Mark-Anthony Turnage's "Three Screaming Popes" was a chaotic cacophony. Wild, bizarre, inventive, and seemingly driven by excess. A fascinating performance, although not one I'll put on in the background. Turnage himself took to the stage to bask in the applause.

Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 1. Reading the story behind the composition made the performance by soloist Alina Ibragimova even more terrifying than it might have otherwise been. The sounds emanating from her violin were somewhere between a tantrum and flirtatious coquette. Stunning to see her tear up the stage.

Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Outstanding. Hearing a 100 piece orchestra power through the score was exhilarating. It is such a vivid piece. There's no other way to describe it - each movement is distinct and full of character. One of those rare pieces where you can feel the music worming its way into your brain.

You can listen to the concert on BBC Radio 3.

Pre- and Post-Show

I've written before about The art of the Pre-Show and Post-Show. Venues and shows have multiple ways to make an event special for an audience.

This concert did some things really well. For a start - the programme was free! I wish the West End was a bit more like Broadway with a free "Playbill" at every show. Even better, the programme was actually useful! Some nice blurbs about the performers and the pieces.

I particularly liked this little snippet:

How wonderful! It's always someone's first time at an orchestral concert. More programmes should have these little comfort notes.

Other than that, there wasn't much. There was no interaction between the conductor and audience, which felt a little odd. The programme had a QR code to a 31(!) point questionnaire. I'm not sure how many people would be bothered to complete that.

Royal Festival Hall is a delight - plenty of space, multiple bars, lots of seating areas, and a larger number of spacious & clean toilets. An excellent venue.

This isn't your traditional ergonomic keyboard. Essentially, this is two separate halves joined by a USB-C cable; so you can position it however you like.

Here's a quick video showing it in action:

It is very clicky! Yes, you can replace the keys and switches with something softer. But then people wouldn't know you're the sort of nerd who uses a mechanical keyboard. And where's the fun in that?!

Similarly, the lights are delightfully dazzly. Yes, you can make them more subtle or even turn them off. But then people wouldn't know you're the sort of cool kid who has a light-up keyboard.

Linux Compatibility

The Split 70 comes with a USB-C to A cable. Personally, I'd've preferred straight C-C, but this does the job. Flick the switch at the back to USB mode, plug it in, and Linux instantly detected it. No drivers to configure.

It shows up as 342d:e491 HS Epomaker Split 70 - there's another switch for changing between Mac and PC mode. That doesn't change how the keyboard presents itself; just the keycodes it sends.

There's also a Bluetooth option. Again, Linux use was a breeze - although you'll have to remember what the pairing combo is and which device it is paired to.

There's also a 2.4GHz option. Hidden on the back of the left unit is a little USB-A receiver. Again, pairing is simple - just plug it in and flick the switch.

As expected, it also plays well with Android. The Bluetooth connection worked as did USB-OTG. Of course, quite why you'd want a giant heavy keyboard paired to your tiny phone is an exercise left to the reader.

Customisation

This came as a US keyboard with the " and @ in the "wrong" place. It's easy to remap the keys and adjust the lights using https://usevia.app/ - although you'll need to download the JSON layout first.

It comes with a tool to remove the keys and switches. I'll admit, I'm too much of a chicken to attempt that - but it does look easy.

What doesn't look easy is the way to get it into firmware update mode - which involves shorting some pins and comes with some stringent warnings!

GPL

There is some question about whether Epomaker comply with the GPL when it comes to the QMK source. They appear to have some source code available but it is hard to tell whether it exists for this specific model.

After politely emailing them about GPL compliance, they were happy to supply a link to the Split 70's QMK source code. I'm not deep into recompiling the firmware for my keyboards - but it looked comprehensive to me.

Using it

It's delightful to type on - and I got used to the noise after a while. I wasn't a massive fan of the layout to start with, but it easy to see its appeal. Personally, I'd like an extra numpad to go with it.

The four macro keys are useful. By default, they're set to cut, copy, paste, and undo - but can easily be remapped. The knob is fun - by default it does volume, I'm sure you can find something else useful to do with it.

Battery life is excellent even if you have the lights on full disco. I kept it plugged in to my machine for typing most of the time.

Being able to adjust the split to your own specification is outstanding. If you suffer from RSI, this can genuinely help.

Price

About £80 from Amazon UK or AliExpress. That feels reasonable for this much tech. Obviously you can get a bog-standard keyboard for buttons - but this is unique, tactile, and interesting.

This is the TS004 Thermal Monocular:

Let's put it through its paces!

Hardware

This is a chunky bit of kit and fits nicely in the hand. It's well weighted and feels sturdy.

The rubber seal fits tightly around your eye and is excellent at keeping light out. The screen is set a little way back, so is easy to focus on. Taking a photo of the screen itself was a little tricky - here's what you can expect to see when using the settings menu:

The focus knob near the viewfinder is a little stiff, but it turns silently.

There's a rubber lens cover which is attached and can be easily tucked away next to the standard tripod mount. It comes with a lanyard strap, so you're unlikely to drop it. The buttons are well spaced and respond quickly.

The USB-C port has a rubber flap to keep out moisture.

OK, let's take some snaps!

Photos

Photo quality is pretty good - although limited by the technology behind the thermal sensor. The TS004 has a thermal resolution of 256x192 and images are upscaled to 640x480.

One thing to note, the user-interface is burned in to the photos. So if you want the battery display on screen, it will also appear on the photo. Similarly, things like the range-finder appear in the image.

There's a reasonable AI built in. It is designed to tell you what sort of wildlife you've spotted. In some cases, it is pretty accurate! A woman walked by me while I was looking for wildlife - here's her photo:

Nifty!

Here's a photo of a fox:

There are remarkably few wild boars in London!

Video

Video is also 640x480. It is a very smooth 42.187 FPS and a rather chunky 2,162 Kbps - leading to a file size of around 20MB per minute. With around 30GB of in-built storage, that shouldn't be a problem though. There's no audio available and, just like the photos, the UI is burned into the picture.

Here are a couple of sample videos I shot. In them, I cycle through the colour modes and zoom levels.

First, an urban fox foraging in London:

Second, some parakeets flapping around a tree:

I'm impressed with the smoothness of the video and how well it picks up heat even from relatively far away.

Linux

Bizarrely, on Linux it shows up as 1d6b:0101 Linux Foundation Audio Gadget. It presents as a standard USB drive and you can easily copy files to and from it. 100% compatibility!

You can't use it as a WebCam - for anything more complicated than copying files, you need to use the official app.

App

The TopInfrared App for Android is reasonably good. It connects to the camera via WiFi and offers some useful features. Most impressively, it live-streams the camera's view to your phone.

From there you can take photos or videos and have them saved straight onto your device. Handy if you've set the camera up outside and want to view it from somewhere warmer.

Frustratingly, it isn't possible to set all the options on the camera using the app. For that you need to go back to the menu on the camera - which is slightly laborious.

The app isn't mandatory for most operations - thankfully - but it is the only way to set the time and date on the monocular. You will also need it if there are any firmware updates.

If you don't need the app, you can turn off the WiFi to save some battery life.

Drawbacks

The device works - and is great for wildlife spotting - but there are a few little niggles. I've fed these back to the manufacturer and have included their responses.

• There's no EXIF in the photos, or any way to get thermal data out of the images.

  • "These products focus on image clarity, high sensitivity, and low latency. For example, temperature-measurement thermal cameras typically run at 25 Hz, while the TS004 operates at 50 Hz for smoother viewing. Devices that include EXIF temperature data, raw thermal export, and analytical tools are measurement-focused thermal cameras, which are based on a different design and use case."

• As mentioned, having the UI burned into the photos and videos is slightly annoying.

  • You can turn off the UI elements on screen which stops them appearing in the photo.

• The range-finder only works in yards and, while seemingly accurate, isn't overly helpful to those of us who think in metric!

  • "Unit switching will be available in the March firmware update"

• Once you sync the time with the monocular, all the filenames are timestamped like 2026_02_09_12345678 but it appears to be hardwired to Hong Kong Time (UTC+8) - so your dates and times might be a little out.

  • "We will investigate it and see if it can be implemented in a future update"

• The AI detection feature doesn't seem particularly tuned for the UK.

  • "Due to hardware limitations, the current recognition is relatively basic, so there is limited room for significant improvement"

In terms of hardware limitations, there's no GPS. I would expect a device in this price-range to have basic GPS functionality to allow you to easily tag photos.

None of these are show-stoppers, but for a device this expensive they are an annoyance.

Price

OK, so you want to spot birds in trees and wild boars foraging in the forest - what'll this cost you?

Close to £400 - you can use code TERENCE15 for a 15% discount until 16 February 2026.

The price of thermal imaging equipment is high and this is a fairly niche form-factor. It is easy to use, has a great range, and the rubber eyepiece is much nicer than staring at a bright phone screen. The battery life is excellent and you certainly can't complain about the generous storage space.

