2020 Year In Review — Devices

January 1, 2021
4 min read

iPhone 12 Pro Max

This is my favourite device bought this year. It is beautiful, functional and enjoyable. I don’t know what else I could want from it.

With the addition of Apple ProRAW in recent iOS update, I fell in love in photo capabilities of this phone.

As I’ve mentioned before — I just love looking at the device itself. I still think I made a right choice going with the gold one. The iPhone 4, iPad Pro design with the significant weight of the 12 Pro Max makes it expensive looking (even more than it actually is).

It’s impossible to use it in one hand. Reaching for an opposite icon in the dock is a nightmare and I started using compact keyboard mode because sometimes I can’t even erase something I typed, the button is so far away.

I still don’t have any MagSafe accessories besides the leather case, and I’m only tempted by two — some kind of car mount (I will probably wait for the greater availability of the Belkin one) and I’m leaning towards buying the MagSafe wallet. I’ve had very minimal wallet for a long time and I think I can manage easily with just three cards.

AirPods Pro

Those are very helpful during the pandemic. Just turning on noise-cancellation helps to concentrate a lot. Even now, with my wife siting right next to me, I have it turned on while typing this article and I don’t hear anything. They are that good.

The one problem you can have is comfort, but if you like in-ear headphones, you will love AirPods Pro.

Philips Avent 4-in-1 Healthy Baby Food Maker

This one a bit unconventional, but it helped us a lot this year. Our daughter is turning 1 year old and without this food maker we would be lost. We even took it on our trip we had, it is so good.

You just place all the ingredients and in 10-25 minutes they are ready, prepared on steam, so perfectly healthy for a toddler. After that, you can blend the food, and you are good to go.

As a father, I can definitely say it allowed to leave the baby with me a lot easier, so my wife could get something done by herself.

LG C9

Just as pandemic hit hard in March (on a second day of a lockdown) I’ve ordered a new TV. I long tried to convince my wife to buy an LG OLED, but she didn’t think it was worth so much money. But that day I just pulled the plug.

The first time we watched some 4K content on Netflix she said — “okay, now I understand” and ever since, we’ve been recommending it to everyone who asks (or even if they don’t).

The picture is amazing, sound is actually good, and I love WebOS, because of its simplicity. Sometimes I even wish there would be more of an interface to play around, but it just doesn’t get in the way. The main focus is content. All the major apps are there, so I didn’t connect any box to it, just the PlayStation.

I also love the remote. At first, I thought the cursor would be uncomfortable to use, but it is so good, I think Apple should have gone this route instead of a touchpad on the Apple TV remote.

Nintendo Switch

It isn’t used a lot right now, but it was essential for me this year. When I had a nervous breakdown I decided to treat myself with something nice, I thought I wanted for a long time. I decided to buy the Nintendo Switch.

The first game I bought was of course Zelda. In the end — I don’t actually like the game. It’s just too open for me, I like when there is more guidance, even in the open-world game. But for about two weeks, I would take my Switch, go to the balcony and play some Zelda. It is so non-violent, beautiful and calm, I was considering it as a meditation. I’m very grateful for that time, but I won’t be finishing the game.

AirPods Pro Review

December 25, 2020
4 min read

It’s a bit late to the party – when everyone is hyped up by the AirPods Max I bought AirPods Pro just a month ago.

I bought first AirPods right when they came out and didn’t have other headphones since. I’ve had to change them after two years because the battery was dying in less than 30 minutes, so I went with 2nd generation AirPods just around the time when AirPods Pro came out.

AirPods Pro didn’t tempt me because I always liked EarPods and AirPods shape better. They didn’t block outside noise, but were a bit bigger than standard ones, so it provided just a bit of separation from the outside world. They were the most comfortable headphones. I regularly forgot that they were in my ears, spending even the whole day with them.

I decided to get myself a birthday present and buy Sony WH-1000XM4 noise-cancelling headphones, as there was a nice sale at a retailer nearby, but when I got there, the last pair was already sold, I could only order online. While walking to the car I though a bit more about pros and cons of those headphones and realised — I don’t want over-ear ones, wearing glasses and spending a lot of time outside, Sony’s actually wouldn’t be very comfortable. A short drive later to the Apple reseller, AirPods Pro were in my hands.

