Google Pixel Buds Pro Review: Amazing hardware with terrible out-of-the-box tuning

Google’s been in the audio game for quite a while now, and the Pixel Buds Pro is the latest addition to the company’s portfolio. We’ve had Pixel Buds before, and the company has launched the Buds-A series in the past as a complement of sorts to the likes of the Google Pixel 6a. The Pixel Buds Pro is the first all-out attempt from Google, and while it’s an admirable effort, the company is really just playing catch up.

The Google Pixel Buds Pro has a few neat features that put them above the rest, though there are some confusing omissions. It features a comfortable design that stays put in your ears, has great touch controls, decent active noise canceling, multipoint support, and long battery life. There are some things it doesn’t have that you’ll notice though, such as no higher-quality codecs like AAC and no built-in EQ (yet). The tuning out-of-the-box is terrible, so you either need to not care, or know what you need to change.

In short, the Google Pixel Buds Pro do a great job at being good earphones, but they’re costly and merely represent the company playing catch-up rather than innovating the space. If these earphones were released a year or two ago, they’d still merely feel on par with the rest of the competition. They do everything else so well, and the sound quality is great (with some tweaks), but it’s the out-of-the-box tuning that makes these earphones sound a lot worse than they should. If you’re not an audio snob then you probably won’t notice it, but otherwise, you’ll likely need to use an app like Wavelet.

Google Pixel Buds Pro

The Google Pixel Buds Pro are a flagship pair of earphones from Google with a ton of features, a great fit, and long battery life.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

See at Amazon

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Google Pixel Buds Pro: Specifications

Specification	Google Pixel Buds Pro
Build	Plastic
Dimensions & Weight	Earbuds (each): 22.33 x 22.03 x 23.72 mm with the medium (default) eartip attached, 6.2 g (with medium eartip) Wireless charging case: 25 x 50 x 63.2 mm, 62.4 g (with earbuds)
Speaker drivers	11mm dynamic drivers
Microphone(s)	Triple microphone array per earbud Wind blocking mesh covers
Connectivity	Bluetooth 5.0
Battery & Charging	Earbuds only: ANC on: Up to 7 hours ANC off: Up to 11 hours Earbuds+Case: ANC off: Up to 31 hours USB-C charging Wireless charging Five-minute charge for one hour of playback 15-minute charge for three hours of playback
Other Features	Active noise cancellation support (48dB peak) Touch controls IPX4 (IPX2 case)
Colors	Charcoal Fog Coral Lemongrass

About this review: I received the Google Pixel Buds Pro for review for IrishTech on the 28th July, 2022. While Google sent us these earphones for review, it had no input into the contents of this review.

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Google Pixel Buds Pro: Price & Availability

The Pixel Buds Pro comes in four colorways — Charcoal, Fog, Coral, and Lemongrass — at a price of $199/£199/€219. They are available for purchase now on Google’s own store and on Amazon in a wide range of regions, including the United States and across Europe.

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Google Pixel Buds Pro: Design

The Google Pixel Buds Pro has a rather unique design, especially for earbuds. Ignoring the fact that the company launched funky colors like the lovely “Coral” pair that we received, these are a design that we haven’t really seen anywhere else. The orange top functions as a touch panel for inputs, whereas the earphones themselves are longer, designed to be twisted into the ear rather than placed in it.

The touch controls on the Pixel Buds Pro are excellent

The touch controls are excellent too, and that’s largely thanks to the large, even surface area of the earbuds. It’s a simple flat circular surface, and the gestures make sense. Swipe up or down for volume, double tap to skip, single tap to pause/play, and hold down to either toggle ANC, or call the Google Assistant. All of these can be modified in the Pixel Buds app (or in your Google Pixel’s settings) to give you a bit of control over what controls are enabled.

The Pixel Buds Pro are the most comfortable pair of earphones I have ever used

However, the best part of these earphones is comfort. These are the most comfortable pair of earphones I have ever used, and I’ve left them in my ears until they’ve died several times now. Google says that there’s technology that helps remove the “plugged ear” feeling that most earphones give, and with ANC enabled, it’s definitely noticeable. I’m not sure how the tech works, but it feels like magic. They’re very comfortable to wear for long stretches of time and stay in my ears when I’m working out, which is a major plus. I can yawn and eat with these in my ears and they still remain comfortable.

