Audio-Technica’s wireless earbuds don’t always receive the same amount of buzz that larger brands get, but they’re consistently good performers that deliver on all the most important criteria. Here at CES 2025, the company is introducing the new ATH-CKS50TW2. These buds feature Audio-Technica’s usual tuning and sound quality, but there are two main selling points for this latest model.
First, battery life seems almost endless. Audio-Technica says the ATH-CKS50TW2 can deliver a total of 65 hours of playback with noise cancellation off: 25 hours from the fully charged earbuds, plus another 40 hours from the charging case. With ANC enabled, those numbers shift to a still very impressive 15 hours from the buds and 25 hours from the case.
Image: Audio-Technica
You can see the magnets on the side of the earbuds in this shot.
The other helpful new feature should prevent battery drain even if you put the earbuds in your pocket without their case. Audio-Technica says its “Magnetic Switch” technology lets the earbuds join together with magnets. Whenever this happens, they automatically power off, so you won’t have to worry about them playing music in your pocket and eating through battery for no reason.
As for the rest of the hardware, the earbuds feature 9-millimeter “high-definition” drivers, hybrid ear tips that combine hard and soft silicone, wireless charging, and IP68 dust and water resistance. Audio-Technica has priced the ATH-CKS50TW2 at $149, and the company says you can order its newest earbuds starting today.
Is Samsung’s round robot finally ready to roll out of CES demos and into actual homes?
Ballie, the rolling robot that reemerged at CES last year, will be shipping to consumers as an actual product sometime in 2025. That’s what Samsung is saying at the moment, anyway. We were first introduced to Ballie at CES five years ago. Since then, the robot has undergone a more practical redesign, so maybe it’s really going to happen — but I’m still more skeptical than not.
Am I the only one who thinks those wheels look a bit flimsy? Maybe Samsung is intentionally building in a weak spot and planning ahead for whenever Ballie secretly amasses an army and turns against us.
Either way, Ballie is putting in yet another CES appearance here in Las Vegas. During Samsung’s First Look event last night, I watched the latest canned demo of the round bot. Its operator asked for information about a nearby attraction, The Sphere, which Ballie first projected onto the ground. But when more details and driving directions were requested, Ballie automatically turned around and beamed its image onto a nearby wall instead so that it would have more room to work with.
You can interact with Ballie using your voice and also by stepping on buttons projected onto the floor.
Ballie is smart enough to use the wall when you need a larger view.
From there, Ballie was asked to show a movie. It brought up Sony’s Uncharted, and when commanded to make the picture bigger, Ballie was smart enough to look for a wall that could accommodate the enlarged projection. The image wasn’t particularly bright; Ballie does better in that regard when beaming onto the floor immediately in front of itself. Don’t expect any ANSI lumen miracles from this rather small gadget. The built-in speakers were plenty loud, at least, and didn’t sound tinny.
Ballie looks to be an adequate, if average portable projector. But this one’s got wheels!
In another interaction, the person demoing Ballie held up a pair of wine bottles and asked the robot which would make a better pairing for his dinner, showing that Ballie has some visual AI powers at its disposal. Responses to most queries came within a couple of seconds without any hiccups. But again, I only saw a very controlled demo, and for all I know, it’s possible that this Ballie already had these answers programmed in. I trust absolutely nothing at this show.
Ballie did not advise its human of the Surgeon General’s recent warning about alcohol’s link to cancer. Pretty suspicious, if you ask me.
You communicate with Ballie through voice, and at times, the robot also projects virtual buttons onto the floor that can be stepped on to make a selection. (I’m curious as to what its accessibility features might entail.) Samsung has also given Ballie plenty of power over the smart home; you can tell it to control your lights and various routines.
It’s not quite Samsung’s original vision, but Ballie still has some charm.
And yes, it can control your smart home gadgets.
Samsung told outlets including CNET and TechCrunch, that Ballie is indeed rolling out this year. TechRadar got an even more specific “first half of 2025” timeframe. It’s possible Samsung could share more details during its CES keynote later today. As for price, your guess is as good as mine. What’s a fair amount to pay for a robot you’ll insist on showing everyone you know for a few weeks? That is, until you grow to resent Ballie for paling in comparison to the expectations set by BB-8 and WALL-E.
I can’t wait to find out how much Ballie will cost.
Rather than roll out a whole series of new TVs here at CES, TCL has decided to take a staggered approach in 2025. So it came to Las Vegas with just one model to show off: the QM6K Mini LED. The company is claiming that this TV, the first of a new Precise Dimming series, “offers a level of picture quality that has never been offered in its price band before.” TCL has found itself in a fierce battle with Hisense in the Mini LED category; both brands have delivered fantastic TVs in recent years that set new expectations for their pricing tiers.
Highlights include up to 500 local dimming zones, a 144Hz panel (which can be pushed to 288Hz VRR in Game Accelerator mode), a new Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode, hands-free voice controls for the Google TV software, and even a “sleep sounds” mode. The latter could prove useful if you end up putting one of these in a bedroom.
