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Tag: underscored-smartwatches-wearables

  • The 100 best Cyber Monday tech deals to get right now | CNN Underscored

    The 100 best Cyber Monday tech deals to get right now | CNN Underscored

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    Want more deals? Visit CNN Underscored’s Guide to Cyber Monday for wall-to-wall coverage of the best discounts to be found during the biggest shopping event of the year.

    Cyber Monday is always a great time to stock up on new tech at a discount, whether you’re finally ready to upgrade to a new laptop or just need some new charging cables to keep around the house. The good news is that just about every major tech product is on sale for Cyber Monday, and that the big discounts have started earlier than ever. The bad news? The sheer amount of stuff out there can be overwhelming.

    But that’s where we come in. We’ve sifted through all the clutter to find the Cyber Monday tech deals that are actually worth getting (including the best Apple deals and top Best Buy deals), based on the countless hours we’ve spent testing and researching the latest gadgets. Here are the best sales to shop now.

    We consider the AirTags a must-have for iPhone owners, as you can use them to track down just about any lost item with precision. While we’ve seen them go lower, this sale price makes a single AirTag a great stocking stuffer.

    You’re gonna need a key ring to attach your AirTags to your keys (or pretty much anything else), and this popular leather model from Apple is at its lowest price ever in select colors.

    If you need something more robust and stylish for your backpack or luggage, Apple’s AirTag Leather Loop is also available for its lowest price.

    Apple’s MagSafe Charger is our top wireless charger pick for folks with an iPhone 12 or newer, as it snaps on your phone easily for a quick charge (it’s also great for AirPods). This popular accessory is currently $9 off, putting it very close to its lowest price ever.

    Tired of waiting forever for your phone to charge? The Nano Pro is our favorite budget USB-C charger and will juice up your smartphone in a snap — all for a lowest-ever $13.

    We consider this power adapter, which can cover you in more than 150 countries and charge five devices at once, a must for international travelers. It’s at its lowest price ever for Cyber Monday.

    If you need a pencil for your new iPad Mini, iPad Air or iPad Pro, the Apple Pencil 2nd Gen is steeply discounted and at its lowest price ever. This more advanced pencil features double-tap functionality for switching tools on the fly, and can charge wirelessly when magnetically attached to your iPad.

    The Logitech Combo Touch is one of our favorite iPad keyboards and turns your iPad into a pretty capable laptop. This version (made for the seventh-, eighth- and ninth-gen models) is nearly at its lowest price so far.

    Logitech makes the majority of our best mouse picks, and the company’s popular budget model is at its lowest price ever in a ton of different colors. This cheap mouse is a perfect companion to your laptop, and is a great way to boost your WFH game.

    The Logitech K380 is our favorite budget keyboard thanks to its high-quality keys and handy multi-device pairing capabilities. It’s not quite at its lowest price ever, but it’s still a great deal on an already affordable keyboard.

    The Logitech C920 is our favorite webcam, and will make you look a lot better on calls than your laptop’s grainy built-in camera. It’s only a few bucks above its lowest price ever right now, so don’t miss out if it’s been on your list.

    If you need a more high-end webcam for serious content creation on YouTube and Twitch, the Logitech StreamCam is our top pick for creators (and a great addition to any setup for this lowest-ever price).

    Our longtime pick for best microphone, the Blue Yeti will make you sound great on everything from podcasts to livestreams to video calls — and it’s a no-brainer at this lowest-ever price.

    Our top microphone pick for livestreaming, the Wave 3 offers excellent sound quality and best-in-class software for easily managing audio during a broadcast. It’s a great pickup at this lowest-ever price.

    The latest Echo Dot improves on our favorite budget smart speaker with better audio and Wi-Fi extension capabilities while retaining the same versatile Alexa smarts. It’s a no-brainer for first-time Echo buyers at this price (the more advanced Clock model is also discounted right now).

    The Echo Glow is a nice companion to your Alexa setup. It’s compact, easy to set up and provides pleasant mood lighting to any space. Pair it with the Echo Show 5 Kids for streamlined daily routines.

    A smart plug is a great way to automate any of your old, dumb gadgets, and you can currently get a two-pack of this popular Kasa model for close to its lowest price.

    The Echo Show 8 is our pick for the best smart display, providing an easy way to hop on video calls, fire up some Netflix or get recipe ideas from Alexa. It’s a great addition to the home at this all-time low price.

    If you want a big Alexa display for keeping yourself and the whole family organized, the Echo Show 15 is a fantastic buy (especially at this lowest-ever price).

    If you’re on a budget and live in an Alexa household, the Amazon Smart Thermostat delivers excellent performance with the company’s voice assistant.

    The Nest Doorbell (Battery) is our favorite wireless video doorbell, thanks to its easy setup and free, intelligent alerts, and it’s currently at its lowest price ever.

    The Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Plus is our best outdoor home security camera pick thanks to its good video quality, easy setup and useful alerts. Better yet, it just hit its lowest price ever for Cyber Monday

    We named the Eero 6 mesh router, with its foolproof setup process and nearly unrivaled speeds and coverage areas, as your best bet when opting for a mesh router. Every model is close to its lowest price yet right now, starting at just $75 for the base router.

    The iRobot Roomba i7+ is almost identical to one of our favorite Roomba models, the j7+, and it’s steeply discounted right now. If you splurge for the i7+, which includes a self-empty base, you’ll be shocked at the powerful performance and smart robot technology that learns your cleaning preferences and home layout.

