Tag: underscored-electronics

Apple’s new Mac Mini M2 gets you more power for a cheaper $599 — and you can order it now | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

Whether you’re already a fan of Apple’s Mac Mini or want to know more about the miniaturized desktop that connects to your keyboard, monitor and mouse, you’ll want to check out Apple’s new models, which come supercharged with the company’s latest M2 chip.

The 2023 Mac Mini with M2 and M2 Pro, announced today, offers more connectivity and higher-performance workflows for an even lower price than its 2020 counterpart. Here’s everything you need to know before you place an order.

2023 Mac Mini price and where to preorder

The new M2-powered Mac Mini desktop promises up to a 50% performance boost as well as improved connectivity. If you want a computer that has a small footprint but big power, it’s worth keeping an eye on.

The 2023 Mac Mini with M2 and M2 Pro are available for preorder now and will hit stores on Jan. 24. The Mac Mini with M2 starts at $599 ($100 less than the previous version), and the Mac Mini with M2 Pro starts at $1,299.

Not only are you getting the more powerful updated chip but advanced connectivity as well, with support for up to three displays. As an added bonus, the Mac Mini M2 Pro comes with support for one 8K display, which is a first for any Mac product.

More performance and speed in the tiny Mac Mini body

Apple

The Mac Mini has always been a great way to bring Apple’s powerful computing prowess to your desktop for less. And with the 2023 Mac Mini products, which include the newest M2 and M2 Pro chips, you’ll now have access to a faster next-generation CPU and GPU, higher memory bandwidth and even better performance.

The Mac Mini with M2 chip comes with an 8-core CPU, along with a 10-core GPU, and up to 24GB of memory and 100GB/s of bandwidth. This makes tasks like image editing in Photoshop and video editing in Final cut up to 50% quicker, which is quite an upgrade from the Mac Mini with M1.

The Mac Mini M2 Pro goes a step further, offering double what you’ll get on the Mac Mini M2. This includes its 12-core CPU, along with up to a 19-core GPU. Plus, the M2 Pro has 200GB/s of memory bandwidth and supports up to 32GB of memory. So, not only does it make video playback even speedier than the M2, it also allows musicians to produce tunes with more plug-ins and effects, and photographers to quickly edit even the largest photos.

It’s nice to know that even in this smallest of form factors, the 2023 Mac Mini M2 and M2 Pro come with more ports than the 2020 Mac Mini M1. The M2 offers two Thunderbolt 4 ports with support for up to two displays, while the M2 Pro model has four Thunderbolt 4 ports and support for up to three displays.

Apple

And, in a first for any Mac, the M2 Pro model can also support one 8K display. Both models have the more traditional connectivity, with two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, a Gigabit Ethernet port with a 10GB option and a headphone jack. Both the M2 and M2 Pro Mac Mini support Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

Apple

We have always appreciated the Mac Mini for its smaller footprint and the flexibility it offers you to create your own desktop setup. And now, with an even lower price of $599, you have room to splurge on Apple’s top-notch 27-inch Studio Display as well as accessories like the Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse.

Not only do the 2023 Mac Mini M2 and M2 Pro versions offer more powerful experiences and double the speed for quicker workflows and media manipulation, but both come with even more connections, including extra Thunderbolt 4 ports and the first and only support for an 8K display on any Mac. They’re looking like an especially great upgrade for folks who own an older, Intel-powered Mac Mini, but even those coming from an M1-powered model should see some serious improvements. And while the M2 Pro model isn’t cheap at $1,299, it’s looking like a good middle ground for those who want a compact, powerful desktop but don’t want to splurge on the pricier Mac Studio.

We’ll be putting the newest Mac Mini products through their paces soon, but considering you’ll be getting more for less, we’d consider watching this space.

[ad_2]

Source link

January 17, 2023

The best workout headphones in 2023 | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

Anyone who spends time working out, inside or outdoors, understands the importance of a good set of headphones. Studies have demonstrated that music can make exercise more enjoyable, and even improve your workouts, so having a good set of headphones is essential. And the latest headphone are better suited for exercise use than ever, with secure fit, intuitive controls and weather- and sweatproof designs that let you concentrate on your workout without worrying about losing an earbud. There are even models specifically designed to let you safely listen while you’re working out in the great outdoors.

To find the best exercise headphones for any kind of workout, we put leading models into action as part of our own daily workout regimens in the gym, at home and on the streets and trails, judging them on design, noise isolation, comfort, fit, battery life, IP rating, sound quality and usability. And in the end, we found some great headphones that should work for you whether you’re a gym rat or prefer the open road.

The best workout headphones overall

We used the Beats Fit Pro in the gym and all day for work, play and commutes, and found their secure, sweat-resistant design and superb audio make them a perfect fit for anyone’s workout, no matter whether you’re an Apple or Android user,

Read our review

The best headphones for running and outdoor workouts

The Shokz OpenRun Pro bone conduction headphones don’t sound as good as sealed earbuds like the Beats Fit Pro, but we loved them for running and hiking, since they let you hear your surroundings as clearly as you would without wearing headphones at all.

Read our review

Tobey Grumet/CNN

The Beats Fit Pro earbuds offer all of the performance of Apple’s first-generation AirPods Pro in a more secure-fitting package that’s perfect for more active pursuits but great for everyday use too. In fact, they’re not just our favorite workout headphones, but they’ve been our recommended headphones for Apple users in general for the past year. Their reliable fit, easy-to-use touch controls and snug wingtip design meant that even over months of intense exercise testing, they never fell out — not one single time.

The smooth rubber and light weight of 5.6 grams per earbud (they are much more compact than the similarly featured Powerbeats Pro) made us nearly forget we were wearing the Beats Fit Pro, and they were never loose or in need of fiddling with the fit while exercising. The flexible wings and tips with pressure-relieving vents made a real difference during workouts. Once secured, it took extra effort to remove them — even on purpose.

That matters not just because we got a better music-listening experience, but because the secure fit let us concentrate on our workouts. We didn’t miss a minute of our virtual workouts — which included everything from running and rowing to lifting weights to core and yoga work — and never had to spend time fiddling with a loose earbud while moving. Plus, with IPX4 water resistance, we didn’t have to worry about sweat or using them in rainy conditions.

Hayley Saltzman/CNN

Plus, the controls (an advance over the first-gen AirPods Pro, and more like the current second-generation model) are simple to maneuver, and again let us stay focused. Just tap and click either bud to pause, play and skip tracks or to answer and hang up a call.

Since the Beats Fit Pro make a great everyday headphone, their long battery life — around 6 hours on their own and up to 30 hours, including multiple refreshes from a fully charged case, as found in our in-depth testing — comes in handy. Also, unlike AirPods with third-party wings, these can charge in the case, wings intact, making them much handier for use, despite the slightly larger charging case.

In addition to the great sound, intuitive controls and excellent noise-canceling capabilities, the Beats Fit Pro are just the most comfortable, best-fitting earbuds we’ve ever used. And when it comes to working out, sometimes you just need to get back to the basics.

Read the full review

Ashley Mateo/CNN

The Shokz OpenRun Pro look and feel unlike the headphones you’re used to. Rather than sitting in your ear canals or over your earlobes, the business ends of these Bluetooth headphones rest just in front of your ears, on your cheekbones.

The Shokz work using what’s known as “bone conduction” technology to deliver sound not through the air but through your cheekbone. Yes, your cheekbone. In standard over- or in-ear headphones, sound vibrations travel through the air down the ear canal to the eardrum where your brain processes these vibrations and interprets them as sounds. Bone conduction technology bypasses the eardrum and sends vibrations via the bones located in your upper cheek and jaw to your cochlea, or inner ear, and on to your brain.

You’ll have to keep in mind that the sound quality is definitely worse than traditional sealed earbuds or suspended speaker designs like the Bose Sport Open or JLab Open Sport. It’s tinnier, and has the same sort of relationship to more listening-oriented headphone sound that blasting music from your phone or computer does to relaxing in front of a good stereo system.

But that’s to be expected when you’re not delivering sound directly into your eardrum, and we found the sound quality of the OpenRun Pro perfectly adequate for workout purposes. It’s improved over previous bone-conduction headphones we’ve tried, with better bass and plenty of punch if you like bass-heavy music while working out.

Ashley Mateo/CNN

Realistically, even if you’re using a good sealed in-ear headphone like the Beats Fit Pro in transparency mode while you’re running, you aren’t looking for a fully immersive audio experience anyway. With the OpenRun Pro, we really enjoyed having situational awareness that let us hear traffic and the world around us just as well as we would without headphones.

Unlike most of the Bluetooth workout headphones we’ve tested, the Shokz OpenRun Pro aren’t a true-wireless model. The earpieces are connected by a springy titanium band that runs around the back of your neck and hooks over your ears. Regardless of activity, the OpenRun Pro remained comfortable throughout our testing, without pinching or discomfort, and didn’t conflict with oversized sunglasses, a hat or both. And despite the barely-there feel, they didn’t budge during any workout, not even during high-intensity interval training. Battery life is a reasonable 10 hours, which got us through a week of runs and outdoor workouts.

Read the full review

A good-sounding open-ear workout headphone

With an ear-hook design that supports a miniature, highly directional driver at the top of your earlobe, outside the ear canal, the Bose Sport Open let you hear your surroundings and your music without compromising sound quality as in many similar designs.

Read our review

A workout headphone that you can wear all day

If you want a pair of excellent-sounding workout earbuds that make it easy to both block out and let in the outside world, the Jabra Elite 7 Active are well worth the purchase.

Read our review

An affordable open-ear headphone

The JLab Open Sport are a unique, affordable and worthwhile pair of open-ear earbuds that make it easy to stay alert while exercising, but fit, weight and a touchy user interface make them better for light exercise and everyday use than for hardcore workouts.

Read our review

	The workout headphones overall	The best running headphones
Weight	0.18 ounces per bud	1.02 ounces
Ambient noise/transparency mode	Yes (via Transparency Mode)	Yes (via open design)
Battery life (rated)	Up to 6 hours	Up to 10 hours
Quick charging	1 hour from a 5-minute charge	1.5 hours from a 10-minute charge
Noise cancellation	Yes	No
Water and dust resistance	IPX4	IP55
Colors	Black, white, Sage Grey, Stone Purple	Pink, black, blue, beige
Price	$160	$180

Noise cancellation and situational awareness

Everybody loves noise cancellation, and it’s not just for the office or travel — it’s a great feature to look for in exercise headphones. Whether you’re listening to music in the gym or following along with a class or virtual trainer, it’s great to be able to block out the external world and really focus. Plus you can keep your tunes at an acceptable level so you won’t damage your ears.

On the other hand, if your exercise regimen takes you outdoors, you won’t want to close off your ears from the world around you. Luckily, most noise-canceling models include a transparency mode that uses the headphone’s call microphones to let in some external sound, letting you maintain situational awareness. This will let you participate in conversations and — more importantly — keep you aware of important noise like traffic, trail users you might not be able to see or a cyclist coming up behind you. The best transparency modes include some noise-canceling features, like wind noise filtering, which are great if you’re out for a run.

Noise-canceling headphones are typically sealed — they depend on a silicone or foam tip that fits snugly into your ear, piping sound directly into your ear canal. Those are great for indoor workouts, and using them in transparency mode lets them work outdoors as well.

But if you really want to prioritize staying aware of your surroundings, an open-ear design lets you hear the outside world just as well as you would if you weren’t wearing headphones. Most of the open designs on the market use an ear hook or a clip secured to glasses frames to suspend a miniature, highly directional speaker above your ear. Others use bone conduction, in which tiny, powerful drivers that rest on your cheekbones work a bit like miniature subwoofers, transmitting vibrations and sound directly to your inner ear via your skull. Neither approach provides sound quality anywhere near as good as sealed models, but if you’re hitting the road or trail for some miles that likely isn’t a priority.

Comfort, fit and stability

While AirPods Pro and Galaxy Buds are great for general use, there’s a reason they’re not our first choice for workouts: They just aren’t designed to stay in your ears during exercise. The best way to keep your headphones steady is to consider a pair that uses wings, fins, hooks or clips (you can add third-party wings or hooks to your AirPods Pro, of course, but then they won’t fit in the charging case). These devices keep the earbuds secure in your ears, even while running, HIIT training and most any other activity, and they let you focus better since you won’t be checking to see if you’ve lost an earbud every few seconds. Plus we’ve found that the more stable fit is generally more comfortable, especially when you’re sweaty. All the headphones we tested also come with a set of at least three differently sized ear tips which will help ensure a better fit for different shaped ears.

The majority of the headphones we tested — like most Bluetooth headphones today — will last through about a day of use on a single charge, and most come with a charging case that extends that to a week or so of all-day use.

Since you may only be using them for a couple of hours at a time, this may not be a primary concern, though if you’re a long-distance runner or cyclist, you’ll want to make sure that the single-charge battery life is long enough to get you through the day.

Water and sweat resistance

All of the workout headphones we tested are water-resistant to some degree, typically described using an IP (ingress protection) rating, which uses two digits to describe protection against dust and moisture (if it isn’t rated against one or the other, you’ll see an “X” in one of the places. This will ensure that you won’t ruin the electronics after an intensely sweaty workout, a dusty trail run or in the rain. The dust scale runs from 1 to 6 and the water resistance scale runs from 1 to 9. An IP rating of IPX1 includes no dust resistance and only mild moisture protection; a rating of IPX9 is fully waterproof; a rating of IP68 is dustproof and can survive immersion in water

Usability and controls

The last thing you want to do while working out is to stop and mess with controls, which is why most workout headphones let you do basic things with touch controls, like adjust audio or skip, pause or forward tracks. Some go further, allowing you to make and take calls, summon a voice assistant or switch out the level of noise isolation, all with a simple tap. We much preferred models that let us access all necessary functions directly from the headphones themselves, letting us concentrate on our workout.

Aside from the lowest-priced options, many exercise headphones use an app to access higher-level functions. Though you can certainly use them without it, the app can help you customize features like EQ as well as noise cancellation and awareness levels. Some also get more granular, letting you choose how you appoint your touch controls, but if getting what you need or making a quick adjustment is too confusing or annoying, the app won’t be of much help. Simple, straightforward apps are best if you’re trying to use them during workouts.

Last — but not least — is audio quality. Just because you’re exercising doesn’t mean you need to tolerate poor audio quality, especially if you’re working out indoors. It’s no accident that our favorite pair of workout headphones overall — the Beats Fit Pro — has also been our overall favorite headphone for Apple users, at least in part because it sounds so good. We make an exception for outdoor exercise, where we think it’s worth sacrificing a little, whether you use a transparency mode or go with an open-ear design, in order to stay safe.

To help find the best options, we put a variety of workout headphones to use as part of our daily workouts, at home, in the gym and outdoors in conditions ranging from sweltering heat to cool rainy days. While we did assess sound quality for each headphone, we weighted other factors — effectiveness of transparency modes, ease of use under stress, comfort — more heavily than we would when assessing headphones for everyday use.

To check fit and comfort in real-world situations, we used them on long and short runs, through indoor endurance sessions such as cycling, running, dance and HiiT classes, which included jumping jacks, burpees, jumps, sit-ups and crunches. And we used them while we lifted weights, did yoga and pilates and did barre classes.

Special attention was paid to how they stayed in our ears during stress tests and how they worked — and how easy they were to operate — when we were sweaty or wet. We assessed noise isolation in indoor settings, checking the headphones’ ability to stifle the noises we didn’t want to hear in the gym.

For running and hiking use, we checked out how well transparency modes (or other hear-through technologies, such as bone conduction or other open-ear designs) let us maintain situational awareness and hear traffic and other street or trail users. We also made sure to note how easy it was to control the headphones while on the move and if any companion apps were simple to use when our heart rates were up.

We really enjoyed runs with the Jaybird Vista 2, a full-featured, noise-canceling all-day true wireless headphone with a compact (and wireless) charging case and a well-thought-out companion app. The ANC was effective for focus (especially in blocking out a noisy bike trainer) while the SurroundSense transparency mode (which includes an adjustable wind-filtering setting in the companion app) was good for outdoor runs, letting us hear traffic easily. The fit is nice and secure too, courtesy of a well-designed wing and compact profile. It’s also IP68-rated, so you can get it really wet without worry in situations where you might not want to risk the Beats Fit Pro.

We only had minor complaints. The combination of the tight seal and SurroundSense noticeably amplified our foot strikes while running, and we didn’t find the wind filtering terribly effective in stiff winds (it’s better suited for blocking out environmental noise while running on a fairly still day). And Bluetooth connections were a little flakier than with Beats or Apple products — we got some dropouts at 10-12 feet from a phone when moving around from routine to routine with the device on a table.

The Vista 2 is a great all-around workout headphone that comes in cheaper than the Beats Fit Pro and is better suited for extreme situations (though it’s not clear you should be wearing headphones at all in those cases), but we give the edge to the Beats for better iOS integration, Bluetooth connectivity and audio quality.

With a neat foldable earhook design, the Soundcore Sport X10 manages to fit a secure-fitting workout headphone into a compact case (USB-C charging only; it won’t charge wirelessly). A couple of our testers felt that the flexible, rubbery hook was substantial enough that it felt bulky and got uncomfortable during use, especially when worn with sunglasses. We were able to get a reasonably secure fit, though we felt that it wasn’t as solid as we were able to get with wing designs like the Jaybird Vista 2 or Beats Fit Pro, or with larger earhook designs like the Bose or Treblab headphones we tested.

Like many of the recent headphones in the Soundcore line, the X10 sound great (Anker have really done their homework here) and the app offers a ton of EQ options (along with meditation exercises). Noise cancellation is included, with a transparency mode (with a wind noise reduction setting), though these modes weren’t on par with the Beats or Jaybird models we tested. That said, these are much cheaper than the rest of the competition, and given the very impressive sound quality and range of features, they’re a compelling budget choice, though best if you don’t run in sunglasses.

Another budget workout headphone, the Treblab X3 Pro has the most basic features of any model we tested — just a simple design, without noise canceling, transparency modes or app integration. With flat-profile, full-size ear hooks, they worked better with sunglasses than the Soundcore Sport X10, and were very secure on road and trail runs. The X3 Pro doesn’t match our top recommendations in audio playback quality, however, and the big hooks mean a big charging case that you may not want to take with you unless you’re wearing a hydration pack. Without noise canceling and transparency you either get a good seal and decent isolation or a loose fit and very little, but given the nonslip hooks you don’t need to depend on a tight seal for them to stay put and that can work well enough in letting you hear your surroundings. This does make them less useful for outdoor sports, however — but if you want something inexpensive, basic and secure for gym workouts, the treadmill or Peloton, the X3 Pro may fit the bill.

[ad_2]

Source link

January 17, 2023

Samsung’s new Galaxy phone is coming next month — and you can reserve it now | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

A new year means a new Galaxy phone, and you won’t have to wait long for the next one. Samsung has announced that its newest slate of devices will be revealed at Samsung Unpacked on Feb. 1, and you can reserve them right now if you’re especially eager to upgrade.