But beyond the usual talking points, TCL is really putting emphasis on its newly enhanced backlight technology:
TCL has also upgraded to a Bi-directional 23-bit Backlight Controller, allowing granular control of over 65,000 levels of brightness for each LED. In addition, TCL includes a new Dynamic Light Algorithm, which intelligently optimizes the incoming video signal so that SDR signals render at near HDR level, for consistently great picture quality, regardless of the content metadata.
The company is also doing its best to fully eradicate blooming — the halo effect that can surround bright objects on a dark background — which has traditionally been one downside of Mini LED compared to the pixel-level control of OLEDs. TCL is also emphasizing sound performance with this “affordable premium” TV: it comes with an Onkyo-branded 2.1 system built in.
It’s unusual to get pricing for new TVs at CES, but TCL is getting right to it. The QM6K comes in sizes ranging from 50 inches to the XXL 98-inch behemoth, and preorders for several of them are beginning today.
98-inch: $3,499.99
85-inch: $1,999.99
75-inch: $1,299.99
65-inch: $999.99
55-inch: $799.99
50-inch: $749.99
This staggered release cadence means TCL isn’t ready to show off its very best 2025 TVs yet, so a follow-up to the excellent QM8 will have to wait for a few more months.
CES is always a showcase of giant-sized TVs, and true to form, Hisense has brought two enormous new models to Las Vegas this year: the 136-inch MicroLED 136MX, and the 116-inch TriChroma LED TV.
It seems like, for five or six years now, we’ve been hearing how MicroLED will usher in the next era of home theater and leapfrog OLED in terms of picture quality — without any of the potential risks such as burn-in or panel degradation over time. But the technology remains prohibitively expensive for the vast majority of consumers. Hisense probably won’t be changing that with the 136MX, which is described as the company’s first “consumer-ready MicroLED display.”
Hisense has surged in TV market share by balancing price and performance better than just about any other TV manufacturer besides TCL. Today’s press release describes the 136MX as “a pivotal milestone in making cutting-edge display technology more accessible to households.” But a milestone doesn’t mean that this specific — and very large — TV will be anything close to affordable unless you lead a life of luxury.
Image: Hisense
Behold this home. Only someone who lives here could manage to afford a MicroLED display.
It sure does sound nice, though:
The 136MX builds on Hisense’s legacy of display innovation, leveraging a high-density array of over 24.88 million microscopic LEDs to deliver unparalleled brightness, resolution, and precision. Each pixel is its own light source, composed of independent red, green, and blue LEDs, eliminating the need for a traditional backlight. This self-emissive design achieves a near-infinite dynamic contrast ratio, delivering deep blacks, dazzling brightness, and remarkable clarity. Unlike OLED, which can degrade or suffer burn-in with static content, MicroLED offers consistent, high-quality visuals for years, making it ideal for bright living spaces and dedicated home theater rooms alike.
Hisense’s MicroLED display can hit a blinding peak brightness of 10,000 nits. It checks off support for all the modern musts, including Dolby Vision, Atmos, HDR 10 Plus, 120Hz gaming, auto low-latency mode, and more. But the reality is that it’s another very stunning screen that none of us will ever have in our homes.
For some people, there’s at least more of a chance of actually owning the also-new 116-inch TriChroma LED TV. That’s because, at its core, this is still a Mini LED set. But Hisense has developed a new local dimming system that it calls “RGB Local Dimming Technology.” The key benefit here seems to be color vibrance:
Unlike traditional systems that rely on white or blue backlights filtered through a quantum dot filter to create color, RGB Local Dimming Technology introduces independent red, green, and blue LEDs that generate pure colors directly at the source. This approach achieves richer reds, deeper greens, and more vibrant blues, delivering an industry-leading 97% of the BT.2020 color space — the widest color gamut ever achieved in a Mini LED display.
This precision is made possible by tens of thousands of RGB Local Dimming optical lenses, each containing individual red, blue and green LEDs. These lenses operate as independently controlled clusters, allowing for multi-level dimming at both the RGB chip level and the cluster level.
The company says RGB Local Dimming also helps to prevent loss of brightness and reduces blue light emissions by 38 percent. From what Hisense claims, the TriChroma TV can hit a peak brightness of 10,000 nits. It runs Google TV software and supports Dolby Vision IQ and IMAX Enhanced. On the sound front, there’s “a 6.2.2 multi-channel CineStage X surround sound system” built into the 116-inch frame.
There’s no price or release date for the TriChroma TV just yet, but Hisense says it “not only pushes the boundaries of what MiniLED displays can achieve, but also sets the stage for the future of display innovation.” Stay tuned for some impressions of both of these very, very big TVs once the CES show floor opens this week.
The HDMI Forum is using CES — the annual showcase of all things home theater — to announce the new HDMI 2.2 specification. In a press release this morning, the trade association confirmed that the new spec will up total bandwidth significantly to a new high of 96Gbps. And yes, that means the introduction of an “Ultra96” HDMI cable that “enables all the HDMI 2.2 specification features.”