    A more advanced model of our favorite electric toothbrush, the 6100 offers three intensity levels and three different modes — the default clean mode, along with whitening and gum care — which offer different brush-head motions and automatically set the timer accordingly.

    Use the code CNNDEAL02 for an additional 5% off. The EarFun Air have long been our pick for the best budget earbuds, offering sound quality that punches well above its low price. They’re now cheaper than they’ve ever been — just make sure you click the coupon box before checking out.

    While they’re on the older side, Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Live are some of the most comfortable and unique-looking earbuds you can buy — and they’re an absolute steal at this sale price.

    The AirPods Pro 2 are our favorite Apple earbuds thanks to their stellar noise cancellation and controls, and they’re currently at their lowest-ever price.

    The classic AirPods still sound great and work effortlessly with your iPhone, and they’re an especially great gift now that they’re back to their lowest-ever price.

    Our favorite Android earbuds (but great for any phone), the Sony LinkBuds S have fantastic comfort, hi-res audio support and the unique ability to switch sound modes based on your surroundings. They’re an absolute steal at this all-time low.

    The Beats Fit Pro are our overall best wireless earbuds pick, offering superb features and comfort for iOS and Android users alike. They’re currently back at their lowest price ever.

    The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II offer truly incredible active noise cancellation, and they’re an even better buy at this first-ever sale price.

    Our pick for best over-ear headphones, the Sony XM5 deliver unmatched noise cancelling and sound quality. This is one of the first big discounts on this set of cans, and the lowest price we’ve seen.

    The Bose QuietComfort 45 are some of the best headphones we’ve tested, and a strong runner-up to the Sony XM5. Their excellent audio and ANC is a steal for this lowest-ever price.

    Cyber Monday soundbar and speaker deals

    The Ultimate Ears Boom 3 is our favorite overall Bluetooth speaker thanks to its booming sound and durable design, and it just hit its lowest price ever for Cyber Monday.

    If you need something extra-portable and affordable, our favorite travel-sized speaker is perfect for your next adventure at this lowest-ever price.

    The Sonos Roam SL is a simplified version of our upgrade pick for Bluetooth speakers, ditching the microphone for hands-free controls but offering the same great design and audio quality. It’s a great buy at this lowest-ever sale price.

    A more basic version of our best soundbar pick, the Roku Streambar gets you a compact soundbar and a full-on Roku streaming player in one — an especially compelling value at this lowest-ever price.

    The Sonos Arc’s best-in-class sound makes it our top premium soundbar pick, and its high price is a bit more palatable in this rare and lowest-ever price cut.

    Apple is currently offering the iPhone SE, 12 or 13 with a free $50 Apple Gift Card, getting you some useful extra credit with these already well-priced phones.

    We found the Moto G Stylus 5G to be a good Samsung alternative for those who want a big stylus-based phone, and it’s an especially good bargain at this sale price.

    The Google Pixel 6a is our favorite budget phone, and unmatched when it comes to camera and software experience for the price. It’s already a steal at retail, and a no-brainer at a lowest-ever $299.

    If you want to step up to a true flagship phone, the newer Pixel 7 gets you amazing cameras and nicer design for not much more money. This aggressively priced phone is even cheaper for Cyber Monday, now at an all-time low.

    The OnePlus 10 Pro is a very good Samsung and Google alternative with some of the best battery life and charging speeds we’ve tested, and it’s a steal at this lowest-ever sale price.

    The Apple Watch Series 8 improves on our favorite smartwatch with temperature sensing and car crash detection, and it’s currently at its lowest price yet.

    If you can live with a slightly less fancy design and a few advanced tracking capabilities, the Apple Watch SE gives you all of the Apple Watch essentials for a much lower price. This new model just got its first-ever discount, making it even more of a great bargain.

    While it doesn’t have quite the same robust set of features as the new Apple Watch SE, this discounted first-gen model is just about the cheapest Apple Watch we’ve ever seen (and still a great pick for tracking your runs and keeping up with notifications).

    We consider the rugged, feature-rich Apple Watch Ultra to be the best Apple Watch for folks willing to splurge, and its high price is a bit easier to stomach with this first-ever deal.

    The Google Pixel Watch works great with Pixel phones — and it doubles as a full-on Fitbit for fitness tracking. This is the first major sale and lowest price we’ve seen on this hot new watch.

    The Galaxy Watch 5 is our favorite overall Android smartwatch, thanks to its great performance, battery life and fitness features. It’s an even better buy at this all-time low price.

    Lenovo makes our favorite budget Chromebooks, and this cheaper variation on our top pick has everything you need for basic schoolwork and web surfing — all within a flexible design that doubles as a tablet.

    A mainstay in the budget laptop space (and one of our top picks), the Acer Aspire 5 gets you great performance for the price and is close to its lowest price ever right now

    The latest MacBook Air is our favorite overall laptop, offering best-in-class performance within a massively upgraded design. This is the lowest price we’ve seen on this fantastic notebook yet.

    The MacBook Air M1 was our longtime best laptop pick, thanks to its incredible performance, and while it’s since been replaced by the faster M2 model, it’s still an incredible bargain at this lowest-ever price.

    The new Surface Laptop 5 is one of the best (and best-looking) laptops we tested this year, and it’s seeing some sizable discounts just weeks after release. And if you’re on a budget, last year’s still-great Surface Laptop 4 is down to just $650.

    The slim and stunning Dell XPS 13 is our favorite overall Windows laptop, and this Best Buy deal lets you get a powerful Intel Core i7 model at a great price.

