Author: Brett Venter

Sennheiser might have sold off its consumer business to a hearing aid specialist but that hasn’t meant it’s not putting out new consumer gear. Newly announced is its HD 505 open-back headphones at a price that won’t beggar budding audiophiles looking to experience (wired) audio quality. Pricing starts at R4,600 but you should expect to pay more. The headphones launch on Amazon.com later today and, based on other listings, will ship here. Since the listing isn’t live yet, we can’t give you a total cost but shipping and import duties will be a factor. Somewhere upward of R6,500 is a…

German optical specialists Leica are a byword for camera quality. They’re also well-known for being on the pricier side of the balance sheet. It’s not surprising then that its newly-announced Lux grip, an iPhone accessory intended to turn your smartphone into a smarter camera, will leave a dent in your credit card. Starting with the price, you can expect to pay at least R6,000 (£260), with an extra R1,450 (£50) netting you a high-quality carrying case for your camera attachment. The point of the Leica Lux grip isn’t just to look like the hippest of hipsters taking bespoke photos of…

If you’re hankering for a taste of another era, but on modern consoles, there are loads of options for you to try. The Retro Fighters BattlerGC Pro may well be the best of the bunch. It brings the GameCube era’s button and thumbstick layout to the modern day and to modern consoles. It’s mostly Nintendo consoles, but the controller is more compatible than you’d expect. Nintendo has a long history of unusual controller designs: the Switch’s Joy-Cons, the Wiimote, and the abomination that was that tablet thing for the Wii U. But a few stand out. The GameCube’s Wavebird is…

Generally, when you see a YouTube video promising a full movie, shenanigans are going on. It’s only “free” until someone notices and takes it down. Enterprising pirates have come up with various ways to beat the takedown filters — flipping the film, running it in a box as part of other motion, uploading it in 240p… but Warner Bros. doesn’t have to do all that. Well done, Warner Bros. Warner Bros., the motion picture giant, has spent months uploading a free selection of its films onto the largest video streaming platform in the world. Unusually, the majority of these are…

Anybody who reckons birdwatching is a pastime for older folks has obviously never become invested in the plight of a Southern masked weaver whose prospective mate keeps destroying his nests (seven times, at last count). They’ve also never seen the explosion of feathers and red mist that results from a Peregrine Falcon hitting its prey at high speed. Birdwatching can be pretty metal. And damp. Often, it’s damp.One of the best bits of birdwatching as an activity is that much of the gear, with the exception of the guidebooks and apps, can be transferred to other pastimes with minimal extra…

If we were going to compare the Hobot S6 Pro to anything it would be a Kreepy Krauly (a South African invention, in case it comes up at your next pub quiz) that works on windows. Not Windows. Like… windows. Those things made of glass? It’s got a ton in common with the current generation of robotic vacuum cleaners. Hobot specialises in the technology, after all. But instead of using its suction power to clean a surface, the Hobot S6 Pro goes all-in on the mop attachment and uses the rest of the ‘vacuum’ to cling, remora-like, to your windows…

In recent years, Netflix had big ambitions for its burgeoning gaming arm, but there is such a thing as thinking too big. This is why the streaming giant has confirmed that it’s trimming back some of its gaming releases. Six of them. One of the cancelled titles is from an internal Netflix studio with the other handful coming from external developers. The reason for the change is that the company is “adjusting [their] portfolio as [they] learn more about what [their] members like”. Now not on Netflix This is the same approach the company uses for the media it produces.…

To stand out in the crowded mid-range segment, brands must do things… differently. Honor’s X9c, like its immediate predecessor, has taken the Chuck Norris route to grab your attention. It’s supposed to be rough, tough stuff – better able to shrug off mishandling than the average phone. In that, the company has succeeded. It didn’t ship a 20mm steel ball bearing with our review unit for nothing. We weren’t supposed to whip it at the phone like Tesla showing off the Cybertruck but it does bounce right off if you conduct an impromptu drop test (terms and conditions apply). But…

Smartphones are useful in their way but, despite their processing power, have yet to displace laptops and tablets. The Amber KB 1, an upcoming product from designer Justin Mitchell, wants to change that. If the visuals and listed features for the mobile keyboard are to be believed, it just might. Originally known as the AmberDeck, the gorgeous little portable keyboard bears no small resemblance to Nintendo’s 2DS XL handheld console. Inside where you’d expect to find dual screens and a small collection of buttons, though, is a full keyboard and a slot for you to supply your own display. Amber…

Earlier we mentioned how smartphone makers struggle to reinvent mobile phone design. There’s the elegance of the Minimal Phone and then there’s this: The Doogee S119. Despite the name, the lesser-known Chinese brand has no affiliation with Neil Patrick Harris… we think. But the phone’s design — it’s a solidly mid-range rugged device — is certainly as wacky as some of the Doogie Howser M.D actor’s later film and television roles. That Doogee S119 in the window The obvious oddity is the S119’s rear 1.39in 360 x 360 “second screen”. It looks, to us at least, like a surplus Android…