“Higher resolutions and refresh rates will be supported and more high-quality options will be provided,” the HDMI Forum said in its release. An example of an HDMI 2.2 cable (below) calls out some of those, including 4K at up to 480Hz, 8K at up to 240Hz, and 10K at 120Hz. Current HDMI cables can already pass 4K at 120Hz, so I doubt most people will feel any temptation to upgrade for years to come. And you’ll need content for any of these higher resolutions to be worthwhile, and there’s still a dearth of native 8K entertainment out there.
But with many TVs now offering 4K at up to 144Hz, and as consumers gravitate towards larger screens, the HDMI Forum sees ample reason to keep pushing forward.
Image: HDMI Forum
HDMI 2.2 cables will be badged as “Ultra96.”
There is at least a more helpful aspect of this spec for everyone: HDMI 2.2 includes a “Latency Indication Protocol (LIP) for improving audio and video synchronization, especially for multiple-hop system configurations such as those with an audio video receiver or soundbar.” In my experience, HDMI 2.1 and eARC have mostly resolved frustrating audio / video sync issues, but they can still pop up as a frustration depending on your setup. Apparently HDMI 2.2 will go further in keeping everything lined up and keeping this headache in the past.
Interestingly, the HDMI Forum is already anticipating tariff issues and has implemented an extensive certification program that includes anti-counterfeit labeling on packaging. You certainly can’t miss the Ultra96 badging.
HDMI 2.2 will be released in the first half of this year and be widely available “to all HDMI 2.x adopters.” Your TV and external devices will need to support the specification in order to unlock that new level of bandwidth, so we’re just starting down what’s inevitably going to be a long road.
With its new lineup of TVs, Samsung is making a decision that I think might prove somewhat divisive. The company is bringing the matte, glare-free display technology that debuted on last year’s S95D OLED to several more models — including its flagship Mini LED sets. Here at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, Samsung is showcasing all of its latest TVs at its annual First Look event.
The new S95F QD-OLED gets blazingly bright, likely using a just-announced Samsung Display panel that’s technically capable of reaching 4,000 nits. According to the company, the glare-free coating has been improved to further cut down on reflections from overhead lighting, floor lamps, and sunlight. And similar to LG’s top-tier 2025 OLEDs announced earlier today, the S95F is capable of hitting a maximum refresh rate of 165Hz. PC gamers, rejoice.
Even Samsung’s First Look show floor, with bright lights everywhere, poses no issue for the glare-free screen.
It’s really quite impressive. And now Samsung is bringing it to more models. But not everyone likes the perceived tradeoffs.
If you’re wondering what’s so controversial about Samsung’s glare-free screen, some people insist it results in a worse overall picture than glossy coatings and that the perfect blacks of OLED aren’t so inky black in all lighting conditions anymore. This issue has been debated at length on Reddit, in YouTube videos (hey, Caleb), and all over AVS Forum.
But clearly Samsung remains undeterred by the haters because now the glare-free display is also coming to the company’s Mini LED “Neo QLED” TVs for the first time. That includes the flagship 4K QN90F and both of this year’s 8K models. (Buying an 8K TV is very silly; I still very much recommend against doing that.) Samsung’s other 2025 4K TVs will stick with a glossy treatment, so at least there are options if you refuse to go glare-free.
These latest Mini LED TVs are also available in some truly enormous sizes: the QN90F tops out at 115 inches, while the (glossy) QN80F can be had at up to 100 inches. Samsung says the wonderfully named “Supersize Picture Enhancer” will help keep 4K content looking crisp even on that giant QN90F. You still won’t find Dolby Vision on any of these TVs no matter the size; clearly, that’s a philosophical choice at this point.
The company’s 115-inch 4K Neo QLED TV uses a “Supersize Picture Enhancer” to boost clarity at this enormous size.
Vision AI
For 2025, Samsung is pulling all of its AI-powered TV features under new branding called Vision AI. These include the usual suspects like AI Upscaling, Auto HDR Remastering, and Adaptive Sound Pro. But there’s a new Click to Search feature that can identify actors on-screen, the location of a shot, or what clothes are featured in a scene “with just one click of the new AI button on your SolarCell remote.” Yes, there’s now a dedicated AI remote button.
Another new AI trick is Samsung Food, which “recognizes the food on your screen and provides recipes for bringing it to life.” I’m mildly curious about this and can’t wait to see how accurate or off the mark it is. Live Translate is a much more helpful addition: it can “instantly translate closed captions on live broadcasts in up to seven languages.”
The company is also using AI to provide more robust home security features. From tonight’s press release:
Samsung AI Home Security transforms your TV into a smart security hub. It analyzes video feeds from your connected cameras and audio from your TV’s microphone to provide comprehensive home monitoring.
It can detect unusual sounds and movements, such as falls or break-ins, to give you more peace of mind whether you’re at home, or away.
You’ll receive alerts and notifications on your phone or directly on your TV screen, helping you stay connected to your home while ensuring the safety and well-being of your loved ones.