There are some minor irritations as discussed above, but it is an exceptional bit of kit if you like to explore the environment. Are you going to spot any cryptids with it? Who knows! But you'll have lots of fun discovering the natural world around you.

The good folks at Epomaker want me to see the error of my ways and have sent me a couple of devices to review. Today I'm trying out the TH87 and it is surprisingly lovely!

Blinken lights!

Here's a quick video showing some of the effects.

Is this necessary? No! But it is jolly good fun. Probably a bit distracting - especially if you're in a dark space or a crowded office - but rather pleasing nevertheless. Switching between the effects means remembering the correct key combo - there's no way to do it programatically, you just have to cycle through them all.

Linux Compatibility

The TH87 comes with a USB-C to A cable. Personally, I'd've preferred straight C-C, but this does the job. Flick the switch at the back to USB mode, plug it in, and Linux instantly detected it. No drivers to configure.

Rather cheekily, lsusb shows it as 05ac:0250 Apple, Inc. Aluminium Keyboard (ISO) - there's another switch for changing between Mac and PC mode. That doesn't change how the keyboard presents itself; just the keycodes it sends.

Oddly, there was this warning in dmesg:

apple 0003:05AC:0250.0010: Fn key not found (Apple Wireless Keyboard clone?), disabling Fn key handling

However, the function keys worked and I was able to control screen brightness etc using Fn and the F1-12 keys.

There's also a Bluetooth option. Again, Linux use was a breeze - although you'll have to remember what the pairing combo is and which device it is paired to.

There's also a 2.4GHz option. Hidden under one of the feet is a little USB-A receiver. Again, pairing is simple - just plug it in and flick the switch.

As expected, it also plays well with Android. The Bluetooth connection worked as did USB-OTG. Of course, quite why you'd want a giant heavy keyboard paired to your tiny phone is an exercise left to the reader.

Clunk Click Every Trip

So let's talk about noise. This keyboard is noisier than some of my other typing surfaces, but not aggressively so. Apparently it is "pre-lubricated" and has some noise suppression. The travel on the switches is excellent, they aren't stiff, and the whole contraption is sturdy.

It was easy to remove the caps with the enclosed tool. I didn't bother trying to extract a switch because I'm afraid of buggering it up.

Other Things

Battery life is excellent - as you'd expect from a 10,000 mAh unit. It recommends charging by attaching to a computer and warns a regular charger might damage it. But, frankly, it seemed to cope just fine.

There's no software for customising the colours or functionality. Apparently lots of mechanical keyboards run an Open Source firmware - but this appears to be proprietary. There is some question about whether Epomaker comply with the GPL when it comes to the QMK source. They appear to have some source code available but it is hard to tell whether it exists for this specific model. I've contacted them for clarification.

There's a lot of technobabble on the website. Apparently it uses "5-Layer Sound Optimizing Design with PORON Sandwich Foam, IXPE Switch Pad, Sound Enhancement Pad, EPDM Switch Socket Pad, and Silicone Bottom". I've no ideas what it means, but it appears important to some people.

There's no number-pad, which is a bit of a shame. However the keyboard has a proper UK layout and is reasonably compact. Although at 1Kg it is almost as heavy as my laptop!

Cost

I have no internal benchmark for something like this. It's around £60 from AliExpress or £80 on Amazon UK depending on whether you have pleased The Algorithm. That seems pretty reasonable for a hefty keyboard with lots of customisability.

If you want ALL THE LIGHTS and value the ability to hot-swap various keys and switches, I think this is a nifty bit of kit.

Let's put it though its paces!

Specs

Physically, it is a little larger than I was expecting. The two UK sockets are far enough apart to easily get your fingers around the plugs. Similarly, the USB ports are well-spaced. There's a tiny LED to show that power is connected, but it isn't offensively bright.

The UK plug is tiny:

Even better, it comes with a proper fuse! The power cord isn't removable, but is long enough for most purposes.

How much power can it supply? This is what the spec sheet says:

But there is a fly in the ointment. While 25W is the most that a single USB-C port can output, the power drops once multiple devices are connected. If you have two or more plugged in, the total output is limited to a mere 15W. Not per-port; total!

25W is already fairly low by PowerDelivery standards, so you won't be using this to power your gaming laptop while charging your tablet and headphones.

Real World Testing

I used my Plugable USB-C Power Meter with some high-quality USB cables. The Orico mostly lives up to its promises.

When charging my laptop from either USB-C port, I was able to measure 22W (12V ⎓ 1.85A). Pretty close to the spec.

As soon as I plugged my phone into the other USB-C port, that dropped that down to just under 8W (4.8 ⎓ 1.65A) per port. Again, right on the promised 15W total.

The USB-A port happily delivered 7.5W (5V ⎓ 1.5A) - much lower than expected. That dropped to around 5W (5V ⎓ 1A) once a USC-C load was connected. The C port was only delivering ~10W which wasn't enough to meaningfully charge the laptop.

Final Thoughts

The flat plug is handy for plugging this in to those hard-to-reach spaces. The cable is long enough for most uses. The mixture of ports isn't for everyone, but handy if you still have legacy devices you need to power.

It meets the promised specification - but the specs are a bit of a let-down. You can get smaller devices which will do 60W charging from USB-C, and they'll spread that out over all their ports.

The two UK sockets are a nice-to-have, but I can't help feeling that they'll mostly be used for adding additional chargers.

It is cheap-ish - US$30 / £20 - and comes in a range of colours. If you need a long cable and don't need ultra-fast charging, this will do.

Lander 23 had a few pre-launch glitches, but is now up and running in Woolwich. It is a fun enough experience, but could be a whole lot more with some tweaks. In a team of four, you are split into two groups. One group operates a baffling array of switches and has to direct the other group around a ruined city because of [under developed plot point]. Only by working together can you… well, it is unclear. Something to do with energy?

Think of it a bit like a longer game of "The Crystal Maze". Over a radio commlink, you try telling your team mates to go left down a corridor and then explain you meant the other left. The explorers have to creep around the set, avoiding baddies (and sometimes other players) while listening to your half-baked instructions.

Then you swap positions and suddenly understand some of the seemingly bizarre decisions your friends made.

It is hard to know how to categorise this. Punchdrunk are known for immersive theatre - but this is billed as a live action video game. It isn't a LARP in the traditional sense; you won't be driving the story. It also isn't an escape room although the teamwork aspect is similar. There aren't any puzzles, and the story is paper-thin. But it is rather a good laugh. Sort of like an adult Laser Quest without guns.

The pre-show is pretty good. There's a well dressed set to wander around with lots of interesting (but irrelevant) scenery and props. The instructions are reasonably clear and the "Lander" set looks a bit like the Nostromo from Alien. The interactive consoles are brilliantly designed. The various industrial knobs and buttons feel delightful to play with and react well. It is rather a shame that they're so under utilised. The driver team is given a baffling arrays of inputs to manage - but only a small subsection do anything useful.

The city set (supposedly an alien planet) is recycled from the previous "Burnt City" production. It looks lush but doesn't make any sense in context of the (slightly flimsy) story. It is exciting to wander through while being pursued by guards (what guards? Isn't this an alien planet?) but there isn't much time to admire the extensive set dressing.

While you're running around (or telling people to run around) there's some nonsense about collecting energy. Oh and you might lose a life if caught. And you have to flick the switches at the right time. Don't forget to duck behind the scenery to hide when told. There's a lot going on. It is exhilarating but you only get about 15-20 minutes of play time each.

There's a briefing about how to find cassettes and stamps. Across our two goes, we found one of them and got one stamp. What does that do? Nothing as far as I can tell. There might also be artefacts to collect, but we didn't find any, nor were we sure that they'd net us extra points.

Let's talk about the points aspect. At the end, our team, were delighted to have come second!

What did that mean? Nothing.

If you play Laser Quest, you get to see your name up on the big screen - Lander 23 just displays your team number. I sort of expected to be handed a certificate. Or money off our next trip. Or a commemorative tchotchke. Or even a video thanking us for saving the universe. We just took off our tactical vests and handed them back. Which was slightly underwhelming.

I think the leader-board is there to encourage replayability. But as your scores aren't recorded, there isn't much incentive to come back for another go. I expected a follow-up email thanking us for playing or asking for feedback but, again, nothing. After that much adrenaline, I was expecting just a little aftercare.

There's a photo-booth once you've completed the mission, but you have to ask other players to take your photo. It would have been so easy for Punchdrunk to have a staff member there to take snaps and email them. Again, that's what most escape rooms do. Instead, we headed to the bar to enjoy a few cocktails while we debriefed ourselves.

All four of us agreed at that it had been a pretty good experience. We laughed a lot describing what we'd got up to. Our hearts were racing, we were sweating from the tension, and felt like it had been a decent afternoon out.

