Author: Danielle

You can usually rely on Asus to come up with something a little different for its laptops, and Computex 2019 is no different: the company has unveiled what it calls the future of laptops: the ZenBook Pro Duo, a high-end creative device that boasts not one, but two 4K displays.

With a secondary display built into the main body, the ZenBook Pro Duo is built for multi-tasking and heavy duty creative work – think Apple’s MacBook Pro Touch Bar on steroids – but that brings with it design changes and compromises that you’re likely to either love or hate.

Price and availability

Asus hasn’t yet announced any pricing or release date for the ZenBook Pro Duo, though given the specs and unusual design it’s a safe bet that it’ll be expensive even compared to other top laptops – certainly north of £1000/$1000, and potentially a lot more than that. Still, Asus pricing is usually competitive, so the company may yet surprise us.

We’d expect to see it some time in late summer 2019, but release dates may well vary by regions.

If you like the concept but hate the price, Asus also announced a smaller ZenBook Duo model – this drops most of the specs down to go with the smaller chassis and screens, and is likely to cost substantially less – along with offering extra portability, at the cost of some power.

Two screens or not two screens?

Here’s a choice you didn’t used to have to make when buying a new laptop: how many displays do you want it to have?

Secondary displays have been around in some form for a few years, seen in the likes of the MacBook Pro’s slimline Touch Bar or Asus’s own ScreenPad, which replaced the traditional laptop trackpad with a small touchscreen. The ZenBook Pro Duo takes this to the next level, with a full-width 4K display built into the body of the laptop, right above the keyboard.

If that sounds either mad or pointless, then you’re probably not alone. Still, Asus makes a pretty good case that the Duo’s secondary screen can be useful productivity tool, albeit one that comes with a few major drawbacks.

The lower screen sprawls across half of the laptop’s body, starting at the edge of the main display and running down to the top edge of the slightly smushed in keyboard and trackpad, and most of the way to the edges of the body too. In terms of raw specs, it’s a 14in IPS LCD with an aspect ratio of 3840 x 1100 – so it’s just about half the size of the main OLED panel, which is 15.6in diagonally and 3840 x 2160.

You might have noticed that the screens differ in more than size. While the top panel is OLED the secondary screen is only an LCD. That’s a compromise presumably driven mostly by cost, but one that shows in side-by-side comparisons – the only kind of comparisons that are really possible, given the two screens are basically touching. The second screen is dimmer and less rich, even with brightness cranked up to the max, and it’s the sort of obvious difference that I worry I’d never be able to stop noticing.

From a software perspective things are fairly smooth though. You can fit up to three different app windows in the bottom panel side-by-side, dragging them around to suit whatever multi-tasking you want to do at the time – whether that’s keeping the file explorer open while you work on a project, keeping an eye on Google Maps and a calendar while you book hotels on the main screen, or just running Spotify or YouTube while you get on with your work.

You can switch between apps quickly on the fly, set app shortcuts to open some programs straight to the second display, and save certain combinations of programs as Task Groups, letting you quickly access your favourite setups on the fly. The included Core i9 and Nvidia RTX 2060 mean the hardware shouldn’t struggle to keep up with committed creative work or even gaming, though Asus hasn’t yet confirmed RAM availability – the main factor in multi-tasking performance.

If you’d rather focus on one task at a time that’s an option too. You can turn the lower screen off entirely, or let one program sprawl across both screens, ideal for programmers who want extra vertical real estate, or complex creative apps that might let you move certain controls down to the bottom display. Asus says it’s also developing dedicated accessories – seemingly both software and hardware-based – that will help users set-up more complex hotkeys and controls for specific software.

The average user will, in all honesty, not get a whole lot out of this unless they really, really hate switching windows. But for anyone used to working on a desktop with multiple monitors who wants the same experience on the road, it’s clear to see why the Pro Duo might appeal – so long as you can put up with the impact that second screen has on the rest of the laptop’s design.

Squished by the screen

So here’s the downside: it’s quite tricky to actual fit a 14in display into the body of a laptop. For what it’s worth, Asus has done a good job of it, with minimal bezels around the screen and not a lot of wasted space: mostly just a thin black bar that boasts the ZenBook logo between the screen and the keyboard.