Samsung is even leveling up Bixby, which isn’t something we’ve said in a long time. The company’s voice assistant can now “better understand context and assist with multiple actions — like changing the channel and raising the volume at the same time.” You can also now control your Samsung TV with the Galaxy Watch on your wrist. That’s got absolutely nothing to do with AI, but it might be convenient at times.
As for its lifestyle TVs, Samsung is announcing The Frame Pro, which you can read all about here. Pricing for all of these 2025 TVs will be announced over the next few months, and they’ll begin to ship this spring.
The company created a sensation by making TVs that look more like art and less like tech. With The Frame Pro, Samsung is trying to deliver the best of both worlds.
Samsung’s The Frame has been enormously popular ever since its release. There’s no shortage of imitators at this point, with other manufacturers trying their hand at creating a TV that seamlessly blends in with home decor and can also convincingly look like wall art when idle. But none have captured lightning in a bottle quite like Samsung.
And in 2025, Samsung is looking to fend off copycats by introducing The Frame Pro. With the artwork side of things well handled, now the company is aiming to make The Frame Pro a good TV for everything else. The Frame has nailed the aesthetics and style from the start. People buy it for the vibe more than anything else. But as a TV, it’s always just been, well... fine. There wasn’t much wow factor in terms of brightness or the overall picture quality that came with the nice design. That might be changing now.
There are two main upgrades that put the “pro” in The Frame Pro. First, Samsung is moving to Mini LED, which the company says will give The Frame Pro a boost in contrast, brightness, and black levels. The regular Frame, which isn’t going anywhere, has never offered any local dimming to speak of.
But there’s an important caveat: this isn’t Mini LED in the regular sense. Normally, Mini LED TVs contain a ton of small dimming zones behind the screen. This lets them be way more precise in lighting up only the sections of the display that need it while preserving black levels and shadow detail elsewhere. The Frame Pro doesn’t do that.
The Frame Pro uses Mini LEDs, but they’re at the bottom of the panel — not behind it.
Instead, Samsung is placing Mini LEDs along the bottom of the screen, while claiming that this approach still produces some level of local dimming. To me, it all still very much sounds like an edge-lit TV. But I’ll give this “Mini LED” tech a fair chance whenever I get one in for review.
Samsung is also boosting The Frame Pro’s maximum refresh rate from 120Hzto 144Hz, so PC gamers can get even smoother visuals than before. But if you were hoping “pro” might finally mean Dolby Vision support, that’s still a no.
The Frame has always been something of a compromise; maybe you’ve got a significant other who refuses to allow a dull black rectangle into the living room. So you, being the good and considerate person you are, ultimately agree to “settle” on The Frame. After first hearing about The Frame Pro, I was hopeful that it would be much less of a compromise.
But this asterisk around Mini LED has me a little less excited. Like recent models, The Frame Pro’s display has a matte finish to give your preferred art a more authentic appearance and mask the reality that you’re looking at a screen. But matte screens can sometimes lessen a display’s punch, so genuine Mini LED backlighting could’ve helped quite a bit in that regard.
There’s no more wire running from Samsung’s breakout box to the actual TV.
You plug your game consoles, streaming boxes, and other devices into the Wireless One Connect Box.
The second major improvement is that The Frame Pro no longer has a thin wire running between it and Samsung’s breakout box that houses all the HDMI inputs and the TV’s other brains: that connection has gone fully wireless. This will result in an even cleaner look with less cable clutter. And the Wireless One Connect Box, which supports up to Wi-Fi 7, eliminates yet another telltale sign that The Frame Pro is a television. Now, all you’ve got to worry about concealing is the display’s power cord. Samsung says the wireless connection between the box and TV works at distances of up to 10 meters, “even with obstacles in its path.”
The Wireless One Connect Box can be placed up to 10 meters away.
The Frame Pro is also getting the same litany of AI-powered features as Samsung’s other 2025 TVs. AI is such a focus this year that there’s a dedicated button on the remote for activating Click to Search, which can show you “who the actors are in a given scene, where that scene is taking place, or even the clothing the characters are wearing,” according to Samsung’s press release.
A new Samsung Food feature can recognize dishes onscreen and provide you with the recipes to make them — or something in the same ballpark, at least. Beyond that, the company is dialing up its AI-enhanced picture and sound optimizations, and AI is also reaching into accessibility features like Live Translate, which can “instantly translate closed captions on live broadcasts in up to seven languages.” That’s very neat.
The critical question is one I can’t answer yet: how much will this thing cost? How much more expensive will The Frame Pro be compared to the regular model? Samsung won’t be sharing pricing details until closer to the spring when it ships. If the company gets cocky and goes too high, that could ruin a lot of the appeal here. But if you already know that some version of The Frame is in your future, you’re probably very happy that The Frame Pro now exists.
At least when it comes to making TVs, LG can seemingly do no wrong. Year after year, the company’s OLED sets are at the top of most reviewers’ recommendation lists. They’ve overcome the Achilles’ heel of older models — brightness — thanks to clever innovations like Micro Lens Array, which made the G3 and last year’s G4 bright enough to make HDR shine in any viewing environment.