I didn’t have to downsize or upsize to the other tips provided in the box, but there are other sizes if you need them. There’s never going to be a “one size fits all” solution to earphones, but that’s fine so long as there are additional options in the box. Transparency mode is also fine, though I tend to find that feature subpar on practically any pair of earphones that I’ve used.

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Google Pixel Buds Pro: Sound quality

When I first used these earphones, I had come off previously using the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2. They support the LDAC codec, which is a high-bitrate codec that supports up to 990Kbps of audio. The highest bitrate of MP3 that you’ll get is 320Kbps, which leaves room for a lot of overhead but ensures that you’ll get the full quality of your audio transmitted to your ears. Prior to that, I had used the Honor Earbuds 3 Pro, which supports the AAC codec at 264 Kbps.

Having used both of those earphones recently, I expected that the Google Pixel Buds Pro would sound completely fine. When I set them up for the first time, I listened to music and assumed they had defaulted to SBC, as it sounded as if I was listening to low-bitrate MP3 files. That turned out to not be the case, and I couldn’t figure out why they sounded the way they did.

I compared these earphones to the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2, with a FreeBuds Pro 2 in one ear and a Pixel Buds Pro in the other. I listened to hand crushed by a mallet by 100 gecs which is a song that has a fantastic dynamic range. I noticed that a hi-hat I could clearly hear on the FreeBuds Pro 2 was barely audible on the Pixel Buds Pro. I also noticed a much stronger bassline on the Pixel Buds Pro, one that seemed to drown out the kick drum. That’s when it clicked with me: these earphones have a terrible out-of-the-box tuning. The highest frequencies drop off terribly, the mid-range is a bit too high, and the bass overpowers the mix.

For context, compressed MP3 files are compressed by removing frequencies above a certain frequency range. A 320Kbps MP3 removes frequencies from roughly above 19.5kHz, which doesn’t hugely matter as human hearing generally only maxes out at 25kHz, anyway. However, compressing audio down to 192Kbps removes frequencies above 18KHz, and 128Kbps removes frequencies above 16KHz. Both of these tend to be noticeable. There is an element of subjectivity when referring to frequency ranges, but the low-end refers to bass, and the high-end refers to treble. Treble is where the likes of cymbals, high-hats, and other high-frequency instrumentation can be heard the most, though the removal of some of the highest frequencies in the 10kHz-20kHz range may not be immediately apparent.

I found that I could use Wavelet to boost the 19.2kHz frequency band significantly, reduce the 9.6kHz band, and reduce the low-end significantly, and these earphones became a whole lot more tolerable. Boosting 19.2kHz alone won’t do a whole lot for the audio, but because it’s a frequency band that encompasses a wide range of frequencies from above 9.6kHz, it also boosts frequencies going back to there, too. After doing that, they sound nearly on par with any other pair of earphones that I use now when previously it felt like I was listening to a radio directly in my ears.

Wavelet: headphone specific EQ (Free, Google Play) →

It’s crazy just how much tuning matters when it comes to earphones, and it’s disappointing that Google shipped these earphones with this tuning. Google has promised to add a full five-band EQ to the Pixel Buds app, but until then, you’re going to have to resort to the likes of Wavelet to make these changes. Previously, the bass very much overpowered the audio experience, and the rest of the audio experience felt hollow.

Once I applied my changes, however, these earphones sound really, really good. They’re loud, they’re clear, and they’re comfortable. They’re great for listening to all kinds of music, and the great audio hardware combined with proper tuning makes these an excellent pair of earphones. It is disappointing to not have many codecs supported out of the box, but AAC is a universal one that will work on pretty much anything.

The hardware on the Google Pixel Buds Pro is amazing, but the tuning out of the box is terrible

Nevertheless, a lot of this experience is still inexcusable. The hardware is amazing, but it needs some work on its tuning.

On the bright side, the call quality is decent. I can be understood completely fine pretty much anywhere when using these earphones on my phone, and haven’t had any problems with having conversations when using them.

