Gadgets 360

Apple Inc. is planning to overhaul its Siri virtual assistant with more advanced artificial intelligence, a move that will let users control individual app functions with their voice, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The new system will allow Siri to take command of all the features within apps for the first time, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the initiative isn't public. That change required a revamp of Siri's underlying software using large language models — a core technology behind generative AI — and will be one of the highlights of Apple's renewed push into AI, they said.

The upgrade is one piece of the company's larger AI strategy, which will be unveiled at its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10. Apple is preparing several features, including voice memo transcriptions and summaries, quick recaps of websites and notifications, automated message replies, advanced photo editing, and AI-generated emojis, Bloomberg has reported.

As part of the rollout, more basic AI tasks will be processed on devices themselves, while more advanced capabilities will be handled via cloud computing. The company also has been forging a deal with OpenAI to integrate the startup's chatbot and other technology into the iOS operating system, and it remains in talks with Google parent Alphabet Inc. to use its Gemini software in the future. Apple software boss Craig Federighi has told his teams to develop as many new AI features as possible for this year's operating system updates.

Siri will be a key focus of the WWDC unveiling. The new system will allow the assistant to control and navigate an iPhone or iPad with more precision. That includes being able to open individual documents, moving a note to another folder, sending or deleting an email, opening a particular publication in Apple News, emailing a web link, or even asking the device for a summary of an article.

A representative for Cupertino, California-based Apple declined to comment.

Today, Siri is limited mostly to broader commands like playing music playlists, looking up information or controlling smart home appliances. The company also offers what are known as app intents to developers, allowing them to craft ways for Siri to tap individual features. In 2018, Apple launched Siri Shortcuts as well, letting users manually create commands for app features.

The new system will go further, using AI to analyze what people are doing on their devices and automatically enable Siri-controlled features. It will be limited to Apple's own apps at the beginning, with the company planning to support hundreds of different commands.

The feature is one of Apple's more complex AI initiatives and isn't planned for release until as soon as next year, when it will be part of a subsequent update to iOS 18, according to the people. The first version of the new operating system will launch in September, around the same time as the next iPhone models.

At the start, the new Siri will handle one command at a time, but Apple has plans to to allow users to chain commands together. For example, they could ask Siri to summarize a recorded meeting and then text it to a colleague in one request. Or an iPhone could theoretically be asked to crop a picture and then email it to a friend.

A major component of the new push is a system that will use AI to automatically determine if a function should be handled on the device or via the cloud.

That has raised some privacy questions. While on-device tasks won't share personal information, the cloud-based approach will require some user data to be transferred to remote servers. The information will be protected by the so-called Secure Enclave in the high-end Apple Mac chips powering the data centers, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.

Apple will attempt to further reassure customers that their data is private by creating an “intelligence report” that explains how the information is secured. The iPhone maker also won't build profiles of customers — something it's criticized Google and Meta Platforms Inc. for doing.

With the Siri upgrade, Apple is looking to reinvigorate a pioneering product that fell behind competitors' services. The company first launched Siri in 2011, giving it a head start in voice-based interfaces and AI. But Apple soon lost that lead to Amazon.com Inc.'s Alexa and the Google Assistant. Then it was caught flat-footed again when generative AI chatbots emerged two years ago.

Apple also is contending with a sales slowdown, and its shares have underperformed those of peers this year. The stock is down about 1% in 2024, compared with a 10% gain for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Stock Index. Apple was up 0.5% to $191.29 in New York on Thursday.

Apple is betting that the new AI features for the iPhone, iPad and Mac — as well as the Siri enhancements — will encourage users to upgrade their devices. Many of the on-device AI capabilities will require an iPhone 15 Pro or later to work. Macs and iPads, meanwhile, will need at least an M1 chip.

© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.
 

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Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/uriRtPf

Apple Inc. is planning to overhaul its Siri virtual assistant with more advanced artificial intelligence, a move that will let users control individual app functions with their voice, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The new system will allow Siri to take command of all the features within apps for the first time, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the initiative isn't public. That change required a revamp of Siri's underlying software using large language models — a core technology behind generative AI — and will be one of the highlights of Apple's renewed push into AI, they said.

The upgrade is one piece of the company's larger AI strategy, which will be unveiled at its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10. Apple is preparing several features, including voice memo transcriptions and summaries, quick recaps of websites and notifications, automated message replies, advanced photo editing, and AI-generated emojis, Bloomberg has reported.

As part of the rollout, more basic AI tasks will be processed on devices themselves, while more advanced capabilities will be handled via cloud computing. The company also has been forging a deal with OpenAI to integrate the startup's chatbot and other technology into the iOS operating system, and it remains in talks with Google parent Alphabet Inc. to use its Gemini software in the future. Apple software boss Craig Federighi has told his teams to develop as many new AI features as possible for this year's operating system updates.

Siri will be a key focus of the WWDC unveiling. The new system will allow the assistant to control and navigate an iPhone or iPad with more precision. That includes being able to open individual documents, moving a note to another folder, sending or deleting an email, opening a particular publication in Apple News, emailing a web link, or even asking the device for a summary of an article.

A representative for Cupertino, California-based Apple declined to comment.

Today, Siri is limited mostly to broader commands like playing music playlists, looking up information or controlling smart home appliances. The company also offers what are known as app intents to developers, allowing them to craft ways for Siri to tap individual features. In 2018, Apple launched Siri Shortcuts as well, letting users manually create commands for app features.

The new system will go further, using AI to analyze what people are doing on their devices and automatically enable Siri-controlled features. It will be limited to Apple's own apps at the beginning, with the company planning to support hundreds of different commands.

The feature is one of Apple's more complex AI initiatives and isn't planned for release until as soon as next year, when it will be part of a subsequent update to iOS 18, according to the people. The first version of the new operating system will launch in September, around the same time as the next iPhone models.

At the start, the new Siri will handle one command at a time, but Apple has plans to to allow users to chain commands together. For example, they could ask Siri to summarize a recorded meeting and then text it to a colleague in one request. Or an iPhone could theoretically be asked to crop a picture and then email it to a friend.

A major component of the new push is a system that will use AI to automatically determine if a function should be handled on the device or via the cloud.

That has raised some privacy questions. While on-device tasks won't share personal information, the cloud-based approach will require some user data to be transferred to remote servers. The information will be protected by the so-called Secure Enclave in the high-end Apple Mac chips powering the data centers, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.

Apple will attempt to further reassure customers that their data is private by creating an “intelligence report” that explains how the information is secured. The iPhone maker also won't build profiles of customers — something it's criticized Google and Meta Platforms Inc. for doing.

With the Siri upgrade, Apple is looking to reinvigorate a pioneering product that fell behind competitors' services. The company first launched Siri in 2011, giving it a head start in voice-based interfaces and AI. But Apple soon lost that lead to Amazon.com Inc.'s Alexa and the Google Assistant. Then it was caught flat-footed again when generative AI chatbots emerged two years ago.

Apple also is contending with a sales slowdown, and its shares have underperformed those of peers this year. The stock is down about 1% in 2024, compared with a 10% gain for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Stock Index. Apple was up 0.5% to $191.29 in New York on Thursday.

Apple is betting that the new AI features for the iPhone, iPad and Mac — as well as the Siri enhancements — will encourage users to upgrade their devices. Many of the on-device AI capabilities will require an iPhone 15 Pro or later to work. Macs and iPads, meanwhile, will need at least an M1 chip.

© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.
 

---

Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Gadgets 360

Redmi Pad Pro 5G has been introduced in China with dual-SIM support. The tablet gets a 12.1-inch display and runs Xiaomi's HyperOS out-of-the-box. It joins the 4G version of the Redmi Pad Pro, which was launched in April. The 5G variant shares similar specifications with the existing model and is available in two RAM and storage configurations. The tablet is powered by a Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 SoC and is backed by a 10,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging support.

Redmi Pad Pro 5G price

The Redmi Pad Pro 5G starts in China at CNY 1,999 (roughly Rs. 23,000) for the 6GB + 128GB option, while the 8GB + 256GB variant is priced at CNY 2,399 (roughly Rs. 27,600). The tablet is available for purchase via the Xiaomi China website in a Dark Grey colourway.

Redmi Pad Pro 5G specifications, features

Redmi Pad Pro 5G sports a 12.1-inch 2.5K (2,560 x 1,600 pixels) LCD screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 180Hz touch sampling rate, and up to 600 nits peak brightness as well as Dolby Vision support. The display also gets Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.

It is equipped with a Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 SoC, paired with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 2.2 onboard storage. The Redmi Pad Pro 5G ships with Android 14-based Xiaomi HyperOS.

