Paula Kelley, a co-founding singer-guitarist in Boston shoegaze band Drop Nineteens and several other indie-rock acts, has announced her first solo album in 20 years. Blinking as the Starlight Burns Out is out March 27 via Wharf Cat. Lead single âParty Lineâ is described, by Kelley, as a âpost-Cold War influenced trackâ that incorporates some of the gauzy shoegaze sheâs knowing for, as well as some slowcore touches. Give it a listen below.
âWhen the song came to me it presented nearly fully formed: a pedaling bass line, a four part vocal harmony, an expansive soundscape,â Kelley said in a press release. âSometimes songs sound great in your head but then donât translate well into reality. I was lucky with this one. As I was recording part upon part, it felt as though the song was writing itself. Itâs a dreamy song about dreamsânot the kind that come during sleep, but rather wishes, anxieties, projectionsâas a way to work through and reconcile an unhappy past.â
Spanning 11 tracks, Blinking as the Starlight Burns Out was written over the past few years while Kelley was stabilizing her pathway to sobriety. Her fourth solo album overall, following 2006âs Some Suckerâs Life, Part 1: Demos and Lost Recordings, turns its ear toward pop hooks and also builds off Kelleyâs background as an arranger and cowriter for studio sessions and indie film soundtracks.
Drop Nineteens broke up in 1995 and reunited in 2022. Their comeback album, Hard Light, came out that following year.
No matter how convenient Spotify is, physical media will always feel more special. And sure, owning vinyl and CDs is great if youâre an audiophile, a collector, or you just like to touch stuff with your hands, but you also need a great way to play those discs. For that end, Shanling just announced what might be one of the coolest portable CD players Iâve ever seen.
The EC Zero AKM is first and foremost what I just stated: a portable way to play CDs. Unlike other CD players, portable or not, it supports Bluetooth audio devices like wireless headphones, earbuds, and speakers. If youâre wondering, âWhy would I go to the trouble of playing a CD just so I can degrade the quality through Bluetooth?â Well, luckily Shanling has that part covered too, since the EC Zero also supports AptX, which is a hi-fi format like LDAC (it does not, however, support LDAC). Itâs not totally lossless, but itâs much more nuanced than regular old Bluetooth. It also has not one, but two jacks: a 3.5mm and 4.4mm if you want more traditional aux play and coaxial outputs for hooking this thing up to monitors.
The EC Zero AKM is portable after all, so thereâs a battery, which Shanling says will last for 10 hours for wired playback and 18 hours via Bluetooth.
Youâll also notice some USB-C ports, which work for charging, but also one really nifty capability, which is CD ripping. The EC Zero AKM can, when connected to a computer via the USB-C cable, rip CDs from the player onto your device in real time. As Darko Audio notes, that means ripping a 70-minute CD will take 70 minutes. God, imagine that: having music files exist on a hard drive that you own. Revolutionary!
If all of that wasnât cool enough, the EC Zero AKM ups the ante by doubling as a digital-to-analog converter (DAC). For anyone thatâs unfamiliar with DACs, these devices are coveted for their superior ability to convert digital information into sound, which means they usually produce much more immersive and nuanced sound than the run-of-the-mill sound card on your PC or other devices. Shanling says that, as a DAC, the EC Zero AKM supports a maximum sample rate of 32 bits at 768kHz, which is way, way, above the CD standard of 16 bits at 44kHz.
In case all of that cool stuff wasnât enough to convince you, Shanling says it also included an âactive magnetic clampâ on the EC Zero AKM, which stabilizes the CD as it spins and, according to the company, should significantly reduce the whirring and noise created by other portable CD drives. Thatâs a nice touch if youâre really focused on getting the most fidelity out of the listening experience.
Superficially, if I may add, the EC Zero AKM just looks cool. The metal CD player has an old-school tape recorder vibe, and there are physical buttons for play/pause and track skipping, a slider for adjusting the volume, as well as a 1.68-inch digital readout on track information and gain levels. The downside for all that coolness is that the EC Zero AKM costs $320. You can order it from Amazon. Iâd be lying if I said I wasnât still tempted, even with that price.
Using this location had personal benefits: on the days he was filming at the house, he could see his daughters for breakfast and put them to bed. Trier deeply understands a director like Gustav, with his art-monster tendencies and half-blundering, half-charming attempts to reach his daughters, but he hardly wants to be Gustav. In fact, much of Trierâs process seems to be about finding ways to buck that model. It helps, as Helle told me, that Trier is âendlessly fascinatedâ by other peopleâs psychologyââpenetrating the top layer of big emotions and trying to understand why people are like they are. That is a constant conversation, at home and with our friends.â
Trier, who is tall and slim, with closely trimmed hair, a stubbly beard, blue eyes behind tortoiseshell glasses, and a penchant for black chinos and sneakers, looks like your favorite history teacher. On set, he bounces with a natural athleticism. He used to race down ski slopes; he has gone more slowly ever since an accident in 2019 which nearly necessitated the amputation of his foot. Trier is gregarious and emotionally accessible, prone to clasping his hands together in enthusiasm, uttering an exuberant âExa-a-actly!â when he agrees with a comment, and tearing up while directing. (He also got misty when I recounted something kind his wife had said about him.)
This last tendency is one he shares with the director of photography on âSentimental Valueâ and âWorst Person,â the Danish cinematographer Kasper Tuxen. âA lot of D.P.s are kind of super-masculine,â Trier said. âKasper is so sensitive and lovelyâheâs really engaged with what the actors are doing.â Tuxen told me that it posed a technical hazard to film scenes he found especially moving. Trierâs movies are shot on 35-mm., and Tuxen scoots in close to the actors, often on a rolling stool ignominiously known as a butt dolly. âShooting on film, you have an actual optical-glass viewfinder,â Tuxen said. âItâs beautiful for seeing things clearly, but the condensation from a wet eyeball is a problem. When my operating eye gets wet, the glass gets fogged up. So I need to use a heated viewfinder, to cook my tears.â
The American director Mike Mills (âBeginners,â â20th Century Womenâ) is a close friend of Trierâs; he also works with Tuxen. Mills and Trier both approach filmmaking with an unabashed sincerity, even as they play around with winking archival montages, flash-forwards, and other arch techniques. The two have regular Zoom conversations that can last for hours, and they share preliminary cuts of their films with each other. Mills said that he and Trier, âtwo very therapized men,â were uncomfortably aware of film history being âfilled with narcissists who maybe made great films but were horrible to be close to.â He went on, âIf youâre the type of person who sees a lot of that as being a dead end, or problematic, or not leading toward happiness or a richer life, how do you react to that?â Like Trier, Mills has a tendency to make therapeutically savvy remarks, then worry aloud that they sound pretentious.
I ran Millsâs comments by Trier when I met him for coffee during the New York Film Festival. In directing, Trier said, âthereâs a lot of heavy lifting, both in getting your creative control and in getting everyone on boardâleading a big team of people early in the morning when theyâre tired, and half of them have undiagnosed A.D.H.D. but you love their energy.â This situation âcan encourage macho behavior, because youâre a leaderâthe militaristic general.â When Trier needs to rally his troops, he deepens his voice, claps his hands, and announces, âpolitely but sternly, like a teacherââWe gotta focus, everybody!â â He prefers to operate in a mode âof tender encouragement, because people work better that wayâat least, the people I want to work with.â
I visited the set of âSentimental Valueâ last October. The shoot was on a soundstage a thirty-minute train ride from downtown Oslo. Inside was a re-creation of the first and second floors of the house in Frogner. To film a montage of the house at various historical junctures, from the nineteen-tens to the nineteen-eighties, it had been easierâthough not easy, and not inexpensiveâto build a replica than to retrofit the actual house. A production-design team had layered the walls of the imitation house with a palimpsest of wallpapers; when the scenes for one time period were done, the team peeled off a layer to reveal the one underneath.