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Google Pixel Buds Pro: Software, settings, and battery life

On the software front, the Google Pixel Buds Pro benefit from both simplicity and direct Android integration. The setup process is easy thanks to Google’s Fast Pair (with fast switching, by the way), and the software controls for these earphones will be built into your phone — if you use a Pixel, anyway. If you don’t, then you can install the Google Pixel Buds app from the Google Play Store, and it will provide you with the same interface as you’ll get on a Pixel phone.

Google Pixel Buds (Free, Google Play) →

As you can see, there are quite a lot of features and controls to choose from. The biggest addition here that you’ll find that other earphones don’t have is the Google Assistant. Simply saying “Hey Google” will activate it, and you can ask any questions that you would normally of the Google Assistant. It’s a great way to check things when you’re out and about if you need to, and you can enable reading your notifications out to you if you want. That way then you won’t have to take your phone out if you’re walking down a busy street or carrying something.

The other major addition is “Multipoint”, which makes use of Google’s Fast Pair quick switching technology. Essentially, you can connect to up to two devices at a time, and seamlessly transition between the two. If you’re playing media on one device, you can stop playing media on that device and then switch over to the other and start playing, too. However, if you get a phone call on one device while watching a video on the other, your earphones will intelligently decide to switch over to the device receiving the call, because it’s assumed that you’d want to take the phone call.

In terms of battery life, these earphones are excellent. I can keep them in my ears all day and they just go, and go, and go. The case honestly feels like it needs a slightly bigger battery, though that’s probably because I get so much life out of the earphones.

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Should you buy the Google Pixel Buds Pro?

The Google Pixel Buds Pro is an excellent pair of earphones that cost a lot of money, in the same price range as the best wireless earphones. Coming in at $199 puts these well above the likes of the OnePlus Buds Pro, on-par with the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro (at launch), and a little bit below the AirPods Pro. Google is making a statement by selling these earphones at what is essentially a flagship earphone price.

For what it’s worth, I love the Google Pixel Buds Pro after making my equalization changes. The tuning on these earphones out of the box is extremely bass-heavy with a massively reduced treble, and it ends up creating an effect that sounds like it’s a low bitrate. You can remedy it with the use of third-party software, but generally speaking, that’s not merit you should ever buy a product on. There is a five-band EQ said to be coming to the Google Pixel Buds later this year, and that’ll be the way that you should make those modifications from then on.

Google Pixel Buds Pro

The Google Pixel Buds Pro are a flagship pair of earphones from Google with a ton of features, a great fit, and long battery life.

See at Amazon

If you don’t consider yourself an audiophile, then you’ll love the Google Pixel Buds Pro. I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to audio as I have a musical background, but that also meant I knew what I was able to change to make these earphones sound good. If you don’t think you’ll care, then these are definitely a great pair of earphones to pick up. Alternatively, you can copy my settings and they might fix them for you as well.

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Sharp Aquos R7 Review: Another phone with the 1-inch Sony IMX989 sensor and Leica optics!

Japan’s Sharp Corporation is a century-old brand known worldwide for many electronic products, particularly televisions. And while the firm also makes smartphones, it would not be an overstatement to say they are niche products, catering to collectors and enthusiasts rather than the mainstream. After all, Sharp smartphones are sold only in Japan, and even in its home country, they account for 1.77% market share as recently as May 2022 according to results from multiple research firms.

But in the Android space, in which mainstream releases are all becoming very good and similar, niche often means interesting. Sharp has, in fact, a history of pumping out very interesting phones with a lot of industry firsts, but the phones’ near non-existent international marketing and presence means they are often overlooked.

The same fate will likely befall the Sharp Aquos R7, a phone which comes packed with the same camera hardware that was garnering Xiaomi plenty of tech headlines the past few weeks.

Sharp Aquos R7: Pricing and Availability

The Sharp Aquos R7 is available now but only in Japan. You can buy it straight up for ¥189,360, which converts to around $1400. Thanks to reporting by my colleague Timi Cantisano, we know that carriers in Japan are offering a 48-month installment plan.

The phone is available to import. I was able to get my hands on a unit thanks to Hong Kong importer Trinity Electronics. Considering how pricey the phone’s official retail price is, you’d have to expect to pay north of $1700 to get your hands on one. So … yeah, this is a niche phone.