Samsung just launched its reservation page where you can reserve the next Galaxy smartphone, the upcoming Galaxy Book laptop or both. Reserving each product individually will get you $50 in free Samsung Credit that you can use on samsung.com, while reserving both at once will get you $100. Note that making a reservation doesn’t lock you into a preorder or require any payment info — you’re simply putting your name and email down so that you’ll be notified as soon as the new devices actually are available to purchase.

As for what’s coming, Samsung is almost certainly teasing the long-rumored Galaxy S23 series. The “Reserve Now” image on Samsung’s website features three fancy-looking camera lenses — a staple of Galaxy flagships — and a teaser video reads “made for Moonlight,” hinting that the upcoming phones may take even better shots in the dark. Also, we’re just speculating, but that blue hue in the video would make for a great phone color.

As with previous years, you should expect an S23, S23+ and S23 Ultra, the latter of which will likely go for over $1,000 and feature the highest-end cameras. The Galaxy S22+ is our current best Android phone pick, so we’re eager to see how the new model improves on Samsung’s typically great cameras and overall design.

On the laptop front, we could be looking at the Galaxy Book 3 series. At the very least, we expect an upgrade to the latest 13th Gen Intel Core processors, potentially taller screens and a mix of traditional and convertible models. We really liked last year’s Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360, though we found its swath of preinstalled Samsung software to be a bit much.

Samsung Unpacked kicks off Feb. 1 at 1 p.m. ET, and we’ll be covering all the big announcements as they happen. In the meantime, you can reserve the company’s new hardware — for free and with no commitments — right now.

[ad_2]

Source link

January 11, 2023
CES 2023: Roku will make its own TVs in the hopes to get even smarter | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

CNN Underscored will be bringing you the best of CES 2023 all week. Be sure to check out our CES 2023 coverage hub for hands-on previews of the biggest tech this year straight from the show floor.

Roku — which makes some of our favorite streaming devices — announced at CES 2023 that it will be manufacturing its own television sets for the first time ever this spring, in a move it hopes will better allow it to show off and combine its hardware with its TV OS.

• Product: Roku Select and Roku Plus Series TVs
• Launch date: Spring 2023
• Pricing: $119 to $999
• Why it’s worth your attention: Roku is one of the best-known streaming platforms and has long been used in other manufacturers’ TVs and soundbars. With this announcement, the company will now be designing and making its own sets, with an eye on value and an even-better streaming experience.

Roku has long been known for its simple, well-designed streaming software. And in addition to its plug-and-play streaming devices, you can also get the Roku OS with one of its internet-connected TVs made by other well-known companies, like TCL, Philips and the Walmart brand Onn.

With this declaration at CES 2023, Roku has decided to be the captain of its own destiny, hoping to better showcase how well the software can work when the company is firmly in charge of creating its own hardware.

Tobey Grumet/CNN Underscored

The HD Roku Select and more premium 4K Roku Plus Series TVs will come in 11 models, from 24 to 75 inches, but the real focus here will be on value, with prices ranging from a measly $119 to just less than $1,000. Roku is keeping mum on further details, but it has announced the addition of voice-controlled remotes for all the new TVs, with the Plus Series upgraded to a Roku Voice Remote Pro.

Though I haven’t heard any announcements of future Roku partnerships announced here yet, the company says it does not plan to cut ties with its current manufacturing partners.

“Our goal is to continue to create an even better TV experience for everyone. These Roku-branded TVs will not only complement the current lineup of partner-branded Roku TV models, but also allow us to enable future smart TV innovations,” says Mustafa Ozgen, president, Devices, at Roku.

With the emphasis on lower prices, the takeaway here may be value over picture quality. However, for those looking for an easy and cheaper way to stream their favorite shows and movies, you may want to wait for these new Roku TVs to ship this spring before you buy.

[ad_2]

Source link

January 7, 2023
I just tried PlayStation VR 2 at CES 2023 — here’s what it’s like | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

CNN Underscored will be bringing you the best of CES 2023 all week. Be sure to check out our CES 2023 coverage hub for hands-on previews of the biggest tech this year straight from the show floor.

After years of anticipation, Sony’s PlayStation VR 2 headset is just weeks away from landing in the hands of PS5 owners. I got a chance to try it out at CES 2023 ahead of its February 15 launch, and can say that the future of console virtual reality is looking bright.

The PlayStation VR 2’s improved controls, tracking and visual fidelity make a strong impression right out of the gate, and Horizon Call of the Mountain is shaping up to be a fun and immersive launch title. But with a high asking price and no backwards compatibility, will Sony’s long-anticipated headset be worth it? Here’s what I think so far after a quick 20-minute demo.

• Product: Sony PlayStation VR 2
• Price: From $550
• Launch date: February 22 (available for pre-order via Sony)
• Why it’s worth your attention: The PlayStation VR 2 is looking like a vast improvement over one of our best VR headset picks in the PlayStation VR, offering much better performance and a more streamlined setup process.

Mike Andronico/CNN Underscored

Built exclusively for the PS5, the PlayStation VR 2 is a top-to-bottom improvement over the PS4-based PlayStation VR. The PSVR 2 has a much slicker look that mimics the design of the PlayStation 5 itself, with new, spherical Sense controllers that feel more ergonomic than the older Move controllers — while also offering the same advanced, detailed haptics that we love on the standard PS5 DualSense controller.

But perhaps the biggest upgrade is the PSVR 2’s internal camera sensors, which should solve many of the setup headaches we had with the original model. Whereas the previous PlayStation required you to have a PlayStation Camera attached to track your controller movements (not to mention a clunky processor box that powered the whole thing), the new headset promises a seamless plug-and-play experience with a single cable.

Mike Andronico/CNN Underscored

The PlayStation VR 2 felt comfortable and lightweight as soon as I got it on my head, and I never got the urge to adjust it throughout my roughly 20-minute demo. As I did some quick calibration to get ready for my demo, I was impressed by how quickly and accurately the headset tracked my eye movements — something that made it easy to navigate menus without having to move the joystick around. After a few minutes of setup, it was time to venture into the wilds of Horizon Call of The Mountain, a first-person action game set in the same post-apocalyptic sci-fi universe as Sony’s popular Horizon games on PS4 and PS5.

As soon as I began my journey as a disgraced soldier being taken to his destination by boat, I was immediately struck by the improved visual fidelity of the PlayStation VR. My crewmates looked as lifelike and detailed as they would on a PS5 game, and I couldn’t help but swing my head around as I marveled at the lush greenery all around us — and the towering robotic beasts looming from above. This immersive experience is all made possible thanks to the PSVR 2’s improved 2000 x 2040 OLED HDR display, which is a notable step up from the 960 x 1080 resolution on the original model.

Mike Andronico/CNN Underscored

Once things went awry and it was time to go into survival mode, the headset’s new Sense controllers proved impressive. Everything from the bump of my boat to the tug of my bow and arrow was met with its own distinct level of feedback, which made it easier to get enveloped in the action. Climbing up mountains felt especially tense and thrilling, to the point where my real-life hands started to sweat as I worried about falling off a steep cliff. Fortunately, the game and controller’s hand tracking was accurate enough that I only made a few slips (and thankfully didn’t fall down in real life).

Call of the Mountain is shaping up to be a solid launch title for the new headset, offering an intuitive mix of traversal and combat — and no doubt plenty of narrative easter eggs for serious Horizon fans. I walked the game’s treacherous trails by holding down two buttons and moving my actual arms (something that definitely felt like a small workout), though you’ll also have the option to walk around via standard controller inputs if you don’t feel like breaking a sweat. I also liked how interactive everything in the environment was, as I could pick up, play with and toss every wooden box, piece of fruit and random tambourine laying around the wasteland.

My only real nitpick was the combat — while drawing my bow and slinging arrows felt intuitive, it took a while for me to accurately land shots. This was especially true during a big boss battle that required me to dodge and shoot on the fly, though I imagine it’s the kind of thing I’ll get used to after more game time.

Mike Andronico/CNN Underscored

The PlayStation VR 2 makes a strong first impression, pumping out immersive 4K gameplay within a design that improves on its predecessor in just about every way. Horizon Call of the Mountain is shaping up to be a nice showpiece for the headset, and I’m eager to see how other titles like Resident Evil Village and Among Us VR run on it.

However, all of that power doesn’t come cheap. The PSVR 2 starts at $550 (there’s also a $600 bundle that includes Call of the Mountain), and requires you to own a $400 to $500 PS5 — a console that’s still not exactly easy to come by. The headset isn’t backwards compatible with PSVR 1 games, though some titles will offer free upgrades to the PSVR 2 version. And while the launch lineup looks somewhat promising (we can’t wait to play Resident Evil Village and Gran Turismo 7 in VR), it also consists of lots of games that have been available on other headsets for quite a while, such as Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge and Beat Saber.

Still, the PlayStation VR 2’s promising performance and improved design alone have me excited to spend more time with it. We’ll be putting it through its full paces closer to launch next month, so stay tuned for our in-depth review.

[ad_2]

Source link

January 7, 2023
The best of CES 2023: Here’s the tech to watch this year | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

We spent days roaming the hallways of Las Vegas to find the products that are actually worth paying attention to at CES 2023. From dual-screen laptops and high-tech beauty kits to a true breakthrough in the smart home space, this year’s installment of the world’s biggest technology show had no shortage of exciting hardware. But for every legitimate game-changer there are dozens more pieces of vaporware, which is why we’re here to bring you just the good stuff.

In order to find the best tech of CES 2023, we spent countless hours meeting with top technology brands, went hands-on with dozens of products and had a long deliberation process to settle on winners. We focused on products that are truly innovative, improve on our existing recommendations in a meaningful way or just help make your life better, from inexpensive accessories to premium TVs. With that said, here are the tech products you should keep an eye out for this year.

CNN

TCL has long made our best TV pick, and the Q7 looks like yet another great mid-level model for everyone from cord-cutters to gamers.The Q7 comes with a 4K Quantum Dot screen that promises even better color and brightness,but the real star of this show is its native 120Hz panel that can boost to an even smoother 240Hz — the kind of extra-fluid refresh rate that allows competitive gamers to play at their best. Throw in the Q7’s IMAX Enhanced certification and Dolby Vision, and you’ve got a great all around set that really stood out when we saw it up close. The TCL Q7 will be available sometime in 2023 in sizes ranging from 55 to 85 inches. No pricing has been announced and TCL told us that the Q7 is not a direct replacement of an older model, so stay tuned for more. — Tobey Grumet, reviews editor

The Samsung Premiere 8K ultra short throw projector not only projects a stunning picture up to 150 inches, but it sits just a few inches from your wall or screen — either on the floor or on a stand. And though this category of pricey projectors is not new, Samsung’s commitment to 8K resolution is commendable (native 8K content isn’t there yet, but it’s coming), and promises an even better picture that will be four times the 4K resolution of the 2020 version. It looked stunning — and practically 3D-like — during our eyes on time. No word on pricing or availability yet, but expect it to arrive sometime in 2023 for at least more than the current Premier’s $3,500.

Read our review

Though definitely not vaporware, the LG Z3 is our pie-in-the-sky pick because of its ultra premium OLED display which comes resplendent in 8K resolution. But we figure, go big or go home here at CES 2023. Available in 77 or 88 inches, the TV stood out from the pack with an attractive rectangular base, and it’s up to 40 percent brighter than the previous OLED models (something especially important if you’re in a sunny room), according to LG. You’ll get all the same bells and whistles that are featured on the more traditional G3 and C3 OLED models, but it’s the 8K resolution that knocks the Z3 into our runner’s up status. If you haven’t seen 8K in person, take our word for it — with an almost 3D look, it will be game changing when there is finally enough content available. Alas, there is no pricing for the Z3 yet, but we can assure you, it won’t be cheap when it’s available later this year.

CNN

The Otterbox OtterGrip is the first iPhone 14 case we’ve seen that combines the extra grip of a PopSocket with seamless MagSafe accessory support, all within a flexible design that lets you switch between the two. This $60 case’s soft silicone design felt very comfortable in our fingers, and its range of designs — from cool tye-dye patterns to simple solid colors — looked great up close. — Mike Andronico, Senior Tech Editor

Anker makes some of our favorite charging products, and the company had no shortage of them at CES 2023. But the Anker 675 USB-C Docking Station truly stands out from the pack by combining the benefits of a USB-C docking station and a sleek monitor stand all-in-one. This attractive accessory features 12 ports for all of your charging and connectivity needs, as well as a wireless charging pad to keep your phone or earbuds juiced up while you work. We were especially impressed by how sleek and compact the docking station looked up close, especially considering that its raised design leaves room for your mouse, keyboard and laptop when you’re not using it.

With so many more of us working at home, it’s nice to have as much flexibility with your desk as you do with your schedule. This electric standing desk is not only ergonomically friendly, but you can use the onboard switch to raise it up to 50.6 inches and lower it to 25 inches to serve as a traditional desk as well (numbers comparable to our best standing desk pick). ErgoAV even added pressure sensors to make sure it won’t hit a pet if you’re taking it all the way down. We also love that it has all our power issues in mind, with a built-in 15W wireless charging pad that will raise out of the desk to face you when you place your phone on it — something not found on even our favorite tested models. Finally, you can keep your valuables close by in the Ergo AV’s drawer, which can be locked via the desk’s compatible app. It will be available in March for $1,500 and comes in Meteor Black and Wood colors.

Mike Andronico/CNN Underscored

In what’s shaping up to be a banner year for laptops, the YogaBook 9i stood out from the competition by delivering a design that’s equal parts innovative and practical. This stunning dual-screen laptop gets you two full 13.3-inch OLED displays that you can combine with the included stand and keyboard to create the ultimate portable multitasking station, one that let us easily use two apps at once or expand a single window across both screens for more optimal scrolling. Ditch the stand, and the YogaBook 9i transforms into a traditional laptop that offers both virtual and physical keyboard options while giving you a second-screen experience for staying on top of things like weather and email. Switching between these modes was seamless and instant in our hands-on time, which proves the YogaBook 9i’s versatility isn’t just a gimmick. — Mike Andronico, Senior Tech Editor

Chromebooks typically aren’t associated with high-end style, but the HP Dragonfly Chromebook looks to change that. This notebook has the same stylish design as its premium Windows counterpart, as well as customizable RGB lighting that looked great up close — and was easy to customize and sync up with our wallpaper. Its colorful display made a great companion for YouTube videos as well. If you want the simplicity of ChromeOS but with the power and looks of a modern high-end laptop, the Dragonfly belongs on your radar.

Read our review

It’s been an incredible CES for gaming laptops, which are all adopting bigger, brighter displays and a serious power boost thanks to the latest Nvidia and AMD graphics. But the Dell G15 does something few of its competitors do — it just looks fun! Dell’s latest entry-level gaming notebooks feature a refreshing set of 80s-inspired color schemes, which looked especially great in-person at Dell’s retro-themed CES booth. The G15 is on the chunkier side and we still need to gauge its performance, but its striking looks give it a big advantage in a crowded space.

Read our review

Whereas the Dell G15 stands out with its loud pop-art design, the MSI Stealth 14 Studio goes the opposite direction by offering a design that wouldn’t look out of place in a coffee shop. This is one of the most compact and coolest-looking gaming laptops we’ve seen from CES, packing all the specs you need for immersive PC gaming and visual design work within a gorgeous design that felt comfortably lightweight to pick up — complete with your choice of blue and white color schemes that both looked fantastic in person.

CNN

The Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra improves on our best high-end webcam pick with a new sensor that offers DSLR-like camera quality at considerably less-than-DSLR prices. The Pro Ultra’s video quality truly wowed us during our hands-on time, and it could very well be the new camera to beat for devoted Twitch streamers and YouTubers. It’s available now for $300. — Mike Andronico, Senior Tech Editor

We’ve seen dedicated mobile gaming devices before, but the Razer Edge takes the concept to its extreme with the best screen, processor and cellular support we’ve seen on this kind of gadget. Playing games like Halo Infinite and Fortnite felt great thanks to the Edge’s comfy controls and rich AMOLED screen, and unlike other cloud gaming consoles, the Edge offers a 5G option for streaming your favorite games anywhere.

Read our review

Govee already makes responsive, affordable LED lights to enhance the video gaming experience and takes it even further with the AI Gaming Sync Box Kit, an HDMI box trained to see what’s happening on screen and respond with real-time lighting effects.

Govee developed its own AI and trained it on a handful of video games, (more to come) including League of Legends, so it triggers a specific lighting effect based on the game. We watched as it glowed green after killing a boss, just to name an example. The HDMI box with three HDMI IN and one out supports input switching making it the first HDMI AI box that supports up to 240Hz, perfect for those fast-paced games.

CNN

Based on our brief hands-on time, the PlayStation VR 2 looks to improve on one of our best VR headset picks in just about every way. Designed for the PS5, Sony’s new headset looks sleeker, offers more dynamic and comfortable controllers, and delivers a serious step up in visual fidelity — something we immediately noticed as we climbed and battled our way through the vivid sci-fi wastelands of Horizon Call of the Mountain. — Mike Andronico, Senior Tech Editor

The HTC Vive XR Elite is one of the more impressive high-end headsets we’ve gotten to test, offering similarly immersive gaming and productivity features as the $1,500 Meta Quest Pro for hundreds of dollars less. It borrows the same design we really liked on the HTC Vive Flow, while offering the same robust library of games and apps as HTC’s higher-end headsets. Plus, it’s mixed reality capabilities have some neat applications, like the ability to see how furniture would look in your home without having to actually lug anything around.

CNN

Of all the tech gadgets at CES 2023, the Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 is the one I had the hardest time pulling myself away from. Billed as the world’s first dual 4K gaming monitor, the Neo G9’s engrossing 57-inch ultrawide screen made driving around in Need for Speed Heat feel incredibly immersive, and offers the best combination of fidelity and performance we’ve seen on this kind of display. — Mike Andronico, Senior Tech Editor

Whereas the Neo G9 offers the best resolution we’ve seen on an ultrawide monitor, the $1,700 Acer Predator X45 stands out by harnessing the rich colors and deep contrast of OLED. This display’s huge 45-inch screen allowed me to take in every detail of a Microsoft Flight Simulator journey, and features important tech specs like a smooth 240Hz refresh rate and a mix of DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI for both PC and console gaming.

CNN

It’s about to get a whole lot easier for consumers to add smart home devices to their homes, thanks to a new standard called Matter, which was finalized late last year. Matter is already rolling out to millions of smart home devices through software updates from brands like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Samsung SmartThings. Many companies announced Matter certification for new or existing products (via a firmware update) so all the smart home devices can play nicely – without worrying about whether you have an existing Apple, Google or Amazon ecosystem. We even saw a new Samsung SmartThings hub built specifically for this technology, and it’ll likely be the first of many.