That dayâs shoot was set at a house party in the sixties, when the place was occupied by Gustavâs aunt, Edith, his motherâs sister, who lives openly with her girlfriend. Gustavâs mother, weâve learned, joined the resistance during the Nazi occupation of Norway and was imprisoned by the Gestapo. She later died, by suicide, when Gustav was young. Edith likes to crank up the music at her parties when the neighbors complainâone of them, sheâs sure, ratted out her sister.
âTwo more songs?! When will it end?? Is this the final pair? Donât think too hard about it,â Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin remarked in a press statement. âJust let the good times ride.â
The six new Magdalena Bay songs follow the bandâs 2024 sophomore studio album, Imaginal Disk. Read more about Imaginal Disk in Pitchforkâs âThe 50 Best Albums of 2024.â
Oklou has released the deluxe version of Choke Enough. The digital expanded editionâan expansion-pack vinyl will follow on November 28âfeatures the FKA twigs duet âViscusâ alongside three new songs: âWhatâs Good,â âThe Fishsong Unplugged,â and âDance 2.â Listen to those below.
Choke Enough arrived in February via True Panther. In June, Oklou released an accompanying remix EP, with contributions from Nick LeĂłn, Malibu, Aaron Hibell, and Jamesjamesjames. In the midst of her ongoing European tour, sheâs set to perform at Pitchfork Music Festival London, which takes place next week from November 4-8.
All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
But just because putting gadgets into furniture is fun doesnât mean itâs straightforward. Figuring out how to combine tech and furniture comes with a difficult balancing act. You have to account for properly cleansing air in someoneâs apartment, but also⊠acting as a tasteful surface for a glass of orange juice? Theyâre silly and self-inflicted challenges, but when theyâre met properly, theyâre kind of neat. And when they donât? Well, weâll get into that in a momentâŠ
DecorTech Round Bluetooth Speaker End Table
This speaker table sounds fine and has lots of features, but speaker end tables shouldn’t exist.
Sounds decent
Has a built-in wireless charger
Radio!
End tables are a bad vessel for speakers
Cheap materials
The ultimate end table?
My most recent foray into smart furniture was the DecorTech Bluetooth Speaker End Table, which is exactly what it sounds like; itâs an end table that doubles as a Bluetooth speaker. The design is nothing special (thereâs no Ikea-like Scandinavian attention to detail here), but itâs inoffensive enough to blend into most living rooms without looking cobbled together. Out of context, you might think itâs an electric drum or something, but next to a couch, the picture comes together.
Where the tableâs masquerade as just a banal piece of furniture comes to an end (no pun intended) is when you take a gander at the top. Here, youâll see a black surface with an array of buttons, including a power button, an FM scan button, and a play/pause button, as well as volume up and down buttons. These, as you may already know, are not in regular tables.
Iâll be honest, I was pleasantly surprised by the selection of buttons, and while volume up/down on a hardware level isnât necessary, since most people are just going to use their phones to control volume, itâs still nice to have. Even nicer is the inclusion of a radio, in my opinion. Call me an old man (not so loud, please; itâs past my bedtime), but I love listening to the radio, and tuning in from my phone just doesnât feel the same, even if itâs technically more convenient. A Bluetooth end table, though? That somehow feels appropriate in the arbitrary spectrum of gadgets Iâve deemed acceptable to have a radio in.
If thereâs one pretty ugly downside to the whole FM radio thing, itâs that the DecorTech Bluetooth Speaker End Table includes an FM antenna extension, which is actually just a long cable that drapes off the back. I guess it could be useful if you need to position the antenna for a better signal, but Iâm not really sure how youâre supposed to do that. Tape it to the wall? Run it under the rug? Stick it to the window with a piece of bubble gum? The choice is odd, and the disheveled vibe it brings to the table is even odder.
Another surprise inclusion in this table is a wireless charger, which is indicated by a symbol plastered in the middle of the table. Thereâs not much to say about the wireless charging in this case, but it does work, and if you like to be by your phone at all times like I do, itâs really convenient being able to just slap that glass rectangle down and (very slowly at 10W) charge it up. If wireless isnât your thing, you can also charge wired via the built-in USB-A port. No USB-C here, sorry, literally everyone.
All of this, of course, is just an accoutrement to the real star of the show: Bluetooth audio. This is a speaker table after all, and if youâre buying one of these things (or thinking about it), youâre going to want it to sound serviceable. And luckily, if a speaker-clad end table is high on your priority list, I have good news. The DecorTech Bluetooth Speaker End Table sounds pretty alright, though with one crucial flaw that Iâll get into in a sec.
The speakers, while not exactly hi-fi, did a much better job than I expected for a $115 table that can be ordered from Walmart. I played music through Spotify on my phone, including some ambient and some jazz tunes, and it handled songs admirably. On folky singer-songwriter-y tracks from MJ Lenderman, I was less impressed, as vocals took a little too prominent of a place in the mix, but instrumental music is where things felt more cohesive, with mids and highs meshing well with lows.
Inside, thereâs a 6.5-inch subwoofer and a 2-inch speaker, so thereâs not a huge sound, but thereâs probably more than youâd expect from a speaker thatâs also an end table, wireless charger, and a radio. Youâre not going to get the same quality audio as you would on a dedicated Bluetooth speaker from Bose or even a nice soundbar from Sonos or a comparable brand, but as a secondary audio device that you maybe only plan on using sometimes, itâs still decent. That is, if you can hear it properlyâŠ
Letâs table that idea
Now, remember earlier in this review when I was talking about the constraints of putting gadgets into other gadgets? Yeah, well, turns out the DecorTech Bluetooth Speaker End Table is kind of a perfect example. Speakers, as we all know, need to be positioned properly, since audio is a very spatial thing. This is why, generally speaking, most peopleâs main home theater systems or hi-fi audio setups put the bulk of the audio in front of the listener. Sure, you might have surround sound speakers flanking you as you watch something, but those arenât doing the heavy lifting. You probably see where this is going.
An end table is (say it with me now) at the end. That means the audio, if you were to place the DecorTech Bluetooth Speaker End Table next to your couch, like a lot of people would, is coming from the side as youâre listening. Thereâs nothing ideal about that placement, and while it might not bother everyone, it will most definitely bother people who want to hear their speaker properly. Having listened to the speaker from both positions (sitting to the side and sitting in front), I can tell you that there is definitely a difference in the clarity of audio youâre getting. I suppose you could always reposition the speaker to the front of your couch, of course, but thatâs not totally ideal either.
For one, this end table is an end table, both in name and in height, which means itâs meant to sit at an ideal level relative to the arm of a couch, so you can place things on it, like your phone or that cup of tea youâre going to forget about by accident until it goes cold. Because of the height, putting the speaker in front of your couch just looks weird, and thatâs not even taking into account that it also does a bad job of hiding the power cable, which, as we all know, is bad for decor.
The worst part is, thereâs really no way of getting around this fact, which kind of punches a hole in the entire conceit of having an end table with a speaker in it in the first place. The reality is, if youâre buying a speaker/end table, youâre just going to have to be okay with poorly positioned audio. That being said, if you do have some kind of setup in your home where you think youâll have an end table that faces you, I guess this end table could work? Then again, if your end table is halfway across the room, itâs not really much of an end table, is it? Also, you can kiss the convenience of the wireless charger and buttons goodbye.
