Meta’s new hand tracking feature almost feels like touching the future

Meta’s new hand tracking feature almost feels like touching the future

Meta’s promotional art for Direct Touch. | Image: Meta

Meta is testing what could become a foundational upgrade to its Quest VR headsets: a way to tap and scroll on virtual elements with only your hands, no controllers required. The idea is that you’ll be able to do actions you might already be familiar with from your smartphone, like swiping up and down a page, pressing a button to activate it, or typing on an onscreen keyboard, using just your fingers in the air.

The new experimental feature is called “Direct Touch,” and it’s included with the Quest v50 software update that’s rolling out now. After weeks of waiting, the update finally arrived for me, so, of course, I immediately flipped it on.

When hand tracking is on, the Quest 2 uses its external-facing cameras to follow your hands, and inside the headset, you’ll see them in VR as dark hand-like shadows. (CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s video of Direct Touch, which looks to be taken from a Quest Pro, shows more hand / arm detail.) You can use those shadows to approximate when your hand will “touch” a menu or window in front of you. With Direct Touch, when you make “contact,” things will start to scroll or light up. Scrolling is jerky, but it’s usually more responsive than I thought it would be.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mark Zuckerberg (@zuck)

Typing with Direct Touch, however, sucks. When you tap on a part of the UI where you can to input text, the Quest’s onscreen keyboard pops up under the window, and you can “press” individual keys to spell things out. But since there’s no physical place to rest your hands or fingers, it’s hard to have any idea of where — or what — you’re actually typing. (Imagine the lack of feedback you get with the iPad’s onscreen keyboard, and then imagine there’s no glass.) Even when I resort to VR hunt-and-peck to futilely write even a single word, the UI sometimes thinks that I pressed a different key than the one I intended. Fortunately, the keyboard does suggest words as you’re typing, which can help in a pinch.

The bad typing and decent scrolling mean that the Quest web browser is perhaps the best showcase of the Direct Touch controls. If I fudge up the spelling of a web search, the search engine is probably going to fix it. Scrolling up and down works well enough, as does tapping on links. Weirdly, The Verge’s homepage doesn’t scroll past our Top Stories list on the Quest’s browser for some reason, but tapping any one of the six stories I can actually see works better than I expected.

If you’d like to see me actually trying to use the browser, I filmed it for you:

Most other built-in Quest apps that I tried were at least usable with Direct Touch, but many apps from the Quest Store, including Meta’s own Horizon Worlds VR social network, haven’t been updated to work with just your hands. They wouldn’t even open unless I had a controller. I certainly wasn’t expecting apps like Beat Saber to be better when I was controller-free, but I was hoping I’d at least have the option to mess around with them.

Right now, it’s clear why Direct Touch is labeled an experiment. With every mid-air poke, I can’t quite trust that my hand is actually going to “touch” a virtual piece of the Quest’s UI, so using it for longer than a few minutes at a time quickly gets frustrating. Holding out my arms in space just to move around the UI gets tiring after a while, too. Meta’s other controller-free hand gestures, which involve pinching, are generally more reliable, though I find them less intuitive.

The idea of Direct Touch is extremely cool

That all being said, I still think the idea of Direct Touch is extremely cool. Scrolling and tapping on virtual surfaces in my VR headset makes me feel like I’m living out some kind of sci-fi dream, even if my words-per-minute plummets by 99 percent and I don’t think that any of my taps will work the way I expect. When Direct Touch works as intended, using my hands is also way more convenient than using the Quest’s controllers. I know that’s a major asterisk, but just popping on the headset and scrolling through something with my hands removes a lot of friction I normally associate with putting on the Quest. (That said, because Direct Touch is so finicky, I have to make sure the controllers are nearby anyway.)

It’s also obvious to see where this technology could go, especially if Meta’s still-years-away AR glasses actually come to fruition. While wearing those glasses out in the world, you probably won’t want to also have a controller or two when you could just use your hands. And we may not just be working with Meta devices with our hands in the air; Apple’s long-rumored mixed reality headset may let users type on onscreen keyboards, so it seems possible that Apple is exploring these sorts of interactions as well.

For now, I’m largely going to stick with using the Quest’s controllers. But if I just need to check something quickly on my headset, I may leave the controllers on the table and try to accomplish it with my hands instead. It might take three times as long, but it’s a heck of a lot cooler.

A first look at using iMessage from a PC with Microsoft’s Phone Link app

A first look at using iMessage from a PC with Microsoft’s Phone Link app

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is gradually rolling out an updated Phone Link app that finally lets you couple an iPhone to a Windows PC. I got access to the new Phone Link version yesterday and immediately paired my iPhone 14 Pro with my PC to send and receive messages via iMessage, make calls, and see the notifications from my phone alongside my usual PC ones.

Android users have been able to do all of this this and much more with Phone Link for years, but iPhone users like myself have had to sit by and watch on with envy. The new Phone Link update for iOS is very basic though and literally only supports making and receiving calls, sending and receiving messages to single contacts and not groups (via iMessage), and viewing and dismissing notifications. You can’t do any fancy stuff like running phone apps on your PC or mirroring your phone’s display.

Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge

Sending and receiving messages via iMessage on a Windows PC with Phone Link.

The setup process between iPhone and PC is simple. Phone Link prompts you to scan a QR code from your iPhone to link it to Windows, which automatically opens a lightweight App Clip version of Phone Link on iOS to complete the Bluetooth pairing. Once paired, you have to take some important steps to enable contact sharing over Bluetooth, enable “show notifications,” and allow system notifications to be shared to your PC over Bluetooth. These settings are all available in the Bluetooth options for the device you paired to your iPhone.

When you receive a message that was sent via iMessage it will appear in Phone Link and you can reply and it will also be sent via iMessage so those all-important blue bubbles don’t get broken. But the experience isn’t ideal. You don’t get a full message history here, which means you’ll only see messages from when your PC was on and paired to your iPhone. Notifications for messages also still appear on your phone, so you might get done messaging someone and still see a notification for a message you’ve already read on your PC.

Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge

Notifications from your iPhone on Windows.

Every time I reboot my PC or close the Phone Link app, the history is fully wiped. So this is only good as a backup to send and receive messages while you’re at your PC. If you message a lot of people through iMessage then you’ll have to remember the conversations you were having before sending messages here. That’s a bad user experience for Phone Link, but unfortunately it’s an Apple restriction that Microsoft has no control over.

Microsoft’s Phone Link works by sending messages over Bluetooth to contacts. Apple’s iOS then intercepts these messages and forces them to be sent over iMessage, much like how it will always automatically detect when you’re sending a message to an iPhone and immediately switch it to blue bubbles and not the green ones sent via regular SMS. Phone Link intercepts the messages you receive through Bluetooth notifications and then shows these in the client on Windows.

Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge

You get a full call history with Phone Link.

It’s all a neat workaround but the limitations also mean you can’t use this for group conversations. You’ll only be able to send and receive messages to individuals. As someone who doesn’t live in the US, I barely use iMessage so this is just a useful way to intercept delivery messages or when someone forgets to send a message via WhatsApp. But for people who rely on iMessage every day, I think the lack of message history will be very irritating.

Elsewhere, calling works just as you’d expect. I can now use my XLR microphone to speak to people, and answer calls on my PC without touching my iPhone. That’s a neat upgrade, even if Bluetooth does add a tiny bit of latency to calls. You can also choose to transfer a call back to your iPhone if you want to leave your PC, or simply pick up your phone and switch the call options there.

Screenshot by Tom Warren / The Verge

You can easily transfer calls between an iPhone and a Windows PC.

