Author: dpugh007

The Apple AirPods 3 that everyone really wants remain elusive in 2019, and our ears, in desperate need of noise-canceling true wireless earbuds, hang in wait.

Admittedly, the new AirPods (2019) do have some cool new features, like the ability to charge wirelessly. Still, they aren’t quite the all-out AirPods 3 reimagining we were hoping for, and they don’t beat rivals like the Sony WF-1000XM3 Wireless Earbuds and the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1s in terms of noise-cancelation and audio quality. 

The good news is that the next-generation of Apple AirPods could be right around the corner. We’ve heard rumors about noise-canceling and even waterproof Apple earbuds for nearly a year at this point, and now some analysts are saying that they’ll arrive by the end of the year or, at the very latest, early on in 2020.

The iPhone 11 launch has come and gone with no mention of the AirPods 3 – so, everything is pointing to a 2020 release date for the new true wireless earbuds.

[UPDATE: Noise-canceling AirPods could launch before October is out. A new report claims that an upgraded AirPods model – called the AirPods Pro, in the manner of the iPhone 11 Pro – may be about to release to market.

An incoming AirPods Pro release was cited in a report by China Economic Daily, which said the new AirPods were expected to launch before the end of October, meaning the claim could be proved (or dismissed) very soon.]

One of the best sources of Apple AirPods 3 rumors comes from a 2018 report from TF International Securities’ analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. He said that we could be getting two more headphones before 2020 – an updated version of the original Apple AirPods (check) and the brand new AirPods 3. 

Apple’s WWDC 2019 keynote took place on June 3, but it was too soon for Cook and co. to announce the new AirPods 3 then – after all, the updated AirPods (2019) only came out two short months before and Apple used WWDC to announce a pair of significant new features coming to the true wireless buds.

Now that Apple has released a brand new iPod touch (7th Generation) in anticipation of Apple Arcade this autumn (September – November 2019), it’s possible that the company will launch the AirPods 3 around the same time. 

There was no mention of the AirPods 3 at Apple’s iPhone launch event in September, which saw in the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.

We’re not totally surprised, as it wouldn’t make sense for Apple to release the AirPods 3 so soon after it brought out the upgraded model.

So, with everything pointing to a 2020 release, what do we actually hope to see in the AirPods 3, and how will they improve on Apple’s bestselling true wireless earbuds?

Apple AirPods 3: Cut to the chase

• What are they? The long-awaited AirPods 3 (not to be confused with the recently updated AirPods (2019) true-wireless earbuds.)
• When are they out? Our best guess is early 2020, but nobody knows for sure. 
• How much will they cost? Probably similar to the AirPods (2019), which start at $159 (£159/AU$249) – though they could jump to $199.

Apple AirPods 3: release date

Now that Apple has released an updated 2019 version of the original AirPods, we’re not expecting the AirPods 3 to be coming out any time soon. 

Kuo’s predictions have been pretty accurate, right down to the AirPods 2019 connectivity upgrade, so we’re betting on an early 2020 release for the AirPods 3, especially as we didn’t see them at the iPhone 11 launch.

We originally expected the upgraded 2019 AirPods to be significantly different from their predecessors thanks to trademark and Bluetooth SIG filings, but we now know that’s not the case. 

That doesn’t mean we won’t ever see these features in the next version, however. We wouldn’t be surprised if Apple was saving features like biometric sensors, new color schemes, and waterproofing for the AirPods 3.

AirPods 3 price and availability

Our best guess is that the AirPods 3 will be priced similarly to the current AirPods, which cost $159 / £159 / AU$249 / AED679 with the standard charging case, and $199 / £199 / AU$319 / AED829 with the new Wireless Charging Case bundled in. 

According to Bloomberg, the new AirPods are “likely to be more expensive than the current $159 model,” but we’d be very surprised if they exceed $200. 

The final price will likely come down to the features that the new AirPods 3 sport. Before we go into the features we’re expecting from the AirPods 3 in 2020, let’s take a look at what’s new with the current AirPods…

• Can’t wait? Here are the best true wireless AirPod alternatives on sale now

What’s new with the AirPods (2019)?

Apple hasn’t changed much in terms of design in its latest update to the AirPods – instead, the next-gen improvements seem to be largely under-the-hood.

Inside the buds there’s a newly-designed H1 chip which Apple has built specifically for the headphones. It improves connectivity pairing times, the efficiency of the battery life, and allows for hands-free ‘Hey Siri’ functionality.

New for the AirPods 2019 is the wireless charging case for the earbuds, which means you can use Qi-compatible charging mats to power the case without having to stick a cable in. 

As for sound quality, the 2019 upgraded AirPods are no different from the ones you could get in 2016. 

• Apple AirPods (2019) vs Apple AirPods: what’s the difference?

