Star Wars: The Force Awakens Blu-Ray leaks onto torrent sites

564

Up till now, pirated versions of Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been limited to poor quality camcorder footage. Today though, you can get a high definition version as the Blu-Ray for The Force Awakens have been leaked onto various torrent sites.

Scheduled to go on sale in two weeks time, The Force Awakens’ Blu-Ray was first leaked yesterday by a release group called REPLiCA. According to a photo posted by them, the group has somehow managed to acquire a regular retail copy weeks before the Blu-Ray was supposed to be available for purchase. Within 12 hours of the torrent going live, the Blu-Ray was snatched 250,000 times and still growing.

As expected of Disney, the company has been busy sending takedown requests to Google in an effort to stop the torrents. Unfortunately for them, trying to get a torrent taken down is equivalent to chopping the head off a hydra.

Source:
TorrentFreak

piracy
starwars
theforceawakens
torrents


Star Wars themed White OnePlus 5T announced

391

OnePlus is adding more colors to its recently unveiled OnePlus 5T. Just last week, we saw the phone coated in red paint heading exclusively to China. While the Lava Red OnePlus 5T definitely caught most of our attention, the company will be releasing its latest flagship with a new paint job in the light of the Star Wars craze.

The image above shows a Limited Edition Star Wars OnePlus 5T which reminds us of the company’s infant days. The Star Wars OnePlus 5T boasts a cool white color instead of the Midnight Black or Lava Red color options. OnePlus previously had its first ever phone, the OnePlus One in an oddly named Baby Skin White color, alongside the Sandstone Black variant. The white colored OnePlus 5T of course comes in an aluminium build instead of plastic.

What we do notice is that the Star Wars OnePlus 5T rocks a Star Wars logo on the rear panel, traced in red. The volume rocker and power buttons come in black, while the alert slider is accented in red to top off the Star Wars Dark Side theme. The phone appears to have a special edition Star Wars wallpaper as well.

Unfortunately, the Star Wars OnePlus 5T does seem like an India exclusive device via Amazon India. The launch event for the device will be on the 14th of December and ticket sales will kick off on December 7.

baby skin white
india
lava red
limited edition
midnight black
oneplus 5
oneplus 5t
oneplus one
sandstone black
star wars


Starbucks now an official partner of Pokemon GO

327

Nope, the second generation monsters in Pokemon GO haven’t gotten an early rollout, since it was announced on Twitter that new Pokemon will be arriving to the Pokemon GO app on the 12th of December. On another note, Niantic has partnered up with Starbucks to boost the Pokemon GO hype and keep it alive stateside.

Announced on the Pokemon GO Google Plus account, Niantic is officially collaborating with American coffee company Starbucks as their official partner. The partnership resulted in thousands of new Gyms and PokeStop locations for Pokemon GO trainers. The exact figure is 7,800. 7,800 Starbucks outlets being turned into virtual Gyms and PokeStops for trainers to stop by and engage with each other:

“
We appreciate their role in creating safe, welcoming locations for people from all walks of life to come together for refreshment and social engagement.”

This partnership between Starbucks and Niantic certainly benefits both parties, encouraging Pokemon GO trainers to visit Starbucks stores and expanding the locations in the Pokemon GO app. With that, we should probably expect a decent growth in the Pokemon GO community. As an added bonus, Starbucks will create a special edition Pokemon GO Frappuccino. Now that’s good marketing. What do you think?

Source:
Pokemon GO

app
go
gym
niantic
partnership
pokemon
pokestop
starbucks


Starbucks will soon launch content filters into its in-store WiFi by 2019

337

Most cafes or coffee places would install WiFi services in store so customers could enjoy a cup of coffee while getting their work done. But there are a group of customers that would abuse the public WiFi by watching explicit content on their devices which could be a nuisance to the public. To combat that problem, Starbucks has recently announced that they will introduce a filter that prevents customers from viewing porn and other explicit content in store starting next year.

Starbucks said to The Verge, “While it rarely occurs, the use of Starbucks public WiFi to view illegal or egregious content is not, nor has it ever been permitted. We have identified a solution to prevent this content from being viewed within our stores and we will begin introducing it to our US locations in 2019.”

Although Starbucks declined to give details on the solution but said the company tested multiple tools, hoping to avoid accidentally blocking unoffensive sites.

An internet safety organization known as “Enough is Enough” has been pressuring Starbucks and other franchises with in-store internet access to put up content filters for years. Take McDonald’s for example, in the year of 2016, McDonald’s was one of the franchises being pressured to block porn on on its public WiFi networks. By doing so, Starbucks was obliged to do the same but did not take any actions after, as they could not find a content blocker that wouldn’t block unintended sites.

“Starbucks had failed to protect its customers and follow through with its plan to block explicit content. By breaking its commitment, Starbucks is keeping the doors wide open for convicted sex offenders and others to fly under the radar from law enforcement and use free, public WiFi services to access illegal child porn and hard-core pornography,” said Donna Rice Hughes, CEO of Enough is Enough.

By applying filter to its public WiFi networks, it benefits parents with young children as they could worry less about their children going on the wrong websites and it is also an effective way to ward off unwanted customers who watches pornography in public. It is time to make public WiFi safe and secure.

content filter
Enough is Enough
pornography
starbucks


Start 2022 with new Razer™ gaming peripherals at an amazing deal

1.8K

Are you thinking to level up your gaming skills in 2022?

Your gaming skills can only be as good with the right gaming peripheral, and what better way to do so by buying a brand new
Razer™
gaming peripheral from Notebook Plaza’s 11th Anniversary IT Fair on Lazada, as you can score up to 60% discount on selected Razer™ products and stand a chance to win up to 100 attractive prizes during the period.

The following Razer™ gaming peripherals will be discounted during the period:

Razer™
 Basilisk X Wireless Gaming Mouse – RM134.90 (U/P: RM259)

The Basilisk X is a dual-mode wireless gaming mouse that lets you get into the game without messy wires, all thanks to the exclusive Razer™ Hyperspeed Wireless technology, input lag is greatly reduced compared to traditional wireless technology, Bluetooth technology also lets you connect to other devices while saving power.

With a 16000 DPI optical sensor, the Basilisk X offers great tracking accuracy and can save up to 5 custom DPI stages on the Razer™ Synapse 3 app, its reliable mechanical mouse switches boast a durability of up to 50 million clicks, which is ideal for extensive gaming.

Razer™ Cynosa V2 Membrane Gaming Keyboard – RM144.90 (U/P: RM229)

Want a responsive gaming keyboard but don’t want the clicky mechanical sound? Consider the Razer™ Cynosa V2, a durable and spill resistant membrane gaming keyboard that offers a quiet yet responsive typing experience, make it yours with Razer™ Chroma RGB with various lighting styles, program every key to your needs and have those dedicated media keys control your music playback while you game.

Razer Blackwidow Green Switch – RM294.90 (U/P: RM539)

The Blackwidow from Razer™ has always been the go to keyboard for competitive players, featuring the tactile Razer™ mechanical green switches, save your macro commands onto its hybrid on-board memory and over the Razer™ Synapse 3 app, so whichever PC you plug into, your settings instantly takes place so that you can get into the action without delay.

Razer™ BlackShark V2 X – RM184.90 (U/P: RM269)

Be in the game and hear your enemies clearer with the large Razer™ Triforce 50mm Drivers of the Blackshark V2 X esports headset. At just 240g, this headset doesn’t weigh down your head which gives you the ultimate comfort for lengthy gaming sessions, the Razer™ Hyperclear Cardioid Mic ensures that your team mates can always hear your command clearly so that you can win the game together, the Blackshark V2 X uses a 3.5mm jack which will work on PC and most gaming consoles.

Buy and Win Lucky Draw – the more you buy, the more chances of winning

Don’t just stop at buying these discounted items at Notebook Plaza’s Lazada store, as you can gain an entry to a Buy and Win lucky draw with every RM300 spent during the period, so gather your friends and family to help them buy their new tech, so that you can stand a chance to win prizes such as an Acer Swift 1 laptop, Philips 43-inch 4K UHD Smart TV and more.

Shop and have fun with comedian Douglas Lim

Enjoy a good laugh while shopping? Let comedian Douglas Lim entertain you while you shop for good tech deals at Notebook Plaza’s Lazada store, as he will be making an appearance on the platform over live stream between 12PM to 10.30PM on the 5th-7th January 2022.

For more information on Notebook Plaza’s 11th Year Anniversary IT Fair, visit the following links below:

Lazada

Notebook Plaza 11th Year Anniversary Micro Site

lazada
notebook plaza
razer


Status Audio HD One Review: Excellent sound, low price

318

Status Audio is a brand out of Brooklyn, New York that was founded on the premise that personal audio products are over-priced and have poor delivery to consumers and spend way too much on advertising. Their belief, however, is that real music lovers don’t care about logos or celebrity endorsements and walking around in someone else’s flair doesn’t feel right. Paying for that premium hype is also ridiculous. That being said (by Status Audio themselves, right
here
), they have come up in arms in 2013 with no marketing or PR department and no pay-to-wear celebrity endorsements. What they care about is a product that will bring joy to their consumers’ ears.

At this moment, Status Audio only has one model of
headphones
 called the HD Ones and come in three colors, Classic, Jetblack and Marathon. They sent us the Classic and Jetblack colors. These will set you back $49 (USD) and they have an incredibly competitive sound. International shipping will cost another $5 (USD) and the delivery time is fast and the service from them is impeccable.

Status Audio HD One

Driver Unit: 40mm

Rater Input Power: 20mW

Max Input Power: 50mW

Impedance: 32 ohm (at 1KHz)

Sensitivity: 118dB ± 3dB

Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20KHz

Plug: 3.5mm

Cable: 1.2m

What’s in the Box and Accessories

These
headphones
 were really made for the mobile music listener in mind, there are two cables that come with it as well as a velvet-esque pouch to keep everything in. There is also a card that comes in the box. The cables provided are flat and pretty durable feeling, although only time can really tell. The red cable is the normal TRS 3.5mm stereo cable whereas the black one is a TRRS 3.5mm stereo cable with a mic and a nice red button. There was also a Status audio calling card in
case
 you need to contact them for something.