    The Asus ROG Zephyrus 14 was a strong runner-up in our best gaming laptop testing, and this discounted model gets you fantastic gaming specs (plus a month of Xbox Game Pass) for just $900.

    Our upgrade pick for best laptop, the 14-inch MacBook Pro has the performance and ports that serious power users need. This pricey model is currently at a huge discount, and its lowest price yet.

    While it’s not the newest or fastest model, the 27-inch iMac is still a fantastic all-in-one computer with a big beautiful display. It’s an especially good buy at this massive and lowest-ever Cyber Monday discount.

    We love the newest iMac for its gorgeous, compact design and incredible performance, and it’s currently at its lowest price for Cyber Monday.

    We found the Dell XPS Desktop to be a versatile and easy-to-upgrade Windows desktop that’s perfect for the home office, and it’s currently available for a super-low price.

    The Fire 7 is our favorite budget tablet, offering a great reading experience and all of the essential apps with some welcome modern touches. This is the first big discount we’ve seen on this already affordable slate.

    The Kindle Paperwhite has long been our best budget e-reader pick, thanks to its fantastic display and warmth adjustment, and it’s an even better value at this lowest-ever price.

    The Kindle Oasis is our pick for the best overall e-reader you can buy, and well worth it at this lowest-ever Cyber Monday price.

    While the ninth-gen iPad isn’t the latest model, it’s still our best tablet pick, thanks to its great app selection and excellent performance for the price — which is currently at an all-time low.

    The new iPad Air is a great middle ground for folks who want iPad Pro-level performance without spending upward of $1,000, and it’s close to its lowest-ever price on Amazon.

    The Galaxy Tab S8 is our favorite Android tablet, offering an included S Pen stylus and a neat DeX mode that lets it perform like a laptop. This is close to its lowest price yet.

    We love Samsung’s The Frame TV, which is both a unique digital art display and a pretty great QLED television in one. Every version of this unique set is currently deeply discounted for Cyber Monday, with sizes ranging from 32 to 85 inches.

    We found Insignia’s 32-inch Fire TV to be a very good value with solid 720p picture quality and built-in Amazon smarts, and its an even better buy at this lowest-ever price.

    The Fire TV Omni is a solid pick for folks deeply ingrained in the Amazon ecosystem, as you can do just about anything on this TV hands-free with the power of Alexa. We’ve seen it go cheaper, but this is a good deal.

    The TCL 6-Series is our pick for the best TV overall, and this fantastic deal gets you its gorgeous and sizable 65-inch QLED screen for a lowest-ever price.

    We love the Samsung QN90B for its bright, sharp picture and great gaming features, and all models are available at a good discount right now.

    We really loved our time with Samsung’s first-ever OLED TV, which trumps the rest of the lineup in terms of sheer color and detail and is available at a massive Cyber Monday discount in both 55-inch and 65-inch variations.

    The LG C2 OLED is one of the best TVs we’ve tested, offering amazing picture quality and a fluid interface for browsing apps. It’s close to its lowest price right now in a range of sizes from 42 to 83 inches.

    If the popular LG C2 is out of your price range, this well-liked budget alternative is just about the cheapest OLED we’ve ever seen.

    The Sony A90J earned our top luxury TV pick, thanks to the best picture quality we’ve ever tested, with superb detail and hyperaccurate colors. It’s currently available for up to $300 off (its lowest price yet) in two different sizes.

    If the A90J is out of your price range, the A80J is a more affordable variation that sacrifices some features but still gets you a gorgeous 4K OLED screen. It’s a fraction of the cost of the A90J at this all-time-low sale price.

    This Asus ROG model is our favorite 1080p gaming monitor thanks to its great color and refresh rate, and it’s currently at its lowest price ever.

    The Samsung Smart Monitor M8 is a unique monitor that can double as your TV, thanks to its built-in smart interface, and it’s an especially great value at this lowest-ever price.

    The Samsung CJ791 is our favorite ultrawide monitor thanks to its slick design, great picture and ample screen space, and its at its lowest price right now for Cyber Monday.

    The Dell Ultrasharp 27 is our favorite 4K monitor, and the latest model is available for a sizable Cyber Monday discount right now.

    If you want to turn your old, dumb TV into a smart one that can stream all the top services, the Roku Express is the cheapest way to do it — especially at this lowest-ever price.

    You can’t go wrong with a Fire TV Stick 4K, which is an easy way to get all of the top streaming services up and running on any television. It was once our top budget streaming stick, and a great stocking stuffer at this lowest-ever price.

    If you want the best possible streaming stick for the money, it’s hard to do better than this discounted Roku Streaming Stick 4K. On top of Roku’s robust app selection, you’ll also get speedy performance, Dolby Vision support, fast Wi-Fi compatibility and a handy voice remote.

    The Roku Ultra’s super-responsive performance, great remote and wide app selection makes it our best overall streaming device pick, and it’s a great addition to your 4K setup at this all-time low price.

    This Apple TV deal gets you our favorite high-end streaming player for its lowest-ever price, and while it’s not the newest, fastest model, it’ll still work great in any entertainment setup.

    The Backbone One is our favorite mobile gaming controller, instantly turning your phone into a true portable console that works great with the latest mobile and cloud games. The PlayStation Edition of this great accessory just dropped to a lowest-ever $64, making it an essential add-on for serious iPhone gamers.

    The Xbox Series S is the best value in console gaming, offering immersive, smooth gameplay and access to the superb Xbox Game Pass library. It’s as much as $40 off for Cyber Monday, and Amazon is throwing in a free $40 gift card with code XBOX.

