Xbox Series X, Series S May Get a Controller Upgrade Inspired by PlayStation 5’s DualSense

Xbox Series X and Series S may get improved controllers in the future, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has said. Spencer was part of a podcast recently where he was asked about future hardware and, without disclosing too much, he hinted that the Xbox team may take inspiration from PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller.

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Netflix Could Soon Offer Video Games on the Platform at No Extra Cost, Announces Two New Kids Features

Netflix is planning to foray into the video gaming market and has hired a new Vice President for Game Development — Muje Verdu — who was previously at Electronic Arts and Facebook's games department. Netflix has also announced two new children-friendly features — Kids Recap Email and Kids Top 10 row.

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Realme Buds Q2 Review: Feature-rich at an entry-level price

The Realme Buds Q2 is another step Realme has taken towards its objective of democratising ANC, and it’s a commendable one. The Realme Buds Q2 are one of the most value for money purchases one could make in the sub 3K price point with features such as ANC, excellent app support, good battery life, and satisfactory sound quality. Priced at Rs 2,499, the Realme Buds Q2 seriously undercuts its competition.

 

Budget true wireless earphones are no longer basic, feature-barren devices they used to be a couple of years ago. Instead, manufacturers have been gradually improving their true wireless offerings by including some appealing features while still keeping it accessible for the masses. Realme has been one of the companies that have played a role in bringing premium features to the budget section. Its latest product, the Realme Buds Q2, is an entry-level pair of true wireless earphones that is equipped with Active Noise Cancellation. Priced at Rs 2,499, the earphones also come with Realme Link app support that allows users to customise the buds. So, let’s find out if the Realme Buds Q2 is one of the better value for money ANC TWS on the Indian market.

Build and comfort

The Realme Buds Q2 are stemless true wireless earphones that have an oblong shape. Each bud weighs 4.5g, so they’re pretty lightweight, which is a boon when you wear your earphones for long hours. The Realme Buds Q2 is definitely an improvement over its predecessor, the Realme Buds Q, when it comes to design. The earbuds are available in two colours - Black and Grey, and we received the latter for review. 

The earbuds’ outer panel is reflective and has an eye-catching iridescent effect. Realme calls this the ‘gleaming lamination technology’ and the look is certainly unique at this price range. This iridescent zone also doubles as a touch-sensor for onboard controls. The surface accumulates dust and fingerprints easily though, so keep that in mind. The earpieces are primarily made of plastic and feel a bit plasticky and cheap to the touch, but that’s to be expected at this price.

The earbuds have an in-canal fit and the company has provided three different sizes of silicone ear tips to accommodate different sized ears. We found the fit to be pretty snug and comfortable for the most part, however, at times the buds did slip out and we’d have to readjust them. This especially happened when we were brisk walking or running with the buds on. Your experience will vary depending on the quality of the fit you get from the buds since all ears are shaped differently. 

Moving on to the charging case, the Realme Buds Q2 has a compact and discreet case that is easily pocketable. While the smooth surfaces feel fine to the touch, the material, again, feels a bit low quality. The case is also almost impossible to open one-handed. In fact, we even had problems opening it with two hands at times, and we had to examine the groove and then strategically place our fingernail in between to open it up. We wish the mechanism was a bit better implemented but you will get used to it as you use it. The case also doesn’t sit flat on surfaces due to its rounded bottom. You have the USB C port for charging at the back of the case, an indicator light on the front, and a pairing button inside the case.

Features

We’ve reviewed numerous affordable TWS over the years, and one advantage we’ve found Realme to have over most others is excellent app support. The Realme Link app is available for both Android and iOS devices and provides a fantastic, user-friendly experience. The app allows you to switch between noise-cancelling modes, activate game mode, select EQ presets, update the firmware, and our favourite, customise touch controls. 

