Recently, I've bought quite a few things, and since my blog hasn't been updated in a long time, I thought I'd gather them together and write a bunch of brief reviews to prove that I'm still alive.
These items don't have much to write about individually, as there are plenty of more professional and detailed reviews online, so I'll just briefly share my personal feelings during this period of use.
There are very few pictures; one, I'm lazy and didn't want to take new ones, so I used some old ones instead, and two, I'm not good at photography.
ROG Zephyrus 16 Air - 4070 U9#
A Windows laptop with a fruity flavor#
When buying a laptop, I considered many options. I have certain performance needs but didn't want to buy a fitness equipment gaming laptop, and I hoped for a design that was as simple as possible, which ruled out gaming laptops even more.
After much thought, I chose the Zephyrus 16 Air, as this machine has few competitors and has some differentiation.
The one I have is the Intel version with top specs, Ultra 9 - 185H, with a GPU of 4070. The main difference between the 16-inch and 14-inch models is the storage expansion slot; the 16 can accommodate one more.
Actually, before I got it in June, I had a rough idea that a new AMD platform version of the Zephyrus 16 Air would be released at the end of July, but I ultimately chose to buy it directly. After all, the sooner you buy, the sooner you enjoy it; who can endure a summer vacation without a computer for over a month? Looking back, that choice seems to have been correct.
As for performance, there are many professional reviews online, so I'll just briefly discuss some features and drawbacks.
Let's start with the positives.
First is the appearance; ROG has changed its traditional design for this machine and opted for a more understated look. I bought the so-called "Platinum Moon White" color, but it's not really white; it's more silver, as aluminum alloy anodizing probably can't achieve the pure white effect of paint.
The light strip on the A-side is very cool, with many lighting effects to choose from, but since I can't see it, I turned it off.
The traditional big eye logo has been transformed into a nameplate, designed in the corner of the A-side, very delicate and understated. According to the official statement, it uses sandblasting + CNC engraving + anodizing.
Opening the laptop, the frosted glass is used in two places on the C-side: one is the power button, and the other is the touchpad.
This large touchpad feels quite comfortable to use, and the frosted glass adds a lot to the feel and appearance.
The keyboard feels decent, and the keyboard backlight is evenly bright, but the pure white design makes dust very noticeable. The design that draws air for cooling from the keyboard area also prevents the operating area from getting too hot during gaming; sometimes, you can even feel a slight breeze passing over your fingers. However, this also leads to dust accumulation and the possibility of foreign objects entering. Previously, a small bug flew low over my laptop keyboard and got sucked into the gap of the J key; luckily, it got stuck and didn't go deeper into the laptop. Later, I looked at the teardown images, and there is a plastic film under the keyboard, which should be there to prevent similar situations and facilitate future maintenance.
The numeric keypad has been sacrificed for two large speaker openings on the left and right, which are said to be the top of the Windows camp for external sound? The sound quality is indeed good; you can check out the cloud audio-visual for specifics.
The 240Hz OLED screen, 500nit brightness, and G-Sync support provide a good viewing experience. The two-year screen warranty can also reduce some anxiety about burn-in, but this machine seems to have some screen protection settings? The thinness of the OLED screen, combined with the carefully designed hinge, successfully compresses the thickness of this machine.
Having discussed the advantages, let's talk about the drawbacks. First, I don't know why, but sometimes this machine has issues waking up after closing the lid and can freeze upon waking. Although restarting solves the problem, it can be quite annoying, especially when rendering halfway through with the lid closed.
Secondly, the noise from the fans at high speeds is a bit ridiculous. Previously, when I was using this machine in a high-load scenario next to someone else, I was suddenly asked if it was raining. Looking on the bright side, I guess it provides a comfortable white noise of rain.
Lastly, the age-old topic of liquid metal cooling: my evaluation is: if you're afraid, don't use it; if you use it, don't be afraid. You need to develop the habit of using it flat and letting it cool down before moving it. Aside from being a bit troublesome, there's not much to complain about. If there are any shifts, just get it replaced through after-sales service.
Xiaomi 14 Ultra#
A big water bucket#
My previous phone was also Xiaomi's flagship at the time, the 10th Anniversary Supreme Edition. When changing phones, I naturally considered the flagship of the same brand, as I was more familiar with the system, reducing the learning curve, and there are also quite a few Xiaomi small appliances at home, which would improve the interconnected experience.
There's not much to say about this machine; it's acceptable for me. The only drawback is that there are too few system updates. I'm waiting for HyperOS2; I hope it doesn't become a forgotten ship.
Since it's an imaging flagship, the protruding camera makes the grip of this machine very poor. The weight distribution is top-heavy, making it a disaster to hold. I basically avoid holding it by the deco part, making it impossible to use with one hand.
When placed on the table, it tilts, basically saying goodbye to rhythm games.
However, the protruding camera brings improvements to the imaging part, and HDR photo support makes the viewing experience more comfortable. Here’s a long-focus sample, which I took poorly, just a light spray.
The slightly curved edges on all four sides make the front view and feel of this machine very comfortable. The feel during operations like small white bar actions and side returns is very smooth.
Xiaomi's interconnectivity performs well on laptops from other brands, with fully usable functions. The screen mirroring and clipboard interconnectivity that I use most often are very smooth, with no issues.
iPhone 13 mini & AirPods Pro 2#
An exquisite electronic wallet MP3 & TWS top-tier#
To be honest, I bought the iPhone 13 Mini for the AirPods. Everyone says the experience of AirPods Pro is great, so out of curiosity, I bought an iPhone 13 Mini, the unlocked US version in starlight white. After buying it, I also got a family subscription for Apple+ in the Japanese region to try out the accompanying services.
