Latest news with #TPU
Forbes
6 days ago
- Forbes
Open Ear Vs In-Ear? How These Earbuds Differ And Which Is Best?
Open ear is the new challenger to in-ear headphones. Is there a winner in this battle? Anker Some months ago, I encountered an entirely new format of earphones for the first time in the guise of the open-ear Soundcore C40i earbuds — and they were something of a revelation. As the name suggests, open-ear earbuds are designed specifically to let you hear sounds from the outside world as you listen, while also removing the listening fatigue associated with conventional in-ear designs. With the new open-ear Soundcore AeroClip and the Soundcore Liberty 5 earphones as reference, I thought it was an opportunity to weigh the pros and cons of each technology, so you can decide which works best for you. Open-ear earbuds refer to wireless earphones that clip onto your earlobe rather than inside or over it. A rear section houses ng the battery and Bluetooth tech, while sound chamber sits on the other and both are connected by a band made of Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU), a rubber-like plastic material that is lightweight, flexible and durable. Open ear earbuds has a jewelry-like appearance and let you hear the outside world as you listen. Anker Thanks to what your grandparents would think of as the wonders of 'modern technology' all of this can be contained in a tiny earbud that, in the case of the Soundcore AeroClip , weighs a mere 5.9g. The TPU material enables it to grip your earlobe firmly but without significant pressure, so you can barely feel them, and as there's nothing inside your ear canal and nothing covering your ear, you can barely tell that you're wearing them. The band also doubles up as a touch-sensitive pause and skip button and for accepting calls, which is clever. Looks-wise, the small, rounded band gives the appearance of jewelry, and as an old-fashioned type, it did cross my mind that they may look odd on me, but fortunately, this proved not to be the case, and I didn't get any strange stares — or at least, no more than normal. Ah, but surely, they are going to fall off, you might be thinking. Not so. Much to my surprise, I found that whether pounding the streets on a run, they didn't budge, giving me confidence that I could use them in many situations. That is the case, however, only if you put them on correctly. Put them over your earlobe the wrong way round and they will come off, which I learnt the hard way, when — well, there's no way to sugar coat this — one fell off my ear and into the toilet bowl. Yikes! On the upside, this was a great opportunity to test their IPX4 rating, and after I fished it out, washed and dried it off, the bud showed no ill effects, demonstrating its durability. Air Conduction As the earbuds are some distance away from your ear canal, you might wonder how they work. The answer is the science of conduction, with the angled side-firing speaker driver beaming the sound waves towards the ear canal. As there is no seal over the ear, outside sounds can be picked up as you would expect, so when running or cycling, or crossing the street on the way to the shops, you can hear traffic or be more likely to hear someone approaching you, which is a bonus for safety. Alternatively, you might be secure inside your home but want to be able to hear the doorbell as you wait for that package to arrive. Surround Sound What I wasn't expecting was how good the open-ear Soundcore AeroClips sounded. For such a tiny thing, with no physical contact to the ear, the clear and engaging output seemed almost magical, and as sound isn't being beamed directly into your ears, there was a strange sensation of not being certain if the audio was coming from the smartphone, which meant some slightly panicked checking the first couple of times. Whether for podcast voices or for 'breeze hop' (aka relaxing funky beats, which is a term I think I've just made up) were natural and easy to listen to. Switching things up with Oasis Live at Cardiff and the beefy weight of the guitars and the gravel in Liam's older voice showed their presence. Microphone quality was also fine, as somehow, the tiny AeroClip buds contain four microphones, and my voice came across clearly on a call, even in a crowded restaurant. So, are open ears the perfect solution? Well, not quite. The key feature of being able to hear