| Cult of Mac

New Apple headset leaks make our heads explode [The CultCast]

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A manipulated image of a person wearing a virtual reality headset, used to illustrate the contents of The CultCast, our weekly Apple podcast.
Are we the only ones standing around with slack jaws wondering how Apple can make this headset desirable?
Photo: Original photo: Uriel Soberanes/Unsplash License/Modified by Cult of Mac

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The more we hear about Apple’s upcoming AR/VR headset, the more we’re perplexed about who is actually going to buy one. We take a long, hard look at the latest leaks — and come up shaking our heads.

Also on The CultCast:

  • We might get a raft of exciting new Macs — including the first Mac Pro powered by Apple silicon — at a March event.
  • Apple’s Pro Display XDR and Studio Display get some high-end competition.
  • Sorry, voice actors. AI narrators look like the future of audiobooks (and Apple leads the charge).
  • Our final best-of-2022 picks.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

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Top 5 affordable ANC earbuds of 2022

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Soundcore A40 wireless ANC earbuds sound great, but their noise cancellation is epic.
Soundcore A40 wireless ANC earbuds sound great, but their noise cancellation is epic.
Photo: David Snow/Cult of Mac

I’ve reviewed quite a few active noise-canceling wireless earbuds for Cult of Mac, including the magnificent new second-gen AirPods Pro. And while the high quality and excellent features of Apple’s updated ANC buds make them a favorite as well as a benchmark, there are great alternative earbuds that do a nice job for a much lower cost.

What follows isn’t a “top 5 in the world” list, which would be an assortment of mostly super-pricey earbuds. It’s my favorite earbuds among those I’ve reviewed in the past year or so, mostly focused on high-value products, considering the quality you get for the cost.

New Soundcore flagship ANC earbuds beat AirPods to monitoring heart rate

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The new Soundcore Liberty 4 wireless ANC earbuds feature heart-rate tracking.
The new Soundcore Liberty 4 wireless ANC earbuds feature heart-rate tracking.
Photo: Soundcore by Anker

Soundcore rolled out its new flagship Liberty 4 wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation (ANC) on Friday with some upgrades.

And one of those upgrades might get under Apple’s skin a little bit. That would be heart rate monitoring via an in-ear sensor, which has so far failed to materialize in Apple’s AirPods line despite persistent rumors.

Soundcore’s new Space A40 earbuds zero-out noise and play a long time [Review] ★★★★

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The new Soundcore Space A40 earbuds have stellar ANC and epic battery life. And you'll probably like how they sound, too.★★★★
The new Soundcore Space A40 earbuds have stellar ANC and epic battery life. And you'll probably like how they sound, too.
Photo: David Snow/Cult of Mac

The new Soundcore Space A40 True-Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds came out Thursday alongside their sibling Space Q45 over-ear headphones.

Upon release, both products made a lot of noise about strong active noise cancellation (ANC) and massive battery life. And like the headphones, which I already reviewed, the earbuds don’t disappoint.

While their marquee qualities are strong ANC and lengthy play time, the A40 buds also sound good and feature lots of opportunities for audio customization.

Soundcore Q45 headphones crush noise cancellation and battery life [Review] ★★★★

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The new Soundcore Q45 headphones have strong noise cancellation and long battery life.★★★★
The new Soundcore Q45 headphones have strong noise cancellation and long battery life.
Photo: David Snow/Cult of Mac

With Thursday’s release of the new Soundcore Space Q45 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones and sibling Space A40 earbuds, Soundcore began replacing its Life series of sound products. The company sent me both products to test. This review covers the Q45 cans (my A40 review will appear tomorrow).

I’ve spent a couple weeks with the Q45 over-ear, closed-back headphones. Soundcore pushes two main selling points: strong noise cancellation and long battery life. And with the Q45 headphones, the company has hit it out of the park on both counts.

And they sound good for the price, too.

Soundcore Motion Boom Plus speaker sports sound as big as all outdoors [Review] ★★★★☆

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Those bits on the end press in and out, as if moved by waves of bass. But they only seemed to move when actually pushed.★★★★☆
Those bits on the end press in and out, as if moved by waves of bass. But they only seemed to move when actually pushed.
Photo: David Snow/Cult of Mac

The Soundcore Motion Boom Plus is a powerful, portable outdoor speaker you might want to nab before summer’s over. The boombox-style Bluetooth speaker brings the brawn — 80 watts of power — along with a bit more heft than some competitors.

When you factor in the excellent sound quality, some sporty features and the relatively low price of $179.99, it’s a worthy choice for outdoor use. Some folks might even use it indoors, but many never would because of its black plastic design. It might look at home in a college dorm, but probably not in most living rooms.

New Soundcore sport ANC earbuds: Good fit for fit people [Review] ★★★★☆

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It's not difficult to get used to those rotating ear hooks.★★★★☆
It's not difficult to get used to those rotating ear hooks.
Photo: David Snow/Cult of Mac

Ever have an earbud fall out of your sweaty ear at the gym? I lost a somewhat pricey product that way once. And if you lose one of them, you’re probably not going to use the other one, even if it’s designed for occasional solo use.

The new Soundcore Sport X10 True-Wireless Earbuds, released Tuesday, aim to put an end to wayward earbuds.

Anker sent me a pair of the earbuds to try, along with instructions for using the Soundcore app for them in beta. Below, I’ll get into why I found the new product to be an excellent value at $79.99.

Soundcore’s new Bluetooth boombox belts out 80 watts of audio

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Soundcore Motion Boom Plus
The Motion Boom Plus is built to stand up to water so you can take your tunes anywhere.
Photo: Soundcore

Soundcore’s new Motion Boom Plus boombox is built to blast out the tunes wherever you go this summer. The 80-watt Bluetooth speaker packs an array of new features designed to deliver “punchy bass and detailed high end,” the company said.

“Combining an IP67 rating with its upgraded woofers, newly added tweeters, more power,
and portable carry handle, the Motion Boom Plus is the ideal Bluetooth speaker for the park
or at an outdoor pool or beach party,” said Frank Zhu, general manager of Soundcore’s
speaker division, in a press release Monday. “We’ve also made it two times louder than its predecessor to help keep the party going, all day and all night long.”

Plus, you don’t need to worry about losing it in the pool or the lake. It floats!

Are MacBook Pro’s MagSafe chargers really too strong? [The CultCast]

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The CultCast Apple podcast: The new MacBook Pro's MagSafe might just be too strong!
The new MacBook Pro's MagSafe might just be too strong!
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Reports of MagSafe connectors being too strong on the new MacBook Pros leave us scratching our heads. Is MagSafe-gate for real? It’s always something when Apple releases a killer new product….

Also on The CultCast:

  • Tech companies seem in a frenzy to get new MacBook Pros in their employees’ hands.
  • Apple storms into the MDM game.
  • And an all new Under Review!

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video livestream, embedded below.