Ultimately, Lander 23 feels like it has been designed by someone who has heard of games like Laser Quest / Escape Rooms / The Crystal Maze but, crucially, hasn't ever played them.

For all that, it is a lot of fun. Running around corridors with a friend is very Doctor Who. Flicking lots of switches and pressing buttons is an enjoyable tactile experience.

It is absolutely worth finding a cheaper mid-week slot and giving it a go. If you're willing to get into the spirit of things, and are happy to put up with some odd game-design decisions, you'll have fun.

Typically, headphones fall into three broad categories.

• In ear, like the Apple EarPods.
• Over ear, like the Beats.
• Bone Conducting, like the AfterShokz.

But these are not typical headphones. These are part of a new category of "cuff" audio. They clip (gently!) to your ears. It's actually a pretty clever way to stop your earbuds falling out - and means no uncomfortable foam stuffed into your ear canal. And no wax build up! They only weigh 5g, so are almost unnoticeable while wearing them.

Here's the obligatory promo shot:

And this is what it looks like in my ears:

You can adjust where they sit to make them more comfortable or bring the speaker closer to your ear canal. Here's it riding low on my earlobe.

Just like all modern earphones, it comes with a charging case. The case takes USB-C and doubles as battery storage.

Pop the buds in, wait 10 minutes, take them out with 2 hour of playback charge. The button on the back allows you to pair the clips to your Bluetooth device.

What's In The Box

As well as the clips and their case, you get a small instruction leaflet, a short charging-only lead, and some stickers.

Sound Quality

OK, but how do they sound? Look, I'm not an audiophile - I'm not going to bore on about sparkling centre-stage and ambient high-ends. They sound good. They're not remarkably different from any other headphone. They're small, so you're not going to get the brain-pounding bass that you might get from a heavier over-ear set. They don't completely fill your ear-holes, so you'll be able to hear some of the world around you.

On that note, because they're not sealed into your ear that means there's no noise-cancellation. It also means a small bit of sound leakage. Fine if you're out jogging, but probably best not to listen to anything loud while on public transport, eh?

And, yes, they do go loud. At 50% volume they drowned out the sound of my typing. They have enough power to be relatively painful (if that's what you want) and can absolutely be heard by other people.

But the sound quality is fine. Sure, they have LDAC and all sorts of fancy equaliser features. But the reality is you're probably listening to streaming audio while out in a noisy environment. I listened to a variety of stereo demos and they all sounded great.

I tried a couple of pitch-sweep apps and heard from ~40Hz to ~14kHz. That may be my ears though! Either way - more than good enough for music and voice.

Speaking of vocals, the Clip1 has "AeroVoice™" which claims to be a wind noise reduction mode when speaking. Here's a quick recording of me speaking while standing outside.

Call quality was fine. I could hear people and they could hear me. Similarly, recording on Android was pretty good.

Not as good as a dedicated microphone, but good enough for calls.

The nice thing about the clips is that you can choose how high on your ear you want them. Depending on the size and shape of your lugs, you can have the speaker as far away or as close as is comfortable. Personally, I like them tucked just under my earlobes - but having them ride at the top makes it much easier to hear my surroundings. Either way, the clip are gentle and don't pinch. I find them much easier to wear for a long period than most other cans.

Features

They also come with a few cool features. Most impressive is the auto-ear detection. A gyroscope inside each clip means they automatically know which one is in your left ear and which is in your right. You don't need to look for a little symbol or try and work out which one fits - just clip 'em on and start listening.

Like lots of modern headphones, they will auto-pause your music if you take them off your ears. Unlike the Pixel Buds, they won't pause if you start talking. Placing them in their case and closing the lid immediately disconnects them from your device.

They can connect to two devices simultaneously. Again, that's pretty standard for this class of device. You can listen to music from your laptop and also have your phone connected to take calls. However, this feature isn't available if you use LDAC.

To set up LDAC and other features, you'll need to use their proprietary app.

The App

The PeatsAudio App isn't mandatory, thankfully. It is an iron law of the universe that hardware companies simply can't make decent software. You'll need the app if you want to update the firmware on the Clips. Not that it tells you much about what the firmware update fixes.

It displays the battery level of the clips and their case in this comically large graphic:

You can also fiddle around with the audio equaliser if that's important to you.

There's also an EQ test which attempts to create a personalised listening profile depending on the state of your hearing.

You can set the various sound modes - including LDAC and Dolby.

The most useful thing about the app is the ability to configure the touch controls. Unlike the Pixel Buds, there's no "swipe" detection for changing volume or tracks. Instead you can manually set the actions for double-, triple-tap for each ear.

You can also set various modes and launch your device's AI assistant if you want. Except, this screen is a lie. They only support double- and triple-taps! I spoke to the manufacturer and they said:

Regarding the custom key, please kindly note that Clip1 differs from our other touch-controlled devices as it uses tap controls. Single taps have a high false-trigger rate, and enabling single taps would actually cause more issues. Therefore, this model does not support single taps or long presses.

I wish they supported swipe though. With multiple taps, your timing must be precise so as not to trigger the wrong function.

The app has annoying habit of prompting you to perform a firmware update - even when you're on the latest version.

Annoyingly, you need to register an account before you can use the app. Worst still, you cannot use the app without granting it Internet access! If you're on the tube and have no connection, you won't be able to change the EQ or set the button functions. Rubbish!

I suggest you install the app, configure the device, and then uninstall immediately.

Linux and Android Compatibility

Of course! Bluetooth is a mature, well-supported technology. They connected to my Linux laptop without any problems.

And, yes, even the LDAC codec was supported!

Similarly for Android, LDAC and Spatial Audio were detected.

There were no connection issues - they paired quickly and without fuss.

Bugs

When I got them, they would only play in mono - one of the buds was reporting a dead battery, although it was happy to play audio. Only one channel played though. Because of the low battery, I couldn't run the firmware update function from the app. I tried running the "reset" function which did make them forget my phone - but still didn't fix the battery issue. There's also a "drainage" function which played some loud tones repeatedly - I suspect this is to attempt to drain the batteries quicker. Both buds continued making noise for a while - even though one was claiming to be dead.

I switched to the LDAC codec and all of a sudden, stereo worked. I flicked between the different codecs on my laptop and it went back to mono - and wouldn't go back to stereo until a disconnect and reconnect.

I charged both buds overnight which seemed to resolve the problem. I updated the firmware just to be on the safe side. Then everything started working again.

The app itself is a pile of bugs. After upgrading the firmware, it appeared to give me access to extra tap shortcuts. None of them could be set and they disappeared after reconnecting the clips. The fact that it can't be used offline is a serious weakness. The FAQ page goes to a 404 error.

Worth it?

These cost between £60 - £80 depending on whether the algorithm favours you. That's certainly more than the cheapest USB-C headphones but pretty reasonable. Yes, you can get basic Bluetooth headphones for a tenner, but these are extremely comfortable and feature-packed.

It would be nice if manufacturers could agree on a single standard for recharging headphones. I've got several pairs and, while all the cases take USB-C, none of the buds work in each other's chargers. The lack of swipe is a bit annoying, but not devastating. The app is trash, but you only need to use it once.

Wearing them takes a little bit of getting used to. The clip isn't tight, but you will notice it at first. Shaking your head vigorously won't dislodge them. There's no pressure in your ear canal. It is unusual, but rather pleasant. But, without a doubt, they are comfortable to wear for extended periods.

The touch controls are a bit fiddly. Yes, you can touch at the speaker, wire, or the bit behind your ear - which makes it an easy target no matter where on the ear you wear them - but it is too easy for a triple-tap to be mistaken for a double-tap. Battery life was excellent - after about 3 hours of (non-LDAC) listening, they were still on 60% so I've no doubt they'll reach the projected 8 hours of listening time. The case is a bit lightweight and flimsy, but it contains enough power to recharge the cans multiple times. The USB-C charged at about 2W - not exactly rapid but good enough.

I don't know if clip-on earphones are the future - but they certainly solve some of the problems with in-ear phones. They're lightweight, comfortable, and less likely to fall out while you're moving.

Overall? They've got excellent sound quality, they feel great, and are unique enough to be interesting. There aren't many clip-style headphones available in the UK - so these are a great way to experiment with the form-factor.

D'yer remember the eighties? The eighties, eh? Remember 'em? With the Acorn Archimedes an' that? What were we like? Remember them mags what y'got? The computer mags? Wirral the source code? Remember typin' it all in be hand? If yer semicolon were outta place y'd gerra syntax error! And you try telling that to the young people of today, will they believe yer?

For those of you born this century, it might be hard to believe but - yes - the way we distributed source code back in the day was on paper. Computer magazines would be full of news, reviews, letters (like the comments section of a website), classified ads (like eBay), and code listings - like this:

YORE COMPU​TER 🕹

@yorecomputer

1986:

Your Sinclair Magazine Issue 09, page 50

archive.org/stream/your-si… pic.x.com/b3jgdn12kk

---

That's how I learned to code. Laboriously type in a few hundred lines of dense code, check it furiously for mistakes, get frustrated at a syntax error on line 115, scream "eureka!" when I got it running, and then investigated its inner workings.

