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Audiophiles who swear by Sennheiser’s unique audio quality and design have eagerly awaited the next version of the acclaimed earbuds. The waiting is over as the German audio specialist brought the new lineup of headphones and earbuds to CES 2024. These include the upgraded ACCENTUM headphones, MOMENTUM Ture Wireless 4 earbuds and MOMENTUM Sport earbuds.

Each of these newly revealed audio accessories comes with upgrades to the previous versions. Our focus however is centered on the MOMENTUM Sport earbuds. Loaded with their own set of nice features the lifestyle buds are a great option for audio lovers for whom the Beats Fit Pro, Shokz OpenFit, or Jabra Elite 8 Active don’t make the cut.

Designer: Sennheiser

The new pair of IP55-rated earbuds for active individuals refresh Sennheiser’s line-up with a fitness-focused build. The standout feature of the buds is the heart rate monitor and body temperature sensing capabilities. Sennheiser has managed to fit a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor that seamlessly syncs real-time data with apps including Apple Health, Garmin Connect, Strava or Polar Flow. Including the body sensors in a pair of earbuds makes complete sense as the inner ear is the most stable area of the body during physical activity. This ensures consistent biometrics with a temperature accuracy of +/- 0.3 degrees Celsius and heart rate measurements ranging from 30 bpm to 220 bpm.

For sound quality, the MOMENTUM Sport comes with a 10mm transducer to deliver a punchy bass and vivid soundstage. To prevent occlusion effect or pressure in the ears, the earbuds boast an acoustic relief channel. One gripe that runners or active individuals always complain about the sports earbuds is the footstep thunder, body sounds or heavy breathing noises. The earbuds come with ear tips and fins for a secure fit and flaunt a semi-open design for passive transparent mode. There’s also the ANC mode for focus periods and the anti-wind mode for windy outdoor conditions.

The IP54 rated wireless case provides 18 hours of playback on a single full charge and with the 6 hours on the buds themselves, users can expect a full day of listening without a hitch. We believe these could be the values with ANC on and for listening without ANC enabled this can be stretched further. For 10 minutes of charging time, the buds can play for 45 minutes on the fly. Users can tweak the sound profile and toggle other settings via the Smart Control app.

For those who believe in the quality of Sennheiser audio, the Sport earbuds will be available on April 9 for a price tag of $330 in black, green and graphite color options.

It’s about 80% cheaper than Apple’s Watch SE, but has all the features you’d expect from a good budget smartwatch.

Pretty much following exactly what the leaked images said, Nothing’s sub-brand CMF has announced its first three products, the Buds Pro TWS earbuds, the Power 65W GaN charger, and the Watch Pro, an affordable but mighty smartwatch that hopes to bring the Nothing experience to even more users with its pocket-friendly price tag. At just Rs. 4,499 INR (or $54 USD converted), the Watch Pro shouldn’t really come with any expectations, but it exceeds whatever I have with a feature-packed design. It sports a “mighty” 1.96-inch AMOLED always-on display accompanied by a single hardware button. The watch lets you answer calls via Bluetooth (with an AI noise reduction algorithm), tracks as many as 110 sports/activities, has a comprehensive heart monitor, a built-in GPS, IP68 dust and water resistance, and a whopping 13-day battery life. Did I mention it costs just $54 bucks?

Designer: CMF by Nothing

What immediately stands out with the Watch Pro is the fact that it’s nothing like Nothing. There’s no transparency, no fanfare, not even as much as an online event or even a video. The reason lies in Nothing’s underlying strategy to pretty much conquer the budget market with well-made gadgets that are recognizable, but don’t affect Nothing’s own brand positioning. The CMF devices aren’t transparent because that’s the Nothing visual DNA. Instead, they come with opaque designs that are punctuated by the use of a bright orange, either in the hardware, or in the software. The name CMF stands for Color, Material, Finish – a reference to the abbreviated term used by designers and engineers.

While the design isn’t overtly revolutionary or innovative, the watch does deliver quite the bang for its buck. On the hardware front, there’s a whole lot to write home about. The watch obviously tells the time, lets you monitor the weather, has GPS tracking, and even has Bluetooth support so you can answer phone calls without taking your phone out. The folks at Nothing say their AI noise reduction algorithm was trained on over 100,000 noise models, allowing it to work remarkably well at isolating your voice when you’re in a crowded or noisy space.

It even supports up to 110 sports modes, letting you track all your sports and activities right on the watch, with a comprehensive breakdown of your reps duration, calories, heart rate, pace, steps, and distance. The comprehensive health monitor tracks your heart rate, blood SpO2, sleep, stress levels, etc. to enhance your health journey. There’s even a water reminder thrown in there so that the Watch Pro constantly ensures you stay hydrated.

