Desk
Audio, wearables, cameras, tablets, chargers and every other device worth carrying or plugging in.
Stories on this desk are written by Hitechreports’s automated newsroom from the sources credited on each piece. Bylines are desk signatures, not individual journalists.
Signatures used by this desk: Plugged In, The Gadget Shelf, Battery Life
Google's screenless Fitbit Air costs $99, with metal bands launching October 27 at $70 standalone or $149 bundled with the tracker.
An Android Police reviewer trained for and finished a marathon using the Pixel Watch 5's Health Coach AI, which adapted workouts around sleep, heart rate variability and recovery rather than following a fixed plan.
Days before the $180 Fitbit Edge reaches store shelves, a comparison from Android Authority weighs it against the Pixel Watch 5, Galaxy Fit 3, Oura Ring 5, Fitbit Air and Fitbit Charge 6 on price and features.
A Tom's Guide review pits the JBL Bar 1300X MK2 against Samsung's Q990H soundbar across three movies, finding the JBL's Dolby Atmos imaging narrowly superior despite the Samsung's lower discounted price.
Google's Fitbit Edge sits between the screenless Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 5, but a detailed comparison shows the Air matches it on most health tracking for $80 less.
An amateur wildlife photographer in Lincolnshire used a Sony A9 and 400mm GM lens at 1/8,000 sec to freeze a kingfisher emerging from water with a fish, earning a breakdown in Digital Camera World's Rate My Photo series.
SoundGuys compared the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) against the standard QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) and found the cheaper model gives up little in sound quality or noise cancellation for $90 less.
A writer who moved from Apple Watch to the Fitbit Air says the screenless tracker needs onboard GPS, a physical button and lap tracking to match what Apple's wearable already offers runners and cyclists.
Oppo's Enco X4 earbuds arrive in India at Rs 19,999 on October 29, bringing a dual-driver setup tuned with Dynaudio, LHDC Lossless audio and a 6nm ANC chip, according to an early Smartprix review.
A conservation group's trail camera filmed a baby giant armadillo in the Peruvian Amazon, a species so elusive that researchers often spend a year and hundreds of cameras hoping for a single clip.
A writer lost a Pixel Watch 5 at Madrid airport security after a screening mix-up, then used the Find Hub app to ring the watch and guide staff to it on the belt.
Meta's new Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses ditch the camera entirely, leaning on voice assistant features, transition lenses and a 12-hour battery. A Wired review calls them the most wearable smart glasses yet, camera controversies and all.
Sony ranks second worldwide in camera sales behind Canon and holds over 50 percent of the image sensor market, but a Digital Camera World analysis argues the brand still lacks the emotional pull of rivals like Leica or OM System.
Honor has unveiled the Win Tablet, an 8.4-inch gaming tablet with a 2.3K 240Hz OLED screen, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip and a 10,000mAh battery. It goes on sale in China on October 31st; India pricing is unannounced.
Qualcomm has introduced Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2, a chipset platform that can scale audio quality between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, potentially narrowing the gap between wireless and wired headphones for open-back designs like Audio-Technica's and Grado's.
Google has told Android Authority that sleep breathing quality, a feature already live on Pixel Watch 3, 4 and 5, is on its way to the Fitbit Air, though no release date has been set.
Oppo has launched the Pad Mini Matte Display Edition in India at Rs 94,999 for the 8GB plus 256GB model. It ships with Qualcomm flagship hardware and goes on open sale October 29 via Flipkart and Oppo's online store.
A hands-on review of the Pixel Watch 5 from India Today Tech praises its AI-driven Health Coach and Gemini integration, but flags that the coaching feature comes with an added cost beyond the watch itself.
Google is upgrading the Fitbit Air and Pixel Watch 3, 4 and 5 with automatic detection for more than 100 workout types, up from 10, plus a new Health Guardian feature that flags blood pressure and insulin resistance trends.
Google Health 5.11 brings blood pressure and insulin resistance trend tracking to the Fitbit Air, renames blood glucose to Glucose, and improves sleep tracking, as the new Fitbit Edge launches October 27.
Google Health 5.11 pushes automatic activity detection from 10 exercises to more than 100 on the Pixel Watch 3, 4 and 5 and Fitbit Air, with Google claiming nearly double the accuracy and far fewer missed workouts.
Oppo has launched the Pad Mini in India at Rs 94,999 alongside the Find X10 series, pitching its 144Hz OLED screen and 8,000mAh battery against Apple's pricier iPad Air M4.
ESR has released two magnetic cases with rotating stands and two retractable fast chargers designed for Apple's foldable iPhone Duo, covering hinge protection, MagSafe compatibility and travel charging.
Anker's new 100W Laptop Charger Pro ditches two of its three USB-C ports but adds model-aware Care Mode charging limits, a real-time display, and a smaller, lighter body for $59.99 in the US.
Sigma has announced the FP2, successor to its pocketable 2019 full-frame fp. It ships November 11 for $2,199 body-only, or $2,749 with the new EVF-21 viewfinder, and adds a 24.5-megapixel stacked sensor and 6K video.
Hobbyist developers have ported Samsung's Compass app, its Gallery app, and several Galaxy Watch faces to the Pixel Watch and other Wear OS devices, requiring sideloading through ADB rather than the Play Store.
Oppo has announced the Pad Mini, an 8.8-inch slate pairing a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chip and an 8,000 mAh battery inside an ultra-slim 5.46mm frame for Rs 94,999 in India.
Oppo's Pad Mini Matte Display Edition is now listed in India at ₹94,999 and in Malaysia at RM3,499, bringing a glare-reducing 144Hz AMOLED screen to the compact Android tablet first announced on October 14.
Oppo's Enco X4 true wireless earbuds land in India at Rs 19,999, bringing dual drivers, dual DACs, Dynaudio tuning, lossless LHDC audio and upgraded ANC. Sales begin October 29 through online and offline retailers.
INMO has revealed the GO3 smart glasses, featuring dual 1,500-nit MicroLED displays, Gemini and ChatGPT software, swappable batteries, and a physical privacy cover over the onboard camera.