A few months ago, Internet funster Matt Round announced that he was bringing back type-in mags. But, this time, for the web!

Would that work? In an era of vibe-coding, templates, and batteries-included frameworks, who on Earth would buy a magazine like this?

Well - you, I hope. Because it is now on sale and features a project written by me!

For a very reasonable £7.99, you get ten different games, projects, and demos to type in. That's a mere 79p per website! Cheaper than a C64 cassette I reckon.

The artwork by HappyToast is lush, the layout is gorgeous, and the programs are fun. Some of them you'll understand straight away, others you won't quite get until the very last character.

Could you cheat by scanning it, running OCR over the code, and then running it? Sure. But you can also hire someone to kiss your partner if you can't be bothered to put the effort in. Where's the fun in that?

Here's a sneak preview of mine:

I'd love your feedback on my project and I'd be delighted if you turned it into something awesome.

Copy-typing code - especially Max Goodhart's incredible "Quine" project - is a meditative and unusual experience. I propped up the magazine on my laptop and was delighted that I only made five typos the first time through.

Is this really how we lived? Yes! Is this something we should go back to? Well, that's a harder question to answer.

I hope you enjoy playing with what I and others have created. I bet you'll learn something new. Please remix mine and show it to your friends. If you haven't got a friend, one of the projects is a primitive Markov chain - so you can build your own digital pal.

You can buy DOCTYPE magazine now. It will make the perfect Christmas gift for all the nerds in your life.

The good folks at Benfei have sent me another gadget to review! This is a USB-C Video/Audio capture dongle. Plug one end into a device and the other into your computer - it will show up as a USB video capture device.

Notice the extra USB socket there?

USB Power

One great thing about this device is that it has USB Power Delivery pass through. This means you can charge your device while grabbing video from it. That's more than a "nice to have" - the Nintendo Switch will refuse to output video over USB-C unless it is connected to a power supply.

The capture device claims to be able to pass through 100W - I don't have any devices which need that much power, but my USB-C Power Meter showed devices happily slurping down between 5W and 20W depending on the device I was using.

So how does it do?

Video and Audio

It is limited to 1080p @ 60Hz, which is good enough for most things.

Here's a short clip from the Nintendo Switch:

And here's a capture from my Android phone:

Linux

For the nerds amongst us, this shows up in lsusb as 345f:2130 MACROSILICON USB3 Video which should be well supported.

OBS Studio was able to capture the video and audio input perfectly:

It is the epitome of Plug & Play. Shove one end into your device and plug the other end into your computer's USB-C port. That's it. Done. No software to install, no drivers to download, no switches to flip. There's also a handy adapter if you want to use a USB-A socket - although it will need to support USB 3 speeds.

Limitations

As with most HDMI devices, it will refuse to stream video protected by HDCP DRM. That means you probably can't stream your Netflix / Disney / Whatever subscription to your laptop.

It is limited to stereo sound. I couldn't convince the Nintendo Switch to output surround sound.

Obviously, it only works with devices which have USB-C video output. Modern Android and most hand-held consoles will work. Your PS5 won't.

So what about those devices without USB-C?

Bonus HDMI Dongle!

So you're a wannabe Twitch streamer, or you just want to capture something from your HDMI output? The good folks at Benfei also sent me their HDMI Capture Dongle to review.

There's absolutely nothing else to say about this one. It has the same internals - 345f:2130 MACROSILICON USB3 Video - and works exactly the same.

Shove an HDMI cable in there and you're good to go,

Price

The USB-C to USB-C cable a surprisingly reasonable £15. If you need to capture video for presentations or streaming, it will do the job splendidly. The cable is long enough to drape from a machine to a source - and the Power Delivery is useful.

The HDMI capture is only £12. They both work identically well and are supported on Linux.

Highly recommended!

But how does it perform? Plug the HDMI into your TV and its USB-A end into a suitable power source (my TV had one nearby).

After a few seconds, my TV displayed this splash-screen.

The QR code appears to be vestigial. It tells you the Wi-Fi details of the device, but the USB-C dongle is pre-paired. I plugged the dongle into my Linux laptop and, a few moments late:

Success! It works pretty damn well! The resolution was 1920x1080, stereo sound was clearly separated and was in sync, video quality was reasonably smooth.

There's a pass-through USB-C charging port on the side of the dongle. It will only do 40W - so you don't get ultra-fast charging, but it should be more than sufficient for your average laptop.

It claims a range of 30 metres. My house isn't that big. Once I was about 5m away, video and audio started getting stuttery. A message popped up on screen suggesting changing Wi-Fi channels. For basic presenting, it was absolutely fine while at the other side of the house.

Linux Compatibility

This worked instantly with Linux. Somewhat uninventively, it does not present as a USB-C device! You'll see nothing in lsusb - instead, it shows up as a screen:

As it is just another monitor, you can either extend your desktop to it or mirror your main screen.

Similarly, it presents as a generic audio device:

You can route stereo audio to it.

Android Compatibility

Android's DP Alt Mode support is still a bit shaky. Nevertheless, this Benfei dongle worked! The screen was auto-detected and I was able to play audio without any problems.

Screen mirroring worked - so I could view my apps on the big screen.

Note that if your screen isn't 16:9, you'll get black bars to maintain the aspect ratio. I think that's an Android limitation.

It is hard to take a photo of a TV and have it look good - but, please rest assured, the colours looked exactly as expected.

Playing video and audio worked fine.

Technical Background

The QR code it presents gives an SSID and a (base64 encoded?) password. It says it is a softap which makes me think this is ESP8266 powered. It also seems to advertise KOM.to - whose products come from EZCast.

The HDMI dongle presented both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi networks - both with hidden SSIDs. Given the power draw of a typical USB-A port, they weren't overly powerful, but got the job done. There's no way to update firmware on it that I can see.

Downsides

These are some minor quibbles.

The dongle only has an LED on one side. It will work either way up, but you won't see the status light if you plug it in upside down.

While video quality is excellent, it is limited to 30fps. It will take a 60fps signal, but there's only so much data you can squeeze over a wireless connection.

The USB-C dongle gets warm during use. Nothing too hot - but it was surprising to me just how quickly it heated up. There are plenty of grilles on the casing to let the heat out.

The USB-A cable is a bit less than 1 metre. That's fine if your screen has a socket - but you might need an extension if not.

None of these are show-stoppers. Just something to be aware of.

Verdict

For slideshow presentations, this is excellent. No faffing around or software to install - just proper plug and play.

For watching videos, it is good enough. Perfect for streaming your laptop or phone to a hotel TV.

The Benfei Wireless USB C to HDMI kit retails at around £56. I think that's fairly reasonable for a bit of kit like this. It comes with its own hard-shell carry-case to protect it. It is light enough to throw in your bag as a "just in case" item. If you're regularly presenting on other people's monitors, you'll know what a pain it can be to get right - this simplifies everything. USB-C means no looking for adapters on your side, and every monitor seems to come with a USB-A socket for power.

Thanks to Benfei for the review unit.

​Historical entities have been sighted in the old village of Lambeth. Are they ghosts? Visions? Or intruders through a crack in time? Join your guides and explore the backwaters and byways that slowly spread over the mysterious marshes of Lambeth.

Most walking tours have a guide drag you around the well-known tourist hot-spots while they read out a bit from Wikipedia. Minimum Labyrinth’s tour is different. We were told to find the meeting spot by looking for a mysterious message chalked somewhere on Westminster Bridge.

As the bells from Big Ben faded - ghosts appeared!

We were whisked away onto a tour which was part history lesson, part ghost story, and part science-fiction extravaganza. As we wandered through the streets, various "baddies" appeared out of nowhere. Ghosts came to chat with us and then promptly vanished. Music played causing onlookers to pause their hurried strolling. It was somewhere between immersive theatre and immersed theatre.

The walk was well paced. The three acts each consisted of 50 minutes of strolling then 30 minutes in a pub. Perfect for a loo-break and refreshments. The cast didn't stay in character during the pub - which was a relief for them, and meant we could chat about what we thought of the event.

It took us through some parts of London I was vaguely familiar with - and some which were completely new. It is brilliant having someone explain exactly why that piece of art is where it is, or who commissioned that church, and point out that exquisite detail you might have missed.

Without wishing to spoil anyone's fun, the sci-fi element was the weakest part of the adventure. It paid "loving homage" to an abandoned and somewhat forgotten TV series. I felt that the story would have been much stronger without tying it in to a larger universe. No one under 50 recognised the characters so I think that aspect fell a little flat.

I also felt that there wasn't quite enough to do during the walk. There were some neat snippets of information but there were long stretches of walking down streets without much going on. Given the slightly spooky and sci-fi nature of the story, I would have expected the audience to have been given little tasks or asked to keep a lookout for ghosts.