Often the default controls on earbuds aren’t something that would be universally liked. So, the ability to customise the controls as per the user’s preference is often a game-changer, especially at lower price points. Users can customise the controls for various actions such as double-tap, triple-tap and long press on both earbuds. You can choose between controls such as play/pause, next track, previous track, voice assistant, switch noise control modes, game mode, and off. The only gripe we have here is the lack of volume controls. It is a true pain point to have to remove your smartphone from your pocket or handbag every time you want to adjust the volume.

The app also has a volume enhancer mode, however, we’d stray away from this mode since it causes some distortion in the sound. The volume of the buds is plenty loud even without this mode turned on, so there’s no need to use it. We usually listened to music on the buds at about 60 percent volume, without volume enhancer. The passive isolation is pretty great if you find a good fit. This combined with ANC provides for an immersive sonic experience without having to drive up the volume a lot.

For connectivity, the Realme Buds Q2 comes with Bluetooth v5.2. It supports the SBC and AAC audio codecs. The earphones also come with Google Fast Pair, which is extremely convenient if you use an Android phone, allowing the buds to connect to your device in an instant. The buds are also rated IPX5, so they should be able to shrug off sweat and light splashes. There’s voice assistant support and mono mode support, where you can listen to a single earpiece independently. It’s missing wear detection (auto pause/play) and multipoint connection, but we don’t really expect those features at this price, especially since the earbuds have ANC and some sacrifices would have to be made. Overall, the earbuds are feature-rich for the price and seriously undercut competitors such as the OnePlus Buds Z when it comes to features.

Performance

The Realme Buds Q2 is a surprisingly decent performer when it comes to sound quality, especially at under 3K. It is one of the better sounding true wireless earbuds in this price range and performs better than some competitors such as the boAt Airdopes 441, and Oppo Enco W11. We found the sound quality to be pretty much on par with the OnePlus Z. 

The sound is pretty clean and sufficiently detailed, with boosted lows that don’t veil the mids and highs too much. We’ve experienced some Realme earbuds with much more aggressive bass response that throws off the balance of the sound, so the Realme Buds Q2 are a refreshing take by the company that will appeal to bass lovers, but will also not throw off a large portion of the details in the mids and highs. 

Listening to Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran, we were pleasantly surprised by the clarity of the vocals and the instruments despite a pretty strong bass beat that runs throughout the song. The bass beats were pretty clean and punchy without being over-aggressive. In Ballad of Mona Lisa by Panic! At The Disco, the vocals are sufficiently clean but when Brendon Urie hits the high notes, there’s a slight amount of sibilance in the sound. In Highway Tune by Greta Van Fleet, the vocals and lead guitar have a solid presence and are clearly audible in the mix, however, the cymbals and hi-hats are a bit drowned out. The soundstage is a bit narrow, but that’s common with earphones, especially at this price. Nevertheless, for most popular genres of music, the Realme Buds Q2 is a good performer that should work well for non-audiophiles.

Uncompensated frequency response of Realme Buds Q2 (yellow) vs reference IEM (orange)

Studying the frequency graph of the Realme Buds Q2, you can see that the lower bass and high bass are amplified, meaning bass notes will be prominent in the mix. The mids are nice and consistent and there aren’t too many dips or climbs in this frequency range, providing for clear and consistent sound. There’s a slight peak in the 2K-4K frequency range, that could be causing the sibilance in the vocals. Overall, the Realme Buds Q2 has a warm, pleasing sound signature that should work well for people who listen to genres such as pop, rap, EDM, Bollywood, ballads, etc.

Let’s move on to the Active Noise Cancellation performance. As seen with most budget earphones with ANC, the Realme Buds Q2 don’t provide an impressive level of ambient noise reduction. Still, they do manage to drown out constant, low-frequency sounds such as the hum of an AC, the drone of an airplane, and others. Human voices aren’t suppressed to a great degree, and other sounds such as typing on a mechanical keyboard or a high-speed fan will also come through. But the ANC is decent for the price of Rs 2,499 and Realme has, once again, democratised ANC even further. The earbuds also come with a Transparency Mode that is nothing special but works just about fine for its intended purpose. Ambient sounds are amplified to a good degree but they can sound slightly unnatural, at times.

