There aren’t a lot of Bluetooth speakers that catch our attention any more — there are just too darned many of them to even keep track of. But the latest offering from Singapore-based X-mini, the Clear 2.1, has a little something special. Taking us back to the 80’s with its see-through chassis, the clean and refined speaker is as neat on the inside as it is on the outside, allowing for all users to see the magic happen first hand.
The speaker’s unique design, which features flashing lights that bounce along with the music, isn’t the only reason X-mini called its latest speaker the Clear. It also provides a crystal clear sound signature, which does a nice job of illuminating the finer moments in your favorite tracks.
The Clear’s sound is delivered by way of dual ceramic drivers encased in separate enclosures to reduce resonance, flanking a custom 70mm “woofer.” The drivers are powered by separate amplification for each driver. Other features include a touch-capacitive control panel along the top, an on-board speakerphone, and a rechargeable battery with a claimed 6 hours of playback time, which if fairly modest considering much of the Clear’s competition boasts 10-12 hours of charge-free fun.
X-mini claims a frequency response of 40Hz – 20kHz for the speaker, but it appears to trail off long before that in the low end, making us wish for a little more punch in the bass. And while the sound is brilliantly clean on higher quality tracks, it occasionally brings a bit too much bite in the upper mids on lighter productions, or thin-sounding mp3 tracks.
Still, its distinctive design and ample collection of amenities allow the Clear to rise above the fray. Those looking for something a little different this holiday season may want to put this speaker on their shopping list. The X-mini Clear is slated for release sometime in November, with pricing yet to be disclosed.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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