Tag: Reviews

Introduction

Logitech is one of the largest peripherals company in the world, and has been so for well over a decade now. In fact, if you were to ask me who the largest non-OEM (Dell, HP etc.) peripherals entity was, I’d guess Logitech immediately. It is so large that we actually have multiple brands within Logitech, including the mainstream Logitech/Logi, Logitech G (Gaming), Ultimate Ears, Jaybird, Astro Gaming, Blue Microphones, Streamlabs, and others that have since been wholly absorbed by the giant company that exists today. Despite all this, we have only had a grand total of two Logitech keyboard reviews on TechPowerUp until now—the Logitech Craft in 2017, and the old-yet-incredible (for the time) Logitech G15 nearly two decades ago. It’s time to change this, and I figured we should start with some of Logitech’s consumer line keyboards.

Today we take a closer look at the Logitech Wave Keys, a keyboard released last year and part of the brand’s Ergo Series of peripherals. The Wave Keys, as with many other components including the famous Logitech vertical mice, were designed and developed with data from the Logi Ergo Lab, with the goal being to put out fairly affordable ergonomic keyboards and mice. We’ve seen our fair share of ergonomic keyboards here, most of which tend to use mechanical switches and are highly specialized. Many are even split into two or more pieces, with support for tilting, tenting, how far you move the split pieces apart, and even how you angle them so your hands are more naturally facing into the keys. These tend to cost in the hundreds of dollars though, and many simply prefer lower profile membrane switch keyboards regardless. This is where the likes of the Logitech Wave Keys comes in, and being sold in three colors—graphite, off-white, and rose—further helps fit this into your lifestyle. Thanks to Logitech for providing a sample to TechPowerUp, and we begin with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

The Logitech Wave Keys ships in a large and slim product box, which already tells you what to expect from the keyboard itself. We see a clean packaging with a black base and green accents, as expected from a Logitech/Logi product. On the front is a large render of the keyboard, and this presumably will match the color of the keyboard inside too, with the brand logo and product name also seen here. Salient features and product specifications are found on the back to go with more renders of the keyboard as well as a reminder to perhaps pair this with an accompanying Logitech Ergo mouse too. There are seals on the side to help keep the contents in place during transit, as seen above.

The keyboard comes with paper wrapped all around for added protection, and a large quick start guide underneath walks you through the setup. Logitech also has a more detailed step-by-step guide online, in case you need more help. The pre-paired low profile 2.4 GHz USB dongle, which Logitech calls the Logi Bolt USB Receiver, is found in a cutout in the cardboard box itself, and that’s it for the unboxing experience!

Closer Examination

The Logitech Wave Keys is nearly a full-size keyboard, although I’d classify it more as a 96% form factor unit owing to how it has the arrow keys integrated with the alphanumeric section and a separate number pad cluster to the right. There are 100 keys in total, be it the US ANSI or in the UK ISO version I have here, which means you lose 4 or 5 keys compared to the full-size equivalent. With the US layout, those would be Print Screen, Scroll Lock, Pause/Break, Insert, and Menu. However, it’s not as trivial as simply getting used to a keyboard with everything else included, as the Wave Keys takes liberties in where and how these other 100 keys are placed. The arrow keys are an obvious hurdle for touch typists, and there’s also the Fn key placed to the left of the space bar. The various rows are also shaped to accommodate the staggered columns placed at a more natural typing angle for your hands, meaning the keycaps near the top on either end of the alphanumeric cluster are longer than those at the bottom. These keys are also placed on a gentle curve, as opposed to the number pad that is straighter, albeit with curved corners. Your hands would be more naturally positioned towards the middle of the left cluster of keys thus, and the integrated wrist/palm rest is meant to be used during typing. This is a generously-sized wrist rest with soft foam padding that works quite well too, and the end result is a keyboard which is fairly broad but shorter than a typical 100% keyboard. Your hands are thus more likely to be placed in line with your shoulder width for better ergonomics, and you will also now have more room to the left or right of the keyboard for the mouse.

I have the Wave Keys in the graphite colorway, which feels more black than anything else. The other two colors are white and pink, so you can choose what works better with the rest of your desk/lifestyle. There’s a Logi logo at the top with an indicator light above to denote when the keyboard is on and connected. The bezels are generally small, except when the keys curve inward of course. The keycaps are opaque—there are no LEDs here for backlighting anyway—and the primary legends are placed in the middle on the top surface. Secondary legends push them down as applicable, and we also have some keyboard specific legends that shift the primaries to a diagonal corner. This mixing takes away from an otherwise clean and uniformly designed keycap set, although personally I am not a big fan of omitting the capital letters on the modifier keycaps. You will also note the Wave Keys supports both Windows and macOS, hence the dual OS legends in the bottom row, in addition to mobile devices that use Android/ChromeOS/iOS etc.