What really does set the Watch Pro apart from any other smartwatch we’ve seen, however, is the OS. Most smartwatches distil down their respective smartphone OS or rely entirely on Android Wear to power their experience, but the Watch Pro is an entirely different experience. The smartwatch’s UI quite literally uses just a combination of 4 colors – black, white, grey, and orange, but achieves so much with its limited palette. The interface is this minimalist Bauhaus-inspired work of art that practically uplifts every screen, from the multiple watch faces to the functions/features within the watch. It might be a $54 smartwatch, but it feels nothing like one, with a kind of cleanliness that’s only reserved for flagships.

The Watch Pro comes with a respectable 13 days of battery life with moderate use, going down to 11 days with heavy use. This includes the fact that the Watch Pro has an always-on display that’s ever ready to give you the time of the day, the date, the weather forecast, or any notification you may need to see. Partnering with your smartphone, the Watch Pro has Find My features to help locate both your phone as well as your watch. There’s also a built-in Voice AI as well as music control for playback on your phone or your TWS earbuds.

For now, the Watch Pro along with other CMF products are just limited to an India launch. It makes sense, given Nothing’s flagship production center is in India too, as is a majority of its audience.

It’s not surprising to see enormous amounts of resources being poured into marketing for big phone brands, almost to the point you might think they’re the only options available. It’s almost too easy to take for granted how you might discover unexpected treasures if you walk off the beaten path, scanning the smartphone landscape with a keen eye for detail and design. There are many brands that try to catch people’s attention with buzzwords and gimmicky aesthetics, but there’s always something to be said about beauty that rises from simple yet elegant designs. That’s the kind of experience that the Vivo V29 and its rather intriguing “3D Magnetic Particles” are aiming for, so we took a deeper look to see if its beauty is just skin deep or if this subtly stylish smartphone has more to offer

Designer: Vivo

Aesthetics

Like any other smartphone manufacturer, Vivo has a few different lines or families targeting different audiences. The Vivo X series, for example, is more focused on camera chops, no pun intended, while the V family to which this Vivo V29 belongs is aimed at a somewhat younger consumer base. This group of people, which admittedly spans a wide range of ages, is characterized by a hunger for new experiences and innovations, as well as designs that are trendy and outstanding yet also simple and unobtrusive.

For the Vivo V29, these goals were achieved by using a rather unique method the company is calling “3D Magnetic Particles.” In a nutshell, they got millions of tiny magnetic particles to create natural curving patterns using magnetic forces, resulting in gentle waves of white particles traveling across the phone’s back in a way no design has accomplished before. On the Peak Blue review unit that we got, the waves resembled mountain peaks, while Starry Purple tried to recreate the Milky Way against a night sky. It’s a visual effect that is both seemingly random yet artistically intentional, not unlike when an artist pours paints or colors, creating messy but unique patterns, which is exactly the inspiration behind this revolutionary design technique.

This gives the Vivo V29 a subtle beauty, never garish but also not plain. Even the changing colors of the Velvet Red colorway’s Flourite AG glass give a tasteful touch to what would usually be an ordinary glass back. The Noble Black variant is a bit more subdued, but its etched shimmers give it a bit of personality as well. The phone’s curved edges also give the phone a sophisticated and delicate look, something that seems to have been lost in the move toward sharp corners and flat sides.

Ergonomics

Smartphones are, of course, not just something to look at. To be honest, most of the time you spend with your phone is on the screen and in your hands. That’s why ergonomics and comfort are just as important, and the Vivo V29’s design brings a bit of a mixed bag in that regard. On the one hand, the curved edges of the screen and back have always been regarded to be more comfortable to hold, having no corners to bite into your skin. On the other hand, the phone’s lightweight body and glass back also make it feel precarious and slippery. Fortunately, Vivo does ship with a clear gel case, though that detracts from the phone’s elegant aesthetic a bit.

There’s no clear winner between curved and flat edges in terms of ergonomics, with both camps claiming to offer a better and more secure grip. Vivo, however, opted to use a design that some might say is outdated primarily due to their own customers’ preferences. This market prefers how those curves help make the phone look very slim, and how the lack of bezels gives a more immersive gameplay experience. A bit ironically, that’s one area where the phone falters a bit.

Performance

Despite its premium external appearance, the Vivo V29 is, at its core, a mid-tier smartphone. While the boundaries between tiers have been blurring recently, this particular model has its feet firmly planted on the ground. For some odd reason, Vivo opted to go with an older processor, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G, rather than something more recent from the same series. To be fair, the performance gap isn’t that huge, and the phone performs admirably for most use cases. The Snapdragon 778G, however, starts to show its age when it comes to more graphics-intensive activity, particularly when it comes to mobile gaming that taxes the chip to the point that it comes a little hot.