As for the connectivity, you get Bluetooth 5.2 and the connection is extremely stable between the source device and the buds. The earbuds can maintain the connection for a respectable distance as well. Low latency mode for gaming improves the response of the sound a tad bit, but it’s not something that will be abundantly evident. Call quality, however, was subpar with our voice sounding hollow and distant to the receiver. If you’re someone who takes calls often using their headphones, you should take note of this.

Battery life

The Realme Buds Q2 promise a total battery life of 28 hours with ANC turned off, and 20 hours with ANC turned on. The buds also support fast charging where a quick 10-minute charge will give you 3 hours worth of playback. This is convenient when you need to charge your earbuds in a pinch.

In our tests, with ANC turned on at all times, the Realme Buds Q2’s earbuds lasted about 4 hours and 40 minutes on a single charge. The volume was set around the 60-70 percent mark and we were using an Android phone as the source device. The charging case topped the buds 3 times over, with some juice still left. If you listen to music with ANC turned off and at a lower volume level, you could easily get more playtime out of the Realme Buds Q2 although we are unsure if it will hit the company’s claim of 28 hours.

Verdict

Brands have been pushing out budget true wireless earbuds regularly owing to the massive demand in the Indian market. Realme is one of the brands that have multiple products released in a year to satiate the demand. The Realme Buds Q2 is another step Realme has taken towards its objective of democratising ANC, and it’s a commendable one. The Realme Buds Q2 are one of the most value for money purchases one could make in the sub 3K price point with features such as ANC, excellent app support, good battery life, and satisfactory sound quality. Priced at Rs 2,499, the Realme Buds Q2 seriously undercuts its competitors, making it our choice for the best value for money TWS in 2021 so far

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Battlegrounds Mobile India Series 2021: Heres all you need to know

Battlegrounds Mobile India has revealed details regarding its first major tournament in the country. Called the Battleground Mobile India Series 2021, Krafton has now revealed the tournament’s official logo and a trailer as well. It should be noted that the tournament is only open for residents of India. 

Battlegrounds Mobile India Series 2021: Dates and format

The tournament will stretch for three months and will be open to all squads. However, in order to participate in the qualifiers, teams will have to register on the official Battlegrounds Mobile India Series 2021 website here. However, it should be noted that registrations for the same are not yet open. 

The in-game qualifiers will be held from August 2 and August 8. During this time, registered players will have to play 15 matches with their registered team in the given time period. The top 10 matches of the 15 matches played will be considered for evaluation and scored accordingly. In case of a tie, parameters such as finishes, survival time, accuracy and more will be considered. The qualifiers will be used to shortlist the top 1024 teams, who will move to the next round.  

The Online Qualifiers will be held from August 17 to September 12. Out of this, 64 teams will qualify for the Quarter Finals that will be held between September 16 and September 26. The Quarter Finals will shortlist 24 teams for the Semi-Finals between September 30 and October 3. These 16 teams will qualify for the Grand Finals that will be held between October 7 and October 10.

Battlegrounds Mobile India Series 2021: Prizes

Krafton has announced a prize pool of Rs 1,00,00,000 for the inaugural Battlegrounds Mobile India Series 2021. The eventual winner of the tournament will receive Rs 50,00,000, while teams that placed second and third will receive Rs 25,00,000 and Rs 10,00,000 respectively. In fact, Krafton will be awarding prizes all the way till tenth place. It will also award special prizes for the MVP, Lone Ranger, Rampage Freak, Most Finishes by a Squad and Redeemer.

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Xbox Game Studios next acquisition could be an Indian game developer, according to Chief Phil Spencer

Xbox Game studios could acquire game developers from countries like India, South America, and Africa in the near future, according to Xbox chief Phil Spencer. In an interview with The Guardian, Phil Spencer commented on the possibility of acquiring a game studio in a country like India by saying “It would actually surprise me if that doesn’t happen.”