I’m also really enjoying seeing my phone notifications from my PC. There have been plenty of times where I’ve missed important notifications because I’m busy working on my PC, or I finish up work and have to clear through a ton of notifications on my phone. Now I can just manage them as they come in, and if I clear any on my PC that’s immediately cleared on my phone too. You can also mute notifications from certain phone apps from showing up on your PC, but they’ll still show just fine on your iPhone.

One thing I’d like to see in Phone Link is photos integration. Microsoft already offers iCloud Photos integration right inside the Windows 11 Photos app, so it would be great to see this extend to here eventually.

Microsoft is still rolling out this new Phone Link app to Windows Insiders in the Dev, Beta, and Release Preview channels. Once testing is complete, all Windows 11 users should get access to the updated app in the coming months.

What to bring on your next 2,600-mile walk

What to bring on your next 2,600-mile walk

Imagine this but around 10 times grander.

Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail or anything like it takes a lot of research and gear. So what would a research and weight-obsessive tech writer bring?

It’s that time of year again. Winter, in the places it actually exists, is slowly starting to turn into spring, and it feels like the time to start making summer plans. For lots of people, that means heading outside to do some hiking.

Personally, I’m planning on doing a bit of that myself: over the next few months I, and thousands of other people, will be attempting to walk from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail, which spans around 2,650 miles through California, Oregon, and Washington. There’ll also be people doing a similar journey in different places, such as the Appalachian Trail on the East Coast, the Continental Divide Trail through the Rockies, or any number of slightly shorter regional hikes like the Florida, Colorado, or Pacific Northwest trails.

I’m sure everyone reading right now would absolutely love spending four to six months in the wilderness, walking upward of 25 miles a day over steep terrain. But doing so requires a lot of equipment, and it can be hard to know what to bring or where to even start researching.

Hikers attempting to “thru-hike” a trail need to pack the gear necessary to stay alive — shelter, appropriate clothing, ways to cook food and protect it from animals — and know how to use it. Poor planning can lead to a miserable experience on the trail that could prematurely end someone’s hike or even put their life in danger if things go really wrong. And while good planning doesn’t guarantee that you’ll finish the entire trail — statistically, most people who set out to do a thru hike don’t succeed (I’m built different though, surely) — it sets you up to have an enjoyable and relatively safe experience, no matter how far you make it.

And besides, even if you’re not looking to actually hike the trail yourself, who doesn’t love a good gear post?

This is more or less everything I’ll be living with for the next few months — check the alt text for a full list.

As a note, while this list is just so long, it’s not necessarily 100 percent complete. It has all the important things, and I bought the specific gear I mention and link to based on research I’ve been doing over the past four years. But while I’ve hiked hundreds of miles with it already, I wouldn’t say that anyone should replicate my setup exactly. What you take on a hike like this is a deeply personal decision, and you should probably take a look at several lists before deciding on gear for yourself.

Plus, at roughly 11 pounds, my pack is way too heavy for the true ultralight purists, and it omits some comfort items — a pillow, camp shoes, sleep clothes, and a midlayer / fleece, to name a few — that more traditional backpackers would consider essential. The truest compromise is the one where everyone makes fun of you.

By the way, if you want a TL;DR list of the stuff I’m taking with no extra info, you can check out this site called LighterPack. (Yes, pretty much every enthusiast community has its own special site for creating databases; it’s just how nerds roll, even outdoorsy ones.) You can also listen to me chat about the PCT with my colleague David Pierce on The Vergecast, if you’re into that sort of thing.

With that out of the way, let’s get started:

Tech

Of course this had to come first; this is The Verge after all. I’m planning on almost entirely disconnecting from the internet at large during my hike, but my friends and family would prefer to hear from me every once in a while — and would also like me to have digital maps and a way to contact emergency services if something goes wrong.

To that last point, I’m bringing the Garmin InReach Mini, a satellite communicator that lets me text and get weather forecasts during the very frequent stretches without cell service on the trail. It also lets my family track my hike in near real time because it’s logging my position every few minutes and sending it up to the satellites. With reasonable tracking settings and relatively light texting, it’ll last around five days between charges.

I’m also, obviously, bringing a smartphone; we don’t need to talk about which one here because it would be a whole thing. I’ve been told by PCT alumni that you can usually only expect to run into cell service once or twice throughout the day, so for the most part, it’ll be an offline source for maps, podcasts, and music. Plus, it’s good to have a phone when you’re in town and can use Google Maps to find grocery stores and hotels.

There are a few apps that I consider vital, even though I know people have hiked the trail decades before they were available. First and foremost is an app called FarOut, which acts as a map for the PCT, pointing out landmarks, campsites, water sources, and more, as well as a sort of thru-hiker bulletin board. People can leave comments on waypoints saying things like “this water source has dried up, use the next one in four miles” or “this campsite / hostel has ants, stay away.”

Writing even a single sentence with this system takes so much effort.

There’s also the InReach’s companion app, which lets me text without having to use the actual device’s terrible typing experience, Pocket Casts for on-trail podcast listening, Seek for identifying plants, and PeakFinder for identifying mountains.

Another thing I’ve decided to bring is a Canon G7X Mark II, a point-and-shoot with a largish sensor. I like the pictures that come out of it way better than any phone camera I’ve seen, and I don’t think any software tricks or periscope lenses are going to hold a candle to a physical 24–120mm-equivalent zoom lens. Given that this hike is probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I want to make sure that I won’t be distracted by crappy night mode or overdone HDR if I look back at pictures from it in 10 or 20 years. I’m also bringing a tiny tripod that I’m pretty sure could double as a tent stake in an emergency.

Keeping all that powered in the multiday stretches between towns will be a Nitecore NB20000 powerbank. As its name implies, it has a 20,000mAh capacity, which should charge my phone around five times. (Given how little I’ll be using it, that’s probably around a week’s worth of charging — or more if I stretch it.)

The Anker charger will take up a single power socket — and when hikers congregate, those can be scarce. Also, yes, unfortunately that is a Micro USB cable. The Garmin and flashlight use it.

It also has a few features that other comparable chargers don’t have. For one, it’s made out of carbon fiber, which keeps the weight down. It also does passthrough charging, so when I get to town, I can plug it and my phone into my two-port Anker power brick, then plug my InReach into the battery, and all three devices will charge up at the same time.

Most of this stuff will live in a ziplock bag placed in another waterproof bag because I don’t want to take any chances with rain and river crossings.

A backpack made of recycled materials

Having a good backpack is essential for backpacking (duh), so for the PCT, I’ve gone with one that’s both simple and lightweight while still being durable enough to last a few thousand miles.

Part of what makes my pack of choice, the Waymark Thru 40 UL, fit for the task comes down to what it’s actually made of. The main body is sewn from a material called Ecopak. According to the company that makes the fabric, Challenge Sailcloth, it’s made of polyester and film that’s 100 percent recycled from water bottles. It also happens to be water resistant, so it should keep all my stuff dry (though I do put my most critical pieces of gear into a plastic liner just in case water manages to soak through the seams). There’s a reason Ecopak and the similar Ultra fabric have gotten so popular with small backpack companies.

One of my favorite features of this backpack is the big stretchy pocket at the front — that bad boy can fit so many various items.

The pack itself is basically just one giant pocket: a tube made out of Ecopak to shove things into. All you get in terms of organization are two open pockets on the side (I keep water bottles in them) and a mesh pocket on the back, which is where I store a variety of things, like my electronics bag and wind pants. Oh, and there are loops to hold an ice axe and trekking poles when you’re not actively using them. I’ve also added two pockets to the shoulder straps. One’s for an easy-to-access water bottle, and I’ll put my phone, earbuds, chapstick, and other miscellaneous things in the other.

