Amazon Echo Show 10 Review: Amazons state-of-the-art smart display

At a premium price tag of Rs 24,999, you get a similarly premium feature on the Amazon Echo Show 10 – motion tracking. The speaker’s ability to turn to you and follow you around when needed is extremely nifty in some situations such as video calls, watching shows, and more. However, if music is your primary concern, you’d be better off considering the Amazon Echo Studio or Google Nest Audio instead.

The Amazon Echo Show 10 is a unique Alexa-enabled smart speaker + smart display from the company. Equipped with motion tracking, the display rotates automatically to face you when on calls, watching videos, giving commands, and more. The Echo Show 10 uses a combination of audio and camera cues to move the screen to have it face the user directly. This product trumps usual smart displays that are usually stationary screens. Following the user around is an intuitive feature addition that sets the Echo Show 10 from other smart displays from the get-go. Priced at Rs 24,999, this isn’t an affordable device though. Nevertheless, the massive jump forward in usability provided by the moving display could make it worth the extra dough. Wondering how the Amazon Echo Show 10 fares in practice? Let’s find out. 

Build and design 

The Amazon Echo Show 10 looks nothing like the previous models in the Echo Show lineup. The Echo Show 10 fuses the cylindrical shape of the Amazon Studio or Amazon Echo with the tablet shape of previous-gen Echo Show models. So, it essentially has two separate parts – the speaker system at the bottom and the 10.1-inch display on the top. 

One of its most unique properties that sets the Echo Show 10 apart is that the display rotates automatically using visual and audio cues from the user. So, move about in a room when watching a recipe or on a video call, and the screen should follow you around perfectly making sure it is always in view for you. Users can also manually tilt the display as required. The display can even hone in on you, and zoom in to capture you better when needed, during video calls. 

The bottom of the speaker has a brushless motor which allows it to rotate 350-degrees. The device scans for any obstacles in the way during the set-up process and then sets a safe rotation radius. We will talk about how accurate the rotation mechanism is in the next section. The speaker portion at the bottom has a grille fabric material that feels pretty premium to the touch. It houses two front-firing 1-inch tweeters that work alongside a 3-inch woofer. 

On the front of the display, there’s a microphone and a 13-megapixel camera for calls and the auto-rotation technology. The camera quality is pretty decent for a smart display with crisp enough videos captured. The camera also finds use as a home security camera, allowing users to view a live feed from the Alexa app. It makes a pretty decent makeshift baby cam or security cam, especially since you can move the display around via the Alexa app to take a look all around the room the smart display is set up in.

 The screen has a 1280 x 800 resolution which isn’t as crisp as a dedicated tablet but it does the job just fine here. The display is adequately colour accurate and is enjoyable enough to watch Netflix on or make video calls. The display comes equipped with auto-brightness adjustment. It is, however, pretty reflective which can be an issue if you have bright lights staring right at it.

As for buttons, they’re all present on the top of the screen. There are physical buttons for volume levels, muting the far-field microphones, and a sliding shutter that covers the camera for privacy. There’s a power socket at the bottom of the device with a small gap for the charging cable to pass through. The device has no battery and needs to be plugged in at all times to remain powered on.

Features

Let’s talk a bit more about the Amazon Echo Show 10’s unique party trick – the automatic rotating screen. The screen is designed to follow you around the room it's placed in to ensure it is always in the user’s view as well as to keep the user in frame when on video calls with other Echo devices/devices with Alexa app or Skype. The camera sets data points to identify the user within its field of view and then rotates in the position facing towards them when activated. If there’s more than one person in the room, the display positions itself at an angle that’s comfortable for most people. 

When testing this feature, we found it to be moderately accurate when there’s one person in the room. There’s minimal jerking and jitteriness in this case and it doesn’t take too long to reposition itself as well. There may be instances that the display overshoots and faces you at an odd angle but that’s rare when you’re alone. However, as soon as there are more people added to the mix, we found that the display struggles to accurately reposition itself and makes many jerk movements in trying to reposition itself at the right angle. This may be an issue when you’re on a video call with multiple people around you. The motion tracking also fails in a dark room.

