries from the acclaimed Unchartered series from Naughty Dog – Unchartered: Drake’s Fortune, Unchartered 2: Among Thieves and Unchartered 3: Drake’s Deception which have been remastered for the PlayStation 4. Journey, on the other hand, is an indie adventure game by Thatgamecompany which conveys a simple, yet profound message as gamers travel towards a mountain in the distance. The critically acclaimed game brought a new dimension to game play with players able to interact with each other but without words.
The games will be available to download for free starting 15 April, 2020 at 8PM (PDT) until May 5, 2020 at 8PM (PDT). Once redeemed the games will become part of the players game library.
However, Sony Interactive Entertainment isn’t just stopping there. Play At Home is also the company’s commitment to Indie Gaming. As such, Sony is earmarking USD$10 million to support its indie developers. The fund looks to help indie developers in a time when a lot of the world’s economy is being disrupted. The company is looking to use the earmarked fund to help maintain and support indie studios who may be more affected by the disruptions. The company will make more details for the fund available soon.
Sony has unveiled the final design for the upcoming PlayStation 5 controllers. The first thing to take note of: it’s not the DualShock 5. Sony is renaming its controllers to DualSense; and for good reason. The new controllers are pioneering new features we’ve not seen in any DualShock controller of the past. In fact, we may have not even seen them on any XBox or Nintendo controller to date.
The aesthetics of PlayStation controller of the past is also out the window with DualSense. The new DualSense controllers will now come with a two tone finish. A change that we are excited about. The new two tone finish puts a rather futuristic finish on what was once a drab single tone coloured design. However, we’ve seen Sony toy around with this idea in some of the later editions of the DualShock 4 controllers.
“DualSense marks a radical departure from our previous controller offerings and captures just how strongly we feel about making a generational leap with PS5. The new controller, along with the many innovative features in PS5, will be transformative for games – continuing our mission at PlayStation to push the boundaries of play, now and in the future. To the PlayStation community, I truly want to thank you for sharing this exciting journey with us as we head toward PS5’s launch in Holiday 2020. We look forward to sharing more information about PS5, including the console design, in the coming months.”
Jim Ryan, President & CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment
Of course, aesthetics aside, we know that Sony is focusing on the gamer experience when it comes to the PlayStation 5. In fact, the company explained, at length, the technology in the PS5 which includes a new focus on audio called Tempest 3D AudtioTech. The same considerations for immersive gaming came into play with designing the PS5’s DualSense controllers. The new controllers will be the first from Sony to feature haptic feedback. The adoption of haptic feedback technology will allow developers to enhance the gaming experience by increasing the level of detail when it comes to touch. Sony touts the grittiness of driving a car through mud as one of the examples.
In addition, Sony has also brought some change to the design of the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controllers. The L2 and R2 buttons will also have adaptive technology. Sony’s new adaptive triggers will allow developers to program finer details into the triggers. Resistance and perhaps multi stop functionality will probably come with the adaptive triggers. The angle of the triggers have also been adjusted for better ergonomics and to make space for the many components of the controller.
Sony has also replaced the Share button with a “Create” button. Sony claims that they are “…once again pioneering new ways for players to create epic gameplay content to share with the world..”. However, they didn’t elaborate on what they meant – yet. Sony has also included a built in mic array to make it easier for gamers to communicate. That said, the company said that the feature shouldn’t replace a proper gaming headset in the long term.
The new DualSense controller also features a redesign which takes the traditional DualShock design and throws it out the window. Gone are the rounded tops with conical protrusions. Instead, Sony has opted to go with a more boomerang like design that looks more ergonomic than previous designs. The company also reassures us that the controller is smaller than it looks. Another major change is the placement of the lightbar. Instead of being front and centre like the DualShock 4, the lightbar is now flanking the touchpad on either side. Smaller details such as the analogue control design has also been changed. According to PushSquare Sony has changed the analogue sticks to have a textured outer rim with a smoothed center section.
Overall, the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller builds upon the successful base of the DualShock 4. It also holds Sony’s intention of pushing “the boundaries of play” when it comes to their new console. The PS5 is set to launch later this year. To be specific – during Holiday 2020.