So it should come as no surprise that LG’s 2025 lineup of OLED TVs raises the bar yet again. At the top of the lineup is the M5, which is the latest series to use the company’s Zero Connect Box for a wireless link between the TV screen and your gaming consoles, streaming boxes, and other external devices. The M5 will come in 65-, 77-, 83-, and 97-inch sizes. The Zero Connect Box is an impressive trick that, by all accounts, works quite well. This year the wireless connection is apparently even more reliable. But no one really needs that. So I tend to view the G-series as LG’s more practical flagship for consumers.
Lucky for us TV nerds, the G5 is (somehow) getting even brighter. LG says its latest Brightness Booster Ultimate technology “enhances light control architecture and light-boosting algorithms to achieve brightness three times higher than conventional OLED models.” (For context, that comparison is being made with OLEDs that don’t include the Micro Lens Array tech found in the M5 and G5.) LG is also pushing the refresh rate on its premium G5 all the way up to 165Hz, which it claims is an industry first, offering a new level of smooth gameplay for the PC crowd. You’ll be able to get the G5 in sizes ranging from 55 inches up to 83 inches. There are also 48-inch and 97-inch models, but those won’t deliver the same peak brightness.
Image: LG
The two highest-end models feature LG’s latest Alpha 11 Gen 2 processor, which improves image processing and upscaling to make lower-bitrate content look as good as possible on these 4K screens. LG says a lot of those processing tricks are also trickling down to the more mainstream C5. With so many people watching internet TV services and other streaming content these days, that magic sauce can make a noticeable difference. Sony’s known for being the best in the game at this, but LG has made big strides in recent years.
Goodbye inputs button, hello endless AI features
This year’s Magic Remote no longer has a dedicated inputs button. In what might prove to be a controversial decision, LG is making the Home Hub button pull double duty: you can press it to reach the Home Hub dashboard of webOS or hold down the button to pull up your list of inputs. That’s not the end of the world, but it’s still another thing to remember for a fundamental TV interaction.
And then comes the avalanche of AI features. The usual AI Picture Pro and AI Sound Pro optimization modes are present. The C5 series is getting the same virtualized 11.1.2-channel surround sound that debuted in the G4 last year. LG is also expanding on the picture wizard it introduced two years ago, where viewers pick from a series of images to land on their ideal image settings, with a similar process for audio.
But this year, the AI focus is much, much bigger than that. LG has new “LG AI” branding — that’s what the mic button now activates. Oh, I’m sorry. Did I call it the Magic Remote before? The remote has been rebranded as the AI Remote. And there’s a whole damn LLM chatbot built into these TVs. Hell, even Microsoft’s Copilot is being thrown in.
The risk LG faces here is getting in the way and pushing this stuff on customers too aggressively. The company’s OLEDs are some of the very best TVs on the market. They offer brilliant visuals with every feature home theater enthusiasts want. In 2025, that includes an enhanced Filmmaker Mode that takes your room’s ambient lighting into account and adjusts picture settings accordingly — all the while making sure to “maintain the filmmaker’s original intent.”
For its part, LG claims the latest webOS homescreen is faster and easier to use. And the company has vowed to keep software updates coming over the next five years, much like our smartphones gain new features over time.
Still, at this stage, I find myself putting up with webOS and spending the bulk of my usage time in a different interface — whether that’s Apple TV, Google TV, or something else. I’m hopeful that LG’s mega push into AI won’t be too heavy-handed, but we’ll have to see how it all comes together once the 2025 TV lineup starts shipping this spring. If customers find their usual flows getting interrupted by AI gimmicks, there might be some complaints.
We’ll have a much better idea of how LG AI fits into these superb TVs — and whether it ultimately detracts from them — when the M5, G5, C5, and B5 OLEDs hit stores in a few months. By then, we’ll know how much they’ll cost, too.
It’s time for the biggest tech show of the year. CES 2025 officially kicks off next week, with most of the industry’s biggest names gathering in Las Vegas to announce new products and demonstrate some of the most exciting tech they have coming throughout the year.
CES is traditionally a show about TVs, laptops, and smart home tech. But it’s increasingly become a big show for cars, wearables and health tech, and a whole lot more. This year, expect one abbreviation to show up a lot across every single category: AI. The AI hype cycle is rolling straight into 2025, and there’s certain to be AI popping up on the next generation of TVs and cars, like it or not.
The show officially starts on Tuesday, January 7th, but you can expect announcements to start coming out on Sunday and Monday ahead of the show floor opening and a day of press conferences.
Here are the big beats we’re expecting to see at the show.
I’m expecting two prevailing trends for TVs at CES 2025: screens will keep getting bigger, and AI features are going to be everywhere — to the point of being...