That said, the tour took us round some stunning and unexpected spots. The ghostly goings-on were suitably mysterious and the cast kept us all safe and entertained. We had fun exploring little alleyways and art displays which were completely unknown to us.

The team at Minimum Labyrinth do a variety of weird tours and events. Worth checking out if you want something entertaining and unusual.

A few days ago, a different algorithm alerted me to the fact that they were touring the UK - so I snapped up tickets.

It was, of course, an amazing gig. Thanks Algorithms!

I don't know when I've enjoyed myself more at a gig. The LVLS venue in Stratford is charmingly intimate (and their drinks prices aren't too outrageous for London). The Girls filled the space with their sonic perfection. A brilliant mix of their original songs and crowd-pleasing covers. Their act is obviously well-rehearsed with very little time between songs spent faffing with equipment.

The multi-instrumental nature of the show gives it a wonderful variety - not that you can really tire of their singing - and they are generous with their chat between numbers.

The support act, Bart Budwig was delightful. A sweet selection of homespun songs and a magnificent stage presence. His crowd-work was excellent, bringing in the audience to join in with his songs. A particular favourite was Idaho Sober which the London crowd greatly enjoyed.

The Rainbow Girls are currently on tour throughout the UK, Ireland, and Europe. Catch them if you can.

Modern smartwatches are tiny and they do a lot. As a consequence, their battery life is generally poor. The industry's attempts to fix this are either to replace the charging standard every year hoping to find something magical, or to lock you in to a walled-garden on proprietary nonsense.

I want to recharge my watch while I'm riding the bus. That means plugging one end of a USB-C cable into the seat and the other into my wrist. That's how I recharge my phone, eReader, laptop, headphones, toothbrush, and a hundred other gadgets. Why should a watch be any different?

So I bought the only smartwatch I could find with a USB-C port. The Colmi P80 - on offer at £16. It bills itself as "The world's first type-c smart watch".

To be clear, I wasn't expecting this to be a good smartwatch. Anything you buy from AliExpress for the cost of a couple of pints is bound to be a bit crap. What I wanted to know is whether USB-C charging of watches is viable.

What I discovered is that, yes, USB-C charging works even on a relatively small watch. Oh, and that this is a surprisingly decent bit of kit - especially given its price. Let's dive in!

Video Walkthrough

If you'd rather watch and listen than read a blog post, please enjoy this shonky video:

What Works?

It tells the time accurately!

You can set it up without using the app (more on that later). It Bluetooth paired to my phone without a problem - and without PIN entry. I could make and receive calls from the watch - and the voice quality was adequate.

Tilting the watch up made the display come on! I wasn't expecting that, to be honest.

The jog-dial button works. Good for scrolling and clicking.

Swiping on the screen to navigate works with pretty good accuracy.

Vibration notifications were strong enough to be noticeable.

There were a bunch of simple games and apps on there - including 2048 - which all ran fine.

The built in torch (!) was bright and useful.

And, yes, it charged via USB-C!

Charging Speed and Battery Life

It claims a 0-100 in 90 minutes which seemed broadly accurate.

It came with a short USB-C to C lead which was charge-only, no data. I plugged it until fully charged, then wore it continuously. After 24 hours of use, even with all my fiddling, that battery was at 80%.

After four days, it still had 40% left - I'd been using it for exercise, sleep tracking, a couple of phone calls, and using the torch at night. After 5 days, I finally got the "low battery" warning when I hit 20%. I reckon, with moderate usage, you'd squeeze a week out of it. Sticking the brightness up, keeping the screen on longer, and playing music through its tiny speaker are also going to drag the battery life down.

My USB-C Power Meter said it charged at 5V .16A, that's around 0.8W. Slow, but it only has a small 280mAh battery. Bluetooth Low Energy is, unsurprisingly, pretty energy efficient! Heart monitoring and motion detection is also a low-power activity. There's no power-guzzling GPS or cellular connection - so the power requirements are pretty modest.

The rubber flap keeps the port safe, although does feel a little flimsy. If you have a chunky cable, it might interfere with the cover a little.

Update after 2 weeks of use: Over about 9 days, the battery went from 100% to 20% - that was using it for a few exercise sessions, getting notifications, and continual heart-rate monitoring. Once the battery got bellow 20%, it wouldn't let me start new exercise monitoring or other activities. So you should easily be able to get a week of useful use out of this.

Power Delivery

This does not work with PD chargers. If you plug this in to the same power-brick as your laptop, it will not charge. Based on the three that I tried, PD chargers will not negotiate down to 1W levels.

If you have a charging adapter with multiple outputs, the regular USB-C ones will charge this just fine. All the USB-A to C chargers worked fine.

Heart Monitoring

Much like my friend Neil and his smartring from the same manufacturer, I've not benchmarked the accuracy of the heart-rate monitoring. When I exercise, it goes up. When I relax, it goes down.

It pegged my resting heart rate at about 65BPM, which in line with other devices. While walking on my treadmill, it went up to 100.

My SpO₂ was measured as 99% which, again, was as expected. I held my breath for as long as possible and it dropped to 95%.

Within the app, you can set a "Heart Rate Warning" and various other detection settings.

Sleep Monitoring

I wore it at night. There's a "sleep mode" setting which stops the screen coming on, but you have to dive into a sub-menu to turn it on.

The watch showed this reasonably accurate screen:

The data are also sent to the app:

What's Annoying?

Given that this is a £16 watch, it hasn't exactly been "Designed by Apple in California". There are limitations and weird little niggles but, surprisingly, not too many.

First up, the brains of the watch is the JL7012 - which is a deliberately underpowered chip. It can do Bluetooth comms and drives the screen reasonably well. You're not going to be flinging billions of pixels around in 3D. The animation of all the interactions is a little jerky - obviously not 60FPS but just slow enough to be slightly annoying.

You can't tap the screen to turn it on; you have to click the side button or rotate your wrist. The raise to wake works, but takes a second or two to register. Weirdly, the scroll wheel works in most UI elements, but it doesn't for changing dates and times - so it is a bit of a slog to manually scroll through them on screen.

There no online manual available. All the other Colmi products have a manual available. Similarly, there's no firmware updates listed - although the app does claim to be able to update the firmware.

The USB-C port is for charging only - you can't get data off it via cable. You cannot use the watch while charging - once plugged in it will show a few messages about keeping the device clean. If you set it to use "nightstand" mode, plugging in will show the time and battery level - but you can't interact with any of the functions.

Directions - no maps, GPS, or even a basic compass. You cannot add any apps to this - what you get is what you get.

Connectivity - Bluetooth only. No WiFi and no cellular. This can't make emergency calls unless you're connected to Bluetooth.

Multiple alarms can be set - but you can't choose their ringtone.

You can add some "favourites" to the main screen, swipe across to get them. Sadly the options are pretty limited. For example, you can't put alarms or the calculator there. For those, you've got to dive into the main menu.

The screen brightness is manually controlled - no clever adaptive technology here. It can go bright enough to see in the blazing sunshine, although the dimmest setting is still a bit bright for night use.

There's no NFC - so you can't use this to pay for things. You can't even use it as an NFC business card - although you can send it QR codes to display, which is a handy alternative.

All that might sound bad but please remember that this is a sub £20 watch; it isn't competing with something costing ten times as much. The fact that it does all these things at all is pretty impressive!

Some of the functionality isn't available unless you pair it with the supplied app.

App

It is a given that all hardware apps are fundamentally a bit rubbish. The Colmi Fit app is basically fine. It isn't very polished but does everything it needs to do. You can get away without using the app completely for most things.

If you want updated weather, stocks, or prayer times - you'll need it to be paired to the app. Annoyingly, things like world clock also need a connection to be set up. Similarly, things like menstrual tracking need a connection (although, please note the privacy implications).

Annoyingly, despite it being basic Bluetooth functionality, music controls don't work without the app nor does the ability to show contact information.

Notifications other than calls also require the app. You'll need to give it permission to read all your notifications, but you can set it only to forward ones from specific apps. I didn't bother to set that up.

There are several built-in watch faces which can be changed by rolling the knob. Only one of the built-in faces is customisable:

What surprised me was just how many watch faces were available to download:

Sadly, I don't think it is possible to add your own designs, and none of them let you fiddle with what's displayed.

Many of the settings - like how long the screen should stay on for - are only available in the app. Even thought the app can get your location, you have to manually tell it what city you're in for an accurate weather forecast.

There were a few things I couldn't get working. The "AI Voice Assistant" is, I assume, just streaming audio back to your phone. As I don't have an assistant app, it didn't do anything. I'm not a Muslim, so I can't tell if the prayer times are accurate. The stress monitoring is a bit opaque - I don't know what precisely it measures. I don't have a menstrual cycle for it to track. I didn't investigate the SOS settings either:

Oh, and you can also tell it to remind you to drink water.

