Today, our digital lives are just as important as real life. The personal data you store in your online accounts and the footprint you leave behind via search and browsing history is attached to your identity, and it’s yours to protect.
When it comes to our digital lives, last year was an extraordinary one – not only in the sheer quantity and scale of hacks and data breaches, but also in the magnitude of trust lost between the internet and the world that relies on it. In just a few months, the three biggest internet companies, Facebook, Google, and Amazon, all announced they had been hacked.
Arguably, our data and information is increasingly less secure, online transactions are far from seamless, and the legitimacy of news is something we now question. Instead of being a tool that empowers good – inspiring more human connections, knowledge sharing, and big ideas – the internet has in some cases become a source of frustration and sometimes fear.
So how do we help consumers protect themselves against these problems?
The internet doesn’t belong to anyone, it belongs to everyone. And this creates a unique challenge when it comes to fixing its issues. Governments can have a positive impact on the situation with the implementation of regulation, such as GDPR. However, we also know the answer to building a better digital world is by empowering people, all of us.
We are using more and more online accounts in our everyday lives, and that number doubles every five years. Managing passwords for all these tools has become incredibly hard. Most of us react to this problem with indifference and tend to use the same password everywhere. We bury our heads in the sand and think that everything is fine; until we get hacked. You may not be able to control the security architecture of the digital services you use every day that hold so much of your data, but you can take measures to make sure you have optimal password hygiene to secure your accounts. This approach is the digital version of the “containment” doctrine.
First steps for security your digital identity
This National Consumer Protection Week, we can all take some simple, initial steps to secure our digital accounts.
First, have a unique password for every account. This ensures that even if one account is breached your other accounts will be secure. Some breaches aren’t discovered or disclosed for years, as was the case with the Yahoo breach that happened two years ago. You never know when your information might be vulnerable. We’ve found that the average user has over 150 accounts, so it’s impossible to remember every password – password managers do this job for you.
Make sure all your passwords are strong. The ideal password is one that is a unique and random string of letters and numbers. Again, this is where password managers are critical as they can quickly generate strong and secure passwords for all your accounts.
Lastly, you should regularly change your passwords as breaches often go undetected for months, sometimes years, so you never know when your account might have been exposed. Using tools called password changers are critical for this process as they can instantly change your passwords for 100’s of top sites in a single click. This makes it extremely easy to ensure that your accounts are always being safeguarded against unknown threats.
We know the answer to building a better digital world is empowering people, all of us, to take back control of our own digital identities, allowing us to keep our personal data in our own hands and no one else’s. Only then will we be able to live in a safe digital world, and once again use the internet for good, in the way that was intended.
According to The Robot Report, “the team’s major insight was to look at objects as collections of 3D keypoints that double as a sort of “visual roadmap.”
The two most common approaches for robots picking up objects are pose-based systems (which estimate the object’s position and orientation), and geometry-based general grasping algorithms.
These can work well under certain conditions, but both have their drawbacks. A system based on poses can’t cope well with objects that are very different shapes, and grasping approaches can’t position objects with much subtlety.
Visual roadmaps
The new system, which is called kPAM (Keypoint Affordance Manipulation), enables robots to carry out tasks like hanging mugs on a rack or putting shoes on shelves, without having seen the objects before.
The study’s senior author, Russ Tedrake, explains that “understanding just a little bit more about the object — the location of a few key points — is enough to enable a wide range of useful manipulation tasks.”
Researchers at the same laboratory created this robot hand recently. Image credit: Jason Dorfman / MIT CSAIL
The Robot Report says that “the team next hopes to get the system to be able to perform tasks with even greater generalizability, like unloading the dishwasher or wiping down the counters of a kitchen.”
While kitchen-cleaning robots sounds like an attractive proposition, the technology developed in this study could have a huge impact on factory machines, reducing the need for pre-programming, and making the manufacturing process more efficient.
Still, the technology is still in its early stages, so we aren’t likely to see kPAM integrated into factory machines for a few years at least.
For a brief period in 2016, the Logitech G933 sat atop our recommendations for wireless gaming headsets. Retailing for about $100, less than half the price of premium options like the Astro A50, the 933 nevertheless was a great-sounding headset with an ingenious hidden microphone and a fancier look than the G930 it replaced.