Build Quality

The build quality of the
headphones
 is some what questionable, they feel well built in the hands but there are some little things I found that didn’t look like they were part of a well built pair of
headphones
. The ear cups are nice — made of a leathery material and soft to the touch, but become really uncomfortable after wearing them for awhile. I live in a humid and hot country that has the tendency to provide a live action demo of how Day After Tomorrow would be like, but every time these
headphones
 are on my ears, I feel like they slowly start to heat up over time and get pretty uncomfortable. Maybe it’s just my ears, but they seem to hurt a little. Also, they look like Beats.

The hinges are pretty sturdy, but that could change over time, which makes me kind of worried to what this is doing to the braided cable underneath the matte plastic finish. It looks fine for now but after a while of folding and unfolding, there seems to be little strands of thread coming out from the cable.

There is nothing much to say about the headband, they feel rubbery and I’m going to guess that’s what it’s made of, it is soft but the soft area is very thin. Thank God these headphones aren’t heavy.

The lack of a logo also makes these headphones look a bit cheap, although I can really see some cool customization options that can be done. While it’s naked, a lot of friends asked what headphones was I wearing. A few of them said that I had money to buy original Beats, “Why did you buy fake ones?”. Just a personal opinion but I wouldn’t mind if Status Audio had included a sticker of the Status Audio Logo for us to put on the side if we so chose to.

Another weird thing about the build is the cable is on the right cup, not the left one. I watched a few videos of reviewers “taking the Status Audio for a spin” and had no idea they were playing their music backwards. I fired an e-mail to them to confirm and yes, the cable does sit on the right ear cup.

Sound Quality

I’m going to touch a bit on how these headphones sound in movies and but I’m mainly going to focus on the musicality of the Status Audio HD Ones.

Music

When I listened to music on this thing, the first thing I noticed was that everything felt very crammed. The sound stage on these were expected to not be very large — they’re closed back after all — but I didn’t expect it to feel so small. There was no separation in the instruments, at least not as much as I would’ve liked. I have to commend however, the HD Ones make up for this in very very competitive sound.

Costing about 1/4th the price of a pair of Beats headphones, the Status Audio HD Ones really shine for music. It did very little to annoy me in the treble and bass segments. The mids are not as forward as most other headphones, but we already expected a V-shaped sound out of this. They sound excellent.

Bass

I’m not going to compare, the bass on the HD Ones are there, they are strong and fast and do not sound muddy at all. The bass is there when it needs to be, not forcefully overpowering and just sitting in the back of the mix. That’s not saying that it’s not forward, the bass line off I Want You Back by the Jackson 5 are very pleasing and detailed. I wouldn’t recommend this to you Skullcandy fans, but it’s very nice to have a pair of consumer headphones that doesn’t feel like it’s trying to make my heart stop by reverberating the bass from my head down to my chest.

Just for the heck of it, I went to listen to Dirty Bass, the bass is very controlled and doesn’t extend very low. There is no mid-bass hump, even if there is, they’re still within acceptable levels. They do not overpower whatever else is going on in the song.

Mids

The mids are good, what else is there to say on a V-shaped pair of headphones. They do a good job to reproduce fundamentals and musicality, but some male vocals seem to be way too recessed for my tastes. I really wish there was a little bit more color here, for a consumer grade pair of headphones, it sounds flat while the bass and treble are more forward.

Treble

The treble is not irritating at all, it is no sibilant and carry female voices very well. It is not sparkly however, so if you’re looking to hear those violins, harps or piccolos to studio precision, you’re going to be out of luck here. I’m thankful that they’re not annoying like most headphones are, they sound like they blend in with the mix very well, but I really wish that they could push the boundary a little more to sound a little bit more sparkly.

The feeling is that akin to trying to jump over a wall but being met with an invisible wall right above that. You can see through it but you keep getting knocked back by it. I’m not complaining, the trebles are good, they’re not sibilant like most other V-shapedheadphones are. I may be comparing this to the AKG K601s that I have grown so fond of, but a little more color in the treble wouldn’t hurt anyone.

Gaming

You’re not going to want to use these for gaming. Explosions sound beautiful and the AK47 shots out of CS:GO sound like they should (although the edge of the shot which extends out into a mid-ranged sound like it’s a little lacking), playing games on it made me super confused because of the extremely small sound stage. Things in the far off distance sounded like they were soft and right next to me, and things right next to me sound really loud and like they were just right next to my ear.

Sure, you can keep this handy for when you’re out with your friends, they’re much better than cyber cafe speakers anyway, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable gaming with these things. I would always go for open-backed for gaming. Everything sounds so much more natural and extendable.

Movies

Same like the above, I wouldn’t recommend this for movie peeps who are very particular about a big sound stage, but for a ride on the train, watching a few videos with these on feel very nice and the sounds are all reproduced very well.

Verdict


Steam Autumn Sale is here with great deals for recent releases

323

Whenever there is a new season in other parts of the world, Steam takes advantage of that to put a good number of games in their catalogue on discount and with the localized pricing that Steam has implemented for Malaysians, we are able to find games that are dirt cheap to the point where dinner at a Mamak is more expensive than a game.

This sale is the Autumn sale which is not the biggest sale that they have had but it does offer up some very interesting deals that you should take a look at. For one, Shadow of War is currently at a 40% discount and the game is currently priced at RM63 which is a steal for a game that just recently came out. Although there is the issue with the lootboxes in the game, the single-player story is still worth the play and it is a very polished game.

If horror is more your thing, then you should know that Evil Within 2 is currently at a 50% discount, a game that came very recently and has received very good feedback from gamers. It has a Very Positive rating on Steam and the story has received the improvement it needs from the previous game.

The sale will be going on from now until 29 November to which the Chrismas sale will be coming around. Below are other games that are on discount that you might want to consider getting.

DiRT Collection – RM56.70
 Dark Souls III – RM68
 Resident Evil 7 – RM69.50
 Rainbow Six Siege – RM74.50

autumn
discounts
gaming
sale
steam


Steam Beta adds support for PS5’s DualSense controller

353

Steam
announced
 that the new
PS5
 DualSense Controller will be supported on Steam, meaning those who have one or are planning to get one will be able to use it to play games on Steam.

Advanced features on DualSense Controller still unavailable

The DualSense controller has some interesting upgrades over its predecessor, but these advanced features aren’t available on Steam Beta yet. However, it also means that these features (rumble, trackpad, gyro) will be supported in the future to offer better gaming experience.

Xbox Series X controllers will be supported soon

In the announcement, Steam also mentioned that it has fixed the issue whereby users’ Xbox Series X controllers has been appearing as two separate controllers. This also means that Steam will be supporting the Xbox Series X controller in the future.

Those who are interested to get the PS5 DualSense controller will have to pay a hefty price of RM349 which will be available from December 11 onwards. You can
pre-order
 it, but it is already sold out at most places.

DualSense controller
steam


Steam Deck to launch and start shipping by end of February

672

Valve’s
Steam Deck
 was originally planned to launch by December 2021, but material shortages pushed it back till February 2022 instead. Today, we received an update as to when the console will be officially showcased.

The company will be sending out the first batch of emails on 25 February 10am PST to reservation holders and these batches will be sent on a weekly basis. Once customers have replied within three days from receipt of their order email to make their purchase, the first units will be shipped out by 28 February.

Steam Deck
Packaging
 containing the console, carrying case, and a power supply

Press units will also be sent out for full reviews soon but only expect the reviews to be up starting 25 February since it’ll be on embargo until then. However, the company tells us to keep an eye out for preview coverages and impressions before that.

Sadly, there was no mention of a global launch but even PS5s are not in stock locally so it won’t be a surprise if it never reaches Malaysia for the rest of the year. For more information, you can visit the blog post
here
.

steam
steam deck
Valve Steam Deck


Steam introduce new refund with “any reason”

308

Good news for those people that have light wallets and itchy mouse fingers. There is a new update to the Steam refund policy which will simplify and broaden the conditions that allow you get your money back after making a purchase. The updated policy will not apply just to games, but also to DLC, in-game purchases, pre-purchases bundles, and even funds added to your Steam Wallet.

To get the refund, you must meet certain conditions. The refund request must be made within two weeks of the original purchase, and the content must have less than two hours of playtime. Valve adds “You can ask for a refund anyway and we’ll take a look.”

As you know this is Valve. They will not allow things to get out of their hands by settings few general restrictions. Refunds are not available for movies or redeemed gifts. For instance, and some third-party DLC will not be refundable. Thumbs up to Valve by making this happen. This will be a smart move by Valve to retain more gamers to purchase from their store.


Steam is facing some technical difficulties

341

Over the weekend,
mulltiple

users
 have reported that Valve’s digital storefront/client, Steam, has faced some severe malfunctions. These malfunctions were presumably fixed when
Valve issued a statement
 saying that there was an caching issue and that it has been resolved.

While the caching issue may be fixed, Steam is still very much broken as
there are multiple reports that
 various Steam functions are not working.

Some of the numerous problems that are plaguing Steam at the moment include the inability to search for games in the store, Steam not sending e-mails to users to confirm a transaction or trade, and unresponsive store and community pages.

With all these issues popping up during the annual Steam Winter Sale (or the Winter Fail as it is mockingly called), it is no surprise that Steam users are unhappy with Valve’s silence. Thus far, Valve hasn’t issued any updates on the clients, which can probably be attributed to the Christmas and New Year break. Whatever the case, Valve will have their hands full when they return from their holidays.

Source :
Kotaku

malfunction
steam
wintersales


Steam is officially coming to Chromebooks

623

Chromebooks, or rather Chrome OS, has made a lot of advancements in recent times as a cloud based operating system, while Google has announced a new
Flex
 version last week that could run on older computers, Chrome OS fans can now rejoice as Steam is about to be made official as a native app on the operating system.

As of now, users who wanted their Chromebook to run games on Steam can install the Linux version of it, since Chrome OS allows the installation of Linux apps through a virtualization engine, performance is therefore limited and not all games can run properly.

