On the go
Our technology round-up features a handy battery, new and improved headphones with a personalised profile and a switched-on review of the latest iPhone.
Bathys headphones
Focal
These headphones from Focal have just had an update. First, there is a new colour: a sandy shade to go with the previous silver and black versions. Then there’s the software improvement: you can now tune the headphones to your particular hearing by using the Mimi hearing test, which creates a listening profile that can boost the sounds and frequencies your ears might not usually hear. Mimi analyses how you respond to background noise to help with this too. Mind you, the noise-cancelling is excellent already.
focal.com
iPhone 15 Pro Max
Apple
Once a year, Apple releases its new smartphones. The latest represents a subtle but significant change. First, the new Pro model has a titanium chassis that clocks in 19g lighter than last year’s model with stainless steel. Second, it includes a new telephoto camera with 5x zoom (the smaller iPhone 15 Pro has a 3x zoom). It also encourages advanced photography by adding extra virtual lenses. By cleverly manipulating images with the main lens, it can provide extra focal lengths to create a more versatile camera experience. You can choose from 13, 1.23 or 1.53 zooms and, if you have a favourite, you can set that as the default option. Whatever the science, it takes rich, faithful and beautiful photographs. Elsewhere, the side switch that turns the phone ringer on and off has been replaced by a button that you can configure to, say, launch the camera or turn on the torch.
apple.com
633 Magnetic battery
Anker
However good batteries are on the newest gadgets (and they’re far from perfect), it’s always wise to find a secondary source. The latest magnetic battery from Anker is chunkier than previous models because it packs a lot more punch. There’s enough juice for more than one full charge of an iPhone 15 Pro, for example. It also has a neat kickstand that folds out, handy for positioning the iPhone for Facetime calls. For a faster effect, you can even attach a cable and charge it from that rather than wirelessly.
anker.com