But in another sense, that’s exactly the problem: with no wasted space there’s also no free space, and the whole design feels inevitably cramped and squeezed. There’s still a full-size keyboard, but the trackpad has had to shift to the right-hand side of it, squeezed into the corner, and doubling as a numpad thanks to LED strips you can activate to illustrate the number keys.

There’s almost no un-used space at all on the main body, which means there’s nowhere to rest your hands while you type. Asus is also releasing a palm rest – though it’s not clear if this will be included, or a paid extra – but whether you use it or not you might find that the Pro Duo is tricky to use in cramped conditions.

It’s hefty too. Between the top-end specs and the extra display, this thing is thicc, and it’s got the weight to match – an ultrabook this ain’t. Portability clearly wasn’t the priority here, and while it’s still some shy of the heftier gaming devices out there, there are plenty of other premium creative devices from the likes of Apple or Dell that offer similar performance with a slimmer build.

One advantage of the heft is that it does leave Asus space for a decent array of ports at least. You get two full-size USB ports, one USB-C, and one HDMI, along with the dedicated power port – Asus still hasn’t jumped onto the USB-C charging bandwagon, sadly.

As is standard for Asus laptops these days, sound is provided by Harmon/Kardon, so you can expect that to deliver too, though I haven’t tested it yet. The chunky chassis also packs in a ‘Turbo Cooling’ fan, with a dedicated function key to amp it up to high gear when you know you want the laptop to work hard.

The Asus ErgoLift hinge design returns, naturally propping the base of the body up at a slight angle – ideal for both cooling and comfortable typing – and beyond the silly screen the rest of the design is actually very restrained. It’s available in a black finish with pretty minimal detailing, with both the Asus logo and its concentric circle finish offset slightly on the aluminium body.

There’s also one other feature you won’t see in my photos, because it wasn’t enabled during my hands-on: a small light strip underneath the front edge of the body, which illuminates when you use either of the Cortana or Alexa voice assistants that come built-in, just as you’d find on most dedicated smart speakers.

Early verdict

A lot of the ZenBook Pro Duo’s appeal will depend on the price, but it’s clear that no matter what this is going to be a divisive device.

If you’re a multi-monitor addict who’s fed up of feeling constrained by your laptop’s paltry single screen, then the Pro Duo could be pretty tempting – not least since it packs more than enough power for just about anything you’d care to throw at it.

On the other hand, if your typical multi-tasking is limited to a few browser tabs and a music app, there’s really no need to put up with the compromises that the Pro Duo necessitates.

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We still don’t know exactly what to expect when 5G arrives – we know it will provide quicker and more reliable connection to the internet, but we still don’t know how this will affect the way we game or stream media on our phones.

Network providers in countries around the world have launched, or are preparing to launch, 5G networks, and companies like Samsung, Motorola and Oppo have already released compatible phones, so the 5G future we’re anticipating is visible on the horizon.

This 5G infrastructure isn’t exactly widespread yet, so to see how 5G might change our mobile gaming habits we took a look at Hatch, a cloud gaming app that’s already out, ready for when all our phones are 5G-enabled.

Since 5G isn’t available yet in most places we used the app over Wi-Fi and 4G, to get a feel for how the app runs on a fast (ish) connection, as well as what it feels like to stream games on the go.

Gaming on the go 

When we loaded up Hatch we were greeted by a home page full of various games, a lot like the Play Store or the App Store, except when we selected a game we could jump straight in (after a short load) – we didn’t have to wait for the game to download.

We could also jump between games whenever we wanted, and the fact we had all these games at our disposal made the option to change games when we were getting tired of one (or were performing terribly at Angry Birds again) a lot more tempting – it was easy to play a few minutes of different games in one session.

Hatch recommends certain games, both in terms of traditional app stores ‘Editor’s Picks’ and also through an option on the home page that lets you choose a genre and have Hatch load up a random game that fits the brief. When we chose this we were dropped into a game, usually one that we hadn’t heard of before, and it helped us discover some gems we would never have thought of downloading.