Listen, Iâm not here to rain on anyoneâs parade; as I said previously, furniture with tech in it is kind of cool. I admittedly am a sucker for what Ikea does in this space, and even if itâs expensive and unnecessary, I canât help but want it anyway. And you know what? Sometimes thereâs even real ingenuity in tech-laden furniture. Heck, maybe you live in a micro apartment in Tokyo, and you simply donât have room for a coffee table and an air purifier in one place.
However frivolous it may seem, thereâs a right and a wrong way to shove gadgets into stuff, and the wrong way is doing it in a way that ignores the function of both things youâre mashing together. A coffee table air purifier? Okay. A speaker lamp? Fine. These are things that coexist. But thereâs a start and an end to where that mashing works, and the end, for me at least, is this decent but ill-conceived end table.
Saba has dropped his second project of 2025. Written and recorded entirely in the Chicago rapperâs black Bronco Wildtrak truck, the 19-minute C0ffee! follows Marchâs full-length No ID collaboration From the Private Collection of Saba and No ID. Listen to it, and find the music video for âToday Years Old,â below.
C0ffee! features Maxx Moor, Senite, Felix!, and Ogi, the latter of whom also appeared on the From the Private Collection of Saba and No IDâs âHead.Rap,â âBig Picture,â and âA Few Songs.â
Revisit the review of Sabaâs 2022 studio album, Few Good Things.
Now, Now, the Minneapolis indie-rock duo of KC Dalager and Brad Hale, have returned with their first new music in six years. Today, theyâve surprise-released 01, a new four-song EP that indulges their pop inclinations. Now, Now have also shared a visualizer for the song âAbout You.â Check that out and listen to the full EP below.
âI think these songs are really a great example of the culmination of everything weâve learned over the 23 years of making music together,â said Hale. âIâve gotten a lot of fun gear over the years that weâve been using, lately some vintage digital reverbs that have been great to incorporate.â
01 is Now, Nowâs first record since releasing their third studio album, Saved, in 2018. A press release notes that two of the songs on the new EP have been in the works since the late 2010s, but evolved as Hale and Dalager âbetter came to understand themselves.â
After originally forming in 2003 under the moniker Now, Now Every Children, the band released a debut album, Cars, in 2009 and member Jess Abbott joined the band that same year. After a handful of other lineup changes, they shortened their name to Now, Now and released their breakout album Threads in 2012. Abbott eventually parted ways amicably to pursue her solo career as Tancred, and the rest of the band went on hiatus.
After returning in 2017, Now, Now rolled out Saved, as well as the original 2019 holiday song âLonely Christmas,â hopped on an Owen album, and remixed a song by Lies. Dalager also pursued solo work, releasing her debut album, Think Iâm Gonna Die, as KC Rae in 2023.
This week, Aesop Rock quietly shared a new album called I Heard Itâs a Mess There Too. The quick follow-up to Mayâs Black Hole Superette is now widely available across digital streaming platforms, via Rhymesayers. Listen to the 12-song album below, and watch a video for âFull House Pinball,â directed by Justin âCoroâ Kaufman.
Aesop Rock says in a press release, âThe phrase âI Heard Itâs a Mess There Tooâ started as a lyric, but it got its hooks in me soon after. It felt familiar, like something Iâd said a thousand times while checking in with friends across different cities. The more I sat with it, the more it started to feel like the center of this project… Itâs about observation and communication. Sonically, I wanted a resetâcleaner beats, more space, fewer layers. Just enough to get a wave rolling and not much more.â
Samsungâs Galaxy Buds 4 Pro wireless earbuds havenât been announced yet, but evidence of their arrival is starting to pile up. Last week, it was an icon spotted inside a leaked build of One UI 8.5 by Android Central, which sparked speculation that Samsung could be headed toward a potential redesign, and now, there are even more drips about some potential battery life improvements.
According to a report from GalaxyClub, the Galaxy Buds 4 (and presumably the Buds 4 Pro) will get a battery bump with a case that comes with a 530mAh battery as opposed to the Galaxy Buds 3, which have a rated case battery capacity of 500mAh. Thatâs not a massive leak by any means, but there is one more detail that emerged via Android Central that could give a better indication of what direction the Galaxy Buds 4 and 4 Pro are headed. Codenames spotted inside One UI 8.5 show references to âHandelâ and âBach,â who are both classical composers and likely refer to the Galaxy Buds 4 and 4 Pro.
Thatâs notably a departure from the codenames of previous wireless earbuds, which included âBerryâ and âJelly.â Does that mean thereâs going to be a heavy audio focus that leans towards hi-fi? Maybe. Are we reading too much into an unofficial codename? Also possible. In either case, when the Galaxy Buds 4 and 4 Pro do eventually arrive on the scene (potentially next year, along with the Galaxy S26), theyâll have some tough competition in Appleâs AirPods Pro 3.
AirPods are always tough competition in the wireless earbud marketâfor Samsung and everyone elseâbut itâs going to be even tougher when comparing the two head-to-head. The reason? Apple managed to push the boundaries of what we even thought wireless earbuds could do. Its main method of doing that has been health features that include a way to monitor your heart rate while you listen to music. Itâs a small step towards making AirPods part health wearable, but I sincerely doubt that Apple is done adding health features, meaning its abilities as a fitness wearable could expand even further in the next generation.
What does that mean for Samsung? Depending on whether Appleâs health tracking appeals to you, it could mean that the Galaxy Buds 4 and 4 Pro are behind, and Samsung wouldnât be alone in its lack of health sensors, either. Itâll be worth watching if Appleâs AirPods Pro 3 push the rest of the wireless earbud market toward health tracking in an effort to maintain feature parity. Thatâll likely depend on whether people actually use health tracking features, but also whether makers of wireless earbuds even have the resources and infrastructure to make health tracking work. If thereâs one company that could make it work, itâs Samsung, but weâll have to wait until next year to find out, most likely.
The Twilight Sad have returned with a new songâtheir first in seven yearsâand it features the Cureâs Robert Smith on guitar. The bandâs core duo of vocalist James Graham and multi-instrumentalist Andy MacFarlane also enlisted sometime live members Alex Mackay (of Mogwai) and David Jeans for the new song, âWaiting for the Phone Call.â Listen to it below, via Mogwaiâs Rock Action label, and scroll down to see the bandâs European tour itinerary.
Graham said of the song in a press release: ââWaiting for the Phone Callâ is about grief, love, and mental illness. These things took over my life and I became ill. I lost the person most important to me in one of the cruellest ways. Iâve always used writing as a method of processing and coping with my emotions. My emotions became a problem and I couldnât control them, writing music with Andy⊠especially the past seven years had been both the escape and the opportunity to process and try and make sense of life. Weâve all been waiting on a phone call that can change our lives at some point. This unfortunately focuses on a phone call that you never want to have.â
The Twilight Sad are now stalwart tourmates of the Cure, preparing to head back on the road with them in June and July next year for more dates in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Germany.