Overall, it has around 40L of carrying capacity. Unfortunately, you can’t buy this exact pack anymore. Right after I got mine, Waymark updated the Thru to add an internal frame and what appears to be a nonremovable padded hipbelt. While those changes definitely make the pack more comfortable when you’re carrying a heavy load, they also made it a full 10 ounces heavier. I’m happy I got mine when I did, though I do wonder if frameless 40L packs seem to be going out of style for a reason. (You can still get them if you look hard enough — Atom Packs and LiteAF have some options.)

A place to sleep

Unless you’re a hardcore backpacker, you may be surprised to learn that some people don’t even use tents, opting instead for an ultralightweight tarp that leaves them mostly open to the world, while still protecting them from wind and rain.

Home away from home.

That ain’t me, though — I want to be protected from bugs and mountain lions (and I don’t want to hear your opinions on how much a tent would do to stop a hungry animal). So I’m bringing the Zpacks Duplex, a two-person tent that sets up using trekking poles rather than requiring its own set of poles that you have to carry around in your backpack.

The reason I went with a two-person tent, even though I’m relatively weight conscious, is that it’s only around 200 grams heavier than Zpacks’ lightest one-person tent, and it comfortably fits me, my inflatable sleeping pad, and my backpack. That means that, if it rains, I won’t have to be worried about keeping all my gear dry.

It’s also made of a high-tech fabric called Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF), which has the benefit of being both extremely lightweight and exceptionally water resistant, especially compared to traditional nylon or polyester tents. (In principle, it’s kind of similar to Ecopak, but it’s significantly lighter.) If you look into DCF at all, you’ll probably see claims about it being “the world’s strongest fiber,” but realistically, the biggest draw is that it weighs next to nothing and is generally durable enough to withstand the conditions you’d encounter on a thru hike. Sure, there are claims that it’s stronger than steel, but there’s more to durability than how hard you can pull on a material before it rips — and there’s probably a reason that mountaineering tents generally use heavier-weight fabrics. For my purposes, though, it’s good enough.

So if the Duplex and other tents like it are so great, why doesn’t everyone use them? It’s exactly the reason you might expect: cost (and also maybe concerns about condensation). Zpacks charges $699 for just the tent — you still have to buy trekking poles and eight (!!!) stakes. The company also says it’s built to last for “at least one full 2500-plus mile thru hike.” So yes, if I wanted to do another one of these, there’s a very real possibility I’d have to buy a whole new tent.

But man... 581 grams is tough to argue with, especially when a two-person tent that’s made with more traditional materials and that uses standalone poles can weigh over a kilogram. Heck, the Duplex is lighter than my old one-person tent and handles rain significantly better. Also, according to Halfway Anywhere’s survey of PCT hikers, basically everyone else uses this tent, so I have to use it if I want to fit in with the cool kids.

In colder weather, I’d be extremely bundled... but I hiked up a very long and steep hill before taking this picture and didn’t feel like fully immersing myself in my very warm quilt.

Stuff to sleep on

When it comes to sleeping gear, the most important piece is my down quilt that’s rated for 10 degrees Fahrenheit (desert nights can be cold, especially in April). The difference between a quilt and a traditional sleeping bag is that there’s no back to it, which makes it a lot lighter. Instead, you use a sleeping pad to keep your warmth from seeping into the ground and strap the quilt onto it to prevent drafts.

My sleeping pad is an inflatable one from Thermarest, even though it means I’ll have to spend three minutes every night blowing into a valve. Its high insulation value is one reason I picked it, but I also love how (relatively) comfy it is. I’ve used both a traditional foldable foam pad as well as a barely even there one-eighth-inch-thick one cut to torso length, and it’s hard to imagine wanting to use either for 120 nights or more.

I will, however, be bringing the ultrathin foam pad to sit on when I take a break or to take naps on after lunch.

Clothes for every condition

Photo: Moritz Bögli

My thru-hiking outfit after 10 days on the Tahoe Rim Trail.

Choosing clothes for backpacking is tough — on a trip as long as the PCT, you’re likely to run into wind, snow, rain, scorching sun, and everything in between, but you can’t bring a bunch of outfits for each condition. That’s why layering is super important.

My everyday hiking uniform is a pair of shorts, a sun hoodie, a hat, and a pair of weird toe socks to prevent blisters. (The shirt and shorts I’m only bringing one each of; the ones I’ll be wearing. I am bringing two pairs of socks, though.) I’ll also have a Buff, and a pair of sun gloves.

If I need extra warmth, I have a pullover jacket and a pair of gloves that live in its kangaroo pocket. The synthetic Climashield Apex insulation in the jacket doesn’t compress as well as down, but it will still keep me warm if it gets wet.

Speaking of, I also have a cheap rain jacket. After a few years of adventures, I’d say it’s only waterproof-ish, and it’s not breathable like more expensive jackets, but I’m not expecting a ton of rainy days. That’s why I’m not bringing any rain pants, though I am bringing wind pants, which should be helpful for staying warm in super breezy conditions and at night. They also make me look like a trash bag with legs, so that’s fun.

Also, a note on laundry: you might think that hiking all day in the summer heat would make your clothes dirty and smelly. And you would be correct. You just stop noticing it after a while because pretty much the only way they get cleaned is when you hop in a lake for a swim or stop in a town that happens to have laundry facilities. (Yes, a motel room sink counts as a laundry facility.)

Lots of shoes

I use the boots for working on trails and the trail runners for hiking them.

Okay, I’ll only have one pair of shoes with me at any given time, but I know for sure that I’ll wear through five or six pairs throughout the hike. I use trail runners (and ones that have a reputation for being kind of fragile) because I find them to be so much more comfortable and lightweight than traditional hiking boots. Sure, a hardcore pair of boots could last the entire trail, but I’d hate walking in them so much that I’d quit before durability would become a factor.

Trail runners also usually dry a lot faster. Whenever anyone asks me for hiking footwear recommendations, I explicitly tell them not to get “waterproof” shoes. My reasoning is that their feet are probably going to get wet anyways. Even if they’re not wading through treacherous rivers like I will be, feet tend to sweat when you’re hiking. Most waterproof shoes are going to trap that moisture, keeping your socks soaked. And sure, that may happen with my shoes, too, but if I take them off for 30 minutes, they’ll completely dry out. That hasn’t been my experience with even the fanciest of waterproof materials.

I’ll also be wearing a pair of hiking gaiters, which hook onto your shoes and help keep rocks and sand out.

My last note on shoes is that there absolutely are people who would disagree with me and who love their waterproof boots. And if that’s you, absolutely more power to you — the great thing is that everybody can choose what works for them, and they shouldn’t be judged for doing so.

Food

While some people ship themselves food in mailboxes, I’m planning to resupply on the trail. That means I’ll be hitchhiking into towns along the way, finding a grocery or convenience store, and stocking up on enough food to get me through a full week of hiking. While what I eat will be limited by what’s available (and what I haven’t gotten burnt out on), there are still a lot of things I have to consider while shopping:

• My kitchen supplies are as follows: a small gas canister stove, a metal spork, and a 600mL titanium mug / cookpot. If something can’t be cooked in that, I can’t cook it. (Campfires are forbidden in most places on the PCT.) Ramen and instant mashed potatoes fit the bill nicely.
• I prefer not to cook for breakfast and lunch, so things like bagels and peanut butter or wraps with vegetables are great.
• There is no refrigeration on the trail.
• I have to carry days’ worth of food on my back, so it has to be lightweight and relatively compact. I will make an exception to the compact rule for potato chips.
• Generally, you need around 5,000 calories when you’re hiking all day. You do not want to come up short.
• I will eat as many candy bars, snack cakes, and packages of skittles as I want. (Apologies to my dentist and also my mom.)