Apple AirPods 3: rumors

Rumors around the new Apple AirPods 3 have been circling since the originals were released in 2016, but the release of the iOS 13.2 beta may have revealed what the buds will look and sound like. 

After delving into the beta, 9to5Mac discovered an icon that could show Apple’s upcoming true wireless earbuds.

The new Apple AirPods 3 will reportedly come with noise cancelation and a comfier fit, with silicone or rubber tips giving listeners more choice when it comes to their Apple earbuds.

Apple’s recent iPhone 11 launch event left us bereft of the long-rumored Apple AirPods 3, but a new leaked image could give us a glimpse of the new Apple earbuds. 

SlashLeaks has shared a hazy image from contributor Leakspinner that it says shows the AirPods 2 “in the wild”.

If this leaked image is genuine, we could be in for an even more compact Apple AirPods charging case – and potentially smaller earbuds. It would make sense, as true wireless earbuds are getting smaller as the technology improves, and the AirPods’ long stems was subject to ridicule when they were first revealed in 2016. 

We’re not totally convinced though – the image is so blurry, there’s no way of confirming whether its a legitimate Apple prototype. You can check out the image below and decide for yourself.

Previous trademark filings suggest that the second generation AirPods would be a health and fitness device, in addition to being a pair of true wireless earbuds. Now we know that the updated AirPods don’t have these features, we think we will see them in the AirPods 3 in 2020. 

Back in July 2018 Apple filed a patent for biometric sensors, which would allow the AirPods 3 to take on fitness tracking capabilities like those seen in the Jabra Elite Wireless. This followed another patent filed in March, which further fueled the rumors.

We also heard separately that the AirPods 3 would come in black and white, be both waterproof and offer active noise-cancellation, features that have similarly been predicted by Bloomberg. Another patent from July suggested that Apple was working on some pretty nifty tech for how the earbuds handle outside noise as well as dissipating pressure from inside the ear canal. 

The patent outlined a valve system that would allow sound to escape your ear canal to avoid that weird reverberating effect that occurs when you speak with earbuds in your ears. 

It then goes on to describe how the earbuds would handle ambient noise, using a microphone to filter in noise from the outside world so that you can remain aware of your surroundings while still hearing your music.

One rumor that did prove to be accurate however was wireless charging and Bluetooth 5.0 – but instead of being an improved thanks to an updated W2 chip, Apple has designed a brand new H1 chip, which is made for headphones specifically.

Apple AirPods 3: what we want to see

Noise-cancelation

Only a couple of years ago, companies were struggling just to get true wireless earbuds working, but now the goalposts have already shifted to packing more and more functionality into their shells. 

The stunning Sony WF-1000XM3 manage to include noise-cancelation technology inside their diminutive shells, and we were hoping see similar functionality make it to the second generation of AirPods. 

Apple’s fancy ambient noise technology outlined above suggested the company is thinking along these lines, and as it didn’t make the cut for the 2019 upgrade, we’re expecting to see noise-cancelation in the AirPods 3.

Better audio quality

Companies like Sony and more recently, Cambridge Audio, have proven that true wireless earbuds can sound just as good as their wired, and even their over-ear counterparts.

If Apple can harness the audio quality offered by the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 true wireless earbuds, as well as keeping the cost down, the company could be on to a real winner.

More physical controls

Apple isn’t much of a fan of buttons, but there are some cases where they save you a lot of time and effort, and headphones are one of these instances. 

On-board controls have become an almost essential feature in headphones in recent years, allowing us to control music playback and volume without having to struggle to get our phones out of our pockets. 

Now the 2016 AirPods did allow you to control music in a sense, but they relied entirely on Siri, Apple’s voice assistant. 

New to the 2019 upgraded AirPods is the ability to double tap the right earbud to start your music up if it’s paused or skip to the next track if you’re currently playing a track…and that’s it. 

We’d like to see the AirPods 3 take this further, allowing you to skip backwards and forwards more easily. What would be really great, would be to put those long stems to use and add in some swipe volume controls. 

Changeable ear tips

Apple likes to rely wholly on sleek white plastic, but we aren’t a fan of the lack of rubber tips on the AirPods, especially when there’s no cable to catch them if they fall.

We want any true wireless earbuds to feel nice and secure in the ears, and including a number of changeable ear tips so we can select those that perfectly fit our ears would be the ideal way of achieving this. 

One individual in the TechRadar office even went to the length of fixing some rubber tips from an alternative pair of headphones onto their AirPods to make them feel more secure. 

We weren’t expecting Apple to change it’s rather rigid design aesthetic with the 2019 update, but here’s hoping it will for the AirPods 3. 

Better Android pairing

Given that Apple likes to ensure all its products are designed to work as a family this has little chance of happening, but we’d love to see the AirPods play slightly nicer with Android phones. 