For optics, the Redmi Pad Pro 5G carries an 8-megapixel rear camera sensor alongside an LED flash panel. It gets another 8-megapixel sensor on the front. 

The Redmi Pad Pro 5G is backed by a 10,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging support. The dual-SIM tablet gets 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and USB Type-C connectivity. The tablet gets quad speakers with support for Dolby Atmos. It weighs 566g and measures 280 x 181.85 x 7.52mm in size. 

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Is the Xiaomi Pad 6 the best Android tablet you can buy under Rs. 30,000 in India? We discuss the company's latest mid-range tablet on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/XrleShL

Redmi Pad Pro 5G has been introduced in China with dual-SIM support. The tablet gets a 12.1-inch display and runs Xiaomi's HyperOS out-of-the-box. It joins the 4G version of the Redmi Pad Pro, which was launched in April. The 5G variant shares similar specifications with the existing model and is available in two RAM and storage configurations. The tablet is powered by a Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 SoC and is backed by a 10,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging support.

Redmi Pad Pro 5G price

The Redmi Pad Pro 5G starts in China at CNY 1,999 (roughly Rs. 23,000) for the 6GB + 128GB option, while the 8GB + 256GB variant is priced at CNY 2,399 (roughly Rs. 27,600). The tablet is available for purchase via the Xiaomi China website in a Dark Grey colourway.

Redmi Pad Pro 5G specifications, features

Redmi Pad Pro 5G sports a 12.1-inch 2.5K (2,560 x 1,600 pixels) LCD screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 180Hz touch sampling rate, and up to 600 nits peak brightness as well as Dolby Vision support. The display also gets Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.

It is equipped with a Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 SoC, paired with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 2.2 onboard storage. The Redmi Pad Pro 5G ships with Android 14-based Xiaomi HyperOS.

For optics, the Redmi Pad Pro 5G carries an 8-megapixel rear camera sensor alongside an LED flash panel. It gets another 8-megapixel sensor on the front. 

The Redmi Pad Pro 5G is backed by a 10,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging support. The dual-SIM tablet gets 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and USB Type-C connectivity. The tablet gets quad speakers with support for Dolby Atmos. It weighs 566g and measures 280 x 181.85 x 7.52mm in size. 

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Is the Xiaomi Pad 6 the best Android tablet you can buy under Rs. 30,000 in India? We discuss the company's latest mid-range tablet on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Gadgets 360

Poco F6 5G will go on sale in India for the first time today (May 29) via Flipkart. The Poco F series smartphone was launched in the country last week with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC. It comes in three RAM and storage configurations and two finishes. The Poco F6 5G features an OLED display with 1.5K resolution and flaunts a 50-megapixel dual rear camera setup. It houses a 5,000mAh battery with support for 90W wired fast charging.

Poco F6 5G price in india, sale offers

The Poco F6 5G price in India starts at Rs. 29,999 for the base 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant. Meanwhile, the 12GB RAM + 256GB and 12GB + 512GB options are priced at Rs. 31,999, and 33,999, respectively. It is available in Black and Titanium colourways. The handset will go on sale on Flipkart at 12pm IST today.

Flipkart is offering 5 percent cashback on Flipkart Axis bank cards. HDFC, ICICI, and SBI card users can avail Rs. 2,000 off on transactions. This will bring down the starting price to Rs. 25,999. The 12GB + 256GB and 12GB + 512GB RAM and storage versions can be purchased for Rs. 27,999 and Rs. 29,999, respectively. No-cost EMI options start at Rs. 2,500 per month.

Poco F6 5G specifications

The Poco F6 5G runs on an Android 14-based HyperOS interface and sports a 6.67-inch 1.5K (1,220x2,712 pixels) resolution AMOLED display with up to 120Hz refresh rate and 446 ppi pixel density. It is confirmed to receive three major Android updates and four years of security patches. The phone runs on an octa-core 4nm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC with up to 12GB LPPDDR5x RAM.

For optics, the Poco F6 5G has a dual rear camera unit, comprising a 50-megapixel 1/1.9-inch Sony IMX882 sensor and an 8-megapixel Sony IMX355 ultra-wide angle camera. For selfies and video chats, there is a 20-megapixel OV20B front camera. It carries up to 512GB UFS 4.0 storage.

Connectivity options on the Poco F6 5G include 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, GPS/AGPS, Galileo, GLONASS, Beidou, and a USB Type-C port. Sensors on board include an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, e-compass, gyroscope, IR blaster, and proximity sensor. It is IP64-rated for dust and splash resistance. It features an in-display fingerprint sensor and supports face unlock.

Poco F6 5G comes with a 5,000mAh battery with support for 90W fast charging. It comes with a 120W adapter in the box.

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Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

from Gadgets 360 https://ift.tt/Orj0ElC

Poco F6 5G will go on sale in India for the first time today (May 29) via Flipkart. The Poco F series smartphone was launched in the country last week with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC. It comes in three RAM and storage configurations and two finishes. The Poco F6 5G features an OLED display with 1.5K resolution and flaunts a 50-megapixel dual rear camera setup. It houses a 5,000mAh battery with support for 90W wired fast charging.

Poco F6 5G price in india, sale offers

The Poco F6 5G price in India starts at Rs. 29,999 for the base 8GB RAM + 256GB storage variant. Meanwhile, the 12GB RAM + 256GB and 12GB + 512GB options are priced at Rs. 31,999, and 33,999, respectively. It is available in Black and Titanium colourways. The handset will go on sale on Flipkart at 12pm IST today.

Flipkart is offering 5 percent cashback on Flipkart Axis bank cards. HDFC, ICICI, and SBI card users can avail Rs. 2,000 off on transactions. This will bring down the starting price to Rs. 25,999. The 12GB + 256GB and 12GB + 512GB RAM and storage versions can be purchased for Rs. 27,999 and Rs. 29,999, respectively. No-cost EMI options start at Rs. 2,500 per month.

Poco F6 5G specifications

The Poco F6 5G runs on an Android 14-based HyperOS interface and sports a 6.67-inch 1.5K (1,220x2,712 pixels) resolution AMOLED display with up to 120Hz refresh rate and 446 ppi pixel density. It is confirmed to receive three major Android updates and four years of security patches. The phone runs on an octa-core 4nm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC with up to 12GB LPPDDR5x RAM.

For optics, the Poco F6 5G has a dual rear camera unit, comprising a 50-megapixel 1/1.9-inch Sony IMX882 sensor and an 8-megapixel Sony IMX355 ultra-wide angle camera. For selfies and video chats, there is a 20-megapixel OV20B front camera. It carries up to 512GB UFS 4.0 storage.

Connectivity options on the Poco F6 5G include 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, GPS/AGPS, Galileo, GLONASS, Beidou, and a USB Type-C port. Sensors on board include an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, e-compass, gyroscope, IR blaster, and proximity sensor. It is IP64-rated for dust and splash resistance. It features an in-display fingerprint sensor and supports face unlock.

Poco F6 5G comes with a 5,000mAh battery with support for 90W fast charging. It comes with a 120W adapter in the box.

---

Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Gadgets 360

Just around the time expansive open-world games had decidedly started showing signs of fatigue, Ghost of Tsushima arrived like a summer breeze. Sucker Punch's Japan-set action-adventure game didn't reinvent the wheel by any means, but it reshaped player interaction with familiar open-world tropes in inventive ways to deliver a memorable samurai story. Ghost of Tsushima and its resounding success on PlayStation consoles showed that the open-world playbook — largely written by Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed and Far Cry series of games — had gotten so stale that small but clever new ideas were enough to engender a meaningful experience.

Through its pared back quest design, its diegetic approach to map markers, and its evocative visuals and music, Ghost of Tsushima set the bar for what a modern open-world action-adventure title should be. Now, the game arrives on PC in a package that amplifies what it already did well on PS4 and PS5. Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut, first released on PlayStation consoles in 2021 and now available on PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, comes with the Iki Island expansion, a graphical facelift, and better framerates, among other improvements. But can a four-year-old game still hold up to fast-changing modern video game standards?

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The answer to that question might vary depending upon your open-world mileage. If you've had your fill of running around a seemingly interminable map, chasing down repetitious objectives without any true payoff, then Ghost of Tsushima may feel a tedious prospect, especially if you've tried out the game on consoles. But, if you're new to the experience, then Sucker Punch's tale of stirring vengeance and samurai honor, ported expertly to PC by Nixxes Software, is definitely worth your attention. I platinumed Ghost of Tsushima on the PS4, played the Director's Cut version and its included Iki Island expansion on the PS5, and still found myself willfully and gladly sinking time in the Steam release of the game.