Reported by 9to5Google, the effort on getting Steam to work on Chrome OS has been in the works since two years ago, and it will be made on a new version of the OS that’s codenamed Borealis, where source codes have revealed that Chromebooks with 10th Gen Intel chips will support Steam.

In recent code changes on Chromium source, it consist a list of Chromebooks that will support Steam:

Volta – Acer Chromebook 514 (CB514-1H)

Volet – Acer Chromebook 515

Voxel – Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (CP713-3W)

Delbin – ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5 (CX5500)

Elemi – HP Pro c640 G2 Chromebok

Lindar – an unreleased Chromebook from Lenovo

While there should be more higher end Chromebooks added as time goes on, the minimum requirement for a Chromebook to run Steam has also been detailed with at least an 11th Gen Intel Core i5 or i7 processor and 7GB of RAM, so you can pretty much forget about running Steam on a cheap RM1000 Chromebook if you have one, it has also been reported that NVIDIA is in the works to add discrete graphics to Chromebooks at this point of time.

This effort will finally make sense for those who spend a lot to purchase premium Chromebooks, as games can take advantage of the more powerful Intel processors in them, but it still remains to be seen on how Google intends to bring gaming to Chrome OS and challenge Windows, as not every game on Steam will work and developers will require effort to port their games over, but nonetheless this is going to be really exciting once it kicks off and who knows we will be seeing gaming Chrome OS devices soon.

Source:
9to5Google

chrome os
chromebook
steam


Steam is releasing a streaming platform called Steam.TV

403

Video game streaming has recently boomed with games like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite growing in popularity you can expect that there will be more platforms that will open up to gamers that allows them to create live content. The next platform that is coming out and looks like it going to be the next big platform is Steam.

They recently unveiled their streaming platform to rival Twitch called
Steam TV
, the company also registered a domain called stream.tv. However, the site now is just a blank page but prior to this, they were streaming one of the Dota 2 group stages match, which we assume was a test for the new platform. Currently, Steam allows streaming on Steam Community Hubs, but with Steam TV, it centralized the streamer community on the platform. It also comes with features that we have seen on other streaming platforms like chats and emoticons, but it can also create groups for discussing streams with people on your friend list.

Many other media outlets have reached out to Steam to comment on this new platform but they have not replied. Looks like we would need to wait a little longer before we get more information on this.

platform
steam
streaming
tv


Steam kicks off its annual Autumn Sale; launches the Steam Awards alongside it

330

We hope that you’re not saving up for anything too important because Steam has just launched its annual Autumn Sale.

From today until the 30th of November, a huge chunk of Steam’s video game catalogue will be heavily discounted, making it easier for anyone to do impulse purchases of games that you’ll likely never play, let alone install.

Besides the huge sales, Valve has also launched something called the Steam Awards. Running in parallel to the Autumn Sales, the Steam Awards will let the Steam Community nominate games to win awards in nine different categories. The nomination period will last until the end of the Autumn Sale, with the actually Steam Awards event itself beginning in December. Nominating games for various categories will earn you a badge for you Steam profile.

If you’re currently cash-strapped at the moment, you can opt to avoid the Autumn Sales for now. After all, we’re just a month away from Steam’s Christmas Sales, and it is likely that the discounts would be deeper then.

autumnsale
discounts
games
steam
thesteamawards


Steam Link app works surprisingly well on Samsung Smart TVs despite being in beta

625

If you are a gamer and own a Samsung Smart TV, we have good news for you. Thanks to the collaboration between Valve and Samsung, Steam Link can be downloaded to the smart TV via the TV’s app store. Although the app is still in beta, it seems to work remarkably well based on a PC Gamer writer who tested out the app just recently.

Getting the app to work is simple, just download the app from the TV’s app store, launch it up and you will be greeted with the similar Steam Link interface and your PC will automatically be detected, as long it is on and Steam is running. The only issue the app has is communicating with the Steam Controller, certain inputs are not recognised by the app but plugging in an Xbox 360 controller seems to not give any issues, although the Steam Forums mentioned that it will only work with the Steam Controller. Playing games is not an issue, as games seem to work perfectly fine with only certain games giving minor bugs, but you are looking to play a game of Dark Souls 3 or Dishonored then it will work perfectly fine.

If you have a Samsung Smart TV and have a Steam account, you can try this out by downloading the beta version of the app on your TV, finally merging your gaming platforms into one system.

gaming
link
samsung
smart
steam
streaming
tv
valve


Steam offers great deals in conjunction of Autumn Sale and Black Friday celebration

411

Steam is back with its annual Autumn Sale, which coincidentally falls along on the same week as Black Friday. It is undeniable that Steam is always offering discounts and deals on their website on any day, but as holiday approaches and Black Friday is around the corner, gamers could take this chance to dive into the website for more discounts on games and softwares.

The Autumn sales will be on going until the 27th of November 2018, at 10am (PT). Other than discounts on software’s, Steam is also offering discounts on Hardware which includes 30 percent off on Steam controller or the soon to be “Hard-to-find” Steam link for $2.50 (RM10.48). In some cases you may be better off using a third-party that distributes Steam codes like Fanatical, so be sure to comparison shop even when the bargains look great.

Besides the Steam Autumn Sale, the company is also hosting the Steam Awards. The award includes user-voted awards that are giving accolades for some expected categories like Game of the Year and VR Game of the Year, along with more esoteric categories like The Labor of Love Award and the Best Alternate History Award. Participating by casting your ballot can earn you XP and badges on your Steam profile.

steam
Steam Black Friday deals


Steam Summer Sale Grand Prix gives you a chance of winning titles on your wishlist by playing the games you already own

584

Oh boy, here we go again – it’s the Steam Summer Sale folks, time to whip out your wallets; or should you?

This year’s sale is slightly different, where instead of just encouraging you to buy, Valve is encouraging you to play – play the games that you already own, the ones that you bought during the last sale because “it’s only RM5 but didn’t actually get around to playing it because PUBG is life”.

Image credit: Steam

The theme for this year’s sale is Steam Grand Prix, where the community pick a faction – Pig, Hare, Cockatiel, Tortoise and Corgi – that they will represent in a race. Every user has to play any game in their library to contribute points to their faction, the one with the highest points lead the race, which currently Corgi does, by a long mile. We’re not surprised; if Cat was part of this, we’d see a more even contest, and what in the world is a Cockatiel?!

Image credit: Steam

So why the race?  Everyday, the top 600 contributors to the top three factions will receive the top game on their wishlist – just like that. The sale ends July 7, and a total of 1,000 contributors to the winning team will also get the top three titles in their wishlist; the second placed team will get two games, while the third will get one game.

Of course, there are millions of players currently participating in the race, meaning your chances of winning are slim; but we reckon you should give it a shot anyways. At the very least, you finally have a reason to play that game you’ve neglecting until now.

gaming
grand prix
steam summer sale
summer sale
valve


Steam to collect 6% digital tax starting next year – time for a shopping spree

418

We’re two days from being able to buy video games without tax folks – Valve has confirmed that it will collect the government-mandated 6% digital tax on all Steam games starting January 1. This comes after Sony also made the same announcement for their PlayStation Store.

We’ve known this for some time now – all purchasable digital goods and services will be imposed with the digital tax next year and products included are pretty much what we use
every day
, like Netflix and Spotify; video games, are no exception.

Image credit: Steam

It’s no secret that one of the perks of being a PC gamer, besides getting sweet, sweet FPS, is that we get to enjoy the different Steam sale promos that happen yearly. Many times, certain titles will go for much cheaper than their console counterparts.

But hey, the 6% extra isn’t that much of a premium to pay – considering our neighbors Singapore subject its gamers to a 7% tax instead. Oof.

But since we are a thrifty bunch, now’s the time to make your Steam purchases while there’s still the Winter Sale still happening without the added tax.

Digital Tax
gaming
steam


Steam to implement support for the DualShock 4 controller

358

Using the DualShock 4 to play your Steam-based games will no longer be a pipedream as Valve has announced they will be expanding the Steam Controller configurability options to support the DualShock 4 is a future update.

Speaking at the Steam Dev Days event, Valve’s Jeff Bellinghausen mentions that the DualShock 4 has numerous overlapping functionality with the Steam controller. For example, both controllers come with a gyro and a touchpad. When the update goes live, those with a DualShock 4 will be able to connect the controller directly to the PC and use it without requiring any emulators to do so.

Valve did not mention when the update will be available, but the company did hint that it will also be supporting other controllers. What those other controllers are, Valve did not specify.

Source:
Gamasutra

controller
dualshock4
steam
support
valve


Steam will support Bitcoin transactions soon

421

If you’re one of the few that dabbles in the cryptocurrency known as Bitcoin, we have good news for you: Steam will soon be accepting Bitcoins for transactions.

In a post found on the Steamworks Development’s Steam Community page, the Steam developers has said that Bitcoin support will be coming to the online marketplace soon. To facilitate this feature, Valve will be setting up a partnership with a third-party to process payments made by Bitcoin.

Purchasing a game using Bitcoin is pretty straightforward as all you have to do is to select Bitcoin as the payment method. Once that is done, the payment processor will convert the regional price of the game into Bitcoin based on a daily exchange rate and Steam will deduct the necessary amount from your Bitcoin wallet.

No timeframe was given as to when you’ll be able to purchase games via Bitcoin, but the developers promise that the feature will be coming soon. Knowing Valve and their usage of the word ‘soon’, this feature would probably go live within weeks or years.

Source:
PCGamesN
,
Reddit

bitcoin
payment
steam


Steam’s Lunar New Year sale 2019: Games to spend your ang pau money on

418

It’s that time of the year again lads – whip out your wallets because the Steam Lunar New Year Sale is here! If you’re unfamiliar with the Steam sale , it essentially means that a large portion of Steam’s inventory of games get significant discounted – games ranging from indie titles to AAA products. All hail
Lord Gaben
!

These are some must-have games that you should buy during the Lunar New Year sale.

Assassins Creed Odyssey

Image credit: Steam

Now at only RM104, Assassins Creed Odyssey received rave reviews upon its release last year. What makes the game great is its expansive world set in ancient Greece that’s loaded with tons of content. The game’s more RPG-like mechanics build upon its predecessor’s making the gameplay smooth and highly-satisfying. On top of that, the world detail is stunning, while the story is gripping.

