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Now that the company has closed in Europe and the US, I've looked back at my top picks from OnePlus' phones, wearables and foldables.

Higher oil prices since the Iran war began mean many oil companies have brought in excess profits. Some U.S. lawmakers want to tax those windfall profits and give the money to lower-income Americans.

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In recent days, federal immigration agents fatally shot two immigrant fathers. None of the federal officers involved were wearing body cameras, the agency said.

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The Federal Highway Administration quietly stripped bike lanes and other safety recommendations from a key list of best practices. Critics say those measures are proven to cut crashes and save lives.

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President Trump said TrumpRx is the biggest thing to happen in healthcare in decades. But an NPR analysis finds drugmakers are only offering deals on a few of their medicines.

For the sixth World Cup in a row, no team from the Asian Football Confederation made it past the first knockout round, winning only three games out of 29. Asian teams are competitive — up to a point.

(Image credit: Luke Hales)

An ACLU report looks at the widespread use of force in immigration enforcement in the first year of President Trump's return to office. Recent fatal shootings in Texas and Maine have brought renewed scrutiny to the agency's tactics.

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Key voters in Pennsylvania are split on whether President Trump earning a big windfall last year is a big deal or not. Their reaction reveals a level of cynicism about many in the political class.

(Image credit: Alex Wong)

We've all engaged in a little 'gossip.' But did you know its origins were tied to family and friendship?

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The Dark Side of the Moon WE-001 comes with a copy of the cassette for $199.

Boox Go 10.3 Gen II Lumi: One-minute review

As far as epaper writing tablets go, Boox has some of the most versatile options thanks to their Android-based operating systems, and the Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi is arguably the best of them despite its rather mouthful of a name — I’m just going to call it the ‘Lumi’ from here on in.

I was already a fan of the original model, calling the reMarkable dupe a pleasure to use in my Boox Go 10.3 review — and by just adding a light and making the battery consumption more efficient, the Chinese ereader maker has made the Gen II model better.

Despite the screen being a touch slower than I’ve experienced with other devices like the 2024 and 2025 Kindle Scribes, the light adds a lot of contrast to the screen, making it easier to read on, whether that’s an ebook or a handwritten note. Now, I have to mention that there is a Gen II without a frontlight as well but, in my opinion, having the screen lit up just makes the epaper writing tablet that much more usable in any situation. With a frontlight, it also becomes a true Kindle Scribe alternative — again, thanks to its Android-based OS that gives the user access to the Google Play Store.

However, the aforementioned slow display is a disappointment as every time I woke up the Lumi to read or write, there would be a couple of screen refreshes (clearly marked as ‘Rendering’ when directly waking up to the native library application) before it settled down. Page turns, though, are fine but, again, Amazon’s 2025 Kindle Scribes are just that little bit faster at this as well. Long story short, screen performance doesn’t seem to have improved over the Gen I Go 10.3.

While I can live with the slower screen, I can’t fathom why Boox would retire the stylus that came with the original Go 10.3 as it was a lot better than the supplied InkSense Plus pen. The new stylus isn’t as smooth to write with, and is heavier, detracting from the all-important writing experience.

So as much as I’d love to say the Lumi is an improvement over its predecessor — and it is in a couple of ways — it just seems like Boox has taken two steps forward (with the frontlight and battery life) but one step back with the stylus.

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Boox Go 10.3 Gen II Lumi review: price & availability

• Announced March 2026
• List price: $449.99 / £429.99 / AU$729
• Available directly from the Boox Shop and third-party retailers

With the addition of the frontlight, the price of the Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi is a lot higher than the launch price of the original Go 10.3 — you’re looking at shelling out $449.99 / £429.99 / AU$729 for the former, which is about $70 / £50 / AU$120 more than what the latter was when it was released in 2024.

That’s quite steep, although considering how expensive every bit of tech is getting thanks to RAM shortages, I’m not really surprised. It’s still competitively priced considering the 3rd-generation Amazon Kindle Scribe (2025 release with frontlight) retails for $499 / £449.99 / AU$849 for the 32GB flavor, while you get double the storage with the Lumi. Throw in the versatility of Android and it’s arguably better value (even compared to any of the reMarkables), but given its overall performance and user experience compared to the competition, I’d be hesitant to recommend it.

If the frontlight isn’t important, you can opt for the Gen II version without it, which will set you back $419.99 / £399.99 / AU$689. Prices for both Boox Gen II devices include the InkSense Plus stylus and a magnetic sleep case.