Turning the keyboard around, we see the case is composed of two pieces—both are injection molded ABS plastic in the same black color. The bottom panel is also quite large to also accommodate the space taken by the integrated wrist rest, which itself is multiple layers glued into the top panel. Despite the larger size, the Logitech Wave Keys is quite light at ~750 g. There’s a sticker in the middle with some basic keyboard specs and the usual certification logos. Two thin, long rubber pads at the top corners and four circular rubber pads elsewhere help provide friction against the resting surface and prevent the case from getting scratched. We also see a set of two keyboard feet at the top for a total of two elevation angles, and these come with rubberized bottoms too.

The side facing away from the user and near the indicator light/logo is where you will find a small on/off switch to turn the keyboard on, although you will also have to pull out the plastic tag near the battery compartment that keeps the batteries from draining before you start using the keyboard. The Logitech Wave Keys does not have any wired connectivity, meaning the batteries are critical here. I am pleased thus to see the use of two standard AAA size batteries, with Logitech even providing two good quality non-rechargeable batteries in the keyboard to get you going. Also note the cutout alongside which can easily store the 2.4 GHz USB dongle, I am not sure why it came separately placed in the cardboard box, thus risking someone missing it or even accidentally losing it during unboxing.

A look from the side shows the built-in elevation of the keyboard, which I would classify as low-medium profile at ~30.5 mm tall without the feet raised. You are meant to use the integrated wrist/palm rest on the keyboard here anyway, and this is also why the keys adopt a flat profile to minimize your fingers from going up and down too much. There is some contouring along the sides as previously mentioned, but otherwise this is a pretty easy keyboard to start typing on, which gets quite comfortable too when you are used to it. The Wave Keys uses membrane switches with very little to see beyond this point, even the keycaps are not easily replaceable even if you had aftermarket options to begin with. This is why it’s a bit of a shame that Logitech is using ABS keycaps with laser-etched legends that are more prone to wear, although the brand says there is a UV coating applied for added durability.

Software and Performance

The driver for the Logitech Wave Keys, and other recent Logitech/Logi-branded peripherals, is aptly named Logi Options+, and the latest version, 1.85.655119 at the time of this review, can be downloaded from this page. The installer is 34 MB in size, and the installed drivers take up slightly over 440 MB, although an optional plugin can add another ~300 MB on top. As seen above, there are hardly any options available during installation, so I definitely would have liked Logitech to show the terms of service as well as provide an option to choose the installation path. System utilization is otherwise minimal, and it is fairly obvious that the software has matured to its current stable state.

Once installed, you are prompted to open the software, and you would want to have the keyboard switched on and connected here. If you are using Bluetooth, then also make sure the corresponding Easy-Switch key (F1-F3) is active for the device you have Logi Options+ installed on. The Logitech Wave Keys allows for up to three Bluetooth connections on top of the 2.4 GHz connection. The software prompts you to go through a tutorial, which is handy if you are unfamiliar with the device or the customization features. This can be pulled up later also, and we see similar such tutorials for other features too, including Smart Actions—routines and macros—as well as an AI prompt builder that pulls up ChatGPT. I can already see the comments coming out about this, so all I will say is these are easy to ignore and you can even disable the latter. Click on the virtual keyboard and now you see the home page dedicated to Wave Keys, with the current battery level and connection status also seen in the program. One thing to note here is that the function key row is per default set to the assigned secondary functions, such that you do not need to hold Fn to actuate them. There are a grand total of 13 keys you can remap, and the video above showcases the various options available. Easy-Switch allows you to quickly change the client, and the keyboard settings are fairly explanatory, including allowing you to check and update the device firmware if available. Note that Logi Options+ will also enable an OSD for various functions, including Caps Lock on/off, which has been a Logitech feature for years now and seems divisive for most of that time too.

There is the basic 6-key rollover USB here out of the box in either Bluetooth or 2.4 GHz mode, as Aqua’s test confirms. This is fine with me considering the wireless nature of the keyboard as well as its target market. Similarly, no key chatter was detected on all the keys using Switch Hitter, and seen above are all the functions with dedicated keys on the base layer. This 100-key unit obviously gives you nearly everything you can expect on a keyboard, with only five keys missing from the standard 105-key UK ISO layout as previously discussed. As usual, the R. Win key is replaced by a Fn key so it’s not reflected above. Having the pre-programmed functions on the keyboard help bring back those missing functions in addition to providing some more to enhance your user experience too. I appreciate the keyboard has keycap legends for these, although these are primarily symbols that are not easily identifiable. Logitech should ideally have included a quick start guide in the box itself to explain what the various key combinations do, with the current best solution being the online setup guide and the FAQs page.