Ghost of Tsushima tells the story of Jin Sakai, a samurai thrown on to the path of revenge when a ferocious Mongol army, led by Kotun Khan, invades his home, the Japanese island of Tsushima. Khan and his unsparing warriors stamp out the samurai resistance, raze down villages, and capture Lord Shimura, Jin's uncle and the jito of Tsushima. Jin, a young samurai who grew up as a ward of Lord Shimura after his father was killed at an early age, barely survives the battle, but is driven to find his uncle and save Tsushima. Battered and bound by the samurai code of honor, Jin eventually, with the help of his allies, takes up guerilla tactics to gain an advantage over a brutal enemy. After all, the samurai tradition of taking your foes head on in righteous combat can only go so far against a Mongol army that has no qualms about employing every dirty trick in the book to seize control.

Ghost of Tsushima begins with the Mongol army invading the island
Photo Credit: Sucker Punch/ Screenshot - Manas Mitul

Jin begrudgingly abandons his code, drilled into him by his uncle, to become the Ghost, a warrior who takes on the art of deception, distraction, and stealth to push back against the Mongol invasion and free his uncle. His unconventional methods are aided by unconventional friends — common folk far removed from the constraints of straight-jacket samurai morality. Jin, who lived all his life in black and white, walks the grey path for his higher cause. Ghost of Tsushima's story, just like its systems, treads familiar grounds. We've all seen and read the revenge tale where the protagonist is confronted with the rigidity of their values and forced to think in ways unnatural to them. But the game's polished presentation of its ideas triumphs over its reliance on tried and tested tropes.

Visual presentation

Ghost of Tsushima's biggest promise on PC is its graphical fidelity. The action-adventure title remains one of the best-looking games on PlayStation. With the new PC port, the game's visual presentation shines in ways not possible on consoles. If you have the right system, Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut can go toe-to-toe with the most graphically striking games on PC. While its character models and facial animations look a bit dated in 2024, its lush and diverse environments are still some of the best in the medium.

Ghost of Tsushima features some of the most striking environments in video games
Photo Credit: Sucker Punch/ Screenshot - Manas Mitul

Animation quality in general, however, maintains a high bar. Jin controls smoothly, whether you're riding his trusted horse or scaling tall cliffs and towers with the help of his grappling hook. Combat animations are perhaps some of the best seen in third-person action-adventure titles. Each sword stance comes with unique animations and move sets that add distinction to your playing style. Jin's moves with the Katana, animated with the help of actual Japanese sword experts, flow like a river of deadly slashes and stabs, all the while retaining the weight and impact of a high stakes duel.

On PC, Tsushima Island comes alive on higher graphical settings. Contrary to other open-world games, where persistent markers and HUD elements actively break your immersion, Ghost of Tsushima encourages you to interact with its natural environment to uncover interesting items and treasures. Running after foxes or chasing golden birds across quiet meadows and rolling grasslands becomes a meditative experience, especially since it all looks so good. The game's evocative visuals are helped by its vibrant art style that finds a sweet spot somewhere between the natural realism of Red Dead Redemption 2 and saturated fantasy of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Ghost of Tsushima never tries to look real, opting instead for poetic romanticism for its visual identity.

Your horse is the best way to get around Tsushima
Photo Credit: Sucker Punch/ Screenshot - Manas Mitul

PC features

Nixxes have also prioritised performance across a wide spectrum of hardware capabilities, from high-end PCs to handheld gaming devices like the Steam Deck. The game comes with unlocked framerates and a deep suite of graphics options on PC that can be tweaked to get to your desired performance and image quality. You also get the option to boost the game's performance with support for upscaling and frame generation technologies like Nvidia DLSS 3, AMD FSR 3, and Intel XeSS. Unfortunately, Ghost of Tsushima doesn't come with any ray-tracing support. Including ray-traced reflections could have thrown up technical challenges and affected the performance of the game, but the feature should be expected in a modern PC title that boasts striking visuals.

The game does support ultra-wide monitor setups and the PS5 DualSense controller on PC. Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut is also the first Sony title that comes with the new PlayStation Overlay on PC. At any point in the game, you hit Shift + F1 on the keyboard to bring up a windowed overlay that shows your PlayStation account, friend list and trophies. Do keep in mind, however, that you'll be required to connect to your PlayStation Network account within the game to access the feature.

Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut is the first Sony title on PC that comes with the new PlayStation Overlay
Photo Credit: Sucker Punch/ Screenshot - Manas Mitul

PC performance

I played Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut on an HP Omen 16-xf0060AX, provided by HP for the purpose of this review. So, while I was limited to 1080p resolution, I got consistent performance even at Very High settings. According to the game's system requirements published ahead of release, you'd need an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 or an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT GPU to reach 60fps at 4K resolution. I was able to get stable framerates above 100fps at 1080p resolution on an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, with DLSS frame generation on. I experienced very little stutter across different graphical settings during my gameplay.

Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut reviewed on HP Omen 16

Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS.

Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 laptop GPU (8GB GDDR6 dedicated).

Memory: 16GB DDR5-5600 Mhz RAM.

Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe TLC M.2 SSD.

With DLSS upscaling set to Quality and graphical options set to Very High, the average framerate stood at an excellent 114.5fps, with 1 percent and 0.1 percent low averages also hovering well above 70fps. Lowering the graphical settings to High resulted in minor visual downgrades and bumped the average framerate to 146.8fps. Adjusting the DLSS upscaling option to Performance yielded even better results, with average framerate for Very High and High settings recorded at 128.7fps and 159.8fps, respectively. Of course, running the game at steady high framerates in 4K resolution would require a higher-end system. But, just as Nixxes promised, Ghost of Tsushima has been optimised to run smoothly on a variety of hardware.

Ghost of Tsushima uses a variety of vivid colour palettes
Photo Credit: Sucker Punch/ Screenshot - Manas Mitul

Verdict

Sony has been following a delayed release strategy for PC ports of its first-party PlayStation titles. The success of its PC releases, be God of War or Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered, proves the strength of its exclusive single-player games, that continue to generate interest years after their initial launch. Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut perhaps underlines that phenomenon better than most other releases. The game is now PlayStation's biggest single-player launch on Steam, surpassing the all-time peak player numbers of God of War on Valve's platform. This, despite the PlayStation Network account linking controversy, that led to pre-order cancellations and the game being delisted from Steam in over 170 non-PSN countries.

PC players had clearly been waiting for a port of Ghost of Tsushima, and Nixxes Software has delivered a finely tuned package that looks more gorgeous than ever, plays more smoothly than ever and brings a few nifty PC-exclusive features that enhance the experience. The game itself, of course, arrives unchanged, which means its flaws are present on PC, too. Its open-world ideas chose to recycle rather than reinvent existing tropes and your core gameplay loop isn't too dissimilar from an Assassin's Creed title. But, when it comes to presenting those familiar ideas in evocative ways, Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut is a cut above the rest.

Pros

• Excellent visuals
• Consistent PC performance
• Detailed graphics settings

Cons

• Formulaic open-world
• Lack of ray-tracing support

Rating (out of 10): 8

Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut released May 16 on PC. The game was tested on an HP Omen 16-xf0060AX laptop provided by HP.

Pricing starts at Rs. 3,999 on Steam and Epic Games Store for PC.

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Is PS Plus better than Xbox Game Pass now? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Just around the time expansive open-world games had decidedly started showing signs of fatigue, Ghost of Tsushima arrived like a summer breeze. Sucker Punch's Japan-set action-adventure game didn't reinvent the wheel by any means, but it reshaped player interaction with familiar open-world tropes in inventive ways to deliver a memorable samurai story. Ghost of Tsushima and its resounding success on PlayStation consoles showed that the open-world playbook — largely written by Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed and Far Cry series of games — had gotten so stale that small but clever new ideas were enough to engender a meaningful experience.

Through its pared back quest design, its diegetic approach to map markers, and its evocative visuals and music, Ghost of Tsushima set the bar for what a modern open-world action-adventure title should be. Now, the game arrives on PC in a package that amplifies what it already did well on PS4 and PS5. Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut, first released on PlayStation consoles in 2021 and now available on PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, comes with the Iki Island expansion, a graphical facelift, and better framerates, among other improvements. But can a four-year-old game still hold up to fast-changing modern video game standards?

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The answer to that question might vary depending upon your open-world mileage. If you've had your fill of running around a seemingly interminable map, chasing down repetitious objectives without any true payoff, then Ghost of Tsushima may feel a tedious prospect, especially if you've tried out the game on consoles. But, if you're new to the experience, then Sucker Punch's tale of stirring vengeance and samurai honor, ported expertly to PC by Nixxes Software, is definitely worth your attention. I platinumed Ghost of Tsushima on the PS4, played the Director's Cut version and its included Iki Island expansion on the PS5, and still found myself willfully and gladly sinking time in the Steam release of the game.