Also, a note on water: I’ll be drinking out of rivers, streams, ponds, and the like, all of which can have some nasty stuff in them that’ll make me sick. To keep that from happening, I’ll be filtering it through a Sawyer Squeeze, which gets rid of bacteria and protozoa.

I got this water from a random stream in Nevada. The filter helpfully also removes all the dirt and sediment.

A bear can

For most of the PCT, it’s fine to keep your food in a regular bag, but there are several sections where you’re required to carry a bear can — a big plastic container that animals can’t get into or break open. Part of the reason is that you don’t want to wake up and discover that a bear ate your food, but it also protects the wildlife, too. If you leave food in a regular bag and a bear gets to it, it’s going to keep harassing hikers because it now associates them with eating. And a bear that becomes a nuisance or danger to humans is not going to survive very long.

Now that the Desolation Wilderness also requires bear cans, I plan on using my BearVault BV 500 from Kennedy Meadows South (the start of the Sierra Nevada section on the PCT) to Tahoe City or Truckee — about a 450-mile stretch that could take anywhere from 20 days to a month and a half to hike. It’s heavy and bulky, but given how hard it may be to resupply in the mountains this year, I don’t think my smaller BV450 will hold enough food.

Snow gear

Getting traction is key in the snow — though I’ll admit, the conditions pictured here aren’t nearly bad enough to require the ice ax.

I will almost certainly have to deal with an epic (and perhaps historic?) amount of snow this year, especially in the Sierras. This raises the obvious concern of slipping on snow and falling, which could lead to serious injury or even death.

To help prevent such inconveniences, I’ll be carrying trail crampons to help prevent me from falling and a lightweight ice ax in case I do fall and need to stop myself.

There’s no piece of gear that’ll make up for good technique and common sense in the mountains. As a citizen of the north, I know that walking on snow is easier in the mornings because the summer sun hasn’t softened it up yet — I also know that an ice ax won’t be much help if all it has to grab onto is powder or slush. Likewise, it’s not going to stop me from sliding down a mountain if it’s on my backpack rather than in my hand.

There’s only so far that knowledge can get you, though. I’m not an experienced mountaineer, so if things are still super gnarly by the time I reach the Sierras, I won’t hesitate to change my plans and temporarily skip them.

Okay, let’s talk about going to the bathroom in the woods

Here’s the deal: I’ll try to be as mature as possible about this if y’all promise to do the same. But yes, going miles and miles into the wilderness means giving up on wonderful man-made toilets and sewer systems that keep waste away from water and food sources.

The rules for peeing are pretty easy: do it as far away from water sources as you can, and you’ll be alright. Pooping, however, requires a bit more planning — and how you have to do it may depend on where you are. The rules are not the same everywhere, so always make sure to check what the local best practices are before you head out. With that said, for most of the PCT, the best practice is to bury your poop in a hole that’s at least six inches deep and that’s 200 feet away from campsites, the trail, or water sources.

Carry a trowel because there are very few port-a-potties in the backcountry.

Digging that hole is a lot easier if you have a trowel; personally, I use this super light one made of aluminum but with duct tape wrapped around the handle to keep it from digging into my hands.

While you’re supposed to bury your waste, you’re not supposed to leave toilet paper behind. That — you have to pack out with you, usually double-bagged. If you think that keeping used toilet paper in your backpack sounds gross, I absolutely agree. That’s why my bathroom kit also includes a little gadget that turns a water bottle into a bidet. Yes, it did require a fair amount of practice to use effectively, but I’m very glad I took the time to learn. I do still keep a little bit of TP in my bag just in case.

One last note on bodily functions: I don’t have any firsthand experience with it, but I’ve heard plenty of people say that dealing with menstruation on the trail is a lot easier if you use something like a DivaCup. (Of course, I’ve also heard from a few people who prefer the traditional pads and tampons.) Either way, the steps for dealing with the blood and other discharge are the same as you would with poop — you can empty a menstrual cup into a hole that you dug or pack out any used sanitary products in a bag.

And it goes without saying, but you must use hand sanitizer after doing anything from this section. Being in the wild is no excuse for poor hygiene.

Miscellaneous

Not everything is going to fit into neat categories, so here are a few other important things I’m bringing, in no particular order.

• A first-aid kit — I won’t tell you what your first-aid kit should or should not include because I don’t want that kind of liability. I will only say that Imodium or some other antidiarrheal medication is a good idea if you’re going to be in places where water and food are scarce.
• Sunscreen and SPF chapstick because sunburn sucks
• A cork massage ball
• A bug head net
• An alpaca fiber beanie
• A RovyVon Aurora A5 flashlight — the belt clip turns it into a headlamp if you’re wearing a hat
• A toothbrush and toothpaste tablets
• A small thermometer — if my water filter freezes, it’s no longer safe to use. So if the temperature snaps below freezing and I wasn’t keeping the filter in my quilt with me, I need to know.
• A fanny pack — because fashion is important (also because I want a convenient place to put my camera, wallet, and permit)

What I’m not bringing

I know it sounds like I’m bringing a lot, but remember that it all fits in a 40L backpack. I won’t be bringing any extras or duplicates of anything. If my shoes, tent, or anything else breaks, I’ll have to repair it well enough to get to the next town. (My first aid kit includes a needle that can be combined with dental floss to make a pretty nifty sewing kit.)

There are also a few comfort items I’m leaving behind. The most notable is a pillow, but I’m also not bringing a backpacking chair or anything. While the latter is a relatively popular item for weekend backpacking, most thru-hikers don’t take them because they spend significantly more time hiking than they will at camp.

Finally, the last thing I’m not bringing: friends. One of the questions I’ve been asked the most when I tell people about this hike is, “So wait, are you doing this alone?” The answer is yes and no. While I’m not starting with anyone, I’m almost certain I’ll meet people along the way.

There’s a common saying in the hiking community that “the trail provides,” which is usually meant to reassure people that they’ll be able to find what they’re looking for, be it friendship, food, or a reason to keep hiking another day. I don’t really agree with that. In my experience, the only things the trail itself pro vides are some admittedly grand views, along with endless hills to climb. However, the trail community — the people hiking with you, and who live nearby and offer rides, meals, and even places to stay to hundreds of people each year — does absolutely provide. I don’t need to bring a friend because I know I’ll make so many along the way.

Also, I couldn’t find anyone mad enough to do it with me.

Photography by Mitchell Clark except where noted.

Bard Fork, and How to Talk So Chatbots Will Listen

Bard Fork, and How to Talk So Chatbots Will Listen Google has unleashed its A.I. chatbot, Bard, to the world. And Spotify’s A.I. D.J. knows your taste — perhaps a little too well.

TikTok CEO grilled for over five hours on China, drugs and teen mental health

TikTok CEO grilled for over five hours on China, drugs and teen mental health

Shou Zi Chew attempts to play down concerns over data and privacy as lawmakers call for ban on Chinese-owned app

The chief executive of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, was forced to defend his company’s relationship with China, as well as the protections for its youngest users, at a testy congressional hearing on Thursday that came amid a bipartisan push to ban the app entirely in the US over national security concerns.