Matter will be available in smart categories like sensors, lighting, outlets and plugs, garage doors, thermostats and smart speakers with more categories to be introduced in the future. — Andrea Smith, contributor

Ring is expanding its watchful eye from your front porch to your driveway with the Ring Car Cam, a camera that attaches to your windshield like a dash cam. While dash cams typically record everything going on while you drive, the Ring Car Cam has a dual-facing camera to keep an eye on your car’s interior as well as its surroundings. Like your video doorbell, you can get alerts, check in on what’s going on and get recorded video evidence in case of an accident or break in. We got to see a promising demo of the Car Cam in action, and are eager to see how it stacks up to our favorite dash cams.

Best home product: Kohler Anthem Digital Shower Valve and Control

CNN

Kohler’s Anthem Digital Valve and Control allows you to personalize the most important aspects of your shower: water temperature and flow. Warm up and pause features ensure you’re never unintentionally stepping under a freezing cold stream, and Anthem controls up to six shower outlets of myriad varieties, including rainheads, hand showers and body sprays, each of which can be independently adjusted. Meanwhile, nine presets allow you or others in your home to save their favorite shower settings. The whole system integrates with the Kohler Konnect smartphone app, so users can monitor their shower duration and opt to restrict the maximum flow of water for a more eco-friendly shower experience. Starting at $560 (though it looks to be marked down to $420 right now), Anthem is designed to fit the global plumbing standard and available in a range of finishes to match your bathroom aesthetic. — Chelsea Stone, Senior Editor

We saw a ton of smart cooking appliances at CES, but none was more versatile, easy to use and downright attractive as the Brava Glass. The countertop oven maker has improved upon its original model by adding a glass window to the door, so — like a real oven — you can watch your food cook using the brand’s patented, energy efficient infrared and visible light technology. This is, of course, in addition to the camera that streams an overhead view of the food directly on the oven’s smart interface and to your mobile app. It’s more than just an oven, though: The Brava Glass is able to air fry, roast, bake, sear, toast, reheat, rice cook, slow cook, dehydrate and keep food warm, and choosing your cook time is a cinch with over 7,000 pre-loaded recipes (or make up your own). If you have the counterspace, pick up one of your own, along with two glass trays, two metal trays, a muffin tin, square pan, loaf pan, egg tray and the cast iron chef’s pan included, for $1,995 in early 2023.

A beauty innovation that raised many an eyebrow at CES? That would be L’Oreal’s Brow Magic, an at-home electronic eyebrow makeup applicator that indeed would have us questioning the existence of witchcraft if we didn’t know any better. The device uses Modiface AR technology via a mobile app to scan a user’s face and 2,400 tiny nozzles and printing technology with up to 1,200 drops per inch printing resolution to provide on-demand, customized microblading, micro-shading and/or filler effects in mere seconds, all with just a simple swipe across the brow. (The resulting look comes off with regular makeup remover.) There’s no word on pricing yet, but L’Oreal Brow Magic is set to launch later this year, so feel free to toss out your eyebrow pencils and cancel that tinting appointment.

It may not be the most appetizing name, but the Typhur Instaprobe does one thing and boy, does it do it well. This extremely good-looking food thermometer, with a 4.3 inch probe, can tell you the temperature of any kind of food, from gooey candy to finicky filet, in under one second. Using what it calls a DCTiTM (Direct Contact Thermal Integration) process for these ultra-fast readings, it’s temperature range can go from -58 to 572 fahrenheit, and can be read easily on it’s OLED backlit display — perfect for that nighttime bbq or culinary-forward camping trip. It is also waterproof for easy cleaning and will conserve battery life with a built-in motion sensor that will wake the thermometer when shaken. Of course, all this comes at a pretty price,and the Instaprobe will be available from Typhur on January for $107, though the company is offering a limited time $30 discount. Or wait until it’s up on Amazon this March.

CNN

The Movano Evie is both one of the best-looking and most practical smart rings we’ve seen yet. This high-tech piece of jewelry is designed to provide features like cycle tracking for people with uteruses (as well as basic sleep and health metrics), and Movano is in the process of earning FDA clearance to make sure your data will be kept safe. And unlike rivals like the Oura Ring (one of many sleep trackers we’ve tested), the Evie features a neat AirPods-like charging case that’ll keep it both safe and juiced-up at all times. More importantly, we simply love how it looked and felt.

Withings already makes a number of health and fitness devices to give consumers insight into their overall health, like smart scale body metrics and blood pressure measurements. Now, it’s bringing a urine lab to your own toilet.

The Withings U-Scan is a Wi-Fi enabled device that sits in your toilet bowl and analyzes your urine for specific markers. The company is starting with ovulation tracking, nutrition and hydration info and certain vitamins. We got to see the U-Scan up close, and it looks impressively compact and easy to set up for what it does — and will feature swappable cartridges that each offer different types of tracking (for example, there’s one specifically for cycle tracking).

In the future, Withings hopes to use this as an easy and accessible way to conduct more health-related tests like biomarker assessments and screen for bacterial infections. And yes, it can even determine which household occupant is using the toilet!

[ad_2]

Source link

January 7, 2023
The Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra webcam gets you DSLR-like quality for less — and we tested it at CES 2023 | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

CNN Underscored will be bringing you the best of CES 2023 all week. Be sure to check out our CES 2023 coverage hub for hands-on previews of the biggest tech this year straight from the show floor.

I’ve reviewed a lot of webcams, so it’s rare for one to make a strong first impression on me. But the second I sat in front of the Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra at CES 2023, I could have easily been fooled into thinking I was being captured by a pricey DSLR camera.

Available now for $300, the Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra builds on our current high-end webcam pick with an even larger sensor that promises to be the biggest ever in a webcam. That means even more detail and better color. Here’s why it may be the new webcam to beat for serious content creators and broadcasters.

• Launch date: Available now on Razer.com
• Product: Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra
• Price: $300
• Why it’s worth your attention: The Kiyo Pro Ultra builds on one of our best webcam picks with an even better sensor that brings it closer in quality to a true dedicated camera. While $300 for a webcam isn’t cheap, it’s much more affordable — and simpler to set up — than getting a fancy DSLR and the gear needed to connect it to your computer.

Mike Andronico/CNN Underscored

As soon as I settled in for a demo with Kiyo Pro Ultra, I could tell this wasn’t an ordinary webcam. Where even the sharpest webcams produce an overall sterile image, the Kiyo Pro Ultra created a striking cinematic bokeh effect that made me look like I was sitting in front of a professional camera. I could make out every strand of my beard in vivid detail, and the camera managed to keep my face in focus as I moved around, all while blurring out the crowd of fellow CES attendees behind me.

This is all made possible thanks to the camera’s Sony Starvis 2 sensor, which Razer says is the largest in a webcam. According to the company, the camera captures almost four times the light of other webcams, which means much more overall clarity and detail. Thanks to the powerful processor inside, you’ll be able to capture true 4K video at 30 frames per second, or 1080p video at a smoother 60 fps.

Mike Andronico/CNN Underscored

Just like the previous Kiyo Pro, the Ultra is plug-and-play via USB-C, allowing you to enjoy its great picture quality with minimal fuss. That’s a whole lot easier — and cheaper — than picking up a DSLR like the $550 Canon EOS Rebel T7 and getting an adapter such as the Elgato Cam Link 4K to get it working with your PC.

And while the Kiyo Pro Ultra works great out of the box, those who like to tinker with every possible setting will be able to do so via the Razer Synapse app. Here, you can manually adjust things like focus, exposure and lighting type; adjust the resolution and frame rate; and toggle HDR for extra-vivid images.

All of this power comes at the expense of size; the Pro Ultra is just about the biggest webcam I’ve seen, even larger than the already-chunky Kiyo Pro. However, it’s pretty sleek for how big it is, and I appreciate the new physical shutter that lets you completely block out the camera with a quick twist of the lens. Like with the previous model, there’s also a separate cap that you can use to cover the webcam and keep the lens safe while you’re traveling.

Mike Andronico/CNN Underscored

If you’re looking to step up your YouTube videos or Twitch streams with DSLR-like picture quality without paying DSLR prices, the Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra belongs on your radar. A $300 webcam is certainly an investment, but it’s also much cheaper and easier than trying to get a proper professional camera working on your PC — and your viewers may not even notice the difference. The Pro Ultra is available now, and we’ll be putting it through its paces for a full review as soon as we can.

[ad_2]

Source link

January 6, 2023
The HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook is one of the slickest laptops of CES 2023 | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

CNN Underscored will be bringing you the best of CES 2023 all week. Be sure to check out our CES 2023 coverage hub for hands-on previews of the biggest tech this year straight from the show floor.

To many folks, Chromebooks are inexpensive, no-frills machines for web browsing and getting some work done. But they can be more than that. New, high-end Chromebooks blend the simplicity of ChromeOS with the power and looks of a premium laptop, and HP’s new Dragonfly Pro Chromebook is one of the most compelling examples we’ve seen yet.

Launching this spring for a yet-to-be announced price (we expect it will be in line with current upscale Chromebooks, around $500 or more), the Dragonfly Pro Chromebook uses the same sleek design language as its Windows counterpart while throwing in a handful of neat touches, including slick RGB lighting that you’d typically only find on gaming laptops. We had a chance to go hands-on with this alluring new Chrome notebook ahead of its CES 2023 reveal, so here are some early impressions.

• Product: HP Dragonfly Chromebook Pro
• Launch date: Spring 2023
• Pricing: To be announced in Spring (premium Chromebooks typically cost $500 or more)
• Why it’s worth your attention: Chromebooks rarely look this good, nor do they usually offer high-end features like customizable RGB lighting. If you want the simplicity of ChromeOS but within a design that really stands out, the Dragonfly belongs on your radar.

Mike Andronico/CNN

Not since 2020’s Samsung Chromebook 2 has a ChromeOS notebook grabbed my attention like the Dragonfly Pro. HP’s latest premium Chromebook looks nearly identical to the standard Dragonfly Pro, which is to say that it’s sleek enough to stand out in the office, lightweight enough for easy travel and attractive in both Ceramic White and Sparkling Black.

The Dragonfly Pro Chromebook felt great to use during my limited hands-on time, sporting a 3.3-pound frame that was a breeze to pick up and a satisfyingly bright and colorful 14-inch, 2560 x 1600 display that really popped when I fired up my favorite YouTube videos. I was immediately drawn to the laptop’s keyboard, which, on top of feeling comfortably bouncy, offers customizable RGB lighting — a rarity in a Chromebook.

Mike Andronico/CNN

You can choose from a handful of preset colors and patterns in the ChromeOS settings menu, or have it automatically match up with the Dragonfly Pro’s many colorful wallpaper options. The Dragonfly Pro Chromebook’s RGB lighting might not be as robust or dynamic as what you’ll find on a gaming laptop, but it’s still a nice touch that perfectly complements the notebook’s slick design and colorful display.

HP’s latest Chromebook is powered by a 12th Gen Intel Core i5 processor with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which should get you fast everyday speeds for catching up on email, doing some work and playing Android games via the Google Play Store. HP promises “all-day battery life” (something we’re looking forward to testing) as well as fast charge support that should get you a 50% charge in 30 minutes (ditto on that).

Mike Andronico/CNN

The Dragonfly Pro Chromebook is just one piece of HP’s impressively large CES 2023 roster, which runs the gamut from affordable notebooks built with sustainability in mind to high-end Windows machines, including the standard Dragonfly Pro, which gives you the same sleek design but with the flexibility of Windows 11, as well as the power of AMD processors and a wider range of storage and memory options.

Mike Andronico/CNN

Staples like the HP Laptop 14-inch and HP Laptop 15.6-inch have been updated with newer components, with the former available in an especially intriguing “Eco Edition.” According to HP, the new notebook is built with up to 25% of the product using post-consumer recycled plastics, with additional sourcing from materials including used cooking oil. It also comes in 100% sustainably sourced, recyclable packaging. It also looks gorgeous in person, sporting an attractive Waterfall Blue colorway.

HP’s sustainability efforts also extend to its latest all-in-one desktop, which has an enclosure that the company tells us is made of at least 40% post-consumer recycled plastics, a stand that’s 75% recycled aluminum and a base that’s entirely made from reclaimed polyester. Recycled coffee grounds are used to produce the attractive speckled finish. Overall, it’s great to see HP make such a big push towards environmentally friendly products, especially when they all look this great.

Mike Andronico/CNN

HP’s lineup of consumer PCs is impressive this year, not just because the company’s machines look sleek and promise great performance, but also because many of them are built with an eye toward preserving the planet. The Dragonfly Pro 14 looks like a serious best laptop contender, and its Chromebook counterpart is one of the most attractive we’ve seen yet. Factor in affordable, eco-conscious options like the HP Laptop 14-inch and 24-inch all-in-one, and HP should have something for just about everyone in 2023. We look forward to testing HP’s new lineup as the PCs start rolling out throughout the year, so stay tuned for more.

[ad_2]

Source link

January 6, 2023
The Razer Edge could be the cloud gaming device to beat at CES 2023 | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

CNN Underscored will be bringing you the best of CES 2023 all week. Be sure to check out our CES 2023 coverage hub for hands-on previews of the biggest tech this year straight from the show floor.

There have never been more options for enjoying console-quality controls when playing your favorite mobile and cloud-based games on the go, from phone attachments like the Backbone One controller to dedicated Android handhelds like the Logitech G Cloud. However, those solutions each come with their own compromises, from a fast-draining phone battery to a lack of 5G support for playing out in the wild.

These are the exact kind of issues that Razer is looking to solve with the new $399 Razer Edge, which the company bills as “the ultimate gaming handheld.” I got to spend some time with Razer’s new device at CES 2023, and while I don’t think everyone needs to spend a few hundred bucks on a dedicated mobile gaming console, it’s certainly shaping up to be the best take on the concept I’ve seen yet.

• Product: Razer Edge
• Launch date: Available for reservation now on Razer.com (Wi-Fi) and Verizon (5G)
• Price: $400 (Wi-Fi); From $360 with special offers (5G)
• Why it’s worth your attention: The Razer Edge solves a lot of problems we’ve had with other cloud gaming devices, including a lack of 5G support and non-removable controls. You’re getting just about the most powerful Android device out there for playing Play Store games and streaming titles from Xbox Game Pass and Nvidia GeForce Now, as well as a mini tablet with a great screen for binging movies when you’re not gaming.

Mike Andronico/CNN Underscored

The Razer Edge consists of two parts: a 6.8-inch tablet with a vibrant AMOLED screen, and a detachable Razer Kishi V2 Pro controller. Put it all together, and you have a compact, Switch-like gaming handheld that plays Android and cloud-based games — and does a pretty good job of it based on my short hands-on time.

The biggest thing that stood out to me about the Edge is the display, which produced rich, vibrant colors whether I was staring at the rainbow pattern on the device’s home screen or engaging in a big Fortnite showdown. The display here isn’t quite as big as the 7-inch screen on the Logitech G Cloud, but it’s richer and sharper, and has a much smoother 144Hz refresh rate (compared to 60Hz on the Logitech) for maximum responsiveness in competitive games.

The Kishi V2 Pro’s controls were comfortable and reliable in my testing, whether I was picking off aliens in Halo Infinite or racing against a colorful suite of cars in a custom Fortnite match. Its haptic feedback gives it a nice advantage over other mobile solutions like the Backbone One, and you’ll also get USB-C passthrough (so you can charge while you game) and a headphone jack for getting immersed in the action.

Mike Andronico/CNN Underscored

On the software front, the Edge runs full Android 12L, meaning you can access the millions of apps on the Google Play Store for everything from gaming to productivity. Better yet, a dedicated button on the Kishi controller opens up the Razer Nexus app, which provides quick access to services such as Xbox Game Pass and Nvidia GeForce Now while offering curated lists of Play Store games that offer gamepad support (something Google itself doesn’t do). Razer even got Valve to update its Steam Link app for this device, meaning you’ll be able to stream your favorite PC games directly from your computer when you’re away from your rig.

Razer also made a big deal of the Edge’s Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 processor, which is designed specifically for high-end gaming (and isn’t available on any other mobile device yet). I’ll have to spend more time with the Edge to see how this compares to the average phone, but I can say that the device ran Fortnite locally very well, and stayed impressively cool and quiet after a fairly long play session.

The Edge also comes in an optional 5G variation exclusively through Verizon, who are promising fast ultra wideband speeds for gaming on the go. I’m particularly eager to test this feature out, as the lack of cellular support was one of my biggest sticking points with the $350 Logitech G Cloud. That being said, my test unit was able to stream Halo Infinite from Xbox Game Pass fairly well, even on spotty hotel internet.

Mike Andronico/CNN Underscored

The Razer Edge is one of the most impressive gaming handhelds I’ve tested, offering the best display, processor and cellular support I’ve seen on this kind of device. However, that $399 price is nothing to scoff at, leaving this as a somewhat niche product for the most hardcore of mobile gamers (or folks willing to splurge on a companion device that lets them take their PC and console games anywhere).

If you just want a better way to play mobile games, I’d still point most people to the excellent $100 Backbone One or Razer’s own $100 Kishi V2, both of which attach to your phone for instant console-like controls (Razer also noted that you’ll eventually be able to get the Kishi V2 Pro on its own for around $150). The Logitech G Cloud offers a bigger screen, and goes for a notably cheaper $300 these days. Still, if you’re a mobile or cloud gaming enthusiast who wants the best of the best, the Edge should be on your radar.

[ad_2]

Source link

January 5, 2023
The Dell G15 makes gaming laptops fun again at CES 2023 | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

CNN Underscored will be bringing you the best of CES 2023 all week. Be sure to check out our CES 2023 coverage hub for hands-on previews of the biggest tech this year straight from the show floor.

Modern gaming laptops typically come in two flavors these days: massive red-and-black behemoths with tons of LED lights, or sleek and slim workhorses that you can get away with using at a coffee shop. But what if there were a third option, one that screamed “fun” without looking like it dropped out of an alien spaceship? That’s where the new Dell G15 series comes in.

Dell’s latest G-series laptop continues to offer a selection of great gaming specs at more attainable prices than its higher-end Alienware siblings, this time packed into a trio of retro-inspired colors that look like they belong in an arcade rather than a dimly lit gaming den.

• Product: Dell G-series laptop
• Launch date: Spring 2023
• Pricing: Starting at $849
• Why it’s worth your attention: I’ve reviewed dozens of gaming laptops over the past few years, and the Dell G15 is the first one in a long time that has me genuinely excited.

Mike Andronico/CNN

Of the many laptops scattered across Dell’s pre-CES event space in New York City, the G15 was the one that nearly everyone was clamoring to get their hands on. The whole G-series lineup was on display in Dell’s recreation of a retro arcade — pinball and Street Fighter machines included — which made a perfect backdrop for this refreshingly colorful set of gaming notebooks.