Finally, the app will show a notification showing your goals.

The app works well even if you deny it all the permissions it asks for but, obviously, some bits won't work unless they have access to your phone book, location, gallery, etc. You can always uninstall the app once done setting it up.

Exercise Mode

There are a bunch of different exercise modes on the watch - I'm not sporty enough to tell you what the difference is between all of them.

The app has some basic fitness stuff and will track your jogging locations.

Buried in the watch menu are your historic stats, but you'll need the app to export them.

Step detection is, like most watches, based on arm-swinging. So it wasn't terribly accurate when I was on my standing desk treadmill, but was acceptably accurate when going outside. It showed roughly the same amount of steps as the Pixel Watch 3.

You have to manually activate exercise mode if you want to quickly look up your heart-rate, steps, times, etc.

Instruction Manual

The leaflet in the box is the standard multi-lingual affair. Here's a quick scan of the English version. That'll show you some of what this watch is capable of.

Other Interesting Features

I got the cheapest strap possible - but it looks like it uses standard fittings if you want something more luxurious.

The 240x296 screen is bright and colourful - a basic screen protector is included in the box.

There's a built in LED which acts as a torch - which is only useful if you wear it on the left wrist.

The "Flappy Bird" clone is a bit crap, but 2048 and space invaders are reasonable time-wasters.

There's a camera shutter app if you want to use it as a remote control.

It claims to be IP67 waterproof, but warns not to immerse it in water or use it in steamy environments. It seemed to be splash resistant, but I didn't take it swimming or showering.

Security

There is none. There's no password lock on the screen and there's no Bluetooth PIN.

To be fair, there's nothing much you can do with the watch if you stole it. OK, you could make some phone calls if you were within range and get people's contact details. But there's no payment information stored. A thief might get your exercise and menstrual data, but it isn't a treasure trove of information.

Once it is paired to your device, it doesn't advertise itself via Bluetooth. If it is disconnected, it only broadcasts its availability when the screen is on. There's no pairing PIN.

OEM

The manufacturer appears to be Mo Young - they make the watch and the app.

They have some detail about the watch platform but not much.

Open Source and GadgetBridge

The device uses the MOYOUNG-V2 protocol. I was able to pair it with GadgetBridge by pretending it was a Colmi V79. Most of the functionality worked - I was able to see heart rate, steps, change some settings etc. I've requested GadgetBridge support which should make it possible to get notifications etc.

Update! GadgetBridge can now send notifications!The notifications can be read and deleted, they can't be replied to.

There are a few open source apps to create new watch faces and then upload watch faces to the device. But I wasn't able to get them working.

Disassembly

Update! There's a discussion on opening the device

smallsolar

@smallsolar@techhub.social

Like many people inspired by @Edent @blog I got a #colmiP80 but I'm not a watch person so for science I opened it up.

https://git.solarcene.community/smallsolar/Colmi_P80_Smart_Watch/src/branch/main/images

So - its not meant to be opened up, the back plate is glued in place, I heated it for a little while but then realised that its likely got a lipo sitting behind it so in the end just resorted to brute prying open. While initially I was able to partially open the lid any more and the small ribbon cables started to tear.

The good news is despite the heart beat sensor, the roller wheel and some other sensor now being fully detached the device does still turn on (sort of).

What I can see though are some interesting IC (well one) and also lots of nice test pads.

I can also see as predicted that the usb-c port is just 5v and GND.

In a bit I'll solder in the test points and see what I can find...

If you are interested there are some discussions on my IRC server (88.202.151.14 port 6668)

2025-08-22, 08:50 0 boosts 1 favorites

There are also some great photos of inside the watch.

What's Next?

My last smartwatch was the fairly crappy eInk Watchy which recharged with micro-USB, I only used it for a few weeks before getting bored of it. The last time I seriously tried to use a smart watch was a decade ago and I hated it.

Perhaps I'm just not a watch person? This is a cheap and useful way to get started. After a few days of use, I'm beginning to get used to it. It'll be more useful once I configure the notifications I get, I suspect.

Should I Buy One?

That's up to you, champ. I'm not your real dad and I'm not trying to take his place. But I'm here for you if you need me.

Anyway, as discussed in a previous post, this little device shows that it is possible to make a smartwatch that uses USB-C. It isn't the most powerful or customisable watch. It can't compete with a £200+ Apple or Android watch - but it is surprisingly capable.

Topdon have sent me a mid-point model to review. It's relatively cheap for a thermal imaging product - only £140 on Amazon. I think the sensor is made by Raytrontek. But is it any good?

While it has a bunch of useful features, there's no video recording and it doesn't work with Linux. Other than that, it's fine.

The Good Points

It seems broadly accurate. Point it at a bunch of things and you can see their temperature. Here's my beautiful face:

That's the actual size of the file. Their marketing bumph says:

TISR (Thermal Image Super Resolution) uses AI algorithms to add simulated pixels between existing ones, enhancing low-resolution thermal images into clearer, high-resolution visuals.

Let's be honest, there's no AI in a device this cheap. There are various complex rules about Infrared cameras and their resolution. These images are fairly low quality - but more than good enough to help you spot a leak or work out if something is too hot.

Quick start up is great. It is ready to go a few seconds after pushing the power button.

The trigger grip is comfortable and responsive - it makes the whole device very "point-and-shoot".

There's a standard tripod screw fitting at the bottom.

The camera is at a slight angle from the grip, so you'll need a tripod with a tiltable mount. You also get an lanyard in the box, which is easily secured to the device.

There's a file-browser built in - which also lets you delete photos.

USB-C for charging and data transfer. Same as all your other gadgets, I hope!

But…

Resolution is low. That's normal for these sorts of cameras, but because the output is only 240x320 it means the on-screen text is cramped and looks pretty poor.

The interface is basic. It doesn't look brilliant, but it is usable.

Setting the time, for example, is a bit of a pain:

Once you've gone in to set the time and other basic settings, you'll probably never go back to it.

Storage space is low - only 480MB. To be fair, images are under 100KB, so you could store several thousand before you hit a problem.

There's no video recording. That's a bit of an arse if you want to see how something heats over time.

You can't extract temperature information from the images. There's no EXIF, no standard metadata, just whatever is printed over the photo. Again, good enough for a quick check but, given the small viewable size of the images, it would have been nice to print the information separately. You can remove some of the on-screen elements from the image. Here's my air-conditioning unit:

The rubber flap protecting the charging port makes it difficult to insert the cable.

Because the port is on the top of the device, it's sensible to protect it from debris, but it is a bit fiddly to use.

Linux Information

This shows up as 3474:0020 Raysentek Co.,Ltd Raysentek MTP. In theory, it should just show up as a device in your file explorer. But it doesn't work.

I couldn't detect anything with mtp-device - it didn't show up. dmesg showed the dreaded device not accepting address 53, error -71 which, I think, indicates a power problem.

lsusb -v shows it claims to support Picture Transfer Protocol.

I reset the device, formatted its memory, used different cables and ports, restarted everything, I even tried it on my Android phone. Nothing.

Which rather puts a damp squib on things. If you can't get the images off the device, you're stuck peering at them on a tiny screen with no way to share them with others.

It will work with Windows. I tried it in VirtualBox and it showed up - albeit with the name "Cobra".

Verdict

Fora quick and dirty inspection, this is a perfectly fine little device. Point it at a thing and see how hot it is. Squeeze the trigger and capture the image for later viewing.

The tripod attachment is handy and there are enough settings hidden away for you to set it up for your own personal needs.

The buttons feel a bit crap and flap gets in the way of the USB-C charging port.

It doesn't work with Linux or Android - I wasn't able to test it on a Mac - so make sure you have Windows available for getting the images off it.

This is one of the cheapest stand-alone thermal cameras you can buy. Necessarily, there are compromises involved with things at this price-point. The camera works (albeit not with Linux) and is a great way to get started with Infrared photography and monitoring.

Enter the catchily-named Treedix TRX5-0816-AC.

It will test just about any sort of USB cable and tell you what it does - and doesn't - support. It will also show you which pins are connected, how fast it can transmit data, and what the eMarker shows. Nice!

Let's put it through its paces.

Inputs and outputs

On one side are your output ports - you have a choice of USB-C or USB-A 3.0.

At the bottom you have this range of ports to choose from:

So you can go A-C, C-micro, C-lightning etc.

Finally, on the other side you have a button, a switch, and input power:

The power switch toggles between the internal AAA battery (included) and a 5V supply from a USB-C cable (not included). Pressing the white button moves between the different diagnostic screens.

Power Only

I tried with a short USB-C power-only cable designed for charging low-power devices. I plugged in the USB-A end and the USB-C end.

It correctly identified that it couldn't do data transmission.

With a power-only USB-C cable, it had much the same display. Pressing the button on the side of the Treedix told me what it knew about the eMarker.

Perfect!