    Verizon is currently offering an Xbox Series X All Access Package for $150 off. This bundle gets you the highest-end Xbox as well as two years of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for as low as 24 monthly payments of $29.

    A staple of every Cyber Monday, this Nintendo Switch bundle throws in the excellent Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and three months of Nintendo Switch Online at no extra charge, for a $70 value.

    Walmart has massive discounts on some of the best Switch games, including all-time lows on essentials like Zelda and Animal Crossing and first-time deals on new releases like Sonic Frontiers and Bayonetta 3. Just note that stock is going in and out for many of these hot titles.

    A microSD card is a must for any Switch owner, and this popular SanDisk model gets you 128GB of extra storage (enough for tons of digital game downloads) for its lowest price yet.

    Whether you need a spare controller for multiplayer or just want a fresh new color (like the gorgeous Galactic Purple), you can’t go wrong with an extra DualSense — especially at this lowest-ever price.

    This handy accessory can charge up to two DualSense controllers at once, all while doubling as a nice display stand and keeping your PS5’s ports free for other peripherals.

    An internal SSD is essential for expanding your PS5’s internal storage, which will fill up fast for anyone who plays a lot of games. This super-popular WD Black model gets you a whopping 2TB of extra space for close to its lowest price yet.

    This updated version of our favorite wireless gaming headset offers immersive sound and seamless multi-console compatibility, and it just hit its lowest price ever.

    The Logitech G Cloud is a unique and well-designed portable gaming console that lets you stream cloud games from Xbox, Steam, Amazon Luna and more. It’s a little pricey for what it does, but it’s worth considering at this first-ever sale price.

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  • The Apple Watch Ultra is on sale right now | CNN Underscored

    The Apple Watch Ultra is on sale right now | CNN Underscored

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    Want more deals? Visit CNN Underscored’s Guide to Black Friday for wall-to-wall coverage of the best discounts to be found during the biggest shopping event of the year.

    The new Apple Watch Ultra is the ultimate smartwatch splurge, and right now it’s also on sale for the very first time since it was announced.

    The Apple Watch Ultra is the perfect gift for an athlete or adventurer. As the most advanced Apple Watch experience out there, it’s worth checking it out for this rare discount.

    The Apple Watch Ultra is now $60 off and comes with four months of Apple Fitness+ for free. We love it for its larger, chunky design as well as its bonkers battery life. But there are lots of reasons to consider this over-the-top watch for your Black Friday shopping list.

    Yes, you’ll get more precise GPS with dual frequency, waypoint and an enhanced compass app, but you’ll also have access to the unique-to-Apple Wayfinder face for even more hyped-up features.

    Also included with the Apple Watch Ultra is an emergency siren in case you need immediate help in a location without Wi-Fi or data as well as Dive Computer functionality, which should be available later this year.

    A good-looking smartwatch with all the Apple conveniences, the Ultra covers all your extreme bases. And for $60 off, you may also be able to make someone on your list “Ultra” happy this holiday.

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  • The latest iPad Pro, AirPods Pro and Apple Watch models are all on sale right now | CNN Underscored

    The latest iPad Pro, AirPods Pro and Apple Watch models are all on sale right now | CNN Underscored

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    If you’ve been looking to upgrade your tech with the latest Apple products, now is a great time to do so. The latest iPad Pro, AirPods Pro and Apple Watch models are all on sale right now at Amazon, matching and beating some of the lowest prices we’ve seen. If you can’t wait for Black Friday, this is a great opportunity to save on Apple products on almost anyone’s wish list.

    Below, find the Apple deals — and if you’re not sure what products are right for you, check out our in-depth, hands-on reviews.

    The most powerful iPad is even better, thanks to upgrades on the 2022 release. Snag it right now for $50 off.

    The iPad Pro line is designed for and targeted toward those who want the most powerful and capable tablet Apple has to offer. Right now you can score the latest 11-inch iPad Pro for $50 off, thanks to a sale at Amazon. This is the first discount we’ve seen on this new model, so snag it now if you’ve been waiting to purchase the best premium tablet.

    The latest Apple Watch is seeing its first price drop, a $110 markdown, for anyone looking to upgrade their wearable tech.

    If you’re looking to enter the world of Apple Watch, now’s a great time. You can save 22% on the versatile Apple Watch Series 8, which boasts a large always-on display and fast charging. This latest model improves upon the Series 7, which is already our favorite. This is the lowest price we’ve seen for this option, so act now if you’ve been considering an upgrade.

    Like their predecessors, the Pro 2 are an investment — but if you order right now on Amazon, you’ll get these gold-standard earbuds at their lowest price yet.

    Three years after debuting — and landing in the ears of seemingly everyone you know — Apple’s mega-popular AirPods Pro finally got a refresh. The AirPods Pro 2 deliver on major upgrades such as improved active noise cancellation (ANC), a wider range of fit options, more expansive touch controls and longer battery life.

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  • Amazfit Falcon review: A very good $499 multisport smartwatch | CNN Underscored

    Amazfit Falcon review: A very good $499 multisport smartwatch | CNN Underscored

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    When it comes to multi-sport GPS watches, you likely know the major players. Garmin, COROS, Suunto, Polar, and now even Apple offer high-end wearables that can go the distance with you, whether you’re running, cycling, windsurfing, kayaking, skiing, and more.

    Amazfit, a wearable brand that’s known for its number of budget-friendly fitness trackers, is currently hoping to be considered alongside those household names with the introduction of the premium Amazfit Falcon. The new smartwatch costs $499 and tracks 150 indoor and outdoor sports (and automatically records eight of those, in addition to recognizing dozens of strength training movements to track reps and sets).

