Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra caused a furore earlier this month for faking photos of the moon. Basically, the smartphone camera’s Scene Optimizer was found to have added details (accurate, btw) of the moon that weren’t present in the subject, a deliberately-blurred photo of the moon. This, of course, sparked debate (MKBHD’s take is spot-on) about the nature of photography in the age of artificial intelligence.
Going by online comments, people were mostly disappointed that they didn’t actually take a great photo of the moon. But outside of photography, many of us seem perfectly happy with AI fixing things, or even outright doing our jobs for us. Everyone’s still using ChatGPT, even if it’s known to hallucinate or invent details, too. But I can see how flat earthers or conspiracy theorists, for example, may not want their phones having a AI-powered fact-checking feature. And you can imagine speech being altered or influenced by AIs peddling a certain mindset — in a dystopian world. Perhaps Samsung’s moon enhancement is a Rorschach test for the amount of AI meddling/assistance that we’re comfortable with.
In our latest reviews, we tested Samsung’s other S23 phones, experienced the speed of Asus’ gaming mesh routers, and had a blast listening to a Sony soundbar.
Samsung has kept a similar design, and retained the same cameras for this year’s Galaxy S23+ and S23 phones. But the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip in these phones makes a big difference. These phones run fast, snappy, and have great battery life, too. Definitely worth considering, especially during a sale.
Asus’ new GT6 gaming mesh router stands out from the competition with features such as a 2.5Gbps port, a USB 3.2 port, and of course, those RGB LEDs. There are also a bunch of gaming features to ensure your device gets the most bandwidth, or lowest latency possible. More importantly, performance is impressive, even for client devices in the distant parts of the home.
The Sony HT-A7000 is a 7.1.2 soundbar with a built-in subwoofer that delivers the goods, while keeping things compact. It supports both Dolby Atmos, and Sony's 360 Spatial Sound (requires additional speakers). You can also add a standalone sub and wireless speakers to further enhance the sound. However, expect to pay a hefty sum for that setup — it’s around S$2,300 for the soundbar alone.