The hearing marked the first ever appearance before US lawmakers by a TikTok chief executive, and a rare public outing for the 4o-year-old Chew, who has remained largely out of the limelight as the social network’s popularity soars. TikTok now boasts tens of millions of US users, but lawmakers have long held concerns over China’s control over the app, which Chew repeatedly tried to assuage throughout the hearing. “Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” Chew said in Thursday’s testimony.

Continue reading...

PayPal’s bringing its passkey logins to Android

PayPal’s bringing its passkey logins to Android

Image: PayPal

Android users should soon be able to log in to PayPal’s website using passkeys, the password-free login system that’s being pushed by Apple, Google, Microsoft, the FIDO alliance, and more. According to an announcement post, the feature is currently rolling out, and will be “more widely available over the coming year.”

PayPal says that the rollout will start on its website, rather than its app, and that you have to be running Chrome on Android 9 or up to access passkeys. If it’s available for your account, you may get a prompt asking if you want to create a passkey, which you can authenticate using the biometric system or passcode that you use to unlock your phone.

Passkeys are based on FIDO authentication standards, and are generally cross-platform compatible — though as PayPal shows, you may have to wait for a site or service to roll out support on every platform you use. Several password managers, including the ones built into iOS and Android, support syncing passkeys between devices, and there are ways to access them when you’re using a device that they’re not synced to as well.

Despite several big tech companies pitching passkeys as the key (no pun intended) to the passwordless future, they’re still relatively rare. 1Password has a page that keeps track of what sites and services support them, and while it does have some big names like Best Buy, Okta, Microsoft, and eBay, there’s still only 38 entries on the list. Even if there are actually double the number of sites that support passkeys, you’d still be pretty hard-pressed to ditch passwords for good at this point.

Using a passkey with PayPal won’t remove the password from your account, since you’ll still need that to log in on unsupported devices. (While PayPal rolled out passkey support for Apple devices last year, the company’s documentation says the feature isn’t available on Windows yet.)

Biden’s Options on TikTok Narrow After China Pushes Back

Biden’s Options on TikTok Narrow After China Pushes Back China’s opposition to a sale of the app leaves the president to challenge that stand or consider seeking a ban, which would face its own obstacles.

How to Set Up and Use an eSIM for International Travel

How to Set Up and Use an eSIM for International Travel The digital version of the SIM card, included on many newer phones, is set to become prevalent. It also offers affordable cellular data abroad.

Three things with Caitlin Stasey: ‘Keep this interview far away from my girlfriend’

Three things with Caitlin Stasey: ‘Keep this interview far away from my girlfriend’

In our weekly interview about objects, the actor tells us the drastic way she curbs her screen time and the confession she doesn’t want her partner to see

• Read more Three things interviews here
• Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email

Caitlin Stasey has a very honest endorsement for her latest project, the new eight-part survival comedy Class Of ’07: “I love the cast – and I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t, because I’m not very good at pretending to like people.”

Stasey has starred in Australian favourites Neighbours and Please Like Me, as well as Hollywood box office hits like the horror flick Smile. But not every TV show or movie works out as well as Class of ’07.

Continue reading...

Relativity Space’s 3-D Printed Rocket Fails Just After Launch

Relativity Space’s 3-D Printed Rocket Fails Just After Launch Relativity Space, a private company with ambitions for sending people to Mars, made it off the launchpad, but the vehicle experienced problems during the second stage of its flight.

Samsung’s photo “remaster” knows what this baby pic is missing: teeth

Samsung’s photo “remaster” knows what this baby pic is missing: teeth

Dentists hate this one easy trick. | Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Samsung’s recently caught some flak after widespread reports that its camera software fakes zoom pictures of the moon, but things may be about to get way more unsettling. A Verge reader wrote in on Wednesday to tell us that the company’s software is adding teeth to pictures of their seven-month old daughter.

This reader says they recently got an S23 Ultra, and decided to try out the Remaster feature in Samsung’s photo-viewing app, Gallery. (It’s the default photo app for the phone, and the feature is available inside the camera if you visit your photo roll.)

They expected something like what Google Photos does, suggesting specific adjustments and filters, unbluring pictures, and the like. Instead, they got the results you can see below, with the original image on the left and the “Remastered” one on the right.

This is how gross Remastering is on the @SamsungMobile @Samsung #S23Ultra #SamsungS23Ultra. AI casually adding teeth to a 7 month old baby. NO ONE ASKED FOR THIS! pic.twitter.com/X9WUHWS2Hr

— Apricot Lennon (@earcity) March 22, 2023

So... this is some nightmare fuel. Sure, it erases some unsightly snot (can’t have the world thinking that this baby isn’t ready for its close-up 100 percent of the time), but it also appears to look at the baby’s tongue and immediately jump to “I know what that should look like: a nice row of fully-grown teeth!”

The reader also sent us a video of the Remaster feature turning their daughter’s tongue into teeth in another picture, which makes it seem like it’s not just a one-off glitch.

Image: @earcity on Twitter

This example is definitely more subtle, which kind of makes it worse?

I wasn’t able to reproduce these teething issues myself, using the same version of the Gallery app on a regular S22. I tried remastering half a dozen photos of babies (and even a screenshot from the updated, less-toothy Sonic trailer ) and never saw anything like what this user got. I also wasn’t able to find any other people reporting this type of issue, so it’s impossible to say for sure what’s going on.

We reached out to Samsung for comment but didn’t immediately receive a response.

Samsung’s website says the Remastering feature “removes shadows and reflections automatically to make your pictures look great.” Unlike Samsung’s explanation of the Scene Optimizer feature that added details to the moon, Samsung’s description of the Remaster feature doesn’t even including any handwaving about “AI” or “deep-learning.” It doesn’t even really sound like the beautification filters that we’ve seen on phones for years, with teeth-whitening filters that could maybe, possibly, misfire in such an upsetting way. Based on what Samsung wrote, I’d basically expect it to just tweak my exposure settings, similar to Google Photos’ “Enhance” feature.

So where are the teeth coming from?

The reader described the resulting picture as “far more disturbing than a faked moonshot if you ask me,” and I somewhat agree — the altered moon pictures just look like slightly better pictures of the moon, whereas this is the embodiment of the unsettling teeth tweet.

However, I will say that there is a difference in context here. The moon fakery happens automatically in the camera app if you have a certain feature on. Here, you still have to explicitly ask for a remaster (which you have the option of discarding, leaving the original intact). The moon story sparked discussions about what exactly it means to take a photograph, whereas this is mostly just a story about an editing feature taking a much-too-agressive bite. If Samsung was using AI to yassify babies or give them teeth straight out of the camera we’d be having a very different conversation here, but for now, that’s not what’s happening. But I still hate looking at it.

‘My name is cleared’: the US workers fighting back against union busting

‘My name is cleared’: the US workers fighting back against union busting

Organizers say an increased unionizing drive has been met with threats and retaliation – and now the Senate wants answers

Last year, public support for labor unions hit a high unseen since 1965 amid high-profile union campaigns at major corporations including Apple, Amazon, Starbucks, Chipotle, REI and Trader Joe’s.

This renewed interest has been accompanied by aggressive opposition from employers: threats, intimidation and what workers allege are retaliatory firings. The backlash seems to be working, but workers and their supporters are fighting back.

Continue reading...

Turing Award Won by Co-Inventor of Ethernet Technology

Turing Award Won by Co-Inventor of Ethernet Technology In the 1970s, Bob Metcalfe helped develop the primary technology that lets you send email or connect with a printer over an office network.

Miniot Wheel 2 review: a unique vertical turntable worth waiting for

Miniot Wheel 2 review: a unique vertical turntable worth waiting for

It’ll cost you more than $2,000. It nearly cost its maker everything.