    The Falcon, which runs on Amazfit’s Zepp OS, comes with Zepp Coach — a training algorithm that personalizes the watch’s recommendations to your fitness level — and is packed with health features like heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen readings and sleep tracking. In addition, it includes stress measurements, and pairs with major third-party apps such as Apple Health, Strava, and Google Fit for holistic fitness insights.

    But is it worth the $499 price tag? After two weeks of testing, here’s what you need to know.

    An affordable multisport watch

    The Amazfit Falcon is a good, more affordable alternative to Garmin’s popular high-end multisport watches, offering great battery life and GPS functionality for the price.

    Ashley Mateo/CNN

    Out of the box, the Falcon looks super similar to several of my go-to outdoor watches. The frame is made from titanium and it has a sapphire crystal glass screen (it also has an anti-fingerprint coating). I didn’t take a battering ram to the device — the company claims it’s tough enough to pass 15 military-grade tests — but after multiple outdoor workouts, two strength training sessions with kettlebells, and a few attempts at dropping it from wrist height, I found nary a scratch or nick on the screen or frame. It’s also water-resistant up to 200 meters, although the most I submerged it was in the shower.

    I fully charged the Falcon before setting it up, and after two weeks of wear I have yet to recharge. That’s standard for the device, according to the company; with typical usage, you should get 14 days on a single charge, which goes down to seven days with heavy usage. There are several GPS settings that allow you to get 21 to 50 hours on a single charge, or, in battery saver mode, the Falcon can last up to 30 days. When you are running low, it takes just two hours to fully juice up.

    Easy setup, simple app and intuitive use

    It took me less than five minutes to set up the Falcon. It pairs with Huami’s Zepp app, which will look familiar to anyone who’s ever used a Fitbit or other fitness tracking app; you can find all your main metrics — like sleep and steps — as well as recent activities on the homescreen, and clicking into any will give you deeper insights as to your own data.

    The Falcon has a 1.28-inch always-on AMOLED screen that lights up with a flick of the wrist, and you can navigate using four buttons, two on each side. I found that once I clicked into a menu (like the workout options, using the button at the top right) it was easier to swipe up and down and side to side using the touchscreen capabilities.

    amazfit falcon review cnnu 7.jpg

    Ashley Mateo/CNN

    Accurate GPS is one of the most important features in a multi-sport watch, and I found the GPS in the Falcon to be nearly as accurate as that of the Apple Watch Ultra during outdoor running and hiking workouts (during one run, the Apple Watch recorded 6.01 miles, while the Falcon recorded 5.93 miles; during a hike, the Apple Watch tracked 2.84 miles and the Falcon tracked 2.8).

    Both devices use dual-band GPS (L1 and L5) for better accuracy in areas with tall trees or high buildings; however, that’s likely not going to be as accurate as the multi-band tracking a company like Garmin uses. One thing I did not like was the 10-second waiting period for the GPS to engage; it’s not a long time, obviously, but other watches I use engage almost instantly.

    amazfit falcon review cnnu 4.jpg

    Ashley Mateo/CNN

    At 64 grams, the Falcon leans towards the heavier end of the wearable spectrum — which is to be expected for a more rugged watch. It’s not quite as hefty as the 89-gram COROS Vertix 2 or 76-gram Garmin Epix and it’s actually pretty comparable to the 61-gram Apple Watch Ultra, but it was significantly heavier than my standard running watch, the COROS Pace 2 (29 grams) and took some getting used to while wearing 24/7, especially while trying to sleep.

    One of my biggest pain points while using the Falcon was the screen locking feature during workouts. When I wanted to swipe through the different screens to view different metrics, I kept getting a “screen locked” message that would prompt me to “press the button” to unlock. It’s the lefthand up or down buttons, but that wasn’t clear mid-workout and resulted in unintentional lapping of the workout multiple times since my instinct was to use the righthand buttons. (This may be a customizable feature, but I have yet to figure out a way to remove it.)

    The Amazfit Falcon is similar to multisport watches from Garmin, COROS, and Suunto in terms of the metrics and activities it tracks, and even shares some similarities with the new Apple Watch Ultra. While it uses dual-band GPS like the Ultra, you’re unlikely to get as accurate GPS readings as a Garmin device; that company is known for its mapping and navigational features, and would be recommended for more serious outdoor adventurers.

    However, at up to 30 days, its battery life, even with the best features engaged, is pretty impressive; it’s just a little less than what you’d get in the comparably priced COROS Vertix 2 or the slightly more expensive Garmin Fenix 7. I found the interface to be a little less user-friendly than in competitors, but I’ve also never used a Zepp-based wearable before and a learning curve is to be expected.

    amazfit falcon review cnnu 6.jpg

    Ashley Mateo/CNN

    The Amazfit Falcon is a worthy competitor to top-of-the-line multisport watches currently on the market from Garmin, COROS, and more — especially since it rings up at $499, several hundred dollars less than Garmin’s popular Fenix line.

    I was not thrilled with the constant screen-locking. Plus, the GPS and navigational features aren’t quite up to the high standards set by Garmin, but if you’re not a professional athlete or someone who’s venturing too far off the beaten path, that shouldn’t matter too much. For anyone who wants a more affordable entry point into the world of multi-sport GPS watches, the Falcon will get the job done well.