But then Logitech put out the G533—cheaper, better looking, more comfortable, and built specifically for the PC. Yes, Logitech dethroned itself, and the G533 has sat on our recommendations list for nearly two years now.
Can it happen again? It’s time to find out, as Logitech recently released the G935, rightful successor to the G933—and perhaps a new heir to the throne.
Note: This review is part of our roundupof best gaming headsets. Go there for details on competing products and how we tested them.
Familiar face
Or perhaps not. Again, one of the reasons we gave the nod to the G533 was because it looks great. For years Logitech’s been steadily dialing back the “gamer” nob, as far as its design language is concerned. Keyboards, mice, headsets, they’ve all become steadily sleeker, more minimalist, ditching jagged edges and bright blue highlights for curves and piano black. The G533 was, as far as headsets go, the culmination of that.
To its credit, the G935 is a bit more restrained than its predecessor. The aggressive horizontal slashes on the G933’s ears have been replaced with a flowing S-curve, which gives it a slightly more modern look. Also, never underestimate the value of leatherette. The G935 uses that instead of sports mesh, and it instantly classes up the overall impression.
IDG / Hayden Dingman
That’s about it, though—slightly different accents, and the use of leatherette. Otherwise this is the same design as the G933. It’s not bad by any means, but the G935 does seem slightly dated with its boxy silhouette and showy angles. For some reason Logitech kept the weird triangular engravings inside the headband as well, which I really don’t understand. So superfluous, and so different from Logitech’s current minimalism.
On the other hand, the G935 keeps a lot of features I loved from the last model—and ones that weren’t present on the G533, for that matter.
The hidden boom microphone returns, for instance. Of all the headsets to try this bit of misdirection, the G935 is the most successful. If you didn’t know there was a built-in microphone, you’d be hard-pressed to spot it. When not in use, it folds right up into the body of the headset, perfectly mimicking the lines of the chassis.
Does it matter? Eh, probably not. As I pointed out last time, “The G933 is so bulky, I doubt I’d wear it away from my computer.” And at my computer, it doesn’t really matter whether there’s a microphone attached or not—that’s more of a streetwear concern. It’s a nifty piece of engineering, but won’t really change how you use the G935. Nevertheless, I think it’s cool, and the microphone itself is decent. It’s a bit oversensitive in my opinion, picking up a lot of mouth noise even at a distance, but actual voice quality is good.
IDG / Hayden Dingman
I’m also a fan of Logitech’s dongle storage. This feature’s become more and more common the past few years, and thank goodness. I can’t even tell you how many wireless headsets I’ve rendered unusable because the dongle got lost somewhere in my apartment.
But the G933 was one of the earlier examples, and I still think it’s a solid solution this time around. The outer panels of the G935’s earcups are held on magnetically, and a gentle tug peels the faceplate right off. The right ear houses the battery, so you could keep a backup on-hand or just replace it a few years from now when it won’t hold a charge. The left ear has a cutout for the dongle.
And then there are the bevy of built-in controls. These aren’t as essential to me, and I appreciated the simplicity of the G533. That said, the G935 packs a power switch, three macro keys, a mute button, and a volume wheel on the left ear. It feels crowded at first, but the subtle differences in shape between each make it remarkably intuitive after a few days. I don’t know that I need macro keys on my headset, but it’s less obtrusive than you might expect.
IDG / Hayden Dingman
In any case, the real surprise is how little’s changed. Given the design overhauls Logitech’s been doing lately, I expected a bigger shift between the G933 and G935. This is by-and-large the same headset though—durable, but bulky and a bit too tight, with the same RGB light ribbons on the rear and a few other superfluous elements. It’s not bad per se, but I still think the G533 is a stronger design.
It’s also worth pointing out the short battery life, because that hasn’t changed either. Even in 2016, Logitech’s eight-hours-per-charge (12 with the lighting disabled) seemed short. In 2019, it’s dreadful. The G935’s direct competition, HyperX’s Cloud Flight headset, lasts up to 30 hours with the lighting disabled. Another competitor, the SteelSeries Arctis 7, lasts up to 24. Given Logitech’s stride in wireless mice, I’m disappointed the G935’s battery didn’t get more of a boost.