• Value score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Boox Go 10. Gen II Lumi review: specs

Display type:

Undisclosed E Ink Carta HD panel

Screen size:

10.3 inches

Resolution:

300ppi

Processor:

2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 690

Frontlight:

Yes (warm and cold)

Storage:

64GB (non-expandable)

Battery:

3,700mAh

Speaker:

Dual (stereo)

Water protection:

None

Software:

Android 15

Connectivity:

Wi-Fi (2.4GHz + 5GHz); Bluetooth 5.1 USB-C

File support:

20 document, 4 image, 2 audio

Dimensions:

235 x 183 x 4.8mm (9.3 x 7.2 x 0.19 inches)

Weight:

364g (without case and stylus)

Boox Go 10. Gen II Lumi review: design & display

• Good-looking, lightweight epaper tablet, but clunky stylus
• 10.3-inch E Ink display with good contrast
• Textured rear panel adds good grip

With its eggshell-white body and metallic trim, I thought the first-gen Boox Go 10.3 was a pretty tablet, so I’m glad to see that the Gen II version hasn’t been changed — except for a slightly more textured rear panel that affords a little more grip, which is important for a slim device like the Go series slates. I should note here that both Gen II Go 10.3 tablets are identical physically but, without LEDs on the unlit version, it’s about 14g (0.5oz) lighter.

While the slimness doesn’t make for fantastic ergonomics, the Lumi weighing only 364g is, in fact, lighter than the Gen 1 model that tipped the scales at 375g without screen lights. It is about 0.2mm thicker than the previous Go 10.3, but that’s neither here nor there.

It’s still a beautiful device and, despite the thinness, there are dual speakers on either side of the USB-C port on the bottom edge, as does a mic. The only button is for power/sleep on the top edge. There’s no microSD tray here, though, for additional storage. One larger bezel allows plenty of room for your hand, although holding such a slim device, no matter how light, isn’t necessarily ergonomic. If you add in the sleep case, however, it just becomes heavier.

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadarSharmishta Sarkar / TechRadarSharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

I should talk about the case here, really quick — it’s a faux suede cover that unfortunately comes with the removable flap that I utterly detest. The brown suede material starts to lose its luster within days of use, so I can’t attest to its longevity, but I can’t fathom why Boox has to make the magnetic flap removable. This has been the case with the last few Boox devices I’ve tested and I find it rather annoying — the magnet is quite strong and the flap tends to entirely come away when you unfold it to close the case or secure the stylus to the side of the tablet.

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

Speaking of which, the magnetic hold of the stylus is good but, as with nearly every such device, it’s not strong enough to keep the pen secure during travel, so you do need to depend on the case.

Boox has also changed the pen, now offering the InkSense Plus stylus that has a thicker tip that just isn’t as smooth as the previous stylus. It’s also slightly heavier than the older pen, which makes it feel clunky in the hand that, in my opinion, doesn’t lend itself well to controlled mark making on the screen. And as I’ve discussed elsewhere, the stylus can make or break the user experience for epaper tablets. Sadly Boox is moving away from using EMR support on its screens (just like reMarkable), so you can’t use a third-party pen on the Lumi.

Boox hasn’t revealed what E Ink screen technology it’s using here, but the 10.3-inch display isn’t bad, with a 300ppi resolution. It’s not as yellow (warm) as I’ve seen on other Boox devices and the frontlight’s incremental adjustments for both brightness and temperature are excellent, adding wonderful contrast to the text or writing on the screen that makes the Lumi a far better reading tablet than its predecessor.

• Design & display score: 4 / 5

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Boox Go 10. Gen II Lumi review: Software

• Runs a custom Android 15-based operating system
• A relatively clean user interface, but it takes getting used to
• Plenty of good native apps, but access to the Google Play Store makes it very versatile

Where the original Go 10.3 released in 2024 was using Android 12, the Lumi (and its cheaper sibling) have been upgraded to Android 15, although the software is a very trimmed-down custom version of Google’s operating system. You still get unfettered access to the Google Play Store, so you can, in theory, use any Android app, but e-ink tablets weren’t meant for streaming content or playing games on.

That said, nearly every Boox device comes pre-loaded with native apps that are quite good in their own right and have been improved over time as well, making them more streamlined than before. That’s not to say the UX is easy — if you’ve never used a Boox device before, it will take time to wrap your head around it all as there are still little adjustments that are hidden in sub menus.

What’s different with the Go series compared to other Boox tablets is the home screen navigation — the main menu is arranged vertically on the left, with the Library being your default view. You can change the main menu items in Settings, though, either adding or removing applications.