During your initial set-up process, you can adjust the maximum angle you want the display to rotate which is pretty nifty for when you want to place it against a wall. Since it will not be able to rotate a full circle with a wall behind it, you can set a safe range of motion. You can also reset this anytime in the Settings menu should you choose to relocate your Echo Show 10.

As for the privacy aspect of it all, Amazon says that the processing of the images captured is carried out on the device alone and none of them is stored by Amazon. You can always use the sliding privacy shutter for the camera when you wish to, however, this turns off the motion tracking feature too. 

The feature is, no doubt, useful for instances when you’re watching a Netflix or YouTube video, making video calls, and more. The 13-megapixel camera also is great for video calls producing clear and detailed shots that can be rare even on some dedicated tablets. We also enjoyed using the device as a security cam and spying on our fellow colleagues at the Digit test labs. You can also use other communication features such as ‘drop in’, announcements and voice calls, all of which worked flawlessly.

Now, this is still an Alexa-enabled smart speaker/display, so we tested that as well. The bonus of having a screen is that you get visual cues for your questions/requests alongside Alexa’s vocal feedback. You can see the album art of a song, detailed weather information, images related to searches, full-fledged TV shows on Netflix, and much more. One complaint though, is that the display doesn’t come with a native YouTube app and plays it through the Echo’s built-in browser, which doesn’t look or perform as well. Also, Alexa comprehends most of the commands you throw at her easily and now can even respond to commands in Hindi!

As for music, you can stream through services such as Hungama Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, and JioSaavn. You can do other basic things that most Amazon smart speakers allow such as setting alarms and timers, listening to audiobooks on Audible, noting down shopping lists, getting information from the internet, and activating a slew of Alexa skills. You even have the option to pair your phone to the Echo Show 10 and use it as a Bluetooth speaker of sorts, one that cannot be unplugged from its power source though. 

Like the fourth-generation Amazon Echo, the Echo Show 10 also comes with a built-in Zigbee hub for a wide smart home device compatibility. So, you can connect smart devices such as light bulbs, door locks, switches, plugs, refrigerators, and more without the need for a separate hub, app or skill. 

The device also comes equipped with a feature dubbed Alexa Guard that uses the microphone to monitor its surroundings for concerning sounds such as smoke alarms or glass breaking. It will send the user an alert when it picks up any such sounds, which could be infinitely useful.   

Performance

At its core, the Amazon Echo Show 10 is a smart speaker despite having impressive display capabilities and the motion tracking feature. Which means, sound is an integral part of the equation and overall experience. Featuring dual front-firing tweeters and a woofer, the Echo Show 10 isn’t too much of an upgrade in this department compared to the standard, latest-gen Echo speaker which has a 3-inch woofer and two 0.8-inch tweeters. 

The overall sound signature is warm but the sound may be slightly muffled at lower volumes due to the screen blocking a part of the speaker. At high volumes, the speaker has minimal distortion but does sound slightly tinny or shrill. The device fills up a medium-sized room with sound easily but the sound isn’t as enveloping as the Google Nest Audio or even Amazon’s own Echo Studio. However, the clarity of the sound is pretty great even with the screen moving since the tweeters move along with it.

The bass notes can be a bit overwhelming in the mix, especially at high volumes although you can use an equaliser to adjust the levels if you want. In some songs, kick drums can sound a bit boomy but turning the volume down will alleviate this. The mids are, however, well-represented with enough detail extracted from lead instruments and vocals and minimal distortion from the bass notes. Since the mids are also emphasised quite a bit, the emphasised lows don’t affect them too much. Overall, while the speaker produces decent, warm sound, the precision is slightly lacklustre.

