Author: Duncan Pike

Earlier this week, Asus showed off its latest laptops that will be coming to SA shelves in the coming months. Of the five new models, three are refreshes of models we’ve seen before, now with the latest silicon from Intel and Snapdragon, while the other two are technically new (but not really). Unfortunately, Asus, like almost every other tech company, is feeling the strain on the industry caused by AI hyperscalers eating up all available resources. So you’ll have to wait a few more weeks to find out how the new machines perform, or pick one up yourself. But you…

During Samsung’s first Unpacked event for 2026, the South Korean outfit showed off its latest and greatest Galaxy smartphones. The company’s latest set of Galaxy Buds was not far behind. There are two new pairs, in fact, just as the prophecy foretold. The Galaxy Buds 4 and Galaxy Buds 4 Pro join the Galaxy S26 lineup this year, hoping to be the next set of things you put in your ears. If you’re big on Samsung’s ecosystem and missed out on the third generation of ‘buds, we see little reason not to get these. Buds in your ears — call…

Earlier this month, Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) held its ninth annual State of the Motor Industry event (SOMI) in Johannesburg, where it shared some insights into the country’s motoring industry, how Toyota fits in, and its plans for the years ahead. It also took the opportunity to reveal new vehicles coming to SA in the coming months, while hinting that more would follow later. The state of the SA motor industry Before the excitement, Toyota Motors Africa President and CEO Andrew Kirby took to the stage to address media and stakeholders on how well TSAM had performed in 2025.…

If you keep track of the headphone industry, you’re probably aware of Sennheiser’s Momentum 4 wireless headphones. They first came out in 2022 and are still talked about in the same conversations as flagships from Sony, Apple, and Bose. Before the HDB 630 came along, the Momentum range was considered Senny’s flagship wireless active noise-cancelling headphones. While it doesn’t carry the audiophile appeal of the 630, the Momentum 4 still holds up in 2026. A sign of the times Sennheiser opted to leave the vintage aviator style behind when it designed the Momentum 4, instead choosing a modern, clean aesthetic.…

Announced earlier this week, the ROG Kithara is what you get when the worlds of audiophiles and gamers collide. This is Asus’ first open-back planar magnetic headphone, aimed at gamers who “demand absolute clarity, precision and realism.” It might be an Asus product, but it can’t take all the credit. Asus has partnered with Hifiman, a renowned audiophile company that specialises in, among other things, planar magnetic headphones. So it makes sense that the ROG Kithara uses a pair of Hifiman’s 100mm planar magnetic drivers, which have apparently been “tuned specifically for gaming.” Asus says the result is a wide…

At a launch event in Johannesburg this week, Chinese appliance manufacturer Haier Group officially announced that it is entering the local market. It brought with it a plethora of appliances that are expected to be available in the country in the coming months, including water heating systems, backup power solutions, air conditioners, washing machines, dryers, fridges, freezers, microwaves, air fryers, and TVs. The company aims to compete with household appliance brand names, like Hisense, Samsung, LG, and Bosch, in what it calls a “strategically important market within Haier’s global expansion.” When’s Haier getting here? It could be argued that Haier…

Sennheiser has over 80 years of experience producing high-quality audio gear of all descriptions. The HDB 630 are the latest flagship wireless noise-cancelling over-ear headphones that continue that legacy. They share many similarities with Sennheiser’s own Momentum range, but differ in a few crucial places. These are comfortable, feature-packed headphones with fantastic audio performance. That must mean they’re prohibitively priced, right? At R13,000, we certainly wouldn’t call them cheap. While that’s a lot more than we originally expected, these cans make a very compelling argument for why they’re worth it. In this case, there isn’t really a point in asking…

At a local launch event this evening, Vivo unveiled its X300 and X300 Pro smartphones. They are the first lot of new flagship smartphones to arrive in South Africa — those from Samsung, Honor, Huawei, et al. will be along in the coming months. Having already launched in China in October last year and much of Europe in the months that followed, there isn’t much we didn’t already know, other than the always-elusive local price and availability date. As with the X200 Pro that launched early last year, Vivo’s focus is very much on photography with the X300 series, in…

If it feels like it hasn’t even been six months since Oppo launched the last Reno-branded smartphone in the country, you’d be right on the money. But that isn’t stopping the company from dropping the Reno 15 F and Pro models as some of the first smartphones to launch in SA in 2026. “Building on the success of the Reno14, the Reno15 Series strengthens what has made the Reno stand out in the premium mid-tier segment. It introduces a sharper design and refined camera features while keeping the reliability and accessibility that South African users have come to expect,” said…

With all the technology that crosses our desks, it can be challenging to know which will have the biggest impact. The MX Master 4 from Logitech, for example, seems like a fairly standard thing — a mouse aimed at folks who sit at a desk using one all day. If that’s you, here’s what you’re missing out on by using another mouse, because [spoiler] this thing is really good. But it’s just a mouse… Correct. It’s just a mouse. A mouse that can probably do a whole lot more than you’re used to. Does your mouse vibrate? This one does,…