I was immediately drawn to the Pop Purple version of the G15, which gives off serious 80s mall vibes with its beautiful blend of purple and baby blue hues. The laptop also comes in Quantum White and Dark Shadow Gray flavors, each of which are a bit less striking than the purple but still have a fun two-tone design that immediately stands out from other gaming laptops. I also got a look at the larger G16 series, which sport the same overall design with a larger 16-inch display and more subdued Metallic Nightshade and Quantum White colors.

Mike Andronico/CNN

I didn’t get a chance to game on the G15, but the specs look very promising on paper. Dell’s new gaming laptop sports the brand-new 13th-Gen Intel Core processors (all the way up to the super-fast i9), and the latest Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics. You’ll get a 15-inch 1080p display at up to 165Hz — plenty of smoothness for basic competitive gaming — and up to 32GB of memory alongside up to 2TB of storage.

The G15 also packs a decent selection of ports, including three USB-A connections (perfect for your mouse, keyboard or headset), a USB-C port, an HDMI input and a headphone jack. And like all of Dell’s latest gaming PCs, the G-series ship with Alienware Command Center for fine-tuning everything from RGB lighting to game-specific settings.

Dell

I’ve reviewed dozens of gaming laptops over the past few years, and the Dell G15 is the first one in a long time that has me genuinely excited. The G-series has always delivered great gaming performance for the money, but now it’s also one of the best-looking gaming laptops — and one that should make a refreshing alternative to the overly aggressive (or overly bland) competition. We look forward to seeing how the G15 and G16 stack up to our picks for the best gaming laptops when we get our hands on them later this year.

[ad_2]

Source link

January 4, 2023
Nintendo Switch tips & tricks: 11 things Switch owners need to know | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

So you finally got a new Nintendo Switch. Congratulations! Nintendo’s mega-popular console is a gateway to some of the best titles out there right now, whether you’re looking to get lost in Pokémon Scarlet on a plane ride or have a raucous Super Smash Bros. party with friends in the living room.

But while the Switch is a pretty user-friendly device, there are a few things you should know about in order to get the absolute most out of your new system. So whether you’re rocking the shiny new Switch OLED, the standard Switch or the ultra-portable Switch Lite, here are some tips and tricks — as well as some handy accessory recommendations — to keep in mind.

Nintendo

Once your Switch is set up, you’re going to want to add some friends so that you can keep tabs on what your buddies are playing — and boggle at just how many hours they’ve put into Animal Crossing.

There are a few ways to do this, but you’ll want to start by selecting your profile icon from the top left of the home screen and then selecting Add Friend. From there, you can search by friend code (more on that in a sec), search for local users that are in the same room or search for users you’ve played with recently. And if you’re looking to give out your own friend code, you can find it right at the top of the Profile menu.

Mike Andronico/CNN

The Nintendo Switch doesn’t offer much in the way of personalization, but you can at least switch between light and dark modes for the main menu. To do this, simply go to System Settings > Themes and pick between Basic White and Basic Black. We’ve been team Basic Black for life ever since we made the switch, but to each their own.

Michael Andronico/CNN

Want to play some handheld Mario Kart on the couch without disturbing your loved ones? After years and years of waiting, you can finally pair your Bluetooth headphones with your Nintendo Switch. To do this, put your headphones or earbuds in pairing mode, go to System Settings, select Bluetooth audio and choose Pair Device. From there, simply pick your headphones from the list and you should be good to go.

4. Get a microSD card to expand your storage

Unless you’re dead-set on buying all of your games physically, we’d recommend that almost every Nintendo Switch owner pick up a microSD card to expand the system’s internal storage. Your system’s storage (32GB for the Switch and Switch Lite; 64GB for the Switch OLED) will fill up fast with games, saves and screenshots, so we suggest going with at least a 128GB card (like this popular SanDisk model that goes for as low as $16) so that you can keep your entire game library with you at all times.

Psyonix Games

You’ve already dropped a few hundred bucks on that new Switch, and we don’t blame you if you don’t feel like shelling out even more for new games. Fortunately, there are some great Switch titles on the eShop that are completely free to download.

To find the free stuff, open the Nintendo eShop from the main menu, select Search/Browse and select Price Range. From there, scroll all the way down for free titles, which include some excellent games like Fortnite, Pokemon Unite, Rocket League and Apex Legends.

At this point, we’d say that a Nintendo Switch Online membership is all but essential for Switch owners. The standard Switch Online membership costs $20 for a year, and is necessary for playing games online as well as being able to back your saves up to the cloud — two things you’ll likely want to do. The service also gets you access to a sizable library of NES and SNES classics that include The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario World.

Those serious about retro gaming will want to consider the Switch Online + Expansion Pack plan. For $50 a year, this premium option has all of the benefits of Switch Online plus a collection of Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games, as well as access to special in-game content such as the Happy Home Paradise DLC for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion and the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Pack.

Nintendo

If you have a big Switch library, digging through all of your games and apps to find something specific can be a bit cumbersome. Fortunately, Nintendo recently made it easier to organize your game collection with Groups, a feature that lets you easily sort software into different folders. To access Groups, simply go to the home screen, scroll all the way to the right, select All Software, and press the L button. This will pull up the Groups menu, which will allow you to organize your library however you see fit. Perhaps you want to sort your games by genre, or make a dedicated folder for streaming apps once it’s time to binge YouTube and Hulu. It’s all up to you!

8. Take screenshots and videos

As you’ll play your Switch, you’ll undoubtedly run into some gorgeous vistas while exploring Hyrule or pull off a sick play in a heated Fortnite game. To capture these moments, simply press the capture button on your left Joy-Con (or the left side of your controller) to take a screenshot, or hold it down for a few seconds to take a 30 second video. From there, you can go to the Album menu on the home screen to edit and post your captures to a variety of social media sites.

9. Download your cloud saves — and turn on automatic backup

If you just upgraded to a new Switch model and have Switch Online, knowing how to download your cloud saves is key. To do this, highlight the game you want to download a save for from the main menu, press the + button and scroll down to Save Data Cloud. If there’s a newer save available from the cloud than the one on your system, you’ll have the option to download it here.

You can expedite this process a bit by turning on automatic save data backups. If you want to do that, go to System Settings > Data Management > Save Data Cloud and then select Settings. From there you have the option to both backup and download cloud saves automatically, making it much easier to have your most up-to-date save regardless of which Switch you’re playing on.

We don’t blame you for never wanting to leave the house these days, but if you plan on doing so with your Switch, a carrying case is a must. There are a ton of options for the various Switch models available, but this $24 Orzly model is one of the most popular and cheapest cases out there for the standard Switch and Switch OLED. If you have a Switch Lite, you might want to consider a protective shell like this well-liked $15 JETech option.

The Nintendo Switch isn’t quite an entertainment powerhouse, but if it’s the only device you have handy at the time, it can double as a decent streaming tablet with access to a few apps. YouTube, Hulu, Twitch, Crunchyroll and Funimation are all available on the Nintendo eShop for free, giving you a few options for watching videos and powering through entire seasons of shows when you need a break from gaming.

[ad_2]

Source link

December 23, 2022
9 AirTag tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your Apple tracker | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

Thanks to my small army of Apple AirTags, losing my car keys and misplacing my wallet are inconveniences of the past. Leaving the house no longer includes that annoying ritual of pointlessly checking my pockets for a few seconds before frantically setting off to search for my lost items.

But like many early AirTag adopters, I’ve long been spoiled by the gadget’s ability to save me time and make me look far more organized than I actually am. Thankfully, the tracker can do much more than simply pinpoint your essential stuff before a Starbucks run. Here are 10 tips and tricks to help you get the most out of Apple’s game-changing gadget.

Jacob Krol/CNN

The AirTag separates itself from the item-tracking competition with its Precision Finding feature. Like similar devices, Apple’s take on the tech alerts you to the general area where your lost item was left. But Precision Finding, activated in the iPhone’s Find My app (and compatible with iPhone 11 and higher,) offers more specific directions, complete with navigational arrows and a distance tracker. The feature is especially handy in loud areas – where an audio alert may be drowned out – or if there’s a possibility your tracked article is covered and/or simply not lying in the open waiting to be discovered.

Amazon

The AirTag can feel like an absolute lifesaver in situations where you’d otherwise be at a complete loss to track down an important, misplaced item. But a depleted battery can deflate that same life saver if you’re not careful. You probably won’t have to worry about replacing a dying cell for at least a year. Once you reach that 12-month milestone though, you’ll want to monitor the power source’s juice – via the Find My app – on a pretty regular basis.

TagVault

AirTags are water resistant and fairly durable, but you may not want to test those qualities with your most valuable items — especially when you’re traveling. If you’re an outdoor enthusiast or someone who works outside full–time, you may want to consider some extra protection for your tracker. The tank–like TagVault fits the bill and then some, encasing your AirTag in a rugged, waterproof stainless steel shell that’ll stand up to the elements…and possibly a nuclear blast.

Related: Why AirTags are a perfect school supply

Emojis are fun… and functional

CNN

If you’re using multiple AirTags, you’ll want to assign each item a specific name to differentiate them from one another. But it’s also helpful to further distinguish each tracked item with emojis, easily assigned under “Rename AirTag” in the Find My app. Brightly colored emojis, representing everything from keys and backpacks to your favorite pet (see next tip,) make each item pop with cartoon–y personality specific to it.

TagVault

Attaching an AirTag to your pet’s collar is a great way to keep tabs on them. Whether you’ve got an especially curious house cat that gets into every nook and cranny or a dog with a penchant for wandering the neighborhood, this option provides loving pet owners some additional peace of mind. That said, you’ll want to ensure you’re attaching the tracker in a way that’s safe for the animal. With that in mind, it’s worth looking into the various collar and harness mounts – like TagVault’s waterproof version – specifically designed for this purpose.

CNN

If your love of AirTags has seen you attaching them to anything that’s not nailed down, you’ve probably noticed your Find My app is becoming a bit busy. Rather than scrolling through a long list – or even relying on your iPhone for that matter – you can simply give Siri a shout on any device within your iOS network. Just give the AI assistant the name of the lost article, and she’ll get to work.

CNN

If your tracked item is truly lost, the AirTag’s last–ditch feature could still help you find it. With Lost Mode enabled, anyone who stumbles across your valuables can acquire your contact information — and hopefully use it — by tapping the found AirTag to their device. Within the Find My app, where you’ll enable Lost Mode, you can also choose what contact info to provide — phone number or email address — as well as activate notifications so you’ll be immediately alerted if a kind stranger tries to reunite you and your AirTag.

Pelican

AirTags are most commonly attached to key rings, wallets, and backpacks – and there’s absolutely no shortage of aftermarket accessories designed to support those uses. But what if you want to put one on your favorite coffee mug, video game controller, or that eternally missing TV remote? Pelican’s adhesive AirTag mounts have got your back… or your front or pretty much anywhere you want to stick the tracker. These versatile cases are also great for hidden or discreet placement, like under a bicycle seat or in a toolbox.

Functional and fashionable

Disney

Most AirTag adopters think of the tracker as a solely functional item. And while its ability to locate your lost loot is its primary function, it can also be dressed up a bit to express your personality and style. Whether you want to pony up for a pricey Gucci holder or pop one into a pair of Mickey Mouse ears, there’s an entire market dedicated to making the AirTag as fashionable as it is functional.

[ad_2]

Source link

December 21, 2022
Keep your iPhone 14 safe and stylish with these great leather cases | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

Leather smartphone cases offer the best of both worlds: They add protection to help avoid accidental cracks and scuffs, and they look really good doing it. There are plenty of options on the market for Apple’s iPhone 14 line, but the question is, which ones are the best?

We’re rounding up 10 of the best leather cases for your iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro below, with styles ranging from basic to premium and a few with extra rugged protection to help keep your device safe.

Apple

Apple’s first-party leather case for the iPhone is a great option if all you need is something simple. It wraps high-quality, tanned leather around each side of your device and adds a bit of extra protection to your screen with its raised lip. It comes with magnets built in for compatibility with MagSafe accessories (as the name suggests), and there are metal button covers on the sides to make controlling volume and triggering Siri easier. It’s available in Umber, Forest Green, Ink, Midnight and orange.

Mujjo

Mujjo has been delivering high-quality leather iPhone cases for years, and its latest batch is no exception. The wrap-around design, metal buttons and raised cutout for the rear cameras are a great combination of features while retaining a premium design and feel. It also has MagSafe magnets and comes in three colors: black, Monaco Blue and tan.

Nomad

If there were ever a leather case company more underrated than Nomad, we have yet to find one. Nomad’s Modern Leather Case for the iPhone 14 is as stellar as ever. Shipping in both black and Rustic Brown finishes, the case boasts Horween leather on the back and a ruggedized construction with 10-foot drop protection. The microfiber lining covers the MagSafe magnets inside, and there are dual lanyard attachment points on the bottom in case you want extra security.

Bellroy

Bellroy makes some of the classiest leather cases you’ll find, with a premium crafted finish and a durable exterior that can withstand drops and run-ins with objects in your everyday life. The case comes with MagSafe compatibility, a microfiber interior for extra protection and a three-year warranty. What’s more, the case works with Bellroy’s special Mod system, which lets you seamlessly attach one of its Mod Wallets to the back. Overall, it’s a great choice for any iPhone 14 user. It comes in seven different colors: Bluestone, black, Blue Daze, Evergreen, Fiesta, Stellar Black and Terracotta.

Shieldon

If you like a leather case that’s a bit more versatile, Shieldon has what you’re looking for. Its Wallet Folio Case offers 360-degree protection for your iPhone 14, three card slots (plus some room for cash), RFID blocking to keep your cards safe and the ability to into a kickstand. It comes in a staggering 14 different colors, from classic finishes like black and brown to vibrant hues like light blue and violet.

Dockem

Dockem’s lineup of wallet cases is full of stylish options that add convenience and sophistication to your iPhone 14, and the brand’s latest genuine leather variant is a stunner. Available in light brown and black, the case comes with two stitched card pockets so that it can double as your wallet, while metal buttons grace the sides and a raised lip protects your screen. There’s also a metal plate in the top portion of the case that helps it work with Dockem’s other accessories.

Wilken

Wilken leans heavy on style for its iPhone 14 leather case. The upper portion of the tan and blue style offers a muted ocean-esque blue, while the bottom half sports a vibrant tan finish that makes for quite the striking look. It ships with metal buttons, a raised lip for the screen, camera sensor protection and a snug fit. There are no MagSafe magnets installed, but given how thin the case is, you should be just fine if you want to use a charger or other accessory. If this particular finish isn’t really your thing, it’s also available in a standard Brown.

Torro

The Torro leather case for iPhone 14 is a great option for anyone who wants something a bit more rugged but still with good looks. The genuine leather backplate is available in four colors — light blue, black with red detail, dark brown and tan to be exact — and is stitched to a beefy case that’s shock-proof and helps to protect your display and cameras. It comes with MagSafe magnets as well, which makes it a solid all-arounder.

Lonli

Lonli’s Classic European Nappa Leather Case is the definition of luxury on a budget. For under $30, you’re getting a case made from genuine Italian Nappa leather that is soft to the touch and naturally patinas over time. Available in five colors (black, bronze, Deep Purple, Midnight Blue and Saddle Brown), the case also comes with metal buttons, camera protection, a raised lip to protect your screen and MagSafe compatibility. It’s a sweet deal considering what you get.

Ethicase

If you want a leather case that’s morally sourced, Ethicase’s Vegan Leather Magnetic Case is for you. The case is covered in 100% vegan leather with no animal products used in its production whatsoever. It checks all the boxes you’d look for like metal buttons, MagSafe magnets and the protection your screen and cameras need. What’s more, 5% of your purchase will directly benefit local animal shelters, so you can feel good about buying it. It’s available in Baltic Blue, lavender and red.

[ad_2]

Source link

December 21, 2022
Why AirTags are the ultimate travel companion this upcoming holiday season | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

The holiday travel rush is in full swing. As parts of the country brace for potential disruptions, some travelers are trying to beat the weather and get to their destination sooner. Planes and hotels are widely full, travelers are facing long queues, cancellations, massive crowds and plenty of other travel nightmares. But perhaps the most frustrating is when your luggage goes missing. You’ve got to somehow track down your belongings that were in the airline’s care and then wait to be reunited — all while trying to enjoy the start of your long-awaited vacation or time home for the holidays. As far as travel nightmares go, lost luggage is up there as one of the worst.

To be honest up front, I am great at strategically losing things — or rather, losing stuff with style. (I hope you appreciate the “Toy Story” reference.) So when a product comes along that’s a perfect way to keep track of my belongings — especially when traveling — I’m adding it to my travel bag.

I’ve been a big fan of Apple’s $29 item tracker, dubbed AirTag. The long-rumored AirTag product finally launched last spring, and while it’s not the first item tracker to exist, it has two key features that set it apart from the rest to make it the ultimate travel companion: access to the Find My network and Precision Finding technology.

The Federal Aviation Administration has ruled that having an AirTag in your luggage is permitted and, in fact, not a safety hazard. The devices only contain 0.1 grams of lithium, which falls below the FAA’s limit.

“Luggage tracking devices powered by lithium metal cells that have 0.3 grams or less of lithium can be used on checked baggage,” the FAA said in a statement. “Apple AirTags meet this threshold; other luggage tracking devices may not.”

But, you may be wondering what makes them so special? Let’s explain why.

The ultimate travel companion

The Apple AirTag is the perfect tool to bring on your next trip. Its simplicity, functionality and size will ensure you never lose track of your bags while on the go. The peace of mind that your bags have made it on your trip is worth the reasonable price tag.

The most important thing to know about the AirTag is that it operates on Apple’s Find My network. That’s the same network that powers Find My for all your Apple devices: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple Watch, AirPods and Mac. It’s a tool that makes it easy to track down exactly where your device is and even plays a tone for easy locating.

It’s also the sheer size of the network that gives the item tracker a leg up. The Find My network is made up of over a billion connected devices. So, as you’re walking around an airport and there’s an AirTag in your luggage, it can be pinged by devices that make up that network and pinpoint yours on a map. In our testing, it was more reliable and quicker to update than a competing Tile tracker.

Now, in a pretty dense area like an airport — say Newark Liberty International (EWR) or New York–Kennedy (JFK) — having so many devices around enables frequent location updates for your AirTag, allowing for more accurate location tracking. The opposite can be said for a rural spot of New Jersey versus New York City. The more devices your AirTag can reach, the more accurate and up-to-date the AirTag’s location is.

And yes, you need an iPhone to use AirTag. You can set it up by holding it near your iPhone and using the on-screen prompts to name it and tie it to your Apple ID. Now, from a privacy standpoint, Apple’s been issuing updates to address common issues with smart trackers and some of the larger stalking issues with the AirTag.