Finally, bass
The G935 sounds great though. That was key to our love for the G933, and Logitech’s improved on that even.
Where the G933 used 40mm drivers, the G935 is the first Logitech headset to use the now-standard (for gaming headsets) 50mm drivers. Now, let’s be clear: A well-tuned 40mm driver is better than a poorly balanced 50mm driver. In theory, the driver size isn’t a huge factor in how a headset sounds.
But a larger driver does generally indicate better bass presence, and that’s one of the areas where the G933 struggled. The G935 doesn’t sound bass-heavy, by any means, but there’s definitely more low-end this time around. Last time I felt all-but required to use Logitech’s “Drop the Bass” EQ setting to get an exciting sound, but this time the default “Flat” response feels pretty damn close to what I want. I don’t think it’s quite as flat as Logitech claims, and I detect a smidge of warmth on the low end and in the upper-mids, but not in a way that’s distracting.
IDG / Hayden Dingman
It’s a good thing I like the default sound too, because there doesn’t seem to be nearly as much bass headroom this time around. I did, for the sake of experiment, jump back and forth between the “Flat” setting and the now better-named “Bass Boost” setting, but I can barely tell the difference even in music with prominent bass chug. Even creating my own EQ and pumping the bass sliders to max didn’t make much of a difference. Personally I don’t think you need more low end than the G935 has on offer, but if you’re in search of skull-shaking bass then this isn’t your headset.
That niche aside though, I think the G935 is one of the better headsets on the market—especially in the sub-$200 range. The HyperX Cloud Flight gives Logitech some stiff competition, but I think the G935 still edges it out—slightly.
My only real disappointment? Isolation. As I said, Logitech switched to leatherette on the G935 and I was onboard. Sure, there’s more heat buildup, but generally both sound quality and comfort are better with leatherette.
IDG / Hayden Dingman
Of course, part of the reason leatherette improves sound quality is because it blocks outside noise from intruding. I used the aforementioned Cloud Flight in an airport for instance, and was amazed how much crowd chatter it filtered out. The G935 isn’t nearly as impressive—in fact, as I write this I can hear the tap-tap-tap of my keyboard over the music I’m listening to. Logitech’s not the only offender in this department, and it’s certainly better than previous sports-mesh designs like the G933, but given the move to leatherette I expected better.
Bottom line
Ultimately, the G533 holds the throne. The G935 is a better-sounding headset, there’s no doubt in my mind, and at $169 the price is more reasonable this time around as well. But I strongly prefer the G533’s design, the battery life is (slightly) better, it’s cheaper, and it still sounds pretty damn good. “Good enough,” I might say.
That said, the G935 is a solid update. Logitech’s toned down the worst of the G933’s design excesses, upped the bass presence significantly, and kept the rest pretty much the same. It’s not the most inspiring upgrade, but it’ll keep Logitech’s flagship on par with the competition for the next few years at least.
Meanwhile I’ll be waiting for the G535.
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Insider threats are not the only security challenge faced by security and risk professionals. They do, however, persist as one that is troublesome. There are various reasons as to why this is the case and too many to elaborate on in a single article. It is generally agreed upon in the security community that insider threats persist due to a lack of understanding over exactly what an insider threat is, how it manifests and what basic steps can be taken to mitigate it.
Annually, our insider threat analyst team performs assessments across our global customer base to produce our insider threat intelligence report, which is free and openly available to the security community. The report provides education about the different types of insider threats out there. It reveals some of the most high-risk insider threat trends and behaviours. Most importantly, it provides steps on how to reduce related risks.
Insider threats, who they are
This year, we identified three primary insider threats types.
The first were malicious users. These individuals use their access privileges to intentionally harm their organisations. They account for 23 per cent of the incidents we observed.
The next were negligent users. This group is comprised of people who do not intend to cause any harm. They end up placing their organisations at risk via mistakes, poor decisions and a lack of education and understanding regarding what smart security decisions are. They are responsible for 64 per cent of the incidents we identified.
Finally, we witnessed additional cases of compromised users. This group are those who have had credentials stolen or abused by nefarious sources. They account for 13 percent of the trends we spotted.