Verdict

At a premium price tag of Rs 24,999, you get a similarly premium feature on the Amazon Echo Show 10 – motion tracking. The speaker’s ability to turn to you and follow you around when needed is extremely nifty in some situations such as video calls, watching shows, and more. Integrating this feature into an already smart display bumps up its efficiency by quite a bit. The 13-megapixel camera is also great for video calls, coupled with the display’s ability to pan and zoom during calls makes for a pretty seamless experience. Also, this device doubles as a security camera as well saving you from investing in both. However, if music is your primary concern, you’d be better off considering the Amazon Echo Studio or Google Nest Audio instead. 

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NZXT H1 V2: Roomier chassis with more power and cooling

The NZXT H1 V2 is a compact case for DIY PC builders who prefer a minimalist look while still wanting to pack some of the most powerful hardware you can get in the market today. The original NZXT H1 was launched back in 2020 and the V2 improves upon many of the shortcomings of its predecessor. Small form-factor PC cabinets such as the NZXT H1 V2 have, of late, been gaining in popularity and SFF power supplies have improved to the extent that you can now pack high capacity 850W SFX in these new compact cases. This allows you to build high-end gaming PCs using these cases as long as cooling permits.

NZXT H1 V2 improvements over NZXT H1

Most SFF cases in the market are usually paired with the appropriate power supply since the cases have pre-defined cable routing provisions which require the cables to have a certain length and not much more. Short cables are obviously useless and too much length would mean that more volume is taken up by the cables in a chassis where space is scarce. The NZXT H1 V2 now includes an integrated SFX750 80Plus Gold power supply which carries a separate 10-year warranty coverage.

The GPU compatibility has improved with the NZXT H1 V2. The previous chassis supported GPUs with up to 50mm thickness and 305mm length. The V2 improves upon that and can now fit GPUs that are up to 58mm thick and 324mm long. There's even an additional 92mm fan for the GPU exhaust. Also, the cooling fans of the GPU face a perforated panel which now feature larger perforations. Also, the included PCIe riser card is now rated for PCIe Gen 4.0 in line with standards supported by the flagship GPUs. Speaking of the riser card, the NZXT H1 was criticised for a flaw in the riser card included with the previous chassis which would short out the 12V plane. That had been rectified a couple of weeks after launch and NZXT says that the riser card included with the V2 does not have that problem.

The NZXT H1 V2, like its predecessor, also includes an integrated 140mm AIO CPU cooler. The CPU cooler as well as the 92mm rear exhaust fan for the GPU can be controlled using the NZXT CAM software. The complete list of changes can be seen in the table below:

NZXT H1 V2 Price

The NZXT H1 V2 will be available in white and black colour in the APAC region and it will be priced at USD 349 which works out to be about INR 26,133 without taxes and INR 30,837 with 18 per cent GST. Actual prices in India will vary from vendor to vendor.

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New State Mobile Update 0.9.24 Brings New Game Mode, Weapons, Features, Season 4 Battle Pass

New State Mobile is getting an update 0.9.24 that brings new game mode, some new content, along with bug fixes and improvements. Krafton has added a new Round Deathmatch mode along with a new map — Arena. The game also gets two new weapons and some new customisations for existing weapons.

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Acer Aspire 3 powered by 11th Gen Intel Processor is the companys second Make In India laptop

Acer India has announced new 11th gen Intel-driven Aspire 3 laptops under its Make in India campaign. This is the second such laptop from the brand and is made in its Noida facility. Coming to the laptop's specs, you are getting three models based on the internal machinery — an Intel Core i3 variant, a Core i5 with Intel iris Xe graphics, and a Core i5 with Nvidia GeForce MX350 graphics. Other notable components include DDR4 memory, SSD storage, Windows 11 software, and a 1080p display. Scroll to gather the complete details.

Acer Aspire 3 Specs and Features

Acer has outfitted the Aspire 3 with a 15.6-inch FHD TFT LCD screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Up top, there is a 720p HD webcam. Come downwards and you have a ten-key keyboard. 