Currently, you’ll get notified if your iPhone finds an AirTag near you that’s not registered, along with a notification if you depart without an AirTag that is registered to you. Apple is working to speed up those notifications. With the “Precision Finding” feature, Apple will locate an unwanted or unregistered AirTag near you. Apple’s also released a Tracker Detection app in the Play Store for Android, which can be used to find an AirTag that might be around you without an iPhone. Apple will also make it more apparent when setting up an AirTag that there are some negative use cases and ways to report them to the authorities.

Jacob Krol

During my initial testing of AirTag, I flew from Newark to Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), and it was a pretty great test. I placed an AirTag in the inside pocket of my suitcase and said goodbye as I checked the luggage. I also had one in a leather loop accessory on my backpack.

Within the Find My app on my iPhone, I was able to select “Jake’s Luggage” and view it on a map. I could see where my luggage was in real time — still at the front of Newark Airport. And while I didn’t physically have a line of sight on my luggage, I did have peace of mind that it was on its way to meet me at my final destination.

And sure enough, when I checked it a bit later while at the gate, the luggage was closer to the aircraft. By the time I boarded and was in my seat rocking a pair of AirPods Max, I could see that the luggage was safely under me and a little farther back in the plane’s cargo hold — it seemed like I got a better seat than my suitcase. And while airplane mode is required while on the aircraft, even as we flew over the East Coast of the United States, I could see the luggage AirTag updating in real time.

Ultimately, it was the peace of mind during the flight that the AirTag gave me, and that’s much more than what I previously got when traveling. The $29 AirTag addition effectively lowered my stress. And when it came time to deplane and make my way through PBI to baggage claim, I kept tabs on my luggage in the Find My app. It was a bit slower to update as I meandered my way through a pretty quiet terminal, but I could at least get the gist that my bag was on the ground.

Jacob Krol

While I hoped the carousel would have been confusing enough to use Precision Finding, I could immediately spot my red Away bag. Precision Finding uses augmented reality, or AR, to give you large directional arrows along with distances to find your AirTag on an iPhone 11 or newer. It’s pretty awesome and is a game changer for item trackers to offer such pinpoint accuracy.

If you want to supercharge the AirTag as the ultimate travel companion, it’s worth checking if your airline offers any luggage-tracking services of its own. For instance, Delta will keep tabs on your bag and update you via its app for Android or iOS. In it, you can track the bags attached to your itinerary as they’re scanned at each part of the journey and make their way through the airport and onto the plane.

From dropping off your bag at check-in until it’s loaded onto the plane and then onto the baggage claim carousel, AirTag combined with an airline’s bag-tracking app feels like a superpower.

Jacob Krol

The one downfall of the AirTag? There’s no built-in key ring hole, like on the Chipolo or Tile tracker, which is a shortcoming. Keep in mind that while you’re spending $29 on the tracker, you’ll then want to get an accessory especially to make it suitable for travel.

If you have a pocket or a secure spot to tuck the AirTag in within your luggage, you don’t necessarily need an additional accessory. But considering that it will be attached to your luggage, we think it’s worth the investment of a keychain or loop accessory. We’ve rounded up a plethora of AirTag accessories from lanyards to keychains, and even some that you can customize.

One of our favorites is the Belkin Secure AirTag Holder, which physically clamps the AirTag and ensures that it won’t fall out. It will cost you around $13 when not on sale, which is much more inexpensive than Apple’s leather keychain or leather loop.

The perfect AirTag accessort

If you’re going to travel with an AirTag, you don’t want to lose it in your luggage. Consider this secure AirTag holder and lock it in place on your bag so it doesn’t get misplaced.

While I haven’t physically lost my luggage with an AirTag attached, I’ve used it for a few trips and use one on my keys every day. If you’re good at losing things with style or have a habit of misplacing things — and have an iPhone — the AirTag makes a lot of sense. And as you’re making the final packing checks ahead of holiday travel, it’s worth spending a little bit more and getting an AirTag for the peace of mind alone.

And if you’re going to see family, you can get four AirTags for $99 if you feel like gifting. If not, get one for yourself for $29.

AirTags for the whole family

If you want to make sure the whole family is able to track their bags this holiday travel season, consider a four-pack of AirTags.

Looking for a credit card? Find out which cards CNN Underscored chose as our best travel credit cards.

[ad_2]

Source link

December 20, 2022
How to set up your new TV for the best viewing experience | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

Few purchases are as big — or exciting — as a new TV. Whether you’ve bought a larger TV or one that delivers a better picture, the impact on how you watch movies and shows or play games is immediate.

But there’s more to getting the most out of your new television than just taking it out of the box and plugging it in, and even the best TVs require a little tinkering to get the most out of them. Don’t worry — we’re here to help you through the steps to take to properly set yours up. A little effort before you buy and before you settle onto the couch can have a big effect on your long-term enjoyment.

Jacob Krol/CNN Underscored

Before you buy a TV, decide where you’ll put it. That will help you figure out how large the TV can be — both for the space you’re trying to fit it into and how far you’ll sit most often.

If you’re replacing a TV, you may assume you should buy the same size. That depends on how old the TV was. The bezels around TVs have mostly disappeared, which means you can get a larger screen in the same space — we recently replaced a 42-inch TV that was about 10 years old with a 50-inch TV and the new TV fit in the same space. The new TV may also be a higher resolution, which means you can sit closer without it looking pixelated.

Speaking of how big the TV can be based on how far away you are sitting, there are plenty of calculators on the Internet to help. The old rule of thumb is to divide the distance from your seating position in inches to the TV by two — but that will give you a pretty conservative size. For example, if you are sitting 10 feet from the TV, that formula says you can get a 60-inch TV. But in reality, you can easily get a 65-inch 4K model — and probably even a 70-inch. Trust me, you’ll get used to the bigger size quickly.

A reminder about TV sizes: the quoted screen size (55, 65 or 75 inches, for example) is measured on the diagonal. To get the actual height, width and depth you’ll need to dig into the specs.

2. Stand or mount?

Michael Gowan/CNN

While you’re thinking about placement, consider if you want to use the stand that comes with the TV, or if you want to replace it with a third-party stand or a wall mount. Separate stands and mounts let you do things like swivel the TV or even extend it to create the best viewing angle.

To find the right size stand or mount, look for the VESA spec for your TV — it will be in millimeters, like 400 x 300. VESA is a standard that TVs use so you can find one that will fit your model.

Viewing angles are an important consideration if you care about image quality. Ideally, the screen would be at eye level and you should be looking straight at it. If you put the TV too high or to the side, you’ll have issues with viewing angles, which can result in the image looking washed out.

3. Connect and download your apps

Michael Gowan/CNN

Once you’ve got the TV in place, one of the first things you’ll need to do is connect it to the Internet (unless you managed to find one of the few “dumb” TVs currently for sale). There are several operating systems for smart TVs, and the process for initial setup will differ depending on which you bought. LG runs WebOS, Samsung uses Tizen OS, and many TVs use Google TV or Fire TV. All of them will walk you through the setup process.

Most TVs can connect via Wi-Fi, which is certainly easy. But if your wireless connection isn’t great in the room where you put the TV, you may want to go with a wired Ethernet connection.

Michael Gowan/CNN

Once you’re online, you’ll want to start downloading apps for the services you use. And then you have to log in to each one. Some offer QR codes, others let you log in through a web browser, and some still make you type in your username and password on the TV screen — a process I can’t wait to go away forever.

If you find you don’t like your TV’s operating system or it doesn’t have the apps you need, you can always bypass it by plugging in a streaming device, such as a Roku, Fire TV Stick or Apple TV.

Michael Gowan/CNN

If you’ve got devices to attach to the TV, such as a streaming device, game console, cable box or DVD player, you’ll want to make sure your TV has the right connections — and that you’ve got the right cables.

Most devices use HDMI to connect to your TV, but older accessories can have component or composite outputs — and few TVs today come with those. So either make sure your TV has the inputs you need, or update your devices to ones that use HDMI.

When connecting via HDMI, choose your port wisely. Most TVs have three or four HDMI inputs, but not all are equal. One input should be labeled ARC or eARC — save that one for connecting to a soundbar or home theater receiver. Audio return channel (ARC) allows sound to be sent to the speaker from the TV as well as video being sent to the TV, all over one cable.

If you have an Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5, you’ll want to connect it to an HDMI port that supports HDMI 2.1 (not all TVs offer this). The latest version of HDMI takes advantage of features such as 4K resolution and 120 Hz refresh rate support for extra-smooth gameplay. You may need to buy an HDMI cable to take advantage of the most advanced features of HDMI 2.1.

Michael Gowan/CNN

Current TVs usually come with at least a few picture modes for you to choose from. These are preconfigured settings, with names like “Vivid” and “Movie.” Each mode will change the picture pretty significantly, making it brighter or more colorful, for example. The best approach is to try each and use the one that you like best. Each room and pair of eyes is different, so there is no right answer. Purists tend to go for “Movie” or its equivalent because it tends to offer the truest colors.

If your TV supports Dolby Vision, HDR10 or HDR10+, your picture mode will likely automatically change when you’re watching something that’s encoded with those technologies. The high-dynamic range (HDR) technologies include information about how the TV should adjust for each scene. There may be some picture mode options when HDR content is being watched, as well.

Michael Gowan/CNN

Once you’ve found a picture mode you like, you may want to adjust it further to please your eyes. These options are usually found under Advanced Settings under the Picture Options menu.

My recommendation is that you turn off motion smoothing. This goes by different names for different TVs — LG calls it TruMotion, Samsung uses Clear Motion — but each is intended to reduce blurring. Despite the intention, it creates an effect called the “soap opera effect,” in which the image is too soft, as if seen through a filter. Many people find the effect annoying; it often causes me to feel nauseated.

You can also manually adjust brightness, color, sharpness and more to get the best image in your space. If the preset picture modes aren’t what you like, you should definitely explore what each picture option does. You can also search for combinations of settings that have worked for other people with your TV model as a place to start.

Michael Gowan/CNN

While TVs today produce impressive images, most TV speakers sound terrible. That’s a shame since the audio element of a movie, show or game can bring the experience to life. But your TV’s poor speakers can be overcome by adding a soundbar or home theater audio system.

A soundbar is the easiest way to improve sound. You can spend as little as a couple of hundred dollars (our overall top pick, the Roku Streambar Pro, is only $150) or more than a thousand (we recommend the $899 Sonos Arc for higher-end audio), depending on your budget and how important audio is to you. Look for a soundbar that supports Dolby Atmos, the latest sound technology that offers the most precise surround sound. Many soundbars also come with virtual surround sound settings to help audio fill your room.

If you can’t swing a soundbar, you should still be able to improve your sound through the TV’s settings. For example, you may be able to boost the bass or engage the TV’s own virtual surround mode.

8. Adjust and enjoy

Michael Gowan/CNN Underscored

After you’ve got the picture as close to perfect as possible, sit back and enjoy. Most likely you won’t need to change too much over time. But you may notice some things that bother you. After you’ve had some quality viewing time, go back and try different picture and audio settings to see if the ones you picked are still best for you. In the end, the right options are the ones that help you enjoy watching the most.

[ad_2]

Source link

December 20, 2022
The excellent MacBook Air M2 just hit its lowest price ever | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

The MacBook Air M2 is the best laptop you can buy. Period. It also just hit its lowest price ever, making this superb notebook even more of a no-brainer.

Apple’s latest MacBook Air is currently $999 on Amazon — that’s a $200 savings, and $50 less than what we saw during Black Friday. Just note that this deal applies exclusively to the blackish-blue Midnight and light gold Starlight variations, which, for our money, are the best-looking versions of the MacBook Air M2 you can buy. No matter which color you pick, you’ll be getting a whole lot of laptop for just under a grand.

The best laptop overall

The MacBook Air M2’s superb performance and design make it our top laptop pick, and it’s an especially great deal at this lowest-ever price.

The MacBook Air M2 instantly shot to the top of our best MacBook rankings as soon as we tested it, providing record-breaking speeds and a wealth of much-needed quality-of-life improvements over previous models. Thanks to the new M2 processor packed inside, the latest MacBook Air ran circles around similarly priced competitors in our performance tests, and had no problem juggling our daily multitasking workload (including lots of apps and an ungodly amount of Chrome tabs).

The new MacBook Air is also a major leap forward on the design front, offering a larger overall screen with thinner borders, an improved 1080p webcam and a handy MagSafe charger that attaches in a snap — and detaches just as quickly in case someone trips over it. These upgrades all combine for a laptop that’s simply a delight to use for both work and play, and one that provides a notably better experience than the already-great MacBook Air M1.

One of the MacBook Air M2’s few drawbacks is the relatively puny 256GB of storage on the starting model, so you may want to upgrade to the 512GB version (which itself is 10% off at $1,349). Meanwhile, folks on a budget can pick up the still-excellent MacBook Air M1 for its lowest price of $799. But for everyone else, this cheaper-than-ever MacBook Air M2 makes for a great last-minute splurge gift for the techie in your life — or just a nice treat for yourself.

[ad_2]

Source link

December 17, 2022
These tablet stands will keep you productive and hands-free | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

No matter how you like to use your tablet, at some point, you’re going to want to put it down. And whether you’re using it for something as simple as a laptop replacement, a reader, or a game machine, this is bound to get awkward — mainly because a tablet (even one as small as the iPad mini) is still bigger than the largest smartphone.

You need a tablet stand, which allows you to prop the device up for easy viewing and access while keeping your hands free to prepare dinner, do a workout, or just take a break from carrying a weighty slab of glass and silicon.

Of course, with all you can do with your tablet, it only makes sense that there is also a plethora of stands available. From floor stands to products you can prop on your desk or counter, here are our picks for our favorite tablet stands of 2022.

Floor Stands

Sometimes, you just need to get that tablet out of your way. These floor stands let you keep the tablet close by — without chaining you to a desk or workstation. We think they are especially great for workouts, dinner prep, or video conferencing.

The Hoverbar is a handsome, versatile floor stand that can accommodate any sized tablet, including ones in cases, thanks to a spring-loaded grip mount. The tablet can be positioned low to the ground, at eye level or even higher, depending on what you want to do with it. (Pro tip: Set it for eye level while seated to practice a musical instrument.)

Aimed squarely at the office worker, the CTA Digital Gooseneck Floorstand isn’t quite as versatile as the Hoverbar — an iPad mini is too small for it — but with its wheels and bendable neck, it will be useful for those looking to make presentations in the office.

The Moft Snap Tablet stand uses a magnet stuck to the back of your tablet to hold the stand in place while you set up your device for hands-free use. It’s a light, almost invisible, budget-friendly tabletop stand.

The Satechi R1 Aluminum Hinge Stand is good for both phones and tablets, able to handle any device from 4” to 13.” And when you don’t need it, it folds down into a small aluminum pad on your desk.

Yes, the price is high, but few stands match the Yohann iPad Stand for stylishness. The company uses oak and walnut to make these organically curved wooden stands and offers them in two sizes — one for smaller tablets like the iPad mini and another for larger tablets. It offers three angles for use and supports devices in both landscape and portrait orientations.

The Ergonofils Fold stand is meant for laptops, but its great for using 2-in-1 devices or large tablets. It’s a lot more stable that most stands meant for tablets, which means it provides plenty of support if you like to use a pen with your Microsoft Surface, iPad Pro or similar device. The only downside (save for the price) is that since it’s designed for laptops, there’s no passthrough for a charging cable on the bottom support, so you can’t easily charge while you are using your device in portrait orientation. But if you want an incredibly stable stand in luxurious materials (the whole thing is built from solid woods in your choice of walnut, maple, cherry or white oak) look no further.

The Lamicall Gooseneck iPad Holder is all business — and it’s not just for iPads or similar-sized tablets. This desk-clamping adjustable stand will hold any device from 4.7” to 11”, which covers most phones and all but the largest tablets. For anyone wanting to use their tablet as a second screen on their desk, follow recipes in the kitchen or for hands-free reading in bed, this is a great option.

This one is a two-fer. Not only does it position your tablet in a great position for writing and drawing — always a plus for those who like styluses — but it can also be used as a stand for laptops. It’s got loads of thoughtful little touches, like an opening for cables to thread through and a notch in the front for opening a laptop easier. And it looks great, too, with a burnished chrome look that is very of the moment.

Sometimes you just want to curl up with a good YouTube. Or TikTok, or whatever! The Ontel Multi-Angle Soft Tablet Stand is fuzzy and cozy and great for propping your tablet up when you just don’t feel like getting out of bed.

By far the most Apple-y of the desktop stands, the Elago is designed to mimic the look of an iMac or an Apple Display Monitor. This stand is designed for Apple’s family of tablets, given that it uses magnets to attach to the Elago’s Magnetic Folio Case (sold separately for $26.99). It looks great, however, and allows you to rotate your ipad into either landscape or portrait orientation.

[ad_2]

Source link

December 17, 2022
The best tech products we tested in 2022 | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

Iteration over innovation was a big theme in tech this year — a lot of our favorite gadgets simply got better. That’s certainly not a bad thing, as everything from the iPhone 14’s improved cameras and safety features to the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II’s truly remarkable noise cancellation all went a long way towards making our daily lives just a tiny bit better. We also dove headfirst into the world of virtual reality for the first time with one headset emerging as the clear winner, and spent countless hours gaming in order to pick out the best gaming monitors and controllers for playing like a pro.

After yet another year of rigorously testing all of the latest tech products to help you figure out what’s actually worth buying, here are the big winners in every category.

Best smartphone overall

The iPhone 14 is the best new iPhone for most people, particularly if you’re coming from an iPhone 12 or older. Those willing to invest in a more significant upgrade should go with the iPhone 14 Pro.

Read our review

Best Android smartphone

If you prefer Android, the Galaxy S22 (or the larger S22+) is the way to go. These phones offer beautiful displays, long battery life, superb cameras and some of the best performance we’ve ever gotten out of a smartphone. Plus, these phones look great, with a glass-and-metal build that comes in four attractive colors.

Read our review

Best budget smartphone

If you’re looking to spend less than $500, it doesn’t get better than the Google Pixel 6a. This slick phone has the same speedy Google Tensor processor as the more expensive Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, delivers all-day battery life and gets you a clean Android experience with no annoying bloatware.

Read our review

Best overall smartwatch

For those still rocking with a Series 4 Apple Watch or older, the Series 8 is a great upgrade and also a good choice for first-time smartwatch buyers. With a familiar feel, the Series 8 has excellent performance, beautiful design and lot of new features.

Read our review

Best Android smartwatch

The Galaxy Watch 5 is the best Android smartwatch for most people, offering long battery life, good performance and plenty of fitness tracking capabilities.

Read our review

The best true wireless earbuds for Apple users

The AirPods Pro 2 are as good as it gets for Apple users, offering some of the best sound, controls and active noise cancellation you can find in a pair of buds. Existing AirPods Pro owners don’t need to rush out and upgrade, but everyone else is in for a treat.