Just a few days after LG announced its CES 2025 lineup of monitors, Samsung is doing the same. The company just introduced several new models, and perhaps the most impressive among them is the Odyssey OLED G81SF. It’s a 27-inch 4K monitor with a maximum refresh rate of 240Hz, 0.03ms response time, a glare-free display, and rear-core lighting with 52 color options. Samsung is also including a number of burn-in protection measures to ensure that the Odyssey G81SF’s screen looks pristine for years to come. The G8 is likely to be using the latest and greatest OLED panel from Samsung Display.
Next up is the Odyssey OLED G60SF — also a 27-inch OLED monitor — with a QHD resolution and an impressive 500Hz refresh rate that Samsung says effectively “eliminates lag and motion blur for ultra-smooth gameplay during critical moments.”
In 2025, Samsung is also finally shipping the Odyssey 3D monitor it first teased at least year’s CES. It lets you experience 3D visuals without any special glasses by using a lenticular lens on the front panel. “Eye tracking monitors the movement of both eyes using a built-in stereo camera, while view mapping continuously adjusts the image to enhance depth perception,” Samsung said in its press release. The Odyssey 3D only comes in a 27-inch 4K size; the larger 37-inch display mentioned last year has apparently been scrapped. The company says it offers “a rapid 1ms gray-to-gray response time, and a 165Hz refresh rate.”
Image: Samsung
Samsung’s Smart Monitor series is making the switch to OLED.
That does it for the gaming-focused monitors, but Samsung is also announcing two others that are more focused on everyday productivity. The SmartMonitor series is finally going OLED with the new Smart Monitor M9. And this year, Samsung is throwing in a ton of AI capabilities including AI Picture Optimizer. Like on its TVs, this feature “analyzes input signals to determine the type of content being viewed — such as gaming, video, or productivity applications — and automatically adjust the display settings for the best visual experience.” This also works for gaming and can detect the genre of what you’re playing.
AI Upscaling Pro can make lower-res content look crisper at the M9’s 4K resolution, and the monitor has a maximum refresh rate of 165Hz. That’s a significant upgrade from the M8, which topped out at 60Hz. Samsung says moving to OLED also allows for a new “ultra-slim” design for the Smart Monitor M9 that should take up considerably less desk space.
The last monitor being announced (at least for today) is the new 37-inch ViewFinity S8. It’s got a 16:9 aspect ratio, built-in KVM switch, 90W USB-C passthrough charging, and covers 99 percent of the sRGB color gamut. Peak brightness for this 4K LCD display tops out at 350 nits, which should be perfectly suitable for anything you’ll be doing at a desk.
Pricing and release dates are still to come, but The Verge will be in Las Vegas for CES 2025 in a matter of days. So you won’t have to wait much longer for some first-hand impressions of Samsung’s new monitors.
LG isn’t waiting until CES begins to reveal its new collection of gaming monitors. The 2025 lineup is led by the UltraGear OLED Bendable Gaming Monitor, which LG claims is the “world’s first 5K2K-resolution bendable OLED display.” That strikes me as extremely specific, but hey, it’s always worth bragging when you’re first, I suppose. The 45-inch monitor has an expansive resolution of 5120x2160, so you’re getting the same vertical pixel count as a typical 4K screen but a much wider canvas to game on.
And with a 21:9 aspect ratio, LG believes it provides “a more immersive gaming experience than standard 16:9 displays, while maintaining better content compatibility than 32:9 monitors.” This format also makes the display a great fit for productivity work when you’re not immersed in gameplay.
The UltraGear OLED Bendable Gaming Monitor (model 45GX990A) can transition from completely flat to a 900R curvature, and the latest version of LG’s Dual-Mode feature “allows users to switch effortlessly between resolution and refresh rate presets, and customize the aspect ratio and picture size.” It’s certified for Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, but the press materials don’t specify a maximum refresh rate. I’ve asked for more details there.
Image: LG
Both 45-inch monitors have a 5K2K resolution of 5120x2160.
LG is also releasing a non-bendable model with a permanent 800R curve. Otherwise, it’s the same 45-inch size, same aspect ratio, and same 5K2K resolution. LG’s press release says you can expect “sharp, lifelike images with the stunning colors and exceptional contrast LG OLED products are known for.” Shared specs between both monitors include a 0.03ms (GtG) response time and support for DisplayPort 2.1, HDMI 2.1, and USB-C with 90W power delivery. The 45GX950A uses a RGWB subpixel layout to improve readability of text on the screen and make the aforementioned productivity work easier on your eyes.
Along with these two monitors, LG is also introducing the curved UltraGear 39GX90SA, a webOS-powered “home entertainment hub” with easy access to streaming services — just like LG’s TVs. It seems like the company has taken some cues from Samsung’s smart monitors here. At 39 inches, this one’s a bit smaller than the other GX9 displays, but it retains the 21:9 aspect ratio and 800R curve. “Equipped with USB Type-C ports, it offers convenient connectivity, and incorporates LG’s ergonomic and space-saving L-shaped stand for a clutter-free desk setup,” LG said in tonight’s press release.
As per usual with CES news, pricing and a specific release date are still to come later in 2025. But we’ll be getting our first in-person look at the UltraGear GX9 series in Las Vegas, so stay tuned for impressions early next month — along with an avalanche of stunning screens from many other companies, too.