Ghost of Tsushima tells the story of Jin Sakai, a samurai thrown on to the path of revenge when a ferocious Mongol army, led by Kotun Khan, invades his home, the Japanese island of Tsushima. Khan and his unsparing warriors stamp out the samurai resistance, raze down villages, and capture Lord Shimura, Jin's uncle and the jito of Tsushima. Jin, a young samurai who grew up as a ward of Lord Shimura after his father was killed at an early age, barely survives the battle, but is driven to find his uncle and save Tsushima. Battered and bound by the samurai code of honor, Jin eventually, with the help of his allies, takes up guerilla tactics to gain an advantage over a brutal enemy. After all, the samurai tradition of taking your foes head on in righteous combat can only go so far against a Mongol army that has no qualms about employing every dirty trick in the book to seize control.

Ghost of Tsushima begins with the Mongol army invading the island
Photo Credit: Sucker Punch/ Screenshot - Manas Mitul

Jin begrudgingly abandons his code, drilled into him by his uncle, to become the Ghost, a warrior who takes on the art of deception, distraction, and stealth to push back against the Mongol invasion and free his uncle. His unconventional methods are aided by unconventional friends — common folk far removed from the constraints of straight-jacket samurai morality. Jin, who lived all his life in black and white, walks the grey path for his higher cause. Ghost of Tsushima's story, just like its systems, treads familiar grounds. We've all seen and read the revenge tale where the protagonist is confronted with the rigidity of their values and forced to think in ways unnatural to them. But the game's polished presentation of its ideas triumphs over its reliance on tried and tested tropes.

Visual presentation

Ghost of Tsushima's biggest promise on PC is its graphical fidelity. The action-adventure title remains one of the best-looking games on PlayStation. With the new PC port, the game's visual presentation shines in ways not possible on consoles. If you have the right system, Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut can go toe-to-toe with the most graphically striking games on PC. While its character models and facial animations look a bit dated in 2024, its lush and diverse environments are still some of the best in the medium.

Ghost of Tsushima features some of the most striking environments in video games
Photo Credit: Sucker Punch/ Screenshot - Manas Mitul

Animation quality in general, however, maintains a high bar. Jin controls smoothly, whether you're riding his trusted horse or scaling tall cliffs and towers with the help of his grappling hook. Combat animations are perhaps some of the best seen in third-person action-adventure titles. Each sword stance comes with unique animations and move sets that add distinction to your playing style. Jin's moves with the Katana, animated with the help of actual Japanese sword experts, flow like a river of deadly slashes and stabs, all the while retaining the weight and impact of a high stakes duel.

On PC, Tsushima Island comes alive on higher graphical settings. Contrary to other open-world games, where persistent markers and HUD elements actively break your immersion, Ghost of Tsushima encourages you to interact with its natural environment to uncover interesting items and treasures. Running after foxes or chasing golden birds across quiet meadows and rolling grasslands becomes a meditative experience, especially since it all looks so good. The game's evocative visuals are helped by its vibrant art style that finds a sweet spot somewhere between the natural realism of Red Dead Redemption 2 and saturated fantasy of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Ghost of Tsushima never tries to look real, opting instead for poetic romanticism for its visual identity.

Your horse is the best way to get around Tsushima
Photo Credit: Sucker Punch/ Screenshot - Manas Mitul

PC features

Nixxes have also prioritised performance across a wide spectrum of hardware capabilities, from high-end PCs to handheld gaming devices like the Steam Deck. The game comes with unlocked framerates and a deep suite of graphics options on PC that can be tweaked to get to your desired performance and image quality. You also get the option to boost the game's performance with support for upscaling and frame generation technologies like Nvidia DLSS 3, AMD FSR 3, and Intel XeSS. Unfortunately, Ghost of Tsushima doesn't come with any ray-tracing support. Including ray-traced reflections could have thrown up technical challenges and affected the performance of the game, but the feature should be expected in a modern PC title that boasts striking visuals.

The game does support ultra-wide monitor setups and the PS5 DualSense controller on PC. Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut is also the first Sony title that comes with the new PlayStation Overlay on PC. At any point in the game, you hit Shift + F1 on the keyboard to bring up a windowed overlay that shows your PlayStation account, friend list and trophies. Do keep in mind, however, that you'll be required to connect to your PlayStation Network account within the game to access the feature.

Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut is the first Sony title on PC that comes with the new PlayStation Overlay
Photo Credit: Sucker Punch/ Screenshot - Manas Mitul

PC performance

I played Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut on an HP Omen 16-xf0060AX, provided by HP for the purpose of this review. So, while I was limited to 1080p resolution, I got consistent performance even at Very High settings. According to the game's system requirements published ahead of release, you'd need an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 or an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT GPU to reach 60fps at 4K resolution. I was able to get stable framerates above 100fps at 1080p resolution on an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, with DLSS frame generation on. I experienced very little stutter across different graphical settings during my gameplay.

Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut reviewed on HP Omen 16

Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS.

Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 laptop GPU (8GB GDDR6 dedicated).

Memory: 16GB DDR5-5600 Mhz RAM.

Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe TLC M.2 SSD.

With DLSS upscaling set to Quality and graphical options set to Very High, the average framerate stood at an excellent 114.5fps, with 1 percent and 0.1 percent low averages also hovering well above 70fps. Lowering the graphical settings to High resulted in minor visual downgrades and bumped the average framerate to 146.8fps. Adjusting the DLSS upscaling option to Performance yielded even better results, with average framerate for Very High and High settings recorded at 128.7fps and 159.8fps, respectively. Of course, running the game at steady high framerates in 4K resolution would require a higher-end system. But, just as Nixxes promised, Ghost of Tsushima has been optimised to run smoothly on a variety of hardware.

Ghost of Tsushima uses a variety of vivid colour palettes
Photo Credit: Sucker Punch/ Screenshot - Manas Mitul

Verdict

Sony has been following a delayed release strategy for PC ports of its first-party PlayStation titles. The success of its PC releases, be God of War or Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered, proves the strength of its exclusive single-player games, that continue to generate interest years after their initial launch. Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut perhaps underlines that phenomenon better than most other releases. The game is now PlayStation's biggest single-player launch on Steam, surpassing the all-time peak player numbers of God of War on Valve's platform. This, despite the PlayStation Network account linking controversy, that led to pre-order cancellations and the game being delisted from Steam in over 170 non-PSN countries.

PC players had clearly been waiting for a port of Ghost of Tsushima, and Nixxes Software has delivered a finely tuned package that looks more gorgeous than ever, plays more smoothly than ever and brings a few nifty PC-exclusive features that enhance the experience. The game itself, of course, arrives unchanged, which means its flaws are present on PC, too. Its open-world ideas chose to recycle rather than reinvent existing tropes and your core gameplay loop isn't too dissimilar from an Assassin's Creed title. But, when it comes to presenting those familiar ideas in evocative ways, Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut is a cut above the rest.

Pros

• Excellent visuals
• Consistent PC performance
• Detailed graphics settings

Cons

• Formulaic open-world
• Lack of ray-tracing support

Rating (out of 10): 8

Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut released May 16 on PC. The game was tested on an HP Omen 16-xf0060AX laptop provided by HP.

Pricing starts at Rs. 3,999 on Steam and Epic Games Store for PC.

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Is PS Plus better than Xbox Game Pass now? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: ‘TMC fighting for existence; Congress ‘biggest enemy’ of minorities,’ says PM Modi

PM Modi defends himself against opposition's abuse allegations and criticizes vote bank politics while emphasizing the importance of protecting the rights of SC, ST, OBC communities. He also addresses reservations, raids on opposition parties, and the cancellation of OBC certificates in West Bengal.

from mint - politics PM Modi defends himself against opposition's abuse allegations and criticizes vote bank politics while emphasizing the importance of protecting the rights of SC, ST, OBC communities. He also addresses reservations, raids on opposition parties, and the cancellation of OBC certificates in West Bengal.

Gadgets 360

Honor 200 and Honor 200 Pro were unveiled in China on May 27, Monday. The smartphones ship with Android 14-based MagicOS 8.0. The get an AI-backed portrait feature that has been trained on the French Studio Harcourt portrait datasets. The handsets carry 50-megapixel triple rear camera units as well as 50-megapixel selfie cameras each. The Pro model features an additional 3D depth camera alongside the selfie shooter. The Honor 200 series will launch globally on June 12.