The laptop boots with Windows 11 and Intel’s 11th gen Core i3/i5 processor. The i3-1115G4 model relies on built-in Intel UHD graphics, the i3-1115G4 processor with 4GB DDR4 RAM and 256GB SSD. Meanwhile, the i5-1135G7 variant can be picked in with a iris Xe graphics or a discrete Nvidia GeForce MX350 GPU. The memory configuration on the i5 SKUs is 8GB DDR4 RAM, 128GB SSD, and 1TB HDD.

As for the connectivity options, on all of them, you get WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, HDMI port, 2x USB-A 3.2, 1x USB 2.0 port, an RJ45 ethernet port, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

A 36.7WHr battery is present inside that’s bolstered by a 45W adapter. 

Acer Aspire 3 Price and Availability

Acer Aspire 3 i3 variant is priced at ₹50,000, the i5 with iris Xe graphics is priced at ₹53,990, and i5 with MX350 GPU costs ₹58,990 in India. The Intel Core i3 model is listed on Flipkart.

Speaking about this new announcement, GS Sondhi, Senior Director – Product Management, Acer India, said “Acer Aspire 3 is the first laptop under Aspire series that is manufactured locally with world-class manufacturing standards that is on-par with global processes to deliver performance and quality which the customer demand. Built on the Intel platform, this laptop delivers enough power to see you through your day be it work, learning or for general use. This follows our TravelMate series laptops which started shipping for commercial customers already at the beginning of the month. With the success of this second fully made in India laptop, we believe the impetus to PC manufacturing is particularly significant as it can help reduce imports which have become all the more important as their usage increase rapidly amid the Covid-19 restriction.”

Meanwhile, Rahul Malhotra, Director, Consumer Sales, Intel India, said “We are delighted that Acer has once again chosen to work with Intel on their second Make in India laptop with the launch of the Acer Aspire 3 laptop, extending our long time collaboration with Acer to more locally manufactured laptops. This is testament to the value and performance that the Intel platform delivers across consumer, business and education segments, while also helping meet the growing laptop demand in India that we have witnessed in recent years.”

For more news, reviews, buying guides, feature stories, and everything else tech-related, keep reading Digit.in.

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FiiO has released its JH3 1 Dynamic 2BA Driver In-Ear Monitor in India

FiiO has brought its JH3 1 Dynamic 2BA Driver In-Ear Monitor (IEM) to India. It is armed with a triple driver setup for all three levels of frequency. You can connect to a device over wired or wireless solutions as long as the connector is 0.78mm in size with 2 pins. Let’s check out the rest of its features.

FiiO JH3 1 Specs and Features

As aforementioned, the earphones are equipped with a 13.6mm bass dynamic driver (DD) and two flagship-level balanced armature (BA) drivers for mids and treble. That is it's a 1DD+ 2BA setup. The brand says with this IEM you would be able to enjoy a variety of music like HiFi music pieces, instrumental tracks, and pop chartbusters.  

The audio can be transmitted over a wired or wireless solution as long as you employ a 0.78 2mm connector. For example, to listen over Bluetooth, you can use the company’s own FiiO UTWS3. Do check this compatibility prerequisite before picking a replacement cable.

The earpiece can be connected to a wide range of media-playing products like iOS/Android devices, laptops, desktop computers, etc. The female port has to be 3.5mm or you can take the Bluetooth route.

FiiO claims the JH3 1 has been approved by the Japan Audio Society (JAS) and CEA for its Hi-Res or Hi-Fi quality. 

Other specs include 10-40kHz of frequency response range, 106dB of impedance, and 28Ω sensitivity.

FiiO JH3 1 Price and Availability

Fiio has priced the JH3 1 at Rs. 4990 and you can purchase it on the official website as well as leading online and offline outlets. 

Now, whence you purchase it you would be getting accessories like headphone cable, carry case, instruction manual, 3 pairs of balanced ear tips (S, M, L sizes), 3 pairs of bass-centric ear tips (S, M, L sizes), and 1 pair of foam ear tips (M size). 