The war between gaming consoles are about to start again. It
is the new generation of consoles that are going to be involved in the fight. Microsoft’s
new Xbox Series X, and Sony’ brand new PlayStation 5 that was just about teased
last night (in Malaysia’s time).
We would elaborate specifically on the Microsoft Xbox Series
X, but they are not actually available officially in Malaysia. So, we would do
a hard pass on that and focus on the Sony PlayStation 5, which will be
available in Malaysia and most parts of the world. We are also PlayStation
users, currently on the PlayStation 4 Pro; needless to say, we are quite
excited about PlayStation 5 (PS5) launching at the end of 2020.
Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment
The announcement last night was called ‘The Road to PS5’. That
is Sony’s way of saying also that this is not technically an unveiling of the new
hardware, rather a glimpse of what we can expect the new hardware to pack. We
have seen renders here and there of the PS5, but there is no definite shape of
it just yet. Sony is doing a good job in keeping mums about it too. All we know
though; we can expect it to look quite different from Xbox’s boxy tower design
language.
Despite not talking about design, we can sort of understand
the challenges when it comes to designing a console. They’ve elaborated on the
main challenge of designing a gaming console with ultra-powerful processors too
– cooling and powering them. If you really think about it, this was also an
issue in the early days of the PS4. This issue is not even native to Sony’s console,
it is a concern for almost any powerful gaming rigs. We will get to cooling and
power supply a little later though.
For now, we get to the meat of this content – the specs of
the PS5. Here it is; It is packing a lot of power from a AMD Ryzen Zen 2 architecture
CPU. That AMD processor will come with 8 cores, 16 threads, and will clock at up
to 3.5GHz. Sony says that the processor will run at about 3.5GHz most of the
time by default. At this point you might start looking up at the Xbox and find
that the Xbox runs faster at 3.8GHz. They are running on the same CPU, so why
is the one on Xbox more powerful? All I can say for now is ‘power supply’ and ‘cooling’.
Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Then there is the GPU, the graphics processor. It clocks at up to 2.23GHz with 36 CUs and is based on AMD’s Radeon RDNA-2 engine. It is supposed to be able to have Ray Tracing Acceleration, and the combination is also supposed to process at 10.3 teraFLOPS. Wait a minute, that is not as powerful as the Xbox with the same RDNA-2 based engine with 52 CUs at 1.825GHz that can do 12 teraFLOPS.
You are absolutely correct in that comparison. From a
hardware standpoint then, the PS5 is quite shorthanded in the fight. They have
the shorter stick compared to the Xbox at this point. We can only speculate as
to why that is, and we are suspecting cooling and power supply to be an issue
too.
On the Sony PS5 you are also getting a larger RAM compared
to before, faster too. It is a 16GB DDR6 RAM that is said to be better
optimised to deliver better game experiences. GDDR6 is of course known for its
speed and the one on the PS5 can go at 448GBps. The PS5 also comes with an
upgraded 825GB drive. It is not a traditional HDD though, it is an SSD this
time that can read at up to 5.5GBps. Also smaller than Xbox’s 1TB SSD.
There is an upside to all these numbers though. For one, it is still a big leap from the PS4; heck even the PS4 Pro. All the hardware means that it can now easily support 120Hz 4K gaming, push itself on 8K TVs (if you can afford one), and they say that it is about 10x faster than the previous generation console. In that, we believe. It is also backward compatible with Sony’s previous PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro; what a delight.
Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment
There is more, if you can believe it. Where they skim down
in graphics and process handling, they put into something called “Tempest”. For
you Mass Effect fans, calm down. It is not the “Tempest” spaceship we see in Mass
Effect 4: Andromeda (not that great of a game, by the way). It is their latest
3D Audio processing chip; their AudioTech.
In its basic form, it is just another processor that is
lodged inside the PS5, making the new upcoming Sony gaming console effectively
a three-processor system. Its core design is very similar to that of a GPU. Within
the presentation though, Sony seems to give a very big emphasis on audio. They
say that while harnessing processing power for graphics is hard, processing an
audio can be quite complex too. That is the reason they are transforming a GPU
to an APU (Audio Processing Unit).