The games on Hatch are all ‘traditional’ mobile games like Angry Birds, Hitman Go and Monument Valley, as opposed to similar cloud streaming service Google Stadia, which aims to offer blockbuster titles. Joseph Knowles, director of communications at Hatch, told TechRadar “touchscreen games that are designed for mobile will always have a natural edge over games that are not designed for mobile”, and so the app won’t feel much competition from other cloud gaming services.

Despite Hatch’s website saying otherwise, there are ads on the app, but it’s free to download and play games, so most users will probably feel that ads are a small price to pay. A larger price we paid was for the connection, as gaming when out and about while on 4G did eat up quite a bit of data, and meant slower load times.

What Hatch tells us about 5G gaming 

The big draw to cloud gaming with 5G is that you won’t need to download games, which has two benefits: it saves space on your phone, so devices with plenty of storage like the pricey 1TB Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus won’t be necessary for having loads of games; and it means you can play new games on impulse, without having to spend ages downloading something only to realise you don’t enjoy it.

This will open up the mobile games market – instead of players only downloading games that sit at the top of download lists, they’ll be more likely to try something new, especially if an app like Hatch can introduce them to a random game when they ask. Smaller developers, then, will have a much easier way of getting their games out to a wider audiences.

Knowles described cloud gaming’s unique edge as “lowering consumers’ barrier to entry and dramatically growing the addressable market for games”, so people who aren’t typically mobile gamers could get drawn in by the ease of access. You won’t need a processing-powerhouse gaming phone like the Black Shark 2 either, which again lowers the barriers to entry. 

What do we want to know about 5G? 

The main question Hatch leaves us asking is how much 5G will cost consumers – if people are using lots of their data for cloud gaming and other similar tasks it could end up costing a lot, depending on how much 5G contracts cost. Hatch, and online games we’ve played, can often eat through data, and we’re expecting 5G will cost a little more than 4G, so playing games on the go could see you racking up a sizeable bill.

When we asked EE how much the UK’s 5G network would cost it told us it was still finalizing its pricing plans, but Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s consumer brands, said in an interview it would be “a bit like 4G […] a few pounds more than 3G”.

While several other network providers have pledged that 5G will cost the same as 4G, we’re also expecting most people on 5G will use a lot more data thanks to the ease of use the connectivity provides, so we’re not sure how much extra 5G will end up costing.

We asked Knowles about how people access Hatch, and he told us the app is used in different ways in different markets – so while players in the UK tended to stick to Wi-Fi, people in countries with affordable data plans, like Finland, were much more likely to use data to play games. It seems that 5G gaming’s popularity could be dependant on its affordability, as people aren’t going to be likely to stream games if it’ll cost them a fortune.

We’re also intrigued to see what 5G and cloud gaming mean for smartphone hardware – newer phones push the envelope with increasingly fast chipsets and ever more storage, but neither will be as crucial for apps like Hatch in which the game is processed online, as they are currently for gaming. Instead, more reliable network connectivity and better-looking displays will become more important in a handset for cloud gamers.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G has a pretty impressive chipset and quite a bit of internal memory at 256GB or 512GB, but we could see the hypothetical Samsung Galaxy S11 5G (or whatever it’s called) prioritize features like screen technology or sound quality over improvements to the memory and processor.

The benefits of 5G won’t be apparent straight away, and it’ll take a few years for phone manufacturers and app developers to figure out how to make the most of the reliable and near-instantaneous connectivity it should be provide – but Hatch gives us an insight in to what 5G means for mobile games and cloud gaming.

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Following on from last year’s ZenBook Pro 15, which featured a productivity-inspiring touchscreen trackpad, Asus is doubling down on its unique approach with the newly-announced ZenBook Pro Duo (UX581). It features what Asus is calling the ScreenPad Plus, which is a secondary touch display that spans the entire width of the laptop’s full-size keyboard.

Announced at Computex 2019, the ZenBook Pro Duo with ScreenPad Plus is an absolute beast within its gorgeous frame, sporting a 9th generation Intel Core i9 CPU, a GeForce RTX 2060 GPU, Wi-Fi 6 capability, up to 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD storage. 

The ZenBook Pro Duo also packs a full set of I/O ports including a Thunderbolt 3-enabled USB Type-C port.

