John Higgins is a Los Angeles-based senior reviewer at The Verge covering TVs and audio. Before joining The Verge, he’s been the Senior Editor of AV at Digital Trends and Managing Editor, Tech at Reviewed. During his 20+ year career in publishing, he’s written reviews and features for the New York Times’ Wirecutter, TechRadar, Tom’s Guide, Business Insider, CNET, Sound & Vision, IGN, T3, Projector Central, and Home Theater Magazine, where he got his start in 2003. He is also an ISF Level III-certified display calibrator. Away from his desk, John is a musician with a Masters degree in piano from University of Southern California. He enjoys spending his free time with his wife and son, or playing D&D or video games. Signal: johnhiggins.01
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Verge Score
The $149 AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case have great ANC and finally add swipe volume controls.
The $53 Open Sport 2’s semi-in-ear, open-ear design is sleeker than the $80 Open Sport, with a thinner capsule while keeping the ear hooks. They’re IP55 rated, have nearly twice the battery life as the Open Sport — JLab claims over 44 hours — and will be available later this year.
They’re closed-back cans with 45mm drivers and active noise cancellation. A separate upgrade package includes a low-latency USB-C dongle and detachable boom mic, which sounds like a nice option for gamers. The Aventho Y are $150 and come in black, blue, light green, and peach.
While the Sony D-88 is the first player smaller than a CD, the $100 Fosi Disc Nano I saw at CanJam SoCal is super cool, even if playing a disc while carrying it seems dangerous. It has both 3.5mm and 4.4mm outputs, Bluetooth connectivity, and comes out later this month.
