[ WWW.TECHLIFE.NET ] [ 051 ]
[] ] RADARElgato Game Capture HD60 S
BOOST YOUR GAMING BROADCASTS.THE HD60 S looks and works almost exactly
like its HD60 predecessor. It takes an HDMI
input from a console and passes it through to a
TV (with no latency that we could detect) and
also over USB to its app on your Mac. There you
can record it or broadcast live — with optional
overlays and a voiceover. Its key feature is
Instant Gameview: this reduces the latency
seen in the preview on your Mac from the two
to three seconds that previous models suffered.
This isn’t designed so you can play on your
Mac’s screen, but to make life easier and your
broadcasts potentially more professional by
reducing the disconnect between screen and
stream. The need a fourth-gen or better Core
i5 processor and an AMD or Nvidia GPU may
exclude your Mac from compatibility; it
worked well on our MacBook Pro, though
even that couldn’t deal with the app’s 60fps
preview. Note that the frame rate on
recordings is unaffected by this. The HD60 S
can only record at up to 40Mbps, whereas
the HD60 Pro can manage up to 60Mbps.
The software is pretty easy to use, too, and
should be familiar to those who are upgrading
from the HD60. All up, it works well;
however, there are cheaper options out there.
[ ALAN STONEBRIDGE ]Bragi The Headphone
WIRELESS EARPLUGS FROM THE KICKSTARTER KINGS
BRAGI CAME ON the scene in 2014 with a bold Kickstarter campaign to launch The Dash,
a pair of wireless earbuds. Now it’s back with The Headphone... and, fortunately, the hardware
is nowhere near as clunky as that name.
Wireless headphones complement a life full of sound on the go in ways you may not have
realised. These earpieces are light, fit snugly and after a while, you fail to notice they’re even
there. The look of The Headphone is simple and unflashy — essentially, black plugs that cover
the entire ear canal. Wear the right hat, and no one could tell you have them in at all, as
opposed to the relative ostentation of Apple’s AirPods. In addition, they use the intricate
architecture of the ear to hold them in place, making you feel quite secure about them
staying in.
They also offer ‘audio transparency’, which filters through the ambient noise of the city
and places the music as a backdrop — or you can stick with the regular full-on sound.
The Headphone leaves you feeling as though you’re in a world of your own choice of sound.
And very little gets in the way — even getting home and needing to remove your sweater is
now issue-free, as opposed to a previous wired life where this simple action could leave you
horribly contorted and entangled.
The controls are simple. Three buttons on the right earbud cover everything you need —
power, connect Bluetooth, adjust volume, skip a track or queue up Siri. As these are rubber-
covered, this initially resulted in us prodding and squidging them far too hard; in fact, they’re
sensitive enough that just a slight pressure is sufficient to operate them. The audio stops when
you remove the right earbud and restarts when you replace it, but we had issues with them
restarting the music (and thus draining the battery) when not in our ears.
However, there are few drawbacks to The Headphone. The batteries last well, the sound
is great, they do the job without drawing attention to themselves — but they cost US$150.
In a way, that’s inevitable: they’re simply at the head of the line for wireless headphones.
So if you’re happy to pay the price, you won’t be disappointed with The Headphone —
but you may stumble over that name a few times.
[ SIMON KIRRANE ]
ELGATO GAME CAPTURE HD60 S
$269
elgato.com
CRITICAL SPECS
PC, PS4, XO, 360, Wii U compatibility; HDMI output;
USB 3.0; 11.2 x 7.5 x 1.9cm; 106 g41 /^2BRAGI THE HEADPHONE
US$149 (sold direct only)
bragi.com
CRITICAL SPECS
Bluetooth 4.0 A2DP; ‘audio transparency’ feature;
six hours’ play time; passive noise isolation4WINNERED’s CHOICE
AWARDWINNERAPPROVED
AWARD