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  • The Apple Watch Ultra is the ultimate smartwatch for those willing to splurge | CNN Underscored

    The Apple Watch Ultra is the ultimate smartwatch for those willing to splurge | CNN Underscored

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    I’ll cut to the chase: the Apple Watch Ultra is the best Apple Watch you can buy right now. In fact, it’s the best smartwatch for someone willing to splurge, despite being oversized, chunky and considerably more expensive ($799) than all the other Apple Watches, save for the luxury Hermes Edition.

    Not only does it offer a significant battery life upgrade over the Apple Watch Series 7 and even the new $399 Series 8, but it also comes with more-precise GPS and features for outdoor enthusiasts like waypoints and an enhanced compass app. It even holds the tantalizing promise of replacing your dive computer later this fall.

    While its lack of workout recovery data is not going to challenge Garmin for the extreme sports enthusiast market just yet, it should cause its competitors to take note. If you aren’t already on the bandwagon, and decide it’s time to get in better shape or finally want to tackle something like kayaking or scuba diving, the Ultra is here for you.

    Here’s why I think this is the Apple Watch to buy for those with higher budgets, even if you’re not ready to paraglide off Mount Everest just yet.

    If you’re a serious athlete or adventurer — or simply willing to pay up for the most advanced Apple Watch experience out there — the Apple Watch Ultra is worth the money. For everyone else, the Apple Watch Series 8 remains a great pick.

    The Ultra is big. Yet despite its size — at 49mm and 61.3 grams, it’s larger than any other Apple Watch — it doesn’t feel like a huge, chunky watch. (The Apple Watch Series 8 is 45mm and 51.5 grams.) The silver titanium casing helps with the weight, and its graceful curves and flat face help offset the relative height (14.4mm).

    The Apple Watch Ultra may target adventurers and hardcore athletes, but its real secret, and what I loved about it, is that this “extreme” watch doesn’t feel extreme. It’s big but doesn’t rest heavily on the wrist. Its bright, always-on screen is easy to glance at and then dismiss. It is the quiet professional of Apple Watches.

    It’s handsome, with a muted silver finish that will go a long way in not making you look like a jerk with an expensive sports watch on your wrist. And Apple was smart in making sure you can use existing 44mm and 45mm Apple Watch bands instead of just offering the highly conspicuous bands designed for this watch. Combine a simple band with the Apple Watch Ultra’s ability to change its face from a USS Enterprise-like data-dense display to a simple, stylish California face, and you have a chunky high-end watch that won’t make you look like a sports bro.

    apple watch ultra review face

    Christopher Allbritton/CNN Underscored

    Speaking of the face, it’s bright. I had no trouble reading its 2000-nit display in bright midday light, and my aging eyes appreciated its larger type. The blacks were deep and inky, and while I wouldn’t read a novel on the watch, looking at big, bold notifications was a pleasure.

    In addition to the regular digital crown and side button (which have been raised and ruggedized so as to be better accessible when wearing gloves), there’s an international orange action button on the opposite side, which can be customized to start and stop workouts or the stopwatch, set a waypoint when hiking, help you retrace your steps if you find yourself lost, start a dive (more on that below), turn on the watch’s “flashlight,” or run a Shortcut that you’ve preprogrammed. I found it most useful for starting and stopping my usual outdoor walk workout. During a run, you can use it to mark your intervals or laps.

    And, as expected, this thing is tough. It has water resistance to 330 feet (far deeper than any recreational diver should be), IP6X dust resistance, and it’s tested to MIL-STD 810H specifications. Its face is a flat sapphire crystal, which has yet to show any dings or scratches in a month of trekking across Cappadocia, Istanbul and Eastern Europe.

    The Apple Watch Ultra has the usual assortment of Apple Watch features introduced on the Apple Watch Series 8, including the new body temperature sensor. All well and good. But more importantly, it has crazy-accurate GPS — dual-frequency L1 and L5 GPS (the other Apple Watches only use the L1 band.) The two bands of GPS mean it can keep a strong signal even in the depths of skyscraper canyons or amidst tall trees, an important consideration for marathon runners and hikers who need to send their exact coordinates. In my testing, it was able to plot my strolls accurately amidst the twisty streets of Turkey’s largest city when previous Apple Watches would have had a hard time locking in on a signal.

    Which brings up the Wayfinder face, which is unique to the Apple Watch Ultra. It’s a hyper-complicated face that includes compass navigation, current weather conditions, sunrise and sunset, your activity rings, elevation, longitude and latitude and your bearing. It’s a lot, but I quickly got used to it. And I really appreciated the quick access to Waypoints and Backtracking straight from the home screen when out in Cappadocia. You can even scroll up on the Digital Crown to turn the whole face red, the better to see it at night.

    apple watch ultra review wayfinder

    Christopher Allbritton

    Along my many miles of travels in October, I dropped a few waypoints: a cool bar here in Budapest, a nice stream here in Turkey, that kind of thing — and you can program the action button to do this quickly. Then, the new compass app on the watch will show you the direction and distance of all your waypoints so you can navigate back to them. While I was using it mainly to test the feature, it’s really designed for marking campsites, trailheads or other landmarks you’d like to not lose track of when you’re out in the wilderness.

    Building on the waypoint feature is Backtrack, which uses GPS to create a visual path of your trail and allows you to retrace your steps in case you get lost. Apple is quick to note this is a feature for remote settings where there is little to no Wi-Fi or cellular service and that it will automatically turn on and run in the background if it detects you’re outside a densely covered area for Wi-Fi.