Honor 200, Honor 200 Pro price, availability

The base Honor 200 carries a starting price of CNY 2,699 (roughly Rs. 31,000) for the 12GB + 256GB option, the 12GB + 512GB and the 16GB + 256GB variants are priced at CNY 2,999 (roughly Rs. 34,400), and the 16GB + 512GB option is listed at CNY 3,199 (roughly Rs. 36,700).

Meanwhile, the Honor 200 Pro is priced at CNY 3,499 (roughly Rs. 40,200) and CNY 3,799 (roughly Rs. 43,600) for the 12GB + 256GB and the 12GB + 512GB variants. The higher-end 16GB + 512GB and the 16GB + 1TB options are marked at CNY 3,999 (roughly Rs. 45,000) and CNY 4,499 (roughly Rs. 51,600), respectively.

The handsets are currently available for pre-order via the Honor China website and will go on sale in the country starting May 31. The phones are offered in four colour options - Coral Pink, Moon Shadow White, Sky Blue, and Velvet Black (translated from Chinese.)

Honor 200, Honor 200 Pro specifications, features

The vanilla Honor 200 sports a 6.7-inch full-HD+ (2,664 x 1,200 pixels) OLED curved display, with a 120Hz refresh rate, up to 4,000 nits peak brightness, and up to 3,840Hz PWM dimming rate. It is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC paired with an Adreno 720 GPU, up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and up to 512GB onboard storage.

Honor 200 Pro, on the other hand, comes with a 6.78-inch display with specifications similar to those of the base variant. It is equipped by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset paired with an Adreno 735 GPU, up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and up to 1TB of inbuilt storage. Both base and Pro versions ship with Android 14-based MagicOS 8.0.

For optics, the Honor 200 carries a 50-megapixel 1/1.56-inch Sony IMX906 primary sensor with optical image stabilisation (OIS) alongside a 12-megapixel ultra-wide angle shot, and a 50-megapixel Sony IMX856 sensor. The Pro variant is also equipped with a 50-megapixel triple rear camera unit but uses a 50-megapixel 1/1.3-inch OmniVision OV50H main sensor. Both phones feature 50-megapixel Sony IMX906 sensors on the front for selfies, but the Pro version has an additional 3D depth camera alongside it.

Honor has packed 5,200mAh batteries in the Honor 200 handset with 100W SuperCharge fast charging support. They offer 5G, dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS, NFC, and USB Type-C connectivity. For security, the phones are equipped with in-display fingerprint sensors. The Honor 200 Pro weighs 199g and measures 163.3 x 75.2 x 8.2mm, while the vanilla variant weighs 187g and measures 161.5 x 74.6 x 7.7mm.

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Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Honor 200 and Honor 200 Pro were unveiled in China on May 27, Monday. The smartphones ship with Android 14-based MagicOS 8.0. The get an AI-backed portrait feature that has been trained on the French Studio Harcourt portrait datasets. The handsets carry 50-megapixel triple rear camera units as well as 50-megapixel selfie cameras each. The Pro model features an additional 3D depth camera alongside the selfie shooter. The Honor 200 series will launch globally on June 12.

Honor 200, Honor 200 Pro price, availability

The base Honor 200 carries a starting price of CNY 2,699 (roughly Rs. 31,000) for the 12GB + 256GB option, the 12GB + 512GB and the 16GB + 256GB variants are priced at CNY 2,999 (roughly Rs. 34,400), and the 16GB + 512GB option is listed at CNY 3,199 (roughly Rs. 36,700).

Meanwhile, the Honor 200 Pro is priced at CNY 3,499 (roughly Rs. 40,200) and CNY 3,799 (roughly Rs. 43,600) for the 12GB + 256GB and the 12GB + 512GB variants. The higher-end 16GB + 512GB and the 16GB + 1TB options are marked at CNY 3,999 (roughly Rs. 45,000) and CNY 4,499 (roughly Rs. 51,600), respectively.

The handsets are currently available for pre-order via the Honor China website and will go on sale in the country starting May 31. The phones are offered in four colour options - Coral Pink, Moon Shadow White, Sky Blue, and Velvet Black (translated from Chinese.)

Honor 200, Honor 200 Pro specifications, features

The vanilla Honor 200 sports a 6.7-inch full-HD+ (2,664 x 1,200 pixels) OLED curved display, with a 120Hz refresh rate, up to 4,000 nits peak brightness, and up to 3,840Hz PWM dimming rate. It is powered by the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 SoC paired with an Adreno 720 GPU, up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and up to 512GB onboard storage.

Honor 200 Pro, on the other hand, comes with a 6.78-inch display with specifications similar to those of the base variant. It is equipped by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset paired with an Adreno 735 GPU, up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and up to 1TB of inbuilt storage. Both base and Pro versions ship with Android 14-based MagicOS 8.0.

For optics, the Honor 200 carries a 50-megapixel 1/1.56-inch Sony IMX906 primary sensor with optical image stabilisation (OIS) alongside a 12-megapixel ultra-wide angle shot, and a 50-megapixel Sony IMX856 sensor. The Pro variant is also equipped with a 50-megapixel triple rear camera unit but uses a 50-megapixel 1/1.3-inch OmniVision OV50H main sensor. Both phones feature 50-megapixel Sony IMX906 sensors on the front for selfies, but the Pro version has an additional 3D depth camera alongside it.

Honor has packed 5,200mAh batteries in the Honor 200 handset with 100W SuperCharge fast charging support. They offer 5G, dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS, NFC, and USB Type-C connectivity. For security, the phones are equipped with in-display fingerprint sensors. The Honor 200 Pro weighs 199g and measures 163.3 x 75.2 x 8.2mm, while the vanilla variant weighs 187g and measures 161.5 x 74.6 x 7.7mm.

---

Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

‘Rahul Gandhi will go for ‘vacation’ Akhilesh Yadav will ‘sing songs’ after Lok Sabha polls result,’ says Giriraj Singh

Union Minister Giriraj Singh took a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav and said that the former will go abroad for a vacation and the latter will be singing after the results of Lok Sabha polls will be out on June 4.

from mint - politics Union Minister Giriraj Singh took a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav and said that the former will go abroad for a vacation and the latter will be singing after the results of Lok Sabha polls will be out on June 4.

Supreme Court refuses BJP's plea against Calcutta HC order on poll code violations

The Supreme Court's refusal to hear the plea upholds the High Court's decision, maintaining the restrictions on the BJP's advertising practices during the election period.

from mint - politics The Supreme Court's refusal to hear the plea upholds the High Court's decision, maintaining the restrictions on the BJP's advertising practices during the election period.

Arvind Kejriwal seeks 7-day extension of interim bail from Supreme Court to complete health check-up

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from mint - politics Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has in his petition to the SC said he has to undergo PET-CT scan and other tests, and asked for seven days to complete the health check-ups.

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: ‘Strong opposition good for the country, but..’, says Amit Shah

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Amit Shah blamed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for the downslide in the country’s political standards.

from mint - politics Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Amit Shah blamed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for the downslide in the country’s political standards.

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: INDIA bloc leaders to meet on June 1, last day of polling, says a report

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The meeting of INDIA bloc leaders has been called to review the elections and also discuss the coalition's future course of actions, according to reports. The results of Lok Sabha elections will be declared on June 4.

from mint - politics Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The meeting of INDIA bloc leaders has been called to review the elections and also discuss the coalition's future course of actions, according to reports. The results of Lok Sabha elections will be declared on June 4.

Gadgets 360

Nothing has come a long way from its early Ear 1 days. In a very short time, the company has churned out some decent products, starting with TWS and moving on to phones and more wireless audio products. 2024 for Nothing is already looking exciting, and I recently got our hands on the all-new set of TWS from Carl Pei's London-based venture - Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a). Notably, the third-generation TWS from Nothing have launched, dropping any signs of iteration, which is both confusing and interesting. It's confusing because, for someone like me who has been closely following Nothing from the early days, the naming convention was always not great. But, by the second generation, I, along with other users, almost got the hang of it, only to see the company dropping it altogether for third-generation. Nothing Ear is a successor to the Ear 2 launched last year. What's a bonus here is Nothing Ear (a) - the new affordable TWS offering from the company sporting the signature transparent design packed with features. 

For pricing, the Nothing Ear is Rs. 11,999, while the Ear (a) is the new sub-Rs. 10K product in the company's TWS line-up and comes at Rs. 7,999. I have been using both products for our calls, meetings, streaming, and music to see if they are worth the money. 