On iPhones, pairing is a dream. You simply hold the AirPods near your phone and they connect more or less automatically. 

However with Android the process is a lot more complicated and involving jumping into settings menus to select the AirPods manually. We’d love to see Apple simplify this process for the AirPods 3, though we’re not holding our breath.

Different designs and colors 

We get it, Apple likes white things. But in an era where iPhones and iPads are available in a range of different colors we’d love to see this same courtesy extended to the AirPods. 

We just want our headphones to match our phone and our Apple Watch; is that so much to ask?

Although Apple has experimented with different colors for its various devices, its earbuds have always stayed the same iconic white. Still, the AirPods 3 are rumored to be coming in a second black option as well. 

Longer battery life

When the original AirPods were released way back in 2016, their five-hour battery life was rather impressive; now, it’s lagging behind the competition. 

With the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 true wireless earbuds, you get nine hours from the buds themselves, and a further 36 hours of juice contained within their charging case. 

It’s clear that true wireless technology has moved on since the AirPods were first released – and so far, Apple hasn’t moved on with it.

• Prefer Samsung? Check out our Samsung Galaxy Buds review

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Motorola Razr smartphones were iconic devices back when full-featured smartphones weren’t ubiquitous tech products – but there’s a chance they could become iconic again. 

We’ve heard many rumors about a new entry, the Motorola Razr V4, which would be a folding phone that takes the old-school form factor and turns it into a ‘clamshell’-type foldable phone. 

The foldable phone battleground is heating up, with the Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X expected to launch by the end of 2019, but while they’re premium devices, the Motorola Razr V4 is expected to be one of the first ‘affordable’ foldables.

We’ve actually heart it’s set to launch November 13, at an event in Los Angeles, so it could actually be available to buy before Huawei’s device.

Here’s everything we’ve heard about the Motorola Razr 2019 so far, along with a wish list of what we want from it.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? A foldable reboot of the Razr range
• When is it out? Probably sometime in 2019
• What will it cost? Maybe around $1,500 (roughly £1,170, AU$2,010)

Motorola Razr V4 release date and price

The first Motorola Razr V4 release date rumor came from a report in The Wall Street Journal that pointed to February 2019 – a month that came and went with no sign of the phone.

However Motorola sent out invites for a November 13 event that looks like it could be the launch event. Several teases and hints in the invitations point towards the reveal of a foldable phone, and it’d be very surprising if Motorola had such a device that wasn’t the Motorola Razr.

As for what it will cost, the WSJ report says to expect a starting price of roughly $1,500 (around £1,170, AU$2,010). That would make it far more expensive than most phones, but that’s not surprising given that it’s rumored to have a foldable screen.

That’s echoed partly by the later rumor, which says the handset will cost €1,500 (about $1,660, £1,375, AU$2,450). Since phone launch prices aren’t always exact conversions in different regions, it’s possible that it’ll cost $1,500 in the US, €1,500 in Europe, and perhaps even £1,500 in the UK. We’d expect it to cost more than AU$1,500 though, as that would be an incredibly low price compared to the other regions!

That’s echoed partly by the later rumor, which says the handset will cost €1,500 (about $1,660, £1,375, AU$2,450). Since phone launch prices aren’t always exact conversions in different regions, it’s possible that it’ll cost $1,500 in the US, €1,500 in Europe, and perhaps even £1,500 in the UK. We’d expect it to cost more than AU$1,500 though, as that would be an incredibly low price compared to the other regions!

It also sounds like Motorola and parent company Lenovo aren’t expecting the Razr 2019 to be a mainstream device, with the WSJ report also saying that only around 200,000 units are likely to be made, and that in the US it’s a Verizon exclusive. 

How do we know the Motorola Razr V4 is foldable?

The main thing we’ve heard about the Motorola Razr V4 is that it will have a foldable screen. The first hint of that came from Lenovo’s CEO Yang Yuanqing, who, during MWC 2018, said: “With the new technology, particularly foldable screens, I think you will see more and more innovation on our smartphone design.

“So hopefully what you just described [the Motorola Razr brand] will be developed or realized very soon.”

Then, at MWC 2019, Motorola vice president and general manager Anthony Barounas, said, according to TrustedReviews: 

“If you go around the stores today, for me the phones all look the same. It’s difficult to see if it’s a Motorola, or [another brand]. How we differentiate to the consumer, show them something really different, that’s where foldables comes in. And that’s where Motorola also has a very big investment. I can’t say much but we have one franchise that will have a very big impact there.”

So that’s pretty much a confirmation that a foldable phone is in the works, though the Razr brand wasn’t mentioned by name.

Motorola Razr V4 news and rumors

While we’re fairly sure the Motorola Razr V4 will be foldable, we don’t know much about the form factor yet.

We’ve also seen patents pointing to a foldable screen. You can see images from the older patent above and the newer one below, but they both point to a clamshell design with a foldable display. 

