Disney+ is making its first foray into HDR10+ content, but access to this content will be limited at the start. About 1,000 shows from Hulu will be available with this HDR standard, although other programming under the Disney umbrella will add support at an unspecified later date. Samsung, which is a major player behind this standard for high dynamic range video, announced the news. Disney+ will first offer the HDR10+ content on Samsung Crystal UHD TVs and above for models dating back to 2018, as well as select on Samsung Smart Monitors. 

HDR10+ builds on the HDR10 tech for image quality. It's an alternative to Dolby Vision, and both technologies offer viewers a wider range of contrast, brightness and colors on a scene-by-scene basis. (Assuming you have a screen that supports it, of course.) 

Netflix announced the addition of HDR10+ support in March, but a handful of platforms have supported the standard for much longer.

By now, I have a well-established routine when I set up a new pair of Meta smart glasses. I connect my Instagram, WhatsApp and Spotify accounts. I complete the slightly convoluted steps in my Bluetooth settings to make sure Meta AI can announce incoming phone calls and text messages. I tweak the video settings to the highest quality available, and change the voice of Meta AI to "English (UK)" so it can talk to me in the voice of Judi Dench. 

But with the $499 Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses, there's also a new step: deciding what the customizable "action button" should do. The action button isn't even my favorite part of using the glasses, but it's a sign of just how different these shades are from the rest of Meta's lineup. 

While the second-gen Ray-Ban and Oakley HSTN glasses iterated on the same formula Meta has used for the last few years, the Vanguard glasses are refreshingly different. They aren't really meant to be everyday sunglasses (unless you're really committed to your athletic pursuits) but they are in many ways more capable than Meta's other smart glasses. The speakers are louder, the camera has new abilities and they integrate directly with Strava and Garmin. And while these won't replace my go-to sunglasses, there's more than enough to make them part of my fitness routine.

New look, new setup

The sunglasses were very clearly made with athletes in mind. The Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses are the type of shades a lot of people probably think of when they hear "Oakley sunglasses." The wraparound frames with colorful, reflective lenses are the style of glasses you might associate with a high school track coach, or your neighbor who is really serious about cycling.

The pair I tested had black frames and Oakley's orange "Prizm 24K" lenses, which aren't polarized but are favored by a lot of athletes for their ability to dial up the contrast of your surroundings. I was able to comfortably wear my pair in bright, sunny conditions and also in more overcast lower light. I also appreciate that the lenses are swappable, so you can switch them out for a dedicated low-light or different-colored lens depending on your conditions. (Extra lenses cost $85 each and will be available to purchase separately soon, according to Meta.) These glasses don't, however, support prescription lenses of any kind. 

Karissa Bell for Engadget

I realize this style of sunglasses won't be appealing to everyone, but the frame shape does enable a slightly different setup than what we've seen with any of Meta's other smart glasses. Most noticeably, the camera is in the center of the glasses, just above the nosebridge. The LED that lights up when the camera is on is also in the center, near the top of the frames. 

As with Meta's other smart glasses, you can control volume and music playback via a touchpad on the right side of the glasses, but the capture button to take photos and videos is now on the underside of the glasses rather than on top. This is meant to make it a bit easier to reach if you're wearing a hat or helmet, though I found it took me a few tries to get used to the new placement. Behind the capture button is the previously mentioned "action button," which can be customized to trigger specific functions via the Meta AI app. 

Karissa Bell for Engadget

I haven't yet figured out what the best use for the action button is, though I've tried out a few different setups. On one hike, I set it up to automatically call my husband, kind of like a speed dial. During a bike ride, I had it set to record a hyperlapse video. I've also tried it out as a shortcut for launching a specific Spotify playlist or as a general trigger for Meta AI. With all of these, I appreciated that the action button allowed me to do something without saying the "Hey Meta," command. Repeating "hey Meta" to my glasses in public has always felt a bit cringey, so it was nice to have a much more subtle cue available. 

Did I mention it's for athletes?

The Vanguard's athlete-focused features go beyond the sportier frames. The shades come with new integrations for two of the most popular run and bike-tracking platforms: Garmin and Strava. If you have a supported Garmin watch or bike computer, you can set up the glasses to automatically capture video clips based on metrics from your activity, like hitting a particular heart rate zone or other milestone. You can also ask Meta AI directly to tell you about stats from your Garmin watch, like "hey Meta, what's my pace." 

I don't have a Garmin watch, though I did briefly test out some of these features during my hands-on at Meta Connect. I suspect a lot of runners and cyclists may still find it easier to simply glance at their watch to see stats, but having it all available via voice commands doesn't seem like a bad thing either.

