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Reviewed.com Weekly Roundup: November 16

This week we tested Quincy Jones' headphones, a "smart" refrigerator, the Panasonic GH3, and more.

Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed's editors. Purchases made through the links below may earn us and our publishing partners a commission.

For over 10 years, Reviewed.com has put thousands of products to the test, all for the sake of the informed purchase and love of human progress. Here’s what we’ve been up to this week.

AKG Q701 Headphones

We love Dr. Dre, but it's impossible to compete with the man who has gone 27 for 79 at the Grammy awards and brought the world Thriller, the Austin Powers theme song ("Soul Bossa Nova"), and Rashida Jones. Quincy Jones' endorsement of the AKG Q701 again prove the man's great taste, as our tests showed that these headphones offer incredible frequency response, low distortion, and decent tracking. It's our new favorite set of headphones. Ain't nobody does it better than the Q.

Samsung RF4289HARS Refrigerator

Today, the Samsung RF4289HARS is a futuristic fridge with tablet for a control panel, running apps like Pandora and Grocery Mgr. But next year, this less-than-timeless device could be dated, always a risk when innovation and classic tech are married. It's a fine fridge even without the bells and whistles, plenty of timeless, un-smart fridges offer better performance for much less than $3,700. Smart fridges will be worth it one day, but not yet.

Panasonic Lumix GH3 Digital Camera

The Panasonic GH3 won our Best of Year award for video-shooting cameras. The size of a small DSLR, this Micro Four Thirds camera feels like a precision imaging tool in our hands. Loaded with features including an articulating display, a durable weather-sealed body, and some of the finest video quality we've seen, the GH3 takes great photos, too. Though compact system cameras often have to make concessions, this camera gives far more than it takes.

Canon Vixia HF R30 Camcorder

High-quality video keeps getting cheaper. If you don't feel like using your phone or your still-camera to "videotape" something (as they used to call it), you can do it the old fashioned way with the Canon Vixia HF R30 (OK, it still isn't tape either). As a sub-$400 budget camcorder, it has some issues like terrible battery life, iffy low-light performance, and half-baked WiFi. But in bright conditions, it's a very solid performer with cool features, like multiple frame rates.

Grado Labs SR 80 Headphones

The Grado Labs SR 80 has the retro look that's popular with the Instagram crowd, with an (ironically?) shoddy-looking design complete with exposed soldering connections. The sound quality is sort of like Instagrammed audio, too. Though they had great frequency response, these headphones exhibited some tracking issues as well as fairly high distortion. And unlike a true audio Instagram analog, the distortion is not the warm sound of vinyl popping and scratching.

We're off next week for Thanksgiving! In the meantime, check out our Black Friday buying guides for digital cameras, camcorders, TVs, ovens, and other appliances!

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