    Adding to this is the emergency siren, which is also unique to the Ultra. By holding the action button, you can cause an 86db siren to sound that should be able to draw attention to your location if you need assistance. I tested it in my apartment, and while it didn’t sound overly loud to me, I could see how it would cut through the relatively quiet backwoods to any first responders.

    I didn’t get to try the depth gauge, but this new app lets you set it to turn on automatically if you submerge the Apple Watch Ultra beyond about 3 feet. The display changes to show the current time, depth, your maximum depth, the time you spent underwater and the water temperature.

    What I’m really  interested in, however, is the upcoming Dive Computer functionality. Later this year, Huish Outdoors says it will release the Oceanic+ app that will let the Apple Watch Ultra work like a full-fledged dive computer. The watch is already certified up to 130 feet deep and comes with EN13319 certification, an internationally recognized standard for recreational dive accessories. We’ll have to see how the software stacks up for this new functionality.

    Finally, rounding out the unique hardware features, the Ultra has three built-in mics that use an adaptive beamforming algorithm for improved voice quality and background noise suppression. In my testing, the people I called on the watch generally didn’t realize I was speaking to them on a Dick Tracy two-way wrist radio; one said he thought I was using earphones. The voice quality was that good.

    Battery life has been very good for me. Even when hiking up and down hills and streets for hours at a time, tracking my sleep and doing it all over again, I never ran below 20% battery life. By the end of the month, I was routinely exceeding the 36 hours Apple rates the battery for. There’s also a new low-power mode which Apple claims will provide up to 60 hours of battery life, but suffice to say, the battery is dramatically improved over the Apple Watch 8 and earlier models.

    That said, it still won’t measure up to offerings by Fitbit or Garmin, which measure batteries in days or weeks, not hours. While the Apple Watch Ultra will serve you well on an all-day hike, you will need some way to charge it on a multi-day hike in the backcountry.

    This is an effusive review because Apple has put a lot of thought into this watch and it shows. But nothing is perfect and the Apple Watch Ultra still has room for improvement.

    One, it’s big. While that doesn’t personally bother me, it might be a dealbreaker for those with smaller wrists. Smaller wrists have less area for the watch’s sensors to work with, so you’re apt to get less accurate measurements. The lower limit seems to be a 130mm diameter wrist, as that’s the smallest wrist Apple’s Ultra bands are designed for.

    Two, as good as I believe this watch to be, it still won’t replace a dedicated fitness watch like the Garmin Fenix 7 or Epix 2. For folks who use these fitness watches to measure more activities in greater detail, they also offer recovery metrics, which the Ultra simply can’t match. In fact, the built-in workout app on the Ultra measures barely any recovery at all. The folks at Cupertino apparently don’t take rest days in their fitness regimen, but real athletes do.

    Dimensions and weight

    49mm x 44mm x 14.4mm, 61.3 g

    47mm x 47mm x 14.5mm, 56 g

    47mm x 47mm x 14.5 mm, 53 g

    Material

    Titanium
    Flat sapphire front crystal
    Ceramic and sapphire crystal back

    Corning Gorilla Glass
    Stainless steel
    Fiber-reinforced polymer with metal rear cover

    Corning Gorilla Glass
    Passivated stainless steel
    Fiber-reinforced polymer with steel rear cover

    Connectivity

    LTE and UMTS8
    Wi-Fi – 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz and 5GHz
    Bluetooth 5.3
    iPhone only

    Bluetooth
    ANT+
    Wi-Fi
    iPhone/Android

     Bluetooth
    ANT+
    Wi-Fi
    iPhone/Android

    Certifications

    IP6X dust resistance
    Water resistance to 330 feet
    Tested to MIL-STD 810H

    Water resistant to 10 atmospheres
    Tested to MIL-STD-810

    Water resistant to 10 atmospheres
    Tested to MIL-STD-810

    GPS

    L1 and L5 GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, and BeiDou

    GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Satiq Technology

    GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Satiq Technology

    Display

    410 by 502 pixels – 1185 sq mm display area
    Always-on OLED
    2000-nit brightness

    260 x 260 pixels – 33.02mm diameter
    Sunlight-visible, transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP)

    416 x 416 pixels – 33mm diameter
    AMOLED (always-on)

    Power

    Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
    Up to 36 hours
    Up to 60 hours in low-power mode

    Up to 18 days in smartwatch mode
    Up to 57 days in battery saver mode

    Up to 15 days in smartwatch mode
    Up to 21 days in battery saver mode

    Price

    $799



    $700



    $900

    If you can afford the higher price, this is the best Apple Watch you can buy. It looks great, it’s durable and the extra battery life and “extreme” features are worth it.

    If you’re an intermediate athlete — or you aspire to be better than what you’ve been accomplishing — the Apple Watch Ultra will give you what you need, along with more convenient smartwatch features, such as cellular connectivity. It lasts far longer than before and might just encourage you to finally get scuba certified or take that hiking trip.

    However, if you’re a top-performing athlete, its built-in workout app doesn’t offer all the deep-dive data that more dedicated fitness watches do. Third-party workout apps can go a long way in filling that gap, but at its heart, the Apple Watch Ultra is still an Apple Watch. It’s a rugged, sporty, smartwatch, not a fitness watch with some “smart” functionality added on. And on the flip side, if all you want is a good smartwatch for staying on top of notifications and tracking basic fitness metrics, the Apple Watch Series 8 is the best option for the vast majority of people.

    But the Ultra is also the first departure from the Apple Watch design since the Series 4, when Apple settled into the current paradigm for this product line. There’s already a lot of thought put into this device, and for a first attempt, it’s a winner. What comes next might be even more interesting.