All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
The Twilight Sad: Live â26 Tour
The Twilight Sad:
04-12 Milan, Italy – Legend Club 04-14 Zurich, Switzerland – Bogen F 04-15 Munich, Germany – Ampere 04-16 Berlin, Germany – Gretchen 04-18 Copenhagen, Denmark – Loppen 04-19 Oslo, Norway – Parkteateret 04-20 Stockholm, Sweden – Slaktkyrkan 04-22 Hamburg, Germany – GrĂŒnspan 04-23 Utrecht, Netherlands – Tivolivredenburg Pandora Hall 04-25 Cologne, Germany – GebĂ€ude 9 04-26 Brussels, Belgium – Rotonde – Botanique 04-27 Paris, France – Le Trabendo 04-29 Bristol, England – Electric Bristol 04-30 London, England – Roundhouse 05-02 Manchester, England – New Century Hall 05-03 Newcastle upon Tyne, England – Boiler Shop 05-05 Glasgow, Scotland – Barrowlands 05-09 Dublin, Ireland – Button Factory
You may have noticed some big changes to our consumer tech coverage this year. We revamped our gadget news, reviews, and guides, and have steadily elevated our product photography and videos as weâve added new experts to bring you everything happening in the weird and inventive world of consumer tech.
As the end of the year draws near, itâs time to announce Gizmodoâs Best Tech of 2025 Awards. We reviewed a tremendous amount of gadgets this calendar yearâseveral from new categories like smart glasses with displaysâand weâre going to expand into even more categories in 2026. We couldnât be more excited to share with you all the products that impressed us the most.
Across over a dozen categories, every winner is a product that Gizmodoâs consumer tech team has either reviewed or tested extensivelyâso you can trust weâve done our jobs. We didnât just hand out awards willy-nilly.
Weâve also got a few additional winners to award in the coming weeks; some products are releasing after this list publishes, so itâs only fair that we wait to include them for consideration.
Not everyone will agree with our picks, but donât worry, dear reader, youâll get a chance to vote for your favorite tech of the year in a separate Readerâs Choice Awards.
Most importantly, thank you for reading consumer tech stories. Our North Star is to provide authoritative, fair, and entertaining coverage. We hope you enjoy going through our Best Tech of 2025 Awards!
Phones and Tablets
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
No other phone packs as many features as Samsungâs Galaxy S25 Ultra. Itâs a chonker of a phone for sure, but thatâs only because it has everything and the kitchen sink (including a stylus).
You donât need to spend $1,000, or even $800, to get a solid smartphone these days, and Googleâs Pixel 9a is proof of that. The OLED screen is big (but not huge), the cameras take solid photos, the battery lasts a day, and the performance is responsive. It even runs Gemini and AI features fairly well thanks to its Tensor G4 chip.
Unlike the iPhone Air, the iPhone 17 Pros have no compromises. Everything about these models is there for the sake of function. Of any iPhones ever released, they have the best screens, the most powerful performance (with vapor chamber cooling, so they donât overheat easily), the longest battery life, and the best-quality cameras on the front and back.
Motorola really pulled ahead of the foldable flip phone competition this year with the Razr Ultra. Nearly every featureâfolding screen, performance, battery life, and camerasâoutguns those of similar flip-style phones. It was great to see the iconic phone brand return with such a strong showing.
Samsung knocked the Galaxy Z Fold 7 out of the park. Itâs everything a foldable should be: super thin unfolded, about as thick as a regular phone when closed, and super light. Itâs not cheap, but overall, this is the best book-style foldable thatâs widely available for purchase globally.
The pinnacle of Appleâs tablet range is, once again, the iPad Pro. Not only do you get a beautiful tandem OLED display, but the M5 chip can also output laptop-level performance for all your creative apps. There are versions with 11-inch and 13-inch screens available as well.
The OnePlus came out of left field, and weâre glad it did, because thereâs a lot to like about this 13-inch tablet. Notably, the battery life outclasses that of similar-sized Android tablets, the 8-speaker system pumps out Dolby Atmos sound, and the softwareâs multitasking is well executed. Itâs easily the best alternative to an iPad Pro, and it costs a lot less.
A more pocketable version of the beloved Paper Pro, the Paper Pro Move is easier to reach for when you need to jot down notes or fleeting ideas. It has the same color E Ink screen as its bigger sibling, comes bundled with a stylus, and includes an assortment of practical AI features for lovers of notetaking and reading. The Paper Pro Move is like a modern reporterâs notebookâonly your handwritten and hand-drawn content is synced digitally to the cloud and accessible on devices like your phone and laptop.
The MacBook Pro remains as good as it ever was, but itâs slightly more future-proofed with the M5 chip. An M4 Pro or M4 Max may offer better performance, but for the average user, the M5 will be sufficient for most necessary tasks on the latest macOS 26 Tahoe.
If youâre looking for a laptop with âeverything,â Acerâs Predator Triton 14 AI has even more. The notebook includes an RTX 5070 GPU and a higher-end Intel Core Ultra 288V CPU. It even lets you use a stylus on the trackpad (though not the touchscreen) when you feel creative.
For a laptop that has a little of everything and can still run all day, you donât need to look further than the Asus Zenbook S16. It feels good on your fingertips, is light enough that it slips into a backpack with ease, and still has adequate performance for all but the most hardcore tasks.
If you were wondering just how powerful a Chromebook could get, the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 may beat your expectations. The 2K-resolution OLED display is sharp with inky blacks, the keyboard is clacky, the trackpad is smooth, and battery life lasts pretty long. Few apps can take advantage of the NPU, or neural processing unit, today, but coupled with 16GB of RAM, the Chromebook Plus 14 is future-proofed for tasks down the line.
The best bang-for-buck graphics card of 2025 is AMDâs Radeon RX 9070 XT. It not only achieves impressive metrics for 1440p and 4K gaming, but also costs less than competing cards at a similar price point.
When it comes to gaming, thereâs simply no match for the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D desktop CPU. AMDâs special 3D cache, which adds extra memory just below the CPUâs main processing cores, is still proving itself to be the thing you want for any desktop gaming rig.
Thereâs nothing quite like the Framework Desktop; itâs the most customizable, modular, and performative small-form desktop PC out there. It features an AMD Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 CPU, which delivers exceptional performance for both work and gaming on a single chip, and includes swappable USB-C-based I/O ports, as well as interchangeable decorative tiles, on the front.
The Nintendo Switch 2 continues to surprise us months after launch. The dockable handheld console takes what made the original Switch great and beefs up the performance and screen size, while adding unique features like mouse controls. Of course, you buy a Nintendo console for the games, and there are also plenty of great titles to keep you occupied.
Microsoft and Asus pushed the ROG Xbox Ally X as an enhanced PC, with its new UI dubbed the âfull screen experience.â It performs very well, especially at lower wattages, and you still have access to all your favorite PC games across the most popular launchers.
Lenovoâs Legion Pro 7i has the performance and amenities of an 18-inch gaming laptop in a 16-inch shell. Youâll want a version of this laptop with at least an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU to really push frame rates in games.
If you want to use a single controller with both a Switch 2 and PC, you need look no further than the 8BitDo Pro 3. The controller includes pop-out face buttons you can rearrange for the traditional Xbox layout. You can also swap the A and B buttons if you prefer to game on Switch 2.
Legoâs Game Boy is easily the toy of the year. The nearly 1:1 replica of the iconic Nintendo handheld released in 1989 is extremely fun to build and has two brick-ified game cartridges you can insert into the back slot, pressable buttons, and lenticular screens that mimic the monochrome green screen. Youâll be smiling with every brick you snap into place.
Improving on the AirPods Pro 2 was no easy feat, but Apple has done just that with the AirPods Pro 3. Everything from sound quality to active noise cancellation, to fit, to continuous battery life is better. Extra features, like an accurate, built-in heart rate sensor and live translation, only cement them as best-in-class.