This is a bit of disappointment given how beautiful the Vivo V29’s 6.78-inch screen is. With a resolution of 2800×1260 pixels, you get crisp and clear images that are enhanced by the bright AMOLED panel. It’s definitely quite the sight and a pleasure to use, though you’ll also be faced with one of the biggest drawbacks of screens with curved edges. A fraction of the content falls off at the edges, which is fine for most Web content but could be an annoyance for videos and especially games.

Further demoting the phone’s ranking for multimedia is the single bottom-firing speaker. Audio output is passable but nothing noteworthy, and the earpiece at the top doesn’t function as a second speaker. It’s probably not going to be a deal-breaker for some, but it’s small paper cuts like these that keep the Vivo V29 from being at the top of its game.

The Vivo V29 carries a rather middling 4,600mAh battery, a decision made to ensure that the phone remains thin and lightweight. It’s enough to get you around 18 hours of use a day, which means you’ll definitely want to plug it in at night or sometime during the day. Vivo makes up for it by pushing the charging speed to 80W and shipping the phone with the correct charger. In practice, it’s nothing compared to those that boast 100W or higher, but it can still get it from zero to full in around 40 minutes.

Where the phone does somewhat excel is in photography, at least the kind of photography its intended audience cares about. With a 50MP main camera and a 50MP front camera, you get excellent photos and selfies, especially with the right ambient light. Vivo takes photography up a notch with an Aura Light feature on the back of the phone that can add some lighting that automatically changes its temperature based on the ambient environment. Streamers might be familiar with the concept of ring lights, and the Aura light is like a miniature version. It works quite well but, unfortunately, won’t help with selfies. The 8MP ultra-wide camera is decent under good lighting conditions, but it’s definitely nothing to boast about. The 2MP monochrome camera is even more disappointing, given how many of its peers now go with a macro camera at the very least.

Ultrawide

50MP (1x)

Sustainability

Sustainability has become an important conversation topic among tech companies these days, and smartphone manufacturers are no different. Unfortunately, with so many of these mobile device makers operating today, only a few can be said to have concrete visions and strategies to help save the planet. Fortunately, Vivo is indeed one of those by taking steps to reduce the negative impact of their operations, manufacturing, and product life cycles on the planet.

Sadly, Vivo still has ways to go, especially when it comes to the actual materials that it uses, like incorporating recycled plastics or aluminum. Vivo’s designers are hoping that their designs and experiences are able to convey their love for nature. The Vivo V29, for example, references mountains and stars, connecting users with the planet in subtle and subconscious ways. Vivo also gives the V29 an IP68 dust and water resistance rating, a rare trait for phones in this tier. Along with its durability, this helps the phone survive the most common accidents that users encounter, helping delay the device’s untimely death and its addition to the world’s growing electronic waste.

Value

The Vivo V29 is, with very little doubt, a beautiful smartphone that earmarks it for a more premium category. It is, however, a true mid-range phone, and while its performance is decent, it isn’t going to blow your mind, nor will it blow the competition out of the water. That competition, unfortunately, is where it might struggle the most, with so many options that nibble at its strengths in different ways.

At around $450, the phone is definitely on the affordable side, but there are also other phones that have some of the same perks at lower prices. These include the Samsung Galaxy A54, the Motorola Edge 40, the Nothing Phone (1), and even the Google Pixel 7a. None of these are perfect, of course, but neither is the Vivo V29. It’s always a matter of balancing the pros and the cons, but when it comes to a striking and memorable design, the Vivo V29 can stand head-to-head with the eccentric Nothing Phone (1).

Verdict

Today’s consumers have become more conscientious of the value that product design brings into their lives. Smartphones are no longer just geeky gadgets but also a reflection of their tastes or even their character. Not everyone wants an exotic design that loses its novelty quickly, nor does everyone need the latest and greatest that will burn a hole through their wallets. An elegant, reliable, and accessible smartphone is sure to win the hearts of buyers, regardless of age, and that’s the experience that the Vivo V29 5G brings to the table.

With an innovative new design technique that treats minuscule 3D magnetic particles like splashes of paint, the Vivo V29 tries to embody the company’s design philosophy of simplicity, elegance, and perfection. At least it manages to achieve the first two with a beauty that is noticeable, memorable, and not overbearing. Unfortunately, perfection is still a bit out of its reach, with some puzzling hardware choices that hold it back from that achievement. But if you’re in the market for a stylish smartphone that feels good in your hand and can keep up with most of your needs, then the Vivo V29 is definitely worth taking a second look.