Since commencing with this annual report, we’ve witnessed changes in incident types. This year there were some dramatic shifts that are worthy of noting.
Data in the cloud – Ninety-eight per cent of assessments discovered sensitive and confidential information exposed and available online and in the cloud. Exposed data was found primarily in Dropbox, Google G Suite, and Microsoft Office 365. This was an increase of 20 per cent over 2018.
Insecure data transfer – One-hundred percent of assessments detected sensitive and confidential data transfers taking place via unencrypted and encrypted USB drives, personal email accounts, and cloud applications. This was an increase of 10 per cent over 2018, which looked at transfer via unencrypted USBs only.
Changing lanes – Ninety-seven per cent of assessments detected employees who were flight risks. This class of insider that often steals data or IP and acts with a decreasing sense of allegiance to the companies from where they’re departing. This was an increase of 59 per cent over 2018.
Sidestepping – Ninety-five per cent of assessments detected employees attempting to bypass or circumvent security controls via anonymous browsing, VPN and TOR usage. This was an increase of 35 per cent over 2018.
NSFW surfing – Seventy-six per cent of assessments detected employees engaged in high-risk internet surfing. This included visiting pornography, questionable gaming and gambling sites. This was an increase of 9 per cent over 2018.
There were more insider threat activities taking place than just these five. I’ve highlighted them here as they represent a cross section of incidents caused by the three types of insider threats we track — malicious, negligent and compromised. This grouping also shows areas where threats that frequently place data and systems at risk are on the rise.
Key takeaways
Just knowing what some of the more alarming trends are isn’t enough to reduce associated risks. Understanding how to address them is where the real security value is gained. In the case of each of these trends, there is a solid set of security best practices that can greatly reduce the chances of any of them showing up inside of organisations.
First, set enforceable and realistic security and compliance policies. All of the rules in the world will end up meaning nothing if employees, contractors and other third parties who have access to networks don’t follow them and if they can’t be enforced effectively. It may be very unrealistic to create a rule that forbids anyone from using a cloud sync-and-share drive. It is, however, far more likely that employees will follow security protocols if they are provided with the ability to use such productivity tools along with a set of user-friendly security guidelines.
Next — educate, educate, educate. Let’s face it, organisations may never be able to actually create an overall cybersecurity-conscious culture. Thinking “security” is typically reserved to those of us who are active or familiar with the profession. Companies can increase the likelihood of users adopting more secure habits if, at first, they know what those habits are and how to practice them. One of our clients, CIO Graeme Hackland of Williams Formula 1 Racing, is a major proponent of security education. He frequently holds “town hall” style meetings with employees to educate them on best practices. An approach he says works tremendously well.
Finally, understand behaviours. There are various ways of gaining insight and visibility of user behaviours and activities taking place within environments. Many solutions and techniques, in practice, do end up collecting a fair amount of data. Unfortunately, information collected and poured over frequently provides more false alarms than real actionable insights. To truly understand what activities all users are engaged in, programs need to give analysts the ability to quickly get to the heart of high-risk behaviors and determine who is behind them.
Katie Burnell, Insider Threat Specialist at Dtex Systems
We’ve also highlighted the best antivirus to help protect your business from the latest cyber threats
Fifty people died and dozens were injured in Friday’s twin shootings.
Facebook said it would also remove edited versions, to stop “graphic content” being shared, although copies still appear to be available online.
Tributes removed
The social network released the information as politicians and commentators called for more to be done to police live-streaming.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that Facebook and other social media giants had “further questions” to answer about how they responded to the event.
“Obviously these social media platforms have wide reach,” she said. “This is an issue that goes well beyond New Zealand.”
Spark NZ, the biggest telecoms firm in New Zealand, told Reuters that it had cut off access to “dozens” of websites redistributing video of the attack.
Police in New Zealand said the video was now classified as an “objectionable publication”, making it an offence to distribute or possess the material.
An 18-year-old has appeared in court in New Zealand charged with allegedly distributing a live-stream of the attack. He could face up to 14 years in jail if convicted.
‘Tributes’
Social media sites including Twitter and YouTube have also been chasing down and removing copies of the video uploaded by users.