Sharp Aquos R7

Sharp's Aquos R7 brings a SonyIMX989 sensor with a 1-inch sensor and a 240Hz OLED display

View at Sharp

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Sharp Aquos R7: Specifications

Specification	Sharp Aquos R7
Build	Gorilla Glass Victus front Aluminum frame
Dimensions & Weight	77 x 161 x 9.3 mm 207g
Display	6.67-inch Pro IGZO OLED 2730 x 1260 pixels 2,000nits peak brightness 240Hz peak refresh rate Variable refresh rate support (1-240Hz) 20,000,000:1 contrast ratio HDR
SoC	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1
RAM & Storage	12GB LPDDR5 RAM + 256GB UFS 3.1 storage
Battery & Charging	5,000mAh 67W wired fast charging support 50W wireless fast charging support 10W reverse wireless charging support Xiaomi Surge P1 charging chip Xiaomi Surge G1 battery management chip
Security	Qualcomm 3D Sonic Max under-display fingerprint sensor
Rear Camera(s)	47MP 1-inch Sony IMX989, f/1.9 7-element Leica Summicron lens Depth sensor LED flash
Front Camera(s)	12MP selfie
Port(s)	USB Type-C
Audio	Stereo speakers
Connectivity	5G (Japan only) Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.2
Software	Android 12 with Sharp’s software overlay on top
Other Features	Headphone jack

About this review: this review was written after testing a Sharp Aquos R7 sourced from Hong Kong importer Trinity Electronics. Neither Sharp nor Trinity Electronics had input in this article.

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Sharp Aquos R7: Hardware and Design

The biggest selling point of the Sharp Aquos R7, in my opinion, is its main camera: a 1-inch Sony sensor with Leica optics. Does this sound familiar? These are the same selling points of the Xiaomi 12S Ultra camera, which has been garnering praises in the tech media space, including yours truly.

The Sharp Aquos R7 is an odd mix of familiar and new

Sharp’s camera, in fact, uses the exact same Sony IMX989 sensor — which Xiaomi said it co-developed with Sony, splitting the $15 million R&D bill. The fact that Sharp is also using this same camera should be more newsworthy, but as my colleague Timi Cantisano wrote last month, Sharp has a history of letting other brands take the shine for hardware innovations.

The cameras being so special deserves its own section, which we’ll get to in a bit. The rest of the phone is an odd mix of familiar and new. The 6.67-inch, 2,730 x 1,260 OLED panel uses Sharp’s IGZO (Indium, gallium, zinc, oxide) technology, which means the screen is layered with ultra thin-film transistors that offer lower power leakage. It also refreshes at a maximum of 240Hz. Yup — twice that of any modern Android flagship.

The screen definitely looks great, and animations are very fast and smooth, but I’d be lying if I said I noticed any area of superiority over a “typical” 120Hz OLED panel in a top Android device like the Galaxy S22 Ultra or OnePlus 10 Pro. In fact, Sharp’s panel doesn’t seem to get as bright to my eyes as the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s even though Sharp advertises a 2,000 nits “peak max brightness.” There’s also a bit of thin bezel that’s thicker than other 2022 Android flagships.

But the screen is entirely flat, which a lot of readers may like, and underneath it is Qualcomm’s 3D Sonic Max scanner, which is quite a bit of an upgrade over traditional optical in-display scanners or even just a typical Qualcomm ultra-sonic scanner (like the one used in the Galaxy S22 series). The scanning area is larger, allowing for the option of two-finger authentication, and it also scans a beat faster than other scanners.

A single piece of aluminum casing makes up the phone’s sides and back, and it’s a nice throwback to the smartphones of 2015 or so, before virtually every high-end phone went with a glass body.

The sides of the phone are wide and flat, but unlike a recent iPhone, the corners aren’t sharp thanks to chamfered edges. It’s a comfortable phone to hold, with the 208g weight evenly distributed. Sharp’s tendency to zig where others zag is also apparent at the top, where the SIM tray is located, plus a headphone jack.

SoC and memory

Inside the phone is a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (not the newer 8 Plus), and it comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage (there are no other memory configurations).