The Wave Keys is wireless only, and thankfully uses easily replaceable AAA-sized batteries. The provided ones are rated to run for as long as three whole years of active use, and I must say after ~2 weeks of using the keyboard in both Bluetooth and 2.4 GHz modes for 5+ hours daily—the software still said it was at 100%. Suffice to say this is a keyboard that you will not really have to worry about for battery life. Charging is a non-factor too, simply replace the dead/low charge batteries with fresh ones and you are good to go in a few seconds. Connectivity was flawless in either mode, although I recommend using the 2.4 GHz option, if you can, to allow for lower latency and a more durable connection too. The other selling point is the ergonomic design, which feels like a decent place to start out if you want to explore ergonomic keyboards. The angled keys in the alphanumeric section, in addition to the curves used for the key banks, help guide your fingers more naturally to a general resting point that increases typing efficiency. You don’t get any tilting or tenting though, and I would have rather seen straight columns rather than the staggered ones, let alone with the uneven sizing going from the top row to the bottom one. The end result is a steeper learning curve than you might expect, with touch typing being optimistic to achieve even after two to three days. You are likely to keep looking down at the keycap legends to re-orient your fingers in the beginning, and there may well be some frustration early on as you get over the unforced errors and slower typing speed too. If you are going from a standard TKL or 100% keyboard to this, then the uneven spacing between the keycaps, their non-standard positioning, and the keys feeling more bunched up together are also going to be speed bumps to negotiate. The arrow keys were the biggest issue for me, and I really wish Logitech had gone with the more commonly used 96% layout here. These were harder to reach here with my thumbs thanks to the awkward location, and I was unintentionally moving my hands further than I’d like. With time things do get better though, and the keyboard can help lower the chances of poor typing posture-related medical issues.

As always, the sound of a keyboard is based on more than just the switch type. So when comparing sound clips, consider the keyboard as a whole. In this case, I have provided above an example sound clip of me typing on the Logitech Wave Keys keyboard sample at ~90 WPM as it comes out of the box with these membrane switches that provide some tactile feedback. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with tactile switches. I did bottom out constantly here, which is inevitable with membrane switches as the dome collapses inward upon actuation. The lower profile case combined with the membrane switches makes for a reasonably quiet keyboard, and I feel there are some damping materials included too given the relative absence of higher-pitched pings. Anyone who feels mechanical keyboards are too tall and/or loud will find this interesting thus, and this is besides the other features mentioned above. The Logitech Wave Keys comes in three colors and costs $59.99 from the Logitech store in the USA, with this UK ISO version comes in two colors and goes for much more by comparison at £69.99 (inc. VAT)—you do get a lot more languages/layouts from the Logitech store in Europe, yet I can’t help but feel Logitech owes the rest of the world better price parity compared to the USA.

Introduction

Established in 2004, Pwnage is a US-based peripheral company. After the magnesium-made StormBreaker, Pwnage once again turns to somewhat exotic materials for the StormBreaker Max CF. Similarly to the Finalmouse UltralightX, a carbon fiber composite is used for the shell, albeit of a different composition. While the top of the mouse still features cutouts similarly to the StormBreaker, the sides are solid now, and the StormBreaker Max CF is 5% larger than the StormBreaker. Yet, at 47 g, the StormBreaker Max CF manages to be 4 g lighter than the original StormBreaker. For the sensor, the Pwnage XERO sees use, which is a PixArt PAW3950 whose CPI range has been extended to 36,000 CPI. Optical switches from Omron (D2FP-FN2) are utilized for the main buttons, and much like on the StormBreaker, the sensor position may be adjusted vertically. For both wired and wireless operation, true 8000 Hz polling is supported, and at 1000 Hz, Pwnage advertises up to 90 hours of battery life. The feet are made of pure PTFE, and replacement sets are included with the mouse. Configuration is done conveniently through a web driver. The StormBreaker Max CF is available in black or platinum, as well as limited edition colors of Nacho, Carnage, Ninja, and Frostfire.

Specifications

15

on Jan 20th, 2025,

Packaging & Connectivity »

Introduction

With 80 Plus Gold power supplies slowly but steadily becoming the new mainstream, 80 Plus Platinum is the next logical efficiency level that vendors strive to achieve. Because, let’s face it, having your PSU certified at a higher efficiency is one of the more universal comparison metrics that vendors tend to use. While this does not tell the full story about the PSU’s abilities, the 80 Plus testing standard is not just about efficiency, but also keeping within the ATX spec for at least a few of the key parameters. The problem is, increasing efficiency by a couple percent, often requires a significantly more complex PSU design, which in turn can greatly increase the cost, making consumers think twice before choosing a high-end unit.

Although more vendors are introducing high-end units, NZXT joined the trend last summer with the release of their most efficient and highest output model to date—the Platinum certified 1.5 kW C1500. It is a unit that aims at the most demanding users, building serious workstations or multi-GPU setups. With ATX 3.1 support and a 10-year warranty it does seem like a future-proof product. Let’s start with the specification overview.