outside sounds at the same time as your audio is also a downside. When things get too noisy, you simply cannot hear what you're listening to anymore well – and as for using them on the deafening London Underground – forget it. In ear headphones such as the Soundcore Liberty 5 are ideal for when you want to block out the ... More outside world, such as when traveling on the subway. Anker The Benefits of In-Ear This, then, is exactly where a more traditional in-ear headphone design, such as the Liberty 5, comes in. If open earbuds are aimed at letting outside noise in, in-ears are designed to do the opposite, and at just £100 ($100), the Soundcore Liberty 5 earbuds are a great affordable option. At just 4.6g the buds are even lighter than the AeroClip , which is extremely light, and with no open speaker driver, it also allows for a more durable IP55 water and dust resistance rating. However, the bud is directly in your ear so there's no getting away from the fact that you are more aware of it. Sound quality priority While not a 'high-end' earphone, the Liberty 5 s have a strong emphasis on sound quality. To get that, though, you must spend time ensuring that they fit well and that a variety of easy-to-swap tips in different sizes are provided. From previous experience, I had assumed that I had abnormally small ear canals and so went straight for the smallest ones. However, my mistake was flagged up by the 'HearID' sound test routine in the app. This test analyzes your hearing and adjusts the headphones' output but before it starts it checks if your earbud has a proper seal. It promptly informed me that I did not. After correcting this, I immediately noticed an improvement in the sound quality. Once completed, the test determined that I had above-average hearing for my age, so I was happy to forgive being caught out by it. The Liberty 5 s are undoubtedly a step up in audio terms compared to the Aeroclips (especially if your source device supports LDAC), with meatier bass response and clearer detail. The Dolby Sound mode opened podcast audio up nicely, and while you can use custom modes, such as Bass Booster and Acoustic, I'd eschew these and use the Custom EQ mode. It takes time to optimize it, but the result will be worth it, whatever you're into. In-ears will also usually provide active noise cancelling (ANC). While some open-ear buds offer this (which appears contradictory considering that open-ear buds are designed to let sound in), for truly effective ANC, you need a sealed design — and the Liberty 5 s do a good job. The app provides five intensity levels and shortcuts for airplane or vehicle travel and there's also a 'Wind Noise Reduction' setting, which often catches ANC out, so to speak. Finally, there's also a gaming mode, which reduces latency and boosts 'footsteps and voices' at the risk of connection instability. If you do need to hear the outside world, there's a 'Transparency' mode, but you have to manually activate it and it isn't as natural an experience as open-ear buds. So, which is best? What this brief compare-and-contrast tour of open-ear vs in-ear demonstrates is that it isn't a question of better, but more about what you want to prioritize. If you appreciate being able to keep an ear on your surroundings, then open ear is the way to go, but there's no getting around that in a noisy environment, such as an office, they may not work. And while I love the airy feel of the open ears, there's no doubt that for non-causal listening, you'll get more from an in-ear design. That said, you will have to accept that, while it's not uncomfortable, you'll still be aware that there is something in your ear. There is, it turns out, no such thing as a free lunch. As such, you may need both open Ear and in-ear earbuds. It's fortunate, then, that Soundcore offers affordable options, so you can pick up both of these for less than the price of high-end options from other brands, which, in these cash-strapped times, should be music to your ears. Further reading Forbes Soundcore C40i Earbuds Review: No Noise Canceling — No Fear By Benny Har-Even Forbes NuraTrue Pro Cuts Cords But Not Corners With CD-Quality Lossless Audio Over Wireless By Benny Har-Even Forbes Acefast Acefit Pro Open-Ear Headphones Review By Benny Har-Even
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Could This Surprise Company Become Nvidia's Biggest Competitor?