Reddit has also banned a discussion forum on its site called “watchpeopledie”, because clips of the Christchurch attack were being shared and because it was “posting content that incites or glorifies violence”. It also issued a plea to users to report anyone uploading footage.
The social news site said it had also taken down posts that linked to the video or which showed the attack.
Valve, which runs the Steam gaming network, also said it removed more than 100 “tributes” by its members that sought to memorialise the alleged shooter. Some changed their profiles to include the gunman’s name or image and others used gifs of the attack in their bios.
The inability of social sites to stop the video circulating was having an effect in other ways in New Zealand.
Lotto NZ said it had pulled all advertising from social media sites and the country’s ASB Bank said was “considering” a similar step.
Industry groups representing advertisers issued a statement asking their members if they wanted to be “associated” with platforms that did not take responsibility for the content being shared.
The groups said: “The events in Christchurch raise the question, if the site owners can target consumers with advertising in microseconds, why can’t the same technology be applied to prevent this kind of content being streamed live?”
A new feature coming to Chrome in the near future will allow users to limit the kind of data certain websites collect about them by blocking access to motion and light sensors on their device.
Laptops, smartphones and tablets have a number of sensors, such as gyroscope, accelerometer and light sensors, which websites can access to collect data about what kind of device you’re using, where you’re using it and even how you’re using it.
For anyone who is uncomfortable with websites accessing this kind of information, there’s some good news: Google is working on adding a feature to its popular Chrome web browser that will allow users to quickly and easily block access to these sensors.
Coming soon
The new feature appears in the latest Chrome Canary build, which is an early version of Chrome that allows people to test out upcoming releases and check for any bugs or issues.
The feature will alert you if you visit a website that wants to access your sensors. A pop-up window will appear saying “This page is using motion or light sensors” and offers you the choice of allowing access to the sensors or blocking access on a page-per-page basis.
Chrome allows you to block websites accessing your device’s sensors (Image Credit: TechRadar)
This is on the desktop version of Chrome, which is used on laptops and PCs. There is also an option for blocking access to the sensors on Android, but at the moment this is only a simple switch that blocks access for all websites, not just ones you’ve selected.
If you’re using Chrome Canary, you can access the settings at chrome://settings/content/sensors. According to MSPowerUser, the feature should be coming in Chrome 75, which will be made public in a few months.
Headphones with active noise cancellation (ANC) allow you to retreat from the din of modern life. And who doesn’t want to do that now and then? Even better, you can listen to your favorite tunes at lower levels, thus protecting your hearing. After thoroughly testing Edifier’s W860NB ANC headphones, I can say they’re better for the former than the latter.
Features
The Edifier W860NB is an over-ear (circumaural) Bluetooth headphone with artificial-leather earpads and headband, weighing in at just over 10 ounces. It utilizes 40mm drivers with neodymium magnets to achieve a specified frequency response from 20Hz to 20kHz (no tolerance given).
As mentioned at the top, the W860NB offers active noise cancellation. Four microphones, two in each earcup, sample ambient noise, which is then phase-inverted and mixed with the original signal to reduce the perceived level thanks to phase cancellation. (There’s also a fifth mic for phone calls.) Unfortunately, the W860NB has no transparency mode, which would temporarily disable ANC so you can hear things in your environment, such as safety instructions in an airplane.
Edifier
Wireless headphones like the W860NB offer freedom from wires that usually end up in a tangled mess.
The W860NB supports Bluetooth 4.1 with the HSP, HFP, A2DP, and AVRCP profiles, and it supports the high-quality aptX codec. In addition to conventional pairing with Bluetooth sources, it can be paired with devices that support NFC (Near-Field Communication). In that case, all you have to do is hold the W860NB close to the source device and accept the connection.
Interestingly, you can pair up to two Bluetooth source devices to the W860NB and play audio from either one. According to the manual, “When two Bluetooth devices have different operating systems (e.g., one has Android and the other is iOS), some cross-system operations (e.g., pause music in Android and play music in iOS) may experience delays. Please be aware that this is normal.”