Passive USB-C

What about a data and power USB-C cable? This is the ChubbyCable I reviewed a few years ago.

USB 3.2 Gen2 and power of up to 100W. It has also correctly guessed the likely length of the cable by measuring the latency.

Interestingly, when looking at the basic functions, it says it can only do USB 2.0 speeds and correctly identifies that it doesn't do PowerDelivery 3.1 (which goes up to 240W).

Finally, which pins are connected?

That looks about right!

ThunderBolt 4 or 3?

Let's compare two high-performance cables. The one I usually have plugged into my Framework Laptop and USB-C hub

Thunderbolt 4 capable of 100W of Power and 40 Gbps of data. As expected, no PD3.1:

Let's test a different high-quality cable I bought recently. The labelling claims 20Gbps and 240W of power. We can see that it does have PD3.1:

But! Looking at the eMarker, it reports that is only a ThunderBolt 3 device capable of 10Gbps!

I asked the cable manufacturer if that's a problem with the cable or the eMarker or the diagnostic machine. They said:

eMarker tester can only show single channel transmission rate 10Gbps, devices supporting dual channel can show 20Gbps. our products have 18 months warranty, if there is any problem, please feel free to contact me, I will provide you with satisfactory after-sales service.

I contacted Treedix to see if they could shed light on this. They replied quickly:

Yes, we sincerely apologize - this tester currently does not support dual-channel detection at this time.

Which is a bit annoying.

Of course, my laptop only supports 10Gbps, so it is a bit moot!

Firmware

Update!

I emailed Treedix about possible firmware updates - they said:

Our devices with firmware version V2.3 and above can be updated. Currently the latest version is V2.3. you can see your version number. The way to view it is the boot page will show the version number. In addition, our test boards cannot be updated to test dual channels at this time. Because this is the information written inside the EMARKER, we can only read the information inside. We are currently working on the data inside the information we read to see if we can read the number of channels.

Mine shows a firmware of 2.3.04 - which does appear to be the latest. If a new firmware appears, I'll update this post again.

Weird Cables

As well as your standard USB-C, it will also do the ugliest plug known the mankind - the USB Micro-B SuperSpeed.

It'll also do Lightning cables - as long as they also have a USB-A or C end.

Downsides

Other than having to replace all your duff cables, there are a few annoying little niggles.

• The battery compartment is really stiff. I had to unscrew the back of the device to get it open.
• The power switch feels a little flimsy.
• The function button is a little small and fiddly.
• Screen brightness can't be changed (but it is pretty bright).
• No USB-B (the chunky one often used for printers).
• Lack of dual-channel detection.
• No firmware updates.

Those are all minor complaints.

The biggest complaint is that USB-C terminology is hard. Which is better, 40Gbps but only 100W or 10Gbps but 240W? How does ThunderBolt relate to USB? What is EPR and why does it matter? Where does DP Alt Mode fit in?!

Verdict

It powers up and detects all features instantly. It goes to sleep after a few minutes of not being used. It will even show you the electrical resistance of the cable if you think that's useful.

Total cost? £40 at the moment from Amazon. I reckon that's a bargain. It is an indispensable piece of kit - especially if you have a big box of ancient USB cables. This will allow you to quickly and easily see which ones are broken, which are mislabelled, and which deserve pride of place in your collection.

If you're running a hackspace, this is a no-brainer. If you've ever wasted time trying to diagnose a USB problem, this should be your first port of call.

The S23 are £50, which is a reasonable price compared to AirPods, and expensive compared to bargain basement earbuds. So what do these have going for them?

•  The charging case shows the battery level of each bud
•  You get a few different sized tips for the earbuds.

But, on the flipside…

•  Lack of Qi / Wireless charging of the case.
•  Charging display flashes constantly.
•  Touch controls are a nightmare.

*sigh* Let's talk about controls. If your phone is in your pocket, you want an easy way to change the volume, play/pause, skip tracks, and summon your digital assistant.

On the Pixel Buds you can tap, hold, and swipe for those controls on either ear. On these, not so much. You need to remember a precise sequence of taps if you want to do anything.

Oh, you also need to remember which ear to use. Here's the list of controls.

• Tap once
  • Either ear: Play / Pause
  • Either ear: Answer / Hang-up call
• Tap twice
  • Left ear: Previous Track
  • Right ear: Next Track
• Tap three times
  • Left ear: Volume Down
  • Right ear: Volume Up
• Hold 2 seconds
  • Launch assistant.
  • Reject call.
• Hold 3 seconds
  • Left ear: Turn off left headphone
  • Right ear: Turn off right headphone

Yup! There's no way to switch both off with one gesture. And if you hold down for Siri for too long, you one of your buds switches off. And if you're too slow with your volume changes, the track either pauses or skips. It really is frustrating to use.

Volume control worked, as did play/pause. I couldn't get double-tapping to skip track to work on Android or Linux.

Charging

The buds recharge inside a case. It takes a standard USB-C cable - albeit only at 5V. It also seems to discharge into the headphones disturbingly rapidly.

You do get to see how charged each side is, which is helpful. But, when charging, the display on the case flashes constantly which is a bit annoying.

There's no wireless charging in the case, no rapid charging, or anything like that.

Audio

They claim that codec support includes LDAC - but my Android only showed AAC or SBC for audio. My other headphones will work with LDAC, so I don't think my phone is the problem.

Audio playback quality was fine. Voice quality was a little muffled.

Their Amazon advert claims "Active Noise Cancellation" but I couldn't find any evidence of that. There was certainly no way to turn it on or off. The snug fit of the rubber tips did keep our a fair bit of noise though.

Linux

They paired just fine with Linux - showing as both a headset (with microphone) and headphones.

The only codecs it advertised were:

You can read about the difference between the codecs - they're all basically fine for listening to music, but none are LDAC.

Verdict

I can't really recommend these. The sound quality is good - although not as advertised. A range of tips means they fit well enough and won't fall out while you're exercising. Voice quality is adequate.

But the interface is so frustrating.

The touch-target on the headphones is fairly small, so it is pretty easy to miss it entirely. If you miss one of your triple-taps it becomes a double-tap, which might not be what you want at all.

You have to remember a bewildering array of taps - and they differ between ears.

There's a horrible tinny voice to announce when a device is paired or the buds are powered off. It sounds cheap and nasty.

If you're prepared to memorise and put up with the interface, I'd still say they were overpriced.

HDMI was supposed to be our saviour, but now DisplayPort threatens its dominance. What's the difference? For the average user - nothing. They both carry high-fidelity video and audio at resolutions higher than the human brain can interpret. Unless you are trying to pump 8K streams 5cm from your eyeballs at 200Hz, you're not going to notice the difference between the standards. They both do surround sound which your home cinema speakers are woefully under-specced for.

The main differences boil down to:

• DisplayPort has a spring-loaded latching mechanism which prevents cables coming loose.
• Lots of laptops and phones support DisplayPort via USB-C's DP Alt Mode.
• DisplayPort monitors can be "daisy chained" to each other.
• HDMI supports ARC (Audio Return Channel) which means your screen's sound can be sent back down the HDMI cable to an amp.
• DisplayPort uses Packetized Data Transmission which, in theory, is more efficient than HDMI.

But, in the end, it all comes down to this:

• What port your screen has.

My USB-C Docking Station has two DisplayPort outputs and a single HDMI socket. My 4K Vertical Monitor has DP, but my older monitor is stuck with HDMI. Is there anything I can do to convert the DisplayPort signal from my USB-C hub into an HDMI signal the monitor will understand?

Yes!

The good folks at Benfei have chucked me a couple of their adapters to test out. Let's put them through their paces.

Here's their 4K one:

And their 1080p one:

Rather handily, there are little instructions on the dongle to tell you which end is which.

The important thing to note is that they are both "plug and play", no drivers needed.

The main difference between the cables is that the lower-resolution one has a locking latch on the DisplayPort end.

I just couldn't get the lower-resolution one to work. My laptop saw it, it identified the monitor and its available resolutions, my sound output could be routed to it - but no video appeared. Yes, I tried rebooting and updating, and unplugging, and sacrificing a chicken - no dice.

The other one worked perfectly. Video came through crisp and clear. Instant detection. Like any modern electronics, it did get a little warm with constant use - but nothing too serious.

Bonus Flipmo Selekta!

What if you want to go the other way? Converting HDMI to DP? Let's go!

Wait? Why is there a USB plug on this thing?

The standard DisplayPort can supply 3.3V @ 0.5A. That's usually enough to power a converter chip. However HDMI can only do 5V @ 0.05A which is insufficient to power anything useful⁰.

Does it work? Yes! The USB plug is only used for power - it doesn't require any drivers or configuration. Plug it into your laptop or hub, plug the HDMI jack into your port, run a DisplayPort cable from it to your monitor. Done.

Buy

Please click the affiliate links so that I can feed my crippling technology addiction.