Loading up HDR photos and videos can be a great way of showcasing the fancy display on your new phone and testing just how bright it can get. But sometimes, especially at night, you might not want your screen to crank into overdrive with blinding highlights just because someone posted a random video to Instagram in HDR. (Devices are increasingly set to capture video with the increased dynamic range by default, so let’s not blame each other.)
With its forthcoming One UI 7 update that’s currently in beta, Samsung is giving Galaxy phone owners a system-wide kill switch for disabling HDR content. As covered by 9to5Google, there’s a new “Super HDR” toggle in the settings menu.
The description — “automatically adjust the display to show the full range of colors and contrast in pictures taken with Galaxy devices” — is a bit misleading, since it turns out that toggling this on will keep your display brightness in check across all apps. But that’s exactly the end result that I’d want.
On the iPhone side, Apple currently has no such setting that’s specific to HDR. It’s possible to avoid HDR content by enabling low power mode on your iPhone, but doing so makes a ton of other system changes that might be overkill.
If you’re looking for a reprieve from HDR on Instagram in particular, you can disable it in the app’s settings in the “media quality” section. (I take credit for this after complaining about the issue a couple years ago.) That only applies to iOS, though. The option doesn’t exist on Android, which makes Samsung’s new toggle all the more useful.
Amazon today announced that its Dual Audio feature for Fire TV, which lets viewers listen through a hearing aid while others in the room experience standard sound from a TV’s speakers, will be rolling out in the next several weeks. It’ll be available first on the company’s latest Fire TV Omni Mini LED. Dual Audio uses the audio streaming for hearing aids (ASHA) protocol.
In a blog post, Amazon said this marks “the first time Fire TV customers with ASHA-enabled hearing aids will be able to listen to streaming content simultaneously with others using two different audio outputs” for a more communal viewing experience. The company is also expanding ASHA support “to include all Widex Moment Behind-The-Ear (BTE) and Receiver-In-Canal (RIC) hearing aids” with compatibility across a range of devices including the Fire TV Omni Mini LED Series, Fire TV Omni QLED Series, Fire TV Cube, Fire TV 4-Series, Fire TV 2-Series, and Fire TV Omni Series.
Amazon is also taking steps to make its packaging and included start guides more accessible. New QR codes on the latest packaging “include tactile, raised UV dots to improve discoverability.”
Scanning that QR code will bring you to Amazon.com for more in-depth product information and steps for setting up a device. “That’s critical so that customers who are blind or have low vision can easily find the code by touch,” Amazon’s Maiken Moeller-Hansen wrote in a blog post. Separate from these accessibility measures, Amazon is introducing new packaging for Echo, Kindle, and Fire TV hardware that uses 30 percent more recycled fiber (“on average”) and 60 percent less ink.
How to enable Dual Audio on the Fire TV Omni Mini LED:
Pressing and holding the Home button on your remote
Go to Settings → Accessibility
Turn on the Dual Audio feature to pair a compatible hearing aid to the TV to begin streaming.
How to set up a hearing aid with Fire TV:
Go to Settings → Accessibility
Choose the Hearing Aids section and then select Add Hearing Aids
LG’s Signature OLED T, the transparent TV that was the company’s big flashy reveal at CES 2024, now has an official price: $59,999. It’s available beginning today in the United States “at select LG-authorized retailers including Best Buy, Video & Audio Center and via LG.com” the company said in a press release. You can’t just walk into your local Best Buy and get this thing, mind you; it’s a special order kind of situation. LG says the first purchase will be made later tonight at a gala at Video & Audio Center.
The OLED T lets you switch between its mind-boggling transparent mode, where you can clearly see whatever’s behind the OLED panel, and an opaque mode that eliminates distractions when enjoying content on the 77-inch screen.
As is usually the case with Signature models, this OLED gets some completely unique software tricks that you won’t find on other LG sets. These include:
T-Objet: an Always-On-Display (AOD) mode that transforms the screen into a transparent digital canvas, ideal for showcasing artwork, videos or photos in outstanding color and clarity.
T-Bar:a sleek info-ticker that appears along the bottom edge of the screen, providing sports results, IoT device statuses, weather forecasts or song title information. The rest of the screen remains unused when T-Bar is active, presenting a clean, uncluttered look and a clear view of the space behind LG’s “virtually invisible” display. For added convenience,
T-Home: offers a user-friendly interface that delivers a well-organized overview of available services, as well as quick access to apps, settings and other features.
The OLED T is forever out of reach for mere peasants like myself, but even if I had $60,000 burning a hole in my pocket, I’m not sure the transparency trick would be enough for me to hand it over. The far more conventional LG G4 would do just fine. But if you lead a lavish lifestyle and have the perfect scenario dreamed up for this thing, it’s now actually available to buy.