Its biggest highlight, however, is that it boasts not one, but two 4K screens: its main display is a 15.6-inch 4K (3840 x 2160) touchscreen OLED, while the resolution of its secondary 14-inch ScreenPad Plus display is also technically 4K (3840 x 1100), despite only having around half the vertical lines of the laptop’s primary screen.

While the ScreenPad Plus can be used as a standard secondary Windows display, Asus’s ScreenXpert control software offers users multiscreen window and app management tools, including App Switcher, ViewMax and App Navigator.

Along with its flagship Pro model, Asus also announced a smaller 14-inch ZenBook Duo (UX481) which features a lighter chassis 12.6-inch FHD ScreenPad Plus, Intel Core i7 CPU and GeForce MX250 GPU.

The regular ZenBook also gets an upgrade

Along with its show-stopping ZenBook Pro Duo range, Asus also announced upgrades to its standard ZenBook lineup, with new 13-, 14- and 15-inch models boasting second-generation ScreenPad 2.0 touchscreen trackpads.

Featuring a NanoEdge display with ultra-slim bezels (95% screen-to-body ratio), the ZenBook 13 (UX334), ZenBook 14 (UX434) and ZenBook 15 (UX534) laptops offer some mighty impressive specs, with the choice of up to 8th Gen Intel Core i7 CPUs, GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q graphics, 16GB RAM, ultrafast PCIe SSDs and gigabit-class Wi-Fi 5.

To celebrate Asus’ 30th anniversary, a special ZenBook Edition 30 (UX334FL) will also be available in limited numbers, featuring a Pearl White finish and genuine Italian leather lid cover with matching accessory set. Standard models will be available in Royal Blue, with gold and rose gold accents.

At present, none of the laptops mentioned above have pricing or availability information, but we can expect Asus to make an official announcement in the coming weeks.

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An attempted shareholder revolt over Amazon’s sale of facial recognition technology to the police mustered less than 3% of votes cast at the firm’s annual general meeting.

The tally was revealed in a corporate filing.

The tech firm had said it was aware of civil rights concerns but had not received any reports of law enforcement clients misusing its Rekognition tool.

Even so, the system is set for further scrutiny.

Last week, Republican and Democrat politicians on the House Oversight Committee raised concerns about the speed at which Amazon’s facial recognition facility and others like it were being deployed.

“My office has had nine meetings with representatives from Amazon. We ask questions of experts across the spectrum, and my concerns only grow day by day,” commented Democrat congressman Jimmy Gomez.

“Shareholders did not not end up passing a ban of Rekognition… and you know what? That just means it’s more important Congress acts.”

Republican congressman Jim Jordan added: “It is virtually unregulated but I think that frankly that needs to change.”

For its part, Amazon has said that it should be up to lawmakers rather than individual companies to decide what restrictions should be put in place.

“To the extent there may be ambiguities or uncertainties in how existing laws should apply to facial recognition technology, we have and will continue to offer our support to policymakers and legislators in identifying areas to develop guidance or legislation to clarify the proper application of those laws,” the company said.

Independent study

The ballot at last Wednesday’s annual general meeting was held on the basis of one share, one vote.

The proposal to ban governments from making use of Rekognition garnered close to 8.3 million votes, but that figure was dwarfed by the 327 million votes placed in opposition. In addition, there were about 5.5 million abstentions.

That means that the idea only garnered 2.4% support.

It needed more than 50% to pass, although even that outcome would still not have been binding on the company’s board.

A second vote was also held, calling on Amazon to commission an independent study into the risks posed to the general public’s privacy rights and to specifically address concerns that Rekognition could lead to the disproportionate surveillance of people of colour, immigrants and activists.

This attracted 94.2 million votes in favour of the proposal and 239.6 million votes against, with 8.2 million abstentions.

That represented 27.5% support for the idea, which again was well short of the threshold.

Chinese competitor

In the short-term, attention may now turn to one of Amazon’s facial-recognition rivals.

The Bloomberg news agency and CNBC are bother reporting that the Trump administration is considering adding the China-based maker of the Face++ system to a trade blacklist.