You donât have to go premium to get solid sound, and CMF is a testament to that. This subbrand of Nothing puts out quality audio in an affordable price range, and while you wonât get the best in any category (ANC or sound), these wireless earbuds are incredibly well-rounded. A wide range of colors and solid ANC donât hurt, either.
Sony is no stranger to being king of the castle when it comes to headphones, and with its WH-1000XM6, it takes the crown again. The XM6 improve on the XM5 in pretty much every way, delivering great sound, excellent ANC, and solid battery lifeâthe most important qualities in a pair of wireless headphones.
There are gaming headphones that may help you pick out footsteps or gunshots to trounce noobs in multiplayer, but the Sony Inzone H9 II simply have the best audio of any headset this year. Theyâre comfortable and include a quality microphone, so youâre not missing out on much for the sake of feeling truly immersed.
Bose is known for its pricey audio products, and while the SoundLink Plus doesnât shirk that trend, the bass, sound, and overall look make it worth every penny.
Canonâs PowerShot V1 may be the best vlogging camera ever. With excellent image quality from its 22-megapixel sensor, a versatile 16-50mm zoom lens, and superfast autofocus, this compact point-and-shoot and its flip-out display are perfect for amateur creators looking to level up their content.
Fujifilm Instax Mini LiPlay+
Thereâs no better option among instant cameras, offering such classic-looking prints, than the Fujifilm Instax Mini LiPlay+. Along with the cameraâs usual sensor, you can take selfie photos or connect a phone or SD card to print personal photos as well.
Insta360 Go Ultra
If the usual GoPro is looking too standard, the Insta360 Go Ultra offers better portability with its magnetic, pop-out 4K pod. You can attach the pod to your shirt or bike and expect solid footage up to 4K and 60 fps.
Bang for buck, the Apple Watch SE 3 deliversâhard. Itâs got the greatest hits features from the last 10 years of Apple smartwatches, and even some from its pricier Series 11 sibling, like the S10 chip, double tap and wrist flick gestures, a more durable glass screen, and optional 5G cellular support.
Google crept up from last to first place in the Android smartwatch rankings this year. Sure, thereâs a convenient raise-to-talk Gemini feature, but it really nailed fundamentals like a bigger and brighter domed screen, longer battery life, redesigned charging stand, improved health and fitness tracking, and better-optimized Wear OS 6 with the bubblier and more animated Material 3 Expressive design language. For Android phone users, the Pixel Watch 4 is the best there is.
For those who donât want to wear a smartwatch or tracker, the Oura 4 Ceramic includes robust physiological data, including heart rate variability, sleep analysis, shifts in body temperature, and blood oxygen rates, as well as new features like reproductive health and smart sensing. The newest ceramic model is also less prone to scratching and color fading.
The Polar Loop is the serious athleteâs ideal tech companion: a comfortable, no-screen, no-subscription wearable that gives athletes exactly what they need and want and nothing more. The Loop provides 24/7 activity tracking and insights into fitness progressionâall from a company known for first-class heart-rate technology.
The screenless Whoop 5.0 provides more data than almost any other wearable. It tracks everything from step count to heart rate variability, to sleep metrics, and more, and spins out a daily strain score, all of which are displayed cleanly in its accompanying app. The subscription-based, tiered model is an added cost, but it allows for plenty of customization.
Thereâs no shortage of Wi-Fi 7 routers to choose from. But if you want a mesh network thatâs simple, stable, delivers fast downloads, and wonât clash with your home decor, the Eero Pro 7 is our go-to. Itâs one of those âit just worksâ products.
The Matic isnât your typical disc-shaped robot vacuum; itâs full of personality like a Pixar character. It sucks up dirt quietly and never bumps into walls or furniture, and it mops well, too. If this is what itâs like to have a droid at home, bring it on.
The push to hook up home security cameras to the cloud opens them up to convenient features like backup and AI computer vision, but it also puts your footage at risk. Reolinkâs Altas captures high-quality video and includes a solar panel for sun-fueled power, but the best thing is that it works without an internet connection, with recordings saved to a microSD card. Maybe every gadget doesnât need to be âsmart.â
Functional and portable, Xgimiâs MoGo 4 is half projector and half vibes. The cylindrical device can project a 1080p screen at up to 200 inches in size, doubles as a Bluetooth speaker with its 6W Harmon Kardon drivers, and is fully portable thanks to its built-in battery. But what truly makes it unique is the attachable magnetic filters that can spray a pattern like a sunset, water ripple, or dreamy effect onto walls or ceilings, just to set a mood.
AR
Meta Ray-Ban AI Glasses Gen 2
Meta was first to popularize AI glasses, and its lead is showing. The Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 might not be an explosive upgrade over the last generation, but they improve in all of the areas that matter, including battery life and video capture, making them an easy pick if youâre in the market for non-display smart glasses.
If the Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses Gen 2 are an easy pick, the Meta Ray-Ban Display are even easier. With a bright display and âNeural Bandâ for controlling the UI with precise finger pinches and gestures, these are the AR smart glasses that will make you feel like youâre actually living in the future.
The Xreal One Pro are hands-down the best way to watch movies and TV while flying. They plug directly into any compatible device, such as a phone, laptop, or tablet, via USB-C and let you see a 171-inch virtual display thatâs bright and sharp. Thereâs a whole spatial computing aspect to them, but weâd just stick with using them as awesome video glasses.
We were spoiled for choice for a 240Hz QD-OLED monitor this year, but in the end, the Alienware AW2725Q stood out the most. This 27-inch square display offers a beautiful picture with a monitor stand that looks unique without sacrificing stability.
Incredible doesnât even begin to describe this portable battery bank. Itâs got three USB ports (2x USB-C and 1x USB-A) capable of supplying 300W of combined power to charge two laptops and a phone, or pretty much any modern device. With a 26,250mAh capacity, you could go a whole weekend without needing a wall outlet.
Logitech struck gold with its MX Master series of wireless mice, so it didnât need to do much to make the MX Master 4 the best mouse of the year. It feels comfortable, has a free-spinning and side-scrolling wheel, and now supports haptics to add a little rumbly in your thumbly.
Laifenâs P3 Pro is the kind of product that Apple would make if it designed grooming products. Its aluminum body and satisfying, reversible magnetic razor attachment system scream Apple-inspired. Its compact footprint is deceptiveâthis razor is powerful enough to mow down even the bushiest of beards.
Anker Prime Charger (160W, 3 Ports, Smart Display)
Almost every power brick that comes with a laptop is huge and heavy. Using the latest gallium nitride (GaN) technology, Ankerâs Prime Charger (160W, 3 Ports, Smart Display) is barely larger than an AirPods Pro 3 case and can charge one device at up to 140W (perfect for even a 16-inch MacBook Pro) or three devices totaling up to 160W. The built-in screen is handy for showing how much power each port is outputting.
Razerâs $230 Clio headrest speaker did not appreciate the shape of my home gaming chair. I own a cheap chairâtechnically a hand-me-down from my fatherâand the speaker likely fetches more than the chair itself. But the Clio didnât reject the bum support. It simply did not fit around the back of the chair. The device would sit too far down, and sound literally blasted into my upper back, rather than my earsâwhich is where you want the sound to go.
Iâve used plenty of odd speaker setups, including neck speakers like Sonyâs Bravia Theater U that promises to offer personalized audio without the need to sandwich your head between two cans. Thereâs certainly an audience that is looking for high-quality, room-filling audio that doesnât actually fill the roomâfurther incentivizing angry neighbors to knock down your door.
Razer Clio
The Razer Clio is awkward to attach to your chair, and even when you get it on, it won’t provide the sound you expect from these large speakers.