Nvidia is currently the clear leader in AI infrastructure. However, Alphabet may be a surprise contender to become its biggest competitor. The company started renting out its TPU chips earlier this year, and OpenAI has begun testing them. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has long been the dominant player in the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure market. Its graphics processing units (GPUs) are the main chips used to power AI workloads, while its CUDA software platform has helped create a wide moat. However, if there is a surprise company that can challenge Nvidia, it's Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG). Today, most companies running AI workloads use Nvidia's chips. However, Alphabet has turned to its own in-house chips called Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) to help reduce costs and improve performance. Alphabet uses TPUs internally for AI workloads, but it also rents the chips to outside developers. It was initially reported that OpenAI was renting Alphabet's TPUs to help run ChatGPT, although the company has since said it is just testing the chips and not looking to deploy them at scale at this time. Nonetheless, this is a big development. OpenAI is one of Nvidia's largest customers and a Google rival, and the fact that it is looking at Alphabet's TPUs demonstrate the capabilities and cost advantages its chips can provide. What makes TPUs so compelling is that they are specifically designed for Google's infrastructure, giving them advantages in latency, scalability, and cost. As the market starts to shift toward AI inference, Alphabet's TPUs could become a better choice than GPUs. Meanwhile, Alphabet recently introduced a TPU specifically designed for inference called Ironwood in April. Alphabet's vertical integration also gives it a potential edge. It's one of the few companies that can offer custom AI chips, a top-tier cloud-computing platform, and a full software platform. Nvidia may dominate GPUs, but it doesn't offer a cloud-computing platform. This is something that Alphabet can take advantage of, especially with inference where pricing and latency are more important considerations. The market backdrop is also favorable for Alphabet. Spending on AI infrastructure is expected to remain strong, with Nvidia projecting global data center capital expenditures (capex) to surpass $1 trillion by 2028. At the same time, many experts are predicting that inference will become a much larger market than model training. AI inference is much less technically challenging than AI training, which helps negate some of Nvidia's CUDA advantage. This could lead to more companies looking for chips that can provide cheaper costs per inference compared to GPUs. That said, it isn't likely that Alphabet is going to ever to take a huge amount of share away from Nvidia. However, even small share gains in inference workloads could be a big boost for Google Cloud. That's because TPU adoption would directly feed into Google Cloud usage as well. Google Cloud has been growing revenue quickly, with revenue climbing 28% year over year last quarter to $12.3 billion. More importantly, segment profitability has hit an inflection point, with segment operating income soaring 142% to $2.2 billion. TPUs help boost Google Cloud's profits, not just by bringing in new customers but by lowering costs as well. And it doesn't stop just with chips. Alphabet has also developed all-optical switches that significantly reduce the power consumption and cost of TPUs. This gives the company strong operating leverage that the market currently isn't appreciating. Right now, Alphabet trades at a discount to other AI leaders, with a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 18 times based on current year analyst estimates. Investors still largely view it as a search company whose core business could be disrupted by AI, while ignoring the big advantages in search it has with its distribution and global ad network reach. They also underestimate the company's strong AI offerings. Gemini is consistently ranked as one of the top AI models in independent tests, and its app has seen downloads surge. It also has the best text-to-video generator on the market with Veo 3 and is incorporating AI features into its search offering. And let's not forget the company also owns the world's most-viewed streaming platform in YouTube, and its Waymo robotaxi business has been seeing strong momentum. Alphabet's TPUs are another big potential growth driver. Nvidia's lead is massive, but if Alphabet can land a major customer like OpenAI and expand TPU adoption, it has a chance to become one of Nvidia's biggest competitors in inference in the future. And if that happens, Alphabet's stock should move meaningfully higher. Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $692,914!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $963,866!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,049% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 179% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 30, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Could This Surprise Company Become Nvidia's Biggest Competitor? was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
See - Sada Elbalad
30-06-2025
- Science
- See - Sada Elbalad
Russian scientists develop model to extend battery lifespan