This machine has really become more of a backup than a backup for me; it hardly lights up, purely an accessory for the AirPods.
First, let’s talk about the AirPods Pro. After some time of use, to be honest, Apple's interconnectivity is indeed impressive. After all, it's embedded in the system, and many operations with AirPods Pro feel better than those of many phone brands and audio brands' TWS. For example, letting Siri adjust the basic settings of the headphones or relying on UWB for the find feature, which is difficult for other TWS to achieve or has a poor experience.
The design of the filter and ear tips together is a plus; just replace the ear tip when it gets dirty.
Compared to another active noise-canceling TWS I have, Sony's LinkBuds S, some functional experiences are a leap forward, especially the conversation awareness feature. Apple's logic is clearly superior to Sony's. AirPods detect conversations and switch to transparency mode while lowering the music volume, automatically returning to normal after the conversation ends. In contrast, LinkBuds S just pauses the music with a ding and resumes playback after a fixed time without conversation, which is particularly silly.
In terms of operation, compared to Sony's tapping, the AirPods' sliding volume adjustment feels very comfortable, but why can't I customize the press to switch tracks?
In terms of noise cancellation and transparency, I personally feel that AirPods Pro is superior to LinkBuds S; Apple's algorithm is quite impressive. Coupled with the spatial audio provided by Apple Music, my initial listening experience was quite shocking. The combination of AirPods and Apple Music is indeed a good strategy from Apple; is the era of computational acoustics really coming? // New songs from 学マス have started to use Dolby, and the producers are ecstatic!
Now, let’s talk about the 13 Mini. There’s not much to say about this machine. It seems that due to sales issues, it will be hard to see a small-screen product line in the future. For this reason, the current second-hand price is also quite high.
The Mini is adorably small compared to today's phones, feels comfortable to hold, and can be operated with one hand.
After a long time, I used iOS again; the last time was iOS 7 on the iPhone 4s. Currently, what I perceive most strongly is Siri's logic. Many times, I prefer to call out to Siri rather than Xiao Ai, because after calling Siri, I can directly continue the sentence, while Xiao Ai requires a pause before stating the request, which is quite annoying. iOS is indeed very refined, no complaints there; the tuning of the vibration feedback is also better than Xiaomi's. iMessage is very useful, with rich and interesting features, but unfortunately, it's currently only available on Apple devices. Apple Pay and public transport features are very convenient, but unfortunately, NFC payments are not widely promoted in China. As for other aspects, I won't comment since I haven't used them in depth.
Nintendo Switch Lite#
It's 2024, who is still buying a Switch?#
They say Nintendo is the ruler of the world, so I bought a Switch to see. I got a brand new Lite in turquoise for 999 yuan; this color is indeed very nice and appealing. The original Switch has been on sale for 7 years, and the Lite has been out for five years, so there's not much to say about the machine itself.
Here, I'll talk about my personal purchasing plan. Since I want to play Animal Crossing but don't like the design of the Animal Crossing edition, I chose to buy the original version and then bought the digital version of Animal Crossing that comes with the limited edition from Xianyu for 249. If you don't want to play Animal Crossing and don't care about the machine's appearance, you can choose to buy the Animal Crossing limited edition and sell the Animal Crossing that comes with it. I first registered an Argentine account, and after activation, I received a considerable amount of coins, which I could exchange for some great games in the low-price zone. I got Hades, Stardew Valley, Hollow Knight, Vampire Survivors, and Risk of Rain 2. Later, I transferred the account to the Japanese region and bought MHWR on discount. After getting a family subscription, I purchased Nintendo eShop cards and redeemed Tears of the Kingdom and Pokémon Scarlet.
Finally, this machine has been gathering dust for nearly two months, occasionally lighting up to prove it's still alive.
Xiaomi Smart Home Screen 6#
A desktop ornament#
I actually bought this thing a long time ago, and since the cover image is too empty, I used this to fill in. Currently, I do not recommend purchasing it. I bought it mainly to control things like fans and desk lamps. Essentially, it's just a small Xiaomi speaker with a screen added, allowing for touchscreen control of home appliances' detailed settings, but the control experience is not good, and the options available are not as rich as in the mobile app.
Recently, the official added verification for third-party OTA updates, making it impossible to directly push test packages to install third-party software as before, greatly reducing its playability.
Using it as a speaker, the sound quality is also quite average, just at a level to make some noise. I’ll switch to a HomePod Mini in a while.
HomePod Mini#
Much better than the above gadget#
I couldn't stand Xiao Ai's strange logic and the pauses before giving commands, so I chose to switch to Siri. To be honest, the HomePod Mini completely outperforms the gadget above; the sound is good, with sufficient low frequency, and there's even an option in the settings to reduce the low frequency. The experience with Siri goes without saying; just call out Siri with the required command, and it's smooth and fluid, without multiple devices competing to respond.
It has a built-in temperature and humidity sensor, so I don't need to spend 19.9 yuan on a Xiaomi temperature and humidity sensor. For devices with UWB chips, the audio streaming experience is also very comfortable; music just flies over as you get close.
On Windows, you can directly control song playback through Apple Music, and you can even sync the computer speakers to work together, achieving a multi-speaker effect.