The move would prevent Megvii from making use of US-related technologies and components or otherwise doing business with American organisations.

Face++ had much lower error rates at identifying women and people with darker skin tones compared to Rekognition, according to a recent study.

But Human Rights Watch has said the system is helping power an app used by the Chinese police to repress the country’s Uighurs – a predominantly Muslim ethnic group.

Megvii said it instructs clients not to use its technology to infringe human rights.

“We are not aware of being on any US government list,” a spokeswoman told the BBC.

“Unfortunately, the current geopolitical climate leads to inaccurate and unhelpful speculation about individual companies.

“Megvii believes in the power of artificial intelligence to solve problems and make a positive social impact, and we want to collaborate with global peers to promote best practices in AI applications.”

The US Commerce Department has already placed the Chinese telecoms firm Huawei on its so-called Entity List.

Were Megvii to suffer the same fate, it could frustrate an expected listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange later this year. The US banks Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are advising it on the flotation, according to Reuters.

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They call it football’s most richest game. They say it’s worth in excess of £150m to the club that wins it. But when the players of Aston Villa and Derby County walk on to the Wembley turf for the 2019 EFL Championship play-off final today, that will be the furthest thing from their minds. It’s all about that place in the Premier League and only one team can grab it. Find out who with an Aston Villa vs Derby live stream – no matter where in the world you are.

The two sides have had very different EFL Championship seasons at this point, but equally tense semi-finals to overcome. Up until February, it looked like Aston Villa were destined for a mid-table finish. But then a 4-0 defeat of Derby themselves sparked a 10-game winning streak for Dean Smith’s men. Tammy Abraham’s 25 league goals and Jack Grealish’s youthful determination were big factors in this and Villa will be marginal favourites to head back to the big time.

The drama of their penalty shoot-out win against neighbours West Brom was matched by Derby County’s remarkable comeback semi-final defeat of old enemy Leeds United. Managed by the legendary Frank Lampard, Derby loitered around the play-off places all season and a strong finish secured sixth place in the Championship. Loanees Harry Wilson, Mason Mount and Mason Bennett will all be important players today, led by stalwart centre-back and club captain Richard Keough who has his own play-off final demons to exorcise.

To see who will join the likes of Man City, Liverpool, Manchester United and the rest in the Premier League next season, you’re in exactly the right place to see how to get an Aston Villa vs Derby live stream to watch all the action from Wembley unfold.

How to stream Aston Villa vs Derby live in the UK

Live stream Aston Villa vs Derby from outside your country

In the US? Then keep scrolling, as we have your viewing options below…spoiler alert, you’ll need an ESPN+ subscription.

But if you’re abroad for the game and find that you can’t watch your home coverage online because it is geo-blocked, we have a handy alternative to allow you to watch as if you were back on your sofa.

How to watch the Championship play-off final: US live stream

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We’ve Beats and Air Pods, but here’s something a little different from Bose – sunglasses which double up as an in-ear headphones but without, well, any headphones. We review Bose Frames.

The audio giant’s move into wearables shouldn’t be a surprise when you consider headphones have always been something you wear, but you might be surprised we’re talking shades here. What does a part of your wardrobe have to do with enjoying your Spotify faves, you might ask?

First up, put away any thoughts of Snapchat Spectacles and Google Glass as while Bose Frames have an augmented element, it’s AR audio we’re dealing with here. Anything visual is relegated to the design of the specs themselves (which we rather like the look of).

The ‘wow’ factor comes in how you can listen to music through these shades without having anything plugged into your ear  – and nobody around you will notice a thing. Yep, you read correctly.

Going beyond first impressions, just how useful are these wearables for enjoying your audio on the go – and is there anything else you can do with them besides streaming the latest Tame Impala?

The answer might surprise you.

Price & Availability

You can pre-order Bose Frames from Amazon UK and Amazon US. There are two styles available at the same price of £195/$199, the roundish Rondo and rectangular Alto. Even sunglasses that aren’t also headphones can be easily more expensive.

We reviewed the Rondo style with standard black lenses; if you want coloured lenses then these’ll set you back in non-polarised at £19.95/around $25 and polarised at £29.95/around $30, but there don’t seem to be buy links to these yet.