However, while the older one shows a large hinge and seemingly a gap between the two display halves, the other, newer patent (found by 91mobiles) shows a truly foldable display.

There’s still a hinge, but this isn’t as visible when looking at the screen. This one also appears to have a smaller secondary display on the back of the phone. That makes some sense, as otherwise you wouldn’t be able to see a screen unless the phone was fully unfolded. The newer patent also shows a notch at the top of the screen.

The back also contains what looks to be a single-lens camera above the smaller display, and a fingerprint scanner on the lower section.

There’s no guarantee that either of these patents show an accurate picture of the Motorola Razr V4, but we’d expect a clamshell design, since that’s what the original Razr range had.

A subsequent rumor supports the idea that the device has a secondary screen. It also details some possible features of that screen, saying that you might be able to use it to scroll through web pages that you’re viewing on the main screen.

The secondary screen could also apparently be used to display notifications and a clock, to interact with Google Assistant when the main screen is closed, and to provide shortcuts to settings. It sounds then like it won’t have the full functionality of the main screen if this rumor is right.

Another report revealed possible specs, as well as a logo (seen above, background filled in with black for clarity). The Motorola Razr V4 will supposedly pack a Snapdragon 710, either 4 or 6Gb of RAM and either 64 or 128GB of storage. 

It also may have 2,730mAh of battery, though XDA noted that last spec might be out of date – and the Razr V4 looks to be much smaller when unfolded than its foldable competitors (like the Samsung Fold and Huawei Mate X), which look to expand into tablet-size dimensions. The Razr V4 looks to be smaller, so it might not need nearly as much juice to stay on.

Clearly, this would be a departure from other soon-to-launch foldable phones , which have top-tier specs. And while previous rumors have revealed a somewhat cheaper potential price for the Razr V4, it’s still far beyond what today’s non-folding flagship phones cost.

The silver lining, of course, is that the Razr V4 might open up the door to mid-range foldables, that have weaker specs but lower prices. If you don’t need cutting-edge processors and RAM to power foldable tech, perhaps we’ll see more affordable folding devices sooner than we thought.

Motorola Razr V4 leaks have taken another step forward though, after press renders claiming the show the handset hit Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo, but were pulled shortly after.

However, SlashLeaks was able to grab the images before they disappeared, showing us an impressive looking device.

What we want to see

Rumors about the Motorola Razr V4 are starting to roll in but we don’t know much yet, so we’ve come up with a list of what we hope it offers.

1. A great design

One of the reasons the Motorola Razr range was so popular was because of its slim, stylish design. Of course, the old models like the Motorola Razr V3, are dated now, but we’d like to see the spirit of the design carried on for the Razr V4, but in a more modern form. We want a slim, futuristic handset.

The good news is that if the screen really does fold then it should at least be futuristic, though it might not be all that slim when folded shut.

2. Genuinely useful flexibility

There’s a worry that early foldable screens could be little more than a gimmick, but we hope that’s not the case with the Motorola Razr V4. Hopefully, the company will find a way to make it feel genuinely useful.

If Motorola successfully makes a screen that can change from phone to tablet size without feeling awkward then that would be a good start.

3. Flagship specs

Any foldable phone is inevitably going to be expensive and rumors specifically suggest that the Razr 2019 will be pricey.

So we really want to get our money’s worth, by not just getting a foldable screen but also specs that can compete with the best of 2019’s new and upcoming flagships, like the Samsung Galaxy S10 and iPhone 11.

4. A long-lasting battery

We want all of our phones to have decent battery life, but this is of particular concern with foldable phones, as the larger screens could be a big drain.

So hopefully there will be an appropriately large battery in the Motorola Razr V4 to keep it going through the day and beyond.

5. A palatable price

Early rumors suggest this will be one very expensive phone, and we’d expect it to be too, since foldable screens are a new, likely pricey feature. However, for these devices to have remotely mainstream appeal the cost is going to need to be pushed down.

That probably won’t happen until the second or third generation of foldable devices, but it would be a nice surprise if Motorola (which is known in part for offering great value handsets) manages to make an affordable one on the first attempt.

6. Near stock Android with foldable features

One thing we love about most current Moto phones is that they use a version of Android that’s had little done to it, ensuring the software is polished, easily approachable and typically quick to get updated.

We hope the same is true for the Motorola Razr V4. Or at least, for the most part. What we would like to see though are some software features that help you get the most out of the foldable screen. We’re not sure what those would be, but hopefully that’s something Motorola has given some thought to.

7. A sharp, durable screen

Being foldable is one thing, but we don’t want that to be the only thing the Razr V4’s screen has going for it. We’d also like it to be a sharp, high-quality panel. And for it to be durable, because it’s going to need to be if it’s constantly being folded.

• Samsung is also working on a foldable phone

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