Despite being a 2018 Game Of The Year nominee, the game is not without its criticisms. AC Odyssey’s progression system can be “grindy” at higher difficulties, while nonchalantly making in-game boosters available for purchase (with real money) to help with progression. However, if you play on normal difficulty, you should be able to beef up your character through side missions alone – and boy are there a lot of them. Don’t be surprised if you sink hundreds of hours into the game – making its RM104 price a steal.

The Witcher 3 – Wild Hunt

Image credit: Steam

What game is this you ask? Well, it’s only a game that received over 800 awards within a year of it’s release. Seriously, it’s a good game – and you can get this masterpiece for only RM38.70! The game was released back in 2015 but if you haven’t played it, you definitely should.

Engaging narrative, well-polished gameplay, crisp graphics, brilliant voice acting and a whole lot of content: these are some of the things The Witcher 3 has that merit the lauds it received. We don’t want to spoil too much of the game, but the story takes place after The Witcher 2 and sees Geralt set off on a mission in search of daughter-figure Ciri, whose powers could save the world from White Frost – a demented soul hell-bent on destroying the world. Play the side missions and you’ll rake up hundreds of hours of game time.

Undertale

Image credit: Steam

If you’ve got less than RM10 to spend, why not spend it on Undertale? This highly proclaimed indie game is considered by many as one of the best games of this generation – partly due to its never-ending meme potential; but mostly due to its heart-wrenching story and addictive soundtrack.

The game is inspired by 16-bit J-RPGs like Earthbound; it puts you, a human, in an underground world full of monsters banished by your own race many years prior. Your objective is to escape but along the way you meet all sorts of characters whose story you’ll fall in love with. The game makes you ponder the morality of your actions throughout your journey – you can choose to kill or not to kill during battles, and that’ll ultimately affect your ending.

The 6 to 10-hour long game is engaging through and through mostly thanks to its wonderful characters, each with their own personalities and human-like ambitions. The gameplay is also simple, so this game is a great time killer; if you invest yourself enough into Undertale, don’t be surprised if you fall in love with it either.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege

Image credit: Steam

If you’re looking for a game to play with family members, Rainbow Six Siege should do the trick. Now at only RM34.75 for the standard edition, the game is well worth it considering how popular it is.

Rainbow Six Siege is a class-based tactical team shooter that puts emphasis on teamwork and positioning. Time-to-kill is extremely short in this game so running and gunning is not an option (most of the time at least). The game has a big learning curve but that makes it all the more fun when you finally learn your favourite operator (character)

The Standard edition of the game comes with 20 operators which you won’t get if you buy the Starter edition, which currently costs the same.

Human: Fall Flat

Image credit: Steam

While awaiting the relatives to drop by for a reunion, why not kill some time with Human: Fall Flat. This light-hearted physics and ragdoll-based puzzle game should give you some laughs while you keep yourself entertained for a few hours.

The game is currently priced at RM15.50 and is one of Steam’s top-selling games. The game itself is minimally textured making the game easy to look at. The puzzles revolve around ragdoll physics and the environment, your ragdoll buddy dynamically reacts to everything around it. Figuring out how to solve a puzzle is one thing, getting to the objects to solve the puzzle is another.

You’ll have to get a hang of your character’s squishy limbs and that’s where hilarity ensues. Gather your cousins around you and let them laugh at your failure to grasp ragdoll physics.

assassins creed
chinesenewyear
rainbow six
sales
steam
the witcher
undertale
video games


Steam's privacy fiasco affected 34,000 users

328

After experiencing a major malfunction on Christmas day
, Valve has finally released a full statement as to what happened to its digital store Steam today.

According to Valve, Steam was the subject of a Denial of Service (DoS) attack which prevented users from accessing store pages. Responding to this attack, caching rules managed by a Steam web caching partner were deployed in order to minimize the impact on Steam Store servers and continue to route legitimate user traffic.

Problems with this system arose when the second caching configuration was deployed during the second wave of attack. The DoS attack plus the 2000% increase in traffic for Steam caused the configuration to incorrectly cache web traffic for authenticated users. The error in configuration led to some users seeing Steam Store responses which were generated for other users. In other words, it allowed Steam users to view the account information of other Steam users such as the user’s billing address, credit card numbers, purchase history and phone numbers.

Valve eventually identified the error and would shut down the Steam Store until a new caching configuration was deployed. They have since received confirmation that the latest configurations had been deployed to all partner servers and that all cached data on edge servers had been purged.

In total, Valve estimates that 34,000 users have been affected by this incident and is now working with their web caching partner to identify users whose information was served to other users. The company will be contacting those affected one they have been identified.

Source :
Steam

steam
steamsale
valve


SteelSeries releases the first Hi-Res certified headphones for games

402

SteelSeries has just announced their first Hi-Res headphones with the Arctis Pro and GameDAC, which the company stated will take gaming audio to a whole new level thanks to a breakthrough technology that will offer an immersive gaming audio experience.

The headset uses the ESS Sabre 9018 DAC chip to produce cd-like audio quality without downsampling. The headset also comes with two 40mm drivers with a frequency range up to 40,000Hz, 121 decibels of dynamic range and 95 decibels of total harmonic distortion and noise. The headset comes with a digital-to-analog converter which consists of an OLED screen so you can see the balance of game and char audio, track volume levels, and tweak the 10-band equalizer bars. Other than that, it also has a dedicated Hi-Res Audio mode and onboard controls for PS4 streaming.

The Arctis Pro and GameDAC comes with a price tag of $250 (RM974.13) and the Arctis Pro alone will cost $180 (RM701.37) but it is not a Hi-Res certified headphones as it does not come with the GameDAC.

arctis
audio
gamedac
games
gaming
headphone
hi-res
pro
steelseries


Stereo speakers and Always Listening Music Recognition said to be featured in the Pixel 2 XL

295

The Pixel 2 launch is coming up very soon but that does not stop the leaks from coming out as recently there is new information that surfaced which tells us that the new phones will have a stereo speakers and always listening Music Recognition.

This information comes from XDA Developers who mentioned that the stereo speakers will be added to the front of the phone. The always listening feature will not be included with Google Assistant but it will be a standalone feature that is part of the operating system of the phone, this feature can even be used from the lock screen automatically. Other than that, we will also be getting a new portrait mode in the phone as mentioned in the thread about the Google Camera app. This could allow the phone to produce much sharper images with the bokeh effect. Finally, there will be a search bar at the bottom part of the home page, which has been moved from its regular location which was at the top of the page.

Other than that, we are still expecting to see the squeeze feature to be on this phone as well as an Always-On Ambient Display mode which was previously reported by XDA.

2
android
features
google
htc
lg
pixel
xl


Stolen Project Valerie laptops found on Taobao

377

Stealing a prototype product from a brand’s CES booth? That takes balls. Selling said stolen prototypes online? That takes huge balls. Such is the case of the stolen Project Valerie laptops as it appears that Razer’s prototype has been spotted on the China-based online marketplace Taobao.

First spotted by
Unwire Hong Kong
, it appears that those responsible for stealing Razer’s Project Valerie laptops have somehow managed to smuggle it out of the United States and brought it back to mainland China. Once there, the thieves proceeded to put the prototype on sale on Taobao for CNY150,000, which is roughly RM97,075.

There is the possibility that the Project Valerie laptop that is being sold on Taobao right now is a fake of course, and someone is actively trying to scam someone out of their hard earned money. However, if the person behind the Taobao listing does in fact have the laptops on them, the decision to put the laptop up on Taobao could potentially lead to Razer finding out who exactly has stolen the prototype.

Source:
WCCFTech
,
Unwire

laptop
projectvalerie
razer
stolen
taobao


Store 360TB of data onto a tiny nanostructured glass

309

What if you could store 360TB worth of data on a tiny glass piece that could last an eternity? What would you tell your descendants? Scientists at the University of Southampton have reached a breakthrough in developing a type of digital data storage that can last for billions of years.

The recording and retrieval process of five dimensional (5D) data onto nanostructured glass is done by femtosecond laser writing, a futuristic technology developed by the Optoelectronics Research Centre of the university. Apart from being able to store 360TB of data onto it, the storage also has thermal stability of up to 1,000 degrees celsius and can possibly last a lifetime under room temperature. This is by far the most secure portable memory that can store archives of your life story.

Speaking about a virtually non-perishable portable storage, important documents over the course of human history have been saved for them to survive the human race and beyond. Namely, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Newton’s Opticks, Magna Carta and Kings James Bible. In fact, UNESCO has received a copy of the UDHR in 5D format.

Ultrafast laser was used to record the documents. According to the University of Southampton, the file is written in three layers of nanostructured dots separated by five micrometres. These nanostructures modify the way light travels, causing the polarization of light to be able to be read under a combination of a microscope and a polarizer. Why is it called 5D? The encoding of data is done in five dimensions – the three dimensional position of these nanostructures, also, its orientation and position.

This groundbreaking innovation sure doesn’t sound cheap. But since its 2016, let’s hope that technologies like this will be commercialized for us consumers. Till then, stay tuned!

Source:
University of Southampton

5d
data
glass
laser
nanostructured
storage
writing


Stream your favourite videos without eating into your internet quota with Digi Video Freedom

381

Waiting is now not as boring with Digi’s new offering. They have just launched a new offering dubbed Digi Video Freedom pass, which gives you bite-sized video passes to stream Internet video content without using your internet quota. This is a value-added service to enjoy content whenever you want without having to use up your quota to quickly.

If you have an internet plan with Digi, you can purchase and activate this pass from
15 April 2016
 onwards via MyDigi app available on App Store and Play Store; and once you’ve gotten it, you can enjoy popular video content from Digi’s partners such as YouTube, iflix, Astro on the Go, Viu, tonton, Dailymotion and HyppTV.

According to Loh Keh Jiat, CMO of Digi, Digi Video Freedom is another positive step forward in connecting customers to what matters to them on the Internet. He also mentioned that Digi sees a shift in internet consumption and believes that a vast majority of the content that people consume online will be video.