Strava's integration isn't quite as deep. If you're tracking a run, hike or ride while wearing the glasses, you can overlay your stats directly onto photos and videos from your activity. This includes metrics like distance and elevation, as well as heart rate if you're also wearing an Apple Watch or other tracker that's connected to the Strava app. Here's what it looks like with a photo from a recent bike ride. 

Karissa Bell for Engadget

I typically don’t share stats from runs or bike rides (usually because they aren't that impressive) but it's a bit more appealing that just sharing a straight Strava screenshot. Another neat feature is that if you share a video, you can watch the stats change in real time alongside your recording. That level of detail isn't particularly interesting for a mostly flat bike ride on a city street, but I can see how it would be a lot more compelling on a more technical trail ride or in a race. 

My only complaint, really, is that Meta has limited these kinds of features to Garmin and Strava's platforms so far. I'd love to have support for my favorite ski-tracking app, Slopes, and I'm sure there are plenty of people who'd be happy to have an integration with their running or workout-tracking app of choice. Meta has announced some plans to bring more third-party apps onto its smart glasses platform so there might be hope here. 

There are other improvements, though, that will be appealing to even casual athletes. The speakers are a lot louder to account for potentially noisy conditions like a congested roadway or high-wind environment. I never had to crank the volume up anywhere near the max during my bike rides or runs, but I can say the speakers were loud and clear enough that I was able to comfortably listen to a podcast with the glasses laying next to me on the couch at full volume.

The new centered camera placement is meant to make it harder for a hat or helmet to interfere with your shots, which has been a consistent issue for me with Meta's other smart glasses. The new position didn't totally solve this — I still found that my bike helmet made it into the top of my pics — but at least it's easier to crop out now that my headgear is centered over the top of my image rather than awkwardly sticking out on one side.

The 12MP ultra-wide camera also comes with new video stabilization settings that make it feel a bit more like a replacement for an action cam. The glasses are set to automatically select a level of stabilization based on your motion, but you can also manually choose between low, medium or high stabilization (stabilization is locked at "medium" if you opt to record in 3K). I've mostly left it with the default settings and have been impressed with the results. 

Karissa Bell for Engadget

The Vanguard glasses are also Meta's first smart glasses that can record hyperlapse and slow-motion video. Hyperlapse should be familiar to Instagram users who used the now-defunct app of the same name to record timelapse clips. Now, you can say "Hey Meta, start a hyperlapse" and the glasses will record a similar sped-up clip. My hyperlapse clips ended up looking a bit jittery, though, compared to the timelapse shots I'm used to getting with my GoPro.  And unfortunately, there's no way to adjust the cadence of the video like you used to be able to with the dedicated app. 

My slow-motion clips, on the other hand, came out better. It's not something I'd expect to use very often during a bike ride or trail run, but the POV angle is great for recording clips of pets or kids. Meta is also planning to bring support for hyperlapse and slow-motion videos to the rest of its glasses lineup, though, so you don't need to get these particular shades to take advantage of the feature.

The other major improvement is battery life. The Vanguard glasses have a notably better battery life compared with the second-gen Ray-Ban glasses or the HSTN frames (probably because the bigger frames allow for a larger battery). According to Meta, the Vanguard glasses can go nine hours on a charge with "typical use" or six hours with continuous audio playback. I was actually able to get a little over six hours of audio on a single charge, so they should hold up pretty well if you're running marathons or competing in longer races. As usual, exact battery life can vary a lot depending on how much you're using more resource-intensive features like video recording or Meta AI.

Karissa Bell for Engadget

I'm especially looking forward to seeing how these glasses will hold up during a day of snowboarding. Meta previously told me that the battery has been optimized for a wider spectrum of temperatures so hopefully the battery won't drain as quickly on the mountain as Meta's other glasses. And with increased water resistance — the shades have an IP67 rating —  I wouldn't worry about dropping them in the snow. 

Should you buy these?

While Meta and EssilorLuxottica have gotten very good at making smart glasses (sorry Mark Zuckerberg, I won't call them "AI glasses,") they are still somewhat of a niche product. And the ultra-sporty Oakley Vanguard glasses are even more niche. At $499, these are also more expensive than other models.

