ICYMI: the week’s 7 biggest tech stories, from the OnePlus Open to the Apple Pencil
The tech world shows no signs of slowing down as we quickly move towards the end of 2023. This week we saw the arrival of our favorite foldable phone yet, an intriguing new Apple Pencil, and a new face in the world of bone conduction headphones.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t all good news as Netflix announced another subscription price increase in the US, UK and France. If you’re signed up for Netflix’s Premium or Basic plans, expect some unwanted increases to your bills – other streaming services will certainly take this into account.
But that’s enough about the increasingly painful technology subscriptions. This week has been pretty fun overall, as we discovered while testing the new Ray Ban Meta Smart Glasses – read on for our verdict on them, plus the latest Netflix trailer to help us forget about those pesky price hikes. .
7. Netflix’s Bodies became our next sci-fi must-watch
Looking for a new sci-fi series that also includes a good dose of dystopian detective drama? Then you probably want to add Netflix Bodies on your watchlist – the first trailer landed this week and you can already stream the whole thing.
Based on the graphic novel by Si Spencer, Bodies mixes different genres – from murder mystery to period drama – with a fine cast including Amaka Okafor, Emmy nominee Shira Haas and Olivier Award winner Kyle Soller and SAG Award winner Stephen Graham.
It’s exactly what we need to forget about Netflix’s new price hikes (more on that later)…
6. Suunto flew in bone conduction headphones with Wings
Garmin rival Suunto entered previously uncharted territory this week with the launch of its Wing bone conduction headphones. For the uninitiated, bone conduction headphones bypass the ear entirely by sending vibrations through your skull via a transducer, instead of sound waves from a speaker. The end result leaves your ear free to listen for traffic, cyclists, pedestrians and warning signals.
A trio of physical buttons means they can be operated with gloves, essential for cold-weather training, while the headset also works well with Suunto’s smartwatches, especially Race, allowing the wearer to receive voice training tips and workout updates straight from the watch. They are more expensive than the efforts of market leader Shokz, but they are also strong: they can withstand extreme temperatures and have better water resistance than the Shokz OpenRun Pro.
5. Fitbit calmed down fans with an apologetic app update
The recent redesign of the Fitbit smartphone app caused a bit of a stir, as fans decried the update for being ugly, confusing, and somehow less functional than before. Fortunately, Fitbit extended an olive branch to dissatisfied users this week by promising that it is working on a series of features that address some or all of the criticism.
For starters, it reintroduces “Steps streaks,” a popular feature that caused what Fitbit called “an outpouring of love” when it strangely disappeared in the app’s redesign. It returns on iOS and also makes its debut on Android.
With another four app fixes on the way – plus the promise of a dark mode – Fitbit has at least prevented a potential user exodus to the likes of Garmin and Apple. But it also needs the promising Fitbit Labs features, including an AI chatbot that can analyze your workouts, to really hit the mark in 2024.
4. Apple gave us a cheaper USB-C Pencil for iPads
Apple essentially ignored this week’s rumors about a potential new iPad (of any size) and instead delivered a new Apple Pencil.
Okay, it’s not the most inspiring release, but there are a few key differences between this and the Apple Pencil (2nd generation). First, there’s the hidden USB-C port. That’s right, this is another step in Apple’s efforts to wipe out any remnants of the lightning plug. Remember, the very first Apple Pencil hid such a plug.
In this case, Apple has cleverly placed the port and not the plug on the Pencil. Sadly, this Apple Pencil loses the wireless charging capabilities (and pressure sensitivity), but at least it’s significantly cheaper… so there’s that.
Ray-Ban sunglasses that can take photos and videos for social media aren’t a new idea – the Ray-Ban Stories returned in 2021 with a lot of promises, but they just fell short of delivering. Well, now they’re back with a new name, improved specs and a useful dose of AI (well, if you live in the US).
During our time this week with the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses (catchy name), we found them to be a nice, but niche, piece of furniture. The photos and videos they take are now significantly improved thanks to the new 12MP camera, while the audio quality is also solid (though not quite at the level of dedicated air-conduction headphones).
The downside is that we couldn’t fully test the promising conversational AI feature, as it’s still in beta and only available in the US for now. But if you like stylish, wearable tech, it’s definitely worth reading our full Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses review.
2. Netflix tested our patience with another price hike
Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing has been quite good for the streaming giant, but that doesn’t mean it’s done with price hikes. This week, Netflix once again increased subscription prices for its Premium and Basic plans in the US, UK and France.
For example, in the US, Premium has risen from $19.99 to $22.99, while in Britain the Basic plan has increased by £1 per month to £7.99. You can read the full breakdown of the price increases in our overview below – or you can just continue in blissful ignorance by skipping it and reading about OnePlus’ excellent new foldable phone instead.
1. The OnePlus Open became our favorite foldable phone
It’s already been a busy year for foldable phones, especially with the arrival of the Google Pixel Fold. But this week OnePlus entered the fray with its first foldable: meet the OnePlus Open.
With a sleek design, the powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage, the OnePlus Open has an enviable spec list. The cameras are also the best on any foldable phone we’ve tested.
Add in some excellent software and features like super-fast charging and bright displays, and the OnePlus Open has essentially become our favorite foldable phone yet. The Open is a shot across the bow for Samsung to start innovating rather than iterating on its foldable phones, which could make 2024 quite interesting for foldable phones.