By Ahmad El-Assasy Researchers at Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU), together with colleagues from Novosibirsk, have developed a digital model that allows real-time assessment and adjustment of battery operating conditions in electric buses. According to TV BRICs , this innovation can significantly increase battery life by accurately accounting for thermal and electrical processes. This is reported by the official website of the Russian Ministry of Education. The model was created as a result of comprehensive research, including field tests of transport, collection of operational data and mathematical modelling of battery degradation processes. Key parameters were taken into account: charge level, temperature fluctuations, number of passengers and speed of movement. "Our model combines physical and chemical modelling, statistics and neural network approaches. It adapts to specific routes, taking into account climate and charging modes, which allows us to optimise battery performance in real time," explained project leader Nikita Martushev, associate professor at the TPU School of Information Technology and Robotics. Field tests were conducted on urban and suburban routes, during which dozens of parameters were recorded, from charge level and temperature to engine torque. Based on the data obtained, the scientists built a mathematical model of the traction system that allows them to assess the impact of temperature and electrical modes on battery wear. The results showed that a 15°C increase in temperature reduces battery life by 30 per cent, and operation at 43°C reduces it by almost half. Accelerated charging or discharging twice as fast as normal reduces the battery life by 30 per cent, and four times faster reduces it by 47 per cent. The study also identified the optimal operating conditions: a charge level of 25% to 65% and a temperature range of 20–30°C. Additional charging stations along the route allow battery heating to be controlled and significantly slow down their wear and tear. read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Videos & Features Tragedy Overshadows MC Alger Championship Celebration: One Fan Dead, 11 Injured After Stadium Fall Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks Videos & Features Video: Trending Lifestyle TikToker Valeria Márquez Shot Dead during Live Stream News Shell Unveils Cost-Cutting, LNG Growth Plan Technology 50-Year Soviet Spacecraft 'Kosmos 482' Crashes into Indian Ocean Arts & Culture "6 Ayam" Sets Streaming Date
CNA
27-06-2025
- Business
- CNA
OpenAI turns to Google's AI chips to power its products, source says
OpenAI has recently begun renting Google's artificial intelligence chips to power ChatGPT and its other products, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Friday. The ChatGPT maker is one of the largest purchasers of Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs), using the AI chips to train models and also for inference computing, a process in which an AI model uses its trained knowledge to make predictions or decisions based on new information. OpenAI planned to add Google Cloud service to meet its growing needs for computing capacity, Reuters had exclusively reported earlier this month, marking a surprising collaboration between two prominent competitors in the AI sector. For Google, the deal comes as it is expanding external availability of its in-house tensor processing units (TPUs), which were historically reserved for internal use. That helped Google win customers including Big Tech player Apple as well as startups like Anthropic and Safe Superintelligence, two ChatGPT-maker competitors launched by former OpenAI leaders. The move to rent Google's TPUs signals the first time OpenAI has used non-Nvidia chips meaningfully and shows the Sam Altman-led company's shift away from relying on backer Microsoft's data centers. It could potentially boost TPUs as a cheaper alternative to Nvidia's GPUs, according to the Information, which reported the development earlier. OpenAI hopes the TPUs, which it rents through Google Cloud, will help lower the cost of inference, according to the report. However, Google, an OpenAI competitor in the AI race, is not renting its most powerful TPUs to its rival, The Information said, citing a Google Cloud employee. Google declined to comment while OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters when contacted. Google's addition of OpenAI to its customer list shows how the tech giant has capitalized on its in-house AI technology from hardware to software to accelerate the growth of its cloud business.
Tom's Guide
15-06-2025
- Tom's Guide
I've been sitting in this ergonomic office chair for two months — and my back has never felt better
The Hinomi X1 is an ergonomic office chair with an almost all-mesh design and a butterfly-style split backrest that's designed to keep you sitting upright with good posture while offering plenty of support for your back. Unlike many other office chairs, this one is available in three different sizes to better cater to both shorter and taller users. Available in gray, black and pink, there aren't any other customization options besides the chair's color and size. Instead of using mesh like the Hinomi X1's seat, upper backrest and headrest, its adaptive lumbar support is made from Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU), which gives it a softer, more flexible feel and allows it to wrap around your lower back. When combined with its butterfly-style split backrest, the X1's adaptive lumbar support provides excellent back support along with plenty of comfort. Its mesh material