• DisplayPort to HDMI (HD & latching)
• DisplayPort to HDMI (4K non-latching)
• HDMI to DisplayPort adapter

Here's a quick video and then a walk-through of its features.

You can also view SmartDisplayer's official video.

The Badge

It is a single block of plastic. There are no seams, screws, or rough edges. The ePaper appear right on the surface of the badge, there's no recessing or anything to indicate that this is a high-tech gadget. It uses their "cold lamination" technology which creates an impeccable matt finish.

The display area is 56.4mm x 84.6mm - which is pretty close to the size of a standard credit card - for a resolution of 180PPI.

The eInk

This uses E-Ink Spectra 6 technology. With only 6 colours to play about with there's a lot of dithering needed to make a picture look presentable. Those 6 colours are:

• #000 Black
• #F00 Red
• #0F0 Green
• #00F Blue
• #FF0 Yellow
• #FFF White

I used a standard Monitor Calibration Image, dithered it using the supplied software, and flashed it to the card. I then scanned in the card so you can see exactly how faithful the image reproduction is.

On the left, the eInk. On the right, the original image.

That's pretty bloody good!

Using Bruce Lindbloom's RGB Reference image is also a good way to test a range of colours.

Not bad for red, green, blue, yellow, white, black, eh?

It's hard to find a good test-card with a variety of skin-tones (there's a creepy Getty one with naked women), so I used the Murideo Portrait Reference Photograph. The original:

On eInk:

And here's another one:

The Card Writer

For Linux nerds, the USB writer showed up as: 1fc9:0102 NXP Semiconductors IT-102MU Reader.

There's almost no information about it other than a brief discussion on an OpenBSD mailing list, and a mention on the CCID database. Apparently it will work as on ChromeOS. It makes a hideous beeping sound when the card is inserted.

Once the card is inserted, two LEDs light up.

The green one quickly vanishes, but the blue one pulses until the card is removed from the reader.

Bus 005 Device 084: ID 1fc9:0102 NXP Semiconductors IT-102MU Reader
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 
  bDeviceSubClass         0 
  bDeviceProtocol         0 
  bMaxPacketSize0        64
  idVendor           0x1fc9 NXP Semiconductors
  idProduct          0x0102 
  bcdDevice            1.12
  iManufacturer           1 InfoThink
  iProduct                2 IT-102MU Reader
  iSerial                 3 1.00
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength       0x005d
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0 
    bmAttributes         0x80
      (Bus Powered)
    MaxPower              500mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           3
      bInterfaceClass        11 Chip/SmartCard
      bInterfaceSubClass      0 
      bInterfaceProtocol      0 
      iInterface              0 
      ChipCard Interface Descriptor:
        bLength                54
        bDescriptorType        33
        bcdCCID              1.10  (Warning: Only accurate for version 1.0)
        nMaxSlotIndex           0
        bVoltageSupport         7  5.0V 3.0V 1.8V 
        dwProtocols             3  T=0 T=1
        dwDefaultClock       3685
        dwMaxiumumClock     14320
        bNumClockSupported      0
        dwDataRate           9909 bps
        dwMaxDataRate      848000 bps
        bNumDataRatesSupp.      0
        dwMaxIFSD             254
        dwSyncProtocols  00000000 
        dwMechanical     00000000 
        dwFeatures       000404BE
          Auto configuration based on ATR
          Auto activation on insert
          Auto voltage selection
          Auto clock change
          Auto baud rate change
          Auto PPS made by CCID
          Auto IFSD exchange
          Short and extended APDU level exchange
        dwMaxCCIDMsgLen       271
        bClassGetResponse    echo
        bClassEnvelope       echo
        wlcdLayout           none
        bPINSupport             0 
        bMaxCCIDBusySlots       1
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x82  EP 2 IN
        bmAttributes            3
          Transfer Type            Interrupt
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               4

The Software

It is Windows-only software, and it is bare-bones. You can load an image, select if you want it dithered or not, and then download it to the badge. That's it. No image editing; it just resizes everything to 400x600. There's no badge design software or QR generator. And, to be honest, I think that's fine. You're better off designing your badges in dedicated software.

Unsurprisingly, the app wouldn't run under WINE in Linux. I used Oracle's VirtualBox. Note, the included software requires you to install Microsoft's .Net Windows Desktop Runtime 6 and the latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Version.

VirtualBox initially refused to see the USB peripheral. I had to unplug the reader, create a USB filter using 1fc9:0102, start the VM, and only then plug in the USB reader. Then it worked. Bit of a faff!

Pricing

I've got good news and bad news!

First, the bad. SmartDisplayer Technology Co are B2B sellers. They'll sell you a single badge for US$70 + shipping. If you're buying more than a thousand, the price drops to $65. The NFC reader is $120.

In terms of badge pricing, I think that's pretty fair. If you want to buy a demokit of just the screen, that'll cost you US$99 direct from eInk. So $70 full assembled is a bargain.

The good news? They'll shortly be bringing out a USB-C badge which doesn't require the NFC reader. The badge itself will be slightly smaller (and a little thicker). That should make it easier to update the badge on the fly - but possibly not as convenient if you're programming hundreds of them.

If you're buying in bulk, they will also do custom printing on the badge, and can replace the plastic with wood.

For more information, or to place an order, contact SmartDisplayer.

Verdict

If you want a fun lanyard which is easy to change, and can reproduce a decent range of colours, this is excellent. Ideally it would be easy to flash with a phone, but the supplied software is adequate.

The USB writer is a little bit clunky, but it holds the badge in place while data and power are transmitted.

I'm astonished by just how flat this badge is. SmartDisplayer cold-lamination process is incredible. The image is on the badge, not under it.

It looks stunning - a real premium product and the price reflects that.

As a personal gadget, I think it is great. But for other uses, I'm not so sure. Are you really going to be handing out $65 lanyards to all of your event attendees? Perhaps at a very expensive conference! But even then, you might want to take a deposit.

Anyone with a suitable reader can reflash a badge; there's no way to lock these. So they're not ideal for security.

If you attend lots of conferences, and are perpetually annoyed by ugly conference badges which misspell your name or don't have a personal QR code, these are a great (albeit pricey) gadget.

Thanks to SmartDisplayer for the review unit. Next time you see me at an event - please snap a photo of my badge!

It is dinky!

Here's what you get for your tenner

• USB-C PowerDelivery
• HDMI
• USB-A

Frankly, I'm impressed that they managed to fit that much in!

If you'll excuse my lacklustre photo-editing skills, here are the two output ports:

This is what it looks like plugged into a laptop:

The spec says it will use about 10 Watts for the hub and pass the rest through. I used my Plugable Power Meter to measure throughput - my 65W charger supplied about 45W to the laptop. Perhaps a bit less than they claim, but certainly good enough.

It delivered 4K video flawlessly - my Linux laptop was able to play 60Hz videos without issue. And, of course, the USB-A port worked as expected.

But that's not the real challenge here, is it? USB-C is the future - how well does it work on a variety of devices?

Plugging in to my Pixel 8 Pro, the PowerDelivery hit 20W - which is decent. DP Alt-Mode is still experimental in Android, but GrapheneOS was able to drive video and audio to my TV. And, again, the USB port worked with a keyboard, thumb-drive, and other accessories.

Let's go for a bigger challenge. How does this thing cope with the Nintendo Switch?

Brilliant! Sound, video, and power all worked!

The only real downside is that it doesn't do data passthrough on the power-in port. So you will lose a USB-C data-socket when using it. It is 48mm wide - so you may need an extension cable if your existing ports are very close together.

But, for a tenner, this is an absolute steal. It even comes with a tiny lanyard and keyring so you can keep it with you at all times.

It's a cute little box, with a built-in USB-C cable.

The cable has one of those weird adapters which lets you convert it back to USB-A. Personally, I think we should force everyone to USB-C and not pander to the laggards who refuse to embrace the future. The box is "tool free" - which means you can slide the top off with ease.

Inside is the standard SATA plug, waiting for your disk. The unit also comes with some extra foam padding - so you can ensure nothing rattles around in there.

I couldn't find my SSD, but I had an old 320GB HDD laying around, so shoved that in there.

As was to be expected, it is plug-and-play technology. For Linux nerds, this shows up as 152d:0583 JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp. JMS583Gen 2 to PCIe Gen3x2 Bridge.

You can read the JMicron datasheed for the chip.

For a laugh, I plugged it into my Android phone:

USB-C has reached the sort of maturity where you can be reasonably sure that plugging in random gadgets will just work.

I did a quick drive benchmark and it seemed to top out at 60MB/s for reading and writing. To be fair, that may just be the age of my piece of spinning rust.

For less than a tenner, this is a great gadget to have in your bag. It's quick and simple to open, you don't need to faff around with screws. The cable is a little short - but you probably don't want it trailing all over your desk.

Oh, and it has a blue LED to let you know it is working. Thankfully, it isn't overly bright so doesn't cause a distraction.