He also highlighted the role of game engines (Unity, Unreal Engine 5) and other tools that make gave development accessible to a large number of people worldwide. In the upcoming three to five years game studios will most likely pop up in places that “aren’t the traditional hubs of video game development,” said Spencer.

Xbox Game Studios Indian acquisition could happen in the future

Matt Botty, head of Xbox Game Studios further reiterated spencer’s vision by stating the requirement of a “several-hundred-person” studio in India, Africa and South America. The new Xbox game studios won’t be for “outsourcing” or “support” but instead for developing games most suitable for their market. 

Xbox could very well follow Ubisoft’s route of assembling a dedicated team in India and distributing an ambitious project among them. Ubisoft India is currently working on the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake, a highly anticipated game. 

Additionally, Nodding Head games is a shining example of what Indian Game developers can achieve with the right resources. Their game “Raji: An Ancient Epic” currently sits at a 9/10 rating on Steam and has a 7.8 user score on Metacritic.

Xbox Game Pass Effect on India

Xbox India previously revealed that Microsoft is doing great in India in terms of gaming consoles. Both the Xbox Series X and the Series S garnered a big fanbase in India. Meanwhile, a delayed PS5 console launch and the frequent unavailability of PS5 stock in India left a sour taste in the mouth of many PlayStation fans.

Xbox continues to gain ground among console and PC gamers with Game Pass. It's a Netflix-like monthly gaming subscription service that allows people to download and play hundreds of games for a small fee. Unlike PlayStation, Xbox also allows seamless backwards compatibility for almost every last-gen game on its newer machines. Meaning you can play Xbox 360 Games on the latest Xbox Series S and X.

With steady growth in India thanks to its consumer-friendly practices, Xbox is bound to succeed among Indian fans. Which could very easily prompt Microsoft to make a sizeable investment in local game development in the region.

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Battlegrounds Mobile India Series 2021 Announced, With Total Prize Pool of Rs. 1 Crore

Battlegrounds Mobile India Series 2021 has been announced with a prize pool of Rs. 1 crore that will be split between the top 16 teams. Krafton shared a press release to announce this and has set up a website for it too.

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ASUS launches a series of affordable Chromebooks for students in India starting at Rs 17,999

ASUS is expanding its product portfolio in the consumer laptop space in India today by launching a handful of new Chromebooks. The company has launched as many as 6 new Chromebooks today and they all will be available to purchase starting July 22 for a starting price of Rs 17,999.

ASUS's new affordable Chromebook lineup includes the Chromebook C223, Chromebook C423, Chromebook C523, Chromebook Flip C214, Chromebook C423, and lastly, the Chromebook C523. Out of these, only two models come with a touchscreen variant, whereas others have a non-touch TN panel. All these Chromebooks are powered by Intel's Celeron processors.

Specifications

Without getting into too many details, let's quickly go through the specifications of each Chromebook -

As you can see, we're not looking at any high-end units here. Pretty much all the new Chromebooks are very basic when it comes to the hardware but the idea to keep them simple and affordable for students looking to get their hands on a device for home education.

ASUS Chromebook Pricing & Availablity

ASUS mentioned earlier, all the new Chromebooks will go on sale starting July 22 at 12 PM. The Chromebook C223 is the most affordable out of the bunch, starting at an introductory price of Rs 17,999. The ASUS Chromebook C423 (Non-touch) costs Rs 19,999 whereas its touchscreen variant will cost you Rs 23,999. The Chromebook C523 (non-touch) is priced at Rs 20,999 and its touchscreen variant is priced at Rs 24,999. Lastly, the Chromebook Flip C214 has launched in India for Rs 23,999.

Chromebooks have been around for many years now, but it's safe to say that there's been a surge in popularity and demand for them in the market lately. The ongoing COIVD-19 pandemic triggered the need for affordable laptops, especially for students trying to learn from home. We hope to see more manufacturers bring Chromebooks to India.

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