Nothing Ear and Ear (a) Design and Features

Both Ear and Ear (a) come with Nothing's signature transparent design, which is still striking after all these years. The best part is that Ear is still eye-catching thanks to the see-through design, and a case in point is the multiple queries from the people around me during the review asking about the design. However, one of our biggest confusions was differentiating Ear and Ear 2 (Review) when kept on a table. Yes, they are identical unless you look very closely. Much like what you expect from Carl Pei's venture, there's a decent amount of attention to detail on small things, from printed branding to other elements on the Ear. 

While the company claims that the Ear has a pressure-resistant and scratch-resistant case, our review unit picked up some scratches during daily use. Scratches are the biggest Achilles Heel of transparent design on Nothing audio products. The Ear comes in White and Black colour options. 

Like previous-gen TWS, the Ear also supports gesture controls, such as a single pinch to play or pause the song or answer or hang up calls, a double pinch to skip forward and reject calls, and a triple pinch to skip back. There's also pinch and hold, which helps you switch between ANC and transparency mode. The best part about Ear is that you can tweak gesture controls to your liking via the companion app. At under 52 grams, the Ear case is lightweight, and each earbud weighs under 5 grams. 

The Ear's impressive list of high-quality Bluetooth codec support includes AAC, SBC, LHDC 5.0, and LDAC. However, this also meant that I had to test Ear with an Android smartphone, as iPhones (and some Android devices) still support AAC (and SBC) codecs, which would have made it impossible to take advantage of higher bitrate streaming. For the uninitiated, LHDC offers the best streaming quality at up to 1Mbps 24 bit/ 192KHz, while LDAC offers a lower data rate of up to 990 kbps (24 bit/ 96KHz). But for most Android devices, you will find LDAC support. 

Talking about upgrades on the Nothing Ear, it has an IP54 rating, while the case is now IP55 rated for water and dust resistance. Other features include in-ear detection, Google Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair, dual connection, Clear Voice Technology with three mics per bud, LED charging status, and support for Low Lag Mode. 

On the other hand, the Nothing Ear (a), the all-new sub-Rs. 10,000 TWS that sports the same eye-catching signature transparent design. The Ear (a) comes in three colours—the regular Black and White along with Yellow—making it the first audio product from Nothing in a colour other than black or white. The company shipped the Yellow colour model for review, and is definitely a head-turner. As I mentioned above, the Ear (a) is the bumblebee of TWS products. During my review, I got more enquiries for the Ear (a) because of its unique colour choice compared to the Ear.  

The yellow colour perfectly complements Ear (a) 's transparent design, which is slimmer and more compact than all Ear products launched thus far. Compared to the Ear, the Ear (a) has a better, more evident orientation, making it easier to identify the opening of the case. As with other Nothing products, Ear (a) also pays great attention to detail, like the metal hinge on the Ear, which can be seen through the plastic transparent case. 

The Ear (a) charging case seems less sturdy than Nothing Ear, which isn't surprising. However, the yellow colour is better at hiding scratches, but that doesn't mean the transparent top case cover isn't prone to scratches. 

The Ear (a) feature set remains the same, including up to 45dB active noise cancellation. There's also an adaptive ANC algorithm, IP54 water and dust resistance rating for buds, and IPX2 for the charging case. It supports AAC, SBC, and LDAC Bluetooth codecs. The company has chosen to drop support for LHDC audio codec to offer it in the costlier Ear, which isn't a wrong decision considering the Ear (a) pricing. 

There's also support for pinch controls to skip tracks, switch between noise cancellation modes, and adjust volume. The best thing is that all of this can be customised in the Nothing X app. 

Nothing's companion app for audio products, X, is one of the best I have used with TWS I have reviewed in recent years. It offers a plethora of features and puts you in the driver's seat when deciding your exact taste of music experience. The feature set includes Advanced EQ with profile sharing, Bass Enhance, Customise controls, Find My Earbuds, Personal Sound Profile, and Ear Tips Fit Test.

Nothing Ear Specifications

Driver: 11 mm dynamic driver
Diaphragm: Ceramic
Supported Codecs: AAC, SBC, LHDC 5.0, LDAC
ANC: Up to 45dB and Transparency Mode
Weight: 4.62 grams (each Bud) and 51.9 grams (case)
Battery: 46mAh (Bud) and 500mAh (case)
Fast charging: Yes (Claimed 10 mins for 10 hours with ANC off)
Companion app: Nothing X
Bluetooth: Version 5.3
Water and dust resistance: IP54 buds and IP55 case water and dust resistance
Gesture controls: Yes

Nothing Ear (a) Specifications

Driver: 11 mm dynamic driver
Diaphragm: PMI + TPU
Supported Codecs: AAC, SBC, and LDAC
ANC: Up to 45dB and Transparency Mode
Weight: 4.8 grams (each Bud) and 39.6 grams (case)
Battery: 46mAh (Bud) and 500mAh (case)
Fast charging: Yes (Claimed 10 mins for 10 hours with ANC off)
Companion app: Nothing X
Bluetooth: Version 5.3
Water and dust resistance: IP54 buds and IPX2 case water and dust resistance
Gesture controls: Yes

Nothing Ear and Ear (a) Performance and Battery Life

Much like the Ear design, most features have been carried over from its predecessor, Ear (2), which is alright. Starting with gesture controls, the Ear supports a bunch of pinch controls that work flawlessly. However, I faced some delay in switching between ANC and transparency mode by pinch and hold gesture. Then, the Nothing X is almost the same as I have seen it since Nothing Ear. What this means is Nothing hasn't tweaked anything in the app interface for Nothing Ear. 

Handy features like in-ear detection, low lag mode, high-quality audio, personal sound profiles, dual connection, ear tip fit test, find my earbuds and firmware update options are hidden under device settings. I hope Nothing finds a way to put at least a sound profile where it can be accessed via one tap. The personal sound profile is unavailable when LDAC mode is turned on. This defeats the purpose of creating a custom profile on the TWS. 

I have been seeing the same Nothing X app since Ear (1) days and have not seen much change with Ear (Stick) and Ear (2). It's the same story for Nothing Ear, which is technically the fourth-generation TWS product from the house of the London-headquartered company. This time, however, the Bass Enhance feature has been added, which dynamically improves the impressions of low frequencies in real time. You can choose the level depending on your preference. For me, Level 3 in Bass Enhance was optimum for all kinds of music. Then, there are other customisation options that we saw earlier in Ear (2). 

When it comes to real-world audio performance, Nothing Ear mostly nails it or, to simplify, improves upon the already decent Nothing Ear (2). When listening to The Wilderness album - Explosions in the Sky, I could notice the balance Ear TWS offers. The tracks in the album cover plenty of frequency range to get a fair idea of how well TWS sounds. Moving forward, the Oblivion by Grimes track offers enough dynamic range to see how small and large-scale dynamics are handled by Nothing Ear, and I was not disappointed. Then, I moved to a gritty electronic track, and what better option than Pray for Me from Marvel's Black Panther soundtrack? It has perfect bass, high frequencies, dual vocals, and an excellent treble tone to test how well your TWS can handle all of this. Interestingly, Nothing Ear could handle all of this comfortably. 

The company upgraded the 11mm dynamic driver and used a ceramic diaphragm. Compared with Ear (2), there are improvements in highs and mids, along with a deeper base. Within a few hours of using the Ear, one thing was clear - the new TWS is ideal for bass heads. However, the bass-heavy default setting wasn't suitable for me, so I had a good time after personalising it to my liking. The ANC is another minor improvement over the Ear (2). 

The AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) is still the benchmark for ANC. However, a point worth mentioning is that you also pay almost double the amount for AirPods Pro (2nd Gen). 

One slight issue I faced was sound quality changing with different ANC modes. The company defines its three modes of noise cancellation according to real-life scenarios - High refers to "Subway/Airplane". In contrast, Medium refers to "Street/Cafe", and Low refers to "Office/Indoor." Nothing Ear sounds excellent on calls for both caller and receiver. Then, there is also the Ear Tip Fit Test, which tries to see the amount of audio leakage detected and recommends the best-fitting size. 

The battery department is another one that has seen improvements. Ear offers decent up to five hours of continuous music playback with ANC on, while this goes up slightly to up to six hours with ANC off. The charging case improved the battery figures by adding a little over four hours. Compared to the claimed battery life with the charging case and ANC of up to 24 hours, I got a decent 20 hours, which is impressive. There's also wireless charging support with up to 2.5W support - a bonus. The TWS also supports fast charging. 

