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The BeHear Proxy Nearfield Soundscape

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A decent stereo pair of loudspeakers can set you back hundreds of pounds. Or, if you’re a serious hi-fi aficionado, (and rich) tens of thousands of pounds. This is one reason why, back in those old bed-sitter student days of the ’60s, I developed a preference for headphones. You could get decent quality sound from them for an affordable price. These days we have a couple of respectable loudspeaker sound systems here at Tested Technology… Now read on…

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The GT2 Pro: The One to Watch (part 1)

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In the mid 1970s, Japan—or more specifically, the Japanese watch company Seiko—tore the mechanical wristwatch industry apart. Switzerland was in turmoil. Equipped with the new battery-driven quartz technology, watches far more accurate than the most carefully designed and manufactured mechanical chronographs known to watchmaking were being churned out by the millions and sold for relative peanuts. Quartz Roolz. And for a while, it did. But Switzerland rallied, steering the market steeply upwards, emphasising craftsmanship and… Now read on…

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Let your rooms bloom with Plume (part 2)

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In part 1 of this double review of Plume’s WiFi pods I exposed my ignorance of “how the magic works”. I hoped that in writing about the product I’d learn more. And I have. What I’ve been calling “the disaster” taught me some useful lessons about what’s going on in and around these things. Technology that’s designed to be ignored, unobstrusive technology that’s physically small and “just works” is perhaps the hardest to get to… Now read on…

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Home Automation and the Meross Dual Outdoor Smart Plug

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Tested Technology is proactive on your behalf. We go out into the consumer marketplace actively seeking devices (mostly, software sometimes) that are going to be of interest to you. Occasionally, manufacturers seek us out. This has started to happen more often, now that the publication is gaining momentum. But we’re not a manufacturer’s showcase and our time is yours, not theirs. However, when the Chinese manufacturer, Meross, contacted us we paid attention. They make good… Now read on…

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Let your rooms bloom with Plume (part 1)

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Joni Mitchell writes great songs with insightful lyrics. “Don’t it always seem to go That you don’t know what you’ve got til its gone…” It took a disaster to kick me into doing this review. Note to manufacturers: if you want to show up in this publication don’t make your products so good that they disappear from view the moment they’re installed. And only become visible when things go wrong. (I’m kidding. A good WiFi… Now read on…

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Hear Better with BeHear Access Bluetooth

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We’ve talked here before about the rapidly growing, global problem of hearing loss. So why do fewer than 20% of those who could benefit from hearing aids not use them? The answer to this question embraces a paradox. An irrational sense among the public of shame about the disability is part of the answer. This has steered hearing aid manufacturers toward the creation of ever smaller devices. Most are now hidden behind the ear and… Now read on…

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Espresso and the Fracino Piccino

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This review is something of an outlier. Tested Technology takes a catholic view of its remit to present products to its readers: we’ve covered everything from a single USB cable, to fidget spinners, to complexly capable computing equipment. All, it is to be hoped, at arm’s length from the manufacturer and with the interest of the reader solely in mind. Products arrive from manufacturers, queuing up to be reviewed, some on loan, many are donations.… Now read on…

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Welcome to the Oppo Reno 2 [part two]

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We ended part one of this review with a promise that there was a lot more to tell. There probably is a lot more to tell, but we’re not in the position to tell it for the simple reason that the update to ColorOS 7—Oppo’s version of Android 10—targetted at the end of last year, still hasn’t reached us. It’s out there, all right. Over the Air (OTA) updates of a “trial version” went out… Now read on…

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Tuning in to ReSound’s LiNX Quattro (Part 3)

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Since we published the previous section of this review there have been two very relevant developments. The arrival (at last) of Google’s ASHA (audio streaming for hearing aids) is worth celebrating. But it’s been overshadowed by the announcement of the new official Bluetooth standard called Bluetooth 5.2. Bluetooth 5.2 includes a major revision to the standard that introduces audio streaming over Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio). And that includes hearing aids. In theory, all hearing… Now read on…

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Synology DS120j: The Review

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In our teaser for this review at the end of last year I posited the idea that perhaps a single drive NAS might be the best way of making use of the new, monstrous capacity drives like Seagate’s latest 16TB Iron Wolf. Domestically, that is. And for small businesses. Enterprise is a different matter. Let’s test this hypothesis. The single-bay DS120j is pretty much the identical twin of the DS119j we reviewed last year. The… Now read on…