There are two options offered via Digi Video Freedom pass – an hourly pass or a daily pass. The hourly pass costs
RM1 for an hour,
 while the daily pass costs
RM5 for a whole day
. For RM1, you can basically stream about 3GB of video content in a 1 hour time frame, while with RM5, you get about 10GB of streaming for the whole day. However, don’t go overboard as there is a fair usage policy tied with these passes, meaning once you have used up your quota from your pass, you will start using your plan’s internet quota again. However, according to Praveen Rajan Nadarajan, Digi’s Head of Postpaid & Digital Services, an average user should find this amount enough for his/her video streaming needs.

The whole point of introducing such services is also to allow Digi users to enjoy video content anytime, anywhere without worrying about running out of Internet quota. The hourly passes helps customers pass the time while commuting or even waiting in queues while the daily pass gives them the option to binge watch their favourite shows.

digi
digivideofreedom
mydigi
promotions
telco
videostreaming


Streaming Android games to YouTube coming soon

360

YouTube has announced that
Android
phones
 will soon be able to stream live video to the service, in a move partly designed to take advantage of the popularity of mobile gaming in Japan and elsewhere. The update doesn’t have a date set yet, but it said to be coming “soon”, along with a Japanese version of the new YouTube Gaming application.

Japan will be the third market to get YouTube Gaming following the launch that occur last month in the US and UK; the announcement comes on the first day of Tokyo Game Show. YouTube’s global gaming head Ryan Wyatt said, Japan’s mobile games define its gaming culture, far more so than in other countries. The trend shows there’s a real need for gamers to easily share what’s on their screen with the gaming community, as it happens.

YouTube Gaming faces a perfect battle to compete with Amazon-owned Twitch, which has built a loyal following in the core video games community. But by focusing on mobile in untapped markets like Japan, as well as providing a slick interface and smart features like rewinding, YouTube could well find ways to set itself apart. Stay tuned for the further update to download the latest live stream application that will shine on Android devices.

android
gaming
livestream
youtube


Streaming-only albums and singles are now eligible for Grammy awards

360

Much like its
movie counterpart
, the Recording Academy has completed its annual Awards review and has established new amendments and key dates that would affect the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. The most notable amendment would be the fact that recordings that are only available via streaming services are now eligible for the Grammy Awards.

Previously, albums and singles were required to be available for purchase in order to be eligible for the Grammy Awards. With this amendment in place, albums and singles that were released on streaming services such as Spotify will also qualify for Grammy nomination.

Of course, only albums and singles on ‘applicable streaming services’ will qualify for a Grammy consideration. The Recording Academy considers ‘applicable streaming services’ as “paid subscription, full catalogue, on-demand streaming/limited download platforms that have existed as such within the United States for at least one full year as of the submission deadline.”

The 59th annual Grammy awards will take place on the February 12th, 2017. Albums and singles that are released between October 1st, 2015, and September 30th, 2016, will be eligible for nomination.

Source:
Grammys
,
Pitchfork

grammy
online
streamingservices


Students mock Donald Trump through programming language

376

Mocking politicians through words and pictures are usually the norm, but the students at Rice University have decided to do so via programming.

For the university’s own hackathon, junior computer science majors Sam Shadwell and Chris Brown coded up a programming language based on the Python programming language. This programming language is called TrumpScript, named after American demagogue Donald Trump.
According to the language’s GitHub page
, TrumpScript is made in order to “make programming great again”, which is a jab at Trump’s campaign slogan.

The code itself is satire gold, with features such as the programming language’s refusal to allow imported statements, which means that all code has to be “home-grown and American made”. Also funny is the fact that the programming language only allows “popular English words, Trump’s favorite words, and current politician names” to be used as variable names. The best part? All of the error codes in TrumpScript is a quote directly from Trump himself.

Personally speaking, this is quite possibly the most hilarious and original attempt at satire that I’ve seen thus far. The language can be downloaded from the GitHub page for those of you who are curious about TrumpScript.

Source :
Mashable

donaldtrump
politics
programming
python
satire
trumpscript


Sudden Windows 10 upgrade icon pop out

312

During my work halfway, I spotted something different at my system tray. There is one Windows 10 icon which appeared after I updated my Windows, this isn’t a phishing malware. Instead, this shows your PC is capable to upgrade your system for Windows 10. However, this will not instantly upgrade your PC to windows 10, but it operates to reserve a slot for your interest to upgrade your system to Windows 10. Mostly Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 will likely receive their notifications after installing the latest Windows update.


Sudio E2 Review: colorful choices with great audio quality

5.6K

The Sudio E2 is an interesting pair of wireless earphones, it is Sudio’s most feature packed wireless earphones to date and come in very fashionable colors, it’s also got hybrid active noise cancellation, wireless charging, and for the first time, they collaborated with Dirac to incorporate Spatial Audio on these earphones, and even better, Sudio has made an app for these earphones, are they a worthy pair of wireless earbuds for RM589? Let’s find out.

Starting off with the design, the Sudio E2 has a really nice charging case with a matte finish that I have been a fan of on the Sudio T2 that we previously reviewed, the Sand color that I am using here doesn’t attract smudges and during the period, I have simply stowed the case into my backpack without a pouch and it hasn’t got scratches at all.

The charging case charges over USB-C and supports Qi wireless charging, which Sudio has also made a nice one called the LADD+ that supports up to 9W of charging so you can also charge your phones. There is a button on the back of the case that can be used to check the case’s battery levels and perform a reset on the earphones, which is useful but its hard to tell the actual battery level with just an orange and white LED, adding two more colors such as green and red would be more helpful.

The Sudio E2 earphones has a familiar form that we have been seeing on many other wireless earphones, but I’m just glad that the color options are rather unique that sets it apart from the rest, it does feel a little bigger than the AirPods Pro which might not fit well for some ears, but thankfully I don’t have an issue with it, Sudio has also generously provided four extra ear tips of different sizes in the box if you want to swap the default ones.

The earphones have LED indicators on top that tells you the it’s charging and pairing status, and the stem features a chrome touchpad that allows you to control your music playback, adjust volume, switch between active noise cancellation and transparency mode, and toggle Spatial Audio, there’s unfortunately no in-ear detection sensor which I think Sudio could have simply added, though that’s not a deal breaker for me.

Audio quality wise, the Sudio E2’s sound is a little brighter and has more bass than previous Sudio earphones I’ve auditioned, it only supports the SBC codec despite having Bluetooth 5.2, which means you aren’t getting as much bandwidth to play higher quality audio although audio latency is pretty low, but I can assure you despite that, you are still getting very good audio quality and I daresay it is the best sounding Sudio earphones ever, its 10mm drivers can produce strong and heavy bass without distortion even at loud volume levels, vocals are also crystal clear even when there is music instruments playing in the background.

For instance, the ending chorus of Billie Eilish’s ‘No Time to Die’ is my favorite track to test earphones, where most wireless earphones will drown the vocals when the instruments are playing loudly in the background, the Sudio E2 managed to play that part without distorting either the vocals and instruments.

The active noise cancellation and transparency mode works very well which I find it to work better than the Nothing Ear 1 earphones, the ANC mode reduces ambient noise well in an office environment that I can hardly hear mechanical keyboards clacking away about 6 feet away from me, while transparency mode lets in background sound naturally without feeling like a low quality recording.

The Sudio E2’s spatial audio feature does widen the soundstage a little when turned on, on certain tracks I can hear audio coming from the front rather than playing right into my ears, but in most of my listening sessions I disable Spatial Audio as I find it to sound unnatural on most the pop songs I played, it is best experienced when you play instrumental and live stage music.

With a companion app that supports both Android and iOS devices, it definitely increases the value of the Sudio E2 as you are able to customize the sound that you want and even create your own audio profile by doing a simple test, the earphones will also receive firmware upgrades through the app and that’s a great effort I commend Sudio for doing so.

In terms of battery life, Sudio quotes up to 6.5 hours of listening time on a single charge with ANC turned off and up to 30 hours with the charging case, which are fairly decent numbers for wireless earbuds, and in my tests, I managed to get up to 4.5 hours on a single charge with ANC On at 80% volume level.

Overall, the Sudio E2 is the company’s most improved wireless earphones that offers good sound quality and features, complemented by a unique selection of colors that you won’t easily find in the market, I do recommend that you go check them out if you are hunting for a good pair of wireless earphones, they retail at RM589 in Malaysia and for a limited time, Sudio is including the LADD+ wireless charger when you place an order at their store.

Get the Sudio E2 with a discount by using our code ‘
KLGE2
‘ when checking out at
Sudio Online Store
. For a limited time, your can score a Sudio E2 Mystery Box that comes with three additional items worth up to RM1566 at only RM699, which will only cost you RM594.15 after discount.

Sudio E2 Video Review

sudio e2
sudio e2 malaysia review
sudio e2 review
sudio e2 us review


Sudio ETT Review: Beautiful and Functional (Discount Code Included)

575

The wireless earbuds space may be filled with a plethora of products sporting similar designs, where you can find many of them inspired from Apple’s AirPods or AirPods Pro. In the case of the Sudio ETT, the Swedish audio company took a different approach by including most features from the AirPods Pro, elegant color options and selling it at 40% cheaper than its rival. I have been testing the Sudio ETT for more than a week now and thankfully, it doesn’t disappoint.

One thing I have always appreciated Sudio is how they take product design seriously than many other audio companies. Starting with the wireless charging case, it doesn’t use a glossy material that attracts scratches and smudges, the USB-C port is positioned on the left so that you can make the case stand rather than laying it flat, and there’s a leather lanyard that lets you attach to your bag as a fashion accessory.

The ETT earbuds is chunkier than the AirPods Pro, that’s understandable as they house a larger battery for longer playback times but still weighs very light at 5g each, they also have a matte finish like the charging case. In terms of comfort and fit, Sudio is offering five extra pairs parabolic ear tips and three conic ear tips inside the packaging, I find the preinstalled parabolic ear tips to fit very well on my ears without causing fatigue, using the conic ear tips blocks noise better as it offers a tighter seal.