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Sharp Aquos R7: Cameras

Let’s get to the cameras. The Sharp Aquos R7 has one camera on each side of the phone: the aforementioned 1-inch main camera, and a 12MP front-facing selfie camera. The omission of a secondary lens for ultra-wide or zoom photography is very unusual for a flagship, but I think by now we know Sharp phones are unconventional products. (That smaller lens you to the left of the module is merely a 1.9MP depth sensor that doesn’t really count as a real camera.

Although the Sharp Aquos R7 uses the same IMX989 sensor, Sharp actually crops into the sensor to use a smaller lens format, (thus this is why Xiaomi was still able to claim its phone to be the “world’s first”), and Xiaomi’s main camera has an extra layer lens (eight layers) to the Sharp’s 7P lens. Both of these lenses were designed by Leica (apparently), but Xiaomi’s lenses are newer and developed specifically for the Xiaomi 12S Ultra.

So there are some hardware differences, and of course, software processing is perhaps even more important than hardware these days.

I’ve snapped over 60 photos with the Sharp Aquos R7 alongside the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, and I can say that, when things go right for Sharp, its camera often exhibits all the awesome strengths of the Xiaomi 12S Ultra main camera: creamy bokeh, excellent light intake ability, and contrasty shots with deeper shadows for that Leica look.

In the above photos, you can see both Sharp and Xiaomi produced great-looking photos with similar color profiles and degrees of bokeh. In the second set of the drinks and food, and the last set of the construction tools, you can see Sharp’s photos exhibits the same “depth” that Xiaomi photos have, with natural, progressive focus dropoff as we move from objects in the foreground to background. A camera with a smaller image sensor would have produced a flatter image.

But Sharp’s cameras miss every now and then, producing washed-out colors, and slightly blurrier shots due to a slower shutter speed. In the third set above, of the street posts and plant, Sharp’s colors and sharpness are soft compared to Xiaomi’s.

Moving to low-light photos, the Sharp Aquos R7 will turn on light mode automatically much earlier than the Xiaomi 12S Ultra. This explains why the first set of the French wine bar looks so different. Sharp’s shot is artificially enhanced via night mode, but as a result, the colors are too warm and don’t look natural. Xiaomi’s photo looks not only much closer to the real-life scene, it’s just a more pleasing shot.

The second set is a virtual tie, both cameras produced beautiful shots, although we can see Xiaomi’s HDR exposes the lights in the building in the right frame just a tad better. In another set below, we can see similar photo quality outside of the first set, in which night mode again played a factor. I do like my skin tone better in Sharp’s selfies, but the photo is noticeably softer on details.

The Sharp Aquos R7 camera offers creamy bokeh, excellent light intake ability, and contrasty shots with deeper shadows for that Leica look

Overall, Sharp’s camera is really good and produces shots with shallow depth-of-field and that heavy bokeh look that makes it feel more like a real camera photo. The shutter speed is noticeably slower than Xiaomi 12S Ultra, and the lack of an ultra-wide or zoom lens means the system is still a bit lacking overall, however.

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Sharp Aquos R7: Software and Performance

The Aquos R7 runs Android 12 with Sharp’s Android skin on top. Aesthetically speaking, the Android skin doesn’t stray too far from how Android looks until you dive into the menu, that is. That’s when you see this cartoonish settings page designed to teach those new to the phone how to take advantage of all the software features.

Most of these special features that Sharp made a whole cartoon illustration for are just rather common features like a dedicated game mode, or using finger gestures to grab screenshots.

You can assign specific refresh rates for specific apps, including motion smoothing in video, which in my opinion should never be used. There are a few bloatware apps that come with the phone, including Amazon Prime and Japanese apps from carrier Softbank and other Japanese firms. The homescreen and notification panel looks a bit like Pixel’s version of Android, with wide oval shortcut toggle buttons and a Google Search bar at bottom of the screen that cannot be removed.

Animations are buttery smooth as mentioned, but it’s hard for me to see the difference 240Hz and 120Hz. And if you’re wondering if using the phone at 240Hz hurts battery life, yes it absolutely does.

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Sharp Aquos R7: Performance

Despite the 5,000 mAh battery, the Sharp Aquos R7’s battery life was less than stellar during my testing, offering about just four to four-and-half hours of screen-on time per day. If I take the phone out all day, it can go about 10-11 hours before the battery dips below 5%. It doesn’t help that Sharp used the older Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC instead of the more efficient Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1, which has managed to give the likes of the Asus Zenfone 9 and Xiaomi 12S Ultra superb battery life.

