This week on The Wrap, we’re checking out new gear, covering sound gear from Sonos and Sony, what’s new from Kindle and GoPro, and the iPhone 14 reviewed, all in the space of five minutes.
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Nearly the end of September 2022 and you’re tuned into The Wrap, Australia’s fastest technology roundup, and while last week was very much an Apple fest of new tech, this week won’t be outdone, because there’s plenty of stuff on the way.
Take what’s happening in sound, with Sony and Sonos both offering new tech there.
For Sony, it’s a big new speaker made for partying. Kind of like the company’s old Muteki speakers, the XV900 is a big party speaker with lights and a lot of sound, and a handle. And it needs one, weighing 26 kilograms and playing Bluetooth sound, but also able to boost the sound of your TV. Basically, it’ll take an optical cable and make your TV louder, and you can even connect it up to up to 100 other Sony wireless speakers for more expansive sound.
Granted, it’ll cost a sizeable $1300 when it launches in October, making for a hefty investment for a big parties and such.
Sony’s big speaker isn’t the only big speaker this week, though what Sonos is working on is big in idea and small in stature.
You can more or less read what’s happening in the name, with the Sonos Sub Mini being a miniature version of the Sonos Sub. Up until this point, Sonos has only really made one subwoofer for its several soundbars, which right now are made up of the Arc, Beam, and Ray, and it’s been around the thousand dollar mark.
In the Sub Mini, Sonos has managed to get the price and size down, taking the 16 kilo thousand dollar Sub down to a 6 kilo seven hundred dollar subwoofer.
That could just make more economical sense for living rooms keen to give their movies a bit more bass than what their soundbars can do right now, but we won’t know until it’s out, with October also the time frame for this one.
Before then, there’s a new entry-level Kindle on the way with a sharp new screen for under two hundred, Anker’s sound division Soundcore has new noise cancelling headphones in the Q45 which are just cover $200, and GoPro has a couple of new pint-sized cameras that up the tech of its action camera line-up arriving in two similar but distinct variations.
The Hero 11 Black is very much your typical GoPro, with a screen on the back for viewing things and a screen on the front handy for selfie videos. Waterproof and ruggedised, it’s a GoPro made for action and then some. But it’s the Hero 11 Mini which is just a little bit different. It skips the screen and is made to be mounted, such as to a helmet, car, and so on and so on.
It’s just one way for you to get your action on, priced at $800 for the regular model and $650 for the smaller Mini model in October. Everything in October, it seems.
Except the gadget we’re reviewing right now, which is actually out now.
It’s Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro, which only came out recently, and we’re ready with a review, and spoiler alert: it is a really good phone. You can call this a triumph, and more or less exceptional, because it is.
Let’s start with what’s new, because there’s a new screen with a bit carved out for the camera, and it forms Apple’s “Dynamic Island”, which is a smart way to hide the punch hole on every other phone. It’s animated and friendly, and not even the only really cool thing about the phone.
There’s an always-on display mode that beats all other variations, stopping the refresh rate down and extending your lock screen by leaving it on more or less all the time.
The camera is also exceptional, delivering a new 48 megapixel camera that downsamples to 12 megapixel, and gives you three cameras letting you get ultra wide, wide, close, and closer. It’s a very versatile camera system ideal for portraits, macros, daylight, and low light pictures, and it works so well. It also comes with an action mode with stabilisation, in case the GoPro isn’t your go, so to speak.
It all comes in a solid body that feels great, with the only major issue being the battery life, and good luck getting past a day. It’s possible, but from all the tests we’ve done, it seems really, really unlikely.
Outside of this, the iPhone 14 Pro is a major success and absolutely worth checking out. There’s so much in the phone, it’s very much a contender for best of the year.
We still need to look at the Pro Max, where we bet the battery will be better, but this is a great start.
For now, you’ve been listening to The Wrap, Australia’s fastest technology roundup. A new episode can be found each week at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get podcasts from. For now, have a great week, and we’ll see you next time on The Wrap. Stay safe, stay sane, and take care.