The Sudio ETT is reviewed on a Sony Walkman NW-A105 and iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Pairing the Sudio ETT is straightforward like any other wireless earbuds by first taking out one of them out of the case, once the connection is made, the second earbud should make the connection to the first earbud seamlessly. What I am surprised is that there isn’t a simpler way to initiate a new pairing process for a second device, as you will need to disconnect the device from your device’s Bluetooth settings or turn off Bluetooth in order to do so, however I find that to be a minor issue as I rarely switch between devices.

As I’ve mentioned in my first look video, the sound signature of the Sudio ETT is rather similar to the
TOLV
, as it focuses more on the mids and low frequencies, which gives it a very warm feel and doesn’t feel overpowered that strains my ears, though I would have loved to hear some emphasis on high frequencies for instrumental tracks, the ETT produces a clean punchy bass response and an acceptable volume when I pair it with my iPhone 11 Pro Max. Although the Sudio ETT doesn’t support the aptX or AAC codec, audio delay is surprisingly minimal when listening to music and watching movies all thanks to Bluetooth 5.0.

At this point of time where we are staying at home, I have no way of testing out the ETT’s active noise cancellation performance on trains or planes. However, it works well in room environment where it managed to cancel the whirring sound of my air conditioning unit, while my mum has to raise her voice slightly for me to hear her properly across the table.

What’s missing on the FEM previously is an ambient sound or transparency mode, a feature that lets in noise so that you are aware of your surroundings, Sudio has finally made that available on the ETT but unfortunately, it doesn’t work the way I have hoped as it can only be automatically enabled when I make a phone call.

Noise cancelling can however be disabled by hold pressing 2 seconds on either side of the earbuds, there isn’t a voice prompt to tell you ‘noise cancelling is off’ but you will definitely realize some ambient noise coming into your ears. Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to trigger Google Assistant or Siri with a hold and press button action, holding it for more than 5 seconds turns off the earbuds.

The Sudio ETT charges wirelessly with any Qi standard chargers.

Battery life is accurate based on Sudio’s claims, I managed to kill the ETT in 5 hours on a single session switching between ANC On and Off, the charging case will bring it back to life in an hour while offering up to five charges, while I was able to get about an extra hour of usage with a mere 15 minute charge, Sudio hasn’t claimed any quick charge functionality for both the case and earbuds.

If there is an award that we would give the
Sudio ETT
, it would be the most beautiful and functional wireless earbuds, there’s really nothing quite like it with IPX5 water resistance, active noise cancellation, transparency mode and wireless charging. At RM699, Sudio is offering the ETT in color options of Black, White, Green and Pink, you will also receive a complimentary 18 months warranty when you register within 3 months of purchase, which is an unbeatable value that many earbuds aren’t able to offer.

Lastly, Sudio is offering 15% off the
Sudio ETT
 with the code ‘
ETT20
‘ at the official Sudio online store, this will set you back with a RM105 discount and in conjunction with their Hari Raya promotion, customers will also receive a complimentary leather green card holder, a stylish tote bag, a gift wrapping and free shipping to Malaysia.

The Good

Looks better than any AirPods Pro alternatives

Very reliable Bluetooth connection

Decent sound quality

Battery life

Wireless charging

IPX5 water resistance

The Not so Good

Transparency mode could be better

Control buttons cannot be remapped

Secondary device pairing could be better

sudio
sudio ett
sudio ett audio performance
sudio ett malaysia review


The Sudio Ett is a colorful AirPods Pro with almost the same features

623

Sudio is up to challenge the wireless audio market once again with the Ett, a colorful true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation and supports wireless charging.

Unsurprisingly, it is also shaped very similarly to Apple’s AirPods Pro, apart from the fact that it is available in four colors – black, white, green and pink.

The Sudio Ett is IPX5 certified to repel sweat or rain water from damaging the unit, users also have the option to switch to a transparency mode that let’s in ambient noise, so that you are aware of your surroundings.

Sudio states the Ett has a listening time of up to 24 hours and up to 16 hours with ANC turned on, we assume that to include the total charge the charging case offers, and that should be up to 6 hours and 4 hours per charge respectively.

We have reviewed several Sudio products and find them to be decent performers most of the time. The
Sudio TOLV
, which we last reviewed, has excellent active noise cancellation performance and battery life, and we can’t wait to check out the improvements Sudio has made to the Ett.

The Sudio Ett is now available for RM699 with free shipping to Malaysia, not bad for being a direct AirPods Pro contender. Meanwhile, you can use our code ‘KLGADGET’ to enjoy a 15% discount, which will make it RM594 at check out.

sudio
sudio ett
sudio malaysia


Sudio FEM Review: A ‘Swede’ Wireless Audio Experience (Discount Code Included)

527

Over the years, we have seen how wireless earbuds have improved in terms of features, especially when it comes to battery life and connectivity, some of them even have noise cancellation features for a very reasonable price, and that turns our heads to the Sudio FEM wireless earbuds, which we received a month ahead of its release from Sudio for our evaluation.

Sudio FEM Video Review

Sudio has always paid attention to the aesthetics of its products and the FEM is no different, while this isn’t a replacement to the Sudio TOLV that we reviewed back then, Sudio seems to have revert the FEM’s charging case design back to the NIVA’s, albeit much sleeker and smaller, the round case has a nice matte touch to it with a ‘Sudio’ branding debossed on top, while the familiar rope lanyard is attached for better handling.

In fact, the FEM’s charging case is so clean that you won’t find any fine prints on it and I really applaud that kind of design. Open the lid, you will be greeted by the FEM sitting snuggly and held by magnets, along with four LED lights below that tells you the case’s battery life, each of the earbuds also has a LED indicator that pulses when it is charging.

Pairing with the Sudio FEM is effortless all thanks to Bluetooth 5.0, the hassle of pairing one side  of the earbuds with your phone and the other later is no longer required, they pair almost instantly once you take it out of the case and you will only see one Bluetooth device in your phone’s connection list.

Furthermore, the earbuds goes into pairing mode immediately once you disconnect from your phone’s Bluetooth connection, a pretty neat feature when you want to switch to another device,  no long presses needed.

Speaking of presses, the Sudio FEM doesn’t have any physical buttons on it, as it uses a capacitive touch surface that lets you tap to control music playback, call up Siri or Google Assistant and answer phone calls. I find myself accidentally tapping on them as I take of the earbuds sometimes, fortunately that’s something I got used to after a while.

Although there is unfortunately no way you can control the earbuds volume, which is a common flaw in most wireless earbuds and as usual, there’s no companion app for your smartphone to configure the touch controls.

The earbuds does remind me a little of Jabra’s Elite 65t with a short stem sticking out of it that houses a microphone, there is also a secondary microphone on top that does ambient noise cancellation, making up to a total of four microphones.

When I say Sudio pays attention to details, that also applies to the ergonomic shape of the earbuds, as it can fit well into my ears without sound leaks and it is able to seal off 80% off a large party crowd noise in a café. I’ve also tried it on trains and planes, while you can still hear some hissing noise from the train tracks, the plane’s roaring engines can barely be heard after you start playing your favorite music, it is actually quite comparable to my old Sony WF-SP700N headphones and just slightly inferior to the AirPods Pro.

Sound quality is something that most of us are worried when it comes to wireless earbuds, the Sudio FEM’s graphene drivers does a really good job at delivering a balanced sound signature with excellent clarity, it does put an emphasis on high frequencies and mid vocals, but it doesn’t under deliver the low frequencies that you won’t feel any oomph from it, volume is also good for a wireless earbuds standard as I usually keep it at 70%.

For instance, Ariana Grande’s high pitched vocals on her song ‘Baby I’ sounds detailed without piercing your ears, while the earbuds are able to play the song’s instrumental parts, which there are a lot of thumps and hisses, without over powering them. Taylor Swift’s ‘…Ready for It’ has a pretty powerful low frequency intro that would usually sound impressive on a bassy pair of headphones, sounded mellow on the Sudio FEM but without distortions. Once you start playing more bass heavy songs, that’s when you will start hearing slight distortions in instrumentals and vocals.

The Sudio FEM is paired to my iPhone 11 Pro Max during the period, as both devices support the AAC codec, there’s very little audio delays when it comes to watching videos and playing games, I would even dismiss it if I’m not looking properly at the person’s lips and distracted to the gameplay.

Call quality is greatly improved from the Sudio TOLV, as my callers have reported that as if I’m talking through the earpiece rather than the earbuds, this is due to the work of the dual microphones working together on the earbuds, cancelling background noise while focusing on my voice.

Sudio claims up to 7 hours of playback time on each earbuds, while the charging case will offer two times of full charge that makes it up a total of 20 hours playback time, I find that claim to be accurate as I managed to squeeze 6.5 hours out of it with a 80% listening volume, this is better than most wireless earbuds with noise cancellation, the charging case also fully charges the earbuds under 30 minutes if you fully deplete the battery.

At RM649, the Sudio FEM is a reasonably priced wireless earbuds for its design and features, it is possibly one of the most comfortable wireless earbuds that I have ever worn that has a good battery life and balanced sound signature.

Despite that, some might find the Sudio FEM a little pricier than the company’s previous offerings and some other wireless earbuds, which is why we  are offering a 15% discount off the Sudio FEM when you place your order over at Sudio.com, simply enter
SUDIOFEM15
 at the checkout page for a discount price of RM551, that’s almost RM100 off the usual price.

The Good

Balanced sound signature

Battery life

Fast charging

IPX5 water resistant

Minimalist and sleek charging case

The Not so Good

Can’t disable noise cancellation

No companion app to configure touch controls

sudio
Sudio Fem
sudio fem discount code
sudio fem review


Sudio’s newest wireless earbuds are called Sudio Fem; have up to 20 hours battery life

334

Sudio recently announced a new pair of earbuds called Sudio Fem and like all wireless earbuds, they’re portable, lightweight and come in a case.

The Sudio Fem features two touch buttons — one on each side — and has four microphones that offers ambient noise reduction for a more immersive experience. It has an IPX 5 water protection rating so you won’t have to worry that it will be easily damaged under the rain or when it comes in contact with sweat.

The Sudio Fem lasts up to six hours on one charge and with its charging case, it can charge two more times so you get about 20 hours of battery life in total. The earbuds also supports quick charge that gives you an extra hour of listening with just 15 minute charge.