That, understandably, may feel too steep for a pair of sunglasses you're likely only going to wear during specific activities. But if you're a dedicated cyclist, runner, hiker or [insert outdoor activity of your choice], there's a lot to like. The camera makes a lot more sense for action cam-like POV footage, and better video stabilization means you're more likely to get shots you actually want to share. Ready-made Garmin and Strava integrations are practically begging for you to brag about your latest PR or race time, which will certainly appeal to many.

Unless you're a PC nerd like me, chances are you're not familiar with Fractal Design. The company has made a name for itself in recent years by designing some of the best cases you can buy for a DIY build. In a space known for its gaudy aesthetics, Fractal's products stand out for their simplicity. Now the company is entering the crowded audio space with the $200 Scape, a gaming headset that not only looks sophisticated, but also sounds surprisingly great too.  

Design

Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

I mentioned the design of the Scape first, and for good reason. It shows attention to detail, with a lot of thoughtful flourishes. The best of those is the dock that comes included with the headset. It charges the Scape inductively, so there's no need to align any charging pins, and it cleverly houses the headset's 2.4GHz wireless transmitter. When connected to your main PC, the dongle can sit inside the dock, ready to go when you want to use it with your PlayStation 5, PS4, Nintendo Switch or another PC or Mac (sorry, Microsoft fans, there's no Xbox support). The base also has wire channels to make cable management easy.     

Those same thoughtful design touches extend to the headset itself. On the back are four buttons, a dial and a toggle that cover nearly every function of the Scape. You can adjust the volume, mute the built-in mic, switch between 2.4GHz and Bluetooth connectivity, power the headset on or off, turn the RGB lighting on or off and switch between three EQ presets. What’s more, all of the controls feel distinct and are easy to use. There's also a USB-C connection for wired audio and a three-pole headphone jack for the detachable microphone. 

The headset is primarily made of plastic, with a touch of brushed metal. Fractal offers the Scape in two colors — the aptly named light and dark — and despite the company's choice of materials, the headset feels undoubtedly premium. Tilt adjustment is limited — it's not possible to lay the ear pads flat on a table, for example — but the headband offers a fair amount of resistance, adding to the high-end feel.  

That said, the Scape could be more comfortable. Clamping force feels just about right, but there's not enough padding along the top of the headband. I found I could wear the headphones for a few hours, but I eventually had to take them off to relieve the pressure that had built up on the top of my head. I'm also not a fan of the fabric Fractal used for both the headband and ear pads. It feels scratchy and it's not great at dissipating heat. Thankfully, the high-density memory foam beneath is plush and the pads were deep and wide enough to comfortably accommodate my ears. 

Fractal has made it easy to swap the ear pads if needed; they come right off with just a small amount of force. For the time being, the company isn't selling replacements, but a spokesperson told me Fractal will send customers who need new pads a set for free. You just need to contact their support team.           

Sound quality

Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

Out of the box, the Scape's dynamic drivers are tuned to a soft v-shaped curve, with an emphasis on accuracy over character. Bass frequencies are punchy without being bloated, and there's nice detail to mid-focused instruments like guitars. To my ear, the one issue with the Scape's default tuning were the upper mids and treble frequencies. They weren't shouty to the point of being sibilant, but there was definitely a harshness to the vocals of singers like Jeff Buckley and Caroline Polachek who are known for their falsetto. Thankfully, this was easy to fix with the Scape's built-in EQ settings.  

I'll have more to say in the software section of this review, but Fractal's Adjust app allows you to make parametric EQ adjustments. This is different to most gaming headsets, which often limit people to restrictive fixed-band tweaks. Even when I used just five potential points of customization, I found I had a great deal of control over the tonality of the Scape. 

Overall, for casual music listening these are excellent headphones capable of covering many different genres. When it comes to gaming, they're great too — with some caveats. For singleplayer games, the default tunings are an excellent match. Playing Ghost of Tsushima, the Scape did a great job of reproducing the game's immersive sound design, allowing me to soak in all the little audio details Sucker Punch packed into its rendition of 13th century Japan. The soundstaging isn't as expansive and lush as I'm used to with my Sennheiser HD 600, but for a pair of closed-back headphones, it's above average.  

When it comes to competitive first-person shooters, some tweaks are required. I found all the default presets produced too much bass to easily isolate sound cues in games like Valorant. Again, Fractal's software made this simple to fix; however, the Scape can only store three presets. Some gaming headsets, particularly those from Steelseries, come with tunings for hundreds of different games. For the ultra-competitive gamer, this can be useful since every game has a different sound engine. I'm not one of those people, so I found the Scape had just the right amount of customization.   

Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

One feature you won't find on these headphones is active noise cancellation (ANC). Don't get me wrong, ANC is great, but I also didn't feel like the Scape was a worse product without it. My girlfriend is a Pelton fanatic and she does all of her daily classes without wearing headphones in our small apartment. In that situation, the Scape's passive noise isolation was enough to block the loud music coming from those workouts.    

That said, the one area where the Scape could have been better is Bluetooth connectivity. It's a 5.3 headset, but codec support is limited to SBC and AAC. If you've ever tried a pair of wireless headphones only to be disappointed by how they sounded, SBC was probably to blame. When I used the Scape over Bluetooth, there was a subtle difference, but in a beat 'em up like Absolum, the game's excellent sound design was less effective because it sounded more compressed, with more lag between what was happening on-screen and the effects that followed.      

I would have liked to see Fractal support more modern codecs like aptX Adaptive, but given that you need a dongle like the Creative BT-W6 to get access to those protocols on PCs and consoles, I can't fault the company for its decision. Also missing from the Bluetooth equation is multipoint support, meaning I wasn't able to connect the Scape to my PC or Switch and my iPhone at the same time.  

The Scape's detachable microphone is fine but uninspiring. In listening back to a chat I had with some friends over Discord, I found the Scape compressed my voice to the point where there wasn't a lot of life or nuance to it. The optional noise cancellation algorithm does a good job of filtering out nearby commotion, but does so at the expense of adding more compression. You can flip the microphone to mute yourself, and if you're feeling lazy, the Scape also has a built-in mic — though it sounds about as good as you might imagine. Still, it's handy in a pinch.         

Software 

Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

I mentioned Fractal's Adjust software, but what I didn't note is that it's not an app you need to install on your computer. Instead, it's a website you can access through any Chrome-based browser. It's a small thing, but one I really appreciate. I can't count how many times I've had to troubleshoot issues with Windows that were caused by a conflict created by Logitech G Hub or NZXT Cam. 

The web-based software itself is simple, with two pages, named Lighting and Audio, encompassing all the options you can tweak. The Scape comes with 10 lighting themes out of the box, and like the headset itself, these presets are understated and classy. Naturally, you can also create your own lighting schemes, and the tool for doing so is fairly robust. 

Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

When it comes to the EQ adjustments you can make with the Adjust app, the one thing I'll add here is any presets you save are stored on the Scape, so they're available everywhere you want to use the headset. That was great because it meant I didn't need to Alt-Tab out of a game to switch the headset to a more competitive tuning.   

The one area where Fractal's software feels lacking is when it comes to microphone controls. It's possible to adjust sidetone (the volume of your mic input as heard through the headset) and enable microphone noise cancellation, but that’s it. It'd be nice if it was possible to configure those settings for the two mics independently of one another, but the software doesn't support that right now.  

Battery life

According to Fractal, the Scape can go up to 40 hours on a single charge with RGB lighting off. With the feature turned on, battery life drops to about 26 hours. I'll be honest, I had a tough time putting those claims to the test because of how easy it is to charge the headset. As best as I can tell, those estimates are accurate. I managed to get three days of battery life from the Scape with the RGB lights turned on and about eight hours of use each day. 

One nice touch: when you tap the power button, the RGB lights will briefly illuminate to indicate how much battery life the Scape has left. Those same lights will turn off when you place the headset to charge so that they're not distracting.  

The competition

With the Scape, Fractal has entered a crowded market. That said, the Scape is competitive with some of the best gaming headsets you can buy right now. At $200, it's $100 cheaper than the Audeze Maxwell, Engadget's pick for the best premium gaming headset. The Scape doesn't sound as good as the Maxwell or offer LDAC support for Bluetooth connectivity, but it's lighter and charging is easier thanks to the included charging base. If you ask me, the Scape also looks a lot better too. 

If you can't live without ANC, your best bet is Razer's BlackShark V3 Pro, but it costs $50 more and doesn't sound as good as the Scape. You also need to put up with Razer's annoying Synapse software. For the best mic on a gaming headset, my longstanding recommendation has been the $199 Drop PC38X. It also has one of the best default tunings for competitive gaming. However, it's a wired headset, and Drop doesn’t offer a wireless option.    

Wrap-up

Igor Bonifacic for Engadget

If you can't tell by now, I think the Fractal Scape is a great gaming headset. There are models like the Audeze Maxwell that beat it in one or two categories, but for $200 the Scape is an excellent all-around package. Nitpicks about comfort aside, the Scape sounds and looks great. It's also a tremendous first effort by Fractal, and I can't wait to see what the company does next in the audio space and beyond.