The best true wireless earbuds for Android users

The $199 Sony LinkBuds S offer excellent sound, strong noise cancellation and Sony’s actually smart Adaptive Sound Control to tailor performance to your surroundings. The LinkBuds S are a good buy for Android users, with support for LDAC high-res audio, and they work well with iOS too.

Read our review

The best true wireless noise-canceling earbuds

The Bose Quiet Comfort Earbuds 2 offer the best noise cancellation you can get in earbuds, along with great sound, so if you’re looking to tune out the world around you for travel, office or home without resorting to a big over-ear headphone, this is the way to go.

Read our review

The best headphones for running and outdoor workouts

The Shokz OpenRun Pro bone conduction headphones don’t sound as good as sealed earbuds like the Beats Fit Pro, but we loved them for running and hiking, since they let you hear your surroundings as clearly as you would without wearing headphones at all.

Read our review

The best wireless over-ear headphones overall

The Sony WH-1000XM5 improve on the XM4, with a slimmer design and refined noise-canceling microphones — it’s the best over-ear Bluetooth headphone you can buy right now. XM4 owners have little reason to upgrade, but for anybody else, the XM5 are the high-end headphones to get.

Read our review

The best over-ear wireless headphones for audiophiles

This latest update to the Bowers & Wilkins Bluetooth flagship offers superb sound and great build quality in a package that should appeal to those looking for sound quality above all else in a wireless headphone.

Read our review

The best budget over-ear wireless headphones

The 1More SonoFlow wireless over-ear headphone sounds better and has more effective noise-canceling than anything we’ve tested at its low price. If you want all of these features on a budget, look no further.

Read our review

Best laptop overall

The MacBook Air M2 is the best Apple laptop for most people, perfect for everyday multitasking and able to handle a good amount of gaming and video editing. It’s the fastest laptop you can get for the money, and an especially big upgrade if you’re coming from an Intel-powered Mac.

Read our review

Best Windows laptop

The Dell XPS 13 is the best Windows laptop you can buy, offering a stunning display, a great keyboard and long battery life within an attractive, slim design that’s easy to take anywhere.

Read our review

Best performance

The iPad Pro M2 is the best tablet out there for serious creatives who want the power of a laptop and the flexibility of a touchscreen. It’s one of the most powerful machines we’ve ever tested, outpacing every tablet we’ve ever tested — and some laptops.

Read our review

Best Android tablet

The Galaxy Tab S8+ impresses with a vibrant, clear display that’s great for play and has plenty of power for nearly any task, from drawing to video calls. And it works great with the rest of Samsung’s Galaxy products.

Read our review

Best budget tablet

The latest Amazon Fire 7 tablet is a great affordable option for kids or anyone who needs a no-frills device for reading and watching shows. It’s perfect if you need an extra device in the house or when you’re taking a car trip or vacation.

Read our review

Best indoor home security camera overall

Arlo’s Essential Indoor Security Camera is built with privacy in mind, easy to set up and inexpensive, with a monthly storage plan. The video quality is top-notch, motion alerts are prompt and audio sounds great.

Best indoor home security camera on a budget

Ring’s Indoor Cam isn’t just cute and affordable — it’s an impressive performer, with crisp video and accurate motion alerts. The small footprint lets it fit anywhere and it has deep integration with Amazon’s Alexa platform and Ring’s home security products.

Best HomeKit indoor security camera

The Logitech Circle View has a wide viewing angle, sharp video and solid built-in privacy features. It’s been around for a couple of years, but is still the best camera for Apple households.

Best wired outdoor security camera overall

Ring’s Floodlight Cam Wired Plus gives you the complete outdoor security camera package. It has a floodlight with ample brightness, easy setup, solid video and audio quality and motion alerts that keep you in the loop on what’s going on around your home.

Best wireless outdoor security camera

Arlo’s Essential Spotlight Camera is battery powered, records 1080p video, can be installed nearly anywhere around your home and is among the most affordable cameras we tested.

Best outdoor security camera without subscription

As its name implies, Eufy’s Floodlight Camera 2 records 2K video that looks fantastic, has bright floodlights and best of all, has internal storage that forgoes the need to sign up for a subscription to see recent clips.

Best HomeKit-compatible outdoor security camera

Apple HomeKit fans don’t have too many options when it comes to outdoor cameras, but the Eve Outdoor Cam offers full HomeKit Secure Video integration, effective lighting, solid video quality and reliable activity notifications.

Best VR headset for PC gamers

An extraordinary audio/visual package, the Valve Index is the PC-based VR headset to get thanks to its excellent “knuckle” controllers and wealth of great software on SteamVR. It certainly helps that the excellent Half-Life: Alyx is included for free.

Read our review

Best budget VR headset for PC gamers

PC gamers that are put off by the Valve Index and HTC Vive Pro 2’s higher price points and want something more powerful than the Meta Quest 2 should try HP’s Reverb G2. Expect an easier setup than other PC options, alongside an impressively high per-eye resolution.

Read our review

Best VR headset for PlayStation owners

Until the PlayStation VR 2 arrives in 2023, the original PSVR is a wonderful option for PS4 and PS5 owners looking to step their toes into VR. From impressive first-party titles to a handy cinematic mode for playing non-VR games and movies in a theater-like setting, there’s still much to appreciate with this headset.

Read our review

Most versatile VR headset

Featuring a high 2448 x 2448 per eye resolution within a seriously comfortable design, the HTC Vive Pro 2 is a worthy option for individuals with deep pockets. Unlike its PC-based competitors, the Vive Pro 2 offers add-ons such as body tracking and wireless functionality — if you’re willing to pay an extra fee.

Read our review

The best 1440p gaming monitor

For gamers who don’t have the fanciest systems — and that’s a lot of us — the 27-inch Alienware delivers excellent performance, with a better combination of color accuracy and fast response time than any other monitor we tested.

The best 4K gaming monitor

Asus’ top-of-the-line 4K monitor has the best picture quality we tested along with incredibly low input lag — it’s expensive, but it’s the best gaming monitor we’ve found, and for serious gamers who can make the investment, it’s the one to get.

The best ultrawide gaming monitor

With an incredible picture and speedy performance, this ultrawide OLED from Dell delivered the fastest response times in our testing and should satisfy any gamer looking for an immersive experience.

Read our review

The best 1080p gaming monitor

For gamers on a budget — especially first-person shooter fans — this small monitor with great color accuracy, HDR support and a fast 360Hz refresh rate really delivers.

Best PC controller overall

The Xbox Wireless Controller’s excellent ergonomics, build quality and near-universal compatibility make it the best controller for any kind of PC gaming.

Best PlayStation-style PC controller

The DualShock 4 is still one of the most comfortable controllers you can buy (particularly if you prefer a PlayStation-style layout), and its motion controls and touchpad can be utilized in some neat ways for PC games.

Best budget PC controller

The PowerA Enhanced Wired Controller feels nearly as good as the core Xbox pad for a fraction of the price, and packs useful programmable buttons that even pricier options lack.

Best premium wireless PC controller

With a sturdy, substantial design, lots of swappable components and a ton of software customization options, the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 is the best option for competitive gamers or those willing to pay for maximum comfort and durability.

[ad_2]

Source link

December 16, 2022
The best video games of 2022 | CNN Underscored

[ad_1]

As the video game industry continues to adjust to post-pandemic life, more and more excellent games continue to grace every platform.

Sony dropped some of the biggest first-party blockbusters of the year, including the superb God of War Ragnarok, the expansive Horizon Forbidden West and the revamped The Last of Us Part 1. Meanwhile, Microsoft and Nintendo got a few major exclusives under their own belts with standouts like As Dusk Falls and Bayonetta 3. Between all of those were phenomenal third-party releases, including Elden Ring, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Need for Speed Unbound.

With the holidays around the corner (and after many, many hours of playtime), we’ve made our picks for the best games of 2022. These titles represent a wide range of genres and platforms, offering something for everyone no matter how you play.

2018’s God of War not only successfully rebooted a series that had been dormant for five years, but it also set a new standard for the action genre with its more mature tone and emotional father/son story. God of War Ragnarok takes those concepts and ramps them up even higher. Considerably longer than its predecessor, Ragnarok’s upgraded combat and traversal makes gameplay feel significantly fresh, while the story wraps up the Norse mythology arc exceptionally well.

Horizon Zero Dawn was one of the few successful original franchises launched during the PS4 era, introducing a world where machines have taken over the world and a phenomenal lead in female hunter Aloy. Players were attracted to Horizon Zero Dawn’s beautiful open world and gameplay that blended stealth and some of the best arrow combat in gaming. Horizon Forbidden West does all of that and more in its Western setting. Retaining everything that players loved about the original while adding new features like underwater traversal and combat makes this a worthy sequel.

There’s no way to talk about the best games of 2022 without mentioning the grand epic of Elden Ring. This collaboration between Dark Souls developer From Software and “Game of Thrones” creator George R. R. Martin not only ended up selling nearly 18 million copies but became the fastest-selling game for publisher Bandai Namco. A game that brings the beloved Dark Souls formula to a more mainstream audience, Elden Ring retains the punishingly difficult gameplay that From Software is known for while thrusting players into a large open world with a story that’s slightly more understandable. In a time when many gamers gripe about games getting too easy, Elden Ring became a true champion.

Microsoft didn’t end the year with any huge blockbuster Xbox Series X exclusives, but that didn’t mean its first-party efforts weren’t up to snuff. Just look at As Dusk Falls from Interior Night, a team made up of veterans from interactive drama powerhouse Quantic Dream. Featuring a slick art style and a beautiful yet heartbreaking narrative of two interwoven families, As Dusk Falls’ interactive story — in which your decisions shape the narrative — makes it one of the most unique games released this year. It doesn’t hurt that there’s a really clever multiplayer feature that allows groups to create their own branching storylines in couch co-op or alongside live viewers on Twitch.

Five years since the release of PS4 exclusive Gran Turismo Sport, developer Polyphony Digital has returned with its storied racing simulator series. Released on both PS4 and PS5, Gran Turismo 7 is a visual wonder regardless of where you play it. However, the current-gen version is an especially great visual treat with support for real-time ray tracing, 4K native resolution and smooth 60 frame-per-second gameplay. That’s on top of some significant gameplay upgrades, including the return of dynamic time and real-time weather effects like rain. Just be mindful that even the robust single-player portion of the game requires an internet connection.

Nintendo may have a reputation for kid-friendly titles, but the House that Mario Built is perfectly capable of heading into more mature territory. There isn’t a better example than Bayonetta 3. Developed by Platinum Games, Bayonetta 3’s hack-‘n’-slash action is as totally over the top as its multiverse storyline. One of the best action games of the year, Bayonetta 3 introduces new mechanics for the lead, including the ability to summon massive infernal demons to fight alongside you as well as multiple playable characters, including newcomer Viola and longtime series staple Jeanne.

Another fine Nintendo Switch exclusive released this year, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is the first game in the series to be in full 3D. Still maintaining a linear structure, Forgotten Land has players control the lovable pink creature through the cutest apocalyptic wasteland in gaming history. Signature gameplay mechanics like Kirby’s copy ability are now upgradable, and you can play with a friend in local co-op. However, the new “Mouthful Mode” is where the game really shines, adding a complex and hilarious layer to the game as the titular hero swallows large objects like cars and traffic cones.

Another year, another Call of Duty game from Activision. The past couple of games in the series (Cold War, Vanguard) failed to improve on the excellent precedent set by the 2019 Modern Warfare remake. Since then, the free-to-play battle royale action of Call of Duty: Warzone has become a gaming sensation. This is what makes Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 such an accomplishment all around. Besides offering the best single-player in the series in quite some time, the multiplayer is as tight as ever. Meanwhile, the audio/visual presentation is some of the best you’ll find in a shooter this year.

Burnout developer Criterion Games created some of the best Need for Speed games in recent memory, including Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Need for Speed: Most Wanted. However, things started to take a downturn with more recent entires like Need for Speed 2015 and Need for Speed Payback. Though Need for Speed Heat pushed the series in a much-needed different direction, Need for Speed Unbound is the true return to form we’ve been waiting for. Unbound features a funky art style that blends hyperrealistic cars and world visuals with an attractive anime aesthetic. Perhaps more significantly, it’s one of the few big-budget arcade racers available today, with a forgiving driving model that lets you focus on going fast and looking cool doing it.

One of the highest-profile horror games to be released this year, The Callisto Protocol has some serious pedigree behind it. The Striking Distance Studios-developed game is directed by Dead Space co-creator Glen Schofield, and there are plenty of similarities between the two games — from the satisfying dismemberment mechanics to the minimalistic on-screen interface and unique death animations. Critical reception for The Callisto Protocol has been polarizing, but it makes for a nice appetizer before EA’s Dead Space remake arrives next year.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge proves that there’s nothing wrong with sticking to the basics. Inspired by the ’90s Konami arcade games based on the beloved turtles, developer Tribute Games keeps things simple while making clever touches to the beat-’em-up formula. This includes a wider array of offensive and defensive movies alongside the ability to play as April O’Neil, Master Splinter and Casey Jones in addition to the original four turtles. Then there’s the fantastic presentation, which features the original voice actors from the ’90s animated series and a soundtrack that includes notable rappers like Mega Ran and Ghostface Killah.

In a year dominated by console and PC games, Marvel Snap showed up to remind us just how high quality a mobile game can be. Developed by Second Dinner — a team made up of many of the original minds behind hit game Hearthstone — this card battler consists of short, addictive battles between cards made up of Marvel’s iconic heroes and villains. Marvel Snap features hundreds of unique cards that span the storied comic book publisher’s 80-year history, with new characters and variants being added almost every week. Unlike many other popular card games, Marvel Snap is incredibly accessible for newcomers while retaining tons of competitive depth that will constantly have you coming up with new decks and strategies.

From triple-A action games to card battlers, Marvel’s gaming portfolio is becoming more diverse than ever. Perhaps the best example of that yet is Marvel’s Midnight Suns, which sees the beloved universe spread into the tactical role-playing genre. Developed by Firaxis Games (the team behind the beloved XCOM tactics franchise), Midnight Suns has players create their own superhero dubbed “The Hunter” as they link up with various Marvel superheroes to fight villains — and build relationships with iconic heroes like Wolverine and Ghost Rider in between battles.

From Until Dawn to The Dark Pictures Anthology, Supermassive Games understands what makes a great interactive horror adventure. The developer’s latest game, The Quarry, takes its patented formula up a notch while paying homage to ’80s slasher films like “Friday the 13th.” The game features a large ensemble cast of Hollywood heavyweights, including Justice Smith, Lance Henriksen, David Arquette and Brenda Song, while pushing the gameplay forward with new social options and a rich array of branching story paths.

The surprise of Multiversus wasn’t the fact that Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment created a game that blended all of its properties into a free-to-play brawler reminiscent of Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. — it’s the fact that the game was really good. Multiversus has gotten big praise for its tight gameplay that focuses on team combat, and its ever-growing roster spans everywhere from the DC Universe to “Rick and Morty” and “Game of Thrones.”

Annapurna Games has developed a gaming portfolio that’s just as unique as its film arm, and after the success of unique hits such as Twelve Minutes, Kentucky Route Zero and Donut County comes Stray. Players are put in the shoes of a cat who gets separated from its furry friends. What happens next is an adventure set in a postapocalyptic world where humanlike robots have taken over a city abandoned by humanity. The cute platformer has loads of charm, beautiful visuals, clever puzzles and a lovely soundtrack.

The second entry in the strategy series that combines the worlds of Nintendo’s favorite plumber and Ubisoft’s Rayman spin-off, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope improves on everything that made Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle so well received. This time Rosalina and Bowser join the cast of playable characters, and there are significant improvements to the turn-based tactical combat — including a more open-ended playing field and new types of enemy encounters. In addition to the main single-player campaign, there are three expansion packs, including an adventure with platforming icon Rayman himself.

Since releasing on the Wii U in 2015, the Splatoon series has become the closest Nintendo has ever gotten to releasing a shooter in the vein of Call of Duty or Gears of War. The latest game in the series since 2017’s Splatoon 2, Splatoon 3 adds plenty of weapon types and multiplayer modes on top of a new single-player campaign. Despite being a tad bit goofy in nature, the shooting and ink mechanics make it a unique standout in the shooter genre. Better yet, the game has gotten a steady influx of new content post-release, including the beloved Splatfest events that let players fight on behalf of their favorite food, color or even Pokémon.

Performance issues aside, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet do a great job ushering in the ninth generation of the beloved monster-catching franchise. Similar to last year’s Pokémon Legends: Arceus, this new mainline entry takes place in an open world region called Paldea where you can freely explore and engage with wild Pokémon in ways that previously weren’t possible. Players can even engage in boss-like battles against new, larger Pokémon known as Titans, and there’s a lovable new cast of characters to get to know.

2019’s A Plague Tale: Innocence was a surprise hit about a pair of siblings trying to escape Aquitaine, France, during the Hundred Years War and rise of the Black Plague. A mix of stealth and a cool rat horde mechanic led to extremely tense and very memorable gameplay. Its sequel, A Plague Tale: Requiem, expands the combat system in interesting ways, giving players new tools and weapons that can be upgraded through a progression system.

Playdead’s Limbo and Inside are two of the most revered indie side-scrolling adventure games of the past decade. Studio co-founder Dino Patti, through new venture Jumpship, released a spiritual successor to both games through Somerville. Like its predecessors, the game is a side-scroller with platforming challenges and physics-based puzzles. This story of a father trying to find his wife and son in the midst of an alien invasion really resonates due to how well the narrative is told.

Sifu is a martial arts brawler with a unique premise and art style. It also has one of the best intro sequences in recent history. Blending beat-’em-up gameplay with roguelike sensibilities, the game casts players as a child of a martial arts master looking for revenge against their father’s death. The hook is that every time the character dies in combat, they resurrect older and stronger. Die too much and players must restart the portion from the age they started with. Though Sifu is known for its sometimes brutal difficulty, a recent patch added an easier mode to make the game more enjoyable for newcomers.

The concluding entry in the Xenoblade trilogy of role-playing games, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 doesn’t rock the boat in terms of gameplay mechanics. Differentiating itself from previous games, this entry stars Noah and friends Keves and Mio stuck in a battle between two warring nations. The same fantastic combat from previous Xenoblade games returns, this time bolstered by new features such as the new ability to fight alongside seven party members during battles and better navigation during various quests.

For most gamers, a remake of the first entry in The Last of Us franchise didn’t make much sense considering its original 2013 release on PS3 and eventual PS4 remaster in 2014. But after playing The Last of Us Part 1, we can now say that going this route made absolute sense. Based mechanically and visually around The Last of Us Part 2, this remake enhances as much as possible the story of Joel and Ellie’s terrorizing cross-country trip across a post-plague United States. Besides updating the graphics and artificial intelligence, there are also some much-needed accessibility options that should open up this critically acclaimed masterpiece to even more gamers.