In addition, the earbuds are equipped with a 5.6mm driver and supports frequency range from 20Hz to 20kHz. It will be available in four colours: black, white, blue and pink.

The Sudio Fem will be officially launched in December 2019.

sudio
Sudio Fem


Sudio Femtio Review: Premium Design and Impressive Sound (Discount Code Included)

1.3K

Like wireless earbuds, the market is flooded with way too many Bluetooth speakers to choose from, but to find one that actually looks and sounds good with a decent price tag isn’t a simple task, so when Sudio offered to send us the Sudio Femtio Bluetooth speaker for our evaluation, I was initially expecting it to be a look nice average sounding audio gadget, but little did I know that after I started playing my music, I was blown away by its impressive warm sound signature.

Sudio might not be the brand you will first think of when it comes to Bluetooth speakers, but the Femtio is a pair that will steal the spotlight over from the likes of more established brands. While there isn’t any fancy party lighting or rugged design, the Sudio Femtio has a grey fabric that wraps around the main speaker area, while our Anthracite color model comes with a rose gold color frame and plate on each side that houses the bass reflexes, the speaker is IPX5 splash resistant so that you can take it for a pool party or have it in your bath room

The base of the Sudio Femtio comes with four tiny rubber feet and while it houses the battery, it also has a USB-C charging port and 3.5mm audio input jack covered by a reliable rubber flap, this is by far one of the more elegant solutions I’ve seen on Bluetooth speakers which doesn’t make it easily slip off the surface, Sudio really knows how a good design works.

On the top, you get rubberized buttons which I’m glad that Sudio didn’t try to cram them, so they are perfectly distinguishable even if you aren’t looking. To skip a track, all you need to do is to press and hold the – or + button until the next song plays, the Play/Pause button also serves as a button to trigger your phone’s voice assistant when pressed and held.

The button on the most left is a pairing button that lets you wireless connect a second pair of Femtio speakers, all thanks to Bluetooth 5.0, the pairing is extremely seamless as all you need to is to double tap two times on both speakers and you’ll hear a really nice chime when paired successfully, your phone will also show a single Bluetooth device when that happens, both speakers will turn off when either one’s power button is press and held, make sure you turn both on at the same time otherwise you might have to initiate the pairing process.

Sudio Femtio Sound Quality

Like I said in the beginning, the Femtio caught me by surprise with its warm sound signature as I started off by playing an orchestra music, Sudio hasn’t been clear on the speaker system it uses but I’m assuming that there’s two single satellites with their respective bass ports that pumps out 10W+10W of power, that’s really powerful for a small speaker like this.

Although it does tend to play most music well enough, it gets slightly distorted when playing bass heavy music, such as the intro part of Billie Ellish’s bad guy, which you can barely hear the beats properly, it is an overall nice sounding pair of speakers if you don’t listen to instrument heavy music.

The Sudio Femtio has a built-in microphone for making phone calls, although I have absolutely no idea where they are located no matter how hard I tried, my callers have no problems hearing my voice clearly and it is an absolute joy to conduct conference calls with it with your caller’s voice amplified in the room.

Sudio claims that you can get up to 14 hours of battery life on a single charge, which is neither the best nor worse out there, I haven’t been able to test that claim as I don’t really play my music continuously, but having played an average 3 hours per day for the past three days on 60% of volume, it still has around 30% of charge as I conclude the review, which is close to Sudio’s claimed battery life.

Sudio Femtio Malaysia Price and Discount Code

At RM539 and available in color options of Anthracite, Silver and Black, the Sudio Femtio is reasonably priced considering its design and features, the company is also offering a 3-year warranty when you register the product on
Sudio Sphere
, which is a value added service that no other Bluetooth speakers can offer, hence giving you an extra reason why you should definitely consider this over other Bluetooth speakers of the same class.

If you are interested in getting the Sudio Femtio, Sudio is running a limited time promotion for 25% off its original price during Single’s Day (5th-11th November 2020) and Black Friday (24th-30th November 2020), you will receive an additional 10% discount on top of it when you enter the discount code ‘FEMTIO’ during checkout, while enjoying free worldwide shipping and gift wrapping.

If you happen to purchase out of these two promotion periods, you will still receive up to 15% discount on any purchases on Sudio.com when using the same discount code.

So hurry, grab your Sudio Femtio
here
.

femtio
femtio discount code
sudio
sudio malaysia


Sudio introduces new N2 and N2 Pro wireless earbuds for the holidays

10.2K

Swedish audio brand Sudio has decided to end the year with the brand new N2 and N2 Pro wireless earbuds, and as you’d expect from the company, they are pretty stylish and feature very attractive color options that would make perfect gifts for Christmas and the New Year.

Retailing at RM399, the Sudio N2 Pro is a pair of active noise cancellation in-ear earbuds that sounds present and near, also energetic, fun and youthful, which can lead us to assume that it should have a bright sound profile that’s made for listening to pop music, it is IPX4 water resistant and suitable for workouts.

Weighing at just 8.2g per earbud, they feature a 10mm dynamic driver with a 32Ω Impedance and 114dB sensitivity, battery life is rated at 6 hours without ANC and 4.5 hours with ANC, while the wireless charging case contributes to an additional 30 hours of listening time.

The N2 Pro connects over Bluetooth 5.3 with the SBC codec and supports multipoint connectivity, which is useful for connecting to two Bluetooth devices simultaneously, Sudio has also mentioned vocal clarity as one of its key selling points which we can expect a good microphone quality from its two microphones on each side of the earbuds.

The Sudio N2 is basically the on-ear version of the Pro model without active noise cancellation, it weighs 7.5g each side and has passive noise isolation, it is IPX4 water and sweat resistant like the Pro model, battery life is also rated similarly at 6 hours on a single charge, while the case offers up to 30 hours of listening time, it also has Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity and supports multipoint connectivity, it retails slightly lower at RM329.

In terms of color options, the Sudio N2 Pro comes in Sand, Black, White and Steel Blue, while the Sudio N2 comes in Black, White and Pink. Sudio offers free shipping to Malaysia and a standard 12-month warranty, if you register your purchase with Sudio Sphere, the warranty is extended by an additional 6 months.

Go check out the
Sudio N2 Pro
 and
Sudio N2
.

sudio malaysia
sudio n2
sudio n2 pro


Sudio launches Nio wireless earbuds, promises good microphones

450

Sudio has introduced the Nio wireless earbuds to its collection, which couldn’t have come at a better time since most of us are starting to work from home again due to the enforcement of movement control order in Malaysia.

The Nio looks unsurprisingly like the AirPods but it doesn’t mean Sudio hasn’t done anything to make wearers feel better when putting it on their ears, it comes with four pairs of silicone wingtips that prevents the earbuds from slipping off your ears during workouts, color options of green, white and black, IPX4 sweat resistance and up to 20 hours of battery life with the charging case.

It is rather unfortunate that the Nio doesn’t support the aptX codec for better streaming quality and connection, however our experience with Sudio’s wireless earbuds in the past have been rather pleasant as there hasn’t been delays in audio transmission all thanks to Bluetooth 5.0.

Sudio has highlighted the Nio’s adaptive dual microphones as one of the key selling point, which aims to cancel background noise when you use it for conference calls, perfect for those who prefers wireless earbuds for such purpose.

The Sudio Nio is now available to order from Sudio’s online store for RM359, it comes with a 3-year warranty when you register the warranty on Sudio Sphere, which is the longest warranty of any headphones we have come across.

nio
sudio
wireless earbuds


Sudio Nio Review: Simple and reliable (Discount Code Included)

716

We’ve reviewed several
Sudio
 products
 throughout the years, and each time the Swedish brand doesn’t
cease
 to amaze – this time around, we’re going to take a look at their latest  and most affordable pair of earbuds, the
Sudio
 Nio
. At just RM359, how does it stack up?

Design

If I could summarize what my first impressions are of the Nio, I’d say the it’s simplicity done well. The design of the earbuds personify this sentiment – the Nio comes in a clean-looking case with the
Sudio
 logo adorned on the front, along with a single indicator LED placed just below. There’s a USB Type-C charging port placed at the side too, and not much else.

If I could criticize the case design for one thing however, it would be that it picks up scratches way too easily. The good thing is, the Nio comes in three more very nice colours, and if you get the lighter ones like Sand and White, the problem shouldn’t be as prominent.

When it comes to the earbud design – it shares the same aesthetic with the case – and the Nio offers four different wingtip sizes to choose from. Ironically, the one that fits me the best are the ones without wings.

I do need to note however, that the ear tips pick up dust quite easily, but
Sudio
 sells a care kit that has tools to help you clean your Nio more easily.

Fit

With these set of ear tips that I chose, they stay snug in my ears without feeling uncomfortable – there’s a lightness, or looseness to it that I like.

Pairing

What I also like is how hassle free the pairing process is – it’s consistently easy across the different devices that I use.

Like all earbuds, sometimes things don’t quite work 100%, and thankfully troubleshooting on the Nio is as easy as it gets – occasionally all you need to do is the earbuds back in and back out of the case.

Audio quality

Now comes the most important aspect of any pair of earbuds, its audio performance. The Nio produces pretty heavy bass – do note that the level of said bass differs depending on how well they fit, so choose your ear tips carefully.

For me, I get the most balanced audio out of the tips with no wings – but despite that, heavy bass is still the order of the day. If you’re into hip hop, dance music, or want to catch an action flick, this will right up your alley. However, with vocal-heavy tunes, the bass can overpower the mids and highs.

On a more positive note, the Nio offers pretty good depth, and if you’re in a particularly noisy environment, the Nio can go quite loud without sounding too harsh.

Speaking of, the earbuds come with adaptive dual mic technology that help filter out external noise during phone calls, so your voice remains clear. The mic picks up voices splendidly even in an environment where I get bombarded with noise from traffic, and passing trains.

What also impressed me was the low latency – the Nio connects via Bluetooth 5.0 and watching YouTube or Netflix is perfectly fine with these.

Features

Next, the earbuds feature a small but sufficient selection of practical touch controls that allow you to turn off/on your device by long tapping it, pause and play audio with one tap, skip tracks with two, and adjust volume with three. For calls, single tap to picks up, long tap for two seconds to decline, and long press for three seconds to hang up the call.