Ear (a) is just a little behind Ear when it comes to performance credentials. It offers decent sound output for its price. Much like other Nothing audio products, the Ear (a) is a bit more bassy out of the box, and you can further take advantage of the new bass enhance feature, which dynamically improves the impression of low frequencies in real-time. You can play around with sound settings in the Nothing X app. From Imagine Dragons to AR Rahman songs, Ear (a) comfortably handles everything with ease. The ANC is excellent and dampens the ambient while commuting in the metro and walking on busy streets. The best thing about Ear (a) is the comfortable fit, and you won't feel any fatigue while wearing them for long hours. I managed to use Ear (a) at the airport and in-flight, where the overall commute was over six hours and at no point did I feel annoyed using TWS. 

Another department where Ear (a) shines is call quality. Thanks to Nothing's Clear Voice Technology, the sound on calls is crisp and clear. The TWS gains some brownie points for features like dual connection and Low Lag Mode that make gaming sessions fun. I wish Nothing had added LHDC codec support on this one to make it more versatile. There's also no wireless charging and personal sound profile, which I was not surprised to see missing, considering the price tag. 

The company claims up to 5.5 hours of battery life with buds only and up to 24.5 hours with the case—both with ANC turned on. In our review, we used the buds for four hours straight, and there was still 30 percent battery left. Of course, using the charging case will enhance the overall output. Additionally, there's fast charging support that promises 10 minutes of charge and can offer up to 10 hours of battery life. 

ChatGPT integration on Nothing Ear and Ear (a)

OpenAI's ChatGPT doesn't need any introduction, and Nothing's announcement of an integration to which all of its audio products will have access is a masterstroke. Fortunately, we got access to the ChatGPT integration while writing this review. We can only say that ChatGPT has finally gone wireless thanks to this integration. We could test the integration on Nothing Ear and Ear (a). However, one big limitation is that you need a Nothing Phone. Once your Nothing Phone and X app are on the latest firmware, you can install the ChatGPT app and sign in. Once all of this is done, open the Nothing X app, and you should see a prompt to activate ChatGPT integration.

To start using ChatGPT wirelessly with your Nothing TWS, pinch and hold the stem, and you can ask ChatGPT whatever you have in mind. It's worth noting that ChatGPT doesn't have location access, so queries like "guide me home" or "suggest a good place to eat" will return no result until you add your location to the voice prompt. For example, you'll need to say, "Suggest me a restaurant for lunch around CP New Delhi, " which will offer numerous results. Compared to Google Assistant, ChatGPT is still not up to date, so questions like "What are the constituencies voting today in the 2024 General Elections?" offered very generic responses. Of course, lots of work is required. Compared to a host of rivals, Nothing's new TWS options provide something new to experience, which, for me, is a great attempt to offer a unique proposition. However, it's very early to compare ChatGPT and Google Assistant on a TWS. 

Nothing Ear and Ear (a) Verdict

Nothing is doing a great job with its TWS portfolio, and Ear is, without a doubt, the best product yet from the company. What Nothing is trying now, Apple has been doing for years - be it for their phones or AirPods range - practically the same design but upgrades inside. For Nothing Ear, the eye-catching transparent signature design works. There are plenty of improvements (compared to Ear 2) under the hood in terms of ANC, sound, battery life, and more. At its price, the Nothing Ear ticks all the right boxes, and ChatGPT integration makes it ready for the future. 

Coming to Ear (a), the new affordable TWS from the house of Nothing is a surprise package. The signature transparent design is still rare in the market and scores more than other TWS options in the same price range. The audio quality is excellent for the price, and the call quality is great. The battery life is decent as well. There are a few misses, too, like glossy charging being prone to scratches, lack of LHDC support, and lack of wireless charging. If you're in the market for a TWS that's a perfect package, then Nothing Ear (a) can offer great value at its price.

If you're looking at options around Rs. 10,000, the Sony WF-C700N (Review) is a decent option alongside the Galaxy Buds FE. There's also the OnePlus Buds 3 (Review) in this price segment.

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Nothing has come a long way from its early Ear 1 days. In a very short time, the company has churned out some decent products, starting with TWS and moving on to phones and more wireless audio products. 2024 for Nothing is already looking exciting, and I recently got our hands on the all-new set of TWS from Carl Pei's London-based venture - Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a). Notably, the third-generation TWS from Nothing have launched, dropping any signs of iteration, which is both confusing and interesting. It's confusing because, for someone like me who has been closely following Nothing from the early days, the naming convention was always not great. But, by the second generation, I, along with other users, almost got the hang of it, only to see the company dropping it altogether for third-generation. Nothing Ear is a successor to the Ear 2 launched last year. What's a bonus here is Nothing Ear (a) - the new affordable TWS offering from the company sporting the signature transparent design packed with features. 

For pricing, the Nothing Ear is Rs. 11,999, while the Ear (a) is the new sub-Rs. 10K product in the company's TWS line-up and comes at Rs. 7,999. I have been using both products for our calls, meetings, streaming, and music to see if they are worth the money. 

Nothing Ear and Ear (a) Design and Features

Both Ear and Ear (a) come with Nothing's signature transparent design, which is still striking after all these years. The best part is that Ear is still eye-catching thanks to the see-through design, and a case in point is the multiple queries from the people around me during the review asking about the design. However, one of our biggest confusions was differentiating Ear and Ear 2 (Review) when kept on a table. Yes, they are identical unless you look very closely. Much like what you expect from Carl Pei's venture, there's a decent amount of attention to detail on small things, from printed branding to other elements on the Ear. 

While the company claims that the Ear has a pressure-resistant and scratch-resistant case, our review unit picked up some scratches during daily use. Scratches are the biggest Achilles Heel of transparent design on Nothing audio products. The Ear comes in White and Black colour options. 

Like previous-gen TWS, the Ear also supports gesture controls, such as a single pinch to play or pause the song or answer or hang up calls, a double pinch to skip forward and reject calls, and a triple pinch to skip back. There's also pinch and hold, which helps you switch between ANC and transparency mode. The best part about Ear is that you can tweak gesture controls to your liking via the companion app. At under 52 grams, the Ear case is lightweight, and each earbud weighs under 5 grams. 

The Ear's impressive list of high-quality Bluetooth codec support includes AAC, SBC, LHDC 5.0, and LDAC. However, this also meant that I had to test Ear with an Android smartphone, as iPhones (and some Android devices) still support AAC (and SBC) codecs, which would have made it impossible to take advantage of higher bitrate streaming. For the uninitiated, LHDC offers the best streaming quality at up to 1Mbps 24 bit/ 192KHz, while LDAC offers a lower data rate of up to 990 kbps (24 bit/ 96KHz). But for most Android devices, you will find LDAC support. 

Talking about upgrades on the Nothing Ear, it has an IP54 rating, while the case is now IP55 rated for water and dust resistance. Other features include in-ear detection, Google Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair, dual connection, Clear Voice Technology with three mics per bud, LED charging status, and support for Low Lag Mode. 

On the other hand, the Nothing Ear (a), the all-new sub-Rs. 10,000 TWS that sports the same eye-catching signature transparent design. The Ear (a) comes in three colours—the regular Black and White along with Yellow—making it the first audio product from Nothing in a colour other than black or white. The company shipped the Yellow colour model for review, and is definitely a head-turner. As I mentioned above, the Ear (a) is the bumblebee of TWS products. During my review, I got more enquiries for the Ear (a) because of its unique colour choice compared to the Ear.  

The yellow colour perfectly complements Ear (a) 's transparent design, which is slimmer and more compact than all Ear products launched thus far. Compared to the Ear, the Ear (a) has a better, more evident orientation, making it easier to identify the opening of the case. As with other Nothing products, Ear (a) also pays great attention to detail, like the metal hinge on the Ear, which can be seen through the plastic transparent case. 

The Ear (a) charging case seems less sturdy than Nothing Ear, which isn't surprising. However, the yellow colour is better at hiding scratches, but that doesn't mean the transparent top case cover isn't prone to scratches. 

The Ear (a) feature set remains the same, including up to 45dB active noise cancellation. There's also an adaptive ANC algorithm, IP54 water and dust resistance rating for buds, and IPX2 for the charging case. It supports AAC, SBC, and LDAC Bluetooth codecs. The company has chosen to drop support for LHDC audio codec to offer it in the costlier Ear, which isn't a wrong decision considering the Ear (a) pricing. 

There's also support for pinch controls to skip tracks, switch between noise cancellation modes, and adjust volume. The best thing is that all of this can be customised in the Nothing X app. 

Nothing's companion app for audio products, X, is one of the best I have used with TWS I have reviewed in recent years. It offers a plethora of features and puts you in the driver's seat when deciding your exact taste of music experience. The feature set includes Advanced EQ with profile sharing, Bass Enhance, Customise controls, Find My Earbuds, Personal Sound Profile, and Ear Tips Fit Test.