Often at CES, you’ll see a very impressive new technology debut at exorbitant prices before trickling down to more affordable models a couple years later. Lo and behold, that’s exactly what we’re seeing with LG and its Zero Connect Box. We got our first look at it with the M Series OLED in 2023. Now the company is bringing that Zero Connect Box, which beams audio and video to the TV panel, to one model of its still-terribly-named QNED Evo Mini LED lineup.
The box can transmit 4K video at up to 144Hz, and by all accounts from reviews last year, it works as advertised and poses no issues for gaming. The only cable that runs to the TV screen itself is the power cable.
LG says the QNED Evo series is also ditching quantum dots this year for a “proprietary wide color gamut technology, Dynamic QNED Color Solution” that supposedly produces “pure colors that are as realistic as they appear to the eye in general life.”
Unfortunately, I predict we’re going to see a lot of hype about AI on TVs at CES 2025 — even more than usual — and LG is already backing up my theory. It’s even putting a new AI button right on the Magic Remote for this year’s TVs. In what’s destined to be a controversial decision, the AI button actually takes the place of the traditional inputs button:
A short press on the AI button guides users to relevant keywords and TV features, while a long press enables personalized searches based on a large language model (LLM4). For example, if a user is planning a trip to France, they can ask their remote, “Recommend movies to watch on my trip to Paris.” The AI will understand the context and suggest movies set in the French capital, including specific genre recommendations based on the user’s viewing preferences.
Do people actually want this functionality from their TV? I digress. LG claims AI will also allow for more advanced upscaling, more fine-tuned HDR, and the conversion of two-channel stereo sources to a virtualized 9.1.2-channel sound output. LG claims its new AI tricks can also better distinguish voices from background noise — a challenge that TV makers never seem finished addressing — and make them clearer.
LG hasn’t yet shared pricing or a release timeframe for the 2025 QNED Evo lineup. But again, this is how CES TV announcements always go. You hear about the flashy new tech and better-than-ever picture quality months before learning how much it’ll cost you. The Verge will be in Las Vegas in just a few short weeks for the show, so you can at least count on some first-hand impressions of LG’s latest TVs.
Threads is about to begin testing the ability to schedule posts, according to Instagram’s Adam Mosseri. “Replies cannot be scheduled,” he added, explaining that “we want to balance giving people more control to plan their Threads posts while still encouraging real-time conversation.”
Mosseri also makes sure to note that Instagram has been working on this feature “for months.” I’m choosing to take as a sign that the Instagram chief is fed up with the notion that Bluesky is the motivating factor behind every new improvement that comes to Threads. Last week, Threads introduced curated collections of people to follow, which drew comparisons to Bluesky’s starter packs.
Yesterday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Threads now has over 100 million daily active users, marking the first time that the company has revealed a DAU figure for its Twitter / X competitor. Threads also has more than 300 million monthly active users. No matter how Meta is calculating those figures, Bluesky objectively remains far smaller.
Instagram has long offered the option to schedule feed posts, and this week it announced the same convenience is being extended to DMs.
I maintain that YouTube TV is the very best of the streaming TV services, but good grief is it getting expensive. Today YouTube announced the service’s latest price hike, which brings the monthly subscription to $82.99. The change is effective immediately for new customers and will be reflected starting January 13th for “most existing customers.” As usual, the company attributes this increase to “the rising cost of content and the investments we make in the quality of our service.”
$82.99 is the same price as Disney’s Hulu + Live TV bundle.
YouTube TV last raised its subscription cost to $72.99 in March 2023. Before that, it was $64.99. The days when the service ran only $50 now feel like a lifetime ago. Some of you who got in early might even remember it costing a mere $35 per month.
But since then, YouTube has routinely found itself in carriage disputes with Disney, NBCUniversal, and other content owners, and those renegotiated agreements have led YouTube TV’s price to climb higher and higher. The YouTube TV of today is much different than it used to be; there are more channels, yes, but the service has also shed a number of regional sports networks.
The company is quick to note that none of the service’s core benefits are changing. The base subscription still includes over 100 channels, cloud DVR with unlimited storage, up to six user accounts per household, and the flexibility of three concurrent streams. But YouTube TV still charges extra for 4K streaming, which seems harder to rationalize after this $10 price bump.
Sonos will soon encourage employees on its various product teams who live near its US office locations to come in for at least two days per week, The Verge has learned. That’s a notable break from the company’s history, throughout which Sonos has enthusiastically supported fully remote and hybrid work. Job listings at Sonos routinely state that “it’s about impact, not location.” Glassdoor reviews have long backed this up, with employees reporting no pressure to come into the office.
But that lax stance is set to change slightly as Sonos continues its effort to right the ship following this year’s app mishap and stay on track with upcoming products. It’s adopting a stricter policy that will call for product employees within proximity of Santa Barbara, Boston, Seattle, and San Francisco to regularly be present at those offices. The Santa Barbara location is where Sonos is headquartered. The company also currently operates international offices in Paris and the Netherlands
“Flexibility has been a core tenet of how Sonos has operated since our founding. Flexibility is not going away, but like many companies, we are evaluating the impact that in-person collaboration has on the...