With a cartoon art style inspired by classic 1970s film Rollerball, Rollerdrome is a fascinating blend of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and Doom. Developed by OlliOlli creators Roll7, the game has players filling in the shoes of Kara Hassan. Players must destroy enemies with various weapons while maneuvering through combat areas that feel like skate parks. To earn ammo, players must perform tricks. Earning health means destroying enemy combatants. Though the goal of each level is to destroy enemies, there are side objectives similar to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater.

[ad_2]

Source link

December 14, 2022
The best wireless chargers in 2022 | CNN Underscored
[ad_1]
Wireless chargers can help you tame clutter, let you use a single charger for almost any phone and even spark joy, assuming you’d rather see a sleek charging pad on your counter, desk or nightstand than a rat’s nest of cables. Multi-device chargers can further simplify your setup, giving you a single spot for your phone, smartwatch, wireless headphones or even a second phone. Wireless charging may never be as fast or efficient as wired charging, but it can be a lot more convenient.

We tested 31 wireless chargers to find the best Qi stands and pads, the best MagSafe chargers for iPhone 12 and 13 and the best 3-in-1 Apple chargers that can also charge an Apple Watch and AirPods case.

Best Qi wireless charging pad overall

This sleek, understated 10W charging pad looks better than other chargers in its price range and charges just as well. Its 25W wall adapter has a 5-foot cord for easy placement. Our one quibble is that it uses a barrel connector instead of USB.

A classy 15W wireless charging pad for Android and iPhone

The Otto Q is both stylish and practical, with a luxury-minimal aesthetic that reminds us of high-end audio equipment, and performance to match, giving up to 15W to phones like the OnePlus 9 that support that charge rate. It doesn’t come with a wall adapter, but it uses USB-C, so it’s easy to find one.

Best Qi charging stand

The BoostCharge 15W is reasonably priced, charges well and avoids the pitfalls of many other stands. It connects via USB-C, comes with a wall adapter and, unlike some cheap-looking stands we tested, it looks good enough to fit in anyplace.

Best fast charging stand for Samsung phones

If you have a Samsung phone that can fast charge at 15W, this is the stand you’ll need to get the best charging speed. If you don’t, there’s no reason to buy this.

Best wireless charger for iPhone 12 and 13

The iPhone 12 and 13 can charge twice as fast via MagSafe as they can over standard wireless charging, and the magnets built into the phones and charger ensure perfect alignment every time. Too bad the cable’s so short, though.

Best magnetic Qi charger for iPhone 12 and 13

It doesn’t charge as fast as a MagSafe-certified adapter, but this magnetic wireless charger attaches to MagSafe phones just as securely and has a 5-foot cable, which makes it more useful for bedside or couchside charging.

Best Qi charging bowl/valet tray

A capable 10W Qi charger perched over a plastic bowl. It looks good and is perfect for dumping your pocket’s contents at the end of the day. The fake wood grain and golden underglow give it a certain je ne sais quoi.

Best modular wireless charging system

A mix-and-match wired and wireless charging station that supports everything from headphones to phones to tablets, the BaseLynx can be customized to fit the whole family’s devices.

Best Apple charging station for phones without MagSafe

At $50, the Zens 4-in-1 is an astonishing deal, with two 10W charging pads, an Apple Watch charger and a 5W USB port. And it comes with a 45W USB-PD charger.

A great vertical Qi Apple charging station

If you don’t need MagSafe and prefer a stand that holds your phone in a vertical orientation, the Anker PowerWave is a solid option, though you’ll have to supply your own Watch charging puck.

Best MagSafe Apple charging station

Technically this is the only MagSafe-certified 3-in-1 Apple charger at press time, but we like the sculptural look, with both iPhone and Watch charger suspended gently in the air, plus a spot at the base for your AirPods.
Key Specs

Maximum charge rate: 10W (9W for Samsung, 7.5W for iPhone)

AC adapter: 25W, integrated cable

Cable length and type: 5 feet, integrated with barrel connector

Dimensions (W x D x H, in inches): 3.35 x 3.35 x 0.5
The Logitech Powered Pad’s reasonable price, good charging performance, understated looks and 5-foot cord make it a solid wireless charger for any room in the house. Most cheaper wireless chargers look cheaper, and plenty of prettier chargers don’t work as well. Its biggest drawback is that it uses a proprietary AC adapter; many other wireless chargers use standard USB cables and wall adapters, which are easier to replace if necessary.

The Powered Pad’s squircle shape, matte finish and four color options (graphite, white, lilac and blue sage) work well with modern and contemporary decor. It has a pinpoint white status LED that stays on while your phone is charging, but it doesn’t blink and isn’t very bright, so it’s tolerable in dark rooms unless you’re a particularly light-sensitive sleeper.

In testing, the Powered Pad delivered 9W to a Samsung S21 Ultra 5G and 7.5W to iPhones, the maximum each can get from a standard Qi charger. It can also charge Qi wireless headphone cases, like the AirPods Pro case, though positioning can be tricky for devices smaller than the charging pad.

At around $30 from Logitech, the Powered Pad costs about as much as an inexpensive 10W Qi pad, plus the 18W USB-A charger needed to power it, but it looks better than any of the cheap ones we tested, and there’s no risk of plugging it into an underpowered wall adapter. The 25W wall adapter ensures the Powered Pad gets enough power, and while it’s quite tall at 2.25 inches, most USB-A chargers that can power a 10W Qi pad are just as tall when the USB cable is plugged in, and most proprietary wall adapters take up more room around the outlet.

If you can tolerate a proprietary power adapter, the Logitech Powered Pad is a great wireless charging pad for a desk, nightstand or dresser. If you prefer a USB connector, want a charging stand rather than a pad or have a recent iPhone, there are more compelling options below.

A classy 15W USB-C wireless charging pad for Android and iPhone: Moshi Otto Q ($39.95 without USB-C adapter; amazon.com)
Key Specs

Maximum charge rate: 15W (9W for Samsung, 7.5W for iPhone)

AC adapter: Not included, requires 18W (9V/2A) or greater USB-C PD 3.0 adapter

Cable length and type: 3.5 feet, USB-C to C

Dimensions (diameter x height, in inches): 4 x 0.45
If you want a charger you can show off (or at least one that complements your decor), consider the Moshi Otto Q. With its heathered gray fabric top and metal-look case, it resembles Scandinavian hi-fi equipment and doesn’t look out of place on a nightstand, dresser or console table. It can deliver up to 15W to the (vanishingly few) Android phones that support it, 9W to Samsung phones and 7.5W to iPhones.

At 4 inches in diameter, the Otto Q is among the largest charging pads we tested, but it doesn’t feel large, possibly because of the tapered base, and possibly because it’s not a featureless black slab. A grippy rubber ring around the Qi coil helps with phone placement, and a white LED on the front of the pad blinks when your device is charging.

That LED is one of the Otto Q’s few downsides. Its pattern — two fast blinks, then one slow — reads to us more as “there’s a problem” than “I’m charging normally.” Fortunately, it’s not very bright, but the blink could be distracting in a dark bedroom.

The Otto Q is powered via USB-C, and requires an 18W or higher USB-PD charger. If you don’t already have one, we recommend the compact, inexpensive Anker 511 Nano ($13.59; amazon.com). We prefer USB-C rather than USB-A because powerful USB-C chargers are smaller and cheaper than their USB-A equivalents. You’re also more likely to have a 20W USB-C charger hanging around than an 18W USB-A charger, and therefore much less likely to accidentally plug into an underpowered adapter.

Best Qi charging stand: Belkin BoostCharge 15W ($40.53; amazon.com)
Key Specs

Maximum charge rate: 15W (9W for Samsung, 7.5W for iPhone)

AC adapter: 24W USB-A Quick Charge 3.0

Cable length and type: 4 feet, USB-A to C

Dimensions (W x D x H, in inches): 3.94 x 3.94 x 4.72
The Belkin BoostCharge 15W Is a perfectly fine wireless charging stand. It isn’t exciting, per se, but it lacks the shortcomings of many other stands we tested. First, it connects via USB-C rather than Micro USB like the Anker PowerWave Stand or the 10W Belkin. Unlike the Anker and the YooTech X2, it comes with a USB adapter, in this case 24W USB-A. It supports charge rates up to 15W, if you happen to have an LG V40 or OnePlus 9, or one of the few other Android phones that can hit 15W on a standard charger; it’s also one of the very few wireless charging stands that can exceed 5W on a Google Pixel 3, though few people have those anymore.

The circular base and ovoid stand are inoffensive, as is the matte soft-touch top and (for some reason) glossy black base. It has a white pinpoint charging LED in the front. It doesn’t look as low-budget as the Yootech X2, and the design isn’t as polarizing as the framework stand of the 10 Belkin BoostCharge we tested.

Like most stands we tested, the Belkin BoostCharge 15W can’t charge an iPhone 12 Mini or 13 Mini; the Qi charging coils don’t line up with those smaller phones. We don’t consider that a deal breaker, though, because the 12 and 13 Mini can and should use MagSafe or magnetic Qi chargers instead. It also can’t charge Samsung phones at 15W; fortunately, our next pick can.

Best fast charging stand for Samsung Phones: Samsung 15W Fast Charge Wireless Charging Stand ($79.99; bestbuy.com)
Key Specs

Maximum charge rate: 15W (Samsung only; 10W for other Android, 7.5W for iPhone)

AC adapter: 25W USB-C “Super Fast Charger”

Cable length and type: 3 feet, USB-C to C

Dimensions (W x D x H, in inches): 4.64 x 2.95 x 4.44
If you have a Samsung phone that supports 15W wireless charging, like the Galaxy S10, S20, S21, Note 10, Note 20 or various Folds and Flips, you should get a 15W Samsung Fast Charge charging stand. Other 15W Qi chargers won’t charge Samsung phones at 15W, and the Samsung charger won’t charge other phones at 15W. Sometimes life is like that.

The Samsung Fast Charge Wireless Charging Stand does charge other Android phones at up to 10W, and iPhones at 7.5W, like most of the other chargers we tested, so it’s still useful in mixed-phone-ecosystem situations, a phrase I can’t believe I typed at 8 p.m. on a Saturday one week before Christmas.

The Samsung is the only charger we tested with an active cooling fan, but you can only control it from a Samsung phone. Also, the status LED glows red when the phone is charging correctly, which is counterintuitive.

Best wireless charger for iPhone 12 and 13: Apple MagSafe Charger ($34; amazon.com or $39.99; apple.com)
Key Specs

Maximum charge rate: 15W (iPhone 12 and 13 series only; 12W for iPhone 12 Mini and 13 Mini)

AC adapter: Not included; requires 20W (9V/2.22A) or greater USB-C Power Delivery adapter

Cable length and type: 39-inch integrated USB-C

Dimensions (diameter x height, in inches): 2.2 x 0.23
If you have any phone in the iPhone 12 or 13 families — including the Mini, Pro or Pro Max — you should consider a MagSafe charger. Rings of magnets on the charger and the phone ensure perfect alignment, and iPhones can charge at up to 15W on a MagSafe charger, compared to 7.5W on a Qi charger. And unlike with a regular wireless charger, you don’t have to leave your phone sitting around while it’s charging; you can use it normally. It even leaves the Lightning port free for wired headphones. (Whether that’s a good thing depends on your relationship with screen time and is outside the scope of this article).

There are a couple of catches, of course. First, though any Qi charger will charge the phone, and plenty already exist that can attach to the magnetic ring, only certified chargers get MagSafe speeds, and there are very few of them. Apple’s MagSafe Charger costs between $32 and $40, has a paltry 3-foot cable and doesn’t include the 20W USB-C charger you’ll need to use it. Second, if you keep your phone in a case, you’ll need one that’s MagSafe-compatible. That’s not a huge deal; plenty of Apple and third-party cases work. And third, MagSafe charging can output a lot of heat, which will cause the charge rate to drop until the phone’s internal temperature goes down.

Oh, and the iPhone 12 Mini and 13 Mini are capped at 12W charging via MagSafe, rather than 15W, for heat dissipation reasons.

Still, if you have a MagSafe-compatible phone and want fast wireless charging, it’s worth getting a MagSafe charger. If you’re interested in the magnetic part but don’t mind a slower charge, you can also consider a magnetic Qi charger like the one we recommend below.

Best magnetic Qi charger for iPhone 12 and 13: Anker 313 Magnetic Wireless Charger Pad With USB-C Charger ($22.99; amazon.com)
Key Specs

Maximum charge rate: 7.5W for iPhone, 10W for Android (but see text)

AC adapter: 20W USB-C Power Delivery

Cable length and type: 5 feet integrated USB-C

Dimensions (diameter x height, in inches): 2.36 x 0.35
If you don’t have an iPhone 12 or 13, there’s no reason to buy a magnetic Qi charger. They attach to the ring of magnets in MagSafe-compatible phones, but they’re regular Qi chargers, so they’re limited to 7.5W. Unlike MagSafe chargers, which deliberately drop their charging to a snail’s pace if they detect non-iPhones (thanks, Apple!), magnetic Qi chargers will charge other phones just fine, but since those other phones lack the magnetic ring, they’re harder to align than a regular Qi charger.

The reason to buy a magnetic Qi charger, then, is if you have a MagSafe phone but want something you can’t get with an official MagSafe charger, like a cord that’s more than 3 feet long.

For that very specific use case, the Anker 313 Magnetic Wireless Charger Pad is pretty good! It has a 5-foot cord, which is 2 more feet than Apple gives you, it’s only a little larger than the MagSafe charger and instead of costing $30 to $40 without a USB-C wall adapter, it’s $23 and comes with a 20W USB-C charger that costs around $15 by itself. That means the Anker charging pad costs about $8. Eight bucks!

Anker’s charging pad and cord are less bulky than the one on the Belkin Wireless Magnetic Charger, and its magnets are much stronger than the Mophie Snap+. If you want a bedside or couchside charger with longer reach than Apple’s MagSafe and don’t mind the slower charging, it’s a good deal.
Key Specs

Maximum charge rate: 10W (7.5W for iPhone)

AC adapter: 24W USB-A

Cable length and type: 58-inch USB-A to C

Dimensions (diameter x height, in inches): 7 x 2.36
Does anyone need a wireless charging bowl with yellow underglow, fake wood grain on the outside and fake copper (or faux terra cotta?) on the inside? I don’t know. But I tested 28 wireless chargers for this article and the Tylt Bowl was the only one that sparked joy.

The Tylt is a plastic bowl, about 7 inches in diameter, with a 10W Qi charging pedestal in the middle at about rim height. The inside is a semi-glossy copper colored plastic, while the outside has an unconvincing wood grain pattern. A golden light shines down into the bowl from the stand when your phone is charging.

The light will probably be too much if you charge your phone in your bedroom at night. I charge mine in my bathroom (I’m trying to keep my phone out of the bedroom), so the underglow makes a perfect night light, and the bowl is a great holding place for my wallet, various pocket knives, arguably too much jewelry for a 36-year-old father of three and other pocket contents. The overall effect is a bit like a video game loot drop, or someone trying to make a point about the veneration we give our phones.

There are other classy ways to combine a wireless charger and a pocket dump/valet tray, like the Courant Catch:3 ($100; amazon.com), and sure, they can spark a different kind of joy: the quiet joy of a tasteful, well-appointed accessory. But sometimes you need the big dumb joy of a wireless charging bowl with fake wood grain.
Key Specs

Maximum charge rate: 10W (7.5W for iPhone), 12W USB-A (x3), 18W USB-C Power Delivery (x2), 5W Apple Watch

AC adapter: 5-foot AC cable

Cable length and type: 1-foot USB-C to C; 1-foot USB-C to Lightning

Dimensions (W x D x H, in inches): 13.2 x 5.7 x 1
The Scosche BaseLynx Modular Charging System is a great way to make a family charging station for all your devices, whether or not they support wireless charging. If you only want a single Qi charging pad, you can get it for around $50, but if that’s all you need, there are less expensive, less bulky options. The appeal of the BaseLynx is that you can add modules as needed and power them all with a single AC cable.

We tested the Pro Kit, which starts at $146.96 in black ($199.95 in white, as tested). It consists of a 10W Qi charging pad; Apple Watch charging module; the Vert, which holds three devices vertically and has an 18W USB-C port and two 12W USB-A ports; and the EndCap, which adds another 18W USB-C port and 12W USB-A port. With all these modules, the BaseLynx kit is large, at more than 13 inches wide and almost 6 inches deep. But we were able to charge a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra on the Qi pad, an Apple Watch, an iPad, an iPhone 12 Mini, an iPhone 11 and a Google Pixel 3 at the same time. And we could still fit a second Qi charger and a second Apple Watch charger before running out of power overhead.

If you have the space, and the need, to charge a half dozen or more devices at once, the BaseLynx system is worth considering. If your needs are more modest, you can save space and money with something more compact. Scosche tells us a MagSafe module is coming soon, but as of December 2021 it is not yet available.
Key Specs

Maximum charge rate: 10W (7.5W for iPhone) on each Qi pad; 5W for each USB port

AC adapter: 45W USB-C Power Delivery

Cable length and type: 3-foot USB-C to C

Dimensions (W x D x H, in inches): 7.3 x 3.5 x .43
If you have an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods, it makes sense to get a charging station that can handle all three at once. But in 2022, it doesn’t make sense to spend a lot of money on one that doesn’t support MagSafe; if you have an Apple Watch and AirPods but an iPhone 11 or earlier, there’s a good chance you’ll upgrade to a newer phone before long, and that phone will have MagSafe. So after testing six Qi Apple charging stations, which ranged in price from $40 to $150, we recommend the Zens 4-in-1 if it stays near $50, or the Anker PowerWave 3-in-1 if it’s still around $40.

The original price of the Zens 4-in-1, around $140, is more than anyone should pay for a 3-in-1 charger without MagSafe in the year of Luigi 2022. But it’s been around $50 recently, and at that price it’s a steal. The Zens 4-in-1 has two 10W Qi charging zones and two 5W USB ports. It can charge two phones at 10W each (one in portrait, one in landscape), plus an Apple Watch and a low-powered USB accessory, like a set of Bluetooth headphones.

The Zens comes with a 1-foot Apple Watch charging cable, which plugs into its rear USB port and slots into a holder on the back right of the pad. There’s no cable management at all, so that cord is just hanging out there. It doesn’t look great, but it also means you can remove and reuse the cable easily (though the Apple Watch adapter clip is permanently affixed, unlike the one on the Mophie Wireless Charging Stand+).