Specifications

NZXT C1500

Features & Specs
AC Input (100–240 Vac)		9–15 A 50–60 Hz
AC Input (200–240 Vac)		9 A 50–60 Hz
PF Correction		Active @0.99
Protections		OVP (Overvoltage Protection) / UVP (Undervoltage Protection) / SCP (Short Circuit Protection) / OTP (Over Temperature Protection) / OPP (Overpower Protection) / OCP (Overcurrent Protection) /
MTBF		100,000 hours
Operating temperature		0–50 °C
Dimensions		150 mm x 86 mm x 180 mm
Total DC Output		1500 W (115–240 Vac) / 1300 W (100–115 Vac)
Combined +3.3V & +5V		120 W
Combined +12V		1500 W
Combined 5Vdb		15 W
Material(s)		Steel, PCB and Plastic
Compliance Standard		ATX12V v3.1 / EPS12V v2.92
Regulation & Certification		FCC, Canada, CE, CB (IEC 62368-1), UKCA, CCC, BSMI, BIS, RCM, UAE, TUV, cTUVus, KC, CP65
Fan Dimensions		140 x 140 x 25 mm
Bearing		Magnetic Levitation Bearing (ML)
Fan Speed		2500 ± 10% RPM
Airflow		125 CFM (Tpy.)
Noise		41.0 dBA max
Warranty		10 years

NZXT C1500

Power Specs
AC Input	100–240Vac: 9–15 A 50–60 Hz 200–240Vac: 9 A 50–60 Hz
DC Output	+3.3 V	+5 V	+12 V	+5 VSB
Max. Output Current	22 A	22 A	125 A	3 A
Max. Output Power	120 W		1500 W	15 W
Total Power	1500 W

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• Jan 20th, 2025 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition Unboxing
• Jan 17th, 2025 Fosi Audio K7 Gaming Desktop DAC/Headphone Amplifier Review
• Jan 18th, 2025 Montech Heritage Pro Review – The Leather Case
• Jan 16th, 2025 ASRock Arc B570 Challenger OC Review
• Jan 15th, 2025 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Technical Deep Dive
• Jan 20th, 2025 NZXT C1500 Review
• Jan 17th, 2025 be quiet! Light Loop 360 mm AIO Review
• Nov 6th, 2024 AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Review – The Best Gaming Processor
• Jan 16th, 2025 Sparkle B570 Guardian OC Review
• Dec 12th, 2024 Intel Arc B580 Review – Excellent Value

11

on Jan 18th, 2025,

Packaging & Contents »

Introduction

I would like to thank Montech for supplying the review sample.

Montech has managed to cement itself nicely in the competitive case market, with a focus on quality and affordability. The Heritage Pro marks another step in the right direction as it is their first case which utilizes real leather as part of its material mix. The use of such a material is still really rare, so it is quite intriguing to see. The Montech Heritage Pro is available in black or white variants, and we have the former for review.

Specifications

Montech Heritage Pro
Case Type:	Mini-Tower
Material:	Leather, Steel, plastic, and tempered glass
Weight:	N/A
Slots:	5 (4 with fans on floor)
Drive Bays:	1x Internal 2.5/3.5″ 1x Internal 2.5″
Motherboard Form Factors:	Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX (BTF capable)
Dimensions:	480 x 235 x368 mm
Front Door/Cover:	N/A
Front Fans:	N/A
Rear Fans:	1x 120 mm (1x 120 mm PWM fan pre-installed)
Top Fans:	3x 120/2x 140 mm (optional)
Bottom Fans:	3x 120 mm (3x 120 mm, inverse blade PWM fans included)
Side Fans:	2x 120 mm (optional)
Front Radiator:	N/A
Rear Radiator:	120 mm
Top Radiator:	up to 360 mm / 280 mm
Bottom Radiator:	N/A
Side Radiator:	N/A
I/O:	1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C 2x USB 3.0 1x Audio Combo
Fan/LED Controller/Other:	Leather strap & Headset hook
Compatibility:	CPU Cooler: 170 mm GPU: 400 mm PSU: 165 mm (ATX or SFX)

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• Jan 15th, 2025 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Technical Deep Dive
• Jan 16th, 2025 ASRock Arc B570 Challenger OC Review
• Jan 17th, 2025 Fosi Audio K7 Gaming Desktop DAC/Headphone Amplifier Review
• Jan 16th, 2025 Sparkle B570 Guardian OC Review
• Nov 6th, 2024 AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Review – The Best Gaming Processor
• Jan 18th, 2025 Montech Heritage Pro Review – The Leather Case
• Jan 17th, 2025 be quiet! Light Loop 360 mm AIO Review
• Jan 15th, 2025 G-Wolves Hati-S2 8K Review
• Jan 14th, 2025 Quick Look: Huion Kamvas 16 (Gen 3) Graphics Tablet
• Jan 13th, 2025 ASUS ROG Strix B860-A Gaming Wi-Fi Review

Introduction

A big thank you to be quiet! for supplying the review sample.

be quiet! has become a go-to brand for PC enthusiasts, thanks to its focus on delivering high performance, low noise products that stand the test of time. With both exceptional build quality and solid warranties added in for good measure, it’s easy to see how they earned their place as a top-tier manufacturer of cases, coolers, power supplies, and fans. With a strong track record of excellence it will be interesting to see how be quiet! continues to grow and adapt in the DIY PC component market.