The only other audio input is a 3.5mm two-channel analog-audio jack at the bottom of the left earcup. When you connect to a source using such a cable (which is included with the W860NB), the headphone powers off, becoming a passive headphone with an impedance of 32 ohms. This is great news if the battery is dead but you still want to listen.
Edifier
The W860NB comes with a nice hardshell case.
You charge the internal battery by connecting any USB power source (5V, 500 mA) to the microUSB connector near the bottom of the left earcup. A suitable cable is included with the headphone, but the connector is hidden behind a small plastic cover that seems certain to break off and get lost in short order. Charging takes about four hours, after which the battery will last about 25 hours with ANC engaged or 45 hours without ANC. That’s a very long battery life!
Like most such headphones, the W860MB lets you answer phone calls while listening to music. In that case, the music pauses during the call, and then resumes when you hang up.
User Interface
The only buttons on the W860NB are found near the bottom of the right earcup. They include the power button—which is actually a multifunction button—and a sliding toggle to turn ANC on or off. Aside from turning the power on and off, the multifunction button can also be used to answer, reject, and hang up phone calls as well as enable and disable the source device’s voice-assistant function (e.g., Siri in iOS devices).
All other functions—play/pause, volume up/down, and skip forward/back—are controlled with the touch-sensitive surface of the right earcup. To play or pause music, double tap in the center of the earcup. Slowly slide your finger up or down along the surface of the earcup to increase or decrease the volume, and slide your finger forward or backward to skip to the next or previous track.
If you get a call while listening, you can double tap the center area to answer the call and hang up when you’re done. Hold your finger in that area for about two seconds to reject the call.
Edifier
The bottom of the left earcup holds a 3.5mm analog-audio input, charging-indicator LED, and microUSB charging port under a flimsy cover. The bottom of the right earcup holds a status-indicator LED, power/multifunction button, and ANC on/off slider.
Audio performance
Pairing the W860NB with my iPad was no problem. I started my listening with “Blue Skies” from the album Cassandra Wilson Sings Standards; this tune includes only acoustic bass and drums accompanying Wilson’s voice. Overall, the sound was a bit thick, and the bass was somewhat bloated, but the voice was rich and fulsome.
Next up was “Chicha” from the album Tales From Home by acoustic guitarist Ciro Hurtado. This track includes electric bass, drums, flute, and synthesizers in addition to guitar. The instruments were well balanced with full-sounding guitar, and the bass wasn’t as boomy. The overall sound, however, was somewhat congested and closed in.
Remaining south of the border, I played “Los Laureles” from Linda Ronstadt’s Canciones de Mi Padre. The instrumentation includes a full Mariachi band with violins, trumpets, guitarron, and harp. Ronstadt’s gorgeous voice was nice and forward, but the overall sound was somewhat veiled with slightly boated bass.
“Wooden Ships” by Crosby, Stills & Nash is a strange mix for headphones, with the two solo voices hard-panned right and left. As rendered by the W860NB, the sound seemed quite veiled, especially the vocals, and the bass was a bit indistinct and boomy.
One of my favorite world-music artists is Jai Uttal and the Pagan Love Orchestra. “Guru Brahma” on the album Shiva Station includes sitar, electric bass, drums, tablas, guitar, organ, synths, and muted trumpet supporting Uttal’s vocals. The bass was way overblown, while the voice and sitar were rich and in your face.
Edifier
The surface of the right earcup provides touch-sensitive controls: play/pause/answer phone by double-tapping the center, increase or decrease the volume by sliding a finger up or down, and skip to the next or previous track by sliding a finger forward or backward. Unfortunately, the volume and skip-track controls do not work very well.
I also listened to “Croque Monsieur” from the album French Cafe: A Parisian Gypsy Jazz Swing Experience by Paris Cafe Society. This track includes clarinet, violin, guitar, acoustic bass, and percussion, all of which sounded rich and full. The bass was a bit boomy, but not as bad as some of the other tracks I listened to, and the clarinet and violin were well defined. The overall sound, however, was still somewhat thick and congested.
Turning to classical music, I listened to “Wie Lieblich Sind Deine Wohnungen” from Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem as performed by Collegium Vocale Gent and the Orchestre des Champs-Elysees under Philippe Herreweghe. The sound here was well balanced between the orchestra and choir, but it sounded a bit congested and veiled overall.