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  • The Google Pixel Watch is finally up for preorder — and we got to try it | CNN Underscored

    The Google Pixel Watch is finally up for preorder — and we got to try it | CNN Underscored

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    Google’s Pixel Watch is one of the most anticipated gadgets of the year, to the point where even the non-techies in my life won’t stop asking me about it. It’s easy to see why — while iPhone and Galaxy phone owners have long enjoyed smartwatches made specifically for their devices, those on team Pixel have had to rely on hit-or-miss third party options.

    The promise of a Pixel smartwatch built to work seamlessly with your Pixel phone — giving you access to your messages, notifications and fitness stats without you having to lift a finger — is an alluring one, and it’s finally becoming a reality. When you throw in the fact that the Pixel Watch is also effectively a full blown Fitbit fitness tracker, you have what could be one of the best smartwatches out there.

    I had a chance to go hands-on with the Pixel Watch at Google’s Made by Google event in New York, and while it’s too early to tell if it’ll be worth the $349, it’s looking like Pixel fans will finally have a proper Apple Watch equivalent to call their own. Here’s everything you need to know.

    Mike Andronico/CNN

    The Google Pixel Watch is available for preorder now, and will start shipping next week. The watch starts at $349 for the base Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled model, while the LTE version — which can be used without a phone nearby — will run you $399. Preordering either model will get you 6 months of Fitbit Premium, as well as three months of YouTube Music Premium.

    The watch comes in four variations: a Matte Black case with an Obsidian Active band, a Polished Silver case with a Charcoal Active band, a Polished Silver case with a Chalk Active band, and a Champagne Gold case with a Hazel Active band. Of course, you can buy a range of additional bands to customize your Pixel Watch’s look and fit, including a $49 Active Band and $59 Woven Band.

    • Google Pixel Watch with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth ($349 at Best Buy)
    • Google Pixel Watch with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and LTE ($399 at Best Buy)

    Simple and sleek

    pixel watch hands on CNNU 7

    Mike Andronico/CNN

    The Pixel Watch has a pretty no-frills design, and that’s not a bad thing. It feels like a hybrid of the Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch, blending the sleek minimalism of the former and the big circular display of the latter. The watch’s 41mm display is satisfyingly big and colorful, and looked great with the range of traditional and artsy watch faces I tried out. As someone coming from an Apple Watch, it didn’t take me long to get used to navigating the Pixel Watch, whether I was swiping the screen or using the “haptic crown” (which is a lot like Apple’s Digital Crown) on the side of the device.

    Weighing just 36 grams, Google’s watch felt comfortable to wear during my limited hands-on time. I found the rubbery Active Band to feel the best — I also tried out the Stretch, Fabric and Leather bands, which looked more attractive but were more coarse to the touch. Google also has metal bands coming in the Spring, so you’ll have no shortage of customizing the Watch to your liking. Google says you’ll be able to create “thousands” of different combinations between the physical watch bands and digital watch faces on offer, whether you want something that mimics a traditional watch or prefer to go loud and colorful.

    pixel watch hands on CNNU 5

    Mike Andronico/CNN

    The Pixel Watch runs on Google’s Wear OS software, which is the same operating system that powers third-party watches like the Galaxy Watch 5 and Fossil Gen 6. That means you’ll enjoy easy pairing with your Pixel phone, quick access to Google features like Find My Device and Google Assistant, and access to plenty of third-party apps that include Spotify, Strava, MyFitnessPal and Calm.

    In terms of battery life, Google says to expect 24 hours on a single charge, as well as the ability to get 50% worth of juice from a quick 30-minute charge.

    IMG_1043.jpg

    Mike Andronico/CNN

    As nice as the Google Pixel Watch looks and feels, it’s real killer feature is its deep integration with Fitbit — something made possible by the fact that Google bought the fitness tracking company several years ago. While we’ll have to put the Pixel Watch’s fitness features to the test ourselves, the fact that it can function as a full-on Fitbit alone could make it one of the best Android smartwatches on the market.

    Google’s watch features what the company calls “Fitbit’s most accurate heart tracking yet,” using a variety of sensors and machine learning tech to help you stay on top of your heart health. You’ll also be able to utilize Fitbit’s rich suite of sleep tracking capabilities, which include a daily Sleep Score, a full breakdown of your various sleep states and info on long term trends. That’s on top of 40 different workout modes and a Daily Readiness score, which helps you get a sense of how hard you should push yourself on a given day.

    The Pixel Watch also integrates with Fitbit Premium, which adds more than 1000 workouts, 400-plus mindfulness session and a deeper look at overall health patterns. The watch includes 6 free months of the service — after that, you’ll have to pay either $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year.

    We’ll have to see how the Pixel Watch’s fitness features hold up in real world use, but it’s worth noting that the Fitbit Inspire 2 has long been our best fitness tracker pick thanks to its range of useful workout and sleep tracking abilities. The promise of a more traditional and robust smartwatch that can also be a great fitness tracker certainly has us intrigued.

    pixel watch hands on CNNU 13

    Mike Andronico/CNN

    If you’re a Pixel phone user or have been holding out for a smartwatch with truly great fitness features, the Google Pixel Watch is worth keeping on your radar. It’s one of the nicest-looking Android watches out there, and its seamless Pixel connectivity (it’ll work with other Android phones too) and robust Fitbit functionality could make it the ultimate smartwatch and fitness tracker all in one. We’ll be putting Google’s new watch through our full review treatment soon, so stay tuned for our final verdict.

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