Pre-orders are also available They go on sale 31 May.

Design & Features

We had a chance to wear the frames for a fortnight and we can first tell you that yes, nobody on the tube will hear you listening to My Neck, My Back over and over on the morning commute. Not unless you’ve really jacked up the volume as that’s when leakage is noticeable, so be wary not to enjoy your NSFW sounds at too high a level.

To pump up the volume brings us to our main niggle, in that playing with volume levels on your Bose Frames can only be done through your phone. While there is a discrete button on the right arm of the glasses with which you can pause, skip and stop, ideally with an augmented product like this you’d expect to only touch one device at a time.

Even better would be the ability to control music using head movements, but that’s perhaps something to be rolled out in future models or even software updates.

Bose told us at product launch that to enjoy upcoming advancements you can keep the same frames, so buy these in the knowledge that you won’t need to shell out for a 2nd-gen anytime soon.

Bluetooth Connectivity

Pairing up Bose Frames with our old-ish iPhone was easy; just switch on your Bluetooth and go from there like you would with any wireless headphones. There is a Bose Connect app out there which suggests AR apps to enjoy with the glasses, but it’s not essential.

Perhaps the app could be tailored at one point so as to ‘lock’ your Bose Frames with just your phone. We say this as we had an odd incident where the frames somehow stayed tethered to the phone of the last person to use them – even thought they were nowhere in radius. Trying to connect them again to my own phone proved fruitless until the other party returned and made their own device ‘forget’ the frames.

It would also be great if with the app you can change the generic American voice of the interface; I think I’d rather hear a gentle purr in my head instead of your standard robotic sprite, thank you.

App connectivity

On the subject of apps, you can enjoy YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify etc through the frames whilst Instagramming or browsing online; buffering won’t be an issue.

Google Maps is also fun to try with these, a helpful voice giving you the right directions you need when exploring the big city.

You can also get Siri to listen to your commands, and Google Assistant capability will be coming at some point. That’s because Bose Frames have a built-in microphone like many pairs of headphones.

To test this out I made a call in the busy streets of London and was delighted to have an easy two-way conversation where the sounds of the city didn’t drown out one word I was saying (and vice versa). I may have looked insane doing it, but the thrill was definitely worth it.

It’s also easy to switch between calls using the same button on the frames, plus you can also answer WhatsApp calls. I was even able to tap for dictation in the popular chat app and spell out a message or two through the wearables. Bose may call these ‘smart sunglasses’, but I call them a Smart Assistant on the go.

Sound Quality

The audio on Bose Frames for calls is good – and it’s the same story for your music. I could happily appreciate the beats of Flying Lotus whilst strutting through Piccadilly Circus on a busy weekday afternoon.

Bass-heads will be disappointed, but otherwise expect a crisp level of sound for your tracks.

If you’re wondering how this all works, first know that this thankfully isn’t the often disappointing bone conduction that we’re talking about. Instead, the shades make use of custom stereo transducers built into multi-ported acoustic chambers in the arms. Music is delivered to the ears through ultra-precise geometry, at the same time being sampled and ‘silenced’ by ports on the arms so no sounds are delivered to anyone else.

What this means is the wearer gets an ‘open ear experience’. With Bose Frames you can have a conversation with a mate whilst nodding along to Grimes, or just enjoy music without having that pressure of a bud in your ear. Ambient sound won’t get in the way of your ambient vaporwave mix, in other words. With this tech, you’re living in the ‘smart zone’, a place where reality blends with augmentation – and it’s quite a nice place to be in. 

Product Build

Bose is primarily marketing these for people looking to replace their Ray-Bans. Two big problems though – the frames won’t suit all face sizes, and short-sighted wearers who decide to replace the lenses with prescription ones will be instantly voiding their warranty. No alterations allowed, alas.

The Alto make meanwhile doesn’t look too hot, and with each style there is a certain bulk to the arms which can’t be missed. The front of the Rotondo almost makes up for it, though, being the most stylish of the set if you ask us. We do wonder if a partnership with Ray-Ban would have added to the aesthetic, as a collaboration would probably have been the best way to create a meaningful alternative to traditional sunglasses.