They are just a tiny bit less comfortable for me than regular AirPods. It made me switch between medium and large size tips a lot, but ones are a bit small, while the others are too large. I’ve ordered memory foam tips in hope for them to add some comfort.

The noise-cancelling is very nice. Especially now, working from home. Sometimes I turn it on, without anything playing and it helps concentrate. While listening outside it allows using lower volume, which I think will be beneficial for hearing.

The transparency mode is delightful. It was the first time I tried something like that and I like it. It’s AR for your ears. With this mode turned on I can hear better than without headphones. Although some sounds are plainly painful — one day I was standing in the kitchen with the transparency mode turned on and my wife came in with vacuum cleaner blasting, I thought I would become deaf.

Spatial audio is very cool, first time I couldn’t believe the sound was coming out of the headphones, but it doesn’t work on a device it makes the most sense — Apple TV, so I don’t use it often.

I like the controls. For the first couple of days I was still tapping them, but now I think pinching is a big improvement. My fingers already remember how long I need to press to change modes, releasing it just before the sound plays, it gives a weird sense of satisfaction.

When buying 2nd generation AirPods I made a conscious decision not to buy wireless charging case and it was a right choice at that time, now I find myself using wireless charging with AirPods Pro constantly. I have a basic, low-power charger at my desk, as my previous iPhone couldn’t survive the whole day on one charge, but now I use it exclusively with AirPods Pro, throwing them once in a while on it and I don’t think about battery management at all.

The AirPods Pro are much harder to recommend than AirPods. They are more expensive, they could be less comfortable and I think many like the style of AirPods. But if they fit you, they sound great for their small size. And you have noise-cancelling headphones that fit in the change pocket of your jeans. I love mine.

AirPods 2nd Generation

October 29, 2019
3 min read

When Apple announced AirPods I was very eager to get my hands on them. Unfortunately they weren’t available in Latvia for about 9 months and I’ve bought a pair as soon as it was possible. That was exactly two years and two months ago. Since then I’ve been using them daily, one could say constantly and as I told more than once – this is probably the most seamless and fun product Apple introduced in years.

They are small, had a great battery, sounded … like Apple headphones sound and you could easily connect to all your Apple devices.

When the 2nd generation was introduced there weren’t any incentives to upgrade right away. Sure the battery got better and they would connect faster, but otherwise – the sound didn’t change and I don’t care for the wireless charging. So I decided to wait it out.

A little more than a month ago my AirPods started to get considerably worse battery life. It felt like sunset close to equator – it was fine until suddenly it wasn’t. I would go on the hour and a half walk and would hear the sad sound of battery dying not even close to finishing. I had to think about charging them which was never the case before.

Going to London for a weekend was a final straw. I would constantly hear the boop-bip noise. So when I’ve went to the Apple Store I’ve decided to buy a new pair.

While I was working on this story, Apple announced AirPods Pro with active noise cancellation. I’ve never liked in-ear headphones that completely seal the ear. I love the way EarPods and later AirPods were in between those in-ear headphones which seal your ear completely and the ones just hanging there. So don’t regret my decision to buy a pair of 2nd generation AirPods just before the new model was announced.

The first day I started wearing new AirPods I was shocked – I didn’t remember how good the battery life was. I could walk half a day at least without getting them out. And then I remembered that they were updated with the new chip and are always listening for “Hey, Siri”. So I’ve decided to try using it. Being in a different city, I’ve asked for walking directions throughout the whole weekend and it was great. Siri listened to me and showed the directions on the watch, still announcing the turns through the headphones.

This is as close to the ambient computing as we are getting right now, but it is very fun and futuristic.

They connect faster than the first generation, especially when you change the device you are connecting to. As always, I didn’t think my 1st gen AirPods were slow at connecting before Apple told from stage that they were. I immediately started noticing how I’ve waiting for them to connect. Nothing like that here.

Otherwise those are the same AirPods as two years ago. They are comfortable for my ears, the case is small. The battery life is great. And they sound … not terrible. This is the time when I am totally ready to trade convenience over the sound quality.

If you have the first generation AirPods I still wouldn’t upgrade just because. Wait until the battery dies and then update, otherwise they are similar enough, so you don’t miss out on anything.