Balanced sound quality
Smart dongle design
Easy hookup for surround sound
Comfortable
Won’t fit on some chairs
Poor strap design
Won’t work with some surround sound
Limited battery life
Not the quality you expect for $230
In that way, the Clio fits the bill. Even though I work in an open office, I wasnât annoying my deskmates too much as I tested out my chair speaker on the other side of the room. They could hear me, certainly, but the ânear-fieldâ directional speakers on either side of the headrest kept the sound contained. Of course, what would be even less distracting is a quality pair of headphones with solid active noise cancellation to avoid any ambient sound bleeding.
The Clio nearly makes a case for itselfâespecially if youâre looking for a device to perfect your Razer surround sound setup. Itâs also brought down by its attempts to keep you from developing tinnitus, protecting your ears from the might of two speakers with large drivers. It likely offers the personalized surround sound experience you want; it wonât if youâre used to high-end gaming headsets. Those headsets wonât reject you just because you tend to slump forward, nor poorly fit your chair just because it doesnât have the right headrest circumferance.
I already mentioned my problems getting the Clio to accept the curves of my home gaming chair. Razer cites that any chair with a headrest circumference of  47 to 65 cm (18.5 to 25.5 inches) should be compatible, but how often are people measuring the tops of their chairs? To aid me in my predicament, Razer sent me a loaner of its own expensive and excessively ergonomic Iskur V2 X gaming chair so I could position the device correctly, just behind my ears. The Iskur is the kind of chair that reminds you of all your poor sitting habits. Itâs comfortable and curves to the shape of your spine. Even though itâs made with Razerâs products in mind, the $300 gaming chair isnât designed perfectly for the Clio.
The speaker uses two horizontal bands with adjustable buckles that are supposed to tighten against the chairâs back. You would imagine Razer would opt for stretchy bands to offer a snug fit. Instead, you end up doing your best to angle and tighten the Clio so the speakers sit to the left and right of your head. On Razerâs Iskur chair, that meant I couldnât wrap the bottom strap all the way around the chair back, leaving the ends dangling.
The headrest itself is comfortable enough if you decide to lean your head back into it. The two wings are made of stiffer material you wonât want to rest your head on. The thing is, I donât know many people who normally lean back far enough that they will keep their head and neck straight. If youâre a PC gamer, youâre more keen to lean toward your keyboard and mouse. When in this position, you wonât get the prime experience the Clio is trying to offer. If youâre a console gamer, get ready to sit straight-backed, like a soldier on parade, if you want the best quality audio listening with Razerâs 2.4GHz âHyperspeedâ dongle.
The Clio, like nearly every other Razer product, needs to connect through Razer Synapse PC software for firmware updates and to control the EQ, or equalization options. You only have three settings to chose from: Game, Movie, and Music. You can customize your options based on your preferences, but I found the Game option felt more flat than the Movie preset, no matter if I was watching Netflix, YouTube, or hearing the rattle of gunshots in Battlefield 6.
On the top of the speaker are controls for on and off, volume up and down, and another switch for toggling between Bluetooth and a 2.4GHz dongle connection. The dongle itself uses USB-C, and sticks out in an âLâ shape, which thankfully helps you avoid taking up too much space on your desktop. Thereâs a single USB-C port on the headrest for charging, though youâll also have to use it if Synapse forces you to update the firmware.
The Clio speaker looks enormous; big enough you may assume its twin full-range drivers would somehow offer the full soundbar plus subwoofer experience behind your head. But no, itâs actually more closely aligned to the many, many headphones you may go out and buy right nowâjust larger. And despite the size, the sound really doesnât feel âlargeâ in the way you would expect for a separate, $230 full-range speaker.
The Clio makes use of 43mm drivers with an aluminum core. If you assumed that would create some head-pounding bass, you may be dissapointed. The sound is more subtle than that. Even when I maxed out it and my PCâs volume, I didnât feel ratttled by it. Then, if you tend to lean over at all in your chair, youâll start to miss out on the best audio quality. Sorry, but I donât have an English gentlemanâs sense of perfect posture. I grew up playing games on my basement couch. My spine is a permanent letter âC.â
On completely balanced EQ settings, I felt I was getting the most out of the speakerâs sound suite. Gunfire in some games could sound slightly muffled, but it wasnât so toned down I couldnât hear small differences in various weapons in a game like Cyberpunk 2077. I tried to put on a number of games with more overt or subtle audio. As I played through Marvelâs Spider-Man 2, there was a part of me that knew I could be feeling the horns on the soundtrack deeper in my chest.
The Clioâs sound was balanced and clear without any sense of âwowâ factor in anything I played. Audio when playing any shooter game needs to be punctuated with the hard staccato of a machine gun, but sitting in my chair I felt like I was peppering my environment by loose gravel. The subtle lutes and lyres of Baldurâs Gate III need more of a twang to help sell the fantasy than what the Clio can fully provide. Audio quality felt better-tuned to a game like Ninja Gaiden 4, where the sound of your slicing and dicing has the satisfying quality of being on the right side of a butcherâs block.
The headrrest speaker also felt better situated for listening to music. My usual slate of indie folk rock felt tuned for this device. Andrew Bird could swoon and fiddle, and I felt right at home. Heavier music that you want to feel deep in your spine will offer a slight tingle instead. Again, the audio felt about right for the price for passive listening, especially with your back pressed up against the chair. Itâs what I would want from a relatively cheap speaker setup but without needing to stick multiple speaker units around your desk. However, in that case, it wouldnât matter how you sit if you were hoping to get the full effect.
The one unique feature of the Clio is that it can act as the driver seat for a kind of 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound setup. More specifically, the Clio can work as a rear speaker while another device can perform as front speakers. You could use your monitor or laptopâs built-in speakers to do the job, though that clearly isnât the best use case. Youâll want an actual speaker setup in front of you. However Razerâs Synapse software failed to recognize separate speakers like a BlueAnt Soundblade soundbar. Itâs just another quirk of Razerâs software, of which there are many. You will have a much better time if you plug in other Razer speaker or soundbars, like the companyâs Leviathan V2.
If your content doesnât support full surround sound, hitting the setting for audio mirroring will provide a better full-sound experience. In this mode, you donât need to worry about your headâs position for the best audio experience. If you have any type of desktop speaker setup, the Clio may actually be a great addition if you donât want to bother with placing speakers on the other side of your gaming room. That would also defeat the purpose of the ânear-fieldâ speakers if you were hoping to let your roommates sleep in.
One of the big selling points behind this speaker is the promise of THX immersive audio. In Synapse, you can get a demo of the spatial audio sensation as sound moves around the room. Again, in games, the âspatialâ sensibility is less distinctive. I could get a better spatial sense out of Razerâs own Kraken V4 Pro headset. If you were hoping these drivers could offer enough bass that it would run from your spine to the tips of your toes, youâd also come away disappointed.
Clio promises a battery life of up to 14 hours, which is considerably less than many of the big name wireless headsets out there which promise at least 30 or more hours of listening time. In my days using it, I didnât have to worry about that much considering I can barely get in a few hours of gaming a week, at most. Charging the device isnât all that difficult if you have an extra-long USB-C cable. Otherwise, youâll need to take the Clio off your chair to bring it somewhere to give it that extra juice.
My mind kept going back to the various headsets Iâve used all throughout 2025. For the same price, you can grab a pair of headphones that will offer personalized audio with improved bass. An Alienware Pro Wireless headset is notably light on bass compared to similarly priced devices, and I would still prefer it over the Clio to make my spine tingle. A HyperX Cloud III Wireless at $180 also provides meaty sounds without pitching over into annoying highs or lows.