Customizing the user experience has never been Boox’s problem, which means you can choose between several options for System Display or Gestures, and even tweak individual native apps as you see fit — even the NaviBall is optional to use and can be configured to trigger a plethora of functions.

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

The Control Center hasn’t changed much over the last couple of years, but I’m still not sure access to an AI assistant is necessary on an e-ink device, but perhaps some power users would appreciate it.

As always, you can sign into a fair few cloud services, including Google Drive and Dropbox, get full support for EverNote and OneNote, or download any other productivity application you might need, but keep in mind that not all third-party apps will be optimized for this device.

One of the things I really like about Boox’s premium note-taking tablets is OTG (on the go) support. This means I can plug in an external hard drive or portable SSD directly into the USB-C port to transfer files. In fact, it’s what I predominantly use even though BooxDrop is a handy app for cloud transfer. I don’t even bother signing into my Google Drive account on a Boox these days.

There really isn’t very much to complain about from a software standpoint — it’s the writing experience that takes a tumble here.

• Software score: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Boox Go 10. Gen II Lumi review: User experience

• Good screen contrast with lights makes for a lovely reading experience
• The supplied pen, however, isn’t as nice as the older version for writing

A device might look lovely and come with the nicest software, but ultimately its user experience determines its value. And that’s the case with the Go 10.3 Gen II Lumi — it does a lot right, like its reading experience is lovely, but its main functionality of writing is a little bit of a letdown.

Reading

Like I said, reading on the Lumi is lovely — the frontlight makes the text stand out, adding contrast where previously, on the Gen 1, it was disappointing. Page turns are quick enough too with the screen quite responsive to taps and gestures.

And yet I feel it’s a little slow for an epaper tablet that was released in 2026. For example, every time I woke up the Lumi during my months-long testing, it took a while to ‘render’ an ebook from its native library app.

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadarSharmishta Sarkar / TechRadarSharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

It very much seemed like it was refreshing the app twice before finally rendering the page. On the other hand, the 3rd-generation Kindle Scribe released in 2025 takes a second or two to open but doesn’t flicker or ‘refresh’ the page — it’s a lot smoother on waking up. As are the Kobo Libra Colour and Kindle Paperwhite from 2024.

Boox doesn’t reveal what E Ink screen tech its using, but other than its slight slowness on waking up, I can’t complain about the reading experience. All books and images rendered on screen have been sharp and clear, particularly with the frontlight on.

Writing

The same kind of contrast with the frontlight on is available on the Notes app too where handwriting looks sharp and clear on screen. However, the physical act of writing on the Lumi isn’t as good as it has been on the Gen 1 because Boox decided to change the stylus.

The previous pen had a thinner nib that moved over the screen quite well. The new InkSense Plus stylus is heavier and the slightly thicker tip feels like it needs to be dragged to make a mark — it feels clunkier in comparison.

Boox has also stepped away from using EMR screens, which means you can’t swap that pen out for another. I tried using one of Boox’s own older pens (used to be supplied with the Note series) and it didn’t work. That’s a real shame as writing is the Lumi’s principal function and the experience of doing so is disappointing.

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadarSharmishta Sarkar / TechRadarSharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

The native Notes application, though, is full featured — in fact, for the average user it’s probably overkill — and would be ideal for students, teachers and researchers.

• User experience score: 3.5 / 5

Boox Go 10. Gen II Lumi review: Performance

• Generally good performance except on waking up
• A lot of ghosting visible, especially in the Notes app
• Exceptional battery life for an Android device

The Lumi's overall performance is a mixed bag. While it uses a better chipset (Qualcomm Snapdragon 690) compared to the original Go 10.3 (Snapdragon 680), it hasn't really made much of a dent in the speed with which the Lumi performs the tasks at hand.

That's not a complaint — it's an observation. However, Amazon's newest Kindle Scribes are just that much faster at things, like page turns are so quick they barely register that they've moved and the lag between pen input and the mark on screen is barely discernible. On both counts the Lumi is just that smidgeon slower that you can notice if you use it side by side with the 2025 Kindle Scribe (3rd generation).

The slow waking up of the screen is also something that has bothered me, and I've already mentioned how disappointing the writing experience is, but I'm also surprised at how much ghosting there still is on Boox devices, including the Lumi, something Amazon has managed to completely eliminate on its Kindles. You'll be able to notice the ghosting on nearly every single image I have in this review (including in the gallery below).

Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadarSharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar

Where the Lumi really shines (pardon the pun) is with battery life. It still uses the same 3,700mAh battery pack that was in the Gen 1 model and yet whatever software adjustments Boox has made has pushed battery life to weeks rather than days. It's the first Android digital notebook I've used to have such an impressive battery life, one that can match the Kindle Scribes, albeit dependent on use.

In my case, an hour of reading and 30 minutes of writing per day gave me 17 days of use with frontlight at medium brighness and a similar warmth setting, plus Wi-Fi on at all times (but not Bluetooth). Using cloud services and didn't make any dent on the battery usage, although excessive online browsing did drain a little extra but not by all that much.

Topping up was average, with the 3,700mAh pack going from 19% to full in just under two hours when plugged into a wall charger via a high-quality USB-C cable.

• Performance score: 3.5 / 5

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Should I buy the Onyx Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi

Attribute

Notes

Score

Value

It's cheaper than the 3rd-gen Kindle Scribe, but you'll get better performance elsewhere

4 / 5

Design & display

It's a beautiful device with reMarkable 2 vibes, and a frontlight makes a world of difference. However, the display just seems to lack the oomph factor I've seen in newer epaper tablets.

4 / 5

Software & apps

With an Android-based software allowing for versatility, and a nicer user interface than previous Boox UIs, it's hard to fault the Lumi. It's not perfect, but it ain't bad.

4 / 5

Writing & productivity

It's fantastic to read on, with brilliant contrast when the light is on, but the supplied pen is a major letdown when it comes to writing.

3.5 / 5

Reading

Without a frontlight, it's not the ideal ereader

3.5 / 5

Performance

On its own, the Lumi performs well for most users, but it's hard to give it full praise when there are faster E Ink displays being used on competitive digital notebooks, but the battery life is the best for an Android epaper tablet.

3.5 / 5

Buy it if...

You want a thin, light digital notebook with frontlight

There are more epaper writing tablets without a frontlight now than with, and trust me when I saw that can make a difference to usability, especially at nighttime and in bright sunlight.

You want the versatility of the Google Play Store on your digital notebook

It's not the only Android-toting epaper writing tablet, but it's well priced compared to some of the competition.

Don't buy it if...

You'll be doing a lot more writing than reading

The Lumi's main function is as a writing tablet and, given the disappointing stylus supplied with it, it's hard to recommend when there are competitors offering a better experience.

You want the best performance out of your digital notebook

It's not that the Lumi is bad; it's just that there are better options out there that have more responsive screens with next-to-no ghosting.

You need plenty of storage

64GB is a very good amount of storage that you'll get on the Lumi, but power users with large files saved on the device might need more, and there's no microSD card tray here. For that, I'd recommend Boox's Note series over the Go.

Also consider

I like the Lumi, but I don't I love it. If, like me, you'd be keen to check out other options, the two below are the ones I'd recommend, both of which are cheaper but aren't Android based.

Amazon Kindle Scribe (2nd gen)

It might have been succeeded by the 3rd-gen Scribe that's bigger and better, but it's still available to buy and still makes for an excellent e-ink writing tablet with a lovely screen and, importantly, regularly discounted now since it's an older model.
Read our full Amazon Kindle Scribe (2024) review for more details

reMarkable Paper Pure

It's not as full featured as an Android-based epaper writing tablet, but this reMarkable offers you a distraction-free slate to unleash your creativity. It's essentially the reMarkable 2 in a new body with 32GB of storage.
Read our in-depth reMarkable Paper Pure review to learn more

How I tested the Onyx Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)

I've tested a range of ereaders and epaper writing tablets for TechRadar, so I'm well suited to compare the Boox Go 10.3 (Gen II) Lumi with its competitors.

As with all such devices I've previously tested, the first thing I did with the Lumi was to sign into the Google Play Store and down the Kindle and Kobo apps. I then used OTG support to transfer ebooks to the device directly from a portable SSD via the USB-C port, but I also used BooxDrop and cloud transfer from Google Drive to test various services.

The Lumi then became my daily ereader and note taker for 4 weeks, using it an average of 2-3 hours a day to read and write. I'm not an artist, so drawing was out of the question.

Out of curiosity, I also downloaded Geekbench 6 to benchmark the CPU (the app is available on the Play Store). I sideloaded a few MP3 files to test the onboard speakers.

Read more about how we test

[First published July 2026]

Victims of this week's flash fire at a Bangkok music bar that took more than 30 lives included four of the six core members of the band playing when the blaze broke out.