In today’s review, I will be putting the be quiet! Light Loop 360 to the test. Our review sample is the white version, and it comes packed with ARGB LED lighting on the pump and fans, as well as an ARGB hub to help sync all your devices. Add in a fill port and extra coolant along with a decent warranty, and you have the makings of a solid offering if performance is lives up to the looks. Considering the unit does have the offset mounting option for AMD processors I anticipate an excellent showing so let’s take a closer look!

Introduction

Intel today launched the second graphics card in its Arc Battlemage series, the Arc B570, and we have with us the ASRock Arc B570 Challenger OC, the company’s value custom-design based on it. Intel’s 2024 yearend launch of the B580 saw unexpected success, and was received well by reviewers and gamers alike. At a disruptive starting price of $250, the B580 offered much better value than the segment leader GeForce RTX 4060, consistently dominating it in all game genres. It also has a powerful ray tracing hardware feature-set. Besides the silicon engineering, the B580 is well-rounded by a surprisingly mature software backbone, and an agile driver release cycle. Now, Intel plans to repeat its success at an even more competitive price point with the new Arc B570.

The Intel Arc B570 is coming in at a feisty starting price of just $220, with custom design boards such as the ASRock B570 Challenger OC going for $230. This separates it from the B580 custom designs by around $20-40. The B570 is designed to have a lower cost than the B580, and is better positioned to eat NVIDIA’s lunch around the $200-mark, or even below. If you recall, NVIDIA did not launch a successor to the RTX 3050 in the RTX 40-series Ada generation, which means this market segment is practically undefended by the green team. AMD’s approach has been equally clumsy, there is nothing in its product stack below the RX 7600 in its current generation, and there exists a vast performance gap between the RX 7600, or older generation RX 6600 series, and the “mid-range” RX 6500 XT, a GPU that performs in the league of iGPUs. The task for Intel Graphics is hence cut out. If it is able to maintain the levels of cost-performance it did with the B580, the B570 will breathe life into the low-cost gaming PC segment.

The Arc B570 is powered by the new Xe2 Battlemage graphics architecture. Intel took learned lessons from its Xe Alchemist generation, and tried to address them at a hardware level with Xe2. These include an up to 70% generational increase in SIMD performance from its Xe cores, and a 50% gain in performance per watt, due in part to the switch to TSMC 5 nm EUV process. The company also worked intensely on the ray tracing hardware of this architecture, and claims 50-100% gains in specific areas of the ray tracing workload, reducing the cost of enabling ray tracing. Intel is also introducing XeSS 2, the second generation of its in-house performance enhancements, which introduces XeFG (Xe Frame Generation), and XeLL (Xe Low Latency), working alongside the Super Resolution to unlock performance and image quality of GPUs from higher segments, as well as give the B570 longevity and market relevance for years.

The Arc B570 is based on the same 5 nm BMG-G21 silicon as the B580, but is further cut down. It has 18 Xe cores compared to the 20 on the B580, which work out to 112 execution units, or 2,240 unified shaders. You also get 18 ray tracing units, and 144 XMX cores, 144 TMUs, and 60 ROPs. The memory size is down to 10 GB from the 12 GB on the B580, and the memory bus width is lowered to 160-bit compared to the 192-bit of the B580. Intel is using 19 Gbps GDDR6 memory speeds, and so this results in 380 GB/s of memory bandwidth. This is still a superior memory sub-system to the RTX 4060 and RX 7600, which feature 8 GB of memory across narrower 128-bit memory interfaces. The display and media acceleration capabilities of the Arc B570 are carried over from the B580—you get DisplayPort up to UHBR13.5 and HDMI 2.1 handling I/O, and dual media acceleration engines capable of AV1 and HEVC encode and decode.

The ASRock Arc B570 Challenger OC is the company’s value custom-design based on this GPU, it features a simple aluminium fin-stack heatsink that’s ventilated by a pair of large fans that offer idle fan-stop. There’s also a well-designed metal 3-D backplate. The PCB underneath is two-thirds the length of the card, and so airflow from the second fan goes through the heatsink and is vented from large cutouts in the backplate. The card draws power from a single 8-pin PCIe power connector. ASRock is pricing the card at a $10 premium over the Intel baseline price, attempting to justify it with a small factory overclock of 2.60 GHz engine clock compared to 2.50 GHz Intel reference, while leaving the memory untouched at 19 Gbps.

Introduction

Established in 2018, G-Wolves is a peripherals company based in China. Following the Hati-S and Hati-S Plus, the Hati-S2 8K is the newest addition to the Hati-S series, and easily the smallest among them. Though the basic shape is retained, and the width essentially the same, the Hati-S2 8K is quite a bit shorter than the others. With that in mind, it comes as no surprise that at 34 g, the Hati-S2 8K is especially lightweight. Much like previous G-Wolves releases, the Hati-S2 8K employs an open-bottom design, but the top shell isn’t fully solid, and instead features small slits. PixArt’s PAW3395 sensor capable of 26,000 CPI is used, alongside Huano (blue transparent shell, pink plunger) switches for the main buttons. Polling rates of up to 8000 Hz are possible in wireless operation, and G-Wolves cites up to 80 hours of battery life using 1000 Hz. The feet are made of pure PTFE, and several replacement sets are included in the box. Configuration is done conveniently through a web driver. The Hati-S2 8K is available in white, green, red, violet, and gray.