For more such news, reviews, buying guides, feature stories, as well as everything tech-related, keep reading Digit.in.

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Redmi Note 11S, Redmi Note 11, Redmi Smart TV X43, and Redmi Smart Band Pro Launched in India

Redmi has expanded its product range in the country with the launch of 11 new products. The Redmi called its online event Redmi-verse, a clever play on the burgeoning metaverse discourse. This is also a showcase of the brand’s broad ecosystem. Anyhoo, the showstoppers of this day’s event are the Redmi Note 11S, Redmi Note 11, Redmi Smart TV X43, and Redmi Smart Band Pro. The two phones, albeit similar in their design footprint, have some differences in their hardware. For instance, the regular Note 11 sides with a Snapdragon silicon while the Note 11S goes for a MediaTek chip. Now those handsets aside, there is the Smart TV X43 with a 4K HDR panel and Smart Band Pro with more than 110 activity modes. 

Let’s go through each of these new launches one by one.

Redmi Note 11S: Specs and Features

Redmi Note 11S’s front is a 6.43-inch FHD+ AMOLED screen that rocks a 90Hz refresh rate, DCI-P3 color gamut support, 1000nits peak brightness, and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. There is also a punch hole with a 16MP selfie clicker here. As for the back, the sensors are a 108MP (Samsung HM2) primary one, an 8MP ultrawide snapper, a 2MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro module.

By the side, you have got a fingerprint scanner, unlocking with which takes you to the Android 11-based MIUI 13 software. This is slapped on top of internals like Helio G96 SoC, a 5000mAh battery (with 33W charging support), LPDDR4x RAM, and UFS 2.2 storage.  

Other perks you get with the device are up to a 3GB RAM Booster option, Liquid Cooling, IP53 ingress protection, Z-axis linear vibration motor, IR blaster, dedicated microSD expansion, stereo speakers, a 3.5mm jack, and a standard set of connectivity options. It is available in Space Black, Horizon Blue, and Polar White colors. The 6GB+64GB memory SKU is priced at ₹16,499, 6GB+128GB at ₹17,499, and 8GB+128GB unit at ₹18,499. As part of a launch offer, you can grab all these phones at a ₹1000 discount with a Bank of Baroda card purchase. The sale starts from February 21 via Amazon, Mi Store, and other offline outlets.

Redmi Note 11: How does it differ from the Redmi Note 11S?

The regular Note 11 (4G) has got a Snapdragon 680 chipset, up to 2GB RAM Booster, 6GB LPDDR4x RAM, a 50MP primary rear camera, and a 13MP front camera. The rest of the repertoire is pretty much the same as the Redmi Note 11S. The color variants are Space Black, Horizon Blue, and Starburst White. The 4GB+64GB model is available at ₹13,499, 6GB+64GB model at ₹14,499, and 6GB+128GB model at ₹15,999. Here too, you can avail a ₹1000 discount with a Bank of Baroda card purchase as part of an introductory price. The availability details are same as above.

Redmi Smart TV X43: Specs and Features

Redmi is adding a 43-inch model into the X-line of Smart TVs that already comes in 50, 55, and 65-inches. The Smart TV X43 has a 4K Dolby Vision-ready panel. 

On the audio front, you are getting a 30W speaker setup backed by Dolby Audio. 

As for software, you get the tried and tested PatchWall 4 UI based on Android TV 10 OS.

Among the list of things, you also have three HDMI ports (with e-ARC and ALLM support), two USB-A sockets for connectivity purposes. 

You can purchase it at ₹28,999 via Amazon, Mi.com, and offline stores starting February 16.