allows for plenty of airflow to keep you cool, though it isn't soft to the touch and feels more durable than some other mesh office chairs I've tested. The Hinomi X1 also features numerous adjustment points (15 in fact) to help you lock-in the perfect fit, even if doing so might take some time. When you want to relax, there's a pull-out footrest underneath its seat, and the chair can recline up to 135 degrees. There's a lot to like here, but those looking for a simpler office chair might be overwhelmed by all these extra features and adjustments. Plus, you need to make sure you choose the right-sized chair for your height. My Hinomi X1 review will help you decide if this is the best office chair for your needs and workspace, or if it's worth spending less for something with a more basic design. Price $729 to $759 Height range 41.7 to 53.5 inches (small), 43.3 to 55.9 inches (medium), 44.1 to 55.6 inches (large) Seat width 19.7 inches Seat depth 19.7 to 21.7 inches Maximum load 330 pounds Maximum recline 135 degrees Weight 73 pounds Material Mesh, aluminum alloy Adjustment points 15 Warranty 12-year The Hinomi X1 has quite a lot going for it, from its simple assembly process to all the extra support offered by i The X1 ergonomic office chair sent over by Hinomi for review arrived in a single, though heavy, large box. Everything was packed inside very neatly and securely, with all the parts covered in bubble wrap to keep them safe during shipping. One thing that really stood out to me was that instead of your standard instruction booklet, Hinomi uses a large poster that's very easy to read. With everything unboxed and all the packaging out of the way, I was left with the chair's seat with the armrests and footrest pre-attached, the backrest, the headrest and its aluminum alloy frame. The casters (wheels) and smaller parts were neatly packed into separate boxes, which even included a pair of white gloves to help me avoid getting stains from the chair's gas cylinder. Putting the X1 together was a fairly straightforward process that started with attaching the chair's backrest to its seat using an Allen key. From there, I inserted the casters into its base along with its cylinder and placed its seat on top. Finally, I attached the adjustable headrest to the top of the chair. All told, assembling the X1 took about 30 minutes, but it would have only taken 15 to 20 minutes if I wasn't stopping to take pictures throughout the process. As an ergonomic office chair, adjustability is a key, but the X1's design heavily emphasizes back support, making it equally important. Just like the OdinLake Butterfly Ergo 753 or the Sihoo Doro S300, the X1 has a split, butterfly-style backrest and is certainly a hefty office chair at 73 pounds when fully assembled. The X1 immediately stands out when compared to those two chairs, as instead of a full-mesh backrest, its adaptive lumbar support is made from TPU and is also split into two parts. In my testing, I found that Hinomi's decision to use TPU allowed the X1's lumbar support to be both softer and more flexible than most mesh. It also hugs your lower back when sitting straight in the chair, but slightly bends when you shift to either side. The X1's backrest is adjustable, too, and like with the X-Chair X3, you can lift it up to change its height. This allows you to line up the chair's adaptive lumbar support with the small of your back. However, you do want to make sure you pick the right size X1 for your height (more on that later). The upper part of the X1's backrest is also split into two parts. There is some give to the upper backrest, which allows it to move with you as you shift from side to side. The panels themselves are concave, which I found helped support my upper back and shoulders while my spine rested comfortably in the small gap between them. At the back of the X1, there's a U-shaped piece of aluminum that adds some extra stability to its frame, which contrasts nicely with the flexibility of its mesh upper backrest and its adaptive lumbar support below. If you suffer from back pain or just want to improve your posture, the X1 is an easy office chair to recommend for both scenarios. Although you often have to purchase one separately with other, cheaper office chairs like the Branch Verve Chair or even the significantly more expensive Haworth Fern, Hinomi includes one in the box with the X1. Its headrest is also very adjustable and can be raised or lowered, tilted forward or back and even rotated. I don't think I've tried an office chair with a headrest this adjustable yet. On the right side of the X1, there are two small levers that are used to adjust the chair's height as well as the depth of its seat. Underneath them, though, there's a black bar that you turn forward or backward to adjust the chair's tilt tension while reclining, and this is definitely an office chair you're going to want to lean back in. The X1 has a single lever on the left side and this is used to lock the chair's backrest in place. When you release it, you can recline back up to 135 degrees. If you plan on taking a rest and reclining for a bit, there's also a footrest that pulls out from underneath the X1's seat. While I spent most of my time either working or playing games while testing this office chair, I did find the footrest to be an excellent and extremely comfortable addition while reclining. Another thing that sets the X1 apart from similarly priced and even more expensive chairs is its 6D armrests. You can adjust their