Specifications

Introduction

Huion is a brand we have become more familiar with over the past year, especially since TechPowerUp has covered multiple of its pen display tablets that have all been commercially successful. In fact, since its launch in 2011, Huion has managed to carve out a sizable chunk of the digital ink devices market to itself, thanks to its wider assortment of products spread across pen tablets (no integrated display), display tablets, and even touch computers that come with a PC inside to run independently. These also come in various sizes and standard/pro versions too in some cases—although things have been blurry here as newer non-pro launches have offered features which compete strongly against the pro versions and other competing solutions in the market for a lower price. The Kamvas 13 (Gen 3) is a good example of this, and Huion says this has been one of its most popular products ever to where the Kamvas Pro 13 (2.5K) might be threatened.

Today we take a closer look at the brand new Huion Kamvas 16 (Gen 3), which ups the ante with an individually calibrated 15.8″ 1440p panel with a new glass screen that promises a drawing experience closer to paper than before. It gets the same new features we first saw on the smaller Kamvas 12 (Gen 3) too, including a revised slimmer and more accurate pen, customizable dial controllers and side buttons, and even the nice tablet stand for those who prefer it. The Kamvas 16 (Gen 3) launches at CES, and I happened to have received a retail unit before launch to help bring you this quick look article. Thanks to Huion for providing a sample to TechPowerUp, and let’s begin with a look at the product specifications in the table below. Please note that the product page is not out yet as of the date I write this review, so some of these specifications may be prone to changes before it is officially launched.

Packaging and Accessories

Having recently examined the Huion Kamvas 13 (gen 3), this product box for the newer Kamvas 16 (Gen 3) is quite familiar owing to a similar design. We get a thick two-piece cardboard box with the company logo and product name on the front along with a render of the tablet itself. There’s not much else going on here, with QR codes eventually leading you to the downloads page and the brand’s social media channels. Take off the lid and you will see a display calibration report for your specific unit, which is nice to see in a non-Pro model, and the tablet itself which comes inside a wax paper wrap to keep it pristine and dust-free. Underneath we find the various accessories included in two separate layers.

The foldable stand ST300 was included in this review unit and sells for $50 separately, and I am not sure at this time whether Huion will have two SKUs of this product—one with the stand included for a discounted price, and the other without the stand—as with the smaller Kamvas 13 (Gen 3). We will know together at launch, I suppose! The stand weighs over 550 g by itself, feels quite sturdy in the hands, and really feels like a must-have for the tablet as we will soon see. It measures in at 282 x 184 x 8 mm and can still easily fit inside a typical 13″ tablet/laptop carry case. The contact surface has silicone pads for added grip as well as to prevent scratches to the tablet itself, we see more on the bottom for a similar purpose when used on your desk. There is a smaller section underneath which can be pulled out to hold the tablet, and then a larger one you fit into various notches on the underside to get different support angles ranging from 14.5° to 45°. This allows you to position the tablet at a more ergonomic angle to better suit your hands and shoulders while also helping get the best viewing angle when working.

Huion simplifies the connectivity here compared to previous generation tablets thanks to the use of two Type-C ports on the device, one of which is fully-featured and can be used with a variety of different connection options. We get a 3-in-1 cable that goes from a right-angled Type-C connector from the tablet to three separate connectors on the source side in the form of USB Type-A for power (if the other USB connection isn’t strong enough), USB Type-A for data, and a full-size HDMI cable for video out from your graphics card to effectively use the tablet as a secondary display. Additionally, Huion also provides a USB Type-C to Type-C cable that can provide power, display, and data signals in a single cable if your connected device is compatible with power and display over Type-C. A USB Type-C to Type-A cable, as well as a USB Type-A extension cable helps if you need separate cables in this case, and we also see a USB wall adapter included in the box. This makes the Kamvas 16 (Gen 3) far more complete out of the box, and with more configurable connectivity solutions compared to the smaller, less expensive Kamvas 13 (Gen 3).

We get a multi-language quick start guide with useful illustrations, although there will no double be a more detailed user manual available online when this product is launched, if only because Huion has done this for its other recent releases too. There is also a microfiber cloth to keep the display clean over time, in addition to one of those drawing gloves which you only put two fingers into. Huion also includes a pen holder which unscrews to reveal storage for up to 10 pen nibs, with these slots already occupied by 10 spare nibs thrown in the box to ensure product longevity. Rounding off the unboxing experience is the digital pen itself with a soft touch texture, making it very comfortable to hold and use. It has three buttons closer to the active end and can be easily placed into the holder for when you are taking a break, as seen above.