Note that Bose has built these frames in the sturdy and reliable Grilamid TR90 plastic, and lenses will block 99% of all UV rays. Smart or not, these shades do what they’re supposed to do. The case seen in the photos comes supplied.

Battery Life

Battery health is good and the Bose Frames can be easily charged with the provided USB cable.

To turn off the shades, simply flip them over as below and press the button to wake up. Simple, really, although shutting them off by folding the arms together would have made just as much sense.

Verdict

It’s been a long time since a new bit of tech wowed us at TA towers, but the Bose Frames certainly caught our attention in a way not felt since the launch of the even the iPad.

Looking beyond initial first impressions, Bose Frames provide a decent and innovative alternative to headphones for anyone looking to enjoy the upcoming summer with their favourite tunes and friends by their side. The feeling of having a clear ear is hard to beat, especially during the heat of the summertime, and the audio is surprisingly decent.

The downsides come in Bose’s decision to ignore millions of short-sighted consumers and hitting stores before fully utilising the glasses’ AR capabilities. At the launch event Bose informed us of AR apps that can detect your movement when using the frames – one example being a golfing app – and yet the one thing thing wearers would probably make good use of isn’t available. We’re talking movement of the head to control your playback and volume, of course, and TA will be keeping an eye on future software updates to see if Bose Frames realises this potential to the full.

There is a whole universe of possibility with wearable tech like this, and Bose Frames is a great start on that front. Whether you’re looking for sunglasses different to the norm, a Smart Assistant on the go or simply a way to keep your ears fresh in the heat, then Bose’s entry into the wearables market is an impressive effort indeed.

Just make sure you get the right style at checkout.

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There was a time when 4K resolution, 100% sRGB colour coverage and VA technology were noteworthy enough for any screen, but none of these things is the big selling point of the Samsung Space Monitor. Instead, the pitch here is an integrated support solution that frees up desk space and allows better management of a working area for other purposes.

Therefore confusingly, this is as much about when you are not using it, rather than when you are.

Price

The Space Monitor starts at £349 in the UK and if you’re happy with the smaller 27in model (S27R750). Then there’s a 32in option (S32R750) at £439 direct from Samsung, and it can be found for , having recently seen a price drop from $499.

That cost puts it above the budget 4K displays, but less than those designed specifically for gaming. However, you can find the monitor at Amazon UK and Amazon US starting at a more reasonable £279/$369 making it more attractive.

Many competitors are offering a 4K VA technology panel for less than Samsung are asking for the larger 32in model, which we’ve tested here.

The AOC U3277PWQU is £449/$379 and has a USB hub. ViewSonic VX3211-4K-MHD is £349/$399, with three inputs. And, LG offers the LG 32UD60-B for just $349 with an adjustable height stand and AMD FreeSync.

Samsung also makes the AMD FreeSync enabled LU32J590UQNXZA, selling it for $369.

Design & Build

Samsung has a good reputation for sleek and stylish design, and the Space Monitor doesn’t contradict those conventions.

The VA technology panel technology used in it has enabled one of the smallest borders on the top and sides of any screen we’ve reviewed, and only the bottom has a strip wide enough to place a readable logo. At 26mm it is also very thin front to back. So narrow that it doesn’t allow for the inclusion of speakers or an internal power supply, regrettably.

The key selling point isn’t its overall elegance, but the integrated support arm that Samsung designed for it.

At one end it screws to the back of the Space Monitor just below the input ports, and at the other, it has a vice-like assembly designed to grip the edge of a desk. If you have a desk that isn’t thicker than 9cm (3.54 inches), this support holds the screen vertically about 18.5 cm off the desk, and the balancing foot sticks out just 10cm from the edge.

The support has two joints allowing the screen to come both down and forward, necessitating that if you want the screen lower it also must come towards you. There is no twist or pivot movement, and the S32R750 has no VESA mounting holes should you need either of those options.

What it does include is two tracks that allow cabling to run unseen to the back of the monitor, and Samsung includes a special combined HDMI and power line that fits one of the two channels in the support arm. The other slot is for a DisplayPort Mini 1.2 input, but no cable was included for that.

