Tested Technology has never rushed to publish its reviews. We regard it as fundamental that before we go to press we’ve not only tested out the product’s features but have also kicked it around long enough to relay to readers a good idea of what it will be like to live with. One corollary of this is that we expect other publications to beat us to the punch with many of the products we write… Now read on…
A decent stereo pair of loudspeakers can set you back hundreds of pounds. Or, if you’re a serious hi-fi aficionado, (and rich) tens of thousands of pounds. This is one reason why, back in those old bed-sitter student days of the ’60s, I developed a preference for headphones. You could get decent quality sound from them for an affordable price. These days we have a couple of respectable loudspeaker sound systems here at Tested Technology… Now read on…
In the mid 1970s, Japan—or more specifically, the Japanese watch company Seiko—tore the mechanical wristwatch industry apart. Switzerland was in turmoil. Equipped with the new battery-driven quartz technology, watches far more accurate than the most carefully designed and manufactured mechanical chronographs known to watchmaking were being churned out by the millions and sold for relative peanuts. Quartz Roolz. And for a while, it did. But Switzerland rallied, steering the market steeply upwards, emphasising craftsmanship and… Now read on…
We’ve talked here before about the rapidly growing, global problem of hearing loss. So why do fewer than 20% of those who could benefit from hearing aids not use them? The answer to this question embraces a paradox. An irrational sense among the public of shame about the disability is part of the answer. This has steered hearing aid manufacturers toward the creation of ever smaller devices. Most are now hidden behind the ear and… Now read on…
Since we published the previous section of this review there have been two very relevant developments. The arrival (at last) of Google’s ASHA (audio streaming for hearing aids) is worth celebrating. But it’s been overshadowed by the announcement of the new official Bluetooth standard called Bluetooth 5.2. Bluetooth 5.2 includes a major revision to the standard that introduces audio streaming over Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio). And that includes hearing aids. In theory, all hearing… Now read on…
Driving while drunk has been a serious public issue ever since 1967 when the Road Safety Act made it an offence to be in charge of a vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of over 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. Up until then, drunk-driving was typically seen as a joke. Five years earlier, the Road Traffic Act of 1962 had created the offence of driving, attempting to drive or being in charge of… Now read on…
Shutting the bathroom door last week I managed, stupidly, to slam it against my big toe. There was pain and there was blood. And words were spoken. Tested Technology doesn’t usually over-share like this but the incident is germane to this review. When Omron offered to send us their wonderfully Victorian-sounding “HeatTens Pain Reliever” I’d already had previous experience of TENS technology when I tore my rotator cuff early last year. I’d also taken to… Now read on…
Part one of this review covered the technology and scope of ReSound’s new LiNX Quattro hearing aids and discussed the vexed question of the “Made for Android” marketing aspect. Our hope in breaking this review up into parts was that by now the issue of Android compatibility would have been resolved. That hasn’t happened. If it had, this section of the review would be telling a very different story. There would be much less need… Now read on…
This is the third hearing aid review Tested Technology has undertaken in the past couple of years. Readers may be wondering why we’re paying so much attention to this niche market. Fair enough. Let’s deal with that question. It’s not the niche business you might think. In 2017 the global market for hearing devices was estimated to be worth a little under $6.5 billion and is expected to reach over $9 billion in the next… Now read on…
The (probably) life-saving VariDesk sit-stand desk I reviewed last year, now a permanent fixture in my office as an antidote to that other fixture, my leather-upholstered Juniper Wall-Hugger recliner, has certainly bucked up my thinking about the ergonomics of office work. Google latched onto my renewed interest, and has been inundating me with “relevant” ads. For £1,000 mesh office chairs, for £200 articulated monitor arms to position my screen just-so and, of course, for other… Now read on…