The idea of using “Tempest” is to create a 3D audio experience
on any platform. To be very fair, PlayStation users would be using the console
in almost all kinds of conditions. The most common would be plugging them to a
generic TV and rely on the TV speakers as their means of audio. There are those
who might spend a little bit more and buy headphones for their console. Then
there are those who has a theatre grade system with 3 or more speakers placed
around them. Sony recognises all of that and wants all of us to get the same
treatment and experience.
Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment
We have said before that audio is a very big part of any
gaming, or even movie watching experience. It is not just music. Sound designs
do play a big role in bringing us closer to the whatever intended experience
there may be. Sony knows this too, being one of the big players in high-end
audio. That is why the “Tempest” is born. They utilise something called Head Related
Transfer Function (HRTF) for audio reproduction. You can, of course Google that
term because it is a whole complex audio science in itself. All you need to know
is that the Sony PS5 is going to give you 3D audio wherever you go. We are thinking
of having an editorial specifically on sounds and sound engineering; do comment
and let us know if you are interested.
Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment
The presentation ends there though. There are no new renders on the hardware, nor even the controller. We sort of have an idea of how they might look like, but all of us could be wrong. Still, we are optimistic. The slightly less powerful hardware may make the Sony look a like a worse deal than the Xbox, especially when they are rumoured to be about the same price. Still, in Malaysia we are only going to be able to touch the Sony PS5 when they are launched. So we will see. Both are expected to launch sometime later in the year 2020. You can watch the whole announcement after the break.
We love watching our TV, we love watching Netflix and Amazon
Prime Video on our TV. Well, that is the best way to enjoy the streaming services
we subscribe to these days. Even YouTube videos can be enjoyed on TV these days.
It beats the small 15-inch displays on your notebook PC. It certainly beats
your 6-inch smartphone display. You get at least 49-inch of goodness pushed
through and in most cases, better audio that your notebook PC. You can even get
soundbars if you really want.
Sony TVs hold a special place in our hearts. That is to say
that we like Sony TVs for their brilliant details and great contrasts. LED TVs
are also known for their vivid colours; which is true for all Sony LED TVs. I
personally have a Sony TV at home and pretty much adores it. I only get to use
it in the weekends though, sadly.
Source: Sony
Still, the Sony Bravia line-up in Malaysia just got even
better with the new Sony Bravia X80H (KD-X8000H) line-up. Prices start from MYR
3,099 and goes all the way to MYR 9,699. Sizes available would be 49-inch
(49X8000H), 55-inch (55X8000H @ MYR 3,799), 65-inch (65X8000H @ MYR 5,399), and
75-inch (75X8000H). The TVs will be available April 2020 onward and you can
start ordering them from today onward until 31st of March 2020.
Why would you get this over the older X80G TVs? It has the
same 4K resolution that the X80G has. It has a new HDR Processor X1, an
evolution of the X-Reality Pro engine. That also means crisper, clearer, and
more detailed images on your TV screen. Plus, its Object-based HDR remastering
makes your TV viewing experience even better. If you find Dolby Vision compatible
movies, this is really the screen that can take advantage of that.
Thanks to X-Balanced Speakers as well (55-inch and above),
you may save some money from not needing to buy a soundbar anyway. If you do
get a soundbar, you might want to spend a little more is what I am saying.
Still, the X-Balanced speakers are Dolby Atmos certified, which also means that
it should produce immersive audio. Even Spotify will sound good.
The Sony Bravia X80H series comes with Android’s latest 9.0 Pie Operating System, effectively making this the usual Smart TV that is pretty much a compulsory in TVs these days. The smart features is more than just Android 9.0 though. With the Sony Bravia X80H series, connecting to Apple AirPlay and HomeKit is now made easier.
Source: Sony
Pre-orders can be made at selected Sony Stores and Centres
across the nation. If you do pre-order, you get a wireless keyboard and a
Netflix gift card worth MYR 100 together with your TV when you collect it. Of
course, terms and conditions apply. For more information, you can visit their website.
