Soundbars may be the more popular home theater option, but ask any enthusiast and they’ll tell you that an AV receiver the key to great movies (and music) in the home. These big black boxes look the same as ever on the outside, but their innards keep on evolving and picking up capabilities with every generation. The …
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This story is part of Gift Guide, our year-round collection of the best gift ideas. While Amazon has been offering early Black Friday deals all month long, that has just been a prelude to their main event. A little later than most of its competitors, the online mega-retailer’s biggest Black Friday sale finally kicked off just this morning. There are great …
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Apple’s AirPods 3 are now available to buy, following their debut alongside the redesigned MacBook Pro line earlier this fall. As we move into holiday shopping season and Black Friday AirPods sales begin, prices for the AirPods 3 are already down from their launch day price of $179 (£169, AU$279). AirPods 3 aims for the middle ground between the $129 second-gen AirPods, which …
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A few days before Black Friday, the holiday buying season is upon us, and TV shopping has kicked into high gear again. This time of year TV prices typically fall — dramatically — as retailers and manufacturers compete for your big-screen dollars. But there’s something different about TVs in 2021, and I’m not talking about 8K resolution, OLED versus QLED …
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This story is part of Gift Guide, our year-round collection of the best gift ideas. JBL has a few new true-wireless noise-canceling earbuds for 2021, including the Reflect Mini NC and Club Pro Plus. However, the flagship Tour Pro Plus are clearly the best of the bunch and among the best sounding true-wireless earbuds, with clean, dynamic, well-balanced sound, powerful …
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Is there a difference between noise-canceling headphones and noise-isolating headphones? Yes, and despite their similar-sounding names they work in fundamentally different ways. One isn’t necessarily better than the other, it’s more that each is intended for different uses. Most noise-canceling headphones have noise isolating properties, but can work without the latter. Noise-isolating headphones only “cancel” noise in that you hear …
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This story is part of Gift Guide, our year-round collection of the best gift ideas. Amazon has been sporadically discounting its second-gen Echo Buds and they’ve now hit $70, or $50 off their list price of $120. That’s their all-time lowest price, beating this year’s Amazon Prime Day price by $10. And that makes them a very good deal for a solid …
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There are plenty of things Apple could change about the AirPods Pro to improve them. Apple could extend the battery life as it did with the newer third-generation AirPods. Apple could make the pairing process more seamless on Mac devices. But I really hope that Apple doesn’t snip the stems. Apple may give its next-generation AirPods Pro a makeover that eliminates …
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This story is part of Gift Guide, our year-round collection of the best gift ideas. Supply chain issues mean many retailers are struggling to keep shelves stocked for the holiday. With shortages affecting the entire world, Black Friday sales might not be as hot as they once were. One thing that isn’t being hit as hard is the secondary market. …
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Tidal is looking to better compete with Spotify, Pandora and other music streaming services. On Wednesday, the company said it’s launching a free tier in the US, called Tidal Free. With the addition of the free plan, the artist-owned service now offers three options: Tidal Free: Free, ad-supported tier with limited interruptions. Tidal HiFi: A $10 per month subscription …
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