The packaging also doesn’t include a charger or charging cable, and due to an almost complete lack of English marketing material, I do not know the official wattage the Sharp Aquos R7 can be charged at. Using my MacBook’s 96W USB-C charger, I was able to charge the Aquos R7 from 0% to 100% in a little under an hour.

In terms of regular smartphone use, the Sharp Aquos R7 performed absolutely fine (except for the mediocre battery life). Apps launched without issues, the stereo speakers sound loud and full, and haptics are even solid, unlike the mushy mess of last year’s Aquos R6. Because the phone is for the Japanese market only, I was unable to get 5G in Hong Kong where I tested the phone — and I doubt any reader outside of Japan would be able to get 5G connectivity either.

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Sharp Aquos R7: Should you import this phone?

The Sharp Aquos R7 is a very interesting phone that brings a superb 1-inch camera that, through sheer image sensor size alone, differentiates itself from most phone cameras on the market. The display is also technically brilliant, even if you won’t be able to notice where it’s superior to a “lesser” 120Hz panel.

Sharp doesn't seem to care about marketing its phones outside of Japan, nor does it seem to care too much about overall sales numbers

However, even more so than the China-only Xiaomi 12S Ultra, the Sharp Aquos R7 is a very niche phone that most readers should not consider. Even if you were to import, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra is just a better option, as it’s lower in price, has a better processor, and a better overall camera system.

But this doesn’t matter, does it? As mentioned at the beginning, Sharp doesn’t seem to care about marketing its phones outside of Japan, nor does it seem to care too much about overall sales numbers. Japan is essentially an iPhone country (iPhones have a near 65% market share in the country, and this figure jumps much higher in Tokyo from my own personal anecdotal experience ). Even beloved local giant Sony’s phones are a distant, distant second place (10.8% market share). Sharp’s 1.77% in Japan (and virtual zero % anywhere else) really make the phones beyond obscure.

Japan has always been a land of quirky, unique gadgets, and the Sharp Aquos R7 fits that definition more than an actual phone that mainstream consumers should consider.

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YouTube debuts Premium experimental feature only available until September 1

YouTube has been around for a long time. But, even after billions of views, the platform continues to evolve. There are more tools than ever for creators, and the watching experience has also received numerous enhancements. Today, YouTube is offering its Premium subscribers a new feature, but it will only be around for a limited time.

YouTube’s new pinch to zoom feature will allow users to pinch into a video while it is windowed. To be clear, this isn’t adjusting the size of the picture-in-picture window; it is actually adjusting the video itself. Along with zooming in and out, users can move inside the frame if they choose to. This is quite unique, and some could benefit from being able to watch videos in this way.

The landscape has changed dramatically since digital video first hit the internet, and it has forced all players in the space to evolve. YouTube is still a big part of it, and it has had to adapt. The company has introduced features such as higher resolutions, better streaming technologies, and, most importantly, enhancements for various apps on different platforms. All the while making sure that the platform is safe to use.

More recently, YouTube has introduced features that borrow and compete with competitors like TikTok. While it might be a simple change, it could easily be something that takes off. If you are interested in trying the new pinch to zoom feature, make sure you are a YouTube Premium subscriber, head to the source link below, sign up for experimental features, and enjoy. Remember, this feature is a limited release. YouTube has stated that it will be available until September 1. What happens after that is anyone’s guess.

YouTube (Free, Google Play) →

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Source: YouTube
Via: Android Police

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OnePlus starts rolling out stable OxygenOS 12 to the OnePlus Nord CE 2

OnePlus rolled out the first OxygenOS 12 Open Beta build for the affordable OnePlus Nord CE 2 last month, giving users a chance to experience Android 12 ahead of the stable rollout. After a few weeks of testing on the beta channel, OnePlus has now started rolling out the first stable build of OxygenOS 12 based on Android 12 for the device.