Redmi Smart Band Pro Specs and Features

Redmi Smart Band Pro dons a rectangle-shaped dial on top of which is a 1.47-inch AMOLED display. It is touch responsive and comes with 194x368p resolution, 282 PPI pixel density, 450 cd/m2 of brightness, and 100% coverage of NTSC color gamut. You get over 50 dial faces for customizing the thing and an always-on-mode to get a quick look at the time and save some juice.

Redmi has stowed in a 200mAH battery that’s advertised to run up to 14 days. 

During this on-time, you can use its 110+ fitness modes, 15 of which can be set to run automatically. The ones that support this feature include outdoor walking, outdoor running, and treadmill. Further, there is 24-hour always-on heart rate tracking, SpO2 monitoring, sleep quality analysis, stress level detector, guided breathing exercises, and female menstrual health logger. You can view these stats on the Xiaomi Wear app.

Other goodies you get within it are basic timepiece features, notification sync with your smartphone, 5ATM water protection, a 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope, a 6-axis sensor (for better power efficiency), and LifeQ Health Algorithm. The watch is compatible with Strava and Apple Health.

You can buy the Redmi Smart Band Pro in India at ₹3,999, or at ₹3,499 for a limited-time launch sale from February 14 at 12 noon.

For similar news, reviews, buying guides, feature stories, as well as everything tech-related, keep reading Digit.in.

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Nvidia Arm deal has been called off SoftBank is now aiming to take Arm public

Nvidia has surrendered to the mounting regulatory pressure and scrubbed its arm and a leg offer to buy Arm Limited. This deal with SoftBank Group (Arm’s owner) was announced back in the fall of 2020 with the proposed goals of uniting the physical and intellectual resources of both brands, driving forward the industrial innovation, and still maintaining “Arm’s open-licensing model and customer neutrality”. However, this faces a lot of headwinds from regulatory bodies as well as tech giants who were reliant on Arm designs and feared such a deal would put  Nvidia in a place of unfair advantage. 

Nvidia stresses this in its press release, saying, “The parties agreed to terminate the Agreement because of significant regulatory challenges preventing the consummation of the transaction, despite good faith efforts by the parties. Arm will now start preparations for a public offering.”

Jensen Huang, founder, and CEO of the GPU giant tries to keep his chin up, as he says, “Arm has a bright future, and we’ll continue to support them as a proud licensee for decades to come. Arm is at the centre of the important dynamics in computing. Though we won’t be one company, we will partner closely with Arm. The significant investments that Masa (Masayoshi Son) has made have positioned Arm to expand the reach of the Arm CPU beyond client computing to supercomputing, cloud, AI, and robotics. I expect Arm to be the most important CPU architecture of the next decade.”

Termination of Nvidia-Arm Takeover And Its Aftereffects

Now that the Nvidia deal has collapsed, SoftBank (SBG) will be taking Arm public. This Arm IPO is planned to take place within the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023. Further, the Arm owner is reportedly trying to list Arm (a British company) in the US Nasdaq instead of London as the former market is considered more suitable for raising funds for technology companies. And this has also spurred some concerns over London’s ability to grow and sustain domestic tech ventures.

Not just that, close to the announcement of the deal’s failure, we have learned that Arm has got a new CEO. The previous head, Simon Segars has stepped down for Rene Haas. And as the newly appointed Arm chief, Mr. Haas has said nothing has been confirmed yet but he feels the timing of the proposed IPO is “just right”.

He adds that more funds would be invested in new IP for its current computing ecosystem, the automotive sector, as well as the metaverse.

Meanwhile, Masayoshi Son, Chairman & CEO, SBG said, “Arm is becoming a centre of innovation not only in the mobile phone revolution, but also in cloud computing, automotive, the Internet of Things and the metaverse, and has entered its second growth phase. We will take this opportunity and start preparing to take Arm public, and to make even further progress. I want to thank Jensen and his talented team at NVIDIA for trying to bring together these two great companies and wish them all the success.”

We will keep you posted on how this story further unfolds. And for similar news, reviews, buying guides, feature stories, as well as everything tech-related, keep reading Digit.in.

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