It only took six years, one life-saving operation, and hundreds of thousands in personal loans, but this handmade, gravity-defying record player from mom-and-pop shop Miniot is finally available to buy.

Backers of the original 2017 Kickstarter have been on a wild ride, and most still haven’t received their minimalistic upright turntables. Yet here we are in 2023 with a refined second-generation Wheel that usurps the discontinued original while still hiding all the sound-generating hardware beneath discs of unobstructed vinyl, whether playing upright on a stand or hung on a wall.

I’ve got plenty of experience with gadgets, but the only vinyl I own once served as placemats for a music-themed dinner party. That’s why I’ve been testing the Wheel 2 with a group of bonafide audiophiles. After all, if a company is going to release a new deck in the 21st century that’s four times the price of a good turntable, then it had better appeal to a culture that demands a lot from the device entrusted with rarefied music collections.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Verge (@verge)

After a few weeks of testing, I can say this: the Wheel 2 is a very appealing product that combines the joys of analog with the convenience of digital. It’s so clever that it might tempt you back to wax now that sales are again surging, even if it does cost over $2,000 and plays records upside down while spinning backward.

It’s also the best hope yet for Kickstarter’s backers to be made whole and for Miniot’s unwavering patriarch to salvage his legacy.

Before we progress much further, let me offer you a spoiler: the €1,999 (about $2,142) Wheel 2 sounds better than a $450 turntable but not as good as one that costs in excess of $4,000, all three of which I heard play side by side for a few hours of comparison testing. But I’m hardly an expert. That’s why I turned to friend-of-a-friend Philip Doucet.

Miniot’s Wheel 2 sitting on top of Doucet’s Linn turntable that costs twice as much. This is one of two listening rooms in Doucet’s house where our listening party did some A / B audio testing.

Doucet lives and breathes vinyl. He’s the co-founder of Music Box Designs in Amsterdam in addition to being a musician, trained audio engineer, avid record collector, and HiFi enthusiast. As a self-professed audiophile, he has not one but two listening rooms in his home, which serve as the proving grounds for his company’s vinyl storage boxes, speakers, and cabinets — many of which you see in the accompanying photos.

Despite Doucet’s credentials, he wants Verge readers to understand that his feedback is couched in emotion, not science. “I am not a professional audio engineer that is measuring output, frequency responses, speed stability, etc.,” says Doucet. “I have been listening to analog equipment of all types for over 40 years. I am using my ears, feelings, knowledge, and experience for my review.”

He was also joined by three other listeners to avoid any personal bias: two avid analog enthusiasts and a plebe who normally listens to digital streaming music just like me and most everyone else.

Now, before we get to the review, let’s take a trip down memory lane. Or skip the next section entirely if, like Wheel’s Kickstarter backers, you’ve already waited long enough.

What the hell happened?

Miniot’s Wheel version 1 began life as an ambitious Kickstarter way back in February 2017, with deliveries set to begin eight months later. Here’s what I said at the time after having profiled the family-run company a few years earlier:

Despite my enthusiasm, it’s important to remember that this is a Kickstarter project and that means there’s risk involved for you, the potential backer... Miniot’s expertise is in selecting wood and then milling it into finely crafted cases. Wrangling electronics suppliers is hard work, especially when you have to ship at scale and support a finished piece of consumer electronics. Having said that, Miniot’s previous success was at least partly due to Peter Kolkman’s and Greet van den Berg’s obsessive control over the end-to-end manufacturing of their cases. So I’d expect the same dogged persistence in bringing Wheel to life.

If you backed or preordered the original Wheel based upon my writeup, I’m sorry — but you can’t say you weren’t warned. Although I never imagined Miniot’s “obsessive control” would cause it to be this late.

The Wheel 1 isn’t available to order anymore but Miniot still has a backlog it needs to build and ship to its earliest supporters. Otherwise, the company is now entirely focused on selling the Wheel 2 — it has to be.

Peter Kolkman in his Dutch workshop with the new Wheel 2 (left) and discontinued Kickstarter Wheel 1 (right). Also visible is the transparent Miniot record that ships with every turntable.

Kolkman, now 65, contacted me in December to say that the second-generation Wheel was ready for me to review. By January, I sat down with him at his factory slash home to better understand what happened, see the new production and assembly lines in person, and pick up a standard Wheel 2 to test.

Miniot has totally refreshed its production since my last visit in 2014. The CNC machines, lathes, and lasers once used to produce wooden cases for iPads and iPhones have either been replaced with 3D printers or recast in new roles to produce components for its Wheel turntables.

The first question I had for Kolkman was the obvious one: what the hell happened?

“We never made something like a record player before, so I had no clue what we were doing back then. It’s clear that the estimated delivery in October 2017 was totally ridiculous,” said Kolkman, reflecting on the Kickstarter campaign. “I am much more humble now about product development. In hindsight, you can say, ‘well, probably you hired the wrong engineers, or you went with the wrong companies that didn’t have the expertise.’ But no one had the specific expertise we needed to build what we wanted.”

Six years later and most of those who preordered or pledged a combined €424,457 (about $450,000) still haven’t received their Wheel 1 turntables, which were priced as low as €568 (about $600) at the time. Kolkman readily accepts all blame for the delays after severely underestimating the work involved in making his idea a reality. Nevertheless, he delayed retirement to see the project through and has remained steadfast about not shipping the Wheel turntable until it meets his definition of a “great record player,” despite its impact on his life.

The Kickstarter success allowed Miniot to immediately quit building its wooden cases to focus on Wheel. The money lasted for a while, but the unexpected delays and constant redesigns made it necessary for Kolkman to eventually take out “hundreds of thousands” in loans, including an additional mortgage on the house where the family lives and works.

The family also had to downsize their living situation by reconfiguring their home to not only accommodate a small factory but also create a separate unit that could serve as a vacation rental for a little bit of semi-regular income while development continued.

Development was also interrupted by the covid pandemic and global supply chain issues. And then, to top things off, Kolkman suffered a heart attack in 2021. Nevertheless, he doesn’t want any pity. “I’ve been suffering for six years already, so what’s the problem,” he jokes with a heartfelt laugh. “Everything adds up, but the largest problem was that it was very, very complicated to develop the machine.”

As Kolkman tells it, Miniot’s original idea was to be Wheel’s product designer and oversee the development work of partners from afar. But Kolkman found his wholistic approach to product development — whereby Miniot had complete control over the design, engineering, production, assembly, fulfillment, and support of its wooden cases — to be incompatible with outsourced production, and he became increasingly unhappy with each successive prototype delivered (slowly) from China.

Kolkman prepares a Wheel 2 for listening over headphones as Greet van den Berg enjoys a laugh.

Miniot produces many of its custom parts from this bank of 3D printers.

So little by little, Miniot brought the development of each component in-house until nearly everything is now made by Miniot under Kolkman’s direct supervision. That includes all the software and electronics, which is headed by Kolkman’s son Piet (25), a lifelong tinkerer and self-taught engineer. Having everything in-house allows Miniot to rapidly prototype new and better ideas for production.

The Wheel was given a complete reset — not just once but multiple times — such that there is almost nothing from the original Wheel present in Wheel 2. Whereas the Wheel 1 was composed of some 400 parts, the Wheel 2 is made from about 80 and is designed to be easily serviceable should something go wrong.

Despite Kolkman’s sincere apology, it’s of little consolation for backers of the original Wheel. The campaign’s comment thread remains active, with people interchangeably asking for updates on their orders and calling the company a scam. They’re also annoyed to see Miniot selling some Wheel 2 turntables to the public, which Kolkman contends is required to fund the upscaling of its production capacity and to finally deliver on its Kickstarter promise.