According to a recent post on the OnePlus Community forums, the stable OxygenOS 12 release for the OnePlus Nord CE 2 has started rolling out in an incremental fashion. The update (software version C.05) brings all the features Google introduced in Android 12, a few optimizations from OnePlus, and the Android security patches for July 2022. Here are all the key changes included in the stable OxygenOS 12 release for the OnePlus Nord CE 2.

OxygenOS 12 for the OnePlus Nord CE 2

• Key changes
  • System
    • Optimized desktop icons with improved textures, by using a design inspired by brand-new materials and uniting lights and layers
    • Optimized AI System Booster to 2.1 to support the system to run smoothly even when the load is high
    • Optimized software algorithm and improved face recognition to better identify the features and skin color of different figures
  • Dark mode
    • Newly added three adjustable levels, bringing a more personalized and comfortable user experience
  • Shelf
    • Newly added style options for Cards, making data contents more visual and easier to read
    • Newly added access to OnePlus Scout in Shelf, allowing you to search multiple contents on your phone, including Apps, Settings, Media Data, etc
    • Newly added OnePlus Watch Card in Shelf, to easily glance at your health status
  • Work Life Balance
    • Newly added Work Life Balance feature, allowing you to effortlessly switch between Work and Life mode via quick settings
    • Newly supported automatic Work/Life mode switching, based on specific locations, Wi-Fi network, and time, also bringing customized App notification profiles according to the personalization
  • Gallery
    • Newly supported switching between different layouts with a two-finger pinch gesture, intelligently recognizing the best-quality pictures, and cropping the thumbnail based on the content, making the gallery layout more pleasing
  • Canvas AOD
    • Newly added diverse styles of lines and colors, for a more personalized lock screen experience with inspiring visuals
    • Newly added multiple brushes and strokes and support for color adjustment

As mentioned earlier, OxygenOS 12 for the OnePlus Nord CE 2 is rolling out incrementally. This means it will initially reach a small percentage of users, with a broader rollout to follow in the coming days. If you’ve not received the update, you can manually check for it by heading over to the software updates section in the device settings. In case you’ve installed the update and are facing issues, you can roll back to the Android 11 release by flashing the rollback package provided in the original announcement post.

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Source: OnePlus

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ChromeOS update brings the system-wide dark theme to the forefront

Google has been working on a system-wide dark theme for ChromeOS for quite a while now. The dark theme initially rolled out to users on the stable channel earlier this year. However, at the time, it was hidden behind a feature flag. Google is now finally bringing it to the forefront with the latest ChromeOS update (version 104) on the stable channel, along with a couple of other handy features.

Google recently started rolling out ChromeOS 104.0.5112.83 on the stable channel and the latest release adds a new Dark theme toggle to the Quick Settings. While you could access this Dark theme toggle by enabling a feature flag in previous builds, you no longer have to do so on the latest ChromeOS release.

Screenshot: 9to5Google

According to 9to5Google, the new Dark theme toggle appears on the second page of the Quick Settings. You can tap on it to enable the system-wide dark theme, which alters the appearance of every aspect of the user interface. To complement the new dark theme, Google has also created new wallpapers that “subtly shift from light to dark,” based on the theme.

Screenshots: 9to5Google

Along with the dark theme, ChromeOS 104 also brings a new monthly calendar view on the shelf that lets you view all your events for any day of the month and open the Google Calendar PWA. Furthermore, the update introduces a compact, redesigned app launcher that doesn’t take up the entire screen, a feature-rich Gallery app that can open PDF files, and a new Wallpaper & style app that lets you use photos from your Google Photos library as your Chromebook wallpaper.

Lastly, the update slightly alters the way ChromeOS handles incoming notifications. It now groups notifications from the same sender and offers bigger touch targets for alert actions.

What do you think of all the changes introduced in ChromeOS 104? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Source: Google
Via: 9to5Google

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Here’s our first look at the upcoming Oppo Watch 3 series

Qualcomm recently unveiled the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 and Snapdragon W5 Plus Gen 1 chips for next-gen wearables. Following the announcement, the company confirmed that the new chips would hit the market with upcoming smartwatches from Oppo and Mobvoi. While Mobvoi did not reveal the name of its Snapdragon W5 Plus Gen 1-powered smartwatch, Oppo said that the non-Plus variant would debut with the Oppo Watch 3 series in August.