(Image credit: Sakchai Lalit)

Ramp and Brex are leading spend tools. Compare features, rewards, and tools to see which platform is better suited for your business needs.

The post Ramp vs Brex 2026: Best Spend Management Platforms Compared appeared first on TechRepublic.

Find the best AI project management tools for planning, scheduling, automation, and risk analysis. Choose the right option for your team.

The post 7 AI Project Management Tools I Trust for Real Work in 2026 appeared first on TechRepublic.

As part of the antitrust settlement between Google and Epic Games, third-party app developers will have access to the Google Play Store beginning next week.

• The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has bricked thousands of routers
• Flashing alternative firmware like OpenWRT is an option that the ACCC has ignored
• Disposed SamKnows SK-WB8 routers can pose a security risk if they’re not first wiped with a factory reset

The Australian government’s competition regulator, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), has initiated the bricking of some 4,000 routers, rolled out across the country in 2020 in order to collect information on broadband speeds.

Issued as part of the Measuring Broadband Australia (MBA) program, the routers were whiteboxes from SamKnows, a subsidiary of Cisco, and given a finite lifespan. That date was reached in June 2026, with the SamKnows SK-WB8 routers remotely disabled on June 30.

As a consequence, Australians are likely to toss the bricked routers, resulting in a sharp increase in e-waste. In doing so, they risk breaches of digital security if the routers are not first wiped. Worse, the ACCC’s position is further confused by the fact that these routers can be flashed, making their destruction quite pointless.

Data discarded, but the routers still work

Since the June 30 cut-off, the routers are known to power up, and while bricked for internet access, can seemingly be reused with custom router firmware. The nature of the data collected by the routers for the MBA program was for measurement and customer registration, and this has apparently been deleted, according to emails sent to volunteers of the program.

While accurate figures are unknown, by December 2020 over 2,600 of the SamKnows SK-WB8 routers had been distributed by the ACCC, with 4,000 planned for release across the lifespan of the MBA program.

Attempts to contact the ACCC and Cisco to learn more about why volunteers of the MBA program are being encouraged to dispose of perfectly usable routers have been met with stock, non-committal responses.

The ACCC gave ArsTechnica a potted history of the device and the MBA program, as well as stating that “volunteers are encouraged to unplug their disabled whitebox and dispose of it in an environmentally responsible manner via free e-waste recycling services.”

Should you ditch your ACCC router?

If there is no reason to keep your ACCC-supplied router and have a replacement ready, it is important to factory reset the device before disposal. This ensures that any administrator passwords, ISP details, and custom network settings are deleted, keeping them from falling into the wrong hands.

Finding a safe disposal option will help to ensure the router is correctly dismantled. The ACCC has emailed recipients of the SamKnows SK-WB8 routers informing them of the correct disposal procedure, with a link to a live list of e-waste services.

However, if you have the time and inclination to flash OpenWRT, a guide explaining how to do this is available on the OpenWRT page for the SamKnows SK-WB8.

• ETH Zurich quantum chip sees superconducting qubit act as CPU and the vibrational modes of a fingernail-width acoustic resonator serve as quantum RAM
• The approach borrows from classical computer architecture as it completely flips the script on how modern quantum computing might store short-term data
• The team demonstrated a universal gate set and ran small instances of the quantum Fourier transform and period finding

A guitar string essentially stores a note based on how it vibrates, and if one plucks it differently, an entirely different note plays.

A team of researchers at ETH Zurich has leveraged the same principle to build a quantum chip that stores information by replacing the string with microscopic acoustic resonators.

This allows the chip to increase its working memory significantly, essentially increasing the storage capacity, a prohibitively expensive commodity in quantum computing, significantly.

A vibrations-based quantum storage play

ETH Zurich's research is led by quantum physicist Yiwen Chu, who used tiny mechanical vibrations to both store and process information. The vibrations, however, go far beyond the range of human hearing, happening inside a quantum chip where they essentially replace or complement the working memory of a quantum computer.

The study, published by the Hybrid Quantum Systems group, lists Professor Yiwen Chu, along with doctoral students Yu Yang and Igor Kladarić, as lead authors and focuses on replicating the division of labor seen in a classical computer.

A superconducting transmon qubit serves as the CPU, while the working memory (the quantum equivalent of RAM) is a high-overtone bulk acoustic wave resonator, or HBAR, whose many vibrational modes each serve as a memory slot.