These controls work well, but sometimes maybe to a little too well – it’s very easy to trigger the controls when you’re adjusting the earbuds. The best workaround to this is to grab them by the stem.

The Nio has IPX4 water resistance rating so you’ll be fine during a heavy workout session, or in pouring rain.

Battery Life

Lastly, another big selling point of the Nio is its impressive battery life – along with the charging case, you’re getting up to 20 hours of music playtime. Charging the case back up to full takes about an hour or so, which is perfectly fine.

Like mentioned before, the USB Type-C charging port is placed on the side – meaning you can lay your case flat on a table while your
charge
 it. It’s a small, but thoughtful design choice by
Sudio
 so you don’t have to awkwardly prop it up like on some other brands.

Verdict

The
Sudio
 Nio is a fuss-free device that is as reliable as they come – it fits well, and has great battery life. It’s also fantastic for
bassy
 tunes and movies; and for RM359, you’re getting pretty good value here.

To sweeten the deal however,
Sudio
 is also offering you guys a 15% discount, plus free worldwide shipping and 3 years international warranty when you use this promo code –
KLGADGET2021
 – while ordering from this
link
.

The Good

Long-lasting battery life

Comfortable fit

Decent mic quality

Easy to pair and troubleshoot

Bassy audio

The Not So Good

Charging case picks up scratches easily

Highs and mids can be drowned out

sudio
sudio care kit
sudio nio
wireless earbuds


Sudio Niva Review: Elegant Wireless Earbuds that Sounds Good

618

Sudio has been an audio company that I have been keeping tabs for a while, I purchased a pair of Vasa Bla wireless earbuds a while ago and still love using them when I hit the gym, though the
Creative Outlier Sports
 have been my more frequent driver recently. When Sudio asked if I would love to try out their latest Niva wireless earbuds, I was really excited to take up the task of checking it out, as I have never liked the wireless earbuds form factor, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to try without buying one. Fortunately, the Niva turns out to be a rather decent pair of earbuds, with a few drawbacks of course.

Like every Sudio products, the Niva comes in a simple packaging which comprises of the charging case, two pairs of ear tips with different sizes, and a short Micro USB cable for charging. I love the leather rope attached to the charging case, as it allows you to hang on to your bag if you want to, the earbuds stay secure in the case with a magnet, so that you won’t lose it easily even if the case accidentally stays open as you are on the move.

While the Niva’s design looks pretty much the same like any wireless earbuds you see in the market, my white color model has a pretty very nice rose gold textured button on both earbuds, though you can’t actually configure them to do different things, you will still be able to pair either pair of earbuds to your phone should you want to use them for making phone calls. Pairing the Niva is as simple as holding on to both power buttons on both earbuds, though it will actually appear as two devices if you set it up for the first time, once you get either one of them connected, they both automatically sync with each other and gives you a voice prompt to confirm that.

The sound signature on previous Sudio products haven’t been to my liking to be honest, as they tend to focus a lot on highs and mids rather than low frequencies. Sudio mentions on its website that it does put a little emphasis on bass on the Niva this time, and true enough, the Niva does tend to produce better bass response than the Vasa Bla I had when playing pop music, it also isolates ambient noise extremely well, hence it is a pretty great pair of audio gear if you are hitting a road trip or commuting in the train. Play Avicii’s “Without You”, and you will immediately realize how the Niva is able to produce impressive sound on the intro, but once you start playing songs like ‘Trouble Maker’ that has both vocals and instruments, the Niva produces slightly muddled and distorted on the drum instruments, but overall it does well in terms of clarity and sound stage.

Sudio’s claim of the Niva’s battery life is rather accurate, my music listening session on the Niva averages at 2 hours, and there was once where I was bingeing on Netflix, the Niva beeped the low battery warning after 3 hours of usage with a consistent 80% volume. The charging case holds 500mAh of juice and can fully recharge the earbuds up to 4 times in my test. What I don’t like about the Niva is the lack of a search feature, as they can easily get lost if you accidentally misplace them, but for the price that the earbuds is being sold, I probably shouldn’t be that picky.

For a first attempt on wireless earbuds, Sudio has done a pretty good job at the Niva, it is one of the best wireless earbuds that you can get for under RM500, though you won’t be getting the convenience of switching between devices like Apple’s Airpods or fitness tracking features like Samsung’s Gear IconX, the Niva is made for those who wants an immersive music listening experience without breaking the bank.

The Sudio Niva retails for the price of RM425, and if you would like to get a pair for yourself, Sudio is offering a 15% discount to our readers, simply head over to
Sudio’s Website
 and enter the code ‘
KLGADGET2018
‘ at the check out page, there’s no limit on the amount of discount and you can also use it for other Sudio products.

The Good

Comfortable and great sound quality

Good build quality

Reasonably priced

Elegant charging case

The Not so Good

No earbuds search feature

Bass can get a little muddy and distorted when playing certain music

Battery life may not appeal to everyone

sudio
sudio malaysia
sudio niva
wireless earbuds


Sudio T2 Review: Best ANC earbuds for music in 2021?

2.2K

Sudio’s newest noise-cancelling earbuds come in the form of the T2; and this is a follow-up to the
TOLV

from 2019.

This sits in the upper echelons of the Swedish brand’s lineup of wireless earbuds, costing RM549.

Although it’s one of the brand’s pricier earbuds, we think its abundant offerings well justify the price tag; and make it a worthy successor to the TOLV.

Design

What immediately stands out are the T2’s clean aesthetics – both the charging case and earbuds sport the same colour and soft matte finish; even the provided USB-C cable sports the same paintjob.

Furthermore, this is also one of the lightest earbuds we’ve used in a while – the entire package weighs just 42.6g. Despite that, the T2 is well-built, the earbuds snap in place in a satisfying way, and the hinges on the case open and close smoothly.

Like all the brand’s other offerings, the T2 comes in a decent selection of really cute colours – we chose Jade because it looks the most unique; but there’s black, white and Sand as well if you prefer those.

A word of caution however – this soft matte finish picks up scuffs and stains very easily; and can be difficult to get rid. It also doesn’t help that there’s no carrying pouch included in the box, which would’ve been useful in keeping the charging case clean.

The earbuds come with silicone tips that sport faded versions of the device’s colour; there’s a silver, metal accent on the touch panel behind the earbuds too.

Comfort

Since the T2 use silicone ear tips, you get a decent selection of sizes to choose from – I personally go for a mixed set of medium and large tips which I find to work best for me.

It stays in the ear nice and snug, but it may not hold on as well when you’re running. These are best used when you’re idle.

Water Resistance

The T2 is splash-proof, but it doesn’t have an IPX5 water resistance rating like the
 Sudio ETT
 – which is odd since the ETT is currently priced the same.

Sound Quality

The T2 packs a pair of 8mm dynamic drivers, and they produce a V-shaped sound signature with impressive bass and highs. The mids suffer just a little, but with that said – the earbuds offer impressive depth and detail. I was able to discern individual instruments and spacing quite well.

At higher volumes, there is no crackle meaning you can watch action flicks and amp the volume for better immersion.

There’s support for Bluetooth 5.2, and on a compatible device, latency is minimal, but noticeable – so I wouldn’t recommend these for gaming.

Call Quality

The T2 comes with a set of dual beamforming mics that block out ambient noise while improving the wearer’s voice.

From my experience, the earbuds do well to block out ambient noise; and calls over WiFi are nice and crisp.

Noise Cancellation

One of the main selling points of the T2 is its noise cancelling feature – at default, there is a level of noise cancellation that is good for an office or café setting, but if you need more noise cancellation, simply hold tap the touch panel for two seconds to enable ANC.

With this, the T2 can block out noise from passing vehicles, and slightly distant voices.

When it comes to loud voices however, you’ll need to bump up the volume of your music to help drown out the noise.

There’s also transparency mode which works brilliantly – with the mics I mentioned earlier, the T2 does well at not only letting you hear your surroundings clearly, but it retains much of its impressive audio quality too.

If I could criticise one thing, it’s the lack of a vocal indicator to tell me what mode I’m on, which lead to occasional confusion.

What you get instead are sound effects that correspond to each mode – when you hear a chime, you’re back to default mode, when you hear a wave or swoosh, ANC is on, and when you hear a ding, transparency mode is on. This caused

Battery Life

I mostly use the T2 for music and I’m glad to report that the device offers about 7 hours of battery life, which is what Sudio advertises; with ANC on, I get around 6 hours.

The charging case is able to get you up to 35 hours of listening time – I get about 3 to four charge cycles from the case before needing to plug in my adapter.

Charging the case up to full will take about one hour using a USB-C cable which is normal.

Verdict

Sudio has hit the nail on the head with the T2 like they have with all their earbuds we’ve reviewed so far. I thoroughly enjoyed my music-listening experience with these earbuds, and perhaps more importantly, they’re reliable. I can even get a full-work day of audio playback, which is when I use the earbuds anyways.

Although the T2 is hard to criticise, I want to draw your attention to the Sudio ETT. It’s an older pair of earbuds, sure; but it isn’t all that different from the T2 and it costs the same. Like the T2, it offers premium features like IPX5 water resistance, ANC, up to 30 hours of listening time, and Bluetooth 5.0.

With that said, would I still recommend the T2 – well, yes because I much prefer its design, and it’s a newer product with support for the newer Bluetooth 5.2.

If better water resistance is more important to you, then go for the Sudio ETT.

Where to purchase

You can buy the Sudio T2 via their website
here
; enter the code KLGGT2 to enjoy 15% off your purchase.

Sudio T2

Price:
 RM549

For RM549, the Sudio T2 is a fantastic midrange option for those looking for a pair of ANC TWS earbuds. It offers quite the complete package as it delivers in the audio quality, noise cancellation, and battery life departments.

KLGadgetGuy

Design

8

Comfort

8

Audio Quality

9

Call Quality

8

ANC

8

Battery Life

9

Connectivity

7

Value

7

 8.0

Average Score

sudio
sudio t2
sudio t2 anc
sudio t2 wireless earbuds