Closer Look

The Huion Kamvas 13 (Gen 3) came in two color options—Sakura Pink and Cosmo Black—the larger Kamvas 16 (Gen 3) is only available in black at this point. As the name suggests, this tablet uses a 16″ screen that’s actually 15.8″ in size, making it effectively larger than most of the contemporary tablets in this range that use a 14-15″ display. The overall dimensions are 415 (L) x 235 (W) x 11.5 (H) mm as measured here, which is on the smaller side of average for tablets in this size class as a result of three of the sides having minimal case bezels—this also helps make this tablet be usable whether you are right-handed or left-handed as the screen can also be rotated to facilitate this feature. The fourth side has the power button, two dials with associated function switch buttons, and six other buttons in the middle that use low profile tactile switches and have different patterns on the top to help identify them easily by touch. The active area is smaller of course at ~350×197 mm, uses a 2560×1440 LCD IPS 60 Hz panel for 186 PPI, and you will notice the panel itself has bezels to allow you to hold the tablet normally too. This being a non-Pro model, the max brightness of 220 nits, 14 ms response time, 1000:1 contrast ratio and 99% sRGB gamut with 178° viewing angles seem easier to accommodate. There’s not a lot to see on the back outside the four rubber pads on the corners, and I will also mention the tablet feels thinner than its 12 mm thickness, owing to gentle curves all around the sides which also make it easier to hold the device in one hand. Do note that this color picks up and displays smudges and fingerprints fairly easily, so use the provided microfiber cleaning cloth regularly.

Don’t expect to see an all aluminium chassis here, and yet I didn’t think the build quality on the Kamvas 16 (Gen 3) will be an issue for anyone outside the smudges aforementioned. The buttons feel solid, as do the dials themselves with the knurled finish on the side making them satisfying to rotate and press. The side with these buttons and dials also has two USB Type-C ports to help keep the product future-proof. The one closest to the power button is a fully-featured USB 3.1 (Gen 1) Type-C port with DisplayPort 1.2 capability, allowing you to use a compatible table to provide power, data, and display signals alike. If you don’t have a source which is compatible with video + power out over Type-C, then you will likely use the 3-in-1 cable that comes with the tablet, which also makes for a clean connection as seen above. The other end of the cable goes to two available USB Type-A ports and a full-size HDMI port, and note that you can move the cable minders to allow for more room for the cables to individually reach where they need to be.

Here’s a look at the tablet positioned on the provided tablet stand. The tablet does weigh ~1.2 kg, so it’s not exactly the easiest to hold in one hand even beyond the larger form factor compared to the far more portable 12-13″ class tablets. As such, I highly recommend getting the stand in case Huion ends up making it an optional extra as with the Kamvas 13 (Gen 3). I found myself mostly using the stand on the smaller pop-out at a 15-20° angle when having the entire ensemble on a desk alongside my PC or laptop. There are also dual device stands available allowing you to have your tablet and laptop on the same stand for easier multitasking.

User Experience

The Huion website is extremely easy to navigate, and you can find the drivers for the Kamvas 16 (Gen 3) on this page for the OS of your choice. It’s a good idea to remove all other graphics/drawing tablet drivers off your system first, although I found the generic Windows drivers did not cause any issues. The latest version of drivers for Windows (v15.7.6.1357) are from late summer 2024, and the installation process is simple. The program takes ~60 MB of space and runs light on system resources too. Once installed, it only shows working options if the tablet is connected and powered on. Included here are monitor calibration settings, the expected pen calibration tool and pressure sensitivity slider, and key mapping options for the buttons/dials on the tablet and pen to provide useful shortcuts within reach. You can also correct the active Window in the display if it is different from expected, as well as check for firmware updates from within the software itself. Note that the program needs to be running in the background for any of the changes from the default configuration to work.

Pressing and holding the power button pulls up the OSD (on-screen display), which then works with the pen to allow you to do some on-the-fly changes to the display too, as seen above. You can change the brightness, color temperature, choose the connection mode, change the color gamut, and even the aspect ratio as desired. In essence, if the display and pen are already working fine for you on Windows, then there is not a lot to gain from installing the first-party drivers. I would have liked profile support to allow for different sets of shortcuts for different applications—that would have made the re-mapping options even more useful. On the other hand, I suppose working professionals already have their preferred software of choice for drawing/editing, so you could remap once and call it a day.

I mentioned before how the graphics tablets I’ve used personally have been significantly smaller than this one. I typically use such tablets for taking notes and for easier editing of content such as images, as seen in the example above of a photo that will be part of an upcoming review of the Dan Clark Audio NOIRE X closed-back headphones. Windows Ink compatibility allows for graphics tablets to work directly with Adobe Creative Suite, and Lightroom in particular. I had noticed the newer panel on the Kamvas 16 (Gen 3) felt more natural to type on, and the new anti-glare screen is the best such implementation of matte + glossy on a graphics tablet I’ve used to date, also helping is the new pen which goes down to just a 0.35 mm gap between the screen and the tip of the pen nib now. The tip is thinner than before, and the new pen is also more sensitive and accurate to use. Huion calls the new glass cover as “Canvas Glass,” marketing its increased durability and sensitivity. The 16″ display is large enough for me to use as a primary screen for editing/drawing itself, which is a boost over the smaller screen tablets we’ve seen before. You can also turn off the display and use it as a pure pen tablet while looking at a larger primary display, should you so desire. Alternatively, this can also be used as a secondary display with, say, a laptop on the go but this use case is not going to be vastly popular I imagine. The color accuracy is quite good here, with 99% sRGB and 95% Adobe RGB coverage and individual calibration guaranteeing a ΔE <1.5—this particular sample was at 0.75, for context. As such, and combined with the notable improved screen and pen experience, pretty much anyone looking at this tablet will be a content creator using it for drawing/sketching, be it for technical drawings or illustrations to be used for a variety of applications. Palm rejection is basically a non-issue for any modern graphics tablet, as is the case here, and the various buttons and dials are very handy for tasks like quick zooms, changing brush sizes, and also hotkeys for white balance and alignment.