To be blunt: that Kickstarter money is gone, according to Kolkman. Miniot needs to sell new, high-margin products in order to fund the 1,000 or so (a number that includes backers and preorder customers) turntables that have yet to ship.

To illustrate its approach to making backers whole, Miniot recently sold 10 limited edition White Wheel 2s premade for Christmas. They each cost €3,000 (about $3,200) and shipped on time with some higher-end components in addition to the exclusive color. Miniot plans to produce 10 to 15 special edition Wheels each month that are pre-built in order to guarantee fast delivery. A new limited edition Black Wheel costs €3,799 (about $4,000) and comes with an improved cartridge, preamp, and stylus. Even the price of the Wheel 2 has gone from €1,350 to €1,500 to €1,999 as Kolkman “recognized its real value,” he says. Profits from these sales will be used to build Wheels owed to its Kickstarter backers.

Kolkman says 90 percent of backers and preorder customers already switched to the Wheel 2. In total, Miniot has shipped about 100 of the original Wheels and over 100 of the new Wheel 2 turntables.

The company currently employs 11 people, a number that includes Peter, Greet, their son Piet, and their two other grown children. In January, they were building about 10 Wheel 2 turntables per week. By March, that number had accelerated to about 30 but was still short of the 10-per-day goal Kolkman had set for November 2022.

The Wheel 2 (foreground) might not be as pretty, but it’s much easier to manufacture and repair than the overwrought Wheel 1 (background).

Those who came to Miniot by way of Kickstarter are rightly frustrated after Kolkman presented the Wheel as a nearly finished product back in 2017. But some backers are complicit in treating Kickstarter as a storefront. I can still remember Kickstarter’s origins as “a way for creators and audiences to work together to make things.” And from my vantage point, the feedback loop created by the €500K campaign kickstarted Miniot into a consumer electronics company with a very compelling first retail offering in the Wheel 2.

When I ask Kolkman if it’s been worth it — all the financial stress, angry backers, delayed retirement, and life-saving heart surgery — he responds simply and matter of factly:

“We believe in what we are doing and think we will ultimately succeed.”

What makes the Wheel 2 unique?

The Wheel 2 makes an excellent first impression on novices and enthusiasts alike. To me, it’s a wonderful example of cold precision warmed by the liberal use of natural wood. I like that it makes me question everything I thought I knew about turntables that rely upon gravity to both hold the record in place and keep the stylus deftly tracing that vinyl groove.

It is not the first turntable to play records upright, but the Wheel 2 is by far the best-looking vertical player that you can actually buy today.

For Doucet, seeing the Wheel 2 operate for the first time was a near-religious awakening. “I don’t believe that there has ever been such an original redesign for a turntable in over 100 years,” he said. “The Wheel 2 is a beautiful piece of analog aesthetic minimalism. Its compact and sleek design is, of itself, a piece of art. I could not stop looking at it.”

The Wheel 2 spins the record counter-clockwise and plays the bottom of the record.

Miniot’s party trick is putting the stylus (aka needle), a cartridge (the thing that holds the stylus and translates information from the record’s groove into an electrical signal), tonearm (the long bar that usually holds the cartridge), and preamp (aka the “phono stage” that amplifies the output signal for connected devices) beneath the record.

The design allows for a very short signal path between the cartridge and built-in preamp, which Miniot says helps prevent signal loss, noise, and distortion, all in the service of better sound. But it also prevents the Wheel 2’s cartridge from being upgraded like most modern turntables or for the preamp to be bypassed (more on this later).

The Wheel 2 is handmade almost entirely from parts designed by Miniot. Refreshingly, most of those parts are manufactured by Miniot itself in an annex to a large but otherwise unassuming family home located in a small Dutch village.

It can play 7-, 10-, and 12-inch records and automatically selects the speed. Moreover, Miniot says the Wheel’s belt-driven platter adapts to records that are out of alignment or balance to achieve a true 33 1/3rpm or 45rpm track speed where the stylus tip touches the groove. The Constant Groove Speed feature achieves this by recalculating motor speed every millisecond.

There’s even a Purist Mode that can be enabled to overcome severe issues of vinyl misalignment and imbalance. When activated, the turntable will play a few seconds of the record silently, process the data, and then move the stylus back to the lead-in groove to start playing audio after a period of about 10 to 15 seconds. Miniot says that this feature should be turned off 99 percent of the time — I never found a need for it during my testing.

Is upright playback just a novelty?

As a record player, the Wheel 2 can, of course, be played flat on a table and comes fitted with four vibration-dampening feet. But this thing was designed to be played vertically, and the visual impact of that perfectly framed vinyl cannot be overstated.

Audiophiles love to do something called “critical listening,” usually performed with an heir of superiority while casually swirling a wee dram. It begins only after the stylus is emancipated from dust and the record cleaned using either ultrasonic waves or, if you’re poor, some squirty stuff and a much too expensive carbon fiber brush. The ritual takes place in a dedicated, acoustically-controlled listening room with speakers and album art pointed directly at a seat to create the much prized “sweet spot.” It’s here — facing the turntable — where a proper 180-gram vinyl disc can be maximally appreciated.

Playing marbled vinyl on the Wheel 2 elevates the listening experience with a new visual aesthetic that’s not normally visible when played horizontally. Tyler the Creator approves.

By standing the record upright, it merges the listening experience with a new visual aesthetic that can, at times, be mesmerizing. Even I, an acoustic clod, could fully appreciate this new dynamic, especially when spinning marbled vinyl pressed from a colorful puck.

“We were all enthralled to the visage of the beautiful Objet d’art that is the Wheel,” said Doucet on behalf of his listening party. “I would certainly mount it on the wall if I owned it. My wife (one of the extra listeners) liked its clean lines and unfussy design. I cannot see a situation in which the Wheel 2 would be used in the horizontal position because it would lose its inventive appeal.”

What’s it like to use?

Miniot built an analog turntable with a digital interface, allowing for unprecedented ease of use and control. Three physical buttons are baked into a grippy volume slider that adorns the top edge of the Wheel 2. From left to right, these function as back, play / pause / repeat, and forward / settings.

All the Wheel 2 controls are housed in this little rubberized slider, shown here adjusting the volume with the current level shown with a series of LED dots.

To begin playback, you can either swipe left on the record’s edge or push the play button. That causes the tonearm to slide across the underside of the record to count the tracks and display them as a series of lighted dots on a curved line at the top of the player. The tasteful pattern of 120 white LEDs visually mimics the width of each track pressed into the vinyl out of view. This is important because the Wheel is playing the bottom of the record, not the side you can see. A slightly brighter LED indicates the position of the stylus.

The Wheel plays the first track by default, or you can hit forward to quickly move the stylus to the next track with digital precision — no loud pop, no record scratch, and no unwanted blast of music associated with moving the tone arms on traditional record players. Miniot includes a transparent album in the box with the Wheel 2 so you can marvel at the mechanics. It really is impressive to watch Miniot’s custom tonearm sliding back and forth between tracks.

The controls do take some practice for anyone accustomed to the big switches of traditional turntables. The basics are intuitive, but you’ll need to consult the manual for lesser-used functions like the stylus cleaning mode, adjusting the stylus weight against the record, or manually changing the RPM.

There are some other things you have to get used to. First, because it’s playing upside down, you can’t read the track listing printed on the center of the record. And to clean the record, you need to mount it somewhere, clean the side you want to play, then flip it over and place it onto the Wheel’s spindle upside down — steps that purists will find unsettling. And when there’s no record on the Wheel 2, the Miniot logo is sideways, which bugs me, and everyone else after I mentioned it (sorry!).