First, a few words of warning about deployment. We’d recommend that you attach the support and cabling before placing it on a table, and when you do that pull the desk well away from the wall so you can lift it into place from the opposite direction.

If you try to reach over the desk and attach it from the front the likelihood of back injury seems dramatically increased, and you won’t be able to hold the assembly perpendicular and tighten the clamp.

The screen and support combined weigh 7kg, and that might not seem much until you try to hold a naturally unbalanced object at arm’s length with one arm while reaching behind it with the other to tighten the clamp.

Once it’s clamped, you can push the table back against a wall, although you’ll always have roughly 10mm of support arm keeping it from going entirely flush to the vertical surface – wall or otherwise.

A good choice the designers made was to include a simple to operate joystick for operating the OSD. Although given that the panel could be resting on the desk surface, using buttons wasn’t an option.

The OSD has a quick access level where you can set brightness, contrast and Eye Saver Mode, and an extended menu system where you can customise the settings more. There isn’t any colour temperature or gamma controls, an omission that fits with the general use thinking behind this design.

Specs & Features

We’ve talked plenty about the support arm so far, but the Space Monitor sports a high-quality panel that can’t be ignored. Note that we’ve tested the 32in model here which has slightly different specs to the smaller 27in option.

This monitor uses a VA technology panel that has a decent colour gamut, excellent viewing angles and reasonable response times.

Natural resolution is 3840×2160 with a 16:9 aspect ratio, and as the product number suggests it is 32in corner to corner. The quoted brightness 250cd/m2 and a static contrast ratio of 2,500:1.

This all adds up to a specification that doesn’t make the S32R750 ideally suited to graphics professionals or gamers, putting it firmly in the useful-for-most-things category.

The very high resolution is good for those working on large documents, and the response time is low enough that you can play games on it. Although as it only supports up to a 60Hz refresh rate on 1080p resolutions or higher, most serious gamers wouldn’t consider it.

Our DataColor calibration analysis threw up some interesting information that showed that the S32R750 has a slightly better screen than even Samsung claims, in certain areas.

For example; the real static contrast is closer to 1100:1, but 100% brightness is 322.8cd/m2. And, the tone response is excellent.

If the panel has a weakness, it relates to the uniformity of the brightness across the panel. The luminosity varies between 11-14% in the corners, being the brightest in the screen centre. Oddly given this scope, the colour uniformity is very good, with a variation from optimal of 4.2 at the top left, a less everywhere else.

Even with the brightness bias to the centre, this is a good quality display that most people would find perfectly acceptable for home or office work.

Verdict

We’d contest that this screen is 10% about the panel and 90% about the support arm. As you might reasonably expect with one of the largest manufacturers of thin display panels, the resolution and colour gamut of this one is top notch. With the possible exception of gamers, many users would appreciate a screen and support like this one.

However, the elegance of the support does mask some major limitations that other support systems don’t have.

For example; there is no rotation other than tilt. Therefore, you need to mount the S32R750 exactly in line with the seat location, as you can’t angle it to face you.

Also, being able to pull the screen towards you and rest it on the desk is nice, but Samsung didn’t put any cushioning projections on the underside to protect it. We think this tilted option for the screen would have made more sense had it been touch-enabled, but it isn’t.

And, while Samsung thought long and hard about making monitor supports with the smallest possible footprint, they entirely ignored the other major space occupying components of computing; the mouse and keyboard.

Without a USB hub, the Space Monitor can’t get these off the desk, reducing the impact of what area the screen recovers for you. If the design had a hub, and some means to easily clip a screen and mouse on it, then it would be significantly more effective at saving space.

We should also mention that without speakers these will probably be added to the desktop as an accessory, further undermining the objective of this design.

That leaves the S32R750 as a decidedly situational solution. Because the stand isn’t replaceable with a VESA type should it not exactly fit your exact ergonomics. If it fits yours, then it this is a slick piece of equipment, and we can easily imagine it being perfect in an education context or for those with extreme space constraints.

Everyone else would probably be better off with the best 4K VA panel they can afford and a support arm that can twist and swivel for portrait mode, and even has a shelf for the keyboard to be lifted away with the screen.

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