A week of launches from Dyson and Samsung, plus sound big and small as we check out Jabra’s tiny Elite 65t and Apple’s HomePod. This is The Wrap.
Transcript
For the week ending March 9, you’re tuned into The Wrap, Australia’s fastest technology round-up, and this one might be a little bigger, because it has been a big week.
Take the launch of Samsung’s new TVs, which missed CES in January, and were announced this week instead, as Samsung introduced more QLED TVs.
This year, Samsung continues its work with quantum dot technology, a crystal that essentially improves the output from each pixel, providing more colour and contrast for TVs.
Called “QLED”, it’s Samsung’s competition to the OLED TVs put out by LG, Panasonic, and Sony, and this year, improvements include better contrast for better blacks and an almost wallpaper-like effect to make a boring off TV look like it’s part of the furniture. That’s just one of the ways Samsung hopes its Q-series will impress, and with sizes stretching from 55 inches to 88, it should fit in rooms of all sizes.
And that’s good, because the other major launch this week is all about room. Specifically, how much room you have to clean.
If you currently rely on a stick vacuum, there’s a good chance it runs out of battery before you’re done, and it’s one reason why so many households still rely on a vacuum you plug in.
This week, that changes as as the company that practically reinvented the vacuum — and certainly reinvented the hand dryer — has reinvented the vacuum once again.
This week, Dyson announced the V10, and while the name suggests it’s bigger than the V8 and V6 siblings, it’s also a little smaller.
The dust and debris tank? Bigger. The battery? Yep, that’s bigger too, hitting the 60 minute mark. Even the head and accessory supply is bigger.
But you know what isn’t?
The motor. It’s actually smaller and weighs less, running faster and moving more air and suction, making it perform better. It’s so impressive that Dyson isn’t going to make a plug-based vacuum anymore, making wireless better for all.
And when you go wireless, you never go back. That’s true of lots of things, not just your vacuum, and includes sound, like with wireless and cordless earphones.
One model last year even managed to impress us greatly, with Jabra’s Elite Sport Wireless, offering good sound, good battery life, and no cords for a little over $300. This year, Jabra is stepping it up a notch.
Called the Jabra Elite 65t, it’s an improved model that has been redesigned to let the air and sound move more, improving the audio quality and giving it more punch. The new design is also much more comfortable to wear, and they don’t let in a lot of noise from the outside, so you get the sound you want in something that is compact and user friendly. They’ve even managed to improve the battery life, topping out at 15 hours when used with the battery case.
We do wish the app was better and the bass was a little punchier,