Nothing Ear Specifications

Driver: 11 mm dynamic driver
Diaphragm: Ceramic
Supported Codecs: AAC, SBC, LHDC 5.0, LDAC
ANC: Up to 45dB and Transparency Mode
Weight: 4.62 grams (each Bud) and 51.9 grams (case)
Battery: 46mAh (Bud) and 500mAh (case)
Fast charging: Yes (Claimed 10 mins for 10 hours with ANC off)
Companion app: Nothing X
Bluetooth: Version 5.3
Water and dust resistance: IP54 buds and IP55 case water and dust resistance
Gesture controls: Yes

Nothing Ear (a) Specifications

Driver: 11 mm dynamic driver
Diaphragm: PMI + TPU
Supported Codecs: AAC, SBC, and LDAC
ANC: Up to 45dB and Transparency Mode
Weight: 4.8 grams (each Bud) and 39.6 grams (case)
Battery: 46mAh (Bud) and 500mAh (case)
Fast charging: Yes (Claimed 10 mins for 10 hours with ANC off)
Companion app: Nothing X
Bluetooth: Version 5.3
Water and dust resistance: IP54 buds and IPX2 case water and dust resistance
Gesture controls: Yes

Nothing Ear and Ear (a) Performance and Battery Life

Much like the Ear design, most features have been carried over from its predecessor, Ear (2), which is alright. Starting with gesture controls, the Ear supports a bunch of pinch controls that work flawlessly. However, I faced some delay in switching between ANC and transparency mode by pinch and hold gesture. Then, the Nothing X is almost the same as I have seen it since Nothing Ear. What this means is Nothing hasn't tweaked anything in the app interface for Nothing Ear. 

Handy features like in-ear detection, low lag mode, high-quality audio, personal sound profiles, dual connection, ear tip fit test, find my earbuds and firmware update options are hidden under device settings. I hope Nothing finds a way to put at least a sound profile where it can be accessed via one tap. The personal sound profile is unavailable when LDAC mode is turned on. This defeats the purpose of creating a custom profile on the TWS. 

I have been seeing the same Nothing X app since Ear (1) days and have not seen much change with Ear (Stick) and Ear (2). It's the same story for Nothing Ear, which is technically the fourth-generation TWS product from the house of the London-headquartered company. This time, however, the Bass Enhance feature has been added, which dynamically improves the impressions of low frequencies in real time. You can choose the level depending on your preference. For me, Level 3 in Bass Enhance was optimum for all kinds of music. Then, there are other customisation options that we saw earlier in Ear (2). 

When it comes to real-world audio performance, Nothing Ear mostly nails it or, to simplify, improves upon the already decent Nothing Ear (2). When listening to The Wilderness album - Explosions in the Sky, I could notice the balance Ear TWS offers. The tracks in the album cover plenty of frequency range to get a fair idea of how well TWS sounds. Moving forward, the Oblivion by Grimes track offers enough dynamic range to see how small and large-scale dynamics are handled by Nothing Ear, and I was not disappointed. Then, I moved to a gritty electronic track, and what better option than Pray for Me from Marvel's Black Panther soundtrack? It has perfect bass, high frequencies, dual vocals, and an excellent treble tone to test how well your TWS can handle all of this. Interestingly, Nothing Ear could handle all of this comfortably. 

The company upgraded the 11mm dynamic driver and used a ceramic diaphragm. Compared with Ear (2), there are improvements in highs and mids, along with a deeper base. Within a few hours of using the Ear, one thing was clear - the new TWS is ideal for bass heads. However, the bass-heavy default setting wasn't suitable for me, so I had a good time after personalising it to my liking. The ANC is another minor improvement over the Ear (2). 

The AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) is still the benchmark for ANC. However, a point worth mentioning is that you also pay almost double the amount for AirPods Pro (2nd Gen). 

One slight issue I faced was sound quality changing with different ANC modes. The company defines its three modes of noise cancellation according to real-life scenarios - High refers to "Subway/Airplane". In contrast, Medium refers to "Street/Cafe", and Low refers to "Office/Indoor." Nothing Ear sounds excellent on calls for both caller and receiver. Then, there is also the Ear Tip Fit Test, which tries to see the amount of audio leakage detected and recommends the best-fitting size. 

The battery department is another one that has seen improvements. Ear offers decent up to five hours of continuous music playback with ANC on, while this goes up slightly to up to six hours with ANC off. The charging case improved the battery figures by adding a little over four hours. Compared to the claimed battery life with the charging case and ANC of up to 24 hours, I got a decent 20 hours, which is impressive. There's also wireless charging support with up to 2.5W support - a bonus. The TWS also supports fast charging. 

Ear (a) is just a little behind Ear when it comes to performance credentials. It offers decent sound output for its price. Much like other Nothing audio products, the Ear (a) is a bit more bassy out of the box, and you can further take advantage of the new bass enhance feature, which dynamically improves the impression of low frequencies in real-time. You can play around with sound settings in the Nothing X app. From Imagine Dragons to AR Rahman songs, Ear (a) comfortably handles everything with ease. The ANC is excellent and dampens the ambient while commuting in the metro and walking on busy streets. The best thing about Ear (a) is the comfortable fit, and you won't feel any fatigue while wearing them for long hours. I managed to use Ear (a) at the airport and in-flight, where the overall commute was over six hours and at no point did I feel annoyed using TWS. 

Another department where Ear (a) shines is call quality. Thanks to Nothing's Clear Voice Technology, the sound on calls is crisp and clear. The TWS gains some brownie points for features like dual connection and Low Lag Mode that make gaming sessions fun. I wish Nothing had added LHDC codec support on this one to make it more versatile. There's also no wireless charging and personal sound profile, which I was not surprised to see missing, considering the price tag. 

The company claims up to 5.5 hours of battery life with buds only and up to 24.5 hours with the case—both with ANC turned on. In our review, we used the buds for four hours straight, and there was still 30 percent battery left. Of course, using the charging case will enhance the overall output. Additionally, there's fast charging support that promises 10 minutes of charge and can offer up to 10 hours of battery life. 

ChatGPT integration on Nothing Ear and Ear (a)

OpenAI's ChatGPT doesn't need any introduction, and Nothing's announcement of an integration to which all of its audio products will have access is a masterstroke. Fortunately, we got access to the ChatGPT integration while writing this review. We can only say that ChatGPT has finally gone wireless thanks to this integration. We could test the integration on Nothing Ear and Ear (a). However, one big limitation is that you need a Nothing Phone. Once your Nothing Phone and X app are on the latest firmware, you can install the ChatGPT app and sign in. Once all of this is done, open the Nothing X app, and you should see a prompt to activate ChatGPT integration.

To start using ChatGPT wirelessly with your Nothing TWS, pinch and hold the stem, and you can ask ChatGPT whatever you have in mind. It's worth noting that ChatGPT doesn't have location access, so queries like "guide me home" or "suggest a good place to eat" will return no result until you add your location to the voice prompt. For example, you'll need to say, "Suggest me a restaurant for lunch around CP New Delhi, " which will offer numerous results. Compared to Google Assistant, ChatGPT is still not up to date, so questions like "What are the constituencies voting today in the 2024 General Elections?" offered very generic responses. Of course, lots of work is required. Compared to a host of rivals, Nothing's new TWS options provide something new to experience, which, for me, is a great attempt to offer a unique proposition. However, it's very early to compare ChatGPT and Google Assistant on a TWS. 

Nothing Ear and Ear (a) Verdict

Nothing is doing a great job with its TWS portfolio, and Ear is, without a doubt, the best product yet from the company. What Nothing is trying now, Apple has been doing for years - be it for their phones or AirPods range - practically the same design but upgrades inside. For Nothing Ear, the eye-catching transparent signature design works. There are plenty of improvements (compared to Ear 2) under the hood in terms of ANC, sound, battery life, and more. At its price, the Nothing Ear ticks all the right boxes, and ChatGPT integration makes it ready for the future. 

Coming to Ear (a), the new affordable TWS from the house of Nothing is a surprise package. The signature transparent design is still rare in the market and scores more than other TWS options in the same price range. The audio quality is excellent for the price, and the call quality is great. The battery life is decent as well. There are a few misses, too, like glossy charging being prone to scratches, lack of LHDC support, and lack of wireless charging. If you're in the market for a TWS that's a perfect package, then Nothing Ear (a) can offer great value at its price.

If you're looking at options around Rs. 10,000, the Sony WF-C700N (Review) is a decent option alongside the Galaxy Buds FE. There's also the OnePlus Buds 3 (Review) in this price segment.