Although Oppo is yet to reveal more details about the upcoming lineup, renowned leaker Evan Blass has shared renders and live images of the smartwatches ahead of the launch. The renders give us our first look at the Oppo Watch 3 series, showcasing the updated design in two new colorways.

OPPO Watch 3 series pic.twitter.com/mQOYMEliYo

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 5, 2022

As you can see in the attached images, the Oppo Watch 3 series features a rectangular display like its predecessor. However, the chassis and display appear to have a slight curve. In addition, the smartwatch now has a crown on the right edge alongside a button, unlike the older models that only featured buttons.

The watch face showcased in these images also reveals some details about the Oppo Watch 3 series, suggesting that it might offer temperature monitoring along with the usual array of fitness tracking features. The leaked renders showcase the Oppo Watch 3 series in two colorways — black and silver. But previous leaks suggest that Oppo will offer the smartwatch in a few more color options.

Update:
OWW211 Auster
FF514F4E Platinum Black (铂黑)
FF7D3A0A Desert Brown (漠棕)
OWW212 Altron
FF424242 Platinum Black (铂黑)
FFA69B8E Feather Gold (羽金)
OWW213 Altron SE (Altron 2)
FF404040 Space Gray (太空灰)
FFF7F7F7 Misty Purple (薄雾紫)#Leak https://t.co/5mtR9BB8QW

— MlgmXyysd (@realMlgmXyysd) July 20, 2022

According to XDA Recognized Developer mlgmxyysd, the Oppo Watch 3 series will include three models codenamed Auster, Altron, and Altron SE. Oppo will offer two color variants for each model: Platinum Black and Desert Brown for Auster, Platinum Black and Feather Gold for Altron, and Space Gray and Misty Purple for Altron SE.

Further evidence spotted in the firmware for the upcoming smartwatches reveals that the entire Oppo Watch 3 lineup will feature an Ambiq Apollo 4 Plus SoC and ECG monitoring support. A separate leak from tipster Digital Chat Station suggests that Oppo could unveil its next-gen smartwatch lineup in China on August 10.

What do you think of the Oppo Watch 3 series? Would you pick it over the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 series? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Featured image: Oppo Watch 3 series render via Evan Blass

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Microsoft’s June GDK unlocks more memory for Xbox Series S developers

Today, Microsoft dropped details about its Game Development Kit (GDK) for June. There are many improvements, many of which are the result of direct feedback from current developers. The most crucial piece in the new update is that Microsoft will unlock more memory for developers to further push the graphics on the Xbox Series S.

If unfamiliar, the GDK is a toolset that gives anyone the power to code games for current and future Microsoft gaming platforms. The first and probably the most critical improvement in the GDK is that developers will gain access to additional memory that can be used to push the graphics on the Xbox Series S consoles. Microsoft states that there will now be “hundreds” of additional megabytes available for developers coding for the Series S and that the extra memory could improve “graphics performance in constrained conditions.”

Along with those changes, the GDK will offer auto-sync cloud saves, a simplified user model, game update checks, debugging, and more. There will also be changes with DLCs and age ratings. DLCs will now have their own independent age rating and will not have a rating attached to the original game. Furthermore, there will be improvements in how storage is handled, as developers can now enable storage control from within the game. That means players can uninstall game DLC from in-game menus, minimizing time spent outside the game. This kind of control will only apply to DLC for that specific title. While there are many more updates, these are just a few, but for the full list, please check out the video above.

When the Xbox Series S was originally announced, it was touted as the all-digital little brother to the Xbox Series X, offering a next-gen CPU, powerful GPU, 10GB of GDDR6 memory, and 512GB of solid-state memory. Additionally, it promised 1440p gaming at 120fps, and well, it hasn’t delivered. The 10GB of GDDR6 memory might seem like a lot, but it is quite a bit less when compared to the Xbox Series X, which has 16GB. Furthermore, experts found that the Series S struggled mainly due to its memory, limiting its potential to hit its peak. While the new memory allocation doesn’t seem like a lot, let’s hope it is enough for developers to bring improvements to the console.

Xbox Series S

Xbox Series S with 512GB

Buy from Best Buy

Buy from Amazon

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Source: Microsoft Game Dev (YouTube)
Via: The Verge

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