There’s no divot, dimple or other easy way to align a headphone case to either charging pad — we had some trouble getting a set of AirPods Pro to charge at first — but both pads can charge at up to 10W, rather than limiting one to 5W, as most charging stations do. This adds to the Zens’ longevity. The 45W USB-PD charger and braided USB-C cable are also usable elsewhere. Not that you should buy a charging pad you’re planning to part out, but it’s much more sustainable than, say, the Logitech Powered 3-in-1 or the Mophie 3-in-1, which both cost over $140 and have proprietary AC adapters and nonremovable Apple Watch chargers.
Key Specs

Maximum charge rate: Stand: 10W (7.5W for iPhone); Pad: 5W; Watch: 5W

AC adapter: 18W USB-A Quick Charge 2.0, included

Cable length and type: 58-inch USB-A to C

Dimensions (W x D x H, in inches): 6.5 x 3.75 x 4.25
If you’d rather look at your phone in vertical mode and don’t mind supplying your own Apple Watch charging puck, consider the Anker PowerWave 3-in-1. It’s a step down from the Zens in most respects — its charger is less powerful, the headphone charging area is limited to 5W and partially blocks the view of the Apple Watch and it doesn’t include an Apple Watch charging cable. But it’s the next best option if the Zens isn’t available at the current steep discount.

The Anker PowerWave 3-in-1 has a 10W Qi charging stand, a 5W Qi pad for wireless AirPod cases and a stand with a slot for an Apple Watch charger. The Apple Watch charger isn’t included. Instead, Anker provides an internal USB port under the bottom cover, along with a clever routing system for the 3-foot charging cable the Apple Watch comes with.

Unfortunately, the AirPod charging area is right in front of the Watch charger, so the headphone case will partially block your view of the Watch in nightstand mode. There’s also no divot or indicator to help with AirPod case placement; you just have to make sure the pad’s charging indicator lights up.

The 18W USB-A charger included with the PowerWave 3-in-1 is less powerful and less useful than the 45W USB-PD one that comes with the Zens, but it’s still streets ahead of any proprietary charger.

This may sound like faint praise compared to the Zens, but if the Zens isn’t heavily marked down, the Anker is the better buy if you don’t want to wait until you have a MagSafe phone.
Key Specs

Maximum charge rate: MagSafe: 15W (12W for iPhone 12 Mini and 13 Mini); Watch: 5W; Pad: 5W

AC adapter: 15V/2.67A AC adapter with integrated cable

Cable length and type: 59-inch, barrel connector

Dimensions (diameter x height, in inches): 5.3 x 5.3
The Belkin BoostCharge Pro 3-in-1 looks like a sculpture or a jewelry store window display. Its MagSafe-certified charging pad and Apple Watch charger are suspended on slim metal arms above its base, so your watch and phone float in the air, while your AirPods charge in an indentation in the matte white base. It’s one of the most striking designs we’ve seen; it’s also the only MagSafe-certified 3-in-1 charger available (though a new Belkin 3-in-1 MagSafe charging pad is up for preorder now), and there are plenty of stands that require you to bring your own MagSafe charger; we haven’t tested those.

In our testing, the MagSafe pad delivered 12W charging to an iPhone 12 Mini (non-Minis can expect 15W) while charging the Watch and AirPods as well. The Belkin connects to its proprietary 40W charger via a 5-foot cable with a barrel connector. We’d prefer USB-C, but proprietary adapters are common in multi-device chargers. There’s no charging indicator for the watch or MagSafe pads, just the Qi pad on the base, but charging indicators aren’t that important for magnetic chargers since you can’t really misalign them.

At $150, the BoostCharge Pro is expensive, and it takes up a lot of room, with a 5.3-inch-diameter base; both phone and watch extend past the base’s edges when charging. But thanks to its slim metal support arm, it doesn’t look bulky. It also doesn’t support fast charging for the Apple Watch Series 7, though Belkin’s new 3-in-1 will.

If your smartphone or headphones charge wirelessly, they probably use the Qi induction charging standard. All iPhones released since 2017 support Qi, as do most (but not all) Android smartphones, especially high-end ones. You can stick your phone on any Qi charger and expect it to charge, but if you make sure your charger supports your phone’s maximum charge rate, you’ll get faster charging and less frustration.

Any Qi charger you can buy will charge your device at 5W, which is to say slowly. Most current Android phones support wireless charging at up to 9W or 10W. Some can hit 15W on a standard 15W Qi charger; others, like certain Samsung and OnePlus phones, support higher wireless charging rates but only using their own chargers. If you’re not sure what charge rates your phone supports, check the manufacturer’s specification page for your phone.

The iPhone 8 and newer can charge via Qi at up to 7.5W, but the iPhone 12 and 13 series also support MagSafe, Apple’s proprietary magnetic wireless charging standard, at up to 15W (12W for the 12 Mini and 13 Mini).

Regardless of the phone, induction charging isn’t as fast as wired charging. The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, which we used for testing, can charge via USB-C at 25W. Samsung’s wireless chargers can hit 15W; on a standard Qi charger, it’s limited to 9W. So it’ll charge almost three times faster with a cable than on a wireless charger. The iPhone 13 can charge at up to 20W via Lightning cable, 15W on MagSafe and just 7.5W on a standard wireless charger. If you’re in a hurry, plug it in.

Wireless charging is also energy inefficient — by some calculations it takes 40% more energy to charge a phone wirelessly than by plugging it in. Every 10W wireless charger we tested required at least a 15W wall adapter.

But wireless charging is convenient and requires less messing around with cables. It also means households with more than one type of phone can all use the same chargers. And for overnight charging, or any time you don’t need the absolute fastest charge, it’s a nice option to have.

Nathan Edwards/CNN

We tested a total of 28 wireless chargers: 12 single-device Qi chargers, eight multi-device Qi chargers, four magnetic Qi chargers and four MagSafe devices.

We tested every Qi charger with an iPhone 11, an iPhone 12 Mini, a Google Pixel 3 (which is limited to 5W charging except on specific chargers, where it can hit 10) and a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, which (bear with us) can charge at up to 9W or 10W on certain Qi chargers, and up to 15W on Samsung Fast Charge 2.0 chargers.

If the charger came with a wall adapter, we used it; if not, we made sure to use one that gave sufficient juice to the Qi charger.

We measured power draw from the wall using a TP-Link Kasa smart power strip ($49.99; amazon.com), taking wireless charging overhead into account. To ensure each phone was getting its highest possible charge rate, we kept the batteries below 40% by running 3DMark’s Wild Life Extreme stress test, which devours around 10% of the phone’s charge in 20 minutes.
Size and shape: Since wireless chargers sit out on display, they might as well look good and not take up too much room.

Materials: What is the charger surface made of? Does it help with heat management? How does it feel? Does it collect dust or fingerprints?

Ease of positioning: If your phone’s induction coil isn’t aligned with the charging coil, it could charge very slowly or not at all. We checked how easy it was to place each phone on each charger; for stands, we checked both portrait and landscape mode. For devices with multiple charging zones, we paid special attention to how tricky it was to align the case for the Apple AirPods Pro, which can charge via Qi or MagSafe.

Power requirements: Wireless charging is inefficient. A 10W Qi charger requires at least 15W of input power. We checked every charger’s power requirements and its AC adapter, if included.

Cable length: A longer cable lets you put the charger farther from an outlet. Simple.

Charging indicators: A status LED can tell you if your phone is charging, if an obstacle is detected or if it’s fully charged. But a too bright LED or one that blinks or changes color can be distracting in dark rooms, and one that’s in a weird place may be blocked by the device. Many chargers we tested turn off their status LEDs after a few seconds, which is nice for bedrooms but does mean that if your phone isn’t aligned properly, you may not realize until morning that it didn’t charge.

Power connectors: Every wireless charger we tested connected to its adapter via Micro USB, USB-C or a barrel connector integrated into a proprietary charger. USB-C is best, since great compact 20W USB-PD and Quick Charge 3.0 adapters cost as little as $14, and USB-C to C cables are reliable and easy to find. Barrel connectors tend to have bulky wall adapters and are harder to replace if something goes wrong but do ensure that the charger is getting enough power from the wall. Micro USB is the worst of both worlds. Micro USB to C cables aren’t allowed in the USB spec, so every charger we tested that connects via Micro USB requires an 18W (9V/2A) USB-A wall adapter, which most people don’t have lying around. If you plug your wireless charger into an underpowered adapter, it’ll be excruciatingly slow. It’s easy enough to get an 18W USB-A wall adapter like the Anker PowerPort+ 1 ($13.59; amazon.com), but they’re bulkier than 20W USB-C adapters, and less useful
Charge rate: Does the charger deliver as much power as it claims? Does it hit the maximum input rate of the device being charged?

Heat management: Does the charger or device get too warm? Can it dissipate heat effectively?

Coil whine: Many wall adapters, and some Qi chargers, can make a high-pitched noise when powered. Sometimes it’s down to the individual unit; we’ve tested plenty of identical chargers where one unit whines and the other doesn’t. And not everyone is bothered by coil whine; some people don’t even hear it. Still, we noted any coil whine we found.
Nathan Edwards/CNN

Anker PowerWave Base Pad ($19.99; amazon.com)

This bar-shaped pad couldn’t deliver full power to any of the four phones we tried it with, and at 5.8 inches by 2.8 inches by .47 inches, it’s as large as many smartphones, which Anker claims helps with phone alignment. It doesn’t include an AC adapter; by the time you add one, it costs as much as more powerful, better-looking options.

Mophie 15W Charging Pad ($40.53; amazon.com)

This compact 15W charger performed as well as the Logitech Powered Pad and Moshi Otto Q on our tests (though we didn’t have a 15W phone to test with). If you prefer a status indicator that turns off after a few seconds, or like the look, it’s a decent option, though the AC adapter (integrated to the barrel connector) is a bit bulky, and the faux suede top tends to look disheveled unless you brush the nap in the same direction. We prefer chargers that don’t require brushing. The Logitech Powered Pad costs less and feels more substantial, while the more expensive Moshi Otto Q also supports 15W charging but uses USB-C, so it’s more flexible, and we think it looks better.

Courant Catch:1 Essentials ($40; staycourant.com)

The Catch:1 Essentials 10W single-device charger is beautiful, with a linen top, matte soft-touch sides and a color-matched USB-C to A cable (though no AC adapter). It has a white pinpoint charging indicator at the rear of the pad, next to the USB port; it won’t bother you at night, but it’s also hard to see without rotating the pad.

At $40 without the AC charger, the Catch:1 Essentials is around the same price as the Moshi Otto Q, though because it uses a C to A cable instead of C to C, the Courant is a little less flexible. (You can always swap cables, but then you lose the color-matching.) If you like the style and don’t mind the price, it’s a good option, and may be the one linen thing in your house that doesn’t need to be ironed.

Qi wireless charging stands

Nathan Edwards/CNN

Google Pixel Stand (2nd Gen) ($79; amazon.com)

The second-generation Pixel Stand works with any device that supports Qi wireless charging, but it should only be considered if you have a Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro. With either of those phones, you’ll be able to take advantage of up to 23W wireless charging. You’ll also get some Pixel-exclusive features like the ability to customize the charging speed between three presets and turn your phone into a mini smart display when it’s docked. It can rotate through photos, act as a sunrise alarm and help to triage an influx of notifications. These proved handy in our testing and worked without flaw — additionally, it could save you some money if you opt for this instead of a fully functional smart display like the Nest Hub. Still, though, it’s not cheap at $79.99 and isn’t the only route to achieve fast wireless charging; most would be better served by one of our top picks.

Belkin BoostCharge 10W ($34.99; amazon.com)

The 10W Belkin BoostCharge looks less like a charging stand and more like someone put a circular charging pad on an odd frame. Many other reviewers love it, and it does hit its advertised charging rates. It comes with an 18W USB-A charger (our unit had noticeable coil whine) and a 4-foot Micro USB to C cable. If you like the look, or at least don’t mind it, it’s a decent option, but Belkin’s 15W charger is around the same price and has a more conventional, if bland, look.

Yootech X2 ($13.59; amazon.com)

The Yootech X2 stand has a few things going for it. It doesn’t come with a wall adapter, but at least it connects via USB-C rather than Micro USB, which is rare for a wireless charger this inexpensive. It’s one of the few stands we tested that can charge an iPhone 12 Mini in portrait mode, and it’s one of even fewer chargers that can charge a Pixel 3 at 10W instead of 5W. It works fine, but the semigloss black finish and LED charging indicator, which wraps around the entire base of the stand and glows green, seem to have fallen out of the late 1990s.

Anker PowerWave Base Stand ($19.49; amazon.com)

If you already have an 18W USB-A charger, the Anker PowerWave Base Stand can save you some money. It comes with a 4-foot Micro USB cable but no wall adapter. Like most stands we tested, it can’t charge an iPhone 12 Mini, and the blue charging indicator ring may not be to everyone’s tastes, but it charges other iPhones and Androids at up to 10W, and its design is better than many other budget stands.

Nathan Edwards/CNN

Belkin Magnetic Portable Wireless Charger ($39.99; amazon.com)

Belkin’s magnetic Qi adapter has a 6-foot cord rather than 5 (Anker) or 3 (Apple); its cord is also thicker, which could feel reassuringly solid or unnecessarily bulky, depending on your preferences. The charging pad, at .47 inches, is also twice as thick as Apple’s or Mophie’s, and half again as thick as Anker’s. It’s also the only one with a status LED. It comes with a 20W USB-C charger like the Anker and Mophie.

Mophie Snap+ Wireless Charger ($34.99; amazon.com)

Don’t get this. The magnets are much weaker than any other magnetic Qi charger we tested and barely hold in place. It comes with one of Mophie’s magnetic ring sticker adapters, which you can use to make a non-MagSafe phone compatible with magnetic Qi chargers, but it barely sticks to those either, and they interfere with other accessories.

Anker 623 MagGo 2-in-1 Wireless Charging Station ($79.99; amazon.com)

The Anker 623 MagGo is the most interesting charging stand we tested. It’s a surprisingly heavy violet-colored cylinder with a MagSafe-compatible Qi charger on top. That top flips forward up to 60 degrees to become a charging stand for MagSafe phones and reveals a second Qi charging pad underneath. That 5W charging pad is meant for AirPods, though in our testing it was able to charge phones as well, albeit slowly. And of course the main charging pad is limited to 7.5W for iPhones; it’s “MagGo,” not MagSafe.

The 623 also comes in blue, white and dark gray, and includes a 5-foot USB-C to C cable and 20W USB-C charger. There are plenty of more practical magnetic charging stands for iPhones, and some that are actually MagSafe certified. But this one’s fun, and it does what it’s supposed to. For plenty of people that’ll be enough.

Courant Catch:2 Essentials ($79.99; bedbathandbeyond.com)

The Catch:2 Essentials is a five-coil Qi charger that can charge up to two devices at once. It’s striking, with a “Belgian linen” top surface and color-matched USB-C to A charging cable. Unlike the Catch:1, it comes with an AC adapter, a color-matched 18W USB-A brick. Its five charging coils means you don’t have to be as precise about positioning as you would with a single-coil charger, though it can only charge two devices at once.

While it can charge a phone at up to 10W (9W for Samsung, 7.5W for iPhone) as well as a wireless charging case or other Qi device, it can’t do two phones at their top charge rates due to the 18W charger. (Wireless charging is inefficient; getting 7.5W to the phone requires 10W to 11W of power from the wall). Our test charger’s AC adapter also had notable coil whine.

Mophie Wireless Charging Stand+ ($76.41; amazon.com)

This pad and stand combo can charge iPhones at up to 7.5W and compatible Android phones at up to 10W (9W for Samsung phones), and it can do so to two phones at once. It doesn’t come with an Apple Watch charger, but it does include an adapter for one that clips to the back left or center of the pad; the Watch charger plugs into a USB port at the rear. There’s no cable routing, though, and Mophie’s proprietary charger is bulky and ours had notable coil whine.

Mophie 3-in-1 WIreless Charging Stand ($139.95; amazon.com)

We like the clever Apple Watch charging puck, but this stand is just too expensive for what it offers. The proprietary charging brick showed up with something rattling around inside; we used the identical charger from the Mophie Wireless Charging Stand+, above, which suffered from coil whine.

Logitech Powered 3-in-1 Charging Dock ($148.38; amazon.com)

The Logitech Powered 3-in-1 Dock, with its sci-fi curves, was the best-looking multi-device Qi charger we tested, though it takes up a decent amount of room, and it’s expensive. The pad and stand can each charge at up to 10W at the same time (7.5W for iPhones, 9W for some Samsung phones), though small phones (like the iPhone 12 Mini) can’t charge on the stand. Amazon reviewers complain that the watch charger angle is too vertical, so Apple Watches with heavy bands fall off, though I didn’t experience this with my (lightweight) Sport Band. The proprietary AC adapter is a bit bulky but has a 6-foot cable that helps with positioning.

Though we love the design of the Logitech Powered 3-in-1, it costs more than most people should pay for a non-MagSafe 3-in-1 charging station, unless you have enough other Qi charging devices to justify it, or you love the design enough.

Satechi Trio ($119.99; bestbuy.com)

We like that the Satechi Trio comes with an Apple Watch charger, and that it folds flat for storage. It comes with a 24W USB-C charger, which is nice. But the Trio is larger than other 3-in-1 charging pads we tested, and since the top is metal, it’s clanky and unpleasant to use on phones without cases.

Nytstnd Quad ($171.75, from $229; Nytstnd.com)

The Nytstnd Quad has a five-coil, two-device Qi charger; an Apple Watch puck; a wired tablet charging area; and an optional valet tray for your pocket contents, all wrapped in leather inside a hardwood ply frame. The Qi charging coil has magnets to help MagSafe phones align properly, and the tablet charger comes in both USB-C and Lightning models.

Unfortunately, the 36W wall adapter lacks the juice to charge everything at its full rate at once, unlike the Scosche BaseLynx. The tablet connector, which is fixed in place with a slight swivel, seems like an easy failure point, and the fit and finish, especially on the oak-stained version we tested with the valet tray, doesn’t justify its high price.

Belkin MagSafe 2-in-1 15W Fast Charging ($96.10; amazon.com)

One of the few third-party MagSafe chargers, this shares the sci-fi pedestal design of the Belkin Boost Charge Pro 3-in-1 but drops the Apple Watch charger. It’s a good choice if you don’t have an Apple Watch but do have a MagSafe phone and earbuds with a wireless charging case. Surely dozens of people.

Apple MagSafe Duo Charger ($129; apple.com)

The MagSafe Duo Charger is clever, compact and incredibly expensive for what it does. It can charge a MagSafe phone (at up to 14W) and an Apple Watch at the same time, then fold into a 75-millimeter-by-80-millimeter-by-15-millimeter square. It connects via a USB-C to Lightning cable, which is included, but requires a 20W or greater USB-C charger, which isn’t. Well-heeled frequent flyers could consider it, especially if you can write it off, but business travel isn’t exactly booming again. Maybe if it were half the price!

Read more from CNN Underscored’s hands-on testing:
[ad_2]

Source link
December 12, 2022