height, width, depth and, most importantly, their tilt both at the back and at the front. allows them to tilt up as you recline. Likewise, you can also rotate them 270 degrees for a steeper angle, and I found that this made playing one of the best handheld gaming consoles — like the new Nintendo Switch 2 — very comfortable while sitting in the X1. That way, instead of craning my neck down to see its screen, I could raise the device up closer to eye level while my elbows remained planted firmly on the X1's armrests. With 15 points of adjustment, the Hinomi X1 is easy to tailor to a wide variety of body types and sitting positions. However, besides the armrests, which take some time to get used to, the rest of the chair's adjustments are easy to learn and remember. Hinomi makes this a bit easier, since the levers on the side have cutouts in them that depict which part of the chair they're used to adjust. The Hinomi X1 is a great ergonomic chair, but it isn't without its downsides. This includes potential confusion over its multiple size options and that there's no way to lock its armrests in place. The Hinomi X1 is available in three different sizes, and the one that's right for you depends entirely on your height. The small version is ideal for users from 5'1' to 5'6' tall, the medium version is best suited for those between 5'6' to 6'1' in height and the larger version is for users from 5'9' to 6'6' in height. It's worth noting that all three sizes of the X1 have a maximum weight capacity of 330 pounds. Another popular office chair that uses a similar sizing structure is the Herman Miller Aeron. However, when moving up from the small to the medium or large versions of that more premium chair, the weight limit jumps up from 300 pounds to 350 pounds. While I appreciate the fact that Hinomi does offer different-sized versions of the X1, I could easily see potential buyers getting confused and accidentally ordering the wrong one. The company does offer free returns for 30 days after purchase, just in case this ends up happening or you want to move up or down a size after the fact. As someone who's 5'4', I tested the small version of the X1, so I can't say if there are any other differences between the various sizes of this office chair. One thing that could help clear up this confusion is by offering cylinders with different heights, like BodyBilt does with its Classic 2500 Series and other chairs. If you are considering the X1, just make sure that you order the right size for your height, and for the best ergonomic experience, you don't want to exaggerate how tall you are either. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the X1's 6D armrests, and I really like how you can adjust them to your liking for the task at hand. I really liked having them flat while working or tilted upward while leaning back and playing games on either a console or a handheld. However, I just wish there were a way to lock them in place. At first glance, you might think that the adjustment pin directly underneath the armrest would be used for this. Unfortunately, it's used to lock the armrest in place so that they don't tilt up when you put your elbow's weight on their rear. While certainly useful, I think having a similar mechanism to prevent the armrests from turning horizontally would have been a better choice for myself and others, especially as this is a common complaint with the X1. Keep in mind too that other office chairs with less adjustable 4D armrests suffer from this same problem. For instance, back when I reviewed the X-Chair X2, I outfitted that chair with the company's optional 4D armrests. I loved their flexibility, but just like on the X1, it was too easy to accidentally move them when getting up and out of the chair. Fortunately, with the X1, if you put your forearms and elbows down straight when you sit in the chair, its armrests do remain in place. It's a different story if you grip the front of the armrests with your hands, though, as doing so immediately makes them turn to the left or to the right. The Hinomi X1 is an excellent ergonomic office chair and a great choice for anyone who suffers from back pain or wants to stop slouching forward in their chair. You rarely see a chair with 15 adjustment points, as most offer between 8 to 10. At the same time, if you want a firmer lumbar support mechanism that still has a good bit of flexibility, the X1 certainly fits the bill. At $729 to $759, depending on where you purchase it, the X1 is on the expensive side compared to one of the best budget office chairs. Still, for a chair with a split, butterfly-style backrest, it's actually more affordable than both the Sihoo Doro S-300 ($799) and the OdinLake Ergo Butterfly 753 ($999). I wouldn't recommend the X1 to those who just started working from home or are putting a desk setup together for the first time, as this isn't a starter chair. Instead, the X1 is the kind of chair you get as an upgrade after you realize what you want in an office chair, or if you find that your current chair just doesn't offer the kind of back support you want. After thoroughly testing and using the X1 for just over two months while both working and gaming, I can easily recommend it to those willing to make an investment in their health and well-being and in their workspace. There are certainly cheaper office chairs out there, but this one delivers a supportive and comfortable experience without the premium price tag you'd find on a chair from Steelcase or Herman Miller.