Joshua Bell is among the world’s preeminent violinists, as he aptly demonstrates playing Tchaikovsky’s Meditation in D Minor with the Berlin Philharmonic under Michael Tilson Thomas on the album Tchaikovsky. The orchestra sounded full and well balanced, but the violin was somewhat recessed, which could have been the mix of that particular track.
For some chamber music, I listened to the first movement of Brahms’ “Trio in A minor, Op. 114” as performed by Yo-Yo Ma on cello, Emanuel Ax on piano, and Richard Stoltzman on clarinet from the album Brahms; Beethoven; Mozart Piano Trios. Each instrument was well defined, but the overall sound was somewhat veiled, and the bass was boomy.
Edifier
The Edifier W860NB are also available in tan finish, but it’s still faux leather.
Controls, comfort, and noise cancellation
During my listening, I played with the touch-sensitive controls of the W860NB. Double-tapping the right earcup starts and pauses playback as expected. There’s a long delay, however, between sliding your finger up and down on the right earcup and a change in volume; I found it nearly impossible to set the volume I wanted using that control.
Sliding my finger forward and backward across the right earcup is supposed to skip to the next or previous track. But this was very unreliable; it would often skip two or three tracks. The touch-sensitive controls are a good idea, but this implementation needs work.
I listened to each selection twice—once on the W860NB and again on the PSB M4U 8 that I recently reviewed. The boomy low end and veiled, closed-in sound quality of the W860NB was all the more obvious when compared to the M4U 8, which invariably sounded much clearer and more open with no bass bloat. Also, the M4U 8 was louder at a given volume setting. Granted, the M4U 8 costs more than twice as much as the W860NB, but still….
In addition, I found the W860NB to be less than perfectly comfortable to wear. It didn’t easily conform to my head; I had to manually rotate the earcups for a good seal. In addition, the build quality feels pretty cheap, and after a while, I started sweating under the artificial-leather earpads.
Edifier
The Edifier W860NB’s build quality feels cheap.
Regarding active noise cancellation, the W860NB actually exhibited less hiss than the M4U 8 when I engaged ANC in a quiet room. Taking them both driving around my neighborhood, I started with comparing the ANC of each unit without any music. I found that the noise cancellation is at least as good in the W860NB—and perhaps a smidge better than the M4U 8.
Even more interesting, I discovered that the W860NB actually sounds better with ANC on! Whereas the M4U 8 sounds a bit bloated with ANC on, the opposite is true of the W860NB. In fact, it sounded just a bit anemic, with much less low end than without ANC. I checked this when I got home in a quiet room, confirming my observations in the car.
Just before I finished my evaluation, I had my wife call my cell while I was listening on the W860NB. Double-tapping the right earcup answered the call, and her voice sounded nice and clear. (She said the same about my voice.) I double-tapped the earcup again to hang up and resume listening.
Bottom Line
As I listened to the Edifier W860NB with ANC off, I was preparing to not recommend it; the sound quality is somewhat veiled and congested with boomy bass. Also, the build quality feels cheap, it’s not as comfortable as I would like, and the touch-sensitive controls don’t work very well.
But then I tried it with ANC on, and the sound improved substantially—though in that case, it’s a bit lean, which I prefer over boomy. Even better, the battery is spec’d to last up to 25 hours with ANC on, which is much longer than most. By contrast, the M4U 8 specifies a battery life of around 15 hours, but its batteries can be replaced with two regular AAs in a pinch. And like the M4U 8, with the power off (say, due to a dead battery), the W860NB can act as a passive headphone using a 3.5mm audio cable, though with no ANC, the sound is back to being bloated.
I still prefer the sound of the PSB M4U 8, at least with its ANC off. Plus, it has much better build quality, fully functional controls, and it’s more comfortable to wear for extended periods. But it’s more than twice as expensive as the W860NB.
Speaking of the price, $169.99 is quite good for Bluetooth headphones with ANC. And until March 23, you can snag the W860NB for only $129.99 on the Edifier website. If money is tight but you want over-ear headphones with ANC, the W860NB is worth a serious listen—as long as you do so with ANC on.
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