The Huion Kamvas 16 (Gen 3) graphics tablet launches January 7, and will cost $499 from the Huion online store. I am not sure whether this is with the stand included or if it is optional, although it would certainly be good to see it included. This is nearly twice as expensive as the Kamvas 13 (Gen 3), however, while giving you a similar feature set. You get a larger screen which is also sharper, an extra button, and of course more included accessories to make this a more complete package out of the box. I would say the smaller Kamvas 13 (Gen 3) is the way to go if you prioritize portability and a lighter tablet, especially if you want to use this on your lap or in your hand. The Kamvas 16 (Gen 3) is a tougher sale given the price, but it remains competitive in the overall graphics tablet market with the new glass and pen technology incorporated.

Introduction

Anyone who has been interested in in-ear monitors (IEMs) for personal audio over the last few years has likely heard of ThieAudio. While the likes of MOONDROP and FiiO get more attention when it comes to Chinese audio brands, at least partially owing to the vast number of products released each year, ThieAudio has been slowly building up its status to be in contention with much larger companies, including Western brands which have been around for a lot longer. ThieAudio is a house-brand of Linsoul, one of the largest audio retailers today, and operates out of dual offices in Chengdu and Shenzhen in China. I visited Linsoul’s office in Shenzhen while I was there attending a show, and had a chance to try out some upcoming products and recent releases. Earlier in the summer, Linsoul/ThieAudio also participated in CanJam London where once again there was one particular set that got my attention more than most others. This just happens to be the subject of today’s review—the ThieAudio Origin.

While the ThieAudio Monarch series might be what the brand is most known for, a quick look at its product lineup shows the team there is skilled in putting out far more, including headphones. There are all-balanced armature sets, including the V16 Divinity that remains one of my favorites, we’ve seen single DD sets, with plenty of hybrid (DD + BA) and tribrid driver (DD/BA/EST) configuration sets too in a wide price range. The ThieAudio Origin adds to this by being the brand’s first quadbrid set, in that it uses four different driver types. More exciting is the part where the fourth driver here is a bone conductor, and not the thing you might be thinking of either. You see, bone conduction drivers (BCDs) have often been used in open-ear TWS earphones that don’t go in the ear at all, but there have been more specialized IEM BCDs used to enhance the user experience by providing an added sense of tactility. This is usually seen in very expensive IEMs, yet the ThieAudio Origin costs well under $1000. This also happens to be my first BCD IEM product review, so let’s thank Linsoul for providing a sample to TechPowerUp and begin with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications

1

on Jan 9th, 2025,

Packaging, Weight, Cable & Feet »

Introduction

LAMZU is a peripherals company based in China. With the ambidextrous Maya X, LAMZU goes beyond merely providing a larger Maya. For the sensor, PixArt’s latest PAW3950 capable of 30,000 CPI is now used, and the main buttons have been outfitted with optical switches from Omron (D2FP-FN2) rated for 70 million clicks. The scroll wheel encoder has a LAMZU branding, but actually comes from F-Switch. At 47 g, the Maya X also manages to weigh the same as the Maya, all while being significantly larger and maintaining the same holeless, open-bottom design. On the Maya X, the 8K wireless dongle is included by default, allowing for true 8000 Hz polling in wireless operation. At 1000 Hz, LAMZU cites a battery life of up to 80 hours, and up to 20 hours at 8000 Hz. The feet are made of pure PTFE, and configuration is possible through a web driver. The Maya X is available in black, white, gray, or purple.

Specifications

LAMZU Maya X
Size:	124 mm x 64 mm x 40 mm
Size (inches):	4.88″ x 2.52″ x 1.57″
Ambidextrous:	Partially (side buttons on left side only)
Weight:	48 g
Number of Buttons:	5+1 (including wheel click)
Main Switches:	Omron D2FP-FN2 (China)
Wheel Encoder:	LAMZU (F-Switch, white/green core), 11 mm
Sensor:	PixArt PAW3950
Resolution:	50–30,000 CPI
Microcontroller Unit:	Nordic nRF52840
Polling Rate:	125/250/500/1000 Hz (wired) 1000/2000/4000/8000 Hz (wireless)
Cable:	1.75 m, braided
Software:	Yes
Price:	$119.99
Warranty:	One year

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