When standing upright, playing records with center holes that aren’t cut properly requires two hands to screw them onto the spindle to avoid toppling the Wheel 2 over. Otherwise, you can always buy an overly expensive tool to accurately widen the spindle hole if pencils and screwdrivers just won’t do.

The Wheel 2 was able to handle a “slightly warped” album just fine but failed to play a severely warped record from Doucet’s collection — same as his other turntables.

USB-C for power and a 3.5mm audio jack for sound located along the bottom edge of the Wheel 2.

The Wheel 2 has a built-in preamp and 3.5mm audio output, which makes it a compact and convenient turntable that can be connected directly to headphones and active speakers like Sonos’ new Era series. That jack can also connect to the aux or line input of a receiver, which almost everyone in the market for a $2,000 record player will have, but you’ll likely need to buy a 3.5mm to RCA cable first. It gets its power from USB-C (cable and plug included). I was even able to power it from a portable battery pack which helps make the turntable portable.

The Wheel 2 does not have the traditional RCA phono outputs found on most turntables, and there’s no way to bypass the preamp. Some audiophiles will argue that the first point could compromise the sound quality (but I had no way to test that), but the lack of a bypass prevents you from using a better external phono stage which almost certainly impacts the turntable’s audio potential.

Finally, the digital user experience would benefit greatly from a simple remote control to easily switch tracks or repeat a favorite jam until the family begs you to stop.

Fine, but how does it sound?

Doucet had the Wheel 2 for a week, where he tested albums and tracks from his own music collection. They represent recordings he’s heard countless times played on his personal systems, making his setup ideal for comparison testing.

Doucet’s Room A, as we’ll call it, is dedicated to critical listening. It’s fitted with his most sophisticated — and crazy expensive — gear (see sidebar). Room B is essentially his home’s formal living room, fitted with gear that has been slowly demoted over the years in Doucet’s never-ending quest for perfect sound. It was in these two rooms that we tested the Miniot Wheel 2 against two worthy competitors.

Let’s start with Room B, comparing the Wheel 2 against a €450 (about $480) Pro-Ject turntable fitted with what Doucet and his three listening peers consider a better OM-20 cartridge. Here’s a summary of the comparison:

“The Wheel 2’s presentation was more engaging, focused, stable, and detailed on every album we listened to. We were captivated by the propulsive drive of Depeche Mode and The Smiths. Lauryn Hill, Otis Redding, Aretha, and Nina Simone’s vocals benefitted from the upfront presentation of the Wheel. The incredible album that is Bob Marley’s Catch a Fire came alive and spit out a fantastic combination of rhythm and performance, musical and engaging.

“We kept remarking how beautiful it looked and sounded when compared to my Pro-Ject turntable,” said Doucet. “The Wheel compelled you to keep listening to more records, which is very desirable indeed.”

My takeaways matched theirs when I also listened to a similar sampling of vinyl. The Wheel 2 produced more pleasant audio that was noticeably brighter than the Pro-Ject in every test. Everything — Miles Davis, Lauryn Hill, Nina Simone, Green Day, and Tyler the Creator — sounded better, to me, on the Wheel 2.

Room A: Doucet hovers over his Linn turntable in his critical listening room, sequestered away from the family, pets, and city noise on the top floor of his home. The Wheel 2 can be seen at the center.

Room B: This is Doucet’s general listening room, accessible by the entire family. The Pro-Ject turntable is visible next to the Wheel 2, but it’s album isn’t.

Next, we compared the Wheel 2 in Room A, where it was tested against a €4,000 Linn turntable paired with a €1,600 external phono stage. Unlike Room B, which benefited from a whole host of listeners providing feedback, Room A feedback comes from just Doucet and myself.

Let me sum it up with this. “Linn kills it!” says Doucet. “There is no song played on the Wheel 2 that sounded as good when played through the Linn LP 12.” I’d chalk that up to Doucet’s own buyer bias for his turntable, but my listening notes roughly matched his own: everything sounded better through the Linn and its external preamp. The only time the Wheel 2 would sound better is if you tried to play the Linn turntable standing upright.

But nobody expected the Wheel 2 to outperform Doucet’s most premium setup. “I don’t think the Wheel 2 wins or loses against my Linn turntable,” said Doucet. “It is not designed to compete in that audio class.”

Things might have been different if the Wheel 2’s preamp (aka, phono stage) could be bypassed. “The fact that I cannot bypass the Wheel 2’s internal phono preamp means I cannot run the Wheel through my phono stage; therefore, I cannot make a true apples-to-apples comparison,” says Doucet.

The other limiting factor for the Wheel 2 is Miniot’s use of the “very average” Audio Technica AT-95E cartridge, according to Doucet and pals. Most turntables, especially in this price range, allow you to upgrade to a cartridge of your choosing.

To test that opinion, Kolkman brought a Black Wheel to Doucet’s house for comparison against his Linn LP 12 fitted with a Nagaoka MP-500 cartridge. After all, Miniot is positioning its $4,000 limited edition deck as an “audiophile turntable” with its AT-VM95 Nude Shibata cartridge, matched preamp, and improved stylus.

Doucet (left) and Miniot’s Kolkman nerding-out over vinyl playing on a limited edition Black Wheel in the background.

“Overall, the Black Wheel is a sonic upgrade from the Wheel 2, with greater definition and much wider soundstage,” said Doucet. “However, the Black Wheel is still not as full and detailed or nuanced as the Linn LP 12. This was apparent on some albums more than others, with one exception (Muddy Waters’ Folk Singer).” And for what it’s worth, I concur, having been present for the comparison testing.

Unfortunately, even this turntable comparison isn’t apples-to-apples. Without a bypass, the Black Wheel, like the Wheel 2, couldn’t be played through Doucet’s fancy €1,600 SPL Audio preamp, and that might be making all the difference — and for that price, you’d hope so.

Ultimately, an audiophile’s final judgment on the Wheel 2 comes down to the sound you get for the price. “If you never heard the Linn setup and you were casually familiar with great analog sound, you would be quite happy with the sound presentation of the Wheel 2,” said Doucet. “But if cost is a measure of quality — and in this case, it is — I am not sure about the €2,000 price tag.”

So, is it worth over $2,000?

Maybe, maybe not. As always, it depends.

“€2K is a good chunk of money. That price point is not for the vinyl-curious looking to see what the hype is about,” says Doucet. “The price is more for the analog-experienced who are looking to upgrade or replace their deck with something better.”

He’s not wrong. That kind of money can buy a turntable from brands with stellar reputations like Rega, Mofi, Thorens, and Clear Audio and still have some change left over to buy a cartridge superior to the Wheel’s. You’ll also own a turntable that lets you bypass the preamp in favor of an external phono stage for even better sound, now or in the future. But will it play vertically to dazzle your eyes? Can you hang it on the wall to impress your friends? No, no, you can’t, and that’s why Miniot can demand a price premium.

Who can honestly say what goes on inside the brain of an audiophile or anyone with enough money to look like they care deeply about esoteric interests? What I can say is this: the Wheel 2 turntable is a unique marriage of digital and analog that produces very pleasurable sound from an eye-catching design that’s hand built by a small family-run business that has literally bet the farm on making the Wheel a success. And that’s appealing to everybody.

If you order now, Peter Kolkman is prepared to deliver your Wheel 2 on time, probably... but almost certainly within the next six years.

All photography by Thomas Ricker / The Verge