For anything better quality, you end up spending closer to $300 or even more. The cream of this yearâs crop of headsets is still the Sony Inzone H9 II. Itâs the moment when âbalancedâ audio transforms into something more meaningful. Razerâs own BlackShark V3 Pro, built for competiive gamers, will cost you $250. A Razer Kraken V4 Pro will set you back $400 when not on sale, but I can confirm it offers truly immersive audio. Yes, all these options involve earcups. The Clio may be that extra piece of kit you needed for your surround sound (if Razer likes your device). Otherwise, most people are better off sticking with what works.
To test the contrast however, I first listened to the speaker without its bass bottle. Itâs very loud for a small speaker, and in my office I couldnât cope with the volume turned up past 30 percent. It’s just not an enjoyable listen, sounding shrill and disappointing without any discernible bass. Itâs not quite as bad as putting your old iPhone in a cup for extra amplification, but itâs not far offâand at least you can actually drink from the cup afterwards.
But weâre here for the bass-boosting bottle, and I can categorically say that the acoustically tuned plastic bottle does indeed boost the lower frequencies, and makes the speaker sound significantly better. The bottle takes the edge off the volume, and thereâs a noticeable depth to the mids and bass once it’s attached. You can really hear the difference in the mix and balance, and the contrast between the sound with the bottle on and off is impressive.
Push the volume, however, and the bass gets muddy quickly, with the sharp edges once again noticeable in the mix. Itâs not horrible, but compared to the competition itâs just not that enjoyable to listen to, which is a shame, because it sure does look cute on my desk.
While it is larger, the Anker Soundcore Motion 300 ($70) wipes the floor with the Sodapop, with clear bass and clarity, even at volume. Similarly, the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 ($80) is small, portable, boasts full 360-degree sound and comes with IP67 waterproofing (it floats), which is a huge upgrade to Sodapopâs dust- and splash-resistant IPX65 rating.
Played side-by-side with the similarly proportioned and much cheaper $35 Tribit StormBox Micro 2 (IPX7 rating, 10 hours playtime), the physical separation and large chamber between the drivers and bass port does create a wider soundstage. Thereâs not much in it in terms of the amount of bass and overall performance though.
Boy, gaming headsets sure are getting expensive these days. Thereâs Sonyâs Inzone H9 II, which costs $350, a sum thatâs more than half the cost of a 1TB PlayStation with a disc drive. Then there are even more expensive options, like SteelSeriesâ Arctis Nova Elite, which costs more than the aforementioned console at $600, though it does come with a separate hub. Iâm not saying those gaming headsets donât sound goodâI tried the Inzone H9 II for myself and was impressedâbut if youâre spending a several-hundred-dollar sum on a gaming headset (justaheadset for Peteâs sake), it better be game-changing.
Thatâs a high bar for a peripheral, to be sure, but one that I think resonates with most gamers willing to tread into the ultra-premium category. That being said, itâs a bar that can be met, as evidenced by Sonyâs Inzone H9 II. Still, rising to the level of game-changing is no easy task, which is why I went into testing VZRâs Model One MKII Audiophile gaming headset with a raised eyebrow. With a $360 price tag, can the Model One MKII really deliver the goods at a level that makes the premium feel justified? The answer⊠is complicated.
VZR Model One MKII
The Model One MKII is an expensive headset that sounds good in moments but lacks modern conveniences.
Sounds good when set up the right way
Comfy
Feels sturdy
No option for Bluetooth or a 2.4GHz dongle
No active noise cancellation
Sounds mediocre when plugging into a Bluetooth controller
An âaudiophile game headsetâ
Right out of the gate, VZR positions its Model One MKII as a gaming headset geared toward audiophiles. To back that claim up, itâs using something called CrossWave, the same technology in its previous headset, the MK One. CrossWave is a proprietary tech that is meant to more closely mimic the way sound naturally enters your ears. The idea here is that with precise acoustic tuning, it delivers more ânaturalâ spatial audio that makes the headset ideal for first-person shooters, where hearing footfalls and other environmental noise can be make or break.
To augment that acoustic experience even further, VZR has included a âTalismanâ in the Model One MKII, which is a patent-pending bass diffuser that, in VZRâs words, âbrings tighter, harder-hitting lows that make every scenario feel massive.â That bass diffuser should also give you an indication as to where VZR intended to improve the sound in this iteration, which is to say, in the midrange frequencies. With less overpowering bass, you should be able to hear midranges and treble more easily.
So, thatâs what VZR meant to do with the Model One MKII. The question is, does it actually achieve those goals? The answer? Sometimes yes and sometimes no. In my experience, the level of satisfaction with the Model One MKII depended largely on how I was using the headset. Using it the lazy way, which in my case is plugging directly into an Xbox controller (sometimes wired and sometimes not) and calling it a day, the gaming headset feels⊠lackluster. While I get a touch more spatiality while playing games like Fortnite, I wouldnât describe the sound experience as groundbreaking. Footfalls and gunshots are perceptible, but not quite âwow, Iâm right in the actionâ levels of sound.
Similarly, plugging into a PlayStation 5 DualSense controller and playing Gears of War is a fine experience, but it didnât quite leave me feeling like spending $360 would be a good idea.
But this method isnât the hi-fi way. If youâre buying this headset (spending nearly 400 freaking dollars to do so), you should think like an audiophile, and audiophiles donât use Bluetooth like some regular-ass noob. Audiophiles take advantage of wires and the lossless audio they provide, in addition to the low latency. So, to test the headset like an audiophile would, I plugged the Model One MKII into Steel Seriesâ Arctis Nova Elite gaming hub, which is basically a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that is meant to maximize sound quality and precision. The result was a marked improvement in sound quality and overall satisfaction with VZRâs hardware. Gears of War: Reloaded sounded a hell of a lot more immersive, with more spatiality and much higher fidelity soundârock crumbling felt proximate, and enemies felt like they were in the room.
Is it cheating to use a DAC? I donât know; you tell me. Maybe it is, but I also imagine most people spending nearly $400 on a headset will have a proper setup at home to use said hi-fi headset, so in some ways, this feels like the better way to actually assess the Model One MKIIâs audio chops. Ultimately, whether you feel satisfied with the Model One MKIIâs sound quality will depend largely on your setup at home. If youâre taking the lazy approach and plugging this thing into a Bluetooth controller and calling it a day, beware. If you have the right interface to make the hardware sing, then it might be worth the investment.
Quality, but not always convenience
VZRâs Model One MKII brings quality in a lot of ways, and one of the areas youâll notice immediately is the build. The Model One MKII feels sturdy, with a metal headstrap and a comfortable pleather band underneath that connects earcups made from heavy plastic. Thereâs a weight to the headset, but it doesnât feel burdensome on your head, which means that itâs balanced well. Earcups, which contain memory foam, are also well-padded and comfortable in longer gaming sessions, though they donât necessarily allow for the best heat dissipation.
Overall, the Model One MKII looks and feels like itâs worth several hundred dollars, which is good because it costs (checks notes)⊠several hundred dollars.
The mic quality also holds its own, according to people I gamed with, and is detachable, which is great if youâre storing the Model One MKII between gaming sessions or if you want to toss the headset in its included carrying case without crunching the mic. The mic also picks up my voice well, even when itâs not ideally positioned, which is good if you happen to bump your mic mid-game and donât have time to fix it. The mic positioning also holds up well compared to cheaper gaming headsets with less rigidity.
