Face Tracking Phone Chargers & All the Tech You Need March/April 2024
Look At Me… In 4k
Zoom meetings are the new normal, even as working from home restrictions become retreating memories. We may as well lean into it and turf those budget grainy webcams that make us look like hostages and replace them with the PC equivalent of Peter Jackson 4k Hobbit cameras.
The Logitech Brio 4k is the no-compromise option. It can handle any lighting environment, even a low light gremlin hole like mine. It handles it with the help of RightLight 3 with high dynamic range tech which can automatically adjust to give a consistent image, whether you’re in full sunlight or low light. It runs at 30fps with 4k Ultra HD, or if you prefer a smoother framerate you can squeeze 60fps running 1080p. Further smoothness can be achieved capturing 90 fps at 720p. This mode might be best for mocap capture.
Out of the box it is hefty, with that premium feel to it, It’s a very simple setup with foldout feet that make it easy to clamp where-ever it needs to be. It forgoes the swivels of previous webcams, which I think was a good move as it maintains stability. Loose is an optional clamp with pivoting flap which you can clip to the top of your webcam and flip down for added privacy.
It has an omni-directional mic for capturing audio up to 1 metre away while cutting out background clatter.
It has infrared and comes with three adjustable fields of view. You can keep things tight with just a 65° diagonal headshot, or spread things out to capture more of the room with 78° or 90°. If that isn’t enough flexibility it can do up to 5x zoom.
It has a slick, suave design that exudes sophistication which makes it all the more appealing to be perched atop your monitor. This is the pro choice for sure.
Bank It
It’s good to have tech that can serve multiple purposes while not taking up any extra room in your life, even if it’s to prop something up a little bit. The BoostCharge Magnetic Wireless Power Bank 5K + Stand from Belkin is just such a device. It provides a safe 7.5W of wireless charging while also acting as a prop for your phone with a kickstand. It uses a magnetic attachment to provide stable hold.If you aren’t interested in the standard black option it also comes in pink, violet, or Apple White. It has 5,000 mAH of power which works out to over 19 hours of extended video playback for iPhone 13. It also has passthrough charging, meaning you can be charging the charger while it charges your phone.
LEDs down the side let you know how much charge it has left and it comes at a reasonable price of $59.99.
In the Zone with a Vibe
The Logitech Zone Vibe 100 is an unpretentious but beautiful set of headphones perfect for all day use at the office. It feels similar to the feather light G435, except stripped of all its gamer pretensions to be a no-nonsense headset. The right ear has a play/pause button for music and the cups are made with soft knitted fabric and memory foam for all day comfortable wear. It’s incredibly comfortable and you can forget you’re even wearing it.
The 40mm speakers deliver music and meetings with powerful bass and crisp highs.
The boom mic tucks away so precisely my partner was surprised when she eventually found it while testing it out. So commuting with the Zone Vibe is a go, nobody wants to be commuting looking like they’re about to take your customer assurance call. It’s flip-to-mute and noise cancelling, perfect for if you’re working from home with kids or taking a call in a busy office, as it will automatically filter background chatter out.
Speaking of all day, you can get up to 20 hrs of listening time and 18 hrs of talk time on a full charge.
The Mouse & Key Dream Team
A reliable mouse and keyboard are the bedrock of any setup. Logitech are well aware of this so they’ve made a complete package. The Logitech’s MX Keys S combo is a full mouse and keyboard set with an accompanying MX Palm Rest for optimal ergonomics so you’re not crippled by your carpal tunnel syndrome half way through the day.
The set contains the excellent ergonomic MX Master 3S Mouse, which we’ve reviewed here before. If you want the lowdown on that hop onto M2now.co.nz.
The MX KEYS S keyboard on the other hand is a new customer to us. It’s a low profile ergonomic keyboard with spherically-dished keys shaped like fingertips providing precision and speed. Getting hands on with the board is an incredible tactile experience, and that’s not a line I’d trot out willy nilly for a keyboard. The keys are silky smooth to the touch with their matte finish and have satisfying feedback to boot. The back has a coating as well which makes it feel good to the touch. It’s actually quite a thin board, but it’s extremely sturdy, and has that “oh this is premium” weight to it. This isn’t a flimsy throwaway, this is a small piece of art.
One feature I particularly dig is the proximity sensors which automatically turn on the keyboards lights once my hands are in position. They slowly fade out as you leave it, and automatically adjust brightness depending on the conditions, so you aren’t blinded by LEDs if you’re working with all the lights off. Battery life is great, with 10 days on a full charge or up to 5 months if you decide not to use the lighting.
Both the keyboard and mouse can dual connect at the same time via the Logi Bolt USB receiver. This is seamless and worked right out the box. Otherwise they both can connect via bluetooth and have a switch for connecting to multiple devices on the fly.
On The Rog Again
I still host LANs with my friends occasionally. It involves them dragging huge expensive rigs over to my house so we can all separately connect to an online server and not even see a single LAN cable all day. Having to commute around with a desktop PC really starts to get the brain jogging for the viability of a Steamdeck or gaming laptop. Asus has an alternative solution. What about a workstation sized PC with a pint sized 2.5-liter chassis. The case comes with a stand and can be arranged either vertically or horizontally. GPU wise it can pack up to an RTX 4070 and a Core Ultra 9 185H CPUE. It has three PCIe 4.0 and 4 M.2 slots so you won’t be gagging for space any time soon. It supports up to four 4k displays, if you’re insane.
Connections include 2.5Gb Ethernet, Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3. You’re also looking at HDMI 2.1 and DP 1.4 ports alongside six USB ports and a type-C fast charging port. Why not chuck in an SD card reader and a handy 3.5mm aux port.
Asus is playing coy about what the price will be when they eventually release it, but I’m not holding my breath for a price as small as the rig.
Not an Alarm Clock
Ayaneo has made name for itself within the retro handheld space. So it only makes sense that their mini PC’s would carry over some of the retro nostalgia. The Mini PC AM01 looked like an oldschool mac squeezed into a cube. The new Mini PC AM02 on the other hand looks like a NES made love to an alarm clock circa 1999. The cartridge flap isn’t just aesthetic, it’s a dustcover for the front facing USB ports. It comes preinstalled with windows 11, so is much more than an emulation machine. They went the extra mile with a four inch touch screen on top, Where you can, I dunno, touch it. It comes with specialised software for the touchscreen, allowing you to customise at your leisure. It can be a slider for volume, or a full performance and heat display for example.
It’s still a dinky machine though, but packs a little Radeon 780M and AMD Ryzen 7 CPU. It uses DDR5 56000MHz ram and has an M.2 slot. On the back is two Network ports, HDMI 2 and DP1.4. It’s not going to be blowing any minds but it’d be perfectly fine for playing Game Pass online.
It’s cute. I love it.
The Charger With Face Tracking
Sometimes you’re going to be taking a Facetime call or Zoom while working on an important project. This would normally mean your hands get taken up holding the phone too close to your mushy face. Belkin has the solution with a magsafe dock with 360° rotation and 90° tilt with smooth, quiet motors. The device is called the Auto-Tracking Stand Pro with DockKit and it will automatically keep you center frame while you stay busy, and charge your phone while it’s at it via a 5W wireless charger.
It comes with 5 hours of operational battery life meaning you could potentially take it to the boardroom or lunch if you want to cause a scene. Tracking can be turned on and off via a single button, and inbuilt NFC helps instantly pair your phone to the Auto-Tracking Stand Pro.
RRP$179.99. Belkin.com