The Qubit essentially swaps a quantum state from a vibrational mode (reads it, in classical computer terms), manipulates it (modifies it), and swaps it back (writes it). This makes for a unique configuration that most modern quantum computers do not follow, in which processing and storage are two distinct segments; most designs treat both memory and compute similarly.

The approach has advantages, however: acoustic waves have wavelengths roughly a hundred thousand times shorter than electromagnetic ones, allowing an entire quantum chip to be extremely small, as the research team states, even if the actual computer will be many orders of magnitude larger.

The chip has passed stress tests, including a proof of feasibility, which also included testing using two of the most commonly used methods to benchmark a quantum computer: the quantum Fourier transform and a period-finding algorithm.

The endgame here, as noted by the research team, is quantum random-access memory (QRAM), which would allow modern quantum computers to access a much larger store of quantum memory than current specifications allow. Whether this pans out depends on both the scalability of the approach and the computational power in play.

It's the final major of the year at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club.

• Skullcandy launches Crusher 1080 ANC, new premium over-ears
• They mark the debut of three Bose-made features in a non-Bose product
• Just launched and available right now, for $280 / AU$399.99 (about £210)

It is as I foretold: after we saw Skullcandy teases about new headphones, the brand has unveiled exactly the pair of cans I predicted. Meet the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 ANC; they're the pair that skate legend (and brand ambassador) Tony Hawk is pointing at in the picture above — yes, it really is him.

These are, according to the brand, its "best-sounding product" (although interestingly, not the most expensive because Skullcandy's Aviator 900 cans are a little pricier) and in case you didn't know, a 1080 in skateboarding involves three complete skateboard and body rotations performed either frontside or backside.

As a new member of its Crusher line-up, part of the draw will be the adjustable bass (see the big dial on the ear cup), but there's a lot more to celebrate besides that.

You can buy the Crusher 1080 ANC right now; they cost $279.99 / AU$399.99 (about £210) so they're a little cheaper than the likes of the $449 / £449 / AU$699 Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (Gen 2) which they borrow features from.

They come in black, gray, brown, and pink, as you can see modelled sans Tony Hawk below. I rate them in the following order: brown, pink, gray, black, though I'd love to see a camo or floral redesign as Skullcandy is wont to do.

Colors aren't why you'll buy the Crusher 1080 ANC, though. No, it'll be because they offer three new Sound by Bose features at a non-Bose price...

That which we call a Bose by any other name would smell as sweet

(Image credit: Skullcandy)

We've seen Skullcandy headphones with Bose features before, but the Crusher 1080 ANC are the first pair of cans not made by the brand which have three specific features. And these three features are a big selling point of the product.

The biggest will be Bose QuietControl ANC, which is a massive draw within Bose's own products (including the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen). The company's noise cancellation is best-in-class, and now that proprietary Bose technology is baked into Skullcandy's headphones too. To many, this could be a reason to buy the Crusher all on its own.

Bose's TrueSpatial audio with head-tracking (for surround sound profiles irrespective of source material) and WaveForm audio engine (for snappy digital signal processing) are also stepping foot off the Good Ship Bose for the first time with the 1080. These will be great little extras to refine and finesse what Skullcandy already offers.

And that's before we even mention the Sound by Bose tuning and SpeechClarity voice pickup, to improve the music you listen to and your call quality. The latter is new to Skullcandy, but we've seen the former on some earbuds like my beloved Method 360.

And what about the headphones themselves, beyond the Bose stuff? Skullcandy hasn't confirmed the drivers, but I'd guess they'll be 40mm and joined by woofer units.

The battery life is 60 hours with ANC off and 50 hours with it on, which is pretty impressive; there's a 5-band EQ and other features via the Skullcandy app (not Skull-IQ, which some of the firm's earbuds use). Pictures show a dial on the side of the headphones, amongst other physical controls; I'd wager this is a redesigned bass slider, and given how easy it is to miss this on my Crusher 540 Active, I appreciate the rethink.

Reading between the lines, and having tested the Method 540 earlier this year (a 540 is a one-and-a-half skateboard and body rotation performed either frontside or backside, which I cannot do), I get the impression that Skullcandy is undergoing a push to really level up.

The company doesn't seem to be abandoning the commitment to bass that's defined its products in the past (or its love of athletes as brand ambassadors), but seems to want to bring that into a better-rounded audio package with higher-fidelity music on offer. And if the Skullcandy Crusher 1080 ANC is the culmination of this process, I'm really intrigued to know how they sound.

(Image credit: Skullcandy)

The keypad is for helping monitor your Codex agents, not keeping you company.