There is one area that I have to take exception with, which is the fact that the headset is wired-only. For some people, that will be fine, and thereâs no denying that wires provide unparalleled low latency and lossless audio, but I canât help but feel like an option to use the headset with Bluetooth would be nice. I still think, despite the superiority of wires, that I prefer a dongle solution like Sonyâs Inzone H9 II, which uses a 2.4GHz signal to transmit more audio information and cut down drastically on latency compared to regular Bluetooth connections. Sure, having to plug a dongle in and keep track of it isnât ideal, but frankly, neither are wires, and the former solution looks a hell of a lot cleaner than dealing with all that black spaghetti on your desk.
Speaking of wires, the Model One MKII comes with revamped cables for more stability and better audio quality. I havenât used the Model One that came before the MKII, so I donât have much of a comparison, but I can tell you that the signal felt stable for the most part, though I did have some hiccups while plugged into my aging Xbox controller at home via Bluetooth. Iâm going to give VZR the benefit of the doubt and say the signal instability was the controllerâs fault, given the fact that the gaming headset operated fine when plugged into other controllers with less wear and tear.
So, back to the original question: should you really spend $360 on a gaming headset? Itâs hard for me to answer that since I donât have access to your last bank statement, but I think if you are going to spend that much, there are gaming headsets that I would spring for before the Model One MKII. Sonyâs Inzone H9 II, for example, has quality sound in a dongle solution that feels a hell of a lot more convenient, and while it may not have the same premium build, it gives you even more features like active noise cancellation (ANC), which the Model One MKII lacks.
Also, Sonyâs Inzone H9 II can be used wired via a 3.5mm cable if you really want to, so is there any real advantage to buying VZRâs Model One MKII? Iâll let you be the decider there, but if it were me spending almost $400 on a gaming peripheral, Iâd want to have options. As high-quality as the Model One MKII can sound with the right setup, I find it a little too confining and not as full-featured as competitors that offer custom sound profiles, ANC, and options for wired/Bluetooth, while still bringing the A-game in the sound department. My advice? If you really feel like you need a premium headset, do yourself a favor and get one that does it all.
Speaking of critical listening, the XC1 work with Sonyâs hi-res capable LDAC Bluetooth codec, should you happen to own a compatible Android phone (sorry, iPhone users). Using LDAC can reveal more detail, especially when listening to a source of lossless audio, but for these earbuds, I donât think the juice is worth the squeeze. Using LDAC disables your EQ settings and Bluetooth Multipoint, and the XC1 struggle to maintain a steady Bluetooth connection when LDAC is set to its highest-quality setting.
Baseus also includes two Dolby Audio modes (Music and Cinema), which are meant to create a more immersive, spatial experience. For me, itâs the opposite. I find they wash out the sound, with Cinema being downright muddy. At 60 percent volume, there was more than enough power for an engaging listening experience indoors. Outside, I needed a bit more oomph.
Beyond Music
Photograph: Simon Cohen
Calling on the Inspire XC1 is good. Whether indoors or outdoors, your callers will find it easy to understand you, and almost all background sounds are kept at bay. However, as with most clip-style open-ear earbuds, your voice wonât be crystal clearâsome distortion does manage to creep in, particularly when outside.
Baseus rates battery life on the XC1 at eight hours per charge, with 40 hours of total use when you include the caseâs battery, numbers that are only eclipsed by the OpenDots Oneâs 10/40 combo. Baseus assumes 50 percent volume and does not include the use of either Dolby Audio or LDAC. LDAC can be very power hungry, often reducing battery life by up to 30 percent, which is one more reason to avoid it.
Open-ear earbuds arenât for everyone, but with great sound quality, a comfortable, clip-style design, and easy-to-use controls, the Baseus Inspire XC1 are an excellent choice. They check a lot of boxes for a price thatâs considerably less than their nearest competitors, including strong water and dust resistance, optional LDAC mode, and Bluetooth Multipoint. The only thing thatâs missing is support for Auracast. Sadly, that feature has yet to see widespread adoption. If you’re after an affordable pair of open buds that compete with the best, these are among the best we’ve tried.
The Kasambwe Brothers are a band of four decades, based in the Ndirande township near Malawian capital Blantyre. They found their way to a Mass MoCA residency with help from Hen House and Luc Deschamps, the director of the Jacaranda Foundation and Franceâs honorary consul to Malawi. Watch a documentary on the making of the album, which involves collaborators from the Massachusetts music scene, below. Clement Kammwamba is the artist behind the cover painting.
Mass MoCA Records will operate in tandem with the museumâs curatorial ethos, a press release notes, and is running as a three-year pilot. Museum director Kristy Edmunds said, âBy joining forces with Hen House Studios and being able to tap into the remarkable number of music studios and intimate venues in the local areaâthe ingredients for a hand-made record label were all around us. I see this label as an extension of how we innovate to support the mobility of artistsâ ideas and connect audiences the world over.â
Harlan Steinberger, the producer and engineer behind Hen House, added, âThough technology today can work wonders, the digital world has de-humanized us. I believe in an older-world method that emphasizes the magic of a band making music together in one room, playing off the creativity of the moment. The humanistic approach creates a deeper emotional listener experience that can not only be heard, but also felt.â
An album from Compton jazz artists Black Nile will follow in 2026, the press release notes.
While open-source crusaders and techno-libertarians are applauding Universal Audioâs recent efforts to move away from its âwalled gardenâ approach to plug-ins, the truth is that most of the good ones still require the presence of an interface or a processor core to load up and run in your DAW of choice. As we mentioned in the write-up of the Apollo Twin, above: âgoodâ is a massive understatement when describing UAD’s most popular plug-ins.
Its digital re-creations of optical mix bus compressors, legendary reverbs, and warm, vibey tape machines are unmatched by any other prosumer-level manufacturer, and the fact that its hardware powers the CPU-hungry algorithms that apply the magical high-end sheen to your mix makes the pricey leap into the UA universe well worth it.
Direct monitoring on the four included XLR unison preamps is crystal clear, nearly latency-free, and loaded with clean headroom for anything you plug into it. A wide array of inputs like a pair of ADAT I/Os and eight line-level 1/4″ jacks can handle sessions of all sizes, and the UA Console app makes routing, monitoring, and plug-in management a breeze. If you go to a major studio, this is the most common interface you’ll see, often with multiple stacked together for even more channels, which you can do with a single cable between devices. âPete Cottell
Foo Fighters have also shared a new song called âAsking for a Friend.â It follows âTodayâs Song,â which came out in July. Hear the single below.
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Foo Fighters: Take Cover Tour
Foo Fighters:
11-12 Monterrey, Mexico – Estadio Banorte ^$ 11-14 Mexico City, Mexico – Corona Capital 08-04 Toronto Ontario – Rogers Stadium ^+ 08-06 Detroit, MI – Ford Field ^+ 08-08 Chicago, IL – Soldier Field ^+ 08-10 Cleveland, OH – Huntington Bank Field ^+ 08-13 Philadelphia, PA – Lincoln Financial Field ^+ 08-15 Nashville, TN – Nissan Stadium ^+ 08-17 Washington, D.C. – Nationals Park ^+ 09-12 Fargo, ND – Fargodome + 09-15 Regina, Saskatchewan – Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field ^+ 09-17 Edmonton, Alberta – Commonwealth Stadium ^+ 09-20 Vancouver, British Columbia – BC Place ^@ 09-26 Las Vegas, NV – Allegiant Stadium ^@
^ with Queens of the Stone Age $ with Jehnny Beth + with Mannequin Pussy @ with Gouge Away
